Sometimes, the life of a single man can be utterly
extraordinary. Such is the case of a certain 19th
00:06
century Scottish madman, whose daring exploits
played a crucial role in defeating Napoleon,
00:12
but also made him a revolutionary war hero in
Chile, Peru, and Brazil. Yet also, a man whose
00:18
utter stubbornness made him an enemy of every
superior officer he ever served under. Welcome
00:25
to our documentary on Lord Thomas Cochrane. The
single most insane sea captain of the age of sail.
00:30
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Thomas Cochrane was born in 1775 in Annsfield
in Scotland to Anna Cochrane and the 9th Earl
01:49
of Dundonald Archibald Cochrane. The Cochranes are
the direct descendants of a Lowland Scottish clan,
01:56
whose origins are traced to a Viking
warrior from around the 9th century
02:02
and the name itself is derived from an old
Gaelic portmanteau meaning “The Roar of Battle”.
02:07
The Cochranes had a long history of
military service to the British Empire,
02:13
members of the clan had fought and
died in the war of Spanish Succession,
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served as loyalists during the Jacobite
Rebellion, and even partook in the French and
02:22
Indian wars in the New World and the family was
affectionately nicknamed “The Fighting Cochranes”.
02:27
From a young age, Thomas wished to add to the
Cochrane’s fighting legacy by joining the Navy,
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but against his wishes, his father had him
enlisted in the 104th regiment of the King’s army.
02:39
The young Scot hated army life, particularly
the rigid dress-code. Stating this in his
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autobiography: “My hair, cherished with
boyish pride, was plastered back with a
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vile composition of candle-grease and flour. My
neck, from childhood open to the lowland breeze,
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was cased in an inflexible leathern collar.”
Cochrane fled back to his father, begging him
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to send him to sea, rather than spend one more day
in the army. This was the first time the Cochrane
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showed defiance in the face of authority and it
would become a theme for the rest of his life.
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On July 28th, 1793, Thomas Cochrane
entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman.
03:21
It was a position that he earned
largely due to his family’s influence.
03:28
At 17, he was a few years older
than most other midshipmen.
03:33
Nevertheless, he made the most of his late start,
eagerly learning every intricacy of naval life,
03:37
impressing his superiors with his natural
leadership abilities and voracious curiosity.
03:43
Cochrane had joined the Royal Navy when
trouble was brewing on the continent.
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The French King Louis XVI had recently lost during
the revolution, and the newly established French
03:54
Republic had declared war upon Monarchies of
Europe that would seek to reimpose a King on them.
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Thus, much of Cochrane’s naval career was defined
by war with the French and their Spanish allies.
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Cochrane spent much of his first two years
of service on the 38-gun frigate HMS Thetis,
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where he was promoted to acting lieutenant.
Thetis was active in the Eastern Seaboard
04:19
of the United States, seizing American
merchant ships bound for French Harbours.
04:24
After four years in North America on various
vessels, Cochrane returned to Britain in 1798.
04:30
By then, the European war front had become more
dire. A Corsican artillery officer by the name
04:37
of Napoleon Bonaparte had risen through the smoke
and blood of the Revolution to become a General
04:43
devastating the British allies. Bonaparte had
his eyes set upon an invasion of Britain itself,
04:49
and the only thing standing in his way
was the Royal Navy’s dominance at sea.
04:55
Meanwhile, other big names among British
seamen were making names for themselves,
05:01
as Britain was still celebrating Horatio
Nelson’s victory over French at the battle
05:06
of the Nile. This only further invigorated the
fighting Scot to seek out glory of his own.
05:10
Luckily, Cochrane’s connections in the Scottish
aristocracy managed to get him appointed as an 8th
05:17
Lieutenant aboard the HMS Barfleur, flagship
of the British fleet in the Mediterranean,
05:22
captained by the Acting Admiral, Lord Keith.
For around a year, Cochrane served as part of
05:28
a fleet of fifteen ships operating off the coast
of Southern Spain, managing to keep a fleet of
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twenty Spanish warships blockaded in Cadiz.
Meanwhile, many of Cochrane’s peers resented
05:39
the relative speed at which he had advanced in the
ranks, and this enmity would soon come to a boil.
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The young Scot found himself butting heads with
the Barfleur’s first Lieutenant, Philip Beaver.
05:51
Supposedly, Beaver had confronted Cochrane
for reporting himself aboard the ship late
05:57
after a period of shore leave. Cochrane’s
prideful nature got the better of him,
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complaining that he had only been late
because he had to change his muddied clothes.
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For quarreling with his superior,
he found himself court martialed.
06:12
He was offered an opportunity to apologize to
Beaver, but refused. Nevertheless, he was still
06:17
acquitted by Lord Keith, but the incident would
cost him, he was now on his Admiral’s bad side.
06:22
In January of 1800, the Mediterranean fleet was
dispatched to Italy, to join forces with Horatio
06:30
Nelson. While ashore on Sicily, Cochrane had the
opportunity to meet Britain’s most famous Admiral.
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Nelson was a celebrity, and
Cochrane looked up to him.
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Cochrane’s autobiography mentions a particularly
laconic piece of advice given to him by Nelson:
06:47
“Never mind maneuvers, always go at them.”
Cochrane would take this advice to his heart.
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A month later, Nelson seized a squadron of
French ships off Malta, and Cochrane was
06:59
tasked to deliver one of the prize frigates into
British hands at Fort Mahon through enemy infested
07:04
waters. A storm nearly sunk his quarry, but he
prevailed. For his success, he was promoted,
07:09
and appointed Commander of the HMS Speedy.
Unfortunately, Speedy was a tiny sloop
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equipped with only a handful of four-pounder
cannons, which Cochrane called “a species of gun
07:23
little larger than a blunderbuss.” Cochrane even
found his new living quarters impossibly cramped,
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with barely room to stand straight,
sit properly, or even shave.
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It is possible that this appointment
was a form of punishment, by Lord Keith,
07:38
who hoped to shackle the impudent Cochrane to
a small, insignificant vessel dooming him into
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obscurity. If this truly was the intention,
it would end up backfiring spectacularly.
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The path of destruction that Thomas Cochrane
would embark upon commanding this vessel
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would be the first of many adventures
that would cement him into legend.
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The journey of the HMS Speedy began on April 22nd
of 1800 with an immediate success. Cochrane was a
08:05
mere month into his first cruise when
he captured a French Privateer vessel
08:12
off the coast of Cagliari. Within the next three
months three more small vessels were captureed,
08:16
while dozens more were harried, which put
Cochrane back in the good graces of his superiors.
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Cochrane regarded his early conquests
as modest, as he had larger ambitions.
08:28
Following winter Cochrane really began to
employ his legendary cunning. His sloop had
08:34
been patrolling the eastern Spanish Coast for the
better part of December, and on the 21st of that
08:40
month, came upon a vessel they perceived to be a
well-laden Spanish merchant. Speedy drew closer
08:45
to investigate, only for the target to raise its
gunports, revealing itself as a frigate of war.
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Cochrane had no intention to risk battle with a
vessel far superior in firepower to his, nor was
08:58
his tiny brig able to outsail the foe. Luckily,
he had space and time to spare. He ordered his
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ship be painted to resemble a Danish Brig, and
brought a Danish speaking Quartermaster on deck.
09:11
He instructed the Quartermaster to tell the
Spaniards the Speedy was plague-ridden and that
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spooked the Frigate away. It wouldn’t be the last
time that the cunning commander would employ false
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colours, as Cochrane kept a collection of various
flags aboard his ships for much of his career.
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The next few months saw Cochrane’s
successes continue to pile.
09:34
Capturing an armed warship is very difficult, yet
Cochrane achieved that regularly. His deceptive
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cunning and clever use of false flags was the key
to his success. HMS Speedy travelled at night,
09:45
and attacked at dawn, her small size allowed
her to strike fast, and slip away undetected.
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One notable engagement saw Cochrane once more
fly a Danish flag to approach a French and a
09:58
Spanish brig off the coast of Catalonia. His
prey never suspected a thing, and Speedy closed
10:03
in for the catch, hoisting British colours and
capturing both vessels and all 54 men aboard.
10:09
Cochrane was now known both by his countrymen
and the enemies, as his autobiography notes
10:16
that Speedy’s success had made him a “marked
object of the Spanish Naval Authorities.”
10:21
His reputation as a maverick would only grow, most
notably within the gilded halls of high society.
10:27
In February of 1801, the young Commander
purchased a ticket for a fancy ball in Malta,
10:34
hosted by some aristocratic
French Royalists-in-exile.
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Cochrane dressed himself for the occasion in
a British Sailor’s garb he described as “as
10:44
honourable a character as Greek, Turkish
and other oriental disguises in vogue.”
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Nevertheless, he was barred entry at the
gates, his outfit considered too rustic.
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A heated argument ensued with a French officer
ensued, followed by a challenge to a duel.
10:59
The following morning, the pair met with pistols
in hand. Cochrane shot the Frenchman through
11:04
the waist, while he himself passed unscathed.
