caused her to run ashore under a martello tower. Three boats from the Cerberus were at once sent in, under Lieutenant John William Montagu, with two belonging to the Apollo, under Lieutenant William Henry Nares; and the vessel, which mounted a 6-pounder and a swivel, was brought out without loss, the troops who had come down to protect her being driven up country. On the 18th, the boats carried off a gun from a martello tower somewhat to the southward.1 On May 27th, observing in Otranto a convoy which, it was expected, would make for Corfu with the first favourable wind, Captain Thomas Garth, with the Cerberus, took up a station off Fano, having first sent in two boats from the Cerberus, and two belonging to the Apollo, under Lieutenants John William Montagu and William Henry Nares, to lie in wait under the Apulian shore. At 1 A.M. on the 28th, the convoy came out, protected by eight gunboats; yet, in spite of the inequality of force, the boats attacked them with great determination. Nares boarded and carried one; 1 James, vi. 176; Nav. Chron., xxx. 257. 1813.] COLLIER ON THE COAST OF SPAIN. 529 Midshipman William Hutchison (2) mastered another. In attempting a third, Master's Mate Thomas Richard Suett was shot through the heart. He, and 1 seaman, were the only British killed, and but one other person was wounded. Each of the captured gunboats mounted three guns. Four of the convoy were taken also.1 The British squadron co-operating with the patriots on the north coast of Spain was under the orders of Sir George Ralph Collier, of the Surveillante, 38, who, in May, when Castro Urdiales was pressed by the French, detached the Lyra, 10, Commander Robert Bloye, Royalist, 18, Commander James John Gordon Bremer, and Sparrow, 16, Commander Joseph Needham Tayler, to assist in defending the place. The enemy, however, was in too great force, and the British officers were fortunate in being able to bring off the garrison of about 1150 men, and convey it safely to Bermeo. In performing this service the squadron had 10 people wounded, including Lieutenant Samuel Kentish, and Midshipman Charles Thomas Sutton. Castro Urdiales was then rigorously blockaded, until, on June 22nd, the French evacuated it, after committing horrible excesses, and retired to Santoña. Commander Joseph Needham Tayler 2 took possession of, and garrisoned the castle. 4 Collier's force also co-operated with General Graham in the reduction of San Sebastian, a detachment of seamen being landed on July 10th, under the orders of Lieutenant Dowell O'Reilly. On August 31st, two divisions of boats, under Commanders James Galloway and Robert Bloye, were sent to make a diversion, while some of the men-of-war stood into the harbour, and a general assault was made from the land side. These combined movements resulted in the occupation of the town, early in the afternoon, though the citadel still held out. That day Commander John Smith (5), of the Beagle, and three or four seamen, were wounded. On September 8th, the batteries opened on the citadel; and, in a very short time, terms of capitulation were proposed and agreed to. In these operations, in addition to the vessels above named, the Ajax, 74, Captain Robert Waller Otway (1), Revolutionnaire, 38, Captain John Charles Woollcombe, Freja, 36, Commander William Isaac Scott, Andromache, 36, Captain George Tobin, President, 38, Captain Francis Mason, Dispatch, 18, Commander James Galloway, Challenger, 18, Commander Frederick Edward Venables Vernon, 3 Com., Sept. 23rd, 1813. Posted, Sept. 23rd, 1813. 2 N 1 James, vi. 177; Nav. Chron., xxx. 257. 2 Posted, August 16th, 1813. VOL. V. Magicienne, 36, Captain the Hon. William Gordon (2), Constant, 12, Lieutenant John Stokes, schooners Holly, and Juniper, Lieutenant Nathaniel Vassall, cutter Nimble, and two gunboats (Nos. 14 and 16) took part. Among the officers mentioned as having distinguished themselves were Lieutenants the Hon. James Arbuthnot and Robert Graham Dunlop, and Midshipmen Digby Marsh, George Harvey, Henry Bloye, and William Lawson.1 More than once in the course of 1812 and 1813 did Lieutenant George Canning, acting Commander of the Kite, 16, come into conflict in the Mediterranean with Turkish subjects, whom, rightly or wrongly, he believed to be pirates, but whom he failed to prove to be so. His proceedings, dictated no doubt by somewhat misdirected zeal, ended on June 5th, 1813, in a serious catastrophe. He attacked some supposed pirates on the island of Chiliodromia, in the northern Sporades, and sent in his boats to destroy their vessels. The natives, who had taken up positions on commanding heights, attacked the party by rolling down huge boulders on it, the result being that, out of 40 officers and men employed, no fewer than 20 were killed and 18 wounded, among the former being Lieutenant C Williams. Canning was superseded on July 23rd, but promoted on June 15th, 1814.2 On the forenoon of the 11th, the Eagle, 74, Captain Charles Rowley, attacked Farasina, on the island of Cherso. The works, mounting five 18-prs., were cannonaded, and then stormed and carried by seamen and Marines under Lieutenants Richard Greenaway and William Hotham (3), and Lieutenant (R.M.) Samuel Lloyd. The guns were disabled and the batteries ruined, with a loss to the party of only Midshipman John Hudson (3) wounded.3 On June 8th, the town of Umago, on the Istrian coast, was captured by a party from the Elizabeth, 74, Captain Edward Leveson Gower, and Eagle, 74, Captain Charles Rowley, under Captain (R.M.) John Hore Graham, and Lieutenants (R.M.) Thomas Price and Samuel Lloyd, while the boats, under Lieutenants Mitchell Roberts, Martin Bennet, Richard Greenaway, and William Hotham (3), destroyed a 2-gun battery, and brought off four vessels. Only 1 man was wounded.