Cook joined H.M.S. Solebay on the 30th July 1757 at Leith, where she was
then stationed, but the date of his warrant has not been ascertained,
although the Public Records and Trinity House have both been searched for
the purpose. His stay was not long, for after a cruise of a few days she
returned to Leith, and on 17th September Cook was superseded by John
Nichols; in fact, his time on board was so short that his signature is
not appended to any of the rolls.
In April 1757 Mr. Bissett, who was Master of the Eagle when Cook was
Master's mate, and who therefore would have a better chance than any one
else to measure his subordinate's character and capabilities, was
appointed Master of H.M.S. Pembroke, a new ship, and superintended her
fitting for sea. On 26th October he found himself transferred to the
Stirling Castle, and it is only reasonable to suppose that, having formed
a high opinion of Cook's work, and knowing of his ambition to rise in the
service, he would give information of the opportunity and, as far as he
could, push forward his friend's interests. At any rate, the Muster Rolls
show that in less than six weeks from leaving the Solebay, Cook was
established on board the Pembroke as Master, under a warrant bearing date
18th October 1757, and entered upon his duties on 27th October, the
twenty-ninth anniversary of his birth; and from that date to his
discharge into the Northumberland he signed the usual documents. At the
time of his joining, the ship was fitting and victualling for sea at
Portsmouth, and on 8th November she sailed for the Bay of Biscay, under
the command of Captain Simcoe, returning to Plymouth on 9th February
1758.
LOUISBERG.
The British Government had decided on making a determined effort to wrest
the Colony of New France from the hands of the French, and one of the few
steps was to attempt the capture of the port of Louisburg, at the
entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence; a place which the enemy were said
to have rendered almost impregnable at an expenditure of some million and
a quarter pounds. They looked upon it as second only to Quebec in its
importance to the safe keeping of the colony. In order to carry out this
design a fleet was prepared under Admiral Boscawen (known to his men as
Old Dreadnought, and, from a peculiar carriage of the head, said to have
been contracted from a youthful habit of imitating one of his father's
old servants, Wry-necked-Dick), to convey a small army under
Major-General Amherst to the scene of action. Boscawen sailed with his
fleet, one member of which was the Pembroke, for Halifax, where they
arrived, via Madeira and the Bermudas, on 8th May.
Having completed his arrangements, Boscawen left Halifax on 28th May with
17 sail of the Royal Navy and 127 transports, picking up 2 more
men-of-war and 8 transports just outside, and a couple more of the latter
a few hours later. He had to leave behind at Halifax, with orders to
rejoin him as soon as they were fit, several ships, the Pembroke being
one, as their crews were so weakened by scurvy during the voyage from
England. The Pembroke had lost 29 men, but was sufficiently recovered to
be able to sail with 3 transports, 2 schooners, and a cattle sloop on 7th
June, and arrived off Louisburg on the 12th, four days too late to take
part in the landing which had been successfully carried out in the face
of great difficulties caused by the roughness of the weather, the rocky
coast, and the opposition of the enemy. In fact, James Wolfe, who was a
Brigadier throughout the siege, and on whose shoulders a very large
portion of the work seems to have fallen, says: "Our landing was next to
miraculous." There were 3 officers and 49 men killed; 5 officers and 59
men wounded of the army; 11 men killed, and 4 officers and 29 men wounded
of the navy; and 19 men wounded of the transport service. The weather was
so bad that no stores or artillery could be landed for several days, the
first gun being got ashore on the 16th, so Cook was in plenty of time to
take his share in the difficult task of landing supplies; a task so
dangerous that the fleet lost one hundred boats in this duty alone. As
well as forming the supply base for the army, the fleet also provided 583
men to act as gunners and engineers ashore; but none of these were from
the Pembroke. The nature of the ground rendered the work of constructing
the approaches and batteries extremely difficult, and it was not till
20th June that the first gun opened fire. Wolfe formed a battery on
Lighthouse Point, one side of the entrance to the harbour whilst the town
was on the other side, with a fortified island in between; and the
harbour held a French fleet which, at the time of the arrival of the
British, consisted of nine men-of-war. One escaped on the very day of the
landing, and was shortly afterwards followed by two more. One L'Echo, was
captured by Sir Charles Hardy, and was taken into the British Navy;
whilst the other, though chased for some distance, made good its escape
to L'Orient with the first news of the siege. Previously to the coming of
the British, two ships had been sunk in the harbour's mouth to render
entrance therein difficult; two more were added to these, and then a
fifth. One ship was blown up by a British shell, and setting fire to two
others that lay alongside her, they also were destroyed.
