Star.
London, England, 1802-02-01 00:00:00

FORT =SECOND REGIMENT.

A letter having appeared in feveral of the
Morning Papers, Which feems to call in queaion
...te truth of the 42d Regiment having taken the
colours of Bonaparte's Invincible Legion in the
aaion of the sill,we havk here fubjnined Mr.
ilaldwites account of the traitfaitions of that day,
i.hich, we conceive; will more clearly illuar.te
what tared on that memorable occafion, than any
narrative hitherto given.
Mr. Baldwin was our Conful in Egypt, and an
ere-witnefs of what he dcfcribes.
On the Both, in the morning, at a great diC
t Ince in the lake Mareotis, we law confiderable
t. (pops of eamels,and an innumerable train of ani-
-11141% palling towards Alexandria; but from the
hate and vapour alwaysloating over the exhaling
lake, we were not able to diftinguith. what. It
WWI believed to be Mellon ;.but I do not know if
any particular information was obtained about it.
44 It turned our, in fait, to be Menou, with a
reinibrcement of nine thoufand men from Cairo ;
he reached Alexandria at noon, and the fame in-
Rant wok the command of Cie whole army. He
made his difpofitions for an attack the next morn-
ing, before daylight; and pundually, on the 2 1
as wa were alleep, came and routed us by a firing
on our left. Out we jumped from under our
tents; and, looking to the direition of the firing,
we raw the fiat/ling, and heard the report of mai-
quctr_y all along the left of our line.
44 The General immediately conceived it to be
a feint. He Aid, This is only a feint ;' but gave
orders to every one of his aide-de-camps to go
*upon tome efpecial fervice. I was left alone with
him. He kept raying to me,' This is only a feint:
they only mean to diflurb us.' And fo repeating
for five minutes—it is only k 'feibt. But it was
the forerunner of a real attack upon our front,
from the centre to the right, with an army of four-
teen thoufand mat, which, at this infant, opened
with Inch a fnrious cannonading as to call Up all
our apprehenfions.
" The General fay:, 4 It is an attack upon our
right; give me my boric and away he rode to
the firing. I accompanied him as far as I could
go on foot; but was very Won forced by the can-
non-fhot to retreat.

" Our pofition in front was along a line drawn
from the lake Aboukir on the left, to the fca on
our right. From ?IR:lake is a flat for about five
hundred yards.; then a riling ground for about a
mile; then a valley of about fix hundred yards;
then a riling ground quite to the lea.
" The fcope and jet of this attack was to cut
of all our referve, encamped from the centre to
the right.
" They had offered a Louis-d'or per man to
any thoullind who would undertake to turn our
right, and take the battery which defended it.—
Bonaparte's invincible legion, confining of nine
hundred men, volunteered for this fcrvice.
44 At the fame time, that thcfc fhould turn our
tight, the main body of the French army was to
break our line in the centre, turn to the kft, and
envelope our receive. At the moment this was
executed, the French cavalry, fifteen hundred in
number, were to charge the body fo enveloped,
and cut them to pieces.
" The nine hundred of Bonaparte's invincible
gion fuccecded in turning our right between the
walls of a large ruin and our battery. They 'formed
the battery three times—and were three times ex-
terminated to a man?

41 Our referve, the forty-fecond and twenty-
eighth, finding the enemy in their rear, faced
uhout and charged them with the bayonet, and
drove them backward ftep by 'Lep into the in-
clofure of the ruin. Si:hundred and fifty of thefe
invincibles were already extended upon the pound:
the remaining two hundred and fifty called for
quarter and obtained it. Not a man of them
returned !—this was a bufinefs of twenty minutes.
" At the time this was doing, the main body of
the French army in a heavy column, broke through
our line into the valley, and forced along the val-
ley towards the rear of our camp. The cavalry
accompanying this movement, the inftant they
broke through our line, wheeled to their left, and
direelcd their charge to the rear of our referve.
•" But here too they were difappointed by a cir-
curr !lance not prepared by us with this defign,
nor expeeled by the French; a circumftance which,
confidering the Aare it had in delivering us from
MA critical datiger, will be ever impreffive on
our minds.

