APPENDIX to the CHRONICLE. 



557 



fire, almost every shot taking place 

 ill the liull. Perceiving that, by 

 standing farther on, more guns 

 woultl be brought to bear upon us, 

 M-ithout our being enabled to near 

 the fort so much as I wished, I or. 

 tiered the helm to be put down, and 

 •when, from the way she had, we 

 had gained an advantageous position, 

 anchored with a spring, and com- 

 menced firing. Although wc have 

 but little doubt that, before long, 

 we should have silenced the fort, 

 yet, from the specimen they gave 

 us, and being completely embra- 

 zurcd, it must have cost us many 

 lives, and great injury to the ship, 

 had not Mr. Yeo's gallantry and 

 great conduct soon put an end to 

 irtieir fire. I must now revert to 

 him and the party under his com- 

 mand: — Having landed under the 

 small battery on the Point, it was 

 instantly abandoned ; but hardly 

 had he time to spike the guns, 

 when, at the distance of a quarter 

 of a mile, he perceived a regular 

 fort, -ditched, and vith a gate, 

 which the enemy (fortunately not 

 suspecting our landing) had neglcrt- 

 ed to secure, open a fire upon the 

 ship : without Avaiting for orders, 

 he pushed forward, and was op- 

 posed at the inner gate by the go- 

 vernor, with such troops as were in 

 the town, and the crews of the 

 French privateers. From the tes- 

 timony of the prisoners, as well as 

 our own men, it appears that Mr. 

 Yeo was the first that entered the 

 fort, with one blow laid the gover- 

 nor dead at his feet, and broke his 

 own sabre in two ; the other officers 

 were dispatched by such officers and 

 men of ours as were most advanced, 

 and the narrowness of the gate 

 would permit, to push forward : the 

 rcm^iiuder instantly fleil tp the far- 



ther end of the fort, where, from 

 the ship, we could perceive many of 

 them leap from the embrasures upon 

 the rocks (a height of above twenty- 

 five feet) ; such as laid down their 

 arras received quarter. — For a more 

 partiular account of the proceedings 

 of Mr. Yeo, and his party, I beg 

 leave to refer you to his letter en- 

 closed herewith, and have to request 

 you will be pleased to recommend 

 him to the notice of the lords com- 

 missioners of the admiralty, being a 

 very old officer, and in the two late 

 instances has displayed as much gal- 

 lantry as ever fell to the lot of any 

 man ; he speaks in the strongest 

 language of the officers and men uor 

 der his command on-shore, and I 

 feel it but justice to attribute our 

 success wholly to their exertions ; 

 for although the fire from the ship 

 was admirably directed, the enemy- 

 were so completely covered by their 

 embrasures, as to render the grape 

 almost ineflectual. — The instant the 

 union was displayed at the fort, I 

 sent and took possession of the ene- 

 my's vessels in the road, consisting 

 of the Confiance French privateer, 

 pierced for 26 twelves and nines, 

 none of which, however, were on 

 board ; the Belier, a French priva- 

 teer brig, pierced for 20 18-pound 

 carronades ; and a Spanish mcr- 

 chant-brig in ballast. I then hoist- 

 ed a flag of truce, and sent to inform 

 the inhabitants of the town, that if 

 they would deliver up such stores 

 of the ship as were on shore, there 

 would be no farther molestation ; 

 the proposal was thankfully agreed 

 to. I did not, however, think it 

 advisable to allow the people to re- 

 main long enough to embark the 

 guns, there being a large body of 

 troops in the vicinity, A great 

 nauy sjaall rpssels are m the bay, 



and 



