CHAPTER VIII.
Siege of Gaeta by the French—Boat affairs—My capture—Leghorn.
After the repairs were made good, which took nearly two months, we sailed for Messina, and found there some transports waiting for a convoy to take a reinforcement of troops, with General Sherbrooke, to Egypt.
The service being most pressing, we took them under convoy, and after a passage of three weeks, made the low sandy coast to the westward of Alexandria, on which were growing a few date or palm trees, planted in a cluster. We got off the port on the following day, where we no sooner discovered the British squadron, under Capt. Benjamin Hallowell, in the Tigre (80), all snug, than we hove to; and putting the general and his staff on board one of the transports, started back to Messina. The Tigre fired guns and made the signal of recall, which the captain, much to our satisfaction, would not notice, for we had no particular relish to exchange the chance of a good cruise, for the burning sands of Egypt, to fire at Turks behind sand banks and stone walls.
This, however, very nearly got Captain Peter Parker into a serious scrape; for the gallant old Ben. was most wroth, and nothing saved him from a court martial but his being a great friend of Lord Collingwood.
On our return to Sicily we went from Messina to Palermo, and from thence to succour the fortress of Gaeta, near Terracina, besieged by Marshal Massena, with 30,000 men. We ran in and engaged a battery and a French man-of-war brig near Mola. The battery was thrown up in Cicero’s Garden. Night, and a very heavy thunder storm coming on, which blew dead on shore, obliged us to haul off and get an offing; the brig taking advantage of the darkness, cut her cable, and got safe into Naples.
A few days afterwards, I went with some other officers on shore, to be introduced to the Prince of Hesse Philippsthal, who commanded the fortress, and to look round the works and observe the French lines. It appearing to our captain that we could flank the enemy’s works to the N.W. of the peninsula, with the ship, in the afternoon, we stood in and fired a few broadsides, which put them to confusion, however the wind failing obliged us to haul off. A day or two afterwards the wind changing and permitting us to do the same thing, again we stood in, but the French had got something prepared for us this time, in the shape of a good masked battery, which was so well directed that every shot hit us, and we were glad to get off with the loss of three men badly wounded; one poor fellow lost both his legs, another his right leg, and the third was severely wounded by a splinter. We took the hint and did not go there any more. Shortly after this, Rear-Admiral Sir Sidney Smith came and assumed the command of the squadron, he used to send the launches, armed with a carronade, every dark night to flank the French camp on the Terracina side, with orders the moment the gun was fired to pull either to starboard or port, in order to avoid the enemy’s shot. Our being low on the water prevented them seeing us, so that they could only fire at the flashes of our guns. Some shot occasionally passed over us, but the greater part went either to the right or left. One of the Sicilian gun-boats was sunk one night, and some of the oars knocked out of the men’s hands, but by attending to the orders of the gallant admiral we generally escaped. Our other orders from him were not to go within musket shot, and directly the moon began to appear, to disperse and return on board. One night we killed a French general named Vaubois, who had come down to the beach with some field pieces to return our fire.
We went hence to Palermo and landed our wounded men, when we proceeded off Naples with a spy, dispatches, and proclamations, from King Ferdinand the VII., to his beloved subjects, calling upon them to rise and make a diversion to raise the siege of Gaeta; but they were too wise to follow his advice, having neither leaders, spirit, nor enterprise for such dangerous work. To get the above gentleman with his dispatches, proclamations, &c., on shore, being a service of danger, with the prospect at least of a dungeon for the remainder of the war, should they even escape hanging, volunteers were necessary; myself and a fine gig’s crew and a sergeant of marines, offered our services, and engaged not to return without performing the service if it were possible.
We were all well armed and left the ship in the gig, with the spy, soon after dark, at the entrance of the Bay of Naples; the oars were well muffled and greased to prevent them from making a noise. We first rowed under the land towards Baia and Pansilippo; the night was favourable, being very dark, and rather inclined to be stormy, with an occasional flash of sheet lightning, which latter we could have dispensed with; however, on we pulled, taking care not to feather the oars, and to row as easy as possible, that we might make no splashing in the water. At last we got to what I thought a favourable place, and we pulled in, when just as the boat was touching the shore a whole host of fishermen bawled out and gave the alarm. The alarm fires were lit along the shore in a minute, and we were instantly challenged; off we shoved the boat and told the Italian to say we were fishermen looking for our companions. While he was talking the wind being off the land, soon blew us out of hearing and musket shot, when we again rowed along shore nearer Naples, and tried to land upon the rocks, not far from Castle del Ovo; here again, however, the fellows were upon the qui vive, and we again shoved off, when I determined to put a good face upon the matter, and after passing the castle to land right under the houses. They not expecting us there, we succeeded, and our friend the spy, with his dispatches and proclamations, went at once into the city, and I then shoved off and got safe back to the ship by a little after midnight; the captain was quite happy to see us safe returned, having so well accomplished our object. Having seen the alarm fires and signals from the ship, he was very anxious on our account.
The spy being a clever fellow, managed his business well, and in a fortnight after returned safe to Palermo with answers. Nothing was done, for King Joe and his police kept too sharp a look out, to allow his Sicilian Majesty’s corps of lazzaroni to make, or attempt to make, any disturbance.