Trafalgar and Beyond: A John Phillips Novel (War at Sea Book 3) Read online

  Before Sarah left, he had bought a carriage, which if not new, could be made to look so with the fresh application of a few coats of lacquer. Gently, the butler reminded him he had given consent last week to have the carriage removed to the workshop of the man who did that sort of work in the local area. The carriage would not be in commission for a few weeks yet.

  Thinking about his options, he asked for the estate’s hostler be called. Henry came running. In a snit Sarah had once let him go along with many other members of the town house staff while Phillips was at sea. While the Captain had made things right again, the loss of his position, even temporarily, had affected Henry deeply, and he was most anxious not to do anything that would again put him in that position.

  “Henry, I need to get to London soon. I want to take Captain Drummond with me, along with our sea chests. As you know, our new carriage is having its paint work renewed. Have you any idea of how we are to make the journey?”

  Henry thought a moment, and replied. “Captain, oftentimes on my day off, I quaff a brew in the Fox and Vixen with the hostler from Mister Corning’s estate near to ours. We are good friends, and all. I recall he said Mister Corning’s horse took a jump wrong, and Mister Corning’s leg is not doing too well. I was thinking, maybe you could borrow one of his carriages. He has two, one he uses in poor weather, and one for when the sun shines.”

  “Thank you, Henry. That is most useful information. I will have Cook run up something I can take to him, and ask him myself.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Back to Sea

  Corning was most appreciative of the game pie Phillips had brought him (it had been meant for Phillips’ own supper), and readily consented to loan him the good carriage. Phillips reminded him that his own conveyance was scheduled to return to his barn next week, and he was free to use that as he wished. The two work nags pulled the ornate carriage back to Phillip’s estate, where the four blooded bays were hitched, and the sea chests loaded. They set out early, and reached the environs of London that night. At the inn where they stayed, the men studied the pages of the Times. From what they could decipher, war had not actually been declared, but much warlike talk was in print.

  Next morning, Phillips had intended to drop Drummond off at the Admiralty, while he visited his bank. After breakfast though, he decided to postpone his banking until later, and look into the Admiralty himself. Upon entering, the men were accosted by doormen who had to satisfy themselves as to their identity. “Sir, wait a minute, you did say your name was Phillips?”

  Drummond was more or less pushed into the waiting room, while Phillips was led politely into a private room. In a short time, a RN lieutenant entered and asked him if he needed any refreshment. The officer assured him the Secretary would be with him shortly.

  Sooner than he would have expected, he was escorted into the Secretary’s office, and they were left alone. Nepean’s first words were, “Captain, I can’t begin to describe how dreadfully sorry I am.”

  Phillips was astonished. He could not think of anyone close to him who could have passed on; someone Nepean might have heard of before himself. Maybe Sarah, perhaps?

  Looking at his confusion, Nepean said, “Perhaps you have not heard the news. Our Government has not been quite satisfied with some of Bonaparte’s activities lately, and war has just about been decided upon. Some authorities have jumped the gun a bit, and seized some French merchant ships in British waters, and imprisoned their crews before war has been actually declared. In return, Bonaparte has arrested all the British travelers in France that he can get his hands on, and put them in confinement. I believe your wife Sarah is one of those people. We are trying to get all of them back, but who knows how successful we will be.”

  His head swimming with the report of his wife’s captivity, Phillips did not question the official who popped into Nepean’s office and asked him if he had any particular preferences of ships, then showed him a list of what was available this day. Not capable of thinking at the moment, Phillips did not explain to the official that he was not here for a ship. When the man suggested the ‘Reindeer’, Phillips absently nodded his head, and made for the door. Out of the corner of his eye, Drummond caught his exit, and hurried after.

  “Sir, are you all right?”

  Phillips looked up in confusion. “My wife has been arrested over in France. I have no idea how to get her back.”

  “Sir, do you have a ship?”

  Phillips tried to recall some of the words said inside, and said, “I think they offered me Reindeer.”

