On the King's Sea Service: A John Phillips Novel (War at Sea Book 1) (6 page)

If undiscovered, they would remain hidden until first light, when they would attack the battery from behind. If detected during the night, the attack would commence immediately if a successful attack was deemed practical. If not, the landing party was to return to the boats and come back to the ship. In the event of an attack, if the opportunity existed, a red rocket would be fired at the beginning of the attack, with a blue light to follow when the attack was deemed to be successful.

Boat crews would be left with the boats that had carried the men ashore. When they saw the blue light, they would proceed back to the ship, under sail if practical. It was judged best to leave the boats at the landing area temporarily in case something went badly awry and it was necessary for the attack party to return to the ship. If all went well, after picking up the nearly empty boats, the ship would proceed into the harbor and deal with any organized resistance.

First Blood

The next day was spent out of the sight of land practicing for the evening’s work. The boats were lowered into the water to ensure the seams would swell and eliminate possible leakage. Men practiced lowering themselves into the boats, time and time again. When it was felt the ship and crew were as ready as they could be, the ship sailed for the harbor and up the bay ‘till a shot from the shore battery warned them to proceed no farther.

Phillips decided not to return fire, since it seemed the enemy gun was an eighteen pounder and he did not want to advertise his relatively tiny six pounder weapons. He did however ask his officers to mark the location of the battery in comparison to the coast road, which they could see from the ship. Finally, he dipped his flag in salute and went back out to sea. That night found them at anchor off the other side of the peninsula, out of sight of the village and battery. The men’s weapons were checked before they were loaded into the boats.

A buoy had been made up for their anchor cable. When the time came, rather than attempt to weigh with the few men left on the ship, they would slip the cable, its position marked by the buoy. The boats carried two dark lanterns. The light from the flame inside was hidden by tight fitting shutters. A lit dark lantern would be useful for lighting slow match for the firing of the pyrotechnics. In a pinch, of course, a little powder in the pan of an otherwise unloaded pistol or musket could also accomplish the same task.

A quiet “Goodbye” sent the boats off. After waiting for any last minute problems to arise, the ship slipped her anchor cable and proceeded to the area they were to wait. Few men were left on the ship. Phillips had agonized over whether he should remain on the ship, or go with the attack party. In the end, he decided he would best remain on board while Braddock and Ackroyd would go with the attack party. The night was unusually dark, there being a low lying overcast. The light breeze was from onshore, though Phillips judged he could beat into the harbor if it did not veer. Avery said he would stake his reputation on it holding steady. Withers, he kept on board, so he had another officer other than Avery to rely on.

Finally, just as the faintest hint of a sunrise came in the east, the crew could hear the sound of a distant bell clanging away, then the popping of muskets. Judging the fight had started early, Phillips gave the order to proceed on course to the pickup point. As the ship gained speed, they saw the red glare of a rocket and the shooting seemed to die down, although the bell kept clanging. Then, the blue light was seen. There was another interminable wait until the ship’s boats appeared.

Phillips now wished he had ordered the boats to sail independently into the harbor, but he recognized there were good reasons for either choice. The boat’s crews were quickly taken aboard and the boats themselves were left in the water to trail behind. The sun was well up when they entered the bay and got close enough to shore to see what was going on. The battery seemed intact, but a British flag over a tricolor was flying from the battery’s pole. A crowd of townspeople appeared to be menacing the British sailors in the battery, but they could see the Marines, as well as a party of armed sailors guarding the open rear of the battery. As they went close by the merchant brig they had come for, its flag came fluttering down.

Phillips ordered an armed boat crew into a boat to take the brig. As soon as they were on the vessel and had its crew under control, the ship continued toward shore. A couple of mounted men in uniform had ridden up to the crowd menacing the captured battery. One of them pulled out a short carbine and fired an ineffectual shot at the men. The seamen and Marines answered with a volley and a few members of the crowd fell. When another shot came from the crowd, Phillips ordered a gunner’s mate, who had been left on the ship, to fire a forward gun at the crowd. The gun roared and the ball hit the ground a few score yards before the mob. The ball bounced right over most of the crowd, but knocked over a file of people in the rear, leaving a few people on the ground. The screaming mob disappeared into the village and Phillips told his men to hold their fire.

Going ashore, he learned from his men the sequence of events. It seemed as the men were marching on the road past the village, a pair of dogs had menaced them. They made such a racket that some villagers came out of their homes. Since the crew had just come up on the battery, they had attacked its unguarded rear on the run. The artillery men had not been able to get to their small arms and either surrendered or ran away directly. However some brave souls in town had opened fire with whatever weapons they had and a half dozen people from the Exeter had been killed and wounded. After some of the snipers had been eliminated, the rest ceased fire.

