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THE  LIFE  OF 
LORD  ANSON 


CAPT  W.V.ANSON  R.N. 


THE  FATHER  OF  THE  BRITISH  NAVY. 

0  ^.  28.     The  Life  of  Admiral   Lord   Anson,  the  Father  of 

I    ^  the  British  Navy — 1697- 1762.     By  Walter  Vernon 

Anson,  Captain  R.N.  Illustrated  with  20  portraits 
and  plates  from  Contemporary  engravings,  and  a 
folding  map.  8vo.  (9  x  6  in.).  Cloth,  uncut.  Lon- 
don, John  Murray,  191 2. 

Published  at  "js.  6d.   net.  Offered  at  75c. 

(Weight  iMbs.) 

Contents:  Early  Life;  England  and  Europe  from  the 
Peace  of  Utrecht  to  the  Death  of  George  I;  England  and 
Europe  from  the  Death  of  George  I  (1727-40);  The  Voyage 
round  the  World;  Off  the  Coast  of  South  America;  Across  the 
Pacific;  The  Voyage  Home;  Arrival  at  Spithead  in  1744;  The 
■British  Navy  in  1744;  Anson's  Work  at  the  Admiralty  (1746- 
47);  War  with  France  (1747);  The  Navy  and  Political  Influ- 
ences; The  Rise  of  Pitt;  War  with  France;  Quiberon  and  Que- 
bec;   Anson's  Life  and  Character;    Index. 

"Anson  has  been  called  the  Father  of  the  British  Navy  , 
and  in  this  admirable  monograph  we  see  him  at  close  quarter  3 
all  through  his  strenuous  and  adventurous  career.  The  book 
contains  portraits  and  is  admirably  well  written." — Standard. 

"The  book  is  of  real  value  as  giving  a  clear  insight  into  the 
great  fighting  days  before  the  age  of  Nelson." — Conlemporar y 
Review. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 
COMMODORE  BYRON  MCCANDLESS 


THE    LIFE    OF 

ADMIRAL  LORD  ANSON 

THE  FATHER    OF   THE   BRITISH    NAVY 

1697 — 1762 

BY  WALTER  VERNON  ANSON 

CAPTAIN  R.N. 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS   AND    MAP 


LONDON 
JOHN   MURRAY,  ALBEMARLE   STREET,  W. 

1912 


AiL  Rights  Reserved 


DA 


6Z 


DEDICATED 
TO    ADMIRAL    OF    THE    FLEET 

SIR   ARTHUR   KNYVET   WILSON 

V.C,  G.C.B.,  ETC. 

IN  WHOM  THE  NAVY  AND  THK  WHOLE  COUNTRY  ALWAYS  HAD 
THE  GREATEST  CONFIDENCE.  IN  HIS  TIME  AS  COMMANDER-IN- 
CHIEF  THE  OFFICERS  AND  MEN  TRUSTED  HIM,  FOR  THEY  KNEW 
THAT  HOWEVER  HARD  HE  WORKED  THEM  HE  WAS  ALWAYS 
THERE  HIMSELF,  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  THEM.  HE  KNEW  THE  SEA  AND 
ITS  NEEDS  AS  NO  ONE  HAS  KNOWN  IT  BETTER,  AND  ALL  KNEW 
THAT  IF  THE  OCCASION  SHOULD  ARISE  THEY  WERE  BOUND 
TO  BE  VICTORIOUS,  AND  THOUGH  PEACE  MAY  REIGN,  PERHAPS 
WILL  REIGN,  FOR  MANY  YEARS,  HE  WILL  HAVE  PASSED  ON  THK 
TRADITIONS  OF  STRENUOUS  EFFICIENCY,  SILENTLY  AND  QUIETLY, 
TO    ALL    THOSE    WHO    ARK    COMING,    AND    WILL   UPHOLD    THEM. 


PREFACE 

To  understand  and  fully  appreciate  the  story 
of  the  Ufe  of  any  great   character  in    history, 
it  is  necessary  to  throw  oneself  into  the  sur- 
roundings of    that    particular  time— to  see    the 
scenery  as  it  was  there,  and  the  other  characters 
who  were  on  the  stage  at  that  time ;  and  this 
is    especially    the    case    in    the    "  Life    of    Lord 
Anson  "—the  Father  of  the  British  Navy,  one 
of  the  greatest  and  most  interesting  characters 
who  ever  shed  his  influence  over  our  country. 
From    his   training   in   that    splendid    achieve- 
ment, his  voyage  round   the  world,  which  now 
reads    as    an     almost    impossible     romance,    he 
learned    that    indomitable    supremacy    over    all 
obstacles,  that  thoroughness  of  preparation  which 
he  so  carefully  exercised  when  he  went  to  the 
Admiralty,  and  by  which  all  the  great  actions 
of   his   time  were   rendered    possible ;    and    like 
all  great  men  of  action,  he  never  talked  about 
what  he  had  done.     To  set  forth  the  annals  of 
the  time  in  which  the  hero  has  existed,  and  to 
note  his  contact  with  them,  is  only  a  part  of  his 
life — the  life  of  the  man  is  more  than  his  public 
career.     It  is  made  up  of  a  thousand  touches, 


▼11 


viii  PREFACE 

a  multitude  of  lights  and  shades,  most  of  which 
are  invisible  behind  his  official  conduct.  We 
want  to  know  how  he  talked,  what  he  thought, 
what  was  his  standpoint  as  regards  the  great 
issues  of  life,  what  he  read  in  his  hours  of  ease. 
Anson  was  before  all  things  a  sailor,  a  man 
of  resource,  a  strict  disciplinarian,  but  at  the 
same  time  a  reasonable  man,  who  knew  when 
to  throw  red  tape  to  the  winds.  "  C'est  le  bon 
sens,  la  raison  qui  fait  tout."  Mahan  says,  *'  The 
onward  movement  of  the  whole  body  of  man- 
kind, which  we  call  the  public,  is  dependent  on 
each  man's  thorough  consummate  knowledge 
of  his  own  business,  supplemented  by  an  ade- 
quate understanding  of  the  occupation  and  needs 
of  his  neighbours."  Now,  these  qualities  were 
Anson's.  Through  troublous  times — times  of 
political  jobbery — whether  the  politicians  were 
for  peace  or  war,  he  was  the  one  man  consulted, 
always  to  be  depended  on,  and  always  to  be 
trusted,  and  those  who  served  under  him  he 
never  forgot.  They  were  his  lieutenants,  who 
became  the  future  admirals,  and  carried  out  his 
spirited  policy.  He  was  always  ready  to  screen 
a  friend  in  trouble,  as  when  he  left  the  Ad- 
miralty to  help  his  friend  Hawke,  who  in  an 
unguarded  moment  made  a  mistake.  He  had 
enemies,  such  as  Horace  Walpole  and  Smollett, 
but  they  never  succeeded  in  damaging  his  charac- 
ter, any  more  than  the  storms  of  the  Horn,  or 
Brest,  had  any  effect  on  him.     He  left  his  teach- 


PREFACE  ix 

ing  to  the  Navy  which  he  loved.  He  wrote 
Httle,  spoke  little ;  he  hated  politics  and 
intrigues. 

One  science  only  will  one  genius  fit. 
So  vast  is  art ;   so  narrow  human  wit. 

Under  him  were  brought  up  his  particular 
friends — ^Hawke,  Howe,  Boscawen,  Saumarez, 
Saunders,  Keppel,  Warren,  Brett,  Dennis, Mostyn, 
men  who  learnt  from  him  those  great  qualities 
which  he  insisted  upon.  He  was  ever  ready 
to  leave  the  duties  of  office  to  snatch  a  victory 
over  the  enemy.  He  was  always  successful,  for 
every  one  under  him  had  confidence  in  him, 
that  he  must  and  would  win,  and  that  in  a 
thorough  and  complete  manner.  Warren,  his 
second  in  command  at  his  victory  over  De  la 
Jonquierre,  where  he  took  or  destroyed  the  whole 
of  the  enemy's  fleet,  said,  "  I  never  wish  to 
serve  under  a  better  chief."  Most  of  the  great 
improvements  of  the  Navy  were  carried  out 
by  him  whilst  at  the  Admiralty.  The  improve- 
ment of  the  victualling,  attention  to  sanitary 
arrangements,  the  enabling  of  men  to  allot  to 
their  dependants,  the  coding  of  the  articles  of 
war,  the  creation  of  a  uniform  for  officers  in  1750, 
the  institution  in  1755  of  the  Royal  Marine  Corps 
as  it  is  now,  the  coppering  of  ships'  bottoms, 
the  standardising  of  ships  of  a  class,  the  laying 
down  and  building  of  frigates,  the  improvement 
in  signal  tactics,  and  the  decision  as  to  when  it 
was    worth    while   to    repair    ships    or   cheaper 


X  PREFACE 

and  more  efficient  to  build  new  ones,  are  some 
of  the  improvements  which  he  instituted.  The 
example,  and  spirit  of  thoroughness,  and  of  the 
determination  that  no  difficulties  or  obstacles 
existed,  except  to  be  overcome,  was  the  morale 
which  he  made  to  permeate  the  service  and  to 
inspire  all  who  worked  with  him.  If  I  have  not 
made  this  Life  of  Lord  Anson  worthy  of  him, 
and  interesting  and  helpful  to  those  who 
may  read  it,  it  is  because  of  the  difficulty  of 
following  one  who  inspired,  but  seldom  wrote 
or  talked,  although  his  advice  was  sought  by 
all.  I  am  much  indebted  to  the  Earl  of 
Lichfield  for  allowing  me  to  copy  some  of  the 
pictures  in  his  possession,  and  to  Captain  de 
Saumarez,  R.N.,  for  lending  me  the  picture  of 
Captain  de  Saumarez. 

The  works  I  have  consulted  are  the  following  : 
Corbett's  "  History  of  the  Seven  Years'  War  "  ; 
Captain  Mahan's  "  Influence  of  Sea  Power  "  ; 
Barrow's  "  Life  of  Anson  "  ;  Anson's  "  Voy- 
ages," by  Walter;  the  Newcastle  and  Hard- 
wicke  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  and  the 
Admiralty  Letters  in  the  Record  Office  ;  also 
"  The  Political  History  of  England,  1702-1760," 

Leadam. 

W.  V.  A. 

Decenibur  1,  1911. 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER    I 

EARLY     YEARS 

Birth  and  family  connections — Probable  effect  on  him  of  certain 
writers — Cruise  up  the  Baltic — Peter  the  Great — In  the  fleet  under 
Adnairal  Byng — Battle  of  Passaro — Command  of  first  ship — The 
Weasel  in  1722 — On  the  coast  of  Carolina — Character  at  that  time 
— Popularity — Opinion  of  settlers — His  energy — Neutrality  between 
parties — Appointed  to  Squirrel — His  friendship  with  Sir  Peter  Warren 
— Letter  to  Sir  John  Norris,  October  1739 — War  with  Spain — Is 
appointed  to  command  of  expedition  .....     pp.   1-7 


CHAPTER    II 

ENGLAND  AND  EUROPE  FROM  THE   PEACE  OF 
UTRECHT  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  GEORGE  I 

Robert  Harley  determines  on  a  new  election — Political  jobbery — 
The  Duke  of  Ormonde  corresponds  with  James — Whigs  and  Tories — 
Dismissal  of  Harley — Anger  and  death  of  Queen  Anne — George  I.  lands 
at  Greenwich — Townshend  forms  a  Ministry — Appearance  of  Sir  Robert 
Walpole — The  new  King — The  Primie  Minister — Hanoverian  in- 
fluence in  politics — Absence  of  the  King  in  Hanover — Admiral  Sir 
John  Norris  sent  to  Baltic — Sir  John  Byng  sent  to  Baltic,  1717 — ■ 
Walpole  and  Townshend  dismissed — The  Stanhope  Ministry — Quadruple 
alliance — Admiral  Byng  goes  to  Mediterranean — Battle  of  Passaro 
— Spain's  navy  destroyed — Peace  secured — Stanhope  dies,  1721 — 
Sir  Robert  Walpole  succeeds — South  Sea  Company — Prevalence  of 
gambling  in  England — Alliance  of  Spain  and  Austria — Squadrons 
fit  out  under  Sir  Charles  Wager — Sir  John  Jennings  and  Admiral 
Hosier — Austria  retires  from  Alliance — Death  of  George  1.       pp.   8-lG 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    III 

ENGLAND  AND  EUROPE  FROM  THE  DEATH  OF 
GEORGE  I.  (1727-1740) 

Walpole's  Government — Difficulties  at  home  and  abroad — Holies, 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  as  Secretary  of  State — Condition  of  country — 
Increase  of  drinking  habits— The  officers  of  Navy  appointed  by  political 
interest — Methods  of  obtaining  men  for  sea — Shortage  of  men — 
Dispute  with  Spain  about  right  of  search — Admiral  Haddock  rein- 
forced in  Mediterranean — Anson  appointed  to  Centurion  and  sent 
to  Africa — Stops  massacre  of  Mahommedans — Proceeds  to  Barbados 
— War  becomes  inevitable — Explanation  of  Right  of  Search — Strong 
feeling  in  England — Merchants'  petition  .  .  •     PP-    17-22 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE    VOYAGE    ROUND    THE    WORLD 

Expeditions  settled  on — Anson  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of 
Squadron  to  South  Seas — Names  of  ships— Great  delay — Waiting 
for  men — Chelsea  pensioners  told  off — Sir  Charles  Wager — Squadron 
drops  down  to  St.  Helens — To  convoy  a  large  number  of  ships — 
Orders  received  for  the  expedition — Additions  from  the  Lords  Justices 
— Description  of  the  ships — Long  voyage  to  Madeira — Pizarro's 
squadron — Arrival  at  Madeira  .....     pp-  23-31 


CHAPTER    V 

OFF    THE    COAST    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA 

The  English  and  Spanish  squadrons— PearZ  mistakes  the  enemy 
for  friends — Narrow  escape — Account  of  Pizarro's  squadron — Squadron 
leaves  Madeira — Arrives  at  St.  Catherine's — Sickly  ships— A  refit 
—St.  Julian— Gale  off  Terra  del  Fuego— Enter  Straits  of  Le  Maire- 
The  calm  before  the  storm — A  set-back — Continuation  of  storms — 
Their  suddenness— The  ravages  of  scurvy  in  the  fleet — The  other 
ships  part  company — Waiting  off  Socotro — Struck  by  lightning — 
Leave  rendezvous  and  proceed  to  Juan  Fernandez — Miss  the  island — 
Delay — And  effect  caused — Delight  at  sighting  Juan  Fernandez — 
Dreadful  effects  of  scurvy — Tryal  sloop  arrives — Gloucester  arrives 
— Blown  to  sea — Returns — Account  of  Severn  and  Pearl — Description 
of  Juan  Fernandez — After  104  days — Ships  leave  the  island — Total 
losses  from  scurvy— Arrival  at  Paita        ....      pp.   32-42 


CONTENTS  xiii 


CHAPTER    VI 

ACROSS    THE    PACIFIC 

Lieutenant  Brett  in  charge  of  expedition — Its  success — Paita  sacked 
and  burned — Appreciation  of  Anson's  treatment  of  prisoners — Dis- 
putes as  to  spoils — Anson's  generosity — Squadron  leaves  Paita — 
Oloucester  arrives — She  gives  account  of  capture  of  a  Snow — Commo- 
dore gives  up  going  to  Panama — Calms  and  heavy  rains — Arrival  at 
Quito — Reconnoitring  ofi'  Acapulcho — Hopes  of  meeting  galleon — 
Short  of  water — Proceed  to  Chequetan — Prisoners  landed — Squadron 
starts  across  Pacific — Winds  and  currents  not  properly  known  to 
them — Centurion  and  Gloucester  badly  need  repairs — Gloucester  causes 
delay — Her  wretched  state — Decision  to  abandon  and  burn  her — 
Gloomy  outlook — They  sight  an  island — No  anchorage — Tinian 
Island  sighted — Centurion  arrives — Description  of  island — Commodore 
ill — Centurion  blown  out  to  sea — Terrible  situation — Blasted  hopes — 
Anson  does  not  despair — He  builds  boat — Sudden  reappearance  of 
ship — Arrival  at  Macao  after  two  yeai-s'  absence  of  mails        pp.  43-53 


CHAPTER    VII 

THE    VOYAGE    HOME 

After  arrival  at  Macao,  resolve  to  go  to  Canton  and  see  Viceroy — 
Finding  a  diflficulty  in  the  way,  Anson  uses  threats  to  force  his  way — 
Proceeds  up  alone  to  Canton — The  first  British  man-of-war  to  visit 
China — The  Centurion  gets  to  sea — The  Commodore  discloses  his 
plans — Elation  of  the  crew — Constant  exercise  of  gunnery — Spanish 
squadron  fits  out  to  intercept  them — A  sail  discovered — The  galleon  ! — 
Deficiency  in  guns'  crews — Method  of  overcoming  this — The  action — 
The  galleon  strikes — Fire  discovered  on  board  Centurion — Coolness 
of  Commodore — Securing  the  prisoners — Saumarez  appointed  captain 
of  Galleon — They  return  to  Macao — Arrive  after  one  month's  cruise 
— The  success  of  the  expedition — Chinamen  appreciate  treatment  of 
prisoners — Prisoners  liberated  sent  to  Macao — Anson  proceeds  to 
visit  Canton — Fire  in  Canton — Centurions  to  the  rescue — Viceroy 
provides  everything — The  galleon  sold — The  Centurion  sails — Arrival 
at  Table  Bay — Learn  news  of  war  with  France — Pass  through  French 
fleet  in  a  fog — End  of  voyage         .....     pp.  54-61 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    VIII 

ARRIVAL     AT     SPITHEAD     IN     1744 

Arrival  at  Spithead — Letter  to  Lord  Hardwicke — Saunders's  arrival 
— Anson  refuses  his  own  promotion  because  Captain  Brett  is  not 
promoted — His  letter  to  the  Admiralty — Reply  from  the  secretary — 
Letter  from  the  Duke  of  Newcastle — Figurehead  of  Centurion — Anson 
appointed  to  the  Admiralty  .....     pp.   62-72 

CHAPTER    IX 

THE    BRITISH    NAVY    IN    1744 

Remarks  on  the  effects  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  succession  to  the 
Crown  causing  neglect  of  Army  and  Navy — Important  terms — France 
preparing  for  war  and  to  assist  the  Stuarts — Sir  John  Norris  in  the 
Channel — French  fleet  dispersed — Actions  of  Brett,  Howe,  Saumarez, 
etc. — Anson  alone  at  the  Admiralty — Bedford  and  Sandwich  both 
ill — Parliament  interferes  with  Admiralty  prerogative  as  to  ordering 
courts  martial — Court  martial  on  Admirals  Mathews  and  Lestock — 
Judge  Willes  interferes  with  court — Anson  has  letters  from  his  brother 
in  Staffordshire  with  regard  to  rebels — Ships  and  privateers  active — 
Warren's  success  at  Louisbourg — Admiral  Vernon  and  the  Admiralty 

pp.  7S-80 


CHAPTER    X 

ANSON's  work  AT    THE    ADMIRALTY   (1746-1747) 

Anson  at  the  Admiralty  in  the  early  part  of  1746 — Determined  to 
reform,  first  the  material,  then  the  spirit  of  the  officers — The  Dock- 
yards— He  picks  out  plucky  actions  of  privateers  for  reward — Amends 
and  establishes  the  Articles  of  War — Improves  prospects  of  officers 
on  active  service — Improves  shipbuilding,  and  doubles  the  number 
of  5th  and  3rd  rates — Standardises  ships  of  a  class — Decides  to  go 
to  sea  in  command  of  Western  fleet  and  carry  out  reforms  and  to  show 
how  our  ships  could  blockade  right  through  the  winter  gales.  His 
restless  energy — A  series  of  short  letters  and  orders  from  the  flagship 
— Rigorous  blockade  throughout  the  winter — Letters  to  Duke  of  Bedford 
— He  will  risk  everything  for  the  chance  of  destroying  some  of  the 
enemy's  ships        ........     pp.  81-96 


CONTENTS  XV 

CHAPTER    XI 

WAR    WITH    FRANCE    (1747) 

Results  of  winter  blockade — Dockyards  dilatory — Captains  Montague 
and  Granville — Captain  Gwynn  of  Falcon  reports  the  French  fleet — 
Chase — Captain  Dennis  responds  to  signal — Capture  of  entire  French 
fleet — Boscawen  wounded — French  officers  fight  well — Incalculable 
effect  of  action  on  events  in  America  and  India — Letter  of  a  midshipman 
on  board  Centurion — Admiral  Sir  Peter  Warren's  letter — Great  re- 
joicings in  England  at  success,  after  long  period  of  failures — He  starts 
unbroken  career  of  success  for  England — Establishment  of  naval 
uniform — Captain  Fox  destroys  large  convoy — Anson  collects  a  large 
fleet  and  gives  command  to  Sir  Edward  Hawke.  Hawke's  action — 
Escape  of  the  two  largest  French  ships  Tonnant  and  Intrepide — Captain 
Saumarez  of  Nottingham  killed  in  attempt  to  stop  their  escape — 
Escape  of  convoy — Hawke  despatches  a  sloop  to  West  Indies  to  give 
information — Ships  captured — Superiority  of  French  ships  in  speed, 
being  straight  from  dockyards,  whilst  oxir  ships  had  been  long  at  sea — 
Anson  establishes  the  frigate  class — His  marriage  with  daughter  of 
Lord  Hardwicke  .......     pp.  97-109 


CHAPTER    XII 

THE    NAVY    AND    POLITICAL    INFLUENCES 

War  ttill  proceeding  in  India — Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle — Lord 
Sandwich  becomes  First  Lord  in  place  of  Bedford — Letter  from  Hard- 
wicke to  Newcastle  re  Anson — Anson's  letter  re  Bedford  leaving 
Admiralty — Peace  and  reduction  of  Navy  vote — Anson  works  hard  to 
reform  materiel  and  organisation  in  spite  of  politicians — He  constantly 
objects  to  political  appointments  in  lieu  of  fitness  for  such  appointments 
— Votes  of  money  for  German  troops — Cumberland  increases  Army — 
Pitt  opposes — Insane  reduction  of  men  for  Navy — Macclesfield,  Anson's 
nephew,  adjusts  the  Calendar — Death  of  Prince  of  Wales,  Regency — 
Newcastle  party  get  rid  of  Sandwich  and  Bedford — French  preparing 
for  war — Pelham  pays  more  attention  to  social  reform  than  to  defence — 
Robinson  leader  of  House  of  Comnaons — War  still  goes  on  in  America — 
Our  generals  there  incompetent — Active  measures  of  fleet  during 
peace — Both  sides  of  Channel  prepare  for  war — Boscawen's  action  in 
America — King  gets  rid  of  Ministers  who  oppose  Hanoverian  policy — 
Sir  Edward  Hawke  comes  in  from  Brest — Admiralty  disapprove — 
Hawke's  letter — French,  on  receiving  news  of  Boscawen's  action,  hasten 
preparations  for  war  :  make  an  alliance  with  Austria  and  complain  of 
our  actions         .......     pp.   110-123 


xvi  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE    RISE    OF    PITT 

Port  Mahon — Appointment  of  Byng — His  orderB — Anson's  letter 
to  Hardwicke — Letters  from  Paris — Anson  to  Newcastle — Byng's 
action — Sir  Edward  Hawke  and  General  Tyrawley — Newcastle  to 
General  York — The  country  furious — Bernstoff's  letter  on  our  claiming 
command  of  the  sea — France's  policy  on  Continent — Murray  retires 
from  the  House  of  Commons  as  Lord  Mansfield — King  objects  to  Pitt 
taking  his  place — Duke  of  Devonshire  forms  a  Government — Pitt's 
preponderance — Anson  leaves  Admiralty — Strength  of  our  Navy — Poor 
methods  of  recruiting — Scarcity  of  seamen — Court  martial  condemns 
Byng — But  recommends  to  mercy — Pitt  advocates,  King  refuses — 
Death  of  Byng — Anson  not  at  Admiralty — Country  without  Govern- 
ment for  three  months — News  of  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta — Pitt  and 
Newcastle  form  Government,  Anson  returns  to  Admiralty — Active 
preparations      ........     pp.   124-144 


CHAPTER    XIV 


WAR    WITH    FRANCE 

Pitt's  expedition  on  coast  of  France — Attack  on  Basque  roads- 
Howe's  action — Generals  refuse  to  land — Anson  asks  for  Hawke 
at  the  Admiralty — Newcastle  refuses — Anson's  care  for  the  country 
and  the  Navy — French  successes  at  first — We  subsidise  Prussia — 
Frederick's  successes — Sir  Edward  Hawke  hauls  his  flag  down  and  comes 
on  shore — Awkward  state  of  affairs — Anson  decides  to  go  to  sea  in 
command  of  fleet,  whilst  still  holding  proxy  as  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty— He  disciplines  the  fleet — Anxious  for  Admiral  Saunders's 
return  from  America  to  hand  over  fleet  to  him — His  letters  about  our 
generals  and  on  the  fleet — Boscawen  sent  to  Cape  Breton — He  captures 
Louisbourg — Hawke's  successful  attack  on  Basque  Roads — Another 
expedition  on  the  coast — Anson  and  Hawke  cover  Howe's  attempt 
with  troops — Large  captures — The  fleet  alarms  the  coasts — Howe's 
attack  on  St.  Cas^ — Troops  surprised — Great  loss — Admiral  Saunders 
joins  fleet — Anson  returns  to  the  Admiralty — Captain  Dennis's  action 

pp.   145-165 


CONTENTS  xvii 

CHAPTER    XV 

QUIBERON    AND    QUEBEC 

France  depressed  by  her  failures — Boscawen  and  de  la  Clue — Hawk© 
takes  refuge  in  Tor  Bay — His  glorious  action  in  Quiberon  Bay — Great 
joy  of  nation — Rewards — Admiral  Saunders  in  the  St.  Lawrence — 
Capture  of  Quebec  and  all  Canada — Montcalm's  prediction — Pitt's 
appreciation  of  Saunders — The  King's  death — France  draws  Spain  into 
the  war — Pitt  anxious  to  forestall  declaration  of  war — He  resigns — 
Anson  brings  over  Queen  Charlotte  to  England — He  hauls  his  flag 
down  for  the  last  time — The  sun  sets  on  his  glorious  career — Picking 
up  the  threads  of  hie  successful  planning  everywhere — Havannah  and 
Manilla  captured — He  does  not  live  to  see  the  results — Burial  at 
Colwich— End  of  Seven  Years'  War    .  .  .  .      pp-   166-181 


CHAPTER    XVI 

ANSON's    life     AND     CHARACTER 

Newcastle's  appreciation — Anson's  powers  of  organisation — Abilities 
not  confined  to  administration — Command  of  Channel  Fleet — Reforms 
in  tactics — Julian  Corbett's  Remarks  on  Seven  Years'  War — The 
confidence  he  inspired  in  all — The  great  silent  Navy — His  common  sense 
— His  officers  worshipped  him — Rodney,  Howe — His  treatment  of 
prisoners — Sir  Piercy  Brett,  Captain  Cheap,  Captain  Dennis,  Captain 
de  Saumarez — Appreciation  of  foreigners — His  teaching  was  passed 
on  to  Howe,  Rodney,  St.  Vincent         ....     pp.   182-193 

NOTE:  "The  Centurion" pp.  195,  196 

INDEX pp.   197-202 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Lord  Anson  ......  Frontispiece 

FACINa   PAGE 

Anson,    Comjiander-est-Chief    of    Expedition    to    the 
South  Seas   ....... 


Model  of  H.M.S.  "  Centurion  "  ... 

The  South  Sea  Squadron  off  St.  Catherine's   . 
Map  illustrating  the  Voyage  to  the  South  Seas 

Reproduced  hij  kind  permission  of  the  S.P.C.K. 

The  Burning  of  the  Town  of  Paita 

Anson's  Visit  to  the  Viceroy  at  Canton   . 

The  "  Centurion  "  and  the  Galleon  . 

The  Galleon's  Silver  Bell  and  Bowl 

The  Last  of  the  "  Centurion's  "  Figure-head    . 

The  Commodore  presenting  a  History  of  the  Voyage 
to  King  George  II.         ....         . 


The    "  Diamond,"  "  Ruby,"  and  "  Invincible,"  Three 
of  the  French  Captured  Ships     . 


La  Gloire,"  another  of  the  French  Ships  Captured     104 


Sir  Peter  Warren  and  Sir  Piercy  Brett     . 

Captain  Philip  Saumarez  in  the  Adopted  Uniform 

Philip,  Earl  of  Hardwicke,  Anson's  Father-in-Law 

Anson,  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  . 

xix 


22 
24 
32 
34 

42 
54 
56 

60 
70 

72 

102 


106 
108 
110 
146 


XX  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACINQ  PAGH 

Admirals  Boscawen  and  Sir  Edward  Hawke        .  .168 

Admiral  Sir  Charles  Saunders    .  .  .  .  .172 

Anson  as  Admiral  of  the  Fleet  with  all  the  Yachts 
escorting  the  Future  Queen  Charlotte  to 
England         ........     176 

The  "  Serieux,"  one  of  the  French  Ships  captured  by 
Anson,  and  Lord  Anson  escorting  King  George  II. 
on  Board  the  Royal  Yacht  "  Caroline  "       .  .178 


LIFE   OF   ADMIRAL   LORD   ANSON 


[Frontispiece 


LIFE    OF    LORD  ANSON 

CHAPTER    I 

EARLY    YEARS    (1697-1716) 

George  Anson  was  born  at  Colwich,  in  Stafford- 
shire, on  St.  George's  Day,  April  23,  1697. 
He  was  the  second  surviving  son  of  WilHam 
Anson  of  Shugborough,  in  Staffordshire  ;  his 
mother,  Isabella,  was  a  daughter  of  Charles 
Carrier  of  Wirksworth.  He  was  destined  for 
the  Navy  at  an  early  age,  and  it  is  related  that 
he  loved  to  hear  stirring  tales  of  seafaring 
life. 

He  first  joined  the  Navy  as  a  volunteer  on 
board  the  Ruby,  Captain  John  Chamberlain,  in 
1712,  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  He 
then  went  to  the  Monmouth.  We  hear  nothing 
of  him  then,  but  in  1716,  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
whilst  serving  in  the  Hampshire  frigate  in 
the  Baltic,  he  received  an  acting  order  as  a 
lieutenant  from  Admiral  Sir  John  Norris,  who 
was  then  in  command  of  a  squadron  sent  to 
co-operate  with  the  Russians,  Danes,  and  Dutch 
1 


2  EARLY    YEARS  [chap,  i 

against  the  Swedes,  who  had  been  capturing 
our  merchant  vessels  trading  to  St.  Petersburg, 
though  at  the  time  we  were  not  at  war  with 
them.  Here  Anson  had  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  Peter  the  Great — the  Russian  Czar  who 
had  been  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  Alhed  Fleets.  At  the  time  a  vacancy  for 
lieutenant  occurred,  and  Anson  was  selected 
for  it  by  Sir  J.  Norris.  He  seems  to  have 
won  the  golden  opinion  of  the  Admiral,  for  he 
was  selected  from  amongst  a  great  many  for 
this  vacancy. 

On  the  return  of  the  squadron  to  England 
Anson's  commission  was  confirmed,  and  in  the 
following  year  he  was  appointed  to  the  Montagu  ^ 
under  Sir  George  Byng,  in  which  ship  he  went 
up  the  Mediterranean,  where  in  the  Battle  of 
Passaro  he  received  his  first  baptism  of  fire 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  This  battle  was  a 
noted  one.  A  decisive  victory  was  obtained 
without  any  great  superiority  of  force,  owing 
to  the  Spanish  Admiral  Don  Antonio  Castando 
not  knowing  whether  to  fight  or  flee ;  conse- 
quently his  indecision  caused  the  ships  to 
straggle  so  much,  that  they  were  easily  over- 
powered, by  repeated  concentration,  of  two  or 
more  of  our  ships,  on  each  one  of  the  enemy. 
Four  3^ears  after  this  Anson  obtained  command 
of  his  first  ship,  the  Weasel  sloop,  June  19, 
1722,    and    in    her   he   was    most   successful   in 

^  The  Montagu  and  Rupert  took  the   Volante. 


1723-35]      SOUTH    CAROLINA    PIRATES  3 

suppressing  extensive  smuggling  which  was  then 
being  carried  out  from  the  Ports  of  Holland. 
In  1724  at  twenty-seven  years  of  age  he  was 
posted,  and  sent  out  as  captain  of  the  Scar- 
borough  to  South  Carolina  to  protect  our  trade 
from  the  depredations  of  the  pirates,  to  keep 
a  watchful  eye  on  the  Spanish  cruisers,  (which 
were  molesting  our  shipping  and  possessions, 
on  the  coast,)  and  to  provide  convoys  to 
the  Bahamas.  In  1726,  whilst  still  on  the 
coast,  he  received  orders  to  burn,  sink,  or  destroy 
all  Spanish  ships  he  came  across.  The  Spaniards 
were  then  attempting  to  recover  Gibraltar,  but 
failed  in  the  attempt,  and  in  1727  the  pre- 
liminaries of  peace  were  signed. 

Anson  continued  to  serve  on  and  off  on  the 
South  Carolina  station  until  1735,  so  that  he 
may  be  said  to  have  been  twelve  years  on  that 
coast  ;  and  he  proved  himself  to  be  a  very  able 
and  efficient  officer,  having  attracted  special 
notice  by  the  ability  and  discretion  with  which 
he  carried  out  his  orders.  He  made  himself 
exceedingly  popular  with  the  settlers,  and  to  this 
day  Anson  County,  Anson  Ville,  Anson  Mines 
remain  as  a  record  of  his  stay  in  Carolina. 

It  is  interesting  to  inquire  what  his  character 
was  at  this  time.  It  is  probable  that  in  his  early 
years  he  may  have  been  greatly  influenced  by 
such  writers  as  Defoe,  who  brought  out 
''  Robinson  Crusoe  "  about  this  time  ;  and  by 
coming  into  contact  with  those  who  had  known 


4  EARLY    YEARS  [chap,  i 

Fielding,  Defoe,  Swift,  etc.,  as  in  his  later  years 
he  may  have  been  influenced  by  the  writings  of 
Steele,  Richardson,  Cowper,  and  Johnson,  or  the 
plays  of  Congreve,  though  politics  and  religious 
differences  ran  high,  and  writers  were  un- 
scrupulous (such  as  Horace  Walpole),  though 
perhaps  witty  ;  still  they  would  only  indirectly 
affect  a  practical  man  of  such  a  strenuous  life. 
Amongst  letters  which  we  read  from  people  in 
that  country  is  one  from  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  in 
which  he  says,  "  Being  one  of  the  many  witnesses 
of  your  most  benevolent  and  amiable  disposition 
in  America,"  etc.  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  a  lady  in 
South   Carolina,    writes   to   her   friend  : 

"  He  has  good  sense,  good  nature,  he  is  polite 
and  well  bred,  free  from  that  troublesome 
ceremoniousness  which  often  makes  many  people 
who  may  perhaps  rank  themselves  among  the 
most  accomplished  extremely  disagreeable.  He 
is  generous  without  profusion,  elegant  without 
ostentation,  and  above  all  of  a  most  tender, 
humane  disposition.  His  benevolence  is  ex- 
tensive, even  to  his  own  detriment  ;  at  balls, 
plays,  concerts  I  have  often  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  and  sometimes  conversing  with  Mr.  Anson, 
who  I  assure  you  is  far  from  being  an  anchorite, 
though  not  what  we  call  a  modern  pretty  fellow  ; 
because  he  really  is  so  old-fashioned  as  to  make 
some  profession  of  religion.  Moreover  he  never 
dances,  nor  swears,  nor  talks  nonsense.  As  he 
greatly  admires  a  fine  w^oman,  so  he  is  passion- 
ately fond  of  music,  which  is  enough,  you  will 


1728]  ANSON'S    CHARACTERISTICS  5 

say,  to  recommend  him  to  my  esteem.  jNIr. 
Anson's  modesty,  inoffensive  easy  temper,  good 
nature,  humanity,  and  great  probity  doubtless 
are  the  antidotes  that  preserve  him  from  the 
poisonous  breath  of  cahimny,  for  amidst  all  the 
scandalous  warfare  that  is  perpetually  nourished 
here  he  maintains  a  strict  neutrality,  attacks 
no  party  and  is  attacked  by  none.  I  will  give 
you  an  account  of  his  faults  too,  as  well  as  his 
virtues  ;  for  I  have  nowhere  said  he  is  an  angel. 
In  short,  it  is  averred  he  loves  his  bottle  and 
his  friends  so  well,  that  he  will  not  very  soon 
tire  of  their  company  ;  especially  when  they 
happen  to  be  perfectly  to  his  taste,  which  is 
pretty  nice  in  both.  Moreover,  if  fame  says 
true,  he  is  very  far  from  being  a  woman-hater." 

One  storv  relates  how  when  a  General  Lee 
was  dining  with  him  they  played  for  high  stakes, 
ending  in  his  guest  staking  his  large  landed 
possessions,  which  he  lost.  Whilst  in  great 
trouble  next  day,  he  heard  that  Anson's  ship 
had  sailed  ;  and  soon  after  a  letter  was  brought 
to  him,  returning  everything  he  had  lost.  Lee 
never  forgot  the  generosity  of  his  host.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  Anson  gained  great  experience 
on  this  coast,  and  on  his  cruises  picked  up  that 
ample  and  adequate  knowledge  of  navigation 
which  enabled  him  to  supply  the  charts,  plans, 
and  all  details  which  made  it  possible  for  the 
expedition  in  later  years  under  Pocock  to  make 
that  successful  attack  on,  and  capture  of, 
Havannah  and  Cuba. 


6  EARLY    YEARS  [chap,  i 

In  1728  Admiral  Warren,  returning  from  the 
West  Indies,  visited  America,  and  met  Anson 
on  the  coast  of  Carolina,  and  it  was  here  that 
commenced  that  close  friendship  between  the 
two  which  terminated  only  with  Admiral  Sir 
Peter   Warren's   death   in   1752. 

On  Anson's  return  from  America  he  was  not 
long  idle.  He  received  a  commission  (1730)  to 
the  Squirrel.  He  seems  to  have  been  in  some 
financial  difficulty  at  this  time  ;  probably  this 
may  be  accounted  for  from  the  custom  of  not 
paying  officers  the  money  due  to  them  for  over 
a  year  after  it  was  due.  He  writes  to  Sir  John 
Norris  : 

"  As  your  coming  to  the  Chief  Command  of 
our  Fleet  must  have  given  a  general  satisfaction 
to  all  the  officers  in  it ;  so,  no  one  felt  a  more 
sensible  joy  than  myself.  My  last  letter  mentions 
that  Captain  Ambrose  has  long  been  designed 
for  this  place  in  the  spring.  I  hope  my  orders 
will  come  by  no  other  conveyance  than  the 
ship  that  relieves  me,  as  it  will  be  a  mutual 
advantage  for  us  both  to  meet.  As  there  have 
been  formerly  two  ships  stationed  here,  and 
the  Happy  sloop  has  to  be  relieved,  as  she  has 
seven  years'  pay  due,  if  I  could  be  continued  a 
year  longer  here,  it  would  much  contribute  to 
the  establishment  of  my  affairs,  which  are  yet 
pretty  much  distressed."'' 

In  1739  the  long-expected  war  with  Spain 
broke    out,    and    the    Government    decided    to 


1739]  WAR    WITH    SPAIN  7 

despatch  an  expedition  against  the  richest  and 
most  distant  Spanish  possessions.  Anson  and 
Vernon  were  to  be  given  charge  of  those  ex- 
peditions ;  the  account  of  the  preparations  of 
the  voyage,  the  extraordinary  adventures,  the 
romance  and  difficulties  experienced  will  be 
described  later.  In  the  meantime  I  will  give 
some  account  of  the  state  of  Europe  and  America 
up  to  this  period. 


CHAPTER    II 

ENGLAND    AND    EUROPE    FROM    THE    PEACE    OF 
UTRECHT    TO    THE    DEATH    OF    GEORGE    I 
(1713-1727) 

The  public  thanksgiving  for  the  Peace  of 
Utrecht  on  July  7,  1713,  had  hardly  ended, 
when  the  Ministry  of  Robert  Harley  (Earl  of 
Oxford)  determined  on  another  election.  The 
peace  was  unpopular  with  the  Whigs,  as  was 
also  the  Treaty  of  Commerce  with  France  and 
Spain,  and  they  made  the  most  of  that,  by  wear- 
ing wool  in  their  hats,  as  a  sign  of  concern  for 
the  staple  industries  of  the  country,  threatened 
by  the  French  treaty. 

Political  jobbery  was  rife  :  Lord  Lansdowne, 
the  Ministerial  Whip,  boasted  that  he  had 
carried  most  of  the  Cornish  boroughs  by  bribery, 
and  Harley  stated  that  Lady  Masham  received 
a  large  sum  for  promising  the  signature  of  the 
Queen  to  the  Spanish  Treaty  of  Commerce. 

The  Qvieen  was  supposed  to  be  dying,  and  the 
question  of  the  succession  troubled  everybody  ; 
the  Tories  were  for  James  and  the  Roman 
Catholics,  the  Whigs  for  the  Elector  and  the 
Protestant  succession.     But  many  Tories  seceded 

8 


1714]  DEATH    OF    QUEEN    ANNE  9 

from  their  party  on  account  of  the  rehgious 
question.  The  Protestant  King  was  more  to 
them  than  all  other  questions,  and  it  was  James's 
refusal  to  alter  his  religious  convictions  that 
weakened  his  party.  The  Duke  of  Ormonde, 
Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  began  a  corre- 
spondence with  James — and  Bolingbroke  tried 
to  damage  the  opposition  by  inciting  the  bad 
feeling  of  the  Dissenters  for  the  Church,  by 
carrying  the   Schism   Bill. 

On  July  27  Harley  was  dismissed  from 
office — but  before  leaving  he  made  a  long 
speech,  warning  the  Queen  against  his  suc- 
cessors. He  then  accused  them  of  corruption 
and  embezzlement.  The  Queen,  in  a  tirade  to 
the  Lords,  spoke  of  his  idleness,  his  unintel- 
ligibleness, his  untruthfulness,  his  unpunctu- 
ality,  and  she  said  he  often  came  drunk  to 
interview  her.  He  behaved  himself  to  her  with 
bad  manners,  indecency,  and  disrespect. 

On  Sunday,  August  1,  1714,  Queen  Anne  died. 

On  September  18,  1714,  George  I.  landed 
at  Greenwich.  Townshend  was  entrusted  with 
the  Ministry.  Sir  Robert  Walpole  was  made 
Paymaster-General  of  the  Forces,  and  Edward 
Russell,  Earl  of  Orford,  became  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty.  King  George  was  fifty-four 
years  of  age,  and  had  been  many  years  Elector 
of  Hanover.  He  never  learnt  to  like  his  new 
kingdom,  and  the  English  people  never  learnt 
to  like  a  king  who  could  not  speak  their  language 


10  ENGLAND   AND   EUROPE        [chap,  n 

and  who  was  happiest  when  abroad.  Added  to 
this,  none  of  his  Ministers  could  speak  German — 
a  few  of  them  spoke  French — whereas  Walpole 
had  to  correspond  with  him  in  Latin.  From 
this  moment  the  difficulties  of  Ministers  became 
great — for  the  King  generally  resided  abroad, 
and  was  always  wanting  supplies  of  either 
money  or  troops  to  carry  out  the  schemes  for 
his  beloved  Hanover.  When  he  was  abroad 
the  Chief  Minister  at  the  Council  meetings  was 
called  the  Prime  Minister,  for  he  took  the  place 
of  the  Sovereign.  For  six  months,  from  July 
1715,  the  King  remained  in  Hanover,  during 
which  time  a  rebellion  started  in  Scotland  under 
the  Earl  of  Mar.  In  November  of  the  previous 
year  we  were  involved  in  difficulties  with 
Sweden — for  Charles  XII.  returning  from 
Turkey  found  that  William  I.  of  Prussia  had 
guaranteed  to  Hanover  the  duchies  of  Verden 
and  Bremen.  On  hearing  of  this  he  declared 
w^ar  on  Hanover.  As  Sweden  had  been  making 
prizes  of  English  ships  in  the  Baltic,  the  Par- 
liament notified  to  the  King  that  English  ships 
would  be  sent  there  to  demand  redress.  Admiral 
Sir  John  Norris  was  sent  in  command,  his  orders 
being  that  if  he  could  not  obtain  satisfaction, 
he  was  to  stop  all  Swedish  men-of-war  and 
merchant  vessels.  He  returned  without  taking 
any  material  action,  for  he  feared  that  he 
should  only  carry  out  the  purpose  of  the  Prus- 
sians, Russians,  and  Danes  without  in  any  way 


1717-21]  PARTY    POLITICS  11 

gaining  advantage.  When  he  returned  a  plot 
was  discovered  in  which  Sweden  had  guaranteed 
12,000  troops  to  be  landed  in  Scotland  to  help 
the  rebellion.  On  April  2,  1717,  Sir  George 
Byng  with  a  fleet  of  thirty  ships  was  sent  to  the 
Baltic  to  attack  the  Swedish  ships,  but  finding 
tliey  had  retired  to  Karlscrona,  and  had  given 
up  their  expedition  to  Scotland,  he  returned. 

Walpole  was  very  much  against  the  expenses 
incurred  in  Hanover,  and  Townshend,  the  Prime 
Minister,  supported  him.  They  also  supported 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was  always  quarrelling 
with  his  father,  and  making  himself  popular  by 
his  magnificent  entertainments  at  Hampton 
Court. 

Stanhope  took  advantage  of  the  jealousy  of 
the  King,  and  succeeded  in  turning  them  out, 
and  forming  a  Ministry  which  lasted  from 
1718  to  1721.  The  Earl  of  Berkeley  went  to  the 
Admiralty.  In  fact  there  was  another  Whig 
Government  made  up  of  different  Ministers,  so 
that  instead  of  two  parties,  Whig  and  Tory, 
there  were  at  least  four.  The  Tories  split  up 
on  account  of  religious  views.  The  Whigs  split 
up  on  account  of  the  Hanoverian  policy  and 
expenses.  When  to  this  was  added  the  King's 
absence  abroad,  it  is  no  wonder  that  England 
was  in  a  bad  state.  Politics  are  an  organised 
quarrel.  Parliamentary  government  is  at  its 
best  when  everybody  is  either  Conservative  or 
Liberal,  but  when  parties  are  split  up  on  every 


12  ENGLAND    AND   EUROPE      [chap,  ii 

conceivable  topic,  and  all  striving  for  place  or 
power,  the  country's  policy  must  be  weak,  and 
its  preparations  for  war  bad  and  inadequate. 
As  soon  as  Stanhope  had  formed  his  Govern- 
ment— he  brought  about  the  Quadruple  Alli- 
ance between  Great  Britain,  the  States- General, 
and  the  French  and  Dutch  against  Spain.  On 
June  18,  1718,  Sir  George  Byng  set  sail  with 
twenty  ships  of  the  line,  with  orders  to  proceed 
to  the  Mediterranean  and  compel  the  Spaniards 
to  abandon  the  hostilities  which  they  were 
preparing  against  Sicily  and  Sardinia.  He  was 
not  instructed  to  attack  them  ;  but  at  the  same 
time  he  received  verbal  orders  that  he  need 
not  be  afraid  of  doing  too  much.  The  King 
is  said  to  have  expressed  a  hope  that  he  would 
destroy  the  Spanish  fleet.  Byng  arrived,  and, 
finding  that  the  Spaniards  were  attacking 
Messina,  offered  an  armistice,  which  being  re- 
fused he  resolved  to  attack  them.  The  Spanish 
fleet  put  to  sea  without  any  definite  plans  as  to 
whether  they  should  fight  or  not.  Byng  came 
up  with  them  off  Cape  Passaro.  They  were 
overtaken  ship  by  ship — eighteen  ships  of  the 
line  besides  smaller  vessels  were  destroyed,  but 
the  Rear  Admiral  George  Canocke  (an  English 
captain)  with  ten  ships  escaped.  This  defeat 
paralysed  all  the  designs  of  the  Spanish.  Many 
people  blamed  the  action  of  Byng  for  attacking 
without  a  Declaration  of  War ;  but  considering 
his  verbal  instructions  and  the  course  which  the 


1718]  SPANISH   FLEET   DESTROYED  13 

able  Spanish  Minister  Cardinal  Alberoni  was 
pursuing  against  us,  he  deserves  every  credit 
for  taking  upon  himself  this  responsibility.  He 
received  a  congratulatory  letter  from  the  King, 
and  was  created  Viscount  Torrington.  After 
the  action  there  were  some  Spanish  ships 
anchored  within  the  Mole  at  Messina.  Byng, 
who  was  anxious  to  see  all  the  ships  destroyed, 
and  in  order  to  settle  the  dispute  as  to  their 
possession,  arranged  that  they  should  be  sunk, 
which  was  carried  out  by  batteries  erected  on 
shore. 

