His affectionate contemporary nickname from "the ranks" was Billy Blue, and a sea shanty was written during his period of service, reflecting the admiration his men had for him.

[4] The young William entered the navy in 1755 aboard the 80-gun HMS Newark bound for North America in the fleet of Admiral Edward Boscawen.

Louisbourg was the only deep water harbour that the French controlled in North America, and its capture enabled the British to launch an attack on Quebec City.

General James Wolfe's attack on Quebec and victory at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham saw the beginning of the end of French colonisation in North America.

On 5 April 1761, Cornwallis passed his examination for lieutenant and was promoted into the newly commissioned third-rate HMS Thunderer.

When war was officially declared, the Comte d'Estaing, the French naval commander in North America swiftly captured the islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada.

The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779. d'Estaing saw the British fleet of 21 ships of the line approaching and weighed anchor.

Byron gave chase and attempted to form line of battle as per the Sailing and Fighting Instructions set down by Admiral Blake in 1653. d'Estaing, realising that his force although superior in guns was not so in numbers, had ordered his captains not to engage directly but to bear away when British ships approached and to bear down on any individual ship that might through wind or poor seamanship become separated from the line.

Cornwallis' Lion was one of those ships and when he became separated from the British fleet she was forced to break away and make a run for Jamaica rather than risk capture.

[7] Lion remained on the Jamaica station under the orders of Admiral Peter Parker and when she was repaired began a series of cruises in the West Indies.

Off Saint-Domingue the small British squadron discovered a convoy under the protection of four ships-of-the-line and one frigate commanded by Monsieur de la Motte Picquet.

The Battle of Brimstone Hill sealed the fate of the island despite Hood's efforts and St. Kitts fell into French hands.

With the island in enemy hands and the French fleet cruising off the harbour, Hood was forced to withdraw and made his way to Antigua.

[10] The outcome of the battle meant that the French and Spanish abandoned their planned invasion of Britain's most valuable Caribbean island, Jamaica.

The battle, although a victory for the English caused a great deal of controversy in later years that included Cornwallis' direct criticism in writing of Rodney.

The final couplet of the poem said to have been written in Cornwallis' own hand reads: Had a chief worthy Britain commanded our fleet,Twenty-five good French ships had been laid at our feet.

[11]It appears that the criticisms of Admiral Hood and Cornwallis went unheard and Rodney was created a baron and given a life pension of £2,000 per year.

Cornwallis was sent home under Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves with the convoy that included the captured French flagship Ville de Paris.

In January 1783 Cornwallis was given command of HMS Ganges and in March of the same year was moved to HM Yacht Charlotte.

Promoted to rear-admiral on 1 February 1793, Cornwallis remained in the area and aided in the capture of Pondicherry, captaining his new flagship, the frigate HMS Minerva, and commanding a small flotilla of three East Indiamen[15]—Triton, Princess Charlotte, and Calcutta (1795).

[citation needed] He left command of Pondicherry to Captain King and returned to England, docking at Spithead in August 1793.

The French admiral made the assumption that Cornwallis must have sighted assistance beyond his own field of vision and had turned to engage the enemy knowing that a superior force was nearby to come to their relief.

[citation needed] The action is remarkable evidence of the moral superiority which the victory of the Glorious First of June, and the known efficiency of the British crews, had given to the Royal Navy.

[17] In 1796 Cornwallis incurred a court-martial (in consequence of a misunderstanding and apparently some temper on both sides) on the charge of refusing to obey an order from the Admiralty.

[19] During this time Cornwallis was in charge of protecting the coast of the United Kingdom as Napoleon was building a large invasion force.

In 1796, Cornwallis was promoted to Rear-Admiral of Great Britain, the title becoming Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom after the Act of Union came into force in 1801,[20] and then in 1814 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom His greatest honours might be considered to be his various nicknames among the sailors, "Billy go tight" (given on account of his rubicund complexion), as well as "Billy Blue", "Coachee", and "Mr Whip".