Author: D'Elville, Rinaldo
Biography:
D'Elville, Rinaldo (fl 1813)
All his publications appeared in the same city, New York, in the same year, 1813. They were a pamphlet, Naval Discipline ("by an officer of the Navy of the U.S."); a collection of Spanish Tales in prose, D'Elville describing himself as merely a translator; his poem The Hermitage; and a farce, The Rescue, that ran to several editions. D'Elville had written to President James Madison in 1812 from France, seeking a commission in the U.S. Navy--evidently a successful application. He described himself as a native of Virginia, of French extraction, who had been pressed into service in the British navy but discharged as a U. S. citizen. ("To James Madison from Rinaldo Elville [sic], 17 May 1812 (Abstract)," Founders Online, National Archives, 28 Aug. 2018)