He  also  detached  Captain  Walton  to  capture 
and  destroy  some  of  the  escaped  ships,  which  was 
effectually   done.^ 

In  the  following  year  the  French,  in  pursuance 
of  the  terms  of  the  Alliance,  invaded  the  north 
of  Spain,  and  destroyed  the  dockyards.  They 
burnt  nine  ships  of  the  line  on  the  stocks,  besides 
the  material  for  several  more  —  an  English 
attache  at  the  French  headquarters  having 
advised  it.  So  that  the  whole  of  the  Spanish 
navy  was  destroyed.  Spain,  recognising  that 
she  could  do  nothing  abroad  without  a  navy, 
gave  way ;  and  as  England  and  France  insisted 
on  the  dismissal   of  Alberoni,  the   Spanish   as- 

1  As  the  despatch  of  Captain  Walton  regarding  the  capture 
of  the  Spanish  ships  has  been  held  up  to  admiration  for  its  brevity — 
"  Sir,  we  have  taken  or  destroyed  all  the  Spanish  ships  upon  this 
coast.  Tlie  number  as  per  margin.  G.  Walton" — we  may 
8up[)ose  that  Anson,  who  was  on  board  the  Montagu,  heard  of  it 
and  was  perhaps  influenced  by  it  in  sonie  of  his  brief  reports. 


14  ENGLAND   AND   EUROPE       [chap,  ii 

sented,  and  yielded  to  the  Quadruple  Alliance. 
Austria  was  established  in  the  Central  Medi- 
terranean, in  Naples  and  Sicily,  England  at 
Gibraltar  and  Port  Mahon — whilst  Sardinia  be- 
longed to  the  House  of  Savoy,  and  remained 
so  until  the  King  of  Italy  became  also  King  of 
Sardinia. 

At  the  same  time  that  we  were  settling  our 
policy  in  the  Mediterranean,  we  had  also  to 
reckon  with  Russia,  who  under  Peter  the  Great 
was  endeavouring  to  make  the  Baltic  a  Russian 
lake.  But  by  the  diplomatic  pressure  of  Eng- 
land and  France,  and  the  presence  of  a  large 
English  fleet,  the  Czar,  who  knew  the  English 
power  personally,  gave  way,  and  peace  was 
assured,  England  having  gained  the  assurance 
of  the  security  of  British  trade  ;  and  Hanover, 
having  the  duchies  of  Verden  and  Bremen  secured 
to  her. 

On  February  5,  1721,  Stanhope,  our  most 
energetic   Minister,    died. 

Sir  Robert  Walpole  succeeded,  and  in  con- 
junction with  Fleury,  the  French  Regent  (the 
French  King  being  only  thirteen  years  of  age), 
strove  for  peace.  Walpole  had  immense  interest 
— obtaining  his  power  by  political  bribery  on  a 
large  scale.  He  desired  peace  on  account  of  the 
unsettled  state  of  affairs  at  home;  and  also 
because  he  was  anxious  to  repair  the  finances, 
which  were  in  a  bad  state,  and  to  develop  com- 
merce.    Both  countries  succeeded  in  increasing 


1724]  THE   SOUTH    SEA   COMPANY  15 

their  trade,  in  this  time  of  peace,  to  an  enormous 
extent.  In  the  midst  of  our  prosperity  a  crash 
came  that  shook  England.  It  was  caused  by 
the  failure  of  the  South  Sea  Company,  which 
held  £10,000,000  of  the  National  Debt.  People 
had  become  almost  mad  with  gambling  in  South 
Sea  stock.  It  was  stated  that  few  men  in 
London  minded  anything  but  the  price  of  its 
shares.  (Gambling  was  rife  in  England  in  all 
sorts  of  bogus  companies,  so  much  so  that  a  Bill 
had  to  be  brought  in  to  restrain  them.)  The 
indignation  in  the  country  was  so  great  that 
it  is  said  that  it  extended  to  the  King,  who 
was  President  of  the  Company,  and  that  if  the 
Pretender  had  landed  then  he  would  have  had 
a  good  chance  of  ascending  the  throne.  Some 
people  attributed  the  idea  of  the  Company  to 
the  imagination  of  Defoe.  Walpole  used  all 
his  powers  of  speech,  and  those  of  his  pen,  in 
screening  the  Government — many  of  whom,  in 
conjunction  with  many  members  of  Parliament, 
were  involved. 

Early  in  1725  it  became  evident  that  Spain 
had  decided  to  overlook  her  differences  with 
Austria,  and  that  they  had  signed  a  treaty  at 
Vienna,  with  a  secret  clause  in  which  the 
Emperor  engaged  to  help  Spain  to  regain  Gib- 
raltar and  Minorca  in  exchange  for  the  guarantee, 
by  Spain,  of  Ostend.  It  seemed  probable  that 
Russia  would  join  in. 

Immediately   squadrons  were  fitted  out. 


16  ENGLAND    AND    EUROPE      [chap,  ii 

Sir  Charles  Wager  sailed  on  April  17,  1726, 
to  the  Baltic  with  twenty  ships.  Sir  John 
Jennings  was  sent  to  the  coast  of  Spain  to  pro- 
tect Gibraltar,  and  a  third  squadron,  under 
Admiral  Hosier,  was  sent  to  Porto  Bello,  on  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien,  to  blockade  the  galleons  which 
were  assembled  there.  But  so  vacillating  were 
Walpole's  orders,  and  so  much  did  he  wish  for 
peace,  that  Hosier  was  kept  blockading  there, 
off  that  pestilential  coast,  with  the  strictest 
orders  not  to  fight— causing  a  mortality  quite 
appalling  in  its  results  ;  no  less  than  4,000 
men  died  of  disease,  and  the  Admiral  himself 
succumbed. 

Austria,  realising  that  she  could  do  nothing  at 
sea  against  us,  withdrew  from  the  Alliance. 

On  June  3,  1727,  King  George  I.  left  London 
for  Hanover  with  Townshend  and  Hay  in  at- 
tendance. He  was  seized  with  a  paralytic 
stroke,  and  died  on  June  12,  aged  sixty-eight. 
He  was  buried  at  Hanover.  It  is  said  of  him 
that  to  his  clear  conception  and  honest  ful- 
filment of  duty,  as  a  Constitutional  Sovereign, 
Great  Britain  owes  a  great  debt. 

Walpole  still  remained  Prime  Minister,  but 
Byng,  Viscount  Torrington,  succeeded  the  Earl 
of  Berkeley  at  the  Admiralty. 


CHAPTER  III 

ENGLAND  AND  EUROPE  FROM  THE  DEATH  OF 
GEORGE  I.  (1727-1740) 

Walpole  had  some  difficulty  after  George  I.'s 
death  in  ingratiating  himself  with  George  II. ; 
for  the  more  he  had  come  into  favour  with  the 
late  King,  the  more  he  had  estranged  himself 
from  the  Prince.  But  by  judiciously  showing 
the  new  King  that  he  was  loyal  to  him  now  he 
was  the  ruler,  and  by  getting  through  Parliament 
an  augmented  and  unexpectedly  large  civil  list, 
or  vote  of  money  for  the  Crown,  he  succeeded 
in  making  his  services  agreeable  to  the  new 
monarch.  It  was  necessary  in  those  times  to 
use  all  means  to  strengthen  the  position  of  a 
Minister,  if  he  was  to  have  any  power  to  deal 
effectively  with  the  difficult  situation  at  home 
and  abroad.  There  were  difficulties  at  home, 
where  the  security  of  the  House  of  Hanover 
was  still  uncertain  ;  and  difficulties  abroad — 
especially  with  France,  with  whom  many  ques- 
tions were  still  unsettled.  Dunkirk  must  be 
dismantled  or  destroyed,  as  a  possible  source  of 
danger,  and  a  harbour  from  which  privateers 
preyed  upon  our  commerce.  The  erection  of 
2  ^7 


18  WALPOLE'S   GOVERNMENT     [chap,  hi 

posts  by  the  French  on  the  Mississippi  and  on 
the  Canadian  frontier,  to  the  danger  of  the 
colonists  in  the  West,  must  be  stopped.  The 
ownership  of  the  islands  in  the  West  Indies, 
St.  Vincent,  Dominica,  and  St.  Lucia,  must  be 
settled,  and  we  can  hardly  understand  now 
how  real  the  prayer  of  the  Litany  was  to  men 
in  those  days  :  "  for  all  prisoners  and  cap- 
tives " — for  the  Huguenots  were  still  captives, 
and  the  torture  chamber,  the  scaffold,  the 
galleys,  and  the  gaols  were  all  at  work,  at  the 
instigation   of   the   French   priests. 

One  question  only,  that  of  the  West  Indies, 
was  settled  for  the  time  by  arbitration. 

In  1727,  Holies,  Duke  of  Newcastle,  became 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Southern  Department. 
In  1730  his  brother  Pelham  became  Paymaster- 
General  of  the  Forces,  and  in  1733  Sir  Charles 
Wager  relieved  Byng,  Viscount  Torrington,  as 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty.  Lord  Hardwicke 
became  Lord  Chancellor  in  1737.  (With  New- 
castle, Hardwicke,  and  Sir  Charles  Wager  we 
shall  have  much  to  do  later  on  in  the  career  of 
Lord  Anson.)  Walpole  continued  to  strengthen 
himself  in  the  Government.  He  first  estab- 
lished the  rule  that  all  Ministers  were  responsible 
to  the  Prime  Minister,  and  he  only  to  the  Crown. 
He  would  brook  no  opposition  to  the  Govern- 
ment from  officials  ;  for  he  said,  "  He  would 
be  a  most  pitiful  Minister  who  should  be  afraid 
to  advise  the  cashiering  of    an  officer  in    con- 


1738]     DIFFICULTY  IN  PROCURING  SEAMEN  19 

stant  opposition  to  the  Government."  Walpole's 
was  a  strong  Government,  and  he  used  his 
influence  for  peace  at  almost  any  price,  but  his 
administration   was   undoubtedly   corrupt. 

Society  both  high  and  low  in  England  was, 
for  the  most  part,  in  a  corrupt  state,  for,  besides 
gambling,  drink  was  ruining  the  country.  A 
heavy  restriction  having  been  put  on  French 
brandy,  the  habit  of  drinking  gin  had  grown 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  ruining  thousands, 
and  the  scenes  depicted  by  Hogarth  were  not 
overdrawn.  The  men  for  the  ships  were  taken 
from  the  merchant  service  by  force,  if  they 
could  be  obtained,  otherwise  they  were  taken 
by  press-gangs,  or  from  the  gaols.  They  were 
knocked  into  shape  often  by  rather  brutal 
methods. 

The  officers  were  often  men  appointed  by 
political  interest  with  no  qualifications.  The 
attractions  of  the  service  were  mainly  those  of 
prize  money.  The  ships  were  unhealthy,  the 
food  was  bad — often  owing  to  the  rascality  of 
the  contractors — and  the  men  were  crammed 
together  in  very  confined  and  badly  ventilated 
spaces  ;  and  the  diseases  and  deaths  were 
enormous.  Finding  that  means  must  be 
devised  for  procuring  seamen,  Walpole  brought 
in  a  Bill  to  establish  a  register  of  all  seafaring 
men.  The  Opposition,  led  by  William  Pitt  (a 
subaltern  of  the  King's  Own  Regiment),  who  had 
lately  entered  Parliament,  strenuously  opposed 


20  ENGLAND    AND    EUROPE     [chap,  iii 

it,  calling  it  slavery.  The  Bill  was  defeated, 
and  so  the  same  means  of  obtaining  seamen  was 
resorted  to  as  before.  Our  Navy  consisted  at 
the  time  of  eighty-four  ships  and  was  supposed 
to  have  on  its  books  28,870  seamen,  but  only 
21,000  had  been  obtained.  In  order  to  check 
the  habits  of  drinking,  a  heavy  duty  was  put  on 
spirits,  which  had  the  effect  of  increasing  the 
smugglers  to  a  large  extent.  Admiral  Vernon, 
who  was  in  the  Channel,  took  active  measures 
against  them,  and  found  that  in  so  doing  he  came 
into  collision  with  powerful  interests.  Just  at 
this  time  a  dispute  arose  between  this  country 
and  Spain,  as  to  the  Right  of  Search — and  the 
Opposition  were  in  favour  of  war.  Walpole  was 
in  favour  of  a  treaty  ;  still  the  Opposition  were 
not  prepared  to  vote  for  the  supplies  necessary 
for  the  Navy.  So  often  does  it  appear  in  our 
history  that  those  who  involve  their  country 
in  war,  will  not  vote  for  the  necessary  preparations 
in  time  of  peace. 

On  May  23,  1739,  Spain  demanded  the  with- 
drawal of  Admiral  Haddock's  squadron  from 
her  coasts,  at  the  same  time  insisting  on  the 
Right  of  Search.  War  therefore  became  in- 
evitable. 

In  July  Admiral  Haddock  was  strongly  rein- 
forced in  the  Mediterranean ;  Sir  John  Norris 
was  placed  in  command  of  a  fleet  to  protect 
our  coasts.  On  December  9,  1739,  Anson  was 
appointed  to  the  Centurion  (60  guns),  and  sent 


1739-40]       THE   RIGHT   OF   SEARCH  21 

to  the  coast  of  Africa  to  protect  our  trade  from 
the  French  there.  Here  he  prevented  a  mas- 
sacre of  Mahommedans  which  a  French  ship  was 
about  to  perpetrate.  Having  carried  out  his 
instructions,  he  proceeded  to  Barbados,  where 
he  received  orders  to  return  to  England  ;  and 
he  arrived  home  on  July  21,  1739. 

Spain  would  not  allow  her  colonists  to  trade 
except  with  the  mother  country  ;  and  the  mother 
country  not  providing  them  with  what  they 
wanted,  they  traded  with  the  English  and  other 
nations — who  smuggled  their  wares  into  the 
West  Indies  and  South  America.  The  Spaniards 
placed  Guarda  Costas  to  stop  this,  but  they 
could  not  do  it  effectively  over  such  a  large 
extent  of  coast ;  so  that  to  overcome  this  diffi- 
culty, Spain  stopped  and  searched  our  vessels 
on  the  high  seas,  with  her  men-of-war,  and 
often  accompanied  this  search  with  insult  and 
violence.^ 

A  tremendous  feeling  was  caused  in  England 
by  the  stories  told  of  the  ill-treatment  of   our 

^  In  1737  a  petition  was  forwarded  to  the  House  of  Commons 
by  the  merchants,  as  follows  :  "  For  many  years  past  their 
ships  have  not  only  been  frequently  stopped  and  searched, 
but  also  forcibly  and  arbitrarily  seized  upon  the  high  seas  by 
Spanish  ships  fitted  out  to  cruise  under  the  plausible  excuse 
of  guarding  their  coasts  ;  that  the  commanders  thereof  with 
their  crews  have  been  inhumanly  treated  and  their  sJiips  carried 
into  Spanish  ports  and  there  condemned  with  their  cargoes, 
in  manifest  violation  of  the  treaties  subsisting  between  the  two 
Crowns  ;  that  the  remonstrance  of  His  Majesty's  Ministers  at 
Madrid  receive  no  attention  ;  and  that  insults  and  plunder  must 
soon  destroy  their  trade." 


22  ENGLAND    AND    EUROPE     [chap,  hi 

merchant  ships  by  the  Spaniards  in  the  West 
Indies.  They  had  always  had  the  reputation 
of  being  cruel — for  one  of  their  bishops  (the 
Bishop  of  Chiopos)  relates  that  in  the  past  times 
since  the  discovery  of  the  West  India  Islands, 
which  were  then  inhabited  by  a  most  peaceful 
and  delightful  race  of  men,  over  2,000,000 
men  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Spaniards  in 
their  greed  of  spoil.  But  when  those  cruelties 
were  practised  on  our  own  countrymen  it  raised 
such  a  storm  that  the  popularity  of  the  war 
declared  on  October  19,  1739,  is  accounted  for. 


GEORGE  ANSON   ESQ. 

IJiTE^EIP±:D/TION   TO    THE   SOl'TFI   SEAS 


TKISffilift 


LORD    AKSOX,   COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF    OF    EXPEDITION    TO    THE  SOUTH    SEAS. 


p.  22J 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD 

(1740-1744) 

Scorn  thou  to  suffer,  then.     Do  thy  part !     Be  mindful  of    thy 

name  and  trouble  not  ! 
If,  kno-iving  thy  duty  and  thy  task,  thou  bid'st  duty  and  task 

go  by, 
That  shall  be  sin. 

Krishna. 

Having  in  the  previous  chapter  given  some 
account  of  the  politics  and  state  of  Europe  and 
the  country  up  to  the  end  of  1739,  it  is  now 
intended  to  give  some  account  of  the  great  and 
notable  voyage  round  the  world  which  was 
accomphshed  by  Capt.  Anson  from  1740  to 
1744,  the  full  account  of  which  is  written  by 
Richard  Walter,  chaplain  of   H.M.S.  Centurion. 

It  had  been  resolved  by  the  Government  at 
the  end  of  1739,  when  war  with  Spain  was  in- 
evitable, to  fit  out  an  expedition  to  attack  that 
country  in  her  distant  settlements,  and  thus 
to  cut  off  her  resources  which  would  prevent  her 
from  carrying  on  the  war. 

There  was  to  be  one  expedition  under  Anson 
to  attack  Manilla — another  under  Captain  Corn- 
wall to  go  round  the  Horn,  and  attack  the  towns 

28 


24  THE   COMMODORE'S   ORDERS     [chap,  iv 

on  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  and  at  the 
same  time  Vernon  was  to  attack  Carthagena, 
and  to  be  joined  by  the  latter  expedition  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  On  November  18, 
1739,  Sir  Charles  Wager  sent  for  Anson,  and  gave 
him  his  orders ;  and  he  started  to  make  all 
preparations.  But  in  January  1740  Sir  Charles 
Wager  informed  him  that  the  expedition  to 
Manilla  was  abandoned.  This  was  a  great  blow 
to  him  ;  but  he  was  informed  that  he  was  to 
carry  out  the  expedition  to  the  South  Seas  with 
his  squadron,  and  on  January  10  he  received 
his  commission  appointing  him  Commander- 
in-Chief  with  the  following  ships  : 

The  Centurion,  60  guns,  400  men,  George  Anson,  Captain  and  Com- 

mander-in-  Chief. 

Captain  Richard  Norris. 

Captain  the  Hon.  E.  Legge. 

Captain  Mat.  Mitchell. 

Captain  Dandy  Kidd. 

Captain  the  Hon.  J.  Murray. 
And  two  pinks  as  victuallers. 

He  remained  waiting  for  his  orders,  which  he 
did  not  receive  till  June  28,  though  they  were 
dated  January  31.  They  were  orders  from  the 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  signed  by  the  King  ;  and 
an  additional  instruction  from  the  Lords  Justices, 
as  the  King  was  absent  in  Hanover.  On  the 
receipt  of  these  instructions,  Anson  repaired  to 
Spithead,  resolved  to  sail  with  the  first  fair 
wind.  Though  he  knew  he  was  300  men 
short,    yet    as     Sir    Charles    Wager     informed 


,,     OloucesU 

3r,50 

300 

,,    Severn, 

50 

300 

„    Pearl, 

40 

250 

„     Wager, 

28 

160 

„     Tryal, 

8 

100 

00 

T*( 

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f^ 

0 

< 

n 

„ 

"  ^ 

'A 

O 

1— 1 

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H 

— 

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H 

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h 

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O 

1740]  DIFFICULTIES   IN   MANNING  25 

him  that  an  order  from  the  Board  of  Admiralty 
was  despatched  to  Sir  John  Norris  to  draft  the 
men  he  wanted,  to  him,  from  his  fleet,  he  ex- 
pected to  receive  them  ;  but  on  asking  Sir  John 
Norris  for  the  men,  he  informed  him  he  could 
not  spare  them,  as  he  wanted  them  for  his  own 
ships.  Admiral  Balchen,  who  succeeded  to  the 
command  when  Sir  John  Norris  sailed,  sup- 
plied him  with — instead  of  300  seamen — 170 
men,  of  whom  32  were  from  the  hospital,  37  from 
the  Salisbury,  and  98  Marines.  This  was  not 
all,  for  Colonel  Bland's  regiment  and  three 
independent  companies  of  Marines  who  had 
been  ordered  to  embark  were  countermanded 
by  the  War  Office,  and  instead  of  them,  500 
Pensioners  were  ordered  to  be  sent  from  Chelsea 
Hospital.  In  spite  of  Anson's  expostulations, 
he  was  told  that  the  War  Office  considered  these 
men  to  be  the  fittest  men  for  such  an  expedition  ! 
The  inhumanity  of  sending  on  such  an  ex- 
pedition men  worn  out  with  wounds  and  in- 
firmities, acquired  in  the  service  of  their  country, 
was  represented,  but  it  was  of  no  avail,  though 
Sir  Charles  Wager  supported  the  representations 
of  Anson,  who  was  certain  that  few  of  them 
would  arrive  at  the  scene  of  action,  as  the 
delays  that  had  taken  place  would  force  him  to 
round  the  Horn  at  the  worst  season  of  the  year. 
A  more  moving  scene  could  hardly  be  imagined 
than  the  embarkation  of  these  invalids,  who, 
having  spent  their  lives  in  the  service  of  their 


26  CRUEL   ORDERS  [chap,  iv 

country,  were  thus  being  sent  to  almost  certain 
death,  for  no  purpose  whatsoever.  It  was  on 
August  5  they  were  ordered  to  embark,  but 
only  259  made  their  appearance,  for  all  who  had 
limbs  and  strength  to  do  so  deserted,  leaving 
only  the  helpless.  It  is  said  that  one  man 
with  a  wooden  leg  was  sent  down  three  times, 
but  turned  up  in  London  after  a  short  interval. 
To  supply  the  place  of  the  240  invalids  who 
deserted,  there  were  ordered  on  board  210 
recruits,  detached  from  different  regiments,  which 
had  only  just  been  raised. 

On  August  10  the  squadron  dropped  down  to 
St.  Helens,  but  owing  to  delays  (Anson  having 
been  ordered  to  take  under  his  care  the  out- 
ward-bound trade)  it  was  not  till  September  18 
that  they  got  clear.  Just  before  sailing,  two 
invalid  officers  were  landed  by  Anson  on  account 
of  age  and  infirmities,  but  the  Lords  Justices 
sent  orders  for  them  to  be  re-embarked,  and 
that  no  further  men  were  to  be  landed.  The 
whole  transaction  is  an  instance  of  the  folly  of 
allowing  men  to  interfere  with,  and  give  orders 
for,  the  details  of  an  expedition  of  which  they 
have  no  knowledge,  and  also  of  the  mistake  of 
allowing  officers,  who  in  their  time  have  been 
brave,  energetic,  and  capable  men,  to  remain  at 
the  head  of  affairs  when  that  energy  is  worn  out. 
Sir  Charles  Wager  was  seventy-eight,  and  not 
strong  enough  to  resist  the  insane  orders  of  the 
Justices. 


1740]  ORDERS    FOR   THE    CRUISE  27 

The  orders  Anson  received  were  as  follows  : 

"  Instructions  for  our  trusty  and  well-beloved 
George  Anson,  Esq.,  Commander-in-Chief  of  our 
ships,  designed  to  be  sent  into  the  South  Seas  in 
America.  Given  at  our  Court  at  St.  James 
the  31st  dav  of  Januarv,  1739-40,  in  the  13th 
year  of  our  reign. 

"  Whereas  we  have  thought  proper  to  declare 
war  against  the  King  of  Spain  for  the  several 
injuries  and  indignities  offered  to  our  Crown 
and  people,  which  are  more  particularly  set 
forth  in  our  declaration  of  war,  and  whereas  in 
pursuance  thereof  we  are  determined  to  dis- 
tress the  said  King  of  Spain  and  his  subjects 
in  such  manner,  and  in  such  places,  as  can  be 
done  with  the  greatest  prospect  of  success,  and 
the  most  to  the  advantage  of  our  own  subjects, 
we  have  thought  fit  to  direct,  that  you, 
taking  under  your  command  our  ships  herein- 
after mentioned,  shall  proceed  with  them,  ac- 
cording to  the  following  instructions.  You  are 
to  receive  on  board  our  said  ships  500  of  our 
land  forces  and  to  proceed  forthwith  to  the 
Cape  de  Verde  Islands  ;  after  re  victualling,  you 
are  to  proceed  to  St.  Catherine's,  off  the  Coast 
of  Brazil,  or  such  other  places  as  may  be  con- 
sidered more  proper ;  revictualling  there,  you  are 
to  proceed  with  our  ships  under  your  command 
into  the  South  Seas,  either  round  Cape  Horn, 
or  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  as  you 
shall  judge  most  proper  according  to  the 
season  of  the  year,  and  winds  and  weather  shall 
best   permit.     When   you    shall    arrive    on    the 


28  ORDERS   FOR   THE   CRUISE    [chap,  iv 

Spanish  coast  of  the  South  Seas  you  are  to  use 
your  best  endeavours  to  annoy  and  distress  the 
Spaniards,  either  at  sea  or  on  land,  to  the 
utmost  of  your  power,  by  taking,  sinking, 
burning,  or  destroying  all  their  ships  and  vessels 
that  you  shall  meet  with,  and  particularly 
their  boats  and  all  embarkations  whatsoever, 
that  they  may  not  be  able  to  send  any  intel- 
ligence by  sea  along  the  coast  of  your  being 
in  those  parts.  In  case  you  shall  find  it  prac- 
ticable to  seize,  surprise,  or  take  any  of  the 
towns  or  places  belonging  to  the  Spaniards  on 
that  coast  that  you  may  judge  worthy  of  making 
such  an  enterprise  upon,  you  are  to  attempt  it, 
for  which  purpose  we  have  not  only  ordered 
the  land  forces,  but  have  also  thought  proper 
to  direct  that  an  additional  number  of  small 
arms  be  put  on  board  the  ships  under  your 
orders,  to  be  used  as  occasion  may  require  by 
the  crews  of  the  said  ships  or  otherwise,  as  you 
shall  find  most  desirable  for  our  service.  And 
you  are  on  such  occasions  to  take  the  opinions 
of  the  captains  of  our  ships  under  your  command, 
at  a  council  of  war." 


After  long  and  detailed  instructions  with 
regard  to  attacking  settlements,  stirring  up 
revolt  against  the  Spaniards,  securing  the  trade, 
and  operating  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama 
with  forces  on  the  opposite  side,  the  instructions 
proceed  : 

"  If   you   shall  find   no   occasion   for   staying 


1740]  ORDERS   FOR   THE   CRUISE  29 

longer  in  those  seas,  and  shall  judge  it  best  to 
go  to  the  north  as  far  as  Acapulcho,  or  to  look 
out  for  the  Acapulcho  ship,  which  sails  from  that 
place  to  Manilla  at  a  certain  time  of  the  year, 
and  generally  returns  at  a  certain  time,  you 
may  possibly  in  that  case  think  it  more  desirable 
to  return  home  by  the  way  of  China,  which  you 
are  hereby  authorised  to  do  or  to  return  home 
by  Cape  Horn,  as  you  shall  think  best  for  our 
service  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  ship  and 
men  on  board." 


To  these  orders  was  attached    a    letter  from 
the  Lords  Justices  : 


"  His  Majesty  having  been  pleased  to  suspend 

your    sailing    orders    from    England    till    this 

time,  when  the  season  of  the  year  will  permit 

you    to    make    your    intended    voyage    directly 

to  the  South  Seas,  either  by  going  round  Cape 

Horn  or  through  the  Straits  of   Magellan,   you 

are    to    regard    that    part    of    the    instructions 

whereby  you  were  ordered  (in  case  you  should 

be   too   late   for   your   passage    into   the    South 

Seas)    to     proceed    to    River    Plata    to    be    at 

present  out    of   the   question,  and  of   no  force. 

Whereas    a     letter    written    by    the    Governor 

of   Panama    to    the    King    of    Spain   has   fallen 

into  our  hands,  which   letter   contains   material 

advice     relating      to     the      situation      of     the 

Spaniards,     you     are    to    have    regard    to    the 

intelligence   there   contained,    in   the   execution 


30  DESCRIPTION   OF   SQUADRON    [chap,  iv 

of    the   orders  given  to   you   in  His  Majesty's 

instructions." 

''  (Signed), 

Hardwicke.  Devonshire. 

Wilmington.  Holles  Newcastle. 

Dorset.  Pembroke. 

Richmond  Lennox.     Islay. 

AUBIGNY.  R.    WaLPOLE. 

Montague.  Chas.  Wager." 

Three  of  the  ships  of  the  squadron,  the  Cen- 
turion, Gloucester,  and  Severn,  were  4th-rate 
ships,  the  Pearl  a  5th-rate.  The  Centurion 
was  about  1,000  tons  and  was  a  short  ship  with 
plenty  of  beam,  probably  a  fairly  good  sea  boat, 
but  slow  in  sailing  and  far  slower  when  she 
had  been  more  than  six  weeks  at  sea  and  the 
barnacles,  oysters,  and  weed  had  encrusted  her 
bottom.  Their  hulls  were  painted  yellow,  or, 
as  we  should  call  it  in  modern  days,  mast  colour. 
They  had  a  blue  stripe  right  round  the  ship 
below  the  nettings,  and  inside  they  were  painted 
red,  probably  an  oxide  of  lead  or  iron.  In 
any  sort  of  bad  weather  it  was  necessary  to 
keep  all  gun  ports  closed,  so  that  the  ventilation 
on  the  crowded  decks  was  very  bad.  One 
can  see  these  ships,  with  150  sail  of  merchant 
vessels  which  they  were  convoying,  making 
quite  a  fine  sight  with  their  white  sails  as 
they  heeled  over  to  the  fresh  breeze.  On 
September  29  the  whole  of  the  convoys  had 
left ;    but    the    south-westerly    wind    being    so 


1740] 


ARRIVAL   AT  MADEIRA 


31 


strong  it  was  forty  days  before  the  squadron 
reached  Madeira,  which  in  ordinary  times  would 
only  take  a  sailing  vessel  some  sixteen  days. 
On  October  25  they  anchored  off  Madeira,  and 
here  they  were  informed,  by  the  governor,  of  a 
Spanish  fleet  consisting  of — 


One  64-gun 

ship     . 

.      700  men 

„     74    „ 

)?        ' 

.      700    „ 

>>     54     ,, 

5  >                    ' 

.      500     „ 

„     50    „ 

99 

.      450     „ 

„     40    „ 

99 

.      350     „ 

which  under  Don   Joseph  Pizzaro  was   on   the 
look-out  for  them. 

Whilst   at  Madeira  Anson  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  Duke  of  Newcastle  : 


"  After  a  passage  of  forty  days  I  arrived 
here  October  27  with  the  squadron  of  H.M. 
ships  under  my  command,  during  which  time 
we  buried  two  of  the  invalid  captains  (Araund 
and  Coley) ;  the  oldest  lieutenants  are  appointed 
to  succeed  to  their  command.  I  have  given  leave 
to  Captain  Norris  to  return  to  England  for  the 
recovery  of  his  health.  The  ships  being  all 
watered  I  intend  to  proceed  to-morrow  to  sea. 

"G.  Anson." 


CHAPTER    V 

PIZZARO'S     SQUADRON 

Had  they  come  across  the  Spanish  squadron, 
which  was  a  much  stronger  one  than  theirs, 
they  would  have  had  to  throw  overboard  most 
of  their  cargo  and  provisions  in  order  to  fight 
their  guns ;  but  fortunately  for  them,  the  Span- 
iards had  given  them  up,  on  account  of  their 
long  delay,  and  proceeded  to  try  to  round  the 
Horn  in  order  to  be  on  the  west  coast  of  South 
America  in  time  to  prevent  the  English  from 
doing  damage  to  their  settlements.  They  had 
with  them  a  complete  regiment  to  reinforce 
the  armed  settlements  there.  Somewhere  near 
Cape  Horn  the  two  squadrons  were  so  near 
one  another  that  the  Pearl,  one  of  our  vessels, 
having  separated  from  the  squadron,  mistook 
the  Asia  for  the  Centurion,  and  having  got 
within  gunshot  of  the  Spaniards,  narrowly 
escaped  being  taken. 

Pizzaro  with  his  squadron  encountered  such 
a  storm  in  February  whilst  off  Cape  Horn  that 
they  were  blown  to  the  eastward  ;  the  Hermione 
foundered  at  sea,  the  Guipuzcoa  was  sunk  off 

32 


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1740-41]         SICKNESS   COMMENCES  33 

the  coast  of  Brazil,  and  the  Admiral  himself 
in  the  Asia  arrived  in  the  River  Plate  with 
only  two  of  his  ships.  They  seemed  to  have 
gone  through  hardships  similar  to  those  of  our 
own  squadron,  with  famine  added ;  for  running 
short  of  provisions,  they  were  at  one  time 
offering  four  dollars  apiece  for  rats,  when  they 
could  be  caught.  They  lost  nearly  all  their 
men.  The  Guipuzcoa  lost  all  her  spars,  had  to 
throw  her  guns  overboard,  and  pass  her  cable 
round  the  ship  to  keep  her  from  opening  her 
seams.  Finally  the  Asia,  with  100  men,  was 
all   that   was   left   to   Spain   of   this   squadron. 

If  our  expedition  had  done  nothing  else  than 
draw  off  a  strong  squadron  to  its  destruction, 
it  had  accomplished  much. 

Then  our  squadron  left  Madeira  on  Nov- 
ember 3,  and  reached  St.  Catherine,  in  Brazil, 
on  the  18th,  all  the  crews  being  very  sickly. 
The  first  care  here  was  to  get  the  sick  on 
shore.  Each  ship  was  ordered  to  erect  two 
tents,  one  for  the  sick  and  one  for  the  surgeon 
and  his  apparatus.  The  Centurion  landed  eighty 
sick,  and  the  other  ships  as  many  in  proportion 
to  their  crews.  The  ships  were  then  thoroughly 
cleansed,  smoked  between  decks,  and  every 
part  washed  well  with  vinegar. 

All  vessels  were  then  thoroughly  refitted — - 
but  they  did  not  leave  until  January  18,  owing 
chiefly  to  defects  in  the  masts  of  H.M.S.  Tryal. 

On  the  21st  they  encountered  a  gale  during 
3 


84  VIOLENT   STORMS  [chap,  v 

which  the  Tryal  lost  her  mainmast,  and  the 
Pearl  disappeared  and  was  not  seen  again  for 
a  month.  The  Gloucester  took  the  Tryal  in 
tow,  until  they  arrived  in  St.  Julian. 

On  Friday,  February  27,  they  left  St.  Julian, 
and  till  March  4  they  had  little  wind,  but  the 
weather  was  thick  and  hazy.  Off  Terra  del 
Fuego  they  encountered  a  gale  to  which  the 
Centurion  could  only  show  a  reefed  mizen. 
The  weather  clearing  on  March  7,  they  entered 
the  Straits  of  Le  Maire,  when  they  supposed 
that  after  getting  through  they  would  have 
a  clear  passage  to  the  coast  of  Peru,  and  they 
revelled  all  night  in  the  thought  of  the  successful 
commencing  of  the  object  of  their  expedition. 
But  they  were  ignorant  of  the  calamities  that 
awaited  them,  and  that  the  squadron  would 
soon  be  separated  never  to  unite  again. 

Just  as  they  reached  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire,  the  serenity  of  the 
sky  was  suddenly  obscured,  and  they  observed 
all  the  signs  of  a  coming  storm,  and  presently 
the  wind  shifted  and  blew  in  such  violent  squalls 
that  they  were  drifted  back  to  the  eastward,  so 
that  the  next  morning  the  wind  and  currents 
had  brought  them  back  twenty-one  miles  east- 
ward of  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire ;  and  now  they 
realised  that  it  was  quite  possible  they  might 
not  be  able  to  weather  the  Horn  at  all,  and  the 
distresses  they  went  through  for  the  next  three 
months  could  not  be  easily  imagined.     Such  a 


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1741]  STORMS   AND   SCURVY  35 

continuous  succession  of  storms,  which  raise  such 
short  and  mountainous  seas  there,  are  now  well 
known ;  but  the  writer  of  tlie  voyage  says  "  that 
this  unusual  appearance  filled  us  with  continual 
terror  "—the  quick  heavy  rolling  causing  the 
men,  unless  lashed,  to  be  thrown  against  the 
sides  of  the  ship.  Some  men  were  killed  from 
this  cause.  One  of  the  seamen  was  thrown  over- 
board and  drowned,  one  dislocated  his  neck, 
and  one  was  thrown  into  the  hold  and  broke  his 
thigh.  What  was  particularly  distressing  to 
them  was  the  fitful  suddenness  of  the  violent 
squalls  accompanied  by  snow,  so  that  one  mo- 
ment they  would  make  sail  and  the  next  were 
under  bare  poles — the  men  being  sometimes 
frost-bitten  in  handling  the  sails.  After  forty 
days,  when  they  thought  they  were  clear  of  the 
Straits,  they  discovered  land,  and  found  that 
the  easterly  current  had  set  them  back  nearly 
to  the  entrance  again.  Their  men  were  then 
falling  sick  of  scurvy  and  dying  fast.  All  this 
was  owing  to  the  delays  in  England  causing 
them  to  reach  Cape  Horn  at  the  worst  season  of 
the  year. 

Although  Anson  in  his  official  report  merely 
says,  with  his  usual  brevity,  "  I  had  my  topsails 
reefed  for  fifty-eight  days,"  the  accounts  of 
those  on  board  show  that  they  went  througli 
exceptionally  bad  weather,  terrific  storms  and 
very  heavy  seas.  In  these  storms,  with  sails 
split,   yards,   spars,  and    rigging   carried    away, 


86  DREADFUL   EXPERIENCES      [chap,  v 

with  seas  washing  over  them,  and  terribly 
afflicted  with  scurvy,  they  battled  on  day  after 
day— losing  in  one  day  the  distance  they  had 
gained  in  many  days  before;  and  on  March  31, 
Anson  in  his  report  says,  "  My  men  are  falling 
down  every  day  with  scurvy,"  and  on  May  8, 
*•  I  have  not  men  able  to  keep  the  decks  or  suffi- 
cient to  take  in  a  topsail,  and  every  day  some 
six  or  eight  men  are  buried." 

On  April  24,  during  a  heavy  storm  and  thick 
weather,  the  other  ships  parted  company.  On 
April  30  the  Centurion  found  herself  to  the 
north  of  the  Straits,  and  again  thought  her 
trials  were  over  as  regards  the  weather.  But  the 
scurvy  had  played  havoc  with  the  men.  Their 
long  stay  at  sea,  the  fatigue,  and  despondency 
had  done  their  work,  and  there  were  few  men  on 
board  who  were  not  afflicted  with  disease — forty- 
three  had  died  in  April,  but  in  May  they  lost 
eighty  more ;  and  by  the  middle  of  June,  having 
lost  two  hundred  men,  they  could  at  last  muster 
only  six  men  in  a  watch.  On  May  8  the  Cen- 
turion arrived  at  the  rendezvous  off  Socotro, 
but  found  none  of  the  other  vessels  there. 
She  cruised  there  for  a  fortnight,  but  it  was 
not  a  safe  place,  for  the  land  was  steep,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  lee-shore  without  any  anchor- 
age. Whilst  waiting  off  this  place  to  see  if  any 
of  the  other  ships  would  join,  they  were  struck 
by  lightning  in  a  storm — many  men  being 
wounded.     Then  one  of  the  most  violent  storms 


1741]        JUAN   FERNANDEZ   IN    SIGHT  87 

they  had  experienced  came  down  and  blew  all 
their  sails  away,  carried  away  some  of  their 
standing  rigging — and  a  heavy  sea,  striking  them, 
shifted  the  ballast,  and  they  were  nearly  lost. 
They  now  decided  to  go  on  to  Juan  Fernandez. 
They  tried  to  reach  it  on  a  parallel  of  latitude ; 
but  on  May  28,  the  master  thinking  they  had 
gone  too  far  to  the  west,  they  went  about  and 
stood  for  the  coast  of  Chili,  causing  a  delay  of 
eleven  days — which,  with  a  disabled  ship,  a  crew 
all  suffering  from  scurvy,  so  that  there  were 
only  six  men  in  a  watch  who  could  work,  and 
water  scarce,  was  most  unfortunate,  some  seventy 
men  being  lost  during  this  time.  However,  on 
June  9  Juan  Fernandez  was  in  sight. 

To  so  wretched  a  condition  had  they  come, 
that  it  was  only  by  the  officers  and  their  servants 
working,  that  they  were  able  to  fetch  the 
anchorage.  It  is  scarcely  credible  how  much 
they  longed  to  be  on  shore,  as  they  saw  the 
beautiful  verdure  of  the  island,  and  every  valley 
with  its  cascade  of  fresh  water. 

Even  the  sick  crawled  out  of  their  hammocks 
to  gaze  with  delight  on  the  scene.  When  they 
had  anchored,  the  men  proceeded  to  catch 
fish,  which  were  abundant,  and  a  boat  returned 
with  seals  and  grass.  Soon  after  anchoring  the 
Tryal  sloop  arrived.  Captain  Saunders  in- 
formed them,  that  out  of  his  one  hundred  com- 
plement, he  had  buried  thirty-four,  and  that 
scurvy  was  so  bad,  that  only  himself,  his  lieu- 


38    ANSON  KEEPS  UP  THEIR  SPIRITS  [chap,  v 

tenant,  and  three  men  were  able  to  work  the  ship. 
Tents  were  now  erected  on  shore,  and  the  sick 
were  conveyed  there.  Anson,  with  his  accus- 
tomed humanity,  worked  hard  himself,  carrying 
the  wounded  in  hammocks  along  the  stony 
beach  to  the  tents.  Vegetables  of  various 
kinds  and  fish  were  abundant  on  the  island,  and 
the  sick  began  to  recover,  though  at  first  some 
six  to  eight  men  were  buried  each  day.  On 
June  21  the  Gloucester  was  sighted,  and  a  boat 
was  immediately  sent  to  her  with  water  and 
provisions.  But  she  was  in  a  dreadful  state  ;  over 
two-thirds  of  her  men  had  been  buried,  and  it 
was  a  fortnight  before  she  could  be  brought  into 
the  bay,  and  soon  after  this  she  disappeared 
again  for  a  week.  Her  crew  were  reduced 
by  scurvy  to  eighty  all  told. 

It  seems  that  this  dreadful  disease  is  more 
fatal  to  those  who  are  despondent,  or  in  low 
spirits,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  crews 
had  had  every  reason  to  be  despondent.  But 
all  along  Anson  cheered,  inspired,  worked  him- 
self, and  thus  prevented  a  total  collapse.  The 
arrival  of  the  Tryal  sloop  so  soon  after  the 
Centurion's  arrival  made  the  Commodore  hopeful 
of  seeing  the  other  vessels  soon. 

The  Gloucester  was  reduced  to  such  a  state 
that  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  supply  of  water 
and  provisions  sent  to  her,  everybody  on  board 
must  have  perished,  and  she  could  not  have  been 
navigated  at  all  into  port  unless  she  had  kept 


1741]     THE   SEVERN,   PEARL,   AND   WAGER  39 

the  crews  of  the  boats  sent  to  her  assistance. 
It  was  not  till  July  23  that  she  succeeded  in 
coming  in  to  anchor.  The  only  other  ship  that 
arrived  was  the  Anna,  pink  victualler :  for 
they  found  out,  on  their  return  to  England, 
that  the  Severn  and  the  Pearl  had  put  back  to 
the  Brazils  when  they  parted  company,  while 
the  Wager — Captain  Cheap — made  for  Socotro, 
from  which  place  Captain  Cheap  intended  to 
make  Baldivia,  which  was  the  first  place  to  be 
attacked,  as  he  had  on  board  the  mortars  and 
field  guns  necessary  for  that  attack.  Whilst  he 
was  beating  off  the  coast,  he  fell  down  a  ladder, 
dislocated  his  shoulder,  and  was  on  the  sick- 
list,  after  which  the  Wager  drifted  to  the  shore, 
struck  on  a  rock,  and  was  bilged.  The  crew  got 
on  shore,  but  became  demoralised,  pillaged  the 
ship  and  broke  into  the  spirit  room ;  many  got 
drunk  and  were  drowned,  and  amongst  those 
on  shore,  a  mutiny  also  began,  because  the 
captain  wanted  to  go  on  in  his  boats  to  Juan 
Fernandez,  whereas  the  crew  wished  to  return 
to  England.  It  ended  by  the  captain  shooting 
a  midshipman  named  Couzens,  who  was  sup- 
posed to  be  the  leader  of  the  mutineers. 

Thirty  of  their  men  died,  and  eighty  went  off 
in  the  long  boat  and  cutter  to  the  south,  and 
after  some  time  they  arrived  at  Rio  Grande,  in 
Brazil — but  reduced  to  thirty  men  all  told. 
Captain  Cheap  started  in  the  barge  on  Decem- 
ber    14     to     the     northward,    but    after    great 


40  JUAN   FERNANDEZ  [chap,  v 

trials  and  perpetual  bad  weather  had  to  return 
to  Wager  Island,  quite  disheartened,  and  suffer- 
ing from  hunger  and  fatigue.  Having  come 
across  an  Indian  who  consented  to  pilot  the 
eleven  men  who  were  left,  they  started  for  Chiloe  ; 
but  after  a  few  days,  when  the  captain  and 
officers  were  on  shore,  the  Indian  and  six  men 
deserted  them,  and  were  not  seen  again — 
so  that  Captain  Cheap,  Mr.  Byron,  midshipman, 
and  Mr.  Campbell,  with  nothing  but  the  rags 
which  barely  clothed  them,  were  left  on  shore. 
Luckily  an  Indian  appeared,  took  compassion  on 
them,  and  took  them  in  canoes  to  Chiloe,  where 
the  Spaniards  treated  them  with  great  humanity. 
Their  trials  had  lasted  twelve  months. 

Now  to  return  to  Juan  Fernandez — the  island 
was  like  a  paradise  to  the  crew.  It  abounded 
with  fruits  and  vegetables ;  and  Anson,  who 
had  with  him  garden  seeds  of  all  kinds  and 
stones  of  fruit,  for  the  better  accommodation 
of  those  who  came  after,  sowed  lettuces,  carrots, 
and  other  vegetables— also  plums,  apricots, 
and  peaches,  which  latter  some  of  the  Spaniards 
who  waited  on  him  in  later  years,  to  thank  him 
for  his  generosity,  stated  to  be  growing  pro- 
fusely. It  was  from  this  part  of  the  world 
that  he  brought  home  that  beautiful  blue  sweet 
pea  which  is  called  after  him. 

About  the  beginning  of  September,  after  a 
residence  on  the  island  of  104  days,  the  ships 
were    ready    to    proceed.      The    sickness    had 


1742]    TERRIBLE  LOSS  THROUGH  SICKNESS    41 

entirely  ceased,  and  those  men  that  were  left 
had  recovered  their  usual  health  and  strength. 
But  what  a  record  was  disclosed  ! 


Grew  on  leaving    Had  buried  Left 


England 

The  Centurion 

.      506 

292 

214 

,,     Gloucester 

.      374 

292 

82 

„     Tryal 

81 

42 

39 

Totals     .  .  .961  626  335 

On  board  the  Gloucester  every  invalid  sent 
to  her  in  England  had  perished,  and  only  two 
marines  were  left  out  of  forty -eight. 

On  board  the  Centurion  only  four  invalids 
remained  out  of  fifty  sent  on  board,  and  only 
eleven  Marines  out  of  seventy-nine. 

