Likewise, Forester disregarded the strict Royal Navy practice of only promoting officers based on seniority as post-captain; Hornblower becomes a post-captain in 1805, is a rear admiral before Napoleon's death in May 1821, and is Admiral of the Fleet in 1848 before Napoleon III took power in France. In actuality the Navy List reflecting the first promotions to rear admiral after Napoleon's death shows captains holding that rank since 1797 still awaiting promotion to rear-admiral and as of the compilation of the "Royal Naval Biography" a few years later those who "made post" in 1805 were still well down the queue; the actual Admiral of the Fleet in 1848 was James Hawkins-Whitshed, who had become a captain in 1780, and no one who had become a captain after 1801 was named Admiral of the Fleet until 1864.