The Bravest of the Brave — or, with Peterborough in Spain

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER VI: A COMMISSION

  The moments passed slowly and anxiously, for if the mutineers were topour up from below before the cartridges arrived and the lieutenant hadgot the petty officers and men on whom they could rely ready for action,it was improbable that the officers would be able successfully to opposethe rush of the men, armed as these would be with matchlock and pike.

  The mutineers, however, believing that there was no occasion to hurry,were quietly carrying out their intentions. The noncommissioned officershad all been seized, tied, and placed under sentries, whose orders wereto pike them if they uttered a word. A strong guard had been placed atthe foot of the gangway to prevent any of the soldiers who were not inthe plan from going on deck and giving the alarm. The muskets were notloaded, as on embarkation all ball cartridges had, as usual, been stowedaway in the magazine; but they reckoned upon obtaining possession ofthis at the first rush. The ringleaders proceeded to form the men infours, so that they could pour on to the deck in military order. The menof each company were told off to separate work. Two companies were toclear the decks, where, on their appearance, they would be joined bytheir comrades there, and to overpower any sailors who might offerresistance.

  Another company was to run down and secure the magazine, and, breakingit open, to serve out cartridges to all. Two other companies were torush aft and overpower the officers; the sixth and seventh were to formround the head of the hatchway leading to the decks where the sailorsslept, and to allow only those to come on deck who had entered into theplot. The other three companies were already on deck. The arrangementswere excellent, but the care taken in preparing for them, and thenecessity for doing this in silence lest the stir should be heard and analarm be given on deck, occupied time which the officers were turning toadvantage.

  As soon as the captain and naval men had gained the quarterdeck theythrew off the lashings of the guns, and had all in readiness for runningthem in and taking them aft to the edge of the quarterdeck. There wasa deep sensation of relief as one after another the midshipmen joinedthem, each carrying three cartridges of grape, and followed by thegunner with four more. The lieutenant was to stay below to lead thesailors on to the deck.

  The gunner brought a message saying that all was well. Many ofthe sailors were found to have turned into their hammocks withoutundressing, and to have hand pikes or cutlasses concealed beneaththe clothes. These, however, had been surprised and taken without theslightest noise; as, on finding a lantern on one side of their headsand a pistol on the other, each had submitted without the slightestresistance. All these had been sent down to the hold below, and a guardplaced over them. The guns were loaded and the whole of the officersdivided among them in readiness to run them forward. Four or fiveminutes passed, then a shout was heard forward and a low rush of manyfeet.

  In an instant the four guns on the quarterdeck were run across. Whilethis was being done there was a clashing of swords, shouts, and a noiseof conflict heard forward, and at the same time a loud cheer arose,while from the after hatchway a dark body of men rushed up on to thedeck and formed across it. Some midshipmen, who had been told off forthe duty, ran up from the officers' cabin with lighted lanterns, whichwere ranged along at the edge of the quarterdeck.

  There was a rush aft of the mutineers, but these recoiled astonished atthe sight of the pikes which confronted them, and the line of sailorsfour deep across the deck, while at the same moment the light of thelanterns showed them the officers on the quarterdeck, and the fourguns pointed threateningly toward them. For a moment a silence ofastonishment and dismay succeeded the uproar which had preceded it, thenthe captain's voice was heard:

  "Down with your arms, you mutinous dogs, or I will blow you into theair. It is useless to resist. We are prepared for you, and you arewithout ammunition. Throw down the arms on the decks, every man of you,before I count three, or I fire. One--two--"

  There was a loud clattering of arms, mingled with shouts of--"Wesurrender; don't fire, sir, don't fire."

  "It's all over," the captain said grimly. "Mr. Hartwell, march your menforward, shoot any scoundrel instantly whom you find with arms in hishands, collect all the weapons and bring them aft.

  "Now, Colonel Clifford," he said, turning to the officer in command ofthe regiment, "if you go below with the officers, you can unloose thenoncommissioned officers; they will be able to point out to you theringleaders in this business. They had better be ironed at once and putinto the hold. You will have no more trouble now, I fancy."

