fearing that the French might endeavour | fatigue and sufferings of the soldiers, cut to intercept the detachment, had in-off from the camels his own baggage, formed Colonel Lloyd that a detour of which example was followed by all the ten or twelve miles would be necessary. officers. As many men as could be carThe day had been very sultry, thermo- ried were then mounted on the camels, meter 109, which heat, as night drew and the whole proceeded. At two o'clock on, diminished to 94. Before nine o'clock, the thermometer rose to 116, and at that three officers, Captain Cuyler, and Lieu- time a camseen or south wind began to tenants Morse and Goodfellow, were blow. The dreadful sensation of the attaken so ill as to be unable to proceed. mosphere when the wind is in that quarAt eleven o'clock, after a march of twelve ter, can scarcely be described, and here miles, Colonel Lloyd halted for two its effects were felt with aggravated horhours, when, as the thermometer fell to ror. Colonel Lloyd persevered till four 86, the troops moved again, and conti- o'clock P. M. when the situation of the nued marching till seven o'clock in the detachment obliged him to stop. Many morning. The day then became so in- officers and soldiers were seized with tolerably hot, that Colonel Lloyd, con- giddiness and loss of sight, whilst others trary to his first intentions, on account fell down gasping for breath, and calling of the trouble and exertion necessary to out for drink. load and unload the camels, ordered tents to be pitched, that the men, till evening, might find a shelter from the, sun. Twenty-six miles of the journey were calculated to be passed, which made this rest not altogether to be regretted. At ten o'clock, A. M. the guides came to Colonel Lloyd, and acquainted him that the troops should immediately advance, as the day threatened to be extremely hot, and if the camels rested on the sand, their limbs would soon be debilitated by the heat, and that they would! require water before they could move again; whereas, if kept advancing, they could neither be affected by the burning ground, or heat of the atmosphere, in so fatal a degree; adding also, that they suspected the camel drivers might steal the water when the soldiers were asleep, which they feared from the state of the skins would now be found scarcely sufficient. These arguments, and a reflection that the guides being responsible for the march should have their wishes as much as possible complied with, determined Colonel Lloyd to proceed. The tents were therefore struck, at eleven o'clock, 4. M. the march recommenced, thermometer then 109. Captain Cuyler, who had previously joined in a feeble state, soon fainted again, and fell from his horse. A camel with two men were left to bring him on. About one o'clock, Colonel Lloyd, finding his men were dropping fast in the rear, halted the detachment, and with the wish of affording relief to the On examining the skins, it was found that the sun had cracked them, so that they leaked considerably, and the water remaining had become a puddle of very thick consistence, and full of maggots. Necessity, however, required that this wretched drink should be distributed, and which the men swallowed with avidity. Vomiting and violent pains in the bowels were the immediate consequences. Colonel Lloyd finding this, directed that no more should be served. The officers had brought with them a certain proportion of Madeira wine, which they now divided amongst the soldiers; some spirits were mixed with the remaining water, and each man had his proportion into his own canteen. The whole were then warned that every drop was in their possession, and that on their own prudence must depend whether or not they should be enabled to accomplish the rest. The residue of spirits was spilt on the ground, as Colonel Lloyd dreaded that such temptation might produce fatal consequences. These arrangements occupied the time till past six o'clock, when the wind died away, and as the sun declined the air became more temperate. Colonel Lloyd supposes that the thermometer (he had unfortunately lost his own when the baggage was cut away) must have risen, in the course of the afternoon, to 140. The wine had considerably refreshed every body, yet still a languor pervaded the whole. At seven o'clock the order for marching was given. Seventeen men, unable to travel even on the backs of camels, were necessarily left on the ground, and with them camels, that they might follow in two hours. After a march of six miles (in which several officers and men, also Colonel Lloyd, felt the extraordinary sensation of seeing horses, camels, and all kinds of animals constantly moving with the rapidest transition before them, which false perception they could not correct,) at eleven o'clock at