The Sun.
London, England, 1809-08-02 00:00:00

THE MONTHLY REVIEW.

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, .
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-No. 81; July 1809.

s Yen ' , elegant, interesting, and very valuable f MTIE
•LI SH NfE are given-in the 48th Number, published
on Tuesday, August 1, price 2s-. Oil, of
LA BELLE ASSEMBLEE ; or, Bell's Court and
Fashionable Magazine.
- First, a very beautiful Portrait of the Duchess ofßutland,
encircled with hit Heraldic Arms.
Second, to whole length Portrait Figure in the Brighton
Walking Dres,,, beautifully coloured, . „ -
Third, a whole length Portrait Figure in the Kezisiiigton
Carden Walking Dress, beautitully coloured.
The above fashionableDreises may be depended on as the
Most accurate and elegant of the sea. on.
Fourth, Two elegant Patterns for Needle Wei*.
• Fifth, Map yif toe Seat pf War in Germany, and,Plan of
the sanguinary "Battle of A s pern. •
Sixth, Map of the Island Of WalCheren, and the adjoining
Coasts, which the British Grand Expedition is destined to;
And, 7th, an Original. Sons, entitled Henry and„ lane,. set-
to Music expressly -for this Number by Mr, Hook, Coin-
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Such are the very valuable and interesting Embellishments
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London Printedlor Iplin Proprietor of the Weekly
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complete Sets, or any singi:i Numbers to complete Sets.

_.:
JAMES - SKELTON; abed 26, of Walton on the
-.. °'n, Surrey,'
- Hill' i• '- w ':.as Seven yeas -affilded with
raven or eight holes hi his • It le and.between• ninety Lnd
rip g,. "one hundred piec:s ;If bone came away during that period,'
• The discharge and Weaknc..y.s.increasing,unaMe• unassisted, to
move ;• taking ofthis le-A- was proposeri-to save his life. He
I.:onlently applicti to SP I LS 8.0 It Y's
TISCORVTIC.bfkops; iri a
year and a half, by them
alone, he is rcsTored to hCalth ; and it is now three_ years
.since. he has rfolloWed - his labori9us occupation. He will
.., satisfy any inquiries,. personally, or by letter post paid.
Tile genuine 'Medicine has the words, " By .the King's
I'au:l)W' expressed on the Bottle, bill of direaion, and out_
aide wrapper, arid the Kink's duty is printed-in black ink.
• !tiold at th.z: Dispensary, ts, Soho-square, London, •in
siliall 13„: ties of ss. 6d. double Bottle, iOF. and larger ;1. as.
• cUtIIPOUrId Essence; to allay unpleasant irritation, Sa. ' .

. . .
DIXON'S CELEBRATED
.ANTABILIOUS PILLS.
r. ,-..._
- 1 -.HESE ' PILLS ' have lung, 9btaiped 'a just utie-:
14.. brit), in the • private practice of the Propaietor, Mr;
'')l X UN, Apothecary ; mid from theirgleat success in Many
t,bstinate Bilious Disorders, on numerous Patiimis •of dis-
tinttion and others, particularly the late Duke of Bedford,
• ~!Sir C•eoree kVarrciti Sir Giegory.-Vage"Furnar, the ili,erager
'''LlY' Say -and - SelP, the Viscountess Bulkeley, &c. &c. he.
ni, persuaded to offer them to the Public, under the ap-
• .'''ut,ation and satittion of their names.
The follbwing is a Proof of their liflicacy : -
. - " Deal Castle, Haverfordwest, l:Outh Wales,
,
Feb-.---24, 1803.
r'
t . altll:'oCPtain I• • .'i nents-to Mr. Dixon ;
Lloyd presents irscompi i .
R . , , ugh not peraonallti. acquainted with him, would take it
t. ~.a favour if he would send him four or five boxes of his
.: Ills as soon as he possibly can. Mrs. Lloyd, who has al-
'o.. -,...aYs used the Medicine, is now. pregnant, and very unwell';
Dr the
1° Colonel t service they have been to Mrs. Lloyd, as well as
Bishop and all his Family, CaPtain Lloyd feels it
[lt duty to recommend the Pills wherevee he goes ; he really
nks if Mr. Dixon would-appoint some persons as Venders
in this County, it would be a benefit to the community.".
The l'ills are found to be an incomparable remedy for re-
. storing the tune or tne, stomach; for curing indigestion, for
Prev‘iiting crudities, and their consequent disagreeable eruc-
tations and jiatulencies. They.prevent habitual and
.tempo-
'rat.): Costiveness, sick Her.d.achs; and Heart-bairn, which is
occasi ned by pregnancy,'and a debilitated Stdmach,whether
„atising_froin the acrimony of the redundant bile, intemperate
diet, 0 drinking to excess.
Sold wholesale and retail, at Mr. Butler's, No. 4, Cheap'-
. sideo_ornerot Paternoster.row, Londe:: ; .Bar ter,- Edinburgh,
• anti s;Lith, Baxter, and Milionald, Glasgow; Trewman,
-4 x.ete, ; Belam, PortSmouth ; -Peck, Bull; Granville and
"lox ,arid, I•lyinouth; and retail by most Country Medicine
'Venders, in Boxes at 2s. 9d. and 6s. each. ~ ,

