HMS RESOLVE: A John Phillips Novel

by Richard Testrake

  There were plenty of women in the bumboats, but all of them were Black. Harding was a badly sunburned white with a fringe of red hair and a seaman’s queue down his back. The alarm was sounded and the real bumboat’s crew decided the sixpence Harding was offering was not enough compensation for them to be fired at by the ship’s Marines. He was returned to the ship and had his hearing before Captain Phillips the next day.

  There were captains who might have seen the culprit flogged to death for such a stunt, but Phillips was not one of them. Harding was given the chance to speak his piece, but he stood mute. Then the Surgeon’s assistant, speaking for Harding, testified to what a productive, hardworking loblolly boy Harding was. All lies, of course.

  The captain had a difficult time keeping the stern look on his face. When it came time to pass sentence, he had an idea. “Seaman Harding, since you are familiar with the area of the ship’s heads, I hereby sentence you to the task of keeping those heads perfectly clean, for the remainder of our stay here in English Harbor.”

  Since those heads were used by most of the ship’s crew to relieve themselves, keeping them clean was a never ending task.

  The Royal Navy was usually very strict about crewmen who wished to leave the ship. Unless a man was dead or very severely crippled, it was almost impossible. However it was more liberal when it came to taking new people aboard. On two separate occasions, boatloads of Island Blacks approached the ship and asked to be taken aboard.

  The ship’s officers were required to ensure escaping slaves were not permitted aboard. However once such a person made his mark in the ship’s book, he was considered free and with the ship probably about to sail, the slave’s owner would have no recourse.

  In each instance, when Blacks petitioned to join the ship, the master’s mate commanding the anchor watch would call for one of the ship’s officers. That officer would ask the men in the boats if they were free. Having been coached before leaving shore, they would nod their heads. The way now clear for their entrance into the Royal Navy, they were helped aboard and hustled below.

  There had only been one fly in the ointment. One of the individuals, obviously just off a slaver from Africa, spoke no English and probably had not the slightest idea of what was going on. When Mister Scott asked this man if he was a slave, he did not nod, or otherwise answer. After Scott repeated himself in a louder voice, the confused slave began giving a speech in his own tongue.

  Mister Scott was in a quandary. He could not allow the man aboard unless he testified he was a free man. Bosun’s mate Appleby, a quick thinker, resolved the situation. “Sir, which I understand a bit of the man’s lingo. He says he is a free man!”

  With that, all were helped up the battens and sent below. They were now free men and Royal Navy sailors.

  The time came when the last of the water had come aboard with a half dozen emaciated bullocks. Resolve won her anchor and was now free from the land.

  Resolve began the task ordered for her by Admiral Cochrane. She began patrolling the Leeward Island chain looking for suspicious activity. Weeks went by, with no results. With water becoming low, they stopped at a small island the sailing master knew and anchored off shore. The boats were sent in to fill the water barrels. This was a dangerous place to be. This close to land, in shallow water, the ship could be at the mercy of a hurricane or other bad storm.

  In the event, no storm appeared and the water came aboard. Mister Andrews had just ordered sail to be hoisted, when around the point came a shabby little brig, her sails more patches than solid sailcloth. She was probably on the same mission as Resolve had been earlier, intending to water the brig. She was in the act of getting sail off when she spotted Resolve.

  She immediately came about and tried to escape, but Resolve was on her like a wolf on a lamb. A round across her bow brought the brig Aimée Rampon to heel.

  Mister Hastings took a party across to investigate their catch. When he returned, he said, “She’s a pirate alright, Captain. She has no Letter of Marque and no manifest or cargo, although she does carry some brandy. She’s loaded with men. Only two eight pounders on board, but muskets and small arms for the crew.”

  Phillips would have been glad to just land the pirate crew on the island and leave them, but they would undoubtedly just capture the next ship that came there to water and then resume their piracy. Accordingly, he sent most of his Royal Marines to the prize and struck the pirates below.

  In a stern lecture to the pirate captain, he assured him any trouble would be dealt with by dropping the offender overboard.

  The individual pirates were allowed on deck twice a day to tend to their necessary business, but otherwise were kept below. By the time they reached St. Kitts, the brig’s ‘tween decks were a stinking mess. They remained at St. Kitts long enough to clean the brig and get her rigging in some kind of order.

  Phillips intended to turn the brig over to the prize court on Antigua when the cruise was over, but for now, he wanted to use her as a tender. He had done this before on other cruises on other ships. The Blacks he had taken aboard at English Harbor were coming along well, rapidly learning their new trade. Bumboats coming out to the ship took their tales ashore and a few more of St. Kitt’s slaves braved the wrath of their masters to make their way aboard.

  These newer crewmen were kept aboard Resolve, where they could better receive the necessary instruction. Some of the more experienced crew were sent aboard the brig. The brig was well found in food and water, having been stocked for a cruise with a much larger crew. Her crew began calling her ‘The Amy’, unwilling to handle the French pronunciation.

  Learning one of the local planters was planning to visit the ship to inquire about a missing slave, Phillips decided to leave forthwith. He elevated Midshipman Spencer from the gunroom and put him under Mister Hastings whom he had placed in command of Amy. They set sail with the morning land breeze.

