o_199m9vaui14ib1cnu10di10pocoj4h.pdf

6;
CHAPTER VI.
The Mutiny at St.
Helens.
We must turn back now to the day of the outbreak
(7 May) and trace the less thrilling events on the other
ships of Bridport's squadron. When the delegates had
boarded the Marlborough and the London, they visited
the Monarch, a ship of the line which was stationed at
Portsmouth, 1 and several frigates that lay near at hand.
They ordered the crews of these vessels to send ashore
any officers
against whom they had grievances, and to
repair to St. Helens. 2 The object of the delegates was
to concentrate the fleet, for a compact body of men is
likely to be more manageable and unanimous, and better
able to offer resistance, than a scattered multitude ; and
at St. Helens the fleet was at a safe distance from the
guns of Portsmouth, but still near enough to land for
the purpose of negotiation. The mutineers had reason
to avoid Portsmouth town, for General Crosbie, the
military commander of the port, had made great preparations
in case the mutiny should change into rebellion.
He had nearly ten thousand men ready for action; 3 the
garrison was prepared for a siege, with drawbridges
taken up and guns pointed; and reinforcements were
even sent to " the old, crazy castle of Southsea." In the
1. On 18 April Parker mentioned that the Monarch was at Spithead
(A.S.I. 1022, A 357).
2. Parker to Nepean 7 May (A.S.I. 1023, A 424. Enclosures from
Colpoys, Cooke, of the Nymphe, and Nicholls of the Marlborough). It
would seem that they also demanded delegates from the ships at
Spithead, and that they afterwards regretted the measure (see below,
p. 73). The letter from the Eury dice's crew to their captain is signed
by two men who were apparently delegates.
3. Two thousand at Portsmouth, 3,000 at Hilsea, 2,000 at Gosport,
1,000 at Portsea, and another 1,000 at Farnham ; in addition to seven
companies of volunteers. See Belfast News Letter, 8 May, 1797.