• LORD 'GAMBLER'S DEFENCE; • •
'[Continued front Yesterday's Pa.per.]
. . ,
On the 15th March, I issued the following Gene-
ral Orders to the fleet :
• ,
44 CzNERAL ORDERS. When .the -fleet takes an an.
chbrage'in Basque Roatig,, the starboard division will anchor
in aline E. by S. from the Ciledenia,
_and the larboard divi-
sion wilt atfcho'r in a line W. by S. tronOier The ships
are to be moored, the. anchors to be',placed 1,..,1\1. E. and
from _each other, with the small bower to 114:
Westward, and the ships are to be at the distance of two ca,
' bles length from each division. The frigates and brigs are to
be placed one mile distance in advance, either towards the
Isle of Aix, or the-town of Rochelle, according to the citric-
! tion in which the wind blows ; and some of theta will be
farther advanced after the close of day. As an additional
guard againa any attempt the enemy may make milt tire-
vessels sadist the fleet, every ship is to be held in cue atEtitt
readiness for action, at all times, on the afterrest notice ;
every prop _ration is to be made, and kept in iunstaht readi-
Iles's, to resist: and trusirate toe attempts of the enemy by the
means of fire-ships or vessels ; anti_ the ships ale always to
be ready to slip their cables, it it should be necessary, leaving
buoys upon them. Two boats from each•ship are to he held
constantly with fire grap‘nails in theta-on board the advanced
frigates, to tow oil-Tire-vessels: the boats are to go on board
the advanced frigates every, nirlit soon alter sun=set', and to
remain the night uhder the orders of the Captain having the,
charge of toe advanced guard ; • they are :to return to their
proper ships in the morning.. Two brigs are to he advanced
beyond the frigates, with three boats,: each of •which• are to
row guard in moderate weather, and when the wind blows
from the Eastward, anti a-vigilant look-dut is tube kept upon
the Moveineitts of the enemy Irons all the ships and vessel of
the advanced guards. I f any of the enemy's, yessels approach
the fleet, they are to be tired at; and it they are suspected to
be fire-vesaels bi ue lights are to be immediately burnt as a sig-
nal thereof. If the enemy's snips of the line are iliscoveted to
be in motion, rOckatts are isistantly to be thrown up to
prise The fleet. In either ease the frigates will get under sad,,
and-act in such a manner as may be most suitable to counter-
act the operation of the enemy, and'assist the fleet in army way
they be.able. Given on board the Caledonia, at anchor, 15th
of March, tBo9.
(Signed) " GAMBIER."
• " To the respective Caprains."
On the 17th of March, the fleet anchored in
Basque Reads, and was moored in a line, as directed
by the General Order. The enemy's ships lay at the
distance of about Six, miles, in compactlines, and
-the most distant ship of each line within point blank
range of the batteries on the Isle of Aix, with their
frigates advanced towards the entrance of Aix Roads.
This compact position of the enemy, was evidently
taken to avoid the shoals around the anchorage. The
nearer and' More distinct view I now obtained of the
enemy's position, c.otlfirrned ma in my opimon of
the impra&icability of a successul attack upon their
ships by the fleet, 1 was also satisfied, that the only
way di attacking the enemy, was by nieans of . fire-
ships ; which i str ;gested in my letter. to the first
Lord of the Admiralty, whited four days after my
arrival at Rochefort, as tblioWs "
My DEAR LORD—The advance-work between
the Isle of Aix and Oleron, which I mentioned in
my last' letter, I find was injured in its foundation,
and is in no slat: of progress. That is therefdre no
obstacle to our bolunartting the enemy's fleet, if you
should be disposed to make an attempt to destroy it.
A Ilia' was made six years ago,, when a Spanish
squadron-lay at the same anchorage; but without
,elfed. The report of it you will find in the Admi-
• ratty. It was made by Sir-Charles Pole. The ene-
my's ships lay very much exposed to the operation
• of fire-ships. It is a horrible mode of warfare, and
the attempt very hazardous, if not desperate ;. but
Wb should have plenty of volunteers for the service.
i If -you Mean to any thing of the kind, it should
be-with secrecy and quickness; and the ships used
should not be lesS than those built for the purpose,
at least a dozen, and some smaller ones. •
" Your's, my dear Lord-, &c.
(Signed) " GAMBIER."
This letter was received by his Lordship on the
19111 March, who indeed had anticipated my sen-
timents, as aPpears by the following letter from
i their Lordships' Secretary, already' before the Court;
but which I will here recapitulate :
- This letter was dated Admiralty-Office, March
19, ABO 9 ; it stated, that their Lordships had or-
dered I.2,transports ni be fitted ,asfire-shipS to join
the Admiral, and that,Mr. Congreve was also under
orders to proceed in a cOppere.d transport (theCleves
land), with a large assortment of rockets, and sup-
plied with a_detachinent of niaritte'arallery instruct-
ed in the use of them, and placed under Mr. Con-
greve's orders. That . the 'bomb-vessels., Etn4;
ThUnder, Vesuvius, Hound, and Fury, were like-
WiSe'under orders to-fit top sea with ad posSible ex-
pedition, with a view- to enable.. Lord Gambier to
matte au attack on the French' fleet at their anchor-
a;e, off the Isle of Aix, if practicable. His Lord-
si,ij2 was further commanded to take into his consi-
deration, the possibility of making an attack upon
.tileenerny„ either conjointly with his line-of-battle
ships, frigates, and .Small craft, fire-ships, bombs,
- 'and locke-ts, or separately by any of. the above-men-
tioned means; to man the fire-;ships with voiun-
. Leers, incrusting the said ships in charge of Otlic.ers
of the rank of Commander, who- may happen to be
present, and shall volunteer; to make up any defi-
ciency by such Lieutenants of the line-of-battle ships
as shall volunteer. Lord Gambier was to state whether
any further augmentation of force of any description
was necessary to enable him to perform this service
with full effecl, their Lordships having come to.a
determination to leave no means
'untried to destroy
the-enemy's squadron; In order to give his Lord-
ship every inlormatiou, a copy. was inclosed of a
paper drawn up by Sir Richard Keats, in 1807, pro-
posing a mode of attacking an enemy's squadron
under Isle. d'Aix.]
On the 26th of March, I received the Admiralty
directions of the t 9th, above referred to, and to
which I answered as follow's :
'" Caledonia, Basque Roads, March 26. 1809.
" SIR-1 have this day receiveu., by the Encoun-
ter, your most secret letter of the Igth inst. accotn-

" I ha;ie the honbur to be, &c.
i(signed) " 'GAMBIER."
" The lion. W. W. Pole." , _

" Caledonia, in• Basque Roads, Mardi 26, 'Seg.