The fate of the other two is described in the Pembroke's log, kept by
Cook, as follows:
"In the night 50 boats man'd and arm'd row'd into the harbour under the
command of the Captains La Foure [Laforey] of the Hunter, and Balfour [of
the Etna] in order to cut away the 2 men-of-warr and tow them into the
North-East Harbour one of which they did viz.: the Ben Fison
[Bienfaisant] of 64 guns, the Prudon [Prudent] 74 guns being aground was
set on fire. At 11 A.M. the firing ceased on both sides."
The boats concerned in this attack, which Boscawen describes as "a very
brilliant affair, well carried out," were a barge and pinnace or cutter
from all the ships, except the Northumberland, which was too sickly,
commanded by a lieutenant, mate or midshipman, and Dr. Grahame in his
History of the United States of North America, says:
"The renowned Captain Cook, then serving as a petty officer on board of a
British ship-of-war, co-operated in this exploit, and wrote an account of
it to a friend in England. That he had distinguished himself may be
inferred from his promotion to the rank of lieutenant in the Royal Navy,
which took place immediately after."
This statement that he was in the affair may be true, but there is no
evidence on the point, and as he was a warrant and not petty officer, and
as his promotion did not take place for several years, Dr. Grahame's
story may well be doubted. It is believed that Cook did write to Mr.
Walker from Louisburg, but the letter was one of those so unfortunately
destroyed.
The loss on this occasion to the British was very slight, there being
only 7 killed and 9 wounded. The Bienfaisant having been surveyed, was
received into the Navy and given to Captain Balfour whilst the command of
L'Echo was conferred on Captain Laforey.
In consequence of this success and the threat of an immediate assault on
the town, the French commander, M. Drucour, decided to surrender on the
following day. This success was highly esteemed in England, and Admiral
Boscawen and General Amherst received the thanks of the Houses of
Parliament.
WOLFE AND HARDY.
After the siege Wolfe wrote to Lord George Sackville, speaking in warm
terms of Boscawen and his men, and says:
"Sir Charles Hardy, too, in particular, and all the officers of the Navy
in general have given us their utmost assistance, and with the greatest
cheerfulness imaginable. I have often been in pain for Sir Charles's
squadron at an anchor off the harbour's mouth. They rid out some very
hard gales of wind rather than leave an opening for the French to escape,
but, notwithstanding the utmost diligence on his side, a frigate found
means to get out and is gone to Europe charge de fanfaronades. I had the
satisfaction of putting 2 or 3 hautvizier shells into her stern and to
shatter him a little with some of your Lordship's 24 pound shot, before
he retreated, and I much question whether he will hold out the voyage."
The Pembroke formed one of this squadron under Sir Charles Hardy, and
after the capitulation of the town, was despatched with nine other ships,
and a small body of troops under Wolfe to harry the French settlements
around Gaspe Bay as a preparation for the attack on Quebec it was
intended to make in the following year. Several settlements and magazines
were destroyed, four guns and a pair of colours were captured, and then
the squadron returned to Halifax for the winter.
Admiral Sir Charles Saunders was selected to command the fleet that was
to be employed in this new movement against the capital of New France; a
man of whom Horace Walpole wrote:
"The Admiral was a pattern of the most sturdy bravery, united with the
most unaffected modesty. No man said less, or deserved more. Simplicity
in his manners, generosity, and good-nature adorned his genuine love of
his country."
WITH DURELL'S SQUADRON.
