he army. Lord Aubrey Beauclerc, a gallant
officer who commanded one of these ships, was slain on this occasion.
The breach being deemed practicable, the forces advanced to the attack;
but the forts and batteries were abandoned; the Spanish ships that lay
athwart the harbour's mouth were destroyed or taken, the passage was
opened, and the fleet entered without further opposition. Then the
forces were re-embarked with the artillery, and landed within a mile of
Carthagena, where they were opposed by about seven hundred Spaniards,
whom they obliged to retire. The admiral and general had contracted a
hearty contempt for each other, and took all opportunities of expressing
their mutual dislike; far from acting vigorously in concert for the
advantage of the community, they maintained a mutual reserve, and
separate cabals; and each proved more eager for the disgrace of his
rival, than zealous for the honour of the nation.

The general complained that the fleet lay idle while his troops
were harassed and diminished by hard duty and distemper. The admiral
affirmed, that his ships could not lie near enough to batter the town
of Carthagena; he upbraided the general with inactivity and want of
resolution to attack the fort of Saint Lazar which commanded the
town, and might be taken by scalade. Wentworth, stimulated by these
reproaches, resolved to try the experiment. His forces marched up to
the attack; but the guides being slain, they mistook their route, and
advanced to the strongest part of the fortification, where they were
moreover exposed to the fire of the town. Colonel Grant, who commanded
the grenadiers, was mortally wounded; the scaling-ladders were found too
short; the officers were perplexed for want of orders and directions;
yet the soldiers sustained a severe fire for several hours with
surprising intrepidity, and at length retreated, leaving about six
hundred killed or wounded on the spot. Their number was now so much
reduced, that they could no longer maintain their footing on shore;
besides, the rainy season had begun with such violence, as rendered it
impossible for them to live in camp. They were, therefore, re-embarked;
and all hope of further success immediately vanished. The admiral,
however, in order to demonstrate the impracticability of taking the
place by sea, sent in the Gallicia, one of the Spanish ships which
had been taken at Boca-chica, to cannonade the town, with sixteen guns
mounted on one side, like