PART fire till they drove afhore on the fhoal, where I. fhe foon filled with water, having twenty-two fhot between wind and water, and would foon 1741. have foundered at her anchors, if the vice admiral had not ordered her off. The vice admiral through his former experience, and by trying this experiment with the Gallicia, had fufficient room to form fome general maxims upon; which were, in his judgment, "That no fhips fhould "ever be brought to batter against ftone walls, "unless the commanders are firft affured they can place their fhips within musket shot of "them:" and could the British fleet have approached as near to Carthagena, it must have been inevitably furrendered; and that they could not, was evidently manifefted by the ftation of the Gallicia, who was unable to come near enough to batter the walls; on which the was ordered to fire over them into the town, where by her cannonading the houses were greatly fhattered. The fhells from the bomb-ketches alfo damaged many of the houses and some of the churches, particularly on the 13th at night, one of the carcaffes falling into the great church, where was the principal magazine of powder, fet fire to the timber and plank that covered it, and had like to have been a very fatal incident to the Spaniards; but on ringing the alarm bell, the whole town went to work, threw fand upon it, and ftifled the fire, which once more broke out anew, but was afterwards totally extinguished. THE fea officers and failors having been employed in getting out the mafts, anchors and cables from fome of the funk Spanish fhips, the fleet was foon in a condition for proceeding to fea again: and on the 23d and 24th it was refolved by the general council of war, "To return to "Jamaica, "Jamaica, on account of the general fickness CHAP. "in the army.". Under the direction of Capt. VI. Knowles the entire demolition of Caftillo Grande was completed the 25th, which took up the more 1741. time from the great thickness of the walls and ftrength of the cement, but was entirely demolished at last, and the fifty-nine pieces of ordnance in it rendered unferviceable, by fpiking them up and knocking off the trunnions. The 27th in the evening, the vice admiral weighed from Caftillo Grande, to fall down to the lower parts of the harbour, to be at hand for giving the neceffary orders for facilitating the dispatch of the tranfports and ftore-fhips to fea, and getting the remaining fortreffes completely demolifhed; leaving the Norfolk, Burford, Windfor, and Princess Louifa, all under the command of Capt. Graves, at Caftillo Grande, till the tranfports and ftore-fhips were got out to fea, and for keeping the Spaniards from any communication. with Terra Bomba, where the British failors were at work, and from whence they had their fupplies of water, and to remain on that service till further orders: Sir Chaloner Ogle was also left pofted in the middle of the harbour for receiving their daily report, and to give any other orders he fhould judge neceffary. The fame day fixteen fail of tranfports, by warping and towing got out, and proceeded to fea under convoy of the Lion, Capt. Cottrell; the 29th the Montague got to fea with the second divifion of tranfports and store-fhips, being about thirty-four fail; and the 30th the Weymouth proceeded with another divifion of about the fame number; as did the Torbay with General Wentworth on board, who was defirous of getting to Jamaica before the arrival of the troops, to give the neceffary orders · PART orders for their accommodation; and on the 2d · I. of May the Ripon got out convoy to the laft divifion of tranfports and ftore-fhips, together 1741. with two leaky bomb-ketches; as did alfo on the fame day, the Suffolk, Prince Frederick, Jersey, York, Experiment, and Elizabeth floop tender, all under the command of Capt. Davers, who as the Spaniards were much ftraitened for want of provifions, was ordered to cruize with these fhips off Santa Martha for twenty days, to cut off all fupplies that way; and then to return to Port Royal. On the 4th the Superbe and Success fire-fhips proceeded with the victuallers: the same day the fort of St Jofeph was entirely destroyed by Mr Shirley; and the day following the demolition of Boca Chica caftle was moft effectually completed, under the direction of Capt. Bofcawen and Mr Barnes; upon which the vice admiral dispatched the neceffary orders to Sir Chaloner Ogle, for drawing off the fhips from above the next morning, and afterwards fell down himfelf, leaving orders with Commodore Leftock, whose divifion was posted to be serviceable in affifting all the reft in getting out, to remain with his fhip to the laft. After having completed the demolition of the defence of the harbour, and destroyed the lime-kilns for putting the Spaniards backward in erecting other buildings, and fhipping off all their ftore of lime and lime-ftone for the fervice of the hofpital building at Jamaica; on the 6th Vice Admiral Vernon very civilly left the harbour, not having injured any of their dwelling houses, or through wantonness gave the leaft loose to any of those rapacious practices of war, so often committed and fo generally expected from the refentment of an exasperated and even a victorious enemy; all exceffes of this na ture ture being contradictory to the humanity and o- CHAP. pen courage of the Britifh admiral, and by his VI. orders carefully guarded againt, and avoided by both officers and feamen: the next day Sir Cha- 1741. loner Ogle got out of the harbour with fourteen fail, and joined the vice admiral off Point Canoaon the 8th, who proceeded for Jamaica, and in his way left Capt. Mayne in the Worcester, with the Strafford, Princefs Louifa and Litchfield, to Cruize to windward of Cape Tiberon till the 30th, for the fecurity of the convoy with the victuallers and ftore-fhips expected from England; and on the 19th the vice admiral with the fleet got into Port Roya! harbour, where to his great pleasure he found the convoy with the victuallers and ftore-fhips were fafely arrived about four days before him. THUS terminated this memorable expédition, the greatest and most expensive that ever entered the American feas; and which had attracted the attention and admiration of all Europe: in which the British army loft about 2,500 men, that were either killed or died by fickness, and amongst them two colonels, five lieutenant-colonels, four majors, the chief engineer, twenty-nine captains, fifty-one firft and fecond lieutenants, five enfigns, and Dr Martin the first phyfician; and 267 men wounded. On board the feet the lofs was very inconfiderable, excepting the death of Lord Aubrey Beauclerc. The lois fuftained by the Spaniards in the destruction of their fix men of war, fix galleons, and other veffels in the harbour; and the forts, caftles and guns, was estimated at above 645,000l. exclufive of the damage done within the town, and the lofs of great numbers of their men; befides the difadvantages enfuing from the demolition of the PART the fortifications, whereby that intricate harbour I. was no longer inacceffible, and the treasures of w the new world could no more be embarked with 1741. fafety from Carthagena, till the wants of Spain obliged her to comply with thofe conditions fhe had before fo haughtily rejected. AN Expedition begun with fuch probability of a fuccessful termination, having ended fo unfortunately, occafioned a general difcontent among the inhabitants of Great Britain; while the Spanish court removed from their anxiety of lofing fo important a place, ordered three days public rejoicings on fo fingular an event. It muft have been a very fenfible mortification to every honeft Englishman, as Carthagena would have been a prize of inettimable value; it is the jewel of America, which Cromwell was very ambitious to fix on the diadem of Britain; the city is fpacious and beautiful, with a rich province annexed to it; if the city had been taken the province must have followed it; a province full of valuable mines, adjoining to and communicating with other rich provinces which encompass it: and had the British forces been victorious, they would have collected an immenfe treasure, and would have been in poffeffion of a strong fettlement on the wealthy part of the continent of America, which would have finifhed their difputes with Spain; for according to Cromwell's fcheme, Carthagena might have been made the British emporium in America, by means of which the British subjects might do that rightfully, which they had been charged to do clandeftinely, and which gave rife. to the differences; that is, they might have gained a direct indifputable trade with the rich part of the continent, by having a province there as well as Spain; and to maintain any conquefts in that |