The Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth Part 11

Opposite the mole-head is a small insulated pier, which leaves the entrance to the harbour about a hundred and twenty yards wide. The rock upon which the mole is built extends about two hundred yards to the N.E.

beyond the angle at which the pier joins it. The sh.o.r.es recede considerably from the base of the pier, forming a small bay on either side of it.

All the works around the harbour were covered with the strongest fortifications. Immediately beyond the pier-head stood the Lighthouse battery, a large circular fort, mounting between sixty and seventy guns, in three tiers. At the extremity of the point of rock beyond the lighthouse was a very heavy battery, of two tiers, mounting thirty guns and seven mortars in the upper. The mole itself was filled with cannon, like the side of a line-of-battle ship, mostly disposed in a double tier, with ports below, and embrasures above; but the eastern batteries, next the light-house, had an inner fortification, with a third tier of guns, making sixty-six in these batteries alone. All these batteries had together above two hundred and twenty guns--eighteen, twenty-four, and thirty-two pounders; besides two, at least sixty-eight pounders, and upwards of twenty feet long. On the sea wall of the town were nine batteries; two at the southern extremity; then the Fish-market battery in three tiers, bearing three hundred yards west of the molehead; three between the Fish-market and the gate leading to the mole; one over this gate; and two on the wall beyond it. Along the sh.o.r.e, within twelve hundred yards south of the town, were three batteries, and a very heavy fort. Another large fort, and six batteries, commanded the bay to the N.W. Many guns in other parts of the fortifications of the town, and in forts and batteries on the hills around it, were in situations which enabled them to fire upon ships. Altogether, the approaches by sea were defended by scarcely less than five hundred guns.

The Admiralty were greatly surprised when Lord Exmouth proposed to attack these works with five sail of the line. Many naval officers who were consulted by the Board considered them una.s.sailable. Nelson, in a conversation with Captain Brisbane, had named twenty-five line-of-battle ships as the force which would be required to attack them. The opinion was not founded upon his own observation, and he was evidently misled by the errors in the received plans; for that number of ships could not have been placed before the town; but it marks his sense of the great danger in attacking powerful batteries with ships, and of the tremendous strength of Algiers. Lord Exmouth was offered any force he required, but he adhered to his first demand; for he had satisfied himself that five ships could destroy the fortifications on the Mole as effectually as a greater number, and with far more safety to themselves. After he had fully explained his plans, and marked the position which every ship was to occupy, the Admiralty allowed him to act upon his own judgment; though they found it not easy to believe that the force was equal to the service; nor were persons wanting to remark that he had at length involved himself in a difficulty, from which he would not escape with credit. His own confidence never wavered. "All will go well," he wrote, "as far at least as it depends on me." As he was going down Channel, he said to his brother, who accompanied him as far as Falmouth, "If they open their fire when the ships are coming up, and cripple them in the masts, the difficulty and loss will be greater; but if they allow us to take our stations, I am sure of them; for I know that nothing can resist a line-of-battle ship's fire." He wrote to the Admiralty before he left England, declaring himself fully satisfied with all the arrangements, and taking on himself the responsibility of the result.

He was scarcely appointed, when officers came forward in crowds to offer their services. On the 29th of June, only six days after he arrived in the Channel, he writes--"Government has taken a very proper view of the subject, and has determined to send out a proper force. I immediately said, it was my duty to finish that which I had begun, and that I should cheerfully go. My offer is accepted, and I embark in the _Queen Charlotte_, with _Impregnable_, and others. The only delay will be want of men; but I hope they will be induced by the offers made, to volunteer for the service, to be rewarded after it." On the 4th of July, he says, "I have refused Israel, Pownoll, Fleetwood, Harward, and both Admiral and Captain Halsted,[12] volunteers. Even Lord Spencer brought his son, and a hundred others."

With very few exceptions, the officers were selected by the Admiralty.