SH=irt Obedience to their LiirdshipS dire&ions
to me, I begJeaire to state .'to them; that it would
be advisable I should be furnished with six gun-
brigs, in addition to those I.triay be able to coiled
of such as are under my command at present. There
are only two at this anchorage: I shall; however,
order the Insolent and Contest to join me from Qui-
heron Bay ;, and I should hope the Martial and
Fervent will,return here shortly from Plyniouth.—
It is proper I should state for . their Lordships' in-
formation; the position in which the French fleet is
anchored, near the Isle d'Aix, that their, Lordships
may be able to form a judgment of the success that.
may be expe6ted to attend an attack upon the ene-
my's fleet in either of the modes directed by their
Lordsbips.in your letter: to me above-mentioned,—
The enemy's shijas are anchored in two lines; very
near each other, in .a direaion due South from the
fort of the Isle of Aix, and the ships on each line;
not farther apart than their own length, by which
it appears, as I imagine, that the space for their an-
chorage is so confined by the shoalness of the water,
as not to admit of ships to run in and anchor clear of
each other: The rnost distant ships of their' two
lines,are within point blank shot of the works upon
the Isle of Aix. Such ships, therefore, as ipight
attack the enemy, will‘be exposed to be raked by the
hdt shot,. &c. from the island ; and should the ships.
be disabled in their masts, they must remain within
the range of the enemy's fire until destroyed, there
not being a sufficient depth of water to allow them
to moor to Southward out of distance. The enemy's
ships having taken thentlhen position apparently with a
view not, only to be proteded' by the strong works
on the Isle of Aix, but also to have the entrance
of the Charante open to them, that in case of being
attacked by fire ships and other engines of the kind,,
they can run up the river beyond the reach of them.
The tide and wind which are favourable to convey
this 'kind of annoyance to the enemy, serve equally
•to carry them 'up the'river. With xespea to the at-
tempt that may -be made to destroy the enemy's
ships, with shells,'&c. lam not competent to give
• an opinion, until it is ascertained whether the bombs
can. be placed within. range of their mortars, to the
enemy's ships, without, being exposed to the fire
from the Isle.of. Aix. I beg leave to 'add, that if
their Lordships are of opinion
.that an attack upon'
the enemy's ships, by those of the fleet under my
command, is practicable, I am ready to obey. any
orders they may be pleased to
.honour me, with,
however great the risque may be of the loss of men
anclships. I have the honour
.to be, - „.
(Signed). ". GABBIER."
" The Hon. W. Pole."

On the. 27th of March, I went myselt.in the Uni-
corn, with Sir Harry. Neale, the Captain of the fleet,
and Capt. Bedford', of the Caledonia, to, reconnoitre
the..enetny's fleet, and the fortifications of the Isle
appeared,-notwithstanding Lord Coch-
rane seeks by his evidence to make .a contrary im-
pression, :to be of consicierable tnrce. Observing
that the enemy were resuming ,their works inn the
Boyart shoal,' with the view of affording to their
.fleet in Aix Roads an additional• protection, J sent
in the Ainelia'atid Conflict, on the Ist of April, to
disperse the people employed on these works, which
sers lee they effected. On the jd of April, Lord
Cochrane arrived with the linperieuse frigate, and
.by, his Lordship.l received the following directions
from the Admiralty :

[These directions merely stated the detention-in
the Downs by contrary winds, of the vessels that had
been promised ; and communicated their Lordships"
orders for the employment of Lord Cochrane."'
.That the service might proceed with the utmost
Celerity, I ordered eight
,of the laigest transports
then with the fleet, to be selected and, prepared as
fire-ships, in lieu of the., six expected from 'Ply-
mouth„ that they might be ready to act with the 12
troth WoolWich, immediately upon their arrival.
These; with the Mediator, were accordingly fitted,
'by means of rosin and tar, fortunately found .on
board some chasSe rnarees, recently, captured, and
other- coinbustib:e materials furnighed by the. fleet.
This service was performed under the iininediate
superintendence of the Captains of the line-of-hattle.
ships, who evinced the most -unremitting aaivity
upon the occasion. Upon the Loth of April, at half
past four P. M. the Beagle arrived with the 12 fire-
ships from England. When I issued 'orders to the
Commanders of sloops.and first Lieutenants of line-
0-battle ships which I had prepared, it was found
altogether impracticable 't-.) proceed to the attack on
the night of the loth, though much pressed by Lord
Cochr.me, and it may be considered a must fortn-
nate circumstance that the attempt was deterred;
for it appears by a general found on bBard one
.o 1 the enemy's .and now delivertzU into Court,

The Unicorn; Aigle, and Pallas, I diteaed to tat:4
al station near the 13oyart shoal, for the purpose of
receiving the crews of the tire-ships on tli ir return
from the enterprise, to support the boats of the 17'et
which Were to accompany the tire-ships, and like 4
wise to give assistance to the Imperiruse,
ship was somewhat further advanced. The Whitin,l;
schooner, and the King George and Nimrod cutiere-,
were fitted for throwing rockets, and were also
reded to take dstation near that shoal. The Inde-
fatigable, the Foxhound stoop; and Etna bomb (being
the Only bomb-vessel that had then, arrived) were
ordered to place themselves as near the fort on th'e.
Isle of Aix as possible, the two former to prote& the
bomb whilst she threw shells into the fort.

