men, under the orders of Major-General Coote, to divide the enemy’s (one and attention, to invest the town closely on that side, and to cut off all farther hope of reinforcement or supplies by land. On the 12th, I proceeded to examine the enemy’s position on the side of the lake, and the strength of the flotilla that they had assembled there; and having ascertained that their armed force could be easily subdued, and that a debarkation could be effected with little or no difficulty, the General determined to carry the measure into immediate effect. To secure the landing from interruption. Captain Stevenson, who is continued in command of the flotilla, was forthwith directed to take a station in front of the gun-boats which the enemy had assembled on the lake, and drawn up in a line under the protection of batteries erected for their defence, to keep them in check till they could be seized or destroyed. On the evening of the 16th, the boats of the ships of war and transports were assembled in the Mareotis, with as many djerms as could be collected from the Nile, for the purpose of receiving the troops, who were embarked in the night, and landed with little or no opposition the next morning, under the superintendence of Captain Elphinstone: the enemy seeing no prospect left of saving their armed boats, set Are to them, and they all blew up in the course of this and the following day, except two or three which have fallen into our hands. In the night of the 17th, Major-general Coote was enabled to establish batteries against Marabout, a small fortified island that protects the entrance into the great harbour, on the western side, and distant from the town about seven or eight miles, which, for many reasons, it was important to possess. Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton, having the command of the squadron blockading the port, directed armed launches from the ships to co-operate with the troops, and the French garrison, consisting of near 200 men, unequal to farther resistance, surrendered as prisoners of war on the evening of the 21st.
On the morning of the 22nd, Major-General Coote’s detachment moved forward four or five miles on the narrow isthmus leading to the town, formed by the Mareotis or inundation on the south side, and the harbour on the north; Captain Stevenson, with the gun-vessels on the lake, covering the right flank; and Captain Cochrane, with the sloops of war and armed boats, protecting the left.[1] The position which the Major-General took up, and that occupied by our little squadron, completed the blockade of the town[2] * * * * * * * General Menou, finding himself closely pressed on the eastern side of the town by the commander-in-chief, who had carried some important redoubts, and established strong batteries against the enemy’s entrenched lines; and on the western side by Major--- ↑ See Suppl. Part I., p. 478.
- ↑ Mareotis was dry, when the British first landed in Egypt, although the bed was nearly ten feet below the level of lake Maadie, &c. When again filled, it answered all the purposes of barrier and navigation.
