“Sloop has hauled down her colours, sir. Stores conforming.”
Massively outgunned and at anchor, the frigate blocking the harbour mouth, the French could not possibly fight – the sole alternative to surrender was to fire their ship, which would very much annoy the English, who might react by putting their captives into the hands of their Greek allies on shore.
“White flag, sir, at the barracks.”
“Then let us trust that the Greeks will remember that we desire to take prisoners.”
The firing died down and shouting could be heard as they cautiously approached the makeshift barracks.
“Mr Fox, instruct the French to lay down their arms and to make their way very quickly to our protection. Suggest, very strongly, that they should keep well clear of our allies!”
Forty-two Frenchmen, eight of them wounded and on stretchers, came into Archbold’s custody – some sixty had died in the assault.
Fox spoke to them, regretted their losses, discovered that only the officers were French nationals.
“The men are from various parts, sir, mostly out of places in the north of Italy, conscripted into the French army.”
“Offer them the opportunity to change allegiance, Mr Fox, suggesting that they would be required to serve His Britannic Majesty only until this war ended, and that would be a better fate than a local prison might offer.”
Fox talked a few minutes with the sergeants, expecting that the rank and file would do as they were bid.
“Beg pardon, sir, but they say there ain’t any prison on the island.”
“Then, Mr Fox, ask them where they think the Greeks might keep them.”
Fox returned inside the minute.
“They have all volunteered, sir.”
“Well done, Mr Fox – we need the men, as always.”
Sloop and store ships were taken, prize crews put aboard and volunteers called for from the crews. The French nationals amongst them all refused to turn traitor - their families would suffer if they did and the guillotine had been a fact of life for more than ten years. More than half of the crews were Italians or Spaniards, with a leavening of Dutch, Germans and Swiss; all volunteered, with only a little persuasion.
Active's crew was brought up to complement and the taken ship-sloop and brig were provided with ample prize-crews. The stores were left under the command of their masters and with almost full crews - they were unlikely to run to sea unarmed and without escort and dared not flee to the shore.
Frederick, at Murray's advice, dressed himself in his number ones, cocked hat with feathers and presentation sword, came on shore to full ceremonial, Ablett and Bosomtwi at his shoulder as retinue. The Greeks were very impressed, even more so when their own leaders came forward and were saluted by the rank of marines.
Frederick explained that the British were present only because they were enemies of the French - they could not stay, would not claim the island as their own. Inevitably the Turks would return. For the while Captain Backham would act as governor - there would then be no suggestion that any of the islanders had shown disloyalty to the Ottomans. Was there an interpreter who could assist the new Governor?
There was no real interpreter, he was told, but the granddaughter of the merchant Costas had been foolishly educated on the mainland where she had grown up. The family had returned to the old man's place of birth, she remaining with him to keep his house, her own parents running the business up there. There was a vague wave of the hand towards the north west, where it was thought Athens might lie - a foreign place, far distant, never visited by decent people.
Could the young lady be brought to them?
A messenger was sent, though it was emphasised that she had no business poking her nose into men's affairs, but there was no alternative.
Murray asked then if they knew where the French ships had gone; they had supposed that there was a big frigate guarding the harbour, as well as four others off cruising.
The Greeks did not know, not as a certainty, but they had heard from French officers who spoke a civilised tongue that there had been word of a Russian flotilla and the frigate had possibly gone off in search. The other four they knew had sailed to the south and east in pursuit of the English Levant convoy - the richest collection of argosies the world knew, and unguarded, it was believed by some, though they doubted that.
"One at least of two-deckers, quite possibly more in current conditions of unrest, as direct escort," Murray said. "The word in Malta was that the Mediterranean Fleet was to send a squadron towards the coast north of Beirut, to sweep up pirates and provide a final escort. The seventy-fours will be slower than the French, from all you say, sir, but will certainly keep them off the convoy."
The merchant Costas' granddaughter arrived, dressed properly in black from ankle to chin, a headscarf to cover her hair and to frame an oval face - high cheekbones, a strong nose and well-formed mouth. Backham thought he had never in his life seen so beautiful a girl. She had a gentle, musical voice as well as she greeted him in clear English.
"My name is Maria, sir, in English; I am daughter to Mr Costas' youngest daughter. I speak some of English - and French and Turkish quite well, besides. I am to be your interpreter, the men say."
"You are very welcome, ma'am."
Book Five: The Duty and Destiny Series
Chapter Three
"What do your informants have to say of the French ships, Mr Murray?"
Murray had come aboard in the dawn, his uniform even more rumpled than normal, hunched over, withdrawn into himself, his face blank. He had made his way directly to the quarterdeck and thence to the captain's cabin, hard on the heels of the midshipman messenger.
"The word is that the French captain was told that the Russians were in small force and poking their noses about the southern islands, many of which are ungarrisoned in effect, the Turks in the habit of simply patrolling by ship rather than go to the expense of manning forts to overawe tiny villages. The fear arose that the Russians wished to create another entity like the Seven Islands, a supposedly autonomous state, but under their sole control. A naval base there and they would have grounds at any Peace Conference to claim rights of transit through the Bosphorus, the sending of convoys from the Black Sea ports to their new holding. They would finally have access to the warm seas."
