Chapter XIII: The American War (2)

“The following statement of an affair which took place in this harbour on Wednesday evening last, we have prepared from the evidence given before the inquest which was held on the bodies of the two unfortunate men who were killed. We have been more minute in stating the facts than the importance of the case should seem to demand; but we deem the detail necessary to prevent misrepresentations which might obtain credence, to the prejudice of that magnanimity and justice which the United States, in all their intercourse with England, have ever strictly adhered to. The crew of the ‘Windsor Castle,’ brought in by the Privateer ‘Roger,’ were on Wednesday last put on board a small schooner, and sent down to Craney Island in charge of Mr. Westbrook, an officer of the ‘Roger,’ with a guard of eight United States’ soldiers. Owing to a low tide the schooner anchored some distance from the island, and the prisoners had to be debarked in a row-boat. Mr. Westbrook took thirteen of the Englishmen, with four of the guard to row the boat, leaving eleven others in charge of four soldiers on board the schooner. Before his return to the schooner, the prisoners on board rose upon the guard, and endeavoured to disarm and throw them overboard, in which, owing to the suddenness of the assault, they had nearly succeeded. Mr. Westbrook got alongside the schooner while the soldiers were yet struggling with the superior numbers of their assailants, but they still held their arms. Desirous to quell the mutinous proceedings of the Englishmen he expostulated, entreated, and threatened, but to no purpose; and it was evident from their expressions that they were determined on taking possession of the schooner and making their escape in her. He then leaped on board and attempted to rescue one of the soldiers, when the fellow who held him, quitting his hold, seized the tiller and aimed a blow at Mr. Westbrook, who warded it off and ordered the released soldier to fire at him, which he did, and killed him. At the same time another soldier, having disengaged himself, shot his opponent dead. The mutineers, having the other two soldiers confined, exclaimed, ‘Now is the time, boys! don’t give them time to load again,’ and were rushing forward to seize Mr. Westbrook, when he drew a pair of pistols and commanded the mutineers in a firm and determined tone to go below, declaring that he would shoot the first man who refused. This decisive conduct had the desired effect; they all immediately descended into the hold, where they were put in close confinement. The conduct of Mr. Westbrook was truly praiseworthy. His intrepidity certainly saved the lives of the soldiers, and prevented the conspirators from carrying off the schooner, an act which, it is said, they premeditated. The two unhappy wretches who threw away their lives in this affair are represented by the mate of the ‘Windsor Castle’ to have been habitually turbulent and mutinous.... The verdict of the jury of inquest entirely acquitted the two soldiers of any blame in taking their lives.”

It may be added that Captain Sutton gave a very different character to the two sailors who perished in this bold attempt to escape, and that the Postmaster General, regarding their conduct as natural and praiseworthy, pensioned their relatives as if the men had been killed in action.

* * * * *

With this fight the battle-roll of the Post-Office Service ends. A few weeks later the guns were laid away in store, the pikes and cutlasses were sold. The crews were reduced to the numbers of a peace establishment, and the gunners were idle. The Packets came and went unnoticed by the Privateers. The fighting days were over, and from then until now Falmouth has never looked upon the once familiar sight of a vessel creeping in beneath Pendennis Castle with her sides shattered by round shot.

It was a momentous change; the opening of a long peace after more than a century of almost ceaseless warfare. The first result at Falmouth was curious enough. A civil department had controlled the Packets as long as there was fighting to be done; when there was no longer any, a fighting department took them over.

The war had not been at an end more than three years when the Admiralty claimed the Packet Service as a training ground for seamen, and a means of providing for half-pay officers, whose applications for employment were in the highest degree embarrassing. The Post-Office protested, and fought to retain the service which had become distinguished under its control, but all in vain. By degrees the Admiralty expelled the ancient governors of the Packets, changed the regulations, altered the type of ship, and in the end Falmouth knew the Postal officers no more.

