The Sun.
London, England, 1809-10-11 00:00:00

Y

:4.41 lOr.tunate events, purchased with the ever increasing
diminution of Their army, whither could they carry
them ? To burn the French squadron ? to effect
tins, it was necessary to take Antwerp. But in
fine, the French squadron being taken and burned,
it remains to be known whether such an opera) ion
was worth what it has cost, 'and whether it be very
prudent to go to an expence of many men, and, of
40 or 50 millions, in order to occasion one's enemy
a loss of. between 16 and 20 millions.
But the ships at Antwerp could not be taken.—
They did not depend upon the occupation of Flush-
ing; upon that of. Walcheren,
.nor lof any island ;
they depended upon the Continent. It was neces-
sary to take Antwerp ! The ,English, who for this
long time past have 'not travelled upon the Conti-
nent, consulted informatiOn collected six years ago,
. end imagined that Antwerp w as still an open town,
as it was when it was only a trading port ; they did
not take into their calculation the works of these lat-
ter years, especially those which the Emperor has
caused to he raised, sine:: his journey to Antwerp.—
Upon establishing a dock-yard in'that town, 'he, or
dared its fortifications to be again raised; it is now,
surr.utt4t-d with a• bastioned r rampart. The ditch
filled with water which covers this raMpart, has
been repaired ; theleft of theiown is covered by an
iintnehse inundation, which removes the approaches
upwards of 1500 fathoms; the right is supported by,
the citadel,' which is a fine.ilece of fortification ; up-
on this front, several works have been established;
earning others, a fint, half-moon with its countersCaFp.
Upon the left bulk of the Scheldt there are no
houses, but the Head of Flanders has been re4.sta-
blished, and its works are proteEted. by an inunda-
tion of 2000 fathoms in extent.—The English could
sot, therefore, take Antwerp without besieging it,
without met hoJically opening the trenches, without
working on through the inundations and marshes, in
short, without having invested the town ; and if
they must' invest it on both sides, they would re-
quire to have two armies: Ist, One between the
Head of Flanders and the town .of. St. Nicholas.,
opposite to Brussels and to the road of France; in-
deed, we know no General bold enough to take this

position wittnesi than 80,000 infOritri and between
8 and•10,000' cavalry, since he must have to with-
stand the army which should arrive from 'France;
and the troops .should stretch out froM the Head of
Flanders, that i 5 to sly; the whole garrison of Ant-
verp, Which in a combined attack, Would sally out
on' that side ; 2d, On the side of the town, the in-
vestment Could not reasonably take place with an
army ,of lesS' than 40,000 men, having-in front a
cOrog of observation; to keep in check the dully of
the Duke of Valmy, assembled at Maestricht, which
would draw near Antwerp, and having another. corps
towards Bergen-op-.Zooin against the Dutch. It
would, therefore, have been easier for'loi d Chat-
ham to take Bi-ussels, to march against Ghent; and.
to advance as far as Flanders, leaving Antwerp and
the French army behind him, than to undertake to.
invest Antwerp and besiege it.
This much with regard to the land side:
On'the side of the river, the following are the ob-
stacles which most have stopped the English :
' •tst. Fort Frederic and Fort Doel, each mounting
fifteen 36-pounders ; after these, Fort Ldlo arid the
Fort 'of Lief kenshisek ; each mounting sixty 36-
pounders, and ten mortars; and behind, a line of
tighrj, gun-boats and pinnaces, mounting two him-
drt.-d t'4-pounders. Nutt:, every sensible man who
litYitY.vs that there is only, a cfis/r.;,e 000 1,1111)115s
betwci::::n Fort Lilo ;:nd tffe Fpr, of T..i.efke.i4ho4,
5•-•
*Mai iS' Opipsite to it, -paceiveS 6)m this passage
c.rinot be fore. With e-i'oard to tire-ships; it is -
well known that lire-stiipS and infernal machines are
inetieCtual. The infernal machine which was let oft
at St. Maio had no effect; these sorts of explo.ions
were never able to shake a rampart. An estacado
had been established, wtrich secured our gun-boats
hum tite.ships.• In fine, we had also ,fii-e;.strips;
sixte,n were.alrcady in Readiness; and We were go-
ing to avail ourselves of the first fivourabitf ocC3sion
to send them against-the English. Besides, to make
use r,i tire-ships;: it would have been necessary to
approach within. 500 fathoms df the town, since
from •Lillo to Antwerp-' the Scheldt makes. tour
elbows, which would have pre%ented fire-stops from
directed front any greater distance.
()wine te:i side in like manner no success could be
belted tor ; but admitting that by the combination
of the effects of land and sea, Lido and Lief kens-
, bock had been carried, which supposes tw9 regular
sieges, the enemy would directly after have, met with
three ether barriers to be forced ; the. P eatl Fort,
Fort St. Philip, and Fort St. Mary. All these
forts are covered by inundatii,ns, and each of them
would, have required a separate siege. These dif-
ferent operations could not haVe taken place without
1 losing forty days more, and supposing that by the
loth' of October the land and sea fortes had been
able to approach within 2000 fathoms of Antwerp,
they still required three months more to take the
town. With regard to the squadron, it was en-
tirely shut up within the town, up and down the
river, protecting Antwerp, and proteCted by it.
The taking of Antwerp was, therefore, a thing im-
possible for Lord Chatham, an operation much more
difficult to be etfetted than the/occupation of a guar-
' ter of France.
However, the following was the system of the
French army ; from the 15th of August three corps
were formed. The Prince of Ponte Corvo was at
Anti' erp with 30,000 men, iiationilguards, regulars,
and ,Dutch troops: The Duke of Cornegliano was at
Ghent with the corps ot the Head "of Fianders, con-
sisting of 25,000 Inert ; the Duke of Istria was at
Lisle with 20,000 Men.
We should have let the English, had they. serious-
ly presented themselVes, cross the channel of Ber-
gen-op-Z.,um, stretch out beyond the inundation of
Lido and march against Antwerp; the Duke of
Cornegliano would have proceeded towards the Head
of Flanders, and whilst the Eogli.ih would hav4 been
making their. dispositions to invest Antwerp from
fort Lido to the citadel, the PrioCe of Ponte Corvo
and the Duke of Cornegliano, protected by the inun-
dations and by the immense works of the town,
wo9ld nave waited for themi and on the day agreed
upon,, would hate stretched out upon the right ; and
then the English army would have terminated its
destinies: the Duke of Istria would during that time
lave proceeded tb the island of Cadsand, On the
of September there were between 'Flanders and
the Scheldt and Maestricht, twenty. thousand men'
'Underarms: They were not all 'regulars, hut they
• ere all commanded by men who had served ; they
Mere ad volunteers, and coosisted, for the most part,