Generous behaviour of Souliman Pacha; Intercepted Letter from Boghos Bey
to that Officer—Interview of the Consuls with Mehemet Ali—A Turkish
Squadron equipped—Arrival of the Turkish Troops—Force of the
Egyptian Army—Its proper line of Action.
Souliman behaved with great generosity, though enraged at the detention
of vessels, which appeared to him contrary to the usages of war; he
received the sick into the hospitals, with a promise to deliver them up
when demanded, and allowed not only the vessels detained, but the
squadron, to be supplied with fresh provisions and vegetables, and, I
may add, did everything to prevent a collision taking place.
On the 19th an Egyptian cutter arrived with despatches from Boghos Bey
to the Grand Prince, to Souliman, and to the Governor of Beyrout; they
were all to the same purpose, tending to show that France was determined
to take an active part in favour of Mehemet Ali; the French merchants
and priests were not idle in circulating reports to the same effect, and
they were generally credited in the mountains. I subjoin Boghos Bey’s
letter.
_Copy of Intercepted Instructions sent to Souliman
Pacha._
“TO HIS EXCELLENCY SOULIMAN PACHA.
“After the usual compliments, &c.
“Notwithstanding that the conditions of the Convention signed in London
have not yet transpired, nevertheless, the Russian, English, and
Austrian Consuls, in their vain attempts to intrigue, have been
employing their clerks day and night to make drafts of the aforesaid
Convention, with the intention of distributing the same in Syria, to
bring about an insurrection there if necessary. By way of aid, 6000
troops will be conveyed from Constantinople to Cyprus, and arms and
ammunition will be sent to Syria. We have also learned that a firman has
been sent to the Emir Bechir, notifying to him, that as by the
Convention of London he is to be freed from the government of Mehemet
Ali, he had better be aware of it in time, and not be found in
allegiance with him. In the hope of creating an insurrection and
disturbances in Syria, the aforesaid Consuls have made drafts of a
Convention as above described, and have transmitted them to Syria in the
English steamer. The French Consul at Beyrout will be deposed, and sent
to Paris, for having acted contrary to the policy of his Government, and
will be replaced by Monsieur Delvasy, who is now at Damascus for the
affair of the Jews. On the other hand, the French Consul-General at
Alexandria has been graciously decorated by his Government for having
followed its views. The French are with us, and have agreed, out of
friendship, to furnish us with 100,000 troops, 600,000 purses, and 24
ships of the line, with 80 steamers. That such is the resolution taken
in France, we have it from the proper quarter.
“By the grace of God, after the above becomes known to you, let the
quarantine be strictly enforced in the principal sea-port towns in Syria
as before, by which you will ascertain the destination of all letters
brought by vessels. Vessels must not be allowed to go to places where
there are no sanatory establishments, it being irregular; and should any
vessels go to such places, and desire to land any passengers, let them
be slightly opposed; but should any one resist the quarantine, let him
be informed that the sanatory regulations are the same for all. Our
Master, the Viceroy, is in Upper Egypt; but on his return to-day or
to-morrow, he will necessarily write to you in detail on the conduct you
are to pursue, and until you receive his instructions, the present
notification will serve you as a guide, &c.
“A copy of the same instructions has been addressed to the Governors and
Kakya of Beyrout, and to the Governor-General of Damascus.
“(Signed) BOGHOS BEY.”
On the 20th, an Egyptian frigate, armed _en flute_, bound to Scanderoon
with stores, was detained by the Castor, stationed off the Point, to
give notice should the Egyptian fleet appear off, to raise the blockade.
On the 27th I heard from the Admiral, announcing his arrival off
Alexandria, and was shortly after reinforced by the Revenge, Benbow, and
Magicienne. The Consuls, on their first audience, had laid before the
Pacha the Treaty of the 15th of July, which he rejected at once; and he
gave them to understand it was useless coming to him at the expiration
of either the ten days or the twenty, for they should have the same
answer; and that what he had won with the sword, he should defend with
it; and he added, that after the expiration of the twenty days, the
sooner they took themselves off the better, as their longer stay would
neither be for their honour or his interest. The old man kept his word;
on the 5th of September Raifat Pasha and the Consuls again presented
themselves, and they were dismissed with the same answer.
The Admiral, in his last dispatch, gave me to understand I might shortly
expect a small Turkish force would arrive at Cyprus, under the orders of
Captain Walker, who had been promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral in the
Turkish service. This appeared business-like, and we anxiously looked
forward to some active service during the remaining two months of
summer.
Shortly after this, I received a dispatch from Lord Ponsonby, announcing
that a war with France might be expected at any moment, and recommending
the ships to be on their guard, and that the Turkish Government had
recalled the expedition. Some of the Turkish vessels had already sailed,
and Admiral Walker, with great judgment and decision, pushed on, and
sent me word of his approach. Not a moment was lost; the Hastings, which
had joined, was sent to Cyprus to reinforce him, and supply his ships
with provisions, and I removed my pennant to the Gorgon steamer, and ran
down the coast as far as D’Jebail, to ascertain the best landing place;
from there I crossed over to Cyprus, where I arrived next afternoon.
Admiral Walker had anchored the day before.
The Turkish troops, to the amount of 5300 men, had been landed. The
Government, with their accustomed want of foresight, had started them
with only a fortnight’s provisions, of which only three days remained.
With all my desire to commence active operations, it would have been
madness to have brought this force to the coast of Syria, where nothing
could be procured in the event of a reverse. The troops had really a
very respectable appearance, and were much better than I expected. After
a conference with the Admiral and General, it was decided to leave it to
Admiral Walker’s discretion to start the moment he could procure a
moderate supply, and we agreed to meet off Sidon, as by that time I
should have determined on what part of the coast we should strike the
first blow, on the success of which all our hopes depended.
From Cyprus we ran over and reconnoitred St. Jean d’Acre, which I was
glad to see did not present any great obstacle to an attack from sea.
Many men were employed completing the works on the land side; but the
sea front, I suppose, was considered sufficiently strong.
From Acre we went off Tyre, which was occupied by Albanian troops, and
in the evening anchored at Beyrout, having run over all this ground in
little more than forty-eight hours. The following day the Carysfort was
despatched to Cyprus with more provisions. On the 9th of September, the
ships in the offing, who had directions to bring Admiral Walker to
Beyrout, made the signal for a convoy. Sir Robert Stopford, in the
Princess Charlotte, also hove in sight, and before sunset the whole were
at anchor off the town. Sir Charles Smith, who had arrived in the Pique
a few days before in bad health, was still too unwell to take the
direction of the military affairs, and Sir Robert Stopford did me the
honour of placing the troops under my command.
Souliman Pacha at this time was at the head of the army at Beyrout, and
was supposed to have 15,000 men under his orders. Ibrahim and Osman were
at Balbeck with 10,000 more; the garrison of Sidon consisted of 3000;
that of Tripoli, and in the neighbourhood, 5000; the rest of the
Egyptian army, consisting of from 40,000 to 50,000 men, were stationed
in various parts of Syria.
Had the Egyptian troops at Beyrout, with the exception of the garrison,
marched to the heights of Ornagacuan and the high land over
Nahr-el-Kelb, those at Balbeck on Gazir, Harissa and Antoura, and those
at Tripoli pushed along shore by D’Jebail the moment we landed, there is
little doubt but we should have been withdrawn, and the troops sent to
Cyprus, and Mehemet Ali would now have been in possession of Syria, and
England, in all probability, involved in war with France; or even had we
remained inactive, and contented ourselves with occupying a strong hold
only, we should have incurred the same risk.
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