Mahomet Ali, who, from a common soldier, had raised himself to a high
command in the Turkish army, having been sent to Egypt, had deposed the
pacha of that province and slipped into his shoes. Nothing stopped him
in his ambitious career. Finding the Mamelukes troublesome, he invited
about 500, all he could collect, to a feast in the citadel of Cairo,
where, with the exception of one chief, who leaped his horse over a high
wall and escaped, he caused the whole band to be massacred.
Consolidating his power, he made himself independent of the Ottoman
Empire, and began to consider the possibility of mounting the throne of
the caliphs. To effect this object he assembled a large army, which he
sent under his adopted son, Ibrahim Pacha, into Syria. Ibrahim Pacha,
on his successful march northward, was encouraged, it is supposed, by
the French, when England, with Prussia, Austria, and Russia, thought it
time to interfere. The Turks were almost helpless. A large army sent
against Ibrahim Pacha had been defeated, and the Turkish fleet had
joined that of the Egyptians. The four powers now sent an ultimatum to
Mahomet Ali, offering him the hereditary sovereignty of Egypt, and the
pachalia of Saint Jean d'Acre for life, provided he would withdraw his
troops from Syria, notifying that if he refused he would be compelled to
assent by force of arms. Mahomet replied that the territories he had
won with the sword he would defend with the sword. An English fleet was
accordingly sent out to the Mediterranean under the command of Admiral
Sir Robert Stopford, who was joined by some Austrian and Turkish ships,
and the ports of Syria and Egypt were blockaded. Captain Charles Napier
was appointed to the _Powerful_, as commodore, with the _Ganges,
Thunderer, Edinburgh, Castor_, and _Gorgon_ under his command. On
fitting out the _Powerful_ at Portsmouth, he had the following
characteristic announcement placarded on the walls: "Wanted active
seamen for the _Powerful_, Captain Napier. The _Powerful_ is a fine
ship, and in the event of a war will not fail to take her own part."
Captain Napier's character being well known, the _Powerful_ soon
obtained an efficient crew.
The attitude taken up by France was so doubtful that it was expected
that at any moment war might break out, and the officers of the British
squadron were cautioned to be on their guard against surprise. It was,
indeed, the most exciting time since the last war. While Sir Robert
Stopford was blockading Alexandria, Napier's squadron anchored off
Beyrout on the 12th of August, 1840. At this time Suleiman Pacha, at
the head of 15,000 Egyptian troops, occupied Beyrout. Ibrahim was at
Balbec with 10,000 more; the garrison of Sidon consisted of 3000 men,
that in Tripoli of 5000, while between 40,000 and 50,000 Egyptians were
scattered through various parts of Syria. A small Turkish squadron had
been fitted out and placed under the command of Captain Baldwin Walker,
who was known as Walker Bey. After Napier had been employed some time
in examining the coast, Admiral Stopford, who was commander-in-chief of
the land as well as sea forces of the allies, in consequence of the
illness of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Smith, appointed him to take
the direction of the military force on shore. This was much to the
taste of Napier, who was as fond of fighting on land as at sea. Heading
the troops on a small pony, in his usual free and easy dress, he carried
all before him, and the Egyptian troops being put to flight, the
mountaineers crowded in numbers under the standard of the sultan. It
was determined to bombard Beyrout; the bombardment of Algiers had shown
what could be done against stone walls. A new power was now introduced
into naval warfare--a considerable number of steam-ships being among the
fleet. They were the _Gorgon, Cyclops, Vesuvius, Hydra, Phoenix_, and
_Confiance_. At that time little confidence was placed in them as
vessels of war, though it was acknowledged that they might prove useful
in towing line-of-battle ships into action, or in acting as
despatch-boats, or as transports for throwing troops on shore at any
particular point.
