The moments passed slowly and anxiously, for if the mutineers were to
pour up from below before the cartridges arrived and the lieutenant had
got the petty officers and men on whom they could rely ready for action,
it was improbable that the officers would be able successfully to oppose
the rush of the men, armed as these would be with matchlock and pike.
The mutineers, however, believing that there was no occasion to hurry,
were quietly carrying out their intentions. The noncommissioned officers
had all been seized, tied, and placed under sentries, whose orders were
to pike them if they uttered a word. A strong guard had been placed at
the foot of the gangway to prevent any of the soldiers who were not in
the plan from going on deck and giving the alarm. The muskets were not
loaded, as on embarkation all ball cartridges had, as usual, been stowed
away in the magazine; but they reckoned upon obtaining possession of
this at the first rush. The ringleaders proceeded to form the men in
fours, so that they could pour on to the deck in military order. The men
of each company were told off to separate work. Two companies were to
clear the decks, where, on their appearance, they would be joined by
their comrades there, and to overpower any sailors who might offer
resistance.
Another company was to run down and secure the magazine, and, breaking
it open, to serve out cartridges to all. Two other companies were to
rush aft and overpower the officers; the sixth and seventh were to form
round the head of the hatchway leading to the decks where the sailors
slept, and to allow only those to come on deck who had entered into the
plot. The other three companies were already on deck. The arrangements
were excellent, but the care taken in preparing for them, and the
necessity for doing this in silence lest the stir should be heard and an
alarm be given on deck, occupied time which the officers were turning to
advantage.
As soon as the captain and naval men had gained the quarterdeck they
threw off the lashings of the guns, and had all in readiness for running
them in and taking them aft to the edge of the quarterdeck. There was
a deep sensation of relief as one after another the midshipmen joined
them, each carrying three cartridges of grape, and followed by the
gunner with four more. The lieutenant was to stay below to lead the
sailors on to the deck.
The gunner brought a message saying that all was well. Many of
the sailors were found to have turned into their hammocks without
undressing, and to have hand pikes or cutlasses concealed beneath
the clothes. These, however, had been surprised and taken without the
slightest noise; as, on finding a lantern on one side of their heads
and a pistol on the other, each had submitted without the slightest
resistance. All these had been sent down to the hold below, and a guard
placed over them. The guns were loaded and the whole of the officers
divided among them in readiness to run them forward. Four or five
minutes passed, then a shout was heard forward and a low rush of many
feet.
In an instant the four guns on the quarterdeck were run across. While
this was being done there was a clashing of swords, shouts, and a noise
of conflict heard forward, and at the same time a loud cheer arose,
while from the after hatchway a dark body of men rushed up on to the
deck and formed across it. Some midshipmen, who had been told off for
the duty, ran up from the officers' cabin with lighted lanterns, which
were ranged along at the edge of the quarterdeck.
There was a rush aft of the mutineers, but these recoiled astonished at
the sight of the pikes which confronted them, and the line of sailors
four deep across the deck, while at the same moment the light of the
lanterns showed them the officers on the quarterdeck, and the four
guns pointed threateningly toward them. For a moment a silence of
astonishment and dismay succeeded the uproar which had preceded it, then
the captain's voice was heard:
“Down with your arms, you mutinous dogs, or I will blow you into the
air. It is useless to resist. We are prepared for you, and you are
without ammunition. Throw down the arms on the decks, every man of you,
before I count three, or I fire. One--two--”
There was a loud clattering of arms, mingled with shouts of--“We
surrender; don't fire, sir, don't fire.”
“It's all over,” the captain said grimly. “Mr. Hartwell, march your men
forward, shoot any scoundrel instantly whom you find with arms in his
hands, collect all the weapons and bring them aft.
“Now, Colonel Clifford,” he said, turning to the officer in command of
the regiment, “if you go below with the officers, you can unloose the
noncommissioned officers; they will be able to point out to you the
ringleaders in this business. They had better be ironed at once and put
into the hold. You will have no more trouble now, I fancy.”
