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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Major Operations of the Navies in the
+War of American Independence, by A. T. Mahan
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence
+
+Author: A. T. Mahan
+
+Release Date: August 27, 2005 [EBook #16602]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAVAL OPERATIONS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, William Flis, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MAJOR OPERATIONS OF THE NAVIES IN THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
+
+
+BY
+
+A.T. MAHAN, D.C.L., LL.D.
+
+CAPTAIN, U.S. NAVY
+
+AUTHOR OF 'THE INFLUENCE OF SEA POWER UPON HISTORY, 1660-1783,'
+'THE INFLUENCE OF SEA POWER UPON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND EMPIRE,
+1783-1812,' 'THE RELATIONS OF SEA POWER TO THE WAR OF 1812,' 'NAVAL
+STRATEGY' ETC.
+
+
+_WITH PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND BATTLE PLANS_
+
+
+LONDON
+SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY, LIMITED
+OVERY HOUSE, 100 SOUTHWARK STREET, S.E.
+
+
+[Illustration: (frontispiece)]
+
+
+_Copyright, 1913_, By A.T. MAHAN
+
+_All rights reserved_
+
+
+Published, October, 1913
+
+
+THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The contents of this volume were first contributed as a chapter, under
+the title of "Major Operations, 1762-1783," to the "History of the
+Royal Navy," in seven volumes, published by Messrs. Sampson Low,
+Marston, and Company, under the general editorship of the late Sir
+William Laird Clowes. For permission to republish now in this separate
+form, the author has to express his thanks to the publishers of that
+work.
+
+In the Introduction following this Preface, the author has summarized
+the general lesson to be derived from the course of this War of
+American Independence, as distinct from the particular discussion
+and narration of the several events which constitute the body of the
+treatment. These lessons he conceives to carry admonition for the
+present and future based upon the surest foundations; namely, upon
+the experience of the past as applicable to present conditions. The
+essential similarity between the two is evident in a common dependence
+upon naval strength.
+
+There has been a careful rereading and revision of the whole text; but
+the changes found necessary to be made are much fewer than might have
+been anticipated after the lapse of fifteen years. Numerous footnotes
+in the History, specifying the names of ships in fleets, and of their
+commanders in various battles, have been omitted, as not necessary to
+the present purpose, though eminently proper and indeed indispensable
+to an extensive work of general reference and of encyclopaedic scope,
+such as the History is. Certain notes retained with the initials
+W.L.C. are due to the editor of that work.
+
+A.T. MAHAN.
+
+DECEMBER, 1912.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ PAGE
+
+ PREFACE v
+
+ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix
+
+ LIST OF MAPS xxi
+
+ LIST OF BATTLE-PLANS xxiii
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+THE TENDENCY OF WARS TO SPREAD
+
+ Macaulay quoted on the action of Frederick the Great 1
+
+ Illustration from Conditions of the Turkish Empire 2
+
+ Lesson from the Recent War in the Balkans, 1912-1913 2
+
+ The War of American Independence a striking example of the
+ Tendency of Wars to Spread 3
+
+ Origin and Train of Events in that War, Traced 3
+
+ Inference as to possible Train of Future Events in the History of
+ the United States 4
+
+ The Monroe Doctrine Simply a Formulated Precaution against the
+ Tendency of Wars to Spread 4
+
+ National Policy as to Asiatic Immigration 4
+
+ Necessity of an Adequate Navy if these two National Policies are
+ to be sustained 4
+
+ Dependence on Navy Illustrated in the Two Great National Crises;
+ in the War of Independence and in the War of Secession
+ 4
+
+ The United States not great in Population in proportion to
+ Territory 5
+
+ Nor Wealthy in Proportion to exposed Coast-Line 5
+
+ Special Fitness of a Navy to meet these particular conditions 5
+
+ The Pacific a great World Problem, dependent mainly on Naval Power
+ 5
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE NAVAL CAMPAIGN ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN
+
+1775-1776
+
+ Preponderant effect of Control of the Water upon the Struggle for
+ American Independence 6
+
+ Deducible then from Reason and from Experience 6
+
+ Consequent Necessity to the Americans of a Counterpoise to British
+ Navy 6
+
+ This obtained through Burgoyne's Surrender 6
+
+ The Surrender of Burgoyne traceable directly to the Naval
+ Campaigns on Lake Champlain, 1775, 1776 7
+
+ The subsequent Course of the War in all Quarters of the world due
+ to that decisive Campaign 7
+
+ The Strategic Problem of Lake Champlain familiar to Americans from
+ the Wars between France and Great Britain prior to 1775
+ 8
+
+ Consequent prompt Initiative by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold
+ 8
+
+ Energetic Pursuit of first Successes by Arnold 9
+
+ Complete Control of Lake Champlain thus secured 9
+
+ Invasion of Canada by Montgomery, 1775 9
+
+ Arnold marches through Maine Wilderness and joins Montgomery
+ before Quebec 10
+
+ Assault on Quebec. Failure, and Death of Montgomery 10
+
+ Arnold maintains Blockade of Quebec, 1776 10
+
+ Relief of the Place by British Navy 11
+
+ Arnold Retreats to Crown Point 12
+
+ Arnold's Schemes and Diligence to create a Lake Navy, 1776 13
+
+ Difficulties to be overcome 13
+
+ Superior Advantages of the British 13
+
+ The British by building acquire Superiority, but too late for
+ effect in 1776 13
+
+ Ultimate Consequences from this Retardation 14
+
+ Constitution of the Naval Force raised by Arnold 14
+
+ He moves with it to the foot of Lake Champlain 15
+
+ Takes position for Defence at Valcour Island 15
+
+ Particular Difficulties encountered by British 15
+
+ Constitution of the British Lake Navy 16
+
+ Land Forces of the Opponents 17
+
+ Naval Forces of the Two at the Battle of Valcour Island 17
+
