Under the Meteor Flag: Log of a Midshipman during the French Revolutionary War

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

  THE STORMING OF THE REDOUBT, AND THE ATTACK ON BASTIA.

  As the afternoon wore on the wind grew light, and by eight bells it hadso far died away that it was practically valueless to the boats whichwere to convey the naval brigade to the shore. The admiral, however,would not allow the men to row, being anxious that they should reach thescene of action fresh and vigorous; at the last moment, therefore, oneof the lieutenants belonging to the "Victory" was sent onboard the"Requin"--or the "Shark," as she was now almost universally called--withorders to get under weigh and tow the flotilla down to the cove.

  At the same time our signal was made, in obedience to which we wentthrough the fleet and took on board Lord Hood, Sir Hyde Parker, Vice-Admiral Hotham, Captain Purvis of the "Princess Royal," CommodoreLinzee, Captain Elphinstone of the "Robust," Captain Nelson of the"Agamemnon," and some half a dozen other officers who were going onshore to witness the attack.

  By the time that we had embarked all our passengers, the "Shark" wasunder weigh and dodging about, waiting for the boats, which werealongside their respective ships, taking in their proper complement ofmen.

  When all was ready, the boats shoved off and pulled for the brig, whichwas by this time hove-to in readiness for taking them in tow. AdmiralHood himself marshalled the boats in the order which he wished them totake; and two stout hawsers being passed out of the brig's stern-ports,the boats were lashed to them in two divisions, larboard and starboard;and when everything was arranged to the satisfaction of our chief, hegave the order for the brig to fill, and away we went.

  It took us an hour and a half to reach the cove, the wind being solight; and in order to remain in company, the little "Mouette's" canvashad to be reduced to a close-reefed mainsail and small jib, under whichwe were still able to sail round the flotilla occasionally, in orderthat Lord Hood might see that all was right.

  It was just growing dusk when the boats, having cast off from the towinghawsers, pulled into the cove and grounded on its steep shingly beach.We anchored the "Mouette" about a cable's length from the beach, landedour passengers, and watched them fairly out of sight on the San Fiorenzoroad, when Bob and I leaped into our dinghy and were pulled ashore. Thenaval brigade was by this time in motion; and, hurrying forward, we soonfound ourselves alongside the "Juno's" contingent, under the command ofthe second lieutenant, whose Irish blood was already up, and who greetedour appearance with a rollicking joke, which would in almost any otherman have been unbecoming the dignity of his rank. But "Paddy" Flinn--orMicky Flinn, as he was indifferently called by his friends--had a subtleknack of behaving in an undignified manner, without jeopardising therespect due to him; for, let his vagaries take what form they would, henever by any chance descended to the committal of a mean, cowardly, orungentlemanly act.

  The camp of the land forces was pitched at a distance of about two milesfrom the beach; and the march was accomplished in about three-quartersof an hour, our tars beguiling the way with jokes and yarns of the mostoutrageous and improbable character. The strictest discipline wasalways maintained on board ship; but on land-expeditions, which wouldadmit of it, a little more freedom was tacitly permitted.

  When we reached the point of rendezvous, we found the troops who were toshare with us the honours of the night already on the ground, andwaiting. The guns of the Cliff Battery were still thundering away farabove us; and the redoubt was replying with apparently undiminishedvigour.

  The place of rendezvous was a sort of ravine, situated about midwaybetween the two opposing batteries; the ground being masked from theredoubt by one of the precipitous sides of the ravine. At the fartherend, the precipice gradually merged into a steep slope, from the summitof which rose the hill upon which the redoubt stood; and up these twosteep slopes the storming-party had to go.

  By the time that all was ready, night had completely set in. Contraryto our hopes, it was exquisitely fine, not a single shred of cloudobscuring the deep blue vault of heaven. The wind had died away to thefaintest zephyr, and the dew was falling so copiously that it promisedsoon to wet us to the skin. At a signal, made by the waving of alantern, the guns of the Cliff Battery above us suddenly became mute, asthough the artillerymen had given up for the night; and a calm andtranquil silence ensued, broken only by the gentle rustle of the fitfulbreeze through the foliage of some firs which were dotted here and therealong the precipitous sides of the ravine, the chirping of insects, theoccasional twitter of a sleeping bird, or a low murmur here and there inthe serried ranks of armed men which stood awaiting the order to rushforth to death or victory. The stars flooded the scene with theirsubdued and mellow radiance, and, but for the occasional gleam of anaked weapon, everything was suggestive of restfulness and peace.

