After taking the Vulcan to her station, and when in the act of receiving some combustible materials from her, for the purpose of setting fire to the French ships in the southern basin. Lieutenant Gore was blown out of his boat by a premature explosion, of which the following notice is taken in Sir W. Sidney Smith’s official letter to Lord Hood, dated Dec. 18, 1793:–
“I was sorry to find myself deprived of the further services of Captain Hare: he had performed that of placing his fire-ship to admiration, but was blown into the water, and much scorched, by the explosion of her priming, when in the act of putting the match to it. Lieutenant Gore was also much burnt, and I was consequently deprived of him also; which I regretted the more, from the recollection of his bravery and activity in the warm service of Fort Mulgrave.”
We next find Lieutenant Gore commanding a detachment of seamen, landed to co-operate with the small British army in Corsica, under Lieutenant-General David Dundas. The following are extracts of that officer’s official despatches, detailing the operations against St. Fiorenzo:–
“As the enemy, besides the town, possessed several heights and points, commanding the anchorage on the west side of the gulph, it was necessary to dislodge them before the squadron could anchor in security: these points in succession, on entering the gulph, were the tower of Mortella, the redoubt and batteries of the Convention, and the tower of Fornelli, with two considerable sea-batteries dependent upon it.
“Expecting little opposition from Mortella tower, and trusting from intelligence that we could approach near enough to that of Fornelli to attack it with light artillery, Lieutenant-Colonel Moore was detached on the 8th (Feb. 1794), with the royal and 51st regiments, a small howitzer, and a 6-pounder, to effect this purpose; but after a march of 7 or 8 miles, through a rocky, desert, and mountainous country, destitute of roads, and where the artillery was carried by a detachment of sailors, under Captain Cooke, he arrived on the heights immediately above Fornelli, and then found that the distance was too great to hope for any effect from his small guns. The same day we began from a commanding height, within 150 yards, to batter the tower of Mortella; but it was not till the 10th, after the attack made by the Fortitude and Juno[1], and after establishing an 18-pounder, two 9-pounders, and a carronade against it, that we were enabled to reduce it, and take an officer and 34 men prisoners[2].