Cochrane put back to sea later that month. It
11:09
was business as usual once more aboard HMS Speedy,
as it returned to harrying the vessels of Napoleon
11:16
and Spain on the coasts of the Meditteranean.
By the morning of May 6th of 1801, Speedy had
11:22
already captured or sunk seventeen vessels
off the Spanish coast, and was now cruising
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the coasts of Barcelona. There, she came across
a peculiar vessel on the horizon, and tacked on
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the breeze to investigate. As it turned out, it
was the El Gamo, a Xebec-Class Spanish Frigate,
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which likely had been deployed specifically to
eliminate the menace that was Speedy. Cochrane
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knew his situation was dire, as Gamo was a heavy
warship, baring 32 cannon and 319 crewmen. Speedy,
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on the other hand, had only 54 hands on deck,
and 14 cannons, which lacked the power and range.
12:01
Admiral Nelson’s words rang true in the daring
Scotman’s mind: “Never Mind maneuvers, always
12:08
go at them.” Cochrane ordered his crew to hoist
an American flag, and make directly for Gamo.
12:14
The Spaniards hesitated, unwilling to
risk a diplomatic incident by firing on
12:21
what could be a neutral vessel. This allowed
Cochrane to approach so close to Gamo that
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he could see the whites of her crew’s eyes.
Speedy’s yardarm locked with Gamo’s rigging,
12:31
and from there, the gig was up, and Cochrane gave
the order to let fly. The union jack was hoisted,
12:36
and Speedy unleashed a deadly broadside cannonade
at point-blank range. Her guns had been elevated,
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and unleashed destruction upon the Spanish
deck, killing Gamo’s captain in the first blast.
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Speedy’s proximity made it so her foe’s
cannon fired harmlessly over her short deck.
12:54
Musket fire proved an ineffective tool as well
in picking off a battle-hardened British crew.
13:00
Twice, the Spaniards attempted a boarding
party, and twice Speedy veered out of range,
13:06
and fired another broadside.
Cochrane soon realized it was time
13:10
for the coup de grace, stating “Our rigging being
cut up and the Speedy’s sails riddled with shot,
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I told the men that they must either take
the frigate or be themselves taken.” And so,
13:21
Speedy once more latched onto Gamo, and Cochrane
had his crew blacken their faces with soot so to
13:26
appear more terrifying. From there, the British
boarded the frigate from the bow and stern,
13:32
a fierce melee of pistols, axes and cutlasses
ensuing with Cochrane at the center of it all.
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Always a quick thinker, the daring commander
ordered his men to haul down the Spanish
13:43
flag flapping over the mainmast. This
was a brutal strike to Spanish moral,
13:48
for they now believed their officers had given up
the ship, and laid down their arms to surrender.
13:53
Gamo was taken as a prize
and sailed to Fort Mahon,
13:59
following that, Speedy continued upon its cruise
of destruction. By July of 1801, she had captured,
14:02
sank or ran aground a mind-boggling 53 enemy
ships becoming the scourge of the Mediterranean.
14:09
And yet, all things must come to an end. In the
end, it took three massive French Ships of the
14:17
Line baring over 70 guns each to capture the tiny
sloop, cornering her off the coast of Alicante.
14:23
Cochrane was taken aboard one of the warships,
Dessaix, and presented his sword to the Captain.
14:30
The Frenchman declined out of respect
for his foe, saying he “would not take
14:36
the sword of an officer who he had for so
many hours struggled against impossibly.”
14:40
Cochrane’s captors treated him with kindness, and
the Scotsman particular notes the French Admiral
14:45
Charles-Alexandre Linois, who held him in high
regard and often asked him for nautical advice.
14:51
Cochrane witnessed the British defeat at the
battle of Algeciras from the deck of Dessaix,
14:57
before he was eventually released in a
prisoner exchange, and sent to Gibraltar.
15:02
On July 18th, 1801, Thomas Cochrane stood
aboard the deck of the 80-gun HMS Pompee
15:07
to face a military court for the capture of
HMS Speedy. However, he knew that the slew
15:14
of unlikely victories he had won upon his little
sloop outweighed the cost of its eventual loss.
15:20
Sure enough, Cochrane was honourably acquitted.
With that out of the way, he had expected three
15:27
things: a swift promotion to post-captain,
a shiny new frigate to command, and a return
15:33
to the bountiful fame of Napoleonic warfare.
Unfortunately, none of this would come to pass.
15:39
The Royal Navy brass dragged their feet, and
for three months, he watched rival officers get
15:46
promoted ahead of him. Although he was finally
appointed Post-Captain on August 8th, he had
15:52
become resentful towards the British Admiralty,
publicly berating the Lord Admiral St. Vincent, an
15:58
act which would earn him ire from the aristocratic
oligarchy that was British Naval command.
16:04
On May 18th 1803, Britain declared war on
Napoleonic France once more. Cochrane, who
16:11
had been unemployed during a year long truce, was
delighted to finally be deployed. Unfortunately,
16:18
his ill-advised aggressions had come back to
haunt him, as the vengeful Lord St. Vincent saw
16:25
to it that the new Post-Captain was stiffed again.
Cochrane was appointed to command the HMS Arab,
16:30
a destitute sixth-rate frigate, which he equated
to a flat-bottomed cargo hauler rather than a
16:37
Royal Navy warship, lamenting that “she would sail
like a haystack.” For the next year, Cochrane was
16:43
relegated to patrolling Northern Europe, remarking
that “It was literally naval exile in a tub.”
16:50
However, in May 1804, St. Vincent was replaced
by Lord Melville, who had more appreciation
16:57
for Cochrane’s achievements, and in Autumn
gave Cochrane command of a vessel worthy of
17:04
his talents: the HMS Pallas. She was brand new a
top of the line fifth rate Thames-class frigate,
17:09
armed with 36 cannons. Her deck was
nearly twice as long as HMS Speedy,
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and had crew capacity thrice as large.
Pallas was a sleek weapon of destruction.
17:22
By the turn of 1806, HMS Pallas had become
an infamous menace to both France and Spain.
17:29
In one cruise along the Azore Islands she had
captured four Spanish Treasure Galleons heavily
17:36
laden with new world Silver, depriving the Spanish
treasury of millions of dollars’ worth of capital.
17:41
Cochrane was then deployed to the
coasts around the Bay of Biscay,
17:48
where he harried a dozen more French vessels.
Pallas’ most noteworthy action came on the 5th of
17:52
April, 1806. Cochrane heard word of a squadron of
French Corvettes anchored down the estuary of the
17:58
Garonne River. The waters and coastline did not
make open battle favourable, thus Cochrane waited
18:05
patiently for nightfall, and anchored his frigate
at the mouth of the river estuary. From there, he
18:12
appointed his lieutenant John Haswell to take 180
of his crewmen and embark upon the boarding boats,
18:18
rowing upriver along the shoreline under cover
of darkness. Sure enough, this boarding party
18:25
came upon a ship at anchor, Tapageuse , a
14-gun Corvette serving as a guardship for
18:31
the rest of the French vessels upstream.
At 3AM, the crew of the Pallas launched
18:37
themselves upon Tapageuse, catching the Frenchmen
by surprise. After a brief but fierce skirmish,
18:43
the British sailors prevailed, inducing the
enemy’s surrender. Yet things were soon to go
18:50
sideways, for the shouts and musket fire from
the melee had alerted the vessels up-river.
18:56
Before Lieutenant Haswell was able to weigh
Tapageuse’s anchor and return to the Pallas,
19:02
his men were intercepted by another French
Gun-Brig. A broadside gunfight ensued,
19:07
in which Haswell managed to use the captured
vessel’s cannon to subdue the foe. Despite this,
19:12
the prize ship suffered damage to her rigging,
stranding the majority of British seamen upriver.
19:18
At sunrise, the crew remaining aboard the Pallas
itself spotted three French Corvettes bearing down
19:25
upon them from the coastline. Cochrane was
now vulnerable, as the majority of his men
19:31
were still with Haswell far upstream. At full
capacity, Pallas could potentially outgun
19:36
three corvettes, but with only a paltry 40
men on her deck, it was a hopeless fight.
19:43
Thinking quickly, Cochrane ordered his skeleton
crew to fasten rope yarns to the furled sails.
19:49
Then, in one motion all the yarns were
cut at once, losing all sail in one go,
19:55
giving off the illusion that Pallas was manned
by a full crew. In Cochrane’s own words:
20:01
“The manoeuvre succeeded to a marvel. No sooner
was our cloud of canvas thus suddenly let fall
20:07
than the approaching vessels hauled
the wind, and ran off along shore.”
20:13
Pallas engaged in pursuit, blasting her bowguns
into the stern of the first fleeing corvette.