It was understood that Sir Charles Penrose would be the second in command, his appointment at that time as commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean ent.i.tling him to the preference. He was very highly valued by Lord Exmouth, under whom he had served with the _Cleopatra_ in the western squadron. It was intended that despatches should be sent in time to enable him to join the expedition; but greatly to the disappointment of both officers, the information was received too late.

Lord Exmouth persisted in refusing all his relations. The motive of duty, which was imperative on himself, applied to none of them; and all were anxious to go. For himself, he might well trust that the Providence which had shielded him forty years, for so long was it since he had fought the _Carleton_ on Lake Champlain, would guard him in the approaching battle; or, if he were doomed to fall in what might truly be deemed a holy war, he had a better confidence than the pride of a hero, or even the self-devotedness of a patriot. Before he sailed, he made every arrangement which his death would render necessary; and among others, wrote a letter for his eldest son, chiefly on the subject of the duties which would devolve upon him as a British n.o.bleman, and which he designed for his last injunctions. The existence of this letter was not known until some time after his death, when it was found among his papers.

The Admiralty would not send back the squadron which had just returned from the Mediterranean, probably thinking it right that ships going expressly to fight a severe battle should be manned with volunteers.

This decision greatly increased his difficulties. Naval officers seldom think a ship effective until she has been some time in commission.

Within two months, Lord Exmouth commissioned, fitted, and manned a fleet, and fought the battle.

As soon as he had completed his first arrangements at the Admiralty, he hastened to Portsmouth, where the _Boyne_, his flag-ship, was lying with her consorts. He went on board as soon as he arrived, and there was not a little excitement when the Admiral was seen coming alongside at a very early hour in the morning. He mustered the ship's company on deck, and having read to them the Admiralty letter, invited them to join him; but at that time scarcely a man came forward. They were unwilling to enter for a new service until they had enjoyed some liberty on sh.o.r.e; but after they had been paid off, and spent their money, numbers of them volunteered, and many more would probably have done so, but for the very short time in which the crews were completed. No difficulty was experienced in manning the fleet. The whole ship's company of the _Leander_, then on the point of sailing as the flag-ship on the North American station, volunteered to go, and accordingly her destination was changed for the time. Rear-Admiral Milne, for whom she had been fitted, obtained permission to go out with her; and as Sir Charles Penrose did not join at Gibraltar, he hoisted his flag in the _Impregnable_, as second in command. Among other volunteers were a number of smugglers, who had been taken on the western coast, and sentenced to five years'

service in the navy. They were sent to the eastward as prisoners in a cutter in which Mr. Pellew had taken a pa.s.sage to make a parting visit to his brother, and they implored his intercession on their behalf. He advised them to enter for the _Queen Charlotte_, and gain a t.i.tle to the indulgence they sought by their good conduct in the battle. They all did so: no serious casualty occurred among them, and they behaved so well that Lord Exmouth applied to the Admiralty, and obtained their discharge.

Lord Exmouth's marine officer in the _Arethusa_, the late Sir Richard Williams, then commanded the marine artillery, and Lord Exmouth wrote to request that he would aid him to the best of his abilities, by selecting officers and men from his corps. Sir Richard displayed on this occasion all the activity and judgment to be expected from his character, and Lord Exmouth acknowledged his services after the glorious result of the expedition, in the following words:--"I should be very ungrateful, my dear friend, if I neglected to thank you for the care and pains you took in selecting, for the service I was ordered upon, the best officers and men I ever saw during my service. I a.s.sure you that all the officers did you full justice: they not only knew their duty well, but they performed it well."

In addition to the five line-of-battle ships, two of which were three-deckers, the force included three heavy frigates, and two smaller ones; four bomb vessels, and five gun-brigs. Four of the line-of-battle ships were to destroy the fortifications on the Mole; while the fifth covered them from the batteries south of the town, and the heavy frigates, from those on the town wall. The bomb-vessels were to fire on the a.r.s.enal and town, a.s.sisted by a flotilla of the ships' launches, &c., fitted as gun, rocket, and mortar-boats. The smaller frigates and the brigs were to a.s.sist as circ.u.mstances might require.

