The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-12-01 00:00:00

THE CAPTURE OF ST. JEAN D'ACRE

(From the Times of Saturday.)
The following are the detailed accounts of this glorious
action, furnished by our various correspondents, some of
whom were present during the capture :
MALTA, Nov. 15.—8 y thearrival of the Minos this morn-
ing we have advices from Constantinople to the sth instant,
from Egypt to the 6th, and from Smyrna to the 9th.
The news is not important. At none of these places was
the capture of St. Jean d'Acre known. It is said that there
is a strong fermentation in Damascus in favour of the Sultan.
Some Tatar couriers have arrived at Constantinople, bring-
ing the confirmation of the evacuation of Tarsus, Adana, and
the defiles of the Taurus by the Egyptians. Troops continue
to be sent from Constantinople into Syria. The Sultan's
army now, with the troops just sent, will amount to 20,000
strong. Orders have been sent to the Emir Bechir, now in
Malta, to go to Constantinople. He is at liberty to go or
refuse, as he is under British protection. (He may thank God
for that !) The Sultan has had another daughter, and pro-
mises to have a large family. The late Austrian, Prussian,
and Russian Consuls-General in Egypt arriveld at Smyrna,
from Beyrout, on the 3d instant. Sir Moses Montefiore and
suite arrived here to-day by the Minos. Hosref Effendi,
despatched by Mehemet Ali to search out for Ibrahim, could
not find him, or at least get near him. He had a particular
mission.

The French packet agent in Malta, and the Russian Con-
sul, had a regular fight with sticks, owing to the arrival of
the news of the fall of Acre. This is a most disgraceful busi-
ness—a farce, if you will, after the tragedy of St. Jean d'Acre !

(From the Malta Times.)

THE BOMBARDMEN

AND FALL OF ST. JEAN D'ACEf

MALTA, Nov. 15, 1840.—The Phoenix steam-frigate ar-
rived on Thursday evening last, bringing the momentous in-
telligence of the capture of St. Jean d'Acre—the far-famed
fortress of the Levant—by the combined fleets of the allies.
The action is the most splendid of all the recent naval achieve-
ments in these seas, demonstrating to the staggering faith of
the politicians of Europe that nothing can withstand British
genius and valour. Vainly have the French incendiaries de-
fied the British naval forces to take the great " fort of the
East;" for, whilst they pour out their bitter invectives, and
sing their savage war-whoop of nationality, a council of war
is formed,to attack these redoubtable batteries, it is decided
in a moment, and in another St. Jean d'Acre is a heap of
ruins, dyed with the profuse blood of the enemy !
We cannot pass by the splendid action of Admiral Stopford
—an action which has covered the Admiral with immortal
honour. It was Admiral Sir Robert Stopford who left his
flag-ship for the Phoenix—who directed the attack—who fired
the first shot upon the devoted fortress, who neared the for-
midable batteries, and under the brisilingcannon (the labors

,
, ,
and accumulations of ages) stood up with coolness, daring,
unshaken courage, and commanded the whole operations !,..

The Admiral,-hOwever, was nobly seconded by. General Sir
C. F. Smith, of the Royal Engineers, who was with him on
board the Phoenix, and by other brave and intrepid officers
under his command. Commodore Napier—the glory of the
British sailor—headed one of the two divisions, and would
not cease his fire till every gun of the enemy was silent. Ad-
miral Walker behaved also most admirably, and took his flag-
ship under the guns.
The result of this grand action is 3,000 prisoners, an im-
mense quantity of warlike stores, accumulated for years in
this celebrated fortress, and possession of the entire coast of
Syria.

-The fall of Acre will echo and re-echo throughout the
world. The sovereigns of Europe will see that the spirit of
Nelson still lives in the British navy—that her fleets can yet
batter down mighty works, deemed by ordinary people im-
pregnable, and that England is yet the undisputed mistress
of the sea.

We refer our readers for the details of this splendid
achievement to our correspondents' communications from
the scene of action.

The Phcenix steam-frigate arrived in port on Thursday
afternoon, from Acre the 6th instant, with the important
intelligence of the fall of that fortress on the 3d.

The attack commenced at half-past two o'clock p.m., and
became general at 3 p.m. At twenty minutes past 4 a large
magazine blew up, by which one entire regiment was sacri-
ficed ; at 5 o'clock the southern division ceased firing, and
at forty minutes past 5 the north-western. The batteries
fired until the last. During the night the place was evacu-
ated. At 3 a.m. Walker Bey landed with some troops and
took possession.
British Loss.-14 killed and 42 wounded.

