Frigate Commander (43 page)

. . . was represented as an Irish Duellist who never missed his mark. The cause of the quarrel was really puerile, but the parties seem to have been equally expert marksmen at 12 long paces distance, as they were both wounded at the first and only fire. Notwithstanding the charge given by the judge to bring the verdict of Manslaughter the Jury after retiring for half an hour delivered their verdict Not Guilty. They appear to me to have been actuated in this instance by an indignation against the fashionable cry.

Macnamara made an eloquent speech in his own defence, arguing that as a Gentleman and the commander of seamen he had to be fearless and resolute – and that this had meant standing up to Montgomery’s assault. The speech may well have swayed the jury. So may the fact that four admirals (including Nelson), five captains, Lord Minto and General Churchill all turned out to give Macnamara supporting testimonies.
¹²²

Meanwhile the naval armament had been continuing, though there was considerable secrecy about certain elements of it. It was known, however, that a squadron of ships of the line was being assembled at Torbay, though most of the ships in it were short of complement. Moore observed these developments with mixed feelings. He had no great inclination to return to sea, but knew that his duty lay in that direction. However, until war was declared he thought he would bide his time;

Why then should I sacrifice any more of my best days before honour and what I owe my country calls upon me to do? I will not. I will follow my bent while it is not unbecoming.

On 14 May, the whole of London seemed to be waiting anxiously to hear the outcome of negotiations with Bonaparte. At Richmond, Moore waited along with the rest;

If it is for War, I immediately solicit a ship and prepare for embarking. I go to it with no alacrity but with determination. I wish for Peace.

Later that day the news came. Lord Whitworth had terminated discussions with the French. It was to be war. The next day, true to his resolution, Moore presented himself at the Admiralty, though not without some misgivings. As an experienced commander, he knew that when he did return to sea, he was almost certainly going to have to command a ship full of deeply discontented seamen. Not only those who hadn’t been released from the service when peace was declared, but others who were being pressed as part of the re-armament. He truly wished that the government could consider some other means of manning ships than by impressment:

While that violent practice is resorted to that class of men, the seamen, have much to complain of. The Country loves them and is fully sensible of their merit and of their importance, then is it not worthy the attention of Government to conciliate the affection by rendering more comfortable the lot of this meritorious but hard used body of men.

Moore, along with many other unemployed officers, waited on the First Lord, to solicit some form of employment. At least Moore was given an interview;

He told me I was too old a captain for a frigate and that he would appoint me to a Line of Battle ship as soon as he had an opportunity. The same day, having informed myself at the Navy Office what ships were coming forward, I applied by letter to the 1st Lord for the
Monarch
, but in his answer he declined an engagement for an Appointment to any particular ship. Perhaps it may be some time before I get a ship.

Moore had really wanted a frigate but would not have been surprised at the outcome of his discussion with Earl St Vincent. He was over thirty-nine years of age, had been a Post Captain for ten years and had been in command of a frigate for a total of more than seven years. It was extremely rare for a captain to continue commanding a frigate when he had more than eleven years of seniority – and the great majority of captains – if they commanded frigates at all – did so for an average of four or five years. There was also a considerable number of captains applying for a much smaller number of ships, so some were bound to be disappointed. Moore’s career as a frigate captain had already lasted longer than most, and both the ships and the stations to which he had been appointed, indicated that he was well favoured. Now he had to reconcile himself to disappointment, so he accepted an invitation from Currie to stay in Liverpool for a few days. He travelled up by the mail coach and stayed ten days. Ironically, now that it appeared that he was being overlooked for employment, he was keen to get back to sea. Immediately upon his return to London, he applied for a meeting with one of the Lords of the Admiralty with whom he was acquainted, and asked him to intercede with the Earl St Vincent. The Lord of the Admiralty

. . . asked me if I would like a 50 gun ship. I told him I did not like a 50 gun ship so well as a 74 but that I wished to serve, as we were at war, and I would accept of any ship the Admiralty thought me entitled to command . . . I am now very anxious to be employed.

A week or so later, Moore wrote to St Vincent once again;

Perhaps I may not get a 74 which, next to a good frigate, is the class of ship I would like to command, and even if I do there is a great risk of my being continued in the command of her after the war is over, which I do not believe will last too long. Nothing but war can make me wish to be employed at sea.

The response from the Admiralty was a complete surprise.

14

The Star Captain (July 1803 – June 1805)

On the 8th of July I was appointed to the command of the
Indefatigable
of 44 guns, very much to my astonishment as the first Lord had informed me that I could not have a frigate. I was pleased much with my appointment and set off a few days afterwards to take the command of the ship. I arrived here
[Plymouth]
on the 17th and found the ship by no means in the forward state that I expected, a great deal of the carpenter’s work being in an unfinished state and the copper on her bottom so very foul that I immediately wrote to the admiralty to have her hauled into a dock to wash it down.

The
Indefatigable
was one of the navy’s most highly regarded frigates. Originally she had been a 64-gun ship, but in 1794 she, along with two others
¹²³
, had been cut down or ‘razeed’ to convert them into heavily armed ‘super-frigates’. Her first Captain had been Sir Edward Pellew, the commander of one of the frigate squadrons and one of the navy’s finest ever frigate captains. If Moore had wanted confirmation of the high esteem in which he was held, the appointment to the
Indefatigable
was it.

