On the King's Sea Service: A John Phillips Novel (War at Sea Book 1) (11 page)

Freeing the boy, Phillips suspected they would never see him again, but that afternoon, two more people came down the goat path. One was an old woman, thin and strong, looking as if she were made of dried rawhide. With her was a man of twenty or so, but also looking very capable.

The translator listened to them and reported they would sell many sheep or goats. Each would cost two of the silver coins the boy had been given. Phillips had few sixpences left but held out one of the golden guineas given him by Ambassador Hamilton to buy beef. The woman was stunned. She knew what gold was, of course, but apparently had never dreamed of possessing any.

His men had roused out all the meat casks from the ship’s hold and the surgeon and cook had inspected the contents of each. Only six more beef casks were foul. The rest of the beef was still good. The foul meat was discarded and the casks scrubbed out with seawater and sand.

With these six casks to fill, besides the two already emptied, he told the woman he wanted the casks filled with meat, either sheep or goat. He also wanted the necessary salt. She agreed to sell the needed meat and salt for the guinea plus a Spanish dollar she had seen in Phillip’s purse. This made her day.

The man ran up the cliff and soon animals started coming down. More natives descended the cliff face and assisted in butchering and cutting up the meat. There was pandemonium as animals were frantically fleeing in one direction or another.

A few managed to escape up the vertical cliff, but most ended up being stretched out on the beach. Phillips left his butcher’s crew to their bloody work and returned to the ship.

The carpenter had the hole patched and now the caulkers were pounding oakum and pitch into the crevices. There were no copper sheets to nail over the new wood, but that could wait ‘till they reached a proper shipyard. With the ship as light as she could be, it was necessary to get her at sea, before a gale came up that could destroy her on the beach. When the ship was ready to leave, Phillips asked his interpreter what the natives would like as a gift for their help.

The answer was weapons. It seemed that whenever pirates came ashore, some would climb the cliffs and try to capture women and young children. Formerly, they had possessed a musket to discourage the pirates, but that was now broken.

Phillips ordered the gunner to release a dozen of his surplus muskets and bayonets with ammunition. The woman representative thanked him and assured Phillips the natives could now defend the cliff paths to the summit.

The longboat was sent back to look for the large bower anchor. The cask marking the location was soon found and its line was carried back to the ship and brought in through a stern port. It was pulled in until the large anchor cable on the sea bottom took the strain. Then the line was sent to the capstan where it was pulled in until the cable came off the sea bottom, reached the stern port and entered the ship.

With the huge anchor cable at the capstan, the line was cast off and the cable fastened to the messenger cable with a short length of line called a nipper. The messenger was a closed loop between the capstan and a big block up forward. Men at the capstan put the capstan bars to their chests and heaved.

The anchor cable was fastened to the messenger with more nippers. As the capstan turned, the cable was drawn along. When the end of the cable had been drawn forward, the first nipper was loosed and the cable directed to dive down into the cable tier.

Eventually, all the slack in the anchor cable was taken up and now the strain was now between the capstan and the heavy bower anchor on the bottom. With the men heaving on the capstan bars the cable rose from the water, water squirting from the twisted hemp.

At first, the men strained with seemingly no effect, then a wave a little higher than normal slapped at the stern, which was almost afloat. As the big ship rocked, it also moved back a few inches. Phillips stationed an officer at the stern to watch for waves. When he saw a large one approaching, he called out ‘Heave’ and again and again the ship slid backward. It took the rest of the day, but finally, the ship was swimming free.

The ship was hauled sternward by brute force until it was up to the anchor. Now, the boats were employed in bringing aboard all the stores that had been landed. When enough weight had been brought aboard to give it some ballast, the ship was moved out to deeper water. The guns were brought aboard finally and the tackle and breeching rigged. With everything brought aboard that had been landed and the newly refilled meat casks stowed, the ship was ready to put to sea.