He left Spithead on 17th February 1759, with the intention of calling at
Louisburg, the appointed rendezvous for the expedition, on his way to
Halifax; but the season had been so severe that Louisburg, usually free
from ice, was found to be unapproachable, so he went on, arriving at
Halifax on 30th April. Admiral Durell had been sent out earlier from
England, and was now despatched from Halifax with a squadron, of which
the Pembroke was one, to prevent, if possible, the entry into the river
of the usual spring fleet from France with supplies and reinforcements
for Quebec, and to keep the French from putting up any fortifications on
the Ile aux Coudres, thereby adding to the difficulties of the fleet in
ascending this dangerous portion of river. The weather was bad, and the
trouble caused by fog and ice so great that Durell found the fleet of 18
sail, convoyed by two frigates, had escaped him, but one or two small
store ships were captured which proved of service to the British
afterwards. On the way up the Gulf, Captain Simcoe of the Pembroke died,
and the ship was given temporarily to Lieutenant Collins of Durell's
ship, and afterwards to Captain Wheelock, who remained in her till after
Cook left.
Durell's squadron arrived off the Ile aux Coudres on the 25th, and on the
28th the Pembroke landed the troops she had on board, "as did ye rest of
ye men of warr," and they took possession of the island, which was found
to be deserted by its inhabitants. The troops that were on board Durell's
ships were under the command of Colonel Carleton, the
Quartermaster-General of the force, and Wolfe's great friend, whose
services had only been obtained from the king with the greatest
difficulty. Whilst awaiting the arrival of Saunders with the remainder of
the expeditionary force, every endeavour was made to gain knowledge of
the difficulties of the river, and Cook's log notes how the boats were
out "sounding ye channel of ye Traverse"; and on the 11th June there is:
"Returned satisfied with being acquainted with ye Channel." The Traverse
here spoken of is that channel running from a high black-looking cape,
known as Cape Torment, across into the south channel, passing between the
east end of the Ile d'Orleans and Ile Madame. It is still looked upon as
one of the worst pieces of the river navigation.
The British had some charts of the river showing the course taken by the
French vessels, for in a note to the orders issued by Saunders on 15th
May to the Masters of Transports, special attention is called to "a plan
or chart showing the route which His Excellency intends to make from
Louisburg Harbour to the Island of Bic"; and this chart was most probably
taken from one captured by Boscawen in 1755, and published in September
1759 by T. Kitchen in the London Magazine having the Traverse shown on a
larger scale. The soundings taken at the time Durell was waiting would be
to verify those shown on this chart.
After a short delay in Halifax, Saunders left for Louisburg to gather up
the remainder of the forces and stores, and on his arrival still found
the port hampered by ice; in fact, Major Knox, of the 43rd Regiment,
relates that even so late as 1st June men were able to get ashore from
their ships, stepping from one piece of ice to another. There was also
further cause for dissatisfaction, delay in the arrival of the ships with
soldiers and stores. Some of the troops had been directed to other work
without any intimation to Wolfe, whilst others were in a very bad state
from scurvy and measles; some had lost their entire equipment, and it was
with the greatest difficulty replaced; the supply of money was criminally
small, and yet it is pleasant to read on the authority of Major Knox
that:
"I had the inexpressible pleasure to observe at Louisburg that our whole
armament, naval and military, were in high spirits; and though, by all
accounts, we shall have a numerous army and a variety of difficulties to
cope with, yet, under such Admirals and Generals, among whom we have the
happiness to behold the most cordial unanimity, together with so
respectable a fleet and a body of well-appointed regular troops, we have
every reason to hope for the greatest success."
ORDERS TO TRANSPORTS.
Before leaving, Saunders issued his instructions as to the order of
sailing. He divided the transports into two divisions, the Starboard
flying a red flag, and the Larboard a white one: he assigned to each
vessel its position and duties, and pointed out to each Master of a hired
transport that if the orders of his officers were not promptly and
exactly carried out they would be fired on, adding with a touch of grim
humour that the cost of the powder and shot so expended would be
carefully noted and charged against the hire of the offending ship. On
the 6th June Saunders was off Newfoundland with 22 men-of-war and 119
transports, and the cold winds blowing off the snow-covered hills of that
island were severely felt by the troops. On the 18th, when off the Island
of Bic, they were joined by Wolfe in the Richmond, and five days after
picked up Durell at the Ile aux Coudres. Here Saunders transferred his
flag to the Stirling Castle, which he had selected in England for the
purpose, owing to her handiness (Cook's friend, Mr. Bissett, was still on
board), and leaving Durell with eleven of the deepest draught to guard
against any interference from a French fleet, he proceeded up the river
with the remainder. The work was hard, constantly anchoring and weighing
to take every advantage of wind and tide, and the progress was slow; but
at length the whole of the ships passed the Traverse, and on the 26th the
fleet anchored off St. Laurent, on the Ile d'Orleans, and the troops were
landed on the following day. Thus the much-dreaded passage up the St.
