The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1832-12-21 00:00:00

THE SIEGE OF THE CITADEL OF ANTWERP•

• The following particulars in addition to the accounts given is
a precedinw page of our paper, arc extracted from the private,
correspoinience of the Times, published in a second edition O
that paper :
ANTWERP, SATURDAY, DEC. 15, NlGHT.—During the 411
'the firing was constant; but since the evening, whiefi hai beta
very wet, it has slackened; yet an occasional discharge- of sortie
heavy guns proves that there is no truce. Nit though thousand'
of shells are thrown, artillery tired off, & hundreds killed onil'ef
one side and the other, yet they are friends. The King °
Holland seems disposed, according to letters from the Hee;
'arrived here, to attack the Belgians when the French retire, 0"
war must ensue. The Belgian territory must be cleared of the
Dutch before the French can withdraw. Therefore, even are'
the citadel be taken, the forts of Liefkenshock and Lillo, bet,,
Belgian, must be ceded. These forts are on the banks of IV
Scheldt, and are strengthened by the presence of several late
vessels of war and a number of gun boats: The inundatino
now prevent the French from approaChing them without '
flotilla, which, if vessels drawing-seven feet, can come alone 1'
the canal from Ostend; if smaller, by the Scheldt from Franc'
itself, since the Scheldt is declared cloked by the Dutch Kir*.
A strong frost would at this moment be the best friend to pear,
-for with its aid the French could pass over the polders 40'
effect their purpose. The Dutch ships, as appears from IV
Dutch papers, made an attack on the French battery at it'
Croiz three days ago, and had several shells thrown into e
Comet and Eurydice, which did some damage. The admiral
Leeuw Van Aduard, is said in those papers to have been ki
by a grenade, besides others on board. This looks ominous '
the naval attack. All is said to have been tranquil this even ir,
on the river. The number killed and wounded up to vestertlo)
morning is stated to be on the French side 2'26 wounded, 49 'II'
It
ed; in- the citadel 170 in all. A person who had an opportui *IY
of obseiving to-day,•describes a Dutch sentinel as cut in °
by a cannon ball, when his place was instantly taken by 40'
li
ther. At different parts of the ditch around the city,. workn
have been employed the last three days -making cuts to allowito,
water to pass from the ditch into the polders near the rdP
leading to Holland. To empty the ditch effectually, cuts hale
been formed, so as to allow the water to flow into the courier,'
The ditch round the citadel must, therefore, at certain peri.e
of the tide, become dry, and will afford great facirities for -11''
French engineers to carry General Ilaxo's plan of mining, fc'
into effect.
SUNDAY MORNING, DEC. 16.—A rumour was this morn
circulated respecting the movement in Vrauce of the Du.
army under the Prince of Orange. Upon inquiry from. perso
usually well informed, I learn that there had taken'?lave", '
change in the position of some of the Darch Litt:l:ions toss 4'll
Breda, li hich could not as yet be regarded-as a movement 0
that nature. -

HA LF-pAsr ELEVEN O'CLOCK.—The civil and military audio'
rities have gone to attend a Te Deem in the Cathedral, in cite'
bration of the birth-day of King Leopold. It was a remarka)le
sight, for internaingieu with the music could be heard the rej
of the Dutch and French guns, in the struggle. for the freedr
of the Scheldt.
ONE O'CLOCK .—The French during the night continue& ts'
prepare their breaching batteries, and to complete their lino
anent in the Lunette St. Laurent, into which a very heavy Arc
has been poured by the Dutch, whicit has quite destroyed use
wall across the gorge. The French are keeping up a heavy V,
of musketry from their sap between the Caponuiere and "
head of the zig-zag in the salient place of arms of the batioo?
in order to cover the formation of their breaching batteo'
which will, as they expected, be completed by Tuesday. The)r
intend to take the rave: d at the point of the bavonet, as it 110
no revetement. The bastion 1 oledo seems designed as
principal of attack.

.cipal poi. ~4- attac.
HALF-PAST I O'CLOCK.—There has been some movement'.
the Dutch army ; the number. of the troops moved is varint,'
stated—from two to five battalions—in the direction of Berg,.
op Zoom.—There are; it is reported, 35,000 men in Bergen-PT
Zoom.—The French talk of assaulting on the 21st. '
DEC. 17, MONDAY MORNlNG.—Letters ,icl; from the ,L.
frontiers, near Bois-le-Due, state that orders had been givenil
the 13th inst. to the yfirious corps in Norah Brandbant an,
South Holland, to prepare for a campaign and a raw-clue
towards Breda and Bergen-op-Zoom. Some movements in tl`e
position of those troops.has taken place, yet no invasion setPs
apprebended.—The 'tiring .during the night was occasionall
fiery heavy, and from the detonations being usually good, it li
thought. that the longest guns are now in use.
ELEVEN O'CLOCK.—The weather has been very wet durio
the night, and the rain now fails in torrents. Tlui French
ceed slowly, but steadily', in their arranoements - for attach
the citadel. It is feared that the bad weather will preven,
breaching, if batteries from being ready until late to-11101ln
evening, even then.—The French did not appear to be so ‘'el!,
pleased with their artillery, as with their engineer corps. . 0
superior officer has aimed from Paris, .in order to esa,l,,t
into the causes of the inferfority of the former, to its anelove
reputation. There is, I believe, a jealousy between theYe
corps, which requires also to be investigated.
TWELVE O'CLocK.—Att old British sailor describes his delight
,„0
in having. witnessed last night the firino' of the French c01':7;4
mortars, in which they call perpendicular practice—that Ist,
an angle of about 88 degrees to a great elevation, which mar.;
the projectiles fall immediately within the ramparts among r
Dutch tirailleurs. I

ONE o'cLocK.—Nothing new on the Scheldt. The French
officers have, lost ouch of their esteem for the defence of Chasse.,
which they now consider as not so effective as ought to be o`,
pected from his position. An officer, whose curiosity inducet,'
him to ask, some days ago, some questions from the Frenol
soldiers, when about to enter the trenches, was required to codebefore the General commanding the corps. He showed h.l'
passports and excused himself as being "British.' " Sir," salt
the General, " You, as a soldier, ought to know that you ought
not to ask such questions."

HALF-PAST ONE O'CLOCK.—The -great mortar is at this iac-
ment undergoing the essay at Braschuet. The Belgian goveri.:
meat has ex-hibited some proof of resolution in the seizure la'
night of the redacteurs and printers of the Messayer of Ghost,
which paper having been supported by Dutch money and writ'
ten by foreigners, has done great mischief. Several Frenell.
and other foreign writers in the Dutch pay .here, and elsewhere,
are now in a state of alarm. The tiring is very brisk.