The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-05 00:00:00

0,—.--,.............weeeeeeeeeeee..................--
-.ie..... vuthorities of others—of Captain Hall,
Mould only perhaps weary the house in
into collision with the hon. and gallant admiral (Napier).., the house, but the t
educed these naval authorities,- and I
I will, however, adduce testimony—a witness the most un- and others ; but Is,
.-s_vill suffice to show that I had more
exceptionable, and one that even the hon. and gallant ad- so doing. I have pr,
uin my assertions. I wrote a letter
miral shall not be able to object to. I shall produce the think that they alone
know if the hon..
and gallant ad-
evidence of Sir Baldwin Walker, who was then in the ser- I than a shadow of trot
him or by Admiral Stopford be.
vice of the Turkish GOvernment, holding the rank of ad- to Sir C. F. Smith to
rairal. His evidence will be unimpeachable. The next wit- miral was consulted b 3
flees I shall bring is Sir Houston Stewart. He is command- ( fore the attack :
ing. the Mediterranean fleet during the absence of Sir E. " Grosvenor-place, April 2.
Lyons. I have had an opportunity of communicating with .‘ Sir,-1 question havie tg arisen in Parliament respecting
'cal to you as the British military
bine, and the house shall hear the written communication . the arrangements prior to I she attack on Acre at the cal of
submitted to Sir H. Stewart and confirmed by him. I October, 1840, I have to ape
shin also produte the written evidence of Captain officer in command on that ce lcasion, and to ask whether the
Codringten, commanding the Talbot, who took all the I, determination to make the at tack was taken before orders to
soundings, and who in every respect is a good witness It I that (effect reached you and *
che admiral from home ; and
mtiiy be said that this is all naval evidence,- but Twill whether Sir Chas. Napier was onsulted by you and the ad-
not stop here. I will bring the evidence of Sir C. Smith, miral before your final decision WaS
the formed.
of a statement
1
who served with Admiral Stopford, and who Commanded " I melee this inquiry because accuracy
the military part of the expedition. I will read to the made by me in Parliament has been impugned by Sir Charles
hogs. my letter to Sir C. Smith and his reply. Having Napier. - "I am your faithful and obedient
done this I shall appeal to the how. and gallant admiral "J. R. G. GRAIIA3i.
and the house. lam willing to believe that in a moment " Lient.-Goneral Sir C. F. Smith,
-s K.C.8."
April 3, 1856.
of' haste the hon. and gallant member for Southwark has " Onslowquaree
expressed himself in language too strong, and that he has Sir,—l havee the honour to acknowledge your letter of the
committed an error. I may have committed many errors 2d inst., in evl rich I, as having held the command of the allied
myself; but if the hon. and gallant admiral expresses his land forces in. i Syria, am appealed to for information respect-
regret in having written this letter—if he says he will not fug the arrant Temente prior to the attack on Acre in 1840 ;
adhere to the strong language in it—l for one shall be and, as such Ii tter appears to have been written under the
satisfied. I will now proceed to show to the house the sanction of aettl iority, I can have no hesitation in stating that
proof of the first allegation that the naval attack on Acre on the 29th of October in that-yea
and mr
self tha tit was finallyiege determined
re
was set suggested by the hon. and gallant admiral (Nae, between Sir Rol A. Stopford y the sAc
pier), butithat the first suggestion to Admiral Stopford and should be forth'w'ith undertaken, that the merit of the enter.
Ste C. Smith emanated from Sir Baldwin Walkereand no prise was our's, *riffle the subsequent receipe of an order to go
other quarter. I will first read this letter : against it relieve,l us of a portion of the responsibility we were
"My Lord,—l have the honour to enclose an extract from voluntarily on the' eve of incurring; that Commodore Napier
the Syrian jotienaltof a gentleman employed in the Turkish was not privy to oeu • determination, neither was he a party to
service, and a man of; sense. (The name of this gentleman our plans and arrane!ements for the;expedition, all mine having
his been mentioned to mee 4;94 I believe heis now in London.) been in progress of e 'xcation many hours before the Vesuvius
This extract contains matter netegentioned in other reports, arrived with the orde vs in question. Furthermore, I ought
and states facts worth being submitted to our lordship's here to add, that on t, 'le morning after knad taken possession
e- el lile ,i, of the fortress, Sir Rob ert Stopford communicated officially to
attention.—l have the honour, cte., -
"": iNSONBY:t me, as his colleague, the censure that he felt it to be his duty
I will next read extracts from a Syrian journal : to pass upon the cendue sof Commodore Napier during the
(Inclosure in No. 249.) operation.
