Hornblower in the West Indies

Last updated

Hornblower in the West Indies
HornblowerInTheWestIndies.jpg
First edition
Author C. S. Forester
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series Horatio Hornblower
Genre Historical novel
Publisher Michael Joseph, London
Publication date
1957
Media typeHardcover & paperback
Pages255 pp
OCLC 16564559
Preceded by Lord Hornblower
(1946) 
Followed by The Last Encounter  

Hornblower in the West Indies, or alternately Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies, is one of the novels in the series that C. S. Forester wrote about fictional Royal Navy officer Horatio Hornblower.

Contents

All the other novels in the series take place during the wars with revolutionary and Napoleonic France; this one, however, takes place when Britain is at peace, May 1821 – October 1823. Hornblower has been promoted rear-admiral and named in command of the West Indies Station (in the Caribbean) with a squadron consisting of three frigates and fourteen brigs and schooners. It is the last Hornblower novel chronologically although the short story ("The Last Encounter") is set later.

The book's five long, titled chapters can be read as independent novellas, much as the ten titled chapters of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower are a sequence of largely independent short stories.

Plot summary

St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Hornblower left New Orleans and rushed to the channel between Trinidad and Tobago in order to intercept Napoleon's Old Guard on their way from Galveston to free Napoleon from his imprisonment at St Helena. Orthographic projection over Tobago - with Galveston - New Orleans - St Helena.png
Hornblower left New Orleans and rushed to the channel between Trinidad and Tobago in order to intercept Napoleon's Old Guard on their way from Galveston to free Napoleon from his imprisonment at St Helena.

Hornblower raises his flag in the schooner HMS Crab and pays a courtesy call at New Orleans. There, he learns of a plot by Napoleon's most loyal followers to liberate him from his exile on the isolated island of St Helena. Hornblower intercepts their ship, the Daring, but is powerless to stop them by force; with no other choice, he is prepared to sacrifice his honour for the sake of peace in Europe. He lies to their leader, Count Cambronne, telling him that Napoleon has died. When he returns to port, he learns to his astonishment and relief that his lie was the truth, recalling Saint Elizabeth's miracle of the roses.

The Star of the South

While attempting to suppress the slave trade, HMS Clorinda, the vessel carrying Hornblower's flag, follows a faster slave ship, the Estrella del Sur, into a Puerto Rican port. Hornblower figures out a way to disable the slave ship, so that when it leaves port, the Clorinda will be able to catch it. Hornblower, characteristically, outsmarts his subordinate, the dim-witted, pompous Captain Fell of the Clorinda to the point he thinks the sabotage plan was his idea.

The Bewildered Pirates

Pirates kidnap Hornblower and his young secretary Spendlove and take them to their hideout near Montego Bay, in an attempt to extort a pardon for themselves. They send Hornblower with their demand, keeping Spendlove as hostage. Hornblower feels honour-bound to return to secure Spendlove's release, but finds the resourceful secretary has escaped. Free to act, Hornblower leads a sea-borne attack on the pirate's camp, using mortars to reduce their hideout. Forester takes artistic license with the geography of Jamaica.

The Guns of Carabobo

Hornblower is visited by a rich young wool merchant, named Ramsbottom, one of the first millionaires. The young man is on a tour of the Caribbean in his yacht, a converted ex-Royal Navy brig-sloop, the Bride of Abydos. Hornblower tours Ramsbottom's yacht during a dinner party on board. Ramsbottom explains his interest in Latin America by saying that he has a Venezuelan mother. He is cautioned to stay away from the South American coast, which is in a state of rebellion against Spain.

It turns out, however, that Ramsbottom, far from being a tourist, is dedicated to helping Spain's South American colonies to achieve their independence. While Hornblower and his squadron are conveniently away on manoeuvres, Ramsbottom, by pretending that his yacht is the Desperate, a Royal Navy brig enforcing a (bogus) blockade, captures the Helmond, an unsuspecting Dutch transport, and secures the Spanish artillery train forming its cargo. Hornblower hears the news on his return from manoeuvres and goes to investigate. He finds Ramsbottom's ship, empty, accompanied by the Helmond, anchored off the coast of Venezuela. The captured cannons have been instrumental in the defeat of the Spanish forces. Hornblower secures Bride of Abydos just before the arrival of a Spanish and a Dutch frigate, from where Spanish and Dutch naval officers swiftly arrive to demand its surrender. Hornblower by verbal trickery manages to avoid both surrendering the Bride of Abydos and starting a war.

The Hurricane

Hornblower's wife Barbara comes out to Jamaica for Hornblower's final days as Commander in Chief, and to accompany him home. Hornblower is troubled by the case of a young marine bandsman, Hudnutt, a naturally gifted musician who refuses to play what he feels is a wrong note. Hornblower is sympathetic to the man's plight, and endeavours to help him, but is constrained by the demands of naval discipline. As the couple leave the island he hears Hudnutt has escaped; later he finds Barbara had arranged it. On the voyage back, they endure a hurricane; Hornblower needs to use his skill as a seaman to ensure their survival. In the middle of the hurricane, Barbara drops her final wall of reserve as she assures him she has never loved another man.

Chapter order

Chapter 4 of the novel, "The Guns of Carabobo," belongs historically immediately after Chapter 1, "St. Elizabeth of Hungary" and, in the original serialisation in John Bull from 1957, "Hornblower and the Guns of Carabobo" was the second episode published. (Napoleon died on 5 May 1821 and the Battle of Carabobo took place on 24 June 1821.) This is the only Hornblower novel where events are not presented in chronological order.

