CAPTAIN PHILLIPS OF THE "ALEXANDER"
In the year 1744 a British 20-gun ship, the _Solebay_, was captured,
together with two others, by a French squadron under Admiral de
Rochambeau.
Less than two years later the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
called before them a certain Captain Phillips, master mariner,
commanding the _Alexander_ privateer; and the following is the "minute"
of the interview, officially recorded:
"29 April, 1746. Captain Phillips, of the _Alexander_ privateer,
attending, was called in, and told the Lords that he chased the
_Solebay_ and a small ship, laden with naval stores, that she had under
her convoy, into St. Martin's Road[8] on the 10th instant; that he came
up with the _Solebay_ just at the entrance of the Road, where he
believed there were 100 sail of ships at anchor, and boarded her athwart
the bowsprit, sword in hand, and cut her out about three o'clock p.m.
Said the wind was at S.S.W., which was fair for his running in and
coming out. The Lords asked him how many men she had on board. He
answered she had 230, and he had but 140; that they kept a very bad
look-out, but as soon as he boarded her they were forced to fly from
their quarters; that they killed 15 of her men, and he had lost but
three; that she is still called the _Solebay_, and that the French have
made no other alteration in her than lengthening her quarter-deck. The
Lords asked him what he thought the two Martinico ships he had taken
were worth; he answered about L8,000 or L9,000. He told the Lords that
at the Isle of Rhe there were two ships of 64 guns each, and four East
India ships outward bound; said he was to be heard of at Lloyd's Coffee
House, and then withdrew."
Thus an English man-of-war was restored to the Royal Navy by the
boldness and enterprise of this privateer captain, who was another
specimen of a good man lost to the Service. He would willingly have
entered the Navy, but, like George Walker, he was deterred by the
stringent regulations, which compelled him at first to take a
subordinate post as lieutenant. He was presented, however, with five
hundred guineas and a gold medal, in recognition of his excellent
services; and his name will not be overlooked in the roll of honour by
naval historians.
THE CASE OF THE "ANTIGALLICAN"
In the year 1755 there appears to have existed a certain body which had
adopted the title of "The Society of Antigallicans," having for its
object the promotion of British manufactures, the extension of the
commerce of England, the discouragement of French _modes_, and of the
importation of French commodities.
War being regarded as inevitable, and the king having already issued a
proclamation licensing the granting of commissions to privateers, the
Antigallicans, always busy "concerting some good for the sake of the
public," discussed the propriety of fitting out a vessel of this
nature--an undertaking which, if successful, might obviously bring them
a rich reward for their public spirit.
The scheme, proposed by one William Smith, Esq., was relished by the
whole company, and the motion carried by acclamation. When the applause
had subsided there rose Mr. Torrington, who informed the company present
that he happened to possess at that moment a ship most admirably adapted
for the purpose: being the _Flamborough_, formerly a man-of-war, but
then in the Jamaica trade, and known as the _Flying Flamborough_ on
account of her great speed; Mr. Torrington, in his naturally
enthusiastic eulogy of the ship he wished to sell, declaring that, with
a fair wind and crowded canvas, she had frequently run fourteen
knots--which was certainly very unusual with the short, bluff-bowed
vessels of that period.
It was immediately agreed to purchase her, and she was appropriately
renamed the _Antigallican_. She was a formidable vessel, of 440 tons,
mounting 28 guns and 16 swivels, with a crew of 208 men, commanded by
William Foster--a man apparently of humble birth, for he is said to have
been a "cockswain" on board H.M.S. _Defiance_, and to have attracted
notice by his brave conduct during the action between Anson and De la
Jonquiere on May 3rd, 1747.[9]
On July 17th, 1756, the _Antigallican_ was ready for sea, and the owners
brought down their wives and daughters and numerous friends, who were
handsomely entertained on board; she had on board, we are told, "six
months' provision, all of the product of Middlesex and Kent, generally
supplied from the estates of the proprietors. There was not the least
thing in or about her but what was entirely English"--which, of course,
was only right and consistent with the principles of the Society.
