THE LAKE.
As soon as the boats returned, regiment after regiment embarked and set
sail for the fleet; but the distance being considerable and the wind
foul, many days elapsed before the whole could be got off. Excepting in
one trifling instance, however, no accident occurred, and by the end of
the month we were all once more on board our former ships. But our
return was far from triumphant. We, who only seven weeks ago had set
out in the surest confidence of glory, and I may add of emolument, were
brought back dispirited and dejected. Our ranks were wofully thinned,
our chiefs slain, our clothing tattered and filthy, and even our
discipline in some degree injured. A gloomy silence reigned throughout
the armament, except when it was broken by the voice of lamentation
over fallen friends; and the interior of each ship presented a scene
well calculated to prove the short-sightedness of human hope and human
prudence.
The accident to which I allude was the capture of a single boat by the
enemy. About thirty men of the 14th dragoons having crowded into an
unarmed barge, were proceeding slowly down the lake, when a boat
mounting a carronade in its bow suddenly darted from a creek and made
towards them. To escape was impossible, for their barge was too heavily
laden to move at a rate of even moderate rapidity; and to fight was
equally out of the question, because of the superiority which their
cannon gave to the Americans. The whole party was accordingly compelled
to surrender to six men and an officer; and having thrown their arms
into the lake, their boat was taken in tow and they were carried away
prisoners.
This, however, was the only misfortune which occurred. Warned by the
fate of their comrades, the rest kept together in little squadrons,
each attended by one or more armed launches; and thus rowing steadily
on, they gained the shipping without so much as another attempt at
surprisal being made.
On reaching the fleet, we found that a considerable reinforcement of
troops had arrived from England. It consisted of the 40th foot, a fine
regiment, containing nearly a thousand men, which, ignorant of the
fatal issue of our attack, had crossed the lakes only to be sent back
to the ships without so much as stepping on shore. The circumstance,
however, produced little satisfaction. We felt that the coming of
thrice the number could not recover what was lost or recall past
events; and therefore no rejoicing was heard, nor the slightest regard
paid to the occurrence. Nay, so great was the despondency which had
taken possession of men’s minds, that not even a rumour respecting the
next point of attack obtained circulation; whilst a sullen
carelessness, a sort of indifference as to what might happen, seemed to
have succeeded all our wonted curiosity and confidence of success in
every undertaking.
THE LAKE—MOBILE.
In this state we remained wind-bound till the 4th of February, when, at
length getting under weigh, the fleet ran down as far as Cat Island.
This is a spot of sandy soil at the mouth of the lake, remarkable for
nothing except a solitary Spanish family which possesses it. Completely
cut off from the rest of the world, an old man, his wife, two
daughters, and a son, dwell here in apparent happiness and contentment.
Being at least one hundred and twenty miles from the main, it is seldom
that their little kingdom is visited by strangers; and I believe that
till our arrival the daughters, though grown up to womanhood, had seen
few faces besides those of their parents and brother. Their cottage,
composed simply of a few boughs, thatched and in-woven with straw, is
beautifully situated within a short distance of the water. Two cows and
a few sheep grazed beside it; whilst a small tract of ground covered
with stubble, and a little garden well stocked with fruit-trees and
vegetables, at once gave proof of their industry, and showed the source
from whence they supplied themselves with bread.
Having remained here till the 7th, we again took advantage of a fair
wind and stood to sea. As soon as we had cleared the lake, we directed
our course towards the east, steering, as it was rumoured, upon Mobile;
nor was it long before we came in sight of the bay which bears that
name. It is formed by a projecting headland called Point Bayo, and a
large island called Isle Dauphin. Upon the first is erected a small
fort, possessing the same title with the promontory which commands the
entrance; for though the island is, at least five miles from the main,
there is no water for floating a ship of any burthen except within a
few hundred yards of the latter. The island is, like Cat Island,
uninhabited, except by one family, and unprovided with any works of
defence.
SIEGE.
