of Franconia, and even as far as Swabia; ravaging the country, exacting heavy contributions, and spreading ruin and dismay on every side. In those predatory expeditions the Prussians are sup posed to have levied a sum equivalent to a million sterling, two hundred thousand pounds of which were paid by the industrious and free city of Nuremberg. Many of the princes and states found themselves obliged to sign a neutrality, in order to save their territories from farther ravages; and most others were so disabled by the late defeat in Saxony, or exhausted by the subsequent incursions, that no prospect remained of their being able to furnish, for next campaign, any army under the Imperial name and authority". The war, therefore, was seemingly left to be finished as it had been begun, by the single arms of Prussia and Austria. During these transactions in Germany, so favourable to the allies of his Britannic majesty, the British arms were not inactive. The spirit with which Mr. Pitt had carried on the French war, and the obligation which the new ministers found themselves under of declaring war against Spain, made them sensible of the necessity of shewing the people, and convincing their enemies, that neither the vigour of the nation, nor the wisdom of its councils, depended upon a single man. They accordingly made greater, and more successful efforts than any under his administration, though the supplies fell short of those of last year by one million. Without weakening the army in Westphalia, we have already seen them undertake the defence of Portugal, and defend it effectually. In like manner, without evacuating Belleisle, or abandoning our conquests on the continent of America, they drew troops from both; and, in pursuance of that line of policy which they had always recommended, sent out two powerful armaments, for the reduction of the French and Spanish islands in the West-Indies. 21. Ibid. The The first armament, which had been prepared under the administration of Mr. Pitt, was destined against Martinico; the largest and best fortified of the French windward islands, and the residence of the governorgeneral. This armament was composed of nine thou sand land-forces, headed by general Monckton, and eighteen ships of the line, beside frigates, fire-ships, and bomb-ketches, under the direction of rear-admiral Rodney. The fleet came within sight of Martinico on the seventh of January. The troops were disembarked, without the loss of a man, in the neighbourhood of FortRoyal, the strongest place in the island; and by gaining, with incredible fortitude, possession of certain eminences, named Tortenson and Garnier, by which it is commanded, (and which were then but indifferently fortified, but gallantly defended) the invaders soon made the governor sensible of the necessity of surrendering the citadel, in order to save the town from being laid in ashes22. On the reduction of Fort-Royal, which capitulated on the fourth of February, M. de la Touche, the governor-general, retired to St. Pierre, a large and populous town on the same side of the island. He there seemed determined to make a last stand; but, through the earnest solicitations of the inhabitants, anxious for the preservation of their property, and envious of the prosperity of the planters of Guadaloupe, under the English government, he was prevailed upon to offer, and obtained, terms of capitulation for the whole island, before the place was invested23. With Martinico fell Granada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and every other place belonging to France, or occupied by Frenchmen, though reputed neutral, in the extensive chain of the Caribbee islands. Before the success of this expedition was known in England, the second, and grand armament was ready to sail. Its object was the famous city of Havana, the 22. Lond. Gazette, March 22, 1762. 23. Ibid. April 2. principal principal sea-port in the island of Cuba, the key of the gulf of Mexico, and the centre of the Spanish trade and navigation in the new world. The conception of the enterprise was great, as it struck immediately at the very basis of the enemy's power: and the armament was equal to its object. It consisted of nineteen ships of the line, eighteen frigates, and about one hundred and fifty transports, with ten thousand land-forces on board. These troops were to be joined by four thousand men from North-America. The command of the fleet was entrusted to admiral Pococke, whom we have seen distinguish himself in the East Indies. The land-forces were under the direction of the earl of Albemarle. And the whole armament, which assembled off the north-west point of Hispaniola, and was conducted, for the sake of expedition, (with uncommon seamanship) through the old channel of Bahama, arrived in sight of those dreadful fortifications that were to be stormed on the sixth day of June24. The city of Havana stands near the bottom of a small bay, that forms one of the safest harbours in the world, and which is so