The Sun.
London, England, 1801-12-26 00:00:00

THE BRITISH REVIEW;

Tile Official Accounts furnished by our Com-
:narders in the different .Mtions in which they
wcre engaged, have been uniformly distinguished
by modesty, the inseparable attendant of true He..
roism, and have been highly satisfaftory to the
Public; yec there are details which an Official Let..

tet cannot embr4ce, that it is 4ighly interesting
,and even important should be known. To supply
this deficiency, Narratives, compiled from Authen-
tic Dccuments, or written by Persons who were
bpon the spot, have been given to the world, which
have been read with avidity and applause, and
which may furnish the future Historian with many
valuable faas calculated to fill and adorn his
•
!night:tea page. The 11,a.tion, at large, are emi-
:ierst.l
yindebted to .chose who thus employ their
-talents ; And thougt the Season of War is-happily
past, v'ee oerceive,rwith.satisfadion, a recent Publi-
illustrative of an event which stands con-
spicuous, eves; amidst the most brilliant atchieve.
meets of opt' Navy. The Work to which we al-
lude, is entitled, " An Authentic Narrative of the
" Pm.-ei-3ings of His Majesty's Squadron, under
" ;he Command of Rear-Admiral Sir J. SAumA,
"tlt EZ, K. B." By an Officer of the Squadron.

This Narrative contains a minute detail of the
,two Adions in which Ibis Squadron was engaged,
in the krst of which the iiamf;6(//, of 7/. Guns, was
io,t, under circumstances Nl:lotting the highest ho.
nnur on the British Flag ; and in the second of
which, a hrilliant Vi Cory was obtained against a
Superiority .of Force, which fills the mind with
.as`tonishment, and impresses it with the highest
admiration of the enterprize and conduct of the
British Admiral, and the Officers and Men tinder
.command. From the former services of ,Sir
TAMES SAUMARE z, indee,d, every thing ,noble and
bold was to be expeded from him ; but it would
scarcely have entered into the calculation of the
tnot sanguine, that five Ships were to take, de-
stroy, and, disperse Ten; about three times their
force' in number of Men, and of Guns, and in
weight of Metal.
The Narrative of this Aaion is given with a
precision, which carries a perfed convidion of its
iiccuracy ; and as a favourable Specimen of this lit_
tie V 4 orK, we shall present' an Extrad from it to
our ReadCrs. •

On the morning of the rzth July, the En..-tmy's,
FLet, consisting of Ten Ships of heavy force, mod
cut of Algesiras Bay. The British Squadron that
had not yet eompleted its repairs, -after the Battle
of the 6th, immediately weighed from Gibraltar.

c..‘' The Enemy's ships were obliged to make se-
veral tack.g before they could weather Cabarita
POinr, which afforded our ships pore time to pre-
pare for action .iind it was the more acceptable,
from the hurried state in which they were under the
necessity to leave the anchorage.
" At half past five, the signal was made to form
in line.of_battle, and to prepare to engage the.ene-
lily, after the close of day.
" At half past six, to, observe the Admiral's
motions during the night, and for the ships to take
.suitable stations, for their' mutual support, and en..
gage the enemy-as they got
,up with them; also to
ittack or harross die rear of the enemy.

"At sun-set, the Combined Squadron were seen
to have cleared Cabarita Point, leaving the Han-
nibal in charge of a Frigate, to be towed back into
.Algesitas Bay.
" At five minutes after eight, the British Admi-
ral bore pp, making the signal for Lilo Squadron
to follow his motions ; and, at nine, he hailed the
Superb, direaing Captain Keates to kcep between
the eats ny and, the Spanish shore, endeavouring
to hi ing their rear to aftion.
"- This service Captain Keates performed with
the greatest alacrity, and in the handsomest. manner.
At elevQn he cam,: up with and opened his fire upon,
a cluster of the enemy's ships, passing on to the rest
ahead.

" The Caesar in a few minutes followed up, and
was openin'g her fire upon 4 Spanish three-decker,
when she was observed to be, in flames ; and.
'Shortly after that, ran on board of another ship of
_the. same force, to which the fire communicated
with the greatest rapidity. The fire,at first ap-
peared. confined to a small points but in an instant
tended it elf to the whole _surfaLse cif , the ships,
7:scemiing to the mast-head, and exhibiting one of
the most awful sights ever beheld.
" The Melancholy situation of these ships ren-
dered it impossible that they should be of any fur_
them importance in the aetion ; and the violence of
The wind was such as precluded thepossibility of ren-
dering them any assistance. In about half an hour
after the Cmsar had passed them, one of the ships
blew up, and the other in a few minutes after.—
Thus perished two of the finest ships-in the Spanish
navy, of i i z gunS wftose'COrripleinent of men
amounted to 2500, including Officers allied to the
most noble families in' Spain : out of the whole
number 3o only were preserved.

ft The Cxsar continued her course to support
ihe Superb, now closely engaged With,the St, An-
toine, of 74 pubs, a ship lately ceded by the Spa-
niards to the French, and bearing the broad pendant
of the Chiefde Division Le Roy, which, upon the
approach, struck her colours.
After. the firing had ceased, it becatnesso to-
-4.1a rk that none of the energy's, ships were

