Chapter XI: The Reed Era 264 (5)

So complete a naval victory had never before been known. In all the battles of the previous two or three hundred years, the percentage of losses to the vanquished had been small. The battle of the Nile, therefore, received an attention perhaps beyond its intrinsic worth. As Nelson wrote to Howe:--“By attacking the enemy’s van and centre, the wind blowing directly along their line, I was enabled to throw what force I pleased on a few ships.” The real point of interest is not the result, which was foregone, but Nelson’s ability to see his opportunity and to make the utmost of it. Therein lay his superlative greatness.

Of the prizes, three were found to be new and good ships. One of them, the _Franklin_, was renamed _Canopus_, and as late as 1850 was still on the effective list of the British Navy.

The defeat of the French at the Nile had far reaching effects. Russia, Austria, Turkey, Naples and Portugal formed with England a great anti-French Alliance. A large Russian fleet appeared in the Mediterranean, but accomplished no services there. It was under suspicion of having private designs on Malta rather than of assisting the Alliance.

From 1762 onward, when Catherine the Great came to the throne of Russia, an enormous number of retired or unemployed English officers took service in the Russian Navy. To one of these, Captain Elphinstone (who subsequently re-entered the British service), has been traced the origin of the idea upon which Nelson acted in the battle of the Nile. To another, General Bentham, originally a shipwright, who returned to the British service in 1795, was due a revolution in dockyard management. To him was due the introduction of machinery into dockyards: a matter needing much diplomacy and caution, as popular feeling against machinery then ran high. However, by 1798, Bentham had steam engines installed in the dockyards. He also commenced the first caisson known in England, using it for the great basin at Portsmouth Yard. In the face of considerable opposition he also introduced deep docks, basins and jetties at Portsmouth, for the speedy fitting out of ships.

In 1799, the _personnel_ was settled at 120,000, and the Naval Estimates were £13,654,000.

In April of this year, the French, under Bruix, with twenty-five ships of the line, came out of Brest, which was being cruised off by Bridport with sixteen sail. Having warned Keith, who was blockading Cadiz, and St. Vincent, who lay at Gibraltar, Bridport fell back on Bantry Bay, where he was reinforced with ten ships.

Bruix ran down south, his orders being to join the Spaniards in Cadiz, but the weather was unfavourable and his crews so illtrained[54] that he made no attempt to attack Keith’s squadron, but ran on into the Mediterranean. Keith himself joined St. Vincent at Gibraltar.

On May 11th, St. Vincent arrived at Minorca with twenty sail. Nelson, with sixteen ships (of which four were Portuguese) was scattered over the Mediterranean, his base being at Palermo. On the 13th, Bruix reached Toulon, and a week later seventeen Spaniards from Cadiz reached Cartagena.

To prevent these joining up with Bruix, St. Vincent lay between the two bases: but the risk that either fleet might suddenly fall on Nelson was such, that he sent four of his ships to him. He was, however, presently reinforced with five ships, bringing his net total to twenty-one.

St. Vincent’s health having now given out, he handed the fleet over to Lord Keith, who learned that Bruix, with twenty-two sail, had left Toulon on the 27th May; but for some reason or other made for that place. Bruix reached the Spaniards at Cartagena, without interference, on June 23rd, and so had thirty-nine ships to oppose the British twenty-one. These, falling back upon Minorca, were there reinforced by ten ships from home, thus bringing the total up to thirty-one.

Meanwhile, Bruix putting to sea again at once, made for Cadiz, which he reached on July 12th, and leaving again on the 21st, made for Brest; Keith, some two weeks behind him, in pursuit.

The net result of Bruix’s cruise was that the French fleet at Brest rose to the enormous total of ninety warships, collected to cover an invasion of England. As, however, Napoleon, who was to command, did not reach France until October, nothing was done in 1799, thus allowing ample time for the concentration of English ships. Had the Brest Armada struck at once, matters for England had been none too rosy, since the only force guarding the Channel was Bridport’s fleet of twenty-six sail, at Bantry.

August saw 20,000 Russians landed at the Helder from British transports. These captured the Texel fortifications, inside of which lay what was left of the Dutch fleet. The Dutch admiral declined to surrender, but his crews refused to fight, and eventually the ships were handed over without firing a shot. The ships were found to be antiquated in design and badly built, and were never of any use to the English Navy.

In the latter part of this year, two Spanish frigates were captured by four English. These ships were bringing home the year’s South American treasure. The prize money divided among the four captains amounted to £160,000.

Twenty-one vessels were lost during the year. Only three of them, however, were lost by capture, and of these the largest was a ten-gun brig!

The prizes of the year consisted of eight French frigates, five Spanish frigates and twenty-four Dutch ships. In this year also the very fast French privateer, _Bordelais_, was taken, being chased and overhauled by the _Revolutionnaire_, an ex-French frigate, and the only frigate in the Navy at this time able to catch up with French ones.

The _personnel_ granted for the year 1800, was 110,000, with an additional 10,000 for March and April only. The ships in commission were 100 ships of the line, seventeen small two-deckers and 351 frigates and lesser craft.

No naval fighting of much importance took place, but the year was otherwise very momentous. Napoleon, who had made himself First Consul, was busy reorganising the French Navy, and one of his first acts was to offer terms of peace. These, however, were refused by the British Government.

On July 25th, the Danish frigate, _Freya_, out with a convoy, was met by some British ships. She refused to allow “the right of search.” Firing followed, and the _Freya_ was captured. An embassy, to explain matters to the Danes, went, accompanied by a fleet of nine ships of the line, five frigates and four bombs, under Admiral Dickson.

