Much of the contents of the ruined supply train consisted of rations and fodder that would have supplied a besieging army. With that army now beaten, the victors began salvaging the remains for their own purposes. After months of war, little food was available near the village, so food that was originally meant for the sustenance of Imperial troops was now gladly accepted into the reserves of the allies.
Mullins thought it important to notify his superiors of his intentions. Originally, all that had been planned was the evacuation of British troops from Rosas. Now, with this foothold in British and Spanish hands, it might be possible to turn the French victory into something of a defeat.
A few fishing boats remained in the harbor. One received a few last-minute repairs and a crew, given dispatches drafted by Mullins and his officers and sent on her way to Gibraltar. Mullins expected little from this endeavor. His standing among the Gibraltar officials was at a low ebb following the recent incident and he knew there would be little reason for any attention to be made to his present efforts.
Chapter Four
The garrison of the tiny stronghold had a few days to prepare for the expected onslaught. Everyone, British seaman, Marine, Spanish soldier or civilian went to work, constructing defenses that might hold against the enemy attack.
Mullins had experienced such attacks in the past and knew the French favored attacks by strong columns of foot, backed up by massed artillery and horse. The four small captured guns were placed in strategic positions, where they might be useful in breaking up such attacks. The boat guns had proved useful in thwarting the previous attack, so they remained mounted in the ship’s boats, which cruised endlessly along the coast.
Centaurs’ own guns would constitute an important measure of their defensive capability. The Spanish commander wished him to send many of Centaurs’ guns to shore to enable the defenders to bring more fire upon the enemy. Mullins was reluctant to do this, feeling it was better to keep his ship fully armed, in case of an attack by French warships.
Finally, the old gun tower, probably upwards of a century old, would form a deadly defense against enemy attack. It was necessary the tower be protected from ground or artillery attack, so Centaur was anchored where she could fire upon any enemy within range, and the militia dug trenches around the fortress for the defenders to man.
Mullins knew it was not a foolproof defense, but it would likely take a proper siege to overcome the defenses. Such a siege would be costly in terms of time, men and materiel. While it certainly could be done, just getting the necessary troops and equipment to the site and supporting them would be most difficult, especially if the French did not have command of the sea.
The second trial came a week later. The enemy was likely delayed by the time needed to transmit orders and gather men and supplies. Again, they came as had been done before, from the direction of Rosas. Probably twice as many men were on the road. In addition, a small corvette approached by sea, its purpose apparently to drive off or destroy the gun boats.
The corvette made its appearance several hours before the first columns of infantry were seen coming on the coast road. Given this early warning, Centaur had time to buoy her anchor cables and slip them. Moments later, she was under sail, approaching the corvette. The corvette was occupied at the time with fending off the darting attacks of the nimble small boats, and did not at first notice her danger. Just moments before, the big liner had been at anchor, unloading supplies onto shore boats. Now, just moments later, she was sailing toward the corvette, with her guns run out. When Centaur was seen approaching, the corvette spun about and attempted to put out to sea.
At very long range, Mullins ordered his upper starboard battery to fire, and against all odds, a single twenty-four-pound ball struck the forepeak of the little ship. It might have been better strategy for the enemy captain to evade combat and escape to sea, but this man was made of sterner stuff. He continued his turn coming around, to fire his own broadside. A single eight-pound ball struck Centaur’s reinforced forward quarter, but did not penetrate.
Now closer, Centaur fired her starboard broadside again, this time every gun had its chance. The lower deck guns fired first, then the upper battery spoke. Perhaps the enemy commander expected that few shots would tell on his fragile corvette, but he learned a lesson. Many of the guns scored, leaving the corvette with her foremast in the water, unable to sail.
The sailing master took Centaur up to the enemy, where boarders were sent over without significant opposition and the enemy ship was taken. The advancing enemy troops were nearing the town, so leaving the boarding party aboard the corvette, Centaur returned to her mooring and took up her cables, ready again to resume her shore bombardment.
The gun boats did as they had done on the first attack, pummeling the advancing troops with their boat carronades. These troops, many being untrained conscripts, were not as stalwart as the previous detachment had been, melting away under the devastating fire and scrambling up the nearby hillside.
There had not been time to clear away all the debris from the previous attack and the sight of body remnants still visible may have dismayed some of the marching troops. Mister Anderson admitted he did not understand what the French commander had in his mind, with this attack seeming to follow the same plan as the previous failure.”
“Granted”, Mullins said to his first officer, “the introduction of the corvette was a new development, but its almost immediate negation makes one wonder why the French commander continues on this course?”
With the enemy troops disorganized and scattered about the countryside, there was little to fear from them at the moment, however. With their glasses, Mullins and Anderson observed mounted Imperial troops gathering up the scattered troops from the surrounding brush.
One of the militia commanders had taken a few captured enemy horses and sent some of his people scouting the area well behind the shore. It was late in the afternoon when Major Ramos came to Mullins and reported what these scouts had discovered.
