Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez. Vol IIRoss, John, Sir
History
Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez. Vol II
Ross, John, Sir
Admirals -- Great Britain -- Biography; Saumarez, James, 1757-1836
I trust and hope this will not lead to a rupture between the
two countries; but so unwarrantable and violent a proceeding
cannot easily be settled. I own to you, I never formed any
expectation that the troops would be of essential service in
this country. They were too few in number to act separately;
and it would not have been right to commit them with the
Swedish army, at the will and disposal of the monarch.
Sir James writes thus to his son; Sir John Moore's expedition being
still at Gothenburg.
Victory, Gothenburg, 23rd May 1808.
I trust that we shall be enabled to defend Sweden during the
summer; but, when winter sets in, we shall be compelled to
withdraw our ships from the Baltic: this will expose the
country to the attack of the enemy from Zealand and the ports
on the south of the Baltic. The Swedes are a brave and upright
people; they are faithful to their prince, and are very averse
to any change in their government, and still more so to French
principles. I have been twice on shore; but being near ten
miles from Gothenburg, makes it inconvenient: it is a place of
great trade; at this time, at least twelve hundred sail of
vessels of different nations are in the port.
The above is a sufficient proof of the good opinion Sir James had
formed of the Swedish character, and which, he often said, he never
had occasion to alter.
Sir James was now placed in one of the most anxious and arduous
situations which it was possible to imagine. He had to protect the
commerce of both nations in a dangerous and intricate navigation, with
which his ships were but little acquainted, opposed on every side by
Russians, Prussians, French, Danes, and Norwegians. It was requisite
that his forces should be most judiciously disposed; and great tact
and firmness were indispensable to conduct affairs under the existing
circumstances. His conduct on this, as well as on every former
occasion, was such as to deserve and obtain the high approbation of
the government, and the people of both Great Britain and Sweden. The
first letter Sir James received from Gustavus Adolphus was written in
French, of which the following is an exact copy:
Chateau de Stockholm, le 6 Mai 1808.
MONSIEUR L'AMIRAL,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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