It appears that no difference of opinion arose on this subject until the court-martial of Captain Ferris, which took place on the 1st September 1801, at Portsmouth, Rear-admiral Holloway president; when, as usual on trials for the loss of a ship, Captain Ferris read his narrative, which he begins thus:
"In giving a detail of the circumstances which led to the loss of his Majesty's late ship Hannibal, I am sorry that, owing to my clerk being killed, whose remarks were lost,[32] I cannot be so particular as to the exact times of signals being made as I otherwise should have been; but I shall state them to you to the best of my recollection."
After this admission, is it not surprising that the controversy should be mainly founded on the time at which the Hannibal struck her colours? Captain Ferris says, "about two o'clock;" while by the log of the Cæsar the action had entirely ceased at thirty-five minutes past one. It may be asked, why did not the court, which must have seen the discrepancy between his narrative and the public and other documents before it, inquire into the truth by requiring the evidence of the officers and crew, none of whom were examined as to the time the ship struck: but the duty of the court being confined to the trial of Captain Ferris, his officers and crew, and it being (whether supported or not) evident and notorious that they had defended their ship to the last extremity, they had (unluckily for Sir James) nothing to do but to pronounce an honourable acquittal.
The next contradiction which appears, relates to the boats which were sent to the assistance of the Hannibal. Captain Ferris says, "The Admiral, having previously made my signal of recall, sent a boat from the Cæsar, and another from the Venerable, to my assistance; but, finding they could afford me none, I sent the Venerable's boat back, and the crew of the Cæsar in one of my own cutters, their pinnace having been sunk by a shot alongside."
I am bound to say that this assertion is not borne out either by the testimony of those who were in the boats of the Cæsar and the Venerable, or by the officers of the Hannibal; because, as will be seen hereafter, these boats never reached the Hannibal, when aground, until after she had struck her colours.
Captain Ferris next relates that "About twelve o'clock our ships were all out of gun-shot of the enemy, and we had the fire of the whole French squadron, batteries, and gun-boats, to contend with alone; against which we continued to keep up as brisk a fire as could be expected, even by men in the most sanguine anticipation of victory, until near two o'clock."
Now this is quite impossible, as, by the log of every ship, the squadron was engaging much later: by the Cæsar, until 1h.35m.; by the Audacious, until 1h.20m.; by the Venerable, until 1h.30m. &c.; before which, the ensign of the Hannibal was seen, from every ship, Union down.
It has been unwarrantably alleged by some that the Hannibal hauled the ensign down, and then hoisted it reversed, as a signal of distress, and afterwards, when she struck, hauled it down; and that the French hoisted it union down to decoy the Calpe,. But, for the refutation of these absurdities, we must refer the reader to the testimony of Colonel Connolly, who was then acting captain of the marines, an officer of the highest character, whose veracity cannot be questioned; and who, moreover, from being the only officer on the poop when the colours were struck, had a better opportunity of knowing the facts than any other. The following are the questions which we put to Colonel Connolly, with his answers, given verbatim:
Did the enemy take possession of the Hannibal before the colours were hoisted union down?
The colours were hauled down by Captain Ferris's orders, and remained so; but, being so near the Formidable, the captain of her was on board of us in two minutes after we had struck, and the colours were hoisted union downwards by the Frenchmen.[33]