Captain Walker

“ Captain Walker was astonished. “She thinks us an armed enemy,” said he. “Fire a gun, men, and cut the mizzen-mast in two, so that it falls overboard. That will show the stranger that we’re a friend in distress.”
[Pg 209] His orders were immediately obeyed and the mast came ripping and tearing over the side. A gun also roared, and the stranger, now convinced that the ship was a friend, and not a foe, came bearing down upon the crippled Duke William, to the rescue.
“She’s one of our own convoy!” shouted a seaman, waving his hand joyfully. And such she proved to be. ”

“ In the ensuing summer, Captain Walker obtained the command of the Tartar frigate, and was ordered to convoy a fleet of merchantmen to the Jamaica station, where he received a commission from the Admiralty, appointing him to the Vanguard, 74. On the renewal of hostilities in 1803, we find him employed in the blockade of St. Domingo. While on that service, in company with a squadron, under the orders of Captain Loring, he captured the Creole frigate, of 44 guns, having on board the French General Morgan and 530 troops, bound to Port-au-Prince ”

“ Alas for gallant Captain Walker! Although the Englishmen came near the two French men-of-war, they hung about without firing a shot; allowed the Frenchmen to sail on unmolested, and thus carry their astonishingly rich treasure into Brest, amid wild and enthusiastic cheering of their crews, and groans of disappointment from the English prisoners.
Yet these same prisoners had little cause to complain of their treatment when they arrived at Brest; for they were landed at once, and the captain and officers were liberated on parole. ”

“ Calling a seaman, Walker sent him aloft, with orders to cry "A sail!" and then, sending for the drummer, he bade him beat to quarters.
Sudden animation ran through the ship. The men paused in their labour, looking round the horizon; the officers ran on deck, and closed round the captain: "Sir, do you think of engaging?" asked one. "Yes, sir," replied Walker, in a low voice. "When I see an enemy so near—your own fears, which attack the hearts of all my other men. ”

“ The situation of the French troops was the most deplorable it is possible to imagine; they were literally reduced to skeletons, having long subsisted on horse-flesh. To screen them from the threatened vengeance of the black General, Dessalines, Captain Walker received them on board his ship, and landed them in safety at Cape Nichola Mole ”

“ Could it not have been the Duke, after all? “Vain thought,” cried bold Walker, aloud. “Our bravest and best ship has gone to the bottom.”
This terrible incident had such an effect upon the seamen of the King George that Captain Walker called the officers aside into the companionway, and there made them a speech.
[Pg 233] “My brave men,” said he, “you must keep up an air of cheerfulness before these fellows of ours, for, otherwise they will be backward in fighting, and will not have the courage which we desire. Go among them and show no sign that you are lacking in pleasantry.” ”

“ A sad fate, indeed, for such a gallant craft.
Captain Walker was not long idle, for he soon took charge of a brigantine trading to the Baltic Sea, in spite of the fact that war had been declared with France, and the privateers and gun-boats of that nation hovered in his path, eager and anxious to secure some English merchant vessel, as a prize.
“I see that these fellows mean to catch me, if they can,” said the keen-witted mariner. ”

“ Ten minutes later a cry arose from a sailor aboard the Boscawen:
“Look, Captain, she’s sinking!”
Sure enough, the accurate fire from the British privateer had so riddled the hull of the Frenchman, that she fast filled with water, and sank, stern first, her men escaping in their small boats.
“That’s one less, anyway,” mused Captain Walker.
The remaining four continued the fight, but the little privateer was too much for them. Around and around she veered, broadsiding with astonishing accuracy, and knocking the spars about like a foot-ball team kicking a ball. “Pow! Pow!” ”

“ You have wronged me deeply, by aiding this wretched villain, your captain, to abduct me. I despise, loathe him; and, sooner than become his wife, I would permit my brother to die as he is, for I know that he would curse me were I to save him at such a sacrifice. It will be but death, and I shall suffer very little, for my brother’s pure soul will scarce have taken its flight, ere mine will follow!”
“Miss Hayward!”
“Silence, Captain Walker. Soldiers, you have human hearts, and this man has not. I appeal to you. Save me! ”

