Part 10

"Alexis Count Orloff, appointed to command the Mediterranean fleet, has declined that honour, and left the court," says the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for April, 1788; "and Admiral Greig, on whom it in course devolved, has pleaded the necessity of a journey to his native country, to be excused from that service." The armament offered Greig by the Empress was on a magnificent scale; it consisted of twenty-eight ships of the line, three of them carrying 100 guns and 800 officers and seamen each; six of 90 guns, with 650 seamen each; four of 80 guns, with 600 seamen each; eleven of 74 guns, with 500 men each; two of 64 guns, with 400 men each; two hundred and forty-eight sail of frigates, sloops, and transports, containing eleven battalions of infantry; two carracques, with 1000 horse, and seven of marines; twenty-five victual and hospital ships, mounting in all 1194 pieces of cannon, and having 28,000 men on board.

But the admiral does not seem either to have visited Scotland or sailed with this armament to the Mediterranean, as he assumed command of the Imperial Baltic fleet, destined to oppose the Duke of Sudermania, brother of the King of Sweden, who put to sea with twenty-one sail, consisting of the _Gustavus_, 111, _Sophia_, _Magdalena_, and _Prins Gustaf_, of 70 guns each; nine 60-gun ships, six 40-gun frigates, and three smaller vessels.

Count Wachdmeister led the van, Captain Linderstedt the rear. Sweden made incredible exertions in this war, the object of which was to retake Finland and Carelia; four 40-gun frigates were fitting out at Gottenberg, and nine ships of the line at Carlscrona. The news of these and other armaments filled St. Petersburg with something very like consternation; but Greig prepared for sea with all the vessels he could collect, and the utmost activity prevailed at Riga, where Count Brown, a veteran Irish general, was governor. Greig declared, however, to the Empress, that if the United Kingdoms of Great Britain engaged in this war antagonistic to Russia, he would feel himself under the painful necessity of resigning his high rank, and returning to his former position of lieutenant in the Royal Navy; "that he would always exert himself to the utmost against any other power who might be in alliance with the enemy, but that he would never fire a shot in the face of his native country." He ordered the calibre of the ship guns to be altered, directing that all from 24-pounders downwards should be of less weight with a larger bore.

In May, 1788, while war and preparations were pending, a dispute ensued between the Empress and upwards of sixty British officers of her fleet, on occasion of a rumour being spread abroad, that she meant to receive into her service Paul Jones, the celebrated Scottish renegade. These gentlemen, nearly all of whom were Scotsmen, waited on the President of the Admiralty, and resigned their commissions, delivering, at the same time, a manifesto, "whereby they not only refused to serve under, but even _with_ that officer." The French officers who were paid by the Czarina displayed the same repugnance to have this famous privateersman for a comrade; and by this dispute, which, however, was soon arranged, ten sail of the line were for a time completely unofficered. To the satisfaction of Admiral Greig and his compatriots, it was arranged, that "Mr. Jones should never be appointed to command in that part of the ocean where they were employed." In the meantime, a scandalous adventure of the Chevalier Paul with a girl of loose character, ended his hope of employment _even_ under Catherine II.

Greig now received from the Emperor of Germany a present of 10,000 roubles and a valuable estate in Livonia. This was just before he sailed from Cronstadt with the fleet, which consisted of one three-decker, eight 74-gun ships, eight 66-gun ships, and seven frigates, to oppose the formidable force of the Duke of Sudermania, whom he overtook between the island of Schten Seaker and the Bay of Cabo de Grund.