The details of these changes, if of any public interest, lie outside the scope of this work, which has aimed only at describing the Packet Service in its prime.

Three full generations have passed away since the last fight mentioned in these pages was fought, and in that long period nearly every detail, even of the bravest among them all, has been forgotten. At Falmouth, where there is still a considerable interest in the ancient service of the Post-Office, no one has collected the facts or given any labour to preserve them from perishing. One by one, as the survivors of the Service died, their memories died with them. Captain Cock has passed out of recollection in the town of his adoption as completely as if he had never lived. Nobody remembers Captain James. The “Morgiana” and the “Montague” are forgotten as absolutely as if no remarkable events had been connected with their names. A few stories are known, half-a-dozen officers are named, but of precise information there is little indeed to be found where it might have been sought most confidently. The present writer, after wandering about the neighbourhood all day in search of recollections, found himself at last towards evening in the pleasant churchyard of Mylor. The ground slopes rapidly down to the beautiful harbour, the blue water and the white sails of a passing boat were clearly visible through the openings of the trees. Sitting on a low wall in the sunshine was the sexton of the church, an old man blind and bowed with age, who had crept out, supported on two sticks, to taste the evening freshness in a spot where every detail of the scene was clear before his mental sight, and whence he could hear the water lapping on the shore below.

Sitting here the old man pointed out that many of the graves lying round were those of Packet officers; and turning his memory back towards those days of which few people, he complained, cared to talk, he brought forth many an anecdote of the Packets, told with an old man’s relish in the times which are gone by. At last, warming to his subject, he plunged into the story of the “Antelope,” telling with spirit and enthusiasm how Pasco, the boatswain, had lashed the Packet to the Privateer, and boarding bravely, had won a noble victory. Not far away, across the harbour, was the little hamlet where Pasco lived. The sexton had known his children; and, when a child himself, had even seen the golden call which, as told in the third chapter of this work, was presented by the Postmaster General to the hero of the fight. It was a pity, the old man thought, that Pasco was forgotten. But all the others were forgotten too; many a statue had been put up in honour of people not so brave.

In this way the old man rambled on till the weariness of age overtook him, and he could draw forth no more recollections. He stayed there sitting in the sun until the child who led him returned to guide him home—a not unfitting symbol of the decay which has fallen on the Service for which his enthusiasm was reserved, and on the reputations of the officers who made it great.

INDEX.

“Adelphi” captured, 87.

Admiralty, Packet Service taken over by, 303.

Admiralty Courts, 24.

Agents, Packet, their duties, 29;
malpractices of, 29–32.

Altona, 160, 161, 163, 171.

American ships, largely manned by British seamen, 224, 225.

“Anaconda,” 243.

“Antelope,” fight between, and the privateer “Atalanta,” 44–49, 305;
her crew rewarded, 50, 51;
capture of, 60.

Anthony, Captain, 178–183, 196.

“Arab” captured, 52.

Armaments of the West India Packets reduced, 37;
scheme for increasing them, 72.

“Atalanta” privateer, 44.

“Attentive,” H.M.S., 135, 142, 143.

Auckland, Lord, 85, 118, 120;
inquires into suspicious captures of Packets, 88–93, 97, 99, 102.

Balloon postal service suggested, 118.

Berlin decrees, as affecting the postal service, 157–159.

Bideford, 16.

Blewitt, Captain, 241, 242.

“Bona,” 227, 228.

Bonell, Captain, 21.

Boulderson, Captain, 208.

Bounties to wounded sailors, 20.

Bourrienne, M. de, quoted, 148, 152, 153, 264, 265.

Bridge, Captain, succeeds in landing his mails, 113–117.

British subjects, seizure and imprisonment of, on French territory,
147–151;
some attempts to escape, 151–155.

Bull, Captain James, 72.

Bull, Captain John, 203, 204, 205, 208, 209;
his early misfortunes, 124–126;
his reputation made, 127;
capture of his ship, 128–130, 196;
his fight with the “Primrose,” 274–283.

