CHAPTER XVIII

Capture of General Bordé and his staff--A gallant boarding exploit--A horrible murder by Italian prisoners of war--Success of our navy--A balance of accounts--My promotion--Quitting the _Bacchante_--Pain of leaving old friends and brave shipmates--The plague at Malta--Captain Pell gives me a passage home--An ineffectual chase and a narrow escape--Stratagems of the enemy--Toulon--Gibraltar--The English Channel--Ingenious device of Captain Pell resulting in the curious capture of a French privateer--Arrival in England--A kind reception by the First Lord of the Admiralty--An official promise--“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick”--A return to London--The peace of 1814--Its consequences--Half-pay and an end to all adventures.

On 13th February, at about 10 o’clock P.M., after a long chase we captured the _Vigilante_, a French courier gunboat bound for Otranto with despatches, which, of course, were thrown overboard before we took possession of her. She had on board of her General Bordé with his staff, who, we had discovered by intercepted letters, was then on his passage to take the command of the French forces at Verona.

At 2 A.M., being about ten or twelve miles from Otranto, a sail was perceived steering for that port. The wind being very light, our boats were despatched under Lieutenant Hood, who captured the enemy by boarding, in a gallant style, after a warm salute of grape and musketry, and before the rest of our boats could join him. This brave exploit reflected the greatest honour on this officer and his boat’s crew.

The prize proved to be the _Alcinous_, carrying a twenty-four-pounder carronade forward and an eighteen-pounder abaft. She had left Corfu with eight merchant-vessels, the whole of which we captured. The only person wounded on this occasion was the gallant commander, Lieutenant Hood, who received an injury in the vertebræ, which eventually deprived him of the use of the lower extremities by paralysis.

Of our three recent prizes, which were missing when we left Zante, we now found that one had arrived at her place of destination, but the third was still unheard of, and a most melancholy account was given of the second, under the command of Mr. Cornwallis Paley, a fine, promising young gentleman, who was beloved and esteemed by our captain and by everybody on board, and who had distinguished himself in the action off Lissa.

Mr. Paley’s crew, on taking charge of the prize, consisted of three excellent seamen and a young lad, a mizzen-top man. Three of the Italian prisoners were left on board, to assist in navigating the vessel. After parting company, a fourth Italian, who had been concealed in the hold, made his appearance on deck. It turned out that he had been the principal person who was interested in the vessel and cargo. The brave and honourable Englishman, influenced by his humanity, allowed the supplicating creature to join his countrymen. He was plausible and obsequious, and poor Paley, it appears, had rather liked his society as a relief to the dulness and monotony of his passage. Becalmed off Corfu, this miscreant proposed to Mr. Paley to anchor, which he did, and went below to dinner with his three seamen, leaving the four Italians and the English lad on deck. The Italians watched their opportunity, and seizing the young man murdered him, and then laid on the hatches to keep the English below. Poor Paley, hearing a noise on deck, suspected that all was not right, and starting from the table he forced one of the hatches up sufficiently to thrust his head on deck, when the inhuman wretches seized him by the hair, pulled his head back on the combings, and instantly cut his throat. The other three Englishmen were attacked in succession, and hewed down with an axe: the murderers eventually took the vessel into Corfu, where poor Paley and two of our seamen were interred; the other two, after they had recovered from their wounds, were exchanged and sent on board of us; and from them we learnt the appalling information. Was it not disgraceful that the public authorities did not bring these criminals to justice? Allowing prisoners to rise upon their captors can only have the effect of obliging conquerors to increase the severity inseparable from captivity, even in its mildest form; but when prisoners resort to butchery and murder, it behoves all civilised governments to bring them to justice.

For want of bread and provisions we were now obliged to repair to Malta; and from thence we returned to Zante and the Adriatic, to bid adieu to Admiral Freemantle--Captain Hoste having, in the interim, received orders from the commander-in-chief (Sir Edward Pellew) to join him off Toulon.

But, having again arrived at Malta on 19th April, I almost immediately received from Captain Hoste the joyful news that the Admiralty, in reward of my services up to 18th September 1812, had promoted me to the rank of commander. It would be injustice to my kind friends, were any fears of being accused of vanity to make me hesitate in saying that my promotion was hailed by my brave captain, and all my brother officers and the ship’s company, with a cordiality most grateful to my feelings. On the 22nd I quitted my companions in arms and my social friends, and bade adieu to the glorious frigate _Bacchante_, which received counter orders from Sir Edward Pellew to return to the Adriatic station.

