Chapter XXXIII
Another set-to between the captain and first lieutenant--Cutting-outexpedition--Mr Chucks mistaken--He dies like a gentleman--Swinburnebegins his account of the battle off St Vincent.
We had not been more than a week under the Danish island of St Thomaswhen we discovered a brig close in-shore. We made all sail in chase, andsoon came within a mile and a half of the shore, when she anchored undera battery, which opened its fire upon us. Their elevation was too great,and several shots passed over us and between our masts.
"I once met with a very remarkable circumstance," observed CaptainKearney. "Three guns were fired at a frigate I was on board of from abattery, all at the same time. The three shots cut away the threetopsail ties, and down came all our topsail yards upon the cap at thesame time. That the Frenchmen might not suppose that they had taken suchgood aim, we turned up our hands to reef topsails; and by the time thatthe men were off the yards the ties were spliced and the topsails run upagain."
Mr Phillott could not stand this most enormous fib, and he replied,"Very odd, indeed, Captain Kearney; but I have known a strangercircumstance. We had put in the powder to the four guns on the main deckwhen we were fighting the Danish gun-boats in a frigate I was in, and,as the men withdrew the rammer, a shot from the enemy entered themuzzle, and completed the loading of each gun. We fired their own shotback upon them, and this occurred three times running."
"Upon my word," replied Captain Kearney, who had his glass upon thebattery, "I think you must have dreamt that circumstance, Mr Phillott."
"Not more than you did about the topsail ties, Captain Kearney."
Captain Kearney at that time had the long glass in his hand, holding itup over his shoulder. A shot from the battery whizzed over his head, andtook the glass out of his hand, shivering it to pieces. "That's once,"said Captain Kearney, very coolly; "but will you pretend that that couldever happen three times running? They might take my head off, or my arm,next time, but not another glass; whereas the topsail ties might be cutby three different shot. But give me another glass, Mr Simple: I amcertain that this vessel is a privateer. What think you, Mr O'Brien?"
"I am every bit of your opinion, Captain Kearney," replied O'Brien; "andI think it would be a very pretty bit of practice to the ship's companyto take her out from under that footy battery."
"Starboard the helm, Mr Phillott; keep away four points, and then wewill think of it to-night."
The frigate was now kept away, and ran out of the fire of the battery.It was then about an hour before sunset, and in the West Indies the sundoes not set as it does in the northern latitudes. There is no twilight:he descends in glory, surrounded with clouds of gold and rubies in theirgorgeous tints; and once below the horizon, all is dark. As soon as itwas dark, we hauled our wind off shore; and a consultation being heldbetween the captain, Mr Phillott, and O'Brien, the captain at lastdecided that the attempt should be made. Indeed, although cutting-out isa very serious affair, as you combat under every disadvantage, still themischief done to our trade by the fast-sailing privateers was so greatin the West Indies, that almost every sacrifice was warrantable for theinterests of the country. Still, Captain Kearney, although a brave andprudent officer--one who calculated chances, and who would not risk hismen without he deemed that necessity imperiously demanded that suchshould be done--was averse to this attack, from his knowledge of the bayin which the brig was anchored; and although Mr Phillott and O'Brienboth were of opinion that it should be a night attack, Captain Kearneydecided otherwise. He considered, that although the risk might begreater, yet the force employed would be more consolidated, and thatthose who would hold back in the night dare not do so during the day.Moreover, that the people on shore in the battery, as well as those inthe privateer, would be on the alert all night, and not expecting anattack during the day, would be taken off their guard. It was thereforedirected that everything should be in preparation during the night, andthat the boats should shove off before daylight, and row in-shore,concealing themselves behind some rocks under the cliffs which formedthe cape upon one side of the harbour; and, if not discovered, remainthere till noon, at which time it was probable that the privateer's menwould be on shore, and the vessel might be captured without difficulty.
