Spain having become a compulsory ally of France, during the last
year, an expedition took place against the valuable island of
Trinidad, on the North East coast of Terra Firma, in South America,
which surrendered after a very trifling resistance, to the joint
forces under Sir Ralph Abercrombie and Rear Admiral Hervey. Blended
with this capture, were 4 sail of the line and one frigate, which
offered no opposition to our fleet, but were destroyed by the
enemy, excepting the St. Damaso of 70 guns.
Another but less fortunate attempt was made upon Porto Rico, but it
was relinquished from the inadequacy of means to carry it, after
some loss. On both occasions the Marines were placed in readiness
to act, but were not required to land.
Sir John Jervis (now Earl St. Vincent) had the honourable
distinction of standing foremost in the list of Naval Heroes,
who, unappalled by very superior numbers, dashed at every thing.
His masterly manœuvres, upon the 14th of February, rendered this
encouraging advantage unavailing to the Spanish Fleet, which, by a
bold and decisive push, he separated, and defeated. This immortal
action was not only crowned with the glory of capturing 4 sail of
the line, but it had also its influence upon the spirits of our
enemy, in every subsequent combat on the sea. An uncommon display
of personal intrepidity was evinced by Commodore Nelson, Captain
Miller, and Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) Berry, who at the
head of the boarders from his Majesty's ship Captain, assaulted
and carried, sword in hand, the San Joseff and St. Nicholas. The
battle raged from 10 in the morning, until the close of day, which
screened this powerful armament from destruction. Major William
Norris, Lieut. G. A. Livingstone, and Serjeant Watson, of Marines,
finished their lives, and 6 privates were killed, besides 21
wounded, in a contest where all were distinguished. The Legislative
thanks were bestowed upon every class of our victorious fleet,
and all these honours which a grateful Country could give, were
conferred upon her meritorious servants. The port of Cadiz was
afterwards most effectually blockaded, and was twice bombarded, in
one of which Captain John Oldfield, of Marines, was wounded.
No war, in which England was ever engaged, has produced so many
high examples of subordinate enterprize, as that of which I treat.
Like the gymnastick games, it is a spirit which should always be
kept up, and although similar to petty skirmishing, it is as a drop
in the bucket in the scale of importance, it still has a tendency
to animate an emulous zeal, and the love of glory. It is the school
in which greater deeds are taught, and to which all should be
invited.
While I thus appear the humble advocate in recommending an ardency
for early achievement, I would at the same time urge a gradation
of recompence, or of honorary grants, suited to the feelings of
every description of its agents. These have been of old standing,
and have undergone many a change, alternately adapted to the
fluctuating manners of society. Many a useful hint might be
gleaned from the institutions of the Greeks and the Romans, and
as _human nature never alters_, they might well be applied to
ourselves. The French have studied and practised these doctrines
with success. Louis the 11th rewarded the prowess and bravery of
one of his soldiers, Launay Morvillier, by publicly taking the
collar of a military order, from his own neck, and putting it
on his. Under the republican system, this has been invariably
observed, towards the meanest, by every convention, of whatever
stuff it has been composed, and it has been one of the engines
by which their numerous armies have been worked into enthusiasm.
Medals, descriptive of those merits that have acquired them, would
be estimable even to the poor man. While they adorned the cottage,
they would also be viewed by every one of its tenants as monumental
emblems of loyal valour; a title which each of its members would
not only be loth to forfeit, but inclined to rival.
These remarks are introductory to one of the many exploits by which
this contest was marked.
The boats of the Lively and La Minerve under Lieut. Hardy, in
which, Lieut. Bulkeley, of Marines, most handsomely volunteered,
boarded, and carried La Mutine brig of 12 six pounders and 2
thirty-six pound corronades, having 113 men, in the bay of Sancta
Cruz, amidst the fire of all the Spanish batteries, and a sharp
discharge from the French corvette. Only 15 were wounded in this
hot affair. Lieut. Hardy was deservedly promoted, but his brave
companions have no traces of the deed, but in their own minds.
