1809.] THE "DIANA" AND THE "ZEFIR.” 443 On August 12th, the Lynx, 18, Commander John Willoughby Marshall, and gun-brig Monkey, 14, Lieutenant Thomas Fitzgerald, attacked three Danish luggers under Issehöved, and drove them ashore. The British boats were then sent in, under Lieutenant Edward Kelly, and brought them off in safety, notwithstanding arrangements which had been made by the enemy for blowing up one of the luggers.' On August 14th, the Otter, 18, Commander Nisbet Josiah Willoughby, discovered three French vessels at anchor under the batteries of Rivière Noire, in Mauritius, and sent in her boats at night, under Lieutenant John Burns, to cut them out. One of the three vessels was boarded and carried; but the alarm was given, and the batteries opened a heavy fire. The prize was found to be so firmly secured to the shore that she could not be brought off, and had to be abandoned. The British boats then retired, with a loss of 1 killed, 1 wounded.2 On August 27th, the boats of the Amphion, 32, Captain William Hoste, landed a party of seamen and Marines on the Venetian coast. This party, under Lieutenant Charles George Rodney Phillott, stormed a battery defending the entrance to the river Piave at Cortellazzo, and turned its guns upon six Italian gunboats lying in the river. Simultaneously another boat party from the Amphion, under Lieutenant William Slaughter, dashed up, boarded the gunboats, and carried them off, at the same time destroying or capturing seven coasting vessels. The loss was only 1 man wounded.3 On the night of September 7th, the boats of the Mercury, 28, Captain the Hon. Henry Duncan (3), under Lieutenant Watkin Owen Pell, cut out the schooner Pugliese, 7, from the harbour of Barletta, in Manfredonia. Though exposed to a heavy fire the party escaped without loss.* 5 On September 10th, the Diana, 10, Lieutenant William Kempthorne, discovered the Dutch brig Zefir, 14, at anchor off Amurang in the island of Celebes, and, when night fell, sent in her boats to cut out the enemy. The Zefir, however, had sailed for Menado, where there was a strong fort, so was missed by the boats. Kempthorne pursued, and at daylight saw her near the fort. The wind from the sea blew so strong, unfortunately for the Dutch, that they 1 James, v. 182; Nav. Chron., xxii. 345. 3 Ib., v. 177; Nav. Chron., xxii. 506. James v., 178. 5 Com., Apr. 3rd, 1811, for this service. Even could not anchor, and the Diana was able to draw near. then the Zefir might have escaped, had not a land breeze suddenly laid her sails aback and allowed the British brig to close. A hot engagement began, in which the damage was all on one side, as the Dutch failed to hit their target. After seventy minutes' fighting the Zefir hauled down her flag. Five gunboats were coming out to her assistance, but when they saw what had happened, and had received a few shot, they retired.1 In September, Commodore Josias Rowley, in concert with Lieut.-Colonel Henry S. Keating, commanding the British garrison at Rodriguez, a small island which, being eastward of Mauritius, had been previously occupied as a base for the British blockading squadrons off Réunion and Mauritius, determined upon a conjoint expedition for the capture of St. Paul, the only good harbour in the island of Réunion. The vessels engaged were: A force of 368 troops was embarked. On September 21st the Néréide disembarked the troops, and 236 seamen and Marines under Commander Willoughby, at Pointe des Galets, five miles from St. Paul. The men advanced rapidly, seized the causeway over the Etang de St. Paul, captured three batteries with but trifling resistance, and turned the guns on the shipping in the harbour, where lay the French 40-gun frigate Caroline. Two other batteries completely dominating the harbour were carried in quick succession, while the British squadron in the bay stood in close, poured a heavy fire into the Caroline, and finally anchored off the town. The Caroline, Grappler, 16,3 and the Indiamen Streatham and Europe, 2 1 James, v. 183. 2 Added to the Navy as Bourbonnaise. 3 Pierced for 16, but with only 11 on board. She was probably a British privateer prize; as no man-of-war of the name seems to have fallen into the hands of the enemy between 1803 and 1809. 1809.] CAPTURE OF ST. PAUL, RÉUNION. 