Chapter Eleven.The Indian Mutiny.The “Shannon’s” brigade in India.From the Journal of Lieutenant E. Hope Verney, RN, published by Saunders and Otley.HM screw steam-frigateShannon, of fifty-one guns, 600 horse-power, and 2667 tons, at that time the largest frigate afloat, was commissioned at Portsmouth by Captain William Peel on the 13th of September 1856, and destined for the China Seas. On her arrival at Hong-Kong, Lord Elgin, hearing of the outbreak of the mutiny in India, embarked in her with a body of troops for Calcutta. She arrived on the 6th of August in the mouth of the Ganges, when Captain Peel offered the services of his crew, with the ship’s guns, to the Governor-General to form a naval brigade. On the 14th, Captain Peel, with a number of officers and 450 seamen, embarked in a flat, towed by a river steamer, and proceeded up the Hooghly, to join the force advancing to the relief of Lucknow. On the 18th, they were followed by another party of five officers and 120 men, under the command of Lieutenant Vaughan,—the frigate being left with 140 men, under the command of Mr Waters, the master.The steamers were of light draught, and could proceed but slowly with the heavily-laden flats in tow against the strong current. The vessels anchored at night, and proceeded on their voyage during the day, when the men underwent a course of drilling, to fit them for the service they had undertaken. At length, towards the end of October, they reached Allahabad, at the junction of the Jumna and Ganges; and while one division was left to garrison that place, the remainder proceeded on towards Cawnpore by land. While at Futtehpore, near the Ganges, information was received that a party of rebels were in the neighbourhood; and 100 men of the naval brigade, commanded by Captain Peel, with Lieutenant Hay, Mr Garvey, Lieutenant Stirling, RM, and Mr Bone, and 430 men of different regiments, under command of Colonel Powell, started in pursuit. “After marching about twenty-four miles, at three p.m. they came in sight of the enemy, found entrenched in a strong position behind some hillocks of sand; and, driving their skirmishers out of a field of corn, engaged and defeated them, capturing two guns and an ammunition waggon. The whole force of the enemy exceeded 4000 men, of whom about 2000 were Sepoys, who fought in uniform. The enemy’s artillery was well served, and did great execution. The gallant Colonel Powell, pressing on to the attack, had just secured two guns, when he fell dead with a bullet through his forehead.”Captain Peel then took the command. It was not till half-past four that the enemy fired their last shot and retreated, leaving 300 killed behind them, while the British loss was 95 killed and wounded. Of the naval brigade, Lieutenant Hay, RN, was wounded in the hand, and Lieutenant Stirling, RM, severely in the leg.On the 12th of November, the naval brigade arrived before Lucknow. On the 14th, an attack was made on the city, when the Martinière College and another large building were captured. While the brigade’s guns were in action, one of them exploding, killed Francis Cassidey, captain of the maintop and severely wounded several other men.Again, on the 16th, the naval brigade guns were engaged in the attack on Secundra Bagh, when Lieutenant Salmon, RN, was severely wounded, and Martin Abbot Daniel, midshipman, was killed by a round shot in the head.In writing to his father, Captain Peel says: “It was in front of the Shah Najeef, and in command of an eight-inch howitzer, that your noble son was killed. The enemy’s fire was very heavy, and I had just asked your son if his gun was ready; he replied, ‘All ready, sir’; when I said, ‘Fire the howitzer’; and he was answering, ‘Ay, ay,’ when a round shot in less than a moment deprived him of life. We buried him where he fell, our chaplain reading the service; and, in laying him in his resting-place, we felt, captain, officers, and men, that we had lost one the best and noblest of the ‘Shannons.’”Twelve or thirteen of the naval brigade were wounded on this occasion, and three or four were killed. On the following day, that masterly movement took place by which the women and children, and sick and wounded, were safely brought out of Lucknow; and on the 24th, one of England’s noblest heroes—Sir Henry Havelock—died.On the 28th of November, the brigade marched on Cawnpore, when, meeting the enemy, a party of thirty-six bluejackets, with two twenty-four pounders, under Lieutenant Hay, with Mr Garvey, mate, and Mr H.A. Lascelles, did good service. Mr Lascelles, naval cadet, aide-de-camp to Captain Peel, greatly distinguished himself, seizing a rifle from a wounded man of the 88th, and charging with that regiment. About this time the brigade was joined by Captain Oliver Jones, RN, on half-pay, as a volunteer, who did good service on various occasions.“Our army on the march is a sight affording much interest and amusement,—such a menagerie of men and beasts, footmen and cavalry, soldiers and sailors, camels and elephants, white men and black men, horses and oxen, marines and artillery, Sikhs and Highlanders.“When we leave the encampment, all is shrouded in darkness, and everyone naturally feels a little grumpy; but when the first streaks of dawn appear, and we have been an hour on the road, the welcome note is heard in the distance of the bugles sounding the ‘halt.’ With great rapidity it passes from regiment to regiment, and dies away in the rear. Cavalry dismount, infantry pile arms in the middle of the road, and for a few minutes the whole army disperses on each side of it. The favourite refreshment of officers is bread, cold tongue, and ‘brandy pawnee,’ which find their way out of innocent-looking holsters. And now we take off overcoats and monkey-jackets, which were needed when we started in the cold and damp night; the bluejackets fasten theirs over their shoulders, and the officers strap theirs to their saddles. The brief halt is too quickly at an end, and after a ten minutes’ rest the advance again sounds down the line from bugler to bugler. All at once fall in, arms are unpiled, and, enlivened by our band, we again step out; now feet begin to ache, and boots to chafe; but the cheery music of the bands, bugles, or drums and fifes of the regiments marching next to us, generally the Rifles, infuses energy into the most footsore. We make three halts in a march of thirteen or fourteen miles, of which the last is the longest, to allow the quartermaster-general and his staff to ride on and mark out the camp. As the sun rises, the heat rapidly increases, and the camels and elephants are seen making short cuts across the fields, and keeping always clear of the road. When our bands have blown as much wind as they can spare into their instruments, our men strike up a song; and old windlass tunes, forecastle ditties, and many a well-known old ballad resound through the jungles and across the fertile plains of Bengal, and serve to animate our sailors and astonish the natives.”On the 2nd of January 1858, the naval brigade were engaged at the battle of Kallee-Nuddee. A party of seamen, under Lieutenant Vaughan, had been repairing the bridge across that river, when the Sepoys opened fire on him from a small gun in the opposite village. He returned it, and, crossing the bridge with three guns, held in check a body of the enemy’s cavalry visible beyond the village. Brigadier Greathed’s division and other troops were engaged all the time. Lieutenant Vaughan now pointed and fired one of his guns at a small gun of the enemy, which was concealed behind the corner of a house. His first shot struck the roof of the house; his second struck the angle of the wall about half-way down; and a third dismounted the gun, and destroyed the carriage. Captain Peel, who was standing by, said, “Thank you, Mr Vaughan; perhaps you will now be so good as to blow up the tumbril.” Lieutenant Vaughan fired a fourth shot, which passed near it, and a fifth, which blew it up, and killed several of the enemy. “Thank you,” said Captain Peel, in his blandest and most courteous tones; “I will now go and report to Sir Colin.”The village was stormed and the enemy driven out by the 53rd Regiment, when the cavalry pursued and cut up the rebels terribly, capturing all their guns.Soon after this, as Captain Peel and Captain Oliver Jones with three men of the 53rd were passing through the battery, five Sepoys jumped out of a ditch, and attacked them frantically. All were killed, Captain Jones shooting the last with his revolver,—one man of the 53rd, however, being dangerously wounded.Eighteen or twenty bluejackets were attached to each gun, and with drag-ropes ran them about with the greatest rapidity. On the march they were dragged by bullocks; but if a gun stuck, the animals were taken out, and the wheels and drag-ropes manned by bluejackets; and having an elephant to push behind with his forehead, they never failed to extricate a gun from the worst position. This was carrying out to perfection the principle of a “steady pull and pull together.”On the 3rd of March the brigade were before Lucknow, and engaged in the taking of the Dilkoosah, when two were mortally wounded.Captain Oliver Jones was at this time serving as a volunteer with HM 53rd Regiment. He was the second to mount a breach at the capture of one of the forts, when he received a wound on the knuckles, but cut down the fellow who gave it him.The naval brigade guns were now posted to the right of the Dilkoosah, and near the river Goomtee. Mr Verney had a narrow escape. The enemy brought two guns down to the corner of the Martinière, and opened on them. A shot struck the ground close to where he was standing, and so completely surrounded him with dust that his comrades supposed he had been killed, and were surprised to see him standing in the same place when the dust cleared off.Lieutenant Vaughan was now made a commander, but resumed his former duties.On the 9th of March, the brigade’s six eight-inch guns and two twenty-four pounders went down in front of the Dilkoosah, with four rocket-hackeries, the whole under command of Captain Vaughan, accompanied by Lieutenants Young, Salmon, Wratislaw, Mr Daniel, and Lords Walter Kerr and Arthur Clinton, midshipmen. Captain Peel was also there, with his two aides-de-camp, Watson and Lascelles. Unhappily, while looking out for a suitable spot in which to post some guns for breaching the Martinière, he was severely wounded in the thigh by a musket-ball. The brave captain was carried to the Dilkoosah, where the bullet was extracted by the surgeon of the 93rd Highlanders. The brigade’s guns were most actively engaged in battering the Begum’s palace; and it was here, on the 12th, that Mr Garvey, mate, as he was riding fast on in front of a row of cohorns to deliver a message, and not perceiving that the quick-matches were alight, was struck dead by one of the shells. He was the second officer of the brigade killed, and a most promising young man.All the guns of the brigade were on that memorable day very hotly engaged. Several had been posted behind some earthworks thrown up by the enemy. As the men could not see over the bank to point their guns, Captain Oliver Jones placed himself at the top, and, though thus becoming a clear mark for the enemy, with the greatest coolness directed their fire.On the 13th the naval guns were placed in a more advanced battery. While warmly engaged with the enemy, some sand-bags forming the front of the battery caught fire. A coloured man of the name of Hall, a Canadian, under a heavy fire of bullets from loopholes not forty yards distant, gallantly jumped out and extinguished some, and threw away others that were burning. In the performance of this service he was severely wounded. He was a man of athletic frame, and always remarkable for his steady good conduct. He afterwards received the Victoria Cross.The next day, after Sir James Outram had, by his admirable manoeuvre, driven the rebels from their lines, Captain Vaughan being in front, Sir Colin Campbell met him, and desired him to bring up a gun’s crew of bluejackets to man an abandoned gun, which was to be turned against the retreating enemy. Lord Walter Kerr was sent back for the gun’s crew, and Captain Vaughan and Mr Verney proceeded to the gun itself, which was at the gate of an outer court of the Kaiser Bagh. They found that a body of Sepoys were defending themselves in an adjoining court, and that it was necessary to blow away the gate of it, that the troops might storm. It was for this object that Sir Colin ordered the guns to be turned against them. In the meanwhile, however, they kept a continual fire on the little band of British, from the walls and over and round the gate, whenever they approached the gun. Captain Vaughan then fired a few rounds at the gate, Mr Verney loading and sponging, three of theShannon’sbandsmen bringing up the powder and shot, and some of the men of the 38th, under command of Lieutenant Elles, running the gun up after every round. Near them, all the time, was a house full of loose gunpowder, while close to it was another in flames. A sentry, however, was posted to give warning in time, should the flames approach the loose powder. Captain Vaughan now went back to meet the gun’s crew that had been sent for, and to show them the way, leaving orders with Mr Verney to keep up the fire. He discovered that the Sepoy charges were so heavy that the shot went clean through the solid gate every time he fired. By reducing the charges, the firing at last began to tell; and when the bluejackets came up, under command of Lieutenant Hay, the gate was blown open, and the court captured by the company of the 38th.On the 16th of March, the guns of the naval brigade were advanced to the Residency, whence they occasionally fired a shot over the town. On the 22nd, the last of the rebels evacuated Lucknow; and, on the 29th, the brigade handed over to the artillery, to go into park in the small Imaumbarah, the six eight-inch guns which they had brought from theShannon. The word “Shannon” was deeply cut into each carriage, and must last as long as the wood exists. There they will remain, a memorial of what sailors can do on land. Here the active services of the gallant naval brigade ceased. Mr Verney had been sent to the Kaiser Bagh to bring out one of the King of Oude’s carriages for the conveyance of Captain Peel to Cawnpore. He selected the best he could find, and the ship’s carpenter padded it and lined it with blue cotton, and made a rest for his feet, and painted “HMS Shannon” over the royal arms of Lucknow. When, however, he saw it, he declined making use of it, saying that he would prefer travelling in a doolie, like one of his bluejackets. Alas! the doolie chosen for him had in all probability carried a smallpox patient, for he was shortly afterwards seized with that dire disease, under which, already weakened by his severe wound, he succumbed, and the country lost one of the most gallant captains in the naval service.The brigade now once more turned their faces towards Calcutta, and on the 12th and following days of August rejoined their ship. On the 15th of September, theShannonsailed for England.The officers received their promotion as follows:—Commander Vaughan received the Order of C.B., an honour never before accorded to any officer of that rank, and after serving a year he was posted. Lieutenants Young, Wilson, Hay, Salmon, and Wratislaw were promoted to the rank of commanders; Dr Flanagan, assistant surgeon, was promoted to the rank of surgeon; Mr Verney, mate, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant; Mr Comerford, assistant paymaster, was promoted to the rank of paymaster; and each of the engineers and warrant-officers received a step. On passing their examination, all the midshipmen and naval cadets have been promoted.The Victoria Cross was presented to Lieutenants Young and Salmon, and to three bluejackets, “for valour” at the relief of Lucknow. The Indian medal with the Lucknow clasp was presented to each officer and man who formed part of the naval brigade. The following officers, who were present at the relief of Lucknow on the 19th of November, received also the “Relief of Lucknow” clasp:— Lieutenants Vaughan, Young, Salmon; Captain Grey, RN; Reverend EL Bowman, Dr Flanagan, Mr Comerford; Messrs MA Daniel, REJ Daniel, Lord Walter Kerr, Lord Arthur Clinton, and Mr Church, midshipmen; Messrs Bone and Henri, engineers; and Mr Brice, carpenter.Never was medal more highly prized or clasp more nobly won.The following letter from Sir Edward Lugard to Captain Vaughan shows the high estimation in which theShannon’snaval brigade was held by the military officers high in command:—“TheShannon’sBrigade advanced upon Lucknow with my division, and acted with it during the entire operations, as you well know. The men were daily—I may say hourly—under my sight, and I considered their conduct in every particular an example to the troops. During the whole period I was associated with theShannon’sBrigade, I never once saw an irregularity among the men. They were sober, quiet, and respectful; and often I remarked to my staff the high state of discipline Sir W. Peel had got them into. From the cessation of active operations until I was detached to Azimghur, I commanded all the troops in the city; and all measures for the repression of plundering were carried out through me, and, of course, every irregularity committed was reported to me. During that period, not one irregularity was reported to me. Indeed, in the whole course of my life, I never saw so well-conducted a body of men... All I have written about the good conduct and discipline of theShannon’smen would, I am convinced, be confirmed by the unanimous opinion of the army at Lucknow. Poor Adrian Hope and I often talked together on the subject; and many a time I expressed to Peel the high opinion I had of his men, and my admiration of their cheerfulness, and happy, contented looks, under all circumstances of fatigue and difficulty.“Believe me, my dear Vaughan, sincerely yours—“Edward Lugard.“Captain Vaughan, C.B.”Another naval brigade was formed from the officers and ship’s company of HMSPearl, which did good service, and won the respect of all associated with it.
