Frigate Commander (31 page)

The
Melampus
being short of provisions, the Purser and one of the officers were dispatched to Londonderry to purchase more. This brief stay in the Lough was not without incident:

One of our best seamen died suddenly in his hammock the day we went into Lough Swilly, and another whom I had given leave to assist at his funeral, deserted.

On the evening of the 17th, Moore arranged a dinner on board the
Melampus
for Ranelagh and some army officers. They were sitting in the middle of this repast when an excited messenger arrived with intelligence that two days earlier a brig had moored south-west of the Lough to land arms on the coast. Ranelagh immediately leapt from the table and returned to his ship, ordering Moore to lose no time in putting to sea. Moore sailed with the naval cutter
Cygnet
, in company, but he had to leave behind his two officers together with the provisions which they had been sent to purchase. Once outside the shelter of the Lough, the three ships began to encounter a heavy sea and strong winds. Continuing along the coast of Donegal they learned that the brig they were searching for was the
Anacreon
, carrying the rebel leader Napper Tandy, who had landed with arms and a small body of men, to support the rising. Tandy had departed again on the 17th, having learned both of Humbert’s surrender and the lack of local popular support for the rising. Moore was not surprised about the latter. Even the rebels in Wexford, he believed, were not inspired by

. . . the Hum Bugs of the Rights of Man etc, but they all could feel the hardship of paying tithes to the Clergy of a Religion they hated, and they were stupid enough to be easily persuaded that the Orange men intended to extirpate them.

Ranelagh decided they should continue cruising off Tory Island, partly in the hope of falling in with the
Anacreon
– though in all seriousness they had little faith in this – but also because the frigates cruising to the west had been lucky taking prizes. The
Melampus
had not been on a really good cruising ground for the best part of eight months, and Moore knew that time was running out, for the
Melampus
was short of provisions and in need of a refit. As the two frigates searched to the westward in the vain hope of taking a prize, Moore turned once again to self-deprecation:

This month I am 34. No Chicken – but certainly a man who has not made the most of his talent. Except in the faculties and affections given him by Nature and Education, but an ordinary fellow. Shall I ever rouse myself to exertion. I say (the head being the dupe of the heart) yes, when I have finished this romance which now occupies me . . .

The frigates returned to Lough Swilly on 25 September, but they were beset by heavy gales and unable to send boats ashore to collect their provisions.

Nevertheless, they were able to collect the latest intelligence regarding the French squadron, and it was now confirmed that Bompart’s squadron of nine ships had left Brest and were somewhere at sea, bound for Ireland. On the 28th the gale worsened and even though the two frigates were in the comparative shelter of the Lough, they were obliged to strike their upper masts and yards. Moore could not help wondering how Bompart was faring in this storm;

The French ships crammed with troops must be in a shocking pickle. I fear they have put back, for if at sea this gale will do their business . . .

Even so, within a couple of days Ranelagh received orders to sail immediately to reinforce Faulknor in the frigate
Doris
, at Killala Bay. Faulknor had been ordered to intercept Bompart and he seems to have positioned himself at Killala because this was the place that Humbert had landed. However, both
Melampus
and
Doris
were still pinned in Lough Swilly by the winds, and neither frigate had yet been able to complete her provisions because of the gales.

At last, on 3 October, the wind changed and the two ships weighed anchor at around noon. Just as they were standing towards the mouth of the Lough, the battery there started to signal to them. Unable to distinguish the signals, but believing it might be something important, the frigates hove to while the pilot cutter went ashore. Four impatient hours passed until the cutter returned with what indeed seemed to be important news. The French squadron had been sighted on the 22nd and was now being shadowed by three English frigates. Ten ships had been sighted off Telling Head the previous day. Telling Head lay en route to Killala Bay, but Ranelagh seemed to be hesitant about the course of action he should take. To Moore’s exasperated mind, it seemed obvious; head west to Telling Head and then south-west to Killala. Finally, Ranelagh ordered their departure, and the two frigates crept westwards during the night. At daylight, Moore’s impatience overcame him and he pressed ahead in the hope of seeing something;

I hope this lingering and loitering may have no worse consequences than the mortal disgust and fretting it has occasioned in me, but if it should prove the cause of our missing an opportunity of being employed against the Enemy, I shall curse the cause of it with all my soul.