Egyptian Loss.-1,500 to 1,700 killed by'explosion. 500
killed on the ramparts. Wounded unknown.
The only officer killed was Lieutenant Le Mesurier of the
Talbot, who received a severe contusion, of which he died
on the following day.
The British ships engaged were the Princess Charlotte,
Powerful, Thunderer, Benbow, Revenge, Edinburgh, and
Bellerophon of the line; Castor, Pique, Carysfort, and Tal-
bot, frigates ; Wasp and Hazard, sloops ; Gorgon, Vesuvius,
Stromboli, and Phcenix, steam frigates ; two Austrian fri-
gates and a corvette, and a Turkish ship-of-the-line, with
the flag of Admiral Walker.

Some of the ships were a good deal cut up about the rig-
ging and spars, and a prodigious quantity of powder and shot
was expended. _

The -Phoenix proceeded to England yesterday with the
despatches from Admiral Stopford.

THEATRE OF WAR.-OPERATIONS OF THE ALLIES OFF

THE COAST OF SYRIA

ACRE, Nov. 6.—Since my last, strange events have oc-
curred, of which I will endeavour to give you a sketch.
On the 24th ult. the Medea steamer arrived from Malta
and. England ; the same day the Turkish Admiral (Walker),
with the. Gorgon and Phoenix steamers, sailed for Acre ;
and the day following, having reached their destination
(where they found the Revenge and Pique), sent in a flag of
truce, summoning the town, which, however, was not re-
ceived, and the boat was threatened to be fired on, if not
immediately off. The Gorgon and Phoenix, therefore, re-
turned to Beyrout, but on the latter's arrival there she found
that the Admiral, with the Bellerophon and Edinburgh, and
the two Austrian frigates, had, sailed for Acre, to which
place she accordingly returned, and learned that on the pre-
vious evening the Gorgon had fallen in with the Princess
Charlotte, and, strange to say, received orders for all the
ships, excepting the Pique, to return to Beyrout, to which
place we all accordingly proceeded. On the 29th the Vesu-
vius steamer arrived from Malta and England, and the same
day an Austrian steamer from Constantinople, bringing
troops and despatches from Lord Ponsonby. On the 30th
ult. a general order was issued by command of the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty, thanking the fleet for their
zeal and exertions, and on the same day a council of war was
held, at which an immediate attack on Acre was decided on.
The same evening the supernumerary marines were embark-
ed, and on the following day about 3,000 Turkish troops,
each ship taking a portion according to her size, General Sir
C. F. Smith, R.E., accompanying them. In the afternoon
the steamers Gorgon, Vesuvius, Stromboli, and Phoenix
started for their destination. On the morning of Sunday,
November the Ist, the steam division arrived off Acre,
where they found the Pique, and in the forenoon commenced
throwing shot and shell into the devoted town, which was
briskly returned, but fortunately without effect. This
amusement continued at intervals during the day, and must
have harassed the enemy a good deal, as a number of shot
and shell were seen to fall and burst in the very centre of
the town. In the evening the steamers anchored just out of
range, and the Talbot and Wasp joined. At daylight on the
2d the Turkish and Austrian admirals made their appearance,
and at eight o'clock the steamers weighed and resumed their
work, which was continued at intervals throughout the day,
the batteries returning the fire as yesterday, and with the
like harmless effect. In the afternoon we had the satisfac-
tion of making out the Admiral and squadron running down
before a fine breeze from the northward : shortly before sun-
set the whole anchored off the town. The forces now as-
sembled consisted of the following vessels :—Princess Char-
lotte (flag), Powerful (broad pendent), Thunderer, Bellero..
phon, Revenge, Edinburgh, and Benbow of the line ; Castor,
Pique, Carysfort, and Talbot, frigates; Hazard, corvette;
Wasp, brig ; and the steam-frigates, Gorgon. Vesuvius,
Stromboli, and Phoenix ; the Austrian frigates Gueriera and
Medea, and a corvette, and the Turkish Admiral and cutter
tender. The night was spent in sounding, laying down
buoys, and making the necessary preparations. It was ori-
ginally intended that the steamers should lash alongside and
tow the liners into their stations; but, finding too much
swell on in the morning, that plan was necessarily aban-
doned, and it was determined to proceed to attack under sail.
At half-past nine a.m., all being ready, the signal was made
to weigh, with a light wind from the south west. The Ad-
miral and Sir Charles Smith went on board the steam-
frigate Phoenix, from which vessel they conducted the at-
tack ; the flag, however, still remained flying on board the
Princess Charlotte. Unfortunately about noon the wind fell
very light, and the ships were obliged to wait for the sea
breeze, which happily sprang up sufficiently strong a little
before one p.m., when the signal was made to bear up, and
for the steamers to engage (they had in the forenoon thrown
a few shot and shell). At 50 minutes past one the Phoenix
opened her fire. The Powerful, closely followed by the
Princess Charlotte, Thunderer, Bellerophon, and Pique,
stood to the northward (it would be as well to state here
that the town presents two faces to the sea, one to the
west and the other to the south), and then bore up, and an-
chored
off the north-west angle of the town, in the order
named above. The Castor, Carysfort, Talbot, Benbow,
Edinburgh, Turkish Admiral, Hazard, Wasp, and Austri-
ans, stood in for the south face ; the Revenge was ordered to
keep under weigh as a reserve. At a quarter past two o'clock
the batteries to the south were opened on the Castor, as she
most gallantly, and to the admiration of the whole fleet, took
up her station within about 700 yards of the batteries, where
she and her consorts opened their fires, as had also by this

