In Ramage, the young lieutenant and peer of the
realm receives special orders direct from Nelson himself
which bring news of a mission close to his own heart. In a
daring foray, under the very nose of the French
Mediterranean fleet, Ramage is to sail his tiny cutter close
in to the Italian shore and rescue a party of stranded
aristocrats from Napoleon's fast-advancing army.
- It's the year 1796.
- Corsica is British.
-
Ramage is a
board of the 28 gun
Frigate Sibella.
-
As the story begins, the captain, first and second
lieutenant are dead. The master is also dead. Ramage is
the senior surviving officer. From these facts it would
appear that Ramage was the third lieutanent.
This is significant, as later on in the series, it is
said that Ramage was the fifth lieutenant, only added to
this mission because of his knowledge of the italian
language.
-
Ramage is eight years at sea. So he went to sea in 1788.
-
At the trial of his father, Ramage was seven years
old.
-
The late captain of
the Sibelia was
directed to "Torre Buranaccio".
-
Just before the wounded crew members surrender
the Sibelia, Ramage
leaves in the boats with the rest of the Sibelias.
In the later books, the members of the crews are called
by the name of the ship they serve in. In this book they
are simply called the seamen of
the Sibelia.
-
Ramage takes the gig to retrieve the passengers. The only
other person appearing later in the books present and
named in the gig
is Thomas
Jackson. The bosun, carpenters mate and a seaman
called Wilson are sent of in the other boats to
get help in Bastia.
-
The gig with which Ramage landed at Torre Buranaccio had 6
rowers plus Jackson + Ramage. The only seaman named in the
gig is seaman Smith.
-
At the Torre Buranaccio, after a squirmish with the
French, they pick up two passagers:
The Marchesa di
Voltera, and her cousin
Count Pisano.
-
In 1777 Ramage's father sailed to America where he is
stationed. Ramage and his mother travelled to Italy. It is
mentioned that he was only two years old then. This means
that Ramage is now 21 years old.
-
They went back to England in 1782 when Ramage was at the
age of seven.
-
In 1783 Ramages Fathers trial took place. The family went
back to Italy for a few years, until just before Ramage's
13th birthday. When they went back to England, Ramage went
to sea.
Since Ramage is at sea 8 years (see above), it means
that he is now 21 years old.
-
Jackson is already going bald.
-
Ramage spent two years as a midshipman in
the Superb with Jack Dawlish and that
fellow Hornblower
who tried to teach him spherical trigoniometry.
-
Nelson has
been made Commodore just a few weeks before the book is
set.
-
When Ramage is summoned to
the Trumpeter for his
court-martial, he borrows a hat and a sword from Jack
Dawlish.
This is a bit odd, because nowhere is it mentioned that
Ramage lost his sword or hat. It seems unlikely that he
lost them, since he left
the Sibella by a
boat. And presumably Jackson would have thought of it to
bring them.
-
Just before the trial of Ramage in Bastia, the whole crew
of the Sibella is
transferred to
the Topaze. Only the
bosun, Jackson and the carpenters mate remain behind.
To me this means that when in later books,
William
Stafford is telling others that he was there with
Ramage to rescue the Marchesa, he is not speaking the
truth (or that book was written in a parrallel
univers). Only Jackson was there of the later crew.
-
Captain Lord Probus tells Ramage about the sense of
justice of the ordinary Seaman. Probus can tell when
flogging that the flogee is guilty or not, just by looking
at the rest of the crew.
-
He gets command of the
cutter Kathleen. The date of
his commision is October 19th, 1796, Bastia.
-
The master of
the Kathleen is
Henry Southwick, who is described as being middle aged.
-
The masters mate is John Appleby who is a former
midshipsman waiting for is 20th birthday so he can take
his examination for Lieutenant.
This means that Ramage cannot be a Lieutenant for more
than one year.
-
Cutters don't rate bosuns, they have a bosuns mate. On
the Kathleen, the bosuns mate is called Evan
Evans.
-
Last one on the musterlist is Thomas Jackson. There is
also a genovese on the muster list. Could this be a
reference
to Rossi who
appears in later books?
-
Just before leaving on his first mission with
the Kathleen Ramage is given a pair of dualing
pistols by the gouvenor of the island, Sir Gilbert Eliot.
Sir Gilbert is an old friend of both the Blazey's and the
Marchesa's.
-
Below Ramgage's cabin on the cutter was the
breadroom. Also below him was the [powder] magazine.
-
After the rescue of
the Belettes, Corsica is
evacuated. Ramage is ordered to have onboard both the
Marchesa di Volterra and Count Pitti and make for
Gibraltar. This is covered
in Ramage and the
Drumbeat, which is the next book.