EXPEDITION AGAINST IRELAND.
France, having at length obtained internal quiet, and a settled
Government under the Directory, and secured the alliance of Spain and
Holland, prepared for a decisive blow against Great Britain. The
condition of the British empire was at that time peculiarly critical. Of
her allies, some had joined the enemy, and the others had proved unequal
to resist him. In the East, the most powerful of the native princes were
preparing to subvert her authority. At home, Ireland was organized for
rebellion; and England herself contained a strong revolutionary party,
checked, indeed, by the energy of the Government, and still more by the
excellent disposition of the people, but prepared to rise in formidable
activity, whenever the successes of the enemy should enable them to
declare themselves.
Well acquainted with all her difficulties, the French Government
hastened to take advantage of them. Through the summer and autumn of
1796, a powerful fleet was equipped at Brest, to land an army on the
shores of Ireland; after accomplishing which, a squadron of eight sail
of the line was to be detached to India, where its support would
probably encourage the hostile states to an immediate and general war.
Its prospects were the more promising, as the armies of two of the
native princes were officered by Frenchmen. As for Ireland, that was
regarded as a country of which they had only to take possession; and the
well-known feeling of a considerable part of the inhabitants warranted
the most sanguine hopes of the invader.
The history of Ireland affords a melancholy, but most instructive
lesson, pre-eminent as that unhappy country has been, at once for
natural and political advantages, and for misery, turbulence, and crime.
A Government, to command the obedience of the people by its firmness,
and their confidence by a marked consideration for their feelings and
welfare; a gentry, united with them as their leaders, protectors, and
friends; and a Church, winning them to a purer faith by the unobtrusive
display of benefits and excellences: all these blessings might have been
its own. But by fatal mismanagement, the gentry, those of them who
remained, were viewed as the garrison of a conquered country by the
multitude, who were taught to feel themselves a degraded caste. The
Church became identified in their minds with all that they most
complained of; and the faith for which they suffered was doubly endeared
to them. Thus the instruments for their deliverance confirmed their
thraldom, and what should have won affection aggravated their enmity.
If there were a mistake beyond all this, it was that of expecting peace
from concessions extorted by violence, and calculated only to give
increased power to the enemies of existing institutions. Lord Exmouth
held a very decided opinion upon this point, and foresaw that strong
coercive measures would become necessary in consequence. He well knew
how feeble would be the restraint imposed by any conditions contemplated
by the advocates of change; and in allusion to the remark of the Duke of
Northumberland, who had expressed a belief that he would think
differently, when he saw the securities which would accompany the
concessions--"Securities!" he said, "it is all nonsense! I never yet
could see them, and I never shall." He justly anticipated, that as long
as anything remained to be extorted, new demands would be founded upon
every new concession. "How would you like," he said to one of his
officers, "to see Roman Catholic chaplains on board our ships of war?"
While the question was in progress, he wrote with prophetic truth--"The
times are awful, when the choice of two evils only is left, a threatened
rebellion, or the surrender of our constitution, by the admission of
Catholics into Parliament and all offices. I think even this will not
satisfy Ireland. Ascendancy is their object. You may postpone, and by
loss of character parry the evil for a short space; but not long, depend
upon it. You and I may not see it, but our children will, and be obliged
to meet the struggle man to man, which we may now shirk. By God alone
can we be saved from such consequences; may He shed his power and grace
upon us as a nation!"
The political being everywhere dependent on the religious creed, a
country where popish superstitions prevail will always contain two
parties hostile upon principle to a free and constitutional government.
The multitude, who have surrendered the right of private judgment upon
the most engrossing subject, lose the disposition to exercise it upon
matters of inferior importance; and become dangerous instruments in the
hands of designing characters. A party will be found among them, whose
penetration can detect the mummeries of imposture, but not perceive the
claims of religion; and who, as they throw off allegiance to God, revolt
at any exercise of human authority. Political privileges, the strength
of a nation, where the intelligence and morals of the people support the
law, will in such a country give power to rebellion, and impunity to
crime. A government paternal in vigour as in kindness; the control of a
firm authority, supreme over all influence, to maintain order, to leave
no excuse for party, to protect the peaceable, promptly to suppress all
resistance to the law, and to give to the demagogue only the alternative
between obedience and rebellion, will be required not more for the
safety of the state, than for the welfare of the misguided people.
