Star.
London, England, 1809-08-02 00:00:00

the success that may be expected to attend tut attack upon
the epenty's fleet in either of the modes directed by their Lord-
shipsain your letter to me above-mentioned. The entity's ships
are.asekored In two lines very near each other, in a direction due
Southlftom the fort on the Isle of Aix, and the ships on each line
not farther apart than their own length, by wined- it appears, as
I imagine, that the space for their anchorage is so confined by the
shoarness of the suer, as not to admit of ships to run in and an-
chor dear of each other. The most distant ships of dick two lines of
are within point blank shot of the works upon the Isle of Aix.—
Such ships, therefore, as might attack the enemy, will be expos-
ed to be raked by the hot shot, &c. from the island; and should
the ships be disabled in their masts, they must remain within
range of the enemy's fire until destroyed, there not being a suffi-
cient depth of water to allow them to moor to Southward out of
distance. The enemy's ships have taken their position apparently
with a view not only to be protected by the strong works of the
Isle of Aix, but also to have the entrance of the Charente open
to them, that in case of being attacked by fire-ships and other
engines of the kind, they can run up the river beyond the reach
of them. The tide and wind that arc favourable to convey this
kind of annoyance to the enemy, serve equally to carry them up
the river. With respect to the attempt that may be made to de-
stroy the enemy's ships; with shells, Scc. I am not competent to
give an opinion, until it is ascertained whether the bombs can be
placed within range of their mortah, to the enemy's ships, with-
out being exposed to the fire from the Isle of Aix. I beg leave to
add, that if their Lordships are of opinion that an attack upon the
enemy's ships, by those of the fleet under my command, is prac-
ticable, I am ready to obey any orders they may be pleased to ho-
nour me with, however great the issue may be of the loss of men
and ships. I have the honour to be.. (Signed) " Gmtsien."
" The Hon. W. W. Pole.
On the 27th of March I went myself in the Uni-
corn, with Sir "Harry Neale, the Captain of the fleet,
and Captain Bedford, of the Caledonia, to reconnoi-
tre the enemy's fleet, and the fortifications of the Isle
d'Aix, which appeared, notwithstanding Lord Coch-
rane seeks by his evidence to make a contrary impress
sion, to be of consid,erable force. Observing that the
enemy were resuming their works on the Buoyart
shoal, with the view of affording to titeir fleet in Alt
Roads an additional protection, I sent in the Ainelia
and Conflict, on the Ist of April, to disperse the*peo-
ple employed on these works, which service they ef-
fected. On the 3d of April Lord Cochrane arrived
with the Imperieuse frigate, and by his Lordship I
received the following directions from the Admiralty:
[These directions merely stated the detention in
the Downs by contrary winds, of the vessels that had
been promised ; and communicated their Lordships'
orders for the employment of Lord Cochrane.]
That the service might proceed with the utmost
celerity, I ordered eight of the largest transports then
with the fleet, to be selected and prepared as fire.
ships, in lieu of the six expected from Plymouth, that
they might be ready to act with the twelve from
Woolwich, immediately upon their arrival. These,
with the Mediator, were accordingly fitted by means
of rosin and tar, fortunately found on board some
chasse. marees, recently captured, and other combus-
tible materials furnished by the fleet. This service
was performed under the immediate superintendence
of the Captains of the line-of-battle ships, who evinced
the most unremitting activity upon the occasion.--e.
Upon the 10th of April, at half-past four P. M. the
Beagle arrived, with the twelve fire-ships from Eng-
land. When I issued orders to the Commanders of
sloops and First Lieutenants of line-of-battle ships
which I had prepared, it was found altogether im-
practicable to proceed to the attack on the night of
the 10th, though much pressed by Lord Cochrane,
and it may he considered a most fortunate circum-
stance that the attempt was deferred, for it appears
by a general order found on board one of the enemy's
ships, and now delivered into Court, that the French,
to protect their fleet from attack, had equipped 73
launches and other boats, in five divisions, to guard
it from surprise during the night, and to tow off our
fire-ships on their approach, and the tranquillity of
the 10th would have afforded the enemy full oppor-
tunity of availing themselves of this protection;
- but of this they were deprived, by the very blowing
weather on the subsequent night, when the fire-ships
were sent in. • I have here to notice, that some days
previous to the attack, I had, to deceive the enemy,
adopted the precaution of ordering out of the Roads
vessels of every description, that were not to be en-
gaged in the intended operations to assist and support
the fire-ships.