It is always a scene of much interest on board a man-of-war whenpreparations are made for an expedition of this description; and, as thereader may not have been witness to them, it may perhaps be interestingto describe them. The boats of men-of-war have generally two crews; thecommon boats' crews, which are selected so as not to take away the mostuseful men from the ship; and the service, or fighting boats' crews,which are selected from the very best men on board. The coxswains of theboats are the most trustworthy men in the ship, and, on this occasion,have to see that their boats are properly equipped. The launch, yawl,first and second cutters, were the boats appointed for the expedition.They all carried guns mounted upon slides, which ran fore and aftbetween the men. After the boats were hoisted out, the guns were lowereddown into them and shipped in the bows of the boats. The arm-chests werenext handed in, which contain the cartridges and ammunition. The shotwere put into the bottom of the boats; and so far they were all ready.The oars of the boats were fitted to pull with grummets upon ironthole-pins, that they might make little noise, and might swing fore andaft without falling overboard when the boats pulled alongside theprivateer. A breaker or two (that is, small casks holding about sevengallons each) of water was put into each boat, and also the men'sallowance of spirits, in case they should be detained by any unforeseencircumstances. The men belonging to the boats were fully employed inlooking after their arms; some fitting their flints to their pistols,others, and the major part of them, sharpening their cutlasses at thegrindstone, or with a file borrowed from the armourer,--all were busyand all merry. The very idea of going into action is a source of joy toan English sailor, and more jokes are made, more merriment excited, atthat time than at any other. Then, as it often happens that one or twoof the service boats' crews may be on the sick list, urgentsolicitations are made by others that they may supply their places. Theonly parties who appear at all grave are those who are to remain in thefrigate, and not share in the expedition. There is no occasion to orderthe boats to be manned, for the men are generally in long before theyare piped away. Indeed, one would think that it was a party of pleasure,instead of danger and of death, upon which they were about to proceed.
Captain Kearney selected the officers who were to have the charge of theboats. He would not trust any of the midshipmen on so dangerous aservice. He said that he had known so many occasions in which theirrashness and foolhardiness had spoilt an expedition; he thereforeappointed Mr Phillott, the first lieutenant, to the launch; O'Brien tothe yawl; the master to the first, and Mr Chucks, the boatswain, to thesecond cutter. Mr Chucks was much pleased with the idea of having thecommand of a boat, and asked me to come with him, to which I consented,although I had intended, as usual, to have gone with O'Brien.
About an hour before daylight we ran the frigate to within a mile and ahalf of the shore, and the boats shoved off; the frigate then woreround, and stood out in the offing, that she might at daylight be atsuch a distance as not to excite any suspicion that our boats were sentaway, while we in the boats pulled quietly in-shore. We were not aquarter of an hour before we arrived at the cape forming one side of thebay, and were well secreted among the cluster of rocks which wereunderneath. Our oars were laid in; the boats' painters made fast; andorders given for the strictest silence. The rocks were very high, andthe boats were not to be seen without any one should come to the edge ofthe precipice; and even then they would, in all probability, have beensupposed to have been rocks. The water was as smooth as glass, and whenit was broad daylight, the men hung listlessly over the sides of theboats, looking at the corals below, and watching the fish as they glidedbetween.
"I can't say, Mr Simple," said Mr Chucks to me in an under tone, "that Ithink well of this expedition; and I have an idea that s
ome of us willlose the number of our mess. After a calm comes a storm; and how quietis everything now! But I'll take off my great coat, for the sun is hotalready. Coxswain, give me my jacket."
Mr Chucks had put on his great coat, but not his jacket underneath,which he had left on one of the guns on the main deck, all ready tochange as soon as the heavy dew had gone off. The coxswain handed himthe jacket, and Mr Chucks threw off his great coat to put it on; butwhen it was opened it proved, that by mistake he had taken away thejacket, surmounted by two small epaulettes, belonging to CaptainKearney, which the captain's steward, who had taken it out to brush, hadalso laid upon the same gun.
"By all the nobility of England!" cried Mr Chucks, "I have taken awaythe captain's jacket by mistake. Here's a pretty mess! if I put on mygreat coat I shall be dead with sweating; if I put on no jacket I shallbe roasted brown; but if I put on the captain's jacket I shall beconsidered disrespectful."
