As they talked, Mullins heard the Marine sentry outside his door raise his voice, then a thud, a groan, and the clatter of something heavy dropped to the deck. Mullins went to the door to investigate, while Mister Daley drew his sword, which he had taken to wearing lately when on duty.
As Mullins reached the door, it swung open and Landsman Weyland stepped in, with one of the ship’s pistols in his hand. Behind him were two more hands, one armed with another pistol and the third wielded the sentry’s musket. Private Wells lay on the deck outside, blood running from his head, pooling on the deck.
Weyland pressed the muzzle of his weapon against Mullin’s head and ordered Daley to drop his blade. With Mister Daley disarmed, other men crowded into the cabin and tied the officers’ arms with line they had brought.
Thoughts were flashing through Mullins mind, what he could say to these people to convince them to give it up. In the end, he kept his silence. By their own actions, these men had just condemned themselves to hang. Nothing he could say would likely convince them to give up this nonsense.
Weyland ordered one of the others to go out on deck and tell the duty officer to hand over the ship to the mutinous hands. A moment later, the voice of Mister Evans was heard as he shouted to his captain.
“Sir, we are told we must give over the ship. I have not complied and have a few good men with me and some arms.”
Weyland produced a seaman’s knife, which he pressed firmly against Mullin’s neck. “Not a word, Captain.”
The two officers sat in the cabin all that day. Occasionally their guards were relieved, but it seemed to be only a few who were entrusted with the task. At least, the same men returned after a few hours off duty. Mullins, familiar with his ship, believed they were still more or less on course, and suspected only a small number of hands were involved with the mutiny, but it seemed obvious that a majority of the seamen were willing to cooperate with the mutineers.
That night, when the relief for their guard came on duty, the officers had their first suspicions confirmed that the mutineers were encountering difficulties. The relief guard had already stood two previous watches and was in a surly mood. When Mullins tried to engage the man in discussion, the lout offered to cut his captain’s throat.
By mutual agreement, Mullins and the first officer kept their silence and their guard responded by falling asleep, sitting at the captain’s desk. Minutes later, sounds at the starboard gun port resulted in something on a line being passed through. The single light in the cabin did not produce enough light to identify the object, but Mullins, tied in his chair, was able to maneuver over to the gun port to investigate.
There were two objects secured to the end of the line. The first was a razor-sharp seaman’s knife, the other was a pocket pistol belonging to Mister Evans.
Their guard was now snoring away, showing no interest in their activities. With their hands secured behind them there was going to be some difficulty in taking possession of their gifts. Daley managed to back his chair up to the gun port and seize the line to which the weapons were secured. Mullins edged his chair over and took the knife in his numbed hand. Unable to control the blade himself, he held it while Daley attempted to sever the line holding his wrists.
At the cost of some cuts and blood, eventually the line was cut and Daley was able to shed his bonds. Daley then took custody of the blade and had Mullins freed, in short order. Their guard was still at the desk snoring noisily, his pistol on the desktop. Mullins sidled over and picked up the weapon, checking the priming as he did so. He would have liked to secure their guard, but had no line immediately available. The guard’s pistol though, would make an efficient club. Clutching it by its barrel, Mullins swung it against the man’s head. Inexperienced at rendering people unconscious, he struck harder than necessary and felt the skull give way from the blow. The mutineer never woke again.
Armed with the pistols and Daley’s sword, the pair crept through the cabin door. On the quarterdeck, Mister Evans sat on the deck by the helm, with a dozen others about. One of them was Mister Adolphus, who they soon learned was the one that had passed the weapons to them. Two more were Hudson, his clerk, and Archer, the newly appointed midshipman.
Evans explained their situation. His men controlled the helm but the seamen aboard, sometimes listening to the mutineers and sometimes not, controlled the sails. Evans, although deprived of his charts, was sure the ship was in or near the sea lanes usually travelled by shipping on the way to the blockading fleet at Toulon. The sailing master thought there was a good chance of sighting one or more of these ships. The problem here seemed to be, how would they notify one of these ships of their difficulty.
