Spanish Tricks (Man of Conflict Series, Book 5)

by Andrew Wareham

  “That does not sound especially pleasant, Sir Septimus.”

  “It does not, Major Holden. I would certainly expect this war to be untidy and probably indecisive on the ground, much like the War of Independence. There will be no French army involvement this time. The navy will no doubt institute a blockade and will make landings in support of us – which will in itself demand much of you, as you may imagine.”

  Major Holden did not seem at all happy at the prospect of working with the navy, finally confessing that he was always sea-sick in small boats.

  “You have my sympathy, sir. Now, Major Holden, the question of stores must arise. Boots; trousers; stockings; warm waistcoats; greatcoats; mittens or leather gloves; mufflers; woollies in particular. The clothing that the men must have if they are to survive the Canadian climate, in fact. How well are you equipped with such?”

  Major Holden had not considered the matter of clothing and was most surprised to discover that winters in Canada might be far colder than in England.

  Septimus noted that he must go begging at Horse Guards, both for extra uniform issue and for cash – or its equivalent in Bills of Exchange – that would permit him to make his own purchases in Bristol.

  “Provide me with full returns on your arrival in Bristol, Major Holden.”

  It was clear to Septimus that he must go to London himself; a despatch would be simply ignored until he had sailed.

  Horse Guards was sympathetic to Septimus’ demands, in some ways. They agreed that American winters could be very cold, but suggested that the answer was to keep the men in their barracks rooms with a roaring fire, a far cheaper option.

  “Six or seven months, sir, in which we shall be unable to march out, if that policy be followed. I believe that we would lose Halifax and jeopardise the whole of Canada if we huddled in our barracks all winter long.”

  “But the cost, Sir Septimus…”

  “Which is more expensive, sir? To buy warm clothing for the men or to surrender the colony?”

  The expense was too great for a mere Quartermaster to countenance; the decision must go to a higher level.

  Septimus was passed to a major-general, who had no doubt that the demand was unacceptable; Septimus meekly and politely accepted his decision, merely requesting that he should make a formal, written and signed response to his request.

  “There will certainly be a Royal Commission of Enquiry into the loss of Canada, sir. I must have a statement that my men were instructed to remain in barracks over winter.”

  The major-general considered that proviso and decided that the decision was far too important for him to decide; it must go higher.

  It took four hours for the decision to reach the office of the Duke of York.

  “I am given to understand, Your Grace, that the temperature will fall below the freezing point of water and stay there for several months unbroken. Snow may cover the ground several feet thick. Men may venture out of doors only if they are wrapped up in layer after layer of woollens and with a thick fur greatcoat over all. Strong boots and thick stockings, Your Grace, are essential. If our men are unable to march out, then the Americans may be able to establish themselves in strongholds across the whole of Canada and be immovable in summer. Even to stand upon a wall and make a defence in winter requires the warmest of clothing, or so I am told.”

  “What is your intention, Sir Septimus? What will you do in winter?”

  “Use the redcoats to hold in small forts, sir, in all probabilities, while the local forces, used to the conditions, will sally out from the safe bases. By the second winter, our people should be more able to venture out themselves.”

  “Will the Americans seek to campaign in winter?”

  “I hope not, sir. If they do, we must be capable of holding them back.”

  The Duke decided that there was no alternative; the men must be clothed adequately for the bitter winter; the money must be found.

  “Purchase as and where you can, Sir Septimus, your quartermaster to use Bills of Exchange drawn upon Horse Guards. Try not to be profligate in your expenditure, sir, and do insist on a very thorough accounting from your man! Buy in England if possible – it is a hard task indeed to keep check on spending that takes place overseas… God knows, it is difficult enough in England! I truly believe, Sir Septimus, that one half of the money that ever comes to the Army is stolen, misappropriated, peculated or simply pocketed! Do you know, Sir Septimus, I have seen junior clerks with gold watches! Working in this very building!”

  “Infamous, Your Grace! While our soldiers experience unspeakable hardship in the field, these wicked men live off the fat of the land. Would it not be possible to create an Army Police Force, Your Grace, able to investigate and prosecute such people?”

  “No, Sir Septimus, it would not, for that would require the approval of Parliament, and the great bulk of the thieves have patrons or relatives there. It will be years before I can change their attitudes and votes.”

  “Shocking, Your Grace!”

  “It is indeed, Sir Septimus! One must ask, sir, whether you might not be a suitable for high rank in such a Constabulary, if ever I am able to establish it?”

  Septimus silently damned his own mouth – he had made the proposition in casual conversation, not imagining that it might be viewed seriously. Almost the last thing he wished to do was to become a policeman investigating the affairs of the wealthy and politically powerful; such an office-holder would find himself to be the enemy of every source of patronage in the country. The absolute last thing he wished to do, however, was to offend Royalty; the Duke of York stood very close to the throne and his frown would bring all of Septimus’ ambitions to nothing.

  “Why, Your Grace, I could only be delighted to fill such a place; an important and useful position under the Crown must be the height of my ambition.”