A  man  less  gifted  with  equanimity,  and  the 
steady  perseverance  which  so  strongly  dis- 
tinguished Anson's  character,  must  have  been 
very  much  distressed  at  the  prospect  ahead, 
for  335  men  were  scarcely  enough  to  navigate 
the  three  ships  remaining  to  him — to  say 
nothing  of  fighting.  He  might  meet  Pizzaro's 
squadron,  for  he  did  not  know  it  was  dispersed. 
He  could  not  attack  the  Spanish  settlements 
with  troops,  for  they  did  not  exist,  and  even 
the  Acapulcho  ship  would  be  too  strong  for 
such  weakness  ;  but  he  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  leaving  his  enemies  to  triumph, 
and  to  abandon  all,  so  he  ordered  the  ships 
to  disperse  and  cruise  for  the  capture  of 
vessels. 


42  PRIZES  [chap,  v 

The  Tryal  first  captured  the  Nuestra  Senhora 
del  Monte  Carmel,  with  twenty-five  passengers. 
The  Centurion  fell  in  with  a  prize  of  600  tons  ; 
and  as  the  Tryal  was  in  a  bad  condition,  it 
was  decided  to  abandon  and  scuttle  her,  and 
transfer  all  her  officers  and  men  to  this  prize. 

The  Centurion  then  captured  another  vessel, 
of  800  tons ;  and  when  off  Paita  she  captured 
the  Nuestra  Senhora  del  Carmen,  with  forty-three 
seamen,  400,000  dollars,  and  with  information 
that  decided  the  Commodore  to  attack  the 
town  of  Paita.  He  must  take  it  by  surprise, 
as  his  men  were  few ;  but  a  risky  undertaking 
like  this  appealed  to  him,  and  he  determined 
to  attempt  it.  A  description  of  the  attack  will 
be  given  in  the  next  chapter. 


i 


,'t- 


?1 


CHAPTER    VI 

CAPTURE   AND    BURNING    OF    PAITA 

Lieutenant  Brett  was  appointed  to  command 
the  expedition.  He  had  fifty-eight  picked  men 
in  the  eighteen-oared  barge  and  two  pinnaces  told 
off  for  him.  Then,  well  provided,  they  landed 
in  the  dark,  and  by  shouting  and  cheering  and 
beating  of  drums  produced  the  impression  that 
they  were  a  large  force.  They  first  surrounded 
the  governor's  house,  in  order,  if  possible,  to 
secure  him,  whilst  Lieutenant  Brett  and  a 
party  marched  to  the  fort,  which  after  firing 
a  few  shots  was  precipitately  abandoned.  He 
then  proceeded  to  the  Custom  House,  to  get 
possession  of  the  treasure  which  was  lodged 
there.  The  inhabitants,  taken  by  surprise,  had 
run  away  without  taking  time  to  dress.  Even 
the  governor,  it  is  stated,  who  had  been  married 
only  a  few  days,  had  left  his  wife,  a  girl  of 
seventeen,  in  bed,  and  fled. 

In  the  morning,  when  the  Centurion  ap- 
proached the  shore,  the  English  flag  was  flying 
on  the  fort,  and  soon  after  the  boats  came  off 
with  the  treasure  taken.     The  enemy,  encamped 

43 


44  COURTESY   TO   PRISONERS     [chap,  vi 

in  the  hills,  with  some  200  horse,  besides  infantry, 
never  ventured   to   resist.     Anson   sent   several 
messengers    to    the    governor    desiring    him    to 
come  and  treat  for  the  surrender  of  the  town 
and    its    ransom,    but    he    persistently    refused, 
although   he   was   told   that  to   save   the   town 
a  supply  of  cattle  and  necessaries  was  all  that 
was    wanted.     He    was    then    informed    that   if 
he  did  not  comply  the  town  would  be  burnt. 
On  the  third  morning  the  boats  were  employed 
in  bringing  off  the  most  valuable  parts  of  the 
effects,  and  the  town  was  set  on  fire  and  de- 
stroyed.    The    treasure    which    fell    into    their 
hands   was   estimated   at  £30,000.     Many   pris- 
oners of  note  were  taken,  amongst  whom  was 
the   son   of    the   Vice-President   of    Chili.     The 
Spaniards  had  evidently  mistaken  the  expedi- 
tion for  that  of  buccaneers,  of  whom  they  had 
heard  stories  no  less  atrocious  than  those  with 
which   the   English   were   primed  ;     and   it  was 
some   time   before  Anson,  with   his   kindly  dis- 
position,   which   was   so   characteristic   of   him, 
could  reassure  them.     But  after  the  President's 
son  had  been  on  board  two  months  he  became 
so   fond   of    the  Commodore    that  it  was    with 
regret  that  he  landed,  with  all  the  other  prisoners, 
at    Paita.     Anson    was    amply    repaid    for    his 
generosity  to  the  prisoners  by  their  cordial  and 
grateful    remembrance    of     his    treatment    and 
courtesy,     which    was    spread    through     every 
corner  of  Spanish  America. 


1742]  A   DISPUTE  45 

Immediately  after  the  taking  of  Paita  bad 
feeling  and  jealousy  broke  out  between  those 
who  had  remained  on  board,  and  those  engaged 
in  the  attack — the  one  party  claiming  the 
spoils  on  account  of  the  fatigue  and  dangers 
they  had  passed  through,  the  other  party  saying 
they  would  have  been  equally  ready  to  take 
an  active  part  if  they  had  been  allowed 
to  do  so.  This  point  had  been  decided  in 
ancient  times  by  King  David — "  that  those 
who  minded  the  substance  should  share  the 
spoils  "  (1  Sam.  xxx.  24).  Anson,  on  hearing 
of  the  dispute,  mustered  all  hands  on  deck,  and, 
after  explaining  to  them  that  the  ship  and  her 
crew  brought,  and  took  away,  the  landing 
party,  thus  taking  an  equal  share  of  the  work, 
he  ordered  the  spoils  to  be  divided  equally 
amongst  all,  according  to  their  rank.  And, 
he  said,  "  to  prevent  those  in  possession  from 
murmuring  at  the  diminution  of  their  share,  I 
give  my  entire  share  to  be  divided  amongst 
you."  So  little  did  the  Commodore  care  him- 
self for  money,  in  comparison  with  the  carrying 
out  of  his  duty. 

From  Paita  to  Macao 

From  Paita  to  Quito.  The  day  after  leaving 
Paita  the  Gloucester  joined,  having  taken  two 
prizes,  one  a  small  dhow  containing  about 
£7,000   in   specie  besides  other  cargo,   and   the 


46  OFF   ACAPULCHO  [chap,  vi 

other  a  large  boat.  When  they  had  captured 
her  the  prisoners  alleged  they  had  only  cotton 
stowed  in  jars ;  but  though  this  appeared  to  be 
true,  the  captors  were  suspicious,  as  when  they 
had  surprised  the  crew  they  were  dining  off 
pigeon  pie  on  silver  dishes :  so  they  took  the 
jars  of  cotton  on  board,  and  on  examination  it 
was  found  that  the  cotton  concealed  doubloons — ■ 
altogether  the  amount  in  these  jars  was  about 
£12,000.     The  treasure  was  going  to  Paita. 

The  Commodore  had  intended  to  go  to  Panama 
to  get  some  news  of  Admiral  Vernon's  expedi- 
tion, but  on  board  the  Carmelo  (the  prize  the 
Centurion  took)  were  papers  showing  that  the 
attack  on  Carthagena  had  failed,  so  that  he 
determined  to  proceed  northward  to  Acapulcho 
to  get  news  of  the  galleon,  but  being  short  of 
provisions  he  would  call  at  Quito  first.  They 
experienced  frequent  calms  and  heavy  rains 
till,  on  December  3,  they  anchored  in  Quito. 
Having  obtained  supplies  of  turtle,  and  watered 
the  ship,  they  left,  on  December  12,  for  the 
coast  of  Mexico.  It  was  not  till  the  end  of 
January  that  they  neared  Acapulcho,  and  the 
Commodore  decided  to  send  in  a  boat  to  ascer- 
tain news  of  the  galleon.  The  barge  was  sent 
in  on  February  6,  with  two  officers,  the  crew, 
a  Spanish  pilot,  and  an  Indian.  After  some 
days  the  boat  returned,  having  coasted  for 
some  distance  without  discovering  the  harbour, 
but   they   saw    some   hills   which   they   thought 


1742]         SEARCH   FOR   THE   GALLEON  47 

must  be  Acapulcho,  so  the  ships  got  under  way 
and  a  second  time  the  boat  was  sent  in.  After 
some  days  she  returned,  having  made  out  tlie 
harbour,  and  having  captured  tiiree  negroes 
in  a  boat  fishing  there.  From  these  men  it  was 
ascertained  that  the  galleon  had  arrived  on 
January  9,  but  would  return  to  Manilla,  sailing 
about  March  14.  This  nev/s  filled  them  all 
with  delight. 

Every  preparation  was  now  made;  the  five 
ships  were  placed  so  as  to  be  able  to  intercept 
the  galleon,  and  the  crews  of  the  Centurion 
and  Gloucester  were  reinforced  from  the  Tryal 
prize,  the  Carmelo,  and  the  Carmen.  Everybody 
was  on  the  look-out,  and  all  examining  the  horizon 
for  the  appearance  of  the  Spanish  ship ;  but  days 
passed,  and  weeks,  and  she  never  came.  The 
Commodore,  thinking  that  he  had  been  dis- 
covered, and  that  therefore  the  galleon  would 
not  sail,  made  a  plan  to  take  the  town  by  sur- 
prise ;  but  it  was  well  defended,  for  in  addition 
to  the  crew  of  the  galleon  1,000  soldiers  were 
forming  the  guard  of  the  treasure.  His  plan 
was  to  make  a  stretch  out  to  sea,  and  then 
under  cover  of  the  night  stand  boldly  right 
into  the  harbour  and  attack  the  town  and 
batteries,  whilst  200  men  in  the  boats  would 
take  the  fort.  This  plan  was  not  carried  out; 
finding  the  siiips  short  of  water,  he  decided 
to  go  to  Chequetan,  where  he  knew  they  could 
fill  up.  Here  it  was  decided  to  destroy  the 
i 


48  ACROSS   THE   PACIFIC         [chap,  vi 

Tryal  prize,  the  Carmelo,  and  the  Carmen,  so  that 
after  taking  all  that  was  useful  out  of  them, 
and  transferring  their  crews  to  the  Gloucester 
and  Centurion,  they  were  prepared  for  scuttling. 
Thinking  that  the  galleon  might  put  to  sea  on 
hearing  that  the  squadron  was  at  Chequetan, 
Anson  sent  a  cutter  to  cruise  off  Acapulcho 
and  report ;  but  a  strong  current  having  forced 
them  down  the  coast,  it  was  six  weeks  before 
they  returned,  almost  starved.  The  prisoners, 
consisting  of  Spaniards,  negroes,  and  Indians, 
were  now  placed  in  two  launches  belonging  to 
the  prizes,  and  given  fourteen  days'  provisions, 
after  which  they  were  given  their  liberty. 
They  reached  Acapulcho  safely,  and  the  Cen- 
turion and  Gloucester  stood  to  sea  bound  for  the 
coast  of  China. 

Before  leaving  England  Anson  had  collected 
together  all  the  information  possible  to  get  hold 
of  about  the  navigation  of  the  Pacific,  and 
had  also  obtained  much  information  from  the 
prisoners  on  board  the  prizes.  But  still  tlie 
passage  across  the  Pacific,  except  to  the  Spanish 
trade  between  Acapulcho  and  Manilla,  was 
little  known  then  ;  so  that  it  was  seven  weeks 
before  they  got  into  the  trade  winds,  for  they 
got  continued  calms  and  foul  winds  where  they 
had  expected  to  get  a  fair  trade  wind,  and 
had  hoped  to  have  reached  China  by  that  time. 
From  all  this  buffeting  about,  the  Centurion 
and  Gloucester  showed  signs  of  wear  and  tear. 


1742]       ABANDONING   THE   GLOUCESTER         49 

Their  masts  were  badly  sprung,  and  the  Glou- 
cester had  only  a  stump  of  a  main  mast  left ; 
and  so  they  became  very  anxious  for  their 
safety,  from  the  delay  thus  caused.  It  was  not 
want  of  fresh  provisions,  or  want  of  good  water, 
for  the  heavy  rains  gave  them  plenty  of  that. 
But  they  might  be  reduced  to  such  a  state  that 
they  could  not  navigate  their  vessels,  or  they 
might  all  die  of  scurvy.  It  was  not  known  in 
those  days  that  lime  juice  was  a  preventative, 
and  the  surgeon  gave  up  all  hopes  of  being  able 
to  stop  or  cure  the  disease. 

One  disaster  after  another  took  place,  for  they 
got  into  a  storm  which  carried  away  the  spars 
of  the  Gloucester,  and  the  Centurion  began  to 
leak  badly,  so  that  the  crews  were  constantly 
at  the  pumps.  The  Gloucester  also  reported 
that  she  was  leaking  so  badly  that  she  had  no 
less  than  seven  feet  of  water  in  the  hold,  and 
asked  for  assistance.  Her  masts  and  spars  were 
gone,  her  decks  giving  way,  and  she  had  only 
sixteen  men  and  eleven  boys  able  to  keep  watch, 
and  these  were  infirm  and  sick.  The  Commodore 
sent  them  provisions,  and  sent  on  board  his 
carpenter  to  report,  and  the  carpenter  sub- 
stantiated everything.  What  could  be  done  ? 
The  Centurion's  crew,  reduced  by  disease,  could 
only  barely  keep  her  own  pumps  going,  and 
certainly  could  give  no  assistance.  In  these 
circumstances  the  Commodore  decided  to  aban- 
don the  Gloucester,  so  he  sent  his  boats  to  assist 

4 


50     THEY  SIGHT  THE  ISLE  OF  TINIAN    [chap,  vi 

her  to  clear  out  all  the  stores,  prize  money, 
and  goods  that  could  be  removed,  and  to 
bring  them  on  board  the  Centurion ;  also  to 
remove  the  sick,  which  was  done  with  great 
care,  but  in  doing  which  several  men  died.  The 
boats'  crews  worked  away  at  this  until  they 
were  so  fatigued  that  they  could  remove  no 
more,  and  had  to  leave  the  prize  goods  on 
board  the  Gloucester,  also  much  stores  that  they 
would  have  liked  to  save.  It  was  then  resolved 
to  burn  her  to  prevent  her  falling  (wreck 
as  she  was)  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
When  about  twelve  miles  away,  a  black  column 
of  smoke  showed  that  the  Gloucester  had  blown 
up,  her  guns,  as  the  fire  reached  them,  having 
been  heard  to  signal  her  burial. 

But  now  the  sickness  increased ;  eight  to 
ten  men  were  buried  each  dav,  and  much  time 
had  been  lost  with  the  Gloucester,  during 
which  the  current  had  drifted  the  Centurion  to 
the  north.  Then  a  gale  came  on,  in  their  teeth, 
and  everything  seemed  hopeless,  when  their 
hopes  were  raised  suddenly,  by  sighting  an 
island  ;  but  on  sending  a  boat  to  sound,  it  was 
found  there  was  no  possible  anchorage.  Again 
their  disappointments  almost  overwhelmed  them, 
till,  on  the  next  day,  the  island  of  Tinian  was 
sighted.  Knowing  that  the  Spanish  settlement 
of  Guam  was  not  far  off,  the  Centurion  hoisted 
Spanish  colours  and  tried  to  disguise  her 
wretched   condition.     Having   captured   a   boat 


1742]  AT   TINIAN   ISLAND  51 

with  a  Spaniard  and  an  Indian  on  board,  they 
found  that  the  island  was  a  store  for  the  soldiers 
at  Guam — that  there  were  cattle,  hogs,  fowls, 
oranges,  limes,  and  bread  fruit  on  the  island. 
The  Centurion  came  to  an  anchor  ;  but  out  of 
all  the  crews  of  the  Gloucester,  Tryal,  and  her 
own,  seventy  men  were  all  that  could  be  mus- 
tered  who  were  able  to  work,  and  it  took  five 
hours  to  furl  her  sails.  The  island  seems  to  have 
been  a  perfect  pai'adise,  and  it  was  extremely 
fortunate  that  they  came  across  it,  for  if  the 
ship  had  not  been  driven  out  of  her  course 
to  the  north,  she  would  never  have  seen  it 
and  never  had  an  opportunity  of  curing  her 
sickness. 

It  was  computed  there  were  no  less  than 
10,000  cattle  (which  were  snow-white  with  brown 
or  black  ears)  roaming  about  on  the  island, 
enormous  quantities  of  fowls,  and  on  the  two 
lakes  in  the  centre  of  the  island  were  large 
quantities  of  duck,  teal,  etc.  What  could  be 
more  delightful  ! 

The  first  thing  they  had  to  do  was  to  remove 
all  their  sick  on  shore. 

After  some  time  most  of  the  sick  recovered  ; 
but  the  Commodore  himself  was  ill,  and  landed, 
to  try  to  recover,  in  a  tent  rigged  up  for  him. 
Whilst  on  shore,  at  the  time  of  the  Equinox, 
September  21,  a  tremendous  gale  came  on,  and 
there  being  no  slielter  the  siiip  was  driven  to 
sea,    witii    Lieutenant    Saumarez    and    a    small 


52  CENTURION  DISAPPEARS     [chap,  vi 

part  of  the  crew  on  board,  whilst  the  Commo- 
dore and  some  113  of  the  crew  were  left  on 
shore.  The  ship  fired  guns  of  distress.  This 
was  a  terrible  misfortune,  for  the  Centurion 
might  either  be  lost  or  unable  to  regain  the 
island  ;  in  which  case  the  Spaniards  from 
Guam  might  come  and  attack,  and  take  as 
prisoners  the  crew  on  shore,  who  had  little 
powder  left  to  use  in  their  defence. 

Anson  immediately  set  to  work  himself,  with 
the  assistance  of  those  who  were  able,  to  cut 
in  two  a  Spanish  barque,  to  lengthen  her, 
and  make  her  fit  to  carry  them  all  to  China. 
Whilst  on  this  work  two  boats  under  sail  were 
reported,  which  were  supposed  to  be  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  Centurion.  This  affected  them 
so  much  that  it  is  said  that  the  Commodore 
repaired  to  his  tent,  and  was  for  a  short  time 
overcome  at  the  failure  of  all  his  prospects. 
A  little  later  they  were  discovered  to  be  only 
local  boats.  As  they  were  finishing  the  boat 
the  want  of  nautical  instruments  was  disclosed, 
but  at  last  a  small  compass  was  found  in  the 
hold  of  the  barque.  Part  of  a  quadrant  was 
found  in  one  place,  and  part  in  another.  After 
nineteen  days'  terrible  anxiety,  the  Centurion  re- 
appeared. On  its  being  reported,  it  is  related  that 
the  Commodore,  for  the  first  time,  broke  through 
his  reserve,  and  throwing  down  his  axe  joined 
the  rest  in  their  transport  of  joy. 

The   ship    was   now  refitted,  provisioned  and 


1742]  ARRIVAL   AT   MACAO  53 

watered,    and    on    October    21,    1742,    put    to 
sea  bound  for  Macao. 

Passing  to  the  southward  of  the  Island  of 
Formosa,  the  Centurion  sailed  through  a  vast 
fleet  of  Chinese  fishing  boats  which  continued 
almost  to  their  arrival  at  Macao.  They  tried, 
ineffectually,  to  obtain  a  pilot  amongst  the 
Chinese  fishermen ;  but  not  knowing  their  lan- 
guage, they  found  it  impossible  to  make  them 
understand,  for  at  every  request  made  they 
held  up  fish,  thinking  that  must  be  what  the 
strangers  wanted.  At  last,  when  they  had  got 
nearer  the  shore,  a  Portuguese  pilot  offered  him- 
self, and  eventually  took  them  in  to  the  anchor- 
age. There  had  been  some  anxiety  on  leaving 
the  island  of  Tinian,  because  the  ship,  having 
lost  her  bower  anchors,  had  only  the  sheet 
anchor  to  depend  upon  ;  but  by  using  the  small 
anchors  of  the  prizes,  strengthened  by  guns 
lashed  to  the  shanks,  they  were  enabled  to 
make  quite  useful  extempore  anchors.  On 
November  13  they  brought  to  off  Macao.  It 
was  just  two  years  since  they  had  had  any 
news  of  events  in  Europe,  or  any  chance  of 
communicating  with  home.  They  had  passed 
through,  in  this  time,  more  adventures,  disasters, 
loss  of  life,  and  disappointment  than  any  ex- 
pedition before  or  since,  and  all  overcome  by  the 
steady  perseverance,  firmness,  and  the  indomit- 
able courage  of  the  Commodore. 


CHAPTER    VII 

PROCEEDINGS     AT     MACAO 

On  arrival  at  Macao,  Anson  arranged  with  the 
Portuguese  governor  to  anchor  in  the  harbour 
of  the  Typa ;  but  finding  that  he  could  only  get 
provisions  for  one  day  at  a  time,  he  resolved 
to  go  up  to  Canton  to  see  the  Viceroy.  The 
Custom  House  officer  having  refused  leave  to 
the  boat  to  proceed,  Anson  threatened  to  man 
and  arm  his  boats  and  proceed  up  in  spite  of 
him.  Finding  he  was  determined,  the  officer 
gave  way,  and  Anson  proceeded  up  alone  to 
Canton.  At  first  he  tried  negotiations  through 
the  Chinese  merchants,  but  these  signally  failed, 
so  that  under  a  threat  he  forced  the  Custom 
House  officer  at  Macao  to  convey  a  letter  direct 
to  the  Viceroy,  who  immediately  sent  down  a 
Mandarin  to  visit  the  ship.  This  was  the  first 
British  man-of-war  to  visit  this  place,  and  Anson 
succeeded  at  last  in  impressing  the  Viceroy  with 
the  dignity  of  the  flag  of  England,  and  that 
they  must  not  be  treated  like  a  merchant  vessel. 
All  the  presentable  men,  dressed  in  the  clothes 
of   the   soldiers,  were  fallen   in   as   a   guard   to 

64 


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1743]  THE    COMMODORE'S    PLAN  55 

receive  the  Mandarin;  and  having  told  the  officials 
that  if  he  did  not  receive  supplies — which  would 
be  well  paid  for — he  might  be  driven  to  take 
them  by  force,  they  at  last  gave  the  Commodore 
all  he  wanted  to  reach  Batavia. 

Anson  now  having  got  to  sea,  his  crew 
refreshed,  and  augmented  by  the  addition  of 
twenty-three  men — Dutch,  Lascars,  and  Indians 
— his  ship  properly  refitted,  and  the  people 
all  so  convinced  that  he  was  going  to  Batavia 
that  thev  had  sent  mails  on  board  for  that 
place,  he  summoned  all  his  crew  on  deck  and 
told  them  that  his  design  all  along  had  been  to 
capture  the  Acapulcho  treasure  ship,  according 
to  his  orders  to  do  so  (if  practicable),  and  that 
he  now  intended  to  recross  the  Pacific  and 
make  the  attempt.  He  further  informed  them 
that  he  had  reason  to  suppose  that  this  year 
there  would  be  two  ships  instead  of  one — 
probably  they  would  be  in  company — that  they 
mounted  forty-four  guns  each,  with  crews  of 
500  men,  whereas  he  had  but  200  men  and 
thirty  boys,  but  that  he  hoped  for  success, 
knowing  the  spirit  of  his  men ;  and  that  though 
it  was  supposed  that  the  enemy's  sides  were 
too  thick  for  the  Centurion's  shot  to  penetrate,  he 
guaranteed  that  he  would  place  the  ship  so  close 
alongside  that  that  would  be  no  difficulty,  the 
shot  probably  passing  through  both  of  them. 

The  crew  were  much  elated,  and  gave  cheer 
after    cheer.     They    were    constantly    exercised 


56  ACTIVE    PREPARATIONS        [chap,  vii 

at  the  guns  and  small  arms,  as  they  had  been 
all  through  the  voyage,  and  were  very  efficient, 
a  target  being  suspended  from  the  yard-arm  at 
which  they  were  constantly  firing.  Although  he 
took  every  precaution  to  escape  observation,  he 
was  reported  in  Manilla,  and  two  ships  of  thirty-two 
guns,  one  of  twenty,  and  two  of  ten  each  were 
fitted  out  to  attack  him;  but  owing  to  the  monsoon, 
and  their  dilatoriness,  they  never  succeeded  in 
getting  to  sea.  The  whole  of  June  our  men  watched 
day  and  night,  with  the  long-boat  towing  astern — 
drilling  incessantly,  impatiently  expectant. 

On  June  20,  at  sunrise,  they  discovered  a  sail 
from  the  masthead.  The  Commodore  instantly 
stood  towards  her,  and  at  7.30  a.m.  they  were 
near  enough  to  see  from  deck  that  she  was  the 
galleon.  The  galleon  commenced  by  firing  a 
gun.  Thirty  men,  marksmen,  were  picked  out 
and  sent  into  the  tops  of  the  Centurion,  who 
proved  their  splendid  marksmanship  during  the 
action.  As  Anson  had  not  sufficient  men  to  fire 
the  guns,  two  men  were  stationed  at  each,  to 
keep  them  loaded,  whilst  the  crews  flew  round 
to  work  and  fire  them ;  consequently  a  perpetual 
fire  of  well-directed  shot  was  kept  up,  instead 
of  the  broadsides  intermittently.  Towards  1  p.m. 
the  Centurion  got  close  to  her  enemy,  and 
was  able,  with  her  bow  guns,  to  interfere  with 
the  Spaniards  clearing  away  the  cattle,  pro- 
visions, stores,  etc.,  in  the  way  of  their  guns. 
The    Centurion    was    brought    up    alongside    to 


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1743]  CAPTURE    OF    GALLEON  57 

leeward,  to  prevent  escape — Anson's  plan  being 
to  lay  across  her  lee  bow,  where  he  got  all  his 
broadside  into  his  enemy  and  she  could  only 
work  her  foremost  guns  ;  such  was  the  action 
for  half  an  hour.  Shortly  after,  the  mats  which 
the  galleon  had  placed  on  her  nettings,  to 
prevent  boarders,  took  fire,  and  blazed  violently. 
All  this  time  the  top  riflemen  had  picked  off 
all  the  officers,  driven  their  men  from  their 
tops,  and  cleared  their  quarter-deck.  The 
enemy  continued  to  fire  briskly  for  another 
hour,  but  the  Centurion's  grape-shot  swept  her 
decks,  and  the  general  was  wounded.  Her 
ensign  was  shot  away  early  in  the  action  ;  and 
now  her  men,  being  no  longer  able  to  face  the 
fire,  deserted  their  guns,  and  the  standard  of 
Spain  was  hauled  down.  The  galleon  was 
called  the  Nuestra  Senhora  de  Cabodonga  and  was 
commanded  by  General  Dom  Geronimo  de 
Montero,  a  Portuguese  who  was  said  to  be  the 
most  skilled  and  courageous  of  those  employed 
by  Spain.  She  was  much  larger  than  the  Cen- 
turion. She  had  36  guns  in  ports,  28  pedresoes 
mounted  on  the  gunwale  quarters  and  top,  and 
firing  a  four-pound  ball.  She  carried  550  men, 
and  was  particularly  prepared  against  boarding. 
She  had  67  men  killed  and  84  wounded,  whilst 
the  Centurion  had  only  2  killed,  and  1  lieutenant 
and  16  wounded,  all  of  whom  but  one  recovered. 
So  little  skilled  were  the  Spanish  sailors  in 
comparison  with  those  of  the  Centurion. 


58  SECURITY    OF    PRISONERS     [chap,  vii 

No  sooner  had  the  galleon  struck  than  a 
lieutenant  came  to  the  Commodore  and  informed 
him  that  the  Centurion  was  dangerously  on 
fire  near  the  powder  room.  He  received  this 
news  apparently  unmoved,  in  order  that  there 
should  be  no  panic,  and  gave  such  orders 
that  it  was  extinguished  at  once,  though  it 
was  a  near  shave,  the  fire  having  got  good 
hold. 

The  Commodore  appointed  the  galleon  to  be 
a  ship  in  His  Majesty's  service,  and  gave  the 
command  to  Lieutenant  Saumarez,  his  first 
lieutenant ;  and  before  night  all  the  prisoners, 
except  a  few  for  navigation  purposes,  were 
sent  on  board  the  Centurion.  "  We  now  heard 
that  the  other  treasure  ship  had  probably 
reached  its  destination  during  our  delay  in 
Macao."  The  securing  of  the  prisoners  was  a 
source  of  great  trouble,  for  they  more  than 
doubled  their  captors,  and  openly  expressed 
their  discontent  at  being  beaten  by  a  crew  so 
small,  and  comprising  so  many  youths.  All 
but  the  officers  and  wounded  were  placed  in 
the  hold,  from  which  a  funnel  to  the  open  air 
was  built,  to  prevent  their  taking  advantage 
of  the  crew,  whilst  working  the  sails.  Four 
loaded  swivel  guns,  in  charge  of  a  sentry,  were 
then  placed,  one  being  at  the  top  of  each  funnel. 
The  officers  were  all  lodged  in  the  first  lieutenant's 
cabin,  under  a  guard  of  six  men,  and  the 
general  in  the  Commodore's  cabin,  with  a  sentry 


1743]     DIFFICULTIES   WITH  THE   CHINESE     59 

over  him,  whereas  all  the  ship's  officers  and 
men  remained  armed  day  and  night,  and  ready. 

On  July  11,  nearly  a  month  afterwards, 
they  anchored  at  Macao  again.  The  treasure 
taken  amounted  to  about  £400,000.  If  to 
this  be  added  the  destruction  of  £600,000  more, 
it  may  safely  be  assumed  that  £1,000,000 
sterling  represented  the  damage  to  the  Spaniards 
caused  by  the  expedition,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  loss  of  Pizarro's  big  squadron.  They  could 
not  get  permission  to  pass  the  forts  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Canton  River,  but  under  threats 
Anson  forced  the  pilot  to  carry  him  past  these 
forts  ;  and  though  the  pilot  was  punished  by 
the  authorities,  it  was  amply  made  up  to  him 
by  the  Commodore  afterwards.  Some  Spanish 
officers,  being  allowed  to  visit  Canton  on  parole, 
were  examined  by  the  Chinese  authorities, 
and  amongst  other  things  they  reported  how 
well  they  had  been  treated  (much  better,  they 
said,  than  they  should  have  treated  the  English 
had  they  been  the  vanquished).  This  favour- 
ably impressed  the  Chinese.  Having  been 
brought  up  to  the  second  bar,  at  the  request  of 
the  Chinese,  and  really  also  to  relieve  himself 
of  great  inconvenience,  Anson  liberated  all 
the  prisoners,  the  Chinese  conveying  them  to 
Macao,  whilst  the  Centurion  gave  them  eight 
days'  provisions. 

Having  a  great  difficulty  with  the  provisions, 
which  the  contractors  contrived  every  sort  of 


60        ANSON    INTERVIEWS    VICEROY  [chap,  vii 

trick  to  enhance  in  price  when  bought  by 
weight,  and  also  objecting  as  he  did  to  an 
EngHsh  man-of-war  paying  duties,  Anson  deter- 
mined to  go  and  see  the  Viceroy  at  Canton, 
whether  he  hked  it  or  not.  Informing  him 
he  should  arrive  at  Canton  on  a  visit,  he  manned 
the  barge  with  men  dressed  as  Thames  water- 
men— scarlet  jackets,  blue  silk  waistcoats,  silver 
buttons  and  badges — and  in  spite  of  all  risk  he 
proceeded  alone  up  the  river.  In  case  of  acci- 
dent to  himself,  he  appointed  Lieutenant  Brett 
to  the  temporary  command  of  the  Centurion. 
Every  sort  of  ruse  was  employed  to  prevent 
the  visit,  but  as  Anson  said  that  any  insult  or 
annoyance  they  should  put  upon  him  would  be 
amply  repaid,  and  that  he  did  not  believe  for  one 
moment  they  would  treat  him  with  anything  but 
the  respect  due  to  him,  he  proceeded  to  Canton. 
During  his  stay  at  Canton  a  fire  broke  out, 
and  Anson  immediately  repaired  to  the  scene, 
but  was  stopped  by  the  Mandarin.  When  the  fire 
had  become  quite  unmanageable,  the  Mandarin 
came  to  him  and  begged  him  to  save  the  town.  On 
Anson  calling  his  sailors  to  the  rescue,  the  men, 
always  to  be  depended  on  under  his  directions, 
soon  prevented  the  fire  spreading,  to  the  great 
delight  and  astonishment  of  the  Chinese,  who 
had  never  seen  such  work  before.  The  Viceroy 
having  personally  been  a  witness  to  this  episode,  it 
made  it  much  easier  on  his  visit  to  him  the  next 
day  for  Anson  to  obtain  all  he  wanted. 


.S7.  Barbara  Ora  pro  \ohis .' 


THE    SILVER    BOWL    AND    THE    SILVER    BELL. 

From  the  Spanish  galleon,  now  in  llio  possession  ol  Do  Saumarez. 


p.  W>] 


1743-4]  HOMEWARD    VOYAGE  61 

On  December  7,  the  provisions  and  stores 
having  all  been  procured,  and  everything  ready, 
the  Centurion  and  her  prize  stood  down  the 
river,  and  on  December  12  anchored  at  Macao. 
Here  the  galleon  was  sold  for  6,000  dollars, 
which  was  greatly  below  her  value.  On  Jan- 
uary 3  the  Centurion  anchored  in  the  Straits 
of  Sunda,  and  on  March  11  arrived  in  Table 
Bay,  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Here  they  continued 
till  April,  and  during  the  stay  enlisted  forty 
new  men.  On  April  3,  1744,  they  weighed, 
passing  St,  Helena  on  the  19th.  On  June  10 
they  spoke  an  English  ship  in  the  Channel, 
from  which  they  learnt  that  we  were  at  war 
with  France  ;  and  on  June  15,  they  arrived  at 
Spithead,  after  three  years  and  nine  months, 
having  with  special  good  luck  passed  through 
a  considerable  French  fleet,  cruising  in  the 
Channel,  during  a  fog.  This  might  have  been 
fatal,  for  if  they  had  been  discovered  they 
would  certainly  have  been  destroyed,  whereas 
they  escaped  this  fleet  at  the  end  of  the  expedition 
as  they  had  escaped  the  Spanish  fleet  at  the 
beginning. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

ARRIVAL    AT    SPITHEAD    IN    1744 

On  arrival   at   Spithead    Anson  wrote   to  Lord 
Hardwicke  : 

"  My  Lord, 

"  I  ought  to  have  written  to  your  lord- 
ship on  arrival  at  Canton,  when  in  all  prob- 
abihty  my  expedition  was  at  an  end,  as  to  any 
service  I  could  undertake  against  the  enemy; 
but  I  was  so  ill  satisfied  with  my  success — 
being  abandoned  by  one  part  of  my  squadron, 
and  the  remainder  being  either  wrecked  or 
reduced  to  such  a  condition,  by  the  bad  treat- 
ment we  met  with  in  passing  Cape  Horn, 
that  it  was  not  possible  for  me  to  keep  them 
above  water.  These  misfortunes  gave  me  an 
uneasiness  I  could  not  express  to  your  lord- 
ship ;  which  was  not  a  little  aggravated  by 
the  reflections  of  what  I  could  have  under- 
taken for  His  Majesty's  service  if  the  squadron 
had  got  into  the  South  Seas  in  tolerable 
plight — for  I  have  good  reason  to  believe  that 
with  one  fourth  part  less  strength  than  I 
carried  from  Spithead  I  should  have  left  the 
Spaniards   a  very  uneasy  remembrance  of    my 

62 


1744]       LETTER  TO  LORD  HARDWICKE  68 

having  been  in  this  part  of  the  world.  After 
my  ship  was  fitted  in  China,  I  determined  to 
attempt  the  galleon  from  Acapulcho,  though 
I  had  not  half  my  complement  of  men.  Here 
fortune  favoured  me ;  for  I  met  her  at  the 
entrance  of  her  port,  with  nearly  three  times 
mv  number  of  men  to  defend  her.  After  an 
hour  and  a  half's  engagement  within  pistol  shot, 
the  admiral  struck  his  flag  and  became  my 
prize.  Though  the  expedition  has  not  had 
all  the  success  the  nation  expected  from  it, 
which  is  a  great  misfortune  to  me,  I  am  per- 
suaded no  misconduct  can  be  justly  laid  to  my 
charge  as  Commander-in-Chief  ;  and  I  should 
have  great  pain  in  returning  to  my  country, 
after  all  the  fatigue  and  hazard  I  have  undergone 
in  endeavouring  to  serve  it,  if  I  thought  I  had 
forfeited  either  your  lordship's  favour  and 
protection   or  the   esteem   of   the   public. 

"  Mr.  Keppel  is  my  third  lieutenant.  I  have 
recommended  the  bearer,  Mr.  Dennis,  my  first 
lieutenant,  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  hope 
they  will  prefer  him,  for  he  well  deserves  it. 

"  Anson." 

It  had  been  known  in  England— from  the 
arrival  of  Mr.  Saunders  and  some  of  the  other 
officers,  who  had  come  home  in  a  Swedish 
vessel  from  Canton — that  the  Centurion  was 
there,  but  that  news  was  previous  to  the 
taking  of  the  galleon ;  and  Anson  received 
letters  from  his  friends  saying  that  the  country, 
and   the   Admiralty,    were   prepared   to   confirm 


64       ARRIVAL  AT  SPITHEAD  IN  1744    [chap,  viii 

whatever  he  did,  so  that  his  request  for  the 
promotion  of  his  first  heutenant  he  fully  ex- 
pected to  be  granted. 

Imagine  his  feelings  when,  after  reporting 
his  expedition  to  the  Admiralty,  he  simply 
received  the  acknowledgment  of  his  letter — 
this  after  being  nearly  four  years  absent,  and 
having  suffered  more  hardships  than  almost 
any  human  being  had  been  through.  But  he 
wrote  again — stating  how  he  had  made  Mr.  Brett 
acting  captain  of  the  Centurioriy  and  asking 
for  the  confirmation  of  this  order. 

He  received  an  answer  that  he  had  no 
power  to  make  such  an  appointment,  and  that 
it  could  not  be  confirmed. 

On  June  19  three  promotions  to  rear- 
admirals  appeared  in  the  Gazette,  and  Anson's 
name  was  one  of  the  three.  With  this  pro- 
motion he  received  a  letter  stating  that  the 
King  had  been  pleased  to  raise  him  to  the  rank 
of  Rear-Admiral  of  the  Blue. 

But  the  Admiralty  would  not  accede  to  his 
request  to  promote  his  first  heutenant. 

Directly  after  receiving  this  letter  Anson 
replied  to  the  Admiralty,  as  follows  : 

''June  24,  1744. 

"  I  am  extremely  concerned  to  find  myself 
under  the  necessity  of  resigning  a  commission 
I  have  lately  been  honoured  with,  and  which 
I  return   enclosed    to   your   lordships.      It   has 


1744]    ANSON    RETURNS    HIS    PROMOTION     65 

ever  been  my  opinion  that  a  person  trusted 
with  command  may  and  ought  to  exceed 
his  orders,  and  dispense  with  the  common  rules 
of  proceeding,  when  extraordinary  occasions 
require  it.  In  what  I  have  acted  I  have 
had  no  other  view  than  the  honour  and  advan- 
tage of  H.M.  service.  Since  upon  appHcation 
to  your  lordships  you  have  not  pleased  to 
confirm  it,  it  is  with  great  mortification  I 
am  obliged  in  the  matter  to  decline  a  service 
which  has  been,  and  ever  will  be,  the  great 
pleasure  and  pride  of  my  life. 
"  I  am,  my  lords, 
"  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  Anson." 

An  answer  to  this  letter  of  Anson's  came 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty,  Corbett 
— but  it  was  too  late  to  alter  the  fact  that 
Anson  had  declined  his  promotion,  and  that 
the  Admiralty  had  accepted  his  letter  and 
withdrawn  his  promotion.  As  this  letter  is  an 
excellent  one,  I  give  it  in  full : 

"  The  Admiralty. 

"  Though  the  giving  of  advice  is  the  most 
hazardous  office  of  friendship,  it  is  (in  proper 
season)  the  sincerest  proof  of  it.  It  is  from 
that  motive  I  address  this  letter  to  you — the 
first  occasion  you  have  ever  given  me  for  it 
in  a  course  of  more  than  twenty  years'  happiness 
of  your  acquaintance.  The  conduct  you  have 
shown  in  a  late  perilous  expedition,  the  happy 

5 


66       ARRIVAL  AT  SPITHEAD  IN  1744    [chap,  viii 

completion  of  it  with  so  much  judgment  and 
resolution,  has  distinguished  your  character  in 
an  uncommon  manner,  and  made  you  to  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  to  serve  and 
support   your   country. 

"  Is  it  possible  for  one  of  such  excellent 
endowments  to  justify  so  tenaciously  an  act, 
irregular,  unnecessary,  unprecedented,  as  to 
make  the  confirmation  of  it  a  condition  of  your 
continuance  in  the  service  or  of  the  acceptance 
of  the  late  mark  of  His  Majesty's  regard  for 
you? 

"  The  reason  you  urge  for  insisting  on  the 
commission  you  gave  constituting  a  captain 
under  you  in  the  Centurion,  is,  that  it  has  ever 
been  your  opinion  'a  person  entrusted  with 
command  may  and  ought  to  exceed  his  orders, 
and  dispense  with  the  common  rule  of  proceed- 
ings, when  extraordinary  occasions  require  it.' 

"  Your  opinion  is  very  just.  When  a  com- 
mander finds  his  orders  or  instructions  insuffi- 
cient, and  he  can  do  his  country  better  service 
by  violating  or  exceeding  them,  it  indicates  a 
great  mind  to  judge  and  make  a  successful  use 
of  such  occasions. 

"  But  the  application  of  this  rule  does  not 
avail  here.  You  are  named  to  go  with  a  squadron 
upon  a  distant  expedition,  without  any  captain 
under  you  in  your  own  ship.  You  accept  the 
command,  and  serve  all  the  time,  according 
to  those  terms.  But  after  the  whole  expedition 
is  at  an  end,  and  not  one  ship  is  left  with  you  but 
your  own,  nor  any  other  service  to  perform 
but  to  return  home,  you  appoint  a  captain  under 


1744]  CORBETT'S    LETTER  67 

you.  Do  any  of  those  extraordinary  occasions 
appear  here  wherever  common  rules  of  pro- 
ceedings should  be  dispensed  with  ?  Does  a 
journey  of  a  few  hours  to  an  audience  of  the 
Vice-King  at  Canton  come  up  to  it  ?  The  pre- 
caution you  took  before  setting  out,  to  secure 
the  King's  ship  and  the  treasure  in  case  any 
accident  happened  to  your  person,  was  a  prudent 
and  necessary  measure,  but  the  trust  was  con- 
ditional and  to  take  place  upon  an  inability  to 
act  yourself,  which  did  not  happen. 

"  If  what  I  have  been  saying,  dear  sir,  has 
any  tone  of  conviction,  you  will  no  longer  insist 
on  an  act  your  good  sense  must  condemn,  when 
you  consider  that  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty 
have  a  true  regard  for  you,  are  much  concerned 
for  the  temper  you  are  in  with  them,  and  would 
gratify  you  in  anything  that  consisted  with 
reason  and  the  rules  of  their  office.  They  have 
given  you  proofs  of  it.  You  took  the  galleon 
into  the  King's  service,  and  they  have  confirmed 
the  officers  you  appointed  to  her,  and  yet  there 
seemed  as  much  reason  to  commission  any 
merchant  ship,  for  she  never  was  to  serve  as  a 
man-of-war  against  the  enemy,  which  is  the  only 
reason  of  putting  prizes  into  commission.  I 
am  well  assured  that  the  captain  you  contend 
for  would  be  provided  for  to  his  satisfaction,  as 
well  as  others  who  have  served  with  you  in  the 
voyage,  and  are  under  your  protection. 

"  In  the  present  case  the  Lords  of  the  Ad- 
miralty had  no  precedent ;  and  would  you  make 
one  ?  It  cannot  be  defended.  The  moment 
it    is    admitted,    the    Admiralty    is    no    longer 


68       ARRIVAL  AT  SPITHEAD  IN  1744    [chap,  viii 

master  of  any  rule  or  order  ;  but  every  com- 
mander who  goes  abroad  without  a  captain 
may  appoint  one  as  soon  as  he  is  clear  of  the 
land  of  England,  and  insist  upon  it  from  the 
precedent. 

"  An  admiral  of  great  rank,  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, wanted  a  second  captain.  His  reasons 
were  specious  :  he  had  a  very  large  fleet  under 
his  command,  and  the  assistance  of  only  one  flag 
officer,  who  was  infirm  ;  himself  was  next  in 
post  to  the  only  admiral  who  is  allowed  two 
captains.  But  as  the  establishment  did  not 
allow  it,  they  could  not  act  generously — because 
there  was  no  precedent ;  it  was  not  granted,  and 
not  being  granted,  was  not  assumed. 

"  The  late  Lord  Torrington,  under  whom  we 
both  served,  and  now  revere  his  memory,  in  his 
expedition  to  Sicily  gave  a  commission  to  a 
person  to  be  a  lieutenant  contrary  to  rule. 
Lord  Berkeley,  being  then  at  the  head  of  the 
Admiralty,  would  not  confirm  it.  In  ten  years 
after.  Lord  Torrington  coming  to  the  Admiralty 
and  being  solicited  to  continue  the  commission, 
refused  it,  saying  he  would  never  ratify  any 
act  of  his  own  which  he  was  convinced  to  be 
wrong.  This  is  one  of  the  many  things  I  have 
admired  in  him  :  moderation,  and  obedience 
to  laws,  and  rules  of  Government  are  truer 
characteristics  of  a  great  man  than  defending 
singular  opinions. 

"  I  will  trouble  you  no  more,  but  leave  it  to 
your  consideration  which  is  most  praiseworthy — 
to  give  up  a  hasty  resolution,  which  (as  far  as 
I  can  hear)  all  your  brother  officers  condemn, 


1744]  SACRIFICE    TO    PRECEDENT  69 

as  all  must  who  deal  sincerely  with  you  ;  or  in 
a  sullen  fit  to  fly  in  His  Majesty's  face,  give 
matters  for  pleasure  to  his  enemies,  and  throw 
yourself  out  of  a  service  you  have  been  bred  to, 
and  in  which  you  have  so  well  succeeded  ? 
"  I  am,  with  most  sincere  regard  and  esteem, 

"  Dear  sir, 
"  Your  most  obedient  and  most  humble  servant, 

"  Thomas  Corbett." 

Unfortunately  this  letter  was  not  received  by 
Anson  until  after  his  commission  as  an  admiral, 
which  he  had  returned,  had  been  cancelled. 
Lord  Winchilsea  did  not  act  with  generosity 
towards  Anson — and  his  colleagues  were  of  no 
assistance.  Sir  Archibald  Harrison,  Sir  Charles 
Hardy  (who  died  next  year),  Mr.  Cockburn, 
Dr.  Lee,  Lord  Baltimore,  and  Mr.  Phillipson  were 
unknown  men — and  it  was  to  such  a  Board  that 
he  was  sacrificed.  Though  Corbett 's  letter  is 
excellent,  it  seems  to  depend  almost  entirely  on 
reverence  for  precedent.  A  precedent  may  be 
a  general  guide,  but  by  strong  men  could  be 
always  ignored  in  a  case  where  generosity  could 
not  possibly  have  injured  His  Majesty's  service. 
Noah  might  have  refused  to  build  the  Ark,  there 
being  no  precedent  for  the  flood — as  far  as  we 
know. 

A  letter  from  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  Secretary 
of  State,  was  more  appreciative : 


70     ARRIVAL  AT  SPITHEAD  IN  1744    [chap,  viii 

"Whitehall,  June  15,  1744. 

"Captain  Anson, 
''Sir, 

"  I  received  this  morning  by  Lieutenant 
Dennis  the  favour  of  your  letter  of  yesterday's 
date,  with  the  agreeable  news  of  your  success 
in  capturing  the  great  Acapulcho  ship  and  of  your 
safe  arrival  at  Spithead,  after  the  many  fatigues 
and  dangers  that  you  have  gone  through  in  the 
course  of  your  expedition.  I  laid  it  immediately 
before  the  King,  and  have  the  satisfaction  to 
acquaint  you  that  His  Majesty  was  pleased  to 
express  his  great  approbation  of  your  conduct 
and  to  give  you  leave  to  come  immediately  to 
town  as  you  desire.  As  I  hope  very  soon  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  I  shall  only  add 
the  assurances  of  my  being,  with  the  greatest 
truth  and  regard, 

"  HoLLES  Newcastle. 