The enemy was constructing a road of sorts through the hills, directly toward Santiago. A narrow foot path had originally wandered through the hills, over which foot traffic by men and animal could travel. This path was being enlarged and improved to allow the passage of wheeled vehicles, in particular guns on their carriages, as well as supply wagons.
After discussing the possibilities, Ramos and Anderson agreed the French had probably planned for the various segments of the attack to come together at the same time. Probably the attack by land should have coincided with the attack by the corvette on the gun boats, while the sudden arrival of guns on the newly constructed road should have prevented the intervention of Centaur
Lacking the means to coordinate the separate attacks, each was defeated individually. Spanish militia members were sent back to sort out the road builders. These men, more familiar with pick and shovel than with musket and bayonet, were soon sent on their way and their equipment was thrown into a pile and set afire.
The French foot, stopped along the coast road withdrew slightly out of gun range and dug trenches to protect themselves from attack.
A local boat took advantage of the lull to pull out to Centaur and a slightly -built militia gunner came aboard. The young man identified himself as commanding the old gun tower, which had done yeoman work in repelling the attacks. Requesting additional powder and shot for his pair of eighteen-pounder long guns, he was turned over to Mister Whelks, Mister Nelson’s successor.
Moments later, Whelks appeared on the quarterdeck, his hat in his hands. “Sir”, he said. “It’s like this. We’re down to the next-to-the-last tier of powder, and we have precious few shot left. One more engagement, and we will be throwing belaying pins at the enemy. Do you still want me to give this man his powder?”
A conference resulted, including Mister Anderson and Major Ramos, who had somehow gained command of the forces ashore. The consensus was, they could continue to defend the town only as long as their ammunition
supply could last. When that had been expended, all haste must be made to get the troops ashore on board and away from land before the Imperial forces attacked. In addition, the purser reported much of the ship’s food had been sent ashore to sustain the landing forces as well as the local villagers. Without re-supply, the ship’s crew must tighten their belts before reaching Gibraltar.
As soon as the conference was finished, Mullins ordered a small issue of ammunition to the gun tower, and sent warnings to all units ashore to be ready at a moment’s notice to evacuate their positions. The captured corvette was to be immediately repaired and made ready for sea. She could be used to evacuate many of the townspeople.
The enemy had not yet noticed any problems with the British fire. Whenever a French patrol came within range, it would be immediately fired upon, but Whelks repeatedly warned this wastage of ammunition could not continue.
In a quandary, Mullins had no real hope of relief. No word had been received of any assistance arriving, so he decided he must depend upon his own resources.
There had once been a ship-building facility here in Santiago, from the days when Spain was a firm ally of Napoleon. The shipyard and buildings had been since burned, but the old mast-pond was still present, with a few mast sections afloat. One section was found that would replace the shattered section on the corvette’s foremast, and this was duly fitted. With the hands working at speed, the mast’s standing and running rigging were soon finished, and then some of the important shot-holes must be plugged, and the ship pumped dry. Fortunately, the ship was already well supplied with needed provisions for putting to sea.
Mullins decided to use the ship to evacuate the village inhabitants, believing he would have scant room on Centaur, once the militia and troops were embarked. He wanted to send these people away at once, to save on the daily consumption of supplies by non-combatants. Major Ramos disagreed with his decision, believing the corvette should remain until the very end. Her guns might be useful in the final defense.
In the end, Mullins had his way, and the ship quietly hoisted anchor after dark and made her way to sea in the night. A few days later, the guns, both ashore and in Centaur, were almost out of ammunition and the troops were reduced to butchering the draft animal for food. He had already decided it would be impossible to take off his people before being overrun by enemy forces, so had taken all the wounded and sick on board, leaving Centaur enough men to sail her, and told Mister Larson, to take the ship to safety, when the final attack came. He and Mister Anderson may as well go down fighting the enemy
The French commander had already suspected all was not well with the allied defense and had begun making probing attacks. With insufficient ammunition to reply, it was a matter of time before the decisive attack came.
At dawn, Mullins who had been on his feet all night, had just fallen off to sleep when a tumult outside woke him. Believing the moment had come, he reached for his sword and pistols and leapt to his feet. Outside, all arms were pointing to the sea, and there, coming over the horizon were the tops of a dozen ships. Their relief had arrived.
Chapter Five
Through his glass, he saw a big second-rate in the lead, a pair of third rates and some transports. Bringing up the rear, the tops of a pair of smaller ships could be seen. The enemy troops made a belated attack when they too saw the reinforcements arrive, but the force ashore still had just enough ammunition to foil this last attack. Mister Larson, aboard Centaur, was busily signaling the present situation to the arriving flotilla, which brought one of the third-rates, under full sail, dashing up to the harbor, with all her guns run out. Unfortunately, Mister Anderson fell in the last flurry of fighting.
HMS Temeraire, Captain Chamberlayne, remained in the rear, Rear Admiral Pickmore, commanding the squadron, ordered his other liners to begin delivering munitions ashore and Captain Mullins was directed to report to the flagship for consultation.