20:18
These were the only guns they had the ability
to man, unbeknownst to the French Captain
20:24
who deliberately ran his vessel aground upon
the shore in a panic, the shock of the impact
20:29
collapsing the vessel’s mainmast. With one
ship subdued, the vicious Cochrane relentlessly
20:34
pursued the remaining two Corvettes. Both ran
themselves aground and wrecked their vessels,
20:40
rather than risk battle with Pallas. Overall, with
only one Frigate and a handful of boarding boats,
20:46
Cochrane and his men had decommissioned
four French warships, and captured one.
20:53
It was a stunningly unlikely victory,
won through iron will and quick wit.
20:58
In the Summer of 1806, Cochrane returned
to Britain as a triumphant war hero,
21:04
his fearless raids off the Bay of Biscay
having earned him no small amount of fame.
21:09
Napoleon himself, the newly crowned Emperor of
France, had taken an interest in this particularly
21:15
prolific Captain’s trail of destruction, and
personally ordered his capture, bestowing upon
21:21
him a new title:“le loup de mers”- the Sea Wolf.
Never one to rest on his laurels,
21:27
Cochrane was far from finished with his seaborne
marauding. In August of 1806 he was appointed
21:34
to the HMS Imperieuse, a sturdy 38-cannon frigate
that was significantly more powerful than Pallas.
21:41
Imperieuse soon became an icon of glory for the
British Navy, and a consistent scourge to France.
21:49
It would be in 1808 when Cochrane hit his stride
once more off the coasts of Spain. This was a year
21:56
when the British Army was embroiled in a desperate
land-struggle across the Iberian Peninsula against
22:03
their Napoleonic foe, and Cochrane’s naval
contributions to the war effort were invaluable.
22:08
The writings of contemporary novelist Sir Walter
Scott emphasize as much, claiming the Captain had,
22:15
with his single ship, “kept the whole coast of
Languedoc in alarm”, “destroyed Telegraphs of
22:21
utmost importance to the French, preventing troops
being sent from that province into Spain” and
22:27
“excited such dismay that 2000 men were drawn from
Figeras to oppose him. Men who otherwise would
22:33
have been marching further into the Peninsula.”
Despite his success, Cochrane continued to lament
22:40
upon the lack of recognition he received from
the British Admiralty, often claiming in his
22:46
autobiography that they not only failed to give
him any praise, but in fact cheated him and his
22:51
crew out of their rightfully earned prize money.
In June, the Imperieuse sailed for Montgat,
22:57
a Catalonian fortress under the occupation
of French troops under General Duscheme.
23:04
With the help of Catalan Guerillas, he launched
a two-pronged assault on the coastal battery,
23:09
capturing it soundly. He would later go on
to seize and decipher French code-books, and
23:15
occupy Fort Trinidad, causing invaluable losses in
French manpower, intelligence, resources and time.
23:21
To many among friend and foe, the Sea Wolf
had become larger than life, more vengeful
23:29
spirit than man. It was this reputation that
would see him conscripted into the largest
23:34
fleet engagement of his life, a contest that would
serve as the climax to his naval boldness and the
23:40
peak of his hubris: the Battle of Basque Roads.
In Spring of 1809, a Royal Navy Fleet was being
23:47
hastily assembled by one Admiral Gambier, in order
to confront a French flotilla that had escaped a
23:56
British Blockade in Brest, and now lay anchored
in the well protected mouth of the river Charente,
24:02
a region known as Basque Roads. The French
intention was to escape into the open Atlantic and
24:08
harry British interests in the West Indies, which
the British under no circumstances could allow.
24:15
To this end, the Admiralty directly sought
out its most dauntless Post-Captain.
24:21
Cochrane’s reputation as a maverick
made using him a risky gamble,
24:27
but his daring nature and unquestionable naval
genius were exactly what the Royal Navy needed
24:32
to complete the total destruction of the French
Atlantic Fleet. At the Palace of Whitehall,
24:38
Cochrane met with First Admiral Lord Mulgrave,
who asked for the Scotsman’s personal advice.
24:44
The idea of using fireships was put on the
table, and Cochrane insisted that the plan would
24:51
only work if supplemented by ships laden with
explosives and rockets to further eliminate the
24:56
enemy’s ability to resist amidst fire and chaos.
Satisfied with this plan, Lord Mulgrave ordered
25:02
Cochrane to join Admiral Gambier’s fleet at Basque
Roads and personally lead the Fireship’s charge.
25:10
This dismayed the Scotsman, who
personally despised Admiral Gambier,
25:17
believing him to be the exact breed of corrupt
aristocrat who had so often hampered his career.
25:22
Despite his insistence, Mulgrave would not
rescind the order, and Cochrane begrudgingly
25:28
sailed Imperieuse to join the British war fleet.
Cochrane arrived at Basque Roads on April 3rd,
25:34
and found his suspicions of Admiral
Gambier had proven to hold warrant.
25:41
Gambier was a vacillating commander, an
evangelical Christian who insisted on distributing
25:46
religious tracts to his men, and making them study
them, rather than actively planning an attack.
25:52
The arrival and appointment of Lord Cochrane as
head of the coming assault did not help matters.
25:59
One Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey was enraged that he
had been snubbed of the role in place of a junior
26:05
officer, and fiercely denounced Gambier, calling
him a ‘Psalm-slinger’, as well as claiming:
26:11
“I never saw a man so unfit for the command of
the fleet. If Admiral Nelson were here he would
26:17
not have anchored in Basque Roads at all, but
would have dashed at the enemy at once.” Harvey
26:23
had been the Captain of HMS Temeraire. He was a
hero of the Battle of Trafalgar, yet he was sent
26:28
to London and court martialed all the same. His
departure was an ill-omen for the British fleet.
26:35
The two Fleets stood nine miles apart from
one another in an indefinite standoff.
26:42
The French column, commanded by Admiral Zacharie
Allemand, was comprised of eleven Ships of the
26:47
Line and Four Frigates, organized into two rows,
wedged between the tiny Ile d’Aix and the perilous
26:53
shallow Boyart Shoal. Furthermore, a fortified
garrison, complete with operational gun batteries,
27:00
sat firmly on the Island’s northern edge. With
both sides inaccessible to British vessels,
27:07
the French had secured their
flanks and were firmly wedged in.
27:14
Realizing there was no time to waste, Cochrane
asked for permission to convert the transport
27:18
ships in Gambiers fleet into fireships
and explosive vessels, which was granted.
27:24
Three explosion vessels were prepared, their
holds packed with 1,500 barrels of gunpowder
27:30
stuffed into casks and tied together,
supplemented by 3,000 hand grenades,
27:37
all tied to a long fuse lit from the
ships’ stern, giving its brave crew
27:42
around fifteen minutes to scuttle off
in a lifeboat before the big detonation.
27:47
Eight more prepared fire-vessels arrived
on April 10th, sent by Lord Melville.
27:53
Having prepared his deadly squadron of suicidal
vehicles, Cochrane asked Gambier for permission to
27:59
begin the attack posthaste and charge straight for
the French line. Gambier refused, denouncing the
28:06
Scotsman’s head-on tactics as sheer foolhardiness.
This infuriated Cochrane, who countered that
28:13
further delay would lead to the French Admiral
doubtlessly catching on to the Fireship plan
28:20
and putting safeguards in place, inevitably
leading to the loss of more British lives.
28:25
Sure enough, the next morning’s sun revealed
the existence of a massive boom that barricaded
28:31
the narrow channel between the Fortress at
d’Aix and the Boyart Shoal. Furthermore,
28:37
Admiral Allemand had in fact been
made aware of the British fireships,
28:43
and had ordered the front row of his Ships of the
Line to point forward to present a smaller target.
28:48
Seventy canoes were deployed to wait by the
boom, equipped with towing lines so as to tug any
28:54
approaching fire ships out of harm's way, while
the French Frigates too sailed ahead of the fleet,
29:00
to guard the harbour chain
against British incursions.
29:07
As day turned to dusk on April 11th, the winds
began to churn, turning the coastal seas into
29:10
a choppy tempest. It was at this time that
Gambier finally approved the Fireship’s assault,
29:17
perhaps taking advantage of the
poor conditions to discourage
29:24
Cochrane. Nevertheless, the Sea Wolf was
undeterred, and pressed forward with his plan.
29:28
His crew was made up purely of volunteers,
as fireships fell outside the conventional
29:35
boundaries of warfare, and sailors
captured by the enemy while operating them
29:41
would not be taken prisoner, but instead executed.
First, the British Frigates Imperieuse, Pallas,
29:46
Aigle and Unicorn were anchored at the seaward
end of the Boyart Shoal, standing by to pull
29:49
the crewmen of the kamikaze vessels out of the
sea once they’d abandoned ship. When night fell,
29:49
the contest commenced. The sloops HMS Redpole
and HMS Lyra anchored on either end of the narrow
29:50
straight, lighting their lanterns so as to mark
the channel for the attackers. At around 8PM,
29:50
three explosive ships barreled down towards the
French Boom, taking advantage of the flood-tide.
29:52
One was captained by Frederick Marryat, one of
Cochrane’s most trustworthy officers, while the
29:58
Sea Wolf captained one himself, taking the lead.
