The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-23 00:00:00

%~~1~.-~ -~„r

THE RIVER PLATE.

(From the Gazette of last Evening)
ADMIRALTY, SEPT. 21, 1846.

Dispatches have been received at this office, from Rear-
Admiral Inglefield, in the River Plate, addressed to the
Secretary of the Admiralty, of which the following are
copies:—
Her Majesty's ship Vernon, off Monte Video,
17th June, 1846.
Sir,—Adverting to my letter, No. 94, of the 9th inst.,
I have now the satisfaction of forwarding to you, for the
information of the Lords Commissioners of tb Admi-
ralty, a copy of the report I have received from Captain_
Sir Charles Hotham, of her Majesty's ship Gorgon,
acquainting me with the successful passage of the con-
voy (of 110 vessels) under the protection of the Eneish
and French vessels of war, named in the margin,* Past
the batteries which General Roses bad caused to his
erected on the heights of San Lorenzo, in the river.
Parana, for the eicpress purpose of obstructing the pro-
gress of the convoy down the river.
Although this success, owing to the grounding of the
British barque Caledonia, was not perfectly comp:ete,
yet I feel persuaded their Lordships will give tile
fullest . credit to Captain Sir Charles Hotham, auti
hiS colleague, Admiral Trehouart, for the able and'.
judicious manner in which their arrangements were
made, and also to all the officers, seamen, and royal
marines serving under their orders, for the col/ and.
steady manner in which this difficult service was. per-
formed, fortunately without a single casualty in any of
the men-of-war or merchant vessels, a circumsta nee
which, considering the strength of the position of tbe
Buenos Ayrean batteries and continuous fire, cannot bitt
be regi.,,rded as quite providential.
I trust their Lordships will permit me to call their
attention to the names of the officers whom Sir Charles

Hotham especially brings under my notice, as having-
occupied situations more promioent than others.
Their Lordships will be gratified by learning, that the
unanimity and good understanding which exist( d be-
tween Sir Charles Hotham and Admiral ,Triihouart, and
the respective vessels under their orders, from the com-
mencement of the expedition, has continuedr_vithout in-
termission, to subsist between the two squad:Tovs, a re-
mark which, I am happy to be able to assert, is 40 qually
applicable to all occasions when English and French
have been acting together, during the time I have' bad
the honour to hold this command.—l hare the hon Our
to be, &c.
(Signed) S. H. INGLEFIELD.
Rear-Adiniral and Commander-in-Chief.
The Secretary of the Admiralty.

Her Majesty's Ship Gorgon, Obligado, June 7.
Sir,—l hvo.the honour to inform you, that the con-
voy of merchant vessels of all nations, amounting to
110 in number, have passed the enemy's batteries and
obstacles in the Parana, in comparative safety.'
The severe treatment which her Majesty's ships Alecto„
Lizard, and Harpy experienced from the batteries and
infantry stationed on the heights of San Lorenzo, in
their respective passages up the Parana (as exemplified
in ,my dispatch of the 20th ultimo), rendered it incum-
bent. upon Admiral Trebouart and myself to adopt
every precaution which might tend to obviate disaster.
The heights or barrancas of San Lorenzo are sixty
feet above he river, the face is nearly perpendicular, an d
the ground, from the edge of the cliff, recedes ; a- table
land, of five or six miles in length, extends from one end
to the other, presenting a dead level, with every facility
for transporting artillery on travelling carriages to any
required point.
At the , north end of this barranca, the cliff projects
and tends westerly, thus offering a salient point for a
battery commanding from Ist.W. to S.E.
Half a mile to the southward, a position, nearly
similar, had been selected for A second battery, and
parapets, with embrazures, had begin erected for single
guns along the remainder of the barranca; the general
breadth of the navigable channel is about three-quarter
of a mile, widening gradually from the north-west en—
trance, with a current of three knots per hour running

