Sometimes, by looking at Toulon, Ville Tranche, Barcelona, and Roses; then running round Minorca, Majorca, Sardinia, and Corsica; and, two or three times, anchoring for a few days, and sending a ship to the last place for _onions_--which I find the best thing that can be given to seamen: having, always, good mutton for the sick; cattle, when we can get them; and plenty of fresh water. In the winter, it is the best plan to give half the allowance of grog instead of all wine.
"These things are for the commander in chief to look to; but, shut very nearly out from Spain, and only getting refreshments by stealth from other places, my command has been an arduous one.
"Cornwallis has great merit for his persevering cruize; but he has every thing sent him, we have nothing. We seem forgotten, by the great folks at home. Our men"s minds, however, are always kept up, with the daily hopes of meeting the enemy. I send you, as a curiosity, an account of our deaths, and sent to the hospital, out of 6000 men. The fleet put to sea on the 18th of May 1803, and is still at sea; not a ship has been refitted, or recruited, excepting what has been done at sea, You will readily believe, that all this must have shaken me. My sight is getting very bad; but _I_ must not be sick, until after the French fleet is taken, Then, I shall soon hope to take you by the hand, and have farther recourse to your skill for my eye.
"I am always glad to hear good accounts of our dear Lady Hamilton.
That she is beloved, wherever she is known, does not surprise me; the contrary would, very much. I am sure, she feels most sincerely all your kindness.
"Believe me, for ever, my dear doctor, your much obliged friend,
Nelson and Bronte
Dr. Moseley, Chelsea Hospital."
The account of the very few persons who had died, or been on the sick list, transmitted as a curiosity in the above letter, having been unfortunately lost by Dr. Moseley, their exact number cannot be ascertained.
Notwithstanding the opportunities given by Lord Nelson for the French fleet to depart from Toulon, either in the aggregate, by detached squadrons, or even single ships, more than a year elapsed without any of them daring to quit the port. A solitary frigate, indeed, had occasionally appeared, but was soon chased back, and no stratagem seemed capable of inducing them to move. Among other contrivances to put them in motion, was that of sending two or three ships of the line, with a single frigate, off the harbour, while the main body of the fleet remained at a considerable distance out of sight.
On the 23d of May 1804, Admiral Campbell in the Canopus, accompanied by Sir Richard Strachan in the Donegal, and the Amazon frigate, were detached by Lord Nelson thus to reconnoitre the enemy; and, after being some hours as near the mouth of the harbour as their batteries would allow, had the pleasure to behold three line of battle ships, and three frigates, come out. Our ships immediately tacked, in order to draw them from the land; but only went under an easy sail, so that they soon came within random-shot. When the enemy began to fire, the people of the Canopus were just sat down to dinner; which they quietly took, and then returned their fire: meaning, now, to bring them to close action, though so far superior. At this moment, however, two more ships of the line, with another frigate, were perceived coming up fast to their a.s.sistance.
This was too great odds, so near their own batteries, and our small squadron were obliged to sheer off, under a press of sail. The French pursued them, for some time, still keeping the advantage of sailing; but, fearful of following too far, by the time they were five leagues from Toulon, they were recalled, about three quarters of an hour past three, by their signal-post from the hill, and all stood in again. At six, the rear-admiral saw our fleet to leeward, and joined them at half-past nine. They had heard, indistinctly, the firing: and the Leviathan was, in consequence, detached toward Toulon; but had not proceeded far, before our ships were perceived on their return. This trivial affair was magnified, by the French admiral, Latouche Treville, who had so manfully ventured to pursue, a little way, with two eighty-fours, three seventy-fours, three forty-four frigates, and a corvette, our two eighty-fours and a single frigate, into a compleat discomfiture of the whole British fleet!
In the mean time, though Lord Nelson could in no way contrive effectually to decoy out the wary Gallic boasters, their commerce was not only distressed, but nearly annihilated; their privateers were taken; and the British flag waved, with proud defiance, throughout the Mediterranean, and was unopposed even on the coast of France. The city of London, sensible of what the experienced security of the British commerce owed to his lordship"s services, though uninformed as to the precise mode in which the hero"s operations were conducted, now transmitted to him, through the lord-mayor, their public thanks, voted on the 9th of April 1804, for his skill and perseverance in blockading the port of Toulon, so as to prevent the enemy"s fleet in that quarter from putting to sea. This panegyric, however intended, was not at all relished by his lordship, who had never approved of the blockading system. "Praise undeserved," the hero probably thought, as well as the poet, "is censure most severe." Under some such impression, therefore, instantly on receiving the lord-mayor"s letter, which unfortunately arrived the famous 1st of August, he wrote the following animated answer; spiritedly declining any acceptance of thanks from his fellow-citizens, in which his own services seemed so imperfectly recognized, and from which his brave coadjutors were unjustly excluded.
