LON 
wets fucceeded by the furrender of the town. The garrifon, 
amounting to about 6000 men, were made prifoners of war. 
Though the attack on Flufhing was thus ultimately 
fuccefsful, it had been impeded in its progrefs by the 
want of ileill and vigour on the part of thole who con¬ 
ducted it. The batteries and trenches were conftruCted 
one after another without method or arrangement; all 
was anarchy and confulion ; neither officers nor foldiers 
in the engineer department knew their fituations. In con- 
fequence of this want of arrangement in the diftribution 
of the working-parties, the works proceeded with extreme 
(lownefs. Our troops were polled within range of the 
enemy’s guns before any of the (tores necelTary for the at¬ 
tack were even landed, and without the ad vantage of con¬ 
fining him to his fortifications. The foldiers at work on 
the trenches were generally without any fort of covering- 
party in their front, while the enemy’s advanced parties 
were frequently on their flank. The French piquets in¬ 
deed were fullered to remain in many places within two 
mulket-lhots of our men during the whole of our opera¬ 
tions ; fo that a wooded and enclofed country, which is 
generally thought advantageous to the befiegers, proved 
a benefit to the French, and a iofs to the Britilh. The 
illand of Cadfand, the only place from whence the enemy 
could receive ftipplies or reinforcements, was left unoc¬ 
cupied ; and, as the (mailer armed veffels had not yet in¬ 
tercepted the communication, advantage was foon taken 
of the neglect ; and on the 4-th, 5th, and 6th, of Auguft, 
three thoufand of the enemy palled over from Cadfand to 
Flufhing. The dykes had been cut, and the inundation 
had begun ferioully to impede the operations in the low 
ground ; but the attack was carried forward on to the 
flanks of Flufhing along the dykes. 
In the mean time a very numerous French army, compofed 
ofthe national guards of the Belgic provinces and the nearelt 
provinces of France, was aflembled in the neighbourhood 
of Antwerp ; the forts on the Scheldt were well manned, 
and every other preparation made for oppoling the paflage 
of both our army and navy. An immenfe quantity of 
naval llores, deposited in the arfenal of Antwerp, was ei¬ 
ther removed or got ready for fpeedy removal; and pre¬ 
parations were made for conveying the Ihips fo high up 
the river as to be out of our power, either naval or mili¬ 
tary, in cafe of a fuccefsful attempt to force a paflage. 
All ideas of pufhing up the Scheldt for the reduction of 
the fleet, and deitroying the arfenal and dock-yards of 
France at Antwerp and Terneufe, were prefently aban¬ 
doned ; and lord Chatham, with the greater number of the 
troops under his command, returned on the 14th of Sep¬ 
tember, to England. It was deemed necelTary with the 
remainder to keep pofleffion of the Iile of Walcheren, for 
the purpofe of blockading the Scheldt, and enabling our 
merchants to introduce Britilh manufactures and the pro¬ 
duce of our colonies into Holland. But it appeared, that 
in this marfh Britilh troops would have been expofed, not 
only to the lire and fvvord of the enemy, (againlt which, 
in fuch an infular polition, they might have been enabled 
to defend themfelves,) but to the rage of peitilence. To¬ 
wards the middle of September, when the diftemper was 
at its height, the average number of deaths in our army 
in Walcheren was from 200 to 300 a-week. 
The opinion of the Britilh government about the ex¬ 
pediency of retaining or abandoning this dreadful illand, 
was in a ftate of fluctuation. No ierious exertions were 
made for renewing the defences or improving the fortifi¬ 
cations of Flufhing till the middle of September, when a 
requifition was made for 500 of the peafantry ofthe illand 
to be employed in thickening the parapets, and otherwife 
(lengthening the ramparts of Flufhing. For the fame 
end, and alfo the repair ofthe barracks, 100 artificers ar¬ 
rived from England with large fupplies of brick'and lime 
at the end of OClober. Towards the middle of Novem¬ 
ber they began to demolifu the works and naval bafon of 
FluIhing, as far as might be done without dellroying the 
lives and property of the inhabitants. This was done 5 
Vol. XIII. No. 900. 
