The Doctor's Last Letter

It would seem our former Ship's Surgeon knew about Baptiste's promotion before Baptiste did! The following is the letter Baptiste got as part of the mail packet that arrived while ashore at the Jane Austen Festival.

Old Harbour, Jamaica

29th June, 1805

Aboard Mercury

My dear Baptiste,

By now, I suspect that you have received your warrant from the Admiralty assigning you to the Surgeon’s position aboard our old Acasta and I give you joy of your promotion! I can not think of a man better suited for the task.

Know sir that it was only my Esteem and affection for you that I recommended you for the posting, and not simply motivated out of a desire to keep poor, unfortunate Mr. Ried out of that position.

I am bound for Whitehall by way of Jamaica and Liverpool aboard a vessel called the ‘Mercury’. She is a little thing compared to our Acasta, but said to be stout and reasonably fast and we are to meet up with HMS Theseus and a convoy on our return trip.

It is likely that I will be some time on my special assignment for Sir Joseph and the Crown and I thought it best to leave the Acasta and her crew in the most capable hands I could think of. Your new position as Surgeon is that of a Warrant Officer, therefore you may require a new suit of clothes. Fortunately, with your new position comes an increase in pay to 5 pounds per lunar month. 

Not only do you get to select your own assistants, but you will need to find yourself a personal servant, as I will be taking Vassermann with me. 

If this letter was deliver’d as it was supposed to be, it should have arrived to you with the Doctor’s chair, which I gift to you. I cannot rightly carry it in the field on my business for Sir Joseph. It belongs with you aboard our Acasta.

When the war is over, it is still my hope to start the private practice as per our previous discussions. It would please me greatly to have you and your family join us on our estate and for you to assist me. Our place is near Woolhampton, the village straddles the London to Bath road between the towns of Reading and Newbury. Tell them at the parish that you’re looking for ‘Birdsall Cottage’ and they shall steer you in the right direction. You should enjoy Woolhampton, it’s very green and located on the river Kennet, so there are plenty of frogs and snakes for you to catch and study in your leisure hours. We can fill every jar in the house with specimens!

I wish you all health and success in your new endeavour, and know you to be equal to the task,

Yr Obt Svt,

Dr. A. Roberts

Prudence, Diana, Stephanie, Hazard, Jane & Delaware

Jas. Apple waves across at a recently captured schooner.

From The London Gazette 
Publication date:14 March 1815 
Issue:16993
Page:481

Images from Fort Niagara

Below you will find images taken by our own Tony Gerard at the recent 1812 Grand Tactical event at Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York.

A letter from Fort Niagara

From: Thomas Hurlbut, 

Commodore, 

HM Sloop Royal George, 

Navy Bay, 

Kingston, 

Upper Canada.

To: Sir James Rehme,

Captain,

HMS Acasta,

At sea.

3rd August, 1813.

My Dear Sir James,

I must express my Appreciation for the Loan of several of your prime Seamen for the recent Exercise against Brother Jonathan at their stronghold at the Mouth of the Niagara River. The nature of the Operation as conceived by Commodore Yeo and General Prevost, required a significant Marine force to be landed on the unforgiving Beach at Niagara with precise Timing, thereby to take Advantage of the exposed Position of the US forces. Commodore Yeo detailed myself to be Responsible for this Element of the operation and, I can say with some measure of Pride, it went off Marvellously.

In the end, the fort was carried by storm, due in no small part to that played by the forces under my direct command

While I was aboard the Pennant vessel Auld Alliance, involved in directing the Naval forces and the landing of the Marines, your new 3rd Lieutenant, Lord William Fitzroy was in direct command of the Vessel itself and performed Admirably. I shall place his name in my report, urging that Sir James Yeo mention him in his Dispatch to the Admiralty. He seems to be a Promising young Officer and, if he manages to keep from having his Head knocked off by an enemy Ball, should go far.

However, Sir, not all I have to report is pleasant to hear. Due to the Desperate shortage of trained Seamen here on the Lakes, I fear I must ask that we Retain your men a while longer. I have no doubts but that you will receive Fresh drafts of Men from Britain long before we shall see a Soul here in the Interior. I am sorry, but I believe Commodore Yeo will issue Orders to that effect.

(I have arranged an exemption for Hollybass though. You may have him back.)

In the meanwhile, I wish you good Hunting on the Atlantic coast and hope that you fall in with one of the American frigates soon. I’ve no doubt but that your Ship will win a resounding Victory!

I am,

Your most Humble Servant,

Thomas Hurlbut,

Commodore

Company Promotions

At the recent Jane Austen festival, our new captain made his first surprise appearance and brought promotions with him! You can see him promote two of our own in the above video… you may need to turn up your volume in order to best hear it.

Buzz Mooney was promoted to the role of Sailing Master and Tony Gerard who portrays Baptiste the Surgeon’s Mate was promoted to Acting Surgeon.

In addition, there have been several other promotions earned, and they are as follows:

Two of our young gentlemen took the Volunteer First Class test and passed with flying colors! They are as follows:

Plus we have gained two new very promising recruits:

And last, but certainly not least, we have gained another Rooster! Introducing BLUE PETER, the son of Lord Nelson!

The New Crew Page

If you've visited the crew page recently, you'll notice the master graphic has changed to reflect changes made to the group since the Jane Austen Festival in July!

News Footage from Fort Niagara