From the Journal of Lieutenant E. Hope Verney, RN, published by Saunders and Otley.
HM screw steam-frigateShannon, of fifty-one guns, 600 horse-power, and 2667 tons, at that time the largest frigate afloat, was commissioned at Portsmouth by Captain William Peel on the 13th of September 1856, and destined for the China Seas. On her arrival at Hong-Kong, Lord Elgin, hearing of the outbreak of the mutiny in India, embarked in her with a body of troops for Calcutta. She arrived on the 6th of August in the mouth of the Ganges, when Captain Peel offered the services of his crew, with the ship’s guns, to the Governor-General to form a naval brigade. On the 14th, Captain Peel, with a number of officers and 450 seamen, embarked in a flat, towed by a river steamer, and proceeded up the Hooghly, to join the force advancing to the relief of Lucknow. On the 18th, they were followed by another party of five officers and 120 men, under the command of Lieutenant Vaughan,—the frigate being left with 140 men, under the command of Mr Waters, the master.
The steamers were of light draught, and could proceed but slowly with the heavily-laden flats in tow against the strong current. The vessels anchored at night, and proceeded on their voyage during the day, when the men underwent a course of drilling, to fit them for the service they had undertaken. At length, towards the end of October, they reached Allahabad, at the junction of the Jumna and Ganges; and while one division was left to garrison that place, the remainder proceeded on towards Cawnpore by land. While at Futtehpore, near the Ganges, information was received that a party of rebels were in the neighbourhood; and 100 men of the naval brigade, commanded by Captain Peel, with Lieutenant Hay, Mr Garvey, Lieutenant Stirling, RM, and Mr Bone, and 430 men of different regiments, under command of Colonel Powell, started in pursuit. “After marching about twenty-four miles, at three p.m. they came in sight of the enemy, found entrenched in a strong position behind some hillocks of sand; and, driving their skirmishers out of a field of corn, engaged and defeated them, capturing two guns and an ammunition waggon. The whole force of the enemy exceeded 4000 men, of whom about 2000 were Sepoys, who fought in uniform. The enemy’s artillery was well served, and did great execution. The gallant Colonel Powell, pressing on to the attack, had just secured two guns, when he fell dead with a bullet through his forehead.”
Captain Peel then took the command. It was not till half-past four that the enemy fired their last shot and retreated, leaving 300 killed behind them, while the British loss was 95 killed and wounded. Of the naval brigade, Lieutenant Hay, RN, was wounded in the hand, and Lieutenant Stirling, RM, severely in the leg.
On the 12th of November, the naval brigade arrived before Lucknow. On the 14th, an attack was made on the city, when the Martinière College and another large building were captured. While the brigade’s guns were in action, one of them exploding, killed Francis Cassidey, captain of the maintop and severely wounded several other men.
Again, on the 16th, the naval brigade guns were engaged in the attack on Secundra Bagh, when Lieutenant Salmon, RN, was severely wounded, and Martin Abbot Daniel, midshipman, was killed by a round shot in the head.
In writing to his father, Captain Peel says: “It was in front of the Shah Najeef, and in command of an eight-inch howitzer, that your noble son was killed. The enemy’s fire was very heavy, and I had just asked your son if his gun was ready; he replied, ‘All ready, sir’; when I said, ‘Fire the howitzer’; and he was answering, ‘Ay, ay,’ when a round shot in less than a moment deprived him of life. We buried him where he fell, our chaplain reading the service; and, in laying him in his resting-place, we felt, captain, officers, and men, that we had lost one the best and noblest of the ‘Shannons.’”
Twelve or thirteen of the naval brigade were wounded on this occasion, and three or four were killed. On the following day, that masterly movement took place by which the women and children, and sick and wounded, were safely brought out of Lucknow; and on the 24th, one of England’s noblest heroes—Sir Henry Havelock—died.
On the 28th of November, the brigade marched on Cawnpore, when, meeting the enemy, a party of thirty-six bluejackets, with two twenty-four pounders, under Lieutenant Hay, with Mr Garvey, mate, and Mr H.A. Lascelles, did good service. Mr Lascelles, naval cadet, aide-de-camp to Captain Peel, greatly distinguished himself, seizing a rifle from a wounded man of the 88th, and charging with that regiment. About this time the brigade was joined by Captain Oliver Jones, RN, on half-pay, as a volunteer, who did good service on various occasions.
“Our army on the march is a sight affording much interest and amusement,—such a menagerie of men and beasts, footmen and cavalry, soldiers and sailors, camels and elephants, white men and black men, horses and oxen, marines and artillery, Sikhs and Highlanders.
“When we leave the encampment, all is shrouded in darkness, and everyone naturally feels a little grumpy; but when the first streaks of dawn appear, and we have been an hour on the road, the welcome note is heard in the distance of the bugles sounding the ‘halt.’ With great rapidity it passes from regiment to regiment, and dies away in the rear. Cavalry dismount, infantry pile arms in the middle of the road, and for a few minutes the whole army disperses on each side of it. The favourite refreshment of officers is bread, cold tongue, and ‘brandy pawnee,’ which find their way out of innocent-looking holsters. And now we take off overcoats and monkey-jackets, which were needed when we started in the cold and damp night; the bluejackets fasten theirs over their shoulders, and the officers strap theirs to their saddles. The brief halt is too quickly at an end, and after a ten minutes’ rest the advance again sounds down the line from bugler to bugler. All at once fall in, arms are unpiled, and, enlivened by our band, we again step out; now feet begin to ache, and boots to chafe; but the cheery music of the bands, bugles, or drums and fifes of the regiments marching next to us, generally the Rifles, infuses energy into the most footsore. We make three halts in a march of thirteen or fourteen miles, of which the last is the longest, to allow the quartermaster-general and his staff to ride on and mark out the camp. As the sun rises, the heat rapidly increases, and the camels and elephants are seen making short cuts across the fields, and keeping always clear of the road. When our bands have blown as much wind as they can spare into their instruments, our men strike up a song; and old windlass tunes, forecastle ditties, and many a well-known old ballad resound through the jungles and across the fertile plains of Bengal, and serve to animate our sailors and astonish the natives.”
On the 2nd of January 1858, the naval brigade were engaged at the battle of Kallee-Nuddee. A party of seamen, under Lieutenant Vaughan, had been repairing the bridge across that river, when the Sepoys opened fire on him from a small gun in the opposite village. He returned it, and, crossing the bridge with three guns, held in check a body of the enemy’s cavalry visible beyond the village. Brigadier Greathed’s division and other troops were engaged all the time. Lieutenant Vaughan now pointed and fired one of his guns at a small gun of the enemy, which was concealed behind the corner of a house. His first shot struck the roof of the house; his second struck the angle of the wall about half-way down; and a third dismounted the gun, and destroyed the carriage. Captain Peel, who was standing by, said, “Thank you, Mr Vaughan; perhaps you will now be so good as to blow up the tumbril.” Lieutenant Vaughan fired a fourth shot, which passed near it, and a fifth, which blew it up, and killed several of the enemy. “Thank you,” said Captain Peel, in his blandest and most courteous tones; “I will now go and report to Sir Colin.”
The village was stormed and the enemy driven out by the 53rd Regiment, when the cavalry pursued and cut up the rebels terribly, capturing all their guns.
Soon after this, as Captain Peel and Captain Oliver Jones with three men of the 53rd were passing through the battery, five Sepoys jumped out of a ditch, and attacked them frantically. All were killed, Captain Jones shooting the last with his revolver,—one man of the 53rd, however, being dangerously wounded.
Eighteen or twenty bluejackets were attached to each gun, and with drag-ropes ran them about with the greatest rapidity. On the march they were dragged by bullocks; but if a gun stuck, the animals were taken out, and the wheels and drag-ropes manned by bluejackets; and having an elephant to push behind with his forehead, they never failed to extricate a gun from the worst position. This was carrying out to perfection the principle of a “steady pull and pull together.”
On the 3rd of March the brigade were before Lucknow, and engaged in the taking of the Dilkoosah, when two were mortally wounded.
Captain Oliver Jones was at this time serving as a volunteer with HM 53rd Regiment. He was the second to mount a breach at the capture of one of the forts, when he received a wound on the knuckles, but cut down the fellow who gave it him.
The naval brigade guns were now posted to the right of the Dilkoosah, and near the river Goomtee. Mr Verney had a narrow escape. The enemy brought two guns down to the corner of the Martinière, and opened on them. A shot struck the ground close to where he was standing, and so completely surrounded him with dust that his comrades supposed he had been killed, and were surprised to see him standing in the same place when the dust cleared off.
Lieutenant Vaughan was now made a commander, but resumed his former duties.
On the 9th of March, the brigade’s six eight-inch guns and two twenty-four pounders went down in front of the Dilkoosah, with four rocket-hackeries, the whole under command of Captain Vaughan, accompanied by Lieutenants Young, Salmon, Wratislaw, Mr Daniel, and Lords Walter Kerr and Arthur Clinton, midshipmen. Captain Peel was also there, with his two aides-de-camp, Watson and Lascelles. Unhappily, while looking out for a suitable spot in which to post some guns for breaching the Martinière, he was severely wounded in the thigh by a musket-ball. The brave captain was carried to the Dilkoosah, where the bullet was extracted by the surgeon of the 93rd Highlanders. The brigade’s guns were most actively engaged in battering the Begum’s palace; and it was here, on the 12th, that Mr Garvey, mate, as he was riding fast on in front of a row of cohorns to deliver a message, and not perceiving that the quick-matches were alight, was struck dead by one of the shells. He was the second officer of the brigade killed, and a most promising young man.
All the guns of the brigade were on that memorable day very hotly engaged. Several had been posted behind some earthworks thrown up by the enemy. As the men could not see over the bank to point their guns, Captain Oliver Jones placed himself at the top, and, though thus becoming a clear mark for the enemy, with the greatest coolness directed their fire.
On the 13th the naval guns were placed in a more advanced battery. While warmly engaged with the enemy, some sand-bags forming the front of the battery caught fire. A coloured man of the name of Hall, a Canadian, under a heavy fire of bullets from loopholes not forty yards distant, gallantly jumped out and extinguished some, and threw away others that were burning. In the performance of this service he was severely wounded. He was a man of athletic frame, and always remarkable for his steady good conduct. He afterwards received the Victoria Cross.
The next day, after Sir James Outram had, by his admirable manoeuvre, driven the rebels from their lines, Captain Vaughan being in front, Sir Colin Campbell met him, and desired him to bring up a gun’s crew of bluejackets to man an abandoned gun, which was to be turned against the retreating enemy. Lord Walter Kerr was sent back for the gun’s crew, and Captain Vaughan and Mr Verney proceeded to the gun itself, which was at the gate of an outer court of the Kaiser Bagh. They found that a body of Sepoys were defending themselves in an adjoining court, and that it was necessary to blow away the gate of it, that the troops might storm. It was for this object that Sir Colin ordered the guns to be turned against them. In the meanwhile, however, they kept a continual fire on the little band of British, from the walls and over and round the gate, whenever they approached the gun. Captain Vaughan then fired a few rounds at the gate, Mr Verney loading and sponging, three of theShannon’sbandsmen bringing up the powder and shot, and some of the men of the 38th, under command of Lieutenant Elles, running the gun up after every round. Near them, all the time, was a house full of loose gunpowder, while close to it was another in flames. A sentry, however, was posted to give warning in time, should the flames approach the loose powder. Captain Vaughan now went back to meet the gun’s crew that had been sent for, and to show them the way, leaving orders with Mr Verney to keep up the fire. He discovered that the Sepoy charges were so heavy that the shot went clean through the solid gate every time he fired. By reducing the charges, the firing at last began to tell; and when the bluejackets came up, under command of Lieutenant Hay, the gate was blown open, and the court captured by the company of the 38th.
On the 16th of March, the guns of the naval brigade were advanced to the Residency, whence they occasionally fired a shot over the town. On the 22nd, the last of the rebels evacuated Lucknow; and, on the 29th, the brigade handed over to the artillery, to go into park in the small Imaumbarah, the six eight-inch guns which they had brought from theShannon. The word “Shannon” was deeply cut into each carriage, and must last as long as the wood exists. There they will remain, a memorial of what sailors can do on land. Here the active services of the gallant naval brigade ceased. Mr Verney had been sent to the Kaiser Bagh to bring out one of the King of Oude’s carriages for the conveyance of Captain Peel to Cawnpore. He selected the best he could find, and the ship’s carpenter padded it and lined it with blue cotton, and made a rest for his feet, and painted “HMS Shannon” over the royal arms of Lucknow. When, however, he saw it, he declined making use of it, saying that he would prefer travelling in a doolie, like one of his bluejackets. Alas! the doolie chosen for him had in all probability carried a smallpox patient, for he was shortly afterwards seized with that dire disease, under which, already weakened by his severe wound, he succumbed, and the country lost one of the most gallant captains in the naval service.