"Victory, August 1, 1804.
"MY LORD,
"This day, I am honoured with your lordship"s letter of April 9th; transmitting me the resolutions of the corporation of London, thanking me as commanding the fleet blockading Toulon. I do a.s.sure your lordship, that there is not that man breathing, who sets a higher value upon the thanks of his fellow-citizens of London than myself; but I should feel as much ashamed to receive them, for a particular service marked in the resolution, if I felt that I did not come within that line of service, as I should feel hurt at having a great victory pa.s.sed over without notice.
"I beg to inform your lordship, that the port of Toulon has never been blockaded by me; quite the reverse. Every opportunity has been offered the enemy to put to sea: for, it is there that we hope to realize the hopes and expectations of our country; and, I trust that they will not be disappointed.
"Your lordship will judge of my feelings, upon seeing that all the junior flag-officers of other fleets, and even some of the captains, have received the thanks of the corporation of London, whilst the junior flag-officers of the Mediterranean fleet are entirely omitted. I own, that it has struck me very forcibly; for, where the information of the junior flag-officers and captains of other fleets was obtained, the same information could have been given of the flag-officers of this fleet and the captains; and it was my duty to state, that more able and zealous flag-officers and captains do not grace the British navy, than those I have the honour and happiness to command. It likewise appears, my lord, a most extraordinary circ.u.mstance, that Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton should have been, as second in command in the Mediterranean fleet, twice pa.s.sed over by the corporation of London: once, after the Egyptian expedition, when the first and third in command were thanked; and, now, again. Consciousness of high desert, instead of neglect, made the rear-admiral resolve to let the matter rest, until he could have an opportunity personally to call upon the lord-mayor to account for such an extraordinary omission; but, from this second omission, I owe it to that excellent officer, not to pa.s.s it by: and I do a.s.sure your lordship, that the constant, zealous, and cordial support, I have had, in my command, from both Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton and Rear-Admiral Campbell, has been such as calls forth all my thanks and admiration. We have shared together the constant attention of being more than fourteen months at sea, and are ready to share the dangers and glory of a day of battle; therefore, it is impossible that I can ever allow myself to be separated, in thanks, from such supporters.
"I have the honour to remain, with the very highest respect, your lordship"s most faithful and obedient servant,
"Nelson and Bronte."
"To the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor."
During the remainder of the year, though there was scarcely a day which his lordship did not employ in endeavours to improve the natural supineness of his situation, very little occurred that calls for particular notice. A tedious detail of so many days of languid expectation, would be comparatively as oppressive to the reader, as the time thus pa.s.sed proved to the hero himself and the many brave men under his command. The destruction, however, of a number of vessels at La Vandour, in Hieres Bay, was performed with such a display of hardihood and address, that it should, at least, receive honourable mention. This can be in no way so well effected, as by transcribing Lord Nelson"s own words on the occasion--"The importance of the service," says his lordship, "may be but little; but, the determined bravery of Lieutenants Thompson, Parker, Lumley, and Moore, and the petty officers, seamen, and marines, employed under them, could not be exceeded." Nor must a small anecdote, highly honourable to our hero himself, fail also to be recorded. A seaman of his lordship"s flag-ship, the Victory, on the 11th of September, fell from the forecastle into the sea; when Mr. Edward Flin, a volunteer, hearing the cry of a man overboard, instantly leaped from the quarter-deck, and had the good fortune to save him, notwithstanding the extreme darkness of the night, and the ship"s being under sail. Next morning, Lord Nelson sent for Mr. Flin; and, presenting him with a lieutenant"s commission, appointed him to the Bittern sloop of war, and afterwards procured the Admiralty"s confirmation of his appointment.
The year 1805, rendered for ever too fatally memorable, commenced with presages of sufficiently active employ. The vast exertions of France for the augmentation of her navy, seemed to inspire a hope of being able, with the a.s.sistance of Spain, now forced into a war which that unfortunate court had so much reason to dread, at length, in the confidence of superior numbers, to hazard an encounter with the British fleet. This, however, was by no means to be rashly ventured: it would be necessary, they well knew, first to effect a junction of their united force; which was not easily accomplishable, while they were watched with such diligent circ.u.mspection by our indefatigable hero. The first operation, by which they sought to elude his vigilance, was that of risking a small squadron from Rochfort, under Rear-Admiral Missiessi; which, having got out un.o.bserved by our cruisers, arrived safely in the West Indies, with the double view of pillaging our colonies, and a.s.sisting to relieve St. Domingo. In the mean time, another, but far more powerful squadron, was ready to seize the first convenient opportunity of slipping out from Toulon.