The Duke of Sudermania states, that with thirty-one sail he was cruising in the Narrows of Kalkboden and Elkhomen in a dense fog, with an easterly wind, when, early on the morning of the 17th of July, the report of alarm guns ahead summoned his crews hurriedly to quarters, and almost before order of battle could be assumed, amid the dangers of a lee shore, enveloped in the morning mist, the fleet of the Scoto-Russian Admiral, consisting then of thirty-three sail, all in close order, were within gunshot, his van being close to the prince's centre. After considerable manoeuvring, in which the skill of Greig is praised by the prince in his dispatch, they were within musket-shot by five P.M., when the battle began in all its fury, and sixty-four ships, twenty-nine of which were sail of the line, engaged in all the carnage of a yard-arm conflict; and so thickly did the smoke of the Russian fleet settle down upon the Swedes, "that it was impossible to make or answer signals," says the Duke of Sudermania, "or even to distinguish our own line."

The duke was in the _Charles Gustavus_, a three-decker; Greig fought his own ship, the _Rotislaw_ of 100 guns; and the operations of the day are thus detailed by him in his dispatch to the Empress:--

"I most humbly beg to inform your Imperial Majesty, that on the 17th of July, about noon, we fell in with the Swedish fleet, consisting of fifteen ships of the line, carrying from sixty to seventy guns; eight large frigates (carrying 24-pounders), which were brought into the line owing to their weight of metal; five smaller frigates, and three tenders, commanded by the Prince of Sudermania, with an admiral's flag, and having under his command one vice and two rear admirals. I immediately signalled to make sail towards the enemy; they formed line and awaited us--our fleet, as it came up, formed also. The weather was clear, with a light breeze from the south-east. We bore right down on the enemy's line, and my flagship, the _Rotislaw_, engaged the Swedish admiral about five P.M.

"The engagement was very hot on both sides, and lasted without intermission till six. Twice the Swedes attempted to retreat, but as it fell quite calm during the contest, and the ships would not answer their helms, the two fleets fell into some confusion, but the fire was kept up on both sides till dark, and then the Swedes, assisted by their boats, got to a distance from our ships. In this action we have taken the _Prince Gustavus_, of 70 guns, which carried the vice-admiral's flag.

"She was defended with great bravery for more than an hour against the _Rotislaw_, and we had above 200 men killed and wounded on board before she struck. On board of her was the Count Wachdmeister, A.D.C. General to the King of Sweden, who commanded the van of the Swedish fleet. He came on board of my ship with an officer whom I sent to take possession, and delivered to me his flag and sword. In consideration of his gallant defence, I restored to him the latter.

"I am sorry to inform your Majesty, that in the night, and _after_ the battle had ceased, the _Wadislaw_ dropped astern of our line and fell among the Swedish fleet, by whom she was taken, as the darkness of the night and the thickness of the smoke concealed her from us. I received notice of this disaster about midnight from a petty officer, who was dispatched to me before the enemy took possession. In this engagement several of your Majesty's ships have received considerable damage, and the whole fleet so much in masts and rigging, that I was not in a condition to pursue the enemy, who, favoured by the wind, crowded all the sail they could to reach the coast of Finland, to the east of Cabo de Grund, and we lost sight of them steering north-east. This

## action began between the island of Schten Seaker and the Bay of Cabo

de Grund, the former bearing SSE. distant three German miles, and the latter NWW. about the same distance, seven and a half miles east of Hohlang. I subjoin a list of the killed and wounded. The whole fleet are now repairing sails and rigging.

"I must say, on this occasion, that I never saw a battle maintained with more spirit and courage on both sides; and we have nothing to boast of but the capture of the commander of the vanguard, and that the enemy left _us in possession_ of the field of battle. All the flag officers, and the greater portion of the captains gave proofs of the utmost courage and firmness; and the bravery of the subaltern officers in general is entitled to every praise; BUT it is with grief, that I am obliged to declare myself very much dissatisfied with the conduct of certain captains, whom I shall be under the necessity of superseding. This will be done after a more particular inquiry, the account of which I shall transmit to your Majesty. If they had done their duty like good officers and faithful subjects, this action would have been more completely decisive, and have produced consequences equally satisfactory to your Majesty and your glorious empire. I must not fail, at the same time, to make a special report of those who, on this occasion, personally distinguished themselves by their courage and conduct. (Here follow the lists.)

