Chapter XXXV
Swinburne continues his narrative of the battle off Cape St Vincent.
The second night after this, we had the middle watch, and I claimedSwinburne's promise that he would spin his yarn, relative to the battleof St Vincent. "Well, Mr Simple, so I will; but I require a littlepriming, or I shall never go off."
"Will you have your glass of grog before or after?"
"Before, by all means, if you please, sir. Run down and get it, and I'llheave the log for you in the meantime, when we shall have a good hourwithout interruption, for the sea-breeze will be steady, and we areunder easy sail." I brought up a stiff glass of grog, which Swinburnetossed off, and as he finished it, sighed deeply as if in sorrow thatthere was no more. Having stowed away the tumbler in one of the capsternholes for the present, we sat down upon a coil of ropes under theweather bulwarks, and Swinburne, replacing his quid of tobacco,commenced as follows--
"Well, Mr Simple, as I told you before, old Jervis started with all hisfleet for Cape St Vincent. We lost one of our fleet--and a three-deckertoo--the _St George_; she took the ground, and was obliged to go back toLisbon; but we soon afterwards were joined by five sail of the line,sent out from England, so that we mustered fifteen sail in all. We hadlike to lose another of our mess, for d'ye see, the old _Culloden_ and_Colossus_ fell foul of each other, and the _Culloden_ had the worst onit; but Troubridge, who commanded her, was not a man to shy his work,and ax to go in to refit, when there was a chance of meeting the enemy--so he patched her up somehow or another, and reported himself ready foraction the very next day. Ready for action he always was, that's sureenough, but whether his ship was in a fit state to go into action isquite another thing. But as the sailors used to say in joking, he was a_true bridge_, and you might trust to him; which meant as much as tosay, that he knew how to take his ship into action, and how to fight herwhen he was fairly in it. I think it was the next day that Cockburnjoined us in the _Minerve_, and he brought Nelson along with him withthe intelligence that the Dons had chased him, and that the wholeSpanish fleet was out in pursuit of us. Well, Mr Simple, you may guesswe were not a little happy in the _Captain_, when Nelson joined us, aswe knew that if he fell in with the Spaniards our ship would cut afigure--and so she did sure enough. That was on the morning of the 13th,and old Jervis made the signal to prepare for action, and keep closeorder, which means, to have your flying jib-boom in at the starn windowsof the ship ahead of you; and we did keep close order, for a man mighthave walked right round from one ship to the other, either lee orweather line of the fleet. I sha'n't forget that night, Mr Simple, aslong as I live and breathe. Every now and then we heard the signal gunsof the Spanish fleet booming at a distance to windward of us, and youmay guess how our hearts leaped at the sound, and how we watched withall our ears for the next gun that was fired, trying to make out theirbearings and distance, as we assembled in little knots upon the boomsand weather-gangway. It was my middle watch, and I was signalman at thetime, so of course I had no time to take a caulk if I was inclined. Whenmy watch was over I could not go down to my hammock, so I kept themorning watch too, as did most of the men on board: as for Nelson, hewalked the deck the whole night, quite in a fever. At daylight it wasthick and hazy weather, and we could not make them out; but, about fivebells, the old _Culloden_, who, if she had broke her nose, had not lostthe use of her eyes, made the signal for a part of the Spanish fleet insight. Old Jervis repeated the signal to prepare for action, but hemight have saved the wear and tear of the bunting, for we were allready, bulk-heads down, screens up, guns shotted, tackles rove, yardsslung, powder filled, shot on deck, and fire out--and what's more, MrSimple, I'll be d----d if we weren't all willing too. About six bellsin the forenoon, the fog and haze all cleared away at once, just likethe raising of the foresail that they lower down at the Portsmouththeatre, and discovered the whole of the Spanish fleet. I counted themall. 'How many, Swinburne?' cries Nelson. 'Twenty-six sail, sir,'answered I. Nelson walked the quarter-deck backwards and forwards,rubbing his hands, and laughing to himself, and then he called for hisglass, and went to the gangway with Captain Miller. 'Swinburne, keep agood look upon the admiral,' says he. 'Ay, ay, sir,' says I. Now yousee, Mr Simple, twenty-six sail against fifteen were great odds uponpaper; but we didn't think so, because we know'd the difference betweenthe two fleets. There was our fifteen sail of the line, all in apple-pieorder, packed up as close as dominoes, and every man on board of themlonging to come to the scratch; while there was their twenty-six, all_somehow nohow_, two lines here and _no lines_ there, with a great gapof water in the middle of them. For this gap between their ships we allsteered, with all the sail we could carry because, d'ye see, Mr Simple,by getting them on both sides of us, we had the advantage of fightingboth broadsides, which is just as easy as fighting one, and makesshorter work of it. Just as it struck seven bells, Troubridge opened theball _setting_ to half a dozen of the Spaniards, and making them _reel_'Tom Collins' whether or no. Bang--bang--bang, bang! Oh, Mr Simple, it'sa beautiful sight to see the first guns fired that are to bring on ageneral action. He's the luckiest dog, that Troubridge,' said Nelson,stamping with impatience. Our ships were soon hard at it, hammer andtongs (my eyes, how they did pelt it in!), and old Sir John, in the_Victory_, smashed the cabin windows of the Spanish admiral, with such ahell of a raking broadside, that the fellow bore up as if the devilkicked him. Lord a mercy, you might have drove a Portsmouth waggon intohis starn--the broadside of the _Victory_ had made room enough. However,they were soon all smothered up in smoke, and we could not make out howthings were going on--but we made a pretty good guess. Well, Mr Simple,as they say at the play, that was act the first, scene the first; andnow we had to make our appearance, and I'll leave you to judge, afterI've told my tale, whether the old _Captain_ wasn't principal performer,and _top sawyer_ over them all. But stop a moment, I'll just look at thebinnacle, for that young topman's nodding at the wheel.--I say, MrSmith, are you shutting your eyes to keep them warm, and letting theship run half a point out of her course? Take care I don't send foranother helmsman, that's all, and give the reason why. You'll make a wryface upon six-water grog to-morrow, at seven bells. D----n your eyes,keep them open--can't you?"