On the 15th of January, while Lord Nelson, who had no desire to restrain the enemy from putting to sea, was busily engaged in observing the whole line of the Italian, French, and Spanish coasts, from Palermo, Leghorn, Toulon, and Barcelona, to the Straits of Gibraltar, and picking up all the French and Spanish vessels which his cruisers could meet with in that wide extent of ocean, Admiral Villeneuve, with a formidable squadron, consisting of eleven sail of the line and two frigates, suddenly pushed out of Toulon harbour. The Seahorse, Lord Nelson"s look-out frigate, accordingly, narrowly escaped being taken: and the Venus sloop of ten guns, with his lordship"s dispatches, was actually captured; having, however, previously thrown the dispatches overboard.
The Seahorse, instead of watching, at a safe distance, the course of the enemy"s fleet, till their destination should have been in some degree ascertained, hastened to acquaint his lordship that they had sailed, without being able to afford the smallest additional information. This, indeed, was sufficient to call forth our hero"s energies; but he was, at the same time, checked by the dread of proceeding in a wrong direction.
Strong circ.u.mstances induced his lordship to suppose, that another attack on Egypt might possibly be intended by this armament; which, indeed, was the current report. He deemed it likely, however, that they might first, as they formerly did at Malta, make an insiduous attempt on Sicily, in their way to the grand scene of their perfidious operations.
Actuated by the force of these reflections, Lord Nelson sent to apprize the Ottoman Porte, as well as the Commandant of Coron, that the Toulon fleet had sailed, having a considerable number of troops on board, with the probable intention of making a descent either on the Morea or on Egypt. He also dispatched, on the 25th, the Seahorse to Naples, and Le Tigre to Palermo, with similar intimations. Next day, the Phoebe joined the fleet; who had, on the l9th, seen a French eighty-gun ship get into Ajaccio, in Corsica, having lost all her topmasts, and being otherwise much crippled. This, it should seem, was the effect of that storm which, as it was afterwards found, had almost immediately occasioned the French armament"s return to Toulon. His lordship, however, unaware of any such consequence, and deceived by the artful promulgation of false reports, kept running for Sicily; and, when in sight of Maritimo, sent Le Tigre, Captain Hallowell, to communicate with Sir John Acton at Palermo. Le Tigre joined next day, without any news whatever of the French. In the evening, the fleet pa.s.sed round Strombolo, which burnt very strongly all night; and, having left the Sophia to cruize three days off Strombolo for information, and sent the Bittern to Tunis, proceeded for the Faro of Messina. On the 30th, off the Faro, his lordship was joined by the Seahorse from Naples; where, also, nothing had been heard of the French.
At noon, on the 31st, having sent the Seahorse off Toulon, round Cape Corse, and Morgiana, to look into Elba, St. Fiorenzo, and Ajaccio, the fleet got through the Faro of Messina without any accident. On the 2d of February, they pa.s.sed Candia; being unable, from the state of the wind and weather, to make that island: and, on the 5th, sent forward the Anson, with letters to the Governor of Alexandria; to the British resident, Major Bissett; and to the pro-consul, Mr. Briggs. Next day, his lordship saw the Arab"s Tower; and, on the 7th, at seven in the morning, came within sight of Alexandria, but there were no ships in the port. His lordship immediately sent Captain Hallowell ash.o.r.e, with duplicates of his letters, the Anson being unable to get up. At three o"clock, Captain Hallowell returned. The Turks, who were very much alarmed at the appearance of the fleet, had heard nothing of the French; and were in no condition to defend this most important place from an attack, by surprise, of even five hundred men. Such is the shocking supineness of these people! The Turks and Mamelukes were, however, at war; the former being in possession of Grand Cairo, and the latter of Upper Egypt. Immediately on the receipt of this intelligence, by Captain Hallowell, the fleet bore up, and made sail for Malta.
On the 11th, the Phoebe having joined off Candia, was dispatched to Malta with orders. At daylight, on the 19th, his lordship saw Malta; and, at eight in the morning, communicated with Vallette. The Phoebe made the signal for no information; and, at nine, the fleet bore away for Maritimo. The Superb picked up a boat, and made the signal for intelligence from Malta: but his lordship would not stop; for he wanted, he said, no intelligence, but where to find the French fleet. His anxiety, therefore, may be easily imagined. It was little less, in fact, than what he had formerly suffered, on his first vain pursuit to Alexandria. By a vessel met with, in the afternoon, eight days from Barcelona, his lordship now learned that the French fleet had returned to Toulon; wanting, however, at that time, three sail of the line and a frigate. On the 28th, while employed in watering the fleet, at Palla, in Sardinia, a letter arrived from Captain Munday of the Hydra, dated February 17th, who had reconnoitred the French fleet in Toulon on the 12th, when it consisted of seventeen sail.