When the progress of the French revolution engaged the attention of
Europe, there was no country where it was regarded with greater interest
than in Ireland. The Papists hoped from it the opportunity to overthrow
Protestant supremacy: the Liberals hailed the triumph of their own
principles. Emissaries were sent to France, who represented that nothing
was wanting to secure the independence of Ireland but a regular army for
a rallying point; and France, hoping to give a fatal blow to her most
formidable enemy, and to gain a valuable province for herself, readily
promised the aid required, and as soon as her own distracted condition
would allow, hastened to fulfil her engagement.
The auxiliary force which the rebel delegates deemed sufficient, was
fifteen thousand men; but an army of at least eighteen thousand was
provided, commanded by that determined republican and distinguished
officer, General Hoche, who had very recently succeeded in suppressing
the revolt in La Vendee. Vice Admiral Villaret Joyeuse, defeated by Lord
Howe on the 1st of June, was selected to command the fleet; but, a
misunderstanding having arisen between him and the General, he was
superseded by Vice-Admiral Morard de Galles.
The Minister of Marine, M. Truguet, whose able arrangements seemed to
have anticipated and provided for every difficulty, had intended that
the descent should be made in October, or at latest by the beginning of
November; but the General having preferred to embark the whole army at
once, it was delayed for the arrival of Rear-Admirals Pachery and
Villeneuve; of whom the first, with seven sail of the line and three
frigates, was waiting for an opportunity to come up from Rochefort, and
the other was expected with five sail of the line from Toulon. The
secret of the enemy's intentions was so well kept, that England had to
conjecture the destination of the armament, and it was doubted to the
last whether its object was Ireland, Portugal, or Gibraltar. In this
uncertainty, a principal division of the Channel fleet, under Lord
Bridport, remained at Spithead: Sir Roger Curtis, with a smaller force,
cruised to the westward; and Vice-Admiral Sir John Colpoys was stationed
off Brest, at first with ten, but afterwards with thirteen sail of the
line. Sir Edward Pellew, with a small force of frigates, latterly
watched the harbour.
About the middle of November, Sir R. Curtis returned to port, and soon
after, M. Richery sailed from Rochefort, and entered Brest on the 11th
of December. Sir E. Pellew, who had necessarily retired on his approach,
immediately sent off two frigates with despatches, the _Amazon_ to
England, and the _Phoebe_ to Sir J. Colpoys. On the 15th, he stood in
with the _Indefatigable_, and though chased by a seventy-four and five
frigates, stationed in Bertheaume Bay, he persisted in watching the port
as usual. In the afternoon, he saw the French fleet leave the road of
Brest, and immediately sent back the _Phoebe_ to report the fact to the
Admiral. The enemy anchored between Camaret and Bertheaume Bays, in
front of the goulet, or entrance into Brest road.
Knowing how much depended on his vigilance, Sir Edward had watched Brest
with the most anxious attention. The wind blew generally from the
eastward, at times so strong, that the line-of-battle-ships would be
under a close-reefed maintop-sail and reefed foresail; and the weather
was intensely cold: yet he went every morning to the mast-head, where he
would remain making his observations for a considerable part of the day,
one of the older midshipmen being usually with him. "Well I remember,"
writes one of his officers, "that on being one day relieved to go down
to my dinner, I was obliged to have some of the main-top-men to help me
down the rigging, I was so benumbed with the intense cold: yet the
captain was there six or seven hours at a time, without complaining, or
taking any refreshment."
On the 16th, the wind being from the eastward, the French fleet,
forty-four ships, of which seventeen were of the line and thirteen
frigates, got finally under way, not waiting the arrival of Villeneuve.
The Admiral purposed leaving Brest by the southern entrance, the Passage
du Raz, between the Bec du Raz and the Saintes. By taking this course,
and by so timing his departure as to clear the land just at nightfall,
he hoped to elude the vigilance of the British fleet off Ushant, whose
usual cruising ground was not more than six or seven leagues to leeward.
But through the delays inseparable from getting a large and encumbered
fleet to sea, it was four o'clock before all the ships were under sail;
and as night was fast closing in, and the wind becoming variable, the
Admiral determined not to attempt the narrow and dangerous passage he
had fixed on, but to steer for the open entrance in front of the
harbour, the Passage d'Iroise. Accordingly, he altered his own course,
and made signal for the fleet to follow; but neither was generally
observed, and the greater part of the ships, as previously directed,
entered the Passage du Raz. The Admiral, therefore, sent a corvette into
the midst of them, to call their attention to his own ship, which
continued to fire guns, and display lights to mark the change in her
course. By this time, it was quite dark, and many circumstances
increased the enemy's confusion. The _Seduisant_, seventy-four, ran on
the Grand Stevenet, a rock at the entrance of the Passage du Raz, where
she was totally lost that night, with nearly seven hundred of her
people. Her guns, and other signals, prevented those of the corvette
from being attended to; and the _Indefatigable_, which kept close to the
French Admiral, made his signals unintelligible to the fleet.