Swinburne, after this genteel admonition to the man at the wheel,reseated himself and continued his narrative.
"All this while, Mr Simple, we in the _Captain_ had not fired a gun; butwere ranging up as fast as we could to where the enemy lay in a heap.There were plenty to pick and choose from; and Nelson looked out sharpfor a big one, as little boys do when they have to choose an apple; and,by the piper that played before Moses! it was a big one that he orderedthe master to put him alongside of. She was a four-decker, called the_Santissima Trinidad_. We had to pass some whoppers, which would havesatisfied any reasonable man; for there was the _San Josef_, and_Salvador del Mondo_ and _San Nicolas_: but nothing would suit Nelsonbut this four-decked ship; so we crossed the hawse of about six of them,and as soon as we were abreast of her, and at the word 'Fire!' every gunwent off at once, slap into her, and the old _Captain_ reeled at thedischarge, as if she was drunk. I wish you'd only seen how we pitched itinto this _Holy Trinity_; she was _holy_ enough before we had done withher, riddled like a sieve, several of her ports knocked into one, andevery scupper of her running blood and water. Not but what she stood toit as bold as brass, and gave us nearly gun for gun, and made a verypretty general average in our ship's company. Many of the old captainswent to kingdom-come in that business, and many more were obliged tobear up for Greenwich Hospital.
"'Fire away, my lads--steady aim!' cries Nelson. 'Jump down there, MrThomas; pass the word to reduce the cartridges, the shot go cleanthrough her. Double shot the guns there, fore and aft.'
"So we were at it for about half an hour, when our guns became so hotfrom quick firing, that they bounced up to the beams overhead, tearingaway their ringbolts, and snapping their breechings like rope-yarns. Bythis time we were almost as much unrigged as if we had been two dayspayi
ng off in Portsmouth harbour. The four-decker forged ahead, andTroubridge, in the jolly old _Culloden_, came between us and two otherSpanish ships, who were playing into us. She was as fresh as a daisy,and gave them a dose which quite astonished them. They shook their ears,and fell astern, when the _Blenheim_ laid hold of them, and mauled themso that they went astern again. But it was out of the frying-pan into,the fire: for the _Orion, Prince George_, and one or two others, werecoming up, and knocked the very guts out of them. I'll be d----d ifthey forget the 14th of April, and sarve them right, too. Wasn't afour-decker enough for any two-decker, without any more coming on us?and couldn't the beggars have matched themselves like gentlemen? Well,Mr Simple, this gave us a minute or two to fetch, our breath, let theguns cool, and repair damages, and swab the blood from the decks; but welost our four-decker, for we could not get near her again."
"What odd names the Spaniards give to their ships, Swinburne?"
