The following is an extract from the general order, issued by the military commander-in-chief, dated Sand Hills, near Ostend, May 20, 1798:
“To Captains Winthrop of the Circe, and Mackellar of the Minerva, Major-General Coote cannot sufficiently express how highly he is satisfied with the great assistance he has derived from those officers, by their support to the general object of the expedition; in conveying up to the basin gates, the powder and materials necessary for their destruction, and the effectual manner in which this object has been accomplished. To Captain Mackellar, the Major-General has in a particular manner to convey his marked approbation for his able conduct in lashing the vessels to the basin gates after the explosion; and in setting fire to and burning them.”
Captain Mackellar continued a prisoner in the citadel of Lisle until the month of December following, when he had the good fortune to be exchanged. The following is an extract from a letter written to him at a subsequent period, by Major-General Harry Burrard, one of his fellow captives:
“To your exertions, and those of Captain Winthrop, I have always considered the service as extremely indebted, both in taking the command of transporting the necessary combustible materials, and in arranging them for the required effect. I well remember your particular exertions, after the mine was sprung, in burning the vessels, and lashing them to the floodgates, to consume the whole; and during the attack upon us the next morning, you did every thing an officer could do in your situation. When, a few days afterwards, I joined you in the citadel of Lisle, and found that the French Commandant, with much liberality, but at his own risk, allowed us the command of our own men, I soon had reason to rejoice that an officer of your firmness of character, had the management of those who, generally speaking, I considered as a very ungovernable, I may say, mutinous set of fellows. The quota furnished, I believe, by two of the frigates, were well behaved, and might be depended upon; the rest, above 100, were mostly from the gun-brigs, Irish and lawless, as undisciplined and difficult to keep under as any men I have ever seen. We all considered ourselves as much indebted to you, when, at the extreme hazard of your life, you went into them, when in a state of mutiny, and at a time the Commandant, notwithstanding his good will, found it necessary to point guns at them. By your spirit and firmness, you brought them at length to a more sober way of thinking; shielding us all from the rigorous treatment reasonably to be expected from such a government at such a time.“After noticing his attention to the victualling and clothing of his men, together with his anxiety about those who fell sick, the Major-Geueral tells Captain Mackellar, “These sentiments were not those of the moment only. We remained together,” says the gallant officer, “confined strictly to the citadel, for above six months, where I had leisure, and surely opportunity enough to