  It had been hoped that we should be able to take the garrison of theredoubt at least partially by surprise; but the fineness and silence ofthe night rendered this impossible; as soon, therefore, as everythingwas ready, the party moved forward toward the farther end of the ravine,the soldiers leading the way, in accordance with the proviso of Major-General Dundas, who refused to co-operate with the naval brigade uponany other terms. It took us but a few minutes to reach the end of theravine; and directly we were clear and had reached a point where thefirst slope became practicable, we were led up it at an easy pace, andhalted just beneath its brow--and consequently under cover--in orderthat all hands might recover their wind in readiness for the rush up thesecond slope to the redoubt.

  I was not, at that period of my life, particularly susceptible toserious thought or grave reflections; but as I stood on that steep hill-side in the hush and solemn beauty of the starlit night, and looked uponthat band of silent men, every one of them with the pulses of lifebeating quick and strong within him, his frame aglow with health, andevery nerve quivering with intense excitement, the awful thought flashedthrough my brain that, with many of them, a few brief seconds only stoodbetween them and eternity. I wondered to how many of them had the sameidea presented itself; and then came the question, "Does God ever in Hisinfinite mercy, in such supreme moments as this, inspire similarreflections in the minds of the doomed ones, in order that they may notbe hurried into His presence wholly unprepared?" It might be so, Ithought; and if that were the case, was it not probable that, coming tome at such a time, they foreshadowed my own doom, and warned me toprepare for it while still I had an opportunity? Five minutes hence,perhaps, and Time would be, for me, no more. The signal to advance--thebreathless rush--the flash and roar of artillery, a sickening crash, ahideous whirl, in which all nature becomes blotted out, and then--TheGreat White Throne.

  Was that what lay before me? The oppressive excitement under which Ihad been labouring passed away; tears of emotion welled up into my eyes,and my heart went up to God in a brief, silent, fervent prayer for mercyand forgiveness; that if I were about to die I might be pardoned forChrist's sake and received into everlasting life. For a minute or twothe fear of death--or rather, of the eternity beyond death--had beenupon me; but with the conclusion of my hurried prayer the mantle of fearfell from my shoulders, and a blessed peace--"the peace of God, whichpasseth all understanding," as I reverently believed--took its place. Iwas supported by a consciousness, or perhaps it was only a belief, thatwhatever happened I was safe; and from that moment my only anxiety wasto faithfully do my duty.

  At length, sufficient time having been allowed for the men to completelyrecover their breath and brace themselves for the final rush up the hillto the redoubt, the word was given, and we dashed over the brow of theslope and charged up the steep ascent; and at the same instant theartillerymen in the Cliff Battery--who had been keenly watching ourmovements--reopened with a terrific fire upon the devoted redoubt.

  Our men gave a single ringing, soul-stirring cheer, as they sprang intoview, and then were silent, the exertion of pressing up that steepacclivity leaving them no breath to waste in profitless noise. Thedistance to be traversed was not more than 200 yards--no great matterupon
level ground--but the hill rose so abruptly that, after the firstfifty yards, our pace was reduced to something between a walk and aclimb. The French, too, had evidently expected and been on the watchfor us; for we had hardly advanced twenty paces before the parapet ofthe redoubt blazed out above us in a long line of fire; a storm of roundshot and grape swept down upon us; great ghastly gaps were mown out ofour ranks, a hideous chorus of shrieks and groans rose above thethundering roar of the artillery, and long lines of dead and dying menmarked the path of the pitiless shot. The calmness and stillness ofnight gave place to a horrible discord of deafening sounds; the earthbeneath our feet shook and vibrated with the ceaseless discharge ofheavy guns; the baleful glare of portfires and fireballs flung down thehill by the enemy to enable them more clearly to ascertain our position,and the incessant flash of the cannon, cast a fierce, unearthly lightupon the scene. Again, again, and again came the hissing storm of iron,each time with more deadly effect; the ground before and around us wasploughed and gashed by the rushing shot; our men were swept away beforeit like withered leaves before a hurricane; the death-cries of cherishedcomrades continually pierced the ear; the storming-party was meltingaway like snow beneath the scorching breath of that fiery tempest; andstill the remnant struggled on.