+ Magnitude of the Stake at Issue 18
+
+ Arnold's Purposes and Plans 18
+
+ Advance of the British 19
+
+ Arnold's Disposition of his Flotilla to receive Attack 20
+
+ The Battle of Valcour Island 21
+
+ The Americans Worsted 22
+
+ Arnold Retreats by night Undetected 23
+
+ Pursuit by the British 24
+
+ Destruction of the American Vessels 25
+
+ British Appreciation of the Importance of the Action, as shown
+ 26
+
+ Criticism of the conduct of the Opposing Leaders 26
+
+ Arnold's Merit and Gallantry 27
+
+ End of the Naval Story of the Lakes 27
+
+ Effect of the Campaign upon the Decisive Events of 1777 28
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+NAVAL ACTION AT BOSTON, CHARLESTON, NEW YORK, AND NARRAGANSETT
+BAY--ASSOCIATED LAND OPERATIONS, TO THE BATTLE OF TRENTON
+
+1776
+
+ Necessity that Force, if resorted to, be from the first Adequate
+ 29
+
+ Application to National Policy in peace 29
+
+ To the Monroe Doctrine 29
+
+ Failure of the British Government of 1775 in this respect 30
+
+ Consequences of such failure 30
+
+ General Howe evacuates Boston and retires to Halifax. Extent of
+ his Command 30
+
+ Dissemination of Effort by British Government 30
+
+ Expedition against South Carolina 31
+
+ Local Conditions about Charleston 32
+
+ Description of Fort Moultrie 33
+
+ Plan of British Naval Attack 33
+
+ The Battle of Fort Moultrie 34
+
+ Failure of the Attack. British Losses 36
+
+ Comment upon the Action 37
+
+ The Expedition retires to New York 38
+
+ The Howes, Admiral and General, arrive in New York Bay 39
+
+ Operations about the City 39
+
+ Continuous and Decisive, but Inconspicuous, Part played by the
+ British Navy 40
+
+ Description of Local Conditions about New York 40
+
+ American Preparations for Defence 41
+
+ Crucial Weakness of the Scheme 42
+
+ The Advance of the British 42
+
+ Washington withdraws his Army from the Brooklyn side 43
+
+ Success of this Withdrawal due to British Negligence 44
+
+ Subsequent Operations, and Retreat of Washington to New Jersey
+ 45
+
+ Retreat continued to Pennsylvania, where he receives
+ reinforcements 46
+
+ Slackness of Sir William Howe's actions 47
+
+ The British take possession of Narragansett Bay. Importance of
+ that position 48
+
+ Washington suddenly takes the Offensive. Battle of Trenton 48
+
+ He recovers most of the State of New Jersey 49
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE DECISIVE PERIOD OF THE WAR. SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE AND CAPTURE OF
+PHILADELPHIA BY HOWE. THE NAVAL PART IN EACH OPERATION
+
+1777
+
+ British Object in Campaign of 1777 the same as that in 1776 50
+
+ Part assigned to Burgoyne 50
+
+ Slowness of his Progress at the beginning 51
+
+ Sir William Howe, instead of cooeperating, takes his Army to the
+ Chesapeake 52
+
+ Criticism of this Course 52
+
+ Howe's Progress to Philadelphia, and Capture of that City 53
+
+ Admiral Lord Howe takes the Fleet from the Chesapeake to the
+ Delaware 53
+
+ Surrender of Burgoyne and his Army 53
+
+ British Naval Operations in Delaware Bay 54
+
+ Brief Tenure--Nine Months--of Philadelphia by British 55
+
+ The general Failure of the British Campaign determined by Howe's
+ move to the Chesapeake 55
+
+ General Results of the Campaign 56
+
+ Part played by the British Navy. Analogous to that in Spain,
+ 1808-1812, and in many other instances 57
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+WAR BEGINS BETWEEN FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN. BRITISH EVACUATE
+PHILADELPHIA. NAVAL OPERATIONS OF D'ESTAING AND HOWE ABOUT NEW YORK,
+NARRAGANSETT BAY, AND BOSTON. COMPLETE SUCCESS OF LORD HOWE. AMERICAN
+DISAPPOINTMENT IN D'ESTAING. LORD HOWE RETURNS TO ENGLAND
+
+1778
+
+ France recognizes the Independence of the United States, and makes
+ with them a defensive Alliance 58
+
+ A French Fleet sails for America under Comte d'Estaing 59
+
+ Unprepared condition of the British Navy 59
+
+ Admiral Byron sails with a Reinforcement for America 59
+
+ Ill effect of Naval Unreadiness upon British Commerce; and
+ especially on the West Indies 60
+
+ Admiral Keppel puts to Sea with the British Channel Fleet 61
+
+ First Guns of the War with France 62
+
+ Extreme Length of Byron's Passage 62
+
+ He turns back to Halifax 62
+
+ D'Estaing's slowness allows Howe to escape from Delaware Bay.
+ Howe's Celerity 62
+
+ Evacuation of Philadelphia by British Army, and its precipitate
+ Retreat to New York 63
+
+ Escape of both Army and Fleet due to d'Estaing's Delays 63
+
+ Rapid Action of Lord Howe 64
+
+ D'Estaing Arrives off New York 64
+
+ Howe's elaborate Dispositions for the Defence of New York Bay
+ 65
+
+ Statement of British and French Naval Force 66
+
+ D'Estaing decides not to attempt Passage of the Bar, and puts to
+ Sea 67
+
+ Anchors off Narragansett Bay 69
+
+ Forces the Entrance to Newport and Anchors inside the Bay 70
+
+ The British garrison besieged by superior American and French
+ forces 70
+
+ Howe appears with his Fleet and anchors off the entrance, at Point
+ Judith 71
+
+ Sustained Rapidity of his action at New York 71
+
+ D'Estaing Withdraws from Siege of Newport and puts to Sea 73
+
+ Manoeuvres of the two Opponents 74
+
+ D'Estaing quits the Field, and both Fleets are scattered by a
+ heavy Gale 75
+
+ Howe returns to New York and collects his Fleet 76
+
+ D'Estaing calls oft Newport; but abandons the Siege finally,
+ taking his Fleet to Boston 77
+
+ Critical Condition of British garrison in Newport. D'Estaing's
+ withdrawal compels Americans to raise the siege 77
+
+ Howe follows d'Estaing to Boston 77
+
+ Discussion of the Conduct of the opposing Admirals 78
+
+ Howe gives up his Command and returns to England 80
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE NAVAL WAR IN EUROPE. THE BATTLE OF USHANT
+
+1778
+
+ Admirals Keppel and D'Orvilliers put to Sea from Portsmouth and
+ Brest 82
+
+ Instructions given to the French Admiral 83
+
+ Preliminary Manoeuvres after the two Fleets had sighted one
+ another 83
+
+ The Battle of Ushant 84
+
+ A Drawn Battle. The respective Losses 91
+
+ The Significance of the Battle in the fighting Development of the
+ British Navy 93
+
