''Ramage and the Freebooters'', is an
historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
by
Dudley Pope
Dudley Bernard Egerton Pope (29 December 1925 – 25 April 1997) was a British writer of both nautical fiction and history, most notable for his Lord Ramage series of historical novels. Greatly inspired by C.S. Forester, Pope was one of the mos ...
, set during the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
. It is the third of the
Ramage novels, following on from ''
Ramage and the Drumbeat''.
Plot
Ramage, recovering from medical leave after the
Battle of Cape St Vincent is summoned to the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
by
Lord Spencer and given command of a
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
, HMS ''Triton'', with orders to take sealed dispatches to the admirals commanding the British fleets off
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
*Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
*Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
**Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Brest, ...
,
Cadiz and the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
. However, there is just one small problem – HMS ''Triton'' is docked at
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
, where crews of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
have
mutinied
Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among members ...
over pay and living conditions. Ramage knows that if he fails in his mission, he will become a convenient political scapegoat for the government.
Although Ramage sympathizes with the aims of the mutineers, he has a mission to perform. He obtains orders to have half of the crew of ''Triton'' replaced by men who formerly served under him on the Kathleen, including Southwick and Jackson. He then overcomes the mutiny by cutting the anchor cable as the tide was going out of Spithead harbor, forcing the men to man their posts, or risk drowning when the ship capsized.
Having dealt with the mutiny, partly with the clandestine aid of Jackson, Stafford, Rossi and Maxton, Ramage sets about curing the surgeon, Bowen, of alcoholism. Through a combination of enforced sobriety and an appeal to the man's pride in himself as an expert chess-player (almost the only remaining accomplishment the drunken Bowen can take a genuine pride in), Ramage succeeds in rehabilitating Bowen, who proves to be an excellent doctor once he has quit the drink.
Ramage successfully completes his rendezvous with
Admiral Curtis off Brest, and
Admiral Jervis of Cadiz, Ramage sets sail across the Atlantic. On the way, he captures ''La Merlette'', a French-owned
slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...
before making his rendezvous with Admiral Robinson on at
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
.
Ramage is ordered by Admiral Robinson to
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
, from which numerous merchant ships sailing to nearby
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...
have been mysteriously disappearing en route, presumably due to activity by
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s. Again, Ramage is being set up as a scapegoat, since Admiral Robinson and two of his frigate captains have spent months unsuccessfully searching for these privateers, and can now shift the blame to Ramage should fail at the same mission. At Grenada, Ramage gets off to an uneven start with Colonel Wilson. He then explores the coastlines of all islands between Grenada and Martinique, but is unsuccessful in finding the pirate's lair. On his return to Grenada, Ramage meets Governor Fisher, who turns out to be a pompous, incompetent social climber. However, Ramage accepts Fisher's invitation to a fete, as it will give him an opportunity to meet with many of the local shipowners. At the ball, Ramage falls quickly in love with Claire de Giraud, the extremely competent and beautiful private secretary to the Governor. However, at the ball, one of the shipowners insists that he must sail at once, as his cargo is perishable. Ramage reluctantly agrees, knowing that the ship will most likely be seized before reaching its destination. Only four people know the schedule. When Ramage steps out on the balcony of the governor's mansion for some fresh air, he notices some native drumming, sounding further and further way like the transmission of a message, and the sudden appearance of bonfires on the far coast. He realizes that this is how information on the sailing of ships from Grenada is reaching the pirates, but later realizes that the only person who could have overheard the schedule was Claire de Giraud. When he confronts Claire, he finds that she is the unwilling pawn of Governor Fisher's butler, who is not only a French spy, but is her father. Ramage has his native-Grenadan crewman, Maxton, train Jackson in how to send a false message and lays a trap for the privateers – he and twenty crewmen from the Tritons hide in the hold of a ship provided by Rondin, and allow themselves to be captured by the privateers, with Southwick following just under the horizon in ''Triton''. The plan works, but Ramage finds himself highly outnumbered as he and his crew recapture the ship from the privateers and attempt to fight their way out of their hidden base. With the help of ''Triton'', Ramage finally manages to overcome the privateers and to capture two of their ships. Arriving back at Grenada, he finds a lieutenant waiting with letter from Admiral Robinson reprimanding him for failing to complete his mission, and an angry report from Governor Fisher to the Admiral, both confirming his suspicions that he had been set up as a scapegoat from the start. However, with the capture of the privateers, Ramage finds that he now has the upper hand over his political enemies.
Characters
*
Nicholas Ramage - lieutenant and former commander of the cutter HMS Kathleen
*Thomas Jackson - Ramage's American coxswain
*Henry Southwick – Ramage's former master of the Kathleen
*Bowen – Ramage's alcoholic medical officer
*Maxton – one of Ramage's crewmen, a native of Grenada (inconsistently named "Maxwell" elsewhere in the series)
*Colonel Humphrey Wilson – British Army commander on Grenada
*Sir Jason Fisher – governor of Grenada
*Miss Claire de Giraud – private secretary to the Governor
*John Rondin – local businessman and ship owner
*
George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer
George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, (1 September 1758 – 10 November 1834), styled Viscount Althorp from 1765 to 1783, was a British Whig politician. He served as Home Secretary from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was ...
– First Lord of the Admiralty
Ships
* HMS ''Triton''
*
*
* ''Le Merlette''
* ''Jorum''
Critical reception
''
Booklist
''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...
'' called it "Another stirring eighteenth-century sea adventure", while ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' declared "Not even C.S. Forester knows more about the routine and battle procedures of the British Navy in the days of Nelson."
External links
Book Review at Navy Fiction
Notes
{{reflist
1969 British novels
Novels set during the French Revolutionary War
Novels by Dudley Pope
Fiction set in 1797
Weidenfeld & Nicolson books
Novels set on ships