Lawrence had been carried out, and the fact that no loss of any kind had
occurred to either man-of-war or transport, reflects the very greatest
credit on all engaged in the operation. Knox relates how the Master of
the transport he was on, a Brother of Trinity House and Thames pilot,
named Killick, refused the services of a French prisoner as pilot, and
observing, "Damme, I'll show them an Englishman can go where a Frenchman
dar'n't show his nose," took his ship up himself, chaffing the occupants
of the mark boats as he passed, and in the end declared that it was no
worse than the Thames.
The wonderful success of their passage was emphasised the afternoon after
their arrival at St. Laurent when a heavy gale struck the fleet, driving
several ships into collision or ashore, and causing considerable loss in
anchors and cables. As soon as possible the men-of-war boats were out
rendering every assistance, and all the vessels were secured but two,
which were too firmly fixed to be towed off shore, and these were soon
afterwards burnt by the enemy.
FIREWORKS.
Thinking to profit by the disorder which must necessarily have been
caused by the storm, the French made a determined attempt to destroy the
fleet by means of eight fireships which were floated down stream on the
unsuspecting British. Fortunately they were ignited prematurely, and the
boats of the Pembroke and other ships were again out, employed in the
hazardous task of towing these undesired visitors into such places as
would permit them to burn themselves out without danger to the shipping.
Six were quickly got into safety, whilst the other two grounded and burnt
out without causing further inconvenience. Captain Knox describes the
scene as a display of "the grandest fireworks that can possibly be
conceived." The only result was to cause the retirement of a picket at
the western end of the Ile d'Orleans, and the officer in command, who
thought he was about to be attacked in force, was to have been tried by
court-martial, but being advised to throw himself on Wolfe's mercy, was
pardoned for his error of judgment. To guard against a repetition of such
an attack, a system of guard boats, some moored across the river and some
patrolling, was established, entailing considerable extra work on the
sailors.
An examination of the position showed Admiral Saunders that the safety of
the fleet, and therefore the interests of the army, would be best
consulted if he proceeded into the Basin of Quebec, as to remain cooped
up in the south channel added to the danger if a further attempt should
be made to fire the fleet. He therefore pointed out to Wolfe that the
small battery established by the French on Point Levi, which threatened
any ship entering into the Basin, should be taken, and the Point
occupied. This was at once carried out by Monckton's brigade, and a
battery was established which did serious damage to the town. When too
late the French sent over three floating batteries to aid in repulsing
the English, but they were driven back by one broadside from a frigate
Saunders moved up for the purpose.
Montcalm had entrenched his army on the north bank of the St. Lawrence,
between the rivers Charles and Montmorenci, and Wolfe determined to seize
on a piece of high ground to the east of the Montmorenci, to form a camp
there, and endeavour to force on a general action. In pursuance of this
design, a body of about 3000 men were landed successfully on 9th July,
under the protecting fire of some of the fleet, and a camp was formed,
and the next few days provided employment for the boats of the Pembroke
and other ships in landing men, stores, and artillery. The bombardment of
the town opened on 12th July from the batteries erected at Point Levi and
a portion of the fleet, and continued with little intermission till 13th
September. When fire was opened on the town other ships in the Basin and
guns at the camp at Montmorenci opened on Montcalm's lines at Beauport.
On the 18th two men-of-war, two armed sloops and two transports succeeded
in passing the town without loss, but a third ship, the Diana, ran
aground in trying to avoid collision with a transport, and was attacked
by the enemy's boats, but was brought off by the Pembroke and Richmond.
She was so seriously damaged that she had to be sent to Boston for
repairs and then returned to England. On the 20th Wolfe joined the
up-river squadron in a barge, and in passing the town had his mast
carried away by a shot from the Sillery Battery, but no further damage
was done. He made a short reconnaissance which led to nothing at the
time, but may have had an important influence in the choice of a
landing-place afterwards.
ATTACK ON BEAUPORT.
