GOVERNOR OF ANTWERP. 97 



and of the 4th, with part of the 6th. Fifteen hundred 

 bombs, eight hundred cannon ball?, many red-hot balls 

 and fusees, were thrown on our ships. The enemy then 

 retired ; the experience of three days had sufficed to give 

 him the estimate of the rough tilter he had to deal with. 



I will borrow from the journal of the siege kept by M. 

 Ransonnet, Carnot s aide-de camp, some details that may 

 be interesting, and which will show the strictness of the 

 man and of the times. 



On the 1 Oth of February, the new governor of Ant 

 werp wrote to the Mayor of the town : 



&quot; I am very much surprised that the person charged 

 with ordering the furnishing of my quarters, did not re 

 strict himself to what was necessary. 



&quot; I also desire that any demands of this nature, made 

 on my account, may not have the character of a forced 

 requisition. 



&quot;All the effects enumerated in the annexed list are 

 unnecessary.&quot; 



The necessities of the Belgian campaign, having sug 

 gested to the Emperor the idea of borrowing some troops 

 from the garrison of Antwerp for the army, Carnot wrote 

 a despatch to the General-in-Chief, Maison, dated the 

 27th of March, whence I have extracted the following 

 passages : 



&quot; In obeying the orders of the Emperor, I am obliged 

 to declare to you, the Commander-in-Chief, that these 

 orders are equivalent to ordering Antwerp to be ceded 

 .... The circumference of this place is immense, and 

 there would be at least fifteen thousand good troops re* 

 quired to defend it. How could His Majesty suppose 

 that with three thousand sailors, the greater part of whom 



