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 BERNARD ALBERT SINN 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
 NAVAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 BERNARD A. SINN, '97 
 
 1919 
 
DA 88.1.S94S9^"""'™»V Library 
 
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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924027923063 
 
SI 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 ADMIRAL SIR 
 
 BARTHOLOMEW JAMES SULIVAN, 
 
 K.C.B. 
 
(:^^*2^u^u//i^ 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 ADMIRAL SIR 
 
 BARTHOLOMEW JAMES SULIVAN, 
 
 K.C.B. 
 1810 — 1890. 
 
 EDITED BY HIS SON 
 
 HENRY NORTON SULIVAN. 
 
 Witk an Introduction by 
 
 •ADMIRAL SIR G. H. RICHARDS, K.C.B. F.R.S. 
 
 WITH PORTRAIT, MAP, PLANS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 U K' I 1896, 
 
 I ^^ 
 
-^3 CJ> 
 
 
 Aa^IoU^ 
 
 Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Before attempting a biography of my father, I consulted 
 a distinguished naval officer a^ to khe advisability of 
 adding another to the many existing records of naval 
 men. I desired to seek his opinion as to the general 
 interest likely to be evoked by the work. He urged me 
 to go on with it, saying he considered no one's life would 
 be more interesting or more instructive. Therefore, if I 
 have not fulfilled this expectation, the fault must lie with 
 me, and not with my subject. 
 
 I then went to a friend competent to advise me on 
 another point, and asked him whether I ought to give 
 the materials for a biography to a literary man to edit, 
 doubting my own capabilities. He said, " What might 
 be gained in literary merit, by employing some one else 
 to write the book, would be lost in biographical interest. 
 Do it yourself." 
 
 Thus emboldened, I have attempted the work. I set 
 about it with all the more courage that I had so many of 
 my father's letters and journals, written at the very time 
 the events and actions they describe took place, so that 
 very little original matter remained for me to write. More- 
 over, I have to thank my publisher, Mr. Murray, for the 
 valuable literary assistance he has rendered me. 
 
 There has been unavoidable delay in the publication 
 of these pages. I have had but little time with my other 
 duties for their preparation. The amount of material has 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 been so great that much labour has been required to choose 
 the most interesting parts, and to avoid overloading the 
 work with what would be of concern only to the family. 
 Critics must remember that the letters were dashed off 
 by a very busy man, often late at night, after a day 
 of hard work, and not infrequently of danger and of con- 
 flict. Their interest lies, therefore, more in their vividness 
 than in their literary accuracy. 
 
 I am fortunate in procuring a letter from the pen of 
 him who is best able to give a picture of my father. 
 Admiral Sir G. Richards was his lieutenant in the Philomel, 
 and served with him through the striking scenes of the 
 war in the Parana. He was afterwards his colleague in 
 many a deliberation on naval matters, and is himself a 
 surveyor and sailor of eminence. 
 
 My father was often desired by us to write out his own 
 history, but he was only prevailed upon to begin it about 
 two years before his death, when his powers were failing. 
 I feel sure, from the few pages of his autobiography I am 
 able to give, my readers will also regret he was not able 
 to write more himself. I give what he wrote at the age 
 of seventy-seven with hardly a correction. 
 
 There is no need for me to say very much by way 
 of introduction. His own letters and those of his friends 
 will best show what manner of man he was ; but some 
 few remarks may help my readers to form a picture of 
 him. 
 
 Bartholomew James Sulivan was born at Mylor, near 
 Falmouth, on November i8th, 1810. His father, then 
 Captain Thomas Ball Sulivan, R.N., was an able man of 
 fine character and sterling uprightness. He had no 
 resources besides his naval pay — too often but half-pay ; 
 and as he had a large family, the school in which they 
 were trained was one of economy and self-restraint 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 When a commodore on the South American station, he 
 was offered promotion from the Companionship of the 
 Bath, which he then held, to the higher honour of the 
 K.C.B. But he had to decline this promotion, not being 
 able to afford the high fees then exacted from the recipients 
 of knighthood. His four sons all entered the navy. The 
 eldest of the family is the subject of this memoir ; the 
 youngest and only surviving one is the present Admiral 
 George Lydiard Sulivan. 
 
 Thomas Ball Sulivan resided with his family for the 
 latter part of his life at Flushing, near Falmouth. He died 
 in 1857, at the age of seventy-seven, and was buried in the 
 family vault at Mylor. On leaving his grave, the old 
 family friend and medical adviser. Dr. Miller, said, " There 
 lies the best husband, the best father, the best friend." 
 
 Distinguished men are often the sons of remarkable 
 women. Sir B. James Sulivan's mother was the younger 
 daughter of a well-known naval officer. Her father, 
 Admiral James,* had brought up his two daughters in 
 luxury, and the younger was married before his large 
 property, derived chiefly from prize-money made in the 
 old wars, had been lost through misplaced confidence and 
 generous liberality. 
 
 Mrs. Sulivan had studied music in London under Mozart, 
 and to her old age retained her beautiful touch on the 
 piano. When her father's money had been all spent, she 
 uncomplainingly settled down to the hard work of bringing 
 up her large family on small means. 
 
 She made my father promise to read daily the appointed 
 
 * The journals of Admiral Bartholomew James, interesting both on 
 account of the remarkable adventures they record and the humorous 
 style in which they are written, are now being prepared for publication 
 by my brother, Commander Sulivan, and will be brought out by the 
 Naval Records Society. — Ed. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 psalms, and to pray the collect before the communion 
 service. He said before his death that he had never 
 omitted that prayer, and hardly ever omitted reading 
 the psalms. She was certainly a proud woman, but kept 
 her pride in check by her strong religious feeling. She had 
 her father's great vein of humour, and could tell a story, 
 even in old age, with great wit and power, yet in her 
 quiet, gentle way. All she ever said had the odour of her 
 truly sanctified spirit. She lived almost in prayer and the 
 study of the Bible. She was a brave woman of great force 
 of character, a staff of strength to her husband and 
 children in all trials, and she always made the best of 
 everything. 
 
 Her sufferings during the last twenty years of her life 
 were often great, but she bore them unmurmuringly. She 
 died in 1874, at the age of eighty-six. 
 
 To return to my father. As a lad he was small, but 
 grew very rapidly afterwards. At the age of seventeen 
 he was only five feet two inches ; at eighteen, five feet nine ; 
 ultimately measuring five feet eleven. He was considered 
 a remarkably handsome man, of fine presence. He had 
 large, dark, deep-set eyes, which, like his mother's, never 
 lost their clearness and brilliancy. Though somewhat bald 
 in old age, he retained the colour of his hair almost to the 
 last. His sight was so good he could see ithe satellites of 
 Jupiter with the naked eye up to the age of forty-five. 
 
 In whatever company he was, his was the pervading 
 presence. Fond of genial society, he charmed and in- 
 terested every one with his conversation, intermixed as 
 it generally was with a wealth of anecdote. It is im- 
 possible to describe the personal magnetism he exercised 
 on all who came near him. To rich and poor, old and 
 young, he was the same earnest, helpful friend and com- 
 panion But when there was cause for it, he could be 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 a stern rebuker of meanness or wrong-doing. His honesty 
 of purpose was so great that no consideration of personal 
 interest would lead him to modify his remarks, when he 
 thought it necessary to speak straight out. 
 
 I think that his chief characteristic was his simple and 
 manly piety. Although he had always lived a pure and 
 correct life, his first deep religious convictions commenced 
 about the time of his joining the Beagle. It has often been 
 remarked that when a sailor or a soldier is religious, he 
 becomes an " out and out " Christian. In the society of 
 mess-mates no half-and-half faith will do. The life is 
 watched, and any inconsistency of practice with profession 
 is quickly noted. 
 
 My father showed his faith by his works. It was said of 
 him that his entrance into the mess-room did more to stop 
 any objectionable conversation than the appearance of the 
 chaplain. He showed great interest in the moral and 
 religious welfare of the men under him. A strict Sabba- 
 tarian, he avoided all possible work on Sunday. He would 
 never accept an invitation to dinner on that day, even from 
 his commander-in-chief, and would rarely write a letter 
 home. There being no chaplain in such small vessels as 
 he commanded, he not only conducted the ordinary ser- 
 vices himself, but instituted classes as well. 
 
 When duty called, he exposed himself fearlessly to 
 danger, with the fullest knowledge of the risk he ran, but 
 with a simple faith in a Divine Providence watching over 
 him. If suffered to fall, he knew the like protection would 
 be over those he left behind. He was confident in his own 
 opinion when his experience had given him an absolute 
 right to pronounce judgment ; but I could give many 
 instances to show how modest he was as to matters he 
 had not fully studied, though they might seemingly lie in 
 his own province. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 The keenness with which, as will be seen in the following 
 pages, he felt any injustice to himself, and the heart-burn- 
 ings caused thereby, must not be considered as springing 
 from a desire of self-aggrandisement. In his own case he 
 sometimes felt he was fighting the battle of the whole 
 naval service. He thought that in relation to the recogni- 
 tion bestowed upon their services, naval oiificers were 
 sometimes at a disadvantage compared with those of equal 
 rank in the army. As Napoleon Bonaparte has observed, 
 the glamour which surrounds the picturesque, ever-present 
 aspect of the army makes that branch of the service 
 receive more constant attention and honour than the 
 sister-service, which, although first in precedence and first 
 in importance in our country, is by the very necessity of 
 its work often kept in the background. 
 
 With a sailor's inherited instincts and a sailor's training 
 under such masters in the art as his father and FitzRoy, he 
 at least equalled them. An officer once said to one of my 
 brothers, " I served both with your grandfather and your 
 father. The former was one of the best sailors of his day ; 
 the latter the best sailor I knew." His early surveying 
 experience was put to good purpose in war-time, and men 
 wondered at his talent for " smelling the shoals." But in 
 the hard work of surveying the power had been gained of 
 drawing rapid conclusions as to the contour of the hidden 
 ground from the outlines of the shore visible. It was 
 Wellington, I believe, who spoke of the power the soldier 
 should possess of guessing " what was on the other side of 
 the hill." Many a lesson have I had from my father in 
 earth-configuration during our walks, and he would illus- 
 trate the rules by which he navigated such rivers as the 
 Parana from the stream running through the sand. 
 
 His mathematical accuracy stood him in good stead in 
 his examinations and in his surveying work. Of intense 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 quickness of perception and power of work himself, he 
 perhaps expected more from his subordinates than they 
 could always accomplish. As will be seen later, when 
 those around him in the Baltic were dilatory and resource- 
 less, he, by his energy, almost enforced action upon them. 
 Greater caution in utterance would, perhaps, have been an 
 advantage to him. It was said of him that, one day in 
 London, meeting a friend, he stopped him and exclaimed, 
 " Why, you are the man we have just been talking about, 
 and I was saying what a shame it is they have given that 
 appointment to you." 
 
 He possessed a most active mind, which was ever at 
 work. Far-seeing in his judgment, he never let an event 
 pass without noting the lessons to be derived from it. It 
 will be seen that he proposed many valuable schemes of 
 naval reform, and lived to see the greater part of his 
 plans adopted. Endowed also with great constructive 
 abilities, his plans of organisation and strategy invariably 
 met with success. 
 
 As a friend said of him, " his whole professional career 
 was marked by a happy faculty of organisation and a 
 bold and skilful execution of plans." He possessed the 
 combative temperament in a strong degree. He never 
 rested content, after seeing a defective or unjust arrange- 
 ment, until he had got the mischief remedied. This led 
 him sometimes into conflict with others, doubtless often to 
 the diminishing of his popularity ; but generous-minded 
 men admired the powers which lesser men envied. 
 
 The late Admiral Sir A. Cooper Key once stated at a 
 public dinner at Singapore that " Sulivan was one of the 
 most profound authorities on naval matters then living," 
 so it must not be thought I am estimating his opinions at 
 too high a value. 
 
 His fondness for children was very great. At first. 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 perhaps, his habits of discipline were rather too strongly- 
 exercised in the home circle, though he modified his views 
 of training later in life. In the present day a little more of 
 this home discipline would be beneficial to the rising 
 generation. No father was a greater playmate with his 
 boys. Shooting, fishing, boat-sailing, kite-flying, he was 
 their eager coach, no one enjoying the fun more than 
 himself — all the time teaching by demonstration and by 
 story. 
 
 During our usual holidays at Flushing, Cornwall, our 
 time was chiefly spent in boat-sailing and yachting. This 
 boating was his greatest delight. If he could not get 
 afloat, the next best thing was a pond and a boy's boat. 
 When he was on a visit to me at Newcastle-on-Tyne, I 
 took him to the Leases' Park to see the model yacht 
 sailing. He was soon down on his knees, shifting the gear 
 of the small boys' boats and instructing the owners in the 
 art of sail-handling. 
 
 On one occasion, when he was as usual whistling and 
 singing about the house, my mother observed, " Oh, a boy 
 he is, and a boy he always will be." Indeed, this delight- 
 ful boyishness was a great feature in his character. The 
 daughter of a man who had been in the Baltic in one of 
 the ships of the fleet once spent some days in our home at 
 Bournemouth as nurse to my brother's children. Her 
 father said to her afterwards, " And does the old admiral 
 keep all his faculties ? " She replied, " The old admiral ! 
 Why, he is just like a boy — and you have to ' hush him up ' 
 when the children are asleep, to stop him running about 
 the house whistling.'' 
 
 In 1837 he married one of the eight daughters of Admiral 
 Young, of Barton End, near Stroud. Admiral Young's 
 brother was Admiral Sir William Young, G.C.B. ; his father. 
 Admiral James Young ; his grandfather was Secretary to 
 
PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 the Admiralty. Of his four sons, two were in the army, 
 two in the navy. 
 
 I trust much will be found in these pages calculated to 
 be useful to officers of the present day, and that naval 
 men, as well as the authorities at the Admiralty, may be 
 led to think more highly of the art of the pilot and of the 
 surveyor, which has been truly said to be " so useful in 
 peace and so terrible in war." 
 
 H. N. S. 
 
 Oakhurst, Colwyn Bay, 
 December 1895. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGES 
 
 PREFACE . . . . . V-xiii 
 
 REMINISCENCES ....... Xxi-XXxii 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY YOUTH. 
 
 1810-29. 
 
 Admiral Thomas Ball Sulivan, C.B. — Wreck of the Anson — 
 War with America — Saving Life — Education — The Royal 
 Naval College — H.M.S. Thetis — A Chaplain acting as 
 Bishop — -Tea v. Grog — Salvage Services at Gibraltar — 
 A Wounded Mid — A Sixty-five-foot Sea — Friend or Foe ? — 
 Amirante Brown — Brazilian Impressment — Lord and Lady 
 Ponsonby — Jack's Love of Drink — H.M.S. Beagle — The 
 Beagles Ghost — A Pampero . . ... 1-35 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 H.M.S. "beagle," H.M. ketch " ARROW," ETC. 
 
 1831-42. 
 
 Lieutenant— H.M.S. Beagle— k.Axmx3\. R. O'B. FitzRoy— A 
 Somnambulist at Tea — The Beagle ships a Sea — Botany — 
 Rough Boat-work — Healthy Appetites — Darwin fossil- 
 digging — A Merry Party — Survey of Chiloe — A Christmas 
 Dinner — Diving — ^Voyage round the World — The Reception 
 of the Astronomer Royal — Darwin's Sea-sickness — Admiral 
 Mellersh and Mr. King on Sulivan's Seamanship — Marriage 
 — Survey of the Falkland Islands — FitzRoy on Sulivan's 
 Capabilities — Loss oi Pincher — Ta.& Arrow — The Falkland 
 Islands — Commander — H.M. Brig Philomel — Botanising 
 in the Falklands — Tussac-grass in Scotland . . . 36-51 
 
xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. 
 
 1842-46. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Cause of the War— General Rosas— Siege of Monte Video- 
 Garibaldi— Amirante Brown— British and French Inter- 
 vention— H. M.S. Philomel—" The Pride of the Station "— 
 Seamanship— Commodore Purvis and Amirante Brown— 
 Anxiety— Besieged— The Gorgon on Shore — Up the 
 Uruguay with Garibaldi— Saving Lives— Paucity of Warlike 
 Stores — Opening the Parana 52-7° 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. 
 1845-46. 
 
 British and French Squadrons— Drilling Seamen— Opening 
 Fire— The Ships taken in detail— Gallant Conduct— The 
 Enemy's Heavy Losses — Hope cutting the Chains — Storm- 
 ing the Batteries — Spiking Guns — Individual Incidents — 
 Strategical Inferences— Dr. Niddrie — Captain TrShouart — 
 Honouring a Brave Enemy ...... 7 '"92 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. 
 
 Opening up the Interior Country — Arduous Ascent of the Parana 
 — Paraguayan Politics — The Convoy under Fire — Corrientes 
 — Intricate Navigation — An Artful Dodge — Home — Dis- 
 cipline — Promotions — No Medal — On Honorary Rewards — 
 The Royal Dockyard Volunteer Brigade . . .. 93-117 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WAR WITH RUSSIA. 
 
 1854. 
 
 Jingoism reproved — Admiral Sir C. Napier — Manning the 
 Fleet — Surveyor and Pilot — Admiralty Instructions — H.M.S. 
 Lightning — Reminiscences by Captain Dyer — The Use of 
 a Surveying-ship — Sweden — Ships' Individualities — Pilots or 
 Charts ? — " Boots " to the Fleet — Hango — Time wasted 118- 144 
 
CONTENTS. xvii 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 HANGO. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 The Fleet m Danger— Wormso — Adverse Influence— Recon- 
 noitring the Forts— Diverse Ways of attacking— Strategical 
 Questions— Action by Arrogant and Hecla — Finnish 
 Peasants 145-163 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. 
 
 Comrades' Testimony — Examining Channels — ^Viewing the Forts 
 — The Governor asleep— Making Friends — Sulivan's Plan 
 — Cholera — Napier's Plan — Why not attempted — Decision 
 of British and French Governments .... 164-184 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. 
 
 British and French Fleets before Cronstadt — Lightning leading 
 the Squadron in — Situation of the Russian Fleet — Strength 
 of the Position — Napier goes close in — Biorko Sound — 
 A Mare's Nest at Koivasto — From " Boots " to " Pioneer " 
 — Cholera increasing — Baro Sound — Sweaborg seen at last — 
 The Bomarsund Secret — ^A Defence of Napier — Ships v. 
 Forts — Why Cronstadt was not attacked — What were 
 Nelson's Tactics ? 185-207 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE FALL OF BOMARSUND. 
 
 Lightning leads — An Official Prisoner — Arrival of French 
 Troops — Puffing — A Target of Admirals and Generals — 
 Preparations for Attack — Selection — Landing — Hecla on 
 Shore — Sounding under the Fort — The French open Fire — 
 Sulivan's Escape— Ramsay's Battery— The Towers fall — 
 Bomarsund surrenders — Promotions — Wood or Iron for 
 
 Ships' Bottoms ? 208-241 
 
 b 
 
xviii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Revel viewed— Heavy Gale— A Russian Frigate— Congratula- 
 tions-Blowing up the Forts— Cholera Mortality— Dirt and 
 Disease— A Gale at Nargen— Newspaper Criticisms — 
 Promotions— Jovial Prisoners— Revel— Napier's Firmness- 
 Napier nearly caught— Press Attacks— Nelson's Tactics 
 — Ships V. Forts— Home — Various Schemes against Swea- 
 borg 242-271 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT — INFERNAL MACHINES. 
 
 1855- 
 Sulivan's Plans for 1855— Cronstadt — Adequate Means not 
 provided — Urging on the Unwilling — Sea clear to Swea- 
 borg — Peeps at Revel, Sweaborg, and Hogland — Biorko 
 Sound — Prizes — Cronstadt seen — Its Strength — Surveying 
 on the North Side — The Merlin explodes Infernals — The 
 Effects — A Sad Misunderstanding — War Policy . . 272-297 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 INFERNAL MACHINES — A RUSSIAN COUNTRY HOUSE. 
 
 Sweaborg — A Flag-of-truce — Cronstadt — Insufficient Means — 
 An Infernal Machine — Accident to Admiral Seymour — The 
 Strength of Cronstadt — Spare Helsingfors — A Russian 
 Baron — Criticisms on our Conduct — A Country House — 
 Preparing for Sweaborg — Russian Gun-boats — Companion 
 of the Bath 298-317 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. 
 
 Helsingfors — Plan of Attack on Sweaborg— A Disclosure — 
 Making a Mess of it — A Second Bungle — The Lessons 
 taught therefrom — A Successful Attack — Accurate Ranges 
 — A Series of Explosions — The Second Day — One Fort 
 beats Three Ships — Bad Mortars — Extensive Conflagrations 
 — A Plea for Helsingfors — Congratulations — Merlin Ashore 
 — Effects of Mortar Fire— Dundas and Penaud's Des- 
 patches — Vertical Fire 318-343- 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 AFTER SWEABORG. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Revel — Russian Losses — A Seaman's Letter — A Patriotic 
 Baroness — A Unique Surveying Trip — Random Firing- 
 Tall Talk — Prince Leiningen — A Russian Cutting-out 
 Scheme — -Windy Despatches — Fancied Glory — Nargen 
 Anchorage — Overworked — Return Home — Cronstadt — A 
 Compliment from the Enemy — Honours — Seniority, not 
 Service — A Choice of Appointments — A Sub-marine Experi- 
 ment .... 344-374 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 THE BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 1857-65- 
 Professional OfScer and Acting Harbour Engineer — Naval Re- 
 forms — Holidays — Overwork — Resignation — Reminiscences 
 by Lord Farrer, Sir J. H. Briggs, and Bishop Stirling — Flag 
 Rank .... .... 375-390 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 RETIREMENT. 
 
 1865-90. 
 
 Life at Bournemouth — Not Idle — Consulted by Admiralty — 
 
 K.C.B. — Loss of a Son — Old Chums — "Crossing the Bar" 391-395 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 A. Royal Dockyard Volunteers (1848): Too Successful — 
 Mechanics Good Gunners . . .... 397 
 
 B. Life in the Falkland Islands (1848-51) : Wives at a Premium 
 
 — Farming — Improving the Breeds — Mutiny on Board . 400 
 
 C. Proposed Strategic and Refuge Harbour at Filey (1859) ■ 402 
 
 D. Coast Defences and Vertical Fire (1859) : Badly constructed 
 Forts at Plymouth — Spithead Defences — Ships v. Forts — 
 Battery Construction — Barrier and Boom Defences — Ver- 
 tical Fire — Pilotage — The Ram suggested— Foreigners 
 using Howitzers 404 
 
XX 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 E. Navigating and Surveying Officers (1846-63) : Abolition of 
 
 the Master Line— Pilotage in Intricate Waters — Practice v. 
 Theory — The Surveying Service — Pioneer Officers . .411 
 
 F. Origin of the Naval Reserve (1846-60) : Manning. . 418 
 
 G. The Board of Admiralty (1861) : A Commander-in-chief of 
 
 the Navy • . 419 
 
 H. Navy : Titles of Officers— Flag Rank 423 
 
 I. Merchant Shipping (i860): Coast Lights, who should pay 
 
 for them — Compulsory Pilotage . .... 424 
 
 J. The Army Volunteers (1852) : How they originated . . 426 
 
 K. Fleet Actions (i860) : The Chief to direct, not to fight — 
 Large v. Small Guns . 427 
 
 L. Admiral Sulivan's Remarks on Passages in Mr. G. Butler 
 Earp's Work on the Campaign of 1854— The Handling of 
 the Russian Fleet 428 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Portrait . .... . . Frontispiece 
 
 Rear-Admiral Chads' Squadron on the way to Bomarsund 
 
 To face ^. 210 
 Ruins of Fort Tzee, Bomarsund ... . ,, 230 
 
 Fort Nottich, Bomarsund . ... ,, 248 
 
 LIST OF SKETCHES. 
 
 A Principle of Gunnery . . ... 
 
 The Forts at Bomarsund 
 
 The Main Defences at Cronstadt . 
 An " Infernal Machine " 
 
 PLANS AND CHARTS. 
 
 Rio Parana and Adjacent Country 
 Obligado — Plan of Attack .... 
 Hango Bay . . . 
 
 Cronstadt — Main Channel .... 
 Bomarsund and the Channels leading thereto 
 
 Sweaborg Roads 
 
 Cronstadt — General Chart 
 Sweaborg — Plan of Attack 
 
 Or 
 
 ■i- 
 
 157 
 
 ft 
 
 169 
 
 ,, 
 
 190 
 
 tt 
 
 302 
 
 Facing ;p. 55 
 
 Onp 
 
 74 
 
 
 
 153 
 
 
 
 188 
 
 
 
 222 
 
 
 
 268 
 
 
 
 288 
 
 
 
 330 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF 
 
 ADMIRAL SIR B. JAMES SULIVAN. 
 
 BY 
 
 ADMIRAL SIR GEORGE HENRY RICHARDS, 
 K.C.B., F.R.S. 
 
 When it was suggested to me that I should write a brief 
 introductory notice to the memoirs of the late Admiral 
 Sir Bartholomew James Sulivan, K.C.B., then being 
 prepared by his son, I could not but feel that at any rate 
 it would be a grateful task to one who had been a follower, 
 admirer, and life-long friend. At the same time, when I 
 asked myself whether the life of a naval officer extending 
 over a period which offered but few opportunities of 
 distinction for the naval service would attract public 
 interest, and when I called to mind that the life of but 
 one admiral, and he a very distinguished one, had been 
 published within my own recollection, I confess that I 
 felt doubtful whether the public would feel sufficient 
 concern in such a work to justify its appearance in print. 
 The answer which came to me was that the biography 
 of any man of eminence and high character, in whatever 
 walk of life he had moved, and especially of such a man 
 as the subject of this memoir, could not fail to be interest- 
 ing as well as instructive, not only to many of his own 
 profession, but also to that large class of English men and 
 women who are connected with the naval service. It 
 would thus have a fascination from the every-day life 
 
xxii PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 and personal incidents of some fifty years ago, in the days 
 of wooden ships and masts and sails, and the quaint habits 
 of thought and speech now fast falling into disuse — days 
 when men lived on the sea for months together, when 
 the sea was their world, and their ship was their pride 
 and their home for years. All this is now changed in 
 many respects, and in how comparatively brief a period. 
 But the sea does not change, and the characteristics of 
 the seaman can scarcely do so. Promptitude and action, 
 self-denial and discipline, must ever be the watchwords of 
 the navy, in some respects, perhaps, even in a greater 
 degree now than of old. Whether sailing in ships, or 
 steaming in the ponderous iron-cased machines of the 
 present day, those whose business lies in the great waters 
 must be seamen still. 
 
 All these qualities were possessed in the highest degree 
 by the subject of this sketch, though the chief interest 
 which may be looked for in the following reminiscences 
 must doubtless be due to the character of the man himself 
 
 He was generous and genial in disposition, simple and 
 modest in his tastes and habits, yet lofty in all his 
 conceptions, while a high moral tone pervaded his life from 
 early boyhood. His professional qualities were perhaps 
 unrivalled — a born seaman and strategist, instinctively a 
 pilot in the most unknown and difficult waters, never 
 at fault, keen to see, and as swift to execute. He, in 
 my opinion, had a greater instinctive knowledge of real 
 pilotage, strategy, and the art of war than any man I 
 ever knew or read of He was never intrusive, and 
 always loyal. Knowing well his own powers, he merely 
 wished them to be admitted, not to be ignored. He was 
 hasty and impulsive to a degree, it is true, when it rested 
 with others to carry out a service which he felt must be 
 done with promptitude and decision ; and this cost him, 
 
.PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. XXlll 
 
 perhaps, some friends, for the time ; but it was soon 
 forgotten, for in action or in any difficulties he was cool 
 and collected, with an unerring judgment in all professional 
 matters. None withheld their admiration for qualities 
 and gifts which were perhaps unequalled. 
 
 My first service connection with Sir James Sulivan, then 
 commander of the surveying-vessel Philomel, was in the 
 year 1842, when I served with him for four years on 
 the surveys of the Falkland Isles, the river Plata, and the 
 upper waters of the rivers Paraguay and Parana. From 
 the fact of my having been brought up as a surveying 
 officer, his own branch of the naval profession, I had the 
 privilege and the advantage of a close connection with him, 
 and it was during these years that I was able to form the 
 opinions of his character which I have already expressed. 
 It may perhaps be thought by the profession generally that 
 the command of a surveying-vessel with a hundred men 
 is scarcely the test by which to judge of the capabilities 
 of an officer for high command and great responsibilities. 
 My experience does not bear out such views ; but if I am 
 wrong, Sulivan, at any rate, was the exception, as was 
 proved in his after-career. He had served an apprentice- 
 ship of six years as a lieutenant in the Beagle, under 
 FitzRoy, in the tempestuous regions of Magellan Straits 
 and Cape Horn, such as few men had experienced. He 
 had, moreover, a peculiar fitness for the command of men. 
 According to the custom in those days, he was permitted 
 to choose his own crew, and a finer set of seamen 
 was rarely collected together, most of them from his 
 native place, Falmouth. No man had a stricter idea of 
 discipline than he, but his strong sense of justice and 
 his unremitting consideration and care for every one 
 under his command gave him a moral influence such as 
 is, perhaps, rarely met with, and rendered punishment in 
 
xxiv PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 any shape almost unknown. Every man was a seaman, 
 but every man knew that the captain was the best and 
 the boldest among them. His activity of mind and body 
 were equally remarkable. One moment he could be seen 
 at the mast-head with his sketch-book, carrying out the 
 duty of the survey ; at another he would be in the chains, 
 showing the leadsman his duties when the ship was in 
 some critical position. 
 
 The operations in the Parana in 1845 by the English 
 and French squadrons against the Dictator Rosas gave 
 him ample opportunities for the exercise of his special 
 abilities as a strategist and a pilot, and here he occupied 
 the position which in similar cases bad not infrequently 
 been filled by the surveying commander in time of action, 
 viz. strategical adviser to the commander-in-chief ; and he 
 performed the duties with brilliant success. 
 
 This is not the place to narrate events which will, 
 doubtless, appear in these memoirs from his own journals. 
 Sufficient to say, that he safely piloted the ships, mostly 
 sailing-vessels, for several months, in difficult and alto- 
 gether unknown waters, for many hundred miles into the 
 interior of South America with skill and success, to the 
 admiration of the fleet. The gallant French captain, 
 Tr^houart, who commanded the French division, may be 
 said to have almost worshipped him. 
 
 There was no more modest man than Sulivan on all 
 points but the one of which he knew himself to be the 
 master-hand ; and on this he never hesitated to give his 
 views with promptitude and decision, and, perhaps, with 
 more haste than was always agreeable. Possibly, this lost 
 him much of the credit which was unquestionably his due ; 
 but he always retained the respect and admiration of such 
 men as James Hope, Cooper Key, and many others who 
 knew and appreciated the value of his services. 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. XXV 
 
 At the close of this campaign, which opened the waters 
 of those great rivers to the shipping of all countries, 
 Captain Sulivan, with the surveying-ship, returned to 
 England ; and from that time our ways lay apart for 
 many years. Correspondence was always, however, kept 
 up, principally on professional or technical subjects, in 
 which he knew that I placed the highest value on his 
 opinion and advice. 
 
 Some time after Captain Sulivan's return from the 
 Parana expedition, it was determined by the Government 
 to create a defensive force of volunteers from the dock- 
 yards and other like establishments, and he was selected 
 by the Admiralty to organise and drill the force. These 
 dockyard-battalions, as they were termed, were, however, 
 disbanded after a few months of existence, principally on 
 account of financial reasons, so that in 1848 he again 
 found himself unemployed. He devoted his energies for 
 some time to the consideration of many professional 
 reforms, some of which were subsequently carried out ; but 
 about this period his health suffered, and he was recom- 
 mended a change to a southern climate. He resolved, 
 however, with his characteristic determination, that, if he 
 made any change, it should be to the far south, and the 
 same year he embarked with his whole family in a hired 
 ship, and proceeded to the Falkland Islands, where, and 
 also in the adjacent desolate regions of Patagonia and 
 Tierra del Fuego, he had already passed many years 
 of his professional life on the work of the Admiralty 
 surveys. He always considered that, although wanting 
 in most of the comforts of civilised life, the Falklands 
 were really health resorts. These treeless and desolate 
 islands always had a peculiar charm for him. His idea 
 was that they were specially fitted for farming purposes, 
 and for the rearing of cattle and sheep. He accordingly 
 
XXVI PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 took with him the necessary farming implements, as well 
 as some high-class animals for improving the breeds, and de- 
 termined to make the experiment. He persevered for some 
 years, not without encouraging results, though others who 
 followed his example later were perhaps more successful. 
 
 By the end of 185 1, on the expiration of his leave of 
 absence, hearing rumours of possible hostilities in Europe, 
 he could not withstand the temptation of once more seeking 
 active service in the profession for which his tastes and 
 abilities best fitted him. He therefore gave up his farming 
 speculation and returned to England, where he used every 
 effort to obtain employment afloat. He had not realised, 
 however, that when a naval officer severs his connection 
 with the sea for ever so short a time, by the traditions of 
 the service his career is generally considered at an end ; 
 and probably that would have been his fate, but for the 
 breaking out of the Russian war, when his well-known 
 abilities could not be dispensed with. He was unhesi- 
 tatingly selected by Sir Francis Beaufort, the Hydrographer 
 of the Admiralty, as the surveying officer to the Baltic 
 fleet, in command of a small steamer suitable for reconnoi- 
 tring purposes. 
 
 On my return to England at the close of the year 1854 
 from the arctic regions, and after the first Russian 
 campaign, I lost no time in seeing him, and hearing his 
 views on the war. His great grief was the entirely 
 unprepared state we were in as regarded the proper style 
 and draught of vessels for making an effective attempt 
 on the strongholds of Cronstadt or other fortified points 
 in the Baltic ; but great efforts were made during that 
 winter, though with inadequate results, for the campaign 
 of 1855, and a more efficient steam- vessel was provided for 
 him personally. I was not an eye-witness of any of the 
 operations of that campaign, but I saw Captain Sulivan 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. xxvij 
 
 again on his return at the close of 1855. There had been 
 some fair successes obtained, chiefly, I believe, owing to his 
 own exertions, but he seemed depressed generally at the 
 barrenness of the operations. Almost the first thing he 
 said to me was, " My head won't stand another campaign 
 like this ; you must take my place." I fancied I knew him 
 better than he knew himself on some points, and I said, 
 " Wait a little ; you won't want to give up your place when 
 the time comes." Soon after preparations were being 
 made on a gigantic scale, which would probably have given 
 us Cronstadt during the following year had hostilities- 
 continued. No one was more heart and soul in these 
 preparations than he, nor had the heads of the Government 
 a more valued and abler adviser. 
 
 The truth was, he felt that he had not received the 
 encouragement or hearty support of his chiefs in opera- 
 tions which his sanguine mind and his tried experience 
 and judgment led him to believe could be accomplished. 
 Officers and men would work heartily with him, but his 
 opinion decidedly was that there was no very cordial 
 feeling on the part of the higher authorities towards the 
 surveying branch of the service, of which he was perhaps 
 the universally acknowledged leader. His views, I confess, 
 were and are to a certain extent shared in by myself, 
 although I gratefully acknowledge that I have met with 
 some brilliant exceptions. As I have said, I am unable 
 to write of Sulivan's Baltic services from any personal 
 knowledge, but I have read papers connected with this 
 memoir from men of eminence who knew him well ; and 
 I am so much impressed by their views of his character,, 
 coinciding as they do so exactly with my own, formed 
 years before, that I cannot refrain from making this brief 
 reference to them. They will doubtless find a more 
 suitable place in the text. 
 
xxviii PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 While he held the office of naval adviser to the Board 
 of Trade, many questions arose between us, on which he 
 often had to suggest or decide, such as the position and 
 nature of sea-lights, sites for docks, defensive positions, etc., 
 in the Colonies. On such points his decisions were always 
 eminently practical, although formed without any local 
 knowledge. On one occasion, I remember, when hostilities 
 seemed imminent with a neighbouring power, I received 
 from him by post a plan showing how he would attempt 
 the capture of a strongly fortified port with a very 
 inferior naval force. The scheme was a bold and ingenious 
 one, drawn up without any information beyond that 
 derived from the English charts, and with a very im- 
 perfect knowledge of the defences. But on visiting them 
 in a friendly way some months afterwards, it occurred 
 to me that, even if the designer himself had been the 
 executor of the attempt, the operation would have been 
 an extremely doubtful one. The incident, however, served 
 to show the readiness of the strategist. 
 
 Soon after his return to England from the Falklands 
 in 1851, he learnt of the untimely end of Captain Allen 
 Gardiner, R.N., who with his companions had died of 
 starvation in the inhospitable regions of Tierra del Fuego, 
 where they had gone with an inadequately equipped 
 expedition for the purpose of missionary work among the 
 degraded natives. Had Sulivan received the letter sent 
 him on the subject before he left the Falklands, he 
 might have saved the party. He and other friends of 
 Gardiner revived the mission and raised money enough 
 to fit out a mission schooner and establish headquarters 
 in the Falkland Islands. The work of the mission, which 
 has now spread to the whole of South America, has been 
 attended with wonderful results among the savages of 
 Tierra del Fuego. Sulivan continued to be an active and 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. xxix 
 
 enthusiastic supporter of the South American Missionary- 
 Society, and its nautical adviser to the end of his life. 
 
 This brief sketch, principally of the professional side of 
 his character, would certainly be considered incomplete 
 by the younger generation of his time who knew him well 
 without some allusion to what may be called the peculi- 
 arities of the characteristics of his ordinary social life. 
 
 Impulsive and enthusiastic he was, no doubt, on points 
 in which he took a deep interest — and they were many. 
 For argument on any subject he was always keen and 
 ready, though rarely, if ever, convinced against his own 
 preconceived opinions. On politics and religion, like 
 many men of his temperament, he held very strong views, 
 and was always most serious on them. In politics, as 
 the word was understood half a century ago, it need 
 scarcely be said he was extremely liberal. But nothing 
 would ever have induced him, for power or for party, or 
 for personal reasons, to swerve from the high standards of 
 honour and truth which were inherent in him. He used 
 to say in his earlier days that it was his ambition to 
 represent his native place in Parliament ; but he, after all, 
 contented himself with devoting all his energies to reforms 
 in his own profession, to the amelioration and improve- 
 ment of the seamen's position, the modification and 
 uniformity of punishment, and, above all, to the raising 
 the moral tone of the navy. In all these matters he 
 took a deep interest and an active part. Few will deny 
 that the improvements which have been gradually carried 
 out in the naval service, owing to the exertions of such 
 men, have scarcely been equalled in any other great 
 community. He was a strong advocate of justice and of 
 the recognition of individual merit, and was never tired 
 of endeavouring to redress grievances, no matter who the 
 subject might be, sometimes overlooking the fact that in 
 
XXX PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 a great service there must be certain hard-and-fast rules, 
 and that cases of individual hardship cannot but occur 
 sometimes, however meritorious the man may be. 
 
 In Church matters he certainly was what is termed 
 ■extremely low, and perhaps not very tolerant, but was 
 always indefatigable in forw^arding the interest of those 
 who thought with, him. Whatever might be the subject 
 ■of dispute, he was always ready for argument with the 
 other side, and I have more than once been present at a 
 scene, not without its comic aspect, as, for instance, when 
 he was threatened with excommunication by a High 
 Church dignitary on whom he had forced a controversy 
 at the corner of a street. These things, however, never 
 ■caused anything beyond momentary irritation, for it was 
 impossible to quarrel with a man without guile. 
 
 I remember, too, when he was leaving his ship the 
 Philomel in the Parana for an absence of some months, with 
 the leading members of the expedition on a political and 
 exploring mission to the upper republics, some hundreds 
 of miles into the interior, in giving me his last instruc- 
 tions he said, " I have only one cause of anxiety. You 
 will not let my practice of the Church service be altered ? " 
 I assured him that there was no fear on that head. He 
 added, " Don't increase the scraping and polishing work, 
 and good-bye." It was one of his hobbies that there 
 should be no addition to the men's work by brass-polish- 
 ing, which was a good deal in vogue in those days. His 
 great desire, however, was that his ship should always be 
 smart and efficient, and ready for any service at a moment's 
 notice. He took a great pleasure in beating the fleet at 
 ■evolutions ; but as his taking part in them was purely 
 voluntary — a surveying-ship being exempt from these 
 duties — nothing would induce him to do so on Sundays. 
 We all differed from him in this ; but he steadfastly 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. xxxi 
 
 maintained his position, saying, " I never will work on 
 Sundays, except to save the ship, or in action." This, not 
 unnaturally, cost us some good-will in the squadron. 
 
 When he returned from his mission in the Upper Parana 
 and rejoined his ship, hostilities being in a fair way of 
 ceasing, he was ordered to leave the river and return to 
 his regular duties. The ship, on descending the river, had 
 for some miles to run the gauntlet of the enemy's field 
 artillery, which was placed on the high cliffs in the neighbour- 
 hood of the old battle-field of Obligado, and annoyed all 
 passing ships. Sulivan said to me with much glee : " I 
 have a plan which will puzzle these fellows. There must 
 be deep water close under these cliffs. We will pass so close 
 under them that they will not be able to depress their 
 guns on us." He had a barricade of hammocks made 
 about the steering-wheel, and sent all hands below. He 
 took the helm himself, and said, " You keep here by me 
 in case of accidents." The sails were trimmed, and with 
 a light wind aft we passed close under the cliffs in silence. 
 No shot did more than pass some six or eight feet above 
 the deck, several going through the main-sail. This was 
 cleverly done, but some others did not escape so free. 
 
 Thus I have touched upon some of the salient points 
 in the character of a unique and highly gifted man. It 
 has been said, and perhaps with some truth, that these 
 strange combinations frequently go together. It is certain, 
 however, that Sir James Sulivan was the type of a 
 thoroughly just, upright, and strictly religious man. One 
 of the first things he gave out when he commissioned the 
 Philomel was, '' Profane language and intemperance I never 
 will suffer," and one of the remarkable points in his 
 character was that his presence was alone sufficient to 
 forbid the possibility of any conversation of a loose or 
 questionable kind in any society where he might be. He 
 
XXXll PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 was essentially a domestic man, never caring for club life. 
 Nor did he often attend the meetings of the learned 
 societies (although he was a member of the Royal Geo- 
 graphical and the Meteorological Societies), though a more 
 intellectual and more intelligent man, or a more brilliant 
 conversationalist, perhaps, could not often be met with. 
 Though he was not very well known generally among his 
 own brother-officers, from these causes, and from his 
 retiring disposition, yet when troublesome times brought 
 him to the front, his name became a household word 
 among those with whom he was associated. 
 
 Those who knew Sulivan well must also have known 
 his wife. I have always regarded her character as one 
 of the most beautiful I have ever met with. Perhaps there 
 never were two people more different in their tempera- 
 ments, and yet so entirely suited to one another, — he 
 impulsive and enthusiastic in all he undertook ; she calm, 
 amiable, and gentle, sharing all his feelings, and never 
 opposing his pursuits, whatever direction they took. 
 Knowing them both well from my early days, I went 
 when I could to see them in their retirement at Bourne- 
 mouth in the latter years of their lives. She, long an 
 invalid, generally passed her days lying on a couch in the 
 drawing-room, and he rarely left her. If he found it 
 difficult when he met a friend of olden days to refrain 
 from his old habit of referring to past adventures, though 
 he had been strictly enjoined to avoid all exciting topics, 
 a word or a look from her always brought the calm which 
 had become so essential to his health. He was the first 
 to be taken, and her last words to him were, " I shall 
 not be long after you." 
 
 G. H. R. 
 
 The Cottage, Fetch am, 
 
 Leatherhead, December 1895. 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS 
 
 OF 
 
 ADMIRAL SIR B. J. SULIVAN, 
 
 K.C.B. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. 
 1810-29. 
 
 " I WAS born at Tregew, in the parish of Mylor, on the 
 banks of Falmouth Harbour, on November i8th, 1810. 
 My father was then Commander Thomas Bail Sulivan, R.N., 
 who, after serving from 1793 throughout the whole war 
 as midshipman and lieutenant, was first lieutenant of 
 the Anson (Captain Lydiard) at the capture of Curasao 
 by Captain Charles Brisbane, on January ist, 1807. For 
 this he was made commander with the two other first 
 lieutenants. On returning in the Anson to England, and 
 not being immediately employed, his former commander. 
 Captain Lydiard, asked him to take a cruise, as his guest, 
 in the Anson, about to be stationed in the Channel. The 
 Anson went into Falmouth on the morning of Christmas 
 Day, 1807, and my father landed with Captain Lydiard. 
 On shore they met the captains of some other ships-of- 
 war in the harbour, and were asked where they were going to 
 dine. Captain Lydiard answered, ' On board ' ; the others 
 replying, ' Come with us to dine at Woodlands with 
 Captain James.' ' We do not know him.' ' No matter ; all 
 the captains in the harbour are expected to dine there.' And 
 they went. This led to the first meeting of my father and 
 mother, the daughter of Captain James, who was then 
 
 I 
 
2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 nineteen years of age. The Anson sailed next morning 
 for her station on the western part of the Channel, and on 
 December 27th was embayed with a southerly gale in 
 Mount's Bay. Failing to work out against the gale, she 
 anchored off the eastern shore of the bay, and, parting two 
 cables. Captain Lydiard consulted the officers as to the 
 expediency of running her on shore before dark on the 
 Love Sand (a small patch of sand on an iron-bound coast), 
 as it was certain the remaining cables would not hold her 
 through a long winter's night, and if she drove on the rocky 
 shore every soul would perish. This plan was adopted. 
 
 " She had been a two-decked, sixty-four-gun ship, and 
 cut down to a forty-four-gun frigate, but with a poop. 
 There was the surf of the heavy southerly gale on the short 
 beach, and directly she struck the next sea threw her 
 broadside on. The poop had been crowded with officers 
 and men, as the highest, and probably the safest, place ; 
 but all were swept off the poop, and I have heard my 
 father say he doubted if one there was saved. The masts 
 went at the same time, but providentially the main-mast fell 
 in such a position as to form a bridge from the ship to the 
 shore above the reflux of the surf, and the men had only 
 to watch the wave round both bow and stern, and run along 
 the main-mast before the return of the next one. This 
 formed such a means of escape that six men's wives who 
 were in the ship were saved by it ; one, who had broken her 
 thigh by a fall, was carried on shore by men. Captain 
 Lydiard and my father were lashed to the stanchion of the 
 wheel, and were witnesses to a painful scene. The surgeon 
 of the ship had a son on board, a very young midshipman ; 
 they were lashed to the gun-tackles on the weather side of 
 the ship, near the wheel. The poor boy said to his father, 
 ' What would mamma say if she knew our position now ? ' 
 The next sea dashed him across the ship between two guns, 
 with such force as to kill him. The father, letting go his 
 lashings, tried to cross the deck to his assistance, when the 
 next sea dashed him also against the lee side, killing him 
 as well. When apparently all had left the ship. Captain 
 Lydiard said, ' Sulivan, it is our turn now — you go first.' 
 They watched the sea receding, and then ran. On reaching 
 the main-mast, they saw one of the ship's boys clinging 
 to the gear round the stump. My father, seeing a wave 
 coming, dropped cross-leg on the mast, and clung to the 
 ropes. Turning round, he saw that the wave had swept 
 
1810-29.] ADMIRAL T. B. SULIVAN, C.B. 3 
 
 away both the boy and Captain Lydiard. When the wave 
 receded, he ran on and reached the beach. To those on 
 shore it seemed that Captain Lydiard was trying to get 
 the boy to go on at the time the sea struck them. Some 
 idea may be formed of my father's feelings as he stood on 
 the beach, and realised the fact that his kindest friend for 
 many years was gone. I can well recollect as a boy how 
 he felt whenever he spoke on the subject. 
 
 " The news reached Captain James the next day — In- 
 nocents' Day — which was his birthday ; and, according to 
 his custom, he had a large party dining at the Woodlands. 
 (I have now by me his journal, containing a list of all his 
 guests on those days, and I find among them Israel Pellew, 
 James Saumarez, Sir Peter Parker, Horatio Nelson, George 
 Cockburn, Thomas Freemantle, James Macnamara, Isaac 
 Coffin, and Edward Hamilton.) As soon as Captain James 
 heard the sad news, he went to the wreck, and brought the 
 surviving officers back to his house. Thus the acquaintance 
 between my father and mother was renewed. This ulti- 
 mately led to their engagement, and on March 19th, 180S, 
 they were married at Mylor Church, and went to reside in 
 a cottage at Tregew, new Flushing. 
 
 " Early in 1809 my father was appointed chief agent of 
 transports, with an expedition from Cork to take reinforce- 
 ments to the Peninsular army. After his return he for 
 a few months commanded the Eclipse on the Plymouth 
 station. In February 181 3 he was appointed to the 
 Woolwich, a forty-four-gun ship of two decks, to take Sir 
 James Yeo and his officers and seamen to man the Lake 
 flotillas in Canada. On his way from Halifax to the West 
 Indies the Woolwich was wrecked in a hurricane on the 
 island of Barbuda, but every soul was saved. The court- 
 martial honourably acquitted the commander and officers, 
 and complimented the commander on there being no loss of 
 life. On March 25th, 18 14, my father was appointed to the 
 Weser troop-ship. The Weser and Trave, French frigates, 
 had been captured on their way from Holland to a French 
 port, and then fitted as troop-ships. Captain Money was 
 appointed to the Trave, and both ships were fitting out 
 to join a squadron proceeding to Bordeaux, to embark a 
 brigade of the Peninsular army for service in America. 
 
 " My father had three brothers in the service ; one, Samuel 
 Hood Sulivan, was then first lieutenant on the Trave, 
 the sister-ship to the Weser. The Weser and Trave 
 
4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 embarked the 4th Regiment (Colonel Faunce), the head- 
 quarters and one wing being in the Weser. They sailed 
 for Bermuda, where they were joined by some other ships 
 and regiments. Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane 
 took command of the fleet, which then proceeded direct for 
 the Chesapeake. The first service there was the destruc- 
 tion of Admiral Barney's flotilla in the Patuxent, before 
 the army could attack Washington. My father commanded 
 the first division of boats on this service. Afterwards, the 
 army having taken Baltimore, he served with a battalion of 
 seamen, as the senior commander under Captain Crofton, 
 at the battle of Bladensburg, where the seamen are reported 
 in the despatch ' to have behaved with a gallantry and 
 steadiness which would have done honour to the ablest 
 troops, and which attracted the admiration of the army.'* 
 
 " I must mention the singular coincidence, that though 
 my father and his three brothers had never all met before 
 whilst in the service, they did so in the fleet in the 
 Patuxent, the youngest being then twenty-one (Daniel 
 Hunt Sulivan). When the expedition against New Orleans 
 had arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi, the troops had 
 to be taken about eighty miles through the shallow waters 
 of Lake Borgne in boats to a landing-place at its head, 
 separated from New Orleans by a few miles of wooded 
 country. The Rev. G. R. Gleig, the late chaplain-general 
 (author of ' The Subaltern in the Army,' and ' America '), after 
 dwelling on the hardships of the army, in which he served 
 in the 85th Regiment, says, ' On the part of the navy 
 all these hardships were experienced in a fourfold degree.' 
 
 * I will here add a story of Admiral T. B. Sulivan, illustrating his high 
 sense of duty, which was also ever the guiding principle of the subject 
 of this memoir. As captain he was appointed to the Stag, as wing 
 commodore to the Pacific squadron. The merchants of Chili exported 
 a large quantity of silver in ingots. There being a heavy duty on this, 
 they used to smuggle it off to H.M.'s ships for conveyance to the river 
 Plata, paying a large freight for the same. A former commodore, 
 instead of first attending to the duties of his station, had used his ship 
 to earn freight, leaving his station even when a critical state of affairs 
 demanded his presence there. Commodore Sulivan, on his arrival 
 on the station, issued an order that no man-of-war was to take 
 smuggled silver, deeming it wrong for naval officers to assist the 
 Chilians in breaking the laws of their country. On one occasion, 
 when anchored with a squadron off the coast, a canoe came off to 
 his ship after dusk, and a black man placed on the deck a number 
 of bars of silver. He was followed by the merchant. " What is this 
 for?" said the commodore. " For you to take to the Plata," was the 
 merchant's reply. " Has duty been paid on it?" "No." "Then 1 
 
1810-29.] NEW ORLEANS. 5 
 
 For these services my father was promoted to post- 
 captain. Not having heard of his promotion, he was, as 
 the senior commander, attached to a brigade in command 
 of Colonel Thornton, which was composed of the 85th 
 Regiment, the Marines, and a party of seamen under my 
 father. They shared in the desperate attack made on the 
 leading division. The plan was for Colonel Thornton's 
 brigade to cross the river, for the purpose of carrying a 
 battery and turning the guns on the lines of New (Drleans 
 when the main attack was made. Before this two generals 
 had landed to command the army sent out after the news 
 had reached England of General Ross being killed. With 
 these came my father's promotion, and the admiral brought 
 over Commander Money, the next in seniority to my 
 father, saying, ' Sulivan, as you are a post-captain, we 
 must give Money a chance ; he will relieve you in command 
 of the seamen, and you will return and take his duty at 
 the landing-place as beach-master.' This probably saved 
 my father's life or a dangerous wound. After the division 
 had crossed the river and advanced to the attack of the 
 battery, the seamen were leading, all the principal officers 
 being in front, going up a lane. At the head of this lane 
 the enemy had masked field-pieces. Suddenly opening 
 fire, one round of grape-shot killed or wounded the leading 
 files. Colonel Thornton, Captain Money, and the officer 
 in command of the Marines were severely wounded. 
 Captain Money had his ankle smashed ; and though he 
 escaped amputation, he was lamed for life, and never served 
 again. He was a very religious man, which in those days 
 
 cannot take it." The merchant explained that he had not heard of 
 the new regulation. He said that, difficult as it had been to smuggle 
 if off, it would be far more difficult to get it on shore again without his 
 being caught, so he begged that an exception might be made in his case. 
 At length the commodore said, " Well, take it to the vessel astern of 
 me ; but mind, no more silver is to be brought off that has not had the 
 duty paid on it." 
 
 During the five years the commodore was on that coast, he never 
 once used his ship for earning freight (whilst much was made by 
 other vessels of his squadron), although to a man with a family of 
 fourteen and no private means some extra earnings would have been 
 acceptable. At the end of his commission, when the merchants heard 
 that he was about to leave the station, they passed the word along the 
 coast towns that for months all the silver possible should be saved up 
 to send by Captain Sulivan's ship on her way to England, in order that 
 he might have one chance of a good freight. Thus did the very 
 merchants against whom his former order had been issued show their 
 appreciation of his conduct. — Ed. 
 
6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 led to his being called a ' psalm-singer ' ; and when he was 
 serving under General Ross, before Bladensburg, the 
 general said publicly he wished all his army were psalm- 
 singers, if Money was a specimen of them.' 
 
 " My father's two younger brothers, James and Daniel 
 Hunt, were made lieutenants for this service ; but the elder 
 of the three, Samuel Hood, was never promoted, though he 
 had served as midshipman in the Achille at Trafalgar, and 
 went through the whole of the service in the Chesapeake 
 as first lieutenant of the Trave, and commanded a boat 
 under Captain Lockyer on the occasion of the gallant 
 capture of the American gun-boats on Lake Borgne. 
 When, after the long war, the Order of the Bath was 
 extended to three classes, my father, in common with 
 many officers who had been promoted to the rank of 
 post-captains for service as commanders, received the C.B. 
 He returned home soon after the peace with the United 
 States in March 1815. 
 
 " One of my earliest recollections, when I was nearly five 
 years old, is of my father taking me one day to Falmouth. 
 On our return, while waiting on Falmouth Quay for the 
 ferry-boat between Flushing and Falmouth, a voice shouted 
 from a window of the Green Bank Hotel, ' Pick up the 
 child in the water ! ' The tide was running out, and 
 the next moment we saw a very small child float round 
 the end of the quay. My father took off his coat, placed it 
 at my feet, jumped in the water to the rescue, and in a 
 few minutes he was slowly swimming to the steps with the 
 child under his left arm. I mention this from its con- 
 nection with an extraordinary coincidence which occurred 
 nearly fifty years afterwards. My mother was then living 
 at Flushing, and my brother, [then] Commander George 
 Lydiard Sulivan, who had recently been promoted from 
 the royal yacht, was at the top of her steep garden, 
 which rose behind the house. It was a still starlight 
 evening in the month of June 1863. He heard the rattle 
 of oars in a boat, then a splash, and a cry for help, followed 
 by a dead silence, which showed that no assistance was at 
 hand. He ran to the quay at Flushing (about two hundred 
 and fifty yards away), and the tide being very high he 
 was able to step from the quay to a boat. Telling the 
 waterman there was a man overboard at the quay on the 
 other side, they each took an oar, and pulled rapidly across 
 the harbour. When they reached the quay, they found 
 
1810-29.J SCHOOL DAYS. 7 
 
 two men discussing the exact spot where the man sank. 
 My brother pulled off his coat and waistcoat, and dived, 
 searching the bottom all round where they thought the 
 man had gone down, but without success. He then got on 
 the steps, and asked one of the men to pull his shirt off, as 
 it was impeding his progress ; as he did so the man said, 
 ' Your father saved my life off this very spot nearly fifty 
 years ago.' On diving the second time he recovered the 
 body, but life was extinct. The man was a navvy, 
 returning from work at the Falmouth Docks. 
 
 " My father told my sons, when boys, that I could do a 
 rule of three sum when I was six years of age as well as 
 he could. I attended during the day a school kept by the 
 curate of our parish. My father was never satisfied with 
 the arithmetic taught at school, and I had in addition to 
 do my sums at home of an evening. My mother was 
 fond of poetry, and made us learn many short pieces by 
 heart out of a book called ' The Speaker.' I am sure that 
 this exercised the memory and improved it ; and with the 
 aid of repeating them in night watches as a midshipman, 
 to pass away the time, I have never forgotten them. After 
 two years and a half there I was sent to Mr. Eyre's school at 
 Penryn ; that required a walk of two miles each way, and, 
 as the classical classes were only in the forenoon, I returned 
 home as soon as they were over. But I have forgotten 
 another part of my education for the navy. My father 
 kept two boats, one a rather large sailing-boat, and the 
 other a small thirteen-foot boat for rowing, with a small 
 sail. I was often with him in both boats. I remained 
 more than two years at the Penryn school, during which 
 time I went through Ovid and Caesar, and began Virgil ; 
 but we were hurried through them in classes so fast that I 
 only learnt some of the amusing stories in Ovid and some 
 of the battles in Csesar, accounts of crossing rivers, etc. 
 We also had to go through the Eton Latin grammar 
 periodically till I knew it by heart ; and for many years 
 afterwards, if any one had started me on a line, I could 
 have gone on for pages. Mr. Eyre attached great import- 
 ance to a clear pronunciation, and before the midsummer 
 holidays we had a speech day in public. The first year I 
 chose Pyramus and Thisbe for my Latin speech, and to 
 my astonishment was awarded the Latin medal by several 
 clergymen, presided over by Canon Howell, rector of the 
 parish. He walked a short distance with my father and 
 
8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 mother, and expressed a hope that I should be sent to a 
 public school, with a view to going to Oxford ; but my 
 career had been settled long before, and I was to go to the 
 Royal Naval College at Portsmouth, where many naval 
 officers' sons received a free education, I believe to the 
 extent of half the number, the remaining half of seventy 
 boys paying £10 a year. There was also a chance of 
 winning a medal at the college, which gave a prospect of 
 promotion on passing for lieutenant. This was more 
 important then, when mates (now sub-lieutenants) without 
 interest were sometimes ten, eleven, and twelve years after 
 passing before they were promoted, while they saw every 
 one with interest, or, as the saying was then in midship- 
 men's berths, ' with handles to their names,' promoted as 
 soon as they had passed their examinations. A son of 
 Captain Pellew had won the second medal at this college, 
 and this was always held up to me as an example. My 
 father had a large family ; therefore it was a great object 
 to him and to all poor naval officers to get so good an 
 education for the navy free of cost. 
 
 "On our removing to Feock parish, my father continued 
 my education at home until I went to the Naval College, 
 the age for entering which was from twelve and a half 
 years to thirteen and a half I went to it when I was 
 twelve years and three months old. During our residence 
 at Tregew, my uncle. Lieutenant Daniel H. Sulivan, had 
 lived with us nearly one year ; afterwards the three uncles, 
 all lieutenants R.N., and two Lieutenants Loney, R.N., 
 owned a large Cawsand Bay boat, called the Sweet Poll, 
 of Plymouth, in which they attended all the regattas on 
 the south coast. She carried off the first prize of her 
 class for three years in succession, after which the com- 
 mittees would not allow her to compete. I used to look 
 forward to their coming to Falmouth with much interest. 
 My father also encouraged me in the use of carpenters' 
 tools, of which he had a large box. I have mentioned 
 these facts because they bear on a question now discussed, 
 ' technical education,' and because I have all my life felt 
 the value of this early training in the use of tools. 
 
 " I now come to my leaving home for the Royal Naval 
 College. There were no steam-vessels on the south coast 
 in those days, and the only way to go from port to port by 
 sea was in smacks, one line from Falmouth to Plymouth, 
 and another from Plymouth to Portsmouth. My father 
 
l8lo-29.] THE ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE. 9 
 
 took me there, and we stopped for a few days on the way 
 at Plymouth. Sir Alexander Cochrane — under whom my 
 father served in America — was then the commander-in-chief 
 at Plymouth Dockyard. One day he asked me what I 
 looked -forward to. I replied, ' To living in this house one 
 day, sir, as commander-in-chief.' He said a few words 
 in praise of my ambition. We went on in a smack to 
 Portsmouth, arriving there three or four days before the 
 time for the examination. Lieutenant John Wood Rouse 
 (my godfather) was the senior of two lieutenants of the 
 college. He had lost his leg as a midshipman in one of 
 the ships of Sir John Duckworth's squadron in the passage 
 of the Dardanelles, and was, after being made a lieutenant, 
 appointed staff-officer to my grandfather, then com- 
 mander of the Cornish district of ' sea fencibles.' We 
 stayed at Mr. Rouse's house during the few days we were 
 at Portsmouth, until I passed in. My father was very 
 anxious about my passing, and expressed doubt on the 
 subject to the lieutenant-governor, Captain John Went- 
 worth Goring, C.B.,; but the questions were all in arithmetic, 
 excepting the definitions of Euclid, which I had learned 
 by heart the previous week. Thanks to my father having 
 taught me arithmetic so well, I passed first of twelve. 
 
 " The head of the studies was the Reverend Professor 
 James Inman, D.D., author of the work on navigation, 
 under whom were three assistant-masters for mathematics : 
 first, Peter Mason, M.A. ; second, Charles Blackburn, M.A. ; 
 and third, Mr. Livesay. The preceptor, the Rev. W. 
 Tate, M.A., took the classical classes, history, geography, 
 and English. French was taught by M. Creuze, a French 
 imigrd. We were also taught fencing and dancing. The 
 forenoons were given to mathematics, the afternoons to 
 French and drawing, the latter taught by a very superior 
 master, Mr. J. C. Schetky. There were also classes for 
 naval architecture, which were taken by Mr. Fincham, the 
 master-builder of the dockyard. We began geometry with 
 Mr. Livesay ; but no boy could get on unless he studied 
 in his own cabin and at the dining-room tables in the 
 evenings. This some of the senior boys tried to prevent 
 by watching the steps of the junior class, and if the junior 
 boys showed any intention of studying they were sure to 
 have their books knocked out of their hands and scattered 
 about the yard. Fortunately the one who passed in second 
 to me — Baugh — was one of the strongest and biggest boys 
 
lO AUTOBIOGRAPHY YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 in the college ; he was also one of the studious ones, and 
 often protected me from this bullying. Once the books 
 were in the boys' cabins they were safe, as we were 
 forbidden to enter one another's cabins. I was content so 
 long as I kept with the senior boys of my own batch ; 
 and it was a fortunate thing for me that three months 
 after I entered Dr. Inman's son, Richard Inman, joined 
 us. He had learnt the first three months' work or more 
 before he entered, and I had nearly completed in three 
 months what we were allowed six months for. Inman 
 passed in the studies that made him equal with me within 
 a week of entering, and then we went on competing each 
 month. Nothing could be fairer than Dr. Inman was to 
 me throughout this rivalry. He urged me to take my 
 books home at Christmas and midsummer, and work every 
 day, adding, ' I shall keep Richard at work.' He awarded 
 me the junior mathematical prize on December i6th— a 
 splendidly bound book on naval gunnery. The time allowed 
 for going through the whole mathematical studies was two 
 years : ' time ' was allowed only for the studies completed. 
 
 " On my way back to college after the holidays, the 
 coach broke down, and I was exposed for some hours of a 
 night of intense cold, the inside passengers not allowing 
 me to squeeze in among them for shelter. In consequence, 
 a week after my return to college, I was taken ill with 
 inflammation of the lungs, and was in the infirmary five 
 weeks. Inman got ahead of me during my illness, but I 
 caught him up again before the midsummer holidays, and 
 it then became a neck-and-neck race. I was awarded 
 another mathematical prize on June 22nd, and to my 
 great astonishment a prize in French. The collegians were 
 often taken round the dockyard, and shown the ships build- 
 ing and in dock, and if the boys liked they could attend 
 the rigging-loft to learn to strop-blocks and do many 
 other useful things. There were also large barges to cruise 
 about in, to visit ships, and to take us to Haslar Creek on 
 Saturday afternoons for cricket. Our ground was between 
 the Haslar Hospital ward and the sea. From the time I 
 entered the college I received the greatest kindness from 
 Sir George and Lady Grey. He had been flag-captain 
 to Sir John Jervis in the Boyne, when my grandfather 
 was first lieutenant of her, and afterwards in the Victory. 
 I spent every Sunday afternoon there with two other 
 collegians named Ramage and Coppinger. 
 
1810-29.] FIRST COMMISSION. I I 
 
 " The idea was held in the college that the one who got 
 through the course in the shortest time obtained the iirst 
 medal, and the next the second medal. On these grounds 
 Edmonstone — now Admiral Sir William Edmonstone — 
 had won the first medal the previous year, and Allen, who 
 as captain commanded the Niger expedition, the second 
 medal. I heard when we returned to Portsmouth after 
 my first voyage that Dr. Inman had applied to the 
 Admiralty to grant two first medals, one for Inman and 
 one for me ; but their lordships refused, on the ground 
 that it would be creating a precedent, and that he must 
 decide which should have the first medal and which the 
 second, but that it should make no difference when we 
 passed our examinations. The first medal ensured promo- 
 tion after passing, and the second medal gave a strong 
 claim to it. Dr. Inman nominated his son for the first 
 medal and me for the second, which was perfectly fair, 
 as I have explained before. I had always out of school 
 hours taken to the rigging-loft, and in the latter months of 
 my time was one of six selected to rig a block-model of a 
 frigate, for which a shed was erected in the yard in the 
 rear of the Naval Architectural College. It remained for 
 many years as a specimen of rigging. One boy had the 
 bowsprit with the gear of the jib-booms, two had the 
 fore-mast, two the main-mast (one on each side), and 
 the mizzen-mast was allotted to me. 
 
 " Inman passed out of the college a few days before I 
 did, as his father was very anxious to get him into the 
 Cambrian with Captain Hamilton. When I passed out of 
 the college I was appointed to H.M.S. Thetis, Captain 
 Sir John Phillimore, C.B., Kt., who, going round the college 
 a short time before, had told Dr. Inman, and I believe 
 Captain John W. Loring, C.B. (the lieutenant-governor),, 
 that if they sent him any collegians he would refuse to 
 take them. When I went on board I found the captain 
 was on leave. The first lieutenant, Drew (who had been 
 promoted for the first Ashantee war), and the second, 
 Cotesworth, were on board. The latter was the son of 
 Captain Cotesworth, of Falmouth, a friend of my grand- 
 father, and well known to my father and mother. He told 
 me the captain had a strong prejudice against collegians, 
 but that he would do all he could to keep me in the ship. 
 When the captain returned from leave he sent for me to 
 his cabin in the hulk, and told me that he had never 
 
1 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 Icnown a collegian worth his salt, and he used strong 
 language against the college and all connected with it. 
 I forgot he was the captain, and spoke hastily in reply ; 
 he ordered me out of the cabin, and followed me quickly 
 to the door. In a short time he sent for me again, and 
 told me that the ship was going out for about two months 
 with an experimental squadron, and that he would try me. 
 He went on shore, and told Captain Loring that he liked 
 the way I stuck up for the college and the spirited way 
 in which 1 spoke to him, and that he should try me. 
 When the senior midshipmen passed at the Royal Naval 
 •College for lieutenants, the senior class of collegians had 
 to work the same paper in the same room. The last time 
 I did so Dr. Inman said to me, ' There was a collegian 
 passing yesterday who won the first medal — his name is 
 FitzRoy ; and he did what has never been done before : in 
 passing for a lieutenant he got full numbers, and I hope 
 when you pass for lieutenant you will do the same.'* 
 He, FitzRoy, was promoted to lieutenant immediately, 
 and two or three weeks after I joined the Thetis he was 
 appointed to her as junior lieutenant, — to that I attribute 
 much of my future success in the service. 
 
 " Sir John Phillimore, when he commissioned the Thetis 
 early in 1823, feeling that the large allowance of rum was 
 the cause of much drunkenness in the service, proposed to 
 the Admiralty that it should be reduced one-half, from half 
 a pint of rum to a quarter of a pint. Their lordships 
 replied that 'if the Thetis' s ship's company would try it 
 first they would allow it.' The consent was given and the 
 reduction ordered. When I joined the ship it had been 
 tried for more than a year, during which time the Thetis' s 
 ship's company had to undergo the most bitter persecution 
 from other ships' companies. Whether she was at Plymouth 
 or Portsmouth the liberty-men of the other ships combined 
 to attack the ' tea-chests,' as they called them. This con- 
 tinued after I joined, and men were sent from the Thetis 
 to Haslar Hospital with serious injuries from the fighting 
 which ensued. Shortly after the Ganges returned from 
 her first commission in the Mediterranean. She had a 
 full crew as an eighty-four-gun ship, whereas the guard- 
 ships at Plymouth and Portsmouth had only frigates' ships' 
 companies. The crew of the Ganges gave notice to the 
 other ships that if they continued to treat the Thetis's crew 
 * This he actually did. — Ed. 
 
1810-29.J H.M.S. "THETIS." 1 3. 
 
 in the way they did they would land in a body and take 
 the part of the Thetis's men, because the latter were 
 instrumental in bringing about the most beneficial change 
 that had ever been made for the seamen of the royal 
 navy. They had more than a year's experience of the 
 advantages given in exchange for the quarter of a pint of 
 rum. Before the change there were two days a week 
 when no meat was served out, called ' banyan days.'' 
 These were done away with. Then for breakfast they had 
 only ' burgoo,' or, in other words, thick water-gruel, and 
 for their evening meal butter and cheese with their biscuits,, 
 which were said to be often rancid and mouldy. Instead 
 of these they now had cocoa in the morning and a good 
 allowance of tea in the evening, with ample allowance of 
 sugar. In addition to these they had two shillings a month 
 more pay. Before the change they could not draw any of 
 their pay abroad, and had no money to spend on leave, 
 unless they sold their clothes for the purpose, which led to 
 punishment ; but one of the advantages accruing from the 
 change was that they were allowed to draw four shillings- 
 a month of their pay abroad. Later, when on detached 
 service from the Beagle, and in boats for many weeks^ 
 while sitting round the fire at night, smoking and drinking 
 quantities of tea, one of the oldest seamen in the ship, a 
 petty officer, whom I always selected for my coxswain in 
 those boat expeditions, used to tell the men that he 
 looked back with shame and sorrow to the days when he 
 helped others to attack the Thetis's ship's company because 
 they consented to try reducing the allowance of rum one- 
 half, and he used to explain to the other men the great 
 advantages of the change. 
 
 " When Lieutenant Drew was promoted, the captain 
 applied for Lieutenant William Cotesworth as first lieu- 
 tenant, but was refused, because he had not been ten years- 
 a lieutenant. He was of eight years' standing, and had 
 been promoted for gallant boat service when in the 
 Endymion on the coast of North America. Lieutenant 
 Henry Jellicoe, three years his senior, was appointed as first 
 lieutenant. While still alongside the hulk we experienced 
 that terrible storm of November 28th, 1824, one of the 
 heaviest that has ever been known in England. . . . 
 
 " In the same storm nearly all the vessels in Plymouth 
 Sound were wrecked, and a gap was broken through- 
 Plymouth Breakwater, which was not then finished. One 
 
I 4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 large schooner was off the Eddystone in the storm ; before 
 daylight she capsized and turned bottom up. The watch 
 on deck were drowned, but the watch below managed to 
 climb into the hold (she was in ballast), and there was 
 air enough in to keep them alive. After some hours they 
 felt the shock of the masts being carried away by their 
 striking the ground, and after that she was thrown bottom 
 up on the top of the breakwater : they cut a hole with 
 their knives in the bottom large enough to wave a shirt 
 from for a signal ; it was seen from the breakwater vessel, 
 and she sent a boat and saved them. I suppose there 
 never was such an instance of men being saved when in 
 such extreme danger. 
 
 " But we must return to the Thetis alongside the hulk 
 in Portsmouth Harbour. The lieutenants were Henry 
 Jellicoe, William Cotesworth, J. Jervis Tucker, and Robert 
 FitzRoy. 
 
 " I have often been asked if it is true that a captain 
 in the royal navy once made a bishop of his chaplain, 
 and I have replied : ' Not only is it true, but the ship 
 I first served in as a midshipman was the ship in which 
 it took place, though I joined her afterwards. Her last 
 voyage had been to take an African regiment to the first 
 Ashantee war, and she landed some officers and men to 
 share in the defence of Cape Coast Castle and the detached 
 forts. On her way home she touched at St. Michaels, one 
 of the Azores. In Roman Catholic countries in which 
 there were no Protestant cemeteries their dead had to be 
 buried in gardens. The Protestants of St. Michaels had 
 purchased a piece of ground about half a mile outside the 
 town, and had enclosed it by a wall. When the Thetis 
 arrived, a deputation called on Sir John Phillimore and 
 asked him to take two petitions home for them, — one to the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, requesting him to send a bishop 
 to consecrate their ground ; and another to the First Lord 
 of the Admiralty, asking him to provide a ship to take out 
 the bishop. Sir J. Phillimore assured them that it was 
 quite unnecessary, because his chaplain should consecrate 
 it for them. They replied that it ntust be a bishop. He 
 then said he would give his chaplain an acting order as 
 bishop. I have seen that " acting order." It ran as follows : 
 " You are hereby requested and directed to take on your- 
 self the office of Bishop of St. Michaels, for the purpose of 
 consecrating a Protestant cemetery, and for so doing this 
 
1810-29.1 TRAINING. 15 
 
 shall be your warrant. Given under my hand this day of 
 — — 1 824.^ (Signed) John Phillimore, Capt. N. Royse, Chap- 
 lain H.M.S. Thetis!' The cemetery was thereupon conse- 
 crated with full naval honours * — the Protestants used it, and 
 the feuds between them and the Roman Catholics ceased.' 
 
 " Sir John Pillimore had been very kind to me, notwith- 
 standing his prejudice against collegians, and as I had 
 only a quadrant he lent me an excellent sextant. On 
 our return to Portsmouth, he asked Captain Loring to 
 recommend him two more collegians, and he advised him 
 to take my friend Baugh and G. Wodehouse, who were 
 passing out at the time. Before the days of steam-vessels, 
 there was a frigate kept on the Plymouth station to take 
 an ambassador where required, or, in case of an emer- 
 gency, for other duty. Her first service was taking an 
 ambassador to Mexico ; her second, taking a regiment 
 to the first Ashantee war ; and when not required other- 
 wise she was supposed to cruise on the Cornish coast to 
 look out for smugglers. We sailed from Plymouth again 
 on the 24th, and the same evening anchored in Falmouth 
 Roads. It was a great pleasure to me being so often in 
 Falmouth, as I spent all my time at home. On March 2nd we 
 sailed again, and the next day anchored in Plymouth Sound. 
 
 " I have omitted to state that the boys were all in the 
 mizzen-top, with three small but very smart seamen as 
 captains of the top. We had three watches instead of, as 
 usual, two ; so that the officers had the same men with them 
 on the watches. I was mizzen-top midshipman all the 
 time ; and, what was never seen in other ships, the Thetis 
 had mizzen-topgallant studding-sails, to train the boys for 
 topmen. Lieutenant Charles Nash was appointed to the 
 ship as fourth lieutenant ; he had been promoted out of the 
 royal yacht, and was a very smart officer. I suppose few 
 ships had all four lieutenants as good as Cotesworth, 
 Tucker, FitzRoy, and Nash. Cotesworth was an excellent 
 first lieutenant, whom the men delighted to work for, and 
 they proved themselves a smart crew by beating every ship 
 they conripeted with. Another good officer was Lieutenant 
 J. Jervis Tucker.f Lieutenant FitzRoy was one of the 
 best officers in the service, as his subsequent career proved. 
 He was one of the best practical seamen in the service, and 
 
 * The ship's band, sailors, and marines attending, and the " bishop " 
 being saluted with nineteen guns on his landing. 
 
 t Tucker and Sulivan afterwards married two sisters. 
 
1 6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. [Ch. I- 
 
 possessed besides a fondness for every kind of observation 
 useful in navigating a ship. He was very kind to me, 
 offered me the use of his cabin and of his books. He 
 advised me what to read, and encouraged me to turn to 
 advantage what 1 had learned at college by taking every 
 kind of observation that was useful in navigation. 
 
 "After another short cruise in the Channel we were 
 ordered to Lisbon. The Thetis then had several short 
 cruises. One of her consorts was the Aurora, forty-six guns 
 (which had been captured from the French after a severe 
 action with the Europas, forty-six), commanded by Captain 
 John Maxwell. She had rather the advantage in sailing, 
 but we beat her hollow in reefing. The poet of the 
 Aurora had a specimen of his poetry published in a 
 Plymouth newspaper. As I recollect every word of it, 
 though I never had a copy, I will give it here : — 
 
 " ' The change in our diet doth grieve our hearts sore ; 
 'Twas first introduced by Sir John Phillimore : 
 It's a new regulation you plainly may see, 
 For they stopped half our grog to give us BohSa. 
 
 " ' As we crossed the briny ocean the eighth day of June 
 We fell in with the Thetis at four in the afternoon ; 
 To beat us in sailing she did do her best, 
 But soon the Aurora she beat the " Tea-chest" 
 
 "'And soon, my brave boys, if united we keep, 
 To beat us in reefing she won't be the ship ; 
 To each other we're strangers, as you understand ; 
 So Aurora for ever, and the " Tea-chesl" be hanged!' 
 
 " The following answer was published in the same 
 paper : — 
 
 "'You backbiting rascals who run down our ship. 
 
 And whose backs are well used to the boatswain's mate's whip, 
 You had better be easy, or mind what you say. 
 Or we'll give you coffee in lieu of Bohea. 
 
 " ' With regard to our duty, we do it with ease ; 
 Every ship in the fleet we can beat if we please ; 
 We are happy, contented, good-humoured, and free, 
 And we don't see the harm in a good cup of tea. 
 
 '"So keep your tongues quiet, or take what may follow. 
 For in reefing and furling we can beat you all hollow ; 
 You had better be easy, those rows don't begin. 
 For on board of the Thetis you'll find we're all men.' 
 
 " After a cruise in the Mediterranean we sailed from 
 
1810-29.] ENCOUNTER WITH SPANIARDS. 1 7 
 
 Naples on November 24th, homeward bound. After 
 taking refuge from a gale in the bay of Alchuda, in Corsica, 
 and experiencing a very heavy gale from south-west to the 
 eastward of Gibraltar, we anchored off the Mole-head on 
 December i6th. We found that more than a hundred 
 and forty vessels had been driven ashore in the late gale. 
 The largest number of them were coasters and feluccas 
 that had gone on the neutral ground, where they were 
 smashed up. But the larger vessels, which had driven 
 from their anchors farther out in the bay, had all gone 
 on Spanish territory to the westward of the Spanish lines, 
 and the Spanish authorities had taken possession of these 
 to make them pay the duties on their cargoes, and they 
 had landed a portion of the ships' cargoes on the sand-hills 
 for security. Directly Sir J. Phillimore heard this he 
 called on the Governor of Gibraltar, Sir George Don, and 
 asked him whether he was going to interfere. He said 
 he was not, as a military interference would probably have 
 led to war with Spain. Sir J. Phillimore then decided to 
 use all naval means to get the vessels off the beach of 
 the Spanish territory. Before returning to the ship he 
 had arranged with the dockyard authorities for all the 
 assistance in the shape of anchors and cables, and lighters 
 with capstans in them, and the next day we sent all 
 the boats under Lieutenant Cotesworth to commence work. 
 " The first thing we had to do was to get the ' Guarda 
 Costas ' out of the vessels. They were in uniform and 
 armed with carbines, and there were three or four in each 
 vessel, of which only one was English, a schooner, the 
 Lovely Cruiser, of Portsmouth. The easternmost vessel, 
 the Mary, of Boston, Captain Stikney, was abreast of the 
 guard-house at the end of the Spanish lines. A junior 
 officer was stationed in each vessel. The officers of the 
 garrison were anxious to see what went on, and about 
 fifty of them, following the lead of Lieutenant W. L. M. 
 Tupper, of the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, all mounted, 
 and armed with swords and pistols in holsters, drew up 
 two deep in front of the Spanish guard-house. These 
 formed our cavalry! The crew of the brig Mary had a 
 musket for every man, and they were full of fight ; they 
 also had two small signal-guns on board, which were 
 pointed through two bow ports into two windows of the 
 guard-house, and were well loaded with canister-shot. 
 These were our artillery! When the crisis arrived, an 
 
 2 
 
I 8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. [Ch. I- 
 
 officer rode up to the sergeant's guard of the neutral 
 ground and brought them up, forming them on the left 
 of the mounted officers on the beach, close to a Portuguese 
 schooner. These were our infantry ! The next thing we 
 did was to bring on board that portion of the cargoes 
 which had been placed on the sand-hills. The vessels were 
 more than their own lengths from the water, and were all 
 many feet in the sand. We had to dig channels to them, 
 the men working up to their necks in water, every form 
 of scraper that our means allowed us to make being used to 
 help. There was a grass-flat in the rear of the sand-hills, 
 and early in the afternoon we saw advancing across it a 
 brigade of Spanish troops, composed of two very small 
 battalions, headed by mounted officers. They advanced 
 until they were a quarter of a mile from the Spanish 
 guard-house and about half that distance from the sand- 
 hills, where they were halted : the officer in command, 
 with his staff, rode forward to the guard-house. I was in 
 the best position to see what took place, for the bows of 
 the Mary were within about seventy yards of the guard- 
 house. When the leader, attended by his staff, passed 
 between the beach and the guard-house, they found them- 
 selves immediately in front of Tupper with his two lines 
 of mounted officers. The colonel — as we called him — rode 
 up to Tupper, and, halting less than a horse's length in 
 front of him, began gesticulating violently, speaking loudly 
 in Spanish, every word of which Tupper understood : he 
 said afterwards he was using threats. Then I saw Tupper 
 take a pistol from his holster and point it at the colonel, 
 who pulled his horse round, and, followed by his staff, rode 
 back to his troops. Tupper shouted to us to land, and, 
 as previously arranged, line the sand-hills. Then were 
 seen our men from all the vessels jumping down on the 
 beach, and running up to the sand-hills, by which we got 
 on the flank of the enemy. But, directly the officers 
 returned to them, they went to the right-about, going 
 back the way they came. About 9 p.m., when quite 
 dark, I was hailed by the coxswain in the officers' galley, 
 asking me where the first lieutenant was to be found, 
 as he had a note for him from the governor. I directed 
 him to the vessel. The note was to tell him that they had 
 heard from Alg6ciras that an attempt would be made in 
 the night with a larger force to drive us off, and that gun- 
 boats would probably be used ; also that he should send 
 
1810-29.] GIBRALTAR. 1 9 
 
 the 42nd Highlanders to bivouac on the neutral ground 
 in case we wanted assistance. The coxswain, after finding 
 Lieutenant Cotesworth, volunteered to pull up along shore, 
 where the road ran close to the beach, and bring us notice 
 of their approach. About half-past eleven he returned and 
 reported that a large body of troops was marching along 
 the road, and shortly after we saw them approaching in 
 the rear of the sand-hills. It was a clear night, and they 
 were halted about where the former columns halted, a 
 few officers advancing to the Spanish guard-house. But a 
 different sight met their view, for where the small party 
 of mounted officers stood in the morning a strong regiment 
 was drawn up in line. As soon as the officers rejoined 
 the column it retired. This occurred on December 17th. 
 On the 1 8th we hove off the Maltese brig Providentia; 
 on the 22nd the English schooner Lovely Cruiser, and that 
 night the U.S. brig Mary, of Boston. On the 28th a 
 deputation of merchants and others of all nations came 
 on board to read a letter of thanks for what we were 
 doing, and some consignees brought bags of money, which 
 they wished to distribute among the men, but which the 
 captain refused. On December 29th the boats returned, 
 having got off the three remaining vessels, the Portuguese 
 schooner Felix de Mar, the Danish brig Grandilo, and the 
 Genoese vessel La Pace. On January 21st the boats 
 returned with all the gear borrowed from the dockyard. 
 " On February 2nd we sailed from Gibraltar to try to 
 beat the frigate out of the Straits against the strong current, 
 which was said to have been done before. We succeeded in 
 doing it as far as Tarifa Lighthouse ; but when standing 
 across to the Morocco coast a heavy squall struck the ship, 
 carried away the fore-tack, obliging us to haul the courses 
 up and lower the topsails, and in a very short time we were 
 at anchor off Gibraltar again. On the 3rd the merchants 
 and consignees gave us a very grand dinner at the Crown 
 Hotel. Our captain took two or three midshipmen with 
 him, but made us promise that we would leave the tabic 
 when he and the governor left it, which we did. But when 
 we got to the Ragged Staff landing-place we found it was 
 blowing a heavy gale. There were no boats to take us on 
 board, so the captain took us back to the hotel for the 
 night. The officers senior to us who attended the dinner 
 were obliged also to sleep on shore. In front of the 
 president at the dinner was a model of Gibraltar, made 
 
20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 of cake, which Lieutenant C. Nash carried off for the 
 youngsters on board who had not shared in the dinner. 
 The gale was so heavy in the night that two or three 
 more vessels went on shore farther to the westward than 
 the former ones. We got under way and anchored off 
 them to cover the boats, which we sent armed and 
 manned as before. They had gone on a rocky point, and 
 we only saved one, the U.S. schooner /a7nes Monroe. On 
 the 14th we sailed again; but after going about under 
 Ape's Hill, and standing towards the Spanish coast, the 
 next time we went about, just as the after-yards swung 
 round, we ran on the Pearl Rock ; and as the head-sails 
 twi.sted her round a large piece of the false keel floated, 
 and the next moment we were off and ran back to Gibraltar. 
 During the digging out of the vessels on the beach we sent 
 several men back to the ship with various forms of pul- 
 monary complaints, and one of the best first-class petty 
 officers died of inflammation of the lungs. On the i6th we 
 finally sailed from Gibraltar. I was ill on the passage with 
 my old chest complaint. On the 30th we anchored at Spit- 
 head, and the captain went on shore, but two custom-house 
 officers came on board and put the ship in quarantine, and 
 under their directions we got under way again to anchor 
 at the ' Mother Bank,' the quarantine-ground. When my 
 kind friends Sir George and Lady Grey heard that I was 
 ill on board. Sir George sent his barge to take me to their 
 house, where I remained till the Thetis sailed for Plymouth. 
 This was on March 8th. We reached it on the 9th, and the 
 same day made sail into the harbour, and came alongside 
 the Diadem hulk. 
 
 " I have omitted to state that another collegian, making 
 the fourth, joined us from the Seringapatam. He had been 
 at the Naval College with the other three, but his mother 
 asked our captain to take him in the Thetis. His name 
 was Robert N. Hamond, and he had greatly distinguished 
 himself in an attack on two Greek pirates by the boats 
 of the Cambrian and Seringapatam. 
 
 " We remained at Hamoaze until March i6th, preparing to 
 take Lord Ponsonby(appointed ambassador to the Argentine 
 confederation at Buenos Ayres) to Rio Janeiro, with Lady 
 Ponsonby. A steam-vessel then towed us into the Sound, 
 where we lay until March 29th, when we sailed, having, in 
 addition to two side-cabins in the captain's fore-cabin, several 
 others on the main-deck for the attache, Mr. Scott, and the 
 
1810-29.J WITH THE " THETIS " AT RIO. 2 t 
 
 servants. It was decided after our arrival at Rio Janeiro that 
 Lord Ponsonby should go to Buenos Ayres in the Doris, 
 Captain Sir John Sinclair, Bart, which was going round Cape 
 Horn to the west coast, then under one command, and that 
 the Thetis should return to England. This necessitated the 
 removal of the cabins to the Doris, and fitting them there. 
 But before this the mates and midshipmen were allowed to 
 take one boat, a ten-oared cutter, for a trip up the harbour 
 of Rio Janeiro, to see its beautiful islands. We only took 
 six oars with us, intending to sail, as a fine sea-breeze blew 
 every afternoon. We were at an island about twenty miles 
 from the ship, and were all in the water bathing, when 
 George Wodehouse saw a flock of humming-birds round 
 the flowers of an orange-tree. He loaded a single-barrel 
 gun with dust-shot to shoot them, and, putting on his 
 shirt, ran towards the orange-tree. We in the water 
 heard a shot, and directly after saw Wodehouse running 
 towards us, his shirt covered with blood. He had come to 
 a rock too steep to allow of his jumping down on the sandy 
 beach with the gun in his hand ; so he took it by the 
 muzzle in his right hand, and in putting it down he must 
 have touched the cock against the rock. It went off, tearing 
 everything away from the palm of his hand to the elbow, 
 inside the arm, which was streaming with blood. Not one 
 of our party understood that a tourniquet placed above the 
 elbow was the right thing to stop the bleeding. The excuse 
 for us was that none of us had been taught it. Afterwards^ 
 when officers and men were going on service where some 
 might be wounded, a certain number of their party were 
 provided with tourniquets, and shown how to apply them. 
 (I am glad to see that the cadets in the training-ship are to 
 go through the work of the ambulance classes.) We tore 
 our shirts into bandages, and bound up the fore-arm as well 
 as we could. We were twenty miles from the ship, in the 
 hottest harbour in the world, and we had only five oars to 
 row a ten-oared boat. We took one oar to throw the 
 mizzen over, so as to protect Wodehouse from the sun, and 
 we had only pulled ten miles, to an island owned by an 
 Englishman named Lane, whom we were going to ask for 
 the loan of his boat, with a crew of black men, to take 
 Wodehouse to the ship, when we saw Sir John Phillimore's 
 gig coming round the point of the island. On discovering 
 what had happened, he took the wounded man into the 
 gig. He had, providentially, intended to bring us a week's 
 
2 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. [Ch. L 
 
 provisions, and remain with us another week. He had 
 suffered from a dangerous wound himself in the action 
 between the Eurotas and Clorinde, a grape-shot having 
 shattered his left shoulder-joint, and caused him to faint 
 three times on deck before he consented to go below. 
 After seven months in Plymouth Hospital he left it with a 
 stiff joint, and never afterwards recovered the use of it. 
 
 " When the cabins were sent to the Doris, Sir John 
 Phillimore retained Lady Ponsonby's cabin for our 
 wounded messmate. The captain slept in a cot outside 
 the cabin door, and the midshipmen took it in turns to 
 tiurse Wodehouse, but ^\'e were not allowed to touch the 
 injured arm — the captain said that that should only be 
 done by one who knew the value of careful handling ; and 
 when our wounded messmate was suffering in the night 
 we had to call the captain. I have known him sit an hour 
 by his bedside, holding the arm in his two hands, trying to 
 ease the pain. 
 
 " We sailed homeward bound on August 14th ; and as 
 was then the custom with sailing-ships, the boats of the 
 squadron towed us out before the light land-breeze. 
 Wodehouse got so much better after we sailed that he 
 was soon able to join the other collegians in working with 
 the rope-maker, which we four had always to do when the 
 other midshipmen were at school ; but instead of joining 
 us in spinning spun yarn and nettle-stuff for the ship's 
 use, and taking it in turns to turn the winch, as he had 
 but one sound arm we kept him at the winch. This did not 
 interfere with our regular use of the table in the captain's 
 fore-cabin for our working observations. We, the collegians, 
 had to take sights in the morning for the longitude, and 
 at noon for the latitude, with occasional lunars, which we 
 worked in the fore-cabin. 
 
 " I have omitted to mention that when a separate class 
 was established for the ' master ' line, Alexander Burns 
 Usborne joined us at Plymouth as 'master's assistant' 
 He was the son of an old naval officer, and was educated 
 at Greenwich School under Riddell. When he left that 
 he bound himself as an apprentice to the Enderbys, and 
 was for three years in one of their whalers in the South 
 Seas. On his return he joined the Thetis as 'master's 
 assistant.' Greenwich School gave him one of the best 
 mathematical educations, and his service in the whaler 
 made him a thorough seaman. There being no school- 
 
1810-29.] A GALE IN THE CHANNEL. 23 
 
 master on board, he acted as one to the youngsters who 
 were not collegians, for which he was well qualified. 
 
 " Sir John Phillimore gave all the midshipmen a thorough 
 practical training aloft. Every afternoon when the weather 
 permitted it, the officer of the watch had to assemble the 
 midshipmen an hour before the evening meal ; and when 
 we had taken in the lighter sails — flying royal and mizzen- 
 topgallant studding-sail — if they were set, we had to take 
 the first reef in the topsail, and come down and hoist it ; 
 then the second reef, and come down and hoist it ; then 
 the third reef, doing the same ; and then shake out the 
 reefs singly. So we had to come on deck six times and 
 hoist the topsails, and, if required, set the light sails above ; 
 and if the officer of the watch was satisfied with the way 
 we had done it he sent us down to our tea. If the first 
 or second reef was in, we were saved so many trips to 
 the deck. 
 
 " Leaving Rio, we had a fair passage until September 29th, 
 when we were about four hundred miles from the Scilly 
 Islands ; then we had a furious storm from the S.S.W., 
 drawing to the westward. When the sea was at its height 
 and we were running with the wind on the quarter, the 
 lee-quarter boat nearly touched the water every roll. Two 
 men were sent into her to get ready for hoisting the davits 
 higher ; a very heavy lurch unhooked the foremost tackle. 
 I saw the men try to clutch the span between the two 
 davits ; one did so, but the second missed it by a few 
 inches. The boat dropped forward, and hung a few 
 moments by the after-tackle ; the man fell, and we saw him 
 going astern. It was too heavy a sea for a boat to live in, 
 or even to let go the life-buoy ; so the man was drowned, 
 and the boat was so smashed by the sea that orders were 
 given to cut the after-fall, and she was lost. We then 
 set storm stay-sails and try-sails, and brought her to the 
 wind ; a sea struck her on the starboard side, and stove 
 in two main-deck ports, and the water flooded the main- 
 deck, pouring down every hatchway on the lower deck. 
 Such was the storm that Lieutenant Cotesworth, who 
 had a powerful voice, could not make himself heard in 
 the main-top, so he sent me up with the message. As soon 
 as I was in the top I was struck with the fact that when 
 the ship was upright in the hollow of the sea the height 
 of the sea hid the horizon. My eye was then sixty-four 
 feet above the hollow. Directly I was sure of it I came 
 
24 AUTOBIOGRAPHY YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 down and told Lieutenant FitzRoy, who went into the 
 main-top. His eye was sixty-five feet above the hollow. 
 He states the fact in his account of the Beagle's voyage, 
 and expresses his belief that it was the highest sea ever 
 measured. We passed during the height of the storm 
 H.M. packet Goldfinch, one of the old ten-gun brigs (or 
 coffins, as they were called, because so many were lost). 
 H.M. sloop Beagle was one of them ; and on her first 
 voyage, which lasted five years, she went through the 
 most stormy region of the world with perfect safety. 
 Like all small vessels, they required careful handhng and 
 management of sails. 
 
 " On October 3rd we anchored off Spithead once more, 
 having run through the Needles passage. I have omitted 
 to mention the number of times we worked in or out 
 of the same passage, under the skilful pilotage of the 
 master, Mr. William Gowdy. On the 28th Commissioner 
 Shields came on board and paid off the ship's company. 
 The next day the pennant was hoisted again for another 
 commission, and Lieutenant Robert FitzRoy was re- 
 appointed to her. Sir John Phillimore had very kindly 
 written to Sir Edward Codrington, K.C.B., who had hoisted 
 his flag in H.M.S. Asia, eighty-four guns, for the Mediter- 
 ranean command, asking him to take all four collegians 
 with him. Had it not been for Lieutenant FitzRoy's re- 
 appointment to the ship, we should all have accepted the 
 offer, and should have been in the battle of Navarino. 
 Baugh and Wodehouse accepted the offer, but Hamond 
 and I preferred to remain in the Thetis with Lieu- 
 tenant FitzRoy. On December 5th Captain Arthur Batt 
 Bingham's commission was read to the officers and ship's 
 company, on his taking command of the ship. Afterwards 
 he made a speech to the men to the following effect : 
 ' You shall have every indulgence the service can allow ; 
 but there are three things I never forgive — drunkenness, 
 disobedience, insolence. Pipe down." He kept his word ; 
 he never forgave drunkenness on duty, and especially in 
 a boat on duty- — the worst offence a seaman can be guilty 
 of, for it may lead to the drowning of many men. He 
 kept his word also that they should have every indulgence 
 the service allowed : extra time for meals, leave when 
 other ships did not give it. 
 
 "We were fitting out in Hamoaze until February 3rd, 
 1827, when we anchored in the Sound. We were under 
 
i8io-2g.] ADVENTURE WITH lI.E.I.C.S. " FAIRLEY." 25 
 
 orders to proceed to the South American station, but to 
 go first to Bermuda to take Colonel Cockburn and suite. 
 They embarked on the 7th, and we sailed the next day. 
 We anchored off Funchal on the 1 7th, but so far off that 
 the anchor was let go in forty-five fathoms, and when we 
 had eighty fathoms of chain out we drifted off the bank, 
 and to add to the weight we had an anchor of forty-six 
 hundredweight at the end of it. We were obliged to use 
 tackles in aid of the capstan, to get the cable in link by 
 link. 
 
 " I ought to have stated that our captain was generally 
 known in the service as ' Little Belt ' Bingham, from having 
 commanded that vessel of twenty guns when she fought an 
 action with the President, an American frigate of forty-four 
 guns, before the war of 18 12. 
 
 " When we were fitting out, an order came for fitting 
 out all the guard-ships, for the purpose of embarking ten 
 thousand troops, including the Guards. It was well known 
 at the time as the celebrated ' Canning expedition,' when 
 Canning was Prime Minister. The guard-ships at all the 
 ports were ready for embarking the troops in a week, and 
 they made a quick passage of another week to Lisbon. 
 In these days of steamers could it be done better ? When 
 we left England there were rumours of war with France, 
 in consequence of the Canning expedition being directed 
 against the French occupation of Spain. On the evening 
 of April 19th we fell in with a large ship with two lines 
 of ports, which we took to be a line-of-battle ship. Our 
 courses were converging, and at length we were alongside 
 each other. She would not answer our hail, 'What ship 
 is that ? ' She only replied, ' What ship is thafi ' And so 
 we each went on alternately repeating the question. At 
 length our captain said, ' What ship is that ? If you don't 
 answer I will fire into you.' (We could see her double 
 line of ports lighted up with the men at her guns.) Then 
 our captain said, 'Are you ready with the guns on the 
 main-deck, Mr. FitzRoy ? ' Fortunately she was so close 
 to us that this aside was overheard, which showed them 
 we were English, and they immediately answered, ' The 
 Honourable East India Company's ship Fairley, from 
 China to London.' Both ships then shortened sail and 
 hove to, and we sent a boat on board, and then learnt that 
 she had called at St. Helena, heard rumours of war with 
 France, and thus the whole mistake arose ; for in those 
 
26 AUTOBIOGRAPHY YOUTH. [Ch. I- 
 
 days they only got news from St. Helena through the 
 round-about way of the Cape of Good Hope. She had 
 feared to give her name, lest we, being French, might fire 
 into her. She had besides her crew six hundred soldiers 
 and women and children, so it would have been a terrible 
 thing had we fired. 
 
 " On or about July 31st I was most mercifully saved from 
 losing my right arm. A signal was made from the flag- 
 ship for a midshipman ; I was sent to answer it in one of 
 the ship's cutters ; it was near sunset ; we had to go to the 
 side, where there was no accommodation-ladder. I gave 
 the boat rather too much way, and she shot ahead of the 
 gangway about a boat's length. I was standing on the 
 stern-sheets, assisting to pull the boat astern ; I had my 
 right arm in the port before the gangway, when the sentries 
 fired their muskets at sunset. (I need not say that a lower- 
 deck port of an eighty-four-gun ship, fitting into its rabbet, 
 would crush off a strong man's arm.) It was usual in a 
 line-of-battle ship to let go suddenly the tackles of all the 
 lower-deck ports. I was a youngster, and very thin for my 
 age. I felt the port on my arm ; it stopped shutting, so 
 much so that I had some difficulty in drawing my arm out, 
 when it was found that the side man-rope had jammed 
 between the port and the after-sill of the port-hole, and 
 saved my arm. If it had been in the next port forward, 
 which had been the case a minute before, where there was 
 no man-rope to jam it, all my prospects in the service 
 would have been ruined. No one would have taken an 
 officer into the surveying service who had lost his right 
 arm. It was the first of the wonderful providences of God 
 which have followed me through life. It had been a stand- 
 ing joke against me that I was to be a commander at 
 thirty years of age and a captain at thirty-five. It arose 
 thus : Lieutenant Cotesworth was made a commander 
 when the Thetis was paid off at Plymouth ; he was just 
 thirty years of age. This led to my saying, ' Promotion 
 would only be worth having if one were made a commander 
 at thirty and a captain at thirty-five.' [This happened to 
 him.] 
 
 " On August 26th we anchored in St. Catherine's, and 
 sailed again on the 29th for the river Plata. Arriving 
 at Monte Video on the evening of September 3rd, we 
 anchored in company with H.M. ships Forte, forty-four, 
 and Cadmus, ten-gun brig. We found the town occupied 
 
1810-29.] BRAZIL AND ARGENTINA AT WAR. 2 7 
 
 by Brazilian troops, and a strong Brazilian squadron, under 
 an admiral, in the bay. The Brazilians were at war 
 with the Argentine provinces, and both parties coveted 
 the fine province of Uruguay, with its capital Monte 
 Video, thus carrying on an old dispute between the 
 Spaniards and Portuguese before they were independent 
 of their mother-countries. The Brazilians held Monte 
 Video, and as far around it as their guns could throw 
 a shot ; but the Argentines held the country, and pro- 
 bably a large number of the inhabitants of Uruguay 
 assisted them, for they hated the Brazilians. One day a 
 party of officers from the Thetis, of whom I was one, 
 hired horses and went for a ride. We were returning to 
 the town by a road or path along the crest of a ridge ; it 
 sloped down on our left to a valley, in which ran a rivulet. 
 Suddenly we saw what looked like a small party of cavalry 
 in extended order. They leaped the rivulet, cantered up 
 the slope, and when within one hundred yards they all 
 fired their carbines at us, but the balls whistled over our 
 heads. We sailed from Monte Video on September 26th 
 for the purpose of watering, which consisted in going up the 
 river till the water became fresh, and pumping it in with 
 the wash-deck pump, anchoring as we did so. Before 
 daybreak the next morning we saw two vessels standing 
 towards us ; one of them fired a shot at us, which cut 
 away our stay-sail stays and tricing-lines. We immediately 
 got under way and followed them. They were a brig,, 
 brigantine, and two schooners ; we believed them to be 
 a Buenos Ayrean squadron that had mistaken us for a 
 Brazilian frigate. One schooner nearly ahead fired at us 
 — probably with a pivot-gun — a charge of round and grape- 
 shot. The round-shot tore a large hole in one of our 
 lighter sails ; one grape-shot lodged in the main-mast. 
 Directly the shot was fired one old quartermaster who was 
 at the helm said, ' There was grape in that.' We did not 
 fire a shot, but we sent a boat to the brig, and found, as we 
 expected, that they were a Buenos Ayrean squadron com- 
 manded by their celebrated Admiral Brown. They had 
 mistaken the Thetis for a Brazilian frigate. Admiral Brown 
 had been in the Buenos Ayrean service since the War of In- 
 dependence. There was a squadron of Spanish frigates at 
 anchor at Monte Video. The government of Buenos Ayres 
 fitted out several vessels, manned them with English and 
 Americans, and gave the command to Mr. Brown, then 
 
28 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. [Ch, I. 
 
 mate of an English merchant-vessel. As soon as they 
 were ready he sailed for Monte Video, and, choosing a 
 dark night for it, ran the Spanish frigates on board, and 
 carried them by boarding. We followed his squadron to 
 Monte Video ; and in the afternoon, in broad daylight, we 
 saw the same four vessels that had fired at us in the night 
 standing out of Monte Video in line ahead. Brown's brig 
 the stern most of them, three Brazilian frigates following, 
 and the headmost firing bow-guns. They looked upon 
 Brown as a madman, who would not hesitate to run his 
 brig alongside any enemy's ship, and then set fire to his 
 own vessel, or even blow up the two, even if he had to fire 
 the magazine with his own hand. The object of running 
 this risk was that a corvette of eighteen guns had recently 
 arrived at Monte Video, having been fitted out in France, 
 and they wanted to give her a chance of escaping from 
 Monte Video to Buenos Ayres. This was fully accom- 
 plished, for we saw her standing out, and she was after- 
 wards manned and fitted out at Buenos Ayres. 
 
 " December nth, 1827, was the day on which I first saw 
 the Beagle, in which I served so long afterwards. I find 
 on that date in my log : ' Exchanged numbers with H.M. 
 barque Beagle: 10.40 a.m., anchored near H.M.B. Beagle' 
 On the 1 2th we sailed in company with H.M.S. Cadmus, 
 ten-gun brig, for a cruise off the coast of Patagonia. When 
 off Cape Corrientes we experienced a pampero from S.S.W., 
 which brought us under a close-reefed fore-topsail and 
 fore-topmast stay-sail. We ran before it, with Cadmus on 
 our larboard beam, under similar sail. The lightning was 
 streaming down round Cadmus, so that it was a wonder 
 neither vessel was struck. These were the days before 
 Harris's lightning-conductors, when every man-of-war was 
 supplied with a conductor of long links in a box, supposed 
 to be triced up by signal-halliards, and long enough to reach 
 from the main-truck to the water ; but in practice the box 
 and conductor remained in the store-room, and even in 
 a lightning-storm of this nature they were not triced up. 
 The thunder was incessant all round us. It was the 
 heaviest thunder-storm I ever witnessed, even in the Plata, 
 where during pamperos they are very heavy. 
 
 '_' [The Thetis was struck by lightning, the fore-topmast 
 being badly splintered.] 
 
 " One day at Rio Janeiro, when the liberty-men returned, 
 they reported having seen in a crimping-house four or five 
 
1810-29] MANNING THE BRAZILIAN NAVY. 29 
 
 of our men lashed up in hammocks, having been made 
 drunk first. The captain immediately selected a dozen 
 men, and sent them on shore under the command of 
 Lieutenant Martin and the senior midshipman, Hamilton. 
 They were armed with cutlasses and broomsticks, with 
 strict orders not to use their cutlasses if broomsticks would 
 do. They found the men, and brought them on board. 
 They had no intention of deserting, and would have been 
 taken on board some Brazilian ship-of-war that night. 
 On April 9th, 1828, I have it noted in my log that six 
 men — their names are given — left the boats for duty on 
 shore. Having been treated in the same manner, they 
 were taken on board the frigate Imperatrix, Captain Pritz, 
 a Dane. It is certain they never volunteered for his ship, 
 because it was said that when he flogged a man, if he was 
 an Englishman, he always gave him an extra dozen lashes, 
 with this remark, ' I shall make you remember Copen- 
 hagen.' They were put in irons on board, and it was 
 agreed among themselves that one man should pretend to 
 enter for the ship, and look out for any of the Thetis' s boats 
 that might be passing. They had only to wait a week, for 
 on the evening of the i6th Captain Bingham had been in 
 his gig to the head of the harbour, and when returning, on 
 passing under the stern of the Imperatrix, he was hailed 
 by the look-out man, who said, ' There are several of us 
 confined on board, sir.' He at once went alongside, and, 
 knowing he would want a witness of what would take 
 place, he sent the gig to the Thetis for Lieutenant Bolton, 
 and on his arrival he went up to Captain Pritz and 
 demanded his men. A positive refusal was given. Captain 
 Bingham then went to the gangway and sent the gig back 
 to the Thetis with this message to the first lieutenant ; 
 ' Send all the boats manned and armed to the Imperatrix 
 directly, with orders to lay off and wait for the captain's 
 orders.' I was barge midshipman, but on the sick-list, 
 so another midshipman was sent in my place, also Lieu- 
 tenant FitzRoy. Lieutenant Martin commanded the boats 
 in the launch. I could not bear that at such a time I 
 should not be in my old boat with her picked crew, so I 
 went in her, and went forward to the head-sheets among 
 the men, and I heard the words passed aft among the 
 crew, ' We will make him remember Copenhagen.' The 
 position of Captain Bingham and Lieutenant Bolton can be 
 better conceived than described. Lieutenant FitzRoy asked 
 
30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 Lieutenant Martin, before we were half-way, if he might go 
 on, as the barge pulled so much faster than any other boat. 
 Captain Bingham went up to Captain Pritz, and said, ' I 
 hear my boat's oars ; you had better give me my men.' 
 They were out of irons and on deck, and he ordered them 
 into the gig, which had returned alongside the Imperatrix. 
 Captain Pritz showed the highest kind of courage by giving 
 up the men. He knew he was in the wrong, and gave 
 them up rather than risk a war between the two countries. 
 One boy, who was some months absent from the ship, 
 having been crimped and sent on board a Brazilian 
 schooner-of-war, hailed Captain Bingham's boat as she was 
 passing under the stern one day, saying he was confined 
 on board against his will. Captain Bingham went on board 
 and claimed him. He had no idea of deserting the ship. 
 The schooner had been to the coast of Africa and back. 
 It may appear at first sight as if the admiral who was in 
 port should have been consulted before this extreme step 
 was taken, and that it was a case for the English minister. 
 But a previous case had occurred in which all this ' routine ' 
 had been taken ; during the delay the men had been sent 
 to another Brazilian man-of-war, and all trace of them lost. 
 
 " We were moored all this time about half a mile below 
 the usual anchorage of the Brazilian ships-of-war, to be 
 near the dockyard, from which we obtained two long spars 
 for sheers to get our damaged fore-mast out. We did this 
 ■on the nth, and hauled it up in the dockyard. 
 
 " It is fair to state that the system of manning the 
 Brazilian ships-of-war was by crimping the men from the 
 English ships, and, in consequence of ours being the only 
 ship that gave leave, they were chiefly obtained from the 
 Thetis. But we filled up the vacancies from the English 
 merchant-vessels. It was a common custom for two or 
 three men to come on board to enter, but we had not a 
 single vacancy. We would tell them that such and such 
 ships wanted men, but they refused to go to them ; it was 
 evidently because they did not meet their men on leave. 
 Though our fore-mast was hauled up in the government 
 dockyard, our carpenters did the work. I find in my log : 
 ' Received two of our men from a Brazilian brig-of-war.' 
 On April 2ist the dockyard supplied a spar to make cheeks 
 for the new fore-mast, the centre-piece of the old mast being 
 unfit for that purpose, having been struck by lightning. 
 On May 2ist we got the fore-mast in and put it in its 
 
1810-29.] LORD AND LADY PONSONBY. 3 1 
 
 place, then got the sheers overboard to return them to the 
 dockyard. On the 3 1 st Michael Waters, one of the smartest 
 petty officers in the ship, fell from the mast-head and died 
 in ten minutes. He died with his head on my knee, and 
 with the doctor kneeling by his side. He was a native of 
 Waterford. It is commonly said in the service that an 
 Irishman never makes a smart seaman, and it is owing to 
 this that volunteers for the navy come in batches from 
 Liverpool, and there are many young Irishmen among 
 them, or used to be, in my younger days. 
 
 " On June ist, 1828, we sailed from Rio Janeiro in com- 
 pany with the flag-ship. When twenty-nine miles from 
 Cape Frio, we parted company with the admiral, for the 
 purpose of proceeding to Buenos Ayres to embark Lord 
 and Lady Ponsonby, Lord Ponsonby having been appointed 
 our ambassador to the Brazilian Government. We parted 
 company with the admiral on June 7th. We anchored at 
 Monte Video on June 17th, and found there H.M.S. Heron 
 (eighteen guns). She was commanded by the Hon. 
 Frederick Grey, of whom it was said that if every Honour- 
 able were as good an officer as he was, there would be 
 
 more excuse for Lord promoting them all as fast as 
 
 possible. We sailed again from Monte Video on the 26th 
 for Buenos Ayres in company with the Heron. On June 
 29th we anchored in twenty feet of water off Buenos Ayres. 
 The next day we were employed in dismounting guns, and 
 fitting up cabins under the half-deck, and preparing to 
 embark Lord and Lady Ponsonby and suite. On July 27th 
 we sent the barge and pinnace on shore for them. I was 
 in the barge. It blew a gale on shore, and the most that 
 we could do was to try and reach the Heron. We had 
 considerable difficulty in getting the party off the mule- 
 carts, the only way then of reaching Buenos Ayres when 
 there was a surf on the beach. (There is now a splendid 
 pier at Buenos Ayres.) The Heron was several miles 
 inside the Thetis and Sapphire. We had previously 
 received on board the Thetis five horses. About half-past 
 five we reached the Heron, and Commander Frederick 
 Grey had to stow us away for the night. On reaching 
 the ship she fired a salute, to which the ambassador was 
 entitled. The Heron anchored near us the next day, and, 
 sending the barge to her, we received Lord and Lady 
 Ponsonby, Mr. Scott (secretary), three female servants, 
 three men servants, and a child, with a load of luggage by 
 
32 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 schooner. I see a notice in my log that the river fell four 
 feet during the night, with the wind at south-west. There 
 was a Brazilian squadron blockading Buenos Ayres at the 
 same time. 
 
 "On July 31st, at 2 p.m., we left Buenos Ayres, the 
 Sapphire and Heron in company. In rounding the tail of 
 the bank off Port Indio, the Thetis signalled to the Sapphire 
 to report depth of water. Heron and Sapphire having hauled 
 up to cross it, and the Thetis with her draught of water 
 would have had to go several miles round. The report 
 was half a fathom less than the Thetis drew. It was known 
 to be a sand-bank. Captain Bingham said to Gowdy, the 
 master, ' Do you think we should shove her through it ? ' 
 We were going ten and a half knots. We hauled up, 
 following the Sapphire. We felt distinctly when she touched 
 the bank, and dragged through it with the speed reduced 
 to five knots, and when we were off it we went eleven knots 
 again. This shows the nerve of the captain and master. 
 We were under larboard fore-topmast and topgallant 
 studding-sails. The spars bent like coach-whips. 
 
 " On the afternoon of August 2nd we anchored at Monte 
 Video. The captain had given orders that we were not to 
 confine the men to the boats,saying he would not punish good 
 men for bad, adding, ' If they get drunk in the boat they 
 know they will be flogged.' (The first time they got three 
 dozen, and every other time there were six lashes added.) 
 I was sent to the mole at Monte Video with the barge, 
 launch, and pinnace to bring off oxen, which was usual in 
 ships going from Monte Video to Rio Janeiro. So many 
 men got drunk that we had to lash them to the thwarts. 
 Immediately they reached the ship the men who were 
 drunk were put in irons for punishment next morning, and 
 picked men, none of whom had been punished before, 
 were to replace them in the boats, to bring off the 
 remainder of the oxen, as the ship was to sail for Rio 
 Janeiro the next day. I was senior midshipman, and 
 Captain Bingham gave me orders to leave the other mid- 
 shipmen to load the boats, and go to the upper end of the 
 mole to keep guard over the men, and not allow any of 
 them to go too near a grog-shop. I had hardly taken my 
 station when I saw a man named Nicholls at the junction 
 of the timber structure with the stone-work peeping several 
 times. I called to him by name, and he came. I said to 
 him, ' I suppose you want to join those who are in irons, 
 
1810-29.] jack's love of drink. 33 
 
 who you know are to be punished to-morrow morning.' To 
 my astonishment he repHed, ' Mr. Sulivan, I'll get away if 
 I can, and I'll get drunk if I can, and I can take my 
 " batty " for it as well as another man.' I replied by ordering 
 him to the boat again, and I walked down the length of 
 the mole with him, knowing him to be one of the best men 
 in the ship. The next morning I was going up as the men 
 for punishment were taken out of irons under the half- 
 deck, and I heard one named Collins, a petty officer and 
 captain of the fore-top, saying, ' I have had twenty-six 
 dozen, and now I am going up to get four more — that will 
 be thirty dozen, even tallies.' The men arranged with each 
 other that they would not ask to be let off, and would bear 
 it without crying out, and the consequence was, Lord and 
 Lady Ponsonby, who were in their dressing-cabins imme- 
 diately below, were not aware that the men were being 
 flogged over their heads. 
 
 " On the afternoon of March 27th we arrived at Rio 
 Janeiro. We found that Lieutenant Robert FitzRoy had 
 been promoted to commander, in the vacancy caused by 
 the death of Commander Stokes, of H.M. sloop Beagle. 
 The first thing he did was to ask Captain Bingham if 
 he had any objection to transfer me to the Beagle, of course 
 with the admiral's consent, and in a very few days I joined 
 her. I see by my log I joined the Beagle on December 
 iSth, 1828, as a midshipman. The Beagle was anchored 
 off Hospital Island for the purpose of heaving her down, 
 which was done by hand, to a platform made of four large 
 market-boats. Her bottom was in a shocking state. We ■ 
 found that all the false keel was gone, with the greater part 
 of the main-keel. Unfortunately the summer of that year 
 was the warmest that had ever been experienced in Rio 
 Janeiro. There was a well on Hospital Island, but the 
 water had a bad name, and we had to send miles for better, 
 and then fill our casks from a stream running across the 
 road. The well in the island had unfortunately steps that 
 led down to the water : the result was that I and others 
 could not resist the cool water, but ran down the steps 
 many times a day, dipping up a handful to drink. 
 
 " One evening the subject discussed was ' ghosts,' in 
 connection with Commander Stokes having shot himself 
 in the poop-cabin. During the discussion the carpenter 
 was sent for, and he declared that he would never disclose 
 to mortal man what he had seen on board. Soon after 
 
34 AUTOBIOGRAPHY — YOUTH. [Ch. I. 
 
 this the first lieutenant (Kemp) came into the tent and 
 ordered Sulivan, Stokes, Kirke, to take the whale-boat 
 and our hammocks to the ship, and send the quartermaster 
 on shore, remaining on board ourselves, as he required 
 every seaman to commence rigging the ship. The first 
 salutation we received as soon as we were alongside was, 
 ' Don't go aft, for the ghost is there.' We professed not to 
 believe "in ghosts, but we pulled the boat farther ahead, 
 and got in through one of the bow-ports, under the top- 
 gallant forecastle. We had only one duty to do, viz. to 
 hail the commander, as he went on shore about eleven 
 o'clock to his lodgings. This done, we retired to rest 
 under the forecastle. It was my first watch. The poop- 
 cabin door began to slam, disturbing our rest in the 
 hammocks ; instantly there was a cry of ' Sulivan, go aft and 
 shut the door. Take the lantern if you are afraid of the 
 ghost ! ' they added in a jeering tone. The wind blew out 
 the light in the lantern before I had traversed the distance 
 from the fore-mast to the main-mast ; I ran forward again, 
 but the poop-cabin door continued to slam, and they con- 
 tinued to jeer. At last I found out that the door would not 
 shut, and that was the reason of its slamming ; so I wedged it 
 open. I was in a hammock on the port side, and Stokes, who 
 was on the starboard side, said to me, ' I hear the sound as 
 of some one breathing very loud ahead ; you look out of 
 the port bow, and I will look out of the starboard one and 
 listen.' We did hear sounds of heavy breathing, and soon 
 after footsteps overhead. ' The ghost ! Tt is coming down 
 ■ below! ' I slipped from my hammock behind the companion, 
 and presently there appeared first one naked foot on a 
 step, then a second. I pushed my hands through the open 
 ladder and seized both ankles, when a voice above roared 
 out, ' Oh ! the ghost ! it has got me ! ' It turned out to 
 be one of the men, who, having taken too much, had gone 
 to sleep in the larboard head, and so missed the boat which 
 took the other men ashore. Rain coming on, he awoke, 
 and thought he would go below, but was in great fear of 
 the ghost ! 
 
