Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez Volume I Part 31

On the return of the squadron to the Mole of Gibraltar, the following public order was issued by the Admiral.

Caesar, in Rosia Bay, 6th July 1801.

Rear-admiral Sir James Saumarez desires to express in the strongest terms the high sense he entertains of the gallantry and valiant conduct of all the captains, officers, and men belonging to the squadron under his orders, in the attack made this day on the enemy's s.h.i.+ps and batteries; and, although the result has not proved so successful as his expectations had framed, he trusts that the glory they have acquired on this occasion will ever be acknowledged by their country.

JAS. SAUMAREZ.

To the respective Captains.

The following addition to Sir James's despatch gives the account of the capture of the Hannibal, from Captain Ferris, then a prisoner at Algeziras.

Caesar, Gibraltar, 9th july 1801.

SIR,

I herewith enclose a letter from Captain Ferris of his Majesty's late s.h.i.+p Hannibal, which I request you will please to lay before their lords.h.i.+ps; and I have only to express my deep regret that his well-meant endeavours to bring his s.h.i.+p to close action should have occasioned so severe a loss. I have the honour to be, sir,

Your most obedient servant, JAS. SAUMAREZ.

Evan Nepean, Esq. Admiralty.

Algeziras Bay, 7th July 1801.

SIR,

I have little more to tell you of the fate of his Majesty's s.h.i.+p Hannibal than yourself must have observed; only, that from the number of batteries, and s.h.i.+ps' gun-boats, &c. we had to encounter, our guns soon got knocked up; and I found it was impossible to do anything, either for the preservation of the s.h.i.+p, or for the good of the service. Our boats, sails, rigging, and springs being all shot away, and having so many killed and wounded, as will appear by the annexed list, I thought it prudent to strike, and thereby preserve the lives of the brave men that remained.

Had I been successful in the view before me previously to the s.h.i.+p taking the ground, my praises of the conduct of my officers and s.h.i.+p's company could not have exceeded their merits; but I have, notwithstanding, the satisfaction to say, that every order was obeyed and carried into execution with that prompt.i.tude and alacrity becoming British officers and seamen.

I am, sir, Your most obedient humble servant, S. FERRIS.

To Rear-admiral Sir James Saumarez.

It has now become necessary that we should notice a controversy which has taken place between the authors of the different naval histories on the subject of the Battle of Algeziras; and we have been led to make minute inquiries, first, into the cause of the discrepancies of the different accounts; and, secondly, into the truth, which we have been the better able to do from our personal knowledge and recent communication with some of the officers of the Hannibal and Caesar, on whose veracity we can depend. We are happy to add that the result of our inquiries has been satisfactory, and, we trust, will completely clear up and reconcile the facts, while it will leave no reflection of a dubious character on the conduct of the heroic commander of the squadron.

It appears that no difference of opinion arose on this subject until the court-martial of Captain Ferris, which took place on the 1st September 1801, at Portsmouth, Rear-admiral Holloway president; when, as usual on trials for the loss of a s.h.i.+p, Captain Ferris read his narrative, which he begins thus:

"In giving a detail of the circ.u.mstances which led to the loss of his Majesty's late s.h.i.+p Hannibal, I am sorry that, owing to my clerk being killed, whose remarks were lost,[32] I cannot be so particular as to the exact times of signals being made as I otherwise should have been; but I shall state them to you to the best of my recollection."

[32] The captain's clerk is stationed in action to take minutes of the events as they occur.

After this admission, is it not surprising that the controversy should be mainly founded on the time at which the Hannibal struck her colours? Captain Ferris says, "about two o'clock;" while by the log of the Caesar the action had entirely ceased at thirty-five minutes past one. It may be asked, why did not the court, which must have seen the discrepancy between his narrative and the public and other doc.u.ments before it, inquire into the truth by requiring the evidence of the officers and crew, none of whom were examined as to the time the s.h.i.+p struck: but the duty of the court being confined to the trial of Captain Ferris, his officers and crew, and it being (whether supported or not) evident and notorious that they had defended their s.h.i.+p to the last extremity, they had (unluckily for Sir James) nothing to do but to p.r.o.nounce an honourable acquittal.

The next contradiction which appears, relates to the boats which were sent to the a.s.sistance of the Hannibal. Captain Ferris says, "The Admiral, having previously made my signal of recall, sent a boat from the Caesar, and another from the Venerable, to my a.s.sistance; but, finding they could afford me none, I sent the Venerable's boat back, and the crew of the Caesar in one of my own cutters, their pinnace having been sunk by a shot alongside."

