ACRE.
At last all was satisfactorily arranged. By the terms of the convention,
Sir Sidney Smith was appointed to the command, not only of the Turkish
fleet, but of the Turkish army in Syria, a most important point, as the
Porte had no confidence whatever in Djezzar, who, like many others of
the pashas of the outlying possessions of Turkey, almost openly defied
the authority of the sovereign. Djezzar was already at Acre, and some
Turkish gun-boats, under Hassan Bey, had also been despatched thither
towards the end of February. The welcome order was issued for the
_Tigre_ to sail on the 1st of March. Her destination was Alexandria,
which, as forming part of the Sultan's possessions, came under the terms
of the convention; under the terms of which it had been agreed that two
British men-of-war and three frigates should be stationed in Eastern
waters to give such aid as was possible to Djezzar, both in active
operations, and by capturing store-ships destined for the use of the
French army.
The _Theseus_, of 84 guns, commanded by Captain Miller, was already at
Acre; and her captain and Colonel Phelypeaux were giving great
assistance to the pasha in putting the place into a better state of
defence, while his presence there animated the pasha and his troops to
determine upon a stout defence.
It was with deep satisfaction that the officers and men of the _Tigre_
received the orders to prepare for sailing at once. They had now been
nearly two months in Constantinople; the novelty of the scene had worn
off, and all were impatient for active service. Things had been going on
pleasantly among the midshipmen. Condor had shown by his behaviour that
either he sincerely regretted the conduct that had made him so
unpopular, or that the lesson that he had received had been so severe
that he would not risk any repetition of it. At any rate there was peace
and comfort in the cockpit.
Just at first, two or three of the younger middies were disposed to take
advantage of the altered state of things, but Wilkinson, Edgar, and the
other two seniors supported Condor, and told them that if the latter did
not keep them in order, they would do so themselves, after which threat
matters went on quietly. The change from salt provisions to fresh meat,
with an abundance of fruit and vegetables, had been very pleasant, and
added to the good temper and harmony that prevailed. Edgar had not felt
time hang heavily on his hands, for he was constantly on shore with Sir
Sidney Smith, who found his services as interpreter of great value. Had
it been an ordinary case, the other midshipmen of older standing would
have felt somewhat jealous, but they knew that he went as interpreter
rather than as midshipman, and as some of them had leave to go ashore
every day, they could amuse themselves according to their liking, while
he was kept hard at work translating documents, examining the state of
stores, or attending prolonged meetings between his commander and the
Turkish naval officials. They had therefore no reason for envying him
his post.
He himself was glad of an occasional holiday at the rare intervals when
Sir Sidney had no business on land, and made excursions to his brother
up the Bosphorus, or to towns on the Sea of Marmora, when Edgar was able
to join parties who, hiring horses at the landing-place, took long rides
over the country, starting sometimes from Pera, and sometimes from
Scutari on the other side of the water. He was certainly not less glad
than his comrades when the order came to prepare for sailing. The wind
was favourable, the voyage was a speedy one, and the _Tigre_ arrived off
Alexandria on the 7th of March. Here they remained for some days. News
had already been received by sea from Jaffa of the capture of El-A'rich,
and of the approach of the French army to Jaffa.
This had caused no uneasiness, as the town, having a garrison of 8000
men, was believed to be able to resist any assault. When, however, on
the fifth day after the arrival of the _Tigre_ off Alexandria, a small
Turkish vessel brought the news that Jaffa had been captured, and some
3000 of the garrison killed in cold blood, besides a large number of the
inhabitants, Sir Sidney decided to start instantly, in order to aid in
the defence of the important stronghold of Acre, which would certainly
be the next object of assault by the French. Committing to the captain
of the _Lion_ the charge of continuing the blockade with the gun-boats
under his command, sail was at once hoisted, and the _Tigre_ started for
Acre.
On her way she picked up the _Theseus_, which was out cruising, and the
two men-of-war arrived off Acre on the 15th of March, and, to the
satisfaction of all, found that Napoleon had not yet appeared before the
town; Sir Sidney Smith, owing to the terms of the convention, at once
assumed the command of the operations. The arrival of the men-of-war
excited great enthusiasm among the garrison and inhabitants, who, now,
for the first time, believed in the possibility of beating off the
French, and of being spared the horrors that had befallen Jaffa.
On the following morning the French were seen marching along between the
lower slopes of Mount Carmel and the sea, and the men-of-war boats,
running in close to the shore, opened fire upon them, and compelled them
hastily to change their course and to ascend the hill until beyond the
range of the guns.
As no attempt had been made to return the fire by the artillery, Sir
Sidney Smith was convinced the French must be unprovided with a siege
train. Having learned from people who had escaped by boat from Jaffa,
that only field-pieces had there been employed to batter the wall, he
ordered a constant watch to be kept for any ships seen approaching, as
Bonaparte would hardly have hoped to take so strong a place as Acre
without heavy guns, and had doubtless arranged for a battering-train to
be sent from Alexandria by sea. This would probably be ordered to make
either for Jaffa, or for Caiffa, a small port a few miles south of Acre.
The _Theseus_ was at once sent down to Jaffa, to prevent any landing of
guns or stores being effected there, while the _Tigre's_ boats were
placed at intervals between Caiffa and Acre.
The next day a corvette and nine gun-boats were seen rounding the
promontory of Mount Carmel. The signal was made for the recall of the
boats, and the _Tigre_ at once got under sail and started in pursuit,
picking up her boats as they came alongside. Bonaparte had been ignorant
that there were any British vessels on the coast, or he would hardly
have sent the boats from Alexandria without a stronger escort, and the
corvette and gun-boats no sooner caught sight of the _Tigre_ than they
made out to sea. The chase lasted for some hours, and one by one seven
of the gun-boats were picked up, surrendering in each case as soon as
the _Tigre's_ guns opened upon them. The corvette and the other two
gun-boats succeeded in making their escape, but their commander,
believing it hopeless to attempt to carry out his mission in the face of
a British man-of-war, sailed direct to France.
The capture was a most valuable one, for the possession of the gun-boats
enabled a blockade of the coast to be carried on much more effectually
than could otherwise have been done, and on board were found, as
expected, the guns and battering-train intended for the siege of Acre.
The _Tigre_ returned with her prizes to the port, and the crew were at
once employed in transporting the captured guns and ammunition on shore,
when they were conveyed by the Turkish troops to the batteries, which
were before very deficient in guns, and the capture added, therefore,
much to the strength of the defences.
Edgar's services as an interpreter were again called into requisition.
Mr. Canes was sent on shore with a party of sailors to assist the Turks
in moving the guns to their new positions, and half an hour before
landing he sent for Edgar and told him that he had arranged with Sir
Sidney Smith that he was to accompany him.
"A good deal of the hard work will have to be done by the Turks, and it
will save much trouble if you are with me to translate my orders to
them, or rather to their officers. Sir Sidney is of opinion that there
will be a great deal more for you to do on shore than on board. He will,
of course, be much on shore himself, and I am carrying a note to the
pasha, requesting him to assign a suitable house for him to take up his
abode there and which he will make his headquarters. Lieutenant Beatty
will be posted there with twenty marines, furnishing a guard, and for
other purposes. A room is to be assigned to you. You will then be handy
whenever the captain is on shore, and at other times will assist me or
other officers with working parties. Of course two or three natives will
be engaged as servants. One of them will be a cook, and Lieutenant
Beatty and you will establish a small mess together. You will, of
course, have shore allowances. I think that you may consider yourself
fortunate, for you will have an opportunity for seeing all that goes on,
while the others will of course only come ashore by turns."
"Thank you, sir," Edgar said, much pleased. "I shall like it very much."
The Turkish soldiers worked well, tugging at ropes, while the sailors
used levers to get the guns up steep places. Edgar was kept busy
translating the first lieutenant's orders to the Turkish officers, and
for the first three days had hardly time to snatch a meal until the
sailors returned at nightfall to the ship. He got on very well with the
lieutenant of the marines, who was a pleasant young fellow. On the day
after they landed they heard heavy firing, and going up to the highest
point of the rocky promontory on which Acre stood, could make out that a
number of gun-boats were cannonading Caiffa. The place appeared to make
no reply to the fire, and at last two gun-boats, believing that there
could be but few French troops there, sailed up the harbour.
Lambert, the French officer in command, had, however, a howitzer and a
small gun, and eighty French troops, but he gave orders that these
should not reply to the fire of the gun-boats, and that not a musket
should be discharged until he gave the word. The two small gun-boats
came on confidently, until, when at a distance of only a hundred yards
from the shore, where they intended to land and set fire to the French
storehouses and to do as much damage as possible, a heavy fire was
suddenly poured in. The two guns, loaded to the muzzle with grape, swept
their decks, and the heavy volley of musketry did much damage.
Lieutenant Beatty, who had brought a telescope on shore with him,
exclaimed:
"By Jove! those two little gun-boats have caught it hot. See, there is
one of them putting about, but the other seems to be drifting towards
the shore."
This was indeed the fact; she was slightly in advance of the other, and
was the principal target of the fire. The midshipman who commanded her,
and most of her crew, were killed, and before the few survivors could
recover themselves from the surprise into which they had been thrown by
the unexpected attack, the vessel had grounded. The heavy fire of
musketry continued, the guns again poured in their fire, and as escape
was impossible, the few men who remained alive at once hauled down their
flag and surrendered. The capture was a valuable one to the French. The
gun-boat carried a 32-pounder, and as Napoleon's heaviest guns were but
10-pounders, the cannon was invaluable.
As soon as its capture was known, some artillery horses were sent to the
port and transported it to the batteries, at which the French were
already hard at work. For the first day or two it was almost useless,
for, with the exception of a few shot taken with it, they had none that
would fit it; but as soon as the besieged began to fire they obtained an
ample supply of cannon balls, which were eagerly collected by the
soldiers, a small reward being paid for every shot that was brought in.
In a short time, however, the French were in a better position for
carrying on the siege with vigour, for as it became necessary to retain
the _Tigre_ and _Theseus_ to assist in the defence of the town, French
vessels were able to land artillery at Jaffa and other points, and they
had ere long an ample supply for their batteries.
"There is no doubt," Lieutenant Beatty said, "that that gun-boat has
been captured, and from her not attempting to go round and sail out as
her companion did, I am afraid that the crew must have been almost
annihilated by the enemy's fire. It was a very risky thing to send those
two small craft in alone, even though the place had not replied to their
fire, for even if the French had no guns, they might have had many
hundreds of men in the town, against whom the crew of those two boats
could have done nothing whatever. However, the loss is not serious
except in the matter of the crew. I don't suppose she carried more than
one gun."
"But even that is important," Edgar said, "for I know they have pretty
heavy guns on board those boats, and in the hands of the French it would
give us some trouble."
"We shall have hot work of it presently, Blagrove. The walls are
absolutely rotten, and it would be absurd to call them fortifications;
and if the French open fire at close quarters, they will make a breach
in no time. If Phelypeaux's plans had been carried out, the place would
have been in a position to make a serious defence; but I hear that he
and Captain Miller of the _Theseus_ have been trying in vain to get the
Turks to carry out their plans.
"Djezzar was always saying that what they wanted should be done, but it
went no further than that; and what little has been accomplished has
been done by the men of the _Theseus_; and I believe that the dragging
of the guns we captured to their places was the first job on which the
Turkish soldiers really worked; but, of course, Sir Sidney had a good
deal more influence than Miller had, as he is commander-in-chief of the
Turkish army, and if Djezzar did not give him the help he asked for, he
would have the power to take the matter altogether out of his hands. His
troops have no love for him, for, as his nickname shows, he is as cruel
as he is ambitious.
"There can be no doubt that he intended to throw off the authority of
the Sultan altogether. The position of the guns show that. I hear that
when the _Theseus_ arrived there was not a single gun mounted on the
face of the town on the land side, every one being planted on the walls
to seaward. However, I believe he is personally plucky, but as this
place is nothing like so strong as Jaffa was, he must see that, as a
garrison of 8000 there could not resist the enemy, the 3000 men under
him would not have a shadow of a chance were it not for our help. Even
we could do nothing if it were not that the position of the town enables
us to cover the land approaches."
The position of Acre, the ancient Ptolemais, was indeed very favourable
for its protection by a fleet. It stood on a projecting promontory
almost square in shape; three sides were entirely washed by the sea; the
north-eastern side had no natural protection, but at an angle of the
wall a tower, which was the strongest point of the defences, covered it
to some extent. Near the tower, and with its garden abutting against the
wall, stood the pasha's palace. The masonry of the greater part of the
wall was old and crumbling. From the sea to the north of the town
vessels anchored there could cover the approaches to the northern side
by their fire, while these could similarly be swept by ships anchored in
the Bay of Acre on the south side of the fortress.
The water here, however, was too shallow for the men-of-war to anchor
in. The _Tigre_, therefore, was moored more than a mile from the shore;
next to her was the _Alliance_ sloop. Three of the gun-boats captured
from the French, and two Turkish gun-boats, lay nearer to the shore, and
the fire of all these vessels swept the ground across which it was
already evident that the French main attack would be directed. This was
also covered by the fire of the _Theseus_ and three of the captured
French gun-boats. The French had, on their arrival, promptly seized a
village within half a mile of the wall, and pushed forward their
trenches with vigour, establishing four or five batteries, which at once
opened fire.
Napoleon calculated that he should be master of the town in three days
at the utmost, and this no doubt would have been the case had he only
Turkish resistance to overcome. As soon as the _Tigre_ returned from her
short cruise, Sir Sidney Smith took up his residence on shore. He
brought with him Condor and Wilkinson, to act as his aides-de-camp, and
fifty sailors were established in an adjoining house in readiness for
any emergency. Here the mess was now established, although Lieutenant
Beatty and Edgar continued to sleep in Sir Sidney Smith's house, the one
to be near his men, the other in readiness to attend upon his commander
at any moment night or day.
As far as possible the midshipmen's mess adhered to regular hours for
their meals, but Sir Sidney Smith took his at any time when he could
snatch them. One or other of the midshipmen came ashore each day with a
boat's crew, so that at any moment orders could be sent to the _Tigre_
or the _Theseus_. Except at the evening meal, when the fire generally
slackened, it was seldom that more than two of the midshipmen's mess sat
down together, being constantly employed either in carrying messages or
orders, or in keeping a watch at threatened points, in order that Sir
Sidney should at once be made acquainted with any movements of the
enemy.
[Illustration: Map of Siege of ST. JEAN D'ACRE
by the French Army of Egypt from 19. March to 21. May 1799.]
The French had lost no time, for on the 25th their batteries opened fire
against this tower, and, after four hours' firing, a breach, considered
by the French to be practicable, had been effected.
The Turkish guns had returned the fire, aided by two mortars worked by
British sailors, but the Turks believed that their walls were strong
enough to stand a prolonged siege, and as the French fire was heavy
against the tower, those near it had betaken themselves to safer
positions. Sir Sidney Smith was on board the _Tigre_. Djezzar seldom
stirred from his palace. He had no capable officer under him, and no one
was in the slightest degree aware of the serious damage the French
battery was inflicting upon the tower, and there was no thought that an
attack could be made upon the town for a considerable time. Edgar had
been engaged all the morning with Sir Sidney, and when the latter went
on board ship he went into the next house, where he found the others at
dinner.
After that was over he proposed a stroll down to the corner against
which the French fire was directed. Wilkinson and Beatty agreed to
accompany him, but Condor, who had been all day at work seeing guns
placed in position, said that he did not care about going out again. On
reaching the wall facing the French position they found that there was
little doing. A few of the guns were being worked, throwing their shot
into the garden between the French batteries and the town. Along the
rest of the line the Turks were squatting under the parapet, smoking and
talking.
"What are the French firing at?" Edgar asked a Turkish officer.
"They are firing at the tower. They will do no harm. Some of the shots
came in at the loopholes; so, as the soldiers there could do no good by
staying, they have come out."
"That seems rather a careless way of doing business," Edgar remarked as
he translated what the officer said, to his companions. "Well, at any
rate we may as well go and see what the effect of their fire is. Their
battery is not a heavy one, but as it is not more than four or five
hundred yards from the tower it may really be doing some damage."
As they neared the tower at the angle of the wall they found that the
ramparts there had been entirely deserted by the Turks.
"This is a rum way of defending a town," Wilkinson remarked. "If this is
the way the Turks are going to behave, the sooner we are all on board
ship the better."
The French fire was brisk, the thuds of the balls, as they struck the
tower, occurring five or six times a minute. The three officers entered
the tower. Two or three holes appeared in the wall of the floor by which
they entered it.
"The masonry must be very rotten," Beatty said, "or they would not have
knocked holes in it as soon as this."
They descended the stairs into the story below, and uttered a
simultaneous exclamation of alarm. A yawning hole some eight feet wide
appeared.
"This is serious, Wilkinson. Let us take a look down below."
"Look out!" Wilkinson shouted as a ball passed just over their heads and
struck the wall behind them. "Stand back here a moment."
He ran forward and looked down.
"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "there is a breach down to the bottom of the
tower level with the lower storey ground, and a heap of rubbish at the
foot outside. I don't think it is high enough yet for anyone to get up
to the opening, but it will soon be practicable if it is not now. Look!
look! I can see a large body of French among the trees there. They are
about to advance to storm the breach. Run, Blagrove, and wake up the
Turks. We will go back and fetch up the marines and blue-jackets. The
enemy may be in the place in five minutes."
Leaving the tower, Edgar ran along the wall.
"Take your men to the tower at once!" he shouted to the first Turkish
officer he saw. "The French are crossing the ditch."
Instead, however, of obeying him the officer and his men ran to one of
the steps leading up to the wall, and commenced shouting, "The French
are in the town!"
Edgar saw that he had told the news too suddenly, and that it was
hopeless for him to try to stop the flood, therefore ran along the wall
until he reached the stairs leading down to the open space in front of
Djezzar's palace. As he had been frequently there before, he made his
way straight to the apartments where Djezzar transacted business.
"The French have breached the tower, pasha," he said, "and their
storming party was about to cross the ditch when I came away. There are
no troops there to defend the breach, and those on the wall are flying.
Unless you yourself go out and rally the men to the defence the town is
lost."
Djezzar was thunderstruck at the news. He had showed himself brave in
battle, but with the fate of Jaffa in his mind he now lost heart
altogether.
"It is too late!" he said, and catching up his sword he ran out of the
palace, and directed his flight towards the landing-place.
Edgar ran towards the breach again, and on the way came upon his two
companions running along, with the marines and blue-jackets after them.
Fortune, however, had done more for the town than its defenders. Led by
an officer with sixteen sappers, and followed by twenty-five grenadiers,
the French party prepared to mount to the assault. Their orders were to
mount the breach and hold it, and the moment this was done the main body
of the storming party were at once to follow. But they met with an
unexpected obstacle. Instead of finding, as they had expected, merely a
shallow ditch, they found themselves at the edge of a counterscarp, the
wall being fifteen feet in depth, with a regular moat filled with water
between them and the foot of the breach.
They had brought with them only two or three short ladders, which were
intended to be used, if necessary, to aid them in clambering up the heap
of rubbish to the breach. The French had no idea of the existence of the
counterscarp. The ladders that they had brought were too short to enable
them to descend it, and the officer in command hesitated as to what
course to adopt. The mysterious silence maintained by the enemy was
disquieting. That the Turks had all fled and the tower was undefended
did not occur to the officer in command, and he feared that they must
have placed mines in the breach, and were for the present abstaining
from showing themselves or firing a shot, in hopes of tempting him to
make an assault. Before he could decide what was best to be done there
was a loud tramp of feet inside the tower, and then the British sailors
and marines showed themselves suddenly at the openings on each floor,
and at once opened a heavy fire.
Many of the French fell at once, and seeing that there was nothing to be
done, the officer gave the order for the rest to retreat, which they did
hastily. Djezzar was furious when he heard what had happened, and
questioned Edgar; and, on hearing that the tower had been altogether
deserted, as well as the adjacent portion of the wall, he ordered the
instant execution of six of the officers and a number of the men for
this gross neglect of their duty. He was exasperated that he himself
should have shared in the panic that had seized them when informed that
the French were assaulting the breach, and that no resistance had been
offered by his men; and Edgar congratulated himself that he was not one
of his officers. When the old pasha, however, recovered from the state
of fury into which he had fallen, he complimented the three British
officers highly on the quickness that they had shown, which had, as he
rightly said, saved the town, for, had the French found themselves still
unobserved, they would assuredly have managed to get down the
counterscarp, and to establish themselves in the tower in force before
any suspicion of what was going on took place.