On Thursday, the 7th of March, a cartel ship came into the fleet, then at anchor under Tolaro in the Isle of Rouse, with Captain Layman, the officers, and crew, of the Raven brig, which was wrecked off Cadiz, on the night of January the 29th. The Captain General of Andalusia, Lord Nelson was told, had treated them with the greatest kindness--"Which,"
generously exclaimed his lordship, "I will return, whenever fortune may put it in my power!" Having weighed, in the morning of the 8th, the fleet, at six in the evening, anch.o.r.ed in the Gulph of Palma; where a court-martial was held on the officers and crew of the late Raven brig, which pa.s.sed a slight censure on the captain for not having approached the sh.o.r.e with greater caution. In the evening, the fleet beat out of Palma, and steered between Vache and the reef off Antioch. On the 12th, in the Gulph of Lyons, they were joined by the Active, Seahorse, and Juno; who had, the day before, seen the French fleet perfectly ready for sea. The Renown also joined that evening; on board of which, invalids, &c. were next day sent. It was a calm, all day; but, in the evening, light breezes springing up, the fleet stood out for St. Sebastian"s. On the 16th, the Renown was dispatched for Gibraltar and England; on the 17th, the fleet was beating to the eastward, off Tarragona; and, on the 20th, in the afternoon, pa.s.sed Minorca, standing for Sardinia, which they saw on the 23d in the evening, when his lordship sent the Juno with orders for the transports to join him. At sunset, on the 26th, the fleet anch.o.r.ed in the Gulph of Palma; where Lord Nelson found his old friend, Admiral Louis, in the Ambuscade, who had sailed from England the 16th of February. The whole of this night, and the three following days, were employed in clearing transports. On the 29th, the Seahorse brought intelligence that the French fleet were safe in port on Sunday the 24th.
The day following, the signal was made to prepare for sea; and, our fleet having sailed from Palma, anch.o.r.ed at Palla, on the 31st in the evening. Next morning, April 1, at day-light, they commenced watering; and, at sun-set, every ship was compleat, and the fleet moved farther off sh.o.r.e. Their activity, his lordship remarked, was never exceeded. On the 3d, at day-light, they sailed from Palla; and, next morning, were joined by the Phoebe, with the signal that the enemy"s fleet was at sea. At nine, Captain Capel went on board the Victory; and reported to his lordship, that he had seen the French fleet on Sunday morning at eight o"clock, and kept with them till sun-set, but lost sight of them during the night. Lord Nelson immediately sent the Ambuscade to Gaieta, and the Active to the coast of Africa, for intelligence respecting them.
Next day, the Amazon and transports joined from Malta; and a Turkish corvette also arrived from Constantinople, with letters of grat.i.tude from the Grand Vizier and the Capitan Pacha, to which his lordship immediately returned respectful answers. The Moucheron brig, too, having this day joined, from Malta, was sent to cruize seven days between Gaieta and Africa, and to call at Tunis for information. After clearing transports next day, and sending the Bittern to Gibraltar with dispatches, his lordship stood to the northward in the evening: and, the following morning, sent the Active to Cagliari, the Amazon to Naples, the Seahorse to Maritimo, and Le Tigre to Palermo, for information. The Active brought no news from the coast of Africa; but the Seahorse, returned from Maritimo with intelligence from the officer at the port, that fourteen ships of war had pa.s.sed the island on the 28th of March, steering to the southward; and that two frigates had, on the 4th of April, also pa.s.sed, steering to the northward: neither of which reports his lordship believed; and, in fact, they appear to have been totally false. In the evening, steering for Palermo, they were joined by the Ambuscade and Astrea, neither of whom had obtained any information of the enemy"s fleet, though they had seen many vessels. On the 9th, having cleared transports, which arrived the preceding evening, they compleated the fleet to four months provisions and sixty days wine and spirits. Le Tigre joined next day, from Palermo: where they knew nothing of the French fleet"s having sailed; but sent information that an expedition had left England, and that a Russian squadron was expected in the Mediterranean. This information led his lordship to suppose that the French fleet might, probably, with a view of intercepting them, be somewhere about Minorca; he stood, therefore, to the westward of Sardinia, in the hope of falling in with the enemy. The Hydra and Childers joined, this day, from Magdalena, but brought no intelligence.
At sunset, seven leagues south of Maritimo, the Active also joined, from Cagliari; and informed his lordship, that the Ragusan consul had received a letter from St. Pierre"s, giving him an account, brought by a Ragusan brig, which had arrived there from Ma.r.s.eilles, that the French fleet sailed from Toulon the 30th of March, having a great number of troops on board.