"  P.S. — I  am  extremely  obliged  to  you  for  your 
goodness  to  Mr.  Keppel  and  Mr.  Carpenter.  I 
will  not  fail  to  mention  to  His  Majesty  your 
recommendation  for  your  lieutenant,  Mr.  Dennis, 
whom  I  will  also  recom.mend  to  the  Lords  Com- 
missioners of  the  Admiralty.  Give  me  leave 
very  particularly  to  assure  you  that  I  take  a 
great  part  in  the  good  fortune  and  in  the  honour 
you  have  acquired  for  yourself  and  the  service 
you  have  done  to  your  country." 

Anson's  service  had  gained  him  not  only  the 
applause  and  admiration  of  his  countrymen,  but 
of  all  Europe. 


THK    LAST    OF    THE    FIGURE-HEAD. 


p.  701 


1744]      THE  CENTURION'S  FIGURE-HEAD        71 

The  following  effusion  appeared  at  this  time 
on  the  arrival  of  the  Commodore  and  after  the 
death  of  Mr.  Pope  : 


Ulysses'  voyage  lives  by  honour's  pen, 
Who  many  cities  saw,  and  many  men. 
Ye  muse  inventive,  dropped  to  barren  theme, 
With  gentle  Circe,  and  dire  Poh'^pheme. 
Shipwrecks  and  suffering,  fancy  could  display 
In  a  small  portion  of  the  midland  sea. 
But  what  to  Anson's  work  Ulysses'  toils  ? 
Or  what  to  Indie's  wealth  were  Illion's  spoils  ? 
The  world  surrounded,  all  her  nature  viewed. 
Each  climate  tried,  each  danger  now  subdued. 
Our  second  Drake,  arrived  on  British  ground, 
Requires  no  Pope  his  honour  to  resound. 


When  the  Centurion,  in  which  this  wonderful 
voyage  took  place,  was  broken  up,  her  figure- 
head, a  celebrated  carved  lion,  was  sent  to 
George  III.,  who  presented  it  to  the  Duke  of 
Richmond,  Master-General  of  the  Ordnance. 
The  Duke  placed  it  on  a  pedestal  near  Goodwood, 
where  it  served  as  a  sign  to  a  public-house. 
William  IV.  saw  it  and  admired  it,  and  having 
procured  it,  it  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
staircase  at  Windsor.  It  was  afterwards  sent  to 
Greenwich  Hospital  to  be  placed  over  the  Anson 
ward  ;  but  some  time  afterwards  it  fell  down, 
and  being  found  by  the  present  writer  in  an  out- 
house, abandoned  to  decay,  it  was  removed  to 
Shugborough,  where,  in  the  hands  of  the  present 
Earl  of  Lichfield,  what  remains  of  it  sound 
rests    in    peace.      It    stood    sixteen  feet    from 


72    ARRIVAL  AT  SPITHEAD  IN  1744    [chap,  viii 

the    ground,    and   on   the   pedestal    were   these 
words  : 

Stay,  traveller,  awhile,  and  view 

One  who  has  travelled  more  than  you. 

Quite  round  the  globe,  through  each  degree, 

Anson  and  I  have  ploughed  the  sea, 

Torrid  and  frigid  zones  have  passed, 

And  safe  ashore  arrived  at  last. 

In  ease,  with  dignity  appear 

He  in  the  House  of  Lords,  I  here. 

Anson  was  not  left  long  in  neglect.  Win- 
chilsea  and  his  Board  were  turned  out  in 
December  1744.  The  Duke  of  Richmond  suc- 
ceeded at  the  Admiralty,  and  Anson  was  at  once 
selected  to  serve  on  the  Board,  and  on  April  20, 
1745,  in  the  following  year,  to  make  amends  for 
his  former  treatment,  he  was  raised  two  steps, 
to  Vice-Admiral  of  the  White.  The  Duke  of 
Bedford,  Lord  Sandwich,  and  Anson,  Legge,  and 
Grenville  were  the  chief  members  of  the  Board. 
Anson,  who  was  wisely  given  a  free  hand  to  do 
so,  took  the  greatest  pains  in  his  selection  of 
officers  for  command  ;  and  assured  the  King 
that  in  the  approaching  war  he  should  at  least 
hear  of  no  courts  martial. 


-,2»^ 


^■^^ 


THE     COMMODOKK     I'HKSKNTING    AN    ACCOUNT    OF    JUS    VOYAGES    TO     lllS 
MAJESTY    KING    GEORGE    II. 


p.  721 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE    BRITISH   NAVY   IN    1744 

The  prolonged  series  of  wars  which  began  when 
the  establishment  of  civil  order  under  Cromwell 
permitted  the  nation  to  turn  from  internal  strife 
to  external  interests,  had  been  for  England 
chiefly  maritime,  struggles  occurring  at  short 
intervals.  The  Navy  was  alive  and  growing;  as 
each  war  began,  young  officers  appeared  to  carry 
on  the  traditions  they  had  grown  up  in.  But  the 
internal  dissensions  after  the  death  of  Queen 
Anne  renewed  the  condition  of  disquietude ; 
and  this,  with  the  weariness  of  war,  produced 
an  unsatisfactory  state  of  affairs.  Walpole, 
who  had  been  at  the  head  of  affairs  for  twenty 
years,  had  a  passion  for  peace :  the  consequence 
was  that  our  Navy  and  Army  had  been  neg- 
lected, and  the  equipment  allowed  to  go  into 
decay,  sapping  the  professional  interest  and 
the  competency  of  the  officers.  Now  we  shall 
see  in  the  next  Board  how  things  are  improved, 
when  the  ability  of  Anson  is  backed  up  by  the 
political   power   of   Newcastle   and   of   Bedford, 

and  with  the  great  capacity  of  Hardwicke, 

73 


74        THE   BRITISH  NAVY   IN   1744       [chap,  ix 

The  times  were  most  important.  France 
was  negotiating  a  family  compact  with  Spain. 
France  and  Spain  were  to  have  such  a  fleet 
as  would  control  the  Mediterranean,  and  large 
fleets  were  assembled  at  Brest  and  Rochefort. 
Every  effort  was  also  to  be  made  to  assist  the 
Stuarts. 

Having   drawn   our   ships   away   from   home, 
the  French  were  to  make  an  attack  by  landing 
troops,  supported  by  the  fleets   then    at  Brest 
and  at  Rochefort.     Sir  John  Norris  with  twenty 
sail  confronted  a  similar  number  of  the  French 
in  the  Downs.     Owing  to  a  storm,  the  French 
fleet   was   dispersed,   but   not   before   they   had 
shown    their   superiority   to    ours    in    speed    of 
sailing.     One   of  the  finest   single  actions   ever 
fought  took  place  this  year.     Prince  Charles  in 
the  Boutelle  sloop,  accompanied  by  the  Elizabeth 
(64  guns),  carrying  arms   for  Scotland,  was  at- 
tacked by  the  Lion  (54),  commanded  by  Anson's 
old  flag-captain,  Piercy  Brett.     They  fought  side 
by  side  till  they  were  both  reduced  to  a  state 
when  they  could  fight  no  longer — the  sloop  at  the 
same  time  raking  the  Lion,  until  beaten  off  by 
her  stern-chasers. 

Howe  also  came  into  notice.  Serving  under 
Vernon  in  the  Channel,  he  came  across  two 
French  ships  whilst  he  was  in  the  Baltimore 
sloop  and  in  company  with  the  Greyhound 
frigate  (Capt.  Noel)  on  May  1.  The  French  were 
at  anchor  when  he  attacked  them.     Howe  was 


1746]  SINGLE    ACTIONS  75 

wounded  in  the  head.  He  had  been  one  of  the 
midshipmen  of  the  Severn,  which  ship  was  with 
Anson  in  his  voyage  and  returned  to  England, 
faihng  to  round  the  Horn. 

The  Nottingham  too  (Captain  P.  Saumarez, 
60  guns)  had  a  splendid  action  with  the  Mars, 
(64).  The  action  lasted  two  hours,  and  showed 
the  superiority  of  the  English  gunnery ;  for 
the  French  had  forty-two  killed  and  wounded, 
whilst  the  Nottingham  had  only  twelve  killed 
and  wounded. 

It  was  a  great  year  (1746)  for  single  actions, 
and  Anson's  officers  were  well  to  the  front. 

At  this  period  Anson  was  left  alone  at  the 
Admiralty.  The  Duke  of  Bedford  was  laid 
up  with  the  gout,  and  Lord  Sandwich  was  taken 
dangerously  ill.  An  affair  of  very  considerable 
importance  occurred  with  w^hich  he  had  to  deal, 
and  which  required  much  tact.  The  nation  was 
very  indignant  about  the  action  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  the  disputes  between  Admirals 
Mathews  and  Lestock,  and  the  House  of  Com- 
mons moved  for  an  inquiry.  A  motion  was 
made  that  certain  of  the  officers  should  be 
examined  at  the  Bar  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
without  giving  the  Admiralty  sufficient  time  to 
take  the  necessary  proceedings  for  a  court 
martial.  A  petition  was  made  to  the  King  for 
a  court  martial  to  be  held.  To  this  the  King 
assented.  This  was  most  unusual,  and  struck 
at   the   authority   of   the   Admiralty,    in   whom 


76        THE   BRITISH   NAVY   IN   1744        [chap,  ix 

alone  was  invested  the  power  to  order  a  court 
martial.  Anson  remonstrated  with  the  Duke 
of  Newcastle,  and  begged  him  to  speak  to  the 
King.  As  the  King  and  Newcastle  saw  at  once 
that  it  was  necessary  to  uphold  the  Admiralty 
as  by  law  established  they  yielded,  and  no  case  of 
such  interference  has  occurred  since.  The  end 
of  this  trial  is  well  known.  Admiral  Mathews 
was  cashiered,  and  Admiral  Lestock  acquitted. 
Eleven  captains  were  tried  and  only  two  ac- 
quitted— four  of  the  nine  others  were  tem- 
porarily cashiered,  three  were  dismissed  and 
placed  on  half  pay,  one  died  on  the  passage 
home,  and  one  deserted  into  Spain.  An  extra- 
ordinary event  happened  in  connection  with  this 
affair.  The  President  of  the  Court  Martial 
was  arrested  by  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
on  a  charge  of  having  passed  an  illegal  sentence 
on  an  officer  some  time  previously  in  the  West 
Indies.  The  Court,  being  very  indignant  at 
their  President  being  so  arrested,  passed  reso- 
lutions derogatory  to  Chief  Justice  Willes. 
These  resolutions  were  forwarded  to  the  Ad- 
miralty and  by  the  Admiralty  to  the  King, 
who  expressed  his  displeasure  at  the  indignity 
offered  to  the  Court  Martial — by  which  the 
discipline  of  the  service  would  suffer.  Chief 
Justice  Willes,  however,  held  that  the  dignity  of 
his  Court  had  suffered,  and  sent  to  arrest  all 
members  of  the  other  Court,  but  they  having 
been  advised  of  the  strict  legality  of  this  pro- 


1745-6]  ANSON'S    BROTHER  77 

ceeding,  tendered  their  apologies  to  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice.  It  seems  probable  that  if  they 
had  moved  their  Court  to  Spithead  they  might 
have  escaped  this  humiliation. 

Anson  had  three  letters  from  his  brother  in 
Staffordshire  as  regards  the  rebels  who  were 
marching  through  Derby.  He  was  in  some 
danger  from  them.     One  letter  says  : 

"  I  am  in  good  spirits  upon  finding  we  are 
quit  of  the  rebels  without  any  apprehensions 
of  their  return.  They  marched  out  of  Leek 
yesterday  morning  for  Congleton  and  Maccles- 
field. The  Duke,  I  am  told,  has  put  himself 
a  leurs  trousses  with  3,000  foot  and  five  regiments 
of  Horse  Dragoons,  and  will  take  up  his  quarters 
at  Will  Mills,  Leek,  to-night,  as  the  Pretender 
did  two  nights  ago. 

"The  rebels  were  greatly  exasperated  at  their 
reception  in  Derby.  Their  behaviour  since  has 
been  much  fiercer,  and  at  Ashbourn  and  on  the 
way  to  Leek  they  have  plundered,  ravaged,  and 
murdered  three  people  and  wounded  others — 
so  that  they  are  much  detested  here." 

The  Duke  of  Cumberland  got  up  with  them 
at  Clifton,  near  Penrith,  and  after  a  skirmish 
obliged  them  to  retire.  At  Carlisle  they  left  a 
garrison  and  most  of  their  guns  which  were  sur- 
rendered to  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  after  the 
main  body  had  retreated  into  Scotland. 

There  were  no  great  fleet  actions  at  this  time, 
but    our    ships    and    our   privateers    were    most 


78        THE   BRITISH   NAVY   IN   1744        [chap,  ix 

active,  and  brought  in  a  great  many  prizes, 
defeating  every  attempt  of  the  enemy  to  get 
out  of  their  ports. 

Anson's  old  friend  Warren  sent  him  tidings 
of  his  capture  of  Louisburg,  and  how  after 
capture  many  prizes  had  been  secured  by 
hoisting  the  French  flag,  one  ship  alone  having 
£600,000  on  board.  Commodore  Warren  was 
made  a  rear-admiral  and  a  baronet.  An 
event  occurred  at  this  time  which  caused 
Anson  much  pain,  though  as  junior  member  of 
the  Board  he  probably  only  carried  out  the 
orders  he  received  from  the  King — but  the 
offence  occurred  at  a  time  when  it  was  most 
necessary  to  enforce  strict  discipline,  as  evidenced 
by  Mathews's  trial. 

Admiral  Vernon  had  just  been  made  Admiral 
of  the  White,  and  told  to  hoist  his  flag  in  the 
Downs  in  command  of  the  North  Sea  and  the 
Straits.  Vernon  seems  to  have  been  unwell ; 
his  correspondence  with  all,  high  and  low,  was 
querulous  and  peevish.  He  was  dissatisfied 
with  himself  and  all  around,  and  constantly 
threatened  to  resign.  How  often  this  occurs  in 
the  life  of  great  men  who  have  done  good  service  ! 
Ill-health  it  may  be,  age  it  may  be,  but  a  whole 
life  of  good  work  is  wrecked  by  some  insubordi- 
nate or  hasty  or  querulous  act ;  and  how  much  a 
friend  is  wanted  to  write  a  letter  of  advice  such 
as  Corbett  wrote  to  Anson  !  What  could  be  done 
under  the  circumstances  ?     There  is  a  state  of 


1745-6]  ADMIRAL    VERNON  79 

war.  An  officer  is  placed  in  a  responsible 
position  at  a  moment  of  danger,  and  he  asks 
to  leave  that  post ;  without  any  apparent 
reason,  he  writes  to  the  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty  desiring  to  be  relieved  of  his 
command. 

He  receives  on  the  following  day  this  letter  : 

"  Whereas  you  have  been  appointed  by  us  to 
command  a  squadron  of  His  Majesty's  ships  in 
the  Downs  in  order  to  observe  and  watch  the 
preparations  and  motions  of  the  enemy  at 
Dunkirk  and  the  neighbouring  ports  of  Flanders 
and  France,  and  to  prevent  their  sending  any 
succours  from  thence  to  His  Majesty's  rebellious 
subjects  in  Scotland,  as  also  to  guard  the  coasts 
of  this  kingdom  from  any  attempts  of  the 
enemy  to  land  there  with  an  armed  force ;  and 
whereas  since  our  appointment  of  you  to  the 
command  of  that  service  you  have  in  several 
letters  expressed  to  us  your  dislike  and  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  situation  you  have  been 
placed  in,  and  an  inclination  to  resign  your 
command,  which  uneasiness,  and  desire  of 
resigning,  you  have  again  repeated  to  us  in  your 
letter  of  yesterday's  date :  We  have  taken  the 
same  into  our  consideration,  and  do,  in  regard 
to  your  so  often  mentioned  desire  of  laying 
down  your  command  (and  there  being  an  ex- 
perienced officer  on  the  spot  to  succeed  you  in 
it),  signify  hereby  our  consent  thereto ;  and 
therefore  do  require,  and  direct  you,  to  deliver 
up  the  command  of  all  His  Majesty's  ships,  etc., 
to  Admiral  Martin,  and  to  give  him  either  such 


80         THE   BRITISH   NAVY   IN    1744      [chap.  IX 

original  orders  as  are  in  your  hands  unexecuted, 
or  else  attested  copies  of  the  same,  and  having 
so  done,  you  are  to  strike  your  flag  and  come 
ashore." 

His  own  publication  of  his  quarrels  in  the  West 
Indies,  his  querulousness,  and  bad  temper  un- 
fitted him  for  command.  He  was  undoubtedly 
a  brave  and  capable  officer,  but  he  would  not 
remain  quiet.  He  was  always  writing,  always 
complaining.  He  now  wrote  two  anonymous 
pamphlets,  and  was  summoned  to  appear  before 
the  Board.  The  Duke  of  Bedford,  the  Earl  of 
Sandwich,  Rear-Admiral  Anson,  Mr.  Grenville, 
Mr.  Legge,  and  Lord  Barrington  were  present. 
Vernon  was  asked  if  he  wrote  the  pamphlets. 
The  Board  met  again  on  April  II,  1746.  The 
Duke  of  Bedford  acquainted  the  Board  that 
he  had  attended  the  King  that  morning,  and  had 
informed  His  Majesty  of  what  had  passed 
between  them  and  Admiral  Vernon  as  to  the 
publication  of  these  two  pamphlets  ;  and  what 
had  passed  thereupon  at  his  attendance  there 
the  previous  night ;  and  signified  His  Majesty's 
pleasure  that  the  said  Vice-Admiral  Vernon 
should  bestruck  off  the  list  of  flag-officers. 

Resolved  that  the  same  be  done. 


CHAPTER  I  X 

anson's  work  at  the  admiralty  (1746-1747) 

When  Anson  came  to  the  Admiralty,  probably- 
full  of  the  wretched  organisation  of  the  dock- 
yards, the  supplies,  and  the  poor  state  of  the 
moral  amongst  officers,  he  determined  to  set 
to  work  to  reorganise  the  former,  to  instil,  with 
the  whole  of  his  power,  a  new  spirit  into  our 
services,  and  to  raise  the  standard  of  ''  what 
was  expected  of  officers."  The  first  thing  was 
to  inspect  and  overhaul  the  dockyards.  This 
Anson  contrived  to  get  Lord  Sandwich  to  do. 
It  was  the  first  time  that  anything  of  the  sort 
had  been  done. 

In  the  minutes  of  the  proceedings  they 
found  that  the  men  were  generally  idle,  the 
officers  ignorant,  the  stores  ill-arranged,  abuses 
of  all  kinds  overlooked,  the  timber  ill-assorted 
(that  which  was  longest  in  store  being  under- 
most), the  standing  orders  neglected,  the  ships- 
in-ordinary  in  a  very  bad  state,  filled  with  women 
and  children,  and  that  the  officers  of  the  yard 
had  not  visited  them,  which  it  was  their 
duty  to  have  done  ;  that  men  were  found 
treated  and  paid  as  officers  who  had  never 
6  81 


82  WORK   AT   THE   ADMIRALTY      [chap,  x 

done  duty  as  such  (for  which  their  lordships 
reprimanded  the  Navy  Board,  through  the 
Comptroller) ;  that  the  Storekeeper's  accounts 
were  many  years  in  arrears — and  what  was 
more  extraordinary  was  that  the  Navy  Board 
had  never  required  them.  In  short,  negligence, 
irregularities,  waste,  and  embezzlement  were 
so  palpable  that  their  lordships  ordered 
notices  to  be  put  up  in  the  dockyards  offering 
rewards  for  information.  Everything,  in  fact, 
was  left  to  the  resident  Commissioner,  who 
left  all  to  the  Principal,  and  he  left  it  to  his 
inferiors. 

This  inspection  was  most  salutary,  and  has 
been  found  ever  since  to  be  a  necessary  and 
useful  custom. 

There  were  many  very  plucky  actions  of 
privateers  which  Anson  seems  to  have  taken 
great  care  to  notice,  and  reward — Captain 
Phillips  and  the  Sole  Bay,  the  master  of 
the  Shoreham,  Captain  Molineux  Shouldam, 
and  others.  Anything  that  he  could  do  to 
hold  up  a  standard  to  the  Navy  of  what  was 
expected  of  them,  he  did.  The  Articles  of  War 
at  this  time  were  very  carelessly  drawn,  and 
caused  serious  inconveniences  and  hardships, 
and  innumerable  scandals. 

A  committee  was  instituted,  to  consider  and 
amend  these  articles,  and  by  the  new  Act  these 
defects  were  remedied.  Articles  12  and  13 
were   made  very  binding,  in  which  death  was 


1745-6]        PROMOTION    OF    OFFICERS  83 

the  only  punishment  allowed.  The  12th  lays 
down  :  "  Every  person  in  the  Fleet  who  through 
Cowardice,  Negligence,  or  Disaffection  shall  in 
time  of  Action  withdraw  or  hold  back,  or  not 
come  into  the  fight  or  Engagement,  or  shall  not 
do  his  utmost  to  take  or  destroy  every  ship 
which  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  engage,  and  to 
assist  and  to  relieve  all  and  every  of  his  Majesty's 
ships,  or  those  of  his  allies,  which  it  shall  be  his 
duty  to  reheve  and  assist,  etc.,  shall  suffer  death." 
This  article  was  a  very  necessary  one,  con- 
sidering the  numerous  cases  in  which  there  had 
been  a  bad  spirit  shown.  Without  mentioning 
and  perpetuating  the  names  of  those  who  are 
no  more,  it  is  only  necessary  to  read  the 
history  of  those  times  to  realise  it. 

Another  subject,  and  one  on  which  Anson 
must  have  had  much  communicating  with  the 
officers,  was  that  of  promotion.  There  were 
very  great  grievances  on  this  score.  Numerous 
officers  of  a  great  age,  as  captains,  saw  their 
juniors  selected  over  them,  and  had  no  course 
open  to  them  but  to  serve  on  as  slighted  and 
disappointed  men. 

Anson  brought  out  a  regulation  that  those 
specially  selected  officers  should  be  made  Rear- 
Admirals  of  the  Blue,  those  above  them  Rear- 
Admirals  only.  The  latter  were  tlien  super- 
annuated with  a  Rear-Admiral's  pension. 

The  next  thing  he  seems  to  have  determined 
on  was  that  some  improvement  must  be  made 


84  WORK  AT  THE  ADMIRALTY      [chap,  x 

in    the    shipbuilding.     It    was    found    that    no 
estabhshment  had  been  made   since  1717,  and 
that    these    regulations    had    been    long    since 
discontinued,    ships    being    built    according    to 
some  design  without  any  standard  or  uniformity, 
so  that  ships  of  the  same  rate  were  of  unequal 
dimensions,    and   their   stores   were   not    inter- 
changeable,  which  was  both  inconvenient  and 
extravagant.     Ships  were  not  built  as  strongly 
as  they  ought  to  be,  were  crank,  and  heeled  over 
so   much   in  bad   weather  that   they   were   not 
able  to  fight  their  lower-deck  guns,  at  the  same 
time  that  ships  of  other  nations  were  able  to  do 
so.     The  Admiralty  called  on  the  chief  construc- 
tor and  the  principal  officers  of  private  yards  to 
report.      These    recommendations  were  sent  to 
the  chief    officers   in   the    service,    after   which 
orders  standardising  ships  of  a  class  were  issued. 
From   this   time   the   number   of   ships   built 
was  increased.     The  1st  rates,  i.e.  ships  carry- 
ing 100  guns,  and  the  second  rates,  84  to  90- 
gun  ships,  being  too  cumbrous  and  expensive, 
were    discontinued.     But    the    number    of    5th 
rates  (30  to  44  guns)  and  3rd  rates  (64  to  80 
guns)  were  more  than  doubled.     The  4th  rates 
(50  to   60  guns)  were  too  light  for  the  line  of 
battle,    and    too    large    for    cruising.     The    5th 
rates  (30   to  44)  and  the   6th  rates   (20  to  30) 
were  the  best   cruisers  and  the  sloops  of  10  to 
20   were  the  best  for  combating  the  privateers 
and  smugglers. 


1746]  THE    WESTERN    SQUADRON  85 

All  the  stores  of  each  class  were  to  be  the 
same  for  that  class. 

In  the  early  autumn  of  1746  Anson  decided 
to  go  to  sea  in  charge  of  the  Western  Squadron, 
and  having  obtained  the  permission,  and  at 
the  desire  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  he  hoisted 
his  flag  in  the  Yarmouth. 

It  seems  that  so  many  failures  having  occurred 
lately,  viz.  the  disgraceful  action  of  Mathews 
and  Lestock,  the  actions  of  Commodore  Mitchell 
and  Commodore  Peyton,  etc.,  had  tended  to 
dispirit  and  weaken  in  the  public  mind  that 
confidence  in  the  Navy  which  it  ought  to 
have,  and  Anson  had  determined  to  try  to 
restore  this  confidence,  if  possible.  He  was 
entering  on  a  most  strenuous  work,  to  prove  the 
ability  of  our  Western  Squadron  to  keep  its 
place  as  a  guard  and  a  threat  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Channel,  and  to  control  the  ports  of  Brest 
and  Rochefort  in  spite  of  all  the  gales  of  a 
stormy  winter. 

As  Vice-Admiral  of  the  Blue  in  Command 
OF  THE  Channel  Fleet,  1746,  whilst  at 
the  same  time  holding  a  Seat  on  the 
Board  of  Admiralty. 

Arrival  at  Portsmouth  from  London  .  August  9,  1746. 
Sailed  from  Spithead          .          .          .  ,,27. 

Put  into  Plymouth  .  .  .  .  „        31. 

Sailed     .  .....  September  3. 

Put  into  Plymouth  ....  October  28. 

Sailed     ......  November  9. 

At  Sea  .  .....  January  28,   1747. 


86  WORK    AT    THE    ADMIRALTY      [chap,  x 

This  was  a  strenuous  time.  Privateers  were 
doing  considerable  damage  off  the  Scilly  Isles 
and  south  of  Cape  Clear.  The  French  fleet 
was  in  Brest,  and  had  to  be  watched,  like  a  cat 
watches  a  mouse  ;  and  French  ships  were  expected 
home  from  the  West  Indies. 

On  August  9,  1746,  dated  on  board  H.M.S. 
Yarmouth,  Anson  writes  : 

'  As  soon  as  she  is  rigged,  I  desire  that  their 
lordships  will  be  pleased  to  remove  Captain 
Brett  from  the  Lynn  to  be  my  captain  in  the 
Yarmouth,  to  appoint  John  Campbell  to  be 
my  first  lieutenant,  Robert  Wilson  second  lieu- 
tenant, John  Spence  third  lieutenant,  and 
Thomas  Saumarez  fourth   lieutenant." 

We  begin  now  to  see  his  restless  energy — 
his  determination  to  see  improvements  and  to 
combat  the  inefficiency  of  the  dockyards.  He 
writes,  "  There  is  a  great  delay  in  fitting  the 
ships  owing  to  want  of  riggers,"  and  he  says, 
*'  I  have  ordered  the  ships  at  Spithead  to  send 
all  available  men  to  reinforce  the  dockyard 
riggers."  He  says :  "  I  have  ordered  Admiral 
Steward  to  inquire  into  all  the  delays  at  the 
Port.  I  believe  the  Ordnance  Office  will  come  in 
for  a  large  share  of  blame,  as  they  have  allowed 
their  channel  to  be  blocked  up."  He  then 
alludes  to  a  mutiny  on  board  the  Sunder- 
land, which  he  has  inquired  into.  One  might 
have  supposed  that  it  would  have  been  caused 


1746]  BLOCKADING  87 

by  bad  food  or  want  of  pay — but  it  was  caused 
by  the  captain  having  retreated  from  three  men- 
of-war,  which  he    sighted,    and  which  the  men 
thought   he   should   have   engaged,    though   far 
superior    in    force    to    him.      Anson     says     he 
absolves  from  blame  the  first  Heutenant,  whom 
he  thinks   a   good   officer   and   a  clever  fellow, 
which  is  more  than  he  can  say  of  the  captain. 
But  what  a  state  of  affairs  is  disclosed,  by  part 
of  his  letter,  with  regard  to  the  pay  of  the  men ! 
The  Lynn  is  about  to  pay  her  men  two  weeks 
in  six  of  their  pay,  but   as   some  of  the  ships 
are  seven  years  in  arrear  he  thinks  this  would 
cause  discontent ! 

He  reports,  August  8,  1746  : 

"  Admiral  Boscawen  in  the  Namur,  with  the 
Prince  Frederick  and  Hampton  Court,  have  just 
come  into  Spithead.  Have  ordered  them  into 
harbour  to  be  cleaned  and  refitted.  Their 
lordships  will  see  they  are  very  sickly,  having 
418  sick  on  board." 

Considering  the  food,  and  the  constantly  being 
at  sea  in  bad  weather,  with  ports  closed,  with 
sailors  who  had  been  pressed  into  the  ships 
from  anywhere,  how  can  we  be  surprised  at 
the  sickness  ?  When  Boscawen  comes  in  he 
reports  (he  had  just  returned  from  America)  : 

"  The  last  part  of  my  cruise  has  been  as 
unsuccessful  as  the  first,  not  having  met  with 


88  WORK    AT    THE    ADMIRALTY     [chap,  x 

any  of  the  enemy.  If  my  orders  had  enabled 
me  to  go  south  to  Finisterre  instead  of  Cape 
Ortegal,  I  should  have  fallen  in  with  the  French 
ships  from  San  Domingo." 

In  looking  through  all  orders  given  by  Anson, 
one  sees,  in  spite  of  a  limit  of  station,  that 
the  commanders  are  authorised,  if  in  receipt  of 
intelligence,  to  pursue  the  enemy  beyond  the 
limit  of  their  station,  and  return  to  it  again 
on  condition  of  leaving  some  vessel  to  report 
they  have  done  so.     He  says  : 

"  The  supply  of  beer  is  not  to  be  had  at 
Portsmouth  ;  as  the  captains  all  agree  that  the 
men's  health  depends  chiefly  upon  it,  I  have 
ordered  Plymouth  to  supply." 

After  which  he  writes,  some  time  later  : 

"  The  beer  of  the  squadron  being  out — • 
some  part  having  proved  bad  as  it  had  been 
brewed  in  a  hurry,  in  the  summer  season- 
it  has  made  our  water  fall  short.  I  have  put 
in,  to  boot-hose-top  ^  and  complete  provisions 
for  four  months." 

1  Boot-topping  is  the  old  operation  of  scraping  off  the  grass, 
slime,  shells,  etc.,  which  adhere  to  the  bottom,  near  the  surface  of 
the  water,  and  daubing  it  over  with  a  mixture  of  tallow,  sulphur 
and  resin  as  a  temporary  protection  against  worms. 

Boot-hose-tops  are  laid  on  about  three  strakes  of  plank  below 
the  water's  edge,  with  tallow. 

This  is  chiefly  performed  where  there  is  no  dock  or  other  com- 
modious situation  for  breaming  or  careening,  or  when  the  hurry 
of  a  voyage  renders  it  inconvenient  to  have  the  whole  bottom 
properly  trimmed  and  cleansed.  The  term  was  more  recently 
appUed  to  sheathing  a  vessel  with  plank  over  felt. 


1746]  RIGOROUS    BLOCKADE  89 

He  gives  the  ships  Httle  time  in  harbour, 
and  takes  less  himself,  so  determined  is  he  that 
the  duties  shall  be  rigorously  carried  out. 

"  Their  lordships  will  see  as  soon  as  two  of 
the  ships  at  any  of  the  ports  are  cleaned,  and 
refitted,  they  are  directed  to  sail  for  the  most 
likely  station  for  the  enemy's  privateers  to 
cruise  in,  as  if  ever  they  take  any  privateers 
it  must  be  when  they  are  first  cleaned.  The 
Augusta  has  been  out  three  times  off  Scilly, 
without  being  able  to  come  up  with  them. 

"  I  have  sent  their  lordships  a  copy  of  the 
printed  signals,  with  my  additions,  and  desire 
that  the  17th  article  of  the  day,  and  the  12th 
of  the  night,  may  be  sent  to  all  cruisers  and 
convoys." 

The  ships  which  put  into  harbour  to  refit 
alwavs  find  orders  for  them  from  Anson — Boot- 
hose-top  and  Revictual,  and  then  proceed  to 
cruising  stations.  There  is  no  time  to  be 
lost.  Even  if  a  ship  is  short  of  guns,  she  has 
to  take  the  nearest  size,  like  a  purser's  shoe. 

For  instance,  he  says  : 

"  I  have  ordered  the  storekeeper  of  H.M. 
Ordnance  to  supply  them  with  such  guns  as  he 
has  in  store,  that  are  nearest  the  size  of  their 
own,  until  such  time  as  they  do  arrive." 

He  constantly  writes  to  the  Board  about  the 
want  of  preparation  in  the  dockyards,  and  the 
red-tape  : 


90  WORK    AT    THE    ADMIRALTY      [chap,  x 

"  Ships  cannot  be  cleaned  until  orders  arrive 
from  the  Admiralty  Board.  The  Commissioner 
refusing  to  give  directions  without  having 
received  that  order,  a  standing  order  should  be 
lodged  with  the  Commissioner,  in  time  of  war, 
to  clean  all  cruisers  which  have  been  off  the 
ground  six  weeks,  as  soon  as  they  arrive,  which 
could  be  finished  before  the  orders  arrive  from 
the  Board,  and  they  will  then  be  ready  for 
service." 

The  Board  agree  to  this ;  but  later  on  in 
December  Anson  writes  that — 

"  the  Weasel  is  coming  back  from  port  and  is 
not  being  cleaned  because  she  is  just  short  of 
six  weeks,  although  she  will  be  over  six  weeks 
when  she  joins  me,  and  foul  and  useless." 

Frigates.  "  I  have  no  frigates  nor  sloops 
with  me,  since  I  left  England."  There  seemed 
to  be  no  zeal  in  the  dockyards  or  sympathy  for 
ships  on  such  arduous  duty  ! 

THE  FLEET  OFF  BREST  IN  THE  WINTER  OF   1746 

"Boot-top-hose,  revictual,  and  rejoin," 
Were  the  orders  we  found  waiting  us  in  port; 
For  there  was  not  any  rest  when  we  blockaded  Brest, 
All  the  winter  when  the  days  were  growing  short. 

The  stoutest  hearts  might  quail  at  the  fury  of  the  gale, 

But  Anson  he  had  braved  them  all  before. 

For  more  hardships  he  had  borne 

When  he  wintered  off  the  Horn 

When  he  circled  round  the  world  in  '44. 

The  gales  that  we  encountered  and  the  spars  that  we  had  lost, 
The  food,  beer,  and  water  running  out. 
It  was  never  done  before,  but  we  guarded  well  the  shore 
When  Anson  ruled  the  fleet  in  '46. 


1746]  RIGOROUS    BLOCKADE  91 

For  he  drilled  the  ships  in  order,  as  they'd  never  been  before, 
And  the  p^i^'ateers  he  scared  them  all  away  ; 
For  he  swept  the  Channel  clear  so  our  trade  need  have  no  fear, 
And  we  never  left  off  watching  night  or  day. 


For  the  fleet  was  always  there,  though  sometimes  our  poles 

were  bare  ; 
All  that  winter  the  French  were  in  a  fix  ; 
For  we  always  were  prepared,  and  that  was  all  we  cared, 
When  Anson  ruled  the  fleet  in  '46. 


He  writes  : 

"  Captains  complain  that  they  are  served 
with  fresh  meat  only  twice  a  week  when  they 
come  in  off  a  cruise  and  on  beef  days  with  one 
half  flour.  I  desire  their  lordships  will  give 
directions  for  them  being  supplied  with  fresh 
meat  every  day  as  a  means  of  recovering  men 
from  scurvy,  of  which  they  are  seldom  free." 

False  information.  "  On  the  14th  I  took  the 
Prudenta  Sara,  which  left  Havanah,  August  27, 
and  they  threw  all  their  papers  into  the  seas ; 
but  on  rummaging  her  chests  I  found  several 
papers  saying  her  men-of-war  will  not  arrive 
in  Europe  till  December  or  January,  as  they 
say  the  nights  are  then  long,  the  winds  westerly, 
and  English  men-of-war  do  not  choose  to  keep 
the  sea  at  that  rigorous  season,  which  for  two 
years  past  has  enabled  their  ships  to  get  home 
in  safety.  I  send  you  a  list  of  their  ships  in 
Havanah.  By  this  it  seems  Mr.  Cay  ley's 
intelligence  must  have  been  very  bad.  1  am 
apprehensive  that  the  French  and  Spanish 
know    the    channel    by    which    our    intelligence 


92  WORK    AT    THE    ADMIRALTY     [chap,  x 

comes,  so  we  seldom  have  any  information  but 
what  misleads  us/ 

"  The  Augusta,  Princess  Louise,  and  Salisbury 
have  been  fourteen  weeks  off  the  ground,  and 
must  be  cleaned  if  it  can  be  done  without  loss 
of  time."  He  sends  a  list  of  ships  with  masts  dis- 
abled, and  says,  "But  if  it  should  take  time  to 
replace,  I  shall  make  them  serviceable  if  possible, 
as  I  am  determined  to  keep  ready  for  sea." 

About  this  he  writes  to  Cleveland,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Admiralty,  on  October  31,  1746 : 

"  It  frequently  happens  in  winter  time  that 
Channel  cruisers  spring  or  carry  away  their 
masts,  and  are  sometimes  obliged  to  wait 
several  days  till  new  ones  are  made,  to  the  great 
hindrance  of  H.M.  service.  I  therefore  desire 
their  lordships  will  give  directions  to  the  Navy 
Board  to  have  always  a  set  of  masts  ready 
finished  at  all  His  Majesty's  yards,  for  ships 
of  the  3rd  rate  and  downwards. 

"  The  Portland  is  just  arrived  in  Corson  Bay.^ 
I  find  the  Panther  is  ordered  to  the  East ;  but  as 
she  is  the  only  clean  ship  I  have,  I  have  sent 
her  to  cruise  off  Ushant  with  the  first  ships  that 
are  ready,  to  intercept  D'Anville's  squadron." 

On  November  4  he  writes  : 

"  I  intend  to  employ  this  squadron  cruising 
ten  to  twenty  leagues  off  Ushant  till  the  end  of 

1  He  begs  the  Secretary  to  keep  or  destroy  his  letters  himself, 
and  not  to  let  them  get  into  the  hands  of  his  clerks. 

2  Now  called  Cawsand  Bay,  but  then  always  spelt  as  above. 


1746]  WINTER    BLOCKADE  93 

November — longer  if  I  receive  intelligence  which 
may  make  it  necessary. 

'*  I  am  sending  three  ships  at  a  time  to  clean. 

"  Some  of  the  fastest  vessels  are  stretching  out 
100  leagues  to  the  westward,  between  latitude  48° 
and  49°  20',  to  clear  the  Channel  of  privateers. 

"•  The  water  of  the  Lynn  and  Maidstone  being 
now  out,  they  must  return  to  Plymouth,  where 
they  will  find  orders  to  boot-hose-top,  revictual, 
and  join  me." 


Much  delav  was  caused  bv  the  smaller  vessels 
being  delayed  in  Plymouth,  and  amongst 
other  things  he  writes  to  complain  that  the 
pursers  of  small  ships  stay  ashore,  under  pre- 
tence of  buying  necessaries,  till  the  ships  sail 
without  them,  greatly  to  the  detriment  of  the 
service.  One  can  understand  how  he  would 
appreciate  the  conduct  of  any  captain  who  was 
not  always  wanting  repairs. 

He  always  speaks  very  highly  of  Captain 
Cotes  of  the  Edinburgh^  which,  having  been  nine 
months  off  the  ground,  he  has  ordered  to  Ply- 
mouth to  refit,  etc.,  and  then  to  cruise  eighty 
leagues  to  the  west  of  Scilly,  sometimes  making 
Cape  Clear  for  ten  days,  and  then  join  off  Cape 
Finisterre.     Dated  November  9,   1746. 

On  December  1  he  writes  detailing  the 
capture  of  the  Mercury,  a  French  hospital  ship, 
and  the  driving  ashore  of  a  privateer.  Then 
he  writes  :    "I  am  greatly  in  want  of  frigates ; 


94  WORK    AT    THE    ADMIRALTY      [chap,  x 

for  if   I   should   happen   to  come  to  an   action. 
I  have  not  any  one  to  repeat  signals." 

The  winter  gales  then  set  in.     After  the  taking 
of  the  Mercury,  he  writes  on  December  4,  1746  : 


(I 


I  have  endeavoured  to  keep  either  ten  or 
fifteen  leagues  off  Ushant,  but  the  winds  of  these 
three  or  four  days  have  blown  so  extraordinarily 
hard  at  S.W.  that,  notwithstanding  I  have  carried 
so  much  sail  as  to  disable  several  of  the  ships 
in  their  masts  and  yards,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  keep  my  station  ;  but  am  driven  ten  leagues 
to  the  north  of  it,  and  indeed  the  winter  gales 
blow  so  excessively  hard  there  is  no  possibility 
of  keeping  long  on  any  station.  I  have  been 
induced  to  risk  my  masts  and  yards  upon  con- 
viction that  the  French  men-of-w^ar  and  trans- 
ports must  get  into  port  in  a  few  days.  I  shall 
cruise  off  Ushant  till  the  middle  of  the  month. 
"  I  have  sent  in  the  Salisbury  with  bowsprit 
sprung,  and  the  Namur  with  mainmast  sprung." 

On  December  15  he  writes  : 

**The  Augusta  has  received  so  much  damage  in 
her  spars  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  send  her  to 
Portsmouth  to  clean  and  refit,  and  have  directed 
her  when  that  service  is  completed  to  cruise 
sixty  to  one  hundred  leagues  to  the  westward 
of  Scilly  for  the  protection  of  His  Majesty's 
subjects,  and  annoyance  of  the  trade  and 
privateers  of  the  enemy.  I  also  have  to  send 
in  to  refit  the  Hampton  Court,  Prince  Frederick, 
Elizabeth,  and  Princess,  being  so  much  damaged." 


1746]  STRENUOUS   BLOCKADE  95 

What  hardships  some  of  these  ships  under- 
went one  sees  by  Captain  Mostyn's  orders  to 
his  detached  squadron  thus  ordered  home : 

'*  To  Captain  Rogers,  Elizabeth. 
"  Captain  Cochrane,  Princess. 

"  Whereas  the  Hampton  Court  is  so  sliort  of 
water  as  to  be  obhged  to  issue  Ih  pints  per 
man  per  day,  without  allowance  to  mix  with 
brandy  or  to  boil  the  oatmeal,  you  are  there- 
foo-e  to  put  the  ships  under  your  command  on 
Ij  pints  of  water  per  man  ;  to  two- thirds 
allowance  of  brandy,  and  to  serve  it  raw,  that 
you  may  be  better  enabled  to  supply  H.M.S. 
Hampton  Court  and  Prince  Frederick  with  water, 
as  soon  as  boats  can  pass." 

This  seems  to  be  the  last  of  their  privations, 
however,  for  on  February  6,  1747,  having  kept 
watch  the  whole  of  the  winter  off  Brest,  he 
reports  : 

"  Returned  on  February  1  with  a  hard  gale 
and  thick  fog.  Brought  to  five  leagues  off  Port- 
land, then  to  back  of  the  Wight,  and  anchored  ; 
but  at  4  a.m.  the  cable  parted.  The  Yarmouth 
drove  up  the  Downs,  and  asked  permission  to 
go  to  Woolwich,  as  the  weather  was  so  extremely 
bad — but  Keppel  was  sent  to  cruise  off  the 
Channel,  to  intercept  privateers,  and  Boscawen 
off  Cadiz." 

Anson,  in  a  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford, 
says  : 


96  WORK    AT    THE    ADMIRALTY      [chap,  x 

"  How  cordially  I  have  cursed  the  Dutch, 
who  I  find  prevented  General  de  Jonquiere's 
whole  fleet  falling  into  my  hands  the  last  winter, 
when  he  came  from  Chibaton — by  one  of  their 
vessels  informing  him  he  was  within  twenty 
leagues  of  me,  and  must  see  me  the  next  morning  ; 
upon  which  he  altered  his  course,  and  steered  for 
Rochefort." 

He  also  writes  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford  : 

"  My  men  begin  to  be  sickly  and  most  of  my 
ships  very  foul — but  the  hopes  of  destroying 
the  enemy's  fleet  will  make  me  risk  health  and 
everything  else." 

The  active  state  of  efficiency  to  which  Anson 
had  brought  both  the  Navy  and  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Admiralty  was  seen  to  bear  fruit. 
News  having  been  received  that  two  powerful 
expeditions  were  being  fitted  out — the  one  to 
try  to  recapture  Cape  Breton  in  the  west,  and 
the  other  to  attempt  the  subjugation  of  our 
settlement  in  the  East  Indies — Anson  set  sail 
in  command  of  a  fine  fleet,  with  his  flag  flying 
in  the  Prince  George  (90),  Captain  Bentley. 


CHAPTER    XI 

WAR   WITH    FRANCE 
(1747) 

There  had  up  to  now  been  no  great  result  of 
this  arduous  task  of  blockading  Brest.  True, 
the  Channel  had  been  kept  clear  for  our  trade, 
and  many  privateers  captured.  The  fleet  had 
been  drilled,  and  brought  into  first-rate  order,  and 
had  shown  that  no  storms  or  bad  weather  could 
drive  the  ships  from  their  blockade ;  but  they 
still  suffered  from  the  delays  of  the  dockyards. 
It  was  difficult  to  keep  the  blockade  if  ships 
sent  back  to  clean  and  refit  were  not  promptly 
attended  to,  and  Anson  keeps  on  calling  atten- 
tion to  this.  The  Duke  of  Bedford,  who  was 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  agrees  always  to 
his  proposals,  but  it  seems  that  the  dockyards 
would  not  facilitate  matters.  On  April  17,  1747, 
Anson  writes  as  follows  to  Cleveland,  Secretary 
of  the  Admiralty  : 

"  I  found  on  my  arrival  at  Plymouth  that 
none  of  the  frigates  were  clean.  This,  as  you 
will  easily  perceive,  was  no  small  disappointment 
to   me,  as   I  had  sent  previous  orders  to  their 

7  97 


98  WAR  WITH   FRANCE  [chap,  xi 

captains  to  clean  and  hold  themselves  con- 
stantly in  readiness  to  sail  at  a  moment's  warn- 
ing. I  feel  the  want  of  them  very  much  in 
disciplining  my  ships  ;  and  shall  be  still  more 
sensible  of  it  if  I  meet  with  an  enemy's  fleet, 
having  nothing  with  me  to  repeat  my  signals — 
it  being  absolutely  necessary  that  there  should 
be  two  frigates,  as  there  are  two  divisions  to  re- 
peat signals,  etc.  The  10th  inst.  the  Viper  and 
Speedwell  fell  in  with  the  fleet,  the  latter  of 
which  had  been  three  weeks  off  the  ground,  and 
informs  me  that  though  he  has  been  at  Plymouth 
a  fortnight,  and  applied  several  times  to  the 
Commissioner  to  be  cleaned  and  tallowed — 
which  might  have  been  done  in  a  tide — yet  he 
could  not  obtain  that  request  before  he  sailed. 

"  I  have  twice  mentioned  to  you  the  necessity 
of  frequently  cleaning  those  small  vessels,  in 
consequence  of  which  their  lordships  have  sent 
repeated  orders. 

"  I  should  be  extremely  obliged  if  their  lord- 
ships would  frequently  send  me  out  clean  ships, 
in  lieu  of  which  I  would  send  in  those  of  my 
ships  which  become  foul,  and  I  should  be  by 
that  means  enabled  to  destroy  the  enemy's 
privateers,  so  that  they  will  not  be  able  to  harry 
the  trade." 

On  May  2  he  writes  again,  reporting  the  capture 
of  many  privateers  by  his  ships  ;  but  complains 
again  to  the  Admiralty  of  delay  in  fitting  ships 
at  Plymouth,  which,  with  his  zeal  for  efficiency, 
he  finds  most  trying.  He  suggests  that  there 
should   be   an   extraordinary   supply   of   masts, 


1747]  THE    GRENVILLES  99 

and  spars,  and  sails,  with  standing  orders  to 
issue  them  at  once  on  demand.  He  then  re- 
ports that  he  can  never  rely  on  the  tiTith  of 
intelligence  from  the  Dutch — their  information 
proving  to  be  wrong,  and  also  contradictory  ; 
he  observes  that  Danish  information  is  generally 
correct. 