+ The "Order of Battle" 93
+
+ The Disputes and Courts Martial in Great Britain arising from the
+ Battle of Ushant 94
+
+ Keppel Resigns his Command 97
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OPERATIONS IN THE WEST INDIES, 1778-1779. THE BRITISH INVASION OF
+GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA
+
+ Influence of Seasonal Conditions upon Naval Operations in America
+ 98
+
+ Commercial Importance of the West Indies 98
+
+ The French seize Dominica 99
+
+ D'Estaing Sails with his Fleet from Boston for Martinique 100
+
+ A British Squadron under Hotham sails the same day for Barbados,
+ with Five Thousand Troops 100
+
+ Admiral Barrington's Seizure of Santa Lucia 101
+
+ D'Estaing sails to Recapture it 102
+
+ Rapidity and Skill shown in Barrington's Movements and
+ Dispositions 102
+
+ D'Estaing's attacks Foiled, both on Sea and on Shore 103
+
+ He Abandons the attempt and Returns to Martinique 104
+
+ Importance of Santa Lucia in Subsequent Operations 104
+
+ Byron Reaches Barbados, and takes over Command from Barrington
+ 105
+
+ D'Estaing Captures the British Island Grenada 105
+
+ Byron goes to its Relief 106
+
+ The Action between the two Fleets, of Byron and d'Estaing, July 6,
+ 1779 106
+
+ Criticism of the two Commanders-in-Chief 110
+
+ D'Estaing returns to Grenada, which remains French 112
+
+ Byron returns to England. British North American Station assigned
+ to Admiral Arbuthnot, Leeward Islands to Rodney 113
+
+ British Operations in Georgia and South Carolina. Capture of
+ Savannah 113
+
+ Fatal Strategic Error in these Operations 114
+
+ D'Estaing's attempt to Retake Savannah Foiled 115
+
+ His appearance on the coast, however, causes the British to
+ abandon Narragansett Bay 115
+
+ D'Estaing succeeded by de Guichen in North America. Rodney also
+ arrives 115
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE NAVAL WAR IN EUROPEAN WATERS, 1779. ALLIED FLEETS INVADE THE
+ENGLISH CHANNEL. RODNEY DESTROYS TWO SPANISH SQUADRONS AND RELIEVES
+GIBRALTAR
+
+ Spain declares War against Great Britain 116
+
+ Delays in Junction of French and Spanish Fleets 116
+
+ They enter the Channel. Alarm in England 117
+
+ Plans of the French Government 118
+
+ Their Change and Failure. The Allied Fleets return to Brest 119
+
+ Criticism of the British Ministry 120
+
+ Divergent views of France and Spain 120
+
+ Prominence given to Gibraltar, and the resulting Effect upon the
+ general War 121
+
+ Exhaustion of Supplies at Gibraltar 121
+
+ Rodney with the Channel Fleet Sails for its Relief, with ultimate
+ Destination to Leeward Islands Command 121
+
+ He Captures a large Spanish Convoy 122
+
+ And Destroys a Second Spanish Squadron of Eleven Sail-of-the-Line
+ 123
+
+ Distinction of this Engagement 124
+
+ Gibraltar and Minorca Relieved 125
+
+ Rodney proceeds to the West Indies 126
+
+ The Channel Fleet returns to England 126
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+RODNEY AND DE GUICHEN'S NAVAL CAMPAIGN IN WEST INDIES. DE GUICHEN
+RETURNS TO EUROPE AND RODNEY GOES TO NEW YORK. LORD CORNWALLIS IN THE
+CAROLINAS. TWO NAVAL ACTIONS OF COMMODORE CORNWALLIS. RODNEY RETURNS
+TO WEST INDIES
+
+1780
+
+ Rodney's Force upon arrival in West Indies 128
+
+ Action between British and French Squadrons prior to his arrival
+ 129
+
+ Rodney and de Guichen put to sea 130
+
+ Action between them of April 17, 1780 131
+
+ Cause of Failure of Rodney's Attack 133
+
+ His Disappointment in his Subordinates 135
+
+ His Expression of his Feelings 135
+
+ Discussion of the Incidents and Principles involved 137
+
+ The Losses of the Respective Fleets 140
+
+ They Continue to Cruise 141
+
+ The Action of May 15, 1780 142
+
+ That of May 19, 1780 144
+
+ The Results Indecisive 144
+
+ Contrary Personal Effect produced upon the two Admirals by the
+ encounters 145
+
+ De Guichen asks to be Relieved 145
+
+ Rodney's Chary Approval of his Subordinates in these two instances
+ 145
+
+ Suspicion and Distrust rife in the British Navy at this period
+ 146
+
+ Twelve Spanish Sail-of-the-Line, with Ten Thousand Troops, Arrive
+ at Guadeloupe 147
+
+ They refuse Cooeperation with de Guichen in the Windward Islands
+ 147
+
+ De Guichen Accompanies them to Haiti with his Fleet 147
+
+ He declines to Cooeperate on the Continent with the Americans, and
+ sails for Europe 148
+
+ Rodney Arranges for the protection of the Homeward West India
+ Trade, and then proceeds to New York 149
+
+ Effect of his coming 150
+
+ The Year 1780 one of great Discouragement to Americans 151
+
+ Summary of the Operations in the Carolinas and Virginia, 1780,
+ which led to Lord Cornwallis's Surrender in 1781 151
+
+ Two Naval Actions sustained by Commodore Cornwallis against
+ superior French forces, 1780 153
+
+ The Year 1780 Uneventful in European seas 157
+
+ Capture of a great British Convoy 157
+
+ The Armed Neutrality of the Baltic Powers 158
+
+ The Accession of Holland to this followed by a Declaration of War
+ by Great Britain 158
+
+ The French Government withdraws all its Ships of War from before
+ Gibraltar 158
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+NAVAL CAMPAIGN IN WEST INDIES IN 1781. CAPTURE OF ST. EUSTATIUS BY
+RODNEY. DE GRASSE ARRIVES IN PLACE OF DE GUICHEN. TOBAGO SURRENDERS TO
+DE GRASSE
+
+ Effects of the Great Hurricanes of 1780 in West Indies 159
+
+ Rodney's Diminished Force. Arrival of Sir Samuel Hood with
+ reinforcements 160
+
+ Rodney receives Orders to seize Dutch Possessions in Caribbean
+ 160
+
+ Capture of St. Eustatius, St. Martin, and Saba 161
+
+ The large Booty and Defenceless state of St. Eustatius 161
+
+ Effect of these Conditions upon Rodney 161
+
+ Hood detached to cruise before Martinique 162
+
+ De Grasse arrives there with Twenty Ships-of-the-Line 163
+
+ Indecisive Action between de Grasse and Hood 164
+
+ Criticism of the two Commanders 166
+
+ Junction of Rodney and Hood 166
+
+ De Grasse attempts Santa Lucia, and Fails 167
+
+ He captures Tobago 168
+
+ He decides to take his Meet to the American Continent 168
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+NAVAL OPERATIONS PRECEDING AND DETERMINING THE FALL OF YORKTOWN.
