Part 24

For none of the services detailed in the last two chapters did I ever receive praise or reward from the Admiralty authorities! though from the nature of the services they were necessarily accompanied by the deprivation of all chance of prize-money, either to myself, officers, or crew. The check opposed to the advance of the French in Catalonia—as testified by Lord Collingwood—was therefore made at _my expense_, without costing a farthing to the nation beyond the expenditure of ammunition; a strange contrast to some of the costly expeditions of the period for less results, and one which ought to have secured for me anything but the political animosity with which all my services were regarded.

CHAP. XVIII.

CRUISE OF THE _IMPÉRIEUSE_ CONTINUED.

DEFEAT OF THE SPANIARDS.—ATTACK SOME FRENCH VESSELS.—FRENCH OPERATIONS.—LETTER OF LORD COCHRANE.—LORD COLLINGWOOD.—OPERATIONS OF THE ENEMY.—FALL IN WITH THE CYRENE.—SAIL FOR MINORCA.—APPLY FOR LEAVE.—MOTIVES FOR LEAVING.—APATHY OF THE GOVERNMENT.—REPROACHED FOR SERVICE.—NEGLECT OF THE ADMIRALTY.

When in the roads of San Felin, on the 7th of December, a boat came off with a request from the Spanish commandant that I would reconnoitre the enemy’s position in the direction of Gerona. I had, at first, considerable doubts whether compliance with a request to act in a military capacity came within the sphere of a naval officer’s duty; but considering that Lord Collingwood’s instructions were to aid the Spaniards by any means within my power, I resolved for once to forego my reluctance to leave the frigate, and accordingly accompanied the commandant and his staff in the direction of the enemy, whom we found assembled in such numbers as to render successful opposition out of the question.

Being unable to advise the Spaniards in this locality to adopt any beneficial course, or indeed how to act in any effective way against the enemy, we again sailed in the direction of Barcelona, where a Spanish force of 40,000 men, under General Vives, was closely investing the town, so as to cut off supplies from the French garrison. As the consequent scarcity of provisions affected the inhabitants also, all who could afford to hire boats were quitting the place with their families; the garrison offering no obstacle.

On the 17th, a body of French—or rather Italian troops embodied in the French army—made their appearance for the purpose of relieving the garrison. As they numbered only about 10,000, and the Spaniards fully 40,000, posted on the top of a hill, with every advantage in their favour, the defeat of the Franco-Italians appeared so much a matter of course as to induce me to go on shore to witness the engagement.

To my surprise, Vives allowed his flank to be turned, and the French attacking in front and rear at the same time the Spaniards became panic-struck, and fairly ran away. The rout was complete; and it was with difficulty that I managed to get on board the frigate.

Shortly after gaining the ship, a boat full of officers was seen to put off from the shore and make for the _Impérieuse_. On coming alongside, it was reported to me that General Vives was amongst their number, on which I returned a message expressive of disbelief; adding that it could not be the general, for that to my certain knowledge he was on shore, driving back the French who were attempting to relieve Barcelona. After some hesitation, General Vives personally avowed himself, and demanded a conveyance for himself, officers, and 1000 men to Tarragona; which demand being flatly refused, they left for the _Cambrian_, which lay at anchor not far off.

On the 19th we got under weigh, and soon after fell in with a vessel bound for Palamos, and crowded with families escaping from Barcelona, all of whom bitterly complained of the shameful treatment they had experienced at the hands of the French soldiery. On the 21st we came to off St. Philou, which had just been plundered of everything.

Nothing material occurred till the 30th, when, beating up towards Caldagues Bay, we received intelligence that several French vessels, bound to Barcelona with provisions for the relief of the French army, were at anchor there. To attack these, as we had reason to believe that there was a considerable body of the enemy at Caldagues, and as the harbour was not more than half a mile broad, was a dangerous affair, on account of the necessity of anchoring within point-blank range of musketry. It was, however, of great importance that the provisions should not reach their destination, and, in place of waiting for them to proceed on their voyage, I decided on attacking them as the convoy lay at anchor.

