''The Surgeon's Mate'' is the seventh
historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...
in the
Aubrey–Maturin series
The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of nautical historical novels—20 completed and one unfinished—by English author Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centring on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the R ...
written by
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series. These sea novels are set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and ...
, first published in 1980. The story is set during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
and the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
.
Buoyed by victory over an American ship, Aubrey, Maturin and Diana Villiers speed to England on a mail packet that is chased for the papers in Maturin's hands, and possibly for Diana herself. The papers, including a copy of the official report of victory over an American ship, thus arrive in England before the originals, as the packet sailed to outrun the American chasers. Aubrey then commands HMS ''Ariel'' for a mission on the Danish coast, which ultimately leads him and Maturin once again to being prisoners of war.
This novel was part of the reissue of the series, with copies not always available in the original order written. This was a challenge to readers and reviewers of that time (1990–92), who did not fit this novel into its place in the sequence, suggesting each novel can be read on its own. It was praised as part of "O'Brian's superb series on the early-19th-century adventures" of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin,
and specifically marked as "Splendid escape. Literate and amusing.",
providing a "look at the darker side of Maturin's life: his work in British intelligence."
Plot summary
Sailing into
Halifax, the victorious contends with her losses in officers and crew, with particular concern for
Captain Broke, who lies unconscious from head wounds. The American Captain Lawrence dies en route from the battle and is buried at Halifax. Once in port, as prisoners of war are taken ashore and the British Navy deserters identified among them, the Shannons and her passengers, Captain Jack Aubrey, Dr Stephen Maturin, and Mrs Diana Villiers, feel the full joy of the first naval victory in the ongoing
war with America. Maturin communicates with Major Beck, an army counterpart in intelligence work. At the victory ball, Aubrey is pursued by Amanda Smith, known to Diana for her predatory ways. Jack spends the night with Miss Smith then quickly tires of her, yet she persists. He receives his first letters from his wife Sophia since the ''Leopard'' was left in the Dutch East Indies, so long ago. Others write the report of Broke's victory, to speed the official news to England.
Captain Dalgleish on the mail packet ''Diligence'' carries a copy of the official report, and Aubrey, Maturin, and Mrs Villiers as passengers. The American privateer ''Liberty'' chases ''Diligence'' on its northern route home. Diana is certain the privateers have been hired by the vengeful Johnson, who will spare no expense in recovering the intelligence papers and the priceless heirloom diamond, the Blue Peter, which Stephen and Diana have stolen from him. The ''Liberty'' wrecks on submerged ice in the foggy
Grand Banks
The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordfi ...
, her crew taken aboard by her follower, and ''Diligence'' reaches the Channel in 17 days. News of the victory is well-received in England, but Jack is eager to get home. His daughters and son have grown much since he last saw them, and his wife Sophia has admirably managed the ploys of the projector Kimber, in whose fraudulent schemes Jack has unwisely invested much of his fortune. Stephen visits Ireland for his uncle. He gives Johnson's private papers to Sir Joseph Blaine and asks him for Diana's release, whose American citizenship has caused her to be held in British custody. Blaine also recommends a lawyer for Aubrey to deal with the projector. Taking Diana with him, Stephen travels to Paris on a strictly scientific trip to present his work at the
Institut de France
The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...
, which he hopes will have the additional effect of quieting French suspicions that he is an intelligence agent. At the Institut, Diana wears the Blue Peter, of which she is quite fond. Stephen learns of the death of a Catalan poet, Ponsich, on an intelligence mission near Pomerania.
Jack's uncanny knack for inviting trouble on land is compounded when he begins receiving letters at home from Miss Smith, who claims to be pregnant by him, though Stephen suggests she is lying. Stephen visits Blaine again, who explains that Ponsich was killed during a botched diplomatic mission to capture the battery fortifying the French-held island of Grimsholm, off the coast of Denmark in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
. The battery is manned by Catalan revolutionaries assigned there by Bonaparte and kept loyal through false promises. They are led by Colonel Ramón d'Ullastret, who coincidentally is Stephen's godfather. Blaine explains that Grimsholm is too heavily fortified to be taken by force, but suggests that if the Catalans could be persuaded to surrender the island, it would change the situation in the Baltic enough to allow Prussia to join the offensive against Bonaparte. Stephen volunteers to perform the mission himself, with Jack as his captain.
