Article I. Security shall be granted to every person, public functionaries, private persons, citizens, and inhabi. tants, whatever their political opinions may have been, or now are, provided they conduct themselves as peaceable citizens, and conform to such regulations as shall be hereafter established by the authority of the British Government. Art. II. Protection shall be granted to all private property, but all public property is to be accounted for, to such commissioners as shall be named by the General and Admiral commanding his Britannic Majesty's forces. Art. III. The arms of the inhabitants, which have been received from the Go vernment, shall be delivered to such of ficer as shall be appointed on the part of his Britannic Majesty to receive the same; but it shall be permitted to the Magistrates to retain such proportion of them, and to arm such part of the burghers, for the purpose of the internal police of the towns, as shall appear to be proper and necessary to the off cer commanding in the island on the part of his Britannic Majesty ; but none shall be retained or used, except subject to his authority and his discretion. Art. IV. Public functionaries and their families shall be permitted, if they desire it, to return to any other part of Holland; but such as shall remain shall, if required and authorised so to do, by the officer commanding in the islands, continue to exercise their several functions, for the administration of the affairs of the towns and islands aforesaid. Art. V. Inhabitants who are absent from their houses, shall be permitted to return with their property, subject to the conditions in the first article. Art. VI. Every care shall be taken that the quartering of the troops stationed in the towns and islands, shall be made as little burdensome to the inhabitants as possible. Art. VII. If any misunderstanding shall arise, regarding the foregoing arti. cles, they shall be explained in favour of the inhabitants of the towns and islands aforesaid. Done on board his Majesty's ship Su- Sept. 1809. ADMIRALTY OFFICE, September 2. Extract of a letter from Rear-Admiral Sir Richard John Strachan, Bart, K. B. to the Hon. W. Wellesley Pole, dated on board his Majesty's ship the St Domingo, off Bathz, the 27th August 1809. I have now to acquaint you, for their Lordships information, that the flat boats, of every description of vessels, being assembled, and every necessary arrangement made, on the part of the navy, for landing the army near Santfleet, on the beach, which had been previously reconnoitred, and, not hearing from the Earl of Chatham respecting his intentions, I communicated with his Lordship on the 24th instant, and on the following day, I found his Lordship had not come to a determination, on account of the increased force of the enemy, and the army getting sickly, and ⚫hat he had sent for the Generals to consult, I, therefore, on the morning of the 26th, wrote to his Lordship, and soon after went on shore to the meeting of the Lieutenant-Generals of the army, taking with me Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Keats. I found them decidedly of opinion that no operation could be undertaken against Antwerp, with any prospect of success, at this advanced season of the year, and the enemy increasing in strength, and our own forces diminish. ed by sickness; and that, as the taking of Lillo and Liefkenshoek would not insure our obtaining the ultimate object of the expedition, without Antwerp being reduced, and the country near these fortresses being inundated, it was also their decided opinion, that the ar my ought not to make any attempt on them. I had already, in the most unqualified manner, offered every naval assistance to reduce these fortresses, and also in aid of every other operation of the army. Conceiving the subject of the deliberations of the Generals perfectly military, I withdrew with Sir Richard Keats. The ships of the enemy, which were above the town of Antwerp about five miles, have come down, and are now extended along the river face of it, except two of the line, lower down, in the reach above Leifkenshoek; and four frigates went to Lillo. An immense number of small gun-boats are on the boom; behind them a crescent of sixty gun and mortar brigs. The The battery between Lillo and Fredrick Hendrick is finished; it has ten guns. The enemy has been driven from that which he was constructing on the Doel side, with loss, by the fire of our bombs and gun-vessels. Downing Street, Sept. 2. A dispatch, of which the following is a copy, was yesterday morning received at the office of Lord Viscount Castlereagh, one of his Majesty's Secretaries of State, from LieutenantGeneral the Earl of Chatham, dated head-quarters, Bathz, Aug. 29. 