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This page is part of a website based
on the life and achievements of eighteenth-century inventor Henry Cort. Please email site controller Eric Alexander
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The
Arethusa, Sandwich and Keppel
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This story is worth telling for several reasons. It is celebrated in song, an orchestral version of
which – first of the Sea Songs in Henry Wood’s fantasia – is played regularly
on the Last Night of the Proms in Britain. It describes the engagement which brings France
officially into the war, turning it decisively in favour of the American
rebels. It is the first outing of HMS Victory, 27
years before Trafalgar. And the key figure in the story, Samuel Marshall, is near enough a neighbour of
Henry Cort. The British fleet commander, Admiral Keppel, has been
warned that he has been given a poisoned chalice. His friends in Parliament don’t trust the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty. He takes command in March 1778, selecting Victory
as his flagship. He sails down the
Channel on 13 June. Marshall’s
frigate, the Arethusa, is one of the fleet. On the seventeenth they spot four French sail (keeping
their distance rather than “bearing down”).
They are still in view when day breaks on the eighteenth. At 2.30 pm, the French group splits into two. Keppel orders the 74-gun Hector and the frigate Milford to pursue one pair, a frigate
and an "armed brig." The
brig gets away, but the frigate Licorne
is successfully brought in. The second pair, the Belle Poule (frigate) and Coureur
(schooner) are chased by the Arethusa,
accompanied by the Alert
cutter. The song gives a false
impression of the disparity in size between the two ships. If information on the web is correct, the
Frenchman carries 30 guns against Arethusa’s
32. The French captain has no intention of being “lugged
along” to meet the British admiral.
When Arethusa fires a warning shot, he replies with a full
broadside. Dusk is gathering: flashes of gunfire can be seen by
the British fleet, as both Arethusa and Alert are engaged. It seems the long-awaited hostilities
between the two countries have broken out. Licorne’s captain draws the same
conclusion. Secretly he loads his
guns. When Keppel orders the fleet to
tack, he holds his course. He replies
to a warning shot from the America
with a full broadside. Merely a
gesture: he is surrounded by the enemy, and his opponent is bigger and better
armed. Immediately his ship strikes
her colours. Meanwhile two ships of the line, Valiant and Monarch,
peel off the British fleet and head towards the main engagement. Belle
Poule heads off into the dusk, leaving her companion to the mercy of the
British. Coureur hauls down her colours. Arethusa (Admiralty documents reveal) has lost all her
masts. Captain Marshall records eight
of his company killed and 36 wounded.
In his report, Keppel commends the captain and his crew for conducting
themselves with "the greatest spirit and gallantry". Valiant takes Arethusa in tow, while Monarch
goes in search of the French frigate.
A thick fog comes down. It
does not disperse till the following morning, when she finds Belle Poule "forced back upon the
strand" – or rather, anchored too close to the shore to be safely
approached. (The "never to fight
with Britons more" is wishful thinking: the British, in fact, manage to
capture her two years later.) So the die is cast. When another French frigate, the Pallas, is brought in, Keppel decides
to keep the three ships the British have taken. Their captains obligingly reveal the size of the French fleet
waiting to take to the Channel: too big for the admiral to engage at the
moment. The British head back to port
to repair their damaged ships and augment their fleet. Accounts differ of French
entry into the war. In one version,
they make an official declaration on 10 July, although the British Admiralty
isn’t informed until the eighteenth.
Still some time before the news can reach
American waters. |
The Arethusa Come, all ye jolly sailors bold, Whose
hearts are cast in honour's mould, While
English glory I unfold – Huzza to
the Arethusa! She is a frigate
tight and brave As ever
stemm'd the dashing wave, Her men
are staunch To their
favourite launch. And when
the foe shall meet our fire Sooner
than strike we'll all expire On board the Arethusa. 'Twas with the spring
fleet she went out, The English channel to cruise about, When four French sail, in shore so about, Bore down on the Arethusa. The famed Belle Poule straight ahead did lie – The Arethusa seem'd to fly; Not a sheet or a tack Or a brace did she slack; Though the Frenchmen laugh'd, and thought it stuff; But they knew not the handful of men how tough On board the Arethusa. On deck five hundred men
did dance, The stoutest they could find in France; We with two hundred did advance On board the Arethusa. Our captain hail'd the Frenchman, 'Ho!' The Frenchman then cried out, 'Hollo!' 'Bear down, d'ye see, To our admiral's lee.' 'No, no!' says the Frenchman, 'that can't be.' 'Then I must lug you along with me.' Says the saucy Arethusa. The fight was off the
Frenchman's land; We forced them back upon the strand; For we fought till not a stick would stand Of the gallant Arethusa. And now we've driven the foe ashore, Never to fight with Britons more, Let each fill a glass To his fav'rite lass, A health to the captain and officers true, And all that belong to the jovial crew On board the Arethusa. From opera “The
Lock and Key” The following information on Belle Poule is taken
from the Web.
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Keppel puts to sea again on
9th July. His fleet is now
thirty vessels strong, with Admirals Harland and Palliser commanding van and
rear. Arethusa has been repaired and is once more with the
expedition. This time they encounter a
big French fleet. An inconclusive
battle ensues.
The aftermath seems to
confirm suspicions that Sandwich was digging a pit for Keppel by offering him
command of the fleet. A dispute breaks
out between Keppel and Palliser. The
outcome is Keppel's court martial, which begins on board the Britannia in Portsmouth Harbour on 2nd
January 1779 and moves immediately ashore on account of the defendant's poor
health.
A notable lawyer, John
Dunning, heads the defence team. The
first witness is Captain Marshall of the Arethusa.
The trial is observed by
leaders of the parliamentary opposition, who suspect a stitch-up to scapegoat
Keppel for the Government's shortcomings.
The trial ends with Keppel's acquittal on 11 February.
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Remarkable and unprecedented scenes followed the rising of the
Court. Guns were fired, processions
formed, people sported ribbons with 'Keppel' in gold letters which had been
prepared by various peeresses, dinners and dances were given in Keppel's
honour, the town was illuminated, and in London mobs attacked the houses of
those they believed to be Keppel's enemies. From James, The British Navy In Adversity. |
You can see where Sandwich
gets his reputation for villainy, a reputation that
will be enhanced two months later when James Hackman
fires his fatal shot.
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