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this time until the middle of October nothing of any importance appears to have taken place except an affair of outposts—the enemy availing themselves of a dense fog to attack the advanced post at Warwick—when twenty men were killed and wounded, and fifty taken prisoners. On the 11th October, the 19th, 27th, 42d, and 59th Regiments were ordered to march from Menin to Ostend for the purpose of embarking to join the army under Sir Charles Grey, destined for the West Indies.* On arriving at Ostend, and while in the harbour, Sir Charles Grey detached the 42d Regiment and some light

* The good accounts from Flanders are overbalanced, I fear, by the bad. These checks were, in my opinion, to be expected whenever the French took the resolution to leave the sieges on the side of Hainault to their fate in order to break in upon the line of communication. This must have happened equally if the combined armies had remained together and undertaken a joint operation; and the proposed plan had the advantage of being the only one whose success would have remedied this inconvenience resulting from the nature of an attack from an open country against such a barrier.

It must be left to military decision what is precisely the best point of attack, combined or separate, which now remains; but the loss of Menin as a post of communication does not tend to lessen the difficulties of any plan, and I am averse to anything which shall hazard the delaying of the West Indian expedition.

A few towns more or less in Flanders are certainly not unimportant; but I am much mistaken in my speculations if the business at Toulon is not decisive of the war.-Lord Grenville to Marquis of Buckingham, 15th September 1793.

*

companies, amongst others that of the 19th, then commanded by Captain Graham, to the relief of Nieuport,* then besieged by the enemy.

The enemy, whose numbers were computed at 8000, kept up a brisk fire during the right of the 28-29th, and took one of the towers near the place, but their fire was well answered by the garrison, and the reinforcement under General Dundas, thus seasonably

* Nieuport forms the extreme right of the frontier line of the Netherlands. This town is distant about one and a half mile from the sea, with which it communicates by the Iser river, navigable for small vessels up to the town, and only fordable on the sea-beach at the time of extreme low water.

Nieuport does not command any chaussée from France by which this country might be invaded, but derives much military importance from the circumstance of its harbour communicating with the three canals of Bruges, Ypres, Furnes, by means of the sluices of which, a very considerable inundation of the adjacent country with fresh water may be effected; and if the sea water be also admitted at spring tides, the inundation would extend to the neighbourhood of Ypres, and towards Mont Cassel in France.

To secure the means of so efficient though destructive a mode of defence of a considerable portion of the frontier must be an object of importance in every scheme of defensive war in this country.

The enceinte of Nieuport, which is nearly of a square figure, consists of an ancient wall flanked by small towers, in addition to which a few general flanks have been obtained by throwing out some irregular works on the angles of the body of the place. The whole is surrounded by a good wet ditch, excepting on one side where that part of the river which forms the harbour serves as a ditch.

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received on the morning of the 29th, enabled the brave governor to hold out. In the night of the 30th, the enemy raised the siege and retreated, leaving behind. four twenty-four pounders and two mortars, as well as a quantity of shot and shells and intrenching tools.

Sir Charles Grey, in his despatch of the 30th October, thus expresses himself:-"I feel that much is due. to the zeal and intelligence with which Major-General Dundas undertook and executed the service intrusted to him after his arrival at Nieuport."

On Nieuport being relieved, Captain Graham returned with his regiment to England.