  Looking around, Drummond led him to a vendor’s cart nearby, and bought him a pint of ale.

  Ordering Phillips to stay right there, Drummond ran back into Admiralty, and accosted the doorkeeper. Some vigorous questioning elicited the information that Phillips had indeed accepted command of Reindeer, and was expected aboard that ship momentarily. It seemed she was to be involved with the blockade of Le Havre.

  Returning to Phillips, Drummond informed him it would be best to get to Reindeer, and read himself in. He felt there might be a question whether Phillips had legitimately accepted that command. More alert now, the Captain said he had assured Sarah he would not go back to sea again, and besides, he must remain available in case she might be able to get a message to him.

  Drummond replied, “Sir, I believe you need this command. If she is in Paris, perhaps we may be able to send messages to her by Seine boatmen.”

  The idea seemed not very practical to Phillips, but taking command of the frigate would give him a certain amount of leeway. He could approach small craft in the mouth of the Seine, and perhaps get advance news of happenings in Paris upriver before others did. Before anything else though, it would be necessary to go back into the Admiralty and find the orders necessary to take command of the ship.

  There was some confusion there; one official they accosted thought Phillips had declined the command. The orders did exist though, and were soon found, and the pair left before any more questions might be asked. They engaged a waterman who assured them he could get them to Reindeer rapidly. The ship was a disappointment when they first saw her. She had been recently dragged from her mud berth when she had been laid up in ordinary a year before. Her masts had not been replaced, and her hull was filthy and dull.

  They were challenged at the last moment when about to hook onto the ship at the starboard entry port. At a nod from Drummond, the waterman roared out “Reindeer”, and after tossing the boatman some coins, first Phillips, and then Drummond climbed the side of the frigate. It seemed strange climbing aboard ship without the Royal Marines being present, but there was the sound of a solitary bosun’s pipe.

  A young master’s mate, begrimed with layers of tar and dirt, met them at the entry way. “Sir, pardon our appearance, we were not expecting you so soon. My name is Wilson, Sir.”

  “Are any commission officers present?” Phillips asked.

  “Sir, the ranking officer, Lieutenant Hornady has reported, but he is ashore at the moment, trying to obtain the services of a sheer hulk. I expect him back before nightfall.”

  “Tell me. Wilson; would you know how long Mister Hornady has held a commission?”

  “Sir, I don’t know exactly, but all three of our lieutenants have commissions a year or less old; I am told.”

  “Well, please meet Mister Drummond. He has held his for ten years or more. I think you will find that makes him the first officer.”

  Phillips learned that Reindeer had about two dozen seamen aboard, besides the standing officers. The seamen, unusually, were all volunteers. Reading himself in to the crew present, Phillips was now officially in command.

  The next few weeks were extraordinarily busy. Lieutenant Hornady had come back from his reconnaissance mission ashore with the news the sheer hulk would be alongside the next morning. The ship’s boats proceeded to the mast pond, where the various components of the ship’s masts, as well as the necessary spars were collected and towed out to the ship.
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  From then on, the ship was a perfect beehive of activity, as first the masts were erected, the standing rigging tightened up, and the yards crossed. At first the work went slowly, because of the few seamen available. A few more straggled in, but it was only when the Impress Service brought in a large gang of men, that work quickened. Of course, many were former denizens of gaols from near and far, but a few were actually seamen. Phillips had hoped to be able to put to sea with his extra lieutenant, but the port admiral was wise, and recalled the most junior officer to send aboard another ship being taken from ordinary. The ship now had three lieutenants, Drummond, Hornady and Rodgers.

  Ships were coming in every day, and many of them had not yet received the word their country was at war again. Those seamen that had not received word of the impending war, were much easier for the press gangs to collar. With a few days’ notice however, the men would be holed up, and much harder to find. By the time Phillips was satisfied with the rigging, the more unskilled of the new crew were able to be set to work bringing the tons of provisions and supplies aboard.