In ten minutes the whole of the arms had been collected and stored
up, the noncommissioned officers had pointed out some twenty of the
ringleaders, and these were safely in irons below, while a strong guard
of armed sailors was placed between decks to see that there was no
renewal of insubordinate conduct. There was, however, no fear of this;
the men were thoroughly cowed and humiliated by the failure of their
plan, and each was occupied only in hoping that he had not been
sufficiently conspicuous to be handed over in the morning to join the
prisoners below.
There was no more sleep that night on board the ship. After breakfast
two courts martial were held, the one by the naval, the other by the
military officers. The latter sentenced two men, who were convicted
on the testimony of the noncommissioned officers as having been the
leaders, to be hung, and the sentence was at once carried out. The
regiment was formed in close order on deck unarmed and witnessed the
execution of their comrades, who were hung up to the extremities of
the main yard. The other prisoners were sentenced to two hundred lashes
apiece--a punishment which was, according to the ideas of the time,
very lenient, such a punishment being frequently administered for
comparatively trifling offenses, and the prisoners considered themselves
fortunate in escaping hanging, for which, indeed, they had prepared
themselves.
Previous to the administration of their punishment the colonel addressed
the men, and told them that all the ringleaders had been found guilty
and sentenced to death, but that the members of the court martial had
agreed with him that, considering the youth and inexperience of the
offenders and the whole circumstances of the case, it would be possible
to remit the death sentence, confident that the prisoners and the whole
of the regiment would recognize the leniency with which they had
been treated, and would return to their duty with a firm and hearty
determination to do all in their power to atone for their misconduct,
and to show themselves true and worthy soldiers of the queen. If this
was the case, no further notice would be taken of the error; but at the
same time he warned them that he had by him a long list of men who had
taken a prominent part in the affair, and that the first time any of
these misconducted themselves they might be well assured that no mercy
would be shown to them.
The naval court martial showed no greater severity than that
administered by the military officers. The vessel was short handed, and
moreover the officers did not wish the stigma to attach to the ship of
a serious mutiny among the crew. Had any of these been hung, the matter
must have been reported; but as none of the crew had absolutely taken
part in the rising, however evident it was that they intended to do
so, no sentences of death were passed. But a number of the men were
sentenced to be flogged more or less severely, those who had but lately
been pressed getting off with comparatively light punishments, while
the heaviest sentences were passed on the older hands concerned in the
affair.
The arms of the troops continued to be kept under a strong guard until,
ten days later, the rest of the fleet were seen, just as the northern
point of Portugal was made out. A few hours later the fleet was united;
and the next day, the wind dying entirely away, Colonel Clifford
proceeded in a boat to the flagship to report to the Earl of
Peterborough the mutiny which had taken place in his regiment, and its
successful suppression.
Immediately the mutiny had been put down Jack Stilwell had stolen away
and rejoined the soldiers forward; and although there was much wonder
among the men as to how the affair had been discovered, none suspected
him of having betrayed them, and believed that the officers must have
been warned by some word incautiously let drop in their hearing. Only to
Sergeant Edwards did Jack reveal what had taken place.
“Do you know, lad, I guessed as you had had a hand in the business
somehow. When I was standing tied up against the mast I had to keep my
mouth shut; but I had the use of my eyes, and I could not make you out
among them. I might have missed you, of course; but your company was
formed up close to where I was standing, and I thought I should have
seen you if you had been there. I could not think what had become of
you; but when the men came pouring down again without their arms, and I
heard them cursing and swearing because the sailors and the officers and
all was found in readiness to receive them, it somehow came to my mind
as that you was at the bottom of it--though how, I could not for the
life of me make out, for I knew you had gone below when I did.”
“I wish, sergeant, that when you are examined, as you will be about this
affair, you will ask Captain Curtis to ask the colonel not to let it
be known publicly that it was I who warned him, for my life would
be unbearable among the men if they knew it. And if it didn't happen
before, it would be certain that the first time we went into action I
should get a bullet in my back.”