A dozen crewmen up forward were watching the officers at the helm. Evans explained that many of the seamen, while taking no part in the active mutiny, were refusing to follow orders. One hand had told him privately these were waiting to see how the situation played out. Some of the original active mutineers had seemingly dropped out, when most of the crew did not join with them. The more violent participants, few in number now, were mostly holed up on the mess deck. They had the contents of an arms chest in their possession and were prepared to cause much bloodshed.
It was believed most of the crew, while refusing to take part in any violence, would refuse to follow any orders they felt would result in their apprehension. Already talk had begun regarding taking the ship to either France or America.
When Mullins asked about weapons available to them, he was shown two swivel guns, several pistols and a pair of muskets. Not enough to take on a crew of mutineers.
Noticing Mister Adolphus on the outskirts of the group, Mullins recalled he had often used the lad as his signal officer. “Mister Adolphus, how is our supply of signal flags? Can we signal our plight to any warships we see?”
“Sir, the mutineers threw most of our flags overboard. I have a few they did not notice. The only useful ones might be two I have that would signal ‘Engage the enemy more closely’. This would seem to be gibberish, but might cause a ship to pay us some attention.”
As they spoke, a group of seamen detached themselves from mass of men on the foredeck and came aft. A topman Mullins recognized, Amos Harris, knuckled his forehead and spoke.
“Captain Mullins, we are glad you are alright. We were right fearful of what those gaolbirds might do to you.”
Mullins answered, “Harris, you puzzle me. I saw no evidence of yourself or anyone else, save for these people here on the quarterdeck, doing anything to quell this mutiny.”
“Sir, once this started, anything one of us did to stop it, would put nooses around our mates’ necks. We have all voted to keep you and your officers safe, but we will not do anything to have any hands brought to a court martial.”
Mullins nodded his understanding. “Then you will all be attending one. The gibbets on shore will be crowded with all of your bodies on display.”
“Sir, with all respect, that will not happen. We will take the ship to a port where we will be safe.”
The captain replied. “I wonder where that might be? You could go to France, but I doubt their leaders will want a batch of mutineers in their midst. At best, you’ll find yourselves conscripted into the French army.”
“Sir, we can go to America. The Navy will never get their hands on us there. In the meantime, we need you to leave the quarterdeck. You can go to the wardroom or your own cabin, Captain.
Mullins retorted, “It may be a struggle for you to remove us, Harris. We do have weapons, as you can see, and blood will be spilled if you try to force us below.”
“Captain, if you fire on us, we will do the same to you. There are many more of us and we have more weapons. You will all die for nothing.”
Mullins tried a different approach. “This mutiny began because you found you were not returning to home port but were staying in the Mediterranean. If this continues, how will you ever see your homes and families again? Harris, consider this. From what I know, I believe only a fe
w men actually used violence to gain their end. I killed one of those in my quarters only a few minutes ago. I believe many hands, previously loyal, have not yet decided which way they are to jump. I can assure you, the Navy will do whatever it can to avoid hanging an entire ship’s crew. If I can tell the court many hands, after initially refusing to follow orders, returned back to duty upon my request, I am certain those hands will be given the benefit of a doubt.”
Harris answered, “Sir, if we changed course now, we would have to testify against our mates. That is something I will not do. You mentioned our homes and families. If we give it up now, we will never see them again, anyway. We will all be dragged off to cells and tried on charges of mutiny. The last thing any of us would see would be the hood being placed over our heads before we are run up to the main yardarm. Now Captain, I fear the men are becoming impatient. Will you go peacefully, or must we force you?”
