EXPEDITION AGAINST GUADALOUPE ... THE ISLES DE SAINTS ATTACKED AND
TAKEN ... THE BOYNE AND VETERAN ANCHOR OFF GROZIER ... THE TROOPS
LAND UNDER COVER OF THE WINCHELSEA FRIGATE ... CAPTAIN LORD GARLIES
WOUNDED ... FORT FLEUR D'EPEE TAKEN BY STORM ... FORT LOUIS AND THE
TOWN OF POINT A PITRE TAKEN ... CASUALTIES ... GENERAL DESCRIPTION
OF THE ISLAND.
On Tuesday the 8th of April, the fleet[36], having the Commander in
Chief on board, with the remainder of the forces which were not left to
garrison the two islands of Martinique and St. Lucia, weighed anchor by
seven o'clock A. M. and sailed from the bay of Fort Royal on an
expedition against Guadaloupe (the troops having been previously shifted
from the men of war to the transports). The Admiral detached Captain
Rogers in the Quebec frigate, Captain Faulknor in the Blanche, Captain
Incledon in the Ceres, and Captain Scott in the Rose, to attack a
cluster of small islands called the Saints, lying between Dominique and
Guadaloupe, which they executed with much spirit and gallantry: having
landed a party of their seamen and marines, they carried them without
any loss on their part, on the morning of the 10th instant; and when the
fleet arrived the same morning off the islands, they had the
satisfaction of perceiving the union flag hoisted on their two
commanding batteries. These islands are valued principally on account of
a small harbour, where a few ships of war may ride in safety during the
hurricane months; and also that they overlook a good deal of the coast
of Basse Terre.--About noon on the 10th of April the Boyne and Veteran
anchored in the bay of Point a Pitre, off the village of Grozier, and
some more of the fleet in the course of the afternoon; but a fresh wind
and lee current prevented most of the transports from getting in till
the day after. Without waiting however for the arrival of all the
troops, the General determined to land those that were with him,
immediately; and accordingly the first and second battalions of
grenadiers, one company of the forty-third regiment, fifty marines, and
four hundred seamen detached by the Admiral, under the command of
Captain George Grey of the Boyne, made good their landing by one o'clock
in the morning of the 11th, under a severe fire from Fort Fleur d'Epee,
and a three-gun battery at Grozier. As it was impossible for them to
land without the latter being silenced, Lord Garlies in the Winchelsea
was ordered on that service, which he performed in a masterly manner,
laying his ship within half-musket shot of the battery, as near indeed
as the depth of water would allow him to approach; and after a smart
fire for some time on both sides, he drove them from their guns, and the
troops then effected their landing without any loss. In this business,
though every shot from the battery hit some part of the Winchelsea,
cutting the masts and rigging, Lord Garlies was the only man wounded,
receiving a bad contusion in his face. Some more of the troops having
arrived on the 11th, the General, perceiving the enemy to be in
considerable force at the strong post of Fort Fleur d'Epee, determined
to attack them without loss of time, and accordingly arranged his plans
in the following order: the first division, under command of his Royal
Highness Prince Edward, consisting of the first and second battalions of
grenadiers and one hundred of the naval battalion, was to attack the
post on Morne Mascot, an height within musket-shot of the fort; the
second division, commanded by Major General Dundas, consisting of the
first and second battalions of light infantry, and one hundred of the
naval battalion, to attack the fort of Fleur d'Epee in the rear, and to
cut off its communication with Fort Louis and Point a Pitre; and the
third division, commanded by Colonel Symes, consisting of the third
battalion of grenadiers and the third battalion of light infantry, and
the remainder of the naval battalions, to proceed by the road on the
sea-side to co-operate with Major General Dundas. The soldiers were
particularly directed not to fire, but trust solely to the bayonet; and
the seamen, who were commanded by Captain Nugent and Captain Faulknor,
to use their pikes and swords; all which was most scrupulously obeyed;
the several divisions having marched earlier, according to the distance
they had to go, that they might commence the attack at the same instant.
The signal for the attack, which was a gun from the Boyne, was given by
the Admiral at five o'clock in the morning of the 12th. The troops moved
forward with the most determined intrepidity. As they advanced to the
first picquet the alarm was given; the out-posts were driven in, or put
to death; and in an instant the sides of the hill on which the fort was
situated were covered by our people, who scrambled up, under a most
tremendous discharge of grape shot and musketry: some sailors jumped
into the embrasures, driving the enemy before: the soldiers, who had
reached the gates, at length succeeded in forcing them open, and a scene
of dreadful conflict took place: the enemy still continuing to make a
stout resistance, were put to the sword in great numbers; at length, as
many as could escape through the gates and embrasures, or by leaping
over the walls, fled with the utmost precipitation towards the town of
Point a Pitre. Our victorious troops soon followed, driving them across
the Carenage to Basse Terre, whither they and several of the inhabitants
made their escape in boats, before the Ceres and two gun-boats could get
into the Carenage to cut off their retreat, though this service was
performed by Captain Incledon with the greatest alertness. With Fleur
d'Epee fell Hog Island, and Fort Louis, an old fortification commanding
the entrance into the harbour of Point a Pitre, which town also was
taken possession of at the same time by Sir Charles Grey. Our loss in
this action was considerable, in proportion to the smallness of our
numbers, being fifty-four killed and wounded; the enemy lost in all two
hundred and fifty. Fort Fleur d'Epee is strongly situated on the summit
of a hill, two sides of which are towards the sea, from whence it has a
very formidable appearance; but being commanded by Morne Mascot, when
that falls into the power of an enemy it is of little consequence. On
the brow of the hill, a little below the fort, is an half-moon battery,
which commands a great distance along the coast. Among the many
accidents worth notice, I beg leave to mention the following, which I
hope will be a striking instance (among many of the same kind which have
happened this war) that it behoves all our people serving on shore,
whether military or naval, to be distinguished by red dresses. The
French, as well as several other continental troops, are dressed in
blue; of course, in the confusion of an assault, especially if it
happens before day-break, a seaman's blue jacket may, and I am convinced
often has, been the cause of his death by the hands of his own
countrymen. A seaman of the Boyne, belonging to the first company,
expressing a wish that he might have an opportunity of lowering the
French flag, and hoisting our own; and being a remarkably fine fellow,
was pitched upon to carry the union flag on this attack for that
purpose, in case the fort should be taken; and accordingly it was
wrapped in many folds round him, and he was to defend it as well as he
could. When he approached the fort, the first object that attracted his
notice was the flag-staff, and, regardless of every danger, he rushed
forward, pike in hand; and having once got into the fort, away he ran to
the desired spot, and had already struck the tri-coloured flag, and was
endeavouring to disengage himself from his wrapper, in order to hoist
that in its stead, when some soldiers coming suddenly round the corner
of a building, and taking him for one of the enemy, in an instant
attacked him, and he fell severely wounded before they discovered their
mistake. I am happy however to add, that the poor fellow, by the care
and skill of Mr. Weir, the surgeon-general[37] of the navy, recovered
sufficiently to shew, before the end of the campaign, that his courage
was undiminished by the accident.--Captain Faulknor, who had so
eminently distinguished himself at the capture of Fort Louis in
Martinique, had a narrow escape in this business: having led his men on
to the assault with his usual gallantry, he was encountered by a French
officer, whom he instantly struck at with his sword, which falling on
the epaulette on his shoulder, did not penetrate: the Frenchman closed
with him, and being the strongest man, threw him to the ground; and,
wresting the sword from his hand, was in the act of plunging it into his
body, when fortunately a seaman belonging to the Boyne, seeing the
danger his gallant leader was in, with his pike pinned his adversary to
the earth.--As at this time I was the only chaplain on the expedition
(Mr. Ruxton, chaplain of the fifty-sixth regiment, having died soon
after his landing in Martinique), and several of our men having fallen
in this gallant attack, I went on shore up to Fort Fleur d'Epee to pay
the last honours to our unfortunate countrymen, eighteen of whom were
killed on the spot. The scene I beheld surpassed my powers of
description. It was early in the morning, soon after the action was
over. At the foot of the hill lay several of our seamen badly wounded,
waiting to be carried on board their respective ships: a little further,
under the tall trees that grew within a few yards of the sea, several
naval officers reposing after the fatigues of the morning, and their men
not far from them. As we went up the hill we met some of the wounded
prisoners brought in by our people; and at the gates of the fort was an
heap of the slain, who had all died by the sword or bayonet. Within the
fort the destruction appeared more dreadful, being more confined; a
multitude of miserable wretches expiring of their wounds, and many of
our own people in the same situation: in the midst of this was his
Excellency writing his dispatches on a table, on which, fatigued with
the action, an artilleryman was sleeping, whom the General would by no
means have disturbed; one proof among thousands that the truest heroism
may be, and often is, united to the greatest humanity.--It would be
invidious to mention particularly, who distinguished themselves in this
business, where all seemed emulous of glory; but as the greatest
responsibility is attached to the higher ranks, it will be but justice
to say, that Prince Edward, General Dundas, Colonels Symes, Cradock,
and Coote, with the other officers of rank, as also Captains Nugent and
Faulknor, the officers commanding the naval battalions, received the
thanks of the Commander in Chief in public orders, for their excellent
conduct and resolution, displayed through the whole of the action.
[36] Consisting of the Boyne, Irresistible, Veteran, Winchelsea,
Solebay, Quebec, Ceres, Blanche, Rose, Woolwich, Experiment, and
Roebuck, together with the transports with troops, and the ordnance
and hospital ships and victuallers.
[37] As this is an office, I believe, hitherto unknown in the navy,
I shall explain the reason of its being now established. The
Admiral had in a former war experienced the attention and zeal of
Mr. Weir, and being well acquainted with the fatigue and danger
that would unavoidably be the lot of his surgeon, if he did his
duty, he pitched upon him for that office, and as an encouragement
he procured permission to appoint a surgeon general to the navy,
and his appointment did honour to his discernment. Mr. Weir was
indefatigable in attending the wounded and sick in his own ship,
and equally ready to visit others; and even where his duty had no
demand on him, his humanity led him to give his advice and
assistance. In his mode of treatment of that dreadful disease, the
yellow fever, he was more successful than was generally the case,
as the Boyne lost a less proportion of patients under that
afflicting malady than any other ship on the expedition.
Point a Pitre is the capital of that part of Guadaloupe called Grand
Terre, which is separated from the other part, called Bass Terre, by a
narrow arm of the sea, in form of a river; it is called the river
Sallee. The town is neat and well built, but in an unhealthy situation,
being on the borders of a large extent of swampy land; it has a good
harbour called the Carenage, the entrance to which is guarded on one
side by an half-moon battery lately erected on Islet a Couchon, or Hog
Island, and on the other by the ancient castle of Fort Louis; it is also
defended on the land side by a hill called Morne Government, on which is
a strong battery. The country on this part of Guadaloupe is remarkably
flat, forming a strong contrast to Basse Terre, which gradually rises
from the sea-shore till it forms a chain of hills extending from one end
of that part of the island to the other.