PART I.] Derrick's Memoirs of the Royal Navy. accounts, they lost two Admirals, one killed in the action, the other taken prisoner. His Majesty behaved with the most undaunted courage, regarding neither danger nor fatigue, and was always present where the action was the hottest. From the circumstances related of this action, it appears that the English, as well as the French, had not only left off the manner of the Romans, who, in their naval combats, always made use of oars, but also the use of those beaked vessels which they I called Nares Restrate, that were yet in use towards the conclusion of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century. It is plain, therefore, that on this occasion the ships were such, as, in comparison to the flat or low-built galleys, might probably be called highdecked ships. This important victory is ascribed by the English in a great measure to the superior dexterity of their sailors in the management of their ships. Some months after the above-mentioned engagement, a truce was concluded, and the King landed at the Tower on the 30th November. 1346. A war having broke out again between England and France, the King and Prince of Wales, commonly called the Black Prince, embarked at Southampton with 32,500 troops, on board a fleet of near 1000 sail, of all dimensions, and disembarked the army at La Hogue on the 12th July. The glorious battle of Cressy was fought on the 26th of the following month, and Calais surrendered (1347) to the English on the 4th of August, 1347, after a blockade of eleven months, both by sea and land.† It appears by the roll of the English fleet employed in the siege of Calais, as recorded in the Cotton Library, that So fatal was this loss, that the courtiers of Philip preserved a gloomy silence; and he was at length informed of the national calamity by the privileged tongue of a court fool or jester. + Hume, on the authority of Villani, says that the English had cannon, but not the French, in the battle of Cressy; it is, however, worthy of remark, that although Villani was contemporary, yet he composed his history in Italy, and therefore could only speak from hearsay; whereas Froisart, also a contemporary, residing in France, and almost an eye-witness, makes no mention of 589 it consisted of the following ships and vessels furnished by the King: 25 ships, 419 mariners; by the different ports in England and Wales, 675 ships, 13,732 mariners; by foreigners, 38 ships, 805 mariners; total, 738 ships, 14,956 mariners. It also appears by the roll, not only that the ships furnished by the ports were larger, on the average, than the King's ships, but that many of them could not have had above 26 men. Each of the mariners were allowed after the rate of four pence per diem, and the archers on foot three pence. The Earl of Huntingdon, Lord High Admiral, commanded the fleet. The King returned to England in Oct. 1347, and in the ensuing year (1348) a seven years truce was agreed on. England being threatened with an invasion by a fleet of Spanish pirates, consisting of 40 very large ships, the King, thinking this an enemy not unworthy of his own presence, sailed from Sandwich on board an English fleet, attended by many of his chief nobility, in quest of these destructive rovers. He came up with them on the 29th of August, 1350, off Winchelsea, when a fierce conflict ensued, in which the Spaniards were defeated with great slaughter, and 24 of their ships taken.‡ At the expiration of the truce agreed upon in 1348, the war was renewed (1355 §), which ended in 1356, after the memorable battle of Poitiers, which was fought in Sept. 1359. In Oct. 1359, the King set sail from Sandwich, with 100,000 men, and a fleet of 1100 ships, and landed at Calais the next day, from which place the army marched to Paris (1360); soon after which, a peace was concluded. 1369. Charles V. of France declared cannon, although he describes the battle very particularly; and Thomas of Walsingham, who wrote more than three centuries before Hume, and who not only gives a very detailed account of the battle, but even specifies by name the arms and weapons used by the English, makes not the slightest mention of the bombards, nor of the pallatole di ferro che saettavano. A gold coin was struck in commemoration of this event. § The first record of impressing seamen is found in the 29th Edw. III. but the term used is "to make choice and take up in the counties of Kent, &c. 36 mariners, &c." 590 Derrick's Memoirs of the Royal Navy. war against England in 1369. Nothing particular occurred at sea until June 1372, when the Earl of Pembroke was sent to France with a fleet of 40 ships, containing a reinforcement of troops. It was the Earl's intention to land his forces at Rochelle; but when he approached that place he fell in with a powerful squadron of Spanish ships, Don Henry, King of Castile, having warmly espoused the cause of France. An engagement immediately commenced, which continued all the day, and was renewed next morning with equal fury. At length, towards the evening of the second day, victory declared in favour of the Spaniards, whose ships were