On the refusal of Suleiman Pacha to yield up Beyrout, the bombardment
commenced, and continued for several days. In the meantime the
_Carysfort_, Captain Martin, with the _Dido_, followed by the _Cyclops_
steamer, with a body of 220 marines and 150 mountaineers, was despatched
to attack the strong castle of D'jebl, to the northward. The ships
having bombarded the place for an hour, a body of seaman under Captain
Austin, and some marines, under Captain Robinson, were landed, protected
by the fire of the ships, and proceeded to the assault. They advanced
with their usual gallantry, but when they had got within thirty yards of
the strong and lofty towers, a destructive fire was opened on them from
a crenelated outwork, with a deep ditch in front. In vain the
commanding officers looked for some part of the castle which might prove
practicable; the muzzles of the enemy's muskets were alone visible
through the loop-holes. As the men were falling rapidly without a
prospect of success, it became necessary to draw them off, it being
evident that the place could not betaken until a breach had been made in
the walls, though the immense solidity of the building prevented much
hope of this being done. As the party were on the point of
re-embarking, it was discovered that an English flag, which had been
planted on a garden wall by the pilot of the _Cyclops_ as a signal to
the ships, had been left behind. On this Lieutenant Grenfell, and
McDonald, a seaman of the _Cyclops_, undertook to bring it off, and set
out on their hazardous expedition. They were seen from the decks of the
ships, and their object being understood, were watched with intense
anxiety. Pushing on amid the bullets levelled at them, they reached the
garden wall, seized the flagstaff, and escaping the bullets, hastened to
the shore. Loud cheers greeted them as they returned on board uninjured
with their prize. The next morning it was found that the garrison had
evacuated the castle. Five marines were killed in the attack, and
eighteen men wounded, including Lieutenant Gifford, R.N., and Lieutenant
Adair, of the marines.
Beyrout still held out in spite of the battering it was receiving.
Suleiman Pacha proved that he was as courteous as he was brave, for the
Indian mail arriving by way of Bagdad, he ordered a flag of truce to be
hoisted, and on a boat being sent on shore, delivered the mail, with a
polite message, assuring the British that all letters to and from India
should be carefully forwarded. Admiral Stopford immediately sent in a
letter of thanks to the pacha, and accompanied it with some cases of
wine which had been seized in an Egyptian vessel directed to Suleiman,
rightly conjecturing that it would not prove an unwelcome present.
Firing was then resumed. Information having been brought by an Egyptian
gunner, a deserter, that a train had been laid along the bridge to the
eastern castle, where a large quantity of powder was concealed, he
undertook to guide a party to cut the train and seize the powder.
Commander Worth, who immediately offered to perform this dangerous
service, was joined by numerous volunteers. The party embarked in one
of the boats of the _Hastings_, and, protected by the _Edinburgh's_
launch and pinnace, as well as by the fire from the ships, dashed on in
face of a heavy fire of musketry, and landed on the bridge. Having
succeeded in cutting off the train, they forced their way into the
castle, over the walls of which they threw some sixty or seventy casks
of powder, and succeeded in bringing off upwards of thirty more. In
this exploit, unfortunately, a midshipman of the _Hastings_, Mr
Luscombe, was killed, and the Egyptian guide, with three seamen, were
wounded.
Commodore Napier, at the head of his marines and Turks, had a gallant
skirmish on the Kelbson, or Dog River, when he dispersed the Egyptian
forces, and took between 400 and 500 prisoners. Next day he returned on
board his ship.
While talking with Sir Robert Stopford on the 25th of September, he
remarked that Sidon was not yet in our possession, and, according to an
article in the _Malta Times_, said to the admiral, "If you like, I will
go down and take it, and be back in eight and forty hours." He started
with the _Thunderer, Cyclops, Gorgon_, and _Hydra_, with 500 marines and
800 Turks. On his way he fell in with the _Stromboli_, from England,
with a detachment of 200 marines. These he took with him, and after
firing shot and shell at the town for a couple of hours, he made a
breach and landed at the head of his men. The struggle was a sharp one,
but after a great number of the enemy, who would neither give nor
receive quarter, had been killed, as well as the Egyptian commander,
who, although the bayonets of two marines were at his breast, resisted,
the Egyptian troops, to the number of 500, threw down their arms.
Fifteen thousand were afterwards taken. The commodore put himself at
the head of the British marines, and breaking into the barracks, as soon
as Captain Henderson and another party had lodged themselves in a house
above the building, he marched his battalion along the wall from the
upper gate, waving his hat at the point of his sword, and cheering on
his men, and seized the castle. Among other acts of gallantry must be
mentioned a race which took place from the spot where they landed,
between Mr James Hunt, a midshipman of the _Stromboli_, and Senhor
Dominica Chinca, a midshipman of the Austrian frigate _Guerriera_, each
striving who should first plant his colours on the walls of the town.