The Emerald, Dot terel and Beagle sloops, and In-
solent, Conflict and Growler gun-brigs, were stationed
to make a diversion at the East end of the Isle of
Aix. The Redpole-and Lyra 1 direaed to be an-
chored by the Master of the fleet, one near the isle
of Aix' arid the other near the Boyarr,- with lights
hoisted, and properly- screened from the en:ntly's
view, to guide the Are-ships in their course to tlle
attack.

Three exlosion vessels, which had been proposed
and prepared by Lord.. Cochrane, were, under his
Lordship's immediate dire6lion, to.precede the fire-
ships in the attack. Their explosion was to point
out the proper time for _the Officers commanding
the fire ships to set fire to their. te.speetive vessels,
and to intimidate and preyent the enemy from ;ow-
ing off the fire ships. The boats,of the fleet under
the Superintendarice of Rear Admiral Stopford, were
ordered to assemble alongside the C2esar, 'to proceed
to assist the fire ships. And I issued the following
General Order, and gave the Officers commanding
fire ships full instruelions for their proceedings.

MEM. GENERAL.

" The fire-ships are to. proceed to the attack the
ensuing night; the exploding vessels will close with
the Impel-tense. The fire vessels will move from
their anchors at half past seven. In :running in thee
are to leave the two lights of equal height ,
will be strewn on board a vessel placed for that put-
pose) on the starboard band ; and to leave the .two
lights perpendicular, which will also be shewn on
board another vessel placed for that purpose on the.
larboard band:
" The frigates, &c. which are to protea and re-
ceive the Officers,and crews of the fire-ships will
spew four lights perpendicular, and , the Imperieu,
will probably anchor near the, Boyars, "and chew
five lights perpendicular.
" It the wind should shift before the fire ships
proceed to the attack, or from .other circumstances
it should be postponed, the Caledonia,or the Lupe,
rieuse will fire a gun, and spew three lights
.in'a
perpendicular position.
Caledonia, in Basque Roads, April t t, 1809.
(Signed) .
" To the respective Captains, .&c."
With these,preconeerted arrangements, the fleet
Was at this time onnioored, iii .readiness 'to render
any service that might be praaicable', but beipg
avoidably anchore.; in a strong tide way; with -the -
wind blo-.v Mg hard !row the N. upon the weather
tide making, it was again -moored, 'to prevent the
'ships falling on beard each other.
At about half past eight T. x plosion ves-
sels and fire-ships rrocreded to the attack;- at,halt
past nine two of the explosion vessels blew up ;
at ten most of the tire-ships Were observed to be on
tire, the enemy's torts and ships tiring on thern„
Many of the fire-ships were seen to drive through
their fleet, and beyond the Isle de Aix. The night
was .extremely dark';, it blew a strong gale ‘citri
high sea, and the service thereby became of such it:-
creased hazard as scarcely to admit of a- hope et the
officers and men ever returning.
it is right I should here Observe, thit although
from these and other untoward circumstances, seve4-
ral of the fire-ships failed its their ohjeat, I could not
discover (after the fullest investigatien) that blame
was imputable to any irf the Officers wno commaild- .
ed them. •

- The explosion vessels,, condualed by Lord Coch-
rane in person, also failed-in their object, as`wili be
seen by a refereneit' to the'snall chart I now deliver,
into Court, which 'points out ,where two of
blew up the third !Joke adrift and did Mt eRI3;OCI,

- -
The situation in which, and the time when hou
vessels blew up, proved prejudicial to the enterpri
in several reSpects,. Their premature explosion,
contrary to the expressed intention of Lord Olehrane,
that. they should blow up in the midst of the ene-
my's' boats, to deter them from towing off our fire-
ships in their approach, served as 'a warning' to the
enemy, ivhose ships were observed instantly to shew
lights; and several-of the officers who commanded
the fire-ships not, doubting that the explosion had\
taken place near to the enemy's fleet, steered 'their
ships and set them on, fire accordingly, by which
means severiil ‘V-ere in flames at a greater distance
from the enemy than was intended, and so as -to,
endanger our advanced frigates. In ha&, had not
Gytaiti would-ridge, and some of the'other otricer,
wholly disregarding the explosion, taken the fiie-
ships in a properdire,iion for the enemy, it is more

nro'o.:ne that none of their would have pro-.
anv e5.e.-t whatever on the enemy's fleet.