 " We experienced the heaviest pampero any vessel ever 
 did on January 30th, 1829, when the barometer fell to 
 28.50. We were passing inside Lobos Island, and we 
 had just made out the Adventure (Captain King), seeing 
 her higher spars over Goritte Island, off Maldonado. I 
 had been in a cot in the poop-cabin with an attack of 
 
1810-29.] H.M.S. "beagle" in danger. 35 
 
 dysentery, consequent upon drinking the water on Hospital 
 Island, and the doctor had told the commander when he 
 reported the sick in the morning that there was no chance 
 of my recovery. The water began to rise. We had been 
 waited for by our consort, the Adventure, and we should 
 have sailed in company with her for the southward at day- 
 light the next morning, which had an important bearing 
 on my future prospects in the service. The Beagle was on 
 her beam-ends several times during the pampero, and at 
 length the water was nearly up to the bottom of my cot, 
 the port side, and I was told that two men whose names I 
 well knew had fallen from the yards into the sea. I thought 
 I might have a chance for my life as well as others. I 
 managed to draw a pair of trousers on and to crawl from 
 my cot. The force of the wind was such as to crush in the 
 weather-quarter boat where she pressed against the davits. 
 I went up the starboard poop-ladder, and then I saw from 
 the mizzen-mast on which I was standing the commander 
 standing on one of the uprights of the poop-rail, and holding 
 on by another upright. She was so much over that the 
 topsail yards blew up to the mast's head, with a man upon 
 each yardarm clinging to the lift, the one upon the lee yard- 
 arm with the help of the brace-block strop, while the one 
 upon the weather yardarm managed to crawl in, and he 
 was seen on the cap, where he was heard to say, ' Thank 
 God, I have got in out of that ! ' I, from my standing-place, 
 the mizzen-mast, saw that she was standing direct for the 
 rocks and breakers on Lobos Island, and I reported it to 
 the commander. He replied, saying, ' So she is,' and 
 immediately ordered both anchors to be let go. The water 
 was so shallow that she touched the small bower-anchor 
 when passing over it ; but the two anchors brought her up, 
 and saved her running on Lobos." 
 
 The autobiography breaks off suddenly here. At the 
 time of writing the above my father was asked to con- 
 tribute some reminiscences of his old friend Admiral Sir 
 A. Cooper Key. By the time he had completed these, his 
 failing powers prevented his continuing the history of his 
 own life. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 H.M.S. "BEAGLE," H.M. KETCH "ARROW," ETC. 
 
 1831-42. 
 
 On the advice of FitzRoy, in view of his approaching 
 examination for the rank of Ueutenant, SuHvan only 
 remained in the Beagle as midshipman until February 12th, 
 1829. He then joined the Ganges, Captain Inglefield, leaving 
 her on April 12th for the North Star, Captain Arabin, 
 evidently for a passage home. On December 8th he passed 
 his examination in seamanship. He was entered as mate 
 of the Undaunted, Captain Clifford. His seniority as 
 lieutenant is dated April 3rd, 1830. 
 
 I have always understood that my father, having obtained 
 full marks at the Naval College, and also on passing for 
 lieutenant, was given that rank almost immediately, without 
 the usual service as mate, which to many men without 
 interest meant sometimes a period of ten years before 
 becoming lieutenants. 
 
 Christmas of this year was spent with the Young family 
 at Barton End. In July 1831 FitzRoy was again appointed 
 to the Beagle, for the purpose of undertaking another 
 surveying voyage to the southern parts of South America, 
 and of completing a chain of meridian distances round the 
 world. He took Sulivan as second lieutenant. As descrip- 
 tions of this celebrated voyage have been given by both 
 Admiral FitzRoy and Professor Darwin, I will refrain from 
 the temptation to reproduce many of the interesting letters 
 my father sent home. The Beagle fitted out at Plymouth 
 
 36 
 
1831-36.J A SOMNAMBULIST AT TEA. 37 
 
 in the autumn of 183 1. At that time the family of Admiral 
 Young were staying there, so my father was often able to 
 meet my mother. Although no word on the subject was 
 spoken, the affection then formed was mutual. 
 
 The labour of fitting out, especially towards the end, was 
 very heavy. From my father's letters it appears he was 
 feeling the effects of the overwork, for he mentions more 
 than once having fallen asleep in the evenings at friends' 
 houses. The night before the Beagle sailed there was a 
 ball on shore, and Sulivan was hoping to meet Miss Young 
 there for the last time before the long voyage. Having 
 had a hard day's work, at five o'clock he went to his cabin 
 for a nap, telling the steward to rouse him at half-past 
 seven, that he might join the gun-room tea before going on 
 shore to dress. On awaking, he was astonished to find 
 it was daylight. He called the steward, and asked the 
 time. " Eight o'clock, sir." " What do you mean ? " 
 " Eight in the morning, sir." " What, have I missed the 
 ball ? Why did you not call me ? " "I did, sir." " Then, 
 when I did not appear at tea, why did you not call me 
 again." " You did have tea, sir." Hearing a titter in the 
 ward-room, he got up, and was told the following tale. The 
 officers were at tea, when he appeared in his night-shirt and 
 night-cap, shouldering a big duck -gun he had hung in his 
 cabin. He deposited this in the corner, went to his place 
 at table, drank the tea they put before him, then rose, 
 shouldered the gun again, and marched back to bed. This 
 was a curious case of somnambulism. The officers, seeing 
 he was evidently overwrought, did not like to awaken him, 
 so he missed the ball. Owing to heavy gales, the Beagle 
 twice returned after having put out to sea before she 
 finally sailed on December 27th, so there was an oppor- 
 tunity after all for the farewell to be spoken. 
 
 It was the opinion of all on board the Beagle that never 
 
38 H.M.S. "BEAGLE," ETC. [Ch. II. 
 
 had a vessel left England better equipped for the special 
 service she was to be engaged in. Captain FitzRoy called 
 the officers together, and said, " If a man falls overboard, 
 if we lose a spar or ship a sea, I shall blame the officers of 
 the watch." During the whole voyage, part of the time in 
 one of the most stormy regions of the world, not one 
 of these events happened, except the shipping of one sea 
 just after my father had relinquished the deck to FitzRoy. 
 The captain always had the ports secured, saying that 
 a ship had no business to be in the position to require 
 them for freeing ports. My father never liked this order, 
 and told the carpenter always to have a handspike handy 
 for eventualities. On the occasion in question the vessel 
 was on her beam-ends.* On my father reaching the deck 
 from below, he found the carpenter up to his waist in 
 water, standing on the bulwark, driving a handspike 
 against the port, which he eventually burst open. This 
 probably saved the ship, for she righted in time to meet 
 the next heavy sea. No skill could have prevented the 
 accident, for the ship was struck by three heavy breaking 
 seas in succession, and the third came on board. 
 
 FitzRoy's orders will repay perusal. One was that no 
 one was to go out of sight of the ship except in company 
 with at least two others. If one man were hurt, a comrade 
 could stay with him whilst the third went for assistance. 
 The only time this rule was broken was at the Falklands, 
 when Mr. Hellyer, the clerk, who had gone out shooting 
 alone, was drowned in a lake within sight of the ship's 
 topmasts. 
 
 Sulivan's father had said to him before starting, " Pick 
 and send home any strange plant you find." This he did. 
 The botanist Lindley was a great friend of his father's, and 
 
 * See FitzRoy's " Voyage of the Adventure and Beagle^' vol. ii., 
 p. 125. 
 
1831-36.] BOTANY. 39 
 
 used to examine the plants that arrived. Some of them 
 having seeds, he cultivated these. In this way the 
 Tropasolum and another of our now popular creepers were 
 introduced into England. Although my father did not 
 attain to the rank of a scientific botanist, the subject 
 greatly interested him, and the pursuit brought him into 
 close friendship with Sir William and Sir Joseph Hooker, 
 as well as with Darwin. The latter has borne testimony 
 in his books to the correctness of Sulivan as an observer 
 of scientific phenomena. 
 
 Although not receiving the pay of a surveyor, Sulivan 
 acted as one throughout the entire voyage. It was doubt- 
 less to this expedition that he owed his fondness for and 
 skill in surveying and seamanship. There were no steam- 
 launches or lifeboat cutters in those days ; all the work 
 had to be done in sailing-boats. FitzRoy replaced the 
 dangerous dipping lug with two standing lugs, and this 
 rig Sulivan always adopted afterwards. In the Rio Plata 
 he boasted of his boats outsailing those of the whole 
 squadron. Throughout the many years of constant boat- 
 work in the Beagle, Arrow, and Philomel, no accident 
 occurred ; this he greatly attributed to the use of this rig. 
 
 On the arrival of the Beagle at Buenos Ayres, FitzRoy, 
 anxious to accomplish as much work as he could, pur- 
 chased and fitted out at his own expense two little vessels 
 in which to send officers on detached surveys. 
 
 Lieutenant Wickham was given charge of one, Mr. 
 Stokes, the mate, of the other. Sulivan thus describes the 
 vessels : — 
 
 "The cabin in Stokes's craft is seven feet long, seven 
 wide, and thirty inches high. In this three of them 
 stow their hammocks, which in the daytime form seats 
 and serve for a table. In a little space forward, not so 
 large, are stowed five men. The larger boat carries the 
 
40 H.M.S. " BEAGLE," ETC. [Ch. II. 
 
 instruments. Her cabin is the same size, but is four feet 
 high, and has a table and seats." 
 
 In these craft did one or other of the oiificers survey the 
 coast from the Rio Plata to the Straits of Magellan over 
 a period of nearly twelve months, whilst the Beagle was 
 engaged farther south. In the meantime FitzRoy had 
 added to the " squadron " a schooner-yacht, a much better 
 vessel, which he named the Adventure (after the ship com- 
 manded by Captain King), and she was his consort during 
 nearly the whole of the South American cruise. In such 
 vessels and in open boats did he and his officers get 
 through the immense amount of laborious surveying work 
 that was accomplished. 
 
 Sulivan had his share of ordinary boat work, and during 
 Wickham's long absences did first lieutenant's duties. In 
 December 1834 came his turn to undertake a separate 
 survey. On Christmas Eve he started to survey the east 
 side of the Island of Chiloe and the islets in the Gulf of 
 Ancud. With him went Darwin, three officers, and ten 
 men. They returned on January 7th, but went back to 
 the same ground a few days later, Darwin not accompany- 
 ing them this time. On the 17th they rejoined the Beagle 
 in San Carlos Harbour. Some extracts from the accounts 
 of these trips may prove interesting : — 
 
 "Berkeley Sound, February 1833. 
 
 "As we went on the sea became very high, and the 
 farther we went the worse it was. In the yawl we got on 
 pretty well. The wind was blowing the water up in sheets 
 of white spray, flying over the boat's mast-head, and the 
 only sail we could carry was a close-reefed fore-sail. The 
 sea was so high that at two cables' distance from each 
 other it hid the mast-heads of the boats when they were 
 in the hollow of the sea. Just at this place the whaler 
 broached to and shipped a good deal of water, but luckily 
 they got her before it again before the next sea came. 
 
1831-36.] BOATING EXPEDITIONS. 4 1 
 
 We were at this time about two cables' lengths ahead of 
 her, but had she gone we could not have helped her, as it 
 would have been almost impossible to round to with safety, 
 and if we did we could not have got one inch back. It 
 was a very anxious time — I think more so than I ever yet 
 experienced. As we neared the point the sea got much 
 worse, from the tide forming a race ; but the distance 
 through this was very short, and directly we passed the 
 rocks off the point we should be in smooth water. The 
 rocks are about a hundred yards from the shore, and 
 tremendous breakers on them and the shore also, but 
 between these was one small part where it did not break ; 
 and as every moment was of consequence, and outside the 
 rocks there was a much heavier sea, we ran for this little 
 opening. Just before coming to it a roller reached us, and 
 carried us on its top right over the ridge without our 
 shipping a drop of water, and the next moment we were 
 round the point in smooth water ; but this was by far the 
 most anxious time for me, as we were also out of sight of 
 the whaler, and it was for her safety that I was so anxious. 
 However, just as we went round to stand back under the 
 point we saw her swing round outside the rocks, as they 
 thought it better to run the risk of the sea than to come 
 through the passage inside it. The relief and comfort I 
 felt when she was safe alongside us in smooth water I 
 cannot describe. We got into a snug little cove, where we 
 pitched the tents, secured the boats, and got dinner under 
 way. The weather cleared up a little, so as to enable us to 
 get a few things dry. While dinner was cooking I walked 
 over to the point we had come round with the instruments ; 
 but it blew so hard that I could not put one up, not a 
 stand would remain fixed, and we could not stand on the 
 top of the beach ourselves. As it was warm walking and 
 carrying instruments, and the sky being clear, I left my 
 coat behind me at the tents, and on our return it came on 
 to rain, hail, and snow, and I got a complete drenching. 
 The yawlers had now the laugh on their side, as the 
 whalers had had their bags filled with water when the sea 
 came into the boat, and had not a dry stitch of clothes or 
 blankets. However, they got them partly dry before night. 
 We were fortunate to find plenty of wreck-wood on the 
 beach, and we had a glorious fire, round which we sat singing 
 till ten o'clock at night, when a heavy hail-shower drove us 
 into the tents. We all then crowded into one tent, and 
 
42 H.M.S. "BEAGLE," ETC. [Ch. II. 
 
 went on singing till twelve, and I never under any cir- 
 cumstances saw a more merry party. All the comic songs 
 that any one knew were mixed up with yarns of English, 
 Irish, Scotch, and Welsh ; and as we had about an equal 
 number of each country, it raised bits of laughter against 
 them all in their turns : neither did the west country 
 escape." 
 
 " Rio Negro, September ^th, 1833. 
 
 " On August 29th I left in the yawl with a mate and ten 
 men. We started from the ship at i p.m. with a strong 
 breeze but a favourable tide, and we beat up to Punta Alta 
 in time to have everything landed, the tents rigged, and 
 the pot under way before sunset. Tea is a great luxury 
 in cruises of this kind. We always boiled a large boiler 
 holding four gallons full every morning for breakfast, and 
 the same for supper, and we never had any left, and, as 
 there were only twelve of us, we must have drunk one- 
 eighth of a gallon each meal, or five and a half pints a day. 
 The same pot full of a mess made of salt pork, fresh beef, 
 venison, and biscuit was also emptied for dinner, and meat 
 also of some kind both for breakfast and supper. Such 
 hardships are hard to put up with, the idea of being among 
 mud-banks in a boat with nothing but a waterproof awning 
 to cover her with, and thick blankets to sleep in, with 
 only two pounds of meat, two-thirds of a gallon of tea, 
 one pound of bread, and a quarter of a pint of rum each 
 man per day is dreadful ! ! ! 
 
 " In the evening we got all ready for beginning work at 
 daylight, and then part went on board the boat to sleep. On 
 the 30th we began at 6 a.m., and had finished our work by 
 breakfast-time, but waited for Darwin to examine the 
 beach at low water for fossil remains of animals, which 
 are very plentiful. Besides getting some he had seen 
 before, he this morning found the teeth of animals six 
 times as large as those of any animal now known in 
 this country, also the head of one about the size of a 
 horse, with the teeth quite perfect and totally different 
 from any now known, and just at low-water mark he 
 found the remains of another about six feet long, nearly 
 perfect, all embedded in solid rock. We started at low 
 water for the settlement, leaving two hands digging out 
 the bones. 
 
 " After supper we all went on board, and moored the 
 
1831-36.] BOATING EXPEDITIONS. 43 
 
 boat head and stern about four yards from the bushes, to 
 ensure her grounding in the centre where the mud was 
 quite soft. The evening looked very gloomy, with heavy 
 thunder and lightning ; but we were quite snug under an 
 awning, which we filled as much as possible with tobacco 
 smoke, to drive away the mosquitoes and sand-flies, which 
 were very troublesome. By filling the upper part of the 
 awning with smoke we kept them all out. I never in my 
 life, I think, laughed in the way I did for about three hours 
 at the stories they were all telling in turns. We had 
 among the men two or three excellent hands for keeping 
 every one alive, and to-night they performed their part to 
 perfection. Such hands are invaluable in a cruise of that 
 kind, particularly if the woi'k is very hard, as they keep 
 men's spirits up in a most surprising manner. I think I 
 never in my life saw people more happy than all our party 
 were ; they were in roars of laughter from morning till 
 night, and up to all kinds of amusements when on shore, 
 except when I brought them to an anchor occasionally to 
 prevent their shaking the ground (near my instruments), 
 and then they would find something amusing in that ; and 
 when men in those spirits are happy and comfortable, it is 
 astonishing how they make work fly." 
 
 "' Beagle,' AT sea, November \^th, 1834. 
 
 "It [Chiloe] will be a pleasant cruise, and all the officers 
 want to go with me. I am to have Usborne, Johnson, and 
 King, the assistant surgeon, and five men, besides the pilot, 
 making a party of ten. We shall have the dinghy with 
 us, so the yawl will be turned into a complete man-of-war. 
 We expect to finish the work as far as Valparaiso by the 
 end of April, when we shall no more return to the south. 
 
 "November igtk. — It was declared yesterday by the 
 doctors that if they were to pick out the most robust and 
 healthy person in the Beagle it would be me. However, 
 the cruise in the yawl will, I have no doubt, take me down 
 a little, though I never enjoyed better bodily health than I 
 do in these cruises. Still, the work, fag, and anxiety all tend 
 to keep a person from getting too stout. I am to have 
 six men and one boy ; and as the best singers and most 
 diverting characters in the ship are among them — and they 
 are all of that kind, and are up to anything — we shall have, 
 I hope, a very pleasant party. We shall have a large bag 
 
44 H.M.S. " BEAGLE," ETC. [Ch. II. 
 
 full of flour and raisins on purpose for a good plum-dough 
 on Christmas Day. 
 
 " You cannot think how I have enjoyed the society of 
 Mrs. Miller's and Mrs. Patterson's little children at Valpa- 
 raiso. I was their chief friend, and they came to me 
 for everything they wanted. One day I had a large party 
 of ten children on board, the eldest six and the youngest 
 two and a half years old, and for four hours all the big 
 children amused themselves seeing the little ones playing 
 hide-and-seek and other games about the deck." 
 
 " H.M. ' Beagle's Yawl,' San Carlos, January <)th, 1835. 
 
 " It rained every day but one for six weeks, and most of 
 the days never ceased raining, but by great good luck we 
 have not had one person unwell. 
 
 " I shall amuse you with a few stories. For instance, our 
 foraging on a small island inhabited by Indians, on 
 Christmas morning, from nine to twelve, in a heavy gale 
 of wind and tremendous rain, before we could get eggs 
 enough to make our plum-pudding or a sheep to eat. How- 
 ever, we got into the padre's house attached to the church, 
 as our tents, clothes, and blankets were wet through, and 
 by 4 p.m. had one side of a sheep roasted, another side 
 boiled, twelve pounds of English fresh roast beef heated, 
 and two immense plum-puddings made. No bad quantum 
 for twelve men ! It would have amused you if you could 
 have seen us in a dirty room with a tremendous fire in the 
 middle, and all our blankets and clothes hung round the 
 top on lines, getting smoked as well as dry, while all hands 
 were busily employed for four hours killing a sheep, picking 
 raisins, beating eggs, mixing puddings which were so large 
 that, in spite of two-thirds of the party being west- 
 country men, we had enough for supper also. However, 
 we passed a pleasant day in spite of wind and weather, 
 and it was a holiday to us, as we could only afford to 
 knock off work when it rained too hard constantly to be 
 able to move, which happened on Christmas Day and 
 New Year's Day. Every other day for eight weeks we 
 were hard at work. It is very curious that I am always 
 in better health in a boat, for I never have enjoyed such 
 perfect good health for two months since leaving England." 
 
 On one occasion, it being desired to find out the con- 
 dition of the Beagle's bottom after she had struck a rock, 
 
1831-36.] ROUND THE WORLD. 45 
 
 Sulivan dived down under the keel, and, having ascertained 
 things were not very bad, came up the other side, bleeding 
 from several scratches received from the jagged copper. 
 FitzRoy, wishing to make doubly sure, then performed the 
 same action himself. 
 
 In May 1835 a Chilian gentleman lent FitzRoy the 
 schooner Constitucion, of twenty-six tons. Sulivan was 
 despatched in her to examine the coast near Coquimbo, 
 and that of Chili as far as Paposa. His commander wrote 
 in allusion to this trip, " I well knew that Lieutenant 
 Sulivan would not only make despatch, but do also 
 extremely correct work." This cruise lasted until 
 August 30th. As the Beagle was then about to leave for 
 her voyage to the west, Sulivan could not be spared 
 longer, so Mr. Usborne, master's assistant, was sent in the 
 schooner to survey the coast of Peru. Sulivan describes 
 him as one of the best seamen he ever knew. 
 
 Sulivan had another expedition in the yawl to survey 
 the centre of the Galapagos Islands. In December 1835 
 the Beagle reached New Zealand, after touching at Ota- 
 heite. The month following she arrived at Sydney, where 
 Mr. King left them to join his father. The Beagle 
 sailed for England, calling at Mauritius, the Cape, and 
 other places on her way home for the purpose of observa- 
 tions for meridian distances. She arrived at Greenwich in 
 November 1836. 
 
 One story not related by FitzRoy I may now give 
 without offence. On the return of the vessel after such an 
 interesting voyage, so many people came to visit her that 
 the captain gave the order that respectable-looking persons 
 only were to be admitted by the accommodation-ladder ; 
 others were to enter by the gangway (where some projec- 
 tions three inches wide against the ship's side afford 
 foothold, there being two ropes to assist the climber). 
 
46 H.M.S. " BEAGLE," ETC. [Ch. II. 
 
 Sulivan, who was at the time on watch, noticed the sentry 
 wave a boat away from the ladder round to the gangway. 
 Presently the head of a very pretty, stylish woman ap- 
 peared in it, and Sulivan went forward to assist her. She 
 was followed by a rather plain-looking man, who asked 
 for the captain. After they had been conducted below, 
 FitzRoy came on deck, much put out, and said, " Do you 
 know it is the] Astronomer Royal who has been treated 
 with such scant ceremony ? " He was paying what was 
 somewhat of an officiai visit, with his wife. When the 
 captain had retired below, Sulivan rated the sentry for 
 his want of discrimination. The man replied, " Well, sir, 
 he did not look respectable ! " 
 
 Thirty-three years afterwards the nine officers who had 
 been such close companions and friends were all still alive ; 
 then the first break began. Now the only survivor is Mr. 
 Philip King, of Sydney. I annex a few remarks written 
 by him and the late Admiral Mellersh, who died only 
 recently. 1 might add, in relation to Darwin, that he suffered 
 so much from seasickness that whenever the ship was 
 out of harbour he retired to his hammock in the chart- 
 room, the only accommodation afforded him. My father 
 said he believed it was this constant suffering which laid 
 the seeds of the indisposition he was troubled with in 
 later years, and that his patience in persevering with his 
 scientific work, and not abandoning the voyage, was most 
 commendable. 
 
 FitzRoy added the following lines to SuHvan's official 
 certificate of service in the Beagle : — 
 
 " To this usual certificate I am anxious to add a few 
 words expressive of my very high opinion of your ability, 
 integrity, and high-principled zeal. I have known you 
 and watched your conduct ever since your entry into the 
 .service, and 1 sincerely believe that a worthier young 
 man is not to be found. Wherever you go, or whatever 
 
1831-36.] messmates' recollections. 47 
 
 may be my lot, remember that among your numerous 
 friends one of the earliest and not the least sincere is 
 
 " Robert FitzRoy." 
 
 From the late Admiral A. Mellersh, C.B. :— 
 
 "Hove, Brighton, February iSih, 189 1. 
 
 " Dear Mr. Sulivan,— I have not ' the pen of a ready 
 writer,' but I may say that I have had, in nearly thirty 
 years' actual sea-service, great opportunities of seeing and 
 judging of naval officers, and I do not hesitate to declare 
 my opinion that your father was amongst the ' first 
 flight.' He was a perfect sailor, a first-rate observer and 
 navigator, a capital gunnery officer, and indeed an 'all- 
 round man.' As I am writing a scene comes into my 
 mind. We were near the western entrance of the Straits 
 of Magellan, in mid-winter, going westward ; it was blow- 
 ing hard ; treble-reefed topsails and reefed courses ; the 
 main-sail hauled up, but not furled ; wind from westward. 
 I (then a mate) was officer of the 'middle watch' (12 to 
 4 a.m.). The captain directed your father to keep with me. 
 The night was inky dark, when about i a.m. the look-out 
 man called out, ' Rocks close on the starboard beam.' As 
 we were ' land-locked ' the water was smooth. Your father 
 gave the order ' Lower main-sail,' and the watch ran the 
 ' main-tack on board,' and hauled aft the main-sheet so 
 quickly, that, though so close to the perpendicular rocks, 
 the lee clew of the main-sail nearly touched the wall- 
 like cliff. The ship sprang off like an arrow from a bow. A 
 moment's indecision would have been fatal ; but there was 
 none, and the ship was saved. Though your father was 
 only a year my senior in years, I learned from him and 
 Wickham all that made me successful in my own long 
 service as first lieutenant. In conclusion, I may say that 
 your father was one of my dearest friends on earth, and 
 one whom I hope I may meet again in heaven. 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 " A. Mellersh." 
 
 From Mr. Philip Gedley King : — 
 
 "Sydney, 1892. 
 
 " Never shall I forget the kindly welcome he gave us as 
 we stepped on board after our hazardous absence [in the 
 
48 H.M.s. "beagle," etc. [Ch. II. 
 
 small craft, with Lieutenant Wickham]. His was the cheery, 
 open heart which held out the hand of genuine friendship 
 to any one, though of inferior rank in the service. As the 
 voyage proceeded changes were made, and I became not 
 only his shipmate but his helpmate ; and later on he was 
 appointed by Captain FitzRoy to take his share in the 
 small-craft service, which added so much to the real work 
 performed by the officers of the Beagle. 
 
 " To his craft I had the happiness of being appointed, 
 and the few months spent on board her are full of memories 
 of pleasant relationship with my commander, with whom 
 or from whom I do not ever remember to have had an 
 angry word. Full of zeal for the service, and animated 
 with a somewhat fiery spirit in the prosecution of his duty, 
 he yet had the gentle heart and kindness of disposition 
 which marks so eminently those ' who go down to the sea 
 in ships, and occupy their business in the great waters ' — 
 these are they ' who tell out the works of the Lord with 
 gladness,' and offer their hearts to their fellow-men. 
 
 " It was at Sir James Sulivan's instance that a portrait 
 was painted of our estimable commander, Robert FitzRoy, 
 now hanging on the walls of the Painted Hall of Green- 
 wich (Hospital that was), a photograph of which has had a 
 place in my library, opposite that of his old senior officer, 
 my father, the late Admiral Phillips Parker King (of 
 H.M.S. Adventure)- — and not far away are the likenesses of 
 Darwin, Wickham, Usborne, Mellersh, and of my lamented 
 friend. 
 
 "Philip Gedley King." 
 
 On the return of the Beagle the visits to Barton End 
 were resumed, and the two whose affection had been so 
 well tested by absence without correspondence were 
 married on January 14th, 1837. In December of that 
 year my father was appointed to the schooner Pincher, 
 intended for watching the slave-trade on the west coast 
 of Africa. But a few weeks afterwards the Hydrographer, 
 Captain Beaufort, was wanting an officer to undertake the 
 survey of the Falkland Islands. He wrote to FitzRoy, 
 asking about Sulivan's qualifications for the post. The 
 
I837-39-J FITZROY ON SULIVAN's CAPABILITIES. 49 
 
 following is his reply (a copy of which he enclosed to 
 Sulivan), resulting in the latter's appointment to the ketch 
 Arrow for the work in question : — 
 
 "31, Chester Street, January ^th, 1838. 
 
 " Dear Captain Beaufort, — In answer to your note 
 with respect to Lieutenant Sulivan, I will try to put the 
 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth into 
 as few words as possible. In my humble opinion (having 
 known him ever since he got the first medal at the Naval 
 College) Sulivan is ' up to the business completely^ He 
 is as thorough a seaman, for his age, as I know, and he 
 has been used to the smallest craft as well as to the largest 
 ships. He is an excellent observer, calculator, and sur- 
 veyor, and I may truly say that his abilities are better 
 than those of any man who has served with me. Besides 
 these advantages he has the solid foundation of the highest 
 principles, and an honest and warm heart. Nothing on 
 earth would induce Sulivan to swerve from his duty, even 
 in the smallest degree. Whatever he may have to do, he 
 will do honestly and as well as circumstances allow. 
 
 " Now for his defects — and who has none ? Sulivan 
 is eager — often hasty — and wants some of the reserve, 
 and caution towards strangers, which sailors seldom have 
 while young. He was fidgety, and never thought he or 
 those with him were going fast enough ; but this is wearing 
 off fast. In official minutiae, forms, letters, etc., he may 
 at first appear deficient, having undervalued them perhaps 
 too much. He is not a neat draftsman, though his chart 
 work is extremely correct. (His hand is not quick enough 
 for his mind, or his mind is too quick for his hand.) This 
 is all that I, or any m,an, can say against him. 
 
 " May I now conclude by saying, earnestly, that I know 
 no young man, of his age, equal to him in abilities and 
 high principles ? 
 
 " Most respectfully and sincerely yours, 
 
 " Robert FitzRoy." 
 
 Another officer was sent to take the command of the 
 Pincher. Both vessels fitted out at Chatham. Sulivan had 
 been a week with the crew of the Pincher, preparing her. 
 As a good and therefore a cautious sailor, he had taken 
 
 4 
 
so H.M.S. "BEAGLE," ETC. [Ch. II. 
 
 down all the long spars suitable for the tropics, and fitted 
 shorter ones. His successor's first exclamation on taking 
 her over was, "What has become of her long spars?" 
 Sulivan replied, " They are stowed below until wanted. I 
 was not going to take her down Channel with them in the 
 winter." " What are you afraid of?" said the officer ; " I 
 intend to have them up." So they were replaced, with the 
 canvas belonging to them. The two vessels being ready 
 for sea at the same time, the Pinchers commander suggested 
 a race round to Portsmouth. When near Beachy Head, 
 the schooner of course leading by some distance, a thick 
 squall came on. The look-out man said he could not see 
 the Pincher, so it was supposed she had run ahead into 
 the mist. But on reaching Portsmouth they found no 
 Pincher there. A week afterwards they found her in the 
 Channel, bottom up, with every sail standing, the sad 
 result of foolhardiness ! The bodies of the watch below 
 were all in her, showing she must have capsized instantly. 
 These Sulivan had to identify. 
 
 Although there are many interesting letters concerning 
 the surveys both of the coasts and of the interior, and 
 accounts of the life in the islands, I have not space for 
 them in this volume. Sulivan published his remarks on 
 the islands in a pamphlet, which was translated into 
 French. The climate appears to resemble that of the 
 west of Scotland. The high winds prevent the growth of 
 trees. When the breeze blows from the mainland of 
 America, the dryness of the air is remarkable. To this 
 and the equable though not genial temperature Sulivan 
 attributed the great healthiness of the place. 
 
 The Arrow came home in 1839. Captain Beaufort was 
 much pleased with the work done. 
 
 In May 1841 Sulivan was made a commander. In an 
 official letter to his father the secretary to the Admiralty 
 
1^42.] THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. 5 I 
 
 said that, as a special mark of their lordships' approbation 
 of his services as commodore on the Brazilian station, they 
 had promoted his son. 
 
 In 1842 it became necessary to undertake a further 
 survey in connection with the Falklands and the Rio Plata. 
 Beaufort again selected Sulivan for the task, and he was 
 appointed to the brig Philomel. The account of his work 
 in the Rio Plata will be found in the following chapter ; 
 that in the Falkland Islands must be dismissed for want of 
 space in a few words. As will be seen, his wife and family 
 accompanied him thither. My mother found time to 
 make a collection of the flora of the islands. The plants 
 sent home were arranged by Miss Warren, a lady botanist 
 who lived at Flushing ; Lindley also examined them, and 
 named some plants after the finder. 
 
 My brother. Commander James Young Falkland Sulivan, 
 was the first British subject born on the Falkland Islands. 
 
 The Falkland plant of greatest value is the tussac-grass, 
 growing six feet in height, and containing, weight for 
 weight, almost as much nutriment as corn, as testified by 
 the Royal Agricultural Society's chemist. Sulivan con- 
 sidered it would thrive well in the western islands of 
 Scotland, or Ireland. He introduced it to the late Sir 
 James Matheson, who planted it at Stornoway, where it 
 answered all expectations. But it was at last destroyed, 
 owing to the neglect of the injunction not to let tlte cattle 
 feed on the plant, but to cut it. A fresh attempt should 
 be made to introduce this valuable plant, but it must be 
 fenced in. 
 
 Note. — A short account of another visit to the Falkland Islands 
 will be found in Appendix B. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. 
 
 1842-46. 
 
 It may be well to give an outline of the cause of the 
 disturbances which led to the three years' siege of Monte 
 Video, and to the British interference, resulting in the 
 Parana campaign of 1845-46. 
 
 Since the Declaration of Independence in 1816, every 
 state in this part of South America had been in almost 
 a constant condition of anarchy. At length arose a man 
 of great force of character, Juan Manuel de Rosas, who 
 became president of the Argentine Republic. He first 
 drove out the aborigines. Backed up by an army of 
 Gauchos, he obtained unlimited power, and was not 
 scrupulous as to the means of retaining it.* After con- 
 
 * The following stories I remember hearing from my father illustrate 
 the power Rosas exercised, and the means he did not hesitate to adopt 
 to strengthen that power. Once one of my father's brothers was 
 dining with some friends in Buenos Ayres during Rosas' reign of 
 terror. Suddenly a friend of the family rushed in, saying he heard a 
 domiciliary visit would be paid them that evening. The head of the 
 house said that he had done nothing against Rosas, and that he had 
 nothing to fear. One of the family recollected that a room upstairs 
 was papered in green, the opposition colour. That would be sufficient 
 to damn them. The whole party, my uncle included, left the table, 
 went upstairs, and with every instrument obtainable scraped the walls 
 clean and removed the debris. They had not long finished when the 
 domiciliary visit was made, but nothing objectionable was found ! 
 
 An officer was going up-country, so he asked Rosas if he had any 
 commission for him to execute. Rosas replied, " You will pass 
 
 Fort . Will you take this letter to the commandant for me ? " 
 
 " Certainly," the officer said. Before starting, he met a friend, who 
 said, " Be careful ; I hear your name is on the black list." " Oh no, 
 
 52 
 
1842-46.] JUAN MANUEL DE ROSAS. 53 
 
 solidating his power at Buenos Ayres, he turned his atten- 
 tion to the subjugation of the Banda Oriental, the capital 
 of which was Monte Video. In 1842 there were two rival 
 leaders of the hostile factions in this town — Oribe and 
 Riviera. Oribe being worsted, fled to Rosas, by whom 
 he was supplied with men and money. Oribe then re- 
 turned, overran the Banda Oriental, and laid siege to 
 Monte Video. His operations were conducted with great 
 cruelty. He tried to starve the garrison into a surrender. 
 The Buenos Ayrean squadron, under the command of an 
 Englishman named Brown (previously referred to), cut 
 off the supplies by sea. Mr. Mandeville, the British 
 Minister, and Commodore Purvis encouraged the Monte 
 Videans to resist with hopes of British support. This, 
 however, was a great mistake. When Riviera had been 
 defeated outside the town, had Oribe been allowed to 
 enter, the cruel war extending over nearly four years 
 would have been avoided. As he was not permitted to 
 enter, Oribe gave out that neither life nor property would 
 be respected on the capture of the city. This raised a 
 strong feeling among the foreigners against him. Three 
 
 I have just left Rosas, who was very friendly, and asked me to take a 
 note for him." " Well, don't take it." But he would not listen to the 
 advice. On reaching the fort, he handed the letter to the commandant, 
 who read it, and said, "Do you know the contents of this letter?" 
 "No," the officer said, "General Rosas asked me to bring it to you." 
 " Well, look at it ! " It read, " Shoot him ! " He was shot. 
 
 Several conspiracies were formed to put an end to Rosas. Once, 
 one of the conspiring party, having undertaken to kill Rosas, actually 
 obtained the post of guard outside the door of Rosas' room. He 
 prepared his pistol, when Rosas appeared. The mere sight of him 
 was sufficient to strike terror into the heart of the conspirator, who 
 dropped upon his knees and confessed his intention. 
 
 Rosas' daughter Manuelita was a general favourite. When a young 
 girl, she saw from her balcony an English midshipman at the door of 
 the hotel opposite in difficulties with his horse. She ran down to the 
 street, jumped upon the man's saddle, galloped the animal up and 
 down a few times, and then returned it to the humiliated midshipman 
 in the sight of his shipmates. Manuelita afterwards resided near 
 Southampton, where I believe my father once or twice called to see her. 
 
S8 
 
 56 
 
 Map of the 
 PARANA 
 
 and th e adjacent co untry, 
 
 Statute Miles 
 ro zo 40 60 
 
 Longitude West 58 of Greenwich 
 
 IValker Q-Soutallsc. 
 
1842-46.] CAUSE OF THE WAR. 5 5 
 
 thousand residents (chiefly Basques and Piedmontese) 
 were armed, and a nondescript force was raised by an 
 Englishman named " Cockney Sam." To imitate the 
 uniforms of the British regiments, he dressed them in red 
 shirts. The celebrated Garibaldi, having formerly been 
 taken prisoner and treated badly by Urquieza, one of 
 Rosas' generals, raised a party of five hundred Italian 
 sailors from the coasting-vessels. He adopted Sam's idea 
 of the red shirt, a dress which in later years became still 
 more celebrated in Italy. 
 
 Rosas determined to gain possession of both banks of 
 the Rio de la Plata. England and France, having formerly 
 guaranteed the independence of the Banda Oriental, after 
 much vacillation on the part of our authorities, at length 
 actively intervened, and in 1845 summoned Rosas to with- 
 draw his troops. On his refusal. Brown's squadron was 
 captured, and a blockade was proclaimed against Oribe. 
 Admiral Inglefield had succeeded to the command of the 
 British squadron. Admiral Lain6 being at the head of 
 the French. 
 
 While these events were passing. General Urquieza, a 
 nominee of Rosas, was governor of Entre Rios. The presi- 
 dent of the revolted province of Corrientes was General 
 Maderiaga, who formed a league against Rosas with the 
 independent province of Paraguay. These two states had 
 collected an army, over which was placed General Paz, 
 a rival of Rosas. 
 
 In 184s the British and French ships were ordered to 
 reopen the Parana, which had been closed by Rosas, who 
 thereupon concentrated his opposition at Obligado. After 
 forcing the defences at this point, the combined squadrons 
 proceeded to Corrientes, eight hundred miles up the river, 
 convoying a large number of merchant-ships, which were 
 sent for the purpose of taking up manufactured goods and 
 
S6 THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. [Ch. III. 
 
 releasing the produce of the inland states, which had been 
 accumulating for some time at Corrientes. 
 
 At this conjuncture my father's part in the events on 
 the Parana commences. But as the Philomel, which he 
 commanded, worked in the summer on the survey of the 
 Falkland Islands, proceeding during the winter with the 
 surveys of the river Plata, a chronological record would 
 be confusing. I shall therefore not refer further to the 
 work in the Falklands. 
 
 H.M.S. Philomel, referred to in the previous chapter, was 
 one of the beautiful Simondite brigs, and well upheld the 
 reputation of her builder. She sailed from Plymouth on 
 July 25th, 1842. Sulivan had put thirty tons of ballast 
 in her, in lieu of the customary fifteen. He believed it was 
 want of sufficient ballast that caused the one or two losses 
 that had occurred in this class of vessel, and wrote a few 
 days after sailing : — 
 
 " The officers * and crew are all I could possibly wish 
 for. I am delighted with the ship ; I was never in a drier 
 vessel." 
 
 He wrote from Rio on September i Jth : — 
 
 " My men are constantly on shore without officers. 
 There has been no case of drunkenness and no desertion. 
 I have had to disrate one petty officer, one of the best 
 men in the ship, who had been five years in the Beagle, for 
 disrespect to a lieutenant. I hope' to avoid the use of the 
 ' cat ' by making them feel certain they will have it if they 
 break rules." 
 
 He arrived at Monte Video on October 3rd, and found 
 the unsettled state of affairs already referred to.f As it 
 
 * The officers were: — Lieutenants: Harston, George H. Richards 
 (afterwards Hydrographer). Master: John F. Rees. Surgeon : 
 William Chartres ("one of the best in the service"). Assistant 
 Surgeon: M. C. French. Clerk: G. W. Pickthorne. Mids : W. S. 
 Sulivan and Steveley. 
 
 f An invasion of Uruguay by Rosas was expected. 
 
1842-46.] H.M.S. "PHILOMEL." 57 
 
 was arranged for his wife to join him with his family at 
 Monte Video later on, he writes to her : — 
 
 " If you come out, it is settled in the gun-room you are 
 to go too ; but if there is any fighting, you are to be put 
 in a two-ton tank ! " 
 
 'Y\ie. Philomel\^i\. for the Falklands on October 14th, and 
 returned to the river Plata on April ist, 1843. Mr. Fegan 
 there joined as assistant surveyor. The town of Monte 
 Video was blockaded by land, and the inhabitants were 
 anticipating a blockade to be declared by Rosas' squadron 
 by sea also. The marines of the fleet were landed to 
 protect British property. 
 
 By this time, in order, smartness, and discipline, the 
 Philomel would have borne comparison with the best ships 
 in the service. On one occasion, having weighed very 
 quickly from a difficult position in answer to an unexpected 
 signal from the admiral, as the Philomel passed under the 
 flag-ship's stern, the flag-captain. Captain G. B. Martin, a 
 well-known and good officer, was standing there with a 
 number of officers, and hailed her, saying, " Sulivan, we 
 may well call her the pride of the station." The crew of 
 the Philomel were considered smarter than any of the fleet, 
 and she was the admiration of both French and English 
 officers, who would often watch to see what smart thing 
 she would next do. 
 
 Various stories could be told illustrating this. Once, 
 Sulivan, having to work the Philomel out to windward 
 between two lines of vessels, could not quite weather a 
 French ship at the head of one line, so he kept her on 
 until she seemed about to touch the ship, when, putting 
 the helm down, he shot the Philomel up dead in the wind's 
 eye some distance, until she cleared the Frenchman's bow- 
 sprit ; then he paid her off and sailed her clear away. A 
 
58 THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. [Ch. III. 
 
 French officer went on shore to the club, and, after excitedly 
 recounting the manoeuvre, declared that the devil must 
 be on board the Philomel, or she could not be made to 
 do what she did ! 
 
 Later on Sulivan received the thanks of the Lords of 
 the Admiralty for two years' blank returns of punishment. 
 This was the secret of his method of disciphne : — 
 
 " I fear too often blank returns show that offences that 
 ought to be punished are not : it has not been the case with 
 us, for I have only had one complaint made to me deserving 
 punishment, the only case of drunkenness that has occurred 
 in the ship. I did not like to go from my word, as I 
 believe that the certainty the men felt that they would not 
 be forgiven if reported for drunkenness or disrespect to 
 an officer has been the means of preventing the necessity 
 for punishment. While other ships complain of not being 
 able to keep their boats' crews sober with officers in all the 
 boats, we never send an officer with them, but trust entirely 
 to the men, and have not yet had a case of drunkenness, 
 and our men are now daily going on leave, and we have 
 not yet had one man come off tipsy or a moment after 
 his time." * 
 
 When the Philomel returned to Monte Video, Oribe was 
 encamped two miles outside the town, cutting it off from 
 the country. But the defenders had so strengthened their 
 lines that there was little chance of his getting in. The 
 government of Buenos Ayres then proclaimed a blockade 
 by sea as well as by land, and " Admiral " Brown, with 
 a corvette, two brigs, and seven smaller vessels, was off 
 Monte Video. On the score of there being so many 
 Englishmen in the town. Commodore Purvis said he 
 would not permit a blockade by sea, as this would have 
 resulted in all foreign non-combatants being turned out to 
 starve, nor would he allow any firing on the town from the 
 
 * In a letter to the Hydrographer, Lieutenant Richards says, " We 
 cannot be other than comfortable with Captain S. Indeed, his chief 
 study is to make every one in the ship so." 
 
1842-46.] ADMIRAL BROWN. 59 
 
 sea. One day Brown ran in with his fleet to the inner 
 harbour, and took possession of an island, on which was a 
 quantity of gunpowder belonging to British merchants. 
 The FantSme and Philomel were ordered to go in close up 
 to his ships. The Fantdme could not go in as close as the 
 Philomel, which was therefore directly exposed to Brown's 
 brig of fourteen guns, and his four vessels with two or 
 three pivot-guns each. Brown was ordered to give up the 
 powder, which he did, and he then ran out. Oribe a day 
 or two after wrote a letter threatening to treat all the 
 foreigners in Monte Video " as rebels and savages." The 
 commodore demanded an explanation, and a guarantee 
 for the lives and properties of British subjects. Before 
 an answer came Brown ran in again to the inner harbour. 
 
 The Fatitome having previously moved out, the Philomel 
 alone remained close in. The British ships were cleared 
 for action, but the others were three times as far off as the 
 Philomel was ; so, had hostilities commenced, poor Philomel 
 would have had to stand the first brunt of the action, and 
 would probably have been sunk the first broadside. As 
 Brown's vessels entered, Sulivan was told to go to the 
 headmost vessel, order her out, and fire into her directly if 
 she refused. He at once made her and the others lay-to. 
 Brown had replied to a message from the commodore, 
 " I am going in for fresh meat ; if the commodore wants 
 me out, he must take me out by force." This put the 
 commodore in a great rage. Ordering another signal to 
 be made to prepare for action, he said he would see Brown 
 himself, and went in the Philomel's boat with Sulivan on 
 board Brown's vessel. What occurred is thus described by 
 Sulivan : — 
 
 " Brown was standing abaft a large skylight, with only 
 room for one to pass between it and the bulwark, and, as 
 the commodore was very excited, I slipped in first to get 
 
6o THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. [Ch. III. 
 
 between them, and the following conversation then took 
 place : — 
 
 " Brown.— ' }i{ow de do, Captain Sulivan ? You don't 
 look quite so much like a billy-goat as you did the last 
 time I saw you.' (I had shaved my beard off since then.) 
 
 " Commodore (putting a gold watch with chain and seals 
 down on the skylight). — ' Mr. Brown, if you are not out of 
 this in ten minutes, I will sink you.' 
 
 " Brown. — ' Mister Brown, commodore ? I would have 
 you to know that I am Brigadier-General Brown, and I 
 hold a higher rank than you do.' 
 
 " Sulivan. — ' No, no, admiral ; commodore and brigadier- 
 general are the same rank.' 
 
 " Brown. — ' Now, commodore, those people on shore are 
 urging you on. Take my advice ; don't let them get you 
 in a scrape. They will not care as long as their own ends 
 are assured.' 
 
 " Commodore. — ' I never got in a scrape in my life.' 
 
 "Brown. — 'Then the more reason, commodore, you 
 should not get in one now. Now, commodore, is it not 
 hard that Garibaldi may come down here with his gun- 
 boats and fire on my friends on shore, and I must not come 
 in to prevent him ? ' 
 
 " Commodore. — ' Well, I think it is hard.' 
 
 " Brown. — ' Now, commodore, to please you, I will only 
 wait to get some beef, and will go out by sunset ; but I 
 hope you will prevent the gun-boats coming down here.' 
 
 " Commodore (taking up the watch and putting it into 
 his fob). — 'Well, I don't want you to go out to-night, if you 
 will be out by nine to-morrow morning.' 
 
 " Brown. — ' No, no, commodore, I will keep to my word 
 and be out by sunset ' — which he was. 
 
 " All this time I was putting in an occasional word in 
 favour of a peaceful settlement of the dispute ; but if I 
 had not got between them, I fear the commodore and the 
 admiral would have come to fisticuffs. 
 
 " Thus ended the battle of Rat Island. 
 
 " Brown had said he would not give way to force ; and 
 as he could not himself fire on the British flag, he would 
 leave with the Englishmen on board the brig, and let the 
 others defend their flag as long as they could." 
 
 Brown admitted Oribe was in the wrong and must 
 have written in a moment of passion. Later, Oribe wrote. 
 
1842-46. AN ANXIOUS TIME. 6 1 
 
 saying he only meant that those foreigners who took up 
 arms against him should be treated like others in arms. 
 Sulivan and some other captains thought the explanation 
 quite satisfactory ; but the commodore and one or two 
 others were not of the same opinion, and demanded a more 
 explicit refutation of the iirst letter. 
 
 As previously mentioned, Sulivan was expecting his wife 
 and three children to come out to Monte Video. They 
 were to leave Falmouth by the March packet. Weeks 
 went by after the date the vessel was due at Monte Video, 
 but there was no news of her. Sulivan's anxiety was very 
 great, especially as there had been a great storm. At 
 length the packet leaving Falmouth a month later arrived, 
 but brought no news of the missing ship. Sulivan used 
 every morning to go up with his glass to the top of 
 the cathedral tower to see if perchance she was in sight. 
 The officers used to shake their heads and say, " There 
 goes poor Sulivan again ; but it is of no use — the packet 
 must be lost." 
 
 At last, six weeks after her due time, Sulivan one day 
 saw from the tower a packet with the agreed-upon signal. 
 She had suffered in a gale, and had put into Madeira, and 
 thus had been delayed. 
 
 Once or twice while Mrs. Sulivan and her three children 
 were living in Monte Video, on an alarm being given that 
 the enemy were entering, all the English ladies went off 
 to the ships. On one such occasion, all the rest having 
 gone, my father said he would go to the walls first to make 
 sure there was real necessity to fly, my mother in the 
 meantime putting the children back in bed. After going 
 to the ramparts, he returned to say he thought the enemy 
 were not likely to get into the town. He was astonished 
 at my mother's coolness in putting the children to bed 
 again, but she showed she had done so with their clothes 
 
62 THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. [Ch. III. 
 
 on. So they remained, the only English family who had 
 not fled. 
 
 They used to watch the cannonading from the flat top 
 of the house, until one day, an old woman on the next roof 
 to them being cut in two by a round-shot, this amusement 
 was tabooed. Once my mother, having ridden outside the 
 town, accompanied by my father and a French officer on 
 foot, and skirmishing just then beginning, she induced 
 them to take her nearer, until one of the enemy's 
 cavalry suddenly fired at them, the ball going close between 
 the two gentlemen. The party then bolted, followed by 
 the man, loading and firing as often as he could. Then my 
 mother's rides were restricted to the beach inside the town. 
 One day, when she was riding ahead of my father, a 
 cannon-ball struck the sand so close in front of her horse 
 that the animal in his very next stride leapt the furrow it 
 made. So her rides came to an end altogether ! 
 
 The siege still went on. Food was scarce, money still 
 more so. 
 
 " Martin tells me they are almost starving in Monte 
 Video. Cats three and sixpence apiece, and Parry's fat 
 dog made into cutlets ! Many even of the best families 
 are fed entirely by the daily rations of flour and beans 
 given them by the government. It is a dreadful war, and 
 the scenes daily going on are sufficient to make one hate 
 the name of war for ever after. Neither side can do any- 
 thing decisive, so the time is occupied by trying to shoot 
 individuals. The three hundred dismounted Gauchos — 
 who had scarcely ever moved half a mile on foot in their 
 lives — are the finest body of men the Monte Videans have, 
 and they have behaved uncommonly well on every occa- 
 sion. The Italians also behaved well, having never given 
 way." 
 
 Prisoners were never taken, the lance or knife finishing 
 all off.* What was the warfare of the elders may be 
 
 ♦ From a letter written by B. J. S. from Paris, 1864: "In the train 
 
1842-46.] SIEGE OF MONTE VIDEO. 63 
 
 imagined from the play of the children. A party of boys 
 would divide themselves into two bands and act pursuers 
 and pursued. Some of the pursued would fall down as if 
 wounded, when it would be the aim of a pursuer to draw 
 his finger across the throat of a fallen one without breaking 
 his stride. 
 
 On one occasion (the Monte Videan horses having been 
 all killed by the enemy or by the butcher) a request was 
 made that the merchants would lend their horses, so that 
 a fair show of cavalry might be made at a review in the 
 square. About a hundred and twenty mounted men were 
 thus forthcoming. After a short parade these made a 
 sortie on the merchants' horses by way of the beach ; 
 passed the camp of the enemy, four thousand strong, two 
 or three miles to the rear ; killed about sixty of the enemy's 
 men ; then leisurely recrossed the river with about thirty 
 horses and cattle that they had captured, and eight prisoners, 
 brought in alive, besides two stands of colours. 
 
 About September the Gorgon got badly ashore. By 
 very great perseverance Captain Hotham at length got her 
 off. Parties from all the men-of-war were sent to assist 
 the Gorgon's crew in digging a channel for her through 
 the sand. A great compliment was paid to the Philomel 
 in a letter written by Captain Hotham to the admiral, 
 requesting that the men sent from one vessel might be 
 withdrawn in consequence of the trouble they gave, but 
 begging that, as a party of men from the Philomel had 
 shown such an excellent example of order and discipline 
 to the others, an additional number of men from that ship 
 
 . . one foreigner turned out to be from Monte Video. He was, when 
 a boy of fifteen, under arms during the siege. Talking over old times, 
 I mentioned the dreadful murder of the prisoners after one battle by 
 Urquieza, the truth of which I was sent to inquire into. I found 
 Colonel Flores in command, and all taken were lanced to death. The 
 poor man was much affected ; the tears came in his eyes, and he said, 
 ' Colonel Flores was my father.' Was it not a singular coincidence ? " 
 
64 THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. [Ch. HI. 
 
 might be sent. This was done ; and after the Gorgon was 
 off, Hotham applied for and obtained the promotion of 
 one of the Philomel's petty officers. 
 
 Not much surveying work could be done in the Plata, 
 owing to the acute state of affairs ; but Sulivan did what he 
 could, notwithstanding the difficulties he met with when 
 landing men for obtaining provisions or making observa- 
 tions on the coast of Colonia. On more than one occasion 
 it was necessary for him to display great firmness in facing 
 parties of soldiers who were trying to bully his seamen and 
 some settlers. 
 
 Lieutenant Harston left the Philomel,zx\A Doyle succeeded 
 him as first lieutenant.* 
 
 On October 26th, 1 844, the Philomel sailed again for the 
 Falklands, Mrs. Sulivan and family going in her. 
 
 The Philomel's surveying expedition had been well 
 timed, for without it the combined fleets would have been 
 at a serious disadvantage. On April 19th, 1845, the 
 Philomel returned to Monte Video from the Falkland 
 Islands. Sulivan, seeing the probability of our interfering 
 in the local war, told Commodore Sir Thomas Paisley, to 
 the astonishment of the latter, that he could, if necessary, 
 take the steamers Gorgon and Firebrand up to Martin 
 Garcia. 
 
 Up to July Sulivan was occupied in finishing his Falk- 
 land Island charts, and in adding to the survey of the 
 Plata. In August 1845 he found a channel of fifteen feet, 
 mean river-level, to Martin Garcia. 
 
 * Harston — now Captain H. — was appointed to a ship on the 
 west coast of Africa. Later on, when every ofBcer and man in her 
 was struck down by fever, he himself being the only one able just to 
 crawl on deck, he shipped a lot of the Krue boys, and with them 
 brought the ship to England in that state — a meritorious performance. 
 Sulivan wrote of him : " A correct, gentlemanly officer, setting all a 
 good example, particularly in his method with the men and internal 
 discipline." 
 
1842-46.] BRITISH AND FRENCH INTERVENTION, 65 
 
 On August 28th active operations were commenced by 
 the combined British and French squadrons operating on 
 the coasts of the Banda Oriental. Mrs. Sulivan, with her 
 children, returned to England. 
 
 At Colonia the ships had an engagement with the 
 enemy outside Monte Video. The latter were driven off 
 by the men of the fleet and the Monte Videan troops who 
 landed there. They then repaired the lines, so that the 
 Monte Videans might hold them. Sulivan, having taken a 
 good share in this encounter, then went across to Buenos 
 Ayres, and was well received by the Argentine minister 
 there. 
 
 "This very singular state of affairs," he writes to 
 Beaufort, is " owing to its being understood that we are 
 not at war with Buenos Ayres, but only want to turn their 
 troops out of the Banda Oriental. Yet we take their 
 vessels-of-war, and give them up to the Monte Videan 
 Government to be employed in direct warfare against the 
 Buenos Ayrean coasts. If this is not a hostile act, I 
 cannot think what is." 
 
 Sulivan then took the Gorgon and Firebrand up to 
 Martin Garcia without touching the ground, except once 
 where it was necessary to drag the Gorgon over the bar, 
 there being some inches less water than she drew.* 
 
 The British and French admirals, with some of the ships, 
 remained off Monte Video, a few of the smaller vessels 
 being sent on an expedition to open the Parana. Captain 
 Hotham, who commanded this detached British squadron, 
 
 * Captain Bingham, of H.M.S. Acorn, had gone as far up the Uruguay 
 as Rincon Gallinos, and had to remain there to protect seven hundred 
 refugees, placed on the island of Viscano. He was the senior com- 
 mander, and by this lost his chance of service in the Parana. Though 
 the service he performed was arduous, and he was frequently engaged, 
 he was not promoted. The master of the Acorn, Mr. Thomas Goss, 
 had surveyed the river for nine miles. The plan of holding the Rincon, 
 and getting a supply of cattle from it for the fleet and for Monte Video, 
 had been proposed by Sulivan to the minister and the admiral. 
 
66 THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. [Ch. III. 
 
 determined first to take a force up the Uruguay, to assist 
 the escape of other colonists reported to be hiding. The 
 vessels taken were the Gorgon (s.), the Philomel, Dolphin, 
 and Fanny. They were joined at the Rio Negro by the 
 Buenos Ayrean squadron under Garibaldi — " a regular 
 mosquito fleet of twenty, from a sixteen-gun brig to a 
 whale-boat, little more than a party of buccaneers.'' It 
 had been supposed that no vessel of more than twelve feet 
 could proceed for more than a few miles up the river, and 
 the enemy had sunk vessels in the regular channels. But 
 Sulivan found other deeper ones, up which he took the 
 ships to within six miles of Paysandu. He had hard work 
 to accomplish this, constantly going ahead in a boat to 
 sound. Once, when the Philomel was ahead alone, a party 
 of fifteen hostile cavalry rode along the bank watching her. 
 Sulivan could easily have knocked them over ; but, desirous 
 of avoiding needless slaughter, he, instead of firing, waved 
 his cap to them. They returned the salutation and laughed, 
 seeming to enjoy the fun, and rode by the ship for some 
 distance, till, coming to a point, they galloped on a little 
 way and dismounted, as Sulivan noticed afterwards, the off 
 side, and stood apparently leaning over the backs of the 
 horses. As the ship came abreast of them, they fired a 
 volley at Sulivan, who was conning the ship from the 
 forecastle. The shot rattled round him, but he fortunately 
 escaped unhurt. The men instantly sprang upon their 
 horses, Gaucho fashion, lying concealed along the farther 
 side, and quickly disappeared over a ridge. Sulivan 
 writes : — 
 
 " The Monte Videans required as much Watching as the 
 enemy " ; but adds : " I am happy to say that a few days 
 since Garibaldi surprised a town on the Buenos Ayrean 
 side of the river in the night, and took every soul in it, and, 
 so far from putting any to death, he gave them their 
 
1842-46.] GARIBALDI. 67 
 
 liberty again when he left, merely putting a forced requisi- 
 tion of clothing on the place. Yet in that very town some 
 years since, Garibaldi, when a prisoner, was tortured by 
 being hung up to a tree for two hours by his thumbs, and 
 then by one arm." 
 
 On nearing Paysandu, the Monte Videans, finding that 
 even with the British force they would be far outnumbered 
 by the enemy, refrained from attacking the place. The 
 enemy had seven hundred infantry and one thousand 
 cavalry ; the Monte Videans three hundred men and our 
 one hundred and seventy blue-jackets. The ships' guns were 
 ineffectual, owing to the position of the town. Garibaldi 
 then moved his force higher up the river, being escorted past 
 the town by the Philomel and Dolphin, which then returned 
 with the two other British ships. The river having fallen, 
 Sulivan had great difficulty in piloting them down again. 
 But he safely accomplished the task, and the ships joined 
 the rest of the squadron at Martin Garcia. Thus ended 
 Sulivan's service with Garibaldi, whom he singularly 
 resembled in appearance. 
 
 The squadron destined for the Parana then assembled 
 near Martin Garcia. 
 
 In October, owing to the breakdown in health of his 
 excellent surgeon Dr. Chartres, Sulivan had to run the 
 Philomel to Buenos Ayres. This led to an incident he 
 always looked upon as a providential interposition, a 
 number of circumstances all combining to save the lives of 
 about twenty-five persons. After landing Chartres, Sulivan 
 was delayed two days by his own indisposition. A foul 
 wind drove him to Colonia. Seeing signs of an ap- 
 proaching gale, he anchored near the mouth of the St. John, 
 the coast of which he had surveyed two years previously. 
 A small schooner lay near him. A gale came on of such 
 force that the Philomel scarcely rode it out with three 
 
68 THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. [Ch. III. 
 
 anchors down. Next day nothing could be seen of the 
 schooner, even from the mast-head. The wind moderating 
 in the afternoon, the Philomel proceeded. One of the 
 officers asked Sulivan if such a spot was not the creek 
 they had surveyed. "No, that one," he replied, point- 
 ing his glass at St. John's. To his astonishment, in the 
 field of the telescope appeared the schooner's masts, with 
 a reversed ensign. She was inside the breakers at the bar 
 of a river in the enemy's district. Sulivan knew if the 
 Blancos had got the crew, they would all have been 
 murdered. As they got nearer, soldiers were seen on the 
 beach, about seventy yards from her, firing at her. There 
 was a bank of hard sand which Sulivan did not at first 
 like to cross, but, seeing horsemen in the water a few 
 yards from the schooner, and some armed men getting 
 into a launch about two hundred yards from her, he went 
 at the bank, estimating after the gale there would be 
 just water enough for the Philomel. The launch was by 
 this time close to the schooner. Another minute, and it 
 would be too late to save the people. A thirty-two- 
 pounder gun on the Philomel's forecastle being already 
 loaded, Sulivan gave it all the elevation possible, and 
 fired a chance shot. The ball passed directly over the 
 boat, and hit one of the horsemen full in the chest. At 
 the same moment the crew of the schooner poured a 
 volley into the boat, now alongside. The double incident 
 so frightened the Blancos that they retired. When 
 within half a mile, Sulivan and Richards took the boats, 
 and, crossing the bar, came to the schooner, the forty 
 Blancos in sight not venturing to fire again. On board 
 were fifteen men, five women, and four children. The 
 schooner, breaking adrift in the gale, had been driven 
 over the bar, but had brought up in the smoother water. 
 She had been early discovered by the Blancos, who for 
 
1842-46.J RESCUE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 69 
 
 seven hours had been firing at the people and telling 
 them their throats would all be cut. Having only a few 
 cartridges, the crew reserved their fire. The poor people 
 had been all day watching the Philomel's masts, hoping 
 for succour, and had given up all hope when the Blancos 
 discovered the launch, it fortunately having been overlooked 
 previously. Then they saw the Philomels signal of assist- 
 ance. Besides some soldiers' wives, the wife of the com- 
 mandant at Martin Garcia was on board. Too sea-sick 
 to remain below, she had lain all day on the deck, pro- 
 tected by a few boxes from the shot. One strapping 
 woman had shown great spirit, and had collected a pile 
 of stones from the ballast with which to greet the launch. 
 The schooner was hauled out, and she returned to Colonia, 
 the Philomel taking the women and children on to Martin 
 Garcia. The captain's cabin was given up to them, and 
 they received the first food they had tasted for twenty- 
 four hours. The rescue could not have been attempted 
 but for Sulivan's previous survey. He wrote : " It is the 
 most gratifying thing to me that has occurred." 
 
 The Philomel then joined the squadrons at Martin 
 Garcia, and the vessels prepared for the ascent of the 
 Parana. 
 
 " I am afraid," he writes to his father from the entrance to 
 the river (November 4th, 1845), "what Captain Villio told 
 you will have made you very anxious, but you will know 
 how little there was to do at Martin Garcia or anywhere 
 yet. Rosas knew that if he left a force in Martin Garcia 
 it must be captured, so he took all the guns up to the point 
 in the river where he is going to dispute the passage. I 
 expect we shall have some sharp work there. We know 
 of about twenty heavy guns and nearly three thousand 
 men of all arms. This sounds very formidable, we having 
 only a hundred and fifty marines, a hundred and eighty 
 English and a hundred and eighty French seamen. It 
 seems a serious thing to have to land and destroy their 
 
70 THE PARANA CAMPAIGN. [Ch. III. 
 
 guns ; but it must be done, or the river navigation will not 
 be safe. Certainly I think the authorities at Monte Video 
 have a very serious responsibility resting on them. They 
 know the force there, and yet with six hundred English 
 .soldiers and two hundred and fifty marines at their disposal 
 they send only seventy marines, Hotham having suggested 
 at least a hundred. They ought to have sent the two 
 hundred and fifty, and then we should have three hundred 
 marines. They seem to think they want all the force to 
 take care of themselves at Monte Video, forgetting what 
 a serious thing any reverse up the river would be. I do 
 not fear such a thing, but they ought to guard against the 
 possibility of it, as they have the means. How the Admiralty 
 can have acted as they have done, knowing the chance of 
 hostilities, I cannot think. Captain Villio's note to you 
 shows they expect it ; yet for shallow rivers the only 
 steam-vessels we have are two of the largest steamers in 
 the service, drawing sixteen and seventeen feet (seven- 
 teen and three-quarters feet water) ; not a single store or 
 munition of war have they sent out. The ships are even 
 short of their usual Pease powder and shot, and there is 
 not a single Congreve rocket in the squadron, though a few 
 would be just the thing for this kind of warfare. The only 
 field-piece we have to land (except one three-pounder I 
 got and one Hope got from the Monte Videans) is one six- 
 pounder ; and the whole supply of conical case-shot for that 
 is twenty rounds, and not one shrapnel-shell. So much the 
 authorities have provided for our doing the work efficiently. 
 I hope they do not despise their enemies, for these people 
 have during the last two years shown such courage and 
 performed such acts of gallantry as have never been 
 excelled." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. 
 1845-46. 
 
 On November 8th the combined British and French squad- 
 rons — composed of the ships mentioned at foot * — started 
 on their expedition up the river. The wind was fair. 
 The British squadron, led by the Philomel, composed the 
 " port," the French, led by the San Martin, the " starboard " 
 division. Owing to the strong current and the occasional 
 grounding of ships, they only made forty miles the first 
 day, and did not reach the ground suitable for exercising 
 the landing-parties. So the next morning, as the wind was 
 then foul, the Firebrand took the Philomel and Fanny in 
 tow, to go on in search of a proper place. This done, on 
 the nth the training began. While the French sailors 
 
 Gorgon (paddle-steamer) 
 
 Firebrand (p.s.) 
 
 Philomel 
 
 Comus . 
 
 Dolphin 
 
 Fanny ^ (schooner) 
 
 San Martin ' . 
 Fulton (p.s.) . 
 Expeditive 
 Pandour 
 Procida 
 
 British. 
 
 Tons. Guns. 
 
 nil 6 Capt. C. Hotham. 
 
 1 190 6 Capt. J. Hope. 
 
 428 8 Com. B. J. Sulivan. 
 
 492 18 Act. Com. E. A. Inglefield. 
 
 318 3 Lieut. R. Levinge. 
 
 — I Lieut. A. C. Key. 
 
 French. 
 
 200 8 Capt. Tr6houart. 
 
 , 650 2 Lieut. Mazferes. 
 
 — 16 Lieut. De Miniac. 
 
 — 10 liieut. Du Paie. 
 
 — 4 Lieut. De la Riviere. 
 
 ' Taken from Brown's squadron. 
 71 
 
72 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV. 
 
 were properly drilled to act on land, there was no such 
 system in the English service, as may be imagined from 
 the following description of the men who were shortly 
 wanted to face large bodies of trained troops. It was only 
 the simplest evolutions that were required of them, yet 
 they were ignorant even of these. Sulivan had to hold 
 some of the lieutenants before he could get them to 
 understand that, as pivot-men when wheeling in Hne, they 
 must stand still. Of one ship's company, it was discovered 
 not one man had been taught to use a musket. The officers 
 and men of this large ship's company showed such utter 
 ignorance of soldiering, that, fearing a mistake on their 
 part in action might endanger the whole party, it was 
 decided to do without them, there not being thought to be 
 sufficient time to train them. However, a young officer. 
 Lieutenant Brickdale, a supernumerary on board the ship, 
 asked Sulivan to be allowed to try what he could do with 
 the men. Leave being given him, he took the men out of 
 sight of the others, and so drilled them in one week that it 
 was thought well to allow them to join the rest. 
 To continue with the journals : — 
 
 " ' Philomel,' forty-five miles up the Parana, 
 "November \2th, 1845. 
 
 " The men really make a good show. The orders for 
 landing, etc., came out last night. Marines, commanded 
 by Captain Hurdle, form one column on the right — the 
 seamen-battalion, under Captain Hotham, one column on 
 the left. The companies of seamen commanded by 
 Lieutenants Woodley, Barker, Levinge, and Brickdale. 
 The Philomel's party, commanded by Commander Sulivan 
 and Lieutenant Doyle, will form in front, and precede the 
 columns as skirmishers. The French have been drilling 
 apart from us, but to-morrow we all land together. It is 
 ' very singular that in the Uruguay, at the mouth of the 
 Parana, we had not one mosquito, and that the moment 
 we enter this river we find them swarming, yet there is very 
 little difference in the land on the banks of the river. 
 
1845-46.] SAILORS AT DRILL. 73 
 
 Even among the islands in the Uruguay we had not one. 
 Is it not a singular thing that all the captains of our 
 squadron are collegians — Hotham, Hope, Inglefield, myself, 
 also Lieutenant Key ? The latter got the first medal, and 
 afterwards won his commission at the New System College. 
 It is astonishing how the few days' drill has got the 
 men on. The naval battalion to-day ' marched past,' and 
 went through all the exercises uncommonly well, and the 
 ' light company ' were complimented on their exercise. 
 The officers have been laughing at Doyle being such a 
 good light-infantry man, he being about the heaviest in 
 the field ; and our ' double quick ' to-day, and the constant 
 four hours' work, with frequent runs to get into our rallying 
 square, has quite knocked him up. We all feel the benefit 
 of this daily exercise after being cooped up so long, but 
 the weather is getting very warm. We are to go on on 
 Monday. I do hope the Fulton will arrive first, as there 
 is still a probability that she may bring news of peace ; and 
 however well we may succeed, it would be very sad to 
 think that we had any loss of life that was not necessary 
 to gain our object. But the desire to open the trade of this 
 river will, I fear, prevent the ministers coming to any 
 terms with Rosas, until they have by force passed up the 
 river." 
 
 " Obligado, Rio Parana, 
 
 ^' November 2'^rdf 1845. 
 
 " Through the merciful providence of God I have been 
 preserved through scenes of bloodshed while many have 
 been called away. I can only give you a short account of 
 it, as the letters must be closed to-night. We reached our 
 anchorage two miles below this on the i8th (my birthday). 
 We saw the batteries prepared to dispute our passage. They 
 were certainly more formidable than we anticipated, and 
 were beautifully built : parapets twelve feet thick (some 
 more), of rammed clay — the position excellent, a slight 
 bend enabling them to fire both right down and across the 
 river. We reached the place too late to do anything on 
 the 1 8th. The boats were all sent early that day to bring 
 some enemy's vessels from under the land ; but on getting 
 near, they were found to be two miles up a narrow creek, 
 close under high land, with a force posted along the cliffs 
 all the way, and out of reach of the ships' guns. Richards, 
 with two of our gigs, and a French lieutenant, in his boat, 
 
74 
 
 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. 
 
 [CH. IV. 
 
 going near the mouth to examine, were fired on, and one 
 Frenchman was wounded. Two shots came into our gig 
 close to young Steveley, who was steering her. The 
 officers all agreed that it would not be right to risk the 
 loss they must have met with to destroy a few little boats 
 (for they were nothing more), and very prudently returned, 
 
 Scale of Yards 
 ? 5°° 
 
 
 lOpO 
 
 Q 
 
 A A 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 
 Q 
 
 ^ 1 
 
 Cormlli \ 
 
 f 
 
 
 / 
 
 BEPUBUICANO 
 OF S GUNS 
 
 ^%. ''"-;z:-o-.r, ^ ^GUN BOATS (iau«EACHj 
 
 ..-• ■■■J^isiLan 's track between ' VVtoft-- ../^ 
 
 f oBS^f / forts 1 & 2 DOLPBlNjl ( 
 i ^OOd // SANMART,N# B^\ 
 
 ■'■~Y 
 
 
 
 COMUS^ 
 PANDOUR^ 
 
 SAN MARTrN* 
 
 
 Y>i 
 
 
 + DOLPHIN 
 
 w 
 
 
 
 
 FULTON -i* 
 
 fire;srandj4 ll/ 
 
 GORGON O \^r- . „ 
 ^' STEAMERS 
 
 \ 
 
 PHILOMEJ. 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 (ILongBrass SG pdr. 2 Long Brass 32 pds. 
 
 2Loi}gBrass18pcls. ^,7 Short 18 pds. 
 
 iJ; „ „ 32 „ 2h .. .. 24 
 
 ]4 ,, ,, 24pds. 3 Long Iron 18 
 U RocMei Tube 
 
 • 3 
 
 2Longlron „ „ 4 Field Pieces in the 
 4FieldPieces Wood. 
 
 iValker & Bontaltsc. 
 
 PLAN OF OBLIGADO. 
 
 much to my delight, as I saw the position from our mast- 
 head, and thought it useless to attempt it. 
 
 " On the night of the 1 8th I went with a French officer. 
 Lieutenant Mazferes (each in our own boat with muffied 
 oars), and sounded close up to the chain and batteries, 
 without being discovered, though we heard them talking 
 on shore. Then a man in the French boat, who interpreted 
 for us, whispered to me, ' The captain thinks it time to be 
 
1845-46.] ENGAGING THE BATTERIES. 75 
 
 off.' I quite coincided, particularly as several lights were 
 shown, and I expected a shower of shot on us. The next 
 day was spent in reconnoitring and planning the attack. I 
 was given command of the left division, and was to lead it 
 —the heaviest vessels {San Martin, Comus, and Pandour) 
 being intended to be more abreast of the batteries, while 
 Dolphin was with them to attack the enemy's vessel. It 
 was not supposed that many guns would bear toward the 
 left division, and we should, we thought, rake the batteries, 
 except No. i. We were therefore to go first, so as to 
 cover the right division in taking their positions. On the 
 morning of the 20th there was a fog with a light breeze ; 
 and as the current, of three or four knots, was against us, 
 we could not go on. At eight it cleared ; and thinking 
 there was wind enough, Hotham made the Philomel's 
 signal to weigh. Trehouart had very handsomely ordered 
 the two commanders of the French vessels in my division 
 to put themselves under my orders, as if theirs were English 
 ships. Hotham had also put our ships of the right division 
 under Trehouart, who was in San Martin. When we 
 weighed, the ExpMitive could not get on, and anchored 
 again, which obliged me to wait for her. She soon came 
 on, and we proceeded. Procida was close to me — Fanny, 
 ExpMitive, just astern ; but we only got over the ground 
 about half a mile an hour, so light was the wind and strong 
 the stream. As v/e got near, I saw Nos. i, 2, 3, batteries 
 could point all the guns at us, and we saw them turning 
 them towards us. I confess I wished all the other ships 
 were up to share it ; but the right division were some way 
 astern, except Dolphin (Levinge), who, being anchored 
 farther up, did not wait for her division, but weighed as 
 soon as we came abreast of her, and ran up the middle of 
 the river. Levinge's doing so saved us from a dreadful 
 loss. We had got within three or four hundred yards of 
 our station, only just making headway against the stream, 
 when a thirty-two-pounder in No. i fired at us (9.50 a.m.). 
 The shot passed inside our rigging, a few feet above the 
 ship, and cut the ensign halliards and brought down our 
 ensign ; it was soon rehoisted, and we fired one of our 
 bow-guns in return (we had two on the topgallant fore- 
 castle), and the next moment every gun opened on us, and 
 a hail of shot and rockets flew past us, all either a few feet 
 over or on one side. As young Steveley described it, they 
 were like large cricket-balls passing us. I had just been 
 
•j6 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV. 
 
 forward to fire a shell with the starboard bow-gun, to try 
 the range, and then had gone aft to look to the steering 
 (as we had to anchor by bearings as a guide to the others), 
 when I saw a crash on the forecastle. A large shot flew 
 past my head (we were standing straight for the batteries), 
 and I saw poor Doyle (who had gone to fire the gun I had 
 just fired before) fall back, and roll nearly off the forecastle, 
 while two or three other men were knocked down. A shot 
 had come through the gun-carriage and slide, knocking 
 them in pieces, and the iron splinters caused all the 
 damage. I thought Doyle was killed, but was soon told he 
 was only dreadfully wounded. The shots still came close 
 past, and in a minute the fore-topmast was cut more than 
 half through (the only shot that went high), and we were 
 obliged to lower the fore-topsail below the wound, and at 
 the same moment the main topsail-tye was shot away, and 
 down came the main-topsail, and she began to drop astern, 
 so we let go the anchor about three hundred yards short of 
 our position. In another moment two more shots came 
 through our starboard bow. Just as I was going up on the 
 forecastle to see what damage was done to the gun, one shot 
 came through under the forecastle, and knocked a fowl- 
 coop to pieces, the splinters and iron bars flying past in a 
 way I cannot describe, and knocking down two or three 
 more men. Our deck aft to the wheel was covered with 
 splinters of wood and iron. We then got two more guns 
 through our bow-ports under the forecastle. But all this 
 ■ that I have described took place in less then ten minutes, 
 and was only the first burst of the batteries. And beauti- 
 fully the enemy fired ; they had placed targets to practise 
 at before, and so knew the range exactly. The vessels in 
 my division anchored at the same time ; but trying to get 
 their broadsides to bear across such a strong tide, were all 
 swept away back some distance, except Fanny, with Key, 
 who kept close to us. At this time the only other vessel 
 up was Dolphin ; and she, not getting the first burst, stood 
 on, till, seeing her nearer and more abreast of them than 
 we were, the enemy turned every gun at her, except two of 
 the No. I battery. Had not Levinge been up, I am con- 
 vinced we should have suffered dreadfully. At this time 
 there was not a steamer within a mile of us. But poor 
 Levinge soon began to receive the same treatment as we 
 had, with this difference, that it lasted longer with him, for 
 he went on till all his ropes and sails were cut away, and 
 
1845-46.] HOW THE FRENCH FOUGHT. "JJ 
 
 then anchored, as he could get no nearer. He was exposed 
 within six hundred yards to the fire of every gun, the only 
 return to which was from her three guns, three bow- 
 guns of Philomel, and one of Fanny. In another quarter 
 of an hour, Tr^houart, in the San Martin, came up, and 
 got ahead of Levinge, taking all the weight of the fire 
 off Dolphin ; but by that time the latter had been ter- 
 ribly handled, having nineteen men killed and wounded. 
 The same treatment was then given to the French brig. 
 The San Martin's sails were rapidly disabled, but she 
 had nearly shot the short distance to her station when her 
 anchor was let go by a shot cutting the stoppers. Conius, 
 following, had been able to reach her station near San 
 Martin, where her broadside of heavy carronades would 
 have been most effective ; but trying to use a stern-anchor 
 as a spring, she drifted back, and brought up outside 
 Dolphin in an exposed but less effective broadside position. 
 San Martin was thus left unsupported in her advanced 
 position, as Pandour had brought up near her station, 
 below the intended position of Camus. When we consider 
 that she was a small brig of about two hundred tons, 
 we may safely assert that no vessel of her size was — few 
 even of any size were — ever exposed to such a trial, and 
 certainly one never behaved more nobly. On her beam, 
 at a distance of six hundred yards, she had a large share 
 of the fire from the three first batteries ; on her port bow, the 
 nearly raking fire of the seven guns of No. 4, at six hundred 
 yards' range ; and, nearly ahead, the raking fire of the eight 
 guns of the Republicano and gun-boats. Some idea of the 
 severity of this fire may be had from the following facts : 
 On the port bow, between her figure-head and cat-head, 
 she was struck by thirty-six round-shot. The three shell- 
 guns on her broadside, as well as the bow eighteen-pounders, 
 had been rapidly disabled ; and on shifting one over from 
 the other side, three men who tried to fire it were killed 
 in succession before doing so ; and before another could 
 fire it, it was dismounted, as were the other two guns 
 shortly after they were shifted over. She was thus 
 rendered a passive target for the enemy's guns. Yet she 
 kept her station ! Her cable being shot away, she drifted 
 down a little, but again brought up in a good position. 
 Though the other vessels were by that time coming up and 
 opening their fire, and the steady fire of Dolphin, Philomel, 
 and Fanny was evidently beginning to' slacken the fire of the 
 
78 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV. 
 
 batteries, yet they poured such a fire into poor Tr6houart 
 that his vessel became a complete wreck, with forty-four 
 out of his one hundred men killed and wounded. The 
 other vessels could not all get up to good positions, the 
 wind getting so light.* But the steamers about this time 
 came up, and began to throw their heavy shot and shell ; 
 and the French steamer went right on to support her 
 senior officer, and took a very good position, by which 
 she received much damage. Fearing damage to the 
 machinery, it had not been intended that the steamers 
 should go close until the chain was cut, when they were 
 to pass the chain, and flank the batteries from above. 
 But the signal being made by Tr^houart that she was to 
 support him, the French steamer {Fulton) went right up in 
 the thick of it near the chain. The cause of the damage 
 to the leading ships was the lightness of the wind, which 
 prevented all getting up to their stations, so that the 
 batteries could take each in detail ; and what we had for a 
 few minutes Levinge had for much longer, and the French 
 brig for still longer. But her greater loss is to be partly 
 attributed to this : she was old Admiral Brown's brig, 
 which we had seized with other of Rosas' vessels at Monte 
 Video ; and seeing their old vessel brought against them, 
 it made them pick her out for a more particular share of 
 their favours. I confess, when I saw Dolphin and ourselves 
 under such a heavy fire, and then the French brig and our 
 ships coming up one by one, and also observing the 
 beautiful way the batteries fired, I began to fear we should 
 not pass. About 1 1.30 the crew of the Republicano deserted 
 her in the gun-boats, and, having set fire to her, went to 
 add to the strength of the seamen in No. 4 battery, which, 
 from its high parapet and its position, had scarcely suffered 
 any damage. But No. 3 was nearly silenced, and the field- 
 guns had been withdrawn, but were placed in other positions 
 in the wood. Several guns in Nos. i and 2 were also 
 silenced, but the remainder were worked as gallantly and as 
 coolly as ever. The cross-fire on these batteries repeatedly 
 cleared the men from the guns, but they were as quickly 
 replaced. Carts full of dead or wounded men could be 
 seen constantly passing to the rear of the woods. One small 
 body of infantry appeared to be retreating, but were 
 
 * At 10.50 the enemy let loose ten fire-vessels, but they drifted past 
 the ships without doing any harm. 
 
1845-46.] CUTTING THE CHAINS. 79 
 
 driven back by cavalry. From the shot and shell that 
 passed over the batteries, sweeping the ground in their 
 rear, the slaughter amongst the troops there was also great. 
 But we saw large bodies of cavalry and infantry retreating 
 a little inland, and the batteries were evidently not fully 
 manned. The enemy certainly behaved well ; and one man 
 in a white waistcoat was most conspicuous on No. i 
 battery, directing the guns, standing on the parapet while 
 the shot ploughed up the clay round him ; yet he remained 
 unhurt to the last, and was the admiration of all. But I 
 am sorry to say we afterwards heard he was old Brown's 
 son ;* yet, though born of English parents in Buenos Ayres, 
 he is, according to Sir Robert Peel's late decision, a Buenos 
 Ayrean, and therefore, I suppose, has a right to fight us. 
 The other battery that held out so well was commanded by 
 Thorn, an American, and worked by seamen, many of whom 
 were English ; and some we have found wounded. But 
 they said if they refused to serve they would have had their 
 throats cut ! 
 
 "But to proceed. About noon, having repaired our 
 rigging a little, a light breeze enabled us to weigh and 
 get closer. During the rest of the action only an occasional 
 gun was fired at us, and our hull was never struck again. 
 About a quarter past twelve the Republicano blew up. But 
 the boats of the San Martin and Dolphin were destroyed, 
 and they had suffered so much that they could not attempt 
 to cut the chains, on which all now depended. So Captain 
 Hope volunteered to do it. With three boats (calling at 
 Dolphin for the armourers, who had previously practised 
 chain-cutting) he pulled for the chain, about the seventh 
 or eighth vessel from the island, and within five hundred 
 yards of the batteries. In a moment there were three 
 sets of saws at work, — one with Captain Hope cutting 
 through the four cables on the deck of one of the vessels ; 
 the others with Lieutenant Webb, Mr. Nicholson (mate of 
 Dolphin), and Mr. Commerell (midshipman), cutting the six 
 riding-cables of three vessels, the boats' crews in the boats 
 being sheltered by the vessels' hulls. The whole fire of 
 the batteries appeared to be directed on the small clusters 
 of men on the vessels' decks. Yet, though round- and grape- 
 
 * Afterwards understood to be Colonel Rodriguez; but Colonel 
 Thorn's son has lately claimed the honour for his father. See 
 page 91. 
 
8o THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV 
 
 shot were driving splinters from the spars and decks on 
 which they stood, not one man was touched, and in four 
 minutes the ten chain-cables had been sawn through, and 
 three vessels swung out of the line, leaving a gap nearly a 
 hundred yards wide. From prisoners we learnt that the 
 general had ridden to the batteries, and offered fifty ounces 
 (;^200) to the men of any gun that would knock Captain 
 Hope down — his tall figure (six feet two inches), stand- 
 ing by the working-parties, making him a conspicuous 
 object. 
 
 " The Fulton had before this fired away all her shot and 
 shell, and, like San Martin, had become only an unresisting 
 target for the enemy. As soon as the passage was made, 
 the French steamer went through, and soon after Firebrand 
 and Gorgon ; then for the first time the two latter were 
 under fire, but there were only a few guns then firing, and 
 they received no loss, only one or two shots and rockets 
 hitting them. Their position above now enabled them to 
 rake the batteries. Soon after Hotham made the signal 
 for the armed boats to go to Gorgon, and we all shoved off — 
 Richards and young Sulivan * going with our party, besides 
 myself, leaving Fegan and Brown on board, with men 
 enough to work two guns. When the boats were pulling 
 past the chain to go to Gorgon, they fired at them with 
 grape-shot from No. 4, but did not hit any one. When I 
 got on board, I found Hotham in great doubt about land- 
 ing. We knew there had been at least three thousand men 
 on shore, and we did not then know how much execution 
 our fire had done ; but Hotham evidently felt that the thing 
 would be only half done if the guns were not destroyed. 
 Hope had been to the French commandant, who said he 
 was so cut up he could not spare any men ; but if Hotham 
 landed, as he was then coming up with two French vessels 
 (into one of which he had shifted), he would lay them close 
 to the batteries to cover us. Hotham asked for my opinion. 
 I felt so much the uncertainty and the responsibility of 
 it, also that if we failed it would give the enemy a 
 victory ; and if we left it undone, we should not really 
 succeed in our intentions. What between the anxiety to 
 land, and the fear of the advantage it would give Rosas if 
 he prevented our landing, I hardly knew what to say, and 
 for the first time I said 1 would rather not give an opinion, 
 
 * The late Captain W. Sulivan, his first cousin. 
 
1845-46.] TAKING THE BATTERIES. 8 1 
 
 but if he decided on going I should be very glad to go. 
 Hope had previously asked to go also if we landed, though 
 it was intended he should command afloat. Hope and 
 Captain Hurdle of the marines had, I believe, been in 
 favour of landing. Hotham in a few minutes determined 
 to land, and bring it to a decisive issue.* The batteries 
 being flanked by woods, made it impossible to know what 
 force they had there. And as No. 4 battery was then 
 firing guns, in spite of some beautiful shots thrown into 
 it, and as our force was reduced by the absence of the 
 French, and the killed and the wounded of the English, 
 Hotham certainly deserves every praise for his determina- 
 tion to try and carry the batteries when there was so much 
 doubt about it. The principal battery being No. i, it was 
 determined to attack that first, as Nos. 2 and 3 were close 
 down, and the ships could destroy them at any time. We 
 landed under these. While we were coming on shore and 
 forming up, they fired one or two shots from No. 4 at us ; 
 but we were so close under they could not depress the 
 guns enough to hit us. I then spiked some of the guns in 
 No. 2,t but unfortunately forgot to haul down the large 
 flag with all Rosas' mottoes, though I was close to the 
 staff. When formed, we moved up towards No. i, which 
 is on a steep slope forty feet high. (I have marked in dots 
 the way we went up.) I had to lead with a company of sea- 
 men under Lieutenant Key of Gorgon, and the coverers of the 
 Philomel under Lieutenant Richards, who were the battery 
 party. Key went round, while we went right up the slope, 
 both arriving in the battery at the same moment. There 
 was not a soul in it, but a number of bodies dreadfully 
 mutilated by our shot. One of our men hauled the flag 
 down. We had scarcely shown ourselves when a sharp 
 fire of musketry was opened on us from the trees within 
 fifty yards, though we did not see a man. It is perfectly 
 wonderful numbers of us were not struck ; but they fired 
 high. We poured a heavy fire into the wood, and in a 
 
 * 180 seamen and 145 marines were landed. Trghouart, in spite of 
 his disabled state, managed after all to land a party of French seamen 
 to assist our men. 
 
 t Whilst the men were forming on the beach, he went alone into 
 No. 2 battery, which was open to the rear, and spiked five of the guns, 
 under a heavy musketry iire from the enemy. But with the sixth the 
 spike bent, but would not break ; so, after hitting it several times, the balls 
 rattling round him, he jumped over the parapet unhurt. In later years 
 this action would doubtless have won for him the Victoria Cross. — Ed. 
 
 6 
 
82 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV. 
 
 minute or two their fire ceased. Before the marines, who 
 were close behind us, could get up it was all over. Key's 
 men then lined the wood, as ordered, while we laid "down 
 our arms and commenced trying to break the guns' 
 trunnions. I first spiked the gun that had fired the most 
 at us, and that had done so much injury to Doyle and 
 others (myself and Richards, with two men, had a hammer 
 and a bag of spikes each for this purpose). It was a 
 beautiful brass thirty-two-pounder, richly ornamented. I 
 hope to show it to you one day mounted in some 
 public place at home. We had just spiked them all, and 
 the men were trying to break the trunnions off, when just 
 at the flag-staff I saw one of our men, as I thought, 
 examining one of the dead bodies, and told him to come 
 away, when, to my surprise and grief, I found it was poor 
 Pollyblank, my coxswain, who had been close to me as 
 we reached the top of the slope, and must have been killed 
 at that moment. He was shot through the head, and only 
 breathed slightly for an hour, dying as we returned to the 
 ship. You may easily imagine what my feelings were. 
 However, there was not much time to think of it further 
 than what a mercy it was that his was the only life lost, 
 for the balls whistled as close past our heads as possible. 
 During this time there was some sharp firing in the wood, 
 where Hope had two companies of seamen. He had 
 entered the battery while we were firing, while the marines 
 stood across the rear of the battery to hold it till we could 
 dismount the guns. This we soon did, but could not break 
 off their trunnions (I am now glad of it, as we have them 
 on board safe as trophies). Out of six only two were 
 serviceable, the carriages of the others being hit by shot. 
 One gun was much dented in by a shot ; all but one were 
 struck and slightly dented in. The parapet was scored up, 
 and the rocket-tube had two shots through it. I should 
 think every gun and carriage averaged three shot each 
 that had struck. And when it is considered that we were 
 at first nine hundred yards, or perhaps a thousand, off, 
 and never nearer than five hundred, and that the battery 
 was forty feet above us, it will show how beautifully we 
 fired : there was not much difference in any ship. The 
 French fired well also ; in fact, their countrymen may well 
 be proud of their behaviour altogether. With half the 
 number of men we had, they lost about twice as many ; 
 but their loss was nearly all in San Martin. 
 
i45-46.] 
 
 
 CASUALTIES. 
 
 
 83 
 
 British. 
 
 
 French 
 
 (450 men). 
 
 Gorgon 
 
 Firebrand (s.) 
 
 Philomel 
 
 Comus 
 
 Dolphin 
 
 Fanny 
 
 Killed. Wounded. 
 
 ... 3 
 
 1 ... I 
 
 1 ... 6 
 
 2 ... 2 
 
 5 ••. 14 
 
 O ... I 
 
 San Martin . 
 Expeditive . 
 Pandowr 
 Fulton 
 Procida 
 
 Killed. 
 . 10 
 2 
 2 
 I 
 
 
 Wounded 
 ... 25 
 ... 4 
 ... 10 
 ... 6 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 .. 27 
 
 IS 
 
 ... 45 
 
 " The French had four hundred and fifty men altogether, 
 and their killed and wounded were sixty, or one in seven 
 and a half Our loss fell on Dolphin, Comus, and Philomel, 
 they having between them thirty killed and wounded, out 
 of the thirty-six. Now these three ships had only two 
 hundred and forty men in them, so that the loss in them 
 was one in eight, very nearly the same as the French. Even 
 San Martin did not lose many more than Dolphin in propor- 
 tion ; she had thirty-five killed and wounded out of a hun- 
 dred, and Dolphin had eighteen out of fifty-eight ; so there is 
 not a great difference. It is singular that in such a severe 
 contest there is not one marine killed or wounded, the 
 whole of the marines from the ships having been sent to 
 the steamers beforehand to be ready to land. The steamers 
 were under fire only a few minutes in passing the chain, 
 and that from only one or two guns ; and when the landing 
 took place, the skirmish in the fort was over before the 
 marines could get up. 
 
 " Perhaps I should add, as you will all be pleased with 
 it, that when I went to Hotham, after the heat of the 
 action was over, before the chain was cut, to suggest some- 
 thing to him about the position of one of the ships, he 
 told me before all hands on Gorgon's quarter-deck that the 
 way Philomel behaved was the admiration of every one. 
 However, I cannot help giving first place (of the English) 
 to Dolphin. The other most meritorious points were 
 Hope's cutting the chains in the manner he did, and 
 Hotham's determination to land and decide the thing at 
 once, rather than risk the chance of their saying we had 
 not entirely succeeded. Then the gallant way in whicH 
 the enemy fought at first ! They certainly gained great 
 advantage by the damage they did to Dolphin and San 
 Martin. This would have enabled them to make out a 
 pretty good story, but for our decisive success in landing. 
 
84 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV. 
 
 When we think that our loss in landing was only two killed 
 and three wounded, it certainly was most fortunate and 
 creditable to Hotham that he decided to try it. I forgot 
 to say that, not liking to separate our forces, we only dis- 
 abled Nos. I, 2, and 3 batteries by dark, while their flag was 
 flying in No. 4, and there was a skirmish going on between 
 our boat-guards and men in the wood round No. 4. It was 
 there the Gorgon's man was wounded. One of our boys 
 (Payne) shot one man who was in the act of firing at him. 
 We killed and wounded several by our first fire in the 
 skirmish at No. i battery, and found them in the wood as 
 our light company advanced. 
 
 " I must give you particulars of PJulomel's loss. Con- 
 sidering the position we were in, and that on board Gorgon 
 the officers say that the shot rained round us so the first 
 few minutes that they thought we must be sunk, it is 
 indeed a most merciful interposition of Providence that 
 prevented our loss being greater. The only man killed 
 was Pollyblank, my coxswain. Poor Doyle, though, is, 
 I fear, mortally wounded. The fragments of a large cast- 
 iron plate in the gun-carriage entered his side and left 
 thigh in three places, fracturing his hip-bone, while another 
 entered and broke his arm, and another smashed his hand ; 
 so that if he survives the dreadful wound in the hip (which 
 the doctors think impossible), he must lose his arm. He 
 behaved nobly when told they were deserting the batteries ; 
 he cheered as he lay in such agony ; and when the fire 
 slackened, and I went below for a moment to see him, he 
 asked if we were driving them out, and seemed delighted 
 when I told him we were. The poor fellow then said he 
 had just been thinking how much better it was for him to 
 be hit than me, as he had no one depending on him, as 
 I had. This was too much for me, and I think I never 
 felt more grief than I did at that moment. To see him 
 so mangled and bleeding, and, as we thought, dying fast, 
 and yet thinking of others ! It really showed a noble 
 spirit. 
 
 " I believe the enemy will never make a stand again, this 
 has been such a lesson to them. But it is dreadful to 
 think of the carnage ! In the Httle space we have walked 
 about in close to the shore, there are above a hundred 
 dead bodies, all most dreadfully cut to pieces by round- 
 shot ; for it is a most singular thing that, notwithstanding 
 the number of shells fired, few men have been killed by 
 
1845-46.] THE enemy's brave STAND. 85 
 
 their bursting (I could only see one), while both men and 
 horses have been killed by the shot or shell before it burst. 
 Every hut has its proportion of dead, and we hear at first 
 they took numbers away in carts, to prevent others being 
 disheartened. We saw cavalry outside trying to force 
 infantry back ; and in one case an officer on horseback 
 tried to send a party of infantry back into the wood, and 
 they shot him and marched on. Every day we have found 
 poor wounded wretches in the wood still alive. To-day 
 three were found who had lain three days with limbs off, 
 and yet alive : they have had their limbs amputated since. 
 I fear that in the large wood numbers are still actually 
 dying of starvation, being unable to move on account of 
 their wounds. There are men of all nations among the 
 wounded : we find English, Americans, Spaniards, Russians, 
 etc., and a number of poor blacks. I trust I may never 
 again have to enact a part in such a scene ; and yet I am 
 astonished with myself, and rather disgusted at my want 
 of feeling, that the second day I found myself moving 
 among these bodies as unconcerned as if they were not 
 human beings, and examining the effects of our shot. Yet 
 when I thought how many my own hand might have put 
 to death, it certainly made me shudder ; for, as we changed 
 our charge of powder with our distance, and the shots were 
 not so good, I fired several myself to get the range. In 
 fact, I fired so many that I wore off the skin of my fingers 
 by pulling the trigger-line, because I saw it was of the 
 utmost importance to fire so as to make them fear every 
 shot. Sometimes we cleared the battery, when a few men 
 would come, fire one or two guns, and either be killed or 
 leave ; but their places would be again supplied by others. 
 Yet, with such slaughter, old Brown's son could stand 
 nearly the whole time on the parapet without being hit. 
 Sometimes he went and laid the gun, and whenever he did 
 a shot went into something or another. Both Dolphin and 
 we at last got quite a respect for him, and did not wish 
 him to fall. We only hear it was Brown's son from the 
 wounded prisoners, but of course are not certain. One of 
 our shot had an extraordinary effect. There was a large 
 tree with a very thick trunk, and right in a line with us 
 behind it, in the rear of the battery, three officers had 
 evidently placed themselves to avoid our shot, thinking 
 the tree a protection. The ball passed through the tree, 
 and took all three of their heads off, and they were lying 
 
86 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV. 
 
 in the exact line as they had fallen. The huts and houses 
 had evidently been long inhabited, and things of all kinds 
 were found, plenty of wine and spirits, all of which were 
 started, even to a number of cases of champagne. Un- 
 fortunately five marines got too fond of the spirits, and are 
 to be punished to-morrow. Only one of my marines was 
 complained of ; and Hotham paid our men a great compli- 
 ment, particularly for the way we worked at the batteries. 
 As we shoved off from Gorgon to land, he hailed us, and 
 said, ' Philomel, recollect I have picked you out to get into 
 the batteries and disable the guns, because I know you of 
 old, and I am sure you will do it well.' 
 
 " The next day we landed early, the French leading up 
 to No. 4 to destroy more guns, but there was no resistance ; 
 the seven guns were rolled over into the water. At the 
 same time I had two companies given me to go to No. i, 
 and try to saw through the trunnions of the guns (we had 
 by this time disabled the carriages) ; but finding we could 
 not succeed, I asked Hotham to give me a lot of men and 
 let me try and get the guns off ; so he gave me a hundred 
 and fifty marines besides my men, while the seamen kept 
 guard and had an occasional shot at the enemy recon- 
 noitring. We had lots of ropes on the guns, and hauled 
 them down to the boat by main force ; and by working 
 hard at it all day, we got them all off by half an hour after 
 dark, the marines and seamen relieving each other. We 
 are all delighted at our success, as they are splendid 
 trophies, and a good set-off against our flags in Buenos 
 Ayres. The account of them in the sketch is not quite 
 right, as the guns are larger than we then thought they 
 were — three thirty-two-pounders, five twenty-four-pounders, 
 and two eighteen-pounders, all splendid old Spanish brass 
 guns, one highly ornamented, cast in 1663, and the others 
 about 1780, all at the royal foundry at Seville. I suppose 
 more beautiful brass guns have never been taken. We of 
 course give half to the French, but the five we shall get 
 will do very well as trophies.* To show how well they 
 fired, at first, except one, not a shot passed ten feet 
 above us, and the jib that was kept set after we anchored 
 had seven shot through the foot of it, without any higher 
 up but the one shot that cut the topmast. 
 
 * The Frenchmen's trophies are still to be seen at Paris. Ours were 
 returned, with somewhat of an apology, on the change of government. 
 
1845-46.] INDIVIDUAL INCIDENTS. 87 
 
 " And now I think I have told you all except the 
 names of our wounded. Besides Doyle, poor old Ray- 
 mond, the captain of the forecastle, who was five years in 
 Beagle, was dangerously wounded. A piece of iron as 
 large as a thimble was taken out of his head (it cut the 
 temple artery), besides which his elbow-bone is broken ; 
 but still I hope he may do well. Cummings and boy 
 Williams both severely wounded by splinters, and old Lee 
 slightly in his back and arm, and Templeman in both arms. 
 These are all we return ; but there are two others in the 
 list with contusions. I did not like the idea of swelling 
 the list too much, and therefore would not have them put 
 in. Besides these, there were numbers with blood on the face 
 and hands, from the multitude of slight splinters that flew 
 about. One young Scotch boy, that had just joined us 
 out of a merchant-brig, was going up on the forecastle with 
 the powder, as coolly as if it was his every day's work, 
 with the blood running down his cheek. Lee and one or 
 two others, after their wounds were dressed, could hardly be 
 kept below five minutes. There seemed more curiosity 
 about watching our shot than fear about the round-shot that 
 were knocking about us. The youngsters did very well ; 
 they both went to their stations in the tops for furling, 
 when we anchored, as eagerly as usual, and Steveley hailed 
 me that the fore-topmast was nearly gone, just as he would 
 to let go a rope. W. Sulivan hoisted the ensign directly 
 after the halliards were shot away ; and as it was hoisted, 
 and the shot went through it, old Hall, the quartermaster, 
 proposed that it should not be repaired, but should be 
 hoisted with the hole in it when we went home. It was 
 very singular that one of the first shots fired at us should 
 nearly have killed Doyle ; and the first fired at Coinus took 
 poor Lieutenant Brickdale's head off as he was firing the 
 forecastle gun, and it killed the powder-boy, but did not 
 touch the ship. One of the first fired at ExpMitive knocked 
 her thirty-two-pounder off her forecastle, killing the 
 lieutenant who was going to fire it. Only one other officer 
 was killed, and he was a fine young man — -G. Andrews, 
 clerk in charge of Dolphin. She had had her cable shot 
 away, and drifted some way off ; but the firing was then 
 nearly over, and he had just said how wonderfully they 
 had escaped, when a round-shot came through below and 
 killed him in the gun-room, where he was assisting the 
 doctor." 
 
88 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV. 
 
 The casualties among the British officers were as 
 follows : — 
 
 Lieutenant C. Brickdale, Comus, killed. 
 
 G. Andrews, Clerk, in charge Dolphin, killed. 
 
 Lieutenant Doyle, Philomel, wounded severely (died). 
 
 R. Warren, 2nd Master, Dolphin, wounded slightly. 
 
 J. Gallagher, Assist. Surgeon, Dolphin „ „ 
 
 T. Ellstob, Assist. Clerk, Dolphin 
 
 Lieutenant Key, Fanny „ „ 
 
 It may be well here to add extracts from Captain 
 Sulivan's evidence before the Royal Commission on Coast 
 Defences, i860. He used the statements to show how 
 difficult it was to stop vessels passing batteries, also to 
 show how batteries should be constructed, as well as the 
 value of vertical fire over direct fire at forts. His reduced 
 charges really turned his guns into howitzers. Some 
 conclusions may be drawn therefrom bearing on modern 
 warfare. 
 
 " They could not sink the vessels, in consequence of 
 the smoothness of the water. The San Martin had a 
 hundred and six round-shot through her hull, and the 
 greater proportion in the copper above the water. The 
 nearer the water-line the thicker the shot, which was 
 the only reason a man was left on her deck. They did 
 not strike so much above ; they fired at the water-line. 
 If she had heeled six inches, she would have gone down ; 
 but there was not one shot under water. Yet I believe 
 that as long as there had been a single sail set she could 
 have gone by." 
 
 " The batteries were built by a Russian engineer, entirely 
 of rammed clay, with a sixteen-feet parapet ; and so perfect 
 were they, that a cross-fire from vessels even in eight hours 
 could not silence them ; and only those guns that were 
 behind parapets, where the embrasures were not deep enough 
 and the parapets high enough to shelter the men's heads, 
 or to cover the guns sufficiently, could be silenced,^ — not by 
 
1845-46.] STRATEGICAL INFERENCES. 89 
 
 injuring the guns, for after eight hours the principal battery 
 had only one gun injured ; it was only accomplished by 
 cutting off the men's heads and shoulders by careful parapet- 
 firing from the ship." 
 
 " I do not think shell-fire would succeed in stopping a 
 ship going by a battery. I may add that so little effect 
 had a fire on one battery, which had a parapet a foot above 
 the men's heads (the only one of the kind), that, though two 
 of our heavy steamers, after the booms were passed, got 
 very close on its flank, where the guns could not fire on 
 them, and were for three or four hours with four heavy 
 guns flanking it, besides all the direct fire on it, not the 
 slightest impression could be made on it, and hardly a 
 man was hurt." 
 
 " We had not concussion-shells then. The fuse-shells 
 were evidently so wasted against the earthwork, that, after I 
 had fired twelve myself carefully at one battery, finding 
 that they either went into the parapet without bursting, or, 
 if they passed the least to the rear, burst beyond the men, 
 and that it was only wasting the shell, I would not fire 
 any more, and I confined myself to shot with reduced one- 
 pound charge, fired as close as possible over the parapet, 
 to drop them into the battery* There was one remarkable 
 case there to show what a steam-vessel could stand. The 
 French steam-boat Fulton (six or seven hundred tons) went 
 up to cover her chief, who was suffering dreadfully, and 
 anchored between him and the batteries. The boom not 
 being cut, she was detained there for, I think, three hours. 
 They put fifty-six heavy round-shot into her paddle-wheels 
 and sponsons ; they destroyed every particle of the wheel 
 nearest the side, both the wheel and the paddle-beam, so 
 that the shaft only had a mass of broken iron to heave 
 round ; and yet, when the chains were cut, she was the first 
 that went through with her one remaining wheel, and she 
 afterwards came down and repassed the batteries, to tow 
 up some other vessel with her one wheel. Though three 
 round-shot went in among her engines, they did not do 
 any damage." 
 
 " There were eight hundred men, by their own account, 
 killed and wounded, out of three thousand ; but they were 
 nearly all struck by round-shot in the batteries as fast 
 
 * He likened it to a boy lobbing stones over a wall, and afterwards 
 always used this incident as an argument in favour of the advantage of 
 vertical over direct fire against such forts. — Ed. 
 
90 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV. 
 
 as the men were brought in, and we believe from the 
 deserters' accounts that the loss was very much greater." 
 
 " Were any of the guns which you speak of ' en bar- 
 bette ' ? " — " None, though they were all in embrasures ; and, 
 with the exception of one battery, the mistake had been 
 made of not raising the parapet enough, which left the 
 men's heads and shoulders showing over it, and left the 
 guns exposed to direct fire, so that we saw the breech of 
 the gun over the parapet very well." 
 
 Captain Key : " £>o you know how many guns we had 
 engaged at that time ? " — " Not reckoning one which was 
 disabled, and only fired two shots, we (^Philomel) were 
 only firing three guns at the batteries ; the Dolphin fired 
 two ; then there was one long thirty-two-pounder in 
 Fanny ; and the Conius had two thirty-two-pounders. One 
 French vessel had six shell-guns (three on one side) ; and 
 when they were all knocked over, she shifted the other 
 three, and the whole were disabled in an hour. That makes 
 fourteen. There were about sixteen thirty-two-pounder, 
 medium and long guns in the sailing-vessels. In the 
 steamers there were one ten-inch, two heavy sixty-eight- 
 pounders, and one thirty-two-pounder. Those were the 
 most that bore at any one time. And there were about 
 thirty carronades, twenty-four and thirty-two-pounders, on 
 the broadsides of other vessels [almost ineffective]." * 
 
 Dr. Niddrie, the surgeon of the Gorgon, went in a small 
 gig through the thickest of the fight from ship to ship 
 to aid the surgeons in the ships suffering most. When 
 he found his own ship had later on passed the batteries, 
 he followed her under fire against a four-knot stream. 
 His conduct was admired by both French and English ; 
 yet, being unmentioned in the despatches, he was not 
 rewarded, in spite of Sulivan's later efforts on his behalf 
 Twenty-five years after, my father was telling the story 
 to some young doctors in the Turkish baths at Blarney. 
 
 * Captain Sherard Osborne wrote in 1861, referring to this action : 
 " My argument amounts to this: If you with brigs and corvettes can 
 fight such an action against an enemy firing shot and come off victors, 
 vuhilst our huge ships were repulsed at Sevastopol without one being 
 sunk, that the only way to account for it is by the moral effect of the 
 shell and hot shot fired at the ships." (Hence the need of armour.) 
 
1845-46.] DR. NIDDRIE ADMIRAL TREHOUART. 9 1 
 
 One of them afterwards, in my presence, went up to a lady- 
 visitor at the establishment, and said, " We have been 
 hearing the story of a Dr. Niddrie who was at Obligado. 
 Was he any relation of yours?" "My husband!" She 
 told my father that, disappointed at being passed over, 
 really because he had bravely spoken out when it was 
 his duty to do so, he retired into private practice soon 
 afterwards, but did not survive his disappointment many 
 years. 
 
 Sulivan, in his pamphlet on " Honorary Rewards," speak- 
 ing also of Captain Tr^houart, says, " His noble conduct 
 was the admiration of all, and the cordial, frank, and 
 thoroughly straightforward manner in which he acted 
 towards his allies throughout the expedition was beyond 
 all praise." For this action Captain Tr6houart was pro- 
 moted to the rank of admiral. It is a pity our rules do 
 not admit of a similar promotion for special naval service. 
 
 Hotham gave Sulivan the flag the latter had hauled 
 down under fire. In 1883 the authorities at Buenos Ayres 
 returned a British flag, supposed to be one of the 71st 
 Highlanders', captured from them in 1807 (but afterwards 
 proving to be one taken from one of our merchant-ships). 
 Sulivan then, through the Argentine consul in London, 
 made a return of his flag. It will be seen, from the follow- 
 ing copy of his letter to the consul, he thought the defender 
 of the battery was Rodriguez. But after my father's 
 death Admiral Brown's grandson wrote claiming the 
 honour for his father. It will be seen in these journals 
 that Brown was the name originally mentioned, so there 
 is evidently some uncertainty about the matter. 
 
 " Bournemouth, 1883. 
 
 " At the battle of Obligado in the Parana, on November 20th, 
 1845, an ofiScer in command of the principal battery excited 
 the admiration of those English officers who were nearest to him 
 by the manner in which he encouraged his men and kept them 
 
92 THE BATTLE OF OBLIGADO. [Ch. IV. 
 
 to the guns during a heavy cross-fire, under which that battery 
 more especially suffered. For more than six hours he walked 
 the parapet of the battery exposed to his feet, except when he 
 occasionally left it to point a gun himself. From wounded 
 prisoners of his regiment we afterwards learned that he was 
 Colonel Rodriguez, of the Buenos Ayrean Regiment of Patricios. 
 When all the artillerymen were killed or wounded, he manned 
 the guns with men of his infantry regiment to near the close 
 of the battle, losing five hundred killed and wounded out of the 
 eight hundred men of his regiment. When the English seamen 
 and marines landed in the evening, and first took that battery, 
 he and the remainder of his regiment alone, of all the defending 
 force, held the position in the rear of the battery, notwithstanding 
 the heavy cross-fire of all the ships through the woods in the 
 rear of the batteries, and were the last to retreat. The flag of the 
 battery he had so nobly defended was hauled down by one of 
 the men with me, and was given to me by the English senior officer, 
 Captain Hotham. When hauled down, the flag fell on some 
 of the bodies of those who had fallen, and was stained with their 
 blood. I have lately seen a statement that an English regimental 
 flag, that had been in the possession of an Argentine family 
 since the war of 1807, has been restored to the regiment by 
 a member of that family. I am desirous of following that example 
 by restoring to Colonel Rodriguez, if alive — or if not, to the 
 Patricio Regiment of Buenos Ayres, if still existing — the flag 
 that so many of their regiment nobly fell under in the defence 
 of their country. If Colonel Rodriguez is dead, and the regiment 
 does not now exist, I would ask any of the surviving members 
 of the colonel's family to accept it in remembrance of him, and of 
 the very gallant conduct of himself, his officers, and men at 
 Obligado. Those of us opposed to him who had witnessed 
 his self-devotion and gallantry were very glad indeed to hear 
 afterwards that he had escaped unhurt to the end of the action. 
 
 "B. J. SULIVAN, Admiral:' 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. 
 
 After Obligado, the men of the squadron had been 
 destroying and burning all on shore that was of no use 
 to them. Sulivan, with eighty men, searched the woods 
 and houses, and exchanged a few shots with a party of 
 cavalry. Captain Hope went on with three boats to attack 
 a schooner (the Chacabuco), and sent a lieutenant back for 
 more boats and men, who were to come up another channel, 
 to prevent the schooner escaping that way. The French 
 commander, thinking it too hazardous, refused his boats, 
 for the vessel had three pivot twenty-four-pounders and 
 eighty men, and there was another vessel with two guns. 
 Hope had only three boats and forty men, and went with 
 such a strong tide, that, if he failed in his attack, he could 
 not escape, there being a chain of boats across at the spot. 
 Sulivan thought his friend Hope was wrong to go with 
 such a small force, when by waiting a day or two he could 
 have got other boats and the Fanny. He wrote, " There 
 may be occasions when, to save an army, or a ship, 
 or to prevent a defeat, it may be right to risk a number of 
 lives against great odds " ; but he thought this attempt was 
 not justified. Being anxious, Hotham sent the Firebrand 
 and two of the Philomel's gigs under Richards, and also 
 Sulivan to take the lead, in case Hope had been defeated. 
 Fortunately Hope, having heard there were two hundred 
 men with the schooner, did not attack. The incident, 
 
 93 
 
94 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 together with the following remarks, may be recorded for 
 the sake of the lesson they convey : — 
 
 " It would be a dreadful thing to have three boats 
 destroyed, and such a nurnber of men with poor Hope 
 and others, when the sacrifice is not necessary. My own 
 mind is made up not to care for what people may say or 
 think ; but if I am sent on service, and have reason to think 
 that, from the position, force, or other causes, the losses are 
 likely to be more than the thing is worth, I will not 
 attempt it, and I do not think that any man with proper 
 prudence and reasoning faculties would. I hope the 
 breeze will enable me to get on to-morrow, as Philomel 
 may be able to get up to the vessels, if Firebrand cannot ; 
 and then we might cause the enemy to do what I wish 
 to see, as it would save bloodshed — that is, destroy their 
 own vessels and go on shore. Our point would then be 
 gained without risk to ourselves or to others. I never got 
 hold of a Falkland bull by the horns, but by his tail, 
 because I thereby accomplished my purpose with less risk 
 to myself, and this I think should be one's object on 
 occasions of this kind." 
 
 On December 3rd they were nearing Rosario, where resist- 
 ance was expected. " We are all living on salt meat, while 
 thousands of head of stock of all kinds are looking at us 
 from the shore." Doyle was doing so well that it was 
 resolved to take off his arm. He bore it wonderfully. 
 Lieutenant Mackinnon, in his book, mentions the wonder- 
 ful healing power of the Parana air, despite the heat. The 
 Firebrand was chasing the Chacabuco and two other 
 schooners, which the enemy were trying to save, towing 
 them up-stream with horses. After a long chase, when 
 close to them, the steamer struck on a bar. Not knowing 
 this, the enemy blew up the Chacabuco. 
 
 " Directly these vessels * are gone, the rest go on up 
 
 ' Comtis was returning to Obligado, Dolphin and Fanny to Monte 
 Video for boats and to convoy merchant-vessels up the river. 
 
1845-46.] OPENING UP THE INTERIOR. 95 
 
 the river as fast as possible. When we get a little higher, 
 the French chief goes into the steamer, and San Martin 
 remains in the river at that place. A little higher, at 
 Punta Gorda, Firebrand leaves us, and she then takes charge 
 of the river, visiting the different ships and places occa- 
 sionally, so as to keep the river open. Hotham will 
 probably take Gorgon or Philomel on to Corrientes and 
 Assumption in Paraguay, where no vessel-of-war has ever 
 yet been. It is certainly the most interesting trip ever 
 undertaken. The Paraguayan people have for years been 
 shut out of all intercourse with the world by the tyranny of 
 Dr. Francia, and since Francia's death Rosas has kept the 
 river shut up ; so that, except to a few people who reached 
 it, and were imprisoned in the country for years by Francia, 
 it is really a new country. Our only attempt to open diplo- 
 matic intercourse with them failed through the folly of the 
 person sent ; and now, if we are able to reach them with the 
 steam-vessels, and give them some idea of what the opening 
 of their river may lead to, it will be a most important event. 
 It is singular this chance should have fallen to my lot. 
 You may recollect I asked before I left England to take 
 the Philomel up, and was told it interfered too much with 
 the internal policy of these states. I have often since said 
 that the only thing that should tempt me to serve again 
 would be the command of a vessel to go to Paraguay, 
 should any mission ever be sent there. But I have not 
 finished about our plans. If it is found that there is every 
 chance of getting Gorgon up to Assumption, Philomel will 
 be left at anchor in the river ; but I go on with Hotham in 
 Gorgon, so that the plan of the river and observations, etc., 
 may be carried on all the way up. If anything after all 
 prevents Gorgon getting right up, we can go on in the 
 tender ; but 1 hope Gorgon will get up, as she is such a very 
 large ship, that her getting so far up will have a great effect 
 on those who have never seen a vessel larger than a small 
 coasting-vessel. When the Paraguayan envoys were at 
 Buenos Ayres and saw the Pearl, they were astonished, 
 and said, ' Why did you not send Mr. Gordon [the British 
 envoy] in a vessel like this, instead of smuggling him 
 across the country in a cart ? ' and they expressed their 
 wish that such a vessel could be seen at Assumption. 
 What then will they say if they see the Gorgon there? 
 It will be a most interesting thing. We shall be eleven 
 hundred miles from the sea, in one of the most splendid 
 
96 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 countries in the world, where the largest population of any 
 South American state have been shut out from all com- 
 munication with the rest of mankind, and with whom (if 
 we can establish commercial intercourse) a trade may be 
 opened that will materially tempt our manufacturers, and 
 through them all classes of our people ; in fact, would more 
 than compensate for any loss our trade may suffer through 
 the Brazilians not taking our goods, as in that case the 
 whole of Brazil could be supplied with them through 
 Paraguay and Corrientes, where the frontiers are so ex- 
 tensive that the Brazilians would find it impossible to 
 prevent smuggling to any extent. 
 
