Cochrane the Dauntless

by David Cordingly

  The Speedy had lost three men killed and eight wounded, including Lieutenant Parker, who was badly injured by a sword thrust in his thigh and a musket ball in his chest. This left only forty-two men available to sail the two ships and to guard 263 unwounded prisoners. Cochrane solved the problem by herding the Spaniards into the hold and pointing the guns down the hatchway. He left a prize crew of thirty men on the Gamo under the command of his brother Archibald, now a midshipman, and as soon as they had carried out essential repairs the two ships headed back to Port Mahon. There Cochrane sent his report to Captain Manley Dixon, the senior officer at Port Mahon. Like Jahleel Brenton before him, Cochrane gave full credit to his officers and men for their part in the defeat and capture of the frigate:

  ‘I must be permitted to say that there could not be greater regularity, nor more cool determined conduct shown by men, than by the crew of the Speedy. Lieut. Parker, whom I beg leave to recommend to their Lordships’ notice, as well as the Hon. Mr Cochrane, deserve all the approbation that can be bestowed. The exertions and good conduct of the boatswain, carpenter, and petty officers I acknowledge with pleasure, as well as the skill and attention of Mr. Guthrie, the surgeon.’18 Cochrane’s commander-in-chief, Lord Keith, was anchored off Aboukir Bay at the mouth of the Nile when he received the news of the Speedy’s action. He sent a letter warmly congratulating Cochrane on ‘an event so honourable to the naval service’ and asked him to pass on to the Speedy’s officers and men his approbation of their bravery and discipline.

  It would be several months before Cochrane’s report reached London, and when it did so it attracted little attention, presumably because the Speedy was a small and relatively insignificant vessel.19 However, the extent of Cochrane’s achievement must have impressed some expert observers because Nicholas Pocock, who had now established himself as the leading marine artist of the day, added the fight between the Speedy and El Gamo to his growing portfolio of naval actions and produced a fine watercolour which was subsequently engraved and published.20

  The coast near Barcelona was the scene of Cochrane’s next exploit in the Speedy, a joint operation with the 16-gun brig sloop Kangaroo. The principal source of information on this occasion is a detailed despatch from the commander of the Kangaroo, Captain Pulling, who had recently arrived on the Mediterranean station and was senior to Cochrane. The two sloops had found a Spanish convoy of twelve sail and five armed vessels anchored in the Bay of Oropeso, protected by the twelve guns of a battery in a large square tower. ‘When having so able and gallant an Officer as his Lordship to lead the attack into the Bay,’ wrote Pulling, ‘I hesitated not a moment to make the attack.’21 Throughout the afternoon of 9 June 1801 the bay resounded with the booming of guns and the intermittent crack of musket fire as the British sloops and their boats endeavoured to destroy the gunboats and to capture some of the merchant vessels of the convoy. By seven in the evening they had sunk a 20-gun xebec and two gunboats and had silenced the guns in the tower, but ‘were annoyed by a heavy fire of musquetry in different directions till midnight, during which time the boats of both brigs were engaged in cutting out the vessels that were found afloat’.22 By the next morning they had succeeded in capturing three brigs laden with wine, rice and bread, and had sunk or driven ashore all the remaining vessels of the convoy. On receiving Pulling’s despatch Lord Keith sent it on to the Admiralty with an accompanying letter in which he drew attention to the zealous and active exertions of Captain Pulling, and ‘the continued meritorious conduct, of which Captain Lord Cochrane, and the Officers and crew of the Speedy, have lately furnished so exemplary a proof’.23

  When he returned to Port Mahon, Cochrane was disappointed to learn that the Gamo, potentially the most valuable of all his prizes so far, had been sold for a knockdown price to the Algerines, presumably because her Mediterranean hull form and rig were not considered suitable for the Royal Navy. Apart from the fact that Cochrane would have liked to have been given command of her, he would have earned a handsome sum in prize money if she had been taken into naval service. He was equally disappointed to be told that, instead of returning to the Spanish coast to continue his capture and destruction of enemy vessels, he must escort a packet boat carrying mails to Gibraltar.

