goes and the rest
of the squadron made their way through the passage which the brave
Hopson had opened up, and directed their fire upon the "Bourbon," which
in a short time was captured. The "Torbay," however, suffered very
severely, losing a hundred and fifteen men killed and drowned, besides
many wounded, including among the latter Captain Moody, her brave
captain. While the troops were advancing, Captain Beckenham in the
"Association," of ninety guns, laid his broadside against a battery of
seventeen guns on the left side of the harbour, and Captain Wyvill in
the "Barfleur" was sent to batter the fort on the other side, while
there was a considerable firing from great guns and small-arms on both
sides. The other ships defending the harbour were now attacked. They
replied to the fire of the English with considerable vigour, though they
in vain attempted to resist their advance. Meantime the Duke of Ormond
had landed in a sandy bay about two leagues distant from Vigo. His
Grace, meeting with no opposition, ordered the grenadiers, under Lord
Shannon and Colonel Pierce, to march directly to the forts which guarded
the entrance to the harbour where the boom lay. This they executed with
much courage and alacrity, and so furious was their attack, that they
soon made themselves masters of this important fort. The Duke himself,
at the head of the rest of the forces, in the meantime marched on foot
over craggy mountains to support the first detachment. As they
advanced, they saw before them about eight thousand Spaniards prepared
apparently to contest their advance between the fort and the hills.
These, however, only engaged in a little skirmishing at a distance, and
as the grenadiers advanced they retired. The batteries having been
taken, the enemy retreated into an old tower, or stone castle. From
thence, for some time, they fired briskly upon the English. It was said
that there were nearly twenty thousand French and Spanish troops in and
about Vigo at that time; but, undaunted by the superiority of the enemy,
the British troops pushed on. They plied the defenders of the tower so
warmly with their grenadoes, and pelted them so sharply with their
fusees that they soon made the place too hot for them. Finding this,
Monsieur de Sorel, the valiant captain of a French man-of-war, who
commanded in the fort, having encouraged his men to make a daring push
for their lives, opened the gates, intending to force his way thr