Notwithstanding the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748, troubles were
constantly arising between the French and English in which the American
Colonies of both nations took a conspicuous part, and ultimately led to
open war. The first shot was fired on 10th June 1755, although war was
not formally declared till May 1756. In June 1755 the Friendship was in
the Thames, and it is said that to avoid the hot press which had been
ordered Cook first went into hiding for some time and then decided to
volunteer. This is untrue, for, as has been shown, he had already made up
his mind and had refused Messrs. Walker's offer of the command of one of
their ships, the acceptance of which would have saved him from the press
as Masters were exempt. He now saw his opportunity had come. He knew that
experienced men were difficult to obtain, that men of a certain amount of
nautical knowledge and of good character could soon raise themselves
above the rank of ordinary seamen, and had doubtless in his mind many
cases of those who entering as seamen found their way to the quarterdeck,
and knowing he had only to ask the Walkers for letters of recommendation
for them to be at his service, he determined to take the important step
and volunteer into the Royal Navy. It must be remembered that this act of
leaving employment which, to most men of his position, would have seemed
most satisfactory, was not the act of hot-headed youth, no step taken in
mere spirit of adventure, but the calmly reasoned act of a man of
twenty-seven years and some eight or nine years experience of both the
rough and smooth sides of maritime life.
Several letters were written to Mr. Walker, one or two of which relating
to a later period were seen and copied by Dr. Young, but they fell into
the hand of a niece, who unfortunately, not recognising their value,
destroyed them shortly before her death, which occurred some years ago.
However, it is certain that he wrote one about this time and evidently
received a favourable reply, for he shortly afterwards wrote again
acknowledging the service done him.
ENTERS NAVY.
Having made up his mind how to proceed, Cook went to a rendezvous at
Wapping and volunteered into H.M.S. Eagle, a fourth-rate, 60-gun ship,
with a complement of 400 men and 56 marines, at that time moored in
Portsmouth Harbour. On the Muster Roll, preserved in the Records Office,
the following entry occurs: "161 from London rendezvous, James Cook,
A.B., entry, June 17th 1755, first appearance June 25th 1755." On the
24th July, that is, thirty-seven days after the date of entry into the
Navy, he is rated as Master's mate, a position he held till 30th June
1757, when he quitted H.M.S. Eagle.
His appointment was facilitated by the difficulty experienced in
obtaining men for the Service, as may be gathered from Captain Hamar's
letters, who writes applying to the Admiralty for permission to break up
his London Rendezvous, as he says it has "procured very few men, and
those only landsmen." Again, he complains of the quality of the men he
has received, and says he is one hundred and forty short of his
complement. In another letter:
"I do not believe there is a worse man'd ship in the Navy. Yesterday I
received from the Bristol twenty-five supernumeraries belonging to
different ships, but not one seaman among them: but, on the contrary, all
very indifferent Landsmen."
These complaints were endorsed by Captain Pallisser, who succeeded Hamar
on the Eagle, for he wrote that some of the crew were turned over from
ship to ship so often that he was quite unable to make out their original
one:
"they being such that none choose to own them. Of forty-four said to
belong to the Ramilies, she wanted only six the other day, but her
boatswain could find out only those amongst them that he thought worth
having."
In the face of these deficiencies in quantity and quality of men, and
remembering the good character he doubtless obtained from Mr. Walker,
there can be no surprise that when Cook sailed out of an English port for
the first time as a Royal Navy sailor he held the rating of Master's
mate. It is usual to look upon him as an explorer and surveyor only, but
a little enquiry shows that he played an active part in some of the most
stirring events of the next few years. The records of his personal deeds
are wanting, but his ships saw service, and from his character it is
certain that when duty called, James Cook would not be found wanting.
Many of the men under whom he served have left behind names that will
always be associated with the construction of the present British Empire,
and with most of them he was in immediate personal contact, and obtained
in every case their respect, in some their close personal friendship.
PALLISSER COMMANDS.
