Admiral Samuel Graves (17 April 1713 – 8 March 1787) was a British Royal Navy admiral who is probably best known for his role early in the American Revolutionary War. Ancestry He is thought to have been born in Castledawson, Northern Ireland. His grandfather Captain James Graves (1654–1689) was murdered in his bed and robbed of his regiment's wages. Samuel Graves was born the youngest son and presumably second youngest child of Captain Graves' son Samuel Graves (1674–1727) and his wife Jane Moore. He had three older brothers and a sister. By joining the Royal Navy, he followed in the footsteps of his uncle Thomas Graves, whose son Thomas Graves is most well-known for having commanded the British fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake during the American War of Independence. Another Thomas Graves, a nephew to Samuel Graves, was knighted following the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, where he had served as Horatio Nelson's second-in-command. A number of Graves' served in the Royal Navy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Military career Graves joined the Royal Navy in 1732. Made lieutenant in 1739, he participated in the 1741 expedition against Cartagena, serving on the frigate Norfolk, under his uncle and future admiral, Captain Thomas Graves. Samuel Graves's cousin Thomas, Captain Graves's son and also future admiral, served alongside him on the third-rate ship-of-the-line Norfolk. Promoted to command of the sloop Bonetta in 1743, Graves served in the West Indies until 1747, commanding Ripon's Prize, and, later, Enterprise. Seven Years' War In 1756 Graves rose to command Duke. Two years later, Graves returned to the command of Duke, serving again under Hawke in the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759. He continued in command of Duke until his promotion to rear admiral in October 1762. That same year, Graves faced several lawsuits when the conduct of a press-gang sent out by him to was deemed excessively brutal by the townspeople of Bristol. Seeing as a by-election was held at the same time, the local Tories suspected him to have purposefully and unlawfully impressed eligible voters in order to influence the election on behalf of the Whigs. American Revolutionary War In October 1770 Graves rose to vice admiral, and in July 1774 assumed command of the North American Station. Graves's orders were vague, his resources overstretched, and his task, in the words of the Dictionary of National Biography,