The Privateersman

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER TWO.

  WE ARE PURSUED BY TWO SCHOONER-PRIVATEERS, AND FAILING TO ESCAPE THEM ATERRIBLE CONTEST ENSUES--THREE ACTS OF A MURDEROUS NAVAL DRAMA--WE AREWORSTED--CAPTAIN WEATHERALL IS KILLED--I AM PLUNDERED AND WOUNDED.

  About six weeks after the unlucky affair before described we met with astill greater disaster. We had cruised off the Spanish main, and takenseveral prizes; shortly after we had manned the last and had partedcompany, the Revenge being then close in shore, a fresh gale sprung up,which compelled us to make all sail to clear the land. We beat offshore during the whole of the night, when the weather moderated, and atdaybreak we found out that we had not gained much offing, in consequenceof the current; but, what was more important, the man who went to thelook-out at the masthead hailed the deck, saying there were two sails inthe offing. The hands were turned up to make sail in chase, but wefound that they were resolutely bearing down upon us; and as we nearedeach other fast we soon made them out to be vessels of force. One weknew well--she was the Esperance, a French schooner-privateer, ofsixteen guns and one hundred and twenty men; the other proved to be aSpanish schooner-privateer, cruising in company with her, of eighteenguns, and full manned.

  Now our original complement of men had been something more than onehundred; but by deaths, severe wounds in action, and manning our prizes,our actual number on board was reduced to fifty-five effective men.Finding the force so very superior, we made every attempt with sails andsweeps to escape, but the land to leeward of us, and their position towindward, rendered it impossible. Making, therefore, a virtue ofnecessity, we put a good face upon it, and prepared to combat againstsuch desperate odds.

  Captain Weatherall, who was the life and soul of his crew, was not foundwanting on such an emergency. With the greatest coolness andintrepidity he gave orders to take in all the small sails, and awaitedthe coming down of the enemy. When everything was ready for the unequalconflict, he ordered all hands aft, and endeavoured to inspire us withthe same ardour which animated himself. He reminded us that we hadoften fought and triumphed over vessels of much greater force than ourown; that we had already beaten off the French privateer on a formeroccasion; that the Spaniard was not worth talking about, except to swellthe merits of the double victory, and that if once we came hand to handour cutlasses would soon prove our superiority. He reminded us that ouronly safety depended upon our own manhood; for we had done such mischiefon the coast, and our recent descent upon the plantation was consideredin such a light, that we must not expect to receive quarter if we wereovercome. Exhorting us to behave well and to fight stoutly, he promisedus the victory. The men had such confidence in the captain that wereturned him three cheers, when, dismissing us to our quarters, heordered Saint George's ensign to be hoisted at the main-masthead, andhove-to for the enemy.

  The French schooner was the first which ranged up alongside; the windwas light and she came slowly down to us. The captain of her hailed,saying that his vessel was the Esperance, and our captain replied thathe knew it, and that they also knew that his was the Revenge. TheFrench captain, who had hove-to, replied very courteously that he waswell aware what vessel it was, and also of the valour and distinguishedreputation of Captain Weatherall, upon which Captain Weatherall, whostood on the gunnel, took off his hat in acknowledgment of thecompliment.

  Now Captain Weatherall was well-known, and it was also well-known thatthe two vessels would meet with a severe resistance, which it would beas well to avoid, as even if they gained the victory it would not bewithout great loss of men. The French captain therefore addressedCaptain Weatherall again, and said he hoped, now that he was opposed toso very superior a force, he would not make a useless resistance, but,as it would be no disgrace to him, and would save the lives of many ofhis brave men, his well-known humanity would induce him to strike hiscolours.

  To this request our commander gave a gallant and positive refusal. Thevessels lay now close to each other, so that a biscuit might have beenthrown on board of either. A generous expostulation ensued, whichcontinued till the Spanish vessel was a short distance astern of us.

  "You now see our force," said the French captain. "Do not fight againstimpossible odds, but spare your brave and devoted men."

  "In return for your kind feeling towards me," replied CaptainWeatherall, "I offer you both quarter, and respect to private property,upon hauling down your colours."

  "You are mad, Captain Weatherall," said the French captain.

  "You allow that I have lived bravely," replied Captain Weatherall; "youshall find that I will conquer you, and if necessary I will also diebravely. We will now fight. In courtesy, I offer you the firstbroadside."

  "Impossible," said the French captain, taking off his hat.

