The Statesman.
London, England, 1809-10-11 00:00:00

,••

a country, the &taste of which is as fatal as that
of Wa'diem's: It h true, that the English were
fortunate! A Marls General, called Bruce, the
shame of the military gamey and whose head the
nation must leave to fall ineoh the scaffold, even'.
ated fort ihroregle an un,•semplified panic, six
boars bof.,re the English arche4. Here then K ,
again behold the English
_enjoying a good fortune
upon iiich they could not rely : but these folks
boasts events, perched ;with the ever incretsing
dintinsati-n of the army, whither could they carry
them ? TO burn the French squadron ? to effect
this, it was necessary to take Antwerp. But in
the French squadron being taken and burned,
it remake to ho known whether inch an opera.
tine was worth what it has emit, and whether it
be very prudent to go'to ass expeetee of many men
and of 40 or 50 milliuns, in order to ocea-ion
one's enemy a loss of between 15 and 20 millions.
But the ships at Antwerp could not be taken.
They did not depend unsp tho occupation of
Flushing, upon that of \lttcheren, Rot of any
island ; they depended upon the Continent. It
was necessary to take Antwerp. The English%
who for this long time pass, have not travelled
neon the Continent, consulted information cut.
lected xis years ago, and imagined that Antwerp
was still an oven town as it was when it was only
a trading port ; they did not take into their calcu-
&Won the works of these latter years, especially
those which .the Emperor has evoked to be raised,
Once his journey to Antwerp. Upon establishing
▪ dock.yard in that town, he ordered its fortifica.
(sous to be again raised; it is now surrounded
with a bastioned ranipart. The ditch filled with
water which covers this rampart, has been re.
staked ; the left of the town is covered by an int.
sense inundation, which removes the approaches
upwards of 1500 fathoms ; the right is supported
by the citadel, Which is a fine piece of fortifies.
; upon this front, several Works have been
. illitablithed ; among others, a fine half-moon with
eh eoenterscarp. Upon the left bank of the
. egd, there are no houses, hut the head of Flan.
has been re-established, and its works are
pr,dected by an inundation of 2009 fathoms in ex.
tent. The English could not, therefore, take
Antwerp without besieging it, without methodi.
. sally opening the trenches, without working on
through the inundations and marshes,. in short,
without having invested the town ; and if they
Seat invest it on both sides, they would require
to hare two armies : Ist. One between the Head
It Panders and the town of St. Nicholas, oppo.
dye to Brawls and to the road of France; in-
deed, we know no General bold enough to take
position with less than 80,000 infantry, and
eight and 10,000 cavalry, since he must
to withstand the army which should arrive
lows France, and tho troops should stretch out
*tram the head of Flanders, that is to say, the
'whole garrison of Antwerp, which in a combined
Whisk, would sally out that side: 2d. On the
aide of the town, the intestuscut could not rca.
Manahly take place with an army of less than
410.000 men, having its-front a corps of observa-
tion, to keep in check the army of the Ddeke of
Valet), assembled at 111sestricht, whisk would
drew near Antwerp, and having aeoaker corps,
towards Berte-on.Zoona againct dui Dutch. It
w old, therefore, have been easier for Lord Chat-
ham to take Brussels, to march against Ghent,
and to advance as far as Flanders, leasing Ant.
wcrp and the French army behind him, titan to
undertake to invest Antwerp and besiegt it.
This much with regard to the land side.
On the side of the river, the following are the
Obstacles which must have stopped the English :
Ist. Fort Frederic and Fort Demi, each mount.
Aug fifteen 36-pounders; after these, Fort Lillo
end the Fort of Liefkenshoek, each mounting
sixty 36-pounders, and ten mortars; and be-
hind, * lino of eatOty gun.boats and pinnaces,
lamenting two ktindlro424.pounders. Now, every
geofibis man uhu knows that there is only a tilt.
tines of 600 fathoms between Fort Lillo and the
Fort of Lief kenshoek, which is opposite to it,
ppeerrceives that this passage cannot be forced.
With regard to Ire-ships, it is well known that
fire-ships and infernal machines are ineffectual.
The infernal machine which was let off at St.
halo bad no effect ; these sort of explosions
were never able to shake a rampart. An estacado
bad been established, which secured our gun-boats
from fire-ships. In fine, we had also ire-ships ;
Witte** were &reedy in readiness, and we were go:
lag to avail ourselves of the first favourable occa-
sloo to seed them against the English. Besides,
to make use of firoahips, it would have keen ne.
weary to approach within 500 fathoms of the
town, since from Lillis to Antwerp the Scheldt
stakes four elbows, which would have prevented
fire•shiis (rein being directed from any greater
distance.

On the Ma side, In like manner, no success
mould ND hoped for; but admitting that by the
combination of the effects of the land and sea,
Liqu and Lief kenshoek had bees carried, which
sit: popes two regular sieges, the enemy would di.
rectly after have met with three other barriers to
be forced ; the Pearl Fort, Fort St. Phillip, and
Fort St. Mary. All them forts are covered by
Inundations, and each a them would have re.
guired a separate siege. These different operations
could nut have taken place without losing 40 days
more; and 4uppiming that by the 20th of October
the laud and pea forces had been able to approach
within 11000 fathoms of Antwerp, they still re-
quired three tnenths more to take the town. With
regard to the squadron, it was entirely shut up
within the town, up sad down the river, protest.
lug Antwerp, and protected by it. The taking
of Autwerp was, therefore, a thing impossible
f..r Lord Chatham, an operation much more diffi-
cult to be effected than the occupation of a qu-r.,
for of France.
However, the following was the system of the
French army ; (ruin the 15th of August three
corps were formed. The Prince of Potoe Corso
wa' at Antwerp n ith 30,000 men, national guards,
regulaga, and Dutch troops. The Duke of Cor.
negliano was at Ghent with the corps of the Head
of bleeder, consisting of 25,000 men ; the Duke
of Istria was at Lisle with 20,000 men.
We should have let the English, had they se.