know is, that fome fmall corps of Auftrians have penetrated from the fide of Offenburg and Friburg, and are difperfed among the valleys and woods about Donefchingen, Tengen, and Engen, and that the alarm bell is conftantly ringing in every village within hearing of the frontiers of this country. The republicans, however, are still in poffeffion of the Frickthall and the three adjoining foreft towns, Rhinfelden, Lauffenburg, and Seçkingen. The rage and hatred of the peafants against the French paffes all belief, and is. only equalled by the terror they have infpired in the republican army.

Downing-freet, October 29, 1796.

A DISPATCH, of which the following is a copy, has been received from Captain Anftruther, by the right honourable Lord Grenville, his Alajefty's principal fecretary of ftate for foreign affairs.

MY LORD,

Offenburg, Oct. 13, 1796. IN confequence of the affairs which had taken place betwixt the van guard of General La Tour's army and the rear of the enemy on the 29th and 30th ult. the Auftrians had advanced to Groth and Steinhaufen, and the French maintained themselves between Schuffenreid and the Feder See.

General Petrafch in the mean time had taken poft betwixt the fources of the Neker and the Danube, where he more effectually covered the paffes of the Black Foreft, and his parties inceffantly haraffed the rear of the enemy,

Preffed in this manner, General Moreau faw the extreme danger to which his further retreat was expofed, and he refolved to rifque a general action as the only means of extricating himself from the difficulties by which he was furrounded. Early on the 2d, accordingly, the left wing of his army croffed the Danube at Reidlingen, and repalling it at Munkerkingen, turned and defeated the corps which General La Tour had pofted betwixt the Feder See and the river.

As foon as General Moreau was affured of the fuccefs of his left, he advanced from Schuffenreid to attack General La Tour in front, and the action was maintained during fix hours with the utmoft obftinacy. At length, however, General La Tour, finding that his right flank was totally uncovered, and that his rear was meniced by the progres of the enemy, was obliged to abandon his ground, and retire behind the Rifs, and ultimately behind the Rothambach, His retreat was covered by the corps of Conde, with a degree of bravery and steadinefs which reflects upon them the highest honour.

I am forry to state that the lofs of the Auftrians on this occafion has been very confiderable.

On the 3d General La Tour occupied a pofition behind the Rothambach, extending from Monchrod, by Erlenmoos, to Laupheim,

General Moreau having thus fucceeded in gaining fufficient freedom for the future movements of his retreat, recommenced his march on the 5th following, with the main body of his army, in the rout of Stokach.

On the 6th two divifions of his left paffed the Danube in feveral columns between Redlingen and Sigmaringen; and, having re-ailembled in the neighbourhood of Veringen, proceeded upon Beuren and

2

Fried

Friedingen, in a parallel direction with the main body; and, in proportion as it retreated, covered its march from the attempts which were to be apprehended from the corps of General Nauendorff and Petrasch. On the 7th General La Tour advanced to Burhan. General Moreau was in the neighbourhood of Stockach, and had detached General Desaix, with three hundred men, to occupy Engen.

On the 8th the head-quarters of General La Tour were transferred to Oftrach; thofe of General Moreau to Stockach; and General Defaix, advancing from Engen, drove in the posts of General Petrasch at Duttlingen, followed them towards Villengen, and took pott between Hohen, Emingen, and the great road from Villengen to Schemberg.

Next day, being joined by the two divifions which had marched on the left bank of the Danube, he attacked General Petrasch at Schweningen, diflodged him from thence and from Villengen, and gained poffeffion of Rothweil; from whence, however, he was driven by a detachment from the corps of General Nauendorff at Hochingen. General Petrafch retreated upon Schillach, from whence he sent a confiderable detachment to Friburg, to secure the valley of Kinzig.

General La Tour in the mean time had transferred his head quarters to Maefkirchen; thofe of General Moreau were at Engen.

The head-quarters of his Royal Highness will be transferred to-mor row to Mahlberg.

Lieutenant-general Hotze, who commands the corps of light troops which paffed the Rhine at Manheim on the 2d, has taken poft at Schweyenheim, from whence he has pushed his parties to Weiffenbourg, Seltz, Haguenau, and almoft to the gates of Strafbourg, in one direction, and to Kayferflautern and Baumholder in the other. They have levied contributions, taken hostages, and fpread the utmoft confternation throughout the country.

So great are the apprehenfions the enemy entertains of this corps, that the troops, which had been left to watch Maintz, have been withdrawn to reinforce the garrifon of Landau. General Neu, profiting of the opportunity, has advanced to the Nahe with a part of his garrifon, and, after defeating feveral fmall corps, which the enemy had left on that river, threatened to advance into the Hundfruck.

