Major Alexander Gillespie

“ Captain Harvey's reply was, "that he regretted to distress the wretched; but what he now did was merely to shew the enemy and all Europe, that the French could not protect their people within their own sight, much less dare the invasion of England!" He afterwards, in his own barge, being seconded by some other boats, brought off the tender of Admiral Conflans, from a small bay close to the harbour of Brest, within sight of their fleet, under a prodigious cannonade of guns and mortars, and an extensive line of musquetry. This brave man felt for the dignity of his country, and he maintained it. ”

“ As such, indeed, they have continued to be; but experience has shewn, that Field Officers are the very life of discipline, and that if so respectable an addition were unalienated from the active members of the Corps, this principle would be still more animated.—A man who suppresses his feelings upon any occasion that demands them, is unworthy of the name.—How degrading is the thought, that the Marine Veteran, who ascends by the rules of slow gradation, can never reach the summit of his profession! God forbid that any reform should affect the living. ”

“ Their virtues transcended to every subordinate rank, and animated all.
The British uniform was every where, even in the individual, a rallying point, and my Countrymen and my Corps, through this unrivalled defence, lay claim to the pre-eminent glory of having fixed a barrier to the boundless ambition of Buonaparte, and of republican France. Egypt was conquered at Acre, and India preserved. The Turks, aroused by the daring examples of a few British Seamen and Marines, performed feats of enthusiastic valour, and the French were driven, with immense slaughter, from every hold. ”

“ Their knowledge of gunnery, acquired by experience in a long siege, and their ambition to gain honor to their corps and themselves, induced them to live in the batteries, and the little sleep which they enjoyed, was by their cannon. Such zealous perseverance impaired the healths of this brave detachment, and if the place had not been relieved by other troops, Lieutenant Lawrence and his faithful companions must have fallen victims to incessant toil. ”

“ Many were the occasions that distinguished the Naval and Military Forces of his Majesty during the present active year, which, from their number, cannot fall within my detail. Both Corps seemed animated with a spirit of unsurpassed zeal and enterprize, which the Marine of France, her Commerce, and her coasts most bitterly felt. This era exhibited many early specimens of the courage and talents of some individuals, whose merits and great abilities very justly placed them in high commands during the subsequent stages of their lives, and whose names can never be mentioned but with encomium. ”

“ With talents filled for an honorable discharge of the most important trusts; early trained in the hardy employs of a profession which has long been the prop of the British Empire; and a Prince of the greatest Realm on earth, your Royal Highness has nobly foregone all those pre-eminent claims, and with a manly humility, you have associated yourself, in arms, with the Volunteers of your Country. ”

“ Early in this year was fought the memorable action between the Monmouth and Foudroyant, which must ever be considered as one of the most distinguished events upon our Naval Annals. Monsieur De Quesne, with a nobleness that did him the highest honour, in delivering his sword to Lieutenant Carkett, the representative of the gallant Captain Gardiner who fell, was not ashamed to avow that he had surrendered only to the force of the Monmouth. The great inequality in this contest confers a lasting credit upon the meanest individual who bore a part in it. ”

“ This leads me to the reflection, that, however brave and intrepid the character of a British Seaman is, still his valour becomes palsied the moment it is exerted in a wrong cause. Such indeed must ever be the consequence of such ill aimed combinations. The wretch who is capable of subverting his country's interests cares but little for those of his friends. In principle a villain, he never fails being the first to desert and betray the unfortunate men, who are the dupes of his counsels, particularly when his own life appears in danger. ”

“ After the most shocking barbarities exercised upon Captain Pigot, the Officers, Marines, and loyal Seamen, who were unsuspicious of their hellish plot, they carried the ship into the Spanish port of La Guira, whose Governor most ingloriously refused to give her up.
An avenging power, in numberless examples, too striking to be overlooked, has followed those traitorous murderers, and has vindicated the justice of his injured laws. Contempt embittered by remorse have been the inseparable companions of all those guilty individuals. ”

“ It is a conscious dignity which will accompany him into society, when his Country no longer wants his services; would diffuse its loyal influence amongst the private walks of life, and reanimate the possessor to become a ready Volunteer under every public emergency. If disabled by years, he may, perhaps, have an offspring, whom he cheerfully sends forth to battle, not the obdurate and callous victims to injured laws, not the mercenary and wretched auxiliaries of necessitous expedient, but the manly and independent assertors of Britain's rights and freedom. ”

“ It was reserved for a recent and a more enlightened era to extend also to the Marine, a privilege which must constitute the sweetest joy of every good man—that of allotting a part of his pay, when embarked, and distant from his home, for the constant support of a wife and family otherwise doomed to want, an aged parent weighed down by poverty and years, or a dependant friend struggling hard against adversity. ”

“ Never since our existence before, have the talents of a Naval Officer been exerted on so wide a field.
[286]
Untrained to the courtly habits of life, uninstructed in the arts of diplomacy, the world usually attaches to him no embellishments of character, but professional bravery, uncorruptible zeal, impressive unadorned manners. The Nation, however, could not have had a more dignified representative, a cooler agent, or a more indefatigable servant than Lord Hood upon so trying an occasion, and amidst such mingled and arduous duties. ”

