Wager Mutiny
Encyclopedia
The Wager Mutiny was the mutiny of the crew of after she was wrecked on a desolate island off the west coast of Chile in 1741 and the subsequent adventures of her crew. The final voyage of Wager was as part of a squadron commanded by George Anson
destined to attack Spanish interests in the Pacific. Wager lost contact with the squadron whilst rounding Cape Horn
, ran aground and was wrecked on the west coast of Chile in May 1741. The main body of the crew subsequently mutinied against the Captain, David Cheap, abandoned him and some loyal followers, and made their way back to England via the Strait of Magellan
. Although most died on the journey, some survived to return to England, including the ring-leaders. Captain Cheap and a smaller group made their way north to an inhabited region of Chile, guided by local indians. Most of this group died on the journey, but Cheap and three others survived to eventually return to England in 1745, some two years after the mutineers. The adventures of the crew of the Wager were of such a magnitude as to create considerable public interest at the time and have been the subject of many narratives by survivors and others, including the novel The Unknown Shore
by the celebrated historical naval author Patrick O'Brian
.
in 1739 to form part of a squadron under Commodore George Anson
to attack Spanish interests on the Pacific west coast of South America
, and carried additional stores of small arms, ball and powder to arm shore raiding parties.
Two store ships called Anna Pink and Industry also sailed, one of 400, and the other of 200 tons. The squadron also included 470 invalids and wounded soldiers from Chelsea hospital, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Cracherode. Most of these men would be the first to die during the hardships of the voyage, their inclusion, instead of regular troops, was subsequently criticised as cruel and ineffective.
Progress of the squadron to Staten Island
on the Atlantic side of Cape Horn
was only remarkable for the time that was taken to reach Funchal
; this was seen as simply an inconvenience at the time, but this delay, coupled with the impressment of many sailors back in England who had recently been at sea for some time and had not fully restored their bodies to a fresh food diet, was to result in scurvy
killing many men in the squadron. The high contingent of invalids in the squadron, coupled with the outbreak of scurvy meant that Anson's squadron was badly placed for the arduous rounding of the Horn.
In Wager, Captain Dandy Kidd died before reaching the straits of Staten Island, horrifying the officers and crew on his death-bed by predicting success and riches for some on the mission, but only death and devastating hardship for the crew of his vessel. For the notoriously superstitious sailors on board Wager this was awful news to hear, and as was to turn out, an accurate prophecy.
Kidd was replaced by Captain David Cheap, who had started the cruise as a lieutenant in the small sloop Tryal. Cheap was placed in command for the first time to a much larger vessel, crewed by sick and dispirited men. He compounded these handicaps by holding many of the officers in contempt of their technical abilities and being easily moved to fits of rage. The judgement of Anson
was not wholly questionable however, in Cheap's favour he was an capable seaman and navigator, a big man who feared nobody and, possibly most importantly, a loyal and determined officer. The importance of the Wager and her role in the mission was pressed on Cheap by Anson as he assumed command of the vessel; the squadron would draw on her store of small arms and ammunition to attack shore bases along the west coast of Chile. These insights to Cheap's character and the importance of the role of his vessel to the squadron are significant in understanding the captain's behaviour during later events.
The delays of the voyage were most keenly felt when the squadron rounded the Horn. The weather conditions were atrocious; high sea states and contrary winds meant that progress west was very slow. Added to this was the deteriorating health of the crew with scurvy, meaning that few able bodied seamen were available to work the ship and carry out running repairs to the continually battered rigging.
After many weeks working westwards to clear the Horn the squadron turned north when navigational reckoning suggested enough westerly had been made. At this time latitudinal determination was relatively easy with the use of a sextant, however longitudinal determination was much harder to predict as accurate time-pieces were required, or a good view of the stars on stable ground, neither of which were available to the squadron. Longitude was predicted by dead reckoning
, an impossible task given the storm conditions, strong currents and length of time involved. The intention therefore was to only turn north when Anson was reasonably certain that the Horn had been cleared.
The result was nearly a complete disaster. In the middle of the night, the moon shone through the cloud for a few minutes, revealing towering waves breaking onto the Patagonia
n coastline. Without this sighting the whole of Anson's squadron would have been wrecked with the likely loss of all hands. This was a severe disappointment. The ships turned around and headed south again into huge seas and a foul wind. During one particularly severe night, Wager became separated from the rest of the squadron, and would never see it again.
. The gunner, John Bulkley, objected strongly to this proposal and instead argued that the secondary squadron rendezvous, the Island of Juan Fernandez
, should be their primary destination since it was not as close to the mainland as Sirocco
and therefore less likely to result in the wrecking the ship on a lee shore. It should be noted that although Bulkley's executive responsibility was as gunner onboard Wager, an officer rank in the Navy at the time, he was undoubtedly the most capable seaman on the ship. Navigation was technically the responsibility of the master, Thomas Clark, but he, along with most of the officers on board, was held in thinly-disguised contempt by Cheap.
Bulkley repeatedly tried to persuade Cheap to change his mind, arguing that the ship was in such a poor condition that the ability to carry the required sail plans to beat off a lee-shore or come to anchor was compromised, making Cheap's decision to head for Sirocco
too hazardous, especially given that the whole area was poorly charted. In the event Bulkley was to prove exactly correct, but Cheap refused to change course.
On 13 May 1741, at 9am, John Cummins, the carpenter, went forward to inspect the chain plates. Whilst there he thought he caught a fleeting glimpse of land to the west. The lieutenant, Baynes, was also there but he saw nothing, and the sighting was not reported. Baynes would be later reprimanded at a Court Martial for failing to alert the Captain. The sighting of land to the west was thought to be impossible, however Wager had actually entered a large uncharted bay, now called Golfo de Penas, and the land to the west was later to be called the Tres Montes Peninsula
. At 2pm land was positively sighted to the west and northwest and all hands were mustered to make sail and turn the ship to the southwest. During the frantic operations which followed, Cheap fell down the quarterdeck ladder and dislocated his shoulder and was confined below. There followed a night of terrible weather, with the ship in a disabled and worn-out condition, this severely hampered efforts to get her clear of the bay. At 4:30am, the ship struck rocks repeatedly, broke her tiller, and although still afloat was partially flooded, and invalids below who were too sick to get out of their hammocks were drowned.
Bulkley and another seaman, John Jones, began steering the ship with sail alone towards land, but later in the morning the ship struck again, this time fast.
Checking rebellious thoughts of the crew was British Naval law. Dissent by seamen or officers within the contemporary Royal Navy was met with a brutal and energetically-pursued vigour. Anyone found guilty of mutiny would be pursued for the rest of their lives across the globe, and to be found guilty required very little insubordination by today’s standards. Once convicted, there could only be one rapidly executed sentence: death by hanging from the yardarm.
The crew therefore knew they were playing an extremely dangerous game and there was a continual effort to build a narrative to justify their rebellious actions. Full mutiny indeed would not even have occurred had the captain agreed to a plan of escape devised by Bulkley, who had the confidence of most men, whereby the carpenter, Cummins, would lengthen the longboat and convert it into a schooner which could accommodate more men. They would then make their way home, via the Strait of Magellan
, to Portuguese Brazil or the British Caribbean and then home to England. The smaller boats, the barge and the cutter, would accompany the schooner and be important for inshore foraging work along their journey. Bulkley was certainly skilful enough to give the plan at least some chance of success. Despite much prevarication in the ensuing negotiations, Captain Cheap would not agree to Bulkley's plan, preferring to head north and try to catch-up with Anson's squadron. If discipline for ordinary seamen was brutal, the officers were no better off. The importance of doing one's utmost to complete a mission was implicit.