The men in the boats tittered; and Mr Phillott, who was in the launchnext to us, turned round to see what was the matter; O'Brien was sittingin the stern-sheets of the launch with the first lieutenant, and Ileaned over and told them.
"By the powers! I don't see why the captain's jacket will be at all hurtby Mr Chucks putting it on," replied O'Brien; "unless, indeed, a bulletwere to go through it, and then it won't be any fault of Mr Chucks."
"No," replied the first lieutenant; "and if one did, the captain mightkeep the jacket, and swear that the bullet went round his body withoutwounding him. He'll have a good yarn to spin. So put it on, Mr Chucks;you'll make a good mark for the enemy."
"That I will stand the risk of with pleasure," observed the boatswain tome, "for the sake of being considered a gentleman. So here's on withit."
There was a general laugh when Mr Chucks pulled on the captain's jacket,and sank down in the stern-sheets of the cutter, with great complacencyof countenance. One of the men in the boat that we were in thoughtproper, however, to continue his laugh a little longer than Mr Chucksconsidered necessary, who, leaning forward, thus addressed him: "I say,Mr Webber, I beg leave to observe to you, in the most delicate manner inthe world--just to hint to you--that it is not the custom to laugh atyour superior officer. I mean just to insinuate, that you are a d----dimpudent son of a sea cook; and if we both live and do well, I willprove to you, that if I am to be laughed at in a boat with the captain'sjacket on, that I am not to be laughed at on board the frigate with theboatswain's rattan in my fist; and so look out, my hearty, for squalls,when you come on the forecastle; for I'll be d----d if I don't make yousee more stars than God Almighty ever made, and cut more capers than allthe dancing-masters in France. Mark my words, you burgoo-eating,pea-soup-swilling, trowsers-scrubbing son of a bitch."
Mr Chucks, having at the end of this oration raised his voice above thepitch required by the exigency of the service, was called to order bythe first lieutenant, and again sank back into the stern-sheets with allthe importance and authoritative show peculiarly appertaining to a pairof epaulettes.
We waited behind the rocks until noonday, without being discovered bythe enemy; so well were we concealed. We had already sent an officer,who, carefully hiding himself by lying down on the rocks, had severaltimes reconnoitred the enemy. Boats were passing and repassingcontinually from the privateer to the shore; and it appeared that theywent on shore full of men, and returned with only one or two; so that wewere in great hopes that we should find but few men to defend thevessel. Mr Phillott looked at his watch, held it up to O'Brien, to provethat he had complied exactly with the orders he had received from thecaptain, and then gave the word to get the boats under weigh. Thepainters were cast off by the bowmen, the guns were loaded and primed,the men seized their oars, and in two minutes we were clear of therocks, and drawn up in a line within a quarter of a mile from theharbour's mouth, and not half a mile from the privateer brig. We rowedas quickly as possible, but we did not cheer until the enemy fired thefirst gun; which he did from a quarter unexpected, as we entered themouth of the harbour, with our union jack trailing in the water over ourstern, for it was a dead calm. It appeared, that at the low point underthe cliffs, at each side of the little bay, they had raised a waterbattery of two guns each. One of these guns, laden with grape shot, wasnow fired at the boats, but the elevation was too low, and although thewater was ploughed up to within five yards of the launch, no injury wasreceived. We were equally fortunate in the discharge of the other threeguns; two of which we passed so quickly, that they were not aimedsufficiently forward, so that their shot fell astern; and the other,although the shot fell among us, did no further injury than cutting inhalf two of the oars of the first cutter.