  As they left their mooring, Phillips noticed an official looking coach and a party of horsemen nearing the quay. One of the horsemen took a paper from a rotund man in the coach and galloped forward waving it. Phillips suspected it might be some kind of order requiring him to submit the ship to inspection for missing slaves.

  Phillips was not overly concerned. He was a King’s officer and believed he had precedence over any island magistrate. Besides, all the Blacks he had taken aboard had assured him they were free. Now, having placed their marks in the ship’s books, they were in fact free, whatever their previous status.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  The pair cruised cooperatively, the brig investigating the shallow inlets where smaller vessels might seek refuge, Resolve remaining farther out in deeper water to protect her consort from surprises. The strategy paid off shortly. The prize brig Aimée Rampon was cautiously investigating a mangrove lined inlet on a small island, when a gun went off. Amy hoisted ‘Enemy in sight’ then one of her eight pounders was touched off, followed by the popping of muskets.

  Resolve’s crew was unable to see any of the action from their position, so Phillips ordered the boats manned and armed with the boat carronades and sent in support of Amy. Before they reached the island however, Amy came out with her capture, a cutter with a pair of four pounders and a mob of cut-throats.

  Hastings reported the cutter had a captured ship-rigged merchant hidden back in the mangroves which they had been rummaging when Amy came on the scene. Hastings admitted this was fortunate since many of the pirates were aboard the prize and were unable to join in the fight with Amy. After the cutter surrendered, most of the people aboard the ship, pinned against the land by the two combatants fled into the mangroves.

  Hastings reported he would not give a farthing for their lives, since those mangroves were a mosquito infested hell. He said the ship was of the Batavian Republic (Dutch), allied with France and was a legitimate prize. The survivors of the cutter that had been captured were French or French Creole. No survivors of the Dutch ship were found.

  Phillips wondere
d aloud, “Are we going to be able to get the ship out to sea?”

  “Sir, she’s afloat and they got her in there, so I guess we can get her out. I’m going to need more people to do that.”

  Phillips went in his gig accompanied by the launch and longboat full of men. The decks of the Dutch merchant were covered with gore where it appeared the original crew had been slaughtered. The holds contained general cargo, men and women’s clothing and accessories. In the depths were some military supplies. Among them were dismounted guns, muskets and ammunition.

  Deciding he needed to get his people away from the swarming mosquitos of the island, he transferred the surviving pirates to the merchant, where they were set to work cleaning the ship of the gore that covered the decks. Their Royal Marines guards found their bayonets made excellent tools to encourage the pirates when they began to slow their pace.

  With minimal crews aboard the cutter and the ship they made their way out to sea. Mister Andrews scouted the waters in the jolly boat, while the other officers secured the ships. With a lead line and sounding pole he discovered a meandering channel which the pirates had presumably used to bring in the cargo ship.

  With the prizes alongside Resolve, Mister Whiting was given command of the Dutch ship, while Midshipman Spencer left Amy and took command of the cutter. Deck officers were now again in short supply. A bosun’s mate took Spencer’s place seconding Hastings in Amy

  With crews on the three vessels working around the clock, the little fleet made it back to Antigua. They anchored in English harbor well out so none of the crews might be tempted to take an unauthorized liberty. Admiral Cochrane’s flagship was gone, so he was able to save the crown the expense of that salute. Governor Elliot however was present, so the necessary seventeen gun salute was fired to him.

  Later, a well-appointed launch put out from shore bearing a lieutenant of the British Army garrison. He brought a note from the Governor requesting Captain Phillips visit Government House that afternoon.

  Clad in his best, Phillips went ashore carrying all of his reports and orders he thought the governor might wish to see. Governor Elliot first of all wanted to discuss the missing slaves from some of the islands. Planters missing slaves were speculating the Royal Navy was responsible. It seemed there were many more than could realistically be accommodated on his ships and Phillips pointed this out. He assured the governor that while he had enlisted a few Blacks, all had assured his officers they were free men.

  Elliot advised him to consult with a local magistrate before enlisting any more Blacks, as it was necessary to maintain cordial relations with the planters. If they could show HM Royal Navy was pilfering private property, there could be consequences.

  “Sir, it has long been the Navy’s policy to take volunteers from where ever they were found, with few questions asked. In the case of the Black volunteers, they were all asked if they were free men. Not one answered in the negative.”

  “Captain Phillips, what is done is done. It seems too late now to return any crewmen to their former masters. I would beg you to do any further recruiting of Blacks whose status is in doubt in some other jurisdiction.”

  Phillips reminded the governor of his manning problems, especially now that he had the brig he was using as a tender to find men for.

  Governor Elliot had an answer. He had a prison on the island which was often filled with malcontents. Would he have any use for them?

  *****

  When Resolve and her consort sailed this time, they had aboard twenty assorted former prisoners. Most were guilty of minor crimes. One white servant had been found guilty of stealing an unreasonable amount of his master’s silver and was sentenced to hang before signing on in Resolve.

