An Authentic Account of the Important Battle of the Nile

by Anonymous

AN

AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT

OF THE

IMPORTANT BATTLE of the NILE,

Fought on the 1ſt and 2d of Auguſt, 1798.

BETWEEN THE

BRITISH FLEET,

COMMANDED BY

Rear Admiral Sir HORATIO NELSON, K. B.

AND

The French Fleet, Commanded by

VICE-ADMIRAL BRUEYS,

In Beguiros Bay, on the Coaſt of EGYPT.

This account was ſent by a young Man who was on
board the Majeſtic of 74 Guns, to his Mother in
Whitehaven with the Particulars of the Cruize, pre-
vious to their falling in with the Enemy.

 

 

Stirling, Printed by C. Randall. 1800.

ΑΝ

AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT, &c.

ON the 24th of May our orders came on board (we were then lying in Cadiz bay) to fall in company with nine Ships of the Line, to join Admiral Nelſon in the Mediterranean ſea, in about three weeks time we fell in with Admiral Nelſon, blue at the Mizzen, in the Vanguard, near Toulon, having with him the Orion, Alexander, the Leander, and the Mutine Brig of war; our fleet then conſiſted of thirteen Sal of the Line, one fifty gun ſhip, and a brig of ſixteen guns; the following is a liſt of the ſhips: the Vanguard, ſeventy four guns, Admiral Nelſon, Orion, ditto, Alexander, Audacious, Bellerophon, Culloden, Defence, Goliah, Swiftſure, Majeſtic, Theſeus, Minotaur, Zealous, Leander, fifty, and the Mutine Brig of ſixteen guns. From Toulon we ſailed to the Iſles of Corſica in queſt of the enemy, but not hearing of the them there we continued our courſe upwards, as we well knew the French had ſailed from Toulon, we then went through a very narrow paſſage, one ſhip only could go through at the time, with a pilot on board, the name of the place is Faro Meſſina: A vaſt concourſe of people came along-ſide of our ſhips in boats, and expreſſed great ſurpriſe at ſeeing ſuch a fleet of large ſhips, for it was never known in the memory of any perſon living at this time, for a fleet of men of war to be ſeen there; ———they were overjoyed when they underſtood we were in ſearch of the French fleet, and informed us, that they were ſeen off, a few days before we arrived, and had gone to Malta;———we fell in with a brig, and ſhe gave us intelligence that the French fleet had ſailed for Egypt. Our Admiral being determined to find them, if poſſible, ſteered his courſe for Alexandria, in Egypt; but to his great ſurpriſe and mortification the French fleet had not been there at all: we then ſteered our courſe down again, and coaſted round the Iſland of Candia, and then put in to the Iſland of Syracuſe in Sicily, where we wooded and watered, being much in want of the ſame, alſo we took a good ſtock of Freſh Beef to ſea with us;—and during the time we were laying there we gained freſh intelligence that the French fleet, after having captured Malta, and garriſoned the iſland with French troops, had ſailed for Alexandria, and arrived there four days after we left it. We then ſailed from Syracuſe on the 24th of July, and on our paſſage, the Culloden captured a brig laden with wine,——ſhe was a tranſport belonging to and on her paſſage to the French fleet,———ſhe confirmed the intelligence that we received in Syracuſe. On the 1ſt of Auguſt, at 4 o'clock, P.M. the Zealous being the look out ſhip for that day, made the ſignal for an enemy's fleet lying at an anchor, off the mouth of the river Nile, above Alexandria, the enemy's fleet conſiſted of 1 three decker of one hundred and thirty guns, called the L'Orient: 5 Eighty-fours: 7 Seventy-fours: 4 Frigates: 1 Brig-cutter: and ſeveral Gun Boats: our Admiral made the ſignal to clear the ſhips for action, we hauled our wind about 5 o'clock, in order to get well to the wind ward of the enemy's fleet, we then bore down upon them at ſix o'clock: our Admiral hoiſted the Bloody Flag at his maintopgallantmaſt head, and made a ſignal for the ſhips to form a line in the beſt manner they could, and engage the enemy as they came up: the head-maſt ſhip was the Goliah, which began to engage the enemy, at half an hour after 6 in the evening, and our ſhip began to engage near 7 o'clock; during the time we were bringing the ſhip to an anchor with ſprings on our cables, we had ſeveral men killed and wounded, for we began to engage in five fathom water, within piſtol ſhot of each other: I cannot relate every particular that happened in the action, as I had to attend my duty. Early in the action, one of the French Eighty-fours came from her moorings, intending to bring along ſide of us, broad-ſide too but thank God they were fruſtrated in their ſcheme, for they brought up ſteem on our ſtarboard quarter, with her jib-boom before our Mizzen Rigging, they were not able to bring a gun to bear on us but ſmall arms, (by theſe however we had ſeveral men killed) ſhe likewiſe made ſeveral attempts to board us, but they were repulſed with great loſs on their ſide, our great guns did her incredible miſchief, as every ſhot near racked her fore and aft; ſhe remained in that ſituation near an hour: ſhe was ſo terribly ſhattered, that we could ſee through their bows very plain, ſhe either cut or dipped her cables, and drifted away from us, and run aground: another two decker, an Eighty-four, made an attempt to board us on our bow, for her taſſril was right under our Bowſprit, but they were ſoon repulſed by our Marines and boarders.