much larger than those of the English, and provided with cannon, which did great execution. The Earl of Pembroke, with several other chieftains, were made prisoners, and the greatest part of the fleet either taken or sunk; and soon after, Rochelle surrendered. To counterbalance the above, and the loss of other places in France in the possession of the English, the latter, under the Earl of Hereford, defeated, soon after, a fleet of Flemings, who were then in alliance with France, and took 26 of their ships. Four thousand men were killed in this engagement, and as many carried prisoners to England, together with Peterson, the Flemish Admiral. This was the last naval engagement in the reign of Edward; in the latter part of which the navy was suffered to decline. A truce was concluded in 1374. 1377. On the 21st of June, 1377, the King died, and was succeeded by his grandson Richard II. then a minor, only in the 11th year of his age. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince. In the first year of his reign the Parliament complained exceedingly of the decay of shipping during the preceding reign, and asserted, that one sea-port formerly contained more vessels than were to be found in the whole kingdom. This calamity they ascribed to the arbitrary seizure of ships by Edward, for the service of his frequent expeditions. The same complaint was made in the 46th of Edward. There is an order of his, directed to the Mayor and Sheriffs of London, to take up all ships of 40 tons and upwards, to be converted into ships of war. The minority of the King, together [XCIX. with the decay of the Navy, and other circumstances, encouraged the French to insult our coasts only a few days af ter Edward's decease. Their fleet consisted of 50 stout ships. They burnt Portsmouth, Plymouth, and some other sea-port towns. Application was thereupon made to Parliament for money to enable the King to restore the Navy, and to protect the trade and navigation. A powerful fleet was ac cordingly fitted out in 1383; and while it was away on the coast of France, the French and Spanish galleys sailed up the Thames as far as Gravesend, which they plundered and burnt. A truce was made with France in 1383. No naval engagement of consequence took place in the course of this reign, which terminated in Sept. 1399, by the deposition of the King, who was succeeded by Henry IV. his first cousin. Henry IV. 1405. In 1405, the French, who had sent a fleet of 140 sail, with a large body of troops, to the assistance of Owen Glendower, landed at Milford-haven; but on the approach of the King with a numerous army, and of his fleet from the Cinque Ports, commanded by Lord Berkeley and Henry Pay, in order to attack their fleet in the harbour, they were obliged to embark for the purpose of returning home with the plander they had taken at Caermarthen and other places. The English fleet, however, met them, burnt 15, and took 14 of their ships, before they got clear of Milford-haven.† C.D. PART 1.] Queries on Bourne's " Iter per Tamesin." There are two allusions that puzzle me. After describing the Temple, he proceeds, p. 170, "Ex parte adverså mediis domus innatat undis, Infamis domus, infami de nomine dicta." Now what cau that mean? I am a native of London, and can remember it nearly half a century; but I have no idea of such a place as the poet here describes. Immediately after he proceeds: "Hinc ubi provehimur, pulchræ vestigia sedis, Tristes relliquias ignis, spoliumque videmus musque Majestas antiqua, ipsis veneranda ruinis.” He then These lines, I conjecture, allude to the old palace of the Savoy, now converted into a barrack; but I am not certain that I am correct. mentions Westminster Hall, the Parliarnent House, the Abbey, and Lambeth Palace. Near the conclusion of the poen he mentions, "Regale Hospitium" of Chelsea, and Chelsea-reach (the Bay of Biscay to all young freshwater sailors). He then proceeds in his description thus: "Arboreum tandem lucum sylvamque vi- Ordinibus celebrem variis, ubi densior ilex Hæc sedes olim sævis male nota duellis." Now, pray, Mr. Urban, what place was that? was it Ranelagh Gardens? or Vauxhall? or what was it? After dilating on duels, he adds, the place was also famous for suppers: epulas, quêis sunt convivia curæ, Nocturnas huc sæpe ferunt; huc sæpe per undas Advecti tacitæ per conscia lumina Lunæ." And so ends the poem. If any of your antiquarian readers will have the kindness to throw some light on these points, I shall be much obliged. I am a little surprised that so modern a poem should require a note; but I am much more surprised at a want of delicacy exhibited in a prologue to Ignoramus; some lines of which could not be endured in these days at any 591 theatre in England, much less repeated in school by boys in the presence and hearing of their masters and paK. M. N. rents. Mr. URBAN, PERMIT Milan, May 3. me to inquire if, among the improvements which the Safety Lamp has received, has been that of the application of parabolic reflectors. It is now four or five years since their effect was shown at the at Paris, for the purpose of demonsExhibition of Arts and Manufactures