This demonftration has obliged General Bournonville to detach four divifions from his army on the Lower Rhine, to fecure the points which were menaced, and he is thus fo confiderably weakened, that, on the appearance of a confiderable reconnoitring party fent out by General Werneck, he abandoned his position near Bernberg, and retired behind Mulheim. I have the honour to be, &c.

(Signed)

ROBERT ANSTRUTHER,
Capt. 3d Guards.

From the LONDON GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY,

Parliament-freet, November 3, 1796.

A DISPATCH, of which the following is a copy, was this day received by the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, one of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, from Major-general Craig, commanding his Ma

jefty's

jefty's troops at the Cape of Good Hope, dated Camp on the fhore of Saldanha Bay, August 19, 1796.

SIR,

I HAVE great fatisfaction in reporting to you the event of an attempt which has been made by the enemy, and which has terminated to the honour of his Majefty's arms, in the entire capture of the fquadron of Dutch hips of war, deftined for the purpose of retaking this fettlement.

Having made every arrangement within my means, by the establishment of a fmall poft, and the laying the road by a fufficient number of the few men which I had been able to mount for watching Saldanha Bay, I received a report on the 3d instant, tranfmitted in fourteen hours. that nine fhips had appeared off that coaft on the preceding afternoon, which I immediately communicated to Vice-admiral Sir George Keith Elphinstone. By the fame report there appeared to be the strongest probability that his Majefty's brig the Hope had been captured by them; and as there was no further account of them that day, I concluded that the information which they had received, by that means, of our strength here, had induced them to continue their route, and that they would stand far to the weftward before they doubled the Cape, to avoid Sir George's fleet, which had put to fea as foon as was poffible after the receipt of the intelligence.

In order, however, to omit no precaution, I fent up Lieut. M'Nab, with a few mounted men, to watch the Bay more narrowly; and from him I received a report, on Saturday night the 6th inftant, at twelve o'clock, that the fame number of fhips which had formerly been reported had anchored that morning in the Bay, and that there was no doubt of their being enemies. I loft not a moment in fending directions to Simon's Town, from whence, by the general willingness and activity which prevailed amongst all ranks, five veffels were dispatched by nine o'clock, in queft of the admiral, with the information.

As it fortunately happened that the 25th and 27th light dragoons, with part of the 19th and the whole of the 33d regiments, were in Simon's Bay, I could be under no apprehenfion for the fafety of the colony from any force which could be landed from nine fhips of war. It became, however, an object of infinite importance to the welfare of the fettlement, to prevent any body of the enemy from throwing themfelves into the country. At the fame time the fecurity of the Cape Town became an object of particular attention, both from the reafonfonable expectation, that the enemy would not have come with fuch a force without a profpect of a junction with fome other armament, and from the poffibility of the admiral being prevented from doubling the Cape by the north wefterly winds which ufually prevail at this feason, and which would carry the enemy in fix hours fro.n Saldanha to Table Bay. It was therefore with particular fatisfaction that I found myself poffefled of a force adequate to both these objects.

No time was loft in making the neceffary arrangements in a country totally unused to a movement of this nature. The troops began their march on Sunday morning, neceffarily by divifions, on account of subfiftence. The burgher fenate was affembled, to whom I exposed my intentions, to which they expreffed the most ready compliance. Waggons were every where demanded by them, and furnished with cheerfulnefs. Cavalry was neceffary, but the appointments of the 28th were

on board a fhip which had failed in queft of the admiral. Thofe of the 25th were alfo on board ship in Simon's Bay, and we had not above fifty horfes. The appointments were brought up, and I did not fcruple, on fuch an occafion, to require all faddle hories, without exception, to be brought in, which were valued by two members of the court of juftice, and two officers of the 28th dragoons, and paid for on the spot, to the entire fatisfaction of the owners.

By thefe means, Sir, leaving Major-general Doyle in the command of the troops at and about Cape Town, amounting to near 4000 men, and Brigadier-general Campbell in the immediate command of the town, 1, on the morning of the 16th inftant, reached Saldanha Bay, at the head of the advanced guard, confifting of the light infantry, a body of Hottentots, and fifty of the 25th light dragoons, affifted by Brigadier-general M'Kenzie, the remainder of whofe corps, confifting of the grenadiers, the 78th and Soth battalions, fifty more of the 25th and one hundred of the 28th light dragoons, in all about 2500 men, with two howitzers and nine field pieces, arrived there also in an hour after.

