se rovers of the
sea for their bold piracies; but the expedition, for want of harmonious
action between the squadron and the land-forces, was unsuccessful, on
account of the murderous fire which the troops received from the
Turkish and Arab musketeers dispersed among the undergrowth surrounding
the city. The troops returned to their vessels after having two thousand
men placed _hors de combat_.

The American war (1779) was the epoch of the greatest maritime efforts
upon the part of the French. Europe was astonished to see this power
send Count d'Estaing to America with twenty-five ships of the line,
while at the same time M. Orvilliers, with a Franco-Spanish fleet of
sixty-five ships of the line, was to cover a descent to be effected with
three hundred transports and forty thousand men, assembled at Havre and
St. Malo.

This new armada moved back and forth for several months, but
accomplished nothing: the winds finally drove it back to port.

D'Estaing was more fortunate, as he succeeded in getting the superiority
in the Antilles and in landing in the United States six thousand
Frenchmen under Rochambeau, who were followed, at a later date, by
another division, and assisted in investing the English army under
Cornwallis at Yorktown, (1781:) the independence of America was thus
secured. France would perhaps have gained a triumph over her implacable
rival more lasting in its effects, had she, in addition to the display
made in the English Channel, sent ten ships and seven or eight thousand
men more to India with Admiral Suffren.

During the French Revolution, there were few examples of descents: the
fire at Toulon, emigration, and the battle of Ushant had greatly injured
the French navy.

Hoche's expedition against Ireland with twenty-five thousand men was
scattered by the winds, and no further attempts in that quarter were
made. (1796.)

At a later date, Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt, consisting of
twenty-three thousand men, thirteen ships, seventeen frigates, and four
hundred transports, obtained great successes at first, which were
followed by sad reverses. The Turks, in hopes of expelling him, landed
fifteen thousand men at Aboukir, but were all captured or driven into
the sea, notwithstanding the advantages this peninsula gave them of
intrenching themselves and waiting for reinforcements. This is an
excellent example for imitation by the party on the defensive under
similar circumstances.

The expedition