Our Sailors: Gallant Deeds of the British Navy during Victoria's ReignKingston, William Henry Giles
History
Our Sailors: Gallant Deeds of the British Navy during Victoria's Reign
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Great Britain -- History, Naval -- 19th century; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- History -- 19th century
While Captain Lyster was leaving the _Victoria_ to get into his own
boat, he was shot in the back with a musket-ball. On account of the hot
fire to which they were still exposed, and the number of men already
killed and wounded, he judged that he should not be justified in
attempting to recover the lifeboat on that occasion. Leaving her,
therefore, on the beach, the party returned to the _Teazer_. The people
who had at first got possession of the lifeboat had afterwards abandoned
her; but they now returned, and some forty or fifty got into her,
intending to carry her off. Seeing this, Mr Balfour, acting mate,
assisted by Mr Dewar, gunner, pulling back to the shore in the first
cutter, threw a rocket towards her, and so well-directed was it that it
entered her magazine and blew it up. As soon as the party got back to
the _Teazer_ (having now pretty well silenced the fire of the enemy),
they set to work to get all the provisions out of her, and then, having
thrown overboard all her coals with the exception of ten tons, they
contrived to shore her up, to await the rising of the tide. At length
their exertions were crowned with success, and at sunset they succeeded
in heaving her off. Then, getting up the steam, they anchored out of
gunshot for the night.
On this unfortunate occasion there were no less than thirteen men killed
belonging to HMS _Penelope_, besides Mr Fletcher and Mr H.M. Gillham,
master's assistant, who afterwards died of his wounds; while Captain
Lyster, Commander Hillyar, Lieutenant Corbett, and First Lieutenant of
Marines J.W.C. Williams were wounded severely, together with
fifty-seven men of the _Penelope_ and two of the _Teazer_, most of them
also very severely wounded. Crowded together in so small a vessel
during the night, the poor fellows suffered greatly, though the medical
officers of the expedition, Mr R. Carpenter, senior surgeon, Mr
Walling, assistant surgeon of the _Penelope_, Dr Barclay, acting
surgeon, and Dr Sproule, assistant surgeon, exerted themselves to their
very utmost in the performance of their duty to the wounded. During the
day they had never flinched from exposing their own lives, as, in the
midst of the fire, they stepped from boat to boat to alleviate the
sufferings of the wounded and dying.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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