Captain, afterwards Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander James Ball, whose name is so linked with the fortunes of Malta at this eventful time, was a younger son of Robert Ball, Esq., lord of the manor of Stonehouse, in Gloucestershire. He was educated at Northampton, and entered the navy in the year 1768. His friendship with Nelson had been of long standing, and a very interesting incident is related of him in connection with that hero. In a violent storm off the island of Sardinia, on the 20th May, 1798, the Alexander, commanded by Ball, was in company with the Vanguard, bearing the flag of Nelson. The Vanguard, being disabled, was taken in tow by the Alexander, but the storm was so furious that the towing could not be continued without imminent peril to Ball’s ship. Considering the case as desperate, Nelson seized the speaking trumpet, and, with passionate threats, ordered Ball to cast him loose. To this, however, Ball responded by saying, “I must not, and by the help of Almighty God, I will not leave you.” He succeeded in rescuing the Vanguard, and on their arrival in harbour Nelson hailed him as the preserver of his life.
At this time it was the general opinion that the French would not hold out long, and Ball wrote as follows to Lady Hamilton, on the 19th October, five days before Nelson arrived:—“I trust a very short time will put us in possession of the French ships in the harbour of Malta, viz., Le Guillaume Tell, of eighty guns, La Diane and La Justice, frigates of forty guns, besides two ships, formerly Maltese. The French would be glad of a sufficient excuse to surrender, which they will soon have, as they are firing away their powder very fast. The Maltese have gone too far ever to recede.” Events, however, proved how fallacious this opinion was, as the blockade, which Ball anticipated would soon be brought to a close, had to be maintained for a period of two years, before the constancy of the garrison was subdued by force of sheer starvation. The narrative of this blockade does not come strictly within the province of this work. It will, therefore, be sufficient to touch upon merely a few of the most salient points. The journal of Ransijat, which contains a very full and minute account of all that took place, is the principal authority extant the subject. His book is full of complaints as to the total
