The Sun.
London, England, 1807-08-21 00:00:00

EGYPT..

EXTRACT 0! A ESTTER EROM•Att.ontxcEa WITIi.THE,
AIU.SY. AT SICILY.
" MESSLNA, JUNg 15, 1,80.9.—Y0u musVaturai-
.
ly feel surprised'at leeinglny letter dated-
‘essina,
knowing that I served in Egypt under the gallant
ABEiCROMBIE; and having heard that an :Expedi7
tion had sailed:from this port against that Country,
yon would take it fin- granted that snarl Offidersas
possessed local knewledge.• and, experienCe would.
have been sele6ted to accompany it—but no ; so.
far from.this being judged necessary, if you look
'over the gist of General Officers arid General Staff
employed, yQLI will scarcely find one that had been
in Egypt before „This cannot bo reflected upon
without indignation, when we Contemplate the re,
sult of the ill-advised and ill-concerted measure by
which 'our brave troops .have been wantonly sacri-
ficed, and by which the lustre. of the British Arms
has been tarnished' through the grossest ignorance,
inexperience, and, neglea of obtaining the necessary.
information.
• " I 'proceed to give you the best account Ic can
procure of this disastrous business, colleEted from
several of the Ciffieers who were engaged in it.
. The convoy sailed from Messina about the latter
,end of Feiruary. •On the first night after they
left the harbour a separation took place, from the
1. roughness of the weather; ten Sail followed rthe
Tigre, the remainder the ..Apollg: The rig.% with
the Transliort,s..in her charge, .arrived at Alexandria,.
three . dayshefore 'the, Apollo, and the troops were
immediately 71inded to Us. Westward of the town,
,near the, little. island of ;Mirk°, and CoMtneneed
operations against the Forte de' Rains, which
.was
carried On the 17. th of March; but in attempting
to storm llort Oretin, General FRAZER failed, when
he changed his position, and took up the .ground to
the Eastward, • where the memorable battle of the
2 litof March Was fought... The town then capita,
hued ; thegrefer part Of•the troupS havi ug Ikeset to which, escaped to
oy, proper inauagetoeut, might
'have:been •prevent ,ti
. .• . • •
.
• ef:Netwaliss:anding the state of the town and gar- .
rison ef!.A.laindria, they obtained terms
,by no tucalts,
asiourable tp.t he captors; who, for' instatiee;.' wer.e
.ftot to conVert. the masques Into hosPit'als, which
was dent'. the last Alt;tl6 the ItegliSh -had, possession
Of the plaCe ; these inesflue.s being the only bbildingS
fit to accommodate a great inimberof sick or wound-
ed men. An Assistant Surgeon of th: ROLLE'S Re-
giment, and a few, wounded men fell into the hands
of the Turks, when the unsuccessful attempt was
made-op Fort Cretin, and were murdered by them;
and this was the only losS sustained in the captnre of
Alexandria, Two, Frigates and .a Corvette were
found,in the harbour, and a considerable retaetity of
Aitillery in the town. A CoUncil of Witr Was' then
held, in which it .1:4/31i determined to send adttach- 4
'meat to'redtice thegarrition of Rosetta, 'Port St. in"
lian; and Babanance.. FiVe,hundred- men ont °rale
number sent (from thirteen .to fourteen itbodred),.
were judged necessary to garrison these three places
When taken possession of. This detachment was
commanded by Generals WALICHOPE and Mason,
and consisted of the :3 lit Regiment ; Chasseura
tanniques ' • 26 Artillerymen, under a subaltern:Offi-
cer ; 100 Seamen, ,Iwith four petty Officers.; and
half a dozen Dragoons ; 'they had two two and a
half inch,howitzers, and two a-pound field piecei,
with a few rounds of ammunition.
About,twelve on the 2gth of April, this little
Army left Alexandria, and on the evening of the
30thlOok up a position at Abournandour, on a bill,
surtnounted by
,a signal' ower, between Rosetta and
II :Hamel, and about two miles from the.fornser.—,
Ilia" hill they took possession ofWithout opposition.
However, the next trtaining (the Ist of May), by -
day-light, the Turkksh 'Riflemen, who had stationed
themselves in a copse' which ran across the flanks
of the Nile, itbout two hundred yards to the right
of 'our; position; among date trees that covered the
Sand hillocks ia iheir front, began the attack.,
'General IVAncnortt immediately 'formed this littl -
.army into two colums, .the a i on the right,'.
arid the Chasseurs on the left; with the four`
guns in the centre,. The Ilatikers were then.
Sent to dislodge' the Turks, while the army ad-
vatieed •towards' the lown, driving before them the
Turks, who appeared on the left and right, in two
distill& bodies. In ,charging sane of these-bodies,
the General was slightly wounded 'in the' shoulder.
The' Turks soon gave 'way on all sides, and took
refs ge in the town, opposite the dead walls of
our army _ was drawn up in litre, and where
it lost between two and three Imislred Men in kill-