The fleet left Portsmouth on the 25th of July. On the 28th it sailed from Plymouth Sound, and the same afternoon was off Falmouth. Twenty three years before, Lord Exmouth had gone from the house of his brother, who now took leave of him, and sailed to fight the first battle of the war from the port whence he was proceeding on the service which was to close and crown it. From this place the _Minded_, 74, was sent on to Gibraltar, that the necessary supplies might be ready when the fleet arrived. Through all the pa.s.sage the utmost care was taken to train the crews. Every day, Sunday excepted, they were exercised at the guns; and on Tuesdays and Fridays the fleet cleared for action, when each ship fired six broadsides. On board the _Queen Charlotte_ a twelve-pounder was secured at the after part of the quarter-deck, with which the first and second captains of the guns practised daily at a small target, hung at the fore topmast studding-sail boom. The target was a frame of laths, three feet square, crossed with rope-yarns so close that a twelve-pound shot could not go through without cutting one, and with a piece of wood, the size and shape of a bottle, for a bull's-eye. After a few days'

practice, the target was never missed, and on an average ten or twelve bottles were hit every day. Thus kept in constant preparation for the battle, and daily gaining new confidence in themselves, the crews were in the highest degree elated. Officers and men felt they were going to an a.s.sured victory, and that to obtain complete success the plans of their chief required only the exertions which every one resolved to make. As a consequence of this enthusiasm, which never had a check, for the excitement of preparation was followed by the flush of victory, their health and vigour were beyond all parallel. Scarcely a man came on the sick-list; and when the _Queen Charlotte_ was paid off on her return, only one had died, except from the casualties of battle, out of nearly a thousand who had joined her more than three months before.

On the 9th of August, the fleet reached Gibraltar, where the _Minden_ had arrived only the preceding night. Here they found a Dutch squadron of five frigates and a corvette, commanded by Vice-Admiral the Baron Von de Capellan, who, on learning the object of the expedition, solicited and obtained leave to co-operate. The ships, having completed their ordnance stores and provisions, were ready to sail on the 12th; but the strong easterly wind prevented them from moving for two days. On the 13th, every ship received a plan of the fortifications, with full instructions respecting the position she was to occupy. A general order to this effect had been issued on the 6th, but the co-operation of the Dutch squadron had made some change in the arrangements necessary. To this squadron was a.s.signed the duty of attacking the fort and batteries south of the town, a service previously intended for the _Minden_ and _Hebrus_, which were now to take a position among their consorts in front of the Mole.

The fleet sailed next day, and on the 16th was within two hundred miles of its destination, when the wind again shifted to the eastward. That evening the ship-sloop _Prometheus_, Captain Dashwood, joined direct from Algiers, with information that the Algerines were making every preparation to meet the attack. All the former defences had been made completely effective, and new works had been added; forty thousand troops had been a.s.sembled; all the Janizaries called in from distant garrisons; and the whole naval force of the regency, four frigates, five large corvettes, and thirty-seven gun-boats, were collected in the harbour. The _Prometheus_ brought the wife, daughter, and infant child of Mr. M'Donell, the British consul. The two former had succeeded in getting off, disguised as midshipmen; but the infant, which had been carefully concealed in a basket, after a composing medicine had been given to it by the surgeon of the _Prometheus_, awoke, and cried as it was pa.s.sing the gateway, and thus led to the arrest of all the party then on sh.o.r.e. The child was sent off next morning by the Dey, and, "as a solitary instance of his humanity," said Lord Exmouth, "it ought to be recorded by me;" but the consul was confined in irons at his house, and the surgeon, three midshipmen, and fourteen seamen of the _Prometheus_, were detained as prisoners; nor could the most urgent remonstrances of Captain Dashwood induce the Dey to release them.