1809. MY LORD, Major Bradford delivered to me your Lordship's dispatch of the 21st inst. signifying to me his Majesty's commands that I should convey to Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote, the General Officers, and other troops employed before Flushing, and particularly to those of the artillery and engi neer department, his Majesty's most gracious approbation of their conduct; and which I have obeyed with the most entire satisfaction. I had the honour, in my last dispatch, of acquainting your Lordship with my intention of proceeding to this place, and should have been most happy to have been enabled to have announced to your Lordship the further progress of this army. Unfortunately, however, it becomes my duty, to state to your Lordship, that, from the concurrent testimony from so many quarters, as to leave no doubt of the truth of the in. formation, the enemy appears to have collected so formidable a force, as to convince me that the period was arrived at which my instructions would have directed me to withdraw the army under my command, even if engaged in actual operations. I had certainly understood, on my arrival at Walcheren, that the enemy were assembling in considerable force on all points; but I was unwilling to give too much credit to these reports, and I was determined to persevere, until I was satisfied, upon the fullest information, that all further attempts would be unavailable. From all our intelligence it appears that the force of the enemy in this quarter, distributed between the envi rons of Bergen-op-Zoom, Breda, Lillo, and Antwerp, and cantoned on the opposite coast, is not less than thirty-five thousand men, and by some statements is estimated higher. Though a landing on the continent might, I have no doubt, have been forced, yet as the siege of Antwerp, the possession of which could alone have secured to us any of the ulterior objects of this expedition, was, by this state of things, rendered utterly impracticable, such a measure, if successful, could have led to no solid advantage; and the retreat of the army, which must at an early period have been inevitable, would have been exposed to much hazard. The utmost force, (and that daily decreasing) that I could have brought into the field, after providing for the occupations of Walcheren and South Beveland, would have amounted to about twenty-three thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry. Your Lordship must at once see, even if the enemy's force had been less numerous than represented, after the necessary detachments to observe the garrisons of Bergen-op-Zoom and Breda, and securing our communication, how very inadequate a force must have remained for operations against Lillo and Liefkenshoek, and ultimately against Antwerp; which town, so far from being in the state which had been reported, is, from very correct accounts, represented to be in a complete state of defence; and the enemy's ships had been brought up, and placed in security, under the guns of the citadel. Under these circumstances, however mortifying to me, to see the progress arrested of an army, from whose good conduct and valour I had every thing to hope, I feel that my duty left me no other course than to close my operations here; and it will always be a satisfaction to me to think, that I have not been induced lightly to commit the safety of the army confided to me, or the reputation of his Majesty's arms.It was an additional satisfaction to me to find, that the unanimous opinion of the Lieutenant-Generals of this army, whom I thought it right to consult, more out of respect to them, than that I thought a doubt could be entertained on the subject, concurred entirely in the the sentiments I have submitted to your Lordship. I am concerned to say, that the effect of the climate, at this unhealthy period of the year, is felt most seriously, and that the number of sick already is little short of three thousand men. It is my intention to withdraw gradually from the advanced position in this island, and after sending into Walcheren, such an additional force as may be necessary to secure that important possession, to embark the remainder of the troops, and to hold them in readiness to await his Majesty's further commands, which I shall most anxiously expect. I have the honour to be, &c. ITALY. CHATHAM. The following dispatches from Sir John Stuart contain an account of a successful descent which his army has made on the coast of Naples. Downing Street, Sept. 4. Dispatches, of which the following are copies, were yesterday morning received at the office of Lord Viscount Castlereagh, one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, from Lieut.General Sir John Stuart, dated Ischia, 5th and 9th of July last. MY LORD, Ischia, July 5. 