 "December i^th. — I am thankful to say that, instead of 
 meeting with any resistance at Rosario, we found all the 
 inhabitants — men, women, and children, as well as many 
 soldiers — outside their houses on the slope, to see the (to 
 them) wonderful sight of such a squadron passing. From 
 some people who were in Rosario since our action at 
 Obligado we have heard many particulars. They lost 
 four hundred men killed (I suppose this includes wounded). 
 But the most important thing is that numbers took ad- 
 vantage of the defeat to desert, having probably been 
 years from their homes, compelled to serve, and, belonging 
 to the distant inland provinces of Cordova, Tucuman, etc., 
 they were glad of the chance to get away. Out of all 
 the two thousand five hundred to three thousand troops 
 Mancillia had the day of the action, he has only been 
 able to collect four hundred under arms ; so that, allow- 
 ing for the killed and wounded, nearly two thousand 
 men must have deserted. They went off in large parties 
 for their homes ; in fact, every one belonging to the 
 distant provinces that could get a good horse started off. 
 All this will have a great moral effect. And if it is true (as 
 we hear) that Prudentia Rosas (Rosas' brother), who was 
 sent against the ' rebels ' at Santa Yk., has joined them against 
 Rosas, why, the thing is up with him altogether. From whcrt: 
 we hear, it is not likely that we shall meet with any more 
 resistance up the river. We also hear that they knew all 
 our plans through Monte Video, and they were quite pre- 
 pared for our landing, and they had still, when we landed, 
 two large bodies of troops drawn up in the rear out of 
 fire. When we were landing, the general having, as he 
 thought, got one body to advance, went to the other to get 
 them to go on ; but while he did this, the first body had 
 
1845-46] SULIVAN FALLS INTO THE STREAM. 97 
 
 gone to the right-about ; and out of all the force, only the 
 men that resisted us in the battery at first could be kept. 
 There were about two hundred and fifty men. Had they 
 stood well, they would have caused us much loss ; for the 
 advance that I took into the battery was not more than 
 fifty-five men. They might easily have overpowered us, 
 and driven us back down the slope, had they come out of 
 the wood and charged us, as our men, having to scramble 
 up a steep slope, arrived in the battery out of all forma- 
 tion, and the marines were then a little way behind. 
 But I suppose that the}' were panic-stricken at seeing such 
 rushing into the battery, and thought that we were much 
 stronger than we really were." 
 
 In a letter written on board the schooner Obligado, off 
 Esquina (December 2 1 st, 1 845), he describes the ascent of the 
 Parana, the ships struggling with a contrary breeze against 
 a current of three to four knots, the thermometer eighty- 
 eight in the cabin. The rate of progress was about ten 
 miles a day, sometimes the ships being warped at the 
 rate of a mile in four hours, at others being hauled along 
 the bank, when they did a mile an hour. As many of the 
 men showed symptoms of scurvy, they were anxious to 
 press on to Esquina, the farthest point occupied by the 
 Corrientino forces — therefore the first where fresh meat 
 could be obtained. By the giving way of a bank, Sulivan 
 fell into the four-knot stream. He had hold of a twig. A 
 man coming to help him also went overboard, and caught 
 him by the arm, and said he could not swim. Fortunately 
 the twig held until assistance came. The ships soon passed 
 the Fulton ashore, and pushed on to Goya, Hotham and 
 Tr^houart having started on horseback for Villa Nueva, 
 the headquarters of Paz. Three Corrientino gun-boats 
 came to meet the ascending vessels. 
 
 " It is certainly a satisfaction to be taking up the first 
 British flag — the first vessel-of-war of any nation that has 
 been up the river. The mosquitoes are troublesome . . . 
 
 7 
 
98 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 trying to get the latitude by stars, with my head and neck 
 black with the flies, while I held the sextant, which I had to 
 put down every moment to brush away the mosquitoes." 
 
 The French steamer coming up, gave them a tow, but 
 ships were constantly touching the ground. They reached 
 Goya, the second place of importance. There being not 
 water enough near the town, they had to go eight miles 
 above it, where they found an encampment of Paraguayan 
 troops. 
 
 " Most important things have occurred lately, affecting 
 the politics of these countries. The government of 
 Paraguay, having failed on every side to get Rosas to 
 acknowledge their independence, and give them the free 
 navigation of the river, at last have made a treaty with the 
 Corrientinos, by which they assist them in their war against 
 Rosas with all their means, and offer as many men as are 
 wanted. The vanguard of their army, two thousand five 
 hundred men, arrived two days before us, and the vessels 
 bringing the second division are daily expected. We are 
 now anchored fifty yards off their tents ; and it is altogether 
 a most interesting subject, when we consider that for thirty 
 years Dr. Francia, the dictator, not only shut up Para- 
 guay, but by a system of terror also shut up the ideas 
 and minds of all the inhabitants, and that till his death 
 occurred four years since no one dared even to express his 
 thoughts on any public question. It is most interesting 
 to observe what the effect of being brought up under such 
 a system has on the character of the people. . . . Paz takes 
 all his Corrientino troops against Rosas ; he has about 
 six thousand that he can advance with, and Lawrence says 
 they are the best he has seen in these countries, some 
 fit to be compared with English troops. Hotham and 
 Lawrence, with the French captain, returned from the army 
 the day we arrived here, and are staying at Goya, which is 
 about eight miles off. . . . The manifesto of the Paraguayan 
 Government declaring war against Rosas is very well and 
 sensibly written. It points out to the world how they 
 had tried for years to obtain from Rosas the recognition 
 of their independence, and the free navigation of their 
 river, the only highway they have for foreign trade. All 
 
1845-46.] INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY. 99 
 
 they could obtain from him was a denial of their independ- 
 ence, and a declaration in which the province of Paraguay- 
 was termed one of the Buenos Ayrean states — a thing it 
 never had been, having been independent from the first 
 year the Spanish dominion was overthrown. Having 
 explained all the negotiations which were entered into, 
 and the determination of Rosas to deny their independence 
 and prevent their trade, the manifesto goes on to show 
 that, should Rosas conquer the Banda Oriental, he can 
 assert all his forces against Corrientes, which, though it 
 has held out for so many years against him, may be over- 
 powered, in which case the Paraguayans may feel certain 
 that Rosas would then invade them, to endeavour to force 
 them to become part of the Buenos Ayrean confederation, 
 and that it was better to assist Corrientes — which was the 
 outpost of Paraguay — than risk its being conquered, and 
 then the horrors of war carried into their own country. 
 
 " On January 2nd the authorities of Goya gave a grand 
 ball in honour of our visit ; and as the thermometer was 
 above a hundred, they rigged up a very nice place under 
 a canvas roof" 
 
 Again he writes on January 15th, describing a week's 
 hard work piloting the Gorgon, with Philomel and Fanny 
 in tow, up the Parana. Very hard work indeed it was 
 for him and the master of the Gorgon, they having at 
 the least difficulty to go ahead in boats to find the 
 channel — on the paddle-box or in the boat, under a 
 burning sun, from 4 a.m. until 7.30 p.m. At one 
 place, after three hours in the boats, he gets Gorgon 
 over passes with only one foot under her keel. They 
 were anxious to push on fast ; for many men in Gorgon 
 — though none in Philomel — were down with scurvy, 
 one man having died. They had no lime-juice, and had 
 been three months on salt provisions. Providentially, 
 Sulivan saw and successfully chased two cows swimming 
 in the river, which gave three days' fresh meat to all. 
 Captain Hotham then decided to leave the Gorgon, and to 
 go on in the schooner with Sulivan as fast as possible, the 
 
lOO ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 latter to survey the upper river. Lieutenant Richards, 
 taking command of the Philomel, was to go in her to 
 Esquina, a distance of forty miles, to procure the much- 
 needed beef for the Gorgon, etc. During the time of 
 Sulivan's absence. Lieutenant Richards continued the 
 work of survey and pilotage in the Philomel. 
 
 Sulivan, in the schooner, arrived at Corrientes from Goya 
 on January 20th, Hotham having gone on in the French 
 steamer to Assumption, the capital. News had come that 
 Paz was retreating before Urquieza. Rosas had sent a 
 large force, and appeared inclined to try the issue of 
 a battle, with the object of gaining possession of the 
 produce before the convoy arrived. If he succeeded, he 
 would upset the policy of our ministers, and make the 
 victory of Obligado useless. This had never been anti- 
 cipated by our authorities. Numbers of merchants were 
 calculating to make fortunes out of the expedition. But 
 their goods could not be landed if there was any fear of 
 Rosas succeeding. Rosas' force had already got so near 
 Goya that that place had been abandoned. Sulivan feared 
 — as did take place — that Rosas might get possession of 
 the cliffs and intercept the convoy on its way up. He was 
 anxious for Hotham's return, as there were no instructions 
 for the combined fleet to attack Rosas' army. Paz was 
 a prudent general, who had never lost a battle, because he 
 never allowed himself to be drawn into a combat at a 
 disadvantage. The female population of Goya had taken 
 refuge in ships. 
 
 " Corrientes, January 2^th, 1846. 
 
 "It is really sad to see even here the poor families 
 in terror talking of embarking — large families of females 
 (the males being all with the army) with no one to protect 
 them or assist them, and all knowing what treatment they 
 would receive if taken in the town. There are about ten 
 thousand inhabitants, of whom nearly all are women and 
 
1845-46.] AN ADVENTUROUS TRIP. 10 1 
 
 children ; and even were all the men (six thousand) now 
 with the army at their homes, such has been the destruction 
 in the constant civil wars, that there are in the provinces 
 six females for one male." 
 
 The Gorgon had been left three hundred miles below 
 Corrientes, above passes with only just water enough for 
 her, and two hundred miles from the squadron off Santa Fe. 
 Above the Gorgon, at Corrientes, Captain Hotham and 
 Captain Tr^houart had only a small French steamer, a 
 brig, and a schooner. At this crisis news arrived' that 
 the army of Rosas had invaded the province, defeated 
 the army friendly to us, and was marching on Corrientes, 
 having already reached a point on the river nearly two 
 hundred miles above where the Gorgon was left among 
 the islands. As it was impossible to leave Corrientes 
 undefended, and also important to get the Gorgon down 
 at once, and bring up the smaller steamers expected 
 from England, Captain Hotham was in a very anxious 
 state. Sulivan saw that, unless he went down himself, 
 Gorgon could not be moved, and no other vessels could 
 ascend the river until the convoy — all sailing-vessels — 
 worked its way up. He therefore offered to go in 
 the dinghy with two boys, going as much as possible 
 through the islands, and trusting to escape notice in 
 places where he would be obliged to pass the main bank 
 of the river. Captain Hotham at first refused to sanction 
 it, as he thought the risk too great ; but eventually 
 he allowed Sulivan to proceed. Sulivan thus describes 
 his adventurous expedition : — 
 
 "Corrientes, February 28th, 1846. 
 
 " Hotham returned from Paraguay on January 28th, 
 but determined to remain here till the result of the 
 invasion was known ; and yet he wanted Gorgon taken 
 down the river before it fell. Having only the schooner 
 with few men, he could not spare any to send down ; and 
 
I02 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 seeing he was pushed how to manage it, I offered to 
 go down in the Philomel's dinghy with my steward and 
 boy. He was very much pleased. It is three hundred 
 miles from this to Gorgon ; but I took advantage of a 
 small vessel going to Goya, and so saved half the voyage 
 in the dinghy. From Goya to Gorgon was a hundred 
 and fifty miles : it took us two days and nights in the 
 dinghy. You would have been amused if you had seen 
 us start. I had in her all my clothes, instruments, chrono- 
 meters, tiger-skins, etc. Horn and Worthing composed 
 the crew. We could not venture to land in the night 
 for fear of tigers, and, still worse, mosquitoes ; but we had 
 .some preserved meat and biscuits for provisions. I was 
 never more tired of anything than I was of sitting so long 
 in a boat without moving. We anchored a few hours one 
 night to get a little sleep. The day after we reached 
 Gorgon we started in her down the river. It was the most 
 anxious work I ever had — very narrow channels with 
 numerous banks, a three- and four-knot stream setting 
 down, and a heavy ship that took many minutes some- 
 times to answer her helm. Some of the bars had only 
 six inches or one foot more water than she drew, with a 
 very hard bottom ; but we got over all these well, and 
 I began to think we should have no mishap. But at 
 last, running along a narrow channel in a bay close 
 to high cliffs, she would not answer her helm, and ran 
 on shore with all the force of steam and stream, within 
 fifty yards of cliffs on the enemy's shore — a nice posi- 
 tion, had they attempted to molest us. You may fancy 
 my anxiety for the two days it took us to get off. The 
 river fell six inches a few hours after we went on shore ; 
 and had it gone on falling, Gorgon would have remained 
 there at least till next year. But the next day it rose 
 again, and Dolphin and Fanny arrived with the convoy, 
 and with their assistance and three bower-anchors out we 
 got off. Having done this, I took Dolphin and Fanny 
 back with me, as I knew then that Hope, who commands 
 in the river during Hotham's absence, and who was to 
 have been at the Baxada to station the vessels, was not 
 coming up, as there were batteries lower down he wished 
 to pass near, and therefore I had to station the vessels, so 
 as to provide for this difference in the plans. Rosas had 
 prepared all the force he could to attack the convoy 
 coming up ; and knowing now that permanent batteries 
 
1845-46.] THE CONVOY UNDER FIRE. IO3 
 
 were of no use, as we were sure to take them, he adopted 
 the much wiser plan of movable artillery, and had about 
 twelve heavy field-pieces, with about two thousand men, at 
 the cliffs of San Lorenzo, which are about four miles long, 
 about seventy feet high, and the vessels had to pass within 
 a quarter of a mile of the cliff the whole way. The ground 
 behind being quite level, nothing can be seen from the 
 river but the cliff, so that all the men are safe from the 
 fire of the vessels, unless looking over the cliff. There 
 were sixty vessels. The Dolphin led with the first division 
 of the convoy. Key in Fanny with the next division, while 
 Hope was behind to cover them. [With a light breeze 
 they were stemming the tide only at the rate of one or 
 two knots.] The guns kept galloping up to the cliff, just 
 showing the muzzle over, firing, and then withdrawing 
 again, and, when loaded again, appearing at a new place. 
 In this way they pounded the convoy for three hours in 
 passing, hitting every vessel several times. One merchant- 
 brig had thirty-four shots in her — Firebrand twenty-two, 
 four through her funnel ; yet providentially no one in all 
 the sixty vessels was killed, and only two in Firebrand 
 wounded. Hope had a very narrow escape ; his seat on 
 the paddle-box was shot away, and the ridge-rope he was 
 holding on by shot close to his hand. Yet so well did the 
 enemy work their guns that it was quite impossible to hit 
 them, the muzzle only showing for a moment, and then 
 going to another place ; so that before we could get a gun 
 trained at it, it had fired and disappeared. If the ships 
 fired a foot too low, the shot buried itself in the cliff ; if a 
 foot over, it went inland over the heads of all the troops. 
 Though the Dolphin and Fanny fired fifty rounds a gun, 
 and the French corvette Coquette also, they do not think 
 they did the enemy the least damage. At the end of the 
 cliff the channel veered right away, and the vessels all had 
 to turn their sterns to the cliff; and they would have 
 suffered much there had not there been a little rising 
 ground behind the cliffs, so the enemy could not bring a 
 gun to that point without exposing it. Levinge remained 
 near that point in the Dolphin, and directly they brought 
 two guns there in sight, one of his shot either struck one 
 of the guns or went so close to it that they withdrew them, 
 and did not attempt to bring any more there, which saved 
 the vessels from the worst fire they would have received. 
 The enemy fired beautifully, and worked the guns as 
 
I04 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 smartly as the best artillery in the world could have done. 
 If Rosas adopts that kind of warfare, he may give us great 
 trouble, as we can do him little damage ; but it costs him 
 so much in shot and powder, and he is afraid to trust his 
 guns too far from Buenos Ayres, for fear of the Orivinus 
 rising, so that this was merely got up for the convoy, Rosas 
 being bitter at vessels of all nations availing themselves 
 of our protection to force the trade he has always pro- 
 hibited, and he has declared the people on all these vessels, 
 except the French and English, who are only enemies, to 
 be pirates, and orders all his authorities to treat them as 
 such. There are many American vessels among them. 
 Tom Hamilton is in one, and he does not half like passing 
 down again ; two young Lafones are also in other vessels, 
 and many amateurs who never expected such a fire on 
 them. One Italian buried himself up to the neck in a 
 cargo of salt, and a shot nearly took his head off, and he 
 got so pickled that he has been ill ever since ! At Tonnelero, 
 a little lower down, they had four guns, and fired a good 
 deal. One shot took the leg of a French midshipman ; but 
 that was the only damage, — he is doing well.* 
 
 " Having reached the lanito (?), I left Gorgon there, and 
 took Dolphin on to Philomel at the Baxada, and you may 
 fancy our delight when the next morning the Alecto 
 arrived direct from England, and bringing the mails ; but 
 our pleasure was much damped by hearing of the death of 
 poor Doyle and of Chartres. Doyle had nearly recovered, 
 when, by a mistake either of the surgeon or the druggist, 
 he was given five grains of morphine at once, enough to 
 kill three men. The quantity made him vomit it up again ; 
 but the excitement caused an artery in the stump of his 
 arm to break out afresh, and put him to the pain of 
 another operation : the consequence was, he could not stand 
 it, and, after three weeks more, he sank under it. We also 
 heard that both the young officers of Captain Trdhouart 
 
 * From the Defence Commission evidence, illustrating how ships 
 can pass batteries : " I may mention one thing, which Captain Key 
 perhaps would not like to mention —namely, that in his little brig, after 
 passing with the sixty vessels, mistaking the signal, he repassed the 
 cliff, and, finding it a mistake, had again to repass alone against the 
 fire of all these guns which had been pounding the whole sixty vessels ; 
 and though they hulled him repeatedly, he went by at about two knots 
 over the ground. Now if that can be done with a light breeze, and 
 with small vessels, what would not a steamer do passing rapidly, at 
 the rate of ten knots ? " 
 
I845-46-J DEATHS OF WOUNDED OFFICERS. I OS 
 
 had died of their wounds, one from not having his leg cut 
 off soon enough, every case of amputation from the action 
 having recovered. We were sorry to hear that, after Martin 
 had organised a force, and after three months' trouble had 
 got possession of Maldonado, Flores with the Monte 
 Videan soldiers against positive orders went outside and 
 was surrounded and defeated by the enemy, having two 
 hundred infantry cut off and put to death. This obliged 
 Martin to give up Maldonado again and embark. I 
 had not even time to read my letters before we were 
 off again in the Alecto for Corrientes. We did not wait an 
 hour. She was ordered to wait Hotham's coming down at 
 Liguina ; but I thought, knowing his ideas and wishes, I 
 had better take on myself to alter this, and take her to 
 Corrientes, and I was obliged to go in her, for her pilot 
 would not take charge of her above the Baxada, as she 
 drew so much water for the upper passes. 
 
 " We reached Corrientes in the Alecto, having only 
 grounded once in a distance of four hundred miles : that 
 once detained us two days. I sent Lieutenant Mackinnon 
 on by land with the mails. He rode the hundred miles 
 in the afternoon of one day and the forenoon of the 
 next. The people of Corrientes were delighted at an 
 English steamer arriving, and have been flocking on board 
 her, hundreds of ladies coming and going as fast as possible. 
 Sometimes the engine-room was so crowded with them 
 that there was no moving. I am happy to say we all go 
 down the river shortly, as Urquieza has returned out of the 
 province, and there is no more fear of its being conquered. 
 But I must tell you the further particulars about the 
 invasion. Paz retired before Urquieza till he was nearly in 
 the extreme of the province. Unfortunately, through the 
 rashness of General Madanager, who commanded the rear- 
 guard of Paz's army, it was surrounded, and had to disperse 
 to escape, Madanager being taken prisoner. This mis- 
 fortune injured our cause very much, and broke the con- 
 fidence of the army — besides which, even among themselves, 
 there have been intrigues and disputes that have bothered 
 Paz very much, and no doubt prevented his success. Still, 
 he was able to harass Urquieza so much, that at last he 
 (Paz) drew up his army in a good position and offered 
 battle. Urquieza was afraid to attack him, and again 
 retreated, followed by Paz, each party being afraid of the 
 other. He is now out of the province, and Paz has again 
 
I06 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 taken up his quarters on the frontier. Both parties are so 
 done up by the month's work (that is, their horses are 
 knocked up), that it is not Hkely either can resume the 
 offensive. They will spend the coming six months in 
 making preparations for the next campaign. I fear there 
 is so much intrigue and jealousy at work among the 
 Corrientinos, that we cannot depend on them for a moment, 
 and I see more strongly than ever the necessity of our 
 confining ourselves to the independence of the Banda 
 Oriental, and not mixing ourselves up with the civil wars 
 of the Buenos Ayrean provinces. If we do, there is too 
 much risk of Rosas defeating us, as on shore we have only 
 to depend on the people of these provinces ; and it appears 
 almost impossible they can succeed against the power of 
 Rosas, even if they were united. But they are not. Every 
 leading family hopes to reap the most benefit, should they 
 succeed ; and each is jealous of the other, and this thwarts 
 all their plans and makes them dangerous allies." 
 
 " H.M.S. ' Alecto,' Goya, March 4th, 1846. 
 
 "We left Corrientes on the 2nd in the Alecto, having 
 Fanny and Obligado lashed alongside us, and the French 
 steamer following us. This was anxious work for me, as 
 I only thought the passes safe for Alecto, drawing twelve 
 and a half feet, or at most thirteen feet, and the Fulton 
 drew fourteen feet, having just filled up with coals and 
 provisions. However, we came down a hundred miles the 
 first day without touching. Yesterday morning we got 
 over the worst pass. Fulton, following, got on shore. As 
 soon as we were over, I went back to her and got her 
 through also, but touching all the way. We arrived here 
 yesterday ; and as we do not go till to-morrow, I have a 
 day's rest, and you cannot fancy how much I value that 
 now. No school-boy ever enjoyed an extra holiday more. 
 Yesterday was, I think, the hottest day we have had, and 
 being from daylight to dark either in a boat or on the 
 paddle-box was very trying. However, I have been wonder- 
 fully well, considering the work. I have never been off work 
 one day. To-day I have a headache : fortunately it is 
 a day at anchor. What tends soonest to knock me up is 
 the stretch my mind is kept on, and the anxiety for fear 
 of getting on shore, particularly in coming down, when the 
 rapid stream would prevent you stopping if going the 
 wrong way, and when even sounding is of no use, as before 
 
1845-46-] INTRICATE NAVIGATION. 10/ 
 
 the vessel could stop she must be on shore. I will try and 
 explain the kind of navigation. A multitude of islands, 
 sometimes leaving a channel of a mile wide, sometimes not 
 a quarter of a mile ; in every part sand-banks running off 
 the islands, leaving a narrow channel, winding like a 
 serpent. These banks are all under water, and not to be 
 seen, and one has nothing to trust to but the eye and 
 recollecting at which points to cross from one shore to 
 another. Then in the eight hundred miles we have gone 
 up the Parana there are at least eight hundred bends and 
 crossings in the channel, and all the islands are so much 
 alike — very low, with thick wood. This will give you an 
 idea of the constant anxiety as to whether one can be sure 
 to cross at the right spot fifty or a hundred times a day. 
 I could not continue this kind of work much longer ; but 
 the pilots cannot or will not take charge of the large 
 vessels, and they do not really know the deepest channels. 
 I have now two always with me on the paddle-box as 
 pupils — two or three officers besides. But the pilot will 
 not take this vessel up again ; and I have offered, if she 
 goes up, to take her up once more and down again, when 
 the pilots say they will know the channel, and after that 
 trip will take the vessels up. I hope the officers will be 
 able to do so by that time also. At all events, I mean 
 to strike work after that, and I hope we shall go out of 
 the river. They cannot keep Philomel out much longer, 
 as her keel came up alongside the other day, and all her 
 fore-foot is off, so that the cables catch in it." 
 
 " H.M.S. ' Alecto,' Cerrito, March <jth, 1846. 
 
 " We reached the Gorgon safely last night — got her over 
 all the bad passes without touching, Fulton following us. 
 It is a great relief to me. The three last days have been 
 intensely hot, and I could hardly stand it, so anxious did 
 it make me." * 
 
 * This passage of the Alecto is thus described in " Steam Warfare in 
 the Parana," by Captain Mackinnon, R.N., lieutenant of H.M. steam- 
 sloop Alecto. The Alecto was one of three lighter draught steamers 
 sent out by the Admiralty in January 1846. She brought out a supply 
 of Congreve rockets : — 
 
 " After going up above the town, so as to turn, full power was now put 
 on, and with the Fanny alongside, and the Obligado astern, she tore 
 down the torrent-like current, and shot round the point with almost the 
 speed of a rocket, once again, and for the last time, in full view of our 
 friends. So sudden and unexpected a reappearance of the Alecto came 
 
I08 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 In a letter, dated June 1845, written to the Hydrographer, 
 Sir F. Beaufort, Sulivan describes his descent of the river 
 and his passing the batteries in the Philomel : — 
 
 " Shortly after the Alecto left, the Firebrand came up 
 to the Baxada with the account that they were preparing 
 batteries at San Lorenzo and Tonnelero, to attack the 
 convoy going down. They had fired at the Firebrand coming 
 up with field-pieces, hulled her eight times, and killed 
 one man. 
 
 " On March 26th the French steamer Gassendi arrived 
 from Monte Video. She had not been attacked on the 
 river, but had seen the enemy working at the batteries, 
 and heard from deserters that guns were on their way 
 from Buenos Ayres to mount in them. She brought 
 orders from the admiral to Hotham to send Philomel down 
 
 upon them as a surprise. With one accord they raised a scream ot 
 pleasure, which continued as we flew past them, for about two minutes, 
 when another point shut us out from Corrientes, and we were once 
 more in a perfect desert. 
 
 "As the difficulty in ascending the river has been siifSciently ex- 
 plained, it will easily be imagined that the danger was aggravated a 
 thousand times in going down with so rapid a current. A thorough 
 seaman may, from constant practice, have nerves of iron ; but it is 
 indeed awful to find several vessels thus in a body, propelled by the 
 full power of mighty steam, in combination with a rapid current, 
 tearing down a river at almost railway speed. Although not on duty, 
 I could not leave the deck, being fascinated by the velocity with which 
 we were threading narrow and tortuous passages. Sometimes, when 
 the channel ran close to an island, the whirl of trees, as the vessels 
 appeared to fly past and the branches brush the paddle-boxes, made 
 me giddy. 
 
 " ' If we were only to touch the bottom at this pace,' thought I, 
 ' what would become of the Alecto 1 I don't believe the Lords Com- 
 missioners of the Admiralty would give much for her safety now, it 
 they had a bird's-eye view of her.' 
 
 "All this time the usual routine of the vessel was carried on as if 
 nothing uncommon was going forward. Of course, to descend at this 
 apparently reckless pace with safety, it was necessary to have a good 
 pilot. There was only one person in South America who had either 
 the nerve, knowledge, or ability to do it. It is natural to suppose that 
 this person must have been a native of the country, brought up on the 
 river, and who had spent a long and active life in getting such a 
 thorough and precise knowledge. With pride do 1 say it, this was not 
 the case. The pilot was a brother-officer, Captain B. J. Sulivan, who 
 coolly stood on the paddle-box, and conned the vessel by a motion of 
 his hand to the quartermaster. The whole of the river, up to Cor- 
 rientes, is now surveyed by the above-mentioned officer, and better 
 known, by his means, in London than at Rosas' capital, Buenos Ayres." 
 
1845-46.] " PHILOMEL " RUNNING THE GAUNTLET. IO9 
 
 the river if he could possibly spare her, as he wanted 
 to see me to get information about the rivers and the 
 Buenos Ayrean coasts. He had previously sent similar 
 orders, but Hotham could not let us go then ; but as there 
 was such a large force assembled, he had no more excuse 
 for keeping the Philomel, particularly as Hope knew the 
 lower part of the river better than I did, he having gone 
 up and down it so often. The Firebrand had to tow 
 some vessels as far up the river above the Baxada as she 
 could go, and Hotham determined that as soon as she 
 returned (I having to go up in her as pilot) the Philomel 
 should go to Monte Video. We went as far as the pass 
 of San Juan (about a hundred miles), which is as high 
 as vessels of the Firebrand class can go with a high river. 
 Above that there is not more than thirteen and fourteen 
 feet in the passes, while below it there is seventeen and 
 eighteen feet, and the navigation is not so difficult. In 
 the Firebrand on our return we went eighty miles in six 
 hours, going ten and eleven knots sometimes through 
 the water, beside three and four that the stream was 
 running. 
 
 " I returned to the Baxada on March 31st, and on 
 April 2nd left for Monte Video. The same evening we 
 reached Lorenzo cliffs. I could not see the battery, as 
 from up the river it is hid by a projecting bluff till you 
 are nearly abreast of it ; but as there were many soldiers 
 near, and some making signals, I fancied that they might 
 have got some guns in it ; and as it is useless attempting 
 to return their fire when going rapidly past, when by 
 doing so the men must be exposed by being kept at 
 quarters, I thought by running close under the cliff, and 
 sending all but Lieutenant Richards below (for fear of 
 musketry), they might not be able to depress their guns 
 to hit us. So we ran round the bluff, going about three 
 knots (with stream, over the ground six knots), and, as we 
 opened the first embrasure, saw a gun with a man standing 
 with port-fire over the touch-hole. But though I could 
 see the muzzle was down to the ground, we were so close 
 (about thirty yards) the shot went a few feet over our 
 heads, and fell about that distance outside us. They had 
 only three guns, which they had but time to reload once 
 before we were past. So we only received six shots, all 
 of which, like the first, passed close over and struck a 
 little outside us, doing us no damage, but cutting a few 
 
I 10 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 ropes. We were not a cable's length off, and had we 
 been a few yards farther every shot would have told. 
 They have built mounds between each gun, as traverses 
 to protect them from a flank fire ; and at Tonnelero they 
 have adopted a still better plan, and are preparing for 
 placing each gun singly between two mounds, and the 
 guns fifty yards apart. As Tonnelero is not accessible 
 like Lorenzo, I expect to hear that these guns are brought 
 off when the convoy comes down, as the form of the ground 
 there will enable them to sweep it from the ships. We 
 met the Alecto going up with three vessels in tow. The 
 Buenos Ayrean papers since state that in passing San 
 Lorenzo she got a good hammering. 
 
 " On our arrival at Monte Video, we found that a revo- 
 lution had just taken place among our friends, the govern- 
 ment party, in Monte Video. Riviera had turned out the 
 existing government after some bloodshed. In consequence 
 of this, the ministers wanted to send despatches home as 
 soon as possible, and the Lizard was about to start for 
 the Baxada with orders for Firebrand to come down to 
 go home with the despatches ; but our arrival altered 
 this, the admiral considering that we could start at least 
 ten days before the Firebrand, so that we might get home 
 as soon as she would, and he would then have Firebrand' s 
 services still for the river ; and as she is the only efficient 
 steamer on the station, she could not well be spared. It 
 was then arranged that we should start directly with the 
 despatches ; and Mr. Turner (our minister at Monte Video) 
 and the French secretary, who take them, being ready to 
 go, we sailed on April 20th. 
 
 " We are very much crowded on board, having fifty-five 
 extra people, invalids and prisoners. We also picked up 
 a boat in latitude six south with the crew of the Hamburg 
 schooner Adler, that had foundered four days before, as 
 the master said, from springing a leak. But the day after 
 we took them on board the crew accused him of having 
 scuttled her, and said that they were going to report to 
 me. He tried hard to prevent them, offering them money 
 if they would not inform ; but finding that they were deter- 
 mined to do so, directly he saw them come aft to report it 
 he jumped overboard. We were going eight knots at the 
 time. The life-buoy was let go close to him ; but though a 
 very good swimmer, he would not go to it, and before the 
 boat reached him he had sunk. It is evident he sank the 
 
1845-46.] PAYING OFF AT PLYMOUTH. I I I 
 
 vessel to get the insurance on a thousand hides which 
 he said he had on board of his own, and which he had 
 insured for, when he had not one single one." 
 
 On the arrival of the Philomel at Falmouth, after a 
 voyage quicker than that made by any packet-boat, 
 all the men from that district were given leave for forty- 
 eight hours, with orders for them to join the ship punctually 
 at Plymouth, where she was to pay off. The brig, on 
 entering Plymouth Harbour, owing to the strong tide, over- 
 shot her appointed moorings. Sulivan called out, " Now, 
 my men, as we are all soon going to land, it will be hard 
 if the brig does not have a run on shore too." He turned 
 her instantly into a little pebbly cove, and ran her bow 
 gently up the beach, thus taking the way off her. A rope 
 was got off to the buoy, and all the men were run aft to the 
 quarter-deck. This was enough to cause the brig to float 
 forward, and she was quickly moored. An officer from 
 another ship had previously come on board and told 
 them that all leave on paying off ships had been stopped, 
 owing to the general bad behaviour of the seamen when 
 on shore during the process. Sulivan said at any rate 
 he had not yet received orders to this effect. The moment 
 Philomel was moored, he told the men to take shore-boats, 
 and get away as fast as they could, but to be back 
 strictly at the hour appointed for beginning work. On his 
 reporting his arrival to the admiral, the latter said, " Mind, 
 there is no leave given now whilst paying off." Sulivan 
 replied that his men were already all on shore ! " Then 
 they must not have leave again until the work is com- 
 pleted." After much trouble, and explaining how well his 
 men had behaved during the commission, and that the 
 ship's company had returned after a four years' cruise 
 without a single desertion — a thing almost unprecedented 
 in the days before continuous service — he obtained 
 
I I 2 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 the admiral's permission to test the men's behaviour. 
 All but one of the Falmouth men returned at the time 
 appointed. This one had been married in the interval, and 
 overstayed his leave a few hours. In consequence, after 
 the work of each day was over, he was put in irons until 
 the next day's work began. The men went ashore every 
 evening, and not one failed to be on board at the appointed 
 time every morning, perfectly sober. Many officers then 
 at Devonport told Sulivan that for weeks afterwards they 
 were constantly meeting the Philomel's men, and never saw 
 one that was not perfectly sober and not in his best clothes. 
 This shows that the strict discipline and kind treatment 
 of the men not only affected their behaviour when under 
 the eye of their commander, but influenced their characters 
 for good. 
 
 For some months in each year at Monte Video, at their 
 own request nearly all the crew were landed every Sunday 
 afternoon to attend the service in the English Church. No 
 officer was ever sent with them, but they were considered 
 pledged never to enter a house or drink anything on these 
 occasions ; and from what Captain Sulivan heard from some 
 of the men after the ship was paid off, he had every reason 
 to believe that not one man ever broke his pledge. 
 
 Captain Sulivan was, on his return, desired by Lord 
 Palmerston to call and give him some information on the 
 state of affairs in the river Plata. In the course of the 
 interview that ensued, the former expressed his opinion 
 pretty freely on the question of our interference. 
 
 By returning home when he did, Sulivan lost the 
 opportunity of being " gazetted " a second time for the 
 action which ensued on the return of the convoy, when 
 the hundred vessels composing it passed the batteries 
 of San Lorenzo. A judiciously masked rocket-battery, 
 under the command of Lieutenant Mackinnon, formerly 
 
1845-46.] RECOGNITION OF SERVICES. II3 
 
 of the Arrow, placed on the island opposite the forts, so 
 discomfited the Spanish gunners at the right moment 
 that they could do little harm to the ships. As has been 
 stated, the Philomel passed these batteries alone ; but not 
 wishing to make a despatch of such an event, Sulivan had 
 merely recorded it in a private letter to Captain Hotham. 
 
 The French authorities fully recognised the services 
 of their own officers and men at Obligado. Captain 
 Trehouart was made an admiral (a special promotion of 
 which their regulations admit), and honours were freely 
 given to their other gallant officers engaged. The French 
 share of the captured guns is still to be seen in Paris, and 
 the action is kept in memory to this day by two of their 
 men-of-war being named Obligado and Trdhouart. At 
 the Louvre is a very good painting of the engagement. 
 But no such fitting recognition of the services of our nav}' 
 in the Parana can be recorded. Our guns were returned 
 with an apology. Lord Aberdeen having publicly declared 
 we had no right to force Rosas to open the rivers. No 
 medal was granted for the eight months' arduous service 
 in the Parana, nor for any of the actions in connection 
 therewith. The commanders were immediately promoted, 
 and I believe one or two first lieutenants ; but the other first 
 lieutenants and the officers of other grades were overlooked, 
 presumably owing to the omission of their names in 
 Hotham's despatch, which was much criticised for its 
 brevity. 
 
 On his return to England, Sulivan urged at the 
 Admiralty the claims of the first lieutenants of the ships 
 engaged, and of his own junior officers. Poor Doyle had 
 been promoted ; but as he died of his wounds, Sulivan 
 put forward the claims of Richards for promotion as senior 
 surviving lieutenant of the Philomel, also those of Key, 
 whose services he brought to the notice of the authorities. 
 
114 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 and after persistent efforts he obtained the promotion of 
 several of these officers, dated back to the day of Obligado. 
 This was done at the final meeting of the then Board, the 
 day before their vacating office. 
 
 The fact of their receiving no medal was felt greatly 
 by the officers and men of the squadron. One officer 
 said, " I have two medals I am ashamed to wear, as I 
 was not within a hundred miles of the enemy ; but if I 
 get a medal for the Parana, I shall have some pride in 
 wearing it." 
 
 In 1869 Sulivan drew up a petition, which was signed 
 by the principal officers then surviving, who had served 
 in the Parana, requesting that a medal might be granted 
 for the work in the river, with a clasp for Obligado. In 
 the petition were recorded the main facts of the services 
 performed — the work of the San Martin and the Dolphin, 
 and the cutting of the chains by Hope and his party, 
 being prominently mentioned. It went on to say, " Yet 
 the men who served in such an action have nothing 
 whatever to show for it ; while they have the mortifica- 
 tion of seeing some of their comrades wearing medals 
 for very trifling service — others who had never been under 
 fire — employed only in blockade or transport service, 
 not only during the Russian war, but more recently for 
 Aby.ssinia." 
 
 The request was refused, on the plea that the " duty 
 of the Admiralty was to exercise, the greatest caution in 
 granting medals ; and if they entertained this application, 
 it would be necessary to consider other cases, and this 
 their lordships were not prepared to do " ! 
 
 The name " Obligado " is not even to be found in 
 modern maps. 
 
 Both Captain Hotham and Admiral Beaufort brought 
 Sulivan's services specially to the notice of the Admiralty, 
 
i84S-4t2-] NO MEDAL FOR OBLIGADO. II5 
 
 and asked for the C.B. for him, Hotham making the state- 
 ment mentioned below. The reasons for refusing it show 
 the want of judgment with which honours were then given 
 and withheld. " They could not give it to Sulivan because, 
 if they did, they would have to give it to Captain Talbot, 
 R.N., for his gallant action against pirates in Borneo." 
 Actions against pirates, however, were not considered 
 deserving of honorary rewards. Yet at the very time 
 captains in the army were granted the C.B. for service 
 in India, although by the rules of the order they were 
 too junior for it. At the same time, for a single New 
 Zealand skirmish, a commander R.N. received both 
 promotion and the C.B., the Board saying " they had to 
 give way then, because the army majors were receiving 
 it for the same action." Captain Hotham considered that 
 by refusing the C.B. to Sulivan, and giving it in the other 
 instance, a slight had been thrown on Obligado and all 
 who were there engaged. Lord Auckland said his claims 
 should be given consideration at the next distribution of 
 honours. But the death of Lord Auckland prevented this, 
 the succeeding First Lord not knowing anything of, or not 
 recognising, the promises of his predecessor. 
 
 Captain Hotham recognised in several official letters 
 the assistance he received from Sulivan : — 
 
 " He astonished English as well as French by his energy 
 and activity. He piloted the Gorgon into places hereto- 
 fore deemed impregnable. In the Parana he in reality 
 conducted the heavy ships, and trained such officers as 
 were willing to learn in a system whereby our squadron 
 was rendered quite independent of local pilots. He took 
 the principal part on three occasions at the battle of Obli- 
 gado. He made a plan of the ground, he commanded a 
 division of ships, and he led the advanced guard of the 
 landing-party." 
 
 Cooper Key, who had ao diligently studied the pilotage. 
 
Il6 ASCENT OF THE PARANA. [Ch. V. 
 
 wrote to a relative some months after Sulivan had 
 left :— 
 
 " I now flatter myself I am a pretty good pilot for the navi- 
 gation of this intricate river . . . under the auspices and tuition 
 of my friend Captain Sulivan, one of the best surveyors 
 and practical seamen in the service. He is lately gone 
 home ; and I have lost a valuable friend — indeed, a man I 
 have looked up to as a model for my future professional 
 career. . . . To our Parana squadron his loss is irreparable." 
 
 Captain Hotham in his despatch (which Beaufort criticises 
 as too meagre compared with the China despatches) says : — 
 
 " I should be unmindful of the ability and continued zeal 
 of Commander B. J. Sulivan did I not bring him especially 
 to your notice. By his exertions we were furnished with a 
 chart which enabled us to complete our arrangements for 
 the attack." 
 
 Sulivan returned to England with the rank of post- 
 captain. Naturally he expected to have to wait a short 
 time before being appointed to another vessel. But he was 
 not idle, as will be seen from the accounts given in the 
 Appendices of his endeavours to improve the badly con- 
 structed forts at Bovisand, to establish a system of small- 
 arm drill for our seamen, and to increase the inadequate 
 supply of sailors for manning our fleet, etc. 
 
 In 1848 he was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Staff 
 of the Royal Dockyard Volunteer Brigades. A full 
 account of his services in this position will be found in 
 Appendix A. When his appointment suddenly terminated, 
 he found himself without employment, and without any 
 immediate prospect of obtaining a ship. His health had 
 also suffered somewhat from continued disappointment. 
 He therefore obtained three years' leave of absence, and 
 went with his family to the Falkland Islands. In Ap- 
 pendix B will be found a brief narrative of this trip, which 
 was not of a professional nature. 
 
1845-46.] EMPLOYMENT UNATTAINABLE. I17 
 
 He came back to England in the autumn of 1851, and 
 again endeavoured to obtain employment, but without 
 success. Even one of the several appointments in connec- 
 tion with the sea fencibles, for which he was specially 
 qualified by his volunteer work, was denied him. Yet all 
 turned out well. To this period of enforced inaction is 
 probably due the original idea which started, or at least 
 greatly helped to start, the Army Volunteers.* His eight 
 years of half-pay left him, moreover, free to be selected — 
 if only at the eleventh hour — for service in the great war, 
 the approach of which he had been for some years 
 watching. 
 
 * See Appendix J. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WAR WITH RUSSIA. 
 
 1854. 
 
 Towards the close of 1853 it became evident that we 
 should soon become involved in a war with Russia. In 
 December Captain Sulivan wrote to the Times, cautioning 
 the public against the absurd expectations put forward in 
 the newspapers that the combined British and French 
 fleets would not only quickly destroy Sevastopol, but also 
 the Russian fleet of equal size anchored in the harbour 
 under the fortifications. He pointed out that it was 
 unlikely the admirals would be so foolish as to risk their 
 fleets, and in consequence their naval superiority, by such 
 an attempt. He reminded the public that neither Nelson, 
 CoUingwood, nor Exmouth ever thought of attacking a 
 French fleet in Toulon, however inferior in force. The 
 recent improvements in weapons and shells were more 
 favourable to batteries than to ships. He recalled the 
 saying of the Duke of Wellington, that it must not be 
 supposed that ships could contend successfully with stone 
 walls. He explained that at Acre the gunners in the 
 batteries could not hit a line-of-battle ship at eight hundi'ed 
 yards, and the advantages there were entirely in favour 
 of the fleet. At Algiers the enemy made the mistake of 
 allowing the ships to come close to the forts before firing. 
 Yet the ships were in no condition next day to contend 
 with a force half their strength. Their ammunition was 
 
 118 
 
I854-] JINGOISM REPROVED. II9 
 
 nearly expended, several of the ships seriously damaged, 
 and the loss of men was very heavy. He pointed out the 
 more rapid approach of a screw-ship might enable her to 
 get close up to the fort before being injured, but there 
 was the danger of a mast being shot away and the 
 wreckage fouling the screw (a point, perhaps, not noted 
 previously). Cases cited were the Amphion in the Tagus, 
 when only the jib-boom was carried away, and the Mel- 
 bourne of Spain, when her main-top fell and disabled her 
 screw. He concluded by assuring the public that the 
 admirals would attempt as much as any men in their 
 situation would be justified in doing. 
 
 These remarks are interesting, read in the light of after- 
 events. 
 
 As soon as there appeared a possibility of a war, 
 Captain Sulivan wrote to the First Lord, Sir James Graham, 
 requesting employment in the event of hostilities. He 
 sent copies of the letters he had received from his former 
 superior officers, and pointed out the fact that he had 
 received his captain's commission for special service in 
 action. He was afterwards told by Lord Hotham that 
 Sir C. Hotham had gone to the First Lord and stated that, 
 if he were offered a command for the war, he would make 
 it his first object that Captain Sulivan should be employed 
 under him. What was Sulivan's disappointment and vexa- 
 tion to find ship after ship given away, officers junior to 
 him being given commands, but he himself overlooked. 
 Just as the fleet was ready for sea, the senior Naval Lord 
 said to him, " You have no chance of a ship, for all the 
 frigates are given away, and you are too junior for a line- 
 of-battle ship." On complaining of this to his very kind 
 and warm friend Admiral Beaufort, the Hydrographer, the 
 latter said, "Never mind; if the fleet goes to the Baltic, 
 there must be a surveying captain, and I will take care 
 
I20 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 no one is appointed but you." So the very neglect of his 
 claims was eventually the cause of his being given exactly 
 the post he could best fill, and in which his ability and 
 energy could have most scope. But it was so long before 
 the Hydrographer could succeed in his efforts that the 
 fleet had sailed before the two surveying-ships granted 
 were ready, and they were not out in time to assist in 
 getting the fleet through the Belt. Thus whatever benefit 
 was derived from the services of the surveying officers was 
 owing, as Captain Sulivan always said, to Sir Francis 
 Beaufort. Yet long before, in China, as well as in the 
 Parana, the great value of their services had been proved 
 and recognised. 
 
 There had been lying for some years in the pigeon- 
 holes of the Amiralty Sulivan's scheme of organisation 
 for training seamen to serve on shore, and for the forma- 
 tion of seamen-battalions by a pro rata contribution of 
 men from each ship, so that an admiral, on taking command 
 of a fleet, would know at once how many men he could 
 rely upon for a naval brigade. This plan lay neglected 
 until war broke out, and then Sulivan received a letter 
 from Captain Hamilton at the Admiralty approving of 
 his plan, giving him a list of the ships that would form 
 the two fleets, and asking him to adapt his plan accordingly. 
 This he did, and a copy was forwarded to the commanders- 
 in-chief in the Baltic and Black Seas. 
 
 The command of the Baltic fleet was given to Admiral 
 Sir Charles Napier, an officer of great service and ability. 
 But it is doubtful whether at the age of sixty-eight an 
 officer, however able he may have been, retains the power 
 of prompt decision and readiness to undertake responsi- 
 bility so necessary in a commander-in-chief There was 
 no lack of ships to compose the fleet, but seamen to man 
 them were wanting. This has been clearly shown in 
 
i854] SHIPS BADLY MANNED. 12 1 
 
 the " History of the Baltic Campaign," published under 
 the authority of Napier himself. I remember my father 
 saying that the deficiency of seamen was made up by 
 shipping cabmen and others who had never been to sea 
 before. The state of the fleet was thus described by him 
 in his evidence before the Royal Commission for Manning 
 the Navy in 1858:— 
 
 " While the ships that had been in commission prior 
 to the war were very fairly manned, some only pretty 
 well so, the newly commissioned ones were very badly 
 manned. The whole state of the fleet proved, without 
 doubt, that we were utterly without any means of fitting 
 out a war-fleet in an emergency. After a few months, by 
 great effort on the part of those in command, they were 
 brought rapidly and wonderfully into a fairly efficient 
 state, considering the material. He considered that a 
 newly commissioned British ship was not fit to be got into 
 action with either a newly commissioned French ship or 
 a Russian ship of equal size for three months. One 
 captain told him his ship, in his opinion, would not have 
 been ready for six months ! 
 
 " Fortunately we had the French on our side. Had we 
 had to contend against the French and Russian fleets 
 combined, there would have been nothing but ruin before 
 us. Further, had we had to contend against the Russian 
 ships alone, with their well-trained crews, it was only the 
 advantage we possessed in having the new screw-frigates 
 that would have given us the slightest chance of being able 
 to hold our own. They had twenty-five sail of the line 
 which had been with their crews training in the Baltic for 
 years. We had only sixteen sail of the line, five or six of 
 which were at first scarcely fit to go into action. The 
 Russians, with their vessels all lying prepared for sea when 
 the ice broke up, would hardly have allowed our ships to 
 keep the command of the Baltic, if they had come out to 
 attack us ; but the advantage of our steam-ships in a 
 comparatively calm sea secured us against that danger." 
 
 In Appendix F "manning the navy" is referred to, 
 and the danger we are still running from the want of an 
 adequate reserve of trained seamen pointed out. 
 
122 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 Captain Sulivan was commissioned to the Lightning 
 paddle-steamer, loo H.P., three guns, on February 25th. 
 She was the first steam-vessel built for the navy. 
 
 It will be well here to give an outline of the plan of 
 operations suggested by the Admiralty, with some remarks 
 upon how this was followed by Admiral Napier, so that 
 the description given in the journals of what was actually 
 done or left undone may be more readily comprehended. 
 
 The fleet was ordered first to Wingo Sound. The 
 sealed orders, there opened, instructed Napier to take up 
 a good position at the entrance to the Baltic, and to 
 prevent any Russian ship escaping from the Baltic into the 
 German Ocean. After the ice had cleared away, he was to 
 shut up the Russian fleet in the Gulf of Finland (" Napier," 
 p. 51) ; to turn his attention to the Aland Islands (p. 57) ; 
 not to undertake any desperate work. He therefore wisely 
 disposed his fleet to prevent Russian ships passing the 
 Belt, and yet he in consequence received a reprimand. 
 My father makes a note on " Napier," p. 78 : " Sir Charles 
 was perfectly right on this point, and it ought never to 
 have been raked up as an error on his part." The orders 
 further instructed Napier to ascertain the exact strength of 
 Bomarsund and the nature of its approaches ; to report if 
 Bomarsund was open for attack, etc.; to look into Revel 
 and other fortified places. In reply to Napier's request 
 for pilots he was informed, " You must grope your way in 
 your own surveying- vessels " (p. 03).* 
 
 * In order that the points in question may be looked at in the light of 
 the evidence given in the journals, I here mention that Admiral 
 Napier, on his return home, vs^as severely criticised by the Press and 
 by the Admiralty, being attacked in Parliament by Admiral Berkeley, 
 Sir Robert Peel, etc. Sulivan upheld Napier on most questions, 
 especially for his iirmness in resisting the pressure put upon him to 
 attack the Russian fortresses with his ships, the very thing the Russians 
 were hoping he would do ! Also, it is evident the Admiralty blamed 
 him unjustly on many trivial matters. Sulivan, however, held that 
 where Napier was to blame was in his delay in examining Bomarsund 
 
I854-] ORDERS GIVEN TO NAPIER AND SULIVAN. 123 
 
 The following are the instructions issued by the Hydro- 
 grapher, Sir Francis Beaufort, to Captain Sulivan : — 
 
 '• Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, 
 "March i&th, 1854. 
 
 "Sir, — My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having 
 selected you to the command of H.M. vessel Lightning, 
 to join Vice-Admiral Napier for the purpose of assisting 
 with the important operations of the Baltic fleet, by 
 making such skilful and rapid reconnaissances, as well as 
 occasional hydrographic surveys, wherever it may be con- 
 sidered necessary, I scarcely consider myself warranted 
 in supplying you with any special instructions as to the 
 service on which you will be employed ; still, for the sake 
 of preserving that connection which has so long subsisted 
 between you and this office, and I may add with such 
 beneficial results to H.M. service, I would exhort you 
 to keep all our surveying rules and habits always in your 
 mind, so as to render everything you do more or less 
 subservient to the great object of improving our charts ; 
 never to defer to the following day writing the remarks 
 and observations that you may have collected, as they 
 may be of lasting value long after the campaign in which 
 you are engaged has passed away ; to give descriptions 
 of the characteristic features of the land, or of the leading 
 peculiarities of the different districts of the Baltic navigation. 
 Perhaps you will have an opportunity of tracing the usual 
 course of the changes of the wind, the connection between 
 those changes and the comparative temperatures of the 
 air and water, and the prevalence of fogs in the different 
 bights and gulfs of that mediterranean sea. All these 
 are fit subjects for careful attention, if guided by your 
 experience and love of general knowledge. 
 
 " In your partial and desultory surveys take great care 
 to establish the connection of some one permanent and 
 conspicuous object with your triangulation or bearings, 
 
 and Sweaborg. Had the latter been reconnoitred earlier, there would 
 have been time to have sent home for mortars, and for the bombard- 
 ment to have taken place the first year. Again, whilst Napier was 
 brave enough under fire or in personal danger, he was terribly nervous 
 about the safety of his ships at sea, etc. ; and when broken down in 
 health (chiefly from the attacks made upon him by the Press) owing 
 to this anxiety, he brought home the fleet earlier than he need have 
 done. 
 
I 24 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 by which you may subsequently adjust any new work, 
 or by which any new labourers may bring every fragment 
 of fresh information into harmonious agreement with former 
 acquisitions. 
 
 " The most immediate service you can do this office 
 will be to keep our charts perpetually under your eyes, 
 correcting their coast-line, inserting soundings day and 
 night, with the nature of the bottom, studying the niceties 
 of the sea-marks, and representing them by drawings, 
 marking convenient landing-places, and in correcting the 
 nomenclature of the places, not only in their orthography, 
 but in their vernacular appellations. 
 
 " You will, of course, keep up a regular correspondence 
 with me, infoi'ming me of everything appertaining to 
 general surveying proceedings as opportunities may offer, 
 and transmitting tracings not only of those surveys, but 
 also of such as you may have made under the special 
 direction of the commander-in-chief, unless he may have 
 intimated his desire that they should for the present be 
 kept secret. 
 
 " Considering you as one of the admiral's eyes, and 
 knowing that through it he will see everything that he 
 ought to see, I feel sure that at the end of the campaign 
 he will exclaim, as Sir William Parker did in the China 
 Sea, ' Without those admirable surveyors I should have 
 done nothing.' 
 
 " I am, sir, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " F. Beaufort, 
 
 " Hydrographer. 
 
 "Captain B. J. Sulivan, 
 
 "H.M.S.V. Lightning, Woolwich." 
 
 A sketch of Captain Sulivan, sent me by Captain Richard 
 C. Dyer, who served under him as master of the Merlin 
 during the campaign of 1855, may be inserted here to 
 convey some idea of his personality at this period of his 
 life. 
 
 "Stoke, Devonport, October ^ih, 1893. 
 
 " I am safe in asserting that every officer who had the 
 good fortune to serve under Sir B. J. Sulivan looked up to 
 and appreciated him as the best surveyor of his age, a 
 most gallant officer and good Christian. Speaking for 
 
l8S4-] PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 1 25 
 
 myself, I was a young and very inexperienced officer when 
 with him ; but during that time he taught me more than 
 I ever knew before, and was the main cause of my own 
 success in that branch of the service to which I belonged. 
 
 " In accordance with your request I give you some 
 reminiscences of your late father. To begin with, I may 
 describe his reception of me on joining the Merlin at 
 Greenhithe in March 1855, I being then a perfect stranger 
 to him. I arrived on board on a Sunday forenoon. The 
 quartermaster on duty informed me that service was being 
 performed on the lower deck, and I waited until it was 
 over. On Captain Sulivan coming up, I reported myself 
 to him, but to my consternation he received me in the 
 most chilling manner, saying, ' I do not want you ; I asked 
 for and arranged to have another officer appointed, who 
 has been with me before.' This was rather a damper, 
 and left me in a state of uncertainty as to what I should 
 .do. It occurred to me that I ought to go to the Admiralty 
 for an explanation, but before doing so I put the question 
 quite blank to him, ' Am I to go up and say it is a 
 mistake ? ' He said, ' Certainly not ; now that you are here 
 you will remain.' From that moment to the paying-off 
 I received at all times the greatest kindness and con- 
 sideration from him, and had reason to congratulate 
 myself on the mistake the Admiralty had made. Captain 
 Sulivan was impulsive, but it was momentary and in small 
 matters only — his natural kindliness of heart soon overcame 
 these occasional little outbursts ; but, in all affairs of 
 importance and on really serious occasions, no man was 
 more cool or had clearer judgment than he. 
 
 " I remember in the Baltic some gun and other boats 
 were running soundings under his immediate direction 
 from the stern of the Merlin. Gold bands were worn on 
 the caps in those days, and, in waving to the boats which 
 way to go, the bands went flying in all directions, until he 
 had none left. His brother-captains used to quiz him on 
 this point. 
 
 " When the commander-in-chief, with other admirals and 
 captains, came on board for a trip, which was apparently 
 to examine channels and passages which he had surveyed, 
 but really to gain information and experience, Sulivan 
 would become so absorbed in his subject and so energetic 
 in his descriptions as to lose sight of the ship's head. It 
 then became my duty to look out for him and to be on 
 
126 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 the qui vive, watching his every movement to find out 
 what he intended to do or in what direction to go next. 
 
 " When surveying coasts I was always struck with his 
 profound knowledge and the rapid conclusions he arrived 
 at. Indeed, it was a common remark amongst his officers 
 that he had an instinctive knowledge of the bottom. He 
 always knew where to place buoys and beacons long before 
 those around him had completed their calculations. As 
 a pioneer on a coast in time of war he had no equal. . . . 
 
 " Captain Sulivan perfectly understood the art of organ- 
 isation ; and, whilst discipline was firmly and consistently 
 carried out, he endeared himself to the men by his earnest 
 consideration for their comfort, physical and moral. 
 
 " The Merlin- was a thoroughly happy ship, and, from the 
 position and status our accomplished captain took in the 
 fleet with the admirals and captains who were always 
 seeking his opinion and advice, we were all proud of 
 belonging to her. I used to derive much information 
 from him during the night watches on the bridge, when 
 he would discuss our present position and relate many 
 of his former surveying experiences, and also thrilling 
 incidents connected with the river Plata and Parana 
 expedition of 1845. The late Sir James Hope and Sir 
 Astley Cooper Key, who were also in that campaign and 
 had the highest respect for his great abilities, were 
 constantly on board with him when opportunity offered. 
 
 " The commander-in-chief, Sir R. Dundas, kept him as 
 much as possible at his elbow, and did nothing without 
 consulting him. At the conclusion of the Russian war 
 the great naval review was held at Spithead, when the 
 Merlin took her old Baltic station as leader of the weather 
 line. This was our last service, and to our general regret 
 we were soon after paid off. At this time Captain Sulivan 
 had some idea of going as commodore to the Cape station, 
 and I was under promise to go with him. But the 
 Board of Trade appointment became vacant and was given 
 to him. Thus, to my sorrow and that of many others, 
 terminated his naval career." 
 
 From a later letter : — 
 
 " Being a surveying-ship, the men had many advantages, 
 
 and were not at all of the ordinary man-of-war type. 
 
 Everything went on smoothly and without friction of any 
 
 .sort. Discipline was maintained strictly and firmly, and 
 
1854.] OFFICERS OF "LIGHTNING." \2^ 
 
 there was a remarkable absence of crime and punishment. 
 The utmost attention was paid to the comfort and well- 
 being of the men in every detail, the result being that our 
 captain was universally beloved and respected. 
 
 " I remember many commanding officers coming on 
 board for information, the ship being looked on as a 
 model of comfort and order. Sulivan had great moral 
 weight with officers and men, and seemed to impart his 
 activity and energy to all those around him. Some 
 officers believed that his energy bordered on rashness and 
 would lead to disaster, but the more senior and experienced 
 men were his friends and appreciated him better." 
 
 The Lightning sailed from Lowestoft on March 2Sth. 
 The following is a list of the officers who sailed in her : — 
 
 Lieutenants — F. A. Cudlip, A. T. A. Bullock. 
 
 Master — Fred T. O. Evans (afterwards Hydrographer). 
 
 Surgeon — J. F. Johnson. 
 
 Clerk — E. S. Cooke. 
 I will now quote from the journals which my father sent 
 home to my mother for circulation among some of the 
 family, with strict injunctions that no remarks made about 
 the fleet, etc., were to be mentioned beyond the family 
 circle. He also sent to my mother private letters contain- 
 ing interesting personal information for her own perusal 
 only. Although some might be thought to savour of 
 egotism, they must be understood as having only been 
 intended to interest the wife about her husband's per- 
 sonal doings ; and what more natural than that flattering 
 remarks should have been repeated, without any idea of 
 their being ever published ? 
 
 " On the 29th we ran through the Great Belt. . . . We 
 had run about half-way across Kiel Bay, when we saw 
 the Duke of Wellington through the haze, leading the fleet 
 under sail, standing to the eastward. We then ran to the 
 eastward for two hours, and anchored about 6 p.m." 
 
 Sulivan went on board the admiral's ship, taking the 
 
128 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 despatches and his appointment for " surveying and pilot- 
 age duties." * The admiral thereupon told him before 
 several officers that he did not know what he had come out 
 for, or what was the use of a surveying-ship, unless to make 
 a fire-vessel of! 
 
 ( Thursday, March 2,0th.) — " The fleet is going to Ki5ge 
 Bay, the admiral fearing that in Kiel Bay he would be less 
 able to watch both passages out of the Baltic. . . . We were 
 ordered alongside the Odin to get some coal. On the 30th 
 it was too thick to see the land. The pilot in the Duke 
 would not start, and with a light, fair wind we lost the day 
 at anchor. I assured the captain of the fleet that we 
 could run round the coast by the lead, and this evening it 
 has been decided that, thick or not, we start in the morning, 
 and that I am to lead round the coast of Femern Belt, the 
 fleet following half a mile on our off-shore quarter. The 
 paddle-steamers with Admiral Plumridge had gone on 
 before, to lay at the end of the reef off Giedser Point. 
 
 " Some of the ships are a terrible distance off, and they 
 are all sadly out of line and distance. I fear there is sad 
 want of regularity and attention on these points. Mind 
 any remarks I make about the fleet or ships for the naval 
 portion of the readers of this must on no account be 
 mentioned beyond our own party, or I should be afraid to 
 say anything on the subject. There has been plenty of 
 practice all day with the guns and Mini6 rifles." 
 
 {Friday, 31^^".) — "We started at daylight, and soon after 
 I saw the low land on the south coast of Femern Belt. We 
 ran all day, the latter part of it the fleet being under steam. 
 We passed the steamers anchored off Giedser Reef, 
 Admiral Plumridge joining us in Leopard, and we ran on 
 by night, making the light of Moen Head, and getting 
 about three o'clock on Saturday morning near the entrance 
 of Kioge Bay, when a dense fog came on, so thick that at a 
 cable's length we could not see the admiral's light. We ran 
 on a little and heard the admiral anchor. In the morning 
 it cleared, and the fleet were all pretty well up, except one 
 or two stray sheep. Cressy had carried away her fore-yard 
 by running into the Princess Royal. We then steamed 
 on and anchored in Kioge Bay about 10 a.m." 
 
 * See Captain Sulivan's evidence as to his advice to Napier to use 
 his ships as rams, Appendix D. 
 
l854] WAR DECLARED. 1 29 
 
 This lead the Lightning gave to the fleet ought to have 
 made the admiral see that there was some use in a surveying- 
 ship after all ! 
 
 •"Lightning,' Kioge Bay, April Znd, 1854. 
 
 " I was leaving the admiral about three when a steamer 
 hove in sight. Shortly after the vessel signalised, ' Have 
 minister on board with declaration of war.' So all hope of 
 peace is over. It was sad to think to-day that the line of 
 beautiful ships surrounded by boats with pleasure-parties 
 of the Danes and with steam-boats from Copenhagen full of 
 spectators, with a most lovely calm day, might so soon be 
 acting such a different part. I believe the paddle-steamers 
 are to start directly for the Gulf of Finland to reconnoitre ; 
 but I suppose the admiral will think us so well adapted to 
 act as his despatch-boat that he will keep us here. 
 
 '^Monday, a.m. — In the middle of the. night I was called 
 by an officer of flag-ship to say they had heard a number 
 of guns in the direction of the Copenhagen channel, and the 
 admiral wanted me to go directly in that direction to see 
 what it was. We were away in about ten minutes, as our 
 fires were banked up, and we ran round the light-vessel in 
 the Copenhagen channel, but they had heard no guns at 
 all, so we returned. You may suppose that Lightning is 
 improving when I tell you that we ran the ten and a half 
 miles there and the same back in two and a half hours, or 
 more than at the rate of eight knots, and we had to ease 
 several times to prevent running over vessels, and were a 
 few minutes speaking the Gorgon, the guard-steamer, so 
 that we must have gone nine knots ; but the boilers had 
 just been cleaned well, and the steam was well up at 
 starting — it gradually fell from eight to five pounds on the 
 square inch, so that in another hour we should have been 
 going slow. This shows that if they had put boilers in her 
 that could keep up steam she would be a very fast vessel, 
 considering she was the first steamer built. The admiral 
 sent to say I was to go very cautiously by the lead. I 
 suppose he thought it terrible to be near banks in the 
 night, but I know now the charts are good and the bearings 
 of the light-vessel are quite sufficient to run up the channel 
 with. 
 
 ''April ird, p.m. — At anchor at Copenhagen with a 
 furious gale. Brought the minister and party, travellers, and 
 
 9 
 
I 30 WAli WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 every steward of all the messes in the fleet, and all the 
 mails. We coal and hasten back to-morrow to go with 
 Admiral Plumridge and the advanced squadron to the 
 entrance of the Gulf of Finland. . . . 
 
 " I was in the admiral's cabin this morning with Admiral 
 Plumridge and the captain of fleet, and we were discussing 
 some of the charts. Admiral Plumridge had given me a 
 very cordial reception, and, when the chief asked him if he 
 would like to take Lightning with him, I gave him a nod 
 behind Napier's back, so he said he would, and it was 
 settled that I leave all the officers and captains' stewards 
 here for Buckle to take back, and then coal and water 
 and return to join Admiral Plumridge's division before 
 he leaves. I believe Leopard, St. Jean d'Acre, Tribune, 
 Dauntless, and Lightning go to the ice in the Gulf of 
 Finland, to see how open it is and to commence hostilities 
 if we have a chance. This trip will try if Lightning is fit 
 for the work, or whether she is a clog on those with her. I 
 fear if there is bad weather we shall never be able to keep 
 company with the large ships without their losing much 
 time. There is no chance of any of their ports being open 
 yet, so that it will merely be a reconnoitring trip, and 
 after this gale we are likely to have fine weather. The 
 moon is also getting well on, so that it is a nice time and 
 the days are getting much longer. 
 
 " Directly we returned to the fleet Admiral Plumridge 
 weighed, and we joined him. He took Evans from me 
 to assist as pilot, he having been up in Munder to the ice 
 before. We ran with a fair wind past the north end of 
 Bornholm, made the south end of Oland and Gothland, 
 and on the second day (6th) the admiral anchored under 
 the land to complete our coal, and sent me to examine Faro 
 Sound to see if it would do for the colliers, and then to 
 return and report to the commander-in-chief I found that, 
 instead of having to anchor in an exposed place under an 
 island, there was an excellent inner harbour, to which the 
 charts only gave a passage of nine feet, but we found it had 
 twenty-four feet, and anchorage inside in good depth and 
 muddy bottom. It blew a hard gale the two days we were 
 there, so that I had to sound the harbour in the vessel, and 
 I only landed once. It is a poor, barren place, with a stony 
 soil, thickly covered in most places by woods of dwarf pines, 
 with patches of cultivation here and there. . . . The Swedes 
 greatly feared that the Russian fleet might pounce on 
 
I854-] Sweden's anxiety. 131 
 
 Gothland before ours got up, as the Emperor had long 
 desired it for winter harbours for his fleet, and tried all he 
 could to get it by money and other means. The Swedes 
 had lately increased the troops on the island to fourteen 
 thousand men, and they seemed very glad our fleet was so 
 near. The officer told me every Swede was with us in 
 heart. 
 
 " A great many more ships have joined the fleet this last 
 week, chiefly small ones ; but Boscawen and Ccesar have 
 joined, and the James Watt is in the Belt ; so we have now, 
 with the French ships, fifteen sail of the line. Gur fleet in 
 all musters thirty pennants ; but most of the large ships 
 want time to get in anything like order. The admiral and 
 captain of the fleet are not particular enough ; they let 
 ships form a bad line anchoring, and do not make them 
 move again ; but they work them hard at the guns, and 
 Admiral Chads works ship after ship. At sea they want 
 a great deal of work to get them to move in order ; and 
 even with the four frigates with Admiral Plumridge, though 
 he allowed them open order (four cables apart), they seemed 
 afraid to get so close. . . . hnp^rieuse, with Watson, is a 
 beautiful ship, and ran all the time under topsails, and 
 those sometimes lowered. Admiral Plumridge seems most 
 active and fit for work. I am very glad I escaped being 
 off the ice with them in this heavy weather. The fleet is 
 now, I believe, going to lie off Gothland, to be ready for 
 the gulf being clear of ice. The longer it remains closed 
 the better, as it shortens the time of hostilities and shuts 
 the enemy up better than we could." 
 
 The Lightning returned with the report to Admiral 
 Napier. 
 
 " On Tuesday night, April i ith, after reaching the fleet, 
 I was ordered back again to Copenhagen to send up a 
 collier for the James Watt, just arrived, and to bring back 
 the master of the fleet. I could not get things arranged 
 to return the same evening, so I started early Wednesday 
 morning. The day before, the British minister, with about 
 a hundred people of the first rank, were to have gone in 
 the Dragon to see the fleet and to see it sail ; but the wind 
 prevented the party going off from the shore, so I had to 
 tell the admiral they were coming on Wednesday at eight ; 
 
132 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 but at seven, when I reached Kioge Bay, the fleet was 
 under way and standing out." 
 
 " Off Gothland, April 14M, 1854. 
 
 " We are now getting near Faro Sound, and I thought 
 the fleet would anchor to-night in the bay between it 
 and Ostergarn Island, which we have just rounded ; but 
 it has fallen so calm that we are scarcely moving. We 
 came away in such a hurry on Wednesday morning in 
 consequence of the Dauntless having returned from Admiral 
 Plumridge, who found up to Helsingfors clear of ice : they 
 counted seven sail of the line there with topgallant-masts 
 struck. I hope it is not clear at Cronstadt yet, for we have 
 only twelve sail of the line with us, and they could send 
 two to our one, which would be too long odds. . . . We 
 had been since noon standing to north-west, till we made 
 the distant land of Sweden about four o'clock and tacked 
 to the southward, the admiral giving Landsort Island as 
 the rendezvous. Besides the James Watt, the Monarch 
 was there, and we heard of three large ships in the Belt. 
 If they join us, thus making eighteen sail, with the French 
 ship nineteen, we are strong enough to be secure against 
 any force the enemy can bring out ; in fact, he will not 
 attempt to come out if we have more than sixteen ships. 
 We sadly want large frigates, for we have not more than 
 five or six, including some small ones, and I believe they 
 have twenty frigates, which, as some of them are heavy 
 ones, would tell against our line-of-battle ships. . . . 
 
 " The Duke of Wellington sails beautifully, particularly 
 off the wind, when the old block-ships have difficulty in 
 keeping up under all sail ; but to-day, blowing a good 
 topgallant breeze, on a wind, she did not spare others 
 much canvas, and Edinburgh and Hague nearly kept way 
 with her. St. Jean d'Acre running free comes nearly up to 
 Duke ; but on a wind the St. Jean d'Acre had to set nearly 
 the same sail as the blocks. Neptune is an astonishing ship ; 
 though an old ' one hundred and twenty,' like Britannia and 
 Trafalgar, she sails nearly equally with Duke, and is one 
 of the fastest in the fleet, and- having Regent's old crew is 
 certainly the crack ship of the fleet. Boscawen is also one 
 of the fastest, and keeps up the credit of the Symondites. 
 I doubt if any ship in the fleet would beat hei-, judging 
 by the sail she is generally under, and she is very creditable 
 
I854-] SAILING QUALITIES OF SHIPS. I 33 
 
 for a new ship, always in her station, and apparently with 
 little trouble. Cressy, the ship of Chatfield and Reed, does 
 not, I think, sail equal to several others ; certainly Duke, 
 Neptune, Boscawen, St. Jean d'Acre, and I think Princess 
 Royal, spare her canvas. Ajax and Blenheim are the 
 slowest, Edinburgh and Hague having a great advantage 
 over them. Edinburgh is in good order and does well." 
 
 He speaks of Euryalus as the most beautiful ship he 
 ever saw (except Imp^rieuse). The first lieutenant, 
 Luckraft (later governor of Lewes Naval Prison), said 
 she was perfection in sailing and steaming. Sulivan calls 
 her " the finest vessel in the world " — Luckraft, " such a 
 good first lieutenant." 
 
 " Hogue has two or three times had a desire to run over 
 us. The morning we left Kioge Bay, as we were rounding 
 under Duke's stern to put the master of fleet on board, 
 she ran up out of her station on the lee quarter so close 
 that I had no alternative but to risk running alongside 
 the Duke, or be run right over by Hogue. I roared at 
 her to the no small damage of my throat, and she got 
 a sharp hail from Duke. So close did she jam us that 
 1 had to close Duke till our masts were inside her lower 
 yard-arms, and we were nearly striking her lower-deck 
 ports, and I thought we could not possibly save our main- 
 topmast in steering out ; but we never touched a thing 
 in either ship, and they allowed in the flag-ship it was no 
 fault of mine, and that I saved a smash well. The officers 
 of watch in Hogue got a reprimand. Their lower yard- 
 arms were very little clear, and poor little Lightning 
 between them, Hogue going seven or eight knots. If she 
 had given us a crack, they would certainly have had to 
 send me out another vessel or send me home, for there 
 would have been an end of Lightning. 
 
 " Monday, April lyth. — On Saturday we rounded Goth- 
 land and Gottska-Sando, and hauled up for the Swedish 
 coast to rendezvous and meet other ships off Landsort 
 Island ; but when about thirty miles off my signal and 
 Admiral Plumridge's were made, and I found the admiral 
 was going with half the fleet to look into Helsingfors, and 
 I was to go with a Swedish lieutenant, Theorell, who has 
 
134 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 joined our service, to Stockholm about pilots, and to see 
 Mr. Grey, the charg^ d affaires" 
 
 The following is from a later note by Captain Sulivan : — 
 
 " Sir C. Napier's only idea of nagivating the fleet was 
 through pilots ; and, as it was soon found that the Baltic 
 pilots supplied to the fleet in England knew nothing of the 
 shores, harbours, etc., having simply made voyages to and 
 from Cronstadt, he wanted to obtain Swedish ones. On 
 his ordering me to Stockholm to bring down pilots hired 
 there, I pointed out to him that they might be paid by the 
 Russians to run us on shore, and urged him to let the 
 surveying officers and the captains and masters take care 
 of the ships ; but he would not listen to my objections, 
 and ordered me to go for the pilots. When speaking to 
 our minister about the pilots to be engaged, I asked him 
 what security we had that they had not been tampered 
 with. He replied, ' None whatever ' ;. and I found that a 
 Russian agent, said to be well supplied with funds, was 
 a near relation of one of the pilots ; so I determined not 
 to take any of them, and returned to the admiral without 
 them. He then seemed satisfied that I was right, and by 
 degrees his confidence in his own officers increased." 
 
 In Admiral Napier's book * is shown his great anxiety 
 about pilots. His cry is continually for " pilots, pilots, 
 pilots." Eight pilots were sent for the sixteen ships when 
 in the Downs. Sulivan remarks : " The pilots we had were 
 quite useless, and did nothing but learn the pilotage they 
 were supposed to have learnt before." Yet, notwithstanding 
 the admiral's anxiety, when Sulivan arrived in the Light- 
 ning with his appointment for "surveying and piloting 
 duties," his services were not made proper use of 
 
 " Again, the charts of the Baltic— chiefly Russian— were 
 excellent, those of the Aland Islands excepted, and the ships 
 ought to have been navigated by these without pilots. 
 
 " For the passage up the Baltic from Kioge Bay to 
 Revel, pilots were not more necessary than in many of the 
 ordinary passages made by men-of-war. The charts were 
 
 * " History of the Baltic Campaign of 1854 " (G; Butler Earp). 
 
>854-J THE CAUSE OF INACTION. I 35 
 
 more to be depended on than many pilots, who would only 
 have known the direct route to Cronstadt. They knew 
 nothing of the inshore pilotage." 
 
 I must here reluctantly explain the true cause of the 
 admiral's disregard of the services of his officers appointed 
 for surveying duties and of his fatal waste of time in not 
 having Bomarsund, Sweaborg, and other places surveyed 
 before the fleet moved up. The master of the fleet 
 appeared jealous of the arrival of surveyors, presumably 
 thinking that it was an encroachment upon the duties of 
 his department, and he attempted to perform himself the 
 work for which they had been specially appointed. Being 
 the only officer who had served previously under Napier, 
 and being with him in the Duke, he had much influence 
 with the admiral at first. It was not until the admiral 
 learnt to distinguish between the official capacities that he 
 began to appreciate the importance of the surveyors' work. 
 
 The necessity for throwing light on the conduct of the 
 campaign alone induces me to touch upon this petty 
 jealousy, and to blame one, now no more, who was a good 
 officer in his proper capacity. 
 
 Admiral Plumridge having taken off" Evans and found 
 him too useful to return. Captain Sulivan had night and 
 day work alone whilst suffering from sore throat, which 
 was increased by constantly hailing other ships. Although 
 there were other small steamers under commanders and 
 lieutenants, the senior surveying officer, a post-captain, was 
 made to run about for all kinds of work, towing boats, 
 carrying letters and beef, whilst the admiral was com- 
 plaining of having no pilots. 
 
 In "Napier," p. 115, it is stated that the admiral went 
 with his squadron towards Hango Head, with the intention 
 of running up to Sweaborg. He complains of the situation — 
 " No pilots, no buoys, no beacons " — and he fears for the 
 
136 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 safety of his fleet. So he retired without seeing Sweaborg 
 or .sending any one to reconnoitre. But he had been 
 informed that the Russian fleet was outside Sweaborg in 
 the ice. If so, he might have got at them, and therefore 
 there was no excuse for turning back without setting the 
 point at rest. 
 
 Again, the admiral speaks of the dangers of the fleet 
 without pilots, yet does not take his surveying-ships with 
 him. On p. 139 the same complaints are made of the 
 absence of marks and of there being only two surveying- 
 ships ! Yet neither was utilised, nor were the buoys, 
 specially supplied by the Admiralty for the purpose of 
 placing on the shoals, etc. 
 
 " Off Elgsnabben, April 2yd, 1854. 
 
 " On returning from Stockholm, when thirty miles only 
 on our road back, we fortunately heard the fleet firing, and 
 soon after saw the upper sails of some large ships off our 
 deck. The mirage was very extraordinary and distorted 
 everything on the horizon. One would have supposed that 
 nothing could be seen at any distance, but to my surprise 
 -we ran towards the ships twenty-five miles by patent log 
 after seeing them off deck, they being becalmed all the 
 time. On joining the flag-ship, I was instantly sent to 
 tow boats and take admirals to their ships. The next day 
 -we were near Landsort, the admiral meaning to anchor 
 in this place. I was sent on ahead to get pilots, and, 
 taking five out of the first boat, hurried back, knowing it 
 was of importance to save daylight, as there is no anchorage 
 in any part of the channel for miles except at this spot. 
 But the admiral seemed afraid of going on unless every 
 ship had a pilot. I advised him to let two ships without 
 pilots follow each ship with one, and I offered to take all 
 the frigates and smaller vessels ; but he would have a pilot 
 for every ship, and ordered me to put these five on board 
 his division and go for more. Knowing the risk, if much 
 delay took place, I thought it right to tell him this, that 
 if the last ships waited they might lose their daylight, and 
 there was no anchorage in the channel for the twenty miles 
 from Landsort to Elgsnabben. All I got was a sharp 
 
I8S4-] SURVEYORS UNDERVALUED. 13/ 
 
 answer and an order to get more pilots. By some more 
 coming out and meeting the ships, Gorgon having a signal 
 flying that pilots were there, we lost little time, and I got 
 in and got four more out, and then the last ships did not 
 reach the anchorage till after dark, which was hardly safe ; 
 while if he would have listened to me and to his own 
 master, who agreed with me, all would have been at anchor 
 an hour before dark, with no risk. Thinking it might be 
 as well to let the admiral know the sort of duties it was 
 considered I was appointed for, I took my instructions 
 from Admiral Beaufort and asked the captain of the fleet 
 to read them, and, if he thought proper, to show them 
 to the admiral. Whether he did or not I do not know, 
 but last night I was ordered to start at 3.30 this morning 
 with the purser of the flag-ship to Dalaro and wait his 
 directions — ^in fact, putting me under the orders of the 
 purser for the time. You will see how thick the islands 
 are near Dalaro ; but we went without a pilot, and the 
 purser, meeting the man about beef coming down in 
 another steamer, returned to the flag-sship with him, and 
 told me he did not require me any more, and I might 
 return, and by eight we were back again. That part of 
 the channel is ten times more intricate than anything the 
 fleet came through, and that proves that I could easily 
 have brought any of the ships here. The Duke of Welling- 
 ton might have gone with us to-day among all the small 
 islands in perfect safety, for we never had any shallow 
 water the whole way. We had evening service in the 
 cabin this evening, and about fourteen attended. I merely 
 read a very nice prayer for Sunday evening out of the 
 book Otter sent me, and then one of the nice cottage 
 sermons : they were very attentive. I have asked all 
 who wish to come every evening at eight. . . . Otter 
 has very nice work piloting the French ships through the 
 Great Belt : he has brought one through, and is looking 
 out for the others. That would be much better than being 
 ' boots ' to the fleet, and beef-boat also. To-night Admiral 
 Plumridge has joined, and I shall make a row about Evans 
 not coming back. 
 
 " I have written a semi-official letter to the Hydrographer, 
 explaining exactly the way I have been employed, the 
 work I am kept at, and the little chance there is of my 
 being able to carry out the intentions of himself and the 
 Board so long as I am in this vessel, which the admiral 
 
138 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 finds so handy for a tender, and I have requested, as the 
 only way of freeing me from it, that they will give me a 
 larger vessel and leave this one either as tender to the 
 admiral or as a lieutenant's command ; that 1 cannot 
 go on receiving pay and nominally holding a position I 
 am not allowed to do the work of ; that it would be unjust 
 to myself or to the service to do so ; and that, rather than 
 continue in this way, I would prefer being superseded, even 
 if I had to return to half-pay, if the Board would not give 
 me a frigate as a regular ship. I found last night from a 
 brother-captain that others have expressed their opinions 
 respecting the way I am employed and the want of con- 
 sideration for my rank and position shown by the admiral, 
 and it has even been remarked on in his presence, for I 
 am told he said that she ought to have been sent out as 
 a lieutenant's command, showing that he is utterly unable 
 to understand the position or use of a surveying ofiScer, 
 or he would not consider solely her requisite as an admiral's 
 tender. . . . My own firm conviction is that it has 
 been a great mistake appointing our present chief; he is 
 evidently very nervous, afraid of the land, and, I think, 
 seems weighed down with the responsibility (he always 
 has a very nervous twitching of his lips and face), and 
 yet he will not be easily advised by those around him, but 
 will have his own way. That he will do any fighting work 
 when it comes very well I dare say, but others would do 
 it as well, and perhaps with more judgment and fore- 
 thought. Up to this time I have never seen the fleet 
 perform one single evolution, except tacking when neces- 
 sary, so that any changes of position from divisions into 
 line or from line into sailing columns have never been 
 attempted. They are well worked at guns. Chads * and 
 the captain of the fleet go from ship to ship, working them 
 at quick and horizontal firing, supplying powder quickly, 
 etc., etc., and there is so much practice that many are 
 beginning to ask where a fresh supply of powder, shot, 
 and shell is to come from ! " 
 
 " Elgsnabben, April 2'jth. 
 
 " Yesterday the admiral returned from Stockholm, and 
 I had a talk with him about my work ; he was more civil 
 than usual, and asked me to dinner with him, but he told 
 me that Admiral Plumridge was going with paddle- 
 
 * Described by Sulivan as the best gunnery officer in the service. 
 
i8S4-J Napier's objections. 139 
 
 steamers to the Aland Islands, that he could not send me, 
 as my vessel could not carry enough coal, had no speed 
 to keep up with the others, and would be a clog on them. 
 Unfortunately I could not dispute these facts. I told him 
 I had asked for a larger vessel, and he said he hoped I 
 should get one, but that Lightning could not even defend 
 herself against a gun-boat, and that as he could not let 
 Mr. Evans' services be lost also, the latter must remain 
 with Admiral Plumridge till the fleet was up there and I 
 had my work to do, when he should rejoin me. I asked 
 him if he would allow me to go also in one of the other 
 steamers, as I should then be able to acquire knowledge 
 that would be useful by-and-by, and that there could be 
 no necessity for my remaining with Lightning. He made 
 some objections about my leaving my ship without her 
 captain. I told him that, when piloting a squadron before, 
 I had hardly been on board my own ship for eight months, 
 and for three months never saw her, but I could not get 
 a decided answer from him ; and we are now, I believe, 
 about to sail, having just got a cargo of bullocks we have 
 been waiting for, and I shall not know if I go till we are 
 outside. Buckle wants me to go with him in Valorous. 
 This morning I was going to breakfast with him at seven, 
 and we were going to beat up an island where blackcock, 
 hares, and woodcock were seen, and some shot yesterday ; 
 and just as I was going the signal was made, ' Annul 
 all leave ' — so we are done. 
 
 "James Watt has joined, and now we have fourteen sail 
 of the line. The French Austerlitz is outside somewhere, 
 making fifteen. The impression here is that the Russian 
 fleet will come out, if possible, before more ships join 
 and try their fate. We ought to have twenty sail of 
 the line to make us secure, as, besides twenty-seven sail, 
 they have about twenty heavy frigates, while we have only 
 three and two smaller ones. In paddle-steamers we 
 should have the advantage, and in small screws. They 
 have three screw-frigates like Arrogant!' 
 
 The following was the reply from the Hydrographic 
 Office :— 
 
 " \Private.'\ 
 
 "Admiralty, April 2^h, 1854. 
 
 " Dear Sulivan,— Both Sir F. Beaufort and myself 
 are especially mortified to find that you are running about 
 
140 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 with messages when you ought to be making yourself 
 acquainted with the Gulf of Finland and buoying its 
 shoals. Sooner or later the running one or more ships 
 on shore will prove that your time has been wasted 
 and your services and knowledge misapplied. Under 
 all the circumstances of the case we think it better not 
 to move officially in the affair, but to give a little more 
 time, feeling convinced that ere long it will be found that 
 you must take your natural position. It is all very well 
 for Admiral Plumridge to dash on to the entrance of the 
 gulf, but directly the fleet gets farther advanced they will 
 find their mistake, regret not having allowed you to do 
 your proper work, and bitterly regret having sent home 
 pilots who had been twenty times at Cronstadt. 
 
 " Thus much is certain, that the commander-in-chief 
 must admit that you have been extremely useful to him, 
 although not in the way intended. 
 
 " I quite agree with you as to the Swedish pilots, and 
 I hope you will say to Sir C. Napier every word you have 
 written to me. It is of no use blinking the truth ; there 
 are times in which one must speak out. There seems to 
 me mighty little wisdom in some quarters in Stockholm ; 
 the ridiculous accounts that have come home from time 
 to time would be ludicrous if they did not involve a great 
 stake. The moment I heard the rumour of the evacuation 
 of the Aland Isles I said it was a case of double deceit ; 
 not only did the Russians not intend to evacuate, but they 
 meant to throw in more troops, and so it now appears 
 they have done. And this in the face of a British fleet 
 in the Baltic ! 
 
 " Your pilot has just called on me ; he speaks of your 
 kindness to him and of Mr. Cudlip's, and that he would 
 be ready to go round the world with you. We have just 
 heard of poor Foote's death ; it is very sad, and I hope will 
 be a warning to the officers of the fleet that bar harbours 
 are not to be trifled with in the wretched boats supplied 
 to our ships. 
 
 " With best wishes, 
 
 " Ever yours, 
 
 " John Washington." 
 
 " Elgsnabben, Saturday, April igth. 
 
 " We have had great part of yesterday and all to-day a 
 north-east gale, with rain, sleet, and snow mixed, and the 
 
1854-] HANKERINGS AFTER HANGO. 14I 
 
 thermometer below the freezing-point at night and very 
 
 Httle higher by day. It is just like a very bad winter's 
 
 day at Falklands. The land is patched with white and 
 
 looking very miserable, and yet this ought to be spring, 
 
 if they have such a thing here. The people on shore will 
 
 be very glad, for the weather has been so dry for the last 
 
 month that they feared their growing crops failing. I 
 
 have not been sorry to avoid this dirty weather outside, 
 
 but we should look very foolish if a batch of Russian 
 
 frigates were to push out while we are here and get through 
 
 the Sound, dispersing over the Atlantic. We must be very 
 
 careful now, as the ice must be nearly clear up to Cronstadt. 
 
 There is a report of our going to attack some batteries at 
 
 Hango, the north entrance to the Gulf of Finland ; but 
 
 I can hardly fancy it is true, for there is little advantage 
 
 to be gained ; and, though there are only three batteries, 
 
 mounting less than forty guns, yet before they were 
 
 destroyed we might have two or three ships crippled in 
 
 their masts at least, and with only fourteen sail we cannot 
 
 afford to risk any of them being disabled, when a Russian 
 
 fleet so superior in number may take advantage of it and 
 
 come out. We cannot afford to weaken our force either by 
 
 loss of ships or men, for we have now ships with very 
 
 reduced crews through sickness. The Royal George has 
 
 sixty short of complement and a hundred and twenty on 
 
 the sick-list ; other ships vary from sixty to forty sick ; 
 
 but all are improving. The lower decks of the large ships 
 
 must be bitterly cold. Our men with their comfortable stove 
 
 on the lower deck are, I think, the best off of all, and the 
 
 officers coming here from the large ships' large ward-rooms 
 
 with no stove envy our officers their warm, snug gun-room. 
 
 Yesterday I dined with Buckle in Valorous ; we had a 
 
 regular Falkland evening, for the master was there in 
 
 Champion. . . . 
 
 " There are now no less than forty-one captains command- 
 ing ships in the Baltic, including those we know are on 
 their way out, and of these I come twenty-second in 
 seniority. 
 
 "There is very little done in the fleet in the way of 
 exercise, except at the guns. The smartest ship in the 
 fleet takes four minutes to take in two reefs and furl, but 
 they work their guns much smarter. Shot are flying 
 among the ships through every opening, and firing goes 
 on nearly all day. I have been trying our shrapnel-shells 
 
142 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 from our eighteen-pounders, and at eleven hundred yards 
 burst them beautifully at the target ; so I would not 
 advise a gun-boat to come as close as that to us. But I 
 believe their favourite range is fifteen hundred yards, and 
 they use ricochet firing, their guns being close to the 
 water, and not elevating much. I saw some similar gun- 
 boats at Stockholm ; they mount one eight-inch gun aft 
 and one thirty-two-pounder forward ; they can only fire 
 directly ahead or astern, and they point the gun with the 
 oars ; but a Swedish officer told me they fire very correctly 
 with them. The guns are so low that if the water is 
 smooth the ricochet fire would be very effective, but if 
 there is any sea it must be difficult to fire them at all 
 correctly. They carry sixty men each, who are terribly 
 exposed to shell, but, at a distance at which they could 
 strike a large ship every shot, it would be very difficult to 
 hit them if they were spread far apart, each giving only a 
 small object to fire at. If they came close to us, which 
 they would only do if we got on shore, I think our Minie 
 rifles would tell. Some of our men are getting very good 
 shots with them up to four hundred yards ; our best shots 
 are the stokers, and our best shot with the long guns is a 
 man not long in the navy, who never fired a gun before. 
 
 " Sunday, April y^th. — It seems we are never to have a 
 quiet Sunday. This morning, about four, our signal was 
 made to get up steam, and shortly after the master of the fleet 
 came on board and gave me verbal orders from the chief to 
 take him with a pilot to examine another channel out ; in 
 fact, I was to take a junior officer in this vessel to do the 
 very duty I was sent out to perform, without being con- 
 sulted or even knowing what channel we were going to till 
 I got there. This is certainly the climax of indignity, and 
 if I could do it I would not remain here an hour longer. 
 Not liking to let my feelings influence my conduct to the 
 master of the fleet privately, or of course to delay for a 
 moment the service, I did everything I could to assist him 
 in the work. I found that the channel was one that I had 
 mentioned to the chief the last time I dined with him as 
 a better one — I thought — for the fleet to go out by than 
 that by which they entered, and that of course led to his 
 wishing it examined ; it was therefore more extraordinary 
 his not sending me. I had a long talk with Commodore 
 Seymour ; he also seemed quite to feel that I have been 
 treated very differently from what my position entitled 
 
1854.] "EVERY MAN TO HIS LAST." 1 43 
 
 me. I told him plainly that I could not continue much 
 longer to retain the command if I were treated so that, 
 even in my special piloting duties, a junior officer, who is 
 not a surveyor, was sent in my vessel to do work of the 
 kind without my being consulted in the slightest way or 
 my opinion asked ; in fact, exactly as he would be sent 
 in an admiral's tender or a lieutenant's command. I am 
 not sorry for it, for it must bring things to a crisis, and 
 anything is better than going on as I am. I mean to send 
 the captain of the fleet extracts from Hotham's letters to 
 the Admiralty, asking him to lay them before the chief, in 
 hope that, when he knows how I did similar work before, he 
 may be induced to put more confidence in me, for that if he 
 does not I cannot possibly be the assistance in piloting the 
 fleet that I ought, and that I know the Admiralty expect of 
 me. This is the least I can do, and if that has no effect I 
 must apply to him officially on the subject. 
 
 " You may suppose it has not been very much like 
 Sunday, though we had our regular services before dinner 
 and a very attentive congregation. We go on very steadily 
 — no complaints — and I have not heard an oath in her since 
 I spoke to them about it at Woolwich. 
 
 " Monday, May \st. — I have just heard the sad news of 
 poor Foote of Conflict being drowned with four of his boat's 
 crew off Memel. He is generally lamented, for he was one 
 of the finest fellows in the service. To-day we have had 
 very threatening weather with an exceedingly low glass, 
 and we have wisely kept at anchor. The French ship 
 Austerlitz arrived to day ; she is a lump of a ship, not 
 nearly so handsome as our ninety-gun ships ; she looks like 
 one of our block-ships enlarged. 
 
 "May ■2nd. — Still detained by dirty weather. Arrogant 
 is watching Gulf of Finland ; Esperance off Dager Ort 
 with Archer ; Key with Amphion and Cruiser off southern 
 entrance to Riga ; Euryalus and one or two others some- 
 where else. 
 
 " Evening, 2nd. — Buckle in Valorous and Glasse in Vulture 
 were off early to examine the Aland Islands, reconnoitre 
 Bomarsund, and intercept gun-boats, the very work that 
 Washington in his last letter supposes I have some paddle- 
 steamers doing. Buckle was very anxious to have me 
 with him either in his ship or Lightning, as he said such 
 work was quite new both to him and to Glasse. Every 
 officer commanding steamers but myself has now been 
 
144 WAR WITH RUSSIA. [Ch. VI. 
 
 detached on such work, whilst I am the only one appointed 
 for the purpose ! We are the only vessel that has no pilot 
 at high pay." 
 
 Captain Sulivan had been supplied by the Hydrographer 
 with information and plans respecting Bomarsund, and had 
 received a letter from him soon after the fleet had entered 
 the Baltic with the expression, " We hope by this time you 
 have found your way to Bomarsund and reported on it." 
 The ships sent were too large for the work, and had 
 ultimately to return without accomplishing anything. As 
 mentioned, Captain Buckle had asked the admiral to send 
 Sulivan to pilot his ships. Captain Sulivan told the 
 admiral he had been sent out for these special duties, and 
 tried to explain how useful the surveyors had been in 
 China and in the Parana. But it was all useless. Commo- 
 dore Seymour's support was likewise in vain. Thus, as 
 will be seen, a whole month's valuable time was lost. 
 
 "Admiralty, May ic,th, 1854, 
 
 " My dear Sulivan, — Your note of the 30th is indeed 
 very grievous : to bear slights of that kind is often more 
 difficult than to bear injustice. Yet I say to thee, Bear on, 
 submit, and do so moreover with a good grace and with a 
 smiling face. It is, I well know, hard to do so, but you 
 must handcuff your feelings whether the cuffs are hard or 
 not. Things will soon come round. Washington and I 
 are on the look-out ; but you must endure. The thought 
 of asking for supei'session would in the present position of 
 la chose publique be destruction to you. I have a clear 
 second sight that prejudice and dulness will clear away, and 
 allow your light to shine unshorn by either of those misty 
 clouds. But again I say, or rather entreat you, to bear 
 and forbear. 
 
 "May i6tk. — Since writing the above Sir James Graham 
 has seen and read your note ; and though, as you must well 
 be aware, he cannot interfere in a direct manner, you may 
 be confident that he will not lose sight of your position. 
 
 {Signed) " F. BEAUFORT." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HANGO. 
 " Off Gottska-Sando, May \^th, 1854. 
 
 " My last from Elgsnabben would not have led you to 
 suppose that I should immediately after get into the chiefs 
 good graces ; but the vessel had hardly sailed when I was 
 sent for, and the commodore told me the admiral had 
 received a plan of mine for organising seamen-battalions 
 which he was much pleased with, and was sorry it had not 
 come before they did anything of the kind, and told me 
 they wished me to adapt what had been done as well as I 
 could to my plan. It is rather a hobby of the admiral's 
 landing men as soldiers, so I suppose he was pleased to find 
 others were interested in the same thing. He shortly after 
 came out of his cabin, and, in a very different tone from 
 what he had generally spoken to me, told me to go and 
 read the letter from the Admiralty, as it was very compli- 
 mentary to me, and then, for the first time since I joined 
 him, spoke to me of my proper duties, asked me about 
 buoying the shoals, and said he should soon want me at my 
 work, and actually ordered Mr. Evans back to the ship — all, 
 I believe, through the impulse of the moment, because he 
 was pleased with a thing that had no bearing in any way 
 on my duties here. You will recollect in my last that I 
 had suggested to the admiral to take the fleet out by the 
 wide channel south of Danziger Gatt, where you will see 
 35 and 31 in the chart. Had he done so he would 
 have saved himself and others plenty of anxiety and his 
 fleet from a great I'isk that it is wonderful they all escaped 
 from. We sailed, or rather steamed, on the 6th, losing 
 the whole of a beautiful afternoon. After the steam was 
 up, by making each ship's signal separately to weigh, when 
 the one before had got about half a mile off, it took three 
 hours to start the whole ; and just after the last ship had 
 started, and we were all spread over the length of the 
 
 145 10 
 
146 HANGO. [Ch. VII. 
 
 channel from Elgsnabben to Landsort, where there is either 
 no anchorage or very deep water, one of these Bahic fogs 
 rolled in from sea, and completely hid the ships from each 
 other, with narrow passages between islands and rocks to 
 find their way through. Half the fleet had passed my 
 channel before it came on. Had the admiral taken my 
 advice, they would have been out through it safely, instead 
 of being caught in the very worst part with miles to go 
 to Landsort passage. We kept sight of the flag-ship by 
 keeping close on her bow, and when we were abreast 
 of this channel they hailed me to haul out through it 
 ahead of her. I hoped the next ship would see us and 
 follow, and so on the others ; but it was too thick, though 
 James Watt and the French ship were close behind us. 
 We were in a few minutes out of all danger and at 
 sea, while the others were all going on through the very 
 worst part, and, to add to our troubles, it came on to blow 
 hard in the night, and at daylight only Lightning and 
 Duke were together, and it was blowing a gale from 
 S.S.E. right in on the passage. The chief has since told 
 me he never passed such an anxious night in his life, 
 as he thought it impossible all could escape ; and so did I. 
 About noon we saw several ships to windward, and the sea 
 got up so heavily that, seeing we were half buried keeping 
 alongside Duke, they made our signal, ' Act to the best of 
 your judgment' I instantly bore up again for the passage, 
 thinking it much better to lie in a comfortable anchorage 
 than knock about outside, and I was also anxious to know 
 if any ships had got on shore. The barometer being very 
 low, I thought the gale would last some time, and, the da,y 
 following being Sunday, I hoped to lay quiet inside till 
 Monday. We found a tremendous sea running in among 
 the islands and the rocks forming the channel ; but when I 
 got inside I saw that several ships had put back and were 
 lying comfortably in their old anchorage, and I also learnt 
 that not the slightest accident had happened. Out of all 
 the ships only three liners and one steamer failed to get 
 out. How they escaped is most surprising. At the worst 
 point of the channel the steamer towing Neptune, the 
 James Watt, and the Frenchman found themselves huddled 
 together, yet they kept clear ; Neptune and the Frenchman 
 got out safely, /«;«^j Watt ^<t\.'dn% back to the anchorage. 
 The steamer towing Monarch was running right on to a 
 small island, and hauled off so suddenly that she snapped 
 
l854-] THE FLEET IN DANGER. 1 47 
 
 both hawsers ; but the Monarch was got under sail quick 
 enough to keep her clear, and she also got back to 
 Elgsnabben. It is most creditable to so new a fleet that 
 in such a trying position all managed to escape accident. 
 There was so much sea running at the anchorage that I 
 determined to try a nice little cove inside, and I found it a 
 most excellent place, but so small that we had to moor." 
 
 [A later note says : — 
 
 " No fleet was ever in a more trying position, and the 
 way every ship was taken care of in such a place in a thick 
 fog shows that the officers were much more competent 
 than the admiral allows. The badly manned Monarch 
 was got out of great danger by skill and promptness, 
 Captain Erskine being one of our best officers.] 
 
 " We rejoined the fleet in the afternoon of Sunday with 
 most beautiful weather, and the chief ordered me to go and 
 join Arrogant off Hango, and to examine the anchorage at 
 Hango and Wormso, the one at the north entrance to the 
 gulf, the other eastward of Dago Island on the south. In 
 the middle of the night, when off Dago Island, we saw a 
 vessel, evidently a steamer, standing to the westward about 
 a mile from us, with three masts, but only a square 
 fore-topsail. Knowing we had no steamer so rigged, and 
 that no merchant-steamer could be coming down the gulf, 
 I really feared she was a Russian on the look-out for us, 
 and my fears were not lessened when I twice made the first 
 portion of the private night signal without her answering 
 it. We were then passing her ; but knowing I could not 
 leave her without ascertaining if she was an enemy's 
 vessel or not, I turned round, took our sails in, and went 
 to quarters. To add to my doubts, though she did not 
 answer the signal, she fired a gun, and afterwards hoisted 
 lights, but not the right ones. When we were quite 
 ready we stood towards her, and in the half-light night, 
 as we neared her, saw that she set a main -topsail, and 
 was one of our own steamers cruising — Desperate. She 
 had never noticed our signals, and she was making what 
 she thought the private signal to us, but for the wrong 
 day ! I assure you I was not sorry to find her a friend, 
 for there can be no Russian steamer that is not four 
 times our force, so that we must have been taken had she 
 
148 HANGO. [Ch. VII. 
 
 been an enemy.* We joined Arrogant with my old mess- 
 mate Henry (now called Yelverton) in Undaunted, Ryder in 
 Dauntless and Hall in Hecla, all off Hango, and we all 
 dined together with Henry, who is really a most excellent 
 hand for all the work he has been doing. He has been for 
 a long time keeping a look-out on the shores of the gulf on 
 both sides as high as Revel, sometimes alone, occasionally 
 with a second vessel, and one could not have a more 
 excellent, pleasant senior officer to serve under. William 
 Sulivan is gunnery lieutenant of her, and Henry speaks very 
 well of him. In the evening it was arranged that I should 
 keep Dauntless with me as a body-guard, and also to 
 assist me in finding the rocks we want to put buoys on, by 
 anchoring near, so that we could work round her. Henry 
 (Yelverton), with Hall, was going to try to get into a place 
 near, where they could stop vessels passing with material 
 for new batteries at Hango. We spent several hours in 
 sounding round the rock off Hango, and put a large red 
 buoy on it. We afterwards got some soundings in the 
 roads, and then anchored as near to the batteries as we could 
 venture, to get a sketch of them. We were two thousand 
 eight hundred yards off, but they did not fire at us, so I 
 suppose they have no long-range guns. They all seemed in 
 good order, and had sand-bags on the parapet on each side of 
 every gun. This the sketch will explain to you ; and if you 
 look at the plan below, you will see how from our anchorage 
 we saw the four forts in the position of the sketch. B fort is 
 new, and I think not yet complete. Of course there is no 
 strength beyond what a few of our ships could destroy in a 
 short time, but it is a question whether any advantage is to 
 be gained by it, worth even the damage done to a few 
 ships, and the few lives that would be lost. The large fort 
 could, I think, be destroyed by shell at a long range. 
 
 " I then landed on an island the other side, and had 
 a good shot at the fort with a four-inch — theodolite I 
 Having seen all I wanted to see there, I left about 
 10 p.m. with Dauntless, and ran across for Wormso Sound, 
 which is the anchorage inside the Stapelbotten bank off 
 Wormso Island. Sir James Saumarez, with his fleet, 
 used to lie there and get plenty of supplies from Dago 
 
 * A seaman of the Desperate afterwards told my brother of the feeling 
 of admiration the men entertained for the behaviour of Lightning on 
 this occasion, the little vessel fearlessly dashing up close to her possible 
 big antagonist ! — Ed. 
 
I854-] WORMSO ANCHORAGE. 1 49 
 
 Island. We spent the next day (nth) in sounding the 
 banks and putting small buoys on their ends : I feared 
 to put large ones till our ships go there, as they might 
 be removed or sunk. In the evening, wishing to see if 
 the passage by Wormso Island was protected by batteries, 
 I stood in and saw them working very hard at telegraphs 
 newly erected on every point ; but I could see no guns 
 or works of any kind, so we ran in close to the shore, 
 where there is a large village of poor houses, I fear 
 quite deserted. It was inhabited by a colony of Swedes. 
 There was an officer at the telegraph, with a party of 
 men who did not appear to be soldiers. I could easily 
 have destroyed the telegraph, but did not wish to let 
 them think I was firing at a few men in such a position ; 
 and, did we land to destroy it, we knew they would 
 instantly remove all but the post and then bolt, as they 
 did at a place nearer Revel, where Arrogant s men landed. 
 They saw one man, whom they tried, by virtue of 
 showing him a sovereign, to induce to bring two sheep. 
 The man left, and the first lieutenant and doctor went 
 a little way inland, till, seeing something shining over 
 some bushes, they found themselves watched by two 
 dragoons with brass helmets, who were behind the 
 bushes. They made the best of their way to the boat, 
 and were not pursued : perhaps a fear of their revolvers 
 had something to do with it. In the morning Ryder, 
 with the master of Dauntless, came on board before 
 breakfast, and remained till we anchored with her inside 
 the banks in the evening, when I dined with him. The 
 difference between the work I had been at before, and 
 such pleasant days at my proper work, with such pleasant 
 men and old friends as Henry and Ryder, you may readily 
 fancy. It made me wish to remain away altogether ; 
 though we had plenty of work, for with so little night 
 we were obliged to be up early, and in three nights and 
 days I only got nine hours' sleep. 
 
 "The next morning (12th) being calm, I took Dauntless 
 in tow, to take her out to the Apollon Shoal, which you 
 will see ten miles outside. We spent all the day in 
 sounding over it, and found it much longer than in the 
 charts, the two ends being the worst parts, and three 
 miles apart. It was very foggy nearly all day, so that 
 we were delayed a little. We put one of the large cone- 
 shaped buoys on the north end, with a large A painted 
 
ISO HANGO. [Ch. VII. 
 
 in white on its head. I am going to put all black buoys 
 on the south side of the gulf, and red on the north ; and 
 where different colours or marks are necessary, have them 
 white and black on the south, and red and white on the 
 north. I also put a small one on the other end. I think 
 these are too far from the shore for any one to touch them 
 or even find out they are there. Having finished about 
 5 p.m., I left Ryder to find his way back, when- fog and 
 calm allowed him (you must know that the screw-steamers 
 never get up steam except in cases of emergency, and 
 they act quite as sailing-vessels), and steamed through 
 a dense fog back to Hango, guided by occasional guns 
 that I thought must be fired by Arrogant as fog-signals. 
 About ten at night I ran alongside Arrogant. Henry 
 agreed with me that I had better return to the admiral, 
 as there was no other place I could examine but Revel, 
 or rather the Nargen anchorage off Revel, and it was not 
 safe for me to go so near Helsingfors without a larger 
 force. I think that is the best anchorage for our fleet; 
 and Yelverton was also anxious to go there, and would 
 have taken all four ships, but did not like to do so without 
 the admiral's consent. . . . 
 
 " I find the comfort of having Evans back, as now 
 I have a real assistant. The chief would not let me go 
 to Nargen, but said we must go there with a large force. 
 He asked me to dinner, and, as I have done before, I 
 remained and dined in a frock-coat, so he is not over- 
 particular." 
 
 I here add the following later note on this subject : — 
 
 "We (Yelverton, etc.) knew that the ice had long dis- 
 appeared, and that Sweaborg ought to be reconnoitred ; 
 but the admiral had given positive orders that we should 
 not go above a certain point without his permission. I 
 therefore returned to the fleet with a request from Captain 
 Yelverton to the admiral that he would allow me to go up 
 and reconnoitre Sweaborg, if he would not come up with 
 the fleet ; but urging him at the same time to bring the 
 fleet up at once to the fine anchorage of Nargen opposite 
 Sweaborg. This would, I am sure, have been done had 
 not the officer to whom I have already alluded pre- 
 vented it by assuring the admiral in my presence that 
 it was not safe to take the fleet up yet, and that Nargen 
 (which he knew nothing of) was an unsafe anchorage. It 
 
1854-] NEGLECT TO EXAMINE SWEABORG. 151 
 
 was in vain that I mentioned the Hydrographer having 
 told me it was the finest anchorage for a fleet in the gulf, 
 and that my father * who had been first lieutenant of the 
 brig that led Nelson's flieet into it, had told me the same. 
 The adverse influence was too strong, and thus the chance 
 was lost of reconnoitring Sweaborg in good time to have 
 sent home for mortars and bombarded it that year." 
 
 If Admiral Seymour had been allowed to exercise his 
 proper influence as captain of the fleet from the com- 
 mencement, or had any of such masters as Stokes 
 Moriarty, Bodie, Hill, Allen, Blakey, Scott, or Evans been 
 in the position of master of the fleet that year, working 
 cordially with Captain Sulivan, as any one of them would 
 have done, and as some did on many occasions, and as Mr. 
 Baker, the master of the Gorgon, had done throughout the 
 Parana expedition — for which he was made a commander 
 — this loss of time would have been saved. Captain 
 Sulivan said he never forgot the tremulous excitement of 
 Sir Charles Napier, when, after listening to the opposite 
 opinions of his two advisers, he said with trembling lips, 
 " What am I to do when you two, whom I ought to trust 
 to, give me directly opposite opinions ? " It was a mis- 
 fortune for the admiral and the service that he had in 
 such a position an officer who, instead of helping to give 
 him confidence when he was so anxious about the safety 
 of his ships, seemed to delay his movements and to 
 encourage his weakness. 
 
 " I have always tried to impress on the commodore, 
 and once I spoke to the chief of, the power we possess 
 of shelling at long range any large space, such as a 
 fortress or mole, with the ships' long-shell guns, heavy 
 sixty-pounders ; that our ships would be comparatively 
 safe from their fire, instancing Hope shelling a lamp out 
 at nearly four thousand yards with his two sixty-eight- 
 
 * Rear- Admiral T. B. Sulivan, C.B. 
 
1 52 HANGO. [Ch. VII. 
 
 pounders. Directly the commodore read the account of 
 Odessa, he turned to me and said, ' This proves the 
 correctness of all you have been saying on the subject.' I 
 think we shall be trying something of the same kind." 
 
 "Hango Bay, May 22nd, 1854."" 
 
 " My last left us with the fleet off Gottska-Sando. 
 Soon after the screw-steamer left, the chief left Adrniral 
 Corry with half the fleet, and with nine sail of the screw- 
 liners, including Austerlitz and some paddle-steamers, 
 started for this place. On our way I went to examine 
 an American vessel direct from Cronstadt three days 
 before, and the information we got from him was so im- 
 portant that the chief sent me back to bring him on board, 
 with her owner, who was also there. They left twenty-one 
 sail of the line ready for sea at Cronstadt, four more 
 fitting, some frigates, etc., and thirteen steamers. They 
 took their shot and powder the day before he left. At 
 Helsingfors they have fifteen sail of the line and a pro- 
 portion of other vessels, so that they have in all forty ; 
 but every harbour-ship has, I think, been fitted out to 
 make a show, and they say that they are not coming out, 
 as they cannot contend with the English ships, unless we 
 first knock our ships to pieces against their batteries, and 
 then they can finish us. . . . 
 
 " We reached this (Hango) three days since, and yesterday 
 (Sunday), very early, I was ordered to go and put buoys 
 down on the rocks outside the entrance, the enemy having 
 cut away the one I put down a fortnight since. In going 
 towards one rock we struck against the side of another, 
 not in the chart, with only about five feet of water on it. 
 The sun was ahead, so the man at the mast-head would 
 not see the rock. We hit it a hard crack, but glanced off 
 it, heeling over a good deal, at the time the man was 
 hauling in the lead-line, having just had twenty-five 
 fathoms, and we were going very slow. 
 
 " On our return from this about midday, the chief said 
 he wanted me to go and try to get in behind the island 
 near the forts, to have a good look at them, and see if 
 any ships could get behind them ; but I must give you 
 
 * There seems to have been a sketch attached to this letter, showing 
 all the positions referred to. But this having been lost, some of the 
 points mentioned cannot be marked on the plan of Hango Bay. — Ed. 
 
1854.] 
 
 A NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 153 
 
 an idea of the place, so that you may put it before you as 
 you read. 
 
 " We went round from the fleet outside the outer islands, 
 and anchored where I have marked +, Lightning, and I then 
 went in my gig to try and have a close look at the forts 
 from the rocky islands, behind which the boat could lay 
 out of sight. Not seeing anything as close as I could wish, 
 I thought I \\-ould go on Ryson Island, close to the large 
 fort of thirty-one guns, and as it is wooded I thought I 
 
 A B 
 
 -^^ 
 
 _>^ 
 
 Scale of I Mile 
 
 5 ro Cables 
 
 4^n 
 
 Do man S -~ v-' 
 
 o 
 
 Gust . ad.Fast^^ f. 
 IGustafsauarcl Co 
 
 I 
 
 ° Han g 
 
 ^ 
 
 might easily conceal myself from those in the fort. I 
 thought there might be men watching me from the island, 
 and had doubts about going there, until I saw on one of 
 the highest of the low stunted trees a hawk perched — that 
 made me think no one could be there, and I foolishly 
 pulled round into a channel not fifty yards wide ; but just 
 as I was about to land, I felt that perhaps I was wrong, 
 as there might be risk, and I could perhaps see what I 
 wanted from another island. It was indeed Providence 
 watching over me and the boat's crew ; for as we went on 
 and pulled out of the narrow channel, we saw a party 
 
1 54 HANGO. [Ch. VII. 
 
 of soldiers running along the shore of Ryson Island to 
 cut us off. You may suppose we pulled hard, and they 
 ran as hard ; but by the time they reached the point of 
 the island, we were nearly four hundred yards off. I 
 feared they were riflemen ; and when I saw them form up, 
 and their muskets flashing in the sun, I thought they 
 would give us a volley, and took up a Mini6 rifle in the 
 stern-sheets to return it ; but they never fired, so I took 
 off my cap to them instead. Had we been three minutes 
 later, we must have been all shot in the narrow channel, as 
 the rocks quite overlooked it within thirty or forty yards. 
 I ought to have known better than to put a boat in such 
 a position. Even if I had landed, I ought to have pulled 
 outside, and not risked the boat in a narrow creek. Had 
 I landed, I must have been either killed or taken prisoner. 
 It was indeed a most merciful Providence that made me 
 turn away at the moment I was going to land. My boat 
 had evidently been seen from the thirty-one-gun fort, and 
 the meji had been sent across : as I saw them go back in a 
 large boat I counted twenty-two of them. 
 
 " I then crossed to an island, where I had a capital look 
 at the batteries. I crawled along to the summit, and, with 
 the glass resting on the rock, saw everything beautifully. 
 The soldiers were crowding on every high rock near them, 
 but they never attempted to fire any of the guns. I took 
 care to have a good steep rock at hand to get behind when 
 I saw the flash, had they done so. 
 
 " The forts marked 4 and 6 guns I had only seen 
 that morning from the Duke's topmast-head. We had not 
 known of them before ; so wishing to have a good look 
 at them, I went to the top of another little island, 
 from which I saw into the rear of the forts, one pointing 
 to the eastward, the other to the westward. As soon as 
 they saw me, they shoved off a large boat full of soldiers, 
 who landed on a small island opposite to where I was, 
 so I wished them good-bye and got away before they 
 reached the summit, as it was within musket-shot. I then 
 returned, sounding as I came out, and we ran round to 
 the fleet. I reported to the admiral that I could place 
 four steamers, so that they could shell the thirty-one-gun 
 battery, at a range of about two thousand two hundred 
 yards, and that there would be only two guns bearing 
 that way, while we could take all the chief fronts of 
 the forts in flank and rear ; that the same ships could 
 
l8S4] THE RIGHT WAY TO ATTACK. I 55 
 
 afterwards shell the ten-gun battery ; while two others, 
 or two of the same, could move on, and shell the 
 flank and rear of the six- and four-gun batteries, where 
 not a gun would bear on the ship. I also pointed out a 
 position from which the fort could be flanked by two 
 vessels through an opening to the eastward of Ryson 
 Island. He seemed determined to try it, and ordered 
 me to go to the eastward and find Iinp^rieuse, with the 
 three paddle-steamers with her, and bring them back with 
 me. Mind, I never gave any advice as to whether this 
 place should be attacked or not — I have all along felt that 
 if we did it most effectually it would be of little use to 
 us, and not worth the risk, the loss, and the ammunition 
 expended. All I have been anxious about is that, if it 
 is to be attacked, care may be taken to do it in the most 
 careful way, so as to have as little loss and damage as 
 possible. 
 
 " I returned this morning with the steamers, and was 
 ordered by the chief to go round again and look at the 
 channels and batteries. I took Nugent, the lieutenant of 
 Engineers, with me, as he never gets sent anywhere, and has 
 only got out of Duke when I have Jisked for him to come 
 with me. We went round and anchored just out of shot, 
 and pulled up in the gig under a little island, from which 
 we got a capital look into the six- and four-gun batteries. 
 When we. were lying flat on the top of the island, peeping 
 with our glasses over the ridge, we saw them all watching 
 us, and at last turn a gun towards us. I had seen them 
 do it the day before ; but they did not elevate it enough 
 to reach me — that I could see distinctly- — so I did not 
 move ; but this time, while watching them, I saw its 
 muzzle rise quite high enough ; so I jumped up and called 
 Nugent to come, and we walked back a few yards, giving 
 them a full view of us, to a nice high over-hanging rock, 
 which we were under before a shot could have reached us ; 
 but they did not fire- — not 1 suppose, being ready in time. 
 We were about twelve hundred yards off', and about a 
 thousand yards from the other forts, but looking at their 
 flanks. I wonder they did not try the Minie rifles. We 
 then went on, when, to my surprise, I saw Dragon come 
 in and anchor only sixteen hundred yards from the large 
 fort, and shortly after begin to fire. I hurried back, 
 supposing I should have to bring in more steamers, as it 
 seemed madness placing one alone at a distance that the 
 
156 HANGO. [Ch. VII. 
 
 forts could so easily hit, and I saw the shot striking her, 
 as we went back a little outside her. I was ordered to take 
 Magicienne and Basilisk under my orders, and take them 
 where I proposed. I went on in Magicienne (as the other 
 had to get her steam up), and anchored her where she saw 
 into the flank and rear of the large fort at two thousand one 
 hundred yards. Two guns from that fort and the two on 
 the flank of the ten-gun battery fired at her, but the shot 
 fell a hundred yards short, while her large ten-inch gun threw 
 the shell into the fort. They burst a few shells well over 
 Magicienne — I think from a mortar ; but none struck her. 
 I then went back in my boat to meet Basilisk, and found 
 Lightning close to Dragon. She had brought down the 
 master of the fleet, who had first placed Dragon there, 
 and certainly made a great mistake, as she was six 
 hundred yards nearer than I proposed to place the shelling- 
 steamers ; and though she hit the fort well, her shell made 
 no impression on the stone walls or the earthen parapet. 
 If they had been fired a little farther off, and so dropped 
 into the fort, they would have been more effective. She 
 had then a number of shot in her hull, one man killed and 
 one wounded, and one shot close to her shell-room under 
 water. I waited in Lightning till the master of the fleet 
 returned, and then went on in her to meet Basilisk ; and 
 just as I was taking her close to Magicienne, intending to 
 place her so as to flank the six- and four-gun batteries, 
 our signal was made to return, and mine to bring back 
 Magicienne, and Dragon's to haul out. It was a perfect 
 bungle, intended, I believe, only to try the range for 
 shelling ; but the Dragon having been improperly placed 
 so close made it look like a serious attack. I hope it 
 is not going to be attacked, for it is not worth to us the 
 loss and' damage the ships would meet with ; and, if he 
 sends smaller ships in, they will be beaten, and the large 
 ships will be obliged to join, and so compromise the whole 
 squadron, and then, perhaps, let the fifteen sail of the line 
 from Helsingfors, sixty miles off, come down on us while 
 our ten sail are damaged, and have expended half their 
 powder and shot, etc. 
 
