CHAPTER XII
BACK ON THE "TARTAR"
The next morning broke fair. Their late foe had dropped out of sight onthe previous evening, but now, when the sun rose, Tom made out thetop-sails of a large ship on the horizon.
"She is coming towards us, lads, and by the course she is steering shewill pass within three miles of us. Is she English or French?"
"She is too far away yet to be certain," Dimchurch said, "but I can't helpthinking she is French."
"At any rate, Dimchurch, our best course will be to lower the sail, shakethe reef-points out, and have it ready for hoisting at a moment's notice.Now that the wind is light again I should fancy we could get away fromher; with a start of two or three miles she would have no chance whateverof catching us."
Suddenly Tom Stevens exclaimed:
"There is a sail coming up from behind. She looks to me close-hauled. Ifboth ships come on they are bound to meet; if one is French and the otheris English they are likely to have a talk to each other. In that case weshould be able to tell friend from foe by the colours, and could then makefor the English ship."
They sat anxiously watching the two ships, and soon they saw that thepoint of meeting must be very near their own position. Presently theirhulls became visible, and Dimchurch pronounced one to be a thirty-two-gunfrigate, and the other a forty or forty-two. They then made out that theone coming up from the south was flying the white ensign, and at once theyhoisted their sail and made for her. Equally intent upon a fight, the twovessels approached each other without paying the slightest attention tothe little craft.
"The Frenchman means fighting, and as he has ten guns to the good he maywell think he is more than a match for our ship. Do you know her,Dimchurch?"
"I think she is the _Lysander_, sir, though I can't be sure; there are somany of these thirty-twos."
The vessels, as they passed, exchanged broadsides. Then both tacked, butthe Englishman was the quicker, and he raked the French frigate as shecame round. Then they went at it hammer and tongs. The Frenchman sufferedvery heavily in spars and rigging, but at last the foremast of the Englishship fell over her side. The Frenchman at once closed with her, and afterpouring in a broadside, tried to board her.
The little boat bore up to the stern of the English ship. A desperateconflict was going on at that point, and failing to get up they movedalong the side. Here a rope, which had been cut by the French fire, washanging overboard, and, grasping this, they climbed up to a port-hole. Thedeck was deserted, all hands having rushed up to meet the attack of theFrench boarders. Without a moment's delay they snatched cutlasses from arack and ran up the companion to the upper deck.
Here things were going somewhat badly. The French were much more numerousthan the English, and were forcing them back by sheer weight of numbers.The new-comers rushed at once into the fray, and laid about them lustily.The force and suddenness of the onslaught caused the enemy to hesitate,and at the same time it had the effect of inspiring to fresh efforts theEnglish crew, who, having lost their captain and first lieutenant, werebeginning to lose heart. They answered the cheers of their strangely-cladallies, and with one accord charged to meet them. At that moment Dimchurchalmost severed the French captain's head from his body by a sweeping blow,and the French, being disheartened by the loss of their leader, gave way.The English sailors redoubled their efforts, and after ten minutes ofdesperate fighting succeeded in driving their foes back to their own ship.Then the men ran to their guns again and the cannonade recommenced. Butthe spirit of the two crews had changed. The French were discouraged bytheir failure, and the British were exultant over their success.Consequently the guns of the English ship were fired with far morerapidity and precision than those of the French. Several of the port-holesof the French ship were knocked into one, and when at last her mainmast,which had been hit several times, fell over her side, her flag was rundown amidst tremendous cheering from the English ship.
Immediately all hands were engaged in disarming and securing the Frenchprisoners. When these had been sent below, the decks of both ships werecleared of the dead. Then the bulk of the crew set to work to cut away thewreckage, secure damaged spars, and stop holes near the water's edge. Atlast the second lieutenant, who was now in command, had time to turn tothe strangers. Will was superintending the work, while Dimchurch and Tomwere working hand in hand with the crew.
"May I ask," said the lieutenant, addressing Will, "who it is that has somysteriously come to our assistance?"