The brigade now once more turned their faces towards Calcutta, and on the 12th and following days of August rejoined their ship. On the 15th of September, theShannonsailed for England.
The officers received their promotion as follows:—Commander Vaughan received the Order of C.B., an honour never before accorded to any officer of that rank, and after serving a year he was posted. Lieutenants Young, Wilson, Hay, Salmon, and Wratislaw were promoted to the rank of commanders; Dr Flanagan, assistant surgeon, was promoted to the rank of surgeon; Mr Verney, mate, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant; Mr Comerford, assistant paymaster, was promoted to the rank of paymaster; and each of the engineers and warrant-officers received a step. On passing their examination, all the midshipmen and naval cadets have been promoted.
The Victoria Cross was presented to Lieutenants Young and Salmon, and to three bluejackets, “for valour” at the relief of Lucknow. The Indian medal with the Lucknow clasp was presented to each officer and man who formed part of the naval brigade. The following officers, who were present at the relief of Lucknow on the 19th of November, received also the “Relief of Lucknow” clasp:— Lieutenants Vaughan, Young, Salmon; Captain Grey, RN; Reverend EL Bowman, Dr Flanagan, Mr Comerford; Messrs MA Daniel, REJ Daniel, Lord Walter Kerr, Lord Arthur Clinton, and Mr Church, midshipmen; Messrs Bone and Henri, engineers; and Mr Brice, carpenter.
Never was medal more highly prized or clasp more nobly won.
The following letter from Sir Edward Lugard to Captain Vaughan shows the high estimation in which theShannon’snaval brigade was held by the military officers high in command:—
“TheShannon’sBrigade advanced upon Lucknow with my division, and acted with it during the entire operations, as you well know. The men were daily—I may say hourly—under my sight, and I considered their conduct in every particular an example to the troops. During the whole period I was associated with theShannon’sBrigade, I never once saw an irregularity among the men. They were sober, quiet, and respectful; and often I remarked to my staff the high state of discipline Sir W. Peel had got them into. From the cessation of active operations until I was detached to Azimghur, I commanded all the troops in the city; and all measures for the repression of plundering were carried out through me, and, of course, every irregularity committed was reported to me. During that period, not one irregularity was reported to me. Indeed, in the whole course of my life, I never saw so well-conducted a body of men... All I have written about the good conduct and discipline of theShannon’smen would, I am convinced, be confirmed by the unanimous opinion of the army at Lucknow. Poor Adrian Hope and I often talked together on the subject; and many a time I expressed to Peel the high opinion I had of his men, and my admiration of their cheerfulness, and happy, contented looks, under all circumstances of fatigue and difficulty.
“Believe me, my dear Vaughan, sincerely yours—
“Edward Lugard.
“Captain Vaughan, C.B.”
Another naval brigade was formed from the officers and ship’s company of HMSPearl, which did good service, and won the respect of all associated with it.
Chapter Twelve.The Second Chinese War—1856-1860.The Chinese Government, forgetting the lesson they had received in the former war with Great Britain, or believing that they could follow the bent of their inclinations with impunity, committed a series of aggressions on British subjects, which demanded our immediate interference. Sir Michael Seymour, the admiral on the station, commenced vigorous measures, without loss of time, to recall them to their senses, with the squadron and marines under his command. He began by opening fire on Canton in October. On the 5th of November he destroyed several Chinese war-junks; and on the 12th and 13th of that month, the Bogue Forts, mounting 400 guns, were captured. On the 12th of January 1857, the marines, with a detachment of the 59th Regiment, attacked the suburbs of the city of Canton, when a few casualties occurred both among the seamen and troops.We now come to the month of May, when more active operations were commenced. Near Canton several creeks run into the Canton river, with which the English were but slightly acquainted; up these the war-junks had to take refuge whenever the British ships approached. Commodore Elliot heard that a large number of war-junks were collected some five miles up one of them, called Escape Creek, and accordingly, early on the 25th of May, he went on boardtheHong-Konggunboat, and got under weigh, followed byBustard, Staunch, Starling, andForbes, towing the boats manned from theInflexible, Hornet, andTribune. Steaming into the creek, they before long came upon forty-one Mandarin junks, moored across the stream. Each junk had a long twenty-four or thirty-two pounder gun forward, and carried also four or six nine-pounders. TheHong-Konggallantly led. No sooner had she got within range, than the Chinese, with much spirit, opened fire, the first shot striking her, and others following rattling thick and fast on board. The other gunboats coming up, formed in as wide order as possible, and opened fire. It was wonderful, considering the exposed position of the Chinese guns, that the crews so long stood the return shower of shot sent at them by the gunboats. In time, however, they began to show signs of not liking the treatment they were receiving. First one was seen to cut her cable, get out her oars, or hoist her sails, and, falling out of the line, turn her stern for flight up the creek.The example set by one was quickly followed by others. The whole Mandarin fleet was soon in full flight, firing away, however, with their stern-chasers; but they were guns of light calibre, and were not well served, thus doing little damage. The junks were fast craft, and the crews pulled for their lives, to aid the sails, so that the steamers had to put on all speed to come up with them. They had not got far before the water shoaled. The gunboats drew upwards of seven feet, the junks less than three. One after the other the gunboats grounded. “On, lads, on!” cried the commodore, leaping into one of the boats towing astern; “never mind the vessels.” Imitating his example, officers and men jumped into the boats, each boat having a gun in her bows; and after the junks they pulled with might and main. Away went the junks up the creek, the boats hotly pursuing them. The guns in the bows of the latter kept up a hot fire on the enemy, and told with great effect. The speed of several lessened, and, one after the other, numbers were overtaken. Though all hope of escape was gone, when a boat got alongside, the Chinese fired a broadside of grape into her, and then, leaping overboard on the opposite side, swam towards the shore, and were soon beyond pursuit among the rice-fields which bordered the banks of the stream. In this way sixteen junks were captured in succession, and destroyed in the principal channel. Ten more took refuge in a channel to the left, but a division of the boats was sent after them. No sooner, however, did the English appear, than the crews, setting fire to their vessels, abandoned them, and swam to shore. They burned like touch-paper, and were quickly destroyed. Another turned into an inlet on the right, but some boats were quickly after her; and so frightened were the crew, that they forgot to set her on fire, and she was thus towed out in triumph.The heat of the sun was terrific, many men suffered from sunstroke, and the casualties from the shot of the enemy were considerable. Thirteen junks escaped by dint of hard pulling, and the commodore determined to have these as well as many more which he suspected were concealed in the various creeks.Next day he accordingly blockaded the mouths of all the creeks. Captain Forsyth, in theHornet, was stationed at the mouth to prevent escape, theInflexibleat that of Second Bar Creek, and theTribuneat the Sawshee channel entrance. This done, the commodore, with the gunboats and a large flotilla of the boats of the squadron in tow, proceeded up the Sawshee channel. For twelve miles no enemy was seen. At length, leaving the steamers, he pulled up another twelve miles, when suddenly he found himself in the midst of a large city, with a fleet of war-junks before him, one of large size and richly adorned, while a battery frowned down on the invaders. It was not a moment for hesitation. Every gun and musket was discharged at the enemy ahead, and then, with a cheer, the British seamen dashed alongside the big junk. As they climbed up the side the Chinese sprang on shore, and immediately a hot fire from jingalls was opened on the boarders. The marines at the same time were landed from the other boats, and, forming, prepared to charge the enemy. As they were about to do so, flames burst out from the houses near the big junk. “To the boats! to the boats!” was the cry of the officers on board her. It was discovered that a quantity of powder had been left in her, and that a train was laid from her to the shore. Not a moment was to be lost. Her captors sprang into their boats; the crew of the last, a pinnace, were leaping from her sides, when up she went, with a loud explosion. Several of the seamen were singed, if not more seriously hurt. The other twelve junks were immediately set on fire, while the gallant marines charged down the street, and put all the jingall firers to flight. No work could have been accomplished more effectually, though at severe loss, for one man in ten at least had been hit. The surgeons having attended to the hurts of the men, the boats’ heads were once more turned down the creek. The crews had fitted them, from the captured junks, with an extraordinary variety of sails,—some of matting, others of coloured cloths, or any material which could be stretched on spars to hold wind. In this guise they returned to the steamers. The town thus unexpectedly entered was found to be Tunkoon.Battle of Fatshan.To the south of Canton, one of the numerous creeks of that river runs up to the city of Fatshan. Some considerable distance up this creek, and nearly south of Canton, is the long, low island called Hyacinth Island, making the channels very narrow. On the south shore of the creek is a high hill. On the summit of this hill the Chinese had formed a strong fort of nineteen guns. A six-gun battery was erected opposite it, and seventy junks were moored so as to command the passage. The Chinese fully believed that this position was impregnable. The British squadron had rendezvoused a short distance below this formidable obstruction of the navigation. The admiral was on board the littleCoromandelsteamer, and before dawn on the 1st of June he led the way up the channel, towing a whole flotilla of boats, with 300 soldiers on board them. The other steamers followed, all towing boats with red- and bluejackets on board. TheCoromandelwas steaming up the left-hand channel, when she ran on to a line of junks which had been sunk across the passage. The admiral had wisely chosen the time of dead low water to commence the ascent. Lieutenant Douglas leaped into a dinghy, and sounded on all sides. A passage was found close in shore; but the little steamer could not get off, and a heavy fire was opened on her from the nineteen-gun battery. In vain her crew ran from side to side to start her. Several were struck. The boats had been cast off, and landed the troops. Now Commodore Keppel came up in theHong-Kong, and obtained leave to proceed through the channel Mr Douglas had discovered. TheHaughty, with boats in tow,BustardandForester, followed.Ploverstuck on the barrier; butOpossum, casting off her boats, dashed up the right-hand channel. Now boats of all descriptions raced up, each eager to be first, many a brave fellow being picked off as they passed through the showers of shot hurled on them from the Chinese batteries. The Chinese were showing themselves to be of sterner stuff than many had supposed. The garrison of the hill battery fought bravely.Meantime the troops were climbing the heights, the admiral had landed, and so had Commodore Elliot and many other naval officers, leading their bluejackets. As the stormers got within fifty yards of the summit, the garrison fired a volley, and then retreated down the hill; nor could the fire of the marines, who had gained the fort, make them run. The fort gained, the naval officers hurried down to their boats and pulled up towards the junks, which, as the flotilla advanced, opened a heavy fire. As the boats dashed alongside, the Chinamen invariably discharged a round of grape, but generally too high to do damage; and the seamen boarding under it, they leaped overboard and swam on shore. Then junk after junk was set on fire and blown up. It being low tide, they were nearly all on shore, and could not escape. TheHaughtyran stem on into one, and crumpled her up as if she had been paper. Thus seventy-two were either burnt or captured. Heavy firing was heard in the distance. Commodore Keppel had meantime gone up through the right-hand channel. His own steamer grounded, and so did thePlover; and he, therefore, with seven boats of theCalcutta, Bittern, andNiger, pulled on under the fire of the six-gun battery, and boarded a big junk, which, when the boats were scarcely free of her, blew up. On he went, right through the junks, till he came to an island causing two narrow channels. One was thickly staked. Across the other were moored twenty large junks, their guns so placed that they could sweep both channels. In vain the commodore attempted to dash through with his galley. Three boom-boats following took the ground. Grape, canisters, and round shot came tearing among them. Numbers were struck. Major Kearney, a volunteer, was torn to pieces; Barker, a midshipman of theTribune, was mortally wounded; the commodore’s coxswain was killed, and every man of his crew was struck. A shot came in right amidships, cut one man in two, and took off the hand of another. Lieutenant Prince Victor of Hohenlohe was leaning forward to bind up with his neckcloth the arm of the seaman whose hand had been taken off, when a round shot passed between his head and that of the commodore, wounding two more of the crew. Had he been sitting in his place, it would have taken off his head. The boat, almost knocked to pieces, was filling with water. The commodore jumped on one of the seats, to keep his legs out of the water, when a third round shot went through both sides of the boat, not more than an inch below the seat on which he was standing. Many of the boats had now got huddled together, the oars of most being shot away. A boat of theCalcuttabeing nearest, Commodore Keppel and his officers got in, hauling all the wounded men after them. The commodore had a dog with him, “Mike” by name, and the animal having been a favourite of the coxswain, Tolhurst, and always fed by him, refused to leave his dead body, and remained in the wreck of the boat drifting up towards the junks. It became absolutely necessary to retire for reinforcements. As the boats began to pull down the stream towards theHong-Kong, the Chinese in triumph redoubled their fire, setting up loud shouts and strange cries, and beating their gongs with increased vigour. One shot knocked away all the oars on one side of theCalcutta’sboat. The commodore had just directed Lieutenant Graham to get his boat, the pinnace, ready for his pennant, as he would lead the next attack in her, when a shot wounded Mr Graham, killing and wounding four others and disabling the boat. Mr Graham appeared to be a mass of blood, but it was that of a marine who stood next to him, and part of whose skull was forced three inches into another man’s shoulder. TheHong-Kong, supported by theStarling, was meantime throwing shot and shell among the Chinamen, to which they responded with considerable vigour.At length the deck of theHong-Kongwas reached. Her deck was covered with the wounded who had been brought on board; but the whole fire of the Chinese was now concentrated on her, and she was hulled twelve times in a few minutes. One shot struck a marine standing near the wounded, and he fell dead among them. The sound of the firing had, however, brought up numerous others boats. The commodore had got a piece of blue bunting ready to represent his broad pennant. “Let us try the row-boats once more, boys,” he shouted, as he jumped into theRaleigh’scutter. A true British seaman’s shout was the answer to the proposal, and a sign that it was all up with John Chinaman. He might sink twenty boats, but thirty others would be ready to follow. On dashed the British boats. The Chinese did not wait their coming, but, cutting their cables, with oars and sails attempted to escape; still, however, keeping up a hot fire, and retiring in good order. Again three cheers rose from the British boats, and the chase commenced, not to end for seven miles. As the shot and shells from the English guns began to play on the junks, they ran on shore, the terrified crews leaping out and escaping. Junk after junk was captured, but some eight remained. Suddenly entering a fresh reach, the pursuers close astern of the pursued, the British found themselves almost in the middle of a large city, Fatshan itself, with shops and other houses lining the quays, and trading-junks along the banks. Five of the junks were headed, abandoned, and captured; three escaped, and they would have been farther pursued, had not a large body of troops—militia probably—turned out to repel the invaders. The commodore instantly landed his marines, who, firing a volley, made ready to charge. The Chinese braves, not liking their aspect, went about, and marched double-quick time into the town, where they could not be seen. Commodore Keppel proposed landing and fortifying himself in the city, and demanding a ransom; but a message from the admiral recalled him, and he had to give up his daring scheme. Most unwillingly he obeyed the mandate; and, having secured five junks, he towed them out astern of his flotilla, promising the Chinese that he would pay them another visit before long. As he went down the river, a dog was seen on the shore, and, plunging into the stream, the animal swam off to his boat. It was his faithful “Mike,” who had escaped the shower of shot and shell and the hungry Chinese, and now recognised the boat of his master.Of the fleet of war-junks captured, only five were saved from destruction; and for some time during the night they were burning away, sending their shot right and left, and occasionally one of them would explode. The British lost, in killed and wounded in these two engagements, no less than eighty-four men, and found to their cost that the Chinese were no contemptible opponents.Capture of Canton—29th December.Although the capture of Canton may be looked upon as a military exploit, the bluejackets took so large a share in it that it must not be passed over.The British had now been joined by a considerable French force; and the united squadron having proceeded up the river, the troops prepared to land at Kupar Creek, on the north shore, just to the east of Napier’s Island, on the 28th of December. TheActaeon, Phlegethon, and a squadron of English gunboats, followed by the French fleet, had in the meantime gone on, and anchored directly facing the city, opposing a line of forts along the banks of the river.A naval brigade was formed under the command of Commodore Elliot, consisting of 1501 men, formed in three divisions,—the first under Captain Stuart, second under Captain Key, and third under Captain Sir R. McClure, who landed with the troops. At a signal given, the steamers and gunboats opened fire on the devoted city, and immediately the landing commenced. The fleet gave ample occupation to the Chinese, and drew off their attention from the operations of the troops. These now landed, and, while the fleet continued their slow and steady bombardment, marched to the capture of Lin’s Fort, a powerful battery on a hill to the east of the town. The British naval brigade entered a village to the right, and from thence clambered up the height to storm the fort; but, as they rushed in, the Chinese rushed out and down the hill, while the bluejackets in hot haste made chase after them, led by Captains McClure and Osborne. On they went, rifle, cutlass, and bayonet pitted against jingalls and rockets. Meantime Lin’s Fort blew up. While reconnoitring the walls to discover a suitable spot for placing the ladders, the much-esteemed and excellent Captain Bate, RN, was shot dead. Early on the morning of the 29th the signal for the assault was given. The English and French troops rushed on most gallantly to the attack. Of the bluejackets, Commander Fellowes was the first on the walls, from which, after a stout resistance, the Chinese were driven into the town, which, after a week, was occupied by the Allies.The fleet, with the army on board, now proceeded to Tientsin, preparatory to an attack on Pekin. The naval officers obtained deserved credit for the admirable way in which so large a fleet of eighty ships or more, including men-of-war and transports, was navigated, and for the perfect order and regularity with which the army was landed. An account of the operations against Pekin, which were of a military character, will be found inOur Soldiers, page 198.
