Cochrane the Dauntless

by David Cordingly

  At daybreak Cochrane and the men left behind on the Pallas could just see the Tapageuse in the distance, way up the river. They also saw three strange ships heading their way. When the ships failed to respond to Cochrane’s signal he realised they were the enemy. The Pallas was at a considerable disadvantage. Although she was theoretically more powerful than her attackers, three corvettes, she only had forty men left on board to raise the anchor, set the sails and man the guns. To fool the French into thinking he had a full crew Cochrane sent a few men aloft to secure the furled sails with light yarn. As soon as the ship was ready he ordered the yarns to be cut all at once. ‘The manoeuvre succeeded to a marvel. No sooner was our cloud of canvas thus suddenly let fall than the approaching vessels hauled the wind, and ran off along shore, with the Pallas in chase, our handful of men straining every nerve to sheet home.’22

  As they gained on the nearest French corvette, the Pallas began firing her bow guns, the only ones that could be manned with their restricted crew. This so alarmed the French captain that he deliberately ran his vessel ashore. They went aground in a sheet of spray, the shock of the impact dismasting the corvette. The crew immediately abandoned ship, took to the boats and rowed ashore. Cochrane paused only to fire several shots into her hull before setting off in pursuit of one of the other corvettes. They came up with her around four in the afternoon, fired the bow guns, and she too was forced to run ashore, losing her masts as she did so. Cochrane anchored for a few hours and during the night he headed back to the Cordovan Shoal in order to rendezvous with the captured Tapageuse. The next day, 7 April, they found that the third French corvette had also been run ashore. Cochrane anchored abreast of her and fired two guns at her hull to put her out of action.

  At 6.00 a.m. the following day, in light airs and with rain streaming off the sails and drenching the decks, they finally met up with the Tapageuse. Leaving a prize crew aboard the French corvette the remainder of Cochrane’s men returned to their ship. Two days later they joined the squadron, with their prize in company. Cochrane submitted a report on their exploits, much of which was devoted to praising the conduct of his officers and men. He pointed out that, in addition to capturing the Tapageuse, they had driven onshore and wrecked ‘one national 24-gun ship, one of 22 guns, and the Malicieuse, a beautiful corvette of 18 guns’. Admiral Thornborough sent Cochrane’s despatch to Lord St Vincent with a covering letter which was unstinting in its praise and showed an understanding of the risks of the enterprise:

  It will not be necessary for me, my lord, to comment on the intrepidity and good conduct displayed by Lord Cochrane, his officers and men, in the execution of a very hazardous enterprise in the Garonne, a river the most difficult, perhaps, in its navigation, of any on the coast. The complete success that attended the enterprise, as well as the destruction of the vessels of war mentioned in the said letter on the coast of Arcasson, speaks of their merits more fully than is in my power to do.23

  St Vincent, who had resumed command of the Channel Squadron and was cruising off Ushant, passed on the despatches to the Admiralty. He accompanied them with a brief note of his own in which he observed that the gallant and successful exertions of the Pallas reflected very high honour on her captain, officers and crew, ‘and call for my warmest approbation’.

  Having sent his report to Thornborough, Cochrane returned to the scene of his recent exploits to make sure that the corvettes which he had driven ashore were totally destroyed. On the afternoon of 14 April one of the corvettes was sighted but the French had erected a gun battery to protect her while repairs were carried out. The guns of the Pallas soon silenced the battery, a boat was sent ashore and the stranded vessel was set on fire. The second corvette was found to be breaking up in the surf so they left her to the mercy of a rising gale. Pounding waves and shallow water prevented them reaching the third. They bore away and headed north past the Ile d’Oléron to Basque Roads where they found Thornborough’s squadron lying at anchor. Cochrane anchored in the vicinity of the five British warships, sent boats across to the flagship to replenish his water supplies and received further orders from the admiral. His next job was a typical assignment for a frigate: to reconnoitre the French position in the vicinity of the Ile d’Aix and report on the number and strength of the French warships in the anchorage.

