Quotes
The ships emerged from the Channel, born into the world anew, and Cheap, ever vigilant, saw the shore receding until, at last, he was surrounded by the deep blue sea. (Chapter 1)
This quotation comes from the end of chapter 1 of The Wager. The expedition set out on September 18, 1740, after over nine months of delays and frustrations. Finally, the ships were heading out into the open sea. It was like they were being born anew, into a whole different world (an interesting metaphor). England drifted into the past, and adventure opened up before the squadron. But there is irony here: while the ships and their crews found adventure, they also experienced death and destruction. The hopes of the voyage's beginning were not met. David Cheap stood on the quarterdeck of the Centurion, “ever vigilant” and relieved at last to be setting out into the world of the “deep blue sea” that he considered his real home. He had no idea what would befall him by the end of the voyage. His vigilance would slip, and he would experience more suffering than he ever imagined.
Though the Wager was an eyesore, she was sacred to Bulkeley, and every day she was being devoured even more than the other ships. She was pelted and gouged. She pitched, she heaved, she groaned, she splintered. Then one day, after colliding with a wave, the mizzen, a vital mast, toppled over like an axed tree, crashing down with its rigging and sails into the sea. All that was left was a stump. (Chapter 6)
The Wager and her fellow ships were literally pulled to pieces as they struggled to sail around Cape Horn. The combination of winds, waves, currents, rocks, and icebergs offered continual danger and caused continual damage to the point when the ships were hardly able to stay afloat. Because the Wager was a converted merchant ship, it was at special risk for destruction. Yet the ship remained “sacred” to Bulkeley and the other men. It was their home, their wooden world that was the only marginally safe place they had. Still, the ship and its crew were falling apart. As the ship was ravaged by the winds, the men were ravaged by disease. Many died. Many were too ill and weak to work. Just like the ship, they were nearly wrecked. When the mast broke, this seemed like the final insult. Yet somehow the men rigged a substitute mast and kept on sailing. And somehow at least some of them survived.
Captain David Cheap emerged from the native dwelling carrying a pistol. The men continued to look at him doubtfully, as if they had found out some secret about him. After less than a week on the island, he was in danger of losing their trust as they realized the full extend of their predicament....They were stuck here for the foreseeable future, with winter approaching, and they were already showing signs of physical and psychological deterioration. (Chapter 10)
The officers and crew of the Wager faced a nearly hopeless situation after the shipwreck left them stranded on the island. They had little food or shelter, hardly any other provisions, and no apparent way to get out of their predicament. They had relied on their captain for leadership and protection. He now seemed unable to provide either. The men blamed Cheap for their lot, and Cheap started to become paranoid. He did not trust the men, and the men did not trust him. This deterioration in the captain-crew relationship would later lead to the murder of an unarmed...
(This entire section contains 1149 words.)
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man and open mutiny because after only a week on the island, the men's physical and mental states were already giving way under the strain.
Cheap walked over and, with neither questions nor ceremony, placed the cool tip of the barrel against Cozens's left cheek. Then, as he would later describe it, he 'proceeded to extremities.'” (Chapter 13)
Midshipmen Henry Cozens was drunk and disorderly, but he was not armed when Captain David Cheap walked up and shot him point blank in the head. Cheap had been losing his authority over the men. Despite harsh punishments, men continued to steal from the provisions tent. Others murmured against the captain and questioned his authority. Cozens had already directly disobeyed Cheap and was outspoken and angry when he was drunk. He argued with the purser over his ration of wine, and the purser fired a shot at Cozens but missed. This was the shot Cheap heard, but he never stopped to investigate. He was determined to reassert his authority in whatever way necessary. So he shot Cozens, calling it proceeding to extremities rather than murder.
Byron watched as the outpost, briefly united over building the ark, now split into two rival forces. On one side were Cheap and his small but loyal cadre. On the other were Bulkeley and his legions of partisans. Until then, Byron had maintained his neutral stance, but that was becoming untenable. Although the dispute centered on a simple matter of which way to go, it raised profound questions about the nature of leadership, loyalty, betrayal, courage, and patriotism.” (Chapter 15)
The stage was set for full rebellion. Cheap was fully determined to proceed north to meet Anson at the designated spot. Bulkeley planned to take the newly built ark through the Strait of Magellan. Cheap would follow his orders. Bulkeley would do what he thought best for the common good. The split was unavoidable, but the men had to choose sides. Byron struggled with this. He wanted to remain loyal to his captain, yet he agreed with Bulkeley that the most practical step was to start back to England. Byron was also well aware of the deeper issues at stake. Loyalty and betrayal, leadership, courage, and patriotism were all at the front of Byron's mind, but most of the men were thinking more about basic survival.
There were no further proceedings – no adjudication of whether Cheap had been guilty of murder or whether Bulkeley and his followers had mutinied and attempted to kill their commander. There was not even a hearing on whether any of the men had been guilty of desertion or quarreling with a superior officer. The British authorities, it seemed, didn't want either side's story to prevail. (Chapter 25)
The court-martial proceeded quickly. The judges asked questions only about the wreck of the Wager. They mentioned nothing about the shooting of Cozens or the departure of Bulkeley and his men. There was no talk of murder or mutiny. Instead, the officials seemed to want to get the whole affair over with as fast as possible. The truth did not matter much. No one except Baynes even received a reprimand, and even that was light. The Wager incident reflected badly on the Navy's decision to send the expedition in the first place, and the Navy was determined to brush it out of sight.
