The Early Life and Later Experience and Labors of Elder Joseph Bates

Chapter 3

Attempt to Escape — Flogging — Ship St. Salvadore — Attempt to Swim Away — Rodney 74 — Spanish War Ship — A Levanter — Image Worship — Another Attempt for Freedom — Battle — Storm — Shipwreck — Blockading Squadron — Church Service on Board a King’s Ship — Port Mahon — Subterranean Passage — Holy-stone — Wash Days — Threatened Punishment — Storm — New Station.

ON board of this ship one feeling seemed to pervade the minds of all who claimed to be Americans, viz., that we were unlawfully seized without any provocation on our part, hence, any way by which we could regain our liberty would be justifiable. In a few days the greater portion of the officers and crew took one of their number on shore to be buried. It was then suggested by some that this was a favorable time for us to break the iron bars and bolts in the port-hole, and make our escape by swimming in the strong current that was rushing by us. In breaking the bars we succeeded beyond our expectation, and when all ready to cast ourselves overboard, one after another, the boats came along-side with the officers, and our open place was discovered. For this, they began by taking one after another and whipping them on their naked backs in a most inhuman manner. This dreadful work was in progress for several hours, and ceased about nine o’clock at night, the officers intending to finish next day. But they did not have time to carry out their cruel work; for orders were given to transship us all on board a frigate near by, that was weighing her anchors to put to sea. LELJB 37.1

In a few days we came to Plymouth, where we were re-examined, and all such as were pronounced in good condition for service in the British navy were transferred to one of their largest-sized stationary ships, called the “Saint Salvadore Del Mondo.” On this monstrous floating castle were fifteen hundred persons in the same condition as myself. LELJB 38.1

Here, in conversation with a young man from Massachusetts, we agreed to try to make our escape if we perished in the attempt. We prepared us a rope, and closely watched the soldiers and sailors on guard till they were being relieved from their posts at midnight. We then raised the “hanging port” about eighteen inches, and put the “tackle fall” into the hands of a friend in the secret, to lower it down when we were beyond the reach of the musket balls. Our rope and blanket, about thirty feet long, reached the water. Forbes, my companion, whispered, “Will you follow?” I replied, “Yes.” By the time he reached the water, I was slipping down after him, when the alarm ran through the ship, “A man overboard.” Our friend dropped the “port” for fear of being detected, which left me exposed to the fire of the sentinels. But I was soon in the water, and swam to a hiding-place under the “accommodation ladder” by the time the boats were manned with lanterns to hunt us out. We watched for an opportunity to take an opposite direction from our pursuers, who were repeatedly hailed from the ship to know if they had found any one. We had about three miles to swim with our clothes on, except our jackets and shoes; these I had fastened on the back of my neck to screen me from a chance shot from the ship. An officer with men and lanterns descended the accommodation ladder, and sliding his hand over the “slat” he touched my hand, and immediately shouted, “Here is one of them! Come out of that, you sir! Here is another! Come out, you sir!” We swam round to them, and were drawn upon the stage. “Who are you?” demanded the officer. “An American.” “How dare you undertake to swim away from the ship? Did you not know that you were liable to be shot?” I answered that I was not a subject of King George, and had done this to gain my liberty. “Bring them up here!” was the order from the ship. After another examination we were put into close confinement with a number of criminals awaiting their punishment. LELJB 38.2

After some thirty hours of close confinement, I was separated from my friend, and hurried away with about one hundred and fifty sailors (all strangers to me), to join His Majesty’s ship, “Rodney,” of 74 guns, whose crew numbered about seven hundred men. As soon as we had passed our muster on the quarter-deck of the Rodney, all were permitted to go below and get their dinners but Bates. Commander Bolton handed the first lieutenant a paper, on reading which he looked at me and muttered, “Scoundrel.” All the boats’ crews, amounting to more than one hundred men, were immediately assembled on the quarter-deck. Said Capt. Bolton, “Do you see that fellow?” “Yes, sir.” “If you ever allow him to get into one of your boats, I will flog every one of the boats’ crew.” “Do you understand me?” “Yes, sir, yes, sir,” was the reply. “Then go down to your dinners; and you may, too, sir.” LELJB 39.1

