Inferno

Chapter 38

At anchor, Gothenburg Roads

The expected signal, ‘All captains’, was hung out promptly, the Yarmouth accession to strength being the last contingent to join.

Piped aboard through the entry-port to the middle gun-deck of Prince of Wales, Kydd could see the flagship was in an advanced state of readiness. Were they expecting trouble this early?

There was a welcome on the crowded quarterdeck: Gambier and no less than four other flag officers.

Kydd paid his respects to the unsmiling, formal commander-in-chief, aware that this was a careful-to-the-point-of-cautious admiral whose devotion to the Good Book had earned him the nickname ‘Dismal Jimmy’ from irreverent sailors.

There was one other rear admiral he recognised instantly.

‘Why, well met, sir!’ Kydd said warmly, crossing to the figure. This man had been captain of Triumph in which Kydd had served before the mast as master’s mate. After the bloody battle of Camperdown it was he who’d given Kydd the acting lieutenancy that had set him on the path to where he was today. The two had last met shortly before the politically charged court-martial of Commodore Popham.

Essington beamed. ‘Why, how singularly gratifying to be noticed by the hero of the hour. And now returned to the scene of his apotheosis?’

‘As I will be in the finest company,’ Kydd replied stoutly. ‘And you, sir, untimely recalled from retirement? Shame on their lordships.’

He knew another: Commodore Keats, whose name would be for ever linked with that of his famous ship Superb. In a single action he had taken on not one but two monstrous 112-gun Spanish four-deckers. In the gathering darkness he’d left them firing into each other and sailed on to take a third.

As a junior frigate captain Kydd had been with Keats as part of the fabled race across the Atlantic by Nelson, missing the French fleet by hours until the fateful meeting off Spain weeks later. To his mortification Keats and Superb had not been at the battle but had nevertheless gone on to further distinction.

‘Sir Thomas,’ Keats greeted him coolly. ‘An honour to have you with us.’ His hard expression belied his words.

Kydd picked up on the stiffness. Surely this great seaman was not to be numbered with the envious. He considered bringing out shared remembrance of the immortal commander but thought better of it and murmured a polite reply.

The admiral’s day cabin in the flagship was barely furnished with a vast table stretching right athwart. At it sat the senior captains, those of the line-of-battle ships. Lesser mortals took chairs provided behind.

When all had found their places Gambier entered and sat at the head. At the opposite end, oddly, there was an empty chair. With peculiarly precise movements he ordered his papers in front of him, then looked up. ‘Gentlemen. I will not keep you long.’ He glanced at the crush of resplendent uniforms. ‘This will be the first and last time we shall meet together as a whole. The purpose of my calling you here is to establish at the outset the objectives and methods of this expedition. After today you shall be severally in receipt of my orders and those of my subordinate commanders and will have no need to attend on me.’

He gave a thin smile. ‘This is not to say that we shall not meet hospitably as from time to time the needs of the service allow but it must be understood that we are on a mission of the utmost significance to the safety of the kingdom.’

Polite expressions of attention were all he was going to get from such seasoned warriors and he wasted no time in moving on. ‘The sole objective of this expedition, gentlemen, is to secure the delivering of the fleet of the kingdom of Denmark into our custody.’

Now the faces about the table showed astonishment, puzzlement and blank incomprehension.

‘I don’t have to tell you that the result of Tilsit is to leave us alone and isolated in Europe but, worse than that, we have intelligence that Bonaparte now intends to combine the fleets he has at his disposal as a consequence of his conquests into an irresistible armada to throw at our islands.’

Gambier continued, ‘And, further, he is casting a ring of iron around the entire continent, closing it to our trade. The key to his plans is Denmark. If he can coerce it into closing the entrance into the Baltic to us, we are placed in acute difficulties. Should we, however, be successful in removing the Danish fleet, then the means to close off the Sound is denied them. Not only that, but Denmark’s fleet will no longer be available to Bonaparte. Therefore I will leave you in no doubt that this mission must succeed. There has never been such peril under which England now lies. It cannot fail.’

In the charged atmosphere Kydd found himself saying, ‘Sir. Denmark is most certainly neutral. How can we ask this of them?’

