Oct. island without resistance, and to have made prisoners 1810. of the english" garrison," numbering 100. All this appears to have been the work of only six or seven hours; for the franco-venetian squadron, by dark the same evening, had reembarked the troops and made sail out of the harbour: a sudden step for which we may presently be able to account. Du ac exploit The french commodore concludes his letter to Capt. prince Murat by stating, that the english squadron, bourcomposed of three frigates, one corvette, and "two dieu's brigs," avoided measuring strength with him, although count his officers and crews were all extremely eager for of his the combat. "La division anglaise, composée de trois frégates, une corvette, et deux bricks, a évité de se mesurer avec nous. Je puis assurer à V. A. que les états-majors et équipages étaient dans les meilleures dispositions et fort désireux de se battre." He had previously described his own squadron, as consisting of " trois frégates, deux corvettes, et deux bricks." Thus representing, that the difference of force was only one "corvette;" a name applied, with singular propriety, to ships like the Bellona and Carolina, measuring 700 tons, and mounting 36 guns, including 24 long french 12-pounders on the main deck. The whole of this statement conveys a vile insinuation; and, if the paragraph, as it here stands, really formed part of the original letter, and was not superadded by the Moniteur, it leaves an indelible stain upon the character of M. Dubourdieu. With respect to the strong desire in the french officers and men to have a meeting with the british squadron, we may yet have to show how amply that desire was gratified. An ac took We have given the Moniteur's version of the pro- count ceedings of commodore Dubourdieu's squadron at of what Lissa: we will now state the circumstances as they really occurred. On the morning of the 26th captain place. Hoste arrived off Port St.-George; and his disappointment may be conceived on learning what had happened. The french commodore landed from 1810. 700 to 800 troops, and took possession of the port. Oct. A midshipman of the Amphion, who had been left in charge of some prizes, retired to the mountains with almost all the inhabitants and the crews of the privateers; and, when the enemy's troops disembarked, none but the constituted authorities remained in the town. In the afternoon the three fishermen, spoken by the squadron of captain Hoste that same morning off Pelagosi, arrived in the harbour. The information they brought, of the British being so near, produced the utmost confusion on board the squadron that was "so desirous to meet them;" and, after destroying two british and three sicilian privateers, commodore Dubourdieu got under way and departed with no other trophies of his exploit, than two detained vessels belonging to the british squadron and a privateer schooner. The precipitate retreat of a force, apparently so formidable, left upon the inhabitants of Lissa so unfavourable an impression of french naval prowess, that they almost all began to take up arms; and, had the british squadron made its appearance off the island, the French would have found a resistance where they little expected it. Capt. wards na, where pre Without waiting to hear the details of what had hastens taken place, captain Hoste crowded sail to the to- north-west. But he was too late; for before the Anco- british squadron had even lost sight of the island of Lissa, the franco-venetian squadron was entering enemy the harbour of Ancona: a harbour which we doubt had if it ever would have entered, had the Active not viously fallen in with the sicilian privateer. The arrival in arrived the Adriatic of the 74-gun ship Montagu, captain Is Richard Hussey Moubray, to take the command of joined the british squadron, and be ready for the new 74-gun Mon- ship Rivoli, expected soon to put to sea from the port tagu. of Venice, left M. Dubourdieu with a real excuse for remaining, during the rest of the year, quiet in Ancona. by the On the 25th of July, at daybreak, as the british vessels Aman thea. 12-pounder 32-gun frigate Thames, captain Granville 1810. George Waldegrave, and 18-gun brig-sloop Pilot, July. captain John Toup Nicolas, were standing along Thames the coast of Naples, the 18-gun brig-sloop Weazle, Weacaptain Henry Prescott, appeared off Amanthea, Pilot with the signal flying for an enemy's convoy, con- chase sisting, as afterwards discovered, of 32 transport into vessels from Naples, laden with stores and provisions for Murat's army at Scylla, and escorted by seven gun-boats, mounting one gun each, all long 18pounders but two, which were brass 36-pounder carronades, four scampavias, or armed vessels, also of one gun each, (8, 6, and 4 pounders,) and an armed pinnace with swivels. Immediately on perceiving that the british ships were approaching towards them, the transports ran upon the beach under the town of Amanthea, where they were flanked by two batteries; while the gun-boats and other armed vessels, under the command of capitaine de frégate Caraccioli, drew themselves up in a line for the protection