On 5 October the two frigates stood in to Killala Bay, but there was no sign of either the French or Faulknor. The two captains were already aware that, several weeks before, a dispatch from Humbert had been intercepted recommending Black Sod Bay as a good landing place and Moore believed that this was where they should now find Faulknor, so they set off towards the west once more. The following day, the two frigates were off Broad Haven in fine weather. The wind had come round to the south, and Moore firmly believed this would bring the French very shortly. Here they received another intelligence dispatch, which confirmed that the French were being shadowed by the frigates
Ethalion
,
Amelia
and
Anson
. Indeed, it was Captain George Countess in the
Ethalion
who had first intercepted the French, and he had clung doggedly to their heels ever since.

Ranelagh proposed that they should patrol on a line west by north of Broad Haven for, if the French came this far north, they would have to pass through this zone. Moore agreed, though he seems not to have been entirely happy with the plan, as it was hardly consistent with their orders to reinforce Faulknor. By the time they had reached a point some fifty miles from the coast, the weather had turned thick with misty rain. Visibility fell sharply, so they turned back towards Broad Haven but on the following evening, 9 October, the two frigates became enshrouded in thick fog, and Moore lost all contact with Ranelagh. The wind was still from the south, and just before daybreak the
Melampus
’ lookouts sighted a frigate to the south. Moore decided that this must be Faulknor in the
Doris
so he bore up to close with her. As the day brightened, and the weather cleared, they suddenly saw that they were heading for a line comprising a battleship accompanied by three other large ships. They were already within shot of the battleship and Moore immediately wore away from them, and spread all sail as quickly as he could. The ships began signalling in response, and to Moore’s relief, he found that he had run not into the French but into Sir John Borlase Warren’s squadron, consisting of the 74-gun ships
Canada
and
Robust
, the 84-gun
Foudroyant
, and the heavy frigate
Magnanime
. When Ranelagh arrived in the
Doris
, Warren immediately took them both under his command, giving them orders to patrol on a line from the squadron. Before they could depart, the
Amelia
hove into view bringing news that six days earlier she had left the
Ethalion
and
Anson
still shadowing the French squadron. Moore decided to delay his departure from Warren’s squadron until the next day, hoping that the French would put in an appearance before he had sailed too far away to get into any engagement.

Two days later, although the
Melampus
was off Eagle Island, Warren’s squadron was still in sight. During the course of the morning the wind became so violent that, rather conveniently, Moore was obliged to return to the squadron. Then, at around noon, the frigates
Ethalion
and
Anson
appeared in the south, and not far behind them, the top masts of Bompart’s squadron appeared over the horizon. On board the
Canada
, signals were hoisted ordering a general chase, and the ships of the English squadron immediately began making more sail after Bompart, whose squadron, it could be seen, had now turned to the south-west. Through the afternoon and night the English ships pressed on with all possible sail, regardless of frequent heavy squalls of rain and hail. This was not without consequences, for the
Anson
carried away her mizzenmast and was forced to bear up to clear the wreckage, and several other ships split sails. Moore was ordered to take the
Melampus
to leeward of both the
Canada
and
Foudroyant
, to discourage the French from attempting to drop to leeward of the squadron. On the morning of the 12 October, with the wind at west-north-west but now much lighter, the French squadron was still visible close to windward, with
Canada
,
Foudroyant
and
Melampus
to leeward (i.e. to the south-east) of them. Warren closed and wore the
Canada
round the sternmost of the ships and crossed to windward of them, while the
Robust
and the frigate
Magnanime
, commanded by Captain Michael de Courcy, brought the rearmost ships to action;

