In the early part of December, 1803, the 74-gun ship Theseus, Captain John Bligh, arrived at Port-Royal Jamaica, from the mole of Saint-Nicholas. On the 17th Captain Bligh received an order directing him to proceed on the ensuing day off the city of Santo-Domingo, and, in company with the 74-gun ship Vanguard, Captain James Walker, previously stationed there, to blockade the port. Should the French in possession of the town propose capitulation, Captain Bligh was authorized to treat with them, and was at the same time verbally informed by Sir John Duckworth, in strict confidence, that he would receive an order by the 74-gun ship Hercule, Captain Richard Dalling Dunn, to attack the island of Curaçoa; but that it was not his, Sir John's, intention, that the safety of the line-of-battle ships should be risked by attempting to force the harbour of St.-Ann.

On the 19th the Theseus sailed from Port-Royal, and before the end of the month arrived off the city of Santo-Domingo ; but the Vanguard was not there, nor, in fact, did that ship join at all. On the 15th of January, 1804, Captain Bligh received his orders by the Hercule, and by them was directed, taking with him the three 74s, already named, also the 18-pounder 36-gun frigates Blanche, Captain Zachary Mudge, and Pique, Captain Charles Bayne Hodgson Ross, and the 10-gun schooner Gipsy, Acting- lieutenant Michael Fitton, to proceed without a moment's loss of time off the island of Curaçoa ; " having," says Sir John, "received certain information that the garrison of Curaçoa has not been strengthened since the commencement of the war, and consists of only 160 troops, with a frigate in the port whose officers and crew are said nearly all to have fallen victims to the climate." Captain Bligh is then directed to summon the island to surrender to his majesty's arms upon liberal conditions. In case of a refusal, and that he should have no reason to believe there had been any augmentation of the garrison, Captain Bligh is to land a part of the crews of the ships. Then follows this nugatory salvo: " But it is my duty to caution you by no means to hazard more than the object is worth." Nugatory, indeed; for, by what standard was the relative value of the object and the means to be measured ?

With his two 74s, two frigates, and one schooner, and with no other knowledge of the state of Curaçoa than was contained in the paragraph already quoted from his orders, and with no person on board the squadron who had ever seen the island, except Captain Ross and Mr. Fitton, Captain Bligh made sail for his destination. Owing to calms and variable winds, the squadron did not, until the 30th of January, arrive in sight of the island of Bonaire, which lies off the east end of Curaçoa. In the evening the ships bore up, and early on the next morning, the 31st, hove to about six miles to the eastward of the town and harbour of St.-Ann. Captain Ross having embarked on board the Gipsy, was despatched with a flag of truce and a summons to the Dutch governor or fiscal, to surrender the island to the British. At 9 h. 30 m. A.M. the Gipsy stood out of the harbour, with the preconcerted signal flying, announcing that the terms had been refused.

The passage into the harbour is so narrow, that, even with a fair wind (and it now blew off the land), a line-of-battle ship can with difficulty enter ; and the batteries that command the harbour and town, including Fort République, against which from its situation, an attack by storm is impracticable, mounted nearly 100 pieces of cannon. In the harbour were lying the Dutch 12-pounder 36-gun frigate Hatslaar and two French privateers. Under these circumstances, no alternative remained but to try the effect of a landing. Leaving, therefore, the two frigates, as well to blockade the harbour, as to cause a diversion of the enemy's force, Captain Bligh, with the two 74s and schooner, bore up for a small cove, which had been pointed out by Mr. Fitton as the most eligible spot for effecting a disembarkation.

