From the same author as Military Enterprise [no. 1.2.5]
Preface [n. pag.]
The British nation[n] has always been proud of its seamen – the Right Hand of its Mighty Empire – and stories of their irresistible valour, their generosity, and their gay good-humour, never fall on reluctant ears. It is hoped, therefore, that the young generation who enjoy in peace the blessings our Navy earned at the cost of much blood and suffering, will welcome these simple records of Naval enterprise, told chiefly in the very words of the men who toiled and died for them; and that “Poor Jack” will thus gain that place in their estimation which he so richly merits, and which he may chance somewhat to forfeit in these piping times of peace.
Contents
Anecdote of Admiral Blake 1Admiral Spragge 2
Sir Cloudesley Shovel 3
British Tars 3
Earl of Sandwich 3
Duke of Albemarle 4
A Douglas 4
Sir John Harman 4
Admiral Benbow 5
Anson Waylays and Takes the Spanish Galleon 5
Anecdote of Captain Hood 9
Anecdote of a British Sailor 9
Anecdote of Lord Duncan 10
Shipwreck of Les Droits de l’Homme 10
Anecdote of Captain Timothy Edwards 15
Howe’s Engagement with the Alcide 17
Loss of the Tribune 20
Shipwreck of the Lady Hobart Packet 24
Burying a Foe 28
Extraordinary Sea Fight 30
Anecdote of Admiral Hardy 31
A Brave Black 31
Sailor Boy 32
Anecdote of Admiral Boscawen 32
Anecdote of Captain Martin 34
Gallantry of Captain Tyrrel 36
British Bravery 37
Earl St. Vincent 38
Admiral Drake 39
Disputing a Foe 39
The Loss of H.M.S. Phoenix 40
Anecdote of Admiral Cornwallis 46
Bravery of Captain (Sir) Samuel Hood 46
French Pilot 47
Anecdote of Sir Edward Pellew 48
Recaptures 48
The First of June 49
Sir Peter Parker 50
Anecdote of Admiral Gardner 52
Anecdotes of the Battle of Camperdown 52
A Brave Welshman 54
Gallant Interposition 55
A Sea Fight – Captain Hornby 56
After Wreck 59
Reduction of Porto Bello 64
A Last Shot 65
Noble Resignation 65
Sailors’ Sufferings 66
Gallantry of a Woman at Pondicherry, in August, 1758 712
Destruction of Admiral Graves’s Fleet 72
Anecdote of Captain Nesham 75
Captain H. Weir’s Narrow Escape 76
Colchester and Lyme engaged with two French Men-of-War – described by a Witness 77
Anecdote of Lord Howard 80
A Brave Seaman 80
A Brave Midshipman 80
Gallant Exploit 81
Gallantry of David Webster 81
Hussar and Sybille 83
Bordelais and Curieux 83
A British Game Cock 84
Capture of the Phaeton and Voltigeur 84
Danish Account of the Battle of Copenhagen, 1801 85
Gallantry of Captain Faulknor 90
A Letter from Captain Johnstone to Lord Howe 91
Blanche and Pique 95
Anecdote of Captain Peel in the Crimea 96
Captain Todd – a Victim to Duty 96
Loss of the Courageux 97
Loss of the Queen Charlotte 101
Generous Sense of Honour 103
British Gallantry 103
Getting into Toulon to Negotiate. Related by Captain E. Cooke (1793) 105
Presence of Mind 110
Remarkable Combination of Courage and Seamanship 110
Brave Action of Captain Grignion, Commander of an English Privateer 111
Sir Peter Parker in 1776 122
Cutting-out the Chevrette 113
Anecdotes of the Cutting-Out of the Chevrette 118
Gallant Action 120
Captain Roddam 120
The Harpooner Transport 124
An Extraordinary Voyage 127
Sir Home Popham 127
Capture of the Utile 128
Power of a Name 128
Taking a Fort 129
Siege of Gibraltar 131
Anecdote of Lord Howe 133
Anecdote of Admiral Keppel 133
Gallant Action in the Mediterranean 134
Anecdote of Nelson as a Child 136
Nelson as a Boy 136
A Glorious Valentine’s Day 139
Generous Tar 142
Anecdote of Earl Dundonald 142
Nelson at Teneriffe 143
The Skeleton of the Wreck 144
Intrepid Mariner 146
Generous Intrepidity 146
Prince of Enterprise 147
Sussex Fisherman 150
Gallant Exploit of Lieutenant Kerr 151
Death of Nelson 152
Determined Intrepidity 155
Death of Captain Cooke at Trafalgar 156
Anecdotes of Admiral M. Russell 156
Recovering Important Letters 158
Capture of La Confiance 160
Nelson and the Nile 160
Delivering a British Subject 162
Crew of His Majesty’s Ship Defence 164
British Heroism 165
Captain Rotherham, of the Victory 165
Wreck of the Charles Baring 166
Collingwood and Nelson at Trafalgar 172
Gallantry of the Crew of an English Merchant Ship in the Year 1696 172
Providential Escape of a Seaman 173
Gallantry of Lord Dundonald 174
Capture of the Hermione 176
Anecdote of Admiral Douglas 177
Escape of French Prisoners 178
Rescuing from Wreck 178
Sufferings of an Englishman 178
Attack on Fornelli 180
Curacao taken by Sir Charles Brisbane 180
Loss of the St. James 182
Save the Ca-Ira by Lieutenant Grey 185
Anecdote of Admiral Drury 186
Poor Box 187
A Brig, Name Unknown 187
Captain Gore 188
Gallant Action between H.M.S. Guadaloupe and a French Corvette and Xebec 188
Remarkable Escape of an English Officer from France 190
Self-Devotion of a Seaman 192
A Generous French Seaman 192
Remarkable Capture and Recapture 194
Exploit of Captain Richard Bowen 195
March on Fort Royal 195
The Terpsichore, surnamed the Little Devil 196
Piety of Admiral Benbow 199
Extraordinary March – A Difficult Duty 199
Characteristic Anecdote of an English Soldier 204
A Sailor’s Estimate of Nelson 204
Battle of Algiers 205
Where there’s a Will there’s a Way 208
Loss of the Nautilus 209
Duel of the Shannon and Chesapeake 220
Anecdotes of the Life-Boat 224
Gallantry of a Midshipman 225
Gallantry of Captain Pearson 226
A Seaman’s Wit 226
Eurotas and Clorinde Frigates 226
A Good-natured Captain 227
A Seaman after Defeat 228
Heroic Benevolence 228
Anecdote of Earl Howe 229
Polar Expedition of 1818 229
Captain Allen 234
Gallant Exploit of Boats 234
A Daring Enterprise 235
Humanity superior to Danger 238
Gallantry of a Dutch Purser 238
Seamen’s Humanity 239
Life-Boat Gallantry 240
A Midshipman’s Fortunes 241
A Wonderful Escape 242
Anecdote of Sir France Drake 244
Different Kinds of Fear 244
Self-Devotion 245
The Use of a Cigar 245
Saving a Soldier’s Life 246
Gallantry of Captain Hewett when a Midshipman 247
Cool Courage 247
A Brave Little Ship 248
Humane and Heroic Deed of Captain Fane 249
A British Seaman’s Glorious Death 250
The Best Kind of Courage 251