BACK ON THE “TARTAR”
The next morning broke fair. Their late foe had dropped out of sight on
the previous evening, but now, when the sun rose, Tom made out the
top-sails of a large ship on the horizon.
“She is coming towards us, lads, and by the course she is steering she
will pass within three miles of us. Is she English or French?”
“She is too far away yet to be certain,” Dimchurch said, “but I can’t help
thinking she is French.”
“At any rate, Dimchurch, our best course will be to lower the sail, shake
the reef-points out, and have it ready for hoisting at a moment’s notice.
Now that the wind is light again I should fancy we could get away from
her; with a start of two or three miles she would have no chance whatever
of catching us.”
Suddenly Tom Stevens exclaimed:
“There is a sail coming up from behind. She looks to me close-hauled. If
both ships come on they are bound to meet; if one is French and the other
is English they are likely to have a talk to each other. In that case we
should be able to tell friend from foe by the colours, and could then make
for the English ship.”
They sat anxiously watching the two ships, and soon they saw that the
point of meeting must be very near their own position. Presently their
hulls became visible, and Dimchurch pronounced one to be a thirty-two-gun
frigate, and the other a forty or forty-two. They then made out that the
one coming up from the south was flying the white ensign, and at once they
hoisted their sail and made for her. Equally intent upon a fight, the two
vessels approached each other without paying the slightest attention to
the little craft.
“The Frenchman means fighting, and as he has ten guns to the good he may
well think he is more than a match for our ship. Do you know her,
Dimchurch?”
“I think she is the _Lysander_, sir, though I can’t be sure; there are so
many of these thirty-twos.”
The vessels, as they passed, exchanged broadsides. Then both tacked, but
the Englishman was the quicker, and he raked the French frigate as she
came round. Then they went at it hammer and tongs. The Frenchman suffered
very heavily in spars and rigging, but at last the foremast of the English
ship fell over her side. The Frenchman at once closed with her, and after
pouring in a broadside, tried to board her.
The little boat bore up to the stern of the English ship. A desperate
conflict was going on at that point, and failing to get up they moved
along the side. Here a rope, which had been cut by the French fire, was
hanging overboard, and, grasping this, they climbed up to a port-hole. The
deck was deserted, all hands having rushed up to meet the attack of the
French boarders. Without a moment’s delay they snatched cutlasses from a
rack and ran up the companion to the upper deck.
Here things were going somewhat badly. The French were much more numerous
than the English, and were forcing them back by sheer weight of numbers.
The new-comers rushed at once into the fray, and laid about them lustily.
The force and suddenness of the onslaught caused the enemy to hesitate,
and at the same time it had the effect of inspiring to fresh efforts the
English crew, who, having lost their captain and first lieutenant, were
beginning to lose heart. They answered the cheers of their strangely-clad
allies, and with one accord charged to meet them. At that moment Dimchurch
almost severed the French captain’s head from his body by a sweeping blow,
and the French, being disheartened by the loss of their leader, gave way.
The English sailors redoubled their efforts, and after ten minutes of
desperate fighting succeeded in driving their foes back to their own ship.
Then the men ran to their guns again and the cannonade recommenced. But
the spirit of the two crews had changed. The French were discouraged by
their failure, and the British were exultant over their success.
Consequently the guns of the English ship were fired with far more
rapidity and precision than those of the French. Several of the port-holes
of the French ship were knocked into one, and when at last her mainmast,
which had been hit several times, fell over her side, her flag was run
down amidst tremendous cheering from the English ship.
Immediately all hands were engaged in disarming and securing the French
prisoners. When these had been sent below, the decks of both ships were
cleared of the dead. Then the bulk of the crew set to work to cut away the
wreckage, secure damaged spars, and stop holes near the water’s edge. At
last the second lieutenant, who was now in command, had time to turn to
the strangers. Will was superintending the work, while Dimchurch and Tom
were working hand in hand with the crew.
“May I ask,” said the lieutenant, addressing Will, “who it is that has so
mysteriously come to our assistance?”
