Johan Arnold Bloys van Treslong

Duncan acted in a manner that was imitated later by Nelson at Trafalgar; he thinned out the poorly coordinated and badly sailing Batavian fleet.

Bloys van Treslong could not reach the flagship because it was located against the wind, and because he was impeded by a burning and rudderless Dutch ship, the 74-gun Hercules.

In the eyes of the parliament, the press nor the public opinion was the government (the Staatsbewind) was not to blame—although responsible for sending a fleet that was too weak—and Admiral de Winter was considered a hero.

Supposedly, he had navigated poorly and had given the British the opportunity to cut through the Dutch line as a scythe; he was also accused of not having assisted the surrounded De Vrijheid.

In the eyes of the military judges Johan Arnold Bloys van Treslong was solely to blame for the defeat at Camperdown.

In spite of a competent defence and convincing arguments to the contrary, he was declared guilty and sentenced to up to five years' suspension and payment of a part of the process costs.

He was also dubbed knight in the "Order of the Union", an honour which he shared with his relatives Cornelis Ysaac, Jacob Arnout and Willem Otto.