The Sun.
London, England, 1811-01-04 00:00:00

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" TO ins Ex.cimi.lnl/4:cl THE MINITEIt OP WAR AND

OLUNIES.
" 'Sit or FRANCIL, SaPT. z 6

44. Sat;

" After stir events which I had .the honour to
announce to your Excellency in mydiqptuch of the
I Bth September, I have to inform you of the con-
sequences of the viztortobtained',by the squadron

of Duperre.,
" Oa the 29tit of Au;;ust, CaOrtin lianielin, after
hiving co-o,iernl,l with his .sguitilroo in the sur.'.
render of. the IL?higi:oitt frigate, and the Isle rat
Patke, having tweented the enemy's frigate, the.
Dosclie-a, he•g4ve ehaee to her with the Venus and
rhoManene, but ontOctunately was not able to bring
her to action, _

" The Astrea itigate, which had been detacloqi
on the aBtll 60411 SqUmdri,ll 10 100 k out
,
tnwards.the. north of the 141;111d, a11(1 4) keep up the
CorMimvicalina )rA 4,eun Port Inverial and Port Na-
poleon, retook on the 3914.6( August,' the.Mouche,
No. 23, which had previously bec& taken by the

enemy.
0.11 the same day the Emreprenant 'sloop took
posiession of the aciso the Lottery, formerly a pr.
vateer formerly fined out at Isle I.luoi*,3lle, and
which had carried in there three prizes, when th,it

island was taken br the English. 1 was at this thin.:
at Port Imperial, when I was informed of the return
or the AitreA anJ Entrepeexint to Port Narileon.
The greatest exertions were used to enable the
ships of Duperre's sqUadron, with the prizes to put
to sea.43'he Iphigenia•trigate and the Victor sloop
being quire ready, I formed these two and the
Astrea and Entreprenant into a:squadron. Captain
loivet took the eonunand of the Iphigenia, which
was manned, and received the supplies of which she
was in want. I gave them orders to sail as
soon as the wind became Iwourable. At the same
time C apprized Capt. Lemarrant, who commande3
the•&Area, os well ,as the Captain of the, sloop
Entreprenant, to be Afyy to sail at. 'a monient's
not ice, - _ _ _ _

I returned on ,the Ist of September to Port Na-
plena it is impassible for me, Sir,' to describe to
you the jpy with which I was received on my ar-
rival, by the national guords, the troops, the public
funcijonarieti, and't he inhabitants of all classes,—
Thai) te-t,choelf, with cries a thousand times re,
peated,4 Long live the Emperor ! 'Aug live the Na-
poleon the Great !"
6, On the ad 'of September the Astrea and the
Entreprenantlsailed to join the tweothers,whieli.sail-
ed from Port Imperial on thetSt. 'Unfavourable winds
did not allow thcse, to join 6Q, Soon as 1 ex-
peeled.
,The Astrea captured uti the sth, of Sept.
the schooner Alexandcr,which sailed from the Cape,
of Good Hope on the tith of Augusto. This vessel
was loaded with nierchandize for the Isle of Buo„„.
parte, which they supposed at the Cape was then in
the poWer of the English. She was carried into Port
Napoleon the Gib SePt.
On the Stir, I retuined to Port Imperial for the
purpose of having some conversation with Captain
Duperre, who was getting better. I found him on
board hi's ship, and the vossels'under his orders rcdy
to sail 'as soon as the wind Was favourable.
‘1 I tints informed there that the Iphigenia at cl
Astrea had joined off the harbour, and that Cap-
tain Bouvet, who commanded this din ision, had
detached the Viaor for some articles of which the
Iphigenia, which was fitted out in'a hurry, was id
want.
On the i nth September, an English frigate re-
connoitred the Isle La Passe and Port Imperial. On
the following morning a signal was made that she
was chasing a brig off Poudre d'Or. Soon after
mother signal- was made' that the frigate had her
masts damaged, and that her• "boats were proceeding
to attack the brig. It was the mist), No. 28, cern-
mantled fly M. 'lvLissieur, a Midshipman, sent from
Port Napoleon, with different articles necessary' for
Doperre's Squadron. This aviso having mancruvred
ably, succeeded in taking
.Shelter in a creek on the
north coast. The inhabitants of that part of the
island went to her assistance. M. Martin, who
commanded in this ciboria, and who had early per»
ceived that. the enemy were in pursuit, had also
sent assistance in some of the island boats, under the
cOmmand of Capt. Dolvire, of the National Guards.
All these brave fellows fortunately assembled at the:
place where the aviso took shelter, and the boati
which were attempting to carry her off, or :burn.
her, were vigorously repulsed. "The aviso was soon
after put in
,condition by her:officers and crew, and
the assistance given by those who. so bravely de.
fended
.her. On the following morning she sailed,
to fulfil her orders. I have since heard that the
'enemy had 2u killed and wounded in this attack.
" After the success obtained at Port-Imperial, I
was of opinion that we shoUld tAte advantage of
our victory; and that it would be of consequence to
keep a-squadron off the Isle:„Boonaparte, either to
intercept the enemy's ships which might arrive
there, Or to destroy the Boadicea.. if • 'Hamelin's
squadron was not so fortunate. Capp.. Bouvet, as
Moon as he had joined, IA 86 moreover to: detach rine
of his sloops to reconnoitre' the coast of Marinas.
car, where I had reason to expedt he would fall in
with some of the enemy's vessels sent there (Or