  In ten minutes the whole of the arms had been collected and storedup, the noncommissioned officers had pointed out some twenty of theringleaders, and these were safely in irons below, while a strong guardof armed sailors was placed between decks to see that there was norenewal of insubordinate conduct. There was, however, no fear of this;the men were thoroughly cowed and humiliated by the failure of theirplan, and each was occupied only in hoping that he had not beensufficiently conspicuous to be handed over in the morning to join theprisoners below.

  There was no more sleep that night on board the ship. After breakfasttwo courts martial were held, the one by the naval, the other by themilitary officers. The latter sentenced two men, who were convictedon the testimony of the noncommissioned officers as having been theleaders, to be hung, and the sentence was at once carried out. Theregiment was formed in close order on deck unarmed and witnessed theexecution of their comrades, who were hung up to the extremities ofthe main yard. The other prisoners were sentenced to two hundred lashesapiece--a punishment which was, according to the ideas of the time,very lenient, such a punishment being frequently administered forcomparatively trifling offenses, and the prisoners considered themselvesfortunate in escaping hanging, for which, indeed, they had preparedthemselves.

  Previous to the administration of their punishment the colonel addressedthe men, and told them that all the ringleaders had been found guiltyand sentenced to death, but that the members of the court martial hadagreed with him that, considering the youth and inexperience of theoffenders and the whole circumstances of the case, it would be possibleto remit the death sentence, confident that the prisoners and the wholeof the regiment would recognize the leniency with which they hadbeen treated, and would return to their duty with a firm and heartydetermination to do all in their power to atone for their misconduct,and to show themselves true and worthy soldiers of the queen. If thiswas the case, no further notice would be taken of the error; but at thesame time he warned them that he had by him a long list of men who hadtaken a prominent part in the affair, and that the first time any ofthese misconducted themselves they might be well assured that no mercywould be shown to them.

  The naval court martial showed no greater severity than thatadministered by the military officers. The vessel was short handed, andmoreover the officers did not wish the stigma to attach to the ship ofa serious mutiny among the crew. Had any of these been hung, the mattermust have been reported; but as none of the crew had absolutely takenpart in the rising, however evident it was that they intended to doso, no sentences of death were passed. But a number of the men weresentenced to be flogged more or less severely, those who had but latelybeen pressed getting off with comparatively light punishments, whilethe heaviest sentences were passed on the older hands concerned in theaffair.

  The arms of the troops continued to be kept under a strong guard until,ten days later, the rest of the fleet were seen, just as the northernpoint of Portugal was made out. A few hours later the fleet was united;and the next day, the wind dying entirely away, Colonel Cliffordproceeded in a boat to the flagship to report to the Earl ofPeterborough the mutiny which had taken place in his regiment, and itssuccessful suppression.

  Immediately the mutiny had been put down Jack Stilwell had stolen awayand rejoined the soldiers forward; and although there was much wonderamong the men as to how the affair had been discovered, none suspectedhim of having betrayed them, and believed that the officers must havebeen warned by some word incautiously let drop in
their hearing. Only toSergeant Edwards did Jack reveal what had taken place.

  "Do you know, lad, I guessed as you had had a hand in the businesssomehow. When I was standing tied up against the mast I had to keep mymouth shut; but I had the use of my eyes, and I could not make you outamong them. I might have missed you, of course; but your company wasformed up close to where I was standing, and I thought I should haveseen you if you had been there. I could not think what had become ofyou; but when the men came pouring down again without their arms, and Iheard them cursing and swearing because the sailors and the officers andall was found in readiness to receive them, it somehow came to my mindas that you was at the bottom of it--though how, I could not for thelife of me make out, for I knew you had gone below when I did."

  "I wish, sergeant, that when you are examined, as you will be about thisaffair, you will ask Captain Curtis to ask the colonel not to let itbe known publicly that it was I who warned him, for my life wouldbe unbearable among the men if they knew it. And if it didn't happenbefore, it would be certain that the first time we went into action Ishould get a bullet in my back."