Extract from Journal.) " I have the honour to thee sir, your most obedient, humble
se
" Sunday, Sept. 27. servant ,s 1 C. F. SISITH, Lieut.-General."
" Captain Walker came en board. [Here follows an Now, sir, it will be said wley was this subject of Acre -
account of his- attack on SAida, iu which Captain Walker, troducedinto a debate with leeference to the Baltic fleet
in-
Commodore Napier, and the Austrian archduke took a In the first place lam bound to• say that till a recent period
part.] I went with Captain Walker to Sea Sir Robert —till this dispute arose betwe en the gallant officer and
Stopford. . .' . . Leaving Sir Robert I accompanied myself, I partook of the genet sll impression that not only
Captain. Walker to see Izzel Pacha. We found him suffer. the success of the land operatic 'Ms,
thatbitted the
which had taken plice to the southward, Captain Walker naval operations was mainly du• •to the activity, exertions,
declared it to be his opinion that an attack on Acre would be counsel, and conduct of the bon
ate to • and
im gallantssion. member
had
for
successfusuccessful."Southwark. That was my ng pre
certainly reason for believing so f, win the hon. and gallant
member's own account of the w er in Syria. In vol. 1,
p. 17, of that work the hon. a nd gallant officer, on
the 23th of October, Sidon having b ten taken on the 29th,
states :

'Ottoman ship of war Mookaddimay-i-hire,
at sea, Oct. 27, 1840,
" Sir,—l have the honour to forward for your ex3ellency's
fnformation a statement made by two men who were sent off
to this ship by Captain Boxer, of her Britannic Majesty's ship
Pique, on the evening of tho 26th inst , at the moment of our
denarture from St. Jean d'Acre, by which you will perceive
that much discontent reigns in the garrison of that town, and
how ready the Syrians are to assist the cause of his Imperial
Majesty the Sultan.
"I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient humble
servant, "B. W. WALKES.
" "To-his Excellency Admiral the Hon.
Sir R. Stopford, G.C.8., die."
"The Druses armed at Sidon about two days ago, have
cut off the supply of water conveyed, to Acre by the aque-
duct. The fortress of St.' Jean d'Acre contains 5,000 troops,
but the greater part of them are sick, and about 25 desert
and die daily." The deserters from St. Jean d'Acre declare
the troops to be disaffected, and that a cannonading of the
fortress would be a signal for them to desert to us."
Now, this is important to observe, that tie attack en Acre
was made on the 4th Nov., and that the letter is dated
the 27th Oct. The decision t', attack Acre was taken by
Admiral Stopford and Sir C. Smith on the 29th Oct. Let
the house be good enough to remember these dates. On
VIE, UM. Oct. Sir Baldwin Walker writes to the Turkish
admiral :

" Bey).'out, Oct. 25, 1840.
"I am pressing the admiral to scud no to take Tripoli ;
this will finish all Lebanon. " C.-Rariza.
" To the Emir."
Tripoli was evacuated by the Egyptian' forces, and the
magazine in the castle was blown up.
" Seeing no further prospect of active operations, I turned
my attention, in common with my brother ,officers, to the
immediate attack on Acre, which I had thorOughly recon-
noitered, and felt satisfied that the ships in ave.'y short time
would drive the Egyptians from the guns, if then, 'was a pos-
sibility of approaching within a moderate distance Of the walls.
" The subject was frequently raised on board the Princess
Charlotte, and discussed ; but whether the commi ander-iu-
chief was restricted by orders from home, or was afraid of
the lateness of the season, I am not aware, but certain 17- much

valuable time was lost.