This intelligence turned out to be the fact. Admiral Villeneuve having succeeded in leading his dreaded antagonist to a safe distance, and compleated all his preparations for the grand design, which was that of forming a junction with the Spanish fleets, and then proceeding to the West Indies, had in truth left Toulon, on the 30th, with eleven sail of the line, a frigate, and two corvettes, in which were embarked ten thousand select troops under the command of General Lauriston. This armament first sailed to Carthagena; where the six ships expected to be ready, under Admiral Salcedo, not being quite prepared to join, and fearful of losing a moment"s time, during the absence of Lord Nelson, Admiral Villeneuve pursued his course to Cadiz. There he had, for some time, been expected by Admiral Gravina, who was waiting his arrival with six Spanish sail of the line, and two thousand two hundred and eighty troops. On the approach of the French fleet off Cadiz, the 9th of April, Sir John Orde, who was blockading that port with five ships of the line, incapable of preventing their junction with the Spaniards, retired from his station; unpursued by the French fleet, which might easily have forced him into action. L"Aigle, a French ship of the line, which had been some time at Cadiz, immediately came out of the harbour; and was soon after followed by six Spanish sail of the line, and five frigates, under Admiral Gravina: when, having compleatly effected their junction, a strong easterly wind expeditiously carried them out of sight.
At this period, it has been seen, Lord Nelson had, from circ.u.mstances, supposed the Toulon fleet likely to be met with in the Sicilian seas.
Having sent frigates, in all directions, to gain intelligence of the enemy, the moment it was ascertained that they had actually sailed, he was beating to windward, off the coast of Sardinia, on the 16th of April, when he was informed, by an Austrian vessel from Lisbon, that sixteen ships of war had been seen, the 7th inst. standing to the westward. His lordship, now, justly apprehensive that this must have been the French fleet, felt extremely uneasy, that they had thus eluded all his vigilance. His agony is not to be described; and he was only consoled, at length, by reflections that, in a.s.suring himself of the safety of Naples, Sicily, the Morea, Egypt, and Sardinia, before he proceeded to the westward, he had certainly done what was perfectly right. "I must ever regret, however," writes his lordship, "my want of frigates which I could have sent to the westward; and I must also regret, that Captain Mowbray did not cruize until he heard something of the French fleet. I am unlucky, but I cannot exert myself more than I have done for the public service!"
In fact, the exertions of Lord Nelson, during the whole of this arduous and perplexing service, were inconceivably great. He had, besides the usual cares of a commander in chief, the very difficult task of conciliating a variety of discordant states, from whom he was under the necessity of drawing constant supplies of fresh provisions and other requisites, which they were deterred from affording by the dread of a powerful and unprincipled enemy, perpetually menacing them with destruction, whatever degrees of amity they might either possess, or profess, for this country. The address of our hero, in counteracting the enemy"s designs, with what may be denominated diplomatic combat, and thus obtaining needful supplies as well as useful intelligence, has scarcely ever been equalled. In corresponding with the various powers with whom it was necessary thus to communicate, the abilities of the Reverend Mr. Alexander Scott, now Dr. Scott, from his acquaintance with most of the modern languages, proved eminently favourable to his lordship"s views. This gentleman was not only chaplain of the Victory, but private and foreign secretary to Lord Nelson, who also often employed him in confidential communications on sh.o.r.e. They had known each other ever since the year 1793; when Mr. Scott was chaplain to Sir John Collins in the Mediterranean, and Lord Nelson captain of the Agamemnon. On the death of Sir John Collins, Captain Nelson asked Mr.
Scott to go with him as his chaplain; which he was under the necessity of declining, having previously engaged to go with Sir Hyde Parker in the St. George. During the expedition to Copenhagen, Lord Nelson, not having his chaplain, Mr. Comyns, with him, borrowed Mr. Scott, then Sir Hyde Parker"s chaplain and foreign secretary, to read prayers in his ship; and, on his lordship"s going ash.o.r.e, he chose Mr. Scott to accompany him, as secretary to the commission for arranging the convention: the articles of which were, in fact, penned by this gentleman. Lord Nelson kindly advised Mr. Scott to subscribe the Convention with his name, as secretary; but he diffidently declined the honour: for which Lord Nelson greatly blamed him; and he has since often blamed himself, as his lordship predicted would one day be the case.
