CHAPTER IX.

EXPEDITION AGAINST GUADALOUPE ... THE ISLES DE SAINTS ATTACKED AND TAKEN ... THE BOYNE AND VETERAN ANCHOR OFF GROZIER ... THE TROOPS LAND UNDER COVER OF THE WINCHELSEA FRIGATE ... CAPTAIN LORD GARLIES WOUNDED ... FORT FLEUR D'EPEE TAKEN BY STORM ... FORT LOUIS AND THE TOWN OF POINT A PITRE TAKEN ... CASUALTIES ... GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND.

On Tuesday the 8th of April, the fleet[36], having the Commander in Chief on board, with the remainder of the forces which were not left to garrison the two islands of Martinique and St. Lucia, weighed anchor by seven o'clock A. M. and sailed from the bay of Fort Royal on an expedition against Guadaloupe (the troops having been previously shifted from the men of war to the transports). The Admiral detached Captain Rogers in the Quebec frigate, Captain Faulknor in the Blanche, Captain Incledon in the Ceres, and Captain Scott in the Rose, to attack a cluster of small islands called the Saints, lying between Dominique and Guadaloupe, which they executed with much spirit and gallantry: having landed a party of their seamen and marines, they carried them without any loss on their part, on the morning of the 10th instant; and when the fleet arrived the same morning off the islands, they had the satisfaction of perceiving the union flag hoisted on their two commanding batteries. These islands are valued principally on account of a small harbour, where a few ships of war may ride in safety during the hurricane months; and also that they overlook a good deal of the coast of Basse Terre.--About noon on the 10th of April the Boyne and Veteran anchored in the bay of Point à Pitre, off the village of Grozier, and some more of the fleet in the course of the afternoon; but a fresh wind and lee current prevented most of the transports from getting in till the day after. Without waiting however for the arrival of all the troops, the General determined to land those that were with him, immediately; and accordingly the first and second battalions of grenadiers, one company of the forty-third regiment, fifty marines, and four hundred seamen detached by the Admiral, under the command of Captain George Grey of the Boyne, made good their landing by one o'clock in the morning of the 11th, under a severe fire from Fort Fleur d'Epée, and a three-gun battery at Grozier. As it was impossible for them to land without the latter being silenced, Lord Garlies in the Winchelsea was ordered on that service, which he performed in a masterly manner, laying his ship within half-musket shot of the battery, as near indeed as the depth of water would allow him to approach; and after a smart fire for some time on both sides, he drove them from their guns, and the troops then effected their landing without any loss. In this business, though every shot from the battery hit some part of the Winchelsea, cutting the masts and rigging, Lord Garlies was the only man wounded, receiving a bad contusion in his face. Some more of the troops having arrived on the 11th, the General, perceiving the enemy to be in considerable force at the strong post of Fort Fleur d'Epée, determined to attack them without loss of time, and accordingly arranged his plans in the following order: the first division, under command of his Royal Highness Prince Edward, consisting of the first and second battalions of grenadiers and one hundred of the naval battalion, was to attack the post on Morne Mascot, an height within musket-shot of the fort; the second division, commanded by Major General Dundas, consisting of the first and second battalions of light infantry, and one hundred of the naval battalion, to attack the fort of Fleur d'Epée in the rear, and to cut off its communication with Fort Louis and Point à Pitre; and the third division, commanded by Colonel Symes, consisting of the third battalion of grenadiers and the third battalion of light infantry, and the remainder of the naval battalions, to proceed by the road on the sea-side to co-operate with Major General Dundas. The soldiers were particularly directed not to fire, but trust solely to the bayonet; and the seamen, who were commanded by Captain Nugent and Captain Faulknor, to use their pikes and swords; all which was most scrupulously obeyed; the several divisions having marched earlier, according to the distance they had to go, that they might commence the attack at the same instant. The signal for the attack, which was a gun from the Boyne, was given by the Admiral at five o'clock in the morning of the 12th. The troops moved forward with the most determined intrepidity. As they advanced to the first picquet the alarm was given; the out-posts were driven in, or put to death; and in an instant the sides of the hill on which the fort was situated were covered by our people, who scrambled up, under a most tremendous discharge of grape shot and musketry: some sailors jumped into the embrasures, driving the enemy before: the soldiers, who had reached the gates, at length succeeded in forcing them open, and a scene of dreadful conflict took place: the enemy still continuing to make a stout resistance, were put to the sword in great numbers; at length, as many as could escape through the gates and embrasures, or by leaping over the walls, fled with the utmost precipitation towards the town of Point à Pitre. Our victorious troops soon followed, driving them across the Carénage to Basse Terre, whither they and several of the inhabitants made their escape in boats, before the Ceres and two gun-boats could get into the Carénage to cut off their retreat, though this service was performed by Captain Incledon with the greatest alertness. With Fleur d'Epée fell Hog Island, and Fort Louis, an old fortification commanding the entrance into the harbour of Point à Pitre, which town also was taken possession of at the same time by Sir Charles Grey. Our loss in this action was considerable, in proportion to the smallness of our numbers, being fifty-four killed and wounded; the enemy lost in all two hundred and fifty. Fort Fleur d'Epée is strongly situated on the summit of a hill, two sides of which are towards the sea, from whence it has a very formidable appearance; but being commanded by Morne Mascot, when that falls into the power of an enemy it is of little consequence. On the brow of the hill, a little below the fort, is an half-moon battery, which commands a great distance along the coast. Among the many accidents worth notice, I beg leave to mention the following, which I hope will be a striking instance (among many of the same kind which have happened this war) that it behoves all our people serving on shore, whether military or naval, to be distinguished by red dresses. The French, as well as several other continental troops, are dressed in blue; of course, in the confusion of an assault, especially if it happens before day-break, a seaman's blue jacket may, and I am convinced often has, been the cause of his death by the hands of his own countrymen. A seaman of the Boyne, belonging to the first company, expressing a wish that he might have an opportunity of lowering the French flag, and hoisting our own; and being a remarkably fine fellow, was pitched upon to carry the union flag on this attack for that purpose, in case the fort should be taken; and accordingly it was wrapped in many folds round him, and he was to defend it as well as he could. When he approached the fort, the first object that attracted his notice was the flag-staff, and, regardless of every danger, he rushed forward, pike in hand; and having once got into the fort, away he ran to the desired spot, and had already struck the tri-coloured flag, and was endeavouring to disengage himself from his wrapper, in order to hoist that in its stead, when some soldiers coming suddenly round the corner of a building, and taking him for one of the enemy, in an instant attacked him, and he fell severely wounded before they discovered their mistake. I am happy however to add, that the poor fellow, by the care and skill of Mr. Weir, the surgeon-general[37] of the navy, recovered sufficiently to shew, before the end of the campaign, that his courage was undiminished by the accident.--Captain Faulknor, who had so eminently distinguished himself at the capture of Fort Louis in Martinique, had a narrow escape in this business: having led his men on to the assault with his usual gallantry, he was encountered by a French officer, whom he instantly struck at with his sword, which falling on the epaulette on his shoulder, did not penetrate: the Frenchman closed with him, and being the strongest man, threw him to the ground; and, wresting the sword from his hand, was in the act of plunging it into his body, when fortunately a seaman belonging to the Boyne, seeing the danger his gallant leader was in, with his pike pinned his adversary to the earth.--As at this time I was the only chaplain on the expedition (Mr. Ruxton, chaplain of the fifty-sixth regiment, having died soon after his landing in Martinique), and several of our men having fallen in this gallant attack, I went on shore up to Fort Fleur d'Epée to pay the last honours to our unfortunate countrymen, eighteen of whom were killed on the spot. The scene I beheld surpassed my powers of description. It was early in the morning, soon after the action was over. At the foot of the hill lay several of our seamen badly wounded, waiting to be carried on board their respective ships: a little further, under the tall trees that grew within a few yards of the sea, several naval officers reposing after the fatigues of the morning, and their men not far from them. As we went up the hill we met some of the wounded prisoners brought in by our people; and at the gates of the fort was an heap of the slain, who had all died by the sword or bayonet. Within the fort the destruction appeared more dreadful, being more confined; a multitude of miserable wretches expiring of their wounds, and many of our own people in the same situation: in the midst of this was his Excellency writing his dispatches on a table, on which, fatigued with the action, an artilleryman was sleeping, whom the General would by no means have disturbed; one proof among thousands that the truest heroism may be, and often is, united to the greatest humanity.--It would be invidious to mention particularly, who distinguished themselves in this business, where all seemed emulous of glory; but as the greatest responsibility is attached to the higher ranks, it will be but justice to say, that Prince Edward, General Dundas, Colonels Symes, Cradock, and Coote, with the other officers of rank, as also Captains Nugent and Faulknor, the officers commanding the naval battalions, received the thanks of the Commander in Chief in public orders, for their excellent conduct and resolution, displayed through the whole of the action.