night the detachment again halted. The night was excessively dark, and every one so fatigued, that unconquerable sleep seized upon all, during which the Arabs contrived to steal, amongst other things, a trunk containing money. At four o'clock in the morning the guides awoke Colonel Lloyd, and the soldiers formed with difficulty into order of march, as a very heavy dew having fallen during the night, their limbs were so benumbed with cold that they could scarcely move. The seventeen men had not joined; but as the soldiers complained of great drought, and thirty miles of desert still separated them from the springs, Colonel Lloyd did not think it advisable to lose the advantage of a cool morning by waiting for that party. The camseen began again at the same hour as the day before; the soldiers were not, however, affected in the same severe degree. By great perseverance, notwithstanding the entreaties of so many to stop, Colonel Lloyd, between four and five o'clock in the evening of the same day, reached the springs of Elhanka, and the joy of the people was naturally very great; there had been some stragglers, but by eight o'clock all the camels came up, and during the night, the men who from giddiness had fallen from off their backs joined. would rather have increased the drought, and under this idea all the rations of salt pork were thrown away the first morning. It was impossible to have brought fresh meat, as none could be procured at Suez, or would any have kept three hours on the march. The course of the first forty miles had been N.N.W. over a hard sand, and the last thirty N.W. by W., of which the first ten was over rising ground, and the last twenty in a very deep heavy sand. During the whole march, no vegetation whatsoever, nor bird, nor beast, had been seen. During the day of the 9th of June, eight of the seventeen men left behind joined, but the remainder were never heard of. As Cairo was only twelve miles distant, Colonel Lloyd halted till dark at the springs, not presuming with so small a force to risk discovery. After marching all night, about eleven o'clock, A. M. on the 10th of June, he joined the Grand Vizier's army encamped at Chobra, and pitched his tents with Colonel Stuart's division. Never were soldiers in a more pitiable condition; for in consequence of the plague, they had been obliged to burn all their uniforms, and on their march had lost their knapsacks, &c., but being uncommonly fine men, their appearance excited great interest. CAPTAIN ROTHERHAM. DURING the glorious action off Trafalgar, a heavy shower of the enemy's musketry swept the quarter-deck of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood's vessel, the Royal Sovereign, (when she had seven ships upon her) and left Captain Rotherham standing almost alone among the dead, dying, and wounded, which The soldiers were not guilty of the strewed the deck. The Captain had on excess in drinking water at the springs, his gold laced cocked hat, (rather a which it was feared would have been the remarkable one) and his gold epaulettes. case, but two officers' horses breaking Being asked why he so exposed himself loose, ran to the wells, and drank till to the enemy's sharp-shooters, in that they died on the spot. What must have conspicuous dress, he gallantly replied, been the sufferings of these animals," I've always fought in a cocked hat, deprived of food and water from the and I always will!" evening of the 6th till the evening of the 8th, during the greatest part of which time the lungs only inflated fiery air! No man had either tasted a morsel of any thing after quitting Suez, but food London:-Printed by JOSEPH LAST, 3, Edward street, Hampstead-road; and published by W. M. CLARK, 19, Warwick-lane, Paternosterrow; J. PATTIE, 17, High-street, Bloomsbury and may te had, by order, of all Booksellers, [NAPOLEON'S GRAND ASSAULT.] WE shall now call the attention of our readers to one of the most brilliant exploits which the first French revolutionary war can furnish; to an exploit in which it was made abundantly evident, that the bravery of British seamen, even when exerted and employed on services not congenial to their taste or habits, meets with few or no obstacles or difficulties which it cannot surmonnt or remove. Buonaparte, for a considerable time after he landed in Egypt, met with almost uniform success: the Turks, indeed, were extremely hostile to him, and offered every opposition to his plans, and his progress, in their power; but a lawless and undisciplined rabble, however numerous and zealous, stood very little chance when brought into the field against the veteran troops of France, VOL. I. headed by one of their most favourite and victorious generals. Accordingly, Buonaparte was rather harassed than impeded by the Turks; and having