The Sun.
London, England, 1832-12-03 00:00:00

ANTWERP AND ITS APPROACHES.

(From the Spectator of yesterday, which has a very good
Map or Plan of Antwerp—the Scheldt and the surrounding
country forming the present theatre of warlike operations.)
Antwerp was a Marquisate under the Dukes of Brabant, and
included Ghent, Termonde, Tournay, Valenciennes, and all
the castles on the Scheldt. The city itself is situated on the
eastern or right bank of the river, 17 leagues from the sea,
eight from Brussels, six from Bergen-op-Zoom, 22 from the
Hague, 38 from Amsterdam, 11 from Breda, eight from Turn_
hout, three from Lierre, five from Malines or Mechlin, 28
from Maestricht, 25 from Liege, 36 from Aix-la-Chapelle, 60
from Luxemburg, 24 from Mons, five from St. Nicholas, 12
from Ghent.
The city of Antwerp was burnt by the Normans in 830, and
half of the inhabitants massacred. In 879 it was taken posses-
sion of by the Moors. They were driven out, in 886, by the
Gauls; who kept possession till 980, when it fell into the hands
of the Flemings. At the commencement of the sixteenth
century, the Spaniards, under Charles, son of the Emperor
Maximilian, took the town. After a lapse of 200 years it came
under the dominion of Austria. In 1585 it was taken by the
Prince of Parma, after a twelvemonth's siege. After the battle
of Ramilies, in 1706, it surrendered to the Duke of Marl-
borough, the French having occupied it for some years previous.
The French retook it in 1746, quitted it again in 1748, again
took possession of it in 1792, quitted it in 1793, took it once
more in 1794, and held it till 1814. From 1814 to 1816 it was
garrisoned by the English, for King William of the Netherlands.
The population of Antwerp is about 60,000 ;* two centuries
back it was 200,000. It has 22 public squares, and 212 streets.
The fine tower of Notre Dame is 450 feet high, exclusive of the
cross, which is 15 feet more. From the top can be seen every
thing, even the smallest, that takes place in the citadel.
The church of Notre Dame is well known to artists from
its possessing two of the finest specimens of Rubens' pencil.
They were carried off by the French, but were restored along
with the other restorations of 1815. We believe every means
have been used, under their present circumstances, to protect
them from accidental injury. When Napoleon had annexed
the Belgian provinces to France, lie formed the
.deSign of rais-
ing Antwerp into a great naval emporium. In pursuance of
this design, in the summer of 1804 he caused the first stone of
a navy-yard to be laid with great solemnity by Malonet, the
Maritime Prefect of the department. This yard was intended
to he sufficiently spacious for laying down at least twenty ships
of the line. It was never completed, and there is not at pre-
sent a vestige of it remaining. On the port very large sums
were expended ; the wet-docks alone cost upwards of 13,000,000
of francs.

Antwerp and its citadel were confided, after the disasters of
the Russian campaign and the reverses which almost imme-
diately followed, to the guardianship of the celebrated Carnot.
Carnot had for years abstained from mingling in public busi-
.

ness ; and though it was said of him in the early years of the
Revolution, that he organized victory in the armies of France,
during the brilliant career of the Emperor he led a life of the
most strict and unambitious privacy, conversing only with a
few friends and with his books. When, however, he saw the
soil of his beloved France threatened, he came forth from his
long retreat to assist in its defence, and the immediate conse-
quence of his offer of service was the confiding of Antwerp to
his care. So high was his reputation, that no attempt was made
to disturb him by the victorious allies ; nor was it until the
treaty of Paris that the city of Antwerp was placed at their dis-
posal. Opposite the Tete-de-Flandre; the Scheldt is about 700

yards across. It is '2O feet deep at low water, and 40 feet deep
at high water. At that point it was proposed, in the time of
Napoleon, to throw a bridge across, but a sort ofpont volaut is
all that has ever been established for facilitating the communi-
cations between the opposite banks of the river. The quays,
which extend from the ruins of the arsenal, near the citadel, to
the wet docks at the opposite extremity of the town, are
spacious.

The city is built in the form of a segment of a circle, of
which the river is the chord. There are covered ways both
on the land and the river side, communicating with the in-
trenched camp in the neighbourhood of the Docks; into
which, should the town fall into the hands of the Dutch, the
Belgian troops could readily retire. The fine walks which
the quays afforded to the inhabitants, are now cut up into
batteries, erected, some to threaten the Tete-de-Flandre, and
others to bombard the Citadel.
The Citadel is in the form of a pentagon, with nine bastions.
It was erected in 1568, under the directions of the Duke of
Alva, by Pacerotti. It has one principal entrance on the

north side, from the Marine Arsenal; and a private entrance,
to admit supplies, from the east side, near the causeway, lead-
ing from Boom. It contains a handsome church, fifteen wells,
and bomb-proof buildings for a garrison of 8,000 men. Its
present garrison is about 6,000. The Citadel is a place of great
strength. It is defended externally by several outworks; two
triangular batteries being situated to the landward, on the
side opposite to the town, and three still more considerable
fortifications on the promontory called the Tete-de-Flandre, on
the other side of the river. To strengthen himself on that
side, General Chasse has caused the dikes+ of the polder to
be cut ; and h thus inundated the whole district from
Burcht, above Mtlterp, to the Pyp de Tabac, below it. The
principal outworkS on the right bank are the Lunette de Rid,
which is close to the river, and the Lunette St. Laurent, which
serves to protect the only landward entrance into the Citadel
Fort Montebello, which is in the immediate neighbourhood of
the Lunette St. Laurent, is in the hands of the Belgians,
In addition to the Citadel, the Dutch forces are in posses-
sion of Fort Lief kenshock, on the left, and Fort Lillo, on the
right bank of the river, both about three leagues below the
city ; the Lunette St. Laurent already noticed, above the city,
on the right bank; the Tete-de-Flandre, with its dependency,
Fort Oosterweel or St. Hilaire, on the left bank, immediately
opposite to the Citadel. There is also a redoubt, called Zwyn-
drecht, attached to the Tete-de-Flandre, but it is of no great
value.