Two  of  the  vessels  selected  to  serve  under 
Anson  were  the  Defiance  (60),  Captain  Grenville, 
and  the  Bristol  (50),  of  which  William  Montagu, 
a  brother  of  Lord  Sandwich,  was  captain. 
These  two  officers  were  both  courageous  men, 
but  they  both  preferred  to  cruise  alone  and  pick 
up  prizes.  Grenville  belonged  to  the  famous 
"  cousinhood,"  and  George  Grenville,  his  cousin, 
was  on  the  Board  of  Admiralty.  Wishing  to 
carry  out  the  wishes  of  his  cousin  and  Lord 
Sandwich's  brother  Montagu,  he  contrived  that 
an  order  was  made  out  to  Anson  not  to  keep 
the  Defiance  and  Bristol  with  him  for  more 
than  seven  days.  In  order  to  get  the  Duke  of 
Bedford  to  sign  this  order,  it  was  put  into  a 
letter  which  it  was  thought  he  would  sign  with- 
out seeing  it ;  but  the  Duke  did  see  it,  and 
refused  to  sign,  declaring  that  "  they  should 
deserve  to  be  hanged  for  it  if  it  should  be  done." 
It  must  be  said  that  both  these  men,  Grenville 
and  mad  Montagu,  fought  well  in  the  action  of 
May  3,  the  former  being  killed. 

Anson  orders  captured  vessels  to  be  burnt,  so 
that  they  may  not  give  intelligence  of  his  where- 


100  WAR   WITH   FRANCE  [chap,  xi 

abouts.     But   at   last   his   reward   appears— for 
which  he  has  watched  all  these  winter  months. 


"'Pbince  George'  at  Sea,   Lat.   47.35. 

"May  11,   1747. 

"  Having  ordered  the  Inverness  and  Falcon 
sloop  to  cruise  off  Rochefort  and  report,  I 
gave  orders  at  daybreak  for  the  fleet  to  spread 
in  a  line  abreast,  each  ship  keeping  at  a  distance 
of  a  mile  from  one  another,  that  there  might  not 
be  the  least  probability  of  the  enemy  passing 
us  undiscovered.  At  7  a.m.  Captain  Gwynn  of 
the  Falcon  reported  he  had  seen  the  French 
fleet  the  day  before  at  4  p.m.,  and  that  it  consisted 
of  thirty-eight  sail,  nine  of  which  were  large 
ships  and  had  the  appearance  of  men-of-war, 
the  rest  merchantmen  under  convoy. 

"  I  called  in  all  cruisers  and  made  sail  im- 
mediately to  S.W.  to  cut  them  off.  At  9.30 
the  Namur  made  a  signal  for  seeing  the  fleet 
S.W.,  Cape  Finisterre  being  twenty-four  leagues. 
I  made  the  signal  to  chase  with  the  whole  fleet, 
and  by  noon  plainly  discovered  that  nine  ships 
were  shortening  sail  and  drawing  into  a  line 
of  battle  ahead,  three  of  which  appeared  to  be 
smaller  than  the  others.  I  had  the  others 
and  the  rest  of  the  fleet  stretched  to  the  west- 
ward with  all  the  sail  they  could  set. 

"At  1  p.m.  I  made  the  signal  for  line  of 
battle  abreast  and  in  half  an  hour  afterwards 
for  line  ahead.  [Observe  how  the  fleet  is 
brought  up  altogether — but  now  it  is  necessary 
for  the  enemy  to  be  stopped  and  brought  to  an 
action.]     At  3  p.m.  I  made  the  signal  for  the 


1747]  ACTION    OFF    FINISTERRE  101 

ship  in  the  van  to  lead  more  hirge,  in  order 
to  come  to  a  close  engagement  with  the  enemy, 
who  convinced  me  by  their  actions  that  their 
only  endeavour  was  to  escape  under  the  favour 
of  the  night,  finding  themselves  deceived  as  to 
our  strength.  I  then  made  the  signal  for  the 
whole  fleet  to  pursue  the  enemy  and  attack 
them  ;  without  having  any  regard  to  the  line  of 
battle.  The  Centurion,  Captain  Dennis,  having 
got  up  with  their  sternmost  ship  about  4  p.m., 
began  to  engage  her,  upon  which  two  of  the 
enemy's  largest  ships  bore  down  to  her  assis- 
tance. [How  pleased  Anson  must  have  been 
at  his  old  flag-captain  being  first  ;  let  out  of 
leash,  the  moment  he  got  the  signal.  Dennis, 
who  had  been  first  lieutenant  in  the  Centurion  on 
his  voyage  round  the  world,  was  now  captain 
of  the  Centurion  ;  Saumarez  of  the  Nottingham  had 
been  the  lieutenant  who  commanded  the  prize 
galleon;  and  Brett  of  the  Yarmouth,  his  old 
flag-captain — all  ready  to  back  up  their  chief, 
as  indeed  were  Admiral  Warren  and  all  the 
other  captains.] 

"  The  Namur,  Defiance,  and  Windsor,  being 
the  headmost  ships,  soon  entered  into  action ; 
and  after  having  disabled  the  rear  ships  in  such 
a  manner  that  those  astern  must  come  up 
with  them,  they  made  sail  ahead  to  prevent 
the  van  escaping,  as  did  also  several  of  the 
other  sjiips.  The  Yarmouth  and  Devonshire 
having  got  up,  and  engaged  the  enemy,  and 
the  Prince  George  being  near  the  Invincible 
and  going  to  fire  into  her,  the  whole  ships  in 
the  enemy's  rear  struck  their  colours,  between 


102 


WAR   WITH   FRANCE 


[chap.    XI 


6  and  7  o'clock,  as  did  all  those  in  the  line 
before  night.  I  brought  to  at  7  p.m.,  having 
ordered  the  Monmouth,  Yarmouth,  and  Not- 
tingham to  pursue  the  convoy,  so  that  I  am  in 
hopes  soon  to  have  a  very  good  account  of  them. 
The  Falcon,  whom  I  had  sent  after  the  convoy 
during  the  action  with  orders  to  make  signal  for 
a  guidance  to  the  ships,  returned  with  the 
Dartmouth  (Indiaman). 

"  I    have    taken    in    all    six    men-of-war    and 
four  Indiamen  : 


Bound  to  Quebec  : 

1  Le  Serieux 

66 

guns 

M.  de  Jonquiere,    chef 
d'escadre 

2  Le  Diamant   . 

56 

»> 

Captain   Hoquart 

3  Le  Rubie 

52 

99 

Captain   McCarty 

4  La  Gloire 

42 

9t 

Captain    Samesse 

To  East  Indies : 

5  U  Invincible  , 

74 

9f 

Captain  St.  George 

6  Le  Jason 

54 

99 

Captain    Beccard 

Company's  ships— 

- 

1  Le  Phildebant 

30 

»> 

.  Captain  Cellie 

2  L'ApoUon 

20 

>» 

.  Captain  De  Cantons 

3  Le  Thetis 

20 

J> 

Captain  Macon 

4  Le  Dartmouth 

18 

9» 

Captain  Pinoche 

a 


Le  Rubie  had  struck  several  of  her  guns  into 
her  hold,  having  all  the  guns  and  stores  for  a 
new  frigate  at    Quebec. 

"  I  have  put  the  prizes  into  a  condition 
to  proceed  with  me  to  Spithead,  and  hope  to 
arrive  there  in  a  few  days. 

"  The  loss  on  our  side  is  not  very  considerable 
except  Captain  Grenville,  who  was  an  excellent 
officer   and   is   a    great   loss    to   the   service   in 


1747]  REPORT    OF    THE    ACTION  103 

general.     Captain    Boscawen,    wounded    in    the 
shoulder  with  a  musket  ball,  is  almost  recovered.^ 
There   are   few   of   the   ships   whose   masts   and 
yards   are   not   very   much   shattered,   therefore 
I  must  desire  their  lordships  will  give  directions 
to  the  Navy  Board  to  put  new  ones  in  hand 
immediately.      To    do    justice    to    the    French 
officers,  they  did  their  duty  well  and  lost  their 
ships  with  honour,  scarce  any  of  them  striking 
their  colours  till  their  ships  had  been  dismasted. 
The  fire  on  our  side  was  much  greater  and  more 
regular  than  theirs,  and  it  is  very  evident  our 
shot   were   better   placed   by   the   damage   they 
sustained  in  their  masts  and  hulls.     The  French 
general  is  wounded  in  two   places,  the  captain 
of  the  Gloire  killed,  and  the  second  captain  of 
the  Invincible  has  his  leg  shot  off.     I  shall  send 
Captain    Dennis    with    my    despatches.     Yar- 
mouth and  Nottingham  joined  me  with  Vigilant 
(22)  and  Modest  (22),   the    only   Indiamen    not 
previously  taken." 

The  effect  of  this  action  was  incalculable, 
for  not  only  were  six  men-of-war  captured  and 
five  armed  East  Indiamen,  but  numbers  of 
privateers  and  merchant  ships,  10,000  troops 
and  their  general,  besides  all  the  money  and 
stores  for  the  French  troops  in  Canada,  and 
the  guns  and  stores  for  a  frigate  to  be  com- 
missioned   there.      It    was    an    immense    assis- 


*  Boscawen,  in  command  of  the  Namur,  bore  the  brunt  of  the 
action,  and  on  Anson's  particular  recommendation  was  promoted 
to  be  Kear-Adiniral  of  the  Blue. 


104  WAR   WITH   FRANCE  [chap,  xi 

tance  to  the  other  side  of  the  world  in  the 
East  Indies.  The  secret  committee  of  the 
East  India  Company,  writing  to  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  said  :  *'  The  news  from  Anson  will  be 
the  preservation  of  the  East  India  Company." 
So  that  the  action  contributed  largely  to  the 
success  of  both  expeditions,  east  and  west. 
Specie  to  the  amount  of  over  £2,000,000  was 
captured. 

It  crippled  the  French  to  a  great  extent,  and 
revived  the  spirits  of  the  English.  Where  our 
ships,  foul  from  having  been  at  sea,  would 
never  have  come  up,  as  a  fleet,  with  those 
fresh  from  port,  Anson,  by  giving  permission  to 
chase  and  thus  cause  our  fastest  vessels  to 
bring  their  rear  into  action,  showed  his  ap- 
preciation of  the  position  at  once  ;  and,  confident 
in  his  captains,  many  of  whom  had  served 
with  him,  and  all  of  whom  he  knew  well,  and 
in  the  superiority  of  our  training  and  gunnery, 
he  was  able  to  make  a  complete  capture  of 
this  most  important  expedition. 

This    amusing   letter   was   written    from    the 
Centurion  by  a  midshipman  to  his  brother  : 


**  Dear  Brother, 

"  Here  comes  joy  enough.  We  had  the 
great  fortune  to  meet  the  French  fleet  with 
thirty-five  sail  of  merchantmen  a-going  to  Canada 
with  ten  sail  of  men-of-war,  all  ships  of  the  line. 
Captain  Dennis,  being  the  devil  of  a  man,  ran 


c 
c 


.  4) 

a  .2 

S  > 

c  - 


a 

:      o 


5   2 


K     — 

>    r^ 

r-     t^ 


•'1' 

o 


1747]  AN    AMUSING    LETTER  105 

in  among  the  whole  fleet  ;  we  fought  the  French 
admiral  and  three  more  men-of-war  bigger  than 
ourselves,  the  half  of  one  hour  before  the  fleet 
came  up  with  us.  Such  a  battle  was  never 
known  in  all  the  world.  Shot  and  ball  flew 
like  hail  from  the  heavens.  I  bless  God  I  am 
still  alive. 

"  In  one  ship  was  found  £3,000,000  of  money, 
and  the  French  War  is  all  ruined  by  this  trick, 
for  there  are  10,000  prisoners  and  five  ships  of 
the  line.  Two  of  them  are  like  towers,  and 
we  shot  the  admiral. 

"  Dear  brother,  this  will  crush  the  French 
for  ever,  and  all  their  designs  are  sent  on  one 
side.  If  we  have  justice  done  us  we  shall 
have  £1,000  a  man.  Our  ship  being  a  fine 
ship  for  going,  the  Admiral  hailed  us  after  all, 
and  told  Captain  Dennis  '  I  wonder  you  should 
venture  so  :  I  expected  vou  to  sink  everv  moment.' 
So  for  his  brave  valour  we  got  leave  to  bring 
an  express  to  His  Majesty  the  King  George,  with 
such  news  the  King  never  had  before.  All 
England  ought  to  be  glad  and  sing  for  six 
months. 

"  P.S. — Brother,  as  to  the  privateers,  we  have 
taken  a  dozen. 

"  Be  hanged  to  the  French  ! 

"  Your  loving  brother." 

It  is  said  that  Mons.  de  Jonquiere  when 
handing  his  sword  to  Anson  said,  *'  Vous  avez 
vaincu  U Invincible  et  La  Gloire  vous  suit." 

Warren,  in  writing  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford, 
says  ; 


106  WAR   WITH   FRANCE  [chap,  xi 

"May  18,  1747,  a  few  days  after  the  battle. 

"  I  well  know  his  modesty  will  not  suffer  him 
to  acquaint  you  that  it  was  owing  (under  God) 
to  his  own  good  conduct  as  an  officer  ;  so  I  cannot, 
in  justice  to  his  high  merit,  avoid  doing  it.  In 
my  life  I  never  served  with  more  pleasure,  nor 
saw  half  such  pains  taken  to  discipline  a  fleet. 
While  I  have  the  honour  to  continue  in  it  I 
will  endeavour  to  follow  his  example,  however 
short  I  may  fall  of  it,  and  wish  to  be  com- 
manded by  him  rather  than  to  command 
myself." 

Anson  received  a  peerage.  Warren  was  made 
a  K.C.B.  The  news  of  the  victory  was  re- 
ceived in  England  with  great  rejoicings.  There 
had  been  no  such  victory  for  fifty  years. 

On  his  return  Anson  was  given  a  splendid 
reception.  The  King  received  him  and  created 
him   a  peer,  saying  : 

"  Sir,  you  have  done  me  a  great  service.  I 
thank  you,  and  desire  you  to  thank  in  my  name 
all  the  officers  and  private  men  for  their  bravery 
and  conduct,  with  which  I  am  well  pleased." 

Anson  now  returned  to  the  Admiralty,  and 
one  of  the  orders  brought  out  by  him  was  to 
establish  a  uniform  for  the  Navy. 

It  may  seem  curious,  but  it  is  stated  that 
previous  to  this,  officers  bought  old  soldiers' 
coats  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  trimmed  them 
with^black. 


ps 

o 

C5 


Ph 

< 


pq 
d 

s 

K 

H 

P4 


M 

Q 

I 

w 


CD 

o 


1747]  NAVAL    UNIFORM  107 

A  letter  from  Keppel  to  Saumarez,  August  1747  : 

"  Tim  Brett  tells  me  you  have  made  a  uniform 
coat  after  your  own  fancy.  My  Lord  Anson  is 
desirous  that  many  of  us  should  make  coats 
after  our  own  tastes,  and  that  the  choice  should 
be  made  of  one  to  be  general,  and  if  you  will 
appear  in  it  here  he  says  he  will  be  answerable 
your  taste  will  not  be  amongst  the  worst.' 


?} 


Evidently  suggestions  were  called  for — but 
eventually  a  blue  uniform  was  sanctioned  and 
ordered  to  be  worn.  All  flag-officers  and 
captains  adopted  it.  In  the  wardroom  it  was 
slower  in  being  adopted,  for  we  hear  that  one 
duty  suit  passed  for  officers  of  the  watch,  breeches 
being  black  or  scarlet. 

In  1759  masters  seem  to  have  still  worn  red 
coats,  trimmed  with  black,  but  all  lieutenants 
had  the  uniform. 

On  June  21,  some  six  weeks  after  Anson 
had  ruined  the  French  expeditions  to  America 
and  India,  Captain  Fox  met  and  scattered  a  very 
valuable  convoy  coming  home  from  the  West 
Indies ;  forty-eight  prizes  were  taken.  The 
French  were  altogether  too  weak  now  to  resist 
the  new  spirit  at  the  Admiralty. 

In  July  1747  Sir  Edward  Hawke  took  com- 
mand of  the  Channel  Fleet. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  a  third  blow 
drove  the  lesson  well  home,  and  did  a  great  deal 
towards    bringing    about    peace.      The    French 


108  WAR   WITH   FRANCE         [chap,  xi 

outward-bound  trade  fleet  to  the  West  Indies 
assembled  at  Rochelle  ;  eight  Hne-of -battle  ships 
and  one  64  gun-ship  of  the  East  India  Company 
were  told  off  to  escort  them.  Rear-Admiral 
Desharbiers  de  I'Etandiere  was  in  command, 
flying  his  flag  in  the  Tonnant  (80),  a  splendid 
vessel.  A  powerful  squadron  of  fourteen  ships 
under  Rear-Admiral  Hawke  was  sent  to  in- 
tercept them.  The  enemy  were  sighted  on 
October  14.  The  ensuing  action  was  almost 
an  exact  reproduction  of  Anson's  tactics  in 
his  late  victory,  almost  every  detail  being  the 
same.  The  British  approached  in  order,  then 
gave  general  chase.  The  French  flagship 
Tonnant  and  the  Intrepide,  Comte  de  Vaudreuil, 
broke  through  and  escaped,  and  Captain  Sau- 
marez,  who  pursued  them  for  a  time  in  the 
Nottingham  (60),  was  killed.  It  was  a  hard 
fight,  though  our  numbers  were  much  superior. 
Our  vessels  were  much  damaged. 

The  convoy  escaped  to  the  West  Indies, 
although  Hawke  despatched  a  sloop  to  give 
notice    there    of    their    approach. 

*'The  enemy's  ships  were  large,"  says  Hawke, 
**  and  took  a  deal  of  drubbing,  all  losing  their 
masts,  except  two  who  had  foremasts  standing. 
This  has  obliged  me  to  lay  by  these  two  days 
past  in  order  to  put  them  into  a  condition  to  be 
brought  into  port,  as  well  as  our  own,  which  have 
suffered  badly." 

We  had  taken  three  74-gun  ships,  two  64-gun 


CAPTAIN    PHILIP    DK    SAUMAREZ    IN    THK    NKW    NAVAL    DKKSS    WHICH 

WAS    ADOPTED. 

lie  was  l)orn  in  1710,  and  was  the  son  of  .Matlicw  i\v  Sauniarc/  and 
Anna  ijurcll.  lie  was  appointed  hy  Lord  Anson  when  a  liculcnanl  in  llic 
Cinliirion  lo  he  (•ai)lain  ol  Die  nallcon.  This  connnission  was  allcrwaids 
conlirnicd.  lie  jiallaiilK  Till  in  action  when  in  coininanil  of  llic  Sdltiiniliiiin, 
in  Sir  l^lward  1  law  kc's  action,  whilst  attcniplin;^  to  slop  the-  'liiuiuml  (SO) 
and  litlrrpiilr  (7  It  lioni  cscapin};.  In  17  1(>,  wlnii  the  in  Sollinulidiii,  lie 
(■nna^;eil  and  caijlured   the  .A/((;.s-  ((•  I  i. 

A   nioniuneid    is  erected   in   I'hnionlh   (.hui<h   lo  his  nieniofX'. 


p.  1081 


1747]       SIR  EDWARD  HAWKE'S  REPORT       109 

ships,  one  50-gun  ship.  A  Council  of  War  decided 
that  none  of  his  ships  were  in  a  condition  to  send 
after  the  Tonnant  and  Intrepide. 

The  loss  of  Saumarez  must  have  been  a  great 
blow  to  Anson.  Sir  Edward  Hawke  speaks  well 
of  all  his  captains,  except  Captain  Fox,  on  whom 
he  asks  for  a  court  martial. 

Our  own  ships  at  this  time  were  much  inferior 
to  the  French  in  speed,  and  it  probably  would 
have  been  impossible  to  overhaul  the  convoy  ;  but 
all  was  done  that  could  be  done  to  destroy  the 
enemy  (which  was  the  main  point),  for,  as  Anson 
said,  "If  his  [the  enemy's]  men-of-war  are  driven 
off  the  seas,  commerce  must  fall  a  prey  or  be 
kept  in  port." 

In  1748  the  40-gun  ships  which  Anson  said 
were  too  cramped  for  the  work  of  cruising  were 
replaced  by  frigates,  of  his  own  special  design — 
the  36-gun  frigate,  which  proved  itself  so  useful  in 
the  actions  of  the  Seven  Years'  War. 

In  the  year  1748  Anson  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  the  first  Earl  of  Hardwicke,  Lord 
Chancellor — a  most  gifted  and  talented  woman. 
This  commenced  a  most  happy  time  for  them 
both — and  also  for  Lord  Hardwicke,  who  said, 
"This  domestic  connection  is  the  greatest 
private  happiness  I  have  yet  known." 

They  spent  the  first  part  of  their  life  chiefly 
at  Carshalton,  and  afterwards  at  Moor  Park  in 
Hertfordshire — but  the  greater  part  of  their 
time   was  at   the  Admiralty, 


CHAPTER    XII 

THE   NAVY    AND    POLITICAL   INFLUENCES 

1748 

War  was  going  on  in  India.  Dupleix,  the  very 
able  French  commander,  and  La  Bourdonnais, 
governor  of  the  Isle  of  France,  had  had  some 
successes,  amongst  which  was  the  taking  of 
Madras.  At  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  April 
30,  1748,  Madras  was  given  up  in  exchange 
for  Louisburg.  In  fact,  the  French,  though 
successful,  had  to  abandon  everything  to  the 
power  which  was  strongest  at  sea.  The  Duke 
of  Bedford  now  left  the  Admiralty  to  become 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Southern  Department. 
On  February  12,  1748,  the  Earl  of  Sandwich— a 
great  friend  of  Anson's — became  First  Lord. 

Hardwicke  to  Newcastle 

"  Wimple,  October  4,  1748. 

"  My  dear  Lord, 

"  If  I  had  not  been  obliged  to  run  down 
to  this  place  to  attend  my  Lord  Anson  on  his 
visit  here,  I  had  sooner  received  the  pleasure  of 
your  Grace's  very  kind  letter.  Both  the  manner 
and  matter  of  it  gave  me  great  satisfaction. 

110 


l.OKI)     MAKDWICKE 

II  is  luinlly  loo  much  to  say  of  liini  :  "  Tlial  (lining  his  prdhmncd  Icmirc  of 
the  <iii-al  Seal  ( 17:'."- 1  7.').")i  lie  traiisloiiiK-d  (•([iiily  Iroiii  a  chaos  of  I'lrcvilriils 
into  a  scicnlili<'  systcni."      Did.  of  Xiilinixil  Umiiniiilui. 

I.oril  Campbell  says  of  him:  "  Mis  decisions  have  heeii,  and  ever  will 
coillimie  to  l)e,  appealed  lo  as  lixint;  the  limils  and  est  ahiishin^;  l!n'  principles 
of  Ihal  ^rial  juridical  sNslem  called  '  lupiil\,'  which  now  not  onl.\  in  this 
country  and  in  oin  cohmies,  lint  o\  cr  the  w  hole  extent  of  t  lie  t  Hi  ted  Stales  of 
America  ret^ulates  propeit\  and  personal  ii;;hls  more  t  han  ancii-id  eommoil 
law.  lie  had  a  "  passion  to  do  just  ice  '  and  displa\  cil  the  st  rictest  impart  iaiil  y, 
and   his  chancellorship  is  looked   hael^   upon  as  tlie  ^lohlili  a^e  of  e<piit.\." 

p.llOl 


1748]      LETTER  TO  DUKE  OF  NEWCASTLE       111 

"  Your  Grace  asks  what  Lord  Anson  thinks. 
I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  talking  fully  and 
confidentially  with  him  here.  He  is,  I  assure 
you,  extremely  pleased  and  entirely  approves, 
and  vou  will  find  him  a  most  faithful  and  I 
believe  a  most  useful  servant  to  you.  You 
know  his  value  in  the  profession.  He  is  a  man 
of  strict  probity  and  honour,  and  with  a  little 
cultivating  you  may  keep  him  thoroughly  con- 
nected with  you. 

"  Yours, 

"  Hardwicke." 


On    the    removal    of    Bedford  from   the   Ad- 
miralty, Anson  writes  : 


To  the  Duke  of  Newcastle 

"  February  15,  1748. 

"  My  Lord, 

"  I  take  the  liberty  your  Lordship  gave 
me  of  troubling  you  with  a  letter.  [He  regrets 
his  absence  from  the  Board  through  ill  health.] 
I  find  by  a  letter  I  have  received  from  the  Duke 
of  Bedford  that  you  have  taken  from  us  the 
main  support  of  our  Board,  and  I  am  afraid  we 
resemble  a  ship  without  a  commander  as  Lord 
Sandwich  is  absent,  which  I  look  upon  as  a  very 
unfortunate  circumstance  for  me  who  wish  his 
Lordship  much  reputation  in  everything  he 
undertakes. 

"  Anson." 


112  THE  NAVY  AND  POLITICS     [chap,  xil 

1749 

With  the  return  of  peace  Pelham  hastened 
to  carry  out  the  economies  he  desired.  Lord 
Harrington  moved  the  reduction  of  the  Navy  to 
10,000  men.  Despite  the  opposition  of  Sir  Peter 
Warren  in  the  House  of  Commons,  this  reduction 
was  carried,  November  27,  1749. 

Since  the  conclusion  of  peace  the  discharges 
from  the  Navy  reached  40,000  men  and  from  the 
Army  20,000  men.  Thus  the  estimates  were 
lowered  to  under  £3,000,000.  Robberies  on  the 
highway  by  these  discharged  men  were  increased 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  scarcely  safe  to 
go  about  the  streets.  Captain  Thomas  Coran, 
having  got  Government  assistance,  formed  a 
colony  in  October  1749,  called  Halifax,  in  Nova 
Scotia,  for  those  out  of  employment.  This 
reduction  of  the  number  of  men  caused  great 
trouble  in  the  service. 

We  see  in  a  letter  from  the  Admiralty,  December 
9,  1749,  that  Admiral  Byng  in  the  Mediterranean 
was  ordered  to  buy  small  vessels  for  cruisers,  and 
to  man  them  by  paying  off  one  large  ship,  and 
enlisting  foreign  seamen,  and  soldiers  from  Port 
Mahon. 

During  the  time  that  the  country  was  at 
peace,  Anson  was  doing  all  he  could  to  improve 
the  materiel  and  the  organisation  of  the  Navy. 
But  he  had  great  difficulties  to  contend  with. 
Newcastle,  in  order  to  keep  in  power,  was  for 


1750]  POLITICAL  JOBBERY  113 

ever  strengthening  his  position  by  gifts  of  place 
to  the  supporters  of  his  party  ;  and  also  giving 
way,  much  against  his  will,  to  the  financial 
demands  of  Hanover.  The  first  point  will  be 
best  illustrated  by  letters.  Anson,  who  set  his 
face  doggedly  against  the  Navy  being  used 
for  politics,  was  very  much  against  political 
promotions.  Newcastle  was  afraid  of  him  and 
tried  to  get  Hardwicke  between  him  and  the  First 
Lord,  but  Hardwicke  referred  everything  to 
Anson.  The  following  letter  is  an  instance  out 
of  many  such  letters  : 

Letter  from  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  Anson 

"  The  death  of  Sir  Francis  Eyles,  Commis- 
sioner of  the  Victualling  Office,  has  brought  upon 
me  several  applications  from  ignorant  people, 
who  do  not  know  of  how  little  service  I  am  of 
in  the  disposal  of  any  employments  which  do 
not  depend  absolutely  upon  the  Treasury  ;  but 
however,  I  must  transmit  them  to  those  who  can 
serve  them.  The  first  is  from  Mr.  Garth,  who  has 
been  twenty  years  in  Parliament  for  Devizes,  never 
failed  one  vote,  and  always  particularly  attached 
to  my  brother  and  your  humble  servant.  His 
request  is  in  favour  of  his  eldest  son,  a  very 
pretty  young  man,  and  one  whom  I  am  per- 
suaded would  make  an  excellent  officer,  and  if 
your  Lordship  would  give  it  him  I  should  be 
extremely  obliged  to  you.  The  other  is  from 
Mr.  Mallet,  who  is  a  deserving  man,  and  has  been 
of  service  to  the  Government,  and  has  long  been 
promised  some  assistance." 
8 


114  THE  NAVY  AND  POLITICS      [chap,  xii 

Anson  had  had  quite  enough  experience  of  the 
incompetence  of  the  Victualhng  officers,  and  was 
determined  not  to  give  way.     He  writes  : 


"  Moor  Park,  February  15,   1751. 

"My  Lord, 

"  I  had  the  honour  of  your  Grace's  letter, 
with  an  enclosure  from  my  Lord  Powis,  recom- 
mending Mr.  Whitemore  to  be  Commissioner  of 
Victualhng  in  the  room  of  Captain  Cowper.  His 
Lordship  might  as  well  have  asked  for  him  to  be 
made  a  captain  of  a  man-of-war — that  branch 
always  having  been  filled  by  a  seaman — and  it 
has  been  with  some  difficultv  that  I  have  been 
able  to  prevail  with  any  captain,  that  was  fit 
for  it,  to  accept  it.  This  gives  me  an  opportu- 
nity of  observing  to  your  Grace,  that  instead 
of  adding  to  the  useless  people  that  are 
allowed  in  that  office  (if  we  should  have  a  war 
with  France),  more  people  of  business  must  be 
brought  into  it. 

"Anson." 

Again  Newcastle  writes  to  Anson  : 

*'My  dear  Lord, 

"  I  beg  your  Lordship  would  attend 
seriously  to  this  letter.  The  interest  of  the 
borough  of  Ockingham  (where  Mr.  Potter  is 
now  chose)  absolutely  depends  upon  it. 

"  The  King  expects  that  I  should  keep  up  his 
interest  in  Boroughs.  I  can't  do  it,  unless  I  have 
the   assistance   of   the   several  branches   of   the 


1751]  POLITICAL    JOBBERY  115 

Government.  Lieutenant  Hunt  (wliom  I  formerly 
recommended  to  your  Lordship)  is  so  strongly 
insisted  upon,  that  the  Corporation  is  lost,  and 
with  it  one  or  perhaps  two  members.  I  state 
the  case  as  it  is,  and  am  ever  yours, 

"HoLLES  Newcastle." 

Anson's  letter  in  reply  is  most  noteworthy  : 

"  Admir^vlty,  June   15,    1751. 

"My  Lord  Duke, 

"  I  had  the  honour  of  your  Grace's  letter 
this  morning,  and  always  do  attend  seriously  to 
whatever  your  Grace  recommends  to  me,  and 
shall,  whenever  the  Borough  of  Ockingham  be- 
comes vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Potter  (and 
I  hope  you  will  not  wish  it  sooner),  promote 
Mr.  Hunt  to  a  command. 

"  I  must  now  beg  your  Grace  will  seriously 
consider  what  must  be  the  condition  of  your 
fleet  if  these  Borough  recommendations,  which 
must  be  frequent,  are  to  be  complied  with.  I 
wish  it  did  not  at  this  instance  bring  to  my  mind 
the  misery  poor  Pocock  (that  excellent  officer) 
suffered  from  the  misbehaviour  of  captains 
of  that  cast ;  which  has  done  more  mischief  to 
the  public  (which  I  know  is  the  most  favourite 
point  with  you)  than  the  loss  of  a  vote  in  the 
House  of  Commons. 

"  My  constant  method,  since  I  have  had  the 
honour  of  serving  the  King  in  the  station  I  am 
in,  has  been  to  promote  the  lieutenants  to  com- 
mand whose  ships  have  been  successfully  en- 
gaged on  equal  terms  with  the  enemy,  without 


116  THE  NAVY  AND  POLITICS     [chap,  xit 

having  any  friend  or  recommendation,  and  in 
preference  to  all  others — and  this  I  would  recom- 
mend to  my  successors,  if  they  would  have  a  fleet 
to  he  depended  on. 

"Anson." 


The  King,  anxious  as  ever  about  Hanover, 
began  to  scheme  for  more  subsidies,  greatly  to 
the  dislike  of  Pelham,  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  ;  still,  £20,000  was  guaranteed  to  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria  for  6,000  infantry.  When 
Parliament  opened  on  January  17,  1751,  we 
find  Pitt,  utterly  regardless  of  his  former  policy, 
resolved,  if  possible,  to  get  into  power  (notwith- 
standing the  King's  dislike  of  him)  and  advo- 
cating the  Treaty  with  Spain  of  1750,  which  left 
out  the  question  of  the  Right  of  Search— which 
had  been  such  a  burning  one. 

There  was  some  trouble  going  on  in  Paris 
about  the  boundaries  of  Nova  Scotia ;  and 
Cumberland  succeeded  in  getting  Pelham  to 
assent  to  the  Army  being  increased  to  18,850 
men,  but  on  condition  that  the  Navy  was  to  be 
reduced  to  8,000  men.  Newcastle  opposed  the 
addition  to  the  military,  and  Pitt,  who  got  into 
Parliament  by  Newcastle's  interest,  supported 
him,  once  more  incurring  the  King's  dislike. 
Pelham  having  assured  the  country  that  we  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  navy  of  France — 
Parliament  approved  the  reduction  of  the  Navy. 
How  such  a  vote  could  have  been  carried  it  is 


1751]       DIFFICULTIES  OF  RECRUITING  117 

almost  impossible  to  realise  now.  For,  a  large 
number  of  men  having  been  disbanded  of  late, 
an  inquiry  had  been  instituted  as  to  the  increase 
of  street  robberies  which  had  become  so  preva- 
lent ;  and  it  was  also  shown  how  difficult  it  was, 
even  by  press-gangs,  to  get  enough  men  in  time 
of  war.  It  would  have  been  more  economical 
for  the  country  to  have  retained  its  men — but 
the  drains  to  the  Continent  had  proved  too  much 
for  the  Treasury. 

In  1751  a  nephew  of  Lord  Anson  (Lord 
Macclesfield),  who  was  a  great  astronomer,  pro- 
posed the  adoption  of  the  Gregorian  for  the 
Julian  calendar,  in  order  to  get  our  dates  right. 
This  proposal  was  passed,  and  September  2, 1751, 
was  called  September  14. 

To  show  the  superstition  of  the  people,  it  was 
stated  by  them  that  the  deatli  of  the  Astronomer 
Royal  (Bradley)  was  caused  by  the  tampering 
with  the  Saints'  days.  And  when  Lord  Parker 
(Macclesfield's  son)  was  standing  for  Oxford, 
the  mob  shouted  to  have  the  eleven  days  of 
their  life  restored  to  them  which  his  father  had 
robbed  them  of. 

At  the  end  of  this  year  the  Prince  of  Wales  died, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  appoint  Regents  for  the 
little  Prince,  in  case  of  the  King's  death.  The 
Pelhams  succeeded  in  their  appointments,  but 
in  doing  so  incurred  the  dislike  of  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland  ;  and  as  the  Duke  of  Bedford  was 
an  adherent  of  his,  the  Pelhams  decided  to  get 


118  THE  NAVY  AND  POLITICS      [chap,  xii 

rid  of  the  Duke.  This  they  did  by  advising 
the  King  to  dismiss  Sandwich,  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty,  and  Bedford's  friend.  This 
had  the  desired  effect,  for  Bedford  resigned, 
Anson  was  appointed  First  Lord  of  the  Ad- 
miralty, and  Holderness  was  given  Bedford's 
place — much  to  the  annoyance  of  Pitt,  who 
wished  for  it. 

The  French  were  now  increasing  their  navy, 
and  a  Bill  was  passed  to  increase  our  navy  to 
10,000  men.  This  was  the  first  result  of  Anson's 
becoming  First  Lord. 

Nothing  in  particular  happened  in  1752  ex- 
cept that  in  November  Frederick  of  Prussia 
sequestered  a  sum  of  £30,000  due  to  English 
creditors,  because,  he  said,  this  amount  was  due 
as  a  set-off  for  Prussian  shipowners,  whose 
vessels  had  been  seized  in  1745,  by  English 
cruisers,   for  carrying  contraband  of  war. 

Pelham  interested  himself  more  in  social 
reform  than  in  furthering  or  helping  our  foreign 
business. 

In  conjunction  with  Fielding  he  started  the 
Bow  Street  runners  to  clear  the  streets  of  robbers. 
He  also  started  the  British  Museum,  and  in  con- 
junction with  Anson  founded  establishments  for 
training  destitute  boys  for  the  Navy. 

His  success  in  managing  the  House  of  Com- 
mons was  greater  than  Walpole's,  but  he  con- 
tinued Walpole's  methods  of  political  bribery. 
On  March  6,  1754,  he  died. 


1755]  ENGLAND    AND    FRANCE  119 

The  King  on  hearing  of  it  said,  "  I  shall  now 
have  no  peace !  " 

Newcastle  took  the  Treasury  himself,  and 
offered  the  Secretaryship  of  State  for  the 
Southern  Department  to  Fox,  who,  however,  on 
being  told  he  would  have  no  power,  all  appoint- 
ments being  in  Newcastle's  hands,  declined, 
and   remained  Secretary  at  War. 

The  King  would  not  have  Pitt,  so  Sir  Thomas 
Robinson  was  made  leader  of  the  House  of 
Commons. 

The  English  and  French  were  still  at  war  in 
America,  though  at  peace  in  Europe.  Braddock 
was  sent  out  by  Cumberland,  but  his  force  was  sur- 
prised in  the  woods  by  Indians,  and  cut  to  pieces. 

Altogether  we  had  the  worst  of  it  in  America 
this  year. 

In  1755  a  most  extraordinary  state  of  affairs 
existed,  for  we  were  at  peace  with  France, 
except  in  India  and  America  ;  but  it  was  im- 
possible to  remain  so — for  both  Powers  were 
making  strenuous  efforts,  and  sending  ships  to 
America,  and  preparations  on  both  sides  of 
the  Channel  were  active.  Our  Parliament 
voted  £1,000,000.  As  soon  as  the  French  fleet 
with  Baron  Diskaw  and  his  troops  were  ready 
to  start,  Vice-Admiral  Boscawen  (with  eleven 
ships  of  the  line  and  one  frigate)  was  sent  to 
intercept  them. 

The  French  had  ten  ships  and  eight  lightly 
armed  transports. 


120  THE  NAVY  AND  POLITICS      [chap,  xii 

Boscawen's  orders  (on  account  of  our  being 
at  peace)  were  concealed  from  the  Due  de 
Mirepoix,  the  French  Ambassador ;  they  were, 
"  To  attack  reinforcements  for  Canada."  Owing 
to  a  fog  off  the  St.  Lawrence,  Boscawen's  force 
captured  only  two  of  the  French  expedition. 
It  was  a  curious  state  of  affairs.  We  were 
seizing  their  merchant  ships,  they  were  forti- 
fying Dunkirk,  in  defiance  of  treaties ;  and 
before  the  end  of  the  year  300  vessels  had  been 
taken  by  our  cruisers,  and  6,000  French  seamen 
carried  into  our  ports.  Yet  we  were  not 
at  war.  The  King  still  remained  in  Hanover, 
arranging  treaties  which  he  hoped  Newcastle 
would  sanction,  among  others  one  by  which  8,000 
Hessian  troops  were  to  be  subsidised  by  Great 
Britain.  Fox  and  Pitt  coalesced  for  a  little 
time  against  the  Hanoverian  policy.  A  motion 
was  proposed  against  it  in  the  Commons,  but 
was  defeated  ;  Legge,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer— who  had  refused  to  sign  the  Bill  for  the 
Hessian  troops — was  dismissed. 

Pitt  and  Grenville  also  were  dismissed,  but 
Fox  got  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet. 

At  this  time  Sir  Edward  Hawke  came  in 
from  Brest  which  he  was  blockading.  The  Ad- 
miralty did  not  approve  of  this,  as  they  wished 
as  strict  a  blockade  to  be  carried  out  as  Anson 
had  done  previously. 

Sir  Edward  Hawke  writes  : 


1755]  HAWKE'S  EXPLANATION  121 

"*St.  George'  at  Spithead,  October  1,  1755. 

^'  Sir, 

"  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 
30th  inst.  and  am  extremely  sorry  to  find  that 
their  lordships  think  any  of  my  squadron  could 
have  stayed  out  any  longer.  I  hope  they  will 
be  of  another  opinion  when  they  reflect  that 
most  of  the  men  had  been  pressed,  after  long 
voyages,  cooped  up  in  tenders  and  ships  at 
Spithead  for  many  months,  and  the  water  in 
general  long  kept  in  new  casks,  which  occasioned 
great  sickness — beside  the  number  of  French 
prisoners,  and  the  men  required  to  navigate  them 
into  port.  For  my  own  part,  I  should  not  have 
come  in  had  it  been  possible  to  have  continued 
longer  out.  .  .  .  Upon  the  whole,  I  am  con- 
scious of  having  used  my  utmost  endeavours 
to  answer  the  end  of  my  being  sent  out,  and  of 
having  never  once  lost  sight  of  the  principal 
object  of  my  cruise.  If  their  lordships  should 
be  of  another  opinion,  I  am  ready  and  willing  to 
resign  my  command  to  any  one  else  in  whose 
abihties  they  may  have  more  confidence. 

"  Hawke." 


Another  letter  is  dated  October  9,  1755  : 
Sir, 


(( 


"  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 
7th  inst.,  and  beg  leave  to  return  my  hearty 
thanks  to  their  lordships  for  the  trouble  they 
have  taken  to  explain  themselves.  Let  me 
assure  them  further  that  my  not  meeting 
success  was  not  owing  to  want  of  inclination, 


122  THE  NAVY  AND  POLITICS      [chap,  xii 

or  hearty  endeavours  to  act,  could  I  have  found 
the  opportunity  I  sought  for,  and  I  am  morally 
certain  that  had  I  stayed  out  longer  the  ships' 
companies  had  been  totally  ruined. 

"  I  thank  their  lordships  for  leave  of  absence. 
I  did  not  ask  it  before  I  wanted  it.  I  am  con- 
fident the  captains  of  H.M.  ships  have  the 
refitting  of  their  ships  as  much  at  heart  as  I 
have,  and  none  can  have  it  more. 

"  Hawke." 

As  soon  as  the  French  had  tidings  of  Bos- 
cawen's  attack,  their  Minister  was  withdrawn, 
and  active  preparations  made  for  war. 

Lord  Hardwicke  writes  to  Newcastle  on  July 
14,   1755  : 

"  Though  I  am  as  weary  of  Hanover  messen- 
gers, at  second  hand,  as  your  Grace  can  possibly 
be  at  first  hand,  I  cannot  help  saying  that  the 
contents  of  their  plans  (that  is  of  the  Hanoverian 
plans)  alarmed  me  much.  So  extensive  and  so 
expensive  a  plan  in  Germany  is  big  with  a 
thousand  objections  and  difficulties.  Besides, 
in  the  view  of  a  general  plan,  it  seems  to  be 
beginning  at  the  wrong  end  ;  for  instead  of  being 
applied  in  the  first  place  to  the  defence  of  the 
lowlands,  its  great  object  seems  to  be  making 
war  in  Germany,  which  can  only  mean  against 
the  King  of  Prussia.  For  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle it  will  be  advisable  to  en  faire  dilatoire,  as 
Count  Bernstorff  writ  to  my  Lord  Granville.  I 
had  writ  this  far,  when  I  received  from  Lord 
Anson    Admiral   Boscawen's    private   letter,   to 


1755-6]        TROUBLES    WITH    FRANCE  123 

hand,  dated  January  21.  What  we  have  done 
is  either  too  Httle  or  too  much.  This  disap- 
pointment gives  me  great  concern — but  I  under- 
stand by  it  that  we  have  taken  only  two  French 
ships,  and  that  our  ships  are  very  sickly,  and 
we  talk  of  coming  home.  This  begets  a  new 
consideration  upon  our  discretionary  orders. 
Consider,  whether  Hawke  should  not  put  to  sea 
now  ?  should  not  mv  Lord  President  be  sent 
for  ?     J  acta  est  alea. 

"  Ever  yours, 

"  Hardwicke." 

Whilst  France  was  making  negotiations  with 
Austria,  and  at  the  same  time  complaining  in 
England  of  our  depredations  on  her  commerce, 
the  Swedish  Minister  informed  Newcastle  (who 
had  an  excellent  information  bureau)  that  France 
was  increasing  her  naval  estimates  beyond  ours, 
that  transports  were  being  collected,  under 
Marshal  Belleisle,  for  invasion  of  England,  and 
that  the  French  had  designs  on  Port  ]\Iahon — 
having  offered  Spain  assistance  in  the  recap- 
ture of  Gibraltar  and  of  Port  Mahon  and  their 
restoration  to  her,  in  exchange  for  an  alliance 
at  sea. 


CHAPTER     XIII 

THE    RISE    OF    PITT 

The  Toulon  expedition  was  fitting  out  with  great 
haste  to  convey  troops  to  Mahon.  The  Consul 
at  Genoa  confirmed  the  news  and  at  the  same 
time  came  the  further  report,  of  an  intended 
invasion  of  Britain  and  Ireland. 

The  West  Indies  and  America  were  also 
to  be  attacked,  and  attempts  to  be  made 
on  Guernsey  and  Jersey  ;  also  feints  were  to 
be  made  on  the  Sussex  coast,  in  order  to 
make  England  keep  her  forces  at  home.  On 
March  23,  1756,  a  message  from  the  King  sum- 
moned 8,000  Hessian  troops  to  aid  in  the 
defence  of  these  shores,  and  both  Houses  asked 
the  King  for  Hanoverian  troops  ;  showing  the 
trouble  and  disgrace  brought  on  the  country 
by  Parliament,  having  from  motives  of  economy 
so  far  reduced  our  standard  of  the  number  of 
men,  whilst  at  the  same  time  light-heartedly 
driving  us   into  war. 

Parliament  now  voted  £1,000,000  ;  but  the 
country  knew  that  we  were  drifting  into  war  un- 
prepared. Cumberland  and  Fox  were  primarily 
responsible  for  this  state  of  affairs. 

124 


1756]  ADMIRAL    BYNG  125 

At  Christmas,  '55,  they  asked  for  a  squadron 
to  be  sent  to  Port  jNIahon.  Admiral  Bvnor,  who 
had  pohtical  interest,  was  appointed  ;  but  liis 
squadron  could  not  get  to  sea  as  soon  as  was 
intended,  being  short  of  200  men,  who  had  to 
be  collected  by  the  press-gang.  The  popular 
jealousy  had  stood  in  the  way  of  any  other 
mode  of  recruiting.  The  spirit  of  some  of  the 
officers  was  not  what  it  sliould  have  been,  and 
certainly  Byng  was  not  the  man  to  carry  out 
what  was  required  of  him. 

The  instructions  to  Byng  were  as  follows  : 

"  Instructions  to  Hon.  J  no.  Byiig,  Admiral 

of  the  Blue 

"  Whereas  the  King's  pleasure  has  been  signi- 
fied to  us  by  Mr.  Fox,  that  upon  consideration 
of  the  advices  received  relating  to  the  intentions 
of  the  French  squadron  to  attack  Minorca,  a 
squadron  of  ten  ships  of  the  line  do  forth- 
with sail  for  the  Mediterranean,  under  your 
command.  You  are  to  put  to  sea  with  sucli 
ships  as  are  ready,  leaving  orders  for  the  rest  to 
follow  you  as  soon  as  possible  ;  and  proceed, 
with  the  utmost  expedition,  to  Gibraltar. 

"  On  arrival  there,  inquire  wliether  any  French 
ships  are  come  through  the  Straits,  their  number, 
and  force,  and  if  any  transports  have  passed  ; 
and  as  it  is  possible  they  may  be  designed  for 
N.  America,  and  as  the  ships  named  in  tlie 
margin  are  going  to  Halifax  to  cruise  off  11  k; 
mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  you  are  tlien,  im- 
mediately, to  take  the  soldiers  out  of   as  many 


126  THE   RISE   OF   PITT       [chap,  xiii 

of  your  squadron  as  together,  with  the  ships 
going  to  Halifax,  will  make  a  force  superior  to 
the  same,  replacing  them  with  landsmen  or 
ordinary  seamen  from  your  other  ships,  and 
detach  them,  with  Rear-Admiral  West,  to 
Louisburg ;  and  he  is  to  take  the  Halifax 
ships  under  his  command.  //,  upon  your 
arrival  at  Gibraltar,  you  shall  not  gain  intelli- 
gence of  a  French  squadron  having  passed,  you 
are  then  to  go  on  without  a  momenfs  loss  to 
Minorca.  If  you  find  any  attack  made  by  the 
French,  you  are  to  use  all  possible  means  in  your 
power  for  its  relief. 

