Shooting Admirals

 Fun Fact:

General Braddock had the good sense to join the 500 corpses he left in the wilderness, so no action could be taken against him. Vice Admiral John Byng wasn't so fortunate.

The French looked in the Mediterranean for a soft target and found Minorca. They massed 15,000 men with siege artillery and the duc de Richelieu sailed with them from Toulon. Vice Admiral Byng at 52 years of age was tagged to take a hastily assembled fleet from Portsmouth to intercept the French. The French landed and laid siege to Fort Saint Philip. Byng's orders and those of the governor of Gibraltar, where he was supposed to get additional troops, were conflicting. That governor worried about an attack on Gibraltar. Byng had to choose between trying to save Minorca or risking Gibraltar--at a time when no war had been declared. He chose to risk a naval battle for Minorca with his ten ships of the line and two frigates. Galissoniere waited with twelve ships of the line, including Foudroyant, which could hurl more weight in a single broadside than any rival. 

Byng had a sound plan to advance in line obliquely toward the French line, turn in line and pound the French ships in passing. The captain of the lead ship, Defiance, misunderstood, leading his ships straight into the French broadsides. As a result, Byng found half his ships no longer fit for action by the time he got away. Byng could've attempted to land his troops, but his officers were unanimous in favoring a return to Gibraltar. Fort Saint Philip surrendered to the French a month later.

To celebrate the loss of the fort and the devastation to the fleet, the Royal Navy informed Byng, following a court-martial, that he would be the recipient of a 7 gun salute at close range with loaded muskets aboard the Monarch in Portsmouth harbor--he was not given the option to decline. 

On the bright side, Great Britain declared war on France, who returned the favor. 

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The writing on Book 6 is back on. Hugh, Lee, and the women have been in a tight spot, but have resolved that step in their adventure. Some characters are on a collision course--though they remain unaware of the fact, and Akram and the hunters have encountered the next link in the chain to realizing his goal--but there's a complication, and some uninvited guests endanger the entire enterprise. I enjoy the way these characters have developed over the course of the series. I should've finished this one back in June, but life and an irresitible impulse to write some short stories diverted my time and attention. In fact, I've just completed a round of edits on the recent story--which was a truckload of fun to write. I hope to submit it to the anthology next week.