1782. SUFFERINGS OF THE GARRISON. 197 an extravagant height. A goose sold for 17. 10s., a turkey for 21. 8s., and a pound of biscuit crumbs for ten pence or a shilling. The poor soldiers, and yet more the poor people, suffered great distress, in many cases aggravated by the horrors of the scurvy. Meanwhile the enemy made several attacks by means of fire - ships and gun-boats, besides the fire from their lines; all these, however, were bravely encountered and successfully repelled. At length, in April, 1781, after many months of grievous scarcity, when the troops had been reduced to well nigh the lowest rations, and when many a heavy heart among them was turning towards home, there came to them once more the joyful hour of relief from England. They beheld with delight from their ramparts, one morning as the mist slowly rolled away, the flag ship of Admiral Darby steer into their bay, followed by several other men of war and by his convoy, consisting of near a hundred vessels laden with provisions and supplies. But their delight was not of long duration. The safe arrival of this second convoy convinced the Spaniards that they should never succeed in reducing the garrison by famine; and they had determined, if any such new succour should be brought, to relinquish the blockade, and commence some more active measures of aggression. Their preparations were already made; and thus, Admiral Darby's fleet was scarcely moored, ere they opened a bombardment from their batteries. That bombardment they continued for many days and weeks, long after the English stores were landed, and the English men of war had sailed away. Besides the damage to the ramparts or the public buildings, great number of the houses in the town were set on fire and consumed, while others yielded to the masses of stone and rubbish which were loosened by the shells, and came toppling from the rock. Thus were laid open to view several secret magazines hoarded up by the lower class of traders, to be dealt out in scanty portions and at exorbitant rates. Roused to fury by the sight, and still suffering from the privations which these supplies, if earlier disclosed, might have averted, the common men could not be 66 restrained from havoc and plunder. First they drank freely at the wine and spirit stores an excess which led of course to more excesses still. "A great quantity of liquor," — thus writes one of their officers and the historian of the siege, Captain John Drinkwater, was wantonly destroyed, and "in some cases incredible profusion prevailed. Among other "instances, I recollect seeing a party of soldiers roast a pig "by a fire made of cinnamon." There was need of great firmness combined with great temper and discretion in General Elliot to arrest without still worse consequences these dangerous disorders. It is remarkable, that while by the bombardment, so many houses were destroyed, but few lives in comparison were lost. So effectual was the protection afforded by the casemates, that although from the middle of April to the close of May, the enemy, as was computed, fired above 56,000 shot, and 20,000 shells, the garrison had no more than seventy slain. The Governor was indefatigable in repairing the breaches or other damage which the enemy's artillery effected in his walls; and though in most cases he reserved his fire, he poured it with the greater effect whenever any vulnerable point appeared. To defend himself against the gun-boats, for these as well as the batteries took part in the bombardment, he cut down several brigs into frames, mounting each with four or five pieces of heavy cannon. Discouraged at the slight progress which they made, the enemy slackened in their fire during all the summer months. But in the autumn they were observed to show the utmost activity in drawing nearer their approaches, and completing and extending their already formidable works. Of these and of the guards which manned them Elliot obtained accurate intelligence by means of a deserter, and he formed his plans accordingly. At midnight of the 26th of November, he directed a sudden sally, having kept his purpose a profound secret till after sunset the same evening. The body of troops sent forth amounted to 2,000 men, commanded by Brigadier Ross, but accompanied by the Governor himself. This bold and well 1782. FIRMNESS AND SKILL OF GENERAL ELLIOT. 199 concerted enterprise succeeded beyond the most sanguine expectations. The Spaniards, taken by surprise, fled on all sides; and within an hour, by the industry of the assailants, flames burst forth from every quarter of the works. The English regained their own strong hold in safety, first, however, spiking the artillery and laying trains which blew up the magazines of gunpowder, and completed the destruction. So utterly unexpected was this onset, that there was found in the quarters of the Spanish commanding officer a report ready written, to be sent to his General next morning, and stating that "nothing extraordinary has occurred," port in which, as Captain Drinkwater says drily, it must be acknowledged that the Spaniard had been a little premature. - a re For several days the Spaniards appeared to be almost stupified by their surprise. Their batteries continued to burn, and they made no attempt to quench the flames. Butin December, they slowly applied themselves to repair the smoking ruins, and their