"Why yes, they do; it would almost appear wicked to belabour the _HolyTrinity_ as we did. But why they should call a four-decked ship the_Holy Trinity_, seeing as how there's only three of them, Father, Son,and Holy Ghost, I can't tell. Bill Saunders said that the fourth deckwas for the Pope, who was as great a personage as the others; but Ican't understand how that can be. Well, Mr Simple, as I was headsignalman, I was perched on the poop, and didn't serve at a gun. I hadto report all I could see, which was not much, the smoke was so thick;but now and then I could get a peep, as it were through the holes in theblanket. Of course I was obliged to keep my eye as much as possible uponthe admiral, not to make out his signals, for Commodore Nelson wouldn'tthank me for that; I knew he hated a signal when in action, so I nevertook no notice of the bunting, but just watched to see what he wasabout. So while we are repairing damages, I'll just tell you what I sawof the rest of the fleet. As soon as old Jervis had done for the Spanishadmiral, he hauled his wind on the larboard tack, and followed by fouror five other ships, weathered the Spanish line, and joined Collingwoodin the _Excellent_. Then they all dashed through the line; the_Excellent_ was the leading ship, and she first took the shine out ofthe _Salvador del Mondo_, and then left her to be picked up by the otherships, while she attacked a two-decker, who hauled down her colours--Iforget her name just now. As soon as the _Victory_ ran alongside of the_Salvador del Mondo_, down went her colours, and _excellent_ reasons hadshe for striking her flag. And now, Mr Simple. The old _Captain_ comesinto play again. Having parted company with the four-decker, we hadrecommenced action with the _San Nicolas_, a Spanish eighty, and whilewe were hard at it, old Collingwood comes up in the _Excellent_. The_San Nicolas_, knowing that the _Excellent's_ broadside would send herto old Nick, put her helm up to avoid being raked: in so doing, she fellfoul of the _San Josef_, a Spanish three-decker, and we being all cut topieces and unmanageable--all of us indeed reeling about like drunkenmen--Nelson ordered his helm a-starboard, and in a jiffy there we were,all three hugging each other, running in one another's guns, smashingour chain-plates, and poking our yard-arms through each other's canvas.
"'All hands to board!' roared Nelson, leaping on the hammocks and wavinghis sword.
"'Hurrah! hurrah!' echoed through the decks, and up flew the men, likeas many angry bees out of a bee-hive. In a moment pikes, tomahawks,cutlasses, and pistols were seized (for it was quite unexpected, MrSimple), and our men poured into the eighty-gun ship, and in two minutesthe decks were cleared and all the Dons pitched below. I joined theboarders and was on the main deck when Captain Miller came down, andcried out 'On deck again immediately.' Up we went, and what do you thinkit was for, Mr Simple? Why to board a second time; for Nelson havingtaken the two-decker, swore that he'd have the three-decker as well. Soaway we went again, clambering up her lofty sides how we could, anddropping down on her decks like hailstones. We all made for thequarter-deck, beat down every Spanish beggar that showed fight, and infive minutes more we had hauled down the colours of two of the finestships in the Spanish navy. If that wasn't taking the shine out of theDons, I should like to know what is. And didn't the old captains cheerand shake hands, as Commodore Nelson stood on the deck of the _SanJosef_, and received the swords of the Spanish officers! There wasenough of them to go right round the capstern, and plenty to spare. Now,Mr Simple, what do you think of that for a spree?"
"Why, Swinburne, I can only say that I wish I had been there."
"So did every man in the fleet, Mr Simple, I can tell you."
"But what became of the _Santissima Trinidad_?
"Upon my word, she behaved one _deck_ better than all the others. Sheheld out against four of our ships for a long while, and then hauleddown her colours, and no disgrace to her, considering what a precioushammering she had taken first. But the lee division of the Spanishweather fleet, if I may so call it, consisting of eleven sail of theline, came up to her assistance, and surrounded her, so that they gother off. Our ships were too much cut up to commence a new action, andthe admiral made the signal to secure the prizes. The Spanish fleet thendid what they should have done before--got into line; and we lost notime in doing the same. But we both had had fighting enough."
"But do you think, Swinburne, that the Spaniards fought well?"
"They'd have fought better, if they'd only have known how. There's nowant of courage in the Dons, Mr Simple, but they did not support eachother. Only observe how Troubridge supported us. By God, Mr Simple, hewas the _real fellow_, and Nelson knew it well. He was Nelson'sright-hand man; but you know, there wasn't room for _two_ Nelsons. Theirships engaged held out well, it must be acknowledged, but why weren'tthey all in their proper berths? Had they kept close order of sailing,and had all fought as well as those who were captured, it would not havebeen a very easy matter for fifteen ships to gain a victory overtwenty-six. That's long odds, even when backed with British seamen."
"Well, how did you separate?"
"Why, the next morning the Spaniards had the weathergage, so they hadthe option whether to fight or not. At one time they had half a mind,for they bore down to us; upon which we hauled our wind to show them wewere all ready to meet them, and then they thought better of it, androunded-to again. So as they wouldn't fight, and we didn't wish it, weparted company in the night; and two days afterwards we anchored, withour four prizes, in Lagos Bay. So now you have the whole of it, MrSimple, and I've talked till I'm quite hoarse. You haven't by chanceanother drop of the stuff left to clear my throat? It would be quite acharity."
"I think I have, Swinburne; and as you deserve it, I will go and fetchit."
Peter Simple; and, The Three Cutters, Vol. 1-2 Page 41