Braddock was put in command of the defense and men were sent into the village to find whatever military equipment and supplies were available. The gunner was given the order to do as much damage as he could to the guns of the battery. The guns were already loaded, so he maneuvered one around so that its muzzle was inches away from a trunnion on another gun. The men were ordered behind the earthen embankment in front of the battery. The gunner pushed his vent prick down through the touchhole, to make sure the flash had a pathway into the main charge. He pushed a length of slow match down the touchhole.

Covering the area around the touchhole with a heavy damp cloth, to make sure sparks from the match did not prematurely reach the charge, he cut the fuse to the length he wanted and looked around, making sure nobody was unprotected. He himself was close to the embankment, so blowing on his match, he touched it to the match protruding from the breech. As soon as that started burning, he ran up the embankment and dived over. It took a few minutes for the fire to reach the charge, but then the gun went off with an almighty explosion.

The gun slammed back on its trail and came back down, intact. The target gun was torn spinning from its carriage, with an iron trunnion gone and a big divot in the breech. Two other guns in the battery were served in the same manner. Finally, the gun surviving was loaded with a double charge of powder, with a pair of eighteen pound balls down the muzzle. Wooden wedges were jammed in, freezing the balls in place, then earth was pounded into the muzzle.

When finished, again the men were hidden behind the embankment and again the gun was touched off. Again the tremendous explosion and the breech of the gun had burst open.

After examining the carnage, the gunner found one gun that could just possibly be fired again. It still had a bit of a trunnion left. He pulled a hardened steel spike from his pouch and hammered that into the touchhole of the gun just as far as it would go. He struck the spike from the side, breaking it off. When Phillips examined the guns, he could think of no way any of them could be fired again, without a great deal of work first.

The people searching the village had returned. One obvious target for destruction was a ship on the stocks, its frame in the process of being clad. A warehouse had been found, holding such materials as baled raw wool and casks of oil. He had one cask rolled over to the stocks and oil splashed liberally around the hull. His servant, Jones, came running up asking if he could have one of the bales of wool. He could see no earthly use for the material, but had no time to debate. Nodding to the man, he watched as a crew put fire to the hull, setting a blaze that would prove impossible to put out.

The carpenter has discovered a shed filled to capacity with sawed lumber. He had a crew carry away as much of the timber as the men could manage. Finally, the sail maker found a large store of sail cloth in the warehouse and again, as much was salvaged as possible.

The remainder of the material left on shore was also set ablaze, before the ship set sail. As the ship sailed out of the harbor, a troop of cavalry clattered into town. They dismounted and fired a volley, but the balls from the short barreled carbines could not begin to reach the ship.

The ship went back to the former anchorage and located the buoy fastened to the anchor cable. Recovering the anchor, HMS Exeter and her consort set sail to locate the British Channel Fleet.

To the Rescue

Commander John Phillips waited nervously by the lee rail on the quarterdeck of the 64 gun ship of the line, HMS Thunderer. Captain Astor was conversing by the windward rail with the ship’s sailing master, the first lieutenant standing by deferentially. Finally, Astor nodded at the lieutenant, who came forward and spoke to the captain, glancing at Phillips as he did so.

The lieutenant came over to Phillips and said, “Sir. The captain will see you in his quarters in a few minutes.” The two officers waited by the lee rail for a bit until the captain went below.

A few minutes after the admiral left, the first lieutenant said, “Sir, I think you can go in now.”

After being announced by the Royal Marine sentry and entering the captain’s office, Phillips waited for him to finish going through the paperwork he had in front of him.

Captain Astor looked up from the reports Phillips had just submitted concerning his recent activities. “I see that you have picked up a prize on your way here. You want to tell me about it?”

Phillips explained the details of the capture, including the quantity of sailcloth he had brought out of the village.

“Excellent, Captain Phillips. I believe you are one of the first to take a French prize. We have a new war, one that we must begin to learn how to prosecute. Thus far, Lord Howe has not been able to bring out the fleet; even with the Impress Service working its hardest.

I understand there is much difficulty finding crews for the ships laid up in ordinary. However, we small fry on the scene shall do the best we can to bring confusion to the enemy.”

Phillips wondered, “Sir, what would you have the Exeter doing?”

“Captain, you will be doing the usual small ship duties you might expect on this station. Until we get some more ships, you will be very busy keeping your eye on the various ports in the area, especially Le Havre. We need to know anything you may discover about the naval ships there, especially the line of battle ships. There is much coasting traffic along this coast and I want you to pay attention to that also.

“As you may already know, the roads in this region are in abominable condition, making it difficult to transport goods from where they are produced to the location where they are needed. Thus, many of the naval stores required for ship building and maintenance are sent by sea.”

“If you can interdict that traffic you will cause the French enormous damage, the extent of which will be much more than the value of your own ship. You have already earned your keep with the capture of your prize and the destruction of the battery. Anything more will surely be the icing on the cake.”

