Viscount Exmouth (Sir Edward Pellew), a celebrated English Admiral, was
born at Dover, in 1757. His family was Norman, but had been settled
in Cornwall for many centuries. Entering the English navy at the age
of thirteen, he soon distinguished himself for his daring, activity,
intelligence, and all other qualities which go to make up a good
officer.
His first war service was at the battle of Lake Champlain, in our own
country, when he succeeded to the command of the schooner Carleton, and
won a Lieutenant’s commission. The next year he served in Burgoyne’s
unfortunate campaign, in command of a detachment of seamen, whose
tremendous labor in the lakes and rivers was entirely thrown away by
Burgoyne’s capture.
After this he was employed actively against the French, and was
knighted for a very gallant action, when, in command of the Nymphe
frigate, he captured the Cleopatra, a much heavier ship. In 1794, in
command of the Arethusa frigate, he captured the French frigate Pomone;
and in consequence was given the command of a division, when he again
distinguished himself.
Always noted for deeds of daring, one of the most remarkable of these
was his boarding the wrecked transport Sutton, shipwrecked on the
coast of England. He took charge, and by his personal influence and
great exertions, saved the lives of all on board.
In 1798, in command of the Impetueux, of the Channel fleet, he
participated in several actions. He then entered Parliament, and was
known as a strenuous supporter of the policy of William Pitt.
In 1804 he was made a Rear-Admiral, and appointed Commander-in-Chief in
the East Indies, when he succeeded in nearly clearing those seas of the
French cruisers, which had done so much damage to English commerce.
He returned to England in 1809, and was immediately appointed to the
Command in the North Sea. After this he served as Commander-in-Chief in
the Mediterranean, and in 1814 was raised to the peerage.
The atrocities committed by the Algerines, and the barbarous massacre
of the crews of more than three hundred small vessels, at Bona, on
the 23d of May, 1816, induced the British Government to prepare an
expedition to act against the forts and shipping of Algiers. This
piratical city had often been attacked and bombarded before, notably by
the celebrated French Admiral Duquesne, in the latter part of the 17th
century; but it was reserved for Lord Exmouth and an English fleet to
give it a final blow.
On the 28th of July, 1816, Lord Exmouth sailed from Plymouth Sound,
in command of a fleet bound to Algiers. His flag-ship was the Queen
Charlotte, of 100 guns, and Rear-Admiral Milne, his second in command,
was in the Impregnable, 98. There were also three 74s, one 50, two 40s,
two 36s, five brigs, and four bomb-vessels.
Upon reaching Gibraltar, on the 9th of August, Lord Exmouth was joined
by the Minden, 74, and also received offers of co-operation from
Vice-Admiral Baron Van de Cappellen, of the Dutch navy, which Exmouth
very cordially received. The Dutch had four forty-gun ships, a thirty,
and a sloop of eighteen guns.
On the 13th of August each captain received a plan of the
fortifications they were to attack, and definite instructions, and the
whole fleet, amounting to twenty-three sail, with five gun-boats, and a
sloop, fitted as an explosion vessel, weighed anchor, and proceeded for
their destination.
On the passage they were joined by a sloop-of-war, which had taken
off the wife and children of the British Consul at Algiers. But the
Consul himself had been most arbitrarily detained by the Dey, together
with the Surgeon, three Midshipmen, and eighteen men belonging to
the sloop-of-war. (Any one curious in regard to these remarkable
transactions cannot do better than read the book upon Algiers, by Mr.
Shaler, American Consul there at the time of the bombardment. Mr.
Shaler, in his work, points out the true way to take Algiers, and his
advice was afterwards followed by the French, when they took the place.)
The fortifications of Algiers were deemed almost impregnable,
especially by the artillery of that time; upon the various batteries
on the north side of the bay eighty pieces of cannon and eight heavy
mortars were mounted; but the water was so shoal that a large ship
could not come within their reach. Between the north wall of the city
and the commencement of the mole (which was about 800 feet long,
and which connected the town with the lighthouse) were about twenty
guns; and a semi-circular battery, mounting two tiers of guns, about
forty-four in all, stood on the northern projection of the mole.
To the southward of that, and nearly in a line with the pier, was the
lighthouse battery, of three tiers, mounting forty-eight guns, next to
which was the eastern battery, mounting sixty-six guns in three tiers,
flanked by four other batteries, of two tiers, mounting altogether
sixty guns, and on the mole-head were two long 68-pounders, described
as being twenty feet in length. The total number of guns on the mole
and pier was at least 220, composed of 32, 24, and 18-pounders.