provisions.
" I have unnesed to' my preceding dispatch the.
report (f Cap Hm
tain aelin, (rain which your Ex-
cellency will perceive, that the Boadicea owes her
safety to some favourable breezes; sod also the
jeatons ,why the squadron
(retuthed to the Islu of
Trance.

tt op my return to port Napoleon on the tsth
of September, I received the agreeable imelligenee
that a transport belonging, to the enetuthad been
.borceived the evening beam! at kW anchorage of
'lsle plate, Lieutenant Morice, of the Victor
iroop, hut rlken poisevsion of her the evening he-
,or,, and loon& her into port. She had thrto
Sepo, some warlike stores,
inindrect and fitly p
furlong -which u. as lofty thousand weight, of gort.
powder, and 30,000 dollars.

" The midshipman Gauthier, who was taken in
the Manche, No. 23, in the inooth of June, was on
board this transport. He had learned that the vessel
came from Rodriguez ; that the Africaine frigate,
Captain Corbett, which sailed front London about
the end of June, had arrived there, and had from
Thence proceeded to the Isle of France, &c.
" It was no longer doubtful that the vessel
which had appeared off Port Imperial on the 20th
of September, and which bad atiempted to take
possession again of the Nlouche, No. 23, on the
north coast of the Isle of France, was the Afri-
caine frigate.
" This was an increase of force to the enemy,
with whir' ! did nbt so soon lay my account.,---
It was Captain Corbett, the soul of all the de.;
stied tve attaCks which had been made uspon the two
islands.
While these events were taking place, a signal
was made at eight o'clock 1:1 the morning of the
I th, for a three-tnasted vessel to windward.' Her
materuvrrs appearing suspicious, I apprised Captain
Hamelin to hold himself in readiness to sail at a mo-
ment's notice. All hour after, a signal was made
that the was a ship-of war, and was proceeding
off Port' Napoleon. About noon, when she was
in sight of the Nit, she was saidto be a Company's
ship:
The Venus tied Vi6tor immediately put to sea,
and wont in pursuit_ of the enemy; wko was then
about t welve miles to windward of the port, which
it passed at the same distance the :lament ,the
squadron stood out. A coaster which came in. in-
formed Captain Hameiin,,that having, posed close
to this vessel, which hiid sent a boat atter . him,
which fl ed. a few musket shot; at him, she appeared
to him to he a Company's. vessel. Prom this in-
furtoation we concluded that she was laden with
troops, and expeded to see heir come in next morn-
ing with the VendS.
" On the t eth, the only signal made was for a
brjg,to leeward.
" At eight in the Morning of the t(ith a signal
was made for a threw-masted vessel to windward of
the Weed France. She was discovered to be au
rnetny, in her course for' sassing ?Port Napoleon,
uppCsite to Which she was at half-past cleyeit.,
was at too great a 'diStance to alloW us to ascertain
what she Was. The general opinion, however,was,
that she was a transport. The Aviso Lutin, a
small schooner wVelt sailed admirably, which I bad
ordeted to be constructed for the perpose of obtain-
ing intelligence, behig in the harbour, I sent her,
under the command of Lieutenant Daterre, with or-
ders to reconnoitre this vessel, and to at according
to circumstances,
" On the same day a flag of truce which I had
sent on the ryth to the Isle Buonaparte, with some
women and children, and a few men out of the
great number of prisoners made by the squadron of
Daperre,' as well as to make proposals for art 'ex-
change to the Governor, arrived.
"The Captain of thellag of truce brought me
dispatches from Sir Farquhar, int-riming me that his
duty Would not allow him to make an exchange of
prisoners. He received, however, the prisoners that
I had sent. The Captain of the flag of truce was
not allowed to land. They sent,' however, 'to him,
with the dispatches-for me, Moniteurs to the 20th
May, which. they had found on board the Clara
schooner, that arrived in seventy-five days from Bay-
onne. The -Captain of this vessel suffered yourlx-
cellency's dispatches fo fall into the hands of the
enemy. In a Gazette, of the Lath of August, the
English have printed an extract flew your le; ter of
the 3 Lat' of-Much, „1810. Your Excellency will
perceive in, this• Gazette, as well as in the copies of
the two proclamations Which they annexed to the
Moniteuts, all that has been done to setelee the
spirit of the majority of the inhabitants of the Isle
Buenaparte, who are ,far from being satisfied with
living under the English yoke.
"fu the afternonn of the 20tfr, another signal
was made for some vessels working in for the land.
They Were supposed to be the Venus, with 'Mine
prizes. HoWever, on the morning:of the 21st the
two vessels were ascertained to be the Iphigenia and
Astrda, with a prize taken the evening before. The
whole three anchored in Port Napoleon, at four in
the afternoon. Captain Bouvet immediately landed;
expeeled, that he would tell me,.he had been com-
pelled by the superior force of the enemy to re-
turn ; and that be obtained no other success than
the prize which he had taken in sight of'.the signal-
houses. (h was a company's sloop, the -Aurora, of
10 guns, and 10() men,, which sailed, from' Madras
on the aith Augusq, But Captain Bouvet, Sir,
had plucked fresh laurels, Y. will learn by his
annexed report, how the English frigate, the Afri-
caine, of 40 guns, was attacked, and compelled to
surrender in an how node quarter, by the two fri-
gates under his coMmand.
" Unfortunately we could get no more front
this frigate titan the few men' who were not killed
or wounded, and a small quantity of stores.
" On the 224, at the moment that his Majesty's
two frigates, who had so gloriously maintained the
honour of the French flag, came to anchor, the
Vi6tor's signal' was. made. I conieelured, that if she
was not accomparned. by the Venus; it was be-
cause the letter was at ,somti distance astern.. The
V idol not ,coma into Port until the morning of
the 2.3(1. •

