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it necessary to be on his guard, as he had strong reason to believe the disposition of the French cabinet was unfavourable to the interests of Great Britain. Arrived off the isle of Vache, about two leagues from Port Louis, on the 12th of February, he learnt that the French squadron had sailed for Europe, in great distress for provisions, and with a dreadful mortality raging through the crew. The receipt of this intelligence led to a council of war, composed of Admirals Vernon and Sir Chaloner Ogle, and Generals Wentworth and Guise, in which it was resolved that, after having taken in water and wood in Tiberoon Bay, they should proceed to Carthagena, on which place they resolved to make a vigorous attack both by sea and land.

The fleet anchored on the 4th of March in Playa Granda Bay, where Vernon made the necessary dispositions for landing the troops and conducting the attack, and issued his instructions to the rear-admiral and captains of the squadron. On the 9th, the admiral, with his own division, and that of Sir Chaloner Ogle, followed by all the transports, got under weigh, and brought to under the fort of Bocca Chica, which defends the entrance of the harbour. The following description of Carthagena will probably render an account of the operations which took place against it more intelligible. Carthagena la Neuva, or New Carthagena (so called to distinguish it from Carthagena in Old Spain), lies south of Jamaica, on the continent of Spanish America, to the east of the gulf of Darien, in lat. 10°. 26. N. long. 75 W. Its foundations were only laid in 1532, and in about eight years it became a stately, rich, and well-inhabited city. It has one of the noblest basins, or harbours, in the world, being some leagues in circumference, and land-locked on all sides. The entrance is defended by the strong castle of Bocca Chica, and three lesser forts. Between this harbour and the town run two necks of land, on which are the strong fortresses of Castillo Granda, and fort Manzanella, which defend the lesser harbour that touches on to the town. There is, likewise, fort St. Lazar, which protects the town on the land side, and though the sea beats against the walls, there can be no approach to them, in consequence of the formidable violence of the surf, save directly through the harbours already described. The first successes of the assailants promised a speedy and honourable termination of their enterprize. In less than an hour the enemy were driven

by the fire of the shipping from the forts of Chamba, St. Jago, and St. Philip, which mounted in all forty guns, and in the evening a detachment of grenadiers was landed, which took possession of them. The next day, the regiments of Harrison and Wentworth, and six regiments of marines, were landed without opposition, and by the 15th, all the artillery and stores of the army were brought on shore. The following day, the general informed the admiral that his camp was much incommoded by the fire from a fascine battery on the west shore of Barradera 、 side, and Captains Watson and Boscawen, having under them Captains Law and Coats, with 300 soldiers, and a detachment of seamen, were therefore ordered to destroy it. This party was surprised upon landing by a masked battery of five guns, which immediately commenced a heavy fire on them: but they soon obtained possession of it; and then they proceeded to storm the battery. Of this, too, they soon made themselves master, with very inconsiderable loss, although it mounted twenty 24-pounders, and was guarded by a proportionate number of men. Having spiked the cannon, and destroyed the platforms and carriages, the detachment returned with some prisoners to the fleet, and Vernon was so pleased with the spirit and boldness evinced on this occasion, that he gave a reward of a dollar to each common

man.

This success proved an inexpressible relief to the army, and the general began to bombard the castle of Bocca Chica, against which, on the 22d, he opened a battery of twenty 24-pounders. On the 23d, Commodore Lestock was ordered in, to batter the castle on the west side with five ships; a service which he performed with the greatest bravery, though exposed to a very hot fire, by which the gallant Lord Aubrey Beauclerk,* captain of the Prince

* This young nobleman has a monument in the north cross aisle of Westminster Abbey. The design is plain, consisting only of a pedestal and pyramid, into which is sunk a niche, which contains a neat bust. The inscriptions are in poetry and in prose :—

While Britain boasts her empire o'er the deep,
This marble shall compel the brave to weep;
As men, as Britons, and as soldiers, mourn-
'Tis dauntless, loyal, virtuous Beauclerk's urn.

Frederic, was killed. A tolerable breach being made in the castle, the general determined to carry it by assault, and accordingly the necessary preparations were made for that purpose. On the 25th, at midnight, the troops marched to the attack, and no sooner entered the breach, than the enemy, to their great surprise, fled from the castle without firing a gun. Captain Knowles, of the Litchfield, observing the dismay and confusion of the Spaniards, immediately landed his men, and stormed Fort St. Joseph, the garrison of which deserted their guns with like precipitation.

The enemy, alarmed at these successes, prepared to sink some of their ships in the channel, leading into the inner harbour, in order to prevent the nearer approach of the British fleet, which

Sweet were his manners as his soul was great,
And ripe his worth, though immature his fate;
Each tender grace that joy and love inspire,
Living, he mingled with his martial fire;

Dying he bid Britannia's thunder roar,

And Spain still felt him when he breath'd no more.

