The Privateer's-Man, One hundred Years Ago

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER II.

  We are pursued by Two Schooner-Privateers, and failing to escape them a terrible Contest ensues--Three Acts of a Murderous Naval Drama--We are worsted--Captain Weatherall is killed--I am plundered and wounded.

  About six weeks after the unlucky affair before described, we met witha still greater disaster. We had cruised off the Spanish Main andtaken several prizes; shortly after we had manned the last and hadparted company, the Revenge being then close in shore, a fresh galesprung up, which compelled us to make all sail to clear the land. Webeat off shore during the whole of the night, when the weathermoderated, and at daybreak we found out that we had not gained muchoffing, in consequence of the current; but what was more important,the man who went to the look-out at the masthead, hailed the deck,saying there were two sail in the offing. The hands were turned up tomake sail in chase, but we found that they were resolutely bearingdown upon us; and as we neared each other fast, we soon made them outto be vessels of force. One we knew well--she was the Esperance, aFrench schooner-privateer of sixteen guns, and one hundred andtwenty-men; the other proved to be a Spanish schooner-privateer,cruising in company with her, of eighteen guns, and full manned.

  Now our original complement of men had been something more than onehundred, but by deaths, severe wounds in action, and manning ourprizes, our actual number on board was reduced to fifty-five effectivemen. Finding the force so very superior, we made every attempt withsails and sweeps to escape, but the land to leeward of us, and theirposition to windward, rendered it impossible. Making, therefore, avirtue of necessity, we put a good face upon it, and prepared tocombat against such desperate odds.

  Captain Weatherall, who was the life and soul of his crew, was notfound wanting on such an emergency. With the greatest coolness andintrepidity, he gave orders to take in all the small sails, andawaited the coming down of the enemy. When every thing was ready forthe unequal conflict, he ordered all hands aft, and endeavoured toinspire us with the same ardour which animated himself. He reminded usthat we had often fought and triumphed over vessels of much greaterforce than our own; that we had already beaten off the Frenchprivateer on a former occasion; that the Spaniard was not worthtalking about except to swell the merits of the double victory, andthat if once we came hand to hand our cutlasses would soon prove oursuperiority. He reminded us that our only safety depended upon our ownmanhood; for we had done such mischief on the coast, and our recentdescent upon the plantation was considered in such a light, that wemust not expect to receive quarter if we were overcome. Exhorting usto behave well, and to fight stoutly, he promised us the victory. Themen had such confidence in the captain that we returned him threecheers, when, dismissing us to our quarters, he ordered St. George'sensign to be hoisted at the main-masthead, and hove to for the enemy.

  The French schooner was the first which ranged up alongside; the windwas light, and she came slowly down to us. The captain of her hailed,saying that his vessel was the Esperance, and our captain replied thathe knew it, and that they also knew that his was the Revenge. TheFrench captain, who had hove to, replied very courteously that he waswell aware what vessel it was, and also of the valour anddistinguished reputation of Captain Weatherall, upon which, CaptainWeatherall, who stood on the gunnel, took off his hat inacknowledgment of the compliment.

  Now Captain Weatherall was well known, and it was also well known thatthe two vessels would meet with a severe resistance, which it would beas well to avoid, as even if they gained the victory, it would not bewithout great loss of men. The French captain therefore addressedCaptain Weatherall again, and said he hoped, now that he was opposedto so very superior a force, he would not make a useless resistance,but as it would be no disgrace to him, and would save the lives ofmany of his brave men, his well known humanity would induce him tostrike his colours.

  To this request our commander gave a gallant and positive refusal. Thevessels lay now close to each other, so that a biscuit might have beenthrown on board of either. A generous expostulation ensued, whichcontinued till the Spanish vessel was a short distance astern of us.

  "You now see our force," said the French captain. "Do not fightagainst impossible odds, but spare your brave and devoted men."

  "In return for your kind feeling towards me," replied CaptainWeatherall, "I offer you both quarter, and respect to privateproperty, upon hauling down your colours."

  "You are mad, Captain Weatherall," said the French captain.

  "You allow that I have lived bravely," replied Captain Weatherall;"you shall find that I will conquer you, and if necessary I will alsodie bravely. We will now fight. In courtesy, I offer you the firstbroadside."

  "Impossible," said the French captain, taking off his hat.