  “Well said, sir! For now, you must go to Canada, Sir Septimus, to ensure that this foolish war that is being forced upon us will not result in our defeat. Please note, Sir Septimus, that there is no overwhelming desire to achieve any great victory. This war, now a certainty, has resulted far more from foolishness than any desire for conquest. It will be very useful to tidy up the boundaries of the two countries, but there must be no question of taking and holding any part of the United States. Defend the integrity of Canada, most certainly, but any advance over the border must occur only to defeat the American Army and with the intention of retiring to British soil soon thereafter. There has been some very wild talk in London of the desirability of taking the State of Maine, for example, and turning it into a ‘New Ireland’, under the rule of a virtually autonomous governor. Should the state be taken, then its people must be preserved and its governance be returned to America at the Peace which must eventuate.”

  Septimus looked amazed, while inwardly pleased to have discovered just what had been in Banastre Tarleton’s mind.

  “There is no need, Your Grace, to name names, I am certain. But we shall go to some lengths to ensure that the Militia and Fencible units that may be raised shall be officered by right-thinking gentlemen.”

  “Very good, Sir Septimus! I shall rely upon the remarkable good sense you have frequently displayed. I would suggest, however, Sir Septimus, that on this occasion you do not hang too many of the ill-conditioned rich!”

  “Thank you, Your Grace! I shall, as ever, bear your words in mind.”

  Septimus took rooms in the largest of Bristol’s many inns, for himself and Marianne, for the children and their attendants and for his military family; there were very few chambers left for the ordinary guests of the house. He had hired on a boy from the village and left Cooper behind, bereft almost, lonely in his big new cottage and uncertain of his civilian existence.

  “I shall do very well, sir. Got the word of a bloke what wants to sell some goats, sir, and I shall get they just as soon as the fences and hedges are all up and tidy. Young Alfred will train up well as your servant, sir, and I have spoken to Atkins – he
knows just what’s what, sir.”

  “I am sure I shall survive without you, Cooper – but it will not be the same, you know! Look after yourself – and watch out for the widow ladies!”

  He took up residence four days before the convoy was due to sail; making enquiries at the docks he was assured that the escort had arrived, the merchantmen were all present and that only an unexpected gale of wind could hold them in port.

  The Harbourmaster identified the ship on which he was to sail and the troopers for the battalion; all was ready, he was told.

  “Your own ship, Sir Septimus, be in permanent charter to the Company of Merchant Adventurers Trading into Hudson’s Bay, and as such be both large and well-found. Bristol Maid, her name and she is as great as any East Indiaman, sir, with a large crew and good officers, most of them once of the Royal Navy but now unable to find a ship. Every naval vessel, Sir Septimus, has its midshipmen, four or six, sometimes more to the quarterdeck. These lads grow up and become lieutenants, a never-ending supply of cocked hats seeking a place at sea; in the nature of things, even allowing for death and wounds and sickness and old age, nearly one half of them cannot find a berth and drift, as you might say, into the merchant service. The best find themselves in the service of the great companies – East and West Indies, the Africa Company, the Levanters, and Hudson’s Bay.”

  “I have sailed to India and back and found the ship to be comfortable, sir.”

  “The voyage to Halifax will be equally easy, Sir Septimus, storm excepted, of course.”

  It all sounded very promising, and conversation with the landlord at the inn led Septimus to believe in the Harbourmaster’s honesty; the big ships in the Atlantic trade offered comfort to the rich passenger.

  Septimus instructed his own people to ensure they had all they required for a six-week passage.

  “Books; cards; back-gammon boards perhaps. You must have an occupation of some sort for the long hours.”

  Ensigns Martinsyde and Longhurst were sure they could face the voyage; they had equipped themselves against the tedium. Adolphus Rowlands was less certain, but confessed to having purchased a number of military texts which he proposed to study; he had discovered that he was in many ways ignorant of the Army and believed that he must remedy the lack. Septimus agreed that he was wise and inwardly hoped that the boy had become reconciled to his lot.

  The older three of his staff officers were equally reconciled to sea travel.

  Lieutenants Curry and Westmacott had travelled by water before and were equipped, they said, for all that the ocean could throw at them. Septimus did not enquire further; both young men had seen the brief campaign in Germany and were said by Major Taft to be self-reliant.

  Captain the Honourable George Kidlington was in his late twenties and expected to purchase a majority within two years, just as soon as the new regulations would permit. For the while, his family thought that he should gain experience as a staff officer and preferred that he should do so in America, where he could be outstanding in a small army, rather than in Spain where there were many brigadiers and major-generals. The Kidlingtons called cousin with many of the best families and were placed to be very useful to Septimus, provided the Honourable George did well for himself. Major Taft had been very pleased to land Captain Kidlington.

  “No worries about the sea-borne existence for me, Sir Septimus! Sleep late and eat and drink well, and discover if there might not be some lonely lady crossing the fish-pond to rejoin her husband after taking a break from Canada to visit relatives. If not, well, one can always play cards; if so, then other games may supervene!”