On my arrival at Beyrout, to my great astonishnsent, I
found a steamer had arrived from England with orders to
attack Acre. This was indeed a change for the bettor, tlAre
wasno further room for indecision." _

This statement operated on the public mind, and I, with
the majority of persons, partook of the impression that the
real credit of the naval operations was mainly due to the
hon. and gallant member. I quoted on a former evening'
what I thought had a bearing on the selection of the gallant
officer for the command of the Baltic fleet—that the last
operation against stone walls was by ships at Acre, and I
repeated the pasiage from that. very work. After giving
an account of the attack on Acre, the hon. and gallant
member states :

" Ottoman ship of War, Mookaddimay-i-hire,
Beyrout, Oct. 31, 1840..
"My Lord;—ln consequence of my representing to Admi-
ral the Hon. Sir Robert Stopford the good effect likely to
arise from the appearance of her Majesty's flag off St. Jean
d'4cre, I have the honour to inform your highncis that I left
this anchorage for that town on the 2 ith inst., and arrived

on the evening of that day.
"On the ensuing morning I pulled iu with a flag of truce
fur the purpose of delivering the enclosed summons. This,
however, was not received, nor the boat permitted to land.
" On the following day I stood in with this ship and fired
at the fortres es ; and although I appeared near enough for
the guns to have done me considerable injury, I was much
surprised at their not returning our fire. This pacific dispo-
sition ontbes part of the enemy, an t the information -I ob-
tained fruit atwo natives who carne- off to this ship from
Nalffre, confirmed me in my previous opinion that much dis-
content prevails iu the garrison of that town.
"'These particulars I fully communicated to the English
admiral, and I have now the great satisfaction to inform your
highness that a force, consisting of eight ships cf the line,
five frigates, and four steamers, the whole having on board
3,500 Turkish troops, will leave Beyrout this day for St.
Jean d'Acre.
" We continue to receive daily deserters from the enemy,
and the Crescent steamer, having on board 450 deserters and
prisoners, will leave this evening for Constantinople.
" I have the honour to be, Etc.,
" B. W. WALKER.
" To his Highness the Capudan Pacha, dre."
'New, sir, Tatty that the documents I have read afford, if
not conclusive, the strongest presumptive evidence that
the decision of the General and the admiral commanding
the expedition relative to the attack on Acre emanated
from Sir Baldwin Walker. But it may be said this is only
negative evidence that the naval attack did Rot proceed
from the counsel of the hon. and gallant admiral. I will
read some direct testimony—that of Sir Baldwin Walker
himself. In order to state the matter correctly I will read
serial im each question with its answer :
•• 2. ¢. cm Acre by the fleet was not advised
by Sir Charles Napier, but was undertaken en oppoettiva eu
his advice and opinion, expressly given to Sir Robt. Stopford.
" A.--I cannot call to mind that I ever heard Sir Charles
Napier express any opinion on the subject; but Sir R. Stop-
ford, on several occasions when the question of attacking
Acre was discussed, informedme that Sir Charles was opposed
.to it. My own impression always was that Sir C. Napier was
tanxious to advance into the interior at the head of the army,
and conduct the laud operations.
`.` 2.Q.—SirC.Napier before the attack remonstrated against
taking up the position assigned to the Powerful by the ad.
miral ?
" A.—l was present when Sir R. Stopford pointed out to
Sir C. Napier the position which the Powerful was to take
tip Off the south-west angle of the fortress of Acre, and the
• reply made by Sir C. Napier was, that if he anchored in that
position his ship would be sunk.
"3. Q.—ln making the attack Sir C. Napier did not take
up the position in question according to his orders, but let go
his anchor short of it in a less exposed. position, and thereby
threw the whole previous arrangement into confusion?
" A.—The position pointed out by Sir R. Stopford was not
takeu up by Sir C. Napier. He anchored before he reached
it, which the ships of his division were not prepared for, and
which caused some confusion.
" 4. Q.—Acre was taken by, a landing at a distance from
Sir C. Napier's bombardment, and by an operation in which
S he took no part/
".A.. Acre was taken possession of before three o'clock
iii the mbruing, after the bombardment, by a force landed
from the Turkish flag-ship, at the sea gate on the south side
,_ Sir C.,Napier was not prescut on the occasion.
5. Q.—Sir. R. Stopford after ;the aation, expresse 1 to
S:r Charles Napier his dissatisfaction with the conduct of Sir
Charles ?