  The French had two naval bases on the Atlantic coast of France. The major port and anchorage was at Brest which was strategically well placed; it had a sheltered roadstead large enough for five hundred ships; and, like Portsmouth, was protected by forts on either side of a narrow entrance. During the Napoleonic Wars it was subject to more or less constant blockade by British ships which cruised back and forth among the rocks, shoals and overfalls which guarded the approaches to the port. The other French anchorage was Basque Roads which was sheltered from Atlantic storms by two large islands, Ile de Ré and Ile d’Oléron. The main anchorage was defended by gun batteries on the fortified Ile d’Aix and was served by the port and naval base of Rochefort which was several miles up the River Charente. The disadvantage of Basque Roads for the French was that it was wide open to attack from the sea. The main approach to the anchorage between the islands was more than eight miles across and there were many places where a British fleet could safely anchor out of range of any shore batteries.

  In the darkness of the early hours of 25 April the Pallas weighed anchor and headed towards the French anchorage. By 10.00 a.m. her crew were close enough to observe the details of the French warships lying at anchor. There was one three-decker, one ship of 80 guns, three 74-gun ships, two heavy frigates of 40 guns, three light frigates and three brigs of 14 to 16 guns. With calculated bravado Cochrane stood in towards the French squadron until they were within gunshot. The logbook records what happened next: ‘Perceived a frigate and the brigs get under way – made and shortened sail and tacked occasionally endeavouring to bring them to action – fired several broadsides…’ Cochrane continued to cruise in the vicinity for four hours but the French ships were not prepared to engage the arrogant British frigate and retreated to the shelter of the gun batteries on the Ile d’Aix. However, Cochrane had been able to make a detailed assessment of the anchorage, and had noted the landmarks, shoals and defences. When he sent his report to Thornborough with details of the French warships, he observed that the anchored ships could easily be burnt and that a military force could take possession of the Ile d’Oléron ‘upon which all the enemy’s vessels may be driven by sending fire vessels to the eastward of Ile d’Aix’.24 Three years later he would have the opportunity to put this suggestion into action.

  While cruising off the French coast Cochrane had observed that the French had established an effective system of signal posts which were able to warn local coasting vessels of the presence of British warships in the vicinity. He therefore resolved to put out of action all those in the immediate neighbourhood. Two signal posts at Point Delaroche and one at Caliola were demolished. At Lanse de Repos a party from the Pallas led by Lieutenant Haswell and Robert Hillier, the gunner, managed to overcome more than a hundred local militia soldiers, burn the signal house to the ground and come away with a set of signal flags. And on 9 May, assisted by the crews of the gun brig Contest and the cutter Frisk, a landing party from the Pallas attacked a gun battery on the Point d’Equillon. The fifty men manning the battery were driven off; the three 36-pounder guns were spiked, the gun carriages burnt, the magazine blown up and all the shells thrown into the sea. This was a foretaste of the destruction Cochrane would inflict on the Mediterranean coast of France and Spain in the near future.

  Cochrane’s final exploit while in command of the Pallas was as spectacular as any of his previous actions although it failed to yield any prize money. On the morning of 14 May the Pallas, with the sloop Kingfisher, 16 guns, left the anchored British squadron with orders to make a further reconnaissance of the French ships lying in the vicinity of the Ile d’Aix. Captain Seymour, in command of the Kingfisher, had orders to keep clear of da
nger and not to proceed beyond the Chassiron lighthouse so he waited at the entrance of the Antioch Passage. The Pallas sailed on and anchored provocatively within range of the guns of the Ile d’Aix. It was Cochrane’s intention to tempt one of the French frigates to come out and fight. Rear-Admiral Allemand, who commanded the French squadron in Basque Roads, responded to the bait and ordered the 40-gun frigate Minerve to weigh anchor and attack the Pallas. He also ordered the three gun brigs Lynx, Sylphe and Palinure, each of 16 guns, to get under way and support the heavy frigate. Far from being concerned by the sight of this powerful force Cochrane was delighted that ‘the long wished-for opportunity was at last arrived’.25 And yet on paper it appeared to be an unequal contest. The Minerve, Captain Joseph Collet, carried a powerful armament of twenty-eight 18-pounders, four 8-pounders and twelve 36-pound carronades and she had a crew of 330 men compared with the 215 men of the Pallas.