Bullion, amount carried by the Packets, 10;
how transported to London, 11.

Bullock, Mr., and the “Prince Adolphus,” 77–79.

Caddy, Captain, 243.

Calais Packets, 13.

Calder, Sir Robert, 210, 211.

Captains, Packet, their incomes, 9;
instructions issued to, in time of war, 38, 51;
absenteeism among, 57–59;
system of fines for absenteeism, 121.

Carne, John, 152.

“Carteret” captured, 86.

Chamberlain, Mr., 173;
his escape from Lisbon, 175.

Chamberlayne, Mr. Henry, 112, 113.

“Champion,” 111.

“Chesterfield,” capture of, 86;
beats off an American privateer, 287–290.

_Chronological History of the West Indies_ (Southey), cited, 76.

Cock, Captain James, 227 _et seq._, 270–274.

Conference between the merchants and the Postmaster General, 73, 74.

Continental System, Napoleon’s, 147 _et seq._;
Post-Office attempts to evade it, 155, 156, 160–163, 172, 264–266;
the Berlin decrees, 157–159;
causes of its failure, 159, 160, 264, 265.

Contractors, the, for the Packets, 15, 16, 18.

Cooper, Captain John, 20.

“Cornwallis,” her fight with the Spanish privateers, 178–181;
and with the lugger, 182, 183.

Corunna, Packet communication with, 14, 18.

“Countess of Leicester,” 73.

Court of Inquiry into captures of Packets, 99, 100.

Cunninghame, Captain James, 247;
his description of his fight with the “Saratoga,” 248–252;
his services rewarded, 253.

Curtis, Mr. Edward, 45–47.

Cuxhaven, despatch of mails to, 110;
mail service at, during the great frost, 111 _et seq._;
the port closed, 155.

Deake, Captain, 59, 98.

Deane, Captain, 168, 169.

Decree ordering seizure of British subjects on French territory,
147–151.

Demerara, privateers repulsed from, 237–239.

Denmark, English mails seized in, 165–168.

“Despatch” Packet illegally seized, 39, 40.

Dominica, French expedition against, 134, 135;
its repulse by Captain Dyneley, 136–143.

“Dominica,” H.M. sloop, handed over to the French by her crew, 133.

“Dryad,” 273.

“Duke of Clarence” captured, 89.

“Duke of Marlborough,” 124, 127, 208;
capture of, 128–130;
fights with privateers, 184–186, 202–205;
her fight with H.M. brig “Primrose,” 274–283.

“Duke of Montrose,” 135 _et seq._;
her fight with a privateer, 240, 241;
how captured and regained, 297.

“Duke of York” captured, 83;
surrender of, 98, 99;
result of the Inspector’s inquiry, 100–102.

Dundas, Mr. Henry, 91.

Dyneley, Captain, 135;
repulses the French expedition against Dominica, 136–143;
his last fight, 144–146.

“Earl Gower,” how captured, 98.

“Earl of Leicester” piracy case, 26–28.

East, Mr., 149, 150.

Elphinstone, Captain, 242.

Espriella, Don Manuel, his impressions of a Falmouth inn, 7.

“Eurotas,” 271, 273.

“Expedition” captured, 53.

“Express,” 243, 244.

Falmouth, before its selection as the Packet headquarters, 3;
growth and prosperity of, 4, 5;
effect of the railway on, 12;
why selected for a Packet station, 14–16;
natural advantages of the port and harbour, 16, 17;
a nest of smugglers, 29;
the mutiny at, 197 _et seq._;
magistrates in sympathy with the mutineers, 211, 214, 215;
removal of the Packets from, 216, 217;
and their return, 220.

Fares paid by passengers, 10.

Flynn, Captain, 151.

Fowey as a Packet station, 219.

Freeling, Mr. Francis, 85, 93, 112, 120, 246, 253.

Frost, the great, of 1798, 110 _et seq._

Furze, Captain, 267–270, 287–290.

