A Continuing War_At Home and at Sea, 1803-1804 Read online

  When the meal was completed, Daphne led the other ladies to the drawing room, leaving the men to their port. She rather wondered how Lady Marianne had intended to perform this ritual with no explicit host to manage the male conversation. The drawing-room conversation was largely centered on the bravery of the officers who were so eager to see combat. Daphne was silent during this. For her, the talk of war had brought back that her concern was not Giles’s winning distinction in battle, but rather that of his surviving danger unharmed. She recognized, yet again, why he had to face danger, but she herself most certainly did not revel in it.

  The men joined the ladies very shortly. With the numbers just right, two tables of whist kept everyone entertained until the men should leave. The card games were perfunctory, no one taking them very seriously. The three Crocker ladies and the officers fenced verbally in the time- honored rituals of flirtation. Daphne and Lord David discussed what he had found out about his parish and its challenges. He had no intention of getting a curate any time soon, and was enjoying the task of meeting his parishioners.

  Chapter IV

  Lieutenant Ian Kirkpatrick had the morning watch. The wind had eased overnight and had backed into the north, but he had not been inclined to set more sail. The captain’s orders had not required it and had not mentioned sailing a course closer to the north if the wind backed.

  Kirkpatrick was still grumbling to himself about his treatment on the previous day. That interloper from the Ordnance Board had seemed intent on making him look foolish. It was not his fault that the French could not build good gun carriages and he could not be expected himself to examine them minutely. The Ordnance Board should have known enough to have changed them before Impetuous was commissioned. That business had kept him on deck so long that he had missed his supper and had had to make do with what his lazy servant could find.

  It was almost four bells. First light would be just after six bells. The orders were to clear for action* at four bells. Probably the Captain would come on deck to witness the activity and that lickspittle Milton wouldn’t miss it. How the first lieutenant had aped the actions of the captain and the master yesterday instead of just enjoying being freed of his duties for a time. It was so unjust: Milton’s commission was only three weeks ahead of his own. If Kirkpatrick’s exam had been only one month earlier, he would be now be First Lieutenant of Impetuous. First Lieutenants were the ones who got their step*, not second lieutenants, especially not ones with no influence. It was only because that fool of a captain he had had at the time couldn’t keep the dates straight that he had missed the earlier exam.

  It was a pity that Milton hadn’t been killed in that stupid attack on the French frigate when Captain Giles had succeeded in losing Patroclus. Milton was the one who had initiated the action against the French ship, even though it had been madness to attack with ships that had only one lieutenant on board and no other officers, as well as with untried and once-defeated crews, against a well-appointed enemy. Kirkpatrick was fortunate that he had been able to join the attack when it became evident that the other two frigates would be able to take the Frenchie without him after all. At least it had got him this appointment and taking the French frigate had at least put his creditors at bay. Of course, he should also have shared in the money given for retaking the British frigates. It was all so unfair!

  Kirkpatrick’s mind turned to his lack of influence. Again his luck had been rotten. His father’s cousin, the Marquis of Blazy, had secured him his midshipman’s birth and then had been instrumental in his getting his promotion and position as a lieutenant. He had been in rank long enough that he expected the Marquis to get him his step, but it hadn’t happened and then the old fool had died. The new Marquis showed no interest in securing his relation a better position, and would not even use his influence for the benefit of the captains who had been the old Marquis’s clients. It was only because Captain Tomlinson hadn’t realized that with the old Marquis dead, the Captain’s own patron was no longer inclined to return favors that had secured Kirkpatrick’s previous position.

  “Captain’s on deck, sir,” murmured the helmsman. At least this crew were ready to warn him of the arrival of the Captain, not like those wretches in his previous ship. That commission had been a disaster too. They were sailing for the West Indies where prize money abounded when they caught a small French bark, trying to sneak into a French port from Martinique. He had had to take the prize into Portsmouth and then look for another berth. Some lucky midshipman, nephew to the Admiral most likely, would get his place and all that prize money that would go with it. Not that that would have happened anyway. The fool of a captain had run the frigate onto a reef as soon as he had passed through the Leeward Islands so the ship had never even reached Jamaica. But that meant his prize money from the ship he had taken into port was all tied up in finding out who had survived the disaster, and what their claims might be.

  Kirkpatrick left the windward side of the quarter deck so that the Captain could start his exercise if he wished, but Giles came directly to him. Kirkpatrick gave the terse report of what had happened so far during his watch and what he knew of the frigate’s position, course and speed. He was about to turn away when Giles ordered, “Clear for Action, Mr. Kirkpatrick. Do it quietly.” What in the world was the Captain thinking? Undertaking the quiet version of the drill was just inviting chaos in the dark with a crew who had never undertaken the complicated task on this ship before. Well it would be Milton’s problem when he arrived on deck. Getting the guns ready, which was Kirkpatrick’s task, would be simpler, especially after yesterday’s drill.

