Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v1p2.djvu/58

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482
VICE-ADMIRALS OF THE WHITE.

nation. Our officer, on returning to Malta, in his letters to Earl St. Vincent and Viscount Nelson, entered at considerable length on the insidious character of this Bey, and transmitted much valuable information respecting the then state of Egypt. In the ensuing summer he escorted the homeward-bound trade from the Mediterranean to England; and immediately on his arrival was appointed to the Tigre, of 80 guns, in which ship he returned to the Mediterranean, and from thence accompanied his friend Nelson to the West Indies, in pursuit of the combined fleets of France and Spain[1].

We next find Captain Hallowell commanding the naval part of an expedition sent from Messina in the spring of 1807, destined to take possession of Alexandria. The troops, consisting of about 5,000 men, under the orders of Major-General Fraser, were landed on the 17th and 18th March, near the ravine extending from lake Mareotis to the sea. As soon as the whole were collected and formed, they moved forward and attacked the enemy’s advanced works, which were carried with little loss. The British force then went round by Pompey’s Pillar, to the southward; and on the afternoon of the 20th, finding that farther opposition would be useless, the Governor offered to capitulate. Terms were accordingly agreed upon; and, on the 21st, the place was in the full possession of the English. In the old or western port were taken two Turkish frigates and a corvette, all mounting brass guns; one of the former carrying 40, the other 34, and the corvette 16. Major-General Fraser thus speaks of the assistance he received from his naval co-adjutor on this occasion: “To Captain Hallowell, and the officers and seamen of H.M.S. Tigre, I cannot sufficiently express my acknowledgments for the assistance they afforded me, and for the readiness with which they stood forward on all occasions. Captain Hallowell landed and marched with me to the attack of the enemy’s retrenchments, and to the very gates of the city, and remained on shore until the place surrendered; from his advice and local knowledge I derived much useful information.”

Subsequent to the evacuation of Egypt by the British, which took place in September following, the Tigre appears to have been principally employed in watching the port of Toulon,