HMS Falcon: A Charles Mullins novel, Sea Command 7

by Richard Testrake

  It was the British riflemen who suffered most from the initial shock of the meeting, but then it was the turn of the horsemen to suffer as the rifles picked off their victims in ones and twos.

  The attack of the heavy horsemen had incurred serious casualties to the company of riflemen. Normally, they could count on the protection of nearby formations of infantry, whose blazingly fast volleys of musket fire would repel most attacks such as this.

  Without such protection, the riflemen still on their feet, abandoned their positions and took cover in the broken ground and brush near their camp.

  Now, they were forced to fight in small, separated groups, constantly losing men to the now-dismounted horsemen. Captain Drover soon fell, with a musket ball to his head. The ball struck a glancing blow which rendered him unconscious but proved to be not life-threatening. It was the practice of many of the enemy troopers to dispatch any living wounded they came across, but Drover was spared from this fate because of the quantity of blood that covered his face. Those who saw him believed him dead. Only after the battle did a French subaltern investigate and find he had a living prisoner.

  Dooley, suspicious of the quiet before the attack, had gone on a scout by himself. He was not actually inside the defensive perimeter when the enemy struck.

  When the warning shot alerted him of the attack, he hid in a copse of brambles and watched the initial attack of mounted cuirassiers charge by. As one of the mounted men charged by, a rifleman in the defenses put a ball in the fellow’s chest, sending him tumbling to the ground.

  When he had a chance, Dooley crawled out from his cover and appropriated the horseman’s carbine which lay on the ground near his body. Searching the body, he recovered a handful of paper cartridges for the weapon. With this short firearm, he could separately engage two dismounted horsemen, killing one and severely wounding the other.

  Chapter Four

  The riflemen still on their feet had organized themselves by this time. In their small groups hidden in the undergrowth, they continued to inflict punishment on the horsemen. The sun had risen over the hills and now there was enough light for the snipers to see their sights.

  Faced with this desultory fire from the British, the enemy horsemen collected as many of their wounded as possible, along with the captured British officer and left. Some of the riflemen followed, picking off members of the enemy rear guard at ranges which the French carbines could not reply

  Concerned about losing control, Corporal Haynes, the ranking man still on his feet, called these people back and began making plans for the immediate future. It was then that Dooley made his appearance. His French carbine and a bloodied arm from a bayonet slash proved he had not been cowering behind cover during the fighting. Since all knew he had been friends of both Captain Mullins, as well as Drover, he unofficially assumed command of the small force remaining.

  Dooley had operated out of this same country the previous year when he was gaining intelligence of enemy dispositions. He knew of some areas with better cover than where they were at the time, and one which was within striking distance of one of the major encampments that processed conscripts.

  Setting out, Dooley led the party to a path through the hills. This path would have been difficult or impossible to wheeled vehicles, but was adequate for men on foot or horseback. On their way, they encountered two horsemen who had become separated from the main party that had attacked them earlier. Thinking they were alone, they had picketed their mounts and were both sitting against trees, in the process of consuming a flagon of pomace brandy, which they had taken from a farm where they had been quartered a few days before.

  Dooley and one of the riflemen crawled behind the pair and used their knives to silence the soldats.

  The horses were pressed into service to carry a pair of wounded riflemen that were having difficulties.

  Anxious to begin their attacks upon the French installations, scouts were sent out. In addition, a sentry was posted upon the peak of the highest hill in the neighborhood. This was rewarded when Rifleman Davis saw two ships approaching the headland near the inlet where they had landed. One ship was HMS Falcon and she was pursuing a fat merchant, low in the water.

  Both ships sailed from view, but the sighting gave Dooley the incentive to order the branches to be stripped from a pine growing on the hilltop and secure several riflemen’s’ jackets to the top. There was by now, a plentiful supply of such clothing removed from casualties before the inevitable burial.

  No notice was taken of the jackets for several days, but then one of the young midshipmen on Falcon, sent to the main masthead as punishment by the first lieutenant, saw the garments and reported them to the deck. The second officer came up with his glass, threatening dire punishment if this were a prank.

  When his glass confirmed the mid’s sighting, the youngster was sent back down to regale the gunroom of his adventure and HMS Falcon changed course for the nearest landing area to the signal.

  Captain Mullins was concerned over the fate of the landing party, having not heard from Captain Drover. Both the captain and his senior sergeant had been supplied with signaling equipment which would be used for communication with the ship, but Drover had been captured and the sergeant had perished and the signal flags lost.

  In this light, Mullins thought he should personally land with a strong force to determine if the mission had been compromised. He ordered the cutter and launch prepared for a landing on a hostile shore and took his place in the stern on one, against the strong objections of his first lieutenant. The landing party was armed with muskets and cutlasses and was accompanied with a signal party equipped with the proper signal flags.