At around half past eight, Cochrane determined
30:04
that his floating bomb was around ten minutes
away from the boom. He commanded his crew
30:10
immediately proceed to the lifeboats to
evacuate, and personally lit the fuse,
30:16
creating a countdown for his vessels’ imminent
explosion. Together they boarded the dinghy
30:21
and rowed vigorously against the currents
to get out of range of the incoming blast,
30:27
only to discover about 100 yards out that
they had left their mascot dog on board.
30:32
Refusing to let his pooch get blown up, Cochrane
rowed back for the floating timebomb, climbed
30:37
aboard, grabbed the dog, and jumped back into the
dinghy, once more rowing away with extra vigour.
30:43
Soon, the floating bomb hit the boom, and a
massive explosion illuminated the night sky,
30:50
a veritable fireworks display of destruction.
The explosive vessel was torn apart,
30:56
and in turn shredded the massive chain that
stood between the Royal Navy and its foe.
31:02
Ten minutes later, Marryat’s vessel collided
with what remained, creating a second eruption,
31:08
which scattered the French canoes that had
been waiting to tow away the attackers. This
31:14
annihilation completely dumbfounded Admiral
Allemand, for fire ships were one thing,
31:20
but in no world could he imagine his opponent
creating explosive vessels, a monstrosity that
31:25
disregarded every convention of civilized warfare.
The third explosion vessel had run aground and
31:31
been put out of commission, but the way was
now cleared, and it was time for the inferno.
31:38
At 9:30 PM, twenty British fire ships began
their way down the channel. The French Frigate
31:45
vanguard quickly cut their anchor lines and
fled hastily back towards the main fleet.
31:52
Yet, the Fire Ships soon encountered trouble. The
choppy currents made their navigation perilous,
31:57
causing many captains to panic, then
light and abandon their ships too early,
32:03
causing the burning husks to drift harmlessly
into the shoals on either side of the channel.
32:08
However, the stormy sea worked too in
the British favour, rendering the waters
32:14
too perilous for their French foes to maneuver.
Of twenty fireships, four managed to make it into
32:19
the French anchorage, and from there, chaos was
the order of the night. A flaming vessel latched
32:25
on to the 74-gun Regulus, causing the Ship of the
Line to crash into its fellow French Tourville.
32:32
Several more ships were set alight as rockets
flared chaotically across wooden decks.
32:39
Men drowned diving overboard to escape the
flames, creating a scene of panic incarnate.
32:44
By daybreak, it was revealed that of
fourteen French ships, all but two had
32:51
been damaged and run aground on the nearby
mudflats in an attempt to evade the fires,
32:56
rendered completely immobile. Cochrane
had since made it back to the Imperieuse,
33:01
and knew that the time to strike was now, when
the enemy was trapped and helpless. Yet, Admiral
33:07
Gambier refused to give the order. Cochrane was
floored with disbelief, unable to comprehend how
33:13
a man with eleven battleships and 7 frigates
at his disposal refused to engage an enemy who
33:20
at current had only two operational vessels.
By noon, the Océan and four other French ships
33:27
had been put back afloat, and were retreating
deep into the mouth of the River Charente.
33:33
Knowing that total victory was slipping out
between his fingers, Cochrane committed an act of
33:39
blatant insubordination, launching HMS Imperieuse
deep into the gulf alone, to take on the entire
33:45
French Fleet single-handedly, saying later in his
own words: “It was better to risk the frigate,
33:52
or even my commission, than suffer a disgraceful
termination to the expectations of the Admiralty.”
33:58
Imperieuse engaged the beached
vessel Calcutta, with the two
34:05
warships exchanging deadly broadsides, with
the British Frigate at an immense advantage.
34:09
Simultaneously, Cochrane ordered his bow
and stern cannons fired into the Aquilon and
34:15
Ville de Varsovie respectively.
Beached they may have been,
34:21
but a single Frigate was still engaged in a duel
with three Ships of the Line twice its size.
34:24
Soon, the Calcutta surrendered, and
was captured by Cochrane’s crew.
34:31
It was at this point that Gambier finally
sent some backup into the channel,
34:36
unable to let one impetuous captain take on the
entire French navy. Five frigates and two ships
34:40
of the line entered Basque Roads. Calcutta was
abandoned and set flame, while the Aquilon and
34:47
Ville de Varsovie quickly surrendered. A fourth
ship, Tonnerre, was scuttled by its own crew.
34:53
The battle of Basque Roads was undoubtedly
a victory for the Royal Navy, who had sunk
34:59
three French Ships of the Line, a fourth rate,
and a frigate, all while losing only 30 men
35:04
and no ships of their own. However, had Gambier
shown any initiative, the entire French Atlantic
35:10
Fleet could have been destroyed in the space
of the morning, whereas now the majority
35:16
of it would live to fight another day.
Cochrane remained infuriated by Admiral
35:21
Gambier’s incompetence, and upon returning to
England, publicly shamed him for his conduct.
35:26
Defiance in the face of authority was nothing
new to Cochrane, but never before had he been so
35:32
enraged, or so viciously ripped into the personal
character of such a powerful, well connected man.
35:38
Gambier demanded a court martial to determine
his innocence. Naturally, the tribunal was
35:45
stacked with aristocrats sympathetic to him, and
the Admiral was exonerated from all wrongdoing,
35:51
while Cochrane, known for his impudence,
had suffered a dire blow to his reputation.
35:57
This incident compelled Cochrane to refuse
further naval appointments, and from 1809 onwards,
36:03
the Wolf of the Sea focused on his career
as a Member of the British Parliament.
36:10
Indeed, Cochrane had pursued political ambitions
since 1806, when he’d first been elected as a
36:15
representative of the riding of Honiton, and later
Westminster, acting as MP concurrently with his
36:21
naval service. He used his position to campaign
for hard naval reforms, becoming an outspoken
36:27
critic of the corruption in the Royal Navy.
The following years saw Cochrane’s popularity
36:34
increased with the common people, as he continued
to relentlessly campaign against the aristocrats.
36:40
Yet, he had few friends in parliament, and
near none among the Lordship and Admiralty.
36:46
In 1814, Cochrane was implicated in a great stock
exchange fraud, accused of deliberately misleading
36:52
the public about Napoleon’s death to increase
the value of his government securities shares.
36:59
Naturally, the young Lord protested
his innocence, but his words fell
37:06
deaf upon the courts- who had likely been
bought out by his many shadowy enemies,
37:10
acting vindictively upon him for his
attempts to disrupt their status quo.
37:15
As punishment for his alleged fraud, Cochrane
was dishonourably expelled from Parliament,
37:20
and formally discharged from the Royal Navy- an
institution he had won countless victories for.
37:26
His honours were revoked, and he was sentenced
to twelve months in jail. It was there, in the
37:33
dour walls of King’s Bench Prison, that this
chapter of the Sea Wolf’s story came to an end.
37:39
In 1815, Napoleon was finally defeated at
Waterloo and his demise brought an end to the
37:46
war that had defined the entirety of Cochrane’s
naval career, but the disgraced Scotsman was
37:53
unable to bask in this glory, having been left
to rot in prison. Never one to accept his fate,
37:59
Cochrane escaped from King’s Bench in March of
1815, scaling down the prison walls from a three
38:06
story window using contraband rope. Instead of
fleeing, he went to Westminster and demanded his
38:13
seat in the House of Commons, where he had served
before his unceremonious conviction in the Stock
38:19
Exchange Fraud. Unsurprisingly, he was promptly
arrested and thrown back into jail. Cochrane was
38:25
released in June, upon finishing his sentence,
and rejoined his family. In the years since his
38:33
resignation from the Royal Navy, he had taken a
wife, Kitty, and by her had a son, Thomas Junior.
38:39
In 1818, Cochrane was approached by
the representative of Chile in London
38:46
Don Jose Alvarez. At this time, Chile was a rebel
nation fighting for its freedom against Spain.
38:51
The aftermath of Napoleon’s demise saw much
of South America rise in open rebellion
38:58
against the Spanish Empire, fighting in wars
made iconic by the likes of Simon Bolivar,
39:04
who at present was engaged in a struggle to
establish republics in Colombia and Bolivia. Chile
39:09
had enjoyed much success in this regard. Under the
leadership of the General Jose de San Martin, and
39:15
the Irish-descended Commander Bernardo O’Higgins,
much of inland Chile had been liberated.
39:22
However, at sea, the Spanish were still strong.
Held up in highly fortified coastal fortresses
39:28
from Peru to Patagonia, they threatened the new
Republic with a counter-revolutionary strike.
39:34
Ambassador Alvarez had specifically sought
out Cochrane and implored him on behalf
39:41
of commander-in-chief of the Chilean Republic
O’Higgins to assume command of the Chilean navy,
39:46
and drive the Spanish from
their coasts. On August 15th,
39:52
1818, Cochrane departed for Chile with his family.
