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PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF EVENTS,
PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF EVENTS,
From 1799 to 1815, WITH ANECDOTES . BY THE LATE VICE-ADM L. W M. STANHOPE LOVELL, R.N., K.H. SECOND EDITION. London: WM. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE, W. 1879. WITHERBY AND CO., PRINTERS, 74, CORNHILL; NEWMAN’S COURT, CORNHILL; AND 325A, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C. To Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Barrie , C.B., K.C.H. My dear Sir Robert, In dedicating the following pages to you, under whose command I had the honour of serving in the Chesapeake, &c., I do it with the greatest respect, esteem
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A Personal Narrative of Events. CHAPTER I.
A Personal Narrative of Events. CHAPTER I.
First trip to sea—Shipmates—Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, Bart, K.B. My father [A] and uncle both served their king and country in the American war of independence; the former was with Lord Cornwallis’s army when it surrendered at York to the American forces under the command of General Washington (he was at that time an officer in the 6th Regiment of Foot); and the latter in the 4th Dragoons. Both were magistrates for the county of Buckinghamshire, and served the office of high sheriff for t
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
Channel cruising—Boat expeditions—Anecdote of a gallant mid—Ditto of two dandy Guardsmen—Expedition to Ferrol—Sir James Pulteney, Sir Edward Pellew and the donkey—The unlucky cruise. Our first cruise was with the channel fleet off Brest, and to me, a boy of ten years old, it appeared a great feat, blocking up a superior French one in their own harbour, and offering them battle daily, without their daring to come out of port. The winter’s cruise of 1799 and spring of 1800 was very stormy; nothing
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
Cruise off Cadiz—Proceed up the Mediterranean to Egypt after a French squadron under Rear-Admiral Ganteaume, 1801. In November, 1800, we sailed for Gibraltar. I was much pleased to see the celebrated rock, so well defended by the gallant Elliot in 1782, and to read, on the spot, Colonel Drinkwater’s most amusing history of that famous siege. As late as the year 1801, the greater part of the garrison was still covered with shot and broken shells, thrown by the Spaniards at that period. They have
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
From the Peace of Amiens (1802) until the commencement of the second Gallic War—Gambling. I fortunately remained in the Mediterranean during the whole of the short peace, which helped on my mid’s time, in the Renown (74), with Captain John C. White [E] , a smart officer. Our worthy and amiable admiral struck his flag at Minorca, and returned to England, from whence he was shortly sent, at the request of the Emperor of Russia, to St. Petersburgh, as ambassador, and gave universal satisfaction. In
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
From the commencement of second Gallic War until the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805; with Anecdotes. Whilst off Naples official notice reached us of the declaration of war against France, and we proceeded immediately off Toulon, where, in the course of a short time, Lord Nelson arrived in a frigate, and took the command of the fleet in the Mediterranean. His lordship’s flagship (the Victory ) joined us in a few weeks, having on her passage out captured a French frigate, and some merchant vessels. We
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FEELINGS OF A CREW GOING INTO ACTION. BY LIEUT. H. GASCOIGNE, R.M.
FEELINGS OF A CREW GOING INTO ACTION. BY LIEUT. H. GASCOIGNE, R.M.
Extracted from a Poem called “Fame.” I shall never forget the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st of October, 1805. Signs of a movement in the combined fleets of France and Spain in Cadiz were made by signal on the 18th by the inshore squadron, and on the 19th the enemy came out of port. The wind was light and the day rather hazy, so that the body of our fleet never perceived them. Sunday we had a fresh breeze, when some of the headmost ships saw the enemy in shore, but they were too close under the land
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List of the French and Spanish combined fleets in action, off Cape Trafalgar, near Cadiz, 21st October, 1805—33 sail of the line, 3 frigates, 3 brigs.
List of the French and Spanish combined fleets in action, off Cape Trafalgar, near Cadiz, 21st October, 1805—33 sail of the line, 3 frigates, 3 brigs.
(The four ships marked thus (*) were taken a few days after the action by Sir Richard Strachan’s squadron.)...
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Names and Rank of French and Spanish Flag Officers in the battle.
Names and Rank of French and Spanish Flag Officers in the battle.
The loss of the combined fleet was twenty ships of the line, one admiral killed, and three taken; the total killed, wounded, and taken prisoners, was near 16,000 men and officers. In concluding the account of the Battle of Trafalgar, I think I shall be excused for copying into this olla two beautiful extracts from unknown authors. The first lines on the particular circumstance of each of the different powers having a ship of the line, called the Neptune , in the battle:—...
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Lord Nelson’s Death and Triumph.
Lord Nelson’s Death and Triumph.
