Operations in South Carolina—Capture of Cumberland Island and the Fort of Point-À-Petre—An Affair with the American Riflemen in the Woods—An Abattis—Anecdotes of the 2nd West India Regiment—A Rattlesnake—Capture of the Town of St. Mary’s—Destruction of the Forts and Barracks—Nassau, New Providence—Compliment to the Royal Marines—Return Home—Concluding Remarks.

On the 11th of January, 1815, we took possession of Cumberland Island without meeting any resistance. The marine battalions, commanded by Colonel Richard Williams and Colonel Malcolm, and the two flank companies of the 2nd West India Regiment, under Major Bradley, were disembarked, encamped, and works thrown up for protection—rumours being afloat that the enemy intended to attack us.

Having waited some days for the arrival of the rear-admiral, and the ships being greatly in want of water, Commodore Barrie determined on making an attack upon the fort of Point-À-Petre and the town of St. Mary’s, South Carolina. The boats of the squadron were ordered to attack the fort by water, under the command of two most excellent officers—Captain C. B. H. Ross[P] and Captain Samuel Jackson, of the Albion and Lacedemonian—while the Royal Marine battalion, with the commodore, part of the 2nd West Indian Regiment, and a few seamen, with myself, landed, to march through the woods and assail it in the rear. After advancing about a couple of miles we saw a few riflemen, who immediately retired into the woods. We kept on a kind of footpath and soon came to an abattis, behind which the enemy was posted, who immediately opened a brisk fire, but by bugling, cheering, and blazing away right and left, we drove them out and arrived at the fort which they had abandoned, just as the boats landed. The battery mounted six 24-pounders, and two brass 6-pounder field pieces. During this bush-fight a tragic economical occurrence, worthy of Joey Hume, took place. While scrambling over the fallen timber of the abattis, after the American sharpshooters, two blacks of the 2nd West Indian Regiment stumbled upon one of them; the rifleman fired and missed, one of the blacks put his musket to his shoulder and was going to shoot him when the other called out “Ta’am, why for you poil king cartridge? tick him, Ta’am, tick him!” which between the two was immediately accomplished. Each party lost some killed and wounded, but the woods being very thick we made few prisoners.

During the time we were here, and at Cumberland Island, we had some sharp white frosts and a little ice, two things the West Indian blacks had never seen; they were puzzled not a little, particularly when they beheld their own breath. The keen morning air having rendered their faces of a sickly purple colour, their major enquired what was the matter; their reply was: “Major, me no know—me no like it at all—me no see ’um, but he bity me toe a my finger.” When we laughed at their droll description, they said, breathing hard, “Eh! you no see smoke come out of my mouth, ah! massa major, he bity me toe a my finger!” shaking and rubbing their hands, and stamping with their feet, “Bad country this, no like em at all.” Several of these poor fellows were frost bitten, and lost their limbs.

After the capture of the fort and barracks we embarked, and proceeded up the river to the town of St. Mary’s, which surrendered without further opposition. We made the inhabitants pull down their own fort and stockade in the town, took possession of the shipping and stores, and destroyed the public buildings.

A curious thing occurred on board one of the ships: a rattlesnake versus grog or, finding a Tartar. During the time I was pulling about, taking possession of some of the vessels, and sending boats to others, I was startled by a tremendous noise on board one of the prizes, and saw the men running up the rigging in all directions, while others took to the boats. I went directly alongside to see what was the matter, thinking that some torpedo or clock-work, such as had blown up poor Lieut. Geddes, of the Ramilies, off New London, had been discovered. Upon inquiry I found that a rattlesnake had been the cause of all the row. Some of the boats’ crews on going on board very naturally went down below into the cabin, and other parts of the ship to see what she contained. Jack spied in the master’s cabin a large case, the wire-work of which was placed against the ship’s side, and which in their hurry they had not observed. The vessel, I must remark, was bound to France. Seeing this case the thought instantly struck them that it must contain wine or spirits; they were determined, after all their toil, to have a good drink before any of the officers came below; an iron crowbar and cutlasses soon ripped open the top, when, instead of rum, wine, or brandy, out jumped a large rattlesnake, at least two yards’ long—away flew the sailors up the hatchways, some got into the boats, others in the rigging, the snake made one spring up the ladder, and was on deck after them in a moment—he soon jumped overboard, and, the vessel being pretty close to the shore, made his escape into the rushes and we saw no more of him.