 "Monday, i^rd. — I have just been hauling a prize (not 
 ours) off the rocks, and I hear the chief is really going to 
 send in the block-ships and smaller ones to silence the 
 batteries. I hope not, for the heavy battery has the guns so 
 well mounted, the men out of sight, and a high parapet, that 
 
I854-] THE WRONG WAY. I 57 
 
 it may do great damage to several ships, if not beat them. 
 That we must destroy it in the end is certain, but at a loss 
 and risk that it is not worth. I believe the fact oi Arrogant 
 and Hecla having silenced a battery on the coast and 
 brought out a vessel makes him anxious to try it ; but they 
 were small guns badly mounted. They did it very well, 
 and only suffered from rifle -balls from numerous troops. . . . 
 
 " I only wish the chief would try the effect of shelling the 
 forts from every large gun in the fleet before putting ships 
 alongside them. If we even silence the forts, and do not 
 take possession and totally destroy them, we only do half 
 our work, as they will soon repair them ; and as they have 
 the mainland commanding the inner roads, they may drive 
 our ships out, even if we have totally destroyed the forts, 
 by bringing guns on the rise of land thickly wooded, and 
 firing at long range on the anchorage. 
 
 " The great mistake in placing the Dragon was, I think, 
 made by the master of the fleet, from his ignorance of the 
 
 principles of gunnery ; for when I gave the admiral the 
 report in the morning, and pointed out that I would place 
 two steamers in that line at two thousand two hundred 
 yards' range, he said that the master of the fleet had found 
 a place where a steamer could be sheltered from the fire of 
 the fort behind an island, and that was the reason he 
 placed her so near, and did not seem to understand it 
 till I explained to him that a low island was no protection 
 against guns on shore when they had the range, while it 
 might prevent the ship hitting the fort from not seeing it 
 with the sight, and that as the shot leaves the gun so much 
 more horizontally than it falls, an island might actually 
 prevent the ship firing, and yet the fort might hit her 
 over it. . . . 
 
 " I am sorry he has done anything at all here, as it is a 
 petty kind of warfare for such a fleet." 
 
 "Hango, May 2i,ih, 1854. 
 
 " The admiral sent for me this morning, and I had a long 
 talk with him about the forts, etc., and was glad to find 
 
I S 8 HANGO. [Ch. VII. 
 
 that he had no intention of sending the ships in against 
 them. But he seemed inclined still to try shelling at long 
 range on the large fort, and asked me where the block -ships 
 and steamers could be placed, so that he has fallen back on 
 what I first suggested ; and had not the Dragon been so 
 imprudently placed where she was and so got mauled, it 
 would have been all right, and I believe he would not have 
 fired a shot at all, which is certainly his best plan. The 
 master of the fleet was present part of the time, and said 
 that I was right. I had advised two thousand two hun- 
 dred yards, and it was entirely his own doing that the 
 distance was altered. The poor chief is really too shaky, 
 nervous, and borne down by the responsibility to have 
 such a charge on him. He has no plans or system, but the 
 impulse of the moment alone guides him, and I trust we 
 may have no serious thing to do, requiring careful plans 
 and system. He is now thinking of Bomarsund ; but that 
 is a stronger place, and would be far more difficult to attack. 
 " 1 have been again with the chief for some time, and 
 he has been asking me a great deal about attacking the 
 batteries, where to place the ships, etc. Shortly after 1 
 was talking to the commodore about it, and telling him 
 how I hoped the chief would not risk the ships for such a 
 thing. I said that guns mounted as these were in their 
 batteries would be very destructive to ships before they 
 could be silenced. You recollect my dispute and corre- 
 spondence about the Plymouth batteries, and my giving a 
 decided opinion that guns mounted in a certain way ought 
 to beat. any ships. These guns are mounted exactly in the 
 way I said was the best. They are thirty-three feet above 
 the water, behind a high parapet, the upper part of which 
 is earth, no embrasures, and the men's heads not seen. 
 There would be nothing but the muzzles of the guns 
 showing, and from their height the lower guns of the ships 
 could hardly see them, while the upper part of the ships 
 would get every shot. We could, of course, with our force, 
 destroy them all, but with far greater injury and loss to us 
 than they are worth, as the ships that went alongside 
 them would probably have to go home to repair. The 
 large ship that went against the chief fort could not expect 
 to escape without a hundred killed and wounded, and we 
 want every ship and every man, in case the Russian fleet 
 comes out. The commodore said Admiral Chads' opinion 
 coincided exactly with mine, and he hoped that I had told 
 
1 854-] SHIPS V. FORTS. I S9 
 
 the admiral so. I said that I had not had a chance, as he had 
 never asked me whether it was worth attacking, or if the 
 ships would be much damaged, but merely where ships 
 could be best placed to attack it, and that 1 had feared to 
 volunteer an opinion on a point on which he had not 
 asked it. Just after the chief came up on the poop for me 
 to point out more things to him, and he asked me plainly, 
 ' Don't you think this ship would soon knock down that 
 fort? ' I said it would be very difficult, as the solid 
 masonry of granite would be difficult to batter, and that I 
 thought the damage and loss to the ships would be of more 
 importance than the place was worth. He said that was 
 the real question, and we had a long talk about it. I think 
 he will not do anything more, as he must see that perfect 
 success here can have no bearing on the important points 
 of the war, whilst it might compromise our superiority at 
 sea. We have here only ten sail of the line, and fifteen 
 of theirs are at Helsingfors, six hours' sail off, and the 
 Cronstadt ones, of which fifteen at least are sea-going ships, 
 are only a few hours more with this strong easterly wind; 
 so we certainly ought not to risk our ships. Had there 
 been a squadron here inside, then it would be our duty to 
 destroy the forts to get at them, and they are not too strong 
 to prevent our doing it, if anything like the destruction of 
 a squadron could be secured by it. 
 
 " I hope none of you ever speak of anything I say about 
 the admiral or the fleet out of the family. If I were not 
 confident this would be attended to by all, I should be 
 afraid to write one-half I do. 
 
 " 2^th. — I have been again for hours with the chief, who is 
 on board the ship, and sends for me every now and then. 
 He is still reluctant to give up the idea of attacking this 
 place. He asked me if I thought the large fort could stand 
 out for a moment against the fire of the Duke. 1 said 
 that of course she, with other ships, could soon destroy 
 it, but that she would probably suffer severely first, and 
 other ships also, and perhaps have to go home for repairs, 
 particularly if her lower masts were disabled. He allowed 
 that the fear of the ship's lower masts was the most 
 against it ; but as to going home for repairs, ' Why, no ship 
 had to go home from Acre.' ' No, sir ; but at Acre they 
 could not hit a line-of-battle ship at eight hundred yards ; 
 here they hit the end of a small steamer at one thou- 
 sand five hundred yards. We must compare it more with 
 
1 60 HANGO. [Ch. VII. 
 
 Algiers, where every ship was much damaged.' I then 
 urged him, if he thought fit, to try every heavy gun in the 
 squadron shelling at a long range, and so at least greatly 
 shake it. I fear he will not be satisfied without trying it. 
 
 " Two deserters came in a punt about twenty miles last 
 night from near Degero, above Hango. The long creek to 
 Baro above it is the place -where Arrogant and Hecla had their 
 fight. I breakfasted with Yelverton and got all particulars. 
 Arrogant grounded in the entrance just as she had 
 destroyed the battery of four twenty-four-pounders. The 
 Russian horse artillery had been most gallantly galloped 
 down and unlimbered on the open beach under her fire 
 within three hundred yards ; but our ships knocked over 
 so many men that they galloped the horses down again 
 to try to limber up under fire, and two guns were upset, 
 one in the water. Several horses were killed, and at last 
 the Russians cut the traces and left the two guns. The 
 Arrogant got her anchors out and hove off, keeping the 
 fire of the rifles down with grape. They saw one officer 
 on horseback cut in two by a round-shot, and the deserter 
 says it was the major commanding. They brought out 
 the one vessel ; two others were aground, and they could 
 have burnt them ; but I was glad to hear Yelverton say 
 that he had not the heart to do so, as it could do them 
 no good, and only perhaps ruin a poor man. Ekness 
 was at his mercy, and they saw women and children flying 
 from it and collecting outside, many well-dressed ladies 
 among them, and the people removing their things. I said 
 I wished he had sent a flag-of-truce in to say they had 
 nothing to fear, as we should not fire at a defenceless 
 town ; and he wishes he had done something of the kind. 
 But I fear the old chief will not approve of any such 
 Christian-like mode of conducting war, for he thinks 
 Yelverton ought to have demanded the vessels on shore, 
 or knocked the town down, if they were not given up ; but 
 he agreed with me that nothing should induce him to fire 
 a shot at defenceless houses, women, and children. The 
 deserters are from gun-boats sent down there, and they say 
 that three hundred of their troops were killed (this perhaps 
 included wounded), and the next day all the inhabitants 
 were ordered out of the town, so that they might burn it 
 if a ship came again. 
 
 " Though several round-shot struck both vessels, no one 
 was hurt, except by rifle-bullets. The man in Arrogant (the 
 
l854-] "arrogant" and " HECLa's " ACTION. l6l 
 
 captain of the gun) was killed by a ball on the main-deck 
 through the port. It seems to have been a well-done 
 thing b}- Yelverton and Hall. Hall led, and got several 
 shots from the battery in his bows ; but when Arrogant got 
 up in the narrow channel, and turned round about three 
 hundred yards off, she gave it a broadside that completely 
 silenced it It was a temporary battery hastily constructed. 
 Hall has certainly opened the business ; and having a 
 small but well-armed steamer, he will be in the best 
 position possible. He said it was fortunate for us we 
 had not remained with them, as having no bulwarks we 
 must have been terribly exposed to the rifle-balls, which 
 came like hail. It is a hint for us, and I shall take care, if 
 we go near the shore, to have a good barricade of our 
 hammocks, boxes, bags, etc., so as to be as much sheltered 
 as if we had high bulwarks.* 
 
 " The deserters also said that on the island sheep and 
 cattle may be bought, and that there are no soldiers or arms 
 there. So the admiral ordered me to go directly, taking 
 men with me and the purser of the flag-ship, on a foraging 
 expedition, and the men recommended one of the large 
 islands outside Degero. The admiral was very urgent that 
 I should not go near any armed people or risk being 
 fired on, and I assured him I was quite as anxious on that 
 head, but that there was little fear of our not keeping out 
 of the way, unless in a new place we got on shore and the 
 gun-boats came out ; so he has sent Gorgon with me, and 
 we are only waiting till the weather moderates. There 
 were poor Russian prisoners on board, taken in one of the 
 merchant-ships, and the deserter Finn interpreted for them. 
 They thought they were going to be shot, and the terror 
 of a poor fellow in a sheep-skin coat was almost amusing : 
 he said he had a mother, and he hoped we would let him 
 go back to her. The poor fellow shook with terror, and 
 pressed his hands to his chest as if in pain, and it was some 
 time before we could convince him he was not to be shot, 
 particularly as a party of marines were exercising on the 
 deck above, and he could see them up the hatchway. 
 They seemed to see that the officers with most stripes on 
 their sleeves were the great men, and, directly one came 
 near, down they went on their knees and put their heads 
 on the deck ; and when at last they were ordered into the 
 
 * What about the small craft of the present day in this respect ?— Ed. 
 
 J I 
 
1 62 HANGO. [Ch. VII. 
 
 chief's cabin, they went down with such a flop that I 
 thought they had broken their knees and heads. They 
 looked much less terrified when they came out, and had 
 been assured that when we went higher up they should 
 be landed near where they had been taken. 
 
 " To return. We went up the channel to Elgo Island, and 
 I soon found these men knew nothing about the place, 
 and that on the island where they wanted me to go 
 there were two Russian telegraph stations. So at last I 
 sent them to see what they could get in their own punt, 
 telling them to tell the people they should be paid for 
 everything they liked to sell. I then went in the gig 
 with six men and Evans (all of course well armed), to 
 see what I could pick up myself, and we soon came to an 
 island, where in a little cove I saw several cows. I thought 
 I saw some one ; so I landed and went in alone, thinking 
 that would show they need not fear ; but I could find 
 nothing but cows, and no sign of dwellings. Feeling sure 
 the people would not have left their cows behind if they 
 had fled, we pulled round the island till we came to some 
 sheep and lambs on a point, and shortly after to a pretty 
 cove among islands, where were several boats and nets 
 and four or five cottages. As we pulled in I waved a 
 white handkerchief, and soon we saw some heads peeping 
 through a window, and as I landed one young woman 
 walked down and met me, evidently in great alarm, and 
 she looked dreadfully frightened as I shook hands with 
 her ; then two more came out, equally frightened. (I 
 had a good interpreter with me.) On going into the 
 house, it was a most painful scene ! One poor old woman 
 got up in a corner, put up her hands in an agony of terror, 
 and cried bitterly. On a bed in a corner, huddled up, 
 were three young women, also crying, and in all there 
 were about eight or nine, including one girl of about 
 twelve. It took some time quite to reassure them. They 
 said they had been told we should murder them all if 
 we came, and destroy all their property. The men had 
 all been taken to work at new batteries where Arrogant 
 and Hecla had been ; and, when the women saw me pulling 
 in on the opposite side, they ran away, and all from the four 
 houses collected in this one room for safety. They were 
 in the act of heating a large brick oven to bake a batch 
 of rye bread, enough to last a fortnight. The loaves are 
 flat, about a foot in diameter, and have a hole in the 
 
I854-] FINNISH PEASANTS. 1 63 
 
 middle, through which they are strung on a stick. The 
 women soon went on raking out the fire and putting the 
 loaves in, and I got some potatoes to roast in the ashes. 
 They had a bullock and some sheep they would sell ; so I 
 sent off for the purser of the flag-ship, and a boat and the 
 butcher from Basilisk. The women were all clean, modest- 
 looking people, though very poor, and they were com- 
 fortably dressed, some in English materials, and some in 
 home-made. They could read, but had only a Prayer 
 Book and an English Psalter. Freshwater, my coxswain, 
 just reminded me of the Swedish tracts, and that made me 
 ask if they had a Bible, but they had only the Psalter, so 
 while they were killing the bullock I went off and got a 
 large Swedish Bible and some tracts. We gave them 
 £'>) \Os. for their little bullock, but the sheep were too poor. 
 We also bought some fresh and salt fish from them, and I 
 bought one of their little wooden spoons, to their great 
 amusement. I brought them also some tea, sugar, and 
 biscuit ; and when we left it was under very different 
 circumstances than when we came. When I gave the old 
 woman the Bible, she got hold of my hand and kissed it, 
 and then all the others did the same. I thought they were 
 going to give me other kisses, they got round me so. 
 When I went off, I sent back some coffee in the punt, and 
 they sent back some delicious cream, and we enjoyed a 
 first-rate cup of tea with it. Egerton of Basilisk, the 
 purser, Cudlip, and Evans dined with me, and then at 8 p.m. 
 we weighed and ran out, getting here at 10.30 p.m. The 
 chief was very civil, and I have been with him again 
 to-day, and he now begins to treat me with some con- 
 fidence. I heard that at his dinner-table a few days since 
 the chief said to Admiral Chads that I was ' the most active 
 man in the fleet.' So I hope I may be working myself 
 into a position that may be useful to him. I believe he 
 has quite given up all idea of attacking this place. I am 
 glad to find that after all the Russian ships were not 
 outside Helsingfors in the winter ; they are frozen in, in 
 their own basin between the forts." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. 
 
 These letters, from two distinguished officers who accom- 
 panied Captain Sulivan on the expedition about to be 
 recorded, may be inserted here. The following extracts 
 of a letter from Admiral the Hon. Sir A. A. Cochrane refer 
 to this expedition : — 
 
 " United Service Club, London, 
 "March 2^th, 1894. 
 
 " Dear Mr. Sulivan, — It has afforded me much 
 gratification ■ to learn that you are about to publish the 
 biography of your father." 
 
 After giving a short account of the survey of Bomarsund, 
 he adds : — 
 
 " Throughout the whole affair, the ^lan, coolness, and 
 courage of Captain Sulivan, bravely and skilfully seconded 
 by the officers of Engineers, will always be remembered by 
 me with admiration and respect. Captain Sulivan's able 
 reports upon the batteries and the approaches to them 
 enabled the Baltic fleets, English and French, under the 
 pilotage or instructions of Captain Sulivan, to anchor in 
 Bomarsund Bay. . . . 
 
 " I entertairied the very highest opinion — as did, I believe, 
 all my brother-officers — of Captain Sulivan's ability and 
 devotion to the service, and of his sound judgment and 
 for his coup-d'ceil in naval and military matters. He was 
 a truly pious and good man, and was alike courteous, cool, 
 and brave. 
 
 " His death caused me sincere regret ; and when the hour 
 arrives that England is involved in war and requires 
 brilliant services, our navy will be fortunate if it possesses 
 
 164 
 
•854-] comrades' testimony. i6s 
 
 a few officers as resourceful and as modest as your late 
 distinguished father, who served his country well, and who 
 has now, alas ! passed from us. 
 
 " I am yours, 
 
 " Arthur A. Cochrane." 
 
 From the late General Sir John Cowell, K.C.B., Master 
 of Her Majesty's Household : — 
 
 "Windsor, March loth, 1890. 
 
 " Dear Mr. Sulivan, — It is probable that no one but 
 those who have served with the late Admiral Sir B. J. Sulivan 
 could form a correct conception of his character and ability, 
 for he was of a most retiring disposition, and was seldom 
 heard of, except in times of action. Yet there must be many 
 living who have had opportunities of observing his qualities 
 for command, either in the difficulties met with in the 
 navigation of unknown or indifferently surveyed waters, or 
 those incidental to every seaman or in the operations of 
 maritime warfare. 
 
 " Sir James's services were of a various character, and in 
 each of these his abilities were conspicuous and universally 
 acknowledged. . . . His ardent temperament was combined 
 with a judgment which inspired confidence, and there was 
 nothing more remarkable in the career of this truly good 
 man than his utter forgetfulness of self and his desire to 
 reward merit wherever he met with it. 
 
 " Having been with him on many occasions during the 
 Russian war in '54, when he was what may be termed ' pilot ' 
 to the Baltic fleet, as his father had been to that of Nelson, 
 I had opportunities of learning what he was, and I was 
 often surprised at the accuracy of his forecasts as to what 
 the soundings and lay of the land would be from a few 
 casts of the lead. This intuitive power was remarkable, but 
 he never presumed upon it beyond what he considered 
 justifiable. . . . 
 
 " That England may never be without such men is the 
 fervent hope and belief of, 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 "J. C. Cowell. 
 
 "H. N. Sulivan, Esq." 
 
 Sir John Cowell, alas ! has not lived to see this letter of 
 his in print. Nor have several other friends who have sent 
 
1 66 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 me letters about their old comrade-in-arms. Unavoidable 
 delay in publishing this memoir has lost me the pleasure 
 of being able to send them copies. It may be interesting 
 here to add an extract from a letter written by Captain 
 Sulivan from Led Sound on September 5th, 1854. Cowell 
 had accidentally shot himself in the thigh with a revolver 
 my father had lent to him. 
 
 " I have been spending two hours with Cowell in the 
 hospital-ship. He is the most intelligent of all the engineers, 
 and I like talking over the professional questions with him 
 better than with any one." 
 
 " Near Bomarsund, Aland Islands, June ^th. 
 
 " I have been so hard at work that I have been unable to 
 write, and yet it has been the most interesting cruise I 
 have yet had. On Sunday last (28th) the chief told me 
 he wanted me to go to the Aland Islands at once ; but as he 
 could hardly spare me two steamers, I asked for Driver, 
 just come in. She draws only fourteen feet six inches. He 
 gave me her, and I made a good selection, for she is far 
 handier than any large steamer I have seen, is well handled, 
 and her commander, Cochrane, a son of Lord Dundonald, 
 is a most zealous, pleasant assistant, and I could not have 
 hit on a better. Knowing that the admiral ought to have 
 sent the senior engineer officer with me, as we were going 
 to reconnoitre forts, I asked him to come with me, and the 
 captain of the fleet got permission for him. Strange to 
 say, the chief never seems to think of them, and at Hango 
 even he never sent one till I asked for Nugent to go with 
 me, and they say they never get out of the flag-ship except 
 when I ask for them. I iind Nugent a most pleasant mess- 
 mate, and I hope he is seriously inclined. There is never 
 a day passes without his Bible being on the table among 
 his plans, etc. I received orders to examine the channels 
 to Bomarsund, to examine the forts, and to sound alongside 
 them. Rather an amusing order, considering it is daylight 
 all night, and it is an instance of the way the chief gives 
 orders, for he never meant it, as he cautioned me against 
 going too near, particularly to avoid the gun-boats, thirty 
 of which were said to be here, and said he would ' have 
 no fighting for fighting sake.' I assured him I was not so 
 
i854-] EXAMINING CHANNELS. 1 67 
 
 fond of it as that, and that he might rely upon my taking 
 every care. A thick fog prevented our starting, so I had 
 to run in the fog from ship to ship carrying messages. 
 However, in the evening we were at anchor, and at six I had 
 service on the lower deck. When it was over the fog had 
 gone, so we had to start. It was a beautiful evening, and 
 nearly calm. In the night we met three large boats 
 running to the eastward for Hango, with six or seven men 
 in each, and provisions. I thought they were men sent 
 from the island to work at Hango or Eckness, and perhaps 
 I ought to have stopped them ; but I could not find the 
 heart to interfere with them, their boats being perhaps 
 their all ; so I let them go. In the chart you will see 
 ' Led Sound ' on the south side of the Aland Islands : to 
 the eastward of that there is another passage into the same 
 channel. We entered through that, as there is a track 
 marked in the large chart, but found very bad rocks : once, 
 with a boat near us, we saw the rocks under just in time to 
 go astern. Driver being always close astern of us. At last 
 we got in and found the sound, besides a fine clear anchor- 
 age for some miles. Just near an east point of Lemland 
 Island we saw a boat going in ; and wanting information 
 about which islands had soldiers on them, and where their 
 gun-boats were, we went in three boats after her ; but we 
 only found the deserted boat and their provisions. There 
 was a pretty farm, fine pasture, and cows, and we walked 
 some way in, but only found barns. I left a shilling in the 
 boat's head-sheets, to prove to them we did not want to 
 injure them, and we then weighed and threaded our way 
 through very intricate places, till we got in the evening 
 off a village on the east side of the sound. The Swedish 
 lieutenant was with us as interpreter in Driver. I pulled in 
 in the gig with six hands and Nugent after several boats 
 we saw pulling away from the village. I wanted as soon 
 as possible to show them we were not their enemies, and 
 they need not fear us ; but we found the village deserted, 
 and the boats gone out of sight among the islands. After 
 pulling some way, we saw two men in a large boat with 
 wood. I waved a white handkerchief to them, but they 
 left their boat, jumped into a skiff, and pulled for their lives, 
 as they thought. Just as we got near them, they got 
 through an intricate passage where we could not follow, 
 and, as we pulled round, we had just time to see them land 
 on the large island and run into the wood. 
 
l68 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 "On pulling round the next point, we came on a fine 
 large village (Degerby), where in a moment there were men, 
 •women, and children running in every direction. Several 
 apparently respectable men halted at some nice houses a 
 quarter of a mile off ; and as we pulled in, waving my white 
 handkerchief, one old man, much too feeble to run, came 
 to the jetty. Seeing no soldiers among the twenty or 
 twenty-five men in the distance, we landed ; and after I 
 had made friends with the ' old man ' a few others joined 
 us, and those in the distance, seeing we did not murder 
 these, mustered courage to come near. Among the first 
 were two ladies, very nice looking and well dressed. There 
 was a second large house, and the young ladies told me 
 with great glee that the lady it belonged to was putting up 
 some things to run away as fast as she could. At first we 
 could only understand them through one gentleman, who 
 ^poke a little bad English ; but soon 1 sent for Theorell, the 
 Swedish lieutenant, who was with Cochrane in his gig. 
 They had gone to the first village I had passed, and found 
 every house deserted but one, and in that there was a 
 crippled man, and he had made two women of his family 
 remain with him : these promised to have milk ready as we 
 returned. When Theorell came, I found that one of the 
 large buildings was a Russian custom-house, and one of 
 my friends was the collector, and in fact a government 
 officer, and it became a question whether I ought not to 
 seize him and the custom-house ; but after the way I had 
 made friends with him, I could not think of it without 
 giving him reason to consider I had broken faith, so I 
 ■would not molest him. Some of the women brought out 
 baskets of eggs, of which I bought about two hundred 
 at one halfpenny each, dividing them afterwards with 
 Driver and our officers. After staying about two hours, 
 we parted the best of friends, they promising to let the 
 other islanders know we should not injure them or their 
 property. We got some milk from women at the other 
 village on our return, and promised to send back their nice 
 white pails, which we did, and I put a little coffee and sugar 
 in them. The next morning we worked our way through 
 most intricate passages (but I think I can get a line-of- 
 battle ship through them), till we passed the narrow passage 
 leading to Bomarsund, which is in the north-east corner 
 of Lumpar Bay, the passage being round the north end of 
 the island. But as that passage is so near the forts, where 
 
1854.] 
 
 THE GOVERNOR ASLEEP. 
 
 169 
 
 they have a regiment of Rifles of the Guard, and is only 
 three hundred yards wide, with high wooded rocks on each 
 side, I thought I would try to get in by one of the channels 
 among the islands farther north. We got Liglitning 
 through a very narrow one, with, I thought, three and a 
 half fathoms water ; but the Driver following, touched in 
 fourteen feet on a little point, and hung a few minutes. I 
 then took her back outside, and went on with Lightning. 
 We anchored a little inside, with one of the high tower 
 forts about two miles from us over an island. I then 
 ran in with my gig and three boats of Driver to the south- 
 ward of Kalfliolm Island, keeping a sharp look-out on 
 all the wooded points, and as we went passing not very 
 flattering remarks on the talents or folly of the governor 
 for letting us pass in this way, when a few rifles would have 
 stopped us. We passed a nice village on Michelso Island, 
 and then seeing no one, and there being a fine rocky cliff 
 
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 THE LARGE FORT AT BOMARSUND. 
 
 accessible on the west side of Michelso, we landed there 
 to get a good look at and sketch of the forts. The large 
 one, mounting ninety-two guns in casemates, exactly 
 resembles a new terrace in a fashionable watering-place, 
 the top having no guns, but a wooden roof to protect it 
 from the weather. The long windows on the west side are 
 all dwellings, I think. The dots show the casemates for 
 guns, like square windows. The towers are just like two 
 or three squares of the fort : there are three of them, each 
 capable of mounting twenty-four guns, but having, I 
 believe, only from ten to sixteen. I anchored a cutter 
 off to look out and cover our retreat if necessary, sent 
 another sounding, and we landed in the two gigs. I then 
 planted four men as sentries a little inland among the 
 trees, and Nugent, Cochrane, and I were lying down with 
 glasses watching the forts and sketching. We were two 
 thousand five hundred yards off, so I wonder they did not 
 disturb us with a gun. We had nearly got all we wanted, 
 when the cutter gave the alarm that a large party of men 
 had landed on the island in our rear, where I have marked the 
 
17° RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 A [see p. 222], and had boats there. I thought this the very- 
 thing they ought to do, as it must oblige us to fight our way 
 back. Cochrane and Nugent hurried to the boats, and I 
 went to bring in my sentries, expecting to see the heads 
 of these men appear every moment. We then hurried to 
 the boats in anything but a dignified way, recalled the 
 other cutter, and pulled back, but to my surprise saw no 
 men on the shore, till I saw about five on the small island, 
 so that instead of being cut off ourselves, we had a chance 
 of cutting them off. We gave way in the gig, and soon 
 left the other boats, and saw three men start in a little 
 skiff and land opposite, and the skiff go back with one 
 man, and, just before we reached the island, pushed off 
 again with two others, one a person of some position by 
 his dress ; but he appeared in a frantic state. I thought 
 we had him, for we turned him from the first point, and I, 
 only wishing to speak to him, waved a white handkerchief ; 
 he waved another, but pulled the harder for another point. 
 We gained every moment, and, when not thirty yards off, 
 he was foolish enough to level a pistol at us. I had a rifle 
 in my hand, thinking whether I should fire ahead of him 
 to bring him to, but did not show it to him, and feared I 
 should make him think I intended treating him as an 
 enemy ; but had he fired the pistol I must certainly have 
 shot him. However, I saw the boat was getting among 
 stones, and I could catch him without firing, which I did 
 not like to do, so I stopped and hailed him, showing him 
 the white handkerchief; but it was no use — he reached the 
 shore, and after laughing at us a minute took to his heels 
 with his two men. That was close to the village ; so 
 thinking he lived there, we pulled to it, leaving the large 
 boats outside, and I landed and walked up with Theorell. 
 We saw a number of men and women leaving ; but on 
 getting near, could only see one man, who came to us on 
 Theorell's hailing him, in great fear and trembling ; soon a 
 second came, and the wife of the first, who was watching 
 behind a house, was induced by his haiUng her to come 
 also, but crying and in a great fright. They told us these 
 people we had chased were from the fort and not belonging 
 to the village : had I known that, I would certainly have 
 been less delicate as to bringing them to at all hazards. 
 We then returned on board, and moved the vessel out 
 alongside our big brother, that we might be under his 
 protection. 
 
I854-] UNINTERRUPTED OBSERVATIONS. 171 
 
 " The next morning we ran back to the entrance of the 
 Ango Passage, as I felt confident they had taken no steps 
 to oppose us there ; in fact, the governor seemed entirely to 
 neglect his means to annoy us ; but as he had no gun-boats, 
 he had no power afloat. The steamers under Buckle and 
 Admiral Plumridge had been seen round the islands, and 
 they had burnt some vessels, which, I suppose, prevented 
 the gun-boats crossing from Abo. I forgot to say that just 
 as we left our position on the rocks, and had started back 
 in the boats, the fort fired a gun at us, but the shot did 
 not come near us. At the entrance of the Ango Passage 
 we had great difficulty in finding a channel between two 
 islands, a rock with six feet of water on it nearly blocking 
 it up. At last, by shaving very close, we led the Driver 
 through ; but it was anxious work. We then ran up in a 
 fine clear channel to Lumpar Bay, and anchored about 
 three thousand yards from the forts. We then had a capital 
 view of them, both from the Driver's mast-head and from 
 the rocks on the cliff, our old position, and we got some 
 soundings in the bay. I ran a line in the gig across at two 
 thousand yards from the fort, and yet they did not fire at 
 me, which I cannot account for ; and then, wishing to cut off 
 a small vessel, I stopped her at two thousand yards from the 
 fort, and turned her head towards the ship, to the great 
 consternation of the six men and two women in her ; yet 
 the fort never fired a shot to protect her. After getting all 
 the information we could, we let her go, to their surprise, 
 and we ran out again before dark, in case the governor 
 should recover his senses and send some rifle-men to the 
 shores of the channel in the night. 
 
 " The next day we made our way to the northward, past 
 our old anchorage. On our way to try and get down from 
 the northward to the back of Bomarsund, and so see the 
 forts and towers both sides, I wanted to get near behind the 
 two towers. When near the large island to the north-east 
 of Lumpar Bay, we found very shallow water, and had to 
 anchor. There was a large village close by, so I went up to 
 it ; and after getting one or two men not to run away, and 
 Theorell talking to them, all soon came back, about twenty 
 men, with plenty of women and children. We found that 
 two steamers, probably Buckle and Glasse's, had been there, 
 and burnt two vessels. The ships had anchored outside in 
 the open, but sent their boats in. We found several coast- 
 
172 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 ing-vessels sunk in a cove to save them from the Enghsh, 
 and one nice schooner afloat, but empty. I found that the 
 chief wealth of the poor people consists of these little 
 vessels, and I assured them I would not injure or take one 
 of them ; even the vessel afloat would not be worth the 
 sending away men in her, and it would be, I think, cruel 
 to burn her, particularly as all these islanders are much 
 attached to Sweden and hate the Russians. I wanted a 
 man to show us the best channel, but all were afraid ; so at 
 last Theorell told me one seemed to know more than the 
 others. I determined to take him ; so I put my hand on 
 his arm and told him he must go with me, but that when 
 I had done with him he should be landed and paid. He 
 seemed terribly alarmed, but did not attempt to get away, 
 and his young wife was in a sad fuss. His mother was the 
 best : she advised him not to be afraid, and went for his 
 jacket, but he said another man — pointing to him — knew 
 best, so I took him also, but would not excuse the first. 
 When we got them in the boat, they seemed quite satisfied. 
 We found a good but very narrow channel for the ships 
 for some miles, so we returned on board and started, but 
 first landed the men. [The Lightning then ran on a rock.] 
 She came off quite easily. We then went on to a good 
 sheltered anchorage near the K in the word ' Kumblinge ' 
 in the chart, and I tried hard to find a passage through 
 the numerous islands to the westward, but found so many 
 lumps of rock sticking up one and two fathoms that I could 
 not attempt it ; so we remained there for the night. 
 
 " The next morning (Friday, June 2nd) we ran out to 
 clear water in the north-east, or what appears on the chart 
 clear water, but is really dotted with islands and rocks. The 
 glass being very low, and the beautiful weather we had 
 before evidently changing, I got into a good anchorage to 
 the northward of two larger islands, where there seemed 
 a narrow but deep passage to the westward. It freshened 
 to a sharp breeze, so I did not like to leave our snug berth, 
 as in a sea-way it is impossible to see the rocks under water 
 in time to avoid them. As it seemed a nice island near us, 
 and there were plenty of ducks about, we determined to 
 have a half-holiday for the forenoon ; so Nugent and I, in 
 my gig, and Cochrane and Theorell in his, started. We 
 explored one island, saw cattle, horses, and fences, but 
 could not find a house ; we then went back (I having shot 
 
1854] MAKING FRIENDS. 1 73 
 
 two ducks, our only game bagged), intending to try the 
 passage to the westward, but it blew so hard that we gave 
 it up, and crossed to a low rocky island with little wood. 
 In the afternoon it moderated, and we proceeded through 
 the passage, which we found very good. After running over 
 one rock without touching, with only twelve feet over it, 
 and just having time to save Driver going on it, and two 
 more failures to find water enough where we wanted to go, 
 we got quite round to the shore of the main island, on 
 which ' Bomar Sound ' is written in the chart ; but the 
 channel we must pass through again to go out is com- 
 manded by a fine rocky and wooded point, a thousand 
 yards off, and as it is only eight miles from the forts, and 
 the governor has twelve horse-artillery guns, if he does not 
 try to annoy us from there going back 1 shall have a 
 worse opinion of him. The wind was freshening into a 
 gale, and I was glad to get a nice safe anchorage under the 
 south side of the same two islands we had before anchored 
 the north side of, and about six miles from the forts. 
 
 " Yesterday was a very dirty day, and blowing a gale at 
 north, but in the evening it moderated a little, and we 
 landed at a village, where no one ran away or seemed 
 afraid ; but a nice family, father, mother, and daughter, 
 received us with smiles, and we found that the news had 
 come of our having treated the people well at the other 
 islands. This family had a nice new log-house, very clean, 
 like all the others, and with bed-places one above the other, 
 built to one wall like berths in a ship, in the same room 
 where they live and cook. This is the general plan with 
 these little farmers, who have a few cattle and sheep, and 
 a few acres of land in rye and potatoes, with plenty of 
 good log barns, cow-sheds, etc., for their stock. A print 
 of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert preparing for a ball, 
 she putting her gloves on, hung alongside the King of 
 Prussia and the Prince and Princess of Sweden. We 
 bought a few sheep at four shillings and sixpence each. I 
 got a very decent one. They have plenty of young lambs. 
 You recollect Moresby, whom we saw at Falklands — 
 Prevost's brother-in-law : he is first lieutenant of Driver, 
 and a very nice fellow. I see much of him. He was with 
 us on shore ; and he and I, being, I suppose, west-country 
 men, hunted out a pan of the most delicious cream. I 
 am sure you will allow this is much the nicest way to be 
 
174 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 making war ! The most singular thing is, we got the best 
 information about the forts from the eldest girl : she had 
 been pressed with the rest of the population to work there, 
 carrying up sand on to the top of the fort, — they have sand 
 laid to the depth of three feet. The people were forced to 
 work, but were all paid. We left in the evening, all well 
 pleased. 
 
 "This morning was very fine — the gale over. I had 
 decided not to take the ships any farther, as the channels 
 are intricate, but to sound them in the boats, and go as 
 near as we could to the forts in the boats also, as we might 
 have to put the ships near the main island within reach of 
 their field-guns. The more I see of them, the more I am 
 interested in the people. It is a pleasure to be able to 
 establish such a feeling with them when they were taught 
 to look upon us as enemies, who would treat them ill and 
 plunder them. I hope to induce the admiral to order that 
 no more of their vessels shall be burnt or their property 
 injured. I much fear the French coming, as they will take 
 all their stock at least, if they do no worse. 1 shall try to 
 get the French admiral to give an order on the subject. 
 To-morrow morning we start at 5 a.m. with four boats, 
 and I trust we shall be protected and spared all bloodshed, 
 as we have hitherto been ; but they are building a very 
 large new fort nearer the deep water than the others, and I 
 must ask the admiral to let me have two steamers, and 
 prevent it by knocking their new work to pieces, which 
 we can easily do at long range, as at two thousand yards 
 from it the nearest guns they have will be two thousand 
 five hundred yards off. 
 
 " I have been so hard at work, also having much 
 ' remark ' writing to do at night. I have therefore been 
 obliged to write this on Sunday. The inconsistency of 
 the chief is clearly shown by his refusing to allow me to 
 go with Buckle and two steamers who were sent to do 
 this very work a month since, 'because my vessel was 
 unfit' Now he sends me with one steamer, and we do all 
 required ; while the others, we find, had never got into the 
 inside channels, which I do not wonder at, for they are 
 enough to deter any one not used to such work. . . . 
 
 " The gale lasted till Wednesday (7th), when, being 
 moderate in the morning, we started with four boats, and 
 
l8;4.] NECESSITY OF TRAINED PIONEERS. 175 
 
 got down to a good position two miles from the forts, but 
 we were prevented sounding nearer by the gale freshening 
 again ; and as it blew right towards the forts w ith a bad 
 sea I did not like to risk it, and we had to pull back six 
 miles against it, dodging among the islands for shelter, our 
 friend the governor again being very civil, for he did not 
 even send a rifle near to the point of the main island which 
 we had to pass. On our way back we stopped to rest on 
 a small island. I let the men have a run. 
 
 "In the evening it moderated, so we started and retraced 
 our steps back to Ango Passage, going through the channels 
 that had taken us so long to find in a few hours at full 
 speed. We anchored off Ango Passage for the night, 
 wishing to look for deeper water into it. This we found 
 the next morning, and then we ran down the sound to the 
 southward, sounding the parts we did not pass coming up, 
 but the track through the clusters of islands marked on the 
 chart as the usual route was more intricate and had less 
 water than the one we had found on our way up. We saw 
 a new vessel building on Huland, and two others lying 
 near the southern channel you will see into Lumpar Bay. 
 I landed at one building with Cochrane, and was received 
 by about twenty men, ^\ho made a temporary jetty of logs 
 for our boats to come alongside : she was a nice vessel of 
 about a hundred and fifty tons. The others were island 
 vessels of about the same size ; so I did not like to take 
 them. I then crossed over towards Degerby, thinking I 
 might get some stock there to take back to the fleet with 
 us. I wished to take both our vessels up to the village, but 
 the channel we first tried had only twelve feet between rocks 
 a few yards apart ; so I anchored Driver and went on in 
 Lightning, and anchored close off the custom-house, which 
 was also the dwelling of our fat friend the collector, his 
 wife being the lady who was packing up to start on our 
 former visit. We told him that we must have stock, and 
 would take them, paying the people for them. He said of 
 course ^\e could take what we liked, and even told us the 
 parties he thought would be best to apply to. I could not 
 resist the fun of frightening him a little, and told him that, 
 the house being a public building, we must seize it, and he, 
 being a government officer, we must take him prisoner. 
 He seemed to allow that it would not be surprising if I did ; 
 but he was evidently terribly alarmed, so I asked him if 
 he thought we could carry the house with us ; and as he 
 
1/6 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 allowed we could not, he also allowed it would be our 
 easiest way to burn it. But he said, though it was govern- 
 ment property, it was also his residence, and a good deal 
 inside was his, and that there were no goods belonging to 
 the government, so he hoped we would not. After getting 
 up rather a laugh against him among his friends present, I 
 satisfied him that he and his house were quite safe. A 
 party of us from both ships then started with a guide for a 
 village inland, where they thought we could get stock ; but 
 when we got there we found only a few lean sheep, except 
 the ewes with lambs. Some of the lambs were just the 
 size for eating and in nice order, but we could not persuade 
 the people to sell them. They had killed off so many last 
 winter from the want of fodder that they were now anxious 
 to save all they could to get up their stocks again. About 
 five, having got all we could, we wished them good-bye, and 
 ran out to join Driver again. They told us before leaving 
 that they wished we could have taken the government 
 policeman away with us, but that he was away that day ; 
 that he was a regular spy on them, and that he was one 
 they could well spare ; and that if he had been there they 
 would have pointed him out to us, that we might relieve 
 them of him. This I have promised to do if I ever go 
 there again. 
 
 " The next day (Friday, 9th), after completing some 
 soundings and finding a good channel out for large ships, 
 we returned to Hango, our little Lightning doing pretty 
 well, as she averaged eight and a half knots back, and 
 obliged Driver to light all her fires to keep up with us. 
 We found the fleet had left Hango ; but Penelope and Alban 
 were there, so I spent a couple of hours with Cafifin and 
 Otter, and then came on to this place — Baro Sound — the 
 barometer being lower than ever we have had it. I was 
 surprised to find the admiral outside at anchor off the 
 Benskar Lighthouse : he received me very kindly, and 
 seemed much pleased with all I had done, and after reading 
 my report he said that it was a very good and complete 
 one, and he was only sorry it did not give him better 
 hopes of destroying Bomarsund with ships alone. I told 
 him that as the bay in front was so narrow only three 
 large ships could get within six hundred yards, and they 
 would be exposed to the fire of all the towers at about 
 fourteen hundred yards, in addition to the direct fire of the 
 
i8s4-] sulivan's report. 177 
 
 large fort. I thought the ships would not succeed, and the 
 guns being all in casemates, and the tops bomb-proof, 
 shelling at long range was useless ; but I asked him to 
 send three or four steamers to knock down the new work 
 they are at, which is intended for a very large fort to 
 command the anchorage. We could knock it down at 
 two thousand yards with solid shot, as it is new brick- 
 work, and we see all the arches and the interior, and the 
 other guns would be two thousand five hundred yards off, 
 and could not hurt the steamers. They might bring their 
 field-guns down on the point, but they would be easily 
 silenced. If that fort is completed, the place will be doubly 
 strong next year. The admiral asked me if I thought the 
 bad weather over. I told him no, because the barometer was 
 so very low, and we must have a breeze from the south- 
 ward before it cleared off. He said that they thought it 
 was all over, but I stuck to the barometer. Certainly it 
 was a most injudicious thing to come out of a good port — 
 Baro Sound — and anchor in the open gulf with a hospital- 
 ship in company, with the glass lower than it has ever 
 been since we entered the Baltic." 
 
 Captain Sulivan's official report of his examination of 
 the Aland Island passages and the fortress of Bomarsund 
 is given almost in full in " Napier," p. 333, so it is needless 
 to repeat it here. The conclusion is as follows : — 
 
 " I trust, sir, that you will approve of my having refrained 
 from destroying any of the coasting-vessels, the property 
 of these islanders, and of my having assured them that 
 they need not look upon us as enemies so long as they do 
 not take up arms against us. 
 
 " I cannot conclude this report without adding that I am 
 much indebted to the assistance that I have received from 
 Commander Cochrane and the boats of the Driver in 
 getting the vessel through such very intricate passages, 
 and the way in which that ship has been handled in 
 this very difficult navigation reflects great credit on her 
 commander." 
 
 The opinion he formed was that " an attack by ships 
 
 T2 
 
178 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 \\ould be attended by a loss and risk too great to warrant 
 the attempt, unless aided by a sufficient land -force to 
 assist, first carrying the tower by assault or by regular 
 approaches." This was the scheme ultimately adopted. 
 
 " Baro Sound, Monday, June 12th. 
 
 " Yesterday about 4 a.m. our signal was made wait, as 
 I thought proper. It was blowing strong from south-west, 
 and I gladly availed myself of it by running in here for 
 shelter. We were in before eight, three steamers being 
 anchored on the shoals to point out the entrance. We had 
 a quiet Sunday until the evening, when all Admiral Corry's 
 squadron came in, led by Alban. All the fleet are now 
 here or outside, except Majestic and Boscawen. The 
 French admiral is in sight, about twenty miles off, with 
 seven sail of the line, etc." 
 
 "Baro Sound, June \?ith, sent June 20th. 
 
 "Since my last we have had little occurring worth 
 mentioning. The fleet weighed from off Helsingfors (the 
 chiefs squadron) when I took the news up of the French 
 fleet being near. We joined off this anchorage, and with 
 French flags at our main and English ones at theirs we 
 went into the sound where Corry's division was at anchor. 
 I had the captain of fleet on board, and we went to pay 
 our respects to the French chief, having two other steamers 
 with us to tow, as the French vessels were all sailing line- 
 of-battle ships and frigates, and they only had five steamers 
 of their own ; so when our screw fleet had passed, our 
 steamers helped to tow the French ships, and Lightning 
 led them in. The same day Magicienne arrived from 
 Dantzig without a mail, but with plenty of bullocks ; and 
 the next morning, our steam being up, but there being 
 also a thick fog, I was told to take beef to the .ships off 
 Helsingfors, a note from the captain of the fleet saying 
 the admiral wished him to say how sorry he was he was 
 obliged to send me on such a duty ! ! On our return we 
 felt our way in, and got alongside the flag-ship, the fog 
 as dense as ever. When I went on board her, the chief 
 was sitting in the stern gallery with the admiral and 
 captains that had been dining there standing round him ; 
 he drew a chair alongside him, made me sit down on it, 
 and immediately apologised for having had to send me on 
 
I854-] CHOLERA. 1 79 
 
 such a duty. I told him that I was very glad he had, for a 
 larger steamer would not have been safe running in such a 
 fog. Hardly a day passes now that he does not send for 
 me, and we have a tete-a-tete discussion on different points, 
 and I begin sometimes to get rather fearful that I shall be 
 getting too much his adviser on some points for a junior 
 officer. However, it is very pleasant, after being treated as I 
 was, to find him treating me so differently. It has merely 
 been from his liking my report of the Aland Islands, and of 
 the opinions I have given him on points he has asked me 
 about. And yet I never consider for a moment what I 
 know he wishes, but gi^■e him my candid opinion, however 
 differing from his. At present I think I may say I possess 
 his entire confidence. A few evenings ago a small sloop 
 was stealing along the channels. . . . We found her full 
 of hay, and the crew consisted of husband, wife, and son, a 
 boy about ten. We soon quieted the poor woman's fears 
 by releasing the vessel. I was surprised to see in such 
 a little vessel such a nice clean cabin, and a woman 
 doing such work, yet neatly dressed, with a regular 
 fashionable lady's monkey-jacket over-all, and very clean. 
 She was very fair and clear-skinned, with auburn hair like 
 many English women. She had in the cabin a small 
 Testament and Psalter in one case. It is certainly not 
 creditable to us as a nation that we should be so behind 
 in education those we have previously considered half- 
 barbarous Finns. They can hardly believe that numbers 
 of people in England cannot read.* 
 
 " A few days since the fleet was rather startled by three 
 cases of cholera occurring in Duke of Wellington, and one 
 man being dead and buried in six hours ; but no case has 
 occurred since, several cases of diarrhoea having been 
 checked at once. The fleet is really more healthy than 
 at any previous time. A^^/«<«g's small-pox and scarlet fever 
 have ceased, and all the ships' sick-lists are reduced. That 
 the hot weather will bring more or less cholera in such a 
 fleet I have little doubt, as it seems hanging about all the 
 northern nations. The only wonder is that men whose 
 skins rarely make acquaintance with cold water are as well 
 as they are. If we could force every man to have a bucket 
 of cold water poured over him daily, we should have much 
 less sickness. We had one man in the sick-list for some 
 days from no other cause than his neglect of cleanliness : 
 * We have improved in this respect since this was v\;ritten. — Ed. 
 
l8o RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 they think when they have washed head, neck, and feet 
 they are clean. The weather is now getting very warm 
 and mosquitoes are coming. A few days since the ther- 
 mometer was 40°, and I warmed my feet over a fire ; now 
 I have got rid of the stove and got my carpet down, and 
 with the skylight open the thermometer is 72". 
 
 " The Vulture arrived yesterday, bringing the sad account 
 of her boats and those of Odiit being beaten off with a loss 
 of forty-six killed, wounded, and missing. Plumridge, with 
 the four steamers, had taken possession of several places in 
 the Gulf of Bothnia, and destroyed a good deal of property, 
 in one place twenty thousand barrels of tar, and met no 
 resistance till the two steamers sent by him reached that 
 place. I think it is called Great Carleby. The steamers 
 could not get within five miles of it, and the boats, with a 
 hundred and eighty men under Lieutenant Wise of Vulture, 
 pulled up. The accounts are very conflicting, and in the 
 papers you may perhaps see the best news ; but from all 
 I can gather he pulled in with a flag-of-truce first, and 
 summoned them to surrender public property, and asked 
 them to point out which was public and which private (they 
 had concealed their force) ; but they refused to surrender 
 or show him anything, and said they could defend the place, 
 and would do so. Yet with this warning he returned to 
 the boats, and pulled in for the large store-house without 
 throwing a single shell from his howitzers to clear the way. 
 The Odin's cutter was within twenty yards of the large 
 wooden store, several hundred feet long, when a plank the 
 whole length was let fall or removed, and out came a long 
 tier of muskets or rifles. Ten men fell in the cutter the 
 first volley ; but it appears Odin's other cutter dashed in and 
 towed her out, their boats losing six killed and sixteen 
 wounded — Lieutenant Carrington, Mr. Montague, a mate, 
 and a mid killed. The Vulture's paddle-box boat was 
 seen after the first fire with about eight oars pulling ; the 
 other boats were pulling in to bring her out, when, on the 
 smoke clearing a second time, they saw her drifting on 
 shore without a man standing. It is feared they are all 
 (twenty-two) killed or wounded. A mate named Murphy 
 commanded her. Nothing has been heard of her since ; but 
 of course her gun and flag were taken with her. The boats 
 then did all the damage they could with their guns. Had 
 they done it first, they might have saved such a disaster. 
 It will be a good lesson against rashness and holding 
 
•854-] NAPIER'S SCHEME. l8l 
 
 the enemy cheap. Perhaps the ease with which they had 
 destroyed other places made , them too confident. At 
 some former place some men — and, it is said, a mid — got 
 drunk, and they set fire, among other things, to a house in 
 which one of their own party lay drunk, and the next day 
 they could only find a few of his bones and his knife. 
 
 " Tuesday, 20th. — Otter came in — or rather out— in 
 Alban to-day : he has been up among the bays at the head 
 of the anchorage. Last night he landed with thirty men 
 on the mainland, marched three miles to the telegraph, 
 caught the three men stationed there, blew up the house, 
 and brought back all the books and registers. It was 
 rather a hazardous thing to do, as there was a party of 
 Cossacks near, and they (Albans) came on the spot where 
 they had been bivouacking. 
 
 " We landed yesterday on an island 3,200 marines, besides 
 artillery and seamen, with field-guns, of which we had about 
 twenty : quite a little army. We can land nearly 4,000 
 seamen besides, and the French 3,000 troops and 2,000 sea- 
 men, making an army of 12,000 men, with guns, sappers, 
 and all complete. I wish they were better trained. We 
 have not landed the seamen at all yet, though my plan is 
 adopted for the organisation, and all is arranged. 
 
 " A few days since I dined with Glanville. There were 
 four captains present, all complaining of the disregard of 
 the Sabbath, and three out of the four had tracts for dis- 
 tribution to the Finns and Russians. The chaplain of 
 Boscawen completed our party — a good man. They have 
 daily prayers and two Sunday services. It is a pleasure to 
 meet so many in the fleet attending to these things." 
 
 On June nth Captain Sulivan returned from his re- 
 connaissance of Bomarsund, and made his report to the 
 admiral. On the 20th Sir Charles Napier wrote to the 
 Admiralty (see "Napier," p. 186) on the subject of future 
 operations. He says, referring to Bomarsund : " To attempt 
 this, as we have no troops, it would be necessary for the 
 whole fleet to proceed to the anchorage pointed out in 
 Captain Sulivan's chart, leaving vessels in the entrance of 
 the gulf only, to watch the Helsingfors squadron, land all 
 the marines and the French troops, which would amount to 
 
1 82 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 five thousand men, land a great number of heavy guns, and 
 lay siege to Bomarsund, attacking at the same time in front, 
 if found practicable ; if not, land five thousand seamen and 
 make soldiers of them. I lean to this, and shall propose it 
 to the French admiral. . . . Since writing thus far, I have 
 been on board the French admiral. He has some doubts 
 about the policy of attacking Bomarsund, as well as the 
 propriety of doing it without troops." 
 
 My father's note to this says : " This plan was the 
 admiral's own. I told him it was quite practicable, and 
 drew up a plan for the whole proceedings, in which Lieu- 
 tenant Nugent, R.E., agreed. The admiral talked of 
 carrying it by storm, but I persuaded him that we must 
 land guns and knock the hill forts down, when the large 
 fort could not hold out. Admirals Chads and Seymour 
 quite approved, and urged the admiral to do it ; he had 
 quite decided on it till he went to the French admiral, 
 when, on account of orders to maintain a force in the Gulf 
 of Finland, they decided on writing home and asking 
 for permission to take the fleet to Aland." On p. i88 
 is recorded the approval of the Admiralty to Napier's 
 waiting for authority. Sulivan remarks : " The Admiralty 
 having approved of our not attacking it with the fleet 
 alone, and their agreeing to send out troops, ought to have 
 prevented the Government blaming the admiral for not 
 taking the responsibility of going there with all his fleet 
 without leave ! When the French admiral declined to 
 attack Bomarsund without leave, he agreed that they 
 should send home directly for permission to do it with the 
 fleet, and he applied direct to his government. But the 
 Emperor saw the chance of gaining military success by send- 
 ing a division of troops, and our Government yielded and 
 supplied ships to take the French soldiers out. The French 
 general tried to prevent the navy taking any share in it, and. 
 
I854-] WHY NOT ADOPTED. 1 83 
 
 being supreme over both French services, he would not allow 
 a French sailor or ship's gun to be landed ; but Napier 
 insisted on landing his men and guns to share in the work. 
 The French navy were bitter about it, and they felt they 
 owed it to their admiral, who would not agree to Napier's 
 plan in the first instance." 
 
 The following notes are from a letter to a friend, written 
 by Sulivan in 1856: — 
 
 " The only thing that prevented the attempt was, I believe, 
 that both French and English admirals were ordered to 
 keep up a strict blockade of the Russian fleet, and 
 particularly to prevent the Sweaborg division getting to 
 Cronstadt, which must have been risked if the fleet went 
 to Bomarsund. 
 
 " The admirals therefore wrote home, offering to do it 
 with the fleet, if allowed to withdraw it from the gulf. As 
 their governments would not give their consent to this, 
 but preferred sending out a land-force to do it, they must 
 have considered the admirals did right in not withdrawing 
 the fleet on their own responsibility ; and the two govern- 
 ments are therefore solely answerable for having sent an 
 additional force out. 
 
 " It must not be forgotten that the opinion of the 
 governments on the importance of preventing the Sweaborg 
 division getting to Cronstadt was strongly supported by 
 the English engineers (?). It cannot therefore be wondered 
 at that the two admirals hesitated to withdraw the fleet 
 without obtaining the sanction of their governments. 
 
 " Without taking the whole of the large ships to the 
 Aland Islands, we could not have landed men enough to 
 carry on the siege. The screw-ships were all required, as 
 the channels were so intricate ; and to have taken the 
 marines from twelve or fourteen sailing-ships of the line, 
 not very well manned, and to have left them to blockade 
 twenty-six Russian ships of equal force, would have been 
 running a risk that no admiral dare venture on. 
 
 " It is therefore evident that the whole fleet must have 
 gone to Led Sound, leaving a frigate squadron to watch 
 the Gulf of Finland ; the screw-ships and steamers with 
 the marines and some seamen from all the ships must have 
 
1 84 RECONNOITRING BOMARSUND. [Ch. VIII. 
 
 gone up to Bomarsund and commenced the siege, all being 
 ready to embark at a moment's notice, leaving the heavy 
 guns on land, in case the Russian fleet came far enough 
 down the gulf to give a chance of catching them with the 
 screw-ships ; after which the siege could have been pro- 
 ceeded with, and our guns of course recovered. This was 
 the plan approved of by Sir C. Napier, and it only required 
 the sanction of the Home Government to have been carried 
 out successfully." 
 
 While awaiting the answer of the two governments to 
 their proposal, the two admirals resolved to have a look 
 at Cronstadt. As will be seen, the secret of a pending 
 attack on Bomarsund was well kept. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RECONNOITRING CRONSTABT. 
 
 "At anchor the east side of Seskar, 
 " Saturday J June 2^thf 1^54. 
 
 " On Wednesday Admiral Plumridge returned from his 
 long trip. We were all surprised to find the fleet was to 
 sail immediately. It soon became known that it was to 
 look at Cronstadt. The twelve screw-.ships of our fleet were 
 to go, leaving AJax, as too slow, with the sailing squadron. 
 On Thursday afternoon we sailed, having six French line-of- 
 battle ships (four towed by their own steamers and two by 
 ours). Soon after we got outside, we went with the captain 
 of the fleet to the French admiral, and then were sent back 
 about twelve miles with a letter-bag for the sailing-ships. 
 I went in a narrow direct passage that saved us a long 
 round, and we soon got out again, and about lo p.m. 
 overtook the fleet again. The admiral seemed doubtful if 
 we could have been there and back, and asked me from the 
 stern-walk, and, when he found we had, he called out, ' Well 
 done ! ' We then went off directly to Euryaltis inshore off 
 Helsingfors, to recall Arrogant and Bulldog to the admiral, 
 and by the time I reached the Duke again it was three 
 o'clock in the morning, and I was quite ready to lie down. 
 Yesterday at eight we were ordered to take Porcupine with 
 us, and go ahead to examine Hogland Anchorage (on the 
 east side), and we soon left the fleet behind and led the 
 way up the gulf, no ship having been so high before. The 
 Poracpine is a very nice steamer, a little larger than 
 Lightning, but with much more power : she was built for a 
 surveying-vessel, and the Hydrographer asked for her for 
 me instead of Lightning, but as she was in commission 
 they could not change her commander. 
 
 " We ran close round the south end of Hogland, watching 
 each wooded headland to see if there was any battery or 
 any troops to oppose us ; but we saw nothing till we came 
 
 i8s 
 
1 86 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. IX. 
 
 to rather a large village, where there were a number of 
 women and children and a few men. There were two or 
 three small schooners, and a number of boats of all kinds 
 hauled up on the shore. Towards the north point is 
 another and larger village, and the people stood in clusters 
 watching us, and did not even drive away a herd of about 
 twenty cows lying on the beach in front of the houses : 
 it is evident they do not fear us. The women were all 
 dressed exactly alike — a sort of loose white bodice and dark- 
 coloured skirt. We completed all just as the fleet hove in 
 sight. The anchorage is a bank near the shore, like Madeira, 
 going off suddenly to thirty-five fathoms. Instead of 
 anchoring, I found the admirals had determined to go on 
 to Seskar Island, about twenty-five miles below Cronstadt. 
 The chief asked me to remain to dinner. 
 
 " About nine, when I left, the admiral sent me again ahead 
 with Porcupine, to place her on the north point of the 
 Seskar Banks to guide the fleet, and then I was to return 
 to him. We reached the place about midnight, but it was 
 so thick we could see nothing, and had to be guided entirely 
 by the course and patent log. We hit the bank in four 
 fathoms exactly, and again went back to the admiral. We 
 found him anchored on account of the thick weather, and I 
 was able to get to bed again at 3 a.m., not having been 
 able to lie down all day. I slept till six, when 1 found we 
 were under way, and I should have remained quiet had 
 not our signal been made to chase a small craft between 
 the banks to the southward ; so I had to remain on deck. 
 We caught her at 7.30, and found her a little country 
 schooner going over to the south shore, with nothing but 
 stones in her : there were five men — Finns. I let her go, 
 not thinking it right to detain her, but she has been brought 
 in as a prize by another vessel that fell in with her after- 
 wards ! I hope the chief will release her. 
 
 " We anchored off this island about 1 1 a.m. We have 
 lovely weather, but too warm. I fancy the smaller 
 vessels will have a peep at Cronstadt, and that we shall 
 take the lead in bearding the bear in his den. I suppose 
 we are come up to try and tempt him out. We have only 
 eighteen sail of the line. They have, I believe, twenty-four 
 in Cronstadt, and eight the other side of us at Helsingfors. 
 
 " The governor of Bomarsund has been dismissed, and a 
 new one appointed, because he did not prevent our sounding 
 the channels round it, nor attempt to oppose us at all. 
 
i854-j THE FLEETS OFF CRONSTADT. 1 87 
 
 " I am almost too sleepy to write, having only had six 
 hours' sleep in the last forty-eight, and the weather so hot 
 and close." 
 
 " Running for Cronstadt, 
 
 "Monday, II a.m., June idlh, 1854. 
 
 " Yesterday we had a quiet Sabbath, though a beautiful 
 day. This morning at four the whole fleet weighed. 
 The chief has issued an order that, in consequence 
 of the Russian flag being liable to be mistaken for 
 ours, every ship in action is to hoist the yellow-blue- 
 yellow pendant over the ensign at the peak and the jack 
 at the main. I do not like it : our ensign ought to float at 
 the peak below nothing. He might have made all hoist 
 the white or red ensign instead of the blue, but nothing else. 
 We are now running up in three lines, — Duke and her 
 division the centre ; Admiral Chads the port ; and French 
 ships in tow the starboard ; Imperieuse, Arrogant, and 
 Desperate ahead three miles. The chief is very full of 
 the infernal machines, for he has made several signals 
 about looking out for them — as if the Russians would let 
 us see where they are. They are all submerged, we know ; 
 but to ensure the large ships against them, we in poor 
 Lightning, instead of going ahead of all, are kept a quarter 
 of a mile right ahead of Duke of Wellington, that we may 
 explode any machine in her path. I have just seen the 
 Russian fleet from the mast-head, and instead of being 
 anchored high up the passage in line up and down the 
 channel, I think they are in two lines across the channel ; 
 if so, they cannot be high up, but near the lower batteries, 
 and then we might reach them with our heavy guns. In 
 the sketch the border-line shows the limits of the channel 
 for large ships. 
 
 " 4 p.m. — The fleet has anchored about eight miles from 
 the lighthouse, and I have just been given the command 
 of the inshore squadron. Lightning, Magicienne, and Bulldog, 
 to go in and reconnoitre the fleet and batteries — Watson, 
 with Imperieuse, Arrogant, and Desperate, \.o keep near out- 
 side and support us if necessary. We are going to anchor 
 for the night to the southward of the lighthouse, about five 
 miles from the fort, and to-morrow early a French steamer 
 is to join us and we go closer in. They have several 
 steamers with steam up, but I do not think they will 
 attack us. 
 
i88 
 
 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 " 1 1 p.m. — We have just returned from the lighthouse, 
 where we had a fine view of Cronstadt and the fleet, but 
 six miles off. I think there are not more than seventeen 
 or eighteen sail of the line, and they are all moored above 
 their batteries. My division is at anchor about a mile 
 inside Watson's. A schooner came towards us as we 
 approached, but is merely acting as guard-boat, for she 
 turned back, and is now hovering outside the batteries. 
 
 " Tuesday, 9 p.m. — This morning at 4 a.m. the French 
 new steamer Phlegethon joined me ; the captain came on 
 board, and said he was directed to place himself under 
 
 'light house 
 
 Walker Gr Bontall sc- 
 
 my orders. We then weighed with the four vessels and 
 stood in. Lightning leading. The enemy's look-out steamer 
 ran in as we got within shot. We stood on till we were 
 within two miles, when I made the signal to the others to 
 stop, and we went on to about two thousand five hundred 
 yards from the grand fort (Risbank) ; but seeing them 
 loading two very large guns on the flank nearest to us, and 
 training them on us, I sheered out again to three thousand 
 yards and then anchored, and had a most leisurely look at 
 everything, getting a good sketch of port and ships and 
 doing all we required. They had a large frigate-steamer 
 and four others with steam up, but they did not move out. 
 Their guard-steamer was evidently without guns, merely 
 
l8S4-] DISPOSITION OF THE RUSSIAN SHIPS. 1 89 
 
 a fast little vessel, and she got bolder and came nearer and 
 nearer every time. She took a look at us ; but she being 
 unarmed, I would not fire on her. One of my captains 
 asked my signal for permission to fire, but I said ^No' We 
 were doing all we wished quietly, and it might have forced 
 their other steamers out, while we could have done no good 
 if they had come, as they could have kept under their power- 
 ful batteries. The two lines of ships I have marked are the 
 positions we thought their ships were in from information, 
 but we find them all above the batteries where I have 
 marked the crosses, with their broadsides to the channels. 
 There are only sixteen sail of the line, and a heavy frigate 
 ready outside and one in the basin. There are three more 
 as block-ships to the north-east, not rigged, and beyond 
 them, to the north-east, three frigates ready for sea, and two 
 frigates and one corvette block-ship. There is also one 
 two-decker in dock. Having completed all, we ran out, 
 joined Watson's squadron, and we all went on while I 
 breakfasted with him, and then we led them all round to 
 the north side, Watson's ships anchoring when pretty near. 
 We ran on with the others, and I intended anchoring my 
 squadron in five fathoms, and then going on to three in 
 Lightning; but by this time it was blowing hard from the 
 westward, and, not liking to anchor them in shallow water 
 with a gale coming on, I hauled off a little to six fathoms, 
 and we all anchored about three miles north of Cronstadt, 
 and in front of their line of ships to the north-east, where 
 they have also in line this evening thirteen heavy gun- 
 boats, probably to annoy us at night ; but it blows too hard 
 now. I have had three hours' sleep this afternoon, to be 
 ready for anything to-night. It seems strange that we 
 should be quietly lying at anchor within three miles ot 
 such an enemy's fleet ; but it is all-important steam that 
 enables us to do so. In the dusk they might push gun-boats 
 within range unless a good look-out were kept, so I do not 
 like to go to bed, particularly as we are the inshore vessel. 
 A steamer has just been running rather far out on the other 
 side, where we were this morning, but Desperate (which we 
 left on that side to look out) has weighed and stood in, 
 and the steamer ran back. I do not think they will 
 attempt to molest. Their ships look rather slummy 
 in their appearance ; and as they cannot evidently make 
 up more than seventeen or eighteen sail of the line, it is 
 impossible for them to come out : our English screw-ships 
 
igo RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. IX. 
 
 alone could destroy them. They are all placed to resist 
 an attack, and evidently think of nothing else. The 
 channel is certainly formidable and quite impregnable, as 
 the following sketch of it will show. After passing all 
 
 Breadth of Chan, 
 
 the heavy forts below, if not destroyed by them, our 
 leading ship would have all these hundred and twenty- 
 four guns and two three-deckers' broadsides raking her, 
 besides those of all the ships at longer distances on her 
 starboard bow. If she could possibly survive all this and 
 pass between the three-deckers, carrying away their bow- 
 sprits, she would find the broadsides of three two-deckers 
 close above pouring it into both bows. All their ships 
 are moored head and stern, which, if you do not quite 
 understand, I can thus explain. When Jim and Tom, at 
 the Falklands, had the cat with one lasso on her head and 
 another on her hind-leg, pulling in opposite directions, the 
 poor thing was moored ' head and stern.' 
 
 " When we landed at the lighthouse last night, we found 
 the doors of the tower well locked ; but after some time 
 I found a shed and stack of wood enabling me to reach 
 a window in the upstairs passage from the house to the 
 tower, and with a chisel we got in without breaking 
 the window, forced open the tower door at the end of 
 the passage, and then found all the stairs in perfect order : 
 glass above only whitewashed to prevent our seeing through 
 it, and the revolving-frame left — merely the lamps removed. 
 
 " Wednesday, 2ist. — Hecla, with Odin and Valorous, have 
 been shelling Bomarsund large fort, and burning part of 
 the wooden roof; but I think it is not worth the shot and 
 shell expended, for Hecla has fired away all hers, and the 
 other ships must have wasted a good deal ; and the wooden 
 roof was only to keep off snow : under it the roof is bomb- 
 proof, and probably is not hurt the least. If so, it is a 
 victory for the Russians, as the ships left off for want of 
 shell, and had five men wounded. I could have burnt the 
 roof more easily with a few rockets, but it was not worth 
 trying. A mate of Hecla named Lucas threw overboard 
 before it exploded a burning shell that came on board : 
 
l^54j NAPIER VIEWS THE FORTS. I9I 
 
 every man had lain down to avoid the explosion. The 
 admiral has applied for his promotion. 
 
 " Thursday, 22nd. — I breakfasted with the chief this morn- 
 ing ; and after a long discussion with him on charts, crews, 
 gun-boats, bombarding batteries, etc., he took me with him 
 to the French admiral, from whom I have just returned. 
 The admiral will not go up to see Cronstadt till to-morrow 
 afternoon. The old chief is frequently asking me whether 
 I am sure he could go into the lighthouse safely, and seems 
 half afraid of being caught. The cholera is increasing in 
 some of the large ships, and they have lost several men 
 within a few days : we have hitherto been most mercifully 
 preserved from it, the one man ill from diarrhoea being 
 now nearly well. But I hope the chief will move the 
 fleet into the open water, north of Gothland, as it would 
 be a much more healthy part, and we could blockade quite 
 as well as here." 
 
 " [Private.'] 
 
 " ' Lightning,' July 1st, 1854. 
 
 " The admiral went in in Driver yesterday afternoon : he 
 would not go with us — I really believe because he wanted 
 us to go ahead to explode any infernal machines before 
 he came to them. His head is full of these things, though 
 we have now run over all the ground outside the forts and 
 actually are not blown up yet. I led him in the north side 
 first, till he turned and then sent for me, and made me point 
 out everything to him ; then we ran round to the grand 
 position. We ran on some way ahead, and I hoped he 
 would go where I had anchored before, three thousand 
 yards off ; but before I reached that I saw they had placed 
 a target with a flag exactly where we had anchored, and 
 we heard single guns all day, probably practising at their 
 longest range. We also fancied we saw several guns all 
 pointed for one spot, so we stopped a little outside the 
 flag, the admiral having previously stopped half a mile 
 outside, and was hoisting our recall as we rounded to. I 
 asked several officers to go who had had no chance before — 
 Hewlett, captain of flag-ship, both the engineers, the master 
 of flag-ship (a very nice fellow), the chaplain, lieutenant, and 
 a volunteer. The admiral would not go to the lighthouse, so 
 I got leave to go there, and we anchored ; and after all had 
 dined with me, we spent some time in the beautiful evening 
 on the top, returning to the fleet before dark." 
 
192 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. IX. 
 
 "July yd, 1854. 
 
 " Yesterday morning we moved from off Cronstadt down 
 to Seskar. The afternoon before, after closing the mail, 
 the chief told me to take all the captains and commanders 
 in the fleet to see Cronstadt, and a signal was made 
 that all who wished could go in Lightning. I had nearly- 
 all, besides a few junior officers ; but the chief would 
 only allow me to take them to the Hghthouse — not 
 inside. We had a fine view of the fleet ; and I took a 
 Russian prize — the first I have taken — mounting ten guns ; 
 but they are wooden ones, and the vessel is so small that 
 I am going to send it home as a present to the boys. We 
 would not allow anything left in the lighthouse to be 
 touched ; but I thought as I saw this little ugly model of 
 a brig about a foot long, I might fairly take it.* 
 
 " Yesterday we were moving about all day, so that I 
 could not have service : the whole fleet was kept so long 
 for the French sailing-ships to be towed. They are a sad 
 drag on us, and yet they will not let us move alone. We 
 anchored about 6 p.m. ; my signal was made directly, 
 and I found the chief wanted me to run through Biorko 
 Sound, to see if there was a passage for the fleet right 
 through and out to the northward. He gave me 
 Magicienne, Bulldog, and Desperate, under my orders, and 
 he told me to tell Watson to take Arrogant and Impdrieuse, 
 anchor the latter part of the way, and Arrogant near the 
 sound, to enable us to communicate by signal. About 
 10 p.m. we anchored in the mouth of the sound ; and 
 thinking that the narrow part at Koivasto would be 
 fortified, and wanting daylight to look at it, we I'emained 
 for the night. The admiral had given me positive in- 
 junctions to have no fighting, saying he trusted entirely 
 to my judgment to prevent it, and that if I got the ships 
 into any scrape it would kill him. I promised faithfully 
 I would do all I could to be peaceable ; but we saw before 
 dark that there were a number of men on the point with 
 the trees cleared away and a telegraph station, while the 
 thick trees close behind would shelter riflemen. I was 
 therefore in a puzzle. If we went on and they fired at us, 
 we could not help having a fight, as we could not then 
 go back, and yet it would be the thing I was positively 
 ordered to avoid, and also there might be a sore feeling 
 
 * The only Russian man-of-war taken during the war !— Ed, 
 
I854-] BIORKO SOUND — A MARE's NEST. 1 93 
 
 about no French ships being with us if we had a brush, 
 for the French admiral says that if our fleet had an action, 
 and he and his ships were out of the way, all the paving- 
 stones in Paris would not be enough to throw at his head ! 
 So after consulting with Watson, we agreed that if we saw 
 any guns or preparations to resist our passing we would 
 wait while I returned and got the admiral's leave to attack, 
 and then I would take one of my ships and a French 
 ship round by the north entrance, and so place them 
 between two fires ; but that if we saw nothing to warrant 
 our waiting we would go past, and, if they fired, then we 
 would anchor round the point and destroy everything. 
 As we could cross our fire over the narrow point every- 
 where, we could bring off any guns there were. I would 
 haul Lightning close in, bend a strong hawser to a gun, and 
 steam off till we dragged it into deep water : in this way 
 we could get them all off. This morning it was foggy, 
 and we could see nothing for some time ; and fearing that 
 if the other ships came close, and we found there were guns 
 and the ships retired, it would look like a victory to them, 
 I left the other ships below and ran up in Lightning 
 cautiously, watching the point from the mast-head. I 
 soon distinctly saw a long parapet among the trees, though 
 masked with small trees, and I saw about a hundred and 
 fifty soldiers in blue marching among the trees, and also a 
 number of soldiers in grey about the parapet, whom I took 
 for artillery. I afterwards went through another channel 
 to get another view, and I stood up to within twelve 
 hundred yards, in hopes of inducing them, if they had 
 guns, to unmask them by firing on us ; but they never fired. 
 I then agreed with Watson that we would go on, and if 
 they attacked us the chief could not find fault with our 
 returning their fire. We arranged that I should lead up, 
 followed by Magicienne and Bulldog ; that Imperieuse should 
 accompany us and lay right abreast of the point, and 
 Desperate should be below it, to cut off the low neck ; 
 while we, with the two other steamers, should cross the 
 whole from above, so that not a man could leave the point 
 over the low part across our fire or a gun be removed. 
 We already speculated on how many guns we should get ! 
 Now I think it would have been a very good plan, only it 
 wanted one thing to complete it, and that was an enemy. 
 As we ran up, expecting every moment to see them open, 
 and got pretty close, I found that I was quite right as to 
 
 13 
 
194 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. IX. 
 
 the battery ; there was the parapet, evidently just finished, 
 the whole point covered in front by the trees felled to 
 form an abattis, and plenty of men, whom we saw concealing 
 themselves behind rocks, trees, etc. ; but there were no guns, 
 and they had the prudence not to fire musketry ; so we 
 did not fire at them, though we could have destroyed them, 
 or perhaps even cut them off. The battery had been just 
 prepared for guns, perhaps within a week or two. The 
 parapet was of loose stones with clay, something like a 
 Cornish fence or hedge, and covered neatly on its top and 
 front with sods, and hidden by young trees planted before 
 it ; so that 1 was quite right in my idea. And as under 
 such circumstances there would be guns in nineteen cases 
 out of twenty, I was right in taking precautions, as it 
 would have ensured success with the least possible amount 
 of loss, and nothing is so foolish as holding an enemy cheap. 
 Perhaps I ought strictly to have fired at the soldiers ; but 
 it would have been almost a barbarous cruelty to have 
 poured in all kinds of destructive missiles amongst men 
 only, who had no means of retaliating. We might perhaps 
 have killed or mangled a hundred poor wretches or more, 
 as I could see them crouching thickly among the trees, 
 but it would have done no good. 
 
 " So now you have full particulars of our peaceable fight, 
 which we all laugh at now after the preparations we made. 
 But, seriously, I do indeed feel deeply thankful that we 
 were spared the necessity of forcing a passage, and that 
 there was no bloodshed. We are too apt to think of the 
 glory, honour, etc., of a successful despatch, and too many, 
 I fear, would try to write one without thinking of the cost 
 at which it was purchased. I do trust I may be able to 
 set such ideas on one side, and to feel that the satisfaction 
 of preventing unnecessary bloodshed is far more desirable. 
 I am afraid some of my colleagues deem me much too 
 merciful. I think this battery has been prepared for their 
 field artillery, several batteries of which (twelve-pounders) 
 are distributed along the coast ; and in case of wanting to 
 place any to defend this passage, they have raised this 
 parapet, fearing to put permanent guns, as we should have 
 been sure to take them ; but if they had their field-guns 
 there, it would have been just the same, for I do not think, 
 gallant as they are, their artillery would have limbered up 
 and carried guns off that point under such a cross-fire as 
 we should have poured on them : they would, I think, have 
 
l854] FROM "boots" TO "PIONEER." I95 
 
 been limbered up by hawsers to the Lightnings stern, and 
 danced down the beach to the full power of her engines. 
 
 " We ran up the channel afterwards, several little coast- 
 ing-vessels being deserted by their crews, who dropped the 
 anchors and then got into their boats before we could catch 
 them : at last, by pretending to pass some way from one 
 and suddenly going full speed to her, and firing a rifle-ball 
 over their heads, we caught her with the men. I have two 
 Finns (deserters) on board, one speaking English, which is 
 a great convenience. He hailed them — told them to drop 
 their anchors and come in their boat ; they were terribly 
 frightened — the master, a fine young man, and two others. 
 After getting all the information I could, to their perfect 
 astonishment I gave them a bottle of rum and a good lot 
 of biscuit — two things they are fond of, though they do not 
 drink to excess — and sent them back : they then said they 
 had no idea we should let them go. They made sure they 
 would be sent to England and put in prison. We ran back 
 through the channel without anything occurring, and at 
 4 p.m. reached the fleet again. I trust there is a favour- 
 able turn in the sickness, particularly in the Duke : no new 
 cases, and those there are not bad ones. We all continue 
 quite well. Johnson (the doctor) says he has found small 
 doses of castor oil and turpentine check all cases of 
 diarrhoea — castor oil almost in homoeopathic quantity, and 
 not acting as a dose. 
 
 " Cowell, the junior engineer officer, has just sent me a 
 little coloured sketch of the lighthouse to which we have 
 paid so many visits. 
 
 " The chief was much pleased with what I did, and 
 he asked my opinion about his movements and what 
 could be done. He wants a good position on the north of 
 the gulf, and asked me about one. I pointed out another I 
 thought better for various reasons, and he seemed pleased 
 with it. He wants to anchor the fleet in a good position, 
 and then examine the shores, etc., with the steamers, to see 
 if there is any place where we can do anything, and I fancy 
 from what he said I shall have the detached squadron. 
 What a change from the time I was doing a lieutenant's 
 duty as admiral's tender, now entrusted with everything 
 worth being sent about ! I really think Lightning herself 
 feels proud of heading her squadron, for she steps out 
 better than ever, and the large powerful steamers have 
 to work pretty good power to keep their stations. I feel 
 
196 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT.. [Ch. IX. 
 
 the want of an armament for this work : we have now had 
 to cut away our forecastle-rail and bulwark altogether, to 
 enable us to put our two guns forward, as it is on the 
 bows we want them going through these narrow channels." 
 
 ••[Private.] 
 
 " Sunday, July 2ncl, 1 854. 
 
 " We weighed this morning from off Cronstadt, and are 
 now standing down towards Seskar, but I hope going 
 much farther down, I think it is almost the first time I 
 was glad to move on a Sunday, for every day seemed 
 adding to the victims of cholera, particularly in Duke of 
 Wellington. Yesterday they had fifty cases of diarrhoea, 
 eight of cholera, and two died in the previous night. I 
 was on board her some time, and I urged the admiral to 
 go right out of the gulf to Gottska-Sando, as the idea to 
 the men would be everything. I believe even this change 
 to a fresh air and a broader part of the gulf will do much 
 good. We have only one case of diarrhoea, and that is 
 getting well. What a mercy it is ! The last few days 
 the cases have been milder and more like diarrhoea, and 
 except the Duke's the cases have rarely terminated fatally. 
 The change from the hot, sultry weather and the cooler 
 water alongside is probably the cause, and now we have 
 a nice fresh westerly wind, and we are all comfortably 
 wearing blue trousers again. 
 
 " I must not report about our movement in this, or it 
 will be repeating what I must put in the journal ; but I 
 must tell you what I do not like to put in the journal, as 
 so many see it, and that is how I am getting credit for the 
 work I do. When dining with Commodore Martin yester- 
 day, after returning with my boat of captains from the 
 lighthouse, I heard him in the evening talking in another 
 part of his cabin (and I do not think he fancied I was 
 within hearing, as I was with another group discussing a 
 question). After some compliments to me, he said that it 
 was a pity for many to go in ships looking at different parts 
 of the enemy's position, as it showed them the point 
 we were thinking of, but that Sulivan alone ought to go 
 and examine it all, and report what could be done, as he 
 had such good eyes for it. Yelverton told me that a 
 French captain asked him what position I held, and if I 
 belonged to the Hydrographic Ofifice, and whether I got 
 better paid than any one else — -for I did all the work of 
 
1854] BARO SOUND — SMALL-POX. I 97 
 
 the fleet. I trust that all this being so flattering, and my 
 position with the admiral now so satisfactory and comfort- 
 able also, will not make me think too much of these things, 
 and forget to whom I owe the power and the health to 
 do the work. One ought to live if possible regardless of 
 all these things, when so many poor fellows are being 
 taken in this sudden way. 
 
 " If, as I trust, the war ends this year, and I am spared, 
 I think I shall be sure of being able to get something 
 worth having through the Hydrographic Department, but 
 I feel now as if I would prefer being home to anything. 
 As to going to sea again, if we have peace, for any advantage 
 of serving time, I trust that will never be the path ordered 
 for me by Providence. But how little one ought to care 
 for all this, for how has everything been ordered better 
 than we could arrange it ourselves ! More than ever must 
 we endeavour to say and feel from our hearts that whilst 
 we praise Him for the past we will trust the future entirely 
 to Him — only I do desire that, whatever that future is 
 to be, we may be together to share either the joys or the 
 trials, so that we can either rejoice together or else comfort 
 each other in times of trial. This is my greatest earthly 
 desire, and there is no other that I ever think of in com- 
 parison with it. 
 
 "July ^th. — We started to-day towards Baro Sound. I 
 hear Admiral Corry's squadron there is so sickly (chiefly 
 small-pox) that he has gone outside, fearing the place is 
 not healthy : perhaps that has brought the chief down. 
 Some of my brother-officers, and the chief also, seem to 
 think it would have been right to fire on those defenceless 
 soldiers at Koivasto, but 1 am sure I did right. What 
 good would it have done to our cause, or what credit 
 to our navy, for five ships to pour their broadsides on 
 two hundred defenceless men ? I could not do it. 
 
 " Baro Sound, July yth. — Yesterday morning, on entering 
 this sound, I was sent to place a steamer on one entrance 
 shoal, and afterwards to go myself to the opposite side, 
 where I found the buoy had been removed, probably cut 
 off at night by the enemy, the place being left one night 
 without a vessel. I found the rock, put down another 
 buoy on it, and was waiting while Duke and French ships 
 passed, the latter towed by steamers. They were half a 
 mile nearly outside us, when one of the ninety-gun ships 
 ran right on a rock we did not know of before, with 
 
198 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. IX. 
 
 only three fathoms on it. She got off this morning, and 
 I have been out to-day examining the place. We have 
 had a very hot day. I am thankful to say the cholera 
 is better, except in Majestic. She buried four men yester- 
 day. The Duke's last cases were less severe, and she 
 had only one to-day, not fatal. We are still preserved 
 from it, and have only one case of diarrhoea, the same 
 we have had for some days, and that improves slowly. 
 To-night our men went to an island to bathe, and brought 
 off a few most delicious Alpine strawberries. 
 
 " Sunday, July gth. — The fleet has been coaling for the 
 last few days and preparing to start somewhere. The 
 Duke buried two men yesterday, and there have been three 
 funerals to-day. The Princess Royal has a hundred and 
 eighty men in the sick-list, and the Royal George a 
 hundred and fifty, chiefly diarrhoea ; but the cases are 
 milder, and to-day Duke has none. We had to coal after 
 Alhan, and she did not finish till eight last night. Had 
 it been any other day, I should have put it off till this 
 morning ; but knowing we should be made to coal all 
 to-day if not complete, I worked all night, watch and 
 watch, having hot tea brewed for the men, thinking that 
 for health the night would be better for working in than 
 the hot day. It was our only chance of having any- 
 thing like a Sabbath. We finished early this morning, 
 and have had our usual service. I used the prayers 'for 
 the time of pestilence' for those in the fleet who were 
 suffering, and returned thanks for the mercy of being pre- 
 served in perfect health in this vessel. Our only sick man 
 was sent to duty to-day. I read a very nice sermon on 
 ' a more convenient season,' as there was much in it 
 applicable to the present time. Just after service my signal 
 was made : it was to consult me about a report sent from 
 a ship that had touched on a rock at the Aland Islands. 
 I had afterwards a talk with the chaplain about the sick- 
 ness on board, and asked him if there had been a general 
 use of the prayer ' for the time of pestilence.' I found he 
 had never used it, though he much wanted to, because the 
 admiral would not have an allusion made to it in the 
 service, saying it would depress the men. At first, when 
 he touched in a sermon on the deaths that had taken place, 
 he was told it would have a bad effect, and he must not 
 allude to it again. Is not this sad ? 
 
 "July loth. — We have a nice cool day, and the ther- 
 
i8S4-] SWEABORG SEEN AT LAST. 1 99 
 
 mometer only 62° — the ships all healthier. The fact is, 
 it is the large screw-ships that have been unhealthy. 
 The sailing-ships have not had a case of cholera. The 
 heat of the engines confined under the deck seems to 
 cause it. In Edinburgh they have their boilers confined 
 under the after-part of the ship, and the cockpit, where the 
 officers sleep, is terribly hot when steam is up. She has 
 not had a case among the men, but three among the 
 officers, though all have recovered." 
 
 " Admiralty, y«^ 4^^, 1854. 
 
 " My dear Sulivan, — All your letters charm me, but 
 especially your last from Seskar, for it gave me the very 
 agreeable intelligence that you had at last found your due 
 level, and were employed in your pioneering, or rather 
 leading, capacity. Your Bomarsund adventures also much 
 gratified me, and your soundings were quickly inserted 
 in the Aland chart. In the meantime I send you my 
 heartiest wishes for the sustainment of your health, and the 
 credit due to all your exertions in the chose publique. 
 
 "Always yours, 
 
 "F. Beaufort." 
 
 "Baro Sound, Monday, July l^th, 1854. 
 
 " The only thing worth mentioning since my last is 
 our trip to Sweaborg (Helsingfors) on Tuesday last. The 
 admiral sent me with a flag-of-truce to take a letter to the 
 Russian admiral on the subject of the prisoners taken at 
 Gamla Carleby. We started from this at S P-m- ^'^^ ^t 7 
 were steaming up the channel to Sweaborg. The Russians 
 have removed a fine beacon on a small island, which 
 used to form the leading-mark, and have re-erected it 
 on another islet, thinking to deceive us and run us on a 
 dangerous reef; but it was too palpable to deceive us 
 a moment. They have actually put it in a position where, 
 on with a very fine church, it clears us of the very reef 
 they thought to run us on, while we ran up the channel 
 full speed without ever checking the engines, so good are 
 their charts and so easy to make out the proper marks even 
 without the beacon, though both sides of the passage are 
 for six miles bounded by rocks. When near the small 
 island, and about two miles off the entrance, across which 
 the admiral's three-decker is moored, she fired two blank 
 guns, evidently as a signal that we were near enough. We 
 
200 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. IX. 
 
 had hoisted a white flag eight miles outside : at first it was a 
 sheet, but it was not large enough, so I hoisted a fine large 
 table-cloth, and took half a sheet for the boat-flag. I went 
 to about a mile and a half off, just out of gun-shot, when 
 they fired another gun, and we anchored. I then pulled in 
 as fast as I could in my boat, and saw a boat with a white 
 flag coming out ; but as we pulled much the faster, we got 
 within less than half a mile when we met, just as another 
 gun was fired, as a hint we were too close. The lieutenant 
 in the boat said he was ordered by the admiral to say the 
 steamer was too close, and that if she did not move out he 
 would be compelled to fire on her. I told him to give my 
 compliments to the admiral, and I should be happy to 
 move out a little if he wished it, but it would be useless his 
 firing, as the vessel was out of shot. The officer seemed 
 very nervous about his orders (I had a Russian interpreter 
 with me, who also spoke French well) : he would not speak 
 Russian, only French, apparently that his boat's crew might 
 not hear. I had difficulty in persuading him to take 
 the letter : when he did, I arranged that, if there was no 
 answer forthcoming, the ship should hoist a flag at her fore ; 
 if there was an answer, it should be sent out. I said I 
 would meet the boat half-way, but he said I must not come 
 in the boat again, as I had come too close now, but the 
 letter should be sent to the ship. I then returned about 
 9 p.m., and shifted the vessel out about a quarter of a 
 mile, and we lay all night waiting till i a.m., when, as what 
 little dark there was was just closing, we saw a small 
 steamer coming out : she brought two lieutenants in a boat 
 with a letter. With difficulty could I get them to come up 
 the ladder : when I did, they would only come to the top, 
 and all my attempts at politeness would not get them 
 inside. I asked them how the wounded men were. The 
 answer was, ' We know nothing about anything : anything 
 to be said is in the letter.' They were evidently afraid of 
 compromising themselves, and had been told not to hold 
 any communication verbally with us. As soon as they left 
 we started, and, though too dark to see the marks clearly, 
 we steamed out again at full speed. I dare say they were 
 vexed at finding that, in spite of buoys and beacons being 
 removed, and the tower shifted to another island, we could 
 run in and out of their passage at full speed, as if we had 
 known it before. I would not have any angles taken or 
 drawings made, as we were under a flag-of-truce ; neither 
 
'854-] A WELL-KEPT SECRET. 201 
 
 did 1 have a leadsman in the chains while near, that they 
 might not say we sounded under cover of the white flag. 
 We got back to the admiral at 5 a.m. The answer was 
 that nothing could be said of exchanging prisoners till they 
 heard from the Emperor, and that the officer and seven men 
 were killed, twelve wounded, and eight unhurt. 
 
 " Last packet brought us the news that French troops 
 were coming out, and set all the fleet wondering what is to 
 be done. All sorts of reports are in vogue ; and being 
 aware Admiral Chads and myself have been much with 
 the chief, sometimes for hours at a time, and Nugent, the 
 senior engineer, also, officers know that, whatever the 
 plans are, we alone are in the secret, and that makes every 
 one more curious. Till the news of the French troops 
 coming reached us, no one had an idea that anything was 
 in agitation, so well has the secret been kept for nearly a 
 month. I only wonder it did not get out through the 
 French, as the Fi'ench admiral was consulted, and that was 
 my chief fear about it. The fact is, that so many letters of 
 officers get published that it is not safe to let anything be 
 known ; and some of them contain most arrant nonsense, 
 that must make the writers ashamed when they see it 
 in print. If I ever thought there was a possibility of 
 a line I wrote being known beyond our own circle, I 
 should never write a word on the subject of our movements 
 again. I am glad to see that none of the papers know the 
 real object of the troops coming out : even now it may 
 be kept secret, or attention directed to other places than 
 the true one. If so, you will probably be the only person 
 outside the Government offices who will know all about it, 
 and you certainly have been the only one during the last 
 month who knew that there was something in preparation. 
 You see the advantage of your large organ of secretiveness ! 
 Had you not proved so often how close you could keep a 
 thing, I could not have ventured to write privately to you 
 on the subject. The mail to-day brought, among other 
 reports, one that Riga is our object. A brother-captain has 
 been here this minute trying to find out from me if it is true. 
 ' Where are we going ? ' is the common question. I try to 
 look very ignorant and innocent, and say, ' Have you not 
 heard it is so and so?' (the last place reported). 
 
 " I %th. — We sail to-day. I am now going to take buoys 
 up, so evidently all the fleet are going. I go on ahead 
 with some steamers to place them as marks for the big 
 
202 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. IX. 
 
 ships. It is not certain yet whether I shall find a passage 
 for the Duke. I have three feet of water more to find. If 
 I succeed in getting her up, it will be a great thing." 
 
 It will be well, I think, to give the following letter 
 here ; it was written to his old Beagle messmate. Captain 
 Hamond, of Fakenham, Norfolk : — 
 
 " Guildford, 1856. 
 
 " My dear Hamond,— I see that your neighbour the 
 Marquis Townshend has defended Sir C. Napier against 
 the attack of Sir R. Peel. I am glad he has done so ; for 
 whatever may be said against Sir Charles on other points, 
 it is most unjust to accuse him of want of courage in not 
 attacking with a fleet a place against which it is impossible to 
 place ships, so as fairly to try whether their broadsides or 
 the batteries are the strongest. No one but a madman 
 would have run his ships into a long, narrow channel, with 
 at most a foot of water to spare, out of which they could 
 not pass ; where there was hardly room for two ships 
 abreast ; where the slightest yaw in the smoke must have 
 put them on shore ; and where they would have been 
 under the raking and cross fire of hundreds of heavy guns, 
 against which they would have been able only to bring a 
 few bow-guns to bear. The attempt could only have ended 
 in the total destruction of every ship that went in. 
 
 " On our way up the gulf I boarded an American from 
 Cronstadt. The captain and supercargo were both in- 
 telligent men. They said they had spoken to many 
 Russian officers, who all allowed it was useless to bring 
 their fleet out, as they could not contend with us at sea ; 
 but said that their plan was to have their ships quite 
 ready, to let Napier get his ships knocked to pieces against 
 their batteries, and then to come out and finish the work. 
 I took these persons to the admiral, to whom they repeated 
 this statement. Common sense must show that this was 
 the Russians' only safe plan ; and had Napier played their 
 game for them, and the result had been their destroying 
 our fleet and getting command of the Baltic and North 
 Seas, those who have abused both him and the Government 
 would have been the first to cry out against the madman 
 who lost the fleet and the Admiralty that appointed him. 
 
 " Those who contend that a fleet can destroy the 
 strongest fortress should confine themselves to places 
 
'8S4] A DEFENCE OF NAPIER. 203 
 
 where there is space and depth enough to admit of ships 
 being fairly placed against the batteries, such as Sevas- 
 topol and Sweaborg. In both these places, if ships were 
 not disabled on their approach by the raking and cross 
 fire of shells from nearly two hundred heavy guns, they 
 could get within short range of the nearest batteries ; but 
 they would still be exposed to the fire of other batteries, 
 especially earth-works placed higher and at longer ranges : 
 these, aided by the broadsides of ships inside, would pro- 
 bably destroy the attacking ships, even if they succeeded 
 in silencing the batteries they were abreast of The suc- 
 cess of two small batteries, so placed, at Sevastopol, on 
 October 17th, against several of our large ships, shows 
 what the result would have been if an attempt had been 
 made against either Sevastopol or Sweaborg with the 
 fleet alone. No one who knows anything on the question 
 can doubt that it would have resulted in the destruction 
 or disabling of the whole attacking force, and in giving 
 the command of the Baltic or Black Sea to Russia during 
 the summer of 1854. 
 
 " It is extraordinary that the public expected only Napier 
 and the Baltic fleet to perform such wonders. Why have 
 the Black Sea admirals not been equally blamed because 
 they did not take Sevastopol with the fleet alone ? 
 
 " It is rather amusing to find ignorant persons talking and 
 writing of what Nelson would have done, and to hear a line 
 of block-ships and rafts at Copenhagen which he attacked 
 compared to Cronstadt. If the Russian ships had anchored 
 in line outside their batteries, can any one believe that 
 Napier and Parseval would not have given as good an 
 account of them as Nelson did of the Danish ships at 
 Copenhagen in his almost drawn battle? For the 
 batteries, though some distance from the attacking force, 
 were so entirely uninjured, and, after beating off the 
 frigates that attacked them, so annoyed the nearest ships, 
 that Nelson was glad to avail himself of the first break in 
 the action, caused by his flag-of-truce, to get his ships 
 out of the channel. 
 
 "If Sir Robert Peel had studied the naval history of 
 the French war, he would have learnt that Nelson never 
 attacked a battery with ships, except very slightly the 
 first day at Teneriffe, when, thinking it impossible to 
 succeed that way, be gave it up and tried to carry the 
 place by storm. 
 
204 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. IX. 
 
 " At either Bastia or Calvi — I forget which — he opposed 
 a proposal of the general's to bring the fleet in against the 
 place, after a principal sea battery had been taken, on 
 the ground that ' it had been proved ships could not stand 
 the fire of batteries, now red-hot shot were used' A frigate 
 had been burnt a short time before by red-hot shot from a 
 small battery ; and the martello-tower, with one gun, had 
 beaten off a line-of-battle ship and a frigate with great loss, 
 setting them on fire in several places. 
 
 " What would he have said if he had seen large ships so 
 beaten by the fire of shell from a few guns as Alban and 
 others were at Sevastopol? I should like to hear the 
 opinions of such men as Sir Howard Douglas and Sir Harry 
 Jones on the chance a fleet would have in the narrow 
 channel at Cronstadt, even if the enemy were to let them get 
 in as far as they could before they fired a shot. 
 
 " These are no new opinions of mine, as I expressed the 
 same strongly after witnessing the effect of firing against 
 earthen batteries in the Parana. Before the failure at 
 Sevastopol, I expressed my conviction that three guns in 
 a well-constructed battery, properly placed, would beat 
 off or destroy any ship in the world. This view I pressed 
 strongly on the Government, when I tried to stop the 
 erection of badly constructed stone batteries at Plymouth 
 in 1846. 
 
 " I saw more of the defences of Cronstadt than any other 
 person in the fleet, having been entrusted with the close 
 examination of them both years, and I spent many 
 anxious days and nights trying to find an opening for 
 doing something against them. The decision of the 
 admirals both years was in accordance with the reports 
 I gave them ; and as that is well known to those who 
 served in the Baltic, I feel personally anxious that injustice 
 should not be done to our services, which hitherto I feel 
 has been the case. 
 
 " To those who know the truth about Cronstadt, the 
 opinion now expressed, that it could have been taken the 
 first year, but has since been made impregnable, is really 
 amusing. 
 
 " As to attacking it with the large ships by the main 
 channel, that was just as impossible the first season as the 
 last. No additional defences were made on that side the 
 first two seasons, and I believe none have been added 
 since ; therefore, if it is unattackable now, it must have 
 
1854-] THE FACTS REGARDING CRONSTADT. 205 
 
 been so then. We had no kind of force for any other mode 
 of attack ; but no one was to blame for that, as gun- and 
 mortar-boats had not been thought of then ; and even if 
 we had been provided with a large force of gun-boats, we 
 could not have succeeded. 
 
 " The second year we were more ready, being in a 
 position to attack it in the only way that gave a chance 
 of success ; but we were prevented by circumstances that 
 I cannot more particularly explain, but for which it is 
 quite certain neither Admiralty nor admirals can be justly 
 blamed. 
 
 " This last summer, when the place has been pronounced 
 impregnable, we should have been for the first time in a 
 position to make the attempt. That it would have been 
 made is certain, had the war gone on. That it would at 
 least have been successful, so far as destroying the town 
 and arsenal by a bombardment, I have no doubt whatever, 
 for we know that the defences necessary to make it secure 
 were only commenced last summer. That it would have 
 further resulted in our destroying their fleet, , and even 
 occupying the place, is, I think, possible. But of course 
 the struggle would have been a severe one, and the whole 
 mode of operations would have been so perfectly new in 
 naval warfare that no one could be very confident as to 
 the result, particularly as the natural obstacles were so very 
 much in favour of the defenders. 
 
 " I am sure that I could convince any practical man 
 of the correctness of these views, by explaining them in 
 detail on the plan of Cronstadt ; and, however the Grand 
 Duke may now try to depreciate our services — or, more 
 probably, to deceive his wondering and ignorant hearers — 
 I am quite sure, by the nature of the exertions made during 
 the war to increase the defences, that he knew well that 
 it was impregnable against a direct attack by large ships 
 from the first, and therefore he wisely directed all his 
 efforts to the really weak points in the defence, which 
 he knew quite as well as we did. 
 
 " I do not for a moment wish to defend Sir Charles on 
 every point, as there is no doubt that, if he had closely 
 reconnoitred Sweaborg earlier in the season, it would have 
 been seen how open it was to a bombardment with mortars, 
 and that there were rocky islets at the right distance on 
 which to place the mortars. Had that been seen by the 
 beginning of June, mortars might have been sent out and 
 
2q6 reconnoitring CRONSTADT. [Ch. IX. 
 
 the place destroyed that season — that is, if there were 
 thirteen-inch mortars and shell to send. But this I am not 
 sure of, as their value seems to have been quite overlooked 
 early in the war ; and out of fifteen we had at Sweaborg 
 the following year, fourteen were new ones. 
 
 " Sir Charles said, in his speech in the House, that it was 
 not closely reconnoitred because those he sent could not 
 find channels in on that side. If so, it was a great blunder 
 on their parts ; for when I first went there on July 13th 
 with a flag-of-truce, I went in at full speed by the Russian 
 charts and leading-marks, without having a man in the 
 chains. It was then too late to send mortars out that 
 season, and the bombardment was managed more easily 
 the next season by the placing mortars in vessels, instead 
 of having the heavy job of landing them ; so that no public 
 injury was caused, — only Admiral Dundas had the credit of 
 doing it instead of Sir Charles Napier. 
 
 " The only other thing that could have been done by the 
 fleet was to have taken Bomarsund by landing seamen and 
 marines.* 
 
 " I wish those who are so ready to accuse our admirals 
 of wanting the courage of Nelson and his followers would 
 really study the career of Nelson, and also of Sir James 
 Saumarez, one of Nelson's most distinguished seconds. 
 He attacked three French ships at anchor, aided by two 
 batteries, with six ships of the same class, and was beaten 
 off, losing one ship. A few days after, with his damaged 
 ships, he followed and defeated his late opponents, though, 
 with the Spanish squadron that had joined them, they 
 were double his force. No one who reads that account 
 can doubt his firm determination to bring an enemy to 
 action where he had the slightest chance of success, and 
 it was certainly one of the most gallant actions of the war. 
 But a few years after we find him opposed to a Russian 
 force so inferior that two of his ships with the Swedish 
 squadron had driven them into Port Baltic before he joined 
 with the English fleet. The Russians had landed some 
 guns and thrown up batteries to assist in the defence ; and 
 Sir James, thinking they were in too good a position to 
 be attacked, contented himself with blockading them. 
 
 " If Sir Charles Napier and Admiral Parseval are to be so 
 severely censured for not getting at the Russian fleet inside 
 the strongest fortress in the world (against an attack by 
 * See page 182 for the reasons why this was not done. 
 
i854-] nelson's tactics. 20/ 
 
 ships), what would have been said of them if they had 
 found an inferior force of the enemy in such a place as 
 Port Baltic and had declined attacking it ? Yet Sir 
 James Saumarez is one of our brightest examples. This 
 will, I think, show how very unjust it is to compare the 
 conduct of the Baltic admirals, who never found an enemy's 
 ship outside their batteries, with that of Nelson and others, 
 who never attempted to attack fortified places, however 
 inferior to those in the Baltic, but persisted in long 
 blockades, till they forced the enemy's fleet out to meet 
 them, or caught them at anchor unprotected by batteries, 
 as at the Nile. 
 
 " Yours, etc., 
 
 "B. J. SULIVAN." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE FALL OF BOMARSUND. 
 
 "Aland Islands, Led Sound, 
 "July i<^th, 1854. 
 
 "On the 19th I left the fleet at anchor thirty miles out- 
 side, and came on with three vessels, besides Lightning, to 
 examine the passage in, before taking the fleet in. I had 
 been unwell for two days, which made me rather unfit for 
 the hard work that was to follow." 
 
 Much difficulty was experienced in navigating the four 
 vessels in a thick fog, and in seeking a way in amongst 
 the rocks. It was evident there was no passage for a 
 fleet. 
 
 " All that day we were hard at work looking for a 
 better passage in to the westward, through Led Sound. We 
 found a safe but very narrow one, with five and a half 
 fathoms, which we buoyed for nearly a mile ; and having 
 placed buoys and two ships on outer shoals, and left Alban 
 to examine farther, I got back to the fleet at 9 p.m., pass- 
 ing through the islands close to Vitko Island. On the 
 2 1st, having left a squadron with Commodore Martin to 
 return to the Gulf of Finland, and despatched Dauntless 
 home, the fleet proceeded for this place, and we led them 
 in about 9 p.m. 
 
 " I had little doubt of finding a good passage for the 
 large ships to Bomarsund ; but the admiral said I should 
 take up the Edinburgh, Hogue, Blenheim, and Ajax first, with 
 Amphion (my old friend and comrade Key), Alban, and 
 Lightning, all under Admiral Chads. I went in Edinburgh, 
 and we had an easy run for six miles, then anchored 
 to find a better channel than my former one of four 
 fathoms. I went in Lightning, soon found a narrow one, 
 
 208 
 
I854-] " LIGHTNING " LEADS. 209 
 
 but with five and a half fathoms, bounded by rocks with 
 only four, three, and two fathoms on them. We put some 
 buoys down, and then I returned to Edinburgh, and we went 
 on swimmingly through channels so narrow that the line- 
 of-battle ships seemed like giants looking down on the 
 small islands, and so right into Lumpar Bay in front 
 of Bomarsund. But we passed very close to a rock I knew 
 nothing of, nearly in the middle of the narrowest channel. 
 Fortunately all the leading ships cleared it without know- 
 ing it, but the last one, Ajax, ran on it : however, she came 
 off directly with her engines, and followed us ; so that I 
 may almost say I got them up without a mishap. Admiral 
 Chads was greatly delighted ; and as Mr. Brierley, who sends 
 sketches to the Illustrated, was, with a host of amateurs, 
 in Lightning, I dare say you will see a sketch of it. It 
 was the prettiest sight by far yet seen in the Baltic. To 
 complete it, the enemy had built a new battery on a point 
 with five heavy guns, and I saw it just in time to anchor 
 half a mile farther out than I intended ; and I thought I 
 had brought up Edinburgh at two thousand five hundred 
 yards, but it was only about two thousand two hundred, 
 and the guns opened on her and on Amphion, and threw 
 the shot so unpleasantly close that Admiral Chads moved 
 both ships farther out. All this made the scene more 
 interesting. 
 
 " I returned the same evening, but found the admiral 
 would not let me take the large ships up : he had doubts 
 whether he would take them up at all. So next day I was 
 asked by the French admiral to take one of his ships with 
 a number of oflficers and pilots to show them the channel, 
 Evans at the same time having all the masters of our fleet 
 in Lightning to go with me. We had a nice trip, and 
 I proved the safety of the channel by running the French 
 screw-steamers back in an hour and fifty-five minutes the 
 distance of eighteen miles. Yesterday I had to start at 
 3 a.m. to pilot Gorgon into an intricate channel, where 
 poor Buckle had Valorous aground, and so injured that, 
 though off, she is leaking terribly. This was close to my 
 old friends in the village of Degerby, where you will re- 
 member the custom-house and collector and the nice ladies 
 were. You may also recollect that the people complained of 
 a Russian police officer being ' the very devil,' and wished 
 I would take him away ; but he was not there then, and 
 I said jokingly, ' If I ever come back, I will take him away 
 
 14 
 
2IO BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 for you.' I waited up there a short time to go on shore 
 and see my friends (some of those in the other ships had 
 landed there). On the way to shore with Evans in the 
 gig, I told the ship's crew that if they saw me pat a man 
 very affectionately on the back to seize his arms behind 
 and take him to the boat. On landing, all the people 
 were indoors but the collector, who came gravely forward, 
 bowing, till he came close and recognised me, when his 
 countenance changed most wonderfully. He began shak- 
 ing hands very energetically. I saw a lot of faces peeping 
 out of one room. Soon all my lady friends rushed out 
 of the door. They had not recognised me through the 
 window till they saw the collector shake hands with 
 me. Even the collector's old wife, whom you remember 
 had been 'packing up to run away' when I first landed, 
 ran out and shook my hand with both hers, as if she 
 recollected my not burning the custom-house down ; and 
 the nicest-looking young lady, the married one with the 
 baby, ran in and brought out a most beautiful nosegay 
 of roses of all kinds, which she gave me. I then com- 
 plained to them all that the villagers were acting as our 
 enemies, in spite of all I said when last here, as they were 
 cutting away the buoys we put on rocks ; and I said that if 
 they did not prevent it, I should have to burn all the boats 
 of the nearest village, and, if that did not stop it, the 
 village itself They said it was the police officer made the 
 people do it, threatening if they refused to send them off 
 to the fort. Shortly after a gentleman in a green uniform 
 came, and told me he had charge of the place, and I saw he 
 must be the very man. He certainly was a bold one. I 
 soon after said I must have some sheep, etc., and as the 
 people could not sell them I would take them and give the 
 money. The gentleman in green said he would not allow 
 it, and they should not take our money. I went up close 
 to him and said, ' Then you mean to act as our enemy.' 
 (I had an interpreter.) ' I cannot allow them to take the 
 money. I have charge here, and it is my duty to pre- 
 vent it.' ' Then,' I said, ' I must treat you as an enemy,' 
 tapping him on the back at the same time. In an instant 
 his arms were pinned, and he found himself in the embraces 
 of three men, who walked him off to the boat. The ladies 
 screamed ; the old Mrs. Collector got hold of my hand, 
 went down on her knees, and cried terribly, saying he had 
 a wife and seven children, the youngest only a year old. 
 
j8s4.] an official prisoner. 2 I I 
 
 I told her I had just the same, but it would not prevent a 
 Russian officer taking me prisoner ; and as this man avowed 
 himself a Russian officer and acted against us, though he 
 did his duty only, I was obliged to do mine and take him 
 prisoner. Some of the younger ones screamed, one tall 
 fine young woman went off nearly faint, and there was such 
 a scene, but more with fright at the thing than care for 
 him. I believe they thought they were all to be carried 
 off. Soon his poor wife came down in terrible distress, and 
 his eldest daughter begged me very hard to let him go, 
 and almost tried my feelings too much ; but all I could 
 promise was, I would take him to the admiral, and I would 
 ask for him to be allowed to go to Bomarsund, where his 
 family might join him, provided he promised not to return 
 here, but that would rest entirely with the admiral. His wife 
 went off with him ; and I, with two men, walked to our old 
 village a mile inland, where the people had said they could 
 not sell us lambs ; but, now they heard the police officer was 
 gone, they were ready to sell anything. Evans and more 
 men soon joined, and we took back several sheep and nice 
 lambs at three shillings and sixpence each, milk, and cream ; 
 and as we could not carry all, I took off my coat and backed 
 a fine lamb. When I came back I invited the ladies off, and 
 all but the old one accepted, and brought off the poor man's 
 eldest daughter. The poor people on shore had been crowd- 
 ing round me, begging me not to let him come back again. 
 The ladies certainly did not seem to think I had done very 
 wrong, or they would not have so readily come off. The 
 husband of the nice-looking one stood on the jetty. I 
 begged him to come, but he said he could not. I said I 
 would keep all the ladies prisoners, and his wife too. He 
 said he was quite willing to trust her with me. They 
 remained an hour, had some wine, biscuits, figs, etc., 
 admired your likeness, took a number of tracts, were 
 rather surprised that the figure of England in Punch 
 praying for the success of the war should be kneeling 
 before a cross, and asked if the figure were not that of 
 a Catholic. I assured them we were Protestants, and I 
 gave the young mother a Swedish Testament for her little 
 daughter when she could read, and then we parted the best 
 of friends, though it was sad to see the poor wife and 
 children taking leave. I think no one ever before captured 
 a prisoner in an enemy's country, and at the same time 
 had a party of six ladies on board to lunch." 
 
2 1 2 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 "Napier," p. 315, records the progress of Admiral 
 Chads' fleet to Bomarsund. This, then, was the first, 
 attempt to take large ships up to the place. After aa 
 hour's examination of the most difficult part. Captain 
 Sulivan found sufficient water, and without any buoys or- 
 marks took the ships up through the passages. This, 
 exploit was never noticed by Napier in any way, nor in 
 any despatch, but the return of the ships was signalled by 
 a notice, after Captain .Sulivan had taught the masters the 
 pilotage and buoyed the whole passage ! 
 
 " Sunday, July ■ysth, 1 854. 
 
 " I do not like writing on Sunday, except my private 
 letter, but I could not possibly write to you at all if I did 
 not. The whole week has been spent in one continual 
 work of piloting ships either to Bomarsund or through the 
 channels to the north-east, in buoying and marking the 
 main channels to Bomarsund, reconnoitring the shores near 
 Bomarsund to find the best landing-place, piloting the 
 admiral up in Driver to see the place, and finding a new 
 channel round from north to south of the fort without 
 passing within range of the batteries. We have been work- 
 ing from 4 a.m. to late in the evening, and yet expected 
 to be back alongside the flag-ship every night, which we 
 have only failed to do once, when I was too tired to return, 
 and getting alongside Arrogant, Amphion, and Alban, my 
 old shipmates Yelverton (Henry), Key, Otter, and I had 
 a most pleasant evening together. One day Caffin, Scott, 
 and Henry were sent with me with the masters of their 
 ships to see the channels, and they said they had the most 
 pleasant day they had spent in the Baltic. I had a letter 
 to deliver at Degerby to his wife from the prisoner I took, 
 and had orders to bring his clothes down, he being kept 
 in Duke of Wellington ; so we all landed, had a walk 
 to the village out in the country, got some cream and 
 milk, called on all our lady friends, got lots of roses from 
 the gardens, had a very kind reception even from the 
 prisoner's wife, and, knowing that from the blockade they 
 were deprived of all their common necessaries, I was in the 
 act of sending on shore some coffee, sugar, and a few 
 bottles of wine, when a boat came alongside, put a large 
 
1854] ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH TROOPS. 213 
 
 basket of green peas and a wooden milk-bucket of rasp- 
 berries in the cutter, said they were for the captain, and 
 pulled away before an answer could be given. Thinking 
 we were about to start, they could have expected no 
 return. It was a very nice way of showing a civility. I 
 also had the luck to collect three hundred nice fresh eggs 
 at a cost of five shillings per hundred — of course some are 
 for my friends. 
 
 " Yesterday I got to bed at 12.30 and slept till seven this 
 morning, and was just congratulating myself on a quiet 
 Sunday, when my signal was made, ' Get up steam and weigh 
 instantly,' and a boat from Duke brought Moriarty the master 
 — a very nice, excellent fellow, whom I like to have with 
 me — to say that the squadron with troops was in sight, 
 and I was to go out to pilot them in, Moriarty coming if 
 I wanted more help. We met the four line-of-battle ships 
 outside about twelve miles ; and sending Moriarty to St. 
 Vincent and Evans to Royal William, so that we need not 
 wait for them, I went to Hannibal, the commodore's ship, 
 and we pushed on, followed by Algiers. On our way in 
 we met the master of the fleet with a message to me 
 that the admiral wished the two screw-ships inside him, and 
 the two sailing three-deckers outside. It was a lovely morn- 
 ing — a light breeze, not hot — and the ships crowded with 
 troops in all colours. The fleet inside was anchored pretty 
 thickly ; but I found no difficulty in helping the effect of 
 the saluting, cheering, flags displayed, etc., by running first 
 past a French liner, then between the two French admirals, 
 cheered French fashion by each (hardly able to make 
 the helmsmen hear me for the row) ; then close under 
 Duke's stern, where cheering began English fashion ; and 
 then brought up between Cumberland and James Watt. 
 But to the surprise of every one the Algiers, instead of 
 following, anchored outside with the sailing-ships ; and 
 when Talbot came on board, he said that the master of the 
 fleet had come on board and taken charge, saying he was 
 to take her inside ; but that when he came near his heart 
 failed him— he said he could not get her through the ships, 
 that there was not room, and he anchored her outside ; so 
 half the effect was lost. 
 
 " You will recollect in my last my describing taking up a 
 French steamer with the officers and pilots of the fleet to 
 teach them the channels. The commander seemed intelli- 
 gent, and took notes and sketches innumerable, marking 
 
2 1 4 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 everything I told him on the chart, and I thought he seemed 
 quite up to it. I told the admiral he seemed thoroughly 
 to understand it. A few days after he went up again in 
 his little vessel, and in coming down actually mistook the 
 channel where it was most plain, and ran her into one 
 where there was only one and a half fathoms water. Of 
 course she was soon hard and fast, and the master of 
 Edinburgh had to go to her assistance, and after getting her 
 off pilot her down. So much for their attempting to pilot 
 their own ships. I suppose it is no harm my telling my 
 own friends that I met with plenty of compliments. One 
 brother-officer asks, ' Do you ever sleep ? ' another, ' When 
 are they going to give you a little rest ? ' ' How do you 
 stand it ? ' etc., etc. The French admiral told me a few days 
 since that he ' thought I must be made of iron,' and that 
 he had felt it his duty to specially report to the Minister 
 of Marine how much I had assisted them by my exertions. 
 Another French officer asked Yelverton, ' What will they 
 do for Captain Sulivan when he goes home ? What will 
 they make him ? ' Hall is really a very fine fellow ; but 
 after his coming into Cronstadt with the signal flying 
 ' Have successfully bombarded Bomarsund,' every one who 
 looks at the fort and sees only a few external marks of 
 shot on the granite wall naturally laughs at the idea of 
 their having at all injured the fort, or done more than 
 burn a few wooden houses.* Buckle, who was there, laughs 
 at it himself; yet the papers at home speak of it as if 
 the fort had been silenced by three steamers, when now a 
 whole fleet and ten thousand troops are going to attack it. 
 It is too bad the way the papers publish directly false articles, 
 A k'w days since we read, under the head of ' Surveying 
 Work in the Baltic,' an account of the arduous duties in 
 finding channels for the ships, .etc., and that among other 
 
 ships that had taken a prominent part in it was the 
 
 and three others, not one of which had ever taken the 
 slightest share in it. Yet neither Lightning's nor Alban's 
 name was mentioned in the article. This is a specimen of 
 
 * Hecla's bombardment. — " So useless was this waste of shot and 
 shell that the granite was scarcely marked, and the Russians, in 
 derision, painted black marks near each hit to m,ark the spots. The 
 forts, being casemated, the guns could not be elevated at long range, 
 so that it could be shelled out of range of its guns. One might as well 
 have thrown peas at the fort, as the bomb-proof roof had four feet of 
 sand on it. The real force opposed to the steamers was the masked 
 battery of field artillery, which came down to the point of the bay." 
 
l854-] A GOOD LANDING-PLACE. 2 I 5 
 
 the truth of such puffs. In fact, there are a set of people 
 who try through their friends or by more direct means to 
 puff themselves off, and make the public believe they do 
 everything, while here they are laughed at. 
 
 " We expect the French ships with the remaining troops 
 on Tuesday, and I suppose by this day week they will be 
 hard at it. I hardly expect the governor will surrender 
 when summoned, as some think ; but I fancy, when the west 
 hill fort is taken, he will see how useless it is to continue 
 the defence, so that there will be very little to do. I 
 think we have selected a nice landing-place — a smooth, 
 grassy flat at the head of a cove, on which guns, etc., could 
 be landed, and where I could run Lightning within a few 
 yards, and close to it a nice steep rocky point, rising to a 
 little hill, no trees to cover riflemen, and yet a strong 
 position for the leading troops to hold and protect the 
 others landing ; while at the entrance of the cove the 
 Edinburgh may lay within a hundred yards of both 
 shores and sweep them, so that nothing can oppose us ; 
 besides which, we may tow all the boats four or five miles 
 above, as if going to land at Castellholm, then turn and go 
 fast back to the cove, before any soldiers could return 
 there. They have only five hundred riflemen that they 
 can venture to detach from the forts, and they will, I 
 suppose, do all they can to check the advance ; but a 
 regiment of the French chasseurs will be landed first, and 
 they will soon deal with the riflemen if they make a stand. 
 Our share of the whole thing will be trifling, as no seamen 
 will, I believe, be landed, except a few with guns. The 
 French commander-in-chief has gone to Stockholm, and 
 will not be here for two or three days. 
 
