The value of Minorca as a base then became apparent. Rear-Admiral Cornwall was sent to Port Mahon with the ships that required repairs and all the prizes. On February 3, 1719, Sir George Byng went with the rest of the fleet to Port Mahon, to refresh the men and refit the ships. Returning to Naples in April, he found that Count Mercy had been appointed to the command of a German army to expel the Spaniards from Sicily. Mercy was a tall, soldier-like man, but excessively short-sighted. He had great strength of mind and body, was very ambitious, with an insatiable thirst for glory. He would have been a greater general if he had been endowed with a cooler temper. The task before him was a difficult one, although the English fleet gave him command of the sea. All things being ready, Sir George Byng sailed from Baia with eight men-of-war, escorting two hundred transports having on board 10,000 infantry and 3,500 horse. By the advice of the Savoyard Governor of Melazzo, the landing was effected on the coast about twenty miles to the westward of that fortress. Count Seckendorf was detached to reduce the Lipari Islands to the Emperor’s obedience--an important matter, so as to keep the communications open between Naples and Sicily. The Sicilian campaign commenced in May 1719, and there was some very severe fighting. Count Mercy found himself in considerable difficulties in the interior; for the natives were on the side of the Spaniards. He sent a message with an urgent request that Sir George Byng would come to him for a consultation. The Admiral did not hesitate. He set out with a strong escort, accompanied by his eldest son and Captain Matthews of the _Kent_. The road was strewn with the dead bodies of men and horses, and was very rugged, but they reached the Count’s tent in the evening. A guard of honour was drawn up for the Admiral’s reception, and one of the men was shot through the head at the door of the tent by a musket-ball from the enemy’s camp. He fell dead at the Admiral’s feet as he dismounted. Sir George found the Count very weak from a wound, the ball not having yet been extracted. But he was full of pluck, and desirous of again attacking the Spaniards in their strong position, though his officers advised a retreat to the coast. A council next day confirmed this opinion, and dwelt on the urgency of receiving reinforcements. Sir George therefore returned to the coast and immediately proceeded with two ships to Naples to represent the state of things to the Viceroy. He then returned to Sicily, where he found that Count Mercy had been disabled by an apoplectic seizure; but that his second in command had taken Taormina by surprise and advanced to Messina, where the siege was commenced on July 20. The town surrendered and Sir George Byng took his fleet into the harbour, but the citadel held out.