After remaining here a few days, I accompanied Captain Ross and Captain Jackson forty miles up the river, to bring down the Countess of Harcourt Indiaman, that had been captured by a privateer some months before. In going up and down the river St. Mary’s we saw several large alligators sleeping on the banks, which at a little distance were taken for logs of timber, until they began to plunge into the water; we fired at several, and observed the balls strike the scales, but they bounded off, apparently without doing them any injury. I saw some of the Americans with the upper part of their shoes made of the skin, it had been tanned, and wore well, the knobs looked curious. I regretted afterwards I did not procure some of the shoes and tanned skins, and bring them home with me to England.

After returning with the Indiaman, which we loaded with cotton, etc., I was ordered to proceed to Nassau, New Providence, to bring 300 more of the 2nd West India Regiment, it being the intention of the rear-admiral to make some attack further to the northward.

We reached the Bahamas in ten days, first making the hole in the rock at the island of Abacco, which is a most excellent land-mark: it lies in lat. 25°, 56 N., long. 77°, 20 W. from London. Then, steering S. by E., 18 leagues, we arrived off the bar of New Providence, where we took a pilot to conduct us to the anchorage. An immense shark followed us over the bar, and remained by the ship during our stay, and proceeded with us again when we sailed. The water was so very clear that we saw him daily at the bottom. He was too cunning to take bait, though now and then he would come up to the top, eat the bones and bits of biscuit thrown overboard, and try and get the piece of beef off the hook, but never would swallow it.

On my return from New Providence with troops, we again took on board part of the marine battalion from the fort and barracks of Fort Washington at Point-À-Petre, the guns of which we embarked; then, blowing up the works and burning the barracks, we returned to Cumberland Island to plan further annoyances to the enemy.

While we were absent at the Bahamas, Captain Phillot, of the Primrose, brig, had been sent ninety miles up the river to attack some troops and destroy their stores of provisions, but the river becoming narrow, and the Americans lining the banks with sharpshooters, besides felling trees to stop the boats, he failed in the object, having lost several men killed and wounded, amongst the latter Captain Phillot himself severely. Had the enemy not prematurely shown their intention, they would have blocked up the boats, and probably captured them all. As it was, nothing but the coolness and bravery of the commander, and officers and men under his orders, prevented it.

Just at this period we received the news of the total failure of our southern expedition to New Orleans, which event gave us deep and sincere regret, but we hoped by a gallant dash to wipe out our distressing feelings at such an unfortunate event; but while in the midst of preparations we received intelligence that the olive branch of peace was received, and the demon of war between parent and child had ceased. Had it arrived immediately after the taking of Washington, how great would have been our delight! As it was, although we could not help feeling a secret pleasure at the prospect of returning home to our families and friends, yet the throwing away so many valuable lives in the swamps of New Orleans cast a damp on our spirits, and a secret wish to try and blot it from our memories by some gallant achievement.

Previous to returning to Nassau, I had the honour to receive a public letter of thanks from my brave and worthy commodore, Barrie. To have his approbation was, indeed, a flattering testimonial, and I look back at this hour with pleasure when we served together on the other side of the Atlantic, and I hope, if ever England should be again plunged in war, that fortune may place me under his command.

On the 6th of March the ship I commanded was ordered to proceed to Nassau with the 2nd West India Regiment, and from thence to Bermuda, where we arrived the beginning of April with a re-captured English brig. After remaining there a fortnight, and receiving letters of thanks from Sir Alexander Cochrane and Rear-Admiral Cockburn, addressed to my officers and ship’s company, as well as two others to myself, we proceeded to Halifax, Nova Scotia, at which place we embarked the 98th Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Douglass, and sailed, in a heavy snow-storm, on the 20th of May with a convoy of transports for England, and arrived at Spithead in June, after a passage of twenty-two days.

From the period of our sailing from Britain (April, 1814) until the same month, 1815, we had been constantly employed upon a variety of harassing services and desultory warfare, with the gallant Royal Marine battalions, under the present colonels, Sir R. Williams[Q] and Sir John Malcolm, and it would be the height of injustice not to bear witness to their most brave, able, and steady conduct on every occasion. But where did they ever do otherwise? From the sun’s rising in the east to its setting in the west, in both hemispheres, it has witnessed the devoted bravery and loyalty of the whole corps of Royal Marines.