" it is extremely painful to me, Sir, to disturb the
satiitaaion produced by salons so brilliant as those
which Ilieve had the honour to describe to you, by
the narration of an a4tion even more. brilliant, but
which, uniertunately, has not been crowned with
all the success, that Captain Hamelin had so much
reason to expeti.

"The vessel Upon which he bore dnwn on the
17th was a frigate in disgoise, and carrylog a false
poop. Captain Hamelin overtook her in the night,
although she was fifteen mike a-head when the
Venus got under way. She was vige,rously attacked,
ensged with all sails set, as she would lay to and
cot-Up:lied to surrender alter an a6tion of two hours
and a half. The Vi or which did not sairthat day
as well as usual, did nut come up until the enemy
hail ceased for fotherwise the sloop would
have assisted in compelling her to a more speedy

surrende'l ; ,the Venus - cot, probably have
received so much darnage, 'and bdth 'together would
not have been drawn so close to the Isle Iluonaparte,.
where the engagement ended and in conse-
quence of which, the enemy'i force came Out of St.
Paul's to attack the Venus and her prize, -and Un-
fortunately succeeded. After an action of three
quarters of an hour, Capt. Hamelin was under the
painful necessity of striking his colours, to which
his valoia had dour so . much honour.. Before he
engaged in this second a6lion, he gav‘ orders io the
Victor to make all sail for tke Isle of France, for the
purposepf communicating to me this melancholy re-.
verse ePfortune, the patticulto of which are related.
in the report of M. IVlotice, (letter. F) annexed .to
the ,present dispatch.
" The enemy's 'frigate which was-compelled 'to
strike to the Venus, was the Ceylon, of 40 guns.—
She had General Abercrombie on board, who was
on his way to take the , command of the Isle iiuo,
naparte.

" I feel happy in having the opportunity of re-
questing your.. Excellency to lay betbre his Maje Sty
these brilliant affirms. The best recommendation
that, the Captains, the Officers, and the crews of the
naval force in these seas 'cart have; is the picture of
their exploits in armS.
" l have the honour to be, &C.
(Signed) DECARN."