fiat although not one of the enemy's ships waii
actually destroyed by means of fire ships, -yet the
t*Tror excited by their approach induced the enemy
,o cut their cables, and exposed them, by their run-
ning aground, to the attack which ensued.
I now come to the proceedings of the 12th April,
which commence with the signal that the enemy
could be destroyed, and which destruotion it is im-
owed to me I delayed or negleoed.
At 48 minutes after five, A. M. the imperieuse,
t;;L:ri about three miles from the enemy, and about
same distance from the Caledonia, made the
si,inal to me by telegraph, that " seven of the ene-
my's slops were on shore, and that half the fleet
could destroy them."
The attual situation of the French fleet.at that
time' was this :—Seven of their ships were on shore
on tile Pallas; two had escaped towards the Cha-
rente, and two lay either at their originalanchorage,
or a very little removed from it, with their broad-
sales bearing upon any thing that might approach,
to attack the ships on shore.
I ordered the fleet to be unmoored immediately;
the wind was at N. W. and the tide was then nearly
at the last quarter ebb, and much too far spent to
admit of a force being sent in, so as to etfela any
thia,z, with, the possibility of returning in case of
disaster, before the making of the flood, which
would effednally have locked bp our ships within
the enemy's confined anchorage during the whole
f)f that tide. Here they would have been exposed
not only to the point-blank shot from the batteries,
but also to the broadsides of the above mentioned
two line of battle ships then lying in Aix Road, znd
which even, without assistance from the batteries
must have entirely crippled every one of our ships,
in this approach through so narrow a channel; be-
sides which, some of the grounded ships were suf.
fleiently upright, and so situated as to enable them
to bring their guns to bear upon the entrance.
I would here submit to the Courii, whether the
idea which appears to have been entertained by. Lord
Cochrane, that a force could have been sent in so. as
to have arrived before low water in the morning,
was not in itself preposterous and impradiczible.
• Upon the fullest consideration that no possible at-
tempt could be made until the tide had flowed for
some time, unless a previous change of wind should
take place, all I had to do was to make every pre-
, ?oration for the attack on the enemy's grounded
ships ; accordingly I made the signal for the fleet to
weigh, and the Rear-Admiral and Captains being
assembled en board the Caledonia, I gave orders to
the Commander of the Etna, the only bomb pre-
tent,, to proceed as soon as the tide would permit
at vessel to approach near enough, tb bombard
the enemy's ships; I at the same time ordered the
Lisolent,-Conflid and Growler gun-brigs to accom-
pany her, and direccted the Captains of the Valiant,
Bellona, and Revenge, with the frigates, to take an
advanced anchorage as near as passible to the Boy-
a: t shoal, to be in- readiness to proceed to the attack
as soon as the water had sufficiently flowed to enable
them to do so.

At between nine and ten A.M. which was much
before' the flood was sufficiently made to commence
effettive operations, the fleet ran in, and came to
an anchor within about three miles distant from the
enemy's fortress of Aix ; the three ships before-
mentioned, with the frigates, anchored about a mile
Dearer to the Boysrt, but the bomb and brigs did
nut come to.

As the Hood tide made, three of the seven ships
whch bad grounded on the Pallas shoal, and were
there farthest twin us, being lightened, succeeded
in N arping off, and made for the Charente.
The two line-of-battle ships still at their ,ancho-
rage, in the situation before described, took at the
same time advantage of the flood, and proceeded
likewise towards the river. Most, if not all, of these
five ships now ran aground at the mouth of the
Charente, and were never assailable.

These movements of the enemy's ships were not,
as .I submit to the-Court, to be prevented by any
means that I couid adopt, with the smallest chance,
of success, and without his Majesty's ships being
.put to the most unwarrantable peril, and when, as
Ite'ar-Admiral Stoptord has, in his evidence on the
part of the prosecution., most emphaticially describ-
ed, "'Oars would have been all the loss, and the
enemy's ell the advantage."
The wind-blew directly in, s 6 that in the event of
our ships being crippled, while the flood tide Was,.
running, which appeared inevitable, it would have
been impossible for them td have yolked out, or to
have retreated to an anchorage out of the reach of
the enemy's shot and, shells the consequence of
whchcould scarcely have
,beea less than their utter
de,truttion.

•Ti►e:;e serious impediments induced me to delay

the atnick until the latter part of the flood, in orcl:r
to give any ships, which might be disabled on their
tappioach, a chance of returning, by means of the
receding tide.
Had the wind been' faVourahle'for sailing both in
and out, or even the latter • only,' there coulA have
beLfn no doubt that the sooner the enemy's ships were
attacked the better.
And I think the Count will allow, that I am com-
pletely- borne out, in 'what I have stated, by the
sentiments I.vhich, it.will be proved, 'were express-
'..cd to the 1:y Lord Cochrane when he came onboard
the Caledonia after the action; that had I acted
upon his signal, and sent in at that, time half the
fleet', he calculated upon the loss of three or four
of his Majesty's liue of battle ships. And I have
:moreover to observe, that it, in defiance ot. the ob-
i; ruction of the other ships 'of the'enemy, I had
sent in a force, before the three ships had Warped
off the Pallas Shoal: it is a positive fact, that it could
not have zdt anted to the attack of those three ships,
un account of the shoal water. ,
It appears by the log7bOok, of the Imperieuse,
that a 34) minutes past 1 t, she, weighed and run in;
in company with, the Etna bomb and a gun-brig.
;.'he tact is, that the Etna passed ;,the Imperieu,e
whilst. at anchor, about one, 'and.that she began the,
attack some time before the Ituperieuke arrived up ;
haft' au, flour afterwards the Imperieuse and the
'EL:ogle followed the Etna, and gun brigs in, to the
attach, and between fen minutes before, and seven
ininntey after two; "as will be seen by a reference tp
the log-books upon the -table ; I ordered the Jude-
Llnicopi; Aigle, and Emerald frigates,
Ix tne V al.qui Mid Revenge (and the Pallas a few'
Elitiutes lator) to weigh ;--Captain shgh, the senior

01? leer, having some hours before received my direc
tions for his proceeding against the enemy.
The ImPerieuse opened her fire at abut twenty
minutes after two, the Aigle at three, and the other
ships as soon after as the flowing tide permitted.
In consequence of strong north westerly winds,
the flood tide continued running u►itil past three in
the afternoon, which Lord Cochrane has nut notic-
ed in his evidence.

