The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald, Vol. II

I have the honour to be, &c.,F. A. Hastings.XXVII Karteria, Petala, Dec. 2nd, 1827.

My Lord,

I had the honour to write to you from Cape Papas, informing you that I had come out of the Gulf of Lepanto, and was waiting to embark the troops of General Church. I now beg leave to acquaint you that I arrived at Dragomestre the day before yesterday with the three prizes, which have been serving as transports to General Church's army for six weeks. We brought over six hundred soldiers, artillery, horses, &c.; and I am now returning to Cape Papas to embark a second division. I heard of the gunboat Helvetia, M. Fabricius, being at Kataculo, and I sent immediately to order him to join me, which he did, and is now at Cape Papas. While at Kataculo, the gunboat was attacked by a Turkish brig of twenty-four guns. M. Fabricius defended himself with much spirit, and obliged the brig to retire. I have since heard that the same brig is now off Previsa. If the service here will permit my absence, I think of going to look after her. The Gulf of Lepanto is now left entirely in the hands of the Turks, and I wish to send the gunboat in to assist the expedition against Salona, but the crew having been so long about here, suffering much hardship and without pay, are very dissatisfied. I have given the boat a new mast, anchor, cable, provisions, ammunition, &c., and I will even advance them a little money, if they will go into the Gulf. I should hope, however, that your lordship will reimburse me for these expenses, extra of my own vessel. As you may imagine, I am almost entirely without coals, and cannot get a sufficient quantity of the pitch-pine to burn; the other pine will not answer, and therefore I am reduced to sails. General Church had ordered round here a Psariot brig he had at Kenkness, and I wrote to M. Koering to request him to put coals on board of her, which, I understand, M. Koering refused. From the manner in which I have been frequently treated, one would imagine that this vessel was not a Greek but an enemy's vessel. I trust your lordship will remedy this, and put me on a fair footing with the other Greek national vessels. I wish your lordship could also contrive to let me have some money, to cover the expenses of this vessel, which, for three months that we have been absent from Poros, cannot be supposed trifling. As I conceive it important, under existing circumstances, to keep the blockade of Patras, Missolonghi, and the Gulf, I will remain as long as my destitute situation will permit me. Since I have been here I do not think any vessels have entered the Gulf.

I have the honour to be, &c.,F. A. Hastings.XXVIII Karteria, Dragomestre, Dec. 8th, 1827.

My Lord,

I have the honour to inform you that I have passed over the army of General Church to this port, amounting to about twelve hundred men, with six pieces of artillery, and about sixty horses, mules, &c. The General has been joined by Maori and some other captains, which may have increased his force to two thousand men. He is in hourly expectation of being joined by Zouga, and even Varnachioti is expected to come over. The Monastery of Ligovitza, on the road from Arta to Lepanto and Missolonghi, is said to have been possessed by the troops of the General. This post is of importance. The troops have all marched from Patras to Navarino, and nothing remains but some Albanians and the inhabitants. Lepanto is thinly peopled; all have little provisions as well as Missolonghi. From what I know of Lepanto and the Castles, I am confident that, if your lordship was to attack it with the squadron you command, and General Church was to make even a demonstration of attack by land, it must fall in forty-eight hours' time. Lepanto lies on the face of a hill open to the sea; every shot and shell and rocket must tell somewhere, and they would readily capitulate. We must not take the Monastery of the Piraeus as an example. At Lepanto the Turks have their families – this particular always operates upon them; but whether it did or not, the place would be taken, and I am not one who overrates the capabilities of the Greeks. I fear, however, that General Church has other projects, and such as, according to my opinion, are very unlikely to succeed. So much so that, if your lordship does not arrive or send me orders, I shall return to the Archipelago, rather than lend myself to measures which appear to me worse than useless. I must again beg of your lordship not to forget us in the way of money, provisions, ammunition, coals, &c. We are now more than three months absent from Poros.

I have the honour to be, &c.,F. A. Hastings.XXIX Karteria, off Vasiladhi, Dec. 27th, 1827.

