Part 20

At about nine o’clock a fire was observed on board the Orient. To those on board the Bellerophon it appeared to be on the second deck; while to those on board the Swiftsure it appeared to be in the French flagship’s mizzen chains. The origin of the accident has been variously explained. By some it is said to be due to paint-pots, oil and other combustibles in the chains. Others decide that it was due to premature ignition of combustibles arranged by the French to burn the English ships. The truth will never be known now. At any rate, all of the Swiftsure’s guns which would bear were directed to fire upon the seat of combustion. It was soon evident that they were firing with precision--for the French could not approach the spot. The Bellerophon, much damaged by her powerful opponent, and fearing fire for herself, now cut her stern cable, loosed her spirit-sail, and wore clear of the Orient’s guns. The Orient was keeping up a splendid and uninterrupted fire from the first deck in particular, even after the upper part of the ship was entirely involved in flames. Scarcely had the Bellerophon effected her escape when her foremast fell over her port bow, killing a lieutenant and several men by its fall. The fact that the Bellerophon could thus drop clear shows that the French line continued to lay head to the wind, although many statements to the contrary were made.

At about ten the Orient blew up, with a tremendous explosion, which seemed, for the time, to paralyze every one, in both fleets. It must have been an awful sight, of which description would fall short; for certainly, no vessel of such a size had blown up before, and none so large has blown up since. The effect produced upon the adjacent ships was different. The Alexander, Swiftsure and Orion, the three nearest English ships, had made every preparation for the event which they saw was inevitable. They closed their ports and hatchways, removed from their decks all cartridges and combustible material, and had their firemen ready, with buckets and pumps. The shock of the explosion shook the ships to their very keelsons, opened their seams, and did considerable other injury. A flaming mass flew over the Swiftsure. Some burning fragments fell into her tops, but the wise action of her commander in not hauling further off probably saved her. A part of the blazing mass fell on board the Alexander, much further off than the Swiftsure, and a port-fire set fire to some of the upper sails of the Alexander, as well as to her jib. The crew extinguished the flames, after cutting away the jib-boom and other spars. The Alexander then dropped to a safer distance.

Among the French ships, the Franklin received the greatest share of burning wreck from the Orient. Her decks were covered with red-hot pitch, pieces of timber, and burning rope. She caught fire, but they succeeded in putting it out. The Tonnant, a near neighbor, just before the explosion, slipped her cable and dropped clear. The Heureux and Mercure did the same.

After the explosion it was full ten minutes until a gun was fired again. On both sides there was a sort of paralysis, and a waiting for what next was to occur. The wind seemed to have been lulled by the concussion, but then freshened up again, whistled about the rigging of the ships, ruffled the surface of the water, and aroused, by its cool breath, the benumbed faculties of the combatants.

The first ship to renew the fire was the much damaged French ship Franklin. She had only her lower battery, but opened with that, upon the Defence and Swiftsure; and they returned it, with full effect. Being surrounded by enemies, the gallant Franklin, fighting until her main and mizzen masts had gone by the board, and having scarcely a serviceable gun left, and half her crew dead or wounded, hauled down her colors.

It was now midnight. The Tonnant was the only French ship which kept her battery in active play. Her shot annoyed the Swiftsure, particularly; while the latter, owing to the position of the Alexander, could make little or no return.

At 3 A.M. the formidable and unremitting fire of the Tonnant shot away the main and mizzen masts of the Majestic; and shortly after, the Tonnant herself had all three masts shot away, close to the deck. The wreck of the masts falling over her battery caused her to cease firing, but, for all that, she did not strike. Indeed, by veering cable, she had dropped to leeward of her second position, and there lay, like a lion at bay.

The Heureux and Mercure having, as stated, withdrawn from the line, left room for the Tonnant to take a position ahead of the Guillaume Tell and the two ships in her rear. This she did; and then a second interval of silence occurred in this awful battle.

Just as day broke, about four o’clock, the fire opened again, between the Tonnant, Guillaume Tell, Généreux and Timoléon, on the French side, and the Alexander and the Majestic on the other. This firing soon brought down the Theseus and Goliath.

Soon after these ships arrived, the French frigate Artémise fired a broadside at the Theseus, and then struck her colors. A boat was dispatched from the English ship, to take possession; but the frigate was discovered to be on fire, and soon after blew up. In the meantime the four French line-of-battle ships, and the two frigates inside of them, kept dropping to leeward, so as, presently, to be almost out of gunshot of the English vessels that had anchored to attack them.

