e? ,th within speaking distance, the wind fair from England, After and the English fleet still neglecting to come in search ine of them. Yet with so fair an opportunity they were ok prevented from using it by an accident which might not occur in a bay like Bantry once in a dozen years. On the 27th the tempest was so furious that they est dragged their anchors. One by one they cut their cables and were swept, under bare poles, to sea. By midday eight vessels only remained. But these were the best in the fleet. They had still four thousand men, afraid of nothing, and equal to any work which soldiers could do. The chance of Cork was lost, but d they might try some other point on the West coast. he They were ashamed to go back having attempted nothing. The eight ships weighed and sailed, intending to keep together and attempt a descent on Clare. en ve nd ch a But it was the story of the Armada over again, and in the same sea where the mightiest of the Spanish galleons had gone down the revolutionary invaders were encountered by the same enemies. As they ran out clear of the Durseys the hurricane backed towards the west. The sea, which, as long as the wind was off shore, had been moderately smooth, now rose with a fury with which French seamanship could not dare to contend. A huge wave struck the 'Indomptable,' stove in the quarter-gallery, and swamped the cabins. At a signal from the commodore the remnant of the magnificent squadron wore round and retraced its course towards Brest, where, after having met with no human opposition, having never seen an English flag, and having been baffled only by an extraordinary combination of accidents, all the ships but four eventually reappeared. The Séduisant' and one other vessel were lost; two, being crippled by the 6 CHAP. I. 1796. BOOK IX. 1796. storm, were picked up by English cruisers. The 'Fraternité,' which had parted from the fleet on the night after they had sailed, had never reached Ireland at all. She had strayed from her course in the fog; and being afterwards caught in the gale, had crept into Rochelle. SECTION VI. SUCH is the story of the French invasion of Ireland in 1796, so far as it was known to Wolfe Tone on the deck of the Indomptable.' The inner or Irish side of it is equally curious and instructive. On the 23rd of December, Mrs. White, the wife of Mr. White, of Seafield, near Bantry, rushed breathless into Cork barracks to tell General Dalrymple that twenty-five French men-of-war were beating into Bantry Bay. An O'Sullivan from Berehaven came immediately after, saying that he had himself counted eighteen large ships, and that ten more were reported to have been seen in the offing. A third messenger from Dunmanus1 came with further news that a boat had landed there, the crew of which declared that the whole number of the fleet was thirty-eight, and that on board they had fifty thousand men. It was clear to Dalrymple, at all events, that a large French force of some kind had arrived. An express was sent off to Dublin and an express-boat to England. Dalrymple set what force he had in motion without a moment's delay, and pushed forward to Dunmanway, where fresh information was waiting for him. Mr. White himself, knowing the importance of time, was doing his best to obstruct, if he could not prevent, the expected landing. The people, having received no orders from the Revolutionary Committee, were 1 The south-east side of Bantry Bay, opposite Berehaven. VOL. III. P CHAP. I. 1796. IX. 1796. December. BOOK falling into their natural places. White reported that all ranks were supporting him, and every hour was bringing him fresh volunteers. For the moment the weather made landing impossible. Should the storm abate he undertook to do his very best,1 and he received unexpected and valuable help in a naval officer, Lieutenant Pulling, who came up from Berehaven. Admiral Kingsmill, having heard at Kinsale that a large fleet was on the coast, had despatched his Flag Lieutenant, Mr. Pulling, in a revenue cutter to reconnoitre. Pulling had followed the French fleet into the bay, had slipped in behind Bere Island into Castletown, and after attempting in vain to examine the ships more closely, had ridden off to Bantry, to Mr. White's house. Had the weather moderated they could have offered but little resistance, but at any rate there was as yet no disposition visible in the peasantry to join the invaders. Dalrymple's experience was not less favourable. On the road between Cork and Dunmanway he described the people as behaving charmingly,' 2 and on the people everything depended. If there was a general rising, troops could not be spared to reinforce him from other parts of the island. If the same spirit which prevailed in Cork prevailed elsewhere, and if he was allowed but a week before Hoche attacked him, he counted that by that time he would have of regular Yeomanry and militia perhaps fourteen thousand men, and with them, though all too few, he hoped to make a stand. He calculated with certainty that before many days the Portsmouth fleet would be in the bay. If due ex 1 Richard White to General Coote, December 24.' S. P. 0. 2 Dalrymple to Pelham, December 24.' pedition was made, it might come in time to find 1 the French army still on board, and take or destroy them. He might look long before he would see the Portsmouth fleet. While Dalrymple was straining every nerve at Dunmanway, the Duke of Portland was calmly writing to Lord Camden that there was no harbour in France except Brest where a hostile expedition could be equipped, and Brest had been so closely watched that it was impossible such a force could have come out as the news from Ireland reported.2 Camden too, when the Cork express reached him, 'confessed himself not to entertain any strong expectation that the fleet would prove to be that of an enemy.' 3 Camden, however, did not rest in his incredulity. Acting as if the worst was true, he sent from Dublin every man that he had, the Yeomanry corps displaying the most splendid spirit,' and taking charge of the city while the garrison was wanted in the field. Limerick and Galway vied with each other in demonstrations of loyalty.' From all parts of the southern provinces regiments of the line and of the militia were streaming by forced marches towards Dunmanway. The militia betrayed no signs of backwardness. Snow fell and lay deep. The peasantry showed the troops the utmost hospitality.' They lodged them at night in their cabins; they shared their potatoes with them when they rested in the villages at midday. Though sworn probably to a CHAP. I. 1796. December. |