  At length that fearful breathless climb was nearly over. We were sonear the redoubt that the muzzles of the guns could no longer bedepressed sufficiently for the shot to take effect; the artillerymen,therefore, left their cannon and joined the grenadiers in throwing downhand-grenades upon us, or in pouring in a ceaseless musketry-fire. Theguns in the Cliff Battery also became silent, in dread of strikingfriends as well as foes. A few yards more, and we were close enough todistinguish the stern, bronzed features of the defenders clusteringthick in the breach to bar our entrance, the musketry flashes gleamingon their glistening eyeballs, and flickering on their levelled bayonet-points. My recent runs on shore, and the exercise of climbing up anddown the Cliff rock seemed to have given me an advantage over the rest;for there was by this time no one in front of me. Two individuals therewere, however, close at hand, in one of whom I recognised the skipper,the other being Major-General Dundas. They were evidently racing forthe breach, and the skipper was getting the worst of it, beingthoroughly blown. We were all three pretty evenly in line, but thesoldier had chosen his road with the greater judgment. At last theskipper, too exhausted to keep upright any longer, put his sword betweenhis teeth and went down on his hands and knees. I saw at once thenature of the rivalry, it was a struggle which should reach the breachfirst, the army or the navy; and I knew Captain Hood would rather lose ahundred pounds than be beaten.

  Like them, I was dreadfully exhausted, the fatigue I experienced beingso great that it amounted to positive pain; the muscles of my legs inparticular ached and quivered violently with the exertions I had beenmaking. Still, I was not nearly so bad as the other two, beingdecidedly strong and vigorous for my age, and I determined that theskipper should be gratified if it lay in my power; so I scrambled to hisside and held out my hand to him shouting,--

  "Let me give you a tow, sir; and we'll be in before the red-coat yet."

  He grasped my hand without a word, rose to his feet, and together westrained and pressed upward. A couple of yards still lay between us andthe hedge of bayonets which guarded the breach. The bullets flew aboutus thick as hail; one passing through my hat, another shredding awayhalf the bullion from the skipper's starboard epaulette, two moreactually passing through my jacket and razing the skin; yet by a miraclewe escaped unwounded.

  One more desperate effort, and we staggered up the loose _debris_ andinto the breach, a clear yard ahead of our rival; and then, shoulder toshoulder, we stood and tried to recover our breath as best we could,defending ourselves meanwhile from the innumerable cuts and thrustswhich were aimed at us. The next to arrive was, of course, Major-General Dundas; then came Mr Flinn, closely followed by the captain ofthe "Juno's" main-top; then five or six soldiers; and, thusstrengthened, we pressed forward, foot by foot, the Frenchmenobstinately contesting every inch of the way, until we had fairlypenetrated to the interior of the redoubt, when--a path being thuscleared for those who came behind--the relics of the storming-partysurged in and rushed upon the enemy with such resistless impetuositythat some of the garrison threw down their arms and surrendered; whilethe rest broke and fled in direst confusion.

  A feeble cheer announced our success, which was immediately answered bya ringing "three times three--and one cheer more, for the storming-party," from the occupants of the Cliff Battery away aloft in the coolnight-air.

  Poor little Bobby Summers came panting in with the ruck, after all wasover; and the first use he made of his breath, after he had recovered itsufficiently to speak, was to abuse me in unmeasured terms for what hewas pleased to term my "meanness," in leaving him to struggle up thehill unaided.

  All hands remained on shore that night, to make everything secure, andto guard against the possibility of an attempt to retake the redoubt;the storming-party being quickly reinforced by a strong detachment fromthe camp, which had been held in readiness to march in as soon as theredoubt should be carried.

  Then came the sickening task of collecting the dead and wounded,arranging the former for burial, and attending to the wants of thelatter and making them as comfortable as possible under thecircumstances. But I will not go into the details of this accompanimentto the "pomp and circumstance of war," lest I should unnecessarilyharrow the feelings of my readers; suffice it to say that our task wasnot accomplished until long after sun-rise; while that of the naval andmilitary surgeons of course lasted for weeks.

  The fall of the Convention Redoubt left the town of San Fiorenzo at ourmercy, and accordingly, when next day our troops marched into the town,it was found that the French had evacuated it, and had retired toBastia.

  This, the most important town in the island, and, at the period of mystory, also the most strongly fortified--whatever it may be at thepresent day--is about six miles from San Fiorenzo; and is situated onthe eastern or opposite side of the long narrow peninsula which formsthe northern extremity of Corsica. It was against it that, in LordHood's opinion, our next operations ought to be directed.