bombardment was resumed, though by no means with the same vigour as before. Early in 1782, they were cheered by the news that Minorca had yielded to the Duke de Crillon; and still more were their spirits raised when they saw De Crillon himself appear among them, and assume the chief command. He was followed by a large body of his victorious troops; and the total force, French and Spanish, now combining against a barren rock, amounted to full 33,000 men, with 170 heavy pieces of artillery. On the other hand, the garrison had been enabled, by means of succours from England, to repair, and more than repair, their recent losses. With eighty large cannon on their walls, they were now, including a marine brigade, upwards of 7,000 strong; for the most part well inured to privation and fatigue, and sharing in the resolute determination of their chief to maintain at all hazards their post for Old England and the King. The eyes of all Europe, it may be said, were turned to this mémorable siege. A nephew of the Corsican General Paoli, with some sixty volunteers, joined the ranks of the garrison; while from Paris, two Princes of the Blood, the Comte d'Artois, and the Duke de Bourbon, set forth to join in the attack. King Charles of Spain, though usually sedate, nay even phlegmatic in his temper, had grown so eager for the reduction of this fortress, that his first question in the morning as he rose was always, "Is it taken?" and on being answered in the negative, he never failed to add: "It soon "will be!"* The arrival of the French princes in the camp before Gibraltar was marked by an exchange of courtesies, honourable alike to both sides. On passing through Madrid, the Comte d'Artois had taken charge of a mail for the garrison, and on reaching the camp, transmitted the letters by a flag of truce. The Duke de Crillon, by the same occasion, sent over a present of fruit, game, and vegetables for the Governor's own table, promising a further supply, and desiring to know which kind he liked best. The reply of General Elliot might well be taken for a model in such communications. He acknowledged his enemy's present in most grateful terms, but owned that in accepting it he had broken through his resolution that he would never, so long as the war continued, receive any provisions for his private use. "I confess," he added, "I make it a point of honour to par"take both of plenty and scarcity in common with the lowest "of my brave fellow-soldiers. This furnishes me with an "excuse for the liberty I now take of entreating your Excel"lency not to heap on me any more favours of this kind.”** De Crillon, on taking the command, had seen little prospect of prevailing on the land side any better than those who had gone before him. But he fixed his hopes on some floating batteries of new invention to be constructed in the neighbouring port of Algesiras, by the Chevalier D'Arçon, a French engineer of considerable reputation. These batteries, said D'Arçon, who had first contrived them, would be both impregnable and incombustible; wholly bomb*Coxe's Bourbon Kings of Spain, vol. v. p. 121. ** Letter of the Duke de Crillon, August 19. 1782, and the Governor's reply of the next day. It appears from De Crillon's letter, that General Elliot at this time lived entirely upon vegetables. 1782. LAST AND DESPERATE ATTACK. 201 proof at the top, and fortified on the larboard side with great timbers, to the thickness of six or seven feet, bolted with wood-work and covered with raw hides. They were to carry guns of heavy metal, and to be moored by iron chains within half gun-shot of the walls. There it was hoped, that silencing the English fire, and throwing forward mantelets to carry to the shore bodies of French troops, their assault, combined with another on the land defences, and covered by a fleet of men of war, could not fail to carry the place by storm. For several months did the port of Algesiras resound with the stir and din of this great armament. Ten large ships were cut down as bases of the floating batteries; 200,000 cubic feet of timber were assigned for their construction; and they were mounted with 142 pieces of artillery, exclusive of those on the land side. Yet formidable as might seem such equipments, daily going on before his eyes, the Governor was in no degree dispirited. He continued with unremitting energy all his preparations for defence, placing especial hope in the system of red-hot balls, which were first devised and recommended by his Lieutenant-Governor, Boyd. To prepare them in sufficient numbers, there was a large distribution of furnaces and grates throughout the English troops. And so familiar did our soldiers grow, as was wished, with these new implements of death, that in speaking of them to each other, their common phrase was, the roasted potatoes." 66 Early in September the preparations of the French and Spaniards were almost completed, and in the second week their united fleet, so lately threatening the British Channel, sailed into Algesiras bay. It was thought desirable to proceed at once to the grand attack, so as to anticipate the arrival of Lord Howe. On the morning of the 13th, accordingly, the signal was given; and while from all the lines on shore was maintained the tremendous fire which they had opened for some days, the ten floating batteries from Algesiras bore down in admirable order for their ap |