At a word from Mullins, all their arms were laid on the deck and the men filed below into the wardroom. Amidst some muttering among the mutineers, the men who had been standing at the helm filed below with the others. Some tried to force these men back up on deck but Harris intervened. “We are none of us going to force a man to put his neck in a noose. If these men want to side with the officers, that is their right.”
Chapter Twelve
Harris had explained to Captain Mullins that he was free to return to his own cabin, but for the time being he felt he should remain with the loyal men. Several were very uncomfortable in the officer’s wardroom. The helmsmen, Jacobs and Porter were seamen who had remained loyal and refused to take part in the mutiny. Hudson too was present, but as captain’s clerk, he was more used to these surroundings. These men feared returning to the mess deck, so it was agreed they would live with the officers here.
The next few days passed with monotony as the ship-sloop left the Med and made its way out into the Atlantic. Mullins had hoped to encounter members of the fleet on their way out, but nothing was seen immediately. The men kept a close watch from the wardroom’s stern windows as well as the open gun ports.
Apparently the mutineers were also keeping watch, since on the third day, they heard the hail from the masthead. The sightings were identified as a third rate and an accompanying frigate. The mutineers did not have the ship’s signal book and could not read their numbers, but some of the men on deck were overheard identifying them as Triumphant, 74 and Stag, 28.
The imprisoned officers could not immediately see the oncoming ships, but the mutineers, apparently alarmed at not being able to answer the signals of the pair, turned away and presented the ship’s stern to the newcomers.
The loyal men in the wardroom were now able to see the oncoming warships through the stern window, the third rate was seen signaling, punctuating her signals by firing a gun. Mister Adolphus, often serving as signal officer, knew many of them by heart, and was able to read them off for the others.
Adolphus reported, “HMS Triumphant wants us to identify ourselves and to send our captain. She is now signaling to HMS Stag to pursue.”
Mullins knew Stag to be an especially fast ship and thought she might be able to overtake Aurora, especially while she was in the hands of this inexperienced crew.
“Mister Adolphus, did you not say you had a few signal flags you recovered?”
“Yes sir, I can signal, ‘Engage the enemy more closely’, but that would be meaningless to our pursuers.”
“Not so, Mister Adolphus. By now, with no reply from us, Triumphant’s captain must be considering that we are now in French hands and may be considered an enemy. We will hang our flags from the stern window and hope they are seen.”
No evidence of their pursuers seeing the signal flags was seen, and it seemed this would develop into a long chase. Wishing to give their pursuers something to encourage them, Mullins eyes fell on the two big carronades bowsed up against their wardroom gun ports. Mullins always kept his guns aboard ship loaded, although their flintlock firing mechanisms were locked up in the magazine.
The men prepared the guns for firing, and ran out the gun most visible to the Triumphant. With no firing mechanism or priming quill, it would be more difficult to fire, although Mister Daley solved the problem by producing a cased set of dueling pistols from his little cabin. In the elaborate case was a flask of powder.
One of the pistols was charged with priming powder and a generous supply of powder poured down the carronade’s touchhole.
At the last minute, someone realized the mutineers would be calling on them once they fired the big gun, so furniture was piled against the wardroom door. Once the preparations were complete, Daley stood by the gun and held his pistol upside down over the gun’s vent. Pulling the trigger sent a shower of sparks into the pistol’s pan, and the resulting flash also ignited the powder in the big gun’s vent. The gun fired with a deafening roar in the confines of the wardroom and produced a cloud of smoke even the blindest of lookouts could not ignore.
A moment later, both Triumphant and Stag set every sail that would stand and the pair of ships began slowly overtaking them. A commotion erupted on Aurora’s deck, with some hands wishing to surrender while others insisted on fighting. A crowd of men came to the wardroom door, but Daley and Mullins were waiting with the pair of dueling pistols, both now fully charged with powder and ball.
The door was thin and easily defeated, but before the crowd attacking it could make any headway, Mullins fired his single shot, chest high into the closed door. A shout of pain resulted and Mullins immediately began recharging the weapon. Dumping an unmeasured charge down the bore, he dropped in an unpatched ball and dropped a pinch of powder in the pan.