  Three weeks after his successful action with Captain Pulling he was once again heading for the coast of Spain but instead of remaining safely out of sight of land and the attentions of enemy privateers cruising offshore, he was unable to resist heading inshore. In a bay near Alicante several merchant vessels were observed at anchor. On seeing the Speedy sailing towards them they weighed anchor and ran aground on the beach. Cochrane was aware that he would be exceeding his instructions if he sent in boats to haul them off so instead he set fire to them. One of the vessels was laden with oil which burned fiercely through the night and lit up the sky for miles around, attracting the attention of an enemy infinitely superior to the Gamo.

  On 13 June a squadron of French warships under Rear-Admiral Durand de Linois had left Toulon and was now sailing down the Spanish coast towards Cadiz in order to collect reinforcements for the French army in Egypt. The squadron consisted of the 80-gun ships Formidable and Indomptable, the 74-gun ship Desaix and the frigate Muiron. On seeing the flames of the burning vessel they headed inshore to investigate. At daybreak on 3 July the Speedy was in sight of the Rock of Gibraltar when her lookout observed the ships on the eastern horizon. At first Cochrane thought that they were Spanish galleons returning from South America but as the light improved it became clear that they were French ships of the line and they were heading their way. The Speedy was upwind of the squadron but the wind was so light that they had little chance of outsailing the larger vessels. It was characteristic of Cochrane that he should refuse to surrender his ship without a struggle although the forces ranged against him were overwhelming. He ordered all sail set, got the crew pulling at the sweeps and directed their course towards Gibraltar. With each tack the enemy drew steadily closer. At about 9.00 a.m. Cochrane gave the order to heave all the guns overboard in order to lighten the brig and increase her speed but the French ships continued to close the distance. Soon the 74-gun Desaix was close enough to fire her bowchasers and as she turned to go about on the other tack she fired a broadside. Apart from some minor damage to the rigging the Speedy and her crew remained unharmed but this could not last much longer. Barrels and casks of stores and provisions followed the guns overboard but made no apparent difference to their speed. Cochrane now waited for the Desaix to come level with them and when she was just ahead of their beam he bore up, set the studding sails and attempted to run between the advancing ships. The Desaix tacked in pursuit and fired another broadside which again missed the diminutive target.

  The Desaix now moved in for the kill and when she was within musket shot she let loose a deadly barrage of round shot and grape shot. The Speedy was saved from destruction by the fact that the French ship heeled as she turned to bring her guns to bear and most of the round shot fell short. However, the Speedy had now lost her main boom, her sails were riddled with holes and much of her rigging was cut and trailing across the deck. Miraculously not a single member of her crew had yet been hurt but Cochrane knew that another broadside at close range would have a murderous effect. At ten o’clock he ordered the colours to be hauled down and surrendered to a ship which had a crew five times the size of his own and was more than forty times more powerful in terms of the weight of her broadside. He had himself rowed across to the Desaix, climbed up her massive sides and formally offered his sword to Captain J. A. Christy-Palliére. According to Cochrane’s account the French captain politely declined to take it, saying, ‘he would not accept the sword of an officer who had for so many hours struggled against impossibility’. The French squadron, with the captured Speedy and the packet boat, rounded Europa Point, sailed past the British naval base at Gibraltar and headed across the bay to the Spanish port of Algeciras. There they dropped anchor in a strong defensive position protected by t
wo batteries and a fort.

  The nearest British warships were thirty miles away blockading the entrance to the harbour of Cadiz. The blockading squadron was under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez in the Caesar. His flag captain was Jahleel Brenton who had moved from the Généreux a few months earlier. When news reached Saumarez of the arrival of the French ships he immediately set sail and arrived in the Bay of Gibraltar at 7.00 a.m. on 6 July with a squadron of six ships of the line, a frigate and a brig.

