Frigate Commander (47 page)

My conduct has been approved of by the Admiralty and I have received from all quarters congratulations on our success and good fortune. The answer from the Court of Spain had not been received when I left London, the question of Peace or War with that country is still undecided and on that question depends our chance of riches. There has been great delay in the Public Offices with respect to landing the treasure, not that it was not intended to be landed and lodged in the Bank of England from the first, but merely from dilatoriness and want of arrangement as to the execution of what they intend.

The news of Moore’s success was also causing something of a stir at home. General Moore wrote from Sandgate to his mother:

I think I see the spectacles jumping off your nose, in reading the account of Graham’s success. We shall hear no more of his being relaxed.
¹³¹
Depend upon it, that since the 5th instant, the day he fell in with the Spaniards, he has been quite well. Everybody rejoices, I believe that this good fortune has fallen to the lot of Graham Moore. I have no less than three letters this morning to announce it. We shall have Graham’s letter in to-morrow’s Gazette. I am impatient to read the particulars of the action. I am with him, and I may add with you, more eager for his fame than his riches.
¹³²

When Moore returned to Plymouth on 13 November, he learned that the damage inflicted on the
Indefatigable
when she struck the Vandre Rock had been very serious indeed. So much so, in fact, that another slight knock would have sunk her outright. Nevertheless, two weeks later she was ready for sea again and, to Moore’s immense pride and joy, he was ordered to take General John Moore on board and carry him to meet Rear Admiral Cochrane, where they were to discuss the feasibility of an attack on Ferrol. The
Indefatigable
found Cochrane’s squadron off Ferrol on 15 December, where it was agreed that the Admiral, together with both General and Captain Moore, should be landed covertly to reconnoitre Ferrol from a nearby height, disguised as a hunting party. The operation nearly ended in disaster when Spanish troops spotted them and intercepted the boats. As it was, a Midshipman and two sailors were captured. By the time that the
Indefatigable
set sail again, General Moore had already concluded that such an attack on Ferrol would be near impossible
^d
. The anchorage was inadequate for an expeditionary force, and there were too few landing places. The Spanish batteries were well designed and were protected from the rear so that the only possible means of attacking the town would involve troops travelling extremely long distances, with all the risks that that involved.

Having returned the General to England, the
Indefatigable
sailed back across the Channel to rejoin Cornwallis. Falling in with Cornwallis’ fleet, Moore went aboard the
Ville de Paris
to report to the Admiral,
‘. . . and the Old Lad received me, as he has ever done, exceedingly well’.
Cornwallis gave Moore command of the inshore squadron watching Brest,
‘. . . among them I find my old favourite the
Melampus’
.
Moore was pleased at this recognition of his abilities, but he may have begun to wish that his days on blockade duty were over:
‘The weather is dismally cold and we are all very uncomfortable. I am cramped up with Rheumatism and Chilblains.’
With appalling weather setting in again, the entire squadron was forced to cut their cables and run off the land as best they could. They all escaped being blown onto a lee shore, but Moore knew that it had been a close run thing:

What remains of this cruise I look to as of time to be got through as well as we can and the sooner the better for I expect no kind of comfort or satisfaction in it . . . This cruise has been severe upon us all.

The
Indefatigable
too was sustaining wear and tear. Most worryingly, the gammoning on her bowsprit had worn through in several places and could not be repaired whilst she was at sea.

On 23 January 1805, the cutter
Nimble
arrived with dispatches, including an order which Moore had hoped might arrive sooner. They were to seize or destroy all Spanish ships that they fell in with. Moore wondered how this might effect the Spanish frigates and treasure he had captured;

If Government behave tolerably fair to us with respect to the Frigates we took we shall not be very badly off as to our share of prizes.

Cochrane ordered Moore to take up a position off Corunna, just in case the Rochfort Squadron (which had actually already sailed into Brest) should try to enter that port. The weather had turned agreeable, and although it was only February it was as warm as an English summer;

If I were in good health I should enjoy this work and the whole of our prospect, as it is I feel tolerably cheery. The face of the country of Spain is agreeable to me, the mountains seem rocky and barren, but the valleys smile and the delightful spring already makes its appearance. No season is so cheering to me as the Spring. I love to see the youth of Nature.

It was a long time since Moore had written so lightly in his journal.

On 1 March, Admiral Calder arrived to take command of the Ferrol Squadron and Cochrane was ordered elsewhere, taking the more powerful ships with him. Moore speculated that the Rochfort squadron had perhaps not made it into Brest after all, and that Cochrane was being sent to look for them. He thought that, as the Rochfort Squadron was reportedly carrying troops, they might have made a dash for the Leeward Islands, in a move designed to draw an English expeditionary force after them. Calder ordered Moore to take the
Indefatigable
close in to watch Ferrol, while he took the rest of the squadron further out to sea. It was a potentially vulnerable position for the frigate, which Calder may have been using as bait to try to draw out French or Spanish men-of-war;

In my opinion the admiral keeps a great deal too far out, we did not see him all yesterday and both yesterday and today the wind was favourable for the enemy coming out. The Blockade is a complete farce, but it might certainly be much closer . . .

There was not even the consolation of prize money:

We have entirely lost our chance of Spanish Prizes now, they all now must know of the war, and besides this is now bad cruising ground for any thing but Men of War and of them I think our chance very indifferent. If Government act towards us according to the usual custom with regard to the ships detained by Order, previous to hostilities, we shall have been very lucky.