  His views, however, and those of Major-General Dundas were widelydivergent as to the practicability of the proposed scheme; the latterbeing of opinion that we had neither strength nor means sufficient toeffect the reduction of so strongly fortified a place as Bastia; whileLord Hood, on the other hand, was sanguine of success. This differenceof opinion between the heads of the forces led to a protracted andvexatious delay, during which we of the fleet busied ourselvessuccessfully in raising the French thirty-eight-gun frigate, "Minerve,"which her crew had sunk in San Fiorenzo harbour. This ship wasafterwards added to our navy under the name of the "San Fiorenzo."

  I must not omit to mention that, a few days after the taking of theConvention Redoubt, Captain Hood publicly thanked me, on the "Juno's"quarter-deck, for the assistance I had rendered him on that memorablenight; and the story also reaching the admiral's ears, I had thegratification of being warmly commended by that great chief, as well asof finding that my name had been prominently mentioned in his despatcheshome. Several other officers also thanked me for supporting thereputation of the navy, Captain Nelson being especially eulogistic--forhim--on the subject. So that, altogether, I received a far greatershare of credit than it seemed to me so simple a matter merited.

  At length, meeting after meeting having taken place between Lord Hoodand Major-General Dundas, without those officers being able to agreeupon the question of investing Bastia, something very like a rupturetook place; the admiral declaring that so confident was he of success,that, since General Dundas would not co-operate with him, he wouldundertake alone the task of reducing the place with the seamen andmarines belonging to the fleet.

  This resolution once arrived at, Lord Hood forthwith set about the workof carrying it out with his accustomed energy. An old twenty-eight-
gunfrigate, called the "Proselyte," was specially fitted up as a floatingbattery, and, with the rest of the fleet, taken round to Bastia roads.The marines were then landed, and, aided by a strong contingent ofbluejackets, who were placed under the command of Captain HoratioNelson, at once set to work to throw up a chain of sod batteries,completely investing the town on the land side.

  So much precious time had been wasted in discussing the _pros and cons_of this matter, that, notwithstanding our utmost exertions, it was notuntil the second week of April, 1794, that our batteries were finished,the guns mounted, and everything ready for the projected attack. Theevening of the 10th, however, saw our preparations completed; and on themorning of the 11th the "Proselyte" was moved inshore and moored in aconvenient position for battering the seaward defences of the town.

  The attack immediately afterwards commenced; the "Proselyte" and theshore batteries opening fire simultaneously. The French replied withthe utmost spirit, their guns being admirably served, especially thosewhich played upon the "Proselyte;" and it soon became evident that thatunfortunate craft was getting decidedly the worst of it. She was theonly ship engaged, the admiral having early come to the conclusion thatit would be madness to expose his fleet, unprotected, to the fire of theheavy metal mounted in the French defences; we therefore--the few of us,that is, who were not detailed for duty on shore--had nothing to do forthe time being but watch the fun.

  The action had been in progress but a short time, when we observed thatthe "Proselyte" was swinging round; and on looking at her moreattentively, with the aid of our telescopes, we discovered that some ofher moorings had been shot away. Her remaining cables soon brought herup again; but not until she had drifted into a frightfully exposedposition. The fire of the French batteries was immediately concentratedupon the devoted craft with increased energy; and presently little jetsof greyish smoke, issuing here and there from her sides, showed that theenemy was effectively firing red-hot shot.

  About ten minutes afterwards a little string of balls was seen soaringaloft to her mast-head. The balls burst apart, and four signal flagsfluttered in the breeze.

  I raised my telescope to my eye and read out the numbers to MrAnnesley, who was busy turning over the leaves of the signal-book.

  He ran his finger hastily along the column of figures, and read out tothe skipper, who was looking over his shoulder,--

  "Ship on fire--send assistance."

  "Now, Mr Chester, keep your eye on the admiral, and see what he says,"remarked the skipper.

  As he spoke I saw a signal going aloft on board the "Victory," andmanaged to get it into the field of my telescope just as the flags burstabroad at the mast-head.

  I read out the numbers again.

  "All right; I know what that means, without turning up the numbers,"said the skipper quickly. "It means, `Send away boats to ship indistress.' So have the goodness to pipe away the pinnace and first andsecond cutters, if you please, Mr Annesley."

  In another moment the boatswain's shrill pipe was sounding throughoutthe ship; the boats, which were hanging at the boom, were broughtalongside, manned, placed in charge of a midshipman to each boat, anddespatched with all speed to the assistance of the unlucky "Proselyte,"from which, by this time, dense clouds of dark smoke were issuing.