In the meantime, we had observed that the boats had shoved off from theprivateer as soon as they had perceived us, and had returned to herladen with men; the boats had been despatched a second time, but had notyet returned. They were now about the same distance from the privateeras were our boats, and it was quite undecided which of us would be firston board. O'Brien perceiving this, painted out to Mr Phillott that weshould first attack the boats, and afterwards board on the side to whichthey pulled; as, in all probability, there would be an opening left inthe boarding nettings, which were tied up to the yard-arms, andpresented a formidable obstacle to our success. Mr Phillott agreed withO'Brien: he ordered the bowmen to lay in their oars and keep the gunspointed ready to fire at the word given, and desiring the other men topull their best. Every nerve, every muscle was brought into play by ouranxious and intrepid seamen. When within about twenty yards of thevessel, and also of the boats, the orders were given to fire--thecarronade of the launch poured out round and grape so well directed,that one of the French boats sunk immediately; and the musket balls withwhich our other smaller guns were loaded, did great execution amongtheir men. In one minute more, with three cheers from our sailors, wewere all alongside together, English and French boats pell-mell, and amost determined close conflict took place. The French foughtdesperately, and as they were overpowered, they were reinforced by thosefrom the privateer, who could not look on and behold their companionsrequiring their assistance, without coming to their aid. Some jumpeddown into our boats from the chains, into the midst of our men; othersdarted cold shot at us, either to kill us or to sink our boats; and thusdid one of the most desperate hand-to-hand conflicts take place thatever was witnessed. But it was soon decided in our favour, for we werethe stronger party and the better armed; and when all opposition wasover, we jumped into the privateer, and found not a man left on board,only a large dog, who flew at O'Brien's throat as he entered the port.
"Don't kill him," said O'Brien, as the sailors hastened to hisassistance; "only take away his gripe."
The sailors disengaged the dog, and O'Brien led him up to a gun, saying,"By Jasus, my boy, you are my prisoner."
But although we had possession of the privateer, our difficulties, as itwill prove, were by no means over. We were now exposed not only to thefire of the two batteries at the harbour-mouth which we had to pass, butalso to that of the battery at the bottom of the bay, which had fired atthe frigate. In the meantime, we were very busy in cutting the cable,lowering the topsails, and taking the wounded men on board theprivateer, from out of the boats. All this was, however, but the work ofa few minutes. Most of the Frenchmen were killed; our own woundedamounted to only nine seamen and Mr Chucks, the boatswain, who was shotthrough the body, apparently with little chance of surviving. As MrPhillott observed, the captain's epaulettes had made him a mark for theenemy, and he had fallen in his borrowed plumes.
As soon as they were all on board, and laid on the deck--for there were,as near as I can recollect, about fourteen wounded Frenchmen as well asour own--tow-ropes were got out forwards, the boats were manned, and weproceeded to tow the brig out of the harbour.
It was a dead calm, and we made but little way, but our boat's crew,flushed with victory, cheered, and rallied, and pulled with all theirstrength. The enemy perceiving that the privateer was taken, and theFrench boats
drifting empty up the harbour, now opened their fire uponus, and with great effect. Before we had towed abreast of the two waterbatteries, we had received three-shots between wind and water from theother batteries, and the sea was pouring fast into the vessel. I hadbeen attending to poor Mr Chucks, who lay on the starboard side, nearthe wheel, the blood flowing from his wound, and tracing its course downthe planks of the deck, to a distance of some feet from where he lay. Heappeared very faint, and I tied my handkerchief round his body, so as tostop the effusion of blood, and brought him some water, with which Ibathed his face, and poured some into his mouth. He opened his eyeswide, and looked at me.
"Ah, Mr Simple," said he, faintly, "is it you? It's all over with me;but it could not be better--could it?"
"How do you mean?" inquired I.
"Why, have I not fallen dressed like an officer and a gentleman?" saidhe, referring to the captain's jacket and epaulettes. "I'd sooner dienow with this dress on, than recover to put on the boatswain's uniform.I feel quite happy."
He pressed my hand, and then closed his eyes again, from weakness. Wewere now nearly abreast of the two batteries on the points, the guns ofwhich had been trained so as to bear upon our boats that were towing outthe brig. The first shot went through the bottom of the launch, and sankher; fortunately, all the men were saved; but as she was the boat thattowed next to the brig, great delay occurred in getting the others clearof her, and taking the brig again in tow. The shot now poured in thick,and the grape became very annoying. Still our men gave way, cheering atevery shot fired, and we had nearly passed the batteries, with triflingloss, when we perceived that the brig was so full of water that shecould not swim many minutes longer, and that it would be impossible totow her alongside of the frigate. Mr Phillott, under thesecircumstances, decided that it would be useless to risk more lives, andthat the wounded should be taken out of the brig, and the boats shouldpull away for the ship. He desired me to get the wounded men into thecutter, which he sent alongside, and then to follow the other boats. Imade all the haste I could, not wishing to be left behind; and as soonas all our wounded men were in the boats, I went to Mr Chucks, to removehim. He appeared somewhat revived, but would not allow us to remove him.
