The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1810-02-28 00:00:00

Agerrstieve. yen fosart the cask! of Aatwarf a shyer asul
porfert work; trios the heat information that 'wit balm Leas
■ble to obtaiu since, do you thiuk„ upon the whole, it is air
strong, or "truager th.in it was at that time t believe the
citadel of Antwerp imams precisely in the same situatioa
am it was at that time.

State whether, previously to the sailing of the F.epeditiun,
you were colsolted by any of His Majesty's MOii,ters as to
the state of defence suJ fortification of Antwei p ,-loever
was consulted by soy of His Majesty's Ministers 111,014 that
subject.

State whether you made any communication, of your own
accord, to any of His Majesty's Minister. upon that sulaject
—I never did ; it was not any business to obtrude my opinions
uruit His M;sjesty's Ministers.
Did you communicate to Om Comalandcr-is-Chief of the
Expedition. the information, or oily pert of it, which you
have cow communicated to the Hou.e ?-41 never dill to the
Cominantleruf the Expedition, as 1 had not the honour of
knowing toy Lord Chatham 1 1 was at Deal, and the head-
quarters of the army were at Ramsgate, IN, that I had no
commonication with his Lordship whatever Isidore the em-
barkation of the troops'.
Did you make any conatunnication of this nature to the
Connuaixier-in•ehief, during thr time that y 011 were in South
Borland ?—tuelois.m.illy, all the information 1 rireeieL4 1
communicated unniediatt ly to the Quarter-Mawr-Gt.
it.. al.

Do you recollect when you made that communication ?—1
have slremly skid, that I have te.t any Of my 'wire ht tuwu
with me., a-al it is impossible for me to blare the dates or a
great many letters : but I made that committitertiun, from
tnue to time, as often as I received it, front the tith of Augn9t
to the soh, in private letters to the Quartet-Mitati.v.tieneral
of the army.
Inform the Committee whether, in the estimate which you
gave to the Cmuttitter of theateetth of time which you sup-
posed it might moire to take the Fart of Lillo, you took
mto aceouut the possible assistance that might be drawn
from the Meet to the Scheldt ?—C,ertaiulv I did ; I conceive
that the Heel mildewy little have accelerated the sarreader,
because I cusweive that reels a place, se situated, with the'
means of being relieved aid reinforced at the pleasure of the
encore, could not have hero takeu, without a bleach having
Zero made, and ate aiseaud given.

Intirm the Committee what the width of the river is hr-
twee n the Tete.ite Flan,lre and the town of Antwerp 1-1
c3nn.4 91,1, flint ecsetly ; bat, al far as I recollect, I con-
ceive it to be a' nut eight handrail yards at the utmost,pro-
b .111 v I,ot P. 11111,11.
_ _

ltiour of s ford screen the Bergea•op•Zoout Chatt-
ed I do.

Dal euautinett yourself ?--I did.
Ih you happen to recollect whether, about the time that
the army reached Ratite, the toles rue epilog tides or steep
tOielo 1 cast, of unower.

Do you cousidrr that the ford tru prarticuble for infantry
awl fur cavalry?-1 shoutJ cuocitare for uut more than oue
burst'.

• It was pearl*, Ade fie cavalry t--4• far as lam a judge, it
would bare been possibly very difficult for cavalry ; I canuot
answer that. for I never saw a home pass through it, ►ut I
have seen own pass through it. I think that that ford would
lime bemoan excessively difficult one indeed, both for cavalry
and caution. because that the ground upon this side arriving
at it h. very inneli bravo mdecd, whirb I thick cannon could
hardly have passed beer, and cavalry with the greatest di&
redly. I do mot know the opposite side of the fiord, but I
was informed it env more difficult than the Baths side.
In your optilion, supposing a f.wcs of tw.•uly thousand
men hail Area a‘setubled in South &misc.! by the end of
the first week in Angus., and that the iliatiugnished Of-
ficer who r vinmandi Mete had had power to act, might
am• blew have been struck, by coup de es Ain, or otherwise,
that might have facilitated the attainment of the ulterior
objects of the Expedition ?—1 think it would have been
wholly innoseticalile, at any period, to have tak.n Antwerp
Ivy a coop dr Mai*, or any of the forts I have described. Ido
a it know, in ancient or modern history, of a place with a
wet ditch and ramparts, tbecountericarps of which were
fe-ed with stow., that was ever taken by a cop tie mai*, ex-
er.,u•.g that tl.c place was surprin el, and that the enemy
we.:t in at the gates; whteli could nut be the case with Aso-
we. p

