The End and the Beginning : a Drabble series.
Plymouth February 1799
This series of 10 Drabble length pieces is set in the few days in late February when Edward Pellew fought hard to keep his ship, or if not his ship then many of his crew, and lost on every count. This version takes as a base the historical letters he exchanged at the time with Lord Spencer,before his promotion to the notorious Impetueux, most of whose crew were wildly rebellious. However, it is told from the point of view of various people in the TV series canon, Edward himself, Archie and Horatio, Bracegirdle and Bowles, Styles and Matthews, but some of the text is Pellew's own. It adds some AU and some supposition, in that Bracegirdle(named John here for John Gage,a historical lietenant who was a loyal friend of Pellew's)is made captain at this same time and Bowles( called Thomas as a variation of John Tompson, who was the historical Master of the Indy with Pellew),is retiring and going off to marry a sailor's widow in Greenwich.
TITLE: The End and the Beginning
AUTHOR: Nodbear
WORDS:1590
RATING:Gen
DISCLAIMER: As ever the characters are not mine, and I make no claim on them.
SUMMARY: The days between 15 Febraury and 12 March when Captain Pellew was forced to give up the Indefatigable, seen from various viewpoints.
The End and the Beginning
The Poisoned arrow
(Main deck, Indefatigable,15 February, Eight bells, forenoon watch)
Archie huddled himself further into his cloak.He stamped both feet for warmth.
He was supervising the offloading of yet another shoreboat and he longed to be below.
He wondered about their orders,having seen dispatches go below earlier.
" Mr Kennedy! Kindly call for my boat crew!"
Archie turned his habitual gracious smile to greet his captain, the smile dying at what he saw behind the dark eyes.
" Aye- Aye, sir", he said,his face sympathetic.He longed to ask, but dared not.He might be cold, but this was the face of one chilled to the heart.
An Obedient Servant?
(Captain's quarters,Indefatigable, 17 February 1799, three bells, forenoon watch)
It was the end of civilised behaviour. It was an outrage cloaked in polite eloquence:'You,so high on the Captains' List'
To be hemmed in,caged, or worse: to be at risk not from the sea or the enemy without, but from the insidious threat within.
He had to fight:
he wrote 'Your lordship's most obedient and very humble servant.' He was nothing of the kind of course,and they knew that.
He thought of all his men, and saw two particular faces, trusting, hopeful.
So, though he shook with rage, he wrote with exaggerated care
Not telling my love
(Horatio's quarters, Indefatigable, 17th February, 1799, Six Bells,First Watch)
What if this is the end? What if the captain can't take us?
What if there aren't any ships needing two junior lieutenants?
He heard it all run around in his mind, but he did not articulate it.
He wanted to spare Horatio.He wriggled closer; felt the warm hand go on stroking his back.
Horatio had seen the captain's face when the last dispatch had come.
It was as he was in battle, sheer determination;but deadly weariness.
he wanted to spare Archie.Silent,he stroked slow circles with deliberate gentleness,
closed his eyes, and hoped against hope.
Old Friends
(Quarter deck,Indefatigable, 24th February, 1799, Five Bells, forenoon watch)
It was the end: yet those for whom there was a beginning,
the new-made captain, the bridegroom going home,were still and heavy hearted.
"He's still fighting"
" What did they expect? He is for us as he is in battle, won't give up until the bitter end."
" I would stay - but he's said not to be a bloody fool!" They exchanged half- smiles.
" And the boys?" " Its for them he's still fighting."
"You don't have a place?"
" At best for one ..."
Lieutenant and Master watch the falling snow, praying once again for Pellew's legendary, impossible luck.
Without being asked
( Captain's quarters,Indefatigable,25th February, Six bells ,afternoon watch)
It was the end: but there were beginnings to attend to...The catch in the polite voice addressing him was not lost on him, nor its intention:
loyal, loving,desperate, however well disguised. He saw, across time, dual incandescence:the light over Marseilles and a captain's fury.