[36] Consisting of the Boyne, Irresistible, Veteran, Winchelsea, Solebay, Quebec, Ceres, Blanche, Rose, Woolwich, Experiment, and Roebuck, together with the transports with troops, and the ordnance and hospital ships and victuallers.

[37] As this is an office, I believe, hitherto unknown in the navy, I shall explain the reason of its being now established. The Admiral had in a former war experienced the attention and zeal of Mr. Weir, and being well acquainted with the fatigue and danger that would unavoidably be the lot of his surgeon, if he did his duty, he pitched upon him for that office, and as an encouragement he procured permission to appoint a surgeon general to the navy, and his appointment did honour to his discernment. Mr. Weir was indefatigable in attending the wounded and sick in his own ship, and equally ready to visit others; and even where his duty had no demand on him, his humanity led him to give his advice and assistance. In his mode of treatment of that dreadful disease, the yellow fever, he was more successful than was generally the case, as the Boyne lost a less proportion of patients under that afflicting malady than any other ship on the expedition.

Point à Pitre is the capital of that part of Guadaloupe called Grand Terre, which is separated from the other part, called Bass Terre, by a narrow arm of the sea, in form of a river; it is called the river Sallée. The town is neat and well built, but in an unhealthy situation, being on the borders of a large extent of swampy land; it has a good harbour called the Carénage, the entrance to which is guarded on one side by an half-moon battery lately erected on Islet a Couchon, or Hog Island, and on the other by the ancient castle of Fort Louis; it is also defended on the land side by a hill called Morne Government, on which is a strong battery. The country on this part of Guadaloupe is remarkably flat, forming a strong contrast to Basse Terre, which gradually rises from the sea-shore till it forms a chain of hills extending from one end of that part of the island to the other.