My Lord,

I have now been twelve days before Vasiladhi, and since our arrival I have every reason to believe they have neither received provisions nor water. The weather has usually been so bad, that I have only been able to bombard it twice, and the gunboat having few shot, I have exchanged her 32 for one of our 68's, with shells; since which I have not been able to batter it, owing to the weather. I am satisfied they are now at their last shifts in the fort; and if I could remain before it a week longer, and bombard it for a couple of days, I doubt not it would fall into our hands. I regret of all things not having the flat-bottomed gunboat here; with her we would have had the fort before this. General Church was to have attacked Anatolico, and might have taken it, in the first instance, with little or no resistance; but he delayed till too late, and then came without an ounce of provisions, and returned the day after to Dragomestre. This man is such an insufferable quack, that I cannot act any longer with him; he affects to command the navy as well as the army; and although I have given him one or two rather rough lessons, he, the other day, captured with a boat of his a spy of mine, on his way to me, and carried him off without mentioning a word of it to me. The man merely came here the other day, supposing Vasiladhi about to surrender, that he might say he took it. God knows there is no merit due, unless to the boats blockading inside. I have received letters to-day from the Gulf, and I find the expedition at Trisonia is in alarm of being blockaded by the Turkish vessels at Lepanto. The loss of the gunboats from the Gulf is almost irreparable. If your lordship could send them round here with a brig, it would be of infinite service. I am so in want of ammunition, provisions, fuel, &c., that I hardly know what to do, but if possible I will re-enter the Gulf to assist them there. I wrote by Mr. Finlay, announcing to your lordship that if the whole squadron was to come round here, I am satisfied that Missolonghi, Patras, Lepanto, and the Castles might be taken. They are much straitened for provisions at all, but particularly at Missolonghi and Lepanto, and the Castles could be taken by force. Patras is now provisioned daily by one of Church's generals, Neneka, from Zante, viâ Clarenza. Dr. Gosse informs me how much you are in want of money. I trust, however, if you obtain any, I shall not be forgotten. I have only received six hundred dollars from General Church, and my expenses have been enormous, for fuel, provisions, &c.

I have the honour to be, &c.,F. A. Hastings.XXX Karteria, off Vasiladhi, Dec. 29th, 1827.

My Lord,

I have the honour to inform you that, after having transported the troops of General Church from Cape Papas to Dragomestre, I undertook the blockade of Vasiladhi, for which purpose I put in requisition the small craft after-mentioned, and employed them to intercept all communication with Vasiladhi. This flotilla I placed under the orders of my first lieutenant, M. Falanga; and on the night of the 16th they entered, and commenced the blockade, which has been so strictly observed up to this day, that nothing had entered Vasiladhi. One boat, with a letter and fresh provisions, was captured by our flotilla. I anchored, the gunboat Helvetia in company, outside Vasiladhi. Your lordship is aware that the Helvetia was armed with a long 32-pounder, which, in my opinion, is very inferior in every point of view to a 68, but indisputably so for cannonading a fort only to be reduced by shells. For this reason I changed her 32-pounder long gun for a 68-pounder cannonade. On the 22nd I bombarded Vasiladhi alone (the gunboat having been detached), with little effect, the weather being unfavourable; nor could I recommence until to-day, when, considering the distance we were off (about one and three-quarter mile), and the diminutive size of the object fired at, better practice has rarely been displayed: four shells out of seven from this ship and gunboat exploded in, and one blew up, their magazine. I immediately ordered an assault, in which all the boats took part. The Turks, intimidated by the explosion, and by our attitude of attack, called for quarter, which I granted them, although they had previously forfeited their lives by firing on a flag of truce I sent to them with terms of capitulation. I embarked the prisoners on board this ship, and from thence conveyed them in safety to near Missolonghi. They were thirty in number; and one Greek badly wounded I have retained on board to be treated by our surgeon. The original number was from forty to fifty, the deficit having been killed off by our previous cannonading and by the explosion. I am happy, my lord, to testify to the exemplary conduct of the Greeks during the whole of this service; they have borne the fatigues and privations of a winter's blockade in open boats with extraordinary patience, and the forbearance they displayed towards the Turks rendered any interference of mine in their favour superfluous. Of my officers, Lieutenant Falanga and Captain Hane, M.A., I have only to repeat the often-told tale of their meritorious conduct. To M. Fabricius, commanding the gunboat Helvetia, I feel much indebted for his zeal and activity, and I am happy to have so deserving an officer under my orders. The fort of Vasiladhi mounts twelve guns, three of which are of that remarkably useful piece of ordnance, the Turkish licorne. I have offered to deliver the Fort of Vasiladhi to General Church upon his remunerating for their services those employed in taking it.

I have the honour to be, &c.,F. A. Hastings.

List of small vessels employed in taking Vasiladhi.