" " A.—Sir R. StoPfOrd in my presence, on the quarterdeck
'of the Plicenix, expressed-to Sir Charles Napier that he was
notsattsfied with the position taken up by the Powerful, add-
log that he ought to have gone to -the south-west.angle. This
'is stated by. Sir. C. Napier in his work on Syria.
I very much regret the occasion that has arisen for puts
Vase the above questions, but ha,ing beet' appealed to, I a.a
bound to state facts, so far as I am acquainted with them.
":1 have been most anxious to be correct. I therefore
wrote' to Sir Houston Stewart, who a reas with me in all
essential particulars, and he has suthorised me to qnote his
testimony in support. " B. W. Wastes."
will next read what Capt. Codrington, who commanded
the Talbot. in the attack, and who knew the vario4s-posi-
Coil 3 of the ships bettor than any one, and the poeitious
assigned to them. I will read the whole of his 'letter,
which is dated the 26th March, 1856 :
" Her Majesty's ship Algiers, Portsmouth,
Marc 26, 1856.

I had frequently been engaged with batteries last war, and
I believe I was the only officer iu the squadron who had emu-
mandeda ship, in action against stone walls, and the system I
followed was the one I always had been accustomed to ; it was
the plan loll Owed by the leading ship at the battle of the

" Dear Sir Maurice,— I will reply to your questions seri 2-
tint, in the same order in which you put tliem. 1. I :do not
know whether Sir C. Napier objected to the position assigned
to his ship after he received his orCers from Sir R. Stopford.;
but having been myself present, with other captains,; at the
discussion which took place in the admiral's aftercabin, on the
evening of the 2ci: of November, 1•,40, I well remember Sir
Charles Napier expressing strongly his disapproval of the ar-
rangement of attack which was a :vocated by Capt. Boxer,
Capt. Houston Stewart, I think, and others —(hear) —and
which wad approved by Sir R. Stopford ; viz., that the line-
of-battle 'ships should be taken in first by the steamers, and'
that the smaller ships should follow them, and fill ,up the
vacant spaces, &e. (Hear.) At this discussion —a very wares
one—Sir Charles Napier, strongly maintained that the small
-ships should be taken in. first, and placed under the batteries
by the steamers, and that the steamers should afterwards
come out again, to take in the line-of-battle ships. The
admiral finally put an end to the discussion very decidedly,.
in these words I will not hear any more about it, Napier;
I will not have the small ships sacrificed for the large ones.' •
(Hear, hear.) By his wish we all the" retired, to enable him
to write out his orders for the attack of next 2. I
have neVer seen the ordersO which were yeii morning.
for the attack ; but I was told then, and
have Sir
always: Nhaepairedr
since that by the admiral's orders he was intended to anchor
his ship much nearer the south-west angle of fortress,the
and en its seaward-=in
elicit a position that the fire from his
ships should rake the line of guns opposed to our division, in
the same way that the fire of the Carysfort, Talbot, &c., di,
y'& ,O the line of guns opposed to his division. This was not
d.one. (Hear, hear.) ' The admiral's' plan contemplated the
commodore's running in from the south-west towards that
angle, and them that he should anchor the ships of his divi-
sion in succession along that western or sea face of the works,
• beginning with his own ship when well abreast of the point.
-He varied from this plan by going round by the northward,
under (it is said) an impression —which the event did not
justify—that the sea breeze might fail. Having reversed his
part of the admiral's plan- of attack, so far as, relates to the
approach, he did not provide, by fresh orders to the ships
astern of him, against, the disarrangement consequent on
ugh a change. Thus, he did not himself reach within a con-
iderahle distance of the station assigned to him, and by his
atratoritig where be did, the ships following astern of him
were thrown 'out from the position they were intended to take
up. ilitimately-the -Revenge weighed again, and moved on
nearly to the position . originally assigned to the Power-
ful-. 3. sir c Napier had nothing to do with taking posses-
sion of Acre--(hear, hear)— or landing men for that 'purpope,
so far as relates to the decisive time when the garripon were
abandoning the fortress in the night just after the action. It
was Sir Italdwi Walker, who, being close in shore, first be-
came aware of the evaeuati n t aving commenced, aid it was
by his exertions, and his personally going to various ships,
• including the Austrian squadron, that a sufficient force was
obtaine i for landing at once, and the sea-gate of the town
talon possession that very night.
of during the latter part of
4. On the morning of the 4th of November _iv C. Napier
went on board of the i hcenix to see the admiraland it . I was noell
t
present myself, but I heard at the time, was w
known through the squadron, that the admiral had, at that,
jute view, very decidedly expressed to Sir C. Napier his dis-
approbation of the manner in which he had placed theme vi-
,Mon 'during the attack. Indeed, the very words that ped
during that conversation were mentioned genera ly in- the
squad:on at that time, and are still in my recollection.