"My dear Mr Simple," said he, "it is of no use; I never can recover it,and I prefer dying here. I entreat you not to move me. If the enemy takepossession of the brig before she sinks, I shall be buried with militaryhonours; if they do not, I shall at least die in the dress of agentleman. Hasten away as fast as you can, before you lose more men.Here I stay--that's decided."
I expostulated with him, but at that time two boats full of menappeared, pulling out of the harbour to the brig. The enemy hadperceived that our boats had deserted her, and were coming to takepossession. I had therefore no time to urge Mr Chucks to change hisresolution, and not wishing to force a dying man, I shook his hand andleft him. It was with some difficulty I escaped, for the boats had comeup close to the brig; they chased me a little while, but the yawl andthe cutter turning back to my assistance, they gave up the pursuit. Onthe whole, this was a very well arranged and well conducted expedition.The only man lost was Mr Chucks, for the wounds of the others were noneof them mortal. Captain Kearney was quite satisfied with our conduct,and so was the admiral, when it was reported to him. Captain Kearney didindeed grumble a little about his jacket, and sent for me to inquire whyI had not taken it off Mr Chucks, and brought it on board. As I did notchoose to tell him the exact truth, I replied, "That I could not disturba dying man, and that the jacket was so saturated with blood, that henever could have worn it again," which was the case.
"At all events, you might have brought away my epaulettes," replied he;"but you youngsters think of nothing but gormandizing."
I had the first watch that night, when Swinburne, the quarter-master,came up to me, and asked me all the particulars of the affair, for hewas not in the boats. "Well," said he, "that Mr Chucks appeared to be avery good boatswain in his way, if he could only have kept his rattan alittle quiet. He was a smart fellow, and knew his duty. We had just suchanother killed in our ship, in the action off Cape St Vincent."
"What! were you in that action?" replied I.
"Yes, I was, and belonged to the _Captain_, Lord Nelson's ship."
"Well, then, suppose you tell me all about it."
"Why, Mr Simple, d'ye see, I've no objection to spin you a yarn, now andthen," replied Swinburne, "but, as Mr Chucks used to say, allow me toobserve, in the most delicate manner in the world, that I perceive thatthe man who has charge of your hammock, and slings you a clean one nowand then, has very often a good glass of grog for his _yarns_, and I donot see but that mine are as well worth a glass of grog as his."
"So they are, Swinburne, and better too, and I promise you a good stiffone to-morrow evening."
"That will do, sir: now then, I'll tell you all about it, and more aboutit too than most can, for I know how the action was brought about."
I have the log, marked the board, and then sat down abaft on the signalchest with Swinburne, who commenced his narrative as follows:--
"You must know, Mr Simple, that when the English fleet came down theMediterranean, after the 'vackyation of Corsica, they did not mustermore than seventeen sail of the line, while the Spanish fleet fromFerrol and Carthagena had joined company at Cadiz, and 'mounted to nearthirty. Sir John Jervis had the command of our fleet at the time, but asthe Dons did not seem at all inclined to come out and have a brush withus, almost two to one, Sir John left Sir Hyde Parker, with six sail ofthe line, to watch the Spanish beggars, while he went in to Lisbon withthe remainder of the fleet, to water and refit. Now, you see, Mr Simple,Portugal was at that time what they calls neutral, that is to say, shedidn't meddle at all in the affair, being friends with both parties, andjust as willing to supply fresh beef and water to the Spaniards as tothe English, if so be the Spaniards had come out to ax for it, whichthey dar'n't. The Portuguese and the English have always been the bestof friends, because we can't get no port wine anywhere else, and theycan't get nobody else to buy it of them; so the Portuguese gave up theirarsenal at Lisbon, for the use of the English, and there we kept all ourstores, under the charge of that old dare-devil, Sir Isaac Coffin. Nowit so happened, that one of the clerks in old Sir Isaac's _office_, aPortuguese chap, had been some time before that in the office of theSpanish ambassador; he was a very smart sort of a chap, and sarved asinterpreter, and the old commissioner put great faith in him."
