DESCENT AT CANCALLE BAY.

The king of Great Britain being determined to renew his attempt upon the coast of France, ordered a very formidable armament to be equipped for that purpose. Two powerful squadrons by sea were destined for the service of this expedition: the first, consisting of eleven great ships, was commanded by lord Anson and sir Edward Hawke; the other, composed of four ships of the line, seven frigates, six sloops, two fire-ships, two bombs, ten cutters, twenty tenders, ten store-ships, and one hundred transports, was put under the direction of commodore Howe, who had signalized himself by his gallantry and conduct in the course of the last fruitless expedition. The plan of a descent upon France having been adopted by the ministry, a body of troops, consisting of sixteen regiments, nine troops of light horse, and six thousand marines, was assembled for the execution of this design, and embarked under the command of the duke of Marlborough; a nobleman, who though he did not inherit all the military genius of his grandfather, yet far excelled him in the amiable and social qualities of the heart: he was brave beyond all question, generous to profusion, and good-natured to excess. On this occasion he was assisted by the councils of lord George Sackville, second in command, son to the duke of Dorset; an officer of experience and reputation, who had, in the civil departments of government, exhibited proofs of extraordinary genius and uncommon application. The troops, having been encamped for some time upon the Isle of Wight, were embarked in the latter end of May, and the two fleets sailed in the beginning of June for the coast of Bretagne, leaving the people of England flushed with the gayest hopes of victory and conquest. The two fleets parted at sea: lord Anson, with his squadron, proceeded to the bay of Biscay, in order to watch the motions of the enemy’s ships, and harass their navigation; while commodore Howe, with the land-forces, steered directly towards St. Maloes, a strong place of considerable commerce, situated on the coast of Bretagne, against which the purposed invasion seemed to be chiefly intended. The town, however, was found too well fortified, both by art and nature, to admit of an attempt by sea with any prospect of success; and, therefore, it was resolved to make a descent in the neighbourhood. After the fleet had been, by contrary winds, detained several days in sight of the French coast, it arrived in the bay of Cancalle, about two leagues to the eastward of St. Maloes; and Mr. Howe having silenced a small battery which the enemy had occasionally raised upon the beach, the troops were landed without further opposition on the sixth day of June. The duke of Marlborough immediately began his march towards St. Servan, with a view to destroy such shipping and magazines as might be in any accessible parts of the river; and this scheme was executed with success. A great quantity of naval stores, two ships of war, several privateers, and about fourscore vessels of different sorts, were set on fire and reduced to ashes, almost under the cannon of the place, which, however, they could not pretend to besiege in form. His grace having received repeated advices that the enemy were busily employed in assembling forces to march against him, returned to Cancalle, where Mr. Howe had made such a masterly disposition of the boats and transports, that the re-embarkation of the troops was performed with surprising ease and expedition. The forces, while they remained on shore were restrained from all outrage by the most severe discipline; and the French houses, which their inhabitants had abandoned, were left untouched. Immediately after their landing, the duke of Marlborough, as commander-in-chief, published and distributed a manifesto, addressed to the people of Bretagne, giving them to understand, that his descent upon the coast was not effected with a design to make war on the inhabitants of the open country, except such as should be found in arms, or otherwise opposing the operations of his Britannic majesty; that all who were willing to continue in peaceable possession of their effects, might remain unmolested in their respective dwellings, and follow their usual occupations; that, besides the customs and taxes they used to pay to their own king, nothing should be required of them but what was absolutely necessary for the subsistence of the army; and that, for all provisions brought in, they should be paid in ready money. He concluded this notice with declaring, that if, notwithstanding these assurances of protection, they should carry off their effects and provisions, and abandon the places of their habitation, he would treat them as enemies, and destroy their houses with fire and sword. To the magistracy of St. Maloes he likewise sent a letter, importing, that as all the inhabitants of the towns and villages between Dinant, Rennes, and Doll, now in his possession, had deserted their habitations, probably to avoid the payment of the usual contributions; and he being informed that the magistrates had compelled the people of the country to retire into the town of St. Maloes; he now gave them notice, that if they did not immediately send them back to their houses, and come themselves to his head-quarters, to settle the contributions, he should think himself obliged to proceed to military execution. These threats, however, were not put in force, although the magistrates of St. Maloes did not think proper to comply with his injunction. But it was found altogether impossible to prevent irregularities among troops that were naturally licentious. Some houses were pillaged, and not without acts of barbarity; but the offenders were brought to immediate justice; and it must be owned, as an incontestable proof of the general’s humanity, that in destroying the magazines of the enemy at St. Servan, which may be termed the suburbs of St. Maloes, he ordered one small-store house to be spared, because it could not be set on fire without endangering the whole district. The British forces being re-embarked, including about five hundred light-horse, which had been disciplined and carried over with a view to scour the country, the fleet was detained by contrary winds in the bay of Cancalle for several days, during which a design seems to have been formed for attacking Granville, which had been reconnoitred by some of the engineers; but, in consequence of their report, the scheme was laid aside, and the fleet stood out to sea, where it was exposed to some rough weather. In a few days, the wind blowing in a northern direction, they steered again towards the French coast, and ran in with the land near Havre-de-Grace, where the flat-bottomed boats, provided for landing, were hoisted out, and a second disembarkation expected. But the wind blowing violently towards the evening, the boats were re-shipped, and the fleet obliged to quit the land in order to avoid the dangers of a lee-shore. Next day, the weather being more moderate, they returned to the same station, and orders were given to prepare for a descent; but the duke of Marlborough having taken a view of the coast in an open cutter, accompanied by commodore Howe, thought proper to waive the attempt. Their next step was to bear away before the wind for Cherbourg, in the neighbourhood of which place the fleet came to anchor. Here some of the transports received the fire of six different batteries; and a considerable body of troops appeared in arms to dispute the landing; nevertheless, the general resolved that the forts Querqueville, l’Hommet, and Gallet, should be attacked in the night by the first regiment of guards. The soldiers were actually distributed in the flat-bottomed boats, and every preparation made for this enterprise, when the wind began to blow with such violence, that the troops could not be landed without the most imminent danger and difficulty, nor properly sustained in case of a repulse, even if the disembarkation could have been effected. This attempt, therefore, was laid aside, but at the same time a resolution taken to stand in towards the shore with the whole fleet, to cover a general landing. A disposition was made accordingly; but the storm increasing, the transports ran foul of each other, and the ships were exposed to all the perils of a lee-shore, for the gale blew directly upon the coast; besides, the provisions began to fail, and the hay for the horses was almost consumed. These concurring reasons induced the commanders to postpone the disembarkation to a more favourable opportunity. The fleet stood out to sea, and the tempest abating, they steered for the Isle of Wight, and next day anchored at St. Helen’s. Such was the issue of an enterprise achieved with considerable success, if we consider the damage done to the enemy’s shipping, and the other objects which the minister had in view; namely, to secure the navigation of the channel, and make a diversion in favour of the German allies, by alarming the French king, and obliging him to employ a great number of troops to defend his coast from insult and invasion; but whether such a mighty armament was necessary for the accomplishment of these petty aims, and whether the same armament might not have been employed in executing schemes of infinitely greater advantage to the nation, we shall leave to the judicious reader’s own reflection.