through.
It was obvious that the nicest gunnery could alone
drive the enemy from their guns ; the immense thick-
ness of the embrazures and parapets protected them
from a flanking ilre, and such was the character of the
ground, that even vv..; th a spy glass nothing could be seen
but the wheels of a cairiage or muzzle of a gun.
Having carefully weighed these difficulties, Admiral
Trisouart and I decided Oven the following plan of
attack, as best suited to the ih'etection of our convoy.
That the heavy steamers of both squadrons should
anchor and engage the batteries ;luring the time the
convoy were passing, and that a masise,:t rocket battery
should be prepared on the island in tiot.3 of t second
battery, distant about one thousand two 10n:drehe d yards :
the convoy in the mean time passing at alloite'd distances
under cover of the sailing ships and small ,steamers
named in the margin.t
Accordingly, being favoured with a breeze fro: n. the
northward, at 6.30 A.M., on the 4th instant, I made the
general signal for the steamers, Gorgon, FirebrAnd,
Alecto, Gassendi, and Fulton to weigh. st 10.20
the Gorgon opened her fire; and the Firebrand and Gas-
sendi, having reached their appointed station one thou-
sand yards from the north battery, anchored ire All enfi-
lading position.
The three remaining steamers, Gorgon, Fulton, Anti
Alecto, proceeded past the batteries and anchored nine
hundred yards from the barrancas abreast, and ti '0
thousand from the first battery.
On the first gun being fired from the Gorgon, the'
rocket party unmasked their battery, and opened a
heavy and effective fire, which helped to divert the
enemy's attention from the three steamers, who were
passing within grape and musket range.
At 10.40 A.M. the action had fairly commenced bo-
tween the batteries, pieces, field infantry, and the
steamers of the combined force, and the English rocket
party ; a channel five hundred yards wide was left
between the steamers and the islands for the convoy.
At 11.50 A.m. the Dolphin, leading the convoy, passed
the Gorgon, the respective divisions sailed by in their
proper order, about twenty only remained, when I was
sorry to see the British barque Caledonia, uninjured, and
with the wind dead aft, run on shore on a small bank
off the point of the second island. In 5011-assorted ,snd
numerous a convoy of all sizes, badly equipped, and
lumbered with enormous deck cargoes, I confess I ca.N-
culated on the loss of some, but I had hoped to have'
been spared the pain of witnessing a fine English barque
handled in a st) le by no means creditable to thoso
on board, and greunded without any reason under the
enemy's fire.
I immediately signalised Alecto and Lizard to proceed
to her assistance. At 12.50, the convoy having all passed,
I made the general signal to weigh.
The Caledonia still remaining immovably fixed, she
had beaten over one bank, and lay on her port side, with
her bottom exposed to the enemy's fire, through which,
six or seven shot had already been put, and the officers
sent on that service being unanimously of opinion that
she could not be got off without discharging her cargo,
by my direction she was set on fire to prevent her falling
into the enemy's hands, and two coasting vessels, simi-
larly situated, were also destroyed.
This was the only drawback to a most satisfactory
day ; the arrangements answered even better than my-
colleague or myself had dared to anticipate. The enemy
brought into play from sixteen to twenty guns ; during
five months they had prepared heated shot and studied
every stratagem to secure themselves and punish us, in-
stead of which we dismounted some of their guns, and
drove them repeatedly from others.
We selected the steam force in consequence of the ad-
vantage which their pivot guns give, and it is difficult to
imagine finer gunnery than they displayed. Marvellous'.
to say, that although each of these vessels were. hulled
and hit repeatedly, and that more than three-fourths
of the convoy were severally struck, there is not a man
killed or wounded amongst us. I have received
every assistance and support from the officers of this
squadron, but some have occupied situations more pro-
minent than others, and I feel it my duty to bring them
to your notice.
The officers in command of the rocket party were
Lieutenant L. B. Mackinnon, her Majesty's ship Alecto;
First Lieutenant C. L. Barnard, Royal Marine Artillery,
her Majesty's ship Firebrand ; Mr. David Ham, gun ner,
her Majesty's ship Alecto ; the party were obliged to
remain two days acrd nights concealed tinter the enemy 'a
nose, and they, with the marine artillery and seamen,
deserve credit for the discipline and skill with.
which they conducted their operations, and I consider
that they rendered us most essential service. I have,
repeatedly derived advantage from the ability -ad zeal
of Mr. Henry Baker, 15.1s.ster of this ship, durnig my ab-
sence from the Gorgon; he made a most excellent chart
of the passage and channels near San Lorenzo, and h©
piloted this ship, leading the steam force past the bat-
teries, much to my satisfaction.
Monsieur Mazares, Lieutenant commanding the.
French steamer Fulton, on seeing the disastrous state
of the Caledonia, hastened to her assistance, and I hope
this officer will permit me to thank him for his uniform.
and effective co-operation.
In all my communications I have alluded to the great
satisfaction I have derived in having Admiral Tr -
houart as a colleague ; during eight months we have
acted together, and I make bold to say that more perfect
harmony and unanimity has never existed than between
the two commanding officers, to whom yourself and Ad-.
miral Laine entrusted the direction of the service in the
Parana.—I have, &c.,
(Signed) CHAS. HOTHAM, Captain.
Rear-Admiral S. H. Inglefield, C. 8.,
Commander-in-Chief.

* English—Gorgon, Firebrand, Dolphin, Fanny, Lizard
Harpy, Alecto.
French—San Martin, Fulton, Gassendi, Coquette, Procida.
t English—Dolphin, Fanny, Lizard, HarPY•
French—San Martin, Coquette, PlOCida.

SHOWER of Or BANK NOTES.—We have frequently
seen extraordinary showers, such as showers of but-
terflies, frogs, fishes, and such " small beer," chronicled
in the newspapers ; but really the most wonderful of all
is that which took place in Paris on Monday last, be-
tween five and six in the evening, at which time tho
passengers in the Place Vendome were astonished by a►
shower of I,ooof. and 500 f. bank notes, which fell on tho
bonnets of the ladies and under the feet of the horses.
it turned out that a capricious puff of wind had sud-
denly whisked this windfall from off the desk and
through the window of a hotel in the place. The notes
were all safely picked up, the most part by the public,
and at once returned to the owner. The notes picked
up in the street amcunted to 123,000 f. Two notes, one
of 500 r. the other of 1,000 F., comploting the 125,000 f.
;9,0000 in the bundle, had been borne by tl e wind to
the roofs of neighbouring houses, but were recovered by
two honest chimney sweepers who happened to be in the
place.
SECESSION FROM THE ESTABLISHED CIIUECH.—.
Mr. Caswell, one of the junior members of the University
of Oxford, was a few days ago received into the ROMSI),
Catholic Church at Prior Park, near Bath. .