Giltinan, James, 177.

Gothenburg as a Packet station, 155, 171.

Gower, Lord, 85.

“Grantham,” 125;
capture and re-capture of, 72.

Gwin, Daniel, 18.

“Halifax” captured, 87.

Hamburg, mails smuggled into, 155;
occupied by the French, 157;
Mr. Nicholas’ agreement with the P.O. officials at, 162, 163.

Hammond, Captain, and the Danish grain-ships, 26–28.

Hartney, Captain, 239.

Heligoland as a mail depôt, 111, 155;
capture of, 172.

Helvoetsluis, the port closed, 109;
seizure and imprisonment of British subjects at, 148–151.

“Hinchinbrooke” wrecked, 245.

“Hinchinbrooke” beats off an American privateer, 283–287.

Holland, closing of her ports, 109.

Holyhead Packets, 14, 41, 106, 107.

Husum as a Packet station, 155, 156.

Inspector of Packets, and the suspicious captures, 92, 93;
his inquiries into the private trading abuses, 97, 100–102.

James, Mr., 184–186, 202, 203, 283–287.

“Jane,” capture and re-capture of, 89.

Jones, Captain John, 21.

Kempthorne, Captain, 44, 60, 61.

“King George” captured, 54, 122–124;
action fought by, 62, 63.

Kirkness, Captain, 236–239.

“Lady Emily” wrecked, 245.

“Lady Harriet” captured, 87.

“Lady Mary Pelham,” 235, 236, 254, 255;
the conduct of her lawyer-captain, 261, 262.

“Lady Nepean,” 168, 169.

“Lapwing,” 267;
her fight with a privateer, 268–270.

Leston, Mr., 149.

Letters, the practice of duplicating, 53.

Lisbon Packets, private trading permitted on, 104, 197;
its prohibition, 201.

“Little Catherine,” 296.

Mails, the insecurity of, 53, 68, 70, 117;
demand of the merchants for increased security of, 70, 71, 75;
delays in forwarding, 73, 110, 159;
smuggling them into Germany, 155, 156, 160–163, 174, 264–266;
seizure of, by the Danes at Tonningen, 165–168.

Maitland, Sir Thomas, 127.

“Marquis of Kildare” captured, 89, 90.

Merchants, West India, 18;
their influence on the Post-Office, 36, 37;
complain of the insecurity of mails, 68, 246;
their memorial to the Postmaster General, 70, 71;
their conference with him, 75, 76.

Milford Packets, 14, 106, 107;
the arming of, 41, 42.

“Montagu,” 239, 255, 256;
her fight with the “Globe” privateer, 258–263.

Moorsom, Captain, 225, 226.

“Morgiana,” her fight with the “Saratoga” privateer, 247–252.

Mudge, Captain, 132.

Mutineers pressed, 209;
their demands, 210;
meeting of, _ib._;
magistrates in sympathy with, 211;
their delegates pressed, 212, 213;
return to their ships, 215;
fate of the delegates, 220,221.

Mutiny of the crew of the “Speedy,” 290, 291.

Mutiny of Packetsmen, causes leading up to, 197 _et seq._

_Naval History_ (James), cited, 49, 50, 52, 80, 278;
its account of Captain Bull’s case examined, 280–283.

News, foreign, Packet boats as vehicles of, 6, 36, 37.

Nicholas, Mr., 161–163.

Nicholls, Mr. William, 292–295.

Nodin, M., 51, 52.

_Norfolk Herald_ quoted, 300–302.

North Sea (Harwich) Packets. _See_ Packets, North Sea.

Norway, Captain, his character and career, 255, 256, 262, 263.