39:56
On November 29th, Cochrane came upon the docks
of Valparaiso, the provisional capital of the
40:00
republic. Soon he was introduced to
the Chilean navy. It was not much,
40:06
consisting merely of three frigates, three brigs,
and a sloop. The largest ship was a 50-gunner,
40:12
O'Higgins, named after Chile’s commander-in-chief.
Cochrane made this vessel into his flagship.
40:18
On January 16th, 1819, Cochrane set sail upon
his first South American campaign. To his great
40:25
irritation, he found out that his five-year-old
son had enthusiastically stowed himself aboard
40:32
his flagship. By the time the child had been
discovered, it was too late to turn back. He
40:38
begrudgingly allowed his son to stay aboard, where
the sailors outfitted the boy as a midshipman.
40:44
One of the Spanish fortresses in the region
was the harbour-town of Callao, where Spanish
40:50
ships could resupply their soldiers under the
protection of a massive beachfront fortress.
40:55
Cochrane made Callao his target, for
he had received intel that the two most
41:01
powerful frigates in the Spanish Fleet,
Esmeralda and Venganza, were anchored
41:05
there. In February they arrived at the town,
which conveniently was celebrating a carnival.
41:09
Cochrane plan was to cut into the harbour with
two of his warships while the town was distracted
41:16
by the festivities, board the two Spanish
frigates, and make off with them as a prize.
41:21
Yet, as the O’Higgins and Lautaro made forth, a
thick fog blanketed the rocky anchorage, making
41:27
it far too dangerous to approach,
and costing them valuable time.
41:34
The fog soon lifted, revealing the Chilean advance
to the 350 guns stationed on the nearby Fortress.
41:38
Fully manned and ready to unleash hell,
it turned out that Callao had not been as
41:46
taken by merriment as they had hoped.
Lautaro quickly listed off to safety,
41:50
leaving Cochrane aboard the O’Higgins the
bear the brunt of the oncoming cannonade.
41:56
The Scotsman immediately made maneuvers
to veer out of range. But, to his horror,
42:00
he saw his toddler son run on deck, enthusiastic
to join in the action. A Spanish cannonball
42:06
whizzed over the deck, blowing off the head of a
nearby Marine, and splattering tiny Tom in blood.
42:12
Cochrane stood paralyzed in terror, until
the child shouted: “I am not hurt papa,
42:19
the ball did not touch me.” Cochrane quickly
tacked his vessel out of cannon range, all the
42:24
while ordering his son to be carried back below.
Not wanting to miss the action, Tom struggled
42:30
and screamed until he was allowed to stay. The
O’Higgins managed to escape with little damage.
42:36
Unphased, Cochrane engaged in an exchange of
prisoners with the fortress, trading captives he
42:42
had taken from a royalist gunboat for indentured
Chileans. During these talks, the Spanish Viceroy
42:48
demanded to know why a British officer would serve
a nation of continental rebels. Cochrane replied:
42:54
“A British nobleman is a free man, capable of
judging between right and wrong, and at liberty
43:01
to adopt a country and a cause which aim at
restoring the rights of oppressed human nature.”
43:06
The Spaniards remembered all too well
the terror that Cochrane had caused them
43:12
aboard HMS Speedy twenty years earlier.
Cochrane was pleased to hear that Spanish
43:16
sailors had a nickname for him: El Diablo.
Having exhausted all his avenues into Callao,
43:21
Cochrane turned to the south,
and set his sights upon Valdivia.
43:28
While O’Higgins respected Cochrane, he refused to
lend him funds and manpower for an assault on that
43:32
city, as it was widely considered to be the most
impregnable redoubt in all South America. Chile
43:39
would never be secure while Valdivia remained
Spanish, but attacking it was considered suicide.
43:45
But Cochrane never cared about the odds. So, in
December of 1819, the Sea Wolf sailed southwards
43:51
with only his flagship, fully intending to take
on Latin America’s most fortified stronghold
43:59
alone. On January 17th of 1820, the O’Higgins
arrived at Corral Bay, an estuary upon which
44:04
seven heavily garrisoned Fortresses stood firm.
These land batteries formed the main obstacle
44:12
between Cochrane and the city of Valdivia
proper, which lay 16 miles upriver. Success
44:18
was paramount, both to maintain the Sea
Wolf’s near mythic reputation, and to stay
44:25
in good graces with the Chilean Government.
Luckily, the campaign got off to a good start.
44:30
Cochrane had employed his classic false flag
technique, flying Spanish colours in the bay.
44:36
When the Royalist Brig Potrillo listed towards
the shore, she was promptly deceived and captured.
44:42
Aboard Potrillo was $20,000 and a highly
detailed sea chart of the harbour of Valdivia.
44:49
Having performed a satisfactory reconnaissance,
the O’Higgins sailed up the coast and travelled
44:56
to Talcahuano bay, where the local Chilean
governor levied 250 men for the Sea Wolf’s cause.
45:01
Cochrane also managed to recruit the services
of two schooners, the Montezuma and Intrepido.
45:08
Together, they sailed southwards once more,
knowing that 350 sailors in three wooden ships
45:14
were about to face down 2,000 soldiers
stationed across seven fortresses of stone.
45:20
After being briefly run aground by a
rogue wind on the island of Quiriquina,
45:26
the O’Higgins managed to get back afloat through
some vigorous bilge-pumping and Cochrane’s
45:31
personal carpentry skills. However, the ship
remained damaged, and the water that had flooded
45:36
the hull had ruined the powder magazine and
most of the ammunition aboard. Undeterred,
45:42
Cochrane simply convinced his crew they would
find victory through use of their bayonets alone.
45:48
The frigate rendezvoused back with the two
Schooners. The crew of the leaking O’Higgins
45:53
was transferred to the Montezuma and Intrepido,
both of whom docked just off the Fort Ingles at
45:58
the mouth of the river Valdivia, flying Spanish
colours so not to alert the defenders inside.
46:04
Cochrane had realized that most of the
enemy fortresses were designed to repel
46:10
a seaward assault and a land attack might have the
element of surprise. As he explained to his crew:
46:14
“operations unexpected by the
enemy are, when well executed,
46:21
almost certain to succeed,
whatever may be the odds.”
46:25
On the afternoon of February 3rd, the Spaniards
demanded the two vessels to identify themselves.
46:29
Cochrane sent an officer ashore to parley with the
Spaniards in Fort Ingles, claiming they had been
46:35
blown off course from a Spanish squadron rounding
Cape Horn. The Spaniards didn’t buy this story,
46:40
and at precisely 4:00 PM opened fire on Intrepido,
breaching its hull and killing two soldiers.
46:46
Cochrane was forced to order the
immediate commencement of his assault.
46:53
To that aim, a vanguard was formed, 44 marines led
by English-born Major William Miller were boarded
46:58
upon a canoe, and began a perilous approach upon
the beach of Fort Ingles. The Spaniards sent out
47:05
an advance contingent of 75 soldiers, launching
volley after volley of musket fire upon the
47:11
Chilean boat. A handful of marines were killed,
but the rowers pressed on bravely under fire.
47:17
Eventually reaching shore, Major Miller
led a fierce bayonet charge upon the enemy,
47:23
routing the Spanish force back into their fort.
A tentative beach-head had been established.
47:28
Soon, night had fallen, and the second phase
of Cochrane’s plan fell into motion. Under the
47:35
cover of darkness, 250 Chilean soldiers
were quickly ferried onto the beach.
47:41
Guided by a captured Spaniard, they climbed
the rocky bluffs onto the grassy heights upon
47:46
which the fort stood. From there, the
assault team split into two commands.
47:52
The first approached the seaward wall of Fort
Ingles, making as much noise as possible,
47:57
whooping, hollering and firing their muskets into
the air while remaining out of gunfire range.
48:02
They had precious little ammunition, but Cochrane
knew that this bluff was crucial to his success,
48:08
for the second contingent had begun circling
around to the Fortress’s inland face.
48:14
They stalked silently through the darkness,
whatever sound they made drowned out by the
48:20
cacophony of their comrades in front of the fort.
They concealed themselves within a grove of trees,
48:24
trained their sights upon the distracted Spanish
soldiers on the seaward wall, and unleashed a
48:30
devastating musket volley with the last of their
remaining dry powder. In the ensuing chaos,
48:36
the Chilean soldiers raised their bayonets and
charged their enemy, screaming horrible war cries
48:42
to appear all the more monstrous. The Spaniards,
gripped by darkness, confusion and death,
48:48
succumbed to terror, and evacuated Fort Ingles,
fleeing towards the neighbouring Fort Carlos.
48:54
They were pursued relentlessly by Cochrane’s men,
who impaled the panicked Royalists as they ran.
49:00
As the Spanish garrison of Ingles fled
towards the neighbouring Fort San Carlos,
49:06
the commander of the battery frantically ordered
its gates open to receive the refugees. In the
49:11
shroud of night and amidst the chaos of terrorized
men, the Sea Wolf’s warriors slipped right in
49:17
through the open doors, and began hacking away
at the Spaniards inside. Once more, the combined
49:22
garrisons of Ingles and San Carlos abandoned the
second battery, and fled towards Fort Amargos.
