142 
flattering accounts of the disposition 
of the Calabrians, and foreseeing 
that, if success attended his first 
operations, he should -be able at 
any rate to destroy the stores and 
ammunition, collected in Calabria for 
the invasion of Sicily, he consented 
at length to land with part of his 
army on the continent, and make 
trial of the loyalty and affection of 
the people to their former masters. 
The enterprize, which sir John 
Stuart thus reluctantly undertook, 
he conducted with singular judg- 
ment and ability, and brought to a 
fortunate conclusion, with infinite 
glory to the British arms, but with. 
out any of those advantages to the 
_ eourt of Palermo, which it had 
fondly anticipated from the experi- 
ment. ! 
The troops destined to this expe- 
dition by sir John Stuart, amount. 
ed to about 4800 effective men.— 
With this small force he landed.on 
the morning of the Ist of July, ina 
bay in the gulph of St. Eufemia, 
near the northern frontier of lower 
Calabria. Little opposition was 
made to his landing by the enemy, 
who had not* yet collected their 
forces. A proclamation was imme- 
diately issued by the English general, 
Jnvitiug the Calabrians to join the 
standard of their lawful sovereign 
and offering them arms and ammuni- 
tion for their defence. Few or none, 
however, obeyed the summons, 
Disappointed in his expectations 
from the inhabitants, sir John Stuart 
was hesitating whether to re-embark 
his troops, when intelligence was 
brought to him that general Regnier 
was encamped at Maida, about ten 
miles off, with an army nearly equal 
to his own. Understanding at the 
same time that the French general 
was in daily expectation of rein- 
ANNUALREGISTER, 1806. 
forcements, he determined to ad- 
vance next morning, (July 4th) and 
attack him before they arrived. ‘he 
two armies were separated by a 
plain from four to six miles in 
breadth, extending from sea to sea, 
and bounded on the north and south 
by chains of mountains. The French 
occupied a strong position on the 
sloping side of a woody hill, below 
the village of Maida, having the ri- 
ver Lamato in front, and their flanks 
strengthened by a thick, impervious 
underwood. In numbers they were 
greatly superior to the English, hay- 
ing received the expected reinforce. 
ment before the battle. ‘Their force 
is supposed to have been about 
7000 men, while that of the English. 
did notamount to 4,800. Had Reg. 
nier remained upon the heights, the 
Knglish must have attacked him 
with great disadvantage, and though 
the event of the engagement would 
have been probably the same, the 
loss on their part must have been 
more considerable. But, fortunately, 
blinded by an excess of confidence in 
his own troops, and an undue and 
unbounded contempt of the enemy, 
he quitted his strong position, aud 
drew up his army on the plain. The 
English, surprised at the number 
of his troops, which was greater 
than they expected, but in no 
wise dismayed by their appearance, 
advanced with undiminished ala- 
crity to the attack. The action 
began on the right of the English 
army. After some firing, both 
sides prepared to charge with the 
bayonet, aud advanced with appa- 
rently equal resolution; but the 
French, who had probably imbibed 
from their general his contemptuous. 
opinion of the enemy, were so as- 
tonished at the firmness with which 
the English advanced to the charge, 
that 