  Lieutenant Milton arrived and relieved Kirkpatrick even as the ship began to resemble a disturbed anthill with seamen scurrying around, often in opposite directions, the patterns only evident to the trained eye. After a short time, the hub-bub started to die away and Milton was able to report in a term of pleased surprise, “Ship’s cleared for action, sir.”

  Giles had been watching the time. “Thirty-two minutes, Mr. Milton. We must do better than that in future.”

  Milton was shocked. In his previous ship, they had never cleared for action in less than forty minutes, and that after considerable practice and with a great deal of noise. His respect rose again for the crew and for the captain and first lieutenants who had trained these men. He was particularly surprised, since he had learned from Mr. Brooks earlier that Captain Giles did not believe in flogging as a way to improve discipline and performance. This crew hadn’t been driven to their task and seemed to have performed all the better for it. It was a lesson that went against all Milton’s experience.

  The sky to the south-east was showing the first signs of daylight with a strip that seemed a bit less dark above a pitch black base. The wind had been veering to the east in the last half hour and Impetuous was now close hauled on the larboard tack

  “Land ho,” came the call from the masthead. “Straight ahead, Cannot tell how far.”

  “Where do you think we are?” Giles asked Mr. Brooks.

  “That should be the French Coast ahead, south of Boulogne, about three leagues*, by my dead reckoning.”

  “Let’s hope you are right. Mr. Milton, furl the topsails, if you please, and shake the reefs out of the mainsail and foresail.”

  “Furl the sails, sir?”

  “Yes, to make us less visible. The lookout at our masthead may be able to see a ship before they can see us. Now do it, Mr. Milton. And in future, don’t question my orders before acting on them.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  The light was slowly increasing.

  “Deck, there. Ship ahoy! Two points to starboard. Two miles off, on a broad reach parallel to ours.”

  “Mr. Correll,” Giles addressed the midshipman of the watch, “Get aloft with the telescope and see what you can make of her.”

  The midshipman raced up the ratlines and positioned himself in the top. After a brief consultation with the lookout and examination through his telescope he shou
ted to the deck.

  “Ship appears to be a brig*7 of war. She is flying English colors.”

  “Mr. Brooks, I want a course to intercept her.”

  “Aye, aye, sir… Our best course now, sir, is to maintain ours until we get close to her.”

  “Make it so, Mr. Milton, set the topsails. Mr. Brooks, I don’t believe that the topgallants would make us faster. ”

  “Probably not, sir. And it would increase our leeway*, especially since we have such a shallow draft.”

  The two ships continued on their courses for a while. It became evident that they were converging and that Impetuous could control their meeting if each maintained her course.

  “Deck,” Mr. Correll shouted from the masthead. “The brig is tacking”

  “That’s suspicious,” remarked Mr. Milton. “She won’t be able to clear the land on her new course.”

  The ships were now on the same course, with Impetuous behind but to windward of the other vessel

  “Mr. Stewart,” said Giles. “Make the private signal with our number.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  The carefully wrapped signal flags rose on their halyards and were released by a twitch when they reached their full height. There was no response from the brig.

  “Mr. Correll,” Giles bellowed, “Can you see any activity in response to our signal?”

  “No, sir… Sir, there seems to be a very large crew on deck, even for a brig of war.”

  “Can you see any ships close to the land ahead?”

  “Yes sir, two small vessels. They are right in front of a battery on shore.”

  “This brig is probably a privateer,” murmured Mr. Brooks. Privateers were not well-loved by men of the Royal Navy. “That accounts for her being shy of us. She probably thinks we would press much of her crew if we got a chance. Let’s get that chance!”

  “Deck,” came a shout from above, “She has hauled down her jack… she is raising the French flag”

  “Mr. Brooks, a course to catch up to her, staying to windward,” Giles responded. “What are her chances of getting under the protection of that shore battery before we can catch her?”

  “It will be close, sir. And that is presuming the battery won’t simply try to blow her out of the water when she gets near. They may have seen her British flag.”

  “Follow her course. I must say, I am surprised how quickly we are gaining on her.”

  “It appears that she has a sail fothered over her hull near the bow, sir.” Mr. Brooks pointed out. That would account for her slowness.”

  “Mr. Kirkpatrick,” Giles called to the lieutenant who was in charge of the guns. “Load the foremost larboard gun with round shot and the rest of the larboard battery with chain shot and run out. If we fire into her, aim high for the rigging.”

  “Aye, Aye, sir,” Mr. Kirkpatrick responded.

  Impetuous was steadily gaining on the brig, and that ship in turn was steadily getting closer to the coast and the protection of the shore battery. Mr. Brooks was using his sextant to determine the vertical angle of the shore battery from Impetuous. “Sir, we will be in range of the shore battery in a few minutes.”

  “Mr. Kirkpatrick,” called Giles, “use the foremost gun to put a shot across her bows.”

  The cannon boomed out, but it produced no effect on the brig, which held her course.