“You are right there, my lad. I will tell the captain. You may be sure
your conduct won't be overlooked; but at present, as you say, the less
said about it the better.”
An hour after Colonel Clifford had gone on board the flagship the boat
returned with orders that Private Stilwell, of D Company, was to go back
with them. The order was given to Captain Curtis, who sent first for
Sergeant Edwards.
“Go forward, sergeant, and tell Stilwell that he is to go on board the
flagship. No doubt the colonel has spoken to the general. Tell the lad
apart, and let him make his way aft here to the gangway quietly, so that
he won't be noticed. If any of the men happen to see him going off in
the boat, they may suppose that the colonel has only sent for some man
who can write; and naturally if the captain had ordered me to choose a
man, I should have picked him out.”
On reaching the deck of the flagship Jack was conducted to the admiral's
cabin. At the head of the table was seated a man whom Jack recognized
at once, from the description he had heard of him, as the Earl of
Peterborough. He was small and very spare in person, his features were
pleasant, his nose somewhat prominent, his eye lively and penetrating.
He had laid aside the immense wig which, in accordance with the custom,
he wore when abroad or at court in England; and Jack saw his hair, which
was light brown and somewhat scanty. The admiral of the fleet sat next
to him; for although Peterborough had the command of the expedition
both at land and sea, an admiral was in command of the fleet under him.
Colonel Clifford was seated on the earl's left, and several other naval
and military officers were at the table.
“Well, young man,” Peterborough said, “Colonel Clifford has been telling
us that it is due to you that I have not a regiment the less under my
orders, and that her majesty has not lost a ship from the list of her
navy. He says that the whole thing was so quickly done that he has
not been able to learn the full particulars from you, and that he has
abstained from questioning you because you did not wish any suspicion
to be excited among the men of the part you played in it. Now, please to
tell me the whole history of the affair.”
Jack thereupon related how his suspicions had been aroused by Sergeant
Edwards, who was only waiting for sufficient opportunity and a certainty
of information to divulge the plot to the officers. He then related
his awaking as the mutiny began, and the steps he had taken to warn the
officers. When he had done, the earl said:
“You have acted smartly and well, young man; you have shown promptness,
courage, and fidelity. You speak above your rank. What is your
parentage?”
“My father was a clergyman, sir,” Jack said, “but being dispossessed of
his living in the troubles, could not make his case known on the return
of King Charles; but he supported himself by teaching, and gave me such
education as he could, in hope that I too should enter the ministry.
But my thoughts did not incline that way; and when he died, and also my
mother, I thought of going to sea, when it happened that I was pressed
for a soldier. And seeing that it was so, I made up my mind to make the
best of things.”
“And you have done so, young man; and right glad am I that your
education and parentage are such that I can reward you as I should wish.
I give you a discharge now from your regiment and appoint you ensign.
You will at present form one of my staff; and glad am I to have so
dashing and able a young officer ready to hand for any perilous service
I may require.”
On the 20th of June the fleet sailed up the Tagus.
Jack had not returned on board his ship.
“Better stop here,” the earl said. “If you went back, and they heard you
were promoted, likely enough some of them might toss you overboard on
a dark night. We will set the tailors at once to work to rig you up an
undress uniform. You can get a full dress made at Lisbon. Not that you
will be wanting to wear that much, for we have come out for rough work;
still, when we ride triumphantly into any town we have taken, it is as
well to make a good impression upon the Spanish donnas. And, say what
they will, fine feathers go a long way toward making fine birds. Do you
write a good hand?”
“I think I write a pretty fair one, sir.”
“That is good. I write a crabbed stick myself, and there's nothing I
hate more than writing; and as for these young gentlemen, I don't think
they will be of much use for that sort of thing. However, I shan't have
a great deal of it. But you shall act as my secretary when necessary.”