At about six o’clock in the morning the Goliath and Theseus got under way, and, accompanied by the Alexander and Leander, stood towards the French Mercure and Heureux. These, on quitting the line, had first anchored within it, and then had run on shore on the southerly side of the bay. These two ships, after interchanging a few distant shots, struck their colors.

About an hour before noon the Généreux and Guillaume Tell, with the frigates Justice and Diane, got under way, and made sail to the northeast, the absence to leeward of the three English ships which were in a condition to carry sail giving them an opportunity to get clear. The Timoléon, being too far to leeward to fetch clear, ran herself on shore, losing her fore-mast by the shock. The four other French ships now hauled close, on the port tack, and the Zealous, the only other English ship in a condition to make sail, stood after them. After some distant firing, the four French ships stretched on, and escaped. In this affair the Zealous had one man killed, who had already been wounded on the day before.

And now to sum up. Of the thirteen French ships-of-the-line, one had been totally destroyed, with nearly all on board; eight had surrendered, and two had got clear. Of the two remaining, one, the Timoléon, was on shore, with her colors flying; the other, the indomitable Tonnant, having had her second cable cut by the fire of the Alexander, was lying about two miles away, a mere wreck, but with her colors flying on the stump of her main-mast.

Things remained in this state until the following morning, the 3d of August, when the Theseus and Alexander approached the Tonnant, and, further resistance being utterly hopeless, the gallant French ship hauled down her colors, replacing them with a flag of truce, and was taken possession of by a boat from the Theseus.

The principal part of the crew of the Timoléon had, during the night, escaped on shore, although a few had been taken off in the four vessels which escaped. Between three and four hundred of those who reached the shore were murdered by the Bedouins, while a few fought their way to a French camp. Those who remained by the ship set her on fire, and she soon after blew up, making the eleventh line-of-battle-ship lost by the French in the battle of Aboukir, or the Nile.

As for the British ships engaged in this great battle, their damages were chiefly aloft. The Bellerophon was the only British ship entirely dismasted, and the Majestic the only one, beside her, which lost a lower mast. The Alexander and Goliath lost top-masts; but the lower masts, yards and bowsprits of all the British ships were more or less damaged. And we must remember, that such damage was almost equivalent to loss of propellers or boiler in ships of our day.

The Bellerophon’s hull was very much shattered, and many of her guns broken to pieces. The Vanguard had received very great injury in her hull, while the Swiftsure had received from the Tonnant shots under water, which kept four feet of water in her hold during the entire action, in spite of the pumps. The Theseus was hulled seventy times, and the Majestic was in nearly as shattered a state as the Bellerophon.

The loss of the English was 218 killed and 678 wounded. Admiral Nelson was struck by a splinter a little above his right, or blind eye, causing a piece of skin to hang down over the lid. This was replaced and sewed up.

The Bellerophon suffered most in killed and wounded, and the Majestic next.

As regards the captured French ships, the statistics of loss were never properly given. Five of them were entirely dismasted, and were rendered unseaworthy as to their hulls.

The Peuple Souvérain and the Franklin, though not entirely dismasted, were not in much better plight than the others. The Mercure and Heureux were principally damaged by running on shore, where they lay with their top-gallant yards across, to all appearance as perfect as when the action commenced.

As no official account of the French loss was given, the matter was left open to conjecture. One of the lowest estimates makes the French loss 2000. It was probably more.

The French commander-in-chief, Admiral Brueys, while upon the Orient’s poop, received three wounds, one of which was in the head. Soon afterwards, as he was descending to the quarter-deck, a shot almost cut him in two. He asked not to be carried below, but to be allowed to die on deck--which he did, in a few minutes.

Casa Bianca, the captain of the Orient, is said, by some accounts, to have died by the Admiral’s side; but, by the account most generally received, he died, with his son, who was only ten years old, in the great explosion. Captains Thévenard, of the Aquilon, and Dupetit-Thouars, of the Tonnant, were killed, and six other captains were dangerously wounded.

Mention must be made of the Culloden, which had run on a reef of rocks, off the Island of Aboukir, and did not get into the action. Her running on shore saved the Alexander and Swiftsure--both of which ships did such good service. Every effort was made, with the assistance of the Mutine brig, to get the Culloden off. But the swell increased, and she lost her rudder, and began to leak badly. Next day she came off, much damaged, and with seven feet of water in her hold, but was eventually saved, by good seamanship.

In this great action the number of line-of-battle-ships was the same on both sides; but the weight of metal, the gross tonnage, and number of men were on the side of the French. The French ships were conquered in detail, by a masterly and bold manœuvre of Nelson’s. Had the unengaged French ships got under way, they would have no doubt captured the Culloden, prevented the two other English ships from entering the bay, and, possibly, turned the tide of battle.