Finding myself alone with the French between me and the
Canada,
I bore down to join the
Foudroyant
to leeward. I expected at that time that Sir Thomas Bayard, the Captain of that ship, would have stood on towards the French van to have stopt them, but he tacked, as I suppose for the purpose of joining the
Robust
and
Magnanime,
who had just begun to fire upon the French Rear; Sir John Warren had made the signal for the ships to engage and to form as best they could for mutual support. I tacked along with the
Foudroyant,
but seeing that this manoeuvre would throw us out I wore immediately and made all sail towards the Body of the Enemy’s squadron. The
Foudroyant
doing the same. At this time the French Commodore’s ship
Le Hoche
which had lost her main top mast in the chase the day before, was engaged with the
Magnanime
and
Robust,
being supported by some of his heavy frigates. The rest of the French ships drew out in good order, apparently with the design of receiving the
Foudroyant
and
Melampus.
The light winds and the swell retarded us a good deal, and we were a good deal exposed to the Enemy’s fire before I would open, being afraid of firing into the
Robust
and
Magnanime.
When we got a clear place between these two, we began a very well directed fire on
Le Hoche
and then passing the
Robust
we continued to fire at her antagonist until she struck, the
Robust
being at that time on her beam and cutting her up. As soon as
Le Hoche
struck we pressed on after the rest, we being the leading ship, the
Foudroyant
on our lee bow about six points; the next ship
La Coquille
struck on receiving a few distant shot from the
Foudroyant
and on seeing us all ready to give her a close fire, being well up on her quarter. I determined to engage the frigates successively as we came up with them and to leave them to be taken possession of by the ships astern viz the
Robust
and
Magnanime
which had both suffered considerably in their Rigging. At this time the
Canada
was the nearest ship to us astern, a French frigate
L’Embuscade
which had suffered nothing apparently was on our bow firing her stern chase guns at us. We shot up alongside, but not so near as I wished, and opened such a fire upon her, at about a cable’s length distance, as brought down her colours in about ten minutes, we passed on. The next was
La Bellone
; the wind was so light that we gained very little upon her, she hauled close to the wind to separate from the remaining five frigates and to endeavour to get off to windward, I hauled up after her, being the weather most and nearest to her. The
Ethalion
, which prior to this had only fired distant shot, being favoured by the breeze, passed to windward of us in chase of
La Bellone
, upon which I determined not to lose any more time after her as the
Ethalion
was sure of closing with her first, and was quite enough for her, I therefore bore up for the remainder of the Enemy, firing two or three distant broadsides at the
Bellone
as we passed on. The
Ethalion
soon after shot up abreast
La Bellone
and, after a spirited resistance, took her. The remaining five frigates were now making off, with all possible sail set. The
Canada, Foudroyant, Amelia
and us in pursuit, the
Amelia
was sent by Sir John to assist the
Robust
and
Magnanime
in securing the prizes. We were the weathermost ship and kept to the northward for the purpose of hemming them in with the land. At this time we saw the
Anson
directly to leeward and in the track of the flying enemy, without her mizenmast; she stood for the headmost of the five ships in the handsomest manner and endeavoured to close with her, but the enemy’s ship, which we have since found was
La Loire
not being at all disabled, by carrying a great press of sail passed the
Anson
, the two ships engaging as they passed but apparently at too great a distance. The
Anson
then stood for the van of the four other French ships and engaged them in the handsomest manner, keeping up a tremendous fire. The sternmost of the four hauled up athwart the stern of the
Anson
and passed her to windward, firing at her as she passed; the three others were engaged with the
Anson
until some time after dark, but from the disabled state of that ship she could not close with any one of them and they at length all passed her. A little before dark the
Canada
made our signal to observe the enemy’s motions during the night. Soon after the four French ships had passed the
Anson,
the
Canada
and
Foudroyant
likewise passed her in chase, we were on their weather bow, the wind being at this time NW and the four French ships nearly abreast of Tillen Head. My design was to pass on to the headmost one, leaving the others to the
Canada
and
Foudroyant
; as it was impossible for them to weather the land of Broadhaven or even to fetch Killala, as the wind then was. I had no fear of more than the headmost of all escaping. At 11 at night the weather became more hazy and the wind took us aback from the Southward, this brought the enemy’s ships on our weather quarter, we being on the larboard T
[ack].
I lost sight of them, but as I was perfectly sure where they were, I made the signal for their being in sight and kept a light at the mizzen top mast head all night to lead the
Canada
and
Foudroyant.
My design was to carry a press of sail all night so as to be able to weather the enemy on the other tack, if they stood off, and if they stood on the other tack they must either run on shore or be taken. At daylight we tacked but the wind still balked us, backing to the southward so as to enable both the
Canada
and
Foudroyant
to weather us: two only of the enemy’s ships appearing in sight a long way to windward I was convinced that three or at least two of them must be in shore of us either in Sligo or Donegal Bay. I made the signal for the two ships, and the
Foudroyant
’s signal was made to chase and our signal to pass within hail. Sir John Warren informed me that the
Anson
had chased a ship at three o’clock in the morning and he thought it probable she might be gone into Killybegs; I told him that we had not lost sight of the ships until just before the shift of wind, that I had no doubt of the two ships to windward being the headmost of the enemy, and of there being at least two, but I believed three in shore of us. Sir John said ‘I believe there may be one in Killybegs, you will go in and see; if there is but one you will take her, if there are two or three you will make the signal to me and I will come to your assistance.’ I answered that I was very happy to have the prospect of meeting the enemy and that I had no doubt of there being more than one. That I would not lose an instant.