This action--the intentions of which were obvious--aroused the resentment of the Russian Emperor Paul. Nelson’s suspicion that the Russians wished to capture Malta for themselves, have already been alluded to. These intentions came to light now; for Paul, having got himself declared Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Malta, seized some 300 British merchant ships in Russian ports, and said that he would not let them go till Malta (which was then besieged and about to fall to the British) was given up to him.

The British Government ignored the Malta claim, and many of the British merchant ships equally ignored the Russian orders about remaining in harbour. Quite a number sailed away; the rest, however, were seized and burned, by Paul’s orders. To reinforce himself against very probable reprisals, Paul--presumably influenced by Napoleon--formed the “Armed Neutrality.” Russia and Sweden signed on December 16th, and on the 19th, Denmark and Prussia.

Meanwhile, Malta, which had been blockaded and besieged by the British ever since the battle of the Nile, was in grievous straits. In February, 1800, the _Genereux_, seventy-four (one of the two ships of the line which escaped from the Nile), left Toulon, with some frigates, intent on relief. She was, however, intercepted and captured by Nelson.

In March, the _Guillaume Tell_, the other survivor of the Nile, which had been lying at Malta, attempted on the night of the 30th to run the blockade to procure help. In doing so, she encountered the British frigate _Penelope_, which chased her, attacking her rigging. The firing brought up two ships of the line, _Foudroyant_ and _Lion_, but the Frenchman made such a defence that both these were disabled before she was reduced to submission, and it was to the _Penelope_ frigate that she ultimately struck. This particular fight is generally reckoned as the finest defence ever made by a French ship.

Malta was eventually starved into surrender, and the final capitulation took place on the 5th September, 1800, after a siege of practically two years.

The capture of Malta was perhaps one of the finest exhibitions of “Admiralty” in the whole war. No waste of life in assaults took place: the fortress was systematically starved into surrender by the judicious use of Sea Power to prevent any relief.

In this year (1800), several ships were lost, the principal being the _Queen Charlotte_ (100), which was accidentally burned and blown up off Capraja, on the 17th of March. The majority of her crew perished with her. Eighteen other ships were wrecked, while two (a twenty gun and a fourteen) mutinied and joined the enemy. These were the only British ships that actually changed hands. Captures amounted to fourteen ships of from eighty to twenty-eight guns, and a large number of privateers and small craft.

The year 1801 saw the Estimates at £16,577,000. The _personnel_ voted was 120,000 for the first quarter of the year, after which it was to rise to 135,000, with a view to dealing with the Armed Neutrality. The number of ships in commission was substantially the same as in the previous year.

The avowed objects of the Armed Neutrality were to resist “the right of search,” to secure any property under a neutral flag, that a blockade to be binding must be maintained by an adequate force, and that contraband of war must be clearly defined beforehand. In substance, they amounted to the free importation into France of those naval stores of which she stood most in need. Wisely enough the British Government decided to break up the coalition by diplomacy, if possible, and failing that, by force. Incidentally, it may be noted that the Tsar, who was at the head of the coalition, was more or less a madman, in possession of a very considerable fleet.

In March, 1801, a fleet of twenty ships of the line and a large number of auxiliaries, under Sir Hyde Parker, with Nelson as second in command, sailed for the Baltic. On arrival at Copenhagen, the Danes were found to be moored in a strong position under cover of shore batteries. The attack was confided to Nelson with twelve ships, which fared badly enough for Parker after the battle had lasted three hours to make a signal to withdraw.[55] Nelson, however, disregarded this, and continued till the Danish fire began to slacken an hour later. But as the Danes continually reinforced their disabled ships from the shore, and fired into those which had surrendered, the slaughter promised to go on indefinitely. Things being thus, Nelson, under a flag of truce, threatened to set fire to the damaged ships and leave their crews to their fate unless firing ceased. It has been alleged that this was a clever piece of bluff in order to extricate his ships from an awkward position: but all the evidence goes to show that he was fully in a position to carry out his threat, while as he made no attempt to move during the negotiations the bluff story is absurd. It appears to have been an act of humanity, pure and simple.

Ultimately, the bulk of the Danish fleet was surrendered, and a fourteen weeks’ armistice arranged, Nelson explaining that he required this amount of time to destroy the Russian fleet!

Subsequently the Swedish fleet was dealt with, but it took refuge under fortifications. About the same time news came that the mad Tsar had been assassinated, and that his successor had no wish to continue hostilities.

Nelson (now Commander-in-Chief) appeared off Kronstadt, under the guns of which the Russians had taken shelter in May. Negotiations followed,[56] and ultimately Russia was granted the right to trade with belligerents--probably a diplomatic concession in order to detach her sympathy from France.

In the meantime, Napoleon’s invasion schemes were shaping. To this day it is unknown whether he was serious or not at this, or for that matter, any other period. That he intended his preparations to be taken seriously (as they were by all save Nelson) is clear enough. It is further clear from his vast preparations that he would have used his flotilla had the chance occurred; but the mere fact that he never attempted actual invasion is of itself sufficient answer to all the homilies that have been written about Napoleon’s inability to understand “Sea Power.”

The army at Boulogne, the flat-bottomed boats, all served to keep England in a panic, and that was worth much. He had experience to guide him. Past experience was an English attack on the flotilla like that of Rodney many years before. In August, 1801, such an attack came, Nelson directing it. It was found fully prepared for and defeated with ease.