Jack is offered command of the sloop HMS ''Ariel'', leaving on the next tide, with no time to stop at home for his sea chest. Mr Pellworm, an experienced Baltic pilot, is on board when he arrives, and Mr Jagiello, a young and handsome Lithuanian officer with the Swedish army, will serve as a translator. Passing
Elsinore, Danish shore batteries fire upon ''Ariel'' but miss the ship. At
Carlscrona, they meet with commander of the Baltic fleet Admiral
James Saumarez to devise a plan to land Stephen safely on Grimsholm: they will capture a Danish vessel, load her with wine and tobacco, and earn the battery's trust by bringing fresh supplies. ''Ariel'' chases a suitable vessel for some time but then discovers the Dutch privateer ''Minnie'' heading towards Grimsholm. Attempting to escape by luring ''Ariel'' into a tangle of shoals and reefs off the Danish coast, ''Minnie'' runs aground. Several French officers whom ''Minnie'' had been carrying to Grimsholm escape to the mainland, though ''Ariel'' captures the rest. The Ariels work feverishly to refloat the ''Minnie''. Stephen and Jagiello question some of the captured sailors about the proper signals for approaching Grimsholm, but Stephen senses their deception. He suggests to Jack a new tactic: the ''Minnie'', flying Dutch colors, will feign being chased by ''Ariel'' as she approaches the battery, which may allow outdated signals to be overlooked and the ''Minnie'' to land. The Ariels sailing the ''Minnie'' are disguised as Danish merchants.
The ruse works, though the ''Ariel'' gets dangerously close to the battery's guns. When Stephen begins speaking
Catalan and greets Colonel d'Ullastret, he is accepted by the garrison and manages to convince them to turn against Bonaparte over dinner. No lives are lost as the British take the fortified island. Admiral Saumarez welcomes Colonel d’Ullastret, pleased with their success. The Colonel boards the ''Ariel'', while the Catalan garrison travels in troop transports to Spain with ''Aeolus'' as escort, again navigating the narrow channels past Denmark. They fall in with an enormous international convoy of merchant ships escorted by the Royal Navy. Near
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
, an ''Ariel'' crewmember drops the ship's only chronometer in heavy seas, so they sail into the North Sea and the shallow waters of the English Channel unable to accurately chart their exact location and without the ''Aeolus'', which has taken refuge from the storm, leaving ''Ariel'' and her transport ships alone. Mr Pellworm predicts a fierce gale will beset them, but Jack is eager to reach the Bay of Biscay before it strikes. In heavy rains, ''Ariel'' meets one French ship, the ''Méduse'', being chased by HMS ''Jason''. Jack signals the troop transports to part so that ''Ariel'' can intervene to allow ''Jason'' to catch the fast-sailing ''Méduse''.
Having done some damage to ''Méduse'', ''Ariel'' is embayed in
Douarnenez Bay on the coast of Brittany. While trying to beat their way out, a mishap causes the ''Ariel'' to strike a rock and she is washed ashore. The officers and crew are taken as prisoners of war by French soldiers on shore. Colonel d’Ullastret is given a Marine's uniform and a false name, and he promptly escapes overland. Jack, Stephen, and Jagiello are taken to Paris with the terse Monsieur Duhamel and lodged in the
Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
, an ancient prison now being gradually demolished. Jack works on a way to escape from their cells by removing heavy stones in the privy chute, with help from Jagiello. Stephen is questioned by competing French intelligence groups; from one he learns that Diana has miscarried. To his surprise and suspicion, Duhamel makes an offer from parties expecting the emperor's defeat. He brings the prisoners English newspapers, from which Jack happily learns that HMS ''Ajax'' took ''Méduse'', making his efforts worthwhile, and that Miss Smith has married.