It was won by the English reefer. Without in any way detracting from
Mr Hunt's gallantry, it is right to state that Lieutenant Anderson, of
the marines, had already planted a Union Jack nearly on the same spot,
but which he had afterwards carried to a higher part of the town. The
Turkish troops were gallantly led by their colonel, accompanied by
Walker Bey and Captain Austin, under a heavy fire, as were the English
marines under Captain Whylock and Lieutenants Anderson and Hockins, the
latter, who had just landed from England, being unfortunately killed.
The Egyptians held out till their leader was killed, when nearly 2000
laid down their arms. The remainder retired through the streets,
pursued by the attacking parties, and at length took refuge in a vaulted
barrack, where upwards of a thousand men were found lying down ready for
a sortie. They at once yielded, and thus in five hours from the
commencement of the bombardment, Sidon was captured. The total loss to
the allies and Austrians was 4 killed and 21 wounded, while only 12
Turks were wounded.
At what is called the Battle of Boharsof, Commodore Napier, with his
gallant aides-de-camp, Lieutenants Bradley and Duncan, and Mr Pearn,
master of the _Powerful_, at the head of his Turks and marines, attacked
Ibrahim Pacha, posted in the neighbourhood of Mount Lebanon, among
rugged and almost inaccessible rocks. The Egyptians' position was
stormed, and Ibrahim's army took to flight, he, with a few men,
escaping, and leaving 600 or 700 prisoners in the hands of the victors.
Beyrout, in consequence of this victory, was abandoned, and taken
possession of by the Turks. Thus the gallant old commodore, in about a
month, freed nearly the whole of the Lebanon, took 500 prisoners, and
gained over an equal number of deserters.
On the 17th of September Caiffa was bombarded and captured by the
_Castor_ and _Pique_, and a Turkish frigate, under Captain Collier. By
the same ships, in a similar manner, Tyre was taken on the 24th, without
the loss of a man. On the 25th of September Tortosa was attacked by
Captain Houston Stuart, commanding the _Benbow_, in company with the
_Carysfort_ and _Zebra_, he having been informed that a large quantity
of provisions was stored in the place, and should they be destroyed the
troops in the neighbourhood must evacuate the country, and leave open
the communication with the mountains, whose inhabitants were anxious to
join the Turks. Unfortunately, when the boats were sent on shore to
storm the place, it was found that a reef of rocks, or a sunken mole,
would allow only the smaller ones to reach the beach. A gallant party,
under Lieutenants Charlwood and Maitland, with scarcely thirty men, were
able to get on shore, and both they and the larger boats were exposed to
a heavy fire of musketry from numerous loop-holes and crevices from the
fortress. Lieutenant Charlwood having broken open several stores, which
he in vain attempted to set on fire, the ammunition of the marines, who
had followed Lieutenant Maitland, being wet, they were ordered by
Captain Stuart to retire. In this disastrous affair 5 were killed and
17 wounded.
The celebrated fortress of Saint Jean d'Acre, which, when held by Sir
Sidney Smith, had resisted the arms of Napoleon, had been captured by
Ibrahim Pacha in 1837, and still held out. Sir Robert Stopford having
received orders to attack it, the ships of the allied fleet proceeded
thither, and arrived off it on the 2nd of November. They consisted of
the _Princess Charlotte_, of 104 guns, the _Powerful_ and _Thunderer_,
84, _Bellerophon_, 80, _Revenge_, 76, _Benbow_ and _Edinburgh_, 72,
_Castor_, frigate, 36, and the _Carysfort_, 26, the _Gorgon, Phoenix,
Stromboli_, and _Vesuvius_, steam-frigates, and the Austrian flag-ship,
an Austrian frigate and corvette, and the Turkish flag-ship, an 84.
Rear-Admiral Walker--the _Pique_ and _Talbot_ frigates, the _Hasard_,
18-gun sloop, and the _Wasp_, 16-gun brig--had been there for some days.