gained possession of the greater part of Egypt, he resolved to advance into Syria: what was his grand and ultimate object, it is not easy to divine. His first object undoubtedly was, to chastise and remove out of the way, the army of Achmet Pasha El Djezzar, who commanded at the frontier town of Acre, and who had brought a formidable force to act against the French general. In this expedition against Syria, Buonaparte employed only one thousand chosen men. With these he began his march. Every opposition made by the native forces was unavailing; no fortress could resist him, and on the 18th of T March, 1799, he arrived before Acre. | only effect produced by the late explosion Here, however, his ambitious projects were destined to be foiled; and foiled by a man who had already incurred his most deadly hatred. Sir Sidney Smith, who had a distinct command as an established commodore on the coast of Egypt, having received intelligence from Djezzar Pasha, governor of Syria, of the incursion made by Buonaparte's army into that province, and its approach to Acre, its capital, hastened with a part of the naval force under his orders to its relief, and had the satisfaction of arriving there two days before the French. In the defence of this ancient place of strength, the commodore, with the assistance of Captain Miller, of the Theseus, was enabled to render the most effectual service. Although this fortress was, neither by nature or art, strong, Buonaparte, eager to reduce it with the least possible delay, had ordered round heavy cannon, ammunition, platforms, and other articles necessary for the siege, on board the French flotilla. This flotilla Sir Sidney Smith took measures to intercept, and on the 16th of March, about eight o'clock in the evening, he captured the whole of them off Cape Carmel. The artillery were immediately landed, and mounted on the ramparts of Acre. The preparations made by the French were done with that levity and carelessness which over-confidence inspires. Favoured by the nature of the ground, they were enabled to carry their trenches within half musket-shot of the ditch. On the 19th of March they determined to commence the attack; and on the 30th, having effected a breach in the wall, they endeavoured to take the town by assault. They were, however, repulsed with dreadful loss; the ditch being absolutely filled with their dead bodies. The garrison made a spirited sortie, but were forced to retire with precipitation within the walls; and on the first of April the enemy advanced to storm the fortress; it was soon discovered, however, that a ditch of fifteen feet was to be passed, while the counterscarp was almost untouched, and the breach, which was not large, had been effected upwards of six feet above the level of the works. Notwithstanding these obstacles, a body of grenadiers descended into the ditch, and attempted to scale the wall; but the being a small opening in the glacis, nothing could be achieved. The garrison was at first seized with terror, and many of the Turkish soldiers ran towards the harbour; but no sooner did they discover that the opening in the wall was several feet above the rubbish, than they returned to the charge and showered down stones, grenades, and combustibles upon the assailants, who were obliged to retire, after losing two adjutants and a great number of men. This event afforded so much encouragement to the troops ofthe Pasha, that on the 5th they made another sally, in which they killed Detroye, chef-debrigade, and several others of the besiegers. At this period of the seige, the British ships, which had been driven from the unsheltered anchorage of St. Jean d'Acre by the equinoctial gales, had no sooner resumed their station, than another sortie was dertermined upon, for the purpose of destroying a mine made by the enemy below the tower. In this operation, on the 7th, the British marines and seamen were to force their way into the mine, while the Turkish troops attacked the enemy's trenches on the right and left. The sally took place just before daylight; and Lieutenant Wright, who commanded the seamen-pioneers, notwithstanding he received two shots in his right arm as he advanced, entered the mine with the pikemen, and proceeded to the bottom of it, where he verified its direction, and completed its destruction. All the neighbouring districts were now in arms, and the Samaritan Arabs evinced so much daring as to make incursions even into the French camp. Under these circumstances Buonaparte proceeded against them in person, and on the 16th he found Kleber's division, consisting of 2000 Frenchmen, who had previously been detached as a corps of observation, fighting at the foot of Mount Tabor, and nearly encircled by a large body of horse, which he obliged to retire behind the