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Fitz Fact Day 15: James Fitzjames was also mauled by his own ships cheetah when it alarmed one of the crew. He decided to step in and distract the beast by pulling on its tail. Note that he was still healing from being shot by a sniper. The crew, Le Vesconte included had to beat the poor cheetah off of their Captain and thankfully he wasn’t too hurt by the incident.
Fitz Facts Day 31: So what happened to Commander James Fitzjames? We know little still about the fate of the expedition but a lot can be inferred from the discovery of both Erebus and Terror as well as the human remains and artifacts investigated (and for the artifacts collected) over the years. His fate was most likely out on the ice retreat, likely in 1848 or slightly later though the crew was suffering from tuberculosis, lead poisoning, scurvy, exposure, and starvation at this point. Battersby theorized that scurvy would have opened his old war wounds and the musket ball (the size of a cherry) would have finally dealt its fatal blow. The writers for AMCs the Terror wrote his death as such (even though the book has a much more disturbing and visceral fate for Fitzjames.) my opinion personal opinion is that death never took James Fitzjames and he is still in the Arctic practicing high kicks and stealing researchers pudding to this day.
Fitz Fact Day 5: James Fitzjames loved the theatre and Opera. When on shore he was known to visit the Opera multiple times. He saw Don Giovanni four times while living in Malta.
And we all know about his famous burlesque performance as Fadladinia, Queen of Queerummania ;3c
Fitz Facts Day 8: On top of being an accomplished scholar, sailor, and actor, James Fitzjames was an artist and drew scenery from the places he traveled (as seen below).
My favorite story is how he drew small doodles within the logbook when he Commanded the HMS Clio. After the anchor had been damaged he put a small one besides it in the log. Because you can’t just do standard paperwork you have to make it fun.
Fitz Fact Day 13: James Fitzjames often went in after sailors who fell overboard and couldn’t swim. Though the Terror book has Crozier lament about how ridiculous it was for Fitzjames to be awarded for a particular rescue of a sailor, the actual story was far more dangerous than a simple swim. While unloading a ship, one of the sailors fell into the cold and fast moving waters out of Liverpool. James quickly dove in after the man despite the risk of hypothermia and drowning himself, not even stopping to take off his jacket which contained a brand new pocket watch (he lamented about it later but he destroyed a lot of pocket watches). A small row boat nearby managed to grab Fitzjames who held on to the poor sailor as the dangerous current almost carried them off. For his quick thinking and bravery, Fitzjames received an impressive silver cup, a giant party in his name, and enough wine to kill several horses.
Fitz Facts Day 19: James Fitzjames was quite the prankster. After going on his long mail tour he came back looking very tanned, bearded (could you even imagine), and wearing Turkish clothing. While on his way back to the Euphrates Expedition he stopped in Cádiz and found the HMS Pique there. One of the lieutenant’s (unnamed) was an old friend of Fitzjames. So the ever extra™️ gentlemen decided to call on his friend pretending to be an important foreigner interested in the ship. He managed to receive a full tour from some poor midshipman where he pretended he didn’t speak English and only communicated in some Turkish and sign language. The midshipman really tried to impress the disguised Fitzjames by showing him how high the deck was. He stated “Look, high, very high,” while gesturing at the beam holding the deck above them. Fitzjames responded by doing a whole ass high kick at the beam, touching it with his toe and then in “very hearty” English telling the poor lad, “Yes, very high indeed.”
Fitz Facts Day 18: while on the 500 mile journey (this portion by foot after getting kidnapped and running out of boats), James Fitzjames really hated the camel portion of the crossing. In fact, he rode so hard and the camel was so uncomfortable for him that after they haulted the first night, he was unable to dismount. He had to be carried off and fainted immediately. Very Victorian, James 🐫
Fitz Fact Day 16: James Fitzjames loved wine and attributed it to his survival after his near fatal encounter with a sniper. Instead of drinking water he drank wine (probably due to being in pain but also it’s cleaner than local water.) 🍷🍷🍷🍷