"  If  you  find  no  such  attack  made,  you  are  to 
proceed  to  Toulon ;  you  are  to  exert  the  utmost 
vigilance  there,  and  in  protecting  Minorca  and 
Gibraltar  from  any  hostile  attempts. 

"  Upon  your  arrival  in  the  Mediterranean,  you 
are  to  take  under  your  command  the  ships 
named  in  the  margin  which  are  there. 

"  You  are  never  to  keep  more  vessels  in  the 
Mediterranean  than  are  necessary  to  execute  the 
services  recommended  to  you. 

"  Anson. 

"  ViLLIERS. 

"  Rowley. 
"  boscawen. 
"  Edgecombe. 
"  March  31,  1756." 

Then  this  letter  from  the  Admiralty  : 

"  We  do,  in  pursuance  of  His  Majesty's 
pleasure,  signified  to  us  by  Mr.  Fox,  one  of  his 


1756]  ADMIRAL    BYNG  127 

principal  Secretaries  of  State,  hereby  require  and 
direct  you  to  pay  due  obedience  to  11  is  Majesty's 
directions  by  landing-  Lord  Bertie's  regiment, 
in  case  the  Island  of  Minorca  sliould  be  attacked, 
and  upon  consultation  with  the  governor  the 
same  shall  appear  ready ;  and  you  are  not  to 
confine  yourself  to  landing  that  regiment  only, 
but  also  to  assist  with  as  many  men  from  your 
squadron  as  may  be  serviceable,  and  the  ships 
can  spare.  You  are  likewise  to  pay  due  regard 
to  His  Majesty's  aforesaid  pleasure  in  relation 
to  transporting  a  battalion  from  (libraltar  to 
Minorca." 

General  Blakeney  was  making  a  gallant  resis- 
tance at  Port  Mahon,  and  it  was  most  important 
that  he  should  be  strengthened,  and  assistance 
brought  to  him.  But  Byng  on  arrival  at 
Gibraltar,  on  May  4,  1756,  called  a  Council  of 
War,  consisting  of  Lieut. -General  Fowkes,  the 
governor,  Major-General  Stuart,  Colonel  Corn- 
wallis,  Colonel  the  Earl  of  Effingliam,  Colonel 
Lord  Robert  Bertie,  Colonel  Dassaux,  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Grey,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Colville, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Crawford,  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Scott.  This  Council  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  Avas  not  advisable  to  send 
troops  from  Gibraltar.  So  that  Byng,  whose 
orders  were  distinct,  thereupon  sailed  without  the 
troo])s.  The  following  letter  from  Francis  Ass- 
kcll.  Consul  at  Malaga,  will  show  how  urgently 
they  were  looked  for.  The  letter  is  dated 
May  6  : 


128  THE   RISE   OF   PITT       [[chap,  xiii 

"  The  night  before  last  we  had  the  joyful 
news,  brought  us  by  a  local  boat,  of  Admiral 
Byng's  safe  arrival  at  Gibraltar,  and  that  it  was 
said  in  the  garrison  he  was  to  sail  for  Port 
Mahon  last  night.  Pray  God,  speed  His  Ex- 
cellency, for  it  seems  as  if  our  friends  in  Minorca 
are  in  great  need  of  succour." 

On  May  8  Byng  weighed  from  Gibraltar,  and 
on  the  19th  reached  Port  Mahon.  He  said  that  he 
found  it  so  well  invested  that  he  could  not  even 
land  a  letter,  and  on  that  day  he  fell  in  with  the 
French  fleet.  Admiral  West,  who  was  leading, 
led  the  attack  ;  Byng  failed  to  come  up  to  his 
support.  Both  sides  lost  about  forty  killed  and 
170  wounded,  and  the  French  got  away,  owing 
to  speed  and  clean  bottoms,  having  lately  come 
out  of  Toulon.  Byng  called  a  Council  of  War, 
and  returned  to  Gibraltar.  On  the  13th,  four 
days  after  Byng  left  Gibraltar  and  six  days 
before  he  arrived  at  Port  Mahon,  the  Due  de 
Richelieu  with  Admiral  de  Gallisoniere  left 
Toulon  with  16,000  men  in  transports  and 
twelve  ships  of  the  line.  General  Blakeney 
had  2,800  troops  entrenched  there.  Byng 
wrote  to  Keene  :  "  They  were  too  strong  for 
us." 

Anson,  when  asked,  said,  "  Byng's  squadron 
was  strong  enough  to  beat  anything  the  French 
had." 

On  June  28  the  garrison  capitulated  with  the 
honours  of  war. 


1756]  PORT    MAHON  lliiJ 

Lord  Anson  \vi'ote  to  Hardwicke  (before  news 
of  the  action  had  arrived) : 

*'  My  Lord, 

"  I  have  just  received  letters  from  Admiral 
Byng,  who  arrived  at  Gibraltar  2nd  inst.,  and 
left  it  the  8th,  in  the  morning,  with  a  fresh  and 
fair  gale.  He  had  with  him  thirteen  sail  of  the 
line,  and  three  frigates.  I  think  you  won't  be 
much  pleased  with  the  letters  ;  and  less  with 
the  Governor  of  Gibraltar's,  who  has  sent  no 
troops  for  the  relief  of  Port  Mahon,  and  for  a 
very  extraordinary  reason — because  '  he  would 
then  have  had  fewer  at  Gibraltar.' 

*' Anson." 

A  letter  dated  Versailles,  June  2,  1756,  con- 
tains these  statements : 

*'  The  Resolution  has  been  taken  in  the 
Council  to  augment  the  Navy  with  twenty 
ships  of  the  line,  besides  what  are  actually  on 
the  stocks,  and  this  will  be  executed  with  the 
greatest  diligence — the  Minister  being  now  con- 
vinced of  the  necessity  of  having  a  very  strong 
fleet  to  protect  their  own  commerce  and  to 
distress  your  nation  several  ways. 

"  As  the  finances  are  now  really  greatly 
exhausted,  there  is  a  party  in  the  Council  who 
wish  that  Mademoiselle  Pompadour  would  take 
the  resolution  to  retire  to  a  convent,  and  there- 
by save  the  great  expense  that  attends  the 
King's  continual  journeys,  but  I  much  doubt  if 

9 


130  THE  RISE   OF   PITT        [chap,  xiii 

any  one  of  them  will  have  the  courage  to  propose 
it  to  the  King  or  to  Madame  Pompadour. 

"  There  was  an  action  the  21st  past  between 
the  two  fleets,  very  near  Minorca.  I  have  seen 
many  relations  of  it,  but  not  one  tolerable,  nor 
have  I  heard  any  reason  why  Admiral  Byng 
should  choose  to  retire — for  he  had  the  wind  of 
us,  and  his  fleet  suffered  less  than  ours.  All  the 
letters  complain  that  the  siege  advances  very 
slowly.  On  the  23rd  past  the  battery  on  the 
left  was  dismounted  by  the  fire  of  the  be- 
sieged, and  that  on  the  right  was  much  shattered 
by  the  bombs.  The  want  of  earth  for  making 
the  trenches,  and  of  many  other  things  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  carrying  on  a  siege  with 
vigour,  joined  to  the  sickness  which  now 
reigns  among  the  troops,  and  the  extraordinary 
resistance  we  are  met  with,  will  run  the  siege 
into  a  much  greater  length  than  was  expected. 
But  except  your  fleet  can  land  the  succours, 
and  beat  off  Admiral  de  la  Gallisoniere's,  it  won't 
save  the  place." 

On  June  6,  1756,  Anson  writes  to  Newcastle : 

"  My  Lord, 

"  I  have  sent  you  Vice-Admiral  Bosca- 
wen's  letter.  You  will  see  he  has  taken  eight  sail 
of  Martinica  and  San  Domingo  ships. 

"  Those  from  Martinica  sailed  under  the 
convoy  of  the  Prudent,  of  74  guns,  and  two 
frigates  of  36  guns  each,  which  we  have  heard 
nothing  of.  I  wish  they  likewise  may  fall  into 
the    hands   of    our   Western   squadron.      I   find 


1756]  LETTERS    FROM    ANSON  181 

Mr.  Boscawen  is  a  little  alarmed  with  the  in- 
telligence he  has  received  of  the  French  ships 
at  Brest.  Rear-Admiral  Mostyn  must  have 
joined  him  with  four  ships  of  the  line  ;  and 
Rear-Admiral  Keppel  will  sail  in  a  few  days 
with  four  large  clean  ships  from  Portsmouth,  to 
join  Vice-Admiral  Boscawen.  He  then  will  be 
much  stronger  than  any  force  they  may  have  at 
Brest.  But  I  don't  know  how  it  comes  to  pass 
that  unless  our  Commanders-in-Chief  have  a 
very  great  superiority  of  the  enemy  they  never 
think  themselves  safe.  I  wish  it  was  possible 
to  have  it  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  but  that 
cannot  be  unless  we  know  what  is  the  desti- 
nation of  the  French  fleet.  We  have  squadrons 
in  the  East  Indies,  in  America,  and  in  the 
islands  ;  and  France  has  not  four  ships  of  the 
line  out  of  her  own  ports. 

"  Seamen  must  be  had  at  any  rate,  embargo, 
and  every  other  method  that  can  be  thought  of. 
I  must  see  your  Grace  to-morrow,  upon  your 
articles  of  Vice-Admiral  Hawke's  instructions, 
and  I  would  prepare  the  list  of  those  that  ought 
to  be  made  admirals,  to  take  rank  of  Saunders. 
I  know  few  of  them,  and  yet  several  of  them 
must  be  recommended. 

"  Anson." 

Again,  on  June  8  from  the  Admiralty,  he  writes  : 

To  the  Duke  of  Newcastle 

"My  Lord, 

"Monsieur  D'Abreu  has  been  with  me  this 
moment,  and  informs  me  he  has  just  received 


132  THE   RISE   OF   PITT         [chap,  xiii 

a  courier  from  Paris.  His  letters  are  dated 
June  4,  giving  an  account  that  letters  were 
received  here  from  the  Duke  of  Richelieu  of  the 
25th,  and  one  from  Monsieur  Gallisoniere  of  the 
same  date.  The  former  mentions  the  gallant 
defence  made  by  the  garrison,  where  he  finds 
more  difficulty  and  a  better  defence  than  he 
expected — but  says  he  does  not  doubt  but 
that  he  shall  be  master  of  it,  as  he  hourly 
expects  a  reinforcement  of  five  battalions,  and 
fifty  pieces  of  cannon. 

"  Gallisoniere  has  seen  nothing  of  Byng — and 
says  he  is  informed  by  one  of  his  frigates,  the 
Janson,  that  a  Majorkine  vessel  saw  the  English 
squadron,  on  23rd,  steering  for  Gibraltar,  that 
three  of  the  ships  were  very  much  shattered. 
There  was  an  article  also,  which  he  did  not  read, 
that  said  there  was  a  treaty  concluded  between 
France  and  Vienna.  I  know  your  Grace  is 
desirous  to  know  all  events  as  soon  as  possible, 
let  them  be  ever  so  bad — and  surely  worse  were 
never  communicated.  Cleveland  saw  the  arti- 
cle about  Vienna  by  looking  over  D'Abreu's 
shoulder  while  he  was  reading  his  letter  to  me. 
Gallisoniere  expects  a  reinforcement  of  six  ships, 

from  Toulon. 

"Anson." 

Orders  were  at  once  given  to  Sir  Edward 
Hawke  to  go  to  Gibraltar  and  supersede  Ad- 
miral Byng;  also  for  him  to  take  out  General 
Lord  Tyrawley  to  supersede  General  Fowkes,  the 
Governor  of  Gibraltar. 

The  instructions  for  Sir  Edward  Hawke  were 


1756]       THE  GOVERNOR  OF  GIBRALTAR       133 

sent  by  Anson  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  for  his 
remarks,   in  which  letter  he  savs : 

"  If  Gallisoniere  is  returned  to  Port  INIahon, 
and  Byng  returned  to  Gibraltar,  it  must  be 
lost,  and  a  grievous  thing  it  will  be  for  the 
nation.  Some  method  must  be  taken  to  get  men 
for  our  ships  that  want  them.  Sickness  has  been 
a  sore  enemy  to  us." 

In  the  Duke's  answer  he  says  he  entirely 
approves  of  the  instructions  to  Hawke,  but 
suggests  greater  emphasis  being  put  on  the 
destruction  of  the  French  fleet,  which  he  is 
afraid  is  what  Admiral  Byng  did  not  pay 
sufficient  attention  to. 

The  letter  to  the  Governor  of  Gibraltar, 
General  Fowkes,  from  Lord  Barrington  was  as 
follows  : 

"Sir, 

"  I  am  very  sorry  that  I  must  signify  to 
you  His  Majesty's  displeasure  on  finding  that  you 
have  not  sent  a  detachment  from  your  garrison 
to  Minorca — according  to  his  orders. 

"  The  King  expected  exact  obedience  to  his 
orders  calculated  for  the  defence  and  preser- 
vation of  Minorca — a  possession  of  such  value  to 
this  country,  and  which  His  Majesty  has  so 
earnestly  at  heart.  He  orders  me  to  acquaint 
you  that  he  is  highly  displeased  at  your  con- 
sulting a  Council  of  War,  whether  you  should 
obey  his  instructions,  and  disapproves  the  rea- 
sons contained  in  the  minutes  of  that  Council. 

"  The  whole  tenor  of  my  letters  of  different 
dates  to  you,  and   likewise   of   the    instructions 


134  THE   RISE   OF   PITT         [chap,  xiii 

from  the  Admiralty  to  Admiral  Byng,  all  of 
which  are  inserted  in  the  minutes  of  the  Council 
of  War,  clearly  evince  the  invariable  intentions 
of  His  Majesty  to  throw  a  reinforcement  into 
Minorca. 

"  This  should  have  been  at  all  events  at- 
tempted, and  it  was  a  hasty  and  extraordinary 
conclusion  to  suppose  that  the  attempt  would 
have  failed.  The  opinions  of  two  or  three 
Engineer  officers  at  Gibraltar  (differing  from 
the  best  of  authorities  here),  who  at  a  distance 
from  Minorca  have  formed  their  judgments  on 
supposed  facts,  and,  as  they  say  themselves,  on 
recollections  only,  is  no  justification  ;  and  even 
those  Engineers  do  not  assert  the  attempt  to 
be  impracticable.  His  Majesty  has  sent  Lord 
Tyrawley  to  Gibraltar  with  a  commission  to 
supersede  you  in  your  command  there,  where 
he  has  no  further  occasion  for  your  service." 

Newcastle  writes  to  Colonel  Yorke,  June  11, 
1756: 

"  We  must  form  an  alliance  to  counteract 
this  formidable  one  (between  France  and  Vienna) 
or  all  Europe  will  be  given  up  to  France,  and  we 
shall  be  drawn  on  to  make  a  most  unequal  war, 
singly,  with  France  ;  from  whence  we  have 
reasons  to  fear  constant  miscarriages — from  the 
fatal  instances  we  have  seen,  that  our  armies 
run  away  in  America  and  our  fleets  in  the 
Mediterranean  ;  and  when  (a  truth  I  dare  scarce 
trust  even  to  you)  we  have  hardly  one  ship  more 
to  add  to  our  squadrons  abroad,  or  one  battalion 


1756]  OPINIONS    ON    THE    FAILURE  185 

to  our  forces  in  the  Mediterranean  and  in  North 
America.  These  are  truths  we  shall  feel  more 
and  more  every  day.  The  folly  of  the  nation  and 
the  weakness  and  wickedness  of  our  allies  have 
brought  us  into  this  dilemma. 

"  Even  my  good  friend  Bentinck  admires  the 
defence  and  blames  the  delay  in  our  reinforce- 
ments for  Port  Mahon,  which  he  should  not  do 
unless  he  inquired  whether  it  were  possible  to 
have  sent  out  our  squadron  sooner  than  we 
did;  and  he,  and  every  one  now,  ought  to  be 
convinced  that  had  our  admiral  behaved  as  he 
ought  to  have  done,  our  fleet  was  in  plenty  of 
time  to  have  saved  Port  Mahon,  and  strong 
enough  to  have  beat  the  French  fleet,  so  that 
in  all  human  probability  France  must  before 
now  have  had  cause  to  prevent  them  from 
making  this  attempt.  The  same  success  we 
had  reason  to  have  expected  last  year,  from  our 
fleet  and  armies  in  North  America." 

The  King,  Newcastle,  and  the  country  were 
furious  with  Byng,  and  with  the  Governor  of 
Gibraltar;  and  one  cannot  but  think  that  if 
Byng  had  been  a  man  of  daring  and  energy 
all  might  have  turned  out  differently.  That 
there  were  difliculties  is  evident,  but  not  in- 
surmountable ones.     Mahan  says  :  ^ 

"  Nothing  could  have  been  worse  than  the 
deplorable  management  of  this  action  (Byng 
and  Gallisoniere)  on  the  part  of  the  Commander- 
in-Chief.  It  is  a  conspicuous  instance  of  weak 
and    halting    execution,    superimposed    upon    a 

1  Types  of  Naval  Officers,  p.  64. 


186  THE   RISE   OF   PITT        [chap,  xiii 

professional  conception  radically  erroneous^ — 
and  it  reflected  throughout  the  timid  hesi- 
tancy of  spirit  which  dictated  the  return  to 
Gibraltar  under  the  always  doubtful  sanction  of 
a  Council  of  War." 

Whilst  Admiral  Byng  and  General  Fowkes 
are  returning  home,  let  us  see  what  is  thought  of 
our  policy  of  war  in  India,  America,  and  in 
Europe,  and  of  our  claiming  the  command  of  the 
seas  : 

"  Bernstokff   a  Cheusses,  a  Rendesbourg,  June  3,   1756. 

"  Mais  elle  agira  selon  I'equite,  et  selon  la 
sagesse,  en  n'outrant  pas  ses  soup9ons  et  son 
avidite,  a  attirer  a  elle  seule,  le  commerce  de 
I'univers.  Cette  derniere  pretention  est  in- 
tolerable a  toutes  les  nations  auxquelles  la 
Providence  a  donne  la  proximite  de  la  mer,  et 
le  gout  de  la  navigation  ;  et  lorsque  Ton  se 
voit  vexe  dans  une  partie  si  essentielle  de  ses 
droits,  et  de  la  liberte  naturelle,  on  n'a  que 
faire  d'insinuations  etrangeres  pour  se  decider 
a  supposer  a  la  violence. 

"  La  monarchic  universelle,  par  mer  est 
aussi  odieuse,  et  aussi  dangereuse,  a  I'Europe, 
peutetre  que  la  monarchic  universelle  par 
terre  ;  et  I'Angleterre  n'aurait  que  des  amis,  si 
elle  voulait  bien  ne  s'assurer  pas,  avec  tante  de 
hauteur — sa  grandeur,  sa  prosperite,  impor- 
tante  a  toute  I'Europe,  et  en  particulier  a  tous 
les  Protestants,  c'est  une  verite  qu'on  ne  peut 
meconnaitre,  et  elle  ne  perdra  ainsi  jamais  ses 
amis,  que  lorsqu'elle  entreprendra  de  les  tyran- 
niser,  et  qu'abolient  elle-meme  ces  principes  de 
liberte,  et  d'equilibre,  dont  elle  a  fait  autre 
fois,  un  si  heureux  usage,  elle  vaudra  s'arroger 


1756]       ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  POLICY        137 

une  superiorite,  et  des  droits,  que  d'aiitres 
nations,  moins  riches,  mais  egalement  souve- 
raines,  ne  sauraient  lui  accorder." 

Byng  and  West  reached  Portsmouth  on  July 
26  under  close  arrest.  Hawke  and  Saunders 
superseded  them.  West  was  released,  and  gra- 
ciously received  at  Court;  Byng's  house  in 
Hertfordshire  was  attacked  by  the  mob,  and  he 
was  burnt  in  effigy ;  Newcastle  was  pelted  by  a 
crowd.  It  was  not  fully  realised  in  those  days 
the  difference  there  was  between  the  policies  of 
England  and  France. 

Our  squadrons  were  expected  to  beat  the 
enemies'  squadrons,  our  armies  to  beat  the 
enemies'  armies — but  France  carried  out  her 
own  objects  quite  consistently.  For  she  was 
not  bent  upon  the  control  of  the  sea,  as  we  were, 
but  only  on  obtaining  some  particular  result, 
and  so  would  accept  or  decline  an  engagement 
as  seemed  to  her  most  advisable  for  obtaining 
the  main  result. 

For  instance,  at  Minorca  Gallisoniere  placed 
himself  to  leeward  of  Byng,  and  between  him 
and  Port  Mahon,  As  soon  as  Byng  came  down 
on  him  before  the  wind,  he  directed  his  fire  at 
the  enemies'  masts  and  sails,  at  the  moment 
when  few  of  his  guns  would  bear.  Then  he  was 
able  to  escape,  which  was  his  object,  and  to  help 
the  landing  of  troops  at  Mahon. 

In  the  action  with  Hawke  they  were  ready  to 
sacrifice  their  fleet  to  enable  their  convoy — whose 


138  THE   RISE   OF   PITT         [chap,  xiii 

protection  was  their  main  object — to  escape  ;  this 
with  other  cases  showing  the  different  views  of 
poHcy.  A  French  admiral  has  laid  down  that 
"  the  power  that  has  the  fewest  ships  must 
always  avoid  doubtful  engagements  ;  it  must 
only  run  risks  which  are  necessary  for  carrying 
out  its  orders,  and  avoid  action  by  manoeuvring." 
That  Gallisoniere  was  successful,  from  his  point 
of  view,  is  as  evident  as  that  Byng  was  un- 
successful from  ours :  for  his  main  object  was 
to  relieve  Port  Mahon — ^by  placing  himself  in 
such  a  position  as  to  force  Gallisoniere's  attack 
on  him,  and  to  destroy  the  French  fleet — and 
never  to  give  up  his  object  as  long  as  he  had  a 
ship  left.  He  was  not  told  to  protect  Gibraltar. 
But  still  we  know  he  was  a  brave  officer,  though 
we  cannot  but  believe  that  he  erred  in  judgment 
at  a  critical  time. 

France  now  was  concentrating  her  attention  on 
the  Continent,  and  giving  unlimited  support  to 
Austria  against  Protestant  Prussia,  and  we  were 
subsidising  Prussia  with  large  sums  to  resist. 
Frederick  had  marvellous  successes  against  great 
odds.  But  France  could  not  under  the  cir- 
cumstances send  so  many  troops  to  North 
America.  Her  total  number  of  troops  there  in 
1757  numbered  only  3,000  :  still,  with  the  help 
of  the  Indians,  and  owing  to  the  incompetence 
of  General  the  Earl  of  Loudon,  we  were  worsted 
in  every  action. 

At  this  time  Murray,  the  leader  of  the  House 


1756]  A    NEW    MINISTRY  139 

of  Commons,  retired  from  his  duties  there,  to 
become  Lord  Chief  Justice  as  Baron  Mansfield, 
and  in  October  1756  Fox  retired.  Newcastle 
wanted  Pitt  to  take  his  place — but  the  King 
objected.  He  said,  "  He  will  not  do  my 
German  business."  Pitt  moved  a  vote  for  an 
inquiry  into  the  whole  conduct  of  the  Govern- 
ment as  regards  the  war,  and  particularly  as 
regards  Minorca.  The  Government  resigned, 
and  the  difficulty  of  forming  a  new  Ministry 
was  apparent.  Pitt  is  said  to  have  exclaimed 
to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  "  My  Lord,  I  am 
sure  I  can  save  the  country,  and  nobody  else 


can." 


At  last  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  consented  to 
form  a  Ministry,  and  undertook  the  Treasury 
himself,  with  Bilson  Legge  as  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  Earl  Granville  Lord  President, 
Earl  Gower  (Granville),  Lord  Privy  Seal  (both 
brothers-in-law  of  Pitt),  while  Pitt  became  Secre- 
tary of  State  for  the  Southern  Department. 
Richard  Grenville,  Lord  Temple,  as  First  Lord 
to  the  Admiralty,  succeeded  to  Anson's  place. 
Pitt  was  to  take  the  management  of  the  war  in 
India  and  America  especially  under  his  own 
direction  ;  whilst  Holderness  was  to  confine  his 
attentions  to  Europe.  In  the  end  Pitt  really 
controlled  the  whole  of  the  operations  of  war. 
His  successes  may  be  attributable  to  the  mani- 
fest change  in  the  English  outlook.  The  con- 
denmation  of  Byng,  and  the  failures  in  America, 


140  THE   RISE   OF   PITT         [chap,  xiii 

woke  up  the  country — England  entered  on  a 
maritime  war  at  the  same  time  that  France 
withdrew,  to  a  certain  extent,  her  interest  in  her 
navy  for  that  of  her  army.  She  had  only 
sixty-three  ships  of  the  line,  and  those  in  but 
fair  condition;  whilst  England,  entirely  owing 
to  Anson's  care  at  the  Admiralty,  had  130 
ships  of  the  line.  Still,  we  had  many  calls  on 
that  navy — India,  America,  the  West  Indies, 
the  Mediterranean,  and  Home  Defence  ;  and  the 
difficulty  of  providing  seamen  for  all  these 
squadrons,  with  the  methods  then  in  vogue,  was 
very  great. 

(For  our  methods  of  recruiting  were  still  poor  : 
we  relied  on  the  press-gang,  and  also  on  the  men 
who  were  at  this  time  in  our  merchant  ships 
all  over  the  world,  and  who  could  not  be  got 
hold  of  at  a  moment's  notice  in  time  of  war — 
and  so  we  had  to  get  men  by  every  possible 
device  and  stratagem.  The  life  on  board  a 
man-of-war  in  peace  time  had  few  inducements 
to  men  to  enter  voluntarily  as  they  would  do  in 
war  time,  when  prize  money  was  an  object  which 
attracted  them.) 

Pitt  was  laid  up  at  Bath  with  gout,  and  it  was 
not  until  February  17,  1757,  that  he  took  his  seat 
in  the  House  of  Commons. 

On  December  28,  1756,  the  court  martial  com- 
menced on  Admiral  Byng,  under  Vice-Admiral 
Thomas  Smith,  on  the  evidences  of  several  officers 
of   the    fleet   brought    home   for   that   purpose. 


1757]  TRIAL    OF    ADMIRAL    BYNG  141 

They  acquitted  Byng  of  cowardice,  but  unani- 
mously found  that  "  he  did  not  do  his  utmost 
to  reheve  Port  Mahon,  or  to  seize  and  destroy 
the  French  ships,  or  to  assist  the  van  of  his 
fleet.  In  accordance  with  Article  12  he  was 
sentenced  to  be  shot,"  but  the  court  recom- 
mended him  to  mercy. 

At  a  Cabinet  Council  Pitt  said  to  the  King, 
"  The  House  of  Commons  wishes  to  have  Byng 
pardoned."  The  King  replied,  "  Sir,  you 
have  taught  me  to  look  for  the  sense  of  my 
subjects  in  another  place  than  the  House  of 
Commons."  George  was  deaf  to  all  petitions. 
He  was  convinced  that  an  example  would  have  to 
be  made,  and  it  is  certain  that  if  Byng's  policy 
of  avoiding  doubtful  engagements  had  been 
passed  over,  England's  power  would  have  been 
badly  shaken. 

On  March  14  Byng  bravely  met  his  death  on 
board  the  Monarque.  We  know  the  influences 
that  were  brought  to  bear  for  his  reprieve, 
how  letters  quoting  Voltaire's  opinions  were 
sent  to  the  President  of  the  court,  stating  that 
no  Commander-in-Chief  should  be  punished 
for  failure  unless  treachery  were  proved  ; 
but  at  the  same  time  Voltaire  stated  that 
bribes  had  been  accepted  by  our  officers  under 
Byng  to  let  provisions  into  Genoa  during  the 
blockade. 

Anson  was  not  at  the  Admiralty,  for  he  had 
left  with  the  Ministry  held  responsible  for  our 


142  THE   RISE   OF   PITT         [chap,  xiii 

loss  of  Minorca ;  but  it  seems  unlikely  that  any- 
thing in  Byng's  conduct  would  have  appealed  to 
him.  He  was  not  made  that  way — he  certainly 
would  not  have  understood  his  behaviour.  His 
whole  character  and  actions  were  always  to 
overcome  obstacles ;  and  though  he  may  be 
held  responsible  for  allowing  Byng's  application 
for  appointment  to  the  Mediterranean,  so 
pressed  and  backed  up  by  political  interest,  to 
take  effect,  still,  he  would  not  have  deemed  it 
possible  that  any  officer  could  act  as  Byng  did. 
For  not  sending  the  expedition  out  earlier  the 
Government  was  held  responsible,  and  the  in- 
quiry asked  for  by  Parliament  took  place. 
With  regard  to  this  inquiry  Pitt  (some  years 
afterwards)  said  : 

"  I  was  one  of  those  who  urged  a  parliamen- 
tary inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  the  Ministry. 
That  Ministry,  my  Lords,  in  the  midst  of  universal 
censure  and  reproach,  had  honour  and  virtue 
enough  to  promote  the  inquiry  themselves. 
Upon  the  strictest  investigation  it  appeared 
that  the  diligence  they  had  used  in  send- 
ing a  squadron  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  in 
their  other  naval  preparations,  are  beyond  all 
example. 

"  I  replaced  Lord  Anson  at  the  Admiralty, 
and  I  thank  God  I  had  the  resolution  to  do 
so." 

Flow  he  came  back  was  as  follows :  Frederick 
of  Prussia  offered  the  command  of  the  Army  of 


1757]      ANSON'S  RETURN  TO  ADMIRALTY       143 

Observation  in  Germany  to  Cumberland — which 
with  the  King's  approval  he  accepted,  but  on  the 
condition  that  Pitt  should  be  removed  from 
the  Government.  On  this  Pitt's  colleagues,  both 
the  Granvilles  and  Legge,  resigned.  Temple  was 
dismissed  from  the  Admiralty  and  Lord  Winchil- 
sea  appointed  in  his  place  But  no  Government 
seemed  possible,  and  for  three  months  none  was 
formed.  At  last,  just  at  the  moment  when  the 
awful  news  of  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta  had 
been  received  in  England,  and  all  things  seemed 
very  dark,  it  was  resolved  that  Pitt  and  New- 
castle should  combine.  This  time  Pitt's  in- 
fluence was  to  be  strengthened  by  Newcastle's 
great  political  power  in  the  constituencies  and 
the  country,  but  Pitt  was  to  guide  the  foreign 
policy.  Anson  was  to  be  asked  to  resume  his 
place  as  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  and  Pitt 
was  to  write  the  orders  for  the  Admirals  as  well 
as  for  the  Generals,  trusting  Anson  to  carry 
them  out  as  regards  the  Navy. 

Finding  he  was  much  wanted,  Anson  con- 
sented to  resume  his  post.  He  had  been  away 
from  November  4,  1756,  to  July  5, 1757.  During 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1757,  Boscawen, 
West,  and  Broderick  kept  watch  off  Brest 
alternately  ;  but  notwithstanding  this,  M.  Bois 
de  la  Mothe  slipped  out,  carrying  reinforcements 
to  Louisburg.  Admiral  Holborne,  who  was  at 
HaUfax,  was  directed  to  blockade  them  there  ; 
but  he  encountered  such  a  gale  that  the  Tilbury 


144  THE   RISE   OF   PITT        [chap,  xiil 

was  lost  with  all  hands,  twelve  ships  of  the 
line  were  dismasted,  and  the  greater  part  had 
to  throw  their  guns  overboard,  so  that  Holborne 
had  to  send  most  of  the  ships  home  for  repairs, 
while  he  himself  went  to  Halifax. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

WAR    WITH    FRANCE 

As  Pitt  was  determined  to  make  expeditions  on 
the  coast  of  France,  Anson  had  all  the  ships 
refitted  and  brought  forward  those  in  reserve. 
Pitt  sent  instructions  that  in  order  to  prevent 
the  attack  on  our  own  coasts,  and  also  to 
assist  the  King  of  Prussia  and  Cumberland,  he 
wished  to'  fit  out  an  expedition  to  destroy  the 
French  arsenals,  blow  up  their  fortifications,  docks, 
basins,  etc.,  and  destroy  or  capture  their  ship- 
ping, and  he  requested  to  know,  who  was  the 
fittest  admiral  to  undertake  this  business. 
Anson  immediately  named  Hawke,  who  was 
appointed.  The  fleet  consisted  of  16  sail  of 
the  line,  2  frigates,  5  sloops,  2  bombs,  2  fire- 
ships,  and  transports  with  7,000  soldiers,  under 
Sir  John  Mordaunt,  with  Generals  Conway, 
Cornwallis,  Howard,  and  Lieut. -Colonel  Wolfe. 

Instructions  were  given  by  Pitt  to  attempt  a 
descent  on  the  French  coast  near  Rochefort — 
to  burn  or  destroy  all  shipping,  docks,  maga- 
zines, and  arsenals,  and  to  annoy  the  enemy 
in  every  way  possible. 
10  14S 


146  WAR  WITH   FRANCE        [chap,  xiv 

The  fleet  left  Spithead  on  September  8  and 
anchored  in  Basque  Roads  on  the  22nd.  The 
next  day  a  detachment  of  troops  under  Admiral 
Knowles  was  ordered  to  take  the  island  of  Aix. 
Howe  in  the  Magnanime  was  ordered  to  lead. 
He  stood  straight  for  the  fort,  and  on  getting 
within  forty  yards  of  it,  brought  up  with  a 
spring  on  his  cable,  and  gave  the  fort  such  a  well- 
directed  broadside  that  within  half  an  hour 
he  had  driven  the  defenders  from  their  guns, 
and  the  fort  surrendered.  Hawke  then  having 
sounded,  and  given  his  opinion  that  the  troops 
might  land,  Sir  John  Mordaunt  proposed  that 
most  fatal  of  all  courses,  a  Council  of  War, 
thus  giving  the  French  time  to  assemble  their 
forces.  Eventually  the  landing  was  given  up 
by  the  commander  of  the  troops,  to  the  surprise, 
chagrin  and  disgust  of  Hawke.  The  following 
letter  to  Lord  Anson  clearly  shows  what  he 
felt  : 

Sir  Edward  Hawke  to  Lord  Anson 

"  '  Ramilles,'  Basque  Roads,  September  30,   1757. 

*'My  Lord, 

"  I  have  been  flattering  myself  with  the 
daily  hopes  that  the  land  officers  would  come  to 
a  determination  to  land  the  troops,  to  try  what 
was  possible  to  be  done  for  their  country,  not- 
withstanding they  were  of  opinion  it  was 
impracticable  to  take  the  town  of  Rochefort  by 
escalade.     If   there  is   faith   in  man,   my  Lord, 


THE  RIGHT  HON.  GEORGE  LORD  ANSON,  BARON  OF  SOBERTON, 
FIRST  LORD  COMMISSIONER  OF  THE  ADMIRALTY,  VICE-ADMIRAL 
OF  GREAT  BRITAIN,  ADMIRAL  OF  THE  BLUE  SQUADRON,  AND 
ONE   OF    HIS  majesty's   MOST  HONOURABLE    PRIVY    COUNCIL. 


p.  146] 


1757]       LOSS    OF    THE    LUCKY    MOMENT       147 

you  may  believe  that  I  have  urged  this  to  them 
continually,  pointing  the  absolute  necessity  of 
it  in  the  strongest  terms  that  I  could  possibly 
think  of.  But  I  am  infinitely  concerned  to  tell 
your  Lordship  that  you  will  see  by  their  result 
that  all  this  has  availed  nothing.  I  made  no 
hesitation  in  attempting  to  remove  every  ob- 
stacle out  of  their  way  that  was  in  my  power, 
in  which  I  happily  succeeded,  and  wanted  no 
Council  of  War,  nor  never  would  have  any  if  it 
had  not  been  demanded,  to  confirm  me  in  my 
opinion  that  it  was  right  I  should  use  my  utmost 
endeavours  for  my  King  and  country." 

In  a  letter  to  his  father,  Wolfe  sums  up  the 
situation : 

"  I  have  the  displeasure  to  inform  you  that 
our  operations  here  are  at  an  end.  We  lost 
the  lucky  moment  in  war,  and  are  not  able  to 
recover  it.  The  whole  of  this  expedition  has 
not  cost  the  nation  ten  men — nor  has  any  man 
been  able  to  distinguish  himself  in  the  service  of 
his  country  except  Mr.  Howe,  who  was  an 
example  to  us  all." 

This  caused  a  deep  gloom  and  disappointment 
in  England,  and  a  corresponding  elation  in 
France. 

When  Anson  returned  to  the  Admiralty  in 
Julv  1757,  a  letter  was  sent  bv  him  to  all 
Commanders-in-Chief  to  be  very  careful  of 
their  orders,  because  the  papers  had  full 
accounts   of   them   most   useful   to   the   enemy. 


148  WAR  WITH  FRANCE        [chap,  xiv 

He  also  gave  orders  at  once  for  six  frigates  to 
be  built  to  carry  36  guns,  three  to  carry  28 
guns,  and  one  to  carry  32. 

He  was  very  anxious  to  get  Sir  Edward 
Hawke  appointed  to  the  Admiralty  to  serve 
with  him,  as  appears  by  the  following  letter 
from  Lady  Anson  to  Lord  Hardwicke : 

"  DowKiNG  Stbeet,  August  10,   1757. 

"  Lord  Anson,  with  his  respectful  compli- 
ments to  Lord  Hardwicke,  begs  pardon  for 
employing  a  secretary,  to  inform  his  Lordship  of 
an  incident  which  happened,  and  which  embar- 
rasses him  a  good  deal.  The  occasion  of  it  is  the 
appointment  of  a  successor  at  the  Admiralty  in 
the  room  of  Admiral  West,  who  died  last  night 
at  Tonbridge.  Lord  Anson  waited  on  the  Duke 
of  Newcastle  this  morning  to  acquaint  him 
with  it,  and  to  express  his  strong  desire  that  as 
this  created  a  vacancy  in  the  Admiralty,  it 
might  be  filled  up  with  Sir  Ed.  Hawke.  His 
Grace  insisting  very  warmly  upon  his  engage- 
ment to  Mr.  Stanley,  Lord  Anson  begged  him 
at  least  to  defer  filling  it  up  a  little  (as  he 
said  he  must  have  made  a  vacancy  for  Mr. 
Stanley),  to  try  if  he  could  not  accommodate 
both.  The  Duke  declared  at  the  end  of  the 
conversation  that  he  would  go  into  the  Closet, 
and  settle  it  for  Mr.  Stanley  directly  ;  or  he 
would  never  go  to  the  Treasury  again.  Whether 
he  has  settled  it  accordingly  is  not  yet  known 
to  Lord  Anson,  who  thinks  that  if  he  had  not 
shown  the  attention  he  paid  to  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle,    but    had   gone    at   first   where    his 


1757]  ANSON    WANTS    HAWKE  149 

Grace  said  he  was  going,  he  should  have  found 
it   no  difficult  point  to  have  carried   it  for  Sir 
Ed.  Hawke.     Mr.  Pitt  very  civilly  and  reason- 
ably says,   as  he    did   upon  that  subject    when 
this    Board    was    appointed,  that  as   there   was 
nobody  on   it   whom   Lord   Anson   had   chosen, 
he  thought  it  very  proper  he  should  recommend 
him  now,  and  if  Sir  Edward  Hawke  was  agree- 
able to  him  he  thought  it  very  right  he  should 
succeed.      Lord    Anson    cannot     help    thinking 
the   circumstances    very   hard,    considering   the 
merits    of    the    two    persons    proposed,    one    of 
whom   will   in   all  probability  be  very   trouble- 
some,  and   very   likely   a    spy   for  Doddington. 
It  is  certain  the  office  is  not  very  desirable  at 
this  time — nor  would  it  be  a  bad  or  a  discreditable 
reason   for   quitting   it,    that   he   had    not   been 
able  to  obtain  so  reasonable  a  wish  as  desiring 
to  have  an  officer  of  the  character  of  Sir  Edward 
Hawke    at    the    Board,     before    Mr.     Stanley. 
Lord    Anson    would    not    willingly    take    any 
further  steps  before  he  has   the  advice  of  Lord 
Hardwicke  ;     but    he   is    extremely    dissatisfied, 
and    besides    '  the    manner    of     doing    it  '    not 
listening  to  any  chance  of  delay,  or  accommo- 
dating.    He   very    much    doubts    if    he    ought 
to    submit   to    stay    at   the   Board,    and    see    it 
always    filled    up,    by    the   Duke    of   Newcastle, 
with  persons  of  no  use  there,  and  of  no  weight 
or  abihties  elsewhere.     It  is  much  to  be  wished 
Lord     Hardwicke    could     induce    the    Duke    of 
Newcastle  to  some  scheme  of  accommodation, 
as    in    appearance    there     cannot    be    a    worse 
addition  to  the  Board  than  that  proposed." 


150  WAR  WITH  FRANCE        [chap,  xiv 

Newcastle's  political  strength  was  great,  and 
he  carried  his  wish.  Sir  Edward  Hawke  was 
not  appointed. 

At   the   commencement  of   the  Seven  Years' 
War,    England    had     130     ships     of    the    line; 
France  had  only  63,  of  which  only  45  were  in 
fair  condition;   and,  if   Spain  were  to  join   her, 
only  46  more  and  those  in  poor  condition.     This 
fact    alone    exemplifies    Anson's    care    for    the 
country.     France   was   concentrating  her  atten- 
tion, too,  on  the  Continent,  not  on  her  sea  forces. 
Still,     France    was     successful    at    first.     Port 
Mahon,  Corsica,  and  Calcutta  fell  to  her  forces, 
and   Montcalm   was  successful   in   Canada ;   but 
it   was   not  long  before  England,  owing  to   her 
superiority    at    sea,  was    to    enter  on    one    long 
hst  of  successes.     Our  Navy   was  in  a  state  of 
readiness  such  as  it  had  never  been  in  before,  and 
Boscawen  and  Hawke  had    large  fleets  at  their 
disposal.     Cumberland     having    failed     on    the 
Continent,  England  was  exasperated  with  him. 
Frederick    was    perpetually    asking    for    troops, 
but  Pitt  gave  him  instead  £1,800,000.     Frederick, 
making  use  of  the  subsidies,  asked  us  to  make 
diversions  on  the  French  coast.     A  force  was  con- 
centrated for  the  purpose  in  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
consisting    of    14,000    soldiers,    6,000    Marines, 
fifteen   ships    of    the    line,    and    some    frigates. 
This  was   in  May   1758.     Hawke  was  placed  in 
the  Channel,  with  twenty  ships  of  the  line,  to 
watch  Brest.     Commodore  Howe,  who  had  been 


1757]  SIR    EDWARD    HAWKE  151 

selected  by  Anson,  was  given  command  of  the 
transports.  The  Duke  of  Marlborough  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  troops.  One  of 
the  first  events  that  happened,  by  Pitt's  giving 
the  instructions,  was  a  most  important  one ; 
for  an  expedition  having  been  decided  on,  to 
attack  Rochefort — and  Howe  being  consulted 
without  Sir  Edward  Hawke's  knowledge,  as  he 
thought — Sir  Edward  struck  his  iiag,  and  came 
on  shore.  This  was  a  most  difficult  question 
for  Anson  to  decide.  It  was  certainly  a  most 
irregular  proceeding  for  a  Commander-in-Chief 
in  time  of  war  to  strike  his  flag,  and  yet 
Hawke  was  a  gallant  officer  and  one  of  whom 
Anson  approved. 

On  this  subject  we  have  his  letters  : 

To  the  Duke  of  Newcastle 

"Admiralty,  October  9,   1757. 

"  My  Lord, 

"  I  think  it  proper  to  acquaint  your  Grace 
that  Sir  Edward  Hawke  is  come  to  town.  He 
dined  with  me  to-day,  and  I  wish  to  see  your 
Grace,  at  your  apartments  at  Kensington,  at  a 
little  after  twelve  to-morrow,  where  I  will 
bring  the  Admiral. 

*'  I  am,  etc., 

"  Anson." 

"  My  dear  Lord, 

"  I  called  upon  your  Lordship  on  Thurs- 
day night,  but  the  Board  has  kept  me  in  late, 


152  WAR   WITH   FRANCE        [chap,  xiv 

considering    the    imprudent    step    Sir    Edward 
Hawke  has  taken. 

"  Sir  Edward  Hawke  came  to  the  Board  on 
Friday  morning,  and  owned  he  had  done  a 
very  wrong  thing  in  striking  his  flag  without 
orders,  but  it  was  from  an  apprehension  that 
Captain  Howe  was  intended  to  go  with  10,000 
men  of  the  King's  troops  to  attack  Rochefort, 
where  he  had  Commanded-in-Chief ;  and  that  if 
it  was  so,  he  thought  he  must  have  been  mis- 
represented to  the  King,  and  that  thereupon  his 
honour  required  his  doing  as  he  had  done.  But 
since  upon  reflecting,  he  finds  himself  mistaken, 
and  that  he  proceeded  too  much  in  a  hurry, 
and  acknowledges  he  has  done  an  irregular 
thing,  but  that  he  did  not  do  it  with  any  dis- 
regard or  disrespect  to  the  Board,  but  merely 
thinking  it  would  appear  a  slur  upon  him  to 
the  world,  and  that  it  would  say  that  he,  a  flag- 
officer— though  he  had  been  twice  to  those 
parts — was  not  thought  fit  to  be  entrusted  with 
the  care  of  16,000  of  the  King's  troops,  or  to 
carry  on  service  of  consequence,  and  that  he 
thought  he  had  better  not  serve  at  all,  if  he 
could  not  serve  with  honour.  The  above 
minutes  being  read  to  Sir  Edward  Hawke,  he 
acknowledged  them  to  be  the  purport  of  what 
he  had  said,  and  then  withdrew.  The  Lords 
then  proceeded  to  take  the  letter  and  minute 
into  consideration,  and  came  to  the  following 
resolution  :  '  That  Sir  Edward  Hawke's  striking 
his  flag  without  orders  is  a  high  breach  of  dis- 
cipline— therefore,  notwithstanding  the  acknow- 
ledgment contained   in   the   same   minutes,    the 


1758]  SIR    EDWARD    HAWKE  153 

Lords  do  not  think  proper  to  restore  him  to  the 
command  of  the  ships  in  the  Channel,  although, 
in  consideration  of  that  acknowledgment,  and 
of  his  great  services,  they  have  not  proceeded 
to  any  further  censure.  Whereupon,  as  the 
most  proper  measure  upon  this  occasion,  the 
Lords  have  ordered  Lord  Anson  to  take  upon 
himself  that  command.'  " 

The  following  letters  are  all  connected   with 
Anson's  going  to  command  the  fleet : 

From  Lady  Anson,  as  secretary,  to  Hardwicke 

"Admiralty,  May  18,   1758. 

"  My  Lord  is  very  happy  that  your  Lordship 
approves  the  part  he  has  taken,  as  it  is  certainly 
best  in  all  respects,  as  affairs  sta7id,  not  to  have 
the  most  immediate  direction  of  the  enterprise, 
but  it  is  also  unfortunate  enough  to  be  obliged 
to  have  so  much  to  do  with  what  seems,  by 
the  setting  out  at  least,  to  promise  no  great 
satisfaction.  I  mean  that  it  is  very  unpleasant 
to  see  one  may  be  made  answerable  for  the 
failure  of  what  does  not,  nor  can,  depend  upon 
oneself.  The  gentleman  from  the  country^ 
returned  to  town  yesterday,  and  has,  I  imder- 
stand,  been  at  Kensington.  When  he  was  told 
of  what  Sir  Edward  Hawke  had  done,  he 
received  it  with  temper,  was  surprised,  and 
sorry  like  other  people,  and  wished  some  means 
might  be  found  by  which  he  miglit  be  preserved 
to  the  service,  and  to  this  purpose  sent  a  message 
by    Mr.    Wood    to    Lord    Anson.      To-day    he 

1  Pitt. 


154  WAR   WITH   FRANCE         [chap,  xiv 

assumed   great   discontent    at   its   being   passed 
over,  and  said,  '  The  people  will  not  like  it.'  " 

Then  on  May  19,  1758,  Lady  Anson,  as  secre- 
tary, writes  again  : 


(( 


It  gives  him  great  pleasure  to  find  3^our 
Lordship  approves  the  step  he  has  taken,  as  to 
taking  the  command  of  the  fleet  at  this  juncture.  I 
believe  my  Lord  omitted  mentioning  on  Saturday 
in  his  letter  that  Sir  Edward  Hawke,  who  is 
most  sincerely  concerned  at  what  is  passed,  has 
earnestly  desired  to  serve  under  him,  which  has 
been  agreed  to,  and  he  has  already  set  out  for 
Portsmouth.  I  must  add  too,  from  what  I  can 
hear,  there  seems  no  probability  that  my  Lord 
should  return  from  Portsmouth  till  the  wished- 
for  hour  of  his  return  thither  from  the  expedi- 
tion. My  Lord  will  take  care  to  leave  his  proxy 
in  blank  and  begs  the  favour  of  your  Lordship  to 
fill  it  up  for  the  Duke  of  Devonshire — if  you  find 
he  can  take  it. 