trating their superiority to other reflectors for street lamps. Illumination by gas had not been then, nor, I believe, since, used there, excepting in shops, cafés, &c. and not at all here, and in many other cities, at present. But the Parabolic Reflectors are generally employed both here and at Turin for lighting the streets, and produce an effect only inferior to the gas illuminain consequence of the great use of gas tion. Now as it is just possible that they may not be very generally known in England, and the application of them to the Safety Lamp not yet tried, its suggestion may not be useless, as a shade would be afforded by it to the eyes of the miner, when below him. angles to the plane of the parabola And were its vertical section at right (passing vertically through the centre of the light), a portion of an hyperbola or parabola, or what in practice would be perhaps more easily obtained, the half, or rather a less portion of an eltracted, as afterwards mentioned,) it lipse, (or even a portion of a circle conmight extend the whole length of the lamp,-the whole of which light would thus be thrown forward in an horizontal direction, and the seams of coal become more plainly seen. If the reflector were made to open at the top in the vertical section which passes above mentioned, and (vertical) semithrough the plane of the parabola diameter of the ellipse, and then obliquely behind on each side, so that the entire opening should form a Y, with its branches downwards; and were the part of the reflector between the branches of the Y made to lap over the sides, the breadth of the light thrown forwards might be extended or contracted, and of course its intensity diminished or increased at pleasure; while access might at all times be had to the lamp in front or underneath. 592 Battle of Waterloo described. Mr. URBAN, [XCIX. ning playing on our firelocks without intermission all night. Our rear-guard was constantly engaged. Our brigade was the only one which lost men this day. We arrived on our position about nine o'clock; and after a short cannonade retired to rest, up to our ankles in mud, and under a heavy rain, which continued all night. We arose in the morning, as you may imagine, in a complete ague. About eleven o'clock, the enemy's columns were seen deploying out of the wood opposite our right; I following interesting Letter in your and about half past our valuable Magazine. Dear Sir, W.B. Camp, Bois de Boulogne, July 26, 1815. IN your last you desired me to write when I was effective in the first battalion. I am at present in that envied situation, and am likely in the course of a week to be removed from it, and appointed a Lieutenant in the second: thanks to Bony and Waterloo. I am almost sorry I have mentioned the word; as from it you may expect some description of that glorious affair, which I am as unable to give as the man in the moon. However, I will attempt to give you as good a description as lies in my power. After being on piquet on the night of the 15th, we were marched twentyeight miles, and had to beat the French out of the position of Quatre Bras, which they had taken from the Belgian, Nassau, and Brunswick troops. Our division and Picton's were the only ones engaged at the commencement. The Guards came late, but suffered severely. We gained our point after a severe contest, during which I had the mortification of seeing our friends, the 33d, 44th, 49th, 92d, and others, cut through by the Cuirassiers and Lancers. We, by forming square, kept them out, though charged three times. Our Lieutenant-Colonel commanding, and a Lieutenant, were severely wounded, and we lost about 40 men. I, being in the Light Company, was skirmishing 'till night, when we lay down under a sharp rain; and were turned out at half-past two, to skirmish with the enemy's Tiralleurs. About 12 o'clock we were withdrawn, and making a feint on their right, the whole moved towards the position of Mont St. Jean. We had a dreadful march up and down ravines, the torrents roaring down them, and the light began, by our brigade of guns opening on the enemy's left, which was shortly after returned in a very brisk manner by them. The columns were moved in rear of the guns, and lay down to avoid the shot; and we light bobs were sent in front of them to skirmish with the enemy. We were thus employed, when the French hav ing made some impression on our left, sent a body of Cuirassiers who cleared the ground of us, nolens, volens." We went out again, and in a short time after were obliged to retire, by the fire of two field-pieces, served in a most elegant manner with grape and canister, and by about seven times our number of Tiralleurs. We then retired into the squares formed by our respective regiments. Ours, and the 73d, were together. The battle now became serious. The enemy's bodies advanced, preceded by their Cuiras siers, who, for about two hours, kept opposite to us, charging as fast as possible, and always leaving heaps of men and horses in front of our squares.They then opened several pieces on our square with shell, round, and grape. It was really astonishing to see our brave