Packet Service, Post-Office, its chronicles neglected, 2, 239, 303,
304;
established at Falmouth, 3, 4;
as the vehicle of foreign news, 6, 36, 37;
number of seamen employed by, 8;
minor Packet stations, 13, 14;
reasons for the choice of Falmouth, 14–16;
the contractors, 15, 16, 18;
the Corunna Packets, 18;
West India and other Packets established, 19;
pensions and bounties awarded in, 20, 21;
a fighting service, 21;
lax administration in, 22 _et seq._;
piracy as practised by the ships of, 22–28;
malpractices of the controlling agents, 29–32;
corruption at headquarters, 32;
the beginning of the reforms, 35;
armament and type of ships altered, 36–39;
instructions to captains in time of war, 38, 51;
superior officers and the absentee system, 57–60, 84, 121;
the working of the new system, 60–62;
the demands of the merchants for increased security of mails, 70, 71,
75;
amount of annual deficit, 71;
suspicious captures of Packets, 88–93;
the private trading system, 93–95;
scandals rumoured in connection with this, 96–98;
result of inquiry into these, 99–104;
partial prohibition of private trading, 104;
the North Sea service during the great frost, 110–119;
success of the firmer administration, 120, 121, 222, 223;
seizure of its employés at Helvoetsluis, 149;
how the Continental System was evaded, 155, 156, 160–163, 172,
264–266;
the Berlin decrees as affecting, 157–159;
reduced to impotence by Napoleon’s policy, 176, 177;
mutiny at Falmouth, and its causes, 197 _et seq._;
removed to Plymouth, 216;
return to Falmouth, 220;
taken over by the Admiralty, 303.

Packets, Falmouth, their routes, 8, 19, 178;
tonnage and type of, 15;
reforms in the armament and type of, 36–39;
captures of, by French ships, 52 _passim_;
scheme for increasing their armaments, 71, 72;
time spent in building, 84, 85;
suspicious captures of, 88 et seq.;
captures of, by American ships, 226, 232, 241, 251, 270, 300.

Packets, North Sea, 13, 14;
the arming of, 40;
type and armament of, 108;
ports of Holland closed against, 109;
their stations at the outbreak of war, _ib._, 109;
during the great frost of 1798, 110 _et seq._

Packets, West India, armaments reduced and type altered, 37, 38;
number employed, 83;
private trading on, 93–95;
abuses in connection with this, 96–104;
private trading prohibited on, 104. _See_ Packet Service _and_
Packets, Falmouth.

Parker, John, 210, 213, 218, 219;
letter to the attorney, 220, 221.

Pasco, Boatswain, 47, 48, 49, 305.

Pascoe, Richard, 210, 213, 218, 219;
letter to the attorney, 220,221.

Passengers, number of, carried by the Packets, 9;
fares paid by, 10.

Patterson, Captain, 132.

Pender, Mr., 58.

Pension fund established, 121.

Petre, Captain James, 193, 194, 195.

Phillimore, Captain, 271, 273.

Piracy practised by Packet officers, 22–25;
the case of Captain Hammond, 26–28;
prevented by decreasing armaments, 37, 38.

Plague at Malta, 245, 246.

Plymouth, 16;
Packet station removed to, 216, 217;
the disadvantages of, 217, 218.

“Portland,” two actions fought by, 63–67;
capture of, 74.

Portugal, Napoleon’s demands from, 173;
her ports closed against British ships, 174;
seizure of British subjects in, 175.

Postmaster General, the office held jointly by two ministers, 4_n_;
on bounties to wounded sailors, 20;
and the Quaker merchants, 41, 42;
rewards the crew of the “Antelope,” 50, 51;
on absentee captains, 57;
conference with the West India merchants, 73, 74;
on the surrender of the “Duke of York,” 102.

Post-Office headquarters, lax administration in, 32;
influence of the merchants upon, 36, 37. _See_ Packet Service.

Post-Office Packet Service. _See_ Packet Service.

Press-gangs, Packetsmen seized by, 201.

“Prince Adolphus,” 207, 208;
capture and redemption of, 77–79.

“Prince Edward” captured, 73.

“Prince Ernest” captured, 74;
her fight with a privateer, 193–196.