I now began to learn something of the nature of my punishment for attempting in a quiet and peaceable manner to quit His Majesty’s service. In the commanding officer’s view this seemed to amount to an unpardonable crime, and one never to be forgotten. In a few hours the Rodney, under a cloud of sail, was leaving old Plymouth in the distance, steering for the French coast to make war with the Frenchmen. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick;” thus my hope of freedom from this oppressive state seemed to wane from my view like the land we were leaving in the distance. LELJB 40.1

As our final destination was to join the British squadron in the Gulf of Lyons, in the Mediterranean Sea, we made a stop at Cadiz, in Spain. Here the French troops of Napoleon Bonaparte were bombarding the city and British and Spanish ships of war in the harbor. These comprised a part of the Spanish fleet that finally escaped from the battle of Trafalgar, under Lord Nelson, in 1805, and were now to be refitted by their ally, the English, and sail for Port Mahon in the Mediterranean. Unexpectedly, I was one of fifty selected to refit and man one of them, the “Apollo.” A few days after passing the Straits of Gibraltar, we encountered a most violent gale of wind called a “levanter,” common in those seas, which caused our ship to labor so excessively that it was with the utmost exertion at the pumps that we kept her from sinking. We were finally favored to return back to Gibraltar and refit. LELJB 40.2

A number of Spanish officers with their families still belonged to the ship. It was wonderful and strange to us to see how tenaciously these people hung around their images, surrounded with burning wax candles, as though they could save them in this perilous hour, when nothing short of our continual labor at the pumps prevented the ship from sinking with us all. LELJB 41.1

After refitting at Gibraltar, we sailed again, and arrived safely at the island of Mahon. Here I made another attempt to regain my liberty with two others, by inducing a native to take us to land in his market boat. After some two days and nights of fruitless labor to escape from the island by boats or otherwise, or from those who were well paid for apprehending deserters, we deemed it best to venture back. Our voluntary return to the ship was finally accepted as evidence that we did not design to desert from the service of King George III. Thus we escaped from being publicly whipped. LELJB 41.2

Our crew was now taken back to Gibraltar to join the Rodney, our own ship, which had just arrived in charge of another Spanish line-of-battle ship for Port Mahon, having a crew of fifty of the Rodney’s men. In company with our Spanish consort, we sailed some eighty miles on our way to Malaga, where we discovered the combined armies of the English and Spanish in close engagement with the French army on the seaboard. Our ship was soon moored broadside to the shore. As the orders for furling the sails were not promptly obeyed, by reason of the Frenchmen’s shot from the fort, all hands were ordered aloft, and there remained exposed to the enemy’s shot until the sails were furled. This was done out of anger. While in this condition, a single well-directed shot might have killed a score, but fortunately none were shot till all had reached the deck. Our thirty-two pound balls made dreadful havoc for a little while in the enemy’s ranks. Nevertheless, they soon managed to bring their enemies between us, and thereby check our firing. Then, with a furious onset they drove them to their fortress; and many seeing our boats near the shore rushed into the sea, and were either shot by the French or drowned, except what the boats floated to our ship. This work commenced about 2 P. M. and closed with the setting sun. After disposing of the dead, and washing their blood from the decks, we sailed away with our Spanish consort for Port Mahon. Just before reaching there, another levanter came on so suddenly that it was with much difficulty that we could manage our newly built ship. Our Spanish consort, unprepared for such a violent gale, was dashed to pieces on the island of Sardinia, and nearly every one of the crew perished. LELJB 41.3

After the gale we joined the British fleet, consisting of about thirty line-of-battle ships, carrying from eighty to one hundred and thirty guns apiece, besides frigates and sloops of war. Our work was to blockade a much larger fleet of French men-of-war, mostly in the harbor of Toulon. With these we occasionally had skirmishes, or running fights. The French squadron was not prepared, neither disposed, to meet the English fleet in battle. LELJB 42.1

To improve our mental faculties, when we had a few leisure moments from ship duty and naval tactics, we were furnished with a library of two choice books for every ten men. We had seventy of these libraries in all. The first book was an abridgement of the life of Lord Nelson, calculated to inspire the mind to deeds of valor, and to teach the most summary way of disposing of an unyielding enemy. This, one of the ten men could read, when he had leisure, during the last six days of each week. The second was a small Church-of-England prayer-book, for special use about one hour on the first day of the week. LELJB 42.2