At mid-day we were close to the entrance of the harbour, and made out the convoy and two vessels of war in charge of them, the whole being protected by a battery and a number of French troops on the hills. Bringing the _Impérieuse_ to an anchor we commenced firing on the vessels of war, one of which shortly afterwards sank; when directing our attack on her consort, she also sank and fell on her broadside, the crew escaping on shore.

The protecting vessels being thus disposed of, we warped closer in shore for the purpose of silencing some guns which whilst engaged in sinking them had repeatedly struck us. In order to divide the enemy’s attention, a party of marines was despatched to make a feint of landing near the town, whilst with the other marines and the blue jackets we dashed on shore between the former and the French who were still firing on us from the battery. The latter, seeing the double attack and afraid of being cut off from their comrades in the town, ran off to the hills, abandoning their guns, which, on landing, we threw over the cliff, with the exception of four brass 18-pounders and one 24-pounder, which were taken on board the _Impérieuse_. We then blew up the magazine.

The coast being now clear, all boats were sent in to bring out eleven vessels laden with provisions, and by dark they were all close alongside, with our marines safely on board. They had, indeed, met with no opposition, the French troops in the town having run away and joined their comrades on the hills, the whole shortly afterwards marching in the direction of Rosas. During this affair the inhabitants remained quiet spectators on the hills—afraid to assist us, lest the French, who were certain to return on our departure, should retaliate after their usual fashion.

On the 31st we made an effort to raise the vessels of war which had sunk in shallow water near the shore, and after some time, succeeded in stopping the leak of the one which had fallen over on her broadside, and was full of water, which being pumped out she floated and was towed alongside the frigate.

By this time a number of Spanish boats from the neighbouring coast came in, and without ceremony set to work plundering our prizes! It was not till after some rough treatment from a party of marines sent for the protection of the captured vessels, that the Spaniards were made to comprehend that the prizes belonged to us and not to them!

Towards midnight the Spaniards gave us information that the French, with reinforcements from Rosas, were on the point of re-entering the town. We therefore sent a party of marines on board the brig-of-war to protect her from recapture.

Early in the morning of the 1st of January 1809, the enemy opened upon the brig with a smart fire of musketry, which the marines as smartly returned,—the frigate and a gun in the pinnace meanwhile plying the assailants with grape so effectually that they immediately abandoned their position, and marching round a hill, commenced firing from the other side, where, as the movement was anticipated by the frigate, they met with a similar reception immediately on showing themselves. Finding us fully prepared at all points, they followed the example of their predecessors, and retreated to the hills, offering no further opposition, whilst we were engaged in weighing the other vessel of war, in which we succeeded also. As soon as the French saw that they could not save either of these vessels, they abandoned the victuallers, and again marched off in the direction of Rosas.

The 2nd was employed in repairing our prizes, and in getting off other brass guns found on shore. On the 3rd we blew up the barrack and another magazine close to the town, without any further interference on the part of the enemy. Our operations being now completed, the smallest vessel of war was despatched to Lord Collingwood, off Toulon, with the following account of our success.

“His Majesty’s Ship _Impérieuse_, Caldagues, 2nd January, 1809.

“MY LORD,—Having received information of two French vessels of war, and a convoy of victuallers for Barcelona being in this port, I have the honour to inform your lordship, that they are all—amounting to thirteen sail—in our possession.

“The French have been driven from the tower of Caldagues with the loss of nine cannon, which they had mounted or were mounting on the batteries.

“I have the honour, &c. “COCHRANE.

“The Right Hon. Lord Collingwood.”

“_La Gauloise_, cutter, 7 guns and 46 men, commanded by Mr. Avanet, Member of the Legion of Honour.

“_La Julie_, lugger, 5 guns, 4 swivels, 44 men, commanded by Mr. Chassereau.

