My father, Richard Truscott, was boatswain of the _Royal George_, one of
the finest ships in the navy. I lived with mother and several brothers
and sisters at Gosport.
Father one day said to me, "Ben, you shall come with me, and we'll make
a sailor of you. Maybe you'll some day walk the quarter-deck as an
officer."
I did not want to go to sea, and I did not care about being an officer;
indeed I had never thought about the matter, but I had no choice in it.
I was but a very little chap, and liked playing at marbles, or "chuck
penny," in our backyard, better than anything else.
"He is too small yet to be a sailor," said mother.
"He is big enough to be a powder-monkey," observed my father; and as he
was not a man who chose to be contradicted, he the next day took me
aboard his ship, then fitting out in Portsmouth harbour, to carry the
flag of Admiral Sir Edward Hawke. She was indeed a proud ship, with the
tautest masts and the squarest yards of any ship in the British navy.
She carried one hundred and four guns, all of brass--forty-two pounders
on the lower-deck; thirty-two on the middle deck; and twenty-four
pounders on the quarter-deck, forecastle, poop, and main-deck. She had
huge lanterns at her poop, into which four or five of us boys could stow
ourselves away; and from the time she was first launched, in 1756, the
flag of some great admiral always floated from the masthead. When my
father left me, to attend to his duty, I thought I should have been lost
in the big ship, with deck above deck, and guns all alike one another on
either side; and hundreds of men bawling and shouting, and rushing about
here and there and everywhere. Sitting down on a chest, outside his
cabin,--my legs were not long enough to reach the deck,--I had a good
cry; and a number of boys, some of them not much bigger than myself,
came and had a look at me, but they did not jeer, or play me any tricks,
for they had found out that I was the bo'sun's son, and that they had
better not. I soon, however, recovered, and learned to find my way, not
only from one deck to another, but up aloft; and before many days were
over, had been up to the main-truck; though when my father heard of it,
for he was below at the time, he told me not to go again till I was
bigger. As I was continually, from ignorance, getting into scrapes, and
he could not keep an eye on me himself, he gave me in charge to Jerry
Dix, the one-legged fiddler and cook's mate. Jerry could take very good
care of me, but was less able to take care of himself when he had got
his grog aboard, and more than once when this happened I had to watch
over him. This made us firm friends, and I am very sure that he had a
sincere affection for me.
England was now engaged in what was known as the Seven Years' War, which
began in 1756, and had been going on for three years, the ships of
England fighting those of France whenever they could find them, and
generally giving them a drubbing. Our ship, which carried, as I have
said, the flag of Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, had, with several other
line-of-battle ships, been for some time watching the French fleet,
under Admiral Conflans, shut up in Brest harbour, when, a heavy gale
coming on, we were obliged to put into Torbay for shelter. We remained
there for some time, while it blew great guns and small arms, which
Jerry told me would keep the French ships shut up in harbour as securely
as would our cannon. At length the weather moderated, and our admiral
made the signal for the fleet to sail. It was a fine sight to see
twenty-four line-of-battle ships, beside the _Royal George_, mostly
seventy-four's, some larger and some smaller, getting under way
together, and standing over to the enemy's coast. We were a few hours
later than we should have been, however, for on our arrival we heard
that Admiral Conflans had just before slipped out of Brest harbour, and
sailed away for Quiberon Bay, hoping to cut off a small English squadron
under Commodore Duff at anchor there.
We made all sail in chase, but a strong south-easterly wind blew in
their teeth, and it was four days before we arrived off Belle Isle, when
we were joined by Commodore Duff, with four fifty-gun ships and six
frigates. Early in the morning, the _Maidstone_, one of our look-out
frigates, made the signal that the enemy's fleet was in sight! We, on
this, threw out the signal for our ships to form in line, while the
frigate was sent inshore to ascertain how far we were from it. You will
understand that the fog prevented us from seeing the land or the enemy,
and from the same cause it was no easy matter, as we all sailed close
together, to prevent one ship from running into another.
We had not long to wait, however, before, the fog lifting, we caught
sight of the French fleet, crowding all sail to get away from us, for
their frigates had found out our fleet, while ours had discovered
theirs. We made all sail in chase, both the enemy's ships and ours
having every stitch of canvas they could carry. In about three hours
the van of our fleet got up with them.