+CORNWALLIS SURRENDERS
+
+1781
+
+ Summary of Land Operations in Virginia early in 1781 169
+
+ Portsmouth Occupied 170
+
+ A French Squadron from Newport, and a British from Gardiner's Bay,
+ proceed to the Scene 170
+
+ They meet off the Chesapeake 171
+
+ Action between Arbuthnot and des Touches, March 16, 1781 171
+
+ The Advantage rests with the French, but they return to Newport.
+ Arbuthnot enters the Chesapeake 174
+
+ Cornwallis reaches Petersburg, Virginia, May 20 175
+
+ Under the directions of Sir Henry Clinton he evacuates Portsmouth
+ and concentrates his forces at Yorktown, August 22
+ 175
+
+ The French Fleet under de Grasse Anchors in the Chesapeake, August
+ 30 176
+
+ British Naval Movements, in July and August, affecting conditions
+ in the Chesapeake 176
+
+ Admiral Graves, successor to Arbuthnot at New York, joined there
+ by Sir Samuel Hood, August 28 177
+
+ Washington and Rochambeau move upon Cornwallis 178
+
+ The British Fleet under Graves arrives off the Chesapeake 179
+
+ Action between de Grasse and Graves, September 5 179
+
+ Hood's Criticism of Graves's Conduct 181
+
+ The British, worsted, return to New York. De Grasse, reinforced,
+ re-enters the Chesapeake, September 11 184
+
+ Cornwallis Surrenders, October 19 184
+
+ De Grasse and Hood Return to West Indies 185
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+NAVAL EVENTS OF 1781 IN EUROPE. DARBY'S RELIEF OF GIBRALTAR, AND THE
+BATTLE OF THE DOGGER BANK
+
+ Leading Objects of the Belligerents in 1781 186
+
+ The Relief of Gibraltar by Admiral Darby 186
+
+ Capture of British Convoy with the spoils of St. Eustatius 188
+
+ The French and Spanish Fleet under Admiral de Cordova again enters
+ the English Channel 188
+
+ Darby in inferior Force shut up in Tor Bay 188
+
+ The Allies Decide not to attack him, but to turn their Efforts
+ against British Commerce 189
+
+ Minorca Lost by British 189
+
+ The Battle of the Dogger Bank, between British and Dutch Fleets
+ 190
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE FINAL NAVAL CAMPAIGN IN THE WEST INDIES. HOOD AND DE GRASSE.
+RODNEY AND DE GRASSE. THE GREAT BATTLE OF APRIL 12, 1782
+
+ Capture and Destruction near Ushant of a great French Convoy for
+ the West Indies opens the Naval Campaign of 1782 195
+
+ Attack upon the Island of St. Kitts by de Grasse and de Bouille
+ 197
+
+ Hood sails for its Relief from Barbados 197
+
+ His Plan of procedure 198
+
+ Balked by an Accident 199
+
+ He Succeeds in dislodging de Grasse and taking the Anchorage left
+ by the French 200
+
+ Unsuccessful Attempt by de Grasse to shake Hood's position 203
+
+ St. Kitts nevertheless compelled to Surrender owing to having
+ insufficient Land Force 205
+
+ Hood Extricates himself from de Grasse's Superior Force and
+ Retires 205
+
+ Rodney arrives from England and joins Hood 205
+
+ Project of French and Spaniards against Jamaica 206
+
+ De Grasse sails from Martinique with his whole Fleet and a large
+ Convoy 207
+
+ Rodney's Pursuit 208
+
+ Partial Actions of April 9, 1782 209
+
+ British Pursuit continues 211
+
+ It is favored by the Lagging of two Ships in the French Fleet,
+ April 11 211
+
+ An Accident that night induces de Grasse to bear down, and enables
+ Rodney to force Action 212
+
+ The Battle of April 12 begins 214
+
+ A Shift of Wind enables the British to Break the French Order in
+ three places 217
+
+ Consequences of this Movement 218
+
+ Resultant Advantages to the British 219
+
+ Practices of the opposing Navies in regard to the Aims of Firing
+ 219
+
+ Consequences Illustrated in the Injuries received respectively
+ 220
+
+ Inadequate Use made by Rodney of the Advantage gained by his Fleet
+ 220
+
+ Hood's Criticisms 220
+
+ Hood's Opinion shared by Sir Charles Douglas, Rodney's
+ Chief-of-Staff 222
+
+ Rodney's own Reasons for his Course after the Battle 222
+
+ His Assumptions not accordant with the Facts 223
+
+ Actual Prolonged Dispersion of the French Fleet 224
+
+ Hood, Detached in Pursuit, Captures a small French Squadron 224
+
+ Rodney Superseded in Command before the news of the victory
+ reached England 225
+
+ The general War Approaches its End 226
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOWE AGAIN GOES AFLOAT. THE FINAL RELIEF OF GIBRALTAR
+
+1782
+
+ Howe appointed to Command Channel Fleet 227
+
+ Cruises first in North Sea and in Channel 228
+
+ The Allied Fleets in much superior force take Position in the
+ Chops of the Channel, but are successfully evaded by Howe
+ 229
+
+ The British Jamaica Convoy also escapes them 229
+
+ Howe ordered to Relieve Gibraltar 229
+
+ Loss of the _Royal George_, with Kempenfelt 229
+
+ Howe Sails 229
+
+ Slow but Successful Progress 230
+
+ Great Allied Fleet in Bay of Gibraltar 230
+
+ Howe's Success in Introducing the Supplies 231
+
+ Negligent Mismanagement of the Allies 231
+
+ Partial Engagement when Howe leaves Gibraltar 232
+
+ Estimate of Howe's Conduct, and of his Professional Character
+ 232
+
+ French Eulogies 232
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE NAVAL OPERATIONS IN THE EAST INDIES, 1778-1783. THE CAREER OF THE
+BAILLI DE SUFFREN
+
+ Isolation characteristic of Military and Naval Operations in India
+ 234
+
+ Occurrences in 1778 234
+
+ Sir Edward Hughes sent to India with a Fleet, 1779 235
+
+ The Years prior to 1781 Uneventful 235
+
+ A British Squadron under Commodore Johnstone sent in 1781 to seize
+ Cape of Good Hope 236
+
+ A Week Later, a French Squadron under Suffren sails for India
+ 236
+
+ Suffren finds Johnstone Anchored in Porto Praya, and attacks at
+ once 237
+
+ The immediate Result Indecisive, but the Cape of Good Hope is
+ saved by Suffren arriving first 238
+
+ Suffren reaches Mauritius, and the French Squadron sails for India
+ under Comte d'Orves 239
+
+ D'Orves dies, leaving Suffren in Command 240
+
+ Trincomalee, in Ceylon, captured by Hughes 240
+
+ First Engagement between Hughes and Suffren, February 17, 1782
+ 240
+
+ Second Engagement, April 12 242
+
+ Third Engagement, July 6 244
+
+ Suffren captures Trincomalee 247