“Certainly,” said Will, laughing; “I had quite forgotten that I am clothed
in strange garments. I am a midshipman belonging to the _Tartar_. One of
my companions is a boatswain’s mate, and the other is an A.B. on the same
ship. We were sent with a lieutenant and ten men to overhaul a craft
which, though she was somewhat suspicious looking, seemed to have but a
small crew. When we got alongside her, however, we found to our disgust
that she was manned by at least a hundred Algerines. The lieutenant and
seven of the crew were killed, and three others, my two companions, and
myself were made prisoners and carried to Algiers. We three escaped, and,
capturing the small craft which you will see lying by the side of your
ship, made for the open sea. An Algerine nearly recaptured us in the gale
yesterday, but fortunately she carried away her mast and we again escaped.
This morning we saw two ships approaching us, and when we made out their
nationalities we knew there was bound to be a fight. Naturally we made for
your ship, and when we found that the French had boarded you we did our
best to aid you to drive them back. My name is Gilmore.”
“Well, Mr. Gilmore, I have to thank you most heartily for the very
efficacious aid you have rendered us. Things were going very badly, but
your unexpected appearance, your strange attire, and the strength and
bravery with which you fought, quite turned the tables. I think,” he said
with a laugh, “the French must have taken you for three devils come to our
assistance, and certainly you could not have fought harder if you had
been. You will, I hope, give us your assistance until we reach Malta, to
which port, of course, I shall carry the prize. Our third lieutenant is
severely wounded, and I have lost two of my midshipmen.”
“Certainly, sir, and I will place myself at once under your orders.”
“The two midshipmen who have fallen were the seniors,” the lieutenant
said, “and as you must be two or three years older than the others I’ll
appoint you acting-lieutenant. Our first duty here will be to rig up a
jury foremast. I’ll appoint you, however, temporary commander of the
_Camille_, which is, I see, the name of our prize. I can only spare you
forty men. We have lost forty-three killed and at least as many wounded,
and I have therefore only a hundred and ten altogether fit for service,
and must retain seventy for the work of refitting. I should not attempt to
get up a jury mainmast on the _Camille_. It will be better to clear away
the wreckage and secure her other two masts in case we meet with another
squall.”
“I understand, sir. If either of the midshipmen that have been killed is
about my size, I should be glad to rig myself out with a suit from his
chest, for my appearance at present is rather undignified for a British
officer. I should also be glad if the purser’s clerk would issue a couple
of suits for my two men. I may tell you that they have been with me in
every ship in which I have served, and indeed entered the navy with me. I
therefore regard them quite as personal friends. The bigger of the two
held the position of boatswain under me in a small craft of which I had
command in the West Indies, as well as on the _Tartar_.”
“Very well, then, by all means give him the temporary rank of boatswain on
board the _Camille_, and you can appoint the other as boatswain’s mate.”
“Thank you, sir! I am very much obliged. It would be difficult to find two
better men.”
In ten minutes Will was attired in a midshipman’s uniform, and his two
companions, to their great relief, in the clothes of British seamen. They
then crossed to the _Camille_ with the forty men whom the lieutenant had
told off as a prize crew. Work was at once begun, and before sundown the
fore and mizzen masts were as firmly secured as if the mainmast were still
in its place. Will felt that they could now meet a storm without
uneasiness. Next morning the repairs to the hull were begun, pieces of
plank covered with tarred canvas being nailed over the shot-holes, and ere
the day was done the _Camille_ had a fairly presentable appearance.
Meanwhile the crew of the _Lysander_ had been hard at work, and had got
the jury-foremast into position and securely stayed.
“You have made a very good job of the prize, Mr. Gilmore,” the lieutenant
said. “Of course she is a lame duck without her mainmast, but we’ll sail
together, and so will show a good face to any single ship we may meet.”
“I should certainly think so, sir. Should any ship heave in sight I will
get all the guns loaded on both broadsides. Of course, I should only be
able to work one side at a time, but with forty good men I could keep up a
pretty hot fire.”
“I will give you ten more, Mr. Gilmore. Now that our repairs are finished
I can manage that easily, and as the _Camille_ is a bigger ship than the
_Lysander_ you ought certainly to have as many as can be spared.”
