Only once after 1803 did any Packet surrender to the enemy without a resistance which was obviously the utmost that she could offer. In that single instance a captain of old service and of honourable record, both won by himself and inherited from his father, was cashiered for cowardice in the face of the enemy. Such incidents will happen occasionally in every body of men trained to war; and, even if it could be proved that the officer was rightly punished, there would be no occasion to make much of a solitary exception. The justice of his treatment was, however, very strongly questioned; and as all, or nearly all, the official papers which contain the evidence have been lost, the facts can never now be fully stated.
There was no other commander whose conduct was even, doubtful, and as report followed report, each bringing the news of some fresh feat of gallantry against great odds, the satisfaction and pride of My Lords and Mr. Freeling mounted very high.
Early in November, 1813, the “Lapwing” sailed from Falmouth for Barbados, under command of Captain Furze. The “Lapwing” had been captured earlier in the year, and stripped of her guns. When she came to be refitted at Falmouth, it happened, unfortunately, that the store-keeper could not supply the long brass 9–pounders, “Post-Office guns,” which the Atlantic Packets used as chasers, and which had done them yeomen’s service in many a hard fight. Captain Furze would have willingly given any other three guns in exchange for the “Post-Office guns” which he lacked. However, he could obtain only one long 6–pounder to serve as a chaser, and six 6–pounder carronades—a scanty weight of metal with which to run the gauntlet of the most heavily armed Privateers yet seen on the seas.
All went well until the voyage was nearly over; but on November 22nd, when the coast of Barbados was in sight, the “Lapwing” was chased by an American Privateer, the “Fox,” which brought her to action towards evening about three miles from shore.
It was now that Captain Furze had reason to lament the want of his two brass guns, by the aid of which he felt confident that he could have crippled his enemy. At any rate, the lack of all effective means of attacking her rigging before she closed took away his only chance of success; for the result of an action alongside could not have been doubtful to the least experienced sailor. The “Fox,” it is true, mounted only five guns, but three of these were long 12–pounders, and two were heavy carronades, while all five were mounted on circular platforms amidships, so that they could be directed with ease on any point, thus giving them a united power much greater than their weight. The “Lapwing’s” guns, on the other hand, could be fired only through her ports, which meant that in a close fight, only three could be in action at one time. Moreover, the “Fox” carried a hundred and seven men, of whom no less than seventy were in her tops armed with muskets, and these marksmen kept up a constant fire throughout the action, doing great execution. The “Lapwing,” out of a crew of thirty-two men and boys, could spare but few from the handling of the ship and the service of the guns.
However, in a fight so close to port, there was always the chance that the sound of cannon might attract some friendly cruiser; and Captain Furze answered the summoning gun with a broadside. The American immediately ran down and closed. A desperate fight followed. After the cannonade had lasted some considerable time, the American captain seized a favourable opportunity, and hurled his boarders into the Packet. They were bravely met with pike and musket, and in the end repulsed with loss. A second time the stormers came swarming up the “Lapwing’s” nettings, and again they were driven back. But by this second success the small numbers of the Post-Office men were sensibly diminished, while the musketry fire from the enemy’s tops made itself severely felt. Four of Captain Furze’s men lay dead, eight more were in the hands of the surgeon, and others were falling fast. Mr. Henry Senior, an ensign in the 60th Regiment, who was on board as a passenger, was shot through the thigh. A musket ball broke Captain Furze’s arm, and he had barely gone below to have his hurt tended, when Mr. Hodge, the master, who had been left in command on deck, was brought down, shot through both thighs. The resistance had lasted three hours. Half the crew of the Packet were disabled, and, near as the coast of Barbados was, there appeared no sign of succour. Captain Furze reluctantly concluded that it was hopeless to prolong the struggle, and he ordered the mails to be sunk, and the colours to be struck.
Unfortunate as the result of this action was, Captain Furze received considerable credit for the gallant resistance he had made, and there can be no doubt that this credit was fully earned.
Very early in the new year the Falmouth Service sustained a heavy loss by the capture of the “Townshend,” which had been so nobly defended by Captain Cock hardly more than a year before. She was on her way to Lisbon, when she fell in with the French frigate “La Clorinde,” an ancient enemy of the Packets, which had certainly captured one at least before, and had not improbably been detached to cruise in their track, in the hope of intercepting despatches. That this was her object on the present occasion admitted of little doubt, for when “La Clorinde” overhauled the “Townshend,” she concealed her nationality, though no resistance was offered, ran up Portuguese colours, and sent off a boat.
Some officers might have been deceived, but Captain Cock was too experienced to be entrapped by so artless a device. He had caused the mails to be brought on deck as soon as the chase began. The bags, heavily shotted, lay beside an open port-hole, and a sailor was told off to throw them overboard the moment the captain gave the signal. The boat drew nearer, and Captain Cock, while it was yet at a safe distance, hailed in Portuguese, which he spoke fluently. The halting accent of the answer told him he had no Portuguese to deal with. He raised his hand. The mails slid into the water; and before the angry Frenchman came on board, despatches and commercial letters were safely delivered at the bottom of the sea.
The disappointed tricksters revenged themselves by scuttling the “Townshend,” and Captain Cock had the grief of seeing the ship, which he had fought so bravely, sunk ingloriously in mid-ocean. He and his crew were taken on board “La Clorinde,” where for ten days they were allowed a good deal of freedom, and enjoyed an excellent opportunity of studying the internal discipline of a French ship of war. They were not favourably impressed with what they saw; and the near prospect of a French prison made them gloomy enough. It is easy, therefore, to imagine their feelings when on the tenth day, an English 38–gun frigate, the “Eurotas,” commanded by Captain Phillimore, hove in sight.