The fleet continued beating against a head wind until midnight on the 24th, when the wind shifted to south-west. On Monday the 20th, at noon, they made Cape Cazzina, the northern point of the Bay of Algiers, and about twenty miles from the town. Next morning at daybreak, Algiers itself was in sight As the ships lay nearly becalmed, Lord Exmouth sent away Lieutenant Burgess in one of the _Queen Charlotte's_ boats, under a flag of truce, with the terms dictated by the Prince Regent, and a demand for the immediate liberation of the consul, and the people of the _Prometheus_. The _Severn_ was directed to tow the boat, but as she made very little way, the boat was ordered by signal to cast off, and proceed alone to the sh.o.r.e. At eleven o'clock, she was met outside the mole by the captain of the port, who received the communication, and promised an answer in two hours. In the mean time, a breeze springing up from the sea, the fleet stood into the bay, and lay to about a mile from the town.

At two o'clock the boat was seen returning, with the signal that no answer had been given. The _Queen Charlotte_ immediately telegraphed to the fleet, "Are you ready?" Immediately the affirmative was displayed from every ship, and all bore up to their appointed stations.

The _Queen Charlotte_ led to the attack. It was Lord Exmouth's intention not to reply to the enemy's fire in bearing down, unless it should become galling. In that case, the middle and main-deck guns, thirty long 24-pounders, were to have opened; keeping the upper deck for shortening sail, and the lower for working the cables. The guns on these decks were not primed until the ship had anch.o.r.ed. But the Algerines reserved their fire, confident in the strength of their defences, and expecting to carry the flagship by boarding her from the gun-boats, which were all filled with men. Steered by the master of the fleet, Mr. Gaze, who had sailed with Lord Exmouth in every ship he commanded from the beginning of the war, the _Queen Charlotte_ proceeded silently to her position. At half-past two, she anch.o.r.ed by the stern, just half a cable's length from the Mole-head, and was lashed by a hawser to the mainmast of an Algerine brig, which lay at the entrance of the harbour. Her starboard broadside flanked all the batteries from the Mole-head to the Light-house. The Mole was crowded with troops, many of whom got upon the parapet to look at the ship; and Lord Exmouth, observing them as he stood upon the p.o.o.p, waved to them to move away. As soon as the ship was fairly placed, and her cables stoppered, the crew gave three hearty cheers, such as Englishmen only can give. Scarcely had the sound of the last died away, when a gun was fired from the upper tier of the eastern battery; and a second, and a third followed in quick succession. One of the shots struck the _Superb_. At the first flash, Lord Exmouth gave the order, "Stand by!" at the second. "Fire!" The report of the third gun was drowned in the thunder of _Queen Charlotte's_ broadside.

The enemy now opened from all their batteries, the _Queen Charlotte_ and _Leander_ being the only ships which had yet reached their stations.

Preparations had been previously made in all, to avoid the necessity of exposing the men aloft when shortening sail. Following the flag-ship, the _Superb_ anch.o.r.ed about two hundred and fifty yards astern of her, and the _Minden_ at about her own length from the _Superb_. The _Albion_ came to astern of the _Minded_, which pa.s.sed her stream cable out of the larboard gun-room port to the _Albion's_ bow, and brought the two ships together. The _Impregnable_ was anch.o.r.ed astern of the _Albion_.

The large frigates, and the Dutch squadron, particularly the _Melampus_, their flag-ship, went into action under a very heavy fire, and with a gallantry that never was surpa.s.sed. The _Leander_ had placed herself on the _Queen Charlotte's_ larboard bow, at the entrance of the harbour; her starboard broadside bearing upon the Algerine gun-boats with the after guns, and upon the Fishmarket battery with the others. The _Severn_ lay ahead of the _Leander_, with all her starboard broadside bearing upon the Fishmarket battery. Beyond her the _Glasgow_ fired upon the town batteries with her larboard guns. The Dutch squadron took the a.s.signed position, before the works to the southward of the town. It was their Admiral's intention to place the _Melampus_ in the centre; but his second ahead, the _Diana_, having anch.o.r.ed too far to the southward to allow this, he pushed the _Melampus_ past her, and anch.o.r.ed close astern of the _Glasgow_.