+
+ Hughes arrives, but too late to save the place 247
+
+ Fourth Engagement between Hughes and Suffren, September 3 248
+
+ Having lost Trincomalee, Hughes on the change of monsoon is
+ compelled to go to Bombay 251
+
+ Reinforced there by Bickerton 251
+
+ Suffren winters in Sumatra, but regains Trincomalee before Hughes
+ returns. Also receives Reinforcements 251
+
+ The British Besiege Cuddalore 252
+
+ Suffren Relieves the Place 253
+
+ Fifth Engagement between Hughes and Suffren, June 20, 1783 253
+
+ Comparison between Hughes and Suffren 254
+
+ News of the Peace being received, June 29, Hostilities in India
+ cease 255
+
+
+ GLOSSARY OF NAUTICAL AND NAVAL TERMS USED IN THIS BOOK 257
+
+
+ INDEX 267
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+ Remains of the _Revenge_, one of Benedict Arnold's Schooners on
+ Lake Champlain in 1776. Now in Fort Ticonderoga. _Frontispiece_
+
+ FACING PAGE
+
+ Major-General Philip Schuyler 12
+
+ Edward Pellew, afterwards Admiral, Lord Exmouth 12
+
+ Benedict Arnold 27
+
+ Attack on Fort Moultrie in 1776 33
+
+ Richard, Earl Howe 78
+
+ Charles Henri, Comte d'Estaing 78
+
+ Admiral, the Honourable Samuel Barrington 104
+
+ Comte de Guichen 144
+
+ George Brydges, Lord Rodney 144
+
+ Francois-Joseph-Paul, Comte de Grasse, Marquis de Tilly 204
+
+ Admiral, Lord Hood 204
+
+ Sir Edward Hughes, K.B. 254
+
+ Pierre Andre de Suffren de Saint Tropez 254
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF MAPS
+
+
+ FACING PAGE
+
+ Lake Champlain and Connected Waters 8
+
+ New York and New Jersey: to illustrate Operations of 1776,
+ 1777, and 1778 40
+
+ Narragansett Bay 70
+
+ Leeward Islands (West Indies) Station 99
+
+ Island of Santa Lucia 101
+
+ Island of Martinique 164
+
+ Peninsula of India, and Ceylon 234
+
+ North Atlantic Ocean. General Map to illustrate Operations in
+ the War of American Independence 280
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF BATTLE-PLANS
+
+
+ FACING PAGE
+
+ D'Orvilliers and Keppel, off Ushant, July 27, 1778
+
+ Figure 1 86
+
+ Figures 2 and 3 90
+
+ D'Estaing and Byron, July 6, 1779 106
+
+ Rodney and De Guichen, April 17, 1780, Figures 1 and 2 132
+
+ Rodney and De Guichen, May 15, 1780 143
+
+ Cornwallis and De Ternay, June 20, 1780 156
+
+ Arbuthnot and Des Touches, March 16, 1781 172
+
+ Graves and De Grasse, September 5, 1781 180
+
+ Hood and De Grasse, January 25, 1782, Figures 1 and 2 201
+
+ Hood and De Grasse, January 26, 1782, Figure 3 203
+
+ Rodney and De Grasse, April 9 and 12, 1782
+
+ Figures 1 and 2 210
+
+ Figure 3 212
+
+ Figures 4 and 5 215
+
+ Figure 6 218
+
+ Johnstone and Suffren, Porto Praya, April 16, 1781 237
+
+ Hughes and Suffren, February 17, 1782 240
+
+ Hughes and Suffren, April 12, 1782 243
+
+ Hughes and Suffren, July 6, 1782 243
+
+ Hughes and Suffren, September 3, 1782 249
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+THE MAJOR OPERATIONS OF THE NAVIES IN THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+THE TENDENCY OF WARS TO SPREAD
+
+
+Macaulay, in a striking passage of his Essay on Frederick the Great,
+wrote, "The evils produced by his wickedness were felt in lands
+where the name of Prussia was unknown. In order that he might rob
+a neighbour whom he had promised to defend, black men fought on the
+coast of Coromandel, and red men scalped each other by the Great Lakes
+of North America."
+
+Wars, like conflagrations, tend to spread; more than ever perhaps
+in these days of close international entanglements and rapid
+communications. Hence the anxiety aroused and the care exercised by
+the governments of Europe, the most closely associated and the
+most sensitive on the earth, to forestall the kindling of even the
+slightest flame in regions where all alike are interested, though with
+diverse objects; regions such as the Balkan group of States in their
+exasperating relations with the Turkish empire, under which the Balkan
+peoples see constantly the bitter oppression of men of their own blood
+and religious faith by the tyranny of a government which can neither
+assimilate nor protect. The condition of Turkish European provinces
+is a perpetual lesson to those disposed to ignore or to depreciate
+the immense difficulties of administering politically, under one
+government, peoples traditionally and racially distinct, yet living
+side by side; not that the situation is much better anywhere in the
+Turkish empire. This still survives, though in an advanced state of
+decay, simply because other States are not prepared to encounter the
+risks of a disturbance which might end in a general bonfire, extending
+its ravages to districts very far remote from the scene of the
+original trouble.
+
+Since these words were written, actual war has broken out in the
+Balkans. The Powers, anxious each as to the effect upon its own
+ambitions of any disturbance in European Turkey, have steadily
+abstained from efficient interference in behalf of the downtrodden
+Christians of Macedonia, surrounded by sympathetic kinsfolk.
+Consequently, in thirty years past this underbrush has grown drier
+and drier, fit kindling for fuel. In the Treaty of Berlin, in 1877,
+stipulation was made for their betterment in governance, and we
+are now told that in 1880 Turkey framed a scheme for such,--and
+pigeonholed it. At last, under unendurable conditions, spontaneous
+combustion has followed. There can be no assured peace until it is
+recognised practically that Christianity, by the respect which it
+alone among religions inculcates for the welfare of the individual,
+is an essential factor in developing in nations the faculty of
+self-government, apart from which fitness to govern others does not
+exist. To keep Christian peoples under the rule of a non-Christian
+race, is, therefore, to perpetuate a state hopeless of reconcilement
+and pregnant of sure explosion. Explosions always happen
+inconveniently. _Obsta principiis_ is the only safe rule; the
+application of which is not suppression of overt discontent but relief
+of grievances.