In my letter of the 10th May to the Admiralty,
could not state these circumstances so minutely as I
am now enabled to do, by a reference since made
to the log-books.
At ten minutes after four, P. M. the enemy's
ship Calcutta, and the Ville de Varsovie and Aqui-
lon about an hour after, were taken possession of
by the boats of the advanced squadron, and set on
fire, as soon as the prisoners were removed; a short
time after Le Tonnere was burnt by the enemy.—
This ship is admitted by the evidence of Lord Coch-
rane to have been out of the reach of our fire; and
it is a notorious fa& that the three decker, and the
other two ships that got afloat, had been aground
at some distance beyond the Tonnere. •
In this manner the Court will find, that the four
ships capable of being attacked at the time the sig-
nal was made (if the Tonnere may be so considered,
of which I doubt), were completely destroyed; the
other three of the seven first on shore never having,
as I have already stated, been in a situation to be
assailed.

And I venture most positively to assert, that the
destru6lion of those ships would nbt have been ef-
feeted, if I had not delayed the attack until the time
I did.

At the close of the afternoon, I judged it advis-
able to attempt to follow up our success by an attack
upon the fire-ships that had escaped to the mouth of
the Charente, which I thought it might be possible
to elle& during the night.
.1 thetetore sent Rear-
Admiral Stopford, in the Cxsar, with the Theseus,
and the fire-ships and boats of the fleet with Mr.
Congreve's rockets, and gave the Rear-Admiral dis-
cretional orders to proceed as he should judge pro-
per, and for his applying that force as he should
think fit, and according as circumstances should ren-
der it expedient.
Scarcely had the Caesar reached Aix Road, before
she grounded, and lay in a very perilous situation
(as has been deposed by the Rear-Admiral), exposed
also to the point-blank shot from the batteries.
The Rear-Admiral perceiving that nothing could
be effeaed by the line of battle ships, all of which
had grounded (as had also some of the frigates), and
that they lay in imminent danger, and satisfied that
if any thing further could be etleded towards the
destrudion of these ships, it could only be by smal-
ler vessels ; he therefore very judiciously, before
day-light on the 13th, availed himself of a provi-
dential shift of wind, which enabled him, when
the line of battle ships floated, to extricate them
from that danger, and to return to Basque Roads.
Captain Bligh, of the Valiant, also on his return
reported to me, that it was found impraaicable to
destroy the three-decked ship, and others, which
were lying at the entrance of the Charante, as the
former (which was the outer one) was protected by
three lints of boats placed in advance from her.
In addition to the incontestible proofs already ad-
duced of the impra6ticability of effeding any further
destru&ion of the enemy's fleet, I will, advert to the
high professional character of Rear-‘4dmiral Stop-
ford, and Captains Beresford, Bligh, and Kerr, who
cannot for an instant be suppo-ed likely to omit any
circumstance that could effeCt_the objed for which
they were sent by me into Aix Roads; and 1 am
morally
.certain that they did not withdraw their
ships until it was wholly impracticable to annoy the
enemy further, or until it appeared to those Officers
that the destruction of their own ships would be the
.certain consequence of their longer continuance in
Aix Road. _ _ _

Lord Cochrane remained in the Road of Aix dur-
ing the 13th and 14th, accompanied by the Pallas
frigate, the sloopS and gun-brigs, and Etna bomb,
but nothing was attempted by the frigates. During
the 13th the Etna was employed in throwing shells,

the Whiting schooner in firing rockets, and the
other small vessels firing upon the enemy's ships.on
shore) when the tide permitted them to approach.
On the .1 4th, having by signal direeted the Impe-
riense to join me,' I ordered Captain Wolfe, of the
Aigle,. to take the command of the small vessels ad-
vanced ; these, with the Etna, continued firing on
the enemy's ships at the entrance of the Charente,
as opportunity offered, during the remainder of the
day, but without effed.
On the 15th, I dispatched Sir
,Harry Neale to
their Lordships; in the Irnperieuse, with my pUblic
letter of the 14th April; giving an account of the
service which had been perfqrrned, 1. •
From the 15th to the 24th, the attack on the
enemy's ships on shore at the mouth of the Charente
was continued by the bombs (tile Thunder having
arrived on the 19th), assisted by the small vessels, as
wind and weather permitted ; but the enemy had,
by throwing overboard their guns and stores, got so
high up, that even the gun-brigs and other vessels of
light draught frequently grounded in their endea-
vours to approach, and never could get sufficiently
near to produce any effed.
The orders of the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty to me of the 14th of April, to detach two
squadrons 'of four ships of the line each, to cruize,
for the purpose- of intercepting the French ships
which had escaped from L'Orient, in February;
having with the other orders I received from
their. Lonlshipsbetween the 17th of March and the
'2 t h of April, been read' upon opening of the Court,
1 tafe occasion to observe, that I had anticipated the
orders of their Lordships in this resped, and the
success, in the operations of the 12th, without the
loss of any of the King's ships, having enabled
me to do so, I had previously appointed two squa-
drons for that service, one of which had adually
sailed before I received the orders of their Lord-
shCps thereupon. •
From the 24th to the 29th of April, nothing
material occurred, and having received the Admi7.
ratty Letter of the 22d, of April, signifying, " that
their Lordships considering the state of the enemy's
force, in consequence of the brilliant success of the
fleet under my command, so much reduced as to
render my fUrther presence unnecessary, directed me
to repair to Spithead in the Caledonia," I according-
ly completed the arrangements of the fleets and
proceeded in the Caledonia to England on the '29th
of April.
. .
•