[These papers contain another dispatch .from
Decaen of a prcvious date, the 18th September,
with a number of doenments antieed., in which the
particulars of the a6tiOn in which the Sirius, Nereide,
and Magicienne, were lost, on. thu,i23o' of
gust,. as well as thoge of the hut render,of the Iphi-
genii'', 'on the Ile of Rode, alp narrated'at great
length. It appears that the loss of the enemy op
thi's occasion wail 37 k Heti, und 112 Wounded. We
are happy to find that the !loss on beard the Nereid('
did not•eiebed. I too kiLed and wounded. The ene-
my state, that thvy.took I Goo soldiers or saitors, and
that the nmilt;er of pvkoners in the Isle of France'
was upwardS'ot 2,300.3.

REPORT 0 CAPTAIN BOUVET, TO CAPTAIN
GENERAL DECAEN.

" GENERAL,
I have the -hOtiour to communicate to you, the
result of the expedition by the Iphigenia and
L'Asiree, %Oki) vessels. you ordered to cruise: in
the direction of the Isle Btionaparte, where you ex,
petted they would fall in with an' en'emy, inferior in
fer.cei, and not yet recovered from the Meats of the
battle of Port Imperial.
" On the 12th in the morning, I discovered a
vessel under sail off St. Denis : I 'tacked towards
Cape Bernard, and found she was a frigate. She
was laying-to;. and I perceived` that boats were em-,
played in putting men on board her from the
shore.
" We beat up towards the enemy, who, as soon
she had taken in her boats, made sail, and endea-
voured to work to windward.
I had reasan to suppose, that this frigate was
the Boadicea,' Commodore,Bowley.
" About three o'clock . in the afternoon having
made a board to sea, .1 'ptroeived-three sail snore
coming; out of the ot St. Paul, two Ships and a
brig, and steothig to‘, ards us. I eonjetluted, that
the vessel which appeared the largest was the Wind-
ham,Which we were told had been fitted out as a slip
of war; and that. the Other two were the Oiter and
Staunch sloops'.
"At sun-set .1 ordered the L'Astree to join me,
and to keep in my wake; we stood out in fire offiing,
with n loom gale.
" The English frigate, which- sailed much better
than we, bore down upon us ; but when she came '
within
.cannon and halt.shot, sip shsfrtened sail, and
regulated het- course by our's. •
" It was my intention to entice her to sea as far..
as I could, and not to attack tier until the next
inorning, relying alWays on the inferiority of force
which could come to her assistance. I communi-
cated this plan to Captain Lemarron, and desired
him to keep close on the Iphigenta's quarter to lee-
ward.

" Towards themiddle of the night, we perceived
another vessel in our wake, which ' answered the
signals that were made to her every half-boor by
the frigate that bore down upon us. Whether in
f consequence of this reintorcement, or from the ef-
feet of some flaws of wind, in' consequence of whieh
the enemy neared us considerably, 'at: four in the
morning she 'appeared determined to engage.
The Astrea, . being on her bow, opened her fire on
the enemy's frigate, which returned a until one
of her top-sails being shot away, She made sail
athwart nee; I the!) braced my mizen-sails, to
the mast, and at thirty-five minutes past three
I engaged the enemy's frigate yard-arm and
yard-arm, who, notwithstanding she had received
several broadsides from the Astrea, begana heavy
fire upon the Iphigenia ; but after some broad-
sides she endeavonred to drop under my stern. This
manoeuvre did not sticceed, and 1 preserved my
position. Finding herself crushed by our tire, the
enemy made sail fisr the purpose of passing athwart
the Iphigenia and avoiding our broadsides ; • but in
executing this manoeuvre she exposed herself, and
presented. her bow to the Astrea; who raked her.—
I constantly kept my broadside towards her, and all
her minoteuvres having only tended to bring her
closer tome, I prepared to board her.
":At halt-past four the English flag was struck,
and the, enemy hailed me that he had surrendered.
I sent_ the yawl, the. only boat that could switn, to
take possession of her, and 1 ordered the Astrea to
send her boat also.

Day.light showed us another frigate close to us :
to our great astonistithent it was thelioadicea, Com-
tuodore Rowley; that which I had just compelled
to strike, being the Africaitie, Capt. Corbe:t, arrived
that day front England.

g( The Commodore-contemplated for some mo-
mews- the spectacle which we had the honour to
present to' him. iiis.odvanced ship totally dismast-
ed, the 863 covered with dead bodies and wrecks
all around, and the frigates of his Majesty drawn