HMS Hector: A Charles Mullins Novel (Sea Command Book 6)

by Richard Testrake

  Mullins had originally planned for Mister Drummond to lead the assault party. After considering the matter further, he changed the plan. Although Drummond’s injury years before had caused a long hiatus from sea duty, he had now regained his skills. He was twice Mullin’s age though, and the terrain that must be negotiated was very difficult. There was some doubt whether the elderly lieutenant could cover the distance through the heat and difficult jungle growth.

  Accordingly, Mullins called Drummond back to Hector and informed him he was leaving the first officer in command of the frigate and would command the assault party himself, assisted by Lieutenant Flowers. Drummond was not quite happy with this decision, but accepted the plan without serious protest.

  All did not go quite well. The path branched several times and they had to retrace their steps several times. Heavily armed with muskets and musketoons, the members of the landing party were exhausted when they reached their objective in the early dawn.

  The men could easily have passed the site by, since the path did not lead directly to the head of the inlet, but instead passed it by several hundred yards to port. Fortunately, several Marines, travelling ahead of the main party as scouts, heard the pirates, who were reveling on shore with some local women. The Marines alerted the rest of the party and Mullins went ahead with his Marine sergeant, to determine how they were going to attack.

  Only about twenty of the pirates were visible, and some of these seemed to be drunk. Mullins had thirty men in his assault party, and all were armed and prepared for the action. The pirates were gathered around two fires on the shore of the inlet, while the Corpus Christi ship appeared to be aground, listing over, just offshore.

  The assault party divided, with each party placed where their own fire would not endanger their comrades. One party remained in place, while the other moved farther to seaward, to give the party a little cross-fire. There had been reports of enemy guns emplaced on shore to cover the defenses, so the Marines sent out four men to see if these could be located. Wilting and dying vegetation at the head of the inlet indicated a promising area to inspect. The corporal in charge of the scouting party was given a hammer and a quantity of hardened steel spikes to disable the guns if there was opportunity.

  While awaiting the scout’s report, the assault party rested and made ready for its attack. Seeing no possibility of freeing the stranded pirate ship, preparations must be made to fire her. The ship was heeled over to port, with her decks at a steep angle. Her guns, especially on the starboard beam, were lashed in place so they could not fall loose.

  When the attack had been initially planned back on Hector, Mullins had hoped for the ship’s magazine to be intact, so that slow match could be laid to the powder stores and the ship blown up.

  Overseeing the stranded ship though, it was impossible to predict whether the ship’s powder was still onboard, or indeed even functional. Therefore, Mullins decided to employ the secondary plan. Slush, obtained from Hector’s cook, had been carried in small casks with the party.

  All of the salt beef and pork consumed by the ship’s company was boiled in the ship’s kettle. The cook periodically skimmed the floating grease from the kettle and stored it in barrels, where it could be used for coating the standing rigging and any other purposes on the ship. In the tropical heat, this grease was almost liquid, and could be readily spread around the pirate ship’s wooden structure.

  The tapping sound of a tinker at work came from the head of the inlet. Mullins realized the Marine scouts had probably found the battery and were tapping home the steel spikes in the guns’ touch holes. He was concerned the pirate crew might hear the sound and investigate.

  The crew of the Corpus Christi was well engaged in their party though and failed to notice. Rum was vanishing down their throats at an astonishing rate, and those men and their women were making enough noise to drown out any sounds made by the assault party.

  The scouts were then heard, running through the thick jungle. Corporal Hodges made his breathless report as soon as he found Captain Mullins. Almost too exhausted, he crashed to a halt, saluted and gasped out his message.

  There were four guns, six-pounders, sited to fire down the length of the inlet. Some work had been accomplished to clear a field of fire for the guns, but the pirates had never finished the task. Those guns would have a very difficult time putting accurate fire upon an enemy through the remaining vegetation.

  There were now no men manning the battery, so Hodges had his men hammer spikes in the guns’ vents. A hardened steel spike, hammered securely in place would be the very devil for someone to remove, since its steel would likely be as hard as the drill that would be employed to remove it. With the vent closed, it would be impossible to fire the weapon.

  A pile of shot and two kegs of powder comprised the magazine of the battery. Some slow match was coiled up on one of the powder kegs. Hodges buried one end of a length of the match in an opened powder keg, igniting it just before returning to the main party. He had just finished explaining the magazine would likely explode within a half-hour, when the blast of the exploding powder kegs alerted both the assault party and their pirate opponents.

  Mullins ordered his party to open fire, and a perfect storm of shot flew toward the enemy. Hardly a gun was fired at the Hectors’, as they stormed in behind their bayonetted muskets. There was some cut-and-thrust with those pirates still standing, but most either fell or ran off into the jungle.

  The battle with the pirates was not over. Only a small number of the bandits had been left behind with their ship. One of the few prisoners admitted the remainder had taken a schooner, previously captured, back out to sea in hopes of taking a larger vessel with which they could continue their depredations.

