1803.
Commencement of Hostilities with France.--Sir James hoists his
Flag at Sheerness.--Proceeds to Guernsey.--Flag in the
Grampus.--Anecdote of Captain Caulfield.--Sir James visits
Jersey, &c.--Diomede arrives as Flag-ship.--The Admiral
examines the Defence of the Island.--Loss of La
Minerve.--Attack and Bombardment of Granville.--Cerberus gets
aground.--Narrow Escape from a Shot.--Public and Private
Letters.--Blockade of the Coast.--Loss of the Shannon and
Grappler.--Conclusion of 1803.
Hostilities with France were about to be resumed early in the year
1803, and Sir James was called into active service. On the 11th of
March he hoisted his flag at Sheerness, on board the Zealand, in order
to expedite the preparations that were going on in the Medway. Soon
after this, the Zealand went to the Nore. She was at that time
commanded by Captain, afterwards Admiral, William Mitchell, an officer
who had risen to the rank of Rear-admiral by his good conduct, after
having been flogged through the fleet for desertion.
The great preparations now making at St. Maloes rendered it probable
that the intention of Bonaparte was to attack the Channel Islands;
Sir James was therefore appointed to the command at Guernsey, and,
proceeding from the Nore in the Kite brig, he fell in with the
Grampus, which was destined, _pro tempore_, for his flag. Both ships
arrived at St. Pierre's roads on the 19th of May. Here the Admiral's
squadron consisted of six frigates, and six brigs and cutters, which
were chiefly employed in blockading the adjacent coast, and in
preventing the concentration of the enemy's force at St. Maloes and
Granville, the two principal places whence it appeared an attack would
be made.
The Grampus was commanded by Captain Thomas Gordon Caulfield, who had
notions of discipline peculiar to himself, with which Sir James, who
lived on shore with his family, did not interfere. The following
anecdote will serve to show that these deviations from the laws and
customs of the navy are seldom attended with success.
It was Captain Caulfield's positive instructions that no boatswain's
mate, or other petty officer, should carry a cane, the usual emblem of
their authority; and that he would not punish any man unless convicted
by the testimony of two witnesses, while the man himself might bring
others to contradict the assertion of the officer making the
complaint: in short, that the single testimony of an officer could not
be taken without a majority of evidence in its support. The ship had
just been manned by impressed seamen, and her complement was completed
from the prisons: it may therefore be supposed, that these regulations
were not calculated to bring the ship speedily into a state of
discipline. It must be remembered that the captain had not the power
of administering an oath, and, when a complaint was made, men were
soon found who would come forward, and prove, according to this
system, that the accusation was groundless; and thus the culprit
always escaped. The ship accordingly fell into a complete state of
insubordination.
On one occasion a man was brought up on the quarter-deck in a state of
intoxication, when the captain, as if he could not believe his own
eyes, thought it necessary to call two of the officers as witnesses.
The man was put into confinement; and next morning, at eight, he was
brought up to be punished at the gangway. The offender being tied up,
and the article of war under which he had fallen being read, the
captain took the opportunity of assuring his assembled crew, that when
_legally_ convicted they were sure of punishment; but that no man
should be struck.
At this moment the sentinel on the forecastle called out that "a prize
was driving towards the ship." The danger of collision was the more
imminent, inasmuch as a heavy gale was blowing at the time. The
master, who sprang forward, called aloud, "Veer away the small
bower-cable, or she will be on board of us!" The pause which had been
made in the captain's speech was broken by orders from him to veer
away the cable _quickly_. "Down, my lads, veer away!" was repeated by
every officer; but the men, not aware of the fatal consequence, and
knowing that they could not, after what the captain said, be
_started_, moved very leisurely to perform the duty, which, to save
the ship, it was absolutely necessary should be done with the utmost
alacrity. Meanwhile, Captain Caulfield, looking over the back of the
culprit, and viewing the supineness of the men, who were totally
regardless of his repeated injunctions to veer the cable _quickly_,
began to be indignant; and when the master repeated, "If you do not
veer away at once, we shall lose the bowsprit and all the masts," he
called to the officers in the waist "to start the rascals down to the
cable:" but, as it may be supposed, their unarmed endeavours would not
have been successful, had he not, as the crisis approached, jumped
down himself among the men, and, with the end of the thickest rope he
could find, become the transgressor of his own laws, of the absurdity
of which he was now so fully convinced, that he acknowledged he was
wrong, and completely reversed his system.
No ship ever had a more narrow escape of being wrecked; the prize
drifted so close to the Grampus as to carry away her spritsail yard,
and, drifting on the rocks, about three cables' length astern, was
totally lost, and every man perished, among whom were a midshipman and
four of the Grampus's crew. Had the prize, which was a large Dutch
ship, came athwart-hawse of the Grampus, both, instead of one, would
have been wrecked. No alternative was therefore left to Captain
Caulfield but the rope's end, which he employed in violation of his
own rules of discipline.