I.ONDON : Printed by RICHA ft n 114 r 1, of No. 4, Mi►rtiett-court, Baw-street
.14•..1... C...., /I. ~, .

•
.artd
ccl lxrati.tidect,- from, loopholes', ana the t64ili Of
the houses: .Tlie British troops then charged\ into
tho town, although the G4inerat had been Informed ,
that there were from, FAD: to 3000. Turks in it.
mediately most a£ the wounded. men, 'whO had fallen
in the rear, were butchered ,by the Turkish
ca-
valry. Our little baud of ,heroes continued fight-
ing, with the greatest bravery-for three hours, in the
streets of Rosetta, under every possible disadvnitage,
being exposed to the, fire -of the 'Curks from the
WindowS and tops -of the libties into, which therein
no entrance .but by a strong door, eoustruEteci.to.
prevent any cL-nmunication during the plague.
great mistake seems to have been: tntide in leaving•
the secure pest which the army. quitted in the morn,
lug," with the-, %'loitrided) baggage, servants, Bce. iu
the &large of.o.eorporal and, six men onlyi for when.,
the Turkish cavalry carried this post, they erected
their standard, and thus encouraged the Turks in the
town to make amore obstinate resistance. General.

WAUCIIOPE was now 'shot through the bead,. and
• Briga.lier-GenerallVlEAng wounded in the face; the
•slaughter and confusion became considerable among
•.our troops*, whom the Arabs, with much humanity,
• furnished with bread, and, what was still more de-
,sirablex with water. At length a retreat. was sound-
' ed, which was conducted in.a very masterly manner
by Col. tißocn,, of the at st, on whorii :the command
devolved. This raqh affair cost between four. and
• live &mired men,. and two guns ; one of which was
lost very early. It is said, that General NVAucuorA
entered the town of Rosetta in dire?it opposition to
the,opinion of General, -FRAZER, who --desired, hitn
not to attempt-such a thing.
".A second Expedition under the command of
Brigadier-General SuwmT, consisting of
.the Ist
battalion of the .3.5th;-.the .78th, Da 7RoLues and,
tiye light infantry. Companies, with artillery and dra.,
go;,nsi took up apposition before .Rosetta on the 7th
of April, on which. day the General received, a slight
wound in. the-shoulder. Thus' They continued skir,
finishing with. the Turks forfaurteen flays; when ,a.
serious attack was made upon_thern. by the Turkish
cavalry, who cut. up nearly, the:whole cif. the light
infantry, that- had been ,very injudiciously opposed.
to the horse.. iu skirmishing-.order. _ COL' MACLIDID
was then sent to take the command, With three com-
panies of the 7th, three. of the Ist. battalion . of,the
35th, a troop oicavalry.:under Cart....D.ALAYoslrs a
subaltern with a, detachment..olarallery,._ anctta,threei.
pounder ;--in'all about 700 men,.
"On the.morning of the 2.st of Aprilvnn.officer.
9f the navy observed a fleet laf tb,e boats called germs..
corning down the MACLEOD'S detach,
ment was soon after attacked i and-lie scat infurma-
tion to General STEWART that his right was turned,
and that he must be underthe necessityof retreating.
" By Major V'OGL.ES'ON,: of Dg RoLLE's, 'Accounts,
which was received at Alexandria on..the 6th of Maya
(for Major Voct.zsoli is the senibr officer of the
troOps,at.Cairo* Colonel MA CLE op having fallen very
early ia.the eugageme.nt), it appears that- the
troops, were surprised, surrounded, and cut up in
detail, being in three divt,ssions, which were •never
able cci form a inpaion as they attempted. to
Out of the whole thereAre.no;.vCairo, prisoners,
(including 60 men' taken in taw tirst business at Ito,
setta) 46. ti men, and CAlii:ers. MAcLEor4 -and
eight other oflicersiwer .
General STEwAßT,..thinking. it nOt s* to re..
main before
,Rosata, ordered the gunk to be spiked,
and 'buried,in the sand ; and advanced to support
Colonel INlnat.soo, but no British, army was to be
fonia, nor a single Englishman to b 9. seer as far "-
the eye could reach., The General, therefore, con-
eluded, that the „ Colonel, lta4,retrez!ted by .Lake
.e.,Litho to the Westward, and consequently fell back '
to that' town, and on theisubsequent daft to the -Ca,
ravansary,: the army Calballtied .411 boats for
Ab.oukir,,at.w.hio place they lauded next day, fak-
ing it. for granted.they would meet C.olonel. INT,AQ--
Z,,,IND'S detachment, •