  Only a half dozen of the buccaneers were still alive, as well as a few of their women. Some of the survivors had sustained fearsome wounds, a few of them not likely to survive. Two women were relatively intact. Questioning revealed they were from a local, tiny village nearby. They were released, charged with warning the other villagers that aiding pirates could bring serious consequences.

  The remaining captives were sent back to the boats, that would take them out to the ship. The badly wounded for treatment by the surgeon, the others would be put in chains on the orlop deck.

  Chapter Eleven

  With the pirates under control, it was now necessary to dispose of the ship. It appeared she had been brought up this inlet at a time of high water. At that time, the wounded ship was taking on water faster than it could be removed. At first, happy that they had made it to shore, the pirate crew celebrated for a day, before attending to repairs. In that time, the ship had taken on enough water to settle firmly into the mud under her keel. The pirates had tried to careen their ship to get at the underwater damaged incurred in the fight with Grappler, but only succeeded to incur further damage to hull and rigging.

  Giving up on the ship, some of the crew left to find another, while some had stayed to salvage as much equipment as possible from the wreck. A small punt had been left behind which was used by Mullin’s people to access the abandoned hulk.

  Mullins and Flowers went out to explore the remains. The wreck was nearly on her beam ends and the deck was steeply sloped. The officers could determine that it would be a hopeless task for them to salvage this ship. It might have been possible in a friendly port with a dockyard nearby, but not in this wilderness.

  Accordingly, the kegs of slush were brought out to the hulk and the contents spread liberally around the parts of the ship above water. Men with axes broke up what decking that was still relatively dry. The former magazine of the ship was now underwater, so they need not worry about an explosion from that source.

  Most of the ship’s guns were still aboard, those on the starboard beam hanging on their breaching cables. Some of these were still loaded, so the cables were cut and the guns allowed to fall down the steep deck to crash through the opposite side. The port side guns were already submerged and ha
rmless.

  A few fires were started on the deck before the last of the hands boarded the punt and left the hulk. The fires slowly expanded, until feeding on the slush, they began burning fiercely and the individual fires merged. When the wreck’s deck was fully engulfed in flame, the assault force shouldered their weapons and made their way into the jungle.

  The Hector party, loaded with weapons and equipment, made their way slowly down the trail toward the beach. Behind them, individual members of the local population, roused by those pirates who had survived the initial assault, began assembling and proceeded to follow the party back to the ship. Some of these people were able to pass the Hector’s men by means of alternate paths and fired at them from ambush as they passed. No men were killed, but several received wounds that might turn bad in this climate. Volleys were fired at their tormentors, but no evidence of success was noted.

  It was a tired party of men that reached the beach where their boats awaited them. Their followers, now right on their heels, had not been overly successful up to this point, but shouted and some brandished machetes. Just to keep everyone honest, the Marine sergeant deployed the greater part of his force to cover the embarkation. Once it reached the shore, the launch, with its twelve-pounder boat carronade, covered the boarding. Once the big gun was uncovered, the guerilla party faded back into the jungle,

  Hector’s cutter loaded first, taking some of the seamen, while the Marines remained onshore. As the cutter was making its way back to pick up another load, another band emerged from the edge of the jungle. These people were dressed as seamen and were probably the remnants of the pirate crew. Most of these were unarmed, save for the occasional machete, but at least one carried a musket.

  Raising the firearm, the bandit fired it into the air in the direction of the frigate. It was a long shot and by all odds it should have missed, but the ball surprisingly slapped into the starboard beam of the ship, right up forward.

  The sound of the impact was plainly audible to those hand still on shore, and Sergeant Cullins, on shore with his troops, pointed out the culprit and ordered his men to fire. Seeing the muskets being trained on him, the pirate attempted to push back into the crowd of shouting locals, but to no avail. The Marines stood in two ranks, after readying their weapons. When the front rank fired, there was a sudden swirl in the crowd of locals, and three of them fell. The remainder ran back into the jungle. The musket man was one of those left behind in the sand, with a leg broken by a musket ball. Another was dead while, the remaining victim was unconscious from a head wound. Mullins ordered this one taken aboard the frigate to be treated by the surgeon. The musket man would also be transported to the ship but after treatment, he would be put in fetters in the orlop with the other prisoners.

  Mullins retired to his cabin after Hector put out to sea. He had just settled in his hanging bed when the Marine sentry at his door banked his musket butt against the deck and reported, “First Officer, sir,”

  Grumbling to himself, Mullins got out of bed, donned a robe and sat at his desk. Calling, “Come in.” he waited to see what was the matter. Accompanying the first officer was Mister Persons and a wary Seth Aikens.

  Mister Drummond spoke first. “Sir, Seaman Aikens has recognized one of the prisoners we have on this ship. He informed his midshipman and then Mister Persons and myself were notified.”

  Mullins nodded. “Well, tell us what you know, Aikens.”