The Chinese Government, forgetting the lesson they had received in the former war with Great Britain, or believing that they could follow the bent of their inclinations with impunity, committed a series of aggressions on British subjects, which demanded our immediate interference. Sir Michael Seymour, the admiral on the station, commenced vigorous measures, without loss of time, to recall them to their senses, with the squadron and marines under his command. He began by opening fire on Canton in October. On the 5th of November he destroyed several Chinese war-junks; and on the 12th and 13th of that month, the Bogue Forts, mounting 400 guns, were captured. On the 12th of January 1857, the marines, with a detachment of the 59th Regiment, attacked the suburbs of the city of Canton, when a few casualties occurred both among the seamen and troops.
We now come to the month of May, when more active operations were commenced. Near Canton several creeks run into the Canton river, with which the English were but slightly acquainted; up these the war-junks had to take refuge whenever the British ships approached. Commodore Elliot heard that a large number of war-junks were collected some five miles up one of them, called Escape Creek, and accordingly, early on the 25th of May, he went on boardtheHong-Konggunboat, and got under weigh, followed byBustard, Staunch, Starling, andForbes, towing the boats manned from theInflexible, Hornet, andTribune. Steaming into the creek, they before long came upon forty-one Mandarin junks, moored across the stream. Each junk had a long twenty-four or thirty-two pounder gun forward, and carried also four or six nine-pounders. TheHong-Konggallantly led. No sooner had she got within range, than the Chinese, with much spirit, opened fire, the first shot striking her, and others following rattling thick and fast on board. The other gunboats coming up, formed in as wide order as possible, and opened fire. It was wonderful, considering the exposed position of the Chinese guns, that the crews so long stood the return shower of shot sent at them by the gunboats. In time, however, they began to show signs of not liking the treatment they were receiving. First one was seen to cut her cable, get out her oars, or hoist her sails, and, falling out of the line, turn her stern for flight up the creek.
The example set by one was quickly followed by others. The whole Mandarin fleet was soon in full flight, firing away, however, with their stern-chasers; but they were guns of light calibre, and were not well served, thus doing little damage. The junks were fast craft, and the crews pulled for their lives, to aid the sails, so that the steamers had to put on all speed to come up with them. They had not got far before the water shoaled. The gunboats drew upwards of seven feet, the junks less than three. One after the other the gunboats grounded. “On, lads, on!” cried the commodore, leaping into one of the boats towing astern; “never mind the vessels.” Imitating his example, officers and men jumped into the boats, each boat having a gun in her bows; and after the junks they pulled with might and main. Away went the junks up the creek, the boats hotly pursuing them. The guns in the bows of the latter kept up a hot fire on the enemy, and told with great effect. The speed of several lessened, and, one after the other, numbers were overtaken. Though all hope of escape was gone, when a boat got alongside, the Chinese fired a broadside of grape into her, and then, leaping overboard on the opposite side, swam towards the shore, and were soon beyond pursuit among the rice-fields which bordered the banks of the stream. In this way sixteen junks were captured in succession, and destroyed in the principal channel. Ten more took refuge in a channel to the left, but a division of the boats was sent after them. No sooner, however, did the English appear, than the crews, setting fire to their vessels, abandoned them, and swam to shore. They burned like touch-paper, and were quickly destroyed. Another turned into an inlet on the right, but some boats were quickly after her; and so frightened were the crew, that they forgot to set her on fire, and she was thus towed out in triumph.
The heat of the sun was terrific, many men suffered from sunstroke, and the casualties from the shot of the enemy were considerable. Thirteen junks escaped by dint of hard pulling, and the commodore determined to have these as well as many more which he suspected were concealed in the various creeks.
Next day he accordingly blockaded the mouths of all the creeks. Captain Forsyth, in theHornet, was stationed at the mouth to prevent escape, theInflexibleat that of Second Bar Creek, and theTribuneat the Sawshee channel entrance. This done, the commodore, with the gunboats and a large flotilla of the boats of the squadron in tow, proceeded up the Sawshee channel. For twelve miles no enemy was seen. At length, leaving the steamers, he pulled up another twelve miles, when suddenly he found himself in the midst of a large city, with a fleet of war-junks before him, one of large size and richly adorned, while a battery frowned down on the invaders. It was not a moment for hesitation. Every gun and musket was discharged at the enemy ahead, and then, with a cheer, the British seamen dashed alongside the big junk. As they climbed up the side the Chinese sprang on shore, and immediately a hot fire from jingalls was opened on the boarders. The marines at the same time were landed from the other boats, and, forming, prepared to charge the enemy. As they were about to do so, flames burst out from the houses near the big junk. “To the boats! to the boats!” was the cry of the officers on board her. It was discovered that a quantity of powder had been left in her, and that a train was laid from her to the shore. Not a moment was to be lost. Her captors sprang into their boats; the crew of the last, a pinnace, were leaping from her sides, when up she went, with a loud explosion. Several of the seamen were singed, if not more seriously hurt. The other twelve junks were immediately set on fire, while the gallant marines charged down the street, and put all the jingall firers to flight. No work could have been accomplished more effectually, though at severe loss, for one man in ten at least had been hit. The surgeons having attended to the hurts of the men, the boats’ heads were once more turned down the creek. The crews had fitted them, from the captured junks, with an extraordinary variety of sails,—some of matting, others of coloured cloths, or any material which could be stretched on spars to hold wind. In this guise they returned to the steamers. The town thus unexpectedly entered was found to be Tunkoon.
To the south of Canton, one of the numerous creeks of that river runs up to the city of Fatshan. Some considerable distance up this creek, and nearly south of Canton, is the long, low island called Hyacinth Island, making the channels very narrow. On the south shore of the creek is a high hill. On the summit of this hill the Chinese had formed a strong fort of nineteen guns. A six-gun battery was erected opposite it, and seventy junks were moored so as to command the passage. The Chinese fully believed that this position was impregnable. The British squadron had rendezvoused a short distance below this formidable obstruction of the navigation. The admiral was on board the littleCoromandelsteamer, and before dawn on the 1st of June he led the way up the channel, towing a whole flotilla of boats, with 300 soldiers on board them. The other steamers followed, all towing boats with red- and bluejackets on board. TheCoromandelwas steaming up the left-hand channel, when she ran on to a line of junks which had been sunk across the passage. The admiral had wisely chosen the time of dead low water to commence the ascent. Lieutenant Douglas leaped into a dinghy, and sounded on all sides. A passage was found close in shore; but the little steamer could not get off, and a heavy fire was opened on her from the nineteen-gun battery. In vain her crew ran from side to side to start her. Several were struck. The boats had been cast off, and landed the troops. Now Commodore Keppel came up in theHong-Kong, and obtained leave to proceed through the channel Mr Douglas had discovered. TheHaughty, with boats in tow,BustardandForester, followed.Ploverstuck on the barrier; butOpossum, casting off her boats, dashed up the right-hand channel. Now boats of all descriptions raced up, each eager to be first, many a brave fellow being picked off as they passed through the showers of shot hurled on them from the Chinese batteries. The Chinese were showing themselves to be of sterner stuff than many had supposed. The garrison of the hill battery fought bravely.
Meantime the troops were climbing the heights, the admiral had landed, and so had Commodore Elliot and many other naval officers, leading their bluejackets. As the stormers got within fifty yards of the summit, the garrison fired a volley, and then retreated down the hill; nor could the fire of the marines, who had gained the fort, make them run. The fort gained, the naval officers hurried down to their boats and pulled up towards the junks, which, as the flotilla advanced, opened a heavy fire. As the boats dashed alongside, the Chinamen invariably discharged a round of grape, but generally too high to do damage; and the seamen boarding under it, they leaped overboard and swam on shore. Then junk after junk was set on fire and blown up. It being low tide, they were nearly all on shore, and could not escape. TheHaughtyran stem on into one, and crumpled her up as if she had been paper. Thus seventy-two were either burnt or captured. Heavy firing was heard in the distance. Commodore Keppel had meantime gone up through the right-hand channel. His own steamer grounded, and so did thePlover; and he, therefore, with seven boats of theCalcutta, Bittern, andNiger, pulled on under the fire of the six-gun battery, and boarded a big junk, which, when the boats were scarcely free of her, blew up. On he went, right through the junks, till he came to an island causing two narrow channels. One was thickly staked. Across the other were moored twenty large junks, their guns so placed that they could sweep both channels. In vain the commodore attempted to dash through with his galley. Three boom-boats following took the ground. Grape, canisters, and round shot came tearing among them. Numbers were struck. Major Kearney, a volunteer, was torn to pieces; Barker, a midshipman of theTribune, was mortally wounded; the commodore’s coxswain was killed, and every man of his crew was struck. A shot came in right amidships, cut one man in two, and took off the hand of another. Lieutenant Prince Victor of Hohenlohe was leaning forward to bind up with his neckcloth the arm of the seaman whose hand had been taken off, when a round shot passed between his head and that of the commodore, wounding two more of the crew. Had he been sitting in his place, it would have taken off his head. The boat, almost knocked to pieces, was filling with water. The commodore jumped on one of the seats, to keep his legs out of the water, when a third round shot went through both sides of the boat, not more than an inch below the seat on which he was standing. Many of the boats had now got huddled together, the oars of most being shot away. A boat of theCalcuttabeing nearest, Commodore Keppel and his officers got in, hauling all the wounded men after them. The commodore had a dog with him, “Mike” by name, and the animal having been a favourite of the coxswain, Tolhurst, and always fed by him, refused to leave his dead body, and remained in the wreck of the boat drifting up towards the junks. It became absolutely necessary to retire for reinforcements. As the boats began to pull down the stream towards theHong-Kong, the Chinese in triumph redoubled their fire, setting up loud shouts and strange cries, and beating their gongs with increased vigour. One shot knocked away all the oars on one side of theCalcutta’sboat. The commodore had just directed Lieutenant Graham to get his boat, the pinnace, ready for his pennant, as he would lead the next attack in her, when a shot wounded Mr Graham, killing and wounding four others and disabling the boat. Mr Graham appeared to be a mass of blood, but it was that of a marine who stood next to him, and part of whose skull was forced three inches into another man’s shoulder. TheHong-Kong, supported by theStarling, was meantime throwing shot and shell among the Chinamen, to which they responded with considerable vigour.
