Knights of Malta, 1523-1798 | Page 7

sure that their complaints were justified he would
send three Knights to investigate the condition of the fort. One of the
three (probably in collusion with La Valette) maintained the fort could
be held, and offered himself to hold it with volunteers, who were
immediately forthcoming in large numbers; but when the message
arrived at St. Elmo announcing that the garrison was to be relieved,
there was consternation among the defenders, who, now realising the
ignominy of their prayer, sent out yet another request to St. Angelo,
this time to be allowed to hold St. Elmo to the death. After some delay
the Grand Master granted the permission.
This was June 14; on the 16th the Ottomans delivered a grand assault.
The fort was attacked on three sides, from Mount Sceberras and on
each flank. The guns of St. Angelo rendered great service all day by
raking the attacking forces in enfilade, and especially by breaking up
the flank attack from the side of the Grand Harbour. All day long the
battle went on with unabating fury; time after time the Janissaries burst
over the ruined walls, and each time they were repulsed. Attacked on
all sides, the few defenders fought with dauntless heroism, and when
the night fell the Maltese Cross still waved over the fort.

Reinforcements were dispatched as soon as night set in, and the
volunteers far exceeded all requirements.
Now at last the Turkish commanders perceived that, to capture St.
Elmo, it must be isolated from St. Angelo. In the course of the next few
days a battery was constructed on the promontory at the entrance of the
Grand Harbour where Fort Ricasoli stood in later times, and another
was mounted on the side of Mount Sceberras to sweep the landing
place beneath the fort. Both batteries cost many Turkish lives, but their
construction and the extension of the investing trenches to the Grand
Harbour meant the complete isolation of St. Elmo. The Turks sustained
their greatest loss when Dragut, while superintending the works,
received a wound from which a week later he died.
For three days twenty-six guns kept up the bombardment, and on the
early morning of June 22 another grand assault was made. Three times
repulsed and three times renewed, the attack failed in the end, and the
handful of surviving Knights was left at nightfall in possession of their
ruins. All attempts during the night to send reinforcements failed under
the fire of Dragut's new batteries, and La Valette saw that his men were
beyond all hope of rescue.
The sixty shattered survivors prepared for death; worn out, they betook
themselves at midnight to their little chapel, where they confessed and
received the Eucharist for the last time. Dawn found them waiting, even
to the wounded, who had been placed in chairs sword in hand to
receive the last onslaught. Incredible as it may appear, the first assault
was driven back, but the attack finally broke up the defence, and, with
the exception of a few Maltese who escaped by swimming, the garrison
perished to a man.
June 24, St. John the Baptist's Day, was one of sorrow inside the
beleaguered fortress. The Turks had soiled their victory by mutilating
their dead foes and throwing them into the Grand Harbour; La Valette
took reprisals, and from that time neither side thought of quarter.
Nor were the besiegers greatly elated; the tiny Fort of St. Elmo had
delayed them for five weeks and had cost them 8,000 men and their

best general. The Order had lost 1,300 men, of whom 130 were Knights,
and the disparity of the losses shows the impatience and recklessness of
the Turkish attacks.
Mustapha now transferred the main part of his army to the other side of
the Grand Harbour, and, drawing a line of entrenchments along the
heights on its eastern side, succeeded in investing completely the two
peninsulas of Senglea and Il Borgo. Batteries were established and a
constant bombardment commenced, the main target being Fort St.
Michael at the end of Senglea, on which a converging fire was brought
to bear. Unable to bring his fleet into the Grand Harbour under the guns
of St. Angelo, Mustapha had eighty galleys dragged across the neck of
Mount Sceberras and launched on the upper waters of the Grand
Harbour. This was a blow to the besieged, as it meant an attack by sea
as well as by land, and La Valette made all the preparations possible to
meet the danger. Along the south-west side of Senglea, where the beach
is low, he constructed, with the aid of his Maltese divers, a very firm
and powerful stockade to prevent the enemy galleys from running
ashore, and he also linked up Il Borgo and Senglea with a floating
bridge.
On July