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96 THE NAVAL MUTINIES OF 1797
(xiii) Royal Sovereign (Admiral Gardner), 7 May :
" Dear Admiral (Pole),
I
lament the dreadful situation that we are again reduced
to, and God only knows where all this mischief is to end.
I have no comfort to afford Lord Bridport, or I would with
very great pleasure wait upon him. The present mutinous
disposition I believe is occasioned by the speeches which the
papers say were delivered on Wednesday last by the Duke
of Bedford and other great personages in the House of
Lords."
This letter from Sir Alan Gardner was evidently addressed to
Admiral Pole, for it was given to Bridport on 7 May. Pole and
Bridport were both on the Royal George at the time. Colpoys,
the only other Admiral in the fleet, was then a prisoner on the
Queen Charlotte, and a letter addressed to him certainly would
not reach Bridport on the same day.
Gardner added next day, in a letter to Nepean (A.S.I. 107,
J 268), that the ship's company had taken possession of his
cabin, and had seized all the arms and ammunition on the ship.
They told Gardner that he and the other admirals had deceived
them. They had misconstrued the order of 1 May, and believed
that unless they rose in self-defence their ringleaders would be
punished. " To what length they mean to carry this mutiny,
God alone knows."
NOTE 2. THE CONDITION OF THE FLEET ON 9 MAY.
As an indication of the progress of the mutiny, it may be
interesting to compare the state of the fleet on 9 May with its
condition on the
seventh.
The following ships had moved to St. Helens on 7 or 8 May :
London, Marlborough, Monarch, Virginie, Nymphe, Melpomene,
Sta. Margarita, Hind, Eurydice. The Royal William
must have been the only ship of the line left at Portsmouth.
It may have been the policy of the seamen to clear away from
the harbour and from Spithead every vessel that might be
dangerous in case of a conflict between the mutineers and the
government.
The dispatches of Bridport and Parker show that on 9 May
officers had been sent ashore from nearly every ship :
Royal Sovereign : Admiral Gardner sent ashore. He was
asked to return, but he wanted to retire. (J 275).
London : Colpoys and Griffith in close confinement and in
danger. All the lieutenants except three imprisoned.