 " We continue to be quite free from sickness, and the 
 fleet is generally healthy, though a case of cholera occurs 
 now and then in a screw-ship. 
 
 "It was a curious sight seeing a thousand French 
 soldiers paraded on the deck of an English ninety-gun 
 ship. They have got on capitally, all pleasant and mutually 
 pleased. 
 
 "Monday, sist. — We have been all day with General Jones, 
 Commodore Grey, Captain Mundy, and all the engineer 
 officers, showing them the forts north and south. On the 
 north side the two round forts tried to reach us with shot, 
 both by ricochet and direct fire ; but I kept just out of 
 range, so they failed to hit us. I had eight to dinner with 
 
2l6 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 me after leaving. I have since been with the general and 
 commander-in-chief till late in the evening." 
 
 "Led Sound, Wednesday, August 2nd. 
 
 " Yesterday the two commanders-in-chief — Napier and 
 Duchesne — the French general-in-chief, four other French 
 generals, General Jones, and all their staffs, went in the 
 Emperor's yacht to examine the place, Lightning going 
 with them and leading through the channels. When we 
 reached Bomarsund I went on board, as did Admiral 
 Chads. It was evident they did not like taking the 
 yacht close along the shore, as she drew more water than 
 we did ; so they all, great and small, went on board 
 Lightning, and what with colonels, naval captains, 
 captains and lieutenants on the staff, etc., they crowded 
 our deck under the awning from the main-mast to the 
 wheel. I gave them a good look at everything, got in on 
 the flank of the battery on the point recently constiucted 
 where no gun could bear on us, and then went to , the 
 landing-place in the bay Admiral Chads and I had looked 
 at before, and of which the French general highly approved. 
 After seeing everything, and shooting the poor forts 
 tremendously with spy-glasses, and carrying off every bit of 
 them on paper, they wanted to go round to the northward. 
 1 told them I could not take the yacht in that way, as it 
 was too intricate ; so they all agreed to stay in Lightning, 
 and meet the yacht on our return. On our way round 
 I got lunch, in the shape of cheese, sardines, biscuit, 
 wine, etc., on the table, and in turn had the whole party in 
 the cabin, beginning with the ' great guns.' They seemed 
 particularly well pleased with a very good cheese, and still 
 more so with ale, which the Frenchmen pitched into 
 uncommonly, and said was far better than wine. As we 
 entered the northern harbour near the forts, I said to Evans 
 I would go closer to-day, as we saw they could not reach 
 us by three or four hundred yards yesterday, adding 
 jokingly it would not be fair to the Russians not to 
 give them a chance at such a party. Evans said, ' Take 
 care, sir, they don't get a bag of extra strong powder to- 
 day.' I then went aft and stopped her abreeist of the forts, 
 and, as I thought, two hundred yards out of their range. 
 I was talking to the general-in-chief and the admiral 
 just abaft the main-mast, where all the six generals, three 
 admirals, and the colonels were congregated, when one 
 
1854J A TARGET OF NOTABLES. 2 1/ 
 
 fort, the low one, fired a ricochet shot, which, after making 
 fifteen ducks and drakes, ended a hundred and fifty 
 yards short of us. The general asked me which fort was 
 nearest. I said the high one by a hundred yards. As I 
 spoke a gun flashed from it, and I was watching to see 
 the shot coming, and how short it would fall, when to my 
 surprise it rushed close over our heads abaft the main- 
 mast, and fell about fifty yards beyond us. It was evident 
 that they had an unusually large gun there, for it made 
 a great noise. I did not wait for a second, but went 
 on full speed, and kept her right off for two or three 
 hundred yards more ; but no shot reached us again, and we 
 went on examining the shore. It was a most providential 
 thing its passing just over us. Had it been a little lower, or 
 we fifty yards farther off, it would have come in among all 
 the great men, who were so crowded that it must have 
 made fearful havoc among them, and it would have been 
 entirely my fault for going so close when there was no 
 necessity for it ; but they certainly had never before 
 thrown a shot so far by two hundred yards. On our way 
 back I had to pass rather close, and the old admiral was 
 at me about it, saying I ought to go farther off ; but I 
 pointed out to him some nasty rocks near, and said I did 
 not like going too close to them, as it was better to risk 
 a shot than risk running her on shore in such a position, 
 which he allowed. I assured him we would not pass 
 within shot again ; and as they fired at us again in passing, 
 the nearest shot did not come within a hundred yards, 
 and most of them shorter by far. One shell burst nicely 
 in exact direction, and high ; so that, had they cut their 
 fuse better, it would have nearly reached us ; but it burst 
 four hundred yards short of us. We then returned to- 
 wards this place, met the yacht, put all the Frenchmen 
 in her, and got back to the fleet at about 7 p.m. 
 
 " If I was not pretty well proof against flattery, I should 
 have had my head turned yesterday. The channels to the 
 northward are particularly intricate, but we went on full 
 speed in Lightning all the way, and astonished the big-wigs 
 not a little, particularly the French general and admiral, 
 as well as our chief and Chads, and I had many compli- 
 ments paid me by all. Napier said, ' How did you ever 
 find it all out ? It seems to me wonderful how the ships 
 were ever got up here at all.' And he repeatedly inter- 
 preted for me sundry speeches of the French chief One 
 
2 1 8 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 person likened me to the dogs that dig for truffles in 
 France. I suppose he meant that they find them by smell, 
 and he thought I found the rocks the same way. When 
 I showed them a rock under water a few feet from our 
 side, with not more than four feet of water on it, they 
 seemed greatly puzzled to know how I found them all. 
 The chief told me that the French admiral had been 
 writing most strongly about me to the Minister of Marine, 
 and they would be sending me the Legion of Honour. At 
 present I have really done nothing to deserve anything 
 of the kind : the distinction would only have value if 
 given for some real service, such as at Obligado. I have 
 been up to-day with some captains and masters to show 
 them the channel. The French captain, who commands 
 a steamer, and was yesterday in the yacht, came to-day, 
 before I was dressed, to ask me to give him some instruc- 
 tion about the channel. I kept him to breakfast, and before 
 it was over my signal was made, and I found it was to ask 
 me about some arrangements and to go with him to the 
 French admiral ; but just as we were going in the barge 
 these captains and masters came, and I was sent off with 
 them instead. One was Clifford, who was a youngster in 
 Undaunted; another Broke. 
 
 " On my return this evening I had another chat with the 
 chief and General Jones about the plans, and to-morrow I 
 am to be there at breakfast, that we may settle everything. 
 The general is to land to the northward with seven hundred 
 marines and his hundred sappers, to make a diversion in 
 favour of the grand landing to the southward, where all 
 the French will land. I shall have to arrange about the 
 steamers that can get through the channel into the north- 
 ward, as no one else knows the channel. I want to get 
 Otter to have the leading of the vessels and boats of the 
 other landing ; he is up to the northward with Plumridge, 
 and I am doubtful if he can be back in time. We are only 
 now waiting for the two French line-of-battle ships that 
 ought to have been here also. I do not think there will be 
 much, if any, resistance to the landing, as they will not 
 know in time where we intend doing it." 
 
 "Led Sound, Friday, August ^th. 
 
 " We are still waiting for two French ships that have the 
 artillery and sappers on board, and the general will not 
 move till they come through, though our admiral and 
 
l854] PREPARING TO ATTACK. 2ig 
 
 General Jones want to commence with the force in hand. 
 Yesterday I took General Jones and Buckle up, the general 
 wishing to have another look, and Buckle going merely 
 to look at it and learn the channel. We found the enemy 
 had burnt down all the houses outside the fort, so as to 
 deprive us of any cover near it. I went to Edinburgh' s 
 mast-head to get a good look at the inland portion of the 
 ground our northern party have to go over after landing, 
 and saw it was very favourable to us, — sloping gradually 
 over clear land, with corn-fields, etc., and a village at the 
 bottom, so that there is little or no cover for their riflemen 
 for a mile beyond where we land and crown the ridge 
 near the coast. This will be done, if opposed, under the 
 fire of the vessels. I also saw that the besieging force must 
 occupy a new work or entrenchment of some kind being 
 thrown up on a hill, which was not known before. I believe 
 eight hundred marines and marine artillery, with four field- 
 pieces with seamen, will constitute our force, and the French 
 add two thousand to it. I had this morning to settle the 
 steamers, etc., with the French captain of the fleet. I am 
 to have Driver and Pigmy, besides Lightning, and I have 
 tried hard for Alban, but cannot get it settled yet. The 
 French send four steamers that I have selected from- their 
 draught of water for the shallow passages ; and I was 
 nearly having the old Fulton also, that suffered so at 
 Obligado. To-day I went up with some masters who had 
 not seen the channel, and with Stewart, captain of Ter- 
 magant, whom you will recollect in Rattlestiake at Falklands. 
 On our arrival there we found the village on Presto Island 
 opposite the large fort in flames. It had the best houses 
 in the islands ; but they feared, I suppose, our advancing 
 under their cover. This seems the first step in the horrors 
 of war. It looks as if they intend to defend it to the last. 
 
 " A deserter soldier and two convicts took a boat and 
 escaped to our ships last night from the fort. 
 
 " Saturday, ^th. — The French ships have just arrived, 
 Vulture also. 
 
 " It is now settled that I take Driver (our old friend 
 and companion Cochrane, whom I have manoeuvred to get 
 with us from th'e first, and prevented his being left up the 
 gulf) and Pigmy with Lightning, and seven hundred marines 
 and a hundred sappers. General Jones and his staff, 
 four field-pieces from the block-ships manned by seamen, 
 and our rocket-tube, which the general wants ; and I 
 
220 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 claimed the privilege of landing our own men with it, so 
 the gunner and ten men from us, with ten from some 
 other ship, take it, and Cudlip (lieutenant of Lightning) 
 will command. As he is the senior lieutenant in the fleet, 
 it will ensure his promotion if he lands, so as to get his 
 name mentioned. I take five French steamers under my 
 orders, and old Fulton, that I so often piloted in Parana, 
 with them. I understood at first I was to command afloat 
 in the northern division ; but now Admiral Plumridge is 
 to meet us there, which will cut me out. I have just left 
 the French admiral, who waited to see me, and who was 
 most anxious to know how I would get the French ships 
 through the difficult channel. 1 told him I proposed putting 
 an officer (Evans) in one in the middle of our line to keep 
 it straight, and when we got to the difficult pass I would 
 take them all through one at a time, and then we would 
 go on in line again. He seemed quite delighted at my 
 making sure of taking all through, and shook hands with 
 both of his. In fact, I am a much greater man with 
 the French than I shall ever be with our own service. 
 Their captains come to me and consult me and ask my 
 advice as if they were youngsters and I was their admiral. 
 Mind; this is private, and must not be mentioned out of our 
 own circle. If it were not for my feeling certain these 
 things will never be mentioned out of it, I might be 
 accused of egotism in writing them, but I know you expect 
 to hear all particulars. 
 
 " Sunday, August 6th. — This day has been like any- 
 thing but Sunday. The admiral came on board Light- 
 ning ^\s morning at nine, to go to both Admirals Plumridge 
 and Chads and arrange all about the disembarkation of the 
 troops to-morrow. The general and Admiral Seymour 
 were with us, and we were busy all day, not getting back 
 till near 7 p.m., when we found the mail arrived. I find 
 General Jones is an old friend of Tucker's, and has often 
 enjoyed the hospitality of Trematon : he is a very fine 
 fellow. I wish we had other such clear heads ; but the 
 difficulty of planning and arranging everything with the 
 French chiefs is very great. The want of one head is very 
 evident, and we have not very good managers to assist our 
 chief, so that there is a sad want of method. Then there 
 is too much desire on the part of certain persons in power 
 to have all to do and to share out all the ships lying here, 
 so that the captains of the senior ships have to He doing 
 
l854] THE DIFFICULTY OF SELECTION. 22 1 
 
 nothing ; and, even now that guns are sent from all the 
 ships to put into batteries, they are not allowed to send 
 men, but all is to be done by Admiral Chads' block-ships 
 and the smaller steamers. I cannot help exerting the 
 influence I have with the admiral to endeavour to get 
 things managed justly to all ; and where that clashes with 
 the wishes of some above me, they show that they think 
 I have too much power — at least in one instance it has 
 been so ; but I do not care, as I feel I have had no 
 motive but the good of the service and the success of our 
 attack with as little bloodshed as possible, which to me is 
 of more importance than that certain parties should keep 
 all to themselves. I have succeeded in getting two or 
 three included in the business that would have been left 
 out, but entirely from a desire to do them justice and from 
 no other feeling. However, I think there are very few who 
 do not believe I take a right view of these things, and I 
 am very pleased to find that my views on most points 
 have been confirmed by the great soldiers who now 
 manage affairs. 
 
 " We move the troops into the smaller steamers at i p.m. 
 to-morrow and start directly, getting to our positions 
 before evening, ready to land at daylight next morning. 
 I take Driver, Pigmy, and three French vessels under my 
 orders, and land eighteen hundred French and eight 
 hundred English marines and sappers, four guns, and 
 two rocket-tubes. Admiral Plumridge meets me at the 
 landing-place and takes the command, bringing some 
 steamers with him, and their paddle-boats for landing the 
 troops. While at anchor to-day at Bomarsund three 
 Russian deserters came down to the shore, and we brought 
 them off. They are Polish Jews, and have been seven 
 years here as soldiers. They gave us much information 
 about the place. The houses outside and villages have 
 been all burning the last two days, and they seem deter- 
 mined to make a strong resistance. I do not expect to 
 find the landing opposed on our side at least ; and as the 
 general-in-chief leads with three thousand men in the first 
 boat-loads, they cannot well be opposed either. 
 
 " To have seen the old admiral with me to-day, no one 
 would have supposed he could have let out at me as he 
 did for a fancied error two days since. When several 
 were discussing to-day the position some would hold, 
 others being shared out, one of our leading men said that. 
 
222 
 
 BOMARSUND. 
 
 [Ch. X. 
 
 no matter what difference of opinion there might be about 
 these points, there was none as to my position, for all 
 felt that our great success lay in having brought such 
 large ships where they thought it impossible, and that 
 all the information they collect up there confirms this ; 
 
 Degerbuf'^ 
 
 U'aiker &nojitallsc. 
 
 in fact, if all said was to be believed, I am to be made 
 a ' bishop ' at least ! 
 
 " Monday, "jth. — We are off with the troops, and we land 
 at daylight to-morrow." 
 
 A short outline of the operations will enable the journals 
 
•854-] HOW BOMARSUND FELL. 223 
 
 N 
 
 to be followed more readily. It will be seen by the accom- 
 panying plan that the large fort of Bomarsund was supported 
 by the round towers of Tzee, Nottich, and Presto, and by 
 the seven-gun battery at Tranvik Point. The latter was 
 attacked and destroyed on August 8th by Captains Key and 
 Desbois. On the same day the British force, of about seven 
 hundred sailors and marines and seventy sappers, together 
 with a covering force of two thousand French marines, 
 were sent in vessels conducted by Captain Sulivan through 
 an intricate channel to the landing-place chosen by him 
 to the north of Bomarsund. Thence the guns (three short 
 thirty-two-pounders, four field-guns, and the rocket-tube) 
 were dragged over steep and rocky ground four and 
 a half miles to the spot chosen for the battery, seven 
 hundred and fifty yards north of Fort Tzee. The officers 
 in command were Captain Ramsay, R.N., and Commander 
 Preedy, R.N. On the same day the French force, conducted 
 by Commander Otter, R.N., and numbering about ten 
 thousand men, was landed to the west of Tranvik Point. 
 They had fifty horses to help drag their guns (four long 
 sixteen-pounders, and four thirteen-inch mortars) to the 
 station fixed upon, four hundred and fifty yards west of 
 Fort Tzee. The French battery, being ready early on 
 the 13th, commenced firing without waiting for the British, 
 and Fort Tzee surrendered the same evening. When 
 ready, on the iSth, Captain Ramsay turned his guns — 
 not now needed for Fort Tzee — against Fort Nottich, at 
 a distance of nine hundred and fifty yards, and breached 
 it in eight hours. Meanwhile Captain Pelham, R.N., had 
 landed his ten-inch pivot-gun at Tranvik Point, and used 
 it against Bomarsund. The combined fleet kept up a 
 harmless fire against the fort, and the French general 
 prepared his breaching battery north of Tranvik Point. 
 The Russian general, seeing he was done for, surrendered, 
 
2 24 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 and the commander of Fort Presto did likewise. Three of 
 our ships to the north of Presto Island had joined in the 
 bombardment. 
 
 " BoMARSUND, Tuesday, August &th, 1854. 
 
 " We got up all right yesterday. I got Driver through 
 the difficult passage, and took all the troops up to the 
 landing-place, meeting there Admiral Plumridge and his 
 steamers. Otter had been there early, and had gone a mile 
 inland to a village on the road the troops advance by, and 
 saw no enemy ; so he goes now with the general as guide." 
 
 Here follow regrets at his not receiving any position 
 in connection with the action, and even not being allowed 
 to remain to look on after the landing. 
 
 " We heard firing, which was Key in Amphion, who' went 
 in six hundred yards on the flank of a mud battery, which 
 did not return a shot. He quickly sent the people out of 
 it, landed, and spiked six guns. When we came the chief 
 was in Bulldog, with Stromboli, firing long-range shot at 
 the west tower, the French all landing, and the chasseurs 
 on a hill about half a mile inland. The chief then came to 
 Lightning and hoisted his flag, and we are now waiting for 
 him while he has gone to see Admiral Chads. The forts 
 are firing shell occasionally at the nearest ships : none 
 came within four hundred yards of Bulldog, but they burst 
 near enough Amphion to send a few bits beyond her. 
 There will be little for the navy to do, except the men 
 landed now from the block-ships with four field-guns — 
 Cudlip with the gunner and ten men from here, and 
 Wells and ten men from Driver with the rocket-tube, and 
 the men who get the battering-guns up. I had General 
 Jones and staff". Captain Mundy, and the chaplain of Duke 
 with me. Dinner for six at 8 p.m.; beds in cabin for four; 
 went to bed at 1 1.30 ; got up at 2 to breakfast ; landed 
 at 3." 
 
 "BoMARSUND, August nlh. 
 
 " On Tuesday (8th) the troops all landed early. The chief 
 hoisted his flag in Lightning, and, after taking him to one 
 or two points, we took him round to the north to Admiral 
 Plumridge, and then returned. All the troops advanced 
 
i854] SCENE ON SHORE — A BLUNDER. 2 25 
 
 without firing a shot, and closed the enemy up in their 
 forts. Wednesday and Thursday (9th and loth) we were 
 landing guns, stores, etc., the forts sending only an occa- 
 sional shot or shell inland. The marines and seamen 
 were rather exposed about fifteen hundred yards from the 
 fort on the hill. The marines had bought a potato-field 
 for ;^3 from the owners, and a number were digging 
 potatoes, when a shell burst in the valley, scattering 
 balls six ounces in weight. One hit the pillow of a lieu- 
 tenant who was lying down, one went into our men's hut, 
 and others in different directions, but hurt no one. I 
 walked out to see the camps that evening. It was a 
 curious scene, — ^the French advanced chasseurs, with their 
 little tents, hidden under rocks or rise of ground ; the park 
 of artillery behind some rocks ready for placing in battery ; 
 thousands of men in red inexpressibles in every direction ; 
 and the round fort on the hill looking down on all within 
 good range, but only firing an occasional shot or shell. 
 At the village headquarters there was a beautiful band 
 playing while the general was at dinner. Several native 
 women mixed with the soldiers listening, which I was glad 
 to see, as it showed they were not ill-treated. People 
 were at work getting in their hay and corn in one field, 
 while in the corner of another several French soldiers had 
 just dug a grave for a comrade alongside two others : all 
 three died of cholera ; but they brought it from the ships, 
 where it began to be very bad, — they are now very healthy. 
 "We had an unfortunate occurrence on Friday (nth), 
 by which some lives were lost. Admiral Chads has been 
 anxious from the first to send ships through the channel 
 round Presto Island near the fort, and to send two block- 
 ships through, as it is difficult for them to get through the 
 channels round outside. The admiral always seemed to 
 object ; and when he asked me I told him that if there was 
 any object worth risking lives for they might go through, 
 but I thought not otherwise, as they must pass under the 
 fire of the large fort. The day the troops landed (the 
 8th), when the chief and Admiral Chads were on board 
 Lightning, the latter again spoke on the subject. The 
 chief told me to bring him the chart. Admiral Chads 
 said that a ship would not pass nearer the battery than 
 two thousand five hundred yards. The admiral asked me, 
 and I said two thousand one hundred, or at most two thou- 
 sand two hundred. Admiral Chads said it was no such 
 
 IS 
 
226 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 thing. I could not get him to examine the charts for 
 himself, so I let it alone, and pointed it out afterwards 
 quietly to his son. The next day the admiral let a steamer 
 go through, and no shot reached her. The morning after 
 at breakfast he said to me, ' You see Admiral Chads 
 was right and I was wrong.' I said, ' I suppose, sir, I was 
 wrong also.' However, that morning we were coaling in 
 the ship, and therefore, not having men to spare, Evans and 
 I took the dinghy with only two men to get angles on a 
 point of Michelso Island. Just afterwards we saw Penelope 
 passing under the pilotage of the master of the fleet ; and 
 just as she reached the nearest point to the fort, and the 
 shot were reaching her, she ran on a rock, and could not 
 back off again. We went to her directly, and were the 
 first that reached her. Just as we got alongside we saw 
 the splinters flying from her, showing that they were hitting 
 her. While I was on board speaking to Caffin two more 
 shot struck her, and others were passing over her. We got 
 a lead-line, and Evans taking an oar, we sounded near 
 her, to find the deep water. She was on the edge of a 
 rock with five fathoms on the side farthest off the fort, 
 and deep water ahead and astern. Even with only two or 
 three boats sounding, the shot pitching round us came 
 unpleasantly close. At one time two fell close on each 
 side of our dinghy, the one on the off side passing the 
 stern very close behind me. Seeing the Gladiator coming 
 through the channel to assist, I pulled to meet her, and told 
 her the deep side and where to go. Hecla at the same 
 time having just arrived, came down the other way, and 
 both got hold of Penelope. The fort soon struck them also. 
 As we pa.ssed Hecla we saw the splinters fly from her 
 quarter. As the boats began to assemble 1 feared they 
 must be hit, but providentially only one was struck— a 
 French boat, and one man killed. Seeing I could do no 
 more good, and also seeing that the block-ships were 
 getting up steam, and thinking they were going in to 
 cover her, and I should be wanted to pilot them, I went 
 back to Bulldog (the flag-ship) just as Buckle was ordered 
 to take Valorous into long-shell range and shell the fort. 
 I went to place her at two thousand five hundred yards, 
 but was too close at first, so that the shot came over us, 
 till we moved out a little and anchored just at the enemy's 
 extreme range, only a shot or two going over and none 
 striking Valorous, while she threw her shell well. Out of 
 
I854-] SOUNDING NEAR THE FORT. 22/ 
 
 a few she fired there were four struck the roof of the fort. 
 Just as the chief sent a boat for me to pilot them in 
 Bulldog, the Penelope got off and the recall was made. 
 She had two men killed and three wounded, and Hecla 
 three wounded — a loss quite useless, and which might have 
 been saved. Had I been piloting her, I have no doubt 
 many would have cried out against the surveyors. How- 
 ever, I believe no one was to blame, as the rock was not 
 known before. The fault was sending her at all that way." 
 
 In spite of Captain Sulivan telling him he was waiting 
 till the bright moon was obscured, or rose later, to sound 
 the bay closer to the fort, and that to go in on light nights 
 would be useless and draw the attention of the enemy, 
 the master of the fleet, with three large black boats, went 
 in on a bright moonlight night, and was fired on at a 
 thousand yards from the fort, outside the small bay. Two 
 nights after, when cloudy, Captain Sulivan went in in a 
 small boat painted light blue, the crew dressed in the same 
 colour, and he was enabled to go closer in and examine 
 the bay thoroughly five hundred yards from the fort. 
 The buoys dropped at night and fixed by day showed the 
 exact position the boats had been in. On page 360 of 
 " Napier " the master's exploit is mentioned, with the name 
 of every master who went near Bomarsund, but none of 
 the work of the surveyors is referred to. Captain Sulivan 
 again went close in another night. Commander Otter and 
 Lieutenant Ward of Alban had landed and examined the 
 line of advance for the troops for some distance the day 
 before the attack, and guided the force on the advance, 
 but no notice of this appeared in the despatches. 
 
 " \Private.'\ 
 
 " Sunday, August I'^th, 1854. 
 
 " I succeeded in doing all I wanted that night, and 
 was close in without being discovered, though the moon 
 shone out brightly. To-day the fire from the French 
 battery opened on the west tower, and with some effect. 
 
228 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 Before breakfast we had to tow a collier, and then had a 
 quiet day and our regular service. After dinner I went 
 ashore with Key, and soon after we saw a white flag 
 from the tower. I hoped it had surrendered, but it 
 proved a false idea, for they have been firing as hard as 
 ever since. I saw the general and returned with Key. 
 He wanted me much to dine with him, as Hope was with 
 him (three old Paranas) ; but I told him I preferred a 
 quiet evening on board, and would not go. I had our 
 evening service : one or two extra men and two engineers 
 attended. I hoped to have written more to you to-night, 
 but the admiral has ordered me to complete the soundings 
 inshore to-night, and it is now past nine o'clock, so I shall 
 not have a Sabbath to the end. There is one thing that 
 would remove all hesitation on my part in doing it 
 to-night, and that is that it is dark and gloomy — a fresh 
 breeze, and by far the best night we have had for such 
 work, and therefore the risk of men's lives is less, which 
 makes it a work of necessity. I was in hopes to-day it 
 was really all over with trifling bloodshed, but I fear it is 
 to go on longer. 
 
 "On Sunday (the 13th) the French got some sixteen- 
 pounders in battery, and worked them all day against 
 the west fort on the hill, while a cloud of chasseurs fired 
 rifles at the casemates to prevent the enemy loading. 
 In the night all was quiet ; but the tower was so shaken 
 by the shot, that is the outer stones, and the swarms of 
 rifle-shot had killed and wounded so many through the 
 casemates, that this morning they did not fire a shot 
 in return, and some chasseurs, running up, found the 
 soldiers would not stand any longer, but gave up their 
 arms. The commandant refused to surrender, and made 
 a. pass with his sword at a chasseur, who bayoneted him : 
 he is only wounded, and is in the French hospital-ship 
 with his wife, who was sent off to him. [This gallant 
 Russian officer afterwards died of his wounds.* — Later 
 note written by Sir B. J. S.] 
 
 * " Napier," p. 369, gives an account of the firing of the land batteries. 
 Sulivan remarks in marginal notes : " The French general ordered 
 our battery not to be prepared, saying theirs would not be ready, 
 and then pushed on his own battery, and opened fire the morning 
 of the 13th, hoping to prevent our having any share in the success. 
 They had heavy siege-guns, sixteen-pounders, or about seventeen 
 and a half English, and nearly the same charge of powder as our 
 thirty-twos. If they had fired as well as our men, they ought to have 
 
1854-J THE ATTACK A NARROW ESCAPE. 229 
 
 " Tuesday, 1 5^//. — Only time to give a short outline of an 
 eventful day. I had to go at daybreak to put buoys down, 
 and on returning at eight I found that the English battery 
 had opened against the north tower, and a French mortar 
 battery at the big fort, and a ten-inch gun, under Captain 
 Pelham, mounted on shore in the old mud battery also. 
 I forgot to say that the night before last I was sounding 
 in before the battery when a panic seemed to seize them, 
 and all the forts fired guns and muskets in all directions. 
 It was a beautiful sight ! I knew they did not see us, and 
 it was safer for us. The burning fuses of the shells showed 
 the red tracks passing high and beyond us, and a good 
 many were fired at the battery which Pelham was pre- 
 paring for the ten-inch gun. I went to it on my way 
 back, and saw them hard at work at a new parapet, all 
 done by sailors, but beautiful work. I returned on board 
 at two, and was up again at six. To-day I got leave from 
 the admiral to go on shore on my return ; and with Evans, 
 the chaplain of flag-ship, two marine officers, and my 
 coxswain, we went to the scene of action. I wanted par- 
 ticularly to see the rear of the large fort, and what effect 
 our ships' fire — for several were shelling with heavy guns 
 at long range — had on the fort. The west tower had 
 been set on fire by the French, and the flames were 
 coming through every casemate ; but I did not know 
 there was powder in it. After trying with Freshwater (my 
 coxswain), the others having left us, to look over Telegraph 
 Hill (the rifle-balls were sounding over our heads too 
 much to go there), I found a fine stone about twenty 
 yards from the burning tower, over which I could look 
 and see everything, with my cloak rolled up to put before 
 my head to peep over. I had just seen several French 
 officers and men near the tower, which made me think 
 it safe, when in a moment there was a loud rumbling shock, 
 
 breached Fort Tzee (the western fort). But the effect on the front of 
 the fort was that it was only shghtly honeycombed ; no stone was 
 displaced, as they had not put their shot into one place, but spread 
 them over nearly the face of the tower. The fort was really taken 
 by their riflemen, who killed so many of the enemy through the 
 embrasures. From the delay caused by the French general's strategy, 
 Captain Ramsay's battery was not built in time to join in the attack on 
 Fort Tzee ; so later (15th) he turned his guns (only forty-two cwts.) 
 against Fort Nottich, nine hundred and fifteen yards, at double the 
 distance the French had fired at, and so good was the practice made 
 that the fort was breached." 
 
230 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 and I saw the tower in the air in a dark mass, that looked 
 as if it would overwhelm us. It was an awful moment !' 
 But I was given presence of mind to see that it was useless 
 to run, as the masses of stone were flying beyond our 
 position : they were then in the air, and as I looked up I 
 saw them coming down in every direction. My eye caught 
 one large one falling near me, and then a rather clear 
 space with only splinters, two or three yards wide appa- 
 rently. I had no cap on. I saw the thing was to avoid 
 the big pieces, and try to keep on this open space, not 
 minding the little stones. I moved one step on one side 
 clear of the largest stone, and in another moment found 
 myself unhurt, and saw Freshwater rolling down the rocks. 
 I thought he was killed, but he got up almost unhurt : 
 he had a slight blow on the shoulder. Now the special 
 providence that preserved us was in this way : On all 
 sides but one the fort went outwards, as well as into 
 the air, and the mass was carried farther than our distance, 
 enough to bury any number of men. On our side alone 
 the outer wall stood for about one-sixth the circumference 
 of the tower, and that saved us from instant death ; while 
 the stones were prevented on that side flying out, and 
 went right up into the air. Directly the stones had fallen 
 I ran, fearing another explosion, and about fifty yards 
 farther off met a French midshipman leaning against 
 a rock, looking up as pale as death. I found he had been 
 struck in the leg, and his trousers were torn ; but it was 
 not much, and he soon walked pretty well. Evans and 
 the others were about four hundred yards off, and the 
 French soldiers were asking where the English captain 
 was, as they had seen us go up. I then found a snug 
 nook between two rocks, occupied by a chasseur, who 
 had two sand-bags placed, and who fired at the casemates 
 in the rear of the fort, where guns were firing in different 
 directions, one right over our spot ; but it was as safe 
 as possible, as we had only to sit down when the gun 
 flashed, and everything, either shot or grape, whistled 
 over us. I had a capital view of the rear and interior 
 of the fort, and of the destruction going on from the shells 
 of those fired from the ships : one-third only went in, 
 the others falling short ; but the destruction was very 
 great. I then went to the English breaching battery 
 firing at the north tower to see the effect of the fire. 
 There were two guns firing at the battery from that 
 
4ti\ 
 
 O « 
 
 Id g 
 p 'S 
 
 ^J^^^ ,^^' 
 
 l»^«%?^: .>;'; 
 
 
i8s4-] CAPTAIN Ramsay's battery. 231 
 
 tower and two from Presto Fort, so I watched the effect 
 from a position a hundred yards from the fort, so that 
 all the shot went well clear of me, and, watching when 
 all had fired, I ran up under the safe sand-bag battery 
 of the fort, where directly the enemy's guns flashed every 
 one ran behind the parapet. I found Creyke in the battery : 
 all the three guns had been struck, but all the day only 
 one man was killed, one severely wounded, and several 
 slightly touched. Old Ramsay, captain of Hague, was 
 commanding, and in great glee at seeing the wall go 
 down by wholesale under his guns ; but for want of 
 rifles like the chasseurs to fire at the casemates, the enemy 
 were loading and firing their guns through their ruined 
 masonry. The one unfortunately killed is an engineer 
 officer — the Hon. Mr. Wrottesley — who lost a brother 
 last year in the Kaffir war. Having seen all I wanted 
 there, I returned to my safe position near, and there 
 watched while Ramsay's shot broke through the wall and 
 opened the interior of the fort. The battery was entirely 
 worked by seamen. Cudlip and our party had their turn 
 at it to-day. 
 
 " On my way back I paid another visit to my friend 
 the chasseur, and had a good look at the big fort and the 
 firing. The gun sent several shots over us, and I watched 
 with my glass when the men showed to load it for the 
 chasseur to fire. You may fancy what my feelings were 
 and are at looking at the ruins of the fort that blew up. 
 I shall not easily forget that moment. 
 
 " I came off afterwards, giving the chief the first report 
 of the tower being opened by our shot. I had to dine 
 with the French admiral — the admirals, flag-captain, and 
 myself being invited for Napoleon's fete day. I am now 
 writing in a great hurry at 10 p.m.. Admiral Seymour 
 lying asleep alongside me, ready to go with me at 2.30 a.m. 
 to tow the boats through Presto Channel, to pass over 
 eleven hundred English and French marines to occupy 
 Presto Island. I believe all the ships are to assist in firing 
 at the fort to-morrow morning. I am happy to say 
 the north tower has shown a white flag to-night, and 
 our marines are in it ; so Ramsay has done his work well. 
 
 " \Private?\ August \^th. — I am sure you will agree with 
 me that my preservation to-day, amid the falling ruins of 
 the exploding fort, calls for special remembrance from us. 
 How true ' God protects where thickest dangers come ' ! 
 
232 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 One piece of wall standing was the means of saving us. 
 I will try to get a sketch of it, to keep in remembrance of 
 such a mercy. I hardly knew how to feel to-day at the 
 compliments paid me at dinner with the French admiral. 
 Many were in French from one to the other. I find the 
 French admiral has specially requested that the Legion 
 of Honour may be sent to me. Do not mention this. 
 The chief says it is no use any one else going to the 
 French admiral or officers about moving the ships, etc., 
 but Captain Sulivan, but they will do anything he wishes. 
 The old man seems rather proud of it, and not at all to 
 think it strange. He said to-day he believed they were 
 jealous of everything English, except Captain Sulivan, and 
 that they seemed not to have the slightest jealousy of him. 
 It would give you pleasure to hear the way all brother- 
 officers speak of the credit due to me. There seems no 
 jealousy of my position, but real friendly desire on all sides 
 to see me rewarded. 
 
 " Wednesday, i6th, 6 a.m. — We went through the Presto 
 Channel at 3 a.m. with boats in tow : they never fired at us. 
 We then passed over eleven hundred men and four guns, 
 and anchored with two small vessels to cover the landing, 
 if opposed. On our way back the fort fired several shots 
 at us, but none struck us. Some of our steamers are 
 in position for shelling at two thousand four hundred 
 yards, but no move is made. French mortar battery and 
 our ten-inch gun battery are throwing shell steadily into 
 the fort. I think to-day may decide it ; but if they hold 
 out to the very last, as some forts have done in olden 
 times, they may stand two or three days' shelling yet." 
 
 ^^ Saturday, August 19M, 1854. 
 
 " The telegraph will, ere this, have told you of Bomarsund 
 having fallen. Shortly after I had closed my last letters 
 on Wednesday morning, I went on board the flag-ship and 
 asked Admiral Chads if he did not think that our breaching 
 battery might be turned on Presto Tower, as it was only 
 fourteen hundred yards off, and at that distance, and 
 from our being high above it, I thought we might do 
 it much injury, if not silence it. He agreed with me, and 
 spoke to the chief about it, and gave me a note to take to 
 General Jones, asking him to try it. He also gave me 
 a note to the French general-in-chief All this time a 
 steady fire of shell was kept up both ashore and afloat, 
 
I854-] SURRENDER OF BOMARSUND. 233 
 
 and apparently with some effect, as. the roof was fast being 
 destroyed. When I reached the French general, I found 
 I had to settle with him the signals for the next day, as it 
 was determined to send in ships to batter the front, while 
 the French breaching battery made a breach in the rear, 
 and when that was done another signal was to be made 
 for our ships to cease firing, and then our storming parties 
 were to advance and carry it by assault. Having settled 
 the signals and left the general, I had a walk of nearly 
 a mile to General Jones' camp. On my way you may 
 suppose I thought much of the horrors of the following 
 day, and most earnestly did I pray that the Almighty 
 would so guide those on whom it depended as to prevent 
 the necessity of its taking place. I had been about half an 
 hour with General Jones, and we were just discussing our 
 right to have a portion of the storming column formed 
 from our marines, when a lieutenant galloped in saying 
 the fort had surrendered unconditionally. We hurried off 
 for it as fast as we could, but before we reached it I met 
 Ramsay, who said, ' The admiral wants you.' And on my 
 joining him outside the fort, I found it was to order me 
 instantly to Led Sound, to direct Commander Grey to 
 prepare his ships to take home two thousand Russian 
 prisoners, so 1 lost the sight of the surrender and the 
 troops laying down their arms. I think he might have 
 thought of that, after my having so much to do with it ! 
 However, all other feelings are sunk in those of gratitude 
 that with so slight a loss the place has fallen in the very 
 way I said from the first it should be attacked, though I 
 little thought it would fall so easily. The fact is, the 
 towers falling made the fort untenable, and knowing the 
 breaching battery would be ready that night, and that 
 there are weak walls in the rear of the fort that would not 
 stand an hour, the governor very pi'operly surrendered 
 before extreme measures were used. My report that the 
 fort was protected against shelling by its bomb-proof roof, 
 on which four feet of sand had been added, has been 
 proved correct to the very letter. Not one shell out of the 
 immense number thrown has gone through, so that the 
 interior, both in casemates and officers' quarters, \s perfectly 
 uninjured. The best way was to take the towers, and 
 then the fort must fall. The whole loss in the fort does 
 not exceed seven killed and about twenty wounded. 
 Nearly the same number were killed and wounded in the 
 
234 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 north fort that our batteries breached. It is an extra- 
 ordinary sight to see the interior of that fort in the 
 casemates immediately exposed to our shot — guns dis- 
 mounted or disabled, and the whole wall for about twenty 
 feet beaten in. It is extraordinary that three guns should 
 have done so much work so well. The Russian com- 
 mandant of that fort, when taken through our battery, 
 asked where the other guns were, as he would not believe 
 it had all been done by three guns, and latterly by two, 
 as one was disabled. I fear people at home are too apt 
 to measure the credit due by the number of killed and 
 wounded, and so will think lightly of our work. They 
 may well be astonished at the providence which preserved 
 all but one through the dangers of a whole day ; and if 
 they will consider that the men in that battery did their 
 work coolly and quickly, under a fire in return which 
 struck every gun and disabled one, and which, besides all 
 the .shot and shell that came in through the embrasures or 
 passed through parts of the parapet, lodged thirty-eight 
 large shot in the parapet among the sand-bags, where they 
 have been found in taking the bags away, I think they 
 will be satisfied that our men deserve double credit for 
 doing it all so carefully and with so slight a loss. 
 
 " I have carefully examined the scene of my wonderful 
 preservation from death by the fort blowing up. I was 
 farther off than I thought, being forty-seven yards off, 
 but in every other direction the ground is covered with the 
 ruins above a hundred and fifty yards from it, and the 
 heavy stones in the face of the building have been driven 
 above two hundred yards, tearing up the ground like shot. 
 At forty-seven yards the ruins are from ten to twenty feet 
 deep, so that, had I been on any other spot, or had the wall 
 on my side been blown out like the rest, we should have 
 been buried deeply under the ruins. The shower of falling 
 materials on my side was composed principally of bricks 
 from the interior. They fell chiefly about twenty yards 
 outside me, so that, had I run, I could hardly have escaped. 
 Mr. Brierley, the artist, has made a sketch for me of the 
 ruins, showing the standing wall, and the stones where I 
 stood, with the masses of ruins right and left to treble the 
 distance. It will remind me, should I ever for a moment 
 forget it, of the merciful Providence that watched over me 
 at that moment and throughout my life. Whilst watching 
 the falling fragments, rifle-balls were singing past me. 
 
i854-] WHAT NEXT? 235 
 
 While behind my stone, with my cloak rolled up on it, I 
 was well protected ; but as I got up and ran a yard or two 
 till I stood still, they saw me to my feet from the fort, and 
 of course popped away at me. You may perhaps think 1 
 had no business there at all, and certainly I was not sent on 
 duty, but there were reasons why I ought to look at what 
 was going on, and particularly to get a good sight of the 
 rear of the fort, and watch the effect of our shelling, other- 
 wise I could not give the admiral advice on many questions 
 he was Hkely to put to me, so that it was my duty to 
 obtain all the information and knowledge I could of the 
 place. 1 was to the admiral in the position of an engineer 
 officer, and might at any moment have had to give an 
 opinion on the use of shelling, battering, or assaulting. I 
 have received many congratulations from brother-officers 
 on the share I have had in the success. There has been 
 much ill-feeling and jealousy about the way it has been 
 managed — some ships excluded from all share, etc., etc. ; 
 but several in speaking of that have said, ' There is no doubt 
 about your share in it, and the position you ought to hold, 
 whatever credit others may get' Admiral Chads told me 
 yesterday that every one had felt how well my share of the 
 work had been done, and that the chief felt it strongly, 
 and had given me credit for it in his letters. I do not 
 anticipate more than very faint expressions on the subject 
 from him, as he is, I think, one who will write short 
 despatches, with no more mention of individuals than he 
 can help. The French will, I think, make a much grander 
 story of the whole affair. 
 
 '' I do not think anything more will be attempted this 
 year. It is too late for Sweaborg, even if we had force 
 enough to attack, which we have not. I believe I am 
 going there shortly with all the head men to reconnoitre it. 
 Some are beginning to talk already of our moving down 
 the Baltic ; but 1 do not see how we could leave the gulf 
 till the beginning of October, and be out of the Baltic about 
 the end of that month. The weather is very warm yet ; in 
 fact, it is the middle of summer, so that I cannot fancy the 
 winter drawing near. The cholera still lingers in some 
 ships. It commenced severely in Hannibal directly she 
 arrived, and with nearly two thousand men on board it 
 was no wonder. She has now a hundred and fifty sick 
 out of six hundred, and has, I think, lost about twelve ; and 
 now that Russian prisoners are going home in her, I fear 
 
236 EOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 she will not get better, especially as the cholera is in 
 England -also. I am most thankful to say that we have 
 not had a sick man for some time. Cudlip will, I suppose, 
 be promoted for this, as he is the senior lieutenant either 
 afloat or on shore. Our gunner was the only one in the 
 land party, and worked the powder of the battery all 
 the time. He was close to the poor young engineer 
 officer when he was killed. They had been on guard 
 together the night before, and he told the gunner of 
 his brother having been killed in the Kaffir war last 
 year. One marine lost his leg from a shell bursting 
 when in the act of putting a sand-bag on his back, which 
 our gunner had lifted up for him. No one else was 
 struck by the fragments of the shell. Captain Ramsay 
 spoke very highly to me of the conduct of our ten men, 
 as many from other ships behaved so ill they had to be 
 sent off after giving much trouble. There was much 
 corn brandy to be got from the cottages, and that caused 
 it all. 
 
 " Since then I have been rather completing my former 
 survey. I have been lying close under the walls in the 
 channel, which I find more dangerous and intricate than I 
 supposed, and it quite settles the question as to whether 
 we were right in not taking the ships in. I thought so 
 when I supposed three might go in, but now I find there 
 is only space for one, and then the channel is so narrow 
 that Lightning could not swing in it with only twelve 
 fathoms of cable out, and I had to move her out. What 
 chance would there have been of bringing up a large ship 
 in such a place under a heavy raking fire ? Yet I expect 
 still to hear that there are men who pretend to think ships 
 could have gone in. They are parties interested in getting 
 up a feeling against the old admiral. A man yesterday 
 
 introduced himself to me as a brother of (using two 
 
 officers' names). I thought, him only a travelling gentle- 
 man, but he put such questions to me that I declined 
 answering him. In fact, he tried to pump out of me 
 opinions (which I do not hold) that would convey a 
 censure on the chief, whom he evidently wanted to find 
 complaints against. I was obliged to be rude to him to 
 get rid of him, but before he went over the side he avowed 
 himself the correspondent of the Morning Herald. Then 
 I gave him my opinion on the subject of newspapers and 
 their correspondents, and the falsehoods they publish, and 
 
1854J INTERVIEWED. 237 
 
 the system of puffing some parties that was springing 
 up, in a way that will get me anything but favourably 
 mentioned, particularly as I bowed him over the side in 
 anything but a civil way afterwards. There are parties 
 in the fleet in league with these reporters for the sake of 
 getting themselves puffed. We are all amused at seeing 
 that even here, according to the newspapers, we had 
 nothing to do with getting the ships up, the only mention 
 of Lightning's name being that ' the masters of the fleet 
 had surveyed the channel in Lightning, and found it fit 
 for the largest ships.' They forgot that a preceding 
 paragraph mentioned the large ships as having gone up, 
 though it did not mention who took them up — the truth 
 being that, after I had found the channels and taken 
 up the large ships, the admiral directed me to take the 
 master of the fleet and all the masters in Lightning to 
 show them the channels, that they' might be able to help 
 taking other ships up ; and this is called their ' surveying 
 the channel in Lightning.' " 
 
 I remember my father saying that the French general 
 was anxious to lay regular siege to the big fort with 
 trench work, after the destruction of the two towers, etc. ; 
 but my father pointed out it could be taken by simply 
 placing two guns on Telegraph Hill to the rear of the 
 fort, looking down into the interior and the rear windows 
 of the casemates, with only a brick wall to resist the shot. 
 This would gain our end with little loss on our side, 
 perhaps with not enough to gain a marshal's baton ! 
 Napier was much perplexed, hesitating between the two 
 ideas, when my father said to him, " If you adopt the 
 plan entailing greater loss, when you can effect your object 
 with hardly any, on you will rest the responsibility of the 
 death of every man that falls unnecessarily." By the time 
 the French general had laid his breaching batteries against 
 the great fort, the governor, seeing he was checkmated, 
 surrendered. 
 
 After the peace, when my father was talking with 
 
238 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 General Count Ignatieff in London, the former said that, 
 although the Russians blamed the governor for surrender- 
 ing so soon, he himself thought the governor had shown 
 great moral courage. He risked his own reputation to 
 save the lives of his defenceless soldiers. A weaker man 
 would have held out until many had been killed, for the 
 sake of his own credit. The only point on which he might 
 be censured was in not doing more to hinder our going 
 up the narrow channels. 
 
 As to the new batteries which "Napier" (p. 395) says 
 would have rendered Bomarsund unassailable, if completed, 
 my father's note says : — 
 
 " It would have fallen just as easily by a land attack, 
 as only one more tower was to have been added on the 
 high ground, and the same batteiy that breached Fort 
 Nottich would also have breached that. The new forts 
 would then have been useless. If they had held much 
 larger bodies of troops, a larger attacking force would 
 have been necessary, but success would have been as 
 certain. The forts at Bomarsund would have been trebled 
 in strength by the new ^^"orks, but they would have added 
 very little to the land defences." 
 
 Referring to Napier's proposal (p. 404) to attack Abo, 
 after the fall of Bomarsund, with the French troops, and 
 the objection of General D'Hilliers to do so, a note says: — 
 
 " The French general was quite right. There was no 
 object worth the risk. The French troops had lost one- 
 eighth of their strength by cholera, and the men were 
 affected by it in health and spirits. At Abo they must 
 have landed in a wooded country and in the face of a force 
 of at least equal strength, and our vessels could not have 
 covered the landing on the mainland. I believe they 
 would have failed. General Jones quite agreed with the 
 French general." 
 
 The military chest taken at Bomarsund contained only 
 paper roubles. Sulivan suggested to the admiral that our 
 
I854-] OFFICERS UNREWARDED. 239 
 
 Government might utilise them by handing them to Russia 
 as part of our payment /"cr the Dutch loan, and so save the 
 value of them. As it was decided that we had to pay on 
 that loan, though at war, it would, he thought, have been 
 fair to pay them with their own paper ! 
 
 I extract the following from Captain Sulivan's evidence 
 before the Royal Commission on Naval Promotions, 1863 : — 
 
 " There was a case in which a commander (Preedy) and 
 gunnery lieutenant (Somerset), who fought a breaching 
 battery in a very gallant affair, as far as a few were con- 
 cerned, and who were specially recommended by the 
 admiral in the body of his despatch, were passed over in 
 the selection for promotion, and other officers, who only 
 dragged the guns on shore, and handed them over to these 
 to fight, were promoted, although I do not think that those 
 officers were selected by interest. Yet it is true that the 
 two officers, the commander and lieutenant, who fought 
 the guns and astonished the French by the accuracy of 
 their fire, breaching a large granite fort in eight hours — 
 those two officers, in spite of the recommendations of the 
 admiral, having been passed over in the Board promotions, 
 never got a step for their gallant conduct until they got 
 it by another action in the next year ; and if they had not 
 then got it, they might have been left unpromoted for 
 years. The commander, although a young commander, 
 was known to be one of the best officers in the service. 
 That was such a striking case, that, when speaking upon 
 the subject to the First Lord of the Admiralty, I could not 
 help pointing out the case to him, and his answer to me 
 was that this officer was a young commander. But he was 
 about forty years of age ; he had been serving long as 
 first lieutenant and mate ; and there were much younger 
 men in point of age promoted, who had not played such 
 a distinguished part as he had. Had those two officers, 
 with two others who were promoted, been alone promoted 
 for that service, although the officers of the fleet would 
 have said it was rather scanty promotion, no one man 
 could have complained." 
 
 The following despatch from Napier, showing how well 
 
240 BOMARSUND. [Ch. X. 
 
 the officers of both surveying-ships worked, makes some 
 amends for former omissions : — 
 
 " ' Duke of Wellington,' Led Sound, 
 "August zyth, 1854. 
 
 " Having received information that Russian troops and 
 gun-boats were among the islands, I sent Captain Scott 
 with a small squadron to find them out. . . . Captain 
 Scott threaded his way through the islands in a most 
 persevering manner, as their lordships will see by the 
 chart I send. His ships were repeatedly on shore, and 
 the Odin no less than nine times, before they discovered 
 the enemy's gun-boats and steamers lying behind a floating 
 boom, supported on each side by batteries and a number 
 of troops covering the town of Abo, where they have 
 collected a large force. 
 
 " I take this opportunity of bringing under their lordships' 
 notice the very great exertions of the surveying officers, 
 Captain Sulivan, assisted by Mr. Evans, master of the 
 Lightning, and Commander Otter of the Alban, and I 
 have no hesitation in saying that it is owing to their 
 exertions this fleet have found their way, with comparative 
 little damage, into creeks and corners never intended for 
 ships of the line ; day and night have they worked, and 
 worked successfully. Commander Otter is an old officer 
 and well worthy of promotion, and Captain Sulivan and 
 his assistant surveyor deserve the protection of their 
 lordships." 
 
 The ships sent to Abo were the Odin, Alban, Gorgon, 
 and Driver. The object was a reconnaissance only. After 
 going in as far as possible in the Alban, Commander Otter 
 pulled in with his gig, sounding just within range of the 
 batteries, which were all the time keeping up a constant 
 fire. Captain Scott's despatch spoke in high terms of 
 Otter. 
 
 The following is the copy of part of a letter written to 
 some newspaper by Admiral Sulivan in recent years. It 
 may not be out of place here : — 
 
 " I believe I first started the idea of plating [our ?] ships 
 
1 854] WOOD V. IRON BOTTOMS. 24 1 
 
 with thick iron, and even in 1855 floating batteries had 
 been built, protected by armour. If our Government had 
 persuaded the French Government to send them to the 
 Baltic instead of the Black Sea, it would almost certainly 
 have resulted in the destruction of Cronstadt. By the year 
 1859 the French were iron-plating some of their ships. 
 We had several two-decked ships building about the year 
 i860 that would have been useless if opposed to iron-clads, 
 even of inferior force ; and feeling anxious on this point — 
 I was then naval officer of the Board of Trade — I wi'ote 
 either to the Secretary of the Admiralty officially, or to the 
 First Lord's private secretary — I forget which — suggesting 
 that these ships building should be cut down to frigates and 
 iron-plated ; and I knew that Admiral Sir R. S. Dundas, 
 then Senior Lord, strongly approved of this being done. 
 
 " The wooden iron-clads have one great advantage over 
 those built of iron, in case of war, though not perhaps 
 sufficient to compensate for the extra durability of iron ships. 
 I allude to the additional safety in case of getting on shore. 
 " No officer who had the experience of the inshore 
 squadron in the Baltic, if he had to command a squadron 
 on similar service, would, 1 think, hesitate for a moment 
 in preferring ships with wooden bottoms. Most of the 
 ships and smaller vessels employed inshore among the 
 rocks of Finland were so often on shore that their bottoms 
 were terribly damaged, and in my own small surveying- 
 steamer the bottom was torn, in places deep into the 
 timber. In a large paddle-steamer — the Leopard — the 
 flag-ship of an inshore squadron, the whole bottom was so 
 torn to pieces that in dock at Woolwich she was visited as 
 a curiosity. Captain Cooper Key, in a large frigate, saved 
 her on one occasion by forcing her in a gale by a press of 
 sail over an extensive reef, when every blow in the hollow 
 of each sea jerked up the boats on the upper deck. Yet 
 these and other ships much damaged remained out and 
 did their work to the end of the season : had they been 
 iron ships, they would have left their bones on Finnish 
 rocks. If such work was required again as was done by 
 Plumridge, Yelverton, Watson, Buckle, Hall, Key, and 
 others in the Baltic, without losing a ship, it could not be 
 done by iron bottoms without losing many of them. We 
 had only one iron ship there, a transport, bringing out 
 stores, etc., and taking home invalids. . . ." * (Continua- 
 tion missing.) 
 
 * She, I believe, was the only vessel lost. — Ed. 
 
 16 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. 
 
 "Admiralty, August 22nd, 1854. 
 
 The good work done by the surveying officers was 
 much appreciated in the Hydrographic Office. On the 
 retirement of Sir Francis Beaufort, his assistant. Captain 
 Washington, succeeded him as chief of the department. 
 
 " Dear Sulivan, — Accept my hearty congratulations 
 on the success which has attended your indefatigable 
 labours, which I trust will meet with their due reward. 
 All admit that without your pioneering they would not 
 have gained their object as they have done, and happily 
 with little loss of life. I trust the admiral will have given 
 you full credit in his despatches. Your account is very 
 interesting ; but ought you to expose yourself to unnecessary 
 risks ? 
 
 " I have been three weeks in Paris, when I had the 
 gratification of seeing the Lightning's name repeatedly 
 mentioned in the French newspapers. I feel so thankful 
 there has been no loss of life except the poor Penelope. 
 
 " I consider that Lightning has conferred great credit on 
 the Hydrographical Department, and heartily thank you 
 all for it. 
 
 " With best wishes, 
 
 " Ever faithfully yours, 
 
 "John Washington." 
 
 " ' Lightning,' running for Led Sound, 
 "Monday, August 2%th, 1854. 
 
 " On Wednesday morning we sailed with the French 
 steamer, the French admiral and all the generals. General 
 Jones, with Captain Chads of the army, and young Cochrane 
 (the general's naval aide-de-camp) coming with me. I 
 
 242 
 
l8S4] A PEEP AT REVEL. 243 
 
 was ordered in writing to take her to Sweaborg, and then 
 deliver a flag-of-truce about an exchange of wounded 
 prisoners. The admiral, as usual, left half my orders to 
 be given verbally, and he told me they would all want to 
 see Revel also, and I must settle with the French admiral 
 which to go to first. He arranged with me that we should 
 go first to Revel, then Sweaborg, and take Hango on our 
 return, and that he would wait for me whilst I settled 
 the flag-of-truce business. I mentioned to our chief that 
 it might lead to something being said by the Russians if 
 Lightning first went in with the generals reconnoitring 
 the place and then went with the flag-of-truce, and I 
 suggested that I had better leave her outside and take 
 another vessel with the flag-of-truce. He said, ' Arrange 
 it as you like with the officer there. Captain Watson, and 
 do whatever you think best. ' " 
 
 On arriving at Revel Thursday morning, they found 
 Admiral Plumridge with the squadron at anchor under 
 Nargen. Some little difficulty arose when Captain Sulivan, 
 having explained the purport of the expedition to Admiral 
 Plumridge, received written orders from the latter which 
 conflicted with the spirit of the verbal instructions from 
 Sir Charles Napier ; but the French admiral explained that 
 Captain Sulivan had been placed at his disposal. Again 
 some slight friction occurred, when, the glass commencing 
 to fall, and the wind to blow from the southward, Captain 
 Sulivan desired to wait before proceeding to Sweaborg, 
 knowing Lightning could not ride out a storm on a lee 
 shore. But the admiral, nevertheless, ordered him to pro- 
 ceed. However, the French admiral preferred to wait, so 
 the matter was settled. 
 
 " On Thursday evening we steamed into Revel just in 
 the middle of the bay, three thousand yards from the 
 batteries all round, so that it was useless their firing ; but 
 we had a capital view of everything, and saw five new 
 batteries round the beach to the eastward of the moles. 
 A large number of artillery batteries were going out to 
 
244 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 exercise, and we had a capital view of them. A number 
 of captains were with us, and they said that they owed 
 to me the pleasantest afternoon they had had. Directly 
 General Jones expressed a wish to go in, I had let as many 
 as I could know of it, that they might come also. Whilst 
 inside, a boat with six women came across the bay under 
 sail, so we cut them off, and, I fear, frightened them terribly. 
 But finding they could not escape, they were at last induced 
 to come alongside, several crying bitterly. An old woman 
 was coxswain. I gave them some sugar, tea and biscuit, 
 and a bundle of tracts, and you may fancy their astonish- 
 ment and altered countenances, and they went away 
 dehghted. The old wonxan took my hand and kissed it 
 very hard, and quite cried again, but a very different cry 
 from the first. On Friday it blew a heavy southerly gale, 
 and I told the French chief I did not think it safe to start, 
 the glass being very low. On Saturday it still blew strong, 
 the glass scarcely rising, so I feared still taking Lightning 
 on a dead lee shore." 
 
 This again led to some discussion, the French admiral 
 ultimately declining to start in such weather. 
 
 " The wind moderating rapidly about eleven o'clock, and 
 the glass rising steadily, I went to the French chief and 
 said we had better start. He declared he was under my 
 orders, and he would go if I thought it best. We started 
 directly, and by the time we got across it was a beautiful 
 evening. Watson joined us with Impirieuse, Rosamond, 
 and Magicienne, and sent the latter with me, as a large 
 Russian steam-frigate had come out once or twice after a 
 smaller steamer of ours, and Watson thought, as there 
 were two frigates, they would come out when we went 
 much closer in than usual. We led in, followed by the 
 French steamer and Magicienne, Watson waiting about 
 five miles outside where the shoals became thicker. When 
 we drew near the island that I anchored inside of with the 
 former flag-of-truce, the French steamer and Magicienne 
 rounded to half a mile outside us. We ran inside the 
 island. The fort fired two blank guns and then a shot, 
 which fell four hundred yards short of us. I knew we 
 were three thousand yards off. The steamers inside were 
 getting up steam and making a great smoke. We stopped 
 
l854] HEAVY GALE A RUSSIAN FRIGATE. 245 
 
 inside the island whilst General Jones had a good look, and 
 then steamed slowly along to get as much view farther 
 west as possible ; but before we could get as far as we 
 intended, the French admiral made the signal, ' I shall 
 return,' and he and Magicienne began steaming out, so we 
 had only to follow them, as the steamers inside had their 
 steam up. 
 
 " We then anchored together for the night. Watson, 
 Woodhouse, Yelverton, and I passed the evening on board 
 Arrogant, all of us old college-mates or shipmates. They 
 all said it was fortunate we had not come over the day 
 before, for it was a tremendous gale. Euryalus tried to 
 ride it out and parted her cable, and they all had to get 
 off under steam and storm-sails. They said we could not 
 have got off, and, had we tried to ride it out, we must have 
 parted cable or been swamped. We should probably have 
 had to run in under an island to save ourselves, and the 
 Russian steamers would have come out and gobbled us up ! 
 
 " Yesterday morning I was obliged to go in under a 
 flag-of-truce, as the French admiral was to wait for us 
 at Hango, if we could get there in time. I went in at five 
 with Rosamond, and anchored near where I did before. 
 A boat soon came out with a white flag, and the same 
 lieutenant I saw before took the letter. I explained it had 
 reference to wounded Russian prisoners in our hospital-ship. 
 Shortly after one of their steam -frigates came out with a 
 white flag and anchored near us. I had no idea they had 
 such a beautiful vessel. She is about our Leopard ox Retribu- 
 tion class : seven guns of a side on the main-deck, two heavy 
 shell-guns aft, one forward, and two smaller guns like the 
 main-deck ones (about thirty-two-pounders) on the fore- 
 castle — in all nineteen guns. She seemed in beautiful order. 
 Though carrying her guns higher than our vessels, she 
 seemed a much lighter and prettier vessel, and was perfectly 
 upright even when turning short round. Our steamers 
 like Leopard or Magicienne are put on one side by the 
 most trifling thing, so that they could not always fight 
 their guns. We saw another steam-frigate exactly like this 
 one inside, towing ships from one position to another. With 
 two such ships they ought long since to have cut off' one 
 of ours. At one time Rosamond alone — six guns — was off' 
 the port watching, no other ship was within reach, and I 
 am sure they must be faster than she. The one that 
 came out seemed very fast. She had a number of 
 
246 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 officers on board, and a very large crew, dressed in white 
 frocks, except a small number in red blouses, apparently 
 the marines. I felt strongly inclined to go to her and 
 call on the captain, but feared they might not like it or 
 might misconstrue my motives. We laid all day till 
 2 p.m., when a fast little steamer came out, and a very 
 fine, handsome, gentlemanly young lieutenant brought a 
 letter for Sir Charles Napier. He was not reserved and 
 frightened as the other had been at the idea of speaking 
 to us or of disobeying orders. We asked him below. He 
 smiled and seemed to hesitate, and then said in French, 
 
 ' Thank you, but I cannot, because — because — because ' 
 
 and then, after hesitating and smiling, said, 'You under- 
 stand,' and he went down the ladder. Just as he shoved 
 off he asked the name of the vessel. We then steamed 
 out, and I immediately started in Lightning, but too late 
 to see Hango or catch the French chief, so we pushed 
 on for Led Sound all night, and are now, 1 1 a.m., getting in 
 sight and all longing for our letters. 
 
 " It was most gratifying and flattering to me to receive 
 from all my brother-captains up there such real warm 
 congratulations on what they thought I am sure to get 
 for my share in the work. My kind friend Yelverton had, 
 I think, rather overrated my work in telling them all 
 about it. Still it was gratifying to see all absence of 
 jealousy from those who had been out of the way, and 
 such a desire that I should be rewarded. One was quite 
 sure they could not give me anything less than the K.C.B. 
 I pointed out to them that I had done nothing to come 
 within its reach, even if the rules allowed it in my case, 
 which they do not. 
 
 ^'^ August 2gtk. — On our way here we heard that the 
 French admiral on his way back found the Russians them- 
 selves destroying Hango and blowing up the forts. I am 
 very thankful for it, as it saves us many lives. We must 
 have destroyed it before we went home. I had just 
 suggested to General Jones a plan for landing a large force 
 by daybreak above on the neck of land, and so cutting off 
 all the force on the point (from two to three thousand 
 men) besides ..." (Continuation missing.) 
 
 " ' Lightning,' Bomarsund, September isl, 1854. 
 " On Wednesday the chief came up here to see the last 
 of the place, the blowing up of the forts, etc., and to see 
 
l854] FRENCH CHOLERA-MORTALITY. 247 
 
 Admiral Chads try his guns at the masonry. He said I 
 could lie down at Led Sound to do my work completing 
 charts. I told him I should like to see the last of the 
 forts, as I had seen the first, and I could lie here and get 
 up the work, besides being on the spot to get any more 
 work for the chart, if necessary. So he let me come up. 
 Admiral Seymour came up with him in Odin, but pre- 
 ferred a bed in my cabin ; so he has been with me at night. 
 He is such a good, estimable man that it is a pleasure 
 having him with me. Yesterday morning he asked me to 
 walk over the different points with him before breakfast. 
 The night before Admiral Chads sent for me to the chiefs 
 ship. He was in great anxiety lest he should not be able 
 to fire at the big fort, as the French general did not wish 
 it, but said he might have Presto Fort. Now to get at 
 that we have to pass the very narrow channel near the 
 large fort, and he was very anxious to know if I could take 
 Edinburgh in through. 1 said I thought I could, as there 
 is seven fathoms water ; but the doubt was if there is 
 breadth enough. I took the master of Edinburgh with me, 
 as he knew best what space the ship would turn and 
 steer in. The channel proved even narrower than I 
 thought, but we found about ten feet more breadth than 
 the breadth of the ship, and decided to take her through ; 
 but before anything could be done the fort to be fired at 
 was blown up, so there was an end to that, and I lost the 
 chance of taking a line-of-battle ship through a narrower 
 channel than, I think, was ever attempted before, unless it 
 was through a dock-gate ! The general then agreed that 
 Chads should fire at the large fort, and a piece is to be 
 reserved for that purpose. The French are burning every- 
 thing they can that has to be destroyed, and are anxious to 
 embark the men as quickly as possible, for the cholera has 
 been making sad havoc among them. They have already 
 buried about seven hundred out of ten thousand men, and, 
 though it is better, twenty-four died yesterday. I went 
 to one or two more points to complete my work, and 
 particularly to make a plan of all the new batteries 
 building, etc., and in passing through one small encamp- 
 ment we saw two poor fellows just laid out on stretchers, 
 dead. A few natives have also died, but it is the first time 
 they have ever had cholera in the islands. The poor 
 people will be helped through the winter by the supply of 
 meal in the fort. It is given to all who come, and hundreds 
 
248 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 of carts and carriages of all descriptions and boats of every 
 kind are loading all day. 
 
 " To-day I had to go up to the north fort to complete 
 some work at that point. It was blown up by the French 
 yesterday. One part, that where our breach was made, 
 did not fall, and it was singular that the only gun not 
 buried under the ruins was the same one the enemy had 
 fought so long and so gallantly against our breaching 
 battery. It was still pointing exactly at our battery, as if 
 it would stand to the last. The front wall was all down, 
 leaving the arches of the upper tier of three casemates 
 standing, so that you could see the interior, and on the 
 right-hand one lay the gun alongside its carriage. The 
 new batteries building would have made it a tremendously 
 strong place. There were two of seventy guns each, and 
 two large towers, or rather circular forts, capable of 
 mounting forty guns each. The Emperor must have 
 put a very great value on the place to add so enormously 
 to the fortifications. The work is beautiful : the face of all 
 would be cut granite, fitted in blocks, and the embrasures, 
 etc., were as beautifully worked as in the finest London 
 buildings. General Jones says the work is very superior. 
 Thousands of beautifully cut granite stones, all fitted 
 for their places, are lying in every direction. One fort 
 was half built ; the others had only the foundations laid. 
 To-night the massive scaffolding and platforms round the 
 building are all in a blaze, and all the work will be blown 
 up. The only reason I can see for such an outlay is that 
 the Emperor intended making it his chief naval port, in 
 which he would have his fleet almost always free from ice, 
 and at the same time advanced towards Sweden and the 
 Atlantic. He would then have had his fleet in by far the 
 finest port in the Baltic, with anchorages for the largest 
 ships. 
 
 " This evening when dining with Admiral Chads, the 
 chief. Admiral Martin, and others also, a small Ru.ssian 
 steamer hove in sight with a flag-of-truce. Her boat brought 
 two officers, one a lieutenant, the other a nondescript, 
 wearing a sort of uniform coat and cap, dirk, and a collar 
 and cross round his neck. He, it appears, is the owner of 
 the Russian steamer, and belongs to the yacht club of 
 St. Petersburg ; she is now hired by the government. They 
 came to the place Otter was to take the women to, to 
 receive them ; and not finding them there, they came on, I 
 
i ^ ':mi^ 
 
 1 ■/ it <i; flJ'ij 
 
 
i854-] BLOWING UP THE FORTS. 249 
 
 suppose glad of an excuse to see what had been done here. 
 The vessel has been allowed to come in, and is at anchor 
 near us. 
 
 " The weather is getting colder. The chief fully expects 
 the fleet will be home by the end of October. I think 
 some ships will be left out longer for blockade. I wish 
 I could hope that the war would be at an end by next 
 spring, and that I should be quietly settled at home again. 
 C3ne thing I must really try hard to accomplish this winter — 
 that is, to gain some knowledge of French — for I find the 
 want of it a terrible drawback, thrown as I now am with 
 the French so much. We must try to get a governess 
 who cannot speak a word of English, and I must go to 
 school like the children ! 
 
 " Sunday, September yd. — Yesterday, at seven in the 
 evening, the large fort was blown up. Many of the case- 
 mates and all the barracks in the rear of the court had been 
 filled with fire-wood, and were fired at the same time, so we 
 had a grand display. The sight as the successive mines 
 exploded was very fine ; some shot in the air, others 
 burst out in front : all did not explode at first, so as the 
 fire spread we had the repeated explosions of shells as the 
 fire reached them — there were many thousands — and occa- 
 sionally another mine. The fire was splendid as it grew 
 dark, and at the same time large wooden buildings and 
 scaff'olding round the new forts were all in a blaze, so 
 that one could hardly keep one's eyes from the sight. I 
 was working at the chart till midnight, but running up 
 repeatedly to see some outburst. This morning all that 
 is left entire is a piece of the fort about seven casemates 
 wide, for Admiral Chads to fire at for experiment. The 
 ships, all close in, had every spot aloft and on deck 
 alive with people, and the troops on shore crowded on 
 every bit of rising ground around ; and when the splendid 
 column of smoke burst up after the first grand explosions, 
 a cheer burst out on all sides and rolled round the hills. 
 It was a fine but melancholy sight. To think that, had it 
 not been for this war, all would have been peaceful and 
 quiet, as I first saw it, pretty houses in every direction, a 
 fine hospital on Presto surrounded by fine buildings, but all 
 now smoking ruins ! Besides, many men have fallen in 
 action, numbers suffering from wounds, and the bodies 
 of nearly eight hundred French soldiers left on the 
 ground, and all because a man, possessing the largest 
 
250 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 territory in the world, with absolute power over it, wanted 
 to seize on still more. I am sure he looked on this place 
 as a step towards seizing on Sweden and perhaps Denmark 
 at a future time, and he is justly punished in having all he 
 possessed in it, and all his ambitious plans for the future, 
 founded on the enormous outlay he was making here, 
 end in a heap of ruins. I only wish I could see Sweaborg 
 and Cronstadt in the same state ; and if he does not come 
 to his senses, and make peace on just terms this year, 
 I hope we may see them in the same state as Bomarsund 
 next summer. 
 
 " I forgot to say that Admiral Seymour had expressed 
 great surprise that the chief had omitted my name and 
 that of the surveyors in thanking the officers and men 
 of the fleet. He said he was sure, from the way the 
 admiral always speaks of our work, that it was quite 
 an oversight, and he offered to speak to the chief about 
 it and have it corrected, but I did not like him to do so. 
 I thought it best to let it rest, and trust to his having 
 done us justice in his despatches. 
 
 "Led Sound, Tuesday, ^th. — We came down last evening 
 with the admiral on board and his flag flying. We have 
 been flag-ship pretty often now. It is blowing the hardest 
 gale from the north-west we have ever had, and, though in this 
 fine anchorage, we have had to let go two anchors. Several 
 ships were driving in the night. I am glad we are not in 
 the gulf It will try Nargen anchorage well. The French 
 army all sailed on their way home yesterday. I trust the 
 cholera has not gone to sea with them. It is wonderful 
 how they could have suffered so much and the ships 
 escape. I think the damp ground at night, or their eating 
 every green thing they could lay hold of, must have some- 
 thing to do with it. We were lying in the Lightning be- 
 tween Presto Island and the fort, not a hundred ards from 
 either shore ; yet they were dying on each side, whilst we had 
 not a man sick. In Presto there is a very pretty cemetery 
 attached to the hospital, now burnt down. In it all those 
 who died on Presto are buried. I did not see it, but 1 hear 
 that the French soldiers have decorated their cemetery 
 graves very prettily, and have written nice mottoes on the 
 head-stones, or in some cases pasted paper on the head of 
 each. There were only about six hundred soldiers there 
 of the colonial or marine battalion, yet it is said about a 
 hundred graves are to be seen. The poor fellows who died 
 
I854-] DIRT AND DISEASE. 25 I 
 
 round the main camp the other side are buried in every 
 direction in fields and gardens, and the little crosses will 
 mark for some time the last resting-places of hundreds of 
 fine young men cut off in a few days by one of the most 
 extraordinary visitations of this extraordinary epidemic. 
 We have had no fresh cases even in our ships lying up 
 there, while they have been suffering so on shore." 
 
 The following is a draft of a letter to some newspaper : — 
 
 "August 2nd, 1884. 
 
 " Sir, — I am sure that many will read with pleasure your 
 advocacy of baths for Whitechapel and other of the poorer 
 parts of London, and they would be of the greatest value 
 should London be visited by cholera, as the following facts 
 will prove. 
 
 "When our fleet went to the Baltic in 1854, the 
 weather was cold till June, when it suddenly changed to 
 very warm and calm weather. There was cholera at the 
 time in St. Petersburg, and, a few days after the hot weather 
 set in, some cases occurred in the fleet, then at anchor in 
 Baro Sound. 
 
 " I then commanded the surveying-steamer Lightning, 
 and directly the first cases occurred in the fleet my surgeon. 
 Dr. Johnson, told me that he thought one cause was that 
 the men, large numbers of whom were not men-of- 
 war's men, had been so wrapped up in warm and thick 
 clothing till the hot weather commenced, that their bodies 
 were not very clean, nor the pores of their skin in a healthy 
 state, and he asked me to let him examine our crew on 
 this point, and also to ascertain if any had premonitory 
 symptoms. He reported to me that out of our small crew 
 there were several with the first symptoms of cholera and 
 one rather bad case, and he requested me to send the 
 whole ship's company on shore in the evening on a small 
 island near us, with order to the petty officers that while 
 bathing the men should all be thoroughly well washed, 
 the nearly fresh water allowing the use of soap. For some 
 time they were all hard at work in the slightly warm water, 
 and the result was that in three or four days all the slight 
 cases were well, and the worst recovered in a week. 
 
 " During the summer a number of men died in both 
 English and French ships, and after Bomarsund was 
 captured about eight hundred out of nine thousand French 
 soldiers died in two or three weeks. 
 
252 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 " The Lightning during that time had to remain in the 
 narrow channel separating the French camps, where she 
 had hardly space to swing. Yet during this time our men 
 were perfectly healthy. This great mortality was, perhaps, 
 caused by the French soldiers clearing every field and 
 garden of cabbages, turnip-tops, mangels, beet, etc., and 
 eating large quantities of green vegetables of every kind 
 uncooked, but made into salads, after having lived in the 
 English ships that took them out chiefly on salt beef and 
 pork, which they were not accustomed to. 
 
 " I feel convinced that providing means for frequent 
 bathing in fresh water, with the free use of soap, for those 
 classes who cannot well have them in their own dwellings, 
 especially in towns, would do more than anything to 
 protect them from cholera or any other epidemics." 
 
 Another reason for the immunity of the Lightning 
 from cholera was, doubtless, the use of distilled water 
 for drinking. The exhaust steam-pipe led against the 
 inside of the paddle-box, a copper-plate, kept cool by 
 the splashing of the water on the outer surface. The 
 steam water thus condensed was caught in grooves and led 
 into buckets. Captain Sulivan noticed the engineers using 
 this soft water for washing, so ordered it to be placed in 
 tanks on deck to be aerated, and this was afterwards the 
 chief drinking water for the crew, and, I believe, the first 
 of its kind used in ships (?). Afterwards other ships 
 adopted the system. 
 
 "Admiralty, August 2gth, 1854. 
 
 " So, my dear Sulivan, you have at last accomplished 
 the Aland job, and in a very satisfactory and workmanlike 
 manner. The above word jou was meant, while running 
 from my pen, in a plural sense — you collectively. Vou, fleet, 
 etc., which was rather unjust of my said pen, being firmly 
 convinced that but for fou, singular, it would not have 
 been done at all — at all events not this year. And yet 
 the lame un-English despatch of your admiral does not 
 even mention your name. Not so the just and honest 
 Sir W. Parker — not so the generous and noble-minded 
 Nelson ; and I have taken the opportunity of saying all 
 
1854J NARGEN ANCHORAGE TESTED. 253 
 
 this, and spitefully too, to the former. But do not you 
 feel spiteful ; your day will come, and all the sooner and 
 all the more gratifyingly by your dignified bearing on 
 this occasion. We shall have, of course, a good sketch 
 of Bomarsund and its channels, in expectation of which I 
 have made no use of your last hints and tracings. Your 
 letters to me and to Washington have been very delight- 
 fully clear and explanatory, and the last touches upon 
 some abstract points about guns and walls which we 
 may discuss viva voce, and endeavour to apply to places 
 yet to be smashed. 
 
 " In the meantime I am always yours, 
 
 "F. Beaufort." 
 
 " Led Sound, Saturday, September ^th, 1854. 
 
 " We have been kept here since Wednesday by the worst 
 weather we have ever had in the Baltic, heavy gales from 
 N.W. to N.N.E. every day, and here in a snug harbour 
 we had French ships driving, and all the fleet with two 
 anchors down and topmasts struck. I have been very 
 anxious for our fleet at Nargen, as it has been the worst 
 wind for that anchorage ; and if a ship parted or drove, 
 she had the enemy's coast to leeward. What made me 
 more anxious was, that I have always advised the chief to 
 use that anchorage in preference to any other in the gulf 
 I was therefore greatly relieved to-day by the arrival of 
 Rosamond with the news that they all rode it out well 
 with only one anchor and without striking topmasts. 
 They anpear to have had it less violent than we had. 
 Evidently the draught of the Gulf of Bothnia made it 
 heavier here. To-day I had a long interview with the 
 chief, and a long talk about the movements of the fleet. 
 He has given up going up the gulf, and I was glad to 
 find had decided to send the sailing-ships home directly : 
 his only doubt seemed whether we had force enough with- 
 out them, in case the Russians ventured out. He forgot 
 one of our screw-ships, and only counted twelve ; and as the 
 Russians have about twenty-four or twenty-five fit for sea, 
 he seemed to have some doubt about it. I counted over 
 thirteen screws to him, and the French one, besides our 
 three heavy frigates, equal at least to seventeen sail of 
 the line, and quite a match for all theirs ; so that if by 
 sending the ships away there was a chance of drawing 
 the Russian fleet out, it was the best thing we could do. 
 
2 54 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 He thought of going southward shortly with all the ships ; 
 but I pointed out to him that the anchorage here was 
 the best in the Baltic, while it had the appearance of 
 shutting up the Russians better than the anchorage in 
 Kiel or the belts ; and while we must have a frigate force 
 blockading the gulf, this was much the best anchorage 
 for the screw fleet to support them and to remain in till 
 we were actually going home. I think he will adopt this 
 plan, but we shall evidently be home sooner than I thought. 
 The sailing-ships and hospital-ships and small steamers 
 will go at once, and I expect to find us all at home by 
 the middle of October. Lightning will, I think, be home 
 much before, but I shall of course offer to remain out with 
 the chief, to assist him in getting the fleet safely through 
 the belts and Kattegat. We are all looking anxiously 
 out for the next mail, which we expect will bring the 
 promotions. Whether any of the surveyors are included 
 will depend entirely on whether the Government published 
 all the chief's despatches. 
 
 "The Rosamond has brought down a letter for the 
 admiral from Helsingfors, sent out with a flag-of-truce. 
 I cannot help thinking every time I am with the chief 
 now, when he tells me all his plans, shows me his letters, 
 and asks my advice on nearly everything, how very 
 different it was during the first two months. I heard at 
 first that he was too obstinate to take advice, and that 
 there was no turning him from his opinion, and that it 
 was no use suggesting anything unless you made it appear 
 that it came from himself. Now I never met any senior 
 officer who was more open to reason, and I have even 
 given him my real opinion without caring whether it 
 agreed with his own or not, and never found him mind 
 my doing so, however much he differed ; on the contrary, I 
 believe he sees opinions are better worth having when they 
 do not merely echo his own, and I am sure now by explain- 
 ing to him why I thought a thing necessary I could almost 
 make him adopt any opinion I give him. Every one who 
 reads this must of course be doubly careful not to let 
 a hint of what I write on these subjects ever slip out in 
 talking to any one about the fleet or the admiral. 
 
 " I forget whether I ever told you that the forts at 
 Bomarsund were offered to Sweden, but were ordered 
 to be destroyed if the king refused them. He did refuse 
 them, but at the same time wanted them to be preserved. 
 
l854-] ON NEWSPAPER CRITICISMS. 2$$ 
 
 I suppose he could not make up his mind to join in the 
 war ; and he is quite right, as his interest, I think, lies in 
 neutrality, and it would only make peace more difficult for us 
 if we had to insist on any part of Finland being made over 
 to Sweden ; but at the same time it would have been folly 
 for us to have preserved the forts and had to garrison them, 
 unless for Sweden. They are much better destroyed, and 
 may save us trouble hereafter." 
 
 "September lli/i, 1854. 
 
 " The Daily News has by far the most truthful accounts 
 of the proceedings of our fleet, without exaggeration or 
 puffing, and the correspondent, whoever he is, evidently 
 has means of knowing what goes on, and writes impartially 
 and fairly. But what they say in leading articles about 
 batteries, gun-boats, etc., is great nonsense (as it is in all 
 the other papers), and only misleads people. If our fleet 
 had madly tried to attack Cronstadt, and been beaten and 
 partly destroyed, as it must have been, the papers would 
 have been the first to cry out about knocking our ships to 
 pieces against stone walls. Taking Bomarsund has nothing 
 to do with it, as the large forts in other places, and 
 particularly Cronstadt, are so situated that ships going 
 alongside them would be raked by a number of other forts, 
 and would be destroyed before they could silence the forts 
 they were alongside. If it were merely a question of one 
 of these large forts like Risbank or Alexander at Cronstadt 
 being attacked by ships, there is no doubt that four ships 
 could get alongside either, and, if there were no other 
 forts, would very soon silence them ; but as the ships 
 would have at the same time above a hundred heavy 
 guns pouring hot shot and shell into their bows from 
 batteries that ships could not go alongside of, nothing 
 could justify such a mad attempt. I fear the papers 
 writing so much on these points may do much harm by 
 raising a feeling in the public mind that enough is not 
 done with our means, forgetting that these opinions are 
 from people sitting down at a desk, perhaps at home, and 
 not quite as well able to give a correct opinion as those 
 who have seen the forts and anxiously looked for any 
 opening that would justify an attempt being made. Now 
 at Bomarsund the position of the hill forts, and the shape 
 of the ground, etc., on the land side, gave such an opening, 
 and I reported on the practicability of it, which the result 
 
2S6 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XL 
 
 has proved. When openings offer themselves in other places, 
 they will of course be laid hold of; but the opinions given 
 publicly in newspapers of the weak points in different 
 places, where they happen to be right, will do great injury, 
 as they make public to the enemy what perhaps at the 
 very time is being planned by those who have seen the 
 place, and so may assist greatly to make that very plan 
 more difficult to carry out by drawing the enemy's atten- 
 tion to their weak points. I think the Government would 
 be quite justified in saying to the Press, 'You shall not 
 publish opinions of that kind, or any statements of what 
 are supposed to be our future plans.' Let them give full 
 particulars of our proceedings and criticise them as much 
 as they like, but not publish anything that could give an 
 enemy a useful hint. If we have any important attacks 
 going on next year — which we certainly shall — this may 
 be of the utmost importance to our success. If there had 
 been any idea publicly about our attacking Bomarsund by 
 land, when we had just planned it all, and the papers had 
 dwelt on it and on the weak points, we should certainly 
 have had much more opposition. They had thrown up a 
 new battery some way out on the road we advanced by, and 
 marked it well, but had not got it quite ready for the guns 
 — a few days more would have lost us many men there ; 
 and had they known of our plans about two months 
 before, they would have had a strong position fortified, 
 that would have had to be carried by assault with much 
 loss. 
 
 " Tuesday, I2tk. — Sent early this morning to Bomarsund 
 to catch Alban going with the recovered Russian wounded 
 officers and men to Abo ; met her coming out. She had 
 been on shore for two and a half hours (report said four 
 days) in the gale, but got off all right. She went on, and 
 we waited for letters from Admiral Martin about an hour, 
 then started on our return to Led Sound, and directly we 
 got out of Bomarsund Bay poor Alban got hard and fast — 
 ran right up, and heeled over very much. We have been 
 three hours trying to get her off, tugging at her and heav- 
 ing till we carried away everything we had, so now I am 
 running down to save the mail and to get more assistance. 
 Otter was trusting to a native pilot, who had gone that 
 way once before with him, and they were going full speed 
 with sail, and he ran them right on the point of an island. 
 I never have trusted, or will trust, one of them." 
 
l854.] PROMOTIONS JOVIAL PRISONERS. 257 
 
 "Septembey l/[th, 1854. 
 
 " I have heard of some promotions being out, and was 
 indeed astonished at the injustice of them. Nothing can 
 explain the rule they have followed. Admiral Chads' 
 three block-ships have each their first lieutenant promoted, 
 who were never under fire, and only dragged the guns four 
 miles over a road to the camp. A lieutenant of Blenheim 
 in the battery with Pelham, two years standing, I believe, 
 is also promoted. But the commander and gunnery 
 lieutenant of the commander-in-chief's ship, who had all 
 the dangerous work of getting the guns into battery and 
 working them so well under a heavy fire, are not included, 
 and Cudlip (my first lieutenant), the senior in the fleet, on 
 shore all the time, and at the battery all day, not noticed. 
 Otter, though senior commander employed, not noticed ; 
 but I think that will be remedied, as Washington writes 
 me that a despatch of the admiral's, speaking very highly 
 of the surveyors, and particularly of myself. Otter, and 
 Evans, would be immediately published. 
 
 " Cholera seems steadily increasing in London, and will, 
 I fear, get up to its former number of two thousand weekly. 
 I am thankful to say we have nothing of the kind here 
 now. It is astonishing the way it fell on the French troops. 
 It seemed to be caused by sleeping in tents on the ground, 
 as those in the fort escaped ; but officers and men are 
 away from some of our ships on shooting excursions for 
 days in a tent, and no one ill. They kill numbers of black- 
 cock on the outlying uninhabited rocky islets with very 
 little cover — not in the woods. I am too busy to have a 
 chance at them. 
 
 " I went back on Tuesday night with Bulldog, got her 
 just astern of Alban, got Lightning alongside of her and 
 took out some coal, and then, with a good pull with steam 
 and cables, got her off about midnight. The Russian 
 officers (doctors and other non-combatants) going back 
 with the wounded were enjoying themselves, and singing 
 a number of things, some in parts, very well indeed. They 
 said they did not care for the getting on shore, and only 
 hoped it would last a day or two longer, they were in 
 such good quarters. They were all at breakfast in the 
 gun-room when she struck, and it knocked them all down 
 and smashed all the mess-traps on the table. 
 
 " When I returned to the fleet with Bulldog yesterday 
 
 17 
 
2 58 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XL 
 
 morning, I asked the chief to let me get on with the 
 survey, and I am now alone among the islands, doing 
 all the work I can. I was at Degerby yesterday. The 
 policeman is sent home as a prisoner. The admiral would 
 not let him return to his family, because others of his 
 position had been giving much trouble and threatening 
 the poor people with the vengeance of Russia. There is 
 some fellow acting the spy still at Degerby, and I may 
 have to walk him off. 
 
 " We have no difficulty now about provisions ; boats 
 bring plenty of things to sell alongside. I bought a lamb 
 from a servant, which she said was part of her wages, so 
 I asked how they were paid. I was told they get about 
 eighteen shillings a year and two lambs to keep as their 
 own, so they get up a little flock. All clothing is also 
 found them. 
 
 "The wife of the farmer was away in their vessel, of 
 which he is half owner, going to Stockholm with two cows 
 to sell, to get money to buy what they required. The 
 women here are quite as good sailors as their husbands 
 and brothers. We find little boats carrying a press of sail, 
 and in a nasty sea, with perhaps only two or three women 
 in them, and always part of the crews women : they seem 
 born to it. In the summer they are fishing, milking, 
 shearing sheep, or perhaps going in a boat to the cows 
 morning and evening, as they put them on all the smaller 
 islands to eat up the pasture. Sometimes we meet a small 
 boat with two or three people in it, and a cow standing as 
 quietly as possible, though looking too large for the boat 
 to hold in safety. 
 
 ^'Friday, \<^th. — To-day the weather prevented our 
 working all the morning ; it was foggy with rain, and the 
 barometer lower than we have ever had it in the Baltic, 
 so that we must be going to have regular equinoctial gales. 
 
 " I heard that Captain Mansell of the St. Vincent had 
 died after leaving this, and that Captain Clifford of Sphinx 
 had both legs broken by a hawser being carried away when 
 towing the St. Vincent!' 
 
 " ' Duke of Wellington,' off Revel, 
 " September 2$th, 1854. 
 
 " I have rather a larger ship than Lightning now. The 
 chief wanted me with him to visit Revel and Sweaborg ; 
 
I854-] REVEL NAPIER's FIRMNESS. 259 
 
 and as Lightning is small for any heavy weather in this 
 gulf, and might be a tax on the other ships, I asked him to 
 let me leave her about the survey, and come in some other 
 ship. He said I should come here, so here I am very 
 comfortable, forming part of the admiral's staff, having one 
 side of the fore-cabin (General Jones having the other), and 
 nothing to do but answer the chiefs questions when re- 
 quired, occasionally go over plans and letters with him, and 
 a walk on the island (Nargen) when he goes. He is most 
 kind and flattering in his manner and treatment of me. 
 
 " We came here on Thursday, and on Friday I took the 
 general and others in off Revel in Locust, attended by 
 Wrangler, a new screw despatch-boat. In the afternoon I 
 took all the admirals in Wrangler. We were just out of 
 range of all the batteries, so they did not fire ; but all were 
 manned and troops drawn up. It is a very strong place, 
 and it would be folly to attack it with ships. A large fleet 
 would, I have no doubt, destroy all the forts, but \\'ould be 
 pretty well destroyed also, and be as unfit for anything 
 afterwards, till refitted, as some of our ships at Algiers were, 
 while all we should gain would be destroying some stones 
 and guns and killing some men, and our fleet might be 
 no match afterwards for the Russian ships. I wish some 
 of those fighting newspaper men were put into a ship by 
 themselves, and anchored off one of these batteries to have 
 their fill of it ; they would then know a little more on the 
 subject (those that were left) than they do now, and would 
 not write such utter folly and nonsense. Unfortunately 
 some in authority, sitting in their offices, who ought to 
 know better, write almost as great nonsense. With all the 
 old chief's failings, it is lucky we had a man with moral 
 courage enough to stand firm against the whines of the 
 Press, as well as against the wishes of some men out here, 
 who, caring only for a chance of personal distinction, 
 would have wanted him to run their heads against any 
 stone wall that offered. 
 
 " On Saturday we went to Sweaborg in Driver. The 
 chief the night before and this morning at breakfast had 
 repeatedly said to me, ' Now you are sure you will not 
 run us on a rock : if you do, 1 shall be taken prisoner.' I 
 always said I could not feel sure, as there are so many 
 rocks ; but I saw little chance of it, as 1 had been in and 
 out safely three times, and once with three ships, but that 
 I would never speak too confidently, or I should expect to 
 
26o THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 meet with an accident. We took Basilisk with us, and 
 outside made Watson's signal to join in ImpMeuse, to have 
 a good defence if necessary against the two large Russian 
 steamers coming out. When near the narrow parts of the 
 channel, knowing there was less risk with one vessel, we 
 made the others' signal to wait, as being within five miles 
 of where we were going they could be ready. The 
 admiral often repeated his warning not to put him on a 
 rock, as he had no wish to visit St. Petersburg, and he did 
 not want to go so close as we had done before ; so I said I 
 would turn round outside an island that I had always 
 gone round inside of before. I knew by the Russian charts 
 there was a rock outside, but these being on such a very 
 small scale I could not exactly know its position. I 
 wanted to go as far to the west as possible, also to get 
 General Jones as good a view that way as I could (besides 
 the chief and the general. Admirals Chads and Seymour 
 were on board). It was very different turning a steamer 
 of a thousand and fifty tons and Lightning, and I took 
 every care, scarcely moving now and then to keep her way ; 
 but the engine stopped as we turned, when, instead of 
 being outside this rock, as I thought, we were between it 
 and the island, and some other rocks near above water. 
 Though going so slowly, we shoaled rapidly from eleven 
 to seven fathoms, and, by the time I had checked her 
 way, to five and four and a half, which must have been 
 very close to the shallow part. We were in such a position 
 that I dare not go astern for fear of going on other rocks, 
 and there was no chance but turning her on a pivot in the 
 spot she was, and going out the way we came in. It was 
 an anxious few minutes, everybody watching eagerly, but 
 not saying a word. The captain suggested something I 
 saw would not do, so I did not hesitate for a moment 
 about the best way, knowing at the time that if we struck 
 they would have their steamers out as soon as ours could 
 get in, as they were not half the distance, and if they 
 towed out two line-of-battle ships (which they would have 
 done if they had been worth anything as officers) they 
 would certainly take us before ships could get from 
 Nargen to help us. Having four big officers under my 
 charge of course did not lessen the anxiety. However, in 
 a few minutes (during which you might have heard a pin 
 drop almost when the engines were stopped, and during 
 which we several times deepened and shoaled our water) 
 
1854] NAPIER ALMOST NETTED. 26 1 
 
 she turned right round and came out as we went in all 
 right. The old chief, though generally so nervous, behaved 
 very well— quietly walked the deck, only once or twice 
 asking me a question. Directly she was in the channel all 
 safe I went to him, expecting to see him rather angry with 
 me ; but instead of that he seemed pleased, and said, 
 'Upon myword, you did it uncommonly well : if you had 
 not, 1 should dine in Helsingfors to-day.' I told him that 
 the admirals, in the event of our grounding, ought to have 
 gone off in a boat — I thought that their duty in such 
 a case, rather than stay to be captured ; but he would not 
 allow it, and said he would never have left her. (' Na, na : 
 do ye think I would have left ye ? ') He allows that his not 
 wishing to go so close as I wished caused me to turn 
 round in ground new to me ; whereas, had he gone inside 
 the island, it would have been in Lightning's tracks. In 
 one of our walks on the island we went to the village, and 
 saw an old woman of seventy-one, active and intelligent, 
 speaking a few words of English, who washed for Lord 
 Nelson's officers in 1802. The admiral asked her if she 
 recollected Admiral Saumarez in 1 809. She said, ' Yes — 
 Admiral Pickmore too.' 
 
 " In his letters the chief does not hesitate to mention me 
 several times as authority for certain statements bearing 
 out his views, and it is very flattering to me altogether, and 
 shows he does not try to deprive a junior of any credit due. 
 
 " I think I could leave for home any day I like, as the 
 chief is rather anxious to get all the small steamers away ; 
 but I do not like to leave him so long as I can be of any 
 use to him, and without being an egotist I may say that 
 I think I can save him much anxiety if I remain. He 
 must not leave too soon, or the Russians will come out 
 in the Baltic and crow. He does not like being so. far 
 north as Led Sound, and I do not like his being so far 
 south as Kiel Bay, too far from our frigate squadron ; so 
 I mean to try and compromise a little, and get him to 
 Elgsnabben instead, which Gordon also recommends, and 
 as he wants to visit Stockholm again I think he will go 
 there : if so, I shall try to keep him there all October, even 
 if I send Lightning home without me. 
 
 " My anxiety lest the admiral should leave this too 
 soon, and so cause rejoicing to the enemy, overcomes the 
 desire to get home. ... I am quite satisfied with the 
 credit every one gives me, and the way the admiral treats 
 
262 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 me is sufficient reward for all I have done, besides the 
 consciousness of having done one's duty, and last, though 
 not least, the satisfaction of having slightly altered the 
 admiral's declared opinion that ' a surveying-ship would be 
 of no use except to make a fire- vessel of ! ' " 
 
 " ' Duke of Wellington,' off Revel, 
 " October 1st, 1854. 
 
 " We have had uninterrupted bad weather, and the poor 
 admiral getting as anxious as possible, particularly as 
 Admiral Plumridge, with the sailing-ships, started on 
 Wednesday for Kiel, and there has been no good weather 
 since, but no gale till yesterday, when it blew hard from 
 south-west and drew round in the night to N.N.W., and blows 
 strong. However, it has proved the correctness of my 
 view of the anchorage, for even now, with the gale right in, 
 there is no sea, and all the vessels lying with slack cables. 
 
 "To-day at breakfast the admiral said there was still 
 his first despatch unpublished, and it was a great shame ; 
 he had sent it home again, requesting it might be published. 
 He said my name was mentioned in it, and he handed a 
 copy to Admiral Seymour and me to read ; we were both 
 mentioned in it, so that I have been right after all that he 
 wrote, but the Admiralty did not publish. The chief is 
 very civil, and rather too prone to speak favourably of me 
 to my face, whoever happens to be dining here. He now 
 declares that if I do not see the rocks under water I must 
 smell them. I have asked him, if I can be of any assist- 
 ance to him, to keep me out and send Lightning home ; but 
 he thinks it unnecessary now, and so it really is, for he has 
 excellent assistants for the simple navigation of the fleet 
 homewards, and I could do no more than others, but I 
 think he will from habit feel the want of having me close 
 at hand to answer questions on all sorts of subjects — forts, 
 guns, shelling, plans of attack, pilotage, charts, and plans 
 of all the fortresses to look over and explain ; in fact, he 
 makes me engineer, artilleryman, pilot, etc., in turn ; and 
 though I am very careful how I say anything, so as not to 
 let him think I am presuming too much on his confidence, 
 yet I speak my mind most freely and without the slightest 
 attempt to humour his views, and I am sure he likes it. 
 General Jones said to me one day before he left, 'You 
 always give the admiral plain home-truths ; he hears 
 nothing else from you.' " 
 
I854-J PRESS ATTACKS ON NAPIER. 263 
 
 " 'Duke,' off Revel, October l^th, 1854. 
 
 " Just after I closed my last letter the mail arrived, and 
 letters received led the chief to give up going to Kiel for 
 the present, and to determine to remain in the gulf You 
 know by my former letters how necessary I thought it to 
 remain here, so as not to give the Russians a chance of 
 raising the blockade. The poor chief is sadly nervous 
 about remaining here, in spite of all that Admiral Seymour, 
 Gordon, and myself say to keep up his spirits ; but the fact 
 is, he is ill both in mind and body, and quite unfit for the 
 hard work a man's mind must stand who has such a 
 charge. What adds to his illness is the attacks on him in 
 the papers, which he cannot stand or treat with contempt 
 as he ought. He did not mind the Herald much, as every 
 one knows that it only published malicious attacks, or the 
 letters of some discontented parties in the fleet, which 
 contain scarcely a word of truth and many falsehoods. 
 But the Times having lately commenced attacking him for 
 not having taken Helsingfors or Cronstadt with the fleet, 
 he cannot treat it as he did the Heralds attacks, and is 
 feeling it much, though he ought to know that every man 
 in our service, both here and at home, not influenced by 
 spite or prejudice, must know that, so far from blaming 
 him, he would have been unfit for his command had 
 he for a moment thought of placing his ships against 
 either of those fortresses. What is more unfair still is 
 expecting us to do with ships alone what seventy thousand 
 troops are sent to do with a fleet larger than ours at Sevas- 
 topol. Yet no man who understands anything on the 
 subject can take the plans of Sevastopol and Cronstadt, 
 and carefully examine the depths of water, etc., and not 
 allow that it would have been much easier to attack 
 Sevastopol with a fleet than Cronstadt. At the former 
 there is a clear harbour and plenty of water alongside 
 all the batteries and the enemy's ships, and it would only 
 be a question of ships against batteries,; but at Cronstadt 
 ships cannot get alongside any but the two outer forts, 
 and then the ships would be raked by two hundred guns 
 from other forts and the broadsides of two three-decked 
 ships, and if any ships attempted to get at these other 
 forts and the ships, they would have to pass up a narrow 
 channel where only one ship could go abreast under all 
 that fire, and then that one ship only could get her broad- 
 
264 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XL 
 
 side to bear, and would be surrounded by hundreds of 
 guns, while all ships astern of her in the passage would 
 be raked by a heavy fire without being able to return it. 
 Now, is it not too bad that the chief of a fleet should 
 be attacked for not committing an act of madness} 
 Then, again, at Helsingfors, the probability of a suc- 
 cessful attack being made on it by ships may be judged 
 of by the following particulars. No ship can approach 
 it except through a nest of rocks, the widest passage 
 being two cables' lengths ; they would have to advance 
 under the raking fire of a hundred and sixty guns, 
 and when they passed that, and got alongside the 
 fortress, they would find space to place only eight ships 
 against all the batteries. Now, at a low estimate, these 
 ships with three hundred and fifty guns would be opposed 
 to about two hundred and fifty heavy guns in batteries, 
 and the broadsides of at least two or three line-of-battle 
 ships raking them. It would take several more of our 
 ships to keep the enemy's ships in check, as well as the 
 other batteries on Helsingfors, which would otherwise rake 
 our eight ships also, so that at least fifteen of our ships 
 must be taken in, and would be in no condition for any 
 other service for some time, even granting them perfect 
 success. They must then pass inside to get at the 
 enemy's ships (which would of course move up the harbour 
 inside), and they would be opposed to fresh tiers of 
 batteries as strong as those outside. Now, can any man 
 say such a thing should be attempted, when we have to 
 keep in reserve in good order enough ships to meet the 
 eighteen sail of the line from Cronstadt if they came out ? 
 But now as to the chance of eight ships with three 
 hundred and fifty guns in broadside against a number of 
 batteries with two hundred and fifty guns. If they were 
 large casemated batteries like Bomarsund, and the ships 
 once got fairly alongside, the latter might succeed ; but 
 they are nearly all single-tier batteries with earth parapets, 
 which are the very best for contending against ships. 
 Some of them are near the water, and would be only five 
 hundred yards from the ships ; others in the rear, and 
 higher ; and others again nearly a thousand yards off, 
 and still higher. I have not the slightest doubt that eight 
 ships would be either beaten off or destroyed, and probably 
 most of them set on fire by red-hot shot and shell. To 
 give ships a chance of success, they must be able to bring 
 
I854-J NELSON AVOIDED FORTS. 265 
 
 four or five guns against one in a fort* We know that 
 two guns have beaten off two large ships with great loss. 
 Had Nelson been here with thirty English ships (we have 
 had, English and French, twenty-seven), he would have 
 blockaded the gulf for years, without thinking of attacking 
 such fortresses to get at ships inside. Brest, Toulon, and 
 Cadiz were probably much weaker than these places. 
 Mind, I do not say that these fortresses are safe against 
 all attack, but they are quite so against direct attacks of 
 heavy ships, or with any means we possess this season. 
 Cronstadt is, I think, most difficult to attack in any way : 
 there is only one way that we could even do much damage, 
 and that plan I proposed directly I reconnoitred it, but 
 we had not the means here. Sweaborg can also, I believe, 
 be attacked, and at least greatly injured, and most pro- 
 bably destroyed by a naval force alone, when properly 
 prepared and provided. With a large land force also it 
 must fall. 
 
 " Disappointed as I am at not coming home soon, great 
 is the satisfaction I feel at the fleet remaining to the last, 
 so as to ensure that the enemy's ships do not come out 
 and drive off our blockading squadron of smaller ships. 
 For the last four days we have had the most lovely 
 weather you can imagine, nearly calm, bright sunshine, 
 and more like summer, except that in the shade it is 
 chilly. 
 
 "Yesterday I had a long walk through the island for 
 many miles with Admiral Seymour, Gordon, and Pelham. 
 The woods are very pretty in some places, particularly 
 where the fir-trees have been cleared, and some open 
 grass-land is surrounded by weeping-birch and other trees ; 
 but they are now putting on their winter dress. 
 
 " I suppose there will be an outcry at home about doing 
 nothing here, but we might as well try to reach the moon, 
 and I think when people consider that even Anapa, a small 
 place with only fifty-eight guns on the sea defences, was 
 not attacked by the Black Sea fleet till an army was ready 
 to go with it, they ought not to be surprised at our doing 
 
 * " Un canon a terre vaut un vaisseau k la mer " (French proverb) ; 
 " Une batterie de quatre pieces de gros calibre . . . doit avoir raison 
 d'ua vaisseau de 120 canons " (" L' Aide-memoire d'artillerie francais") ; 
 " Four guns . . . are equal to a line-of-battle ship " (" Treatise on 
 Naval Gunnery," W. Jeffers, U.S.N.).— Ed. 
 
266 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 nothing. Why, one single fort at either of the places 
 here is stronger than all Anapa, and I wonder now that 
 our fleet did not take the latter long since, as it could 
 not have stood even a bombardment from steamers. It 
 shows how unjust it is for people to blame one fleet for 
 not taking places stronger than Sevastopol, and yet never 
 to remark on trifling places not having been attacked by 
 the Black Sea fleet. I have no doubt they were right 
 out there, knowing all the circumstances." 
 
 Here end the journals for 1854. The Duke arrived in 
 England before Christmas, and I presume it was in her 
 that Captain Sulivan returned. 
 
 Before closing the account of the work done in 1854, 
 it will be interesting to consider the various plans then 
 proposed for attacking Sweaborg, and to show clearly 
 the part Captain Sulivan had in planning the measures 
 which were carried out the following year. 
 
 It will be remembered the Admiralty had given orders 
 that Sweaborg was to be examined as early as possible. In 
 " Napier," p. 154, May 25th, we read : " The Dauntless was 
 sent to look at Sweaborg, and saw thirteen men-of-war 
 there." But this was from a distance of ten miles, and 
 cannot be called a reconnaissance. 
 
 On June sth the admiral wrote home he had ''recon- 
 noitred Sweaborg." This, again, was no proper view, the 
 steamer having gone in by the eastern passage to Miolo 
 roads, whence only the tops of the buildings could be seen 
 over some islands. The only guns seen were six on an 
 island. The admiral wrote, " It is impossible to touch 
 them." On June 12th ("Napier," p. 175) the squadron 
 was again off Sweaborg, but it left again without any one in 
 the fleet having seen the fortress nearer than twelve miles. 
 On page 176 the report of the master of the fleet is given, 
 but it shows that the channel to Sweaborg was not looked 
 at. It was reported that the Miolo channel was useless for 
 
l854j VARIOUS PLANS AGAINST SWEABORG. 267 
 
 the fleet without buoys, yet the marks were so good the 
 LigJitning afterwards went up it full speed. The Grohara 
 Beacon, reported to be " wrongly placed," was actually 
 removed purposely by the Russians to mislead us over the 
 outer rocks. Captain Sulivan, afterwards going in closer, 
 found the old foundations of the beacon. On page 180 it 
 is distinctly pointed out the master went no farther than 
 Miolo roads, yet no other person was sent. Therefore, so 
 far, no report on Sweaborg could have been sent to the 
 Admiralty. 
 
 Old plans had been provided by the Admiralty ; and 
 though there were competent engineer officers sent out to 
 assist the admiral, no attempt was made to ascertain the 
 correctness of the old plans. 
 
 On June 20th the admiral writes home, mentioning 
 Admiral Chads' report and plan for taking Sweaborg by 
 means of a large military force of six thousand troops, 
 besides four thousand seamen and marines, occupying the 
 islands, and throwing shells into it (" Napier," p. 186). 
 This shows that no one had thought of bombarding it 
 from the scattered islets in front, until Captain Sulivan 
 went in with the flag-of-truce in July. Admiral Chads' 
 scheme was based on the old plans, as he had not seen 
 Sweaborg. This would have been the proper mode of 
 attack with a land force. 
 
 Without then knowing of Admiral Chads' idea. Captain 
 Sulivan had drawn up a similar plan, but one requiring 
 thirty thousand troops. A force of ten thousand men 
 must have been driven off, killed, or taken, as an army 
 of perhaps fifty thousand Russians would have been 
 thrown in our rear at the north channel by another island 
 or peninsula. There were fifty thousand Russian troops 
 in the neighbourhood, and twenty thousand more could 
 have come from Viborg. We should have required a force 
 
268 
 
 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 in Sandham, strong enough to hold its rear against this 
 army, whilst another force carried on the siege of 
 Sweaborg by Bakholmen. In this way the place could 
 have been taken. 
 
 The shelling Admiral Chads proposed was to be with 
 heavy guns. Mortars had not been thought of before 
 Sulivan's proposal. Had he been sent to reconnoitre early 
 in June, mortars, if there had been any in store, could have 
 
 ^ValJitr &■ Boiitall sc. 
 
 been sent out in July, and the bombardment have taken 
 place before the close of the iirst year. There was no 
 occasion for the mortar- vessels. It is possible, if this had 
 been successfully executed the first year, it might have had 
 some effect in hastening the settlement of peace. 
 
 In " Napier," p. 194, is given the long report on 
 Sweaborg procured from a Swedish source. This report 
 Captain Sulivan never saw at the time ; but as it talked of 
 shelling from the rocky islands, it ought to have drawn 
 attention to bombarding it from them. All the barbette 
 guns mentioned had been covered by earthen parapets 
 
I854-] SULIVAN SUGGESTS MORTARS. 269 
 
 with embrasures. All this information was obtained from 
 the report, yet Napier never sent in any one to look at the 
 fortress. 
 
 Before leaving England, Captain Sulivan had studied 
 the chart of Sweaborg, noticed the rocky islets, calculated 
 the ranges from the forts, and marked them down. But 
 not having been consulted by the admiral at first, he could 
 not suggest anything, neither did he like to offer an opinion 
 without seeing the place. He had, however, talked the 
 matter over with Admiral Seymour, and suggested shelling 
 at long range. This made Seymour, when the Odessa 
 news arrived, say, " This proves your idea is a good one." 
 Sulivan never thought of mortars until he had, by acci- 
 dent, seen the place and noticed the fine mass of buildings 
 within range of the islets. 
 
 Captain Sulivan returned from Sweaborg, where he had 
 been with the flag-of-truce, on July 15th. He reported 
 that the place was made for sJielling, and islands and 
 rocks were provided by nature at the right range for 
 mortars. This was the first time mortars were ever 
 thought of; or why had they not been mentioned when 
 Admiral Chads' plan was sent home? A month had 
 elapsed ; no one had seen the place until Captain Sulivan 
 went ; and on the 20th, five days after his return, the 
 admiral (" Napier," p. 305) writes home suggesting mortars. 
 This proves beyond a doubt that Captain Sulivan was the 
 originator of the idea which next year was put into execution. 
 
 Thirteen-inch mortars, protected and assisted by the 
 heavy guns of the paddle and smaller steamers, would have 
 been quite sufficient. The real work was to be done with 
 mortars, the ships merely protecting them and drawing off 
 the enemy's fire from them. Captain Sulivan suggested 
 placing two Lancaster guns on Langhara Island to fire at 
 the three-decker between Bakholmen and Sweaborg. 
 
2/0 THE LAST OF BOMARSUND. [Ch. XI. 
 
 On page 410 Napier admits it was "Captain Sulivan 
 who went in twice with a flag-of-truce, and reported to the 
 Government how it might be taken when means were 
 provided the next year." The French generals did not go 
 close in, and only had a hurried view going in and out. 
 
 On page 411 General Jones, after his inspection in 
 Lightning, on 'August 27th suggests a bombardment from 
 the land with a large land force, and proposes to do from 
 tlu land exactly what was done next year in two days from 
 the mortar-boats. At Bakholmen there was nothing to 
 prevent the enemy throwing on shore from ten to fifteen 
 thousand men inside the island, so that General Jones' 
 five thousand men were insufficient. 
 
 The plan was for a bombardment, not for an occupation ; 
 therefore why land a force to erect batteries when the 
 mortars could be so easily placed on the rocky islands ? 
 All overlooked this but Sulivan. 
 
 General Niel's scheme is given on page 417. He recog- 
 nises the danger of Bakholmen, but proposes to carry it, 
 a work sure to entail heavy loss. He suggests the fleets 
 should anchor under Sweaborg. Sulivan's note says : — 
 
 " His final remarks are very good, but the ships must 
 have advanced under the raking fire of a hundred and six 
 guns, and the three-decker's broadside of sixty more, and 
 must then have gone alongside the chief front of the work, 
 zvhicJi General Niel never saw. They would have been 
 raked by other batteries at ranges of about twelve to 
 fifteen hundred yards, and with the greatest care not more 
 than five or six ships would have space to get alongside 
 the fortress." 
 
 As to the belief "the stone splinters would soon have 
 rendered defence impossible," Sulivan says : — 
 
 " Out of a hundred and six Russian guns commanding 
 the approach, only three were in casemates, the others 
 behind earthen parapets, which everywhere capped the 
 
I854-] GENERAL NIEL's PLAN. 2/ 1 
 
 Stonework. On "the chief front it would have been just the 
 same, so that General Niel's stone splinters would have 
 proved as incorrect as the wooden splinters in the ships 
 would have proved a certainty. His opinion as to 
 Bakholmen is very similar to that which I gave the 
 admiral at the time. I was satisfied that if ships were 
 placed very carefully and no space lost, they would only 
 be able to oppose two guns to each one in the batteries 
 abreast of them, while they would be raked by numerous 
 batteries, to which they could only reply by a few bow- 
 guns at ranges that made ships' guns useless, and all this 
 after having passed through a raking fire." 
 
 " All these plans proposed to risk hazardous attacks for 
 the purpose of establishing batteries to bombard the place, 
 when so many islets offered equal facilities and no danger." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT— INFERNAL MACHINES. 
 
 1855. 
 
 On Captain Sulivan's return to England in 1854, the First 
 Lord (Sir James Graham) and Admiral Sir M. Berkeley 
 asked his opinion as to what could be done in the Baltic 
 the next season. After verbally explaining his views of 
 attacking Cronstadt and Sweaborg, he was requested by 
 the First Lord to draw up a report on the subject, dividing 
 it into three heads: (i) What would be possible with a 
 naval force alone? (2) What if a combined naval and 
 military force were to be employed ? (3) And what force 
 of ships would be required for the Baltic, if it were decided 
 to confine the work there to a simple blockade ? Sir M. 
 Berkeley asked him to bring his portions of the report as it 
 was written ; and when the last sheets were finished and 
 Sulivan was to have gone with the admiral to read it to 
 the First Lord, he found that Sir James Graham had 
 resigned that morning. 
 
 As soon as Sir C. Wood commenced his duties as First 
 Lord, he went into the subject, and had the report printed 
 in the Secret Department. A proof was given to Sulivan 
 to correct, but he could not obtain a copy for himself, as he 
 was told that only six were to be printed, one to be given 
 to each of the following : the Queen, the First Lord, the 
 Minister of War, the English admiral, the Emperor, and 
 the French admiral. 
 
 272 
 
"855-] PLAN AGAINST CRONSTADT. 273 
 
 The plan afterwards carried out for bombarding Sweaborg- 
 formed one portion of the report, but it was recommended 
 that this should be quite secondary to an attack on 
 Cronstadt, which should first be attempted. This could 
 be done only with the floating batteries then building, 
 while Sweaborg could be attacked without them. 
 
 His plan for attacking Cronstadt was the following : 
 He saw at once that the Russians, whilst making Cronstadt 
 almost impregnable by way of the main channel, had 
 totally neglected to protect it from attack on the north 
 side, trusting only to the shoalness of the water and the 
 barrier they had made across the only channel that existed. 
 Sulivan saw the only chance lay in this direction, and 
 proposed that a bombardment should be attempted from 
 mortar-vessels and floating batteries of light draught, pro- 
 tected from the attack of the large Russian flotilla of gun- 
 vessels by a force of light-draught gun-boats, etc. He saw 
 the possibility of destroying the dockyard, the fleet, and 
 possibly the fortifications themselves. The only things 
 wanting for the carrying out of the plan were floating 
 batteries and gun-boats.* 
 
 When Captain Sulivan left England in 1855, he under- 
 stood that his proposals had been approved of by both the 
 British and French Governments, and that the necessary 
 
 * Preparations were being made in the winter of 1855 ^°^ ^n attack, 
 which would have been carried out the following season, had not peace 
 intervened. The Admiralty had sanctioned Sulivan's scheme of attack. 
 As it would have been necessary to survey the channel nearly up to the 
 walls of Cronstadt, with the object of moving the attacking vessels 
 nearer, after the first bombardment, Sulivan had proposed a plan, and, 
 I believe, prepared the material for carrying this out in a novel way. 
 He and his brother were to survey the channel in a small double canoe. 
 (His brother, now Admiral George L. Sulivan, a noted swimmer, had 
 distinguished himself by receiving three medals and parchments from 
 the Royal Humane Society. When the Jasper was wrecked in the Sea 
 of Azoff, he had dived down to place charges under her to blow her 
 up, remaining sometinles two minutes under water. It was thought 
 he might in a similar way undermine the barrier.) As it was necessary 
 
 18 
 
2/4 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. XII. 
 
 means would be provided. Whilst waiting for these off 
 Cronstadt, he was chiefly employed in sounding its 
 approaches. As a barrier was known to exist on the 
 north side, and a successful attack could only be made by 
 getting gun-boats, mortar-boats, and floating batteries 
 through it, it became necessary to find out the depth of 
 water at and inside it, especially as the depths on the banks 
 were invariably found to be less than those shown in the 
 Russian charts. 
 
 As later it became doubtful whether the French Govern- 
 ment would send any of their floating batteries, and 
 therefore whether the whole of the ten calculated on might 
 be available, Sulivan gave it as his opinion that if only six 
 could be sent the attack might be tried with fair prospects of 
 success, as the depth of water at the barrier had been found 
 sufficient ; but as it was finally decided to send the floating 
 batteries to the Black Sea, the idea of attacking Cronstadt 
 had to be abandoned, and the gun-boats and mortar-vessels 
 that were coming out could then be used only against 
 Sweaborg.* 
 
 Admiral Dundas, though very anxious to do all that was 
 possible, felt much doubt about succeeding in this latter 
 plan, and much influence was used in an important quarter 
 in the fleet to convince him that it could not succeed, 
 and that the small mortar-vessels could not safely lay at 
 
 to go so close that even the canoe would have attracted observation, 
 they were later to trust to their swimming powers, clad in oilskin 
 dresses, lined with wool to resist the cold, with pockets for holding 
 small sounding-lines and lead. The Russians must at this time have 
 noticed the defencelessness of this side of Cronstadt, for they began 
 erecting forts to protect the north side, which, however, would not have 
 been ready in time. (See p. 367.) 
 
 There were — 
 
 
 
 
 Planned for 
 
 Forthcoming. 
 
 Floating batteries . 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 Mortar-boats . 
 
 • 30 
 
 15 
 
 Gun-boats 
 
 • 30 
 
 15 
 
 Steam-frigates 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
l855] HESITANCY OF DUNDAS. 2/5 
 
 anchor under the fire of such a strong place. Captain 
 Sulivan had great difficulty in successfully opposing this 
 view. He compared the difficulty of hitting such small 
 vessels at such a range to that of hitting a sparrow at a 
 distance with a pistol-bullet. Whilst waiting at Nargen 
 for the arrival of the mortar-vessels, it seemed probable 
 that the attempt would be given up, and some minor 
 points on the coast attacked instead. On one visit to the 
 flag-ship, Sulivan was told by the admiral that he had 
 decided not to attempt it ; and it was only after using every 
 argument to combat the adverse view, and pressing his 
 opinion also on the French admiral, who generally sup- 
 ported him, that Sulivan got Admiral Dundas to alter his 
 decision and make up his mind to carry out the plan ; but 
 he made this condition — that Sulivan should agree to place 
 the mortar-vessels three thousand three hundred yards 
 from the fortress, instead of three thousand, as proposed by 
 him. It was only after the mortar-vessels had arrived, and 
 he had consulted Captain Wemyss, of the Marine Artillery, 
 who thought that even at that distance the mortars would 
 be able to cover all the fortress, that Sulivan yielded the 
 point, pointing out, however, that it would make a serious 
 difference in their range for reaching the farther portions 
 of the fortress, which extended nine hundred yards in the 
 rear of the batteries. 
 