After remaining sometime at Spithead, orders came for us to embark part of the suite of the Duchess D’AngoulÊme. After making the necessary preparations, and expending some of my own money in the outfit, we received counter orders.

In August the ship was ordered to Sheerness to be paid off; on the 23rd I was promoted to the rank of captain, and on the 9th September the pennant was hauled down, and I parted from my old officers and ship’s company with very great regret. Thus ended my naval services for the present, after nearly seventeen of the best years of my life in active warfare; and I have now to thank God for His protection and providence on many trying occasions.

I shall conclude by making a few remarks before closing this narrative upon the unfortunate mistake this country committed with regard to our quarrel with the United States, and also upon the actions which took place between our frigates and theirs, and upon the subject of searching for English sailors on board their vessels.

The great error that England committed was her not having declared war against America two or three years earlier than she did. She ought to have done it on account of their having aided and assisted our mortal enemy, by carrying on the trade for France in vessels belonging to the United States, and not have allowed them to become the aggressors, to choose their own time, and make the first attack. Had she done so in 1808-1809, or even in 1810, America would have been completely in our power, for the whole of her merchant vessels covered the seas, and her few men-of-war were not particularly well manned. The embargo had been on two years, by which time most of her trading vessels were safely returned from every part of the world; and her seamen being thrown out of employ, were glad to enter on board their men-of-war and privateers for the chance of prize money. But she being now ready, and having secured nearly all her merchant vessels safe in their own ports, first insulted the British flag by sending a 58-gun frigate, the Constitution, to attack the Little Belt corvette of 18 guns then cruizing on the American coast to intercept French vessels. This large frigate of 58 guns, and 487 men, very gallantly fired into the little sloop of war of 18 guns and 120 men, killed and wounded several of them; but she in a very spirited manner returned the fire of this greatly superior force, and killed some of her men. Commodore Rogers, of the American 58-gun ship, pretended to make an apology to Captain Bingham, of His Majesty’s ship Little Belt, by saying he took her for a frigate, or he should not have fired into her.

This was done with the hope of making England declare war, and thereby putting the onus upon her, and making the war in America more popular; but that failing, and they having an army ready to invade Canada, urged on by Bonaparte in 1812, threw down the gauntlet, and commenced hostilities, uniting with France against the liberties of Europe.

Their few frigates being beautifully manned, and immensely superior to ours in size, guns, and number of men, took three of our 48-gun frigates after a severe action. But I do maintain the British navy lost no honour. The enemy’s ships mounted 58 guns, 24 and 42-pounders, with a complement of 487 picked seamen and marines; whereas our ships carried only 48 guns, 18 and 32-pounders, all badly manned, and one, the GuerriÈre, with only 187 men at quarters, the other two, the Java and Macedonian, had nearly their complement of 300 men such as they were. The strength, size, and number of guns of the American ships were too great for ours.

Persons not conversant with nautical affairs, imagine that one frigate is as good as another; but that is not the case, for it is very clear that a man of five feet four inches, weak in proportion, cannot stand against a man of six feet, with nearly double his strength, although both are called men.

Another circumstance must be mentioned, which is this. A ship capable of carrying 58 or 60 heavy guns, 30 of which are long 24-pounders on her main deck, must be a much stronger and larger ship, both in hull, masts, and yards, and her masts several inches in diameter bigger than the smaller ship, carrying only 28 18-pounders on the main deck; therefore three, indeed two, if in a fresh breeze of wind, 24-lb. shot striking the main-mast in the same place or nearly so, of the smaller vessel, would knock it away, whereas it would require double the number of the 18-pound shot to cut away that of the larger ship, giving so many more advantages to the bigger ship against the smaller, by the latter being so much sooner crippled.

The ridiculous, silly, and mischievous hue and cry that was raised in this country, in consequence of the above action, by a malicious, envious party, to pluck from the navy some of her laurels, needs no comment. It gave a lustre to the above frigate actions of our enemy all over the world which they did not deserve, and made them think themselves much more superior than they were, until the fight between the English frigate, Shannon (48), Captain Philip Broke, and the Chesapeake (49), Captain Laurence, off Boston. The latter had fifty more men than the former, but was taken in fifteen minutes by the gallant Captain Broke, and the ship’s company of the Shannon. This brilliant affair, followed a short time afterwards by the action of the Endymion (50), Captain Henry Hope, that mounted 24-pounders on her main deck, and 32-pounders on the quarter-deck, against the President (60), 24-pounders and 42-pounders, which she also captured, proved to them that, when we were more evenly matched, the navy of England was still mistress of the seas.