"Certainly," said Will, laughing; "I had quite forgotten that I am clothedin strange garments. I am a midshipman belonging to the _Tartar_. One ofmy companions is a boatswain's mate, and the other is an A.B. on the sameship. We were sent with a lieutenant and ten men to overhaul a craftwhich, though she was somewhat suspicious looking, seemed to have but asmall crew. When we got alongside her, however, we found to our disgustthat she was manned by at least a hundred Algerines. The lieutenant andseven of the crew were killed, and three others, my two companions, andmyself were made prisoners and carried to Algiers. We three escaped, and,capturing the small craft which you will see lying by the side of yourship, made for the open sea. An Algerine nearly recaptured us in the galeyesterday, but fortunately she carried away her mast and we again escaped.This morning we saw two ships approaching us, and when we made out theirnationalities we knew there was bound to be a fight. Naturally we made foryour ship, and when we found that the French had boarded you we did ourbest to aid you to drive them back. My name is Gilmore."
"Well, Mr. Gilmore, I have to thank you most heartily for the veryefficacious aid you have rendered us. Things were going very badly, butyour unexpected appearance, your strange attire, and the strength andbravery with which you fought, quite turned the tables. I think," he saidwith a laugh, "the French must have taken you for three devils come to ourassistance, and certainly you could not have fought harder if you hadbeen. You will, I hope, give us your assistance until we reach Malta, towhich port, of course, I shall carry the prize. Our third lieutenant isseverely wounded, and I have lost two of my midshipmen."
"Certainly, sir, and I will place myself at once under your orders."
"The two midshipmen who have fallen were the seniors," the lieutenantsaid, "and as you must be two or three years older than the others I'llappoint you acting-lieutenant. Our first duty here will be to rig up ajury foremast. I'll appoint you, however, temporary commander of the_Camille_, which is, I see, the name of our prize. I can only spare youforty men. We have lost forty-three killed and at least as many wounded,and I have therefore only a hundred and ten altogether fit for service,and must retain seventy for the work of refitting. I should not attempt toget up a jury mainmast on the _Camille_. It will be better to clear awaythe wreckage and secure her other two masts in case we meet with anothersquall."
"I understand, sir. If either of the midshipmen that have been killed isabout my size, I should be glad to rig myself out with a suit from hischest, for my appearance at present is rather undignified for a Britishofficer. I should also be glad if the purser's clerk would issue a coupleof suits for my two men. I may tell you that they have been with me inevery ship in which I have served, and indeed entered the navy with me. Itherefore regard them quite as personal friends. The bigger of the twoheld the position of boatswain under me in a small craft of which I hadcommand in the West Indies, as well as on the _Tartar_."
"Very well, then, by all means give him the temporary rank of boatswain onboard the _Camille_, and you can appoint the other as boatswain's mate."
"Thank you, sir! I am very much obliged. It would be difficult to find twobetter men."
In ten minutes Will was attired in a midshipman's uniform, and his twocompanions, to their great relief, in the clothes of British seamen. Theythen crossed to the _Camille_ with the forty men whom the lieutenant hadtold off as a prize crew. Work was at once begun, and before sundown thefore and mizzen masts were as firmly secured as if
the mainmast were stillin its place. Will felt that they could now meet a storm withoutuneasiness. Next morning the repairs to the hull were begun, pieces ofplank covered with tarred canvas being nailed over the shot-holes, and erethe day was done the _Camille_ had a fairly presentable appearance.Meanwhile the crew of the _Lysander_ had been hard at work, and had gotthe jury-foremast into position and securely stayed.
"You have made a very good job of the prize, Mr. Gilmore," the lieutenantsaid. "Of course she is a lame duck without her mainmast, but we'll sailtogether, and so will show a good face to any single ship we may meet."
"I should certainly think so, sir. Should any ship heave in sight I willget all the guns loaded on both broadsides. Of course, I should only beable to work one side at a time, but with forty good men I could keep up apretty hot fire."
"I will give you ten more, Mr. Gilmore. Now that our repairs are finishedI can manage that easily, and as the _Camille_ is a bigger ship than the_Lysander_ you ought certainly to have as many as can be spared."