  Cochrane was having breakfast in the great cabin of the Desaix with Captain Christy-Palliére who saw no reason why an imminent action with a superior force should spoil their meal. However, when a round shot from the British flagship crashed through the stern windows the two men abandoned breakfast and went up on to the quarter deck. A second shot from the Caesar hit a file of marines close by and Cochrane decided that further exposure on his part was unnecessary, ‘and went below to a position whence I could nevertheless, at times, see what was going on’. The ensuing Battle of Algeciras was a humiliating defeat for the British. They were hampered by a dying breeze and an unfavourable current and were unable to take advantage of their numerical superiority. In the confused and heated action which followed both sides suffered heavy losses in dead and injured. The British 74-gun ship Hannibal ran aground and came under a barrage of fire. Her captain fought back but was forced to surrender after losing his foremast and mainmast. The Pompee ran into trouble and boats had to be sent to tow her out of danger. At 1.30 p.m. Saumarez gave the order to withdraw and sailed his depleted and battered squadron across to Gibraltar for repairs.

  The following day Saumarez sent Captain Brenton across to Algeciras under a flag of truce to arrange an exchange of prisoners. Admiral Linois agreed to the release of the crew of the captured Hannibal, as well as the officers and men of the Speedy. Cochrane went to stay in the Commissioner’s house at Gibraltar. From the garden of the house he witnessed the British squadron set sail on 12 July to retrieve their reputation. The dockyard craftsmen had worked overtime to repair the damaged ships and, together with hundreds of other onlookers, they gathered along the waterfront to cheer the squadron on its way. The band of the Gibraltar garrison thumped out a succession of patriotic tunes, while out in the bay the band on board the Caesar could be heard playing ‘Hearts of Oak’.

  The French squadron had received reinforcements during the course of the past week and Saumarez’s squadron of five ships of the line, two frigates and two smaller warships now faced nine French ships of the line, three frigates and a lugger. In the ensuing action, most of which took place in darkness off Cabareta Point, the British were revenged for the earlier reverses. Superior seamanship and gunnery proved decisive in the confusion of a night action. Two Spanish three-deckers fought each other, caught fire and blew up with terrible loss of life and one French ship was captured. The remaining French and Spanish ships retreated to Cadiz.

  For Cochrane there was a court martial to face for the loss of his ship before he returned to England and an uncertain future. Meanwhile the Speedy was taken to the French naval base at Toulon. In the hands of Brenton and Cochrane she had acquired a reputation out of all proportion to her size.24 She was soon to become a pawn in the diplomatic offensive which Napoleon was waging with Pope Pius VII, whose presence he required at his forthcoming coronation as emperor. On 12 December 1802 the Speedy was sailed from Toulon to the port of Rome at Civitavecchia. She was renamed Saint Pierre and the words ‘Donné par le premier consul Bonaparte au Pape Pie VII’ were inscribed in gilt letters on her poop.25 In 1804 she was entered on the books of the Papal Navy where she remained until 1807 when she was broken up.

  4

  A Dark Interlude

  1801–1804

  The court martial for the loss of the Speedy was held on board the 80-gun ship Pompee on 18 July 1801, less than a week after Sir James Saumarez and his victorious squadron had returned to Gibraltar. The Pompee was anchored in Rosier Bay, a sheltered inlet near the dockyard of Gibraltar, and the President of the court was her commander, Captain Charles Stirling. He was assisted in his deliberations by four other officers, all of whom had distinguished themselves in the night action off Cabareta Point. The senior of the four was Captain Richard Keats who had made his reputation as a frigate captain and had played a major role in the recent action as commander of the 74-gun Superb. Alongside him was Captain Samuel Hood. He was the cousin of the naval brothers Lord Samuel Hood and Lord Bridport and had achieved fame on his own account as commander of the Zealous at the Battle of the Nile. Next in seniority was Captain Aiskew Hollis of the frigate Thames who had already taken part in two fleet actions: the Battle of Ushant and the Battle of the Glorious First of June. The junior captain present was Jahleel Brenton. He, of course, knew better than any of them the strengths and weaknesses of the Speedy and the fine record of the officers and men that he had helped to train.

  Cochrane could expect a sympathetic hearing from men of such experience and the proceedings were conducted in a brisk and seaman-like manner. Cochrane was asked to explain the circumstances relating to the loss of his ship which he did briefly and without heroics. He pointed out that he had endeavoured to keep to windward of the enemy but ‘found not withstanding all our endeavours to keep the wind that the French ships gained very fast…’.1 When he had concluded his description he was asked whether he had any reason to find fault with any of his officers or men and he replied that the utmost exertion was used by every person on board. The officers and ship’s company of the Speedy were then asked whether they could find any fault with the conduct of their captain, to which all replied, ‘None’.

