Chapter 36: Mondego Bay

The planning sessions of Admiral Maynard with Sir Hew Dalrymple and other Army officers were indeed plagued by Sir Hew’s indecisiveness, and Asia‘s crew enjoyed a full two weeks at anchor in Gibraltar. Tony made the most of it, spending much time with his family, but he also saw to it that Asia received as much repairs and cleaning as was possible. Bilges were fumed, water casks cleaned and refilled, and the seams between the planks carefully patched.

When a second week of deliberations loomed, Tony and the other captains even had the upper deck and quarter deck guns of their ships landed. Lightened by over 200 tons, the ships were laid carefully on their sides, and work groups attacked the seaweeds and barnacles that had accumulated on the copper bottoms.

Using the ample space available on shore, the sailmaker and his mates aired and patched the two sets of sails, whilst the boatswain and his mates went over the rigging. Once the work on the bottom was finished, new paint was applied whilst crews worked to install the ordnance again. By the end of the deliberations, Asia, Malta and Warspite had had a thorough overhaul.

In exchange for the hard work, the crew was granted shore leave by divisions. Even with a crew of pressed sailors, this was possible in a port such as Gibraltar where the men would have no place to hide or flee if they tried to desert. This made for good spririts which were furthered by the availability of fresh food, clean water, and plentiful wine offerings. Every night, Spanish smugglers entered Gibraltar’s harbour, ignoring the Continental Embargo, and earning good money by supplying the British with fresh produce.

Once, Dougherty with his Daring had to make a run to Lisbon, to rendezvous with Sir Charles Cotton and to get his approval for the draft plans. It was July when the plans were finalised, and a day later, the squadron sailed for England. A convoy of transports had been assembled, to carry Sir Arthur Wellesley’s troops of Copenhagen fame to Central America, to support an uprising against Spain. With Spain on the verge of changing sides, these plans were scrapped, but the Government decided to grasp the opportunity and send all available troops and their leaders to the Peninsula. Sir Arthur Wellesley as most junior lieutenant general, Sir John Moore with his men from the Danish war, also junior, Sir Harry Burrard, and as the most senior officer, Sir Hew Dalrymple.

It fell to Maynard’s squadron to escort the transports with Wellesley’s troops from ports all along the South Coast to Mondego Bay. From what they could glean from despatches, the convoy would be over forty sail strong. Thus, three ships of the line, a frigate and a ship-rigged sloop were adequate for its protection. The three battle line ships under Maynard’s command were well suited as they were exceptionally fast two-deckers, with above-standard ordnance. A frigate would join them in Portsmouth, on detachment from the Channel Fleet.

The winds were accommodating, and the ships’ recently cleaned bottoms made for a good turn of speed. Within a week, the squadron entered the Channel. At this point, the ships split up to pick up their charges at the various ports where they assembled. Once ashore, the semaphore telegraph system along the coast would aid in the coordination. Asia was bound for Plymouth where she would pick up six Navy transports carrying provisions, ordnance and ammunition. Another three specialised transports carried the horses of the dragoons whilst the dragoons themselves sailed in yet another two ships.

Tony had never been to Plymouth before, and he found the Hamoaze crawling with shipping and boats. His charges were easily identified, for the stables on the upper decks of the horse transports made them stand out from the other shipping. After paying a courtesy call to the Port Admiral, Sir Everett Milton, Tony invited the masters of the transports to dinner in a harbour side inn, the Golden Hind. It was important to get an impression of the men and to learn of their state of readiness.

The news were good. Of course, the horses were not yet on board, and neither were the dragoons. However, all the stores, ammunition and ordnance had been stowed away already, and the live freight could follow within a day.

In the next morning, Tony composed a short message to Portsmouth, care of Rear Admiral Maynard, which advised the squadron commander of the state of readiness in Plymouth. The semaphore system provided the answer within a day, advising Tony to weigh anchor on the 17th of July and to unite with the ships under Daring‘s lead coming out of Falmouth. The convoy would then rendezvous at Falmouth Bay.