I remember standing by my father's side, in the forecastle, and thinking
what a grand sight it was, as the _Warspite_ and _Dorchester_ gallantly
commenced firing their broadsides into the enemy. The next ship that
got into action was the _Magnanime_, commanded by the brave Lord Howe,
followed quickly by the _Revenge_, _Torbay_, _Montagu_, and many others
whose names are known to fame. There was a heavy sea running at the
time, and, big as were our ships, they kept tumbling about so much that
we were unable to fight our lower-deck guns. The captain of one of the
French ships, the _Thesee_, engaged with the _Torbay_, thought that he
could do so; and Captain Keppel, who commanded the English seventy-four,
unwisely followed his example. The two ships were thus hotly engaged,
firing their broadsides into each other, when we saw the Frenchman give
a lurch to starboard, and then down she went; out of all her gallant
crew of eight hundred men, only twenty being saved by the British boats.
The _Torbay_ was very nearly following her, but by great exertions the
guns were run in, and the ports closed, though not till she had shipped
a good deal of water. Directly afterwards another Frenchman sank before
our eyes, as we guessed, from the same cause.
I can't say that I saw much more of what took place, for we were now
going into action, and I was sent below to attend to my duty, which was
to bring up ammunition in a tub, and to sit upon it on the main-deck,
with the other ship's boys, till it was wanted to load the guns. We
were soon thundering away at the enemy, clouds of smoke filling the
space between the decks, through which I could dimly see the crews of
the guns, stripped to the waist, running them in to load, and running
them out again as rapidly as they could. Shouts from the upper deck
reached us, and we heard that one of the French ships had struck, but so
heavy a sea was running, that no boat could be lowered to take
possession of her; several others were also severely handled, and one
completely dismasted. Night was coming on; and as we were but a short
distance from the shore, the admiral made a signal for the fleet to
anchor, and we, rounding-to, brought up. There we lay, the wind roaring
and the sea foaming and tossing around us, anxiously waiting for
daylight. I had not seen my father, who was, as I supposed, at his
station on the upper deck, when the order came to secure the guns. I
was still sitting on my tub joking with the other boys, who were
congratulating themselves at not being killed, when Jerry Dix came
stumping along the deck towards me; he took my hand kindly, and I
thought I saw him wipe away a tear from his eye.
"What is the matter, Jerry?" I asked, seeing that something was wrong.
"Ben, my boy, he that's gone told me to look after you, and so I will as
long as I have a shot in the looker. You don't hear his pipe, do you?
and you never will no more. There's the order to return powder to the
magazine--as soon as you come up again, look out for me."
The other boys and I hurried below to the magazine with our tubs; as
soon as I came up I looked out for Jerry.
"What were you talking about?" I asked, having a feeling that something
had happened to my father, though I scarcely dared to ask what.
"As I was saying, Ben, you have a friend in me if you have no other,"
said Jerry, again taking my hand. "You will grieve, my boy, I know, but
it can't be helped; so I must out with it. We have not lost many men,
but one has gone who was worth a dozen of the best; the Frenchman's
round shot coming aboard took off his head, and deprived you of your
father and us of our bo'sun."
"Do you mean to say that father's killed?" I asked in a trembling
voice, unable to believe the fact.
"Yes, boy, he has sounded his last pipe; we shall no more hear his voice
rousing up all hands, or hailing the maintop; but he died doing his
duty. We could have better spared a worse man, but there is no help for
it and so, Ben, don't pipe your eye."
Notwithstanding Jerry's exhortations, I did, however, cry heartily as I
lay in my hammock; and even the other boys respected my sorrow, though
it did not last long, I must confess.
The next day was an exciting one. As the morning broke, we saw our
prize on shore, and another French ship at anchor dismasted; she, on
seeing us, also ran on shore; when the _Essex_, a sixty-four, being sent
in to take possession of her, was also wrecked; while another ship, the
_Resolution_, seventy-four, was discovered on the rocks, the sea beating
over her; and, before assistance could be sent, most of her gallant crew
had perished. We succeeded, however, in burning the two French ships;
but others, which were almost falling into our hands, by heaving their
guns overboard, managed to escape up the river, where we could not
follow.
