Nelson sends Cockburn and his new command, together with his old cutter to help Captain Sir Sidney Smith thwart Bonaparte's invasion of Turkish ruled Syrian Palestine. The campaign is brutal. Welbeloved uses his experience to raise bands of turkish irregulars to harry the French army and the two, small warships harry and capture French supply vessels carrying cannon, muskets and powder that can be diverted to help the Turks defend Acre. This causes Bonaparte to strip two of his frigates of gunpowder and conscript part of their crews into his army. Cockburn and Welbeloved cut out one of these frigates from the harbour at Jaffa. After Bonaparte is forced to retreat from Acre, Cockburn is made Captain of the frigate and Welbeloved marries the italian girl that he rescued from slavery. The French assemble an enormous combined fleet, collecting all the Spanish ships from Cadiz and Cartagena to try and rescue Bonaparte or relieve Malta. Cockburn and his new frigate are sent to act as Admiral Lord Keith's eyes, while the vast armada decides it cannot accomplish what it set out to do. Keith cannot bring it to battle, but helped by Cockburn's efforts, he arrives at Brest only one day after the French scuttle back into port. The reward for his efforts is a profitable cruise against enemy shipping that makes him a wealthy man, before his ship is returned once more to Admiral Nelson's flag. |
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Author: Geoffrey Watson Title: Nelson's Fighting Cocks Series: Cockburn First Published by: Place: Format: Kindle Date: 13 June 2013 ISBN-10: ISBN-13: |
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