The Sun.
London, England, 1809-08-17 00:00:00

fortress, that the enemy could net hope to obtain
any better terms than those of an unconditional stir-

render.

It is utderstood that the 95th, and•the_

German regiment of COlonel Tialkeit, will take. o. s-
sessiop of the gates of the town at
,six o'clock this

evening, when the British flag will be hoisted on the
rartipaitk;. and the whole olthe.lsland shall then be

completely in possession of the British- army,'
The terrible havocinia de clie iombordnent
of Sunday, in the ton of Flushing, induced the Go-,
vernor to offer yesterday terms of capitulatiOn. The

offer; however, was
.not considered admissible, and'
consequently the -borntardment was resumed •Vc' ;ith
equal vigour, but
.more efrea, last night, and, the
,
firinrdid not cease till ;half past two o'clock this
morning, when terms nearly of unconditional sur-

render were broposed by the garrison.
." 'The.nature of-the enemy's offer yesterday. has
not transpired, but-the rejeklion of it, in the' most
preremptory manner, is said to have arisen from tje
demand. on.the p.art of the French Governor of more
Eavnurab7e terms for the Irishmen in the garrison of

Finshing, than the British General
,could with pro-

priety grAnt, or the Fren9hOian had any right to ex,
peEt. That point is now, however, settled, and the

fortune of %var has confirmed to British valour the

unqualified redufion of the place.
It is. not yet possible..to.collea any materials to
form a corre& estimate:of-the loss on the part of the
French, or of the extent of the injury sustained by
the town. That must he the business of actual ob-
,ervation and detailed. inquiry. .It is. most .satisfac-
tory, however,-to_ be able to state, that the loss of
' the
.British army is comparatively smolt, when .the
strength Of the enemy:s works, 'the pbstinacy of
their resistance; and the eager imptaosity of our
troops in the contest, are taken into consideration.
The whole of our loss does nor exceed eight or Aline •
"hundred in kilted, wounded, arrid.niissing.' "
The loss on the part of the line-Of-battle, sbipsi
which had a most important and .a most exposed
post assigned to them, is not.YetknoWn ; but from '
the incessant fire, and the consequent bo.Vock and
Confusion amongst the defenders of 'the batteries op-.
posed to thern, it is fair to conclude that it could not
have been considerabig. • With the town tumbling
about them in ruins, and'a well direaeci apd accu
mutated file -against the batteries, it was scarcely
possible for the enemy to retUrn the fire with equal
or adequate 'effect : The ships, therefore, though
most ekosed, 'could scarcely have. Suffered very ma-
terially under such circumstances ; and the value of
the acquisition; no less than the splendor of rite con-
quest, must be greatly heightened by the- inferiority
of the sacrifice made for its attainment.
".:Every effort was made during the co.urseof last
'week.to complete the batteries, in. or,lei that no de-
lay should take place in the attack of the town, as
' soon as• the ships of War destined to co-operate with
the army,should come in to their station., By
fatigable and unremitted exertions• on the part of
both services,: the whole. of 'the preparations
coMplete at an early hour on Sunday. Ahem
past two, P.M. the bombardment counneticed,r.ai..d
continued without the slightest interini,siop until 5
• •
• o'clock. The town was set:firu to placyz:
and the works of the enemy materially injured. Such
was the tremendous extent and continuity of the ex-
plosion on both sides, that several Off=icers, who have
been in most,of the great battles which have decided
the fate of nations an the Continent, declare, that'
they never witnessed_ sq terrible And destructive a
cannonade. Besides the impression made. on the
town and its defence by this bOmbardment, an im-
portant battery in front of the town was taken from
the enemy, an acquisition the more valuable, because
it was so situated as to give the enemy the means of
greatly' annoying the British troops in their ap--

proaches.
" litimbled by all. these circumstances, and
pressed,— too, by the disastrous result of another
sortie, the enemy moderated his tone, and con-
descended to proffer those terms of capitulation which
the COmmander in Chief felt himself bound in duty
and honour to meet with instantaneous rejeEtion,—
A short interval of hostility ensued, but the awful
panne served only to augment by contrast the horrors
of the renewed bombardrnent. Soon after dark the
tremendous cannonade was resumed, and it would
not be an exaggeration to state, that.the whole Island
was shaken by the effel of the expldSion.
" Taking advantage of the night, and die im-
pression wade upon the enemy. by the fire from the
E,lglish batteries, the advanced party oflialkett's
German regiment, and of the, 32d, pushed on agaibq.
two batteries occupied by the Fretidly in advadce
before the town. A sharp and obstinate confliEt en-
sued between them and ihe party of the enemy sta7.
tioned on the batteries.' But the arrival of reinforce,
ments gave the enemy a temporiry superiority, and
Our troops were repulsed in the fir.t; instance with

. .
some loss.
" Not intimidated/ however, by this check, they
advanced main to the attack ; and as they did not
discharge their tire..is they proceeded, ,they were ►in-
ermixed with the enemy in their own batteries, be-