From the Sheffield Paper, 1805. “Intelligence of a most glorious event, accompanied with tidings of an awful calamity (like the angels of mercy and affliction travelling together), has arrived on our shores, and awakened the public mind from the agony of despondence to a tumult of mingled emotions, sorrow and joy, mourning and triumph. “On the 21st of October, 1805, while the cowardly and incapable Austrian, General Mack, was surrendering himself and army into the hands of Bonaparte, the noble a
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
Join the Melpomene (38)—Sent up the Mediterranean—Tremendous weather, with thunder, lightning, and water-spouts—Ship loses her rudder and main-topmast—Proceed to Malta. Ten days after the action, I was appointed acting lieutenant of the Melpomene (38), Captain Peter Parker. The weather having moderated, we sailed in company with the Orion (74), Captain Codrington: Endymion (44), and Weazle brig, (18); to look into Toulon, and scour the Mediterranean, in search of a squadron of French frigates. W
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
Siege of Gaeta by the French—Boat affairs—My capture—Leghorn. After the repairs were made good, which took nearly two months, we sailed for Messina, and found there some transports waiting for a convoy to take a reinforcement of troops, with General Sherbrooke, to Egypt. The service being most pressing, we took them under convoy, and after a passage of three weeks, made the low sandy coast to the westward of Alexandria, on which were growing a few date or palm trees, planted in a cluster. We got
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CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
Malta—Dreadful accident by the Explosion of a Magazine in the town, on the Bermola side—Nearly get into a scrape about breaking quarantine—Kind answer of the gallant Admiral Sir Sidney Smith to the complaint—Rejoin the Melpomene —Mutiny in Fribourg’s regiment—Cruise in the Adriatic. On my arrival at Malta I learnt that the ship was on a cruise, and that she had lost, a short time after I was taken, our gallant first lieutenant, Andrew Thompson, who was killed, with most of his boat’s crew, in bo
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
North American station, from 1808 to 1811—Bermuda—Anecdote—Death of Captain Conn. We had a long passage out, running far to the southward, and crossing the tropic of Cancer before we hauled to the westward for the islands of Bermuda. In a squall we carried away the fore-yard, which, being a bad stick, went in three pieces. However, we soon made another, which answered our purposes remarkably well, and at the end of six weeks we arrived in Murray’s anchorage. These islands consist of a group of t
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
Lisbon—Trip to the Army of Lord Wellington—Montemor Novo, O’Rodondo, Villa Vicosa, Elvas, Fort le Lippe. I was appointed to a ship in the Tagus by the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir G. Berkeley, whose amiable family treated me with great kindness and attention. Having but little to do, I passed much time in examining the beautifully situated, but dirty town of Lisbon. If it were not for the scavenger dogs which prowl about and take “pot luck,” the streets would be impassable from filth. Having
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
Lisbon, Cintra, Mafra, etc., 1811, 1812—Second trip to the Army—Taking of Badajoz. I spent the remainder of the year in the Tagus, making, when duty permitted, excursions up that river to some of the small islands, near Alhandra, where we used to find snipe, quail, and other wild fowl. Sometimes we landed on the south side of the Tagus, to shoot red-legged partridges and woodcocks, which we occasionally met with near the Prince’s Quinta. But the most delightful place for snipe and wild fowl was
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
Cadiz, Minorca, Majorca, Alicant, Carthagena, Algiers, Oran, Altea Bay—Drive a French Privateer on shore near Denia. On the 13th of June I sailed in H.M. Ship Brune for Cadiz, at that time besieged by Marshal Soult. I waited on Admiral Legg, and our ambassador (Sir Henry Willesley), and delivered my despatches, and, after remaining there two days, proceeded to Gibraltar and Minorca, where I was placed under the orders of Rear-Admiral Benjamin Hallowell, who, on the 4th July, sent me to Palma Bay
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
Siege of the Col de Balaguer—A Reconnoitering Party—Raising of the Siege of Tarragona—Lieutenant-General Sir John and Lady Murray—Rear-Admiral Benjamin Hallowell—Viscount and Viscountess Mahon—Palermo, Veniros; upset in a boat—Valencia—Holland. Towards the end of May, 1813, embarking 300 men of the 67th Regiment, under Colonel Prevost, an officer who had distinguished himself at the battle of Barrosa, we sailed with the expedition from Alicant to lay siege to the castle of the Col de Balaguer an
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CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
1814—Sent to Bermuda—Operations in the Chesapeake—The River Patuxent—Expedition to Washington—Town of Rappahannock—River Rappahannock—Wedding Party—Commodore Robert Barrie, &c., &c. The ship having undergone the necessary repairs, which was very heavy work during the severe winter of 1813, towards the end of March we sailed for Spithead, where we embarked three hundred and fifty marines, and proceeded, in company with the Tonnant (80), Regulus (44), and Melpomene (38), en flute t
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CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
Operations in South Carolina—Capture of Cumberland Island and the Fort of Point-à-Petre—An Affair with the American Riflemen in the Woods—An Abattis—Anecdotes of the 2nd West India Regiment—A Rattlesnake—Capture of the Town of St. Mary’s—Destruction of the Forts and Barracks—Nassau, New Providence—Compliment to the Royal Marines—Return Home—Concluding Remarks. On the 11th of January, 1815, we took possession of Cumberland Island without meeting any resistance. The marine battalions, commanded by
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Copies of Correspondence.
Copies of Correspondence.
“Head-quarters, British Troops, “Bank of the St. Lawrence, “14th Nov., 1813. “Sir,— “The object of the present communication, which is made by desire of the officers in command of the British forces in this neighbourhood, is, in the first instance, to claim as prisoners two American officers who were taken on the morning of the 11th, previous to the action, and deserted to their own shore while on the way to Prescott. “I enclose a copy of their paroles. “William Gilkinson, Esq., of Prescott, is
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