  "You are right there, my lad. I will tell the captain. You may be sureyour conduct won't be overlooked; but at present, as you say, the lesssaid about it the better."

  An hour after Colonel Clifford had gone on board the flagship the boatreturned with orders that Private Stilwell, of D Company, was to go backwith them. The order was given to Captain Curtis, who sent first forSergeant Edwards.

  "Go forward, sergeant, and tell Stilwell that he is to go on board theflagship. No doubt the colonel has spoken to the general. Tell the ladapart, and let him make his way aft here to the gangway quietly, so thathe won't be noticed. If any of the men happen to see him going off inthe boat, they may suppose that the colonel has only sent for some manwho can write; and naturally if the captain had ordered me to choose aman, I should have picked him out."

  On reaching the deck of the flagship Jack was conducted to the admiral'scabin. At the head of the table was seated a man whom Jack recognizedat once, from the description he had heard of him, as the Earl ofPeterborough. He was small and very spare in person, his features werepleasant, his nose somewhat prominent, his eye lively and penetrating.He had laid aside the immense wig which, in accordance with the custom,he wore when abroad or at court in England; and Jack saw his hair, whichwas light brown and somewhat scanty. The admiral of the fleet sat nextto him; for although Peterborough had the command of the expeditionboth at land and sea, an admiral was in command of the fleet under him.Colonel Clifford was seated on the earl's left, and several other navaland military officers were at the table.

  "Well, young man," Peterborough said, "Colonel Clifford has been tellingus that it is due to you that I have not a regiment the less under myorders, and that her majesty has not lost a ship from the list of hernavy. He says that the whole thing was so quickly done that he hasnot been able to learn the full particulars from you, and that he hasabstained from questioning you because you did not wish any suspicionto be excited among the men of the part you played in it. Now, please totell me the whole history of the affair."

  Jack thereupon related how his suspicions had been aroused by SergeantEdwards, who was only waiting for sufficient opportunity and a certaintyof information to divulge the plot to the officers. He then relatedhis awaking as the mutiny began, and the steps he had taken to warn theofficers. When he had done, the earl said:

  "You have acted smartly and well, young man; you have shown promptness,courage, and fidelity. You speak above your rank. What is yourparentage?"

  "My father was a clergyman, sir," Jack said, "but being dispossessed ofhis living in the troubles, could not make his case known on the returnof King Charles; but he supported himself by teaching, and gave me sucheducation as he could, in hope that I too should enter the ministry.But my thoughts did not incline that way; and when he died, and also mymother, I thought of going to sea, when it happened that I was pressedfor a soldier. And seeing that it was so, I made up my mind to make thebest of things."

  "And you have done so, young man; and right glad am I that youreducation and parentage are such that I can reward you as I should wish.I give you a discharge now from your regiment and appoint you ensign.You will at present form one of my staff; and glad am I to have sodashing and able a young officer ready to hand for any perilous serviceI may require."

  On the 20th of June the fleet sailed up the Tagus.

  Jack had not returned on board his ship.

  "Better stop here," the earl said. "If you went back, and they heard youwere promoted, likely enough some of them might toss you overboard ona dark night. We will set the tailors at once to work to rig you up anundress uniform. You can get a full dress made at Lisbon. Not that youwill be wanting to wear that much, for we have come out for rough work;still, when we ride triumphantly into any town we have taken, it is aswell to make a good impression upon the Spanish donnas. And, say whatthey will, fine feathers go a long way toward making fine birds. Do youwrite a good hand?"

  "I think I write a pretty fair one, sir."

  "That is good. I write a crabbed stick myself, and there's nothing Ihate more than writing; and as for these young gentlemen, I don't thinkthey will be of much use for that sort of thing. However, I shan't havea great deal of it. But you shall act as my secretary when necessary."