"Sam. Carlovitch Greig.

"H.I.M. Ship _Rotislaw_, July 18th, 1788."

The duke says that his fleet was swept round by the current, and every ship was thus raked fore and aft by those of Greig; that after a lull in the conflict, it was renewed at 8 P.M., when, after another desperate encounter, the Swedish fleet, with lights at the mast-heads, bore away for Helsingfors with all sail set, leaving the _Prins Gustaf_, of seventy guns, lying disabled and without a flag; that many of the Russian ships were severely mauled, but the Swedes were riddled; for masts, spars, and even the rudders of some were knocked to pieces, while most of them had received perilous shots between wind and water.

The _Wadislaw_, which they took, was a copper-bottomed seventy-four, carrying 32 and 42-pounders, with 738 men. It was ten at night before the last shot was fired. The Russians remained masters of the channel, with all their colours flying; but had the officers all done their duty, the Swedes would not have escaped so easily, if at all. Greig had 6000 troops on board; their presence in close action greatly increased his list of casualties, for he had 319 killed and 666 wounded, whereas the Swedes had only eight officers struck, and the number of seamen is not known.

Admiral Greig was soon after reinforced by four ships of the line; but as the Duke of Sudermania received six more of seventy guns each, the fleets remained of nearly equal strength.

Count Wachdmiester had yielded his sword to Greig, who returned it to him, saying, "I will never be the man to deprive so brave and worthy an officer of his sword--I beseech you to receive it."

After making a suitable reply, the count sheathed it, and said, "that neither he nor any other person in Sweden believed that the Russian fleet was in so admirable a condition as he found it."

The Russian seamen had fought with incredible ardour and bravery; when the wadding ran short, many of them tore off their clothing to clean and charge home the cannon; but _all_ the officers were by no means partners in their glory; for Greig found himself under the painful necessity of placing under arrest two captains, two captain-lieutenants, and thirteen other officers, all Russians, and sending them to St. Petersburg in the frigate _La Kergopolte_, of twenty-four guns, charged with having "abandoned Rear-Admiral Bergen when he was surrounded by four Swedish ships, and defending himself against them for two hours with the greatest bravery, till he was compelled to strike, when his ship, the _Wadislaw_, was completely shattered."

Sir Samuel Greig added, that he had repeatedly signalled to those officers "to advance and support the commander of their division, but that either from not understanding the said signals, or from some other reason, they remained where they were, and saw him taken." Concerning their misconduct, and the battle of the 17th July, the Empress immediately wrote, with her own hand, the following characteristic letter to her gallant Admiral:--

"TO THE MOST WORTHY AND BRAVE, &C.

"We should be wanting in that gratitude and politeness which should ever distinguish sovereigns, did we not with the utmost speed convey to you our approbation of your exemplary conduct; and the obligations which we owe you for your intrepid conduct in your engagement with the fleet of our enemy, the Swedish king. To the constant exertion of _your abilities_, and _your zeal_ for the glory of the common cause of ourselves and the whole Russian Empire, may, under God, be attributed the very signal victory you have gained; and we have not the smallest doubt, but that every part of our dominions, to which this event shall be transmitted, will behold it in its proper view. It is with grief we read the record of these poltroons, who, unable to catch fire from the spirited exertions of their brother-warriors, have so signalized themselves in the annals of treasonable cowardice! and to that cowardice the Swede has to boast that any ship of their fleet escaped when so encountered.

"It is our pleasure that the delinquents mentioned in your despatch be immediately brought to Cronstadt, to await our further displeasure. We sincerely wish _you_, and all with you, health, and the most signal assistance of the Almighty God, whose aid we have invoked, and of whose assistance we cannot doubt in a cause so just.

"Your services will live perpetually in our remembrance; and the annals of our Empire must convey your name to posterity with reverence and with love!

"So saying, we recommend you to God's keeping ever. Done at St. Petersburg, the 23rd of July, in the year of grace 1788.

