Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-03-06
TRUTH ABOUT CASSABIANCA
The Most Sanguinary Sea Conflict
Know is Associated with the Death
Of a Child.
He Manifests Wonderful Courage and
Devotion Even in the Face of
Death.
When all Others Had Fled He Still
Remained on the Burning
Deck.
An old foreeastle song runs thus:

An old forecastle song runs thus:
/ Bold Nelson made the signal for the ships &c
quickly close:
Before bright Phobns disappeared they felt some
/ L'OrIent was set on fire, the Conventions only
pride:
She showd Us j light on that good night, the
battle to decide.
The battle this aiiudes 10 was c.llad by
/ the French the battle of AEoukir, but
among Eng!iSh-speakine p ,sate it is bet
/ ter known as the Nile.
Napoleon with that wonderful acute
ness of perception which ne, above all
men of his time. possessed, knew at a
! glance of the news of that battle the fatal
consequences to him and to his Egyptian
campaign which it entaiIed.
That brave Admiral BrueyS had nobly
| sacrificed his own life in the fight, and
! that French officers and men TO the mum
| Der of 2, 225 had persisted, while over three
| thousand hai been made prisoners. only
| added TO tie honor Of the event, which
the gIoriel of all engaged very feebly
mitigated.
OF al! the naval battles between the
French and English, that of Aboukir was
perhaps the most sanguinary. 1t was one
in which the courage and determined
|
displayed
No historian, not even a French one,
| has been able to condone the terrible mis-
take which the gallant Brueys, made in
| that disposition of his vessels. which Mel
son discovered when he sent brigade to
reconnoiter the situation. Yet when be.
with his feet, arrived at Aboukir, on the
1st of August, 1898 tine l4tb Taermidor,
seventh year of the French Republican
| calendar) it may be doubted whether any
of his captains believed that he would en-
gage the enemy, so beset with danger was
the enterprise although they at first hailed
the sight of the French ves<e with Joy.
Had Nelson failed, he would undoubted-
Iv been court. martiaIed. and would prob
ably have shared the fate of Admiral
Byng, and been shot, or strung up % the
yardarm of his own ship. But he took
risks which no other seaman of his time
cared to encounter, and thatl altern tive.
Westminster Abbey or glorious VIC
tory, " seemed to actuate him On all oCca-
sions when he went into battle; and the
battle of Aboukir made him Nelson of
the Nile and Duke of Bronte, with a
pension of $4,000 year. +
Aboukir rOadstead Is a very regular
semiCircle The French feet consisting
of thirteen vessels, one of l20. gans, two of
"a and ten of a guns were ranged in a
Semiclrcle parallel to the shore. & One end
was supported upon a small island. called
the islet of Aboukir. Brueys considered
it impossible for any ship to pass between
that isiet and his line, in Or'ier'to attack
him in the rear and IN the cafmness of
that belief he had merely pIacedta bal terry
of tweve-pounders, to prevent landing
At that end he had also placea his poorest
ships, being far more troubled. about the
other end of his line, ihinkotg II possible
that an enemy might enter there and pass
IN between his vessel anG the shore For
that reason he placed his best and largest
ships at the end fartberest from the islet,
and then was made more reliant. because
that being to the south, and the wind
blowing from the north, he knew that an
enemy attacking him from that quarter
would have the wind in his teeth
In this order he awaited the attack, if
the attack were to be made, which he
seemed scarcely to expect. But he omitted
to take into consideration the daring in
trepidity of the Erg ish admiral He
made another and a fatal mistake, which
was not allowing one or more Of his yes
sells to patrol the bay in order to drive off
any vessel sent to spy out his position
precisely the thing that Nelson had done
This neglect cost him his fleet, all but four
ships, thousands of dead ald wounded
men. an enormous number of prisoners
and his own lite. besides forever preclud-
ing any chance the French might have
had of controlling the destinies OF the land
of the PhaTaOhs.
Nelson, having become acquainted with
the disposition Brueys had made of his
fleet, at once resolved upon his plan of
attack. and in fifteen hours from its
commencement had achieved a victory
which. however, cost him nearly nine
hundred lives, one vessel 1.-THE CuIoden.
grounded), the Gripping of the Belero-
phOn, and many disasters to others of his
ships The very point where Brueys Deem
ed attack improbable, near the islet of
Aboukir was the spot which Nelson
selected for entering with his vessel, so as
to place them between the shore and the
French ships. The danger of the proceed
ings was tremendous, because it was in
water where shoals abou AIDED and where
navigation was beset with difficulties All
however, except the Cuiloden, made the
passage and engaged the enemy.
gaining the eight Of the vessels distant
from the is!et. The battle was furious
and obstinate. and had Vileneuve, the
French Rear Admiral, acted with dis
cision and Celerity, the issue might have
been different He, however, did not see
Bruey's signals to move his vessels from
the right and attack the English. so as to
place them between two rifles, or
he was guilty Of that madness, even of
couTageou. subordinates, of acting upon his
own Judgment. All he did was to putssto
sea, in doing Of which three of the vessels
were cast ashore, only two escaped the
Malta. Luckily for those two, Nelson
could not in the crippled state of his feet,
persue them.
One of the most dramatic incidents of
this sanguinary naval encounter was the
blowing up of the magnificent ship
L'Orient. at which according to Allison,
the explosion was SO tremendous that
nothing in ancient or modern warfare
WIS ever equal to 1t. Every ship In the
! hostile fleet was shaken to It's center.
The firing by universal consent, ceased
on both sides and the awful explosion was
| followed by a silence still more awful
! After pause, however, of ten minutes,
| the firing recommended.
According to another historian. no less
a personage than Louis Napoleon: The
| whole horizon seemed on fire: the earth
| shook, and the smoke which proceeded
| from the vessel assembled heavily In a mass
| like an immense black balloon. It then
Frightened up and exhibited objects of all
| descriptions which had been precipitated
| OIL the scene Of conflict. What terrible
| moment of fear and DISSOLUTION for the
! French who witnessed this awful destruc-
| ton.
Upon the de5k Of the Admiral's ship.
L'Orient. 120 guns, just prior to its de-
struction, occurred one of those incidents
| which have been immortalized In verse, al
| though IN that form the main facts have
been widely misstated. Every schooIboy
/ knows the poem entitled "Casabianca. the
[ Admiral's Son." although every one does
not know that it emanated from the pen
/ OF Mrs. Felicia Hemans. 1t will, however.
/ be found In one of the seventh volumes
containing her works.
Sne tells as how the boy stood on the
| burning deck. whence all but him had fed
imploring his father TO tell him If his work
/ were done and he might be gone This
question. according to Mrs. Hemans, be
| repeats more than once without receiving
any answer. and the vessel was rent from
Il