Before Duhamel can return to collect him, Stephen is taken once more for questioning and deduces that an immense sum has been offered for his release when one of the interrogators mentions someone has paid "half Golconda" to the French authorities. Suddenly, Johnson arrives at the interrogation and identifies Stephen as the killer of Dubreuil and Pontet-Canet; Stephen is immediately taken to a dungeon cell, where he expects to be tortured, but is returned to Jack and Jagiello the following day. Now desperate to escape as soon as possible, the trio hurries to finish their excavation in the privy chute, but Duhamel arrives just as the last stone is removed. Convinced that Duhamel's offer is sincere, he leads them out of the Temple, picks up Diana, and remarks how Jack's escape shaft will be the explanation for their disappearance. They board the packet ship HMS ''Oedipus'' under Jack's long-time midshipman and newly promoted captain William Babbington. Stephen's mysterious benefactor turns out to have been Diana, who has given up the Blue Peter, a diamond from the
Golconda
Golconda is a fortified citadel and ruined city located on the western outskirts of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls. It was ceded to the Bahmani ...
mines, to a French minister in exchange for his release, though she is unaware of Stephen's escape having been procured through Duhamel. As the ship crosses the Channel to England, Stephen and Diana are finally married, with Jack giving her away and Babbington officiating.
Characters
''See also
Recurring characters in the Aubrey–Maturin series
This is a list of recurring characters in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. As is noted in the articles about each novel, some of these characters are based on real historical persons, while others are purely fictional ...
''
Halifax
*
Jack Aubrey
John "Jack" Aubrey , is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series of novels portrays his rise from lieutenant to rear admiral in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The twenty (and o ...
: Captain recently escaped as prisoner of war of the Americans, learns his next ship was assigned to another captain.
*
Stephen Maturin
Stephen Maturin () is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his career as a physician, naturalist and spy in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and the long pursuit of ...
: Ship's surgeon, physician, natural philosopher, friend to Jack and intelligence officer.
*
Diana Villiers
Diana Villiers is a fictional character in the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. Described as beautiful, mercurial, and entirely unreliable, she is the great love and great sorrow of Stephen Maturin's life.
Character histo ...
: Cousin to Sophia, and the love of Stephen's life, who becomes his wife. She was introduced in ''
Post Captain
Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith".
The term served to di ...
''.
*Mr Wallis: Lieutenant in command of HMS ''Shannon'' coming into
Halifax.
*Mr Falkiner: Lieutenant in command of the prize, USS ''Chesapeake'', coming into Halifax.
*
Philip Broke: Captain of the ''Shannon'', seriously injured from head wounds from the battle with ''Chesapeake''.
*
Admiral Colpoys: Port admiral in Halifax for the Royal Navy.
*Lady Harriet Colpoys: Wife of the admiral, accepts Mrs. Villiers as house guest, and hosts a ball to celebrate the victory.
*Major Beck: Army intelligence office in Halifax, who read the papers Maturin collected.
*
James Lawrence
James Lawrence (October 1, 1781 – June 4, 1813) was an officer of the United States Navy. During the War of 1812, he commanded in a single-ship action against , commanded by Philip Broke. He is probably best known today for his last words, ...
: Captain of the USS ''Chesapeake'', died en route to Halifax from his wounds in the battle, where the British buried him.
*Miss Amanda Smith: Attractive and deceptive woman who pursues Aubrey in Halifax.
*Mr Dalgleish: Owner and captain of the hired mail courier ''Diligence'' sailing out of Halifax.
England
*Sophia Aubrey: Jack's wife and mother of their three children. She was introduced in ''
Post Captain
Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith".
The term served to di ...
''.
*Mr Kimber: The schemer (projector) with a process to recover the lead and silver from "valuable dross" on Aubrey's land, now unwanted by Aubrey and pursued by his lawyer. He was introduced in the fifth novel, ''
Desolation Island''.
*General Aubrey: Jack's father, recently associating with the Radical party in Parliament, teaching his grandchildren how to campaign and to vote at Ashgrove Cottage, but not much use to his son's career.
*Sir Joseph Blaine: Senior figure at the Admiralty and Maturin's spymaster.
*Pompeu Ponsich: Famed Catalan scholar sent on the sloop ''Daphne'' by Blaine to meet Colonel d'Ullastret at Grismholm Island.
*Skinner: Lawyer recommended by Sir Joseph to help Aubrey with the projector Kimber.
*Andrew Wray: Once cheated Aubrey at cards, now appointed acting 2nd secretary of the Navy. He was introduced in the fifth novel ''
Desolation Island''.
