by Roy Adkins
They now suffered the first setback to their risky plan:At 9 two shot were fired at us from the island of Rosengen, which was unexpected, for I never had received the smallest intimation of an out-post being there, and the night had become beautifully fine, with clear moonlight. My intention therefore of pushing the ships in against the batteries so as [to] produce any thing like a surprise, was frustrated, for the guns from Rosengen I concluded would alarm the islands, and my mind became naturally very anxious as to the result of any attack that might be made in open day against the enemy, whose force and means were so very superior to the strength of the little squadron under my orders.36
Around ten o’clock the moon set, and about three hundred officers and men clambered into the boats in the dark. As the boats headed for the shore, to be followed by the ships, the weather became squally, and although the rising storm gave them cover, it also made navigation difficult, as Cole explained:My great object in venturing on this attempt was to get the place with the least possible loss. The badness of the weather and darkness of the night, which had increased to a very great degree, made it impossible for the boats to keep together in the open sea, and before their departure from the ships, they were directed to rendezvous, within and under the lee of the point of Great Banda. After a pull of two hours in a light gig towing two scaling ladders which the heavy boats had left behind them, I reached the point; and we found ourselves in smooth water, which gave us some relief, for the boat had been nearly stove to pieces several times, in our progress to the shore. The night was now so dark, that we could not see half the boat’s length from us; and after pulling about in every direction two hours more, my anxiety may be conceived upon finding that Kenah in his gig was the only one of the party near me. We could not hail loudly for fear of being discovered, for our boats were nearly touching the bushes, and we had reason to believe that a battery must be close at hand. About three in the morning the ships appeared pushing past the point of rendezvous. They could not be seen until they were within an hundred yards of us; and I immediately went alongside the Piedmontaise, told Captain Foote of our mortifications, and expressed my apprehensions that the night was too far advanced for us to meet the boats in time, when he answered that he was certain he had passed some of them, at a short distance from us. We pulled immediately in the direction pointed out, and in a few minutes I communicated with the boats he had seen, and explained to the officers and men, that we had not a moment to lose.37
The problems the boats had encountered in finding the rendezvous had seriously delayed the schedule of the attack, but soon they were in sight of the island. Fires were visible on the north point, and Cole interpreted this as a camp of troops who had been moved there to strengthen a known weak spot in the island’s defences. He hoped that these troops had been taken from the main town and fort which he was proposing to attack, and with the storm now upon them, Cole ordered the boats to pull quickly for the shore. He described the scene from the boats:A dark cloud at this moment rested itself on the mountains of Great Banda, and the rain falling heavy and thick gave the water in the harbour the appearance of one sheet of fire, undisturbed by the splashing of the oars, or the track of the boats. I could not help remarking to Lieutt. Pratt my Aid de Camp, and who accompanied me in my small boat, that although we were all wet and cold, the cloud was a cloak best suited to our necessities, and that it seemed a shield sent to us by Providence. We both agreed that the cloud would be a more effectual cover to our landing than any force we could have looked to, to help us, and that we should never see a black cloud again without thinking of this moment, and making it our ‘obeisance’. About half past four the boats grounded on a coral reef at some little distance from the shore, and we thought we distinguished a battery to the left of us. Had the enemy discovered us at this moment, our party must have been cut to pieces even before they had reached the shore; but not the least confusion ensued and the boats were silently and coolly extricated from this trying situation, and at last struck the shore of Banda Neira . . .The cloud had accompanied us, and bursting, threw out a thousand forked lightnings, with quick peals of heavy thunder, and a deluge of rain.38
Once on shore they found that the Malay guides were useless, and Cole commented that ‘the Malays are naturally very superstitious, and the circumstances of the weather had impressed them with the idea that evil spirits were working against us, and they had once or twice intimated that we ought to put back, and afterwards observed, that none but Englishmen or Devils would go forward’.39 The weather had prevented them knowing where they had landed, but they soon found that they had rowed in right under the guns of a shore battery and so made hasty preparations for attack. Divided into two parties, the men took the battery with only moments to spare because ‘the enemy had seen the ships a few minutes before, and an adjutant had just arrived with orders to open fire upon them. The muskets of the guard had been placed under a shed out of the rain, and the adjutant, and officer, and fifty men were surprised standing at the guns with matches lighted. They were instantly locked into the guard-room, and a party of twelve seamen left in charge.’40
Having landed without any effective opposition, they set off for the main stronghold, known as Castle Belgica, below which was a town. They soon found a local man to guide them and made their way towards the castle as rapidly as possible, as Cole recorded:We had succeeded in seizing on a native as a guide, and as several of the Madras Europn. Regt. were Dutchmen or Germans, and many of our men spoke the Malay language, we had no difficulty in explaining to the native that he must instantly guide us by the shortest way to the Castle of Belgica. With a Pistol at each ear, to put him to death if he failed, and the promise of a handsome reward if he succeeded, he was led on to show us the shortest route, and our movement round the town was as rapid as possible, for the sound of the bugle told us the burghers were alarmed, and the militia assembling. A death-like silence was preserved whilst we passed the houses in the town, and the slaves who had just risen to their daily labour were heard laughing and conversing: and four native soldiers passed us, who taking us for a division of their own men faced about, and saluted.41