On his return to his camp at Montmorenci he decided to make an attack on
the left of the French lines from boats and from his camp over a ford
which was available at low tide between the falls of Montmorenci and the
St. Lawrence. This attack was to be supported by the Centurion, moored in
the north channel, and by two armed cats which were to be run aground as
near as possible to some small redoubts, the first object of the attack.
Here it is certain that Wolfe and Cook came into personal contact, for on
the latter fell the duty of taking the necessary soundings for the
position to be occupied by the cats, and Wolfe refers in a despatch to a
conversation he had with Cook upon the matter. The attack took place on
31st July, aided by the fire of the Pembroke, Trent, and Richmond, which
were "anchored clear over to the north shore before Beauport, a brisk
firing on both sides," but the boats were thrown into confusion by a reef
(marked on the chart as visible at low water), and were some time before
they could effect a landing, then a heavy storm of rain came on,
rendering the ground, which was steep, very slippery. The troops occupied
one redoubt, but were so dominated by the French musketry that they could
get no further, and Wolfe deemed it desirable to recall them and to stop
the advance across the ford. The two cats were burnt to prevent them
falling into the hands of the enemy, and the losses of the English in
killed, wounded, and missing were 443, those of the French being
estimated at 200. Cook says the repulse was solely owing to the heavy
fire from the entrenchments, "which soon obliged our Troops to retreat
back to the Boats and Montmorency"; whilst Wolfe, in a general order,
throws the blame on the Louisburg Grenadiers, a picked body of men from
several regiments, whom he considers got out of hand. He also, in a
despatch submitted to Saunders, threw some amount of blame on the Navy,
but to this the Admiral strongly objected, and it was withdrawn, Wolfe
saying: "I see clearly wherein I have been deficient; and think a little
more or less blame to a man that must necessarily be ruined, of little or
no consequence."
It has been asserted that Cook led the boats to the attack, but as this
was done by Wolfe himself, according to his own letters, and as Saunders
was also out with them, both officers having narrow escapes, it seems
more probable that Cook would be on his own ship, where, as she was
engaged, his services would be wanted, for it was one of the Master's
most important duties to work her under the Captain's orders when in
action.
A few days before this attack on Beauport was made, the French again paid
the fleet the undesired attention of a large fire raft composed of
several small vessels chained together and laden with all sorts of
combustibles--shells, guns loaded to the muzzle, tar barrels, etc., and
again this was grappled by the boats and towed away to a place of safety;
and then Wolfe, sending in a flag of truce the next morning, said that if
the performance were repeated he should cause the instrument of
destruction to be towed alongside two ships in which he had Canadian
prisoners, and there let it do its worst. This somewhat cold-blooded
threat was sufficient, and the experiment was not repeated.
A NARROW ESCAPE.
During the time the fleet was occupying the Basin, the Masters of the
ships were constantly out making observations and sounding, partly for
the necessities of the fleet and partly to throw dust in the eyes of the
French; and on one occasion Cook had a narrow escape from capture, his
men had to row for it to get away from the enemy, and reaching the Isle
of Orleans landed just in time, for as Cook, the last man, sprang ashore
from the bows an Indian boarded over the stern. The hospital picket
turned out, and the French retreated. His friend, Mr. Bissett, was not so
fortunate, being taken prisoner on 7th July whilst sounding in the north
channel; but he was either exchanged or escaped, for he was only absent
from his ship for a few days.
Wolfe, who was almost always ailing, had an attack of fever, and the
worry of the repulse at Beauport rendered him incapable of duty for some
days; he therefore laid before his Brigadiers plans of future movements,
asking their opinions and advice. These plans were not approved, but it
was suggested that an attempt should be made to land on the western side
of the town and there bring the enemy to action, and Wolfe writes: "I
have acquiesced in their Proposal, and we are preparing to put it into
execution."
The up-river detachment had been strengthened by the addition of a few
more vessels, and Murray with 1200 men had joined in an unsuccessful
attempt to get at the French supply fleet which had retreated to a place
of safety. He had outwitted De Bougainville, who was detached to watch
him, and succeeded in destroying a magazine containing clothing, powder,
and other stores, and intercepted letters which told of the surrender of
Niagara and the retirement of Bourlemaque upon the Ile aux Noix, to which
place Amherst was preparing to follow.