  Our captain returned the salute, and then slipping down from thegunwale, ordered the sails to be filled, and, after a minute to givethe Frenchman time to prepare, he fired off in the air the fusee,which he held in his hand, as a signal for the action to begin. Weinstantly commenced the work of death by pouring in a broadside. Itwas returned with equal spirit, and a furious cannonading ensued forseveral minutes, when the Spaniard ranged up on our lee quarter withhis rigging full of men to board us. Clapping our helm a-weather andhauling our fore sheets to windward, we fell off athwart his hawse,and raked him with several broadsides fore and aft; our guns havingbeen loaded with langridge and lead bullets, and his men being crowdedtogether forward, ready to leap on board of us, her deck became aslaughter-house. The officers endeavoured in vain to animate theirmen, who, instead of gaining our decks, were so intimidated by thecarnage that they forsook their own. The Frenchman perceiving theconsternation and distress of his consort, to give her an opportunityof extricating herself from her perilous condition, now put his helma-weather, ran us on board, and poured in his men; but we were wellprepared, and soon cleared our decks of the intruders. In the meantimethe Spaniard, by cutting away our rigging, in which his bowsprit wasentangled, swung clear of us, and fell away to leeward. The Frenchmanperceiving this, sheered off, and springing his luff, shot ahead clearof us. Such was the first act of this terrible drama. We had as yetsustained little damage, the enemy's want of skill and our own goodfortune combined, having enabled us to take them at such adisadvantage.

  But although inspirited by such a prosperous beginning, ourinferiority in men was so great that our captain considered it hisduty to make all sail in hopes of being able to avoid such an unequalcombat. This our enemies attempted to prevent by a most furiouscannonade, which we received and returned without flinching, making arunning fight of it, till at last our fore yard and foretop-mast beingshot away, we had no longer command of the vessel. Finding that,although we were crippled and could not escape, our fire continuedunabated, both the vessels again made preparations for boarding us,while we on our part prepared to give them a warm reception.

  As we knew that the Frenchman, who was our most serious opponent, mustboard us on our weather bow, we traversed over four of our guns loadedto the muzzle with musket balls to receive him, and being all readywith our pateraroes and hand grenades, we waited for the attack. As hebore down for our bows, with all his men clinging like bees, ready forthe spring, our guns were discharged and the carnage was terrible. Themen staggered back, falling down over those who had been killed orwounded, and it required all the bravery and example of the Frenchcaptain, who was really a noble fellow, to rally the remainder of hismen, which at last he succeeded in doing, and about forty of themgained our forecastle, from which they forced our weak crew, andretained possession, not following up the success, but apparentlywailing till they were seconded by the Spaniard's boarding us on ourlee quarter, which would have placed us between two fires, andcompelled us to divide our small force.

  By this time the wind, which had been light, left us, and it wasnearly a calm, with a swell on the sea, which separated the twovessels; the Spaniard, who was ranging up under our lee, having butlittle way and not luffing enough, could not fetch us, but fell offand drifted
to leeward. The Frenchmen who had been thrown on board,and who retained possession of our forecastle, being thus left withoutsupport from their own vessel, which had been separated from us by theswell, or from the Spaniard, which had fallen to leeward, we gavethree cheers, and throwing a number of hand-grenades in among them, werushed forward with our half-pikes, and killed or drove every soul ofthem overboard, one only, and he wounded in the thigh, escaped byswimming back to his own vessel. Here, then, was a pause in theconflict, and thus ended, I may say, the second act.

  Hitherto the battle had been fought with generous resolution; butafter this hand-to-hand conflict, and the massacre with which itended, both sides appeared to have been roused to ferocity. A mostinfernal cannonade was now renewed by both our antagonists, andreturned by us with equal fury; but it was now a dead calm, and thevessels rolled so much with the swell, that the shot were not soeffective. By degrees we separated more and more from our enemies, andthe firing was now reduced to single guns. During this partialcessation our antagonists had drawn near to each other, although at aconsiderable distance from us. We perceived that the Spaniard wassending two of his boats full of men to supply the heavy losssustained by his comrade. Captain Weatherall ordered the sweeps out,and we swept our broadside to them, trying by single guns to sink theboats as they went from one vessel to the other. After two or threeattempts, a gun was successful; the shot shattered the first of theboats, which instantly filled and went down. The second boat pulled upand endeavoured to save the men, but we now poured our broadside uponthem, and, daunted by the shot flying about them, they sought theirown safety by pulling back to the vessel, leaving their sinkingcompanions to their fate. Failing in this attempt, both vesselsrecommenced their fire upon us, but the distance and the swell of thesea prevented any execution, and at last they ceased firing, waitingtill a breeze should spring up which might enable them to renew thecontest with better success.

