GENERAL HISTORY. 



[103 



" The whole, (says Lord Ex- 

 mouth in his dispatch) was con- 

 ducted in perfect silence, and 

 such a thing as a cheer I never 

 heard in any part of the line ; 

 and that the guns were well 

 worked and directed, will be seen 

 for many years to come, and re- 

 membered by these barbaiians 

 for ever." '•' Not an officer nor 

 man confined his exertions within 

 the precise limits of his own 

 duty : all were eager to attempt 

 sei'vices, which I found more diffi- 

 cult to restrain than excite." The 

 modesty of the commander has 

 left his own actions to be related 

 by others ; and they have met 

 with a truly liberal encomiast in 

 his brother-admiral of the Dutch 

 squadron. " Till nine o'clock (says 

 Van Capellen) LordExmouth re- 

 mained vvith the Queen Char- 

 lotte in the same position, in the 

 hottest of the fire, thereby encou- 

 raging every one not to give up 

 the begun work until the whole 

 was completed, and thus display- 

 ing such perseverance, that all 

 were animated with the same 

 spirit. Shortly afterwards, the 

 Queen Charlotte, by the loosen- 

 ing of the burning wreck, being 

 in the greatest danger, we were, 

 under the heaviest fire, only anx- 

 ious for the fate of our noble 

 leader; but, upon offering him 

 the assistance of all the boats of 

 the squadron, his reply was — 

 That having calculated every 

 thing, it behoved us by no means 

 to be alarmed for his safety, but 

 only to continue our fire with 

 redoubled zeal." 



The loss sustained in such an 

 action, could not but be very con- 

 siderable compared to the magni- 

 tude of the armament. It amount- 



ed, in the English fleet, to 128 

 killed, and 690 wounded. Among 

 these was a full proportion of 

 officers, but none of high rank 

 were in the list of killed. The 

 Dutch numbered 13 killed, and 

 52 wounded : Grand total 883. 

 A summary of the destruction in- 

 curred by the enemy, enumerates 

 four large frigates of 44 guns ; 

 five large coi"vettes, from 24 to 30 

 guns ; all the gun and mortar 

 boats, except seven ; several mer- 

 chant brigs and schooners ; a great 

 number of small vessels of various 

 descriptions ; all the pontoons, 

 lighters, &c. ; the store-houses 

 and arsenal, and a large quantity 

 of ditFerent marine articles. Their 

 loss in killed and wounded is com- 

 puted at between 6 and 7000 j 

 but this was probably much be- 

 yond the reality. 



Although the close of the com- 

 bat seemed to display a deter- 

 mined spirit of resistance on the 

 part of the Algerines, its events 

 were so decisive, that they fully 

 justified the British commander 

 in assuming the tone of a con- 

 queror. Accordingly, on the fol- 

 lowing day. Lord Exmouth dis- 

 patched a letter to the Dey, the 

 tenor of which was, to repiesent 

 the atrocities committed at Bona, 

 and the disregard with which 

 the demands made in the name 

 of the Prince Regent had been 

 treated, as the motives for that 

 signal chastisement which had 



been inflicted upon him to 



offer him the same terms of 

 peace as before; but with the 

 proviso, that neither the British 

 consul, nor the detained naval 

 -officers and men, should have 

 been treated with cruelty, and 

 that they should be sent off to the 



fleet— 