My commission was dated 22nd January, sixteen days after I had been engaged in capturing the Corfu flotilla; and, in the hope that the arrival of the news of this victory would induce their lordships of the Admiralty to give me the command of a sloop-of-war in the Mediterranean, I remained at Malta, though the plague was raging most violently. It was the doctrine of the medical profession that the disease could be taken, not by infection, but only by contact, and therefore, mounted on a spirited charger, I daily rode through all parts of the city.

Captain Hollis of the _Achille_ found difficulty in taking me as a passenger to England, from an apprehension that I might communicate the plague; and at last I sailed in H.M. bomb-ship _Thunder_, commanded by Watkin O. Pell.

In passing through the Straits of Bonifacio we ineffectually chased several of the Corsican coral-boats. Some of our cruisers were more fortunate. The _Rainbow_, Captain William Gawen Hamilton, caught two of them.

We made the land off Toulon early in the morning, and narrowly did we escape capture. We were delighted at discovering what we supposed to be our own Mediterranean fleet, consisting of sixteen sail of the line, about ten miles from Cape Sicie. We should have rushed into the arms of supposed friends, had we not found, on coming within signal distance, that our private signal was not answered. The enemy, the better to deceive us, kept four sail of the line in advance (for which we steered, and made our signal to them), so that the remaining twelve might appear as a French fleet in chase of an English squadron. Discovering our error, we crowded all sail, and the caution of the enemy was evinced; for we sailed heavily, yet they dared not follow us (although they had a leading wind), lest they should lose the opportunity of regaining their port.

At Gibraltar, I had the satisfaction of receiving numerous letters from friends at home, some of them of very old dates, that had been in pursuit of me all over the Mediterranean and Levant.

At length we arrived at Portsmouth, and had to remain for six weeks in quarantine at the Mother-Bank. The joys of revisiting our own country were thus most cruelly damped. Never did men suffer more of tantalization. However, on the 4th of October, I had the happiness of putting my foot on England’s soil. I landed at Portsmouth, bade adieu to my hospitable host of the _Thunder_, and his kind and excellent officers, and made arrangements to proceed to London.

I had to regret that I had not gone up the Channel with my friend Captain Pell, who was ordered to take the _Thunder_ to Woolwich. Off the Oars’ light, he discovered a lugger to windward, under easy sail, which he suspected to be an enemy. Captain Pell directly altered his course, and bore up for the land, as if, to avoid capture, he intended to run his ship on shore. He yawed and steered wildly, and by these, and other symptoms of fear and confusion, the enemy was completely deceived. The lugger soon came up with the chase, and made an awful display of boarders; her decks being crowded with armed men. She at last hailed Captain Pell to strike his colours, or she would sink him. The order, of course, was not obeyed, and the lugger put her helm up to board. Pell immediately put his helm the contrary way, which instantly brought the boasting and confident enemy across the hawse of H.M. ship _Thunder_, and not of the harmless merchantman they had supposed. The brave and ingenious Pell had now succeeded both in his stratagem and manœuvre; and, seizing on the critical moment, he poured into the astonished Frenchmen the full contents of grape and canister of four guns; and, following this up by a volley of musketry, he rushed with his men (whom he had hitherto kept concealed) upon the enemy’s deck, and soon was the English flag floating over the tricolour. The enemy had four men killed and ten wounded; the _Thunder_ had only two wounded. This was a fortunate finale to our gallant officer’s cruise. The prize proved to be the _Neptune_, of sixteen guns, with a complement of sixty-five men actually on board; and the capture was important, as this fast-sailing, well-equipped vessel had been a great annoyance to our trade in the Channel. She was taken into Ramsgate. My friend, Captain Pell, was most deservedly advanced, for his numerous services, to the rank of post-captain, on the first of the ensuing month of November.

Arrived in London, the first Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Melville, received me courteously, and complimented me on my promotion, which he was pleased to say I had won by my services and merit. I pointed out to his lordship that the important capture of the Corfu flotilla, which had been achieved by me, was unknown in England when my promotion had been given to me, and I urged that I hoped this last service might procure me a ship. Lord Melville’s reply was, on my taking leave of his lordship, “You shall go afloat, Captain O’Brien; we will not keep you on shore.”

Most joyfully was I received by all my friends; whilst my naval companions congratulated me on the certainty of my soon receiving an eligible command. Week after week did I remain in the expensive metropolis, in the hope of getting a ship.

The success of the Americans at sea, and the capture of the gallant _Guerrière_,[46] by her leviathan opponent, now formed the subject of public and private conversation. I felt most anxious to be on the shores of the New World; but after writing to Lord Melville, and reminding him of his promise, I received an official reply, “That I was noted for consideration _at a convenient opportunity_.”