The two smaller frigates, the _Hebrus_ and _Granicus_, were left to take part in the battle wherever they might find an opening. Eager to gain a position, in the line, the _Hebrus_ pressed forward to place herself next the flag-ship, till, becalmed by the cannonade, she was obliged to anchor on the _Queen Charlotte's_ larboard quarter. Captain Wise, of the _Granicus_, waited until all the ships had taken their stations. Then, setting topgallant-sails and courses, he steered for where Lord Exmouth's flag was seen towering above the smoke; and with a seamanship equalled only by his intrepidity, anch.o.r.ed in the open s.p.a.ce between the _Queen Charlotte_ and _Superb_; thus, with a small-cla.s.s frigate, taking a position, of which, said Lord Exmouth, a three-decker might be justly proud.

Eastward of the Lighthouse, at the distance of two thousand yards, were placed the bomb-vessels; whose sh.e.l.ls were thrown with admirable precision by the Marine Artillery. The smaller vessels, except the _Mutine_, which anch.o.r.ed, continued under sail, firing occasionally wherever they saw opportunity. The flotilla of gun, rocket, and mortar boats, directed, by Captain Mich.e.l.l, were distributed at the openings between the line-of-battle ships, and at the entrance to the Mole.

Thus the ships commanded the strongest of the enemy's defences, while they were exposed to the weakest part of his fire. The officers and men felt new confidence when they saw the power derived from the admirable disposition of their force. All behaved most n.o.bly; and it was not long before the state of the Algerine batteries gave proof that their courage was fully equalled by their skill.

In a few minutes, indeed before the battle had become general, the _Queen Charlotte_ had ruined the fortifications on the Mole-head. She then sprang her broadside towards the northward, to bear upon the batteries over the gate which leads to the Mole, and upon the upper works of the Lighthouse. Her shot struck with the most fatal accuracy, crumbling the tower of the Lighthouse to ruins, and bringing down gun after gun from the batteries. The last of these guns was dismounted just as the artillerymen were in the act of discharging it; when an Algerine chief was seen to spring upon the ruins of the parapet, and with impotent rage, to shake his scimitar against the ship. Her men proved themselves as expert amidst the realities of war, as they had before shown themselves in exercise; and some of them were detected amusing themselves, in the wantonness of their skill, by firing at the Algerine flag-staffs.

Soon after the battle began, the enemy's flotilla of gun-boats advanced, with a daring which deserved a better fate, to board the _Queen Charlotte_ and _Leander_. The smoke covered them at first, but as soon as they were seen, a few guns, chiefly from the _Leander_, sent thirty-three out of thirty-seven to the bottom.

At four o'clock, when a general and heavy fire had been maintained for more than an hour without producing any appearance of submission, Lord Exmouth determined to destroy the Algerine ships. Accordingly, the _Leander_ having first been ordered to cease firing, the flag-ship's barge, directed by Lieutenant Peter Richards, with Major Gossett, of the Miners, Lieutenant Wolrige, of the Marines, and Mr. M'Clintock, a midshipman, boarded the nearest frigate, and fired her so effectually with the laboratory torches, and a carca.s.s-sh.e.l.l placed on the main deck, that she was completely in flames almost before the barge's crew were over her side. The crew of a rocket-boat belonging to the _Hebrus_ were prompted by a natural, but unfortunate ardour, to follow the barge, though forbidden; but the boat pulling heavily, she became exposed to a fire of musketry, which killed an officer and three men, and wounded several others. Lord Exmouth stood watching the barge from the gangway, delighted with the gallantry and prompt.i.tude with which his orders were executed. When the frigate burst into a flame, he telegraphed to the fleet the animating signal, "Infallible!" and as the barge was returning, he ordered those around him to welcome her alongside with three cheers.