 When about to go to Sweaborg, Admiral Dundas said 
 to an officer, who repeated the remark to Captain Sulivan, 
 " I am going to court defeat by attempting what I have 
 not the means of succeeding in " — or words to this effect. 
 
 It will thus be seen that this, the only important event 
 of the year in the Baltic, and the only important purely 
 naval success of the war {i.e. one in which the military 
 were not also concerned), was entirely owing to the plan 
 and to the determined stand made by Captain Sulivan. 
 
276 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. XII. 
 
 With this introduction, I go on with the ordinary- 
 account and journals. 
 
 Sulivan had been given a larger and more powerful 
 vessel than the Lightning — namely, the paddle-steamer 
 Merlin (six guns instead of three ; three hundred and twelve 
 horse-power instead of only a hundred). 
 
 His officers were as follows : Richard B. Creyke, 
 commander (assistant surveyor), who, besides having 
 been at the bombardment of Acre, had done good survey- 
 ing service and boat action against pirates on the west 
 coast of Africa ; lieutenants — William Hewett, Charles 
 J. Bullock ; staff-commander — Richard C. Dyer ; surgeon — 
 J. F. Johnson ; paymaster — R. W. Warrick. 
 
 " ' Merlin,' April 12th, 1855. 
 
 ''Running down the Kattegat, Thursday, April 12th, 
 4 p.m. Fine weather. How I shall ever write, except at 
 anchor, I do not know ; for the vessel shakes so much, even 
 in dead smooth water, from the engines alone, that plates, 
 glasses, etc., dance on the table, and the chair and table are 
 now dancing to the tune of the paddle-wheel. We left 
 Sheerness at i p.m. on Monday, April 9th." 
 
 They had heavy weather from the south-west, and the 
 powerful engines in the weak vessel, combined with the 
 heavy head-sea, caused so much vibration and motion that 
 almost all on board were ill. 
 
 " The weather moderated in the evening of the nth, and 
 we had made the worst of our passage, having entered the 
 mouth of the Baltic, after a run of four hundred and thirty 
 miles, in about two days and seven hours. The day it 
 blew so hard against us part of the time, we made a 
 hundred and seventy miles, so that we ought to be very 
 well satisfied with Merlin's performance. 
 
 " We reached Wingo Sound at twelve to-day, under three 
 days from Sheerness. I found no colliers in the sound, 
 but saw some vessels inside a channel blocked up by ice. 
 As, if they were colliers, we should lose time by going 
 
'855-] ICE IN THE SOUND. 277 
 
 round to look for another passage, I determined to push on 
 to Elsinore for coal, having only twenty-four hours' supply 
 left. Her consumption of coal is tremendous, and yet we 
 cannot keep up steam enough for the engines at full 
 power : the boilers hardly seem large enough. We have 
 been steaming to-day about nine knots against a moderate 
 breeze." 
 
 " 'Ei.siNOR-E, Frido)', 13M. 
 
 " Arrived this morning, having got into a bight at anchor 
 (in the thick, dark weather at midnight) about ten miles 
 from this. And fortunate it was for our paddles we did so, 
 for this morning we saw fields of ice passing down the 
 channel outside, and several vessels in it. On reaching 
 this through several fields of ice, we found nearly every 
 vessel had gone adrift in them last night. To-day 
 Yelverton, with seven vessels, got clear of ice that had shut 
 them up for a week in Landschrona in the heart of the 
 town, where the Swedes gave them a grand ball last night. 
 Several ships have lost anchors, and the three frigates 
 ImpMeuse., Arrogant, and Amphion have been aground 
 since they came out." 
 
 "Running for Kiel, April i^ih, 1855. 
 
 " We left Nyborg on Sunday at 5 p.m. with only one 
 pilot, leaving Firefly (Captain Otter) to bring others, if she 
 could get them. We pushed on all night, and Monday 
 morning the weather was so thick that we had to feel our 
 way from rock to rock on the Swedish coast till we got to 
 Wingo. There we met two steamers, and heard the fleet 
 was at anchor near the Scaw, having arrived the evening 
 before. We reached it at 5 p.m., blowing hard from the 
 north-west, but then clear. I proposed starting at once, 
 running down by the light-vessels, and the chief wished 
 it also ; but the pilots, some of whom came from near the 
 Scaw to the fleet, preferred waiting till next morning. 
 
 " We started early on Tuesday, 17th, with a rattling north- 
 west wind — fleet under sail, fires banked up ; and we led 
 them all day. After passing Anholt, the wind very scant, 
 we got up steam, furled sails, and at 9 p.m. anchored near 
 Foreness. At daylight yesterday I went on with Vulture 
 and Bulldog to place them as guides for the two narrowest 
 passages, at Nyborg and the Veryeam shoal, and I then 
 returned a few miles, met the fleet steaming, and led again 
 
278 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. XII. 
 
 till we cleared all the Belt shoals by S p.m., and at 7 p.m. 
 anchored half-way down Langeland Island. The day was 
 lovely, nearly calm, and too warm for a great-coat. Otter 
 joined us last evening from Nyborg, having been unable 
 to get any pilots. 
 
 " This morning we started an hour before daylight to get 
 pilots off ready to meet the fleet off Kiel. We are now 
 near there. A lovely day, but we have just passed through 
 much drift-ice, and the thermometer at 6 a.m. was only 36°. 
 
 " 3 p.m. — Sent off pilots, went in for letters, went out 
 to the fleet, led them into Kiel, just anchored, and have to 
 dine with the commander-in-chief Lovely weather. Face 
 and lips all sore and burnt with sun for want of beard." 
 
 " Kiel, April loth, 1855. 
 
 " Yesterday I was at a court-martial all day, and dined 
 with Robb in Ccesar. The general feeling and attention 
 shown me are most gratifying ; and Robinson, my old 
 shipmate in Undaunted, told me how pleased he was to 
 hear from all quarters such things said of me. 
 
 " We hear nothing either way about peace. I fear there 
 is little hope of it now, but I will not give up the hope 
 that God will yet overrule the congress, and put it into 
 their hearts to agree to terms." 
 
 " At Sea, Saturday, May ^th, 1855. 
 
 " We sailed, or rather steamed, with the fleet from Kiel 
 on the morning of the 3rd, and we have been under steam 
 nearly ever since, the wind either foul or a calm ; but there 
 is nothing to interest except the comparative merits of the 
 different ships, which are chiefly shown by the daily con- 
 sumption of fuel. The old Royal George does wonders — 
 never drops — always close to Duke ; while the block-ships 
 half her size, but same power, cannot keep up, and her 
 consumption of coal is less than many of the others. 
 Among similar ships, the James Watt, built especially for 
 screw, has expended forty-five tons to keep her station 
 during the last twenty-four hours ; whereas the old lump of 
 a three-decker has only expended thirty-three tons, though 
 under sail a slower ship. We have done much the best of 
 the paddles, having, with three hundred and twelve horse- 
 power, only used twelve tons ; Firefly, of two hundred and 
 forty horse-power, sixteen tons ; and Locust, of a hundred 
 horse-power, ten tons ; little Lightning, a hundred horse- 
 
1855] A CLEAR SEA TO SWEABORG. 279 
 
 power, five tons. So we shall evidently have a much 
 smaller consumption than is usual (when working at slow 
 speed) for our power." 
 
 " Faro Sound, Tuesday, May 8i/i. 
 
 " We are off in a hurry, as the wind is coming in strong, 
 and the large ships are at anchor outside. We came here 
 on Sunday, and I am glad to say all the coaling was post- 
 poned till Monday morning, a new thing in the Baltic fleet. 
 The ice is gone from the gulf, and all is open. We are all 
 well and going on comfortably." 
 
 " Off Sweaborg, Thursday, May loth. 
 
 " We sailed from Faro Sound, Tuesday, 8th ; had a strong 
 gale all day, which nearly shook Merlin loose, and made 
 me very ill. Yesterday it was finer, and we entered the 
 gulf, seeing neither ice nor snow on the land, and, strange 
 to say, not one ship of our blockading squadron ; so that we 
 have broken the blockade with nine sail of the line, which 
 will raise a laugh at Watson's party. To-day, at 5 a.m., 
 the fleet anchored at Nargen, and I started to look ioto 
 Faro Sound, to see if any of Watson's ships were there, Sid 
 what the state of the ice was. To my surprise, not a vestige 
 of ice was to be seen, nor any ships either ; so, before 
 returning, I ran up to my old haunt off Sweaborg, to see 
 if the Russian ships were still there. I did not go veiy 
 close in, having no vessel to back me if I got on shore. 
 I could only see three ships, all dismantled and laid up 
 in creeks ; so I suppose it is true the others went to 
 Cronstadt last autumn. The day is beautiful, quite like 
 summer." 
 
 " \Private.'\ 
 
 " ' Merlin,' Nargen, May iph, 1855. 
 
 " With regard to our proceedings, I think all seems to 
 indicate a decided opinion in favour of my plans. I do 
 trust the simple thing yet wanted, and without which 
 nothing can be done, will not any longer be neglected. 
 I had the admiral alone in my cabin yesterday for some 
 time, urging it all on him ; he is very kind, and seems to 
 rely greatly on my views, etc., which is very gratifying ; 
 but of course I am obliged to be careful not to appear to 
 take too much on myself, being a junior. 1 fear we have 
 not a sufficient force of vessels of good armament under 
 
28o RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. XII. 
 
 a certain draught of water. More exertions ought to have 
 been made to have every such vessel within reach recalled 
 in time to send here ; but even one at home, particularly- 
 pointed out by me as of the greatest value to us, has been 
 sent to the coast of Africa. I am satisfied that all will 
 be done that ought to be attempted with our present 
 means, but I regret that more exertions were not made 
 to provide every possible means to ensure success after 
 such an enormous outlay in different classes of vessels. We 
 have only three screw-vessels of any armament drawing the 
 water required, and unfortunately one of those has just 
 been cut down and her main-mast carried away by Impe- 
 rieuse running into her. Both are going to Sheerness to 
 repair. Of course you know how secret all this must be 
 kept. I believe few men have such perfect confidence in the 
 secrecy and judgment of their wives as I can show to my 
 darling wife on these points. I fear sometimes that our 
 chief is likely to speak to too many about his plans, instead 
 of keeping everything quite close. There is great curiosity 
 of course, and my brother-captains are constantly trying to 
 get things out of me, as if they considered I had all to do 
 with it. Sometimes a more prudent one says, ' Now of 
 course I do not expect you to tell me what you are going 
 to do, as your tongue must be, to a certain extent, tied ; but 
 now can you tell this much ? ' etc., etc. Then others say 
 very quietly, some even seriously, ' Do think of me and 
 get me a share in what is to be done.' Then another very 
 confidentially says, ' Do recollect that my vessel or ship 
 only draws so much water when light, and that she mounts 
 heavy guns ; do put in a word for her.' The fact is, if I 
 were at all inclined to be conceited, I have enough to 
 make me so ; but I can assure you the effect is to make 
 me feel more the anxiety and the responsibility of my 
 duties, and, I trust, lead me to pray for more grace and 
 strength to enable me to go through with it all, if the 
 Almighty does not think fit to put an end to the war 
 before the time comes for active operations. I believe 
 there is no idea in any quarter of there being any pos- 
 sible way of acting with a chance of success except by 
 my plan. My chief anxiety is lest I may not have the 
 power to carry it all out as I wish, or lest 1 may not 
 have all the means to ensure success I asked for, and yet 
 get the blame of any failure. I like all I see of our chief — 
 cautious and careful, but with much judgment, atid, I should 
 
1855.] PEEPS AT REVEL AND SWEABORG. 28 1 
 
 think, firmness ; but I wish I could instil a little more 
 activity into his disposition — I mean activity of mind. Oh, 
 how thankful should I be to have all my plans frustrated 
 at the eleventh hour by peace ! I know it is, apparently, 
 impossible now ; but I recollect how impossible it seemed 
 that the scene of slaughter arranged for the next day at 
 Bomarsund could be avoided, and yet in half an hour 
 it was prevented by the surrender. If war is still to go 
 on, then we must endeavour to feel that God has some 
 wise purpose in permitting it, and that all is for the best." 
 
 Here follow minute directions for his wife to come 
 out to him, should he be wounded, knowing she would, 
 in that case, be less anxious with him than at a distance. 
 
 "Nargen, Tuesday, May iSth, 1855. 
 
 " Since we arrived here, our missing vessels and Watson's 
 squadron have been dropping in ; but for some days we 
 gave the Russians a chance of coming down if they 
 wanted to try their chance, as we had at one time only 
 nine sail of the line and Merlin. They have about 
 twenty-two good ships of the line at Cronstadt and one 
 screw ' eighty ' ready, with a screw-frigate, and, they say, 
 twenty-four steamers of all sizes, but only sixteen, I think, 
 really war-steamers, four very heavy ones. 
 
 " On Friday the admirals and staffs went in with us 
 to have a look at Revel — the weather beautiful. We saw 
 three new earthen batteries, with about thirty guns, in 
 addition to the three hundred and thirty-eight guns on 
 the sea defences seen last year. There are also posts 
 along the hill, evidently for an electric telegraph, which 
 we hear they have got the wires for. In the evening I 
 dined with the chief, and arranged for leaving at 5 a.m. 
 on Saturday with the same party for Sweaborg, taking 
 Euryalus and Cossack as body-guard. We had a beautiful 
 day ; ran up the passage among the rocks close to the spot 
 where I so nearly ran the Driver on shore with all the 
 admirals and generals last year. There I anchored the 
 two frigates, and, leaving Merlin under way, I took the 
 admirals, etc., in two boats to a rocky islet, just out of 
 gunshot, that I thought would give us a very good view 
 of everything. We remained there a long time, evidently 
 affording amusement to thousands of both sexes at 
 
282 . RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. XII. 
 
 Helsingfors, and the soldiers in the fortresses, — every hill 
 and rise were crowded with people. We saw about seven 
 new batteries in different parts, in addition to those of last 
 year, mounting between them about sixty guns. They 
 are all in the very best positions, and are entirely of earth, 
 with apparently heavy guns. Only four line-of-battle ships 
 are left there, three dismantled ; the fourth has her masts 
 out, and is housed over in dock ; also one frigate and two 
 small steamers. After getting a good look at everything, 
 we returned, and, when half-way back to Merlin, saw a 
 small steamer towing out a gun-boat towards the islet we 
 had left, evidently intending to drive us off. Having gone 
 up to another position in Merlin to get a further look at the 
 east side, we joined our ships and returned to Nargen." 
 
 " Friday, May \%th, 1855. 
 
 " On Wednesday the admiral left in the Duke for Faro 
 Sound to land the sick, in consequence of the rapid spread 
 of small-pox (fifteen cases in three days). So, I suppose to 
 guard against any dash of the Russian fleet on the ten sail 
 left at Nargen, Ramsay was ordered with Euryalus, Merlin, 
 and Magicienne to cruise to the eastward till Saturday, 
 going beyond Hogland. We were also to put a buoy on 
 the Kalbaden Rock, about half-way between Helsingfors 
 and Hogland. We sailed on Wednesday afternoon, and 
 just as we were leading the others round the Nargen shoals, 
 going out on the east side of the bay, a hail-storm came 
 on with a squall from the southward that beat all I ever 
 saw. The stones were as large as marbles. It did not last 
 long, and was fine afterwards ; but soon after we got out- 
 side the first of the May fogs came on, and we could only 
 keep near each other all night by the aid of muskets, bells, 
 etc. We lay till the afternoon by our kedges, when it 
 cleared a little, till we could see the Kokskar lighthouse, 
 and then ran across for the Kalbaden. It soon became 
 very thick again, so that we lost sight of ships and every- 
 thing, but hit the rock exactly, just stopping as we shoaled 
 to five fathoms. Just after it cleared on the north side we 
 saw a lighthouse, which ensured our being on the right 
 rock. We put down a large Trinity buoy left in one of 
 the ships from last year, and, rejoining our friends, stood up 
 the gulf; but the fog was so thick that we only showed them 
 our positions ahead by muskets, and occasionally by mast- 
 head light showing over the fog. At midnight it became 
 
»855-] HEALTHY HOGLAND. 283 
 
 SO dense that Ramsay made the signal to anchor, and we 
 remained quietly anchored with the kedge till six this 
 morning, when a breeze sprang up too strong for the light 
 anchors, but it blew off the fog a little. Ramsay thought 
 it too thick to attempt going higher up, as we were ordered 
 to be back to-morrow, and I agreed with him ; but having 
 steamed back about twenty miles, the fog gradually lifted, 
 and we had a beautiful clear day ; so I hailed Ramsay, and 
 said I thought we might rely on having it clear now, and 
 there would be time to go round Hogland after all 
 and return in time. I was anxious to iind out if the people 
 were left on the island. So we turned round again, and 
 steamed full speed up the gulf." 
 
 They saw a number of women and children at the 
 southern village, and a boat — " manned, as Paddy would 
 say, by women " — came off to Merlin. 
 
 "We then ran up to the northern village, and stood 
 into the cove, Euryalus coming close alongside us. Again 
 there were plenty of women, boys, and children looking at 
 us (the old women told us that every man had been taken 
 away from the island) ; and on the opposite side of the cove 
 to the village, where there is a pretty country house in the 
 trees close to the point, and within about three hundred 
 yards of Merlin, a young lady, nicely dressed in a pink skirt 
 and black jacket, with a shawl over her head, came out close 
 to the shore, and watched us till we were going out, when she 
 tripped away towards the house. Fancy the ladies of any of 
 the villages on the eastward of England or Scotland coming 
 down to watch three Russian frigates standing into the 
 cove ! I wish we had had time to land there, where also 
 I am anxious to establish friendly intercourse with the poor 
 people, because I think it may be very desirable to have 
 our hospitals in that island, if we have any wounded at 
 Cronstadt. It would be a very healthy island — high hills — 
 different from every other land here, and in the middle of 
 the gulf, free from all the marshes of P'inland. 
 
 " We are now (10 p.m.) steaming back to Nargen, where 
 we shall be to-morrow morning. The Grand Duke Con- 
 stantine might have had a chance of saying he had driven 
 off the English ships, if he had been looking out below 
 Cronstadt with his steam force, which would have obliged 
 
2 84 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. XII. 
 
 US to I'etire. I do not think he will have a chance again, 
 as when we next go up it will be with a much larger 
 force." 
 
 " Nargen, Sunday, May 20th, 
 
 " Yesterday I landed for the first time here to pay a 
 visit to some of my friends of last year. I found the mother 
 of the little child I saw dead, and to whom I gave the Bible, 
 looking very much better, and her three little girls grown 
 much and seeming in better health. She seemed very glad 
 to see me. ' The children, though the youngest could not 
 be more than six, could all read. Only a few of the families 
 read and speak Swedish ; the others are Esthonian, which 
 is nearer German than Swedish or Russian. If you get 
 ' Letters from the Baltic, by a Lady,' * from the library, it 
 will give you an entertaining account of Esthonia, Revel, etc. 
 Yesterday was lovely — the woods so quiet and still. On 
 the village green a cricket match was going on between 
 the officers of the Cressy and the Royal George, nearly all 
 in red, pink, or blue flannel shirts, which have generally 
 superseded white ones in the fleet. At other parts there 
 were games of quoits going on. All looked so cheerful and 
 pretty, with the fine buildings and towers of Revel in front 
 of us, that I could not help thinking, ' Can this be war- 
 time ? ' The weather and the whole scene were much too 
 lovely to be broken in on by the horrors of war. What 
 a mercy it will be if yet at the eleventh hour we have 
 peace ! 
 
 " I found that scarcely one of the Swedish families, or 
 rather those speaking Swedish, had Bibles ; and when they 
 heard that I could give them some, I had several applica- 
 tions. The old woman (mother of my friend) who 
 recollects the fleets here in 1802 and 1809 is as well as 
 last year. 
 
 "Monday, 21st. — The Duke of Wellington and the Orion 
 came in last evening. 
 
 " I have had a long confab with the chief this morning 
 about our future movements. We shall probably be oif in 
 a day or two with the fleet to look at Cronstadt. If they 
 have their twenty-two sail ready for sea, with their steamers 
 to tow many of them, they ought to come out and try 
 their chance with us. We have twelve screw-ships and 
 one frigate, and not nearly so strong a paddle force as 
 
 * By the late Lady Eastlake, then Miss Rigby. 
 
I8S5-] PRIZES. 285 
 
 they have ; but I do not expect to find many of their 
 ships fitted out, and they will, I think, merely moor them 
 as block-ships. The Duke landed no less than thirty-eight 
 men with small-pox at Faro Sound, but no dangerous 
 cases. Arrogant still has cases occurring ; so with Im- 
 pMeuse gone home, we lose our two fine frigates." 
 
 "'Merlin,' Monday, May zith, 1855. 
 
 " We left Nargen on Saturday with the fleet, and 
 yesterday at 8 a.m., off Sommars Island, we were sent 
 with Magicienne under my orders to the north-west 
 entrance of Biorko Sound, to see if there were any gun- 
 boats or defences in the place. On entering Viborg Bay, 
 we saw a schooner going into the sound, and, on rounding 
 the north point of Biskops Island, came suddenly on 
 several small vessels working up the channel. You may 
 fancy their consternation. Some anchored, and their crews 
 pulled on shore ; the largest pushed back before a fresh 
 breeze towards the narrow part of the sound at Koivasto, 
 where the troops are stationed ; but only a few light ones 
 escaped us. We secured seven. Three small ones, empty 
 or with a little wood in, and evidently belonging to poor 
 people, I would not touch ; but the four largest proved to 
 be all loaded with flour, provisions, etc.; and as they have 
 about four hundred and fifty tons of cargo among them, 
 it becomes one of the best takes made yet ; and, what is 
 more pleasant, is, that nearly all, if not quite all, is Russian 
 Government property, probably provisions for the troops 
 at the out-stations. Three or four little light coasters got 
 into the cove, where in all there were six or seven little 
 craft ; but we heard from the men in one vessel we took 
 that there are fifteen hundred troops there with a battery 
 of six field-guns, and I saw breast-works thrown up in 
 more places than last year. To get the vessels out we 
 must expose the men in boats close to thick woods, where 
 we could not protect them from musket fire. I would not 
 risk a single man's life for the sake of a few empty small 
 craft, such as those I would not take before. 
 
 " Having secured the four vessels, I towed them out to 
 Magicienne, and then left them with her, while I returned 
 to the admiral to know what should be done with them. . . . 
 I went back to the chief at midnight, breakfasted with him 
 this morning, and then started to iDring Magicienne and 
 prizes round to the south end of Biorko Sound, to be near 
 
286 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. XII. 
 
 the fleet in case of being wanted. I then returned to the 
 fleet, to go with the chief to-morrow to reconnoitre Cron- 
 stadt. Erskine went up in Orion yesterday, and anchored 
 near the lighthouse. He reports six sail of the line fitted 
 out, and about eight steamers lying near the outer forts. 
 It does not say much for them that their eight steamers 
 like Orion — four very heavy ones — lay there all night 
 without attacking her. All firing from difi"erent points 
 with heavy guns ought to tease a line-of-battle ship very 
 much. 
 
 " On reaching Magicienne to-day, I found she had taken 
 and burnt two fine galliots. They proved full of fine 
 squared blocks of granite, of great size, for Cronstadt. 
 
 \Merlin had caught another vessel.] " She turns out 
 a Russian Finnish vessel, but unfortunately in ballast, 
 belonging to an old lady, but the master is in great 
 distress at having to go to England. She is a snug 
 little craft, and looks just fit for what we wanted — one 
 that is to take the cargo of our smallest craft that is not 
 seaworthy. He says his wife will die if she hears he is 
 sent to England. I have tried to comfort him, and have 
 just had him down to tea with me. There are four 
 Russians on board, taken in a wood vessel by Otter last 
 night, and I am going to land them. They really seem to 
 appreciate kindness, and it is some comfort to be able to 
 brighten their trouble. The vessel went to pieces in tow 
 of Firefly, or else she would have been returned to them 
 after taking the wood out. 
 
 "If I get £i^o prize-money I shall be lucky, but they 
 may give us something for the two government vessels full 
 of granite. This was in blocks six feet cube, numbered 
 ready for placing, evidently for forts at Cronstadt, and we 
 ought to be paid as for government property destroyed." 
 
 On the way to Viborg Bay Merlin captured three vessels 
 laden with wood for the Russian troops. One vessel, con- 
 taining birch, was kept ; the others, with fir, burning too 
 quickly for the stoves, were burnt. Another prize was 
 taken laden with rye-flour. 
 
 " Off Cronstadt, Friday, June 1st, 1855. 
 
 " Not having had more than two hours' sleep Monday 
 alight, and having been up all this night till 5 a.m., I went 
 
'855] NEW DEFENSIVE WORKS. 287 
 
 to bed and slept till nine, when our signal was made to 
 join the admiral. 
 
 " On Thursday morning we all got under way for 
 Cronstadt, Merlin, Amphion, and Euryalus looking out 
 ahead of the fleet. On getting near, I saw some people 
 at the lighthouse, and a boat ; so we pushed on, and by 
 sending the whale-boat after her when we got in two and 
 a half fathoms water we caught her, but she proved to be 
 the private boat of a poor man with his son, and a boy and 
 girl about fourteen, going from Cronstadt across to the 
 north shore, with a bag of sugar and a bag of salt, which 
 they had purchased with milk and butter brought from 
 home, and they had been two days wind-bound at the 
 lighthouse. They seemed terribly frightened ; but after I 
 gave them some biscuits and tobacco and a Finnish Bible, 
 they became quite reassured, and I sent them away quite 
 happy. The fleet anchored in line across the gulf about 
 three miles below the lighthouse ; and in the afternoon, 
 when the sun, being to the westward, threw a nice light 
 on everything at Cronstadt, the admiral and staff" with 
 Admiral Seymour came with us. Attended by Euryalus, 
 Amphion, Dragon, and Magicienne, we went in to the light- 
 house, and anchored close to it in Merlin. We then landed 
 and got to our old station on the balcony round the top. 
 We found it in beautiful order, very clean, and all the rooms 
 in nicer order than last year. 
 
 " We saw that only five sail of the line are fitted out 
 and have sails bent ; of these three only are moored 
 in the passage as last year. These, with a screw-frigate 
 and nine steamers of good size (four of which are heavy 
 ones), were outside the basins ; all the rest, including 
 the two fitted, and thirteen or fourteen with lower masts 
 only, are moored along the basin walls inside. On 
 Cronstadt Island, two miles from the town, a series of 
 large earthen batteries have been built, extending right 
 across the island, and adding greatly to the strength of 
 the place, as no ships can get near them, and no army 
 could get within range of Cronstadt till these works were 
 taken. It was a beautiful evening, and the sun lit up the 
 gilded steeples of Cronstadt, St. Petersburg (very distant, 
 just seen), and the palace at Peterhoff' most beautifully. 
 After finishing our view from the lighthouse, we sent back 
 all ships but Amphion, and then ran up towards the forts 
 till we were three thousand one hundred yards off", when 
 
288 
 
 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 we rounded to and had another good look. The steamer 
 that watched us so close in Lightning was again just 
 outside the forts as a guard-boat ; there were two others 
 inside with their steam up, but they did not attempt to 
 drive us off. We had heard so much of additional 
 machines put farther out, that we were speculating on 
 the chance of finding one ; but as they have to blow you 
 
 a. liJerchant Harbour 
 
 b. Middle Harbour 
 
 C. Rfan of War Harbour 
 
 d. Ft.Menschifiou 
 44 Guns. 4 Tier. 
 
 '■-^ Note. The black marfis 
 ■ in the water to the north 
 
 S are presumed to indicate 
 Forts commenced by the 
 Russiansin 1856toprotecT 
 Cronstadt from this Bide, 
 
 Scale of Yards 
 lopo o icoo 2000 3000 
 
 Walker GrBoHtallsc. 
 
 up by connecting the galvanic wires on shore as you 
 pass over the machine, by going full speed there would 
 be little chance of their catching you at the moment, even 
 if you did pass one near enough. So we got back without 
 being blown up. But, joking apart, I am confident there 
 are none outside the forts ; they would only be in the narrow 
 channel inside. 
 
 " This morning we again started with the admirals,. 
 Dragon in attendance, and we went around the north 
 
l855] THE NORTH SIDE OF CRONSTADT. 289 
 
 side of the island till we got well round the north-east 
 side, where we found four sail of the line, six frigates, and 
 two corvettes moored as block-ships inside the barrier, 
 which extends from the island to the mainland. My 
 prisoner says it is so shallow there that no coaster has 
 passed that way for five years, and they have been throw- 
 ing more stones down since last summer. We stood in 
 towards the block-ships, leaving Dragon outside, till we 
 shoaled to less than three fathoms, then anchored above 
 four thousand yards from the nearest block-ships. There 
 were twenty-four gun-boats just inside the point of the 
 town, and they ought to have come out near the barrier 
 and driven us off, which they could easily have done ; 
 but though we lay there an hour, they took no notice of us, 
 and we had a capital look at everything (A). The northern 
 end of the new lines across the island is very strong — two 
 immense earth-works, the outer one finished, the inner 
 one worked at by thousands of men, like ants on an ant- 
 hill. On our way out we went closer in to have a good 
 look at these lines, and we stopped as close as I dared go 
 to the edge of the bank, just three thousand yards from 
 the forts, not having less than three and a half fathoms ; 
 but just as we were going on again we suddenly shoaled 
 to two fathoms (six inches more than we drew), and for 
 some minutes we could not get any more water either 
 ahead or astern (B), and I certainly expected every moment 
 to get fast ; but turning her gently round with the jib, 
 we at length began to deepen, and went right off shore 
 till we were quite safe again. I wonder that they did not 
 fire at us, as they had nearly twenty guns bearing our 
 way ; and though it would be difficult to strike a vessel 
 at that distance, yet they might have dropped shot round 
 us. I cannot understand how it is that we have never 
 found them in the Baltic fire a very long-range shot : the 
 longest I saw was the one over Lightning at Bomarsund, 
 at about two thousand seven hundred yards ; yet at 
 Sevastopol they threw shot over our steamers up to 
 four thousand yards, when the steamers' longest guns, 
 ranging three thousand six hundred yards, could not 
 reach the shore. 
 
 " We got back to the fleet at five, just as the French 
 squadron of three liners and one frigate, all screws, joined 
 us, with the usual saluting, hoisting French colours, etc., 
 and after that I dined with the admiral." 
 
 19 
 
290 RECONNOITRING CRONSTADT. [Ch. XII. 
 
 " Sunday f June ^rd, 
 
 " I must write a little to-day, though Sunday. I have 
 to be all to-morrow preparing a chart for the admiral 
 to send home with the positions of the forts, dam, etc. 
 Yesterday at noon we went in again, with Dragon to 
 back us, as close as we could to the north-east corner, 
 and anchored in eighteen feet water — quite close enough ; 
 for we afterwards found six feet outside us in one place, 
 and three feet a cable from us inside. It was rather 
 unfavourable for us, as a fresh wind made a bubble of a 
 sea for the boats ; but no steamers or gun-boats inside 
 were moving, and we shoved off, the admiral going with 
 me in the gig. Admiral Seymour with Creyke in the whale- 
 boat, and we pulled direct for the town. We carried in 
 very regular soundings, shoaling gradually from eighteen 
 up to nine feet near the bank of stones, on which once 
 stood a fort. We ought to have passed the dam outside 
 this, but never shoaled to less than eleven feet ; and as 
 we pulled a little farther in, to two thousand eight hundred 
 yards from the town, a good bombarding distance, and 
 had no less than eleven feet there, I thought it was all 
 right, and that we had no dam to contend with, and I 
 congratulated the admiral on the certainty of being able to 
 get in any distance he liked with small craft. We then 
 pulled out, and, when outside the patch of stones came 
 on the dam nearly up to the surface. It being made 
 in detached blocks, we had passed between two of them 
 without seeing them or shoaling the water. Each block 
 is about twenty feet long by eight feet wide, and is made 
 by piles forming a kind of box, braced together with 
 pieces of wood and filled with stones, the intervals between 
 each box being about fifteen feet ; and on going in we 
 had passed through one of these intervals. 
 
 " We then pulled in and out and along the dam for 
 above a mile, going within two thousand five hundred 
 yards of the town (C), and about the same from the nearest 
 block-ship, a two-decker ; but they did not molest us for 
 some time. A small steamer with two boats in tow lay 
 between us and the block-ship, and nearer than Merlin was. 
 We saw her getting under way, and we turned out all 
 ready to pull for it ; but to our surprise, instead of coming 
 out, she turned the other way and ran in ; but soon after 
 Merlin hoisted the signal arranged for ' boats coming out,' 
 
•855] THE "merlin" EXPLODES A MINE. 291 
 
 and we saw two large boats coming out fast under sail ; 
 so we gave it up and pulled out, having done much more 
 than we expected. 
 
 " Having put the chiefs on board their ships, I returned 
 to get some more angles from the lighthouse to fix our 
 work well. Mundy of Nile, Nugent, the engineer officer, 
 and the master of the fleet remained with us, and had a 
 hurried dinner with me going in. After finishing at the 
 lighthouse, we ran in to look at the north end of the new 
 works, our little Russian steamer friend of last year 
 watching us at a respectful distance. The admiral sent 
 Dragon in to join us. We got back to the fleet about 
 nine, and I felt thoroughly tired with standing on the 
 paddle-box so many days running, and quite glad to think 
 this was to be a day of rest, which, I am happy to 
 say, our Sundays now are. Both admirals and Pelham, 
 captain of fleet, wish to make them so : no coaling or 
 other work goes on. My whole afternoon has been broken 
 in upon by callers. I had put off calling on the French 
 admiral and captains till to-morrow, so as not to have 
 to go to-day ; but three of the French captains came here, 
 two new ones, introduced by Laurenston of Austerlitz, and 
 they paid me many compliments on the way my name 
 is known in the French navy. Then Key came, with whom 
 I was enjoying a quiet talk, when we had an addition of 
 Erskine, Caldwell, and captain of fleet ; and in this way 
 the whole afternoon has been spun out, so that I have not had 
 the boys in as usual. However, they are all gone now, and 
 I shall have my tea in time for the evening service at seven. 
 
 " The weather set in so hot to-day — the water like glass, 
 not a breath of wind." 
 
 " Cronstadt, June lotfi, 1855. 
 
 " Through the kind providence of God we have been 
 preserved from what might have been a great danger. 
 Yesterday we went to show the defences, etc., to the French 
 admiral and captains, and about ten English captains, 
 besides many junior officers. We went as close up to the 
 north-east side as we could, till we got in three fathoms 
 water, higher up than we went before, but not so near the 
 town. Inside the dam, where we before sounded in the 
 boats, were two of their new steam gun-boats. We went 
 to another place purposely to draw their attention from 
 the point we examined before. Just as we were turning 
 
292 INFERNAL MACHINES. [Ch. XII. 
 
 round, one of the gun-boats fired a gun at us, so far off 
 that the shot did not come within half a mile. As thej' do 
 not generally fire in that random way, I am now sure they 
 wanted to provoke us to go in towards them, where they 
 had laid another trap for us. We have heard much of the 
 ' infernal machines ' that were to blow us all up, and last 
 year much speculation and some amusement were caused 
 by the Driver fishing up a beacon-moorings for one. This 
 year we hear of one blowing a wood vessel to pieces 
 accidentally, and of their having been laying down many 
 off Sweaborg since we went in there the other day with 
 the admiral, and that for an experiment they blew a small 
 vessel there into pieces ; but we have hitherto rather joked 
 about them. 
 
 " We had left that part and were steaming about two 
 and a quarter miles outside the island along the shore to 
 show our party the new batteries. Firefly was following 
 us, and Dragon and the French Dapas keeping farther off, 
 when suddenly the vessel received a heavy shock, which 
 shook her more than any running on shore, and in a dif- 
 ferent manner. I thought some large part of the engine or 
 the boilers had broken, and ran to the engine-room. Seeing 
 them working well, I stopped her ; and as we were still 
 going fast, and still had five fathoms water, I knew she 
 could not have struck the ground. Some said that it was 
 an explosion, and that we had hit an infernal machine. 
 When stopped and going astern very slightly, Erskine 
 called to me from the port paddle-box that he could see 
 a stone. I crossed over, and saw just under the paddle- 
 beam what appeared to be the head of a large pile three 
 feet under water. We were just watching for it to come 
 under the leadsman, who had still five fathoms water, when 
 a second and much sharper explosion took place, just 
 before the starboard paddle-box, where the artist of the 
 Illustrated London News was sitting sketching, having 
 just before expressed his fears that it was a shot that had 
 struck us. The second threw a mass of water three feet 
 above our hammock-netting, and gave us a terrible shake ; 
 the vessel seemed jerked on one side, and heeled over a 
 httle, the masts shaking so that some ran from under them. 
 A strong smell of sulphur left no doubt that it was a 
 veritable infernal machine. We had warned Otter off, and 
 he had stopped and hauled inside us a cable-length, when 
 a third exploded under their bow, but with much slighter 
 
1855J EFFECTS OF THE " INFERNAL." 293 
 
 effect than ours. The thing we saw under the port 
 paddle-box must have been another one, as it answered 
 the description exactly, but not being in near contact we 
 were saved from it. Had two burst at the same moment, 
 one on each side, as the ship could not have given to it, 
 it would have been very serious. 
 
 " I went down to see if she made water, and was told it 
 was coming in fast, but we soon found it was only the pipe 
 of the engineers' bath broken, through which a stream 
 poured. When plugged up, she was quite tight. But the 
 blow had driven her side in for the moment, over an extent 
 of many feet each way, and everything inside in contact 
 with the side suffered. The engineers' mess-place and store- 
 room under it got the full benefit. Their mess-place was 
 a wreck ; their lockers with their private stores, and their 
 sideboard, etc., with all their mess-traps, being next the 
 side, everything was smashed and scattered over the place — 
 lockers, plates, cups, glasses, sauces, pickles, and the bottles 
 containing them, all smashed up, not a thing left. Below 
 in the engine store-room, where the full blow had struck 
 four feet below water, a heavy tank of tallow, fixed and 
 cleated to the side, weighing twelve hundredweight, together 
 with all the paint-tanks, casks, etc., were torn from the 
 side and thrown about three feet against the opposite 
 bulkhead. A large wooden diagonal girder and a diagonal 
 iron one crossed each other there : the wooden one was 
 broken and the iron one bent in. The shelf-piece under 
 the deck was split and broken, and the bulkheads drawn 
 away from the side, copper linings, etc., torn off, but the 
 vessel's side had resumed its proper position, and seemed 
 uninjured, showing that the blow had driven it in for 
 a moment, and afterwards it sprang back as before. The 
 iron girder crossing just there, and the resistance afforded 
 by the heavy tank against it, I have no doubt greatly 
 deadened the blow and prevented the side giving in. 
 The bulkheads across the ship, including the one where 
 you sat at church, are broken or crushed a little by the 
 lateral pressure, and the pitch in the beams in the lower 
 deck is crushed up, showing how great the pressure must 
 have been for the moment. The first explosion on the 
 port side did nothing but break some men's mess-traps 
 and knock down their tables. The second one smashed 
 all the things in the after-mess — the marines'. It is evident 
 that the first machine was not so close to the side as the 
 
394 INFERNAL MACHINES. [Ch. XII. 
 
 second, as the copper is not injured. Now we do not 
 know how close either was, and the second may have 
 been far enough off for the water to deaden the blow ; 
 whilst, had it been in contact, it might have blown the 
 side in. We cannot decide how far they are dangerous, 
 from not knowing how close they were. Otter had the 
 sail-binns next the side on the orlop-deck driven quite 
 away ; but his copper, like our port side, is uninjured. 
 
 " And now I have a much more serious thing to 
 mention, that will cause great excitement in England. 
 The two masters of the prizes we took, who were so 
 anxious to be landed, and the two men with them, as 
 well as two other prisoners taken in merchant- vessels, 
 were sent in Cossack to be landed. The man who, 
 you will recollect, told me it would kill his wife if he 
 were sent to England, Fanshaw had previously landed at 
 Hango Point, and said there were no batteries or troops 
 there. I said at the time it would not do to depend on 
 it and land on the mainland, or we should be played a 
 trick. He went off Hango, but not close enough even 
 to see the boat land, and she pulled in with a flag-of -truce, 
 taking the six prisoners, the third lieutenant, surgeon, 
 assistant master, and mid, the captain's and the gun- 
 room stewards with their baskets, in all seventeen besides 
 the six prisoners. On pulling in to a pier — so says the 
 only survivor — they saw several hundred men, dressed 
 as riflemen, close down. They went alongside the pier, 
 and the officers and two Russian masters went up on 
 the pier with the flag-of-truce. The poor little man who 
 so feared his wife dying if he went to England hailed 
 them, and pointed to the flag-of-truce. An officer who 
 spoke English well answered, ' We don't care for your 
 flag-of-truce ; we will teach you to fight against Russians ' ; 
 and instantly a volley was fired, which killed all who had 
 landed, friends as well as enemies, and then everybody 
 in the boat was shot down. When every one had fallen, 
 they rushed into the boat and began to search her for the 
 arms, throwing overboard all the dead and dying in their 
 way. Having found the arms under the thwarts, they 
 left the boat with five still laying in her, four dead, the 
 only survivor having three bad wounds. The next morn- 
 ing the ship stood in to look for her boat, and saw her 
 with one man sculling off. This poor wounded fellow had 
 actually got her away, and was trying to scull her back 
 
I855-] A SAD MISUNDERSTANDING. 29S 
 
 to the ship. Even if they could not acknowledge the flag- 
 of-truce, they had our men in their power, and could have 
 made them prisoners if they had chosen. A nice return 
 for liberating their poor countrymen, all Finns ; while these 
 were, I expect to find, the new Finnish militia rifles raised 
 this winter. We have heard the Finns are terribly 
 exasperated against us, through the destruction of their 
 private property by Admiral Plumridge last year in so 
 wanton a manner. The Gamla Carleby slaughter of last 
 year was the first effect of that un-English and un-Christian 
 proceeding, and I have no doubt this may be traced to the 
 same feeling. So terribly do unjust acts lead to retribution. 
 I think Admiral Dundas is going to send me to Sweaborg 
 with a flag-of-truce about it. I do not think any of their 
 regular troops would have been allowed by their officers 
 to act so. How little my poor prisoner could have 
 thought that his safety would have been in going to 
 England ! I trust there may be a chance of some few that 
 fell on shore having been only wounded.* 
 
 " ijp.in. — Just as my boys were coming down for our after- 
 noon school and singing, there came a succession of visitors 
 to see the wonderful effects of the explosion — Admiral 
 Dundas and Pelham, two French captains, and Admiral 
 Seymour (who apologised for coming on Sunday) and 
 his flag-captain. . . , 
 
 " I have been disturbed by three more curious friends 
 wishing to see the whole after we had cleared every- 
 thing away, they having been with us at the time. 
 Erskine is one of them. The more I see of him, the more 
 I am convinced that he is one of our very best officers. 
 You will be surprised at my having had the artist of the 
 Illustrated London News on board. But just as we were 
 leaving, a lieutenant of the flag-ship brought him with the 
 captain of the fleet's compliments to me, and asked if I 
 would take him in with us ; so as I did not ask him to 
 come, I was not sorry to have him ! He first sketched 
 the quarter-deck with all the big men grouped on it, and 
 I had then recommended him to sit on the steps of the 
 fore-side of the paddle-box, where he could rest his book 
 on his knees and have a good clear look. After the gun- 
 boat fired, he was rather anxious that ' the captain should 
 not go too close.' When the first shock struck us, Mundy 
 
 * The explanation given by the Russian general showed that it wa.s 
 a real mistake, the flag-of-truce not being observed. — Ed. 
 
296 INFERNAL MACHINES. [Ch. XII. 
 
 was talking to him, and he exclaimed, ' There ! a shot 
 has struck us,' and looked very pale. As he was getting 
 over it, the second explosion took place, close under his 
 nose, driving up the water just before him, so that he had 
 the nearest and clearest view of it ; but I think he was not 
 quite able to sketch it ! His great delight seemed to be 
 in the engineers' mess-place, with all the smashed crockery 
 and mess-things ; and I expect you will see a sketch of it 
 in all its glory. He is going to show me the drawings. 
 I want to prevent any exaggeration. The smash in the 
 store-room, where the real damage was done, and the heavy 
 tank thrown away, he could not, he said, make a point of — 
 that is, I suppose, it was not picturesque enough ; but the 
 smashed crockery seemed to have a great charm for him. 
 He kept some fragments of cups and glasses as relics of 
 it, and I think you may see a wonderful sketch of broken 
 tea-cups. 
 
 " We find that our timber on the side, just under where 
 
 the iron rider was bent in, is broken, but the diver has 
 
 been down outside, and reports the planking quite perfect, 
 
 though for twelve feet long and eight feet deep the copper 
 
 , is aJJ torn off and twisted up." 
 
 " * Merlin,' Sunday^ June loth. 
 
 " Though it will by-and-by disappoint the public at 
 home, you will not be unhappy at knowing now that the 
 more we see of this place, the less likely it is that we can 
 do or even attempt anything. Had they sent out here 
 everything first intended, and concentrated all their efforts 
 on Cronstadt, it must, I think, have been destroyed ; but a 
 portion of the force will not do. The enemy have not 
 been idle, and out of the thirty-four steam screw gun-boats 
 we heard they were preparing, fifteen showed yesterday, 
 all ready and manned, and they have a much heavier 
 flotilla than we can bring against them. Besides, all their 
 steamers are able to act inside, whilst ours cannot get near 
 to help our gun-boats. I can see the admiral is very doubt- 
 ful, and I dare not urge him on to try it, unless with a force 
 sufficient to give every probability of success. We may 
 perhaps have a chance of a distant bombardment of Swea- 
 borg ; and if managed well with the necessary means sent 
 out, we may do great injury to the enemy without the 
 loss of a man to us : that we can do even with the smaller 
 force said to be coming out. 
 
1 85 5] THE BEST WAR-POLICY. 297 
 
 " You will see in the journal the particulars of the 
 wonderful escape we had yesterday from a very great 
 danger : it is the nine days' wonder of the fleet, and the 
 numbers coming to-day to see the sight below where the 
 damage was done have quite broken in on our Sunday. 
 But we have not lost our service, and I have had two good 
 half-hours morning and evening with the boys singing. It 
 was warm, and all the skylights open ; so I think, as we are 
 close to the English and French admirals, and the transport 
 under our stern, our singing must have been heard by 
 many. I tried to point out to the boys that it was not 
 merely singing, but every verse was either prayer or praise, 
 and they must be thinking of that when singing. 
 
 "We had a grand dinner in the French flag-ship — the 
 admirals, two of our senior captains, and myself. The 
 French officers are very complimentary, particularly the 
 French admiral ; it seems as if they could not make too 
 much of me. 
 
 " I begin to think and almost to hope that we shall 
 have a bloodless campaign. We may perhaps bombard 
 Sweaborg. 
 
 " I see that a French paper mentions the plan for the 
 future conduct of the war as positively agreed on between 
 the Emperor and our Government. It is that, after some 
 decided success in the Crimea to enable us to do so 
 with credit, the armies will be withdrawn entirely, and the 
 future operations be confined to a close blockade of all 
 the Russian coasts till they choose to ask for peace. We 
 might do that with very reduced forces and little expense, 
 and I wish we had done it and nothing more from the 
 first. It is our truest policy. It would never have raised 
 in Russia the national feeling for the war caused by their 
 good defence of Sevastopol, and it would only have made 
 the war felt by all classes by stopping all trade and ruining 
 their merchants and rich families. We should in future 
 want only about four combined line-of-battle ships and 
 some small craft in the Black Sea, and ten screw-liners 
 and a lot of small craft in the Baltic. Both nations might 
 reduce their line-of-battle ships more than one-half, and 
 all transport expense would be saved. The expenses 
 might be nearly reduced to our peace establishment." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 INFERNAL MACHINES— A RUSSIAN COUNTRY HOUSE. 
 
 In this chapter will be found further particulars of the 
 " infernal machines." I have thought it well to enter into 
 these details, seeing that the " infernals " were the fore- 
 runners of the, submarine mines of the present day. 
 
 " ' Merlin,' running from Sweaeorg to Cronstadt, 
 " Monday, June l8th, 1855. 
 
 " On Thursday we left Cronstadt in the fleet, and moved 
 down to Seskar. From Seskar I started on Friday for 
 Sweaborg, with a letter to the general commanding 
 respecting the murder of the Cossack's men. We reached 
 there Saturday at noon. I went in by a new passage 
 through many rocks, trusting to the admirable Russian 
 charts, and knowing they had been putting down infernal 
 machines in the usual channel, which would not at all 
 respect a flag-of-truce, zf we ran foul of them. I anchored 
 just out of gun-shot, and a boat came off to us. We had 
 one of Her Majesty's table-cloths flying, and a table-napkin 
 for the boat if wanted. The Russian boat would not, as 
 before, come alongside, but laid on her oars a short distance 
 off, so I went to her in the gig with Crowe, the interpreter. 
 The officer was very grumpy. I told him I should have 
 gone in the boat at first had not his admiral last year 
 requested no boat should leave, but that they would send 
 one alongside. He said he had nothing to do with that, 
 but had only to obey his orders. I gave him the letter, 
 and he returned. 
 
 " We remained at anchor twenty-eight hours, till 2 p.m. 
 yesterday, when my friend came out as before, and I went 
 to him. He brought a letter nearly a foot square, ^^•ith a 
 very grand black seal the size of a watch. He was much 
 more gracious, actually smiled, so I shook hands with him 
 
 298 
 
ISSS] INADEQUATE MEANS. 299 
 
 on parting, and we came out ; but he hung to and fro in 
 the boat near us, till we were fairly going out the way we 
 came in, when he pulled back. I thought he might be 
 watching to see if we went out by the old passage, to warn 
 us if there were really ' infernals ' there ; but perhaps I gave 
 him credit for too much honesty. We joined the fleet here 
 soon after midnight. It was so light that some of our men 
 were reading on deck at midnight. 
 
 " You will be glad to hear that the Russian general's 
 answer tells me that none of Cossack's officers were killed, 
 only the five men in the boat and my poor Finnish captain 
 — several others wounded. I hope it was a mistake. They 
 did not observe the flag-of-truce ; and he says, with some 
 reason, that a flag-of-truce should only go to a large place 
 like Helsingfors, or that prisoners we want to send back 
 should be landed on an island. In this he is right, for I had 
 landed some last week, and would not put them on the 
 main, but sent them to an island. We are all delighted at 
 the news from the Black Sea. I am glad George is in the 
 Sea of Azoff. They have done their work well." 
 
 " Off Cronstadt, Thursday, June 21st. 
 
 " We have again moved up to Cronstadt, but only for 
 observations. The chief will not, I think, attempt any- 
 thing without a proper force. My plans were drawn up 
 for eight floating batteries, thirty gun-boats, thirty mortar- 
 boats, with four large frigate-steamers. We have one 
 such steamer and two batteries coming, and about half the 
 gun-boats and mortar-boats. We might try a good deal 
 if we had the floating batteries, even with the small number 
 of other kinds ; but I am sure we could not have a chance 
 of success without six at least : it is a pity they send any, 
 if only two. ^The chief has written very decidedly and 
 firmly about it, and I could not but feel pleased at his 
 mentioning my name in the way he did : he only quotes the 
 opinions of Admiral Seymour and myself, and he says I 
 am the most anxious and sanguine about doing what we 
 could at Cronstadt. I do not think we can try anything 
 here with the force coming, and we shall merely watch, 
 and perhaps try mortar-vessels, etc., elsewhere, where we 
 can do so without risk and without the need of floating 
 batteries. I am sorry we came up here, as, if we can 
 attempt nothing, it would be better to keep out of the 
 way, only preventing any coasting trade. Though I am 
 
300 INFERNAL MACHINES. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 sorry on public grounds that all the force was not sent 
 out, yet it is a consolation that much bloodshed will be 
 spared ; and I could not look at the quiet-looking, pretty 
 buildings, churches, etc., which the sun shone on beautifully 
 this evening, without feelings of regret that war should make 
 it a duty to carry on such a fearful work against them as a 
 bombardment would be. It is lovely weather, cooler than 
 last year, and I trust will continue much healthier than then. 
 " Sabine tells me she saw in some paper Merlin is 
 called ' Dry nurse to the Duke! I am sorry for such expres- 
 sions, as it may annoy the chiefs and make them more 
 shy of consulting me ; but I find the officers of Duke gave 
 us the name, and mentioned it before Creyke and others 
 here. I have not seen the chief for two days now, and I 
 have heard nothing more about what I told you I thought 
 would be done soon ; but I think with all the mortar-boats 
 out here something must be tried. I do not think anything 
 very decisive could be done, and I doubt if it is not better 
 to stick to the shutting up of the coasts ; but as a good deal 
 of damage may, I think, be done with very little risk to us, 
 it ought to be tried perhaps. The admiral has a difficult 
 game to play and a very heavy responsibility, and the 
 difficulty is increased by the divided authority with the 
 French admiral. I am very sorry now that I led 
 the Admiralty to think so much might be done. Had 
 I known that we should have had no floating batteries 
 ready, and so many fewer gun- and mortar-boats than 
 was intended, I would at once have advised that nothing 
 but a very close blockade should be attempted, and the 
 destruction of all their coasting trade." 
 
 "Nargen, Sunday, July \^th. 
 
 " We sailed from Cronstadt yesterday at 8 a.m. with all 
 the fleet, but Duke, Exmouth, Euryalus, Vulture, Princess 
 Alice, with four mortar-boats and one gun-boat {sic). These 
 came on here, and we arrived this morning at 7 a.m., so 
 that we have again a quiet Sunday. 
 
 "You recollect my mentioning about two months since 
 going near the village at Hogland, and a young lady in 
 pink coming down close to us and tripping back to the 
 house. Yelverton has been there several times, and the 
 house is the residence of the head man, a sort of magistrate 
 or governor of the island. Yelverton asked him with his 
 wife and daughter off to dinner, but he was afraid to accept. 
 
I855-] DESCRIPTION OF AN "INFERNAL." 30I 
 
 saying he dared not go on board, and could not unless 
 forced to go ; so, when dinner was ready, Yelverton landed 
 the jolly-boat boys, armed with drawn cutlasses, and then 
 marched the father, mother, and daughter down to the 
 boat, and they apparently enjoyed their dinner very well. 
 They enjoyed the joke more, probabh'. 
 
 " I fear the poor people on the coasts are suffering 
 fearfully. Occasionally a boat is stopped trying to get 
 into Cronstadt. One poor man said his wife had urged 
 him to risk it, as they were actually starving, and that it 
 was better to do anything than starve. It is very sad, but 
 it is the only way we can make them feel the war, and I 
 fear we must even destroy all their coasting-vessels without 
 mercy, or we cannot shut up the trade at the end of the 
 season, when our vessels dare not risk being caught in 
 the ice." 
 
 " Cronstadt, Saturday , June 2'^rd. 
 
 " We came up here again from Seskar on Wednesday, 
 and are anchored on the north side of the island, except 
 five cargo-ships off the south entrance by the lighthouse. 
 On Thursday afternoon I saw that boats were creeping 
 in different places, and one of the officers said he thought 
 they were looking for infernal machines, and they had 
 had some explosion at Exmoutk ; but I thought nothing 
 of it till yesterday morning. To my astonishment I found 
 that Vidture had exploded an infernal machine in the 
 middle of the fleet, though we had led the fleet up through 
 the very place and were anchored inside all. This made 
 them hunt for them, and several ships soon crept up some. 
 I have tried to describe them in the sketch. They are 
 made cone-shaped of strong zinc, about two feet deep, and 
 fifteen inches wide at top. The bottom holds the powder, 
 about eight pounds ; the top is full of air, to keep it up ; 
 a strong tube (B B B) goes through the top, and reaches 
 the powder ; a small tube about the size of a lead 
 pencil is hung in the centre of the large one (D D) — it 
 pivots on its centre ; and fixed in the bottom of the large 
 tube, in the little chamber of priming-powder (c), is a small 
 glass tube (-f-), sticking up into the bottom of the small 
 tube. You will see that if anything pushes the upper 
 end of the small tube on one side, as I have tried to show 
 in figure 2, as it is pivoted in the centre, it must break 
 off the glass tube, which is filled with some ignitible stuff, 
 
302 
 
 INFERNAL MACHINES. 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 which fires the priming-powder (c), and of course explodes 
 the machine. Now the two thin tubes of iron on the top 
 (a a) sHde to and fro, but are kept away from the tubes 
 by sHght springs. On being touched by a ship's side, or 
 even pressed with a finger, they shove the small tube 
 
 Surface 
 
 Bottom 
 
 Method of mooring in couples underwater. 
 
 aside, as in figure 2, and explode the machine. How 
 any were hauled into boats without exploding seems 
 marvellous ; but some lost their tubes when canted up to 
 be hauled in ; others had been put down with caps on the 
 tops, which prevent their going off. These ought to have 
 
l855] ACCIDENT TO ADMIRAL SEYMOUR. 303 
 
 been removed ; but the parties putting them down had 
 been so afraid of them, they had preferred leaving them safe 
 for us to risking removing the caps themselves. I don't 
 know what the Grand Duke will say if he knows this ! 
 Admiral Seymour and Hall got one up, and hauled it over 
 the bows of the gig. How the little slides were not touched 
 is wonderful. It was then passed aft; and the master of the 
 fleet joining them, they, thinking it was damaged with wet, 
 got discussing the way to set it off. Stokes touched the 
 slide, shoved the tube a little on one side, but evidently not 
 enough to break the glass tube. They then took it to 
 Admiral Dundas, and again they all played with it ; and 
 Admiral Seymour took it to his ship, and on the poop had 
 the officers round it examining it. Hall, being in the act 
 of hoisting a second one, was on the quarter-deck. Some of 
 the officers remarked on the danger of its going off, and 
 Admiral Seymour said, ' Oh no ; this is the way it would go 
 off,' and shoved the slide in with his finger, as he had seen 
 Stokes do it. It instantly exploded, knocking down every 
 one round it. As Hall looked round he saw the captain 
 of marines, a son of Sir John Louis, carried down the 
 ladder, with every bit of clothes burnt off him and covered 
 with blood. He then heard, ' The admiral is killed.' The 
 latter was lying insensible, his face covered with blood ; 
 but he soon recovered, though very seriously injured in one 
 eye and the head. The poor captain of marines had pieces 
 of the machine in his legs, besides the burns. Pierce, the 
 flag-lieutenant, much hurt, a piece of iron going through the 
 peak of his cap, and knocking it into the mizzen-top, but not 
 touching his head ; a young volunteer also. The signal- 
 man holding it up at the time not very much hurt, though 
 burnt ; and one lieutenant and the chaplain, though next to 
 Admiral Seymour and close to it, only had their hair singed, 
 and were not hurt at all. Two or three men also slightly 
 wounded. It is a wonderful escape, for pieces of it flew 
 down the main hatchway ; and we know that the Russians 
 getting one into a boat exploded it, and killed seventeen 
 men. Admiral Seymour is much less hurt than was first 
 supposed, as he is able to sit up to-day ; but concussion 
 of the brain is what they fear. He can see a glimmer of 
 light with the eye, so it is hoped he will recover the sight. 
 The marine officer's is the most dangerous case, but it is 
 hoped he is doing well also. 
 
 "The extraordinary thing is that the same evening 
 
304 INFERNAL MACHINES. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 Admiral Dundas and Pelham were examining a tube ; 
 so Caldwell went and got an empty machine (that had been 
 cut open) to put the tube in, to examine how it explodes. 
 While they were close round it, the admiral shoved the 
 slide, and the tube exploded, shooting up in the middle of 
 them, and hurting the admiral's eyes so much that they 
 were looking inflamed and bloodshot yesterday morning 
 when he was explaining all this to me. I am very glad I 
 did not know what they were about all day, or I should 
 have been about it also, perhaps ; and several had been 
 wondering ' why Sulivan was not there, as they seemed 
 his special friends ! ' The fleet had anchored just where 
 a lot of them had been put down. They are numbered as 
 high as ninety-nine. About twenty-four have been fished 
 up altogether, and now they are more careful about them.* 
 
 " Yesterday Creyke and I went with two boats to buoy 
 and examine the shoal off the new batteries, where in Merlin 
 we shoaled to twelve feet the first day, and put a buoy on 
 it ; and it is very fortunate we did not ground, as there is 
 ten feet only in one part, and it is only two thousand nine 
 hundred yards from the guns, and they have since put 
 a target on the spot and have been practising at it. I then 
 in the evening asked the admiral for a gun-boat to go 
 down to the lighthouse to get some more angles, and took 
 the Magpie, commanded by an old surveyor. Lieutenant 
 Pym (the officer who first discovered Captain Maclure and 
 the Investigator). 
 
 " This morning the admiral sent a boat to ask me to come 
 to breakfast, and then take him in to have another look 
 at the north side. We started at i p.m., Dragon with us. 
 Just as we were starting, Ramsay of Euryaius came, and 
 the admiral asked him to come, ' if he did not mind risking 
 being blown up.' I thought we must have come across 
 some of the ' infernals,' as we were going into the most likely 
 ground ; but we did not touch one. There was a line of 
 steam gun-boats inside the dam ; and not having any idea 
 their guns had such long range, I should have anchored 
 where we did once before ; but having got shoal water farther 
 out in another position, and there being no boats about, we 
 
 * A small "infernal" Captain Sulivan brought home he gave to his 
 brother George, who presented it to the museum of H.M.S. Excellent, 
 together with a gutta-percha trough of a battery which was found con- 
 nected with an "infernal" off Yenikale, in the Sea of Azoff, by the 
 boats of H.M.S. Vesuvius, when attacking that place. — Ed. 
 
l8S5] THE STRENGTH OF CRONSTADT. 305 
 
 determined to anchor there and push in in the gig. The 
 admiral came with me, and we pulled in towards three new 
 corvette block-ships, placed since we were last in ; and keep- 
 ing, as I thought, a respectable distance from the steam 
 gun-boats, we pulled on till we shoaled to ten feet. We 
 saw a gun-boat fire occasionally ; we could not see any shot 
 fall near us, though the Merlin hoisted the danger-signal 
 to us. . . . We went on sounding. . . . The firing had 
 been at Merlin ; one shot had dropped just under her stern, 
 though she was three thousand seven hundred yards from 
 the gun-boats inside the dam. We had been only two 
 thousand three hundred yards from the gun-boats, yet, 
 strange to say, they never fired at us in the boat, though 
 so much nearer than the ship. 
 
 " The Russians certainly deserve credit for their work here. 
 They have ready twenty-three fine screw gun-boats, larger, 
 I think, than ours ; some with three heavy guns each, with 
 a range equal to that of the heaviest gun we have, and yet 
 they have only had machinery of railway engines to fit in 
 them. They had to-day inside the dam and the shallow 
 banks moored in line as block-ships seven two-deckers, 
 seven large frigates, and five corvettes, and with them, 
 ready to move anywhere along the dam, twenty-three 
 screw gun-boats, beside many row gun-boats and thirteen 
 small steamers from Merlin's size downward ; while 
 inside, ready to act also where required, are a screw- 
 frigate and four paddle-frigates with main-deck guns, 
 beside two or three sloop-steamers. The whole of this 
 foi'ce is guarding the passage of the dam and shallow 
 water. To force this and make a gap in the dam, etc., we 
 have at most fifteen gun-boats and one or two small 
 steamers ; all others draw too much water to go near 
 enough to help. Even if the two floating batteries come, 
 they would never stand such a tremendous force. But 
 without beating off their entire force and removing a part 
 of the dam we cannot get a mortar-boat . . . within 
 range of the place. Yet there are wiseacres who abuse us 
 for not taking Cronstadt, as if we could prevent shallow 
 banks, and a dam twenty years old on these banks, keep- 
 ing us at a distance, or could by any means carry our 
 large ships (drawing twenty-five to twenty-seven feet) over 
 ten feet water which separates us from their heavy force. 
 It would be exactly the same as if in the Sea of Azoff the 
 Russians had a lot of line-of-battle ships, frigates, steamers, 
 
 20 
 
306 INFERNAL MACHINES. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 and gun-boats, where the water is deeper, and we could 
 only get in the small steamers and gun-boats drawing 
 under fourteen feet water, which depth must be passed 
 at the entrance. Were that the case, could we possibly 
 have sent a small force into it ? 
 
 " Sunday, 2\th. — A nice quiet day, as all our Sundays 
 now are. Admiral Seymour and Captain Louis are going 
 on favourably, and are, I hope, out of danger. 
 
 "Monday, 2'~,tk. — Last night we had a heavy thunder- 
 storm. The fleet remains very healthy ; no symptom of 
 cholera, as last year at this time." 
 
 "July glk, 1855. 
 
 " On Friday I went with Boyd of Royal George, who had 
 slung a thirty-two-pounder in a coaster, to try its range 
 against the new earth fort on the north side. At four 
 thousand four hundred yards the shot went on shore ; but, 
 to our surprise, the battery fired in return, and actually 
 threw the shot out close to us, full four thousand four 
 hundred yards ; so they have as heavy guns and longer 
 range than anything we have, as these guns were fired 
 from carriages. On Saturday we went in Merlin with 
 the French and English admirals to look at the south 
 side again, and to get as close as we could towards the 
 south shore ; but the hint the guns had given us the pre- 
 vious day made me keep four thousand two hundred yards 
 from Risbank, instead of three thousand five hundred 
 yards, as we did the last time we went. We found the 
 banks, as usual, with less water than we expected, three 
 fathoms only, just outside the four fathoms line of the 
 chart. We then steamed across, keeping four thousand 
 two hundred yards from the fort, and stopped in the 
 middle, having a very good look, it being a very clear, 
 beautiful evening. Risbank fired a shot at us in a per- 
 fect line, but three or four hundred yards short. We 
 steamed ahead a little, saw them give the gun more 
 elevation, and the next shot dropped a little astern, but 
 exactly in our wake. Alexander fired also, but did not 
 reach us by two hundred yards. They seem to have these 
 long-range guns everywhere. We had heard that there 
 were many much larger 'infernals' on that side; some 
 with thirty-five pounds of powder, which would certainly 
 blow Merlin's bottom in ; but we had three gun-boats to 
 pick us up, if necessary. There were many speculations 
 
i855] SPARE HELSINGFORS ! 307 
 
 on the probability of her not coming out again, or having 
 to run on a bank before sinking. The French admiral 
 congratulated himself on being able in that event to reach 
 the main-mast head, which would be well out of water. 
 They are probably inside, more where ships would go if 
 attacking the forts. Admiral Seymour was pulling about 
 in his gig last evening ; he seems not to have suffered in 
 health, but fears the sight of the eye is gone ; he can only 
 see a glimmer of light." 
 
 "'Merlin,' inside Dago, Sunday, July 22nd, 1855. 
 
 "... I have always been particularly anxious, as you 
 know, to make Cronstadt our point ; but that being out of 
 the question, I have urged Sweaborg as the next important 
 point, and have never varied. There have been other 
 points talked of, and some doubt in the admiral's mind 
 whether we can do anything of importance or worth the 
 expenditure of shell, etc. The French chief has wished 
 to bombard Helsingfors, the town at Sweaborg, and not 
 the fortress. This, I think, would be almost a cruelty, to 
 destroy private houses, churches, observatory, etc., particu- 
 larly with a large fortress, full of docks, buildings, barracks, 
 etc., close at hand — a legitimate object of attack." 
 
 "Nargen, Thursday night, July 26th, 1855. 
 
 " I have busy times, all to prepare for leaving this to 
 commence buoying Sweaborg on Monday. It is an anxious 
 time for me, having urged the attack so much, and the 
 chief saying he is very doubtful of success, and allowing 
 his judgment to be against trying it ; so that if we do no 
 damage of consequence, I may have been the cause of a 
 failure. But I am convinced it is the only thing we can 
 try, and it ought to be tried, or the mortars, etc., will go 
 home, having been useless. 
 
 " Sunday, 2gth. — The French chief has been with me 
 some time to-day. I fear he is bent on burning the town 
 (Helsingfors) if he can, as well as the fortress. I suppose, 
 as it is covered by the batteries, it is a legitimate object 
 of attack ; but I would rather show a more Christian spirit 
 and spare it." 
 
 "Nargen, /m^ 29/A, 1855. 
 
 " Last Thursday week I went with the French and our 
 admiral to Sweaborg, Key in Amphion and Dragon going 
 
308 INFERNAL MACHINES. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 near to look out for us, and a gun-boat and a French small 
 screw with us. We had a good look at every part ; went 
 to Amphioris mast-head, anchored nearer Helsingfors, and 
 had a good look from there, then to an island closer in. 
 The enemy were in the act of sinking a two-decker to 
 block the western passage, one having been sunk within a 
 few days in the same passage. In turning to come out in 
 one place, the French screw astern of us exploded two 
 ' infernals,' but nearly twenty yards from her. Probably 
 they were exploded by wires from the shore. They threw 
 the water to a great height. The next day we went into 
 Revel, and had a close look at all the batteries, several new 
 ones of turf thrown a little back from the shore, so that we 
 could not get within one thousand five hundred or two 
 thousand yards with large ships, while the stone one 
 advanced in the water had all the guns removed. They 
 know well what they are about. The same evening I was 
 off with two gun-boats to examine all the shores inside the 
 large island of Dago and Ozel at the south entrance of 
 the gulf, a large trade in boats and small craft having 
 been going on from those parts to Sweden for salt. 
 
 " The next day (Saturday) we reached the sound inside 
 Wormso Island, and I tried to go to Hapsal, a town you 
 will see on the chart on the main, inside Wormso. It was 
 too shallow about five miles off for Merlin to pass, having 
 only eight feet, with large stones three and four feet high 
 on that. But by looking over the bows for the stones, and 
 steering between them, I got both gun-boats (drawing 
 seven feet) through, and had then a good channel up to 
 the town, within gun-shot, and we could have gone very 
 much closer. There were no vessels and no defences, but 
 crowds of people, with large parties of ladies with parasols 
 of all colours. I should have gone in with a flag-of-truce 
 to tell them not to be alarmed, had it not been for so much 
 dispute about flags-of-truce lately. After a good look, and 
 after catching a boat with a man and boy, and sending him 
 away astonished (with some tobacco, coffee, and biscuit), 
 we went out, little thinking what consternation we had 
 caused. Hapsal is the ' Brighton ' of Russia, and the chief 
 bathing-place of the ' big wigs,' who come from the capital, 
 Revel, etc., for the bathing in Salter water. It is a pretty 
 place, houses being mingled with trees, and a fine old ruin 
 of a bishop's palace towering in the centre. 
 
 " On proceeding towards Dago, after lying quiet all 
 
'855-] BARON STERNBERG. 309 
 
 Sunday, we followed a small cutter, about thirty tons, into a 
 cove on the south-east point, finding a passage for the gun- 
 boats and Merlin six miles outside. I had been ordered to 
 burn everything we found moving about, but not any vessels 
 dismantled or hauled up. We set fire to the little cutter, 
 which seemed more of a pleasure-boat than a coasting-vessel, 
 and just after we saw a flag-of-truce on the shore. I 
 landed and met a gentleman driving down in a handsome 
 carriage and pair, a young man about thirty or thirty-five, 
 who told me the vessel was his ; that he was the Baron 
 Sternberg, proprietor of nearly all Dago ; that the island 
 was defenceless, all troops having been withdrawn at the 
 outbreak of the war ; that there were fifteen thousand 
 inhabitants, five thousand able-bodied men. He had been 
 asked by the general commanding to organise them as 
 a militia, but he declined, knowing it would only tempt 
 attack, which must end in destruction of all property, and 
 that he preferred trusting to our forbearance. He hoped 
 we should not injure any private property on shore. 1 
 assured him we should not, and explained why I burnt the 
 vessel, but left a larger one near her, dismantled, uninjured. 
 He allowed that losing the vessel, which was his, was 
 merely the fortune of war, and I told him I was glad she 
 belonged to him and not to a poor man. He said that his 
 castle was only three miles off, and he hoped we would 
 visit it (he spoke English pretty well). I could not then, 
 as I wanted to push on. 
 
 " The next day we went in the gun-boat round the shores 
 of Ozel and Dago. We landed at one nice-looking farm- 
 house in Ozel ; found only a very old woman with white hair, 
 a cripple, and a man and woman servant, sheep, cattle, and 
 horses. We saw a man drive off in a carriage — I suppose the 
 proprietor. The man came down with us, and we gave him 
 some coffee and sugar for the old woman, and some tobacco 
 for himself. There was a fine flock of geese, which he was 
 willing to sell ; so we drove them to the shore, and made 
 a circle round them with Creyke, Hewett, Lord D. Cecil 
 (commanding a gun-boat), and the boat's crew. There 
 was one fine brood of young ones, nearly full-grown, which 
 I picked out, and then we rushed in on them, and geese, 
 officers, and men were sprawling together. I got my pair 
 of the fine young ones, and all got a good handful but 
 Hewett, whom, after the chase, we found holding between 
 his legs a gosling about the size of a young chicken, which 
 
3IO A RUSSIAN COUNTRY HOUSE. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 was all he had succeeded in catching. We gave the man 
 a shilling each for them, with which he seemed well 
 pleased. 
 
 " After coming round to the cove where we burnt the 
 cutter (about 2 p.m.), we saw the baron's carriage down 
 again, and on landing he introduced me to the baroness, 
 a young, nice-looking, delicate lady of about twenty-two 
 years of age, who spoke very good English. They repeated 
 the invitation to go out to their castle ; so I got in along- 
 side the lady, the baron mounted the box alongside a 
 great Russian coachman in a long blue robe, a funny 
 hat, and a splendid beard, and with two very fine horses 
 we started, going first to the farm near, to provide a 
 conveyance for Creyke, Hewett, and Cecil. They got 
 a little hay-waggon with one pony, in which, after two 
 breaks-down, they reached the castle about twenty minutes 
 after we did. It is a splendid house, shaded over the 
 entrance by fine horse-chestnuts, beautiful grounds round, 
 and inside like a handsome English country house, but 
 that there are polished oak floors, except in the drawing- 
 room, which is thoroughly English, and inside it a perfect 
 bijou of a boudoir, which the lady took me into through 
 the drawing-room ; and I almost thought myself in fairy- 
 land, so beautifully was it fitted up with green velvet, etc., 
 but nothing gaudy. Inside this was the lady's dressing- 
 room, which I cannot report so particularly on, except 
 that the glimpse I got of it showed it to be in keeping 
 with the boudoir. It was a very hot day, but a nice little 
 breeze, though the thermometer was higher than they have 
 ever had it before. Outside that front was the garden ; 
 the flowers, just the same kind as in our gardens, were 
 rather poor, but the roses numerous and beautiful, and we 
 got fine bunches of them. The stables were very good, 
 and full of fine horses and stout island ponies about 
 thirteen hands high. Her favourite English mare, which 
 she showed me, was a great beauty, and I should think 
 thorough-bred ; she had also a very nice island pony for 
 rough work and for hunting. There was a very fine 
 English riding-horse of the baron's, a pair of English 
 carriage-horses, and the handsome Russian ones we drove 
 out with. It really all seemed like a dream : three miles 
 inland in an enemy's country, and going over all these 
 quite English-like scenes, with a nice young lady speaking 
 as good English as I did, except the slightly foreign accent. 
 
I855-] CRITICISMS ON OUR CONDUCT. 311 
 
 She was born at St. Petersburg, and only spoke Russian 
 as a child, but had been entirely educated by an English 
 lady, a Miss Meara, who seems to have remained with 
 her till her own marriage about two years since. The 
 family consists of one pretty little girl about fourteen 
 months old, who was at first rather frightened at me. The 
 lady, though nice-looking and very intelligent and sharp, 
 is too delicate to be very pretty, and is very thin for so 
 young a person ; but she said she was very well able to 
 walk and ride, and the people in the island are generally 
 very healthy, there being only one medical man to the 
 fifteen thousand two hundred inhabitants, and she thought 
 they might do better without him. 
 
 " She expressed surprise at our not having burnt Hapsal. 
 I asked her if she thought us savages, to destroy defenceless 
 towns. She thought we would do so, and instanced Nystad 
 and Lovisa this year, besides all the wanton destruction of 
 property last year. The latter I could not defend ; but I 
 told her that Nystad was perfectly uninjured, that Lovisa 
 had been so protected by Yelverton that at the request of 
 the people he would not even burn the government stores, 
 but destroyed them as much as possible, fearing, if fired, it 
 might spread to the town, but that the same night a house 
 in the opposite direction caught fire and burnt down all 
 the town except the government stores, the burgomaster 
 explaining that the fire was caused by a woman throwing 
 out hot ashes or some such accident. I also pointed out to 
 her that Yelverton at Ekness last year would not allow a 
 shot to be fired at the town, though the batteries near it 
 were firing at him, and Port Baltic and Fredricksham were 
 quite at our mercy also. She said that Hapsal was full of 
 the principal families from St. Petersburg and elsewhere 
 last year, and also this, they thinking the shallow water 
 would prevent our going up to the town. This year, fearing 
 Revel being bombarded, many ladies from there went to 
 Hapsal, including the wife and daughters of the general 
 commanding, and she thought our going so close must 
 have frightened them sadly. She had a sister there, and 
 as the post would be over in two days (if we did not 
 take it, which I promised not to do), she would hear 
 everything. 
 
 " We had a splendid dinner, but more plain meats, game, 
 etc., than I expected. Coffee and tea were carried out 
 under a tree, and we left about ten, just at dusk, the baron 
 
312 A RUSSIAN COUNTRY HOUSE. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 driving me at a rattling pace in a light phaeton with 
 the English horses and a thorough English-dressed groom, 
 leather belt, boots, and all. The others came in a Russian 
 carriage with the big coachman driving four large ponies 
 abreast, with three reins in each hand. I asked them to 
 come on board Merlin if she came close in, and I promised 
 to come near the east shore on our way back, where the 
 water is deeper and a road from the castle runs to a jetty 
 where the boats from Hapsal land. 
 
 " When we reached the gun-boats, we found the crews 
 arming to come out to the castle, thinking we were made 
 prisoners, from being so long away. I hope I may never 
 have a worse prison or a more unpleasant jailoress ! 
 
 " The baron told me that the salt trade in the boats was 
 carried on by the poor fishermen of the islands, who were 
 dependent, as are many of the inhabitants, on the salt fish 
 for winter food, and who suffered much last winter from 
 want of it, or from eating fish bad through being too little 
 salted ; so they risked anything to prevent suffering so 
 again ; but several boats having been lost with all hands, 
 and numbers taken by Porcupine outside, they dai-e not 
 continue it. He assured me that no salt went to the main- 
 land, as it was too necessary to the poor people, and he 
 urged me to ask the admiral to let them have salt for 
 their fish, and he would pledge his word none should be 
 sold or taken to the mainland. I pointed out to him the 
 difficulties in the way of making such an exception to the 
 blockade. He said the rich did not feel the blockade, as 
 all necessaries, such as coffee, sugar, tea, etc., and particu- 
 larly all luxuries, were only increased a small percentage in 
 cost by the land carriage from Memel and Austria, but 
 that salt could not be brought that way, the carriage being 
 so large a proportion to the price, and therefore the poor 
 on the coasts were the sufferers. 
 
 " The next day I went to the southward, round the south- 
 east side of Ozel, to Arensburg, the capital. Knowing there 
 were no troops, I meant to have landed there ; but it being 
 dusk when I got off, and not liking to remain all night, I did 
 not land, but returned to Merlin at 5 a.m. the next morning. 
 We only saw one little vessel afloat and fitted out, and I was 
 going to burn her, but reflected on the poor man seeming 
 so distressed, and made them promise to haul her up. 
 We weighed in Merlin at nine, after I had had three hours' 
 sleep, and I went towards the part of Dago on our way 
 
J855-] SCARE AT HAPSAL. 313 
 
 out that the baron told me was nearer their landing-place 
 and deeper water. We anchored some way off, but could 
 have gone close in with a foot of water to spare : the gun- 
 boat could lie alongside the jetty. We found the baron 
 down in his carriage, but no baroness ; he came off to lunch, 
 and when I took him back I found he expected me to go out 
 to dinner, and had brought a large carriage to take us. 
 I told him I could not wait ; but he seemed to expect it so 
 much that at last I agreed to go out for a short time and 
 to say ' good-bye ' to his lady ; so Cecil and I started with 
 liim. The first road for a mile and a half was good, and 
 led through an avenue of weeping-birch, and the four ponies 
 abreast went away at a tearing gallop, which was very well 
 till the road got uneven and stony, little sharp pitches up 
 and down hill ; and then, when they still tore on at the same 
 pace, I wished myself out of it once or twice, particularly 
 when dashing round corners and into the park through 
 gates at the same pace, and with a double turn round the 
 terrace up to the door. I never saw such fearful driving. 
 The new leader, that is the outside of the four, was a beauty. 
 They are very hardy, and rarely get tired, so he said. 
 
 " I found a nicely-dressed, lady-like woman and her 
 husband (who is only a better-class farmer) there to meet 
 US, and we so far dined with them that we sat at table ; but 
 having all the ofificers and the lieutenants of the gun-boats 
 to dine with me on board at six, 1 having just made a good 
 lunch on board, 1 could not of course have anything to 
 do with dinner. The baroness told me that she had not 
 -come on board, fearing to compromise her husband, who 
 would have sufficient reasons to justify his going, it being 
 necessary to establish friendly relations with the ships, as 
 the islands were unprotected, but her going would be quite 
 a private act, so she thought it better not to. 
 
 " She had heard the day before from her sister at 
 Hapsal. When they saw us pass the shallow water, they 
 thought it was all over with them. Several ladies started 
 off immediately ; others began preparing and packing up. 
 And when they found we were within gun-shot and went 
 away, they could only believe it was to bring up the larger 
 steamer, as they thought it impossible we should spare 
 the town when we got close to it ; so they went on packing 
 up, preparing carriages, etc., and stationed men on the 
 church-tower to report when we were returning. Their 
 grand ball was that evening, and some did not return for it. 
 
314 A RUSSIAN COUNTRY HOUSE. [Ch. XIIL 
 
 When on Sunday morning they found we were farther off, 
 they thought they were safe ; so they had a thanksgiving 
 service and a grand Te Deum in the church for our having 
 spared the town. I sent a message to the ladies, which 
 she promised to write to her sister — that they ought to 
 have sent off and invited us to the ball and also to the 
 Te Deum, and that I hoped to pay them a visit again, 
 when I expected an invitation to land. 
 
 " She tried hard to get out of me whether Revel would 
 be bombarded, so I let her rather fanc)' it would. She 
 said she hoped their house in the Domberg would escape ; 
 and I told her I knew the Domberg was the west end 
 of Revel (she knows London), and therefore it ought to 
 have an extra share of shells, because the owners could 
 afford the loss. A house her father had given her on 
 her marriage outside the lines had been pulled down last 
 year with a suburb of the best houses, and that is where 
 they are now constructing so many earthen batteries. She 
 hoped I might be able to visit them when at peace, and 
 bring you with me. She was writing to Miss Meara an 
 account of our visit, so I offered to send the letter in 
 our mail-bag. She at first thought it would not do, but 
 the baron said it would be a good joke, and she gave it 
 to me to send. I told him I thought a ship would be 
 stationed there later on in the season to blockade inside. 
 They hoped it would be ours, as a stranger might not treat 
 them so civilly, and they promised me plenty of shooting 
 and fox-hunting, the latter consisting of foxes being 
 carried to an island where they cannot escape and only 
 run a mile in any direction, and sending their horses and 
 hounds over there for the month of September. If we 
 had been two or three days sooner, we might have made 
 their acquaintance under different circumstances, for they 
 had crossed from Hapsal in their sailing-boat, and were 
 becalmed eight hours on the way. What a chance to 
 have made prisoners of a real live baroness and baron ! 
 It would have been a great catch. I have promised her 
 a passage across to Hapsal if we return, providing she 
 takes me on shore with her to see her friends. 
 
 " You will recollect our catching a boat full of women 
 off Revel last year, and sending them away quite delighted 
 with a Bible, tracts, tea, sugar, etc. The baroness was at 
 Revel at the time ; many were watching our proceedings 
 and among them the Grand Dukes, who sent for the women 
 
1855-J ALL ANXIOUS TO SERVE. 315 
 
 afterwards, and they showed some of the 'little books' 
 I had given them. The women got plenty of presents 
 from different people, so it was not a bad day's work 
 for them. 
 
 " On my way back here I called at Odensholm, where 
 you will recollect the men lived to whom I gave a Bible 
 as a sort of pass to protect them from capture with their 
 salt from Faro in April. They were very glad to see me. 
 We got some milk and eggs, but the man whose boat it 
 was would not let me pay for the milk we had. 
 
 " I trust with God's protection my next may report our 
 successful bombardment of Sweaborg, for which I believe 
 I start to-morrow or the next day to buoy and prepare for 
 the force following the day after, but we can only do much 
 damage to fortress, buildings, stores, barracks, etc. The 
 admiral is most kind, and treats me with very flattering 
 confidence, approves of nearly everything I suggest, and 
 yesterday, when asking me how I was, as I have been a 
 little unwell for some time, he said very kindly, ' You must 
 not be ill just now. What should we do ? ' I may mention 
 this, as it is only for those to read who will, I know, see 
 how strictly private any remark of this kind must be kept. 
 But I am sometimes rather puzzled by it, for all my 
 brother-officers seem to think I can arrange everything, so 
 they come to me. ' What are we going to do ? Do get me 
 there ' ; ' Do put in a word for me ' ; ' Don't forget I have 
 two sixty-eight-pounders ' ; ' Don't forget I have two ten- 
 inch ' ; ' I draw only sixteen feet water ' ; ' Don't leave me 
 out, there's a good fellow.' All quite as if I could arrange 
 things even on points that I am careful not to interfere in, 
 and I am always afraid of giving offence to some, though 
 I try not to say a word on these subjects except on purely 
 public grounds, and where I think it best for our success. 
 ... I honestly try to suggest the best ships for the service, 
 without caring for my friends. I do believe I can keep clear 
 of all bias. 
 
 " Monday, ■^oth. — We start to-morrow morning. My poor 
 friend Key, who has been stationed off Sweaborg all the 
 summer, and was to have been with us, has come in with 
 main-shaft broken : the ship will not be ready for a week. 
 I have asked the admiral to let him go with us without 
 his ship in some capacity. I am now waiting for the 
 French admiral, who is coming here when he leaves our 
 flag-ship." 
 
3l6 A RUSSIAN COUNTRY HOUSE. [Ch. XIII. 
 
 His old friend Admiral W. A. B. Hamilton writes 
 thus on his retirement from the Secretaryship of the 
 Admiralty : — 
 
 " Tyringhame, Prestonkirk, N.B., July 2nd, 1855. 
 
 " My dear Sulivan, — I am sorry to miss to-morrow's 
 post in thanking you for your most kind and welcome 
 letter. There is no mistaking the sincerity of your con- 
 gratulations, or the cordiality and warmth of your expres- 
 sions, to what relates to your own good wishes for myself, 
 and your grateful feeling for anything I may have been 
 able to do in advancing your strong claims. 
 
 " My service at the Admiralty, as you well say, has been 
 long and hard. I can scarcely yet believe in my liberty, 
 nor is it yet altogether complete. Of course the incessant 
 toil of the post I held has told upon me, and some repose 
 is required. I hope it may set me up. Such genuine 
 wishes as yours greatly aid in the operation, and they have 
 been far more abundantly and warmly bestowed upon 
 me than I could have expected. It is a very generous 
 payment and acknowledgment of a very poor attempt, 
 during a long spell of office, to do as I would be done by. 
 
 " Your letter was begun just before starting for Sweaborg 
 with a flag-of-truce, and it contained the first intelligence 
 I had of the officers of the Cossack being safe. Your 
 account of the infernal machines, too, was very interesting ; 
 and notwithstanding your wily way of saying nothing 
 about Cronstadt, concluding that we should hear everything, 
 the little you did say, and the observations you make, com- 
 prise more real information about the place than anything 
 I have yet seen. I do pity you, if, from want of proper 
 means and appliances, the services you and others might 
 render should fail of being turned to their proper account. 
 
 " I only wish that your admirable commander-in-chief 
 will forget Whitehall, if circumstances should ever seem to 
 offer of possessing himself of appliances that he has failed 
 to receive from England, and that no consideration of cost 
 or fear of rebuke would for a "moment deter him from 
 making himself master of them. 
 
 " With every good wish for yourself in return for all your 
 kind wishes for me, 
 
 " Believe me to remain, 
 
 " Yours most faithfully, 
 
 "W. A. B. Hamilton." 
 
I855-] THE RUSSIAN GUN-BOATS. 317 
 
 " Admiralty, July 10th, 1855. 
 
 "Dear Sulivan,— It is very gratifying to find the 
 Merlin at every advanced post, and that our surveying-ships 
 lead the way and are sent on missions of confidence on 
 every occasion. The prominent position you occupy, and 
 the kind terms in which the admiral speaks of your services^ 
 are very encouraging, and cannot fail, I should hope, in 
 bringing their just and well-earned reward. I trust the 
 means sent out will enable you to bombard, otherwise there 
 seems to be no chance of anything of importance to be 
 done in the Baltic, beyond the blockade and the distracting 
 the attention of the authorities and the troops from the 
 south. The Russians have shown much energy in building 
 thirty screw gun-boats during the last year ; the engines 
 have been chiefly made by the American locomotive com- 
 pany who work the railway to ]\Joscow, and not by Baird — 
 at least, so our last information from St. Petersburg says. 
 Baird has long been a Russian subject, but I rather think 
 he refused to make them. 
 
 " With best wishes, 
 
 " Ever faithfully yours, 
 
 "John Washington." 
 
 At this time a number of honours were distributed. 
 Captain Sulivan being made a " Companion of the Bath." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. 
 
 Reference has been made to the French chiefs desire 
 to destroy Helsingfors. The saving of this town afforded 
 Captain Sulivan more gratification than the destruction 
 of Sweaborg, in both of which he was mainly instrumental. 
 
 "'Merlin,' Sweaborg, August 2nd, 1855. 
 
 " They have thrown up batteries all round the town on 
 all sides, and so it becomes a fortified town, as some of these 
 batteries have already fired on our gun-boats. The people 
 have long expected an attack, and have been moving out 
 with their property. My own view would be to send in 
 a flag-of-truce and promise not to injure the city, provided 
 the city batteries did not fire at us. 
 
 "Friday, ird, lo p.m. — We have been sounding and 
 laying down buoys all day, and have had a strong blow, 
 which it is fortunate occurred before the fleet came, or it 
 must have delayed all proceedings. The Russians are 
 working away tremendously at new batteries, but all in 
 places where they cannot interfere with our plans, except 
 a new one commenced to-day, which will be four hundred 
 yards nearer than any other guns to the stations intended 
 for the mortar-boats. I wish some of the steamers were 
 here, as we might try throwing shell to stop the working 
 by day. I hope we shall have "finished before they are 
 ready. This weather must delay us some days. 
 
 " They must know we are going to attack here, for I see 
 by the Standard that one of the royal dukes is here. 
 When I think of the prolonged horrors at Sevastopol, and 
 the destruction and loss that may be caused here even in 
 a city, I cannot but wish that our Government had agreed 
 to Lord John's views and accepted the terms proposed. 
 We may go on for years, and after all get no better terms ; 
 
 318 
 
'855-] CHRISTIANS AT WAR. 319 
 
 we should have gained all the objects we went to war for, 
 as Sevastopol and the fleet had nothing to do with the 
 origin of the war. Now the door of peace seems closed, 
 for if we destroy Sevastopol and every ship, it will only 
 make the Russians more determined to hold out. While 
 all produce can be exported and all goods imported through 
 Prussia, we cannot make the people feel the effects of war 
 by a blockade." 
 
 "'Merlin,' Sweaborg, August 2nd, 1855. 
 
 " I am going to try to-night to find out whether they 
 have any 'infernals' in the place where I want to place 
 the mortar-boats. I do not mean to risk getting them up 
 to a boat, as in the night one could not see how to handle 
 them ; but I mean to creep about four fathoms under 
 the surface, and, if we catch anything, run a long line 
 to an island and haul whatever it is on shore, keeping 
 well out of the way. If any should be hooked, by 
 dragging them on shore among the stones they will soon 
 explode when they touch the bottom. I also mean to creep 
 inside where I think they may be with a light creeper 
 along the bottom, and try to hook up any of the electric 
 wires that we hear they have connecting them with the 
 shore. It would be great fun to hook them up and cut 
 them, and then trace the ' infernals ' outward by the 
 cut wires ; they could not then explode ; and fancy their 
 astonishment on shore afterwards when they tried to 
 explode them, and wondered why their electric battery 
 would not act ! 
 
 " Oh, how I wish all this horrid work had been stopped 
 by peace ! To see this beautiful place, fine buildings, 
 churches, etc. ; to see us to-day with our church flags 
 up, and the enemy's also, both professing to serve the 
 same Master — a Master of peace ; and to see them 
 toiling all day raising works to defend these buildings, 
 and we striving to reduce them to a heap of ruins ! It is 
 very sad ; and though never had a nation greater cause for 
 war, a fearful responsibility will rest on any who prolong 
 that war a moment longer than is necessary to accomplish 
 the objects for which we entered into it. Had we never 
 sent that expedition to Sevastopol, we should have had 
 peace now ; and had we confined ourselves to removing 
 the enemy from Turkish ground, and then merely 
 blockading closely, we should have saved nearly all the 
 
320 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 blood and sickness and half the expense, while there would 
 have been no point of honour or heroic defence to raise 
 the national spirit of the Russian people. The war would 
 have been more unpopular with them, and peace would 
 not leave the feelings of hostility against us now implanted 
 in the minds of the Russian people. And oh, what 
 misery would have been saved to thousands of families 
 in all four countries ! I cannot but feel we are all now 
 going on with the war because we do not know how 
 to give it up, with our armies unsuccessful at Sevastopol, 
 and that for all other purposes we could gain the objects 
 for which we went to war. The fact of Russia consent- 
 ing to place Turkey under the united guarantee of all 
 the European powers for her integrity, in addition to 
 yielding the other three points, should, I think, have 
 sufficed, and would have sufficed, had we known how to 
 get over the Sevastopol difficulty, while the hopes of 
 saving Sevastopol perhaps induced Russia to yield what 
 she did." 
 
 The following is an outline of the plan of attack on 
 Sweaborg : — 
 
 Sixteen British mortar-boats (with sixteen 12-inch 
 
 mortars) ; 
 Five French mortar-boats (with ten 13-inch mortars); 
 Four French mortars (10 inch) on islets, — 
 
 to open fire at 2.30 a.m. at a range of three thousand three 
 hundred yards from the forts. The mortar-boats (anchored 
 in a segment of a circle) to be supported by four covering 
 frigates anchored outside them. British and French gun- 
 boats to circle inside the mortar-boats, using their guns, 
 against the forts, and drawing the Russian fire away 
 from the mortar-boats. Three ships were ordered by the 
 admiral to attack the Russian fort to the eastward. 
 
 Before the fleet crossed over to Sweaborg, Captain 
 Sulivan and his officers were engaged for three days 
 and nights finding places for the vessels clear of the 
 numerous rocks, making an accurate plan of the position. 
 
1855-] THE PLAN OF ATTACK. 32 1 
 
 ranges, etc., and at night creeping with grapnels as close 
 as possible in front of the fortress for the reported electric 
 wires of the infernal machines, but without finding any. 
 
 On the fourth day the fleet came over, and, after piloting 
 the ships in, Sulivan gave a copy of the plan to the British 
 and French admirals. Under the circumstances, he of 
 course supposed that he would be allowed to carry out 
 his own plans, under the admiral's command, as any failure 
 would have been attributed to him ; but, to his surprise, the 
 admiral told him that two officers would have the com-, 
 mand, both senior to him — he himself was to have no 
 command at all. He was so astonished at this that he 
 had not the firmness to say, as any officer in his position 
 ought to say, " If I am not allowed to carry out my plan, 
 I cannot be responsible for its success,'' especially as the 
 very person who had argued that the scheme could not 
 succeed was now to have the control of the operations. 
 But Sulivan was so hurt and surprised that he made no 
 reply, and immediately left the flag-ship and returned to 
 the Merlin. He had intended, directly the plan was 
 approved of by the two admirals, to prick it through a 
 number of sheets, as he had done at Obligado, and so 
 provide a copy of the plan and programme to every officer 
 in command of a ship. But he was now unable to inter- 
 fere with the directions to be given to the junior officers. 
 
 He had not long returned to his ship, when he saw the 
 gun-boats bringing in the mortar-vessels, and he was hailed 
 by Captain Seymour, " Sulivan, the captain in command 
 told me to bring you the mortar-boats, and that you would 
 place them." Now Sulivan's plan was to anchor the 
 mortar-vessels exactly six hundred yards outside their 
 right positions of three thousand three hundred yards from 
 the forts, so that they might be out of reach of the enemy's 
 shot until the action was to commence. After dusk, 
 
 21 
 
322 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 kedge-anchors were to be laid out in the direction of the 
 fortresses, with four hawsers of two hundred yards each, 
 in all eight hundred yards. Then, just before opening fire 
 from the mortars, the crews were to haul in three hawser- 
 lengths, or six hundred yards, the vessels thus lying with 
 one hawser out at exactly the proper range of three 
 thousand three hundred yards. This was all explained on 
 the plan which the admiral had given to the officer in 
 command. The exact positions and the hawsers were 
 marked in red, and the distance " six hundred " yards 
 between the outer and the inner positions. 
 
 After anchoring all the mortar-vessels himself in a curved 
 line three thousand nine hundred yards from the batteries, 
 and the four covering frigates three hundred yards farther, 
 Sulivan returned to his vessel, and found the admiral and 
 captain in command awaiting him on board her. It was 
 a beautiful, calm, clear day, and the batteries therefore 
 looked closer than they really were. The captain declared 
 that the mortar-vessels had been anchored closer than he 
 had agreed to, that they were now within range of the 
 enemy, and that even the frigates were. He urged the 
 admiral to move them all farther out. Sulivan assured 
 him that, if his scale was correct, which he did not doubt, 
 the mortar-vessels were three hundred and the frigates 
 six hundred yards out of range of the batteries, and that 
 if the frigates were moved farther out they would not be 
 so well able to protect the mortar-vessels at night or supply 
 them with fresh ammunition, etc. Notwithstanding his 
 remonstrances, the admiral ordered him to move all the 
 frigates farther out. Sulivan thereupon ventured to do 
 what was akin to the action of Nelson when he put his 
 blind eye to the telescope. He took three of his own 
 officers with him, put one on board each frigate, instruct- 
 ing them to weigh anchor, turn the ship's head off a little. 
 
i855-] A BUNGLE. 323 
 
 and drop anchor again without moving tlie ship her own, 
 length! He himself went on board Euryalus, and went 
 through the same farce with her, knowing how important 
 it was to keep the frigates close. 
 
 No doubt this manoeuvre will be recorded in the logs 
 of those ships, but it will not be explained therein why 
 ships, just before anchored among sunken rocks, where 
 safe places were not easily found, weighed and anchored 
 again in the same place. 
 
 On Sulivan's return to the Merlin, the officer in com- 
 mand said to the admiral, " Now, sir, make him move out 
 the mortar-vessels." This Sulivan could not stand ; so he 
 said, " Admiral Dundas, they are now at the distance you 
 decided on, and three hundred yards farther out than I 
 think right ; and if you make me move them any farther, 
 I cannot be answerable for the success of the plan." The 
 admiral replied, " They shall stay where they are." 
 
 Late at night, when he was again with the admiral, the 
 latter urged Sulivan, as he had not been in bed for three 
 nights, to go to his ship and get a little sleep before 
 daylight — about 2 a.m. — when all would be ready for 
 opening fire. He went to Merlin about midnight and 
 lay down, but was too anxious to sleep, fearing things 
 might not go right, so about half-past one he went in his 
 boat to take a look round. He found boats laying out 
 the hawsers, some having been already laid out ; but seeing 
 one boat going to drop the kedge much too close to the 
 vessels, he asked how many lengths of hawser were out — 
 they told him two. This was half the proper number, or 
 four hundred instead of eight hundred yards, as shown in 
 the plans, by which means the mortar-vessels would be 
 hauled in two hundred yards only instead of six hundred, 
 thus leaving them four hundred yards farther off than was 
 intended. At such a distance the attack could not possibly 
 
324 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG, [Ch. XIV. 
 
 succeed, as the mortars would be out of range of the arsenal 
 and all the most important objects of attack. What a 
 painful position for a junior officer to be placed in ! 
 Neither of the senior officers in command were on the 
 spot. If he allowed the action to go on, it would be sure 
 to fail most ridiculously when daylight came, and there 
 was not sufficient time to procure the double quantity of 
 hawsers and get them laid out by daylight. If the action 
 were postponed a day, the beautiful calm weather might 
 be lost ; and if it came on to blow, which was a likely event 
 after two or three calm days, the only opportunity for the 
 season might be lost, and in that case he would have all 
 the blame thrown on him if he interfered without authority. 
 Further, he would be running the serious risk of opposing 
 the orders of his superiors. I have often heard my father 
 lay down the maxim that no man is worth his salt who 
 is not prepared to take great responsibility upon himself 
 if the occasion require it. Here was such an one, and he 
 hesitated but for a moment in taking a responsibility which 
 probably no junior officer has ever before done — that of his 
 own accord postponing a general engagement. He felt that 
 anything would be better than a ridiculous failure, through 
 keeping our vessels out of range of their objects, in order that 
 the vessels themselves might be out of range of the enemy's 
 guns. So he ordered all the officers employed under the 
 seniors — who were quite willing to act as he directed — to 
 weigh the anchors laid out and leave the mortar-vessels 
 in their old safe'positions, and go back themselves to their 
 ships, giving up the work for that day. How such a 
 mistake occurred it is difficult to say. Sulivan then went 
 to the flag-ship, awakened the admiral, told him what he 
 had done, and received his entire approval. 
 
 The next day the right number of hawsers were seen 
 coiled ready in every vessel. Sulivan remained until nearly 
 
I855-] ANOTHER BLUNDER. 325 
 
 midnight with Admiral Dundas, who then urged him to get 
 a little sleep, saying, " You may be quite satisfied now that 
 everything is rightly arranged, and will be ready by day- 
 light." Sulivan went to his ship, and, lying down outside 
 his bed, fell fast asleep, till he was awakened by some one 
 shaking him, and he found the officer in command with 
 a light, who said, " Can you tell us what we are to do about 
 hauling in." Sulivan said, "What time is it?" " Past one." 
 By the time he had got into his boat and to the nearest 
 mortar-vessel it was half-past one, and day was breaking. 
 Every vessel should have been hauled in by that time, as 
 the hawsers were all properly laid out ; but Sulivan found 
 some hauling in, others waiting for boats to help them, 
 and the crews of eight out of the fifteen mortar-vessels 
 asleep and doing nothing, because they had received no 
 orders ! Captain Sulivan thought this showed such a want 
 of common understanding of a simple plan, and such 
 unfitness in the officer commanding, that, hearing some of 
 his officers remarking on it, he begged them all not to 
 mention it to any one. He was more anxious that it 
 should not be mentioned, because the officer alluded to 
 was personally as gallant and good a man as any in the 
 fleet. He had before, as a junior, done work he was 
 ordered to do at Bomarsund well and gallantly ; and during 
 the attack at Sweaborg, wherever vessels were more 
 exposed to fire than others, or in moving closer in brought 
 on themselves the special attention of the enemy's gunners, 
 there he was sure to be seen. His only fault was not 
 understanding the principle on which the attack was 
 founded, and not having the necessary qualifications for 
 more important command. 
 
 When the fleet was at Spithead the following year, 
 Captain Sulivan's officers said that it was nonsense keeping 
 them to their promise not to mention what had occurred, 
 
3 26 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 because it was openly spoken of in the fleet. He then 
 ascertained that the officer in command had gone to one 
 of the ships under his orders, and asked if they knew what 
 they were to do about hauling in. The answer was, they 
 
 did not, but perhaps Captain , the second in command, 
 
 knew. The first lieutenant of the ship was sent to Captain 
 
 to ask if he did, and brought back the answer, " I 
 
 don't know anything about it, and I don't believe any one 
 does but Captain SuHvan " ; and then the commanding 
 officer told the lieutenant to take him to Merlin. Having 
 been in the cabin when SuHvan was called, the lieutenant 
 knew what had occurred and told it to others. It is 
 necessary to mention these things to show what great 
 difficulties Captain SuHvan had to contend with in getting 
 his plan of attack carried out successfully. 
 
 Captain SuHvan left on record the following observa- 
 tions : — 
 
 " The experience gained at Sweaborg should be a lesson 
 to any officer who, having proposed a plan of attack, 
 finds it is to be adopted. No delicacy to others, or hesi- 
 tation in being firm with his superior officer, should prevent 
 his insisting that he should be allowed to conduct the 
 proceedings he was responsible for. 
 
 " I feel confident that if an attempt on Cronstadt had 
 been made in the same manner, and before an enemy well 
 supplied with an active force afloat, we should have been 
 defeated. For there the difficulties and obstacles were so 
 great, and the contest would have been so severe, that 
 nothing but the greatest care in the arrangement for and 
 management in conducting the attack could have given us 
 a hope of success. 
 
 " That others were of the same opinion as myself on 
 these points is shown by the following facts : — 
 
 " A captain of a ship in the Baltic fleet, much senior to 
 me, during the winter, when preparations for the attack on 
 Cronstadt the following season were being made, urged 
 me strongly to insist on being put in the position of captain 
 of the fleet, if my plan was to be carried out, on the ground 
 
I855-] SWEABORG IN RUINS. 327 
 
 that, if I had to contend there with such difficulties as I 
 had at Sweaborg, nothing could save us from defeat, and 
 that I ought not to have anything to do with it unless I 
 were given a position that would ensure my being able 
 to conduct the operations under the admiral only. But 
 though I was very anxious on the subject, I could not 
 bring myself to ask for a higher position at the expense of 
 another, and I explained to my adviser that I was trying 
 to guard against failure by getting certain officers, in whom 
 I had great confidence, both senior and junior to me, 
 placed in positions which would enable them to aid me 
 materially in carrying out the plan, and that with their aid 
 and the admiral's support, which I might now expect, I 
 would trust to all going right." 
 
 We must now revert to the journals. 
 
 "Sweaborg, August nth, 1855. 
 
 " Thank God with me for a bloodless victory — on our 
 side at least bloodless, but I fear not so to the enemy. 
 Sweaborg is in ruins after two days' bombardment, and 
 not a scratch on our side. My letters will have told you 
 I thought we might destroy it without losing a life, 
 but it is a special Providence apparently that preserved 
 our people in the little vessels amid showers of shot 
 falling among them, and I have to be thankful that I 
 am again spared through much danger. You can fancy 
 the delight it gave the admiral and all, and not the least 
 me, for my credit and the soundness of my views were 
 at stake. All has far exceeded my expectations, for 
 hardly a building is left except as blackened walls, and 
 such fires are seldom seen. It is almost enough to excite 
 my pride to hear what all are saying about my work ; 
 but I really planned all, placed the vessels, selected the 
 spots to shell, and was allowed really to do anything I 
 wished, and the admiral speaks most feelingly and warmly 
 of what thanks are due to me. He told one captain who 
 congratulated him, ' It is all due to Sulivan.' I cannot 
 describe to you my feelings — not, I assure you, those 
 of pride ; for when all was finished at last, and I went 
 below, having just been told what the admiral said, the 
 conflicting feelings of gratitude and pleasure were such 
 that, when I went on my knees to offer thanks to that 
 God who still so wonderfully aids me above my deserts 
 
328 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 and in spite of my neglect of Him, I could only burst 
 into tears. I never felt so weak or so little inclined to any 
 feelings of pride. 
 
 " I have hardly a moment in which to write, and have 
 had but seven hours' sleep in the past four days and 
 nights, and yet I am better in health than before." 
 
 " ' Merlin,' off Sweaborg in flames, 
 
 "Friday, August loih, 1855. 
 
 " I must try to write you a hurried account of the last few 
 days. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was hard at work 
 night and day, either sounding or creeping for 'infernals' 
 at night, and making the plan complete, discussing it with 
 the admiral, and placing vessels by day. In the evening 
 the captains having the control of each portion of the 
 gun- and mortar-boats, and all the lieutenants, etc., com- 
 manding, were called in in batches by the admiral, who 
 gave them their orders, which I explained on the plan as 
 carefully as possible, till they had got their lessons perfect. 
 . . . Being anxious about all going right, I went down 
 the line at 1.30 a.m., and to my horror found only one 
 or two moving in, and others with their crews all asleep : 
 they said they had no orders to haul in ; yet the day was 
 actually breaking. By the time I had gone to every one, 
 roused them into activity., and got the officers who were 
 sent from the frigates to hurry their parties (I actually 
 found that no order had been given clearly how far they 
 were to haul in), and explained to all how much of the 
 hawsers they must haul in to get to their stations, it was 
 quite daylight ; but the enemy did not seem to notice our 
 change of position, and we could not commence firing, 
 because the French mortar-vessels were not ready ; so in 
 the meantime I went back and explained all to the 
 admiral, and he and captain of fleet came in Merlin, and 
 we ran down the whole line. The gun-boats were to 
 circle round inside the mortar-vessels, always in motion ; 
 but it was necessary to explain to the lieutenants the 
 dangers close to them, all under water, but all buoyed. 
 
 " You will see the place was pretty thickly strewed with 
 rocks and islands, but there was a part where I could place 
 all the mortar-vessels in an arc, equidistant from the 
 fortresses of Swarto and Vargon Islands, which were the 
 great object of attack, the shaded parts being thickly 
 covered with fine buildings, of which I dare say Illustrated 
 
I855-] OPENING FIRE — RANGES EXACT. 329 
 
 will give you an idea — the shores of course lined with 
 batteries of all kinds, and heavy earth-works in front of 
 the masonry ones. 
 
 " Of course everything depended on our knowing accu- 
 rately the distance from the mortar -vessels. If we put 
 them too close, they would be unable to stand the heavy 
 fire that would be poured upon them ; if at all too far oiT, 
 they would not throw shell into the buildings ; and I fixed 
 (with the admiral's approval) on three thousand three 
 hundred yards off the batteries (only exposed to long- 
 range guns and heavy mortars), which would put them 
 three thousand nine hundred yards from the buildings in 
 the centre. 1 can hardly describe to you my anxiety lest 
 I should in any way have mistaken this, because every one 
 would have thrown the blame on me — very justly. While 
 waiting for the French, we ran down all the line in Merlin, 
 the batteries on shore taking no notice of us. There were 
 four divisions, each requiring a slight difference in range, 
 as each had a part of the buildings to direct their fire 
 to, as a centre. I carefully fixed the position of each 
 division in Merlin ; and with the captains of marine artillery 
 on board (my old Parana friend Laurence being one), and 
 the admiral present, I gave each his range and pointed 
 out the object. We then went back near the flag-ship, and 
 lay waiting till the French were ready at seven o'clock. I 
 cannot describe to you my anxiety ; for though I had only 
 two hours' sleep the two previous nights (last night I had 
 four, so that I have had six hours in the last seventy-two), 
 I could not go to sleep, but was fancying how all would 
 be thrown out if I had made any mistake. You know 
 how I can fancy things sometimes ! At last up went the 
 signal, off went Captain Wemyss's mortar (each division 
 trying one shell for the range). After an anxious thirty 
 seconds, a little cloud of smoke with some fragments of a 
 xooi, just in the right position, took a weight off my mind ; 
 and when two, three, and four all went in well also, each 
 showing its little cloud of smoke over some devoted build- 
 ing in the right spot, I believe I showed my delight in 
 some rather extravagant and unusual capers on the paddle- 
 box! About this I need not say more than that no 
 change whatever had to be made in the charge or in the 
 range. 
 
 "Well, after a little spell, batteries from all directions 
 on shore sent shot and shell out in return, but so many 
 
330 
 
 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 fell short that it was soon reduced to a few guns of long 
 range, and two or three uncomfortably heavy long-range 
 
 A. Forts added in 1854-1855 
 English Mortar Boats 
 
 • French do. do. 
 
 Q English do. do. 2nd. position 
 
 " French do. do. do. do. 
 
 Scale of Yards 
 500 1000 
 
 Iancasteft. 
 {e.cun boats' 
 
 \ END. DAY y 
 
 Whittling i 
 
 
 
 Gustafvardv V S4Hv^GyNs3' 
 '""'^^IV^ 
 
 "h ' legrapb 
 
 ^^ 
 
 15GUNS 
 
 1/ // 
 
 Nem Battenj 
 
 Merlin ashore 
 
 \^1 « 
 
 .SJiogslwIm 
 
 . [E GUN BOATS) 
 
 5) 
 
 \y 
 
 • -..Otfrhall 
 • "/ 
 
 ^,^Abraham Holm 
 
 •^; French Battery of 5 Mortors (brass) 
 
 ■k-- 
 
 
 t at Anohor ( K^\/ 
 
 S o ^ 
 
 I FRENCH AND ENGLISH 'lANCASTEI^' 
 
 ' GUN BOATS ' ^E-GUN boats) 
 
 ^ V'ST. DAY^ 
 
 \ 
 
 1ST. DAY 
 
 ,'' J Laglicua 
 
 "^VULTURE 
 
 «5r Q , . 
 
 MAGICIENNE ( ^ ^\ 
 
 Grohafa f' J 
 
 IValker&BentaUsc. 
 
 mortars, which sent shot and shell well out to the line 
 if they wished to. But soon our gun-boats went in and 
 began firing at shorter ranges, and this made the fire from 
 
l855] A SERIES OF EXPLOSIONS. 33 I 
 
 the shore Httle or nothing for the mortar-vessels, and they 
 steadily went on, causing little clouds and occasionally 
 more smoke, which soon began to show itself in good 
 columns of smoke, and fires were established in several 
 places. 
 
 " About ten we could see we were evidently successful, 
 and that total destruction was only a question of time. At 
 ten a magazine blew up, bringing rounds of cheers from 
 the crews of the large ships swarming on every top and 
 yard like bees. Still went on smoke and fire, followed 
 by flames through roofs and windows. We were running 
 up and down along the line, with the admiral on board, 
 occasionally being able to swear we were under fire by a 
 stray shot dropping near us, and one shell of the big 
 mortar (named ' Whistling Dick,' after his Sevastopol 
 brother) bursting a little over us, throwing the fragments 
 on both sides of us, but not one touched us anywhere. 
 One of my greatest pleasures, next to the feeling that I 
 had proved to be right in my ideas about the effect of 
 shelling in this way, was to see the changed visage of the 
 admiral : instead of the anxious, thoughtful face of past 
 weeks — anxious to do all he could, doubtful if any success 
 to warrant the risk could be gained — he was looking bright 
 and cheerful, and expressing surprise at the result. At 
 twelve another small magazine exploded, bringing more 
 cheers ; but at 12.15 3- tremendous column of smoke, mixed 
 with fragments of all kinds, masses of timber, etc., showed 
 we had found out a large one ; but no sooner was the 
 astonishment over and the cheers roaring in different direc- 
 tions, than up went another column and more fragments, 
 and again another and another, with only intervals of 
 seconds, till at least twenty explosions had followed the 
 first in quick succession. Occasionally towards th>e end a 
 longer interval would make us think it was over, when again 
 masses of building would fly up in all directions, but all 
 near one spot. At last it reached a larger new earthen 
 battery on the top of Gustaff Island, and away went one 
 side of it, guns and all, leaving, instead of bright-green 
 turf, a heap of stones and rubbish. I think it was all on the 
 inner slope of Gustaff, where I have written in. Now nothing 
 is to be seen about there but bare space ; and even on the 
 next island, Vargon, the buildings on the point nearest 
 to it are a heap of ruins. I think such an extraordinary 
 explosion never occurred before. There might have been 
 
332 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 greater single ones. The fort I was under at Bomarsund, 
 from the account of those who saw both, was a more 
 tremendous explosion than the first ; but a succession of 
 at least twenty — some say thirty — is the extraordinary part. 
 I think they must have had the magazines formed in cells 
 or compartments of masonry, and that these went in 
 succession, each blowing up its next-door neighbour by 
 smashing the intervening wall, which might have caused 
 the second or two's interval between each. 
 
 " The gun-boats gradually worked nearer the shore, and 
 sent plenty of shot and shell in, but, except smashing the 
 batteries and houses, did little damage ; it was ^<t plumping, 
 heavy mortar-shell that did the work, and the gun-boats 
 played a good part by taking the attention of the enemy's 
 guns off the mortar-boats. Shot dropped round them, shell 
 burst over them, but they escaped wonderfully, being so 
 small and in constant motion. They were handled very 
 well, though two or three times I had some trouble with 
 stupid ones, who would forget all about the shallow ground 
 they were to avoid. The admiral had declared he would 
 not recommend one of them who did not attend strictly to 
 the directions on that head. Once I recalled one and pointed 
 out that he was in dangerous ground, and again showed him 
 the places he must keep in. Not long after one got on 
 shore in the very place, and it took three gun-boats a long 
 time to get him off. Fortunately for the lieutenant, I did 
 not see it was the same I had recalled, for the admiral 
 was on board us, and if I had known it I should most 
 certainly have pointed it out to him, for this was my duty. 
 The officers would not tell me, knowing I would do so ; it 
 would have lost him his promotion to a certainty. 
 
 " In the evening the fires were very fine ; all the buildings 
 on Vargon were in flames, shooting through roofs and 
 windows in streams. The fine centre building, many stories 
 high, with ornamental turret, with the telegraph and flag- 
 staff on it, and the flag flying, escaped for some time, but 
 at last a stream of flame poured up round the posts and 
 trellis-work of the turret, and staff and all soon fell, and 
 soon after the fire poured through the windows, and then 
 ran on through the large range of buildings extending from 
 the central one. But it was evident that the mortar practice 
 was so true that, instead of spreading round the two islands, 
 it was just destroying the ranges of buildings fired at ; so 
 I advised the admiral to move in four of the more distant 
 
iSSS] BAD MORTARS. 333 
 
 mortar-vessels four hundred yards nearer during the night, 
 so as to reach Swarto. The mortars were failing, so that 
 they dared not increase the charge. This was ordered ; and 
 as the admiral had urged me to get some rest in the night, 
 instead of going myself to place them, we had the lieutenant 
 in charge of all the mortar-vessels on board, and pointed out 
 the spots they were to go to on the chart, and sent him to 
 the captain of that division to explain it. Having had one 
 hour's sleep each of the two previous nights, I went to bed 
 at eleven, and had four hours' sleep, when I was called, as 
 the signal was made to fire. When I got on deck, the 
 mortar-boats were firing and the gun-boats going in, but 
 not one of my four distant ones were in position. I found that 
 it had been necessary to fill up their shell in the night, and 
 that they could not be got ready before daylight ; but 
 Vansittart was working very hard to bring them in, and 
 had just got one in when I got there. The enemy had 
 evidently plucked up spirit, for they were firing from every 
 direction, and shot and shell were going farther than the 
 first day. They had evidently been increasing the eleva- 
 tion in the night. Even in the Merlin, though I left her a 
 little farther out, while I was placing the mortar-boats, 
 shot went over her ; and as we were doubling our line of 
 mortar-boats in that spot, which was sure to bring more 
 fire, as they would be thicker, I was annoyed to see that 
 several gun-boats had left their proper station at the east 
 end, and had crowded into the space for two, just inside 
 my inner mortar-vessels, so that it brought such a cluster 
 together that nearly all the guns were firing at it. Shots 
 were dropping in all directions, splashing the water against 
 the vessels' sides, and occasionally, though very rarely, 
 one going into a gun-boat. In one of the mortar-boats 
 I was standing talking to the captain of the fleet, my gig 
 close alongside, when one of the large mortar-shells plumped 
 down close to us, about two or three feet from the side we 
 were standing against, and close to my gig's stern, and 
 the next moment I saw a large shot strike near one of 
 the outer mortar-boats. As that gun-boat's ground was 
 Stewart's (of Dragon), and I found he with me disliked 
 the others coming, these drawing fire on his two, I told 
 him to send all the others away to the eastward, their 
 proper station, where they could draw the fire off the 
 mortar-boats instead of on to them, and immediately the 
 heavy fire on that part stopped and the others got their 
 
334 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 share. Hewlett * had two gun-boats with Lancaster guns, 
 specially trying all the first day to hit the three-decker ; 
 but though he struck her a few times, she seemed not much 
 hurt. It made them remove her in the night, which was 
 an advantage, for she had one of the longest range, very 
 heavy guns firing from her gangway port. 
 
 " I am sorry to say the admiral let two ' blocks ' {Hastings 
 and Cornwallis) and Amphion engage a small fort to the 
 eastward, where they happened to be stationed, about six 
 miles off ; and though they did it some damage and upset 
 a gun, yet it was soon replaced, and one ' block ' and 
 Amphion were struck many times in the hull, and Amphion' s 
 main-yard shot in two, so that they hauled out. Provi- 
 dentially no man was killed, but eleven in the Cornwallis 
 and three in Amphion were wounded, and all for nothing. 
 It could have done no good had they knocked the fort to 
 pieces. They told me that soon after they went out the 
 fort was as perfect as ever. It may be of use to show the 
 folly of putting ships against such batteries. We destroyed 
 a large place, without a man being hurt, in spite of the 
 numerous batteries to protect it. They met loss and 
 damage in trying to silence one small battery. It was the 
 only part of the play I had nothing to do with, for the 
 admiral did not tell me they were going to do it till after 
 the vessels had started, and then I told him it could do no 
 good, and only risk damage and loss. 
 
