having inquired into temeraire 's complement , prince louis insisted also on providing them with a few prussian officers and another half-a-dozen ground hands to fill out their numbers ; laurence could not deny the extra hands were of use , after the unhappy losses which he had suffered , without replacement , since their departure from england : digby and baylesworth only lately , macdonaugh killed in the desert , and poor little morgan slain along with half his harness-men in the french night assault near madeira so long ago , when they had scarcely weighed anchor .