In the Mediterranean, Ganteaume, who had left Brest with seven ships of the line convoying 5,000 troops, reached Alexandria, but before he could disembark his soldiers, Keith appeared, and he hurried back to Toulon.

Linois left Toulon with a small squadron, and was driven into Algeciras, where he beat off Samaurez and a considerably more powerful squadron. Retreating from this, Samaurez fell in with a Spanish squadron, the ships of which, in the confusion of a night action, attacked each other, with the result that the two best ships were destroyed.

In October, 1801, the preliminaries of the Peace of Amiens were signed and hostilities ceased.

The total losses to the enemy in the war are given as follows by Campbell:--

FRENCH. DUTCH. SPANISH. TOTAL.
Ships of the line 45 25 11 81
Fifties 2 1 0 3
Frigates 133 31 20 184
Sloops, etc. 161 32 55 248
---
TOTAL 516
---

The corresponding British loss was only twenty-one ships of _all classes_, and of these only two ships of the line were captured. The bulk of British losses was accounted for by wrecks.

VII.

FROM THE PEACE OF AMIENS TO THE FINAL FALL OF NAPOLEON.

With the Peace of Amiens the usual reduction of the Navy took place. The 104 ships of the line in commission the year before sank to thirty-two in 1802. The _personnel_ fell to 50,000.

It may here be remarked that of the ships put out of commission a great number were unfit for further service: 111 ships of various classes being in so bad a way that they were sold or broken up. Many others were cut down to serve in inferior rates.

Early in 1803 it became abundantly clear that Napoleon was preparing for a new war, and in May, war was declared on him by the British Government. It is of interest to note that Napoleon, in dismissing the British Ambassador, said to him that he “intended to invade England,” adding that he considered it might be “a very risky undertaking.” At the time war was declared Napoleon was not quite ready, and never regained the ground thus lost.

Little or nothing happened to show that a great naval struggle was in progress. The French ships lay secure in harbour; the British tossed outside in ceaseless blockade work. But these months of seeming inaction settled the fate of France. The French crews, never very efficient, grew less and less so in harbour, while every day outside hardened the British and added to their efficiency. Seeing that the British _personnel_, which was but 50,000 at the early part of the year, was suddenly expanded to 100,000 in June, the advantages of this shaking down of raw crews were obvious enough. When eventually battle was joined, the difference between the English and the French _personnel_ was such that for every round got off by the latter, any British ship could fire _three_! Victory was won long before a single battle shot had been fired. Trafalgar was made a certainty by the great blockades.

When war broke out the general disposition of the hostile squadrons was as follows:--(the figures in brackets representing frigates and small craft)--

BRITISH. FRENCH.
Outside. Inside.
Toulon 14 (32) 10 (6)
Ferrol 7 (4) 5 (2)
Rochefort 5 (2) 4 (7)
Brest 20 (11) 18 (7)
Texel to Dunkirk 9 (21) 5 (11)

The invasion flotilla was distributed about Boulogne to the tune of 1,450 of the flotilla, 120 brigs and a few frigates. In the Texel district were 645 more of the flotilla.

Reserve squadrons were stationed in home waters ample to deal with the small craft defending flotillas.

So passed away the year 1803. Both sides reinforced their squadrons as rapidly as new ships could be produced. Beyond this nothing happened.

The year 1804 opened with the same lack of result. Napoleon made himself Emperor in May, and to some extent weakened his squadrons by the removal from them of officers suspected of Republican views. In July, however, things were nearing completion, and Latouche Treville was put in supreme command of the whole expedition against England. He received explicit orders to evade Nelson (who watched Toulon) and to rendezvous at Brest for invasion purposes. He died, however, in August[57] and the plans fell through.

After some delay, Villeneuve was appointed in his place; but instead of the invasion idea there came plans of oversea enterprises, possibly designed with a view to drawing all British forces of the moment away from the Channel, thus leaving things clear for an invasion. But again there comes the doubt whether Napoleon ever expected this to succeed, whether he really thought of much else than keeping England perturbed and busy while he matured plans for other parts of Europe, and whether he did not realise that “Sea Power” had its limitations as well as its advantages, and never really sought anything further than to cause Britain to spend so much in naval defence that she had little left to subsidise his Continental foes with. Better than most men he was able to estimate Nelson’s limitations. He clearly estimated fully enough that Nelson was no particularly brilliant strategist, and that he was more likely to forecast correctly what Nelson would do, than was Nelson to divine his purpose. He under-estimated indeed what Nelson really did mean,--the particular genius which made Nelson invincible as a leader of men, how Nelson was a tactician able to gauge exactly the competence of the enemy and to win victory by doing seemingly foolish things accordingly.

At least, it would appear that there Napoleon erred. But there is no judging Napoleon--the strangest mixture of genius and charlatan that the world has ever seen or is ever likely to. It is even unsafe to say that Napoleon did not foresee Trafalgar; unsafe to believe that, in his view, French fleets had no purpose other than to keep the English occupied. Napoleon is ever the one man in history that no one can ever surely know, whether we take him as the biggest liar who ever lived, or as the greatest genius the world has ever known.

In January, 1804, the British Fleet in commission consisted of seventy-five ships of the line, with forty others in reserve; 281 lesser craft were in commission and a few in reserve.

The intentions of Spain had long been mistrusted in England. As a precaution, the Spanish treasure fleet was attacked without warning, and over a million pounds’ worth of booty secured. Spain, thereupon, made her intentions clear, and declared war. A few lesser ships changed hands during the year; but even the minor happenings were of small account.

