Hostile Shores (52 page)
Authors: Dewey Lambdin
It was not for nothing that in later years, once the nations of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay had been carved out of the larger Spanish possessions, that the deep-water Canal Punta Indio was dug out from the docks of Buenos Aires to deeper water South of Montevideo!
Popham could give the unfortunate Beresford no help, and the weather did not cooperate, either. There were heavy rains, gusty gales, and heavy fogs. Popham could not even manage to get his ships to the wee port of Ensenada to take off Beresford’s wounded, or evacuate the army. They might have saved themselves by marching down to Point Quilmes, where they’d landed, and been taken off by boats from the five transports that remained in the Estuary, from the mouth of the Cuello River, but Beresford stood his ground, and on the night of August 11th, 1806, his troops stood to-arms all night. On the morning of August 12th, he was attacked by overwhelming numbers, and, after suffering 48 dead, 107 wounded, and 10 missing, he was forced to surrender. The terms were fairly generous, but Brigadier Beresford and his remaining men were marched inland.
By now, Lewrie’s part in the Buenos Aires fiasco was long done, but if you thought that Commodore Popham would tuck his tail beneath his legs and slink off like a frustrated fox, you’ve another think coming; the comedy of errors was only just starting!
Even though there were no Spanish merchant ships or warships in a thousand miles of the Estuary, Popham used his remaining squadron to “blockade” Buenos Aires (I’m sure
that
looked good in reports!) until he received a few re-enforcements from General Baird at the Cape of Good Hope. By this time, Admiralty had sent orders for his recall to London, and a replacement had been sent out.
With his re-enforcements, Popham tried to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear (perhaps to salvage his arse!) by making a stab at taking Montevideo! His few ships couldn’t get close enough for their guns to make an impression, so he settled for going up the coast and taking the port of Maldonado and the island of Gorrete, where his troops could set up winter camps, on the 30th of October.
This defeat was considered an insult to the honour of British arms. Popham’s replacement, Rear-Admiral Charles Stirling, arrived with a fresh army, and hopes expressed in London that not only would Buenos Aires and Montevideo be re-taken, but an expedition would also sail round the Horn and take the city of Valparaiso in Chile, then build a string of fortresses right cross the entire continent! London would make a virtue of necessity.
Stirling and his army commanders, General Samuel Auchmuty and Lieutenant-General John Whitelocke, had a second go at Montevideo in February of 1807, and took the place, being “gallantly carried”.
From there, another go at Buenos Aires was launched, an army of twelve thousand men to do the job proper, this time.
Unfortunately, it was entrusted to Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, who was no brighter than Beresford had been. He led them cross the swampy lands near Quilmes and cross the Cuello, and right into utter disaster! Nearly 2,500 British soldiers were killed and Whitelocke’s army was also forced to surrender, with Whitelocke meekly agreeing that all British forces would evacuate the Plate within two months.
Whitelocke was subsequently court-martialled, cashiered, and deemed “totally unfit and unworthy to serve His Majesty in any military capacity whatsoever.”
“Wasn’t the Navy’s fault, Yer Honour, sir! Wasn’t any of
our
doing!”
When Popham got back to England, he was also called before a court-martial board aboard HMS
Gladiator
at Portsmouth from March 6th to the 11th, and the sentence was as follows:
The court has agreed that the charges have been proved against the said Captain Sir Home Popham; that the withdrawing, without orders so to do, the whole of any naval force from where it is directed to be employed, and the employing it in distant operations against the enemy, more especially if the success of such operations should be likely to prevent its speedy return, may be attended with the most serious inconvenience to the public service, as the success of any plan formed by His Majesty’s ministers for operations against the enemy, in which such naval force might be included, may by such removal, be entirely prevented. And the court has further agreed that the conduct of the said Captain Sir Home Popham, in the withdrawing the whole of the naval force under his command from the Cape of Good Hope, and the proceeding with it to Rio de la Plata, is highly censurable; but, in consideration of circumstances, doth adjudge him to be only severely reprimanded; and he is hereby severely reprimanded accordingly.
Good looks, good connexions, the “Petti-coat influence” of a good-looking wife, and all the smarm of a used-car salesman pulled Popham through, with only the slightest blot on his escutcheon. He went on to serve, again, zestfully babbling up schemes like former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and enjoyed a long career … though when he served under “The Gallant Pellew” in 1813–1815, a man rightly famed as one of the finest and boldest frigate captains in the Royal Navy, it was said that Pellew couldn’t stand the sight of him!
Ironically, after this British humiliation, there was one bright spot. The subjects of the Viceroyalty de la Plata, in uniting to defeat and oust the British, turned into revolutionaries intent on winning their independence! On May 25th, 1810, the
Primera Junta
was formed at Buenos Aires to throw off slothful and ineffective Spanish rule, and establish home rule in the new nation-states of Argentina, Paraguay across the Plate, and Uruguay. News of the
Junta
caused the beginning of a series of uprisings throughout South and Latin America, culminating in the ultimate military and political victories of Simón Bolívar. Let’s just caution, though, that winning independence didn’t
exactly
result in Jeffersonian Democracy, as Colonel Mendoza wished to emulate!