It was clear that a long holiday was before me, so passing over to Ireland I had the heavenly happiness of embracing my honoured and beloved parents, who had come to the Irish metropolis to receive me. Let no man undervalue the happiness of life who has felt the joy of embracing parents, after a long and painful absence, in which he has suffered much, and has been also fortunate in bearing a distinguished part in participating in honourable public services.

During the autumn of 1814 I was attacked with ague, a disease common to the bay of Dublin, and was in a state of convalescence when I received a welcome and unexpected official letter from the Admiralty, desiring me to repair immediately to London.

I proceeded to London forthwith, but, from a boisterous and unpleasant passage, had a relapse of the disease. However, as soon as I was equal to it, I saw Mr. Hay, the private secretary of the First Lord of the Admiralty, who received me very kindly; and the interview ended in his requesting me to leave my London address, as it was the intention of the First Lord to give me a ship.

I thanked Mr. Hay very much for the information, and took my leave by stating to him that I had been confined to my bed a fortnight, and that this was my first attempt at moving out.

Day after day I passed in feverish anxieties for the arrival of the letter appointing me to a command. Days, weeks, months, and, I may say, years passed, and no such letter was received.

Unfortunately for me, Napoleon had fallen six months before, and peace with America was now talked of; to this I attribute mainly the neglect of my incessant and anxious applications to be employed. The reply always was, that “I was noted for consideration at a convenient opportunity”; but there was added after a time the unhappy news, “that it was not intended at present to place any more ships in commission.”

I had seen my last war service, and may now bring my narrative to a conclusion.

Whatever may have been the circumstances of my captivity, the painful adventures that I was destined to endure, and the innumerable varieties of incidents that were crowded into my chequered fate, I trust that one thing is evident to the reader--that the honour of the British empire, with the character of the naval service, has always been uppermost in my mind: that I have ever loyally served--

The flag that braved a thousand years The battle and the breeze.

FINIS

APPENDIX

_A Copy of_ MR. ARCHIBALD BARKLIMORE’S _Letter to_ Capt. D. H. O’BRIEN, _on his arriving in England_.

_14 Dean Street, Soho_,

MY DEAR O’BRIEN--I hasten, knowing how anxious you will be to hear from your old fellow-traveller and fellow-prisoner, to inform you of my safe arrival in London, where I have been received and welcomed by numerous friends, as if I had actually been a resuscitated creature from the other world.

When I now look around me and see the cheerful countenances of the people of Old England, blessed in security under a paternal and just Government, I cannot help contrasting them with the meagre, squalid faces of those we have left behind, groaning under the tyranny of an usurper. Nor can I, my dear friend, conceal from you that I feel a something within me which proclaims aloud the great superiority of the British nation, and makes me no longer wonder that her sons, with their daring spirit, should break through prisons, bolts, and bars, and fly to protect so sacred a home! Shall I ever forget our exploits in scaling ramparts, eluding the vigilance of sentinels and guards, and all the hairbreadth ’scapes we had to encounter, from the time we got clear of the fortress of Bitche, until you had been hoisted up in a chair, with your disabled arm (which I fear you will lose), on board the _Amphion_? That, my good friend, was a severe conflict, and one which I shall never forget. It was the first time I had ever set my foot on board of a British ship-of-war’s boat; and it will be, I hope, a very long time before I again volunteer to go a cruise in one upon the enemy’s coast--at all events on the coast of Dalmatia.

A very remarkable circumstance has occurred since you and I parted, and would appear more like those unnatural tales of romance, of which we read in novels, than anything founded in truth incontestable. You must recollect the miserable and destitute plight in which our unfortunate companion, poor Batley, was, when we were driven to the necessity of leaving him at Rastadt: well, he was again arrested in Würtemberg, and confined closely in a prison; whence, after some weeks, he had the good fortune to outwit his keepers, and effect his escape. The poor fellow’s funds were now nearly exhausted, and little or no hope left him of ever being able to succeed. In this forlorn state, quite desponding, and overwhelmed with anguish, his singular appearance--you know what a tall, meagre, poor-looking creature “fat Jack” was--caught the eye of a lady who happened to be passing at that moment on the road. Her benign countenance gave him courage; he advanced and accosted her in his best manner--for Jack had the manners and address of a gentleman--explained to her candidly who he was, and his deplorable situation, and earnestly begged she would assist him in prosecuting his journey to Trieste. Most fortunately for him, this lady proved to be the wife of an officer at that time in the British army. She entered fully into his distressed condition, procured him the means which enabled him to reach Vienna; thence he proceeded to Trieste, where he found your old ship _Amphion_ ready to sail for Malta, and arrived there only, he stated, a few minutes before honest Hewson and you had quitted Malta in the _Leonidas_, to join Lord Collingwood.

