Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 5.djvu/335

Rh assault from the strand at no great distance from the great breach, and who was completely exposed to the fire of the enemy, while in the act of directing additional support from the trenches, had before this time been wounded by the bursting of a shell near him, which broke his arm in two places, tearing the flesh from his left hand, and was reluctantly carried from the field, after fainting from loss of blood. In passing through the trenches he was recognised by the ninth regiment, whose dangers he had so often shared, who spontaneously cried out, that they should not return until the fifth division was crowned with victory, and the citadel of San Sebastian was taken. Soon afterwards Sir Richard Fletcher, the chief engineer, who had continued with Sir James during the siege, was killed by a musket ball, which pierced his heart.

The command was now taken by major-general Hay, who conducted with ability the attack to the last; and the issue was no longer doubtful, for the troops easily rushing forward, the hornwork was carried ; the ruined fragments of the houses poured forth the assailants; the Portuguese detachments carried the lesser breach; and although the commander of the brave garrison, general Roy, had raised traverses across the streets, which were defended by cannon, one street was taken after another, till the allies gradually gained possession of the town, and at three o'clock, this awful and murderous struggle terminated, which had raged with unabated fury during a period of four hours, and was maintained by both parties with desperate gallantry and resolution.

A barbarous scene of pillfige and plunder now took place, unworthy of the British name, and the high character of her soldiers, while on the 18th of September the castle surrendered, and thus the allies obtained possession of this northern Gibraltar of Spain, as it has been termed, with the loss of five hundred killed, and fifteen hundred wounded.

Sir James Leith remained for two months in the country, trusting that an early recovery would permit him to resume his command; but it was at length found more advisable to return to England, which he did in November. He was now appointed commander of the forces in the West Indies, and captain-general of the Leeward islands, and, sailing to assume his important duties, arrived at Barbadoes on the 15th of June, 1814. The revolutionary spirit which broke out in France on the restoration of Napoleon, soon extended itself to the French islands in the West Indies, and Martinique and Guadaloupe, which Sir James had restored to the crown of France, now at peace with Britain, soon manifested symptoms of revolt. The former, agreeably to instructions, was kept in awe by the presence of two thousand British troops, which were landed at Fort Royal; but at Guadaloupe the tricoloured flag was soon displayed, and the entire colony declared for the emperor. Transports, conveying troops, ammunition, and stores, immediately sailed from Barbadoes, and landed at Saintes, in the neighbourhood of Guadaloupe, which is upwards of two hundred miles in circumference, and contains a population of a hundred and ten thousand people. Preparations for war were then made, and Marie-galante was secured by a detachment of troops. The Comte de Linois, the French governor, who had organized a large body of militia, and never believed that the French army could be ready for action before the commencement of the hurricane months, was somewhat taken by surprise; and the commander of the forces, having despatched eight hundred of the York rangers near Pautrizel, and an additional reinforcement, they drove the enemy from Dolet. Captain Leith Hay, aid-de-camp to Sir James Leith, obtained possession of Mome Boucannier, a height which commanded their position at Palmiste, from which they were dislodged, rapidly pressed their rear