"But how did you learn all this, Swinburne?"
"Why, I'll tell you, Mr Simple. I steered the yawl as coxswain, and whenadmirals and captains talk in the stern-sheets, they very often forgetthat the coxswain is close behind them. I only learnt half of it thatway; the rest I put together when I compared logs with the admiral'ssteward, who, of course, heard a great deal now and then. The first Iheard of it was when old Sir John called out to Sir Isaac, after thesecond bottle, 'I say, Sir Isaac, who killed the Spanish messenger?''Not I, by God!' replied Sir Isaac; 'I only left him for dead;' and thenthey both laughed, and so did Nelson, who was sitting with them. Well,Mr Simple, it was reported to Sir Isaac that his clerk was often seentaking memorandums of the different orders given to the fleet,particularly those as to there being no wasteful expenditure of hisMajesty's stores. Upon which, Sir Isaac goes to the admiral, andrequests that the man might be discharged. Now, old Sir John was a slyold fox, and he answered, 'Not so, commissioner; perhaps we may catchthem in their own trap.' So the admiral sits down, and calls for pen andink, and he flourishes out a long letter to the commissioner, statingthat all the stores of the fleet were expended, representing as how itwould be impossible to go to sea without a supply, and wishing to knowwhen the commissioner expected more transports from England. He alsosaid that if the Spanish fleet were now to come out from Cadiz, it wouldbe impossible for him to protect Sir H. Parker with his six sail of theline, who was watching the Spanish fleet, as he could not quit the portin his present condition. To this letter the commissioner an
swered that,from the last accounts, he thought that in the course of six weeks ortwo months they might receive supplies from England, but that soonerthan that was impossible. These letters were put in the way of thed----d Portuguese spy-clerk, who copied them, and was seen that eveningto go into the house of the Spanish ambassador. Sir John then sent amessage to Ferro--that's a small town on the Portuguese coast to thesouthward--with a despatch to Sir Hyde Parker, desiring him to run awayto Cape St Vincent, and decoy the Spanish fleet there, in case theyshould come out after him. Well, Mr Simple, so far d'ye see the trainwas well laid. The next thing to do was to watch the Spanishambassador's house, and see if he sent away any despatches. Two daysafter the letters had been taken to him by this rascal of a clerk, theSpanish ambassador sent away two messengers--one for Cadiz and the otherfor Madrid, which is the town where the King of Spain lives. The one toCadiz was permitted to go, but the one to Madrid was stopped by thedirections of the admiral, and this job was confided to thecommissioner, Sir Isaac, who settled it somehow or another; and this wasthe reason why the admiral called out to him, 'I say, Sir Isaac, whokilled the messenger?' They brought back his despatches, by which theyfound out that advice had been sent to the Spanish admiral--I forget hisname, something like _Magazine_--informing him of the supposed crippledstate of our squadron. Sir John, taking it for granted that theSpaniards would not lose an opportunity of taking six sail of the line--more English ships than they have ever taken in their lives--waited afew days to give them time, and then sailed from Lisbon for Cape StVincent, where he joined Sir Hyde Parker, and fell in with the Spaniardssure enough, and a pretty drubbing we gave them. Now, it's not everybodythat could tell you all that, Mr Simple."
"Well, but now for the action, Swinburne."
"Lord bless you, Mr Simple! it's now past seven bells, and I can't fightthe battle of St Vincent in half an hour; besides which, it's well worthanother glass of grog to hear all about that battle."
"Well, you shall have one, Swinburne; only don't forget to tell it tome."
Swinburne and I then separated, and in less than an hour afterwards Iwas dreaming of despatches--Sir John Jervis--Sir Isaac Coffin--andSpanish messengers.