I Am Even Sanguine Enough To Think A Resolute
Commander Might, With A Strong Squadron, Sail Directly Into The
Harbour, Without Sustaining Much Damage, Notwithstanding All The
Cannon Of The Place, Which Are Said To Amount To Near Five
Hundred.
I have seen a cannonade of above four hundred pieces of
artillery, besides bombs and cohorns, maintained for many hours,
without doing much mischief.
During the last siege of Genoa, the French auxiliaries were
obliged to wait at Monaco, until a gale of wind had driven the
English squadron off the coast, and then they went along shore in
small vessels at the imminent risque of being taken by the
British cruisers. By land I apprehend their march would be
altogether impracticable, if the king of Sardinia had any
interest to oppose it. He might either guard the passes, or break
up the road in twenty different places, so as to render it
altogether impassable. Here it may not be amiss to observe, that
when Don Philip advanced from Nice with his army to Genoa, he was
obliged to march so close to the shore, that in above fifty
different places, the English ships might have rendered the road
altogether impassable. The path, which runs generally along the
face of a precipice washed by the sea, is so narrow that two men
on horseback can hardly pass each other; and the road itself so
rugged, slippery, and dangerous, that the troopers were obliged
to dismount, and lead their horses one by one.
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