A mistico, Galaxidhiote, Captain Urgaki; the same sent with me into the Gulf of Lepanto, and who has served with me ever since.

A mistico, Galaxidhiote.

A bonée.

An armed row-boat.

Two of my prize launches, armed each with a 9-pounder.

A bratsiera.

Five monoxolies, or canoes, for the shallows.

XXXI Karteria, Dragomestre, Jan. 7th, 1828.

My Lord,

I have the honour to acquaint you that General Church arrived before Vasiladhi on the 2nd inst.; and I resigned to him that fort on the third, requesting him to refund the expenses of taking it; these consist of five dollars per man bounty, besides the provisions of the flotilla employed in the blockade. The General has promised to repay this, although not without expressing some surprise at the demand; yet the guns he receives in the fort would pay the whole sum.

On the same day I received an official letter from General Church, requesting me to inform him what co-operation he might expect from the navy in a projected attack of his on Anatolico. According to the wish of General Church, I agreed to send all the boats at my disposal that night, to attempt to capture an island named Poros, commanding the entrance into the Lake of Anatolico, where the Turks had a post, and we heard he was filling up the passage, and about to place guns on another island, which would render him entirely master of the entrance. I soon discovered that what General Church calls the cooperation of the navy is in reality the navy executing the service, and the army looking on at its leisure, ready to take possession if success attended the arms of the former. I had understood that I was to be supported by two rocket-boats of General Church, and by the launch of the Psarian brig, carrying a carronade to throw grenades; but these did not appear. A dozen policaries arrived from General Church, and were embarked in the expedition. At half-past three a. m. of the 4th inst. I arrived with five boats out of nine (the rest having unaccountably kept behind) at a narrow part of the passage of the lake, across which the Turks had built a wall, and stationed a gunboat behind it. The Turkish boat was soon put to flight; the sailors jumping into the water soon cleared away a passage for the boats, and the five of our boats rowed upon Poros, the Turks keeping up a brisk fire of musketry from that island, and of cannon from Anatolico. We were now within pistol-shot of Poros, when I found, to my surprise, a fort on it – which I had been assured there was not, or I would not have attempted the attack, knowing that in our warfare their holds are not to be thus taken. Seeing no reasonable hope of succeeding, I ordered a retreat; and having repassed by the way we entered, found General Church's detachment lying flat in the bottom of their boats out of gun-shot. To say that my officers, Captain Hane, M.A., and Lieutenant Falanga, also M. Fabricius, commanding the gunboat Helvetia, accompanied me, is to commend them for their accustomed zeal and gallantry. I cannot conclude without mentioning the name of Chrysanto, who, after having aided at Vasiladhi, was with me here in his own boat, and displayed much courage. He had one man wounded, the only loss we sustained. Perceiving that Anatolico was not to be taken by us; that General Church's troops were (without provisions) somewhere in a marsh, where our boats could not get to embark them, and that they might have marched on the mainland close to Anatolico; being without provisions in this ship, and seeing no possibility of rendering any service by remaining longer before Vasiladhi, I returned to this port to provide for our immediate wants, and in the hopes of meeting Dr. Gosse, and procuring from him some funds for the maintenance of my crew, which I think your lordship will see the necessity of providing me with, as I have not received more than two thousand dollars during five months, and I have latterly been maintaining this ship in provisions and fuel, besides furnishing money and provisions to the gunboat and flotilla inside Vasiladhi.

I have the honour to be, &c.,F. A. Hastings.

1

"These men," says the same authority, "generally speaking, from their complexions, evinced that they had been mariners all their lives, the sun having well tanned them. They wore small red caps, from which their hair flowed wildly down their shoulders. On the upper lip they wore very long mustachios, which the older ones were continually curling, and bringing out the point. They wore trousers of blue cotton, and a jacket; and by the immense capacity of the former, I should suppose they must have contained at least twelve yards. This was gathered into plaits round the waist, and only descended to the knees, which were left open. The hinder part presented a most singular appearance. It hung down almost trailing upon the ground in a huge bag, which kept moving backwards and forwards in a ludicrous manner at every motion of the body. They wore shoes, but no stockings; and their legs were as dark as their countenances, and covered with hair. Round their waist they wore a large red sash in several folds. Their jacket was similar to a waistcoat, with sleeves, and ornamented with small buttons from the wrist to the elbow, and the same on the bosom." – "Wanderings in Greece."