At length the deck of theHong-Kongwas reached. Her deck was covered with the wounded who had been brought on board; but the whole fire of the Chinese was now concentrated on her, and she was hulled twelve times in a few minutes. One shot struck a marine standing near the wounded, and he fell dead among them. The sound of the firing had, however, brought up numerous others boats. The commodore had got a piece of blue bunting ready to represent his broad pennant. “Let us try the row-boats once more, boys,” he shouted, as he jumped into theRaleigh’scutter. A true British seaman’s shout was the answer to the proposal, and a sign that it was all up with John Chinaman. He might sink twenty boats, but thirty others would be ready to follow. On dashed the British boats. The Chinese did not wait their coming, but, cutting their cables, with oars and sails attempted to escape; still, however, keeping up a hot fire, and retiring in good order. Again three cheers rose from the British boats, and the chase commenced, not to end for seven miles. As the shot and shells from the English guns began to play on the junks, they ran on shore, the terrified crews leaping out and escaping. Junk after junk was captured, but some eight remained. Suddenly entering a fresh reach, the pursuers close astern of the pursued, the British found themselves almost in the middle of a large city, Fatshan itself, with shops and other houses lining the quays, and trading-junks along the banks. Five of the junks were headed, abandoned, and captured; three escaped, and they would have been farther pursued, had not a large body of troops—militia probably—turned out to repel the invaders. The commodore instantly landed his marines, who, firing a volley, made ready to charge. The Chinese braves, not liking their aspect, went about, and marched double-quick time into the town, where they could not be seen. Commodore Keppel proposed landing and fortifying himself in the city, and demanding a ransom; but a message from the admiral recalled him, and he had to give up his daring scheme. Most unwillingly he obeyed the mandate; and, having secured five junks, he towed them out astern of his flotilla, promising the Chinese that he would pay them another visit before long. As he went down the river, a dog was seen on the shore, and, plunging into the stream, the animal swam off to his boat. It was his faithful “Mike,” who had escaped the shower of shot and shell and the hungry Chinese, and now recognised the boat of his master.
Of the fleet of war-junks captured, only five were saved from destruction; and for some time during the night they were burning away, sending their shot right and left, and occasionally one of them would explode. The British lost, in killed and wounded in these two engagements, no less than eighty-four men, and found to their cost that the Chinese were no contemptible opponents.
Although the capture of Canton may be looked upon as a military exploit, the bluejackets took so large a share in it that it must not be passed over.
The British had now been joined by a considerable French force; and the united squadron having proceeded up the river, the troops prepared to land at Kupar Creek, on the north shore, just to the east of Napier’s Island, on the 28th of December. TheActaeon, Phlegethon, and a squadron of English gunboats, followed by the French fleet, had in the meantime gone on, and anchored directly facing the city, opposing a line of forts along the banks of the river.
A naval brigade was formed under the command of Commodore Elliot, consisting of 1501 men, formed in three divisions,—the first under Captain Stuart, second under Captain Key, and third under Captain Sir R. McClure, who landed with the troops. At a signal given, the steamers and gunboats opened fire on the devoted city, and immediately the landing commenced. The fleet gave ample occupation to the Chinese, and drew off their attention from the operations of the troops. These now landed, and, while the fleet continued their slow and steady bombardment, marched to the capture of Lin’s Fort, a powerful battery on a hill to the east of the town. The British naval brigade entered a village to the right, and from thence clambered up the height to storm the fort; but, as they rushed in, the Chinese rushed out and down the hill, while the bluejackets in hot haste made chase after them, led by Captains McClure and Osborne. On they went, rifle, cutlass, and bayonet pitted against jingalls and rockets. Meantime Lin’s Fort blew up. While reconnoitring the walls to discover a suitable spot for placing the ladders, the much-esteemed and excellent Captain Bate, RN, was shot dead. Early on the morning of the 29th the signal for the assault was given. The English and French troops rushed on most gallantly to the attack. Of the bluejackets, Commander Fellowes was the first on the walls, from which, after a stout resistance, the Chinese were driven into the town, which, after a week, was occupied by the Allies.
The fleet, with the army on board, now proceeded to Tientsin, preparatory to an attack on Pekin. The naval officers obtained deserved credit for the admirable way in which so large a fleet of eighty ships or more, including men-of-war and transports, was navigated, and for the perfect order and regularity with which the army was landed. An account of the operations against Pekin, which were of a military character, will be found inOur Soldiers, page 198.
Chapter Thirteen.The Slave Trade.Ever since the settlement of Europeans on the continent of America and the West Indian Islands, a trade in slaves had existed to a very great extent. The slaves were taken from among the many tribes in the interior of Africa in large numbers, and transported across the Atlantic.The evils of such an inhuman custom were manifold, and were a very dark stain on civilisation. In course of time the conscience of England was awakened to the evil, and the nation decided to take some stern steps to put a stop to this trade in human beings, both in the interests of humanity and justice, and for the sake of Africa.On 25th March 1807 the Royal assent was given to a Bill for the total abolition of the British slave trade on and after 1st January 1808. At first only a penalty of money was exacted from those who were convicted of slave-dealing. This, of course, was soon found to be without much effect, and in consequence, in 1811, slave-dealing was made punishable by transportation for fourteen years. Even this was found to be very inadequate. The slave-dealer knew that the risks of his being caught at his illicit trade were very small, and as the profits were very great he was quite willing to run that risk. Slave-dealing still continued with renewed zeal, and, if possible, greater cruelty than before.In 1824, therefore, the offence was declared to be piracy, and punishable with death. In 1837, however, the punishment inflicted on British subjects for trading in slaves was changed to transportation for life.A squadron of small vessels supposed to be suited for the purpose was forthwith equipped and sent to the African coast, to capture slavers wherever they could be found north of the equator, either embarking their cargoes or prepared to receive them, or with full ships, and whether up rivers, on the coast, or out at sea.These expeditions were full of excitement for the bluejackets, and countless were the chases after slavers by the ships of the squadrons. The danger was great in many cases. The slave-dealers were of the lowest grade of humanity, and cruel to the last degree. The barbarity with which they tore away the poor blacks from their native country, and the cruelty with which they treated them on board, is indescribable.The slaves were treated worse than animals, and many died during the voyage, but that mattered little to the slave-dealer, who had paid nothing for them, and who could find plenty more where they came from. Often the slave-dealers had on board, or rather in the hold of the ship, something like 900 slaves. When the decks were battened down during storms the tortures they endured were frightful. Often when the hatches were opened after a hurricane more than one-third of the slaves were found to be dead from suffocation or want of food, and often, sooner than have the trouble of hauling up the dead bodies, the hatches were battened down again and the poor slaves left in their misery till the end of the voyage, when perhaps another third were found to have died.It was to prevent atrocities such as these that our sailors were called upon to perform such gallant deeds on the African Coast, and their gallantry and powers of endurance were never displayed to better purpose than during the chases and captures of slavers. Accounts of some of them are given, to show the sort of work our officers and men are called upon to perform to keep down this horrible evil.Capture of Brazilian Slaver “Firmé” by the boats of HMS “Dolphin”—1840.At daylight on the 30th May 1840, theDolphinbeing under easy sail off Whydah, a brigantine was observed on the lee-bow. All sail was immediately made in chase; but as the stranger increased her distance, the cutter, a twenty-foot boat, with nine men, including the officer, and the gig with six, were despatched at half-past six o’clock, under command of Mr Murray and Mr Rees, to endeavour to come up with and detain the chase before the setting in of the sea-breeze. Both boats being soddened from constant blockading pulled heavily, and the crews had been employed during a squally, rainy morning in trimming and making sail; but after a harassing pull of two hours and a half under a hot sun, they came up with the chase, the gig being rather ahead. The brigantine bore down upon her, opening a sharp and continued fire of musketry, which was returned, when both boats, after steadily reloading under her fire, cheered and boarded on each quarter. The sweeps of the brigantine were rigged out, which prevented their boarding by the chains, thereby rendering it difficult for more than one or two to get up the side at a time.Mr Murray was the first on board; and though knocked back into the boat with the butt-end of a musket, which broke his collar-bone, he immediately clambered up the side again, in which act his left hand was nearly severed at the wrist with the blow of a cutlass. Another cut was made at his head, which he parried, cutting the man down. The bowman of the gig was shot through the heart while laying his oar in, and the bowman of the cutter in getting up the side. After a resistance of twenty minutes, the vessel was captured, most of the crew running below, firing their muskets as they retreated.Mr Rees had previously proved himself a most zealous and active officer, particularly in the destruction of the slave factories at Corisco, by the boats of theWolverine, Captain Tucker.Voyage of a prize from Accra to Sierra Leone.From 12th August 1840 to 5th January 1841.TheDores, a schooner of about sixty feet in length and fifteen in breadth, had been taken at Quettah in June, and sent in charge of theDolphin’sgunner to Sierra Leone. Six weeks afterwards she was found about twenty miles below Accra, having performed scarcely thirty miles of her passage, and lost almost all her prize-crew, including the gunner, from fever. Mr Murray, who had but just recovered from wounds received in the action with theFirmé, was then put in command of her, with a crew of two men, two boys, and a prisoner boy, the only one who had survived the fever.His orders were to proceed to Sierra Leone; and the indomitable perseverance with which he adhered to them, through formidable dangers and difficulties, together with his care for the men under his command during a voyage of 146 days, are well worthy of being recorded.The only cabin which was at all habitable was eight feet in length, five in height at the centre, and three at the sides, the breadth decreasing from eleven to two and a half. It was entirely destitute of furniture, swarming with vermin, and, before the end of the voyage, the fumes of the rotting tobacco, with which the vessel was laden, clinging to the beams, formed a coat nearly an inch in thickness. This, with an awning of monkey skins, manufactured by themselves, was the only refuge for the young officer and his men. The fourth night of the voyage was ushered in by the most fearful squalls, which gradually freshened till about two in the morning, when a tremendous storm came on, and obliged them to bear up under bare poles; the seas washing over the little vessel, and the wind blowing in the most terrific manner until about seven, when it moderated and fell calm. The schooner was then observed to float much deeper than before, and on sounding, nearly three feet of water were found in the hold. The pump was immediately set to work, but it had hardly fetched when it broke and became useless. This was repaired by about sunset, and in two hours afterwards the vessel was cleared.They then made sail and tacked, steering for Sierra Leone, till, on the morning of the 14th of September, they sighted land just below the river Sestos. Finding that they had but three days’ provisions left, the commander determined to make them last six, and stood on, in the hope of weathering Cape Palmas. This was baffled by a tide that set down along shore; but, on the 20th of September, they anchored off Cape Coast Castle. They had no provisions remaining, but the governor supplied them with sufficient for forty days; and, having refitted the schooner, they put to sea again on a close, sultry morning, which was succeeded by a violent gale, lasting three days.About two o’clock one afternoon, a rakish-looking brigantine was perceived standing towards theDores; and judging her to be a slaver, the young officer called his crew together, and having loaded the muskets and got the cutlasses ready, they silently awaited her coming up, determined to defend themselves. To their great joy, when she got within two miles and a half of them, a strong breeze sprang up, which placed the schooner dead to windward, and in the morning the brigantine was out of sight. Their sails were now so worn that they were obliged to lower them, and drift about for a whole day to repair them. Having neither chronometer nor sextant, and only a quadrant of antique date, often ten and even twenty miles out of adjustment, the position of the vessel could only be guessed. The men behaved admirably during this weary time, employing themselves in cleaning their arms, fishing, or mending their clothes. The rain generally fell in torrents till the 4th October, when the day closed in with appearances threatening heavy weather. All preparations were made for the coming gale; the sails were lowered down with the exception of the fore-staysail, and everything lashed and secured. The fore-staysail was kept up in order to put the schooner dead before the wind.At about five in the evening it became a dead calm, the atmosphere close, and all around dark. After about half an hour, a sound like heavy thunder was heard in the distance, and through the gloom a bank of foam was seen hastening towards the schooner; in a few minutes the staysail was stowed, and the wind caught her, gradually freshening until it burst upon her in all its fury; the rolling sea broke in upon her, and completely filled her upper deck; but the side bulwarks were open, and the sea found vent. Having battened his crew down below, Mr Murray lashed himself to the deck, and steered the vessel through the storm, which continued with heavy thunder and torrents of rain till about two in the morning, when, completely exhausted, he fell asleep, and was aroused by the crew (who, having knocked once or twice without reply, believed him to have been washed overboard) hammering at the skylight to get out. This gale so strained the schooner that the water gained two feet a day, and, to add to their disasters, one of the crew was ill for a fortnight.From the 10th of October till the 4th of November, when land was again discovered, theDorescontinued her course for Sierra Leone, experiencing the whole weight of the rainy season. It now became evident that she could not stem the current, for in the course of many days she had not made more than four or five miles. Mr Murray then determined to try again to reach Cape Palmas, by standing along the land; and thus nearly incurred a new danger from the natives, who assembled on the beach, armed with pikes and clubs, and as night drew on prepared to attack the schooner should she run on shore. Happily a slight breeze sprang up, which gave her steerage way, and enabled her to draw off the land. No resource remained but to shape her course again for Cape Coast Castle, to obtain provisions, their stock being exhausted. The governor made every effort to prevail on Mr Murray to relinquish the undertaking, which now appeared so hopeless, but he was resolute in staying by the charge entrusted to him; and, calling his men together, he gave them the choice of going on shore to await a passage down to theDolphin. With one consent they replied that they would never leave him; holding to the old feeling of a true seaman, never to leave his officer at a time of difficulty till death parts them. Their provisioning was just completed when a fatal accident diminished the number of the crew. They had been bathing after their day’s work, and one of them, a black, was still in the water, when he was seized by a shark, and so fearfully injured that he died before he could be got on board. The weary voyage recommenced, and, as before, their chief diversion was fishing. The sharks, skipjacks, dolphins, and bonetas which were caught were counted by hundreds, for they literally sailed through a sea of fish. Two parrots had been added to their crew, and were a great amusement, becoming so tame that they would obey their master’s call, and follow him afterwards through the streets like a dog.The 9th of December was marked by a serious disaster. Seeing a huge shark alongside, they had fastened a boneta as a bait to a piece of small line, and made a running bowline in the end of a peak-halliard with the fish towing a little ahead of it; the shark immediately saw it and swam after it; they were already on the bowline to run him up the side with his head a little out of water; gliding silently along, not two feet from them, he came up to the bowline, which was held wide open, while the bait was quietly hauled ahead until he was far enough through it; then, giving a sudden jerk on it, they closed it just behind the two side-fins and tried to catch a turn with the rope; but, quick as lightning, the shark gave a terrific plunge and tore it through their hands, when Mr Murray unfortunately got in the middle of the coil, and as the men had all let go, it had got a half-hitch round his leg, and in an instant he was drawn up and over the gunwale. Catching