Lord Aubrey Beauclerk was the youngest son of Charles, Duke of St. Albans, by Diana, daughter of Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford. He went early to sea, and was made a cominander in 1731. In 1740 he was sent upon that memorable expedition to Carthagena, under the command of Admiral Vernon, in his Majesty's ship the Prince Frederick, which, with three others, were ordered to cannonade the Castle Bocca Chica. One of these being obliged to quit her station, the Prince Frederick was exposed not only to the fire from the Castle, but to that of Fort St. Joseph, and to two ships that guarded the mouth of the harbour, which he sustained for many hours that day, and part of the next, with uncommon intrepidity. As he was giving his command upon deck, both his legs were shot off; but such was his magnanimity, that he would not suffer his wounds to be dressed till he had communicated his orders to the First Lieutenant, which were-To fight his ship to the last extremity. Soon after this he gave some directions about his private affairs, and then resigned his soul with the dignity of a hero and a Christian. Thus was he taken off in the thirty-first year of his age; an illustrious commander of superior fortitude and clemency, amiable in his person, steady in his affections, and equalled by few in the social and domestic virtues of politeness, modesty, candour, and benevolence. He married the widow of Colonel F. Alexander, a daughter of Sir H. Newton, Knt. Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Florence and the Republic of Genoa, and Judge of the High Court of Admiralty.

Admiral Vernon perceiving, directed the seamen to board, and take possession of as many of them as possible. This could not be carried so speedily into execution, but that the Spaniards had time to sink the Africa and the Don Carlos, two 70 gun ships, and set fire to the St. Philip of 60 guns, which blew up. The seamen, however, boarded and took the Gallicia of 80 guns, the Spanish admiral's ship, and succeeded in bringing her off. They next proceeded to cut the boom which was moored across the channel; and the following day, the admiral, with several of the ships of war, warped into the inner harbour. Fortune continuing to favour the assailants, the Spaniards abandoned the strong fort of Castillo Granda, and about the same time deserted Fort Manzanella, on the opposite shore.

After surmounting so many difficulties with such facility, and forcing the narrow channel, defended by a strong castle, three forts, a boom, four ships of the line, and two batteries, we need not wonder that the besiegers entertained the most sanguine、 hopes of their ultimate success, and thought that little remained for them to do, but to take possession of Carthagena. A ship was accordingly dispatched to England with intelligence to this effect, and public rejoicings were made over the whole kingdom, scarcely inferior to what might have been, had the absolute conquest of the place occurred. Vernon was undoubtedly persuaded, after the ease with which he had overcome past difficulties, that Carthagena must inevitably surrender; but in this instance he had formed his opinion too hastily, and was destined to experience the severe mortification of a repulse.

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In the early part of April the troops became very sickly, and died in great numbers: but what was most prejudicial to the service was, that the cordiality between the commanders-in-chief, so requisite for conducting with success the conjoint operations of a fleet and an army, can scarcely be said to have ever existed between Vernon and Wentworth. The only point that was wanting to complete the reduction of Carthagena, was Fort St. Lazar; and as the Spaniards were daily throwing up new works, and making all possible preparations to defend themselves to the last extremity, the general, who was severely reproached by Vernon for his inactivity, determined, without consulting the latter, to attempt to carry the place by storm. Generals Blacke

ney and Wolfe protested against this as a rash and fruitless measure; and, as these experienced officers had foretold, the enterprize completely failed, and more than six hundred men, the flower of the British army, were killed in the attack.

After this desperate and injudicious attempt, the besiegers gave up all hopes of being able to reduce the place; and the rainy season set in with a violence, which rendered it impossible for the troops to live on shore. They were, therefore, re-embarked after the fleet had made an unsuccessful attempt to bombard the town; and the armament returned to Jamaica, having lost in the different attacks, and by sickness, upwards of three thousand men. The fortifications which had fallen into the hands of the English were destroyed, under the direction of Captains Knowles and Boscawen, and the damage thus done to the Spaniards was supposed to amount to half a million sterling.

The fleet arrived at Jamaica on the 19th of May; and soon after, the admiral, agreeable to instructions he had received from the ministry, sent Commodore Lestock to Europe with eleven sail of the line, and the homeward-bound trade under his convoy. While the remaining ships of war and transports were refitting at Port Royal, it was agreed in a council of war, assembled at the governor's house, on the 26th of May, that an attack should be made on the island of Cuba; and Vernon, anxious to wipe away from the British arms the stain of their ill success at Carthagena, exerted himself to the utmost to render his department fit for service. A supply of naval stores from England, with three thousand recruits for the army, enabled the expedition to sail from Jamaica on the 1st of July. The force under Vernon consisted of eight ships of the line, one of fifty guns, twelve, frigates, fire-ships, and small vessels of war, and a fleet of forty transports and store-ships, and with these he anchored in Wal

* The heat is excessive and continual at Carthagena, and the torrents of water that are incessantly pouring down, from May to November, have this singularity, that they never cool the air, which is only a little moderated, during the dry season, by the North-east winds. The night is as hot as the day. Hence the inhabitants, wasted by profuse perspiration, have the pale and livid appearance of sick persons; all their motions are languid and sluggish; their speech is soft and slow; and their words generally broken and interrupted.

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