2

See especially Trikoupes, vol. iv., p. 126, and Gordon, vol. ii., p. 364. Mr. Finlay approves of the choice, but, not caring to say anything in favour of Lord Cochrane, makes no mention of his share in the work. Vol. ii., p. 139.

3

Gordon, vol. ii., p. 386. As Gordon was with Lord Cochrane at the time, and on intimate relations with him, it is strange, unless he himself, with far less excuse, shared the error for which he blamed him, that he did not advise him to pursue his former plan. Compare Trikoupes, vol. iv., p. 137, who blames and involuntarily acquits Lord Cochrane almost in the same breath.

4

Trikoupes, Gordon, Finlay, and all the other authorities, say that Lord Cochrane had 20,000l. He had only been supplied with 8,000l; and nearly all this sum had been already disposed of in fitting out the fleet at Poros, and paying the seamen's wages.

5

Finlay, vol. ii., p. 148.

6

Trikoupes, vol. iv., p. 152.

7

Gordon, vol. ii., p. 392.

8

"The admiral," says Gordon, "weighed with the Hellas and Karteria alone, leaving the rest of his squadron to draw pay and rations at Porto Kheli" (vol. ii., p. 415). The fact was that all the rest of his squadron that was fit for service was sent to the Negropont; and Lord Cochrane left directions that the other vessels, as soon as there were men to be rationed and funds for paying them, should follow him to Clarenza. But they only came to run away.

9

It is singular that at this early date Lord Cochrane should thus have advised and prognosticated the construction of the Suez Canal.

10

"The admiral," says Gordon (vol. ii., pp. 421, 422), "was less gratified at his victory than mortified that so inferior a vessel should have fought the Hellas for three-quarters of an hour, and disgusted at the backwardness of his crew. In his first cruise he carried with him four hundred men recruited in the Cyclades; but as they ran below in his engagement with the two Egyptian corvettes, he discharged them and took Hydriots alone. These last, though better mariners, and really more courageous, were disconcerted by his system of reserving fire till within pistol-shot – so different from their own plan of cannonading at a mile's distance. 'The boys,' said Cochrane, 'behaved pretty well; but the oldest, and ugliest, and fiercest-looking bravoes of Hydra ran to the other side of the deck, roaring like market-bulls.' His lordship took summary satisfaction by knocking them down with his fists, right and left."

11

Gordon, vol. ii., pp. 403, 404.

12

See Appendix.

13

Dr. Gosse had remained in Greece during Lord Cochrane's absence, and he continued to reside in Greece for a few months after his friend's final departure. He won for himself much gratitude, not only by his zealous work in war time, but by the skill and patience with which he sought to reduce the plague which raged in Greece in 1827 and 1828. Two proofs of the popularity which he fairly won are as follows. The first, dated the 17th of June, 1828, was signed by twenty-three leading inhabitants of Poros.

"Nous citoyens de Poros, reconnaissant dans la personne de M. le Docteur Louis André Gosse, un homme animé du philhellénisme le plus sincère et doué de vertus éminentes, considérant son zèle ardent et infatigable pourtant en ce qui concerne le bien de la patrie et pour la cause sacrée de la Grèce et en particulier témoins des soins philanthropiques qu'il a prodigués aux indigens, persuadés d'autre part que ses qualités rares contribueront à l'amélioration de la morale du peuple Grec, et animés du désir d'attacher à notre Ile cette homme vertueux; d'une voix unanime et d'un accord commun concédons le droit de bourgeoisie au susdit M.L.A. Gosse, pour qu'il jonisse dorénavant du titre et des droits de citoyen Poriote indigène. En foi de quoi nous lui avons délivré la présente."

The other document was issued by President Capodistrias on the 23rd of February, 1829.

"La lettre que vous venez de m'adresser, datée du 21 Février, et les comptes qu'elle renferme, sont une nouvelle preuve du zèle et de l'extrême exactitude, par laquelle vous vous êtes toujours montré digne de la confiance des amis généreux de la Grèce.

"Je n'ai pas besoin de vous répéter combien la nation sait apprécier les services que vous lui avez rendus, et combien de reconnaissance je vous dois en particulier. C'est à mon instance que vous avez prolongé d'un an votre séjour en Grèce. Dans cet espace, et surtout dans l'été dernier, la peste et les maladies qui vinrent augmenter nos malheurs et nos souffrances, vous ont fourni l'occasion de co-opérer par un noble dénouement a l'accomplissement des mesures sanitaires qui à l'aide de la Providence ont conjuré les manx majeurs, dont la Patrie était menacée.