" The Admiral, however, continued, his course in
pursuit, carrying as pinch sail during the night as
the violence of the wind would admit.
€‘ The morning disclott the French Formidable
at no great ditaricefrom the Venerable ; to which
hip captain Hood immediately gave chace, as did the
Casar and the Spencer, now coining up astern. An
aftion-close to the shore now commenced, under cir-
curostunces highly disadvantagedus to the Venera.
4!e, dud wts continued with great spirit by Captain
Pond and his crew.
Were. merit always attended by success, the
Venerable, would have taken her opponent ; but
she had ;nnumerahle difficulties. to encounter
iur after having suffered considerably (her main.

mast being Ant. away), she struck upon a rock,
-and was obliged to' part with her remaining
mast to save the ship. "
" The Caesar and Spencer, perfedly becalmed,
were motionless, as was the Thames ; whilst the
Frenchman, with a light land breeze, effeoed his
eseape into
.4., Sir James Saumarez now found himself, with
only two efe4iye ships, in the presence of eight
of 'the enemy, viz, flirt of the line and three fri-
g4tqp who, after making an' appearance of
facing our ships, were contented to pursue their
raute.to'Cadiz without daring to molest him.
:r.t At noon, the Superb joined the Admiral, not
having been able to leave her prize in a state of se-
curity before, and also the Audacious, which un-
toward circumstances had prevented from getting up
sooner. The inconveniency of being embarrassed
by a ship so totally disabled as was the venerable,
and the extreme fatigue which the Officers and crews
of the ships engaged at Algesiras had sustained, fa.
tigues better conceived than ctescribed, and which
nothing but the ardour and zeal of British seamen
could have supported, compelled the Admiral, very
reldiantly, to desist from farther pursuit of the
erkmy's ships, more especially as they were too
near their port to admit of any possil?ility of com-
ing up with them.
"On Tuesday morning, having brought to off
Cape Spartell, the Admiral detached the Louisa Brie
with his Dispatches under charge of Mr. Duma.:
resq, his Flag Lieutenant ; and the Letters of the
Squadron to England. He also-sent by the Carlotta,
Duplicates, by way of Lisbon, to be forwArded to
England ; Captain Duncan having most readily of
to convey them to Faro.
" The Spencer apd'Audarious, with the Thames
'Frigate, were left to cruize between Cape St Marys
and Cadiz, for the prote&ion of our Trade, an 4 to
watch the Enemy, now become too much reduced
to attempt putting to sea, and too dispirited from
the late events. • '

" The Admiral proceedtd with the remainder of
the Squadron, accompanied by the St. Antoine, for
Gibraltar, where they arrived that evening, and
were welcomed by; the acclamations of all the gar-
rison. .411 the wounded men. in the hospital, seve-
ral of whomhad lost both arms, raised their stumps,and, forgetting their pain, "joined in the general ex-
ultation...- A brilliant illumination also tool; place
over the rock Sir JAMES SAUMAREi issued the
following memorandum to the Okficers and Men on
the return of the Squadron to Rosia Bay :7- '

Ca:sar, Rosia Bay,
.716, Is, 1800.

" The Adthiral has the happiness to offer his most heart-
felt dongratulitions to the' Captains; Officers, and Men of
the ships he has,the honour to command, on the signal suc-
c,::ss with which it has pleased Almighty-God to crown their
zealous exertions in the service of their country.

To the discipline and valour of British Seamen is to be
aseribedtheirkreat superiority over the Enemy; who, though
more than treble the force of the English Squadron; in num-
ber of guns-and' weight of metal, have been so singularly de-
feated.'

, •
" The Rear-Admiral has not failed to transmit, in his late
Dispatches, a report of the unparalleled exertions of all the
ORicers and' Men, in refitting His Majesty's ships after the
battle of Algesiras (where their conduct and bravery _were
equally conspicuous), which has led to the glorious success.
• • (Signetl), JAMES SAUMAREZ."

TO THE EDITOR OE THE SUY.

SIR,

As 'your Paper haS ever - bcen Conspimous
,for
noticing what might be useful to your Country,
and as every part of the United Kingdom • is now
equally interesting to every good Sui)jed, I hope
you will not think the following hints urworthy a
place in your Paper, where it is more likely. to meet
the eye of men who have the power of making use-
fid act-augments; than'it would in any other.

There are in Ireland several thousand English
Fencibles, and as amongst those there are numbers
of excellent' artizans,
,manufaduirers, and persons
well acquainted with. all agricultural pursuits,
Would it flat benefit that part of the United King-
darn, called Ireland; if a list was published through-
out the KingdoM; of the trade and .calling of every
individual in each Regiment, with liberty for each
man to obtain his discharge on getting an establish-
ment in Ireland from some Gentleman, Farmer or
Manufa&urer ? By this plan being vursud, I have
no doubt but many useful branches of rtraie might
be established, agriculture• much- improvei,: and a
number of men, accustomed to the use of Arms,
left'in the Country to join 'the Yeomanry CorpS,
should their Services at'any time be required.
am, Sir, your obedient Servant,

THE SUN.

SOLLNI Q'JIS DICZRI ►ALSUM AUDIAT