Sir E. Pellew had stood in that morning with the _Indefatigable_ and
_Revolutionaire_, and at noon came in sight of the enemy. At a quarter
before five, when they had all got underway, he sent off Captain Cole to
the Admiral, and remained with his own ship to observe and embarrass
their movements. With a boldness which must have astonished them,
accustomed though they had been to the daring manner in which he had
watched their port; under easy sail, but with studding-sails ready for a
start, if necessary, he kept as close as possible to the French Admiral,
often within half-gun-shot; and as that officer made signals to his
fleet, he falsified them by additional guns, lights, and rockets. At
half-past eight, when the French ships were observed coming round the
Saintes, he made sail to the north-west, with a light at each mast-head,
constantly making signals for Sir J. Colpoys, by firing a gun every
quarter of an hour, throwing up rockets, and burning blue lights. At
midnight, having received no answer, he tacked, and stood to the
southward until six o'clock. Still seeing nothing of the Admiral, though
he had sailed over all his cruising ground, he sent off the _Duke of
York_, hired armed lugger, to England, with despatches, intending to
remain with the _Indefatigable_, and take part in the expected battle.
But reflecting on the importance of conveying the information quickly to
England, with the uncertainty of its being carried safely by so small a
vessel; and assured that the _Revolutionaire_, which he had again spoke
that morning, would not fail to meet Sir J. Colpoys, he gave up the hope
of distinction to a sense of duty, and made sail for Falmouth. He
arrived late in the evening of the 20th.
If Lord Bridport had been waiting at Falmouth, with discretional powers,
Sir Edward having been instructed to communicate directly with him, he
might have sailed early on the 21st, and found the enemy in Bantry Bay,
where, perhaps, not a ship would have escaped him. It is, however, to be
remembered, that as the destination of the French armament was unknown
to the last, the Admiralty might very properly determine that he should
receive his final instructions from themselves, and therefore would keep
the fleet at Spithead for the convenience of ready communication.
On the 25th, Lord Bridport attempted to sail. The enemy had arrived four
days before, and if the weather had allowed the troops to land, the most
complete naval victory would have been too late to save the country. The
fleet was prevented from putting to sea on that day by a succession of
accidents, by which five of the heaviest ships were disabled before they
could leave the harbour. The _Prime_ missed stays, and fell on board the
_Sans Pareil_. The _Formidable_ ran foul of the _Ville de Paris_; and
the _Atlas_ grounded. Four of these were three-deckers, and the other
was one of the finest 80-gun ships in the service. When at length part
of the fleet reached St. Helen's, a shift of wind kept the rest at
Spithead; and the Admiral could not put to sea till January 3rd. The
baffled enemy was then returning, and seven of his ships had actually
arrived in Brest two days before the British sailed from Portsmouth to
pursue them.
How Sir J. Colpoys missed the enemy may appear extraordinary. The
explanation, which every circumstance tends to confirm, is, that he was
restrained from attacking them by his instructions, his force being
intended only for a squadron of observation: for though the enemy's
fleet, as it actually sailed, would have given him an easy victory,
there was always reason to believe that it was much too strong for his
force. Exclusive of the five sail which were hourly expected from
Toulon, there were twenty-four line-of-battle ships in Brest, and there
was no reason to conclude but that the greater part, if not the whole of
them, were to sail with the expedition. As the British would be so much
outnumbered, Sir E. Pellew offered, in the event of a battle, to take a
place in the line with the _Indefatigable_. The Admiral thanked him, but
declined the offer, believing that the enemy's superiority was too great
to hope for victory. When the enemy put to sea, the British fleet was
eight or nine leagues to the westward of their usual cruising ground,
and thus was missed, not only by the _Indefatigable_, but also by the
_Revolutionaire_, which did not join with the information till the 19th.
Next day, the Toulon ships were seen, and chased into port; and the
Admiral, having no means of learning the course of the Brest fleet, and
some of his own ships being obliged to part company, in consequence of
injuries they had sustained in a gale, bore away with the remainder for
Spithead.
