Ramage at Trafalgar by Dudley Pope

Author:Dudley Pope [Pope, Dudley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Historical Naval Fiction
ISBN: 9781590130223
Google: er3yAAAAMAAJ
Amazon: 1590130227
Goodreads: 1077357
Publisher: McBooks Press
Published: 1986-01-01T11:00:00+00:00

Scots, Welsh and Irish) referred to "the British".

Anyway, once having got out of Cadiz on an east wind, where would the Combined Fleet go? If north-westward for the English Channel, then (if they managed to evade Nelson) they had a soldier's wind and a calm sea. If they were bound for the Mediterranean, though, the Gut was only fifty miles down the coast to the south-five hours' sailing in a brisk breeze. But if the Combined Fleet was bound for the Mediterranean-for Malta, to try to intercept General Craig's convoy, or for some operation against Italy-as soon as they turned into the Strait that east wind would be foul for them. . .

Neither the cat (Lord Nelson) nor the mouse(Villeneuve)had an easy task-unlessVilleneuvewas bound for the English Channel. But there was usually some warning of an east wind, and sails had to be bent on...It would take the Combined Fleet many hours to get sails hoisted and anchors weighed, but using flag signals and Popham's new code, His Lordship should have the news in half an hour. . .

Cadiz and this coast,Ramagemused, was scattered with history: that mountain to the south-east, as Southwick had told Orsini, was named after the family one of whose dukes led the Spanish Armada; fifteen miles northwards from Cadiz was the mouth of the Guadalquivir andSanlúcar de Barrameda,from where Magellan sailed in1519to go round the world. Thirty-five miles north of there, from Palos on the Rio Tinto, Columbus sailed in1492to discover the New World. .

.Columbus's discovery, Magellan's circumnavigation and the Spanish Armada sailing from Cadiz just about covered all that mattered at sea in the last few centuries, and it all began along fifty or sixty miles of this coast. . .

The forthcoming battle (if itwas forthcoming) might add a footnote, since if Nelson lost it (or the Combined Fleet evadedhim) then there would be nothing to stop Bonaparte invading England (and Scotland and Wales!).

And whether or not the Combined Fleet evaded Lord Nelson or was brought to battle by him might well depend on the intelligence to be passed tonight by this Spaniard, who lived in the lee of theSan Joséchurch.

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Jackson and the boat's crew. Jackson was an American, Rossi an Italian, Louis, Albert,Augusteand Gilbert were French, Orsini was Italian, but could pass for Spanish, and he himself could pass for Spanish.A cosmopolitan crew.

So an inquisitive sentry answered in the dark in perfect Spanish or French might be satisfied. . .

QuicklyRamageexplained to the men what their task for that night was to be. The thole pins of the cutter, as well as the looms of the oars, were to be bound with cloth to cut down the creaking and squeaking; the sail was to be painted black; they were to check that there were a couple of grapnels on board, each with at least ten fathoms of line: they were to have a cutlass each and tomahawks if they wished, but no pistols or muskets. They

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