His Lordship then proceeds to give a detailed ac-
count of the plan of attack, and to shew that had he,
sent the ships as desired by Lord Cochrane, they would
havebevt exposed not only to thepoint blank shot from
the batteries, but also to the-broadsides of the above-
mentioned two line of battle ships then lying in Aix
Road, and which, even without assistance from the
batteries, must have entirely crippled every one of our
ships in their approach through-so narrow a channel ;
besides which some of the grounded sliipiTw4tre_sufli-
ciently upright, and so situated as to enable them to
bring their gums to bear upon the entrance.
“ I would here submit to the Court (adds his Lord-
ship) whether the idea which appears to have been
entertained by Lord Cochrane, that a force could not
have been sent in so as to have arrived before low
water in the morning, wa's not in itself preposterous
and impracticable. Upon the fullest
.consideration
that no possible attempt could be made until the tide
had flowed for some time, unless a previous change
of wind should take place, all Iliad to do was to make
every preparation for the attack on the enemy's
grounded ships."—His Lordship then states at great
length the arrangements, formed by him.; and.after
c!escribing the unfalkiiirable state of the.w eather, says;
I think the Court will allow that I am completely
b-Ine out in what I have stated, by.ihe sentiments
liich it will be proved, were expressed to me by Lord
Cochrane., when he came on board the Caledonia af-
t: r the iiction, that had I acted upon his signal, and
15,-nt at at that time half the fleet, he calculated upon
the loss of three or four of his Majesty's line of Little
sh;ps; and I have moreover to observe, that if hi 'de-
ti..ace of the obstruction of the other siCfps of the
earn) y 1 had sent in a force before the three ships had
warped (jaw Palais Shoal, it id a positive fact that
it could not have advanced to the attack of those three
ships, on account of the shoal water."—His Lordship
next proceeds to quote the authority of AdmiralStop-
ford and other Officers, in respect to the impractica•
batty of sending in ships of the line at the time re-
quired, and of course, that nothing could be effected,
by them. His Lordship, after some account of the
subsequent disposition of the fleet, thus proceeds :
0, By the foregoing narrative, as well as by the log
stud signal log -of the Caledonia (to which, as also to
e v. ry correct log of the fleet, I am as desirous to refer
as Lord Cochrane may be it will, I conceives
i.een, that I fully meet the Charge which hsbeebe
Freferred
.against me; and if the impression arising.n
o It of this inquiry should prove less favourable Cuchriont than that which may have been roe t°-

. ,
dueed by my letter to the Lords Commission.--
the Admiralty of the 14411 of April, his k.
must be sensible, that as the instigator of this
Martial, he will himself have been the cause of this
change of sentiment. I have been willing to grant
to his Lordship the fiillest credit for his personal bra-
very, and for his judicious manner of approaching
the enemy in the Imptrieuse, to which points the
commendations expressed in my letter of the 14th of
April related. For in fact, the success of. the first
part of the enterprize, as I have before observed, arose
from the terror excited by the appearance of the fire-
ships, as they failed in the principal effect they were
intended to produce, and the blast of the explosion
vessels under his. Lordship's most immediate direc-
tion, did not take place by any means so near to the
enemy's ships as his Lordship had projected. The
general management, however, of the attack was so
successful, that, under that impression, I did not
hesitate to express in my public letter, the degree of
approbation which is therein marked, passing over cir-
cumstances not altogether satisfactory to me, and not
at that,time necessary to be brought into public no. I
tice. The Court is now in possession of all the facts
and circumstances on phich I rest my justification,
and .it remains to be considered how far they are af!
fected by the evidence produced on the part of the
prosecution."—After some further remarks in respect
to the evidence of the to books, he says-
- I have no doubt the signal made by Lord Coch-
rane. on the morning of the 12th April, which forms
Part of .the charge against me, will, combined with
other subsequent signals, appear to the Court unpre-
cedented, and improper; of this his Lordship seems
now to be aware • from the manner in which he has
expressed himself his evidence, and that there may
be no doubt of the accuracy of the signal-book of the
Caledonia, I must again call before you the signal-
officer, to shew that the signal on the 13th April, said
to have been observed by the Imperieuse, was never
made by the Caledonia, and also that the signal of the
14th, recorded in the Caledonia's log as made by the
lmperieuse, ' that if permitted to remain can destroy
the enemy,' is denied by Lord Cochrane ever to have
been made."

