BS: Powder monkey's diary

Subject: BS: Powder monkey's diary
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 16 Jun 05 - 12:57 AM

Apologies if this appears twice but with the ongoing aftershocks from the loss of MC I did post before but it got wiped.

Would be nice to see this account published in full somewhere. The spelling and language bring it to life.

Do any other catters know of other contemporary accounts not written by Officers and Gentlemen.

The powder monkey's Trafalgar
By Ben Fenton
(Filed: 15/06/2005)

A description of the horrors of the Battle of Trafalgar written by a barely-literate below-decks seaman is to be auctioned next month.

The document describes the action of Britain's greatest naval victory from the point of view of Robert Sands, a 17-year-old "powder monkey" on the Temeraire.

It includes an account of how he almost suffocated in the smoke from the ship's 98 guns and how he narrowly escaped death from a fire and partial explosion.

There are very few accounts of Trafalgar - Nelson's crushing defeat of a combined French and Spanish fleet in 1805 - written by ordinary seamen.

Sands, from Rochester, Kent, was rated as "Boy, third class", the lowest form of life on a line-of-battle ship in Nelson's command.

His story opens with a description of the famous signal to the fleet sent by Nelson: "He said he oped that Everey man would doo his Duty this day for old Englands sake for it would be a gloureus day for them that lived to see the end of it."

Later in the account Sands writes: "We had to leave our Quarters 2 get breth. The smoke sofecated us. All most it was calm and still as tho we had been in som plesant harbour."

Then Victory came under heavy attack: "Our After magesene [magazine] skreens took fire and burnt the Leftanant of mereans [Marines] badley. I had jest left thair wen the exploshon took place. The men Inside the skreens was burnt to deth. . . Then I had to go to the fore magesene for my powder wilst the Victory Engaged the Redoutable on the starboard side. . .

"The Example of the Admerel was universely folowed by the British Captains, they broke into the Enemys Line on Everey side, Engaged 2 or three ships at a time and mantained the batle at the verey musels [muzzles] of the Canon."

Sands wrote that enemy ships "that suceded in rechen Cados [Cadiz] was good for nothing.

"The fleets of france and spain ware in fact annihalated yet grate and gloureus as was the triump[h] to us British was Dearley bout [bought] for Lord Nelson fell mortley wounded Earley in the Action."

Sands's account, which goes under the hammer at Bonhams on July 5, is expected to fetch about £3,000.

Subject: RE: BS: Powder monkey's diary
From: mack/misophist
Date: 16 Jun 05 - 01:15 AM

Ditto. I'd love to read the whole thing (with corrections, so I could understand it.)

Subject: RE: BS: Powder monkey's diary
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 16 Jun 05 - 07:29 PM

I think it might have been an ancestor oj Sir jOhn ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Powder monkey's diary
From: Sorcha
Date: 16 Jun 05 - 08:31 PM

LOL,and it sounds fascinating! Not got a spare £3,000 tho.

Subject: RE: BS: Powder monkey's diary
From: Flash Company
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 09:50 AM

I tried googling Robert Sands to see what came up. Unfortunately he appears to share a name with an Opera singer and a writer of erotic literature, so a lot of irrelavant hits and only the telegraph article which relates. Pity really, there is a serious song in here if we can get some more details.

FC

Subject: RE: BS: Powder monkey's diary
From: Hrothgar
Date: 18 Jun 05 - 06:11 AM

Is this story genuine? Seems a little strange that it took 200 years to surface, and came up at the best time for someone to sell it.

Subject: RE: BS: Powder monkey's diary
From: GUEST,Shanghaiceltic
Date: 18 Jun 05 - 04:53 PM

A lot of people have been hanging on to their Trafalgar and Nelsonian memrobilia until this year because it is the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar, therefore the prices that could be fetched might be higher.

The only other conspiracy theory is that it was written by Sir jOhn:-)but it does not seem to state that Trafalgar was a rubbish battle.