. Gibraltar and its sieges, with a description of its natural features . ppearthat his engineer-officers were as able as they werezealous; so that at all the exposed points new worksof great strength were thrown up, and the fortifi-cations were everywhere repaired and put in fleet of gunboats was got ready in the Bay ; abody of Corsicans, under the leadership of a nephewof the celebrated Paoli, had arrived to offer theirservices; and some vessels loaded with ammunitionhad run the blockade, and refilled the magazines ofthe fortress. The garrison reposed the most absoluteconfidence in th
. Gibraltar and its sieges, with a description of its natural features . ppearthat his engineer-officers were as able as they werezealous; so that at all the exposed points new worksof great strength were thrown up, and the fortifi-cations were everywhere repaired and put in fleet of gunboats was got ready in the Bay ; abody of Corsicans, under the leadership of a nephewof the celebrated Paoli, had arrived to offer theirservices; and some vessels loaded with ammunitionhad run the blockade, and refilled the magazines ofthe fortress. The garrison reposed the most absoluteconfidence in their commander, and after so pro-tracted a siege had come to think of themselves asinvincible. Nor was their confidence lessened bythe news which reached them of Admiral Rodneysgreat victory over a French fleet in the West some time the governor had looked on verycalmly at the new works raised by the Spaniardsacross the isthmus and along the shore, but as theyhad been pushed forward to an inconvenient position,he thouoht the moment had come for administering. THE HOSTILE ARMADA. 81 a stern rebuke. He therefore opened upon them acannonade of red-hot shot, which in a few hoursinvolved the greater portion in flames. This contemptuous demonstration so annoyed theDuke of Crillon, that, though his lines were in-complete, he ordered a general bombardment. Itbegan with a volley of about sixty shells from themortar boats; then all his artillery, numberingone hundred and seventy pieces of heavy calibre,joined in the feu denfer; while nine line-of-battleships hurled their broadsides as they sailed alongthe sea-front. The attack was repeated on thefollowing day, in the hope apparently of terrifyingthe garrison by revealing the formidable natureof the preparations made for their the air echoed with the hurtling missiles, theastonished soldiers saw through the occasional gapsin the smoke-clouds a vast press of sail coming upfrom the westward; it proved to be the c
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidgibraltarits, bookyear1879