"Thank you, sir! I am sure I could make a good fight with that number, andas we have covered all the shot-holes with canvas, and so do not appear tobe injured in the hull, I don't think any one ship would think of meddlingwith us, unless, of course, she were a line-of-battle ship. In that caseour chance would be a small one, although, by presenting a resolute front,we might cause her to sheer off without engaging us."
Fortunately they fell in with no enemy on their way to Malta. When theyarrived in port the lieutenant went to the flag-ship with his report. Theadmiral was greatly pleased at the capture, and he was speciallyinterested when he learned the share that Will and his two companions hadtaken in the fight, and the manner in which Will had performed his dutieswhile in command of the _Camille_.
"Gilmore?" he asked. "That is the name of a young midshipman who was onboard the _Furious_. Is that the man?"
"I believe he is, sir."
"Well, tell him to come and see me when he is disengaged."
The lieutenant reported this when he returned, and a little later Willwent on board the flag-ship.
"Well, Mr. Gilmore," said the admiral, "so you are still to the fore. Iread some time ago the official report of a midshipman of your name in theWest Indies who had captured two vessels, each larger than the craft hecommanded, and I wondered whether it was the lad I had met here."
Will acknowledged that he had commanded on that occasion.
"It shows that the admiral there was as struck as I was myself with yourdoings, that he should have appointed you to command that craft, when hemust have had so many senior midshipmen to select from. What had youdone?"
"It was really nothing, sir. We were lying off a pirate stronghold, butcould not get at it, as our ship was too deep for the shallow approaches.In the course of conversation in the midshipmen's mess I happened tosuggest that if we got hold of some native craft we might be able to beardthe lion in his den, and one of the elder midshipmen reported the idea toone of the lieutenants, who passed it on to the captain, who put it intoexecution. The result was that we captured two vessels and a very largeamount of plunder which they had stored on an island. I got a great dealmore credit than was due to me, for I had only suggested the plan whenjoking with my companions, and the captain improved upon it greatly incarrying it out. It was very good of him to mention in his report that theoriginal idea was mine."
"It was a good plan," the admiral said, "and you well deserve the credityou got. And so it was for that that you got the command of the cutter!Tell me about the capture of those two pirate vessels."
Will related the story of the trap that had been formed for _L'Agile_, andthe manner in which he had captured his two opponents.
"Admirably managed, Mr. Gilmore," the admiral said. "How much longer haveyou to serve?"
"I have another year yet, sir."
"Well, a commission is to sit here next week to pass midshipmen. I willdirect them to examine you, and will see that you get your step the dayyou finish your term of service. If I had the power I would pass you atonce, but that is one of the things an admiral cannot do. But how was itthat you got on board the _Lysander_?"
Will related the story of his captivity with the Algerines and his escape.
"Just what I should have expected of you," the admiral said. "I fancy itwould take a very strong prison to hold you. Well, tell Lieutenant Hearseythat I shall expect him to dinner to-day, and that he is to bring you withhim. I'll ask two or three other officers to meet you, and you shall thentell the story of your adventures."
A post-captain and three other captains dined that evening with theadmiral, and when Will had modestly related his adventures theycomplimented him highly. Two of them happened to be on the examiningcommittee, and consequently Will passed almost without question. A fewdays later he was appointed temporarily to a ship bound for the blockadingfleet of Toulon, where he was informed he would probably find his ownship. When he and his two companions rejoined the _Tartar_ they werewarmly congratulated on their escape from Algiers.
"I am sorry for the loss of Lieutenant Saxton," the captain said, whenWill had reported the manner in which they had been captured. "He was agood officer, and in this case he was not to blame. With our telescopes wecould only see a few men on board the Algerine, and they must have kept upthe deception till the last. It is to be regretted that you followed herso far out of reach of our guns, though, so far as his fate was concerned,we could not have altered it even if we had been within easy range.
"At any rate, Mr. Gilmore, you were by no means to blame in the affair,and I congratulate you on having effected your escape with your twofollowers."
They had only rejoined the _Tartar_ a short time when, on the 5thFebruary, 1794, the captain was signalled to proceed with a small squadronthat was to sail, under Captain Linzee of the _Alcide_, as commodore, toCorsica, where a force under General Paoli had asked for assistance intheir endeavours to regain their freedom.