The great disaster which befell the huge three-decker, the Orient, no doubt gave a decided turn of the action in favor of the English.

With respect to the behavior of the French, nothing could be more gallant than the defence made by each of the six van-ships; by the Orient, in the centre, and by the Tonnant, in the rear. The Heureux and Mercure appear to have been justified in quitting the line, by the great danger of fire ahead of them--however precipitate in running themselves on shore. No instance of personal misconduct was ever reported, in either fleet.

The engagement and its consequences ruined the French hopes of receiving the reinforcement of troops destined for Egypt; it left the Porte free to declare war against them; it rekindled the war with the German States; it opened the Mediterranean to the Russians, and occasioned the loss of Italy and the Adriatic possessions, which had been won by Bonaparte in his great campaigns. Finally, it put the English at ease concerning India, while the Egyptians became more inimical, and the French there, isolated as they were, were put upon a strictly defensive policy.

On the morning of the 14th of August, after an incredible deal of labor in refitting the ships, the prizes, rigged with jury-masts and weakly manned, proceeded to the westward, except the Heureux, the Mercure and the Guerrier, which were in too bad a state to be refitted, and which were burned. A fleet was left, under Captain Hood, to cruise off Alexandria. Nelson, himself, in the Vanguard, with two other ships, went to Naples, which he had better never have seen, for events there occurred which have always more or less tarnished his fame.

The English public had all summer been reproaching Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson for his _tardiness_ in finding the French fleet, and the news of his great action (owing to the capture of the Leander, which had been sent with the news) did not reach England until the 2d of October, and then the English people thought they could not do enough to make amends for their complaints against the brightest ornament of their favorite service. On October 6th Nelson was made a peer, with the title of Baron Nelson of the Nile, and of Burnham Thorpe, in the County of Norfolk. Thanks of Parliament, of course, followed, and a pension of £2000 per annum, to him and his two next heirs male, was granted by the Parliament of England, and £1000 from that of Ireland. Gold medals were presented to Lord Nelson and his captains, and the first lieutenants of all the ships were promoted to commanders. In regard to the Culloden, which ran on shore, and, of course, was not engaged, Nelson wrote: “I sincerely hope it is not intended to exclude the first lieutenant of the Culloden; for heaven’s sake, for my sake, if it be so, get it altered.”

Strictly speaking, only the captains _engaged_ were to have medals, but the King himself expressly authorized Lord Spencer to present one to Captain Trowbridge, of the Culloden. Nelson wrote to Earl St. Vincent concerning this officer: “The eminent services of our friend deserve the very highest rewards. I have experienced the ability and activity of his mind and body. It was Trowbridge who equipped the squadron so soon at Syracuse; it was Trowbridge who exerted himself for me after the action; it was Trowbridge who saved the Culloden, when none that I know in the service would have attempted it; it is Trowbridge whom I have left as myself at Naples; he is, as a friend and as an officer, a _non-pareil_.”

The East India Company presented Lord Nelson with £10,000, and Liverpool, London and many other cities voted him rewards. The Sultan presented him with a diamond aigrette and robe of honor; and instituted a new Order, that of the Crescent, and made Nelson the first knight companion of it, while many other foreign powers presented tokens of respect for his talents and bravery. The finest of the French prizes which the captors succeeded in getting home was the Franklin. Her name was changed to Canopus, the ancient name of Aboukir.

The following is Nelson’s official letter to Lord St. Vincent, announcing the victory. It is the letter which was captured in the Leander, on her way to the westward, by the Généreux.

“VANGUARD, off the Mouth of the Nile, “August 3d, 1798.

“MY LORD:--Almighty God has blessed his Majesty’s arms, in the late battle, by a great victory over the fleet of the enemy, whom I attacked at sunset on the 1st of August, off the mouth of the Nile.

“The enemy were moored in a strong line-of-battle for defending the entrance of the Bay (of shoals), flanked by numerous gunboats, four frigates, and a battery of guns and mortars on an island in their van, etc.

“The ships of the enemy, all but their two rear ships, are nearly dismasted, and those two, with two frigates, I am sorry to say, made their escape; nor was it in my power to prevent it, etc.

“Captain Berry will present you with the flag of the second in command, that of the commander-in-chief being burned in L’Orient, etc.”

As personal remarks and details by eye-witnesses of celebrated actions are always of interest, we may, at the risk of being prolix, add some extracts from a private letter of Sir Samuel Hood to Lord Bridport, and terminate the account by a report from a French officer who was present.