According to a previous arrangement the boats of the squadron, containing all the marines of the four ships, 199 in number, and a detachment of 406 seamen, had assembled on board the Hercule, and were commanded as follows : the seamen of the Theseus, by Lieutenants Edward Henry a'Court and Richard Henry Muddle, assisted by six midshipmen ; and her marines by Lieutenants Earle Harwood and Bertrand Cahuac. The seamen of the Hercule, by Lieutenants John B. Hills and Nisbet Josiah Willoughby ; and the marines by Lieutenant Samuel Perrot. The seamen of the Blanche, by Lieutenant William Woolsey, of the Hercule, in lieu of their proper commanding officer, Lieutenant William Braithwaite, who, to his disgrace as an officer and a gentleman, was incapacitated from filling his proper station by habitual drunkenness. The marines of the Blanche were commanded by Lieutenant Edward Nicolls, the senior marine-officer in the squadron. The seamen of the Pique, on account of the sickness of two of her three lieutenants, were commanded by Captain Ross, and her marines by Lieutenant William Henry Craig ; and the whole detachment of seamen and marines, numbering 605 officers and men, was placed under the orders of Captain Dunn, of the Hercule.

In passing Fort Amsterdam, situated on the south-east side of the entrance to St.-Ann, the two 74s were fired at, but with out effect, the shot falling short. At 11 h. 30 m. Fort Piscadero, mounting 10 Dutch 12-pounders, and protecting the intended point of disembarkation, opened a fire. This was immediately returned by the Theseus, within half musket-shot, although the ship was unable to remain alongside owing to a strong head wind and lee current. By making short tacks, however, the Theseus brought her guns to bear with such effect that the fort fired only an occasional gun when the ship was in stays. At 1 P.M.. the first division of seamen and marines in the boats stormed and carried the fort without loss, and struck the Dutch colours, which the enemy, on retreating, had left flying. By a rapid movement the British gained the heights, and, with the loss of only four or five killed and wounded, drove the Dutch soldiers from the position. This done, the remainder of the men and marines were landed, and the Gipsy schooner anchored in the cove. Captain Bligh also went on shore ; and, as there was no anchorage for them, the Theseus and Hercule continued to stand off and on, but, owing to the wind and current, found a great difficulty in keeping their stations. During the night several shot were fired at the ships from Fort Amsterdam ; but, although two or three went over the Theseus, not one shot struck either ship.

On the morning of the 1st of February two 18-pounder carronades and a light field-piece were landed from the Theseus ; and, with great difficulty and some danger, were dragged four miles to the advanced post at the height. This post was situated about 800 yards to the westward of the town of St.-Ann, which it in part overlooked, and was placed under the command of Lieutenant Willoughby, while the post between that and the point of disembarkation was commanded by Lieutenant Hills. On the 2d two long 18-pounders were landed, and one or both were got to " Willoughby's battery ; " as was also one of the Dutch 12-pounders from Fort Piscadero. But this was not accomplished without some loss from the heavy fire kept up by Fort République. Four more 18-pounder carronades and another field-piece or two were landed and mounted at one or the other of the posts ; and a constant interchange of firing was kept up between the British and Dutch batteries. In this firing a French battery, mounted by some of the guns, and manned by the crews, of the privateers, also took a part.

On the evening of the 4th there was a smart skirmish between the British at the advanced post and the enemy's sharpshooters, in which the latter were repulsed ; and on the morning of the 5th a more serious affair took place between the marines under Lieutenant Nicolls and a force of Dutch and French estimated at 500 men. Notwithstanding his numerical inferiority, Lieutenant Nicolls, in the most gallant manner, repulsed the allied forces ; but, pursuing the enemy too far, not without the loss of nearly 20 in killed and wounded, chiefly from the cannon of Fort République. On the next day, the 6th the cannonade between the forts was resumed ; but Lieutenant Willoughby, finding it in vain to present any of his pieces at Fort République, directed them at the town and at the shipping in the harbour. By this means the town was partially set on fire; and the Hatslaar would probably have been destroyed, had not the Dutch placed alongside of her, as a sort of fend-of; two large merchant: vessels, whose hulls received the greater part of the shot.