  The earl's orders to the tailors were peremptory to lose no time infitting Jack with an undress suit, and in twenty-four hours he was ableto join the mess of the young officers and volunteers who accompaniedthe general. These were all young men of good family; and having heardhow Jack had saved the ship from mutiny, they received him among themwith great heartiness, which was increased when they found that he waswell educated and the son of a gentleman.

  It was a great satisfaction to Jack, that owing to the kindness andgenerosity of the earl, he was able to pay his expenses at mess and tolive on equal terms with them; for the general had dropped a purse witha hundred guineas into his hand, saying:

  "This will be useful to you, lad, for you must live like the otherofficers. I owe it to you many times over for having saved me thatregiment, upon whose equipment and fitting out I had spent well nigh ahundred times that sum."

  Some of the officers were but little older than Jack, and by the timethe ship dropped anchor in the Tagus he was quite at home with them.

  "What a lovely city!" he said as he leaned over the bulwark and lookedat the town standing on the steep hills sloping down to the river.

  "Yes, indeed," Graham, one of the young officers, agreed. "But I fancythe Portuguese are but poor creatures. The Earl of Galway writes in hisdispatches that they are great at promises, but he finds he can expectlittle assistance from them."

  "Have you any idea whether we are going to land here?"

  "No; wherever we land, you may be sure it won't be here. The Earl ofGalway has been here two or three months, and he has some good regimentswith him. Our chief would be losing his position did we land here, ashe has a separate command, and would of course be under Galway if theforces were joined. The Dutch fleet is to be here in a day or two, andthe Archduke Charles sailed a fortnight before we did; and as we havemade a very slow voyage of it, he ought to have been here long ago. Whata talk there will be! What with the archduke, and the Portuguese, andthe Dutch, and the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, and the Earls of Galwayand Peterborough, and probably every one of them with his own ideas andopinions, it will be hard to come to any arrangement. Besides there willbe dispatches from the British court, and the court of the Netherlands,and the Austrian emperor, all of whom will probably differ as to whatis the best thing to be done. There will be a nice to do altogether.There's one thing to be said, our chief can out talk them all; and hecan say such disagreeable things when he likes that he will be likelyto get his own way, if it's only to get rid of him. There goes his boatinto the water. What an impatient fellow he is, to be sure."

  No sooner had Peterborough landed than he t
urned all his energies toobtain the supplies which had been denied to him at home, and after muchdifficulty he succeeded in borrowing a hundred thousand pounds froma Jew named Curtisos on treasury bills on Lord Godolphin, with thecondition that the lender should be given the contract for the supply ofprovisions and other requisites for the army. The day that the earl hadcarried out this arrangement he returned on board radiant. Hithertohe had been terribly out of temper, and Jack, who had become hisamanuensis, had written at his dictation many very sharp notes to everyone with whom he had come in contact. As soon as he came on board hesent for Jack to his cabin.

  "Sit down, Mr. Stilwell. I have a dispatch for you to write to the lordtreasurer. I have got my money, so that difficulty is at an end. It isglorious! I couldn't get a penny out of them before I sailed, now I havegot as much as I want. I would give a thousand guineas out of my ownpocket to see Godolphin's face when he reads my dispatch, and finds thathe's got to honor bills for a hundred thousand pounds; it will be betterthan any comedy that ever was acted. How the pompous old owl will fretand fume! But he will have to find the money for all that. He can'tbegin the campaign by dishonoring bills of her majesty's general, or noone would trust us hereafter. You haven't seen my lord treasurer, Mr.Stilwell?"

  "No, sir, I have not been at court at all."

  "That's a pity," the earl said; "for you lose the cream of the joke.Now, I shall go on shore tomorrow and get everything that is wanted, andthen the sooner we are off the better; we have been here a fortnight,and I am sick of the place."

  Jack was by no means sick of Lisbon, for he enjoyed himself vastly. Thetown was full of troops--English, Dutch, and Portuguese. Of an eveningthere were fetes and galas of all kinds, and as the earl always attendedthese, Jack and the other young officers were permitted to go ashoreeither in full uniform to take part in the fetes, or to enjoy themselvesaccording to their fancies.