,c I am, dear Sir Mature, yours truly, -
" H. J. CODRINGTON, Captaip, R N.
" Rear Admiral Hou. Sir
Maurice Berkeley, K.C,8.,
Amiralty."
I. said that I Would not only lay naval antlioaties before

Nile, &c."
I have said that the whole question is a matter of evi-
dence, and that I would abstain from any adverse com-
inent. I hope the house, having heard the evidence will
acquit me of the grave charge preferred against me that I
and the- gallant member for Gloucester, who was an eye-
witness of the transactions, have trumped up some story
with reference to Acre not only without truth, but
,with-
out the shadow of truth. Much more do I hope that the
house will not agree with the hon. and gallant member for
`'Southwark, that we have, failed in our veracity fume a
motive so base and malignant as the desire to injure him.
I thank the house for the patience with which they have
listened to my explanation. ,
Sir C. NAPIER—I suppose, sir, this is the first time
that an officer who had,served his country for sixty years
with reputation was placed in a situation like that I am at
present in. (Hear.) Most of the people concerned in the
business referred to are' dead, a great many of them are
absent, and I have not the same means of referring to docu-
ments as hon. gentleman connected with the
,Admiralty
have. But. I think I have papers enough in my possession
to prove that the charges brought against me are wholly
without foundation. I believe the house is aware that,
when it was decided to send a force to Syria to drive out
the Egyptians, 5,000 men had been sent by the Turks to
.4.1.8 *h. Ise/sew:ten_ Sir C. Smith was sent to
command these troops, but on his arrival his health be-
came so bad that he found himself totally unfit for opera_
tions. Sir R. Stopford wrote to me offering me the come
mand, saying that he knew of no other person to conduct
the operations. I landed with these 5,000 men. We had
on our right 15,000 of the enemy at Beyrout, 10,00 d in
our front, and 5,000 on our left. Sir R. Stopford wrote that
if 1 'found a large force coming down upon me I was to
come away. Notwithstanding the large force opposed to
us, we made a strong fortified camp for the protection of
the people of the country. At various times reports were
current that the enemy was approaching, and I am not
surprised that Sir R. Stopford felt extremely, alarmed,
and issued contradictory orders. After remaining some
time I set to work and explored the whole country, and
soon became aware that it would be impossible to retain
.5,00) men there during the winter, and that the inhabi-
tants would not come down unless in the presence of a
stronger force. The first stop was to get possession of Bey-
rout, but that step Sir It. Stopford always avoided. No
consideratiOn could induce him to take it. I found it im-
possible to persuade Lim to do it. I then proposee another
plan. Stillman Paella, was sent to reconnoitre our position.
I got permission to attack him, which I did, and I beat him,
taking froM 300 to 400 prisoners. The prisoners were
brought to Beyrout, but even that did not give Sir R. Stop-
ford sufficient confidence in me. in September he wrote
to inform me that Salle:ran Yachts intended to attack me ;
that he was anxious I should not remain longer ; and that
he recommendede me to re-embark. I found if impossible
to do that, for had I done so the whole of the mountaineers
would hi.ve been sacrificed to the fury of Ibrahim Pacha.
I therefore decided not to embark, and.persaaded the Ad-
miral to allow me to remain. Shortly afterwards I pro-
posed to Sir R. Stopford to attack the strong town- of
Sidon, and he consented, but not without great difficulty.
Even after I started to take a position off Sidon I receivtd
orders from Sir It. Stopford that I was only to land, arms
for the natives. I persevered, and went to Sidon ; and
with' the assistance of the gallant member for Gloucester,
who commanded the Thunderer, succeeded in broad day-
light in taking the place. That gaVe U 8 a position iu Syria
whitih we bad never bad before. Bat even then our posi-
tion was not secure, for we had not sufficient forces to dis-
lodge the Egyptians. We obtained permission from Sir It
Stopford to march against Beyrout to force them out of it.
