A strong body of Albanian troops being posted in the Castle of D'Jebel,
Captain Martin was despatched in the _Carysfort_, with the _Dido_ and
_Cyclops_, having on board 220 marines and 150 armed mountaineers, to
turn them out.
As soon as the marines were prepared for landing, the ships opened their
fire on the castle, which was returned by musket-shots.
After the fire had been continued for an hour, the marines, commanded by
Captain Robinson, accompanied by a large party of armed mountaineers,
pushed off from the _Cyclops_, and formed on the beach to the south of
the town, their landing being covered by the ships, which again opened
on the castle. The fire from the ships and the launch's carronades
having cleared the gardens in front of the castle, the signal was made
to push on. The marines on this advanced with their invariable
gallantry to the assault; but when they got within thirty yards of the
towers, a destructive fire was opened on them from a crenelated outwork,
having a deep ditch in front, which was completely masked from the fire
of the ships, and numbers fell killed and wounded. In vain Captain
Robinson and the other officers looked for some part of the castle wall
which might prove practicable. No gate was accessible, and they were
therefore compelled to abandon the enterprise. The ships again started
firing on the castle, but it was so stoutly built that no impression
could be made on it, and at half-past five the firing ceased and the
landing party re-embarked.
As the force was retiring 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 accidentally left there; it could not be
suffered to fall into the hands of the enemy, and therefore had to be
recovered, whatever the cost. It was a dangerous undertaking to run the
gauntlet of the enemy's guns and bring it back, but Lieutenant Grenfell
and a seaman from the _Cyclops_ volunteered to attempt it. Their
progress was watched with much anxiety. They crept along from cover to
cover, and at last reached the flag, which they hauled down, and
hastened back again with their prize. Loud cheers greeted them as they
returned to the ships uninjured and successful.
Although the attempt to take the castle by storm had not been
successful, it was not found necessary to renew it on the following day,
for when morning came it was found that the steady fire from the ships
had proved too much for the nerves of the garrison, and that rather than
face it another day they had vacated the position and stolen away under
cover of the night.