Page:Historical Record of the Fifty-Sixth, Or the West Essex Regiment of Foot.djvu/27

Rh Towards the close of the year, provision again became short; a limited supply was occasionally obtained from the Moors; the effects of the scurvy were mitigated by cultivating vegetables on the rock; and the gallant defenders of Gibraltar maintained their attitude of defiance to the power of Spain.

In April, 1781, the garrison was again relieved by the 1781 arrival of a numerous fleet under Vice-Admiral Darby.

This success occasioned the Spaniards to lose all hope of being able to reduce the fortress by blockade, and they resolved to try the power of their numerous artillery. Scarcely had the fleet cast anchor, when the enemy’s batteries opened, and the fire of upwards of one hundred guns and mortars enveloped the fortress in a storm of war; a number of gun-boats augmented the iron tempest which beat against the rock, and the houses of the inhabitants were soon in ruins. Surgeon Thomas Chisholm, of the, was severely wounded by the splinter of a shell, on the 15th of April; Lieutenant Edward Vicars of the regiment was also wounded on the 26th of October, and Ensign Richard Edgar on the 3rd of November.

Europe watched, with intense interest, the heroic conduct of the garrison; and the English governor deliberately observed the approaches of the enemy, and seized, with the keenest perspection, the proper moment to make a sortie with success. This occurred on the night of the 26th of November, when the flank companies of the had an opportunity of distinguishing themselves. The moon shone bright on the sands as the soldiers assembled at midnight; between two and three o'clock, darkness overspread the country, and the troops issued silently from the fortress. They were challenged and fired upon by the enemy’s sentries; but the British soldiers rushed forward with their native ardour, overpowered the Spanish