 " We soon got our four vessels in, and two French mortar- 
 vessels were also closer, and I hoped we should reach 
 all Swarto ; but the mortars were beginning to show such 
 signs of danger of bursting from cracks in the chambers : 
 one had burst in two pieces, one going overboard, the other 
 in the forecastle, without hurting a man, and the cracks in 
 others were being filled up by the engineer with tin and 
 zinc to keep the powder out of them, so that we had to use 
 smaller charges. Robert's slung mortars were the first to go, 
 from their slings breaking ; but the chambers suffered less, 
 and the engineers refitted the slings, and they were again 
 got into play. The French mortars, of a new construction, 
 stood well, even with twenty-two pounds of powder, ours 
 going bad with only eighteen pounds ; but theirs did not 
 range as far as ours — they were twelve inch, ours thirteen. 
 In consequence of the mortars failing, we did not reach 
 the northern part of Swarto ; so that while we had plenty 
 * Captain of the Edinburgh. 
 
I855-] EXTENSIVE CONFLAGRATIONS. 335 
 
 of damage and destruction and roaring fires all day, the 
 large white house on the east of Swarto, and the large 
 buildings near the church in the west, seemed to escape us. 
 In fact, our fire reached up to a certain point, and we could 
 not get it beyond : had the mortars stood, we could have 
 ensured every spot going. 
 
 " I ought to have stated that in my orginal plan, printed 
 by the Admiralty, I had proposed placing mortars on all 
 the rocky islets in addition to those in the vessels ; and 
 therefore the French sent a land-service mortar-battery of 
 four mortars, which, though on a rock closer than intended 
 (as they were only ten-inch mortars), did good service 
 without the loss of a man. Our Government did not send 
 any land-service mortars. 
 
 " I have tried to show by the shaded parts the extent of 
 the destruction by our fire. The front of Vargon had few 
 buildings, only lines of forts. Two escaped burning, but 
 were much hit by the gun-boats. The very black parts 
 show the large masses of buildings destroyed. The mortars 
 not so close were completing the destruction of the portions 
 of Vargon, and soon a tremendous fire commenced raging 
 on the north part of Vargon, where I have marked docks, 
 etc. (the dense black smoke and flames of which raging up 
 in the air showed it was caused by tar-pitch or some such 
 combustible). It evidently spread rapidly, and soon we 
 saw it extending to the extreme west point of Vargon, 
 swallowing up lines of sheds, etc. Not long after the 
 large range of sheds on the west point of Swarto, called 
 gun-boat sheds, caught fire, and the fires were far more 
 extensive and brilliant than the first day (I forgot to say 
 that in the night the rocket-boats went in and threw 
 hundreds of rockets in). The first day it was chiefly the 
 grand public buildings and houses, but to-day they were 
 evidently stores or combustible matter of some sort, with 
 more wooden buildings. A very extensive and high build- 
 ing, near the gun-boat sheds, was in flame this evening, and 
 at last a brilliant fire coming out of the hollow between the 
 islands, just in the spot of the arsenal, showed that it had 
 been fired. The space between the islands was one dense 
 mass of fire by night-time, showing the lines of the large 
 buildings on Vargon clearly, as the fire was shining through 
 their empty window openings. The dense fire prevented 
 our seeing what damage was being done to my friends the 
 white house and the building near the church, which I 
 
336 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 had given as special marks to the sergeants of marine 
 artillery, but when I could get a glimpse of them they 
 seemed uninjured. The fact was, we could not range to 
 them, from having to reduce the charge of powder in our 
 mortars ; but the white house as a mark was just the thing 
 to drop the shell on the arsenal. 
 
 " During the day I assure you I got plenty of compliments 
 on the result of the attack, from admirals downwards, but 
 I was also to endure a severe trial and mortification when 
 taking the admirals on board to go our evening rounds with 
 them along the line. I had just started, fortunately with a 
 boat in tow, which obliged us to go less than half-speed, as a 
 little breeze made a sea that threw water into her. We were 
 just entering one end of the line, and were close to a mortar- 
 vessel, when, to my astonishment, we ran bang on shore on 
 a rock with only six feet, on which poor Merlin's fore-foot 
 and some feet of keel were fixed so firmly that two heavy 
 steamers, with anchors laid out and full speed in addition, 
 could not start us. Fancy my feelings ! There was a 
 rock I knew well a little inside, but this one had escaped 
 us in all our soundings and running to and fro, there 
 being seven fathoms close to it. We must have shaved it 
 often before, and often at full speed. Had not the boat 
 prevented our going fast, we should have torn her old weak 
 bows out, and she would have sunk there. As it was, she 
 has torn off nearly three feet in depth of her fore-foot, and 
 pieces of keel are all sticking out several feet long. I had 
 bargained for a few hours' good sleep that night, and yet 
 had to work all through it, trying to get off. I feared 
 when daylight broke they would point all their guns at our 
 group. At 3 a.m. Captain Wemyss came to me to say 
 that two more mortars had burst, but had hurt no one, 
 and that the others were complaining so much that he 
 feared to go on, so I advised him to stop all till he told the 
 admiral. And there really ended our attack, for it was 
 decided not to fire them any more. We ought to have had 
 a duplicate set to replace them. However, there was little 
 left to I o. The line on the north side of Swarto being 
 untouched, that would have been a good place to shell ; also 
 the small island of West Swarto, with three good buildings 
 on it, which had only been shelled by gun-boats. A fourth 
 mortar burst immediately after. 
 
 " \Private^ Sunday, i2th.— \ will continue the journal to- 
 morrow. We have had a quiet Sunday, and we go to Nargen 
 
i855j A PLEA FOR HUMANITY. 337 
 
 to-morrow. Some have tried to induce the chief to make 
 an attempt on Helsingfors ; but it is very different. We 
 should have to go half the distance from the batteries we 
 were at Sweaborg, and then, with no good mortars, would 
 have to depend principally on our rockets for burning the 
 town, and the only part that we could reach would be the 
 poorer part of dwelling-houses ; so that, for our own sakes, I 
 could not advise it, as a repulse there would undo much of 
 our success here. But on far higher motives I have always 
 opposed it. I think it far more honourable to us as a 
 Christian nation to spare the city of private property, 
 while we destroy the fortress and arsenal. Should we not 
 think so of a French general if he could burn the dock- 
 yard, etc., at Portsmouth (and of course there the town 
 would have to take its chance), but who went away without 
 destroying Cowes and Ryde ? If cities and towns are to be 
 destroyed when a fleet can reach them, why not every city 
 or town on shore that an invading army marches into? 
 I look upon Cronstadt, Sevastopol, and places like that — 
 Brest and Toulon even — as government arsenals, and the 
 towns as part of them, which must take their chance with 
 the arsenals ; but I hope we shall never set an example of 
 destroying coast towns, or war will become more barbarous 
 than it was fifty years since. They fully expect us to 
 bombard Helsingfors, for the inhabitants have fled ; only 
 soldiers are to be seen, and ladders are placed against the 
 buildings, as in Sweaborg, for putting fires out. I may be 
 wrong ; but if we had new mortars out, and every means 
 at our disposal, I would advise the admiral the same, 
 though I would undertake to destroy it with the means 
 we have here, if I thought it right. 
 
 " But I must not run on. We had a nice quiet forenoon, 
 and I think I never saw the crew more impressed with the 
 service. I did not omit adding thanksgiving for the great 
 mercies we have received. I was glad to find that the 
 admiral would not write his despatches to-day, as he could 
 do so to-morrow ; but as we were to sail early to-morrow, 
 he wished me before we went to take him to two islands 
 in the extreme east and west positions, where we could see 
 most of the destruction, in order that he might be sure 
 what to state in his despatch. He was obliged to go this 
 afternoon, but he took a little steamer instead of Merlin. 
 We had a good view, and he was much surprised at the 
 complete destruction of everything that came within the 
 
 22 
 
338 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 range of our shells ; not a roof of any kind left over 
 the whole space — utter destruction. As I know what I 
 write will not be mentioned beyond those who read this, 
 I will venture to tell you the gratifying way the admiral 
 spoke to me to-day when alone in his cabin. I asked him 
 if he had any objection to my writing him a few lines to 
 recommend my officers, and especially the first lieutenant 
 (Hewett), for the assistance they have given me. He said, 
 ' Sulivan, I will do anything I can for the Merlin's officers, 
 for 1 owe you a debt of gratitude that I cannot repay,' and he 
 became quite overcome and went out into the stern gallery. 
 After a little, though he could hardly speak — neither 
 could I — he said, ' You may depend I will specially recom- 
 mend Mr. Creyke — you need not write about him ; but I 
 must tell you that there is not an officer in the fleet but 
 must feel that we owe this success chiefly to you.' I am 
 sure you will all acquit me of egotism because I mention 
 this, but it was the most gratifying moment of my public 
 service. I tried to thank him, but could not say much, 
 and we parted with a warmer pressure of hands than often 
 takes place between a senior and a junior. Is it not very 
 noble of him to show such utter neglect of wanting to take 
 the credit of it, even that justly belongs to him, who had 
 all the anxiety and responsibility of it? One of the most 
 gratifying rewards I receive is the general expression, from 
 Admiral Seymour down to the youngest officers, of con- 
 gratulations to me on the success, and all captains, senior 
 and junior, showing such feelings of interest in my favour, 
 without the envy or jealousy that some might be expected 
 to feel. It makes me condemn myself, and wonder how I 
 have been spared, protected, and assisted, when I have been 
 so little thankful for previous temporal mercies, and have 
 even been discontented with my lot in some respects. I 
 am very sorry Otter was not here. I asked the admiral 
 at Cronstadt to have Firefly here before we began, to help 
 us in the surveying work, wishing Otter and his first 
 lieutenant might not lose the chance. He promised me 
 he would. At Nargen I reminded him of it, but he said 
 he had heard from the senior officer of the Bothnia 
 squadron of so many of the ships getting on shore that he 
 could not take Firefly from him, as a surveying-vessel was 
 so needed there ; and I think he was right, but I am very 
 sorry for them." 
 
iSSS-] EFFECTS OF THE BOMBARDMENT. 339 
 
 "Nargen, Tuesday, \^th. 
 
 " I will try to continue from Friday evening. We were 
 tugging at Merlin with Cossack and Geyser fast to her, but 
 had to lighten her by throwing coals overboard. I thought 
 the three ships would draw all the Russians' fire on us 
 at daylight ; but as our mortars were done up and we were 
 not firing, they seemed unwilling to commence against 
 us, which saved us annoyance from shot and. shell, as we 
 were just within the limit of their longest ranges. While 
 clearing, at noon I got a gun-boat from the admiral, and 
 went to the east side of the place as far as I could to look 
 through the islands. The arsenal fire was still raging, and 
 the ruin over the back part of Swarto, as well as Vargon, 
 was complete. The devastation caused by the grand 
 explosion was terrible on Gustafsvard, but my friend the 
 white house had only one shell-mark, and a house beyond 
 it was uninjured ; the long house west of it was burnt out 
 at its south end, showing the extreme limit of destruction 
 in that part. In the evening I went in my boat with 
 Creyke to a nice place for looking between the islands 
 from the westward, an island off Helsingfors, with a 
 high rock, but only two thousand yards from all the 
 Helsingfors batteries. On all the batteries men sat quietly 
 looking at us, officers watching us with spy-glasses, but 
 they did not fire. From there we saw that within the 
 limits I have shown dark the destruction is so complete 
 that not even a portion of a house is left, all a black- 
 ened, shattered ruin, but the windmill and two wooden 
 houses on the eastern front, which seem to have been 
 charmed. Between the large black building on the west 
 end of Swarto and the church just outside our range, a 
 little cluster of wooden houses stands quite uninjured, 
 affording a striking contrast to the blackened ruins. The 
 space between that black building and the long store- 
 houses in the middle of Swarto is covered with the ruin 
 of smaller stone houses, apparently dwellings. 
 
 " Our mortars having all broken down or become 
 dangerous to fire, the thing was over at 2 p.m. Merlin 
 hove off, and I am glad to say only grass and false keel 
 have suffered. The second night the rockets went in 
 beautifully in all directions, the boats going closer in ; these 
 were fired at with shot and shell, but no one hurt, except 
 by two accidents. A stupid lieutenant in Vulture's boat had 
 
340 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV, 
 
 two rockets lying uncovered under the thwart when firing 
 another. He was warned of the danger, but neglected it. 
 The rocket was fired, and the back-fire fired the rocket in 
 the boat, which went through her bows, wounding seven 
 men. In Luckraft's boat a rocket burst in the tube — an 
 accident sometimes occurring — and, breaking the tube, 
 wounded four or five men ; but to the last, by the enemy's 
 fire, not a man was hurt, thus bearing out fully the hopes 
 expressed in my last letter to you that we should have 
 success without losing a man's life. 
 
 "Yesterday all sailed for this place. Merlin remaining 
 with Locust to take up all the buoys and say ' good-bye ' ! 
 
 " We have just got the mail. All the papers seem to have 
 articles complaining of our doing nothing. I hope they 
 will be satisfied. I wonder if they know that the vessel 
 with the shell only reached us three days before we com- 
 menced operations ? Surely we did not lose much time, as it 
 has turned out that the delay was to our advantage, the 
 longer nights helping us. The four fine days ended yester- 
 day, and to-day we have dirty weather, the glass falling 
 much, though everything seems to have favoured us, except 
 the rotten mortars. It is a disgrace to our iron-founders 
 that one old mortar of the last war stood three hundred 
 and fifty rounds, while all the others, quite new, were unfit 
 for use, or burst after two hundred to two hundred and 
 fifty. I hope the Government will have a good row with 
 the contractors. The iron is said to be bad. There is 
 much in this that I should on no account like to be read, 
 except by the immediate elder members, because children 
 will talk ; and on no account must anything relating to 
 personal matters, the admiral or other officers, go beyond 
 those. 
 
 "A major of Indian engineers says that eleven days' 
 bombardment at Mooltan did nothing like the damage, 
 and when he left Sevastopol not long since it was not 
 nearly so much damaged." 
 
 The following note shows why the fleet could not destroy 
 the forts as well as the arsenal : — 
 
 " With all the buildings in flames, the batteries were not 
 at all weakened, and the men were in them, free from all 
 the fire, as there were open parades between the mass of 
 buildings and the fortifications. Besides, the flanking 
 
18SS-] . DUNDAS AND PENAUD's DESPATCHES. 34 1 
 
 batteries in other parts sufficiently protected the front of 
 the main fortress from any attack." 
 
 The following is an extract from the Sweaborg despatch 
 of Admiral Dundas. Seldom, perhaps, has a junior officer 
 been so strongly commended : — 
 
 " ' Duke of Wellington,' before Sweaborg, 
 " August lyk, 1855. 
 
 " Sir, — The intricate nature of the ground, from rocks 
 a-wash and reefs under water, rendered it difficult to select 
 positions for the mortar-vessels at proper range. In com- 
 pleting the arrangements for this purpose, I have derived 
 the greatest advantage from the abilities of Captain Sulivan, 
 of H.M.S. Merlm. . . . 
 
 " Late on the evening of the loth inst, H.M.S. Merlin, 
 under the command of Captain Sulivan, struck upon an 
 unknown rock, on ground which he had himself repeatedly 
 examined, while conducting me along the line of the mortar- 
 vessels. No blame whatever can attach to this officer on 
 the occasion, and I gladly avail myself of the opportunity 
 which is thus afforded me of calling the especial attention 
 of their lordships to the unwearied activity of this valuable 
 officer. It is to the singular ability and zeal with which 
 his arduous duties have been performed that much of the 
 success of the operations of the fleet may be attributed ; 
 and I trust that I may be permitted on this occasion to 
 recommend to the especial notice of their lordships the 
 services of Commander R. B. Creyke, of that ship, whose 
 conduct has been most favourably reported. 
 
 " I have, etc., 
 
 " R. S. Dundas, 
 
 " Hear-admiral and Commander-in-chief. 
 " The Secretary of the Admiralty." 
 
 The importance of the action is well shown in Admiral 
 Penaud's despatch. I have only a translation of it : — 
 
 " ' Tourville,' off Sweaborg, August wth, 1855. 
 " Monsieur le Ministre, — I am happy to announce 
 to you. Monsieur le Ministre, that this operation succeeded 
 perfectly ; it was not only a simple cannonade which the 
 squadrons have made against Sweaborg, it was a real 
 bombardment, the important results of which have ex- 
 ceeded my utmost hopes. 
 
342 BOMBARDMENT OF SWEABORG. [Ch. XIV. 
 
 " Eveiy one had only one object — to rival each other in 
 zeal, and cause the enemy the greatest possible mischief; 
 and the success of a vessel of one of the two nations was 
 applauded by the other with the same cries of enthusiasm 
 as if it had been gained by its own flag. Doubtless, 
 Monsieur le Ministre, the bombardment of Sweaborg will 
 exercise considerable influence on the Russian people, who 
 have not acquired the conviction that their fortified places 
 and their arsenals are not completely sheltered from the 
 attacks of the allied navies, which may and must hope to 
 be able to deal destruction on the enemy's coast without 
 suffering any very considerable injury themselves. 
 
 " I am, etc., 
 
 " Penaud." * 
 
 The following letter to Captain Sulivan from Major 
 Wemyss, the marine artillery officer in charge of the 
 mortars at Sweaborg, may be of interest : — 
 
 " Portsmouth, January fth, 1857, 
 
 " I thank you for your hearty congratulations. I had 
 been looking out a long time to see some reward conferred 
 on you for your valuable services, both in suggestion and 
 execution in the Baltic. Well do I recollect your anxiety 
 that an expedition should be sent to bombard Sweaborg, 
 and your great activity and clearness of judgment in 
 making the arrangements and dispositions for carrying out 
 the affair. 
 
 "It has escaped the notice of many people that I had in 
 the Baltic not only to organise a new service with a long- 
 forgotten weapon, and answer for its effects in action being 
 destructive at a great distance, but also that I departed 
 from the old custom of slow firing. ... I had to undergo 
 criticism, until subsequent experiments proved that it was 
 the bad mortars, and not the bad usage of them, that 
 brought us to so crippled a state. But the responsibility 
 of departing from long-established precedent was a heavy 
 one. Vertical fire from the sea has now been greatly 
 developed, and will be made great use of by the power 
 that commands the sea in a future war. May that power 
 still be our own country ! . . . 
 
 " I agree with you perfectly that mortars should be 
 
 * From " History of the War with Russia " (W. T)rrrell). 
 
'855] VERTICAL FIRE. 343 
 
 expended at bombardments like any other stores, but ours 
 were infamously bad. . . . 
 
 " If it is unpleasant to stand over a bursting shell, how 
 much more so is it to have to serve a mortar which is 
 likely to burst the next round ! I think our men in the 
 Baltic behaved splendidly in making no difficulty when 
 three mortars had burst, and the remainder were so 
 unsound." 
 
 Note. — A French naval officer has drawn conclusions from the opera- 
 tions in the Baltic and Black Seas which support Captain Sulivan's views 
 as to the value of vertical fire, described in a later chapter: " C'est a 
 des feux courbes, partant d'une flottille de bombardes et combings 
 avec les puissants feux de breche des batteries flottantes, que nous 
 semble appartenir I'avenir des attaques maritimes. C'est par I'emploi 
 pers6v6rant du tir vertical . . . que la marine pourra . . . agir . . . 
 centre les places de I'ennemi. . . . Cette nouvelle tactique navale. . . . 
 La destruction op6r6e k Sweaborg par une trentaine de mortiers marins 
 ... a Odessa, Sebastopol . . . confirment ces provisions sur I'avenir 
 reserve aux feux courbes de la marine. La flottille fran9aise lan^a sur 
 Sweaborg 4,150 projectiles, dont 2,828 bombes. Un auteur anglais 
 lvalue a 3,ogg bombes la quantity de feux courbes lances par les 16 
 bombardes britanniques. . . . Les cinques bombardes franfaises, 
 spScialement construites pour cette destination, et plus solidement 
 instances, en armaient chacun deux (mortiers). La flottille anglaise 
 aurait lanc6, en outre, 1 1,200 boulets ou obus " (" Attaques et bombarde- 
 ments maritimes, Obligado, Bomarsund, Sweaborg," etc., Lieut. M. 
 Richild Grivel, 1857). 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AFTER SWEABORG. 
 
 No active operations were undertaken by the Baltic 
 fleets after the bombardment of Sweaborg, consequently 
 the journals that follow record no striking events. But 
 the accounts of further intercourse with the islanders, and 
 the opinions given as to the principles of humanity on 
 which a war should be conducted, may be found interesting 
 and instructive. 
 
 " [Private.] 
 
 " Nargen, August l6th, 1855. 
 
 " We are lying here quiet, preparing mortar-boats for going 
 home, and I hope all hostilities are over for the season, 
 because there is nothing that could be done with a prospect 
 of success that is worth the risk of loss and failure. There 
 was a comparatively trifling thing for some time on the 
 admiral's mind instead of Sweaborg: the only advantage 
 would be destroying a town, and there was every prospect 
 of defeat in attempting it, and certain considerable loss of 
 life if successful. Yet the chief had feared we could not 
 succeed at Sweaborg, and thought it was better to do a small 
 thing well than fail in a great one ; and my work for two 
 months had been persuading him that the certainty of success 
 was at Sweaborg, and the risk of loss and defeat at the other 
 place. It is because I induced him to give up the other 
 and to determine on Sweaborg that he feels so grateful to 
 me. It shows how much risk of defeat and loss of life 
 may be saved by thoroughly considering and weighing well 
 these subjects. Captain Caiifin to-day, whom I had not 
 seen since the action, told me that the chief spoke to him 
 of me in such terms that he could not repeat them. 
 
 " Monday, 2yih. — The admiral sent for me to-day, and has 
 had a long talk about the French admiral wishing to try 
 some new rockets against Revel. They have great range, 
 
 344 
 
i855] THE FRENCH THINK OF REVEL. 345 
 
 SO that they are fired out of reach of the enemy's guns. 
 He also wants to use his mortar-vessels again, as at Swea- 
 borg. Now he cannot reach the town with them, and so 
 would only make a half-and-half thing of it. I quite agree 
 with the admiral [Dundas] that it will be better to try the 
 rockets only ; but if he [Penaud] is determined to try the 
 mortar-vessels, it is his own look-out if he fails. I think 
 he is anxious to do something alone, knowing we can have 
 no share in it now our mortar-vessels are gone. Of course 
 if he chooses to act he can ; but 1 hope the admiral will 
 not have anything to do with it, further than allowing me 
 to give them the distance and put down some buoys for 
 them, if they like. Otter has had a brush somewhere in 
 Finland. They had a concealed battery, and he went up 
 to try and destroy some timber, etc., thinking he was only 
 likely to be exposed to musketry ; but being unable to go 
 where he wished, was trying to get back, when the battery 
 opened on him, and he had to go out backwards ; but he 
 only had one man wounded. A deserter, who has been 
 landed, and been to Helsingfors, says that no one is allowed 
 to go to Sweaborg, but that the accounts brought over to 
 Helsingfors are that stores of hemp, pitch, rope, and corn 
 were burnt, besides houses and eighteen vessels; including 
 some hulks the sailors lived in, and that two thousand were 
 killed (quite impossible). But it is certain that the hospitals 
 in Helsingfors are full of wounded, so that they cannot 
 hold more. I was afraid there was sad loss among them. 
 
 " 2%th. — I have just heard from those in ships far to 
 the eastward of Sweaborg, who had a better view of the 
 north part than we had, the fires were distinctly seen to 
 spread far northward of the church, and some inflam- 
 mable material burnt fiercely on the north shore of the 
 island for three hours, so that it did not escape, as I 
 thought. Our shells did not reach it, but the fire must 
 have spread across the middle of the island, where there 
 were numerous ruined houses, and so reached the large 
 boat-sheds on the north side ; so the destruction is more 
 complete than I fancied. I am going to ask the admiral, 
 after all the other work is over, to let me spend the 
 remaining time completing surveys of different parts." 
 
 "'Merlin,' NargeJj, September isf, 1855. 
 
 " We returned yesterday from a trip to near Cronstadt, 
 to take lights and buoys to Admiral Seymour, and we 
 
346 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 have been away with the admiral all to-day to Baro 
 Sound, looking at the snug places I have picked out for 
 the colliers, etc., to anchor in. I think we have nothing 
 more to do now than to select good anchorages for the 
 rest of the season, for I believe both admirals have deferred 
 trying anything more this year, and I hope the mortars 
 talked of will not be sent. The admiral wants me soon to 
 make a plan of the anchorage between Wormso and Dago, 
 which will, I think, be a good one for the large ships ; and 
 I shall perhaps be there next week, and shall see my 
 friends the baron and baroness again, and have some 
 more ice-creams and roses ! You would, I am sure, have 
 been gratified, could you have seen the kind reception I 
 met with at Cronstadt from all my brother-captains, who 
 soon came on board to congratulate me on the success at 
 Sweaborg. It is the more gratifying to see such thorough 
 kindness and absence of jealousy at juniors getting such 
 positions, when we consider that they are all our seniors — 
 leading men, such as Hope, Codrington, Erskine, Ei-liot, 
 and Watson, who have themselves been shared out of 
 everything through commanding the larger ships, and 
 who have to see their juniors in small ships getting a 
 name in the service. Gardner has been here the last 
 few days. He said a blessing seemed to rest on what 
 I and others did ; for Otter had been surprised in a most 
 dangerous position, and had to escape with thirty-four men 
 in two crowded boats, under a fire of six hundred rifles, 
 and though the boats had twenty-four balls in them, not 
 a man was hurt. Ward had a narrow escape, a ball grazing 
 his head. I am sorry to say they retook Otter's prize 
 from him, in which were all the men's arms, rifles, cutlasses, 
 etc. You may suppose many are very anxious for the 
 mail to-morrow. 
 
 " I wish the poor fishermen at Dago and other places 
 could be allowed salt for their own use to cure fish for 
 this winter, or their sufferings will be terrible, and this 
 will have no ejffect on the war either way. I fear they 
 will all try to cross in the boats before the ice forms, 
 when the severe weather has forced our ships away, and 
 then numbers will be lost, while some will get a little 
 salt over. I hope many escaped this spring when others 
 were taken." 
 
 The following is a copy of a letter which appeared at 
 
I855-] A seaman's testimony. 347 
 
 this time in the Cornish Gazette (it is said to have been 
 written by a seaman of the Duke of Wellington) : — 
 
 " At five o'clock the Merlin got on a rock, commanded 
 by Captain SuHvan, son to Admiral Sulivan, who resided 
 at Falmouth : the most enterprising officer in the fleet ; 
 for his abilities in surveying, and his qualities in other 
 respects, endear him to the seamen. If they could do it, 
 they would make him chief in command, I think, without 
 opposition. ' Paddy Sulivan ' they call him, not out of 
 disrespect, but for his daring and brave qualities. I must 
 say I am glad he has relatives so close on board the ' one 
 and all boys.' We were sorry to see him on the rock, 
 for he must have been as uneasy in mind to be detained 
 on the rock as a ' cat in pattens.' He is such a funny 
 turn, always on the move." 
 
 "Admiralty, August 2\st, 1855. 
 
 " Dear Sulivan, — Accept my sincere and cordial con- 
 gratulations on the success of your attack on Sweaborg, 
 which the admiral justly attributes to your skill in placing 
 the mortar-boats. The admiral's praise is very gratifying ; 
 it does him great credit ; and we are all thankful to you 
 for the high character you have obtained for the surveying 
 service. I am glad Creyke has been found so useful ; he 
 will certainly be promoted. Sir C. Wood has promised 
 it to me. 
 
 " John Washington, 
 
 " Hydrographer.'' 
 "Nargen, September yaih, 31s;, October \st, finished 2,nd. 
 
 " Yesterday week the admiral sent for me in the evening, 
 and told me he wanted me to start early next morning 
 
 (Sunday) to the reef where had been on shore. 
 
 So we started at break of day ; and as the wind was 
 southerly, I went along the coast, and, never having seen 
 Port Baltic closely, I went close round the head inside 
 the shoals. On the head (clifQ where the lighthouse 
 stands, there was a party of soldiers occupying the house 
 of the lighthouse. The sentry was pacing up and down 
 with his musket, but others were unarmed, standing or 
 lying down on the edge of the cliff, looking at us passing 
 under them : very wisely, they did not think of firing at 
 
348 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 US. After giving orders to the Bulldog, I went on to 
 the entrance of the Wormso Sound, and anchored under 
 the outer bank about 2 p.m., ready to begin our work the 
 next morning, as I was to remain there to make a survey 
 of the place, to see if I was quite right in thinking it 
 would be a secure anchorage for the large ships. We 
 had our service in the afternoon. I felt weak and unwell 
 all day. On Monday I was in a good deal of pain inside, 
 which affected my legs, so that I could not stand for 
 many minutes at a time ; but having a beautiful day for 
 our work, by sitting out and sometimes reclining on 
 the paddle-box, I was able to get on till the afternoon, 
 when we went into Wormso Sound ; and 1 lay down for the 
 rest of the day by the doctor's orders. By Tuesday morn- 
 ing 1 was quite free from pain, but my head felt very uneasy. 
 The day was again lovely, so I could not lose it, and I 
 landed on an island, while Creyke went to another, and got 
 all the observations we wanted. After dinner, feeling pretty 
 well, I tried to work at the chart ; but in half an hour, from 
 merely thinking over it, my head got in such a state that 
 I had to give it up, and I think I have not for years suffered 
 so much in that way as I did all the evening till I could 
 get to sleep about eight. It was not like a headache, but 
 pains flying about and quite overpowering me ; but a good 
 sleep removed it, and on Wednesday morning, though I 
 felt weak, my head was free from pain, and we started on 
 our work. 
 
 " I went on Wednesday to Wormso Island, where I 
 thought a walk would do me good, and where I wanted 
 several stations. The French admiral had told me that 
 he had given directions to two small vessels of his down 
 there, that if any of the buoys were removed they should 
 hold the baron responsible, and they were to take fifty 
 of his cattle and cut down a hundred of his trees. I, 
 thinking he alluded to my friend Baron Sternberg, said I 
 was sure no one in Dago would touch the buoys, but it 
 would be done, if at all, by the authorities from the main- 
 land, so that it would be hard to visit it on the islands. 
 On landing at Wormso, we saw two men and some 
 women on the point, and about three hundred head of 
 cattle and a flock of sheep, every one of which we could 
 have made a prize of if we chose. The first man we got to 
 proved to be the same we caught in the boat off Hapsal 
 two months since. When we went up to two young 
 
i855] A PATRIOTIC BARONESS. 349 
 
 women to speak to them, they began to cry, and were so 
 terrified that we could only pacify them by going away, 
 though the men seemed to assure them that we should 
 not hurt them. We saw some nice-looking buildings about 
 two miles off among trees ; and after we had finished at the 
 point and were walking along the shore (Hewett was with 
 me, with the coxswain and Pierse the Finlander), a respect- 
 able man rode up to us, and with many bows told us that 
 ' the baron ' was coming down immediately. I asked 
 him what baron ; he said ' Baron Stakleberg,' and soon 
 after he came, a young man about thirty. He could only 
 understand a few words of English, but with Pierse we 
 got on with Swedish. He begged me to go up to his 
 house, where I should meet an English lady, and a carriage 
 would be down directly ; he asked me to take his pony, 
 and he mounted his head-man's. We passed the carriage 
 which went on for Hewett. I found a very nice house, 
 though on a smaller scale and less splendidly furnished 
 than Baron Sternberg's, and breakfast on the table. He 
 introduced me to Miss Cooper, who spoke English with 
 a slightly foreign accent. She has been twenty years in 
 Russia, and had not often a chance of practising English. 
 Shortly after a good-looking young lady entered, with 
 remarkably sharp, bright eyes, and evidently plenty of 
 intelligence : this was madame the baroness. She spoke a 
 little English, but preferred carrying on the conversation 
 entirely through Miss Cooper. After some little talk, 
 they asked me the name of my ship. When I told them, 
 they all exclaimed, ' Then you are Captain SuHvan ? ' and 
 certainly they did not seem less pleased to see me. She 
 said, ' Baron Sternberg will be very glad to see you again.' 
 They had seen him in Revel last week. They said they 
 had read Admiral Dundas's despatches. The lady, like 
 the other baroness, seemed the politician of the party. The 
 fact is, she is Russian — he Esthonian. When I said I 
 hoped the fall of Sevastopol might lead to peace soon, she 
 quite fired up, struck her little fist on the table, and the 
 fire seemed to flash out of her bright eyes, as she said, 
 ' What ! peace now ? No, never till we have driven you 
 out of the Crimea again.' The Cossack had been in a few 
 days before, and Captain Cochrane had dined with them. 
 While at breakfast we saw from the window the ' demand ' 
 up in Merlin. I thought it was Magicienne, as she was to 
 be stationed there, so I promised to return to dinner at 
 
350 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 five and bring Vansittart with me, and they told me where 
 we could anchor near the west landing-place with a road 
 to their house. They then drove us down in two carriages, 
 Miss Cooper being with me. 
 
 " When I got off, I found the vessels were two French 
 gun-boats. I spent the afternoon sounding outside in 
 the ship, and then anchored at four just as a carriage 
 came down, and Hewett and I went out to the house. 
 I was really better for my day's exercise. We had a 
 very plain, neat little dinner, all on a much smaller 
 scale, servants and all, than the Dago baron's. We 
 had a long chat till half-past ten. Miss Cooper has the 
 Illustrated L. N. regularly, but in every paper whole para- 
 graphs are painted out before they are allowed to be 
 circulated. I had brought the same numbers from the 
 ship, and they were all very anxious to know the forbidden 
 parts. They were entirely remarks on the late emperor 
 or the Russian objects of the war. 
 
 " The baron was very sore on one point, which he 
 did not hesitate to express when his wife was out of 
 the room, and only Miss Cooper to interpret ; and that 
 was the injustice of his being compelled to bring up 
 his son in the Greek Church because his wife is Greek 
 Church, though he is a Protestant. While, if he had been 
 Greek and the wife Protestant, the children must be 
 Greek, and also that a Greek dare not change his religion 
 for Protestant. On leaving, I promised to stop there on 
 my way back from Dago if I could. 
 
 " On Thursday morning it was blowing hard from the 
 westward ; and as the Dago side was sheltered, I started 
 early, intending to get as close as I could there, and then 
 go to see my friend and endeavour to get up in his church 
 steeple, which would be a capital station for the survey. 
 I was half-way on shore in my boat, and a carriage had 
 already reached the shore for us, when we saw a vessel 
 coming in, and I had to go back to go out in Merlin 
 to meet her. It proved to be Cossack, with two gun- 
 boats, come to be stationed here instead of Magicienne. 
 I returned in Merlin to Dago, taking Captain Cochrane 
 with me and the gun-boats, and we ran in in one to 
 the baron's pier, where we found him waiting with a 
 carriage. We got a pony-cart from the house there for 
 Bullock and Dyer. We had not gone far when we met 
 the baroness driving a nice pair of horses, so I got out 
 
1855-] A UNIQUE SURVEYING TRIP. 351 
 
 and joined her, and then we returned to the castle. I 
 got up in the steeple, and had a beautiful view ; and as 
 there is another church nine miles off overlooking the 
 sound, which made another excellent station, the baron 
 arranged we should drive there the next day. You may 
 suppose we passed a veiy pleasant afternoon. We dined 
 at four ; and as it was blowing so hard, and Cochrane had 
 to go back to his ship ten miles from Merlin, we could 
 not remain till after dark, but returned at six. In Coch- 
 rane's ship Prince Ernest of Leiningen, the Queen's 
 nephew, is a lieutenant, and the baron lived near his mother 
 in Switzerland, and knew them well, so we arranged that 
 a gun-boat should bring the prince in early next day to go 
 with me ; and the French gun-boats having joined, I asked 
 the senior officer. Lieutenant Mer, to go also. As he was 
 going to remain, I wished him to know the baron, thinking 
 he would be more likely to prevent his crews committing 
 any depredations on the people, which, like some of our 
 own, the Frenchmen are rather apt to do. The prince 
 came in early on Friday, and we landed at nine, where the 
 carriage with the four ponies abreast was waiting for us, 
 and we rattled out at a famous pace. The strong wind of 
 the day before had ceased, and we had again a most lovely 
 day. At ten we started for the other church with six 
 ponies, two ahead of the other four, and had a beautiful 
 drive to the distant church. The steeple was not so 
 nicely fitted as the first one, and up the narrow part there 
 was nothing but a single piece of wood with some very 
 doubtful-looking fir pegs sticking out of it to form a ladder, 
 and to get up this with a sextant was no easy matter. 
 Up in the top there were merely a few pieces of wood 
 across and some loose boards, the diameter of the spire 
 there being about five feet. The boards were the resting- 
 place of numerous birds, apparently jackdaws, and there 
 through a hole I got the observations, the prince also 
 getting up with the spy-glass and book, and writing down 
 the angles for me. We were pretty figures when we got 
 down to the others, who reached the top of the tower, but 
 did not attempt the spire. I think it was a unique sur- 
 veying cruise, — some miles inland in an enemy's country ; 
 driven in a carriage and six, accompanied by a Russian 
 baron, a prince, and a French lieutenant ; and the prince 
 acting as assistant surveyor ! It did my work beautifully ; 
 and, as I got the exact distance between the two churches 
 
352 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 fi'om a map of the island of the baron's, it gave me the 
 very best base for my work. They are nearly eight and 
 a half miles apart, and we drove about eleven to reach it. 
 We returned an hour before our four o'clock dinner, and 
 discussed the war till dinner-time. 
 
 " The baroness wore a very sensible bonnet, coming well 
 over the head ; but she allowed that even in the depth of 
 winter, in St. Petersburg, they are such slaves to fashion 
 that they wear the bonnets only on the backs of the heads, 
 leaving all the top exposed to the intense cold ; and she 
 says she never wears a veil except to keep wind off, yet 
 the cold does not hurt her. One fancies that in these 
 countries they sit in the hot stove-heated rooms, and never 
 change from them ; but she says she goes out walking or 
 driving regularly all through the winter, and in the most 
 severe weather has every window open while the rooms 
 are being done and fires lighted. The stoves are stacks of 
 masonry in the corners of the rooms ; they are heated once 
 by a wood fire every morning, and then no more fires for 
 twenty-four hours, but the mass retains its heat all the 
 time.* The heated air certainly keeps all the room at an 
 even temperature, which no fireplace can. But in all their 
 rooms they have also English grates, for the sake of the 
 cheerful look and ventilation ; but they are useless for 
 warming, they say. 
 
 " They had been at Revel the week before, the people 
 all returning there, now they do not any longer fear it is 
 to be destroyed by us. The Grand Duke Michael had 
 just been there ; and the baron's brother, who lives there, 
 was one day with him. He asked if some English officers 
 had not been visiting his brother in Dago ; he said ' Yes.' 
 The Grand Duke asked if we burnt and destroyed his 
 property ; he said, ' No, only a vessel that was sailing, 
 but that we treated them very well.' The Grand Duke 
 said, ' So there is at last one honourable act done by an 
 Englishman.' 
 
 " You cannot imagine the impression that is gone abroad 
 against us : stories have been invented or exaggerated, and I 
 believe many think us most brutal barbarians, who burn and 
 
 * Russian heating apparatus. — In the evening, the chimney being 
 well heated, the fire is left to die out. When all danger of charcoal 
 fumes is over, the flue is shut by an iron slide, and a hole under this 
 (near the top of the room) opened. The air, passing up the grate 
 (which is usually in the hall), is warmed by the heated bricks, and comes 
 
J85S-] SENSELESS CONDUCT. 353 
 
 destroy without mercy ; but sometimes they have too much 
 cause for thinking so. They told me that two women 
 were wounded by rockets in a hay-field, one of whom died. 
 This was of course set down as a deliberate act, though 
 it occurred by some Cossacks coming down to the boats 
 and firing at them, and a random rocket, going inland, 
 unfortunately doing the harm. Besides this, a Count 
 Stakleberg, a relation of the Baroness Sternberg, has a 
 pretty villa and bathing-house on the coast, where he had 
 his whole family, wife and daughters, and some visitors. 
 One beautiful evening they were dining in the verandah, 
 and were looking at some of our vessels off there, and 
 were remarking how pretty they looked. The count had 
 his glass looking at one, and, the dinner being over, the 
 ladies were sitting watching the vessels, when one fired a 
 shot at the house. A large shell went just over their heads 
 into the roof of the house, and burst inside. The ladies 
 were of course greatly alarmed ; horses were put to the 
 carriages instantly, and, just as the first carriage was 
 starting with the ladies, another shell burst so close that 
 one piece struck the carriage. Can you wonder at their 
 thinking us brutes? The baron said that they thought 
 the vessel might have fired at a telegraph on the hill 
 above, and that the shot fell too low, and I thought so 
 too ; but to-day Gallagher, who was surgeon of Arrogant, 
 came to see me, and on my asking him he confirmed 
 the whole story. Yelverton and Vansittart had anchored 
 their ships, and went inshore in a gun-boat. They saw 
 this house, and Gallagher tells me they saw people at it, 
 when to Yelverton's horror the lieutenant left in charge 
 of Magidenne fired from her at the house, and they saw 
 the shell strike it. He says he never saw Yelverton so 
 excited. He ordered them to hoist a signal immediately 
 to stop it ; but they were not very quick in the gun-boat, 
 and, before the signal was hoisted and answered, the 
 Magidenne fired two more shells. They saw the carriage 
 drive away, and they thought two shells struck the house. 
 Now this shows the Russian accounts are pretty correct. 
 The fact is, there is a kind of unfeeling, senseless anxiety 
 
 out through the hole into the room. Thus the rooms are kept warm 
 with fresh air for twelve and even twenty-four hours after the fire has 
 gone out. The rooms being kept by this system at an equable tem- 
 perature, the Russians are enabled to grow plants indoors as high 
 as the ceiling. — ^Ed. 
 
 23 
 
354 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 to fire at anything that gives a chance, for the sake of 
 firing, and some, I fear, for the sake of notoriety, or the 
 chance of bringing about the pretence of a fight, so that 
 they may write a letter. 
 
 " I hear that one captain has made himself the laughing- 
 stock of his brother-captains at Seskar by writing such 
 a long, flaming letter about taking out some dismantled 
 little coasters from the cove at the village where we took 
 our prizes this year, and where last year I had that sham 
 attack, thinking there was a battery ; but there were no 
 guns in it. You will recollect it, as I would not fire on 
 the soldiers on the point, though at our mercy — though 
 some thought that I ought to have done so. Well, this 
 celebrated battle consisted, I hear, of two muskets being 
 fired by militiamen on shore, for which a fire was opened 
 on village, houses, church, and all. The magistrates of 
 the district were assembled in the clergyman's house, when 
 the shots began to come into it, and they all had to fly ; 
 and for this a despatch longer than would be necessary 
 for a general action has, I am told, been written and sent 
 home, and more names mentioned than in many serious 
 despatches. Is it not enough to lower us in the estimation 
 of our enemy, when they, knowing the truth, read such 
 letters ? I am told Yelverton is much annoyed, as this 
 is where he has been stationed. He would not take out 
 their little vessels, and knows that if he had wished 
 to take them he had only to send word to the village 
 that he was going to do so, to ensure their being given 
 up without resistance. I am afraid there are few of our 
 men that can really be tru.sted in command, or are fit 
 to decide on what should and should not be done. As 
 to younger officers, I am sorry to say I see little signs 
 of any prudence or judgment to prevent them doing any 
 silly or disgraceful thing, if they can only have a shot 
 at something, or try to get up a fight for the chance of 
 getting their names mentioned. One captain, who I hear 
 is not celebrated for brains, the other day got up a fight 
 with a fort and some gun-boats, quite useless and sure to 
 be against him, and the ship with him was much damaged 
 by a shell. For this I hear there has been a flaming despatch. 
 But the baron tells me that two large ships (which must 
 be the same) went to Pernau, and the senior officer sent 
 on shore to say that all the soldiers in the town must be 
 surrendered as prisoners, all the vessels given up (there 
 
iSssJ TALL TALK — PRINCE LEININGEN. 35 5 
 
 were some small craft moved far up the river), and all 
 government stores surrendered, and the burgomaster was 
 to come off to the ship — the penalty of not complying with 
 these demands being the destruction of the town. The 
 burgomaster went off, and replied that there were no troops, 
 so he could not surrender any, that the vessels he mu§t come 
 and take, but they would resist, and that there were no 
 government stores. Of course this is the Russian version, 
 which goes on to say that the captain was so pleased at 
 the burgomaster's bold conduct that instead of destroying 
 the town he asked him to dinner. Now I happen to know 
 that the said captain asked the admiral to send him gun- 
 boats to destroy th^t very town (as ships cannot get within 
 shot). The admiral asked me about it, and I advised him 
 not to allow it, as it would be only wanton destruction 
 of a defenceless town, and could do no good ; and so he 
 refused him the gun-boats. That looks as if the story 
 were correct, but that, as his ship could not carry out 
 his threat, he tried to get gun-boats to do it. If so, I am 
 glad I helped to thwart him. You must be all very careful 
 not to let a word on these subjects be mentioned as coming 
 from me. 
 
 " We left them at six, the baron going down with us to 
 the gun-boat in which we went off to Merlin. The night 
 was getting dark, and I was doubtful if it would do to let 
 the gun-boat return to the Cossack ; and when I expressed 
 this doubt, Prince Leiningen said he hoped I would not, as 
 he then would get a night's rest, which he would be glad 
 of, as he had kept middle and first watches alternately 
 since he had been in Cossack, and it was his middle watch. 
 So I gave him my spare cabin, and we sat till past ten, 
 during which he gave me a good deal of interesting in- 
 formation about the Queen, the royal children, etc. It was 
 amusing to think that one in his position, with his home 
 at the palace when on leave, should be anxious to get a 
 night in bed ; but he is a thorough lieutenant, sinking the 
 prince entirely. He seems a very intelligent, straight- 
 forward person, with a regular John Bull face. 
 
 " As I had done all I could towards the chart, I deter- 
 mined to come back here on the Saturday, without waiting 
 to pay my promised visit to the Wormso baron's party 
 again. So I sent a message to them by Cochrane, and a 
 Swedish Bible (all the Wormso people are Swedes). I 
 told them I could give the people some Bibles, and the 
 
3S6 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 baron said he should like to see what General Grable (who 
 commands all this district from Revel, and of whom they 
 seem afraid) would say, as he told him they must take 
 nothing from us. So he said if I would give him a Bible 
 for an old man who once served in an English man-of-war, 
 and wguld write my name in it, he would write to General 
 Grable asking permission for the man to have it, just to 
 see what answer he would give. I forgot to say that they 
 were at Hapsal when I went there in the gun-boats, and 
 they gave a similar description to my last of the consterna- 
 tion there. Miss Cooper offered to come off to us in a 
 little boat, but they would not let her. The man in the 
 boat to whom we gave the things w^ coming to them 
 with a letter. He landed away from the town, for fear of 
 the custom-house officers taking away his things, and he 
 got to the baron's house just as some of them were follow- 
 ing him. So he rushed in, to their astonishment, and 
 began throwing tobacco behind one piece of furniture, 
 biscuits here and there in corners out of sight, and sugar 
 and tea in the same, so that he got all out of sight before 
 the custom-house officers got in. The people were expect- 
 ing us to land, and one carriageful and some horsemen 
 we saw on the point had gone down to speak to us if we 
 landed there. 
 
 " I dined with the French chief yesterday. He is very 
 kind always. He said that Admiral Dundas told him there 
 was nothing he could possibly, do that he would not do 
 for me. Admiral Penaud wants me to come to Paris this 
 winter, but I told him I should not have too much time 
 at home." 
 
 "Nargen, October Sih, 1855. 
 
 " On Friday last I went over to the Finland shore to 
 Sibbo Fiord, a good anchorage, where Key had been 
 stationed, cutting off the coasting trade ; it is only about 
 ten miles from Sweaborg. The admiral wanted me to see 
 the anchorage, and also to send back the gun-boats with 
 Key, as all of them are going home immediately ; at the 
 same time I wanted to take up a large buoy from the 
 Kalbaden shoal to put it off Wormso on the ApoUon, 
 where it will be much required when the ships withdraw 
 from this part of the gulf After getting up the buoy, we 
 went into Sibbo Fiord, the Russian charts being admirable, 
 so that there is no difficulty in entering, though by the 
 
i855] THE Russians' bold scheme. 357 
 
 charts it seems bounded by nests of rocks. We found 
 Key and his two " children ' anchored near a point on the 
 mainland, where nothing could pass him, and in the act of 
 bringing four vessels loaded with wood, taken the previous 
 night. There had been a strong report of six steam-boats 
 having escaped from Cronstadt to go to Sweaborg, though 
 I don't believe it ; and they at night put his two gun- 
 boats outside the islands, where they might pass clear of 
 the Ampkion, and in the night they saw several vessels 
 close to them. They felt confident they were the Russian 
 gun-boats, and they slipped their cables and ran their two 
 small craft in among them ; they proved to be these four 
 vessels full of wood for the government at Sweaborg, where 
 they were hard up for it ; and these men thought they 
 would run it in the dark outside, so they were greatly 
 surprised when pounced on by the two boats. Key had 
 had an anxious time of it for some nights since the moon 
 had gone. We knew some time since that they had 
 organised two hundred row-boats at Sweaborg, manned 
 by three thousand volunteers — the seamen of the fleet 
 chiefly —for the purpose of boarding any one of our vessels 
 in the night, and from the fishermen and others on the 
 island who went about as usual Key heard this confirmed, 
 and that it was likely Amphion would be attacked, so 
 every night was passed at quarters and prepared in every 
 way ; and three nights previous a fire of musketry opened 
 suddenly about half a mile from the ship. The next day 
 the fishermen told them that, while fishing just in the 
 channel from Sweaborg, they were suddenly fired on by 
 Russian boats, which took them for English guard-boats. 
 They were then quite surrounded by a large number of 
 boats, but these returned to Sweaborg, apparently thinking 
 they had discovered themselves by firing on the fishermen. 
 Both Key and myself thought it unsafe for Amphion to 
 remain there alone, without either her gun-boats or a 
 second vessel, not but what he would in all probability 
 have defeated an attack, but it would not do to risk it, as 
 with such masses of men they ought to succeed. They at 
 first organised the boats to attack Edinburgh, and she 
 moved into a clear place to have room to act more freely ; 
 but if they would dream of carrying a two-decked ship, 
 of course there was double the risk for a frigate. The 
 next day I returned with the two gun-boats to Nargen, and 
 told the admiral I did not like Key lying there alone, and 
 
358 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 asked him to send another vessel over. As he had none 
 ready to send, he sent me back to recall Key and bring 
 him to Nargen for a day or two, till he could give him 
 another vessel. When I got back it was a dense fog, but 
 I got in and found Amphion, though they first knew of our 
 being there by the noise of our paddles. We got out 
 before dark. I pushed back to Nargen that I might not be 
 out on Sunday if I could help it, and got in at 1 1 p.m. 
 
 " Key had many deserters from Sweaborg, and all agreed 
 as to the immense loss and destruction there. He also 
 had regular communication through the fishermen on the 
 islands round him, who went regularly to market ; and an 
 old woman did their marketing for them, bringing them 
 things regularly. They were capitally off — fresh meat and 
 poultry from Helsingfors, and good fish, cream, milk, and 
 eggs from the islands; Key having wisely got a supply 
 of Russian money, so that the people were not afraid to 
 take it. 
 
 " Now as a set-off to the disgraceful acts of some of our 
 people I mentioned in my last, I must show how different 
 it is when such men as Key and Yelverton are concerned. 
 On the point of mainland near Key are a large number of 
 riflemen, but he never fires at them (being out of their 
 rifle-range, and they well within that of his guns), knowing 
 it is useless and almost murder to kill them when no 
 ulterior object is to be gained. On the islands the people 
 were as much respected by the men as if they were in 
 England. Key allowed them to go about among the little 
 villages, with a clear understanding that taking the slightest 
 thing from a house or island would be as much theft as 
 if taken from one of our own countrymen. And one day 
 an officer saw a woman crying, and she said a man was 
 in her house and had broken open a cupboard. The officer 
 found the man inside, and found the cupboard had been 
 broken open, but he had taken nothing. They flogged 
 him severely, and no other case occurred. When I went 
 to recall Key he was at the village, and he sent his boat 
 back to pay some money and bring off his washed clothes ; 
 and when the coxswain told the people they were going 
 away and might not come back, some of them began to 
 cry. So you see we have not everywhere such a bad name 
 in Finland as the Russians make out. Such men as 
 Yelverton and Key are above making war unnecessarily 
 distressing. No wonder we are sometimes the laughing- 
 
l855] WINDY DESPATCHES. 3 59 
 
 Stock of the Russians, when a ninety-gun ship and two 
 frigates fire broadsides into a defenceless village because 
 a few militiamen were there, some of whom were foolish 
 enough to fire their muskets. One small steamer, Bulldog, 
 had gone into the same place a few days before to take out 
 a vessel she chased in, leaving those that we laid up there 
 all the summer, but could easily have taken all if thought 
 necessary. 
 
 " I hear to-day that has been writing some long- 
 winded despatch about some chance he has had of firing 
 at something. Yet these trumpery despatches are some- 
 times published, and lead to men being promoted where 
 real service, if not puffed off by the captain, is neglected. 
 We have a proof of this now. Key, in Amphion, has had 
 perhaps more real service than any vessel out here in the 
 two years, except it is Arrogant. This year she has had 
 twelve shots through her hull, and is much damaged aloft, 
 and two men killed and about ten wounded on board, 
 which can be said of no other ship in the Baltic except 
 Arrogant. But Key has never made much of anything — 
 simply written a few plain lines stating the facts, and 
 recommending his first lieutenant. Because not exaggerated 
 and made a good story of, his letters have not been published, 
 while things not worth mentioning have been. In con- 
 sequence his first lieutenant is the only one not promoted, 
 although he has served both years in the Baltic, and was 
 present at both Bomarsund and Sweaborg, besides their 
 own minor actions. Key is, justly, much hurt, and I have 
 advised him to write plainly about it, and state that it 
 encourages oflficers to exaggerate what they do, and that 
 it makes men suffer because they are above such un- 
 English tricks. The promotions for Sweaborg are fair and 
 pretty liberal to the seniors in the larger ships, but they 
 had little to do with it, merely going in the rocket-boats 
 at night. The lieutenants of the gun-boats, who really 
 had the brunt of it, have been treated much less liberally, 
 the two seniors only made, out of about thirteen. 
 
 " The weather remains singularly fine. Last year we 
 had one succession of gales from southward and westward. 
 Key goes home to-morrow, lucky fellow ! I hope in a 
 month we shall be on our way (D.V.). This evening all the 
 gun-boats started in a flock, in high glee, for home ; and 
 just after passing the ships two or three stopped and a 
 boat was lowered — evidently a man had fallen overboard. 
 
36o AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 At last up went the signal, ' Man is not saved.' Poor 
 fellow ! it quite cast a damp on our talking of home and 
 envying the gun-boats. It is doubly distressing at such 
 a time. 
 
 " The accounts from Helsingfors all agree in showing the 
 deep gratitude of the people for our not destroying it, and 
 at the same time paint in terrible colours the horrors and 
 misery they went through, expecting hourly to be bom- 
 barded. They carried away everything they could inland, 
 the government stores, etc., being all removed. Had we 
 shown intentions of attacking it, they were going to send 
 a deputation off to beg us to spare it, as it was all private 
 property. I would rather have had a share in saving that 
 place, and the ruin and misery its destruction would have 
 caused, than the share of credit I received for Sweaborg. 
 It is a comfort to me that I always tried to prevent it 
 when planning beforehand, as my letters to you will have 
 shown you, and also after Sweaborg I said all I could 
 against trying to burn Helsingfors ; and I have the same 
 feeling about Revel. But as the poor Finns have had 
 all the suffering of the war, and Esthonia nothing, if a 
 town must go, I would rather it were Revel ; but if it is 
 decided not to spare it, I would much rather defer it 
 for next season, when the means of doing it effectually 
 and without much risk could be prepared ; and besides, 
 if we have peace in the meantime, it would save the sad 
 misery. 
 
 " I confess, if we are to destroy towns and carry on a war 
 more barbarous than was known in Napoleon's time, I 
 hope I shall get on shore as soon as possible. There is 
 only one more place worthy of our attack, or that we can 
 do any good by destroying, and that is Cronstadt. The 
 destruction of every town on the coasts would not lead 
 a bit more to peace, would multiply the horrors of war, 
 and leave a spirit that may prevent any friendly feelings 
 between us for a generation after peace is made. If I 
 thought the blessing of peace would be brought about by 
 destroying Revel and Helsingfors, I should feel it a duty 
 to destroy them ; but as it cannot affect the question 
 of war or peace, but, on the contrary, excite a spirit of 
 war and revenge in Russia, it is not only useless, but 
 un-Christian to do such a barbarous act. 
 
 " The new block-ships, not being eflficient vessels, and all 
 the small craft will be home in October." 
 
I855-] A CRY FOR PEACE. 36 1 
 
 " [Private.] 
 
 " Nargen. 
 
 " There is great anxiety about the promotions which are 
 expected to-morrow. I do not expect any honours will be 
 out yet. I look more anxiously every week for some 
 hopes of peace than anything else. Last week the papers 
 had some rumours of it, but Sevastopol is the difficulty. 
 Had it not been for that sad expedition we should have 
 had peace now, every object of the war gained, and, oh ! 
 what blood, misery, and treasure would have been saved ! 
 But we must think it has all been permitted for some wise 
 purpose which we cannot now understand. The alliance 
 between England and France may lead to such national 
 blessings and destruction of old animosity, that it may, by 
 preventing a worse war for us, repay us for all the misery 
 of the present time. I do hope there is a strong feeling 
 leading all Christian Churches at home to pray earnestly 
 for peace, and to check those feelings ol fancied military 
 honour and glory which lead so many to counsel and wish 
 for war. If they could feel a little only of the horrors 
 suffered by the poor people at Kertch, and the misery and 
 anxiety caused by driving people with their things from 
 their homes in Helsingfors and Revel, they would think 
 very differently about war. 
 
 " The accounts (if true) from Helsingfors show a much 
 larger loss at Sweaborg than the Russian despatches allow. 
 One account says that a regiment of a thousand men was 
 nearly destroyed at Gustafsvard — that is where the heavy 
 explosion occurred." 
 
 "Nargen, Thursday, September \Tfh. 
 
 " I saw the admiral to-day, and I find he wishes to 
 go up to Admiral Seymour, near Cronstadt, to arrange 
 with him before he goes to Stockholm, so he starts in 
 Duke to-morrow very early, and we go with him. The 
 French Government quite decided that nothing more 
 should be attempted, so their small craft are all going 
 home. Ours will go early next month. I wish I were 
 a small craft ! I went on shore for a walk, and saw them 
 playing a cricket match, and then came off in time for 
 the officers' dinner, this being my regular day for dining 
 with them. I have been reading Wellington's despatches, 
 and it is singular how exactly he complains like us of 
 the falsehood and injury of the newspaper articles. They 
 
362 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 were abusing him for doing nothing at the very time he 
 had more difficulties to struggle with than ever, and was, 
 by his care in avoiding a battle, actually saving Portugal, 
 and gaining all he wished for. But no paper had the 
 influence then with the public that the Times has now, 
 and these attacks on us all are, of course, delightful to 
 the enemy. We hear that the Times is received inside 
 Sevastopol the day it reaches our camp, and eagerly read 
 for information about our army, etc. Yesterday our gun- 
 boats were taking some good oak timber off Wolf Island, 
 when a baron somebody came over in a small boat from 
 Revel and said it was his ; and as we paid for everything, 
 — milk, fish, etc. — at Nargen, he hoped the admiral would 
 pay him for his oak timber, which was part of the cargo 
 of a wreck he had bought. Caldwell explained to him 
 it was rather different ; but out of sixty fine logs only 
 took thirteen. The baron said they thought we were 
 going to destroy Revel after Sweaborg ; but that it would 
 have done us no good, and could not have any effect on 
 the war either way. This is, I think, the real truth. He 
 certainly showed great confidence, for he came over without 
 a flag-of-truce. He said the war was doing one good in 
 Russia ; it was making them bring out their internal 
 resources more than ever, as they were now working salt- 
 mines, etc., that were not worked before, and opening out 
 roads for inland conveyance, though their rivers enabled 
 them to do much by water. There were two small vessels 
 taken full of wood, and stripped of each rope, etc., as usual, 
 before being fired at as targets. To-day the crews, including 
 one woman, said that one belonged to the baron ; but the 
 other to the men themselves, and her loss would ruin 
 them. So the admiral had her sails and rigging restored, 
 and had her rigged and fitted out, and gave them all 
 leave to go in her to Revel. These little merciful acts 
 will do great good, I am sure. 
 
 " Friday 7tight. — Instead of starting to-day, we have been 
 detained by a gale from the north-east, blowing right into 
 this bay. But it has quite confirmed the view I have 
 always urged, that the banks protected it well, and that 
 it was a safe anchorage, even with this wind. There has 
 been little sea, and nothing for large ships. I have always 
 urged not having colliers here ; and if any of those here 
 go on shore to-night, it will not be my fault. The same 
 with the gun-boats. Only yesterday I urged the admiral, 
 
iSSSj A GALE AT NARGEN. 363 
 
 if it blew from this quarter, to send them round the other 
 side of the island, which is quite sheltered ; but it has 
 not been done, and they have all this gale to stand. 
 However, they looked to be riding very well at dusk. 
 It is odd that the September gales last year were from 
 south to west, and this year the three hard blows lately 
 have all been from the north-eastward. This wind will 
 try the anchorage for the Cronstadt squadron at Seskar ; 
 but I do not fear it for large ships. I have urged the 
 colliers going to Biorko ; but I fear they have a collier 
 at Seskar, and if so they may lose her. These are points 
 more directly under the captain of fleet, and he is very 
 undecided and nervous about their being anywhere near the 
 shore, even if at very long shot, for fear the enemy will bring 
 guns down. At Bare Sound, where I succeeded in getting 
 some colliers sent, the result had proved the advantage ; yet 
 we have three or four here now, exposed to this gale, 
 when a land-locked cove is within twenty-five miles, where 
 all ships might go to coal. Now if these colliers were all 
 lost, I know the captain, who has not liked this anchorage 
 for the fleet, would say, ' There, this is your favourite 
 anchorage,' forgetting that I have expressly said only 
 for large ships, and that colliers, etc., ought not to be here. 
 But this again shows the unfair position I am in, as I 
 am looked to for advice on these points, but have no 
 power to get my advice carried out, and yet have the 
 responsibility. The admiral is so kind that I cannot 
 show any feeling of this sort. Were it only the captain, 
 I would just give him an opinion in writing about the 
 safety of the ships, and have no more bother about it, 
 leaving the responsibility resting with him, I having 
 proof of what my opinions were in the written document. 
 But I cannot do that now. One comfort is, it is all passing 
 the time away, and that is everything now to me. I do 
 trust before next spring peace may end it, for I feel a 
 longing to be quietly home again, free from the anxiety 
 and excitement which I cannot very well bear, even with 
 everything going most smoothly and favourably for me." 
 
 " \Private:\ 
 
 " Nargen, September 20th, 1855. 
 
 " All the ships and their masters and captains are going 
 crazy. This morning I had to go to Baro Sound to find 
 out about H having got on shore in there. She 
 
364 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 relieved H and R , ordered home immediately. 
 
 The first thing the admiral tells me on my return is that 
 
 R had touched on a rock coming out of Baro 
 
 Sound, having actually mistaken the passage I took her 
 
 in through, and going the wrong way. Also that H 
 
 in the night had run on a dangerous bank, the Nye ground, 
 which you will see in the chart farther down the gulf 
 Two vessels have gone to help her. All this is very bad. 
 Directly the ships are trusted about singly they get into 
 these scrapes. Fortunately the weather is beautifully fine. 
 " I believe the poor people, especially the Finns, are 
 suffering sadly. When 1 went up to Cronstadt, I took two 
 boats crossing the gulf, one loaded with corn, the other 
 with brandy, and five men in each. The poor men in the 
 corn-boat had been across to buy it, and were going back 
 to Finland. The poor creatures said, when I told them 
 they must not cross or their boat would be taken, that 
 they could not starve, and must risk anything rather than 
 their families should do so. I could not take the poor 
 fellows' all, so I let them go, corn and all, only taking one 
 bag for our poultry, giving them tobacco for it, to their 
 great delight. The poor fellows went on their knees and 
 tried to embrace mine with joy at being released, and 
 prayed for every blessing for me they could. The brandy- 
 boat was from the south side, going to cross and try to pass 
 through the Finnish islands all the way to Sweden, to 
 change their brandy for things they were greatly in want 
 of They were in a low, poor boat, with two boards nailed 
 up its sides, but quite unsafe. I explained to them that 
 they could not pass our ships at several points before they 
 got to Sweden, and that they would be taken and lose all, 
 and I persuaded them to go back, which they did ; I could 
 not find the heart to add to the misery of these poor 
 people. Those at home who are so anxious to prolong the 
 war little understand what they would feel were our country 
 in the state of this one ; and I fear it is the poor who suffer 
 most, and the Finns more than all, as they had the most 
 trade and ships." 
 
 Calling to inquire about a sick peasant he had seen the 
 year before, and finding the daughter in, he adds : — 
 
 " When she recognised me she brightened up, and was 
 sorry she did not recollect the ' good captain,' whom all the 
 
l855] OVERWORKED CRONSTADT. 365 
 
 people here liked so. About three weeks since some sailors 
 broke into the house in the night, and stole what little tea, 
 sugar, and coffee they had got from the ships, as well as a 
 few silver spoons — all they had. What is more cruel still, 
 they had just stored their hay — their only food for the cows 
 and stock in the winter — -when some of our men set fire to 
 it, and of course destroyed hay-house and all. They will 
 probably lose most of their cattle through it. She said 
 she thought they were French sailors ; but I fear not, for 
 we have had many vessels here, and I do not think the 
 French have. We have also several colliers, and perhaps 
 their crews may have done it. I fear the poor Alanders 
 have suffered much this year ; their vessels have been 
 taken, and all that understanding I established, and 
 Admiral Napier approved of, has been done away with. 
 A new vessel was building when the fleet was lying here 
 last year. The men went on working at her on a promise 
 from Sir Charles that she would not be destroyed. She 
 was launched this summer, and since taken by us. The 
 Russians have ill-treated them for their supposed friendly 
 feelings to us, and now we treat them as regular enemies 
 also." 
 
 Soon after the work and anxiety at Sweaborg were 
 over, Captain Sulivan, who had not felt it at the time, 
 became very unwell with pains in the head and severe 
 spasms in the spine. The doctors said it proceeded from 
 the brain having been overstrained, and advised his going 
 home. Through this the Merlin returned home some 
 time before the rest of the fleet. On arriving at Wool- 
 wich, Captain Sulivan was sent for by the First Lord, Sir 
 C. Wood, who, before Admiral Sir M. Berkeley and 
 Captain Sir Baldwin Walker, asked him what could be 
 done the next year at Cronstadt, telling him how many 
 guns and mortar-vessels could be ready, and wishing to 
 know whether there was sufficient prospect of success to 
 justify further preparations. Captain Sulivan assured him 
 that even with fewer small vessels, if the floating batteries 
 answered, there could be no doubt about burning the town, 
 
366 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 and after that probably taking the place, or at least 
 destroying the fleet. He explained step by step, at sub- 
 sequent interviews, how it could be done with such pro- 
 bability of success as quite to justify attempting it. The 
 next day he went with the First Lord and Sir B. Walker 
 to try a new class of gun-boat, in order to decide whether 
 more of them should be built, and then, after dining with 
 the First Lord, spent the evening with him and Sir B. 
 Walker in discussing the future plans. He urged that, to 
 be independent of the French floating batteries, in case 
 they were not brought from the Mediterranean, two more 
 should be built, and a few days after Sir B. Walker told 
 him that he would be glad to know they were ordered.* 
 This shows how thoroughly the First Lord knew his services, 
 and put confidence in his opinion. 
 
 When Admiral Dundas returned, he said to Captain 
 Sulivan, " So you have been assuring the First Lord that we 
 can burn Cronstadt and perhaps take it ? " " Yes." " Well, 
 I fear you are much too sanguine ; I don't think it is at all 
 certain." " Recollect, sir, you thought the same before 
 Sweaborg." This was the substance of a long conversation 
 on the subject, but the admiral never would express the 
 slightest confidence in the success of the plan. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1856, however, peace was made, 
 so that the plan for attacking Cronstadt was, fortunately, 
 not required to be put into execution. 
 
 The Baltic fleet was reviewed by Her Majesty the 
 Queen at Spithead on April 23rd, 1856. 
 
 Captain Sulivan had previously applied for the 'two 
 surveying-vessels to be given the honour of leading the 
 two divisions at the review, as they had led the ships in 
 the Baltic against the enemy. Accordingly, the starboard 
 
 * See illustration of these vessels in the Daily Graphic of November 
 ^nd, 1895. 
 
1856.] IGNATIEFF re CRONSTADT. 367 
 
 division was led by him in the Merlin, the port by Captain 
 Otter in the Alban. 
 
 It is probable that the success at Sweaborg had some 
 effect in helping to bring about the peace, for it made the 
 Russians fear for Cronstadt, as they well knew that pre- 
 parations were being made for attacking it. After the war 
 my father had many conversations on the subject with 
 (then) Colonel Count Ignatieff, who was then a member of 
 the Russian Embassy, and who had during the war been 
 stationed at Cronstadt and at Sweaborg. The count par- 
 ticularly asked Captain Sulivan whether we really intended 
 to attack Cronstadt, and on the latter assuring him that we 
 did, and that it would not only have been burnt like 
 Sweaborg, but would have been closely attacked, and 
 probably taken, or at least the fleet burnt, Ignatieff asked 
 him how he could suppose this, when they were building 
 new batteries on the north side, and floating batteries also. 
 Sulivan replied, " Because we should have attacked it early 
 in June, and you would not have had the new batteries 
 armed or a floating battery ready by that time, and I 
 believe not till August." " How do you know that ? " 
 " Never mind how we know it ; but was it not so ? " 
 At last he, the count, confessed that they would not have 
 been ready in June. Sulivan said he thought the fear 
 of our succeeding at Cronstadt had much to do with their 
 consenting to make peace, and Ignatieff allowed that it 
 might have influenced their decision to accept the terms. 
 
 The Russians having removed their buoys and beacons 
 in the Baltic during the war, Ignatieff was instructed to 
 ask Captain Sulivan's advice as to the best places on 
 which to put them down again, as he knew more about 
 the subject than the Russians themselves ! 
 
 The honours for Sweaborg did not come out till early in 
 1856, when there was every prospect of peace. Captain 
 
368 AFTER SWEABORG. Ch. XV. 
 
 Sulivan's brother-officers had so frequently assured him 
 that he must get the K.C.B. if any honours were given, 
 that he expected it, more particularly as it was well 
 known to many at the Admiralty that the C.B. had been 
 promised him long before for the Parana campaign. His 
 disappointment was therefore all the greater when he found 
 liberal rewards were given to nearly every one but himself 
 The admiral was made a K.C.B. (it ought to have been the 
 G.C.B.) ; all the captains, except two or three who were 
 C.B.'s befoi'e, received the C.B. ; liberal promotions were 
 given to juniors ; and the officer who commanded at 
 Sweaborg, being a C.B. before, was made an A.D.C. to 
 the Queen. The senior marine artillery officer. Captain 
 Wemyss, was made a major, and shortly after a C.B. and 
 lieutenant-colonel. This was the first instance in the naval 
 service of the C.B. being given for service as a captain of 
 marines, but in his case most justly given, as he held an 
 important command, and by his throwing aside old ideas 
 and pouring in a more rapid mortar fire the first hour than 
 had ever been thought of before, he greatly contributed to 
 the success, as it got up rapidly such a body of fire that 
 it could not be put out. (Colonel Ignatieff told Captain 
 Sulivan that.it upset all their arrangements for putting out 
 fires.) But if the service was of such special merit as to 
 obtain for a captain of marine artillery two steps in rank 
 and the C.B., it might have been supposed that a captain 
 in the navy, a C.B. at the time, who was ten years stand- 
 ing in the rank of colonel and lieutenant-colonel, who 
 planned the attack, really conducted it, and placed every 
 mortar-vessel, giving the marine artillery officers the exact 
 ranges, which enabled them to do their work so well, 
 would receive some slight recognition of his services ; and 
 that if the K.C.B. (which was given freely at the time to 
 colonels in the army, his juniors, in addition to special pro- 
 
1856.] SENIORITY, NOT SERVICE. 369 
 
 motion to major-general) was too high an honour for a naval 
 man of the same rank, the First Lord would at least give 
 him the slight reward of a good-service pension or A.D.C. 
 to the Queen. But no, he was considered " too junior " for 
 any reward. Not too junior to be worked nearly to death, 
 to be consulted and used when he could be made useful, 
 and not too junior to win by his exertions and success 
 honours in plenty for others ; and yet this argument 
 against his being deserving of any reward whatever was 
 actually used against him by the very admiral who had 
 told him, " I owe you a debt of gratitude I can never repay." 
 That others did not think this was shown by the late 
 Admiral Sir James Hope (then Captain Hope) refusing the 
 good-service pension when offered him, and telling the First 
 Lord he hoped he would give it to Captain Sulivan, as a 
 reward to him would be received with satisfaction by the 
 whole Baltic fleet. The answer was, that he knew he must 
 do something for him, but that he could not get over 
 difficulties of seniority ; so he gave the G.S.P. to Captain 
 
 , who entered the service four years after Captain 
 
 Sulivan, but through interest had got four years' start of 
 him as a captain, and therefore, without having ever in 
 any rank been engaged with an enemy, was thought more 
 deserving of an honorary reward than one who had as 
 commander and captain shared in three important cam- 
 paigns, and been specially recommended and gazetted for 
 each of them. Captain Sulivan allowed this apparent 
 slight to affect him more than it perhaps should have done, 
 but he was one who never saw an injustice committed 
 without strongly protesting against it, without the least 
 considering how such boldness might affect his own 
 interest. It was not merely his own part he was taking, 
 it was that of the service in general. It had seemingly 
 been laid down by the Lords of the Admiralty that naval 
 
 24 
 
370 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 officers of a certain rank were not entitled to certain 
 honorary rewards, freely given to their juniors in the army, 
 unless they happened to be serving with a military force. 
 Again, the maxim was laid down by Admiral Dundas, that 
 honorary rewards were to be given by seniority, not for 
 special service ! Sulivan saw in himself the representative 
 of the navy, and protested against these opinions. There 
 was no question of the services he had rendered the 
 country — these were freely admitted — but " overstrained 
 ideas of seniority " were allowed to deprive him of honorary 
 recognition. 
 
 In 1857, when further honours for Sweaborg had been 
 given, he wrote to the Admiralty, asking to be informed 
 why he had been passed over. The reply was that he 
 was " too junior, his turn had not yet come." He did not 
 again publicly allude to the matter, until further honours 
 were contemplated in 1865, when, hearing his name had 
 not been mentioned, he saw the private secretary of the then 
 First Lord, who, with the First Lord, expressed ignorance 
 of his services ! Sir Charles Wood and others having then 
 given testimony to his work, it was considered too late 
 to make any alteration, and that his " seniority " was not 
 sufficient. This is one instance out of many which could 
 be quoted, showing the want of continuity in naval ad- 
 ministration, by which an officer's services, however valuable, 
 may be unknown to the authorities who later have the 
 bestowal of promotion and rewards. Sulivan thought this 
 record quite sufficient, when again in 1867 further pro- 
 motions in the Order of the Bath were made, which called 
 forth the criticism of the Times and other papers. His 
 "want of seniority" made his name again omitted. At 
 length, in some measure owing to the representations of 
 Admirals Sir James Hope, Sir A. C. Key, Sir Spencer 
 Robinson, and others, his " turn " was supposed to have 
 
1856.] A CHOICE OF APPOINTMENTS. 37 1 
 
 come, and he was made a K.C.B. in 1869, fourteen years 
 after the war. 
 
 That there was no feeling against him personally, and 
 that his treatment was caused, as the Hydrographer ex- 
 pressed it, "by overstrained ideas respecting seniority," 
 is proved by the unusual consideration shown Captain 
 Sulivan in other respects. He was asked after the war if 
 there was any appointment he would prefer ; and it was 
 intimated to him that, if he wished it, he might have one of 
 the first dockyards vacant, though he was not of the usual 
 standing for such an appointment 
 
 On explaining to the Senior Naval Lord that as the Cape 
 command as commodore would soon be vacant, he would 
 prefer it to a home appointment. Sir M. Berkeley very 
 kindly said he believed every one at the Board wished him 
 to have an appointment that he preferred, and he would 
 mention the wish to the First Lord. Privately he heard that 
 he might make pretty sure of going ; but, shortly before 
 the vacancy occurred, Admiral Beechey's death made a 
 vacancy for the appointment of naval officer to the Board 
 of Trade, and the First Lord offered it to Sulivan. 
 
 At first he refused it, not wishing to give up active 
 service, and particularly the Cape command ; but the 
 permanency of the civil appointment and the apparent 
 advantage to his family induced him to accept it. 
 
 It is difficult to understand how the same men, who 
 could so desire to give him an unusually good appointment 
 on account of his Baltic services, without any interest to 
 aid him, could yet refuse him all honorary reward for 
 such special services, though they showered honours so 
 freely on others with, in some cases, very trifling claims 
 to them, and even on some who were never within gun- 
 shot of an enemy. 
 
 Entire ignorance on the subject will alone explain their 
 
372 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV. 
 
 refusing the K.C.B. to all under the rank of admiral, while 
 the military authorities were making numerous colonels 
 of much less standing both major-generals and K.C.B.'s. 
 It was really for the sake of the principle involved that 
 Captain Sulivan pushed his claims. His pamphlet on 
 " Honours " clearly shows how these should be bestowed 
 to maintain the value of the distinctions. 
 
 Two years after Sweaborg, when every officer senior to 
 him who had the slightest claim had received either a 
 G.S.P. or an A.D.C., one was given to a captain who was 
 a year junior to him. Sir R. Dundas then told the First 
 Lord that he thought it should have been given to Sulivan, 
 and he received the next vacant " good-service pension.'' 
 
 To return to the winter of 1855. Admiral Sir James 
 Hope wrote as follows : — 
 
 "London, December 21st, 1855. 
 
 " Mv DEAR Sulivan, — Sir C. Wood told me to-day that 
 he intended to put me on a committee with you and Key, 
 to report on some sub-marine boat. I told him that we 
 should be glad in such an inquiry to have the assistance 
 of a civil engineer of acknowledged reputation, accustomed 
 to sub-marine operations. He promised anything we 
 should judge necessary. 
 
 " And now, my dear Sulivan, I hope you will forgive me 
 if I have done wrong, but I could not resist the temptation 
 the other day, when I first saw Sir C. Wood on my arrival, 
 and he alluded to the good-service pension I refused, of 
 telling him how highly I thought you deserved it of the 
 Admiralty, and how well bestowed I thought it would have 
 been on you or Watson, and that I felt very sure we all 
 in the Baltic should have rejoiced at your getting it. He 
 told me that he was fully sensible of it all, that he intended 
 as soon as he could do so to remember you, but that he 
 could not as yet get over considerations of seniority. So 
 I hope as soon as two or three more tumble in, which 
 must happen soon, that you will not be forgotten. He 
 offered me an aide-de-camp-ship, but I declined, on the 
 ground that I had been amply rewarded for all I had ever 
 had the luck to do. I would rather wait till I felt I had 
 
I855-] A SUB-MARINE VENTURE. 373 
 
 earned it, of which I hoped there might be a chance next 
 year. 
 
 " Believe me, my dear Sulivan, yours sincerely, 
 
 " J. Hope." 
 
 The trial of a sub-marine boat, referred to by Admiral 
 Hope, took place in Poole Harbour, it being thought the 
 most private locality for the purpose. Imagine a large 
 inverted whale-boat of iron, with a chamber at each end 
 filled with compressed air. The commissioners (Hope, 
 Sulivan, and Key) were watching the trial from a yacht. 
 The boat was lowered keel uppermost, the crew being under 
 the thwarts, as in a diving-bell. When the boat was 
 allowed to sink nearly to the bottom, the men got down, 
 and, with their heads in the air-filled boat, pushed it 
 along as they walked on the ground. The air was supplied 
 as wanted by taps, and buoys attached to each end of the 
 boat marked its progress. When the boat was some dis- 
 tance from the yacht, suddenly something like the snout of 
 a whale appeared above the water, out blew a lot of spray, 
 and down it went. While the yacht was steaming up to 
 it, the apparition appeared a second time, with the same 
 result. Then was heard the tapping of a hammer against 
 the iron sides of the boat, an agreed-upon signal. The 
 boat was hauled up, and the engineer and five men found 
 almost at their last gasp. All had gone well until the 
 boat was wanted at the surface. To accomplish this, a 
 heavy weight attached at each end of the boat by a chain 
 had to be thrown out. On the crew attempting to rise, one 
 chain caught — consequently the unchecked end rose some- 
 what perpendicularly, and the air inside escaped. The 
 engineer's presence of mind saved the party. There was a 
 smaller hold between the main-hold and one air-chamber. 
 On the loss of air consequent on the two rises, the men 
 were got into this. With his hand on the cock, the 
 
374 AFTER SWEABORG. [Ch. XV, 
 
 engineer waited until he saw the men gasping, when he 
 would give them a little more air. In this way he spun out 
 his small remaining supply until the yacht came to their 
 rescue, and raised the boat by means of the ropes attached 
 to buoys, which the forethought of Sulivan had provided. 
 After this, the commissioners themselves went down in 
 her, but did not go far from the yacht ! This was the 
 last, I believe, heard of the invention, which was intended 
 for use against the boom at Cronstadt, etc. 
 
 In confirmation of the statement on page 367, I may 
 state that, on reading it in the proofs, my father's cousin, 
 Admiral T. B. M. Sulivan, told me that in 1861 he met 
 M. Tchesterkofif, commodore of the Russian squadron off the 
 coast of Syria, who, on learning his relationship to Captain 
 B. J. Sulivan, stated that, after the war, the Russian Govern- 
 ment sent an official to consult the latter on the rebuoying 
 of their Baltic shores. 
 
 Not only after the Parana campaign, but also after the 
 Baltic war, the French admirals therein engaged recom- 
 mended the Emperor to confer a high grade of the Legion 
 of Honour upon Captain Sulivan. For the Parana expe- 
 dition no exchange of decorations was allowed by our 
 Government. After the Russian war, with the exception 
 of one for Admiral Dundas, all the French decorations sent 
 for our navy were taken by Admiral Lyons for his officers. 
 Yet, so far as regarded service with the French fleet, other 
 Baltic officers besides Captain Sulivan had claims prior to 
 many Black Sea recipients. Admiral Penaud, in talking 
 to some of our officers of the power which their naval 
 authorities possessed of promoting a captain to the rank of 
 admiral for special service, as Tr^houart had been advanced, 
 said that, if Sulivan had been in the French navy, he would 
 certainly have been thus rewarded. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 1857-65. 
 
 Captain Sulivan joined the Board of Trade in 1857, 
 with the title of " Professional Officer," his chief duties 
 being connected with the Lights Boards of the United 
 Kingdom. He had the departments of Lights, Pilotage, 
 and Life-boats, and, conjointly with Captain Walker, 
 inquiries into losses of ships and the conduct of master- 
 mariners. Later on he undertook also the work of 
 engineer of the Harbour Department, this saving the Board 
 the salary of an engineer, ;£'8oo per annum. I have no 
 record of his work under the Board, but we learn his views 
 on important questions connected with it from the evi- 
 dence he gave at the royal commissions of inquiry before 
 which he appeared. The list of these will show how much 
 labour was thrown upon him. He was a most valuable 
 and interesting witness, as he brought his great and varied 
 experience to bear upon the subjects in question. There 
 is, however, no space in this volume to give more than 
 extracts from the reports of his evidence. These show 
 that he was made the most of by the commissioners, 
 his examinations extending over two and sometimes three 
 days. A summary is given in the Appendices. 
 
 The reforms needed in the royal and mercantile navies 
 are stated in his evidence so clearly, and illustrated by 
 such striking examples, that the reports well repay perusal. 
 
 375 
 
376 THE BOARD OF TRADE. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 His ability fcr seeing the weak points of any system, and 
 his power of originating remedies, evidently impressed 
 the commissioners, for his ideas were in almost every case 
 recommended for adoption in the reports. If we regret 
 that he did not continue to serve afloat, and so lost the 
 opportunity of showing what he could do in command 
 of a fleet, we have instead the fruit of his plans for naval 
 reform, etc., which have proved of great benefit to the 
 service and to the country. 
 
 For the first four years of his official life Captain 
 Sulivan resided at Spring Grove, Isleworth. Both he 
 and his wife preferred living out of London, and he 
 was too tired after his day's work to return to town 
 for dinners and entertainments, which he disliked. He 
 could not have stood the strain of his work so long 
 had he not lived quietly. He kept riding-horses, and 
 often rode to and from London with his wife or one of 
 his daughters. He usually spent Sunday afternoons in 
 the neighbouring poorer districts, taking generally copies 
 of The British Workman, which he distributed ; and some- 
 times he would read aloud a tale from it to a group of 
 working-men. One day, when he was visiting the brick- 
 fields, a woman said to him, " It is all very well for you 
 to tell us not to drink beer, and then to go home to your 
 glass of wine " ; so henceforth he dropped the one glass 
 he sometimes had taken by the doctor's orders. Though 
 he often lunched at his club, the United Service, he was 
 never a club man, and did not keep as much in touch 
 with his brother-officers as he might have done. He 
 was somewhat lax in attention to official and social 
 formalities, disliking " full uniform " work, though occasion- 
 ally he attended a levde. 
 
 The six weeks' summer vacation was usually spent 
 with the whole family at Flushing, Falmouth, where his 
 
1857-65.] HOLIDAYS. 377 
 
 mother still lived after the death of his father in 1857. He 
 was never so happy as when afloat again in any kind of 
 sailing craft. We boys were trained in the handling of all 
 sorts of rigs. He himself was the biggest boy of the party. 
 Whoever was with him reaped the benefit of his wealth 
 of practical knowledge and fund of interesting anecdote. 
 His beloved Philomel ■wa^.s at one time moored as a hulk 
 in the harbour, and on her deck we heard the story of 
 Obligado retold. One of our regular picnics was to a 
 farm on the banks of the river Fal, where lived Nancy, 
 his old nurse. She was so beautiful as a girl that friends 
 used to remonstrate with my grandparents for sending 
 her out with the children in Plymouth. So my grand- 
 father gave her as escort a blue-jacket, an old coxswain 
 of his. 
 
 In 1 861 Captain Sulivan, desiring to be within easier 
 riding distance of his office, built from his own plans a 
 house at Roehampton, overlooking Wimbledon Common, 
 where the volunteer work, both at the ranges and at the 
 annual summer gathering, was a source of great interest 
 to him. The gipsies encamped on the common were 
 frequently visited by him. 
 
 About the year 1863, being desirous to serve a little 
 more time at sea, so as to qualify for the active list of 
 admirals, he applied for and was promised another post as 
 commodore, but it was eventually given to an officer much 
 his junior. This was a great disappointment to him. He 
 came on the reserved list of admirals in 1863. 
 
 Had he gone on quietly with only the regular work of 
 the Board of Trade, he might have retained his post 
 much longer than he did. But one occupation led to 
 another, and his active mind was always at work on some 
 scheme of naval reform, which he would press upon the 
 attention of Government. All this told upon his some- 
 
378 THE BOARD OF TRADE. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 what excitable brain, which had undoubtedly already felt 
 the strain of the two Baltic campaigns. He was nervous 
 about himself, for he sometimes suffered from severe 
 headaches, the result of suppressed gout. In the spring 
 of •1864 he and my mother took a trip to Italy and 
 Switzerland for the benefit of his health.* But in 1865, 
 being perhaps unduly anxious about himself, he resigned 
 his appointment, and took up his residence at Bournemouth. 
 The Board of Trade were very liberal to him, and gave 
 him the highest pension in their power — ;^320 a year — 
 taking into consideration the fact of his having saved 
 them the salary of an engineer. Mr. Milner Gibson, the 
 President of the Board, wrote to him as follows : — 
 
 " London, April 25/A, 1865. 
 "We shall not find it so easy to replace you, because 
 you possessed a combination of knowledge on both 
 nautical and engineering subjects, which rendered your 
 advice on the subjects which came before the Board of 
 Trade most useful. Speaking for myself, so long as I am 
 at the Board of Trade, I am sure 1 shall feel your loss 
 very much, and I am confident, whoever may be your 
 successor, the public will not be better served than they 
 have been by you. 
 
 " Yours very faithfully, 
 
 "Thomas Milner Gibson." 
 
 * The day before returning home from the Grand Chalet, Rossiniere, 
 they went out for a walk with an old lady-friend. While searching in 
 a wood for a wild flower, my father heard cries from the friend, who 
 had lingered in a field below. Hastening to her, he found she had 
 been attacked by two ruffians. Having fortunately a stout stick, he 
 disabled for some time the bigger of the two with a blow, and then 
 began a desperate struggle with the second, in which, rolling on the 
 ground, each tried to choke the other. Happily my father prevailed. 
 When the three were struggling for possession of the stick, my mother, 
 coming up, used her Nice parasol on the fingers of one until she made 
 him let go. Owing to his having to return home, my father could not 
 prosecute the men, who were strangers to the neighbourhood. It was 
 the only assault on visitors ever known in the district. 
 
1857-65.] NAUTICAL ADVISER TO THE BOARD. 379 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF THE LATE ADMIRAL 
 SIR B. J. SULIVAN, BY LORD FARRER. 
 
 " I am sorry to say that I have kept no written record of 
 our intercourse, so that anything I say must be taken with 
 all the drawbacks due to 'slippery memory.' Facts and 
 dates become indistinct, and without these impressions 
 of character, however vivid — and they are very vivid with 
 me in this case — are apt to be vague and uninteresting. 
 
 " My first knowledge of Sir B. J. Sulivan was when he 
 joined the Board of Trade in 1857, as one of the two 
 nautical advisers who had been appointed to assist the 
 President in administering the Acts relating to merchant 
 shipping. His immediate predecessor was Admiral 
 Beechey, who, like himself, had been a distinguished officer 
 in the Surveying Department of the navy. The chief busi 
 ness of these officers was to advise the Board on matters 
 connected with lighthouses, pilotage, harbours, and other 
 matters connected with navigation, with respect to which 
 large functions had recently been thrown on the Board of 
 Trade. It is difficult to describe the actual work which 
 Sulivan did in this department ; he had much to do with 
 the Trinity House, and it is to his credit as well as theirs 
 that the somewhat delicate relations (the Board of Trade 
 had the control of the purse) was not strained. On the 
 position, character, etc., of lighthouses at home and in 
 some of the colonies he had a potential voice. He took 
 an active part in the harbour of refuge questions, he was 
 a stout opponent of compulsory pilotage, and a genuine 
 free-trader and upholder of individual responsibility in 
 nautical as well as in other matters. A marine depart- 
 ment of the Board had been created in 1850 by Mr. 
 Labouchere, and much enlarged by Mr. Cardwell in 
 
380 THE BOARD OF TRADE. [Ch. XVU 
 
 1853-54, and it kept on constantly growing for years, till 
 it became the largest department in the Board of Trade. 
 
 " I was originally assistant secretary to this department, 
 and in that capacity had much to do with Captain Sulivan, 
 as he then was. We were generally in accord, but often 
 also at variance. I was a civilian, and took the civilian's 
 less arbitrary view, whilst he would, naturally take the 
 more decided and thorough-going view of the naval officer. 
 But he was essentially a good man to differ from as well 
 as to agree with. Impetuous, keen, and sometimes hasty, 
 he never bore malice, and was one of the most generous of 
 men. We would have a great fight in the morning, when 
 he would denounce my views as fatal, absurd, etc., etc., and 
 in the afternoon we were always as good friends as ever. 
 I remember one curious instance of the instinct of the 
 naval officer, coupled with the frankness and non-egotistic 
 generosity of the man. There was a question going on in 
 the office whether I was to have the title of secretary or 
 assistant secretary. I did not care about it, but was sur- 
 prised to find Captain Sulivan taking the warmest part in 
 advocating the cause of the higher title for me. I ex- 
 pressed my gratitude to him, saying I did not care about 
 it. ' Oh,' he said, ' you have nothing to be grateful for. 
 We often differ, and your advice is sometimes taken. Now 
 I don't like being overruled by an assistant secretary, but 
 I don't mind being overruled by a secretary.' 
 
 " He was one of the quickest men in seeing a point I ever 
 came across ; his aperqu of a situation was a sprt of inspira- 
 tion ; but no reasoning moved him if he did not see the 
 thing at once. He was essentially a man of action — 
 ttUTOtr^eStafeti' ta Seovra, as Thucydides said of Themis- 
 tocles : ' To see intuitively what the moment requires.' I 
 never saw him in command, but he was a man whom 
 beyond all others I have known I would have followed in 
 
1857-65.] FITZROY DARWIN. 38 1 
 
 a row. The excitement seemed to sharpen his wits and 
 his perception : he made me understand the sort of stuff 
 our Nelsons, and Napiers, and Outrams are made of. I 
 have no doubt his courage was equal to his perception. I 
 always understood that whatever was done in the Baltic 
 was his doing, and I feel sure that whether it was winds, 
 waves and shoals, or men and guns, that were to be con- 
 tended with, Sulivan would have been at his best when 
 danger was greatest. 
 
 " His relations to his old chief, Admiral FitzRoy, were 
 interesting. When he came to the Board of Trade, FitzRoy 
 was at the head of the Meteorological Office, and it was 
 the duty of the officer in the place to which Sulivan was 
 appointed to superintend FitzRoy's doings. But Sulivan 
 made it the condition of his appointment that he should 
 not be obliged to direct FitzRoy — a sagacious condition, 
 considering the previous relations and the individual 
 characters and tempers of these two distinguished men. 
 Sulivan's respect and admiration for FitzRoy as an un- 
 rivalled sailor and a devoted public servant were unlimited ; 
 and when FitzRoy died, after having spent a fortune in the 
 public service, Sulivan moved heaven and earth to get his 
 services acknowledged, and, I believe, with success. 
 
 " I used to hear much of the voyage of the Beagle from 
 Charles Darwin, whose niece I married, and whose son 
 has married my daughter. He and the other partners 
 in that historical cruise had an infinite respect for FitzRoy, 
 whose abilities as a seaman, whose courage as a man, and 
 whose self-sacrifice as a public servant, won the esteem 
 and admiration, if they did not command the affection, of 
 all who served under him. From all I heard, all the 
 officers and men loved Sulivan ; certainly Charles Darwin 
 did. There must have been something very good and 
 strong about those men to keep them together for so many 
 
382 ' THE BOARD OF TRADE. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 years, cooped up in that small uncomfortable vessel, doing 
 first-rate work with very inadequate means. 
 
 " ' One equal temper of heroic hearts, 
 
 Not strong in circumstance, but strong in will, 
 To seek, to find, to strive, and not to yield.' 
 
 " It was a very interesting thing to get Sulivan to relate 
 his experience of the French. He had acted with them 
 in the Plata and in the Baltic. He used to begin by 
 praising their maritime inscription and bewailing the weak- 
 ness of England at sea, which he used to say could never 
 compete with the French till we trained our merchant 
 seamen to arms ; and then he would begin and tell stories, 
 all showing how far inferior the French were to the 
 English in all qualities of cool fighting, either with elements 
 or with men. I remember two or three of them. 
 
 " He was engaged, when in command of an English ship, 
 in carrying on hostilities in the Plata, and had a French 
 ship for consort. He told with glee how the French 
 captain, when they anchored for the night in a tide-way, 
 used to get him to anchor the French ship as well as his 
 own. Here they had to engage some hostile batteries, 
 one on the water-level, which the Frenchman took in hand, 
 the other on a height, which fell to Sulivan's ship. The 
 Frenchman silenced their battery by hard and close firing, 
 and then the French captain came on board Sulivan's ship. 
 He found the English sailors under fire, and suffering from 
 it, but pitching their shells as coolly and accurately so as 
 to fall into the elevated battery as if they were on parade. 
 The French captain was much struck, and said to Sulivan, 
 ' I could get my fellows to march straight into the jaws 
 of hell, but nothing could make them shoot coolly under 
 fire as yours do.' 
 
 " Another story he used to tell was of the attack on some 
 
1857-65.] BRITISH COOLNESS. 383 
 
 of the fortifications in the Baltic. Sulivan had surveyed 
 the ground, and was ready to lead ; but the English and 
 French admirals agreed that the leading must be done 
 by both nations, and they asked Sulivan to choose a 
 French colleague ; he chose one of whom he thought well. 
 ' But,' said he, ' the first thing the Frenchman did was 
 to put his ship aground.' 
 
 " Another story was of the attack on Bomarsund, which 
 was made by English and French artillery. Each nation 
 took one fort — the French one that was comparatively 
 near, the English one farther off and less accessible. 
 Sulivan was able to get on to a hill between the batteries 
 and the forts, and watch operations. The Frenchmen 
 opened fire and silenced the enemy and took the fort, 
 which was not damaged, but marked all over with shot 
 as with pock-marks ; the English artillerymen directed 
 their fire at one embrasure, and for a while made slow 
 progress, whilst they were falling themselves under the 
 Ru.ssian fire (?). Sulivan went down to the English artillery 
 officer, and urged him to try to silence the Russian guns ; 
 his reply was, ' I'm d — d if my men shall do anything 
 else till they have knocked down the embrasure.' They 
 did knock it down, made a practicable breach, and the 
 English soldiers marched up it into the fort. 
 
 " The generosity of Sulivan's temper was well shown on 
 his retirement from the Board of Trade, when they gave 
 him a special pension. Few men I have known have 
 been contented with such things ; Sulivan was not only 
 satisfied, but expressed himself to me as very grateful for 
 what the Government had done for him. 
 
 " I have jotted down what occurs to me. I only wish I 
 could do more. It has been my fate, though non-military 
 in all my feelings and prejudices, to be brought in contact 
 with a good many soldiers and sailors. They have been 
 
384 THE BOARD OF TRADE. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 some of the best and most public-spirited men I have 
 ever had to do with, and amongst them no one more 
 admirable, perhaps no one so lovable, as Admiral Sulivan. 
 
 " Farrer." 
 
 FROM SIR JOHN BRIGGS, 
 
 WHO WAS FOR FORTY YEARS AN OFFICIAL AT THE 
 ADMIRALTY, FOR FIVE YEARS "CHIEF CLERK." 
 
 "Austrian Tyrol, October 2^h, 1893. 
 
 " Nothing could afford me greater pleasure than to comply 
 with any request made by the son of my old and much- 
 valued friend Sir James Sulivan. 
 
 " Amongst my many naval friends, few flag-officers 
 have I held in greater respect than your lamented father. 
 His gallant conduct at Obligado, and the important and 
 valuable services he rendered to the fleet in the Baltic, 
 were fully recognised by the distinguished admirals with 
 whom he served, and were likewise appreciated by the 
 Admiralty. 
 
 "It is now more than thirty years ago since I was 
 fortunate enough to be officially associated with him in 
 the formation of the ' dockyard brigades,' when his aptitude 
 for organisation was so forcibly brought under my notice, 
 and I much regret that I was so unwise, on my retire- 
 ment from office, as to destroy several letters from your 
 respected father. 
 
 " Had I still some of his letters in my possession, they 
 would have furnished you with much interesting matter 
 in reference to his views upon the inadequacy of the navy 
 to discharge the various duties assigned to it, as well as 
 upon the utter want of organisation which unfortunately 
 at that period prevailed. 
 
THE BOARD OF ADMIRALTY. 385 
 
 " Sir James was much in advance of the naval opinion of 
 the day, and was strongly impressed with the conviction 
 that our seaport towns and south coast should be entrusted 
 to the supreme command of the navy, instead of to the 
 divided control of the two military services — the mis- 
 chievous result of which was painfully exhibited in the 
 Walcheren expedition, rendered celebrated by Croker's 
 epigrammatic witticism : 
 
 " ' The Earl of Chatham, with his sword half drawn, 
 Was waiting for Sir Richard Strachan ; 
 While Strachan, longing to be at 'em, 
 Was waiting for the Earl of Chatham.' 
 
 In a word, the admiral was waiting for the general, and 
 the general was waiting for the admiral. The result — delay, 
 ending in failure ! 
 
 "Your late father entertained particularly sound and 
 practical opinions in reference to national defence, it 
 being a subject of great difficulty and delicacy, and there- 
 fore always postponed to a more convenient season. In 
 conversation upon this and other subjects, your father 
 often regretted with me that so little deference was paid 
 to the professional opinions of the naval members of 
 the Board of Admiralty — opinions which the House of 
 Commons, the British public, and the country know 
 nothing of. 
 
 " It is to the professional members of the Board of 
 Admiralty that the country looks for the efficiency of 
 the navy ; but the First Lord, or the political Secretary, 
 relieve them of their responsibilities, as their opinions, 
 if made known, might prove embarrassing to the party, 
 and would certainly make the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
 furious ! Until the professional opinions of the naval 
 advisers of the First Lord of the Admiralty are recorded and 
 laid before the House of Commons, the navy of the country 
 
 25 
 
386 THE BOARD OF TRADE. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 can never be efficient, and consequently is liable to panics 
 and scares ; nor can the country know the real state of 
 affairs, nor get at the exact truth. 
 
 " In conclusion, I can only wish you all success in your 
 undertaking, for any one who takes a part in keeping the 
 navy before the eyes of the nation confers a benefit upon 
 the country. 
 
 " I could have wished to have written all this letter 
 under my own hand, but I am nearly eighty-six years of 
 age, and my sight fails me, so Lady Briggs has kindly 
 acted as my amanuensis. 
 
 " It may be, and no doubt is, very convenient to silence 
 the naval members of the Admiralty, but the period is 
 fast approaching when party and political convenience 
 must give way to national interests. 
 
 " The requirements of the navy cannot be too frequently 
 or too forcibly brought under public notice, especially 
 when Russia and France are augmenting their fleets to 
 so great an extent." 
 
 FROM THE RIGHT REVEREND DR. STIRLING, 
 
 BISHOP OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. 
 
 " Straits of Magellan, April 3o;A, 1894. 
 
 " I have heard with much interest that a memoir of 
 your father is to be published. A life so full of incident, 
 and in touch with the history of our country for more 
 than half a century, cannot fail to arrest the attention of 
 English readers. 
 
 " In this position of the southern hemisphere his name 
 is as well known to navigators as that of FitzRoy ; and it 
 has surprised and gratified me much to hear your father 
 spoken of in many an out-of-the-way place by persons 
 
THE FUEGIAN MISSION. 387 
 
 who remember him as a smart naval officer engaged in 
 surveying duties. His name in some families lingered 
 long as a household word, and his character, both private 
 and professional, as a bright and generous tradition. In 
 the Falkland Islands, in Patagonia, on the banks of the 
 Rio Negro, up the Rios Parana and Uruguay, as well 
 as in Buenos Ayrcs and Monte Video, it has been a 
 singular delight to me, in the course of my visitations, to 
 find myself in contact with some of a passing generation 
 who knew and appreciated the services of the then 
 Captain Sulivan. 
 
 "It was in the year 1857 that I first came to know 
 him, when he was head of the Marine Department of the 
 Board of Trade. As a distinguished naval officer, and, 
 in particular, as pilot of the Baltic fleet during our recent 
 war with Russia, he had previously excited my admiration. 
 But when he granted me an interview at the Board of 
 Trade, it was to speak on a subject very far from warlike, 
 but in which we had a common interest. 
 
 " I wished for information and advice respecting a 
 mission of our Church in Tierra del Fuego. Of his interest 
 in the subject I was well assured, and of the value of his 
 information there could be no doubt. His knowledge 
 of the country and the people was full and direct ; his 
 desire to promote the welfare of the Indian tribes there 
 was strong, hopeful, and courageous. 
 
 " In my first interview I felt I was talking to a man 
 who inspired confidence. The keen intelligence of his 
 face, and stamp of sincerity upon it, his rich, kindly voice, 
 and manners so frank and genial, made an impression 
 both prompt and pleasant. I had come for information, 
 and I got it straight and full ; for advice, and it was 
 generously and considerately given. It is probable that, 
 among the many influences which have placed me where 
 
388 THE BOARD OF TRADE. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 I am, the conversation I had with your father at the 
 Board of Trade holds no insignificant place. 
 
 " In his general conversation he was conspicuous for 
 the frankness and precision of his utterances. Feebleness 
 and obscurity never characterised his speech. He moved 
 in a lucid atmosphere of thought. Within the limits of 
 his natural powers, which were large, his mind worked 
 with remarkable steadiness, and he took care to have 
 material upon which it should work. He was no mere 
 coiner of words. When he spoke, it was as a master of 
 his subject. He had looked at it conscientiously, and 
 reached strong convictions. From these he never flinched, 
 but gave them forcible expression, as men do who think 
 clearly and feel the importance of what they say. He 
 stood to the opinions he had honestly formed as steadily 
 as he ever stood to his guns in the flame and smoke of 
 battle. This naturally aroused, and sometimes irritated, 
 men who differed from him in judgment, but it charmed 
 and excited admiration in all who knew the splendid 
 simplicity of his character, and the steady aim of his heart 
 for righteousness. 
 
 " It was my privilege to be drawn yearly closer to him 
 in sympathy by the intelligent and vigorous support which 
 he gave to the work in which I became and am still 
 engaged. His interest in South America, formed when 
 a young officer in Her Majesty's service, seemed never 
 to abate, but rather to deepen and expand as opportunities 
 for doing Christian work there opened before his mind. 
 To his loyal co-operation— and he was ever loyal and 
 true — I owe much. 
 
 " Privately I ever think of your father as a most lovable 
 man, genial, kind, a friend and comrade to the core. One 
 could not be dull in his presence. His information was 
 great, and his readiness and skill in imparting it secured 
 
LOVE FOR CHILDREN. 389 
 
 ready listeners. Endowed with a tenacious memory, and 
 charged with subjects of the most varied interest, he often 
 surprised and delighted those sharing his hospitality. 
 Whether describing scenes and adventures abroad, or 
 touching on some, perhaps, ' burning subject ' in politics, 
 he stirred the hearts and imaginations of his audience in 
 no feeble measure. In regard to political or social 
 questions, you might not agree with him, you might 
 haply be in flat contradiction as to methods ; but what 
 matter ! There was the case before you. There he 
 would leave it — your judgment adverse, your heart 
 entirely one with his ! 
 
 " It is impossible for me to think of your father without 
 remembering his great kindness and love for children. 
 My daughters from the very first felt the grace and 
 affection which emanated from him. But it was not only 
 that he understood the hearts of the young, and knew how 
 to draw out their confidence and love. There was more 
 than that in his case. Possibly quite unconsciously to 
 himself, yet most naturally and effectively, he appealed 
 to their intelligence, and thereby increased their sources 
 of pleasure. The names and motions of the heavenly 
 bodies, and the glorious vision of the starlit sky, seen 
 through his telescope at Bournemouth, are lessons never 
 to be forgotten by those to whom he imparted them. And 
 the plants and flowers of the garden or the wayside, and 
 the very stones, spoke through his voice to their hearts 
 and understandings. Naturally they liked him, and felt 
 a pride in being the objects of his attention. And now 
 with their father they cherish his memory, and reverence 
 his character, as indeed in a very special way we all 
 hold in loving admiration the character and beauty of 
 Lady Sulivan. 
 
 "It was in 1888 that I last saw your father. The 
 
39° THE BOARD OF TRADE. [Ch. XVI. 
 
 strong, bright-minded, warm-hearted man was then some- 
 what broken in health ; but with a kindness I shall never 
 forget, he came to the station at Bournemouth to bid 
 my wife and myself good-bye, leaving upon our hearts 
 ineffaceable impressions of friendship and admiration for 
 a noble life full of years and honours." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 RETIREMENT. 
 
 1865-90. 
 
 After the move to Bournemouth, whilst their house 
 was being built, as he suffered still from headaches, he 
 was recommended to try the Turkish-bath treatment at 
 St. Anne's, Blarney, near Cork, where Dr. Barter had been 
 the first to introduce it into the United Kingdom. He 
 pronounced my father to be suffering from suppressed 
 gout. The result of his treatment was an almost entire 
 cure. He was soon almost as well as ever, and he retained 
 all his powers of mind and body until a year or two before 
 his death. 
 
 There was plenty to interest and almost to excite in the 
 social, political, and religious life of Bournemouth. Garden 
 and greenhouse enabled the old love for shrubs and flowers 
 to be indulged in by husband and wife. The active, 
 manly figure could be daily seen hurrying along the pine- 
 walks to the club and beach, or on kindly errands to 
 lonely sick ones — and there were many such — who were 
 cheered by the bright talk and lively stories not less than 
 by the flowers and fruit so freely given ; whilst the small, 
 fragile-looking lady, with the snow-white hair, more slowly, 
 and in later years with some difficulty, wended her way 
 to cottage hospital or invalid's couch. Thus these two, 
 so like in heart, so unlike in temperament, spent their 
 later years in cheering and brightening the lives of others. 
 
 391 
 
392 RETIREMENT. [Ch. XVII. 
 
 The South American Missionary Society and the 
 Missions to Seamen — in the origin of both of which 
 he had taken a prominent part — always received his 
 lively interest and help. He was an active supporter of 
 the Temperance cause, and advocated it from the plat- 
 form. All [his life he had made it a rule to contribute 
 at least a tenth of his income to charitable purposes. 
 
 Original.'and decided as were his views on most subjects, 
 his opinions on religious questions were as strong. But 
 it would be'[out of place here to go into controversial 
 questions. Suffice it to say, he was perhaps the first 
 English Churchman to advocate the disestablishment of 
 the Church — even at the cost of disendowment — as the 
 best way of remedying the evils she suffers from, the 
 laity to be given a greater share in the control of the 
 Church's affairs. Though he hit out hard at opinions he 
 thought erroneous, he made friends of the individuals 
 holding them. 
 
 Letters to the Times and other papers, correspondence 
 with naval friends and to Government officials on service 
 matters, all tended to show that neither the active life of 
 the sailor nor that of the official need have been ended so 
 early. On one occasion, when fears of war were enter- 
 tained, he was called to London to confer with Admiral Sir 
 G. H. Richards, that the Admiralty might have the benefit 
 of their advice as to a plan of naval campaign. With 
 his usual candour and humility he expressed fear that the 
 alterations in ships and weapons had lessened the value 
 of his experience. But although the details of naval 
 attack and defence may alter, the main principles which 
 should govern strategy must remain the same. I think I 
 am correct in saying that on a previous occasion peace 
 or war almost hung on his answer to the question put to 
 him as to whether with our navy alone we could venture 
 
1865-90.] DEATH OF A SON. 393 
 
 to take part in a Continental quarrel without the help of 
 a military ally. He answered " No." 
 
 In 1869 he received the long-deferred honour of the 
 K.C.B. Whilst waiting with others for his turn to be 
 knighted by Her Majesty, a friend said to him, " Sulivan, 
 the soldiers want to know your recipe for keeping your 
 hair brown ! " 
 
 In 1873 occurred the sudden death of his second son, 
 Thomas, lieutenant of H.M.S. Pert* which resulted from 
 the after-effect of an attack of malarial fever caught when 
 surveying in the Mediterranean some years before. He 
 was buried in the cemetery at Monte Video, under the 
 windows of the house occupied during the siege by his 
 parents. 
 
 In 1882 my father was attacked with scarlet fever, and 
 this prevented his attending the funeral of his old friend 
 Charles Darwin, to which he was specially invited. 
 
 Bournemouth possessed the particular merit of being 
 the meeting-place of many old Cornish and Devonshire 
 friends, South American and Falkland Island acquaint- 
 ances, comrades of old Naval College days, of the BeagU 
 and other ships. The sincerity of these old friendships 
 was remarkable. 
 
 A friend, writing of the active religious circle in Bourne- 
 mouth, said : — 
 
 " I often look back with thankfulness to having been 
 permitted to know such a band, and especially your noble 
 father, whom to know was to love. Would we had more 
 in our land like him, a typical Englishman, sans peur et 
 sans reproche I " 
 
 * The Pert had gone on a rock, near Monte Video at Christmas time, 
 and the exertions he underwent for three days and nights in assisting 
 to get her off proved too much for him. He was a promising young 
 officer, and his captain wrote saying he had as much died from his 
 zeal for duty as a man did who was killed in action. 
 
394 RETIREMENT. [Ch. XVII. 
 
 In 1887, the Jubilee year, Sir James and Lady Sulivan 
 celebrated their golden wedding. 
 
 His boyishness of disposition and peculiar clearness of 
 speech and power of mind were retained till two years 
 before his death. Then the serious illness of my mother 
 (who had hitherto enjoyed remarkably good health) visibly 
 affected his own constitution ; his power of speech began 
 to fail, though the mind still kept clear. The autobiography 
 at the beginning of this book was written during the last 
 two years of his life.* 
 
 After a life so remarkable for activity of body and mind, 
 it was almost well that at its close there should have been 
 a time of evening quiet. My mother recovered, but was 
 so affected by rheumatism as to be almost entirely 
 confined to the sofa, and my father was her constant 
 companion, often reading aloud to her. Thus side by 
 side they spent their last remaining years. One unmarried 
 daughter, assisted by a widowed sister and her daughters, 
 who resided near, was there to tend them and to keep 
 them from the excitement and fatigue of seeing for too 
 lengthened a time the many friends that Bournemouth 
 contained. His other children and grandchildren often 
 visited them, and his youngest brother, Admiral George 
 Lydiard Sulivan, came to Bournemouth to be near him. 
 
 At length, after spending a remarkably bright and happy 
 evening, he had a slight seizure. Bronchitis set in ; he 
 
 * Tliough during the last year of his life his brain appeared to 
 strangers to be rather clouded, I believe he was really suffering from 
 aphasia — " that rare and wonderful disease which seems to attack none 
 but the strongest, which separates the brain from the tongue, and 
 takes away the knowledge and the sense of language." It was the 
 power of expression which failed him. A few hours before his seizure, 
 his old friend, General RoUo, was speaking to him about some minor 
 battle in the Peninsula, and mentioned the year in which he thought it 
 was fought. My father dissented from this, then brought his " Napier " 
 from the library, and triumphantly showed that he was right and the 
 general wrong. — Ed. 
 
1865-90.] "CROSSING THE BAR." 39S 
 
 recognised and spoke to each member of the family as he 
 arrived ; and, after five days' illness, at the close of New 
 Year's Day 1890, he quietly breathed his last. He was 
 in his eightieth year. 
 
 His coffin, covered with the union-jack, was carried to 
 the grave by seamen from the coast-guard station. 
 
 Much as he had loved flowers, he requested that none 
 might be sent for his coffin ; he never liked to see them 
 withering on graves, and he wished also to protest against 
 a custom which, in such a place as Bournemouth, was 
 becoming a serious tax on many people. So in death, 
 as in life, simplicity and thoughtfulness for others were 
 inculcated. 
 
 My mother bore her loss with the gentle resignation 
 so characteristic of her, comforted by the hope of soon 
 rejoining her husband. Seven months later she too passed 
 peacefully away. She was of the same age. 
 
 The Rev. P. F. Eliot, Dean of Windsor, read the funeral 
 service over both their graves. He had been their great 
 friend for many years, being for twenty-three years vicar 
 of Holy Trinity, Bournemouth, in the building of which 
 my father had taken an active part. 
 
 No more fitting words could be chosen to end this 
 memoir, or more descriptive of the faith of him of whom 
 I write, than those engraven on the tomb of another 
 Cornish sailor. Lord Exmouth : — 
 
 "All human glory ceases in the grave, but far dearer 
 is the memory of that devout faith which led him in deep 
 humility to the Cross of Christ, the Star which guided him 
 to the desired haven, the Anchor of his hope, when on 
 the death-bed of the just he yielded up his soul to his 
 Redeemer." 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 ROYAL DOCKYARD VOLUNTEERS (1848). 
 
 In the course of the year or two after his return from the 
 Parana, Captain Sulivan did all he could to get another ship, 
 but without success ; so, seeing no immediate prospects of employ- 
 ment afloat, he thought of entering the colonial service, and 
 apphed for the governorship of the Falkland Islands, which was 
 thereupon practically promised him. Just at that time, however, 
 he was asked by Captain Hamilton, the Secretary to the Admiralty, 
 to draw up a report as to the working of the volunteer corps 
 ■composed of the royal dockyard workmen, which had been 
 established the previous year. The plan had been first suggested 
 by Lord EUenborough (First Lord of the Admiralty), and on his 
 leaving office it was supported by his successor, Lord Auckland. 
 But it received no favour from the Naval Lords. The organisa- 
 tion was so faulty that the scheme had been pronounced in 
 Parliament a failure. Sulivan drew up a plan of organisation, 
 and on being asked by Lord Auckland to put it into practice, 
 and to take up the training of the coips, inquired if tfie appoint- 
 ment was likely to be a permanent one. He was told it could 
 not be promised him for more than five years, although he might 
 •consider it would last longer. So he gave up his ideas of 
 •colonial work, and removed with his family to Portsmouth. He 
 was borne on the books of H.M.S. Victory as supernumerary 
 captain. Within three months of his taking the corps in hand, 
 lie had greatly improved its discipline. On the outbreak of the 
 •Chartist riots, every redcoat in Portsmouth was sent to protect 
 London, and SuUvan and his volunteers were left in charge of 
 Portsmouth and its dockyard. This showed the confidence 
 placed in the corps. He was then required to undertake the 
 supervision of the whole of the seven royal dockyard brigades, 
 comprising ten thousand five hundred men, with his headquarters 
 at the Admiralty; so he removed to London. He was made 
 
 397 
 
398 ROYAL DOCKYARD VOLUNTEERS. [App. A. 
 
 " Colonel and Chief of the Staff." A naval ofificer thus had the 
 honour of being the first colonel of volunteers. 
 
 An announcement was made in Parliament that the scheme 
 had turned out a complete success. Captain Hamilton had 
 written as follows to Sulivan, soon after the latter had taken 
 charge at Portsmouth : — 
 
 " PiSiuiRAun, January 2^th, 1848. 
 
 " What you have done far exceeds my most sanguine hopes 
 and expectations. Better thanks than mine will be due to you. 
 I certainly looked for something from you, and the result only 
 proves how correct I was in my estimate of the probable result 
 of your appointment." 
 
 But the Naval Lords of the Admiralty, unfavourable to the 
 scheme of the Civilian First Lords, excellent as it was, opposed 
 Sulivan's remaining in charge on the grounds of his having 
 brought the scheme to such perfection that there was no further 
 need of his services, and the work could now be left to the 
 officers of the yards ! Lord Auckland positively refused to 
 agree to this, saying it was a breach of faith with Sulivan. The 
 reply was, "But we can give him a ship." Lord Auckland, 
 however, refused to sanction his dismissal until at least the drill 
 season for the year had been completed. It seemed as if those 
 who had opposed the scheme from the first bore no good-will 
 to the man who had upset all their prognostications of failure 
 by making it a success, showing that the very efficiency of a 
 servant may displease some whose interests are not identical with 
 those of the institution of which they have the control. In the 
 letter of dismissal (the original of which is now before me), 
 their lordships expressed their entire satisfaction with the zeal 
 and energy he had displayed in the execution of his duty, and 
 with the complete manner in which he had in so short a time 
 carried into effect their views. Lord Auckland very kindly told 
 Sulivan that he was sorry to see him put out of the work, but 
 that it must be a satisfaction to him to know that those most 
 opposed to the plan had allowed how well his work had been 
 done, and he added, " You shall have one of the first appoint- 
 ments I have to give away." A few weeks afterwards, the sudden 
 death of Lord Auckland at his office (half an hour before Sulivan 
 called about an appointment then vacant) prevented his services 
 being remembered. I should add Sulivan gave the credit of 
 much of the success of the scheme to Lord Auckland and to 
 Captain Hamilton, the Secretary. On Sulivan's retirement, two 
 majors took over the force, which, however, soon collapsed. By 
 his system of reorganisation Sulivan had reduced the expenses 
 by .;^2o,ooo per annum. The following extracts from his evi- 
 
1848.] MECHANICS GOOD GUNNERS. 399 
 
 dence before the Royal Commission on Coast Defences (i860) 
 refer to these volunteers : — 
 
 " I may say briefly that I did not organise them at first. 
 They were organised in the summer of 1847. They were trying 
 to drill them during that summer. Through the sad blunders 
 made in attempting to organise them, the whole thing gave great 
 dissatisfaction, and was working very badly. The Admiralty sent 
 for me, and told me to go to all the yards, and report on what 
 caused this state of things ; and I saw that the whole thing had 
 been organised in such a way that it could not succeed. More 
 particularly they had made the great blunder of not making the 
 whole force artillery. They had battalions of infantry thirteen 
 hundred strong (thirteen companies of a hundred men each) ; 
 and in another yard they had a battalion of infantry a hundred 
 strong (fifty men in a company). There was no system of 
 any kind. On my report, the Admiralty told me to draw up 
 a plan for reorganising them on a uniform system, which I 
 did ; and this document contains a copy of the letter sent to 
 the superintendent of Portsmouth yard, which is a duplicate 
 of those sent to the other yards, stating that my plan was to 
 be carried out." 
 
