s was the spirit in which Hood faced the problem. Even at the close
of November, when all hope of the arrival of the 5,000 Austrians was
past, he refused to listen to David Dundas's advice for the evacuation
of Toulon; and surely this pertinacity was consonant with the traditions
of the British navy, and of the army in its better days; but out of
this question arose a feud between army and navy which developed in
Corsica with disastrous results. Ministers strove to send all the
succour available. But they did not hear until 22nd December that the
5,000 Austrians were being withheld. Henry Dundas's letter of the 28th
also breathes deep concern at the news that Sir R. Boyd had not
forwarded from Gibraltar the reinforcements ordered thence. Further, it
appears from an official estimate drawn up at Whitehall on 18th
December, that the troops already at or ordered to Toulon were believed
to be as follows: British, 2,828; Spanish, 4,147; Sardinians, 2,162;
Neapolitans, 8,600. Dundas also included the 1,100 British troops
ordered from Gibraltar (where at that time there was no chance of an
attack), and 2,361 men under directions to sail from Cork, but which
could not stir owing to the non-arrival of the transports.[266] The
resulting total of 21,198 is, of course, merely a sign of Henry Dundas's
optimism. But obviously Ministers were unaware of the acute crisis at
Toulon at the time of its surrender. In the age of telegraphy, that
disaster would have been averted. The delays of the Austrians, and the
muddles at Gibraltar and Cork, would have been known betimes.

Strange to say, there was at that time lying at anchor at Spithead a
force under Lord Moira's command, destined for Brittany, but held back
for various causes, which would probably have turned the balance at
Toulon, had Ministers known of the dire need of reinforcements. It is
mortifying to read the letters of Pitt and the Marquis of Buckingham
early in December, complaining that Moira's force is strangely
inactive.[267] Still more startling is it to read the hurried order of
23rd December (six days after the loss of Toulon), that the 40th
regiment, then unexpectedly detained at Cork, though detached for
service with Lord Moira, should set sail at once for the French
stronghold along with the other regiments also detained at Cork.[268]
What might not have happened, had those troops set sail for Toulon
before the close of November?

Hero-worshippers will probably maint