Aware that he had lost his ship, Cheap was in a predicament; in such a situation a court martial was automatic, and if found guilty he could be thrown out of the Navy and into a lifetime of poverty and isolation at best. At worst he could be found guilty of cowardice and executed by firing squad, a real threat, exemplified by the later execution of Admiral John Byng
in 1757. Cheap wanted to head north along the Chilean coast to rendezvous with Anson at Valdivia, having come to the conclusion that unremitting zeal was now required to salvage something from the disaster which had befallen his first command. A disaster his warrant officers had warned him of repeatedly, and a fact that would reflect badly on him when the Admiralty investigated the loss of his ship. This was essentially the impasse which led to the mutiny. Many other events occurred which were used by the mutineers to justify their actions, including the shooting by Cheap of a drunken insubordinate midshipman called Cozens, who Cheap shot in the face at point blank range without warning immediately after arriving at a reported altercation in a rage. Inexplicably, Cozens was refused medical aid on the orders of the captain, and took ten days to die in agony.
The carpenter continued modifying the boats for an as-yet undecided plan of escape, and until this was complete, outright mutiny would remain only a possibility, however, once the schooner was ready, events must necessarily come to a head. Bulkley set the wheels in motion by drafting the following letter for the captain to sign:
Baynes was presented with the letter to read, after which doing so he made the following comment, which astonished the mutineers:
As expected, Cheap refused to sign Bulkleys letter. On 9 October, armed seamen entered Cheap's hut and bound him, claiming that he was now their prisoner and they were taking him to England for trial for the murder of Cozens. Lieutenant Hamilton of the Marines was also confined, the mutineers fearing his resistance to their plan, which confirmed the fact that this was indeed a mutiny. Cheap was completely taken aback by this, having no real idea how far things had gone. The bound Cheap now turned his attention to his Lieutenant, Baynes, terrifying him with the words "Well 'Captain' Baynes! You will doubtless be called to account for this hereafter."
At noon on Tuesday 13 October 1741, the schooner, now named the Speedwell, got under sail with the cutter and barge in company. Cheap refused to go, and to the relief of the mutineers he agreed to be left behind with two marines who were earlier shunned for stealing food. Everyone expected Cheap to die on Wager Island, making their arrival in England much easier to explain. Bulkley even assumed this by putting in his journal that day, "this was the last I ever saw of the captain". In the event, both would make it back to England alive to tell their version of events, Cheap some two years after Bulkley.
Initially the voyage got off to a bad start. After repeatedly splitting sails, the barge was sent back to Wager Island where there were additional stores. Two midshipmen, John Byron
and Alexander Campbell, formed part of the nine who returned. Once back at Wager Island they were greeted by Captain Cheap, who was delighted to hear of their wish to remain with him. By the time Bulkley sailed back to Wager Island in search of the now missing barge and men, all had disappeared. The Speedwell and the cutter therefore turned around and sailed south. The journey was arduous and food was in very short supply. On 3 November the cutter parted company; this was serious as she was needed for inshore foraging work. By now Bulkley was despairing of the men in the Speedwell. Most were in the advanced stages of starvation, exposed in a desperately cold open boat and had lapsed into apathy. Some days later there was some good news, the cutter was sighted and re-joined company, but it was not to last, soon after, at night, she broke loose from her consort's tow line and was wrecked on the coast. Of the eighty-one men originally who had sailed ten had now perished.
As food began to run out the situation became desperate, ten men were picked out and forced to sign a paper consenting to being cast ashore on the uninhabited frozen bog-ridden southern coast of Chile, a virtual death sentence. Sixty men now remained in the Speedwell. Eventually the improvised vessel entered the Strait of Magellan
, in monstrous seas which threatened the boat with every wave. Men were now dying from starvation regularly. Some days after exiting The Straits, the boat moved closer to land in order to take in water and hunt for food. Later, as the last of their supplies were being taken on board, Bulkley made sail abandoning the eight men on the desolate shore three hundred miles short of Buenos Aires
. Once again, such actions would return to haunt Bulkley far into the future, as three of those he had abandoned would make it back to England alive. Only thirty-three men now remained in the Speedwell.
Eventually, and after a brief stop at a Portuguese outpost on the River Plate
, where the crew were fleeced by the locals for meagre provisions and cheated by a priest who disappeared with their fowling pieces (shotguns) on the promise of returning with game, the Speedwell set sail once more and eventually, on 28 January 1742, sighted the Rio Grande
, southern Brazil, after a journey of over two-thousand miles in an open boat full of desperate and starving men which took fifteen weeks. Of the eighty-one men who set off from Wager Island, thirty arrived at Rio in a desperate condition.
Twenty men remained on Wager Island after the departure of the Speedwell. Poor weather during October and November continued. One man died of exposure after being marooned for three days on a rock for stealing food. By December and the summer solstice, it was decided to launch the barge and the yawl and skirt up the coast three-hundred miles to an inhabited part of Chile. During bad weather the yawl was overturned and lost, with the quartermaster drowned.
The loss of this boat meant that there was not enough room for everyone in the barge, and therefore four of the most helpless, all marines, were left on the shore to fend for themselves. In his account, Campbell describes events thus:
Fourteen now were left in the barge. After repeated failed attempts to round the headland, it was decided to return to Wager Island and give up all hope of escape. The four stranded marines were looked for but had disappeared. Two months after leaving Wager Island, Captain Cheap's group returned; there were only thirteen men left now, and they were close to death, indeed one man died of starvation shortly after arriving.
Back at the island Captain Cheap did himself little credit by claiming captain's privileges to take more food than the others and do less work. Fifteen days after returning to Wager Island the men were visited by a party of astonished Indians. After some negotiation, with the surgeon speaking Spanish, it was agreed that they would guide the castaways to a small Spanish settlement up the coast using an overland route to avoid the peninsula, for which the barge would be traded. John Byron, in his book gives a detailed account of the journey to the village of Castro in Chile, as does Alexander Campbell, but suffice to say it was a horrific ordeal that took four months and during which another ten men died of starvation, exhaustion and fatigue, leaving Marine Lieutenant Hamilton, Midshipmen Campbell, Midshipman Byron, and Captain Cheap as the only survivors.
on the brigantine Saint Catherine which set sail on Sunday 28 March 1742. Once in Rio de Janeiro internal and external diplomatic wrangling continually threatened to terminally complicate either their lives, or at least their return to England. John King did not help. He formed a violent gang that spent most of its time repeatedly terrorising his former shipmates on various pretexts, who in turn spent most of their time moving to the opposite side of Rio to wherever King was. After many episodes of fleeing their accommodation in terror from King and his gang (who now referred to him as their 'commander'), Bulkley, Cummins and the cooper, John Young, eventually sought protection from the Portuguese authorities. Captain S W C Pack describes these events:
They eventually secured passage to Bahia in the Saint Tubes, which set sail on 20 May 1742, where with great relief they left the boatswain John King behind to continue causing criminal havoc in Rio de Janeiro
. On 11 September 1742, the Saint Tubes left Bahia
bound for Lisbon
, and from there they embarked in HMS Stirling Castle
on 20 December bound for Spithead
, England, arriving on New Year's Day 1743, after an absence of more than two years.
Events were also reported back to London from the British Consul in Lisbon, being covered within a general dispatch received in October 1742, which was summarised as:
Lieutenant Baynes, in order to exonerate himself, rushed ahead of Bulkley and Cummins to the Admiralty in London and gave an account of what happened to Wager which reflected badly on Bulkley and Cummins but not himself. This behaviour was not out of character, Baynes was a weak man and an incompetent officer, as has already been frequently referenced and recorded by all those who provided an narrative of these events. As a result of Baynes' report, Bulkley and Cummins were detained aboard HMS Stirling Castle
for two weeks whilst the Admiralty decided how to act. It was eventually decided to release them and defer any formal court martial proceedings until the return of either Commodore Anson or Captain Cheap. When Anson did return in 1744 it was decided that no trial would proceed until Cheap returned. Bulkley then asked the Admiralty for permission to publish his journal, whereby the reply came to the effect that it was his business and he could do as he liked. He duly released a book containing his journal, but the initial reaction from some who read it was not what he expected, namely that he should be hanged as a mutineer.