"Maintenant vous devez remplir des désirs qui honorent vos sentiments, vous allez retourner dans votre heureuse patrie, auprès de votre mère. Mes voeux vous y accompagneront, je vous souhaite toute sorte de bonheur. La Grèce ne peut dans ce moment vous exprimer d'autre manière sa reconnaissance, mais un jour viendra, je l'espère, dans lequel elle le pourra et son Gouvernement s'empressera alors d'acquitter sa dette envers vous, ainsi qu'envers les autres étrangers, qui sincèrement et généreusement ont servi sa cause sacrée.

"Lorsque vos affaires et vos intérêts le permettront, vous vous occuperez toujours du bien de la Grèce; vous lui serez toujours utile partout où vous vous trouverez; mais si vous voulez lui être utile plus directement, revenez encore au milieu d'un peuple qui vous connaît et qui vous aime, et son gouvernement se hâtera de vous mettre à même de lui rendre encore de grands services.

"Recevez en attendant l'expression de ces sentiments, avec l'assurance de la considération le plus distinguée."

14

"My dear Lord Durham," wrote the Earl of Dundonald, on the 15th of April, "allow me most sincerely to congratulate you on the attainment of the great object which the present Administration has now, so honourably for themselves and so fortunately for the country, brought to a pass wherein no retrograde movement can take place, whatever may be the obstructions offered by the interested proprietors of borough influence, or by persons whose ideas of Government have been formed under the tuition of preceding Administrations. It is rare felicity for a nation to be governed by men having the liberality and justice which induce them to confer free institutions peacefully on the country; institutions which merit the gratitude of all who now exist, and will receive the unqualified applause of future generations. The page of history affords no parallel to the present event."

15

It is interesting to note that the recent introduction among us of the Turkish bath was due to Lord Dundonald. "Having recovered," says Dr. Gosse, in his treatise "Du Bain Turc," p. 58, "from two attacks of intermitting fever, I visited the islands of the Archipelago until summoned to Nauplia by Admiral Cochrane, who was then on board the little steam-vessel Mercury. There the air of the gulf, and the marshy miasma, brought on another attack of fever, from which I feared a fatal issue. Lord Cochrane had the kindness to take me in his arms, and to place me in the current of steam, which caused me to perspire freely. My illness disappeared as by enchantment." A similar service was rendered by Lord Dundonald to Mr. David Urquhart, whose attention was thus called to the advantages of the Turkish bath, and who became its great advocate.

16

John Bourne. "A Treatise on the Steam-Engine" (1861), p. 392.

17

John Bourne. "A Treatise on the Screw Propeller, Screw Vessels, and Screw Engines" (1867), p. 42.

18

John Bourne. "A Treatise on the Steam Engine" (1861), p. 233. These boilers, extensively used in London, America, and elsewhere, and now introduced in the Admiralty ship-building, have been greatly improved by Lord Dundonald's son, Captain the Hon. A. A. Cochrane, C.B.

19

The following statement of Lord Dundonald's "axiom" accompanied the model which was submitted to the Admiralty: – "It is universally admitted that a sharp bow and a clear run contribute to the speed of vessels; but what the consecutive lines ought to be, in order to constitute a perfect bow, or what those to form the run, no builder has yet exemplified by uniformity of practice, or theoretically defined. Ship-delineators profess the art as a mystery, and arbitrary forms are assumed as the result of science. These lines ought to be, by an axiom, founded on a law imposed by Infinite Wisdom for the perfect guidance of inanimate matter. Projectiles, thrown obliquely, take their flight in convex parabolic curves, wherein resistance is overcome by a minimum of force; and elastic surfaces obey the converse of that law in opposing certain external influences. It is a property of conic sections that a straight line, centred in the apex, and caused to circumscribe the surface of the cone, will apply itself continuously to all consecutive parabolic curves. Hence curves similar to the flight of projectiles, and to those formed by the flection of elastic surfaces, may be described on a large scale simply by causing a straight line or beam to revolve as on the axis of a cone, in contact with a parabolic or elliptical section. Thus a consecutive series of convex parabolic or elliptical curves may be substituted in ship-building for hollow fantastical lines. The benefits from which application are, increased velocity, capacity, strength, buoyancy, facility of steering, ease in hard seas, and exemption from breaking or 'hogging.'" Diagrams and explanations thereof accompanied this concise statement of the principle.