In the year 1805, the number of British ships built, building and ordered, stood at 181 ships of the line, and 532 lesser vessels besides troop-ships, store-ships and harbour vessels. The _personnel_ was 120,000 and the Naval Estimates £15,035,630.

Napoleon’s “Army of Invasion” now amounted to a nominal 150,000 men[58] in the Boulogne district alone, men all trained in embarking and disembarking. The famous “Let me be master of the Channel but for six hours” had been uttered.[59] If ever invasion were seriously contemplated it was so in this year 1805.

There followed those well-known operations--the “drawing away of Nelson,” of which so much had been written.

In substance, Napoleon quite understood the situation so far as Nelson was concerned. He understood that Nelson’s fleet did not watch Toulon closely. He understood that if Villeneuve came out from Toulon when Nelson was not close by, Nelson would blindly seek him, probably in the wrong direction.

In this, and up to a certain point beyond, Napoleon was entirely correct. But he made one error. He regarded Nelson as a fool. In estimating Nelson to be easily outwitted he was not perhaps far wrong; but beyond that, he failed to understand the man with whom he had to deal.

It was these qualities of Nelson that rendered any invasion hopeless. Nelson had seen enough to know that the fighting value of the enemy was small, and that for him to attack at all costs and all hazards meant no hazard to the result. With one single idea, to find the enemy and destroy him, he was just the one enemy for whom Napoleon’s genius had no answering move.

Villeneuve got out of Toulon on January 20th. He cruised about, Nelson cruising elsewhere looking for him. Eventually, Villeneuve, damaged by a gale, returned to Toulon, whence he presently emerged again on March 29th, and sailed for the West Indies. Ten days after he had done so, Nelson learned that the French had passed Gibraltar on April 8th; but delayed by contrary winds and lack of information, the British fleet was a long way behind. As for Villeneuve, he picked up six Spaniards at Cadiz, and went to the West Indies with seventeen ships of the line. Nelson followed far behind with ten. He pressed on so hard, however, that he reached Barbadoes on June 4th, the same day that Villeneuve, not so very far away, left Martinique, where he had been lying.

Therefrom, Nelson sailed south to Trinidad, off which he arrived at the same time as Villeneuve, sailing north, came off Antigua.

On June 11th, Villeneuve (whose crews were already sick) set out to return to Europe. Two days later, Nelson, who had gone north again, followed suit.

These hole and corner movements, impossible to-day, are not of much interest, save in so far as they indicate the certainty of information in these days and the uncertainty in those.

The “decoyed away fleet” idea has nothing in it, because in any such scheme Villeneuve could surely either have doubled back when half-way, or in any case would not have remained in the West Indies.

Nelson sent ahead fast frigates, with information that Villeneuve was returning; consequently arrangements for his reception were made. Off Finisterre, Villeneuve encountered Calder, and an indecisive action resulted. Two Spanish ships were captured. The following day, Villeneuve attempted to attack, but wind and weather prevented. On the third day the wind shifted, but Calder failed to attack. For this he was subsequently court-martialled and severely reprimanded.

Nelson, meanwhile, touched Gibraltar,[60] then proceeded north to join Cornwallis off Brest, and thence to England in his flagship _Victory_. Villeneuve, having picked up a few more ships at Ferrol, making his total force twenty-nine sail, put into Cadiz,[61] off which Collingwood maintained a weary blockade of him.

Early in September, news reached England that Villeneuve was at Cadiz, and Nelson left Southsea Beach on September 14th, sailing next day.

Collingwood, off Cadiz, had been reinforced up to twenty-four sail. A martinet officer of the old type, it is likely enough that had Villeneuve come out, he might have done something against the worn-out blockaders. The arrival of Nelson, on September 28th, changed all this. Collingwood’s red tape restrictions were countermanded, and the spirit of the entire fleet changed accordingly. As usual, Nelson spared no effort to keep the men fit and healthy.

On the 19th October, Villeneuve came out--driven thereto by threats from Napoleon. As Napoleon had broken up his Boulogne camp on August 26th and by now had the greater part of that army in Germany, his forcing Villeneuve to sea is one of those mysteries which can never be fathomed. He acted in the teeth of naval advice, and there are few more pathetic pictures in history than the disgraced Villeneuve putting to sea to known certain defeat, endeavouring to fire his men with hope.[62]

On the 20th October, the Franco-Spanish fleet was at sea with thirty-three ships of the line, the British consisting of twenty-seven. Nelson let the enemy get clear of the land, and then on October 21st, attacked them off Trafalgar.

Of this battle so much has been written that any detailed description here is superfluous. To this day, the historians dispute as to what the exact tactics were, and it is doubtful whether anything will ever get beyond Professor Laughton’s summary in his _Nelson_. Here the most emphasis is laid on the fact that in his memorandum of October 9th, Nelson expected to handle forty ships against a still larger hostile force. All these matters are, however, but for the academicians. The main facts are that Nelson correctly gauged the inability and gunnery inefficiency of the enemy and sailed down on them in two lines ahead, they lying in line abreast--a position which, had they been able to shoot well, promised them victory better than any other.

As an exhibition of tactics, Trafalgar was not even original--Rodney in the past had done something very similar. On no principle of “theory” was Nelson right. Simply and solely his genius lay in ability to calculate the human element, to lay his plans accordingly, and to achieve certain victory on that!

Villeneuve did all that was possible; and several of the French ships fought with remarkable courage. But nothing could avail them against Nelson’s understanding that it was quite safe to take this risk of sailing end-on into them and then overwhelming a part of them with superior numbers.