"  P.S. — It  is  hoped  Mr.  Pitt  may  come  to  town 
to-morrow,  but  it  is  not  certain.  He  is  said  to 
be  drawing  up  the  instructions  for  the  expedition, 
and  then  is  to  call  a  Council  upon  them." 

The  next  letter  we  get  is  from  Anson  himself  : 

"  '  Royal  Geokge  '  at  Sea,  June  29,   1758. 

"  My  dear  Lord, 

"  I  had  the  honour  of  your  Lordship's  very 
kind  and  obliging  letter  of  the  21st  inst. 

"  Sir  Edward  Hawke  was  certainly  very  ill 
when  he  left  me,  a  good  deal  occasioned  by  the 


1758]    ANSON'S    LETTER    TO    HARDWICKE    155 

uneasiness  of  his  mind  from  his  own  late  conduct, 
whicli  with  the  assistance  of  Holbourne,  and  a 
verv  bad  man  his  secretary,  had  done  much 
mischief  in  the  fleet.  I  think  and  hope  Admiral 
Saunders  will  soon  be  in  England,  in  whom  I 
could  confide  for  keeping  the  fleet  in  such 
discipline  that  I  should  have  pleasure  in  going  on 
board  it  whenever  there  should  be  a  necessity. 
I  have  desired  Captain  Holmes  may  be  made  a 
Rear- Admiral  and  sent  out  to  me.  I  am  glad 
you  are  all  agreed  to  approve  the  late  project, 
as  well  as  the  execution,  for  I  think  any  differ- 
ence of  opinion  at  this  time  would  hurt  the 
King's  affairs.  I  shall  therefore  never  mention 
anything  of  my  opinion  about  it — except  to  your 
Lordship. 

"  By  Commodore  Howe's  letter  to  me,  he 
was  greatly  surprised  at  receiving  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough's  order  to  re-embark  the  troops  so 
suddenly.  Howe  afterwards  wanted  them  to 
land  at  Granville,  where  he  undertook  to  put 
them  safe  on  shore  ;  which  the  General  de- 
clined, and  proposed  to  Howe  to  send  the  bomb 
vessels  in  to  bombard  the  town,  which  he  re- 
fused, thinking  it  too  ridiculous  an  operation  for 
such  an  armament,  in  which  I  think  he  judged 
right.  Certainly  your  army  does  not  make  the 
figure  it  ought  to  do.  At  Virginia  they  were 
beat  by  the  Indians. 

"  In  other  parts  of  America,  thougli  you  have 
changed  your  generals,  you  have  lost  part  of 
your  possessions  and  forts,  without  even  making 
any  tolerable  defence.  At  Rochefort  your 
generals    saw    the    enemy    upon    the    hills,    and 


156  WAR   WITH   FRANCE        [chap,  xiv 

although  they  knew  there  were  no  regular 
troops  in  the  country,  they  would  not  land.  At 
St.  Malo  they  have  found  hedges  and  ditches. 
What  ground  would  your  generals  choose  out 
upon  ?     I  should  not  wish  it  to  be  on  our  own. 

"  Though  I  believe  the  men  to  be  good,  and 
the  generals  brave,  I  therefore  can  account  for 
their  conduct  no  otherwise  than  by  their  feeling 
a  want  of  experience  in  themselves,  which  makes 
them  fearful  of  coming  into  an  action,  or  putting 
anything  to  the  risk  ;  which  must  be  done  in  all 
operations  of  war,  where  success  can  never  be 
certain. 

"  Mr.  Pitt  said  everything  possible  to  his 
generals  to  make  them  risk  action  with  the 
French  troops  ;  therefore  political  reasons  can 
only  make  him  approve.  Our  only  remaining 
hope  is  Louisburg.  There  I  think  we  must 
succeed,  as  no  supplies  of  troops  or  provisions 
have  been  thrown  into  the  place. 

"Anson." 

On  July  22,  1758,  he  writes  to  Hardwicke  : 

"  '  Royal  George,'  Plymouth. 

"  My  dear  Lord, 

"  I  am  to  acknowledge  the  favour  of  two 
of  your  very  obliging  letters. 

"  The  last  I  received  this  morning  by  messen- 
ger. Though  I  don't  think  the  affairs  of  the 
Admiralty  go  on  the  better  for  my  absence,  I  have 
not  the  least  thought  of  leaving  the  chief 
command  of  the  fleet  while  any  operations  are 
carrying  on  against  the  enemy,  which  appear  so 
material  to  the  King's  service  and  support  of 


1758]         LETTER    FROM    THE    FLEET  157 

the  common  cause,   which  shall  ever  have  my 
best  endeavours  and  assistance. 

"  The  command  of  a  squadron  at  sea  has 
always  been  my  principal  object  and  passion, 
and  although  possibly  nothing  extraordinary 
in  a  military  service  may  come  in  the  way  of  this 
fleet,  I  have  the  satisfaction  myself  to  know  that 
I  am  rendering  very  material  service,  both  to  the 
King  and  public,  in  putting  this  squadron  into 
a  different  state  of  discipline  to  whatever  it  has 
been  in  yet.  This  I  only  mention  to  your 
Lordship^ — because  it  would  look  like  vanity  in 
me,  and  a  reflection  on  those  who  have  had 
command  of  it.  I  do  assure  your  Lordship  that 
when  I  began  to  exercise  my  fleet  I  never  saw 
such  an  awkwardness  in  going  through  the 
common  manoeuvres  necessary  to  make  an  attack 
upon  an  enemy's  fleet  at  all  ;  what  we  now  do 
in  an  hour,  what  in  the  beginning  took  us  eight, 
which  convinces  me  that  men  never  do  well  that 
zvhich  they  are  not  accustomed  to,  and  frequently 
^practised  in^ 

"  The  captains  excused  themselves,  and  were 
ashamed  to  find  how  little  they  knew  of  their 
duties  in  a  fleet,  and  most  of  them  declared 
tliey  had  never  seen  a  line  of  battle  at  all,  and 
none  of  them  more  than  once.  This  convinces 
me  of  the  necessity  of  having  somebody  under 
me  on  whom  I  can  depend  for  keeping  the  fleet 
in  good  order,  and  in  a  condition  for  service 
when  it  shall  be  wanted,  if  I  am  to  command  it — 
and  for  that  reason  I  should  be  glad  to  see  Rear- 
Admiral  Saunders  in  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks, 
if  his  health  will  allow  of  it,  that  I  might  have 


158  WAR   WITH   FRANCE         [chap,  xiv 

him  with  me  some  time  before  I  leave  the  fleet, 
and  that  it  might  be  kept  in  the  plan  of  discipline 
I  have  formed  for  it,  and  which  is  in  a  great  part 
new.  I  think  your  news  from  North  America 
promises  success,  though  the  French  have  troops 
and  six  large  ships  got  into  port  ;  which  will 
make  the  taking  of  it  of  much  more  consequence. 
But  it  puzzles  me  to  account  for  their  getting 
in  there.  I  shall  sail  early  to-morrow  morning, 
for  nothing  can  be  more  disagreeable  for  a  com- 
manding officer  than  being  a  few  days  in  port, 
in  a  constant  hurry  to  get  the  ships  equipped 
and  ready  for  the  seas.  Though  I  shall  be 
obliged  to  leave  some  ships  behind  me,  whose 
damage  cannot  be  repaired  in  time  to  proceed 
with  me.  I  am  much  disappointed  in  not  having 
had  some  news  from  the  King  of  Prussia,  as  I 
imagined  Abmitza  must  have  fallen  soon  enough 
for  us  to  have  an  account  of  it." 

From  private  letters  it  seems  certain  that 
the  first  working  of  the  new  regime  at  the 
Admiralty  was  not  quite  congenial.  Pitt  took 
too  much  upon  him,  and  ordered  expeditions 
to  the  coast  of  France,  of  which  Anson  did  not 
approve,  and  so  in  some  ways  he  was  not  sorry 
to  go  to  sea.  The  King  had  insisted  on  his 
leaving  his  proxy  at  the  Admiralty,  so  that  he 
practically  carried  on  the  work  there  as  well. 
Directly  he  hoisted  his  flag,  he  got  Sir  Piercy 
Brett  to  go  with  him  as  flag-captain — and  the 
orders  he  received  were  "  to  pursue  such  orders 
as  he  should  receive  from  the  Secretary  of  War." 


1758-9]  AT    LOUISBURG  159 

It   was   at    this  time  that    orders  were   brought 
out   for  the   encouragement  of    seamen,   for  es- 
tablishing  a   regular   method    for    the  frequent 
and     certain     payment    of     their     wages,     for 
enabling    them    more    regularly    to    remit    the 
same  for  the  support  of   their  families,  and  for 
preventing  frauds    and    abuses   attending    such 
payments.     The  greatest  exertions  were  made  in 
the  Naval  Departments  this  year.     The  number 
of   seamen  voted  was   60,000,  including   14,845 
Marines.     Whilst   Anson   was   drilling   the   fleet 
off  Brest,  Boscawen  was  sent  out  with  twenty- 
three  sail  of    the  line,  six  frigates,  and  several 
smaller  vessels  to  try   to   recover   Cape   Breton 
and  Louisburg,   which  liad  been  restored  to  the 
French    at    the    Peace.     Having    assembled    in 
Gab  ares  Bay,  he  ordered  the  frigates  to  cover 
the  disembarkation  of  the  troops,  under  Briga- 
dier Wolfe.     They  were  received  with  a  heavy 
fire,  but  eventually  the  French  fled,  and  aban- 
doned their  works. 

The  French  then  sunk  a  ship  of  the  line,  a 
frigate,  and  two  corvettes  across  the  mouth  of 
the  harbour.  One  of  their  ships  of  the  line 
caught  fire,  and  was  burnt.  Two  other  vessels 
were  also  burnt  by  our  boats.  Two  ships  of  the 
line  still  remained  in  the  harbour,  and  Boscawen 
was  determined  to  destroy  them— so  lie  landed 
600  seamen  in  the  night,  under  Commanders 
Balfour  and  Laforey,  who,  supported  by  tlie  lire 
of     the     ships     and    the    batteries    which    were 


160  WAR  WITH  FRANCE       [chap.  xiv. 

erected,  captured  both  ships.  One  of  them  was 
burnt,  and  the  other  was  towed  off.  Louis- 
burg  then  capitulated.  Boscawen  returned  to 
England. 

It  appears  that  the  French  had  not  heard  of 
the  fall  of  Louisburg,  for  they  were  fitting  out, 
at  Rochefort,  a  large  fleet,  with  some  fifty 
transports,  to  convey  troops  and  stores  to  North 
America. 

Anson,  having  heard  of  this,  ordered  Hawke, 
with  seven  sail  of  the  line  and  three  frigates, 
to  watch  them.  Hawke  arrived  on  April  4,  off 
the  Basque  Roads,  where  he  observed  five  sail 
of  the  line  lying  off  the  Isle  of  Aix,  with  six 
frigates  and  forty  merchant  ships,  with  3,000 
troops  on  board.  On  sighting  Hawke  suddenly, 
they  were  surprised,  and,  cutting  their  cables, 
drifted  up  the  Charente  River,  but  in  doing  so 
many  of  them  stuck  in  the  mud,  whilst  Hawke 
could  not  get  within  gun  shot.  The  French  then, 
by  sending  out  launches  and  heaving  over- 
board guns  and  stones,  dragged  the  ships  up  the 
river.  They  buoyed  their  guns  and  stores, 
but  the  buoys  were  cut  away  by  our  boats.  A 
large  force  of  Marines  was  then  landed,  who 
destroyed  the  works  at  the  Isle  of  Aix,  which 
the  French  had  lately  erected.  This  answered 
the  scheme  which  Frederick  of  Prussia  suggested, 
and  Pitt  advocated,  of  harassing  tlie  French 
coasts,  and  so  drawing  off  their  forces  from  the 
Continent  to  protect  their  coasts. 


1758]     HARASSING    THE    FRENCH    COASTS     161 

The  ships  up  the  Charente  did  not  appear 
again  during  the  war. 

Pitt  did  not  give  up  his  idea  of  harassing 
the  French  coasts,  altliough  the  failure  of  the 
mihtary  part  of  the  expedition  in  Rochefort 
had  to  a  certain  extent  cooled  the  views  of 
others  as  to  their  value.  He  devised  another 
expedition  on  a  large  scale,  and  talked  it  over 
with  Anson — who,  though  he  was  more  in  favour 
of  the  actual  sea  warfare  and  of  destroying  the 
enemy's  ships,  than  of  these  continual  attacks 
on  the  coast,  nevertheless  concealed  his  dislike 
of  them,  and  worked  cordially  and  energetically 
for  their  success.  Two  fleets,  or  squadrons, 
were  to  be  organised.  The  one  of  twenty-two 
ships  of  the  line  and  nine  frigates,  Pitt  requested 
Anson  to  take  under  his  command.  He,  there- 
fore, proceeded  to  hoist  his  flag  on  the  Royal 
George  (100  guns),  with  Sir  Edward  Hawke 
second  in  command.  The  other  squadron  of  one 
ship  of  the  line,  four  50-gun  ships,  ten  frigates, 
five  sloops,  besides  fireships  and  bomb  vessels, 
was  to  be  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Howe,  who  had  been  selected  by  Anson 
as  one  of  those  who  sailed  with  him  on  his 
voyage,  and  who,  he  knew,  would  risk  every- 
thing to  attain  the  object  in  view.  The 
large  fleet  was  to  cruise  off  Brest,  and  cover 
Howe's  expedition.  The  troops  numbered 
14,000,  divided  into  five  brigades,  under  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough.  On  June  1 — a  day 
11 


162  WAR  WITH   FRANCE         [chap,  xiv 

afterwards  to  be    memorable    for   Howe's    vic- 
tory— Anson    made    the    signal    to    weigh,    and 
stood  across  the  Channel.     On  the  morning  of 
the    2nd    Howe's    squadron   was    off   Cape   La 
Hogue,   but  the    weather  was    stormy   and  the 
tide  strong,   so  that   it   was  the   5th   before  he 
reached    Cancale    Bay,    where    it   was    intended 
to   land   the   troops.     Howe   in   the   Success,    a 
vessel  he  had  chosen  for  her  light  draught,  and 
with    three  sloops,    stood  in  for    the  shore    to 
cover    the     disembarkation,    and     silence    the 
battery  which  opposed  the  landing.     The  enemy 
fled,    and    all    the    inhabitants    deserted    their 
houses.     The  Duke  thereupon  ordered  his  troops 
to   proceed   to    St.    Malo,  near   to   which    they 
encamped  ;     but   finding   that    it   was   unlikely 
that  they  could   take  the  place   without  a  pro- 
longed  siege,   and  as  he  had    intelligence  that 
a  large  force  of  troops  was  collecting  to  attack 
him  from  all  parts  of  the  coast,  he  proceeded 
to    destroy    the    ships,    public    buildings,    and 
magazines  filled  with    naval  stores,  which  were 
in  the    suburbs  of    St.    Servand    and    Solidare, 
setting  fire  to  them,  and  creating  such  a  con- 
flagration that  it  blazed  away  all  night. 

Fourteen  ships  of  war,  seventy  merchant 
vessels,  a  large  quantity  of  small  craft,  and 
an  immense  quantity  of  pitch,  oil,  hemp  cord- 
age, and  other  naval  stores  were  destroyed — 
the  value  of  which  was  estimated  at  nearly 
£1,000,000.     The  troops  then  re-embarked,  and 


1758]  HOWE'S    SUCCESS  163 

proceeded,  in  spite  of  the  weather,  to  Havre; 
but  finding  the  enemy  well  prepared,  they  went 
on  to  Cherbourg,  and  here,  just  at  the  moment 
when  everything  was  ready  for  an  attack,  a  gale 
sprung  up,  which  made  it  impossible  to  land, 
and  in  fact  the  transports  were  with  difficulty 
got  safely  out  of  the  roadstead. 

The  forces  were  then  landed  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  and  Howe  was  sent  for,  by  Pitt,  to 
arrange  another  expedition  ;  meanwhile  the  main 
fleet  was  alarming  the  coast  between  Brest  and 
Rochefort  by  its  presence. 

The  Duke  of  Marlborough  did  not  like  these 
filibustering  expeditions,  but  wanted  to  get 
to  the  war  on  the  Continent — so  General  Bligh 
was  appointed  to  take  his  place.  The  expedi- 
tion sailed  on  August  1,  and  anchored  off 
Cherbourg.  On  the  6th,  as  they  found  Cher- 
bourg much  stronger  than  when  they  last 
were  before  it,  Howe  moved  the  squadron  to 
Mauvais  Bay,  where  he  drove  the  French  troops 
from  their  entrenchments,  and  the  British 
troops  were  marched  to  Cherbourg,  which  they 
entered  without  opposition,  the  enemy  retiring 
everywhere  without  offering  any  resistance. 
The  forts  and  works  were  destroyed,  and  all  the 
piers,  basins,  docks,  etc.,  160  guns  and  mortars 
rendered  useless,  and  twenty-two  brass  cannon 
sent  to  England,  where  Pitt  made  a  great  show  of 
them,  having  them  dragged  through  the  town 
to  Woolwich  with  much  pomp  and  ceremony. 


164  WAR   WITH   FRANCE        [chap,  xiv 

The  next  expedition  was  sent  to  Lunaire  Bay 
to  make  an  attack  on  St.  Malo.  After  ex- 
periencing very  stormy  weather,  which  caused 
their  first  attempt  to  fail,  they  succeeded  on 
September  3  in  landing  the  troops  without 
opposition.  The  General,  Commodore  Howe, 
and  Prince  Edward  of  York  proceeded  to  re- 
connoitre St.  Malo.  On  account  of  the  gales, 
which  made  it  unsafe  to  keep  the  ships  in  the 
roadstead,  they  gave  up  the  attack  on  St.  Malo 
and  proceeded  to  St.  Cas,  the  troops  marching 
along  the  coast  to  that  place.  They  were  re- 
peatedly harassed  by  the  enemies'  forces  con- 
cealed in  the  woods ;  and  on  arrival  at  St. 
Cas  it  was  ascertained  that  10,000  troops  were 
assembled  on  the  heights  under  the  Due  d'Aiguil- 
lon.  The  French  waited  until  all  the  English 
soldiers  except  the  rearguard  were  embarked ; 
and  then  attacked,  bringing  their  field  pieces 
to  bear.  A  great  slaughter  ensued,  both  on 
the  beach  and  in  the  boats,  though  the  ships 
did  their  best  to  protect  them.  500  soldiers  were 
taken  prisoners  and  200  killed,  amongst  whom 
were  General  Drury,  and  many  other  officers, 
whereas  Lord  I^rederick  Cavendish,  Captain 
Rowley,  Mapledon  Paston,  Elphinstone,  and 
Captain  Duff  of  the  Navy  were  taken  prisoners. 
This  was  the  unfortunate  ending  of  Pitt's 
expeditions,  but  they  had  the  effect  he  intended, 
of  alarming  the  French  on  the  coasts  and 
drawing  away  troops  from  Germany. 


1758]        ADMIRAL  SAUNDERS  ARRIVES  165 

Soon  after  Anson  arrived  off  Brest,  Sir  Edward 
Hawke  was  taken  ill  with  fever,  probably,  as 
is  seen  from  letters,  a  great  deal  owing  to  his 
chagrin  in  having  Howe  working,  and  getting 
all  the  reward,  on  the  station  which  properly 
belonged  to  him  ;  and  one  cannot  but  sym- 
pathise with  him,  for  he  behaved  well  under 
most  trying  circumstances.  On  July  19  Anson 
returned  to  Plymouth  to  water,  and  sailed  again 
on  the  22nd,  Admiral  Saunders  joining  at  the  end 
of  August,  and  they  continued  their  cruising 
off  Brest  till  the  middle  of  September.  Anson 
then,  with  the  greater  part  of  the  squadron, 
returned  to  England,  and  Admiral  Saunders 
was  left  in  command.  Saunders  remained 
cruising  till  the  middle  of  December,  when  he 
returned  to  Portsmouth.  Little  is  said  of  the 
deeds  of  the  cruising  squadron,  for,  besides 
covering  the  coastal  expeditions,  it  effected  the 
capture  of  many  good  ships.  Captain  Dennis  of 
the  Dorsetshire,  of  Centurion  renown,  after  a 
close  engagement  of  two  hours,  captured  the 
Raisonnable  (64,  with  630  men),  commanded  by 
the  Prince  de  Montbazon,  Chevalier  de  Rohan. 
She  was  a  fine  ship,  just  built,  and  was  added 
to  our  Navy. 


CHAPTER    XV 

QUIBERON   AND    QUEBEC 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1758  France  was  very 

much  depressed  by  her  failures  on  the  Continent. 

She  was  harassed  by  the  blockade  of  her  coasts 

and  the  constant  attacks   on   her  coast  ports  ; 

and   finding   out   that   her  finances   would   not 

support  the   Continental   war  and  at  the  same 

time  a  maritime  war,  determined  on  attacking 

England.     Her  commerce,  owing  to  the  activity 

of  our  Navy,  was  practically  destroyed,  whilst 

ours  throve  and  flourished,  and  by  our  subsidies 

to    her     enemies    on     the    Continent     she    had 

suffered   much.      Louis   XV.   called   to   his   aid 

Choiseul,   an  active  Minister,   who  commenced 

preparations  to  attack   England  ;  and  an  army 

of    50,000    men    was    prepared    early    in    1759, 

to  be  transported   across   in   flat   boats,   which 

were   being   actively   prepared   at  the   ports   of 

Rochefort,   Brest,  and  Dunkirk.     At   the   same 

time  it  was  intended  that   12,000  men  should 

be  landed  in  Scotland. 

Two  squadrons  were  fitted  out,  one  at  Brest 

and    the    other    at    Toulon.     That    these    two 

squadrons  should  join  was  the  first  move,  but 

16§ 


1759]  BOSCAWEN'S    ACTIONS  167 

Anson  had  long  ago  decided  that  their  junction 

must  be  stopped,  as  we  read  in  his  letters  to 

the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Boscawen  commanded 

in    the    Mediterranean,    and    was    never    found 

wanting    in    an    emergency.     Having   made   an 

attack   on   some  vessels   in  the  Toulon   Roads, 

in  which  some  of  his  vessels  were  damaged,  he 

sent   them   to   Gibraltar   to   refit.     De   la   Clue 

immediately   sailed    from    Toulon    with    twelve 

ships   of   the  line,   and   on   August   17,   with   a 

fair  wind,  was  bowling  along  through  the  straits. 

A  thick  haze  and  a  dark  night  favoured  him, 

but  he  was  discovered  by  an  English  frigate, 

which  immediately   on  sighting   him  steered  in 

to  the  shore,  and   fired   signal   guns  to  inform 

Boscawen  of  the  fact  that  the  French  were  out. 

De   la   Clue  then  at  once  steered  for  the  open 

sea,  with  all  lights  out,  thinking  to  escape  ;  but 

for  some   reason   or   another   five   ships   during 

the  night   bore   away  to  Cadiz,  so  that  in  the 

morning    de    la    Clue    had    only    seven    ships 

with  him.     At  8  a.m.  Boscawen's  look-out  ships 

were  sighted,  and  they  made  all  sail  to  escape, 

but  the  same  tactics  were   employed  as  those 

started  by  Anson  at  Finisterre  (in  which  action 

Boscawen  was  captain  of  the  Namur) — a  general 

chase,  in  which  the  swiftest  of    our  ships  came 

up  with  the  slowest  of  the  enemy.     M.  de  Sabran 

made  a  notable  defence,  for  though  his  was  the 

rear  ship  he  defended  her  for  five  hours  whilst 

surrounded  by   four   of  our  ships,  and  did  not 


168  QUIBERON   AND    QUEBEC     [chap,  xv 

strike  until  his  ship  was  so  full  of  water  that 
she  was  with  difficulty  kept  afloat  and  his 
three  topmasts  were  shot  away.  So  nobly  had 
he  acted,  that  two  of  the  French  ships  escaped 
to  sea — and  the  French  commodore,  as  he  hoped 
to  escape  capture,  ran  his  remaining  four  ships 
on  shore  on  the  coast  of  Portugal  ;  but  here 
Boscawen,  disregarding  the  neutrality  of  the 
Portuguese,  captured  two  and  burnt  the  other 
two.  This  action  was  a  serious  blow  to  Choiseul ; 
but  he  still  clung  to  the  plan  of  sending  troops 
to  Scotland. 

In  the  meantime,  Conflans,  with  twenty  ships 
of  the  line  besides  frigates,  was  at  Brest,  in- 
tending to  seek  an  action  with  Hawke,  so  as  to 
allow  the  transports  to  proceed.  A  tremendous 
gale  coming  on,  Hawke  had  to  take  refuge  in  Tor 
Bay  on  November  5.  Conflans,  having  ascer- 
tained this  absence  of  the  blockading  fleet,  slipped 
out  of  Brest,  and  stood  to  the  south.  But 
Hawke  was  not  ignorant  of  his  movements,  and 
after  two  trials  to  get  to  sea  he  at  last  suc- 
ceeded, on  the  14th,  in  sailing  with  the  gale  after 
Conflans  straight  for  Quiberon,  for  which  place 
he  knew  Conflans  was  probably  bound. 

Commodore  Duff,  who  was  blockading  Quiberon , 
on  being  sighted  by  Conflans,  separated  his  squad- 
ron, one  division  flying  before  the  wind  with  as 
much  canvas  as  they  could  carry.  The  French 
gave  chase,  but  almost  immediately  afterwards 
the  French  and  English  fleets  sighted  one  another, 


n 
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1759]  QUIBERON  169 

Conflans  was  astonished  to  find  that  twenty- 
three  sail  were  in  sight — some  of  them  three- 
deckers — making  straight  for  him,  with  twenty- 
one  sail  only  ;  and  besides  that,  Commodore  Duff's 
squadron  of  four  sail  of  the  line  was  about  to  join 
the  English  fleet.  A  westerly  gale  was  blowing, 
with  a  lee-shore  ;  so  Conflans  determined  to 
run  for  Quiberon  harbour.  Studded  as  it  was 
with  rocks  and  shoals,  he  deemed  that  Hawke 
would  not  follow  ;  but  he  mistook  his  man. 
Here  was  Hawke's  opportunity  at  last  ;  and  the 
account  of  the  action  is  one  on  which  every 
Englishman  likes  to  dwell.  Hawke  was  con- 
fident in  his  captains ;  he  knew  where  there  was 
water  for  a  French  ship  there  was  water  also  for 
an  English  ship,  and  he  led  his  fleet  in  before 
that  westerly  gale.  Night  coming  on,  fifteen 
of  their  twenty-one  ships  escaped,  seven  going  up 
the  Vilaine  River  at  the  top  of  high  water, 
from  which  place  they  were  never  more  to 
trouble  us,  while  eight  arrived  safely  in  Roche- 
fort.  Of  the  other  seven  which  were  taken 
and  destroyed,  two  sank  from  opening  their 
lower  deck  ports  to  fire  their  guns,  one  struck 
to  Hawke's  ship,  two  were  wrecked,  and  after- 
wards burnt. 

Hawke  had  accomplished  a  great  deal.  It 
was  a  noble  ending  to  his  career,  and  a  reward 
for  all  his  hardships.  The  chances  of  any  attack 
on  our  coasts  vanished  with  the  destruction 
of  this  fleet. 


170  QUIBERON   AND   QUEBEC     [chap,  xv 

Hawke  in  reporting  the  action,  and  the 
loss  of  two  EngHsh  ships  which  were  wrecked, 
says  : 

"  When  I  consider  the  season  of  the  year, 
the  hard  gales  of  wind  on  that  day  of  action, 
a  flying  enemy,  the  shortness  of  the  day,  and 
the  coast  we  were  on,  I  can  boldly  affirm  that 
all  that  could  possibly  be  done  has  been  done. 
As  to  the  loss  we  have  sustained,  let  it  be  placed 
to  the  account  of  the  necessity  I  was  under 
of  running  all  risks  to  break  the  strong  force  of 
the  enemy.  Had  we  had  two  hours  more  daylight, 
the  whole  had  been  totally  destroyed  or  taken, 
for  we  were  almost  up  with  their  van  when 
night  overtook  us." 

Sir    Edward  Hawke  sent  his  captain  (Camp- 
bell) home  with  the  news  of  the  victory.     The 
joy  of   all  the  nation  was  very  great,  for  they 
knew  all  chance  of  invasion  was  at  an  end  ;   and 
they   celebrated    it    with   bonfires   and   general 
rejoicings.     On   Campbell's   arrival   at  the  Ad- 
miralty, Anson  took  him  in  his  carriage  to  the 
King.     He  was  a  blunt  Scotchman,  and  when 
Anson  said  to  him,  "  The  King  will  knight  you, 
he  answered,  "  I  ken  noe  use  that  will  be  to  me. 
"  But    your    lady    may    like    it,"    said    Anson. 
"  Weel,  then,"  rejoined  Campbell,  "  His  Majesty 
may  knight  her  if  he  pleases."     (Campbell  be- 
came  flag-captain   to   Keppel,   who   was   much 


5) 
55 


1759]  SAUNDERS    AND    QUEBEC  171 

attached   to   him.)     The    King   gave    him    £500 
and  a  sword. 

On  Hawke  appearing  in  his  place  in  Parha- 
ment,  he  received  the  thanks  of  the  House  of 
Commons  in  a  long  speech — ^to  which  he  returned 
thanks  in  a  speech  as  modest  and  short  as  the 
other  was  pompous  and  long.  The  King  gave 
him  a  pension  of  £2,000  a  year  for  himself  and 
his  sons,  and  thanked  him  warmly  for  his 
great  services  to  the  country. 

Whilst  we  have  been  narrating  Hawke's  ad- 
ventures, things  were  not  standing  still  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  for  Admiral  Sir  Charles 
Saunders  had  been  despatched  in  the  Neptune 
(90  guns)  to  America,  to  take  charge  of  the  fleet. 
He  was  to  proceed  with  Major- General  Wolfe, 
who  was  selected  to  command  the  troops,  and 
to  attack  and  take  Quebec. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  jealousy  in  the 
Army  at  so  young  a  general  as  Wolfe  being 
selected,  but  so  there  had  been  in  the  Navy 
when  Anson  selected  Hawke  over  the  heads  of 
many  others  to  command  the  fleet  ;  but  both 
selections  were  justified  by  the  results. 

On  June  1  the  expedition  left  Louisburg, 
and  on  the  23rd  the  whole  fleet  got  up  to  the 
island  of  Codre  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence, 
where  they  were  joined  by  Rear-Admiral  Durell 
and  his  squadron. 

They  then  proceeded  up  the  St.  Lawrence, 
to  the  Isle  of  Orleans, 


172  QUIBERON   AND   QUEBEC     [chap,  xv 

General  Monckton  took  up  a  post  at  Point 
Levis,  to  dislodge  the  enemy.  The  enemy  sent 
down  rafts  and  fire-ships  to  destroy  our  ships, 
but  they  were  all  towed  clear.  Wolfe  took  his 
troops  across  the  river — protected  by  the  Por- 
cupine, Lieutenant  Jervis  (afterwards  Lord 
St.  Vincent) — and  made  a  descent  on  the  north 
shore.  The  whole  expedition  depended  on  our 
sea  power,  on  our  ability  to  prevent  any  suc- 
cours arriving  for  the  enemy  up  the  river ; 
and  whilst  cutting  him  off  from  his  supplies,  at 
the  same  time  to  threaten  him  with  attacks, 
first  at  one  point,  and  then  at  another,  by  our 
free  passage  of  the  river. 

Sir  Charles  Saunders  in  his  report  to  Pitt  says  : 

"  The  enemy  appear  to  be  numerous,  and  to 
be  strongly  posted ;  but  let  the  event  be  what  it 
will,  we  shall  remain  here  as  long  as  the  season 
will  permit  ;  in  order  to  prevent  their  detaching 
troops  from  hence  against  General  Amherst. 
The  town  of  Quebec  is  not  habitable,  being 
almost  entirely  burnt  and  destroyed.  I  should 
have  written  to  you  sooner  from  hence,  but 
while  my  despatches  were  preparing.  General 
Wolfe  was  taken  very  ill ;  he  has  been  better 
since,  but  is  still  pretty  out  of  order.'* 

Wolfe's  illness  made  the  troops  as  uneasy  as 
did  the  despatches  the  people  in  England ;  but 
on  recovering,  he  found  Saunders  as  deter- 
mined and  active  as  ever,  and  they  formed 
plans   for   striking  the   decisive   blow.     On  the 


ADMIRAL    SIR    CHARLES    SAUNDERS. 


p.    172 


1759]  FALL    OF    QUEBEC  173 

morning  of  August  13  the  armies  of  Wolfe  and 
Montcalm  were  in  motion.  The  French  began 
to  fire,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  close  to  the 
English  troops,  when  the  fire  of  the  English, 
reserved  till  then,  told  with  such  efi'ect  that  the 
enem}^  gave  way,  and  our  men  pursued  them 
with  fixed  bayonets.  General  Wolfe  fell  at  the 
head  of  his  men,  and  Montcalm  (also  mortally 
wounded)  was  carried  off  the  field.  Before  he 
died  he  wrote  to  tlie  French  King,  saying 
that  his  only  consolation  in  losing  Canada  was 
that,  having  no  enemy  in  America,  the  English 
colonists  would  in  time  separate  from  the 
mother  country,  their  interests  being  different, 
and  their  want  of  help  being  no  longer  an  in- 
ducement to  loyalty.     His  prophecy  came  true. 

General  Townsend  very  handsomely  acknow- 
ledged Saunders's  share  in  the  final  victory. 
In  a  letter  to  Pitt  he  says  : 

"  I  should  not  do  justice  to  the  admirals, 
and  the  Naval  service,  if  I  neglected  this  occasion 
of  acknowledging  how  much  we  are  indebted 
for  our  success  to  the  constant  assistance  and 
support  received  from  them,  and  the  perfect 
harmony  and  correspondence  which  have  pre- 
vailed throughout  all  our  operations  In  the 
common  difficulties  which  the  nature  of  this 
country  in  particular  presents  to  military  opera- 
tions, and  which  no  army  of  itself  can  solely 
supply.  And  in  the  immense  labour  in  artillery, 
stores,  and  provisions,  the  long  watching,  and 
attacking  in  boats,  the  drawing  up  the  hills  of  an 


174  QUIBERON   AND    QUEBEC     [chap,  xv 

artillery  by  the  seamen,  even  in  the  heat  of  action. 
It  is  my  duty  to  acknowledge  for  that  time  how 
great  a  share  the  Navy  has  had  in  this  successful 
campaign." 

Sir  Charles  Saunders,  on  returning  to  England, 
heard  in  the  chops  of  the  Channel  that  M. 
de  Conflans  had  put  to  sea  in  great  force. 
He  immediately  shaped  his  course  to  help 
Hawke,  instead  of  returning,  as  he  might  have 
done,  to  share  the  rewards  being  given  ;  but 
finding  that  Conflans  had  met  his  defeat  already, 
he  then  returned  to  England.  Pitt,  in  his 
panegyric  over  the  victory  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  drew  particular  attention  to  Admiral 
Saunders  and  his  merits.  Even  Walpole  says  : 
"  Admiral  Saunders  was  a  pattern  of  most  steady 
bravery,  united  with  most  unaffected  modesty. 
No  man  said  less,  or  deserved  more.  Sim- 
plicity in  his  manners,  generosity,  and  good 
nature  adorned  his  genuine  love  of  his  country." 
Jervis,  who  was  the  son  of  a  neighbour  of 
Anson's  in  Staffordshire,  and  who  afterwards 
became  Lord  St.  Vincent,  having  been  given  a 
commission  as  a  lieutenant  by  Anson  in  1755, 
had  been  placed  under  the  care  of  Saunders,  his 
old  shipmate,  and  was  present  in  this  under- 
taking  and  the   capture   of   Quebec. 

As  a  mark  of  approval,  and  reward,  for  those 
officers  who  had  lately  distinguished  themselves, 
Lord  Anson  instituted,  with  His  Majesty's  ap- 
proval, appointments  to  the  Marines,  carrying 


1759]  DEATH    OF    BOSCAWEN  175 

substantial  emoluments.  Boscawen  was  made 
General  of  Marines,  Saunders  Lieutenant-General, 
Sir  Piercy  Brett,  Keppel,  and  Howe  Colonels. 

Our  successes  were  not  confined  only  to 
the  Channel  and  America  ;  for  after  repeated 
hard-fought  and  undecisive  actions  in  India 
between  those  great  and  brilliant  admirals, 
Pocock  and  d'Ache,  the  latter  eventually  gave 
up  the  contest,  and  abandoned  India ;  Commo- 
dore Moore  was  successful  against  Guade- 
loupe ;  the  islands  of  Mariegalante,  the  Saints, 
Descade,  and  Petit  Terre  soon  after  fell  to  our 
arms. 

On  February  6,  1760,  Admiral  Boscawen  sailed 
from  Plymouth  ;  but  getting  into  a  terrific  gale, 
the  Ramillies  was  lost,  and  the  whole  fleet  re- 
turned into  port  much  disabled.  After  refitting, 
he  got  to  sea  again,  to  keep  watch  off  the  French 
coast ;  here  he  remained  till  August,  when  he  gave 
up  the  command  to  Sir  Edward  Hawke,  and  in 
an  impaired  state  of  health  returned  to  England. 
In  him,  soon  after,  the  country  lost  one  of  the 
most  gallant  and  accomplished  officers  of  that 
time.     He  was  only  fifty  years  of  age. 

An  expedition  was  fitting  out  to  be  sent,  under 
Keppel,  to  attack  Belleisle,  when  the  sudden 
news  arrived  of  the  King's  death,  aged  seventy- 
seven,  which  caused  this  expedition  to  be 
abandoned. 

After  Boscawen  had  left  Canada  and  returned 
to  England,  Lord  Colville  was  left  in  command  of 


176  QUIBERON   AND    QUEBEC     [chap,  xv 

the  ships,  and  Lord  Amherst  in  command  of  the 
troops. 

On  September  8  Montreal  and  all  Canada 
surrendered.     Anson  writes  to  Lord  Hardwicke  : 

"  Admiralty,  October  5,   1760. 

"  I  am  glad  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  send 
you  the  good  news  of  our  being  in  possession  of 
Montreal  and  all  Canada,  which  surrendered 
by  capitulation  to  General  Amherst  on  Sep- 
tember 7 — the  French  troops,  to  be  all  trans- 
ported at  the  French  King's  expense,  and  not  to 
serve  again  in  the  war.  There  were  few  men 
lost,  the  enemy  having  made  little  resistance, 
either  at  Montreal  or  Isle  au  Moi.  Lord  Col- 
ville's  letter  was  dated  September  12.  It  is 
an  amazing  quick  passage  the  officer  has  made, 
having  been  only  twenty  days  from  Montreal." 

In  1761  it  was  known  to  Mr.  Pitt  that  France 
was  drawing  Spain  into  the  war,  and  as  M. 
Bussy,  the  French  Minister,  tried  to  put  into  our 
treaty,  which  we  were  negotiating,  some  stipula- 
tions with  regard  to  Spain,  and  refused  to  with- 
draw them,  Pitt  was  in  favour  of  declaring 
war  against  Spain,  who  was  apparently  only 
waiting  for  the  arrival  of  her  treasure  ships  to 
join  in  the  war  against  us.  The  rest  of  the 
Government  would  not  consent  to  the  war ; 
upon  which  Pitt  resigned,  stating  in  the  House 
of  Commons — "  I  was  called  to  the  administra- 
tion of  affairs  by  the   voice  of  the  people  ;    to 


r 


THE    SQUADRON    OF    YACHTS    UNDER    THE    COMMAND    OF    LORD    ANSON 
BRINGING    FROM    STADE    THE    FUTURE    QUEEN    OF    GEORGE    III. 


—nr       *t-|-i     ilfiTa  i" 

AllKlVAl.    Ol-'    THE    SQUADRON     Al'    ilAKWIClI. 


p.   1701 


1761-2]  ANSON'S    LAST    SERVICE  177 

them  I  have  always  considered  myself  account- 
able for  my  conduct,  and  cannot  therefore 
continue  in  a  situation  which  makes  me  respon- 
sible for  measures  I  am  no  longer  enabled  to 
guide."  The  Earl  of  Egmont  succeeded  him, 
and  on  January  4,  1762,  war  was  declared  against 
Spain,  which  the  Government  could  no  longer 
refrain  from  doing,  although  they  were  so 
anxious  for  peace. 

On  July  8,  1761,  Anson  was  ordered  by  King 
George  III.  to  prepare  a  squadron  of  ships  of 
war,  and  to  hoist  his  flag  and  proceed  to  Stade, 
to  bring  over  Princess  Charlotte  of  Mecklenburg- 
Strelitz,  whom  he  was  about  to  take  as  his 
Queen.  The  Royal  Caroline  yacht  was  prepared, 
renamed  the  Royal  Charlotte,  and  Captain  Den- 
nis appointed  to  command  her.  The  squadron 
consisted  of  all  the  yachts,  the  Winchester  (50), 
Nottingham  (60),  Minerva,  and  Tartar.  After  a 
very  stormy  passage,  the  squadron  arrived 
with  Her  Majesty — the  Standard  at  the  main. 
Admiralty  flag  at  the  fore,  and  the  Union  of  the 
Admiral  of  the  Fleet  at  the  mizen. 

It  was  a  fitting  end  to  Anson's  career.  Ac- 
companied by  numbers  of  yachts,  the  squadron 
anchored.  At  sunset  his  flag  was  hauled  down ; 
the  end  of  his  sea  career  had  come.  His  duties 
at  the  Admiralty  were  not  finished,  but  he  was 
never  to  step  on  board  a  man-of-war  again.  He 
left  the  life  and  sea  service  that  he  loved,  and 
was  now  only  to  see  the  results  of  his  labours- — 
12 


178  QUIBERON   AND   QUEBEC     [chap,  xv 

the  success  of  his  plans  and  the  victories  of  our 
arms.  He  had  guided  our  country  through 
stormy  times — times  of  pohtical  trouble,  times 
of  defeat,  and  times  of  occasional  darkness  ;  but 
all  through  his  steady,  quiet  preparations  and 
organisation  were  working  for  that  grand  result, 
the  triumph  of  our  sea  power,  and  by  that  the 
formation  of  our  Empire.  Pitt,  then  Lord 
Chatham,  speaking  in  the  House  of  Lords,  said 
in  1770: 

"  I  draw  my  information  from  the  greatest 
and  most  respectable  naval  authority  that  has 
ever  existed  in  this  country.  I  mean  the  late 
Lord  Anson.  To  his  wisdom,  to  his  experience 
and  care  (and  I  speak  it  with  pleasure)  the 
nation  owes  the  glorious  successes  of  the  last 
war." 

But  though  his  career  at  sea  is  finished,  we 
must  gather  up  the  threads  of  his  work  at  the 
Admiralty  for  the  last  year  of  his  active  life. 

On  March  5  Pocock,  who  had  just  returned 
from  the  West  Indies,  was  sent  with  nineteen 
ships  of  the  line  and  15,000  soldiers  to  attack 
Havanah.  He  was  furnished  with  plans  in 
Anson's  possession  of  how  to  proceed  by  a  short 
route  through  the  Channel  between  the  islands, 
and  thus  to  take  the  place  by  surprise.  Four- 
teen sail  of  the  line  were  destroyed  in  harbour. 
Lord  Albemarle  in  his  despatch  says : 

"  Sir  George  Pocock  and  Commodore  Keppel 
have  exerted  themselves   in  a   most   particular 


a 


X.  il 


Z    •=■: 


.  ■   X 
■^   Z 


S5 


—  1^ 


2 

o 


2 

o 


1762]  SUCCESSES  179 

manner,  and  I  venture  to  say  that  there  never 
was  a  joint  undertaking  carried  on  with  more 
harmony  and  zeal  on  both  sides,  which  greatly 
contributed  to  the  success  of  it." 

Sir  George  Pocock  writes  to  Lord  Anson  : 

"  Nothing  will  give  me  greater  pleasure  than 
to  acquaint  your  Lordship  with  the  reduction 
of  Havanah.  It  is  certain  Lord  Albemarle 
exerts  himself  to  the  utmost,  and  is  indefatigable. 
Commodore  Keppel  has  been  extremely  service- 
able in  the  direction  of  affairs  under  his  inspection, 
and  merits  reward." 

Vice- Admiral  Cornish  and  Sir  William  Draper 
were  ordered  to  make  an  attack  on  Manilla, 
which  Anson  from  his  experiences  probably  knew 
how  to  attack  better  than  any  one  else.  The 
Spaniards  had  not  heard  of  the  war.  Manilla 
was  captured.  Admiral  Cornish  was  made  a 
baronet.  He  writes  to  Lord  Anson,  "  It  affords 
me  the  most  sensible  pleasure  to  congratulate 
you  on  the  success  of  His  Majesty's  arms  in 
Manilla  with  its  dependencies." 

On  January  5  Rodney  sailed  from  Barbados 
with  14,000  troops  under  General  Monckton,  and 
captured  Martinique,  and  Commodore  Swanton 
captured  St.  Lucia,  Granada,  and  St.  Vincent. 

A  French  squadron  of  15,000  troops  had  cap- 
tured St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  upon  which 
Lord  Colville  proceeded  from  Halifax,  N.S.,  and 
recaptured   it,   making  prisoners  of  war  of  the 


180  QUIBERON   AND   QUEBEC     [chap,  xv 

French  troops.  The  Honnoise  was  captured 
by  Sir  Edward  Hawke's  cruisers  with  £519,700, 
the  share  of  each  heutenant,  as  prize  money, 
being  £13,000  and  each  seaman  £485. 

Lord  Anson  did  not  Hve  to  see  the  fulfilment 
of  all  his  plans — for  he  never  received  the  letters 
from  Pocock,  or  from  Cornish.  He  was  taken 
ill  after  hauling  his  flag  down,  and  shortly 
after,  on  returning  from  Bath  to  Moor  Park, 
complained  of  feeling  ill,  and  lying  down,  death 
ensued.  It  was  June  6,  1762.  He  was  buried 
at  Colwich  in  his  own  county  of  Stafford. 

The  preliminaries  of  peace  were  signed  at 
Fontainebleau  on  November  3,  1762,  and  thus 
ended  the  Seven  Years'  War. 

Lady  Anson  had  died  just  two  years  before, 
and  her  loss  to  him  was  irreparable.  Very 
accomplished,  and  entering  into  all  his  love  for 
his  profession  and  for  his  country,  she  carried 
on  a  great  deal  of  his  correspondence.  Letters 
to  Anson  are  numerous.  His  letters  are  few ; 
though  he  wrote  on  the  one  subject  that  en- 
grossed his  thoughts,  "  the  sea  power  of  England,'* 
a  great  deal,  they  were  letters  that  were  more 
of  the  character  of  orders,  and  not  his  thoughts, 
which  he  kept  much  to  himself  until  they 
matured  into  actions. 

On  his  death,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  who 
owed  much  to  his  work,  and  did  not  bear  any 
ill-will  to  Anson  for  his  opposition  to  his  political 
JQbbery,  wrote  to  Anson's  brother  : 


1762]  NEWCASTLE'S    LETTER  181 

"  Clakemont,  June  9,   1762. 

