The low-lying clouds had left and the first of the garrison troops charged down the path leading to the beach. There was now a little moonlight, augmented by a pair of blazing fishing craft in the cove. Baker rifles began to ‘crack’ as the first enemy troops neared the riflemen’s’ positions. Dooley’s troops would surely have been overrun had not the enemy not have been composed largely of raw conscripts.
Many of the charging enemy seemed fearful of firing their muskets and little return fire came from them. With little room on the narrow path, many of the enemy came thrashing through the forest on either side. Not wishing to hurriedly expend the load in his long rifle, Mullins awaited the charge of a burly soldat with his double-barreled Manton pistol. One heavy ball from the right barrel dropped the enemy to the forest floor. A second shot missed a following soldier and Mullins was forced to use his own rifle at such close range that the fellow’s hand was actually on the muzzle of his weapon when it fired.
While many of those charging soldiers that remained on their feet fled off into the forest, some charged through the defending riflemen and formed up on the beach, firing ragged volleys at the raiding boats out in the harbor. Little harm was done since these boats were at the outer limits of musket range, but the riflemen behind them could now fire at their backs while their attention was to their enemy to their front.
Some of the riflemen could recharge their Bakers twice as fast as Mullins could load his long rifle. He suspected that some of his people were merely ramming an unpatched ball down the barrel.
An officer on a horse had charged down the path and had taken position behind a company formation delivering volleys out into the harbor. Captain Mullins had carefully charged his weapon, and seeing that no nearby rifleman had engaged the horseman, did so himself. The officer was well over a hundred yards away and it was difficult to use his sights in the darkness. When a fishing boat offshore exploded when its magazine caught fire though, there was just enough light. Holding the heavy barrel on the enemy, he squeezed his round off. The long, heavy bullet penetrated the officer’s trunk and he spilled from his horse.
The Baker rifles were now decimating the conscripts and without a leader, they began to stream off. The remainder of French troops on the shore were then mopped up, and the raiding boats in the harbor had now free rein to savage those fishing craft that had not yet been captured.
Some few fishing craft attempted to escape through the narrow outlet to the sea, but HMS Falcon was there. Those boats that not surrendered were soon smashed to kindling wood by the fire of the post-ship’s guns.
The next morning, the harbor shore was littered with the charred remains of the burned boats, and bodies covered the beach. Deciding his mission had been accomplished, Mullins ordered a flag signal be flown ordering Falcon to send boats to extract them from this shore.
Later that day, aboard the Falcon, Mullins luxuriated in a bath and fresh shave in his quarters. Afterwards, he called for Lieutenant Morison and Mister Dooley to attend him in his cabin where they discussed the results of the operation. All agreed that the efforts of General Renaud to invade Ireland were at an end. HMS Falcon would return to port and await further orders.
Chapter Six
Once back in port, Mullins was summoned to the flagship where he hoped to assure the admiral that the landing force had accomplished its mission. A certain amount of disbelief was displayed and Mullins soon heard that another officer would be given the task of leading a second mission to repair what the Admiralty believed to be a fiasco.
Mullins was to remain temporarily in command of Falcon until she was repaired and provisioned. Once she was ready for sea again, Mullins was warned she would likely be given to someone else and he could expect to be sent to the beach.
The next few weeks were a trying time in his life. Treated by officialdom as a failure, acquaintances were beginning to ignore him. He requested leave to post up to London where he could be with his family but was warned that he must first give up command of HMS Falcon. He well knew if he did this voluntarily, there was an excellent chance he would never get another command.
Reluctant to ask his wife and child to endure the coach trip to Portsmouth, he decided to endure the isolation and wait until he was released.
Then matters changed suddenly. A prize taken by the Inshore Squadron off LeHavre came into Portsmouth. This non-descript brig carried no cargo of any particular value or importance, except for some recent French newspapers. Officers close to the admiral leaked word that the raid on the Brittany shore had been moderately successful after all. No one at that time came to Captain Mullins and informed him of this news but fellow officers ceased avoiding him
Later, Mullins was called to the flagship and was shown to the admiral’s quarters. The large cabin was filled with officers, most ranking higher in the Royal Navy than himself. Handed one of the tattered papers that had arrived a few weeks before, Mullins was asked his opinion of its news. With a very poor command of the French language, he had difficulty making any sense of it until Admiral Montague’s aide translated the relevant article.
It seemed that General Renaud had been arrested for peculation and theft of government property. In the process of being transported to Paris for trial, the coach carrying the general had overturned and the general had perished in the accident. Not a word in the newspapers mentioned anything concerning the aborted invasion.
Mullins admitted ignorance of any knowledge of this event and addressed himself to the glass of claret that was pressed into his hand. Finishing this too hurriedly, he looked for the servant to get another. It was then the admiral’s aide approached him and said Admiral Montague wished to see him in private.
Shown the way into the admiral’s private office, a servant gave him another claret and left, leaving him alone with Admiral Montague. The admiral, once he had been seated, said, “Captain Mullins, there has been some misunderstanding of the results of your actions ashore. It had been understood that you were to deliver the force of light infantry to the Brittany shore to disrupt the proposed invasion attempt by General Renaud of the French Army.”