  Captain Kidlington did not seem a particularly sympathetic character to Septimus, but he had a name as a competent soldier and showed alert in the military field.

  “Do you intend, Sir Septimus, to raise a militia that will serve only in its own home area, or is it felt desirable that they should come together as a larger force at a distance?”

  “I am undecided as yet, Captain Kidlington. My first thoughts are that I want local forces to act as guerrilla bands such as we have seen in Spain, cutting up supply columns, destroying couriers, isolating any invaders. We shall, however, need more than a single battalion to face the American army, or such portion of it as may invade the Halifax region.”

  “A problem to be solved by raising both a Militia and Fencibles in every town and parish or county or whatever the locality may be. Militia to remain, based on their homes; the Fencibles to serve wherever posted, in Canada or across the border in America.”

  “Agreed, Captain Kidlington; I would ask you to take some responsibility for the raising of Fencibles. It will be necessary to deal with the local officials – and that, I think, will be too time-consuming for me to deal with in person, and yet will demand the skills and patience of a senior man. If it should seem that a captain is too lowly a personage to hold his own against self-important mayors and reeves and such, then we shall see what can be done by way of a brevet, sir.”

  Kidlington was much in favour of that course, would do his very best, for a brevet could give him additional seniority in his rank when he had made his purchase, and that might allow him to purchase as a lieutenant-colonel at an earlier date.

  Man of Conflict Series

  BOOK FIVE

  Chapter Ten

  Perhaps the sole good thing to say for a crossing to Canada was that it was shorter than the passage to India.

  Life aboard ship was tedious, as much as anything for the lack of conversation. The news of the day had been discussed on the first night out of Bristol and on the days succeeding the sole new topic was how many miles had been covered in the previous twenty-four hours, and how many were left to sail.

  Septimus was senior officer aboard and set the tone of the mess; he had no love of hard-drinking and did not wish the gambling ever to progress beyond chicken-stakes, so it was a very staid cabin that he presided over. The ladies generally approved and the merchant seamen were much in favour because there was no possibility of trouble and they liked a quiet life. The dozen of more junior officers, including a major of cavalry, thought it very small beer, but had no choice other than to conform and spend five boring weeks in a state of near-sobriety, playing whist for the most part.

  There was one other army family aboard, the lady of a colonel of a line regiment, Mrs Younghusband, who had stayed behind, heavily pregnant, when the battalion had sailed in the previous year. She was joining her husband now with all three of her children, including a flourishing baby. Captain Kidlington smiled hopefully but was resolutely cold-shouldered; he bore the reverse manfully, confiding to Septimus that a colonel’s wife was risky game in any case for a captain.

  Major Holden’s South Lincolnshires were distributed over three old troopships, two of them dilapidated naval two-deckers, the third a superannuated East Indiamen, all as was normal for an army charter. The escort of sloops and frigates fussed around the troopers, trying at every watch to get more speed from them, pleasantly surprised when they achieved anything greater than six knots. The convoy commodore sat unconcerned in his lordly First Rate ship of the line, his one hundred guns making him a lord of creation, or so it seemed.

  The master of Septimus’ ship commented that the Americans had built nothing bigger than a heavy frigate while the French had showed little desire to send their line-of-battle ships to sea in recent years and so a First Rate needed do no more than display its three decks in case of trouble.

  “No French fleet sent to aid the Americans on this occasion, sir?”

  “No, Sir Septimus. The French are concerned to seek control of the Mediterranean and to discourage Britain from sending any great troop convoys to the Baltic waters. The opinion is that they will not divert a fleet across the Atlantic to fight in what is really no more than a sideshow, the more particularly because of the example of Trafalgar and the possibility that they could lose all of their ships again.”

  “Nelson’s great triumph still serves us wel
l then, sir.”

  “It does, Sir Septimus. Admittedly, while the French keep a fleet in Brest and another in Toulon, then the Navy must keep a strong blockade to each coast. Were the French to venture out of port and be defeated, then the blockade could be kept by frigates and sloops and the ships of the line could be used elsewhere, making landings in the Baltic or on the coast of Holland perhaps. Was there to be an army located in Hamburg, sir, and protected by the Navy, then Bonaparte would be under permanent threat and would be far less able to go adventuring into Russia or Austria or even further afield.”

  “So, as a result our convoys can venture across the oceans with very little to fear.”

  “Exactly so, Sir Septimus. Unescorted ships may still be at risk from privateers and small naval craft, but in essence, British trade is unaffected by the war, while the Frogs and Spanish have almost no ships at sea outside the Mediterranean. The French were unable to defend the Mauritius, as another example, because they dared not send a fleet. The war in America will see almost no French involvement, however much they might desire to aid the Jonathans, and that will mean, among other things, that the Americans will be short of cannon, having only a small capacity to produce great guns themselves and having purchased from the French by habit.”

  Septimus thought that very unwise; any sovereign nation should possess the means with which to arm itself.

  “The Americans will find themselves unable to prosecute sieges for lack of the guns, you would suggest, sir?”

  It seemed very probable, the seaman thought.