He now had a very fine ship, but the same could not be said of her complement. A month after joining the ship he was still desperately below complement;
‘I have about thirty working men, of which not more than three can be called Seamen.’
Any available or potential seamen around the coastal ports were immediately being pressed and sent off to man the line-of-battle ships. Ordinarily, an officer like Moore, a frigate or the
Indefatigable
in particular, could rely on willing volunteers. But this time he could not even get

. . . those volunteer sailors who enter at the different Rendezvous for the
Indefatigable
. We have a very poor prospect of being manned, and I am glad to take very indifferent Landmen in order to make any shew at all.

In one of his rare surviving letters, he wrote of the situation to his friend Creevey:

. . . I never had to do with a new ship’s company before made up of Falstaff’s men – ‘decayed tapsters’, &c., so I do not bear that very well and I get no seamen but those who enter here at Plymouth, which are very few indeed. The Admiralty will not let me have any who enter for the ship at any of the other ports, which cuts up my hopes of a tolerable ship’s company . . . I am convinced the French can make no progress in England, and do not believe now that they will attempt it; but how is all this to end? However that may be, as I am in for it, I wish to God I was tolerably ready, and scouring the seas.
¹²⁴

Around 6 September, Moore was able to move the ship out into Cawsand Bay. To his surprise he had suddenly been sent a very reasonable draft of men to help complete his crew and he thought them

. . . capable of becoming a very good ship’s company with a little practice and experience.

Although he received orders to make the frigate ready for sea instantly he was still waiting for operational orders ten days later. He expressed his frustration and fears in another letter to Creevey:

. . . It has pleased the Worthies aloft to keep us in expectation of sailing at an hour’s notice since Sunday last. This is very proper, I am sure, and rather inconvenient too. I hate to be a-going a-going. It is disagreeable to Jack, because I have sent all his wives and his loves on shore, and altho’ I have made him an apology, he must think the Captain is no great things. The blackguards will know me by-and-by. They seem a tolerable set, and I am already inclined to love them. If they fight, I shall worship them . . . There is another very fine frigate here, as ready as we are – the
Fisgard
, commanded by a delightful little fellow, Lord Mark Kerr. He is an honour to Lords as they go . . . If there is to be a war with Spain, it would be well to let us know of it before we sail, as money – altho’ nothing to a philosopher – is something to me. I am growing old, and none of the women will have me now if I cannot keep them in style, and you know there is no carrying on the war ashore in the peace, when it comes, without animals of that description . . . The most cheerful fellow on politics is my brother Jack; you’ll hear no croaking from him. He says it’s all nonsense.
¹²⁵

Eager to get the frigate and her crew shaken down, Moore obtained permission to exercise in the Channel and for the next ten days he cruised between Eddystone and Plymouth Sound, putting both the crew and ship through their paces. When his orders did arrive, they were simply to continue patrolling as he had been, to protect Plymouth. It was frustrating, but he was aware that with serious fear of imminent invasion, the Admiralty was unwilling to let the
Indefatigable
cruise very far from the coast. It was doubly frustrating, because as he cruised along the north side of the Channel, a number of prizes, taken by frigates further out to sea, passed by on their way to Plymouth. It was particularly exasperating for the crew;
‘Seeing the prizes go under our noses creates a good deal of impatience among our fellows.’
It could create discontent and Moore was already aware that although the great majority were well affected, there were
‘. . . some very great rascals in the ship.’
This sort of cruising wasn’t doing the ship any favours either, for Moore was convinced that the copper of the hull was already fouling up. And as if this wasn’t enough, he was growing increasingly anxious that his health would not stand up to a winter in the Channel. But there was more to it than this. The role of a naval captain was a demanding one and some of the duties required a particular hardness of character – or at least the outward appearance of toughness. Moore had always found this difficult, but he was finding as he got older and as his experience grew, that this was becoming harder to sustain;

There are a number of details which a man must shut his eyes to, in order to execute with effect the duties which the situation of an Officer imposes on him. As Lady MacBeth says ‘Think not so brain sickly of these things, else ‘twill make us mad’. Pressing seamen, Discipline &c &c. The worst of all this is, there is no remedy. If a man retires, such is the constitution of things that he owes his comforts and his security to the protection afforded by this System which has revolted him and which he vainly thinks to wash his hands of – No man who eats Mutton has a right to tax the Butcher with cruelty. Ye are all Butchers.

At the end of October, Moore was ordered to join Admiral Cornwallis’ squadron off Brest. Despite his misgivings, the weeks at sea had gradually toughened his constitution, and he was generally feeling in better health. He was also heartened by the fact that the crew of the
Indefatigable
was now complete. Few of the men were stout, hardy seamen – there was a high proportion of inexperienced landsmen amongst them – but they were mainly young and that was promising.

Cornwallis ordered Moore to cruise for six weeks in the Bay of Biscay and he sailed with a gale blowing in his teeth and a considerable sea running. As the frigate battled her way south-east towards Lorient, it was clear that the dockyard workers had made a poor job of her repairs. The decks leaked badly with the result that the ‘tween decks were as wet as the upper deck. Furthermore,

. . . our people are very uncomfortable at present owing to being badly cloathed and much exposed to wet for these three days past.
Moore was also a little wary as
. . . neither myself, the master nor any of the officers are acquainted with this part of the coast.

Heavy squalls soon set in which tested the inexperienced crew severely. In these conditions Moore soon discovered that the
Indefatigable
could also carry a press of sail better than most English men-of-war, and this was to her advantage in squally weather but she drifted a great deal to leeward when under light sail or hove to.

The crew, though, were still incompetent. This was brought home to him during an incident off the Cordovan Light in the second week of November. As the crew hurried aloft to make more sail in chase of a French vessel, one of the topmen fell overboard. Then the boat, lowered to try to save him, capsized. By the time the men had been recovered the chase had vanished. Moore could only note wearily in his journal: