Frigate Commander (6 page)

3

HMS Adamant and Nova Scotia (May 1789 – April 1791)

Contrary winds in the English Channel extended HMS
Adamant
’s passage across the North Atlantic, but at least the additional time enabled Moore to make an initial assessment of Captain Knox (who had been retained by the Admiral). Moore was pleased to find the
Adamant
was a happy ship:

It is an extremely agreeable thing to me to find that Captain Knox is not a Flogger, there has been only two men punished since the ship has been put in commission, one for theft, the other for insolence to his Officer. Neither of these men could reasonably [have] been let off, from the nature of their offences.

He also began to wonder whether he himself would be the sort of commanding officer that seamen were attracted to:

If I become a Captain in the course of a few years I firmly believe that I am of a character to gain both esteem and attachment, I am also inclined to think that the faults which my Father has often reproached me with in my manner will leave me on my promotion.

Those ‘faults’ he identified as a tendency towards the frivolous and a lack of serious application to his profession. In fact it is arguable that, his very awareness of these ‘faults’ substantially negated them anyway.

On the 31 July, having crossed the Newfoundland Banks, where the crew supplemented their diets with freshly caught cod, the
Adamant
arrived at Halifax, the headquarters of the Nova Scotia station. Moore, who always took a lively interest in his surroundings, noted in his journal:

The Trade of Halifax consists entirely of salt fish and whale oil. The fish are chiefly Cod, Herring and Mackerel; the Whale Oil is the produce of the Southern fishery which I learn is by far the most lucrative branch, and is gaining ground here considerably, it is carried on in vessels of various denominations, and bulk according to the finances of the adventurer to whom they belong. These vessels commonly touch at the Cape de Verde Islands for live stock; they then proceed to the southward towards the coast of Brazil where they meet the Spermaceti whales many of which are worth five hundred pounds. The crews of these vessels are interested in the success of the voyage as they all go on shares; some ships which arrived lately were so successful on their last voyage, that the foremast men shared fifty pounds each. They are seldom out longer than eleven months.

In addition to the
Adamant
, Admiral Hughes’ squadron consisted of the frigates
Penelope
and
Thisbe
, and the sloop-of-war
Brisk
and it was soon joined by Moore’s old ship, the
Dido
. With the Admiral’s arrival, several urgent items of business needed to be sorted out, including a court martial which affected Moore deeply. A seaman had been charged with striking one of his ship’s Midshipmen. The offence of striking a senior officer attracted the death penalty under Article 23 of the Articles of War and, as the Court duly found that the seaman
had
struck the Midshipman, the sentence was carried out. However, the circumstances had not been straightforward. The Midshipman had been in one of the ship’s boats, overseeing the embarkation of a shore party. The seaman involved in the incident had, probably among others, returned to the boat drunk. Whether by accident or design – and Moore implies it was an accident – the Midshipman struck the seaman as the latter was getting into the boat. The seaman reacted instantly and returned the blow, probably without being fully aware of who he was hitting. The act was witnessed and there was no denying it. With hindsight, it is questionable whether the Midshipman should have brought or supported a charge under the circumstances. However, the matter was referred to a court martial, and although the seaman was able to call on all of his officers to give him a good character, the letter of the Articles had to be followed. Moore was not alone in regretting the inflexibility of courts martial and, like other officers, he realized that if the matter had been dealt with speedily on board a ship at sea, the accused would probably have got away with a couple of dozen lashes. It was a waste of a good seaman and, as in this case, probably unjust, but Moore knew that his views on this could cause him difficulties in the future:

I think if ever I become a captain, I shall have many a long dispute as member of a Court Martial

Before long there was other news to cause disquiet. On 19 September a Packet arrived from England, and with it came a parcel of letters, newspapers and packages from friends and family;

By the Packet we have the news of the surprising turn affairs have taken in France. I have not a doubt that the ancient form of government of that country is now totally overturned since the standing army, the great support of despotism, have shewed themselves on the side of the people. I think the King in throwing himself into the arms of the national assembly has probably acted the most prudent part, though I cannot believe that it will have any effect in stopping them from forming a free government ... The conversation here has turned a good deal on the idea that Great Britain may be a sufferer by the French becoming a free people: for my part I cannot see the matter in that light, I believe that let them be ever so free we shall probably be able to hold our own against them. There may be great advantages in a free constitution but I scarcely think that it is better or so well calculated for the purposes of war as an arbitrary Monarchy.

