resistible, Orion, Queen Charlotte, Russell, Colossus, and Sans Pareil, were pretty well up with the ene. my, and a little before six o'clock the action began, and continued till near nine. When the ships struck, the British squadron was near to some batteries, and in the face of a strong naval port, which will manifest to the public the zeal, intrepidity, and skill of the admis rals, captains, and all other officers, seamen, and soldiers employed upon this service and they are fully entitled to my warmest acknowledgments.

I beg also to be allowed to mark my approbation, in a particular manner, of captain Domett's conduct, serving under my flag, for his manly spirit, and for the assistance I received from his active and at tentive mind. I feel likewise great satisfaction in doing justice to the meritorious conduct of all the officers of every class, as well as to the bravery of the seamen and soldiers in the Royal George, upon this event, and upon former occasions.

I judged it necessary upon the information I had received of the force of the enemy, to put the Robust, Thunderer, and Standard, into the line of battle; but from their distance from my squadron, and under the circumstance of little wind, they could not join me till after the action was over.

I shall proceed upon my station as soon as I have ordered a distri. bution of the prisoners, and made other necessary arrangements for the squadron. It is my intention to keep at sea, in order to fulfil every part of my instructions.

I have judged it necessary to send captain Domett with my dispatches, who will give their lordships such VOL. XXXVII.

further particulars as shall have occurred to him on the victory we have gained.

You will herewith receive a list of the killed and wounded, with the ships they belonged to, and the commanders' names.

I am, &c.

BRIDPORT.

Evan Nepean, esq.

N. B. I am happy to find by the report made to me, that captain Grindall's wounds are not danger.

ous.

Note. Captain Domett reports, that the remainder of the enemy's flect made their escape into L'O rient.

List of the killed and wounded on board his majesty's squadron un. der my command, in an action with the enemy off port L'Orient, June 23, 1795.

Irresistible, captain Grindall-3 seamen killed, 9 seamen and 3 soldiers wounded; captain Grindall and Mr. Troughton, the master, wounded.

Orion, sir James Sanmarez-5 seamen, and i soldier killed, 17 seamen and one soldier wounded.

Queen Charlotte, sir A. S. Douglas, 4 seamen killed, 25 seamen and 5 soldiers wounded; Mr. David Coutts, master's mate, and Mr. Charles Hornsby, midshipman, wounded.

Russell, captain Thomas Larcom -2 seamen and I soldier wound. ed, 9 seamen wounded; captain Bacon of 11th regiment wounded.

Colossus, captain J. Monkton 4 seamen and I soldier killed, 26 seamen and 2 soldiers wounded; lieutenant Mends and Mr. John Whiley, midshipman, wounded.

F

Sans

men, which was formed into two battalions, we were only delayed by the want of a proper wind, which would not permit the move. ment to take place till the morning of the 1st of August, when sir George having made the signal that it would serve, the America and Stately, with the Echo and Rattlesnake, got under weigh about 12 o'clock, and I marched at the same time with the 78th and marines, together with the seamen, being in all about 1600 men.

The post of Muizenburg being extremely strong to the front, and covered by a numerous field artil. lery, against which I had not one gun to oppose, our principal reliance was upon the fire from the ships, which, being properly disposed of at the different stations assigned them by commodore Blankett, prodaced every effect which could be expected from it. The enemy were driven from two twenty-four pound. ers, which were directed towards the sea, and abandoned the post before it was possible for us to arrive near enough to profit by the circumstance so completely as we were in hopes of doing, as they carried off all their artillery, ex. cept the two heavy guns above. mentioned, and one brass six-pounder, with two eight-inch howit

zers.

The enemy having, however, taken post on an advantageous ridge of rocky heights, very strong, and difficult of access, a little beyond the camp, the advanced guard, un. der the command of major Money. penny, of the 78th, supported by the battalion of that regiment, at, tacked and drove them from thence, with the greatest spirit, although, in addition to the strength of the

ground, the enemy were further protected by cannon from the opposite side of the Lagoon, which covers the post of Muizenburg towards the Cape Town. In this affair, which terminated only with the day, the activity and spirit of the light company of the 78th, under the command of Captain Campbell, were conspicuously displayed. Captain Scott, of the 78th, was the only officer wounded on the occasion.

The next morning the enemy, having drawn out their whole force from the Cape Town, eight field pieces advanced to attack us, but finding us too strongly posted, and being themselves fired upon from the pieces they had left behind the preceding day, which had been drilled and brought forward by the exertions of a company of pikemen under lieutenant Coffin, of the Rattlesnake, they thought it more prudent to desist from the attempt, and retired, after some skirmishing, attended with little loss on our side, and only remark. able for the steadiness displayed by the 1st Battalion of seamen, com. manded by captain Hardy, of the Echo, who having crossed the wal ter with the marines, received the enemy's fire without returning a shot, and manœuvred with a regularity that would not have discredited veteran troops. The marines, under major Hill, displayed an equal degree of steady resolution on the occasion.