  As Graham had predicted, it was some time before any conclusion wasarrived at as to the destination of the fleet. Several councils wereheld, but no decision was come to. Peterborough's orders were so vaguethat he could use his own discretion. He had, indeed, been recommendedto prevail upon the Archduke Charles to accompany him and to proceedto Italy, where he was to form a junction with Victor Amadeus, Duke ofSavoy, who was sorely pressed by the armies of France.

  A messenger, however, arrived by sea with an order from the queen thatthe fleet should proceed to the coast of Catalonia, in consequence ofinformation which had been sent to the British court of the favorabledisposition of the Catalans toward the Archduke Charles. This was inaccordance with the counsel which the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt had beenstrenuously urging, and his recent success in the capture andsubsequent defense of Gibraltar gave weight to his words and effaced therecollection of his failure before Barcelona in the previous year.

  The final decision rested in a great measure with the Archduke Charles,who at last decided to proceed with Lord Peterborough and land upon thecoast of Spain and test the disposition of his Valencian and Catalansubjects. The reasons for Peterborough's falling in with the decision tomove on Barcelona are explained in a dispatch which he dictated to SirGeorge Rooke on the 20th of July.

  "Upon the letter of my Lord Godolphin and the secretary of state,the King of Spain, his ministers, and my Lord Galway and myself haveconcluded there was no other attempt to be made but upon Catalonia,where all advices agree that six thousand men and twelve hundred horseare ready expecting our arrival with a general goodwill of all thepeople. The Portuguese have entirely refused to join in any designagainst Cadiz, and by a copy of my Lord Galway's letter you will find heis in an utter despair of their attempting anything this year, and thatby our instructions it will appear that there is no other enterpriseleft for our choice."

  Peterborough's military force was, however, wholly insufficient for suchan enterprise. He prevailed upon Lord Galway to give him a part of LordRaby's and General Cunningham's regiments of English dragoons, althoughthe Portuguese strenuously opposed this being done. Their conduct,indeed, at this time was very similar to that which they adopted ahundred years later toward the Duke of Wellington, throwing everyconceivable obstacle in the English commander's way, and opposing everyplan of action which he suggested. Many of the dragoons were withouthorses, but Lord Peterborough mounted them on animals which he boughtwith some of the money he had procured from Curtisos.

  The Prince of Hesse Darmstadt went on ahead to Gibraltar to arrange fora portion of the garrison to accompany the expedition. On the 28th ofJuly the Archduke Charles embarked with Lord Peterborough on board theRanelagh, and an hour later the fleet put to sea. Off Tangiers they werejoined by the squadron under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, and a few days laterthey reached the Bay of Gibraltar.

  Here they found that the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt had arranged thatthe battalion of the guards, with three other veteran regiments that hadborne part in the gallant defense of the fortress, were to be embarked,and two of the newly raised corps Lord Peterborough had brought out fromEngland were to take their place in the garrison. The regiment to whichJack had belonged was one of these. As soon as he heard the news he tookthe first opportunity of speaking to the earl.

  "I have a favor to ask, sir."

  "What is that, lad?"

  "It is, sir, that Sergeant Edwards, who, if you remember, advised meabout warning the officers of the mutiny, should be transferred to oneof the regiments coming on board."

  "Certainly, my lad; I had not forgotten him. I truly wish that he hadsufficient education to give him a commission. I sent to inquire of hiscolonel, but finding that he could not read or write, and that he wouldbe out of place among the officers, I could not do it; but I will gladlytake him with us on active service. It would be hard on a good soldierto be left behind with that mutinous set of rascals."

  Jack had already heard from Sergeant Edwards, whom he had met severaltimes on shore at Lisbon, and who had rejoiced most heartily at hispromotion, that Lord Peterborough had sent him, through the colonel, apurse of fifty guineas as a reward for his conduct.

  Jack immediately proceeded in a boat to his old vessel, with an orderfrom the earl that the sergeant should be at once transferred into oneof the regiments coming on board. The sergeant was delighted, for ordershad already been received for the regiment to disembark and form part ofthe garrison.