I am bound to say that this a.s.sertion is not borne out either by the testimony of those who were in the boats of the Caesar and the Venerable, or by the officers of the Hannibal; because, as will be seen hereafter, these boats never reached the Hannibal, when aground, until after she had struck her colours.

Captain Ferris next relates that "About twelve o'clock our s.h.i.+ps were all out of gun-shot of the enemy, and we had the fire of the whole French squadron, batteries, and gun-boats, to contend with alone; against which we continued to keep up as brisk a fire as could be expected, even by men in the most sanguine antic.i.p.ation of victory, until near two o'clock."

Now this is quite impossible, as, by the log of every s.h.i.+p, the squadron was engaging much later: by the Caesar, until 1h. 35m.; by the Audacious, until 1h. 20m.; by the Venerable, until 1h. 30m. &c.; before which, the ensign of the Hannibal was seen, from every s.h.i.+p, _Union down_.

It has been unwarrantably alleged by some that the Hannibal hauled the ensign down, and then hoisted it reversed, as a signal of distress, and afterwards, when she struck, hauled it down; and that the French hoisted it union down to decoy the Calpe. But, for the refutation of these absurdities, we must refer the reader to the testimony of Colonel Connolly, who was then acting captain of the marines, an officer of the highest character, whose veracity cannot be questioned; and who, moreover, from being the only officer on the p.o.o.p when the colours were struck, had a better opportunity of knowing the facts than any other. The following are the questions which we put to Colonel Connolly, with his answers, given verbatim:

Did the enemy take possession of the Hannibal before the colours were hoisted union down?

The colours were hauled down by Captain Ferris's orders, and remained so; but, being so near the Formidable, the captain of her was on board of us in two minutes after we had struck, and the colours were hoisted _union downwards_ by the Frenchmen.[33]

[33] When the French happen to take one of our men-of-war, they do not, as we would do, hoist their own colours over their opponents', but hoist the English ensign union downwards. It so seldom happened that an English man-of-war was taken by the French, that this circ.u.mstance was known to very few in the navy, and consequently, the ensign reversed was known only as the signal of distress used by merchant-s.h.i.+ps.

Were the colours hoisted union down by the enemy; or, at any time, by Captain Ferris's orders?

By the enemy.

Did the boats come _before_ or _after_ the colours were hoisted union downwards, to render her a.s.sistance?

The boats from our s.h.i.+ps did not get near us till after we were in possession of the enemy; and I called to an old s.h.i.+pmate of mine in the Venerable's barge, and told him so, as he came under the starboard quarter; but he persisted in coming on board, and was taken.

What boats were taken; and what boats escaped?

A good many were taken. The Venerable's barge and her first lieutenant; and another lieutenant, in the Caesar's boat, of some s.h.i.+p lying at Gibraltar; beside the mids. I am not aware indeed that any escaped.

What French officer took possession of the Hannibal?

I am not quite certain whether it was the captain of the Formidable or the Dessaix; they were both very close to us: however, he was a very little fellow.

To what prison were you taken?

The s.h.i.+p's company were divided into two prisons, which appeared to have been stables. There was no water in one of them, and the distress of our poor fellows, on that account, was truly shocking: often, when they would give money to the people outside to bring them some to drink, they would walk off with it, and never bring the water.

On this occasion Colonel Connolly recognised a French officer who had been a short time previously a prisoner on board the Warrior, to whom he had been particularly civil, supplying him with linen, &c.; and who left the s.h.i.+p with protestations of his desire to make every return in his power, if the "fortune of war" should give him an opportunity: but when he claimed the performance of his promise, his reply was, "Monsieur de Connolly, I very sorry for your misfortune; but I wish you good morning!" and left him with a sarcastic sneer.

It is evident, from this testimony, that the colours were only struck once, and hoisted once union down, and only hoisted union down by the Frenchmen; and that the boats of the Caesar and Venerable were only once on board the Hannibal after she was aground; namely, when their crews were taken prisoners. But both these boats were actually sent to her a.s.sistance at a previous period, when the Hannibal was directed by the Admiral to endeavour to obtain a position to rake the Formidable; and it was then that they were sent back. Captain Brenton first received the report of the Hannibal having her colours union downwards between twelve and one, while the Caesar was engaging the island battery, and the Dessaix and the Muiron.