The rules and customs of the Navy stipulated the crew would dine on beef every Tuesday and Saturday. On Wednesdays, no meat would be issued, but the men were allowed cheese, dried peas, oatmeal and a little butter instead. On other days, pork would be on the menu. Because of the difficulties, with much of the original issue of salt beef being corrupt and discarded, the use of pork issued in lieu had nearly finished that article. With full casks of salted mutton and goat flesh aboard, Phillips arbitrarily decreed that mutton equaled beef, while goat was now pork. The cook was ordered to plan accordingly.

An apprehensive captain entered ‘La Petite Rade’ of Toulon harbor on 15 December. He was of course, weeks overdue and an encountered British sloop of war gave the news that the occupation of Toulon had failed and the forces were expected to withdraw soon. His signal went unanswered for an hour, when he was finally ordered to report aboard the flag.

Arriving there, he was told Admiral Hood was now onshore and Phillips should proceed to the military headquarters.

Hood appeared harried and sleepless. He remained though, the same courteous officer he had been at their earlier meetings. He ignored the reports Phillips offered and just asked what Phillips had been ‘up to’.

Toulon

Phillips gave his account of his reception at Naples and Hamilton’s regret a more senior and knowledgeable military official had not accompanied him. He reminded Hood of the problem with his stores and the inability of Hammond to re-supply him. The account of the encounter with the pirate galley was given and the recovery of the enslaved Christians. Finally, Phillips recounted the damage inflicted upon the Vigorous and the repairs undertaken.

Hood nodded, then shook his head over the report of the missing copper that Phillips had not been able to replace under his bows. He said, “Have an officer and a party of men report to the shipyard here and remove as much copper and whatever other supplies you may need. I must tell you that we will not be able to hold the defenses here much longer. Everything on shore that cannot be taken must be destroyed before we leave.”

“My staff will give you a requisition for anything you ask for, but there will not be time to do any repairs. Take your materials aboard ship and prepare to leave. Already, French civilians are clamoring for refuge aboard ship. You have my permission to load as many of these people as may be possible.”

“My Lord, what about the party of men I landed when I first arrived? May I take them with me?”

“Captain, I am afraid these parties have been so mixed with other working parties and defense units, that at this point, it would be impossible to locate them. I give you my word though, that all forces, both military and naval, will be withdrawn before we sail. Seamen especially, will be invaluable to crew such French ships in the harbor that we take with us.”

At the dockyard an hour later, all was confusion. A frantic bosun’s mate said his civilian crew had all left and were now mobbing the various British offices trying to get passage out. Phillips told the mate that he would offer transportation out of Toulon to such shore workers with their families, who would help move his supplies.

By dusk, an increasing crowd was clamoring at the gates. Phillips selected those people as they appeared to transport the material. Some articles were carried on men’s backs, while others were transported on carts or wagons. Wheeled vehicles were available, but not the draft animals. Drag lines were attached to the vehicles and humans, both men and women were put to the lines, the vehicles being dragged down to the docks in a rush.

After the news spread, more people had volunteered than could be accommodated, so he allowed the French workers to board ship after completing just one trip. By this time, nobody was bothering with requisitions or records. Whatever a British officer or petty officer wanted, was just carried off.

With all the supplies aboard that he could foresee needing; he brought his people back to the ship. There he saw Captain Jones had the Marines barricading the gate. Desperate citizens crowded the path begging passage away from the port.

The party had to force their way through the crowd. The launch was stationed off the pier, where desperate townspeople could not pelt them with filth.

The launch crew was told to take the items brought from the warehouses and take them to the ship. On return, Phillips ordered the longboat brought along too. When the boats returned, Mister Burns accompanied then. He reported most of the men drafted from the ship earlier in the summer had found their way back and accommodations were now very cramped, what with the incorporation of the rescued slaves into the frigate’s crew.

Phillips had promised passage to hundreds of Toulon citizens, who would surely lose their heads if left behind. Looking around in the gathering dusk, his eyes were drawn to the collection of French naval vessels anchored a few cables length away.

“Mister Burns. I want a ship fit to carry as many people as possible away from here. Investigate that French third rate to port. Take some men there with you to look her over. I want a ship that will float as far as Gibraltar. I’m not concerned about armament. She must be rigged and capable of sailing. We have enough stores on board the Vigorous to give her necessary rations and water if necessary. Take the launch and some men and report back as soon as possible. I’ll be on the frigate.”