  Our captain returned the salute, and then, slipping down from thegunwale, ordered the sails to be filled, and after a minute, to give theFrenchman time to prepare, he fired off in the air the fusee which heheld in his hand, as a signal for the action to begin. We instantlycommenced the work of death by pouring in a broadside. It was returnedwith equal spirit, and a furious cannonading ensued for several minutes,when the Spaniard ranged up on our lee quarter with his rigging full ofmen to board us. Clapping our helm a-weather, and hauling ourfore-sheets to windward, we fell off athwart his hawse, and raked himwith several broadsides fore and aft; our guns having been loaded withlangridge and lead bullets, and his men being crowded together forward,ready to leap on board of us, her deck became a slaughter-house. Theofficers endeavoured in vain to animate their men, who, instead ofgaining our decks, were so intimidated by the carnage that they forsooktheir own. The Frenchman, perceiving the consternation and distress ofhis consort, to give her an opportunity of extricating herself from herperilous condition, now put his helm a-weather, ran us on board, andpoured in his men; but we were well prepared, and soon cleared our decksof the intruders. In the mean time the Spaniard, by cutting away ourrigging, in which his bowsprit was entangled, swung clear of us, andfell away to leeward. The Frenchman perceiving this sheered off, andspringing his luff, shot ahead clear of us. Such was the first act ofthis terrible drama. We had as yet sustained little damage, the enemy'swant of skill, and our good fortune combined, having enabled us to takethem at such a disadvantage.

  But, although inspirited by such a prosperous beginning, our inferiorityin men was so great that our captain considered it his duty to make allsail in hopes of being able to avoid such an unequal combat. This ourenemies attempted to prevent by a most furious cannonade, which wereceived and returned without flinching, making a running fight of it,till at last, our fore-yard and foretop-mast being shot away, we had nolonger command of the vessel. Finding that, although we were crippledand could not escape, our fire continued unabated, both the vesselsagain made preparations for boarding us, while we on our part preparedto give them a warm reception.

  As we knew that the Frenchman, who was our most serious opponent, mustboard us on our weather-bow, we traversed over four of our guns, loadedto the muzzle with musket-balls, to receive him, and being all readywith our pateraroes and hand grenades we waited for the attack. As hebore down for our bows, with all his men clinging like bees, ready forthe spring, our guns were discharged and the carnage was terrible. Themen staggered back, falling down over those who had been killed orwounded, and it required all the bravery and example of the Frenchcaptain, who was really a noble fellow, to rally the remainder of hismen, which at last he succeeded in doing, and about forty of them gainedour forecastle, from which they forced our weak crew, and retainedpossession, not following up the success, but apparently waiting tillthey were seconded by the Spaniard's boarding us on our lee quarter,which would have placed us between two fires, and compelled us to divideour small force.

  By this time the wind, which had been light, left us, and it was nearlya calm, with a swell on the sea which separated the two vessels; theSpaniard, who was ranging up under our lee, having but little way, andnot luffing enough, could not fetch us, but
fell off and drifted toleeward. The Frenchmen who had been thrown on board, and who retainedpossession of our forecastle, being thus left without support from theirown vessel, which had been separated from us by the swell, or from theSpaniard, which had fallen to leeward, we gave three cheers, andthrowing a number of hand grenades in among them we rushed forward withour half-pikes, and killed or drove every soul of them overboard, oneonly, and he wounded in the thigh, escaped by swimming back to his ownvessel. Here, then, was a pause in the conflict, and thus ended, I maysay, the second act.

  Hitherto the battle had been fought with generous resolution; but afterthis hand-to-hand conflict, and the massacre with which it ended, bothsides appeared to have been roused to ferocity. A most infernalcannonade was now renewed by both our antagonists, and returned by uswith equal fury; but it was now a dead calm, and the vessels rolled somuch with the swell that the shot were not so effective. By degrees weseparated more and more from our enemies, and the firing was now reducedto single guns. During this partial cessation our antagonists had drawnnear to each other, although at a considerable distance from us. Weperceived that the Spaniard was sending two of his boats full of men tosupply the heavy loss sustained by his comrade. Captain Weatherallordered the sweeps out, and we swept our broadside to them, trying bysingle guns to sink the boats as they went from one vessel to the other.After two or three attempts, a gun was successful; the shot shatteredthe first of the boats, which instantly filled and went down. Thesecond boat pulled up and endeavoured to save the men, but we now pouredour broadside upon them, and, daunted by the shot flying about them,they sought their own safety by pulling back to the vessel, leavingtheir sinking companions to their fate. Failing in this attempt, bothvessels recommenced their fire upon us, but the distance and the swellof the sea prevented any execution, and at last they ceased firing,waiting till a breeze should spring up, which might enable them to renewthe contest with better success.