Meantime, almost everything favoured the enemy. The two divisions of his
fleet, which were separated on the evening of the 16th, by putting to
sea through different passages, rejoined on the 19th, and reached their
destination early on the 21st, without having met a single British
cruiser. When they appeared off the Bay, a number of pilot-boats came
out, supposing them to be a British fleet; and thus the French Admiral
obtained pilots for his ships, and gained all the information he wanted
of the British men-of-war on the coast. A line-of-battle ship and three
frigates were still missing. Their absence would not have materially
weakened the enemy, whose force still exceeded what the rebel delegates
had required; but the two commanders had embarked in one of the missing
frigates, the _Fraternité_; and Rear-Admiral Bouvet and General Grouchy,
the seconds in command, could scarcely act with decision while their
chiefs were hourly expected.
The _Fraternité_, with the other three ships in company, was very near
the fleet on the 20th, but it was concealed from her by a fog; and a
gale which dispersed the fog, separated her from her consorts.
Proceeding alone to the Bay, she had nearly reached it on the 21st, when
she fell in with a British frigate, which she mistook for one of her own
fleet till she was almost within gun-shot. Night saved her from capture,
but the chase had carried her far to the westward, and it was eight days
before she obtained a fair wind to return.
The ships continued beating up to Bearhaven against a fresh easterly
breeze until the evening of the 22nd, when the Rear-Admiral anchored
off the eastern extremity of Great Bear Island, with eight sail of the
line, two frigates, and some smaller vessels. Seven sail of the line,
and eight frigates, kept under sail; and the wind rising in the night
blew them all off to sea.
It blew hard, with a heavy sea, through the next day and night. On the
24th, the weather having moderated, it was determined in a council of
war to land the remaining troops immediately, and General Grouchy made a
formal requisition for that purpose. A suitable landing-place was found,
and the necessary preparations were completed; but it was now late in
the afternoon, and the landing was necessarily deferred until morning.
That night, the gale rose from the eastward, and increased through the
next day to a tempest. At length the ships began to drive from their
anchors. The _Indomptable_, 80, ran foul of the _Resolve_ frigate, and
totally dismasted her. The other frigate, the _Immortalité_, in which
Rear-admiral Bouvet had embarked, though his proper flag-ship was the
_Droits de l'Homme,_ parted one of her cables in the evening, and was
obliged to cut the other, and run out to sea. The weather would not
allow her to return until the 29th, and then the Rear-Admiral, hopeless
of re-assembling the fleet, decided to proceed to Brest.
Others were less fortunate. The _Tortue_ frigate, two corvettes, and
four transports, were taken. The _Surveillante_ frigate was wrecked, and
a transport foundered in the bay; and a third frigate, _l'Impatiente_,
was driven on shore near Crookhaven. The sailors determined to secure
for themselves alone the means of escape, leaving the troops to their
fate. Where such a feeling could exist, the discipline required for
their own safety was not likely to be found: and all perished but seven,
who were saved chiefly by the exertions of the people on shore.
Part of the fleet, after having been blown out of the bay, steered for
the _Shannon_, which had been fixed on as a rendezvous in the event of
separation; but they were too few to attempt a landing, and after
waiting for a short time in hope of reinforcements, they found it
necessary to return.
The _Fraternité_, with the two commanders-in-chief, continued to beat
against an easterly gale till the 29th, when the wind became fair for
the bay. Standing towards it, she fell in with the _Scerola_, rasé, in a
sinking state, with the _Revolution_, 74, engaged in taking out the
people. She assisted to save them, and the two ships continued their
course towards Ireland, hoping to fall in with so many of the fleet as
might still enable them to make a descent. But next day, not having seen
any of them, and their provisions becoming short, they steered for
France. On the 8th of January, they were very near eleven of their
ships, which they would presently have joined, but that they altered
their course to avoid two British frigates, the _Unicorn_ and _Doris_,
which at the time were actually being chased by the French. Next day
they again fell in with the frigates, and on the morning of the 10th
they were chased by Lord Bridport's fleet, from which they narrowly
escaped. On the 14th they entered Rochefort, the last of the returning
ships.
Such was the fate of an expedition, in which nothing was neglected which
foresight could suggest, and nothing wanting which ability could supply;
whose fortune attended it until success might be deemed secure, and
whose defeat was attended with circumstances too extraordinary to be
referred to common causes. History records no event, not attended by
direct miracle, in which God's providence is more strikingly displayed.
