Part 1

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AN ACCOUNT OF THE EXPEDITION TO CARTHAGENA, &c.

See the Plan of the City and Harbour of Carthagena, published in the LONDON MAGAZINE for April 1740; which will serve to give the Readers of this Pamphlet a clearer Idea of its Contents.

ACCOUNT

OF THE

EXPEDITION

CARTHAGENA,

WITH

EXPLANATORY NOTES

AND

OBSERVATIONS.

THE THIRD EDITION.

Ubi per socordiam vires, tempus, ingenium defluxere, naturæ infirmitas accusatur: suam quique culpam actores ad negotia transferunt. SALLUST.

LONDON: Printed for M. COOPER, at the Globe in Pater-noster-Row.

MDCCXLIII.

Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Dialect spellings, contractions and discrepancies have been retained. The footnotes are lettered from A to I, K to T and V to Z. Subsequent footnotes repeat the lettering sequence, beginning with an A.

ACCOUNT

OF THE

EXPEDITION

CARTHAGENA, &c.

It having been resolved in a general Council of War, held at Spanish Town, to prevent, if possible, the French Fleet joining the Enemy before any Expedition should be undertaken by Land: the Wolf Sloop, Captain Dandridge, was dispatched up to Port Louis, to observe if the Fleet was in that Port: And on the 22d of January, which was the soonest the Fleet could be got ready for the Sea, Sir Chaloner Ogle and his Division sailed out of Port Royal Harbour; and two Days after Mr. Lestock and his Division; and on the Monday following the Admiral with the rest of the Squadron (leaving behind him the Falmouth and Litchfield to bring up the Transports;) but the Land Breeze failing, and a great Swell rolling down, obliged them to anchor at the Keys (where the Augusta drove ashore, and beat off her Rudder, and great part of her Keel.) On the 28th the Admiral weighed Anchor, and plied up to Windward, and the 31st joined Sir Chaloner Ogle and Mr. Lestock with their Divisions off Port Morant, and the Day following was joined by the Falmouth, Litchfield, and Transports. February the 7th the Fleet made Cape Tiberoon on the Island Hispaniola, and off there was joined by the Cumberland, Captain Stewart, from Lisbon, (who had been separated from the Fleet in the Storm the 1st of November) and the next Day the Wolf Sloop came into the Fleet[A] and brought with her a French Sloop. The 13th the Fleet anchored at the Isle of Vache, about two Leagues to the Westward of Port Louis, where they stayed but four Days, having gained Intelligence the French Fleet was divided, and sailed (the Marquis D'Antin and twelve Sail being gone for Old France, and Mr. Rochefieulle and six Sail for Petit Guavas) upon which the Fleet went and anchored in Tiberoon, Donna Maria, and Irish Bays, to Wood and Water; and on the 25th sailed from thence, when the Weymouth, Experiment, and Spence Sloop, were dispatched ahead over to Carthagena, to sound Punta Canoa Bay, for the safer anchoring the Fleet, which arrived there the 5th of March in the Evening; and three Days after the same Ships, together with the Dunkirk, were ordered by the Admiral down off Boccachica, to sound and see if the Fleet might safely anchor there, and how near Ships might come to batter the Forts of St. Philip and St. Jago; and so soon as the Admiral had received the Reports from the Commanders of these Ships, a Council of War was held, wherein it was resolved to send three eighty Gun Ships, the Norfolk, Captain Graves, the Shrewsbury, Captain Townsend, and the Russell, Captain Norris, to batter the Forts abovementioned; the Princess Amelia, Captain Hemmington, to fire against the Fascine Battery, and the Litchfield, Captain Cleveland, against the little Battery of Chamba; (but these two last the Enemy had abandoned) and accordingly the 9th in the Morning they weighed Anchor from Punta Canoa Bay, together with Sir Chaloner Ogle, and the rest of his Division, (he being to command the Attack) and about two Hours afterwards, the Admiral and the rest of the Fleet got under sail: At Noon the Norfolk, Russell, and Shrewsbury began to cannonade the Forts, and in about three Hours time drove the Enemy from their Guns, and obliged them to abandon their Forts[B]: Immediately on this Sir Chaloner Ogle made the Signal for landing the Troops, which was repeated by the Admiral, who was just come to an Anchor, (a little to the Eastward) and about five o'clock in the Evening, a Body of Troops were landed without Opposition; but the General not thinking the Body sufficient, (he landing with them) embarked again in the Boats, and sent for more[C]. About eight o'Clock they landed again, and went and took Possession of the Forts of St. Philip and St. Jago, and about nine the Bomb-ketches were carried in Shore, and began to play on the Castle of Boccachica. The three next Days were spent in landing the remainder of the Forces, the Baggage, &c.[D] and by the 16th all the Cannon, Mortars, and Ordnance Stores were landed[E]. But the principal Engineer not arriving till the 15th, no Spot was pitched upon for raising a Battery[F] against the Enemy, so that the clearing a few Bushes away down by the Water Side, for to pitch their Tents, was all the material Work the Army did for near a Week; and the Enemy was contented to let them be pretty quiet, only now and then firing a Shot, until they opened a Bomb-Battery of four Mortars and some Royals on the 17th[G], and then the Fascine Battery on the Barradera Side annoyed them greatly, and particularly the Camp, so that they were obliged to remove it several Paces off.