“ The timidity of Captain Pillar, who saved seventy men of the Formidable by incomparable seamanship and a daring manœuvre in a furious gale, or of Captain Walker of the transport Mercian, an unarmed vessel, crowded with troops, who kept on his way, undeterred by the storm of shells from the enemy, though his decks were full of dead and wounded. ”

“ It was a relief to hear the human voice once more. It broke the worst spell I was ever bound by. As he came out on the branch to get into the canoe it gave way, and he fell into the water up to his chin. Then the boat pole broke, so that when we got back to the padi it was obvious that "the dark" was coming "at one stride," and I suggested that, as we had two miles to walk and a river to cross at night, and we should certainly be very late for dinner; Mr. Low might become uneasy about us, as we were both strangers and unable to speak the language; but Captain Walker thought differently. ”

“ Walker's death as murder. All soldiers killed when no armed enemy is near is murder, and the guilty ones are treated as murderers.
Thus this great Captain has suddenly met his death, and full too soon to gather the honors ripe for the more mature years of soldiers of daring and ambition. In our continued and varied experience in the army it has never been our fortune to meet a grander and nobler soldier than Capt. Walker. He was brave, faithful and obedient to his superior in rank and kind to his men. ”

“ And so he went on board the Fleuron to surrender his sword and his privateer commission. The French captain was not as polite as he expected: "How dare you, sir," he asked, in excellent English, "in so small a ship, fire against a force like me?"
"Sir," replied Walker, "if you will look at my commission you will find I had as good a right to fight as you; and if my force had not been so inferior to yours I had shown you more civil treatment on board my ship"—which was a very good specimen of English politeness.
"How many men of yours have I killed?" demanded the Frenchman. ”

“ When about twelve miles from Point Isabel he encountered a body of one hundred and fifty lancers, whom he charged and pursued nearly three miles; but as their horses were fresh, and his much jaded, he was unable to overtake them. Fears were now entertained for the safety of Captain Walker, but all alarm was banished by his subsequent reappearance. He brought the information that the firing of the batteries at Matamoras had recommenced on the morning of the 4th, but was kept up only at long intervals, and without producing any damage. ”

“ Captain Walker was reinstated and died a rear-admiral. [158] 243He commanded the Monmouth, 64, in the Dutch action under Duncan and behaved with uncommon bravery. Hungerford was a very good officer and seaman and an indefatigable first lieutenant. In watching, quartering, stationing, and regulating the ship’s company in every respect he showed great ability. He was a great mimic, and very droll in other respects. I remember at Port Royal, when he was ill, his pretending to be dumb and mad, and carrying on the joke for a whole day on purpose to annoy the surgeon. ”

“ After the convention of Cintra, Lieutenant Walker returned home from the river Tagus in command of a Russian sloop of war, belonging to the squadron surrendered by Vice-Admiral Siniavin. He was subsequently appointed to the Barfleur 98, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral (now Sir Charles) Tyler, and Colossus 74, Captain Thomas Alexander, which latter ship was attached to the squadron under Sir Richard G. Keats, employed in the defence of Cadiz. ”

“ The Mars being repurchased, the two vessels were again fitted out for a cruise, the very cautious captain of the Boscawen being replaced by Walker's first lieutenant, who, however, was placed in command of the Mars. Walker selected the Boscawen as his own command, as being the finer vessel and the better sailer; she was a French-built ship, a prize in the last war, mounting 28 nine-pounders. Walker increased her armament to 30 guns, twelve and nine-pounders, and shipped a crew of 314 men. Thus she was, as the writer says, "perhaps the most complete privateer ever sent from England" ”

“ They were engaged nearly an hour, and the bravery displayed by Walker, Lewis, and their men, was worthy of general admiration, and all honor.
Poor Walker! a ball struck him in the left shoulder, passed over his heart, and came out in his right vest pocket!
Thus fell the gallant leader of one of the most formidable war parties, of its numbers, known to history. Walker was a humane, impulsive man; a warm friend, a brave, gallant soldier. His dying words were directed to Capt. Lewis—to keep the town, and drive back the enemy; and that the chivalrous Captain did so, was well proven. ”

