Every Man Will Do His Duty (74 page)

“Men convinced against their will

Were of the same opinion still.”

Moreover I felt excited, and an unlucky reminiscence of the unmerited and dastardly insult received at Nantes coming across my mind, I lost my
centre, and could not help saying somewhat intemperately, “Only rouse me in a good cause and give me a ship’s cutlass, and I don’t care a d—n for any Frenchman that exists.” On this, with an urbanity and moderation that reproached me, he explained to me that it was by no means his intention to cast any reflection on the bravery of a class of men whose prowess he had not only witnessed, but personally experienced, having been cut down by a British officer at Badajos. The cloth was removed, the party broke up, and I was left alone with a stranger, who, complimenting me on the manner I had supported the national reputation, announced himself as the brother-in-law of the Hon. C. B. of our Navy. We discussed a bottle of Chateau Margot together, and I was going down stairs, when I saw my quondam
[former]
friend, the officer, making towards me. I really thought he was about to test my skill as an
escrimeur [fencer],
and was well pleased to accept his challenge—more in accordance with my inclinations—to sip my coffee with him. He was a fine fellow, had seen much service, and like all others of his class was devoted to l’Empereur.

¹
This, as my professional readers are aware, was a well-known privateer that made no little havoc among our trade about this time. The True-Blooded Yankee was one of the most famous American privateers. She was owned by an American living in Paris and operated out of French ports. On one thirty-seven-day cruise in 1814, she took twenty-seven ships off the coasts of Ireland and Scotland, destroyed seven more in a Scottish harbor, and took possession of an island off the Irish coast for nearly a week.

²
Ivybridge is a town up the Erme River, west of Plymouth.

³
The following are the particulars of this action received from one of the survivors: “The enemy (the
Wasp,
American corvette) was discovered on our lee bow about ten
A.M.
[on June 28, 1814]
standing towards us. Little preparation was necessary: brother Jonathan had already cured us of that overweening conceit and false security, which long and uninterrupted success had given us, and we were always ready. Finding she would pass to windward, we tacked, and by hard sweeping soon gained a position that would enable us to keep the weather-gauge, when we put about again, and stood towards her. The American now tacked, and stood away from us. By hard sweeping, however, we gained a position on his weather quarter, and from a gun placed on the forecastle, at which Captain Manners attended himself, galled the enemy considerably, killing and wounding several of his men. This advantage was however but temporary; they were silently preparing a deadly return. Luffing athwart our bows, he poured in a deadly broadside, which mowed down our men like grass. The two vessels were now nearly alongside of each other, the carnage was dreadful. Poor Manners, badly wounded in both legs, was carried on the poop, where he remained on his knees, his left elbow on the larboard round-house, and waving his sword in his right to encourage his men, until a musket shot through the head from the enemy’s main-top deprived this talented and gallant young officer of existence and spared him the pain of lowering his country’s flag to her foe. The action was continued, and the first lieutenant and master being both badly wounded, the gunner, in the absence of the second lieutenant, left at Cork, was called up from the magazine to take the command, but not making his appearance in time, the action was continued by the captain’s clerk. In this condition, with seventy out of a crew of one hundred and nine killed and wounded, and the brig a perfect wreck, so as to be unmanageable, we were compelled to strike.”

It is unnecessary to comment on this action, and its deplorable results, which, against such an overwhelming disparity of force, ought
to
have been foreseen. The
Reindeer
mounted
eighteen twenty-four pounders, and had one hundred and nine men. The
Wasp,
twenty six 32-pounders, and upwards of two hundred men; these were for the most part English seamen, who, having no other alternative than victory or an ignominious death, would, like the crew of the
Essex,
combat with the almost supernatural energy of despair. For this among other national benefits, we are indebted to the sages who some time before had turned adrift all our old men-of-war’s men, of eleven years standing, to seek their fortunes wheresoever they might list. Captured in our merchant ships, these ill-used men, indignant at their treatment, and having to choose between a prison or comfortable quarters, good wages, and other inducements, would not long hesitate. This policy deprived us of nine of our best men, all petty officers, and well affected to the service. Might it not have been better to have offered them an extra bounty and allowed them to volunteer for those cruisers most likely to fall in with our powerful adversaries? What might not poor Lambert have done with three hundred such as these? It is said, that previously to his sailing, he wrote to the Admiralty, requesting a survey of his crew, and reporting their inefficient state. He was answered by a certain
ci-devant
secretary, that “if he had any disinclination to go to India in the
Java,
some one should be found to supersede him,”
[The
Java
was taken by the USS
Constitution
on December 29, 1812.]
Well might old Admiral O, when asked how it was the Yankees were walking off with our frigates? exclaim with honest indignation, “Look at your Admiralty, what are they composed of?”