*Mrs Broad: Owner of The Grapes in the Savoy, where Maturin keeps rooms. She was introduced in the second novel, ''
Post Captain
Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith".
The term served to di ...
''.
*
James Grant: Was first lieutenant in the ''Leopard'' after Recife, parted in boats before reaching Desolation Island and returned safely to England. On return, he has received no other ships. He blames Aubrey, denying the Dutch 74 gun ship sunk by the ''Leopard'' was armed, blocking prize money.
Sailing the Baltic Sea
*Gedymin Jagiello: Young handsome Lithuanian cavalry officer, seconded to the Admiralty from the Swedish army. He is useful to the mission, bright, cheerful, but dismisses the frequent attention of women, as he would need to find one with whom he could be friends, the true link between people.
*Mr Hyde: First lieutenant on the ''Ariel'' as Aubrey is captain for the mission in the Baltic. He works hard, but Aubrey judges him not a born seaman. He makes errors with words in commands on occasion.
*Mr Pellworm: Pilot who knows the Baltic well, and sails with the ''Ariel'' in those waters, on board before Aubrey arrived, and dropped off at Deal on return. He quotes poetry freely.
*Ramon d'Ullastret i Casademon: Catalan colonel at Grimsholm Island and Stephen Maturin's godfather.
*Admiral
Sir James Saumarez
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...
: Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy's Baltic Fleet at
Carlscrona.
*General Mercier: French general on his way, with Colonel Ligier, to Grimsholm to deal with the situation of breakdown of command, under orders from
Oudinot. Mercier and Ligier escape the beached ''Minnie'' on a boat, which ''Ariel'' shatters.
*The Gentleman's Relish: A Swedish actress who entered Jagiello's cabin when he was out, very much unwanted.
*Mr Smithson: Most senior captain of the troop carriers, directed by Aubrey to sail on to Santandero (
Santander, Spain
Santander ( , ; ) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. It has a population of 172,000 (2017). It is a port city located in the northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Cantab ...
) on the Spanish coast of the Bay of Biscay.
France
*Monsieur Duhamel: French secret agent, preparing for the possible defeat of the emperor. He negotiates with Maturin on the terms to return to England, meeting exactly all but one, the return of the Blue Peter to its owner before they leave Paris.
*Madame Lehideux: Attractive widow who lives across from the Temple and who cooks meals, cleans clothes and sends tools for escape to the three prisoners in the Temple in Paris. Like so many women, she finds Jagiello very appealing. Once the wall goes down, the two communicate by signs.
*Major Clapier: One of the many who interrogate Maturin, in places away from the Temple in Paris, with a link to the American spy Johnson.
*Henry (Harry) Johnson: Wealthy American whose personal papers were confiscated by Maturin in Boston; he is a spy and was once lover to Diana Villiers. He pursues his vengeance across the Atlantic, into Paris. He was first mentioned in the third novel, ''
HMS Surprise''.
*William Babbington: Midshipman and lieutenant under Aubrey and now a commander. He was an admirer of Diana as midshipman during the Peace. He is captain of the packet ship HMS ''Oedipus''. He was introduced in the first novel, ''
Master and Commander''.
Ships
*British
**
**
**HMS ''Humbug''
**HMS ''Oedipus''
**
**
*Danish
**''Minnie'' (privateer)
*French:
** ''Méduse''
Title
The book title is a triple entendre in its use of the term "mate", referring to the
ship's surgeon
A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail.
Ancient uses
Special ...
's
mate, a chess reference to Maturin's successful espionage efforts (i.e.,
checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
), and Diana Villiers becoming Stephen's wife, the surgeon's mate.
In 1617
a British naval handbook bore the title ''The Surgeon's Mate''. The handbook recommended citrus fruit and fresh vegetables as a cure for
scurvy
Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...
, a fatal disease caused by the lack in
vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...
of sailors' onboard diet, a nutrient now known to be essential to prevent scurvy. (The advice was ignored at the time, and scurvy continued to kill more sailors than battles did into the 18th century.)
Reviews
While one reviewer finds this novel a story of both Aubrey and Maturin, another sees it primarily as a story of Maturin, with light shed on his dark world of intelligence and spies.
''
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...