Bulkley found employment when he assumed command of a forty-gun privateer Saphire. It wasn't long before Bulkley's competence and nerve found him success as he tricked his way around a superior force of French frigates which his vessel encountered when cruising. As a result, Bulkley soon found his antics being reported in popular London papers and that he was a bit of a celebrity around town. He began thinking that it was would not be long before the Admiralty would offer him the coveted command of a Royal Navy ship. On 9 April 1745 however Cheap arrived back in England.
, the four survivors of Cheap's group had now spent seven months in Chaco. Nominal prisoners of the local governor, they were actually allowed to live with local hosts and were left unmolested. The biggest obstacle in Byron's efforts to return to England began firstly with the old lady who initially looked after him (and her two daughters) in the countryside before his move to the town itself. All of the ladies were fond of Byron and became extremely reluctant to let him leave, successfully getting the governor to agree to Byron staying with her for a few extra weeks, but finally he left for Chaco itself, amidst many tears. Once in Chaco, Byron was also offered the hand in marriage of the richest heiress in the town, although according to her beau "her person was good, she could not be called a regular beauty", and this seems to have sealed her fate. On 2 January 1743, the group left on a ship bound for Valparaiso
, whereupon Cheap and Hamilton removed to St Jago given that they were officers who had preserved their commissions, but Byron and Campbell were unceremoniously jailed.
Campbell and Byron were confined in a single cell infested with insects and placed on a starvation diet. There quickly built a continual stream of locals visiting their cell, paying officials for the privilege of looking at the 'terrible Englishmen', people they had heard much about, but never actually seen. However, the barbarity of their confinement moved not only their curious visitors but also the sentry at their cell door, who allowed food and money to be taken to them. Eventually Cheap's whole group made it to Santiago, where things were much better, so good in fact that they stayed there on parole for the rest of 1743 and 1744. Exactly why becomes clearer in Campbell's account:
After two years, the group were offered passage on a ship to Spain, all of whom agreed to this option except Campbell, who preferred to travel overland with some Spanish naval officers to Buenos Aires
and from there to connect to a different ship also bound for Spain. Campbell however deeply resented the fact that when Captain Cheap distributed a cash allowance from a sum he drew on the English consul in Lisbon, he gave Campbell half that handed to Hamilton and Byron, because he was suspected, not of cavorting with Spanish ladies - this was fine - but edging toward marrying one, which was against the rules of the British Navy at that time. Campbell was furious at this treatment and he probably felt that the long and dangerous overland journey to Argentina worth it to avoid nine months cooped up with Captain Cheap on the voyage home. Campbell's exact words were:
On 20 December 1744, Cheap, Hamilton and Byron embarked on the French ship Lys, which hastily returned to Valparaiso
after the ship sprung a dangerous leak. On 1 March 1744 Lys once again set out for Europe, and after a good passage round the Horn, she dropped anchor in Tobago
in late June. After managing to get lost and sail obliviously by night through the very dangerous island chain between Grenada
and St Vincent the ship headed for Porto Rico. Here panic swept the crew after abandoned barrels from British warships were sighted floating in the sea, since Britain was now at war with France. After narrowly avoiding being captured off San Domingo, the ship made her way to Brest, arriving on 31 October 1744. After six months in Brest being virtually abandoned with no money, shelter, food or clothing, the destitute group embarked for England on a Dutch ship. On 9 April 1745 they landed at Dover, three men of the twenty who had left in the barge with Cheap on 15 December 1741.
News of their arrival quickly spread to the Admiralty and Buckley. Cheap immediately made for the Admiralty in London with his version of events. A court martial was duly organised. After all he had been through and survived, Bulkley's life was once again in real danger, this time from judicial killing.
, were eight men who were alone, starving, sickly and in hostile remote country. After a month of living on seals killed with stones to preserve ball and powder the group began the 300-mile trek north to Buenos Aires
. At this time their greatest fear, correctly as it would transpire, were the Tehuelche natives, who were known to live in the area. After a 60-mile trek north in two days they were forced to return to Freshwater Bay because they were unable to locate any fresh water. Once back they decided to wait for the wet season before making another attempt, but this again failed in May, this time due to a lack of food. They now became more settled in Freshwater Bay, built a hut, tamed some puppies they took from a wild dog and even began raising pigs. This relatively peaceful existence was disrupted when somebody spotted what they described as a 'tiger' reconnoitring their hut one night. Another sighting of a 'lion' shortly after this had the men hastily planning another attempt to walk to Buenos Aires (they would have encountered a jaguar
and then a cougar).
One day, when most of the men were out hunting, the group returned to find the two left behind to mind the camp had been murdered, the hut torn down and all their possessions taken. Two other men who were also out hunting in another area disappeared and their dogs made their way back to the devastated camp. The four remaining men now left Freshwater Bay for Buenos Aires, accompanied by sixteen dogs and two pigs.
They did not get very far, and once more, for the third time, were forced to return to Freshwater Bay where shortly afterwards a large group of Indians on horseback surrounded them, took them all prisoner and enslaved them. After being bought and sold four times, they were eventually taken to the local chieftain's camp. Here they were treated much better when he learned that they were English and more importantly were at war with the Spanish. By the end of 1743, after eight months as slaves, they eventually represented to the chief that they wished to return to Buenos Aires. This was agreed, with the exception of John Duck, who was mulatto
and who the Indians felt should remain. An English trader in Montevideo
, upon hearing of their plight, put up the ransom of $270 for the other three and they were released. On arrival in Buenos Aires, the governor flung them in jail after they refused to convert to Catholicism. In early 1745 they were moved to the ship Asia where they were to work as prisoners of war. After this they were thrown in prison once more and chained and placed on a bread and water diet for fourteen weeks before a judge eventually ordered their release. Then Midshipman Alexander Campbell, another of Wagers crew arrived in town.
to Buenos Aires
. Using mules, the party trekked into the high Andes
, where they faced precipitous mountains, severe cold and altitude sickness. First a mule slipped on an exposed path and was dashed onto rocks far below, then two mules froze to death on a particularly horrendous night of blizzards, and a further twenty died of thirst or starvation on the remaining journey. After seven weeks travelling the party eventually arrived in Buenos Aires
.
, where he was twice confined in a fort for periods of several weeks, however eventually the governor sent him to Montevideo
, which was just 100 miles across the Río de la Plata
. It was here that the three Freshwater Bay survivors, Midshipman Isaac Morris, Seaman Samuel Cooper and John Andrews were languishing as prisoners of war aboard the Spanish ship Asia along with sixteen other English sailors from another ship. Campbell's now confirmed conversion to Catholicism
was to suit him very well. While his fellow shipmates were treated harshly and confined aboard the Asia, Campbell wined and dined with various captains on the social circuit of Montevideo
.
All four Wager survivors departed for Spain in the Asia at the end of October 1745, however the passage was not without incident. Having been at sea three days, eleven Indian crew onboard mutinied against their barbaric treatment by the Spanish officers. They killed twenty Spaniards and wounded another twenty before briefly taking control of the ship (which had a total crew of over five hundred). Eventually the Spaniards made moves to reassert control and through a 'lucky shot', according to Morris, they managed to shoot the Indian chief Orellana dead, at which point his followers all jumped overboard rather than submit themselves to Spanish retribution.
The Asia dropped anchor at the port Corcubion
, near Cape Finisterre
on 20 January 1746, whereupon Morris, Cooper and Andrews were chained together and flung into a prison cell. Campbell however went to Madrid for questioning. After four months held captive in awful conditions the three Freshwater Bay survivors were eventually released to Portugal, from where they sailed for England, arriving in London on 5 July 1746. Once again Bulkley would be forced to confront, in his mind, dead men he had callously abandoned on a desolated coastline thousands of miles away.
