“I ascertained by our advanced piquets, that the enemy in the course of the night had received large reinforcements, and I had information of a considerable army being on their march from Malaga, under the command of General Sebastiani; I accordingly gave orders to change our position, our right to Frangerola, and left on a strong ridge of hills, with the sea close to our rear, and both flanks protected by gun-boats; a position I conceived capable of resisting any effort the enemy could have made.
“I had been arranging a disposition for the gun-boats, when I heard an attack was made, chiefly directed against the left, where the foreign troops were posted; and the enemy possessed themselves of our artillery. I instantly formed the 89th regiment, consisting of only 280 men, and retook the guns with the bayonet. On the left an irregular force advanced, dressed precisely the same as the Spanish troops, and it was called out they were Spaniards. My horse being previously shot, I could not go by the left sufficiently rapid to ascertain the fact, and was obliged to go by the front, when a desperate body closed in from the left, and so heavy a fire commenced, that those around me were mostly killed or wounded; here a warm contest ensued, chiefly with the bayonet, and I was obliged to surrender, having but nine men remaining on the hill. I learned afterwards, with much concern, that the guns had again been taken, and the troops forced to retreat. General Sebastiani’s conduct to me, and that of his officers, does credit to his nation.
“Captains Hope, Hall, and Pringle, of the navy, with Lieutenant Carroll, and the officers commanding the gun-boats, performed their part with the zeal and intrepidity which has hitherto distinguished that service.
“To H.E. Lieut.-General Campbell, &c. &c. &c.”
After this unfortunate business, Lieutenant Carroll was ordered to Cadiz; in the defence of which city he continued to be employed until the day subsequent to the battle of Barosa, when his boat was destroyed while leading a division to cover the landing of a storming party, on the north side of the bay. A portion of the services performed by the flotilla, between Oct. 1810 and Mar. 1811, have been described at pp. 323–326 of Suppl. Part II.
In the last of a series of letters, from Sir Richard G. Keats to the Admiralty, detailing the co-operation of the naval force under his command, with Lieutenant-General Graham’s army, there appears the following passage:–
“Lieutenant W. F. Carroll, whose conduct on all occasions has been conspicuous, having had his gun-boat sunk before Catalina, and thereby sustained a considerable loss, I have given him six weeks’ leave of absence, and with it my despatches.”