capacious, that a thousand ships of the largest size may there commodiously ride at anchor. The entrance into this harbour is by a narrow channel, strongly fortified on each side. The mouth of that channel, when visited by the English fleet under admiral Pococke, was secured by two strong forts; on the east side, by one named the Moro, and on the west, by another called the Puntal. The Moro had toward the sea two bastions, and on the land side other two, with a wide and deep ditch cut out of the rock. The Puntal, also surrounded by a ditch, cut in the same manner, was provided with casements, and every way well calculated for cooperating with the Moro in defence of the harbour. It had likewise some batteries that opened upon the country, and flanked part of the town wall. That wall, which 24. Letter from admiral Pococke, in Lond. Gazette, Sept. 8, 1762. was was not in the best repair, twenty-one bastions, not in a much better state, a dry ditch, of no considerable width, and a covered way almost in ruins, formed the only defence of the city itself. It has, therefore, been thought, by some military men, that the operations ought to have been begun with the attack of the town by land; espe cially as it was utterly impracticable to attack it by sea, the entrance of the harbour being not only defended by the forts, but by fourteen Spanish ships of the line; three of which were afterwards sunk in the channel, and a boom laid across it. But lord Albemarle thought otherwise, either from his ignorance of the state of the fortifications, or from seeing objects in a different light. The troops were therefore no sooner landed, and a body of the enemy that attempted to oppose their progress dispersed, than he began to form the siege of the Moro; which he considered, and perhaps justly, as the grand object of the armament, as the reduction of it must infallibly be followed by the surrender of the city; whereas, if he had attacked the town first, his army might have been so much weakened as to be unable to surmount the vigorous resistance of the fort, defended not only by the garrison, but by the flower of the inhabitants, zealous to save their own and the public treasure. A post was accordingly seized upon the higher ground, and batteries were erected, though with infinite difficulty. The hardships which the British troops sustained in this service are altogether incredible. The earth was so thin on the face of the hill, that they could with difficulty cover their approaches; and it being necessary that the cannon and carriages should be dragged by the soldiers and sailors, up a bold declivity, from a rough and rocky shore, many of the men, in that painful labour, while parched with thirst beneath a burning sun, dropped down dead. At length every obstacle was surmounted. The batteries, disposed along a ridge on a level with the Moro, were opened with effect. The garrison had been repulsed, repulsed, with great slaughter, in an attempt to destroy them; and the besiegers flattered themselves with a speedy period to their toils, when their principal battery took fire, and the labour of six hundred men for sixteen days was consumed in a few hours. This accident was peculiarly discouraging; especially as it happened at a crisis when the hardships of the siege, and the diseases of the climate, had rendered two-thirds of the English army unfit for service. The seamen were not in a much better condition. Yet both soldiers and sailors, animated by that active and persevering courage, which so remarkably distinguishes the natives of Great-Britain, applied themselves with vigour to the reparation of damages. Unfortunately, another battery took fire. The besiegers, however, impelled by every motive of glory, interest, and ambition, continued their efforts with as much ardour as if the siege had been but just begun. At length, after conquering numberless difficulties, they got possession. of the covered way. They made a lodgement before the right bastion; and a mine being sprung, which threw down part of the works into the ditch, a breach was left open. Though small, the soldiers were ordered to storm it. The attempt seemed desperate, as the Spanish garrison was still strong: and the brave defence it had made, allowed the besiegers no room to doubt of the vigilance, valour, and resolution of the commanders. But danger itself was only a stimulus to men who had so near a prospect of terminating their dreadful toils. They accordingly prepared themselves for the assault with the utmost alacrity; and mounting the breach under the command of lieutenant Forbes, supported by lieutenant-colonel Stuart, entered the fort with so much order and intrepidity, as entirely disconcerted the garrison. Four hundred of the Spaniards were cut in pieces, or perished in attempting to make their escape by water to the city; the rest threw down. their arms, and received quarter. The marquis de Gonzalez, the second in command, was killed in bravely endeavouring VOL. V. 3 I JULY 30. |