The Admirals' Game (2 page)

Admiral Lord Hood sat at his table in the great cabin of HMS
Victory
, dealing with a mound of papers, which listed all the matters pertaining to his overall command of the Allied forces. That, since the British and Spanish fleets had taken over the defence of Toulon, was more than just keeping his own ships and men effective; he had to deal with French naval officers who had forsworn the Revolution, a difficult Spanish ally on land as well as at sea, soldiers of foreign armies demanding provisions and orders, the civilian authorities in Toulon, every ruler of every state in the Mediterranean, and last, and very much not least, the confused attitude of his own government in London.

Given sufficient numbers Toulon was, as a place, easy to defend, ringed by high hills, with narrow points of entry to east and west which channelled the efforts of
anyone seeking to subdue the port through its landward approaches. The best place to stop an assault from the most vulnerable point, to the east, was just beyond a village called Ollioules, especially to contain an enemy approaching from Marseilles. That had been narrowly lost early on, throwing the defenders back to an inner perimeter in which every inch of ground must be contested, hence the profusion of hillside redoubts.

That still made the port a very tough nut to crack, yet it could not be held without the quantity of soldiers required to both fully man those redoubts and provide a mobile defensive reserve and he did not have them. Hood's enemies outnumbered his forces, were being reinforced continuously, and also had access to all the heavy armaments in the country behind, allowing them to gather a formidable amount of siege-calibre cannon. With such an advantage they had begun to push forward their artillery and he lacked the means to stop them, namely a dozen regiments of redcoats or equivalents. His request that such men be sent out from England had received a cool response, barring a detachment promised from the garrison at Gibraltar.

The latest dispatches from home also contained an unpleasant communication, which could be read as a rebuke; Sam Hood had been obliged to rid Toulon of some five thousand rebellious French sailors from the Atlantic ports and there had been only one sensible way to settle such a problem. He could not just let them go to reinforce the armies besieging Toulon, nor could he
find any neutral nation willing to take them. To keep five thousand radicals incarcerated in Toulon, given the trouble they could cause, was out of the question, so he had been forced to send them back from whence they came.

This he had done using four French 74-gun ships stripped of their cannon. The problem identified by London was one of which he had been well aware; once in their home ports, the French Navy would merely have to re-gun those vessels to return them to service, and instead of being a distant threat in the Mediterranean, they were now in some proximity to the English Channel, not an outcome likely to please an Admiralty or a nation for whom the security of that stretch of water was the primary strategic concern.

Nearly as unwelcome were the private dispatches from the king's first minister, William Pitt. If Sam Hood was a successful admiral with an impressive record, he was also a political animal who had been, prior to taking up his command, the Senior Naval Lord on the Board of Admiralty and a strong supporter of Pitt's Tory government. These private letters constantly urged him to treat his second-in-command, Admiral Sir William Hotham, with some consideration, not easy since he had no time for the man in question either as an admiral or as a political opponent.

The Duke of Portland, a leading Whig politician, had split his party to form a supportive coalition government with William Pitt. Both men were committed to fighting
the French Revolution, but that did not mean politics failed to intrude into what was an uneasy alliance. Portland sought increased ministerial positions for his adherents, Pitt sought to minimise the power he gave away. Admiral Sir William Hotham was a staunch supporter of Portland, and the latter, in consequence, had already received several missives from Hotham questioning Hood's actions, both in taking over the port of Toulon and the manner of his agreement with the French naval authorities – he had agreed to hold the port and fleet in trust instead of accepting a surrender – along with a great deal of what had happened since.

‘Damn me, Parker,' Hood moaned, ‘they ask a great deal. Treat Hotham with kid gloves? I'd like to chuck the bugger in the cable tier.'

The person so vehemently addressed, Rear Admiral Hyde Parker, in his capacity as Hood's Captain of the Fleet, acted as the executor of his superior's wishes. If the fleet was run on standards set by Hood, it was Parker who implemented them. He was therefore, of necessity, both a friend and ally of his commanding officer, as well as the sounding board against which Hood could let off steam.