The earl's orders to the tailors were peremptory to lose no time in
fitting Jack with an undress suit, and in twenty-four hours he was able
to join the mess of the young officers and volunteers who accompanied
the general. These were all young men of good family; and having heard
how Jack had saved the ship from mutiny, they received him among them
with great heartiness, which was increased when they found that he was
well educated and the son of a gentleman.
It was a great satisfaction to Jack, that owing to the kindness and
generosity of the earl, he was able to pay his expenses at mess and to
live on equal terms with them; for the general had dropped a purse with
a hundred guineas into his hand, saying:
“This will be useful to you, lad, for you must live like the other
officers. I owe it to you many times over for having saved me that
regiment, upon whose equipment and fitting out I had spent well nigh a
hundred times that sum.”
Some of the officers were but little older than Jack, and by the time
the ship dropped anchor in the Tagus he was quite at home with them.
“What a lovely city!” he said as he leaned over the bulwark and looked
at the town standing on the steep hills sloping down to the river.
“Yes, indeed,” Graham, one of the young officers, agreed. “But I fancy
the Portuguese are but poor creatures. The Earl of Galway writes in his
dispatches that they are great at promises, but he finds he can expect
little assistance from them.”
“Have you any idea whether we are going to land here?”
“No; wherever we land, you may be sure it won't be here. The Earl of
Galway has been here two or three months, and he has some good regiments
with him. Our chief would be losing his position did we land here, as
he has a separate command, and would of course be under Galway if the
forces were joined. The Dutch fleet is to be here in a day or two, and
the Archduke Charles sailed a fortnight before we did; and as we have
made a very slow voyage of it, he ought to have been here long ago. What
a talk there will be! What with the archduke, and the Portuguese, and
the Dutch, and the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, and the Earls of Galway
and Peterborough, and probably every one of them with his own ideas and
opinions, it will be hard to come to any arrangement. Besides there will
be dispatches from the British court, and the court of the Netherlands,
and the Austrian emperor, all of whom will probably differ as to what
is the best thing to be done. There will be a nice to do altogether.
There's one thing to be said, our chief can out talk them all; and he
can say such disagreeable things when he likes that he will be likely
to get his own way, if it's only to get rid of him. There goes his boat
into the water. What an impatient fellow he is, to be sure.”
No sooner had Peterborough landed than he turned all his energies to
obtain the supplies which had been denied to him at home, and after much
difficulty he succeeded in borrowing a hundred thousand pounds from
a Jew named Curtisos on treasury bills on Lord Godolphin, with the
condition that the lender should be given the contract for the supply of
provisions and other requisites for the army. The day that the earl had
carried out this arrangement he returned on board radiant. Hitherto
he had been terribly out of temper, and Jack, who had become his
amanuensis, had written at his dictation many very sharp notes to every
one with whom he had come in contact. As soon as he came on board he
sent for Jack to his cabin.
“Sit down, Mr. Stilwell. I have a dispatch for you to write to the lord
treasurer. I have got my money, so that difficulty is at an end. It is
glorious! I couldn't get a penny out of them before I sailed, now I have
got as much as I want. I would give a thousand guineas out of my own
pocket to see Godolphin's face when he reads my dispatch, and finds that
he's got to honor bills for a hundred thousand pounds; it will be better
than any comedy that ever was acted. How the pompous old owl will fret
and fume! But he will have to find the money for all that. He can't
begin the campaign by dishonoring bills of her majesty's general, or no
one would trust us hereafter. You haven't seen my lord treasurer, Mr.
Stilwell?”
“No, sir, I have not been at court at all.”
“That's a pity,” the earl said; “for you lose the cream of the joke.
Now, I shall go on shore tomorrow and get everything that is wanted, and
then the sooner we are off the better; we have been here a fortnight,
and I am sick of the place.”
Jack was by no means sick of Lisbon, for he enjoyed himself vastly. The
town was full of troops--English, Dutch, and Portuguese. Of an evening
there were fetes and galas of all kinds, and as the earl always attended
these, Jack and the other young officers were permitted to go ashore
either in full uniform to take part in the fetes, or to enjoy themselves
according to their fancies.