Little did Moore realize the extent to which his thoughts were to be put to the test.

For the officers in Halifax, the events in Europe seemed disturbing but distant. Ships from the squadron were routinely sent out on anti-smuggling patrol, seizing ships when their papers revealed irregularities in clearing out from the Custom House. There were also more enjoyable expeditions – though, as seemed to happen rather often – these sometimes ended badly. A week after the news arrived from France, for example, Moore decided to take a trip to Laurence Town, a settlement several miles along the coast to the north of Halifax. He was accompanied, on this occasion, by the Captain and Lieutenant of Marines and two servants. While Moore was keen to see the sights and enjoy a country he had never visited before, the marine officers set out loaded with fowling pieces and a fishing rod, intent on a different object. On their return journey they arrived at the shore opposite Halifax to find that the boat, which they had earlier arranged should meet them, was nowhere to be seen. Rather impatiently the officers decided that, as wind and tide were favourable, they would requisition a small boat drawn up nearby and row themselves back to Halifax, generously leaving the servants to follow as and when they could. Moore and the marine Lieutenant took up the oars, whilst the Captain of Marines, who was rather corpulent, sat in the stern steering with a paddle. Unfortunately,

... we found he did more hurt than good as the least motion endangered the oversetting of so small a boat which I am convinced was never intended to carry three men; the water came in so fast from the extraordinary weight of the Captain of Marines in the stern, that I was under the necessity of quitting my oar repeatedly in order to bale the water out with my hat, indeed the water came in so fast at one time that we found it necessary to push for a small island at some distance to discharge the water clear out of her and begin on a fresh score. I took this opportunity of taking off my coat and unburthening myself of two or three pounds of shot, to be ready in case of oversetting. I was then perfectly easy with regard to my own safety as I knew I could swim ashore, but the Captain of Marines could not swim at all, and the Lieutenant was very indifferent at that work; with a good deal of ado we at last reached Coal Harbour after an hour and a half struggling, another larger boat soon brought over the two servants. During our passage I found the boat at one time aground on a sand bank, on this occasion telling the other two of it with a degree of fretting – By Christ, says the Captain (who is an honest Irishman) I am glad to hear of it, while she remains so, there is no fear.

Despite his earlier satisfaction with Captain Knox, Moore soon found himself changing his mind:

October 5th. There has been of late a good deal of flogging; the men have deserved it, but on this occasion I must remark that there has been an essential fault in the discipline; so many faults were at our first setting out looked over in the hope that they would not be repeated. That a general relaxation by degrees took place, the hope of impunity rendering the seamen less cautious of offending; and now it requires more severity to drive them out of their acquired habits, than would have been necessary to keep them at the beginning in any mode of discipline which might have been at first adopted. People who act without system have always reason to repent it. Set out on a Plan. Two Captains both averse to flogging, will find very different effects from the same quantity of necessary punishment by the one administering it as it becomes expedient at the beginning, and the other by putting it off until dire necessity obliges him to drive his men from habits which his lenity had encouraged. But the fact is that the Officer who begins very strict will prevent the necessity of punishment after the first month, the men knowing the certain consequence will be careful of infringing upon the adopted regulations. It has an excellent effect to have it in your power to relax a little; but to find it necessary to taughten the cords of discipline after a relaxation has a much worse effect than the same degree of strictness at first.

It was a lesson which Moore learned well. He loathed the use of the cat, but he was also well aware of the consequences of the loss of order on board a ship. It was better, he realized, for a commander never to lose control, never to let order slip in the first place. It was a crucial element in the method of command.

As the year began to draw towards its close, the ships of the squadron began to prepare themselves for the Nova Scotia winter. It was not expected that ships would be put at risk by operating during the winter months; instead they were made snug in harbour, with upper masts and all their yards lowered onto the decks. By the middle of December, Moore was confident that the winter could be little worse than some he had experienced in England. But there were days when a biting wind called ‘The Barber’ scythed across the harbour. He described it as a

... hoar frost blown along by a strong NW wind; this Barber has on the water the appearance of a vapour and on these two days was often higher than our own mast heads; nothing that I ever felt can equal the bitter sharpness of it.