at the peak-halliards, which were belayed close to him, he held on with his only sound hand as he was flying overboard, the men also seizing him by the arm. Before he could be extricated, the limb was severely injured and torn. The only remedy which could be applied was bathing it in oil.In the meantime theDoresprogressed, though very slowly; she had become much more leaky, the cargo was completely rotten, and the stench drove them all on deck; nor could they heave a particle of it overboard, for then the vessel would have capsized, as she had no ballast in. The sails were perfectly rotten—so bad that the vessel was often a whole day without a stitch of canvas set when the wind fell light, that they might be repaired with monkey skins, of which there was a good stock on board.The fourth month closed, and the schooner had not yet performed a voyage of ten days, from seven to fifteen miles a day being the progress lately made; but now the current seemed to favour her, for a change of forty miles a day was observed in the latitude, and the hearts of officer and men grew lighter, notwithstanding their miserable plight, always wet to the skin, and unable to change their clothes for days together. Two terrific storms were still to be encountered; and, at the commencement of the second, Mr Murray sent the men below, and remained alone on the deck, which he never expected to leave alive. The heat of each flash of lightning was felt as if from a fire; the rain falling in torrents, leaked in every direction through the deck, and the schooner was fast filling with water. At length the rain ceased, and the lightning became fainter, when they made sail again, pumped out, and proceeded till they had made sufficient northing for Sierra Leone. They then bore up east, and, on the 31st December, the colour of the water showed that they were nearing the land. On this day they kept their Christmas, and many were the hearty toasts they drank to those at home. It was not till the 6th January, 146 days from the commencement of their voyage, that they anchored off Sierra Leone, where it was fully believed that they were lost. Here Mr Murray found his promotion awaiting him for the capture of theFirmé, and was at once invalided home.Capture of an armed Slaver by a four-oared gig—1844.On the 13th of August 1844, Mr John Francis Tottenham, mate of HMSHyacinth, Commander Scott, performed a gallant and dashing exploit, which obtained for him his promotion to the rank of lieutenant, and the testimony of his commander to the coolness, decision, and gallantry displayed by him on the occasion. When off Fish Bay, on the West Coast of Africa, Mr Tottenham was sent in a four-oared gig, with one spare hand, to communicate with the Portuguese governor. The weather became thick, and he missed his port; but knowing that theHyacinthwas working along the coast, he anchored for the night, and pulled to the southward. On the morning of the 13th he discovered a brig at anchor without colours, and saw her slip and make sail, on which he gave chase. Being to windward, and the breeze light, he was enabled to approach her weather-beam, and fire a musket ahead, to induce her to heave to and show her colours. This and a second were disregarded; but a port was opened and a gun run out and brought to bear on the boat, which caused the officer to pull into her wake, when part of the crew of the brig commenced firing musketry, while the others got the gun on the poop, and pointed it at the boat.Mr Tottenham now commenced firing as fast as the spare hand could load for him, being just able to keep way with the brig.Four of the men on board the brig having been hit, her crew left the gun, and after firing muskets for twenty minutes, finding that they were unable to weather the land or tack without being boarded by the boat, they ran the brig on shore. Here her crew, to the number of eighteen, including three wounded men, abandoned her, leaving another mortally wounded on board.In the course of the afternoon the brig was perceived from the mast-head of theHyacinth, which stood in and anchored, and hove her off; when she proved to be of 200 tons, fully equipped for conveying about 1000 slaves, with two guns of four pounds calibre loaded, a barrel of powder, and a quantity of langridge-shot, a number of muskets, swords, and bayonets on the deck. Almost every bullet expended in the gig was traced to the gun-carriage, or its immediate vicinity on the poop.A Pinnace attacks a Slaver—1845.On the 12th of January 1845, Lieutenant Lodwick, first lieutenant of HM steamerGrowler, Captain Buckle, who had been away for some time cruising in the pinnace on the look-out for slavers, fell in with a felucca, which, on seeing the pinnace, hove to. The lieutenant naturally expected that she would make no resistance, as she might have got away if she had chosen. When the pinnace, however, was within thirty yards of the felucca, a whole range of muskets was observed pointed over her bulwark. After this, Lieutenant Lodwick cheered his men on to get up to her before she discharged this fearful battery; but no sooner was the cheer uttered than the felucca opened on the boat. This was a staggerer for the British boat; but fortunately the slaver’s crew fired too high (the felucca had now filled, and was going just as fast as the boat could pull). Lieutenant Lodwick—the rim of whose hat was shot through—at once returned the first volley with a round shot and 180 balls in a bag. A second volley from the felucca told with far more disastrous effect; two men were shot dead, and Lieutenant Lodwick and two men severely wounded—the lieutenant having been struck on the left knee and thigh. This left the pinnace with so few men, that, having also had six of her oars shot away, Lieutenant Lodwick was obliged to abandon the chase, and was picked up by theGrowler, standing towards theGallinas, boat and gear being literally riddled with shot.Lieutenant Lodwick was promoted for his gallantry. The felucca had been chased by every vessel on the coast, and always got away clear. She was afterwards captured by a war-steamer, and bore evident marks of her conflict with the pinnace. There were about seventy men on board—English, French, and Americans—and she was commanded by an Englishman.Adventure of HMS “Wasp”—1845.As HMSWasp, Captain Usherwood, was cruising in the Bight of Benin, near Lagos, on the 27th of February 1845, a strange sail was seen, and Lieutenant Stupart was immediately ordered in pursuit. At about eight o’clock in the evening he came up with her, and found her to be theFelicidade, a Brazilian schooner, fitted for the slave trade, with a slave-deck of loose planks over the cargo, and a crew of twenty-eight men. With the exception of her captain and another man, they were transferred to theWasp; and Lieutenant Stupart, with Mr Palmer, midshipman, and a crew of fifteen English seamen, remained in charge of the prize. On the 1st of March, the boats of theFelicidade, under Mr Palmer, captured a second prize, theEcho, with 430 slaves on board, and a crew of twenty-eight men, leaving Mr Palmer, with seven English seamen and two Kroomen, on board theFelicidade. Several of theEcho’screw were also sent on board as prisoners, with their captain. Soon afterwards Mr Palmer and his small crew were overpowered and murdered by the crew of theFelicidade, and an unsuccessful attempt made by the miscreants to gain possession of theEcho. TheFelicidadewas seen and chased on the 6th of March by HMSStar, Commander Dunlop. When she was boarded, no one was on her deck, the crew being concealed below; and on being found and questioned, they stated the vessel to be theVirginie, and accounted for their wounds by the falling of a spar; but there were traces of a conflict, and many tokens which proved that English seamen had been on board. She was then sent to Sierra Leone, in charge of Lieutenant Wilson and nine men.Whilst on the passage, during a heavy squall, the schooner went over, filled, and sank, so as only to leave part of her bow rail above water. When the squall passed, the whole of the crew were found clinging to the bow rail. Some expert divers endeavoured to extract provisions from the vessel, but without success; and nothing but death stared them in the face, as the schooner was gradually sinking. Lieutenant Wilson ascertained that there were three common knives among the party, and it was resolved to make a raft of the main-boom and gaff, and such other floating materials as remained above water. These they secured by such ropes as could be cut and unrove from the rigging, and a small quantity of cordage was retained to make good any defects they might sustain by the working of the spars; a small topgallant studding-sail was obtained for a sail; and upon this miserable raft the ten persons made sail for the coast of Africa, distant 200 miles, without rudder, oar, compass, provisions, or water.Being almost naked, and washed by every wave, their sufferings were very great. Destitute of food or fresh water, scorched by a burning sun during the day, and chilled with cold during the night, they thus remained twenty days. Delirium and death relieved the raft of part of its load of misery, two blacks being the first to sink under their sufferings.The question naturally suggests itself, How did the survivors support life? Some persons would be almost afraid to put the question, or hear the answer. There is nothing, however, to wound our feelings, but much to admire in the admirable conduct of Lieutenant Wilson and his men during these melancholy and miserable twenty days. Showers of rain occasionally fell; they caught some water in their little sail, which they drank, and put some into a small keg that had floated out of the vessel. The sea was almost always breaking over the spars of the raft, which was surrounded by voracious sharks.The famishing sailors actually caught with a bowling-knot a shark eight feet in length, with their bare hands, and hauled it upon the raft; they killed it, drank the blood, and ate part of the flesh, husbanding the remainder. In this way three other sharks were taken, and upon these sharks the poor fellows managed to prolong their lives till picked up (in sight of the land) in what may be termed the very zero of living misery. Lieutenant Wilson and four seamen survived, and recovered their strength. Order and discipline were maintained upon the raft; fortitude, forethought, a reliance upon Divine Providence, and good conduct, enabled these Englishmen to surmount such horrible sufferings, while the Kroomen and Portuguese sank under them.Capture of a Slaver—1845.HMSPantaloon, ten-gun sloop, Commander Wilson, had been for two days in chase of a large slave-ship, and succeeded in coming up with her becalmed, about two miles off Lagos, on the 26th May 1845. The cutter and two whale-boats were sent, under the command of the first lieutenant, Mr Lewis D.T. Prevost, with the master, Mr J.T. Crout, and the boatswain, Mr Pasco, some marines and seamen, amounting to about thirty altogether, to make a more intimate acquaintance with the stranger. The pirate gave the boats an intimation of what they were to expect as they neared, by opening on them a heavy fire of round shot, grape, and canister, in so spirited a style, that after returning the compliment by a volley of musketry, the boats prepared for hard work. Animated by the show of resistance, each boat now emulated the other in reaching the enemy, the pirate continuing a sharp fire as they steadily advanced, the marines as briskly using their muskets. In half a hour from the discharge of the first gun from the slaver, the boats of thePantaloonwere alongside; Lieutenant Prevost and Mr Pasco on the starboard, and Mr Crout, in the cutter, on the port side. The pirate crew, sheltering themselves as much as possible, nevertheless continued to fire the guns, loading them with all sorts of missiles, bullets, nails, lead, etcetera; and, amidst a shower of these, our brave sailors and marines dashed on board. Lieutenant Prevost and his party, in the two boats, were soon on the deck of the prize. The master boarded on the port bow, and, despite the formidable resistance and danger, followed by one of his boat’s crew, actually attempted to enter the port as they were firing the gun from it. He succeeded in getting through, but his seconder was knocked overboard by the discharge. The gallant fellow, however, nothing daunted, was in an instant up the side again, taking part with the master, who was engaged in a single encounter with one or two of the slaver’s crew. Having gained the deck after a most determined resistance, they now encountered the pirates hand to hand, when the cutlass and bayonet did the remainder of the work. Lieutenant Prevost finally succeeded in capturing the vessel, but the pirates fought desperately; and it was not until seven of their number lay dead on the deck, and seven or eight more were severely wounded, that they ran below and yielded. In the encounter, two British seamen were killed; the master and boatswain, and five others were severely wounded. Lieutenant Prevost received immediate promotion.An attempt to recapture a prize—1847.On the 22nd of July 1847, HMSWaterwitch, with HMSRapidin company, captured the Brazilian brigantineRomeo Primero, which was subsequently given in charge to Lieutenant W.G. Mansfield, RN, and four seamen, to be conveyed to Saint Helena for adjudication. Owing to adverse winds, and the unmanageable qualities of the prize, the officer in command found it necessary to alter his destination, and to bear up for Sierra Leone.On the 11th of August, about midday, two of the crew being engaged aloft, and the others in the bunks, where the arms were stowed, the lieutenant being at the moment pulling a rope which had been recently spliced, was murderously assailed from behind by one of the prisoners, with an axe used for chopping firewood. There were four of them who were during the daytime allowed the liberty of the vessel. At the same moment, the other three prisoners furiously attacked the sailors in the bunks, who, from the unexpected nature of the assault, were driven from their post wounded and unarmed. Lieutenant Mansfield, laying hold of a piece of firewood, gallantly but unequally contended with a Brazilian armed with a cutlass. In the course of a desperate struggle, the officer received no fewer than nine wounds, more or less severe; a greatcoat which he wore being, under Providence, the means of saving him from instant death. The two sailors who had been occupied in the shrouds, having reached the deck, of course unarmed, the lieutenant, nearly exhausted by profuse haemorrhage, made a violent effort to join them, in which he fortunately proved successful, though in his progress one of the prisoners discharged at him a marine’s musket, the contents of which took effect, inflicting a most dangerous wound in his head, and bringing him for an instant to the deck. Having succeeded in recovering his feet and gaining his men, he encouraged them to rush aft upon their armed antagonists—a piece of service which three of their number performed in the most daring manner; the fourth seaman (since dead) beinghors de combatfrom his wounds, and the lieutenant himself fainting at the instant from loss of blood. The intrepidity of the three British tars rendered them more than a match for their armed antagonists, whom they speedily overpowered, one of the prisoners leaping overboard and perishing in the waves. Believing their officer to be killed, the seamen, in the excitement of the moment, were about to hurl the surviving prisoners over the gangway, when Lieutenant Mansfield, partially reviving, ordered them to be imprisoned, that their wounds should be washed, and that they should be reserved to be dealt with by the authorities at Sierra Leone.On the 1st of September theRomeo Primero, the scene of this bloody encounter, entered the port. Lieutenant Mansfield, who, since the day of the conflict, had scarcely been able to stir hand or foot, was promptly conveyed to sick-quarters, and for many days his life was entirely despaired of by his medical attendants. The gallant little crew, all wounded, were also looked after in the best manner which skill and sympathy could suggest; but two were soon beyond the reach of human succour,—one dying of the direct consequences of his wounds, and the second of fever induced by them. After a fortnight of extreme danger on shore, Lieutenant Mansfield showed symptoms of recovery, and in the same year received the rank of commander.Attempt to retake a Prize—1848.TheGrecianhaving captured a clipper Brazilian hermaphrodite brig, with nearly 500 slaves on board, Lieutenant D’Aguilar was placed in charge of her as prizemaster, with ten men, and ordered to proceed to Bahia, the sloop following him thither. The prize duly arrived, and anchored at Bahia before theGrecian, and not the slightest suspicion was entertained but that she was safe. In the course of the day, however, Lieutenant D’Aguilar received some hints to the effect that a combination was being made on shore among the slavers to attempt to retake the prize; and, although nothing definite was communicated, it was sufficient warning to him to be on the alert, and to take precautions which saved him and his men from being massacred. The evening passed off without disturbance; but about ten o’clock at night several boats from the shore were seen pulling for the brig, containing, it was estimated, 150 Brazilians. As they neared the prize, they were hailed, and ordered to keep off, but with some boldness they advanced alongside. The strangers having approached too near to be agreeable, Lieutenant D’Aguilar endeavoured to check them by a discharge of musketry. This commenced a most severe conflict, the fire being returned by the pirates as they dashed alongside and attempted to board. That firmness and undaunted bravery, however, which is characteristic of British seamen, was here displayed in an eminent degree; and the Brazilians, with their overpowering numbers, were completely beaten off by Lieutenant D’Aguilar and his little band, with a loss, on the enemy’s side, it is said, of upwards of ten killed and thirty wounded. As may naturally be supposed, where the contest was one at close quarters, and where each of the gallant defenders had so many assailants to wait upon, they did not come out of themêléeunscathed. Scarcely one of them escaped a mark, and several of them were severely wounded. Lieutenant D’Aguilar received many hurts about the head. It subsequently transpired that it was the intention of the Brazilians to have silently got alongside the vessel, and to have secured the prize-crew. They would then have cut the cables and made sail, to land the cargo of slaves at another part of the coast. This affair was the theme of general applause in the squadron on the station.
