Chapter 2

In order more fully and clearly to form a Judgment of the foregoing Expedition, it may not be improper to subjoin this Narrative of the Enemy's Situation, Strength, and Disposition at _Carthagena_, as the Fleet and Forces found them on their Arrival there: And in order to carry it on agreeable to the Advances that were made, begin with a _Disposition_ of _Punta Canoa_ Bay, where the Fleet first anchored. This Bay is about five Miles to the North West of the City of _Carthagena_, but not an extraordinary good anchoring Place, as the Water is shoal a great Way off the Shore, and the Coast pretty strait, that Ships are not much sheltered with the Point of Land, from the Violence of the Breezes that generally blow. In the Bottom of this Bay is an Entrance into the great Lake of _Jesea_, (called the _Boquilla_) where the Enemy had a small Fascine Battery of four Pieces of Cannon, and kept a Guard; but upon the Fleet's Arrival, (and during the Time they continued to lie there) a considerable Number of the Enemy's Forces, both Horse and Foot, kept constantly there, expecting a Descent. The next Place of Note was the _Cruizes_, where the Enemy kept a Guard ordinarily of a hundred Men: This Place is about half Way from the _Boquilla_ to the Town, and guards a narrow Creek or Pass from the Town to the Lake, called _Passa de Juan D'Ingola_, through which Supplies come in Canoes from the other Side of the Lake to the Town: As for the City itself, Nature has fortified that against any Attempt by Sea, the Water shoaling near a League off, and the Shore being plentifully bounded with Rocks; besides, the Sea is very seldom smooth, so that it is difficult at all Times landing. However, as the Enemy knew the Bravery of those they had to deal with, they began to wall this Side of the Town, and make a Ravelin in the Middle, there being already a strong Bastion at each End. _Bocca Grande_ being the next Place the Enemy suspected an Attempt might be designed, had posted two of their Men of War, the _Conquestodore_ of sixty six Guns, and the _Dragon_ of sixty to guard it, and began two Fascine Batteries, one on each Point of the Entrance. This Passage, called _Bocca Grande_, was formerly the principal Entrance into the Harbour, but by Storms, and the Force of the Sea, a Bank was thrown up, which quite closed the Entrance, and then it was called _Bocca Serrada_; but as strange Revolutions are frequent in these Countries, within these few Years this Passage has broke out again, and there is now nine or ten Foot Water in it. About three Miles below this, on the Island of _Terra Bomba_, was a small Fort of four Guns, called _Battery de Chamba_; and half a Mile further, a Fascine Battery of twelve Guns, (both of these the Enemy had abandoned.) The next Places of Defence were the Forts of _St. Philip_ and _St. Jago_, one of seven Guns, the other of fifteen, which served as Redoubts to the Castle of _Boccachica_. One of these Forts was built on the Rock _Ponti_ landed on, and probably to prevent any one's landing there again, (especially so easily as he did.) The Castle of _Boccachica_ was the Enemy's chief Dependance, as it guarded the Entrance into the Harbour. It is a regular Square, with four Bastions well built, and was capable of making a stout Defence if well garisoned, and would have been much stronger had the Glacis and Counterscarp been finished. There was mounted in it eighty two Guns, and three Mortars, and the Enemy had cleared three or four hundred Yards of the Woods round it, to prevent Approaches being made undiscovered, (as _Ponti_ did in 1697.) On the other Side the Harbour's Mouth was a Fascine Battery of fifteen Guns, called the _Barradera_; and in a small Bay a back of that, another Battery of four Guns; and facing the Entrance of the Harbour, on a small flat Island, stood _St. Joseph_'s Fort of twenty one Guns: From this Fort to _Boccachica_ Castle a Boom and Cables were fixed across, fastened with three large Anchors at each End; and just within the Boom was moored in a Line four Men of War, the _Galicia_ of sixty six Guns, (aboard which was the Admiral Don _Blass D'Leso_,) the _Africa_ and _St. Carlos_, each of sixty six Guns, and the _St. Philip_ of seventy Guns, which spread the Width of the Harbour's Mouth, that there was not room for a Ship either to pass a head or a stern of them, so that it was impossible for shipping to force an Entrance into the Harbour; and had the Enemy here made a Defence equal to the admirable Disposition they had formed, it must have been a difficult Task for the Fleet to have got in, even after _Boccachica_ Castle was taken. About four or five Miles from hence is a Creek, or Passage, that parts the Grand _Baru_ from the Main called _Passa Cavallos_, through which there is Water enough for small Vessels: This Pass the Enemy had defended with two Fascine Batteries, one of eight Guns, the other of four, as well to protect their own Imbarkations that come this Way with Provisions from _Tolu_, and the River _Sina_, as to prevent any Attempts being made this Way. The next place of Defence was _Castillo Grande_, which is about eight Miles up the Harbour. This Castle is a regular Square with four Bastions, strong and well built, and defended to the Land by a wet Ditch and Glacis proper, and one Face towards the Sea has a Raveline, and a double Line of Guns. This Castle can mount sixty one Guns, though there was but fifty seven in it. Opposite to this was a Horse-shoe Battery of twelve Guns, called _Mancinilla_; and in the Middle between these two Forts is a large Shoal with not above two or three Foot Water on it, which divides the Channel into two: In each of these Passages were Ships sunk across, to prevent, if possible, the Fleet's getting by; for that Part of the Harbour above these Castles is a perfect Bason, and seems rather like one Harbour within another, so that if some of the Ships could not have got past to have covered the Troops landing (where they did) they must have marched several Miles, and been greatly exposed; besides, it would have been excessively difficult transporting the Cannon, neither could the Bomb-Ketches have got near enough this Way to have diverted the Town; so that the Intent of this Disposition was exceeding good, had it been effectually executed, (but Fear made the Enemy work in too much Hurry.) Near three Miles further up the Harbour, on two flat sandy Islands, or Keys, stands the famous City of _Carthagena_, and _Himani_, called its Suburbs, which are both irregular Figures, but well fortified to the Land with strong Bastions at proper Distances, and Lakes and Morasses running round them; and the Water at the Head of the Harbour shoal so far off, that Ships cannot come near enough to do any material Execution with their Guns, which adds much to its Strength.

