Many were the occasions that distinguished the Naval and Military Forces of his Majesty during the present active year, which, from their number, cannot fall within my detail. Both Corps seemed animated with a spirit of unsurpassed zeal and enterprize, which the Marine of France, her Commerce, and her coasts most bitterly felt. This era exhibited many early specimens of the courage and talents of some individuals, whose merits and great abilities very justly placed them in high commands during the subsequent stages of their lives, and whose names can never be mentioned but with encomium.
The amphibious duties of the Marine Soldier necessarily placed him in many of these active scenes, and from that close connection in which he now stood towards the Naval Establishment of his country, he may be said to have always been a sharer in the honours that arose from the brilliant single actions at sea, with which the year abounded.
A bill framed in wisdom, policy, and humanity, originated and passed in 1758, under the able and enlightened auspices of the Honourable Mr. George Grenville. This was for the encouragement of Seamen in the Royal Navy, by which these well-meaning, but unthinking men, were enabled to cast an eye of compassion and relief towards their suffering families. By this institution they might allot such a part of their pay as they did not choose to receive, to their wives, parents, or others, to which amount they had tickets from the Commissioners, which on being remitted to any part of the country, were payable on demand by the Collectors of Customs and Excise within Great Britain. Its liberal tendency is too obvious for remark; and it is only singular, that from its acknowledged influence, such was not earlier extended to the Marine Soldier, who constantly participated in the dangers, the glory, and the duties of our Fleets.—The man who has resolution and virtue to forfeit his own comforts, and to alienate a great part of them towards the subsistence of his distant relatives, affords the strongest test of his genuine character. He who is true to domestic ties, will never, by insubordination, dissolve those that unite him to his country.
[CHAP. XXII.]
Fourteen thousand eight hundred and forty-five Marines formed the Establishment of 1759.
The manly, daring, and enlightened mind of him who guided the public measures, was never more conspicuous than in the extensive plans which directed the operations of the present year. Superior to the menaces of invasion, though still not despising them, he did not limit the national energies to a system of self-defence, but resolved upon carrying war and conquest against the distant territories of our enemy. The spirit of Englishmen, thus roused, kept pace with the bold views of Mr. Pitt, and while it has convinced the world how invincible we are when knit together in the bonds of union, let us imitate the examples of this happy period, upon every return of public danger!
One of the most gallant single actions with which this contest was marked, occurred in the West Indies, towards the close of 1758. It is narrated by Captain Tyrrell, of the Buckingham, who fought it, in all the honest simplicity of a British Seaman, and bears high testimony to the gallant conduct of those under his command. This gratifying tribute, when merited, should never be withheld from the meanest, and it must ever honourably characterize the man who bestows it. Falling in with the Florissant, of 74 guns, and two heavy frigates, in his Majesty's Ship Buckingham, of 70, he bravely engaged them and obliged the first to strike; but night coming on, she availed herself of its darkness, made sail, and escaped from her disabled antagonist. Speaking of my Corps, Capt. Tyrrell's words are, "Capt. Troy, at the head of his Marines, performed the service of a brave and gallant Officer, cleared the poop and quarter-deck of the enemy, and drove her men like sheep down the main deck."
The defenceless state of the French Carribee Islands, induced an expedition against them, which sailed from Europe towards the end of November, 1758, under General Hopson and Commodore Hughes, and arrived at Barbadoes upon the 3d of January following. This Squadron, consisting of seven sail of the line, one of fifty guns, besides frigates, had on board nearly eight hundred Marines, headed by Brevet Col. Rycaut, of the Portsmouth Division, which were intended to form a battalion, to co-operate with the army; but Commodore Moore assuming the command of our Naval Forces in these seas, after this junction, cancelled that plan, and adopted the idea of landing each party in detachment, when necessary. By this measure the public character of Colonel Rycaut was suspended, and that regular system of discipline, which must ever result from the union of many under one form, was sacrificed. This leads me to notice, that the Marine Soldier is peculiarly exposed to a great disadvantage upon every service of combined operation. Constantly employed in small detachments, it is frequently his lot, at a short notice, to enter the field against the well-trained legions of his enemies, and to unite his energies with the Regular and Brigaded Forces of his country. He, in this new scene, perhaps, knows not his file leader, and is probably a stranger to his officer.