After some four hours’ fighting, eighteen of the enemy, including Villeneuve’s flagship, the _Bucentaure_, were captured, and the rest drew off.

Nelson himself, within about twenty minutes of falling foul of the enemy, was mortally wounded by a musket shot from the tops of the _Redoubtable_.

The losses to the allied Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in killed and wounded were extraordinarily heavy, averaging something like 300 or more per ship. In one, the casualties amounted to five in every six. This enormous loss was due to the raking broadsides of the English vessels, which wrought terrible destruction.

Nelson’s last order had been to anchor. Collingwood, on whom the command now devolved, saw no object in this; to which is generally attributed the fact that most of the prizes were lost in a gale that followed the battle. Some were wrecked, some re-captured by the enemy off Cadiz, some destroyed to prevent re-capture. All told, only four of the eighteen prizes ever reached Gibraltar. These were the _Swiftsure_ (an ex-British ship), and three of the Spaniards, _Bahama_, _San Ildefonso_, and _San Juan Nepomuceno_. All were old and worthless.

From the battle, Dumanoir had escaped with four French ships. With these he made for the Mediterranean, but being intercepted by Sir R. Strachan, was compelled to surrender his damaged ships after a short action. One of the captured ships, the _Duguay Trouin_, was renamed _Implacable_, and till quite recently was a training ship at Devonport.

Although some considerable Franco-Spanish naval force still existed, it was now so scattered in different parts, and so blockaded, that danger from it was no longer to be apprehended. In December, however, two divisions of the Brest fleet, the first consisting of five ships of the line and three other vessels, under Vice-Admiral Leissegues, and the second of six ships of the line and four other vessels, under Rear-Admiral Willaumez, evaded the blockade. They were destined for the West Indies and the Cape respectively. On February 6th, 1806, off San Domingo, Leissegues was met by Sir John Duckworth, and seven ships. Three of the French were captured and two others were run ashore and destroyed. Willaumez eventually reached the West Indies also, but did not accomplish anything of moment, and having lost four ships, finally returned to France.

In 1806, the British _personnel_ was 120,000. Estimates £18,864,341. Fleet 551 ships, of which 104 were of the line. This year was mainly remarkable for the extraordinary inaction displayed by the French, who lay sheltered in creeks and inlets along the coast. However, some of their frigates were captured by boat attack.

For 1807, the _personnel_ was 120,000, afterwards increased to 130,000. Estimates £17,400,000. Seven hundred and six ships in service, 104 of them being of the line.

In this year a special system of education for shipwright apprentices and the establishment of a school of naval architecture was recommended. It was not, however, until some years later that anything was actually done in this direction, the old haphazard system of construction being still followed.

In this same year the “18-gun brig-sloop” appeared, no less than twenty-five being ordered. These vessels were of about 380 tons, and carried sixteen thirty-two-pounder carronades and two long six-pounders. They were found to be extremely useful vessels. During this year the Turkish and Italian Navies were suspected of being likely to pass into the hands of France. Sir John Duckworth was, therefore, sent to Turkey with orders to force the Dardanelles and demand the surrender of the Turkish fleet to the British. Failing this he was to capture or destroy it and to bombard Constantinople.

On the 19th of February, the fleet ran through the unprepared Dardanelles without much injury. It was fired on by a small Turkish squadron, most of the ships of which were destroyed. The neighbourhood of Constantinople was reached; but the Turks refused to agree to what was demanded and busied themselves with strengthening the fortifications of the Dardanelles.

On the 1st of March, Duckworth, having done nothing, save realise his awkward situation, came down through the Dardanelles, running the gauntlet of guns which threw stones weighing nearly half-a-ton, some considerable damage being done to such ships as were hit. These guns were, in some cases, holes bored in the rocks filled with powder and stones; others were genuine “monster guns.”

Operations against Copenhagen, under Admiral Gambier, were opened on a considerably larger scale. He had under him eighteen ships of the line, forty lesser vessels and nearly 400 transports. This fleet arrived early in August, and demanded the surrender of the Danish Navy until such time as peace should come about, when it would be returned to its original owners. This being refused, troops were landed, and on the 1st of September, Copenhagen was bombarded and presently surrendered. Fifteen ships of the line and ten other vessels were given up, and one ship, which tried to escape, was captured. Three ships of the line were found building; two of these were taken to pieces and carried away; the third, being more nearly completed, was destroyed. All the naval stores were also brought away from the dockyard, necessitating the employment of no less than ninety-two of the transports.

Only five of the prizes were considered worthy of taking into the British service. Of these, one was the _Christian VII_ (eighty), of 2,131 tons. This ship was so good that four copies of her were built for the British Navy.

In the winter of this year, Sir Sydney Smith, with nine ships of the line, blockaded the Tagus and demanded the surrender of the Portuguese fleet, or else the retirement to South America of the Prince Regent, who naturally enough (and as had been expected) accepted the latter condition and went to South America with the bulk of his fleet. During the year, Curacoa was surprised and captured from the Dutch; St. Thomas and Santa Croix were taken from the Danes. The French being now in possession of Portugal, Madeira was also taken possession of by the British.

Losses to the extent of thirty-nine British ships were sustained during this year, mostly by wreck; one sloop, two brigs and six cutters being the only ships captured by the enemy. At the end of 1807, Russia, which had hitherto been an ally, declared war, owing to the peace of Tilset. England, Austria and Sweden were thus at war with the rest of the continent.

Russia had eleven ships of the line under Senyavin in the Mediterranean. Senyavin made a bolt for the Baltic with most of them, but having got as far as the Tagus found himself blockaded by Sir Sidney Smith.