An unsuccessful essay upon Teneriffe on the 25th of July, under
Commodore Nelson, fraught with many feats of unsurpassed bravery,
ended in the re-embarkation of the seamen and Marines, by consent
of the enemy, who were threatened by Captain Trowbridge, with the
vengeance of our squadron, in the event of molestation. Owing to
the judicious proposals made by that excellent Officer, boats
were supplied by the Spanish Governor, to remedy the loss of our
own from the violence of the surf; the wounded were kindly taken
into the hospitals, and that generous foe even tendered such
refreshments as his invaders might request. Commodore Nelson here
lost his arm, which happily did not deprive his Country of the
services of one of its most valuable subjects.
Lieut. Robinson and Basham, and 16 of my corps fell, 15 were
wounded, and 102 Seamen and Marines were drowned or missing.
Although the event was unpropitious, still our arms were not
sullied.
Partaking of the diabolical spirit of the times, one of the most
daring and sanguinary mutinies broke out in the Hermione, on the
22d of September, that ever disgraced the Christian world. After
the most shocking barbarities exercised upon Captain Pigot, the
Officers, Marines, and loyal Seamen, who were unsuspicious of their
hellish plot, they carried the ship into the Spanish port of La
Guira, whose Governor most ingloriously refused to give her up.
An avenging power, in numberless examples, too striking to be
overlooked, has followed those traitorous murderers, and has
vindicated the justice of his injured laws. Contempt embittered
by remorse have been the inseparable companions of all those
guilty individuals. Driven from the shores where they sanguinely
anticipated nothing but recompence and applause, many of those
wretched outcasts, by retracing their steps towards their native
land, have met a certain and disgraceful doom, others unable to
bear the stings of a wounded conscience, and abhorring existence,
have precipitated their own dissolution, while the remains of
those unhappy wanderers still throw a wishful eye from, their
lurking spots, back on the soil which gave them birth, but where
a vigilant Police, that vicegerent of heaven's purposes, is ever
awake to their crimes. Even the very ship which was the theatre of
their lawless outrage, has also been involved in their accursed
destinies, for she was sometime after gallantly cut out of Porto
Cavallo, by Sir Edward Hamilton, at the head of a body of Seamen
and Marines from the Surprize, although protected by 200 heavy
cannon, and under circumstances of incredible carnage, with the
loss of only one Englishman.
A peculiar spirit of activity seemed to pervade our squadron upon
the Jamaica station, during the year 1797. Above 60 vessels of
different descriptions were taken or destroyed, under batteries
where they rode in confident security, but which were uniformly
inadequate to shelter them from determined valour. The zeal and
directing genius of Captains W. H. Ricketts, and the unfortunate
Pigot, were always well seconded by their Officers, their Sailors
and Marines.
At the eventful period when Britain was contending for the general
liberties of mankind against the most vindictive and powerful
enemies she had ever encountered, when our islands were menaced
with invasion, and treason stalked throughout our streets, she
suddenly found herself deserted by her long tried and guardian
fleets.
The turbulent demon first appeared in the garb of justice, but
after having gained its ends, he soon threw away the mask which
covered his mutinous and corrupt heart. Those liberal concessions
made by a considerate and grateful Country, appeared to stimulate,
instead of suppressing revolt, and its contaminating principles
diffused themselves over every quarter of the world.
Many were the individual instances of fidelity in my corps, at this
awful crisis. Many were the gallant fellows in it who preferred
the honorable distinction of allegiance to their King, to the
mercenary attainments of self interest. The partial support of the
party of Marines on board the London, given to Admiral Colpoys and
his Officers, at a time when they were surrounded by thousands of
disaffected comrades, afforded a faint display of what would have
been their general energies had such been called forth. They were
indeed overpowered by numbers, after a contest, in which Lieutenant
(now Captain) W. Sims was severely wounded. The loyal conduct of
Serjeant Sweet, on board the Pompee, was evident to the members
of a Court Martial which sat upon the trial of some misguided
mutineers of that ship.