The forces of atheism and popery had joined to overthrow a nation, the
stronghold of Christian truth, and the bulwark of Protestant Europe. In
this, so emphatically a holy war, no earthly arm was allowed to achieve
the triumph. Human agency was put aside, and all human defences
prostrated; and then, when the unresisted invader touched the object of
his hope, the elements were commissioned against him. That the vigilance
of a blockading force should be so eluded, and that unusual misfortunes
should prevent a fleet from sailing till nothing remained for it to do;
that the enemy's two commanders should be separated from their force
when it sailed, and afterwards prevented, by so many well-timed
casualties, from rejoining it; that when the fleet had actually arrived
in the destined port, half should be blown out to sea again before they
could anchor, and the rest driven from their anchors before they could
land the troops; that the returning ships should be prevented from
meeting their commanders; and that every disappointment should just
anticipate the moment of success;--such a combination of circumstances
it were folly and impiety to ascribe to anything less than the hand of
God.
A victory would have saved the country, but it would not have afforded
such ground for assured confidence in her future trials. This
deliverance was a pledge of protection through the terrible struggle of
the next twenty years; when, long disappointed in her hopes, and at
length deserted by her last ally, England still maintained her good
cause with a firmness more honourable to her character than even the
unrivalled triumph she achieved. It remains a pledge, that amidst all
dangers she may perform her duty as a Christian country, in full
reliance upon God's blessing: or, should the greatness of her trials
confound all human resources, that she may wait, in quietness and
confidence, for God's deliverance.
It was Sir Edward Pellew's fortune, as he had been prominent in the
services connected with the sailing of this armament, to mark the return
of it by a battle, the only one fought, and equally singular in its
circumstances, and appalling in its result. He put to sea with the
_Indefatigable_ and _Amazon_ on the 22nd, and supposing the enemy to
have gone to the southward, cruised off Capes Ortugal and Finisterre
until the 11th of January. On the 2nd, the _Amazon_ carried away her
main-topmast, and on the 11th, the _Indefatigable_ sprung her
main-topmast and topsail-yard in a squall, and was obliged to shift
them. Returning towards the Channel, on the 13th of January, at a little
past noon, the ships being about fifty leagues south-west of Ushant, and
the wind blowing hard from the westward, with thick weather, a sail was
discovered in the north-west. Sail was made in chase, and by four
o'clock the stranger, at first supposed to be a frigate, as she had no
poop, was clearly made out to be a French two-decker.
The enemy's ship, the _Droits de l'Homme_, commanded by Commodore,
_ci-devant_ Baron Lacrosse, was one of those which had proceeded to the
Shannon, after having been blown out of Bantry Bay. She was the
flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Bouvet, but this officer, according to a
frequent practice of French admirals, had embarked in a frigate. General
Humbert, who commanded one of the expeditions to Ireland in 1798, had
taken his passage in her. That morning she had arrived within
twenty-five leagues of Belleisle, and as the weather appeared
threatening, she stood to the southward, fearing to approach nearer to
the shore. Early in the afternoon she saw two large ships at a short
distance to windward, probably the _Revolution_ and _Fraternité_, but
not waiting to ascertain their character, she made sail from them to the
south-east. At half-past three she first discovered on her lee-bow the
two frigates, which had observed her three hours before, and were
steering a course nearly parallel to her own, to cut her off from the
land.
The wind had now increased to a gale, and the sea was fast rising. At
half-past four the enemy carried away her fore and main-topmasts in a
heavy squall. At three-quarters past five the _Indefatigable_ came up
with her, and having shortened sail to close-reefed topsails, poured in
a broadside as she crossed her stern. The enemy returned it from some of
the upper-deck guns, and by showers of musketry from the troops, of whom
there were nearly a thousand on board. So close were the ships, that
some of the _Indefatigable's_ people tore away the enemy's ensign, which
became entangled in the mizen rigging. The _Indefatigable_ then tried to
pass ahead and gain a position on the enemy's bow, but the
line-of-battle ship avoided this, and attempted, but without success, to
lay the frigate on board, actually grazing the _Indefatigable's_
spanker-boom.
The British frigate engaged the line-of-battle ship single-handed for
more than an hour, before her consort, which was several miles astern
when the action commenced, could get up to assist her. At length,
reaching the enemy, the _Amazon_ poured a broadside into her quarter,
and then, with the Commodore, maintained the engagement until about
half-past seven, when the _Indefatigable_ found it necessary to repair
her rigging, and both frigates shot ahead.