  His cap in his hands, Aikens nervously looked around then began. “It’s like this, sir. Master at arms sent me below to make sure the irons on our prisoners were not about to come loose. It was dark on the orlop deck so I took a glim with me so I could see what I was doing. When I looked at one of them, he had a bandage on his face, but he looked familiar to me. Without thinking about it, I pulled down the bandage so I could look at his face. I know I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t think at the time. Anyway, it was John Billings.”

  Mullins had to think a moment to refresh his memory. Then, he recalled that Billings was the British renegade who had deserted his ship and joined the pirate band they had just destroyed.

  “Alert now, he stood and said, “This is excellent news, gentlemen. Let us go and examine this specimen immediately.”

  With Aikens carrying a lantern, the party descended into the depths of the ship. Some of the shackled pirates grumbled at the sudden light, but their quarry, Billings, had not a word to say.

  Mullins, once he looked at the man, saw he was the individual who had been in the party that had fired upon his people on the retreat to the ship. This one had been wounded by a Marine’s musket ball to the head. When he asked the prisoner, “John Billings, is this your name?”, the prisoner remained mute.

  Later, on the quarterdeck, he remarked with satisfaction. “Well, this ought to cheer up some people on Antigua and in London!”

  With no further business on this shore, Hector made her way back out to sea. She had done all she could do here, and now must make her way back to Antigua to get proper medical attention to those members of her crew that had been wounded.

  Captain Mullins had expected no praise when he picked up his mooring in English Harbor and received none. Of course, as he was told, he had indeed destroyed the troublesome pirate ship, but after all, she was stranded, aground and nearly helpless at the time in a backwater. He had killed, wounded or captured a number of her crew, but many others were now on the sea, looking for another ship to take. The buccaneers could obtain recruits in number, from any of the former French islands in the area.

  It would be necessary for Mullins to have his ship prepared for sea again and to sail as soon as possible. There were some losses that must be made good. Several men had been wounded and a few killed. He was warned that few seamen would be available from this port.

  Shore boats frequently came alongside, delivering the stores that had been ordered. Shortly before it was time to sail, one of the boats came alongside the Hector, delivering casks of island rum. An elderly Island Black was in charge of the crew on this boat.

  This man, Silas Warner, was a former slave, freed recently due to his advanced age. His working party were all slaves. As the men wrestled the heavy casks aboard ship, Warner was able to speak briefly with the bosun’s mate watching over the work. Warner’s son, still a slave, was one of the laborers, and Warner wondered if the young slave could be signed on Hector’s crew.

  The bosun’s mate could hardly understand the man’s island patois, and would ordinarily have ignored the request, but he knew the captain wished to recruit hands. The petty officer handed Warner over to the midshipman of the watch, who in turn, spoke to Mister Drummond, who was on the quarterdeck at the time.

  Drummond was about to refuse the request, but felt obliged to discuss the matter with the captain. Mullins asked him to explain his reluctance to take on a needed hand.

  “Sir”. Drummond explained, “this man is a slave. If we take him, without his owner’s permission, there will be hell to pay. You would undoubtedly be charged and brought to trial for theft.”

  Mullins thought over the problem for a moment, then walked out on deck. Warner was still on deck, and Mullins called him to the quarterdeck and asked him to speak further about this request.

  Warner explained his son was young and strong, having worked on the waterfront all his life, loading and unloading ships, He wished for his son to have a better future than he could have as a slave. In reply, Mullins explained the difficulty he would be in if he was seen, as a King’s officer, taking another man’s property.

  The disappointed father nodded and started to move away.

  Mullins stared at the disheartened man then had an idea. Calling the man back, he explained. “Warner, I expect to sail tomorrow afternoon. I plan to be off the entrance to Windward Bay by the early evening. While, as a King’s officer, I must not be seen taking a man’s property without due process of law, if I were to see a boat adrift with people aboard, I could be justified in taking aboard any passenge
r in that boat I judged to be in difficulty. Of course, once aboard my ship, I could then put that man’s name into the ship’s book as a crewman. Regardless of his previous condition of servitude, he would then be a free seaman in the King’s navy.”

  “I will repeat, HMS Hector should be off the entrance to Windward Bay about sunset tomorrow.”

  Warner nodded solemnly, then climbed down into his boat.

  Mister Drummond was distressed by the unpleasant possibilities, but remained silent. Next day, the frigate put out to sea on a slight breeze, under her headsails and tops’ls. After leaving harbor, she turned to starboard, crossing the entrance to Windward Bay, A long distance away, a battered old boat, loaded with men fishing over the side, could be made out with the watch officer’s glass. Hector was early for her appointment, so Mullins ordered his people to engage in sail drill, to include sending down topmasts and raising them again.

  While this exercise was in progress, the boat could be seen making its way out slowly by a single oarsman. Darkness fell before the boat closed the frigate, and the wind began picking up. The sailing master reported it might be wise to get out to sea since he felt they would be in for a blow, tonight.

  The boatmen were now invisible in the dark, and Mullins feared that he might need to leave them behind. Then, a deck lookout reported the glimmer of a dark lantern close abeam and there it was. The rowboat was much too small to be out in this weather and was half swamped, but her people were all in good condition.