Nothing remained now but to get the Fleet and Transports ready for Sea, and to demolish the Castles and Fortifications already taken, which last was effectually done by blowing them up, and by the 12th of May the whole Fleet and Forces had taken leave of Carthagena.

APPENDIX.

In order more fully and clearly to form a Judgment of the foregoing Expedition, it may not be improper to subjoin this Narrative of the Enemy's Situation, Strength, and Disposition at Carthagena, as the Fleet and Forces found them on their Arrival there: And in order to carry it on agreeable to the Advances that were made, begin with a Disposition of Punta Canoa Bay, where the Fleet first anchored. This Bay is about five Miles to the North West of the City of Carthagena, but not an extraordinary good anchoring Place, as the Water is shoal a great Way off the Shore, and the Coast pretty strait, that Ships are not much sheltered with the Point of Land, from the Violence of the Breezes that generally blow. In the Bottom of this Bay is an Entrance into the great Lake of Jesea, (called the Boquilla) where the Enemy had a small Fascine Battery of four Pieces of Cannon, and kept a Guard; but upon the Fleet's Arrival, (and during the Time they continued to lie there) a considerable Number of the Enemy's Forces, both Horse and Foot, kept constantly there, expecting a Descent. The next Place of Note was the Cruizes, where the Enemy kept a Guard ordinarily of a hundred Men: This Place is about half Way from the Boquilla to the Town, and guards a narrow Creek or Pass from the Town to the Lake, called Passa de Juan D'Ingola, through which Supplies come in Canoes from the other Side of the Lake to the Town: As for the City itself, Nature has fortified that against any Attempt by Sea, the Water shoaling near a League off, and the Shore being plentifully bounded with Rocks; besides, the Sea is very seldom smooth, so that it is difficult at all Times landing. However, as the Enemy knew the Bravery of those they had to deal with, they began to wall this Side of the Town, and make a Ravelin in the Middle, there being already a strong Bastion at each End. Bocca Grande being the next Place the Enemy suspected an Attempt might be designed, had posted two of their Men of War, the Conquestodore of sixty six Guns, and the Dragon of sixty to guard it, and began two Fascine Batteries, one on each Point of the Entrance. This Passage, called Bocca Grande, was formerly the principal Entrance into the Harbour, but by Storms, and the Force of the Sea, a Bank was thrown up, which quite closed the Entrance, and then it was called Bocca Serrada; but as strange Revolutions are frequent in these Countries, within these few Years this Passage has broke out again, and there is now nine or ten Foot Water in it. About three Miles below this, on the Island of Terra Bomba, was a small Fort of four Guns, called Battery de Chamba; and half a Mile further, a Fascine Battery of twelve Guns, (both of these the Enemy had abandoned.) The next Places of Defence were the Forts of St. Philip and St. Jago, one of seven Guns, the other of fifteen, which served as Redoubts to the Castle of Boccachica. One of these Forts was built on the Rock Ponti landed on, and probably to prevent any one's landing there again, (especially so easily as he did.) The Castle of Boccachica was the Enemy's chief Dependance, as it guarded the Entrance into the Harbour. It is a regular Square, with four Bastions well built, and was capable of making a stout Defence if well garisoned, and would have been much stronger had the Glacis and Counterscarp been finished. There was mounted in it eighty two Guns, and three Mortars, and the Enemy had cleared three or four hundred Yards of the Woods round it, to prevent Approaches being made undiscovered, (as Ponti did in 1697.) On the other Side the Harbour's Mouth was a Fascine Battery of fifteen Guns, called the Barradera; and in a small Bay a back of that, another Battery of four Guns; and facing the Entrance of the Harbour, on a small flat Island, stood St. Joseph's Fort of twenty one Guns: From this Fort to Boccachica Castle a Boom and Cables were fixed across, fastened with three large Anchors at each End; and just within the Boom was moored in a Line four Men of War, the Galicia of sixty six Guns, (aboard which was the Admiral Don Blass D'Leso,) the Africa and St. Carlos, each of sixty six Guns, and the St. Philip of seventy Guns, which spread the Width of the Harbour's Mouth, that there was not room for a Ship either to pass a head or a stern of them, so that it was impossible for shipping to force an Entrance into the Harbour; and had the Enemy here made a Defence equal to the admirable Disposition they had formed, it must have been a difficult Task for the Fleet to have got in, even after Boccachica Castle was taken. About four or five Miles from hence is a Creek, or Passage, that parts the Grand Baru from the Main called Passa Cavallos, through which there is Water enough for small Vessels: This Pass the Enemy had defended with two Fascine Batteries, one of eight Guns, the other of four, as well to protect their own Imbarkations that come this Way with Provisions from Tolu, and the River Sina, as to prevent any Attempts being made this Way. The next place of Defence was Castillo Grande, which is about eight Miles up the Harbour. This Castle is a regular Square with four Bastions, strong and well built, and defended to the Land by a wet Ditch and Glacis proper, and one Face towards the Sea has a Raveline, and a double Line of Guns. This Castle can mount sixty one Guns, though there was but fifty seven in it. Opposite to this was a Horse-shoe Battery of twelve Guns, called Mancinilla; and in the Middle between these two Forts is a large Shoal with not above two or three Foot Water on it, which divides the Channel into two: In each of these Passages were Ships sunk across, to prevent, if possible, the Fleet's getting by; for that Part of the Harbour above these Castles is a perfect Bason, and seems rather like one Harbour within another, so that if some of the Ships could not have got past to have covered the Troops landing (where they did) they must have marched several Miles, and been greatly exposed; besides, it would have been excessively difficult transporting the Cannon, neither could the Bomb-Ketches have got near enough this Way to have diverted the Town; so that the Intent of this Disposition was exceeding good, had it been effectually executed, (but Fear made the Enemy work in too much Hurry.) Near three Miles further up the Harbour, on two flat sandy Islands, or Keys, stands the famous City of Carthagena, and Himani, called its Suburbs, which are both irregular Figures, but well fortified to the Land with strong Bastions at proper Distances, and Lakes and Morasses running round them; and the Water at the Head of the Harbour shoal so far off, that Ships cannot come near enough to do any material Execution with their Guns, which adds much to its Strength.

