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1809. which they had so discussed. "This, in the first March, instance, lord Cochrane declined, offering, as a reason,

the jealousy which such an appointment might excite in the breasts of his brother-officers serving on that station. But, at a subsequent interview, the first lord of the admiralty having stated to lord Cochrane, that he was the only officer with whom he had communicated, who deemed the enterprise of easy execution and little risk, and having renewed his offer of command, lord Cochrane acquiesced, conceiving that lord Mulgrave might have considered a final refusal as originating in motives not creditable to an officer, who had expressed so decided an opinion of the Admi- practicability of the undertaking." On the 25th the appoint board of admiralty addressed a letter to the british lord admiral in Basque roads, acquainting him that they had rane to thought fit to select lord Cochrane, for the purpose of conducting, under his, lord Gambier's, directions, ships. the fire-ships to be employed in the projected attack on the enemy's fleet. This letter was delivered to lord Cochrane; and, as soon as that active officer could reach Plymouth, the Impérieuse sailed upon her destination.

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Lord On the 26th lord Gambier received the board's bier re-letter of the 19th, directing him to endeavour to ceives destroy the enemy's fleet in the manner already board's described. On the same day his lordship wrote two direc- letters in reply. In the first, lord Gambier admits His let that the french fleet lay exposed to an attack by fireter in vessels; but, in the second, his lordship says: reply. The enemy's ships are anchored in two lines, very

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near to each other, in a direction due S. from the fort on the Isle d'Aix; and the ships in each line not farther apart than their own length; by which it appears, as I imagine, that the space for their anchorage is so confined by the shoalness of the water, as not to admit of ships to run in and anchor clear of each other. The most distant ships of their two lines are within point-blank shot of the works upon the Isle d'Aix: such ships, therefore, as might attack

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the enemy would be exposed to be raked by the hot 1809, shot, &c. from the island; and, should the ships be disabled in their masts, they must remain within the range of the enemy's fire until destroyed, there not being sufficient depth of water to allow them to move to the southward out of distance." The admiral concludes his letter thus: "I beg leave to add, that, if their lordships are of opinion that an attack on the enemy's ships by those of the fleet under my command is practicable, I am ready to obey any orders they may be pleased to honour me with, however great the risk may be of the loss of men and ships."* It is clear from the tenour of this letter, that lord Gambier was averse to the plan of attack by the line-of-battle ships, conceiving it impracticable, both on account of the strength of the batteries on Isle d'Aix protecting the french anchorage, and of the supposed shallowness of the water within, or a little beyond, point-blank range of them to the southward. Hence, as the mode of destroying the french fleet in the road of Isle d'Aix was left discretionary with lord Gambier, he chose that mode which he had himself suggested, the attack by fire-ships.

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It being discovered from the anchorage of lord Amelia Gambier in Basque roads, that the French were stroys endeavouring to strengthen their position in Aix french road by throwing up works on the south end of the on the Boyart shoal, the 38-gun frigate Amelia, captain the honourable Frederick Paul Irby, was directed to dislodge them. Accordingly, on the 1st of April, at 9 A. M., the frigate got under way and stood for the spot; and at 10 h. 15 m. A. M., wearing round, fired a broadside and drove the French away. The Amelia then sent her boats and completely destroyed the works. In a day or two afterwards captain Irby was detached to another part of the french coast.

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On the 3d lord Cochrane, in the Impérieuse, Lord arrived in Basque roads, and delivered to lord *Minutes, &c. p. 120.

1809. Gambier the board's letter to the admiral. Twelve April, of the fire-ships to be employed were at this time arrives lying in the Downs, waiting for a fair wind; and six in transports, to be fitted as fire-ships by the fleet, had roads. been ordered to sail from Plymouth. The board of

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ordnance had also been directed, to send from Woolwich a ship laden with combustible matter, including a quantity of Valenciennes composition, also 1000 carcasses of an 18-pound caliber. The Plymouth transports not being likely to join for some days, lord Gambier ordered eight of the largest transports of the 30 sail then in company, to be fitted as fireships in their stead; and it happened very opportunely, that three french chasse-marées, laden with tar and rosin, had recently been captured by the fleet.

With this supply of combustibles, and with such of the other materials as the fleet could furnish, the eight ships. transports, and also, at the suggestion of lord Cochrane, the Mediator frigate-storeship, were fitted as fire-ships; the latter by her own officers and crew, and the former by the officers and crews of the lineof-battle ships. Three explosion-vessels were also equipped, under the immediate inspection of lord Cochrane. On the 6th the Etna bomb-vessel anchored in the road, and on the 10th the 12 fire-ships from the Downs, escorted by the Beagle and Redpole sloops; who had also under their charge the Cleveland transport, laden with Congreve rockets, the ingenious inventor of which had previously arrived in the Ætna. Having already given a list of the lineof-battle ships, we here present a list of the frigates and smaller vessels, employed on this expedition.

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Schooner, Whiting; hired cutters, Nimrod and King-George.

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Some attention is now due to the party against Superwhom all these formidable preparations are making. of adm. Among the officers of the Brest squadron, who dis- laumez approved of the forbearance of rear-admiral Willaumez to attack the four 74s under the command of commodore Beresford, was captain Jacques Bergeret, already so well known to us. What ship of the squadron that officer commanded we are unable to state, as he afterwards quitted her for Paris, and the captains' names assigned to the ships in the list given at a preceding page are as they stood subsequently to the appointment of captain Bergeret's

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A letter from the last-named officer to the minister M. Allemand of marine occasioned rear-admiral Willaumez to be comrecalled. On the 16th the latter struck his flag on board the Océan, and went on shore; and on the fleet. morning of the 17th vice-admiral Allemand hoisted his flag on board the same ship. Rear-admiral Gourdon remained as second in command; but two or three of the captains, including M. Bergeret, were superseded by others, leaving the whole as they stand in the list already referred to.

When M. Allemand joined the fleet, he found it moored in three lines at the entrance of the passage, and too far out. He ordered the ships to weigh, and, dropping lower down, anchored them in a double indented line," ligne endentée;" which may

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1809. be explained by considering each point in the fol April, lowing figure as a ship, with her broadside bearing against it: A the two parallel lines of ships bore about north-north-east and south south-west; and the ships' heads were to the northward. The van-ship of the outer line bore due south of the battery at the southern extremity of Isle d'Aix, Moors and was distant from it about 640 yards. The two his lines were about 250 yards apart, and the ships of two in- each line from the stern of one to the head of the dented other full 170 yards; thus making the distance from the stern of the rearmost ship in the outer line to the fort (reckoning each ship's length upon an average at 70 yards) 1520 yards, or nearly seven eighths of a statute mile. Each ship was moored with one cable to the north-west and another to the south-east. At about 740 yards in front of the outer line lay the three frigates Pallas, Hortense, and Indienne. The fourth frigate, the Elbe, was moored as the headmost ship in the second or inner line. The method here taken will show, without the aid of a diagram, how the different ships were stationed:

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At the distance of about 110 yards in front of the a boom line of frigates, a boom, half a mile in length, and composed of cables secured by anchors and floated by buoys, was thrown across the channel leading from Basque to Aix road, having its northern end within rather less than 1000 yards of the rocks that lie off the south-western extremity of the island. The anchors employed in mooring the boom were of the enormous weight of 5 tons english, and the cables 31 english inches in diameter. For the

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