Cole’s force had been split into three, the advance party, the centre and the reserve, and it took them about twenty minutes to thread their way up through the town to the castle above. As they came over the brow of the hill dawn was just breaking, and the castle was visible about a hundred yards away. They attacked immediately:The scaling ladders were placed before the sentries challenged, and our guide was now suffered to make his escape. The outer work was escaladed in an instant, and a soldier was killed at the alarm bell, with the rope in his hand. The enemy opened a fire of musketry from the upper work, and three guns were fired, but in the confusion, they were fired from the opposite side of the angle which was escaladed. The musketry was smartly returned by the Reserve and part of the Centre who were placed among some bushes and underwood near the brink of the ditch, and who were directed to fire at the embrasures. The fire from our party was so well directed, that the attempts of the enemy to point guns at us were frustrated, except one gun pointed at the spot where some of us were standing, loaded with langridge, which had a match put to it twice, and at last burned [the] priming [without going off]. It would have occasioned great loss to us had it been fired; and I mention these circumstances, trifling in themselves, to point out more strongly our extreme good fortune.42
The castle, which was proving stronger than expected, was described by Cole as:on a hill which has on three sides a gradual ascent, and the fourth side is abrupt and covered with bushes and shrubs, and had we known the exact nature of the position, this side would have been chosen for our operations. The work is of solid masonry, and is a regular pentagon. The outer wall is sixteen feet high, and had formerly a dry ditch round it, but from having been neglected the ditch is nearly filled up. There are six heavy guns on each angle . . . making in all thirty guns on the outer work. The inner walls are twenty four feet high and five gun
s in embrasures on each face, and the angles crowned by round towers thirty two feet from the ground. This work has twenty five guns, principally, twelve and nine pounders, on it, and the whole is bomb-proof. I believe no work could be better calculated to resist an escalade, and the enemy’s numbers in Belgica exceeded our own.43
This was the kind of detailed information that had been desperately needed before the attack but had been impossible to obtain. Having climbed over the outer wall they found the ladders too short for the inner wall, and the gateways appeared too strong. Since this was their last hope of success, they ran for the gateways and their good luck continued, as Cole reported:At the instant before our two parties reached the gateways, the Coll. [colonel] Commander with two officers and his orderlies, had, by running hard up the hill from his house which was at the bottom of it, arrived at the gates, and ordered them to be opened for his admittance. A desperate rush was made through the gateways, the guard was overpowered in an instant, and the Colonel and a few others fell after a short resistance. Numbers of the enemy precipitated themselves over the outer work, and we gained the interior of the inner work without further opposition, but even now a few hand grenadoes would have driven us out, for we could not find the staircases in the bomb-proofs, and there were numbers of grenadoes found ready fused in all directions afterwards on the walls, but the enemy were panic-struck, and allowed us to plant the ladders, and to scale the walls from the inside unmolested. Three hearty cheers were given, and I received the swords of four officers under the flag-staff on the upper walls.44
By attacking during the darkest part of the night and during the blinding violence of a tropical storm, Cole and his party of about 180 men had taken the main stronghold of Banda Neira in the face of overwhelming odds. Now, with the storm having just passed and the sun rising, Cole took a moment to reflect on the view of the island spread out below him:The clouds were fast dispersing, and with day-light appeared the beams of the rising sun, which dispelled the vapours in the valleys, and discovered to us the whole of our situation. Some minutes were taken up in wonder, and admiration of the sublime scenery around us. The high hills, separated by deep ravines, were richly wooded to the very summits by a variety of the finest forest trees, which in some places appeared to take root in the ponderous masses of brown rock that broke through the surface of rich and varied foliage. Foo nong Appee, a volcanic mountain, vomited forth columns of smoke in quick succession, and the Signal Hill, high above us, and within the range of shells, fired guns of alarm. The nutmeg parks of Great Banda, and Banda-Neira were full in view, and afforded a beautiful contrast of cultivated scenery, to the grander features of nature which had first caught our attention; and Fort Nassau, several sea batteries, the town, and public buildings, lay at our feet. Neither of the ships were to be seen, and it was evident that the violence of the weather had driven them from the mouth of the harbour, and had also separated many of the boats to such a distance from the island that we could not reckon on their co-operation for many hours to come.45