An instance of true heroism appeared in Charles Cubitt, private
Marine, (in the Royal Sovereign I think,) who, after having been
stabbed in the belly, by a Sailor, with a pike, pursued him with a
loaded musket at his ear, but on the fellow begging for life, he
nobly spared him.
The steady faithfulness of all those Marine Soldiers who had served
during the American war, and had survived the heavy reduction
at its close, was uniformly conspicuous. At the outset of these
lamentable events, an unshaken resolve to stand or fall with their
Officers, inspired every breast, which, had it been accepted,
might have led to the sacrifice of those brave men who would have
been opposed to uneven numbers, in the Seamen and many of their
fellows, whom public emergency had embarked, untrained even to
the common duties of their profession, and unhabituated to that
strict obedience, which is the essence of every military virtue.
Unconscious of that dignity which belongs to his character, the raw
recruit readily gives in to any scheme urged by the designing; of
which there were too many drawn from the dregs of society, amongst
those provincial conscripts who had previously been levied at the
most enormous bounties, to man the fleet.
This fiendly spirit soon found its way to the Mediterranean, where
all the achievements of Earl St. Vincent's life were yet, I may
say, surpassed, by the evidences of that manly vigour with which he
subdued it. In this, his Lordship was zealously seconded by all the
Officers and the Marines of his fleet, and by one uniform system of
subordination which emanated from his high example. The conduct of
Admiral Duncan, at Yarmouth, and Admiral Pringle, at the Cape of
Good Hope, was alike energetic.
Subsequent events have shewn that this flame was only stifled,
but not extinguished, and it would have yielded me the highest
gratification to have here bidden an adieu to the hateful topic.
It is an occasion, worthy of the gratitude of Britons, to notice
the relative situations of our republican foes at this alarming
juncture. France would have eagerly embraced such an hour of
calamity to consummate her ambitious views upon our happy Country,
but she was paralyzed by similar principles in her own Navy, while
the meditated expedition against Ireland, was detained in the ports
of Holland by unabating and contrary winds.
This year was remarkable by an increase of pay to his Majesty's
subaltern Officers, the abolition of arrears to them, to Captains
of the Army, as well as Marines, besides a very handsome addition
to the wages of Seamen, and to inferiors in all the other
departments of our military forces. That liberal allowance of
provisions which was also granted to the Sailors and Marines of
the fleet, has rendered their situations truly enviable, as upon
a general aggregate they are more than they can possibly consume.
The overplus being converted into money is nearly adequate to the
purchase of those cordials of which they stand in need, and, in
consequence, a prudent man is under little necessity to encroach
upon his pecuniary gains. No class of his Majesty's servants is
more independent, or might be more happy.
The gallantry of our Navy in the face of an enemy, notwithstanding
these outrageous scenes, was uniformly apparent. That expert Seaman
and intrepid Officer, Sir Edward Pellew, stands first on the list,
accompanied by his brave supporter Captain R. C. Reynolds, of the
Amazon, who nobly seconded the Indefatigable, in a contest, with
but few intervals, of ten hours. Their opponent, Les Droits de
L'Homme, of 74 guns, had been attached to the squadron destined for
Ireland, and was on her return to France when attacked by those
daring Officers. She had 1600 men on board, by which she fought
her cannon on both sides, and thus enjoyed her great superiority.
The winds blew a storm, and all their animosities subsided at last
in the predominant duty of self-preservation; for a glimpse of the
moon providentially penetrating the sullen clouds, pointed out the
breakers on a near shore, and the gloomy presage of instantaneous
destruction. They were fatal to the unhappy Frenchman, who merited
a better doom, as well as to the Amazon, after all her efforts. Sir
Edward Pellew expressed his grateful feelings to Lieuts. O'Connor
and Wilson, of Marines, for their conduct under these trying
occasions.