That left three days, and those were filled with stowing away horses and dragoons and topping off the water casks. Colonel Marston, commanding the dragoon regiment, accepted Tony’s invitation to sail in the Asia, together with three officers of his staff. This afforded Tony with the opportunity to discuss the disembarkation of horses and other issues. Tony already knew that he would be in charge of the initial landing, whilst Jeremy Masters would take possession of the forts of Figueira da Foz.

As specified, the ships weighed anchor on the 17th, already trailing a cloud of stable odours to leeward, and they reached Falmouth in the late afternoon. Dougherty had left harbour already, and the seven ships from Falmouth merged with the eleven from Plymouth whilst Asia and Daring positioned themselves to windward. Dougherty had been able to fill his ranks in Falmouth, and Daring had almost her full complement.

They stayed hove-to over night, and when dawn broke, the mastheads sighted the rest of the convoy. Maynard lost no time at all, and by noon, the assembled convoy was sailing in southwesterly direction, much aided by the prevailing northwesterly wind. Given the limitations of the transports, the horse transporters in particular, the convoy made good progress in the next days. In all but eleven days, they reached a position off Oporto where they met two more ships from Sir Charles’ Squadron. The York and other transports were with them, carrying another five thousand troops and also placing a total of almost one thousand Marines at their disposition.

Two days later, they rendezvoused a sloop, the Dasher, which carried the commanding officer, Sir Arthur Wellesley. They all met for dinner and planning in Maynard’s cabin. Sir Arthur and Tony greeted each other, having met before in London. The dinner was spent exchanging information from the various points of view. Then, over cigars and brandy, Maynard and Wellesley agreed to proceed with the landing immediately. Daring had returned from Figueira da Foz with the news that the fort commanding the mouth of the Mondego River was in the hands of the young gentlemen, patriotic students from Coimbra University. There was no time to lose, and Maynard laid out his plans.

“Sir Arthur, gentlemen, this is how I propose to proceed. Tomorrow morning, Captain Masters will land north of the mouth of the river with two hundred Marines and one hundred sailors to secure the fort. Those young gentlemen are no doubt brave and patriotic, but I shall feel more comfortable with the place in our hands.

“Once the fort is in our hands, Captain Carter will land another eight hundred Marines and secure the beach south of the river. This will be our primary landing site, as the shore is sandy and the troops will have a clear road to Lisbon. I am not happy with the expected strong surf, but that cannot be helped. If we land the troops at the town, they have to ford the river, to march on Lisbon. Once the beach is secure, we shall begin to land the first infantry regiment, whilst our men will erect fortifications and gun placements to secure the landing site.”

“Admiral Maynard, why do you plan to land your Marines first? I assure you that my troops are quite capable,” Wellesley put in.

“No doubt of that, Sir Arthur. Our Marines have trained for this since last year. As Captain Masters and Captain Carter can tell you, they have conducted five temporary landings, and in three cases, they fended off superior French forces before they reembarked. It is simply a matter of using the best prepared troops for the initial beachhead.”

“Of course, Admiral. Forgive my asking,” Wellesley nodded.

“Not at all, Sir Arthur. Any comments, gentlemen?”

Tony cleared his throat and raised his hand.

“Sir, from what I learned from Col. Marston, we should best have a pier, to land the dragoons and their horses. To land horses on the beach and in the current surf could prove a lengthy and tiring proposition.”

“Indeed, Captain! This should be undertaken as soon as we have taken the town and the beach. The horse transports will need to sail upriver where we must erect piers. This will be your most urgent task. I understand that the Dragoons are crucial for Sir Arthur’s planned operations.”

Wellesley nodded. “Very important. I shall need them for reconnoissance.”

After shuffling the maps, Maynard stood.

“Very well, gentlemen. We shall sail for Mondego Bay over night. The landing will commence in the morning. Please, make your preparations. All available boats of the squadron will be needed, but make sure you have spare crews. I imagine this may take a full week.”

“Such is my experience, Admiral Maynard,” Wellesley agreed. “When can we expect Sir Hew Dalrymple and his men?”

“As far as I know, his transport is being affected as we speak,” Maynard answered evasively. “Sir Hew is, hrhm, very careful in his planning.”