  On shore, Dooley and Corporal Haines observed the boats setting out for the beach. The agent was concerned because of the landing being made in broad daylight in full view of anyone looking out at the sea. With no means of communicating with the boats, he decided his people would just have to cope with any difficulties. Men were stationed along the beach, as well as in the approaches. At least, the incoming boats would have advance warning should French forces make an untimely appearance.

  The only person noticing the incoming boats was a shepherd boy out with his flock. This lad had heard his cousin, from his death bed, relate his interrogation by the French farrier sergeant. Having no desire to suffer the same fate, the boy and his dog drove the small flock inland, up into the heights, where no French soldiers would be apt to venture. He would surely give no warning of his sighting.

  Mullins and his force left the boats, ordering them back to the ship until signaled to return. Ron Dooley left his cover and approached, giving Mullins a brief account of their stay ashore. On his assurance that the mission could still be carried out, Mullins decided to remain with the force ashore until some impact could be made upon the enemy.

  Deciding the force had been much too visible this day, he ordered the men to pack up and prepare to move inland. Mister Drake, the midshipman assigned to handle the landing party’s signals, climbed the tree that still flew the riflemens’ jackets and installed a block and halyards necessary to handle the signal flags. Once the ship had answered their hoist announcing their intentions, the entire force set out for a new destination.

  On their first rest break, Captain Mullins informed the people that, in the absence of Captain Drover, Mister Dooley would command the assault force, while the headquarters party would be commanded by himself. Since no senior sergeant was present, Mullins granted a field promotion to Corporal Haynes, making him a sergeant.

  While his troops were recovering from the forced march, Dooley explained the French commanders’ difficulties and how they were going to exploit them.

  “To begin, the best route for a messenger to travel to reach any outside command is on this narrow road beneath us. A pair of riflemen behind cover should be able to deny passage to any messenger not under escort.”

  “I doubt though, that General Renaud will attempt to message any superior. He will li
kely attempt to preserve the secrecy of his endeavor if it is possible. At any time, he is liable to have only a few thousand troops under his orders, most of them being raw conscripts. He cannot keep them assembled in any one location for a lengthy time, because of provisioning problems. Each village in his command can feed only a limited number of people, so he keeps the troops separated in different villages.”

  “When the time comes to mount the invasion, he will likely assemble the invasion force in a protected cove about fifteen miles to the west where the bulk of his commandeered fishing boats are kept. There the troops will board their transport and set sail.”

  When Dooley fell silent, Mullins spoke. “Just how do you plan to interfere with General Renaud’s plans?”

  “Since most of his troops are conscripts, with no experience of battle, I propose to visit each of his depots and fire into the camp. The snipers would of course have escape routes already planned and would leave for their next depot while the enemy defenses are being mobilized.”

  “Other men will visit the cove where the fishing boats are moored. There, we will cause as much mischief as possible, perhaps burning a few of the boats.”

  Mullins then expressed some of his own thoughts. “With our limited numbers, all we can do is irritate the enemy forces. But if we make enough noise, Imperial forces may get wind of this proposed invasion and very possibly nip it. I doubt Bonaparte will take kindly to one of his subordinates taking such an initiative.”

  After marching through the night, they found themselves in the foothills near a small agricultural village. From their vantage point high on a hill above the hamlet, they could see the conscripts had been assembled and were being put though their version of close-order-drill. There were only two drill instructors and over a hundred recruits so matters were very confused, with much shouting from the instructors.

  Dooley had seen to his troops, sending most of them marching toward the next depot. Mullins sat in a slight depression, with only his head and shoulders exposed. When the agent came to announce that it was time to leave, Mullins asked what he thought of firing at this formation while they were here.

  “Captain, it must be four hundred yards to those troops. You could never hit a man at this range.”

  “Ron, I don’t think it is quite that distance. Maybe a bit over 300? Anyway, I wouldn’t fire at one man. I’d aim at the center of the formation. Trust to luck to knock one of them down.”

  “Well Captain, you do know those people will come boiling out of that village like so many hornets from a nest?”

  “Mister Dooley, suppose you get your people on the road. When you have travelled half a mile, you could deploy a half-dozen riflemen to set up an ambush. We will fire and retire when you have had a chance to do this. We will make the best of our way to the ambush point where hopefully your people will put a few men down. In the meantime, the remainder of your force could continue its march, perhaps making another ambush later. When the enemy appears to get too close, we will evade into the hills and make rendezvous near our next objective.”

  The landing force was on the march all afternoon and into the evening. The first attempt on the enemy was a spectacular success. Mullin’s long rifle delivered its shot at an impossible range. While it only inflicted a minor leg wound to a conscript, the sight of the man tumbling to earth such a long distance away. was a gift to the riflemen, it was an ominous portent to the soldats.

  To these uneducated conscripts, the shot, that had struck Pierre’s thigh after traveling an impossibly long distance, and then retained enough energy to shatter his femur, must have been fired from the gun of a witch such. No human being could have possibly have sent a ball toward the enemy successfully at a distance.

