all those under your command, for their behaviour on this occasion, and which I shall not fail to report to the commander-in-chief. I am, &c,
“To J. Toup Nicolas, Esq. &c. &c.”
On the 25th of the same month, the Pilot assisted at the capture and destruction of thirty-one vessels, laden with provisions and stores for the enemy’s army at Scylla, together with seven large gun-boats and five armed scampavias, by which the transports were protected. The official account of this exploit will be found in our memoir of Captain Lord Radstock, who bore honorable testimony to the “gallantry and zeal” of Captain Nicolas, and of every other officer and man under his orders. The convoy thus disposed of, and that which had been previously destroyed by the Pilot, was acknowledged by Murat “to have been indispensably necessary to complete his preparations for the invasion of Sicily;” and it was asserted at Naples, that he alledged the loss of those convoys as the cause of his postponing, and finally abandoning, the expedition against that island.[1] The following letters were subsequently addressed to Captain Nicolas:
“My dear Sir,– Most sincerely do I congratulate you on your success. Captain Waldegrave, in his public letter, has spoken of you in terms which I am sure your conduct well deserves. I would wish you to send all your prizes to the Canopus, and to be ready to proceed to your station mth the Thames as soon as possible, as another convoy is said to be expected from Naples. I am, my dear Sir,– &c.
“Sir,– In compliance with the directions I have received by letter from Sir Charles Cotton, Bart, commander-in-chief, addressed to Vice-Admiral Martin, but whose flag being struck, and the command on this station having devolved upon me, I have therefore the very pleasing duty of conveying to you the approbation of the commander-in-chief, of your conduct, and that of the officers and men under your command, in the late successful attack on the enemy’s convoys from Naples. I have the honor to be, &c