Sailing on September 17th, she fell in, about a month later, with an
armed French vessel, about 300 miles west of Lisbon. This ship fell an
easy prey, surrendering after delivering one broadside and receiving a
raking fire from the Englishman. She had on board, we are told, four
English prisoners, "part of the crew taken on board the _Warwick_
man-of-war." This ship had been captured by a French squadron on March
11th preceding. Why these four men were on board this armed merchantman
does not appear, but the French captain, who was a cheerful soul, not
readily cast down by adversity, had always treated them well, and, when
the _Antigallican_ hove in sight, served out a complete outfit of
clothes to them. They remained on deck at work until the first shot was
fired, when they were put under hatches, and the captain himself was the
first to inform them of their release. Smiling upon them through the
open hatchway, he said: "Come out, gentlemen; _it be vel wit you, but
ill wit me!_"
This vessel was the _Maria Theresa_, 14 guns and 30 men. She was valued,
with her cargo, at L23,000: so the _Antigallican_ made a promising
commencement of her cruise. The prize was sent to Portsmouth. Another,
valued at L15,000, was taken into Madeira, in company with the
privateer.
This was all very pleasant, and the Antigallican Society could
congratulate itself upon the success of its scheme for the good of the
public--and, incidentally, for the pockets of its members; and one day
in December 1756 a Dutch vessel gave news of a very rich prize, the _Duc
de Penthievre_, a French Indiaman. "The news was communicated to the
crew, who heard it joyfully and behaved with a true Antigallican
spirit."
The privateer was off Corunna on the morning of December 26th, and at 6
a.m. a sail was observed standing inshore. It being almost calm, the
sweeps were got out, and by noon the _Antigallican_ was within gunshot,
under Spanish colours. Upon receiving a shot she ran up English colours,
and the French ship then delivered a broadside; the English captain,
however, reserved his fire until he was close aboard. They fought for
nearly three hours; then the Frenchman struck, and the vessel proved to
be the one they were in search of, her value being placed at something
like L300,000! Here was a fine haul. They made haste to get into port
with her, aiming at Lisbon; but they had some characteristically rough
winter weather on that coast, and, after bucketing about for over a
fortnight, they ran for Cadiz, where they arrived on January 23rd, 1757.
That gale proved very disastrous for the Antigallicans, for the
Spaniards, green with envy over such gains, immediately set to work to
show that the _Duc de Penthievre_ was captured in Spanish waters, _i.e._
within three miles of the coast.
The French officers, in the first instance, deposed quite ingenuously,
before the consular authorities, upon their oath, that their ship was
captured two or three leagues--six or eight miles--off the coast; that
they did not see any fort, nor hear any guns fired; in fact, they
accepted the position that they were fairly made prisoners, and their
vessel, with all her rich cargo, was now English property. The
depositions of the English and French officers were sent to the
Admiralty Court at Gibraltar, and the ship was condemned as "good prize"
without hesitation.
Meanwhile, the Spanish naval authorities had politely given permission
for the English privateer to be taken over to the Government yard for
refitting, and all her movable gear, of every description, was landed
and placed in the warehouse, in order that the ship might be "careened,"
or "hove down," to examine and clean her bottom.
On February 19th came the first attack from the Spaniards. The Governor
of Cadiz sent for the English Consul, Mr. Goldsworthy, and told him that
he was obliged to send troops on board the prize, having received orders
to detain her. In spite of the Consul's vigorous protest, the threat was
confirmed with every warlike accompaniment--guns manned in the fort,
artillerymen standing by with lighted matches, and so on. Both vessels
were seized, but before dark the Governor, having apparently some
misgivings as to the legality of the business, ordered the troops to be
withdrawn, "after having broken open several chests, and carried away
everything they could find of the officers and crew, and the very beef
that was dressing for dinner."
On February 26th the Governor informed the Consul that he had orders to
deliver the prize to the French Consul. Captain Foster offered to place
the ship in the Governor's hands until the case should be decided, which
was a very proper and businesslike proposal; but it was refused, and the
captain declaring that the English colours flying on the prize should
never come down with his consent, matters came to a climax, and, in
spite of the unwillingness of the Spanish Admiral, who probably realised
the injustice of the proceedings, the Governor insisted that two
men-of-war should be sent to enforce his orders; a 60-gun ship and a
36-gun frigate took up their positions quite close to the prize, and
upon Foster refusing to lower his colours, they opened fire, killing six
men and wounding two. The flag halyards were shot away almost
immediately; but, in spite of the colours coming down, they would not
desist. The prize made no attempt at resistance, and on the following
day--March 3rd--the captain and crew were imprisoned.