'' find the story literate and amusing, and "polished, historically accurate, and intensely pleasurable tales" from the era of the Napoleonic Wars.
The many actions in the plot are noted: "This time out, Captain Jack Aubrey and ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin limp home from America for a brief rest before sailing to the Baltic to subvert the occupying Catalan troops—and then to the Bay of Biscay to run aground ... The Baltic mission is successful, but the subsequent flight from Scandinavia runs into the rocks off the French coast. The officers are taken prisoner".
Their comments on the novels include historical accuracy, writing style and overall experience: "these polished, historically accurate, and intensely pleasurable tales of the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic era. ... Splendid escape. Literate and amusing."
''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' finds the series superb, and this novel looking at the dark side of intelligence work.
The plot aspect of note is that "Aubrey, Maturin and Diana Villiers (Maturin's fickle and enigmatic love) are passengers on a packet ship from Nova Scotia to England when two American privateers give chase. They are hunting Maturin".
Once in England, Maturin proceeds to France with the war still on, "Armed with safe conduct papers, he lectures on natural history and installs Villiers in Paris."
and he refuses to be tricked by the French agents. Then, "Maturin is sent to woo Catalan officers and troops from the French cause to the British",
continuing to view the novel through Maturin's role. "Aubrey provides transport, but ... the mission takes a nasty turn when their ship founders; seized by the French, Maturin and Aubrey are hauled off to Paris's infamous Temple Prison."
Allusion to historical events
In 1807, the Spanish government, at that time allied with France, had sent 15,000 troops to Denmark to act as a garrison against a possible British landing there. These troops, among the best in Spain, garrisoned offshore islands in small detachments and remained in the dark about political developments in Spain following Napoleon's invasion and occupation of Spain in 1807 (see
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
).
The
Duke of Wellington
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
dispatched the Scottish Benedictine monk
James Robertson (on the advice of his brother
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley
Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of ...
). Robertson, brought up at the
Benedictine abbey at
Regensburg
Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...
in Germany, managed to pass through occupied Germany under the guise of "Adam Rohrauer", a dealer in cigars and chocolate. Robertson made contact with the Spanish general, the
Marquis de la Romana, on the island of
Funen
Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...
, where the two agreed that the Spanish troops would defect and return to Spain on British ships. Robertson escaped to
Heligoland
Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...
(then a British possession) to inform Admiral
Richard Goodwin Keats of the agreement, and a fleet of transports escorted by
HMS ''Superb'' embarked 9,000 Spanish soldiers. The island named in the novel is fictional, but positioned off the Pomeranian coast and its garrisons were in similar ignorance of the progress of the war regarding their homeland.
The imprisonment of Aubrey and Maturin in the
Temple prison in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
may echo the case of Captain
Sidney Smith, captured on 19 April 1796 while attempting to cut out a French ship in
Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
. Instead of exchanging him as was customary, the French took Smith to the Temple prison and charged him with
arson
Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...
for his
burning of the fleet at
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department.
The Commune of Toulon h ...
in 1793. Smith remained held in Paris for two years, despite a number of efforts to exchange him and frequent contacts with both French
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
s and British agents.
In 1798, Royalists pretending to take him to another prison instead helped him to escape. They brought him to Le Havre, where he boarded a fishing boat and then transferred to a British
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
on patrol in the
English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
, arriving in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
on 8 May 1798. Some historians have speculated that he allowed the French Republicans to capture him so that he could make contact with the Royalists.
Allusions to science and technology
In Chapter 9, Aubrey explains rather clearly, in dialogue with Maturin, how a chronometer or watch set to Greenwich time, compared with local noon, lets a navigator establish
longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...
, or distance from Greenwich as the reference time point, when the sole chronometer set to Greenwich time is broken by one of the crew. Because they left England in such a hurry, Aubrey was not able to fetch his own set of
chronometers from home. After the standard issue ship chronometer is dropped and broken by the lieutenant while returning from the Baltic, the lack of a chronometer combined with constantly stormy skies made it impossible to accurately navigate, leading to the ''Ariel''s eventual foundering on the coast of France.