The Caesar's boat was sent with others to the a.s.sistance of the Hannibal, according to the log, at seventeen minutes past one, and must have reached her certainly before the action ceased, and found her in the hands of the enemy, as described by Colonel Connolly.

It is absurd to suppose that, while actually engaging the enemy, Captain Ferris would haul down his colours, to hoist them as a signal of distress, when he had other ensigns to hoist, and when there was a signal in the book, "In distress, and in want of immediate a.s.sistance:" this is a circ.u.mstance which, I will venture to a.s.sert, never occurred in any naval action.

Captain Brenton, being decidedly of the same opinion, adds, "I can only say, when it was reported to me, _while in action_, that the Hannibal's colours were reversed, I considered her to be in possession of the enemy: that the Admiral took the same view of the subject, I have not the least doubt; and I think nothing would have induced him to abandon the Hannibal while she was engaged. I will further add, that I never remember the slightest doubt being expressed of the Hannibal having struck before the action terminated, until I read the narrative of Captain Ferris, at his court-martial, some time afterwards."

The moment these champions of "liberte, egalite, et la mort," entered the Hannibal, plunder was the order of the day; and, in their furious haste to get at the officers' trunks, they cruelly trod over the wounded in the c.o.c.kpit and cable-tiers. Colonel Connolly relates that in a few minutes one of them had taken his new c.o.c.ked-hat, and appeared on deck with it. He himself had given up seeking his desk, which contained a considerable sum of money besides valuable papers, because he could not get at it without creeping over the wounded; but the French, not so particular, soon found it.

We shall now give the extracts of the various logs to which we have had access. These have never yet been published, and we trust they will set the matter at rest. It is some satisfaction indeed, that all authors agree in declaring that nothing more could have been done, and that the honour of the British flag was to the last gloriously maintained on the 6th of July 1801.

Extract of the Caesar's log in the Battle of Algeziras, 5th July:

Winds S.W. and variable. At 12h. 30m. P.M. up mainsail and in royals; at 2h. made the signal for the squadron to prepare for battle, and, anchoring, bent the sheet cable through the larboard gun-room port to the sheet anchor; at 4h. set steering-sails,--fresh breezes and fair; at 8h. moderate breezes,--Cape Moulinau E.N.E. seven or eight miles; at 12h.

(midnight), light airs inclinable to calm,--squadron in company, Venerable S.S.E. one mile. At 12h. 30m. (6th), in steering-sails, and at 12h. 40m. lowered down the yawl; at 3h.

45m. a breeze sprung up,--made the signal for attention; at 4h.

5m. beat to quarters,--Cabrita Point, S.E. by E. three or four leagues,--made the Pompee's signal to close; at 5h. set top-gallant steering-sails, and at 6h. the fore-top-mast steering-sail; at 7h. 45m. made the Venerable's signal to haul the wind,--took in the starboard steering-sails; at 8h. in steering-sails; at 8h. 5m. in top-gallant sails,--made the signal for being at liberty to engage the enemy in pa.s.sing; at 8h. do. to take stations for mutual support; at 8h. 25m. set top-gallant sails,--the enemy's s.h.i.+ps opened their fire,--saw the Venerable break round off,--Caesar fired at a Spanish battery in pa.s.sing; at 8h. 35m. the action commenced with the Pompee, Venerable, and Audacious; at 8h. 45m. made the signal for the s.h.i.+ps astern to make more sail; at 9h. light breezes, and variable,--opened our fire, and the engagement became general; at 9h. 15m. pa.s.sed the Venerable, and came to with the sheet-anchor in nine fathoms,--the sheet-cable became _taut_,--let go the best bower to steady the s.h.i.+p,--Spencer and Hannibal pa.s.sed under our lee,--hailed them to get the boats ahead, and tow into action,--light airs; at 9h. 35m. the Spencer opened her fire; at 9h. 40m. the Hannibal, do.--our spanker-boom shot away; at 10h. 20m. sent boats to the Pompee and Hannibal; at 10h. 26m. made the Hannibal's signal to tack,--saw the Pompee had broke her sheer, apparently by a flaw of wind, and was raked by the French Admiral; at 10h. 30m. made the Pompee's signal to cut or slip; at 10h. 35m., a breeze springing up from the N.W., cut our cable, wore, and made sail, engaging the enemy's s.h.i.+ps while pa.s.sing them; at 10h. 50m. the Hannibal opened her fire on the French Admiral; at 10h. 52m. made the signal for the squadron to come to,--the wind on the starboard tack; at 11h.