At a little past eight, the frigates renewed the action, and placing
themselves one on either bow of the _Droits de l'Homme_, raked her
alternately. The seventy-four brought her guns to bear upon one or the
other of her antagonists as well as she could, and occasionally
attempted, but without success, to close. At half-past ten, her
mizenmast was shot away, when the frigates changed their position, and
attacked her on either quarter. Soon after she began to fire shells. The
gale continued all night, with a very heavy sea, and the violent motion
of the ships made the labour of the crews most excessive. On the
main-deck of the _Indefatigable_, the men were often to the middle in
water. Some of her guns broke their breechings four times; others drew
the ring-bolts, and from some, the charge was obliged to be drawn after
loading, in consequence of the water beating into them. But under these
most trying circumstances, the crew did their duty nobly. The _Amazon_,
being a smaller ship, experienced still greater difficulties than the
_Indefatigable_. She emulated her consort most gallantly, and suffered a
greater loss. Her masts and rigging were very much damaged; her
mizen-top-mast, gaff, spanker-boom, and main-topsail-yard being
entirely shot away; the main and foremast, and the fore and main yards
wounded in several places by large shot; many of her shrouds, stays, and
back-stays shot away, besides those which had been knotted and stoppered
in the action; all her spare cordage was expended in reeving running
rigging, and she had three feet water in the hold. The loss of men in
both ships was remarkably small. The _Amazon_ had three killed, and
fifteen badly wounded; and the _Indefatigable_, though she had so long
fought the seventy-four single-handed, had only her first lieutenant and
eighteen men wounded; twelve of them slightly, and the two worst cases
from accidents. The lower-deck guns of the enemy were nearer the water
than is usual in line of-battle ships, and in consequence of the heavy
sea, she could use them only occasionally. From this cause, as well as
from the excellent positions maintained by the frigates, and her
crippled state through the latter part of the action, she could make but
a very unequal return to their fire. She suffered very much. More than a
hundred of her people were killed--a severe loss, yet small compared to
what it must have been, from the crowded state of her decks, and the
unprecedented length of the action, if the darkness, the heavy gale, and
the consequent motion of the ships, had not made the firing slow, and
the aim uncertain.
It was nearly eleven hours from the commencement of the action, when
Lieutenant Bell, who was quartered on the forecastle, and who had kept
the ship's reckoning through the night, satisfied himself that they were
near the French coast, and ordered one or two sailors to keep a good
look-out. One of these men thought he saw land, and reported it to his
officer; who, perceiving it distinctly, went aft, and told the captain.
Immediately the tacks were hauled on board, and the _Indefatigable_
stood to the southward, after making the night-signal of danger to the
_Amazon_, which, with equal promptitude, wore to the northward. The
enemy, who did not yet see the danger, thought they had beaten off the
frigates, and poured a broadside into the _Indefatigable_, the most
destructive she had yet received. Seven shot struck her hull, the three
lower-masts were wounded, and the larboard main-topmast shrouds were all
cut away close to the seizings of the eyes at the mast head. It required
extraordinary activity and coolness to save the topmast, the loss of
which, at that time, would have made that of the ship inevitable. Under
the direction of Mr. Gaze, who immediately sprang aloft, the captain of
the main-top cut away the top gallant-yard; while Mr. Thompson, acting
master, got up the end of a hawser, which he clinched around the
mast-head. Thus they saved the main-topmast, and probably prevented the
mainmast itself from being sprung. Mr. Gaze, who received a master's
warrant a few weeks after, continued with Lord Exmouth to the last day
of his command. He was master of the fleet in the Mediterranean, and it
was he who carried the _Queen Charlotte_ in such admirable style to her
position at Algiers.
None at this time knew how desperate was their situation. The ships were
in the Bay of Audierne, close in with the surf, with the wind blowing a
heavy gale dead on the shore, and a tremendous sea rolling in. To beat
off the land would have been a difficult and doubtful undertaking for
the best and most perfect ship. The _Indefatigable_ had four feet water
in the hold, and her safety depended on her wounded spars and damaged
rigging bearing the press of sail she was obliged to carry; while the
crew, thus summoned to renewed exertion, were already quite worn out
with fatigue. The fate of the other ships was certain; for the _Amazon_
had all her principal sails disabled, and the _Droits de l'Homme_ was
unmanageable.
