or casket-like swinging cot near the wardroom, and wander the vessel without duties,
since I was trained in nothing but shooting. As a result, as
foreigner, diplomat, hanger-on, and friendless, I was the one person he could confide in without interrupting the chain of command.
“We have nine thousand more men than the British. Soldiers and landsmen, true, but why not use them as such? We’ll broadside, of course, but my real strategy is to grapple, kill every Englishman on the uppermost deck, and board. We’ll trap their gunners belowdecks and rain grenades on them until they surrender. This is where you excel, Ethan Gage.” He clapped me on the back. “You will use your rifle to assassinate every officer in your sights.”
“I admit I’ve been in a scrape or two,” I said politely. “But I really prefer talking things out, flirting with ladies, experimenting with electricity, and gambling at cards. Accordingly, I might actually be the most help below the waterline with the surgeon. It’s the safest place, I understand, and I’m clever enough to help with medical matters. If you keep me alive, I can write up your exploits in my memoirs.”
“Ha! I think you like to joke, Ethan Gage! You can’t describe the most glorious battle in naval history by hiding below. You’ll write your book after you kill all my enemies. I think I’ll send you up the mizzen, the mast closest to me and the quarterdeck, and you can shoot down the English captain. We’ll win renown together, as Lafayette and Washington did at Yorktown.”
Renown, as this exchange indicates, constantly gets me in trouble. “My advice is to keep a distance and save your ship for future duty. Nelson’s a bit of a madman. Already has his own coffin, just to give an idea of his mood. A charmer, though.” I aim to be fair.
“I’m tired of hearing about Nelson. Does he want the end of our navy? Fine. I want an end to him. He’s haunted Villeneuve since the Nile. Shoot Nelson, Gage, and I’ll put you in my book. And send you to Venice, too.”
So I reluctantly looked after my golden weapon, giving it a fresh cleaning and reflecting that gifts come with a price, as Napoleon knew when he armed me.
Someday historians will make sense of the maneuvering that followed our lumbering exit from Cadiz, but to me we were a meandering herd of sail without clear direction, waiting to be attacked. We weighed anchor on October 19, but a light and fickle breeze meant that only Admiral Magon and six ships managed to work their way to sea that day. It took until evening of the next day to get the entirety of the Combined Fleet, twenty-five French ships and fifteen Spanish, untangled from the anchorage and out into the Atlantic. Several had to be towed by their boats. The glacial pace of the sally allowed huge crowds to line the shore of Cadiz as ship after ship slowly got under way, the wails of women carrying eerily over the water with a call as old as war itself. They feared their men doomed to slaughter by the notoriously able and ruthless English.
The east wind that had released us swung to the south, blocking our intended route to Gibraltar and forcing the Combined Fleet west toward the British who lurked over the horizon. We watched anxiously for Nelson that first day. Finally, Sunday evening, October 20, a mild wind blew out of the west and enabled the Combined Fleet to turn and begin to straggle southeasterly toward the straits and, perhaps, escape. However, as the wind picked up that night, the untested vessels struggled to reduce sail with raw crews. A topman fell from the flagship Bucentaure. Our eager and sprightly Captain Lucas signaled we’d lower a boat to pick him up from the sea.
I was surprised the fellow could swim long enough to survive. Commanders discourage sailors from learning to swim because it makes them less likely to desert in port and more likely to fight heroically at sea to avoid death by drowning.
My father taught me to swim by pitching me into the Schuylkill and holding me off the dock with a pole. I didn’t appreciate the lesson at the time, but it’s served me since.
Redoutable’s rescue gained us a crewman but put us closer to the flagship than I preferred, making me worry I’d made a mistake by accidentally picking an enthusiastic officer. What if I wound up in the center