Expeditions j &c. of the English, Book * *
1706. this Retreat at Paris pretend, it was invery good Order, and that they alwaysbeat those who pursued them. Buthow came they then to part with theirField-pieces and Waggons.
Troops land- Barcelona being thus relieved, theda ^ Valen ' Fleet sailed from thence, the seventh ofMay, with what Forces could be sparedfrom the Service of Catalonia, and arri v-ed on the Coast of Valencia, the thir-teenth, where the Earl of Peterboroughbeing put on Shoar, they were landed,the next Day. The nineteenth, it wasresolved, in a Council of War, to pro-ceed to Alicant ; But being got theLength of Altea, two Gentlemen cameoff, and acquainted the Admiral, thatthe Inhabitants of Carthagena were dis-posed, upon the Appearance of theCarthagena Fleet, to declare for King Charles III.surrendered. j c was thereupon resolved to proceedthither ; And the Fleet arriving, thefirst of June, the Place was furrender’dthe next Day, (/)
The seventh, the Fleet sailed forAltea again, to water ; And while theywere there, Sir John Leahe, having In-formation, that two Gallies were to goover to Gran, on the Coast of Barbary,with Mony to pay that Garrison, heordered the Hampton-Court and Tygerto cruize off of that Place, and to en-Two Spanish deavour to intercept them ; But uponGallies yield. t p e first Sight of our Ships, off of CapePalamos, they came off to them, anddeclared for King Charles.
The Fleet ar- The six and twentieth of June, Sirrives at AXi- John Leake arrived, with the Fleet, be-cant, fore Alicant, which they found had a
numerous Garrison, commanded by 1706'.
Brigadier Mahoni, an Irijh Man, whodeclares he would defend it to the lastExtremity. They staid some Time, 'tillshe Marines on Board the Fleet, werere-inforced by a Detachment of a Hun-dred and fifty Spanish Horse, and thir-teen Hundred Foot, commanded byBrigadier Gorges , and then theirForces were esteemed far short of what.was necessary for the intended Service.However, they were landed, the twen-ty-first and twenty-second of July, andwith them eight Hundred Seamen, andthe same Night the Town was bombard-ed. The next Day, Sir George Byng, ne cityhaving hoisted his Flag on Board the bombardShrewsbury, a third Rate, anchoredwith her, and four Third-Rates more,in a Line, so near the Town, that theysoon dismounted some of the Hundredand sixty Guns they had facing the Sea/and drove the Enemy from them.
Sir John Jennings arriving, the four Andtak^and twentieth, with the Ships and Ma- Storm.rines from Carthagena (the Garrison ofwhich Place the Earl of Peterboroughhad replaced with. other Troops) theeight and twentieth, it was resolved tostorm the Place, Sword in Hand ; Anda Draught of forty Seamen, out ofevery Ship, being ordered to assist theMarines and Land-Forces, their innateValour, added to the Hopes of Plunder,carried them on to the Attack, with somuch Chearfulness and Vigour, thatthe Design was executed with Success.
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fays but one Hundred and Fifty ; But the formerAccount seems most probable : Another Accountfays a Thousand.
The French had been five {Burnet fays seven)and thirty Days before the Place. Their Army,at first consisted of twenty Thousand Men, ofwhich they lost five Thousand. The Garrison atfirst, ’till the Earl of Peterbarough found Meansto throw in a Supply, consisted of but eight Hun-dred Men. Bishop Burnet says, Philip himselfwas in the French Army, (but he was not oncenamed in any Action) and continued there ’tillthe Retreat : And De Larrey fays he was therefrom the Beginning of the Siege.
(/) A Garrison of fix Hundred Marineswas put into the Place, under the Command ofMajor Hedges , who was appointed Governour,add Sir John Jennings was left there to settle theAffairs of the City.
(/») The Troops having, early in the Morn-ing, made the in selves Masters of the Suburbs, allthe Boats being mann’d and arm’d, they repairedalong the Side of the Shrewsbury , to receive Ordersfor sustaining them, or to make any Attack onthe Town. At nine in the Morning* the Ships
made a Breach in the round Tower, at the WestEnd of the Town, and another at the Middle ofthe Curtain, between the Mole and the Easter-most Bastion ; When the Land-Forces marchingup towards the Wall of the City, Major Rapin ,of the Lord Mohan’s Regiment, who commanded,the Grenadeers, advanced, with fifteen of hisMen and a Serjeant, towards the Breach in theround Tower, hoping to be the first Man in theTown; Whereupon all the Boats, under theCommand of Sir John Jennings , went directly upto sustain them; But before the Men landed, theGrenadeers were beaten back. However, theBoats proceeded, and all the Men getting onShoar, Captain Evans, of the Royal Oak , mount-ing the Breach first, got into the Town, with twoor three of the Boats Crews ; Captain Pajfenger,of the R&yal Jinn followed, and next to himCaptain ff atkins , of the St. George , with someSeamen. Sir John Jennings , with the Rest ofthe Seamen and Forces, who were in Poflefiionol the Suburbs, moved on to support them, whocoming into the Town, secured the Posts, andmade proper Dispositions, ’till the Rest got in ;When Mahoni, retiring into the Castle, left them
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