On the 9th the Arniston arrived from St. Helena, with such assistance as governor Brooke had been able to afford us. It consisted of 352 rank and file, with some field artillery, and a very limited pros portion of ammunition. They were

F2

directed

our

directed to proceed immediately to camp, and the boats of the fleet were unremittingly employed in forwarding stores and provisions to us: a work in which, from the peculiar difficulty of our situation, and the insufficiency of our means, our progress was very slow, and frequently so much interrupted by unfavourable weather, that we could hardly get a-head of our consumption. While this neces. sary business was going on, future operations became the object of my most earnest consideration. On the one hand, as the enemy appeared numerous, and disposed to an obstinate defence, for the which they had had ample time to make the best preparations, I could not but be sensible that the force under my command was, in point of numbers, inadequate to the attempt of reducing them; and I had little to rely on to counterbalance the disparity, but the spirit of the individuals belonging to it. I possessed no cattle or carriages for the transport of ammu. nition or provisions, and a communication of twelve miles was to be kept up to be furnished with either, at least till I could open a shorter one with the ships that the admiral might send to Table Bay, for which the season was still very unfavourable. On the other hand, though these difficulties were sufficiently discouraging, yet the arrival of general Clarke was uncertain, and the state of our provisions was such as to render the possibility of our stay, till it should happen, very doubtful. Under these circumstances, I deter. mined on an attempt by night on the most considerable of the enemy's out-posts, in the hopes that a

severe execution among the burgher militia might intimidate them, and produce circumstances to our advantage. It took place on the 27th of last month; but unfortunately, notwithstanding every attention on the part of lieutenant-colonel M'Kenzie, who commanded, it failed, from the intricacy of the roads and the timidity and ignorance of the guides; while it served only to produce among the enemy a degree of vigilance, which soon con. vinced me of the impracticability of any further attempt by way of surprize.

On the morning of the 1st of September, the enemy, having lined the mountains above us with Hot. tentots and burgher militia, commenced a fire of musquetry upon our camp, which, from the total want of effect that had attended a former attempt of the same nature, was little attended to, till unfortunately the piquet of the reserve, being too much occupied with covering themselves from it, neg. lected their front, from whence the enemy poured in considerable numbers, and forced them with some loss. Captain Brown, with the 78th grenadiers, advancing however to their support, the ene. my were immediately driven down the hill again, and the ground of the piquets re-occupied. In this affair major Moneypenny, of the 78th, was severely wounded; and we suffered a great loss in being deprived of the assistance of an of. ficer of distinguished zeal and activity in the command of the reserve, with which he had been charged since our march from Simon's Town. Captain Dentaffe, of the St. Helena troops, was also wounded.

:

In a conference with sir George Elphinstone, on the 2d of Septem ber, it was agreed to wait six days longer for the possibility of the ar. rival of general Clarke, and that if he did not appear by that time I should then advance, and, under every disadvantage of numbers and situation, try the fortune of an at tack, which, however hazardous, we deemed it our duty to make, before the total failure of our provisions put us under an absolute necessity of sceking a supply else. where.

On the morning of the 3d, how ever, the enemy, encouraged by the little success which had attend. ed our attempt on the 1st, meditated a general attack on our camp, which in all probability would have been decisive of the fate of the colony: they advanced in the night with all the strength they could muster, and with a train of not less than 18 field pieces. Some move. ments which had been observed the preceding evening had given me a suspicion of their intention, and we were perfectly prepared to receive them. They were on their march, and considerable bodies began to make their appearance within our view, when at that critical moment the signal for a fleet first disconcerted them, and the appearance of 14 sail of large vessels, which came in sight immediately after, induced them to relinquish their enterprise, and retire to their former posts. General Clarke came to an anchor in Simon's Bay the next morning: and for the subse. quent events, which have been attended with the capture of this important colony, I do myself the Lonour to refer you to his account; trusting that his majesty and our

country will do me, and the troops and seamen under my command, the justice to believe, that it has not been owing to any want of zeal, or of a cheartul determination to encounter every hazard in the necessary discharge of our duty, that the same event did not take place during the period in which we were left to ourselves. Under the circumstances of our situation, I did not think the attempt justifiable, unless compelled to it by necessity; but we were at the same time fully resolved not to retire, in any event, without making that attempt, which, whether successful or not, would at least have been a proof of our zeal for his majesty's service.

It is impossible for me to close this report, sir, without making my acknowledgments to lieut. colonel McKenzie, of the 78th, major Hill of the marines, and the captains Hardy and Spranger, of the Echo and Rattlesnake sloops, who commanded the two battalions of seamen. Animated by theexertions of those officers, the troops and seamen have undergone great fatigue and hardships with a chearful resignation, and have encountered a more numerous enemy with an active spirit, which entitles them to the most favourable report from me to his majesty. Lieutenant Campbell, of the Echo, who commanded a company of seamen, which I formed into a light com. pany, merits also that I should notice his indefatigable zeal, and the ability with which he conducted the service in which his company was constantly employed. To this, sir, I have only to add, that my sense of the obligation I am under to sir George Elphinstone is such, as I should not do justice to in an F3 attempt