Sir James was extremely averse to innovations of this kind, and he
took occasion to point out the propriety of officers being supported
in the execution of their duty, and the danger of interfering with the
excellent laws enacted for the government of the navy.
In the Grampus, Sir James visited the island of Jersey, and, after
cruising to examine the coast of France adjacent to the islands, he
returned to Guernsey; soon after which, the Grampus, being a new ship,
was selected to convoy the East India fleet, and was relieved by the
Diomede of fifty guns, Captain Thomas Larcom, on board which ship the
flag was shifted, on the 19th of June, 1803.
As the summer advanced, the preparations of the enemy became more
formidable, and the island was minutely examined by Sir James. The
following anecdote may serve to prove how much officers may be
mistaken as to the natural defences of a sea-coast.
Some differences of opinion having arisen respecting the possibility
of the enemy landing on the south side of Guernsey, where the land is
high, it was proposed to put the question to the test by actual
experiment. Sir James, and the Governor (Sir John Doyle), accordingly
proceeded to the spot with the boats of the squadron. On arriving at
the alleged inaccessible position, Sir James proposed that the seamen
should be landed, and ordered to ascend what appeared to be a
precipice; when, to the astonishment of the General, the whole body of
men mounted to the top with apparent ease: it was consequently found
advisable to fortify that, as well as other points which had been
before deemed unnecessary.
About this time (3rd of July) the Minerve, Captain Brenton, one of Sir
James's squadron, stationed off Cherbourgh, got aground in a fog, from
a mistake of the pilot, and, after a gallant resistance, was taken by
the enemy. The account of this unfortunate circumstance is so fully
detailed in Captain E.P. Brenton's work, that it need only be
mentioned here as having given great concern to the Admiral, who had
the highest regard for his former companion in arms.
A considerable flotilla of armed vessels, destined for the invasion
either of the Channel Islands or of England, had assembled at
Granville; and Sir James, having shifted his flag from the Diomede to
the Cerberus of thirty-two guns, Captain W. Selby, sailed with a
small squadron, consisting of the Charwell, eighteen, Captain Phil.
Dumaresq; the Kite, eighteen, Captain Philip Pipon; the Terror and
Sulphur bombs, Captains McLeod and Hardinge; Esling, Lieutenant
Archbold; and Carteret, Lieutenant Burgess.
On the 14th September, the frigate having anchored as near as the tide
would admit, and the other ships taking their stations, the
bombardment began on the harbour of Granville, and lasted from eleven
till five in the afternoon. On the 15th another attack of the same
kind was made with more effect, as will be seen by the following
official letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, dated
Cerberus, off Granville, 15th Sept. 1803.
I beg you will be pleased to inform my Lords Commissioners of
the Admiralty, that, having been joined by the Terror bomb on
the 8th instant, and the Sulphur on the 12th, I embarked on
board the Cerberus, and sailed from Guernsey roads the
following morning, with the Charwell and Carteret cutters in
company.
It blowing a strong breeze from the eastward, it was not until
Tuesday evening I was enabled to get off Granville; when,
having had an opportunity to reconnoitre the enemy's
gun-vessels and other craft within the pier, and the different
batteries by which they were protected, I anchored the Cerberus
as near the shore as the tide would admit, having only sixteen
feet at low-water. At eleven, the Terror came up, but, having
grounded, it was not until two o'clock that Captain Hardinge
was able to place his ship in the position assigned; this he
now did in a most judicious manner, and opened a brisk fire
from his two mortars; which was returned from the mortar and
gun-batteries on the heights near the town, and also from some
guns on the pier, and the gun-vessels placed in the entrance.
From the number of well-directed shells thrown from the Terror
into the pier and parts of the town, I am persuaded they must
have done very considerable damage. The fire was kept up till
after five o'clock, when I thought it advisable to recall the
Terror, and anchored with this ship and the Charwell a short
distance from the town. The Sulphur bomb, whose bad sailing
prevented her from beating up, joined shortly after, and also
anchored. The loss on this occasion was two men wounded by
splinters on board the Terror.
A few shells were thrown in the evening, but the tide prevented
the ship getting sufficiently near to be attended with much
effect.
This morning the squadron was under sail before dawn of day,
and all circumstances concurred to enable them to take their
respective stations with the utmost precision. The two
mortar-vessels opened a brisk and well-directed fire soon after
five o'clock; which was unremittingly kept up till half-past
ten, when the falling tide rendered it necessary to withdraw
from the attack. Twenty-two gun-vessels, that had hauled out of
the pier, drew up a regular line, and kept up a heavy fire,
jointly with the batteries around the port, without doing much
execution.