The ship which I was in touched at Gibraltar; and on landing there, the first person I met was my long-lost friend Batley: never were two people more surprised and better pleased to catch once more a sight of each other. He immediately quitted his vessel, and engaged a passage in the same ship with me, and we arrived safe in England together.

I remain, My dear O’Brien,

Your sincere friend, (Signed) ARCHD. BARKLIMORE.

_2nd April 1809._

_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The most celebrated bearers of the name were Donogh O’Brien, King of Thomond (1208-1244), and Earl Donough O’Brien (1577-1624), one of Queen Elizabeth’s few Irish loyalists and a noted fighter in her behalf.

[2] One of the ships surrendered at the Texel in 1799.

[3] I here feel it a duty to state, that, for the boats which we seized from the poor fishermen, bills of exchange were given to the full amount of their value upon the English Government.

[4] Pointe St. Mathieu, on the left upon entering Brest.

[5] The step is that part of the mast that fixes in the boat; the fore-tye, the rope by which the foresail is hoisted up.

[6] He escaped, subsequently to me, with some other naval officers, from Bitche.

[7] Probably the _Préfet Maritime_ of Brest is meant; the Minister of Marine would of course be at Paris.

[8] In Sir Jahleel Brenton’s interesting _Autobiography_ the reader may find a long account of the misery prevalent among the British prisoners at Givet, and of the efforts which he took to get their grievances redressed.

[9] He died at Port Mahon on the 25th of July 1811, having been mortally wounded on 28th June, the day of the storming of Tarragona by Marshal Suchet.

[10] They made midshipmen, notwithstanding their officers were responsible for them, attend two _appels_, or musters, _per diem_; the not appearing at the exact time was formerly a fine of three livres (2s. 6d.), but afterwards the offenders were sent to Sarrelouis or Bitche, the depots of punishment.

[11] This town is seated on the banks of the river Serre, in Picardy. We learned since that it is famous for serge manufactories.

[12] Ashworth and Tuthill, as we shall see, were recaptured by the _gendarmes_ almost immediately. They were sent to Bitche and shared O’Brien’s captivity there. Ultimately they escaped, though not in our hero’s company, and made their way, like him, to Trieste, where they reached an English ship.

[13] Certainly not Zürich, which is over thirty miles away, with some high ground between. Perhaps O’Brien means Schaffhausen.

[14] The Ueberlinger See, or northern arm of the forked Boden See.

[15] O’Brien’s political geography is all wrong here. Both Constance and his destination, Meersburg, were in Baden territory. Hence there was no frontier difficulty, or requisition for passports. He really crossed the Würtemberg and Bavarian frontiers without knowing it, during his night march between Meersburg and Lindau.

[16] Erroneous geography. Meersburg, the town to which the ferry from Constance ran, is still in Baden.

[17] Probably Fischbach in Würtemberg, seven miles east of Meersburg. O’Brien must have eluded the frontier guard without knowing it.

[18] This would be Nonnenhorn, four miles west of Lindau, on the lake-shore.

[19] But before I quitted the commandant’s presence, I took the liberty of assuring him, that even if I was sent back to France, I felt confident that, by the blessing of God, I should again effect my escape, and in which case I would write and inform him of my success. This I eventually did from Trieste. I recollect relating this anecdote to Lord Collingwood at his table on board the _Ocean_, his flag-ship, off Toulon, and at which he appeared highly pleased.

[20] Evidently a slip for Munich, to which the application would be forwarded. Ulm is in Würtemberg, not in Bavaria.

[21] This was probably the town of Stockach.

[22] This small town had suffered greatly by fire, and had been lately entirely new built. It is situated on the Danube, thirty-three miles N.W. of Constance.

[23] This is the person I alluded to as an exception, with the kind gaoler at Arras, to all others that I met with in France.

[24] In the Franco-German war of 1870-71 Bitche was still so strong, even against modern artillery, that it maintained itself long after Strasburg, Metz, and all the other eastern fortresses had fallen, and was, along with Belfort, the only place where a really lengthy and obstinate defence was made.

[25] For a full text of the proceedings of this court-martial, the reader may consult Mr. Ashworth’s account of his adventures, published in Nos. 28, 31, 33 of the _Naval Chronicle_.

[26] Apparently Lauterburg.

[27] Batley was destined to escape. For the details of his adventures see Barklimore’s letter in Appendix A.