“And eleven victuallers.”

In consequence of which his lordship was pleased to write to the Admiralty as follows:—

“_Copy of a Letter from_ Vice-Admiral LORD COLLINGWOOD, _Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty’s ships and vessels in the Mediterranean, to the_ Hon. W. W. POLE, _dated on board the_ Ocean, _at sea, the 6th of May 1809_.

“SIR,—I inclose—to be laid before their Lordships—a letter I have received from Lord Cochrane, captain of his Majesty’s ship _Impérieuse_, who has been for some time past employed on the coast of Catalonia, and where the good services of his lordship in aid of the Spaniards and in annoyance of the enemy could not be exceeded.

“I have, &c. “COLLINGWOOD.”

Having put to sea with our prizes, except the smallest, which we gave to the Spaniards,—the _Impérieuse_ stood, on the 9th of January, towards Silva, anchoring in that port at 4 P.M. Observing a battery of ten guns mounted ashore, we landed, rolled them into the sea, and afterwards demolished the battery without opposition.

On the 10th, the Spaniards gave us intelligence of a large detachment of French troops being on their march from Rosas. Anticipating much the same kind of opposition as we had experienced at Caldagues, the marines were directed to take possession of the hill on which the demolished battery had been placed, and soon afterwards the enemy was seen advancing in three divisions. Shortly before reaching the hill, they halted and reconnoitred, after which they filed off towards the opposite mountain, and piled their arms in sight of the ship.

About noon they were reinforced by great numbers, and the whole advanced down the hill, their skirmishers keeping up a brisk fire upon our marines. As it was impossible for these to hold their position against such numbers, and as there was no particular object in so doing, it became necessary to embark them, for which purpose the boats had been placed in readiness. On the first appearance of the reinforcement, the French reentered their battery, but only to find the iron guns thrown in the sea and the brass ones in our possession. Exasperated at this, they opened upon us so heavy a fire of musketry that we were glad to get off as fast as we could, with the loss of three men.

Scarcely had we pushed off, when they manned a lower battery, which we had not had time to destroy—but though they fired very smartly, we had only two men wounded. It was fortunate we took precautions to reembark the marines in time—five minutes later would have lost us half their number, and we might have been compelled to leave some of the wounded. It was no less fortunate that, from the entrance being high and narrow, I had, before anchoring in a passage so exposed, taken the precaution of laying out a kedge to seaward, with something like a mile of coir rope attached, to be used in case of emergency. Hauling on this, we were quickly out of reach of the battery, but again anchored just within our own range of the enemy, when the frigate reopened her fire with shot and shell, keeping up an intermitting cannonade till after nightfall.

We learned in a curious way that the principal portion of the troops who attacked us were Swiss! About midnight a boat was reported alongside with a letter from the commandant of the troops with which we had been engaged. Wondering what he could want with me, I opened the letter, and found it to contain a rigmarole account of himself and the extraordinary achievements of his regiment, which belonged to some canton whose name I forget; the letter concluding with a request for a few _bottles of rum_!! I sent him the rum, together with a reply not very complimentary to his country or present occupation.

On the 11th some of our missing men got on board, and reported that the French had received still larger reinforcements, with heavy artillery, of which, indeed, we had ample proof, they having this morning got their guns to bear so accurately, that almost every shot struck us, so that it became necessary to display the better part of valour, and be off. The wind, unluckily for us, had died away, but a southerly air at length springing up, we put our prisoners ashore, and stood out of the bay, anchoring on the following day at Caldagues.

It would be tedious to narrate the remainder of our cruise, which chiefly consisted in sailing along the Spanish coast, and firing upon French troops wherever they came within reach, this being principally in the vicinity of Barcelona.