From this period, Lord Nelson was always greatly attached to Mr. Scott, and constantly kept up a correspondence with him. He had then first asked this gentleman if he would attend him as his confidential foreign secretary, in case of his ever getting the Mediterranean command; which Mr. Scott readily promised to do, should his old friend, Sir Hyde Parker, "be laid on the shelf." Had the then war continued, that arrangement would have taken place. On the peace, Mr. Scott went to the West Indies: from whence he returned, just before the present war broke out, in a very deplorable state of health; having been struck by lightning, and severely wounded. He had, however, no sooner arrived in London, than Lord Nelson was at his bed-side: where the generously humane hero continually visited him, during his confinement; and, soon after, took him, in the Amphion, to the Mediterranean, on this expedition. It is somewhat remarkable, that his lordship"s regular secretary, though no relation of this gentleman, should also be a Scott: the former, the Rev. Mr. Alexander Scott; and the latter, John Scott, Esq. So numerous were his lordship"s correspondences, that both secretaries were often fully employed: his lordship, from the time of his having engaged Dr. Scott, constantly accompanying his original letters to foreign courts, by translations into the respective languages; a point of etiquette always highly gratifying to the power addressed, and frequently attended with other beneficial consequences.
There was, in short, no point of probable advantage to his country, however minute it might appear, which Lord Nelson ever thought unworthy of his strict regard.
On the 17th of April, in the evening, the Amazon brought a confirmation of the intelligence respecting the French fleet, from a vessel which had seen, on the 8th at noon, eleven sail of the line, four frigates, and three brigs, pa.s.s Gibraltar with their colours flying. To add to the mortification, westerly winds, and a heavy sea, prevented the British fleet"s gaining any ground, either this or the following day. A vessel five days from Cadiz, still to augment his lordship"s distress, now also informed the Amazon, that the Spanish squadron had joined the French, and were gone with them to the westward. Having appointed the general rendezvous at Gibraltar, his lordship sent every where to procure additional frigates. He also dispatched the Active to Ireland, the Channel fleet, and England, with an account of his intended pursuit of the enemy. His pa.s.sage to Gibraltar was prodigiously impeded by continual foul winds, and heavy swells. "Nothing," writes his lordship, at this anxious period, "can be more unfortunate, than we are in our winds; but, G.o.d"s will be done! I submit. Human exertions are absolutely unavailing. What man could do, I have done. I hope that the wind will come to the eastward. What ill fortune! but, I cannot help myself." Thus did the hero complain, and thus did he console himself.
On the 1st of May, near the coast of Barbary, he was joined by the Martin sloop, which sailed from Plymouth the 17th of April; and brought his lordship a letter from the Admiralty, dated the 15th, which informed him that five thousand troops were coming to the Mediterranean. On the 30th, at ten in the morning, the fleet anch.o.r.ed in Tetuan Bay; or, rather, in the little bay to the eastward of Tetuan, where there is a very fine river of fresh water. The day was chiefly employed in watering the fleet; and clearing a transport with wine, which had been brought out from Gibraltar. No information of the combined fleet was, however, obtained from thence, nor in letters dated at Lisbon the 27th; but it seemed generally credited, that they were gone to the West Indies.
"Surely," exclaimed his lordship, "I shall hear something of them from Sir John Orde"s cruizers; which he must, naturally, have sent after them!" Sir John, however, very unaccountably, had not taken any measures for ascertaining their course. On Sunday, the 5th, at eight in the morning, light easterly breezes springing up, the fleet weighed at ten; but, in the evening, the wind, having first shifted northerly, unfortunately came again fresh from the westward. At two in the afternoon, next day, the fleet anch.o.r.ed in Gibraltar Bay. At four o"clock, a Levanter came on: at six, the fleet again weighed; and, by midnight, they were abreast of Cape Spartel, where nothing had been heard of the enemy. In the evening of the 7th, having steered for Cape St. Vincent, Le Tigre was sent to call the transports left by Sir John Orde, who had sailed for England, out of Lagos Bay. On the 9th, Le Tigre returned with the transports; and the Amazon, arriving from Lisbon, brought intelligence, communicated by Admiral Knight, that Sir John Orde had joined the channel fleet. At nine, in the evening, the fleet anch.o.r.ed between Cape St. Vincent and Lagos Bay. The next day, and succeeding night, were busily occupied in clearing the transports, and compleating the fleet to five months. Early on the 11th, his lordship sent the Wasp, and the Doris transport, to England, with dispatches: at ten o"clock, the fleet weighed; at noon, were off Cape St. Vincent; and, at one, saw the convoy under Admiral Knight. They joined at four; and at six, parted company: Lord Nelson having given Admiral Knight the Royal Sovereign; which, he observed, would make him superior in force to any thing ready, either in Carthagena or at Cadiz. At seven o"clock, the Martin sloop was dispatched to Barbadoes; and, at the same time, his lordship likewise made all sail to the westward with his comparatively small fleet. The French had twelve ships of the line, a frigate, and two corvettes; the Spaniards, six sail of the line and five frigates; to say nothing of the Rochfort squadron: while the whole fleet under Lord Nelson consisted only of ten ships of the line and three frigates. The French had, also, upwards of ten thousand troops, and the Spaniards more than two. Notwithstanding this inferior strength, which would have deterred many a brave man from risking the responsibility of so hazardous an undertaking, Lord Nelson had resolved that he would follow them, as he emphatically expressed himself, "even to the Antipodes." The ships he had were well equipped, and his confidence in all the officers and men was precisely the same as they themselves felt in their adored commander--he believed them to be absolutely invincible. The ships which accompanied his lordship in this memorable pursuit, were--the Victory of a hundred and ten guns, Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, Rear-Admiral Murray, and Captain Hardy; the Canopus of eighty, Rear-Admiral Louis, and Captain Austin; Le Tigre of eighty, Captain Hallowell; the Donegal of eighty, Captain Malcolm; the Spencer of seventy-four, the Honourable Captain Stopford; the Conqueror of seventy-four, Captain Pellew; the Superb of seventy-four, Captain Keates; the Belleisle of seventy-four, Captain Hargood; the Leviathan of seventy-four, Captain Bayntun; the Swiftsure of seventy-four, Captain Rutherford; the Decade frigate of thirty-six, Captain Stuart; the Amazon of thirty-eight, Captain Parker; and the Amphion of thirty-two, Captain Sutton.