Gambier’s gaze was troubled. ‘Your qualms do you credit, Sir Thomas, but these are harrowing times. In the first I’m persuaded that if the situation was reversed it’s without question that Napoleon Bonaparte would not scruple in any wise to take measures against a neutral – he has done so before. And to the second, be advised that the government has considered the matter and takes the position that the greater hazard is to do nothing. The King shares your view but agrees on the imperative of action. This expedition is in his name.’

‘But-’ Captain Graves began.

‘We are all, every one of us, in the King’s service, sir. We do not question his orders.’

Gambier waited then went on, ‘To which end, as you can see, I’ve been granted the best resources in ships and men the navy has at hand. As you may notice, we boast Keats of Superb and Kydd of Tyger …’

‘Then you expect the Danes to contest the loss of their fleet?’

‘They are an old and proud race, and will not yield lightly. We are therefore here arrayed in such force as will allow them to accede gracefully.’

‘And if they do not, sir?’

‘Then we make demonstration of our earnestness in the matter.’

‘A sailing past of their capital?’

‘No, sir, since they will feel safe behind their defences, which are now too great to be threatened from the sea. It will be achieved by a landing in strength on the island of Sj?lland whereon it lies and a passive encirclement.’

‘This is hard, sir. Monstrous hard!’ Captain Colville came in. ‘And on a blameless neutral – it were nothing less than an invasion.’

‘Sir, I’ll thank you to keep your feelings to yourself. I will hear no further discussion on this point. Our duty is clear and that is to secure their fleet by whatever means.’

‘Then in terms of operations,’ Graves insisted, ‘if an encircling does not persuade?’

‘The landings will be made with all impedimenta as if for a siege, with guns and materiel of investment. Nothing will be hidden and all will see the dread implements of beleaguerment poised on their inner flank. I rather fancy that terms will be accepted with some rapidity.’

‘I’ve heard that Boney has thirty thousand under Bernadotte lying in readiness at the southern border. If it’s heard …’

‘He has, and that is why this expedition proceeds with the least possible delay. I’ll now ask the captain of the fleet to outline the plans that concern you, gentlemen. Before he arrives I will point out that there is no other in the service as experienced in conjunct operations as he, and I beg you will attend his words with the utmost seriousness.’

Gambier muttered an aside to his flag lieutenant, who left to call the man who was at the centre of planning and execution of the entire expedition.

Kydd wondered why he’d felt it necessary to introduce him at length … then saw standing in the doorway, a light smile playing as he surveyed the assembled officers, Captain Home Riggs Popham.

There were gasps of astonishment and muttering, which Popham ignored as he took the empty chair. He turned from one to another, nodding and smiling for all the world as if renewing acquaintances. Kydd tensed but when his gaze came to him it was as if Popham had looked right through him. It bordered on the incredible, but it seemed that he had levered himself back to a position of trust and responsibility in the few months since he had been found guilty of quitting his station without leave at court-martial.

How had he achieved it?

Gambier broke in on Kydd’s thoughts: ‘Captain Popham, be so good as to outline the dispositions of the fleet in this enterprise.’

‘Certainly, sir,’ Popham said, with crisp efficiency. ‘Your orders will tell you so, but in summary we have this. The main force, Prince of Wales flag under Lord Gambier, and myself first captain, remains offshore by way of deterrent should our business be disputed by the Russians or indeed the Danes. A squadron under the flag of Rear Admiral Essington, Minotaur, will be closer inshore and a roaming reserve will be held under Vice Admiral Stanhope in Pompee.

‘Bombs and lesser craft will be ordered by Commodore Hood in Centaur but the most important task of all is left to Commodore Keats.’ He looked up to give him a winning smile.

To Kydd’s puzzlement, he saw that Keats had reddened.

‘This distinguished officer is given the singular duty of sealing off the island of Sj?lland while our little enterprise is under way to prevent undesirable interference from the outside – the French and similar. I need hardly say how inconvenient it would be should our land forces be set upon from behind.’

There was more: signal codes, squadron liaison, watering, stores, order of battle. All dealt with ably and decisively.

Gambier nodded. ‘Thank you, Captain Popham. Do please return to your work. We won’t detain you further.’

With another genial smile, Popham picked up his lists and left.

In seconds the cabin was in bedlam with one voice raised above the rest. ‘Sir, this is insupportable!’ Keats exploded, slamming his hand on the table and glaring at Gambier, who winced. ‘We are to be made inferiors to – to such? It’s not to be borne, sir!’

