The Fever Islands

The Game (Part 1)

Major, Royal Marines

by Peter Lawson

Major of Royal Marines Briefing November 1802

You are Captain...of His Britannic Majesty's Corps of Royal Marines. In your mid-thirties, you are every inch the fighting man; your father was a Marine before you (rising through the ranks to finally achieve his commission) and you never doubted that you would follow in his footsteps.

You have a modest smallholding in South Devon which supports your wife and two small sons, but, regrettably, you are prone to excess at cards in the wardroom; this vice has left you considerably in debt over the past few months, and you now using for a commission "overseas" in order to either gain further promotion or to "acquire some spoils", preferably both. This latter act you have always frowned upon (in public, at least) but your late father (a veteran of the assault on Louisberg in 1758) made no secret of the fact that he rebuilt your Elizabethan farmhouse with Madras gold.

After the recent addition of the 'Royal prefix' to the Corps' title, you have been begrudgingly employed in a multitude of ceremonial duties due principally to your height and commanding stature; you have drilled and dressed bandsmen upon Portsmouth Docks for weeks until the cobbles became familiar friends.

Being hotly involved in virtually all of the major actions from the Glorious Frst through to Copenhagen (including Aboukir Bay and the subsequent landings in Egypt), this life of pomp and ceremony rankles you (the cost of your resplendent uniforms with their new Royal facings has severely curtailed your social activities) and you do not hesitate to accept the position of Major of Marines aboard BOURDELOIS currently at Falmouth.

You have heard rumours of distress from the West Indies Station; Spanish encroachments, slave rebellions, French, Spanish, Dutch and American privateers pirating the coastlines... and "the BOURDELOIS has been recently refitted for a voyage to the Indies, so who knows? Where there's piracy, there's always 'unclaimed' bounty for the righteous and true.

Having commanded the equivalent of a full company of Marines at Portsmouth, you are a trifle miffed that you are now forced by circumstance to command a mere handful of men with this squadron, but, being 'the son of a gentleman ranker' this minor reduction in station does not concern you for being an officer without noticeable patronage has greatly reduced options open to him.

After a day's all too brief furlough with your family, you depart on the packet for Falmouth...

(Note: from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, the title "Major of Marines" was respectfully applied by officers of the Royal Navy to any Marine officer commanding a given detachment. When forces of marines were deployed at company or battalion level for a specific action, the familiarity was usually dispensed with in deference to nommal designations of rank. The term was not, in the formal sense, a brevet rank, merely a mark of great respect for the tradition of outstanding service by the Corps.

Less formally, a Marine officer would be affectionately addressed as "Soldier" by all his naval colleagues whilst aboard ship, regardless of rank or station; the naval players should be encouraged to cultivate such cordiality with their 'webfoot' cousins. This particular label was later attached to any officer employed in the "land" forces; Captain Titus Oates (an officer from the "Skins'] was affectionately referred to as "Soldier" by Scott and the other Naval officers (and N.C.O.s) on their last fateful expedition to the South Pole).

Major of Marines Briefing FALMOUTH November 1802

The short voyage down the Channel from Torbay (the sight of your adoring family on the quayside brought tears to your eyes against the driving rain) was hot and uneventful; the packet was old and leaking like a sieve at every roll. you were grateful that the Master did not dare venture too far away from the shoreline.

After disembarking at Falmouth, the weather turned decidedly nasty, with squally rain and hail showers, but you were delighted with the magnificent sight of your new command, HMS BOURDELOIS, the LYDIA and rode exceedingly well in the water.

A greatcoats detachment of twenty-four Marines greeted your arrival 'at the present' on the quayside, and you were pleasantly surprised with the salute of SGT. EVANS, a veteran of the 'experimental' Light company cadre which you commanded aboard CULLODEN at Aboukir Bay.

After your briefest of inspections, EVANS dismisses the men at your request and then answers your enquiries as best he can about the ship, the crew and the forthcoming voyage. It appears that their destination will almost certainly be the West Indies Station tthe prospect of perkes and other 'confiscated' plunder appeals to you once again as EVANS elaborates on the ship's grapevine) but you are truly staggered to learn that the new OC will be none other than CommanderR.N., the buffoon who ran CULLODEN aground whilst in nominal command of the pilot boat at Aboukir Bay!

Concealing your misgivings from EVANS you acknowledge that you will need all your wits about you if you are to survive this posting, much less profit by it.

With your mind bursting with schemes and notions, you stow your kit aboard and prepare yourself for the voyage....

THE CHARACTERS

(with defererence to Patrick O'Brien et al)

Fever Islands Part 2: The Game

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