In this way passed a number of successive days, the force of the British gradually decreasing, not merely by loss from the cannon of the forts and in the different skirmishes, but from fatigue and sickness. At length not an officer was left at the advanced battery but Lieutenant Willoughby and Midshipman Eaton Travers ; and 63 of the men had been obliged to be re-embarked owing to an attack of dysentery : a circumstance not to be wondered at considering that both officers and men lay upon the ground, without any of those conveniences deemed, indispensable in the encampment of an army. The force of the, Dutch too, instead of amounting to only 160 regulars, consisted of 250 effective men, besides a body of local militia, and the crews of the vessels in the harbour. In addition to all this, the Dutch learnt by deserters, nine of whom quitted in one night, the weak state of the British force, and that the squadron must, soon raise the blockade for the want of provisions.

In this state of things Captain Bligh, on the morning of the 23d, despatched the Gipsy to apprize Sir John Duckworth of his intention, unless any thing favourable should happen, to re-embark his people on the 4th of March. In the course of that same 23d, the Dutch received a reinforcement ; and in the evening the Pique was obliged to bear up for Jamaica, on account of having damaged her rudder.

Nearly one half, or 30 out of 67, of the Hercule's marines were Poles, part of the prisoners taken at St:-Domingo ; and who, most inconsiderately, had been allowed to enter. On the 24th these " volunteers," very naturally, evinced so clear an intention of going over to the enemy, that they were obliged to be sent on board their ship with all haste. The re-embarkation of the whole remaining force could now no longer be delayed ; and on the 25th, by 9 P. M., every person was on board an American schooner and one or two other vessels of a light draught, except Lieutenant Hills and a small party left to destroy Fort Piscadero. At 11 P. M. this was effectually done, and the lieutenant and his men soon joined their companions afloat.

The loss of the British, in the different skirmishes that had taken place, amounted to one midshipman (Joseph Palmer), eight seamen, two sergeants and seven privates of marines killed, and three lieutenants of marines (Messieurs Harwood, Cahuac, and Perrot, the latter with the loss of an arm), 16 seamen, two sergeants and 21 privates of marines wounded ; total, 18 killed and 42 wounded. The whole of the guns, that had been landed from the ships, were also left behind, except, we believe, two 3-pounder field-pieces; but the abandoned guns were all rendered unserviceable, and the carriages, platforms, &,c. destroyed.

The circumstances, under which Lieutenant Perrot received his severe wound, are so extraordinary as to be worthy a recital. During almost every day of the three weeks and upwards that the advanced battery was held, Lieutenant Willoughby, with a recklessness of his person that, as it appears to us, the occasion did not warrant, used to sit in a chair upon the ramparts or breastwork of his little battery, exposed to a daily, nay almost to an hourly, discharge of shot from one or two guns mounted upon the Dutch fort above. The earth was ploughed up all around, and one man, we believe, was killed close to the spot ; but still the table and chair, and the daring young officer who sat there, remained untouched. On one afternoon Lieutenant Perrot was induced to seat himself in the chair. Scarcely had he done so, when a shot came, took off his left arm, badly wounded the knee upon which it had been resting, and knocked the table to atoms.

Notwithstanding the ill success which had attended this, as Sir John himself not inaptly termed it, " child of his own brain," the addition of the Vanguard's seamen and marines, and of a heavy mortar or two, would have enabled Captain Bligh to cut off the water from the Dutch garrison, and probably have compelled the French faction that ruled the island to accede to the proposed capitulation. The British officers and men behaved most admirably : and the masterly manner, in which, for so long a time and under so many privations, Lieutenant Hills and Willoughby, the latter in particular, maintained their respective posts, elicited the strong praise of Captain Bligh : who also, in reference to another officer, says to Sir John Duckworth, " Mr. Fitton has throughout shown so much zeal and judgment, that I should feel most happy if you can consistently give him a commission appointing him lieutenant of the Gipsy." This recommendation was attended to ; and, in a few days after the Gipsy anchored at Port- Royal, her commander, although the bearer of despatches announcing a defeat, received, what years of active employment and of hard and responsible service, what more than one successful case of acknowledged skill and gallantry as a commanding officer, had failed to procure him, his commission as a lieutenant.

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