49:29
The contest continued as an almost comical game
of dominoes, as Fort Amargos suffered the very
49:36
same fate that San Carlos had before it. Chilean
soldiers slipped through the open gates meant
49:42
to bring sanctuary to their fleeing victims, and
began ruthlessly hacking away at the souls within.
49:48
Despite outnumbering the Chileans six to
one, the Spaniards had been wholly routed
49:54
by a foe who in their eyes could
be no less than the devil itself.
49:59
By the time Fort Amargos had been subdued,
Cochrane’s men had killed a hundred Spaniards,
50:04
and taken captive a hundred more. They moved
on to the Fort Chorocomayo, which was situated
50:09
inland on a hill. Unlike the three forts before
it, Chorocomayo offered a token resistance
50:15
but was eventually overcome by the
ferocity of the Sea Wolf’s marines.
50:22
When the sun rose on the morning of February
the 4th, four out of the seven fortresses were
50:27
in Chilean hands. Absolutely stunned by this
humiliating defeat, Spanish morale was at an
50:32
all time low. The Fortresses on the eastern half
of the harbour put up an unconvincing fight,
50:38
opening fire upon the Montezuma and
Intrepido as they sailed into the bay.
50:44
However, when the O’Higgins reared its
imposing hull within sight of Fort Niebla,
50:49
the last of the Spanish resolve broke, for they
believed that Cochrane would shell them with the
50:54
captured artillery from Fort Chorocomayo. this,
compounded with the firepower and inevitable
50:59
reinforcements aboard the 50-gun Frigate,
made further resistance futile. In reality,
51:05
this was yet another bluff, for the
O’Higgins had no reinforcements aboard,
51:11
nor was it in any state to fight. Nevertheless,
the Spaniards abandoned the eastern forts,
51:16
and all of Corral bay was now in Cochrane’s
hands. In total, he had lost only 26 men.
51:22
Cochrane now advanced down the river to
launch his assault upon the city itself,
51:29
only to find that the Spanish Governor had
looted everything of value in his township
51:34
and fled with his garrison. The city of Valdivia
was now officially in Chilean hands. Despite
51:38
the sacking, there was plenty of booty to be had.
Bountiful amounts of arms, munitions, and currency
51:45
were seized from the fortresses, amounting
to loot of the most promising proportions.
51:51
More importantly, the last Spanish stronghold in
Chile had been eliminated, eliminating the final
51:57
holdout of Colonial power in the south of the
continent. This victory effectively secured the
52:02
long-term future of Chilean independence, and won
them their autonomy over their coast and southern
52:08
frontier. It was the greatest victory that Lord
Thomas Cochrane would win on South American soil.
52:14
Cochrane then returned to Valparaiso. The Chilean
government had assumed he would fail in his
52:21
Valdivian campaign, and had preemptively prepared
to court martial him for insubordination. Learning
52:27
that he had succeeded, they quickly backpedaled
and publicly honoured the Scotsman’s victory.
52:33
To follow up his triumph at Valdivia, Cochrane
turned his attention back northwards to Peru. More
52:40
specifically, the harbour of Callao, a stronghold
which thus far had managed to defy him. On August
52:46
21st, 1820, the Sea Wolf departed Valparaiso at
the head of the entire Chilean naval squadron,
52:53
aboard with him was the esteemed General Jose de
San Martin, alongside 4200 of his troops, which
53:00
made up the bulk of the Chilean army. Ultimately,
their goal was the conquest of Lima, the Peruvian
53:07
capital city that sat adjacent to Callao.
Cochrane soon developed friction with San Martin.
53:14
The Chilean general refused to commit his men
to an all-out assault upon their main objective.
53:20
Instead, he disembarked his men at various ports
hundreds of miles from both Lima and Callao,
53:26
stalling for weeks at a time,
and accomplishing very little.
53:32
Believing San Martin to be of feeble military
mind, Cochrane cut off from the main Chilean
53:36
force, and made directly for Callao
with only three vessels, O'Higgins,
53:41
Lautaro and Independencia. He told San Martin
that he intended to blockade the port thereby
53:46
isolate Lima by sea, but this was not the truth,
as Cochrane was planning something much bolder.
53:52
He had suspected that the Spanish Frigate
Esmeralda was still anchored at Callao, and upon
53:59
reaching the port, his suspicions were confirmed.
To launch a frontal assault upon the coastal
54:05
fortresses in the bay would be suicide, and
Cochrane’s previous attempts to do such had
54:11
taught him as much. However, the Esmeralda was the
most powerful Spanish Warship in South America’s
54:16
Pacific Coast. If he could launch a stealth
assault upon the Frigate and snatch her out
54:22
from under the cannons of Callao, it would be
a mortal blow to Royalist naval power in Peru.
54:27
The plan was simple in execution. Under cover of
darkness, a quiet boarding party would row into
54:33
the harbour aboard small launch craft, board and
subdue the crew of the Esmeralda as they slept,
54:39
and make off with the prize frigate while
the harbour fortress remained none the wiser.
54:45
At midnight, the attack commenced, the Sea
Wolf’s crew embarked aboard fourteen canoes,
54:51
they rowed harmlessly past two neutral vessels,
the American Macedonia and the British Hyperion.
54:57
Soon enough, the boarding skiffs reached
Esmeralda, and began scaling its hull via
55:04
the Frigate’s main-chains. Cochrane was put
in a perilous situation when the deck watchmen
55:09
heard the clanking of chains and raised the
alarm. Esmeralda had now been alerted, and the
55:15
attackers had no time to waste. Cochrane heaved
himself onto the deck, onto to be struck upon
55:20
the forehead by the butt of a sentry’s musket. He
fell unceremoniously back onto the skiff below,
55:25
but flung himself right back upon the chains,
climbing the Frigate’s hull once more.
55:32
This time, he shot the sentry with his
pistol, and launched himself onto the gangway,
55:37
bellowing loudly: “Up, my lads! She’s ours!”
Chileans swarmed upon the Esmeralda, routing
55:42
the Spanish crew to the forecastle bow, where
they rallied and unleashed a volley of musket
55:48
fire upon the boarding party. Cochrane was shot in
the thigh, but pressed on. The remaining Spaniards
55:53
were soon routed- diving overboard or submitting
to capture. The Esmeralda was in Cochrane’s hands.
55:59
By now, the fortress had been well alerted, and
began opening fire upon the captured Frigate.
56:07
The Sea Wolf’s crew set to work, unfurling the
sail and hastily sailing their prize out of the
56:13
harbour. In yet another stroke of cunning,
Cochrane ordered Esmeralda’s tail lights to
56:18
be raised in an identical pattern to
the neutral Hyperion and Macedonia,
56:24
making it indistinguishable from the two. Unable
to risk firing upon neutral vessels, the Spaniards
56:28
could do nothing but helplessly watch their
strongest warship slip out between their fingers.
56:35
The capture of the Esmeralda functionally crippled
the Spanish navy west of Cape Horn. Cochrane was
56:41
now the master of the coasts, and proceeded to
blockade Callao. The Spaniards within, now cut
56:47
off entirely by both land and sea, realized that
their options were to surrender or starve. After
56:54
only a month, the defenders within the fortress
deserted, and joined the Chilean Republic.
57:00
General San Martin, meanwhile, had gained
little with his ground force that besieged Lima.
57:06
He devoted his efforts into inciting the local
Native populations to rebel against the Spaniards,
57:12
but that failed. Cochrane became wary
of San Martin believing that the General
57:18
was deliberately keeping his army intact to
seize control of the nation when it was time.
57:23
Frustrated, Cochrane offered to
lead the assault on Lima himself,
57:29
but was denied. He then requested that the
General at least lend him 600 men, which was
57:33
reluctantly granted. Cochrane took to his ships,
and proceeded to harass the nearby Spanish coast.
57:39
The Royalists in Lima had their supply lines all
but shredded by the Wolf’s prowl, and after three
57:46
months, the Spaniard’s resolve finally broke, and
they surrendered the city. On the 28th of July,
57:52
1821, General San Martin marched into Lima, and
declared the independence of the nation of Peru.
57:58
On July 17th, Cochrane himself entered the newly
liberated metropolis and was given a hero’s
58:06
welcome by the local citizenry. The Scotsman
had come a long way since his fall from grace,
58:12
once more reclaiming his status as a military
legend. Yet, with this triumph loomed the shadow
58:18
of future conflict, for just as Cochrane had
suspected, Jose de San Martin had been appointed
58:25
the Supreme Protector of Peru, but following their
victory, the rifts between them had begun to grow.
58:31
San Martin had essentially established himself as
a dictator, which he saw as a pragmatic necessity.
58:38
The war had left Peru in chaos, and a heavy
hand was needed to prevent widespread looting,
58:45
food shortages, and general anarchy. Cochrane,
however, saw San Martin as a traitor who had
58:51
betrayed his oath to establish a liberal democracy
in lands freed from Spain. In his eyes, Peru
58:57
had simply traded one absolute tyrant for another.