  Meanwhile the boats from the rest of the fleet were also pushing offwith the same object as ourselves; and an exciting race ensued. We wereamong the last to arrive alongside, having had a longer distance to pullthan any of the other boats; and when we reached the doomed craft, theflames were bursting out through her ports, roaring fiercely up throughher hatchways, and soaring aloft by means of her rigging like fieryserpents. Some of her guns were already nearly red-hot. Part of hermain-deck had fallen in; and her main and mizzen-masts were so far burntthrough at the foot that they threatened momentarily to fall.

  Although the flames were blazing so fiercely, and had obtained such acomplete hold upon the ship that the magazine was expected to explode atany moment, and although the enemy, taking full advantage of thedisaster, was concentrating a terrific fire upon that part of the shipwhere her crew were mustered, awaiting their turn to go down over theside into the boats which were waiting to receive them, there was not atrace of hurry or confusion. Commander Serocold, who had been given thecommand of the unfortunate craft, stood on the rail and personallydirected the process of trans-shipping; sending down first the injured,then the younger and rawer portion of the crew, then the veterans--thesturdy old bronzed and weather-beaten salts, whose nerves werethoroughly proof against the worst terrors of battle, fire, or flood,--next the officers, and finally, when he was quite satisfied that noliving being but himself remained on board, he raised his uniform cap asif in salute, slipped down the side, and gave the order to "give way."

  "Stretch out to your work, lads," he exclaimed, as the oars dashed intothe water; "throw your whole hearts into it; the fire must be close tothe magazine, and--"

  A terrific concussion, a dull heavy roar, and the poor old "Proselyte"was rent to pieces, as a broad sheet of flame flashed up from her hullskyward. A wall of water some five feet high leapt up just under ourstern, and immediately afterwards curled over upon us, completelyswamping the boat. Fragments of planks and beams, heavy bolts, spars,and other wreckage whizzed through the air all around us; and one of theguns, still mounted on its carriage, and with its shattered tacklesstreaming in the air, was hurled outwards and fell into the water with atremendous splash, within six feet of where we were all left strugglingin the water. Then a great cloud of black smoke shot up into the air;and the blackened remains of the hull, collapsing amidships, sank out ofsight, creating a great seething whirl, which dragged us all helplesslyinto its vortex, and sucked us ruthlessly down, down deep into thedarkening bosom of the ocean.

  Stunned, and almost insensible from the violence of the shock, I stillhad presence of mind left to close my nostrils with the fingers of onehand, and to hold my breath, as I was helplessly whirled hither andthither; and at last, just as my powers of endurance had reached thepoint of exhaustion, I rose again to the surface, and beheld once morethe welcome sight of the bright sunlight flashing upon the dancingbillows.

  The water all round me was thickly strewn with wreckage; and a fewpieces were still falling here and there, showing the height to whichthe fragments had been projected. A dozen or so of human heads appearedon the surface of the water at no great distance from me; and otherswere momentarily popping up above the waves; the owners, one and all,immediately striking out, more or less scientifically, for the nearestfloating object.

  Looking round me, I soon had the satisfaction of discovering the gallantcommander of the ill-fated "Proselyte," clinging to the keel of ourboat, which was floating bottom-up at no great distance from me. Seeingthat all hands appeared pretty well able to take care of themselves, Iat once struck out and joined him.

  "Ah! Mr Chester," he exclaimed, as I ranged alongside, "glad to seethat you have weathered it so well. It was a very narrow squeak; and wehave come out of it a good deal better than I dared expect. I have beentrying to count heads, and I make out thirty-eight, all told; how manymen had you with you?"

  "Twelve," I answered.

  "Twelve?" he repeated, "then that brings us out all right, for I countedtwenty-four of my people as they passed down into the boat, and I maketwenty-five, which, with you and your dozen, brings up the complement.Here come the boats to pick us up. I have no doubt the explosion hasfrightened all the sharks within a dozen miles of us, and started themoff to seaward under a heavy press of sail; otherwise I should not feelquite so easy in my mind about those poor fellows. Some of them areclinging to very small pieces of wreckage, and would have no chance ifattacked."

  I remarked that I thought there was not very much danger; an opinionwhich soon received singular confirmation; for while we were stillspeaking, immense numbers of fish of all sizes and descriptions, somekilled, and others merely stunned by the violence of the explosion,floated
up to the surface; and shortly afterwards, when the boats hadpicked us all up, and we were pulling out toward the fleet, we fell inwith an enormous shark, floating helplessly on his back, in anapparently paralysed condition. A running bowline was promptly slippedover his tail and drawn taut; and he was triumphantly and unresistinglytowed alongside the "Victory," and hoisted inboard.