mount, where a great number were drowned in the river Jordan. Buonaparte hastened to return to the camp before Acre, and the invaders had at length beheld the completion of the mine destined to destroy the tower, which had so long withstood all their efforts: but, although one of the angles was car ried away, the breach remained as difficult of access as before. On the 1st of May, after many hours heavy cannonade, from thirty pieces of besieging artillery, brought by the enemy from Jaffa, a fourth attempt was made; but the two ships of the line, the Tiger and the Theseus, together with the gun-boats, &c. which were stationed on each side of the harbour, kept up such a destructive fire on the enemy's trenches, that at length they were again repulsed with immense loss, and obliged to desist from the attack. Notwithstanding these various repulses, the enemy continued to batter in the breach with progressive success, but on the 4th of May their powder began to fail, which obliged them to slacken their fire. They also wanted shot, and an order of the day fixed a price to be given for all balls, according to their calibre, which might be picked up after being fired from the fortress or the ships in the harbour. Nine several times did Buonaparte attempt to storm Acre; each time with increased vigour and obstinacy; and each time he was repulsed with fearful slaughter. In the meanwhile, the garrison, instructed and commanded by Sir Sidney Smith, made frequent sorties, which kept the French on the defensive, and impeded the construction of their covering works. Part of the garrison consisted of some excellent riflemen, chiefly Albanians; who placed stones one over the other on the walls, put their fire-arms through the interstices, and thus, completely sheltered, dealt destruction amongst the enemy with fatal precision. On one occasion a French general was passing through the trench, his hand resting as he stooped, on his hip, to preserve the equilibrium which his wooden leg impaired, his elbow only was raised above the trench. He was warned that the shot fired from the garrison did not miss the smallest object. He paid no attention to any observation of this kind, and in a few instants his elbow-joint was fractured so that amputation of the arm became indispensable. As the siege advanced, affairs on both sides exhibited increased determination. No relaxation was permitted by either party, except what was unavoidably produced by excessive fatigue. Buonaparte seemed as resolutely bent on carrying the place, as Sir Sidney Smith was on preserving and defending it; and there can be little doubt that, independently of all considerations of the immense importance of Acre, the rival chiefs were inflamed by personal motives of hatred and glory. The garrison had long been in expectation of a reinforcement, under Hassan Bey, who had originally received, orders to advance against Alexandria but was afterwards directed to proceed to the relief of Acre: it was not, however, till the fifty-first day of the siege that this fleet made its appearance; and nearly at the same time, Buonaparte was encouraged and strengthened by the arrival of a fleet of corvettes and transports. The approach of so much_additional strength was the signal to Buonaparte for a vigorous and persevering assault, in hopes to get possession of the town before the enemy's reinforcement could disembark. The constant fire of the besiegers was suddenly increased tenfold, and on the night of the 7th of May, they succeeded in making a lodgment in the second story of the north-east tower. Daylight on the 8th showed the French standard unfurled on the outer angle, and their troops had covered themselves in the lodgment; having constructed two traverses across the ditch, composed of sand-bags, and the bodies of their dead built in with them. At this most critical point of the contest, Hassan Bey's troops, though they had advanced half way towards the shore, were still in their boats, while those of Buonaparte had already landed. Sir Sidney Smith, whose energy and talents gave effect to every operation, landed the boats on the mole, and placing himself at the head of the crew, marched them to the breach, each man being armed with a pike. A heap of ruins between the besieged and the besiegers served as a breast-work for both; the muzzles of the muskets touched, and the spear-heads of the standards locked. Djezzar Pasha, hearing that the English were on the breach, quitted his station, where, according to the ancient Turkish custom, he was sitting to reward such as should bring him the heads of the enemy, and distributing cartridges with his own hands. This energetic old man, coming behind his British allies, pulled them down with violence, saying, "If any harm should happen to our Eng |