* * * * *

About a Quarter of a Mile from the Gate of Himani, on a pretty high Eminence, stands the Castle (or Redoubt) of St. Lazare, which in itself is but trifling, but its Situation very advantageous, and by some new Works lately thrown up much strengthened. This Redoubt overlooks all the Town, but has a Brow of a Hill (about four hundred Yards from it) that overlooks it as much, and entirely commands it, where would have been a proper Place to have raised a Battery, which the Enemy full well knew, for they constantly kept a Guard there, to observe the Army's Motions. As it was this famous Castle put an End to the Siege of Carthagena, a particular Description of it may not be unwelcome.

* * * * *

The Hill it stands on is about fifty or sixty Foot high, naturally steep, but made more so by the Earth out of the Trenches and Lines being thrown over the Brow. The Castle is a Square of about fifty Foot, with three Demi-Bastions, two Guns in each Face, one in each Flank, and three in each Curtain. When the Army first landed, there was no material Works about the Castle, but a Fascine Battery, of five Guns at the North End of the Hill, facing the Brow of the commanding Hill abovementioned; but whilst they were encamping, &c. the Enemy cut Lines round the Foot of the Castle, and erected another Fascine-Battery on the South Brow of the Hill, and brought four Guns out of the North Battery, and mounted in this, as it commanded the Ascent of the Hill best; these Lines ran in Traverses, and communicated from Battery to Battery, and were a better Defence, and much stronger, than all the other Works together. After the Attack, the Enemy being able to judge where their Foible lay, mounted two Guns in the Lines, against the angular Point of one of the Bastions (which was not defended) where the Troops ascended the Hill, and to the South Part of the Hill lengthened their Lines, and made a Stair-case up the Hill, to the Fascine-Battery, and a Breast-work cross the Road, from the Foot of the Hill down to the Water-side, which effectually blocked themselves up, and was a Security against the Army's making a second Attack, and coming at them the right Way, as they might have done at first, had they taken the Guide's Advice. The Side next the Town is quite defenceless, and the Way into the Castle up a Ladder, on that Side, which draws up, like a Bridge.