TETE-DE-FLANDRE.—This strong fortification has three
grand bastions ; two of which command the river, and one to
the westward or land side, besides some strong works, built
under the direction of the Duke of Wellington to defend the
access by the Ghent-road. The whale of the works are entirely
surrounded by ditches about 50 feet across. The Tete-de-
Flandre must be carried before an effectual attack can be
made upon the citadel. Since the peace the military roads
and approaches round the fort have been put in complete re-
pair : formerly there was a marsh for some miles round, which
was completely impassable.
Ghent, or Gand, is situated on the Scheldt, at its con-
fluence with the Lys, 10 leagues N.W. of Brussels, and about
the same distance S. W. of Antwerp. The Lys nearly sur-
rounds the town. Ghent has a commodious canal navigation
to Bruges, which is about 2'2 miles distant on the road to Os-
tend. The city is completely surrounded Itith ditches, fed
by the different streams in its neighbourhood ; there are nine
principal gates, all furnished with drawbridges and guard-
houses. Sixty-eight principal bridges (forty-five of stone and
twenty-three of wood), besides numerous smaller ones for
foot-passengers, connect the different parts of the town. The
citadel, which stands at the N.E. extremity, facing the road to
Antwerp, is a regular square, with strong bastions at each
corner. To the north is a canal which runs to Sas de Gand and
Terneuse. The circuit of the walls of Ghent is about twelve
miles. It contains about 70,000 inhabitants. The' streets are
spacious, and the market-places large and numerous. There
are many buildings still remaining which exhibit the architec-
ture of its ancient masters, the Moors and Spaniards. Ghent
and its neighbourhood have been • a principal theatre of
warfare in all the long-contested struggles of the different com-
petitors for the sovereignty of Flanders, whether Austrians,
Spaniards, French, or Dutch. In ancient times the city was
formidable; but under the modern system of attack it is inca-
pable of much resistance from the great extent of its lines. It
is worthy of remark, that the citadels both of this place and
Antwerp were not built for defence from foreign assailants, but
as a military check upon the mutinous spirit of the cities them-
selves, amidst the conflicting interests of the different states
who held them from time to time in subjection.
Bergen-op-Zoom, one of the strongest fortresses in Dutch
Brabant, is situated about 9.5 miles N. of Antwerp and 2•2
S. W. of Breda. It stands partly on a hill, and partly on the
river Zoom, a branch of the East Scheldt. Along the river,
opposite the Isle of Tholen, is a line of very strong batteries.
Another line of forts stretches across the country northward,
completely commanding all the approaches from the Dutch
side. Bergen-op-Zoom contains 5,000 inhabitants exclusive of
the garrison. An attempt to storm it, in 1913, was attended with
great loss to the English force employed.
Breda is a strongly-fortified town ; it stands on the rivers Aa
and Merck, 22 miles N.E. of Bergen-op-Zoom, and 2:2 W. by
S. of Bois-le-Due, or, as the Dutch call it, Hertogenbusch.
Breda contains upwards of 2,000 houses, and not less than 9,000
inhabitants.

Brussels, the capital of the new kingdom of Belgium, is si.
tuated about ten leagues from Antwerp, and about the same
distance from Ghent. The city is walled, with different gates
of entrance. The river Senne passes through the middle of the
town, together with a canal connected with that branch of the
river which falls into the Scheldt near Boom. A chain of for-
tifications surrounds the whole town, and there are double
rows of trees both around the outer fortifications and the city
walls. The population of Brussels is about 70,000, besides mi-
litary. In 1578, the city lost 27,000 of its inhabitants by the
plague. In 1695 it was bombarded by the French, under Mar-
shal Villeroy, when upwards of 4,000 houses, and 16 churches,
chapels, and convents, were destroyed. There is a paved road
from Antwerp to Malines, and one which runs through the
midst of the forest of Soigny to Waterloo.

Malines, or Mechlin, stands on the river Dyle, a branch of
the Scheldt, twelve miles N.E. of Brussels, about the same dis.
tance N. W. of Louvaine, and fifteen miles S.E. of Antwerp.
The town is intersected by numerous canals. It is noted for
its foundaries for cannon and other warlike engines; it has also
famous quilt-manufactures, and excellent beer. Its most noted
production, however, is its well-known thread lace, which is
even more celebrated than that of Brussels. Mechlin contains
a population of 16,000. It is well fortified.
Dendermonde, or Termonde, lies on the bank of the
Scheldt, to the right of the high road leading from
Ghent to Antwerp. It occupies a very convenient po-
sition as a military station from which to attack either of these
cities, and more particularly by the ready access to stores and
provisions from its water carriage. Dendermonde contains
800 inhabitants.

• 60,075. Encyclopedia Brilannica, new edition. "Antwerp."
Dike does not bear in Holland the same meaning that it
does in England ; in Holland it is used to signify a mound or
bank for the purpose of protecting the low lands from inundation.
Polder is a name given by the Dutch to those fields that lie
considerably below the ordinary level of the river. By cutting
the dike that surrounds them, they can, of course, at any time
be flooded,