A squadron was sent under Samaurez to the Baltic in June to co-operate with the Swedes against the Russians who were in Rogerswick harbour. An attempt was made to destroy the entire Russian fleet, but owing to a strong boom the operation failed. The blockade was continued for two months, after which the British fleet retired.

For 1808, the _personnel_ was 130,000. Estimates, £18,087,500. Ships of the Navy, 842; of which 189 were of the line. Of these, seventy-six were 74-gun ships.

Napoleon had been steadily renovating his Navy ever since Trafalgar, and it now consisted of over sixty ships of the line, besides at least twenty others completing.

A certain increase of naval activity consequently ensued, and early in the year Admiral Ganteaume, with five ships of the line, escaped from Rochefort in a gale during the absence of the blockading fleet and succeeded in reaching Toulon. Here he was joined by five more ships of the line and some frigates and transports. He sailed again and effected the relief of Corfu and thence returned to Toulon.

In August, the Russian Admiral, Senyavin, who all this time had been blockaded in the Tagus, offered to surrender his ships to the British on condition that they should be given back after the war and that he and his men should be free to return to Russia. These terms were agreed to.

This year saw the launch of the _Caledonia_ of 120 guns, the largest ship yet built in England. She was of 2,616 tons. An interesting item in connection with this ship is that she was designed and ordered to be laid down as long ago as 1794, but steps to build her were not taken until eighteen years later.

For 1809, the _personnel_ was 130,000. Estimates, £19,578,467. Ships of the Navy, 728; of which 113 were of the line. In this year the maintenance allowance of the British fleet, which had been £3 15s. 0d. per man per month, was increased to £4 16s. 0d.

In February, owing to a gale, the British fleet blockading Brest had to withdraw; and Willaumez came out with the object of collecting a few ships at Rochefort and Lorient, and then sailing to relieve Martinique. He was, however, found and blockaded in the Basque roads, and attack on him by fire-ships was suggested.

In April, Lord Cochrane was sent out with a squadron to attack by fire-ships. Three of these were the special invention of Cochrane. The hold of each was filled with powder casks and sand, covered in with big booms and topped with hand grenades and rockets.

On the 11th, Cochrane, leading the expedition with one of his “explosion vessels,” went in to attack; to discover that the enemy had anticipated things and built a boom. This, however, was struck by Cochrane’s vessel, which was then blown up, shattering the boom to pieces. The rest of the fire-ships came down through the gap, but were badly handled in the majority of cases, and no French ships were fallen on board of. The “explosion vessels” had, however, created such a panic that the French ships cut their cables and drifted ashore, except one ship, which was grappled with, but succeeded in disengaging.

When day broke, the French ships were seen to be mostly ashore, and Cochrane urged immediate attack. Gambier, however, displayed considerable lack of energy, consequent on which many of the French got off. Three ships were, however, captured and destroyed, and two others were destroyed by the French themselves.

Cochrane thought that it should have been possible to destroy the whole fleet, and made use of his being a Member of Parliament publicly to oppose the vote of thanks to Lord Gambier. Gambier then demanded a court-martial, which was undoubtedly “packed.” He was acquitted; and Cochrane, one of the most brilliant officers of the Navy of that day, was compelled to leave the Service. Until his re-instatement, many years afterwards, he spent his career in the service of the revolting Spanish colonies in South America.

Napoleon had long been fortifying and improving the Scheldt, and in 1809 the decision to destroy it was come to. The expedition, which left England on the 28th July, consisted of thirty-seven ships of the line, thirty-nine frigates or intermediates, fifty-four sloops or brigs, together with 400 transports, carrying 39,000 troops, under the Earl of Chatham. The fleet was commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan.

The object of the expedition was to destroy all ships there and demolish the dockyard and fortifications. But, owing to delays, the French had ample warning of the impending attack, and put all their ships up the river out of reach. It was also found impracticable to attack the dockyard or Antwerp. Flushing was therefore blockaded, and surrendered on the 15th August. One thirty-eight gun frigate was captured, and a frigate and a brig building in the dockyard were burned, while the timbers of a seventy-four gun ship that was building were carried away to Woolwich, and a ship, afterwards named the _Chatham_, built from them.

Walcheren was also captured. Twelve thousand troops were left garrisoning Walcheren. Of these, nearly half died of disease in the swamps, after which the place was evacuated.

In October, a French squadron with transports slipped out of Toulon during the absence of Collingwood, who was blockading the port with fifteen ships of the line and a number of smaller vessels. On the evening of October 24th, three French ships of the line and a frigate were sighted and chased. On the following morning two of the ships of the line were driven ashore, where their crew set fire to them and abandoned them; the other ship of the line and the frigate managed to get into Cette, whence they subsequently got safely back to Toulon. Of the convoy, the transports and the smaller vessels, which had made up the rest of the French squadron, some were captured, the others ran into Spanish harbours and took shelter under the fortifications. Eleven of these had taken shelter at Rosas, and were cut out by boat attack.

The remaining naval operations of the year were the capture of Senegal, Cayenne, and French Guiana.

In the Baltic, the Russian fleet was blockaded. One or two boat actions were the only incidents of the year.

For the year 1810, the _personnel_ rose to 145,000, and the total estimates amounted to £18,975,120. The number of ships in commission were 108 ships of the line and 556 lesser vessels.

In the Mediterranean, Collingwood resigned his command on account of ill-health, and died on his way back to England. He was succeeded by Sir Charles Cotton. There were no incidents of moment, for though the French had been busily building ships inside Toulon, the only use made of these was one or two small sorties when the blockading force happened to be weak.

