624 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



gratefuil}' acknowledged the essen- 

 tial assistance wliicli lie received on 

 that occasion from col. Villettes. 

 Tlie merit of this service will per- 

 haps be more fully appreciated, 

 when it is known, that the force 

 which col. Villetles commanded, 

 was composed of no more than 

 1,000 British soldiers, 250 landed 

 seamen,and 1,200 Corsicans; which 

 last were fit only to scour the coun- 

 trj'. The garrison, on the other 

 Land, consisted of 4,000 French 

 regulars, and about as many of the 

 armed inhabitants. Even after the 

 surrender of the place, the difficul- 

 ties of col. Villettes' situation did 

 not cease. With his small force, 

 he was to guard 8,000 prisoners ; 

 and this arduous task was continu- 

 ed several days, the state of the 

 weather rendering it impossible to 

 send them away in a shorter time. 

 For this important service colonel 

 Villettes was rewarded, by being 

 appointed governor of Bastia ; and 

 a vote of thanks to him being pro- 

 posed in the House of Commons, 

 it seemed to be a subject of regret 

 with every person, that some cir- 

 cumstances of parliamentary eti- 

 quette rendered it impossible to ac- 

 cede to the motion. In the year 

 ] 796, an intermittent fever, of a 

 very bad kind, which is common 

 in Corsica, obliged col. Villettes to 

 resign the government of Basfia, 

 and return to England; and the 

 following year, Portugal being 

 threatened by the French, he was 

 sent to that country, and served in 

 the army commanded by his friend 

 Sir Charles Stuart, about a year 

 and a half; when, the danger be- 

 ing for the present removed, the 

 British troops were withdrawn, and 

 col. Villettes came back to Eng- 

 land, where he was promoted to 



the rank of a major-general, on tfifi? 

 18lh of June, 1798. About this 

 time, general Villettes was appoint- 

 ed comptroller of the household of 

 his royal highness the duke of 

 Kent ; and his royal highness con- 

 tinued to honour the general with 

 his confidence as long as he lived. 

 In 1799, general Villettes was sent 

 to Corfu ; it being then in contem- 

 plation to raise a corps of Albani- 

 ans for his majesty's service. Of 

 the inexpediency of this measure 

 the general was soon convinced ; 

 and however advantageous the 

 adopting it might have proved to 

 himself, he strongly advised the 

 contrary, and the plan was accord- 

 ingly relinquished. The mutiny 

 which some years afterwards took 

 place at Malta among troops of a 

 similar description, fully proved the 

 justness of his opinion. When his 

 presence was no longer necessary 

 in Corfu, gen. Villettes was sent to 

 Malta; where he acted for some 

 time as second in command to gen. 

 Pigot ; and, after his departure in 

 1801, as commander-in-chief of 

 the forces, in which important si- 

 tuation he remained tilt the year 

 1807. Those persons who recollect 

 the stipulations concerning Malta 

 in the treaty of Amiens, the discus- 

 sions which arose during the peace 

 in consequence of those stipula- 

 tions, and the value attached to this 

 island by all parties since the re- 

 newal of hostilities ; and who, at 

 the same time, consider the situa- 

 tion of Malta, with respect to Na- 

 ples, Sicily, Egypt, and indeed the 

 whole of the Mediterranean and 

 the Levant, will readily conceive 

 that there were few situations, in 

 which a firm, temperate, and judi- 

 cious conduct could be more requi- 

 site than in the commander of the 



forces 