•'  Sir, 

*'  A  very  great  regard  which  I  had  for  my 
Lord  Anson,  and  for  the  friendship  with  which 
he  honoured  me  for  years,  will,  I  hope,  be  my 
excuse  for  the  liberty  I  take  in  most  sincerely 
condoling  with  you  for  his  loss— a  loss  which 
the  public  will  feel  as  much  as  his  friends,  for 
there  never  was  a  more  able,  a  more  upright,  or  a 
more  useful  servant  to  his  King  and  country^  or 
a  more  sincere  or  valuable  friend.  Nobody  can 
be  more  sensible  of  his  loss  than  I  am,  or  more 
desirous  to  show  all  possible  respect  and  regard 
to  his  memory. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  great  truth 
and  respect, 

*'  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 
"  HoLLEs  Newcastle. 

**  Thomas  Anson,  Esq." 


CHAPTER    XVI 

Anson's  Life  and    Character 

In  concluding  the  Life  of  Lord  Anson,  I  would 
begin  by  quoting  Corbett^  in  his  "  Seven  Years' 
War."     In  alluding  to  Anson  he  says  of  him  : 

"  If  power  of  organisation  is  shown  at  its 
highest  by  working  impossibihties  with  im- 
possible material,  Anson  had  revealed  it  in 
that  famous  voyage  into  the  South  Seas  which 
was  the  foundation  of  his  fame.  It  won  him 
a  seat  on  the  Board  of  Admiralty,  and  indeed 
more,  for  when  Lord  Sandwich  became  First 
Lord  in  1748  Anson  was  practically  allowed 
to  exercise  all  the  power.  His  abilities  were 
by  no  means  confined  to  administration.  During 
his  command  of  the  Channel  Fleet,  which  ended 
in  his  well-planned  annihilation  of  de  la  Jon- 
quiere's  squadron  off  Finisterre  in  1747,  he  had 
initiated  important  reforms  in  tactics.  In  the 
early  years  of  that  war  the  Line  had  reached 
its  depth  of  rigid  formation,  and  all  progress 
seemed  to  be  arrested  until  Anson  made  his 
genius  felt.  Amongst  other  improvements  in 
tactics  he  introduced  the  '  Line  of  Bearing,' 
a  hitherto  unknown  formation  upon  which  the 

^  Seven  Years'  War,  by  Julian  Corbett,  p.  35. 

182 


1762]  HIS    WORK  183 

nicer  manipulations  of  the  Line  have  been 
based  ever  since,  and  he  started  the  famous 
'  System  of  Additional  Fighting  Instructions  ' 
which  rendered  it  possible  for  English  tactics 
to  shake  off  the  pernicious  influence  which 
they  had  exhibited  under  Mathews  in  the 
Mediterranean. 

"  His  reforms  at  the  Admiralty  were  sweeping 
and  active.  The  Articles  of  War  which  lasted 
in  force  till  1865  were  started  by  him.  The 
Royal  Marines  as  they  now  exist  owe  their 
origin  to  him. 

"  Anson  was  the  originator  of  the  well-adapted 
combination  of  land  and  sea  forces,  and  the 
method  of  employing  them  was  the  strategy 
that  he  advocated,  and  which  Pitt  approved. 

"  In  his  voyage  to  the  South  Seas  he  proved 
that  he  was  an  exceedingly  brave  man  morally 
and  physically,  and  a  man  of  firm  nerves  and 
of  great  resources  in  time  of  need. 

"  His  log  and  instructions  in  that  voyage 
are  a  model  of  painstaking  care.  His  volun- 
teering to  leave  the  Admiralty  at  a  time  when 
the  nation  was  dissatisfied  at  nothing  having 
been  done  for  the  first  two  years  of  the  war, 
and  to  hoist  his  flag  and  assume  the  command 
of  the  fleet,  to  intercept  the  combined  squadrons 
assembled  in  port — a  step  that  could  have  only 
been  taken  to  assure  the  country  at  that  critical 
juncture — show  a  readiness  of  resource  and 
great  appreciation  of  the  necessities  of  the 
moment.  It  was  all  well  planned  and  well 
executed. 

"  Under   his   care  as  First   Lord,    the    Navy 


184  ANSON'S   CHARACTER        [chap,  xvi 

attained  a  pitch  of  power  and  pre-eminence 
to  which  it  had  never  before  arrived.  France 
and  Spain  as  sea  powers  were  swept  off  the 
seas.  The  trade  of  England  increased  every 
year  of  the  war,  and  such  a  scene  of  national 
prosperity  while  waging  a  long,  costly,  and 
strenuous  war,  a  war  of  hard  fighting,  was  never 
before  shown  by  any  people  of  the  world." 

Mahan  says  : 

*'  The  gains  of  England  in  the  Seven  Years' 
War  were  very  great — not  only  in  territorial 
increase,  nor  yet  in  maritime  preponderance, 
but  in  the  prestige  and  position  achieved  in  the 
eyes  of  the  nations,  now  fully  alive  to  her 
great  resources  and  mighty  power.  These 
results  were  won  by  the  sea." 

Our  best  way  of  judging  Anson  is  by  the 
confidence  he  engendered  in  all  the  politicians, 
of  whatever  hue,  with  whom  he  was  connected. 

The  Duke  of  Bedford  and  Lord  Sandwich 
entrusted  him  with  the  complete  management 
when  he  was  a  junior  member  of  the  Board, 
and  gave  him  a  perfectly  free  hand,  assuring 
him  that  they  should  consider  his  acts  as  their 
own  and  were  ready  and  willing  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  responsibility  of  his  actions. 
In  fact,  he  was  in  all  respects  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty  except  in  name.  With  his  great 
experience  in  the  defects  of  our  ships  (which 
were  deplorably  bad),  he  set  to  work  to 
remedy    them.     The    ships    were    of    too    little 


1762]  APPRECIATION  185 

beam,  too  fine  in  the  bows,  so  that  their  pitching 
and  rolhng  caused  the  loss  of  their  masts.  They 
were  much  inferior  to  the  French.  Speed  he 
recognised  as  the  great  quahty  whicii  was 
desired  in  our  ships,  consistent  with  their 
being  good  sea-boats,  and  good  gun  platforms. 
To  catch  the  enemy,  to  keep  the  sea,  and  to 
fight  their  guns,  in  all  weathers  were,  in  fact, 
the  three  chief  desiderata.  The  speed  depended 
a  great  deal  on  the  cleanliness  of  the  bottoms, 
and  in  1762  the  Alarm  frigate  was  coppered. 
It  was  not  altogether  a  success  at  first,  but  it 
was  the  most  valuable  alteration  and  improve- 
ment possible.  Pepys  had  advocated  lead 
sheeting,  but  nothing  was  done  until  Anson 
carried  out  this  improvement.  In  the  earlier 
part  of  the  book  I  have  shown  what  were  his 
improvements  in  the  class  of  vessels  built,  and 
in  the  origination  of  the  frigate  as  a  separate 
class,  but  these  are  the  chief  improvements 
in  the  materiel.  Now  as  to  the  spirit  he 
started  and  handed  on  to  our  service.  He 
improved  the  conditions  and  prospects  of  the 
officers  and  men  enormously.  He  himself  was 
so  modest  and  so  simple  in  his  manners,  and, 
though  holding  a  seat  in  the  House,  so  seldom 
spoke,  that  he  set  the  example,  so  necessary 
to  our  service,  of  "  The  Great  Silent  Navy," 
always  ready,  always  alert,  clear  of  all 
politics — seeking  knowledge  in  times  of  peace 
in  order  to  be  ready  in  time  of  war.     Experience 


186  ANSON'S  CHARACTER        [chap,  xvi 

at  sea,  only,  can  teach  a  sea  life  in  all  its 
various  requirements.  We  do  not  want  talking 
officers  or  men. 

Words  are  like  leaves,  and  where  these  most  abound, 
Much  fruit  of  common  sense  is  seldom  found  ; 
Common  sense,  which  is  the  gift  of  heaven  ; 
And  though  no  science,  fairly  worth  the  seven, 

Anson  was  no  talker — he  was  no  writer  in 
the  ordinary  conversational  way.  But  every- 
body who  served  under  him  worshipped  him. 
His  band  of  officers  worked  out  his  policy  and 
carried  it  on  to  future  generations. 

The  list  of  those  who  served  under  him  on 
board  the  Centurion,  and  who  were  the  dis- 
tinguished officers  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  is 
as  follows  : 

Admiral  Sir  Charles  Saunders,  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty. 

Admiral  Viscount  Keppel,  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty. 

Vice-Admiral  Sir  Peter  Dennis,  Bart. 

Vice- Admiral  Sir  Hyde  Parker. 

Vice-Admiral  John  Campbell. 

Captain  Philip  Saumarez  (killed  in  action, 
1747). 

Admiral  Earl  Howe  and  Admiral  John 
Byron  were  in  the  Severn  and  Wager,  both 
of  which  ships  were  of  his  squadron. 

He  also  had  the  power  of  selecting  the  most 
promising  officers  to  carry  out  the  policy  and 
traditions  of  the  Navy.     It  was  he  who  selected 


1762]  HIS    INFLUENCES  187 

Hawke  over  the  heads  of  others  ;  and  Bos- 
cawen,  who  served  on  the  Admiralty  Board 
with  him  afterwards.  Rodne}^  and  Howe  were 
also  his  selections  and  owed  their  career  to  him. 
Jervis,  who  became  Earl  St.  Vincent,  was  nomi- 
nated and  given  his  commission  by  Anson, 
and  Viscount  Duncan  also  owed  his  start  to 
Anson's  care. 

Rodney  writes  to  Lord  Anson  from  Antigua, 
March  1762 : 

"  If  I  am  so  happy  as  to  meet  with  your 
Lordship's  approval  for  hastening  with  so 
strong  a  squadron  to  the  assistance  of  Jamaica, 
it  will  give  me  most  sincere  pleasure.  My  first 
and  greatest  motive  for  such  a  step  is  in  a  great 
measure  to  convince  your  Lordship  of  my 
gratitude  to  you  for  promoting  me  to  such  a 
great  command  ;  as  I  am  sensible  how  liable 
a  person  of  your  Lordship's  rank  and  station 
is  to  the  '  clamour  of  the  people  '  upon  any 
unforeseen  accidents  ;  and  shall  therefore  esteem 
it  as  the  happiest  event  of  my  life,  if  I  can 
preserve  the  island  ;  and  your  Lordship  from 
unjust  censure." 

Howe,  on  returning  from  St.  Malo,  assured 
Mr.  Pitt  that  he  had  no  ambition  but  to  avoid 
disgracing  Lord  Anson's  recommendation  of 
him. 

Anson  was  the  least  ostentatious  of  all 
human  beings — he  had  no  notion  of  display  ; 
as  Lady  Anson,  in   one  of  her  letters,   states  : 


188  ANSON'S  CHARACTER        [chap,  xvi 

"  Whilst  some  brass  guns  brought  from  Roche- 
fort  were  being  paraded,  by  Pitt's  orders, 
through  London,  there  were  200  or  more  brass 
cannon  that  Anson  himself  had  sent  to  Wool- 
wich, and  of  which  no  mention  was  made,  and 
of  whose  existence  few  knew."  The  more  one 
searches,  the  more  one  discovers  how  much  he 
really  did  do,  and  how  well  he  concealed  it. 
He  was  also  most  distinguished  for  his  generosity, 
and  his  benevolence  to  those  in  need  of  it. 
His  treatment  of  the  prisoners  in  the  South 
Seas  was  acknowledged  by  them  all,  and  all 
the  Spaniards  throughout  South  America  were 
full  of  his  generous  conduct  to  them  ;  so  much 
so,  that  many  English  seamen  were  treated 
with  kindness  in  return,  when  shipwrecked, 
simply  because  they  had  belonged  to  Anson's 
squadron.  The  French  admitted  that  their 
prisoners  were  better  treated  and  taken  care 
of  under  Anson's  rule  than  they  had  ever 
been  before,  and  they  acknowledged  this  in 
their  negotiations  for  peace.  Anson  had  suc- 
ceeded in  prevailing  on  the  Government  to 
contribute  to  their  support,  and  in  getting 
private  contributions  in  their  aid  as  well. 

From  those  who  had  served  with  Anson  the 
expressions  of  gratitude  and  kindly  feeling  are 
universal. 

Sir  Piercy  Brett  writes  : 

"  I  heartily  wish  you  joy  of  your  promotion, 


1762]  APPRECIATION  189 

and  do  assure  you  the  compliment  you  pay  me 
in  making  choice  of  me  for  your  captain  gives 
me  the  greatest  pleasure  imaginable." 

Captain  Cheap  of  the  Wager  writes  to  congratu- 
late him  on  his  return  from  China,  dating  his 
letter  from  Germany : 

*'  This  is  the  first  opportunity  I  have  of  con- 
gratulating you  on  your  safe  arrival,  after  such 
a  tedious  and  fatiguing  voyage  ;  and  your 
having  obtained  the  preferment  you  so  justly 
deserved,  in  the  opinion  of  all  mankind.  Even 
the  enemies  of  England  speak  well  of  you.  I 
do  assure  you,  no  man  on  earth  wishes  for  your 
prosperity  with  a  warmer  heart  than  I  do." 

Captain  Dennis  writes  : 

"  The  spring  of  all  my  success  took  its  rise 
from  your  Lordship's  friendship  ;  and  one  of 
my  greatest  pleasures  is  that  of  acknowledging 
it." 

Boscawen  writes  : 

*'  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  that  I  may  con- 
vince you  I  am  not  unworthy  the  many  friend- 
ships I  have  received  from  you." 

Captain  Saumarez  writes  : 

"  As  we  are  now  on  the  point  of  sailing,  I 
cannot  possibly  leave  this  place  without  letting 


190  ANSON'S  CHARACTER       [chap,  xvi 

you  know  what  part  I  take  in  the  honours  and 
titles  which  are  preparing  for  you  ;  the  inward 
satisfaction  they  give  me  is  much  easier  con- 
ceived than  expressed.  It  is  an  assemblage 
of  events  which  rarely  happens — that  the 
judgment  of  the  sovereign,  and  the  suffrages 
and  applause  of  a  nation,  should  so  solemnly 
confirm,  and  unanimously  approve  of,  what- 
ever distinguishing  marks  of  honour  are  to  be 
conferred  on  you." 

It  was  not  only  our  own  officers  who  were  so 
attached  to  Anson,  for  foreigners  seemed  to  have 
come  under  his  wonderful  influence  when  they 
met  him,  and  his  chivalry  to  his  enemies  won 
their  everlasting  regard  ;  as  instance  the  follow- 
ing letter. 

M.  Hardenberg  writes  from  Gardenberg, 
le  4  juillet,  1747: 

"  Monsieur, — Permettez  que  je  vous  temoigne 
ma  joie  et  que  je  vous  felicite  de  tout  mon  coeur 
sur  la  gloire  que  vous  vous  etes  si  dignement 
acquire  dans  votre  derniere  expedition.  Jugez 
de  I'effet  de  I'amitie  ;  elle  m'a  fait  po^te  en 
votre  faveur,  moi  !  guide  ma  vie,  n'ai  songe  a 
faire  des  vers  ;  ils  sont  destines  pour  etre  mis 
sous  votre  portrait  ;  si  vous  n'en  rencontrez  pas 
de  meilleurs. 

"  J'ai  fait  allusions  sur  votre  visage  modeste, 
malgre  lequel  vous  entreprenez  les  choses  du 
monde  les  plus  dangereuses,   et  j'ai  tache  d'y 


1762]  FRIENDSHIP  191 

rassemblir  en  raccourci  toutes  vos  belles  actions. 
Faites  je  vous  prie  bien  des  amities  de  ma  part  a 
Mons.  H.  Legge  et  a  mon  Lord  Delawar  et  me 
croirez  avee  autant  de  sincerite  que  d'attache- 
ment  pendant  toute,  ma  vie. 

"  Votre  tres  humble,  etc., 

"  FIardenberg." 

The  friendship  of  M.  St.  George  of  the  Invinc- 
ible continued  throughout  his  life.  This  friend- 
ship between  the  victor  and  the  vanquished  was 
of  a  very  noble  and  chivalrous  description. 

M.  de  St.  George  constantly  refers  to  his 
feelings  of  gratitude  and  affection  for  his  treat- 
ment. 

No  one  could  have  been  more  devoted  to  Anson 
than  Lord  Sandwich,  who  writes  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  Anson  of  *'  the  many  remarkable  acts 
of  friendship,  which  you  have  shown  to  me,  and 
which  no  time,  nor  circumstances,  can  ever 
efface  out  of  my  mind.''  And  he  never  tires  of 
complimenting  him  on  the  efficiency  of  his  work 
at  the  Admiralty : 

"  It  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  have  the 
prosperity  of  a  profession  more  sincerely  at 
heart  than  I  have  of  that  of  which  you  are 
so  deservedly  considered  as  the  chief  director, 
and  to  whose  knowledge  and  ability  the  world 
is  very  ready  to  attribute  the  different  figure 
that  the  English  fleet  has  made  in  the  last 
years,  from  what  it  did  in  the  beginning  of 
the  war." 


192  ANSON'S   CHARACTER      [chap,  xvi 

Anson  must  have  written  many  letters  to 
Lord  Sandwich,  for  on  returning  to  England, 
after  settling  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  he 
writes  to  Anson : 

"  I  will  say  nothing  to  you  at  present  upon 
public  affairs,  any  further  than  to  return  you 
thanks  for  your  consistent  kindness  to  me,  and 
for  the  friendly  advice  you  gave  me  in  your 
several  letters  ;  to  which  you  may  be  assured 
I  shall  pay  the  strictest  attention,  as  there 
is  no  one  living  of  whose  friendship  I  am  more 
convinced  than  I  am  of  yours,  or  for  whose 
opinion  I  have  greater  deference." 

There  are  so  many  letters  of  appreciation 
and  thanks  that  it  is  impossible  to  enumerate 
them  all.  But  they  all  point  to  Anson's  ability, 
his  genius,  his  chivalry,  his  generosity,  and  his 
constant  regard  and  work  for  the  officers  and  men 
of  the  Navy  ;  and  to  the  care  he  took  of  that 
Navy,  to  advance  its  welfare,  in  materiel  and 
personnel.  They  show  his  loyalty,  his  ambition  for 
his  country,  and  at  the  same  time  his  modesty 
and  reserve.  He  found  the  Navy  in  a  very  low 
state,  he  left  it  efficient ;  and  the  great  and  en- 
during character  of  Anson's  services  to  the  Navy 
of  this  country  cannot  be  over-estimated. 

On  his  conduct  (as  First  Lord)  of  the  Seven 
Years'  War,  Mahan,  talking  of  England  at  that 
time,  says  : 

"  Her    arms    were     triumphant    during    this 


1762]  THE    END  193 

short  contest  through  the  rapidity  with  which 
her  projects  were  carried  into  execution,  due  to 
the  state  of  efficiency  to  which  the  Naval 
forces  and  administration  had  been  brought." 

At  the  end  of  the  Seven  Years'  War  the 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  had  become  the 
British  Empire. 

Thus  had  Great  Britain's  undoubted  supre- 
macy on  the  seas — assured  and  estabhshed  by 
Anson  and  the  elder  Pitt — been  further  strength- 
ened under  an  unbroken  hne  of  those  formed  in 
his  school — through  Hawke,  Howe,  Duncan,  and 
St.  Vincent ;  and  guided  by  the  genius  of  Nelson 
and  the  younger  Pitt  some  forty  years  later, 
has  continued  to  our  own  time.  The  materiel  has 
changed,  the  position  of  the  men  since  the 
Regulation  was  established  of  entering  boys  for 
training  in  the  Navy  in  1853  has  immensely 
altered  and  improved;  but  the  same  spirit 
exists  now,  and  will  carry  us  on,  if  we  do  not 
allow  it  to  die  out — ^that  determination  to  pre- 
pare in  peace  time  to  be  ready  to  risk  all  in 
time  of  need,  to  control  the  channels  of  com- 
munication, and  keep  the  sea  free  for  our  food  and 
our  commerce,  in  war  and  at  all  times.  And  it 
is  only  those  who  know  the  sea,  who  have  been 
brought  up  to  understand  it  from  their  earliest 
youth — have  been  wedded  to  it — and  learnt  to 
overcome  its  difficulties,  who  can  control  it. 


18 


NOTE 

THE    ''CENTURION'' 

Extract  from  the  "  Royal  Magazine,''  1762,  vol.  viii. 

"  On  the  Centurion's  return  to  St.  Helens  in  June,  1744, 
she  was  ordered  round  to  Chatham  and  underwent  a 
thorough  repair  and  was  reduced  to  a  50-gun  ship. 

"  In  1746  she  was  again  commissioned  and  served 
that  winter  in  the  Channel  Fleet  under  her  old  com- 
mander, Admiral  Anson — and  on  May  3,  1747,  being 
then  commanded  by  Captain  Peter  Dennis  (formerly  third 
lieutenant  of  her  on  the  famous  voyage),  she  had  a 
great  share  in  the  victory  off  Cape  Finisterre,  having 
the  honour  of  beginning  the  engagement,  and  after  the 
victory  was  despatched  direct  to  England  with  the 
news.  On  the  peace  which  followed  in  1748,  she  was 
laid  up  at  Chatham,  but  immediately  on  the  breaking 
out  of  the  present  war  she  was  again  commissioned 
and  the  command  given  to  Captain  William  Mantell. 
In  January,  1755,  the  Centurion  sailed  for  Virginia 
with  Commodore  Keppel  and  General  Braddock  on 
board,  as  convoy  to  the  troops  sent  from  Ireland 
against  Fort  de  Quesne,  and  thus  was  employed  on 
the  first  service  in  the  present  war.  In  1767  she  sailed 
from  England  with  Admiral  Holbourn,  and  in  the  cruize 
off  Louisbourg  on  September  25  she  was  dismasted 
with  the  rest  of  the  squadron. 

"  In  1758  she  carried  54  guns  and  served  with  Admiral 
Boscawen's  fleet  at  the  siege  of  Louisbourg,  and  then 
under  Admiral  Sanders,  at  the  siege  of  Quebec,  where 
the  service  she  performed  at  the  attack  of  IMontmorencie, 
July   31,    will    appear   from    this   passage   in     General 

195 


196  NOTE 

Wolfe's  letter :  '  To  facilitate  the  passage  of  Brigadier 
Townshend's  corps,  the  Admiral  had  placed  the  Cen- 
turion in  the  channel  so  that  she  might  check  the  fire 
of  the  lower  battery,  which  commanded  the  ford.  The 
ship  was  of  great  use,  as  her  fire  was  very  judiciously 
directed.'  That  winter  she  remained  at  Halifax, 
under  Lord  Colville,  and  in  May,  1760,  contributed  to 
the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Quebec.  In  1761  she  sailed 
to  the  West  Indies,  where  she  was  one  of  Admiral 
Rodney's  squadron,  this  present  year  at  the  taking 
of  Martinico,  and  is  now  gone  on  the  expedition  against 
the  Havannah  with  Sir  George  Pocock." 

The  following  instance  of  Anson's  untiring  zeal  and 
care  for  the  country's  interests  is  quoted — to  show 
how  much  our  successes  were  due  to  him  in  America. 

1754.     Letter  from  Lord  Anson  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle 

"  The  Duke  of  Cumberland  has  succeeded  with  His 
Majesty  in  getting  him  to  sanction  500  Irish  troops 
being  sent  to  America,  but  will  not  consent  to  a  con- 
tract for  provisions  being  made  for  their  victualling. 

"  I  should  not  have  troubled  your  Grace  again  so  soon 
upon  the  subject  I  last  wrote  to  you  upon,  if  it  was 
not  a  letter  to  explain  that  I  heard  from  Mr.  Fox 
that  no  contract  was  intended,  upon  which  I  told  him 
I  had,  without  any  direction  from  anybody,  taken 
care  that  the  troops  should  not  be  absolutely  at  a  loss 
for  provisions  when  they  should  land  in  Virginia,  by 
sending  a  larger  quantity  of  provisions  in  the  ships-of- 
war  than  could  be  immediately  wanted.  I  am  still 
of  opinion  that  if  no  contract  be  made,  orders  should 
be  given  to  the  Commissary  of  the  troops  to  take  800 
barrels  of  beef  in  Ireland,  which  will  not  cost  above 
£1,600,  for  the  use  of  the  troops  and  to  provide  against 
the  possibility  of  the  soldiers  wanting  victualling — for 
I  own  that  the  idea  of  that  kind  of  distress  to  numbers 
of  men  strikes  me  strongly." 


INDEX 


Acapulcho,  instructions  about,  29, 

40,  46,  48,  55 
Actions,  disgraceful,  85 
Additional    fighting    instructions, 

183 
Admiralty,  letters  to,  64 
Africa,  coast  of,  21 
Aix,  Isle  of,  160 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  110 
Alarm,  185 
Alberoni,  Cardinal,  13 
Ambrose,  Captain,  6 
Amherst,  General  Lord,  172,  176 
Anna  pink,  39 
Anne,  Queen,  death  of,  8,  9 
Anson,  Lord,  birth,  1 ;  Lieutenant, 

2  ;  posted,  3  ;    South  Carolina, 

3  ;  expedition  planned,  23  ;  ap- 
pointed Commander-in-Chief, 
24  ;  difficulties  in  fitting  out, 
25 ;  instructions  for  voyage, 
27  ;  Madeira,  31  ;  official  re- 
port off  Cape  Horn,  36  ;  hu- 
manity, 38  ;  settles  dispute, 
45  ;  information  collected,  48  ; 
commodore  ill,  51  ;  as  ship- 
builder, 52  ;  overcome,  52  ;  goes 
to  Canton,  54,  60  ;  discloses 
design  to  take  galleon,  55 ; 
capture  of  galleon,  56,  57  ; 
liberates  prisoners,  59  ;  puts  out 
fire,  60 ;  arrives  at  Spithead, 
61  ;  refuses  promotion,  64  ;  re- 
ceives advice  from  Corbett,  67, 
68 ;  Vice-Admiral,  72  ;  deal- 
ings with  Vernon,  78 ;  work 
at  Admiralty,  81  ;  notices  ac- 
tions of  privateers,  82  ;   regula- 


tions for  promotion,  83  ;  de- 
cides to  go  to  sea,  85  ;  blockade 
off  Brest,  90,  97,  120  ;  letters 
from  sea,  94,  95 ;  action  off 
Finisterre,  100-106  ;  estab- 
lishes uniform,  107  ;  returns  to 
Admiralty,  106  ;  marriage,  109; 
improves  materiel  and  organi- 
sation, 112;  appointed  First 
Lord  of  Admiralty,  118;  in- 
structions to  Byng,  126  ;  leaves 
Admiralty,  139  ;  not  at  Admir- 
alty, 141  ;  Pitt's  appreciation 
of,  142;  rejoins  Admiralty,  143; 
prepares  for  war,  145  ;  wants 
Hawke  at  Admiralty,  148 ; 
news  in  the  papers,  147  ;  hoists 
flag  in  Royal  George,  162  ;  Pitt, 
159,  178  ;  coastal  attacks, 
160  ;  returns  to  England,  165  ; 
Campbell,  170;  escorts  Queen 
Charlotte,  177;  death,  180; 
appreciation  of  character,  182, 
192  ;  list  of  those  who  served 
under  him,  186;  Letters:  to 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  31,  111, 
114,  115,  129,  130,  133,  151  ; 
from  Duke  of  Newcastle,  70, 
113,  114,  133;  :to  Hardwicke, 
62,  148,  149,  152,  153,  154,  155, 
156,  176 

Araund,  Captain,  31 

Articles  of  war,  83,  183 

Asia,  32,  33 

Austria  and  the  Alliance,  1  f! 

B 

Balchen,  Admiral,  25 
Baldivia,  39 


197 


108 


INDEX 


Baltimore,  Lord,  69,  74 

Barbados,  21 

Barrington,  Lord,  80,  112,  113 

Basque  Roads,  146,  160 

Batavia,  55 

Bedford,  Duke  of,  72,  73,  80,  97, 

110,  111,  118 
Belleisle,  Island  of,  175 
Belleisle,  Marshall,  123 
Bentinck,  135 
Berkeley,  Earl  of,  16 
BernstorfT,  Count,  136 
Blakeney,  General,  128 
Bland,  Colonel,  25 
Bolingbroke,  Lord,  9 
Boot-topping,  88 
Boroughs,  114 
Boscawen,  Admiral,  87,  103,  119, 

120, 130,  150, 159,  160,  167, 168, 

175 
Braddock,  General,  119 
Brest,  74,  85,  89,  166 
Brett,  Captain  Sir  Piercy,  43,  60, 

64,  74,  97,  158,  175 
Bristol,  99 

Broderick,  Admiral,  143 
Byng,  Admiral,  112,  124,  125,  127, 

128,    132,    133,    134,    137,    138, 

140,  141 
Bjmg,  Viscount  Torrington,  2,  11, 

12,  13,  18 
Byron,  Mr.,  midshipman^  40 


Campbell,       Midshipman,        40  ; 

Captain,  86,  170 
Caneale  Bay,  162 
Canocke,  Admiral,  12 
Canton,  54,  59,  60 
Cape  de  Verde,  27 
Carmel.     See  Nuestra 
Carmen.     See  Nuestra 
Carolina,  South,  3,  4 
Carpenter,  Mr.,  70 
Carrier,  Charles,  1 
Carthagena,  24,  46 
Cawsand,  92 

Centurion,  20,  22, 24,  30,  31,  32,  33 
Chamberlain,  Captain  John,  1 


Charente  River,  160 

Charles,  Prince,  74 

Charlotte,  Princess,  177 

Cheap,  Captain,  39,  40 

Chelsea  pensioners,  25 

Chequetan,  47,  48 

Chili,  son  of  Vice-President  of,  44 

Chiloe,  40 

China,  29,  59 

Chiopas,  Bishop,  22 

Choiseul,  French  Minister,  166 

Cleaning  ship,  97 

Cleveland,  Secretary  of  Admiralty, 

92,  97 
Cockburn,  Mr.,  Lord  of  Admiralty, 

69 
Coley,  Captain,  31 
Colville,  Lord,  175 
Commerce,  Treaty  of,  8 
Conclusion,  182 
Conflans,  French  Admiral,  168 
Congreve,  playwright,  4 
Convoy,  30 
Corbett,  Secretary  of  Admiralty, 

65,  66,  182 
Cornish,  Admiral,  179 
Cornwall,  Captain,  22 
Cotes,  Captain,  93 
Council    of    War,   127,    128,    133, 

136,  146 
Courts  martial,  75,  76,  141 
Cowper,  writer,  4 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  protector,  73 
Cruelty,  22 
Cumberland,  Duke  of,  77,  124, 145 

D 

D'Abreu,  French  Minister,  131 

Defiance,  99,  100 

Defoe,  Daniel,  15,  24 

Delays,  25 

De  la  Clue,  French  Admiral,  167 

Dennis,  Captain,  63,  101,  103,  106    , 

165,  177 
Devonshire,  Duke  of,  139,  154 
Difficulties,  17 
Discharge,  112 
Disease,  19 


INDEX 


199 


Docking,  13,  82,  89 

Dominica,   18 

Doutelle,  74 

Drinking,  19,  20 

Duff,  Commodore,  168,  109 

Duncan,  Admii-al  Viscount,  187 

Dunkirk,  17 

Durell,  Rear-Admiral,  171 

Dutch,  99 

E 

Efficiency,  98 

Elizabeth,      daughter      of      Lord 

Hardwicke,  109 
Elizabeth,  ship,  74 
Expedition  to  South  Seas,  22 


Feeling  in  England,  21 

Fielding,  Henry,  4 

Figurehead,  71 

Finisterre,  88  ;    action,  100 

Fire,  58,  60 

Fleury,  French  Minister,  14 

Food  bad,  19 

Formosa,  53 

Fowkes,  General,  132 

Fox,  Captain,  107;  Minister,   120, 

124 
Frigate,  90,  93,  148 

G 

Galleon,    16,   46,   47,    56,   57,   58, 

59,  61 
Gallisonidre,  French  Admiral,  132, 

137,  138 
Gambling,  15,  19 
Gaols,  18,  19 
Gazette,  paper,  64 
Generals,  150 
George  I.,  9,  16 
George  II.,  17 
George,  Prince,  100 
Geronimo,  General  Dom,  57 
Gibraltar,  14,  15,  16 
Gloire,  103 


Gloucester,  24,  30,  37,  38,  48,  49,  50 
Government,  opposition  to,  19 
Grenville,  Mi-.,   72,   80;   Captain, 

99,  102 
Guam,  50,  52 
Guarda  Costa,  21 
Guernsey,  124 
Guipuzcoa,  32 
Gw-ynn,  Captain,  100 

H 

Habits,  drinking,  19 
Haddock,  Admiral,  20 
Hampshire,  1 
Hampton  Court,  86 

Hanover,  9,  16,  24,  116 

Happy  sloop,  6 

Hardwicke,  Chancellor,  18 

Hardwicke,  Lord  Justice,  30,  62, 
73,  111,  122,  129,  148,  149 

Hardy,  Sir  Charles,  69 

Harley,  8,  9 

Harrison,  Sir  Archibald,  69 

Havanah,  178 

Hawke,  Sir  Edward,  107,  120,  121, 
122,  137,  145,  146,  147,  148, 
149,  150,  151,  152,  153,  154, 
160,  161,  163,  169;  action, 
168,  169,  180 

Hay,  Minister,  16 

Hermione,  32 

Hessian  troops,  109,  124 

Hogarth,  painter,  19 

Holbourne,  Admiral,  43,  144,  154 

Holdernesse,  Minister,  118,  139 

Holies,  Duke  of  Newcastle,  18 

Holies.     See  Newcastle,  149 

Hope,  Cape,  61 

Horn,  Cape,  22,  25,  31,  34 

Hosier,  Admiral,  16 

Howe,  Lord,  147,  150,  151,  153, 
155,  161,  162,  164,  175 

Huguenots,  18 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.,  4 


Indiamen,  East,  104 
Inlrepide,  108,  109 


200 


INDEX 


Invalids,  40 
Invincible,  103 


Jennings,  Sir  John,  16 
Jersey,  124 
Jervis,  Admiral,  172 
Johnson,  author,  4 
Jonquiere,  General  de,  96,  102 
Juan  Fernandez,  37.  39,  40 
Justices,  24,  29 

K 

Keppel,  Captain,  63,  70,  95,  130, 

170,  175,  179 
King  absent,  24 
Kirkpatrick,  Mrs.,  4 
Krishna,  22 


Lansdowne,  Lord,  8 

Lee,  Dr.,  69 

Lee,  General,  4 

Leek,  77 

Legge,  Lord  of  Admiralty,  72,  80, 

120 
Le  Maire,  Straits  of,  34 
Lestock,  Adniirtil,  74,  77 
Lichfield,  Earl  of,  71  ;  letter  from 

Anson,  77 
Lion,  74 ;    figiu-ehead,   71 
Litany,  18 

Loudon,  General,  the  Earl  of,  138 
Lynn,  86 

M 

Macao,  45,  54,  59,  61 

Macclesfield,  town,  77;  Lord,  117 

Madeira,  31,  33 

Magellan,  27 

Mahan,  Admiral,  135,  184,  192 

Mahonmaedan,  21 

Mahon,  Port,  108,   109,   123,   125, 

127,  137,  138 
Mandarin,  55,  60 
Manilla,  attack  planned,   22,   24, 

47,  56 
Mansfield,     Baron,     Lord     Chief 

Justice,  139 


Marlborough,  Duke  ot,  162,  163 

Mar,  Earl  of,  10 

Mars,  75 

Martin,  Admiral,  79 

Masham,  Lady,  8 

Massacre,  21 

Mathews,  Admu-al,  75,  76 

Modeste,  103 

Monckton,  General,  172 

Monmouth,  1,  102 

Montagu,  2 

Montagu,  Captain  William,  99 

Montcalm,    French   General,   150, 

173 
Montreal,  176 
Mordaunt,  Sir  John,  145 
Mortality,  16 
Mostyn,  Captain,  95,  130 
Murray,     Leader     of     House     of 

Commons,  138 

N 

Namur,  86,  100,  167 

Newcastle,    Duke   of,    18  ;     issues 

orders  for  voyage,  24,   30,   31, 

70,  119,  180,  113,  114,  135,  151 
Noel,  Captain,  74 
Norris,    Admiral    Sir    John,  2,  0, 

10,  20,  25,  74 
Norris,  Captain,  31 
Nottinglmm,  75,  102,  103 
Nuestra    Senhora   de    Cabodonga, 

57 
Nuestra  Senhora  del  Carmen,  42, 

47,  48 

O 

Officers'  encouragements,  promo- 
tions, 83 
Orders,  Anson  receives,  26 
Ormonde,  Duke  of,  9 


Paita,  42,  43,  45 
Pamphlets,  anonymous,  80 
Panama,  24,  28,  46 
Parker,  Lord,  117 
Passaro,  2,  12 
Peace,  14 


INDEX 


201 


Pearl,  24,  30,  32,  34,  39 

Pelham, Minister,  IS,  112,  116,  117 

Pensioners,  25,  26 

Pepys,  Samuel,  185 

Peter  the  Great,  2,  14 

Phillips,  Captain,  82 

Phillipson,  Mr.,  69 

Pink  victualler,  24 

Pitt,    William    (afterwards    Lord 

Chatham),    19,    116,    118,    120, 

139,    140,    141,    143,    149,    174, 

176,  178 
Pizarro,  Spanish   Admiral,  31,  32, 

40,  69 
Plata  River,  29 

Pocock,  Admiral,  4,  115,  178,  179 
Political  interest,  19 
Politics,  112,  115 
Pope,  poet,  71 
Portobello,  16 
Preparations  for  war,  20 
Press-gangs,  19,  116,  140 
Pretender,  15 
Prince  Frederick,  87 
Prisoners,  44 
Privateers,  17 
Prize  money,  19 
Prussia,  Frederick  of,  118 


Quadruple  Alliance,  14 
Quebec,  172,  173 
Quib«ron,  168 

R 

Rear-Admiral,  04 
Register  of  seamen,  19 
Remitting,  159 
Richardson,  author,  4 
Richelieu,  Duke  of,  132 
Richmond,  Duke  of,  72 
Rio  Grande,  39 
"  Robinson  Crusoe,"  3 
Rodney,  Admiral,  179 
Rochelle,  108 

Roche  fort,  74,  85,  145,  160 
Royal  Qeorqe,  161 
Royal  Marines,  183 


Ritbie,  102 

Ruby,  1 

Russell,  E.,  of  Orford,  9 


S 


St.  Cas,  164 

St.  Catherine,  27,  33 

St.  George,  M.,  d-a,  102 

St.  Helena,  61 

St.  Helens,  26 

St.  Julian,  34 

St.  Lucia,  18 

St.  Malo,  162,  164 

St.  Servand,  162 

St.  Vincent,  Isle  of,  18 

Sandwich,  Lord,  72,  80,  110,  118 

Sanitary  arrangements,  33 

Sauinarez,  Lieutenant  Philip,  51, 

58;  Captain,  75,108;  Lieutenant 

Thomas,  86 
Saunders,  Admiral  Charles,  37,  63, 

137,  157,  165,  171,  172,  174 
Scarborough,  3 
Scillys,  86 
Sciu-vy,  34,  35,  38 
Seamen,  register  of,   19;    number 

of,  20 
Search,  right  of,  20,  116 
Secretary  of  State,  18 
Service,  attractions  of,  19 
Seven  Years'  War,  180 
Severn,  24,  30,  39,  74 
Ships,  30,  84,  184,  185;  unhealthy, 

19;  number  of,  20 
Shortage  of  men,  24 
Shouldam,  Captain  M.,  82 
Sick  landed,  33 
Smith,  Admiral,  140 
Smugglers,  20,  21 
Society,  19 
Socotro,  36 
Sole  Bay,  82 
Solidare,  162 
South  Sea,  24,  28 
South  Sea  Co.,  15 
Southern  Department,  18 
South  America,  42 


202 


INDEX 


Spain,  treaty  with    Austria,    15; 

searches  vessels,  21 
Speedwell,  98 

Spence,  Lieutenant  John,  86 
Spithead,  Anson  repairs  to,  24 
Spoils,  45 
Squirrel,  6 
Stade,  177 

Stanhope,  Minister,  14 
Stanley,  Mr.,  Lord  of  Admiralty, 

148 
Steele,  author,  4 
Storms,  35,  36 
Sunda,  Straits  of,  61 
Sunderland,  86 
Sussex,  124 
Sweden,  9,  11 
Sweet  peas,  40 
Swift,  author,  4 


Temple,  Lord  of  Admiralty,  143 

Terra  del  Fuego,  34 

Tinian  Island,  50,  51,  53 

Tonnant,  108,  109 

Tories,  8 

Toulon,  124 

Treasure,  42,  44,  45,  46,  59,   78, 

104,  162,  180 
Tryal,  24,  33,  34,  37,  38,  40,  47 
Tyrawley,    General,  Governor  of 

Gibraltar,  132,  134 

U 

Uniform,  107 
Ushant,  94 
Utrecht,  Peace  of,  8 


V 

Vernon,   Admiral,   7,   20,  24,   46, 

V2,  74,  78,  79 
Versailles,  129 
Viceroy  of  Canton,  54 
Victory  off  Finisterre,  100 
Vienna,  treaty  of,  15 
Vigilant,  103 
Vilaine  River,  169 
Volante,  2 
Voltaire,  141 
Voyage  round  the  world,  22 

W 

Wager,  24,  39 

Wager  Island,  40 

Wager,  Sir  Charles,  16,  18,  24,  25, 

26 
Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  9,  10,  11,  14, 

16,  17,  18,  19,  20,  73 
Walpole,  Horace,  4 
Walton,  Captain,  13 
War,  17,  22,  39 

Warren,  Sir  Peter,  6,  78,  106,  112 
Weasel,  2 

West,  Admiral,  137,  143 
Western  squadron,  85 
West  Indies,  18,  21 
Whigs,  8 

Willes,  Chief  Justice,  76 
Wilson,  Lieutenant,  86 
Winchilsea,  Earl  of,  143 
Windsor,  101 
Winter  gales,  94 


Yarmouth,  85,  86,  95,  102 
Yorke,  Colonel,  134 


Printed  by  Hazeil,  Watson  <b  Viney,  Ld.,  London  and  Aylesbury. 


LIFE   OF    BENJAMIN    DISRAELI,   EARL   OF 

BEACONSFIELD. 
BY  W.   F.   MONYPENNY. 

/«  4  or  5  volumes.     With  Portraits  and  Illustrations.     Demy  8vo, 
I2s.  net  each   Volume. 

Vol.  I.,  1804-1837,  now  ready. 
"  We  congratulate  Mr.  Monypenny  upon  the  first  instalment  of  his  '  Life 
of  Disraeli.'  If  he  maintains  in  the  succeeding  volumes  the  very  high  level 
which  he  has  reached  in  the  first,  as  we  have  no  doubt  he  will,  his  work  is 
certain  to  be  adequate  and  worthy  of  its  great  theme.  .  .  .  Mr.  Monypenny 
lets  the  subject  of  his  biography  speak  for  himself  wherever  possible,  and  as  a 
rule  only  intervenes  to  keep  the  thread  of  the  narrative  and  to  elucidate.  .  .  . 
The  result  is  an  altogether  fascinating  book." — Spectator. 

RECOLLECTIONS   OF   A   LONG   LIFE. 
BY   LORD     BROUGHTON    (JOHN    CAM    HOBHOUSE). 

WITH    ADDITIONAL    EXTRACTS    FROM    HIS    PRIVATE    DIARIES. 

Edited  by  his  Daughter  LADY  DORCHESTER. 

With  Portraits.     Demy  Svo. 

Vols.  I.  and  IL,  1786-1822.     24s.  net.        Vols.  III.  and  IV.,  1823-1834.  24s.  net. 

"  The  two  new  volumes  are  fully  as  interesting  as  the  first  instalment 
published  last  year ;  and  this  is  no  small  compliment.  Indeed  in  some 
ways  they  are  more  so,  for  Hobhouse  has  become  a  politician  of  note,  and 
the  volumes  take  us  through  the  sensational  years  of  Catholic  Emancipation 
and  Reform.  The  writer  is  surer  of  himself,  clearer  in  his  views,  a  little 
gentler  perhaps  in  his  judgments.  But  he  is  the  same  rugged,  honest,  candid 
soul,  very  loyal  to  his  friends  and  his  conscience,  and  utterly  incapable  of 
pose.  ...  It  is  hard  to  select  from  so  rich  a  mine,  for  the  author  was  interested 
in  every  side  of  life." — Spectator. 

THE   LIFE   OF   SIR   WILLIAM    RUSSELL, 

The  First  Special  Correspondent, 

BY  J.  B.  ATKINS. 

With  Illustrations.     2  vols.      Demy  Svo.     30X.  net. 

"  All  the  world  knew  '  Billy  Russell,'  and  all  who  knew  him  loved  him. 
If  all  who  knew  him  and  loved  him,  and  all  who  without  knowing  him  in 
the  flesh  loved  him  for  what  he  did  in  saving  the  British  Army  in  the 
Crimea,  should  read  these  two  deeply  interesting  volumes,  they  will  enjoy, 
as  they  certainly  deserve,  a  very  wide  circulation  indeed.  Mr.  J.  B.  Atkins 
has  done  his  work  admirably.  He  has  produced  a  vivid  portrait  of  a  very 
memorable  personality." — Times. 

CAPTAIN   JAMES   COOK,   R.N.,    F.R.S., 
THE   CIRCUMNAVIGATOR. 

BY  ARTHUR   KITSON. 

With  Illustrations.     Large  crown  %vo.     2s.  6d.  net. 

This  book  at  the  time  of  its  appearance  was  accepted  by  the  Press  as  the 
best  authority  so  far  published  on  the  Life  of  the  "  Great  Circumnavigator." 
In  this  new  edition  the  author  has  been  able  to  bring  to  light  "  some  new 
facts,"  and  to  clear  up  decisively  several  doubtful  points. 


MY    LIFE'S   PILGRIMAGE. 

BY    THOMAS    CATLING. 

With  Illustrations.     Demy  8vo.     los.  6d.  net. 

"We  jostle  with  politicians  and  preachers,  actors  and  authors,  detectives 
and  criminals,  and  we  are  surprised  and  delighted  not  only  at  the  number 
of  all  such  with  whom  Mr.  Catling  was  brought  into  intimate  contact,  but  at 
the  constant  urbanity  he  displays  in  regard  to  each.  ...  A  life  brimful  of 
experiences  which  might  have  made  him  a  cynic,  and  it  has  simply  left  him 
a  cheery  philosopher." — Pall  Alall  Gazette. 

THE   GROWTH   OF   NAPOLEON. 

A  Study  in  Environment. 
BY    NORWOOD    YOUNG. 

With  Portraits  and  Illustrations.     Demy  Svo.     I2s.  net. 

"  The  author  commands  our  attention  and  interest  at  once,  the  more  so 
because  amid  all  the  welter  of  Napoleonic  literature,  his  is  the  first  attempt 
of  the  kind  made  in  English,  and  the  most  thoroughgoing,  as  he  claims,  that 
has  been  made  at  all.  He  certainly  brings  to  our  notice  and  sets  in  relief  a 
very  curious  series  of  facts,  coincidences,  and  conjectures.''— 6'M?«<^<y  Times. 

THE    RISE   OF   LOUIS   NAPOLEON. 
BY    THE    REV.    F.    A.    SIMPSON,    M.A. 

Formerly  Exhibitioner  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford. 

With  Illustrations.     Demy  Svo.     I2s.  net. 

**  As  a  revelation  of  the  environment  and  the  outstanding  features  of  the 
career  of  Louis  Napoleon  the  volume  is  unique." —  Western  Daily  Press. 

"Mr.  Simpson  has  brought  to  bear  upon  his  labour  a  mind  singularly  free 
from  prejudice,  and  a  power  and  facility  of  expression  rarely  found,  un- 
fortunately, nowadays  in  books  that  claim  to  be  historical." — Gentlewoman. 

BOYISH     REMINISCENCES     OF    H.M.    THE 
KING'S   VISIT   TO   CANADA    IN    i860. 

BY  LIEUT.  THOMAS    BUNBURY   GOUGH,  R.N.,  then  a 

Midshipman  on  H.M.S.  "  Hero." 

With  Illustrations.     Square  Demy  Sz/o.     8s.  net. 

"  For  spirited  story-telling  and  gay  humour  it  would  be  hard  to  beat  .  .  . 
told  with  all  a  sailor's  inimitable  naturalness  ...  a  masterpiece  of  its  kind. 
It  is  the  most  lifelike  account  of  life  in  the  transitional  navy  which  we  have 
seen." — Manchester  Guardian. 


JOHN    MURRAY,   ALBEMARLE   STREET,   LONDON,   W. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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