In the Channel, French frigates and large privateers were very active. Of the privateers, several were captured or destroyed, but the frigates held their own.

Abroad, Guadaloupe was captured by a combined naval and military attack in a series of operations in the Antilles.

In July, the Isle of Bourbon was captured, and following this an attack was then made on Mauritius, which was the head-quarters of a considerable French privateer fleet. The first attack was delivered by Captain Pym on Grand Port. He had with him four frigates. Two French frigates and two smaller vessels lay inside.

On August 22nd, the first attempt was made, but owing to Captain Pym’s ship, the _Sirius_, getting aground, it was delayed until next day. In the next day’s attempt, both the _Sirius_ and _Magicienne_ ran aground, almost out of range. The other two ships, _Iphigenia_ and _Nereide_, got in and drove the French ships ashore. Firing from them, however, still continued, and ultimately the _Nereide_ had to surrender. The two British ships which had run ashore were blown up by orders of Captain Pym. The _Iphigenia_ succeeded in getting out of the harbour with the crews of these two ships, but while warping out was surprised and also captured by another French squadron. The entire attack proved a failure. The incident is mainly of interest as being the only instance in the war in which a British squadron sustained defeat.

Following upon this, a more serious attack was made on Mauritius; 10,000 troops were embarked, accompanied by one ship of the line and twelve frigates. A landing was effected at the end of November, and the island subsequently surrendered.

In the Baltic, Sweden, which had hitherto been a British ally, joined the French side. The Russian fleet was still blockaded by Admiral Samaurez, but as the Tsar was known to be wavering in his allegiance to Napoleon, no actual hostilities took place against him, and during the greater part of the year British merchant ships freely traded with Russian ports.

When peace was declared between England and Russia, the ships of Senyavin which had been captured in the Tagus were restored, but they contributed nothing to naval history. During the year, five frigates were captured from the French and two British frigates were captured by the enemy. British losses of the year included one ship of the line and seven frigates wrecked or blown up to prevent capture, as well as some smaller vessels.

For the year 1811, the _personnel_ remained at 145,000. The Estimates were £19,822,000, and the number of ships in commission were 107 of the line, and 513 of inferior rates.

A considerable blockading squadron was still maintained off Toulon, but the French ships there, though they occasionally came out into the Road, were extremely careful to avoid any engagement.

On March 13th, a small battle, which took place off Lissa between six French frigates, accompanied by five smaller vessels, under Dubourdieu, and a British squadron consisting of three frigates and a twenty-two gun ship, commanded by Captain William Hoste, indicates very clearly the inferiority to which the French fleet had fallen. One French ship was driven ashore and two others surrendered.

This sort of thing was in no way unique, and a single ship action of the same year is an even more startling example. The British sloop _Atlanta_ (eighteen) met and engaged the _Entrepennant_ (thirty-two). After an engagement lasting two-and-a-half hours the French frigate struck, having lost thirty men killed and wounded, the total loss to the British ship being only five men wounded.

In this year the island of Java was captured from the Dutch, and there were a number of small actions in the Channel, mostly the attacks of praames on small British ships. The total loss to the enemy consisted of three French frigates captured, two French frigates destroyed and one wrecked. Two Venetian frigates were also captured. The losses to the British Navy during the same period were much more heavy: three ships of the line, five frigates and an eighteen-gun brig-sloop were wrecked. Three small ships were captured and various other small vessels became unserviceable, the total loss in these amounting to fifty-one.

In January, 1811, the report of the Commission of 1806 was first brought into operation by the introduction of apprentices to be trained at the Royal Naval College, at Portsmouth. This was known as the School of Naval Architecture, and was the first genuine attempt at introducing science into naval construction. Students were given three days technical work a week and three days theoretical in mathematics and theory, under Dr. Inman. From the School of Naval Architecture the students were sent to the Navy Office, and also to the various dockyards, for the study of routine. Unfortunately, however, the experiment was received with disfavour by many of the old-type of dockyard officer, with the result that most of the students were either not proficient or else became disgusted and found employment elsewhere.

For the year 1812, the _personnel_ still remained at 145,000. The Estimates were £19,305,759. Ships in commission amounted to 102 ships of the line and 482 lesser vessels, with a certain number of ships in reserve. At and about this period various experimental ships were built, of which the most interesting was the floating battery _Spanker_. She was of somewhat amateur construction; intended to carry guns of the largest size and mortars for bombardment and harbour defence. The main deck had an over-hang fitted with scuttles, down through which guns could be fired. The idea of this was, that supposing she were attacked by boats, these would go under the over-hang and very easily be destroyed. In practice, however, there was so much miscalculation that the over-hang was only a few inches above the water-line. The ship was also found to be so unmanageable that she was very shortly relegated to harbour service.

The blockades of Toulon and the Scheldt were continued, but nothing of much naval interest took place. A small French squadron broke out of Lorient, but after cruising about for three weeks and making a few prizes, returned to Brest and was blockaded there.

In the Baltic, peace was made with Sweden, and war definitely broke out between France and Russia, this being the war which culminated in Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia.

In the Channel and in the Mediterranean a number of single ship actions took place, and one ship, the _Rivoli_ (seventy-four), built at Venice for the French Navy, was captured. This particular ship held out for 4½ hours, and at the time of her surrender had only two guns left available and fifty per cent. of her crew were out of action. She was captured by the _Victorious_ (seventy-four).