Inaccuracies

In the Royal Navy of the early nineteenth century, promotion from captain to admiral was based solely on seniority; Hornblower would not have been sufficiently senior to be a rear-admiral in 1821. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. S. Forester</span> British novelist, "Hornblower" author (1899–1966)

Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, known by his pen name Cecil Scott "C. S." Forester, was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic Wars.

<i>Master and Commander</i> 1969 novel by Patrick OBrian

Master and Commander is a nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in the UK. The book proved to be the start of the 20-novel Aubrey–Maturin series, set largely in the era of the Napoleonic Wars, on which O'Brian continued working until his death in 2000.

Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films and radio and television programmes, and C. Northcote Parkinson elaborated a "biography" of him, The True Story of Horatio Hornblower.

Dudley Bernard Egerton Pope was a British writer of both nautical fiction and history, most notable for his Lord Ramage series of historical novels. Greatly inspired by C.S. Forester, Pope was one of the most successful authors to explore the genre of nautical fiction, often compared to Patrick O'Brian.

<i>The Happy Return</i> 1937 historical novel by C. S. Forester

The Happy Return is the first of the Horatio Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester. It was published in 1937. The American title is derived from the expression "beat to quarters", which was the signal to prepare for combat. This book is sixth by internal chronology of the series. Hornblower's past history as described here does not entirely accord with his history as revealed in the stories written later, but Forester never revised the book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood</span> Royal Navy admiral (1748–1810)

Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands.

<i>Captain Horatio Hornblower</i> 1951 film by Raoul Walsh

Captain Horatio Hornblower is a 1951 British naval swashbuckling war film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Gerry Mitchell, directed by Raoul Walsh, that stars Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, Robert Beatty and Terence Morgan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Lucas Yeo</span> British naval officer

Sir James Lucas Yeo,, was a British naval commander who served in the War of 1812. Born in Southampton, he joined the Royal Navy at the age of 10 and saw his first action in the Adriatic Sea. He distinguished himself in combat multiple times, most notably during the Portuguese conquest of French Guiana, earning knighthoods in the Portuguese Order of Aviz and the British Order of the Bath. He was given command of the frigate Southampton, in 1812, but his ship was wrecked in the Bahamas although he was acquitted of blame for its loss. Yeo was then given command of the squadron on Lake Ontario and commanded it during several engagements with the Americans.

<i>Mr. Midshipman Hornblower</i>

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is a 1950 Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. Although it may be considered as the first episode in the Hornblower saga, it was written as a prequel; the first Hornblower novel, The Happy Return, was published in 1937.

<i>Hornblower and the Hotspur</i> 1962 novel by C. S. Forester

Hornblower and the Hotspur is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester.

<i>The Commodore</i> 1945 book by C.S. Forester

The Commodore is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. It was published in the United States under the title Commodore Hornblower.

<i>Lord Hornblower</i> C. S. Forester novel (1946)

Lord Hornblower is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester, originally intended to be the last in the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Gordon (Royal Navy officer)</span>

Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Alexander Gordon, GCB was a Royal Navy officer. As a volunteer, he fought at the Battle of Groix, at the Battle of the Glorious First of June and at the Battle of Cape St Vincent during the French Revolutionary Wars and then, as a midshipman, served under Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile.

<i>Hornblower and the Crisis</i> 1967 novel by C. S. Forester

Hornblower and the Crisis is a 1967 historical novel by C. S. Forester. It forms part of the Horatio Hornblower series, and as a result of Forester's death in 1966, it was left unfinished. There is a one-page summary of the last several chapters of the book found on the final page, taken from notes left behind from the author. It was the eleventh and last book of the series to be published, but it is fourth in chronological sequence.

<i>Hornblower and the Atropos</i> Historical novel by C.S. Forester

Hornblower and the Atropos is a 1953 historical novel by C.S. Forester.

<i>A Ship of the Line</i> Second "Hornblower" novel by C.S. Forester

A Ship of the Line is an historical seafaring novel by C. S. Forester. It follows his fictional hero Horatio Hornblower during his tour as captain of a ship of the line. By internal chronology, A Ship of the Line, which follows The Happy Return, is the seventh book in the series. However, the book, published in 1938, was the second Hornblower novel completed by Forester. It is one of three Hornblower novels adapted into the 1951 British-American film Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N..

"Hornblower and the Widow McCool" is a short story by C. S. Forester featuring his fictional naval hero Horatio Hornblower. It was first published in the 9 December 1950 issue of The Saturday Evening Post as "Hornblower's Temptation" and then in the UK in the April 1951 Argosy as "Hornblower and the Big Decision." It was published as "Hornblower and the Widow McCool" along with the unfinished novel Hornblower and the Crisis and the short story "The Last Encounter" in 1967, after Forester's death. The story is set after Mr. Midshipman Hornblower and before Lieutenant Hornblower.

"The Last Encounter" is a short story by C. S. Forester which provides the final chapter in the life of his fictional naval hero Horatio Hornblower. It first appeared in the 8 May 1966 Sunday Mirror. The following year it was published together with the unfinished novel Hornblower and the Crisis and another short story, "Hornblower and the Widow McCool".

Alan Lewrie is the fictional hero and main character of Dewey Lambdin's naval adventure series of novels set during the American and the French Revolutions and the Napoleonic Wars. The series spanned some twenty-five novels with a 26th reportedly in progress at the time of Mr. Lambdin's death in July 2021.

References

  1. Forester, CS. The Hornblower Companion. Chatham Publishing. p. 66. ISBN   978-1-86176-098-2.