The “fish-market” battery, about 300 yards west from the south
mole-head, mounted fifteen guns, in three tiers. Between that and the
southern extremity of the city were two batteries of five guns each.
Beyond the city, in this direction, was a castle and three other
batteries, mounting altogether about seventy guns. In the rear of
the city, and on the heights, were several other batteries; so that
the total number of guns mounted for the defence of this fastness of
robbery, oppression, and cruelty, exceeded 1000.
On the 27th of August, at daybreak, the city of Algiers was in sight,
but the ships were lying nearly becalmed. A boat in charge of a
Lieutenant was despatched to the Dey, to demand compliance with the
following conditions: the abolition of Christian slavery; the release
of all Christian slaves; the repayment of the money recently exacted
for the redemption of Neapolitan and Sardinian slaves; peace with the
King of the Netherlands; and the immediate liberation of the English
Consul and the officers and boats’ crews of the Prometheus.
The boat with the flag of truce was towed in shore, and was met, at 11
A. M., near the mole, by an Algerine boat, in which was the Captain
of the Port, who promised a reply in two hours. In the meantime the
sea breeze sprang up, and the whole fleet stood into the bay, and hove
to, about a mile from the batteries. At 2 P. M., no answer having been
received, the boat sent with the message made signal to that effect,
and returned to her own ship.
Lord Exmouth at once demanded, by signal, if all the ships were ready,
and being answered in the affirmative, the fleet bore up for the
attack, in the order precisely laid down.
About half-past two in the afternoon the flag-ship, Queen Charlotte,
anchored, with springs, about fifty yards from the mole-head; and
while in the act of making a warp fast to an Algerine brig on shore
at the mouth of the harbor, a shot was fired at the ship; and at the
same moment two shots from the opposite end of the mole were fired at
the Impregnable, and other ships, as they were advancing to take their
stations.
Lord Exmouth, unwilling to sacrifice the mass of Algerine townspeople
standing on the parapet of the mole, and gazing with astonishment at
the strange ships, waved his hand to them to descend, and at once gave
orders to commence firing, when the action became general, as soon as
the guns would bear.
On the Queen Charlotte’s port bow lay the Leander, 50, occupying the
place in line of a line-of-battle ship, with her starboard after guns
bearing upon the mole, and her forward guns upon the “fish-market”
battery.
Ahead of the Leander was the Severn, 40, her starboard broadside
bearing full upon the “fish-market” battery. Close to the Severn
was the Glasgow, 40, whose port guns bore upon the town batteries.
On the port quarter of the Queen Charlotte was the Superb, 74, her
starboard broadside bearing on the 60-gun battery next to the one on
the mole-head. It was intended that the Impregnable, 98, and Albion,
74, should take their places close astern of the Superb, but the
former, not being sufficiently up when the firing began, brought up
considerably outside of her appointed station, and beyond the line of
bearing within which the attacking force had been ordered to assemble.
The Impregnable, in consequence, lay exposed, at the distance of five
hundred yards, to the lighthouse battery of three tiers, as well as to
the eastern battery of two tiers. The Minden pushed on and dropped her
anchor in the space between the Impregnable and Superb, on the port
quarter of the latter. The Albion brought up near the Impregnable, but
weighed again, and, about three o’clock, anchored close astern of the
Minden.
The end of her stream cable was then passed out of the gun-room port
of the latter, by which the Albion was hove close to the stern of the
Minden.
Thus the line-of-battle ships took their stations in a northerly
direction from the mole-head; and the frigates from the “fish-market”
battery, in a curved line to the southwest.
The Dutch Admiral intended to have placed his flag-ship, a frigate
called the Melampus, in the centre of his squadron, and against the
batteries to the southward of the city; but not being able to take this
station, in consequence of the Diana being too far to the southward, he
ran past that frigate, and anchored the Melampus with her jib-boom over
the Glasgow’s taffrail.
The Diana and Dageraad anchored astern of the Melampus, and the other
two Dutch frigates further out; the corvette remaining under way. The
Hebrus, 36, being becalmed, anchored a little without the line, on
the port quarter of the Queen Charlotte. The Granicus, 36, hove to,
in order to allow the large ships to take their places; after which
she steered for the Admiral’s flag, which alone could be seen over
the clouds of smoke already formed, and anchored in a space scarcely
exceeding her own length, between the Superb and Queen Charlotte.
The skill with which Captain Wise, her commander, took up this position
elicited the admiration of all who witnessed it. The brigs of the fleet
either anchored or kept under way, as most convenient. The bomb vessels
anchored about two thousand yards from the Algerine batteries; except
one, which took up an inside berth; and the gun-boats and mortar-boats
placed themselves where they could most annoy the enemy.