fellows, when their com rades were swept down by sixes and sevens, stepping up into their places with the greatest alacrity. This continued for about two hours; and in the intervals we had a little conversation with their Cavalry. Our Light Dragoons advanced against them ineffec tually. About six o'clock an immense body of the Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard advanced, protecting a piece of artillery, within fifty yards of our square. It opened on us with grape, and the effect was dreadful. Our square, which consisted of a thousand men, at the commencement, had at this time dwindled to about five hundred; when PART 1.] Battle of Waterloo described. our brave General Halkett exclaimed, "My boys, nothing but a charge will do it." Our men answered him by three cheers; but the enemy's cavalry advancing, destroyed our hope. We were then left without cavalry or arillery to support us, at a time when both these arms, combined with infantry, were used against us with the greatest effect. Their grenadiers seeing our decreased numbers, at length mustered up courage to advance against us. They came within about twenty yards, and fired a volley; we returned it, and gave our huzza preparatory to a charge, which so intimidated "les vielles moustaches," that away they went. At that auspicious moment, a fresh brigade of artillery arriving, played on them and the Cuirassiers with glorious effect; and the reserve advancing on one side, and the Prussians on the other, with the dashing charges of the whole line of cavalry, contributed to the happy conclusion of this day, so glorious for the French arms, and yet so fatal." We were on the 15th, about 450 strong; we are now 167; our loss in officers is 21 out of 32. sons; After a fortnight's march we arrived here, where we have remained about 17 days. I saw Mr. Bertrand de la Bove yesterday evening, going to Soisbut unluckily the General who commands there does not seem disposed to admit any Royalists into his jurisdiction. Valenciennes, Condé, and Laon, equally hold out. We have curious reports within this half hour, about the rebel army; they say that they are levying contributions, and talk of attacking the Austrians. It would be a blessing for the peaceably inclined part of Europe, were it true; as the dispersion of such a number of men averse to tranquillity would be a benefit to the world." 593 ed the advance next morning. We had been three days without rations; and the night of the 17th was dreadful. But that is no longer thought of: we are now at Paris; a thing never heard of since the days of Edward and Henry. We expect our General of Brigade up in a few days. When he made a speech, in the middle of the action, the brave fellows answered with reiterated cries, "Let us charge, your Honour; we will stick it in them." He was just after shot through the shoulder and jaw. I got a scratch in the ankle; but not wishing to alarm you, withheld my name; 21 was enough for one regiment. Having lost my baggage, my dress is rather ludicrous; a pair of shoes belonging to a French grenadier, a pair of blue trowsers taken off a dead officer, shirt taken out of a portmanteau on the field; as for the rest, it is pretty good, it holds together, but is black with blood, powder, &c. which, with my burnt hands and face, long hair, and mustachios, and half my sabre-scabbard taken off, makes me rather a respectable figure. I yesterday had a good laugh, in my own mind, at the "Grande Nation," on looking over their famous Champ de Mars; where the scaffolding yet remains, whence the Corsican a few weeks ago assured them of freedom and victory. I felt for the weakness of human nature, on seeing the grass worn off the ground, which the same Imperial Guard marched over, swearing to conquer or die; who, on hearing our huzza, and seeing our bayonets levelled a few days after, ran like sheep. I was yesterday at the Hotel des Invalids: the maimed relics of Jena, Austerlitz, and Leipsic, regarded us with a coldness, which sufficiently explained their feelings. But our late Waterloo friends saluted us very cordially; On the 18th, all our regiment and they will not, however, be persuaded great part of the army, lost their bag- that we had not a million of men in gage, owing to a false report of our the field. The Prussians are dreadfully army being beaten. Every thing was inveterate against the French; when in confusion, which was increased by we speak to them of their harshness, the Belgic Gendarmerie plundering, they reply, "The French never were and also by the servants, some of in England; they did not cut off the whom threw their horses, baggage, noses and ears of you English." and all, into the canal; some escaped Though it is certain they shot several on their horses in short, our baggage of our men who were unable to keep was all lost, and we were left with up with them on their retreat on the merely the clothes on our backs. Af- 19th. ter the battle, I fell down on the ground, and slept 'till the bugle soundGENT. MAG. Suppl. XCIX. PART I. C In my account, I have only told you how our company and regiment were employed. I should endeavour an |