The _Indefatigable_ continued standing to the southward, until the
captain of the mizen-top gave the alarm of breakers on the lee-bow. The
ship was immediately wore in eighteen fathoms, and she stood to the
northward till half-past six, when land was again seen close a-head on
the weather-bow, with breakers under the lee. Running again to the
southward, she passed the _Droits de l'Homme_ lying on her broadside in
the surf, at the distance of about a mile, but without the possibility
of giving the smallest assistance. Her own situation, indeed, was almost
hopeless; and Sir Edward Pellew himself was deeply affected, when,
having done all that seamanship could accomplish, he could only commit
to a merciful Providence the lives of his gallant crew, all now
depending upon one of the many accidents to the masts and rigging which
there was so much reason to apprehend. Happily, the sails stood well;
the _Indefatigable_ continued to gain by every tack; and at eleven
o'clock, with six feet water in her hold, she passed about
three-quarters of a mile to windward of the Penmarcks; enabling her
officers and men, after a day and night of incessant exertion, at length
to rest from their toil, and to bless God for their deliverance.
She had scarcely bent new topsails and foresail, the others having been
shot to pieces, when two large ships were seen at some distance a-head,
crossing her course, and standing in a direction for L'Orient. One of
them was at first supposed to be the _Amazon_, of which nothing had been
seen since the close of the action, and the extent of whose damages was
not at all suspected. The other was considered to be a French frigate,
and Sir Edward gave orders to make sail in chase. But the officers
represented to him, that the crew, entirely exhausted by the
unparalleled length of the action, and by their subsequent labours, were
quite incapable of further exertion; that their ammunition was very
short, scarcely a cartridge filled, and every wad expended. Had the
French frigate been alone, this would have been a subject of much
regret; for she was the _Fraternité,_ with the two commanders-in-chief
and all the treasure of the expedition on board; but her consort was the
74-gun ship _Revolution_.
The _Amazon_ struck the ground about ten minutes after she ceased
firing. Her crew displayed the admirable discipline which British seamen
are accustomed to maintain under such circumstances; more creditable to
them, if possible, than the seamanship which saved the _Indefatigable_.
From half past five until nine o'clock, they were employed in making
rafts, and not a man was lost, or attempted to leave the ship, except
six, who stole away the cutter from the stern, and were drowned. Captain
Reynolds and his officers remained by the ship until they had safely
landed, first the wounded, and afterwards every man of the crew. Of
course they were made prisoners, but they were treated well, and
exchanged not many months after.
Conduct like that of the _Amazon's_ people in their hour of extreme
danger--and it is nothing more than British seamen commonly display in
the same situation--makes an Englishman proud of his country. Nor should
it be forgotten, for it exalts the feeling of patriotism and honest
pride, that a man-of-war's crew at that time was made up, in part, of
the lowest characters in society. What, then, must be the strength and
excellence of that moral feeling in England, which can display itself
thus nobly where it would be the least expected! The fact conveys an
impressive lesson; for if the intelligence, decision, and kindness,
which, with few exceptions, characterize our sea-officers, can effect
such happy results where they operate on the most unpromising materials,
it is clear, that whatever faults the lower classes in England display
must be attributed, in a great degree, to the neglect or misconduct of
those, whose station in society, as it gives the power, imposes the duty
to guide them.
The fate of the _Droits de l'Homme_ presents an awful contrast indeed to
that of the _Amazon_. She saw the land soon after the frigates hauled
off, and after hopeless attempts, first to avoid it, and afterwards to
anchor, she struck the ground almost at the same moment as the British
frigate. The main-mast went overboard at the second shock: the fore-mast
and bowsprit had fallen a few minutes before, in her attempt to keep
off the land. When danger was first seen, the crew gave an alarm to the
English prisoners below, of whom there were fifty-five, the crew and
passengers of a letter-of-marque, which the _Droits de l'Homme_ had
taken a few days before: "Poor English, come up quickly; we are all
lost!" Presently, the ship struck on a bank of sand, nearly opposite the
town of Plouzenec. Cries of dismay were now heard from every part.
Signals of distress were fired, and several of the guns hove overboard.
Many of the people were soon washed away by the waves, which broke
incessantly over her. At daylight the shore was seen covered with
spectators, but they could afford no assistance. In the meantime, the
stern was beaten in by the sea, and no provisions or water could
afterwards be obtained.
At low water an attempt was made to reach the shore, but two boats which
were brought alongside drifted away and were dashed to pieces on the
rocks. A small raft was constructed to carry a hawser to the shore, by
the aid of which it was hoped that preparations might be completed for
safely landing the people. A few sailors having embarked on it, the rope
was gradually slackened to allow it to drift to land; but some of these
people being washed away, the rest became alarmed, cast off the hawser,
and saved themselves. After a second unsuccessful attempt with a raft, a
petty officer attached a cord to his body and tried to swim on shore;
but he was soon exhausted, and would have perished, but that he was
hauled back to the ship.