  Lieutenant Parker, as well as the quartermaster and one of the boatswain’s mates, were each questioned about the relative speed of the French ships compared with that of the Speedy, and were asked whether every means was taken for the preservation of the king’s sloop. Each man confirmed that the French ships sailed much faster even without their studding sails set and that every effort had been made to save the Speedy. Surgeon Guthrie was then called to give his version of events. He was asked:

  ‘Are you a sufficient judge of nautical affairs to know whether every effort was used to escape from the force that was pursuing the Speedy?’

  He replied, ‘I know very little of nautical affairs but it appeared to me that every exertion was used by every person on board. I saw the captain at the helm, and the officers and ship’s company at the sweeps.’

  ‘Was you on deck at the time the colours were struck and what distance were the enemy from you at the time of her surrender?’

  ‘I was on deck, and a French two-decker was within musket shot of the Speedy and was firing at us at the time.’

  No more witnesses were called and, after checking the views of his colleagues, Captain Stirling announced that the court was of the opinion that Lord Cochrane, his officers and ship’s company, had used every possible exertion to prevent the king’s sloop falling into the hands of the enemy, ‘and do therefore honourably acquit them and they are hereby acquitted accordingly’.2

  Three weeks later Cochrane was on his way back to England. The order for his passage had been signed by Sir James Saumarez and he was one of twenty-three sailors and soldiers who were travelling as passengers on the schooner Spider.3 The others included two naval captains, a gunner, a boatswain and an army major. After a wait of several days while the schooner took on water and provisions they set sail on 11 August. The Spider was a former French privateer and they should have enjoyed a swift passage home but light winds slowed them down and it was not until they were nearing the Lizard that the wind picked up. As they heeled before a freshening breeze off the rocky coast of Cornwall the sky darkened and squally rain showers swept across the surface of the sea. The rain died away as they entered Plymouth Sound and at nine o’clock on the morning of 2 September they moored in Stonehouse Pool. Three weeks later Cochrane was with his family in Scotland.4

  Cochrane had been a
way for more than two years and arrived back in Britain at a turning point in the war with France. The conflict had lasted eight and a half years and had almost reached a stalemate with French armies proving invincible on land and the British navy overcoming all opposition at sea. Earlier in the year a British fleet commanded by Sir Hyde Parker had sailed to Copenhagen to challenge the threat posed by the northern League of Armed Neutrality: Denmark, Sweden, Prussia and Russia had agreed on an embargo on British ships which would have cut off the vital supplies of timber, naval stores and grain which Britain imported from the Baltic. Nelson, who was Hyde Parker’s second in command, took twelve battleships into Copenhagen harbour on the morning of 2 April 1801. Three ships ran aground on the shoals within range of the shore batteries but Nelson ignored the signal to retreat and, after a hard-fought battle in which British gunnery again proved decisive, the Danes agreed to a cease-fire. Nelson subsequently negotiated an armistice and the Northern League was dissolved.

  Set against this much needed victory was the continual threat posed by Napoleon and his territorial ambitions. In June 1800 he had defeated the Austrians at Marengo and in December at Hohenlinden. Austria subsequently made peace with France at Lunéville in February 1801. Spain and most of Italy had already come to terms with the French. In April 1801 Napoleon began assembling an army at Boulogne in preparation for the invasion of England. By August the military encampments could be plainly seen from the highest points of the Kent coast and The Times was carrying reports from Dover that ‘the greatest activity prevails in the different French ports. The gun boats and flat-bottomed boats are numerous.’5 The Admiralty provided some reassurance to an anxious British public by appointing Nelson to command the defences in the Channel. The hero of the Nile and Copenhagen led two attacks on Boulogne. On 4 August he bombarded the French harbour with mortar shells fired from bomb vessels but with little effect, and then during the night of 15 August he launched a boat attack on the enemy invasion vessels. The French were surprisingly well prepared for such an attack and the British boats were repulsed with the loss of forty-four men killed and 126 wounded.6