  At around 11.00 a.m. the Pallas came under fire from the Minerve and one of the brigs, as well as the guns of the forts on the Ile d’Aix. Cochrane waited until the enemy ships were within point-blank range before letting loose a broadside which brought down the main topsail yard of one of the brigs and tore away the aftersails of the frigate. For the next two hours the ships tacked to and fro among the shoals, their guns booming and echoing across the choppy waters of the anchorage, the thick clouds of gun smoke billowing from each broadside before being swept away by the fresh northeasterly breeze.

  The guns of the Pallas were so effective that the firing of the Minerve slackened and Cochrane ordered Mr Sutherland, the master, to run alongside her in preparation for boarding. Such was the headway of the ships that they collided with considerable force so that ‘the spars and rigging of both vessels were dismantled. The concussion drove our guns back into the ports, in which position the broadside was again discharged, and the shot tore through her sides with crushing effect, her men taking refuge below… The French captain was the only man who gallantly remained on deck.’ There was no longer any chance of capturing the French frigate. Admiral Allemand had ordered two of his large frigates to go to the assistance of the Minerve and it was now essential for the crew of the Pallas to cut themselves free from the wreckage. The foremast and bows of the British frigate had taken the brunt of the collision. The cathead and bow anchor had been torn away, and the foredeck was strewn with the wreckage of the foretopmast, foresail, spritsail yards and most of the fore rigging. However, the crew managed to hack through the tangle of spars, sails and rigging which linked the two ships and they drifted apart. Captain Seymour ignored his orders to keep the Kingfisher clear of the action. Seeing the Pallas so disabled he hoisted all sail and bore down to give them assistance. A tow line was passed across and before the French frigates arrived on the scene the two British ships were heading for the open sea.

  The French ship lost seven men killed and fourteen wounded but the Pallas suffered remarkably few casualties: one marine was killed, a midshipman was badly wounded and three seamen were slightly injured. This was a pattern which was typical of Cochrane’s career as a naval commander and was a tribute to his leadership, and the training and discipline of his crew. Jahleel Brenton would later recall that ‘he admired nothing more in Lord Cochrane than the care he took of the preservation of his people. Bold and adventurous as he was, no unnecessary exposure of life was ever permitted under his command. Every circumstance was anticipated, every provision for success was made.’26 During the course of his cruises in the Speedy and the Pallas, Cochrane had perfected his skills as a frigate captain. He had learnt the value of surprise attacks carried out at night or at dawn; he was ingenious in his use of stratagems and simple tricks to throw the enemy off guard; he had thoroughly mastered the essentials of seamanship so that he handled his ship with consummate skill; but above all he never went into action without the most careful preparation. His daring attacks, although sometimes appearing foolhardy, were carried out in the knowledge that his crew were thoroughly briefed and prepared, and that he had worked out the tides, the depth of water and had calculated the strength and weaknesses of the enemy ship or the enemy position. Edward Brenton, the naval historian and brother of Jahleel Brenton, noted that ‘Before he fired a shot he reconnoitred in person, took soundings and bearings, passed whole nights in his boats under the enemy’s batteries, his lead line and spy glass incessantly at work.’27 This attention to detail and his natural gifts as a bold and resourceful commander would be dramatically demonstrated when he took his next ship into the Mediterranean.