Cole soon recovered from his reverie, for he realised it was essential to maintain the momentum of the attack before the Dutch had time to regroup and realise just how small the British force was that opposed them. He sent Captain Kenah to Fort Nassau to demand an immediate surrender from the Governor, carrying a sailor’s shirt as an improvised flag of truce because they had brought no white flag with them. The lack of proper flags threatened to jeopardise the British success, for the English flag that had been hoisted over Castle Belgica was small, and the troops in Fort Nassau and the shore batteries did not seem to have noticed it. The Caroline frigate was now approaching the harbour and was within range of the Dutch guns. From the castle, Cole observed the ship:She came in most majestically, and her gradual approach, inch by inch I may say, round a bluff point, was beautiful. Although she was hulled by the enemy’s fire, she did not return a shot. The truce flag had been hoisted also, under the British Colours at Belgica, but it was instantly hauled down, and a shot fired, which fell into the centre of the nearest battery, and the enemy in the distant batteries turned round with dismay at this unexpected warning; nor had they, I believe, until this moment a thorough idea of their situation. Kenah had returned with the verbal submission of the Governor, but as the Dutch Colours were still flying in Nassau, and there was a great degree of hesitation in the Governor’s conduct, I ordered Captain Nixon with the reserve and a few seamen to take charge of Belgica, and the remainder of the party to be ready with the scaling ladders at an instant, to follow me to the storm of Nassau; but observing great confusion in the batteries, and fearing that much blood might be shed if our anger was then let loose, I dispatched Kenah again to the Governor, to say that I should storm Fort Nassau in five minutes, if the Colours were not immediately hauled down, and that as the batteries had fired at the ship when the truce flag was flying, I could not answer for the consequences of our indignation. The colours were immediately struck, and just in time to prevent the broadside of the Caroline, which had now anchored, from sweeping the town.46
With the harbour under British control, Cole now felt secure since they could be reinforced from the ships. He considered their good luck: ‘I looked round and saw my fine fellows about me, with scarcely a hurt that they would call a wound, and the fatigues and labours of the night crowned by complete success. A general feeling prevailed of the many wonderful circumstances that had occurred during the night to manifest the hand of Providence in our favour.’47 In the following days the Dutch outposts also gave up, and Cole took the formal surrender of Banda Neira. He noted the ironic contrast between the two groups at this ceremony: ‘The Dutchmen were in full dress, “Gold buttons, Small Swords, Cockd Hats”, &c. &c. but their countenances betrayed the sorrow and uneasiness of their minds. To give an idea of our appearance I will describe my own; an old round hat, a round jacket with epaulettes discoloured by bilge-water on it, a silk handkerchief round my waist with pistols stuck in it, and a dragoon sword with a brass scabbard by my side, completed my equipment, and finished a portrait more like Blackbeard the pirate, than a captain of a man of war.’48
The naval historian William James, writing a few years afterwards, was exultant in his praise of an enterprise that was more a speculative adventure of exploration than a well-calculated naval operation: ‘Viewed in every light, the taking of the Banda isles was an achievement of no common order. Where are we to find, even in the annals of the British navy, more skill and perseverance than was employed in overcoming the difficulties of the navigation to the scene of conquest? Or where a greater share of address and valour, than was displayed by Captain Cole and his 180 brave associates, more than three fourths of them seamen and marines, in the crowning act of their bold exploit?’49
For his courage, skill and sheer good luck, Captain Cole was awarded a gold medal by the Admiralty and was knighted. The capture of Banda Neira and its associated islands brought Britain one step closer to domination of the East Indies. The French islands of Mauritius (Île de France) off the east coast of Africa were captured at the end of 1810. These had provided bases from which warships and privateers could prey on homeward-bound convoys from the East, so this threat had been removed. Captain Tucker followed up his success at Amboyna by an attack on Ternate, the last Moluccan island in Dutch hands. After a fierce fight the island was taken in August 1810. Now only Java remained in Dutch hands.
SEVENTEEN
TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY
If I Had an edication
I’d sing your praise more large
But I’m only a common foremast Jack
On board of le Volage
A verse described by Byron, a passenger in the frigate Volage, as ‘a
mouthful of Saltwater poetry, by a Tar on the late Lissa Victory’1
Despite setbacks in the East, Napoleon was still considering reviving his conquest eastwards. He needed control of the Adriatic, since otherwise the British could land an army there and cut off his lines of comm
unication and retreat. He also needed the Adriatic in order to dominate the Mediterranean again. The island of Corfu was already in French hands, and he controlled the ships and shipyards of Venice, as well as the port of Ancona to the south, so that by late 1810 his naval force in the Adriatic was superior in fire-power to the small squadron of British ships stationed there - the frigates Amphion, Active and Cerberus and the sloop Acorn. Napoleon decided that the British must be swept from the Adriatic, and he appointed one of his best naval commanders, Captain Bernard Dubourdieu, to take a French squadron to reinforce that of the Venetians and drive the British back into the Mediterranean.
After an exciting early life Dubourdieu had a reputation for professionalism and daring. He was one of very few French officers who had fought and taken a British frigate - the Proserpine in 1809. Although only thirty-seven, already he had been awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour for his successes in the Mediterranean. He would soon be facing the British commander Captain William Hoste, who at the age of thirty also had a successful career behind him. As a protégé of Nelson, Hoste had been a young lieutenant at the Battle of the Nile, but narrowly missed Trafalgar. He had also served under Sir Sidney Smith and later Collingwood, who gave him command of the Adriatic.
