quantity of water, which has been found very hurtful and weakening; and when you are at those stations where water can be had, your men should be marched to the wells to fill their canteens morning and evening, and no more should be allowed. At those places where they cannot cook their victuals, they must be persuaded to eat what is cooked the day before, as they will not otherwise be able to perform the succeeding march through faintness and weakness. GAZETTES. The following Dispatch, addressed to the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, was received on the 9th of May, 1801, at the Office of the Right Hon. Lord Hobart, one of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, from General Sir Ralph Abercromby, K. B. Commander in Chief of his Majesty's Troops serving in the Mediterranean. Camp before Alexandria, March 16th, 1801. SIR, ALTHOUGH it was not originally my intention to have commenced the operations of the British army in Egypt on the side of Alexandria, yet circumstances arose that induced me to change my opinion. We were much longer delayed on the coast of Asia Minor than we had at first any reason to apprehend; and we were ultimately obliged to sail from Marmorice in a very imperfect state of preparation. I am fully sensible of the exertions of his Majesty's Ambassador at the Ottoman Porte, as well as of the quarter master general, and the other officers who were sent forward to provide for the necessities of the army. Our delays originated from other causes. For a considerable time previous to our sailing, the weather was extremely boisterous, and the winds contrary. The moment that it became practicable to sail with so large a fleet, Lord Keith put to sea; we left Marmorice on the 22d of February, and came in sight of Alexandria on the 1st of March. On the 2d the fleet anchored in Aboukir Bay. Until the 7th the sca ran high, and no disembarkation could be effected; on that day every arrangement was completed, and on the 8th the troops forming the first division, consisting of the reserve, under the command of Major General Moore, the brigade of Guards, under the Hon. Major General Ludlow, and part of the first brigade, under the command of Major General Coote, got into the boats early in the morning: they had in general from five to six miles to row, and did not arrive at the point point of landing till ten o'clock. The front of disembarkation was narrow; and a hill, which commanded the whole, seemed almost inaccessible. The enemy were fully aware of our intention, were in force, and had every advantage on their side. The troops, however, notwithstanding their being exposed to a very severe cannonade, and under the fire of grape shot, made good their landing, ascended the hill with an intrepidity scarcely to be paralleled, and forced the enemy to retire, leaving behind them seven pieces of artillery, and a number of horses. The troops that ascended the hill were the 23d regiment and the four flank companies of the 40th, under the command of Colonel Spencer, whose coolness and good conduct Major General Moore has mentioned to me in the highest terms of approbation. It is impossible to pass over the good order in which the 28th and 42d regiments landed, under the command of Brigadier General Oakes, who was attached to the reserve under Major General Moore: and the troops in general lost not a moment in remedying any little disorder which became unavoidable in a landing under such circumstances. The disembarkation of the army continued on that and the following day. The troops which landed on the 8th advanced three miles the same day; and on the 12th the whole army moved forward, and came within sight of the enemy, who was formed on an advantageous ridge, with his right to the canal of Alexandria, and his left towards the sea. It was determined to attack them on the morning of the 13th, and in consequence the army marched in two lines by the left, with an intention to turn their right flank. The troops had not been long in motion before the enemy descended from the heights on which they were formed, and attacked the leading brigades of both lines, which were commanded by Major General Craddock and Major General the Earl of Cavan. The 90th regiment formed the advanced guard of the first line, and the 92d that of the second; both battalions suffered considerably, and behaved in such a manner as to merit the praise both of courage and discipline. Major General Craddock immediately formed his brigade to meet the attack made by the enemy, and the troops changed their position with a quickness and precision which did them the greatest honor. The remainder of the army followed so good an example, and |