It was hoped that the flames would communicate from this frigate to the rest of the Algerine shipping; but she burnt from her moorings, and pa.s.sing clear of her consorts, drifted along the broadsides of the _Queen Charlotte_ and _Leander_, and grounded a-head of the latter, under the wall of the town. The gun-boats, and the _Queen Charlotte's_ launch, then opened with carca.s.s-sh.e.l.ls upon the largest frigate, which was moored in the centre of the other ships, too far within the Mole to be attempted safely by boarding. They soon set her on fire, and notwithstanding the exertions of the Algerines, she was completely in flames by six o'clock. From her the fire communicated, first to all the other vessels in the port, except a brig and a schooner, moored in the upper part of it, and afterwards to the storehouses and a.r.s.enal. At a little past seven, she came drifting out of the harbour, and pa.s.sed so close to the flag-ship as nearly to involve her in the same destruction.

About sunset, a message was received from Rear-Admiral Milne, requesting that a frigate might be sent to divert from the _Impregnable_ some of the fire under which she was suffering. She had anch.o.r.ed more to the northward than was intended, and consequently became exposed to the heavy battery on the point of rock beyond the lighthouse, and which was covered from the fire of the rest of the fleet. The _Glasgow_ weighed immediately, but the wind had been driven away by the cannonade, and she was only able, after three-quarters of an hour's exertion, to reach a new position between the _Severn_ and _Leander_; a better for annoying the enemy, but where she was herself more exposed, and suffered in proportion. As it was found impossible to a.s.sist the _Impregnable_, Lord Exmouth sent on board Mr. Triscott, one of his aides-de-camp, with permission to haul off. The _Impregnable_ was then dreadfully cut up; 150 men had been already killed and wounded, a full third of them by an explosion, and the shot were still coming in fast; but her brave crew, guided and encouraged by the Rear-Admiral and Captain Brace, two of the most distinguished and successful officers in the service, would not allow her to go thus out of battle; and she kept her station, maintaining an animated fire to the last. To relieve her in some degree, an ordnance sloop, which had been fitted at Gibraltar as an explosion-vessel, with 143 barrels of powder, was placed at the disposal of the Rear-Admiral. She had been intended for the destruction of the Algerine fleet, but this service had already been effected by other means. Conducted by Lieutenant Fleming, who had been commanding a gun-boat near the _Queen Charlotte_, with Major Reed, of the Engineers, and Captain Herbert Powell, a volunteer on board the _Impregnable_, the explosion-vessel was run on sh.o.r.e under the battery which had annoyed her, where, at nine o'clock, she blew up.

The fleet slackened their fire towards night, as the guns of the enemy became silenced, and the ships began to feel the necessity for husbanding their ammunition. Their expenditure had been beyond all parallel. They fired nearly 118 tons of powder, and 50,000 shot, weighing more than 500 tons of iron; besides 960 thirteen and ten-inch sh.e.l.ls thrown by the bomb-vessels, and the sh.e.l.ls and rockets from the flotilla. Such a fire, close, concentrated, and well-directed as it was, nothing could resist; and the sea-defences of Algiers, with great part of the town itself, were shattered and crumbled to ruins.

At a little before ten, the objects of the attack having been effected, the _Queen Charlotte's_ bower-cable was cut, and her head hauled round to seaward. She continued, however, to engage with all the guns abaft the mainmast, sometimes on both sides. Warps were run out to gain an offing, but many of them were cut by shot from the batteries southward of the town, which had been very partially engaged, and also from forts on the hills out of reach of the ships' guns. A very light air was felt about half-past ten, and sail was made; but the ship, after cutting from her remaining warps and anchors, was manageable only by the aid of her boats towing, and then the only point gained was keeping her head from the land. At eleven she began to draw out from the batteries, and at twenty-five minutes past she ceased to fire. The breeze freshened, and a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning came on, with torrents of rain; while the flaming ships and storehouses illuminated all the ruins, and increased the grandeur of the scene. In about three hours the storm subsided, and as soon as the ship was made snug, Lord Exmouth a.s.sembled in his cabin all the wounded who could be moved with safety, that they might unite with him and his officers in offering thanksgiving to G.o.d for their victory and preservation.