 " Can you state the reason why those battalions we7'e disbanded 1 " 
 — " I cannot. I was very much astonished when I heard of 
 it. The men were paid extra hours, a shilling a night. The 
 thing worked well, but especially so wherever the superintendent 
 was in favour of it and took an interest in it, and, with the 
 officers, urged the men to take a pride in it. It worked well, in 
 spite of the indifference or opposition of the superintendents 
 in one or two yards. I should like to say a few words on what 
 military men said of the wonderful aptitude of these men for 
 rapidly acquiring the necessary organisation, and how effective 
 they became, particularly in the use of great guns. I have never 
 seen anything in the men of the Excellent, or in any men, to 
 exceed the beautiful fire of some of these men at marks, both 
 with musket and great gun. This was attributed by military 
 officers who witnessed it to the men being mechanics, and a 
 superior class of men ; but it certainly astonished every one who 
 saw it. The service was compulsory." 
 
 " These men employed in the dockyards had a pension to look 
 to ? " — " Yes. All apprentices and men were bound to join the 
 force. When I reduced the Portsmouth brigade by two or 
 three hundred old men, who should never have been taken in, 
 I had to talk to these men to persuade them that they were too 
 old. The desire was to serve, and they did not like to be 
 excluded. That applied to both officers and men. There was 
 not the slightest difficulty in getting them to serve ; the men 
 took a pride in it. There is no doubt that they were the 
 cheapest force in the country, for the value which they were to 
 
400 FALKLAND ISLANDS. L^pp- ^■ 
 
 it. The training cost ;^3o,ooo for ten thousand five hundred 
 men and officers; the two thousand two hundred men who 
 could have been put on to the guns at Portsmouth, or trained 
 to work the guns on the fortifications, were the cost to the 
 •country of two companies of infantry two hundred strong." 
 
 Sir Frederick Abbott: "How long did it generally take you to 
 make them efficient as gunners 1 " — " In twenty-one or twenty-two 
 days' drill they were so efficient that artillery officers said that 
 they might be put alongside any gunners." 
 
 Chairman : " Who were their instructors ? "— " Sergeant-tnajors 
 of marines and marine artillery were made adjutants of each brigade, 
 and non-commissioned officers were selected for the companies. 
 Some opponents of the system endeavoured to show that it 
 interfered with the men's work ; but except in some instances at 
 first, where men who had to drill in the evening left the yard a 
 little earlier, this was not the case. Had I remained another 
 season, I intended to propose devoting Saturday afternoons 
 •during summer entirely to drill, and charging half a day's pay 
 to the military instead of the civil branch. That would have 
 removed all chance of saying that it interfered with work. On the 
 contrary, I doubt if the half-day's pay is ever earned by work on 
 Saturday afternoons. I believe that the Admiralty had proof that 
 the additional order and regularity caused by the organisation 
 and drill were really useful in other than military respects, and 
 particularly so in the case of an alarm of fire, when the men 
 fell in by companies or sections as required, each with its non- 
 <;ommissioned officer, and were more quickly available than 
 under the old system." 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 FALKLAND ISLANDS (1848-51). 
 
 After his appointment had ended, the promised command 
 •of a ship was not forthcoming, and Sulivan saw no chance of 
 ■employment afloat, in spite of his conspicuous services, although 
 several captains, young in age and in sea experience, were being 
 at this time, through interest, giVen ships. He began to suffer 
 in health, doubtless owing to his disappointed hopes (only those 
 who have been subjected to similar unjust treatment can under- 
 stand the effects of it). His medical adviser wished him to go 
 to the south of France ; but he said, " If I go anywhere out of 
 England, it shall be to the Falklands." He went to the Admiralty 
 and obtained leave to go abroad for three years. This was on a 
 Monday. Going home, he surprised his wife by saying, " Can you 
 Jbe ready to start for the Falklands on Thursday ? " She replied. 
 
1848-51.J WIVES AT A PREMIUM. 40 1 
 
 " No, but I will by Monday next." The departure, however, was 
 delayed a little longer. He chartered a sailing-ship, and took out 
 some good stock animals. A friend. Captain Philip Hamond, 
 suffering in his chest, proposed to accompany him. There were 
 five Sulivan children, the eldest being eleven. Besides, there were 
 a governess, a man-servant and his wife, and a maid-servant. The 
 news being conveyed to the Falklands that there was an unmarried 
 servant coming out, the bachelors of the islands were much 
 interested in the arrival of the party. One rather elderly one 
 considered his chance would be increased at any rate if he were 
 the first to propose, so on the arrival of the ship he lay in waiting 
 near the place of debarkation. He saw a woman leading the 
 children. " She is older than I thought," he reflected. " Never 
 mind, here goes," and he rushed up to her and made his 
 proposal. He had made the mistake of addressing the married 
 woman ! It was not long before the girl made her own choice, 
 so my mother was without a servant for some months. After 
 the piano had been landed, the governess, who had been engaged 
 in a hurry before starting, suggested that it would require tuning 
 after its voyage, and said she could manage it herself. My father 
 interrupted her when she had purposely broken six strings, think- 
 ing that thereby the schoolroom practising would be avoided ! 
 She took her departure not long after to England, so my mother 
 had her hands full. In the course of the year I appeared to add 
 to her cares. A nurse was sought for me. There was an Indian 
 princess, descended from a royal South American line, a Diana 
 of the chase, who in one of her expeditions saved the lives of a 
 surveying party, a captain and eleven men, who after the loss of 
 their boat were soon on the verge of starvation in a place teeming 
 with game. She was to be relied upon so long as she kept from 
 the bottle. When I was nine days old, she went to the town, 
 was overcome by her besetting sin, and being ashamed of herself, 
 did not return, so my mother was left to manage me herself. 
 During the three years spent in the island, my father was 
 occupied in stock-raising, my mother with her domestic cares, 
 unassisted for part of the time, save by her young children. 
 One day H.M.S. Rattlesnake from Australia put into the Falk- 
 lands to refit. My mother, hearing that there was a lady on 
 board, invited her to the house during the repairing of the ship. 
 She was the widow of the captain, a brother of the late Dean 
 Stanley. Thirty years afterwards, she met us at Bournemouth, 
 and told us of her recollections of seeing my mother working so 
 hard. Of the farming operations I have not space to speak. Cer- 
 tainly the life was a healthy one. Captain Hamond recovered so 
 quickly that in six weeks after his arrival he was camping out 
 with the other men. His death happening only a few years ago, 
 speaks well for the Falklands as a " health resort." One story 
 in connection with him I must relate. One day a cow broke 
 
 26 
 
402 HARBOUR OF REFUGE AT FILEY. [App. C. 
 
 loose and charged him. He climbed up on a wall and lay on 
 the top, but forgot to tuck up his leg. This the cow charged, 
 but the large horns coming against the wall, saved the leg from 
 the blows. The situation was ludicrous — he calling for help to 
 his man-servant and to my father, who were so convulsed with 
 laughter that they could only cry out, " Tuck your leg up." The 
 dulness of social life was occasionally relieved by the visits of 
 men-of-war, both British and French, and by the riding-parties 
 that ensued. The then Marquis of Hastings having heard 
 through Mr. Robert Hamond of the intended trip to the 
 Falklands, and of my father's desire to improve the breed of horses 
 and sheep there, had given him a nearly thorough-bred young 
 stallion. Mrs. Hamond had given my mother a thorough-bred 
 mare, and my father bought a good cart-horse. The two latter 
 died during or just after the voyage out, but the young stallion 
 " Hastings " was turned out amongst a small drove of mares. 
 His descendants are now celebrated in the island as combining 
 the strength and fire of the English horse with the endurance 
 of the South American. The great improvement in the breed 
 of the sheep owing to Sulivan's importations has led to others, 
 which have resulted in the Falkland Island sheep now taking 
 a high place. When the three years' leave was about up, my 
 father returned home in the autumn of 185 1. There was no 
 choice but to take passage in a ship heavily laden, or to wait 
 three months for the packet. My father chose the former. 
 Prolonged calms led to the provisions and water running low, 
 so all were put on short allowances. The sailors, led by two 
 men who had been dismissed from the navy, demanded their full 
 allowance, and on the captain refusing, mutinied and went below. 
 The hatches were then fastened down upon them ; the cabin 
 was barricaded ; whilst the captain, the mate, and my father went 
 aloft and reduced the sails of the barque one by one, in case 
 of the wind rising. The refractory crew were soon starved into 
 submission, and all returned to duty but the two ringleaders, 
 who were put in irons. After a protracted voyage of ninety 
 days, the barque arrived in Liverpool. Captain Sulivan then 
 took his family to Guildford. 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 HARBOUR OF REFUGE AT FILEY (1859). 
 
 Admiral Sulivan served as the Board of Trade representative 
 on the Royal Commission of 1859 relating to Harbours of 
 Refuge. 
 
 The want had long been felt of a harbour of refuge and a 
 
I859-] WANTED STILL ! 403 
 
 strategic harbour on our east coast. The loss of life on that 
 coast, especially in the old sailing-ship days, was enormous, and 
 even now it is very great. There is no really safe harbour on the 
 whole coast from the Thames to the Forth into which large 
 ships can run at any time of tide, in any weather, for shelter, 
 or into which our men-or-war could run for coals. The import- 
 ance of this, were we at war and needing to maintain a fleet 
 in the North Sea, would be very great. I believe there have 
 been as many as five commissions on this very subject, and 
 that the report of every commission, like that of the first, has 
 been to the effect that a harbour should be made at Filey. 
 
 This commission was the first of the series. Among the 
 commissioners was the late Sir John Coode, the celebrated 
 engineer, who had just completed Portland Harbour. He was 
 a distant cousin of my father. 
 
 The reasons why the commissioners fixed on Filey were 
 the following : the favourable locality, being about the centre 
 of the east coast; the fact of Filey Brigg forming in itself one 
 of the two great piers needed, which practically would save a 
 million in the cost of constructing a harbour; the deep water 
 close to the shore ; the good quality of the local stone for build- 
 ing ; the impossibility of its silting up ; accessibility to the 
 railways from the northern or Welsh coal-fields, which could 
 bring down the coals on to the Brigg, alongside which steamers 
 could be moored ; convict labour could be employed. The 
 cost was very carefully gone into, and an estimate given for the 
 construction of the harbour. But the Board pronounced against 
 it, and on this opinion Parliament rejected the proposal. 
 
 Admiral Sulivan wrote a letter, which appeared in the Times 
 of April 7th, 187 1, after his retirement, when the question of 
 harbours of refuge again came up. He stated that, as the 
 representative of the Board of Trade on the commission of 
 1859, he had at the time prepared a minute to the President on 
 the question. 
 
 It was said that the estimates were not to be depended upon, 
 as they were not founded on any reliable basis. Verbally and 
 in his minute he had fully explained that the estimates of the 
 commissioners were carefully based on the actual cost of Portland 
 Harbour, which one of the commissioners had himself con- 
 structed. It was therefore unfair to compare the estimates 
 with the actual cost of certain other harbours, where errors 
 had been made and additions to the original plans h^d been 
 permitted by which the original estimates were exceeded. He 
 had been assured by one of the most experienced harbour 
 contractors, who had gone into the Filey estimates, that he 
 would undertake to construct the harbour on the figures of the 
 estimates, and to give guarantees for its completion. He thought 
 the report of six responsible commissioners, who had given six 
 
404 COAST DEFENCES AND VERTICAL FIRE. [App. D. 
 
 months' careful consideration to the work, 'should not be con- 
 demned without the estimates being gone into by competent 
 authorities. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 COAST DEFENCES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND 
 VERTICAL FIRE (1859). 
 
 Not long after his return from the Parana in 1846, with the 
 experience there gained of earthen batteries, he visited the 
 battery then in course of construction at Bovisand, Plymouth 
 Harbour. He found ten guns were to be placed in it close 
 together. The fort had stone embrasures, calculated to conduct 
 the enemy's shot on to the guns and men. A high masonry 
 barrack, close in the rear of the guns, would form a trap for 
 shells missing the parapet. He considered it was the form of 
 battery best calculated to assist an enemy. Further, though 
 the guns would bear upon the channel generally used by our 
 ships, the fact had been overlooked that there was a second 
 good channel, by which large ships could enter the harbour 
 exposed only to about three of the ten guns. Sulivan at once 
 reported the case to the Admiralty, and recommended a fort 
 with earthen parapets and guns en barbette. Admiral Berkeley 
 confirmed his objections, and stated that at Acre they soon 
 silenced the guns in embrasures, but not those en barbette. 
 The Admiralty requested the Ordnance Board to suspend 
 operations on the works, but this the Board refused to do, and 
 the fort was completed at great cost. Sulivan then found 
 another battery on the same faulty plan was being commenced 
 on Devil's Point. He again remonstrated, but the influence of 
 the designer was too strong. Tenders were advertised for 
 relating to a third fort on an island on the same plan, with stone 
 casemates in addition. Sulivan made a third protest, this and 
 the last being supported by eminent engineers and artillery 
 ofificers who had written to him on the subject. 
 
 Some years after Mr. James Ferguson asked him if it was 
 true that he had urged the use of earth-works for sea defences 
 long before his own work on the subject was published ; and the 
 papers and plans being shown him, he very liberally offered to 
 publish a statement of what had occurred in his next edition ; 
 but the documents being semi-official, Sulivan did not think it 
 right to take advantage of his offer. 
 
 The moral of this is that the naval authorities should be 
 consulted on questions relating to coast defences. 
 
 Defence Commission, 1859. — The members of the commission 
 
I859-] SHIPS V. FORTS. 405 
 
 were General Sir Harry Jones (who had been at Bomarsund), 
 Admiral George Elliot, General Sir F. Abbott, Captain A. C. 
 Key, R.N. (who had served at Obligado and in the Baltic), 
 Colonel Lefroy, R.A., and Mr. James Ferguson (whose book has 
 been referred to above). In the report the commissioners re- 
 commended the adoption of several of the suggestions Captain 
 Sulivan made, and especially drew attention to the importance 
 of vertical fire. But it is strange how little this subject seems 
 to have been taken up by our own gunnery men in recent 
 years. The report showed that the then defences of our dock- 
 yards were insufficient. 
 
 Much of the evidence referred to the actions of Obligado, 
 Bomarsund, and Sweaborg. As I have incorporated this in the 
 chapters treating of those events, I will not again repeat it. 
 
 Being asked by Captain Key if he thought the forts at " Horse- 
 sand" and "No Man's Land" would protect Spithead from an 
 enemy's fleet in the absence of our own, Sulivan gave a decided 
 opinion that they would not. He pointed out that there was 
 great difficulty in hitting a rapidly advancing ship, changing her 
 range every minute, and that no system of fortification at the 
 entrance to a port which, if passed, allows ships to bring up 
 out of range inside is of any use unless combined with a boom. 
 The great defect of the fortifications of all our ports was that 
 they guarded only the entrance. There were no inside forts to 
 protect our arsenals and shipping. The proposed forts at Spit- 
 head themselves would mark the channels for ships entering at 
 night. He said he had never known an instance of a ship, being 
 sunk passing a battery. " However small the vessel, and how- 
 ever slow the speed, it would be almost impossible to stop a ship 
 passing batteries, even at close range." 
 
 " On the other hand, it would appear that the ships can do so little 
 harm to earthen batteries, that, if it came to a regular stand-up 
 fight between them, the batteries must in the long-run destroy the 
 ships before they would be destroyed themselves 1 " — " Most certainly 
 with wooden ships and properly constructed batteries, and still 
 more so if the ships are not able to close within five or six 
 hundred yards ; but if the batteries are constructed as some even 
 of our earthen batteries are, and the ships can get close, I believe 
 that the batteries can be silenced in a few minutes." 
 
 Sir F. Abbott: "What do you consider to be a well-constructed 
 earthen battery, which would make a good fight against ships 'I " — 
 "A battery with raised traversing platforms, and barbette guns 
 over a seven-feet earthen parapet, where the guns would be exposed 
 to direct fire. I do not think that guns at long range will be nearly 
 so dangerous as mortars are. But we shall always have a power- 
 ful means of defence to aid our batteries in iron-cased floating 
 batteries. We ought to be able at Portsmouth to place as 
 many in aid of our forts as could possibly be brought against 
 
406 COAST DEFENCES AND VERTICAL FIRE. [App. D. 
 
 US, and, with those and the forts I have named, we ought to be 
 secure. But having first secured our inner line of defence, 
 without which no advanced batteries would avail us, we could 
 proceed with the outer batteries on the shoals, which would, I 
 think, ensure us even against any attempt on Portsmouth by sea." 
 
 He thought circular forts the weakest kind, as so few of their 
 guns can be concentrated on one spot. 
 
 " At one fort at Cronstadt, which ought to have been a principal 
 one, if we had attacked it, we could have placed eight floating 
 batteries, and all the force of the squadron to back those floating 
 batteries, gun-boats and all, with only three guns in each tier 
 which could have borne upon them, and four guns en barbette 
 above — that is to say, ten guns. The fort was oval ; it had a 
 long face with circular ends, and the circular ends were the 
 weak points."* 
 
 He described the barrier built at Cronstadt, which was to be 
 made like a breakwater. This was the only secure barrier for 
 shallow water. Turning to the Needles passage, he again showed 
 that the forts there would not prevent ships passing, and the 
 stronger tide would aid them. (I have in late years passed 
 through this channel with my father, and he said that he 
 believed that the present-day forts could not prevent present-day 
 ships, with their greater speed, from passing.) But by protecting 
 Spithead with strong inner defences, no large force would care 
 to risk passing the outer defences, as there would be no object 
 but Portsmouth worth the risk. 
 
 133. " Not only will iron-plated ships pass batteries easily, 
 but we have especially to fear them, as bombarding vessels, both 
 with guns and mortars. I believe from direct fire they will be 
 safe at a thousand yards' range, if not less ; but I doubt if 
 anything will make them safe from vertical fire. I only feared the 
 effect of vertical fire when we attacked Cronstadt ; and knowing 
 that a large number of heavy mortars were placed in all the 
 batteries there before the spring of 1856, I thought it very likely 
 the floating batteries might be sunk by them, and consequently 
 endeavoured, in drawing up a plan for the attack, to place the 
 batteries in such shallow water that, if sunk, their ports might 
 be above water. It would therefore chiefly depend on vertical 
 fire against iron-cased vessels : even at long range many shells 
 would fall on them. At Sweaborg the three-decked ship was 
 at extreme range (nearly four thousand yards from our heavy 
 mortars) in the line of fire of a few only of the mortars, yet 
 twenty-five shells fell through her decks the first day, and nearly 
 destroyed her, killing and wounding above a hundred and fifty 
 men, and obliging them to remove her ; yet two Lancaster guns 
 and two sixty-eight-pounders during the same time failed to make 
 
 * In spite of this evidence the forts built at Spithead are circular. 
 
i859-] BOOM DEFENCES. 407 
 
 any impression on her, only striking her two or three times, 
 and at much closer ranges too, but they were not stationary. 
 I would therefore, on all our sea defences intended to prevent 
 vessels anchoring within range, have nearly as many mortars 
 as guns. In all the casemated forts I would have thirteen-inch 
 mortars only on the upper tiers (well protected by traverses), 
 and between the earthen batteries on the shore I would have 
 separate mortar batteries, in order to divide the fire of ships 
 between as many points as possible. When ships could come 
 very close, the mortar batteries should be thrown back a little. 
 
 " Mortars would be of no use against moving bodies ? " — " None, 
 I think, excepting a chance fire. All vessels bombarding must 
 take up their position to get their range accurately, or they will 
 not do you much harm. At that extreme range it would be 
 very difficult to throw a shot into the dockyard." 
 
 He continued to dwell upon the importance of vertical fire, 
 illustrating his views by reference to Sweaborg. He then described 
 the kind of boom he would recommend — formed of old ships, 
 wiiA batteries of heavy guns in the bows of each. Such a boom 
 would be a very serious obstacle — a boom of batteries. The 
 general impression of all at Obligado was that, if the vessels 
 forming the boom had been armed, the passage could not have 
 been forced. 
 
 " My original plan, when I had the dockyard battalions at 
 Portsmouth Harbour, and seeing how weak it was, was this : I 
 could have run a paddle-wheel steamer even into Portsmouth 
 Harbour then ; and it struck me the only chance of closing the 
 entrance, if we were ever surprised by the enemy with our fleet 
 away, or if we lost command of the sea, would be by mooring 
 a couple of ships across the entrance, or putting chains across,* 
 so as to be able to lower them for our own trade. For such a 
 place as Spithead twenty or thirty ships would be required. 
 This kind of boom would not do for the Thames below 
 Gravesend. The Medway would be a more difficult place, on 
 account of the strong tide there. Sheerness would be a very 
 difficult place to block up by a boom, and it is the most exposed 
 to a bombardment. It wants defences in front of it to make it 
 secure against a couple of ships with mortars." 
 
 A casemated battery should be put only where no earthen 
 battery can be built. If the embrasures were reversed, it would 
 increase the power of the battery over the guns tenfold. 
 
 The Chairman : " You have had a great deal of experience 
 in navigating in intricate channels and open coasts and all sorts of 
 navigation. Supposing the buoys removed from Spithead, and there 
 •were a clear sea there, should you think that it would be very easy 
 
 * Wire hawsers have this year (1895) been prepared for closing this very 
 entrance against torpedo-boats, and boom defences added to those of 
 Spithead and the Medway. 
 
408 COAST DEFENCES AND VERTICAL FIRE. [APP. D. 
 
 for an enemy s fleet to go right into Spit head, as a mere question 
 of navigation 1 "■ — " I think that they ought to be able to do it 
 if they had any one fit to lead them in." 
 
 He instanced how he had run into the far more intricate 
 channel of Sweaborg for the first time at full speed. 
 
 "Once the French had sufficient command of the sea to 
 induce them to venture to attack such a place as Sheerness, 
 they could soon destroy it by means of mortar-boats and a few 
 protecting vessels." 
 
 Captain Sulivan gave the following evidence, which will be 
 regarded with interest if, as I believe, it is the first suggestion 
 of the use of the ram in naval warfare. Admiral Sartorius, who 
 usually has had the credit of the idea, was later in the field :— 
 
 " I believe all vessels ought to be used as rams. I proposed 
 the first day I ever joined Admiral Napier in the Baltic that,' if 
 there was a chance of meeting the Russian ships at anchor out- 
 side, they should be attacked by cutting off the cutwaters of our 
 ships, taking their bowsprits off and securing their lower masts, 
 and by running down without firing a shot they would run in 
 on their (the Russians') broadsides, and I believe that that would 
 destroy with perfect impunity any line of ships which were at 
 anchor under any fire which they could pour into you." 
 
 For the opposite reason he condemned the straight bows of 
 merchant steamers, the projecting old figurehead taking the 
 blow of a colliding steamer on the upper structure of a vessel, 
 and thus lessening the force of a collision.* 
 
 Being questioned as to the defence of Portsmouth Dockyard, 
 " I have so little confidence in the result of bombarding at very 
 long ranges with guns, compared to the shorter range of the 
 mortars, that I think that the great thing is to protect the place 
 against the heavy mortar range first. If guns are fired at a mortar 
 elevation, then I should consider it vertical fire." 
 
 Being asked as to the best foundation for a work on the sand, 
 " That is quite an engineering question, upon which I should not 
 like to give an opinion. The danger of bombarding on the land 
 side of Portsmouth is probably as great as by sea. I have always 
 had an idea that, wherever there are those chalk hills, by scarping 
 
 * A few years ago my father told me he thought that our officers should 
 be trained in the use of the modern ram. He said that the Russians alone 
 put their officers through a course of ramming. Before a captain was given 
 a command he was exercised in a gun-boat, properly protected. The 
 practice took place in shoal water. Two gun-vessels were set at one 
 another ; and in these tactics, although some circles were first described, in 
 the end one vessel always made a hit. It was generally found that the 
 most skilful fencer came off the victor, showing it was largely a question of 
 skill. He said it was a great pity that our officers were not put through 
 a similar course, to give them experience in ramming or in avoiding a ram. 
 I believe that, if such practice were given, the experience gained would at 
 least come in useful in peace time for the avoidance of collisions. — Ed. 
 
1859] MORTAR FIRE. 409 
 
 down the hill you can make it almost inaccessible in a very cheap 
 way. I have been very much interested in that question in 
 connection with the chalk ridges for the defence of London on 
 the south. I believe that that is a very important question, and 
 that it bears indirectly upon the defences of our ports, because 
 if you make Portsmouth impregnable, and an invading army ever 
 land, it makes it more certain that they will go to London, and, 
 if so, the defence of London becomes very much connected with 
 the defence of Portsmouth." 
 
 The Armstrong gun then having come into notice, he pointed 
 out that the greater the range of guns, the greater the need of 
 having advancing forts to guard against bombardment He 
 referred to plans he had sent in some time before for protecting 
 Sheerness by forts on the spits, and spoke of the folly of having 
 placed a dockyard in such a place, it being well known to be 
 the result of a political job to sell the land of a man there. 
 
 "Then there is a very serious point in all these isolated forts — 
 namely, that the more detached you make them, the more you 
 make them liable to the attacks of heavy ships ; and if it were 
 the object to destroy a place, and mortar-ships could be brought 
 within range by destroying one of these outlying forts, I do not 
 doubt that any fleet would risk a number of ships for the purpose 
 of doing it. For instance, if at Cronstadt, by destroying the two 
 outer casemated forts, the place had been at our mercy, the 
 thing would have been done, with a certain loss of ships and 
 men. And so any fort placed in advance, which is not well 
 supported by the cross fire of other forts, is liable to be attacked 
 as a single fort, and the place would be open to a bombardment. 
 That is a very difficult point in deciding on this question, because, 
 with iron ships especially, I have no doubt that no stone fort 
 which has ever been built will stand against them." 
 
 He suggested a fort on Bembridge Point, and wound up with 
 the reiterated statement that no fort of any description would 
 stop the passage of an iron ship. 
 
 As years went on he held more and more to the opinion that 
 vertical fire would be the fire of the future. But whilst other 
 nations seem now to be recognising its importance we have 
 neglected it. There are howitzers at Ceuta and at Paris. 
 
 In vol. xxix. of the Century Magazine, 1884-85, is described 
 the work of the Federal navy on the Mississippi. There is an 
 illustration of the mortar-vessels, forming part of the western 
 flotilla, concealed behind a wooded point, engaging the batteries 
 on island No. 10. The writer says, — • 
 
 " The gun-boats fired a few shots now and then, but doing no 
 harm. The mortar-boats, however, were daily throwing thirteen- 
 inch bombs, and so effectually that at times the Confederates were 
 driven from their batteries, and compelled to seek refuge in caves 
 and other places of safety." 
 
410 COAST DEFENCES AND VERTICAL FIRE. [App. D. 
 
 Further on the same writer describes the passage of the 
 lower Mississippi and the attack on Fort Jackson and St. Philip. 
 To divert the enemy during the passage of the ships past the 
 fort, mortar-schooners were placed some distance off, behind 
 wooded banks, their masts disguised with branches. The 
 reduction of Fort Jackson was almost entirely due to the vertical 
 shell-fire from these mortars, which so completely demoralised 
 the defenders that, although none of their guns were dismantled 
 by the fire of the ships, the Confederates were unable to deliver 
 an effectual fire against them, which therefore passed the forts 
 without damage. It is stated the men were driven from the 
 open barbette batteries into the casemates. At a range of two 
 thousand eight hundred and fifty yards nearly every shell out 
 of the sixteen thousand fired fell inside the fort. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the work of selecting the position 
 of the mortar-vessels, furnishing the commanders with proper 
 charts, calculating the ranges for each mortar, was, as at ■ 
 Sweaborg, executed by the surveying officers. 
 
 The following extract from an article on " New Weapons of the 
 United States Army," in the Century Magazine for February 1895, 
 shows that the experience gained in the above actions has not 
 been lost on American artillerists : — 
 
 " Sea -COAST Mortars. — Not less important in the defence of the 
 United States, nor less successful in the results obtained, are the 
 modern high-power sea-coast twelve-inch breech-loading mortars. 
 Sea-coast mortars are used for the destruction of ships-of-war 
 threatening our coasts, and fire projectiles designed to strike the 
 deck — the most vulnerable part of a ship. . . . Sixteen mortars 
 capable of simultaneous fire will be grouped in sunken batteries, 
 or pits, united under the control of one officer. . . . They will 
 be fired in volley or otherwise. . . . The knowledge of the extreme 
 accuracy of fire of which these mortars are capable will render it 
 very hazardous indeed for a vessel to approach within range — 
 six miles." (Compare paragraph 133 of the above evidence.) 
 
 In a recent speech Viscount Wolseley lamented that our army 
 was, unlike foreign armies, tuithout guns for vertical fire. It is 
 to be hoped our naval and military authorities will awake to the 
 importance of this subject. I believe we have no naval gun 
 capable of being used for vertical fire, whilst some other nations 
 have. The great range of guns in the present day only adds 
 to the importance of the question. 
 
1846-63.] PROPOSALS FOR IMPROVING THE NAVY. 4 II 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 NAVIGATING AND SURVEYING OFFICERS (1846-63). 
 
 We have seen that Captain Sulivan's paper of 1857 led to the 
 committees from which arose the Naval Reserve. In December 
 1858 he wrote another paper, entitled "Proposals for improving 
 the Lists of Naval Officers and System of Promotion." Sir John 
 Packington had this printed at the Admiralty, and it led to the 
 House of Commons' Committee of 1860-61, which recommended 
 portions to be carried out. Mr. Childers, however, later on 
 adopted more of the ideas. It will be interesting to see how many 
 have been adopted and how many remain yet to be taken up. 
 
 1. Cadets to be trained in sea-going training-ships instead of 
 ordinary men-of-war. 
 
 2. Abolition of the master line (adopted). 
 
 3. Abolition of the distinction of the red, white, and blue, and 
 use of white ensign as the royal naval flag (adopted). 
 
 4. Change of titles of naval officers, so as to show relative rank 
 •with officers of the army. 
 
 5. A certain length of service in each rank, except for service 
 in action, before qualifying for promotion to the next rank. 
 
 6. Reduction of lieutenants' and increase of sub-lieutenants' lists. 
 
 7. Formation of a reserve of junior officers from the mercantile 
 marine (adopted). 
 
 8. Various suggestions (several of which have been adopted) 
 to govern promotion by seniority and selection. 
 
 Abolition of the Master Line. — So early as the year 1841, 
 and again in 1846 and 1847, Sulivan published in a naval paper 
 proposals for doing away with the rank of master without in- 
 justice to the class, and he never ceased taking every opportunity 
 of urging this both publicly and privately, believing that the 
 then existing system prevented young officers properly qualifying 
 themselves for navigating and piloting their ships when they 
 obtained commands. He felt strongly that, while masters were 
 becoming more and more dissatisfied with their rank and position, 
 higher executive rank could never be given them without gross 
 injustice to the most valuable class of officers — commanders of 
 large ships and first lieutenants of small ships. All the attempts 
 made to alter their rank and satisfy the masters had failed, as 
 the best masters allowed. All the masters he consulted approved 
 of Sulivan's proposals. 
 
 He also about the same time (1846) urged an improvement in 
 the pay and position of seamen in the royal navy, and specially 
 of petty officers, in order that the service might be made so 
 •desirable to seamen as to do away with the necessity of corporal 
 punishment. 
 
412 NAVIGATING AND SURVEYING OFFICERS. [App. E. 
 
 His evidence before the commission of i860 greatly conduced 
 to the abolition of the separate navigating line. He explained 
 that, though he had not commanded large ships, he had had 
 much experience in handling them. In the old war time young 
 executive officers obtained practice in navigation through being 
 sent away in charge of prizes. These opportunities no longer 
 existed. The following incident first drew his attention to the 
 necessity of reform : — 
 
 " A twelve-gun brig was lying at Spithead. About noon a signal 
 was made to her to proceed to sea, for the relief of a vessel 
 ashore near St. Catherine's. The signal of inability was made. 
 'The master is on shorg.' 'Are the other officers on board?' 
 'Yes.' 'Proceed to sea immediately.' The inabihty signal 
 was again hoisted, the commander refusing to start his anchor 
 till the master or a pilot was sent to take the vessel out of 
 Spithead." 
 
 He felt such an incident to be a disgrace to the service, but 
 it was the result of continuance of the old custom, when sailors, 
 only navigated ships and soldiers fought them. 
 
 At Spithead, on another occasion, the master being ill below, 
 the captain of a ship anchored out of line, and had to get the 
 master of the nearest ship to come and move his, under steam, 
 a cable's length or two, there being no one else on board com- 
 petent to do so. 
 
 " Owing to the bad system, although the work was well done 
 in the higher branches, it was allowed by the masters themselves 
 to be not well done in the junior ranks of their line." 
 
 For the second master, instead of being on deck assisting 
 the master, was generally below attending to the holds. After 
 the first year in the Baltic, Sulivan, who had seen how unjust 
 this was to the juniors, got a minute passed remedying this 
 abuse. 
 
 " I could mention instances of the utter incompetency of our 
 junior masters in the Baltic, beyond what any man who knows 
 anything of navigation and pilotage would conceive possible. 
 The blunders of the youngest midshipman who had been two 
 years at sea would hardly be greater. Many of those young 
 masters, when put in charge of ships, rapidly learned their work,, 
 as captains chose the best of them, and these rose to the higher 
 positions, whilst many were weeded out in some way or other. 
 
 " However well the senior masters may have done their duty, 
 it has always been at the expense of the thorough efficiency of 
 our young officers, and consequently of the commanders and 
 captains of our ships. 
 
 " I have had experience of young lieutenants being put into 
 command of gun-boats with no one to help them. It was remark- 
 able how well they handled the vessels, even in very intricate 
 pilotage waters, and how rapidly they learned the work." 
 
1846-63.] PILOTAGE. 4 1 3 
 
 Although executive officers were supposed to keep up the study 
 •of navigation, practically very few did so after passing. 
 
 " Every one knows that an ordinary day's work in a ship is a 
 farce. Some captains encourage a better system amongst the 
 youngsters, and a few young men here and there take a pleasure in 
 navigation, and do attend to it from choice. Occasionally a young 
 lieutenant or two may show a taste for it. 
 
 " In large ships there are always some one or two officers who 
 like navigation, and who encourage it amongst the juniors. I 
 happened to be in a small frigate as midshipman, for a passage 
 home, in which the captain navigated the ship without a master 
 for nearly three years, and it was done by two midshipmen, and 
 after I joined her by three. Instead of sending in their day's 
 work as a matter of form, they knew that they were navigating 
 the ship, and they took a pride in it, and their observations (not 
 •only ordinary ones) were taken separately. Every day every 
 observation that could be taken was taken by those midshipmen 
 •(for instance, night or day lunars) ; and once now and then they 
 were checked by the captain, but he relied on their observations. 
 On one occasion, having relied greatly on a very good chrono- 
 meter, a very great error in that chronometer, after firing at a 
 mark, was detected by their observations. 
 
 "Out of those who began navigating work you could select 
 the pick for the large ships as a reward for their services. When 
 these men came to the higher ranks, they would furnish com- 
 manders and captains more efficient as navigators. 
 
 " If the Admiralty looked to that position as one giving officers 
 a claim for advancement, just as gunnery lieutenants and first 
 lieutenants ought to look to theirs, then surely many a young 
 ■officer would gladly take that line. 
 
 " I wish to keep perfectly clear of alluding in any way to 
 the surveying service, or to men brought up in that service, 
 because it is not the case that the surveyors are always the 
 best for pilotage duties. They may be very good men for a 
 survey, and they may make a beautiful survey and drawing 
 of a place, but it is a totally different qualification from the 
 ■work of handling ships in intricate pilotage waters, and I have 
 known surveyors under my own command whom I could not 
 trust in that work. Where only one master out of five or six 
 could do it, or could be taught to do it, I have seen a young 
 lieutenant here and another there who rapidly became excellent 
 hands for it, and were able to take charge in places where perhaps 
 two or three months before they would never have dreamt of 
 being able to take a ship." 
 
 " Still, at present you do consider that the masters of our large 
 ships are really useful men in the position that they noiv hold"!" — 
 "Yes, for the ordinary pilotage and navigation of the ships in 
 known pilotage waters; but to go into any new place, and do 
 
414 NAVIGATING AND SURVEYING OFFICERS. [App. E. 
 
 work, for instance, on a new and unknown coast, up an unknown 
 river, or on an enemy's coast — in short, where you have no charts 
 [or yet where there are charts], and all the buoys and lights and 
 jnarks are removed, they are not a bit more so than any other 
 class of ofiEicers, and I think we want very much to keep in view 
 in any reorganisation the wants of a fleet and squadron on an 
 enemy's coast in war. We have had a few surveying oflScers 
 accidentally on the stations surveying when expeditions have 
 occurred or war has broken out, and they have supplied a certain 
 want that could not otherwise have been supplied. They are 
 fast wearing out ; our foreign surveys, which alone made them 
 efficient, are almost commg to an end. 
 
 " In one very intricate place, some twenty miles long, in the 
 Baltic, after I had taken a squadron of line-of-battle ships through 
 the place and put a buoy on every single danger, and a few ships 
 had gone up under masters, the admiral sent for me, and told 
 me that the masters complained that they could not find the 
 channel ; and though I had buoyed out the numerous passages 
 and channels, they did not know which to take. In many cases, 
 before they were satisfied to take their ships up and down, I had 
 to go and whitewash every single point and spot that had to be 
 left on one side all the way up. That was for want of their 
 experience in that practical work. But in a very short time, here 
 and there, you would find a master coming out and becoming as 
 perfect a pilot as any man could be ; but so would you have had 
 in any other class in the squadron had they been given the same 
 opportunities and the same experience." (N.B. — The masters 
 doubtless had a chart as well.) 
 
 " In substituting the navigating officer for the master, do you 
 think that that will throw more work in the navigation of the ship 
 upon the captain V — "Not the slightest, because I beheve that, 
 however competent a captain might be to navigate his ship, he 
 would not take much part in it himself [the responsibility, how- 
 ever, resting on him]. I hardly ever took an observation when 
 in command at sea ; I . trusted to two well-known officers, of 
 whom the master was one. 
 
 Pilotage. — " The captain should see to the observation of the 
 officers, and see the position of the ship on the chart. But 
 directly the ship gets into pilotage waters, I think it would be 
 very desirable that the captain should more generally attend to 
 the pilotage of his own ship, or at least be competent to do so, 
 and to see that those under him were doing the work well. 
 
 " In intricate waters the captain should be as perfect a pilot 
 as any one. The more competent he is, whoever is under him, 
 the safer the ship is. 
 
 " If you call sailing in hne through a channel, led by another 
 ship, pilotage, that is no pilotage. All the fleet follow the leader, 
 and the captain's attention may be directed merely to keeping 
 
1846-63.] PRACTICE V. THEORY. 415 
 
 his rank, the same as in the open sea ; but where, as occurred 
 once in the Baltic, the whole fleet were in the midst of rocks and 
 shoals, with hardly any anchoring ground, in a strong breeze, 
 overtaken by a dense fog, and the captain is left to his own 
 resources for hours and hours, then is the time when the captain's 
 ability to pilot and handle a ship is everything ; and those cases 
 will always occur in important services, particularly on an enemy's 
 coast. 
 
 " The French found the want of a class of officers accustomed 
 to pilotage work in new and intricate channels ; but that did not 
 bear upon the masters. Our surveying officers took their ships 
 through intricate navigation, the same as they took our ships. 
 The French admiral asked me to try and train some of his 
 officers to that duty, and he told me that he would pick an 
 officer from each ship, and select a small vessel with a com- 
 mander that he thought most competent, and put all the officers 
 on board, if I would teach them the pilotage, and take his ship 
 up and down the channels, and point them out to them." 
 
 When first he argued that young officers would accept command 
 without a master or navigating officer, the First Lord said to him 
 that none would do so. One man was tried, and he said, " If I 
 am not fit to navigate the ship, I am not fit to comi7iand her." 
 Sulivan thought the confidence of such officers had been acquired 
 by commanding gun-boats in the Russian and Chinese wars. 
 
 " Do you consider that the competency of young officers to navigate 
 their ships, which has been noticed lately, arises from their source of 
 education at the Naval College 1 " — " No, I think not. I think it 
 arises from more of them having been put in positions where 
 they found it necessary to learn the duty, and to do it." 
 
 He instanced the case " of a young lieutenant of little ex- 
 perience, put in command of a small brig in the Parana, with 
 no one under him but a boatswain's mate and a party of men. 
 He was taken directly into some of the most intricate river and 
 river-entrance navigation in the world. He felt so nervous and 
 anxious at first he thought his hair would turn grey. In a week 
 or two he became an unusually good officer. He alone did a 
 great deal of pilotage and convoy work up and down the river. 
 He brought two large sailing-ships as well as his own up five 
 hundred miles without touching the ground, and was soon a 
 better pilot than many surveying officers after years of experience 
 of the work. This is the class of men I would pick out from 
 the whole service, not only for the navigating class, but with the 
 view of bringing as many of them forward to the head of the 
 service as I could." (The officer alluded to was the late Admiral 
 Sir Astley Cooper Key.) 
 
 The Surveying Service, 1863, Commission. — "With regard 
 to the surveying officers, is there a permanent staff of surveying officers 
 in the royal navy V — "The surveying officers have been all along 
 
41 6 NAVIGATING AND SURVEYING OFFICERS. [ApP- E. 
 
 in a peculiar position ; they have never had a recognised position 
 in the service ; they have only held certain positions, when, by 
 chance of war, their service has thrown them into the fleet, 
 and their qualifications have led them to perform certain duties ; 
 but all of them have been literally on sufferance. The admiral, 
 if he found their value, might employ them, but he need not ; 
 nor need he recognise their position if he chose not to do so. 
 The surveying service is quite new. for in the old war we had 
 nothing of the kind. Sir George Cockburn and Lord Melville 
 paid great attention to it some years after the Peace, and it was 
 owing to them that surveys were commenced in different parts 
 of the world. In the first China war, in the war in South 
 America, in the second China war, in the Black Sea during the 
 Russian war, there were surveying ofificers employed on the 
 station who were at once taken by the admirals under their 
 command away from their surveying duties to perform duties 
 which we ought to provide officers for with every fleet. 
 
 " If you could refer to the reports of Sir William Parker, Lord 
 Lyons, Sir Michael Seymour, and Admiral Hope, you would see 
 that they specially dwelt on the necessity and value of surveying 
 officers in those expeditions. There is no young class of officer 
 now coming forward. Without them, until you train them in war, 
 disasters will occur for want of them ; it is exactly the same 
 as the want of an engineers' force would be with an army on an 
 expedition — as in the Peninsula and in the Crimea. There, for 
 want of sufficient engineers, our operations suffered, and loss of 
 life occurred, until officers were trained to add to the engineers' 
 staff.* And so it must be in a naval war. To go in and conduct 
 operations on an enemy's coast, you must have officers who have 
 been trained for the work, just in the same way as you must 
 have engineers for an army in the field. Basque Roads in 1809 
 is a case in point. Had there been an officer of this class there, 
 his duty would have been to settle the question of depth of water 
 and distance from the batteries the first night. All the doubt 
 on this point being officially removed, the fleet must have gone 
 in, and the French squadron would have been destroyed." 
 
 " / see in the Navy List that there are eleven officers, consisting of 
 captains, commanders, and lieutenants, and ten tnasters in the sur- 
 veying list." — " The twenty-one officers in the list are borne on the 
 ships' books for home service ; they are a particular class of survey- 
 ing officers. Some few of them have served on the class of foreign 
 service which I have alluded to, but they are nearly all employed 
 on home service, and the home duties are of a special kind. 
 They are not performed upon unexplored and dangerous coasts, 
 which give the practice that is necessary for officers to enable 
 them to perform the duties which we may anticipate they would 
 have to perform in case of war. They are merely employed in 
 
 * Lord Wolseley was detached from a line regiment for such duties.- — Ed. 
 
1846-63.] PIONEER OFFICERS. 417 
 
 carrying out details in connection with the ordnance surveys. 
 It is a totally different class of duty, and it must be looked upon 
 as not meeting the wants that I have mentioned.* 
 
 " The great fault of the present day is the absence of advantages 
 to surveying officers sufficient to induce young officers who are 
 fit for it to go into the surveying-vessels. 
 
 " It is no advantage putting youngsters, as youngsters, into 
 surveying-ships. They would only learn a little sounding." 
 
 Pioneer Officers. — In 1858 he wrote "A Proposal for 
 organising a Scientific Corps of Naval Officers," showing the 
 necessity of holding out inducements to officers to take up sur- 
 veying, so as to maintain a staff of surveyors for war-time. Some 
 of the opinions expressed have been mentioned above. I will 
 therefore merely give the following points : — 
 
 It will be seen he meant a superior class of surveying officer, 
 embracing the quality of " pioneer," for doing the kind of work 
 he did in the Baltic. He thought there should be special advan- 
 tages in pay and promotion held out, so as to make the corps an 
 object of ambition to the best young officers, to be gained by 
 well-tested superiority in seamanship and all the necessary 
 scientific branches. The selection to be made when passing for 
 lieutenants. A more practical examination in navigation, to test 
 ability as an observer, and a certain proficiency in surveying would 
 be required, as well as ability as an officer and sailor (difficult to 
 test). Therefore all offering for this higher examination should be 
 first recommended by their captains as the pick of the youngsters. 
 Twice as many as would be required should be put through 
 a year's special training. The half not attaining to the selected 
 posts would be made more valuable officers by the course. A 
 special sea-going ship to be provided for the training, so that 
 practical pilotage, gunnery, and seamanship could be tested in 
 addition to scientific studies. Gunnery — a most important subject, 
 as the planning of attacks would be dealt with by these officers. 
 All admirals and senior officers to have one or more " pioneer " 
 officers attached to their command. 
 
 Thanks mainly to Sulivan's exertions the navy is now reaping 
 the benefit of the improved scheme. All officers know some- 
 thing of navigation, although perhaps not as much as could be 
 wished. They all undergo a practical as well as theoretical 
 college course, embracing pilotage, so as to work by the chart 
 anywhere ; but navigators themselves consider this course could 
 with advantage be lengthened. The surveying service is receiving 
 more attention, although a surveying-ship is not a necessary part 
 of every fleet, as it should be. There still, however, seems to be 
 wanting the special class of " pioneer " officer. 
 
 Navigators have only recently had the same chance of advance- 
 
 * There are now thirty-two executive officers in the surveying service, 
 employed on foreign surveys for the most part.— Ed. 
 
 27 
 
41 8 THE NAVAL RESERVE. [App. F. 
 
 merit as officers in other special branches, and there must be no 
 retrogression in this respect, or the best men will avoid that line. 
 There should, if anything, be greater inducements, to compensate 
 for the very great responsibility and risk to his career incurred 
 by the navigator, which the gunnery and other men are exempt 
 from. 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 THE NAVAL RESERVE (1846-60). 
 
 As far back as 1846 Sulivan had endeavoured to call the attention 
 of the authorities and of the public to the necessity of a reserve 
 of trained seamen, so as to enable us to man a war fleet in time of 
 emergency. 
 
 Soon after his appointment to the Board of Trade in 1857 
 he laid a paper on the subject before the President, who con- 
 sented to its being brought to the attention of the First Lord 
 of the Admiralty, who had it printed. This led to the " Manning 
 Committee" of 1858. The scheme of reserve which resulted 
 from this committee was almost identical with Sulivan's scheme, 
 except that it omitted the chief aids to its success — the pension 
 fund * and school-ships — and did not provide enough men. 
 
 His plan was first to provide from seamen's contributions 
 a pension fund giving officers ;^2o, men ;^io, at the age of 
 fifty, so as to attach them to their country; then to establish 
 a compulsory service system, by which every young man joining 
 the mercantile marine should serve a year in a man-of-war for 
 training, and further in time of emergency. Failing the adoption 
 of this plan, a voluntary service system, going to the merchant 
 service for forty thousand volunteers to serve in a similar manner : 
 in either case giving a return in the shape of a pension of ;^2o 
 at the age of fifty, which, with that from the seamen's fund, would 
 amount to jQ2,o per annum. This would provide an adequate 
 reserve, and induce a better class of men to join the merchant 
 service. In addition to either system the establishment of 
 school training-ships in all our harbours, in which Government 
 would give a training to seamen's sons and picked boys from the 
 day schools, on condition of their afterwards serving like the other 
 reserve men, and on the same terms as to pension, etc. He 
 thought that the cost to the country would not be greater than 
 the present system, inasmuch as fewer permanent men-of-war's 
 men need be maintained if we had a proper reserve. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the establishment of the present 
 
 * In recent years a small pension of ;^I2 has been granted to reserve men 
 attaining the age of sixty. 
 
i86l.] HAVE WE ENOUGH MEN ? 419 
 
 reserve — inadequate though it be — is due to the exertions of 
 my father. The subject is too important in the present day 
 to dismiss in the limits of an appendix, so that I must reserve 
 for another occasion a review of the convincing evidence given 
 as to the need of an effectual reserve. At the present time 
 the French have at their command a hundred and eighty-five 
 thousand sailors and fishermen, all of whom have served at least 
 three years on board a man-of-war, whilst we can muster only 
 ninety-five thousand men, including fifteen thousand marines and 
 twenty-three thousand reserve men, who have not been adequately 
 trained alongside our blue-jackets, so as to acquire the discipline 
 needed for service in action. It is found difficult in the present 
 day even to man our peace navy. 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 THE BOARD OF ADMIRALTY (1861). 
 
 Sir James Sulivan gave evidence before the committee ap- 
 pointed in 1 86 1 '■^ to inquire into the constitution of the Board of 
 Admiralty, and the various duties devolving thereon, also as to the 
 general effect of such system on the navy" Here his love for 
 straightforward speaking was strongly evinced. Before a com- 
 mittee comprised of the First Lord and three ex-First Lords, two 
 Secretaries to the Admiralty, a Junior Lord, and six civilian M.P.'s, 
 he boldly pointed out how in his opinion the very construction 
 of the Board of Admiralty prevented adequate reform in the 
 navy and justice to the officers of that service. He, as usual, 
 illustrated his arguments with case after case from his own 
 knowledge. 
 
 At the outset of this examination, and publicly in later years, he 
 distinctly stated that the whole system of promotion had changed 
 for the better, and that officers now were advanced in turn and 
 according to merit. In his opinion the great want of the navy was 
 a permanent head, responsible to the country for its administra- 
 tion and for providing an efficient defence. Any one in such a 
 position, in certain times of recent history, would have been able 
 to carry his point with the Government when some alteration was 
 necessary, or by his resignation have called public attention to the 
 matter. Under such a system the unprepared state of the navy 
 as regards the manning question could not have continued. The 
 same applied to the question of discipline. There had of late 
 years been too much interference en the part of the Press and 
 of the House of Commons with the discipline of the navy. 
 Through ignorance of the circumstances evil was often done. 
 
420 THE BOARD OF ADMIRALTY. [App. G. 
 
 There should be one man whom the country could hold respon- 
 sible. Sulivan gave instances to show the Admiralty had some- 
 times given way to public clamour instead of supporting officers 
 whose firmness should have been commended. 
 
 There was a general feeling throughout the service that it had 
 suffered greatly from the effects of political and family interest, 
 still more from the constant changes caused by the political 
 character of the administration. The claims of officers might 
 be known to one First Lord, but on he and his colleagues going 
 out of office the man's claims were unknown to their successors. 
 
 A Permanent Naval Commander-in-chief. — The greatest 
 satisfaction to the navy would result from its administration being 
 assimilated to that of the army, whose head does not change 
 nor his chief of department, he having the promotions and appoint- 
 ments irrespective of changes of government. 
 
 " First of all establish the best system, which would be more a 
 governmental or parliamentary move ; and when that system was 
 established, it should be handed over to heads of departments, 
 who would be responsible for the working of it. There are two 
 points on which men who agree in principle might differ, — whether 
 the Minister of Marine should be the head of the great depart- 
 ments under him ; or whether the Minister of Marine should be 
 separate, with a commander-in-chief over the executive department 
 of the navy. The affairs of the navy in that case might be divided 
 into three great departments, — the one the fleet in comviission ; the 
 other the providing that fleet for commission ; third, the accountant- 
 general of the navy." 
 
 The plan Sulivan suggested was as follows : — 
 
 "I. Commander-in-chief of the fleet in commission. — 
 Branches : i. The manning and distribution of the ships, and 
 the inspection and discipline of the ships in commission, with 
 a naval officer entirely devoted to this as his assistant; courts- 
 martial. 2. Coast-guard : coastguard ships and stations ; naval 
 reserve. 3. Hydrographer : the harbour branch, the surveys of 
 the world, etc. 4. Marines. 5. Medical. 6. Victualling. All 
 these branches bear directly on the fleet in commission, and 
 therefore should be under one head. 
 
 " II. Comptroller. — Branches : i. A naval assistant comp- 
 troller, to assist comptroller in inspection of the yards and all works 
 relating to the naval branch and gunnery (fittings of guns and 
 carriages). 2. Chief constructor. 3. Steam director. 4. Director 
 of works. 5. Storekeeper. 
 
 " III. Accountant-general, with three assistant ac- 
 countants. — Branches : i. Fleet in commission. 2. Dockyards. 
 3. Civil branch and pensions. 
 
 " The Minister of Marine to be a member of the Cabinet, 
 changeable with the Government; he might be a civilian. 
 
 " The chiefs of departments to be permanent, so long as no 
 
i86i.] A NAVAL COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 42 1 
 
 special reason existed for a change. These chiefs not to meet 
 as a board. Each man should have the nomination of the men 
 who were to act as his assistants, as on them in a great measure 
 would depend the credit of his administration. 
 
 " In addition, there must be a council. Some men might 
 be admirable for carrying out a known system, but might not be 
 the ones fitted for suggesting new measures. Very often young 
 officers would be required to give their opinions, they not being 
 so wedded to old routine. The council to be formed of officers 
 of different ranks from the best service men. If this were done, 
 there should be no jealousy between them and the heads of 
 departments, who should be glad to join in council with men 
 fresh from the service." 
 
 A council formed so as to include some junior officers would 
 be less likely to pass over valuable inventions. 
 
 He referred to the delays that had sometimes occurred 
 in adopting evident improvements which were urged on the 
 Admiralty. He instanced the need of having junior men on 
 the council, because of the prejudice among older officers to 
 improvements, by stating that one of our most celebrated generals, 
 as capable a commander as ever existed, had been long opposed 
 to replacing the old " Brown Bess " by the rifle ! 
 
 A civilian would soon become as capable as a naval man for 
 the post of sole minister. 
 
 '^ But taking such a system as you have just sketched out, wherein 
 would be the check upon the abuse of patronage?" — "In the sole 
 responsibility, in the first place, being upon the Minister of 
 Marine, not a joint responsibility with a board ; but there 
 would also be the responsibility of the permanent head, or 
 commander-in-chief of the navy, in picking out and recommend- 
 ing to the Minister of Marine the officer whom, in his experience 
 as commander-in-chief of the fleet, he had found deserving of 
 the appointment or promotion, in which he would be very much 
 assisted by the head of the discipUne and inspection branch, who 
 ought to see every ship before she leaves England and on her 
 return, and also see every report of the state of the ship abroad, so 
 that all the facts of the state of each ship might be known before 
 officers were either promoted or recommended for promotion on 
 the one hand, or blamed on the other hand, perhaps sometimes 
 unjustly. 
 
 " The evils of the present system, so afi"ecting the promotion 
 of the officers, particularly of late years, are caused by the 
 changes more than by the political patronage of any First Lord 
 whilst he is in power. I believe there has scarcely been a First 
 Lord at the Admiralty for the last thirty years who, if he could 
 have remained permanent head of the navy, after once ascer- 
 taining the relative merits of the officers, would not have given 
 more satisfaction to the service officers than has been the case. 
 
422 THE BOARD OF ADMIRALTY. [App. G. 
 
 " Although a man may have been a good captain, yet, when 
 he comes to be wanted for the higher commands, totally different 
 qualifications are necessary ; not one man in twenty, perhaps, 
 would have the qualifications which would make him fit to be 
 picked out for important command in case of war." 
 
 " Is it your opinion that the defect is a want of clear and well- 
 defined resfonsibility in the First Lord, and in the various heads 
 of departments ? " — " I think so, the navy being administered by 
 a board responsible jointly, instead of under individual responsi- 
 bility. It has been said that the First Lord is solely responsible, 
 but certainly it is quite a new idea to those who only know the 
 service from the outside. 
 
 " I know that the feeling is very strong amongst officers in 
 the army against the suggested assimilation of the system of the 
 army to the system of the navy, because, they say, they have 
 been comparatively free hitherto from the evils which existed 
 in the navy of a changeable head of the fleet." 
 
 " You have looked to the case of the army. Do you think that 
 birth goes for nothing, and that pre-eminent service stands for 
 everything, in the choice of the commander-in-chief of the army ? " — 
 " I think there is a great advantage in having a man who, like 
 the commander-in-chief of the army, has served, and is also 
 free from political bias ; and though it is not always so that 
 the commander-in-chief is a member of the royal family, I 
 think the navy would be very well satisfied if their own patronage 
 was in the control of a similar person, if he had served in the 
 navy and had the necessary qualifications." 
 
 Reference being made to complaints of recent selections for 
 army commands — " I suppose that under any administration, 
 however good, those cases of unjust selections will occasionally 
 occur ; but I think it would be found that they do so through 
 pressure put upon the commander-in-chief by a higher power ; 
 and nothing, perhaps, but a man so independent and so deter- 
 mined to stand his ground, and say, ' If you insist upon that 
 being done I resign,' would put a stop to it. We have been 
 pretty plainly told that the commander-in-chief of the army has 
 resisted it in some few cases, till he has been told that he must 
 do it. 
 
 "The strong impression in the navy is that a great deal of 
 injustice done to the navy in the way which I have stated (in 
 the curtailment of necessary outlays) is owing to the Treasury 
 pressure brought to bear upon the First Lord and Secretary to 
 the Admiralty at times of political change." 
 
 In the course of his three days' examination Sulivan, by quoting 
 a number of cases, showed that meritorious officers without 
 influence had formerly had little prospects in the service. There 
 was an attempt in certain quarters to suppress this evidence. 
 The room was once cleared for the commissioners to consider 
 
1863.] 
 
 THE SERVICE FIRST. 
 
 423 
 
 whether testimony he was desirous of giving should be allowed. 
 Whilst outside, from among the large number of officers present, 
 an old gentleman — a stranger to him — came up to Sulivan and 
 said, " We have been saying how good it is for the navy that these 
 things should be exposed ; but I understand that you have two 
 sons in the navy. Would it not be well for their sakes that you 
 did not say so much ? " Sulivan replied, " If it does good to the 
 service, it will do good to my sons ; but, anyhow, I must consider 
 the interest of the service before that of my sons." 
 
 The commission terminated with his vigorous denial of the 
 accusation that naval officers entertained jealous feelings when 
 men of real merit were passed over their heads — i.e. when the 
 selections were not governed by favouritism. 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 NAVY (PROMOTION AND RETIREMENT), 1863. 
 
 Titles of Officers. — When examined before the Select Com- 
 mittee on the Navy in 1863, he suggested that the titles of naval 
 officers should be altered, as great confusion was caused, to their 
 prejudice, when serving in the field with army officers, as well as 
 in civil life, by the existing system. The following are the changes 
 he suggested : — 
 
 Present Naval Titles. 
 
 Proposed Naval Titles. 
 
 Corresponding Army Rank. 
 
 Admiral 
 
 Admiral 
 
 General 
 
 Captain 
 
 Commodore 
 
 Colonel 
 
 Commander 
 
 Commander 
 
 Major 
 
 Lieutenant 
 
 Captain 
 
 Captain 
 
 Mate, or Sub-Lieu-"! 
 
 First Lieutenant 
 
 First Lieutenant 
 
 Senior Midshipman 
 
 Second Lieutenant 
 
 f Second Lieutenant or 
 \ Ensign 
 
 Junior Mids and Cadets to be confined to training-ships. 
 
 Flag Rank. — " Selection should be one of the means of filling 
 the admirals' list, but it should be selection exclusively for service in 
 action, in order to test the qualifications of a captain for command. 
 I could prove to the committee by cases, if necessary, that 
 officers who have done well and behaved gallantly in the junior 
 ranks have failed through unfitness for command of a squadron 
 during war. For selection to the rank of admiral, without waiting 
 for seniority, distinguished service before the enemy should be 
 
424 MERCHANT SHIPPING. [App. I. 
 
 requisite. During peace, without the means of ascertaining so 
 well the qualifications of ofificers, it would be better not to have 
 selection. Officers who, during a time of war, had not only shown 
 gallantry upon ordinary service, which of course they would do, 
 but real superior ability, showing them fit for command, or who 
 had distinguished themselves in any superior way, should be 
 eligible for promotion to the flag list, exactly as there have 
 been men in the army promoted from the rank of colonel, 
 very often of small standing, to that of major-general, both 
 in the Crimea and India, for special service. Some officers 
 who, when that war broke out, were junior to captains in the 
 navy have been promoted not only to the rank of major-general, 
 but to that of lieutenant-general, while a naval officer, going 
 through the same service, must have remained on the captains' 
 list till this time without any promotion for his service, and, if he 
 happened to be a C.B. before, without the slightest honorary 
 reward of any kind." 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 MERCHANT SHIPPING (i860). 
 
 Coast Lights. — The following opinions, it must be remem- 
 bered, are those of one who was for nine years head of the Lights 
 and Pilotage Department of the Board of Trade :— 
 
 "Have you considered the point as to the desirability of 
 charging the lights upon the shipowners, as compared with 
 charging them upon the Consolidated Fund?" — "Yes, I think 
 that generally the principle that vessels should pay for what 
 is of use to them is a right one to a certain extent ; and, 
 on the other hand, that the safety of vessels and of their 
 crews is partly a State question, and I think that the decision 
 come to by the Harbour of Refuge Committee of the House of 
 Commons is a very fair one, dividing the expense in the case 
 of proposed harbours of refuge into half being paid by the 
 shipping in the shape of a passing toll, and half being paid by 
 the Government for the State benefit derived from those harbours. 
 I would apply the same principle to lights. I think that, in 
 addition to the lives and property in which the State is interested 
 to a certain extent, we have also a large navy interested in 
 the lights, and I think it has been unfair that the State should 
 not have paid towards the lights for the men-of-war that used 
 them. Now if we apply the exact measure of half the payment 
 being made by the State and half by those using the hghts, and 
 if we shut out for the present the question of other governments 
 giving our ships their lights free, I think it will be found that 
 
i86o] COAST LIGHTS. 425 
 
 the State would really have to take nearly the whole payment 
 ■of the lights in future to make up its fair share ; for this reason — 
 the whole of the lights have been built and maintained hitherto 
 by dues on merchant shipping. A very large sum has been 
 paid for the material and buildings in connection with the 
 lights, and, very roughly, I have estimated that the value of 
 the lights which the merchant shipping have paid for must now 
 amount to at least ;^4,ooo,ooo. Supposing this to be the case, 
 the interest on that money would very nearly amount to the 
 whole sum now paid for the annual maintenance of the lights ; 
 and if we deduct a proportion for what the navy should pay to 
 the lights, if we allow ;^4,ooo,ooo at 4 per cent, it is ;^i6o,ooo 
 a year, which really is due to the merchant shipping ; and as 
 the lights cost something over ^^200,000 per annum, if the country 
 were now to take the whole of them, it would not be paying much 
 more than the merchant shipping would be paying in having 
 provided the lights and handed them over in the complete 
 state in which they now are." 
 
 In answer to further questions he said : " I think there would 
 be no injustice if the lights were charged to the Consolidated Fund. 
 In reality the country would benefit to a large amount by the 
 difference which would be saved in the freights. The coasters 
 pay a very large proportion of the light dues. The competition, 
 particularly with railways, is very great, and I have no doubt that 
 everything taken off lights, in the coasting trade at least, and 
 probably in the foreign trade, would be taken off freights, and 
 in that way the public would indirectly regain a great proportion 
 of what it paid. But then there is another consideration — that is, 
 that the Americans, who are the only nation, perhaps, on a 
 sufficiently large scale to compare with our own, give our ships 
 their lights free to a large extent, and, that being the case, it 
 seems hard that American ships should be charged as they are 
 in our ports. I exclude France from the comparison, because 
 they really charge a tonnage due more than equivalent to what 
 we charge them for lights. I have heard it stated that at the 
 time when our own steamers of the Cunard line were getting the 
 use of the American lights free those of the American line were 
 paying ;^3,ooo a year to the English lights." 
 
 Pilotage. — The report of the commissioners, amongst other 
 things, mentioned "the various anomalies as to pilotage, described 
 with so much professional acuteness by Captain Sulivan and 
 others, are so glaring that no time should be lost in removing 
 them." 
 
 The commissioners seem to have adopted his view that " where 
 the system of voluntary pilotage prevails, the supply of pilots is 
 more abundant, their efficiency in no way inferior." 
 
426 THE ARMY VOLUNTEERS. [APP. J. 
 
 APPENDIX J. 
 THE ARMY VOLUNTEERS (1852). 
 
 In December 185 1, at the late Professor Darwin's dinner-table. 
 Captain Sulivan pointed out to a party of country gentlemen the 
 defenceless state of the country, and how easily a small invading 
 force might overrun our south-eastern counties — that nothing 
 but the establishment of volunteer corps, in addition to a regular 
 militia force, would ensure safety. Those present urged him to 
 write to the papers on the subject. In the issues of the Naval 
 and Military Gazette for January loth and 31st, 1852, his letters 
 appeared, advocating also mounted rifle corps, and proposing 
 certain details as to equipment, etc. A little later in the Time^ 
 Colonel Napier proposed a plan almost similar to that of Sulivan, 
 who then wrote to the Naval and Military Gazette supporting 
 Sir C. Napier's " column " plan against the military critics, and 
 illustrating the advantage of it from his own experience in active 
 service in the river Plata, etc. The Naval and Military Gazette 
 stated later, " It appears from documents before us on this- 
 subject (Volunteer Fox-hunters), as well as that of the equip- 
 ment of foot soldiers in irregular warfare, that Colonel Napier 
 and Captain Sulivan have suggested nearly the same thing, and 
 without pirating each other's ideas." 
 
 The letter of January loth, 1852, to the Naval and Military 
 Gazette pointed out the danger of an enemy's force landing on 
 the Kentish coast and marching on London. It would be of 
 the utmost importance that the defensive positions taken up 
 on the Sussex hills should be connected by good roads, either 
 along the heights or to their rear. Further, Sulivan urged the 
 need of light-armed troops to assist our cavalry and artillery. 
 The militia regiments should be armed with the best weapons, and 
 the formation of volunteer rifle companies should also be encouraged. 
 
 His letter of January 31st — evidently following other corre- 
 spondence — laid claims to his having been the first to suggest 
 volunteers. He further suggests that in every hunting district 
 troops of well-mounted young men should be formed, armed 
 with sword and light rifle. These would make a most useful 
 force. Further, he showed the need of mounting long guns in 
 martello-towers on our south coast, to protect the towns from the 
 attacks of small squadrons or single ships advocated by the Prince 
 de Joinville. These should be manned by artillery volunteers. 
 
 The outcome of the correspondence in the two papers was 
 the offer of several volunteer corps to the Government, the first 
 accepted being the South Devon one, doubtless that of Dr. 
 Bucknill, who recently received the honour of knighthood on 
 this account. 
 
i860.] THE CHIEF TO DIRECT, NOT FIGHT. 427 
 
 Thus it appears that the credit of being the first to propose 
 the formation of volunteer corps in the three arms is due to 
 my father, but he always admitted that Colonel Napier put 
 forward the idea of volunteer rifles somewhere about the same 
 time. 
 
 APPENDIX K. 
 
 FLEET ACTIONS, ETC. (i86oj. 
 
 In his paper to the Admiralty of i860, besides drawing attention 
 to the manning question, Sulivan pointed out that future actions 
 would be decided more by skilful manoeuvring of ships or fleets. 
 In the case of two fleets meeting, success would chiefly depend 
 on bringing a superior force more rapidly to bear on the leading 
 ships of the enemy. This would depend on the order and 
 peculiar arrangements of the ships, so as to facilitate a rapid 
 change of direction, and to the handiness of the leading ships. 
 Short ships, therefore, are better than long ships where speed 
 in chase is not required. The most important duty of a 
 commander-in-chief will be to manauvre, and upon his skill will 
 probably depend the result of the engagement. Therefore we 
 must abandon the old idea of the admiral merely doing the duty 
 of a commander of a brigade by going in the biggest ship into 
 the thickest of the fray, so putting himself into the worst position 
 for observation, and perhaps throwing away his valuable life in 
 doing what a junior could equally do. As well might Wellington 
 have led a brigade in action, leaving his army without a head. 
 Future naval actions will depend as much on the admiral and 
 his captain-of-the-fleet as a land action on the general-in-command 
 and his chief-of-staff'. These officers, therefore, should be the 
 picked men of the service. It would be madness to risk the 
 fleet, and perhaps the country, by needlessly exposing the men 
 on whom so much depended. But old custom will be hard to 
 break, and few men would have the moral courage to do so 
 without a positive order from headquarters. The admiral's flag, 
 therefore, should not even in time of peace be in a large ship, 
 for he could not well leave her in time of danger, but it should 
 be hoisted in a frigate [or cruiser ?] abreast of a single or between 
 a double line, with every ship clearly in view, and from whence 
 his signals could be seen by all. If the admiral were the right 
 man, success or failure might depend on this seemingly trifling 
 arrangement. If he were not the best man for the post, we 
 should probably suffer defeat, when so much depends on the 
 chief; for the French especially study these matters, and select 
 their best men for commands, regardless of other considerations. 
 
42 8 QUICK-FIRING. [App. L 
 
 Sulivan also suggested one very important strategical device 
 in connection with gunnery. I think modern improvements in 
 ships and in guns have made these two suggestions of still 
 greater moment. 
 
 In the same year Sulivan urged on the Admiralty the necessity 
 of casing some of our wooden ships with iron and providing them 
 with rifled guns, as well as the importance of mortars for coast 
 defence. 
 
 Large or Small Guns. — The following letter, dated January 
 1878, written by Admiral W. A. B. Hamilton to Sir J. Sulivan, 
 may be of interest : — 
 
 "... I quite agree with you as to actions never being 
 decided at long range, nor am I a great believer in turret-ships. 
 In my opinion we go too far in quality and leave out quantity. 
 I had in Achilles thirteen 7-in. guns on a broadside — Hercules 
 had seven 10 in. and 9 in.; but I have no hesitation in saying, 
 had I got within five hundred yards (as I would have fired three 
 shots to her one, I should really have had thirty-nine to seven), I 
 would have made it too hot for them to return a shot. No naval 
 action ever was decisive at long range. History repeats itself. 
 None, in my opinion, ever will be between ironclads. The 
 American war showed that the greatest number of guns generally 
 won the day. At the first attack on Charlestown the northerners 
 were sixty-five guns to a hundred and thirty ; and although they 
 had several monitors and the ironsides, they were licked — and 
 again in the James River against a fort (Darling, I think). But 
 at Wilmington, Savannah and Porte in the Mississippi, also at 
 Mobile with Farragut, where they had the greatest number of 
 guns, they won. I was at Boston in '63. Corvettes were sent to 
 Farragut armed with six ii-in. guns. He took out four, replacing 
 them by eight 9-in. guns. Experience had shown him that it was 
 only by an overwhelming fire he could shut up forts." 
 
 APPENDIX L. 
 
 ADMIRAL SULIVAN S REMARKS ON MR. G. BUTLER 
 EARP'S WORK. 
 
 As the only published work on the campaign of 1854 is 
 that wrritten by Mr. G. Butler Earp, " from materials fur- 
 nished by Admiral Sir Charles Napier," it may be interest- 
 ing to naval readers to give certain remarks and criticisms 
 annotated by Sir James Sulivan in the margins of his 
 copy. The figures refer to the pages of the work on 
 
i8S4] GOOD OUT OF EVIL. 429 
 
 which the notes occur. Some others I have already re- 
 ferred to in the course of the journals. 
 
 Page 161. Removing the piles before Cronstadt. — "The 
 'engineering' plan was feasible. Not diving-bells, but 
 diving-dresses and gunpowder, would have been the means 
 employed against the barrier, had the war gone on, after 
 the enemy's flotilla had been driven from it." 
 
 Page 161. Russian gun-boats. — " Admiral Cony's weak 
 point was ' gun-boats.' He actually shut his ports at night 
 for fear of being boarded, yet there were only a few gun- 
 boats near him at Sweaborg, twenty miles off." 
 
 Page 165. — "The others were nearly all at Cronstadt, 
 a hundred and fifty miles off." 
 
 Page 97. — Referring to the signal made by Napier on the 
 announcement of the declaration of war, " Sharpen your 
 cutlasses, and the day is your own," Mr. Earp says it was 
 the admiral's intention, had he met the Russian fleet out- 
 side, to attempt to board the enemy's ships. Sulivan's note 
 says : — 
 
 " Had he attempted it, he must have been mad. It 
 would have been throwing away the power his screw-ships 
 gave him of attacking one end of the line and crushing it." 
 
 Reviewing the blockade of the Baltic, Sulivan says : — 
 
 " I am convinced that the blockade in the Baltic was 
 of little importance, except to the poor coast fishermen, 
 who suffered for want of salt. So long as the trade 
 through Prussia is open, and a regular trade can be 
 carried on at Tornea, across the Swedish frontier, a block- 
 ade is really nominal. There were lines of vessels estab- 
 lished on the Finnish lakes, and from Tornea and other 
 northern Bothnia ports to Viborg the route was chiefly 
 by water. The roads from the Prussian frontier were so 
 improved that a ton of goods to St. Petersburg, which 
 cost ;£'45 for carriage the first year, cost only £1^, the 
 second. The extra cost of Russian produce fell entirely 
 on the purchasers. Only articles like salt and coals were 
 entirely shut out by the blockade, and they got twenty-one 
 cargoes of coals from Sweden the first winter, after our 
 blockading squadron left." 
 
 On page 467 reference is made to the desire of General 
 Jones, in September, to know the intentions of the admiral 
 as to any future operations during the season. He also 
 asked for a steamer to take him to Cronstadt, so that 
 he might form some opinion about the place. But the 
 
430 napier's campaign. [App. l. 
 
 admiral seemed to consider he was assuming more power 
 than he was entitled to. My father makes the following 
 note : — 
 
 " General Jones ought to have had the steamer. He 
 asked me if there was any difficulty. I told him we 
 could go up with two of the good screw-frigates and 
 see all in two or three days ; but the admiral refused, 
 saying this would weaken his force. With an engineer 
 officer of so much experience so near Cronstadt, he was 
 certainly entitled on public grounds to any assistance 
 for the purpose of seeing the enemy's defences. The ships 
 would have been going nearer, not away from, the enemy, 
 and any man less nervous about the safety of the ships 
 would have sent them." 
 
 On page 246 reference is made to the controversy be- 
 tween Napier and the Admiralty. The MS. note says : — 
 
 " These private letters of a First Lord to a commander- 
 in-chief are really semi-official, and often his only instruc- 
 tions on some points. If a dispute arises on these points, 
 I think it quite fair to use the letters." 
 
 Again, page 246 : — 
 
 " I do not think Admiral Berkeley ever said Sweaborg 
 or Cronstadt ought to have been attacked with the large 
 ships — that was Sir James Graham. Admiral B. said, 
 ' If mortars had been asked for in June ' (a month before 
 their use had been suggested), ' they might have been 
 sent out in time to have bombarded Sweaborg that year ' ; 
 and in this he was quite right." 
 
 A good deal of discussion and criticism of Napier's pro- 
 ceedings followed the return of the fleet, and a sad contro- 
 versy is carried on in Napier's book. It may be right here 
 to add that the return of the fleet was made too soon, from 
 Napier's nervousness as to the safety of his ships. Both 
 Admirals Chads and Seymour, as well as Captain Sulivan, 
 when he was in the Duke of Wellington, constantly urged 
 Napier to remain, and told him it was safe for screw- 
 ships for another month. Next year they remained until 
 November, and one squadron was off Cronstadt till late 
 in October. Admiral Berkeley (p. 482) also showed 
 nervousness on this point, but he did not really know 
 what the risk was. The notes are as follows : — 
 
 " The account of the dangers had been much exaggerated. 
 After proving the safety of the Nargen anchorage in the 
 September gales, thei-e ought to have been no fear about 
 
^8S4] THE RUSSIAN FLEET. 43 I 
 
 remaining. The admiral was broken down by anxiety, 
 and worried by the attacks made on him by the Press, 
 and was not then in a fit state to judge of the risk. He 
 "had been from the first so prejudiced against Nargen, that 
 "he never would really believe in it." 
 
 " He was too weak and ill to bear the charge of such 
 a fleet." 
 
 " He was right in sending the sailing-ships home when 
 1he did, as the screw-ships left were sufficient for the 
 blockade." 
 
 " He was so broken down by anxiety about the anchor- 
 age, safety of the ships, etc., that it was really distressing to 
 witness it. While thinking only of attacking Bomarsund, 
 and knowing the ships were in safety, he was a different 
 man. He became stout and strong during the three weeks 
 there, and showed no signs of nervousness. But directly it 
 was over, and the care of the fleet returned, he broke 
 •down rapidly." 
 
 In his evidence on "manning the navy," i860, Captain 
 Sulivan stated : — 
 
 " With regard to the Russian navy, there has been too 
 much tendency to call the Baltic fleet a paper and patch- 
 work fleet. Even when it was a sailing fleet, I believe, 
 from what we have heard, that our fleet might have taken 
 a lesson from the regularity in their movements every 
 summer in the Baltic. We were told by Swedish officers 
 that the Russians handled their ships like clock-work, 
 keeping their stations well, and manoeuvring in a manner 
 that could not be excelled ; and if the officer commanding 
 a ship was the least inferior to others, he was taken away, 
 and a picked man taken from some other ship put in 
 his place. However inferior those men may be as sailors, 
 if the officers can handle a fleet like that, and if the men 
 are the gunners which they proved to be at Sevastopol, 
 they are very good. When so many men were killed in 
 the first year, six thousand seamen were sent from the 
 Baltic fleet to reinforce the batteries at Sevastopol." 
 
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INDEX 
 
 Aberdeen, Lord, 113 
 
 Abo, 171, 238, 256 
 
 Acorn, 65 
 
 Acre referred to, 159, 160, 404 
 
 Admiral to direct, not to fight, 427 
 
 Admiralty, Board of, 385 ; consult 
 Sulivan, 392; oppose dockyard 
 volunteers, 398, 399 ; construc- 
 tion of, 419 
 
 Admiralty plans, 122, 182 
 
 Adventure, 34, 35 
 
 Aland Islands, 122, 139, 140; visited 
 by Buckle, 143 ; surveyed by Suli- 
 van, ibj^etseq., 177, 208 
 
 Alanders, 247, 258 
 
 Alban, 181, 208; ashore, 256, 257; 
 
 367 
 Alecto, 105 ; rapid descent of Parana, 
 
 107, 108 ; no 
 Algiers, siege of, quoted, 160, 259 
 Americans adopt coast mortars, 409, 
 
 410 
 Anapa, 265 
 Andrews, G., clerk, killed at Obli- 
 
 gado, 87, 88 
 Ango channel, 171, 175, 209 
 Anson, wreck of, 2, 3 
 ApoUon shoal, 149, 356 
 Argentine Republic, 52 
 Army, advantages over navy, x, 369 
 Army volunteers, origin of, 426 
 Arrogant, 148, 150, 157, 160 
 Arrow, 49, 50 
 Astronomer Royal, reception of, on 
 
 the Beagle, 45 
 Auckland, Lord, and dockyard 
 
 volunteers, 397 
 Aurora, 16 
 Autobiography of Admiral Sir B. J. 
 
 Sulivan, vi, 1-35 
 
 Baker, Captain (Gorgon), 99, 151 
 
 Baltic campaign, XXV, xxvi, 258, 259: 
 1855 — plan of, 272 
 
 Baltic fleet, condition of, 128; 
 strength of, 131, 139, 181 ; sail- 
 ing qualities, 132, 133, 136; 138; 
 in danger, 146; duties of, 183, 
 241 ; handling of, 241 ; home, 
 262: 1855 — 277, 278; deficient 
 in small craft, 280 ; ships ground- 
 ing, 363, 364 
 
 Baltic, rebuoying, 367, 374 
 
 Banda Oriental, 106 
 
 Baro Sound, 197, 346, 363 
 
 Barons, Russian, 309 et seq., 348, 
 
 349, 362 
 Barratry, case of, no 
 Basque Roads, case of, 416 
 Bastia, 204 
 Batteries, construction of Obligado, 
 
 73, 88 ; San Lorenzo, 108 ; Hango, 
 
 158 ; 405 et seq. 
 Baugh, R.N., 9, 15, 24 
 Baxada de Santa Fg, 102, 109 
 Beagle, 13, 28, 33 ; recommissioned, 
 
 36, 37, 39 ; boat expeditions, 40- 
 
 45 ; Lord Farrer on cruise of, 
 
 381 
 Beagle's ghost, 33 ; tenders, 39, 40 
 Beaufort, Admiral Sir Francis, 65, 
 
 114, 119; instructions re Baltic, 
 
 123 ; 139 ; letters, 144, 199, 253 
 Berkeley, Admiral Sir Maurice, 122, 
 
 404, 430 
 Bingham, Captain A. Batt, 24-29 
 Bingham, Captain (Acorn), 65 
 Biorko, 197, 346, 363 
 Bishop made by a captain, 14 
 Bishop Stirling's reminiscences of 
 
 Sulivan, 386, 390 
 
 433 28 
 
434 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Blockade, effects of, on Russia, 312, 
 
 319, 429 
 Board of Trade, Sulivan at the, 
 
 xxvii, 375-384 
 Boating expeditions, 40-44 
 Boats' sails, 39 
 
 Bomarsund, 122, 135, 144 ; surveyed, 
 163, 166 et seq. ; forts, 174, 183 ; 
 report on, 177, 178 ; governor of, 
 186 ; secret of, 201 ; fall of, 208 et 
 seq. \ new forts, 238 ; war-chest, 
 238 ; blown up, 246 et seq. ; 
 strength of, 248, 253-256 ; refused 
 by Sweden, 254 
 Botany, 39, 51 
 
 Bournemouth, life at, 391-395 
 Bovisand, defective fort at, 204, 404 
 Brazilian war, 27 ; crimping in, 29 
 Brickdale, Lieutenant, 72, 87, 88 
 Brierley, Sir O. W., 209, 234 
 Briggs, Sir John, on Sulivan, 384 
 Brown, Amirante, captures Spanish 
 squadron, 27, 28 ; blockades Bue- 
 nos Ayres, 53 ; scene with Com- 
 modore Purvis, 58, 59178; son of, 
 
 79,85 
 Buckle, Admiral Sir Claude, K.C.B., 
 
 139, 141 ; visits Aland Islands, 143, 
 
 171, 178; Valorous aground, 209; 
 
 214, 226, 241 
 Buenos Ayrean squadron, 27 ; army, 
 
 71, 77; bravery of, 82, 84-86, 92 
 
 Caffin, Admiral Sir J. Crauford, 
 K.C.B., 176, 212, 226, 344 
 
 Calvi, Nelson at, 204 
 
 Casualties at Obligado, 83 
 
 Cecil, Lord D., 309 et seq. 
 
 Chacabuco, 94 
 
 Chads, Admiral Sir H. D., G.C.B., 
 131; gunnery expert, 138; 158, 
 163, 182, 201 ; at Bomarsund, 208, 
 209, 212, 216; Presto channel, 
 225 ; 235, 249 ; plan for Sweaborg, 
 267, 268 
 
 Chaplain made acting-bishop, 14 
 
 Chartist riots, 397 
 
 Chartres, Surgeon, R.N., 67, 104 
 
 Childers, the Right Hon., 41 1 
 
 Chilian silver merchants, 4 (note) 
 
 Chiloe survey, 40, 43 
 
 China war, surveyors in, 416,417 
 
 Cholera among French troops, 225, 
 247, 252 ; mortality, 251, 252, 257 
 
 Cholera in Baltic ships, 174, 191, 
 195-198; in steamers only, 199; 
 Sulivan on, 251 
 Christmas at Chiloe, 43 
 Cleanliness, necessity of, 179, 251 
 Coast defence, 88, 385, 404-410 
 Cochrane, Admiral the Hon. Sir 
 A. A., on Sulivan, 164; survey of 
 Bomarsund, 166 et seq.; despatch 
 re, 177; 219; at the baron's, 349, 
 
 350 
 
 " Cockney Sam," 55 
 
 Collegians, R.N., 9, 11, 15, 24, 73 
 
 Collisions, 408 
 
 Colonia, 64, 67 
 
 Commander-in-chief of army, 422 
 
 Commander-in-chief of navy needed, 
 420 
 
 Commerell, Admiral of the Fleet, 
 Sir J. E., G.C.B., V.C, at Obli- 
 gado, 79 
 
 Comus in Parana, 71, "JJ, 83 
 
 Convoy in Parana, attack on, 102, 
 103, 112 
 
 Coode, Sir John, C.E., 403 
 
 Copenhagen, 29 ; compared to Cron- 
 stadt, 203 
 
 Corrientes, 55, 95, 105 
 
 Corrientinos, 98-100, 105 
 
 Corry, Admiral Armar L., 152; re 
 Russian gun-boats, 429 
 
 Cossack's boats fired on, 294, 299 
 
 Cotesworth, Lieutenant William, 
 R.N., II etseq. 
 
 Cowell, General Sir John, R.E., 
 K.C.M.G., 165, 166 
 
 Creyke, Captain R. B., R.N. (Mer- 
 lin), 276, 304, 309, 338, 339; 341, 
 
 347, 348 
 
 Cronstadt, survey of, 185 et seq,, 
 2S7 et seq.; compared with Copen- 
 hagen, 203 ; strength of, 204, 205, 
 255, 262, 265, 281 ; weak side, 
 273 ; plans re, 273 ; 279 ; new de- 
 fences, 274 ; infernals, 301 ; our 
 means against, 305 ; Ignatieff on, 
 367 ; lessons from, 406-409 ; 429 
 
 Cudlip, Commander F. A., R.N., 
 127, 220, 224; at Bomarsund, 231, 
 257 
 
 Dago Island, 147, 308, 309, 350, 
 
 352 
 Darwin, Charles, 40, 41, 381, 382 
 
INDEX. 
 
 43S 
 
 Dauntless, 148 
 
 Degerby, intercourse with peasants 
 at, 168, 175, 209, 210, 212, 258 
 
 Despatches, Hotham's, 113, 115, 
 1 16 ; Napier's, 240, 263, criticised, 
 252; Dundas's, 341; P^naud's, 
 341 ; windy, 354, 359; Welling- 
 ton's on the Press, 361, 362 
 
 Desperate and Lightning, 147 
 
 Dinghy, expedition in, 102 
 
 Dirt and disease, 250 
 
 Discipline, in Philomel, xxiii, 58, 
 III, 112; in Merlin, 126; inter- 
 ference of Parliament and Press 
 with, 419, 420 
 
 Disestablishment question, the (Ch. 
 of Eng.), 392 
 
 Distilled water, use of, 252 
 
 Dolphin, 67, 71 ; at ObUgadOj 76- 
 79 ; casualties, 83, 87 ; at San 
 Lorenzo, 102, 103 
 
 Doyle, Commander, 64 ; wounded, 
 76, 84, 88, 94; death of, 104 
 
 Dragon attacks Hango fort, 155 
 
 Drew, Admiral, 11 
 
 Duchesne, Admiral Parseval. See 
 French admiral, 1854 
 
 Dundas, Admiral Sir R. A., K.C.B., 
 characteristics, 280 ; 284 ; at Cron- 
 stadt, 287, 289, 291, 299; divided 
 authority of, 300 ; Cronstadt, 304, 
 306 ; Sweaborg, 323 et seq. ; con- 
 gratulates Sulivan, 327, 331 ; in- 
 spects effects, 337 ; despatch, 
 341, 344; on Sulivan, 356; hu- 
 manity of, 362, 363 ; r« Cronstadt, 
 366 ; on honours, 370 
 
 Dutch loan, Sulivan's proposal re, 
 
 239 
 Dyer, Captain R. C, R.N., on Suh- 
 van, 124; 276, 350 
 
 Earp, G. Butler, " History of Baltic 
 Campaign of 1854," 428-431 
 
 Edmonstone, Admiral Sir William, 
 K.C.B., II 
 
 Ekness, 157, 160, 311 
 
 Eliot, the Rev. P. F., Dean of Wind- 
 sor, 395 
 
 EUenborough, Lord, 397 
 
 Engineers, lack of, in Peninsula 
 and Crimea, 416 
 
 Ensign, British, similar to Russian, 
 187 
 
 Ensign, red, white, and blue, 41 1 
 
 Erskine, Admiral J. E., 147, 286, 346 
 
 Esquina, 97 
 
 Evans, Captain Sir Fred T. O. 
 (Hydrographer), joins Lightning, 
 127; pilots Admiral Plumridge, 
 130, 139, 150, 162; atBomarsund, 
 209, 210 ; pilots French at Bomar- 
 sund, 220, 226 ; despatch re, 240 
 
 Expeditive, 71, 87 
 
 Explosion of internals, 291 et seq., 
 300 et seq. 
 
 Fairley, H.E.I.C.S., mistaken for 
 
 French ship, 25 
 Falkland Islands, xxv ; survey of, 
 
 48-51; tussac, 51; 116; Sulivan 
 
 farming at, 400-402 
 Fanny, 71 ; at Obligado, 75-83 ; 99 ; 
 
 at San Lorenzo, 102, 103 ; 106 
 Fanshaw, Admiral E. G., 294 
 Fantome, 59 
 
 Faro Sound, 130, 279, 282 
 Farragut, Admiral, U.S., re small 
 
 guns, 428 
 Farrer, Lord, on Sulivan, 379-384 
 Fegan, Lieutenant, 57 
 Ferguson, James, 404 
 Filey, proposed harbour at, 402-404 
 Finns, 162, 163, 179, 186 ; at Biorko, 
 
 195 ; 312 ; need of salt, 346, 356 ; 
 
 sufferings of, 360, 364 
 Firebrand, 65 ; at Obligado, 71, 79, 
 
 83 ; 95 ; San Lorenzo, 103, 108 
 First Lord, disadvantage of achange- 
 
 able, 421 
 FitzRoy, Admiral R. O'B., Gold- 
 medallist, 1 2 ; in Thetis, 24, 29 ; 
 
 in Beagle, 33, 36-46 ; on Sulivan, 
 
 46,49 
 Flag captured at Obligado returned, 
 
 91 
 Flag-of-truce, Sweaborg, 199, 243, 
 
 298, 299 ; fired on at Hango, 294, 
 
 295 
 Flag rank, promotion to, 423 
 Flag-ship should not be a battle-ship, 
 
 427 
 Fleet actions, 427 
 Fleet. See Baltic fleet 
 Floating batteries, 241, 273, 274, 366 
 Flogging for drunkenness, 32 
 Flores, Colonel, 63, 105 
 Fog, fleet in a, 146, 147 ; 282 
 
436 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Foote, Lieutenant, drowned, 140, 
 
 143 
 
 Forts, shelling of, 152, 157; Cron- 
 stadt, 190 et seq. ; defective at 
 Bovisand, 404. See Batteries and 
 Ships V. forts 
 
 Francia, Dr., re Paraguayans, 95, 98 
 
 French admiral ; 1854 — Bomarsund, 
 182, 209, 214, 216: 1855 — sup- 
 ports Sulivan, 275 ; Cronstadt, 
 506; re Helsingfors, 307 
 
 French captains taught by Sulivan, 
 291; as pilots, 415, 416 
 
 French general (D'Hilliers) at Bo- 
 marsund, 216, 217, 220, 228 (note), 
 247 ; re Abo, 237, 238 ; (Niel), re 
 Sweaborg, 270 
 
 French gunnery proverb, 265 
 
 French impetuosity, 382 
 
 French in Parana, system of drill, 
 55, 56; rewards, 112 
 
 French, knowledge of language use- 
 ful, 249 
 
 French mortars, 320 
 
 French officer's remarks on Sulivan, 
 196, 214; re Bomarsund, 217, 
 218, 232 ; 242, 291, 297, 374 
 
 French ships in Baltic, well manned, 
 121; 137, 139, 143; piloted, 137, 
 209, 415 ; return home, 249: 1855 
 — at Cronstadt, 289 
 
 French ships in Parana, 65, 71 ; gal- 
 lantry at Obligado, 77, 80, 82 ; 
 casualties, 83, 86, 90, 103 ; as- 
 cending Parana, 104, 108, 383. 
 See San Martin, Fulton, and 
 Tr6houart 
 
 French troops in Baltic, 201 ; arrive, 
 212; at Bomarsund, 215, 219, 223, 
 225, 227, 228 (note), 230 ; blow up 
 forts, 247 ; cholera among, 250- 
 252 
 
 Fulton (P.s.), 71 ; at Obligado, 78, 
 79, 83 ; damage to, 89 ; up Parana, 
 97, 106; in Baltic, 219 
 
 Gamla Carleby disaster, 180, 199, 
 
 295 
 Ganges, 12 
 
 Gardiner, Captain Allen, R.N., xxviii 
 Garibaldi, red shirts of, 55; in the 
 
 Uruguay, 65, 67 
 Ghost, the Beagle's, 33 
 Gibraltar, salvage work at, 17-20 
 
 Glasse, Admiral F. H. H., 143 
 
 Gorgon ashore, 63, 65, 71 ; at Obli- 
 gado, 79, 83, 90 ; up the Parana, 
 99, loi, 102 
 
 Goss, Thomas, Master, R.N., 65 
 
 Gothland, 131 
 
 Gowdy, 'William, Master, R.N., 24 
 
 Goya, 97, 100 
 
 Graham, Sir James, 144; re Cron- 
 stadt, 272, 430 
 
 Grey, Admiral Sir George, 10, 20 
 
 Grey, Admiral the Hon. Sir Frede- 
 rick, 31 
 
 Grivel, Lieutenant Richild, on verti- 
 cal fire, 343 (note) 
 
 Gun-boats, at Sweaborg, 328 ; 333, 
 359 ; new type, 366 ; Russian. See 
 Russian gun-boats 
 
 Gunnery, 417 
 
 Guns at Obligado, 81, 82, 86, 90 
 
 Guns, large and small, 428 
 
 Hall, Admiral Sir W. H., K.C.B., 
 148, 157; at Ekness, 161; at 
 Bomarsund, 190, 214, 216; 241, 
 
 303 
 
 Hamilton, Admiral W. A. B., 120; 
 letter on retirement, 316; dock- 
 yard volunteers, 397 ; on small or 
 big guns, 428 
 
 Hamond, Philip, Captain, R.N., at 
 Falklands, 401, 402 
 
 Hamond, Robert N., Captain, R.N., 
 20, 202, 402 
 
 Hango, 141, 148; Sulivan inspects 
 and reports on, 152-160, 246; at- 
 tacked by Dragon, 156; French 
 admiral at, 243 ; destroyed by 
 Russians, 246 ; calamity to Cos- 
 sack's boats, 294, 295 
 
 Hapsal, 308; scare at, 311, 313, 
 356 
 
 Harbour needed on east coast, 402, 
 404 
 
 Harston, Captain, R.N., 64 
 
 Hastings, Marquis of, 402 
 
 Hecla. See Hall 
 
 Helsingfors, 133, 152; the Times axi, 
 263 1 282 ; French designs on, 307 ; 
 Sulivan helps to save, 318; 337; 
 gratitude of inhabitants, 360 
 
 Hewett, Commander William, joins 
 Merlin, Tjd ; 309, 349 
 
 Hewlett, Admiral R., 191, 334 
 
INDEX. 
 
 437 
 
 Hogland, 185 ; health of, 282, 283, 
 
 300 
 Honorary rewards, 114, 368 
 Hooker, Sir William and Sir Joseph, 
 
 39 
 
 Hope, Admiral Sir James, G.C.B., 
 70, 73 ; cuts chains at Obligado, 
 79, 80, 114; 81, 83, 93; at' San 
 Lorenzo, 103, in Baltic, 126, 151, 
 346; refuses G.C.B., 369 ; at sub- 
 marine trial, 372 
 
 Hotham, Captain C, saves Gorgon, 
 63 ; commands Parana squadron, 
 65 ; at Obligado, 73-80 ; decision 
 of, 8r, 84; on PhilomeVs men, 
 86; ascends Parana, 95, 97, loi, 
 114; on Sulivan, 116, 119 
 
 Hurdle, General, R.M., at Obligado, 
 72, 81 
 
 Ignatieff, Colonel Count, 238 ; re 
 Cronstadt, 367 
 
 Illustrated London News, artists, 
 209, 234, 292, 295, 350 
 
 " Infernal machines," 187, 288, 291 
 etseq., 295, 296 ; drawing and de- 
 scription of, 301 etseq.; 306,308, 
 
 319 
 
 Inglefield, Admiral Sir, 55, 73 
 
 Inman, Rev. Professor James, 9 et 
 seq. 
 
 Instructions to Napier, 122 ; to Suli- 
 van, 123, 137, 138 
 
 Irish sailors, 31 
 
 Iron bottoms for ships, 241 
 
 Ironclads, 428 
 
 Italians at Monte Video, 55, 66 
 
 James, Admiral Bartholomew, vii, 
 
 1,2 
 Jellicoe, Lieutenant Henry, R.N., 
 
 13 
 
 Johnson, J. F., Surgeon, R.N., joms 
 Lightning, 127; on cholera, 251 ; 
 Merlin, 276 
 
 Jones, General Sir H., R.E., 204 ; at 
 Bomarsund, 215, 216, 219, 220, 
 224, 233 ; at Abo, 238 ; at Revel, 
 242 ; 248, 259, 262 ; Defence Com- 
 missioner, 405 ; request to see 
 Cronstadt refused, 429 
 
 Kalbaden Shoal, 282 
 
 Key, Admiral Sir A. Cooper, K.C.B., 
 on Sulivan, xi, xxiv, 116 ; 35; at 
 Obligado, 73, 76 ; lands a com- 
 pany, 81, 82, 88 ; at San Lorenzo, 
 103, 104; in Baltic, 126, 212, 356, 
 357 ; at Bomarsund, 223, 224, 228 ; 
 saves his ship, 241 ; 291, 315 ; 
 watches Sweaborg, 357, 358 ; hu- 
 manity of, 358, 359; sub-marine 
 trial, 373, 405 ; as navigator, 41 5 
 
 King, Phihp Gedley, R.N., 42, 45, 
 46; on Sulivan, 47, 48 
 
 Koivasto, 192, 285 
 
 Lain^, Admiral, 55 
 Lawrence, Colonel, R.IW., 98, 329 
 Led Sound, 167 ; anchorage, 253 
 Legion of Honour, Sulivan recom- 
 mended for the, 218, 374 
 Leiningen, H.S.H. Admiral Prince 
 Ernest of, G.C.B., in Baltic, 351- 
 
 355 
 
 " Letters from the Baltic," by Lady 
 Eastlake, 284 
 
 Letters, official's private, fair evi- 
 dence, 430 
 
 Letters, Sulivan 's, how to be treated, 
 127 
 
 Levinge, Commander R., 71, 72 ; at 
 Obligado, 75-78 ; losses in Dolphin, 
 etc., 83-89 ; at San Lorenzo, 103 
 
 Lighthouse at Cronstadt, 189, 190 
 
 Lightning commissioned, 122, 129 ; 
 sandwiched, 133 ; takes Desper- 
 ate for enemy, 147 ; leads French 
 fleet, 178; at Cronstadt, 187 et 
 seq. ; takes officers to Cronstadt, 
 192 ; takes masters to Bomarsund, 
 209; French officers ditto, 216; 
 supplies rocket battery and men, 
 210, 231, 257 ; behaviour of men, 
 236; immunity from cholera, 251, 
 252 
 
 Lights, coast, 375, 378, 424 
 
 Lindley, Professor, 38, 51 
 
 Lovisa, 311 
 
 Lucas, Admiral C. D., V.C, 190 
 
 Luckraft, Captain Charles M., 132, 
 140 
 
 Lydiard, Captain, in wreck oi Anson, 
 
 1-3 
 MACKINNON, Captain, 94; rides with 
 
438 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 mails, 105 ; describes descent of 
 Alecto, 107; witli rocket battery, 
 112 
 
 Maderiaga, General, 55, 105 
 
 Mandeville, W., 53 
 
 Manning the navy, deficiency of men 
 for Baltic fleet, 120, 121 ; Suli- 
 van's scheme, 418, 419 
 
 Mansell, Captain, 258 
 
 Marines at Obligado, 82 
 
 Martin, Admiral H. B., K.C.B., 196, 
 208 
 
 Martin, Captain G. B., 57 
 
 Martin Garcia, 64, 67, 69 
 
 Master of Baltic fleet: 1854—135, 
 142, 151; places Dragon against 
 Hango, 156, 157, 212; vA\\\ Pene- 
 lope, 126 ; at Bomarsund, 227 
 
 Master line, abolition of, 41 1 et seq. 
 
 Masters, R.N., 151 ; at Bomarsund, 
 209, 212, 237 ; at Sweaborg, 266; 
 junior, inexperienced, 412; as 
 pilots, 414 
 
 Matheson, Sir J., 51 
 
 Mazeres, Lieutenant, 74 
 
 Mechanics good gunners, 400 
 
 Medals, 114 
 
 Mellersh, Admiral A., C.B., on Suli- 
 van, 46, 47 
 
 Merchant Shipping Bill, 424 
 
 Merchants in Parana, 100, 104 
 
 Merchants of Chili, 4 (note) 
 
 Merlin, Captain Dyer on, 124; 
 commissioned, 276 ; explodes in- 
 fernals, 291, 292; at Sweaborg, 
 320; ashore, 336, 339, 347; offi- 
 cers recommended, 338 ; home, 
 365 ; leads line at review, 367. 
 
 Midshipmen, education of, 23 ; as 
 navigators, 413 
 
 Milner Gibson, T., on Sulivan, 378 
 
 Missions to Seamen Society, 392 
 
 Money, Captain, R.N., 3, 5, 6 
 
 Monte Video, 28 ; siege of, 54, 57, 
 62 ; Colonel Flores shot, 105 ; I lo 
 
 Moresby, Captain, 173 
 
 Moriarty, Master of Duke of Wel- 
 lington, 213 
 
 Mortars, Sulivan suggests, 268, 274, 
 430 ; ranges, 275 ; for Cronstadt, 
 299 ; at Sweaborg, 320 et seq. ; 
 French, 328, 334, 335; bursting, 
 339, 340 ; Wemyss on, 342 ; for 
 coast defence, 406 et seq. 
 
 Mosquitoes in Parana, 72, 97, 98 
 Mundy, Admiral Sir R., K.C.B. , 215, 
 224, 291 
 
 Napier, Admiral Sir Charles, K.C.B. , 
 120; commands Baltic fleet, 122, 
 135; his anxiety, 123, 158, 430, 
 431 ; 138, 145 ; his advisers, 150, 
 151 ; plan re Bomarsund, 181- 
 184; Cronstadt, 191, 192, 195; 
 Sulivan defends, 202-207 ; attack 
 on Bomarsund, 213, 216, 221 ; 
 divided responsibility, 237 ; wishes 
 to attack Abo, 238 ; despatch re 
 surveyors, 240 ; 243 ; Beaufort on 
 despatches, 252 ; orders home 
 sailing-ships, 253 ; character of, 
 254 ; firmness of, 259 ; coolness of, 
 261 ; attacked by Press, 263 ; goes 
 home, 266 ; kindness to Finns, 
 365 ; " Sharpen your cutlasses," 
 429 
 
 Napier, Colonel, re army volunteers, 
 426 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte on army in 
 relation to navy, x 
 
 Nargen, Sulivan urges its safety, 
 150; visits peasants at, 284, 300 ; 
 fleet at, 344; 347; gale at, 362, 
 
 363 
 Nash, Charles, Lieutenant, 15 
 Naval reserve, origin of, 120, 121, 
 
 411,418,419 
 
 Naval review at Spithead, 1856, 
 126 
 
 Navigating officers, 411-418 
 
 Navy in relation to army, x 
 
 Navy, reforms in, 375 ; administra- 
 tion of, 385, 419 et seq.; com- 
 mander-in-chief needed, 420 
 
 Nelson, tactics of, n8, 151, 203, 
 207 ; blockading, 265 
 
 Newspaper Press and correspon- 
 dents, 123; officers' letters to, 
 201, 214, 237 ; as war critics, 255, 
 256, 259 ; Wellington on, 361 ; in- 
 terfering with discipUne, 419 
 
 Nicholson, Lieutenant, at Obligado, 
 
 79 
 Niddrie, Surgeon, R.N., gallantry of, 
 
 90 
 Niel, General, plan re Sweaborg, 
 
 270 
 Nugent, Colonel Sir C. B., R.E., 
 
INDEX. 
 
 439 
 
 K.C.B., at Hango, 155, ic,6; re 
 Bomarsund plan, 182 
 Nystad, 311 
 
 Obligado, battle of, 55, 73 ; action, 
 75-92 ; French at, 382 
 
 Obligado, schooner, 76, 97 
 
 Odin's boats attacked, 180, 240 
 
 Oribe, General, 58-60 
 
 Osborne, Captain Sherard, on Obli- 
 gado and Sevastopol, 90 
 
 Otter, Admiral H. C, C.B., pilots 
 French, 137; 176; destroys tele- 
 graph, i8i; 212, 218, 223; at 
 Bomarsund, surveys landing-place, 
 224, 227, 240 ; ship on shore, 256 ; 
 257, 277, 286 ; explodes an infer- 
 nal, 292 ; 338, fired on, 345, 346 ; 
 leads line at review, 367 
 
 Ozel, 308, 309, 312 
 
 Packington, Sir John, 41 1 
 Paisley, Admiral Sir Thomas, 64 
 Palmerston, Lord, intervievi^ with, 
 
 112 
 Pandour, 71, 77, 83 
 Paraguay, 95 ; commerce of, 96 ; 
 
 manifesto, 98, 99 
 Parana campaign, xxiv, xxx ; cause 
 
 of, 52 ; 65, 95, loi 
 Parana, navigation of the, 106, 113, 
 
 "5 
 Parker, Admiral Sir W., 124, 416 
 Patuxent, expedition, the, 4 
 Paysandu, 66 
 Paz, General, 71, 98; generalship, 
 
 100, 105 
 Peace, 318 ; Sulivan's desire for, 
 
 319- 361 
 Peel, Sir R., on Napier, 202, 203 
 Pelham, Admiral the Hon. F., at 
 
 Bomarsund, 223, 229 ; 291, 304 
 P6naud, Admiral, despatches, 341 ; 
 
 at Revel, 344; 348, 356 
 Penelope on shore at Presto, 226 
 Pension, Sulivan's, 378, 383 
 Phillimore, Admiral Sir John, Bart., 
 
 II, 12, 14-24 
 Philomel, commissioned, 56 ; smart- 
 ness of, 57, 63, 86 ; at Obligado, 
 71 et seq.\ casualties in, 84; 
 passes batteries San Lorenzo, 
 108; discipline of, in, 112; home, 
 112. 
 
 Pilots, in Parana, 107; Baltic, 134, 
 135, 136, 139, 413 et seq.\ com- 
 pulsory, 379, 425 
 Pincher, loss of, 48-50 
 Pioneer officers needed, 416 
 Plumridge, Admiral Sir J. B., 
 K.C.B., 128 ; at Aland Islands, 
 130-135 i '39 i burns vessels, 171 ; 
 185 ; at Bomarsund, 218, 220, 
 224 ; handling of ships, 241 ; 243 ; 
 goes to Kiel, 262 ; destroys Rus- 
 sian property, 295 
 Political patronage, 422 
 Ponsonby, Lord and Lady, 20, 21, 
 
 31.33 
 Port Baltic, 206, 207, 347 
 Preedy, Admiral G. W., 223, 239 
 Press. See Newspaper Press 
 Prisoners, treatment of Monte Vid- 
 
 ean, 63 and note; Russian, 161 
 Procida, 71, 83 
 
 Promotions, Obligado, 113; Bomar- 
 sund, 256; Sweaborg, 359; by 
 interest, 419 
 Punishments, 58 
 Punta Gorda, 95 
 
 Purvis, Admiral, 53, 58 ; scene with 
 Amirante Brown, 59, 60 
 
 Ram, the, suggested by Sulivan, 
 408 ; Russians practise the use 
 of, 408 (note) 
 Ramsay, Admiral G. (Euryalus), 
 
 282, 283, 304 
 Ramsay, Admiral Sir W., K.C.B. 
 {Hogtee), at Bomarsund, 223, 229 
 and note, 231, 232 
 Ramsay battery, the, Russian 
 astonishment at, 234 ; scanty pro- 
 motion for, 239, 248 ; behaviour 
 of " Lightnings " in, 236 
 Range of Russian guns, 289, 306 
 Reforms checked by older men, 421 
 liepublicano, the, 77-79 
 Reserve. See Naval reserve 
 Revel, question of attacking, 243, 
 259, 360-362 ; new defences at, 
 281, 284, 308; 311 ; Grand Dukes 
 at, 314 
 Review at Spithead 1856, 366 
 Richards, Admiral Sir G. H., K.C.B., 
 F.R.S., vi ; reminiscences of Suli- 
 van, xxi-xxxii ; in Philomel, 56, 
 58, 68, 73 et seg.; lands at Obli- 
 
440 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 gado, 8l ; 93 ; takes temporary 
 command of Philomel, 100; pro- 
 moted, 113 ; 392 
 
 Rincon Gallinos, the, 65 
 
 Risking lives, 93 
 
 Riviera, General, 53, no 
 
 Road, military, needed on Surrey 
 hills, 426 
 
 Rodriguez, Colonel, gallantry of, at 
 Obligado, 79, 92, 93 
 
 Rosas, General, stories of, 52, 69 ; 
 policy of, 95, 98-100; strategy of, 
 102-104 
 
 Rossiniere, Suisse, fight at, 378 
 (note) 
 
 Rouse, Lieutenant J. Wood, 9 
 
 Royal commissions. See list of 
 Appendices, xix, xx 
 
 Royal Naval College, 8, 73 
 
 Royse, Rev. N., R.N., acts as bishop, 
 
 15 
 Russian charts, 274 
 Russian compliment to Sulivan, 
 
 367. 474 
 Russian cutting-out plan, 357 
 Russian fleet in Baltic, 121 ; strength 
 of, 132, 135, 152, 159, 253; posi- 
 tion of, at Cronstadt, 187-189, 
 281, 284, 286; good handling of, 
 
 Russian frigate, a, 245 
 
 Russian gun-boats, 142, 289, 295, 
 
 304, 305; how built, 317; 357. 
 Russian gunners, at Ekness, 160 ; 
 
 Sevastopol, 431 
 Russian heating apparatus, 352 and 
 
 note 
 Russian peasants, at Hango, 162, 
 
 163 ; Aland Islands, 168, 172, 173, 
 
 176, 209, 287; sufferings of, 301. 
 
 See also Finns 
 Russian police officer, 209, 211 
 Russian prisoners 161, 257 ; killed 
 
 at Hango, 295 
 Russian tactics, 152 
 Ryder, Admiral Sir A. P., K.C.B., 
 
 148-150 
 
 Salt trade, Russian, 312, 346 
 
 San Lorenzo batteries, the convoy 
 
 passing, 103, 108, 112; Philomel 
 
 passing, xxxi, 109 
 San Martin at Obligado, 71, 77, 79, 
 
 83; damage to, 88; 95 
 
 Saumarez, Admiral Sir J., tactics^ 
 of, 206 ; 261 
 
 School-ships, 418 
 
 Scurvy, 97 
 
 Seaman's letter, a, 1 1 1 
 
 Seamen, drink and, 32 ; at play, 44 ; 
 when trusted, 56, 58 ; drilling, 72 
 73 ; Philomel's behaviour, 1 1 1 ; 
 Merlin's, 126; irnprovement in, 
 xxix, 411 
 
 Seamen-battalions, 72, 120, 145 ; at 
 Bomarsund, 181 
 
 Seamen, qualities required in, xxii 
 
 Selection for service, 221, 280, 315; 
 for flag rank, 423 
 
 Seniority v. service, 370 
 
 Seskar, 185, 186, 192, 354 
 
 Sevastopol compared, 90, 263, 266, 
 340; effects on Russian spirit, 
 297, 318, 319. 361 
 
 Seymour, M., Vice-Admiral of the 
 U. K., G.C.B., captain of Napier's 
 fleet, 144, 151; on Bomarsund 
 plan, 182; at Bomarsund, 220, 
 231, 250; in praise of, 247; 260, 
 262, 269 ; at Cronstadt, 287, 299 ; 
 accident to, 303, 306, 307 ; 345 
 
 Sheerness defences, 407 
 
 Ships' merits in Baltic, 132 
 
 Ships V. forts, Obligado, 88-90; 
 Sulivan's warning, 118; Hango, 
 152-158; Cronstadt, 190; poHcy 
 of Russians, 202-204; Nelson's 
 tactics, 262-265 ; coast defence, 
 405 
 
 Shot and shell, effects of, at Obli- 
 gado, 84-90 
 
 Sibbo Fiord, 356 
 
 Small-pox in Baltic, 179, 197, 282, 
 285 
 
 Somerset (Lieutenant), L. E. H., at 
 Bomarsund, 239 
 
 Somnambulism, case of, 37 
 
 Spaniards oppose salvage of wrecks, 
 
 17 
 Spithead defences, 405-410 
 St. John's, rescue of schooner party, 
 
 67-69 
 St. Michaels, bishop of, 14 
 Stag, 4 
 
 Stakleberg, Baron, 349 
 Stanley, Mrs., at Falkland Islands, 
 
 401 
 Sternberg, Baron, 309 etseq., 348, 349 
 
INDEX. 
 
 441 
 
 , Steveley,(?), R.N., at Obligado, 74, 75 
 Stirling, Bishop, reminiscences of 
 
 Sulivan, 386-390 
 Stolces, Admiral, 39 
 Sub-marine boat, a, 373 
 Sulivan, Admiral George Lydiard, 
 
 vii, 6 ; at wreck of Jasper, 274 ; 
 
 304, 394 
 Sulivan, Admiral Thomas Baker M., 
 
 374 
 
 Sulivan, Admiral Thomas Ball, C.B., 
 vi, vii; career of, 1-6; 51; with 
 Nelson in Baltic, 151, 165 
 
 Sulivan, Commander James, 3-8 
 
 Sulivan, Commander William S., 
 R.N., at Obligado, 80, 87 ; 148 
 
 Sulivan, Commander J. Y. F. S., vii 
 (note), 51 
 
 Sulivan, Lady (B. James), vii, viii ; 
 Richards on, xxxii ; 37 ; collects 
 flora of Falklands, 51; during 
 siege of Monte Video, 61, 62, 65 ; 
 at Bournemouth, 391, 394, 395 
 
 Sulivan, Lieutenant Daniel Hunt, 3-8 
 
 Sulivan, Lieutenant Samuel Hood, 
 3-8 
 
 Sulivan, Lieutenant Thomas E., 
 death of, 393 
 
 Sulivan, Mrs. (Thomas Ball), charac- 
 ter of, vii 
 
 Sunday services and work, ix, xxx, 
 xxxi, 137, 181, 228; in fleet, 291, 
 297 
 , Surveying, in Beagle, 40-42 ; in 
 Parana, 107, 108, 115 ; Baltic, 
 120; instructions re, 123; Na- 
 pier's opinion re, 128, 134, 136, 
 262 ; his despatch re surveyors, 
 240; a unique cruise, 351 ; ser- 
 vice, Sulivan on the, 415-417; 
 work, Sulivan's, x, xiii, xxii ; offi- 
 cial recognition of service, xxvii, 
 418 
 
 Sweaborg, delay in examining, 135, 
 136, 150, 151; flag-of-truce to, 
 199, 298; 203, 204; French ad- 
 miral at, 244 ; party under Sulivan 
 nearly netted at, 259, 261 ; plans 
 of attack on, 266 et seq.; defences 
 of, 270 ; Sulivan's scheme against, 
 270 ei seq.; Dundas's hesitancy, 
 275 ; preparations against, 279, 
 280; the admiral's view, 281; 
 detached forts attacked, 304, 309 ; 
 
 bombardment of, 318 et seq.; bun- 
 gles, 32^-325; opening fire, 329; 
 effects of mortar fire ; 335, 345, 
 358, 406 ; batteries uninjured, 
 340; despatches re, 341, 342; 
 losses at, 361 ; effects on peace, 
 367 ; honours for, 367, 368 ; rapid 
 mortar fire at, 368 
 
 Sweden, attitude of, 130, 131 ; 
 refuses Bomarsund, 254 
 
 Swedish pilots, 134, 139 
 
 TcHESTERKOFF, Commodore, re 
 
 Sulivan, 374 
 Tea V. grog-drinking, 12 
 Theorell, Lieutenant, 133, 166 
 Thetis, 11-30; song re, 16; nearly 
 
 fires into .Fair ley, 25 
 Thorn, Colonel, at Obligado, 79 
 Tierra del Fuego, mission to, xxviii, 
 
 387 
 
 Titles of naval officers, 41 1, 423 
 
 Tonnelero batteries, 1 10 
 
 Townshend, Marquis of, on Napier, 
 202 
 
 Trave, 3 
 
 Tr^houart, Admiral, xxiv, 74 ; gal- 
 lantry at Obligado, 77, 78, 80, 88, 
 91 ; ascends Parana, 91, 97, loi ; 
 made admiral, 91, 103, 374 
 
 Tucker, Admiral Jervis E., 14, 15, 
 20 
 
 Tupper, W. L. M. (23rd R. W. F.), 
 17, 18 
 
 Urquieza, General, 55, 100, 105 
 Uruguay river, expedition up the, 
 
 66 
 Usborne, Admiral Alexander Burns, 
 
 22,45 
 
 Vansittart, Captain N., 350, 353 
 
 Vertical fire, at Obligado, 88; at 
 Sweaborg, 329 et seq. ; Colonel 
 Wemyss on, 342; Lieutenant 
 Grivel (French) on, 343 ; Sulivan 
 advocates, 406 et seq. ; foreign 
 countries using, 409, 410; Lord 
 Wolseley on, 410 
 
 Viborg, 285 
 
 Volunteers, royal dockyard, xxv, 397- 
 400 ; army, origin of, 426 
 
 Vulture, disaster to boats of, 143. 
 180 
 
 29 
 
442 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 War appliances, lack of, in Parana, 
 
 69; in Baltic, 296; Admiral 
 
 Hamilton on, 316 
 War declared, 1854, 129 
 War, effects on Russian transit, 362, 
 
 429 
 War, horrors of, 284, 360 
 War, how to conduct, 160, 194, 197, 
 
 337-339. i'i^etseq. 
 War policy, the best, 297, 318, 319 
 Warren, Miss, 51 
 Warren, R., wounded at Obligado, 
 
 88 
 Washington, Captain (Hydro- 
 
 grapher), letters from, 139, 140, 
 
 242, 317; on Sweaborg, 347 
 Washington, capture of, 4 
 Watson, Captain R. B., at Cron- 
 
 stadt, 187 et seq., 192; 241, 243- 
 
 245, 260, 279, 346 
 Wave, sixty-five feet high, 23 
 Wellington on intuition of survey, 
 
 x; on the Press in war, 361, 362 
 Wemyss, Colonel Sir T. H., K.C.B., 
 
 275, 329 et seq., 336, 342; pro- 
 moted, 368 
 
 Weser, 3 
 
 Wolseley, Viscount, on vertical fire, 
 410; as engineer, 416 
 
 Wodehouse, Admiral George, 15, 
 21, 24, 245 
 
 Wood, Sir C, 272, 365, 370 
 
 Wood V. iron, ships' bottoms, 241 
 
 Woolwich, 3 
 
 Wormso, 149, 308, 348 
 
 Wrottesley, Lieutenant the Hon. C, 
 killed at Bomarsund, 231, 236 
 
 Yelverton, Admiral the Hon. Sir 
 Hastings, G.C.B., at Hango, 148, 
 150; action at Ekness, 157, 160; 
 212; seamanship, 241 ; at Hogland, 
 300 ; forced (?) guests, 301 ; pro- 
 tects Lovisa and Ekness, 311 ; 
 Russian boats, 353 ; humanity of, 
 358 
 
 Young, Admirals ; James ; Sir 
 William ; James ; Secretary, xii 
 
 Printed by Hazell, Watsor, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.