Sir Samuel Hood says, “After completing our water at Syracuse, in Sicily, we sailed from thence on the 24th of July, and arrived a second time off Alexandria, on the 31st, where we found many more ships than were there before; amongst which were six with pendants, and appearing large, so that we were convinced the French fleet had been there. I immediately kept well to the eastward of the Admiral, to see if I could discover the enemy at Bequir (Aboukir).

“About one o’clock the man at the mast-head called down, and said he saw a ship, and in a few minutes after announced a fleet, at anchor. I sent a glass up, and eighteen large ships were clearly ascertained, thirteen or fourteen of which appeared to be of the line; which I made known by signal to the Admiral, who instantly pressed sail up, and made the signal to prepare for battle. The wind being to the N. N. W. and sometimes more northerly, we were obliged to haul to the wind. The Alexander and Swiftsure, which were to leeward, were called in, and the Culloden ordered to cast off the prize which she had in tow, as she was somewhat astern.

“As we advanced towards the enemy we plainly made out 13 sail-of-the-line, 4 frigates, with several small armed vessels, all at anchor in the road of Bequir, or Aboukir, very close in, and in order of battle. The Admiral then made the signal to anchor, and for battle, and to attack the _van_ and _centre_ of the enemy; and soon after for the line ahead, as most convenient.”

“As we got pretty nearly abreast of the shoal at the entrance, being within hail of the Admiral, he asked me if I thought we were far enough to the eastward to bear up clear of the shoal. I told him I was in eleven fathoms; that I had no chart of the bay, but if he would allow me, would bear up and sound with the lead, to which I would be very attentive, and carry him as close as I could with safety. He said he would be much obliged to me. I immediately bore away, rounded the shoal, the Goliath keeping upon my lee bow, until I found we were advancing too far from the Admiral, and then shortened sail, and soon found the Admiral was waiting to speak to a boat.

“Soon after he made the signal to proceed, the Goliath leading, and as we approached the enemy shortened sail gradually, the Admiral allowing the Orion and others to pass ahead of the Vanguard.

“The van-ship of the enemy being in five fathoms, I expected the Goliath and Zealous to stick fast on the shoal every moment, and did not imagine we should attempt to pass within her, as the van, with mortars, etc., from the island, fired regularly upon us.

“Captain Foley intended anchoring abreast of the van-ship, but his sheet anchor, the cable being out of the stern port, not dropping the moment he wished it, he brought up abreast of the second ship, having given the first one his fire. I saw immediately he had failed of his intention; cut away the Zealous’ sheet anchor, and came to in the exact situation Captain Foley meant to have taken.

“The enemy’s van-ship having her bow toward the Zealous (which had received very little damage, notwithstanding we received the fire of the whole van, island, etc., as we came in), I directed a heavy discharge into her bow within musket-shot, a little after six. Her foremast went by the board in a few minutes, just as the sun was closing with the horizon; upon which the squadron gave three cheers, it happening before the next ship astern of me had fired a shot, and only the Goliath and Zealous had been engaged, and in ten minutes more her main and mizzen masts went (at this moment also went the main-mast of the second ship, closely engaged by the Goliath and Audacious); but I could not get her to strike for three hours after, although I hailed her several times, seeing she was totally cut up, and only firing a stern chase, at intervals, at the Goliath and Audacious.

“At last, being tired of killing men in this way, I sent a lieutenant on board, who was allowed, as I had instructed him, to hoist a light and haul it down, as a sign of her submission. From the time her foremast went, the men had been driven from her upper decks by our canister-shot and musketry, and I assure your Lordship that, _from her bow to the gangway, the ports on her main deck were entirely in one_; and the gunwale in that part entirely cut away, which caused two of her main deck beams to fall upon her guns, and she is so terribly mauled that we cannot move her without great detention and expense, so that I imagine the Admiral will destroy her. In doing this execution I am happy to say that the Zealous had only seven men wounded and not one killed.

“The Bellerophon, unfortunately alongside the Orient, was in two hours totally dismasted, and, in consequence, cut her cable and went off before the ship took fire; but she was most gallantly replaced by the Alexander and Swiftsure, our worthy friends. She (the gallant Sir Samuel means L’Orient, but he does not say so) soon after took fire and blew up.

“The Alexander and Swiftsure, having been sent to look into Alexandria, was the cause of their being so late in the action. Poor Trowbridge, in trying to make the shortest way to the enemy, being too far astern, struck upon a reef; his ship is since got off with the loss of her rudder and some damage to her bottom, so that he had no share in the glorious victory. I believe, had not the Culloden struck, the Alexander and Swiftsure, in the dark, would probably have got into her situation, so that the accident may be fortunate, as she was a buoy to them.