time the northern division ; the steamers were placed be
tween the two divisions, under weigh, and thus the action
became general. It'would be impossible to attempt a de-
scription of the scene at this moment, but had those who have
heretofore doubted the bravery and constancy of the Egypti-
ans, then witnessed the animated fire kept up by the batte-
ries, they would no longer be sceptical as to their courage or
endurance. At about three o'clock the Revenge was ordered
in to support the Powerful's division, and took up an admi-
rable position ahead of that ship. Al about twenty-five mi-
nutes past four, the action being at its height, a terrific ex-
plosion took place in the town, which, for a time, wholly con-
cealed it and the southern division from view; its appearance
was truly awful, and I can compare it to nothing but as if a
huge yew tree had suddenly been conjured up from the de-
voted town—it hung for many minutes a mighty pall over
those hundreds it had hurled into eternity, and then slowly,
owing to the lightness of the wind, drifted to the southward.
It proved to be the explosion of the principal magazine of
the place, one-third of which it has destroyed, and, from a
whole regiment having been quartered in a khan immediately
adjoining, it is supposed from 1,500 to 1,700 soldiers perished
in its ruins, besides a number of camels, horses, bullocks and
donkeys. After this fearful event the fire from the southern
batteries nearly ceased, but the western one still kept it up
animation, and was answered broadside after broadside with
redoubled vigour and tremendous effect. Shortly before five
the admiral made the signal to discontinue the engagement,
but from the smoke it could not be seen for some time by the
Powerful's division, who continued until half-past five to fire
at the few guns that still maintained the action, after which
not a shot was fired from the town or fleet. This sudden
silence immediately succeeding such a dinning uproar had a
very peculiar effect. In the early part of the night the
Princess Charlotte and Revenge shifted further out, and the
Benbow, Edinburgh, and Castor were hauled further in, for
the purpose of breaching the south face in the morning ; the
steamers anchored as convenient. Admiral Walker made
one or two unsuccessful attempts to land some spies ; but
happily about 30 minutes after 1 a.m. a small boat came off
from the captain of the port, to say that the Egyptians were
leaving the town, and that if a party was landed at the water-
gate it would be found open ; this was of course immediately
done, and 300 Turks and a party of Austrian marines took
unopposed possession at daylight ; the remainder of the Turk-
ish troops and a considerable number of marines were landed
and quietly marched into the place. Thus has fallen the far-
famed fortress of Acre ! after a bombardment of only about
three hours' duration ! Any attempt to describe the awfulscene
of carnage and destruction that presented itself would be
impossible. I shall therefore not even attempt the task, but
confine myself by giving you the numbers supposed to have
perished, and the damage done. From 1,500 to 1,700 are
supposed to have perished by the explosion of the magazine,
and alyart 300 were killed in the batteries. 3,000 prisoners
were taken ; 700 of one regiment, who had evacuated the
town in the night, marched down to the beach with drums
beating, and quietly laid down their arms. The batteries are
awfully knocked about, many guns upset, and several burst.
Correct returns of the number of guns mounted have not
been received, but 1 should suppose that there are about 120
on the sea faces, and about 20 mortars, chiefly brass, 13
inch. Vast quantities of munitions of war and provisions,
together with specie to the amount of £5,000, were found
in the town. Youssouf Aga (Colonel Schultz, a Pole), the
chief engineer of the army of Syria, was taken prisoner and
seriously wounded in the arm—the defence of the place had
been intrusted to him. Mahmoud Bey, the governor, effected
his escape, but has since been taken by the mountaineers.
It now only remains for me to state the less sustained by the
attacking force, which amounts in all to 14 English and 4
Turks killed, and 48 wounded ! the only officers who suffered
were Lieutenant Le Mesurier, of the Talbot, who received a
severe contusion, of which he died the following day, and
Commander Hastings, Mr. Davis, master, an assistant-sur-
geon, and a midshipman, all of the Edinburgh, wounded by
the bursting of a shell on the quarter-deck before she
anchored, which also killed three seamen and one ma-
rine. Some of the ships are a good deal cut up about the
rigging and spars. The Edinburgh's mizen-mast shot
through, the Castor's bowsprit, the Hazard's mizen mast,
and the wasp's foremast all severely struck, are the principal
spars that suffered. The Benbow was struck by al4 pound
shot in the hull, but, strange to say, not a man was touched.
The Austrians sustained but little if any injury. The won-
derful precision and rapidity of the fire are best appreciated
by Youssouf Aga (the Pole) declaring that no men could
possibly have stood to their guns in the batteries—the
Princess Charlotte alone fired 4.400 shots. Little damage
has been sustained by the works on the land side, which are
even now very strong, but which a few months more would
have rendered almost impregnable. Some hundreds of sick
and a number of dead were found in the hospital, many hav-
ing been killed in their beds during the bombardment, and
all appear to have been sadly neglected. Ibrahim Pasha is
reported to be at a place called Zehid, between Lebanon and
Anti-Lebanon, with a force of from 15,000 to 20,000 men.
The prisoners taken at Acre are embarking on board the
English ships, which are shortly to proceed to Marmorica
for the winter, leaving a squadron of frigates and steamers
under Cagtain Collier of the Castor on the coast of Syria.
The Phoenix, with the despatches for England, will leave
this morning. Reinforcements from Constantinople continue
to arrive, but the campaign is supposed to have finished for
fhe winter. Mr. Gennys, mate of the Carysfort, is promoted
into the Talbot, vice Le Mesurier, dead. Admiral Walker
is to leave in the Vesuvius with the despatches for Constan-
tinople; he has been made a Pasha.

