“To Captain Brisbane, (Or the Captain of any of H.M.S. off Corfu.)”
Captain Brenton was fully aware of his very great responsibility in thus continuing in the Adriatic, notwithstanding the order he had received from Lord Collingwood, to leave that station; and he also well knew how rigid his Lordship was in exacting the most implicit obedience to his commands. He felt however that an imperative duty called upon him to give all the aid in his power to the Austrians, with whose precise situation the Admiral could not be acquainted. He therefore wrote the following letter to account for his conduct.
“Spartan, off Lussin, 26th May, 1809.
“My Lord,
“The Redwing has just joined me with your Lordship’s orders of the 18th April, which I should have put into immediate execution, but from the important and unexpected events which have taken place in the vicinity, since they were written.
“The success of the Arch-duke Charles on the 21st ult. was followed by a reverse; the left wing of the Austrian army being defeated. The Arch-duke was in consequence obliged to retreat towards Vienna, and the Arch-duke John, who had advanced as far as Verona, was under the necessity of falling back first to Cornegliano, and afterwards to Villach. The French under General Miolis, taking advantage of this movement, passed the Lizonzo on the 13th with the intention of taking possession of Trieste, which occasioned a general panic in that city, and induced many of the merchants and inhabitants to fly with their property on board of such vessels as they could procure in the port.
“The capture made by H.M.S. under my command, assisted by two companies of Croatian troops, on the 10th instant, off the Island of Lussin, (a detail of which I have the honour to enclose for your Lordship’s information) has become of much importance in affording them a safe harbour.
“The Spartan and Amphion arrived off Trieste on the 16th, and found the heights of Optehina occupied by the enemy. The Austrian flotilla consisting of two brigs, and nine gun boats under sail in the bay, and a number of vessels of every description in a state of utmost distress and confusion from the precipitate departure.
“The Russian squadron was at the same time ready for sea. The Imperial vessels anchored on the 17th in the bay of Peran in order to complete their equipment. The French marched into Trieste on the same day. On the 18th the Spartan and Amphion anchored in Peran. I had dispatched the Imperial brig to recall the Thames, which arrived on the 19th. The Imperial convoy sailed on the 20th for Lussin, and on the 21st His Majesty’s ships left the bay.
“Under the idea that a junction might be formed between the Russian squadron, and that of the French in Ancona, it was my intention to have endeavoured to burn the latter with rockets, and accordingly directed our course towards the latter place, but calms prevented our getting further than Rimini before last night, when anxious lest H. M. ships might be wanted on the coast of Dalmatia, and the wind coming to the southward, I pushed for the place where we have just arrived, the convoy having anchored only a few hours before us.