  At this time it was about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and the combathad lasted about five hours. We refreshed ourselves after the fatigueand exertion which we had undergone, and made every preparation for arenewal of the fight. During the engagement we were so excited that wehad no time to think; but now that we were cool again and unoccupied wehad time to reflect upon our position, and we began to feel dejected andapprehensive. Fatigued with exertion, we were weak and dispirited. Weknew that our best men were slain or groaning under their severe wounds,that the enemy were still numerous, and, as they persevered after sodreadful a slaughter, that they were of unquestionable bravery andresolution. Good fortune, and our captain's superior seamanship, had,up to the present, enabled us to make a good fight, but fortune mightdesert us, and our numbers were so reduced that if the enemy continuedresolute we must be overpowered. Our gallant captain perceived thedespondency that prevailed, and endeavoured to remove it by his ownexample and by persuasion. After praising us for the resolution andcourage we had already shown, he pointed out to us that, whatever mightbe the gallantry of the officers, it was clear that the men on board ofthe opposing vessels were awed by their heavy loss and want of success,and that if they made one more attempt to take us by the board andfailed, which he trusted they would do, no persuasion would ever inducethem to try it again, and the captains of the vessels would give oversuch an unprofitable combat. He solemnly averred that the coloursshould never be struck while he survived, and demanded who amongst uswere base enough to refuse to stand by them. Again we gave him threecheers, but our numbers were few, and the cheers were faint comparedwith the first which had been given, but still we were resolute, anddetermined to support our captain and the honour of our flag. CaptainWeatherall took care that this feeling should not subside--hedistributed the grog plentifully; at our desire he nailed the colours tothe mast, and we waited for a renewal of the combat with impatience. Atfour o'clock in the afternoon a breeze sprang up, and both vesselstrimmed their sails and neared us fast--not quite in such gallant trimas in the morning, it is true--but they appeared now to have summoned upa determined resolution. Silently they came up, forcing their wayslowly through the water; not a gun was fired, but the gaping mouths ofthe cannon, and their men motionless at their quarters, portended theseverity of the struggle which was now to decide this hithertowell-contested trial for victory. When within half a cable's length, wesaluted them with three cheers, they returned our defiance, and runningup on each side of us, the combat was renewed with bitterness.

  The Frenchman would not this time lay us on board until he was certainthat the Spaniard had boarded us to leeward; he continued luffing towindward and plying us with broadsides until we were grappled with theSpaniard, and then he bore down and laid his gunwale on our bow. TheSpaniard had already boarded us on the quarter, and we were repellingthis attack when the Frenchman laid us on the bow. We fought withdesperation, and our pikes gave us such an advantage over the swords andknives of the Spaniards that they gave ground, and, appalled by thedesperate resistance they encountered, quitted our decks, strewed withtheir dead and dying shipmates, and retreated in confusion to their ownvessel. But before this repulse had been effected, the French hadboarded us on the weather-bow, and driving before them the few men whohad been sent forward to resist them, had gained our main deck, andforced their way to the rise of the quarter-deck, where all ourremaining men were now collected. The combat was now desperate, butafter a time our pikes, and the advantage of our position, appeared toprevail over numbers. We drove them before us--we had regained the maindeck, when our brave commander, who was at our head, and who had infusedspirit into us all, received a bullet through his right wrist; shiftinghis sword into his left hand, he still pressed forward encouraging us,when a ball entered his breast and he dropped dead. With his fall fellthe courage and fortitude of his crew, so long sustained--and tocomplete the mischief, the lieutenant and two remaining officers alsofell a few seconds after him. Astonished and terrified, the men stoppedshort in their career of success, and wildly looked round for a leader.The French, who had retreated to the forecastle, perceiving ourconfusion I renewed the attack, our few remaining men were seized with apanic, and throwing down our arms, we asked for quarter where a momentbefore victory was in our hands;--such was the finale of our bloodydrama.

  Out of fifty-five men twenty-two had been killed in this murderousconflict, and almost all the survivors desperately or severely wounded.Most of the remaining crew after we had cried for quarter jumped downthe hatchway, to avoid the cutlasses of their enraged victors. I andabout eight others, having been driven past the hatchway, threw down ourarms and begged for quarter, which we had little reason to expect wouldbe shown to us. At first no quarter was given by our savage enemies,who cut down several of our disarmed men and hacked them to pieces.Perceiving this, I got on the gunwale ready to jump overboard, in thehopes of being taken up after the slaughter had ceased, when a Frenchlieutenant coming up protected us, and saved the poor remains of ourcrew from the fury of his men. Our lives, however, were all he countedupon preserving--we were instantly stripped and plundered without mercy.I lost everything I possessed; the watch, ring, and sword I had takenfrom the gallant Frenchman were soon forced from me, and, not strippingoff my apparel fast enough to please a Mulatto sailor, I received a blowwith the butt-end of a pistol under the left ear, which precipitated medown the hatchway, near which I was standing, and I fell senseless intothe hold.