His lordship, now in high spirits, since the destination of the enemy seemed evident, and the wind had shifted in his favour, jocosely remarked to his a.s.sembled captains--"There is just a Frenchman apiece for each English ship, leaving me out of the question to fight the Spaniards: and, when I haul down my colours, I expect every captain of the fleet to do the same; but, not till then."
Having got fairly into the trade winds, they run, on the 21st of May, in the last twenty-four hours, a hundred and ninety miles. The next day, they pa.s.sed the tropic, vulgarly called crossing the line; when Neptune performed the usual ceremony, to the no small diversion of the fleet.
There were, in the Victory alone, his lordship remarks, who highly enjoyed the scene, no less than five hundred persons by whom the tropic had never before been crossed.
On the 31st, at six in the evening, being within two hundred leagues of Barbadoes, the Amazon was sent forward for information.
On the 3d of June, at day-light, two Guinea ships, bound from Surinam to America, were seen to the westward; from whom intelligence was obtained, that they were told, the day before, by the Beaulieu frigate, that the French and Spanish squadrons had arrived at Martinico, but the African ships did not know the time of their arrival there. In the evening, a sloop of war was perceived, with the signal of intelligence to communicate; but, missing the Victory, his lordship would not shorten sail, as he knew nothing more could be communicated, than when the enemy"s fleet had arrived at Martinico. Next morning, at day-light, Barbadoes was seen by the fleet, distant about ten leagues to the west; and, at eleven in the forenoon, his lordship received the salutes of Rear-Admiral Cochrane, and Charles Fort. The enemy"s fleet, Lord Nelson was now informed, had arrived at Martinico on the 14th of May, with their men sickly: and, on the 28th, were seen to the windward of St.
Lucia, standing to the southward; with the view, as was supposed, of attacking Tobago and Trinidada. General Sir William Myers, at Barbadoes, having very handsomely offered his lordship to embark with two thousand troops for the relief of those islands, the fleet anch.o.r.ed in Carlisle Bay; and, though very rainy, with squalls of wind, the embarkment immediately commenced, and was continued all night. In the morning, Le Curieux brig was sent forward, to look into Tobago; and Sir William Myers dispatched another vessel to General Prevost, at Dominica, to acquaint him with Lord Nelson"s arrival.
The happy tidings of his lordship"s approach expeditiously spread through all the West India islands. The enemy were not the last who heard this intelligence, which acted with double force against these marauders: it armed with resolution the defenceless inhabitants of even the least tenable situations, by inspiring them with hopes of a speedy and effectual aid to their own manly exertions; and filled with dread and horror those pusillanimous pillagers who had alone confided in their vast superiority of numbers, for the success of their plundering exploits, and now feared the avenging hand of our pursuing hero.
Villeneuve, the Gallic fugitive from the Nile, no sooner gained intelligence that the victor on that occasion was likely soon to be once more at his heels, than he again made the most expeditious use of them in returning back from the scene of his paltry depredations; and, with his former good fortune, escaped the chastising hand of our hero, who continued every where seeking him in vain. His lordship, indeed, however aware of the dastardly disposition of the enemy, could scarcely think it possible for such a very superior force as the combined fleet thus timidly to fly before him.