It was dark when the launch hooked on and Burns came through the entry port.  His uniform was covered with dirt and filth, but he reported the big liner was capable of swimming. “Her upper guns have been removed, but she still has all her lower deck guns. Twenty eight big 36 pounder guns.”

“The ship’s been more or less abandoned in the harbor for weeks, ever since her crew left. She still has some stores aboard, but from what I saw, it was mostly of poor quality. Her rigging was intact, but the standing rigging was slack and her sticks are liable to go by the board soon if her stays and shrouds are not looked to. She has a suit of sails, but some are in a sad state. She has some old canvas below deck, but we didn’t take the time to look at it.”

“She has her water tuns aboard, some of them full. I drew some water from the scuttle butt and it was old and brown, but drinkable if one is thirsty enough. As I see it, her biggest problem is, she leaks. She has been taking on water and nobody has pumped her out. If she doesn’t get that water out of her, she’s going to sink at her moorings.”

“Very well, Mister Burns. Which of our officers would you recommend be appointed prize master? One who is capable of sailing her to Gibraltar, or maybe England?”

Burns responded, “Myself sir. I am most familiar with her. I have been all over her. I can start making her ready to sail immediately, given a crew, of course.”

“Mister Burns, you will select a crew immediately. Take fifty men with you to get her ready. I want to start sending Toulon citizens aboard. You may draft any males to do any unskilled work aboard ship that they may do; pumping ship for one. Get some good men in the rigging and set her to rights. I expect the Republican forces to enter the city at any moment. If an emergency arises, slip your cable and take her out to sea. Make sure you get necessary charts from Mister Avery. As far as that goes, select a master’s mate to take with you. Before you leave the ship, notify the second officer that he is now premier and ask him now to see me.”

Lieutenant Harkins reported to his captain a moment later. “Mister Harkins, you were told you are now first officer?”

“Yes sir, Lieutenant Burns told me.”

“For the nonce, Mr. Mullins may regard himself as temporary, acting third officer. I realize he is much too young and has not passed his Board, but we have no one better.”

“He has seen more action than some others and has not embarrassed himself or the ship. Would you please give him the news? I am now going back on shore in the launch. I wish Mullins to join me in the cutter. I will be sending French refugees out to both ships, the Vigorous and the French 74 that Lieutenant Burns is preparing. I had better have a file of Marines with me on shore.”

“Explain the problem with Captain Jones. Perhaps he may wish to send some leathernecks to the 74, also. Probably, it would be advisable for one Marine officer to remain on the Vigorous and station the other on the liner. There may soon be over a thousand refugees aboard that ship. Finally, I will be sending refugees here. If the crowding becomes intolerable, send the excess over to the other ship.”

The mass of people on shore was almost overwhelming. The Marines there were making a supreme effort to control the mass. Most of the people that had helped move stores from the warehouses, were already aboard ship, but many more were inside the main barricade, but behind a secondary one that had been erected to help control the crowd.

The Marines Phillips brought with him joined their comrades and tried to bring order. Phillips, with some effort, managed to climb up on a cask standing on end, near the barricade.  He motioned Mullins to climb up on another close beside. The group that had assisted him deliver the materials from the warehouses had swelled by several times, with their families. He asked Mullins to translate for him.

“Silence please.” After a few minutes the shouting and screaming subsided. “Citizens of Toulon, many of you helped me carry supplies for my ship. I promised those people I would help them escape.”

The screaming and shouting ensued again. Waiting until it died down, Phillips again spoke and Mullins translated, “Citizens of Toulon, I will try to take away as many of you as I can.” Before the noise could erupt again, he held up his hand. “There is some need for haste, for it is likely that Republican forces may enter the city at any time.” His voice was emphasized by a crescendo of artillery fire. The gunfire had become ubiquitous for days now, but had greatly increased in recent hours.

