Ramage And The Drum Beat (36 page)

‘From the Commander-in-Chief,’ he said, handing Ramage a sealed letter addressed to Lieutenant Lord Ramage, formerly of His Majesty’s late cutter, ‘Kathleen’. ‘I’ve signed for it. One’s gone to every captain.’

Ramage read the letter and then wondered if it was identical in wording to the others. Not a mention of the Commodore, either by name or the rôle of the Captain. Nor Captain Troubridge and the Culloden, Captain Frederick and the Blenheim, nor Captain Collingwood and the Excellent.

Dated ‘Victory, Lagos Bay, 16th February, 1797’, it said:

Sir,

No language I am possessed of can convey the high sense I entertain of the exemplary conduct of the flag officers, captains, officers, seamen, marines and soldiers embarked on board every ship of the Squadron I have the honour to command, present at the vigorous and successful attack made upon the Fleet of Spain on the 14th inst. The signal advantage obtained by His Majesty’s arms on that day, is entirely owing to their determined valor [sic] and discipline; and I request you will accept yourself, and give my thanks and approvation to those composing the ship under your command.

I am, Sir,

Your most humble servant,

J Jervis.

Southwick was watching him closely and said, ‘It’s going to cause trouble, sir.’

‘How do you know? Have you read it?’

‘No, sir, not yours; but Captain Martin gave me a sight of his before he read it to this ship’s company. He was pretty angry – reckons it’s an insult to the Commodore.’

‘Well, it mentions no names, so there’s no favouritism.’

‘No, but I heard by a side wind from the Victory that Sir John’s official letter to the Admiralty doesn’t mention captains or ships either.’

This seemed so improbable that Ramage grunted his disbelief.

‘It’s true, sir, the whole Fleet knows by now that Sir John wrote one letter, then Captain Calder read it and, being a spiteful man, said if the Commodore was given any praise it’d encourage others to disobey orders. So Sir John wrote another, mentioning no names at all.’

Calder! Ramage knew at once the story was probably true: it was common knowledge Calder was more than jealous of the Commodore. (And that, he suddenly realized, probably accounted for Calder’s hostility towards him: he probably thought he was one of the Commodore’s protégés.) Surprising that Sir John didn’t see through such spitefulness.

There was a knock on the door and the Commodore himself walked in.

‘Sitting up and taking nourishment, eh?’

‘Precious little nourishment in this, sir,’ Ramage said, waving the letter.

‘Oh well, words on paper count less than actions, Mr Ramage,’ Nelson said banteringly. ‘In the battle the Prince George expended 197 barrels of powder, the Blenheim 180, the Culloden 170 and the Captain 146. The Captain fired more shot than she would have had on board – when we had no more round or grapeshot for the 32-pound carronades my men began using 9-pound roundshot. But when the official letter is published, I doubt if you’ll see the four ships named even once. Yet does it matter, really? Those whose opinions any of us value will soon get to know, and who cares about the rest? Remember, if you don’t fret and expect justice, you’ll probably hoist your flag eventually and live to a ripe old age!’

‘I hope you’ll guarantee that in writing, sir!’

‘I’ve just told you not to expect justice! But seriously, Ramage, it’s more important to forget the profit and loss account in a battle and think of the total effect on the enemy.’

‘I don’t see the difference, sir.’

‘Well, Sir John’s despatch will delight the Press; the politicians will gleefully announce in Parliament that a British Fleet of fifteen sail of the line met twenty-seven Spanish sail of the line, gave them a good trouncing and captured four at no loss to themselves. They won’t reveal – won’t even realize – the most valuable and significant part of the victory.’

‘But–’

‘It’s the men that matter, Ramage, not ships. The finest and largest fighting ship in the world is useless if her captain and crew are frightened of the enemy. The worst and smallest fighting ship is invaluable if her captain and crew believe they will win. Good heavens man, you tackled the San Nicolas with the Kathleen, didn’t you?

‘Remember that, and then think beyond the horizon: this is the first battle the Spaniards have fought against us in this war. In sheer numbers they had nearly twice as many ships and twice as many guns – and that doesn’t take into account most of their ships were larger. They had the weather gage, and they fought knowing they had Cadiz to leeward as a refuge for refitting. Yet they lost – decisively!’

‘And,’ Ramage said, ‘they lost knowing that their admiral was useless, their broadsides counted for very little and that one British seventy-four boarded and captured one of their eighty-fours and then did the same to a 112-gun ship!’

‘Precisely,’ Nelson said. ‘When the rest of the Spanish Navy hears the details of the battle, there’ll hardly be a single man, whether cook’s mate or admiral, who won’t secretly believe deep inside him – and that’s where it matters, that’s where the fighting’s lost or won – that one British ship equals two Spanish. The first battle of the war has given them indisputable evidence.’

‘So from now on,’ Ramage said, ‘the Dons are likely to feel beaten before they set sail!’

‘I hope so!’ Nelson said soberly. ‘I hope every man, from the King and the Minister of Marine downwards, will think twice before sending the Spanish Fleet to sea – and then order it to stay in port. That’ll give us a chance to deal with the French and the Spanish ships a chance to rot.’

The Commodore took an envelope from his pocket, gave it to Ramage, and said he would return later.

Ramage took the envelope but, preoccupied with Nelson’s words, did not open it at once. If the Spanish Fleet had reached Cadiz safely (and they might have done but for the gale which blew them out into the Atlantic, allowing Sir John time to catch them as they struggled back) they might have gone on up to Brest, driven off the British Squadron blockading the French Fleet and let it out, and sailed for England…

But they met a gale, then they met Sir John’s Fleet. And they lost four ships. Yet at least two of those ships, Ramage realized with a start, would not have been captured by the Commodore unless the Kathleen had delayed the Spanish van by ramming the San Nicolas…

It’d taken him all this time to realize that. Southwick had known and the men had known – he recalled Southwick’s message from the Kathleens. But Lieutenant Nicolas Ramage had not known. And yet in a way he had. Not by thinking of it as a complete sequence of events: he hadn’t steered the Kathleen for the San Nicolas with the idea of trying to defeat a Franco-Spanish Armada against England. He’d done it to slow down Cordoba’s van. But, he realized, the greatest archway ever built was made of small bricks and rocks, and each one of them depended on the others, and they all depended on one, the keystone.

He broke the seal of the letter. It was from one of the Admiral’s staff. The Lively frigate was leaving for England with the Commander-in-Chief’s dispatches for the Admiralty, and Lieutenant Ramage was to return in her – as a passenger – if he was well enough to be moved. In view of the fact the frigate was well below her complement, Lieutenant Ramage was to name twenty-five of the best men from among his former ship’s company and send them on board with the Master. For Lieutenant Ramage’s personal information, the letter added, another frigate was leaving the Fleet shortly for Gibraltar and then returning to England with the Marchesa di Volterra, and if Lieutenant Ramage wished to write…

Which meant, he realized with a joy which drove away all thoughts of the pain in his head, he’d be waiting to welcome her to English soil. And if the Spring arrived at St Kew before an Admiralty letter bringing him orders, they’d walk together among the blossoms and the fresh green grass, alone for, the first time without the threat of urgency of war tapping them on the shoulder.

Dates given are for first publication and (for Ramge series) year in which novel is set.

These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

Published by House of Stratus

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