The chief strongholds of that island were the fortified towns of SanFiorenzo, Bastia, and Calvi. These towns are near each other, and as thetroops scornfully rejected his summons to surrender, the commodore wasplaced in a difficulty. The force under his command was not strong enoughto blockade the three forts at once, while they were so near each otherthat to blockade one or two and leave the entrance to the other open wouldhave been useless. He determined at first to take Forneilli, a fortifiedplace two miles from San Fiorenzo, but when he opened the attack he foundthat it was so much more strongly fortified than he had anticipated thatits capture could not be effected without more loss than the gain of theposition would justify.
Lord Hood then placed a squadron of frigates under Captain Nelson'scommand to cruise off the north-western coast of the island so as toprevent supplies being introduced, and he also sailed there himself withsome of his seventy-fours and a body of soldiers under Major-generalDundas. Before he arrived, Nelson had done something towards facilitatinghis enterprise, for, having learned that the French in San Fiorenzo drewtheir supplies of flour from a mill near the shore, he landed a body ofseamen and soldiers and burnt the mill, threw into the sea all the flourcontained in it and in a large storehouse close to it, and regained hisship without the loss of a man.
When Lord Hood arrived he ordered Nelson to land on the island to preventsupplies from getting into Bastia, and took charge of the siege of SanFiorenzo himself. On his way Nelson captured the town of Maginaggio,routed the garrison, and destroyed a great quantity of provisions whichwere being prepared for a number of French vessels in the harbour. LordHood commenced the siege by attacking the town of Mortella. The garrisonfought with great bravery and inflicted heavy loss upon the _Fortitude_,seventy-four guns, to which the task of battering was assigned. As she wasevidently getting the worst of it the _Fortitude_ was withdrawn, but theshore batteries were more successful, and the place being set on fire thegarrison surrendered.
The Convention redoubt was the next place to be attacked. It was fortifiedin a m
ost formidable manner, and indeed was so strongly constructed as towithstand any ordinary attack. A short distance away, however, was a rockrising seven hundred feet above the level of the sea, which entirelycommanded it. This the enemy had left unfortified and unguarded becausethey believed it was inaccessible. In many places it was almostperpendicular, and though there was a path leading to the summit, this wasin very few places wide enough to allow more than one person to ascend ata time. Admiral Hood in person reconnoitred and decided that a batterycould be formed on the summit.
The next day Will was on shore in command of a party of thirty men whowere to start getting up the guns. The sailors looked at the rock and atthe guns in dismay.
"La, Mr. Gilmore," one of them said, "we can never get them up there! Inthe first place it is too steep, and in the second it is too rough. Itwould take two hundred men to do it, and even they would not be much good,for the path winds and twists so much that they could not put theirstrength on together."
Will looked at the path, and at the hill on which the new battery was tobe formed.
"You see, sir," another said, "the path would have to be blasted in lotsof places to make room for the guns, and we have got no tools for thejob."
Will did not answer. He saw that what the men said was correct. Presently,however, his eye fell upon an empty rum puncheon, and at once his thoughtsflashed back to the West Indies.
"Wheel that puncheon here, men."
Much surprised, the men did as they were ordered.
"Now knock out both ends, and when you have tightened the hoops again,fill the barrel about a third full with sticks, grass, bits of wood,anything you can come across."
The men scattered at once to collect the ballast, with some doubts intheir minds as to whether the midshipman had not gone out of his senses.In about fifteen minutes they had carried out his instructions.
"Dismount the gun," he then ordered, "and put it inside the barrel."
When this had, with some difficulty, been accomplished, and the barrelsurrounded the centre of the gun, he said: "Now fill up the barrel withthe rest of that rubbish."
The sailors had now caught the idea, and very soon they had the guntightly packed into its novel carriage. Two long ropes were then passedround the puncheon, the ends being carried a little way up the hill. Thisformed a parbuckle, and when the men hauled upon the upper lengths of theropes the cask easily rolled up to the ends of the lower lengths. Thisoperation was repeated again and again, and gradually the cask moved upthe rock. At places it had to be hauled up lengthways, boards being placedunderneath it to give it a smooth surface over which to glide instead ofthe rough rock, and men encouraging it from behind with levers. While theywere at work Nelson came up and stood watching them for some minuteswithout speaking.