“Any of that shipping we can disrupt, will be a feather in our cap. I expect to see other sloops and brigs joining us shortly and hopefully more and larger ships. For the moment, I do have an ancillary task for you.”

“Recently, a former Army officer and member of the Lords approached the Admiralty with a scheme to incite rebellion along the French channel coast. What I think of the plan is neither here nor there; I just need to tell you that I have orders to facilitate Colonel Lord Henry Fitzhugh, Viscount Bieulieu’s mission.”

Astor called his sentry. ”Private Atkins, please pass the word for the first lieutenant.”

The request had barely finished echoing around the ship, when the harried lieutenant appeared at the door.

“Mister Harrison, would you have an officer ask Colonel Fitzhugh to join us on the quarterdeck, please?”

On the quarterdeck, a senior midshipman escorted a tall, aristocratic looking gentleman to the windward rail, where Astor and Phillips waited. Captain Astor introduced the two. “Lord Fitzhugh, please meet Captain Phillips, who will be carrying you aboard his ship to your landing point. Lord Henry, would you acquaint Captain Phillips of your plan?”

“Certainly; a good friend of mine since childhood, is the seigneur of a large estate on the French coast. He was able to get his family away to England before the mob came for him and he was forced to flee. He has since gathered together a force of men who do not care for the new order. His band has been living rough in areas of his estate, where he is well known and is knowledgeable of the terrain.”

“In a letter to me he was able to send out by fishing boat, he reports that many of the people have become disillusioned and want a return to the status quo. He says the main problem he faces, is the lack of arms. If he had even a hundred stand of arms, he could arm enough men to capture the local constabulary, where he could find more weapons and arm more men.”

“Before my inheritance, I was a lieutenant colonel of my regiment. While I am no longer in the Forces, I do have friends. I have purchased two hundred old muskets and have had them refurbished into working condition. I propose to land them at a point on the coast designated by my friend. I will accompany the weapons on shore and will help my friend organize his troops and give him any military advice that I can.”

There were several tons of cargo to be shifted and the master, having already crammed the ship with stores, had to locate new corners to stow the weaponry. Phillips evicted his lieutenant from his cabin and installed the Viscount there. He had offered up his own sleeping cabin, but Lord Fitzhugh demurred, saying he would be aboard for only a few days anyway. Fitzhugh brought on board with him two additional people, one his head gamekeeper and a former Regimental Sergeant Major he had once served with.

Once the problems of stowing the cargo and the new people were resolved, Lieutenant Braddock approached Phillips with a worried look on his face. “Sir, some of the men asked to have access to your sleeping quarters while you were away. The sail maker and his crew wanted to make a few alterations to your accommodations. I gave them permission. If I have done wrong, I most humbly apologize and ask your pardon.”

“Well”, the bemused captain said, “let us take a look.”

Entering, Phillips noticed the bed. This was basically a large wooden box, hanging from the overhead with a line to each corner. The previous captain had had the quarters stripped when he left, including the mattress and bedding, but leaving the empty box frame. With the abrupt departure from port, there had been no chance (or funds) to purchase new bedding, so for the time being, he had been sleeping in a seaman’s hammock.

As a boy and young man, he had become used to the article, but after being away from a hammock for a decade, he was finding it difficult to get his body used to it. Now though, there was a mattress in the bed, decorated with blue flowers embroidered on the sun bleached sailcloth. A lot of effort had gone into the project, necessarily on the worker’s own time and Phillips was touched. The sail maker was standing by, along with the Marine sentry.

“Men, I am very pleased and I thank you. What in the devil did you make the mattress from and what did you stuff it with?”

The sail maker answered. “Sir, our fore topsail was wore thin, so I made a new one with the canvas we captured. I made a bag with the old topsail and stuffed it with the wool we loaded on the ship, back when we took the brig. A couple of the hands embroidered it. The purser gave us the blankets.”

Phillips went back on deck to observe the loading of the cargo. Fitzhugh was also watching, while beside him were his two men. The RSM was still wearing his regimentals and was holding a weapon Phillips was not familiar with. The gamekeeper was clad in green dyed clothing and was holding two long arms of similar design. One weapon held by the gamekeeper was ornately decorated, with silver furniture and a highly figured walnut stock.

The other two weapons seemed to be identical to the ornate piece, except they were fitted with iron furniture and the stocks were of standard grade walnut. Fitzhugh saw him eyeing the weapons and said, “Higgins, show Captain Phillips your rifle, please.”

The weapon was a beautiful work of art, perfectly balanced. Fitzhugh explained, “These three are all physically the same. Mine is, however, a little more ornate. They are rifles of course, capable of knocking a man or horse down at three hundred yards. You will note the three rear sight leaves on each weapon. Each is calibrated for a different range; one, two or three hundred yards. The sights not being used would be turned down.”

