‘The mischief is incalculable. Therefore my dispositions are this: the fleet will deploy in the central Mediterranean between Sardinia and Tunis, which will cover the route eastwards yet be available if they be sighted to the west. My precious frigates—’ his twisted smile was at Kydd ‘—will cover the inshore runs to the north of Africa and the south of Sardinia, the final remaining to look into the eastern passage by Italy.’
The decision made, Nelson’s features eased. ‘But, gentlemen, I do account this the greatest news this age. After two years the French are finally out. In a short while I shall have the ineffable happiness of meeting Monsieur Villeneuve on the open sea where we shall put an end to this nonsense.’
Growls of agreement rose pugnaciously about the table.
‘So. Will history later celebrate the battle of Santo Pietro – or is it to be the famous battle of Minorca?’
Chapter 9
‘So kind in you, old chap,’ Colonel Crawford said, easing into the plush leather chair, one of a pair discreetly off to the side in the reception room at Boodles.
‘How are you, Charles?’ Captain Boyd took the other, his expression of concern sincere. His wife’s brother had just returned from India for his health.
‘As to be expected,’ Crawford said. ‘I’m to thank you for seeing me with such alacrity, Edward.’
‘Not at all. Er, how may I be of help? Anything I can do, old fellow . . .’
The colonel gave a tight smile. ‘I’m new come to England, as you know, and I confess myself aghast at what I’m hearing of our friend Boney. Is it at all as dire a situation as it’s painted to be or . . . ?’
‘Pick up a newspaper, old fellow, it’s all there in as much detail as you’d like,’ Boyd said, nodding politely to the club waiter who had brought the sherry.
‘Come, come, Edward, that won’t do – it won’t do at all! You’ll grant I’m an officer of some distinction yet I find myself without any clear idea of the present danger. In Calcutta it’s quite a different story we’re hearing, so, dear fellow, from your eminence do tell me truly what we’re facing – no flam, the unvarnished truth, and I’d be much obliged to you.’
‘The truth?’ Boyd was flag-captain to the first lord of the Admiralty and as such privy to confidential strategy at the highest level. Yet his sister’s husband could not be denied and it were better he heard it from him at the first hand than rumours at Horse Guards.
‘Very well. Please forgive if I labour the point in regard to some matters – I find the Army has a whimsical notion at times of a sea battlefield.’
‘Please do. Fire a broadside of ’em, should you wish.’
Boyd leaned forward. ‘And this for your ears alone, my friend.’
‘I understand.’
‘Then this is your situation. Napoleon Bonaparte does not really desire to invade England.’
‘Oh?’ said Crawford, in surprise.
‘His eyes are set much higher than these few islands. His ambitions are for a world empire, the seizing of far territories, the planting of colonies and so forth. It so happens that we stand in his way in this, barring the seas which are the highway to empire.
‘He’s impatient to be done with us, sweep us aside and, with the power of an emperor, he’s devoted the nation’s resources to the invasion of England, which he’s determined upon. The Austrians have concluded a species of peace with him – there’ll be no hostilities on the Rhine to distract him from his purpose, and while the Third Coalition drags its feet he need not fear Russia or Sweden either. Now is the time. Depend upon it, Charles, he cannot maintain his troops and equipment at readiness for ever – he must invade in this season or not at all.’
‘So why does he not do so?’ Crawford asked.
‘Because if he tried, his horde would be massacred by our battleships.’
‘And if they protect their invasion flotilla with their own in sufficient numbers?’
‘Ah. There you have it. Our instinct has always been to blockade – to lay siege to their ports. Bonaparte’s strategy must be to raise it so that all his ships-of-the-line may combine together in numbers over which we cannot prevail. And with the Spanish come in on his side he may count on no less than a hundred sail-of-the-line to this end,’ he added.
‘This is successful?’
‘We are sore pressed, that’s the very real truth, Charles. Our ships keep the seas constantly and wear out yet we have not only this blockade but must protect our interests in all the rest of the world.’
‘Can you tell me something of the odds at all?’
‘In a general sense only. The number of ships available to the commander of a squadron does vary with their readiness, for there will always be numbers away watering, victualling and repairing. I will tell you the gist of it.
‘Around France, in their best ports, lie their battle-fleets. The main ones are at Brest under Admiral Ganteaume and in Rochefort under Missiessy, with now Ferrol and Cadiz to be added and, of course, the biggest being Toulon with Villeneuve. There are others lying in Cherbourg, Cartagena and so forth.
‘Now if you consider the hostile coastline that we must blockade, then it is from Toulon in the Mediterranean in an unbroken line of some three thousand miles around Spain, France and then in the Channel to the Netherlands. At the moment we’re containing them – Nelson off Toulon for the entire Mediterranean, Orde at Cadiz, Calder at Ferrol and Cornwallis at Brest, each with about a dozen of-the-line and, of course, Keith with the Downs Squadron to watch the invasion flotilla itself.
‘If Villeneuve sorties, joins with the Spaniards at Cadiz and Ferrol, then the French at Rochefort, and finally combines with the Brest squadron, we are quite overwhelmed. We know this, which is why we place our battle squadrons outside these ports in blockade to stop them.
‘But this is too simple. Napoleon is always to be trusted . . . to surprise and terrify. He knows we will crush his battle-fleet before it has time to come together. He will want therefore to deceive us, send us after a false scent and thereby split our forces.’
‘Do we – have we intelligence as will reveal Bonaparte’s intentions?’
‘Yes. In fact we do.’
‘May I be allowed—’
‘Our good fortune has been to intercept the very orders Napoleon dispatched to Ganteaume in Brest, detailing his strategic intent and plans for the invasion itself.’
‘Good God!’
‘Do you wish to know what was contained in them?’
‘Of course!’
‘Then I will tell you. This is how England is to be invaded. Villeneuve sails from Toulon with a powerful force including soldiers. He leaves the Mediterranean, brushing aside Orde’s squadron outside Cadiz and collects the battleships waiting there.
‘Instead of making a dash for Brest and the Channel, Napoleon seeks to outfox us. He tells Villeneuve to sail right across the Atlantic – to Surinam. There he lands his troops and joins with Missiessy, who has come from Rochefort with his own potent forces, which are then used to cause mayhem in the Caribbean.
‘A smaller force sails from Toulon, this time to strike south after Gibraltar, taking St Helena and reinforcing Senegal before attacking our young settlements on the African coast and grievously distracting us. That’s not all – when Villeneuve and Missiessy return they release the Brest fleet and together they converge on Boulogne to protect the invasion flotilla as it finally sails – three thousand vessels conveying several hundred thousand first-class troops, horses and guns.’
‘And our own forces? What do they—’
‘Again, Bonaparte is far from lacking in imagination. You see, before this deadly scene is acted out, Ganteaume in Brest has already sailed – he begins to put ashore eighteen thousand men in Lough Swilly in the north of Ireland, to be reinforced by twenty-five thousand Dutch and French from the Netherlands. These are ordered to march directly on Dublin, an intolerable strategic situation for us that demands we send our fleets to prevent it – but we are too late. Having landed his men Ganteaume is even now sailing to join Villeneuve and Missiessy in the grand finale, a total of nearly fifty battleships. And when you reflect that even Admiral Nelson at this moment commands no more than eleven of-the-line and then only if all are present . . .’