. . _
" Thus ended Ulf attempts to take Ras. etta. Want
of ammunition is camplained of in bothinstances-
Foft ::ornPletely commanding that branch
.of the Nile. ~prct ehteduCvtaia Kor.t.o\c&i,t. from
4uplilyitig &r troop :'by Water.
Captain DKLA.NCEY has arrived at Ala:candrla on
his parole ; stiitc, that Like I..?risoner+at• clip.) have
been well treated. There i.tre letters bere fkatta Ma,
jar Voc“,4s.ox, who h S tii;it he, is at'04,59 pay
visit to Cont santinople, b land, which is goqiewhat
eitragrdinary, as the Chief whoNcomtnandsin_k;ypt
Las long ago declared himself, intlePandent... •
The. Priao QE HeSe and bis tr=oop's are
.441:44
• lessina, and'very quiet., TIIOI4O3IACIUGH:
arvy,xl.,at Palermofiorn gihraltar, 23
,on • i

About ten a days o, while thatche4 twarq
puling clown iu tl?i,e village of Ancrupi,, 'fop r, large
living toads were d'isCovcred in 0'0.'40, -where it
is,SiippOsed they had lain.for,,abeut ,o ytiars,,,as it
is -that time since the
,roof and there
bei.ng no communication any other eminence
so as to one le theM to cliimb there,: ntt,es tote
nest where.the.toads lay,_was the vesite-0( the im-
pide.of a hen.'s,egg, fill): of spots.

•Sil I P 2414 i.

I,ANCASTAR,,4VGII4T 18..
Arrived—the St. Anna Verhyshire, from, S. Thomas's ;
and Richard,- eon plancCfromrh laa;cl'. .• -

B RT
On Tuesday, buuine.l-louse, Lady) C. !.acilbt 'of a
Son.

1114 R It I
ye4ter6y,Williairt.Osw'ell,,Es3. of LeytOn,ip the Court;
ty of Essex, to Ainclia, daughter of loieph Cotton,'
OM a the DireetorsJof ,the.East.lncii4Comfiany., anti
UEputy Motel of Ole 'rrinity, dze, 84c.
ro,s'ame cia.k, at the Church of St: George the Martyr,
MootrisbUry, Mr, IV. Nelson,' to' Miss.Millagatv-of Buck.
ing!tam. • _

. -On Saturday last. Ur..LacoOtt Solicitpr, of .Deyizes to
MiSS'Kjild (if Bath, _

Thuisday se'nnight, at Rockwardine, Salop, William
Lacon Childe, Esq. only son. of .Wil,liaen Child*, Esq. of
Icinlet, to Miss Harriett. Cludde, youngest" daughter of W.
Cludde, Esq. of Orlenin, in Salop.
The some day, at St. James's Church, Bath, John Mer-
vin Nooth, Esq. to Mts. Wilford.

Mica
On Monday setniTit, in his 6th year, Edward Dixon,
Esq. or florsely-iluuse, near Diidley, Banker, and ;ate 11i 3~
Sheritl for theCounty.of Worcester.
On tne Silt inst.' at St,•Aubin, in jersey,. Airs. , Frances
Catint,• aster to Caßtain Philip Flue, of Richmond-Hill,
harli '

Ort Wetißesday. last, Mrs. Neater' the wile of Thomas
rearq Esc'. of bintteltl, Berks.

tnd puhti3hect by WI 1.1.1.% ?st AlLMtetk CCRIPPs

of Sr),T.