‘Tread carefully they say,' Hood added, ‘without even acknowledging that the man is a trial.'

Hood was the master of a good scowl, having the craggy visage, the prominent nose and the bushy eyebrows to give it effect. Parker was smoother by far; indeed there was a touch of excess in the flesh of his body, replicated
in his smooth and rosy-cheeked countenance. While Hood had an air of activity and impatience about him, with a tongue to match, Parker seemed to reek of passive contentment, which was as it should be; two irascible souls seeking to work in tandem to control a fleet could be a recipe for trouble.

‘I was looking over the papers on Captain Barclay's court martial,' Parker said.

‘A travesty,' Hood growled, wondering at the abrupt change of subject. ‘He gets no more than a reprimand, which is like a slap on the wrist, when the man is fit to be drummed out of the service.'

Hood had little time for Captain Ralph Barclay of the frigate HMS
Brilliant
, and that had applied prior to the recent court martial, the charge being one of illegal impressment. He and Hood had clashed in London the previous year, before either man sailed for the Mediterranean. Barclay, ordered to weigh from Sheerness, complained that he lacked the hands necessary to man his frigate. Despite a verbal warning from Hood to have a care in how he resolved that dilemma, Barclay had led out a press gang. That in itself was not a worry; it was the chosen location which caused the problem, a section of the Thames riverside known as the Liberties of the Savoy. Seeking to press men for sea service within the boundaries of the Liberties was an act forbidden by ancient statute.

Pushed to institute a court martial by John Pearce, one of the victims of that press gang, he had handed
the matter over to Hotham as a quid pro quo for his support in the issue of removing those French sailors to the Atlantic ports. His second-in-command had rigged matters in the most shameless way to get the result he wanted, for an officer to whom he had recently become a patron. Not only had he sent away any hostile witnesses, John Pearce included, but by choosing the captains to sit in judgement, as well as a useless prosecutor, he had made sure Barclay received the right verdict.

Given these terse communications from London, Hood also had good grounds to think that Hotham had reneged on the agreement by writing to Portland to question the action to which he had agreed, which had him add, with a sigh, ‘I am, Parker, obliged to confirm the verdict.'

‘Are you so obligated, sir?'

Hood looked hard at his Fleet Captain, who did not flinch from the glare. ‘I did give Hotham my word.'

‘It strikes me, sir,' Parker insisted, ‘that Admiral Hotham has broken his word, indeed has taken greater advantage of your indulgence than is strictly warranted. In fact, I would say his chicanery in this matter, both in his arrangements for Barclay's court martial and writing to London in a manner designed to undermine you, is so blatant as to constitute an insult to your flag.'

Hood raised his eyes to the deck beams, as though he could see through the planking and the captain's cabin above his head to the flag that flew at the masthead, which designated his command as that of a vice admiral of the White Squadron.

‘I doubt he has much respect for my flag.'

Parker, who had been sitting back at his ease, pushed himself forward, hands on his ample, straddled thighs. ‘If I can reprise what he has done, sir…'

‘Go on,' Hood interrupted, giving his Captain of the Fleet a penetrating look designed to warn him not to waste his time.

‘He took, or rather you gave to him, responsibility for the matter of investigating Captain Barclay's supposed illegalities.'

‘I rather think the illegalities are a fact, not a supposition.'

‘Which makes it doubly galling that Admiral Hotham saw fit to so rig the court to guarantee Barclay a mere reprimand. Not only did he ensure that the witness statements his secretary took were not introduced to the court, he sent away on that mission to the Atlantic ports not only those who made them, but anyone who had evidence to damn Barclay, and in particular his chief accuser.'

‘He went that far?'

‘I have good grounds to believe so, sir, and I have a list of those who were affected.'

‘You've been busy.'

‘On your behalf, sir.'

‘What a fine set of blackguards they are, Parker,' Hood growled. ‘To me, John Pearce and Sir William Hotham are of a piece, though I would hazard that Pearce is the more truthful of the pair.'

‘Then you will be interested to know, sir, that Lieutenant Pearce is threatening to bring a case of perjury against Barclay.'