“Prince of Orange,” 113–117.

“Princess Amelia” captured, 89, 225, 226.

“Princess Augusta” burned, 53.

“Princess Charlotte” captured, 89.

“Princess Elizabeth” captured, 70.

“Princess of Wales” captured, 77.

“Princess Royal,” her fight with a privateer, 79–82;
captured, 88.

Privateers, American, formidable character of, 224;
Packets captured by, 226, 232, 251, 270, 300.

Privateers, French, 43, 44, 69;
Packets captured by, 61 _passim_;
armaments of, 71, 74;
number captured by British ships, 76;
formidable antagonists, 130–132.

Quaker merchants and the arming of their ships, 41, 42.

“Queen Charlotte,” 236–239.

Quick, Captain John, 243, 244.

Railways, results of the growth of, 12.

Rapp, Count, quoted, 159, 160.

Records of the Packet Service neglected, 2, 239, 303, 304.

Riots among the Packetsmen at Falmouth, 209, 210.

“Roebuck” captured, 74.

Rogers, Commodore, 241, 242.

Rogers, Mr. William, 187–192.

“Rossie,” 225, 226.

Routes of the Falmouth Packets, 8, 19, 178.

Russell’s wagons, 11.

“Sandwich” captured, 70.

“Saratoga,” 252.

Saverland, Mr., 205, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 254, 255.

Scheveningen, 150.

Schultz, Mr., 166, 167.

Seamen, number of, employed in the Packet Service, 8;
their wages, 104, 200, 206, 207, 210.

Servante, Captain, 84;
quoted, 74, 75.

Skinner, Captain John, 79, 80, 81, 88.

Slade, Captain, 208, 209.

Smuggling, in the Packet Service, 28, 29;
on the Continent during the war, 264–266.

Spain, mail communication with, 14, 15, 16.

“Speedy,” mutiny of her crew, 290, 291.

Stevens, Captain, 254;
how he escaped a privateer, 235, 236.

Surgeons, Packet, 192, 193.

Sutton, Captain, 297–300.

“Swallow” captured, 70, 74.

Taylor, Mr. N., 63–67.

Thornton, Mr., 158.

“Thynne” captured, 61.

“Tom,” 227, 228.

Tonningen, seizure of mails at, 165.

“Townshend,” private goods found on, 198, 199;
her fight with the two Americans, 227–233;
beats off a privateer, 233, 234;
capture of, 270.

Trading, private, on the Packets, 9, 93–95;
rumours of abuses in, 96, 98;
results of inquiry into these, 99–104;
prohibited on the West India Packets, 104;
consequent discontent among the sailors, _ib._;
evasions of the prohibition, 198–200;
rigorous confiscations of goods by Custom-House officers, 208.

Vivian, Captain, navigates a French frigate, 296.

Wages of the Packetsmen, 104, 200;
their memorial regarding, 206, 207;
increase of, demanded by mutineers, 210.

Wagstaff, Mr., 150.

“Walsingham” beats off an American privateer, 292–295.

“Wasp,” H.M.S., 142, 143.

West India merchants. _See_ Merchants.

West India Packets. _See_ Packets, West India.

“Westmoreland” captured, 87.

White, Captain, 242.

“Windsor Castle,” captures a privateer, 187–191;
her fight with the “Roger” privateer, 297–300;
her crew attempt to escape, 300–302.

Yescombe, Captain, 62;
his experiences as a prisoner in France, 54, 55;
his last fight, 122–124.

ERRATA.

Page 47, line 6 from bottom, _for_ “developed,” _read_ “devolved.”
Page 74, last line, _for_ “did take,” _read_ “did not take.”
Page 114, line 1, _for_ “King George,” _read_ “Prince of Orange.”
Page 212, last line, _for_ “City Marshall,” _read_ “City Marshal.”

GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transcriber’s note:

1. Corrected errors listed in the Errata.

2. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.

3. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as
printed.

4. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers.