by John Marshall

“ The general prepossession of the Syrians, that the French armies were irresistible, from the invariable success that had hitherto attended them, had so paralyzed their efforts of resistance, that but for the stimulating influence of British courage, none would have been made, and the advance of Buonaparte would, there is reason to believe, have been wholly unimpeded, wherever his plans of personal aggrandizement and political resentment might have directed it. Greatly indeed, therefore, must his irritable temper have been affected by the opposition excited by Sir W. Sidney Smith ”

“ While the answer was under consideration, a volley of shot and shells on a sudden announced an assault, which, however, the garrison was ready to receive, and the assailants only contributed to increase the number of the dead bodies in question, to the eternal disgrace of the General, who thus disloyally sacrificed them. I saved the life of the Arab from the effect of the indignation of the Turks, and took him off to the Tigre with me, from whence I sent him back to the General with a message, which made the French army ashamed of having been exposed to such a merited reproof. ”

“ I accordingly landed the boats at the Mole, and took the crews up to the breach armed with pikes. The enthusiastic gratitude of the Turks, men, women, and children, at the sight of such a reinforcement, at such a time, is not to be described. “Many fugitives returned with us to the breach, which we found defended by a few brave Turks, whose most destructive missile weapons were heavy stones, which, striking the assailants on the head, overthrew the foremost down the slope, and impeded the progress of the rest. ”

“ The latter turned a random fire on the boats, to make them take them off, and the sea was in an instant covered with turbans, while the air was filled with piteous moans, calling to us for assistance. It was (as at Aboukir) a duty of some difficulty to afford it them, without being victims to their impatience, or overwhelmed with numbers; we however persevered, and saved all, except those whom the French took prisoners by wading into the water after them ”

“ Nine times the enemy had attempted to storm the breach, and on each occasion had been repulsed with the most determined bravery; when, on the fifty-first day of the siege, a long expected reinforcement, under Hassan Bey, appeared in sight. The efforts of Buonaparte were now renewed with the most impetuous vigour, to do all that could be done before its junction; the resistance on the part of the besieged was proportionally vigorous. ”

“ About a month after the return of the French army to Cairo, a Turkish squadron arrived at Aboukir; and in announcing this event to the people of that city, Buonaparte used the following expressions, persuasive of his adherence to the Mohammedan faith:– “On board that fleet,” said he, “there are Russians, who hold in horror all that believe in the unity of God, because, according to their lies, they believe that there are three Gods; but they will soon see that it is not in the number of Gods that strength consists. ”

“ This delay gave time for the enemy to collect a force more than double that of the first division landed, and to be ready to attack it before the return of the boats with the remainder. The French advanced to the charge with bayonets. The Turks completely exculpated themselves from the suspicion of cowardice having been the cause of their delay; for when the enemy were within ten yards of them, they rushed on, sabre in hand, and in an instant completely routed the first line of the French infantry. ”

“ Sir W. Sidney Smith finding that neither entreaty nor remonstrance, neither argument nor solicitation, could prevail with those rigid and inflexible revolutionists, who then held the reins of government, and who added insult to the sufferings they imposed upon him, by offering a release on terms to which they could not expect an assent terms which, as a precedent, would soon have rendered nugatory the capture of French prisoners, formed a scheme, and procured friends to aid in the execution of it, by which he eventually obtained his liberty. ”

“ Seven poor wretches are left alive in the hospital, where they are protected, and shall be taken care of. We have had a most dangerous and painful duty in disembarking here, to protect the inhabitants; but it has been effectually done; and Ismael Pasha deserves every credit for his humane exertions and cordial co-operation to that effect. Two thousand cavalry are just despatched to harrass the French rear, and I am in hopes to overtake their van in time to profit by their disorder ”

“ Ismael Pasha, governor of Jerusalem, to whom notice was sent of Buonaparte’s preparations for retreat, having entered this town by land at the same time that we brought our guns to bear on it by sea, a stop was put to the massacre and pillage already begun by the Nablusians. The English flag rehoisted on the consul’s house (under which the Pasha met me) serves as an asylum for all religions and every description of the surviving inhabitants. ”

“ On the 11th of the preceding month, the new political system of the Porte was completely developed by a general measure of reprisal against the persons and property of the French throughout the Turkish dominions, and by the fulmination of a manifesto, couched in terms of extraordinary energy, against the Parisian government. During the interval between the defeat of the French fleet in Aboukir Bay [9] , and the arrival of Sir W. Sidney Smith on the Syrian coast, General Buonaparte had achieved the entire conquest of Egypt ”

“ But it is doubtful whether the labours of these officers would have been sufficient to support the Pasha against the attacks of the French, had not the vessels, having on board the greater part of their battering train and ammunition, fallen into the hands of the British. The flotilla was doubling Mount Carmel, when it was discovered from the Tigre, pursued, and overtaken. It consisted of a corvette and nine gun-vessels, seven of which, mounting 34 guns, with 238 men, were captured, the corvette having on board Buonaparte’s personal property ”

“ The garrison was consequently left to the care of the Prince of Hesse-Philipsthal, and the British squadron proceeded to Naples, an attack on which was apprehended by the French. The city was at this time illuminated on account of Joseph Buonaparte proclaiming himself King of the two Sicilies. It would have been easy for Sir W. Sidney Smith to interrupt the shew of festivity; but he considered that the unfortunate inhabitants had evil enough on them ”

“ The British government had been informed that a negociation with the Grand Vizier for the evacuation of Egypt by the French army was in progress, and instructions were sent to the British Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean to accede; but with this main difference in the conditions, that the French army should be detained as prisoners of war till regularly exchanged. ”

“ In Jan. 1807, Sir W. Sidney Smith was ordered to accompany Vice-Admiral Duckworth on the memorable expedition against Constantinople [23] . Previous to his leaving Sicily, he received the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Ferdinand and of Merit; and a letter from the then reigning Queen, expressive of the regret felt by the royal family at his departure, and gratitude for his exertions in their cause. ”

“ On this occasion an English officer of the name of Dennison commanded the Venus frigate, and was very near taking the King of Sweden himself, as he captured the galley in which that monarch had embarked, and which his Majesty only left at the suggestion of Captain Smith, who said he was sure, from the gallant seaman-like style in which she bore down to the attack, that the Venus was commanded by an Englishman, and that the King would do well to avoid the consequence ”

“ In the meanwhile, Buonaparte having intelligence that the arrival of Commodore Smith would be the signal for commencing offensive operations, determined to destroy the preparations of the Pasha before they could be brought into combined action with the other forces. The French army destined for this expedition consisted of 12,895 men. The train of artillery, which could only be conveyed by sea, was ordered by the republican General to be shipped at Alexandria ”

“ In the summer of 1812, Sir W. Sidney Smith was appointed second in command of the fleet employed in the Mediterranean, and proceeded thither in the Tremendous, of 74 guns; from which ship, on his arrival off Toulon, he shifted his flag to the Hibernia, a first rate, where it continued during the remainder of the war. In the following year, the King of Sardinia and suite dined on board the Hibernia, at Cagliari ”

“ The Mussulman who embarks in a ship where the cross is flying, he who every day hears the one only God blasphemed, is worse than an infidel.”
Confident of victory over an undisciplined enemy, he commenced his preparations; and having augmented his cavalry with a number of fleet Arabian horses, set out to meet him. On the llth July the Turkish army landed at Aboukir, the fort of which they took, and put the garrison to the sword, in retaliation of the massacre at Jaffa. ”

“ The heaps of unburied Frenchmen lying on the bodies of those whom they massacred two months ago, afford another proof of divine justice, which has caused these murderers to perish by the infection arising from their own atrocious act. ”

“ The enemy then beat a parley; a capitulation was subsequently signed, and the garrison marched out with the honours of war. Some projected sorties from Gaeta took place in consequence, on the 13th and 15th May. The garrison held out till 13th July, but was then compelled to surrender to the French army.
Amongst the various other active, but desultory services, on which the Rear-Admiral’s squadron was employed in this quarter, may be particularly mentioned that of the attack of Fort Licosa; in which the Pompée had a Lieutenant and 8 men killed and 33 wounded. ”

“ Feeling himself altogether incompetent to contend with such a powerful adversary, the Vice-Admiral came to a determination of repassing the Dardanelles; on the morning of the 1st Mar. he weighed, and stood off and on during the day; at dusk, the squadron bore up, and towards the evening of the 2d, anchored off Abydos. In the morning of the 3d, he again weighed; and about noon, every ship was in safety outside the passage. “The Turks,” said the Vice-Admiral, “had been occupied unceasingly in adding to the number of their forts ”

“ The head is a profile, and bears some resemblance to its original; but the features are of too haggard a contour to be acknowledged as an accurate likeness. The extraordinary thinness of the figure may be accounted for, as the effect of two years confinement, during which he was overwhelmed with every indignity that oppression could lay upon the subject of its power. ↑ Sir W. S. Smith’s brother was at that time the English Envoy to the Ottoman Porte. ↑ See p. 180. ↑ Jaffa was stormed by the French troops on the 7th March, and the Turkish garrison put to the sword. ”

“ The assault, however, cost the enemy about 1200 men. It has been said that Buonaparte, in this expedition into Palestine, had purposed to take possession of Jerusalem, rebuild the Temple, restore the Jews, and thus give the lie to the prophecies of the Divine Founder of the Christian Religion. ↑ Lieutenant Wright, who received a severe wound in the defence of Acre, was afterwards promoted to the rank of Commander, and died a prisoner in France, where he had been subjected to a long and rigorous confinement. ”