On one occasion only did we make much havoc amongst them, viz. on the 22nd. On the previous day we had been reconnoitring Barcelona, and fell in with the _Cyrene_. Whilst rounding a small promontory in company, we observed a foraging expedition of at least 5000 troops, with immense numbers of mules laden with provisions,—the spoil of the surrounding country,—coming along a road close to the sea. Both ships immediately beat to quarters, and running well within shot and shell range, commenced a heavy fire, which told admirably on the troops and convoy, as was evident from the disorder into which they were thrown. After about two hours persevering—though not continuous fire,—as from the strong breeze blowing, we were occasionally carried past the enemy, and lost time in regaining our position; the French abandoned their line of march, and filed off into the interior, the ships harassing their retreat with shells till they were out of range. The loss of the enemy on this occasion must necessarily have been very severe.

On the 30th we joined Admiral Thornborough’s squadron of thirteen sail at Minorca. On the following day we received the unwelcome intelligence of Lieutenant Harrison’s having been taken prisoner by the French. I had placed this excellent officer in command of the man-of-war cutter taken with the French convoy at Caldagues, and when off Tarragona he imprudently went on shore with only two hands, to gain information about us. On landing he was immediately surrounded by French troops, a body of whom was embarked in boats to regain possession of his cutter, but by promptly making sail she escaped.

Some time previous to this period I had applied to the Admiralty for permission to return to England. My reasons for the application were various, the ostensible ground being the state of my health, which had in reality suffered severely from the incessant wear and tear of body and mind to which for nearly two years I had been exposed. A more urgent reason was to get back to my place in the House of Commons, in order to expose the robberies of the Admiralty Courts in the Mediterranean, the officials of which were reaping colossal fortunes at the expense of naval officers and seamen, who were wasting their lives and blood for official gain! The barefaced peculations of these courts would be almost incredible, especially as regarded the Maltese Court, were there not some living at the present time who can testify to their enormity. To such an extent was this now carried, that a ship captured without cargo never yielded a penny to the captors, the whole proceeds being swallowed up by the Admiralty Court. With cargo, some trifling surplus might remain, but what between pilfering and official fees, the award was hardly worth the trouble of capture.

The effect of this upon the Navy generally was most disastrous, and not upon the Navy only, but upon the nation also, which had upwards of 1000 ships in commission without any result at all commensurable with the expenditure. Captains were naturally disinclined to harass themselves and crews for nothing, and avoided making prizes certain to yield nothing but the risk and trouble of capture, and which, in addition, might bring them in debt, as was the result in my own case.

It will now be evident why I preferred harassing the French army in Spain to making prizes for the enrichment of the officials of the Maltese and other Admiralty courts. It was always my aim to serve my country before my own interests, and in this case I judged it better to do so where the service could be most effectual. Prizes, of which the proceeds were monopolised by a body of corrupt officials, neither under the eye nor control of the government, were not worth troubling ourselves about; so I determined on a course of service where there were no prizes to take, but abundance of highly interesting operations to be undertaken. The frigate’s officers and crew willingly seconding my views, I now—more on their account than my own—put on record that _none_ of the services previously narrated, though lauded by the admirals commanding them, and by historians subsequently, were ever rewarded, either as regarded myself, or any one under my command, even promotion to the officers being shamefully withheld; their fault, or rather misfortune, consisting in having served under my command.

My chief motive, however, for wishing to return to England was, that during our operations against the French on the Spanish coast, I had seen so much of them as to convince me, that if with a single frigate I could paralyse the movements of their armies in the Mediterranean—with three or four ships it would not be difficult so to spread terror on their Atlantic shores, as to render it impossible for them to send an army into Western Spain. My object then was—as from long and unceasing experience I considered myself entitled to the command of more than one ship—to propose to the Government to take possession of the French islands in the Bay of Biscay, and to let me with a small squadron operate against the enemy’s sea-board there, as I had previously done with the _Speedy_ and _Impérieuse_, from Montpellier to Barcelona.