It didn’t help that Cochrane and his crew had not
59:04
been properly paid by San Martin, who argued
that it was Chilean responsibility to do so,
59:10
not Peru’s. The Scotsman resolved
this in typical Cochrane fashion,
59:16
by tracking, boarding, and looting a schooner
transporting the state treasury of Peru,
59:21
and using the funds to pay himself and his sailors
exactly what they were owed. Naturally this caused
59:27
a public outcry, and Cochrane quickly went from
war hero to dangerous wildcard in the eyes of
59:33
the Peruvian people. His uncompromising
idealism, stubbornness, and complete lack
59:39
of discretion had alienated him from the very
government he had literally just helped create.
59:45
Cochrane returned to Valparaiso, where the
local Chileans still held him in high regard.
59:51
It was there, in November of 1822, that the Sea
Wolf received a letter from one Antonio Correa da
59:57
Camera, a Brazilian agent operating out of Buenos
Aires. It was a tantalizing proposition; Cochrane
00:04
was being offered command of the Brazilian navy.
At first, he didn’t intend to accept, but civil
00:11
strife was brewing in Chile, and the Scotsman had
no intention of getting involved. With his mind
00:17
made up, he addressed the Chilean people with a
fiery oration: “Chilenos! My fellow countrymen!
00:24
You know that independence is purchased at the
point of a bayonet. Know also that liberty is
00:31
founded on good faith, and on the laws of honour,
and that those who infringe upon these, are your
00:37
only enemies.” With that, he sailed away from the
country he had helped liberate, never to return.
00:43
Much like the Spanish side of South America,
the nation of Brazil was currently embroiled in
00:50
an independence struggle against its own colonial
father, Portugal. Although as far as revolutionary
00:56
wars go, this one was unique. In 1807, Napoleon’s
armies had overrun the Portuguese Kingdom,
01:02
forcing its royal family to flee to their
wealthiest colony across the Atlantic.
01:10
During this period, Brazil had become the de-facto
capital of the Portuguese Empire, and as such
01:15
its people were afforded the highest status and
privileges. In 1815, Napoleon had been defeated,
01:22
and Portugal’s ruling family was called upon to
return to their newly liberated mother country.
01:29
King Joao IV went home, leaving his
son Pedro to rule Brazil on his behalf.
01:35
King Joao began soon rolling back the privileges
the aristocracy of Brazil had been enjoying,
01:41
reverting its status back to a subordinate colony.
But the Brazilians had had a taste of liberty, and
01:46
now called for rebellion. It would be an unlikely
man that would rise to lead the revolution:
01:53
The Young Prince, Pedro. Despite being
the heir to the throne of Portugal,
02:00
he had spent most of his life in Brazil,
and cared deeply for his adopted homeland.
02:04
So, Pedro made the slightly unorthodox move
of seceding from his own royal line, declaring
02:10
“Independence or Death!” for Brazil. Before long
he was crowned as the new nation’s first Emperor.
02:16
In the Spring of 1823, Cochrane arrived in Rio
de Janeiro. By then the young Emperor Pedro had
02:23
more or less secured the independence of the
southern half of his realm, but the Portuguese
02:31
still remained in control of the northern regions
of Bahia and Maranhao. Cochrane received a brief
02:36
audience with the Emperor, who accompanied him to
survey the ships that would be under his command.
02:42
It was a modest but functioning navy, consisting
of three frigates, two corvettes, three brigs,
02:47
and a handful of schooners. Cochrane’s
flagship was the fleet’s only ship-of-the-line,
02:54
a 64 gunner named Pedro Primiero.
In April, Cochrane was deployed northwards
02:59
for the first time. His initial target was the
Seaport of Salvador, capital of the province of
03:05
Bahia, and the most powerful stronghold in
Brazil which was still in Portuguese hands.
03:11
The city was currently besieged on the landward
side by the forces of Emperor Pedro, so Cochrane
03:17
blockaded the harbour with five of his ships,
to prevent the city being resupplied by sea.
03:23
The Sea Wolf knew that the reliability of his
crew was tenuous as best. During colonial times,
03:29
Brazilians had been shunted from maritime
jobs in favour of Portuguese-born sailors,
03:35
so the new Empire faced a severe lack of reliable
mariners. Cochrane’s ships were manned primarily
03:41
by English and American mercenaries, African
freedmen recently liberated from slavery,
03:47
and Portuguese nationals, who were
poorly paid and treated with suspicion.
03:53
Cochrane knew he could depend on the
Anglophones, and the Africans were a wildcard,
03:58
but the disgruntled Portuguese
labourers were highly untrustworthy.
04:03
He didn’t have much time to address his
misgivings, as on the 4th of May a squadron
04:08
of thirteen Portuguese warships appeared on the
horizon, intent to relieve the naval blockade of
04:14
Salvador. As usual, Cochrane was outnumbered two
to one. Equally as usual, the sea wolf’s answer
04:19
to this dilemma was to abandon all caution and
charge headlong into the enemy. As the Portuguese
04:27
fleet hastily arranged themselves into a line of
battle, the Pedro Primiero barreled in between
04:34
their formation, isolating four Portuguese
vessels from the main body of their fleet.
04:39
Immediately, Cochrane sent a flag signal to
the rest of his ships to descend upon the
04:45
isolated enemy vessels. But disaster struck- the
disgruntled Portuguese aboard the Brazilian ships
04:49
had decided that since their pay was so meagre,
they may as well revert their loyalties back
04:56
to their mother country. They refused to
engage in battle, and Pedro Primeiro was left
05:02
to fight the entire enemy fleet alone.
To make a dire situation worse,
05:08
Cochrane soon found that there
were saboteurs aboard his own ship.
05:13
Two Portuguese labourers had imprisoned the
Pedro Primiero’s powder monkeys below deck,
05:17
preventing crucial gunpowder from
being transported to the gun decks,
05:22
and rendering his ship unable to
effectively return fire at the enemy.
05:26
The conspirators were captured, but even Cochrane
had to admit that there was no way he could earn
05:31
any victory out of this humiliation. The Sea
Wolf was forced to order a hasty retreat after
05:36
what had been a humbling and unceremonious defeat.
Following this major setback, Cochrane drastically
05:42
rearranged the personnel in his fleet. The
Englishmen, Americans, loyal Brazilians and
05:49
Black Marines were all concentrated aboard his
flagship and two frigates. It would be with this
05:55
greatly reduced, but overall more reliable fleet
that Cochrane would proceed with in the war. On
06:00
the night of June 12th, Cochrane disguised the
Pedro Primeiro as an English Merchant ship,
06:07
and sailed into Salvador harbour, performing
reconnaissance in order to plan an attack using
06:13
an old but reliable trick of his: fire ships.
Cochrane’s presence was soon discovered,
06:18
but it worked in his favour. The citizens of
Salvador were already exhausted from a year
06:24
of being besieged, and when they found out it
was the sea wolf himself at their seaward gate,
06:30
they became gripped in terror, their minds
taken by whatever crazy plan the infamous
06:35
Scotsman had up his sleeve. The townsfolk
had lost all desire to continue the fight,
06:41
and pleaded with the Portuguese governor
to finally abandon the coastal stronghold.
06:47
On July 2nd, 1823, the Portuguese garrison
assembled into a convoy of ships and left Bahia
06:52
for good, sailing back to their mother country
aboard 17 warships and 75 transport vessels.
06:59
We can only imagine what sort of sinister
grin might have creeped upon Cochrane’s lips
07:06
as his prey exposed themselves on the
open ocean. Before long he unfurled his
07:10
flagship’s sails and descended upon the fleeing
Portuguese like a wolf upon a flock of sheep.
07:16
Within months, Cochrane had all
but eviscerated King Joao’s navy,
07:22
relentlessly pursuing them across the Atlantic,
isolating and picking off enemy warships one by
07:26
one with only three vessels at his command. In
total, the Scotsman and his subordinates had
07:32
captured over thirty Portuguese ships, and
taken over 2,000 enemy soldiers prisoner.
07:38
Following this utter devastation of Portuguese
sea-power, Cochrane proceeded to Sao Luis,
07:44
the capital of the province of Maranhao. With
only his flagship, he boldly sailed within range
07:50
of the town’s guns, and sent his captain
ashore to treat with the local commandant.
07:56
Cochrane’s message was simple: Bahia had
been liberated, the Portuguese fleet had
08:02
been destroyed, and a massive Brazilian fleet was
on its way, descending down upon Maranhao. This
08:07
was a huge bluff, since no such Brazilian fleet
existed. Nevertheless, the Portuguese garrison
08:14
swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker. The
next day, the local Junta and the town Bishop
08:20
came aboard the Pedro Primeiro, forsaking Portugal
and swearing allegiance to the Brazilian Emperor.
08:27
Cochrane’s men promptly took total control
of the town, seized all its munitions and
08:34
commandeered all the ships in its harbour.