As the attack of Mobile was professedly our object, it was clear that
nothing could be done previous to the reduction of the fort. The ships
accordingly dropped anchor at the mouth of the bay, and immediate
preparations were made for the siege. But the fort was too
inconsiderable in point of size to require the employment of all our
forces in its investment. Whilst one brigade, therefore, was allotted
to this service, the rest proceeded to establish themselves on the
island, where, carrying tents and other conveniences on shore, the
first regular encampment which we had seen since our arrival in this
hemisphere was formed.
The spot of ground, of which we had now taken possession, extended
twelve miles in length, and from one to three in width. Its soil is in
general dry and sandy, well covered with grass, and ornamented by
continued groves of pine, cedar, oak, and laurel. On one side only is
there a swamp, but not of sufficient size to contaminate the atmosphere
of the whole, which is considered so peculiarly healthy, that the place
is generally used as a depot for the sick in the American army. At
present, as I have said, it was tenanted by no more than a single
family, the master of which was a midshipman in the American navy, and
banished hither for some misdemeanor; but what was to us of much
greater importance, it was likewise stocked with cattle resembling in
appearance the black cattle of the Highlands of Scotland, and not
behind them in point of wildness.
Whilst the remainder of the army spent their time here, the 4th, 21st,
and 44th, being landed above the fort, were busied in the siege. This
small work stands, as I have stated, at the extremity of a promontory.
Towards the sea its fortifications are respectable enough, but on the
land side it is little better than a blockhouse. The ramparts being
composed of sand, not more than three feet in thickness, are faced with
plank barely cannon-proof; whilst a sand-hill rising within pistol-shot
of the ditch, completely commands them. Within, again, the fort is as
much wanting in accommodation as it is in strength. There are no
bomb-proof barracks, nor any hole or arch under which men might find
protection from shells; indeed, so deficient is it in common
lodging-rooms, that a great part of the garrison slept in tents. To
reduce this place, therefore, occupied but a short time. The troops
having assembled on the 8th, drove the enemy within their lines on the
9th, and broke ground the same evening. On the 10th, four
eighteen-pounders with two howitzers were placed in battery upon the
top of the sand-hill; on the 11th, the fort surrendered; and on the
12th, the garrison, consisting of four hundred men of the second
American regiment, marched out with all the honours of war, and laid
down their arms upon the glacis.
PEACE.
With the reduction of this trifling work ended all hostilities in this
quarter of America, for the army had scarcely re-assembled when
intelligence arrived from England of peace. The news reached us on the
14th, and I shall not deny that it was received with general
satisfaction. Though war is the soldier’s harvest, yet it must be
confessed, that when carried on as it had of late been conducted, it is
a harvest of which men in time become weary; and many of us having been
absent for several years from our native shores, experienced absolute
delight at the prospect of returning once more to the bosom of our
families. The communication was therefore welcomed with unfeigned joy,
nor could any other topic of conversation gain attention throughout the
camp, except the anticipated re-embarkation. .
But as the preliminaries only had been signed, and as Mr. Maddison’s
approval was required before we should be at liberty to depart, our
army still continued stationary upon the island. Of the President’s
conduct, however, no doubts were entertained; all thoughts of future
military operations were in consequence laid aside; and the sole aim of
every individual thenceforth was to make himself as comfortable as
circumstances would permit. To effect this end various expedients were
adopted. Among others a theatre was erected, in which such officers as
chose to exhibit performed for their own amusement and the amusement of
their friends. In shooting and fishing, likewise, much of our time was
spent; and thus, by adopting the usual expedients of idle men, we
contrived to pass some days in a state of tolerable comfort.
Occupations such as these, however, soon grew insipid, and it was with
sincere rejoicing that on the 5th of March we were made acquainted with
Mr. Maddison’s agreement to the terms proposed. All was now hope and
exultation, an immediate departure was anticipated, and those were
pitied as unfortunate whose lot it was supposed, might detain them even
a day behind their fellows. But as yet no movement took place; our
provisions were not sufficient to authorize the undertaking so long a
voyage as we must undertake, did we attempt to run for the nearest
British settlement; we were therefore compelled to remain where we
were, till a frigate should return, which had been sent forward to
solicit supplies from the Governor of Cuba.