  When the pursuit up the hillside brought the enemy in range of the British Baker rifles, more of the enemy fell, some of these fatally. The riflemen had a few minutes to rest while the ambush had been set. At the sound of the shots, his people set out at the trot they customarily marched at in the field. Their pursuers, without a chance to rest, were harried to continue their run up the hill and soon these men began to fall from exhaustion. The snipers, left behind, scattered into the brushy hillside and reloaded their weapons, getting a second chance to fire. More of the enemy fell and now it was time for the Britons to evade back to the secondary destination.

  The enemy force pursuing the riflemen soon lost its cohesion and now became just a mob of individuals, some still in pursuit, others taking opportunity to sit down and rest against a tree. Some of these men never got another chance to stand up again.

  Chapter Five

  For a week, the landing force kept up their pressure upon General Renaud’s forces. Continued attacks upon the various depots resulted in confusion in the French ranks, with many of the conscripts taking advantage of the uproar to quietly slip away and disappear into the country.

  Dooley ordered his riflemen to avoid any parties of these deserters. These men were not to be fired upon unless they fired first.

  The continued attacks upon the enemy troops increased their alert level. No longer must a soldat falling asleep on watch fear the wrath of his sergeant. He would know by now that if he did do so, he would likely never wake up. The casualties were not always on one side, though.

  Two men were confined to camp, recovering from minor injuries from falls and stumbles in the rough country. Both were discovered and taken back to a depot by the French soldats that discovered them. Two others had been wounded and captured by the enemy during a raid. Later, an enemy soldier that Dooley’s people captured while trying to desert, admitted that all had been executed after their grueling interrogation.

  Dooley responded by pinning a note to the saddle of a worn-out horse indicating any private soldat coming to them with a French officer, would be released and provided with means to leave the area. The officer would be questioned with the same vigor and results that the British soldiers received.

  HMS Falcon was frequently sighted, sailing along the coast, and the signal team could communicate with her. One evening, after a particularly strenuous attack, Mullins and Dooley discussed their options. While they were still inflicting mayhem upon the enemy, their own force was being reduced by casualties. Some, due to injury, were now unable to travel through the rough country at any speed.

  Reluctantly, the two decided it would soon be time to return to the ship. First though, it would be desirable to see what could be done about the fishing boats that were to transport the invasion troops. These boats had not been attacked before because of the strong defenses. All of them were moored out in the cove, well away from land, and the few small boats visible were kept under strong guard.

  A successful attack with only their reduced force would be difficult. It would be useful to have additional forces. Accordingly, the signal party arranged a rendezvous with Falcon on the other side of the headland for the following night,

  With the enemy on heightened alert, it was difficult to travel to the site with all of their people, including the injured, but except for an encounter with a small enemy patrol, they made their objective before first light.

  The engagement with that patrol had been a confused affair. Both sides were taken by surprise when the enemy patrol came suddenly upon the advance scouts of the landing force. The three members of the patrol were soon neutralized, with one taken prisoner, Rifleman McCoy though, was injured by a blow to his face by a musket butt. With bones broken and confused intellects, the valued member of the team would need to be sent to the ship, a casualty, along with the new prisoner.

  The launch and cutter were both waiting, lying just off-shore. Both boats were packed with armed men, Lieutenant Quigley, Falcon’s second officer was commanding. A brief conference resulted, the reinforcements were quickly landed on the beach and the prisoner loaded for transport back to Falcon, while the injured men were gently stowed aboard the launch, which left for the ship immediately.

  It was decided the launch, after de
livering the casualties and prisoner to Falcon, would set out with more seamen to the mooring area of the French invasion fleet.

  The cutter would take aboard as many men as possible and make its way to the cove. The riflemen would march across the headland, hoping to reach it at dusk. A signal rocket, fired when the boats were in position, would signal a simultaneous attack by all three segments.

  The boat retuning from the ship would deliver such incendiary material as was available. This cutter would attempt to take a few of the fishing boats to windward. These craft would be fired and set adrift, with hopes the blazing craft would foul others nearby. The crews of both boats would then attack any vessels nearby and set fire to them, also.

  Dooley’s force would take positions along the beach intending to prevent reinforcement of the defenders. Arriving before the boats, they spent the available time building defensive positions. Mullins was concerned the enemy would discover their presence, since several of the fishing boats were moored just yards offshore.

  No activity could be seen or heard from the boats though, and their crews apparently believed themselves to be in a safe location. For a half-watch, no activity from the riflemen on shore was noted. The incoming boats then began overpowering the few crewmen on the fishing boats and then the fires were set.

  In the initial phase of the action, shots were fired, and the garrison troops alerted. As the defenders came boiling from their quarters, Dooley’s men prepared for battle.

  Mullins was squatting behind a barricade on the edge of the forest. Several other positions had been prepared nearby. Dooley had insisted every rifleman should have an alternate position prepared into which he could move should fighting become intense and a primary position be over-run.