It was long seen by those who chose to make use of their senses that the disputes between the two countries must end in a rupture; and that the American Government were determined to side with France, and pick a quarrel with us, and that a war was inevitable. They knew that the whole attention of the British Government was taken up by the great struggle in Europe, and therefore few, if any, troops could be spared from the great theatre of war on the Peninsula; they considered this the time therefore to demand new maritime law.

The right of search (which for ages had been the acknowledged or assumed law of all European belligerent nations), for enemies’ merchandize carried in neutral vessels, America was determined to oppose. Instigated by intrigues, and offers of all kinds, made by French emissaries sent for that purpose, Bonaparte found his Milan decrees, declaring the whole coasts of Great Britain and her extensive colonies in the four quarters of the world in a state of blockade, to be of no use without a navy to support it, and not having one that dared show its face upon the ocean, had no means to carry his decrees into execution. His eagle eye at once saw that by making a tool of the United States, and embroiling them with England, he might make a great diversion in his favour. He, therefore, induced their cabinets to enter into his plans, backed, it was said, “by good, weighty, golden reasons, and insisted upon a new maritime law,” which would strike a death blow at our dominion of the sea, and at once evade all blockade. The law I allude to was, that the neutral flag or vessel should permit the ship wearing it to carry the cargo of an enemy free of capture from the other belligerent, who met it on the sea or elsewhere.

It was very extraordinary that America found little fault with France, who first commenced the general blockade by the issue of her Milan decrees, and who confiscated all the United States’ vessels that were captured by her men-of-war or privateers with British colonial or other produce on board, coming directly or indirectly from any port of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and her colonies. Had they merely touched or been driven by stress of weather into an English port, or even boarded by a British cruiser, it was sufficient to condemn them as lawful prizes in a French Court of Admiralty, when met at sea by French armed vessels, and detained. England waited with great patience, thinking that all the neutral powers, but above all America, would protest against the measure, and join her who was fighting for the liberties of all the world against the iron grasp of Bonaparte, and his intended universal dominion. The United States, on the contrary, put up with the seizure of their vessels by France, and when Great Britain was obliged, after the greatest forbearance, to declare the whole coast of France and her allies in a state of blockade—which she had the means of doing, having more than one thousand men-of-war of different sizes at sea or in commission, ready effectually to carry this measure into operation—they grew outrageous because she would not permit them to be our secret enemy, and carry the trade of France in their ships, under the new maritime law they proposed, viz., that a neutral ship and flag were to make an enemy’s cargo neutral also. The above was one of the causes that led to the war.

Impressment of seamen or sailors out of their vessels is another source of complaint against this country. To this latter act England was driven by the conduct of citizens of the United States, decoying men to desert whenever any of our ships, whether men-of-war or merchant vessels, put into their harbours. The enticing our seamen away to man their vessels naturally made us search for British subjects whenever British men-of-war boarded any of our ships, whether at sea or in foreign parts, particularly when we knew the easy method by which English subjects were naturalised and gained American protections.

I recollect a very fine young seaman whom we took out of an American ship at Messina in Sicily, when I was a lieutenant of the Melpomene frigate. On being brought on board he produced his United States’ protection, and requested to be sent back to his ship. He wrote to the American consul to claim him, and the master of his ship came on board to demand him as an American citizen. Having strong suspicion that he was an English subject,—notwithstanding the clamour raised by the Yankee master and consul, and the production of his protection; yet, from his not having any nasal twang when he spoke, and not using the general slang words of that country, such as “I guess,” “I calculate,” etc.,—we kept him on board that night. The next morning he came on the quarter-deck of the frigate, and gave up his American protection and said, “I will not deny my country—I am a native of Swansea, in Wales, and I got that protection when I sailed last voyage in a merchant ship from Liverpool to New York, in the following manner. On my arrival at New York I was told that by paying two dollars I could get a protection of citizenship, which would prevent my being pressed on board an English man-of-war. The way it was managed was this:—I was put into a large cradle made on purpose to hold men; I was then rocked by them for a minute or two, and afterwards taken before the proper authorities by the old couple, who made oath they had known me ever since I was in my cradle—no further questions were asked, the matter being quite understood between the parties,—I paid the fees, the protection was granted, and, having given the old folks two dollars for their trouble, I became a ‘registered American citizen,’ and that, sir,” he said, “is the way British seamen are kidnapped in the States—in short, it is a regular trade, and hundreds of seamen that have protections got them in the same manner.”