"Although we have gained the victory, I do not see that we have gained
much else for our trouble," observed Jerry, who was a philosopher in his
way. "We have, you see, destroyed four French ships, and sent well-nigh
two thousand Frenchmen, more or less, out of the world, but then we have
lost two of our own ships and some hundred British seamen; and, worse
than all, our brave bo'sun, your father."
The loss of my father was not to be repaired. I cannot say what might
have happened had he lived, but losing him I grew up from boy to man,
knocking about the world with many a chance of being knocked on the
head, and yet with not the slightest hope of ever treading the
quarter-deck as an officer--not that I ever thought about that. Jerry
proved my firm friend. Though fond of his grog, for my sake he kept
sober, that he might better look after me.
"Your father, Ben, lent me a helping hand when I had not a shot in the
locker and was well-nigh starving, and it's my duty to help you; and so
I will, boy, as long as I can keep my fiddle-stick moving, and get a
crust to put into my mouth."
Jerry did me an essential service, for having seen better days he had
got some learning, which was more than most men in the ship possessed,
and he taught me to read and write, of which I knew nothing when I came
to sea. Even my father, though boatswain of a line-of-battle ship, had
not been much of a scholar. However, I am not now going to write about
myself or my own adventures. When the ship was paid off, as my poor
mother could not support me, and I had no fancy for any other calling, I
went to sea again with Jerry, who got the rating of cook's mate on board
the _Thunderer_, seventy-four.
I was now a stout lad, and could stand to my gun or handle a cutlass as
well as any man. We were stationed off Cadiz, with three other smaller
vessels, looking out for a French squadron expected to sail for that
port. Being driven off the coast by bad weather, on our return we found
that the Frenchmen had slipped out, so away we went under all the canvas
we could set in pursuit. We had come in sight of the _Achille_, a
sixty-four gun ship, and, soon getting up with her, we opened our
broadside, receiving a pretty hot fire from her in return. We were
blazing away at each other, when a noise louder than all our guns
together sounded in my ears, and I felt myself lifted off my legs and
shot along the deck. For the moment I thought the world had come to an
end, or that the ship had blown up. On opening my eyes, I caught sight
of a number of dead and wounded men lying around me, and the after-part
of the ship in flames. Among them, seeing Jerry, I picked myself up and
ran to him.
"Are you killed, Jerry?" I asked.
"No, it's only my wooden leg knocked away," he answered. "Just get me a
mop-stick, or bit of a broken pike, and I shall soon be on my pins
again."
Jerry having soon, spliced a piece of the mop-stick which I brought him
to the stump of his leg, I set him on his pins. Meantime I found that
one of the quarter-deck guns, having burst had created the havoc I have
described and set the ship on fire. All hands labouring away with
buckets, we got the flames extinguished, and stood after the enemy, who
was trying to escape. We again, however, came up with her; and running
alongside, the boarders were called away, headed by our first
lieutenant, Mr Leslie, whom I followed closely. We had sprung on the
deck of the enemy, and a big Frenchman was about to cut him down, when I
caught the blow on my cutlass, and saved his life. One hundred and
fifty gallant fellows coming on board after us, we quickly swept the
Frenchmen from the deck, and they, crying out that they surrendered, we
hauled down their flag. I did not think that Mr Leslie was aware of
the service I had rendered him till he thanked me for it, and ever
afterwards was my friend. I had the good chance, also, some time
afterwards, of keeping his head above water, when our ship, the
_Laurel_, was capsized in a hurricane in the West Indies; and though, of
course, it was what I would have done for anyone, I was very thankful to
have been the means of again saving his life, though I ran, he always
declared, no little risk of losing my own. I served with him when he
commanded the _Favourite_, sloop-of-war, and afterwards in the _Active_,
frigate, when we captured a Spanish galleon, which put some hundred
pounds into the pockets of each of the men, and a good many thousands
into those of the captain. I was pretty fortunate on board other ships,
in which I sailed to different parts of the world, getting back to old
England safe at last.