On the 5th came an order from Madrid to stop all proceedings against the
prize and consult with the English captain alone; to allow the prize to
remain in our possession, but not to leave the port until further
orders.
The Spanish Governor, however, having evidently some very amenable
perjurers up his sleeve, disregarded the injunction, refusing to return
the ship to the English Consul; and on the following day there arrived
from Gibraltar the formal decision of the Admiralty Court, condemning
the _Duc de Penthievre_ as "good prize," on the evidence of the French
officers, delivered two days before she was forcibly seized.
However, the French Ambassador at Madrid, inspired and instructed by the
Consul at Cadiz, was very urgent in the matter, and the Spaniards
succeeded in finding some unscrupulous persons who swore that the action
took place within gunshot, while other independent witnesses were very
certain that it did not; and the King of Spain, being somewhat uneasy in
his mind, intimated to our Ambassador at Madrid that the prize was only
to be detained until strict inquiry could be made into the merits of the
case.
This appears to have been hailed, by the Antigallican Society, as
equivalent to victory; the narrator of the story expresses his great joy
over the restitution of the prize, and gives a copy of a letter from his
Society to Pitt, whose good offices with the Spanish Government had been
enlisted, thanking him enthusiastically for his successful intervention.
They were counting their chickens before they were hatched; the Spanish
half-concession was merely an elaboration of their favourite word,
_manana_--and this "to-morrow," upon which the English were to have the
ship which they had fairly captured, never dawned! There was an immense
amount of correspondence on the subject, but in 1758, two years later,
the matter was not settled--or rather, it was settled against the
English; and they never got their L300,000, or their ship. It appears
almost incredible, but this appears to be the truth about the
_Antigallican_ and her rich prize. We have no more reports of any
privateering business by the Antigallican Society; so we must conclude
that the members had had enough of such ventures.
The following is a translation of the deposition of the first lieutenant
of the _Duc de Penthievre_, made before the British Consul at Cadiz:
"M. Francois de Querangal, first lieutenant of the ship _Duc de
Penthievre_, belonging to the French East India Company, commanded by M.
Ettoupan de Villeneuve, since dead of his wounds after the engagement,
deposes that the said ship sailed from the Island of St. Mary, on the
coast of Madagascar, on the 12th of September, 1756, bound for the port
of L'Orient, in France; that the said ship was compelled, by contrary
winds and other stress, to run for the harbour of Corunna, on the coast
of Spain; that on the 26th December last, being about one league from
land, the _Antigallican_, displaying Spanish colours and coming within
gunshot, they fired a gun across her bows. The vessel immediately
hoisted English colours, and we commenced the action.
"The Iron Tower was then about two and a half or three leagues distant.
Asked whether he had seen any flags or batteries on shore, he declares
that he had seen neither.
"That the said ship, _Duc de Penthievre_, was armed with 20 guns at the
time of the action, and carried a crew of 150 men; that he had no
knowledge of the papers contained in the boxes thrown overboard before
the colours were hauled down.
"The said gentleman declares before me, having taken his oath according
to the French custom, that the above statement is true."
This is signed by the deponent and duly attested by the Consul, the
depositions of the other French officers being in precisely similar
terms.
It was on these depositions, together with those of Captain Foster and
his assistants, that the Admiralty Court at Gibraltar condemned the ship
as "good prize," and with perfect justice; had any ground existed for
protest, it should then have been put forward; so the flagrant injustice
and iniquity of the Spanish authorities is very apparent. There had
been other complaints previously, and the British Ambassador at Madrid
had very strongly protested against the favour shown by the Spaniards to
French privateers, and had also induced Pitt, the Prime Minister, to
support him in a strong letter. But it was all of no avail: there were
wheels within wheels, and, rather than make it an occasion of war, the
just claims of the Antigallicans were suffered to go by the board.
[Footnote 8: Inside Isle de Rhe, off the coast of France, close to La
Rochelle.]
[Footnote 9: Perhaps Mr. William Foster is responsible for the story
here told by the Antigallican narrator, that Anson "had no hand in the
matter. That morning he desired a council of war, but Sir Peter Warren
told him, 'There are French colours flying! which is a sufficient
council of war'; and so bore down upon them, while his lordship lay at a
distance." Anson, however, received his peerage for this very action--he
was not "his lordship" when he fought it; Warren was knighted at the
same time.]