During this interval, the same occupations were resorted to; and others
of a less agreeable nature undertaken. As summer came on, the island
sent forth multitudes of snakes from their lurking- places, which
infested the camp, making their way in some instances into our very
beds. This was bad enough, but it was not the only nuisance to which we
were subject. The alligators, which during the winter months lie in a
dormant state, now began to awaken, and prowling about the margin of
the pool, created no little alarm and agitation. Apparently confounded
at our invasion of their territories, these monsters at first confined
themselves to the marshy part of the island, but becoming by degrees
more familiar, they soon ventured to approach the very precincts of the
camp. One of them at length entered a tent; in which only a woman and
child chanced to be, and having stared round as if in amazement, walked
out again without offering to commit any violence. But the visit was of
too serious a nature to be overlooked. Parties were accordingly formed
for their destruction, and it was usual on the return of each from an
excursion, instead of asking how many birds, to demand how many snakes
and alligators they had shot. Of the former, indeed, great numbers were
killed,`and of the latter not a few, the largest of which measured
about nine feet from the snout to the tail.
Another employment, also, deserves to be noted, because it is truly
characteristic of the boyish jollity of young soldiers. Wearied with a
state of idleness, the officers of the 7th, 43rd, and 14th dragoons
made an attack with fir-apples upon those of the 85th, 93rd, and 95th.
For the space of some days they pelted each other from morning till
night, laying ambuscades and exhibiting, on a small scale, all the
stratagems of war; whilst the whole army, not even excepting the
Generals themselves, stood by and spurred them on.
But to continue a detail of such proceedings would only swell my
narrative, without amusing my reader; I shall therefore content myself
with observing, that things remained in this state till the 14th of
March, when the long-looked for frigate at length arrived, and on the
15th, the first division of the army embarking, set sail for England.
The wind, however, was foul, nor did the ships make any way till the
17th, when a fresh breeze springing up, we stood our course, and by ten
o’clock on the 21st could distinguish the high land of Cuba. But the
violence of the gale having driven us considerably to leeward, we were
forced to bear up, and beat along the coast, on which account it was
not till the 23rd that we came opposite to the port of Havannah.
HAVANNAH.
Than the approach to this city, and its first appearance from the
water, it is impossible to conceive anything more grand and imposing. A
little bay, extremely narrow at the entrance, forms the harbour. On
each side of it stand forts of prodigious strength, particularly those
on the left, where the ground is considerably elevated, whilst the city
itself, with its ramparts and towers, its numerous steeples, spires,
and public buildings, gives an assurance of wealth and magnificence
peculiarly striking. When we entered, every tower was surmounted by a
national banner half-mast high, a circumstance which did not at least
diminish the effect of a first view; and the guns from the forts
answering our salute, showed us how desperate must be the condition of
an enemy that should venture within their range. Why the flags should
thus indicate a general mourning, we were at a loss to guess, till the
pilot informed us that this was Holy week. Then, indeed, we remembered
that we had returned to a Roman Catholic country, and rejoiced at the
lucky accident which had brought us thither at such a season.
As it was late before we anchored, I was prevented from landing that
night, but on the morrow I went on shore at an early hour, with the
intention of seeing as much as my time would allow. But in my proposed
visits to the different points worthy of attention I was interrupted.
It was Good-Friday, consequently all public places were shut, and
neither guides nor carriages could be procured. But if I was
disappointed in this, my disappointment was amply compensated by a view
of the religious ceremonies peculiar to that day.