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About a Quarter of a Mile from the Gate of _Himani_, on a pretty high Eminence, stands the Castle (or Redoubt) of _St. Lazare_, which in itself is but trifling, but its Situation very advantageous, and by some new Works lately thrown up much strengthened. This Redoubt overlooks all the Town, but has a Brow of a Hill (about four hundred Yards from it) that overlooks it as much, and entirely commands it, where would have been a proper Place to have raised a Battery, which the Enemy full well knew, for they constantly kept a Guard there, to observe the Army's Motions. As it was this famous Castle put an End to the Siege of _Carthagena_, a particular Description of it may not be unwelcome.

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The Hill it stands on is about fifty or sixty Foot high, naturally steep, but made more so by the Earth out of the Trenches and Lines being thrown over the Brow. The Castle is a Square of about fifty Foot, with three Demi-Bastions, two Guns in each Face, one in each Flank, and three in each Curtain. When the Army first landed, there was no material Works about the Castle, but a Fascine Battery, of five Guns at the North End of the Hill, facing the Brow of the commanding Hill abovementioned; but whilst they were encamping, _&c._ the Enemy cut Lines round the Foot of the Castle, and erected another Fascine-Battery on the South Brow of the Hill, and brought four Guns out of the North Battery, and mounted in this, as it commanded the Ascent of the Hill best; these Lines ran in Traverses, and communicated from Battery to Battery, and were a better Defence, and much stronger, than all the other Works together. After the Attack, the Enemy being able to judge where their Foible lay, mounted two Guns in the Lines, against the angular Point of one of the Bastions (which was not defended) where the Troops ascended the Hill, and to the South Part of the Hill lengthened their Lines, and made a Stair-case up the Hill, to the Fascine-Battery, and a Breast-work cross the Road, from the Foot of the Hill down to the Water-side, which effectually blocked themselves up, and was a Security against the Army's making a second Attack, and coming at them the right Way, as they might have done at first, had they taken the Guide's Advice. The Side next the Town is quite defenceless, and the Way into the Castle up a Ladder, on that Side, which draws up, like a Bridge.