'If Frank Cole is to be turned out, then I hope you will turn me out too,sir!'So long ago.
He replied calmly to the unspoken hope." I have in mind a posting requiring two lieutenants, Hornblower."
As reward, the transfigured smile was glory itself.
I do not have the answer
(Captain's quarters, Indefatigable, 26 February, Eight bells, last dog watch.)
It was the end, he had no more shot,all strategy spent.Not politesse, not anger, nothing worked.
He briefed them in what he hoped were even tones and dismissed them before that should cease to be.
He knew enough of his own self to identify that this was wounded pride, but not entirely: there was love he would not lightly earn again.His delusions of his worth were not that great.
There were other ships, other crews,but here,amid destruction there had been joy, amid loss had been- belonging.
He had no answers.And how he hated that.
Captain to captain
( Captain's quarters, Indefatigable,26 February, Two bells, first watch)
It was the end, but there were beginnings to take care of: mustering of men,supplies, and more difficult, of the right words.
" Its not before time, and Grasshopper's a good ship for you.I will..miss your attentive ear and good counsel, John."
" I have been highly content-and honoured to serve here, sir."
" Ned- we're fellow captains now,John."
A handshake, two faces saying what would not be spoken.Later, in his own aft cabin he found the gift.Two dozen cases of best port; a familiar hand on the card:" A Captain should begin well!".
Shipping out
( The gun deck, Indefatigable, 27 February, one bell,last dog watch)
" Tisn't right, only us shipping out, of all the lads."
" Bloody right, its not"
" Least our divisions keep together."
" The lieutenants?"
" they want to go where he goes"
" He wants better for them than them stinking mutinous bastards."
"Captain spoke to me,today!"
" And me, said the same; I expect?"
" Asking after me. Bloody amazing that! First captain I've ever had who knew my name."
"Its not been bad here,prize money and not one beating."
" Did he say ought else?"
" Yes- more or less- " look after them.""
"Daft beggar! He should know we always will."
The last huzzah
(Boarding the captain's gig, Indefatigable, February 28th , Seven bells, morning watch.)
It was the end,everything was recorded, neatened and made as immaculate as could be.And orders and speeches made, as he had promised, 'to render the ship;s company reconciled to their new commander.'
He sat at his desk, he wrote the final log.He would go with all the dignity he could achieve.
He knew all hands would be on deck, what he was unprepared for was the that the roar which accompanied the raising of every cap and hat would rip through his gut like fire.
" God bless you,glorious Pellew!" Their volume was intended to reach Whitehall.
The end of the drabbles. A post script in Pellew's own text:
There was one final broadside in the series of letters between Pellew and Lord Spencer. In the end the captain was forbidden from having even the basic rights officers had then and not allowed anyone at all to go with him..
He wrote to Lord Spencer once more about it, extraordinarily, like a story,in the third person. It remains,even over 200 years on,extremely moving in its conveying of the shock, loss, insult -and loneliness- which beset him with the loss of the Indefatigable and her crew.Command was never again as richly appreciated by him. All the capitalisations etc are Pellew's own.
" Sir E P...after constant employment without relaxation for six years...is sent to a ship at Portsmouth, amidst INTIRE strangers and without being permitted to take ONE officer,ONE man or even ONE domestic.Is it fair, then, to presume that Sir EP has no sensibility, no attachment, no feeling, that his heart must be adamant, that he can part from faithful, and attached companions, grown from boys to men under him,without a sorrowful Countenance or a Moistened Eye?He grants that it may be thought so.But he begs to assert the Contrary. And he dares to say, to those who think thus of him, that language does not furnish word sufficiently strong to express his feelings upon such unmerited harsh treatment, nor can time, being so soothing on most occasions, blot from his memory,Circumstances so debasing as to the reputation of an Officer: to your lordship he leaves the regrets of having occasioned it.