►t err yon at Antwerp at the same time noels CAr Darla
Datel..4 i•—.lt the tame period.
What ra,.lt in thy orate did Fos. h. 43 as that
11,9 Mt MAW to tiGe 1:;11i Light priltiODUO, 11,14
I.: Amp to my falser, se, aod in comment! so the army.
Who was thi rouituand ?—The Mike of York.
Wan not Sir I. Duadas for a short tuna in the corn.
mama of the army in Antwerp ?-1 know nothing about that
eunastaate ; I tity:rlf was in (patters at Contaag, shout
tire utiles from it I 1 went into Antwerp WOO luriusity
merely.
)us know, fears the information won received, iu what
part of the sewn of Autwerp the Fiend.' ships building there
were I,iog ?—orLey were king in the marital, I have st-
ored', det-erilied, all Moog the river, between the citadel and
tbi Inwen• eattcmity of the town.
Was there any poschility of those ships being destroyed in
that arm tint from the land side, without the B la hew; in
pousessaiii ef Vat town ,--Teripeactieshle.
An. there alms telegtaplts established between Cadsend
sod needling ammo& answer that question.
• Are there any teletraphs along the rites had no op_
pot witty of knowing wit% reaped to Caolsand; the only te-
;egraphs 1 know of ate Ate great line of telegraphs which
pasgra from Flushing in Amoterdans ; there arc two tele-
graph,. upon that line, out on Nall, lieveland and the other
1111 the Island of Sehowen, butts of which I hare seen ; there
is also a telegraph on the church of Zirieltice, which coustuu-
nieate• I believe to Bergemop•Znom and Antwerp.
Can you say whether an enemy appearing olf the coast on
the Cadaand or Flushing aide, that circumstance eau be
eomelonirated in a short time by telegraph to Antwerp ?--
1 conceive, hot this is only matter of opinion, that before
our surho,aneerdown iu the Notimpot, the euente knew
of our sop outs hot% in Antwerp and Bergeseop. loom,
I...eau,* it.. ale lines of telegraph to kWh place,.
of the force which eon state you were informed the ene-
my pte..•-•rel shout the ftth or 6th of Argent, in the ueigli-
hourhond of Antwerp, bow mufti du yuit suppose would
hiee been thrown tutu Antwerp in the course tif twu or three
the free r have staled, that at Capped might
have 11,11 1111'111,11 into Autecip in a few hours ; that in Ber-
gen-op-Limn, if the enemy chose to prod it to Antwerp,
:night hare been sew in one day or two (taps al the utmost.
What force, from the information etni bare received,
eould the eueuiy, bail lie been so disposed, Lave thrum a into
Antwerp in t•u or three days 1--11.1 try saigLt Wive thrown in
all this fore, I have ileserith d.

To what amount ?—That will be seen (ruin what I have
already said.

Can you form any estimate as to the number ?—I do not
know ; kiit I believe that these nein weir nil sery eh oug •
the Dutch battalions in particular I du out believe Wcre be:
pond 3 nr 6nu twos at the utmost.
f'ould the varsity have assembled, in the course of two or
three days, 10,000 men capable of defending Autwerp ?—I
have already staled the forte that was there.

Could the enemy, an the course of Iwo or three days, have
collected from to to 1:no men, is your opiniou, to defend
Antwerp ?—I have auswered that question.
Supposing the enemy with isowo men withiu the works
of Antwerp. soil a Hi itish forte besieging it of aii,ooto men
before that tow u, what would have been the fate of our army,
not supposing an exterior army to attack our besieging
army ; you suppose they would have any probability of
believe that 3n,000 men might have fakeer Ilie
town of Antwerp, if they had nut beet at all disturbed with-
out, rind you bad given them plenty of time 1 r do it in.
What Hair do you think it would require to take it with
wootoo men, and 1 i,tnat turn to garrison it must miter
Into a mantle detail to answer that question.
Supposing the army to have arrived before the tows with
a garrison 15,000 strong, and the In siegang army 30,000
strong think that the stare, and every iLing sieenwary
foe the siege of Antwerp so garrienutid, could not possibly
have been brought up under 41 days, there was a
great quantity of horses lathed employed, so that the hat.
terns sheeld open iu the first parallel ; that is, it wouki be
111 (6,8 N the opening of the batteries in the first paralleh
that is the ahonat time that 1 think possible l ihmk that
to attack a town NA garrowsned, it would he P.TIMAIWy
wards to priweed by n siege, by the up esalims• of a
second and thus, parallel, to have breached the plate, amd

