The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-17 00:00:00

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the causes which led to the destruction of my' - . -:. ~
Bulldog, and to the charge upon which I apiair li S
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At the close of the reading of the address, Mr.
E. Behenna, assistant-master, and Lieut. John L.
Way, senior lieutenant of the Bulldog, were called
before the court and submitted to a long cross-exa-
mination on the various statements in the narrative,
the court more particularly inquiring as to whether
every proper means had been taken on board the
vessel on the day of the accident to prevent such a
circumstance occurring as her running ashore, and
whether subsequently every available means was
adopted to endeavour to get her off before she was
destroyed.

PRICE. 4d.
STAMPED sd.

Voldrogne, and the necssary distance from the shore
to be observed, supposing that undoubtedly we
should find her anchored where we had left her. I
also desired the senior lieutenant to study the chart
attentively, that in case of my falling he might be
prepared to take charge of the ship. At daylight next
morning, having thoroughly pm-pared the ship for ac-
tion, I entered the harbour of Cape I Llytien at 8 :30
a.m., easing the engines, and opening fire on Fort
Picolet as I passed, and I did so, among otherreasons,
because I wished to give warning of my intention,
and to afford time to the crews of the flotilla to
escape if they were so minded. On obtaining a clear
view of the harbour I believed that the Voldrogue
was in the same place as on the previous morning;
therefore, after clearing the shoals, feeling assured
that no danger intervened, I fired one shot at the
steamer, and ordered. the Bulldog to be steered
straight for her port beam, -put the engines at full
speed (the rebel steamerbeing then about two cables
distant), and ordered. that when the engines were
stopped they were to be immediately reversed in
order-that the ship might clear the sinking steamer
had I run her down—it was my intention to have
lowered my boats to save as many of her men as
were in danger of drowning, but I at the same time
entertained a confident expectation that they would
have deserted her. Our intentions being manifest,
the batteries opened fire upon us with round grape
and rifles, and the Voldrogue fired two guns on the
port side, and opened a straggling fire of musketry.
Almost simultaneously the Bulldog suddenly took
the ground in 12ft. Gin, of water, with the ship at
full speed, confident, in my opinion, that the Vol-
drogue was still occupying her former position. I
had somewhat misjudged the distance from the
shore and her true position, and I have since learned
from a subsequent examination made by the master,
that she had hauled further in shore, and inside the
tongue of the spit on which we had grounded. I
then ordered the Voldrogue to be sunk, which was
done by firing two 1001 b. shells at her, one of which
also sunk the large schooner, the others had made
fast to the American ship, under English colours,
and I did not meddle with them, not quite under-
standing the proceeding. I immediately ;sent a
boat to rescue the steamer's men in the water. I
then ordered the port paddle-box to be got out, and
the stream anchor and cable laid out by one watch,
while the other watch were returning the fire of the
batteries; and the water having slightly risen, I
hoped that the turn of the tide might be in her
favour, though I knew the rise and fall to be but
small. The water started in the tankS, the foremost
boilers blown out, the port guns run aft, the strain
got on, the stream cable held out astern, the ship's
company sent aft with shot in their hands, and
the engines reversed, but all to no purpose. By this
time the water began to fall, and it became evident
that we had gone ashore on the top of high water,
and that nothing was to be hoped from the tide. I
therefore thought it right to send an officer to the
American ship, with a request for assistance ; and
this I did because I felt sure that her Majesty's
ship could not be got off without help from another
vessel, and I thought it possible that the great
weight and power of the De Soto (a ship of 1,700
tons) might succeed in towing the Bulldog off. My
request was, however, refused, though he offered to
receive any of our wounded men. I then turned my
attention wholly to the enemies' batteries, and a
steady and well directed fire was kept up, by which
we succeeded in entirely silencing their guns; except
those from the battery abreast of the ship, from
which firing was kept up by field pieces loaded un-
der the protection of solid masonry, run quickly
out, fired, and withdrawn again under shelter. By
this means an occasional gun continued to be fired
at us until 5.30 p.m., when it ceased with the day-
light. I then reflected on the prospect before us.
The Bulldog had been run ashore at full speed on a
dead level of sand and coral at high water in a little
over 12 feet, she drawing at the time 14 feet 10in.
She was ashore as far aft as the main rigging, that
is about two-thirds of her length, with all her weight
on the ground. She was short of provisions, and had
expended about two-thirds of her coal. The cutter,
first gig, and my private gig had been disabled by
shot. The gunner had reported to me that there
was only ammunition enough to keep up the fire the
following day for three hours. Being within 500
yards of the shore, I felt it necessary to keep the
crew in a state of preparation to repel an attack
during the night, which I also heard, by a report
from the American ship, was contemplated on shore.
I felt convinced, from my knowledge of the great
difficulty always experienced in moving paddle-
wheel steamers when once they are grounded, that
the Bulldog could not have been hove off by her
anchors and cable until all her weight had been
taken out of her. I had been informed by a report
from the American ship that the enemy were bringing
down fresh guns from Fort Picolet, and I had myself
seen a numerous party proceeding in that direction
in the course of the afternoon. It was certain that
the fire would recommence at daylight, and that,
with the greatest economy, our ammunition would
be completely exhausted before noon, and that we
should then be a target for their field pieces, sup-
posing that we had succeeded in dismounting their
other guns. I did not dare to run the risk of em-
ploying the crew during the night in laying out the
bower anchor chain cable, of starting the coal, for
I did not believe that, fatigued as they were by hav-
ing been kept at the guns under fire for nearly nine
hours, this could have been accomplished before
daylight, and that not without considerable danger
of attracting the enemy's fire by so doing ; even if
laid out, I felt sure also the cables would be useless,
and that the men would be so much exhausted by
continued labour that they would be incapable of
further exertion during the ensuing day. Besides,
I knew that if one of our large boats should be dis-
abled by the enemy's shot, or otherwise, I had no
means of saving the crew. If more of her powder
were expended, I could not ensure the complete de-
struction of her Majesty's ship if it eventually
became necessary. I knew
also that laying out
anchors and lightening the ship under the enemy's
convinced that
fire, within 500 yards range, was out of the ques-
tion. At the same time I v
nothing could have beeneffected by
landing to
attack the enemy on shore, and that the attempt
las
could have only resulted in heavy loss, certain mas-
sacre•
the
vessel.t h e wounded,
bouandd e and the probable capture of
no
hopes of obtaining assistance
l
jofamaaniyea kind, and
any chance of haundd I knew that the insurrection in
e p in the
of any man-of-war.
arrival An anxious
and carefulof all these cir-
cumstancesforcedconsideration
tbeoonviction upon my
mind that no other alternative but to remove the
crew and to destroy the vessel that night while I
had the means of accomplishing the work of destruc-
tion effectually remained. I therefore determined
that I would not, for the sake of placing myself in
a better position before a court martial, delay doing
that which was eventually inevitable, and thereby
sacrifice more lives, and probably leave many
trophies in the hands of the enemy; therefore having
previously sent the wounded and prisoners to the
De Soto; I announced and explained my decision to
the assembled officers and ship's company, and after
a short delay for preparation mustered them quietly
into the boats, with their arms, at about 11 p.m.,
lighted the fusees leading into the magazines, and
the fires that were prepared between decks, and in
ten minutes the Bulldog was destroyed. I then took
the ship's company to Lessionade, about seven miles
on the opposite side of the bay, where we landed at
about two a.m., and having procured the assistance
of a llaytien steamer from the General command-
ing at Petit Avise, brought them round on the same
evening to L'Acul, where we were received on board
the Haytien steamer 22 Decembro, which, finally,
by the president's orders, conveyed us to Jamaica.
I have now completed my narrative, and have only
to explain that if I have not alluded to matters
mentioned by me in my official report, it is because j

