Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1816-07-29
HALIFAX, July 10.
Loss Of the Transport .arch Duke
Charles.

Concerning that the pubic ieeiiis
this Province viii be much intsrestedIn
he fate of the Nova Scotia Regiment, and
Rat tie curiosity will be excited to learf|
the particulars of the loss of the Arch
luke Charles Transport, in which SIX
companies of the Corps were embarked
Tor Halifax. | take this method of com
3npnicating the facts connected there
With.
Six companies Of the regiment con-
sisting Of eleven officers. including staff,
Il serieants, 10 drummrrs, and 204 rank
and file with "a women and children.
lsaiaa from Quebec in the Arch Duke
/ harles Transport, on the 18th day of
sipa. The wind continued unfayorable
Ifm, several DAYS, until we made the Gut
lof Canso. when it came round to the
an.i we entered that passage
with fine ten knot breeze. To the mer-
filtration Of all On board who were de-
isirons of a quick passage, and anxious to
leake up the time that had been lost BY
lanfavaurabte winds in the st Lawrence,
| the aptain of the vessel declared his in
lteution OF anchoring, which he alleged
Ito be necessary, IN order 10 set up the
iopiao. befnse lie ventared On the Allan
| &c. Wehaf accordingly the dissatisfac-
san Of seeing the advantages OF fine
breeze. and the only fair one We bad toe
| ten DAYS lost mnle' the pretenee OF the
better proYidirg fer our safety in case Of
laacilepts in more omen sea. Had the
/ crew, willie at anchor. been so actl,elt
employed, as vas expected by every one
ON board. We might have been deceived
Into belle! of the necessity OF the delay:
hut very little was done while she lay in
/ the Gut Of Canso and certainly nothing
more than what might have been perform
ed during the fine weather, in the proceed
ling part of the passage. We however
Host a fine wind and clear weather; and
ito this loss | think may be partlyattribut-
ed the subsequent accident which has in.
volved SO many persons in distress "a,
jby It we also lost the opportunity of max
ling fine run off the land, under favoura-
ible circumstances. On the day of the
I27th, the weather was uneommoniy fog
lgy, but we got sight of Country Har-
lbor in the afternoon the bearings and
distance OF which we're taken by The pilot
land mate with apparent attention, though
II apprehend not with much accuracy AZ
Ito distance.
Particular directions were givento keep
Ia good and constant TOOK OUT during tie
might; and soldiers. with non-commi;ion
led officers over them, were stationed or
1.-THE forecastie for this purpose md the
precautions usual ina iog, OF ringing bells
beating drums, &c. were attentivelv Oh
served from early hour in the evening.
\ little after two 0'ci0ck, on the mora
ling ef4he 18th. we were alarmed by al
!cry Of land ahead, and the ship almost
madiate,y St uck upnn rock ab4ui
twelve league, 70 the eastward OF Halt.
fax. The captain, VINO wasin Ill health
had act lef; hi cabin ab"ve three times
during TIE pas,a and the pilot was MOI
TAT this m2men g. deck
The waGt OF a proper person TO give
objections for the manage
ment fthe siID at thi> inncturc, increas
ed the conEu5ion which soon became very
general. as the extreme danger oE our
situate was Immediately s;isc0vered AMI
immense rock several feet out Of water
bring on our iarDpard side : on The edge
o! which the ship appeard 70 be hanging.
and against ~hich she struck at intervals
With great force : II was in short time
ascer aimed that there was no chance o.!
saving the vessel and our best hope was
that she would hang upon the rcck until
we could get out the boats, as she veiy
soon f.ed with water, Il must inevitably
have sunk, had the sea carried her off the |
rock. The joll, boat was lowered from
he dayid,, and by some mismanagementi
was swamped along side. The skia., af-l
ter much delay, was hoisted cut, as " as !
the long beat which latter sunk lime
'iiately On being put into the water, there
by leaving us no hope of safety but in
the preservation of the skif' In this boat
some Of the women and children were
with great difficulty embarked owing to
the swell which threatened destruction
every time she approached the ship & a,
the mercy Of Providence they were sent
to look for small island which had tor
a moment appeared through the haze, at
the distance OF about half a mile from the
ship. Here they luckily succeeded in
getting footing, and the boat was sent
back to the ship, which by this time had
fallen over nearly Oh her beam ends, so !
that it bs came necessary to take Off the