  “Mr. Kirkpatrick, fire the larboard guns.”

  The broadside roared out. When the smoke cleared, those on Impetus’s deck could see several holes in the brig’s sails. One was right against the gaff of the brig’s spanker. As they watched, the gaff broke, spilling the wind from the sail. The chase yawed to leeward. Some furious rushing around on the brig’s deck brought her under control. She lowered her flag, even as she backed her topsail. Impetuous also backed her topsail so the two ships were stationary about one hundred yards from each other. A cannon fired from the shore. The ball fell just short of the brig.

  “Bosun, we shall use the longboat and my barge to board her. Mr. Macauley, two squads of marines. Pistols and cutlasses for the seamen. Mr. Milton, take command of Impetuous. Mr. Kirkpatrick, come with me. Mr. Stewart, you will command the longboat. Let’s not waste time. We don’t want to give that Frog battery a chance to hit us when their guns warm up.”

  The two boats set off for the brig. The shore battery continued to fire, but even with their guns warmed the shot fell short. Both ships were being pushed from shore by the wind.

  Giles mounted to the deck of the Brig. The marines and seamen followed. A small group of officers came forward to meet him, led by a florid-faced, stocky man shaking with indignation. “I am George Hoxley, sir. This is a disgrace, sir. We are a British ship sailing under a letter of marque granted by King George himself. My backers are among the most eminent peers of the realm. One of them is the Earl Marquis of Camshire. You have no business coming to us with an armed boarding party. I order you to vacate this ship immediately.”

  Giles was not deterred by the claims of privilege, even by the invocation of his own father’s name. “Captain Hoxley, you were sailing under French colors when we stopped you. You failed to respond to our order to stop. I have every right to stop your ship, and ask for a full account of your doings. I require to see your letter of marque and your logs. Now!”

  “Sir, I protest. We only evaded you because we knew you would try to press some of my crew. I only used the French flag as a ruse de guerre. I would have left the protection of the shore batteries as soon as the coast was clear, sailing for our home port of Harwich. I repeat, you have no right to board us, and my crew is protected by the most eminent authority. You most certainly have no right to see my logs. They contain information about the sources of my success and I will not have that information bandied about in ports where French spies may transmit it to Bonaparte’s forces.”

  This speech had the opposite effect from what was intended. It simply increased Giles’s suspicions. “Captain. Hoxley, please let me have the key to your desk or lock-box and any other keys for locked objects in your cabin. No? You don’t want to give them to me? Very well, I will just smash anything that is locked.

  “Mr. Macauley, detail some marines to guard this man and the other officers while they are being transported to Impetuous. Mr. Stewart, take them now in the longboat and then return. Tell Mr. Milton to throw them in irons. Mr. Evans, get that gaff fixed. Mr. Kirkpatrick, take a gang of seamen and search the ship. You are looking especially for a space where we can contain the crew with only one or two exits to guard. Also make sure that no one is hidden below. Carstairs, get an axe and come with me.”

  Entering the Captain’s cabin. Giles discovered a locked drawer in the desk and two wooden boxes with locks. Carstairs smashed open the desk and in doing so revealed a hidden compartment in the main drawer. But for the brutal way in which the desk had been opened, this compartment might have escaped notice from someone examining the desk. In the secret space were several documents, the most important of which seemed to be the captain’s log. There was also a list of what appeared to be the value of various ships and their cargoes. The documents did not include a letter of marque. Glancing through the captain’s log, Giles realized that it was damning evidence of piracy, for quite clearly the brig had taken both English and French vessels as well as ships of other countries.

  When Giles had removed all the papers, he realized that the drawer seemed to be too shallow. Further examination revealed a further hidden compartment in the drawer. It took some fiddling at the edges of the bottom of the drawer to open the compartment. When he did so, Giles found some papers. They were in a different hand and in French. Examining the documents more closely, he realized that they appeared to be diagrams of the shore defenses around various parts of the English coast. Even though he could not read the documents, Giles realized that the papers must be the report of some French spy in England.

  Setting the log and the papers aside for later study, Giles had Carstairs open the wooden bo
xes. The first one did contain a letter of marque for the vessel Bountiful out of Harwich, Captain William Hoxley. In addition there were copies of share agreements for men who had invested in a venture whose purpose was to outfit and use Bountiful as a privateer. His father’s name was indeed there as the owner of one share, which probably meant that the Earl Marquis had let his name be used as a sponsor without putting up any money. There was also a list of French vessels that had been taken by Bountiful and the proceeds from the sale of the ships and vessels. There was also a version of the log of the Bountiful. It would all have appeared above board if one were investigating the English privateer, Bountiful. It only showed their French captures, and only mentioned clear seas when Bountiful had been engaged in other activities.

  The second box contained a similar looking set of documents, but they were in French. Giles wondered what they were and asked Carstairs to summon Mr. Kirkpatrick.

  “I believe you know French, Mr. Kirkpatrick.” Giles greeted the lieutenant.