Campbell's insistance that he had not entered the service of the Spanish Navy, as Cheap and Byron had believed, was apparently confirmed when he too arrived in London during early May 1746, shortly after Cheap. Campbell went straight to the Admiralty where he was promptly dismissed from the service for his change in religion. His hatred for Cheap had, if anything, intensified. After all he had been through, he completes his account of this incredible story bitter with resentment thus:
at Spithead
for the court martial. Bulkley on hearing this reacted in his typical style of being overly clever and devious. He arranged to dine with the Deputy Marshal of the Admiralty (the enforcing officer of the Royal Navy command) but kept his true identity concealed. Bulkley then describes how his prepared conversation with the Deputy Marshal at the Paul's Head Tavern in Cateaton Street, near St Paul's Cathedral
, went thus:
At which point the Marshal responded:
Bulkley then informed the Marshal of his real identity, who brought their meal to an end by immediately arresting him. Upon arrival aboard Prince George, Bulkley sent some of his friends to visit Cheap to gauge his mood and intentions. Their report gave Bulkley little comfort. Cheap was in a vindictive frame of mind, telling them:
Upon securing the main players, trial was set for Tuesday 15 April 1746, presided by Vice Admiral of the Red Squadron James Steuart
. Much of what happened on the day land was first sighted off Patagonia as recounted here came out in sworn testimonies, with statements from Cheap, Byron, Hamilton, Bulkley, Cummins and even King (who had also returned to England under unknown circumstances) and a number of other crew members.
Cheap, although keen to charge those who abandoned him in the Speedwell with mutiny, decided not to make any accusations when it was suggested to him that any such claims would lead to himself being accused of murdering Midshipman Cozens. This made what was to happen next much easier for the Admiralty. None of the witnesses were actually aware at this point that events after the ship floundered were deliberately not part of the scope of the court martial proceedings.
After testimony and questioning, all were promptly acquitted of any wrong-doing, except for Lieutenant Baynes, who was admonished for not reporting the carpenter's sighting of land to the west to the captain or letting go the anchor when ordered.
Captain Cheap was promoted to the distinguished rank of post captain and appointed to command the forty-gun ship , demonstrating that the Admiralty considered Cheap's many faults insignificant compared to his steadfast loyalty and sense of purpose. He captured a valuable prize soon after, which allowed him to marry in 1748. He died in 1752. His service records, reports, will and death are recorded in the National Archives.
Midshipman John Byron
was also promoted, to the rank of master and commander
, and appointed to command the twenty-gun ship Syren. He eventually rose to the rank of vice admiral
. John Byron had a varied and significant active service history which included a circumnavigation of the globe. He married in 1748 and raised a family, his grandson would become the famous poet George Gordon Byron. He died in 1786.
Robert Baynes' service records exist from prior to the sailing of Anson's squadron. Upon his return to England after the Wager affair, he would never serve at sea again. Instead, in February 1745, before the court martial, he was given a position onshore running a naval store yard in Clay near the Sea
Norfolk where, apart from some reports of thieving, little else is recorded of significance. He remained in this capacity until his death in 1758.
Shortly after the court martial, John Bulkley was offered command of the cutter Royal George, which he declined, thinking her "too small to keep to the sea". He was right in his assessment as the vessel subsequently foundered in the Bay of Biscay
with the loss of all hands.
Alexander Campbell completes his narrative of the Wager affair by angrily denying he had entered the service of the Spanish Navy, however in the same year his book was published there was a damning encounter with him. Commodore Edward Legge (formerly captain of in Anson's original squadron) reported back that whilst cruising in Portuguese waters he encountered a certain Alexander Campbell in port, formerly of the Royal Navy and the , busily enlisting English seamen and sending them overland to Cadiz
to join the Spanish service.
George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson PC, FRS, RN was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe and his role overseeing the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War...
destined to attack Spanish interests in the Pacific. Wager lost contact with the squadron whilst rounding Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
, ran aground and was wrecked on the west coast of Chile in May 1741. The main body of the crew subsequently mutinied against the Captain, David Cheap, abandoned him and some loyal followers, and made their way back to England via the Strait of Magellan
Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego...
. Although most died on the journey, some survived to return to England, including the ring-leaders. Captain Cheap and a smaller group made their way north to an inhabited region of Chile, guided by local indians. Most of this group died on the journey, but Cheap and three others survived to eventually return to England in 1745, some two years after the mutineers. The adventures of the crew of the Wager were of such a magnitude as to create considerable public interest at the time and have been the subject of many narratives by survivors and others, including the novel The Unknown Shore
The Unknown Shore
The Unknown Shore is a novel published in 1959 by Patrick O'Brian. It is the story of two friends, Jack Byron and Tobias Barrow who sail aboard HMS Wager as part of Anson's 1740 expedition. The midshipman Byron and somewhat unworldly surgeon's mate Barrow are prototypes for Jack Aubrey and Stephen...
by the celebrated historical naval author Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
.
HMS Wager
Wager was originally an East India Company ship, an armed trading vessel built mainly to accommodate large cargoes of goods from the far east, but also to be capable of carrying significant firepower for self protection on the open seas. The vessel was bought by the AdmiraltyAdmiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
in 1739 to form part of a squadron under Commodore George Anson
George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson PC, FRS, RN was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe and his role overseeing the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War...
to attack Spanish interests on the Pacific west coast of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, and carried additional stores of small arms, ball and powder to arm shore raiding parties.
Commodore Anson's squadron
The total squadron consisted of some 1,980 men (crew plus infantry), of which only 188 would survive a voyage which was to prove one of the most terrifying, challenging, heroic and adventurous circumnavigations of the globe ever completed. The squadron, including Wager, consisted of six warships and two victuallers (supply ships):-
-
- , the flagship (a fourth-rateFourth-rateIn the British Royal Navy, a fourth rate was, during the first half of the 18th century, a ship of the line mounting from 46 up to 60 guns. While the number of guns stayed subsequently in the same range up until 1817, after 1756 the ships of 50 guns and below were considered too weak to stand in...
ship of 1,005 tons, 60 guns and 400 men) - (853 tons, 50 guns, 300 men)
- (853 tons, 50 guns, 300 men)
- (600 tons, 40 guns, 250 men)
- (599 tons, 24 guns, 120 men)
- Tryal (200 tons, 8 guns, 70 men)
- , the flagship (a fourth-rate
-
Two store ships called Anna Pink and Industry also sailed, one of 400, and the other of 200 tons. The squadron also included 470 invalids and wounded soldiers from Chelsea hospital, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Cracherode. Most of these men would be the first to die during the hardships of the voyage, their inclusion, instead of regular troops, was subsequently criticised as cruel and ineffective.
Spithead to Staten Island
Isla de los Estados
Isla de los Estados is an Argentine island that lies off the eastern extremity of the Argentine portion of Tierra del Fuego, from which it is separated by the Le Maire Strait...
on the Atlantic side of Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
was only remarkable for the time that was taken to reach Funchal
Funchal
Funchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...
; this was seen as simply an inconvenience at the time, but this delay, coupled with the impressment of many sailors back in England who had recently been at sea for some time and had not fully restored their bodies to a fresh food diet, was to result in scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
killing many men in the squadron. The high contingent of invalids in the squadron, coupled with the outbreak of scurvy meant that Anson's squadron was badly placed for the arduous rounding of the Horn.
In Wager, Captain Dandy Kidd died before reaching the straits of Staten Island, horrifying the officers and crew on his death-bed by predicting success and riches for some on the mission, but only death and devastating hardship for the crew of his vessel. For the notoriously superstitious sailors on board Wager this was awful news to hear, and as was to turn out, an accurate prophecy.
Kidd was replaced by Captain David Cheap, who had started the cruise as a lieutenant in the small sloop Tryal. Cheap was placed in command for the first time to a much larger vessel, crewed by sick and dispirited men. He compounded these handicaps by holding many of the officers in contempt of their technical abilities and being easily moved to fits of rage. The judgement of Anson
Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield
Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield was an English photographer. He inherited the Earldom of Lichfield in 1960 from his paternal grandfather. In his professional practice he was known as Patrick Lichfield.- Career :Lord Lichfield was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst, and joined the...
was not wholly questionable however, in Cheap's favour he was an capable seaman and navigator, a big man who feared nobody and, possibly most importantly, a loyal and determined officer. The importance of the Wager and her role in the mission was pressed on Cheap by Anson as he assumed command of the vessel; the squadron would draw on her store of small arms and ammunition to attack shore bases along the west coast of Chile. These insights to Cheap's character and the importance of the role of his vessel to the squadron are significant in understanding the captain's behaviour during later events.