+
+The War of American Independence was no exception to the general rule
+of propagation that has been noted. When our forefathers began to
+agitate against the Stamp Act and the other measures that succeeded
+it, they as little foresaw the spread of their action to the East and
+West Indies, to the English Channel and Gibraltar, as did the British
+ministry which in framing the Stamp Act struck the match from which
+these consequences followed. When Benedict Arnold on Lake Champlain by
+vigorous use of small means obtained a year's delay for the colonists,
+he compassed the surrender of Burgoyne in 1777. The surrender of
+Burgoyne, justly estimated as the decisive event of the war, was due
+to Arnold's previous action, gaining the delay which is a first object
+for all defence, and which to the unprepared colonists was a vital
+necessity. The surrender of Burgoyne determined the intervention of
+France, in 1778; the intervention of France the accession of Spain
+thereto, in 1779. The war with these two Powers led to the maritime
+occurrences, the interferences with neutral trade, that gave rise to
+the Armed Neutrality; the concurrence of Holland in which brought war
+between that country and Great Britain, in 1780. This extension of
+hostilities affected not only the West Indies but the East, through
+the possessions of the Dutch in both quarters and at the Cape of
+Good Hope. If not the occasion of Suffren being sent to India, the
+involvement of Holland in the general war had a powerful effect upon
+the brilliant operations which he conducted there; as well as at, and
+for, the Cape of Good Hope, then a Dutch possession, on his outward
+voyage.
+
+In the separate publication of these pages, my intention and hope are
+to bring home incidentally to American readers this vast extent of
+the struggle to which our own Declaration of Independence was but the
+prelude; with perchance the further needed lesson for the future,
+that questions the most remote from our own shores may involve us
+in unforeseen difficulties, especially if we permit a train of
+communication to be laid by which the outside fire can leap step by
+step to the American continents. How great a matter a little fire
+kindleth! Our Monroe Doctrine is in final analysis merely the
+formulation of national precaution that, as far as in its power
+to prevent, there shall not lie scattered about the material which
+foreign possessions in these continents might supply for the extension
+of combustion originating elsewhere; and the objection to Asiatic
+immigration, however debased by less worthy feelings or motives, is
+on the part of thinking men simply a recognition of the same danger
+arising from the presence of an inassimilable mass of population,
+racially and traditionally distinct in characteristics, behind which
+would lie the sympathies and energy of a powerful military and naval
+Asiatic empire.
+
+Conducive as each of these policies is to national safety and peace
+amid international conflagration, neither the one nor the other can be
+sustained without the creation and maintenance of a preponderant navy.
+In the struggle with which this book deals, Washington at the
+time said that the navies had the casting vote. To Arnold on Lake
+Champlain, to DeGrasse at Yorktown, fell the privilege of exercising
+that prerogative at the two great decisive moments of the War. To the
+Navy also, beyond any other single instrumentality, was due eighty
+years later the successful suppression of the movement of Secession.
+The effect of the blockade of the Southern coasts upon the financial
+and military efficiency of the Confederate Government has never
+been closely calculated, and probably is incalculable. At these
+two principal national epochs control of the water was the most
+determinative factor. In the future, upon the Navy will depend the
+successful maintenance of the two leading national policies mentioned;
+the two most essential to the part this country is to play in the
+progress of the world.
+
+For, while numerically great in population, the United States is
+not so in proportion to territory; nor, though wealthy, is she so in
+proportion to her exposure. That Japan at four thousand miles distance
+has a population of over three hundred to the square mile, while our
+three great Pacific States average less than twenty, is a portentous
+fact. The immense aggregate numbers resident elsewhere in the
+United States cannot be transfered thither to meet an emergency, nor
+contribute effectively to remedy this insufficiency; neither can a
+land force on the defensive protect, if the way of the sea is open.
+In such opposition of smaller numbers against larger, nowhere do
+organisation and development count as much as in navies. Nowhere so
+well as on the sea can a general numerical inferiority be compensated
+by specific numerical superiority, resulting from the correspondence
+between the force employed and the nature of the ground. It follows
+strictly, by logic and by inference, that by no other means can safety
+be insured as economically and as efficiently. Indeed, in matters of
+national security, economy and efficiency are equivalent terms. The
+question of the Pacific is probably the greatest world problem of
+the twentieth century, in which no great country is so largely and
+directly interested as is the United States. For the reason given it
+is essentially a naval question, the third in which the United States
+finds its well-being staked upon naval adequacy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE NAVAL CAMPAIGN ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN 1775-1776
+
+
+At the time when hostilities began between Great Britain and her
+American Colonies, the fact was realised generally, being evident to
+reason and taught by experience, that control of the water, both ocean
+and inland, would have a preponderant effect upon the contest. It was
+clear to reason, for there was a long seaboard with numerous interior
+navigable watercourses, and at the same time scanty and indifferent
+communications by land. Critical portions of the territory involved
+were yet an unimproved wilderness. Experience, the rude but efficient
+schoolmaster of that large portion of mankind which gains knowledge
+only by hard knocks, had confirmed through the preceding French wars
+the inferences of the thoughtful. Therefore, conscious of the great
+superiority of the British Navy, which, however, had not then attained
+the unchallenged supremacy of a later day, the American leaders early
+sought the alliance of the Bourbon kingdoms, France and Spain, the
+hereditary enemies of Great Britain. There alone could be found the
+counterpoise to a power which, if unchecked, must ultimately prevail.
+
+Nearly three years elapsed before the Colonists accomplished this
+object, by giving a demonstration of their strength in the enforced
+surrender of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga. This event has merited
+the epithet "decisive," because, and only because, it decided the
+intervention of France. It may be affirmed, with little hesitation,
+that this victory of the colonists was directly the result of naval
+force,--that of the colonists themselves. It was the cause that naval
+force from abroad, entering into the contest, transformed it from
+a local to a universal war, and assured the independence of the
+Colonies. That the Americans were strong enough to impose the
+capitulation of Saratoga, was due to the invaluable year of delay
+secured to them by their little navy on Lake Champlain, created by the
+indomitable energy, and handled with the indomitable courage, of the
+traitor, Benedict Arnold. That the war spread from America to Europe,
+from the English Channel to the Baltic, from the Bay of Biscay to the
+Mediterranean, from the West Indies to the Mississippi, and ultimately
+involved the waters of the remote peninsula of Hindustan, is
+traceable, through Saratoga, to the rude flotilla which in 1776
+anticipated its enemy in the possession of Lake Champlain. The events
+which thus culminated merit therefore a clearer understanding, and
+a fuller treatment, than their intrinsic importance and petty scale
+would justify otherwise.
