Chetham received orders to return to Elsineur, and convoy a fleet from thence to England; but at the solicitation of General Kaminsky (conveyed by letter) he remained in Fairwater, and desired the commanders of three praams, who arrived off Dantzic about the 13th May, to follow his directions[1]. This deviation from his instructions was subsequently approved by the Admiralty.
On the 17th May, Captain Chetham determined upon making an attempt to supply Dantzic with ammunition; and he accordingly ordered the Dauntless to the mouth of the Vistula, for the purpose of forcing a bridge which the enemy had constructed, and of conveying 600 barrels of gunpowder to the besieged garrison; but this design was likewise frustrated through adverse circumstances, for on her way thither, with studding-sails set, the praam suddenly broke round off; and, owing either to the ignorance or obstinacy of her pilots, she grounded on the Holmen, within half-musket shot of the enemy’s batteries. On witnessing this disaster. Captain Chetham immediately hoisted his top-sails, and sent to the Valorous for volunteers (the Sally having only 20 effective men on board); but before his boat could return he was informed by a Russian officer that the Dauntless had struck her colours, and any further effort to assist her would consequently have been useless.
It is foreign to our plan to enter much into the details of the subsequent events in Western Prussia, they being almost entirely of a military nature: suffice it to say, that General Kaminsky was conveyed back to Pillau by the Falcon, some of his troops accompanying him in that sloop; the others embarked on board the Charles, and the vessels in which they had arrived under the protection of Captain Sanders: that General Kalereuth was obliged to capitulate, about six weeks prior to the famous treaty of Tilsit; and that Colonel Schuler, the gallant defender of Weeickselmunde, and his garrison, were rescued by Captains Chetham and Mangin, who succeeded in
- ↑ Captains Christopher Strachey, Reuben Caillaud Mangin, and Alexander Richard Mackenzie; of the Dauntless, Valorous, and Combatant.