The rounding of the Horn
After many weeks working westwards to clear the Horn the squadron turned north when navigational reckoning suggested enough westerly had been made. At this time latitudinal determination was relatively easy with the use of a sextant, however longitudinal determination was much harder to predict as accurate time-pieces were required, or a good view of the stars on stable ground, neither of which were available to the squadron. Longitude was predicted by dead reckoning
Dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course...
, an impossible task given the storm conditions, strong currents and length of time involved. The intention therefore was to only turn north when Anson was reasonably certain that the Horn had been cleared.
The result was nearly a complete disaster. In the middle of the night, the moon shone through the cloud for a few minutes, revealing towering waves breaking onto the Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
n coastline. Without this sighting the whole of Anson's squadron would have been wrecked with the likely loss of all hands. This was a severe disappointment. The ships turned around and headed south again into huge seas and a foul wind. During one particularly severe night, Wager became separated from the rest of the squadron, and would never see it again.
The wrecking of the Wager
As Wager, now alone, continued beating to the west, the question remained, when to turn north? Do it too early and the risk of running the ship aground was very high; something the crew were already very aware of given the previous near miss. However, the crew were severely depleted with scurvy - every day more victims were going down with the condition - and there was a shortage of seamen to handle the ship. The dilemma became contentious when Captain Cheap stated his intention to make for the Island of SiroccoSirocco
Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind...
. The gunner, John Bulkley, objected strongly to this proposal and instead argued that the secondary squadron rendezvous, the Island of Juan Fernandez
Juan Fernández Islands
The Juan Fernández Islands are a sparsely inhabited island group reliant on tourism and fishing in the South Pacific Ocean, situated about off the coast of Chile, and is composed of three main volcanic islands; Robinson Crusoe Island, Alejandro Selkirk Island and Santa Clara Island, the first...
, should be their primary destination since it was not as close to the mainland as Sirocco
Sirocco
Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind...
and therefore less likely to result in the wrecking the ship on a lee shore. It should be noted that although Bulkley's executive responsibility was as gunner onboard Wager, an officer rank in the Navy at the time, he was undoubtedly the most capable seaman on the ship. Navigation was technically the responsibility of the master, Thomas Clark, but he, along with most of the officers on board, was held in thinly-disguised contempt by Cheap.
Bulkley repeatedly tried to persuade Cheap to change his mind, arguing that the ship was in such a poor condition that the ability to carry the required sail plans to beat off a lee-shore or come to anchor was compromised, making Cheap's decision to head for Sirocco
Sirocco
Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind...
too hazardous, especially given that the whole area was poorly charted. In the event Bulkley was to prove exactly correct, but Cheap refused to change course.
On 13 May 1741, at 9am, John Cummins, the carpenter, went forward to inspect the chain plates. Whilst there he thought he caught a fleeting glimpse of land to the west. The lieutenant, Baynes, was also there but he saw nothing, and the sighting was not reported. Baynes would be later reprimanded at a Court Martial for failing to alert the Captain. The sighting of land to the west was thought to be impossible, however Wager had actually entered a large uncharted bay, now called Golfo de Penas, and the land to the west was later to be called the Tres Montes Peninsula
Tres Montes Peninsula
The Tres Montes Peninsula is a southwestward projection of Taitao Peninsula which in turn connects to the mainland of Chile by the narrow Isthmus of Ofqui. The peninsula is situated in Aisén Region close to the Chile Triple Junction of the Nazca, Antarctic and South American Plate....
. At 2pm land was positively sighted to the west and northwest and all hands were mustered to make sail and turn the ship to the southwest. During the frantic operations which followed, Cheap fell down the quarterdeck ladder and dislocated his shoulder and was confined below. There followed a night of terrible weather, with the ship in a disabled and worn-out condition, this severely hampered efforts to get her clear of the bay. At 4:30am, the ship struck rocks repeatedly, broke her tiller, and although still afloat was partially flooded, and invalids below who were too sick to get out of their hammocks were drowned.
Bulkley and another seaman, John Jones, began steering the ship with sail alone towards land, but later in the morning the ship struck again, this time fast.
Shipwrecked on Wager Island
Wager had struck rocks on the coast of what would subsequently be known as Wager Island. Some of the crew broke into the spirit room and got drunk, armed themselves and began looting, dressing up in officers' clothes and fighting. Aside from this, one hundred and forty other men and officers took to the boats and made it safely on shore, however their prospects were now desperate. They were ship wrecked far into the southern latitudes at the start of winter with little food in an uncharted and desolate land with hardly any natural resources to sustain them. In addition to this, the crew were dangerously divided, with many of them blaming the captain for their predicament. On the following day, Friday 15 May, the ship bilged amidships and many of the drunken crew still on board drowned. The only members of the crew now left onboard Wager were the boatswain, John King, and a few of his followers. King was a rebellious character, and as events would prove an extremely dangerous and difficult individual.Mutiny
Cast ashore in dreadful conditions, the crew of Wager were frightened and angry with their captain. Dissent and insubordination soon became increasingly common. King even fired a four-pounder canon from Wager at the captain's hut to induce someone to collect him and his mates once they began to fear for their safety on the wreck.Checking rebellious thoughts of the crew was British Naval law. Dissent by seamen or officers within the contemporary Royal Navy was met with a brutal and energetically-pursued vigour. Anyone found guilty of mutiny would be pursued for the rest of their lives across the globe, and to be found guilty required very little insubordination by today’s standards. Once convicted, there could only be one rapidly executed sentence: death by hanging from the yardarm.
The crew therefore knew they were playing an extremely dangerous game and there was a continual effort to build a narrative to justify their rebellious actions. Full mutiny indeed would not even have occurred had the captain agreed to a plan of escape devised by Bulkley, who had the confidence of most men, whereby the carpenter, Cummins, would lengthen the longboat and convert it into a schooner which could accommodate more men. They would then make their way home, via the Strait of Magellan
Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego...
, to Portuguese Brazil or the British Caribbean and then home to England. The smaller boats, the barge and the cutter, would accompany the schooner and be important for inshore foraging work along their journey. Bulkley was certainly skilful enough to give the plan at least some chance of success. Despite much prevarication in the ensuing negotiations, Captain Cheap would not agree to Bulkley's plan, preferring to head north and try to catch-up with Anson's squadron. If discipline for ordinary seamen was brutal, the officers were no better off. The importance of doing one's utmost to complete a mission was implicit.
Aware that he had lost his ship, Cheap was in a predicament; in such a situation a court martial was automatic, and if found guilty he could be thrown out of the Navy and into a lifetime of poverty and isolation at best. At worst he could be found guilty of cowardice and executed by firing squad, a real threat, exemplified by the later execution of Admiral John Byng
John Byng
Admiral John Byng was a Royal Navy officer. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to Vice-Admiral in 1747...
in 1757. Cheap wanted to head north along the Chilean coast to rendezvous with Anson at Valdivia, having come to the conclusion that unremitting zeal was now required to salvage something from the disaster which had befallen his first command. A disaster his warrant officers had warned him of repeatedly, and a fact that would reflect badly on him when the Admiralty investigated the loss of his ship. This was essentially the impasse which led to the mutiny. Many other events occurred which were used by the mutineers to justify their actions, including the shooting by Cheap of a drunken insubordinate midshipman called Cozens, who Cheap shot in the face at point blank range without warning immediately after arriving at a reported altercation in a rage. Inexplicably, Cozens was refused medical aid on the orders of the captain, and took ten days to die in agony.
The carpenter continued modifying the boats for an as-yet undecided plan of escape, and until this was complete, outright mutiny would remain only a possibility, however, once the schooner was ready, events must necessarily come to a head. Bulkley set the wheels in motion by drafting the following letter for the captain to sign:
-
- "Whereas upon a General Consultation, it has been agreed to go from this Place through the Streights of Magellan, for the coast of Brazil, in our way for England: We do, notwithstanding, find the People separating into Parties, which must consequently end in the Destruction of the whole Body; and as also there have been great roberies committed on the Stores and every Thing is now at a Stand; therefore, to prevent all future Frauds and Animosoties, we are unanimously agreed to proceed as above-mentioned."