"Catherine."

The punishment of the seventeen unfortunates was peculiarly Russian in its barbarity; for they were placed in chains, with iron collars around their necks, and doomed to perpetual slavery in the hulks at Cronstadt, though many were cadets of the noblest Muscovite families.

In 1789, Professor Schloeger, of Gottingen, published in his political magazine the orders issued by the Czarina to the admiral before leaving Cronstadt; and by these it appears, that he "was to attack, and, if possible, to carry away the Swedish admiral-general, even at the total loss of the whole fleet of Russia."

For nearly a fortnight Greig busied himself in thoroughly refitting his fleet; on the 6th of August he signalled to weigh anchor at dawn, and on the 7th arrived off Sveaborg, where he found four Swedish ships at anchor in the roads; but they cut their cables, and, under a press of sail, retired into port in confusion. Greig followed them boldly, and just as his leading ship came within musket-shot of the sternmost Swede, the latter struck upon a sunken rock; her mainmast went by the board, and after maintaining a short cannonade with Admiral Roslainow, she struck her colours. The other three escaped into shallow water. Greig's boats took possession of the bilged ship, which proved to be the _Gustavus Adolphus_, of 64 guns, commanded by _Colonel_ Christierne, who was taken prisoner with thirteen officers and 530 men, after which Greig ordered her to be blown up. He next seized a ship laden with cables, sails, medicine, &c., for the Swedish fleet.

Meanwhile the Duke of Sudermania remained a quiet spectator in Sveaborg, where he was completely blocked up by Greig, although he had under his command sixteen ships of the line and eight frigates.

Till the 9th Greig remained off Sveaborg, which is strongly fortified by nature and art, and then, in the hope that the duke would come out, as the wind was favourable for his doing so, he sailed slowly across the Gulf of Finland towards the opposite coast of Revel, and on his approaching the isle of Margen, placed his cruisers towards the west, so as completely to cut off the Swedish fleet from all succour by way of Carlscrona, and to prevent them forming a junction with five ships laden with stores, of which they were in the greatest need.

Here Greig was joined by two 64-gun ships; and on the 14th of August he was off Revel in Esthonia. Meanwhile the Swedish and Russian troops had many fierce encounters in Finland; but the former were unsuccessful, and this expedition ended in defeat and disaster.

The indefatigable Greig continued to cruise in the gulf until the month of October; and, though suffering from a severe illness, he completely blocked up the Swedes in Sveaborg, cut them off from succour, and saved St. Petersburg from alarm.

On the 2nd October, the weather became exceedingly stormy, and the Russian fleet were all dispersed. Then the Duke of Sudermania thought he might essay something against Greig; but, though sick and infirm, the latter soon collected all his ships, and the blockade was resumed more strictly than ever; but, unhappily, his illness terminated in a violent fever, and, on the 26th of that month the brave admiral expired, in the fifty-third year of his age, on board of his flagship the _Rotislaw_, to the great sorrow of every officer and seaman in the fleet, where, by his bravery, justice, generosity, and goodness of heart, he had indeed won for himself the honourable title of the _Father of the Russian Navy_.

The tidings of his death were the signal for a general mourning at St. Petersburg; and, while Admiral Spiritoff assumed the command of the fleet, the Empress ordered the interment of her favourite officer to be conducted with a pomp, solemnity, and magnificence never before witnessed in Russia.

The funeral took place on the 5th of December. Some days before it, the body lay on a state bed in the hall of the Admiralty, which was hung with black cloth, while the doors were festooned with white crape, and the vast apartment was lighted by silver lustres. Under a canopy of crape the body was placed on three small arches, dressed in full uniform, the head being encircled by a wreath of laurel. At its foot stood an urn, adorned with silver anchors and streamers, inscribed--

"S.G. nat. d. 30 Nov. 1735--obit d. 15 Oct. 1788."