“Thank you, sir! I am sure I could make a good fight with that number, and
as we have covered all the shot-holes with canvas, and so do not appear to
be injured in the hull, I don’t think any one ship would think of meddling
with us, unless, of course, she were a line-of-battle ship. In that case
our chance would be a small one, although, by presenting a resolute front,
we might cause her to sheer off without engaging us.”
Fortunately they fell in with no enemy on their way to Malta. When they
arrived in port the lieutenant went to the flag-ship with his report. The
admiral was greatly pleased at the capture, and he was specially
interested when he learned the share that Will and his two companions had
taken in the fight, and the manner in which Will had performed his duties
while in command of the _Camille_.
“Gilmore?” he asked. “That is the name of a young midshipman who was on
board the _Furious_. Is that the man?”
“I believe he is, sir.”
“Well, tell him to come and see me when he is disengaged.”
The lieutenant reported this when he returned, and a little later Will
went on board the flag-ship.
“Well, Mr. Gilmore,” said the admiral, “so you are still to the fore. I
read some time ago the official report of a midshipman of your name in the
West Indies who had captured two vessels, each larger than the craft he
commanded, and I wondered whether it was the lad I had met here.”
Will acknowledged that he had commanded on that occasion.
“It shows that the admiral there was as struck as I was myself with your
doings, that he should have appointed you to command that craft, when he
must have had so many senior midshipmen to select from. What had you
done?”
“It was really nothing, sir. We were lying off a pirate stronghold, but
could not get at it, as our ship was too deep for the shallow approaches.
In the course of conversation in the midshipmen’s mess I happened to
suggest that if we got hold of some native craft we might be able to beard
the lion in his den, and one of the elder midshipmen reported the idea to
one of the lieutenants, who passed it on to the captain, who put it into
execution. The result was that we captured two vessels and a very large
amount of plunder which they had stored on an island. I got a great deal
more credit than was due to me, for I had only suggested the plan when
joking with my companions, and the captain improved upon it greatly in
carrying it out. It was very good of him to mention in his report that the
original idea was mine.”
“It was a good plan,” the admiral said, “and you well deserve the credit
you got. And so it was for that that you got the command of the cutter!
Tell me about the capture of those two pirate vessels.”
Will related the story of the trap that had been formed for _L’Agile_, and
the manner in which he had captured his two opponents.
“Admirably managed, Mr. Gilmore,” the admiral said. “How much longer have
you to serve?”
“I have another year yet, sir.”
“Well, a commission is to sit here next week to pass midshipmen. I will
direct them to examine you, and will see that you get your step the day
you finish your term of service. If I had the power I would pass you at
once, but that is one of the things an admiral cannot do. But how was it
that you got on board the _Lysander_?”
Will related the story of his captivity with the Algerines and his escape.
“Just what I should have expected of you,” the admiral said. “I fancy it
would take a very strong prison to hold you. Well, tell Lieutenant Hearsey
that I shall expect him to dinner to-day, and that he is to bring you with
him. I’ll ask two or three other officers to meet you, and you shall then
tell the story of your adventures.”
A post-captain and three other captains dined that evening with the
admiral, and when Will had modestly related his adventures they
complimented him highly. Two of them happened to be on the examining
committee, and consequently Will passed almost without question. A few
days later he was appointed temporarily to a ship bound for the blockading
fleet of Toulon, where he was informed he would probably find his own
ship. When he and his two companions rejoined the _Tartar_ they were
warmly congratulated on their escape from Algiers.
“I am sorry for the loss of Lieutenant Saxton,” the captain said, when
Will had reported the manner in which they had been captured. “He was a
good officer, and in this case he was not to blame. With our telescopes we
could only see a few men on board the Algerine, and they must have kept up
the deception till the last. It is to be regretted that you followed her
so far out of reach of our guns, though, so far as his fate was concerned,
we could not have altered it even if we had been within easy range.
“At any rate, Mr. Gilmore, you were by no means to blame in the affair,
and I congratulate you on having effected your escape with your two
followers.”
They had only rejoined the _Tartar_ a short time when, on the 5th
February, 1794, the captain was signalled to proceed with a small squadron
that was to sail, under Captain Linzee of the _Alcide_, as commodore, to
Corsica, where a force under General Paoli had asked for assistance in
their endeavours to regain their freedom.
