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The town was badly defended and fell into the hands of the enemies, who thus became masters of the mouth of the Nile; and sending some gun-boats up as far as Foueh, they soon took it. Generals Lagrange and Morand held Ramanieh; and Menou delaying to lend the assistance which he promised, Lagrange fell back upon Cairo, and communication with Alexandria was interrupted.
The three French line-of-battle ships disabled in the action of the 6th instant off Algeziras, were, on the 8th, reinforced by a squadron of five Spanish line-of-battle ships, under the command of Don Juan Joaquin de Moreno, and a French ship of seventy-four guns, wearing a broad pendant; besides three frigates, and an incredible number of gun-boats and other vessels; and got under sail yesterday morning, together with his Majesty's late ship Hannibal, which they had succeeded in getting off the shoal on which she struck.
The treasure-vessel having been crippled, and the gun-boats beaten off, we left off firing and returned to our former anchorage, Lady Cochrane again coming on deck.
In a deep bay lay a number of the enemy's vessels. It was necessary to ascertain their character. They were supposed to be gun-boats. Our second lieutenant, Mr Ronald a noble specimen of a naval officer, and as active as a cat, though he had but one leg was directed to take the gig, a fast-pulling boat, and to gain all the information he could. I was with him; so was Peter.
The Grand Vizier now demanded that Sir Sidney Smith should not take part in any operations in which he and the Turkish army were concerned, or retain the command of the naval flotilla that he had created, and with which he had performed such excellent service in opening the Nile for the ascent of the gun-boats and the native craft laden with stores for the supply of the troops that were to advance against Cairo.
Upon this, I ordered the Valdivia to drift with the flood tide in the direction of the gun-boats, now filled with Spanish officers and seamen. Imagining that the frigate was about to attack them though there was no intention of the kind these heroes ran the boats ashore, and took to their heels in most admired disorder, not stopping till they had gained the protection of the city.
The country all around, once fertile as a garden, had been changed into a wild and wintry sea where swarms of gun-boats and other armed vessels manoeuvred and contended with each other over submerged villages and orchards, and among half-drowned turrets and steeples.
The desolation of that region was just beginning. A Promise Fulfilled. Capture of a Rebel Camp and Train. Rebel Sympathizers in St. Louis. General Halleck and his Policy. Refugees from Rebeldom. Story of the Sufferings of a Union Family. Chivalry in the Nineteenth Century. The Army of the Southwest in Motion. Gun-Boats and Transports. Capture of Fort Henry. The Effect in St. Louis.
The fact was, that on the other side of the cape was the port and town of Carthagena, and these gun-boats had been sent out to the assistance of the corvette.
I therefore determined to attack her, so that Lady Cochrane had only escaped one peril ashore to be exposed to another afloat. Having beat to quarters, we opened fire upon the treasure-ship and other hostile vessels in the anchorage, the batteries and gun-boats returning our fire, Lady Cochrane remaining on deck during the conflict.
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