We marched, and to our astonishment next morning found
Ibrahim Pacha with an army of 3,000 or 4,000 men en-
camped in a very strong position, it being almost inacces-
sible. It was thought necessary to try our strength with
Ibrahim; because if he succeeded in preventing the moun-
taineers coming down the whole war would have been at
an end. I sent orders to Omer Paella, to go round to the
rear of Ibrahim with the Emir, while I took him in front..
Things went on well. At twelve o'ciock it was re-
ported to me, by spies, that Oruer Pacha was passing
round to the left of Ibrahim, and I sent. another battalion to
the right.' We attacked in front and rear at the same time,
and I am happy to say we defeated Ibrahim and took7oo
to 300 prisoners. We stormed his strorg i 03iti011 on the
heights, and totally destroyed the -whole of his stores and
provisions. This enabled us to take possession of the Le-
batten district, and to secure its people from danger: It
was, perhaps, something new for a naval officer to take the
command of troops on shore, but the experience I had had
in Spain and Portugal enable Imeto do so. Iwa4 ef opi-
nion at the time that if Sir R. Stopford had ordered the
marines and 2000 of the men I sent him to follow Ibrahim,
the war ie Syr:a would have been ended. (Hear.) Sir It.
Steipford did not thiuk"fit todo that, but contented himself
with taking possession of Beyrout. It is quite true there
were two courses—one the taking of Acre, and the other
the following up of Ibrahim. I
,was at first for following
up and totally destroying the army of Ibrahim, but I was
overruled altogether. Sir C. Smith never moved for -
ward, and remained so long at Beyrout that the Govern-
ment recalled him from his command. I come to Acre..
Every officer in the fleet hail been constantly pressing Sir
lt. Stopford to attack Acre. After the battle I had fought
and won against Ibrahim on the 10th October, what reason
was there, except the delay of Sir R. Stopford, that Aare
was not taken till the 2d Nov.? We lay there totally inac-
'tire. The fleet and the troops remained idle at Beyrout,
nno no enterprise of any description was undertaken. I
went, by the orders of Sir R. Stopford, to deliver the fir,
man to. the new Prince of Lebanon. From the heights I
noticed alt the English squadron, except the Powerful,
under weigh for Acre. Sir R. Stopford- and, I were not on.
good terms at the time. I had been obliged to push him so
strongly to undertake something—so bad his own captain
hat he got pettish with uI. They learned for the first
time that Sir R. esopord had decided not to attack Acre
-
before orders arrived
from England to do so. That was
not known to any officer of
uattack Acre,
tinging Sir R. Stopford to and we all thought
that his squadron. I remember
Twhoeu would
admiral
ldwe to do
nt in th
as op,
oh:
et
rtflittel
rnweXatsninoert
morning
we
e
order
took a look at Acre, and. then reeturned to Beyrout;.
If, then,- Sir It. Stopford intended to attack Acre, why had
he delayed till that season of the year when, it ?wee most
difficult to do so ? At last we 'all proceeded to attack Acre;
aad anchored there in the night. lam told I had nothing
to do with persuading Sir R. Stopford to take Acre. I
have a few documents here which, I think, will show that
I had :---"
'4- ••'' NAPIER TO SIR VV. raRKER.— Oct. 15, 1810.
"Tripoli ought to bo taken immediately, which should be'
followed up be an attack on-Acre, bstkof which would fall."
NAPIER TO LORD MINTO—Oct. 22, 1840. ,•
I think Acre ought to be attacked, but I fear there Is no
idea of it."
- NAPIER TO COLONEL HODGES--Oct. 31, 1840.
"After 20 days' inactivity, it is :at last: decided te go to
Acre, with 3,500 men, 'Which- I hope will not be changed; but
ckanges are so comrnoa here that I feel certain of nothing till
it is actually in motion.'
• - LORI/ PONSONET TO NAPIER—NOV. 9, 1840.
= " I write only to congratulate you upon your having spi-
rited up our chief to attack St. Jean, for. I feel no doubt you
did it • - •