As Graham had predicted, it was some time before any conclusion was
arrived at as to the destination of the fleet. Several councils were
held, but no decision was come to. Peterborough's orders were so vague
that he could use his own discretion. He had, indeed, been recommended
to prevail upon the Archduke Charles to accompany him and to proceed
to Italy, where he was to form a junction with Victor Amadeus, Duke of
Savoy, who was sorely pressed by the armies of France.
A messenger, however, arrived by sea with an order from the queen that
the fleet should proceed to the coast of Catalonia, in consequence of
information which had been sent to the British court of the favorable
disposition of the Catalans toward the Archduke Charles. This was in
accordance with the counsel which the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt had been
strenuously urging, and his recent success in the capture and
subsequent defense of Gibraltar gave weight to his words and effaced the
recollection of his failure before Barcelona in the previous year.
The final decision rested in a great measure with the Archduke Charles,
who at last decided to proceed with Lord Peterborough and land upon the
coast of Spain and test the disposition of his Valencian and Catalan
subjects. The reasons for Peterborough's falling in with the decision to
move on Barcelona are explained in a dispatch which he dictated to Sir
George Rooke on the 20th of July.
“Upon the letter of my Lord Godolphin and the secretary of state,
the King of Spain, his ministers, and my Lord Galway and myself have
concluded there was no other attempt to be made but upon Catalonia,
where all advices agree that six thousand men and twelve hundred horse
are ready expecting our arrival with a general goodwill of all the
people. The Portuguese have entirely refused to join in any design
against Cadiz, and by a copy of my Lord Galway's letter you will find he
is in an utter despair of their attempting anything this year, and that
by our instructions it will appear that there is no other enterprise
left for our choice.”
Peterborough's military force was, however, wholly insufficient for such
an enterprise. He prevailed upon Lord Galway to give him a part of Lord
Raby's and General Cunningham's regiments of English dragoons, although
the Portuguese strenuously opposed this being done. Their conduct,
indeed, at this time was very similar to that which they adopted a
hundred years later toward the Duke of Wellington, throwing every
conceivable obstacle in the English commander's way, and opposing every
plan of action which he suggested. Many of the dragoons were without
horses, but Lord Peterborough mounted them on animals which he bought
with some of the money he had procured from Curtisos.
The Prince of Hesse Darmstadt went on ahead to Gibraltar to arrange for
a portion of the garrison to accompany the expedition. On the 28th of
July the Archduke Charles embarked with Lord Peterborough on board the
Ranelagh, and an hour later the fleet put to sea. Off Tangiers they were
joined by the squadron under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, and a few days later
they reached the Bay of Gibraltar.
Here they found that the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt had arranged that
the battalion of the guards, with three other veteran regiments that had
borne part in the gallant defense of the fortress, were to be embarked,
and two of the newly raised corps Lord Peterborough had brought out from
England were to take their place in the garrison. The regiment to which
Jack had belonged was one of these. As soon as he heard the news he took
the first opportunity of speaking to the earl.
“I have a favor to ask, sir.”
“What is that, lad?”
“It is, sir, that Sergeant Edwards, who, if you remember, advised me
about warning the officers of the mutiny, should be transferred to one
of the regiments coming on board.”
“Certainly, my lad; I had not forgotten him. I truly wish that he had
sufficient education to give him a commission. I sent to inquire of his
colonel, but finding that he could not read or write, and that he would
be out of place among the officers, I could not do it; but I will gladly
take him with us on active service. It would be hard on a good soldier
to be left behind with that mutinous set of rascals.”
Jack had already heard from Sergeant Edwards, whom he had met several
times on shore at Lisbon, and who had rejoiced most heartily at his
promotion, that Lord Peterborough had sent him, through the colonel, a
purse of fifty guineas as a reward for his conduct.
Jack immediately proceeded in a boat to his old vessel, with an order
from the earl that the sergeant should be at once transferred into one
of the regiments coming on board. The sergeant was delighted, for orders
had already been received for the regiment to disembark and form part of
the garrison.