"Where did you learn how to do that?" he said to Will at last.
"I heard of it at the siege of St. Pierre, sir."
"Well, you profited by your lesson. It is a pleasure to see a young fellowuse his wits in that way. But for your sharpness I question whether weshould ever have got the guns up there. I was looking at it myselfyesterday, and I doubted then whether it was at all practicable. You havesettled the question for me, and I'll not forget you. What is your name,sir?"
"Gilmore of the _Tartar_."
Nelson made a note of it and walked away.
The work took two days of tremendous labour, the seamen being relievedthree times a day. Will was constantly on the spot directing andsuperintending the operations, and had the satisfaction at last of seeingsix guns placed on the summit of the rock.
Next morning the besieged were astonished when the guns opened fire uponthem from the rock, for, the path being at the back, they had not seenwhat was going on. As they could obtain no shelter from this attack, andthere was no possibility of silencing the guns, they hastily abandoned thepost and retreated on San Fiorenzo. The battery on the rock, however, alsocommanded the town, which, accordingly, had to be abandoned on thefollowing day, the garrison retiring to the adjoining ridge of ground andto Bastia, which was considered the strongest place in the island.
The capture of San Fiorenzo was the more valuable, inasmuch as in theharbour were two frigates, the _Minerve_ and _La Fortunee_, both of whichbecame our prizes. The _Minerve_, thirty-eight guns, was sunk by theFrench, but was weighed by our men and taken into the service, when shewas renamed the _San Fiorenzo_.
Nelson was immensely pleased with the manner in which the operation ofgetting the guns up the rock had been performed, and requested the captainof the _Tartar_ that Will should be permanently stationed on shore to actas his own aide-de-camp, a request which was, of course, complied with.
In the meantime Nelson had reconnoitred Bastia and the neighbouring coast,and recommended that troops and cannon be disembarked, for he wasconvinced that a land force of about a thousand, in co-operation with afew ships, would be sufficient to reduce the place. Unfortunately thegeneral commanding the troops was one of the most irresolute of men, andwhen, after a few days, he resigned the command, in consequence of hisdifferences with Lord Hood, his successor, General D'Aubant, was stillmore incapable. He pronounced at once that, though the force at hiscommand was almost double that which Nelson asked for, it was insufficientfor the work required of it. Nelson, burning with indignation, decidedthat the attempt to take Bastia must be made, and that if the army wouldnot do it the navy must.
Lord Hood agreed with him, but even when it was decided to undertake thesiege, D'Aubant insisted on their doing without a single soldier or asingle cannon, and, retiring to San Fiorenzo, kept his men inactive whilethe sailors were performing the work. On the 17th of February, 1794, thefortified town of Mareno, a little to the north of Bastia, was captured,and four days later a reconnaissance was made. Nelson's ship, the_Agamemnon_, was supported by the _Tartar_ and the frigate _Romulus_. Asthey passed slowly in front of the town thirty guns opened upon them withshot and shell. Nelson lowered his sails, and for an hour andthree-quarters peppered the forts so warmly that at last the Frenchgarrison deserted their guns. One battery, containing six guns, wastotally destroyed. The citizens of Bastia were eager to surrender, but thegovernor declared that he would blow up the city if such a step weretaken. Two days later Nelson was preparing to repeat the blow, but asudden calm set in, and he could not get near the town. In a short timethe opportunity for carrying the place by assault passed away, as theFrench officers were indefatigable in strengthening their fortifications,and soon rendered the town practically impregnable.
Nelson, however, maintained the blockade in spite of heavy weather, and inthe middle of March provisions were so short in the place that a pound ofbread was selling for half a crown. Nelson himself was almost as muchstraitened for provisions, but the admiral contrived to send him a supply.
Nelson pitched a tent on shore and personally superintended all theoperations. A considerable body of seamen were landed, and worked likehorses, dragging guns up heights that appeared inaccessible, making roads,and cutting down trees with which to build abattis.