The National Register. — London, England, 1809-04-23 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. APRIL 23. EATRJOIIDLVA Y E PTE. Adnara(l . y;oci ar pril2l. z Sir !tarry. Neale, E3art;l4'lrsce•-aptaiti to Admiral Lord Gam bier, Commander in Chief of his Vlopsty's.ships and vese.els em ployed in ,the Channel•SoundiagA, &c.: artiNed here this nitirring with a disoaLth from. his Lordship to the Honourable William Wellesley_ 'Pole, Of..w hich the •fitiloir ingt isizt• copy ' Citledin a,'at aiichar. - in llasque'R,Oads, Aprif '14. - 1809. Sir—the Almighty's favoleto his Majesty and the''nation has heen. ; strongly Marked in the success tie has been pleased to , give to the operation§lnf - his Majesty's' flectunder my 'command ; and in:iie'the sari'sfactioo to Accpiaild you, for•thel informa tion of the Lords C'toviiii4sioners of the-Admiralty,Viat the four ships cx the emony named in th,e mktgin *', haie beets iletro3ed tit their a,tnitorage ;;and 'several 'Others, from 11.. Ming on shore, if not filtoirt.ther un4ervieca.ble, are,at least, diSabled zs. for a cowlide table tithe. • The a angement of the fire vessels z 'placed hotter the direction of Captain the !tight 1i M. made.ak fully as Ow state of the .weather wound admits hCeordiug to his 'Lord ski o's plan On the evenink of the and at'eight o'clock iii the 'sitme Itiey prOceededfio 'the attack, under a favou r- Sibie st rung w Intl fry nothe north4t - 3tril,' and'iloodLtidel, preceded by some ve•els filled Xvith powder add shells, 4, priiposed by his Lordship, With a view, to explosion,) and 10 nn in the mast n:tdanated 'and dcteimined mantierby Capt.' Xi' Aldridge, in the Mediator ,fire-ship, the •others. following hi 'itbcesssion; . but e - % - hitt:lll44e darlt.l)CSS of the utght, 'several mistOok their course, and On their approach to the enemy's ships, ryas discovered that boOm (vas ' 61ae;31 . to iviint of tbvif line for a defence. This, hottevie'r, the weight 'of'the illediattir soon broke, and the usual l'arevidity and bravery •of British seamen overcame all di flicultte4. AdVancing untlii'r a hedvy fire from the forts in the isle of Atii, as well as Itora the eticifiyVships, most of which cut or slipt"their ca.Ve.s,Wnd from the confined anchorage,zot on shore, ;old thus avoided taking fire. 1 At do) -tight the folloWing looming, Lord. Cochrane corrimoni- Cated to toe by telegraph,' that seven tof' thb enemy'sships wereem -shore. and inigpt ,be deoroyed. I immediately made the signal for t!u fleet unmoor and we h intending . to proceed with it to eifeet their destruction: The wind, however, being fresh front' the itorthward, and th flood-tide runnityr, rendered it too kW/aMous to run into Afx Itesails - (fresm its sham water.), *I therefore anchored again at ihe',distauce of about three miles from the forts on the Island.. Xs the tide suited, the enemy evinced great activity in endea vouring to warp their ships (which had grounded) into deep water,"wol succeeded• in getting all but five of the line towards the entrance of the Charente before it became' Practicablf to attack them. gave orders to Capt. of the Valiant, to prOcced with that ship. the Revenge, frigates, 'bombs, add small vessels, named in the margid+, to anchor near the,' fidyrat Shoal,' in te,olittess for thd attack:'' At tw .minutes4aelf two, P.M. Lord Cochrane advanced int he linpleri'ense vi!itli'ffl4 accustomed gallantry and spirit, and opt.ned a well-direcwil fire upon Ihe C:ileutta, hick struck her colours to the Infpericuse ; the ships litid vessels abovesoon after joined in the` attack upon the Ville de VarsoVie mid A e i tlitin, and' before five o'clOck, aftei iistaioinga heavy cannonade, iq strike their colours, when they f werelaken possession 'of, by the, boats of the advanced squadron. As soon as the''',liil4tioers,.vr'cre remit ~-•t!. they were set on tire, as was also the 1 f aelii, if short ti.ot , • , ..•.eft- • ,tftt r'by t he 'totem y. I afterwards detached Rear7Adirai'llhOVWft.obert'St-o . ford, in the C;esti r, with iti r , three ad.ti!i'oiiiiV(4l l eiii., (which were hastily prepiiriK.ln.the course of„the (+4)O vilet4l; the boats (if`tht± fleet, wild, Sr.l Congreve's rocli.ets,..teWndoct the further operations of 1 Any of the slit lay exposed to an attack. On the ;noiaiog of the Otti 1,4 'Rettil Admiral reported to me, that as the eilt.4aE Und other line of battle ships hadgrounded, and w ere in a dangerous sitnAcisin, he thought it advisable to order them all' nut, particularly qs.thv * Ville de • Varsorvie, of 80 guns ; Tonnerreyna ; A quillon, of 74 guns; and Calcutta, or 36 trims. • •. + Indefatigable,- Aigle, Emerald, Pit%ts, :Beagle; • ,Etna bomb, Insolent gun brig, Conflict, • Eneounte'r, -FetVetilt,i