So Keats was one of Popham’s inveterate enemies. It explained his coolness to Kydd, who’d been quoted in print in his defence.

Hood came in with unsettling intensity: ‘He has a point, sir. There are at least three distinguished captains about this table with many years’ more seniority who have been over-borne by his elevation.’

‘And I’m reminded that this officer has never commanded a ship in action,’ Stopford, an elderly battleship captain, spluttered. ‘Added to which I’m exercised as to how an officer lately condemned by a court-martial is suffered to rise to prominence so. Sir, I do protest – if he persists in command, you shall have this in writing.’

‘And mine,’ echoed several others.

Gambier’s expression tightened. ‘I will not tolerate any further discussion in this vein. The appointment of Sir Home Popham follows my application to their lordships for the most suitable officer experienced in combined operations. The name of this officer was put forward with other recommendations – the Duke of York was mentioned in this regard.’

Kydd smiled cynically. So that was how it had been done: Popham had gone over the heads of the Admiralty to curry favour with the head of the army directly. Ironically, he was the leading contender for the post, with more experience and practical understanding of the difficulties of amphibious warfare than any other present.

‘Therefore I’ll make it abundantly clear. The orders of Captain Popham are to have the same force as if issued by myself. If any of you cannot accept this, you shall be removed and another put in your place.’

As a threat it had no meaning: these senior captains knew their duty and would conform. The protests in writing would no doubt come but would not affect the present situation, leaving only rancour and animosity to bedevil the expedition.

Gambier pointedly pulled out his fob watch and frowned. ‘We shall pass on to other matters. The army of twenty-four thousand is currently embarked in readiness to land, should the Danes prove obdurate. They are commanded by General Lord Cathcart, who I’d hoped would be in a position to apprise you of their role. He is indisposed at present and begs to allow his second in command to perform that duty.’

He nodded to the flag lieutenant, who left quickly.

‘This will be Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley, a soldier of distinction, who I’ll allow is well connected with the government. Hard service in the Netherlands and remarkable successes in India, he’s much talked of by Horse Guards.’

A tall, lean figure in a red tunic, with restrained frogging, and white pantaloons tucked into hessian boots, appeared at the door.

‘Sir Arthur, you’re welcome indeed. Do take your seat.’

As he passed by, Kydd was struck by his air of patrician disdain and the intensity of his bearing. He would not be a man to cross.

He found his chair but remained standing, austere and reserved. ‘General Cathcart desires I should lay before you his dispositions, should the Danes not acquiesce to our demands.’

Without referring to notes, he rapped, ‘Three divisions will be landed, the first under Lieutenant General Sir George Ludlow, with a brigade of the Coldstream Guards and one of the 79th to the left of the siege lines, the second under Lieutenant General Sir David Baird, with three brigades, to the right.’

That had Kydd’s special notice. Baird had been governor of Cape Colony after leading the army of conquest against the Dutch and was eminently qualified for the kind of service to be expected here. But he’d been removed from his post and never again employed at that level, following his support for the seizing of Buenos Aires – talked into it by Popham …

‘The third division will be led by myself, with elements of the 95th and others, and will be responsible for outer defence. Cavalry in the amount of three squadrons of dragoons will be under Major General Linsing, and four brigades of the King’s German Legion will be available to us for general deployment.’

He paused, as though choosing his words. ‘To establish to the Danes our resolve in the matter, we are landing artillery and engineers in numbers conformable to an investment of significance. Major General Bloomfield will field eighty-four guns and a further hundred and one siege pieces, including mortars and similar. These will be deployed in open array should negotiations prove unfruitful.’

Cold, professional and precise. If the Danish command chose to defy the British it would be a desperate affair for them, Kydd reflected, with a shiver.

‘Thank you, General. I rather think it will not come to that, but you never know.’

Wellesley took his leave, and Gambier let the rumble of comment die. ‘So there you have it, gentlemen. You may believe I’d rather the sight of our grand fleet will be sufficient to persuade, but if not, these are the steps we will take. You should be comforted to know that my own authority to proceed in any action is suspended indefinitely, until I receive positive advice from an emissary of the King that a settlement is impossible.’

The trigger that would send this great armada into an unknown conclusion with the Danes.

‘We sail tomorrow morn, by which time you will have your orders. It leaves me only with the prayer that our Lord in Heaven will see fit to order our future to the greater good of our cause.’