58 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



We have in all 1 1 ,000 men bear- 

 ing muskets, and 4000 sick. De- 

 serters all report the intcntioti of a 

 speedy general attack. 



This wid be delivered by captain 

 Hill, a very deserving young man, 

 v.dio had been aid-de-canip to lurd 

 Mulgrave, lieut. -general OTiava, 

 and myself. The opportunity of his 

 departure is sudden, and therefore 

 I am to beg you v. ill excuse the 

 shortness of this letter. Jam, &c. 

 DAVID DUiNDAS. 

 Bight ko.'i. Henri/ Dundas, 

 i^c. isfc. ^Jfc. 



WhitehiiU, January 15, 1/94. 

 This morning sir Sydney Smith 

 and major Moncri f ai rived at the 

 office of the ri.rht hon. Heniy Dun- 

 das, his majesty's ])rincipal secreia.y 

 of state for the lunne deparlmont, 

 with dispatches from vice-admiral 

 lord Hood and major-general David 

 Dundas, of which the following are 

 copies and extracts, 



Vklory, Hleres Bay, Dec. 20, 1793. 



SIR, 



It is my duty to acquaint yon, 

 that I have been obliged to evacuate 

 Toulon, and retire from the harbour 

 to this anclioi age. 



It became unavoidably necessary 

 that the retreat should not be defcr- 

 rtd beyond that night, as the enemy 

 commanded the town and siiips by 

 their shot and shells ; 1 therefore, 

 agreeable to the governors plan, 

 directed the boats of the fleet to 

 assemble by eleven o'clock, ncarfort 

 la Malgue, and am happy to :ay the 

 wiiole of tlie troops were brought 

 off", to the nutr.bsr of near 9UOO, 

 without the lo.^s oF a man; and, in 

 the execution of this service, I have 

 iiriinite pleasure in acknowledging 

 my very great obligations to captain 



Elphin3tone,for his unremittmg zeal 

 and exertion, who saw tlie last man 

 off; and it is a very comfortable sa- 

 tisfaction to mc, that several thou- 

 sands of the meritorious iidiabitants 

 of Toulon are sheltered in his ma- 

 jesty's ships. 



I propose sending the vice-admi-r 

 rals Hotham and CosOy, with some 

 other ships, to Leghorn or Porto 

 Fenara, to coin])Iete their wine and 

 provisions, which run very short, 

 having many mouths to feed, and to 

 rema n with the rest to block up 

 the ports of Toulon and ■Marseilles, 

 Circumstances which had taken 

 place made the retreat absolutely 

 necessary to b.; elr cted as soon as 

 possible, and prevented the execu- 

 tion of a settled arrangement for 

 destroying thr Frencli ships and ar- 

 senal, i ord^^red tiie Vulcan fire- 

 ship to be primed j aad sir Sydney 

 Smith, who joined mefrom Smyrna 

 about a fortnight ago, having of- 

 fered his service to burn the ships, I 

 put capta.n Hare under liis orders^ 

 with the lieutenants. Tapper and 

 Gore of ihe Victory, lieutenant 

 Pater of the Britannia, and lieule- 

 nant R. W. Mill.-r of the Windsor 

 Castle. ■ Ten of the enemy's ships 

 of the line in the arsenal, with the 

 mast-house, gr-atst ore-house, hemp- 

 house, and other buildings, were 

 totally destroyed, and before day- 

 light all his majesty's ships, with 

 tijose t)f Spain and the Two Sicilies, 

 were out of tlie reach of tiie ene- 

 my's shot and shells, except the Ro- 

 bu.it^. wnich was to receive captain 

 Elphinstuue, and she foHov/ed vtry 

 soon after, without a shot striking 

 h;'r. I have under my orders rear- 

 admiral Tro^oft", in tiie Commerce 

 de Mars ilKs, Puissant, and Pom - 

 pee, of theline, the Pearl, Arethusji, 

 and Topaze, frigates, apd several 



large 