and Growler remaining part of he service could be performed by fri;;ateK anti small vessels only : and I was happy to find that they were et 'rimied from their perilous oititation. Captain Migh has since informed me, that it was found im;- praetieble to destroy the three decked ship, and the others which were laying near the entrance of the Clarenze, as the former, being the outer one, was protected by three lines of boats placed in advance from her. This ship and all the others, excs•pt four of the line and a frigate, have now moved up the river Charente. If any further attempt to destroy them is practicable, I shall not fail to use every cacaos in my power to accomplish it. I have great satisfaction in stating to their Lordships ho* much I feet obliged to the zealous co-operations of Rear-Ad miral Stopford, under whose arrangements the boats of tlie fleet were placed ; and 1 must also express to their Lordships the high sense I have of the assistance I received from the abilities and unremitted attention of Sir harry Neale. Bart. the Captain of the Fleet, as well as the animated exertions of the captains ; officers, seamen, and marines tmder my command, and their for wardness to volunteer.upon.any - service that might be allotted to theta ; particularly the zeal and activity shewn by the captains of line of haple ships in preparing the fire-vessels. I cannot speak in sufficient terms of admiration and applause of.the vigorous and gallant attack made by Lord Cochrane upon the French line of battle ships which were on shore, as well A for his judicious manner of approaching them. and; placing hit 4b l ip in ; the position most advantageous to annoy the enemy,aha preferve his own ship ; which could not be exceeded by any feat of vtOcur hitherto achieved.by the British Navy. • It is due to Rear-Admiral Stopford, and Sir • Harry Neale; that 1 should here take the opportunity of accitininiiug theif Lordships of the handsome and earnest !winner in which boat these meritorious officers had volunteered their services before the arrival of Lord Cochrane, to undertake on attack upon 04 enemy with fire ships ; and that, ,hod not their Lordships fixed upon him to conduct the enterprize, I have full confidence that the result of their efforts would have been highly creditable (.6 theta. I should feel that I did net do justice to the services of Capt. Godfrey, of the /Etna, in bombarding the enemy's ships on th* 12th, and nearly all the day of the 13th, if I did not recommend him. to their Lordships' notice.; and I cannot omit hearing due testimony to the anxious desire expressed by Mr. Congrece to. he employed wherever I might , conceive his services in - the I management of hi 3 rockets would be useful ; some of theft were. placed in the tire-ships with effect ; and I have every reason to he saCsSed with the artillerymen, and others, who had the management of them under Mr. Congreve's direction. I send herewith a return of the killed, wounded, and mlssinf s of the fleet, which, 1 am happy to observe, is comparatively • • small. I have not yet received the returns of the number of prisoners taken, but I conceive they amount to between four and fi-..e hundred. I have charged Sir Harry Neale %;•1!h this dispatch (by the Iraperieuse), and I beg ;rave to refer their Lordships to him, as also to Lord Cochrane, for any further particulars of which they may wish to he infarnit d. I have the honour to he, &c. (Signed) •• - • •Ci 1 nntEn. nth Apati. P.. S. This morning t ee or the .eta-ml's line of battle ships are observed to be still on shore nailer Vouras, and one of them is in a dangerous One of frigates (1011(14.1)11e) also 011 shore, ha; f 111-n o'ver, and the) are now di-mantling her. As the tics will :At• off in a d.i). or 1%%0, there is every probabilii) that she w ill he de,: i•o N ed. •iiiittee writing the fore.7oin.g. I have leornt that the Honours bk.imen en: l nt-Colonel Cochrane (Lord Coehrine's brother) and i.ientennot e? the Nav), - were volunteers in the Irope iioo,le, and rendered Ih:lv:elves t l femely ; the former by ebomnaddinr some of her guns on the main -deck, and the latter in oinduet hig one of the ex pbrAon ve,sels. :Vanirs of the ships hi .fix Roads, previous to the attack on thi 11/b Jp/P, L'Oerart, V ire-Admiral Allemande, Capt. Roland— Repaired in. 1-.06. nn shore natter I'auras. Founroylnt, o w, Itt'..llr-AdiiiirA'rwurdon, caw. ears old ; nil -.bore under niuras. Cassard, 1-1 gaits, Capt. Faure, Conitto4- dare-Three years old, on shore tinder Fonras. gans l Capt. La Caille--Old, on shore in the river. lte;:tilio., 74 gnus, Capt. latea , —Five Nears oIA, on shore tooter Nl:oh irei Patrintei7:l guns, Captain Mabee— Itevaire,i to itifj. I: x