Next morning the besieged were astonished when the guns opened fire upon them from the rock, for, the path being at the back, they had not seen what was going on. As they could obtain no shelter from this attack, and there was no possibility of silencing the guns, they hastily abandoned the post and retreated on San Fiorenzo. The battery on the rock, however, also commanded the town, which, accordingly, had to be abandoned on the following day, the garrison retiring to the adjoining ridge of ground and to Bastia, which was considered the strongest place in the island. The capture of San Fiorenzo was the more valuable, inasmuch as in the harbour were two frigates, the _Minerve_ and _La Fortunée_, both of which became our prizes. The _Minerve_, thirty-eight guns, was sunk by the French, but was weighed by our men and taken into the service, when she was renamed the _San Fiorenzo_. Nelson was immensely pleased with the manner in which the operation of getting the guns up the rock had been performed, and requested the captain of the _Tartar_ that Will should be permanently stationed on shore to act as his own aide-de-camp, a request which was, of course, complied with. In the meantime Nelson had reconnoitred Bastia and the neighbouring coast, and recommended that troops and cannon be disembarked, for he was convinced that a land force of about a thousand, in co-operation with a few ships, would be sufficient to reduce the place. Unfortunately the general commanding the troops was one of the most irresolute of men, and when, after a few days, he resigned the command, in consequence of his differences with Lord Hood, his successor, General D’Aubant, was still more incapable. He pronounced at once that, though the force at his command was almost double that which Nelson asked for, it was insufficient for the work required of it. Nelson, burning with indignation, decided that the attempt to take Bastia must be made, and that if the army would not do it the navy must.