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Article CHANDERNAGORE TAKEN FROM THE FRENCH. ← Page 3 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chandernagore Taken From The French.
silenced . At eight in the morning , several of the enemy's shots struck the Kent at the same time ; one entered near the foremast , and set fire to two or three thirty-two pound cartridges of gunpowder , as the boys held them in their hands ready to
charge the' guns . By the explosion the wad-nets and other loose things took fire between decks , and' the whole ship was so filled with smoke that the men , in their confusion , cried out she was on fire in the gunner ' s store-room , imagining-, from
the shock they felt from the balls , that a shell had actually fallen into her . This notion struck a panic into the greatest part of the crew , and seventy or eighty jumped out of the port holes into the boats that were alongside the ship . The French presently saw this confusion on board the
Kent , and , resolving to take the advantage , kept np as hot a fire as possible upon her during the whole time . Lieutenant Brereton , however , with the assistance of some other brave men , soon extinguished the fire , and then running to the ports ,
he begged the seamen to come in again , upbraiding them for deserting their quarters ; but finding this had no effect upon them , he thought the more certain method of succeeding would be to strike them with a sense of shame , and therefore
loudly exclaimed— "Are you Britons , are you Englishmen , and fly from danger ? for shame , for shame ! " This reproach had the desired effect ; to a man they immediately returned into the ship , repaired to their quarters , and renewed a spirited fire on the enemy . In about three hours from the commencement
of the attack , the parapets of the north and south bastions were almost beaten down , the guns were mostly dismounted , and we could plainly see from the maintop of the Kent that the ruins from the parapet had entirely blocked up those few guns
which otherwise might have been fit for service . We could easily discern , too , that there had been a great slaughter among the enemy , who , finding that our fire against them rather increased , hung out the white flag , whereupon a cessation of
hostilities took place , and the Admiral sent Lieutenant Brereton ( the only commissioned officer on board the Kent that was not killed or -wounded ) and Captain Coote , of the King's Regiment , with a flag of truce to the fort , who soon returned ,
accompanied with the French Governor's son , with articles of capitulation , which being settled b y the Admiral and Colonel Olive , they soon took possession of the place . —Sketches of Bengal .
Mr . Ives , who was a surgeon" of H . M . ' s ship Kent , mentions * that in this engagement thirtyseven men were killed and twenty-four were wounded on board that vessel . The Tyger lost nearly as many men as the Kent , and sent
fortyone of her crew to the hospital on account of thenwounds . The following affecting episode connected with the capture of Chandernagore , is related by Mr . Ives of Captain Speke , who commanded the Kent , and of his son , a midshipman , both of whom were severely wounded by the same shot : —
The behaviour of Captain Spoke and Ins son , a youth of sixteen [ eighteen ] years of age , was so truly , great and exemplary on this glorious but melancholy occasion , that I must beg leave to describe it with some of its most interesting circumstances , When Admiral Watson had tbe unliappiness to see both the father and son fall in the same instant , he immediately went up to them , and by the most tender ancl pathetic expressions tried
to alleviate their distress . The Captain , who had observed his son's leg to be hanging only by the skin , said to the Admiral , " Indeed , Sir , this was a cruel shot , to knock down both the father and the son 1 " Mr . Watson ' s heart was too full to make the least reply ; he only ordered them both to be immediately carried to the surgeon . The Captain was first brought down to
me in the after-hold , where a platform had been made , and then told me how dangerously his poor Billy was wounded . Presently after , the brave youth himself appeared , but had another narrow escape , the quarter-master , who was bringing bim down in Iiis arms after his father , being killed by a cannonball ; his eyes overflowing with tears , not for his own , but for
his father's fate . I laboured to assure him that his father ' s wound was not dangerous , and this assertion was confirmed by the Captain himself . He seemed not to believe either of us , until he asked me , upon my honour , and I had repeated to liiin my first assurance in the most positive manner . He then
immediately became calm ; but on my attempting to inquire into the condition of his wound , he solicitously asked me if I had dressed his father ' s , for he could not think of my touching him before his father's wound had been already properly attended to . " Then" ( replied the generous youth , pointing to a fellow sufferer ) , " pray , Sir , look to and dress this poor man , who is
groaning so sadly beside me 1 " 1 told him that he already had been taken care of , and begged of liiin , with some importunity , that I now might have liberty to examine his wound ; he submitted to it , and calmly observed , " Sir , I fear you must amputate above the joint ! " I replied , "My dear , I must !" Upon which he clasped both his hands together , and lifting his
eyes in the most devout and fervent manner towards Heaven , he offered up the following short but earnest petition : — " Good God , do thou enable me to behave , in my present circumstances , worthy my father's son ! " When lie had ended this ejaculatory prayer , he told me that he was all submission . I then performed the operation above the joint of the knee ; but during
the whole time the intrepid youth never spake a word , or uttered a groan that he could be heard at a yard ' s distance . The reader may easily imagine what , in this dreadful interval , the brave hut unhappy Captain suffered , who lay just by his unfortunate and darling son . But whatever were his feelings , we discovered no other expression of them than what the silent trickling tears declared , though the bare recollection of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chandernagore Taken From The French.
