"As President of the Board of Controul for India, I have addressed this letter to you: if I ought to have addressed it to the India House, I request you will have the goodness to send it to the Chairman of the Company; and, that you will excuse the trouble I have given you. I have thought it right to send an officer, Lieutenant Duval, who very handsomely offered his services, by Alexandretta, Aleppo, and Bussorah, to Bombay, to give all the accounts I know of the movements of the French army, and their future intentions. Herewith, I send a copy of my letter; and of the orders I have given him, to draw for money on the East India Company, &c. If I have done wrong, I hope the bills will be paid, and I will repay the company; for, as an Englishman, I shall be proud that it has been in my power to be the means of putting our settlements on their guard. Mr. Baldwin not having been for some months at Alexandria, has been a great misfortune. I have the honour to be, Sir, with the greatest respect, your most obedient servant,
"Horatio Nelson."
With a hundred dollars, in cash, and letters of credit to his Britannic majesty's consuls, vice-consuls, and even British merchants, on his prescribed route, Lieutenant Duval was this day dispatched by Admiral Nelson, as bearer of the following letter to his Excellency the Governor of Bombay.
"Vanguard, off the Mouth of the Nile, 9th August 1798.
"SIR,
"Although, I hope, the consuls who are, or ought to be, in Egypt, have sent you an express of the situation of affairs here; yet, as I know Mr. Baldwin has, some months, left Alexandria; it is possible you may not be regularly informed. I shall therefore relate to you, briefly, that a French army of forty thousand men, in three hundred transports, with thirteen sail of the line, eleven frigates, bomb vessels, gun-boats, &c. arrived at Alexandria on the 1st of July. On the 7th they left it, for Cairo; where they arrived on the 22d. During their march, they had some actions with the Mamelukes, which the French call grand victories. As I have Bonaparte's dispatches before me, which I took yesterday, I speak positively. He says—"I am now going to send off, to take Suez and Damietta." He does not speak very favourable of either the country or people; but there is so much bombast in his letters, that it is difficult to get near the truth. He does not mention India, in these dispatches. He is what he calls organizing the country: but, you may be assured, is master only of what his army covers. From all the enquiries which I have been able to make, I cannot learn that any French vessels are at Suez, to carry any part of the army to India. Bombay, I know, if they can get there, is their first object. But, I trust, Almighty God will, in Egypt, overthrow these pests of the human race. It has been in my power to prevent twelve thousand men from leaving Genoa; and, also, to take eleven sail of the line, and two frigates: in short, only two sail of the line, and two frigates, have escaped us. This glorious battle was fought at the mouth of the Nile, at anchor. It begun at sun-set, August 1st, and was not finished at three the next morning. It has been severe, but God blessed our endeavours with a great victory. I am now at anchor between Alexandria and Rosetta, to prevent their communication by water; and nothing, under a regiment, can pass by land. But, I should have informed you that the French have four thousand men posted at Rosetta, to keep open the mouth of the Nile. Alexandria, both town and shipping, are so distressed for provisions, which they can only get from the Nile, by water, that I cannot guess the good success which may attend my holding our present position; for Bonaparte writes his distress for stores, artillery, things for their hospitals, &c. All useful communication is at an end, between Alexandria and Cairo. You may be assured, I shall remain here as long as possible. Bonaparte had never yet to contend with an English officer, and I shall endeavour to make him respect us. This is all I have to communicate. I am confident, every precaution will be taken to prevent, in future, any vessels going to Suez, which may be able to carry troops to India. If my letter is not so correct as might be expected, I trust for your excuse; when I tell you, that my brain is so shook with the wound in my head, that I am sensible I am not always so clear as could be wished: But, while a ray of reason remains, my heart and my hand shall ever be exerted for the benefit of our king and country. I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,
"Horatio Nelson.
"The officer, Lieutenant Duval, who carries this dispatch voluntarily to you, will—I trust—be immediately sent to England, with such recommendations as his conduct will deserve."
The importance of thus sending this information to India, which few other naval commanders would have thought necessary, proved prodigiously great. Expensive preparations were at that moment making, by the East India Company, for a most powerful armament to oppose any force which the French might be enabled to send against their possessions, in conjunction with Tippoo Saib: and this timely intelligence, by instantly quieting every apprehension of that sort, suddenly arrested the progress of all extraordinary warlike operations, and consequently saved a vast sum of money to the company; which, without the wonderful circumspection of this great man, must necessarily have been expended.
The dispatches to England, however, were unable to be forwarded, for several days. In the mean time, on the morning of the 11th, the Swiftsure brought into the fleet a captured French corvette of eighteen guns, and seventy men, called La Fortune. On the 12th, Sir James Saumarez, captain of the Orion, was directed to take the Bellerophon, Minotaur, Defence, Audacious, Theseus, and Majestic, under his command; and proceed with the prizes, Le Souverain Peuple, Conquerant, Spartiate, Aquilon, Franklin, and Tonnant, for Gibraltar: where, if he found no orders, he was to join the commander in chief off Cadiz, or go to Lisbon. Sir James sailed, accordingly, on the 15th; and Admiral Nelson having, on this very day, received secret orders and letters from the Earl of St. Vincent, found it requisite to destroy the other French prizes. The necessity of this measure is explained in the following letter of the succeeding day, addressed to Evan Nepean, Esq. for the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.