filled lite ditch before the amealt could he given ; all *hide
operahour could nut take up under to days at the least, that
is the lowest 1,111111'60s 1 can put it at.
After the vol. iif August, at that late period, what pro-
bability nas their, in your opinion, of success in any opera-
tion nuttiest Lino and Liefkesishoeik ?—I conceive that if
any operation had berm attempted against Lillo awl Lielleu-
shorik, it would have hem at the utmost rads for the safety
of the whole arniy.
Allowing fur the possibility of them two forts being cap-
hired at that late seasuu, would it Lave insured the capture
of the town and citadel of Antwerp?—Hy no •u aum, I .lean
that any attack upon Antwerp, after the 25tla of August, *mild
base been utterly impracticable by the &High force Ikea.
there.
Do you remember the nausea of any other oaken of rank
who acre in or near -Joinery in the year iyue, *lieu you
were three !—There were no General t is with the Ex-
pedal tttt , that I AM aware of, that epee previously at Autaerp,
except Licutenart-General Brunotigg.
Do you Cr/14411 the 113111C1, of any Officers who were in or
near Auto-cry, iii the year two
I dare say 1 could re-collect many : I remember nit brother,
Major-General Cu Aisle, far one, and Lieutenant Grassiest
Vple ; but I caning call to my recollettiam others at ibis
moment.

If the fasters, of Bath: had been skilfully and obstinately
defended, what time avoid it hare taken to bare effected a
prat twahle breach nWeh the British troop:. could bars as.
'—There would have hems no necessity fur a breach
at all at Baths, if the ditch had been blind, the troops cuutd
have assaulted it immediately, for the work* were earth.
What countryman ass it films shim, you gut the intelli-
gence of the numbcis, was it a British subject ?--"fut a Bri-
tish
attlijsct.
A Frei.rhman or a Dutchman ?-41 Dutchman.

Are there any suburbs to the fortret.s "f Antwerp t--There
are houses u ithout the gates upon all the roads, hut I cannot
tell the exact extent.

To what extent and how close do they approach to the
work•. of the town !--Tbat omention I cannot answer coo re. ily,
but 1 semi& ct that there were some; the suburbs me of no
gnat extolls.
When diJ you first uederstaml that the Expedition was
&milord to Antwerp ?—t did ant positively know that the
Espedisiou was destined to Antwerp before 1 was at Deal;
but I certaiuly surmised it six weeks before.
Did you comm•ruiccte your impression cyan the state of
Antwerp, and the difficulty of the operations against it, in
any ittfEccr at Deal, and to whom ?-1 did t.. many ; 1
1:J111111MA -atell to all lay Meads my opinion with respect to
the difficulties of the Expedition. I t►ink I I.ollliftUnlCAlitli
th.ot opinion to all the lieneral Officers at Deal, and to both
of the Admirals at Deal, and to Home Popham. 1 was
particularly anxious upon this subject, because 1 thought
that those gentlemen were not aware of the difficulties they
were to meet with.

When Lord Castlereigh had commotion@ with yes at
Deal, du you recollect having communicated to Lord Caset-
te:nth the nature of the mfonnatiuu you hare stated to this
Committee ?—Nceer to his Lordship: I did not think it
proper to obtrude flip opinion on His Majesty's Ministers.
I thought it possilde that the gentlemen to whom I cum-
tunuicuted, might hare commuuicated it to His Nlnjesty's
Ministers had it nut been fur that cirrninstance, 1 might
hare communicated it to Lord Castlereagh.
Is it probable that the enemy woald have destroyed the
suburbs ?—t. udouhtedl v.
So as to prevent tiMir Lentz any menos of annoy JIIVJ
fruin, or protection. to the enemy ,—Uudoubteelly.
Would setting houses on tire et more the impediments of
riving riner to a besieging army Attacking the plme it
would depend upon the materoCv of widen the huusi-s wrre
made.

Are oot the houses there is general built of stunt ?—The
houses ha the town of Antwerp are an gam al built of stone
Do you recollect so mock of the place as to be able to
ats:c to the Commuter, whether, akin the hank of the
riser, near where the slnici s ore, there ra any high embank.
wimit that would afford cuscr to a besieging army to make
then• approaches nearer to the place ?—I die out recollect
that circumstance.