⁴
George M. Dallas (1792–1864), later vice president of the United States under James K. Polk.

⁵
Pawn.

⁶
Smellfungus was Sterne’s name for Smollett, so earned for the unforgiving and discontented tone of his
Travels Through France and Italy
(1766).

“I
N THE
K
ING’S
S
ERVICE, 1793–1794,”
and “With Stopford in the Basque Roads, 1808–1809”

A Mariner of England: An Account of William Richardson from Cabin Boy in the Merchant Service to Warrant Officer in the Royal Navy [1780 to 1819] as Told by Himself
ed. Colonel Spencer Childers, C.B., R.E., was published in 1908 by John Murray of London. “In the King’s Service” is part (pp. 100–11) of chap. 5 of the original; “With Stopford in the Basque Roads” is part (pp. 228–57, with some omissions) of chap. 10. The chapter titles and text used in
Every Man Will Do His Duty
are from the 1908 edition.

“Commence the Work of Destruction: The Glorious First of June, 1794,” and “An Unequal Match, 1807–1808”

These two passages were excerpted from
A Narrative of My Adventures (1790–1839),
by Sir William Henry Dillon, K.C.H., Vice-Admiral of the Red, edited by Michael A. Lewis, C.B.E., MA., F.S.A.,F.R.Hist.S., for the Navy Records Society and published in two volumes as
Dillons Narrative: Vol. 1,1790–1802
(Navy Records Society vol. 93, 1953) and
Dillon’s Narrative: Vol
2,
1802-1839
(Navy Records Society, vol. 97, 1956). “Commence the Work of Destruction, 1794,” originally appeared in vol. 1, chap. 3, “The Revolutionary War: The First of June/April 1794–December 1794” (aet. 13J4-14H).”“An Unequal Match, 1808,” originally appeared in vol. 2, chap. 10, “Post Captain: September 1807–April 1808 (aet. 27–27
¹
/
₂
).” The annotations are those of Michael Lewis.

In his introduction to
Dillon’s Narrative,
Lewis writes:

The trouble with the sea-novelists as a group is that they tend to “typify” their characters. There is a suspicious family likeness between all Captains, all First Lieutenants, all Midshipmen, all Warrant Officers. Dillon has none of this weakness. There is no reason why he should, because all his characters are so plainly real people drawn from life; and life does not reproduce such straight similarities, even when it places men in similar environments. It is for this reason more than any other that this Narrative of Dillon’s is probably the finest naval-social document of his period yet discovered, (vol. 1, p. xxxi)

“The Noted Pimp of Lisbon and an Unwanted Promotion in Bull Bay, 1794”

This passage appears as “Gorgon, 44,” pp. 155–71, in
Recollections of James Anthony Gardner, Commander R.N. (1775–1814),
ed. Sir R. Vesey Hamilton, G.C.B., Admiral, and John Knox Laughton, M.A., D.Litt, for the Navy Records Society, 1906.

In his introduction to a later edition, entitled
Above and Under Hatches
(London: Batchworth Press, 1955), editor Christopher Lloyd writes,

Compared with other naval memoirs of the period, it may be said that Gardner’s are by far the most racy and colourful. … He had an eye for detail and a natural turn of phrase which any professional novelist might envy. He is, in fact, the literary counterpart of Rowlandson, and in the literature of the sea he stands in the first rank. These recollections have been the favorite reading of members of the Navy Records Society since they were first printed for the Society in 1906. … (p. xv)

Ed. note:
This chapter has been substantially rearranged for this volume. Gardner tended to deliver a quick and dry summary of the movements of his ship and then to follow that with a series of anecdotes and observations. Here, for readability, the anecdotes and observations have been inserted into their respective places of occurrence during the
Gorgon’s
voyage.