  Meanwhile, there were repairs to be carried out to the rigging of the Pallas. When they rejoined the squadron they received two spars from HMS Kent to replace those which had been lost. Cochrane now received orders to escort a convoy back to England and on 19 May they set sail in the company of twelve transports carrying naval stores and men. With fresh to strong breezes to help them on their way, they were back in Plymouth Sound within a week.

  6

  Member of Parliament for Honiton

  1806–1807

  On Saturday 7 June 1806 the local newspaper for Plymouth and the surrounding area published a detailed account of the recent exploits of the Pallas. Two of Cochrane’s despatches to the Admiralty were printed in full and readers were informed that the Pallas had attacked and sunk a 20-gun brig, ‘repeatedly annoyed the enemy on his own coast and even in his harbours’ and had narrowly escaped capture in the action against the Minerve. The newspaper had previously reported the rich prizes captured by the Pallas off the Azores and pointed out to its readers that the latest actions of the frigate in Basque Roads provided further evidence of ‘the gallant conduct of her noble commander’.1

  On Sunday, the day after the reports of Cochrane’s actions had appeared in the newspaper, the inhabitants of Honiton were treated to the sight of the noble commander and his supporters clattering into the main street in two post chaises each drawn by four sweating horses. The news soon spread that Lord Cochrane had driven from London via Exeter at high speed in order to meet the outspoken political journalist William Cobbett who had arrived at Honiton the day before. Cobbett had embarked on a lifelong campaign to reform the electoral system and to root out bribery and corruption in Parliament. He had selected Honiton as his first target because it was about to have a by-election and was one of the ‘potwalloper’ boroughs in which the Members of Parliament were elected by a few hundred local householders – men who owned their own house and the pot in the fireplace. These voters were not only open to bribery but, as Cobbett discovered, they relied on it. ‘They tell you, flatly and plainly, that the money which they obtain for their votes, is absolutely necessary to enable them to live; that, without it, they could not pay their rents; and that, from election to election, the poor men run up scores at the shops, and are trusted by the shopkeepers, expressly upon the credit of the proceeds of the ensuing election…’2

  Honiton was a small country town lying in a fertile valley a few miles inland from Sidmouth and forty-five miles away from Plymouth. Although it consisted of no more than a scattering of houses gathered around an ancient church it had the right to return two Members of Parliament. One of them was a man called Richard Robson who had been elected in April, and the other was Cavendish Bradshaw whose acceptance of the lucrative post of Teller of the Irish Exchequer meant that he had to seek re-election. Cobbett regarded him with contempt for accepting a worthless sinecure with no responsibilities and for being in the pocket of the government.

  In Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register, the newspaper he founded and edited, Cobbett had appealed for a candidate of honest and independent turn of mind to contest the borough of Honiton; when no one stepped forward he decided to contest the election himself. He had left London on 6 June and driven down to Honiton in company with Cochrane’s uncle Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone who apparently wished to do some business with his nephew. Cobbett later described how they were having dinner when:

  there came an express from Lord Cochrane, b
earing a letter for me, informing me that his Lordship, having read my address to the people of Honiton in the London newspapers, and having perceived that I had resolved to stand myself merely because I could find no other independent man to oppose Mr Bradshaw, he had determined to accept of my general invitation, and that he was actually on his way (dating his letter from Exeter) to put his purpose into execution. In an hour afterward, having stopped at Exeter to provide lawyers, &c. his Lordship arrived.’3

  Cobbett welcomed Cochrane’s dramatic arrival. He was aware that if he contested the seat himself he was unlikely to have sufficient influence to defeat Cavendish Bradshaw who had been canvassing the electors and had already received promises of support. Cobbett knew of Cochrane’s reputation through his friendship with Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone and he realised that Cochrane’s glamorous image as a naval hero was far more likely to appeal to the voters of Honiton than his own image as a radical journalist. Although they came from very different backgrounds the two men struck up a friendship which was to last for more than twenty years. They would become neighbours in Hampshire, and Cobbett was to prove Cochrane’s most stalwart supporter and champion in his darkest hours.