by the carronade launch of the Cerberus, under the orders of Lieutenant Mansell, assisted by the Eling (schooner) and Carteret, which obliged them to take shelter in their port.
“In the performance of this intricate service I cannot too highly applaud the zeal and persevering exertions of all the officers and men under my orders; and I should not do justice to the merits of Captain (William) Selby, was I not to acknowledge the able assistance I have received from him since I have had the honor of being in his ship. The steadiness and good conduct of all the officers and men in the Cerberus, during the time the ship was aground, also do them infinite credit.
“The various services on which Captain M‘Leod of the Sulphur, and Captain Hardinge of the Terror, have been employed this war, are already sufficiently known[1]; but I will venture to assert that in no instance can they have displayed greater zeal and gallantry than on the present occasion: and great praise is also due to Lieutenants Macartney and Smith, and the parties of artillery embarked on board the bomb-vessels. It is not possible to ascertain the damages the enemy have sustained on this occasion, but as, during the bombardment, very few, if any, of the shells missed taking effect, they must have been very considerable. I am, &c.
The subject of this memoir appears to have been the senior Commander employed by Lord Keith during the “catamaran” expedition, against the Boulogne flotilla; and although the attempt then made to destroy the enemy’s vessels ended in complete disappointment, and became an object of great ridicule, it afforded him an opportunity of displaying considerable intrepidity, as will be seen by his lordship’s official letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, from which we make the following extract:
“The conduct of the officers and men who have been employed on this occasion, deserves my highest commendation; I cannot more forcibly impress their merits upon their Lordships’ attention, than by remarking, that the service was undertaken, not only in the face of, but immediately under the whole line of the enemy’s land batteries, and their field-artillery and musketry upon the coast, but also under that of upwards of 160 armed vessels, ranged round the inner side of the bay; and that the officers und men who could so deliberately and resolutely advance into the midst of the flotilla, under such circumstances, must be considered worthy of being entrusted with the performance of uny service, however difficult or dangerous it may appear to be, and consequently to be highly deserving of their Lordships’ protection.”
- ↑ We have not found Captain M‘Leod’s name in any of the gazettes previous to this period.
