by John Marshall

“ Continuing his search for the enemy, Sir George Collier discovered a large brig, which he approached under easy sail, so as not to show any particular anxiety, suspecting from circumstances that she was a British vessel in the possession of the enemy, and being desirous of obtaining information from the prize-master by imposing the Leander upon him as an American ship. Nothing could have happened better: the brig proved to be the John, of Liverpool, lately captured by the Perry privateer ”

“ Lieutenant O’Reilly, with his former companions in the batteries, was conspicuously active; every ship in the squadron sent a proportion of seamen, under their respective officers, and they behaved uniformly well. The loss on both sides during the assault, must have been considerable, as artillery of all descriptions was playing on the enemy while disputing the breach and walls. Captain John Smith, of the Beagle, who was slightly wounded on the island, has the command of the seamen there landed. ”

“ During the Dutch and Spanish armaments we find him serving as a Midshipman on board the Carysfort frigate, commanded by Captain Matthew Smith; and we have been told by an officer who was his schoolfellow and messmate, that he was then not only a good astronomer, marine-surveyor, and draftsman, but that he was also very well acquainted with the French, Spanish, and Italian languages a combination of qualifications rarely to be met with in a young sea-officer at that period of our naval history. ”

“ Leaving the Newcastle and Acasta to windward of Barbadoes, Sir George Collier took up a cruising ground off the north end of Cayenne, with the intention of remaining there ten days; but only four had elapsed when he fell in with an American schooner, the master of which gave him an authentic account of the peace between Great Britain and the United States. It afterwards appeared by the Constitution’s log, that she made the north end of Cayenne, only two days after the Leander had left that spot to rejoin the other ships ”

“ Subsequent to the affair of Guetaria, Sir George Collier served on shore with a detachment of seamen and marines landed to co-operate with a guerilla regiment in an attack upon the castle of St. Ano, and received a wound when pursuing the French garrison from thence towards Santander [9] . In the following year he was appointed Commodore of the squadron employed in that quarter, where he contributed iii no small degree to the success of Lord Wellington’s army, then approaching the French frontier. ”

“ Finding, however, that the enemy was advancing fast, he gave orders to re-embark, and brought off his party, with the exception of 3 Midshipmen and 29 men, who were taken prisoners, but fortunately without having a man killed or wounded. The Spaniards lost a Captain of artillery, and had a serjeant and 10 men badly wounded. The detachment expected from General Mina’s army arrived the morning after the action, and joined Don Gaspar, having marched eighteen Spanish leagues in two days. ”

“ It is very natural for junior Captains to feel a delicacy in addressing signals to their commanding officer when in presence of an enemy; but as Sir George Collier had formed his opinion of the Americans’ force from the report of Captain Kerr and Lord George Stuart, he certainly could not have taken offence had he been informed that the Acasta alone was more than capable of annihilating the two ships which she had tacked after. ↑ The Newcastle, according to her log, lost sight of the headmost American, in thick hazy weather, at 2h 50' P.M. ↑ See Captains Hon. ”

“ In June 1812, the Surveillante formed part of the squadron under Sir Home Popham at the reduction of Lequitio, on which occasion Sir George Collier commanded a battery on Shore: the particulars of that service are thus detailed by the former officer:
“The enemy had possession of a hill-fort commanding the town, calculated to resist any body of infantry, and also 200 men posted in a fortified convent within the town, the walls of which vvere impervious to any thing less than an 18-pounder. ”

“ In a very short time General Key, the governor, sent out a flag of truce to propose terms of capitulation, which were concluded at 5 P.M. when the battery du Gouverneur and the Mirador were immediately taken possession of by our troops. The garrison, still upwards of 1700, became prisoners of war, and are to be conveyed to England from Passages. At this season of the year the possession of St. Sebastian becomes doubly valuable; it may be considered the western key of the Pyrenees, and its importance as to the future operations of the allied army is incalculable. ”

“ The enemy, it appear, cut their cables, fearing they should be attacked at anchor, although in a neutral port. ↑ The Newcastle was now two miles ahead of the Leander, and one mile on the lee-bow of the Acasta. The enemy standing to the eastward. ↑ The Guerriere, rated as a 44-gun frigate, was a new ship, mounting 56 guns, 28 of which were 32-pounders, called Columbians, resembling those used in the British navy under the names of their inventors, Gover and Congreve. ”

“ She proves to have been the French national corvette la Fleché, mounting twenty long French 8-pounders, answering to English nines, with 2 stern-chasers, though it appears that all her guns were not mounted in the first action [3] . She was larger than the Victor in dimensions, perfectly new, a remarkably fast sailer, and not four months from France, commanded by Captain Bonamy, Lieutenant de Vaisseau with four Lieutenants, and a complement of 145 men, some of whom had been left sick at Bourbon. ”

“ In the Iris have also arrived upwards of 300 French prisoners, with a proportion of officers; among which number it is said is an aide-de-camp of Buonaparte, Colonel Cenopieri. They form a part of the remains of the hist, corps, which was so entirely defeated by the indefatigable guerilla,, Mina; 500 of the enemy were killed or wounded, and the remainder, 600, made prisoners. Captain Christian speaks in very favourable terms of the activity and zeal of his first Lieutenant, Mr. ”

“ Nicholas to bombard it, when the.French commandant beat a parley, and surrendered with the remainder of his party, consisting of 290 men of the 119th regiment. The enemy’s loss was supposed to be considerable, as the guerillas, who were better posted, and fired with more celerity, had 56 men killed or wounded. Not a man was hurt in the British squadron, either by the surf or the enemy, There were two 18-pounders mounted on the fort, and 3 smaller guns in the barracks ”

“ A heavy firing was maintained till late in the evening; but the rock still holds out, and may probablyfor some days. A large part of the town has been unavoidably destroyed, and more must inevitably suffer from the means still in possession of the. enemy. ”

“ H.M. Sloop Victor, Mahé Roads, Sept. 19, 1801. “Sir,– The state of the crew of life Majesty’s sloop under my command, after leaving the Red Sea [2] , induced me to put into the island of Diego Garcia. ”

“ On the 15th, the enemy’s moveable column having been drawn by a feint to Santona, from whence it could not reach Guetaria in less than four days, another attack was intended to be made upon the latter place, in concert with the guerillas under Don Caspar, and with the: promised aid of one of the battalions under General Mina. ”

“ Sebastian on the 20th at ten A.M., under most unfavourable circumstances of weather, and this evening there is a considerable breach; but a second will, I understand from General Graham, be made before the storm is attempted. A gun has been thought necessary at the light-house hill. Captain Tayler, of the Sparrow, has prepared a battery ”