From the information Inn obtained respecting Linn, coo
,Litecoo alit:thee there was any etnhonkno:nt on curl' sltte
of the fin t, to prevent ths river overflowing the counts y l
Thcre is an embankment which runs along the whole course
ig I ilt Scheldt from Auto cry. to bergen-op•Zwom, where that
embankment touches the fort of the (Imo of the piece
finals the mnimakrweat towards the ricer.

Arc you able to state to the Committee, from soy iotw-
-111,1111011 you received, what the bright and breadth of that
embankment is ,—The embankment is, I believe, of a mani-
la, height to all the °than an that part of the country; it
nee made for no military purpose, but to keep out the water
of the Scheldt.

Arc yott elite to state the heighth end breadth of the em-
bankment '—The embankment must be high enough to pre-
veut the tide at the highest spring from overflowing the
country, and us the tide rises nearly lweuty feta, of cuhrse it
must be considerably higher than that.
Dv you 1111.311 to say that the bank is considerably higher
than twenty fart?-1 say that the embaliketcnt- Was made to
keg' out the unties of the Scheldt, and as the waters of the
Selichlt rise at high spring tides nearly iYeaty feet, the nu.
!sentiment of coulee must be that height.
Iran embankment is twenty recline', du nut you imagiee
it must be at the base about thirty feet wide, and probably at
the top about twenty feet ?—t canted possibly enter into •
calculation of that wort, that is • cresting in mechanics.
The reason of uw pouting this Iteration is to endeavour to
ascertain whither ur nut the embaiikutent is of such a nature
as to afford corer fur 1111 attacking army to snake their up-
per*. hes nrim at hand Forts of Lill.. and Liefkre.
*heck ran he approached by no means whater.v but by
waking sig.sags along the dyke, and that is tie great
strength of those places ; the uuly approach is upon the
dyke; you must approach "dung this dyke by sig.rags.
Dorm recollect so much of Antwerp es to In able to state
to Ilse Committee, whether there are a glacis Mali • covered
way, or merely • ditch, with a cuuntensearp wall'-1 believe
there is both • glans and a covered way, but at She time I
was there the covered way was quite Out of repair.

Do out you think that a hank of 2n feet high, and protialoly
Jo wide, would give very prat . over fur a bitsielgitig army 10
01011 their hatterws close to lie pLorr.,—Vliost drprods upon
the direr tin° of that eutb:toktuetA, with respect to the works
of the place
[alto being n regular twyttg.ou, as you have el•seribad,
lilt probable an etttbastkatent, constructed merely
to keep out the eater fru= the ritcr, should be regularly
Barked by any parts of such a wink '—t: rirlunlite illy the em-
bankment by %Inch you moat approneli the tort of Lille, I.
Ranked by the wool:, of that place, it rues, I IJCIItWe, at riskt
'asks upon one tot the Notions
Du you andr•rstaud that ilo,or is a similar hawk close to the
wools at Antwerp, a1t11.7 the banks of the river bare al-
ready said there was aO. kr that extended all the way form
Antwerp to Berra-op Zoom, all along the coarse ut t►e
TIVCr.

Do you recollect so murb of the The de rlandre, the
eroww•ork )Vu 'oration, os to stale eloctio r it pteletts
the whole of that sole uf the river, so as to pr. r. ,it
that might he erected by our army from destroying the arse-
nolo '—Thc Tete de Flwm•Le ce.iamly Mauls e pert °Mal
410 w ; whether it llaulLs the whole, or to what thstance, I
Cannot aus...v..

If the crua to. nook doors not di fend Ilse bank of the river,
do not von *honk that bath r..• ...oarlock it on the opposite
hank wioild very rssily do 1.1 rtoy the whole of that araennl ?
There is no simmer of doubt Flat a asilitiornt noinber of
ominous, idiot o ol upon the bark of shot rncr, nuuld, to lime,
destroy the a... oosi

_
Do
you sudrr tend, that einem the bank of the river at
Antwerp, wliert 11-genets were constracted Ivy the trench,
there were any (oitificatione or weeks, or Inertly it wall to
prevent a roinmunientina between the town and the erne-
nal ?—Tliere WAS WO well at all along the bank of the river,
the wall I metiti•onell before wan between the town and the
sternal; Lrww the approach of the British squadron, that
pert of the too is wan wholly open to the river , the enemy,
linurver, began ectr.tracitng winks immediately upon the
eppe,iinn eof the Brits'', and by shoot the isth of August
several batteries weer tiuiehed 'spun due line, extending trout
the rtholel to the other aunt snit) of the town:

[The amts.
The 11,4,rmnn It aee RS Jar tar reran
ps pew alti,,
athl rank
leave tu vat 'gam