The most important naval event of the year was the American declaration of war against England. The war had been prepared for some time, and the American Navy, such as there was of it, was in a very efficient and up-to-date state. It contained no ships of the line, but a number of very heavily-armed frigates, manned by well-trained crews. In the single ship actions that ensued the Americans were almost invariably victorious.

For the year 1813, the _personnel_ was 14,000; the Estimates £20,096,709. Ships in commission, 102 of the line and 468 inferior vessels. The problem of meeting the American frigates was very seriously considered and a certain number of large ships were razeed with a view to meeting the American frigates on more even terms.

The most famous event of the year was the fight between the _Shannon_ (British) and the _Chesapeake_ (American). The former was rated at thirty-eight, but actually carried fifty-two guns. The latter was rated at thirty-six, but carried fifty. She had done well, but at the time of the fight had just been re-commissioned with a new crew, of whom a number were British deserters and some forty were Portuguese. The _Shannon_, on the other hand, had been in commission for some years; and Captain Broke had assiduously trained his men in gunnery, having anticipated the “dotter” of to-day.

Being in this state of efficiency he came off Boston and sent in a challenge to the captain of the _Chesapeake_. Whether the challenge was actually received or not, the _Chesapeake_ came out accompanied by yachts crowded with sightseers and a cargo of handcuffs for the anticipated British prisoners.

Firing was not opened until the two frigates were only fifty yards apart. It lasted only about ten minutes, when the _Chesapeake_ being almost blown to pieces, the _Shannon_ fell aboard her and carried her by boarding in another five.

The rest of the war with America, which lasted well on into 1815, is of no great naval interest except for the side issues involved. In a series of actions, the American big gun theory was triumphantly demonstrated, and more than once small British squadrons were wiped out. No material result, however, followed in consequence. On the other hand, Washington was attacked in 1814, and the public buildings burned, again without much material result. The real interest of the war lies in side issues.

The submarine appeared in this war, but the American authorities refused to give it any official sanction, and attempts made against British ships were by private individuals who had ignored the express orders of the American authorities. None of the experimenters were successful, but this was mainly a matter of luck.

A matter of greater interest was the construction of an American war vessel, the _Fulton_. The _Fulton_--which was driven by a steam paddle in the centre of the vessel, and was armoured with wood so thick that none of the shot of the period could get through it, was armed with two 100-pounder guns on pivot mountings and carried a ram shaped bow--can undeniably lay claim to being the precursor of the _Monitor_ or _Merrimac_, and also to being the first steam warship. She took too long to complete, however, to take any part in the war; but had the war continued, few British ships could have survived her attacks, presuming her to have been seaworthy.

To resume: 1813 as regards the French was not productive of much in the way of naval operations. The French had by now built so many new ships at Toulon that they were actually superior to the blockading British squadron. But they made no attempt to use this superiority, and nothing resulted except a few small skirmishes. A few insignificant captures were made on the British side.

At the beginning of the year 1814, there were ninety-nine ships of the line in commission and 495 lesser vessels. The _personnel_ amounted to 140,000, and the estimates £19,312,000.

A number of single ship actions took place between frigates, and in most of these a considerable improvement in French efficiency was noted. Nothing, however, was done with the larger ships, and the war ultimately ended with the deportation of Napoleon to Elba.

No sooner was peace declared than the fleet was greatly reduced and a large number of ships sold or broken up. Nineteen ships of the line and ninety-three other vessels were thus disposed of. The _personnel_ for the year 1815 was reduced to 70,000 for the first three months and 90,000 for the remainder of the year. The estimates stood at £17,032,700, of which £2,000,000 was for the payment of debts.

The re-appearance of Napoleon and the events which culminated in the battle of Waterloo did not lead to any naval operations, and with the final deportation of Napoleon to St. Helena, a further reduction of the fleet took place. The estimates sank to £10,114,345, and considerable reductions of officers and men were made.

VIII.

GENERAL MATTERS IN THE PERIOD OF THE FRENCH WARS.

Naval uniform, as we understand it, first came into use for officers in the days of George II,[63] who so admired a blue and white costume of the Duchess of Bedford that he decided then and there to dress his naval officers in similar fashion. No very precise regulations were, however, followed, and for many years uniform was more or less optional or at the fancy of the captain.

The first uniform consisted of a blue coat, with white cuffs and gold buttons. The waistcoat, breeches, and stockings were white. The hat was the ordinary three-cornered black hat of the period with some gold lace about it and a cockade. Other officers wore uniforms which were slight variants upon this: while as special distinguishing marks only the captain (if over three years’ seniority) wore epaulettes upon both shoulders. A lieutenant wore one only.

From time to time the uniform was altered slightly, mostly as regards the cuffs and lapels; but enormous latitude was allowed, and some officers even dressed as seamen.

There was no general uniform whatever for the men; though circumstances led to the bulk of the men in any one ship being dressed more or less alike.

This was the result of the “slop chest.” This was introduced about the year 1650, and amounted to nothing more than a species of ready-made tailor ship at which men at their own expense could obtain articles of clothing. Later on it became compulsory for newly-joined men, whose clothes were defective, to purchase clothing on joining, to the tune of two months’ pay.

These articles being supplied to a ship wholesale, were naturally all alike, and so the men of one ship would all be more or less uniformly attired. Men of another ship might be dressed quite differently, though also more or less like each other. But any idea of uniform as “uniform,” right up to Trafalgar, was entirely confined to one or two dandy captains, and they mainly only considered their own boat’s crews.[64] Some fearful and wonderful costumes of this kind are recorded.