A knowledge of the various tricks played on the other side of the Atlantic to entice away our seamen, made the officers of the British navy more anxious to recover their sailors, which of course at times caused some irritating disputes with the masters and skippers of the American vessels. These magnified every trifle, and reported all the circumstances to people who were paid by that part of the press in the French interest to make the worst of everything, in order to inflame the public mind against this country, particularly after the affair of the Leopard (50), taking our deserters out of the American frigate Chesapeake (48), and the unfortunate event of H.M.S. Leander, when a man was killed by accident by her firing to bring-to a vessel under the United States’ flag off New York for the purpose of examining her.

The Americans acted with great wisdom and foresight previous to their declaration of war, by putting on the embargo and passing the “Non-intercourse Bill” with England two years before. By that wise act they were enabled to get home their trade from all parts of the world, and having done this, they insulted our flag by sending a 58-gun ship, commanded by Commodore Rogers, to fire into the Little Belt corvette of 18-guns, commanded by Captain Bingham, cruising near their coast, and killing several of her men and wounding others. This affair had two meanings. First to revenge the death of their citizens slain in the Chesapeake frigate, and on board the merchant ship off New York; and secondly to induce us to declare war against them, to make it more popular with the generality of the people of the States, that the Government might be able to throw the blame upon England. Britain having her hands full in other places, fighting for the liberties of the world, making at the same time a desperate struggle for her own existence, and most nobly striving to liberate other powers from the grasp of Bonaparte, was not willing at this most critical period to have another foe; she therefore tried something in protocol fashion of the present day, but it failed as all half-measures generally do.

America laughed at it, and commenced biting our heels, while John Bull was tossing the dogs in front. They had the wisdom to perceive the great error England had committed in not seeing that war was inevitable, and that she ought to have declared it two or three years before, and not have allowed her to get the whole of her vessels safe into port. Our politeness and good breeding enabled them to secure all or most of their shipping, in order to enable them to man their ships of war and privateers with picked sailors. Their seamen being thrown out of employ, were glad to enter on board their men-of-war and privateers for the almost certain chance of a rich harvest, by capturing our East and West Indiamen.

This was the great mistake England committed; for had we gone to war at an earlier period when the seas were covered with American merchant ships, they would have been swept into our harbours, and she would have been completely at our mercy, and twelve months at that time would have settled our disputes far more amicably than the unsatisfactory method adopted in the year 1815.

Natural affection, intimate connections with this country, a common language, and a wish to incline to a reasonable adjustment of claims, would probably have settled our quarrel, and not have left the boundary line as a further bone of contention. But we were unfortunately so delighted with the success of our allies and our own gallant army, by the capture of Paris, and other deeds in Europe, added to the abdication of Napoleon, that American matters were left nearly in the same state as before the war, although we had the means at that period to have settled everything in a most satisfactory manner. The country was like,—or might be compared to,—soldiers and sailors who had received so much pay and prize-money that they got drunk. Great Britain was intoxicated with the honour and renown which their countrymen in the army and navy had gained for them, and never thought of the morrow. Indeed, up to the present time, 1839, they have been living upon the principal of credit, for we have put, I fear, very little by or out to interest which was then gained, and which has been most woefully frittered away ever since, until the country has at last almost run bankrupt: for we are spit upon in Spain, treated with contempt in Portugal, despised in France, laughed at in Russia, kicked in Canada, and in a fine olla podrida in India and China.

FINIS.

Note.—Vice-Admiral William Stanhope Lovell, R.N., K.H., was born September 15th, 1788. Married, 2nd January, 1822, Selina, youngest daughter of Sir Henry Crewe, Bart., of Calke Abbey, Derby, and by her, who died on the 30th March, 1838, had issue one son and three daughters, who survive him. Vice-Admiral Lovell died in 1859, “sans peur et sans reproche.” Was buried at Bexley, Kent.