On the 1st July the Eagle was ordered to fit and provision for the
Leeward Islands, but having received 62 men and 53 marines, the orders
were changed to cruise between Scilly and Cape Clear, and she sailed on
the 4th August. She was caught in a gale off the old Head of Kinsale and
received some damage, and her main mast was reported as sprung, so she
returned to Plymouth for survey and repairs. Thinking that the removal of
the mast would be a good opportunity to scrape his ship, which was very
foul, Captain Hamar had her lightened for that purpose, but on
examination the mast was found to be in good order, and the Admiralty was
so annoyed at the absence of the ship from her cruising ground that they
ordered Captain Pallisser to take over the command and prepare for sea
without further loss of time. This he did on the 1st October, and sailed
from Plymouth on the 7th, and after cruising about in the Channel and
making a few small captures he returned on the 22nd November, remaining
till the 13th March; and during this time Cook had a short spell of
sickness, but it can hardly be called serious, as he was only in hospital
for ten days, being back to his duty on the 17th February. In April, when
"off the Isle of Bass, brought to and sent on board the cutter a petty
officer and five men with arms, provisions, etc." This extract from the
log records Cook's first independent command; the cutter was one of two
hired vessels which had joined the squadron the previous day under
convoy, and the armed party was probably put on board as a precaution
against privateers who were at that time pretty busy on the French coast.
Cook took her into Plymouth Sound, and he and his five men went on board
the St. Albans, and in her rejoined his own ship on the 2nd May, and then
returned to Plymouth on the 4th June. Pallisser, in reporting his arrival
to the Secretary of the Admiralty, said that he had:
"put ashore to the hospital 130 sick men, most of which are extremely
ill: buried in the last month twenty-two. The surgeon and four men died
yesterday, and the surgeon's two mates are extremely ill: have
thirty-five men absent in prizes and thirty-five short of complement, so
that we are now in a very weak condition."
This sickness and mortality was attributed to the absolute want of proper
clothing, many of the men having come on board with only what they stood
in and some in rags, so the Captain asked for permission to issue an
extra supply of slops, a request that was immediately granted.
DUC D'AQUITAINE.
After another short cruise the Eagle returned to Plymouth with Pallisser
very ill with fever. He obtained sick leave, and Captain Proby was
ordered to take command, but was detained so long in the Downs by
contrary winds that Pallisser, who had heard a rumour of a French
squadron having been seen in the Channel, shook off his fever and resumed
the command of his ship, which was almost ready for sea. Every part of
the Channel mentioned in the rumour was carefully searched, but no signs
of the enemy were seen, and the author of the report, a Swede, was
detained in Portsmouth for some months.
On the 19th November the Eagle's crew was increased to 420 men, and she
was kept cruising throughout the winter, and on the 4th January 1757 she
was caught in a heavy gale off the Isle of Wight, where she had most of
her sails blown out of her. On 25th May she sailed from Plymouth Sound in
company with H.M.S. Medway, and a day or two afterwards they fell in with
and chased a French East Indiaman, the Duc d'Aquitaine, in rather heavy
weather. The Medway was leading, but when getting close, had to bring to
in order to clear for action, as otherwise she would be unable to open
her lee ports. Pallisser, on the other hand, was all ready, and pressed
on, bringing the chase to action. After a hard set-to, lasting about
three-quarters of an hour, the Frenchman struck, having lost 50 men
killed and 30 wounded, whilst the Eagle lost 10 killed and 80 wounded;
and the list of damages to the ship reported to the Admiralty shows that
the action was sharp though short. The Medway was only able to afford
assistance by firing a few raking shots, and suffered no damage except
having ten men wounded by an accidental explosion of gunpowder. The masts
and sails of the prize were so much damaged that she lost them all in the
night; one of the masts in falling sank the Medway's cutter. It was found
she had a complement of 493 men, and was armed with 50 guns. She had
landed her East Indian cargo at Lisbon, and then proceeded to cruise for
fourteen days on the look-out for an English convoy sailing in charge of
H.M.S. Mermaid. She had succeeded in picking up one prize, an English
brig, which was ransomed for 200 pounds. This was Cook's first experience
of an important naval action, and Pallisser was complimented by the Lords
of the Admiralty for his gallant conduct. The Duc d'Aquitaine was
purchased for the Navy, and was entered under her own name as a
third-rate, 64 gun ship, with a complement of 500 men.