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From the several Examinations of Deserters it appeared, the Number of the Enemy did not exceed four thousand, (regular Forces, Seamen, Militia, Blacks, and Indians included) and daily Experience convinced us of the Goodness of their Engineers, Bombardiers, and Gunners, as Desertion and Cowardice convinced us of the Badness of others.

Having given an Account of the Enemy's Situation and Strength, it may likewise be necessary to relate some Account of the State of the Army, and what pretty Instruments and Materials they were furnished withal. That the whole Body of the Troops, that came from _England_ (unless two Regiments) were raw, new raised, undisciplined Men, is a Fact known to every one; and the greatest Part of the Officers commanding them, either young Gentlemen whose Quality or Interest entitled them to Preferment, or abandoned Wretches of the Town, whose Prostitution had made them useful on some dirty Occasion, and by Way of Reward were provided for in the Army; but both these Sorts of Gentlemen had never seen any Services, consequently, knew not properly how to act, or command; so that the worthy old experienced Officers, who had served long and well, underwent a continual Hardship, in teaching and disciplining a young raw Army, at a Time when they were on Service, and every one ought to have been Masters of their Trade, instead of having it to learn; and thus, by more frequently exposing themselves, most of them were knocked on the Head. As for the _American_ Troops, they were in general many Degrees worse, but the Officers in particular, who were composed of Blacksmiths, Taylors, Shoemakers, and all the Banditti that Country affords, insomuch, that the other Parts of the Army held them in scorn. And for Engineers, Bombardiers, and Gunners, worse never bore the Name, or could be picked out of all _Europe_.

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Amongst the ten Engineers, there was but one who ever saw a Siege (and that was the simple Siege of _Gibraltar_) and he was killed at _Boccachica_, in the midst of his own defenceless Works; so that the rest may justly have been said to be left without a Head. As for the Bombardiers and Gunners, the Colonel commanding the Train was in his grand Climacterick, and consequently very unfit to be sent upon this Expedition; but he, poor Gentleman, was soon dispatched (thanks to the Ignorance of the Engineers) and his Successor took care to render himself as unfit for Duty, by Excess of Drinking, as Old Age rendered the other; and as to Inferiors of both Sorts, Bombardiers and Cannoneers, many of them were Country Fellows, who told the General they were provided for in the Train for voting for Mr. ---- and Mr. such a one, _&c._ Out of these few that were good, by constant Attendance and Duty's falling hard few were left, and indeed they had not many Opportunities of shewing their Abilities, the Materials they were provided withal being mostly bad; for two thirds of the Bomb-Shells either broke short in the Air, or their Fusees went out, and they never broke at all; nor were there one in three of the Grenadoes would burst; the Shells were so thick, and the Cavity so small, they would not hold Powder sufficient to crack them; nay, so little Care was taken in providing and packing up proper Materials for a Train of Artillery, that out of eight Pieces of Battering-Cannon-Principals, one was found defective and unserviceable, and the Expedition had like to have set forward, without a Plank or Joist for Platforms for the Guns, or any Bill-Hooks to cut Fascines and clear the Ground, had not Lord _Cathcart_ been informed these Things were wanting, and wrote timely to have them supplied before the Fleet sailed, which lay then at _St. Hellens_.

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Upon the whole, the Service that has been performed best demonstrates the Goodness of this Army: How much it has suffered, as well as the Reputation of the Nation, by the Death of Lord _Cathcart_, the End of the Expedition must resolve.

Thus much may be said in Behalf of the common Soldiers, though they were raw and undisciplined, they wanted not for Courage and Resolution becoming _Englishmen_.

_FINIS._

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Footnotes

[_A_] When Captain _Dandridge_, of the _Wolf_, came into the Fleet, he acquainted the Admiral, that the Marquis _D'Antin_ and twelve Ships of War were then in _Port Louis_, which was the Reason the Admiral pursued his Course up to the Isle of _Vache_, where when the Fleet arrived, a _French_ Officer coming on board the _Weymouth_, told, the Marquis _D'Antin_ was gone Home: Upon the Admiral's being informed of this, he sent Captain _Knowles_ up in the _Spence_ Sloop to reconnoitre, who returned with Answer, that there was but one Ship of War in _Port Louis_, and that the rest were all light Merchant Ships; however the Admiral chose to be more certain, and having an Opportunity of sending an Answer to the _French_ Officer's Message, the next Day sent Captain _Knowles_ and Captain _Boscawen_ ashore to the Governor, who being politely received, and satisfied with their Remarks, returned in the Evening to the Admiral, and confirmed the foregoing Observation, who, without loss of Time, carried the Fleet where they could best and speediest be watered.