The L'Orient, of one hundred and thirty gus, engaged us on our Larboard bow: about 10 o'clock, as near as I can learn, ſhe took fire in her main chains, and continued burning with great fury till 11 o'clock, when ſhe blew up close to us, the exploſion was terrible: then we had an Eighty-four engaging us on our Larboard ſide, but we ſoon totally diſmaſted her; and then two more French ſhips came to her aſſiſtance, they were all three blazing on us at once: we ſhould have have a narrow eſcape from a watry tomb, had not the Alexander come to our Aſſiſtance: the Alexander had been one of the look out ſhips that day, and had got ſo far to ſea ward, that ſhe could not come into the engagement till late in the evening ſhe was coming into the fleet from ſea, but ſeeing our ſhip hotly engaged with three others of ſuperior force, ſhe came down to our aſſiſtance and lay on our larboard quarter, and engaged the enemy with great gallantry; about half paſt two o'clock our main and mizzen was shot away, near 3 o'clock we ceaſed firing on both ſides: the action was again renewed between 4 & 5 o'clock in the morning, and continued near an hour, when it concluded. We took nine ſail of the line, one three-decker blew up during the action, one Frigate on ſhore ſunk and blew up another, which was ſet on fire by the enemy, after ſtriking to us, a curter brig likewiſe blew up, and ſeveral gun boats were deſtroyed belonging to the enemy during the action: two ſail of the line and two Frigates, were all that eſcaped out of their whole fleet, and they much diſabled: it was currently reported, but I vouch for the truth of it, that there was a deal of valuable property in the three-decker that blew up, being the plunder that the French brought from Malta; our ſhip ſuffered very much in the action, beſides the loſs of her main and mizzen maſt, the had her fore-maſt and bow-ſprit ſhattered in ſeveral places, her fore-topmaſt rendered totally unſerviceable, her fore-yard was shot away, and ſhe received a great many ſhots in her Hull, but thank God, ſhe has a good bottom: we had fifty men killed, one hundred and forty-three wounded, and twenty-one have died ſince of their wounds: and there are many more at this time that are dangerouſly ill, our Captain fell in the early part of the action, likewiſe our Boatſwain, and a midſhipman were killed. I have likewiſe to acquaint you, that the Culloden unfortunately run aground, and was thereby prevented from coming into the action: the Alexander, Bellerophon, and Majeſtic were the greateſt ſufferer. To give you an accurate liſt of the killed and wounded on board of each ſhip, it is not in my power. The 2d of Auguſt, we were employed in clearing the wreck, and then we proceeded to get up Jury-maſts, and rigging the ſhips for ſea: ſeven of the prizes were diſmaſted: and on the 15th of Auguſt, having ſix of the prizes refitted, we proceeded to ſea, being in all thirteen ſail of the Line, (ſeven Engliſh and ſix French) we left Admiral Nelſon with ſix of our ſhips and three prizes, lying at an anchor, off the mouth of the River Nile, with an intent to intercept any thing that came down the Nile, as it belongs to the French. We are now bound to old England once more:——but owing to the ſhips being in ſuch a ſhattered condition, it will be a long time before we reach England, unless we meet with a very favourable wind. We had on board this action, 563 people.

the end.