COLONIAL INTELLIGENCE

NEW SOUTH WALES

We have been favoured with the following extract of a
letter by Mr. William Gardiner, shipping-master, of this
town, whose brothar resides near Windsor, in New South
Wales, and who writes as follows :
" I have been here eighteen months, and I have twelve
months' more of this inn and farm ; and I cannot say but I
have done some good. I had an excellent crop last year, and
I have also a very good appearance for this year; hut unless
I buy this place I shall not stop in it, as the house is too
small for my family and the business I do in it. An addi-
tional reason is, that I have rented another farm of fifty
acres of good land, a mile from here, for four years, to which
I intend to go in case I do not purchase this place. In case
I do purchase, I shall build some addition to the house, to
make it more respectable for travellers. The farm that I
have a mile off is all in crop, and it looks very well. It is
very convenient for my children to go to school here : they
are coming on well with their education, arid will soon be a
great help to me. There are a great many of our country
people (Scotch) here, and we are about to build a church, as
the money is collected for it. We have a settled minister,
Mr. Adams, from Paisley, and the schoolmaster comes from
Glasgow.

" From the accounts by Jane's letter you all think that
this is a dangerous place to live in. So it is in some parts up
the country, but not so here, as we have every protection
from the laws, which are very strict as regards depredations.
I consider I am as safe here as at home, and I have a better
chance of doing for my family. I should mention that we
are subject to many changes in the weather, such as want of
rain, hot winds, and hail storms, which, with caterpillars,
sometimes do great injury to the crops. There is, however,
a very fine appearance of the crop this year, if it can be got
safely in. We are at a great loss for labourers in harvest to
cut down the crops, which ripen very quickly ; and we have
to pay as high as one pound per acre for reaping. lam very
contented to live here, as it is a pleasant situation, and I
think I can realize a little money. This is a great country
for cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, and all kinds of poultry.
Good mares are valuable here, as they bring as high as £BO.
A few weeks ago I sold a horse for £7O, which cost me £5O
eighteen months ago ; but I expect horses will soon be
cheaper, as they are rearing so many. Since I came here
wheat has been as high as 30s. per bushel, but it is now only
9s. per bushel, and likely to be lower.
" I thought some of my friends would come here, but I
suppose they are afraid of bushrangers and black men, though
I find no such annoyance. This climate agrees well with me,
as I am healthier here than at home, and my family enjoys
good health. We have had no cold weather this winter, and
we never have any snow. Indeed I have no desire to see
home, as I like this country uncommonly well."