When Wolfe's resolve was taken to follow the advice of his Brigadiers,
Saunders again strengthened the force above the town, placing the
squadron under the command of Admiral Holmes, and on 3rd September his
boats withdrew the artillery and troops from Montmorenci to Point Levi,
and on the night of the 4th all the available boats and small craft were
sent up, one of the last to pass being a small schooner armed with a few
swivels, and called by the sailors The Terror of France. She sailed by in
broad daylight, drawing the fire of every gun that could be brought to
bear on her, but was untouched, and, anchoring close alongside the
Admiral's ship, gave him a salute from the whole of her armament.
The troops which had been quietly marched some distance up the south bank
from Point Levi were taken on board the ships, the last detachment on the
night of the 12th; and Admiral Holmes sailed up the river as if to beat
up the French communications, but when night fell he returned, and the
landing was successfully accomplished, and is described by Saunders in
his despatch as follows:
"The night of their landing, Admiral Holmes with the ships and troops was
about three leagues above the intended landing-place. General Wolfe with
about half his troops set off in the boats, and dropped down with the
tide, and were by that means less liable to be discovered by the
sentinels posted all along the coast. The ships followed them about
three-quarters of an hour afterwards, and got to the landing-place just
at the time that had been concerted to cover the landing, and considering
the darkness of the night, and the rapidity of the current, this was a
very critical operation, and very properly and successfully conducted."
In the meantime the ships in the Basin, some fifteen in number,
distracted the attention of the French by a heavy cannonade on the
Beauport lines, and the boats made a feint as if an attack were
contemplated; buoys had been laid in such a way as to lead to the idea
that the ships were going to moor as close in as possible as if to
support an assault, and every effort was made to draw attention away from
the movement up above.
THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM.
Lieutenant Norman, of the Pembroke, shortly describes the battle in his
log:
"At 4 A.M. General Wolfe landed just below Cape Diamond with the whole
army. At 8 the signal of Boats man'd and arm'd to go to Point Levi,
weighed and dropped hier up. About 10 the enemy march'd up and attacked
General Wolfe, the action lasted not 10 minutes before the Enemy gave way
and run in the Greatest Confusion and left us a compleat Victuary. Our
Army encamped on the plain a back of the Town and made the necessary
disposition for carrying on ye siege. Admiral Holmes hoisted his flag on
board the Lowestaff, just off the Landing place. In this action fell
General Wolfe, of the enemy General Montcalm and his two seconds."
Cook does not mention the death of Wolfe, but says "the troops continued
the pursuit to the very gates of the city, afterward they begun to form
the necessary dispositions for carrying on the siege."
Cook is said by some writers to have piloted the troops to the
landing-place, and has even been set within hearing of the legendary
recitation by Wolfe of Gray's Elegy, but as he was out with the
Pembroke's boats in the Basin at the time Holmes started up the river,
and was probably on his ship, with his hands full driving the
bombardment, and the recital of the Elegy at such a time was probably a
myth, the traditions may be put down to imagination. The boats were
piloted to the landing by Captain Chads of H.M.S. Vesuvius.
The town having surrendered five days after the battle, the movements
made by Saunders in the Basin no doubt aiding M. de Ramesay, the
Governor, in coming to a decision, General Murray was left with a
garrison, and the fleet sailed for England, sending a detachment of the
Northumberland and six others to Halifax with orders that Captain Lord
Colville was to hoist the Broad Pennant as Commander-in-Chief of the
North American Station, and as soon as the season opened he was to return
to the St. Lawrence to render support to any further movements made in
Canada.
APPOINTMENT TO H.M.S. NORTHUMBERLAND.
Before the fleet left, however, Cook's connection with H.M.S. Pembroke
came to an end. Captain King, who was with Cook on his last voyage,
writes to Dr. Douglas that he does not know the exact date of Cook's
appointment to the Northumberland, but he was certainly Master of that
ship in 1758. Here King is in error, for Lieutenant James Norman, of the
Pembroke, has the following entry in his log under date 23rd September
1759: "Mr. Cook, Master, superseded and sent on board the Northumberland,
per order of Admiral Saunders." It has been said that Lord Colville made
this appointment, but of course he could not do so, though he may perhaps
have applied for Cook's services, but it is far more probable that the
appointment was made by Saunders for the special purpose of having the
survey of the St. Lawrence thoroughly well carried out.