1781. Fort Watson, in South Carolina, taken from the British, by the provincials under colonel Lee. The fort was built on an Indian mound 30 feet high; but the besiegers speedily erected a work which
overlooked the fort, and fired into it with such effect that the garrison surrendered.
1794. James Duval d'Epremenie, a French advocate, executed. He was remarkable for the violence of his proceedings during the revolution, and was sent to the scaffold with his old opponent Chapellier.
1795. Warren Hastings acquitted after a trial of 7 years. His crime as charged by the house of commons to the peers was maladministration in India.
1808. Murat, at the head of 40,000 French soldiers, taking advantage of a faction among the people, entered Madrid and took possession of it.
1809. Battle of Ratisbon. The Austrians, having sustained defeat and losses four days successively, made some attempt to fortify this city, in order to protect the retreat of the army. The French, who had advanced to the storm, were cut down by the musquetry of the besieged. There was at length difficulty in finding volunteers to renew the attack, when the impetuous Lannes, by whom they were commanded, seized a ladder and rushed forward to fix it himself against the wall. "I will show," exclaimed he, "that your general is still a grenadier." The French rallied and carried the ramparts—the contest was renewed in the street, and the city fired. The Austrians were driven out of Ratisbon, leaving cannon, baggage and prisoners in the hands of the French. Thus in five days, in spite of the inferiority of numbers and the imperfect manner in which his troops were combined, Bonaparte, by the sole energy of his genius, triumphed over the main forces of his opponent, and opened the road to his capital. At no period of his momentous career, says Scott, did the genius of Napoleon appear more completely to prostrate all opposition; at no time did the talents of a single individual exercise such an influence on the fate of the universe.
1810. Fort Matagorda, having bean reduced to a heap of ruins, was evacuated by the British, in consequence of which the French were enabled to bombard Cadiz; 500 officers and 900 men fell into the hands of the French.
1810. Dinah, a black woman, died in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, aged 116.
1823. Aaron Arrowsmith, hydrographer to the king of Great Britain, died. He was distinguished as a constructor of maps and charts, and published a new General Atlas to accompany the Edinburgh Gazetteer.
1823. Joseph Nollekins, an eminent sculptor, died. He gained great reputation as an artist during his residence in Italy, and on his return to England was so extensively patronized that he acquired a large fortune.