“Of course, the loss of Captain Drover and many of his troops changed matters abruptly. Mister Dooley, a civilian member of Admiralty Intelligence first took command of the isolated force. Some of your peers became alarmed when it was learned you had left your ship and gone ashore yourself, to join the landing party. Many thought you had thus endangered your ship unnecessarily to join in a lost cause.”
“Some minds began to change when the French newspapers arrived here weeks ago. This morning, word from Admiralty headquarters arrived, telling us agent reports from France explain what has been happening in Paris.”
“Apparently, the activities of your landing force caused such disruption, that notice was made in the upper levels of government. Bonaparte himself was furious. A special unit travelled to St. Malo, where they arrested General Renaud. Apparently, Bonaparte wished to avoid the publicity of a court martial so, on the way to Paris, the coach was ‘accidentally’ overturned and Renaud perished.”
“Just hours ago, I received orders to put you in a coach and have you sent to London immediately. You will be taken to the Admiralty where you will brief those interested.”
Mullins wondered, “Will I be returning here sir, or should I take my belongings with me?”
The admiral said, “We do not have time to waste. You may stop by your ship to collect a bag to carry with you. You should have your first officer collect any other belongings and have them sent on to you. Now, you are in a hurry, so I will say good-bye. Your boat should be waiting at the entry port at this moment.”
Just moments after he entered the Admiralty building as ordered, a warder approached him and asked if he was Captain Mullins. Assuring the fellow he was indeed, he was handed over to a young officer in an expensive uniform. He was led to an ornately furnished room with a large conference table taking up much of the space. The officer said he must go and fe
tch someone and left him to his own devices for few minutes.
A short-statured, rotund gentleman entered. He wore neither a sword or any semblance of naval uniform, but Mullins instinctively realized that this man was no stranger to the sea. He approached Mullins and looked him over intently.
Speaking with a faint Welch accent, he said, “Captain Mullins, I am afraid you are at a disadvantage here. While I know who you are, and indeed have investigated your past rather extensively, I doubt if you have any idea of who I am. That is by design. I have an interest in gathering intelligence of our enemy and wish to remain as anonymous as I possibly can be. For now, you may call me Jones.”
“One of my men, among others, has assured me that you are a capable officer who knows how to keep your mouth shut. I am about to give you some information concerning a possible mission that may be mounted in the future. I must be certain that you will not divulge to anyone, including your wife or fellow officers close to you, anything you will hear from me. Have I your word on this?”
Instinctively, Mullins assured the gentleman that he would keep silent about anything said in this room.
“Very well. Now that we have established your silence, let us sit and make ourselves comfortable. I am afraid that we may not allow any servants in this room, so we must serve ourselves. You will see wines and food on the sideboard. Please help yourself. I am partial to a fine cigar and here is a selection which I will gladly share with you.” Mullins had ridden in a jolting coach all night and his insides were still somewhat out of order. He avoided the sliced meats and merely took a piece of Warwickshire cheese and a glass of wine.
After his host had ignited a cigar, he began. “Captain Mullins, you have recently returned from a successful mission on the enemy mainland. You took command of the landing party at a critical moment and saved this nation a great deal of trouble.”
While the gentleman paused to gather his thoughts, Mullins spoke with the intention of correcting him.
“Sir, after Captain Drover was wounded and captured, another person really took charge. I merely followed his suggestions,”
Nodding, Jones said, “Yes, I know about that. That other person, was one of my people as you are aware. His identity must be held in close confidence.”
“Captain, you should know there is usually little difficulty gathering information on the enemy shore. Dangerous yes, but not especially difficult. Monsieur Bonaparte is today, possibly not quite as popular among the people as he might like to believe. People do talk, especially in wine shops and public places. Our difficulty is retrieving that information from those who have gathered it and delivering it to the proper destinations here in London.”
“Your last mission was successful enough that some of us have contemplated sending a few ships, like your Falcon, to cruise the enemy coast, prepared to receive information and dispense gold, weapons and needed supplies to certain people on the enemy shore.”
“Ostensibly, you would be part of the blockading fleet, subject to the orders of the blockade commander. You will carry Admiralty orders permitting you to withdraw from blockading duties at your discretion. The blockade commander will be notified of your actual purpose, but will be directed to not mention this to any of the other blockading fleet officers.”
“In addition to these duties, you may be asked to perform some additional tasks. The agent you removed from the continent on your last mission wishes to return, although on a different part of the French coast. Another agent may present himself to be exfiltrated. Additional information concerning these tasks may arrive by message from the enemy shore.”
“To eliminate suspicion as to your activities, we have decided upon a little subterfuge to amuse the enemy. You will carry a strong force of light infantry aboard your ship, as you did on your last mission. These troops may consist of Marines or Riflemen, the exact unit has not yet been determined.”