silenced . At eight in the morning , several of the enemy's shots struck the Kent at the same time ; one entered near the foremast , and set fire to two or three thirty-two pound cartridges of gunpowder , as the boys held them in their hands ready to
charge the' guns . By the explosion the wad-nets and other loose things took fire between decks , and' the whole ship was so filled with smoke that the men , in their confusion , cried out she was on fire in the gunner ' s store-room , imagining-, from
the shock they felt from the balls , that a shell had actually fallen into her . This notion struck a panic into the greatest part of the crew , and seventy or eighty jumped out of the port holes into the boats that were alongside the ship . The French presently saw this confusion on board the
Kent , and , resolving to take the advantage , kept np as hot a fire as possible upon her during the whole time . Lieutenant Brereton , however , with the assistance of some other brave men , soon extinguished the fire , and then running to the ports ,
he begged the seamen to come in again , upbraiding them for deserting their quarters ; but finding this had no effect upon them , he thought the more certain method of succeeding would be to strike them with a sense of shame , and therefore
loudly exclaimed— "Are you Britons , are you Englishmen , and fly from danger ? for shame , for shame ! " This reproach had the desired effect ; to a man they immediately returned into the ship , repaired to their quarters , and renewed a spirited fire on the enemy . In about three hours from the commencement
of the attack , the parapets of the north and south bastions were almost beaten down , the guns were mostly dismounted , and we could plainly see from the maintop of the Kent that the ruins from the parapet had entirely blocked up those few guns
which otherwise might have been fit for service . We could easily discern , too , that there had been a great slaughter among the enemy , who , finding that our fire against them rather increased , hung out the white flag , whereupon a cessation of
hostilities took place , and the Admiral sent Lieutenant Brereton ( the only commissioned officer on board the Kent that was not killed or -wounded ) and Captain Coote , of the King's Regiment , with a flag of truce to the fort , who soon returned ,
accompanied with the French Governor's son , with articles of capitulation , which being settled b y the Admiral and Colonel Olive , they soon took possession of the place . —Sketches of Bengal .
Mr . Ives , who was a surgeon" of H . M . ' s ship Kent , mentions * that in this engagement thirtyseven men were killed and twenty-four were wounded on board that vessel . The Tyger lost nearly as many men as the Kent , and sent
fortyone of her crew to the hospital on account of thenwounds . The following affecting episode connected with the capture of Chandernagore , is related by Mr . Ives of Captain Speke , who commanded the Kent , and of his son , a midshipman , both of whom were severely wounded by the same shot : —
The behaviour of Captain Spoke and Ins son , a youth of sixteen [ eighteen ] years of age , was so truly , great and exemplary on this glorious but melancholy occasion , that I must beg leave to describe it with some of its most interesting circumstances , When Admiral Watson had tbe unliappiness to see both the father and son fall in the same instant , he immediately went up to them , and by the most tender ancl pathetic expressions tried
to alleviate their distress . The Captain , who had observed his son's leg to be hanging only by the skin , said to the Admiral , " Indeed , Sir , this was a cruel shot , to knock down both the father and the son 1 " Mr . Watson ' s heart was too full to make the least reply ; he only ordered them both to be immediately carried to the surgeon . The Captain was first brought down to
me in the after-hold , where a platform had been made , and then told me how dangerously his poor Billy was wounded . Presently after , the brave youth himself appeared , but had another narrow escape , the quarter-master , who was bringing bim down in Iiis arms after his father , being killed by a cannonball ; his eyes overflowing with tears , not for his own , but for
his father's fate . I laboured to assure him that his father ' s wound was not dangerous , and this assertion was confirmed by the Captain himself . He seemed not to believe either of us , until he asked me , upon my honour , and I had repeated to liiin my first assurance in the most positive manner . He then
immediately became calm ; but on my attempting to inquire into the condition of his wound , he solicitously asked me if I had dressed his father ' s , for he could not think of my touching him before his father's wound had been already properly attended to . " Then" ( replied the generous youth , pointing to a fellow sufferer ) , " pray , Sir , look to and dress this poor man , who is
groaning so sadly beside me 1 " 1 told him that he already had been taken care of , and begged of liiin , with some importunity , that I now might have liberty to examine his wound ; he submitted to it , and calmly observed , " Sir , I fear you must amputate above the joint ! " I replied , "My dear , I must !" Upon which he clasped both his hands together , and lifting his
eyes in the most devout and fervent manner towards Heaven , he offered up the following short but earnest petition : — " Good God , do thou enable me to behave , in my present circumstances , worthy my father's son ! " When lie had ended this ejaculatory prayer , he told me that he was all submission . I then performed the operation above the joint of the knee ; but during
the whole time the intrepid youth never spake a word , or uttered a groan that he could be heard at a yard ' s distance . The reader may easily imagine what , in this dreadful interval , the brave hut unhappy Captain suffered , who lay just by his unfortunate and darling son . But whatever were his feelings , we discovered no other expression of them than what the silent trickling tears declared , though the bare recollection of