Had this permission been granted, I do not hesitate to stake my professional reputation that _neither the Peninsular war, nor its enormous cost to the nation, from 1809 onwards, would ever have been heard of_. It would have been easy—_as it will always be easy in case of future wars_—that is, provided those who have the direction of national affairs have the sagacity to foresee disaster, and, _foreseeing it, to take the initiative_, so to harass the French coast as to find full employment for their troops at home, and thus to render any operations in Western Spain, or even in foreign countries, next to impossible.

By members not aware of this power of harassing an enemy’s coast by means of a few frigates, the ministry was greatly blamed for not having sent a military force to Catalonia, instead of despatching the very inadequate force under Sir John Moore to the western shores of the Peninsula. That the latter step was a great mistake, likely only to end in disaster, is now admitted. But what I contend for is, that no military force was at all needed in Spain, had the government seized and held, by a comparatively small military force, the isles on the coast of France, viz., Isles Dieu, Rhe, Oléron, and a few others; following up or preceding this seizure by a limited number of active frigates harassing the whole western coast of France, which, in consequence, would not have been able to send a single regiment into Spain, and hence, as has been said, we should have had no Peninsular war with its hundreds of millions of national debt. Had the French been thus employed in the defence of their own coasts, the Spaniards on the west coast would have been a match for their enemies, as, with the assistance of a few small British frigates, they were rendered a match for them on the east coast. This was the work I was prepared to recommend to the British Government; considering, moreover, that from the part the _Impérieuse_ had taken in harassing the enemy on the east coast of Spain, I was fairly entitled to ask that any small squadron of frigates, appointed for the purpose of operating on the west coast of France, should be placed under my command.

How my plans for this end, and together with them, my own career as a naval officer, were sacrificed by an occurrence which forms the subject of the next chapters, will there be seen.

The reader will by this time have gathered some idea of what the _Impérieuse_ had effected, as testified by the warmly expressed satisfaction of Lord Collingwood; yet it will scarcely be believed that, in place of approbation, I was reproached for the expenditure of more sails, stores, gunpowder, and shot than had been used by any other captain in the service!

Attention to saving ropes and sails, though without other results, was praised. Expending them, though in energetic service, remarked with displeasure. Nothing that I had done was deemed worthy of notice at home, whilst officers who brought back them ships in as good condition as they left port, were honoured with praise and substantially rewarded; but no mark of approbation or reward was ever conferred on me till upwards of thirty years afterwards, the late Earl of Minto generously remedied the injustice by conferring upon me the ordinary good service pension. A comparison of my services with the services of those who were rewarded with pensions of 1000_l._ and 1200_l._ a year, will show the actuating principle of the Admiralties of those days, which bestowed on me nothing but marked neglect.

CHAP. XIX.

APPOINTMENT TO COMMAND FIRE-SHIPS IN BASQUE

ROADS.

UNDERTAKING AGAINST ROCHEFORT.—HOPES EXCITED.—PRESENT MYSELF AT THE ADMIRALTY.—AM CONSULTED BY LORD MULGRAVE.—LORD GAMBIER’S STATEMENT.—ANXIETY OF GOVERNMENT.—MY PLAN OF ACTION.—DECLINE THE COMMAND.—THE COMMAND PRESSED UPON ME.—RETURN TO THE IMPÉRIEUSE.—PREPARATIONS FOR ATTACK.—LORD GAMBIER OBTAINS THE LAURELS,—BUT DISSUADES THE ATTACK.—THE ISLE D’AIX.—LORD GAMBIER’S STATEMENT.

Almost immediately after arrival of the _Impérieuse_ at Plymouth, I received the subjoined letter from the Hon. Johnstone Hope, Second Lord of the Board of Admiralty:—

“Admiralty, March 21, 1809.

“MY DEAR LORD,—I congratulate you on your safe arrival after the fatigues you underwent at Trinity. Be assured your exertions there were highly applauded by the Board, and were done most ample justice to by Lord Collingwood in all his despatches.