Like all those trapped in some form of confinement the men in the ships or garrison at Halifax sought ways of entertaining themselves to keep up morale. A regular routine of theatrical performances was established by the army officers on the station, assisted by the Midshipmen of the squadron. With mixed feelings, Moore recorded in his journal that
‘they play wretchedly’
; but the money raised from the performances was charitably donated to assist the poorer inhabitants of the colony. By February the water in the harbour had frozen over and several adventurous souls went out walking upon it, until an officer of the 20th Regiment fell through into the freezing waters. Crowds of people gathered but were unable to approach the struggling man because of the disintegrating ice that surrounded him. A boat from the
Penelope
frigate was lowered, but could not break through the ice to get close enough. Eventually, a courageous seaman tied a rope around his own waist, and sliding forward upon two oars, crawled towards the desperately struggling officer. Tragically, just before the sailor reached him, the officer became too weak to hold on, and slipped out of sight and reach.

Perhaps it was the effect of the Nova Scotia winter, but as the dark months continued, Moore became increasingly despondent. There were growing rumours about an imminent European war, and he was in Nova Scotia, far from the centre of any possible activity. Furthermore, he was beginning to feel that neither Captain Knox nor Admiral Hughes were officers of sufficient distinction to be able to forward his career prospects. Ironically, his gloom was dispelled somewhat in May, when Captain Sandys of the
Dido
fell ill and formally asked to be superseded. This excited considerable speculation in the squadron, because it might result in a general promotion on the station. After some thought, Hughes appointed Buller, the commander of the sloop
Brisk
to temporary command of the
Dido
, and Curzon to temporary command of the
Brisk
. The letters of recommendation had just been dispatched to the Admiralty when Moore, Curzon and their fellow officers realized that as he was already a Commander, Buller would most likely be promoted soon anyway. If the Admiral waited, two of the officers on the station might benefit from promotion to Post Captain instead of one, and everyone else would advance two ranks. Curzon and Moore were deputed to raise the matter with Hughes who, happily, saw the logic of the case. Unfortunately, the letters had already been dispatched in the Packet for England and, even though Curzon took a boat and caught up with the vessel, a frantic lamplit search of the hold failed to locate the mail. There was nothing that could be done about it.

In due course the promotions went ahead as predicted. Moore had to be satisfied with promotion to First Lieutenant of the
Adamant
. There is no indication that he felt bitter about Curzon’s promotion which, rightly, should have been his. Nevertheless, he was becoming increasingly disenchanted with his senior officers. The problems began when Hughes decided to take the squadron on a cruise around Cape Breton passing through the narrow Gut of Canso. Moore, who was increasingly proving his ability in ship handling, had conned the ship through this passage before. But on this occasion, the Admiral decided that it was more appropriate for the Master to take this responsibility. Moore was furious. The Admiral, Moore confided to the privacy of his journal,
‘... is made up of trifles, and G_d knows I am tired of him’
. There had been another example of Hughes’ concern with trifles a few days earlier. He had complained publicly that only two seamen had been detailed to assist him up the side of the ship when he came on board. So on the next occasion he boarded the ship, Lieutenant William Hope, the Second Lieutenant, rather mischievously detailed six sidesmen to assist him, to Moore’s great delight. However, the relationship between Moore and his senior officers continued to decline, and a series of events soon exacerbated the situation. Returning to Halifax, the Admiral decided to send gangs of seamen ashore to dig for coal for the ship’s galley. In the process of bringing this on board, some forty chaldron of the coal was diverted for use in the Admiral’s own house on shore. At the same time, Captain Knox requisitioned over a dozen chaldron of coals for the use of
‘... an old lady of easy principles to whom he devotes his time at Halifax’.
Moore was outraged to find that in the end, none of the coal was delivered to the Purser for distribution on board the
Adamant
. Furthermore, the Admiral decided that the seamen employed in this task should be rewarded with extra grog, which Moore knew could only lead to disciplinary problems. He went to the Captain and tried to persuade him that the men would be better rewarded with new clothing instead of spirits – but Knox refused to listen. Moore became increasingly frustrated by the senior officers’ attitude, and by the middle of June he was writing,