A late friend of mine, Bob Enrione, was in Argentina during the Falklands War with a CBS Network news crew, and, due to extremely strict control and censorship by the military
junta
, had a lot of time on his hands, lounging round the hotel, sampling the famed local wines, and dining very cheaply on incredibly large, fine steak dinners. In the course of his rambles, he did, however, manage to talk with many Argentinans, and got the distinct impression that they thought that they might have been a
tad
too hasty in kicking the British out! Had they accepted British help in winning independence, they might have had a stable Parliamentary system, fair taxation, the best of older Spanish law and English Common Law combined, as it was in India under the East India Company and the later
Raj
, they imagined, and their country would have been spared all the “aggro” and “agita” of wars with their neighbours in the 1880s, and a sad parade of
juntas, el jefes
, and
generalissimos
that crushed every democracy that they set up. Who
knows
how it would have turned out? We’ll never know, unless someone wishes to write an alternate-history sci-fi novel. Are there any takers out there?
So, there’s the gallant Alan Lewrie, flat on his back and for a time in swaddles,
forced
to indulge his lazy streak, for a rare once, ’til he’s strong enough to get back on his feet and make it as far as his quarter-gallery … and his wine-cabinet. The pity of it; all that time abed, and nary a woman in sight! It will be weeks before
Reliant
will anchor in Table Bay at Cape Town, and he can expect letters from home. Remember, no one told the post packets that he’d sailed off for the Plate Estuary!
When
Reliant
reaches England, she will surely be paid off, her officers and crew, except for the Standing Officers, scattered to the four winds, and the needs of the Fleet, and she might prove to be his
last
frigate. Lewrie is senior-enough, and experienced-enough, to be given an active commission into a larger ship. Might she be an older 64-gunner that could still prove useful on foreign stations, or will he be shoved aboard a Third Rate two-decker 74 and end up on gruelling blockade duty, for years on end?
In the back of Lewrie’s mind, there are some dreads, too. As a part of Commodore Popham’s failed expedition, might some of the blame end up harming his career? Will Admiralty even
offer
him a new commission? Will he heal up sufficiently to
accept
one? He’s in his fourties, now, and not as spry or as quick to heal as he was in his early years. If his wound cripples or lames him, how dreadful would life be, on half-pay, ashore for good, with no further part to play in ridding the world of Napoleon Bonaparte and his armies of “Frogs”? He’s
had
his bucolic, peaceful years ’tween the wars, and hated every day of that time! Two or three months of rest would be more than welcome, but the rest of his
life
? The Navy, and war, are the only things he’s
good
at!
Idling round his father’s estate at Anglesgreen, smack-dab in the middle of his former in-laws’ spite, his daughter’s bile …
Pah!
And, would Lydia Stangbourne still think him dashing, assuming that she
ever
makes up her mind to trust him enough to re-marry? Would Lydia, and no one else, be enough for Lewrie’s libidinous nature? He
knows
what happens when he’s idle, and his eyes roam.
And, when
Reliant
pays off, what will become of Biscuit?
I fear you’ll simply have to wait awhile longer to discover the answers to all those posers, but, here’s a wee hint …
Farewell, and adieu, to you
Spanish
ladies,
Farewell, and adieu, to you ladies of
Spain
,
For we’ve received orders to sail for old England,
but, we hope very shortly to see you, again!
Also by Dewey Lambdin
The King’s Coat
The French Admiral
The King’s Commission
The King’s Privateer
The Gun Ketch
H.M.S. Cockerel
A King’s Commander
Jester’s Fortune
King’s Captain
Sea of Grey
Havoc’s Sword
The Captain’s Vengeance
A King’s Trade
Troubled Waters
The Baltic Gambit
King, Ship, and Sword
The Invasion Year
Reefs and Shoals
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DEWEY LAMBDIN is the author of eighteen previous Alan Lewrie novels. A member of the U.S. Naval Institute and a Friend of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, he spends his free time working and sailing. He makes his home in Nashville, Tennessee, but would much prefer Margaritaville or Murrells Inlet.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
HOSTILE SHORES.
Copyright © 2013 by Dewey Lambdin. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover design by Elsie Lyons
Cover photographs:
The Battle of the Nile, August 1st 1798
(oil on canvas), by Thomas Luny (1759–1837), © London, Sotheby’s/akg-images; compas and paper © Tischenko Irina/
Shutterstock.com
Maps copyright © 2013 by Cameron Macleod Jones
ISBN 978-0-312-59572-2 (hardcover)
e-ISBN 9781250028839 (e-book)
First Edition: February 2013