Cochrane returned to Rio in 1824,
08:39
where he once more received a hero’s welcome, and
was granted the non-hereditary title of Marquess
08:45
of Maranhao by Emperor Pedro. That same year,
a new rebel movement emerged in the Province
08:51
of Pernambuco, led by wealthy landowners who
opposed the Brazilian Emperor’s liberal reforms.
08:57
Cochrane sailed north once more and helped to
quickly crush the rebellion. At this point,
09:04
The Sea Wolf had cemented himself as an eternal
hero in the ethnogenesis of Brazilian nationhood,
09:10
much like he had done in Chile and Peru.
Unfortunately, Cochrane had developed a
09:16
nasty little habit of becoming a nation’s most
celebrated war-hero, only to immediately alienate
09:21
said nation’s government with his bullheadedness,
and this Brazilian episode would end much like his
09:27
Spanish-American escapades did. Throughout
the revolution, Emperor Pedro’s government
09:33
had insisted on a policy of reconciliation with
the former Portuguese land-owners still living
09:39
in Brazil, returning the wealth and property
seized during the war to their original owners.
09:44
This was an affront to Cochrane, who had
seized the equivalent of some $12,000,000
09:50
modern US dollars’ worth of booty during his time
in Brazil, and insisted that he was owed at least
09:55
one-eighth of the total take, as was proper.
This boiled over in 1825, when Cochrane once
10:01
more took his payment into his own hands, sacking
Brazilian merchant ships anchored at Sao Luis do
10:08
Maranhao and making off with the public funds in
their holds. Outraged, the Brazilian government
10:14
demanded that the Scotsman return to Rio,
but Cochrane had absconded aboard a frigate,
10:21
and after a 7-year absence, made his way
back home to Britain. But as it turned out,
10:27
Cochrane’s homecoming tour would be brief, as
once more, a new nation was calling for his aid.
10:33
While the people and culture of Greece were
Ancient, its modern nation was very new,
10:40
and forged in rebellion. After nearly four
centuries of Ottoman rule, the Greeks in the
10:46
Ottoman Empire had risen up in 1821, and had been
fighting a desperate war of survival ever since.
10:52
The Greek struggle had evoked
sympathy across Western Europe.
10:59
Many saw the rebellion as a righteous
holy war against their Turkish oppressors.
11:03
Meanwhile, the educated elites of Western Europe
had gobbled up classical Greek literature since
11:09
the advent of the Renaissance, and called upon
their governments to help liberate the land of
11:14
Socrates, Sophocles, Euripides and Demosthenes.
All of this was very tantalizing to Cochrane,
11:19
who despite being over 50, still craved
action, adventure, fame, and glory.
11:26
After the Greek Committee in London sent the
Legendary Sea Wolf a letter asking him to assume
11:32
command of the Hellenic Navy, he readily agreed.
However, there were a few wrinkles to iron out
11:37
first. Having felt cheated out of his pay in
Peru and Brazil, Cochrane demanded an upfront
11:44
payment of 37,000 pounds from the Greeks, an
exorbitantly high sum. He also insisted that a
11:50
fleet of steam-powered warships be built for the
war effort. Steam-powered vehicles were still a
11:58
brand new invention in the 1820s, but Cochrane had
long been an eager supporter of the technology.
12:04
However, due to incompetence in the production
line, none of Cochrane’s commissioned steam ships
12:10
were completed fast enough to influence
the Greek war effort, and the delay they
12:15
caused in Cochrane’s deployment cost the Greek
revolutionaries heavily in time and resources.
12:20
On March 17th, 1827, Cochrane finally arrived in
Poros. By then the rebellion was in dire straits.
12:26
The Greek leaders mounting the resistance
had descended into vicious infighting,
12:35
while the Turks’ Egyptian allies were ravaging
the Peleponnese in a devastating invasion.
12:40
Things did quickly turn around the
moment Cochrane stepped ashore.
12:46
The Sea Wolf was legendary; by now everyone
was well aware of his track record against
12:50
Napoleon and across South America. His mere
presence was a massive boost to Greek morale,
12:55
and he quickly used his clout to help
unite the feuding Greek generals,
13:01
who were finally able to agree on one man to
lead them, the statesman Ioannis Kapodistrias.
13:06
Unfortunately, the rest of Cochrane’s endeavors in
Greece went rather poorly. He had never developed
13:12
a rapport with his Greek troops the way he had
earned the loyalty of those of Chile and Brazil.
13:18
He considered the Hellenes in his crew poorly
trained and mightily undisciplined. In reality,
13:24
the Chilean and Brazilian navies had been pretty
much non-existent before Cochrane’s arrival,
13:31
allowing him to create a hierarchy and military
doctrine from the ground-up. Meanwhile,
13:36
the makeshift Greek Navy had enjoyed much success
before Cochrane took command of them, forcing the
13:42
Sea Wolf to adapt to a pre-existing style of
irregular naval warfare he was not used to.
13:48
On the 5th of May, 1827, an attempt to liberate
Athens by laying siege to the Acropolis ended in
13:54
disaster, largely because Cochrane couldn’t stop
quarreling with his fellow Briton, Richard Church,
14:01
the man who had been appointed to lead the
Greek army. Their collective failure to
14:07
execute a successful invasion resulted
in the deaths of thousands of Greeks.
14:13
From that point on, Cochrane no longer played a
major role in Greek struggle for Independence,
14:18
although his participation in the war did
indirectly lead to the intervention of the Great
14:24
Powers of Britain, France and Russia, who defeated
a Turko-Egyptian fleet at Navarino in 1828,
14:29
securing the independence of Southern Greece.
14:36
Nevertheless, the Sea Wolf’s legacy in Hellas
is considered a stain in an otherwise remarkable
14:39
naval career. It would take Cochrane several years
to recover from his failures in the Peloponnese,
14:45
as he grappled with his own shattered sense of
self-worth. His fighting days were now over.
14:51
Over the years, the British Parliament that
had originally driven him from his homeland
14:58
had begun to recognize his value once more,
slowly becoming sympathetic to him. On May 2nd,
15:03
1832, Cochrane was finally pardoned for the Stock
Fraud and was reinstated as an officer of the
15:10
Royal Navy of Great Britain, and all the honours
he had earned in the Napoleonic War were returned.
15:16
Cochrane was promoted to Rear Admiral of the
British Navy. He never saw direct combat again,
15:23
living his days in semi-retirement, where he
continued his experiments with modern technology,
15:29
pouring funds into the continued research
and development of steam-powered engines.
15:35
One of Cochrane’s many legacies today is
that of a pioneer of military technology,
15:41
and he is widely considered to be one of the more
influential men who helped Britain transition
15:47
from the age of sail into the age of steam.
In 1860, an elderly Sea Wolf wrote an extensive
15:52
autobiography of his life and adventures, the same
tome we’ve referred to throughout this series.
15:59
That same year, his health began to
deteriorate. And on the 31st of October,
16:05
while undergoing a risky surgery for kidney
stones, he passed away- at the age of 85.
16:10
The legacy of the Sea Wolf still casts a large
shadow upon the nations for whom he served.
16:17
In Britain, he is considered perhaps the single
most daring commander of the age of sail,
16:23
and his adventures have directly inspired famous
naval fiction such as the Horatio Hornblower
16:29
series, as well as Master and Commander.
In Chile, six vessels, dozens of streets,
16:34
and a small town all bear his name, while a
striking monument in Valparaiso has immortalized
16:41
his role in the freedom of the country. Each year
in May, representatives of the Chilean Navy hold
16:47
a wreath-laying ceremony at his grave. Many in
Peru and Brazil today still honour Cochrane’s
16:53
crucial role in the liberation of their nations.
Thus, ends our video on Thomas Cochrane, but we
16:59
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歌词与翻译
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重点词汇
开始练习
| 词汇 | 含义 |
|---|---|
|
single /ˈsɪŋɡəl/ A1 |
|
|
man /mæn/ A1 |
|
|
life /laɪf/ A1 |
|
|
war /wɔːr/ A2 |
|
|
hero /ˈhɪərəʊ/ A2 |
|
|
enemy /ˈen.ə.mi/ A2 |
|
|
officer /ˈɒfɪsər/ B1 |
|
|
captain /ˈkæptɪn/ B1 |
|
|
sleep /sliːp/ A1 |
|
|
schedule /ˈʃedjuːl/ B1 |
|
|
regular /ˈreɡjʊlə(r)/ B1 |
|
|
healthy /ˈhelθi/ A2 |
|
|
navy /ˈneɪvi/ B1 |
|
|
family /ˈfæməli/ A1 |
|
|
sea /siː/ A1 |
|
|
battle /ˈbæt.əl/ B1 |
|
|
fleet /fliːt/ B1 |
|
|
revolution /ˌrevəˈluːʃən/ B2 |
|
|
capture /ˈkæptʃər/ B1 |
|
|
victory /ˈvɪktəri/ B1 |
|
|
attack /əˈtæk/ A2 |
|
重点语法结构
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相关歌曲