“Yes, I would imagine,” Sir Arthur sighed. “All the more reason to get my troops ashore.”

This time, they were in position at dawn, as planned. When the sun rose over the headland, the boats with Jeremy Masters and his first wave of marines were already close to the shore. No shot was fired, and they could see the Portuguese flag flying over the fort. After a half hour, the White Ensign was hoisted side by side with the Portuguese colours, and Tony gave the orders to start the disembarkation.

His trusted sidekick, Major Applethorn, was at Tony’s side when they landed on the beach, after braving the heavy surf. This would be ticklish, Tony conceded. His own launch had taken a lot of water whilst clearing the last cable length to the beach. Fortunately, the Marines were used to this, and they had held muskets and ammunition above their heads, keeping them dry.

Now Applethorn had the men swarm out, taking positions to landward whilst the boats returned. A second a third wave of marines were landed, and now, Applethorn could report that the beach was reasonably secured. In the meantime, Tony had to deal with the problem of bringing the boats through the surf. When the boats returned, they conveyed his order to take only thirty soldiers instead of fifty, and to double the crews. He hoped this would make the final approach through the surf quicker and more secure.

Indeed, when the first of Wellesley’s men landed, the changed loading helped the boats considerably, justifying the delays resulting from the changes. The green faced soldiers were more than happy with the solid ground under their feet, and their officers had them march inland immediately, to form a forward post.

Two of the boats had also brought a load of specialists, carpenters and boatswain’s mates, from the ships. These men set to work immediately, moving to the south where the beach was lined by a forest of pines and other conifers. The sounds of saws and axes could be heard soon, and Tony commanded two hundred of the Marines to take off the uniform coats and to carry the fresh logs to the river arm east of the beach.

More and more boat loads of soldiers landed, almost one thousand by noon, whilst the work parties toiled to assemble the material for a wooden pier. By early afternoon, enough logs were cut and the tired work party began the construction. Saws and hammers again sounded over the beach.

It was two hours into the afternoon when the first serious accident happened. One of the boats approaching the beach tilted heavily to port, causing the oars on that side to get caught under water. Under this leverage, the boat turned to port and the next heavy roller caught it sideways. The cutter capsized immediately, and the crew and soldiers landed in the strong surf. The boat next to it tried to render assistance, but the struggling soldiers, in their panic, frantically tried to climb aboard. In the end, the other longboat capsized, too, albeit a little closer to the beach.

Alerted to the mishap, Tony ran for the beach, tearing off his coat and shoes. Calling for others to help, he waded into the water. Other soldiers and sailors followed, mostly from the boats already landed. Some smart boatswain’s mate brought a line, and the helpers were able to secure each other. With the violent waves breaking over them, they were able to help soldiers to their feet. The soldiers were soaked and loaded down with their boots, muskets and provisions, but once on their feet again and steadied by helping hands, they were able to make it to the shore, sputtering and wheezing.

Not all were that lucky. Using boat hooks, the men pulled twelve dead from the water, ten soldiers and two crew of the Warspite. Graves were dug hastily, and in an improvised ceremony, the men were buried. In the meantime, the boats continued to ferry soldiers to the beach, and by late afternoon, two complete infantry regiments were ashore. The surf abated a little in the evening, and the tired crews continued their toil until darkness fell. Two more boats had capsized, in spite of all precautions, bringing the total tally to twenty-seven drowned.

Fortunately, work on the wooden pier had progressed, and when darkness finally fell, the exhausted carpenters declared the pier ready for use.

It was dark, when the last boat took Tony back to the Asia where he spent another hour drafting a report of the first day. Her was so tired he first refused the food Grimes put on his table. His foot hurt again, for the first time in weeks, and he felt miserable over the casualties they had suffered. At least, a jug of cold mint tea found his approval - a half gallon - and he emptied it thirstily.

When Jonathan Wilkes knocked, Tony was severely tempted to refuse him entry, but manners won over impulse. Jonathan brought with him a bottle of Jerez Brandy, and after a glass or two, Tony found his balance again. He was even able to eat some of the cold cuts Grimes had served him, and whilst eating, he developed an appetite and emptied the plate.