“The Dutchmen did not know our numbers, probably; so the captain, putting a bold face on the matter, sent a flag of truce to Fort Nassau, to say that if the troops didn’t behave themselves, and cease firing, he would fire into them with a vengeance, and into the city to boot. Now, from what we had done, the Dutchmen, having no doubt that he would keep his word, hauled down their flag; and before many hours were out, thinking discretion the best part of valour, their whole force, regulars and militia, to the number of one thousand and five hundred, laid down their arms on the glacis of Fort Nassau. Thus you see what a few brave men, when well led, can do.
“Of our one hundred and eighty men, we lost very few. Our less fortunate shipmates in the boats, after knocking about all night, got alongside the transport Mandarin. Captain Foote was left as governor of the island with a garrison, while we went on to Amboyna. Our captain was a fine fellow. The ship’s company afterwards presented him with a sword worth a hundred guineas, to show their love and estimation of his bravery. Several cups and swords were presented to him by the officers and soldiers. I can’t tell you what loads of prize-money we got from that place, but I can tell you that it very soon found its way out of the pockets of most of us.
“Well, as I was saying, I afterwards joined the Minden 74, to which ship Lieutenant Edmund Lyons belonged. We had been cruising with a squadron off this place, Batavia. Now there was at the north-eastern end of Java, not far from the Straits of Madura, a very strong fort or castle on Pauka Point, lately erected, called Fort Marrack. It was a considerable annoyance to all ships passing that way, and it was therefore deemed important to destroy it. However, as only between four and five hundred men could be spared for the enterprise, it was given up, as that number was looked upon as insufficient for the undertaking. However, the Minden, having on board a number of Dutch prisoners, Lieutenant Lyons was directed to land them in the launch and cutter at Batavia. I was in the launch. After we had put the Mynheers on shore, we stood along the coast to the eastward, for the lieutenant was in no hurry to get back to the ship. He had got something in his head, do you see? He remembered what he had helped to do with Captain Cole; so says he to himself, ‘I’ll just see if we can’t play the Dutchmen just such another trick with regard to this here Fort Marrack.’ When he had got a thing into his head to do, which he thought could be done, it was no easy matter for anyone else to knock it out again, till he had tried whether he was right or wrong.
“Two days after landing the prisoners, we got up to the fort just at dark. The lieutenant had a look at it, just to arrange his plan; and we then ran under a point of land, where we lay snug out of sight till the darkest part of the night. At first the moon was up, and would have discovered us to the enemy. The fort mounted fifty-four heavy guns, and had a garrison of one hundred and eighty regulars; but what did we care for that! We waited eagerly for the moon to go down, and then we both pulled away with muffled oars for the fort. There was a good deal of surf on the shore, but we hoped its noise, aided by the darkness, would prevent our approach being discovered. However, the Dutchmen had learned to be more awake than when we took Fort Belgica, and as we got close under the land, the sentinels let off their muskets to give the alarm. No time was to be lost. Lieutenant Lyons ordered us to run the boats through the surf right on to the shore, under the very muzzles of the guns in the lower tier. ‘On, my lads!—on!’ he exclaimed, leading us, sword in hand, right up over the embankment into the lower battery before the Dutchmen had time to look round them. We found the gunners as before, with their matches in their hands, and had to kill three of them to prevent their firing. Having knocked down every man we found, we did not stop to look around, but followed our gallant leader into the upper battery, which, in as little time as I have taken to describe, was in our possession. It was ‘Hurrah, my boys!—at them!’ and after a minute’s cutting, and slashing, and firing of pistols, and dashing them at each other’s heads, the place was ours. That’s the way we used to do things in the war, when once a plan had been determined on by our officers!
“But we had still plenty of work to do, for when we went on and reached the highest part of the fort, we found a large body of Dutch troops drawn up to receive us. Nothing daunted by this, our gallant lieutenant, singing in Dutch, and French, and English, and all sorts of languages, that he had got four hundred men at his back, and would give no quarter if any opposition was offered, we fired a volley, and at them again we went, cutlass, and pike, and bayonet in hand. Whether they had Dutch courage in them or not, I don’t know, but certainly they did not like our appearance; and as we came up with them they turned tail, and off they went helter-skelter through a gateway in the rear of the fort. After them we went, and sent the last man out with a hearty good kick, and shut the gate after him!
“No sooner had we got the fort to ourselves than the enemy began peppering away at us from a fort in the rear, and from a couple of gun-boats; and considering that we hadn’t the four hundred men the lieutenant talked of, but only just the two boats’ crews, we had enough to do to spike the guns, and to keep up a brisk fire in return. You may be sure, mates, we were as busy as ants doing all the mischief we could in a short time. We had a young midshipman with us, Mr Franks, not fifteen years old; and while the fire was at the hottest, in the middle of it he hoisted the British ensign on the flagstaff on the top of the fort.
“While we were busy spiking the gnus, and firing away right and left, we made out, through the darkness, what we took to be a large body of Dutch troops. There were plenty of light carriage guns in the fort; and when information was brought him, Lieutenant Lyons ordered us to slue round two of them, and bring them close up to the gate. When we had done so, he and Mr Langton loaded them up to the muzzles with grape and musket balls. On came the enemy. He let them get close up to the gate, and then he and the midshipman fired slap in among them. It was much more than they expected, and lest they should get another dose, they put about in a great hurry, and off they went as fast as they could pelt, we hallooing and hurrahing after them. You may be sure we didn’t follow them, or they would soon have found out the trick we had played them. All the time no one had been killed, and only Mr Langton and three men slightly wounded; but from the number of troops brought against him, Mr Lyons saw that we could not hope to hold the fort; so while the Dutch troops were scampering off in one direction, we bolted over the ramparts in the other. When we got down to the beach, we were not a little taken aback by finding that the surf had driven the barge right up on the shore and bilged her; but, fortunately, the cutter was still afloat. So we all got into her as silently as mice, and shoved off, leaving the fort to take care of itself. We were much amused by seeing the Dutchmen outside firing away into it as hard as ever. When they discovered their mistake, I don’t know; but whenever they did, they must have found all the guns spiked, and the British ensign flying triumphantly over their heads, to show them who had done all the mischief.
“We got safely back to the Minden next day, none of us much the worse for the exploit. Soon after that, the whole of Java and its dependencies capitulated to Sir Robert Stopford and General Wetherall. This was the only service I saw in the navy—for within a year of that time I got my discharge, and once more joined a whaler.”
Old Tom’s account of these two gallant exploits was received by all hands with great applause, for that is just the sort of work in which seamen delight, and I know that all of us wished we had been with him. I need scarcely say that the Lieutenant Edmund Lyons of those days was afterwards the well-known Admiral Lord Lyons, who, from that commencement, won his way up to his well-deserved honours.
Two days after our encounter with the Dutch gentleman on shore, the captain sent for Newman into his cabin. He was some time away; and when he came forward, I saw that his countenance wore an unusually pleased expression.