"You are sure of this, Mr Murray?"
"The French officer in command here in the captain's absence had papers, a despatch to be given to the Admiral when he returned. He was killed but had kept a mistress, who had been held by the Greeks and put to the question before I got to her. She told them everything and produced the papers, which she had kept in the hope of buying her way into our hands."
Murray produced a small folder, opened the despatch, pointing out and translating the relevant parts.
"We must follow, I think. If the French have met the Russians in battle then we should be able to mop up after them. If not, then we have a more difficult task, but should be able to thwart the aims of both; indeed, we must do so. The Admiralty will not wish the Russians to have their base, and will be displeased if the French seize a harbour, but will accept that as a lesser evil, I believe. The difficulty is, of course, that the Russians are allied to England, if only temporarily and nominally, and their Admiral Ushakov is said to be a commander of great ability."
"Quite correct, sir. I wholly agree with your appreciation."
Frederick called the First to him, issued orders to sail at the earliest moment.
"We have deliveries of shore food to come in this morning, sir, and some firewood. Water is short on the island, sir, and we must seek supplies elsewhere. I would like three hours, sir."
"Delay till the men have been fed then, Mr Merritt, sailing as soon as possible thereafter."
Frederick turned back to Murray, commenting that a delay of five hours might or might not be significant but that the men's comfort was always important.
"When in doubt I try to put the crew's needs first
, sir. They will always do their best, knowing that fact."
Philosophically, Murray could agree with the principle. In practice he wished to be active, to be doing, to have less time to reflect on the past night.
"Did you bring the Greek woman with you, Mr Murray?"
"I could not, sir. They said she was a traitor and a whore and was not to be rewarded."
"And..."
"Their women shaved her head, sir, and stripped her and threw her out of the house to the men outside. She will not survive long, I would imagine."
"You do not seem surprised, Mr Murray."
"I would have been amazed at any other result, sir. This is a harsh and brutal part of the world, sir, and no man comes out of it with clean hands."
"I shall take Trident in pursuit, Mr Backham, leaving you here to act as Governor pending my return. If the French come, then hold the port while you can. The battery should do some good; a surprise bombardment of the leading ship at close range might well sink it and close the harbour mouth. They would land, of course, and drive you in quite quickly, but you could hold the mountains against them, probably. Should the Turks return, then you must welcome them as the lawful possessors of the island, explaining that you had expelled the French and were maintaining order whilst waiting for their return. You will then leave the island, escorting the prizes to Malta, waiting at a rendezvous for me while you can."
Backham noted the orders; he could carry them out, he had no doubt.
"Man the two national prizes fully and exercise them as well as you can. Your problem lies in the officers, of course. You have too few, and I must retain enough to fight Trident. Invite able Italians or Dutch or Spaniards to take warrants, possibly to act as lieutenants - offer the chance that the Admiral in Malta will make them - he might. The risks are obvious, and I fear that you must take them. I shall send you to Malta with all of the prizes when I return, if you have not been forced to sail before."
Backham was less sanguine about these orders. Creating fighting ships from crews led by Dagoes was not an easy task, he feared.
"You must turn these Dagoes into English officers and gentlemen, Mr Backham. Success will be of the greatest possible benefit to your career, of course. There will be a peace soon, probably next year - and commands will be hard to come by for all except the outstanding few."
Backham was ambitious for his career, wanted to be made post, but he still had doubts.
"As Governor, sir, what do you expect of me?"
"Very little, Mr Backham. Keep the peace, if you can, and make sure the Greeks do not cut the throats of the foreign crews of the prizes, and vice versa. Have plans made against the return of the Turk - ensure that the civilians who fear to stay know which ships they may board. Tell the masters of the bigger fishing boats where to steer, the rendezvous to form a convoy to Malta. Other than that, keep the local people happy and quiet, if you can."
"Is there some way in which I can pay the local lady who is to be interpreter, sir?"
A good question, and one he could not answer without prior reference to Murray.
"Dare we pay the lady, Mr Murray? Would she be instantly condemned for having converse with foreigners?"
"It would be her death, sir, of a certainty. What you can, and should, do is to identify her closest male relative and make him a payment. Her services could thus be lawfully hired, and those of a chaperone to keep her company at all times and protect her honour and the family's. With your permission, sir, I will make the arrangements immediately."
Murray spent the hours until sailing in spirited negotiation, agreeing finally on a tiny sum in silver, a very few shillings.
"Why not hand over a guinea on the spot, Mr Murray?"
"An insult, sir - in effect to purchase her as slave or whore. A free contract must be argued, penny by penny."
"How fortunate we have you with us, sir. I could never come to understand such dealings."
Backham appropriated the offices of the French commander of the port, settling himself into the largest, his interpreter into the room next door. The building had once belonged to the Turkish garrison commander, was small and poorly furnished, they thought.