The chief strongholds of that island were the fortified towns of San
Fiorenzo, Bastia, and Calvi. These towns are near each other, and as the
troops scornfully rejected his summons to surrender, the commodore was
placed in a difficulty. The force under his command was not strong enough
to blockade the three forts at once, while they were so near each other
that to blockade one or two and leave the entrance to the other open would
have been useless. He determined at first to take Forneilli, a fortified
place two miles from San Fiorenzo, but when he opened the attack he found
that it was so much more strongly fortified than he had anticipated that
its capture could not be effected without more loss than the gain of the
position would justify.
Lord Hood then placed a squadron of frigates under Captain Nelson’s
command to cruise off the north-western coast of the island so as to
prevent supplies being introduced, and he also sailed there himself with
some of his seventy-fours and a body of soldiers under Major-general
Dundas. Before he arrived, Nelson had done something towards facilitating
his enterprise, for, having learned that the French in San Fiorenzo drew
their supplies of flour from a mill near the shore, he landed a body of
seamen and soldiers and burnt the mill, threw into the sea all the flour
contained in it and in a large storehouse close to it, and regained his
ship without the loss of a man.
When Lord Hood arrived he ordered Nelson to land on the island to prevent
supplies from getting into Bastia, and took charge of the siege of San
Fiorenzo himself. On his way Nelson captured the town of Maginaggio,
routed the garrison, and destroyed a great quantity of provisions which
were being prepared for a number of French vessels in the harbour. Lord
Hood commenced the siege by attacking the town of Mortella. The garrison
fought with great bravery and inflicted heavy loss upon the _Fortitude_,
seventy-four guns, to which the task of battering was assigned. As she was
evidently getting the worst of it the _Fortitude_ was withdrawn, but the
shore batteries were more successful, and the place being set on fire the
garrison surrendered.
The Convention redoubt was the next place to be attacked. It was fortified
in a most formidable manner, and indeed was so strongly constructed as to
withstand any ordinary attack. A short distance away, however, was a rock
rising seven hundred feet above the level of the sea, which entirely
commanded it. This the enemy had left unfortified and unguarded because
they believed it was inaccessible. In many places it was almost
perpendicular, and though there was a path leading to the summit, this was
in very few places wide enough to allow more than one person to ascend at
a time. Admiral Hood in person reconnoitred and decided that a battery
could be formed on the summit.
The next day Will was on shore in command of a party of thirty men who
were to start getting up the guns. The sailors looked at the rock and at
the guns in dismay.
“La, Mr. Gilmore,” one of them said, “we can never get them up there! In
the first place it is too steep, and in the second it is too rough. It
would take two hundred men to do it, and even they would not be much good,
for the path winds and twists so much that they could not put their
strength on together.”
Will looked at the path, and at the hill on which the new battery was to
be formed.
“You see, sir,” another said, “the path would have to be blasted in lots
of places to make room for the guns, and we have got no tools for the
job.”
Will did not answer. He saw that what the men said was correct. Presently,
however, his eye fell upon an empty rum puncheon, and at once his thoughts
flashed back to the West Indies.
“Wheel that puncheon here, men.”
Much surprised, the men did as they were ordered.
“Now knock out both ends, and when you have tightened the hoops again,
fill the barrel about a third full with sticks, grass, bits of wood,
anything you can come across.”
The men scattered at once to collect the ballast, with some doubts in
their minds as to whether the midshipman had not gone out of his senses.
In about fifteen minutes they had carried out his instructions.
“Dismount the gun,” he then ordered, “and put it inside the barrel.”
When this had, with some difficulty, been accomplished, and the barrel
surrounded the centre of the gun, he said: “Now fill up the barrel with
the rest of that rubbish.”
The sailors had now caught the idea, and very soon they had the gun
tightly packed into its novel carriage. Two long ropes were then passed
round the puncheon, the ends being carried a little way up the hill. This
formed a parbuckle, and when the men hauled upon the upper lengths of the
ropes the cask easily rolled up to the ends of the lower lengths. This
operation was repeated again and again, and gradually the cask moved up
the rock. At places it had to be hauled up lengthways, boards being placed
underneath it to give it a smooth surface over which to glide instead of
the rough rock, and men encouraging it from behind with levers. While they
were at work Nelson came up and stood watching them for some minutes
without speaking.