* 1 James, vi. 165; Nav. Chron., xxx. 77, 236, 240, 247, 259, 351. 2 Nav. Chron., xxxi. 26; Marshall, IV. Pt. I., 236. 3 James, vi. 179. James, vi. 178; Nav. Chron., xxx. 434. 1813.] CAPTURE OF GIUPPANA AND MEZZO. 531 At daylight on June 12th, the Bacchante discovered an enemy's convoy under the town of Giulianova, on the coast of the Abruzzi. The frigate being some miles to leeward, the wind light, and the currents adverse, Captain Hoste detached his boats, under Lieutenant Silas Thomson Hood, with discretionary orders, either to attack or to await the Bacchante's arrival. Hood found the enemy stronger than had been anticipated. There were seven large gunboats, each mounting a long 18-pr., three smaller gunboats, each with a 4-pr., and fourteen sail of merchantmen, four of which were armed; and in rear of the convoy were troops with two field pieces. In spite of this display of force, and although he himself was half crippled from the effects of his injury of February 14th, Hood dashed in under a withering fire, and drove the people from the vessels and the troops from the beach, taking and destroying the field pieces. The whole convoy was captured, only 3 men being killed and 6 wounded on the side of the attack. Among those mentioned as having distinguished themselves were Lieutenants Francis Gostling, and Edward Webb (acting), Lieutenants (R.M.) Charles Holmes and William Haig, Master's Mates William Lee Rees and James M'Kean, and Midshipmen James Rowe, Thomas Edward Hoste, Francis George Farewell, the Hon. William Waldegrave (3), and Thomas William Langton, and Mr. Samuel Richardson.' On June 17th, Commander John Harper, of the Saracen, 18, with Lieutenant William Holmes (2) 2 and Lieutenant (R.M.) Edward Hancock, and boats containing 40 men, effected a landing on the island of Giuppana,3 off the Dalmatian coast, and, after some skirmishing, made himself master of the place, capturing 36 prisoners, and the commandant of Giuppana and the neighbouring island of Mezzo. No one of the attacking party received more than trivial wounds. Mezzo itself was taken by the Saracen, and Weazel, 18, Commander James Black, on July 22nd." At dawn on June 20th, Captain Edward Leveson Gower, of the Elizabeth, 74, landed a body of seamen and Marines, under Lieutenants Mitchell Roberts and Martin Bennet, and Captain 1 James, vi. 172; Nav. Chron., xxx. 258. Mr. Richardson was not promoted to be Lieut. till July 25th, 1828. James calls him a Mid.; but he was not one until after 1813. 2 Com., August 19th, 1815; drowned in Arab, December 12th, 1823. 3 The Gazette wrongly says Zapano, and James follows it. * James, vi. 177; Nav. Chron., xxx. 435. 5 Nav. Chron., xxx. 511. (R.M.) John Hore Graham and Lieutenant (R.M.) Thomas Price. Assisted by armed boats, under Lieutenant Henry Richard Bernard, the party captured the town of Dignano, in Istria, and made prisoners of its small French garrison, without losing a man.1 In 1813 Fiume was not a place of as much strength as it is now. It was nevertheless of much local importance. On July 3rd, RearAdmiral Thomas Francis Fremantle, in the Milford, 74, Captain John Duff Markland, with the Elizabeth, 74, Captain Edward Leveson Gower, Eagle, 74, Captain Charles Rowley, Bacchante, 38, Captain William Hoste, and Haughty, 12, Lieutenant James Harvey, weighed from an anchorage about four miles from the port. Dropping the Haughty and a division of boats to storm the mole-head battery, the other ships proceeded to attack the sea-face batteries, which mounted 15 heavy guns. Owing to a shift of wind, the arrangements could not be entirely carried out as intended; but, after the Eagle had silenced one battery, Fremantle made the signal to storm. Rowley, leading in his gig, took the fort, which he had silenced; Hoste, with Marines from the Milford, occupied another battery, which had been evacuated after a cannonade by the Milford and Bacchante. Having turned the guns of his battery against the other works, Rowley dashed through the town, regardless of the fire from the windows, and from a field piece in the main street, and chased the defenders into a large house in the chief square. By that time a party from the Milford, under Markland, had begun to open with carronades upon the building, whereupon the French gave way and fled. Hoste and Rowley joining, the remaining batteries, with the field piece, stores, and shipping, were taken possession of. In all this fighting, only 1 of the attackers was killed, and but 6 were wounded. Of the 90 vessels captured, about half were handed back to their owners, 13 sent to Lissa, and the rest destroyed. Ere the place was abandoned the guns in the batteries were rendered useless.2 On July 5th, the British squadron in the Adriatic moved to Porto Re, at the mouth of the Canale di Maltempo. When Captains Hoste and Markland landed, they found the forts abandoned, and 13 sail of vessels scuttled in a neighbouring creek. They rendered the guns, 10 in number, useless, and destroyed the carriages and works.3 1 James, vi. 178; Nav. Chron., xxx. 435. 3 James, vi. 179; Nav. Chron., xxx. 434. |