Attributed to Thomas Buttersworth

(British, 1768-1828)

A pair of naval scenes depicting 'The Fight of The Ranger'.

Footnotes

Provenance
Lieutenant Commander Ashmead Pruen
Thence by descent

Literature
Charles Rathbone Low, The History of The Indian Navy, Vol 1, p.157-161.

For similar subjects by Buttersworth, see Woodbridge, Concise Catalogue of Oil Paintings in the National Maritime Museum, 1988, numbers BHC1084 and BHC1085, p.110


The 12 gun brigantine Ranger belonged to the Hon. East India Company and was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Ashmead Pruen of the Honourable East India Company's Marine Service of Bombay East Indies. This pair of paintings portray the battle that ensued when she was attacked on the 8th April 1783, by the Mahratta Fleet, Peshwa Navy, led by Admiral Anandrao Dhulap. Comm. Pruen did his utmost to hold off the attack and was subsequently presented by the directors of The East India Company with a gold sword which, also included in the sale, succeeds the present lot.

This pair of paintings were likely a gift to, or commissioned by, Lieut.Comm. Ashmead Pruen and along with the sword have remained with Comm. Pruen's family descendants since that time and arrive here fresh to the market.

Below is a detailed account of the battle taken from Charles Rathbone Low The History of The Indian Navy, Vol 1, p.157-161:

"Lieutenant-Commander Pruen, was proceeding from Bombay to Calicut, for the purpose of conveying some military officers of high rank to the British Army then operating in the Bednore country, among the number being Brigadier-General Norman McLeod, appointed commander in-chief in place of General Matthews, when she fell in with the Mahratta fleet, commanded by the Peishwa's Admiral, Aninid Rao Dhoolup, who, it appears, was unaware of the conclusion of peace. Though this fleet consisted of two ships, one ketch, all of superior force, and eight galivats, Lieutenant Pruen did not hesitate a moment in engaging them ; he might, indeed, have soon satisfied the Mahrattas of their being no longer enemies, but allies, or, at the worst, if compelled to accompany them into the neighbouring port of Gheria, the detention would have been brief, but, sailor-like, his predilection for fighting, and his repugnance to strike his flag without having first vindicated the honour of his country, overcame all scruples and prudential considerations. The little Ranger, accordingly, awaited her antagonists, and the military officers armed for the impending conflict, into which they entered with a spirit not less than that which animated the ship's officers and crew.

A desperate action now ensued. First the large ships plied the little brig with their guns, to which she replied with spirit, and then the galivats were laid alongside, and it was sought to overwhelm the handful of gallant Britons by throwing on her decks as many boarders as could find foot room. But, though the enemy mustered fifteen to one, and the Mahrattas were renowned throughout India as swordsmen, the repeated attempts were met and repulsed with a desperate tenacity of purpose that has never been surpassed in the annals of war. Numbers, however, told in the end, and, at length, the gallant little craft was carried by a united rush of hundreds of men infuriated at the prolonged resistance.

The gallant Pruen was dangerously wounded, "and," says Mill, "almost every man in the ship was either killed or wounded." The prize was carried into Gheria, where the Subadar and officers, disowning all knowledge of the peace, had refused to release the vessel and officers without orders from Poonah.

The Ranger, with Colonel McLeod and the surviving officers, arrived here on the 29th May, having been released on the 27th in too disabled and despoiled condition to make her way southward.

The Court of Directors presented Lieutenant Pruen with a valuable sword in token of their appreciation of the devoted gallantry he had displayed, and the Bombay government gave pecuniary rewards to the survivors of the crew."

We are grateful to Pieter van der Merwe, General Editor and Greenwich Curator at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.