Phillips observed, “Back in the American war, I understand there was trouble with rifles because of the slow speed of loading and the lack of a bayonet?”

“These issues have been addressed, Captain. Sergeant Major, would you demonstrate the method of fixing the bayonet?”

The RSM came to the position of attention, with the weapon’s butt plate on the deck and the barrel vertical along his body. His left hand pulled the rifle diagonally across his body, so the muzzle was even with the point of his chin. Holding the weapon with his left hand, he now reached to his side and withdrew a sword-like bayonet from its scabbard and twisted it firmly onto the muzzle. He then came back to the position of attention.

“Would you let the captain examine your rifle, Sergeant Major?”

The RSM came to Port Arms and pushed the weapon out for Phillips to grasp. The weapon was heavier than it looked, probably, Phillips thought, a good ten pounds, perhaps more.

The Viscount said, “We don’t want to foul the RSM’s weapon, Captain Phillips. Let us fire mine, instead.”

“My Lord, it would be better if we waited a few minutes. I need to get the ship under way and discuss some matters with my first lieutenant and master. I will be at your service in a few minutes.”

Phillips gave his sailing master the chart for their destination and asked if he had any comments. “Shoal water in the harbor sir, but we should just be able to get in at low tide. We might want the lead going, in case there is a wreck, or uncharted sandbar in the harbor.”

“Very well, Mister Avery, Make it so. Would you take us there please?”

With the sails trimmed to the prevailing breeze off their starboard quarter, the sloop sailed sweetly along. After checking with the bosun and Lieutenant Braddock, Phillips left the deck to master’s mate Ackroyd and joined the Viscount at the stern, who was looking over the counter at the wake.

“Lord Fitzhugh, would you still wish to tell me about your rifle?”

“Well, I had been discussing some ideas with my gun maker. He had been experimenting with rifled weapons and wished to try out some ideas. I funded some of those and we came up with a finished product. I had been hoping to get Ordnance interested in the matter, but then this present matter popped up. We decided to put the matter on hold until I had more time.”

Fitzhugh lifted the flap of a cartridge box hanging from a strap over the Viscount’s shoulder and drew out an ordinary appearing paper cartridge. Ordinary, except in the sense of being much smaller than the ordinary Brown Bess musket cartridge. He tore the tail off the cartridge and spilled the powder charge on the deck.

He started to go on, but Phillips raised his hand and said, “Just a moment, my Lord.”

Catching the eye of a seaman coiling down a line by the mizzen, he said, “Phelps, would you fetch a swab and get this powder off the deck?”

Fitzhugh apologized, “I’m sorry Captain Phillips. I did not realize I was violating any naval rules.”

“We have to be very careful here of fire, Lord Fitzhugh. The problem is being taken care of, though.”

“Very well, captain. Would you examine the projectile now?”

Phillips took the remains of the cartridge in his hand and removed the remains of the outer paper covering. Inside, there was a wrapping of very thin paper over two, seemingly separate lead projectiles.

Fitzhugh explained, “We dampen the paper before we wrap the bullets, it shrinks on and when dry loads into the muzzle easier.”

Phillips observed, “So you have two bullets coming out the muzzle upon firing. Doubling the chance of hitting your target, I suppose?”

“Not quite Captain. Observe.” He pulled the bullets apart and showed them. Each had a conical point and had a similarly shaped conical cavity in its base. “It is difficult to see, but the point of the rear projectile does not quite fit properly into the cavity of the front projectile. The angle of the point on the rear projectile is very slightly larger than the cavity of the forward projectile. The whole assembly is very slightly smaller than the bore of the weapon, making it easy to load. The projectiles, in their paper wrapper, slide easily down the bore. Upon firing, two things happen. The force of the explosion expands the hollow base of the first projectile, forcing the lead to grip the rifling. Then, the first projectile is jammed into the hollow base of the second projectile, also expanding it and jamming the two into one long, heavy bullet.”

“How the devil do you make the things, Mold them?”

“No, we tried that, but it was difficult to make perfectly cast bullets. We swage them. A base die is made of hardened steel. A lubricated lead slug is placed in that die. Another steel die is placed over the assembly and a weight is dropped on the whole thing. I happen to be the local magistrate and use our ne’er do wells to handle the heavy work. A day spent forming bullets will make a man think twice before he looks for trouble.”

The wardroom steward was sent below to fetch some empty wine bottles. The four men spent the next hour attempting to break floating bottles that had been tossed from the stern of the ship. Then the Marines tried their hand, while finally the armorer was prevailed upon to break out some of the ship’s muskets for the crew to practice with. The gamekeeper could almost always break a bottle with his first shot. The Viscount was nearly as good, while the RSM and Phillips trailed.