Chapter LVIII
How we passed the Sound, and what passed in the Sound The Captainoverhears again a conversation between Swinburne and me.
I was on the signal-chest abaft, counting the convoy, when Swinburnecame up to me. "There's a little difference between this part of theworld and the West Indies, Mr Simple," observed he. "Black rocks and firwoods don't remind us of the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, or the cocoa-nutwaving to the sea-breeze."
"Indeed not, Swinburne," replied I.
"We shall have plenty of calms here, without panting with the heat,although we may find the gun-boats a little too warm for us; for, dependupon it, the very moment the wind goes down, they will come out fromevery nook and corner, and annoy us not a little."
"Have you been here before, with a convoy, Swinburne?"
"To be sure I have; and it's sharp work that I've seen here, Mr Simple--work that I've an idea our captain won't have much stomach for."
"Swinburne, I beg you will keep your thoughts relative to the captain toyourself; recollect the last time. It is my duty not to listen to them."
"And I should rather think to report them also, Mr Simple," said CaptainHawkins, who had crept up to us, and overheard our conversation.
"In this instance there is no occasion for my reporting them, sir,"replied I, "for you have heard what has passed."
"I have, sir," replied he; "and I shall not forget the conversation."
I turned forward. Swinburne had made his retreat the moment that heheard the voice of the captain. "How many sails are there in sight,sir?" inquired the captain.
"One hundred and sixty-three, sir," replied I.
"Signal for convoy to close from the _Acasta_" reported the midshipmanof the watch.
We repeated it, and the captain descended to his cabin. We were thenrunning about four miles an hour, the water very smooth, and Anholtlighthouse hardly visible on deck, bearing N.N.W. about twenty miles. Infact, we were near the entrance of the Sound, which, the reader may beaware, is a narrow passage leading into the Baltic Sea. We ran on,followed by the convoy, some of which were eight or ten miles astern ofus, and we were well into the Sound, when the wind gradually died away,until it fell quite calm, and the heads of the vessels were laid roundthe compass.
My watch was nearly out, when the midshipman, who was looking round withhis glass on the Copenhagen side, reported three gun-boats, sweeping outfrom behind a point. I examined them and went down to report them to thecaptain. When I came on deck, more were reported, until we counted ten,two of them large vessels, called praams. The captain now came on deck,and I reported them. We made the signal of enemy in sight, to the_Acasta_, which was answered. They divided--six of them pulling alongshore towards the convoy in the rear, and four coming out right for thebrig. The _Acasta_ now made the signal for "Boats manned and armed to beheld in readiness." We hoisted out our pinnace, and lowered down ourcutters--the other men-of-war doing the same. In about a quarter of anhour the gun-boats opened their fire with their long thirty-twopounders, and their first shot went right through the hull of the brig,just abaft the fore-bits; fortunately, no one was hurt. I turned roundto look at the captain; he was as white as a sheet. He caught my eye,and turned aft, when he was met by Swinburne's eye, steadily fixed uponhim. He then walked to the other side of the deck. Another shot ploughedup the water close to us, rose, and came through the hammock-netting,tearing out two of the hammocks, and throwing them on the quarter-deck,when the _Acasta_ hoisted out pennants, and made the signal to send ourpinnace and cutter to the assistance of vessels astern. The signal wasalso made to the _Isis_ and _Reindeer_. I reported the signal, andinquired who was to take the command.
"You, Mr Simple, will take the pinnace, and order Mr Swinburne into thecutter."
"Mr Swinburne, sir!" replied I; "the brig will, in all probability, bein action soon, and his services as a gunner will be required."
"Well, then, Mr Hilton may go. Beat to quarters. Where is MrWebster?"[1] The second lieutenant was close to us, and he was orderedto take the duty during my absence.