The fortress of Acre stands on a point of land, thus presenting two
sides to the sea, one facing the east, and the other the south-east. In
consequence of this, it was necessary that the squadron should attack in
two divisions. Sir Robert Stopford went on board the _Phoenix_ to
superintend the attack. Napier led the way in the _Powerful_ to the
northward, closely followed by the _Princess Charlotte, Thunderer,
Bellerophon_, and _Pique_, while Captain Collier, of the _Castor_,
commanded on the south. The _Powerful_, followed by the other ships,
having got round a shoal which lies off the city, bore up and ran along
shore towards the north angle, anchoring about 700 yards distant from
the sea wall, considerably inside the buoys which had been laid down to
assist the ships in taking up their stations. As the ships successively
brought up, they opened a tremendous fire on the batteries and sea wall,
where the shot was so well directed that it would have been almost
impossible for any human beings to have stood their ground. The
Egyptians, supposing that the ships would anchor close to the buoys, had
pointed their guns too high; consequently most of their shot flew over
the decks of the ships, wounding chiefly the rigging and spars, while
the clouds of smoke which immediately enveloped the fleet prevented them
from remedying their mistake. The _Revenge_ had been ordered to keep
under way as a reserve, but Napier signalled to her to take up a
position ahead of him, to attack a heavy battery of five guns. This
Captain Waldegrave did in gallant style.
In the meantime Captain Collier's squadron were engaging the batteries
on the south, well supported by the Austrians, and Admiral Walker, who,
running inside all the squadron, took up a warm berth abreast of a new
and strong work. The steamers were not idle, as they kept up a hot fire
of shot and shell, doing much execution. While the fleet were thus
engaged, an incessant roar showing the rapidity of the firing, and
clouds of smoke filling the air, a thundering sound was heard--for an
instant the whole fortress was illumined with an intense blaze of light,
which was as suddenly succeeded by a dense cloud of smoke, dust,
bursting shells, and large fragments of stone hurled upwards and in
every direction. The principal magazine, containing many thousand
barrels of gunpowder, had exploded, in consequence, as was supposed, of
a shell having been thrown into it by one of the steam-ships. A large
number of the garrison were blown up by the explosion, and many more
probably were buried amid the ruins. Notwithstanding this catastrophe,
the five guns opposed to the _Revenge_ continued their fire, and kept it
up to the last. About sunset the signal was made to discontinue the
engagement, but Napier fired away for some time after dusk, lest the
enemy should be tempted to re-man their guns. At length the admiral's
flag-lieutenant brought an order for the ships to withdraw. The
_Revenge_, slipping her anchor, made sail without difficulty. The
_Princess Charlotte_ picked up both hers and made sail, but, casting the
wrong way, nearly got on shore. She was, however, conducted in a most
seamanlike manner, not a word being heard on board her. The _Powerful_
was towed out by the _Gorgon_. The _Thunderer_ and _Bellerophon_, as
also the southern squadron, remained at anchor.
During the night a boat brought off information that the Egyptian troops
were leaving the town, and, in consequence, at daylight, 300 Turks and a
party of Austrian marines landed and took unopposed possession of it.
The casualties of the allies amounted to only 14 English and 14 Turks
killed, and 42 wounded. Notwithstanding the long continued fire to
which the ships had been exposed, they escaped with slight damage. The
havoc caused by the bombardment on the walls and houses was very great,
while it was calculated that the explosion had destroyed between one and
two thousand persons, two entire regiments being annihilated, with a
number of animals. On the 4th another explosion took place, by which a
marine was killed, and Captain Collier had his leg fractured.
This was the first occasion on which the advantages of steam had been
fully proved in battle, by the rapidity with which the steamers took up
their positions, and the assistance they rendered to the other ships, as
also by the destruction the shells thrown from them produced. The
survivors of the garrison, amounting to 3000, were taken prisoners,
while nearly 200 guns and mortars and field-pieces were captured.
Ibrahim's army, which in September had amounted to 75,000 men, had now
dwindled to 20,000, who, hard-pressed, were making their way back to
Egypt. On the fall of Acre, Napier proceeded to Alexandria, where he
entered into a convention with Mahomet Ali, who agreed to evacuate Syria
and to restore the Turkish fleet as soon as he had received final
notification that the sultan would grant him the hereditary government
of Egypt, which, the Turkish fleet being given up, the sultan soon
afterwards did. On the return of the _Powerful_ to the fleet, before
proceeding to Malta, the ships manned the rigging and cheered, the bands
playing "Charlie is my darling."
This terminated the duties of the fleet on the coast of Syria.