This series of 10 Drabble length pieces is set in the few days in late February when Edward Pellew fought hard to keep his ship, or if not his ship then many of his crew, and lost on every count. This version takes as a base the historical letters he exchanged at the time with Lord Spencer,before his promotion to the notorious Impetueux, most of whose crew were wildly rebellious. However, it is told from the point of view of various people in the TV series canon, Edward himself, Archie and Horatio, Bracegirdle and Bowles, Styles and Matthews, but some of the text is Pellew's own. It adds some AU and some supposition, in that Bracegirdle(named John here for John Gage,a historical lietenant who was a loyal friend of Pellew's)is made captain at this same time and Bowles( called Thomas as a variation of John Tompson, who was the historical Master of the Indy with Pellew),is retiring and going off to marry a sailor's widow in Greenwich.
TITLE: The End and the Beginning
AUTHOR: Nodbear
WORDS:1590
RATING:Gen
DISCLAIMER: As ever the characters are not mine, and I make no claim on them.
SUMMARY: The days between 15 Febraury and 12 March when Captain Pellew was forced to give up the Indefatigable, seen from various viewpoints.
The End and the Beginning
The Poisoned arrow
(Main deck, Indefatigable,15 February, Eight bells, forenoon watch)
Archie huddled himself further into his cloak.He stamped both feet for warmth.
He was supervising the offloading of yet another shoreboat and he longed to be below.
He wondered about their orders,having seen dispatches go below earlier.
" Mr Kennedy! Kindly call for my boat crew!"
Archie turned his habitual gracious smile to greet his captain, the smile dying at what he saw behind the dark eyes.
" Aye- Aye, sir", he said,his face sympathetic.He longed to ask, but dared not.He might be cold, but this was the face of one chilled to the heart.
An Obedient Servant?
(Captain's quarters,Indefatigable, 17 February 1799, three bells, forenoon watch)
It was the end of civilised behaviour. It was an outrage cloaked in polite eloquence:'You,so high on the Captains' List'
To be hemmed in,caged, or worse: to be at risk not from the sea or the enemy without, but from the insidious threat within.
He had to fight:
he wrote 'Your lordship's most obedient and very humble servant.' He was nothing of the kind of course,and they knew that.
He thought of all his men, and saw two particular faces, trusting, hopeful.
So, though he shook with rage, he wrote with exaggerated care
Not telling my love
(Horatio's quarters, Indefatigable, 17th February, 1799, Six Bells,First Watch)
What if this is the end? What if the captain can't take us?
What if there aren't any ships needing two junior lieutenants?
He heard it all run around in his mind, but he did not articulate it.
He wanted to spare Horatio.He wriggled closer; felt the warm hand go on stroking his back.
Horatio had seen the captain's face when the last dispatch had come.
It was as he was in battle, sheer determination;but deadly weariness.
he wanted to spare Archie.Silent,he stroked slow circles with deliberate gentleness,
closed his eyes, and hoped against hope.
Old Friends
(Quarter deck,Indefatigable, 24th February, 1799, Five Bells, forenoon watch)
It was the end: yet those for whom there was a beginning,
the new-made captain, the bridegroom going home,were still and heavy hearted.
"He's still fighting"
" What did they expect? He is for us as he is in battle, won't give up until the bitter end."
" I would stay - but he's said not to be a bloody fool!" They exchanged half- smiles.
" And the boys?" " Its for them he's still fighting."
"You don't have a place?"
" At best for one ..."
Lieutenant and Master watch the falling snow, praying once again for Pellew's legendary, impossible luck.
Without being asked
( Captain's quarters,Indefatigable,25th February, Six bells ,afternoon watch)
It was the end: but there were beginnings to attend to...The catch in the polite voice addressing him was not lost on him, nor its intention:
loyal, loving,desperate, however well disguised. He saw, across time, dual incandescence:the light over Marseilles and a captain's fury.