I jumped into the pinnace, and shoved off; ten other boats from the_Acasta_ and the other men-of-war were pulling in the same direction,and I joined them. The gun-boats had now opened fire upon the convoyastern, and were sweeping out to capture them, dividing themselves intotwo parts, and pulling towards different portions of the convoy. In halfan hour we were within gunshot of the nearest, which directed its fireat us; but the lieutenant of the _Acasta_, who commanded the detachment,ordered us to lie on our oars for a minute, while he divided his forcein three divisions, of four boats each, with instructions that we shouldeach oppose a division of two gun-boats, by pulling to the outermostvessel of the convoy, and securing ourselves as much as possible fromthe fire, by remaining under her lee, and be in readiness to take themby boarding, if they approached to capture any of our vessels.
This was well arranged. I had the command of one division, for the firstlieutenants had not been sent away from the _Isis_ and _Reindeer_, andhaving inquired which of the divisions of gun-boats I was to oppose, Ipulled for them. In the meantime, we observed that the two praams, andtwo gun-boats, which had remained behind us, and had been firing at the_Racehorse_, had also divided--one praam attacking the _Acasta_, the twogun-boats playing upon the _Isis_, and the other praam engaging the_Rattlesnake _and _Reindeer_; the latter vessel being in a line with us,and about half a mile further out, so that she could not return anyeffectual fire, or, indeed, receive much damage. The _Rattlesnake_ hadthe worst of it, the fire of the praam being chiefly directed to her. Atthe distance chosen by the enemy, the frigate's guns reached, but theother men-of-war, having only two long guns, were not able to return thefire but with their two, the carronades being useless.
One of the praams mounted ten guns, and the other eight. The last wasopposed to the _Rattlesnake_, and the fire was kept up very smartly,particularly by the _Acasta_ and the enemy. In about a quarter of anhour I arrived with my division close to the vessel which was nearest tothe enemy. It was a large Sunderland-built ship. The gun-boats, whichwere within a quarter of a mile of her, sweeping to her as fast as theycould, as soon as they perceived our approach, directed their fire uponus, but without success, except the last discharge, in which, we beingnear enough, they had loaded with grape. The shot fell a little short,but one piece of grape struck one of the bowmen of the pinnace, takingoff three fingers of his right hand as he was pulling his oar. Beforethey could fire again, we were sheltered by the vessel, pulling close toher side, hid from the enemy. My boat was the only one in the divisionwhich carried a gun, and I now loaded, waiting for the discharge of thegun-boats, and then, pulling a little ahead of the ship, fired at them,and then returned under cover to load. This continued for some time, theenemy not advancing nearer, but now firing into the Sunderland ship,which protected us. At last the master of the ship looked over the side,and said to me, "I say, my joker, do you call this _giving meassistance?_ I think I was better off before you came. Then I had onlymy share of the enemy's fire, but now that you have come, I have it all.I'm riddled like a sieve, and have lost four men already. Suppose yougive me a spell now--pull behind the vessel ahead of us. I'll take mychance."
I thought this request very reasonable, and as I should be really nearerto the enemy if I pulled to the next vessel, and all ready to supporthim if attacked, I complied with his wish. I had positive orders not toboard with so small a force (the four boats containing but forty men,and each gun-boat having at least seventy), unless they advanced tocapture, and then I was to run all risks.
I pulled up to the other vessel, a large brig, and the captain, as soonas we came alongside, said, "I see what you're about, and I'll justleave you my vessel to take care of. No use losing my men, or beingknocked on the head."
"All's right--you can't do better, and we can't do better either."
His boat was lowered down, and getting in with his men, he pulled toanother vessel, and lay behind it, all ready to pull back
if a breezesprang up.