[_B_] This Success was obtained by the Loss only of six Men aboard the _Norfolk_ and _Russell_, but the _Shrewsbury_'s Cable being shot (before her other Anchor could be veered aground) she met with worse Luck: She drove so far as to open the whole Fire of the Castle of _Boccachica_, four of the Enemy's Ships of sixty and seventy Guns, that were moored athwart the Harbour's Mouth, the Battery of St. _Joseph_, and two Fascine Batteries, that were on the _Barradera_ Side; all this Fire she lay singly exposed to till dark, when she took the Benefit of the Land-Wind, and ran off, being greatly shattered in her Hull, Masts, and Rigging, and a great many Men killed and wounded.

[_C_] It was a Body of eight hundred Grenadiers that first landed, who, during the Time that more Troops were sent for (which was upwards of two Hours before they came) were kept in the Boats, within twenty Yards of the Shore, and so closely crouded, scarce one Man could have used his Arms, that had they had any Enemy to have dealt with, but dastardly _Spaniards_, they must and would have been cut all to pieces.

[_D_] During the first three Days the Troops were ashore, they were employed in no one Thing, no not so much as to clear the Ground for their Encampment, but kept under Arms Night and Day (where, by the Heat of the Sun, on a white burning Sand, they were scorched to Death, and by the Inclemency of the Dews in the Night, they got Colds, so that many of them fell sick) whereas had they been instantly employed to have encamped and opened Ground in the Woods for that Purpose, they would have been shaded by the Trees, freed from the burning Heat of the Sand, and many of them preserved from the Enemy's Shot, that missed our Battery.

[_E_] In the first Place it must be observed, that there never was Application made what particular Ordnance, Stores, _&c._ to land, or any Scheme formed what Sort of Cannon might be necessary, or what Quantity of Stores wanting, but the whole was landed, and a considerable Part lost by being washed off the Beach by the Sea, and several Carriages broke to pieces by the Enemy's Shot, and the rest left in Heaps in the utmost Confusion; notwithstanding there were near five hundred Seamen appointed for this Purpose; but those Officers, whose Business it was to have formed an Artillery Park (though God knows they called this so) and disposed of the Stores in a regular Manner and Order, were----

[_F_] Such was the Knowledge of the Sub-Engineers, that not one of them knew where to chuse out a Spot of Ground for raising a Battery, neither had they prepared Fascines, Pickets, or any Materials, till their Principal arrived (and after he had pitched on a Place, he made a Demand of thirty thousand Fascines of twelve Foot long, twenty thousand of nine Foot long, and forty thousand Pickets, whereas one thousand five hundred Fascines built the Battery) who, _Vauban_ like, would not begin to work, till all his Materials were on the Spot; and then, with five hundred Seamen, two or three hundred Blacks, and as many Soldiers as the General could spare for Pioneers, he was ten Days erecting a Battery; and when it was done, it was parallel to neither Face nor Curtain of the Fortification, and the Breach was made in the angular Point of the Bastion, neither was there any safe Communication with it, for no Trench was ever cut, or proposed, only a Path through the Woods, and that almost in a strait Line; so that every Shot enfiladed it, and killed twenty times the Number of Men going to and from the Battery, that were killed every where else during the Siege; nor would the Engineer be prevailed on (any more than the General) to cut off the Communication from the Town to _Boccachica_ (by which they might have prevented the Enemy from receiving any Succours by Land, seen all their Motions in the Harbour, and hindered any Incursions from the Castle) notwithstanding the Admiral frequently solicited the General and wrote to him to have it done.

[_G_] This Thing, called a Bomb-Battery, was also a Mark of the Genius and Understanding of the Engineers. It was a Platform, laid behind a small rising Rock, open on all Sides, no Communication to it, either by Trench, Epaulment, or any Security whatsoever, that the Enemy saw every Man (from the Castle) that went in, or out, as they were obliged to pass over high Ground, to come at the Battery, and then it lay quite exposed to the _Barradera_ Battery; so that the Shot fired from thence passed in at one End, and out at the other; and if they did no Execution there, were sure to do some in the Camp. And as to the Usefulness of it, and the Service that was performed by the excellent bombardiers, every idle Spectator was a Judge; though it was oftentimes observed, by Order, that not six Shells out of forty had done Execution, and that, on the contrary, scarce one of forty of the Enemy's ever missed.