445 had cut their cables when the British squadron approached, and had, in consequence, drifted ashore. They were all got off without injury by the seamen of the squadron, and St. Paul, with 125 guns of all kinds, fell into the hands of the British. The naval loss was 7 killed, 18 wounded, and 1 missing.. The place was taken by surprise from the land, in spite of strong defences which fronted towards the sea. As the roads ran along the coast, and troops moving by them could be attacked by the fire of the British ships, it was difficult, if not impossible, for the French to recover the ground which they had lost. The British force was re-embarked, after destroying the fortifications and guns, but, on the 22nd, as French troops could be seen approaching from the hills to the south of the town, a party of Marines and seamen was again landed under Willoughby. It destroyed a government store-house, containing silk to the value of £500,000, and re-embarked. On the 23rd, terms were arranged with the French, by which all public property was to be surrendered, and the British were to be unmolested in removing it. On the 28th, the British withdrew from St. Paul, carrying with them their prizes.2 On October 17th, the Hazard, 18, Commander Hugh Cameron, and Pelorus, 18, Commander Thomas Huskisson, sent in their boats, under Lieutenants James Robertson (2) and Edward Flin, to destroy a privateer which lay secured under the guns of Sainte Marie, Guadeloupe. She was boarded and blown up under a heavy fire, the British losing 6 killed and 9 wounded, many of them by the explosion. 3 On October 30th, the Surveillante, 38, Captain Sir George Ralph Collier, captured the French corvette Milan, 18, Commander Touffet, in the Bay, with despatches for Guadeloupe.* On November 2nd, the British sloop Victor, 18, Commander Edward Stopford (1), was chased in the Bay of Bengal by the French frigate Bellone, 40. The British vessel had her masts and rigging badly damaged, and was compelled to strike, having had 2 wounded." In November, a conjoint expedition, in which the Chiffonne, 36, 1 Succeeded Corbett (who commissioned the Bourbonnaise) in command of the Néréide, but not confirmed in post rank till Sept. 5th, 1810. 2 James, v. 196; Troude, iv. 83; Nav. Chron., xxiii. 251 et seq. 3 James, v. 184; Nav. Chron., xxiii. 164. Captain John Wainwright (2), and Caroline, 36, Captain Charles Gordon (1), took part, with several cruisers of the East India Company's service, and a body of troops, cleared out the pirate strongholds of Ras-el-Khyma (on the 13th), Lingeh (on the 17th), and Laft (on the 27th), at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. British loss was 4 killed and 35 wounded, 1 mortally.1 The entire On December 12th, the Thetis, 38, Captain George Miller, Pultusk, 16, Commander William Elliot (2), Achates, 10, Commander Thomas Pinto, Attentive, 12, Lieutenant Robert Carr, and armed schooner Bacchus, 16, Lieutenant Charles Deyman Jermy, discovered the French corvette Nisus, 16, at anchor under a battery in the harbour of Deshaies, Guadeloupe. The boats, under Lieutenant Nathaniel Belchier, were sent in that night to cut her out, after a party of seamen and Marines, under Commander Elliot, had landed and attacked the battery from the rear. The battery was carried, and the corvette was boarded and captured, with a loss of 5 wounded.2 On December 13th, to the east of Antigua, the Junon, 38, Captain John Shortland, and Observateur, 16, Commander Frederick Augustus Wetherall, sighted the Renommée, 40, and Clorinde, 40, convoying the two flûtes, Loire, 40, and Seine, 40 (then mounting 20 guns apiece only). The British vessels boldly gave chase and closed. The strangers showed the Spanish flag, and made the correct answer to the private signal. This led the Junon to approach within a quarter of a mile of her antagonists, whereupon the French hoisted their national colours, and the Renommée fired a broadside. The Clorinde ran almost foul of the Junon's starboard side; the Renommée closed yard-arm to yard-arm on the port side; and the two flûtes opened a raking fire ahead and astern of the British frigate. Thus circumstanced, and though her deck was swept by the enemy's small-arms fire, she fought heroically for half an hour, and did not haul down her flag till more than a quarter of her crew had been placed hors de combat, and her gallant captain wounded no fewer than five times. Of those wounds he died on January 21st following. Out of 224 officers and men, she lost 20 killed and 40 wounded. Her enemies had among them 21 killed and 18 wounded. The Junon's hull was in such a shattered state that, as soon as the 1 James, v. 204; Nav. Chron., xxiv. 73. The Chiffonne often figures in the list of the time as the Chiffone. 2 James, v. 185; Nav. Chron., xxiii. 166, 169. 1809.] CAPTURE OF THE "LOIRE" AND "SEINE." 447 prisoners had been transferred, the frigate was set on fire by the French. The Observateur, seeing that her aid would be fruitless, escaped as soon as her consort was surrounded. She made sail for Guadeloupe, and there warned the Blonde, 38, Captain Volant Vashon Ballard, Thetis, 38, Captain George Miller, Hazard, 18, Commander Hugh Cameron, and Cygnet, 18, Commander Edward Dix. All these vessels took post in the channel between the Saintes and Guadeloupe, where they were joined on the 16th and 17th by the Scorpion, 18, Commander Francis Stanfell, Ringdove, 18, Commander William Dowers, and Castor, 32, Captain William Roberts, the latter having been chased by the Frenchmen off Désirade. The Scorpion and Ringdove were detached to reconnoitre Basseterre. It was still early on the 17th when the Loire and Seine were made out by the squadron, steering down the west of Guadeloupe towards Basseterre. |