1809. In my dispatch to your Lordship of the 9th ult. from Milazzo, I did myself the honour to acquaint you with a project which I had formed, in concert with Rear-Admiral Martin, to make such a movement as, although it should produce no issue of achievement to our. selves, might still operate a diversion in favour of our Austrian allies, under the heavy pressure of reverse with which we had learned, at the period, they were bravely, but unequally struggling. The first measure that suggested itself to our contemplation, was a menace upon the kingdom and the capital of Naples; and the army as within detailed being embarked, we sailed, under convoy of his Majesty's ships Canopus, Spartiate, Warrior, and some frigates and smaller vessels, on the 11th of last month, leaving orders to the division of his Sicilian Majesty's troops, which had been placed under my command, and were waiting my instructions at Paler mo, under the command of LieutenantGeneral de Bourcard, to proceed to a given rendezvous. His Royal Highness Prince Leopold, I found, at our subsequent junction, had embarked with this division. Our appearance on the coast of Calabria, which we reached on the morning of the 13th, had the effect of indu cing the body of the enemy stationed in that province to abandon, for the purpose of immediate concentration, the greater part of their posts along the shore, when those upon the line opposite Messina were seized and disarmed by a corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, who had been detached from the fleet immediately after our sailing from Milazzo, with provisionary orders for that purpose. Major-General Mackenzie, who had sailed with me, as designed to bear a part in this expedition, returned also, at my request, about this period, for the general superintendance of these services, as well as to hold the general charge so important during the term of command in Sicily, which becomes a our present operations. sion of the British and Sicilian fleet, On the 24th ult. the advanced divinamely, that which contained the British troops, anchored off Cape Miseno, in the vicinity of Baia, when our preparations were immediately made for a debarkation upon the island of Ischia ; and the necessary arrangements and dispositions of boats being intrusted, by the Admiral, to Sir F. Laforey, a descent was forced, on the following morning, by the troops named in the margin, commanded by Major-General MacFarlane, under the immediate fire of his Majesty's ships Warrior and Success, aided by the British and Sici A lian gun-boats, in the face of a formidable chain of batteries, with which every accessible part of the shore was perfectly fortified. These were turned, and successively abandoned as our troops gained their footing. About 250 of 300 men of the 1st legere, in the first. instance, fell into our hands. General Colonna, who commanded, retired, with his principal force into the castle, where he rejected a summons from Major-General MacFarlane, and held out until the 30th ult, when a breaching battery having been erected against his works, he surrendered upon terms of capitula. tion. As it was conjectured by the Admiral and myself that the success and promptitude with which the landing u pon Ischia was effected, might proba. bly operate an influence upon the adjacent garrison of Procida, a summons was immediately sent to the Commandant thereof, who in the course of the day submitted to our proposed terms; an event which contributed most for tunately to the entire capture or destruction of a large flotilla of about forty heavy gun-boats, which attempted their passage during the night and following morning to Naples from Gaeta, and expected to find protection, as well as co-operation, under the artillery of the fortress, in their passage through the narrow strait that separates the is land from the main. This important service was executed by Captain Staines, of his Majesty's ship Cyane, assisted by the Espoir sloop, and the British and Sicilian gun-boats. It is with regret I add, that in a subsequent intrepid attack upon the frigate and corvette of the enemy in the bay, the above gallant officer has received a wound, which must for some time deprive the service of his assistance. The amount of prisoners who have fallen into our hands already exceeds 1500 regular troops, exclusive of their killed and wounded, both of military and marine, in different partial encounters, which we have reason to think are considerable. Among the prisoners are a General of Brigade, two Colonels, and upwards of 70 officers of progressive ranks. Nearly one hundred pieces of ordnance, with their corresponding stores, have also become our capture. It is with much greater satisfaction, however, my Lord, than any that can be derived from these local or momentary advantages, that I contemplate our success in the material and important object of diversion, for which this expedition was designed. A considerable body of troops, which had been recently detached from Naples, as a reinforcement to the army in Upper Italy, as well as almost the whole of the troops which had been sent into the Roman states, to aid the late usurpation of the Papal dominions, were precipitately recalled, on our first appearance on the coast; and I venture to hope, that the check which has been operated, and which I shall endeavour to preserve, will have already, tho' remotely, contributed to support the efforts of our