“ Whether it shall be your lot to wave your banner or your flag in combat against the enemies of our land, may victory and success ever follow in your train, and may your Royal Highness enjoy the honorary recompence of a Brave Nation, annexed to its habitual respect for your public virtue, and your private worth! ”

“ It is enough to say, that a body of Soldiers, ultimately formidable, with their arms and other necessaries, traversed a path, in many places hitherto untrodden by human steps, of upwards 170 miles, interspersed with thickets, precipices, and swamps, and often obliged to carry, on their shoulders, the numerous batteaux attached to their little Army. Such were their sufferings, that many returned, but those, whom constancy supported in following their Chief up to the walls of Quebec, merit the highest encomiums which can be rendered to man for undaunted perseverance and steady fidelity. ”

“ CHAP. XLIV. Twenty thousand Marines formed the establishment of 1799.
An event truly brilliant in itself, and most important in its results, claim a merited precedence in my narrative of the transactions of this year. I mean, the noble defence of St. Jean d'Acre, in the land of Palestine. Yielding to the habitual sentiments of my mind, I am always led to exult in any occasion, upon which the energies of the Soldier, but more especially of my corps, have been conducive to the protection, or the aggrandisement of commerce. ”

“ Amidst the awful conflagration, and an incessant discharge from the rebels, Captain Reynolds retained his intrinsic coolness. After each had consulted his own safety, and no hope remained of stifling the flames, he continued alone, alternately took off his coat, waistcoat, and stock, placed them on the gangway, and committed himself to the deep. Heaven interposed at this perilous moment, and preserved a life, which was subsequently marked by the most gallant deeds, and is still prolonged to justify the goodness of Providence, by the display of every virtue that can adorn human nature. ”

“ It is to the faithful Marine Soldier who knows not the meaning of desertion, that the nation, under such sudden emergencies, is often obliged to have recourse, in equipping as well as manning her fleets; for it is not in human nature to place confidence in that man who has been constrained to serve, and who recognises not either a voluntary will, or a sacred obligation to discharge his allotted duties.
It has always been remarked, that the corps of Marines recruit more successfully in every part of our isles, where their nature is ascertained, than any other under his Majesty. ”

“ A kind of forlorn detachment from France, which escaped all our cruizers, achieved the recovery of Guadaloupe, after a series of hardy contests, in which the Marines bore a part—Lieutenant John Mercer, of my corps, was wounded in one of them, and became a victim to fever, lamented by his friends, and his corps. Fruitless would have been all the enemy's efforts, if fascinating liberty had not erected her standard, whither numbers repaired, in the sanguine hope of sharing in her gifts. ”

“ The port of Cadiz was afterwards most effectually blockaded, and was twice bombarded, in one of which Captain John Oldfield, of Marines, was wounded.
[315]
No war, in which England was ever engaged, has produced so many high examples of subordinate enterprize, as that of which I treat. Like the gymnastick games, it is a spirit which should always be kept up, and although similar to petty skirmishing, it is as a drop in the bucket in the scale of importance, it still has a tendency to animate an emulous zeal, and the love of glory. ”

“ Driven from the shores where they sanguinely anticipated nothing but recompence and applause, many of those wretched outcasts, by retracing their steps towards their native land, have met a certain and disgraceful doom, others unable to bear the stings of a wounded conscience, and abhorring existence, have precipitated their own dissolution, while the remains of those unhappy wanderers still throw a wishful eye from, their lurking spots, back on the soil which gave them birth, but where a vigilant Police, that vicegerent of heaven's purposes, is ever awake to their crimes. ”

“ Vice Admiral Cornwallis returns his sincere thanks to the Captains, Officers, Seamen, and Marines of the Fleet under his orders, for their steady and gallant conduct in the presence of the French Fleet yesterday; which firmness, he has no doubt, deterred the enemy from making a more serious attack. It would give the Vice Admiral pleasure to put the whole of their exertions in effect by meeting a more equal force, when the Country would receive advantage, as it now does honour, from the spirit so truly manifested by its brave men. ”

“ With one uniform character for punctuality in dealing, to an extent and nicety rarely known but in our own land, these moral virtues, which can alone give joy to the wealthy, are absorbed in the Hollander by an unceasing pursuit of the same object. The bonds of nature, and all the ties of honour which unite nation to nation, are sacrificed by him to the call of self-interest. ”

“ This year was remarkable by an increase of pay to his Majesty's subaltern Officers, the abolition of arrears to them, to Captains of the Army, as well as Marines, besides a very handsome addition to the wages of Seamen, and to inferiors in all the other departments of our military forces. That liberal allowance of provisions which was also granted to the Sailors and Marines of the fleet, has rendered their situations truly enviable, as upon a general aggregate they are more than they can possibly consume. ”

“ Feeble is my panegyric of the unsurpassed heroism, the decisive resources, the conciliating address, and bold expedients of Sir Sidney Smith, during 25 hours of almost constant action. They have been but rarely equalled, and will never be outdone. He was well seconded by his able coadjutor Sir John Douglas, who combines a natural perseverance of character with the most manly judgment. ”