“These troops will be landed on the Finisterre peninsula east of the Brest seaport. Ostensibly, their purpose will be to take a French gun battery defending a local port. A frigate is reported to be building there and the troops will hopefully burn this as well as any destroy any ship-building materials present. These efforts will hopefully disguise your real purpose.”
“The true purpose of the mission will be to deliver your Mister Dooley safely ashore and take on the agent presently in the locale. It is hoped, during the confusion of your raid, Mister Dooley will be able to join the fleeing populace and disappear into the countryside.”
Mullins was disquieted by this information. He could foresee trouble if he was required to leave his blockade duties suddenly against the wishes of its commander to attend to these tasks. However, deciding this duty to be important for the security of the nation, he merely said ‘Aye-aye’, sir, and continued to listen.
His new superior continued, “It is not thought to be necessary to use powerful ships for this duty. Do you reckon your ship Falcon was, and is, suitable?”
“We now have a number of similar ex-enemy corvettes in service. At this stage of the war, they are not suited to face the new French forty-gun frigates. We will let our larger frigates and the third-rates handle them. These smaller ships in this service could be profitably used mainly for inshore, intelligence-related work.”
“Sir”, Mullins began. “while HMS Falcon performed admirably during her last mission, I must remind you that she is an old ship that received little attention either when she was in French service, or more recently, in our own.”
Jones assured him that orders would be sent immediately to Portsmouth sending the post-ship into the yard where all defects would be repaired.
With these discussions out of the way, conversation shifted to purely naval subjects, such as the capabilities of the new enemy navy that Bonaparte was hurriedly constructing in shipyards around Europe.
Mullins’ opinion here was; while the French could build fine ships if given a chance, obtaining trained crews for them was a different story.
Often manned with raw conscripts, the officers of such ships rarely had enough time at sea to properly train their hands, before these ships were taken or destroyed by the Royal Navy.
After both men had discussed all the possible subjects, and finished the wine, it was time to leave. Mullins was decidedly unsteady on his feet when he left the building. It was late now, and few vehicles were on the street. He had neglected to arm himself when setting out earlier, since he would be inside this building all day.
Now though, Captain Mullins was beginning to wonder how he was to get home, when a naval officer outside the door told him he had a vehicle waiting.
Two armed guards accompanied him to the waiting carriage, one climbed up on the box with the driver, the other came inside with him. After delivering him to his home, they left him at his door, declining to come into the house for a drink.
Chapter Seven
With his ship in the dockyard for repair, Mullins had nearly a month at home with Doris and Alfred. Their hostler had given the chaise a fresh polish and the family sent many enjoyable hours driving outside the city. But the day came when the letter from the Admiralty was delivered to their door and it was time for Mullins to leave.
Little was said in the notice, merely that HMS Falcon was at her mooring in Portsmouth Harbor and Captain Mullins should make the best of his way there and assume command.
The ship had been in the hands of the dockyard for most of this time and they had done a remarkable job of tending to her hurts. Mister Morison was on deck to greet him when he came aboard. A strange officer stood beside him. Morison introduced the new lieutenant to Captain Mullins, saying, “Lieutenant Quigley is no longer with us. He has gone to HMS Goliath, where he will be third officer. This is Lieutenant Reynolds who will take his place as second officer on Falcon.”
Mullins learned Reynolds had served for a commission as fifth officer on a second-rate, and had grown up near Mullin’s own boyhood residence. Although going to sea at age t
welve, he had retained the same love of the country-side that Mullins had.
That afternoon at dinner, he explained to both officers that they were going to be operating in an unusual manner this commission and complaints about the new ways were not to be entertained.
“Some of our activities may seem unusual, gentlemen. Now, I am forbidden to explain the reason for the actions. Most likely, you will soon realize what we are doing, but this must not be commented upon to the rest of the crew.”
“Speaking of the crew, how many men are we short, Mister Morison?”
“Sir, we had a few of our old crew returned from the receiving ship. A ship-sloop from Jamaica returned last week to pay off and we got our share of her men. Presently, we need forty men to fill our complement.”
“Has anything been done to fill this void?”, Mullins asked.
“Sir, I visited the flag earlier this week and spoke to the flag lieutenant. He said we would be able to fill our roster when the quota men arrive, next week.”
Mullins was not at all enthused with this news. Every county was allotted a certain number of men it must furnish the Royal Navy. Usually these people were convicted felons or vagrants. Delivering them to the navy was a convenient way for counties to rid themselves of unwanted citizens.
Of course, many were infested with various pests and ailments and usually had no idea of life at sea. Unless truly desperate, Mullins would rather not take these men on board. Opening his sea chest which had been brought on board earlier, he extracted a purse. Most of the funds were in the form of the new paper currency, but there was still a supply of silver.
Counting out the money, he placed two equal amounts on his desk. To his officers, he said, “Gentlemen, you will each take your share of this money and organize recruiting parties. You will take what men you need and endeavor to return with some worthwhile hands. Both of you should be familiar with such a task. I hope you will find some good seamen, but would be satisfied with healthy farmworkers to handle landsmens’ duties.”
HMS Falcon: A Charles Mullins novel, Sea Command 7 Page 4