  An hour later the Archduke Charles landed, amid the thunder of theguns of the fleet and fortress, for here for the first time he wasacknowledged as and received the honor due to the King of Spain. Therewas but little delay--Lord Peterborough's energy hurried every one elseforward, and on the 5th of August the fleet again put to sea, the kingand the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt accompanying it.

  The winds were contrary, and it was not till the 11th that they anchoredin Altea Bay, at the mouth of the Guadalaviar, on the Valencian coast.On the other side of the roadstead stood the castle and village ofDenia. The expedition was received with good will by the people, whohated the ascendency of France at Madrid and were bitterly jealous ofCastile.

  As soon as the fleet anchored Peterborough caused a manifesto to bedistributed among the people disclaiming any idea of aggrandizement onthe part of Great Britain or her allies, or any intention of injuringthe persons or property of Spaniards who were the lawful subjects ofKing Charles III.

  "We come," said he, "to free you from the insupportable yoke of thegovernment of foreigners, and from the slavery to which you have beenreduced and sold to France by ill designing persons."

  Several of the Spanish followers of the king landed to encourage thepeople, among them General Basset y Ramos, an active officer who was aValencian by birth. The people rapidly assembled from the surroundingcountry and lined the shore shouting "Long live King Charles III!"

  Abundant supplies of provisions were sent off to the fleet, for which,however, Peterborough insisted upon liberal payment being made.

  A detachment of British infantry was landed to cover the operation ofwatering the fleet. The insurrec
tion spread rapidly, and a thousand ofthe peasants seized the town of Denia for the king. A frigate and twobomb vessels crossed the bay and threatened the castle. This, although amagnificent pile of building, was but weakly fortified, and after a fewshots had been fired it surrendered, and General Ramos with four hundredregular troops from the fleet landed and took possession, and amidthe enthusiasm of the population Charles III was for the first time onSpanish ground proclaimed King of Spain and of the Indies.

  The Earl of Peterborough now proposed a plan of the most brilliant anddaring kind, and had his advice been taken the war would probably haveterminated in a very short time, by securely seating Charles III uponthe Spanish throne. Madrid was distant but fifty leagues from AlteaBay. Requena was the only town of strength that lay in the way; the richcountry would have afforded ample provision and means of transport,and these the friendly portion of the people would have placed at thedisposal of the army.

  In the whole of Central Spain there was no force which could opposehim. All the troops of Philip were either on the frontier of Portugal oroccupying the disaffected cities of the north. At Madrid there were buta few troops of horse; in a week then, and possibly without shedding adrop of blood, Charles might have been proclaimed king in the capital ofSpain. The plan was, of course, not without danger. Marshal Tesse, withan overwhelming force, would threaten the left of the advancing army,and the garrisons of the northern cities, if united, could march withequal superiority of force upon its right; but Tesse would be followedby Lord Galway and the allied and Portuguese army, while Barcelona andthe other strongholds of Catalonia would rise if their garrisons werewithdrawn.

  Even in the case of failure Peterborough could have retired safelythrough Valencia and have re-embarked on board the fleet, or could havemarched to Gibraltar. The scheme was at once daring and judicious,but the Archduke Charles was slow and timid, and was controlled by theadvice of his even slower and more cautious German advisers, and neitherargument nor entreaty on the part of Peterborough could suffice to movehim. The earl was in despair at so brilliant an opportunity being thrownaway, and expressed himself with the greatest of bitterness in hisletters home as to the impossibility of carrying out movements whenembarrassed by the presence of the king and by the incapacity of theking's advisers.

  However, finding that nothing could be done he re-embarked his troops,and the fleet sailed for Barcelona. It was not however, thought probablethat a successful attempt could be made upon so strongly fortifieda city, and it was determined that if upon inspection the chances ofsuccess should appear slight, the fleet and army should at once proceed,as originally intended, to the assistance of the Duke of Savoy.