Lord Nelson, in the mean time, having weighed; at eight in the evening, the fleet stood to the southward: and, at eight in the morning of the 6th of June, they saw Tobago. At two in the afternoon, abreast of Man of War Bay, Le Curieux joined; with information that an American had arrived at Scarborough the preceding day, the master of which said that he had been boarded, three days prior to his arrival, by the French fleet, then standing to the southward, and that they would, he supposed, pa.s.s Tobago as last night. This account, his lordship considered as a mere fabrication of the American: but, gaining no intelligence on which he could rely, he bore away to Trinidada; and, at midnight, bringing to off that island, sent the Pheasant to Toko for information. At four, next morning, his lordship bore up for the Boga.s.ses; and, at sunset, anch.o.r.ed in the Gulf of Paria, but found that the enemy had not been heard of in the island. At day-light, an advice-boat brought letters from Captain Morrice at Barbadoes, giving an account of the capture of the Diamond Rock, with the little garrison by which it was defended: and stating, also, that the French and Spanish squadrons had not sailed from Martinico; but that, as the French commodore told him, the Ferrol squadron, of six sail of French, and eight of Spanish, arrived in Fort Royal on the 4th of June. This intelligence determined his lordship: who, at seven o"clock, sailed from Trinidada; and was at noon well out, clear of the Boga.s.ses.
While his lordship was off Trinidad, with his usual gaiety and goodness of heart, he wrote to the governor, that he would rather he sent him a hogshead of _limes_, than a hogshead of _Joes_. With him, the health of his people was always the first object; his own individual wealth, ever the last.
At six in the morning of the 9th, he got within sight of Grenada; and, at noon, arrived off St. George"s Bay in that island. A letter from General Prevost now informed his lordship, that the combined squadron had pa.s.sed Dominica on the 6th of June; and, having gone to Guadaloupe, for the purpose of landing the troops and stores taken from thence, had been seen standing to the northward. Lord Nelson, on receiving this intelligence, having dispatched the Nelly to Antigua, and the Jason to Montserrat, for farther information, immediately stood to the northward, under a press of sail. The next day, at noon, between St. Lucia and Martinique, he sent a schooner to General Prevost: and, at eight the following morning, Tuesday, June 11, saw Guadaloupe; and spoke an American, from Boston, who gave no intelligence. At noon, the fleet got within sight of Montserrat; and, at two o"clock, saw the Jason, at anchor. The news from Montserrat was, that they had, on Sat.u.r.day morning, the 8th, being only three days before, seen sixteen sail under Guadaloupe, beating to windward. His lordship, now, also beating up to windward, all night and the following day, anch.o.r.ed in St. John"s Bay, Antigua, at sunset; which island, he learned, had been pa.s.sed, on the 8th, by the French fleet standing to the north. Having, in the evening, sent Le Curieux, with dispatches, to England, his lordship, next morning, at day-light, landed the troops for the protection of the islands; got ready for sea; and sailed, at noon, with eleven ships of the line, three frigates, and a sloop of war: when the Kitty schooner joined, with the unpleasing information, that the French fleet had, on the 8th instant, captured it"s whole convoy, consisting of fourteen sail. From four in the afternoon, till sunset, his lordship was within sight of Barbuda, still standing to the northward. "If," writes his lordship, this day, "I should ask an opinion where the enemy"s fleet are gone, I should have as many opinions as there were persons. Porto-Rico, Barbadoes, Newfoundland, Europe. My opinion, from all the circ.u.mstances drawn into one point of view, with the best judgment I can form, is this--I think, that the whole or part of the Spaniards will go to the Havannah; and the rest of the fleet, to Cadiz and Toulon: and, upon this opinion, I am going to the Straits Mouth; unless I should alter it, from information gained."
Thus determined, every exertion was used, though with little hope, to overtake them, if possible, on their return; and, on the 14th, at noon, the fleet had run a hundred and thirteen miles from the Island of Barbuda, and a hundred and thirty from St. John"s Bay, Antigua.
On the 18th, the Amazon communicated with a schooner; which had, on the 15th, at sunset, seen a fleet of twenty-two ships of war steering to the northward. On a computation formed from an examination of the schooner"s then lat.i.tude and longitude, it appeared that the French fleet were, the night before, about eighty-seven leagues distant. His lordship, next day, forwarded the Martin to Gibraltar, and the Decade to Lisbon, with information of the enemy"s return to Europe. At midnight, on the 21st, Lord Nelson saw three planks floating; which, he thought, came from the French ships: and, on the 23d, at dusk, a piece of a large ship"s topmast had also pa.s.sed by the Victory, but was not observed till too late to be picked up. Sir John Laforey, next morning, informed his lordship that, three days after they left Antigua, he had pa.s.sed close by a bucket; which he supposed, by the make and wooden handle, to be French: also, a large chest, painted red.
From this period, till the 5th of June, the wind proved tolerably favourable; but they now, to use his lordship"s expression, barely "crawled" about thirty miles every twenty-four hours. "My only hope is,"