“For the Good of My Own Soul, 1795,” and “Mad Dickey’s Amusement, 1798–1800”

These two chapters are excerpted from
The Nagle Journal: Diary of the Life of Jacob Nagle, Sailor, from the Year 1775 to 1841
(New York: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1988). The former is part of a chapter entitled “Run to India” (pp. 182–90), and the latter is the chapter entitled “Prizemaster of HMS Netley” (pp. 218–44). The diary is edited and annotated by John C. Dann. Nagle’s spelling and grammar appear as they do
in his original diary; all bracketed notations are Dann’s. Both passages are reprinted by the permission of John C. Dann.

“They Would as Soon Have Faced the Devil Himself as Nelson, 1796”

This passage originally appeared as “Nelson at Bastia,” by An Old Agamemnon [and also signed M.C.] in
United Service Journal,
Feb. 1841, no. 147: 212–18.

“The Battle of Cape St. Vincent, 1797”

This passage was taken from the second edition of
A Narrative of the Battle of St. Vincent; with Anecdotes of Nelson, Before and After that Battle,
by Colonel Drinkwater Bethune, F.S.A. (London: Saunders and Otley, 2d ed., 1840). Courtesy of the Naval War College.

“The Fortune of War, 1799”

This passage is taken from
A Master Mariner: Being the Life and Adventures of Captain Robert William Eastwick,
ed. Herbert Compton (London: T. Fisher Unwin, and New York: Macmillan, 1891). It originally appeared as chapter 7 (pp. 130–51).

“The Audacious Cruise of the
Speedy,
1800–1801”

This passage originally appeared as “Cruise of the ‘Speedy,’” chap. 5, in
The Autobiography of a Seaman,
by Thomas, Tenth Earl of Dundonald, G.C.B., Admiral of the Red, Rear-Admiral of the Fleet, Marquess of Maranham, etc. (London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1890), pp. 38–54.

Cochrane’s action served as the historical basis for much of Patrick O’Brian’s first Aubrey-Maturin novel,
Master and Commander.

“Bermuda in the Peace, 1802–1803,” and “When I Beheld These Men Spring from the Ground, 1809”

The Midshipman: Being the Autobiographical Sketches of His Own Early Career, from Fragments of Voyages and Travels,
by Captain Basil Hall, R.N., F.R.S. (London: Bell and Daldy and Sampson Low, Son, and Co., 1865).
Fragments of Voyages and Travels
was originally published in three volumes between 1831 and 1833 and was frequently reprinted. In “Bermuda in the Peace, 1802–1803 the passage here entitled “A Whale of an Adventure” was originally “Bermuda in the Peace” (pp. 50–63). The section here entitled “History of Shakings, the Middies’ Cur” was originally “Midshipmen’s Pranks—History of Shakings” (pp. 64–78).

The passage entitled “When I Beheld These Men Spring from the Ground, 1809” comes from chaps. 24 and 25 of the original (pp. 262–95).

“The Battle of Trafalgar, 1805”

This passage was originally published in
Nautical Economy
by Jack Nastyface in 1836. The author’s real name, which he concealed for fear of reprisal, was William Robinson. The book later appeared as
Jack Nastyface: Memoirs of a Seaman
(Hove, East Sussex: Wayland Ltd., 1973).

“The Death of Lord Nelson, 1805”

This passage was taken from
The Death of Lord Nelson, 21 Oct. 1805,
2d ed., by William Beatty, M.D.; ed. and originally published by Edward Arber, F.S.A., 1807. (Birmingham: War Library, 1894).

In his preface to
The Death of Lord Nelson,
Arber writes,

This little book … is valuable not only for giving us the fullest and most authoritative account in existence of Lord Nelson’s death; but also for much interesting information respecting his life, from one who knew him well. Especially would we note that “He possessed such a wonderful activity of mind as even prevented him from taking ordinary repose, seldom enjoying two hours of uninterrupted sleep; and on several occasions he did not quit the deck during the whole night.”

“‘Damn ’em, Jackson, They’ve Spoilt My Dancing,’1809–1812”

This passage originally appeared in chaps. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 (pp. 138–219) of
The Perilous Adventures and Vicissitudes of a Naval Officer, 1801–1812; Being Part of the Memoirs of Admiral George Vernon Jackson (1787-1876),
ed. Harold Burrows, C.B.E., F.R.C.S. (Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons Ltd., 1927).