In the mean time the admiral had returned to False Bay, and on there receiving the firft accounts of the enemy being in Saldanha Bay, had put to fea again with the utmost expedition; and we had the fatisfac tion, from the heights from whence we defcended to the shores of the Bay, to fee him, with all his fails crowded, advancing with a fair wind directly to the mouth of the harbour, though ftill at some distance. One of the enemy's frigates, which lay near the fhore to cover their watering, cannonaded us very brifkly as we defcended the heights though without effect, and we returned their fire with as little, having at that time only three-pounders with us; but a howitzer being brought up, a few shells were thrown with great precision by Captain Robertfon, who probably would have destroyed her; but perceiving that our fleet was then entering the Bay, and that there was no poffibility of her efcaping, I defifted from firing, thinking it more for his Majefty's intereft that the fhould share the fate of the remainder of the squadron, the capture of which appeared to me to be inevitable, than that we should rifk the deftroying her, from a vain punctilio of obliging her to strike to us. We then employed ourselves in making the neceffary difpofi. tions for affording fuch affiftance as might be in our power, in the event of the obstinacy of the enemy obliging the admiral to attack them, as well as fuch as would be expedient in cafe they thould run their fhips on fhore, neither of which, however, I thought probable. I was accordingly informed, by a letter from Sir George the following morning, that the whole had furrendered themselves to him.

The means by which this event has been accomplished, Sir, has not afforded any opportunity to his Majefty's troops of difplaying that bravery in his fervice, which I am confident they would have fewn, had the occafion prefented itself; but if the utmost alacrity and cheerfulness, under almost every privation, except that of meat, during a march of ninety miles, through fo barren a country that there exift but five houfes in the whole line, have any merit, I can with truth prefent them to his Majefty's troops.

This march, Sir, has never yet, I believe, been attempted by any -body of troops, however finall, and, permit me to affure you, has been attended with fuch uncommon difficulties, that it never could have been

accom

accomplished but by the difplay of the qualities I have mentioned in the troops, and a union of extraordinary exertions in all the departments concerned. In thefe all have equal claim to my acknowledgements; but I cannot difpenfe without particularizing the intelligence and activity with which, regardless of the uncommon fatigue which attended it, Lieutenant M'Nab, of the 98th regiment, with about twenty of his mounted men, performed the service allotted to him of watching the enemy, and preventing any communication with them, from the first moment of their coming into the Bay, till our arrival.

It is, Sir, with very particular fatisfaction that I have further to report that I have received, on this occafion, every poffible affiftance from his Majefty's fubjects of the colony.

The burgher fenate have difcharged the duty impofed upon them with the greatest readiness, impartiality, and activity, whilft their requifitions and orders on the inhabitants for their waggons, cattle, and horfes, have been complied with with a cheerfulness which could, I am fatisfied, only proceed from a conviction of the preference to be given to his Majefty's mild and paternal government over the wild fyftem of anarchy and confufion from which they were furnishing the means of being effectually defended.

This will be delivered to you, Sir, by my aide de camp, Captain Baynes, who has been in this country fince the firft arrival of his Majeffy's troops under my command, and to whofe intelligence and active affiftance I have been, on every occafion, highly indebted. I beg leave, Sir, most humbly to recommend him to his Majefty's notice.

I have the honour to be,

With the greatest refpect, Sir, &c.

Admiralty Office, Nov. 3, 1796.

J. H. CRAIG.

DISPATCHES, of which the following are copies, (brought by Captain John Aylmer, of his Majefly's fhip Tremendous) were this day received from the Hon. Vice-admiral Sir George Keith Elphinstone, K. B.

SIR,

Monarch, Saldanha Bay, August 19, 1796. I HAVE the honour to inclofe a lift of a Dutch fquadron under the command of Rear-admiral Engelbertus Lucas, fent hither for the reduction of this colony, but which were compelled to furrender by capitulation, on the 17th inftant, to the detachment of his Majefty's flips under my command, named in No. VII. on the terms alfo inclofed. For further particulars I beg leave to refer you to the accompanying detail of the proceedings of the fquadron from the 4th to the 18th inftant, and I hope the Lords Commiffioners of the Admiralty will approve the meafures I have taken, fo effential to the British commercial interests in the East.

The fhips are all coppered, and in good condition, excepting the Caftor, whofe rudder is defective.

In justice to the officers and men I have the honour to command, it is my duty to obferve, that, in confequence of the most violent tempeftuous weather I ever beheld, and the very unpleafant fituations in which the fquadron was at times placed, they cheerfully, and much to their credit, underwent a degree of fatigue hardly credible.

Captain