The French, whose operations were hidden by the gardens, at once
proceeded to drive a gallery in order to blow up the counterscarp, upon
which their guns could not be brought to bear, and on the 29th the mine
was sprung. It did some damage, but it had not been driven quite far
enough. Led by an officer of the staff named Mailly, the French rushed
forward as soon as the mine exploded. They clambered down over the
breach that had been made on the counterscarp, crossed the fosse by
three ladders they had brought with them, and reached the foot of the
breach. There was, however, too great a distance between the pile of
rubbish at the foot of the wall and the great hole above it for them to
enter without fixing their ladders.
As they were in the act of doing this the Turks, who had at their first
appearance again been seized with a panic, but had been brought back by
a number of their officers, who adjured them to stand, saying that it
was better to die fighting the infidel than to be shot by Djezzar,
opened a heavy fire. Mailly was killed, several of the grenadiers and
sappers fell round him, and the rest retired, meeting, as they climbed
the counterscarp, two battalions who had joined them as soon as the
breach was reported practicable; but upon hearing from the grenadiers
that this was not the case they fell back again after losing their
commanding officer and many men from the Turkish fire.
This success greatly encouraged the Turks, who had heard from those who
had escaped from Jaffa that no obstacles were sufficient to daunt the
French, and from this time Sir Sidney Smith began to entertain hope that
the town could be held, of which, owing to the supineness of Djezzar and
his troops, he had hitherto been very doubtful. The French at once
recommenced mining. In eight days they completely blew up the
counterscarp, and on the twelfth carried their gallery under the ditch
with the intention of blowing up the whole tower.
By this time the besieged were aware that the French were at work
mining. Colonel Phelypeaux had, during the interval since the last
attempt, worked indefatigably. The breach had been filled up with
combustible materials, a number of shells had been placed on the
platform of the tower, with fuses attached in readiness to hurl down
into the midst of a storming party, heaps of great stones had been piled
there for the same purpose, and the Turkish soldiers, seeing the
readiness and alacrity with which the British worked, had gained
confidence. The faint sound of mining under the tower brought about a
consultation between Sir Sidney Smith, Captain Wilmot, Colonel
Phelypeaux, and the pasha. The engineer officer pointed out to the pasha
that it was impossible to say what the result of the firing of the mine
might be, as it would depend upon the quantity of powder employed.
"If a large quantity is used," he said, "it may entirely blow down the
tower and a considerable quantity of the walls adjoining it, and leave
so large a breach that the French would be able to pour in in such force
that your troops, who might well be panic-stricken at the explosion,
would not be able to make any effective opposition."
"But what can we do to prevent it?" the pasha asked.
"Nothing can be directly done," Sir Sidney said; "but if we make a sally
in force we might drive the French back, discover the mine, and carry
out the greater part of the powder, and place a small portion under the
ditch, and, exploding it, allow the water to run in; or, if the men
carry with them a number of fascines, we might establish a work fifty
yards from the foot of the wall. This would put a stop to their mining.
An enemy attacking it would, as he advanced, be swept by the guns of the
two men-of-war and the gun-boats, and the garrison would further be
covered by the fire from the tower and walls. I propose that we should
sally out in three columns. The central column, which will be composed
of the marines and sailors of our ships, will make straight for the
mouth of the mine and force its way in; the other two columns will
attack the enemy's trenches on right and left."
"The plan seems to me to be a good one," the pasha said; "it shall be
done as you propose."
On the night of the 15th of April two columns of men were gathered at
midnight in the street leading to the water-gate, a short distance to
the right of the tower, the third column close to a gate some little
distance to its left. Lieutenant Beatty was, with his party of marines,
to join the landing force, but to their disappointment neither Condor
nor the midshipmen were to take part in the sortie, as the little party
of seamen were to be held in reserve. Sir Sidney Smith himself intended
to take his place on the tower, whence he could watch the operations.
Wilkinson and Edgar were to act as his aides-de-camp, the latter to
carry messages to the Turkish officers commanding the two columns,
while Wilkinson was to perform the same office to the central column.
"You and Mr. Condor may probably have opportunities of distinguishing
yourselves later on," he said; "the other midshipmen may have their turn
to-night."