Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1805-07-20
WESr.INDA FLEETS.

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! WESE.INDM FLEETS.
The movements of the West India ,a,
dron have been so much confused BY G,,
and contradictory accounts, and have h
lowed each other in such rapid sucees,nn
that it IS almost impossible for auy reader
who rams over the newspapers as they rsey.
lariy come,out to catch acorrct and con.
sistsnt view of the whole history. Lat a.
attempt toremoye this inconysaieaee ~
Ske,ching ost rapid narrative Of these E.
vents, Invested of every thing that isanir
seressiog aad every thing tina. has besnsps
tradicted by more accurate reports. sAM
such review present us with no memors
bic achievement, no rencounters at sea and
no invasions upon land, it may perhaps
serve to shed afeint gleamupon the impl.
tant revolutions of futurity. lsa7I
The genius of Ronaparte had long since
refuted one very popular maxim, that Ii.
nation which was master at sea, could com.
mand the land. The same genius was now
to demonstrate that even the strongest ma
ton at sea, was not always master upons
To what purpose did Englandpride herself
upon the extent of her navy ;supon block
aiding the ports of the Texei, Brest, Ferrols
Cadiz and Toulon, by her triumphantsqus|
drons: The Frenchiwere ready to supply
by skill, what. tho, --e-.e1 40 so+ee -ad on!
the l1th of FAD. the Rochefort aeet escapd|
out of port. But this was only one of tis
events, which the French government bad
med,taied. About the same time, the Bnl
feet came out of its harbor. On ths2ja
of Iaa. the Toulon feet ventured lnaas
Mediterranean, but was driven back tho
stress of weather. And the feet 10 me-
Texel attempted to escape about the lste'
March. These contemporary movements
of the French nary seem to shsw beyendl
doubt that they were directed by sons
grand and uniform plan of operations; was
Their that plan was IA make formidable y
tack upoa the British islands inthe Yves
Indies or 70 draw the British fee, ion Es
rope. r
The Rochefort squadron consisting Of !,
ships of the line, frigates, and Orgy
under the command of admiral Mn's.s
or pursued SIS route to the West, ina s
arrived at PORT Royal 10 Martinique % us
10Th of February. It's aehieyemen' WE
irregular and ;ngierioas; and their Pf'a y.
pal object seemed 10 be either to maze =. :.
enemy pay the, expences Of the sqp'ppss =
| by levying contributions and seisAS I'D
chan. vessels wherever they aPPeafsu' t IN
to make descent upon no place W. J.
! they were unable to master BY ec4Y !.
main. 10 few hours after their a.lt :am
Martinique, they made sail for Dompqf, j,
attacked the town of r .sseau, reduce uah
most every house to ashes, and al "'0 of {
! concluded by levyingFa contribute a r
l6ooo upon the inhabitants. 3Enf'e'n y III
this booty, and the capture OF 5 OF ~
to Guadsloups, they sailed 10 St; i, k 'isa
where they burnt several ships anu = ,ha
contribution Of Cisco. At Nss, -. Id I'd
collected abou. 10000 dollars. un s g.. ihs
Of April they at longth .rriyed os .,on.a,
city of St. Domingo, at the very a .s,, 60.
when the brave general Ferrans " ness
gagged in Bloody battles WIN root. ri
lines; and landed 1000 Of their u nSs
, who matching in the rear Of the !, ,', ,bsp.
army overpowered and defsa.ss b,for
Having remained only short !llas r s
ST. Domingo, they directed men ..oun,ty,
once more : towards their native e0 o.lh d
and arrived at Nantz about q. !. reach
May. Meanwhile .admi. Coen &c he lip'
ed the Wes,-Indies with $ sail OF :. d
! and / fliga.s, aud found the ''sps