On the second day, at low water, an English captain and eight other
prisoners launched a small boat, and landed safely. Their success
restored confidence to the multitude, proving, as it did, how easily all
might be saved, if proper means were quietly adopted. But discipline and
order were wanting; and attempts made without judgment, and without
concert, ended in the loss of all who made them.
Perishing with cold, and thirst, and hunger--for the ship, her stern
now broken away, no longer afforded shelter from the waves, and they had
tasted nothing since she struck--the unhappy crew saw a third day arise
upon their miseries. Still the gale continued, and there was no prospect
of relief from the shore. It was now determined to construct a large
raft, and first to send away the surviving wounded, with the women and
children, in a boat which remained. But as soon as she was brought
alongside, there was a general rush, and about a hundred and twenty
threw themselves into her. Their weight carried down the boat; next
moment an enormous wave broke upon them, and when the sea became
smoother, their corpses were seen floating all around. An officer,
Adjutant General Renier, attempted to swim on shore, hoping that a
knowledge of their condition might enable the spectators to devise some
means for their deliverance. He plunged into the sea and was lost.
"Already nearly nine hundred had perished," says Lieutenant Pipon, an
officer of the 63rd regiment, who was on board a prisoner, and who
afterwards published the dreadful story.[7] "when the fourth night came
with renewed terrors. Weak, distracted, and wanting everything, we
envied the fate of those whose lifeless corpses no longer needed
sustenance. The sense of hunger was already lost, but a parching thirst
consumed our vitals. Recourse was had to wine and salt water, which only
increased the want. Half a hogshead of vinegar floated up, and each had
half a wine-glassful. This gave a momentary relief, yet soon left us
again in the same state of dreadful thirst. Almost at the last gasp,
every one was dying with misery: the ship, which was now one third
shattered away from the stern, scarcely afforded a grasp to hold by, to
the exhausted and helpless survivors. The fourth day brought with it a
more serene sky, and the sea seemed to subside; but to behold, from fore
and aft, the dying in all directions, was a sight too shocking for the
feeling mind to endure. Almost lost to a sense of humanity, we no longer
looked with pity on those who were the speedy fore-runners of our own
fate, and a consultation took place to sacrifice some one to be food for
the remainder. The die was going to be cast, when the welcome sight of a
man-of-war brig renewed our hopes. A cutter speedily followed, and both
anchored at a short distance from the wreck. They then sent their boats
to us, and by means of large rafts, about a hundred and fifty of near
four hundred who attempted it, were saved by the brig that evening.
Three hundred and eighty were left to endure another night's misery,
when, dreadful to relate, above one-half were found dead next morning."
Commodore Lacrosse, General Humbert, and three British infantry
officers, prisoners, remained in the wreck till the fifth morning; and
all survived: so great is the influence of moral power to sustain
through extreme hardships. The prisoners were treated with the utmost
kindness, and in consideration of their sufferings, and the help they
had afforded in saving many lives, a cartel was fitted out by order of
the French Government to send them home, without ransom or exchange.
They arrived at Plymouth on the 7th of March following.
The Admiralty awarded head-money to the frigates for the destruction of
the _Droits de l'Homme_. As there were no means of knowing her
complement with certainty, Sir Edward wrote to Commodore Lacrosse to
request the information, telling him it was the practice of his
Government to award a certain sum for every man belonging to an enemy's
armed vessel taken, or destroyed. The Commodore answered, that the
_Droits de l'Homme_ had been neither taken nor destroyed, but that the
ships had fought like three dogs till they all fell over the cliff
together. Her crew, with the troops, he said, was sixteen hundred men.
The gallant captain of the _Amazon_, one of the earliest and closest
friends of Sir Edward Pellew, perished at length by a not less
distressing shipwreck. At the end of 1811, being then a rear-admiral, he
was returning from the Baltic in the _St. George_, a ship not calculated
to remain so late on such a station. After having received much damage
in a former gale, she was wrecked on Christmas-day, as well as the
_Defence_, which attended her to afford assistance; and only eighteen
men were saved from the two line-of-battle ships. Rear-Admiral Reynolds
and his captain remained at their post till they sunk under the
inclemency of a northern winter; when, stretched on the quarter-deck,
and hand in hand, they were frozen to death together.
FOOTNOTE:
[7] Naval Chronicle, vol. viii. p. 467.