Ever since the settlement of Europeans on the continent of America and the West Indian Islands, a trade in slaves had existed to a very great extent. The slaves were taken from among the many tribes in the interior of Africa in large numbers, and transported across the Atlantic.
The evils of such an inhuman custom were manifold, and were a very dark stain on civilisation. In course of time the conscience of England was awakened to the evil, and the nation decided to take some stern steps to put a stop to this trade in human beings, both in the interests of humanity and justice, and for the sake of Africa.
On 25th March 1807 the Royal assent was given to a Bill for the total abolition of the British slave trade on and after 1st January 1808. At first only a penalty of money was exacted from those who were convicted of slave-dealing. This, of course, was soon found to be without much effect, and in consequence, in 1811, slave-dealing was made punishable by transportation for fourteen years. Even this was found to be very inadequate. The slave-dealer knew that the risks of his being caught at his illicit trade were very small, and as the profits were very great he was quite willing to run that risk. Slave-dealing still continued with renewed zeal, and, if possible, greater cruelty than before.
In 1824, therefore, the offence was declared to be piracy, and punishable with death. In 1837, however, the punishment inflicted on British subjects for trading in slaves was changed to transportation for life.
A squadron of small vessels supposed to be suited for the purpose was forthwith equipped and sent to the African coast, to capture slavers wherever they could be found north of the equator, either embarking their cargoes or prepared to receive them, or with full ships, and whether up rivers, on the coast, or out at sea.
These expeditions were full of excitement for the bluejackets, and countless were the chases after slavers by the ships of the squadrons. The danger was great in many cases. The slave-dealers were of the lowest grade of humanity, and cruel to the last degree. The barbarity with which they tore away the poor blacks from their native country, and the cruelty with which they treated them on board, is indescribable.
The slaves were treated worse than animals, and many died during the voyage, but that mattered little to the slave-dealer, who had paid nothing for them, and who could find plenty more where they came from. Often the slave-dealers had on board, or rather in the hold of the ship, something like 900 slaves. When the decks were battened down during storms the tortures they endured were frightful. Often when the hatches were opened after a hurricane more than one-third of the slaves were found to be dead from suffocation or want of food, and often, sooner than have the trouble of hauling up the dead bodies, the hatches were battened down again and the poor slaves left in their misery till the end of the voyage, when perhaps another third were found to have died.
It was to prevent atrocities such as these that our sailors were called upon to perform such gallant deeds on the African Coast, and their gallantry and powers of endurance were never displayed to better purpose than during the chases and captures of slavers. Accounts of some of them are given, to show the sort of work our officers and men are called upon to perform to keep down this horrible evil.
At daylight on the 30th May 1840, theDolphinbeing under easy sail off Whydah, a brigantine was observed on the lee-bow. All sail was immediately made in chase; but as the stranger increased her distance, the cutter, a twenty-foot boat, with nine men, including the officer, and the gig with six, were despatched at half-past six o’clock, under command of Mr Murray and Mr Rees, to endeavour to come up with and detain the chase before the setting in of the sea-breeze. Both boats being soddened from constant blockading pulled heavily, and the crews had been employed during a squally, rainy morning in trimming and making sail; but after a harassing pull of two hours and a half under a hot sun, they came up with the chase, the gig being rather ahead. The brigantine bore down upon her, opening a sharp and continued fire of musketry, which was returned, when both boats, after steadily reloading under her fire, cheered and boarded on each quarter. The sweeps of the brigantine were rigged out, which prevented their boarding by the chains, thereby rendering it difficult for more than one or two to get up the side at a time.
Mr Murray was the first on board; and though knocked back into the boat with the butt-end of a musket, which broke his collar-bone, he immediately clambered up the side again, in which act his left hand was nearly severed at the wrist with the blow of a cutlass. Another cut was made at his head, which he parried, cutting the man down. The bowman of the gig was shot through the heart while laying his oar in, and the bowman of the cutter in getting up the side. After a resistance of twenty minutes, the vessel was captured, most of the crew running below, firing their muskets as they retreated.
Mr Rees had previously proved himself a most zealous and active officer, particularly in the destruction of the slave factories at Corisco, by the boats of theWolverine, Captain Tucker.
TheDores, a schooner of about sixty feet in length and fifteen in breadth, had been taken at Quettah in June, and sent in charge of theDolphin’sgunner to Sierra Leone. Six weeks afterwards she was found about twenty miles below Accra, having performed scarcely thirty miles of her passage, and lost almost all her prize-crew, including the gunner, from fever. Mr Murray, who had but just recovered from wounds received in the action with theFirmé, was then put in command of her, with a crew of two men, two boys, and a prisoner boy, the only one who had survived the fever.
His orders were to proceed to Sierra Leone; and the indomitable perseverance with which he adhered to them, through formidable dangers and difficulties, together with his care for the men under his command during a voyage of 146 days, are well worthy of being recorded.
The only cabin which was at all habitable was eight feet in length, five in height at the centre, and three at the sides, the breadth decreasing from eleven to two and a half. It was entirely destitute of furniture, swarming with vermin, and, before the end of the voyage, the fumes of the rotting tobacco, with which the vessel was laden, clinging to the beams, formed a coat nearly an inch in thickness. This, with an awning of monkey skins, manufactured by themselves, was the only refuge for the young officer and his men. The fourth night of the voyage was ushered in by the most fearful squalls, which gradually freshened till about two in the morning, when a tremendous storm came on, and obliged them to bear up under bare poles; the seas washing over the little vessel, and the wind blowing in the most terrific manner until about seven, when it moderated and fell calm. The schooner was then observed to float much deeper than before, and on sounding, nearly three feet of water were found in the hold. The pump was immediately set to work, but it had hardly fetched when it broke and became useless. This was repaired by about sunset, and in two hours afterwards the vessel was cleared.
They then made sail and tacked, steering for Sierra Leone, till, on the morning of the 14th of September, they sighted land just below the river Sestos. Finding that they had but three days’ provisions left, the commander determined to make them last six, and stood on, in the hope of weathering Cape Palmas. This was baffled by a tide that set down along shore; but, on the 20th of September, they anchored off Cape Coast Castle. They had no provisions remaining, but the governor supplied them with sufficient for forty days; and, having refitted the schooner, they put to sea again on a close, sultry morning, which was succeeded by a violent gale, lasting three days.
About two o’clock one afternoon, a rakish-looking brigantine was perceived standing towards theDores; and judging her to be a slaver, the young officer called his crew together, and having loaded the muskets and got the cutlasses ready, they silently awaited her coming up, determined to defend themselves. To their great joy, when she got within two miles and a half of them, a strong breeze sprang up, which placed the schooner dead to windward, and in the morning the brigantine was out of sight. Their sails were now so worn that they were obliged to lower them, and drift about for a whole day to repair them. Having neither chronometer nor sextant, and only a quadrant of antique date, often ten and even twenty miles out of adjustment, the position of the vessel could only be guessed. The men behaved admirably during this weary time, employing themselves in cleaning their arms, fishing, or mending their clothes. The rain generally fell in torrents till the 4th October, when the day closed in with appearances threatening heavy weather. All preparations were made for the coming gale; the sails were lowered down with the exception of the fore-staysail, and everything lashed and secured. The fore-staysail was kept up in order to put the schooner dead before the wind.
At about five in the evening it became a dead calm, the atmosphere close, and all around dark. After about half an hour, a sound like heavy thunder was heard in the distance, and through the gloom a bank of foam was seen hastening towards the schooner; in a few minutes the staysail was stowed, and the wind caught her, gradually freshening until it burst upon her in all its fury; the rolling sea broke in upon her, and completely filled her upper deck; but the side bulwarks were open, and the sea found vent. Having battened his crew down below, Mr Murray lashed himself to the deck, and steered the vessel through the storm, which continued with heavy thunder and torrents of rain till about two in the morning, when, completely exhausted, he fell asleep, and was aroused by the crew (who, having knocked once or twice without reply, believed him to have been washed overboard) hammering at the skylight to get out. This gale so strained the schooner that the water gained two feet a day, and, to add to their disasters, one of the crew was ill for a fortnight.
From the 10th of October till the 4th of November, when land was again discovered, theDorescontinued her course for Sierra Leone, experiencing the whole weight of the rainy season. It now became evident that she could not stem the current, for in the course of many days she had not made more than four or five miles. Mr Murray then determined to try again to reach Cape Palmas, by standing along the land; and thus nearly incurred a new danger from the natives, who assembled on the beach, armed with pikes and clubs, and as night drew on prepared to attack the schooner should she run on shore. Happily a slight breeze sprang up, which gave her steerage way, and enabled her to draw off the land. No resource remained but to shape her course again for Cape Coast Castle, to obtain provisions, their stock being exhausted. The governor made every effort to prevail on Mr Murray to relinquish the undertaking, which now appeared so hopeless, but he was resolute in staying by the charge entrusted to him; and, calling his men together, he gave them the choice of going on shore to await a passage down to theDolphin. With one consent they replied that they would never leave him; holding to the old feeling of a true seaman, never to leave his officer at a time of difficulty till death parts them. Their provisioning was just completed when a fatal accident diminished the number of the crew. They had been bathing after their day’s work, and one of them, a black, was still in the water, when he was seized by a shark, and so fearfully injured that he died before he could be got on board. The weary voyage recommenced, and, as before, their chief diversion was fishing. The sharks, skipjacks, dolphins, and bonetas which were caught were counted by hundreds, for they literally sailed through a sea of fish. Two parrots had been added to their crew, and were a great amusement, becoming so tame that they would obey their master’s call, and follow him afterwards through the streets like a dog.
The 9th of December was marked by a serious disaster. Seeing a huge shark alongside, they had fastened a boneta as a bait to a piece of small line, and made a running bowline in the end of a peak-halliard with the fish towing a little ahead of it; the shark immediately saw it and swam after it; they were already on the bowline to run him up the side with his head a little out of water; gliding silently along, not two feet from them, he came up to the bowline, which was held wide open, while the bait was quietly hauled ahead until he was far enough through it; then, giving a sudden jerk on it, they closed it just behind the two side-fins and tried to catch a turn with the rope; but, quick as lightning, the shark gave a terrific plunge and tore it through their hands, when Mr Murray unfortunately got in the middle of the coil, and as the men had all let go, it had got a half-hitch round his leg, and in an instant he was drawn up and over the gunwale. Catching at the peak-halliards, which were belayed close to him, he held on with his only sound hand as he was flying overboard, the men also seizing him by the arm. Before he could be extricated, the limb was severely injured and torn. The only remedy which could be applied was bathing it in oil.
In the meantime theDoresprogressed, though very slowly; she had become much more leaky, the cargo was completely rotten, and the stench drove them all on deck; nor could they heave a particle of it overboard, for then the vessel would have capsized, as she had no ballast in. The sails were perfectly rotten—so bad that the vessel was often a whole day without a stitch of canvas set when the wind fell light, that they might be repaired with monkey skins, of which there was a good stock on board.
The fourth month closed, and the schooner had not yet performed a voyage of ten days, from seven to fifteen miles a day being the progress lately made; but now the current seemed to favour her, for a change of forty miles a day was observed in the latitude, and the hearts of officer and men grew lighter, notwithstanding their miserable plight, always wet to the skin, and unable to change their clothes for days together. Two terrific storms were still to be encountered; and, at the commencement of the second, Mr Murray sent the men below, and remained alone on the deck, which he never expected to leave alive. The heat of each flash of lightning was felt as if from a fire; the rain falling in torrents, leaked in every direction through the deck, and the schooner was fast filling with water. At length the rain ceased, and the lightning became fainter, when they made sail again, pumped out, and proceeded till they had made sufficient northing for Sierra Leone. They then bore up east, and, on the 31st December, the colour of the water showed that they were nearing the land. On this day they kept their Christmas, and many were the hearty toasts they drank to those at home. It was not till the 6th January, 146 days from the commencement of their voyage, that they anchored off Sierra Leone, where it was fully believed that they were lost. Here Mr Murray found his promotion awaiting him for the capture of theFirmé, and was at once invalided home.