Previous to my !caving Basque Roads, one of thd
.euetny's frigates was set on tire by themselves at
the entrance of the Charante, another was observed
obe wrecked further up that river. The number,
of ships that, escaped without injury, did not from
the best information exceed one or two line of battle
ships, and two frigates ; what may have been the
fate of the remainder, I leave to be considered by the
Members of this Honourable Court, who are well
qualified to judge of the 'condition of ships which
had been so long and so repeatedly aground.
By the foregoing narrative, 'as well as by the log
and signal log of the Caledonia (to which, as also to
every coned log of the fleet, I am as desirous
to refer to as Lord Cochrane may be), it will, I
conceive be seen, that I fully meet the charge:,
which has been preferred against me, and if the im-
pression arising out of this inquiry should prove less
favourable to Lord Cochrane, than that which may
have beed produced by my letter to the Lords Com-
missioners of the Admiralty of the 14th of APril,
his Lordship must be sensible, that, as the instiga-
tor of this Court Martial, he will himself have been
the cause of this chan'e of sentiment. I have been
willing to grant to his Lordship the fullest credit for
his personal bravery, and for his judicious manner of
approaching the enemy in the Imperieuse, to which
points the commendation expressed in my letter of
the 14th of April related.
For in fact, the success of the first part of the
enterprise, as I have before observed, arose from the
terror excited by the appearance of the fire-ships, as
they failed in the principal effea they were intend-
ed to produce,' and the blast of the explosion ves-
sels under, his Lordship's immediate diredion, did
not take place by any means so near to the enemy's.
ships as his Lordshfp had proje&ed. The general
result, however, of the attack was so successful, that
under that impressiOn, I did not hesitate to express
in my public letter the degree of approbation which
is therein marked, passing over circumstances not al-
together satisfaCtory to me, and not at that time ne-
cessary to be brought into public notice.
The Court is now in possession of all the faEts
and circumstances on which I rest my justification,
and it remains to be considered how_ far they are
affected by the evidence produced on the part of the
prosecution. -
I have first to refer to the evidence of the Second
in Command, and to that of the Captains of two
of the frigates engaged in the attack, viz. the Rear-
Admiral Stopford and Captains Rodd and Wolfe..
These Officers, far from supporting any part of
the charge made against me, have distindly denied
there having been any neglect, delay, or deficiency,
in any part of my condud in Basque. Roads ; and I
am persuaded, that had the Prosecutor called all the
other witnesses summoned upon the trial, a corre-
sponding testimony would have been given by each
of them.

I have next to refer to the evidence of the log
and signal books of the fleet; on which the charge
purports to be founded, and I must here beg to
call your attention to the very unusual circumstance
of there being already on your table two log-books
of the same ship (namely, the Imperieuse), and
materially differing from each other; one of them
produced by the master of the Imperieuse, as the
authentic public document of thnt ship, to the ac-
curacy of which he has deposed ; and the other pre-
sented by Lord CoChrane, and admitted by his
Lordship to be a compilation by himself in Lon-
don, from materials which are not produced to the
Court.

In addition to these circumstances, I have
,to lay
upon your table a third paper, purporting to be also
a log-book of the Imperieuse, but differing from the
two already before you. This paper was delivered
to me by Lord Cochi4ne, in obedience to my order
Of the 12th of May last, to fiirnish me. " with a
copy of the books of ,logs and signals of his Majes-
ty's ship Imperieuse, under his command, from/ I tif
to 15th April inclusive," and to this log the Court'
would find affixed his Lordship's signature.
The Court itself having so attentively inspeeted
the Master's log, I need not point out the alterations
evidently made therein ; and it cannot fail to observe
the variations in .the other two logs ; I must, how--
ever, remark, that among the deviations in these pa-
pers from the ship's original fog, the signal imme-
diately in question, which is, recorded in the latter
to have been for " half the fleet," stands in both
these compilations as having been made for " part
of the fleet " only ; and of the two )9gs received
from Lord Cochrane, that only produced in Court
by himself records the circumstance of his having
hailed the Indefatigable, and proposed to her a joint
attack upon the enemy's ship the Ocean ; and I can-
not help here reminding the Court of the applica-
tion made by the Master of theimperieuse for access
to the Indefatigable's log. I beg, leave to subMit,
whether documents formed some time after the
events 'they record took place, and so contrary to the
pratice of the Navy, cap be deemed authentic, or
ought to be referred to as, or in stipport of,' evidence
before this Court.
. I have no doubt the. signal made by Lord Coch-
tune on 'the morning of the t2lh of April, which
forms a part of the charge against me, will, combin-
ed with other subsequent signals, appear to the Court
unprecedented and improper ; of this his Lordship
now seems aware, from the manner in which he
has expressed himself in his evidence ; and that
there nay be no doubt of the accuracy of the signal
log-book of the Caledonia, I must again call before
you the Signal Officer, to shew that the signal of re-
call on the 13th April, said .to have been observed
by the Imperieuse, Was never made by the Caledo-
nia ; and also that the signal of the 14th; recorded in
the Caledonia's log as made by the Imperieuse,
" that if permitted to remain, can destroy enemy,"
is denied by Lord Cochrane ever to have been
made.

I have yet to call the attention-of the Court to the
plan drawn by Lord Cochrane of the position of the
enemy's ships as .they lay aground -on the morning
of-the 12th April, and to that position marked upon
the chart,, verified by Mr. Stokes ; the former laid
down from uncertain data, the latter from angles
measared, and other observations made upon the
spot; the difference between the two is too appa-
rent to escape the notice of the Court, and the re-
pecStive merits of these charts will not, I thitik, ad-
mit of a comparison.
The accuracy attributed by Lord Cochrane to the
French charts will, I doubt not, seem very extraor-
dinary, after it shall be shewn in evidence that his
I,9rd4hip has expressed a very opposite opinion. ,

It now Only remains for tue to examine in what
manner Lord Cochrane has attempted by his unsup.
parted opinion to maintain the charge. This is to
be colleded from the long narrative evidence given
by his Lordship. It cannot, I a:n sure, be deemed
necessary for me to follow him through the whole
of this evidence. There are, however, some parts
of it that require particular animadversion.
In the course of his evidence, Lord Cochrane, in
allusion to the danger which would attend his going
without encouragement to the attack of the ships at
the mouth of the Charante, says, speaking of him-
self, " A heavy, a very heavy responsibility would
lie upon my shoulders in case of disaster, which in
• naval operations are sometimes unavoidable : if
had my cable shot away, for instance, I might have
been sunk." Yet, whilst on the one hand his Lord-
ship seems to have been so sensible of the weight of
responsibility imposed upon himself by the command
of a frigate and a few small vessels, he appears, on
the other, to have been unmindful of the far heavier
degree of responsibility .attached to my command
during so complicated an undertaking; in alluding
to-the dangers of which, I must take this opportunity
to mention five furnaces for heating shot, which
Lord Cochrane reported to me to have himself dis-
covered when he went in to reconnoitre, previous to
the attack.