  Whatever their crime, the culprits were paraded before Lieutenant Scott , who noted their particulars, listened briefly to their sad tales and decided where to put them. One portly fellow was particularly vociferous. It seemed he was a prosperous merchant whose hobby seemed to be beating his wife, children and servants within inches of their lives.

  Because of his position in society, he had escaped punishment for years. Finally, the magistrate had tired of the man and sentenced him to spend a week in gaol as punishment.

  Two days before his anticipated release, he found he had been pressed into the Royal Navy, where he would serve until the Navy no longer needed him. After listening a brief time to his impassioned speech, Lieutenant Scott cut him short and assigned him to general duty as a landsman.

  Scott related to the captain he might ask the man to be released to the purser later on, after some of his suet had been sweated off. The man had an education and could read, write and do his sums.

  Most of the others also had to be entered as landsmen, people with no knowledge of the sea. Two however, were seamen who had gone ashore, got drunk and missed the sailing of their merchant ship. These were entered on the books as ordinary seamen, who might be later rated able if they could prove their abilities.

  The crews of the brig and frigate were shuffled around, giving each its fair share of both able seamen and landsmen.

  As the pair patrolled, they met with HMS Vixen, a gun-brig of the Archer class mounting a dozen eighteen pounder carronades. She was in company with a single merchant brig, the sole survivor of the convoy which Vixen was escorting. The gun-brig’s captain, Lieutenant Randolph, reported a forty gun French frigate accompanied with two smaller craft had intercepted his convoy.

  The frigate engaged him out of carronade range and he was unable to reply to her twelve pounder long guns. While the frigate kept Vixen busy, her consorts gobbled up most of the convoy.

  After some discussion, Vixen and her merchant brig joined Resolve and Amy, making a sweep toward Martinique, where Randolph suspected the prizes were taken. When nothing had materialized by the next day, Phillips escorted the little fleet to Antigua.

  Taking on water and stores, Resolve and Amy sailed again. This time Amy spotted sails close in to a group of mangrove covered small islets. These were on two brigs very close to shore.The water was mostly shoal and Resolve spent hours trying to find a means to approach the two.

  One of the brigs probably thought it was immune to attack, in its meandering channel and hoisted the Tricolor. Phillips and Andrews pored over the charts of the area, which revealed nothing. All they learned was this area was shoal, which they already knew. However, the brigs had found a channel to get where they were now anchored, so Phillips determined to try to approach them. Amy, with her shallow draft proceeded as far as she could go without grounding.

  Resolve’s boats were put to use, trying to find a navigable channel. Finally the cutter stumbled upon a pathway which seemingly would take Resolve. With the cutter leading the way, they started in. Shortly, the channel began to wander away from their quarry and Phillips was tempted to abandon the attempt, but decided to continue on for a bit longer.

  In its wanderings, the channel they were following took them back into long gunshot range of their quarry. The channel was now becoming shallower and Phillips decided to anchor. Presumably the enemy could go no farther either. He ordered one gun to fire, both to test the range and give the enemy fair warning.

  The only response from the brigs came when the second brig hoisted the tricolor. He signaled Amy to block the brigs from escape to seaward, then began his bombardment of the enemy. Using slow deliberate fire from two guns on the starboard side with the best gunners, it took a dozen shots before one connected. After that, about one ball of every four fired struck one of the targets.

  One of the brigs began jettisoning her guns, then her boats tried towing her into the shallows. She promptly ran aground. With that, crews of both brigs took to their boats and smoke rose from the hatches. Eventually, one exploded and the other just burned merrily to the water’s edge.

  Mister Scott wondered if they should attempt rescue of the stranded enemy. Phillips replied, “They have their boats. We don’t have the space for them, so I think we will just lea
ve them to find their own way home.

  Later, he wondered if his decision was wise. After all, many of the stranded pirates probably had their weapons and could rather easily overpower the small crew of a merchant ship that might attempt rescue.

  It was true that neither Resolve nor Aimée Rampon had room to house the enemy crewmen, so he decided to inform the nearest British garrison of their presence.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Resolve and her tender were cruising along the coast of Guadeloupe. The tender Aimée Rampon had gained a little more firepower on her last visit to English Harbor. Her commander, Mister Hastings, had surreptitiously traded a keg of French brandy that had been in the brig’s hold to the dockyard’s Master of Ordnance for a pair of un-mounted French, eight pounder captured guns. Mister Kenyon assured Hastings nobody would ever know of the transaction. The brig had never been inventoried since her capture and for all that anyone need know, they had been aboard since she was taken.

  The guns were in a pile of outmoded guns in back of the dockyard that were waiting to be sent back home to be re-cast. All those gun had been stricken from the inventory, with no official records on file. These guns were the same size as the other pair already mounted in Amy.

  The brig’s carpenter’s mate had constructed proper gun carriages for the guns and the seamen and armorer’s mate had made the necessary tackle. The brig now had four eight pounder guns, which may have been considered almost impotent when compared to the Resolve’s armament of thirty six eighteen pounder guns. However, both Hastings and Phillips thought they could do useful work in Amy’s role as a tender.