The two Admirals came on board the _Queen Charlotte_ as soon as they could leave their ships, and spoke their feelings of admiration and grat.i.tude to Lord Exmouth with all the warmth of language and expression. The Dutch Admiral, who, with his squadron, had most n.o.bly emulated the conduct of his British allies, declared himself in terms of the highest eulogy of the _Queen Charlotte_, which, he said, by her commanding position and the effect of her fire, had saved five hundred men to the fleet. Perhaps there was no exaggeration in the praise; for the destruction occasioned by her first broadside, as she lay flanking the Mole, must have contributed much to protect the ships which had not yet reached their stations; and the havoc she inflicted by a cannonade of nine hours must have been great indeed, since her fire could destroy the fortifications on the Mole-head in a few minutes.

In no former general action had the casualties been so great in proportion to the force employed. One hundred and twenty-eight were killed, and six hundred and ninety wounded, in the British ships, and thirteen killed and fifty-two wounded in the Dutch squadron. Yet, except the _Impregnable_, which had fifty men killed, no ship suffered so much as is usual in a severe engagement. Generally, in fleet actions, the brunt of the battle, and the chief amount of losses, fall upon a few; but here every ship had her allotted duty, and was closely engaged throughout. After the _Impregnable_, the frigates suffered the most, particularly the _Granicus_, which took a line-of-battle ship's station; and the _Leander_, which was much cut up by the Fish-market and other batteries, and as late as seven o'clock was obliged to carry out a hawser to _the Severn_, to enable her to bear her broadside upon one which annoyed her. The loss in the other line-of-battle ships was remarkably small. They had together but twenty-six killed, including the casualties in their respective boats.

Lord Exmouth escaped most narrowly. He was struck in three places; and a cannon-shot tore away the skirts of his coat. A b.u.t.ton was afterwards found in the signal locker; and the shot broke one of the gla.s.ses and bulged the rim of the spectacles in his pocket. He gave the spectacles to his valued friend, the late gallant Sir Richard Keats, who caused their history to be engraven on them, and directed, that when he died, they should be restored to Lord Exmouth's family, to be kept as a memorial of his extraordinary preservation.

On the 28th, at daylight, Lieutenant Burgess was sent on sh.o.r.e with a flag of truce, and the demands of the preceding morning; the bomb-vessels at the same time resuming their positions. The captain of one of the destroyed frigates met the boat, and declared that an answer had been sent on the day before, but that no boat was at hand to receive it. Shortly after, the captain of the port came off, accompanied by the Swedish consul, and informed Lord Exmouth that all his demands would be submitted to. On the morning of the 29th, the captain of the port came off again, being now accompanied by the British consul; upon which Captain Brisbane, of the flag-ship, went on sh.o.r.e, and had a conference with the Dey. Sir Charles Penrose, whom the Admiral had expected to the last, arrived this day in the _Ister_ frigate, from Malta, where he had waited for his expected orders, until he heard that Lord Exmouth was in the Mediterranean. Lord Exmouth committed to him the management of the negotiations, the only compliment he could now offer. Where nothing remained but submission for the vanquished, the arrangements were soon concluded, and next day the final result was officially communicated to the fleet.

"_Queen Charlotte_, Algiers Bay, August 30, 1816.

"General Memorandum.

"The Commander-in-Chief is happy to inform the fleet of the final termination of their strenuous exertions, by the signature of peace, confirmed under a salute of twenty-one guns, on the following conditions, dictated by His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of England.

"I. The abolition of Christian slavery for ever.