By the end of March, the neutral vessels that Moore was stopping and searching on a regular basis began reporting that the ten or twelve Spanish ships of the line in Ferrol were preparing to break out. Calder’s squadron, though, was soon reduced to six ships of the line and Cornwallis was replaced by Lord Gardner as Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet. On 16 April, Moore’s old favourite, the
Melampus,
appeared bringing news that the French Toulon fleet had escaped through the Straits of Gibraltar on the 9th – and what later became known as The Campaign of Trafalgar, had begun. The two frigates immediately made all sail to warn Calder who, in turn, sent the
Melampus
north to warn the Ushant squadron. Calder, having withdrawn the
Montague
from her inshore station, now had seven ships of the line and the
Indefatigable
,

. . . which he has informed me he means to take into the line as he expects to be outnumbered by the enemy if he meets them . . . We shall have hot work this Summer, I think.

It was now known that the Rochfort squadron had arrived at Martinique in late February; but the destination of the Toulon squadron remained a mystery until 27 April when it was reported that Sir John Orde had seen the Toulon squadron enter Cadiz. Calder dispatched the
Indefatigable
to Cape Finisterre to watch in case the French should try to break out of Cadiz and head north. Moore took up his position in thick, rainy and unsettled weather. He had managed to obtain London newspapers and read that there, public attention seemed to be entirely focussed on the prosecution of Lord Melville
¹³³
. Moore strongly approved of

. . . those who have abused their trust and connived at, and perhaps profited by, the corrupt practices of those under them
[being]
detected and exposed.

He believed such prosecutions had

. . . a very good effect. I believe Mr Whitbread’s motive was perfectly just and honourable and I think he conducted the charge he made against Lord Melville with great discretion and in a very open and manly style.

Meanwhile, off Finisterre, a Portuguese brig reported that the Toulon squadron had already sailed from Cadiz, taking the Spanish fleet from that port with them. If they managed to unite with the Ferrol Squadron, which was reported to consist of twelve or thirteen ships of the line and five or six frigates, Calder’s small squadron wouldn’t be able to meet them. Moore noted in his journal:
‘We have heard nothing yet of Lord Nelson’
, adding sarcastically,
‘. . . another instance of the efficacy of Blockade’.

Then at 10pm on the night of 14 May, Calder’s squadron was considerably alarmed by the arrival of a frigate firing rockets and burning lights. It was the
Loire
, commanded by Captain Frederick Maitland. He reported that three days earlier he had been chased by five French ships of the line and three frigates, steering a course for Rochfort. By his calculation, they would now be ten leagues north by east of Calder. Moore thought this might be the Rochfort Squadron on its way back from the West Indies and was convinced that Calder should give chase or
‘. . . I shall have no opinion of him’.
However, Calder simply returned to Ferrol. Moore was furious and frustrated at the growing inefficiency of the blockade that he witnessed all about him. Calder did not have the strength to meet the Ferrol Squadron if it came out but, the wind being westerly, he was in a perfect position to intercept the Rochfort Squadron. Moore was
‘Sick and disgusted with the scene I am engaged in, to which I see no end.’
And there was still no news of Nelson’s whereabouts.

On 30 May, the
Loire
returned with dispatches for Calder. Privately, Maitland informed Moore that after he had left Calder on the 15th, he had fallen in with a ship that had confirmed the position of the Rochfort Squadron. If Calder had given chase, he would certainly have caught them. It was, for Moore, virtually the last straw:
‘O lord! O Lord! I wish with all my heart we were ordered in.’

The anxious waiting continued but then, on 2 June, came news that Nelson had taken the Mediterranean Fleet to the West Indies in pursuit of the French;

I am very glad he has taken this decided step of pushing for the West Indies where they are most probably gone as it is there where we are most vulnerable at present. I understand that he has taken the whole of this measure on his own shoulders having received no orders from England. His fleet are of excellent composition, in the best order and extremely attached to Nelson who has the good sense and rare talent of keeping up good discipline while at the same time he is esteemed and liked by all under his command.

This was honest praise from one who had always been conscientious about his duties as a commander. Unfortunately for Moore, his health had broken once again, and his spirits were hardly less in a state of collapse. At this critical moment in the history of the war, he was compelled to write to Lord Barham, First Lord of the Admiralty, requesting two months leave of absence to recuperate, and also saying that he hoped he would not have to leave the
Indefatigable
permanently. The reply, when it came, bore the news that he had been anticipating and fearing for so long.

I have received his
[Lord Barham’s]
answer stating that he has set his face against appointing acting Captains for
[a]
time, that therefore he could not comply with my request but that if I was obliged on account of my health to give up the command of the
Indefatigable
he would do all in his power to appoint me to a good ship as soon as I was recovered . . .

Because the inescapable fact was that

I am so high up the List of Captains that it is more becoming for me to command a ship of the Line than a frigate.

It was the end of Moore’s career as a frigate commander. As though reluctant to bring this to a close, he did not remind Calder that the
Indefatigable
had been sixteen weeks out of port, and was therefore overdue for reprovisioning. However, the end could not be avoided. On 14 June 1805, Admiralty orders arrived ordering him to take the
Indefatigable
to Plymouth, and there in the first week of July, Moore handed the command of his frigate over to Captain John Rodd. For the first time, he made no reference in his journal, of his farewell to his crew.

15

The Long Decline (1805 – 1843)

Moore arrived at Plymouth in broken health and with his frigate career at an end, but while he was unquestionably sad about this, his naval career was far from over. His immediate concerns, however, were to recover his health. He travelled to London via Bath and within a few weeks had undergone some form of surgery. He spent August 1805, recuperating at Marshgate House, but with the wound from the operation healing well, he could barely contain himself from applying to the Admiralty for new employment. At the end of August he was given command of the new
Fame
(74), though, as she had not yet actually been launched, he was allowed to retain nominal command of the
Indefatigable
in order to receive full pay.