“ She's fired!" exclaimed both the aviators, as, in the very middle of a dangerous nose dive they saw what had transpired, and followed for an instant, even in that downward dive, the wake of the deadly torpedo.
Fortunately, at that very moment the captain of the Galicia, the big four-funnelled boat, having had his attention attracted to the spot by the nose-dive of the warplane, saw the periscope of the enemy's submarine, and, starboarding his helm, swung the huge vessel just sufficiently to port for the first torpedo to miss his stern by a few feet. ”

“ Shortly after, he was appointed to a gunboat intended to act against the mutineers at the Nore; and, when that was no longer wanted, as acting-captain of the Garland, to convoy the Baltic trade as far as Elsinore. Returning from that service, he was appointed, still as acting-captain, to the Monmouth, which he commanded in the battle of Camperdown, on 11 Oct. As they were bearing down on the enemy, Walker turned the hands up and addressed them: ‘My lads, you see your enemy ”

“ The squadron then hove-to, and Captain Downie, accompanied by the master, went in his gig to reconnoitre the enemy’s position. At the expiration of half an hour, the boat having returned, the signal was immediately made to ‘bear up and sail large;’ the top-sails of the Confiance were hoisted, and top-gallant-sails set: under this sail, with the jib and spanker, she went into action; hauling close round Cumberland Head, on the larboard tack.
“The Linnet, supported by the Chubb, was directed to attack the enemy’s brig, the Eagle (the van and weathermost of his line) ”

“ At this moment upon the scene arrived the United States frigate Wabash and Hiram Paulding, who landed a force of three hundred and fifty blue-jackets with howitzers, and turned the guns of his frigate upon the camp of the President of Nicaragua. Captain Engel, who presented the terms of surrender to Walker, said to him: "General, I am sorry to see you here. A man like you is worthy to command better men." ”

“ Captain Cameron, after striking the colours in the evacuated fort, wrapped them round one of his arms, which had been grazed by a musket-ball, and was perceived by a French officer to be standing on the beach with his boat-keeper, waiting the return of the crew who had straggled. The officer instantly snatched a musket from one of his soldiers, who was skulking in the bushes, and shot the gallant captain dead on the spot. ”

“ There was great excitement all over the ship. In the height of the quarrel, Stephen Walker called on Captain J. and offered to find the bread [Pg 87] if the captain would send a man with him to make search. The first mate was directed to accompany him, and in a few minutes the bread was found in the forecastle among the sailors, and the excitement was soon quieted. The captain transferred his wrath from the passengers to the sailors, and ordered the cooks not to serve any more soft-tack to them until they should inform against the thief, which they will be in no haste to do. ”

“ Walker shrugged his shoulders.
"Off with you then!" said he. "When the mail-boat comes you can get back to Sierra Leone, for I'll have no servant who deserts me when I need him most. I suppose this is all mystery to you, or has the Doctor told you, Captain Meldrum?"
"I showed Captain Meldrum the cooperage, but I did not tell him anything," said Dr. Severall. "You're looking bad, Walker," he added, glancing at his companion. "You have a strong touch coming on you." ”

“ Without waiting for the Mars, Walker put to sea on April 19th, 1745, and a month later fell in with the privateer Sheerness, Captain Parnell, and kept company during the night. At daybreak, being then fifty miles west of the Lizard, they sighted eight vessels, evidently in company, and gave chase. The Boscawen left the other astern, and about nine o'clock [Pg 166] the enemy formed line, and were soon made out to be armed vessels, awaiting attack. ”

“ In Shanghai, to the memory of the filibuster, there are to-day two temples in his honor.
Joaquin Miller, the poet, miner, and soldier, who but recently was a picturesque figure on the hotel porch at Saratoga Springs, was one of the young Californians who was “out with Walker,” and who later in his career by his verse helped to preserve the name of his beloved commander. I. C. Jamison, living to-day in Guthrie, Oklahoma, was a captain under Walker. When war again came, as it did within four months, these were the men who made Walker President of Nicaragua. ”