Free Thunder On the Sea: A Tim Phillips novel (War at Sea Book 11) by Richard Testrake Page A

Henderson was alerted his men might be needed for action ashore, so every day for the week it took to reach their destination, Henderson had his men lined up on the quarterdeck rail, firing at boxes and kegs tossed into the ship’s wake. He made arrangements with Mister Fitzhugh to exercise his men by running them up each mast in turn.
    Prior to Henderson’s rehabilitation, Phillips would have wagered the sergeant would be unable to reach the mizzen top, let alone the others, but he kept up with his men, deliberately increasing the pace as their fitness came back.
    Their destination was a desolate place. Originally, just a fishing village situated on a shallow harbor, it had been fortified with a four gun battery armed with French eight pounder guns. Major Bentley had taken that battery and now it guarded his own forces. A small shipyard in the village had been torched, and the blaze had destroyed half the homes in the village before being extinguished.
    Bentley’s Marines were living an uncomfortable life in this place amidst the mud and filth. Much of the available food had been consumed and it was not considered safe to send out foraging parties, since the entire populace was furious at the destruction caused by the Marines and several men had already been shot. Bentley admitted to have become almost desperate as the expected arrival of the ships was delayed.
    The post ship saw much of her beef, biscuit and pork sent ashore to feed the starving Marines. In a day though, their commander reported his men capable of marching.
    Major Bentley proposed marching his troops along the coast road to the targeted depot but Phillips vetoed that idea. Instead, all troops, including those Marines from Prince Rupert, would be loaded on the transport and the ships would proceed out to sea, out of sight of land. Sailing west, the transport would land her troops on an isolated stretch of beach several miles away from the target. Landing just after dark, the strike force would march along the coast road toward the depot.
    Meanwhile, the post ship would be lying offshore, ready to open fire on the battery guarding the little harbor. Since the battery could be fired upon without endangering the attacking Marines, the ship’s guns would give the target their full attention until the attacking force sent up a red rocket indicating fire should cease.
    It was threatening ran when the ships separated. During the night, a steady downpour began. Phillips was concerned with the Marines who would be marching in this rain. The big Brown Bess muskets the men carried were not all that dependable even in ideal conditions. Even a tiny drop of water in the pan of the musket could wet the priming, turning the deadly firearm into a crude club or spear.
    As dawn approached, the ship moved closer to land. When within range of the battery, both bower anchors were deployed, with another anchor led around to the stern. There was little wind, and the anchors were holding the ship with her broadside threatening the yet invisible battery. The rain had settled down into a steady drizzle which Phillips did not believe would hinder his guns. Perhaps initially, the flintlocks would not be effective, but each gun had burning match in a linstock hung over a tub of water. Should the gun miss-fire, it would take only a second for the gunner to snatch up the linstock and press the burning end of the match into the quill protruding from the vent of the gun.
    As the time for dawn approached and passed, detail slowly became visible through the steady drizzle. Long after the optimal moment, the drenched masthead lookout reported the column on Marines about ready to approach the encampment. Although the ship should have been visible to sentries ashore, there had been no indication that anything was amiss.
    The ships’ guns were already loaded, with muzzles closed with protective tompions and vents shielded by a lead cover.
    On command, the tompions and vent covers were removed