The following officers and men were examined in
reference to the details of Captain Wakv's narra-
tive :—Richard Oliver Jones, master's assistant ;
W. Symons, captain's coxswain ; George Gentile,
quartermaster ; and William Taylor, signalman ;
Dr. J. Breakley, surgeon ; Mr. R. Broughton,
chief engineer. A statement was then submitted
to the court in defence of Captain Wake, pointing
out that his narrative was confirmed, and Lieu-
tenant Rougemont and Mr. E. Behenna, master's
assistant, appointed acting second master, and
doing duty as master of the Bulldog, were called
as witnesses in defence. The court was then
adjourned to 10 a.m. yesterday. On the court re-
assembling, Mr. Ingledew and Mr. J. Mackenzie
were also called in support of the captain's narrative.
The court was then closed, and after about two
hours' deliberation, on its being re-opened the
Judge-Advocate announced that the court were of
opinion that negligence was shown on the part of
Captain Wake and Mr. Behenna, the acting-master,
in running the Bulldog ashore, by allowing her to
run within the marks laid out in the chart. The
court was also of opinion that sufficient exertions
were subsequently not made to get the ship off ; also
that the ship was prematurely destroyed. Captain
Wake was therefore dismissed the ship, and severely -
reprimanded, and Mr. Behenna was reprimanded.
The court were also of opinion that Lieut. J. L.
Way and Lieutenant F. Rougemont had committed

errors of judgment in agreeing in counselling with
the captain to destroy the ship. The court could
not, however, separate after excepting the above
officer, without expressing its full approbation of
the very satisfactory conduct of the other officers
and the crew under such disadvantageous circum-
stances.