Lord Cochrane states that 74-gun ships may go
into an inner anchorage between the Boyart shoal
and the Pallas, at any time Of the tide.
He asserts also that the tide rises only from ten to
twelve feet. By the French chart, which he pro-
duced to confirm his deposition, it appears that there
is a bank to pass over before ships can get into that
anchorage, with tioin eighteen to twenty feet at low
water. But by the charts'of the Master of the Fleeto
and Master of the Caledonia, who sounded upon
the bank, it appears that there is only from fourteen
to nineteen feet, and the bank full of knolls ; under
these circumstances, if Lord Cochrane's opinion be
corret, relative to the
,rise and fall of the tide, no
man in his senses would venture a seventy-four over
it in the smoothest water at less than three-quarters
flood; and therefore as to the refuge that this inner
anchorage would afford a crippled ship, how little
would the probability be that the opportunity of
both tide and wind should offer for a crippled ship
at the moment at which it was most wanted, to pass
over the bank, and get out of the reach of the
batteries ; but if I had even previously known as
much of this inner anchorage as I now do, I
would not, as the wind was at the time, have done
otherwise than I did. And if Lord Cochrane really
knew what he has now professed to-have known,
when he was in Aix Roads, it was a duty impe-
riously incumbent upon him to have communicated
that information on the afternoon of the 12th, to the
Captains of the line of battle ships which be saw in
so perilous a situation, aground within point-blank
range of the batteries.

Lord Cochrane has expressed an opinion, that two
or three sail of the line sent in on the morning of the
might, by running up, on the verge of the
Boyart shoal, have passed to leeward of the tvvo
French ships remaining at anchor. This I declare
to have been absolutely impradicable, as well trod
the raking fire of the two ships afloat, and of the
upright ones on shore on our approach, and the fire
of the batteries, as from the shoal water close tio"
der their lee. The testimony of Captain Rodd, the
only witness examined on this point, on the part
of the prosecution, corroborates my opinion, which
have no doubt will be further supported by the evi-
dence of other competent witnesses I propose
calling.
With respe& to the force of the Aix batteries,
apprehend what appeared to Lord Cochrane, and io
the Master of the ship, as ruins of tiie fort, were is
fa& materials for improving dr increasing the works.
Indeed, can it be natural to suppose that the ene-
iny, who are so active in forming batteries wherever
they can be useful, and whose engiueers are consi
dered to be equal to any, would of all moments
choose that for dismantling or blowing up workss
when they expe4ed those works would be -most.
required; for it is very certain the enemy was as full!
apprised of our intentions of attacking tbe'ir fleet 0
myself; and it will, perhaps, be considered less
likely that the enemy should weaken their defence;
on the Isle d'Aix, raised evidently for the profec
tedion of their fleet, when at the same time 11)0'
were endeavouring to form others on the lioyart
shoal as further peotedion for it.

Relative to the service that had been performed,
and what might possibly still be further attempted
towards the destruction of the enemy's ships, Lord
Cochrane states a conversation to have passed be'
tweet) his Lordship and myself, on his return. from
Am-Roach, im which he represents me to have said.,
i 6 that.if he threw blame it would appear like arid'
ganity claiming all the merit to himself." I, how'
ever, trust the Court will not conceive that the e2'
pression of casting blame has any allusion to my con'
duty ; for, as I have before said, Lord Cochrap°
never expressed one syllable from which I could tonal
the most faint idea that he felt disappointed al ?n)7,
thing reqing with me. His Lordshipts..allnsion
reference only to the several Officers who acted WO
him in Aix Roads; upon whom generally he case
blame, without giving the smallest intimation, eiiner
by word or manner, that in his expressions of dissle
tisfaaion he included his Commander in Chief.
By the manner in which Lord,Cochrarie has e%'
pressed himself, it might, perhaps, be coriclucle4
that I had been 'desirous he should bear my di''.
patches to England ; and after the caution he repi;
sents me to have given him, it might, if I allow?_,
this statement to pass uncontridiated, be supposeu
by some that I proposed this as au inducement to $e
cure Lord Cochrane's silence; whereas, when hi*
Lordship recalls the circumstances to his mind, iC
will, I am sure, lead him to acknowledge that, 5°
far from pressing this service upon him, in the hr"
instance, I- gave him to understand that Sir Harri
Neale, the Captain of the fleet, was to bear Loy di"
patches, and at which Lord Cochrane, I positive],
declare, expressed evident marks of dissati,lactio"2
and it certainly will appear to every reflecting
that my sending his Lordship to England, with ori.
der., to go to the Admiralty, betrayed no desike °
concealment, nor apprehension of any repreSetit
tion Lord Cochrane might make of my conduct.
.1..,7p0n a general review of the evidence of Lord
Cochrane, it will appear that his Lufdship
founded his statement on the-narrative lug, conipa w
c
since his return to England—on the French chat
Rlld 94 the position in which is placed, in