of the former. and boats. The weather being nearly calm, it was 2 P. M. before Anchor the frigate and the two brigs were enabled to form in detach a close line; when, running along within grape-shot their distance, they presently drove the Neapolitans from the vessels, and then anchored. Captain Prescott now set the example by pushing off with the Weazle's boats, having under him lieutenant Thomas John James William Davis, Mr. George Cayme the master, and midshipmen William Holmes and John Golding. The boats of the Thames, under lieutenants Edward Collier and Francis Molesworth, midshipmen Matthew Liddon, Christopher Wyvill, John Veal, John Murray, the honourable Trefusis Cornwall, and William Wilkinson, Mr. William Mullins the boatswain, and Mr. James Beckett the carpenter; and those of the Pilot, under lieutenants Francis Charles Annesley and George Penruddock, Mr. Thomas Herbert the boatswain, and master's mate Thomas Leigh, promptly followed. 1810. July. and The marines of the Thames, under lieutenant David M'Adam, were also landed, to cover the British seamen while they were launching the vessels; the land ships all the time firing on the batteries, and on every take spot where musketry was collected to oppose the destroy party on shore. The Neapolitans had not only thrown the up an embankment outside the vessels, to prevent whole the British from getting them off, but also one within &c. them, to afford shelter to the numerous troops col and convoy loss in lected; who, when driven from their entrenchments, still greatly annoyed the British from the walls of the town. At length every difficulty was surmounted; and by 6 P. M. all the vessels were brought off, except one transport laden with bread, too much shattered by shot to float, and one gun-boat, two armed. vessels, and two transports, that could not be got off the beach, but all of which were destroyed. Slight This very gallant and important enterprise was curred, accomplished with so slight a loss on the part of the British, as one marine killed, and six seamen and marines wounded. The loss on the part of the. Neapolitans no where appears; nor, indeed, can we discover that any account of the affair has been published. The Moniteur of August the 5th contains an article, under the head of " Scylla, le 20 Juillet," announcing the departure of captain Caraccioli, with a division of gun-boats, to meet and protect this convoy; but, although accounts from the neapolitan coast continued to arrive, no mention is made of the disaster that befell that convoy and those gun-boats. of capt. Letter In his letter to rear-admiral Martin giving an Walde- account of this affair, captain Waldegrave, with a grave. liberality and a modesty that do him great credit, thus expresses himself: " Gratified as I feel at an opportunity of testifying the gallantry and zeal of captains Prescott and Nicolas, and lieutenant Collier, together with all the officers and crews of the ships, (more particularly those in the boats,) for their sakes I cannot help regretting it should not have fallen to 1810. their lot to have been under the command of one, whose testimony would have greater weight in July. ensuring them that applause and reward to which such conduct so justly entitles them." For his gallantry in the command of the boats, captain Prescott was promoted to post-rank, and his commission bears date on the day on which the service was executed. Hall and a pri On the night of the 28th of September, captain Capt. Robert Hall, of the 14-gun brig-sloop Rambler, lands at lying in Gibraltar bay, having been detached with Barbate some gun-boats in search of enemy's privateers takes to the westward, landed with 30 officers, seamen, vateer. and marines, after a pull of 20 hours at the sweeps, at a spot near the entrance of the river Barbate, or Barbet, about five miles to the north-west of Tarifa. Lieutenant Hall and his party then crossed the sand-hills to get at a french privateer, lying about three miles up the river, protected by two 6-pounders, her own crew, and 30 french dragoons. After some sharp firing, the enemy retreated with the loss of five dragoons, seven horses, and two of the privateer's crew. The British then swam off to the privateer and carried her with no greater loss than one marine killed and one wounded. Among the officers present in this enterprise, we find the names of lieutenant James Seagrove and lieutenant of marines William Halsted. 7 official letter. Of all the official letters which we have had occasion His to consult, this of captain Hall's is the most difficult to understand. He speaks of landing with part of the crew of a gun-boat No. 14, " that of the Rambler and the marines and seamen of the Topaze, in all 30," and dates his letter on board "His majesty's sloop Rambler." We suppose, however, that both the Rambler and the Topaze, mentioned in the body of the letter, were gun-boats. A little more explicitness would have enabled us to do justice to what appears to have been a very gallant exploit. Our contemporary seems also to have been led astray by the official letter. He says: "Captain Robert Hall, in |