The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-29 00:00:00

1533-36.

The war of succession in Portugal now solicits attention,
in which the services of Napier as Admiral were more than
usually signal. The hero has told the most of these in his own
blunt, unsoph'sticated style, and the truthfulness of his unco-
loured narration would form no ill model for historians. From
his letters to the Emperor Don Pedro, and other sources, we
condense this heroic period of his life. In 1833 Captain
Napier succeeded Admiral Sartorius' in the command of Don
Pedro's fleet, and after paying his devoirs to the Emperor of
Oporto, he got his fleet off, and shaping his course outside the.
rock of Lisbon kept a look out for the Miguelite enemy. Before,
however, the grand action came to pass which so greatly sig-
nalised him, he made, with his party, successful descents on the
coast, capturing Beja, Tavira, Othao, and Faro, the capital
of the Algarves. But the great event drew nigh, and the
famous victory nhich he achiesed over the more numerous
and powerful squadron of Don Miguel off Cape St. Vincent,
which the Gallant Briton, with his brave followers captured
in the course of twelve minutes, by boarding, a la Nelson !
is thus graphically described by himself :
" At eight o'clock on the morning of the 3d of July, the
officers of the watch reported two sail, then three, then four,
and so on until they counted nine. I was surprised, and, as Sir
Richard Strachan said, delighted ; but the delight was accom-
panied with a disagreeable sort of feeling just resembling the
sensation of your heart coming up into your mouth, and
requiring a tolerable gulp to keep it down. We were standing
on the starboard tack under courses and top-gallant sa Is; the
enemy were on the larboard, broad on the lee bow under their
topsails; one alone, which we took for the fifty-gun ship, had
her courses and top-gallant sails set, and sailed bad. They
were formed in two lines, having the Don John, bearing a Com-
modore's pennant to windward, supported by the Raiuha of the
line, the Martin Frietas, and Princess Real. The three cor-
vettes and two brigs formed the lee division opposite the open
spaces, all well painted, sails well set, and lines compact. It
was a majestic sight, and I turned the hands up to show the
crews how well they looked, and to exhort them to pay atten-
tion to the management of their guns as the surest means of
success. I had never been in a general action, and although
delighted at the prospect before me, I could not but feel ap-
palled at their great superiority and the magnitude of the en-
terprise I was about to undertake.
" The breeze was good, the water smooth, not a cloud in the
heavens; the enemy looked well and firm, and they were
plainly seen training their guns as we approached. It was a
trying and awful sighs, and accompanied with a considerable
degree of dread (at least I can answer for myself) ; efficers
and men were calm and determined, though aware of the dan-
ger of the enterprise, the success of which mainly depended on
the state we should be in after the first broadside.
" The enemy kept their line close, and reserved their fire till
well witi.in musket shot ; the frigate then threw out a signal,
which, we concluded was for permission to fire : the moment
was critical, and we all felt it.
" The Commodore's answer was hardly at the mast-head
ere the frigate opened her broadside, which was instanta-
neously followed by the whole squadron, w:th the exception
of the Dohn John, whose stern and quarter guns could only
bear. Poor Raiuha !* I looked up and expected to see every
mast tottering ! but the cherub was sitting aloft, and not-
withitanding the most tremendous fire I ever witnessed,
which made the sea bubble like a boding cau dron round
her, the smoke clearing away discovered to the asloni,hed N!i-
guelites the Rainha proudly flowing on the waters of Nelson
and St. Vincent, with her masts erect, her rigging and sails
only showing the fiery ordeal she bad gone through..
" It was now that the frigate flew to, grazing the Rainha's
stern with her flying jib-boom ; the foremost guns were pealed
into her, crammed to the muzzle with round and grape ; the
helm was then shifted, and we ran alongside of her under a
very heavy fire, which struck down my secretary, master, and
many men. The ships were lashed with the main sheet, and
Ceramodore Wilkinson and Captain Charles Napier, heading the
boarders, passed from the bower anchor to her bulwark, driving
the menaeross the forecastle, along the larboard gangway.
" I had not intended to board, having enough to do to look
after the squadron; but the excitement was too great, and
ouni myself, without hardly knowing it, on the enemy's

Or The chief ship of Napier's squadron