Taking Major Ramos with him, Mullins boarded the little Spanish boat that would take him out to Temeraire. Once aboard the large second-rate, the officers were hurriedly rushed into the great cabin, where Pickmore waited for his briefing.
Once the admiral was brought up to date with the military situation on shore, Admiral Pickmore assured the trio he would give their efforts the highest praise in his report. After dismissing the others, he kept Mullins behind and questioned him about the issue concerning the late Lieutenant Lawrence and Mrs. Nelson.
Repeating all that he knew, Mullins went over the entire affair once again. Pickmore asked if Centaur’s former captain was one of Nelson’s lovers. Mullins reminded Pickmore that he had never met or known Hodges, only taking command of Centaur days after Hodges’ injury.
The admiral sniffed. “Back when I commanded the old Dreadnought. Hodges was one of my snotties. He could not keep his breeches on then, and I hear he has always had the same trouble since. Take it from me, young man, when your seamen have to go months and years away from their women, it is a poor commander who flaunts his own in front of them. Should Hodges return to Centaur while she is under my command, I would immediately relieve him.”
“
Mullins went ashore in Temeraire’s big launch with Major Harris of the Royal Marines and a number of his men. The other warships in the squadron began sending their own Marines ashore, while the transports unloaded supplies. With Major Harris appearing to be a man who knew what he was about, Mullins surrendered to his fatigue and fell onto the straw paillasse he had been using as a bed.
When he awakened hours later, he found it was night. Harris was sitting on a camp stool at a little folding field desk, quill in hand, writing his report. Seeing Mullins was awake, he summed up his findings.
“The French have withdrawn their forces from the new road they constructed inland. I have put a body of Marines astride that road to deny them access to the beach, and it will cost them many lives if they attempt to force their way through. They were obliging enough to leave a pair of twelve-pounder guns behind, which we will find useful. As long as we have a ship or two to command the coast road, they will be unable to use that road without our permission. They may have taken Rosas, but they will find they can do little with their prize while we hold Santiago.”
The French left them alone for days, and then they were gone. Mullins no longer commanded on shore these days, Major Harris had taken over that role. He had moved back to the ship and once again went back to the old familiar role of watching over his ship and men. Centaur seemed almost empty these days, with her troops and Marines on shore, with many seamen casualties from the fighting.
One afternoon, he was ensconced in his sailcloth deck chair on the quarterdeck when a shout for the officer of the watch alerted him. A boat was approaching them from the direction of the flagship and Vice Admiral Pickmore was sitting in its stern.
After the welcoming ceremony had finished, he asked if Mullins had another deck chair he could use. One was hurriedly brought up from the sail-maker’s quarters and Mullins and Pickmore sat together for a period, discussing the state of the war.
Finally, Pickmore came to the point. “Captain Mullins, I am sending the transports back to Gibraltar, they will take with them the casualties from the fighting here. I myself will remain behind with the remainder of the squadron, just in case Monsieur St. Cyr wishes to express his displeasure with me.”
“Centaur will escort the transports back and you will carry my reports with you. For your own information, before I left Gibraltar, Captain Godfrey, one of my frigate captains, delivered a report to me. Do you happen to know this man?”
“Yes sir, Captain Godfrey commanded one of the frigates that came with me to Rosas to extricate the remaining forces there. Since the fortress had already fallen when we arrived, there were few people to be taken off. One of these was Major Ramos. From him I learned some Spanish forces had found their way here to Santiago. I decided to come here to see what could be done. Captain Godfrey believed me to be the cause of the fall of Rosa
s and declined to accompany Centaur here.”
Pickmore shook his head in amazement. “Declined, did you order him to accompany you?”
“I asked him to come. I thought his frigate might be useful if we had to fight.”
“Well, would it have been useful?”
“Yes sir, very useful. There were days when our victory here was very much in doubt, as it was when you arrived.”
“Let me understand, you were the senior captain and commander of the expedition. Did you explain to him the possible penalties he was facing?”
“Sir, Godfrey was convinced I was the cause of the failure to relieve Rosas at the proper time, causing its loss. He said he planned to report my crime and felt sure I would be stricken from the Navy list. At the time, I thought he might succeed. Stranger things have happened. I believed I had more important matters to pursue. Believing I was going in harm’s way, I hesitated to take a reluctant captain with me, one whom I could not entirely trust.”
HMS Centaur gathered her flock and set sail down the coast to Gibraltar. One of the transports in her charge was an old former seventy-four third-rate, now mostly disarmed and long since out of commission and badly deteriorated, plodding her way over the seas carrying troops and supplies. The old Invincible had been stripped of much of her armament, but was not quite toothless. She still carried a few long twelves on her upper gun deck as well as some thirty-two pounder carronades aft on the quarterdeck and forward on the foc’s’le. The main problem, as Mullins saw it, she had no trained gun crews aboard to man the weapons. Her captain was an ancient Royal Navy lieutenant, employed by the Transport Service, on perhaps his final voyage. The old ship had just enough seaman to handle the ship, with no hands to fight her.
HMS Centaur: A Charles Mullins novel, Sea Command 8 Page 3