brave allies. The preponderating regular force which the eremy has now assembled in the contiguity of Naples, aided by a large body of national guards, preclude the bope, at this moment, of any attack upon the capital. But our footing upon these healthy islands (which were essentially necessary to us as a temporary lodgment as well as depot,) in af fording us the earliest means of information, as also a position from which we can profit from circumstances, or can move with facility and promptitude to ulterior objects; while our enemy, who are observing us from the unwhol some plains of Baia, must be kept on the alert by the uncertainty of our operations, and harassed by the necessity of corresponding with our every move. ment. A flotilla of gun boats, which I found it necessary to fit out at Messina, to aid the army in that narrow strait, under the direction of Captain Reade, of the Quartermaster-General's department, has acquired the approbation of the Admiral, by their conduct upon this service. Captain Cameron, of the 21st regiment, who commanded a division of these boats, is unfortunately among the few who have fallen. The harmony and perfect concert that have subsisted between the naval and military branches upon this duty, and between his Majesty's forces and those of his Sicilian Majesty; the great disposition to concurrence and support which I have received from Lieutenant Gen. General Lord Forbes, and the other General Officers; the able arrangements of the Adjutant-General's and the Quartermaster General's departments, under Major-General Campbell and Lieut.Colonel Banbury, as well as those of the ordnance branches, under Lieutenants Colonels Bryce and Lemoine; the providence of the Commissariat and Medical departments, under Mr Burgham and Dr Franklin, and the zeal, readiness, and goodwill of the army throughout, are the means by which I am prepared to avail myself of opportunities to prosecute further a service, the plans and progress hitherto of which, Ihumbly hope, will meet his Majesty's most gracious approbation. I have the honour to be, &c. J. STUART. (Here follow the articles of capitulation of Ischia.) Return of killed and wounded belonging to the army under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir John Stuart, K. B. &c. between the 24th and 30th of June 1809. Ischia, July 4. 1809. 21st Foot-1 Subaltern killed. 6th Bat. 13th King's German Legion - rank and file (rifleman) killed, 3 rank and file (1 rifleman), wounded. Corsican Rangers-1 Captain, I serjeant, 2 rank and file, wounded. Calabrian Free Corps-1 Bugle, 1 rank and file, killed; 1 serjeant wounded. Army Flotilla- Marines killed, and 2 wounded. Total-i Subaltern, 1 bugle, 2 rank and file, 2 marines, killed; 1 Captain, 2 serjeants, 5 rank and file, 2 marines, wounded. I I tached, after our sailing from Milazzo, with the 10th regiment and Chasseurs Britanniques, which were to be joined at the Faro by the 21st regiment, with orders to occupy and disarm the posts on the strait opposite to Messina, upon the late retreat of the enemy, on the first appearance of our armament upon the coast of Calabria. An attempt to reduce the castle of Scylla was attended, in the first instance, with disappointment, from the sudden reappearance of a large preponderating force of the enemy, which constrained Lieut.-Colonel Smith to raise the siege, and embark for Messina; a measure, which was effected, I am happy to say, on the 20th ult. without the smallest loss, but that of his besieging train, which necessarily became a sacrifice.It fortunately, however, has proved only a sacrifice of the moment. The of ficial reports from Major General Mackenzie state to me, that, on the night of the 2d inst. the enemy, from some sudden panic, retreated again from the coast, having previously blown up the works of Scylla, and not only left us again our captured stores, but an immense quantity of ordnance and stores of their own, which had been placed in depot. Major General Mackenzie mentions to me, in particular, that thirty pieces of brass cannon had been thrown from the rock into the sea, from whence, however, there could be no difficulty in raising them, the water being extremely shallow. These stores had been progressively assembling, I am informed, by means of coasting navigation, for a considerable time past, as preparatory to the longmenaced, and I believe, really intended invasion of the kingdom of Sicily. The conduct of Lieut-Colonel Smith, during the course of this service, although attended with a momentary reverse, has been represented to me by Major-General Mackenzie in terms of great approbation, with every praise to the zeal and perseverance of the troops employed under his orders. He has also expressed great acknowledgements to the active assistance of Captains Crawley and Palmer, of his Majesty's ships Philomel and Alacrity, who were his cooperators on this service. The great disunion of party in the province was a material obstacle to every mear |