‘Is he, by damn!' Hood exclaimed, before his eyes narrowed and fixed on his junior admiral. ‘And how, Parker, do you know this?'

‘Is it not my job, sir, to know what is going on in your command, and so be in a position to advise you?'

Hood barked at him then. ‘And sometimes on occasion, Parker, to thwart me with your opinions.'

The reply was as nonchalant as the man who made it. ‘I would be remiss if I was a'feart to do that, sir.'

‘Perjury?'

‘Reading the transcripts of the given evidence, the case against Barclay is weakened by his not giving much in the way of personal testimony. It seems he declined to explain his actions, merely referring to that which had already been sworn by other witnesses. However, he did accept the prior evidence given as being true, and allowed the court to do the same. These I suspect to be lies he had engineered from those people he allowed to be called, which smacks of a conspiracy, an offence worse than mere perjury.'

‘You seem damn sure he did that, Parker.'

‘I have good reason.'

‘If you say the case is weak…' Hood waved a hand, as if to the say the matter was not one worth the pursuit, which elicited from his executive officer a wolfish grin.

‘It seems one of those so suborned by Barclay, and
perhaps the one most likely to be perjured, is his wife's nephew, a certain midshipman called Toby Burns. From what I have gleaned the lad is not one to stand up to pressure. Get him in the same court as his uncle, with any form of decent prosecution, and Barclay would be doomed.'

Hood was growling again, clearly dissatisfied. ‘I am wondering, Parker, how it is that you seem to be in possession of information which is not, from my previous reading of the case papers, very obvious.'

‘I made a few discreet enquiries, sir, and found out that which I am now passing on to you.'

‘Am I to be told with whom you spoke?'

‘I would decline to do that, sir. It would not aid your situation to be seen as actively engaged in undermining Admiral Hotham. Better that, in a tight situation where some of this may come to light, you can justifiably plead innocence.'

‘Where is all this leading, Parker?'

‘Let us accept Ralph Barclay illegally pressed Pearce and those other fellows out of that Thameside tavern.' Hood nodded. ‘Then let us also accept that Admiral Hotham, in order to protect an officer who has attached himself to his flag, has allowed, indeed connived in allowing a blatant miscarriage of justice to be perpetrated, one in which he could be shown to be complicit.'

‘It would need to be proved, but for the sake of your point we will allow it.'

‘It therefore stands to reason that Pearce and his
proposed action for perjury represents a threat to both Captain Barclay and Admiral Hotham.'

‘Only if it comes to court and we both know how difficult that is.'

‘It is, however, like a sword of Damocles over both men, which is why I believe that Hotham, should he hear about Pearce's proposed course of action, will do everything in his power to ensure it does not come to court. What concerns me is the means he will use to achieve that end.'

‘Which are?'

‘Right now, Lieutenant Pearce and the fellows he wants released from the Navy, the men he insists were illegally pressed with him, are aboard the pontoons ranged against the French battery, which I believe they have named
Sans Culottes
.'

‘Them and their damn silly names. Without breeches, indeed!'

It was like a signal; the rolling sound of cannon fire filled the air, then the casements of the spacious cabin rattled slightly at the displacement of atmosphere, even although it was over a mile away.

‘Gell has begun the action, Parker, I need to see this.'

Parker hauled himself to his feet as Hood did likewise. Hats were handed over by a steward as they made their way out on to the long maindeck of the flagship, with Hood acknowledging the knuckled forehead salutes of those who resided there. Sprightly for a man of his
sixty-nine years he skipped up the companionway, which brought everyone on
Victory
's quarterdeck to attention, the watch officers raising their hats as one.

‘A telescope,' Hood demanded, and the long glass was immediately pressed into his hand, a second being provided for Parker.

HMS
St George
and
Aurore
were both wreathed in the smoke from their own cannon, the two pontoons likewise. Hood followed the course of the second salvo to see it land on the sandy shore, throwing up a great plume of earth short of the actual target. It took several minutes to reload and adjust the charges before the next salvo followed.