They being in number three hundred and more,
And is not equal, you’ll say, unto threescore:
But now I will tell you the courage of our men,
That we valued them not, if they had been ten.
Our small arms did rattle, and our great guns did roar,
Till one of them we sank, and the other run ashore;
Such a slaughter we made as you seldom shall see,
Till an hundred and eighty we drown’d in the sea.
Our fight being over, and our fray being done,
And every man then scowering his gun,
And every man to a full flowing bowl;
Here’s a health to all British loyal souls.
My name is George Cook, the author of this,
And he may be hang’d that will take it amiss.
And here is another, about the action between HMS Nymphe and the French frigate Cléopâtre in June 1793:
Come, all you British heroes, listen to what I say;
’Tis of a noble battle that was fought the other day;
And such a sharp engagement we hardly ever knew:
Our officers were valiant and our sailors so true.
The La Nymphe was our frigate, and she carried a valiant crew,
With thirty-six twelve-pounders, that made the French to rue.
At daylight in the morning the French hove in sight;
Captain Pellew he commanded us in this fight.
Full forty eighteen-pounders we had for to engage;
The French they thought to confound us, they seemed so much enrag’d.
Our captain cry’d, ‘Be steady, boys, and well supply each gun;
We’ll take this haughty Frenchman, or force her for to run!’
The action then began, my boys, with shot on every side;
They thought her weight of metal would soon subdue our pride.
I think the second broadside her captain he was slain,
And many a valiant Frenchman upon the decks were lain.
We fought her with such fury, made every shot to tell,
And thirteen brave seamen in our ship there fell,
Tho’ forty-five minutes was the time this fight did last,
The French ship lost her tiller and likewise her mizen mast.
Then yard arm and yard arm we by each other lay,
And sure such noble courage to each other did display;
We form’d a resolution to give the French a check,
And instantly we boarded her off the quarter-deck.
Her colours being struck, my boys, she then became our prize,
And our young ship’s company subdued our enemies,
Altho’ they were superior in metal and in men.
Of such engagements you may seldom hear again.
And now in Portsmouth Harbour our prize is safely moor’d.
Success to all brave sailors that enter now on board;
A health to Captain Pellew, and all his sailors bold,
Who value more their honour than misers do their gold.
Which is not a bad note on which to finish a short account of the Royal Navy of Nelson, St Vincent, Duncan, Howe, Cochrane, Seymour and a hundred thousand other true-hearted seamen.
Index
The page numbers in this index relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.
References to illustrations are in italic figures
Active 454-5
admiral 420, 438, 442, 443, 450, 451, 453, 455
Admiralty 434, 437, 442, 455
Amethyst 451, 452, 453
Anson, Captain 454
ballinger 415
boatswain 439, 443, 453
call 445, 449
brig 415, 416, 429, 437
Britannia (Old Ironsides) 428
Caesar 413
Camperdown, Battle of 451
captain 415, 420, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 432, 437, 439, 443, 447, 448, 449, 450, 453, 455
carrack 415
Charles I 414, 415
Charles II 414
Cinque Ports 413
Claudius 413
Cléopâtre 458, 459
Cochrane, Lord 429, 441, 459
cog 415
Collingwood, Captain 449–50
commander 415, 436–7
commission 435
commodore 455
Commonwealth, wars of 414
corvette 437
cutter 415
decks 417, 418
discipline 442, 449–50
flogging 449–50
Duncan, Admiral 451, 459
East-Indiaman 414, 454
El Gamo 429
Elizabeth I 414
Favourite 454-5
Fighting Instructions 450
fire-ship 415
food at sea 440–1, 446-8
frigate 416, 417, 420, 421, 422, 429, 437, 438
gunner 425-6, 427, 439, 443, 450, 453
guns 415, 416 418, 420, 424, 425–30, 451–2
carronade 428–9, 430
firing 427–8, 429, 430
loading 426
Hébé 429
Henry Grace à Dieu 415
Henry VIII 414, 415
Hermione 450, 454, 455
Hitler 413
hold 445, 450
Howe, Lord 442, 459
Hyaena 429
impress service 441
Jervis, Sir John 451
lieutenant 415, 420, 434, 435–6, 437, 443, 447, 448, 453
Marines 414, 426, 429, 449, 453
master 415, 438
masts 416, 421, 421, 422, 422
merchantman 441
midshipman 415, 433, 434, 439, 444
Napoleon 413, 414
Navy Board 414
Navy Office 434, 438
Nelson 426, 432, 438, 441, 442, 449, 451, 459
Nile, Battle of the 451
Nymphe 458
pay 442, 443–4
Pellew, Captain 458, 459
Pepys, Samuel 414
pinnace 415
polacre 416
post-captain 415, 437, 438
press-gang 414, 441
prize money 435, 453
purser 436, 438–9, 443, 453
quota system 441
Raigersfeld, Admiral 440
Rainbow 428–9
rear admiral 438, 443
rigging 418, 421, 428, 439, 452
Rodney 451
row-barge 415
Royal Navy 413, 414, 415, 416, 418, 436, 455, 456, 459
sails 421, 422, 423, 424, 439, 443, 451
St Vincent, Battle of 451, 459
Saumarez 441
Sawyer, Captain 454
Seymour, Captain Michael 451–2, 459
shallop 415
shipbuilding 416, 417
sloop 415, 436, 437
Speedy 430
Spithead mutiny 442
Thétis 451, 452, 453
Trafalgar, Battle of 436, 451
uniform 432, 434, 435, 436–7
Victory 417, 418
watches 439, 445–6
weapons 430, 431 see also guns
William the Conquerer 413
yards 416–7, 421, 423, 424, 450
York, Duke of 414
About the Author
Patrick O’Brian is the author of the acclaimed Aubrey–Maturin tales and the biographer of Joseph Banks and Picasso. His first novel, Testimonies, and his Collected Short Stories have been reprinted by HarperCollins. He translated many works from French into English, among them the novels and memoirs of Simone de Beauvoir and the first volume of Jean Lacouture’s biography of Charles de Gaulle. In 1995 he was the first recipient of the Heywood Hill Prize for a lifetime’s contribution to literature. In the same year he was also awarded the CBE. In 1997 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters by Trinity C
ollege, Dublin. He died in January 2000 at the age of 85.
The Works of Patrick O’Brian
The Aubrey/Maturin Novels
In order of publication
MASTER AND COMMANDER
POST CAPTAIN
HMS SURPRISE
THE MAURITIUS COMMAND
DESOLATION ISLAND
THE FORTUNE OF WAR
THE SURGEON’S MATE
THE IONIAN MISSION
TREASON’S HARBOUR
THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL
THE LETTER OF MARQUE
THE THIRTEEN-GUN SALUTE
THE NUTMEG OF CONSOLATION
CLARISSA OAKES
THE WINE-DARK SEA
THE COMMODORE
THE YELLOW ADMIRAL
THE HUNDRED DAYS
BLUE AT THE MIZZEN
THE FINAL UNFINISHED VOYAGE OF JACK AUBREY
TESTIMONIES
THE CATALANS
THE GOLDEN OCEAN
THE UNKNOWN SHORE
RICHARD TEMPLE
CAESAR
HUSSEIN
THE ROAD TO SAMARCAND
Tales
THE LAST POOL
THE WALKER
LYING IN THE SUN
THE CHIAN WINE
COLLECTED SHORT STORIES
BEASTS ROYAL
Biography
PICASSO
JOSEPH BANKS
Anthology
A BOOK OF VOYAGES
Poetry
THE UNCERTAIN LAND AND OTHER POEMS
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