It now only remains for me to examine what man-
ner Lord Cochrane has attempted by his unsupported
opinion to maintain the charge. This is to be col-
lected from the long narrative evidence given by his
Lordship. It cannot, lam sure, be deemed necessary
for me to follow him through the whole of this evi-
dence. In the course of his evidence Lord Cochrane
in allusion to the danger which would attend his go-
ing with encouragement to the attack of the ships at
the mouth of the Charante, says, speaking of himself,
“ A heavy, a very heavy responsibility would lie upon
my shoulders in case of disasters, which in military
operations are sometimes unavoidable ; if I had had
my cable shot away, for instance, I might have been
sunk;" yet whilst on the one hand his Lordship seems
to have been so sensible of the weight of responsibility
imposed upon himself by the command of a frigate,
and a few small vessels, he appears on the other to
have been unmindful of the far heavier degree of re-
sponsibility attached to my command, during so com-
plicated an undertaking. In alluding to the dangers,
of which I must take this opportunity to mention five
furnaces for heating shot, which Lord Cochrane re-
ported to me to have himself discovered when he went
in to reconnoitre them, previous to the attack, Lord
Cochrane states, that 74 gun-ships may go into an
inner anchorage between the Buoyart Shoal and the
Palais at any time of tide. He asserts also that the
tide rises only from ten to twelve feet. By the French
chart, which he produced to confirm his deposition, it
appears that there is a bank to pass over before ships
can get into that anchorage with from 18 to 20 feet
at low water. But by the charts of the Master of the
Fleet and Master of the Caledonia, who sounded up-
on the bank, it appears that there is only from 15 to
19 feet, and the bank full of knowlls.—Under these
circumstances if Lord Cochrane's opinion be correct,
relative to the rise and fall of the tide, no man in,his
senses would venture a 74 over it, even in the smooth-
est water at less than two-fourths flood, and therefore
as to the refuge that this inner anchorage would af-
ford a crippled ship, how little would the probability be
that the opportunity of both tide and wind should offer
for a crippled ship, ,at the moment in which it was
most wanted, to pass over the bank, and get out of
the reach of the batteries; but if .I had even previously
known as much of this inner anchorage as I now do,
I would not, as the wind Was at the time, have done
otherwise than I did.; and if Lord Cochrane really
knew what he professed to know when he was in Aix
Roads, it was a duty imperiously incumbent upon
him to have communicated that information on
the afternoon of the 12th, to the Captains of line of
battle ships which he saw in so perilous a situation,
aground within point blank range of the batteries. '
Lord Cochrane has expressed an opinion, that two
or three sail of the line salt in on the morning of
thel2th, might, by running upon the verge °Utile
Buoyart shoal, have passed to leeward of the two
French ships remaining at anchor. This' I declare
to have been absolutely impracticable, as well from
the raking fire of the two ships afloat, and of the .up-.
right one en shore; in our approach, Mid the fire of
the
batteries,' as from the shoal water close unier
their lee. The testimony of Captain Rodd, the only
Iwitness examined on this point on the part of the pro-
', mention, corroborates my opinion, which I have no
doubt will be fully supported by the evidence of other
competent witnesses I propose calling. With respect
to the, force of the Aix batteries, I apprehended what
appeared to Lord Cochrane and to the Master of hii
ship as ruins of the fart were in fact materiak for
improving and increasing the works. Relative to the
service that had been performed, and what might
possibly still be first a ted towards the destruc-
tion of the enemy's s i ord Cochrane states a
conversation to hive passed between his Lordship
and myself, on his return front Aix Roads. 131 which
'he represents me to have said 66 that if he threw
blame,-it would appear like.arrogantly claiming all the
.merit to myself." I however trust the Court will not
conceive that the expreiltion of blame has any allu-
Irian to my conduct, for, as I have before said, Lord
Cochrane never expressed one syllable from which I
could form the most Aglit idea that lie felt disappoin-
ted at any thing resting with me. His Lordship's allu-
rim_ bad reference only to the senior oflicers who acted
with him in Aix Roads,•upon whom he generally
cast blame without giving the smallest intimation, I
father by word or manner, that in his expressions of
dissatisfaction lie included his Commander in Chief.