Murray was not at all surprised.
"A very junior man, sir. The island is too tiny to have warranted a senior officer, a Bey, and I suspect he was no more than the captain of a small ship, probably with the oversight of five or six islands. He would have posted a few soldiers to the other places and all would have pottered along quietly, until the French came. He would have held his court when necessary, banned the ownership of muskets, collected taxes vigorously and ignored everything else. Generally speaking the Turks keep a relaxed rule, sir, because they are not very concerned that the Greeks will cause trouble as they can never organise themselves. The Turks have far too many problems in the south, and are worried about the Russians and Austrians, so they do not want to waste troops in the islands. They will be very upset with the French, sir."
"Then let us set their minds at rest, Mr Murray."
They sailed south, light winds demanding a full suit of sails but giving no more than an ambling six knots.
"Is there no way of achieving a pace more in keeping with that one expects of a frigate, Mr Nias?"
"Not without another dockyard refit, sir. Was we perhaps to replace the foremast with one taller and stronger, such as a seventy-four might carry, and the same for the mizzen, then we might achieve better results, sir, or so Mr Backham believed. Trident is very powerful, sir, but has paid for her guns with a certain loss of agility, I believe. But, sir, she will tack and head up into the wind better than almost any."
"As we saw recently, Mr Nias. We must seek to use her strengths, and hope that we can catch our enemy to do so."
"Mr Murray to the cabin, Bosomtwi."
Murray was learning, was present in less than three minutes.
"The Russian squadron, Mr Murray - do we have any knowledge of it?"
"No, sir. I presume it is a part of the fleet they despatched to the Mediterranean last year, some of which actually reached these waters, others making port in Spain to refit, the journey too much for them. We know that they took the Seven Islands, indeed, they created the state based on Corfu, and left them again on cruise, but whether they came east or intended to return to the Baltic waters, I do not know. The word was that the French captain believed his frigate and the pair of sloops would be more than capable of dealing with any they met, that he expected only a frigate or two."
"A nuisance, Mr Murray."
"It is indeed, sir. May I ask what you intend, sir, if say we discover the French to be in action against the Russians?"
"Sink the French first, aiding the Russians in battle if need be, but ideally waiting until they have finished with each other."
"And then, sir?"
"Tell the Russians to bugger off out of the way, would be best. And, if they don't, sink them too, assuming that is that they are only the minor flotilla the French hope them to be."
"A policy not without risk, sir."
"Practical, however. We do not want the Russian bear in these seas, they must not have access to ice-free waters, and if we sink their ships and hand their crews over to the Turks then there will be little in the way of evidence remaining when we say that the French did it."
"You are learning the ways of the Balkans, sir!"
They sailed Trident as hard as they could, intentionally making life difficult for the crew, forcing the sixty new men to shake down and fit in. Frederick had felt obliged to put a core of reliable seamen onto Active and the pair of prize sloops and had replaced them with selected men from the new volunteers - the least willing and reliable as far as he could tell, thus removing a source of worry to Backham and dumping it into the hands of Nias and Cheek and Merritt.
"Defaulters tomorrow, Mr Merritt - a long list?"
"Just one thief and one drunk, sir - much to my surprise. The drunk is one of ours, young Heyman of the maintop, who w
as so unwise as to have a birthday and then to publicly tell Mr Cheek to unship his hook and place it where the sun does not shine."
Frederick was puzzled for a moment, saw Ablett out of the corner of his eye, making the appropriate gesture.
"Ah! Most undesirable, Mr Merritt."
"Too many of the men heard him simply to ignore it, sir, though I believe Mr Cheek to be little upset."
Merritt could not conceivably make any recommendation for Heyman's punishment, but clearly did not want him to be flogged. Frederick prepared a little homily on the vice of drunkenness and decided that the young man could have an hour cleaning the heads each day for a week.
"The thief, Mr Merritt?"
"Was one of the Italians made to soldier for the French, was caught with a bottle of your wine which he had just abstracted from Bosomtwi's pantry when clearing the cabin at Quarters, sir."
"Who caught him? Not Bosomtwi?"
"No, sir - two of the old Tridents called Mr Cheek before Bosomtwi discovered the theft. They knew he would spot it instantly and that he would pistol him there and then - they were concerned to protect Bosomtwi."
"Well done, the pair! I am no friend to the lash, Mr Merritt, as you know, but this little gentleman is going to dance for us!"
Stealing from the captain's cabin was not to be encouraged, Frederick believed.
The boatswain's mates attended Defaulters carrying ten small red baize bags between them, evidently having decided on five dozen as the most likely sentence and ready to perform the punishment instantly, as Frederick preferred.
"DeLonghi, sir, landsman, did commit the crime of theft, a bottle of wine from the pantry of your cabin, contrary to Article Thirty, sir."
Murray translated, Frederick concerned to make sure that he and his compatriots understood exactly what was taking place.
Fortune And Glory (The Duty and Destiny Series, Book 5) Page 7