  At this time it was about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and thecombat had lasted about five hours. We refreshed ourselves after thefatigue and exertion which we had undergone, and made everypreparation for a renewal of the fight. During the engagement we wereso excited, that we had no time to think; but now that we were coolagain and unoccupied, we had time to reflect upon our position, and webegan to feel dejected and apprehensive. Fatigued with exertion, wewere weak and dispirited. We knew that our best men were slain orgroaning under their severe wounds, that the enemy were stillnumerous, and as they persevered after so dreadful a slaughter, thatthey were of unquestionable bravery and resolution. Good fortune, andour captain's superior seamanship had, up to the present, enabled usto make a good fight, but fortune might desert us, and our numberswere so reduced, that if the enemy continued resolute, we must beoverpowered. Our gallant captain perceived the despondency thatprevailed, and endeavoured to remove it by his own example and bypersuasion. After praising us for the resolution and courage we hadalready shown, he pointed out to us that whatever might be thegallantry of the officers, it was clear that the men on board of theopposing vessels were awed by their heavy loss and want of success,and that if they made one more attempt to take us by the board andfailed, which he trusted they would do, no persuasion would everinduce them to try it again, and the captains of the vessels wouldgive over such an unprofitable combat. He solemnly averred that thecolours should never be struck while he survived, and demanded whoamongst us were base enough to refuse to stand by them. Again we gavehim three cheers, but our numbers were few, and the cheers were faintcompared with the first which had been given, but still we wereresolute, and determined to support our captain and the honour of ourflag. Captain Weatherall took care that this feeling should notsubside--he distributed the grog plentifully; at our desire he nailedthe colours to the mast, and we waited for a renewal of the combatwith impatience. At four o'clock in the afternoon a breeze sprang up,and both vessels trimmed their sails and neared us fast--not quite insuch gallant trim as in the morning it is true--but they appeared nowto have summoned up a determined resolution. Silently they came up,forcing their way slowly through the water; not a gun was fired, butthe gaping mouths of the cannon, and their men motionless at theirquarters, portended the severity of the struggle which was now todecide this hitherto well-contested trial for victory. When withinhalf a cable's length, we saluted them with three cheers, theyreturned our defiance, and running up on each side of us, the combatwas renewed with bitterness.

  The Frenchman would not this time lay us on board until he was certainthat the Spaniard had boarded us to leeward--he continued luffing towindward and plying us with broadsides until we were grappled with theSpaniard, and then he bore down and laid his gunwale on our bow. TheSpaniard had already boarded us on the quarter, and we were repellingthis attack, when the Frenchman laid us on the bow. We fought withdesperation, and our pikes gave us such an advantage over the swordsand knives of the Spaniards, that they gave ground, and appalled bythe desperate resistance they encountered, quitted our decks strewedwith their dead and dying shipmates, and retreated in confusion totheir own vessel. But before this repulse had been effected, theFrench had boarded us on the weather-bow, and driving before them thefew men who had been sent forward to resist them, had gained our maindeck, and forced their way to the rise of the quarter-deck, where allour remaining men were now collected. The combat was now desperate,but after a time our pikes, and the advantage of our position,appeared to prevail over numbers. We drove them before us--we hadregained the main deck, when our brave commander, who was at our head,and who had infused spirit into us all, received a bullet through hisright wrist; shifting his sword into his left hand, he still pressedforward encouraging us, when a ball entered his breast and he droppeddead. With his fall, fell the courage and fortitude of his crew solong sustained--and to complete the mischief, the lieutenant and tworemaining officers also fell a few seconds after him. Astonished andterrified, the men stopped short in their career of success, andwildly looked round for a leader. The French, who had retreated to theforecastle, perceiving our confusion, renewed the attack, our fewremaining men were seized with a panic, and throwing down our arms, weasked for quarter where a moment before victory was in our hands--suchwas the finale of our bloody drama.

  Out of fifty-five men twenty-two had been killed in this murderousconflict, and almost all the survivors desperately or severelywounded. Most of the remaining crew after we had cried for quarterjumped down the hatchway, to avoid the cutlasses of their enragedvictors. I and about eight others, having been driven past thehatchway, threw down our arms and begged for quarter, which we hadlittle reason to expect would be shown to us. At first no quarter wasgiven by our savage enemies, who cut down several of our disarmed menand hacked them to pieces. Perceiving this, I got on the gunwale readyto jump overboard, in the hopes of being taken up after the slaughterhad ceased, when a French lieutenant coming up protected us, andsaved the poor remains of our crew from the fury of his men. Ourlives, however, were all he counted upon preserving--we were instantlystripped and plundered without mercy. I lost every thing I possessed;the watch, ring, and sword I had taken from the gallant Frenchman weresoon forced from me, and not stripping off my apparel fast enough toplease a Mulatto sailor, I received a blow with the butt-end of apistol under the left ear, which precipitated me down the hatchway,near which I was standing, and I fell senseless into the hold.