Walking into the largest church in the city, I beheld beside the altar
a figure of our Saviour as large as life nailed to a cross. Beside this
figure stood a number of monks, one of whom presented a rod with a
sponge affixed to its mouth, while a second thrust a spear into its
side, from which came out a liquor having the colour of blood and
water. This being carefully caught in a golden dish, the figure was
taken down from the cross, wrapped round with white linen clothes, and
laid upon a bier, when an imposing procession began in the following
order: First marched a military band playing slow and solemn music;
next came a guard of soldiers with heads bent down and arms reversed;
then followed about two hundred monks belonging to different orders,
arrayed in their dark robes, with hands and feet bare, and crucifixes
suspended from their necks. A short interval now succeeded, and another
party of monks dressed in white appeared, singing hymns in honour of
the Virgin. Next came a splendid couch surmounted by a canopy covered
with white silk and sparkling with gold and jewels, upon which sat a
waxen image of the Mother of God, clothed in gorgeous apparel.
Following this was another party of white-robed monks, chanting a
requiem for a departed soul, and then a second interval. At the
distance of perhaps twenty yards from these came two monks bearing two
large silver nails, then two others bearing a spear and a rod, and then
the body of our Saviour stretched at full length upon the bier. After
the bier came two monks bearing two other nails, and then another two
bearing a small cross and a ladder. Here, again, there was another
interval, which was succeeded by a third white-robed party likewise
chanting a requiem. Next to these came about twenty canons arrayed in
scarlet; then another couch covered with crimson velvet, which
supported a figure of Mary Magdalen, likewise in a sitting posture;
then a second body of canons, succeeded by about two hundred monks in
black; after these another guard of soldiers, and last of all a second
military band.
In spite of prejudice I could not avoid being deeply struck by this
solemn procession. The airs performed by the bands were slow and
mournful, the voices of the singers were deep and musical, the dresses
were rich to a degree of splendour, and the whole was gone through with
much apparent devotion. No doubt, when regarded with the eye of
reflection, the whole may seem something worse than ludicrous, but it
is impossible to witness the scene and to reason on its propriety at
the same time. As long as the pageant is before your eyes you cannot
avoid being powerfully impressed by it; nor is it till after it has
disappeared that you are inclined to ask yourself why you gave way to
feelings of that nature. Yet among the natives I thought I could
observe a considerable degree of levity. It is true that as many as
were in the streets or at the windows dropped upon their knees while
the procession passed, but their careless looks and suppressed smiles
sufficiently proved that they knelt only because they were obliged to
kneel.
Commencing at the door of the church where the representation of the
crucifixion had been exhibited, the funeral party (for it was neither
more nor less) proceeded through the principal streets in the town with
a slow and measured pace. As all except the soldiers walked two and
two, it covered, I should conceive, little less than a mile in extent,
and after winding from lane to lane and from square to square, directed
its steps towards a particular convent, where the waxen image was
solemnly deposited in a vault. It is said, but with what truth I cannot
pretend to determine, that a different image is made use of every year,
and that the vault is now so full of waxen corpses, that it will be
necessary before long to have some of them destroyed.
Having now got rid of the most sacred part of their burthen, the monks,
bearing only the two couches, returned in procession by the same route
and in the same order as they had proceeded, only the bands struck up
lively airs and the singers chanted hymns of rejoicing and hallelujahs.
Instead of walking at a slow pace likewise, they stepped out almost in
a sort of dance, and reaching the door of the great church they there
separated, each party hastening to its own house to celebrate mass.
Into one or two of the convent chapels I likewise entered, and was
present during the performance of their very striking service. I found
them ornamented in the most magnificent manner, the rafters of many
being gilded over and all the windows crowded with stained glass. Of
pictures, and what struck me as something better than mere daubs, there
were also great numbers. In a word, it seemed as if I had reached the
heart and capital of Roman Catholic splendour. Nothing that I had
beheld in the mother-country could at all compare with what was now
before me, and I returned in the evening to my ship, not indeed a
convert to the principles of that religion, but decidedly astonished
and confounded at the solemn magnificence of its ceremonies.