" You carry with you the charge of fifteen hun-
dred cavalry in the rear of our line, and its alarm-
ing effeCts. Well ! this charge was broke by the
accidental Rate of the ground, over which the ca-
valry had to make their charge. It was all over
excavated into pit-holes about three feet deep, with
the fand railed about the banks another fost or
two, as caniveniencies for our foldiers to 'Jeep in,
before the tents were landed for this fervice. The
French charged over thefe holes, and were com-
pletely routed in its confequences, three hundred
of them perifhed in this adventure.
" Our referve, completely disengaged from the
moll imminent hazard by tilde two ever-memora-
-I.le events, faced about again to the enemy, with
the centre of our army in the valley, and were in
time to do more good fervice.
" 1. was there the Commander in Chief was en-
gaged in perfon. As he left me to go towards the
cannonading, he mull have rode Itraight among
the enemy already broke into the rear of our
front; and as it was not yet day, not being able
to fri,nd from foe, he undoubtedly had
the misfortune to get embarrafled among therm—
ion he was extricated by the valour of his own
rrnrpc. To the lira foldier who came up to him,
he ti id, 4 Soldier, if you know me, don't name
roe.' He was refctied, and at this moment a
French dragnou, conceiving the prize he had 1011.
rode up to the General amid ids own guard, made
ezlt at him, and not being quite near enough,
i,atk cut throuzl the coat and wailicoat, and (hart,
d with the point of his fabre only grazed the
a. A; the lame moment the dragoon's honk
about, he brought him to the charge
tin, and made a &toad attempt by tt lunigt

but the fibre paffing between the General's fide
and his right arm, Which he intlantly doled. The
dragoon being at this inftant !hot dead, the fabre
remained in the General's poticilion. I was told
that Sir Sidney Smith being betide him at the time,
the General made him a compliment of this inte-
refling arm.
"About this time, it was perceived that the Ge-
neral had been wounded in the thigh, and was
entreated to have it examined; but—no! it was a
u ifle,brfaid,and would not fora moment difappear.
" The confliet was very long after this ; very
obainatc ; very fluCtuating ; very alarming. In
fume parts our ammunition was expended: we had
tome very queftionable moments as to the refult.
44 But the French, mot/ probably wanting am-
munition likewife ; wanting fomething, at lean,
which our brave army never relaxed in to the laft,
retreated.

4, Upon this event, the General, whole exertions
had kept him infcnliblc to his wcaknefs, retaining
the efforts of his mind, giving way to a fcntiment
of reit, his fpirits feccding from their tranfport into
calm—he faintzd.

" His wound was examined; a large incifion was
made to extract the ball. It could not be found.
He was put upon a litter, and advifed to be taken
on board the Foudroyant.
" It was in this nate I firli met him fence the
morning. He was in good fpirits. He held his
hand. to me from the litter. Don't be concerned,
Baldwin,' he laid to me, I fliall foon be well.' I
could make no anfwer to him, I fat down on the
land to bewail our misfortune.

" In this nate, not without hope, I was roofed
by a foldier to fee the Frenchmen retreat, and I
walked up to the front of our pofition upon an
eminence, and law them gravely retreating in a
long line, three deep. Acrofs a valley of about
a mile wide from the foot of our pofition to the
riling of the hill on which they were encamped,
did they gravely retreat. We returned them their
civility to us on the 13th ; and as they difcovered
the ground over which they pallid, it was Itrewed
with killed and maimed. They at length reached
the foot of their own hill, and faced about to halt.
I law their General. riding from left to right of their
line, knocked down by one of our twelve pound
Ikot, jolt about the centre of the line. The horfe
got up again, but the General was killed. Thus
ended the bufinels of the alit."