The Eagle returned with her consort and her prize to Plymouth, and soon
afterwards Cook's connection with her came to an end. According to Dr.
Kippis, Mr. Walker had interested the Member for Scarborough, Mr.
Osbaldiston, on the subject of Cook's promotion, but the rule was that
candidates for Lieutenancy must have been employed on board a king's ship
for a period of not less than six years, and an order had recently been
issued that this regulation was to be strictly adhered to. Captain
Pallisser therefore wrote to Mr. Osbaldiston that Cook:
"had been too short a time in the service for a commission, but that a
Master's warrant might be given him, by which he would be raised to a
station that he was well qualified to discharge with ability and credit."
The result of this correspondence is shown in the Eagle's muster roll,
for on 27th June James Cook attended his last muster, and on the 30th he
was discharged. The succeeding rolls registering "D. 30th June 1757.
Solebay prefmnt."
THE MERCURY COOK.
At this point all the writers on Captain Cook have been led into error by
following the lead of Dr. Kippis. Everyone (with the single exception of
Lord Brougham, who by an evident slip of the pen puts him on board the
Mersey) writes that he was appointed Master of H.M.S. Mercury, and that
he joined the fleet of Admiral Saunders in the Gulf of St. Lawrence at
the time of the capture of Quebec in that ship. From the Public Records
it has been ascertained that the Mercury was not in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence with Saunders, but in the latter half of 1759 was sent to New
York, thence to Boston, and was at Spithead in April the following year.
The same source also shows that not only was the Circumnavigator never on
board the Mercury in any capacity, but in all probability he never even
saw her. He is also said to have been Master's mate on the Pembroke, and
Dr. Kippis has him appointed to three different ships on three
consecutive days: the Grampus, but she sailed before Cook could join her;
the Garland, but she was found to have a Master when Cook joined; and,
lastly, the Mercury.
The explanation of this confusion as far as the Mercury is concerned (the
rest was imagination) is that there was a second James Cook in the
service, who was appointed Master of the Mercury under a warrant dated
15th May 1759 and entered on his duties immediately. He was with his ship
at Sheerness on 12th July, at which time his namesake was before Quebec.
On the return of the Mercury from Boston her Master was returned for some
time as "sick on shore," and on 11th June 1760 was superseded by one John
Emerton. Soon after he was appointed third lieutenant of the Gosport, his
commission bearing date 1st April 1760, that is before he left the
Mercury. He was with his new ship at the recapture of St. John's,
Newfoundland, in 1762, with John Jervis, afterwards Lord St. Vincent, as
his Captain. In 1765 he was on the Wolf on the Jamaica station, and was
selected by Admiral Burnaby to carry despatches to the Governor of
Yucatan. This duty he successfully carried out, and in 1796 published a
pamphlet describing his adventures during the journey. On his return to
England he applied to the Duke of Newcastle for the command of a cutter,
and the letter is now in the British Museum, having been included in a
collection in mistake for one written by his celebrated namesake. There
is a certain similarity in the writing, but in the signature he writes
the Christian name as Jas, whilst Captain Cook usually wrote Jams. The
Mercury Cook was lieutenant of the Speedwell in 1773, and having had some
property left him in Jersey he received leave of absence in August. He
never rose above lieutenant, and disappears from the Navy List after July
1800.
A manuscript log kept by James Cook whilst Master's mate of the Eagle is
now in the possession of Mr. Alexander Turnbull of Wellington, New
Zealand.