The Cerberus, after getting under sail, grounded on one of the
sand-banks, and remained about three hours, before she floated:
nine of the gun-boats, perceiving her situation, endeavoured to
annoy her, and kept up a heavy fire upon her for some time; but
were silenced by the Charwell and Kite, and also by the fire of
the Sulphur and Terror bombs, and by the carronade launch of
the Cerberus, under the orders of Lieutenant Mansell, assisted
by the Eling and Carteret, which obliged them to take shelter
in their port.
In the performance of this intricate service, I cannot too
highly applaud the zeal and persevering exertions of all the
officers and men under my orders; and I should not do justice
to the merits of Captain Selby, were I not to acknowledge the
able assistance I have received from him since I had the honour
of being in his ship: the steadiness and good conduct of all
the officers and men in the Cerberus, during the time the ship
was aground, do them infinite credit. The various services in
which Capt. McLeod of the Sulphur, and Hardinge of the Terror,
have been employed this war, are already sufficiently known:
but I will venture to assert, that in no instance can they have
displayed greater zeal and gallantry than on the present
occasion. Great praise is due to Lieutenants Macartney and
Smith, and the parties of artillery embarked on board the
respective bomb-vessels.
It is not possible to ascertain the damages the enemy has
sustained; but, as a very few of the shells missed taking
effect, they must have been very considerable.
JAS. SAUMAREZ.
During the period the Cerberus was aground the tide fell six feet, and
at one time she was in the greatest danger of upsetting; the topmasts
were immediately struck, and the vessel shored up by the lower yards
and spare spars. While heeling over more than forty-five degrees, the
bottom of the ship was exposed to the shot of the enemy, and was
struck in several places. Sir James himself had a very narrow escape
from a shot, which grazed his legs as he was standing on the gangway
with the purser and the secretary, whose dismay and quick retreat from
so dangerous a situation only produced a smile from the Admiral, who
would not listen to proposals subsequently made to him for quitting
the Cerberus while in that situation. The coolness with which he gave
his orders, and his presence of mind on this trying occasion, tended
materially to save the ship, by exciting the officers and men to exert
themselves; while the most perfect order was maintained under
circumstances which often cause disorder and confusion.
The Cerberus received no material damage in the bottom from being
aground: she was soon repaired, and returned with the squadron to
Guernsey on the 17th, when the flag was again hoisted in the Diomede.
We subsequently learned that the flotilla at Granville was so much
damaged as to delay its arrival at Boulogne, which was its ultimate
destination, until a late period of the year; and that many of the
vessels were lost in and near the Race of Alderney, on their passage,
by a storm in which they were overtaken.
The following is extracted from a letter which Sir James wrote to his
brother, describing this action:
Cerberus, off Granville, 15th Sept. 1803.
You will be glad to find that, thanks to Providence, the
business of Granville has gone off as well as possible,
although we have not succeeded in entirely destroying the
enemy's gun-vessels. I have to regret that, in the execution of
my orders, many of the harmless inhabitants of the town, and
their dwellings, must have suffered very considerably; having
bombarded it nearly four hours on Wednesday, and six hours this
morning, with scarcely any intermission.[3] This ship (the
Cerberus) was for three hours on shore, and the tide left her
six feet less than she drew. She was at the same time assailed
by some of the enemy's gun-boats, but without great mischief. A
shot was very nearly taking off both Mr. Champion and myself:
how our legs escaped is inconceivable, having come through the
part of the quarter-deck close to which we were standing.
Our friends Dumaresq and Pipon were in company, the former
having joined early this morning. I am quite exhausted with
fatigue, having had no rest since I left the island. Lady S.
was unapprised of what was going forward, as well as yourself;
but you must approve of the motives which urged me to conceal
it from you. I am on my return to the island, which I hope to
reach to-morrow evening.
[3] Before commencing the bombardment, Sir James sent in a flag
of truce, to inform the governor of it, and requesting that he
would send the women, children, and inoffensive inhabitants
away from the scene of action.
The blockade of the French coast between Havre-de-Grace and Ushant,
which was intrusted to Sir James, was kept up with rigour; and the
Channel islands put into such a state of defence, as to defy all the
projects of the enemy. In the performance of this service, the Admiral
had to regret the loss of the Shannon, which was wrecked on the 10th
December in a gale, under the batteries of Cape La Hogue; and of the
Grappler, which was lost on the 31st, at the Isles de Choisey: the
crews of both these vessels were saved, but made prisoners.
The Diomede was sent to refit at Portsmouth; and, at the end of 1803,
Sir James's flag was flying on board the Cerberus, while he lived at
his own residence on shore with his family, carrying on the duty as a
port-admiral.