'If Frank Cole is to be turned out, then I hope you will turn me out too,sir!'So long ago.
He replied calmly to the unspoken hope." I have in mind a posting requiring two lieutenants, Hornblower."
As reward, the transfigured smile was glory itself.
I do not have the answer
(Captain's quarters, Indefatigable, 26 February, Eight bells, last dog watch.)
It was the end, he had no more shot,all strategy spent.Not politesse, not anger, nothing worked.
He briefed them in what he hoped were even tones and dismissed them before that should cease to be.
He knew enough of his own self to identify that this was wounded pride, but not entirely: there was love he would not lightly earn again.His delusions of his worth were not that great.
There were other ships, other crews,but here,amid destruction there had been joy, amid loss had been- belonging.
He had no answers.And how he hated that.
Captain to captain
( Captain's quarters, Indefatigable,26 February, Two bells, first watch)
It was the end, but there were beginnings to take care of: mustering of men,supplies, and more difficult, of the right words.
" Its not before time, and Grasshopper's a good ship for you.I will..miss your attentive ear and good counsel, John."
" I have been highly content-and honoured to serve here, sir."
" Ned- we're fellow captains now,John."
A handshake, two faces saying what would not be spoken.Later, in his own aft cabin he found the gift.Two dozen cases of best port; a familiar hand on the card:" A Captain should begin well!".
Shipping out
( The gun deck, Indefatigable, 27 February, one bell,last dog watch)
" Tisn't right, only us shipping out, of all the lads."
" Bloody right, its not"
" Least our divisions keep together."
" The lieutenants?"
" they want to go where he goes"
" He wants better for them than them stinking mutinous bastards."
"Captain spoke to me,today!"
" And me, said the same; I expect?"
" Asking after me. Bloody amazing that! First captain I've ever had who knew my name."
"Its not been bad here,prize money and not one beating."
" Did he say ought else?"
" Yes- more or less- " look after them.""
"Daft beggar! He should know we always will."
The last huzzah
(Boarding the captain's gig, Indefatigable, February 28th , Seven bells, morning watch.)
It was the end,everything was recorded, neatened and made as immaculate as could be.And orders and speeches made, as he had promised, 'to render the ship;s company reconciled to their new commander.'
He sat at his desk, he wrote the final log.He would go with all the dignity he could achieve.
He knew all hands would be on deck, what he was unprepared for was the that the roar which accompanied the raising of every cap and hat would rip through his gut like fire.
" God bless you,glorious Pellew!" Their volume was intended to reach Whitehall.
The end of the drabbles. A post script in Pellew's own text:
There was one final broadside in the series of letters between Pellew and Lord Spencer. In the end the captain was forbidden from having even the basic rights officers had then and not allowed anyone at all to go with him..
He wrote to Lord Spencer once more about it, extraordinarily, like a story,in the third person. It remains,even over 200 years on,extremely moving in its conveying of the shock, loss, insult -and loneliness- which beset him with the loss of the Indefatigable and her crew.Command was never again as richly appreciated by him. All the capitalisations etc are Pellew's own.
" Sir E P...after constant employment without relaxation for six years...is sent to a ship at Portsmouth, amidst INTIRE strangers and without being permitted to take ONE officer,ONE man or even ONE domestic.Is it fair, then, to presume that Sir EP has no sensibility, no attachment, no feeling, that his heart must be adamant, that he can part from faithful, and attached companions, grown from boys to men under him,without a sorrowful Countenance or a Moistened Eye?He grants that it may be thought so.But he begs to assert the Contrary. And he dares to say, to those who think thus of him, that language does not furnish word sufficiently strong to express his feelings upon such unmerited harsh treatment, nor can time, being so soothing on most occasions, blot from his memory,Circumstances so debasing as to the reputation of an Officer: to your lordship he leaves the regrets of having occasioned it.