[_H_] The Camp (it has been observed before) was pitched on a low Sand, but being sheltered (as a direct Object) from the _Barradera_ Battery, by the Rock that _St. Philip_ stood on, could not be seen, but lying in the Line of Direction of the Shot fired from thence, at the famous Bomb-Battery, was sure to be flanked by every Shot, which missed that, and though it might be prudent to try Movings, on this Occasion, yet it was a bad Example to the Soldiers, especially when the Chiefs moved off first, and the Thing was done without regular and publick Orders; besides the Time it took up at that Conjuncture (when more material Works were in Hand, and the Army lessening every Day by Sickness, which was not to be regained.) Whereas had the Encampment been formed at first, a few Yards up in the Woods, none of the Enemy's Guns could have been brought to bear on it, nor indeed would they have been able to have discovered where it was; besides the great Advantage of Men's being cool, and particularly after working; but, as it was placed, instead of a cool Retreat, to retire to Rest, after being heated by the warm Labour, their Tents were a hotter.

[_I_] The following Captains were also ordered upon this Expedition, vix. Capt. _Watson_, _Coates_, _Lawrence_, _Coleby_, and _Laws_, and all the Barges and Pinnaces of the Fleet. They went away from their Ships about Midnight, and rowed pretty far to Leeward, to avoid being seen, or the Noise of their Oars heard, and proposed landing in a small sandy Bay, behind the _Barradera_ Battery, into which was a narrow Channel, between two Reefs of Rocks, and a four Gun Battery on the Strand, facing the Channel (both unknown to every Person there) which, so soon as some of the Boats had got into the Channel, began to fire on them; but the brave Tars landed, and rushed in at the Embrazures, and took Possession of the Battery, before the Enemy could fire a second Time. This firing alarmed the _Barradera_ Battery, and the Enemy turned three Pieces of Canon on the Platform, which they fired with Grape Shot, so soon as the Seamen advanced; but notwithstanding that, and the Difficulties and Badness of the Road (which was through a Morass, and where but one Man could walk abreast, and full of Stumps of Mangroves each a Foot or more high, the Seamen attacked it; and, after a smart though short Resistance, carried it, took nine Prisoners, spiked up fifteen Guns (from eighteen to twenty four Pounders) burned the Carriages, Platforms, Guard-houses, and Magazine; and it may with Justice be allowed (from the many Difficulties that attended this Action, in Regard to the advantageous Situation of the _Barradera_ Battery, the Boats being surprised with a four Gun Battery, just as they were going to land, and no Person acquainted with the Place) as bold and surprising an Enterprise, as is to be met with; and the Consternation it put the Enemy in seems to confirm this Opinion; for although _Boccachica_ Castle, and the Enemy's four Ships, were not more than Musket Shot off, yet neither they, nor _St. Joseph_'s (which was still nearer) ever fired a Shot. So that it seems as if they could not believe the Thing, though they saw all in Flames. For this gallant Action the Admiral rewarded every common Man with a Dollar apiece.

[_K_] The Success of this Action may be said to have given the Army both Spirits and Pleasure (_pro tempore_) as it freed them from the greatest Annoyance of their Camp, and gave them an Opportunity of working quietly on their Battery.

[_L_] Because the Enemy made such quick Dispatch in repairing some Part of the _Barradera_ Battery, mounting and firing some Pieces again, the Army began to reflect, and say, the Battery was not effectually destroyed, though hundreds of Men were seen constantly at work, and Boats with Cannon, Stores, and Fascines, passing and repassing hourly, both from _Boccachica_ and the Ships: But the Truth was, the Army was not accustomed to work in that brisk Manner: No! Working was no Part of their Trade. However, when the sixty Gun Ship went in against the Battery, that the Enemy was obliged to bring their Guns to fire at her, the Army cooled in their Resentments, and all was well, while the Enemy was quiet.