Baynes was presented with the letter to read, after which doing so he made the following comment, which astonished the mutineers:
-
- "I cannot suppose the Captain will refuse the signing of it; but he is so self-willed, the best step we can take, is to put him under arrest for the killing of Mr. Cozens. In this case I will, with your approbation, assume command. Then our affairs will be concluded to the satisfaction of the whole company, without being any longer liable to the obstruction they now meet from the Captain's perverseness and chicanery."'
As expected, Cheap refused to sign Bulkleys letter. On 9 October, armed seamen entered Cheap's hut and bound him, claiming that he was now their prisoner and they were taking him to England for trial for the murder of Cozens. Lieutenant Hamilton of the Marines was also confined, the mutineers fearing his resistance to their plan, which confirmed the fact that this was indeed a mutiny. Cheap was completely taken aback by this, having no real idea how far things had gone. The bound Cheap now turned his attention to his Lieutenant, Baynes, terrifying him with the words "Well 'Captain' Baynes! You will doubtless be called to account for this hereafter."
The voyage of the Speedwell
Initially the voyage got off to a bad start. After repeatedly splitting sails, the barge was sent back to Wager Island where there were additional stores. Two midshipmen, John Byron
John Byron
Vice Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was a Royal Navy officer. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent bad luck with weather.-Early career:...
and Alexander Campbell, formed part of the nine who returned. Once back at Wager Island they were greeted by Captain Cheap, who was delighted to hear of their wish to remain with him. By the time Bulkley sailed back to Wager Island in search of the now missing barge and men, all had disappeared. The Speedwell and the cutter therefore turned around and sailed south. The journey was arduous and food was in very short supply. On 3 November the cutter parted company; this was serious as she was needed for inshore foraging work. By now Bulkley was despairing of the men in the Speedwell. Most were in the advanced stages of starvation, exposed in a desperately cold open boat and had lapsed into apathy. Some days later there was some good news, the cutter was sighted and re-joined company, but it was not to last, soon after, at night, she broke loose from her consort's tow line and was wrecked on the coast. Of the eighty-one men originally who had sailed ten had now perished.
As food began to run out the situation became desperate, ten men were picked out and forced to sign a paper consenting to being cast ashore on the uninhabited frozen bog-ridden southern coast of Chile, a virtual death sentence. Sixty men now remained in the Speedwell. Eventually the improvised vessel entered the Strait of Magellan
Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego...
, in monstrous seas which threatened the boat with every wave. Men were now dying from starvation regularly. Some days after exiting The Straits, the boat moved closer to land in order to take in water and hunt for food. Later, as the last of their supplies were being taken on board, Bulkley made sail abandoning the eight men on the desolate shore three hundred miles short of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. Once again, such actions would return to haunt Bulkley far into the future, as three of those he had abandoned would make it back to England alive. Only thirty-three men now remained in the Speedwell.
Eventually, and after a brief stop at a Portuguese outpost on the River Plate
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
, where the crew were fleeced by the locals for meagre provisions and cheated by a priest who disappeared with their fowling pieces (shotguns) on the promise of returning with game, the Speedwell set sail once more and eventually, on 28 January 1742, sighted the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
, southern Brazil, after a journey of over two-thousand miles in an open boat full of desperate and starving men which took fifteen weeks. Of the eighty-one men who set off from Wager Island, thirty arrived at Rio in a desperate condition.
Captain Cheap's group
The loss of this boat meant that there was not enough room for everyone in the barge, and therefore four of the most helpless, all marines, were left on the shore to fend for themselves. In his account, Campbell describes events thus:
-
- "The loss of the yawl was a great misfortune to us who belonged to her (being seven in number) all our clothes, arms, etc. being lost with her. As the barge was not capable of carrying both us and her own company, being in all seventeen men, it was determined to leave four of the Marines on this desolate place. This was a melancholy thing, but necessity compelled us to it. And as we were obliged to leave some behind us, the marines were fixed on, as not being of any service on board. What made the case of these poor men the more deplorable, was the place being destitute of seal, shellfish, or anything they could possibly live upon. The captain left them arms, ammunition, a frying pan, and several other necessaries."
Fourteen now were left in the barge. After repeated failed attempts to round the headland, it was decided to return to Wager Island and give up all hope of escape. The four stranded marines were looked for but had disappeared. Two months after leaving Wager Island, Captain Cheap's group returned; there were only thirteen men left now, and they were close to death, indeed one man died of starvation shortly after arriving.
Back at the island Captain Cheap did himself little credit by claiming captain's privileges to take more food than the others and do less work. Fifteen days after returning to Wager Island the men were visited by a party of astonished Indians. After some negotiation, with the surgeon speaking Spanish, it was agreed that they would guide the castaways to a small Spanish settlement up the coast using an overland route to avoid the peninsula, for which the barge would be traded. John Byron, in his book gives a detailed account of the journey to the village of Castro in Chile, as does Alexander Campbell, but suffice to say it was a horrific ordeal that took four months and during which another ten men died of starvation, exhaustion and fatigue, leaving Marine Lieutenant Hamilton, Midshipmen Campbell, Midshipman Byron, and Captain Cheap as the only survivors.
Bulkley & the Speedwell survivors return to England
The thirty mutineers had an anxious time before eventually securing passage to Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
on the brigantine Saint Catherine which set sail on Sunday 28 March 1742. Once in Rio de Janeiro internal and external diplomatic wrangling continually threatened to terminally complicate either their lives, or at least their return to England. John King did not help. He formed a violent gang that spent most of its time repeatedly terrorising his former shipmates on various pretexts, who in turn spent most of their time moving to the opposite side of Rio to wherever King was. After many episodes of fleeing their accommodation in terror from King and his gang (who now referred to him as their 'commander'), Bulkley, Cummins and the cooper, John Young, eventually sought protection from the Portuguese authorities. Captain S W C Pack describes these events:
-
- "As soon as the ruffians had gone [Kings gang], the terrified occupants left their house via the back wall and fled into the country. Early the next morning they called on the consul and asked for protection. He readily understood that they were all in mortal peril from the mad designs of the boatswain [King] and placed them under protection and undertook to get them on board a ship where they could work their passage."
They eventually secured passage to Bahia in the Saint Tubes, which set sail on 20 May 1742, where with great relief they left the boatswain John King behind to continue causing criminal havoc in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. On 11 September 1742, the Saint Tubes left Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
bound for Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, and from there they embarked in HMS Stirling Castle
HMS Stirling Castle (1705)
HMS Stirling Castle was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 21 September 1705....
on 20 December bound for Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
, England, arriving on New Year's Day 1743, after an absence of more than two years.
Events were also reported back to London from the British Consul in Lisbon, being covered within a general dispatch received in October 1742, which was summarised as:
-
- "...Arrival of some of the castaways from the loss of H.M.S. Wager in the South Pacific. Were well treated by Portuguese at Rio de Janeiro, but sailors were mutinous against their officers. King of Portugal has had another seizure and his departure for Caldas is postponed... etc."
Lieutenant Baynes, in order to exonerate himself, rushed ahead of Bulkley and Cummins to the Admiralty in London and gave an account of what happened to Wager which reflected badly on Bulkley and Cummins but not himself. This behaviour was not out of character, Baynes was a weak man and an incompetent officer, as has already been frequently referenced and recorded by all those who provided an narrative of these events. As a result of Baynes' report, Bulkley and Cummins were detained aboard HMS Stirling Castle
HMS Stirling Castle (1705)
HMS Stirling Castle was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 21 September 1705....
for two weeks whilst the Admiralty decided how to act. It was eventually decided to release them and defer any formal court martial proceedings until the return of either Commodore Anson or Captain Cheap. When Anson did return in 1744 it was decided that no trial would proceed until Cheap returned. Bulkley then asked the Admiralty for permission to publish his journal, whereby the reply came to the effect that it was his business and he could do as he liked. He duly released a book containing his journal, but the initial reaction from some who read it was not what he expected, namely that he should be hanged as a mutineer.