  When he had garnered all the people he had any right to expect, he was still about thirty men short, but if he could only get to sea, and make a quick shake-down cruise along the sea routes to the British Isles, he felt he could find more merchant ships and press more hands. If necessary, he was prepared to nearly strip a merchantman of her crew, leaving her captain some of his more useless hands, men he never expected to learn their new trade.

  Nearly ready to hoist the ‘Ready to Proceed’ signal, his watch officer, a twenty year old master’s mate, spotted a pair of launches leaving shore in their direction. One was filled with red coated Royal Marines; the other had more Marines, along with a number of midshipmen. Phillips already had a few of that species aboard, boys and men nearly ready to take their boards. He expected these to be new to the sea, and would prefer to be excused from taking them.

  It was his own fault, though, he realized. It was normally the captain’s prerogative to select his own ‘snotties’; however with the other work to be done, he had neglected selecting any midshipmen. The port admiral had done his job for him, and ingratiated himself with friends by taking their unwanted young sons and nephews and putting them in midshipman’s uniform. Now Phillips had to face a spell of several years nursemaiding a flock of untrained, pampered, useless young lords.

  The Royal Marines, also in the boats, were much more appreciated. It appeared there were upwards of thirty men. When Lieutenant Andrews, Royal Marines, reported, Phillips was impressed with his bearing. Immediately after the ‘Reporting aboard’ ceremony, Andrews handed Phillips a sealed note from the port admiral. It stated he would be required to report to the admiral his reasons for delay, if he was not ready to proceed by the next morning’s tide, wind permitting.

  Calling Drummond over, he showed him the note. Drummond assured him they were ready to proceed now.

  “What about our other lieutenants? Will they be able to stand watches without our holding their hands?”

  “Well Sir, neither of their commissions is more than a month old. Apparently, they received them at the very start of the new war. At least both of them served the full six years at sea as midshipmen.”

  “How about our mids? Will any of them be able to step into one of the lieutenant’s shoes if necessary?”

  “It’s hard to tell now Sir. Two are old enough, and one has actually passed his board. I will keep my eye on them to see how they perform.”

  “Very well, if one or the other of our lieutenants is unable to perform, I will relieve that officer, and hopefully replace him with one of our mids. In the meantime, look out for any of our able seamen, who might have the ability to serve as a midshipman. Tell me if you see such a man. The admiral is giving us a month to shake down the frigate. When that month has expired, we will return to port, replenish, then report to the Channel Fleet for blockade duty.”

  The tide, with a following wind, took them out next morning. It was soon evident that some of their people were not and never would be seamen. One individual, coming from a Welch coal pit was an extremely strong and obstreperous person. He had been placed in the waist, to haul on the braces, but the man spent much of his time bullying fellow crew members, and could not be persuaded to stop. Even rigging a grating, and giving the man a dozen stripes with the cat failed. Phillips suspected this man, if he stayed in the Navy, would likely end hanging from a main yard. That afternoon, Reindeer overhauled a sailing barge laden with coal. Phillips invited the captain over for a drink.

  “Captain”, the barge Captain pleaded, “I know you have manning problems, but so do I. If you press any of my people, I won’t be able to continue on past my next port. I’ll have to tie up at there and stay until I can sign on more crewmen.”

  “Tell me”, Phillips asked. “Do you have any characters aboard that you wished you did not have? Men you almost would rather do without?”

  “Of course I do Captain. Every captain does. But, I still need those warm bodies.”

  “Captain, I have a few people I will trade with you. Why don’t you look at them?”

  Phillips had the Marines drag Evans to the quarterdeck, and passed the word for the next four men he felt he would rather do without. The barge captain was impressed by the size of Phillips’ bête noire. Speaking privately to Phillips, he reckoned Evans might move a lot of coal for him, if size was any indicator. The barge captain did not wish to take any other man.

  The two captains walked over to where the Marines had Evans pinned up against a gun. Phillips addressed Evans. “Look at me, man.”Phillips pointed off to starboard. “Land is about ten miles in that direction. If I drop you overboard now, after you swim that distance, you’ll be a free man.”

