light next morning, and for a general attack upon the town and ships of war. At two o'clock in the morning (the 17th), the Spanish squadron was perceived to be on fire; the ships, except one line of battle, were all consumed, and that ship which escaped the conflagration, was taken possession of by the boats of the British fleet; the enemy at the same time evacuated this quarter of the island. The General's whole attention was now paid to the town. As soon, therefore, as the troops were landed, about five hundred advanced to the westward of it, meeting. but little opposition; and before night they were masters of the town of Port d'Espagne, and of the whole neighbourhood, two small forts excepted. The next morning the Governor, Don Chalcon, capitulated with the conqueror, and the whole colony passed under the dominion of his Britannic Majesty. Thus far our General had succeeded in fulfilling the wishes and instructions of his Sovereign. An unsuccessful attempt upon the Spanish island of Porto Rico, concluded his campaign of 1797, in the West Indies. If nothing was gained to the country by this last attempt, no loss of reputation in its military character was sustained by the failure; and indeed the manner in which the General was received on his return to Europe, testified the estimation in which his military talents were held by the British government. On the 2d of November, 1796, while on this service, Sir Ralph (for he had now been invested with a red ribbon), was presented to the second, or North British British dragoons, commonly called the Scots Greys; and in the same year he was made Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Wight, and afterwards still further rewarded with the more lucrative governments of Forts George and Augustus. On the 26th of January, 1797, he was raised to his present rank of lieutenant general. The ferment in Ireland threatening every day to break out into a flame, Sir Ralph was not allowed to remain long in a state of repose. He was fixed upon to take the chief command of the forces in that kingdom. He paid great attention to the discipline of the army, and was anxious to restore to the soldiers that reputation, which had been sullied by repeated acts of licentiousness. His declaration "that their irregularity and insubordination had rendered them more formidable to their friends than to their enemies," however true, was deemed harsh by some who neither considered the delicacy and responsibility of his situation, nor the danger of military insubordination, by allowing disorders in any army, like those he complained of, to grow by example. The General's removal, however, from his command, was in no respect the effect of dissatisfaction on either side, but the result of an unanimous opinion, that it would be expedient and efficacious to unite the civil and military authority in the same person, the benefits of which had been so obvious in the dominions of the cast. In this view of the precedent it was impossible not to fix upon the Marquis Cornwallis. Sir Sir Ralph has since been appointed to the chief command of his Majesty's forces in North Britain, and he was soon after employed in other commands of the highest importance. His conduct in the memorable attack on the Helder Fort, and the consequent invasion of Holland Jast autumn, needs not our panegyric; and the circumstances are too fresh in the memory of the public to render the details necessary. This active and intelligent General is now invested with the principal command of our immense army in the Mediterranean; and wherever the orders of government may direct the operation of his talents and bravery, new laurels may be anticipated for his brow. Sir Ralph has not only served his country as a warrior, but as a legislator also. At the general election in 1774, when his father was living, he was chosen to represent the county of Kinross in Parliament, and he continued to sit in the House of Commons till the next election, in 1780. His brother at this time represents the same county. His disposition, however, and perhaps his talents, are better adapted to the determined business of the field, then calculated to wade through the intricacies of political discussion Sir Ralph Abercromby, therefore, ought more immediately to be considered as a soldier: as an independent character, he will, nevertheless, be estimable in private and political life. He is naturally reserved, and extremely silent in mixed society; but was never known to betray the least symptom of haughtiness. Men of merit have easy easy access to him, and when engaged in any particular enterprize, officers of talents seldom escape his attention. His conduct, indeed, through life, appears to have been founded on the following remarkable lines written by Frederick the Great. Dans des honneurs obfcurs vous ne viellirez pas, LORD DORCHESTER. THIS veteran soldier is one of the oldest officers in the British army. In the list of generals, of which he stands nearly at the head, not one can be pointed out who has seen more, or a greater variety of service. He is descended from an ancient family residing many ages at Carleton, in Cumberland, whence the survivors removed into Ireland; of the family, three brothers, who espoused the Royal cause in the last century, lost their lives at the battle of MarstonMoor. He was born in the year 1722, and at an early period entered into the Guards, in which corps he continued until the year 1748, when he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the seventy-second regiment. Upon the breaking out of the seven years war, his professional knowledge was put to an honourable test. In 1758 he embarked with General Amherst for the siege of Louisburg, where his active abilities obtained him considerable reputation. In the next year he was at the siege of Quebec, under the immortal Wolfe; where his important ser vices did not escape the notice of his superiors. Ie was singled out as a proper officer, to be detached with an adequate force, to secure a post on the western point of the Isle d'Orleans, a service which he effectually performed. Some time after he was again detached to dislodge the French from Point au Trempe, twenty miles distant from Quebec, where he was equally successful. The next service in which Colonel Carleton was engaged, was at the scige of Belleisle, where he acted in the capacity of brigadier-general, having been honoured with that local rank on the spot on which he received his first wound from the enemy. The public dispatches of General Hodgson, who commanded on this last expedition, spoke in terms highly flattering of the conduct of the Brigadier. In February, 1762, he was promoted to the rank of colonel in the army, and soon afterwards he embarked for the siege of the Havannah. In this arduous enterprize our hero had his full share of honourable toil. On the 10th of June he was detached from the camp into the woods between Coximar and the Moro, with a body of light infantry and grenadiers, who invested the Moro Castle: on the 11th, he carried the Spanish redoubt upon Moro Hill, establishing a post there; but again he had the misfortune to receive a wound. Many officers, however, thought themselves fully compensated for these accidents, and for their incessant fatigues, by the ample sums of prize-money which they shared after their.conquest. The |