[28] It is impossible to say what O’Brien means by this. The hereditary prince of Baden, though in great favour with Napoleon, and married to Stephanie Beauharnais, his adopted daughter, was never made a king.

[29] Pope, in the “Essay on Man.”

[30] O’Brien alludes to the Wagram campaign, then only six months in the future.

[31] Napoleon’s last wild extension of the Continental System provided that a neutral ship should be considered fair prize if it had visited a British port, or even been searched by a British cruiser.

[32] This certificate I have still by me. It was given me by Lieut. Henry T. Lutwidge, our second lieutenant, a worthy officer, in Verdun, on 21st February 1807, and now a commander.

[33] In November 1808, the date of O’Brien’s stay in Trieste, all the eastern shores of the Adriatic were French territory save the small strips of land about Trieste and Fiume, which were Austrian. Dalmatia and Istria, like the other old dominions of Venice, had been annexed to Napoleon’s kingdom of Italy. In 1809 the Emperor appropriated Trieste and Fiume also, after his victory over Austria at Wagram. Thus O’Brien, a year later, would have found Trieste French.

[34] For this very serious wound, I have never received any pension, as it was not considered equivalent to the loss of a limb, when I was surveyed by order of the Lords of the Admiralty in May, 1817; and yet what is the difference between the loss of a limb, and the loss of the use of a limb?

[35] _I.e._ the Mediterranean squadron, then under Lord Collingwood, engaged in the blockade of Toulon.

[36] It appeared that the brigadier of _gendarmes_ had been invited by them to take a share of their dinner, on the very day that my letter had arrived. He handed Tuthill _this_ letter, saying it was not an English but a German one, and, contrary to the usual custom, he did not break the seal or inspect it: of course, it was not perused until after dinner, and after he had departed.

[37] From Ashworth’s narrative in the _Naval Chronicle_, vol. xxviii., it appears that he, with Tuthill, Brine, and two others escaped on 8th December, 1808, by means of a rope just similar to that which O’Brien had employed. They got safely off, and reached Trieste in February.

[38] The reader will find in vol. v. of James’s _Naval History_ many similar extracts from this same source.

[39] In order to realise the disparity of force, it is only necessary to give the list of the two squadrons--

FRANCO-ITALIAN.

[The first three ships were of the French, the others of the Italian navy.]

_Favorite_ 40 guns Commodore B. Dubourdieu. _Flore_ 40 “ Captain J. Alexandre Péridier. _Danaë__ 40 “ ? ? ? ? _Corona_ 40 “ Captain Paschaligo. _Bellona_ 32 “ Captain Duodo. _Carolina_ 32 “ Captain Palicuccia.

With the _Mercurio_ brig (16 guns), a 10-gun schooner, a 6-gun xebek, and two gunboats.

BRITISH.

_Amphion_ 32 guns Commodore William Hoste. _Active_ 38 “ Captain J. A. Gordon. _Cerberus_ 32 “ Captain Henry Whitley. _Volage_ 22 “ Captain Phipps Hornby.

Excluding the small vessels the enemy had 224 guns, the British 124!

[40] This twenty-line sentence deserves note as being perhaps the longest in modern English literature.

[41] In justice to an intrepid Gallic son of Neptune, who called forth general admiration, I must say that at the moment the _Flore_ made the effort to board the _Amphion_, a seaman appeared standing on her fore yard-arm, holding a fire-grapnel ready to hurl upon our decks; nor did he quit his perilous position until dislodged by our musketry, after several balls had struck the grapnel, when he flung it, but, being too far off, without effect, and, hastening to the opposite yard-arm, jumped overboard. The ultimate fate of this heroic fellow we could never learn, but I fear he must have perished.

[42] The guns being double-shotted.

[43] This letter Captain Hoste afterwards forwarded, under a flag of truce, to the captain of the _Flore_, to which an answer was written by the captain of the _Danaë_, stating the inability of M. Péridier to reply on account of his wound, and denying that the _Flore_ had struck; but the _Danaë’s_ captain, as if ashamed of his name, sent his letter without a signature.

[44] See Appendix, No. II.

[45] This was the midshipman who made the sketch from which the illustration facing page 314 is reproduced.

[46] Captured by the _Constitution_, Aug. 19, 1812. The American frigate was decidedly a larger and stronger vessel, yet hardly enough so to justify O’Brien in calling her a “leviathan.”

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

but this was considerable preferable=> but this was considerably preferable {pg 69}

the goaler’s wife=> the gaoler’s wife {pg 178}

with it broad expanse=> with its broad expanse {pg 229}

quitting the territory of Wurtemberg=> quitting the territory of Würtemberg {pg 245}