As was to be expected, the gun-boats shifted their fire to the desertedvessel, which our boat lay behind; and thus did the action in ourquarter continue until it was dark, the gun-boats not choosing toadvance, and we restricted from pulling out to attack them. There was nomoon, and, as daylight disappeared, the effect was very beautiful. Inthe distance, the cannonading of the frigate, and other men-of-war,answered by the praams and gunboats, reinforced by six more, as weafterwards found out--the vivid flashing of the guns, reflected by thewater, as smooth as glass--the dark outlines of the numerous convoy,with their sails hanging down the masts, one portion of the convoyappearing for a moment, as the guns were discharged in that direction,and then disappearing, while others were momentarily seen--the roar ofthe heavy guns opposed to us--the crashing of the timbers of the brig,which was struck at every discharge, and very often perforated--with thewhizzing of the shot as it passed by;--all this in a dark yet clearnight, with every star in the heavens twinkling, and, as it were,looking down upon us, was interesting as well as awful. But I soonperceived that the gun-boats were nearing us every time that they fired,and I now discharged grape alone, waiting for the flash of the fire toascertain their direction. At last I could perceive their long, lowhulls, not two cables' length from us, and their sweeps lifting from thewater. It was plain that they were advancing to board, and I resolved toanticipate them if possible. I had fired ahead of the brig, and I nowpulled with all my boats astern, giving my orders to the officers, andlaying on our oars in readiness. The gun-boats were about half a cable'slength from each other, pulling up abreast, and passing us at about thesame distance, when I directed the men to give way. I had determined tothrow all my force upon the nearest boat, and in half a minute our bowswere forced between their sweeps, which we caught hold of to force ourway alongside.
The resistance of the Danes was very determined. Three times did Iobtain a footing on the deck, and three times was I thrown back into theboats. At last we had fairly obtained our ground, and were driving themgradually forward, when, as I ran on the gunwale to obtain a positionmore in advance of my men, I received a blow with the butt end of amusket--I believe on the shoulder--which knocked me overboard, and Ifell between the sweeps, and sunk under the vessel's bottom. I roseunder her stern; but I was so shook with the violence of the blow, thatI was for some time confused; still I had strength to keep myself abovewater, and paddled, as it appeared, away from the vessel, until I hitagainst a sweep which had fallen overboard. This supported me, and Igradually recovered myself. The loud report of a gun close to mestartled me, and I perceived that it was from the gun-boat which I hadboarded, and that her head was turned in the direction of the othergun-boat. From this, with the noise of the sweeps pulling, I knew thatmy men had succeeded in capturing her. I hallooed, but they did not hearme, and I soon lost sight of her. Another gun was now fired; it was fromthe other gun-boat retreating, and I perceived her pulling in-shore, forshe passed me not twenty yards off. I now held the sweep with my hands,and struck out off the shore, in the direction of the convoy.
A light breeze rippled the water, and I knew that I had no time to lose.In about five minutes I heard the sound of oars, and perceived a boatcrossing me. I hailed as loud as I could--they heard me, laid on theiroars--and I hailed again--they pulled to me, and took me in. It was themaster of the brig, who, aware of the capture of one gun-boat, and theretreat of the other, was looking for his vessel; or, as he told me, forwhat was left of her. In a short time we found her, and, although verymuch cut up, she had received no shot under water. In an hour the breezewas strong, the cannonading had ceased in every direction, and we hadrepaired her damages, so as to be able to make sail, and continue ourcourse through the Sound.
Here I may as well relate the events of the action. One of the otherdivisions of gun-boats had retreated when attacked by the boats. Theother had beaten off the boats, and killed many of the men, but hadsuffered so much themselves, as to retreat without making any capture.The _Acasta_ lost four men killed, and seven wounded; the _Isis_, threemen wounded; the _Reindeer_ had nobody hurt; the _Rattlesnake_ had sixmen killed, and two wounded, including the captain; but of that I shallspeak hereafter.
I found that I was by no means seriously hurt by the blow I hadreceived: my shoulder was stiff for a week, and very much discoloured,but nothing more. When I fell overboard I had struck against a sweep,which had cut my ear half off. The captain of the brig gave me dryclothes, and in a few hours I was very comfortably asleep, hoping tojoin my ship the next day; but in this I was disappointed. The breezewas favourable and fresh, and we were clear of the Sound, but a long wayastern of the convoy, and none of the headmost men-of-war to be seen. Idressed and went on deck, and immediately perceived that I had littlechance of joining my ship until we arrived at Carlscrona, which provedto be the case. About ten o'clock, the wind died away, and we had fromthat time such baffling light winds, that it was six days before wedropped our anchor, every vessel of the convoy having arrived before us.
[Footnote 1: Webster, however, had left the ship at Yarmouth. See p.202.--ED.]