Bulkley found employment when he assumed command of a forty-gun privateer Saphire. It wasn't long before Bulkley's competence and nerve found him success as he tricked his way around a superior force of French frigates which his vessel encountered when cruising. As a result, Bulkley soon found his antics being reported in popular London papers and that he was a bit of a celebrity around town. He began thinking that it was would not be long before the Admiralty would offer him the coveted command of a Royal Navy ship. On 9 April 1745 however Cheap arrived back in England.
The survivors of Captain Cheap's group return to England
By January 1742, as Bulkley was returning to SpitheadSpithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
, the four survivors of Cheap's group had now spent seven months in Chaco. Nominal prisoners of the local governor, they were actually allowed to live with local hosts and were left unmolested. The biggest obstacle in Byron's efforts to return to England began firstly with the old lady who initially looked after him (and her two daughters) in the countryside before his move to the town itself. All of the ladies were fond of Byron and became extremely reluctant to let him leave, successfully getting the governor to agree to Byron staying with her for a few extra weeks, but finally he left for Chaco itself, amidst many tears. Once in Chaco, Byron was also offered the hand in marriage of the richest heiress in the town, although according to her beau "her person was good, she could not be called a regular beauty", and this seems to have sealed her fate. On 2 January 1743, the group left on a ship bound for Valparaiso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, whereupon Cheap and Hamilton removed to St Jago given that they were officers who had preserved their commissions, but Byron and Campbell were unceremoniously jailed.
Campbell and Byron were confined in a single cell infested with insects and placed on a starvation diet. There quickly built a continual stream of locals visiting their cell, paying officials for the privilege of looking at the 'terrible Englishmen', people they had heard much about, but never actually seen. However, the barbarity of their confinement moved not only their curious visitors but also the sentry at their cell door, who allowed food and money to be taken to them. Eventually Cheap's whole group made it to Santiago, where things were much better, so good in fact that they stayed there on parole for the rest of 1743 and 1744. Exactly why becomes clearer in Campbell's account:
-
- "The Spaniards are very proud, and dress extremely gay; particularly the women, who spend a great deal of money upon their persons and houses. They are a good sort of people, and very courteous to strangers. Their women are also fond of gentlemen from other countries, and of other nations."
After two years, the group were offered passage on a ship to Spain, all of whom agreed to this option except Campbell, who preferred to travel overland with some Spanish naval officers to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and from there to connect to a different ship also bound for Spain. Campbell however deeply resented the fact that when Captain Cheap distributed a cash allowance from a sum he drew on the English consul in Lisbon, he gave Campbell half that handed to Hamilton and Byron, because he was suspected, not of cavorting with Spanish ladies - this was fine - but edging toward marrying one, which was against the rules of the British Navy at that time. Campbell was furious at this treatment and he probably felt that the long and dangerous overland journey to Argentina worth it to avoid nine months cooped up with Captain Cheap on the voyage home. Campbell's exact words were:
-
- "...the misunderstanding between me and the Captain, as already related, and since which we had not conversed together, induced me not to go home in the same ship with a man who had used me so ill; but rather to embark in a Spanish man-of-war then lying at Buenos Aires."
On 20 December 1744, Cheap, Hamilton and Byron embarked on the French ship Lys, which hastily returned to Valparaiso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
after the ship sprung a dangerous leak. On 1 March 1744 Lys once again set out for Europe, and after a good passage round the Horn, she dropped anchor in Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
in late June. After managing to get lost and sail obliviously by night through the very dangerous island chain between Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
and St Vincent the ship headed for Porto Rico. Here panic swept the crew after abandoned barrels from British warships were sighted floating in the sea, since Britain was now at war with France. After narrowly avoiding being captured off San Domingo, the ship made her way to Brest, arriving on 31 October 1744. After six months in Brest being virtually abandoned with no money, shelter, food or clothing, the destitute group embarked for England on a Dutch ship. On 9 April 1745 they landed at Dover, three men of the twenty who had left in the barge with Cheap on 15 December 1741.
News of their arrival quickly spread to the Admiralty and Buckley. Cheap immediately made for the Admiralty in London with his version of events. A court martial was duly organised. After all he had been through and survived, Bulkley's life was once again in real danger, this time from judicial killing.
The abandoned survivors of the Speedwell group return to England
Left by Bulkley at Freshwater Bay, in what is today the resort city of Mar del PlataMar del Plata
Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...
, were eight men who were alone, starving, sickly and in hostile remote country. After a month of living on seals killed with stones to preserve ball and powder the group began the 300-mile trek north to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. At this time their greatest fear, correctly as it would transpire, were the Tehuelche natives, who were known to live in the area. After a 60-mile trek north in two days they were forced to return to Freshwater Bay because they were unable to locate any fresh water. Once back they decided to wait for the wet season before making another attempt, but this again failed in May, this time due to a lack of food. They now became more settled in Freshwater Bay, built a hut, tamed some puppies they took from a wild dog and even began raising pigs. This relatively peaceful existence was disrupted when somebody spotted what they described as a 'tiger' reconnoitring their hut one night. Another sighting of a 'lion' shortly after this had the men hastily planning another attempt to walk to Buenos Aires (they would have encountered a jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
and then a cougar).
One day, when most of the men were out hunting, the group returned to find the two left behind to mind the camp had been murdered, the hut torn down and all their possessions taken. Two other men who were also out hunting in another area disappeared and their dogs made their way back to the devastated camp. The four remaining men now left Freshwater Bay for Buenos Aires, accompanied by sixteen dogs and two pigs.
They did not get very far, and once more, for the third time, were forced to return to Freshwater Bay where shortly afterwards a large group of Indians on horseback surrounded them, took them all prisoner and enslaved them. After being bought and sold four times, they were eventually taken to the local chieftain's camp. Here they were treated much better when he learned that they were English and more importantly were at war with the Spanish. By the end of 1743, after eight months as slaves, they eventually represented to the chief that they wished to return to Buenos Aires. This was agreed, with the exception of John Duck, who was mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
and who the Indians felt should remain. An English trader in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, upon hearing of their plight, put up the ransom of $270 for the other three and they were released. On arrival in Buenos Aires, the governor flung them in jail after they refused to convert to Catholicism. In early 1745 they were moved to the ship Asia where they were to work as prisoners of war. After this they were thrown in prison once more and chained and placed on a bread and water diet for fourteen weeks before a judge eventually ordered their release. Then Midshipman Alexander Campbell, another of Wagers crew arrived in town.
Midshipman Alexander Campbell's overland trek to Buenos Aires
Had Campbell known just how hazardous the overland journey would prove, he may have considered his sulky avoidance of Cheap's company on the ship Lys a trifling reason to take the alternate route home. On 20 January 1745 Campbell and four Spanish naval officers set out across South America from ValparaisoValparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. Using mules, the party trekked into the high Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
, where they faced precipitous mountains, severe cold and altitude sickness. First a mule slipped on an exposed path and was dashed onto rocks far below, then two mules froze to death on a particularly horrendous night of blizzards, and a further twenty died of thirst or starvation on the remaining journey. After seven weeks travelling the party eventually arrived in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
.
Campbell and the Freshwater Bay survivors return to England
It took five months for Alexander Campbell to get out of Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, where he was twice confined in a fort for periods of several weeks, however eventually the governor sent him to Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, which was just 100 miles across the Río de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
. It was here that the three Freshwater Bay survivors, Midshipman Isaac Morris, Seaman Samuel Cooper and John Andrews were languishing as prisoners of war aboard the Spanish ship Asia along with sixteen other English sailors from another ship. Campbell's now confirmed conversion to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
was to suit him very well. While his fellow shipmates were treated harshly and confined aboard the Asia, Campbell wined and dined with various captains on the social circuit of Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
.
