Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-12-16
CHAPTER Xxx.

WHAT WAR MEANT IN THAT DAY
ON THE SEA.
NV ONE of the cabins of lie For
midable lay Captain Philip
Grafton. He had been badly
wounded by the splinter "a
piece of timber six feet long)
which had hurled him to the deck Of
the Torbay just as she went on the
rocks. The moment in which he had
been thrown overheard would have
been his last had 1t not been for the
heroic devotion of old Slocum.
Seeing the helpless condition Of his
commander he had plunged into the
water after him, and with superhuman
strength, skill and courage had sup
ported him until he had been able to
lay hold of one of the floating spars
of the Torbay. Slocum had lashed
Grafton to the spar and had clung
desperately to it himself during half
the night. After being tossed about
in a sickening way for hours, the
piece Of timber, with its two exhausted
occupants, had been washed athwart
LIE Formidable's cables. Slocum's
cries had attracted the attention Of
Midshipman La Perouse, afterward the
celebrated navigator and discoverer, on
board her, and the two Englishmen
had finally gained her decks.
The old man was not much the worse
for his adventure, but Grafton was In
a frightful condition. The blow, the
shock, the strain of the combat, the
mental agony he had suffered over the
loss of his wife, had reduced him to a
pitiable state. He was delirious with
fever. AS he lay in the berth he
fought over the battle, heard once
more the roar Of the guns, witnessed
the sinking of Le Thesee again, saw
once more his white-clad wife
LIE Formidable was veritable char
nel-house. The surgeon and his mates
were utterly overwhelmed by the un-
heard-of demand upon their services.
Nearly every officer on the ship had
been killed or wounded, and five hun
dred men in addition, before she had
struck her flag. She had, indeed, been
fought gallantly-nay, terribly! The
ward-rooms and cabins were filed with
groaning, raving men, many OF whom
had suffered amputation the day be-
fore, and had the tourniquets still
screwed on the stumps!- In some cases
the blood vessels were not taken up
until the third day after the battle.
The gun-room, the steerage, and every
available space between the guns on
the lower deck, even the cradles in
the hold, to say nothing Of the cock
pit, were filled with men in every
stage of wound and agony. The ships
medical staff were entirely unable to
cope with the situation. They worked
like heroes, nor eating, nor sleeping,
nor taking any rest, doing their best.
The chaplain had been killed, and
the suffering and dying were without
the consultations and comfort OF their
religion even. With every plunge OF
the ship, the wounded, unsecured, un-
provided with cots or hammocks (for
there were so many that there was no
place to lay them except upon the
bare decks), were rolled about and
thrown against each other with re-
suits too sickening to dwell upon. One
hideous yell from every part OF the
ship mingled with the scream OF the
tempest. The men prayed to die, and
some of the unwounded broke down
and became crazed by the awful sights
and sounds.
The officer who commanded the
French marines upon her, stated to the
English prize lieutenant that every
man of his detachment had been killed
or wounded, that he had served In the
army for thirty years, and had been
present on the bloody field Of Fonte-
noy, but he had never witnessed such
scene of carnage. In fact, all the
surgeons COulu w LII SoPAeoA SRSS
tions for hours during and after the
battle had been to "amputate, smooth
stumps and apply torniquets."
Surely never on any ship was ex-
hibited so much of the finished horror
of warfare as on this unlucky vessel.
The 1900 men who had gone down
IN "a Thocoo and Te SuDerbe were to
be envied in comparison with the fate
of this unfortunate crew. 1t seems
to be a modern phrase to say that
war is hell" but LIE Formidable pre-
sented an ancient example Of its eter-
nal truth. Her captors gazed upon the
melancholy ruin they had wrought,
and to them came an old saying with
a new force:
Blessed are the peacemakers!"
TO BE CONTINUED.