Part 31
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“Lord Cochrane’s first signal, as we learn from the _Gazette_, to the admiral of the fleet, was that ‘seven of the enemy’s ships were on shore, and might be destroyed.’ The question which hereupon naturally suggests itself to the mind is, ‘Why, then, if seven might be destroyed, were there only four?’
“The despatch proceeds. ‘I _immediately_ made the signal for the fleet to unmoor and weigh.’ Indeed! Had Admiral Lord Gambier to unmoor at the time he received this intelligence? Did he not expect this might be the case? Or with what view was Lord Cochrane sent up the Roads? We are not much acquainted with naval matters, and therefore ask for information. To reason by analogy, if a military commander, knowing the enemy to be near, should send forward a detachment to reconnoitre and to attack, if possible, he would at least keep the rest of his troops under arms, that he might be ready to advance at a moment’s warning, and to sustain his own party when necessary.”
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The most honest account I have ever seen of the termination of the action, is written by the venerable and gallant Admiral Gravière, who was present at the attack. It will be found in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ for 1858. From this, though incorrect in stating that I commanded a division, I make the subjoined extract, which shall close the subject:—
“Un esprit de vertige semblait s’être emparé, dans cette affreuse nuit, et dans les journées qui suivirent, des plus braves capitaines. Des vaisseaux que l’ennemi n’avait pas même attaqués furent abandonnés par leurs équipages, et des hommes héroïques partagèrent la faiblesse commune.
“_La mollesse de Lord Gambier_, le courage et le sang froid de quelques-uns de nos officiers, préservèrent seuls l’escadre française d’une ruine totale.”
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
LONDON PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. NEW-STREET SQUARE
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Transcriber’s Note
A simple diagram of a French defensive boom, on p. 400, seems geometrically suspect. A triangle with two ‘400 toise’ sides, cannot have an ‘800 toise’ opposing side. (A ‘toise’ is a French measure slightly less than two meters.) The French description the obstacle is on p. 381, beginning with ‘Elle étoit flanquée...’.
Footnote 41 (297.28 refers to _Michelot_ de Prato, which appears in the text as _Michelet_. These are references to Micheletto Corella, a Catalan soldier who served as Cesar Borgia’s executioner.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.
ix.8 I must have p[er/re]maturely sunk. Transposed. 2.8 to the grant [w]hich Dungal Restored. 21.33 [“]Your lordship’s real friend Added. 60.8 that our national[,] safety depended on Removed. 98.11 sunk [her.] Restored. 292.1 to render it useless[,/.] Replaced. 340.1 He th[a/e]n ran for Madeira Replaced. 342.6 an immense amount of mischief[,/.] Replaced. 422.6 “‘The French admiral,[”/’] Replaced.