The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-10 00:00:00

ST. JEAN D'ACRE.

The Brighton Gazette containi the following copy of a
letter from a young officer, between fourteen and fifteen
years of age, on board her Majegty's ship, Benbuw, ad-
dresed to hii father, residing at Malta :

Off Acre, Nov. 5, 1840.
My el,zar Father,—l do not think my last letter could
have reached you yet ; but, notwithstanding, 1 cannot
lose any opportunity to give 3ou a few lines. We left
Boyrour on the Ist, and next Jay at seven p m. anchored
off' this place ( Acre) with the Princess Charlotte, 104,
Powerful 84, Bellerophon 80, Edinburgh 74 Revenge 80,
Berbow 72, Castor 36, Hazard IS, Carysfort 26, and Wasp
18. We found here a Turkish 74 ( Admiral Walker),
Picitn! 36, Strombo i 6, Vesuvius 6, Gorgon 6, Hydra 6,
and Cyclops 6, two Austrian frigates and one cor-
vette. As soon as we arrived, down bulkhead, ward-room,
gun-room, sick bag, office, &c. The latter,:though intended
to have come down, was kept up; the gun-room was not
known from any other part of the deck. The 3d was
ushered into the world to Le a remarkable day,--the bom-
bardment and capture of Acre. At half-past two a, m., we
were roused out of our beds, every single man and boy in
the ship (remember, we took in 250 Turkish troops at
Beyrout), and then commenced a buy scene, clearing for
action, &c. A splinter netting was put over the:poop and
quarter deck. The steamers were to have towed us to our
positions opposite the town. We waited till about eleven
o'clock, when the signal was made to make sail ; we were
soon all under weigh, and the Admiral, in the Phoenix
steam vessel, followed by the other four steamers, passed
the town, firing shells all the time. We stood off and on
till our skipper was tired, and then made the signal,
" Shall we proceed to South battery ?" The answer was
" Yes." We were then opposite the town, about three
or four miles distant. We stood in, and beat to quarters
(two miles distant) ; and the officers, mates, and midship-
men, first and second captains of all the guns in the ship,
were ordered on the quarter-deck. The Captain merely
said, " We have as yet done well, when there was no one
to return the fire ; but now there is some hope they will,
I hope you Will be cool and intrepid—return to your quar-
ters." The enemy, thinking we were not aware that we
were coming so close, said, " baeg, bang, bang, whiz, whiz,
whiz," which went through our rigging. The Castor,
Captain Gsllier, did beautifully ; she ran in, and em-
ployed the enemy while we anchored ; then came the
brush, the shot for the last half hour was as thick
as hail. The ships came dropping in by degrees, and
the whole line of fortifications then opened fire. The
Benbow kept up her fire for two hours without ceas-

ing, when a tremendous explosion was heard in the
dirLction of our fire, and a large, high, and wonderful
column of smoke was seen approaching us. It was, in-
deed, awful to behold. It was immediately "cease fire," in
our ship alone, to see the effects of the explosion, and as
soon as the men knew the cause„ they gave three:hearty
cheers; after that, their fire on shore almost entirely
ceased. About half an hour afterwards we ceased, agree-
able to signal from the Admiral in the Pliceaix, which was
going the rounds. And do you know, now, that the
" Benbow" was the cause of the taking of Acre ? I will
tell:you how, in the following questions and answers :
Q. Who was first tired upon by the enemy ?—A. The
Benhow.

Q. Who returned the first fire ?--A, The Benbow.
Q. Who exploded the powder shell and shot magazine,
by which 1,200 men were killed and the rest frightened,
and caused them to evacuate the place next morning ?
A. The Benbow's third shell.

Q. What ship had none Hied or wounded, and the
reason why ?—A. The Benbow, whose fire was so well
directed that the guns in the fort wore soon dismounted
and broken.
Q. Who first landed and planted the Union Jack on the

fort ?—A. Captain Stewart, of H. M. S. Benbow.
There is no use my dwelling on the many exploits of the
brave old Benbow, who did her duty well. Yesterday,
at one in the morning, a boat was observed pulling
to the Turkish Admiral, after which the latter burned
two blue lights, and set his jib on fire. The Edinburgh,
the Castor, and ourselves, immediately sent a buat to
the Turkish ship, to ask what was the matter. We then
found out that the principal inhabitants had come off in the
boat, with the news that the troops had evacuated the town,
arid that 2 000 remaining behind, they were afraid they
would pillage the city, and begged that the troops would
be sent on &born to occupy the place. The scene on land-
log was indescribable. The guns dismounted—soldiers
lying about, some without a leg and head, some both legs,
souse shot right in half, some halt burned, some with their
sides knocked off, &c., &c. It is impossible to continue—
it is too horrible to relate any more. The mountaineers
and deserters are coming in by hundreds. An immense
number of carbines and muskets are kicking about the
place, and every olcer who goes on shore brings off a
inuska and sword.
I forgot to tell you that my situation is on the poop.
Well, the captain sent me on a message to the forecastle,
and I was just on the point of crossing the gangway, when
a shot struck the hammock netting, the splinters of which
struck my leg with, ut hurting, being small ones; the shot
passed so close to my legs that Mr. Ross, who was on the
forecastle, tactually thought it had struck me. He said if
any one had a narrow escape, I had one ; and I believe
him there, fur it came too close to bode me any good, and
had it hit, I should have been food for the fishes by this
time, and would not have been able to spin you such a long
yarn about the bombardment and capture of Acre. We
have lauded about 6,000 Turkish troops and 1,300 Ma-
rines. I inclose here my will, which I made before the
battle, merely for precaution. I think there is some chance
of our coming down to Malta, as we have now all the coast
in our hands from Alexandretta down to Jaffa. If we get
a sufficiently large army, it ii possible we shall attack Alex-
andria.