D O N. 197 
and on the 23d of December the illand of Walcheren 
was completely evacuated by the Britilh army, nearly one 
half of which, according to a return made to the houfe 
of commons, was either loft or lick. 
Our operations were, as ufual, more profperous at fea 
and in illands than on the continent of Europe. A 
French fleet, confifting of nine or ten fail of the line and 
fome frigates, lay in the roads of Aix under the protection 
of the forts of that illand. In the evening of the nth of 
April, lord Cochrane, who was under the orders of admi¬ 
ral lord Gambier, proceeded to attack this fleet thus fta- 
tioned, with a number of fire-fliips, frigates, and other 
veffels, under a favourable ftrong wind from the north¬ 
ward, and the advantage of flood-tide. On the approach! 
of our lquadron to the fliips of the enemy, it was difeo- 
vered that a boom was placed in front of their line for a 
defence. This, however, the weight of the Mediator fire- 
lliip foon broke; and the ufual intrepidity of Britilh fea- 
men, led by luch a commander as lord Cochrane, advan¬ 
cing under the fire of both the forts and the Ihips, over 
came all difficulties. The greater part of the French fluffs 
cut or dipt their cables, and, the anchorage being con ¬ 
fined, avoided explofion by running on-lhore. Thefe, 
however, were afterwards either deftroyed or rendered un¬ 
fit for fervice, while four ihips ofthe line were taken and - 
blown up at their anchorage. At daylight, lord Coch¬ 
rane communicated to admiral lord Gambier by telegraph, 
that feven of the enemy’s fnips were on-lhore, and might 
be-deliroyed. The admiral immediately made the fignal 
for the fleet to unmoor and weigh, intending to proceed 
with it to effeCt their deftruCtion. The wind, however, 
frelh from the northward, and the flood-tide, rendered it, 
in the judgment of the admiral, too hazardous to run into 
the flialiow waters of Aix Roads ; he therefore caft an¬ 
chor again at the diltance of about three miles from the 
forts of the illand. This w'as afterward* made a fubject 
of accufation by lord Cochrane againft admiral Gambier. 
In the Mediterranean, towards the end of October, a 
French fquadron, confifting of three fail of the line and 
four frigates, with twenty Targe tranfports, from Toulon 
for the relief of Barcelona, was deftroyed by a divifion of 
the fleet under lord Collingwood. The tranfports, fepa- 
rating from the fliips of war, ran for (belter to the bay of 
Rofas; where they, too, though under the protection of 
fome armed Ihips and gun-boats, were attacked and de¬ 
ftroyed. 
Nearly about the fame time, a fmall fquadron detached 
from lord Collingwood’s fleet, with 1600 troops fent from 
Sicily, under the command of brigadier-general Ofwald, 
took the illandsofZante, Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Cerigo. 
The French garrilons in thole illands furrendered to the 
Britilh arms after a very faint refiltance. The govern¬ 
ment of the Seven Illands was declared to be reftored.—- 
In the Indian ocean, the Ifle of Bourbon furrendered to a 
Britilh force on the 21ft of September. 
In the Weft Indies, the illand of Martinico and the 
city of St. Domingo were added to our numerous poflef- 
fions in that part of the world. The city of St. Domingo 
furrendered without refiftance. The difpatch from major- 
general Carmichael to lord Caftlereagh, announcing this 
conqueft, is a Ilriking burlelque on that intolerable mi- 
nutenels which has long, and that religious cant which 
has lately, become falhionable in the dilpatches of both 
our generals and admirals : “ With humble fubmiffion 
to the Almighty Dilpofer of events, full of confidence in 
a juft cauie, and Britilh hearts to maintain it, I wrote a 
letter,” and proceeded to make difpofition.s for the reduc¬ 
tion of the city of St. Domingo. The zeal, abilities, cou¬ 
rage, and indefatigable exertions, of the officers under 
his command, are extolled at great length—yet there was 
no fighting. The enemy did not make any refiftance. 
“ A continual tire of mulketry from the walls was indeed 
heard for a Ihort time, even when the white flag was up ; 
and the general moved forward with a party of dragoons 
to demand the cauie. The French general allured nis 
3 E ?iel- 