“Where did you learn how to do that?” he said to Will at last.
“I heard of it at the siege of St. Pierre, sir.”
“Well, you profited by your lesson. It is a pleasure to see a young fellow
use his wits in that way. But for your sharpness I question whether we
should ever have got the guns up there. I was looking at it myself
yesterday, and I doubted then whether it was at all practicable. You have
settled the question for me, and I’ll not forget you. What is your name,
sir?”
“Gilmore of the _Tartar_.”
Nelson made a note of it and walked away.
The work took two days of tremendous labour, the seamen being relieved
three times a day. Will was constantly on the spot directing and
superintending the operations, and had the satisfaction at last of seeing
six guns placed on the summit of the rock.
Next morning the besieged were astonished when the guns opened fire upon
them from the rock, for, the path being at the back, they had not seen
what was going on. As they could obtain no shelter from this attack, and
there was no possibility of silencing the guns, they hastily abandoned the
post and retreated on San Fiorenzo. The battery on the rock, however, also
commanded the town, which, accordingly, had to be abandoned on the
following day, the garrison retiring to the adjoining ridge of ground and
to Bastia, which was considered the strongest place in the island.
The capture of San Fiorenzo was the more valuable, inasmuch as in the
harbour were two frigates, the _Minerve_ and _La Fortunée_, both of which
became our prizes. The _Minerve_, thirty-eight guns, was sunk by the
French, but was weighed by our men and taken into the service, when she
was renamed the _San Fiorenzo_.
Nelson was immensely pleased with the manner in which the operation of
getting the guns up the rock had been performed, and requested the captain
of the _Tartar_ that Will should be permanently stationed on shore to act
as his own aide-de-camp, a request which was, of course, complied with.
In the meantime Nelson had reconnoitred Bastia and the neighbouring coast,
and recommended that troops and cannon be disembarked, for he was
convinced that a land force of about a thousand, in co-operation with a
few ships, would be sufficient to reduce the place. Unfortunately the
general commanding the troops was one of the most irresolute of men, and
when, after a few days, he resigned the command, in consequence of his
differences with Lord Hood, his successor, General D’Aubant, was still
more incapable. He pronounced at once that, though the force at his
command was almost double that which Nelson asked for, it was insufficient
for the work required of it. Nelson, burning with indignation, decided
that the attempt to take Bastia must be made, and that if the army would
not do it the navy must.
Lord Hood agreed with him, but even when it was decided to undertake the
siege, D’Aubant insisted on their doing without a single soldier or a
single cannon, and, retiring to San Fiorenzo, kept his men inactive while
the sailors were performing the work. On the 17th of February, 1794, the
fortified town of Mareno, a little to the north of Bastia, was captured,
and four days later a reconnaissance was made. Nelson’s ship, the
_Agamemnon_, was supported by the _Tartar_ and the frigate _Romulus_. As
they passed slowly in front of the town thirty guns opened upon them with
shot and shell. Nelson lowered his sails, and for an hour and
three-quarters peppered the forts so warmly that at last the French
garrison deserted their guns. One battery, containing six guns, was
totally destroyed. The citizens of Bastia were eager to surrender, but the
governor declared that he would blow up the city if such a step were
taken. Two days later Nelson was preparing to repeat the blow, but a
sudden calm set in, and he could not get near the town. In a short time
the opportunity for carrying the place by assault passed away, as the
French officers were indefatigable in strengthening their fortifications,
and soon rendered the town practically impregnable.
Nelson, however, maintained the blockade in spite of heavy weather, and in
the middle of March provisions were so short in the place that a pound of
bread was selling for half a crown. Nelson himself was almost as much
straitened for provisions, but the admiral contrived to send him a supply.
Nelson pitched a tent on shore and personally superintended all the
operations. A considerable body of seamen were landed, and worked like
horses, dragging guns up heights that appeared inaccessible, making roads,
and cutting down trees with which to build abattis.