A disastrous fate seems to have always pursued every modern aim
at the conquest of our isles. A petty attempt on Wales, by means
of a set of wretched criminals, terminated with their immediate
surrender to Lord Cawdor; and the capture of the frigates that had
transported them, by Sir H. Neal and Captain J. Cooke, of the St.
Fiorenzo and Nymphe, in sight of their own fleet in the road of
Brest. Lieut. (afterwards Capt.) Carruthers, who was subsequently
drowned in the Invincible, and Lieut. Campbell, of Marines, were
distinguished in this spirited affair.
Sir John Warren and his squadron were highly active in annoying the
enemy's Naval force and coasting trade during this year.
It is needless to enlarge upon the merits of the brilliant
victory of the 11th of October, achieved under the most hazardous
circumstances, and signally productive of the most important
consequences. The very modest recital of Admiral, now Lord Duncan,
of the proceedings of that day, adds a lustre to his well-earned
glory. Long baulked in the hopes of meeting his cautious enemy, no
wonder his joy kept pace with his zeal to close with them when he
had them in his power. The Dutch Marine has not yet recovered the
blow, and the services of the North Sea fleet have, experimentally,
transcended in their effects to enervate the Naval exertions of
that province of France, in two wars.
During the very able and vigilant administration of Earl Spencer,
reward was the rapid follower of desert, and the British Commander,
after not many hours absence from his Country, found himself, on
return to it, elevated, from a commoner, to a Peer of the Realm. A
suitable tribute was bestowed upon his brave second Vice Admiral,
now Sir Richard Onslow, and Captain H. Trollope, who was bearer of
the glad tidings, as well as W. G. Fairfax, the Admiral's Captain;
both of whom were created Knights Banneret[4], by a benevolent and
grateful Sovereign. The Thanks of the Nation were also conveyed to
the Officers, Seamen, and Marines, through its representatives.
The generous contributions of the patriotic and the wealthy of
our land, were likewise extended to many a disconsolate widow, a
fatherless offspring, and a helpless orphan. The sufferings of
the wounded and indigent Officer too were alleviated by public
kindness, which sought for objects upon which to exercise its
benevolence amongst the lowest ranks of those brave defenders. How
criminal it is in any to violate the duties of fidelity to such a
Country!
In this well-fought battle 751 Seamen and Marines were killed
and wounded, amongst the latter of which were numbered Captains
Cuthbert and Cassel, Lieuts. Chambers, Smith, Walker, Charles Rea,
and Sandys.
A dash at the Brutus, of 74 guns, by Sir Thomas Williams, after the
battle, was ineffectual; but did honour to himself, his Officers,
Seamen, and Marines, in the Endymion.
The capture of La Nereide, by Captain, now Sir Robert Barlow, in a
night action, displayed the courage and talents of that Officer,
and was highly honourable to Lieut. Stewart and his detachment.
On the 19th of December, one of the most delightful scenes ever
witnessed in the metropolis of any Empire, was exhibited in ours.
It was the procession of the best of Kings, his amiable consort,
every branch of the Royal Family, and the representatives of the
greatest Nation on earth, towards the altars of their God. Never
did prayers ascend on high with a greater fervor of devotion,
which was heightened by every surrounding object. The occasion was
well calculated to convert the heedless infidel, and to excite a
military enthusiasm _not_ to be easily effaced.
Bodies of Marines, drawn from Portsmouth and from Chatham, chiefly
formed from those who had so often contributed to the Naval
victories of the State, in union with their brethren the Seamen,
were allotted for the protection of these trophies which their
valour had conquered, and what moved along towards the spot, where
all were to pour forth their solemn thanksgivings. Their Majesties
were greeted on the way by thousands of their affectionate
subjects, and the Prime Minister of the day, who had presided over
the Councils of his Country with such ability during its unexampled
difficulties, was received with that unconstrained applause, which
attested that Englishmen knew how to appreciate his transcendent
virtues.