Series chronology
This novel references actual events with accurate historical detail, like all in this series. In respect to the
internal chronology of the series, it is the first of eleven novels that might take five or six years to happen but are all pegged to an extended 1812, or as Patrick O'Brian says it, 1812a and 1812b (introduction to ''The Far Side of the World'', the tenth novel in this series). The events of ''The Yellow Admiral'' again match up with the historical years of the Napoleonic wars in sequence, as the first six novels did.
Author's Note
(copied in whole, for later use in its parts)
Great men can afford anachronism, and indeed it is rather agreeable to find Criseyde reading the lives of the saints or Hamlet going to school at Wittenberg; but perhaps the ordinary writer should not take many liberties with the past. If he does, he sacrifices both authenticity and the willing suspension of disbelief, and he is sure to receive letters from those with a greater love of precision than himself. Only the other day a learned Dutchman reproached me for having sprinkled eau de Cologne in the forepeak of HMS ''Shannon'' in my last book: the earliest English reference to eau de Cologne, said he, quoting the Oxford Dictionary, is in a letter of Byron's dated 1830. I believe he was mistaken in assuming that no Englishman ever spoke of eau de Cologne before that time; but his letter made me uneasy in my mind, all the more so since in this present book I have deliberately kept Sir James Saumarez in the Baltic some months after he had taken the ''Victory'' home and struck his flag. In the first draft I had relied on the Dictionary of National Biography, which maintained the Admiral in command for my chosen period: but then, checking in the memoirs of one of his subordinates, I found that in fact another man had taken his place. Yet I did want to say something about Saumarez, an outstanding example of a particular type of sea-officer of that time, deeply religious, extremely capable, and a most effective diplomat, so as I really could not rearrange the calendar any more I decided to leave things as they were, although out of some obscure feeling of respect for that noble ship I omitted all reference to the ''Victory''. The historical sequence, therefore, is not quite exact; but I trust that the candid reader will grant me this amount of licence.
Publication History
* 1980 Collins hardback first edition
* 1992 W W Norton paperback
*
Recorded Books
Recorded Books is an audiobook imprint of RBMedia, a publishing company with operations in countries globally. Recorded Books was formerly an independent audiobook company before being purchased and re-organized under RBMedia, where it is now an ...
Unabridged Audio edition narrated by Patrick Tull ()
* 2011, USA, W W Norton & Company (), Pub date 5 December 2011, e-book
The books in this series by Patrick O'Brian were re-issued in the US by
W. W. Norton & Co. in 1992, after a re-discovery of the author and this series by Norton, finding a new audience for the entire series. Norton issued ''The Surgeon's Mate'' twelve years after its initial publication, as a paperback in 1992. Ironically, it was a US publisher,
J. B. Lippincott & Co., who asked O'Brian to write the first book in the series, ''
Master and Commander'' published in 1969.
Collins picked it up in the UK, and continued to publish each novel as O'Brian completed another story. Beginning with ''
The Nutmeg of Consolation'' in 1991, the novels were released at about the same time in the USA (by W W Norton) and the UK (by HarperCollins, the name of Collins after a merger).
''Kirkus Reviews'' mentions the arrival of books out of order to a reviewer's desk: "The dashing Aubrey/Maturin naval tales (among others, ''The Ionian Mission''--see above) continue to come out in intervals from England, where they are hugely and deservedly popular. Published some years ago in the UK, they've been arriving out of order, so readers find themselves sorting out prequels from sequels. But shipping arrangements do no damage to these polished, historically accurate, and intensely pleasurable tales of the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic era."
Novels prior to 1992 were published rapidly in the US for that new market. Following novels were released at the same time by the UK and US publishers. Collins asked Geoff Hunt in 1988 to do the cover art for the twelve books published by then, with ''The Letter of Marque'' being the first book to have Hunt's work on the first edition. He continued to paint the covers for future books; the covers were used on both USA and UK editions. Reissues of earlier novels used the Geoff Hunt covers.
Adaptations
In 2014, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of author Patrick O'Brian, BBC Radio 4 aired a 10-part adaptation of ''The Surgeon's Mate'', with Benedict Cumberbatch as narrator. The series was first aired in 2004.
References
External links
Maps for ''The Surgeon's Mate''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surgeons Mate, The
1980 British novels
Aubrey–Maturin series
Fiction set in the 1810s
William Collins, Sons books