CHAPTER I. |
PAGE |
| First Trip to Sea—Shipmates—Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, Bart, K.B. | 1 |
CHAPTER II. |
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| Channel Cruising—Boat Expeditions—Anecdote of a Gallant Mid—Ditto of Two Dandy Guardsmen—Expedition to Ferrol—Sir James Pulteney, Sir Edward Pellew and the Donkey—The Unlucky Cruise | 7 |
CHAPTER III. |
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| Cruise off Cadiz—Proceed up the Mediterranean to Egypt after a French Squadron under Rear-Admiral Ganteaume, 1801 | 16 |
CHAPTER IV. |
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| From the Peace of Amiens (1802) until the Commencement of the Second Gallic War—Gambling | 26 |
CHAPTER V. |
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| From the Commencement of Second Gallic War until the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805; with Anecdotes | 30 |
CHAPTER VI. |
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| The Battle of Trafalgar, and Extracts from the Log of His Majesty’s Ship Neptune, on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd October, 1805 | 43 |
CHAPTER VII. |
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| Joined the Melpomene—Sent up the Mediterranean—Tremendous Weather, with Thunder, Lightning, and Water-spouts—Ship loses her Rudder and Main-topmast—Proceed to Malta | 57 |
CHAPTER VIII. |
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| Siege of Gaeta by the French—Boat Affairs—My Capture—Leghorn | 62 |
CHAPTER IX. |
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| Malta—Dreadful Accident by the Explosion of a Magazine in the Town, on the Bermola side—Nearly get into a Scrape about Breaking Quarantine—Kind Answer of the gallant Admiral Sir Sidney Smith to the Complaint—Rejoin the Melpomene—Mutiny in Fribourg’s Regiment—Cruise in the Adriatic | 73 |
CHAPTER X. |
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| North American Station, from 1808 to 1811—Bermuda—Anecdote—Death of Captain Conn | 87 |
CHAPTER XI. |
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| Lisbon—Trip to the Army of Lord Wellington—Montemor Novo, O’Rodondo, Villa Vicosa, Elvas, Fort le Lippe | 101 |
CHAPTER XII. |
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| Lisbon, Cintra, Mafra, etc., 1811, 1812—Second Trip to the Army—Taking of Badajoz | 113 |
CHAPTER XIII. |
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| Cadiz, Minorca, Majorca, Alicant, Carthagena, Algiers, Oran, Altea Bay—Drive a French Privateer on Shore near Denia | 124 |
CHAPTER XIV. |
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| Siege of the Col de Balaguer—A Reconnoitering Party—Raising of the Siege of Tarragona—Lieutenant-General Sir John and Lady Murray—Rear-Admiral Benjamin Hallowell—Viscount and Viscountess Mahon—Palermo, Veniros; Upset in a Boat—Valencia—Holland | 136 |
CHAPTER XV. |
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| 1814—Sent to Bermuda—Operations in the Chesapeake—The River Patuxent—Expedition to Washington—Town of Rappahannock—River Rappahannock—Commodore Robert Barrie, etc. | 150 |
CHAPTER XVI. |
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| Operations in South Carolina—Capture of Cumberland Island and the Fort of Point-à-Petre—An Affair with the American Riflemen in the Woods—An Abattis—Anecdotes of the 2nd West India Regiment—A Rattlesnake—Capture of the Town of St. Mary’s—Destruction of the Forts and Barracks—Nassau, New Providence—Compliment to the Royal Marines—Return Home | 173 |
About This Book
A naval officer recounts his career from a boy midshipman through service during the wars of the early nineteenth century, providing a mix of memoir, shipboard routine, and combat recollection. The account moves between daily life aboard ships—discipline, camaraderie, pranks, and duties—and episodes of cruising, boat expeditions, and naval actions, supplemented by personal anecdotes about commanders and shipmates and reflections on the hardships and small incidents that shaped life at sea between 1799 and 1815.