Before he was finished, Daley fired his own weapon, resulting in more cries of pain. After the captain fired again, the men on the other side of the door seemingly departed. The occupants of the wardroom, left alone for a time, attempted to reinforce their position. The long table was turned on its side and placed diagonally across the room. This might impede any rush, should the mutineers break down the door.
Only a tiny amount of powder remained in the flask, so the port-side gun was drawn in and the ball extracted. The powder cartridge in the gun was removed and some of the powder used to make up small cartridges that would fit in the pistols. The powder from the gun was large grained, and more difficult to ignite, so the tiny portion of the remaining powder would be used to prime the pistols.
Engrossed in their work, the men were surprised when a pair of Aurora’s guns fired. Stag had come up off Aurora’s quarter, and now was within range. The frigate replied by veering to port and firing a broadside. The sound of the heavy balls smashing into the ship-sloop was most alarming to the men confined in the wardroom.
The sounds of panicked men echoed through the ship as many sought refuge below decks. Without officers, many of the more untrained individuals had no idea of what they were to do. In addition, the long-service men were reluctant to fire upon men on the opposing ships who they may well have served with before.
Triumphant was not visible from their viewpoint in the wardroom, but she too was within range as evidenced by the terrible broadside she loosed. Unwilling to face this fire, the ship came to and awaited boarding.
Apparently, some of the mutineers were not ready to give up their freedom, as there was the occasional snapping of small arms as the ship was boarded.
Moments later, a voice at the wardroom door announced himself to be Lieutenant Raynor of HMS Stag. With some effort, the obstructions were cleared away and the door opened. Raynor proved to be a former midshipman on a previous command of Mullins, now a junior lieutenant.
Raynor was all smiles to see his former captain alive and well but had to inform Captain Mullins he was under orders to deliver him, as well as any other loyal crewmembers to Triumphant. Mullins assured the officer that as far as he knew, all of the loyal hands were in this wardroom.
On board Triumphant, Mullin s met with Captain Harding, where he produced his
log of the recent events. Mister Evans had already delivered his own log as had Lieutenant Daley. Harding had, as yet, not had the time to examine these logs closely, but in any case, that might be better left to the court.
It was a matter of weeks before the trials were over and those convicted had been hauled by the nooses around their necks up to Aurora’s main yardarm. There, they twisted until death relieved them of their agony.
At this point, Mullins was about ready to give up the sea. He had trusted these men and they had betrayed not only him, but themselves and their own families. Harris was one he hated to see meet his end.
A good seaman, he died attempting to prove to his mates they could depend on him. Heartily disgusted, Mullins accepted half pay and returned to London. HMS Aurora had been extensively damaged by gunfire and it was not certain whether she would be repaired. Leaving his London address with the Port Admiral’s secretary, he caught the first available coach, taking with him both Hudson and Archer. Not wishing to incur Mrs. Cooper’s ire by bringing home two uninvited guests, he engaged rooms in London for the pair and gave them money to subsist. Archer was told to come around the house weekly to learn any news. He requested Hudson continue Archer’s education, on the off chance the midshipman might return to the navy.
As for himself, he had the gravest doubts the Royal Navy would ever trust him with another command.
Mrs. Cooper, as always, was happy to see him again. She had cared for him since he was an infant and regarded him as she would a son. Doris Walker was the maid who had earlier became very attached to her exciting employer and had sobbed privately when he went back to his ship.
A few months before. a young blade taking residence next door had shown interest in her, and her thoughts were awhirl. Mrs. Cooper was well aware of the direction young women’s thoughts led them, and spent much time advising her. Mrs. Cooper regarded the young man as an adventurer who had but one object in mind.
HMS Aurora: A Charles Mullins Novel (Sea Command Book 3) Page 8