462 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
garrison; whereas, before his lordship's time, it was not tenable against ships of 
war. Places of strength are often given up because the officers commanding in 
them do not know their real strength, and the advantage they have over the 
enemy; Gibraltar is a place that can never be taken by shipping, nor ought 
it to be taken by land. Engineers and governors of places often weaken 
their garrisons by additional works, and I am of opinion that the bastion 
which has cost so much money at Gibraltar, .has by no means added strength 
to that garrison. The Erench engineers at Munster, in Germany, and at 
Palle on the Island of Bellisle, constructed several redoubts in front of the 
works at both these places; they all fell to us as soon as we were ready to 
attack them—those very works must have been made by us, if they had not 
been made by the Erench. 
“ When we attacked Bellisle, the first thing we did, was to send three ships 
of the line and two bomb ships to attack a four gun battery that was close 
to the water's edge. The battery was silenced, but we could not make our 
landing good; our ships got within pistol shot of the battery, our loss was 
very great, both in men and boats, and had that four gun battery been re¬ 
tired 400 yards back, it would have beat all Commodore Keppell's fleet. In 
about 14 or 16 days afterwards, we were to have attempted landing in another 
place; but first of all, there was a battery of two guns to be destroyed by our 
shipping. The little battery stood upon a hill, and distant from our ships 
about 500 yards at most; the ships sent in by the commodore were one of 
90 guns, two of 74, and two bomb ships that I had the direction of. The 
three ships of the line fired many hundred shot at the two guns without ever 
touching them, and had it not been that our false attack made the landing 
good, we must have been beat off by the two 12-prs. I would therefore 
recommend to every artillery officer who lias it in his power to raise batteries 
of defence against shipping, to observe the distance I have mentioned, and 
be assured that with a very few guns, on a battery of my construction, no 
number of ships could stand against it; for every shot fired from the battery 
would do very essential damage to the shipping, and all the shot the ship¬ 
ping could ever fire, would do the battery but little, if any damage. 
“ Officers very frequently debate and argue about guns and mortars, in 
regard to the distance they carry—some for one sort and some for others; 
half the guns and mortars that have been rendered unserviceable, from the 
beginning of time to this day, have been spoiled by firing them at too great 
ranges, and giving them too great a charge of powder. I must own that I 
cannot see (except on some particular occasions), the use of firing any piece 
of ordnance to any greater distance than what you can, with some degree of 
certainty, direct it with your eye. I would not have any officer fire his guns 
because the enemy's random shot reach him; except, as I said before, on 
some particular occasions—viz. such as the enemies' line forming, or their 
advancing or retreating in columns, &c. &c. 
“ During the whole course of my service, I have looked up to with pleasure 
and honored the three great men who, I may say, first established and made 
our artillery, during both the last wars, so respectable. Before their time it 
was a mere nothing; and though in different departments, their zeal and great 
knowledge of the service was such that made them valuable to this country. 
One was the late General Belford, the present General Williamson, and the 
other the present Surveyor-General of the Ordnance, Sir Charles Erederick. 