An hour later the Archduke Charles landed, amid the thunder of the
guns of the fleet and fortress, for here for the first time he was
acknowledged as and received the honor due to the King of Spain. There
was but little delay--Lord Peterborough's energy hurried every one else
forward, and on the 5th of August the fleet again put to sea, the king
and the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt accompanying it.
The winds were contrary, and it was not till the 11th that they anchored
in Altea Bay, at the mouth of the Guadalaviar, on the Valencian coast.
On the other side of the roadstead stood the castle and village of
Denia. The expedition was received with good will by the people, who
hated the ascendency of France at Madrid and were bitterly jealous of
Castile.
As soon as the fleet anchored Peterborough caused a manifesto to be
distributed among the people disclaiming any idea of aggrandizement on
the part of Great Britain or her allies, or any intention of injuring
the persons or property of Spaniards who were the lawful subjects of
King Charles III.
“We come,” said he, “to free you from the insupportable yoke of the
government of foreigners, and from the slavery to which you have been
reduced and sold to France by ill designing persons.”
Several of the Spanish followers of the king landed to encourage the
people, among them General Basset y Ramos, an active officer who was a
Valencian by birth. The people rapidly assembled from the surrounding
country and lined the shore shouting “Long live King Charles III!”
Abundant supplies of provisions were sent off to the fleet, for which,
however, Peterborough insisted upon liberal payment being made.
A detachment of British infantry was landed to cover the operation of
watering the fleet. The insurrection spread rapidly, and a thousand of
the peasants seized the town of Denia for the king. A frigate and two
bomb vessels crossed the bay and threatened the castle. This, although a
magnificent pile of building, was but weakly fortified, and after a few
shots had been fired it surrendered, and General Ramos with four hundred
regular troops from the fleet landed and took possession, and amid
the enthusiasm of the population Charles III was for the first time on
Spanish ground proclaimed King of Spain and of the Indies.
The Earl of Peterborough now proposed a plan of the most brilliant and
daring kind, and had his advice been taken the war would probably have
terminated in a very short time, by securely seating Charles III upon
the Spanish throne. Madrid was distant but fifty leagues from Altea
Bay. Requena was the only town of strength that lay in the way; the rich
country would have afforded ample provision and means of transport,
and these the friendly portion of the people would have placed at the
disposal of the army.
In the whole of Central Spain there was no force which could oppose
him. All the troops of Philip were either on the frontier of Portugal or
occupying the disaffected cities of the north. At Madrid there were but
a few troops of horse; in a week then, and possibly without shedding a
drop of blood, Charles might have been proclaimed king in the capital of
Spain. The plan was, of course, not without danger. Marshal Tesse, with
an overwhelming force, would threaten the left of the advancing army,
and the garrisons of the northern cities, if united, could march with
equal superiority of force upon its right; but Tesse would be followed
by Lord Galway and the allied and Portuguese army, while Barcelona and
the other strongholds of Catalonia would rise if their garrisons were
withdrawn.
Even in the case of failure Peterborough could have retired safely
through Valencia and have re-embarked on board the fleet, or could have
marched to Gibraltar. The scheme was at once daring and judicious,
but the Archduke Charles was slow and timid, and was controlled by the
advice of his even slower and more cautious German advisers, and neither
argument nor entreaty on the part of Peterborough could suffice to move
him. The earl was in despair at so brilliant an opportunity being thrown
away, and expressed himself with the greatest of bitterness in his
letters home as to the impossibility of carrying out movements when
embarrassed by the presence of the king and by the incapacity of the
king's advisers.
However, finding that nothing could be done he re-embarked his troops,
and the fleet sailed for Barcelona. It was not however, thought probable
that a successful attempt could be made upon so strongly fortified
a city, and it was determined that if upon inspection the chances of
success should appear slight, the fleet and army should at once proceed,
as originally intended, to the assistance of the Duke of Savoy.