The Leander was especially charged with the Algerine gun-boats and
row-galleys, which she was not long in destroying by her fire; and
at about four P. M. she ceased firing, that the barge of the Queen
Charlotte might set fire to an Algerine frigate which was lying across
the mole. This service was gallantly performed, and the frigate was
soon in flames; the boat returning with the loss of only two men
killed. Lord Exmouth particularly complimented those employed in this
service. A young Midshipman, in command of a rocket-boat, followed the
barge, but, owing to the slowness of his boat, was much exposed to a
heavy fire from the batteries, and was wounded, with nine of his boat’s
crew; while another Midshipman who was with him was killed.
About half-past four Rear Admiral Milne sent a message to Lord Exmouth,
stating that the Impregnable had sustained a loss of one hundred and
fifty in killed and wounded, and requesting that a frigate might be
sent to divert some of the fire from that ship.
The Glasgow attempted to perform that service, but, it being perfectly
calm, the frigate was unable, after an hour’s exertion, to reach the
intended position, and was obliged to anchor just ahead of the Severn,
with her stern towards that ship, and thus become exposed to a severe
fire from the “fish market” and contiguous batteries. Somewhat later
the Leander, having also suffered severely from these batteries, ran
out a hawser to the Severn, and sprang her broadside round upon them.
The mortar and rocket-boats had by this time set all the vessels
within the harbor on fire, and the flames soon reached the arsenal and
storehouses on the mole. The city was also on fire in several places,
from the shells thrown by the bomb-vessels. The sloop fitted for an
explosion vessel was now run on shore, close under a semi-circular
battery, to the northward of the lighthouse, and about nine at night
this vessel, charged with about 150 barrels of powder, was exploded.
The effect of it is not recorded, and was probably not much, as similar
explosions have since failed to produce any great result.
The fleet continued a tremendous cannonade until ten P. M., when, the
upper tiers of the batteries on the mole being nearly destroyed, and
the lower tiers almost silenced, the Queen Charlotte cut her cables and
stood off, with a light breeze from the land, directing the rest of
the ships to follow her. The breeze was so light that the Superb and
Impregnable, in standing off, suffered much from the raking fire of a
fort at the upper angle of the city, which rises up the side of a hill,
the walls coming to an angle at the top. When the Leander’s cable was
slipped she was found to have sustained so much damage aloft that she
was unmanageable, and fast drifting down on the mole, where the enemy’s
ships were burning. Fortunately she got a hawser to the Severn, and was
towed off. Had she taken the ground, she must have been destroyed, with
the greater part of her crew.
Two or three times the hawser parted, but was as often reconveyed by
the boats, under sharp musketry fire from the mole. At length the
Severn got a good breeze, and the Leander was saved from her perilous
situation.
Before two o’clock in the morning the whole fleet was beyond the reach
of the enemy’s shot, being greatly assisted in taking up an anchorage
by the blaze of the burning Algerine fleet, which illuminated the whole
bay, and lighted up the terraced town, with its white houses rising one
above the other to the fort, which dominated the whole.
As if to add to the grandeur and wildness of the scene, a storm of
thunder and lightning came on, and lasted till daybreak.
At daybreak in the morning the bomb vessels were ordered to again take
up their stations, in readiness to resume the bombardment of the city;
while Lord Exmouth’s Flag-Lieutenant was despatched with a flag of
truce, to repeat the demands made on the preceding day. The Algerine
officer who came out to meet the flag of truce declared that an answer
had been sent the day before, but that no boat could be found to
receive it.
On the 29th the Captain of the Port came off, accompanied by the
British Consul, who had been imprisoned by the Dey; and the same
afternoon an English Captain landed, and had a conference with the
Dey, at his palace; which resulted in the delivery to the British of
more than twelve hundred Christian slaves, the restoration of nearly
$400,000 for slaves redeemed by Naples and Sicily, peace between
Algiers and the Netherlands, and $30,000 paid to the British Consul, as
compensation for the loss of his property, which had been plundered.
The Dey, moreover, made an apology for his detention.
The loss of the attacking party in this successful bombardment was one
hundred and forty-one killed and seven hundred and forty-two wounded.
The Dutch squadron, which was highly complimented by Lord Exmouth for
gallant conduct, lost, of the above, thirteen killed and fifty-two
wounded.
This bombardment broke the Algerine power completely, and put an end,
almost altogether, to her piratical exploits.
Fourteen years afterwards the country was captured by France, and has
ever since remained in the possession of that country.