On the 13th of August 1844, Mr John Francis Tottenham, mate of HMSHyacinth, Commander Scott, performed a gallant and dashing exploit, which obtained for him his promotion to the rank of lieutenant, and the testimony of his commander to the coolness, decision, and gallantry displayed by him on the occasion. When off Fish Bay, on the West Coast of Africa, Mr Tottenham was sent in a four-oared gig, with one spare hand, to communicate with the Portuguese governor. The weather became thick, and he missed his port; but knowing that theHyacinthwas working along the coast, he anchored for the night, and pulled to the southward. On the morning of the 13th he discovered a brig at anchor without colours, and saw her slip and make sail, on which he gave chase. Being to windward, and the breeze light, he was enabled to approach her weather-beam, and fire a musket ahead, to induce her to heave to and show her colours. This and a second were disregarded; but a port was opened and a gun run out and brought to bear on the boat, which caused the officer to pull into her wake, when part of the crew of the brig commenced firing musketry, while the others got the gun on the poop, and pointed it at the boat.
Mr Tottenham now commenced firing as fast as the spare hand could load for him, being just able to keep way with the brig.
Four of the men on board the brig having been hit, her crew left the gun, and after firing muskets for twenty minutes, finding that they were unable to weather the land or tack without being boarded by the boat, they ran the brig on shore. Here her crew, to the number of eighteen, including three wounded men, abandoned her, leaving another mortally wounded on board.
In the course of the afternoon the brig was perceived from the mast-head of theHyacinth, which stood in and anchored, and hove her off; when she proved to be of 200 tons, fully equipped for conveying about 1000 slaves, with two guns of four pounds calibre loaded, a barrel of powder, and a quantity of langridge-shot, a number of muskets, swords, and bayonets on the deck. Almost every bullet expended in the gig was traced to the gun-carriage, or its immediate vicinity on the poop.
On the 12th of January 1845, Lieutenant Lodwick, first lieutenant of HM steamerGrowler, Captain Buckle, who had been away for some time cruising in the pinnace on the look-out for slavers, fell in with a felucca, which, on seeing the pinnace, hove to. The lieutenant naturally expected that she would make no resistance, as she might have got away if she had chosen. When the pinnace, however, was within thirty yards of the felucca, a whole range of muskets was observed pointed over her bulwark. After this, Lieutenant Lodwick cheered his men on to get up to her before she discharged this fearful battery; but no sooner was the cheer uttered than the felucca opened on the boat. This was a staggerer for the British boat; but fortunately the slaver’s crew fired too high (the felucca had now filled, and was going just as fast as the boat could pull). Lieutenant Lodwick—the rim of whose hat was shot through—at once returned the first volley with a round shot and 180 balls in a bag. A second volley from the felucca told with far more disastrous effect; two men were shot dead, and Lieutenant Lodwick and two men severely wounded—the lieutenant having been struck on the left knee and thigh. This left the pinnace with so few men, that, having also had six of her oars shot away, Lieutenant Lodwick was obliged to abandon the chase, and was picked up by theGrowler, standing towards theGallinas, boat and gear being literally riddled with shot.
Lieutenant Lodwick was promoted for his gallantry. The felucca had been chased by every vessel on the coast, and always got away clear. She was afterwards captured by a war-steamer, and bore evident marks of her conflict with the pinnace. There were about seventy men on board—English, French, and Americans—and she was commanded by an Englishman.
As HMSWasp, Captain Usherwood, was cruising in the Bight of Benin, near Lagos, on the 27th of February 1845, a strange sail was seen, and Lieutenant Stupart was immediately ordered in pursuit. At about eight o’clock in the evening he came up with her, and found her to be theFelicidade, a Brazilian schooner, fitted for the slave trade, with a slave-deck of loose planks over the cargo, and a crew of twenty-eight men. With the exception of her captain and another man, they were transferred to theWasp; and Lieutenant Stupart, with Mr Palmer, midshipman, and a crew of fifteen English seamen, remained in charge of the prize. On the 1st of March, the boats of theFelicidade, under Mr Palmer, captured a second prize, theEcho, with 430 slaves on board, and a crew of twenty-eight men, leaving Mr Palmer, with seven English seamen and two Kroomen, on board theFelicidade. Several of theEcho’screw were also sent on board as prisoners, with their captain. Soon afterwards Mr Palmer and his small crew were overpowered and murdered by the crew of theFelicidade, and an unsuccessful attempt made by the miscreants to gain possession of theEcho. TheFelicidadewas seen and chased on the 6th of March by HMSStar, Commander Dunlop. When she was boarded, no one was on her deck, the crew being concealed below; and on being found and questioned, they stated the vessel to be theVirginie, and accounted for their wounds by the falling of a spar; but there were traces of a conflict, and many tokens which proved that English seamen had been on board. She was then sent to Sierra Leone, in charge of Lieutenant Wilson and nine men.
Whilst on the passage, during a heavy squall, the schooner went over, filled, and sank, so as only to leave part of her bow rail above water. When the squall passed, the whole of the crew were found clinging to the bow rail. Some expert divers endeavoured to extract provisions from the vessel, but without success; and nothing but death stared them in the face, as the schooner was gradually sinking. Lieutenant Wilson ascertained that there were three common knives among the party, and it was resolved to make a raft of the main-boom and gaff, and such other floating materials as remained above water. These they secured by such ropes as could be cut and unrove from the rigging, and a small quantity of cordage was retained to make good any defects they might sustain by the working of the spars; a small topgallant studding-sail was obtained for a sail; and upon this miserable raft the ten persons made sail for the coast of Africa, distant 200 miles, without rudder, oar, compass, provisions, or water.
Being almost naked, and washed by every wave, their sufferings were very great. Destitute of food or fresh water, scorched by a burning sun during the day, and chilled with cold during the night, they thus remained twenty days. Delirium and death relieved the raft of part of its load of misery, two blacks being the first to sink under their sufferings.
The question naturally suggests itself, How did the survivors support life? Some persons would be almost afraid to put the question, or hear the answer. There is nothing, however, to wound our feelings, but much to admire in the admirable conduct of Lieutenant Wilson and his men during these melancholy and miserable twenty days. Showers of rain occasionally fell; they caught some water in their little sail, which they drank, and put some into a small keg that had floated out of the vessel. The sea was almost always breaking over the spars of the raft, which was surrounded by voracious sharks.
The famishing sailors actually caught with a bowling-knot a shark eight feet in length, with their bare hands, and hauled it upon the raft; they killed it, drank the blood, and ate part of the flesh, husbanding the remainder. In this way three other sharks were taken, and upon these sharks the poor fellows managed to prolong their lives till picked up (in sight of the land) in what may be termed the very zero of living misery. Lieutenant Wilson and four seamen survived, and recovered their strength. Order and discipline were maintained upon the raft; fortitude, forethought, a reliance upon Divine Providence, and good conduct, enabled these Englishmen to surmount such horrible sufferings, while the Kroomen and Portuguese sank under them.
HMSPantaloon, ten-gun sloop, Commander Wilson, had been for two days in chase of a large slave-ship, and succeeded in coming up with her becalmed, about two miles off Lagos, on the 26th May 1845. The cutter and two whale-boats were sent, under the command of the first lieutenant, Mr Lewis D.T. Prevost, with the master, Mr J.T. Crout, and the boatswain, Mr Pasco, some marines and seamen, amounting to about thirty altogether, to make a more intimate acquaintance with the stranger. The pirate gave the boats an intimation of what they were to expect as they neared, by opening on them a heavy fire of round shot, grape, and canister, in so spirited a style, that after returning the compliment by a volley of musketry, the boats prepared for hard work. Animated by the show of resistance, each boat now emulated the other in reaching the enemy, the pirate continuing a sharp fire as they steadily advanced, the marines as briskly using their muskets. In half a hour from the discharge of the first gun from the slaver, the boats of thePantaloonwere alongside; Lieutenant Prevost and Mr Pasco on the starboard, and Mr Crout, in the cutter, on the port side. The pirate crew, sheltering themselves as much as possible, nevertheless continued to fire the guns, loading them with all sorts of missiles, bullets, nails, lead, etcetera; and, amidst a shower of these, our brave sailors and marines dashed on board. Lieutenant Prevost and his party, in the two boats, were soon on the deck of the prize. The master boarded on the port bow, and, despite the formidable resistance and danger, followed by one of his boat’s crew, actually attempted to enter the port as they were firing the gun from it. He succeeded in getting through, but his seconder was knocked overboard by the discharge. The gallant fellow, however, nothing daunted, was in an instant up the side again, taking part with the master, who was engaged in a single encounter with one or two of the slaver’s crew. Having gained the deck after a most determined resistance, they now encountered the pirates hand to hand, when the cutlass and bayonet did the remainder of the work. Lieutenant Prevost finally succeeded in capturing the vessel, but the pirates fought desperately; and it was not until seven of their number lay dead on the deck, and seven or eight more were severely wounded, that they ran below and yielded. In the encounter, two British seamen were killed; the master and boatswain, and five others were severely wounded. Lieutenant Prevost received immediate promotion.
On the 22nd of July 1847, HMSWaterwitch, with HMSRapidin company, captured the Brazilian brigantineRomeo Primero, which was subsequently given in charge to Lieutenant W.G. Mansfield, RN, and four seamen, to be conveyed to Saint Helena for adjudication. Owing to adverse winds, and the unmanageable qualities of the prize, the officer in command found it necessary to alter his destination, and to bear up for Sierra Leone.
On the 11th of August, about midday, two of the crew being engaged aloft, and the others in the bunks, where the arms were stowed, the lieutenant being at the moment pulling a rope which had been recently spliced, was murderously assailed from behind by one of the prisoners, with an axe used for chopping firewood. There were four of them who were during the daytime allowed the liberty of the vessel. At the same moment, the other three prisoners furiously attacked the sailors in the bunks, who, from the unexpected nature of the assault, were driven from their post wounded and unarmed. Lieutenant Mansfield, laying hold of a piece of firewood, gallantly but unequally contended with a Brazilian armed with a cutlass. In the course of a desperate struggle, the officer received no fewer than nine wounds, more or less severe; a greatcoat which he wore being, under Providence, the means of saving him from instant death. The two sailors who had been occupied in the shrouds, having reached the deck, of course unarmed, the lieutenant, nearly exhausted by profuse haemorrhage, made a violent effort to join them, in which he fortunately proved successful, though in his progress one of the prisoners discharged at him a marine’s musket, the contents of which took effect, inflicting a most dangerous wound in his head, and bringing him for an instant to the deck. Having succeeded in recovering his feet and gaining his men, he encouraged them to rush aft upon their armed antagonists—a piece of service which three of their number performed in the most daring manner; the fourth seaman (since dead) beinghors de combatfrom his wounds, and the lieutenant himself fainting at the instant from loss of blood. The intrepidity of the three British tars rendered them more than a match for their armed antagonists, whom they speedily overpowered, one of the prisoners leaping overboard and perishing in the waves. Believing their officer to be killed, the seamen, in the excitement of the moment, were about to hurl the surviving prisoners over the gangway, when Lieutenant Mansfield, partially reviving, ordered them to be imprisoned, that their wounds should be washed, and that they should be reserved to be dealt with by the authorities at Sierra Leone.
On the 1st of September theRomeo Primero, the scene of this bloody encounter, entered the port. Lieutenant Mansfield, who, since the day of the conflict, had scarcely been able to stir hand or foot, was promptly conveyed to sick-quarters, and for many days his life was entirely despaired of by his medical attendants. The gallant little crew, all wounded, were also looked after in the best manner which skill and sympathy could suggest; but two were soon beyond the reach of human succour,—one dying of the direct consequences of his wounds, and the second of fever induced by them. After a fortnight of extreme danger on shore, Lieutenant Mansfield showed symptoms of recovery, and in the same year received the rank of commander.
TheGrecianhaving captured a clipper Brazilian hermaphrodite brig, with nearly 500 slaves on board, Lieutenant D’Aguilar was placed in charge of her as prizemaster, with ten men, and ordered to proceed to Bahia, the sloop following him thither. The prize duly arrived, and anchored at Bahia before theGrecian, and not the slightest suspicion was entertained but that she was safe. In the course of the day, however, Lieutenant D’Aguilar received some hints to the effect that a combination was being made on shore among the slavers to attempt to retake the prize; and, although nothing definite was communicated, it was sufficient warning to him to be on the alert, and to take precautions which saved him and his men from being massacred. The evening passed off without disturbance; but about ten o’clock at night several boats from the shore were seen pulling for the brig, containing, it was estimated, 150 Brazilians. As they neared the prize, they were hailed, and ordered to keep off, but with some boldness they advanced alongside. The strangers having approached too near to be agreeable, Lieutenant D’Aguilar endeavoured to check them by a discharge of musketry. This commenced a most severe conflict, the fire being returned by the pirates as they dashed alongside and attempted to board. That firmness and undaunted bravery, however, which is characteristic of British seamen, was here displayed in an eminent degree; and the Brazilians, with their overpowering numbers, were completely beaten off by Lieutenant D’Aguilar and his little band, with a loss, on the enemy’s side, it is said, of upwards of ten killed and thirty wounded. As may naturally be supposed, where the contest was one at close quarters, and where each of the gallant defenders had so many assailants to wait upon, they did not come out of themêléeunscathed. Scarcely one of them escaped a mark, and several of them were severely wounded. Lieutenant D’Aguilar received many hurts about the head. It subsequently transpired that it was the intention of the Brazilians to have silently got alongside the vessel, and to have secured the prize-crew. They would then have cut the cables and made sail, to land the cargo of slaves at another part of the coast. This affair was the theme of general applause in the squadron on the station.