+
+In 1775, only fifteen years had elapsed since the expulsion of the
+French from the North American continent. The concentration of their
+power, during its continuance, in the valley of the St. Lawrence, had
+given direction to the local conflict, and had impressed upon men's
+minds the importance of Lake Champlain, of its tributary Lake
+George, and of the Hudson River, as forming a consecutive, though not
+continuous, water line of communications from the St. Lawrence to
+New York. The strength of Canada against attack by land lay in its
+remoteness, in the wilderness to be traversed before it was reached,
+and in the strength of the line of the St. Lawrence, with the
+fortified posts of Montreal and Quebec on its northern bank. The
+wilderness, it is true, interposed its passive resistance to attacks
+from Canada as well as to attacks upon it; but when it had been
+traversed, there were to the southward no such strong natural
+positions confronting the assailant. Attacks from the south fell upon
+the front, or at best upon the flank, of the line of the St. Lawrence.
+Attacks from Canada took New York and its dependencies in the rear.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+These elements of natural strength, in the military conditions of the
+North, were impressed upon the minds of the Americans by the prolonged
+resistance of Canada to the greatly superior numbers of the British
+Colonists in the previous wars. Regarded, therefore, as a base for
+attacks, of a kind with which they were painfully familiar, but to be
+undergone now under disadvantages of numbers and power never before
+experienced, it was desirable to gain possession of the St. Lawrence
+and its posts before they were strengthened and garrisoned. At this
+outset of hostilities, the American insurgents, knowing clearly their
+own minds, possessed the advantage of the initiative over the British
+government, which still hesitated to use against those whom it styled
+rebels the preventive measures it would have taken at once against a
+recognised enemy.
+
+Under these circumstances, in May, 1775, a body of two hundred and
+seventy Americans, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, seized
+the posts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which were inadequately
+garrisoned. These are on the upper waters of Lake Champlain, where it
+is less than a third of a mile wide; Ticonderoga being on a peninsula
+formed by the lake and the inlet from Lake George, Crown Point on
+a promontory twelve miles lower down.[1] They were positions of
+recognised importance, and had been advanced posts of the British in
+previous wars. A schooner being found there, Arnold, who had been a
+seaman, embarked in her and hurried to the foot of the lake. The wind
+failed him when still thirty miles from St. John's, another fortified
+post on the lower narrows, where the lake gradually tapers down to
+the Richelieu River, its outlet to the St. Lawrence. Unable to advance
+otherwise, Arnold took to his boats with thirty men, pulled through
+the night, and at six o'clock on the following morning surprised the
+post, in which were only a sergeant and a dozen men. He reaped the
+rewards of celerity. The prisoners informed him that a considerable
+body of troops was expected from Canada, on its way to Ticonderoga;
+and this force in fact reached St. John's on the next day. When it
+arrived, Arnold was gone, having carried off a sloop which he found
+there and destroyed everything else that could float. By such trifling
+means two active officers had secured the temporary control of the
+lake itself and of the approaches to it from the south. There being
+no roads, the British, debarred from the water line, were unable to
+advance. Sir Guy Carleton, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in Canada,
+strengthened the works at St. John's, and built a schooner; but his
+force was inadequate to meet that of the Americans.
+
+The seizure of the two posts, being an act of offensive war, was not
+at once pleasing to the American Congress, which still clung to the
+hope of reconciliation; but events were marching rapidly, and
+ere summer was over the invasion of Canada was ordered. General
+Montgomery, appointed to that enterprise, embarked at Crown Point with
+two thousand men on September 4th, and soon afterwards appeared before
+St. John's, which after prolonged operations capitulated on the 3d of
+November. On the 13th Montgomery entered Montreal, and thence pressed
+down the St. Lawrence to Pointe aux Trembles, twenty miles above
+Quebec. There he joined Arnold, who in the month of October had
+crossed the northern wilderness, between the head waters of the
+Kennebec River and St. Lawrence. On the way he had endured immense
+privations, losing five hundred men of the twelve hundred with whom he
+started; and upon arriving opposite Quebec, on the 10th of November,
+three days had been unavoidably spent in collecting boats to pass the
+river. Crossing on the night of the 13th, this adventurous soldier
+and his little command climbed the Heights of Abraham by the same
+path that had served Wolfe so well sixteen years before. With
+characteristic audacity he summoned the place. The demand of course
+was refused; but that Carleton did not fall at once upon the little
+band of seven hundred that bearded him shows by how feeble a tenure
+Great Britain then held Canada. Immediately after the junction
+Montgomery advanced on Quebec, where he appeared on the 5th of
+December. Winter having already begun, and neither his numbers nor
+his equipments being adequate to regular siege operations, he very
+properly decided to try the desperate chance of an assault upon the
+strongest fortress in America. This was made on the night of December
+31st, 1775. Whatever possibility of success there may have been
+vanished with the death of Montgomery, who fell at the head of his
+men.
+
+The American army retired three miles up the river, went into
+winter-quarters, and established a land blockade of Quebec, which was
+cut off from the sea by the ice. "For five months," wrote Carleton to
+the Secretary for War, on the 14th of May, 1776, "this town has been
+closely invested by the rebels." From this unpleasant position it was
+relieved on the 6th of May, when signals were exchanged between it and
+the _Surprise_, the advance ship of a squadron under Captain Charles
+Douglas,[2] which had sailed from England on the 11th of March.
+Arriving off the mouth of the St. Lawrence, on the morning of April
+12th, Douglas found ice extending nearly twenty miles to sea, and
+packed too closely to admit of working through it by dexterous
+steering. The urgency of the case not admitting delay, he ran his
+ship, the _Isis_, 50, with a speed of five knots, against a large
+piece of ice about ten or twelve feet thick, to test the effect. The
+ice, probably softened by salt water and salt air, went to pieces.
