“You will naturally expect to know the circumstances attending Captain Cooke’s death, which must ever reflect the highest honor on himself, and endear his memory to his friends and country. Having, with the greatest gallantry and judgment, conducted the Bellerophon into action and broke through the enemy’s line, under the stern of a Spanish 74 (Monarca), in hauling up to engage her to leeward, we fell on board the French ship, l’Aigle, which the smoke hindered us from seeing till too late to prevent our laying her on board on the weather quarter. She being a much loftier ship than ours, and full of troops, our quarter-deck, poop, and forecastle, became exposed to their musketry, from which we suffered much. About this time I was sent down by Captain Cooke to explain to the officers on the main and lower-decks the situation of the ship, and with his orders to direct their principal efforts against the ship we were foul of, vis. to take the beds and quoins from under the guns, and blow up the enemy’s decks. On my return to the quarter-deck, a few minutes after, I found he had fallen at 11 minutes past one o’clock, whilst in the act of reloading his pistols, which he had discharged two or three times. He was taken below, and on the surgeon opening his waistcoat, he found him just dead, having received a musket-ball or grape-shot in his right-breast, which had broken two of the ribs, and passing through the lungs, occasioned almost instant death. On inquiring of the men who carried him. below, I find that when seeing him fall, they asked him if they should take him down – he answered, ‘Let me lay one minute,’ which they did; – these were the last words he spoke[1].”
At this early period of the battle, the Bellerophon was closely engaged with the Monarca, as well as l’Aigle, and exposed to a distant cannonade from three other of the enemy’s ships. Lieutenant Cumby, however, had soon the satisfaction to see his more immediate opponent disentangle herself and drop astern, of which he took advantage by pouring several broadsides into her stern as she was in the act of falling off; and then directing his fire against the Monarca, compelled her to surrender.
In this tremendous conflict, the Bellerophon had no less than 150 officers and men killed and wounded[2]: l’Aigle is supposed to have lost nearly two-thirds of her crew. The
- ↑ It had ever been Captain Cooke’s strongest wish, even when he had no thought of employment, to be once placed under the command of Nelson:– to be in a general engagement with Lord Nelson, would, he used to say, crown all his military ambition. By the concurrence of events, this actually happened, and they were both doomed to fall at the same moment, and almost in the same manner.
- ↑ See Vol. I. p. 205.
