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 vesselsz '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 strung 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 eitlitin, and' before
five o'clOck, aftei iistaioinga heavy cannonade, iq strike their
colours, when they fwerelaken 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 1f 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 itir , three ad.ti!i'oiiiiV(4lleiii.,
(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
4blip 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 mlssinfs
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•oN ed.
•iiiittee writing the fore.7oin.g. I have leornt that the Honours-
bk.imen en:lnt-Colonel Cochrane (Lord Coehrine's brother) and
i.ientennot e? the Nav), - were volunteers in the Irope-
iioo,le, and rendered Ih:lv:elves tlfemely ; 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,
ow, 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.
gansl Capt. La Caille--Old, on shore in the river. lte;:tilio., 74
gnus, Capt. latea,—Five Nears oIA, on shore tooter Nl:ohirei
Patrintei7:l guns, Captain Mabee— Itevaire,i to itifj.