“Citizens, I have much to say and little time to say it. I assume those people who keep interrupting me do not wish to board ship, so those people should now leave.” Shocked citizens began crying and shouting “Non, Non.”, before other members of the crowd began elbowing them.”

“Those persons inside the barricade have helped us carry supplies, so they and their families will begin loading now. Any persons wishing to fight or cause trouble will be escorted from the area by my men or shot, whichever seems best. If the crowd is not able to control itself, we will simply leave you all here on the quay.”

There was a dead silence as the crowd digested this information. The Marines began escorting civilians into the boats. When the cutter filled, the launch took its place. He asked the midshipman commanding the cutter to take it to the Vigorous and ask the deck officer to send the jolly boat, also. Speaking to the crowd again, Phillips informed them that they would be loading in two large ships. Both would travel to the same destination and families should not be concerned should they be separated.

The jolly boat came from the Vigorous with the return of the cutter. The launch returned from the 74 with a towed launch behind it. The cox’n reported the 74, whose name was discovered to be “Franklin” carried her full allotment of boats. This one had been lowered, but there were at present no extra crewmen who could man the oars. Phillips asked from his perch, “Are there any people present who will row this boat? We have not enough British sailors to do this.”

Immediately, a half dozen men moved forward. Two sturdily built women followed. With more or less dexterity the eight lowered themselves into the boat and refugees began following. As the boat moved toward the Franklin, it was immediately obvious that some of the oarsmen were not as skilled as they thought themselves to be. The boat did make its way to the Franklin and returned to the dock at the cost of many crabs. The people there cheered when it started taking on board its next load.

Other boats from the fleet began also ferrying refugees out into other ships and by late morning, the crowd had greatly diminished. A French-crewed fishing boat pulled in and also began loading people. Around the harbor, there were still multitudes of people waiting on shore, but those along the quay near the frigate and the Franklin had melted away. Climbing into the jolly boat, with a few last refugees, Phillips had himself rowed over to the Franklin. No crew members saw him come aboard, because, Phillips judged, the crew was overwhelmed with all the refugees arriving.

Burns rushed up and apologized for not manning the side for him, but the captain brushed him off. The deck was crammed with humanity, but he could see men in the rigging setting it right. A bundle of canvas was climbing the foremast, obviously intended to be a replacement fore topsail.

Asked about the state of the hull, Burns replied the water in the well had dropped a foot since they started pumping. Passengers had been told the importance of the pumps and were lined up to take the place of exhausted people. Hundreds of women were on the ship with their children and the various men in their families. Many of course were from the higher social classes, many who recoiled at doing hard, physical work, as did some men, but others were of the sturdier sort who put many men to shame at the pumps. The stinking bilge water was pumped on deck, where it ran out the scuppers.

Phillips advised Burns to send people around to query passengers to find if any had any seagoing or military experience before descending into the jolly boat to row back to Vigorous. This ship was as jammed with people as Franklin. Mister Harkins had seen the boat approaching and producing the requisite side boys, welcomed Phillips on board ship with a ‘hat off’ salute with twittering bosun’s pipes.

Asked if they could crowd any more people on board, Harkins shook his head. “I don’t know how we are going to manage with the ones we have now. Once we get to sea, most of our passengers are going to be sick. It is going to be a sight, on deck and below.”

Phillips informed Harkins he was going to visit the flag. He said he had too much to say to try to signal. The cutter was tied up at the bow, her crew resting on the oars. Dropping back to the entry port, Phillips gingerly climbed down the slippery battens. “One of these days, I am going to slip and break my neck” he thought.

Climbing the side of the big first rate, the HMS Victory, Phillips was met by the curious flag captain, who escorted him to his cabin and offered him his choice of Bordeaux or brandy. Accepting the brandy, he swirled the spirit in the glass, warming the liquid with the warmth of his hand. “What can I do for you, Captain?” asked the flag captain.

“Sir, I took it upon myself to load hundreds of French civilians aboard my frigate. I also used fifty of my men to man a 74 gun liner, the Franklin. I then loaded several thousand civilians aboard her. With limited provisions, I would like to ask permission to set sail for a British port as soon as I may.”