All four Wager survivors departed for Spain in the Asia at the end of October 1745, however the passage was not without incident. Having been at sea three days, eleven Indian crew onboard mutinied against their barbaric treatment by the Spanish officers. They killed twenty Spaniards and wounded another twenty before briefly taking control of the ship (which had a total crew of over five hundred). Eventually the Spaniards made moves to reassert control and through a 'lucky shot', according to Morris, they managed to shoot the Indian chief Orellana dead, at which point his followers all jumped overboard rather than submit themselves to Spanish retribution.
The Asia dropped anchor at the port Corcubion
Corcubión
Corcubión or Corcubiom in the AGAL ortógraphy of galician language, is a municipality of Spain in the Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia.The local government of this municipality was the first public institution to officially use the AGAL norm of the galician language...
, near Cape Finisterre
Cape Finisterre
right|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
on 20 January 1746, whereupon Morris, Cooper and Andrews were chained together and flung into a prison cell. Campbell however went to Madrid for questioning. After four months held captive in awful conditions the three Freshwater Bay survivors were eventually released to Portugal, from where they sailed for England, arriving in London on 5 July 1746. Once again Bulkley would be forced to confront, in his mind, dead men he had callously abandoned on a desolated coastline thousands of miles away.
Campbell's insistance that he had not entered the service of the Spanish Navy, as Cheap and Byron had believed, was apparently confirmed when he too arrived in London during early May 1746, shortly after Cheap. Campbell went straight to the Admiralty where he was promptly dismissed from the service for his change in religion. His hatred for Cheap had, if anything, intensified. After all he had been through, he completes his account of this incredible story bitter with resentment thus:
-
- "Most of the hardships I suffered in following the fortunes of Captain Cheap were the consequence of my voluntary attachment to that gentleman. In reward for this the Captain has approved himself the greatest Enemy I have in the world. His ungenerous Usage of me forced me to quit his Company, and embark for Europe in a Spanish ship rather than a French one."
Court martial into the loss of Wager
Proceedings for a full court martial to inquire into the loss of Wager were initiated once Cheap had returned and made his report to the Admiralty. All Wager survivors were ordered to report aboard HMS Prince GeorgeHMS Duke (1682)
HMS Duke was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1682 at Woolwich Dockyard.She underwent a rebuild in 1701 as another 90-gun second rate, and was renamed HMS Prince George...
at Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
for the court martial. Bulkley on hearing this reacted in his typical style of being overly clever and devious. He arranged to dine with the Deputy Marshal of the Admiralty (the enforcing officer of the Royal Navy command) but kept his true identity concealed. Bulkley then describes how his prepared conversation with the Deputy Marshal at the Paul's Head Tavern in Cateaton Street, near St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
, went thus:
-
- "Desiring to know his opinion in regard to the Officers of the Wager, as their Captain was come home; for that I had a near relation which was an Officer that came in the long-boat from Brazil, and it would give me concern if he would suffer: His answer was that he believ'd that we should be hang'd[sic]. To which I replied, for God's Sake for what, for not being drown'd? And is a Murderer at last come home to their Accuser? I have carefully perused the Journal, and can't conceive that they have been guilty of Piracy, Mutiny, nor any Thing else to deserve it. It looks to me as if their Adversaries have taken up arms against the Power of the Almighty, for delivering them."
At which point the Marshal responded:
-
- "Sir, they have been guilty of such things to Captain Cheap whilst a Prisoner, that I believe the Gunner and Carpenter will be hang'd if no Body else."
Bulkley then informed the Marshal of his real identity, who brought their meal to an end by immediately arresting him. Upon arrival aboard Prince George, Bulkley sent some of his friends to visit Cheap to gauge his mood and intentions. Their report gave Bulkley little comfort. Cheap was in a vindictive frame of mind, telling them:
-
- "Gentlemen, I have nothing to say for nor against Villains, until the Day of Tryal, and then it is not in my Power to be off from hanging them"
Upon securing the main players, trial was set for Tuesday 15 April 1746, presided by Vice Admiral of the Red Squadron James Steuart
James Steuart (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral of the Fleet James Steuart was a Royal Navy officer who rose to prominence during the War of the Austrian Succession.-Naval career:...
. Much of what happened on the day land was first sighted off Patagonia as recounted here came out in sworn testimonies, with statements from Cheap, Byron, Hamilton, Bulkley, Cummins and even King (who had also returned to England under unknown circumstances) and a number of other crew members.
Cheap, although keen to charge those who abandoned him in the Speedwell with mutiny, decided not to make any accusations when it was suggested to him that any such claims would lead to himself being accused of murdering Midshipman Cozens. This made what was to happen next much easier for the Admiralty. None of the witnesses were actually aware at this point that events after the ship floundered were deliberately not part of the scope of the court martial proceedings.
After testimony and questioning, all were promptly acquitted of any wrong-doing, except for Lieutenant Baynes, who was admonished for not reporting the carpenter's sighting of land to the west to the captain or letting go the anchor when ordered.
Aftermath
One of the main arguments put forward by the mutineers for their actions was that since their pay stopped on the day their vessel floundered, they were no longer under naval law. Captain S W C Pack, in his book about the mutiny, describes this, and the decision by the Admiralty not to investigate events after the Wager was lost in more detail:-
- "Their Lordships knew that a conviction of mutiny would be unpopular with the country. Things were bad with the Navy in April 1746. Their Lordships were out of favour. One of the reasons for this was their harsh treatment of Admiral Vernon, a popular figure with the public... The defence that the Mutineers had was that as their wages automatically stopped when the ship was lost, they were no longer under naval law. Existence of such a misconception could lead, in time of enemy action or other hazard, to anticipation that the ship was already lost. Anson realised the danger and corrected this misconception. As Lord Commissioner he removed any further doubt in 1747. An Act was passed "for extending the discipling of the Navy to crews of his majesty's ships, wrecked lost or taken, and continuing to receive wages upon certain conditions... The survivors of the Wager were extremely lucky not to be convicted of mutiny and owe their acquittal not only to the unpopularity of the Board, but to the strength of public opinion, to the fact that their miraculous escapes had captured the public fancy."
Captain Cheap was promoted to the distinguished rank of post captain and appointed to command the forty-gun ship , demonstrating that the Admiralty considered Cheap's many faults insignificant compared to his steadfast loyalty and sense of purpose. He captured a valuable prize soon after, which allowed him to marry in 1748. He died in 1752. His service records, reports, will and death are recorded in the National Archives.
Midshipman John Byron
John Byron
Vice Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was a Royal Navy officer. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent bad luck with weather.-Early career:...
was also promoted, to the rank of master and commander
Commander (Royal Navy)
Commander is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It is immediately junior to captain and immediately senior to the rank of lieutenant commander...
, and appointed to command the twenty-gun ship Syren. He eventually rose to the rank of vice admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
. John Byron had a varied and significant active service history which included a circumnavigation of the globe. He married in 1748 and raised a family, his grandson would become the famous poet George Gordon Byron. He died in 1786.
Robert Baynes' service records exist from prior to the sailing of Anson's squadron. Upon his return to England after the Wager affair, he would never serve at sea again. Instead, in February 1745, before the court martial, he was given a position onshore running a naval store yard in Clay near the Sea
Cley next the Sea
Cley next the Sea is a village on the River Glaven in Norfolk, England, 4 miles north-west of Holt and east of Blakeney. The main A149 coast road runs through the centre of the village, causing congestion in the summer months due to the tight, narrow streets. It lies within the Norfolk Coast AONB...
Norfolk where, apart from some reports of thieving, little else is recorded of significance. He remained in this capacity until his death in 1758.
Shortly after the court martial, John Bulkley was offered command of the cutter Royal George, which he declined, thinking her "too small to keep to the sea". He was right in his assessment as the vessel subsequently foundered in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
with the loss of all hands.
Alexander Campbell completes his narrative of the Wager affair by angrily denying he had entered the service of the Spanish Navy, however in the same year his book was published there was a damning encounter with him. Commodore Edward Legge (formerly captain of in Anson's original squadron) reported back that whilst cruising in Portuguese waters he encountered a certain Alexander Campbell in port, formerly of the Royal Navy and the , busily enlisting English seamen and sending them overland to Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
to join the Spanish service.