"II. The delivery to my flag of all slaves in the dominions of the Dey, to whatever nation they may belong, at noon to-morrow.

"III. To deliver also to my flag all money received by him for the redemption of slaves since the commencement of this year--at noon also to-morrow.

"IV. Reparation has been made to the British consul for all losses he has sustained in consequence of his confinement.

"V. The Dey has made a public apology, in presence of his ministers and officers, and begged pardon of the consul in terms dictated by the captain of the _Queen Charlotte_.

"The Commander-in-Chief takes this opportunity of again returning his public thanks to the Admirals, Captains, Officers, Seamen, Marines, Royal Sappers and Miners, Royal Marine Artillery, and the Royal Rocket Corps, for the n.o.ble support he has received from them throughout the whole of this arduous service; and he is pleased to direct that on Sunday next a public thanksgiving shall be offered up to Almighty G.o.d, for the signal interposition of his Divine Providence during the conflict which took place on the 27th, between his Majesty's fleet and the ferocious enemies of mankind.

It is requested that this memorandum may be read to the ship's company.

"To the Admirals, Captains, Officers, Seamen, Marines, Royal Sappers and Miners, Royal Marine Artillery, and the Royal Rocket Corps."

Above twelve hundred slaves were embarked on the 31st, making, with those liberated a few weeks before, more than three thousand, whom, by address or force, Lord Exmouth had delivered from slavery.[13] Having sent them to their respective countries, and leaving a ship to receive a few who had yet to come up from the interior, he sailed on the 3rd of September for England. On the 8th, when on his way to Gibraltar, he wrote an account of the battle to his brother, to whom he had previously sent a very laconic communication, stating merely the result.

"It has pleased G.o.d to give me again the opportunity of writing you, and it has also pleased Him to give success to our efforts against these hordes of barbarians. I never, however, saw any set of men more obstinate at their guns, and it was superior fire only that could keep them back. To be sure, nothing could stand before the _Queen Charlotte's_ broadside. Everything fell before it; and the Swedish consul a.s.sures me we killed above five hundred at the very first fire, from the crowded way in which troops were drawn up, four deep above the gun boats, which were also full of men. I had myself beckoned to many around the guns close to us to move away, previous to giving the order to fire; and I believe they are within bounds, when they state their loss at seven thousand men.

Our old friend John Gaze was as steady as a rock; and it was a glorious sight to see the _Charlotte_ take her anchorage, and to see her flag towering on high, when she appeared to be in the flames of the Mole itself; and never was a ship nearer burnt; it almost scorched me off the p.o.o.p; we were obliged to haul in the ensign, or it would have caught fire. Everybody behaved uncommonly well. Admiral Milne came on board at two o'clock in the morning, and kissed my hand fifty times before the people, as did the Dutch Admiral, Von Capellan. I was but slightly touched in the thigh, face, and fingers--my gla.s.s cut in my hand, and the skirts of my coat torn off by a large shot; but as I bled a good deal, it looked as if I was badly hurt, and it was gratifying to see and hear how it was received even in the c.o.c.kpit, which was then pretty full. My thigh is not quite skinned over, but I am perfectly well, and hope to reach Portsmouth by the 10th of October. Ferdinand has sent me a diamond star. Wise behaved most n.o.bly, and took up a line-of-battle ship's station; but all behaved n.o.bly. I never saw such enthusiasm in all my service. Not a wretch shrunk any where; and I a.s.sure you it was a very arduous task, but I had formed a very correct judgment of all I saw, and was confident, if supported, I should succeed. I could not wait for an offsh.o.r.e wind to attack; the season was too far advanced, and the land-winds become light and calmy. I was forced to attack at once with a lee-sh.o.r.e, or perhaps wait a week for a precarious wind along sh.o.r.e; and I was quite sure I should have a breeze off the land about one or two in the morning, and equally sure we could hold out to that time. Blessed be G.o.d! it came, and a dreadful night with it, of thunder, lightning, and rain, as heavy as I ever saw.