I cannot conclude without remarking, as something extraordinary, the Justice done by the Author in his last Paragraph to the common Soldiers; but which is surely no less due to the Officers, who led them on, and by following whose brave Example, they gave evident Proofs, that they wanted not for Courage and Resolution becoming Englishmen.
FINIS.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The principal Council of War, consisted of the two eldest Officers of the Army, of the two eldest Officers of the Navy, and of the Governor of Jamaica, whenever he could be present. It was the Province of this Council to determine what Enterprizes should be undertaken.
[2] Vide Note (a) in the late Pamphlet, entituled, An Account of the Expedition to Carthagena.
[3] Upon its being first debated, whether an Attempt should be made on Carthagena, the General declared, that, as he was a Stranger in those Seas, he had no Knowledge of the then present State of that City; and that he should join with the Admiral in his Opinion; not doubting of his being well inform'd of every Circumstance relating to the Entry into the Harbour, the Strength of the Garrison, &c.
[4] In relating this Transaction (vide P. 7. note Letter c) the very candid Author of the Account of the Siege of Carthagena, is pleas'd to affirm, that the General landed with a Body of 800 Grenadiers, but not thinking them sufficient, reimbark'd, and sent for more: There was not the least Step taken, which could give Colour for such an Assertion; excepting that Capt. Dennet, who commanded General Harrison's Grenadiers, being apprehensive, that the General would give those of his own Regiment the Honour of landing first, push'd forward without Orders, and leaped on Shore with five or six Men: which the General perceiving, and that the rest of the Boats began to move in Confusion towards the Beach; he order'd those who had landed, (who were only Dennet, and the few Men abovementioned) to reimbark, and with the rest of the Boats to lay along-side of the Norfolk and Russel, there to wait for the Arrival of the Companies, which were still wanting: Nor, had all the Companies of Grenadiers, been compleat to a Man, could they have exceeded 648 Officers included: but that was far from being the Case; for not only Robinson's Grenadiers were then absent, having been separated from the Fleet, but the rest were at that Time so far reduced by Sickness, as not to amount to 400 Men, as it will appear from the Adjutant's Books.
[5] Had the Author of the Account, (vide Note d,) been present on Shore, where probably he was not, he might have observed that all possible Diligence was used, to put the Men under Cover; and if he is in any wise capable of judging of military Operations at Land, he must have known that the Camp could not have been so properly formed in any other Place, for carrying on the Attack on the Castle of Boca-Chica; nor, if advanced higher into the Woods, could it have been supplied with Water, or the Tents pitch'd on that rocky Soil, which will not admit of the driving down a Tent Pin; but setting aside that Difficulty, how the Tents could have been pitch'd without cutting down the Trees, from whose Shade, as the Author alledges, the Soldiers would have been so much benefited, I really do not comprehend; nor would they have been less exposed to the Enemy's Shot, excepting they had incamped out of the Reach of it, which could not have answered the End proposed by their Landing.
[6] Mr. Moor was of Opinion, that if an Opening should be made through the Wood from the Camp to the Lagoon, where the Enemy's Ships of War lay at Anchor, it might be a means of directing their fire: That the Admiral sollicited the General to continue this Coupure, is, I believe, true; but that it would have answer'd the Purposes mention'd in the latter part of the Note (f) in the Pamphlet, is not so evident. As the Enemy was in Possession of the Lagoon, they would not surely send Succours cross the Boca-Grande, (where Ships were posted to observe their Motions) thence with Hazard to pass the Tierra Bomba; which Succours could be conveyed by the way of the Harbour, without Danger or Interruption: nor could that Coupure be of the least Use to enable us to observe what passed in the Harbour, of which we daily received Accounts from the abovementioned Ships, or from our small Parties; nor, if there was Danger to be apprehended from the Enemy's Incursions, (which there was not) could this Coupure have prevented them, as it was not much less than 1000 Paces from the Castle of Boca-Chica.
[7] The Communication between the Mortar-Battery and the Camp (vide Letter g in the Pamphlet) was covered from the Shot of the Castle by a rising Ground, nor was one Man killed during the whole Time in passing between that and the Camp, nor did one single Shot take Place in it from the Fascine Battery, from which it was in great Measure secured by its natural Situation, which was help'd by a Parapet. Several of the Bombs most certainly broke in the Air, without any Effect; which was possibly occasioned by the splitting of the Fuzees, in driving them into the Shells. Nor (notwithstanding what the Author is pleased to advance) did we suffer much from those thrown by the Enemy; one of which fell near the Mortar-Battery, and killed 6 or 7 Men; a few took Place in the Artillery-Park, (whither they were chiefly directed) damaged some Casks of working Tools, and two or three Carriages; but the greatest Part of them were either extinguished by falling into the Water, or buried themselves so deep in the Sand, as to break without any ill Effect whatsoever.