  Evans mumbled, “I can’t swim.”

  Phillips stared at him. “I don’t think you can do much of anything else either. All you seem to be able to do is thrash your shipmates. I can’t use you, and you are a hazard aboard my ship. You have nearly crippled three of my men. If I keep you aboard, I’m afraid you’ll end up hanging from the yardarm. The captain of this barge thinks you might be able to move a lot of coal for him, and is willing to trade his most useless crewman for you. I’ve told him what a worthless piece of humanity you are, and that he might well want to drop you overboard the first time you try any of your blackguard tricks. In my opinion, that will be the course to take, so be prepared to learn how to swim very rapidly.”

  The man Phillips took in trade from the coal barge captain was a poor pick physically, but it turned out he had been an apothecary at one time, before falling on hard times and taking to the sea. Reindeer’s surgeon, while technically skilled, was a great friend of the bottle, and was frequently drunk. Phillips rated Wilkins, as surgeon’s mate, and from then on Wilkins provided most of the medical care aboard the frigate.

  Reaching out into the Atlantic, several merchant ships were called out by the lookout. These had sailed from America in peacetime, before convoys were imposed on shipping. Drummond was able to remove a dozen seamen from the ships, and get rid of a few men he had aboard the frigate who would never be able to do their necessary work. He also lost the surgeon.

  One of the ships reported they had Yellow Jack (Yellow Fever) aboard. Not believing the report for a minute, Phillips questioned the surgeon, who was now in one of his unusual sober periods. The doctor said he could not diagnose the problem from the frigate, and volunteered to board the merchant vessel and examine matters more closely. The surgeon was warned that once he had touched that ship, and there was fever aboard, he would be unable to return to the frigate. He was rowed over in the jolly boat, the boat crew being careful not to touch the brig.

  The doctor not being a dab hand at climbing a ship’s side at sea, the remaining capable seamen aboard the suspect ship tied a bowline onto a line they ran through a block on the main yardarm, and dropped down to the boat.. Following instructions from the merchantman, the terrified doctor put a
foot in the bowline, grasped the line firmly, and was swung aboard like a sack of grain. A few minutes later, the surgeon came to the rail and announced some of the crew aboard the vessel were indeed infected with yellow fever. He asked to have Wilkins prepare a bag of medicaments and send it over immediately. The material was placed on a wide board and set afloat. The jolly boat towed it to the merchant where a seaman caught the line with a boathook and pulled it in.

  Phillips called the doctor, “Doctor, I will report your selfless act to Admiralty. I wish you all the luck you might need.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Prisoners in France

  Their shakedown cruise finished, Mister Anson made up his lists of deficiencies, as did the other officers aboard. Reindeer anchored a full day before she was due.

  An emissary from the port admiral, came aboard, taking note of their various discrepancies, and informing Phillips it was the admiral’s desire that they should set sail as soon as humanly possible. As they were speaking, a large mail bag was sent over. Drummond took charge of that, and with a party of midshipmen assisting, began sorting the mail. A barge came alongside with some beef and pork barrels, along with a small herd of bullocks. The visiting lieutenant admonished him, “One of those bullocks is for your ship, Captain. The rest are to go to the Channel Fleet.”

  Next on the agenda was filling the empty water butts. A hoy fitted with a large tank came alongside, and began pumping water into the big containers deep inside Reindeer’s hold. While this was going on, Drummond came over with the mail bag. Some documents were from the port admiral on shore, and a few from Admiralty. These last concerned matters that could be addressed at a later time, and could be read later. One of the letters was a note from his banker concerning his account, and another was from his tailor reminding him of a past due bill.

  One on the bottom was from a London jeweler, probably to solicit his custom. He almost tossed it over the side, but at the last moment, he tore it open. After some internal confusion, he deciphered the message inside. Apparently, it was a copy of one his wife had supposedly sent him from Paris. The note gave her address, the information that she and the children were safe, her need for money, and a plaintive appeal to come collect them.