The coffin stood on six feet of massy silver. It was covered with black velvet, lined with white satin; the handles and fringes were of pure silver, and the pillows of blonde lace. On three tabourettes of crimson and gold lay his five orders of knighthood--one of them, the St. George's Cross, mutilated by a shot in the Archipelago; and around were twelve pedestals, covered with crape and flowers, bearing twelve gigantic candles. At the head of the bed hung all his flags; and two staff officers and six marine captains were constantly beside it until the day of interment, when Lieutenant the Baron Vanden Pahlen pronounced a high eulogy in honour of the brave deceased.

The cannon of the ramparts and fleet fired minute-guns during the procession from the Admiralty to the Cathedral of St. Catherine, through streets lined by the troops. The funeral pageant was very magnificent and impressive.

Swartzenhoup's dragoons, with standards lowered; the grenadiers of the Empress, with arms reversed; the public schools of the capital; the clergy of the Greek Church; General Lehman, of the marine artillery, and two marshals bearing Greig's admiral's staff and five orders of knighthood; eighteen staff officers, and three bearing naval standards, preceded the body, which was borne on a bier drawn by six horses, led by six bombardiers, and attended by twelve captains of ships, followed by their coxswains. Then came General Wrangel, governor of the city, with the nobles, citizens, the marshals with their staves, and a regiment of infantry with arms reversed, and its band playing one of those grand dead-marches which are peculiar to Russia. So, with a band of choristers preceding it, and amid the tolling of bells, the remains of Admiral Greig were conveyed to the great cathedral, and there lowered into their last resting-place, amid three discharges of cannon and musketry from the ramparts, the troops, and the fleet, where he was so well beloved and so much lamented.

Every officer who attended had a gold ring presented to him by Catherine II., with the admiral's name and the day of his death engraved upon it; and a magnificent monument has since been erected to mark the place where he lies--a man "no less illustrious for courage and naval skill, than for piety, benevolence, and every private virtue."

His estate in Livonia is still in possession of his descendants.

His son John died in China in 1793. Another son became Sir Alexis Greig, Admiral of the Russian fleet, and Knight of all the Imperial orders. In 1783 he studied at the High School of Edinburgh; he served as a volunteer on board the _Culloden_ under Admiral Trowbridge, and commanded the Russian fleets at the sieges of Varna and Anapa in 1828; though in 1801 he had been exiled to Siberia for remonstrating with the Emperor Paul for his severity to certain British sailors. His son Woronzow Greig (also educated, I believe, at the High School of Edinburgh) was A.D.C. to Prince Menschicoff, and bore a flag of truce from Sebastopol to Lord Raglan. He died of a mortal wound on the desperate field of Inkermann.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 8: His father was a seafaring man. In the _Edinburgh Courant_, 24th June, 1761, was the following notice: "The _Thistle_, Capt. Charles Greig, of Inverkeithing, bound for St. Petersburg, passed the Sound on the 6th instant." In Russia, the admiral bore the name of Samuel _Carlovitch_ Greig (_i.e._ the son of Charles).]

[Footnote 9: Tooke states that Mrs. Greig was not at Leghorn; but the French authorities affirm that she was, and place this event in 1774.]

[Footnote 10: In the battle with the Swedes in 1790, four Russian ships were commanded by Scottish captains, viz., Denniston, whose head was shot off; Marshal, who was drowned when leading his boarders; Miller and Aikin, who each lost a leg. The latter died under the torture of his wound. Six Russian admirals, all Scotchmen, Mackenzie, Ogilvie, Mercer, Mason, and the two Greigs, have hoisted their flags in the Black Sea. Mackenzie was the first naval chief at Sebastopol.--See Slade's _Travels_, vol. ii.]

FIELD-MARSHAL COUNT BROWN.

Ulysses Maximilian Brown, Field-Marshal of the armies of the Empress Maria Theresa, Governor of Prague, and Knight of the Golden Fleece, was born on the 24th of October, 1705.