+"Encouraged by this experiment," continues Douglas, somewhat
+magnificently, "we thought it an enterprise worthy an English ship of
+the line in our King and country's sacred cause, and an effort due to
+the gallant defenders of Quebec, to make the attempt of pressing her
+by force of sail, through the thick, broad, and closely connected
+fields of ice, to which we saw no bounds towards the western part of
+our horizon. Before night (when blowing a snow-storm, we brought-to,
+or rather stopped), we had penetrated about eight leagues into it,
+describing our path all the way with bits of the sheathing of the
+ship's bottom, and sometimes pieces of the cutwater, but none of the
+oak plank; and it was pleasant enough at times, when we stuck fast,
+to see Lord Petersham exercising his troops on the crusted surface
+of that fluid through which the ship had so recently sailed." It took
+nine days of this work to reach Anticosti Island, after which the ice
+seems to have given no more trouble; but further delay was occasioned
+by fogs, calms, and head winds.
+
+Upon the arrival of the ships of war, the Americans at once retreated.
+During the winter, though reinforcements must have been received from
+time to time, they had wasted from exposure, and from small-pox,
+which ravaged the camp. On the 1st of May the returns showed nineteen
+hundred men present, of whom only a thousand were fit for duty. There
+were then on hand but three days' provisions, and none other nearer
+than St. John's. The inhabitants would of course render no further
+assistance to the Americans after the ships arrived. The Navy had
+again decided the fate of Canada, and was soon also to determine that
+of Lake Champlain.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+When two hundred troops had landed from the ships, Carleton marched
+out, "to see," he said, "what these mighty boasters were about." The
+sneer was unworthy a man of his generous character, for the boasters
+had endured much for faint chances of success; and the smallness of
+the reinforcement which encouraged him to act shows either an extreme
+prudence on his part, or the narrow margin by which Quebec escaped.
+He found the enemy busy with preparations for retreat, and upon his
+appearance they abandoned their camp. Their forces on the two sides of
+the river being now separated by the enemy's shipping, the Americans
+retired first to Sorel, where the Richelieu enters the St. Lawrence,
+and thence continued to fall back by gradual stages. It was not until
+June 15th that Arnold quitted Montreal; and at the end of June the
+united force was still on the Canadian side of the present border
+line. On the 3d of July it reached Crown Point, in a pitiable state
+from small-pox and destitution.
+
+Both parties began at once to prepare for a contest upon Lake
+Champlain. The Americans, small as their flotilla was, still kept the
+superiority obtained for them by Arnold's promptitude a year before.
+On the 25th of June the American General Schuyler, commanding the
+Northern Department, wrote: "We have happily such a naval superiority
+on Lake Champlain, that I have a confident hope the enemy will not
+appear upon it this campaign, especially as our force is increasing
+by the addition of gondolas, two nearly finished. Arnold,
+however,"--whose technical knowledge caused him to be intrusted with
+the naval preparations,--"says that 300 carpenters should be employed
+and a large number of gondolas, row-galleys, etc., be built, twenty or
+thirty at least. There is great difficulty in getting the carpenters
+needed." Arnold's ideas were indeed on a scale worthy of the momentous
+issues at stake. "To augment our navy on the lake appears to me of the
+utmost importance. There is water between Crown Point and Pointe au
+Fer for vessels of the largest size. I am of opinion that row-galleys
+are the best construction and cheapest for this lake. Perhaps it may
+be well to have one frigate of 36 guns. She may carry 18-pounders on
+the Lake, and be superior to any vessel that can be built or floated
+from St. John's."
+
+Unfortunately for the Americans, their resources in men and means were
+far inferior to those of their opponents, who were able eventually
+to carry out, though on a somewhat smaller scale, Arnold's idea of a
+sailing ship, strictly so called, of force as yet unknown in inland
+waters. Such a ship, aided as she was by two consorts of somewhat
+similar character, dominated the Lake as soon as she was afloat,
+reversing all the conditions. To place and equip her, however,
+required time, invaluable time, during which Arnold's two schooners
+exercised control. Baron Riedesel, the commander of the German
+contingent with Carleton, after examining the American position at
+Ticonderoga, wrote, "If we could have begun our expedition four weeks
+earlier, I am satisfied that everything would have been ended this
+year (1776); but, not having shelter nor other necessary things, we
+were unable to remain at the other [southern] end of Champlain." So
+delay favors the defence, and changes issues. What would have been the
+effect upon the American cause if, simultaneously with the loss of
+New York, August 20th-September 15th, had come news of the fall of
+Ticonderoga, the repute of which for strength stood high? Nor was
+this all; for in that event, the plan which was wrecked in 1777 by
+Sir William Howe's ill-conceived expedition to the Chesapeake would
+doubtless have been carried out in 1776. In a contemporary English
+paper occurs the following significant item: "London, September 26th,
+1776. Advices have been received here from Canada, dated August 12th,
+that General Burgoyne's army has found it impracticable to get across
+the lakes this season. The naval force of the Provincials is too great
+for them to contend with at present. They must build larger vessels
+for this purpose, and these cannot be ready before next summer. The
+design _was_[3] that the two armies commanded by Generals Howe and
+Burgoyne should cooeperate; that they should both be on the Hudson
+River at the same time; that they should join about Albany, and
+thereby cut off all communication between the northern and southern
+Colonies."[4]
+
+As Arnold's more ambitious scheme could not be realised, he had to
+content himself with gondolas and galleys, for the force he was to
+command as well as to build. The precise difference between the two
+kinds of rowing vessels thus distinguished by name, the writer has
+not been able to ascertain. The gondola was a flat-bottomed boat,
+and inferior in nautical qualities--speed, handiness, and
+seaworthiness--to the galleys, which probably were keeled. The latter
+certainly carried sails, and may have been capable of beating to
+windward. Arnold preferred them, and stopped the building of gondolas.
+"The galleys," he wrote, "are quick moving, which will give us a
+great advantage in the open lake." The complements of the galleys were
+eighty men, of the gondolas forty-five; from which, and from their
+batteries, it may be inferred that the latter were between one third
+and one half the size of the former. The armaments of the two were
+alike in character, but those of the gondolas much lighter. American
+accounts agree with Captain Douglas's report of one galley captured
+by the British. In the bows, an 18 and a 12-pounder; in the stern, two
+9's; in broadside, from four to six 6's. There is in this a somewhat
+droll reminder of the disputed merits of bow, stern, and broadside
+fire, in a modern iron-clad; and the practical conclusion is much the
+same. The gondolas had one 12-pounder and two 6's. All the vessels of
+both parties carried a number of swivel guns.
+
+Amid the many difficulties which lack of resources imposed upon all
+American undertakings, Arnold succeeded in getting afloat with three
+schooners, a sloop, and five gondolas, on the 20th of August. He
+cruised at the upper end of Champlain till the 1st of September, when
+he moved rapidly north, and on the 3d anchored in the lower narrows,
+twenty-five miles above St. John's, stretching his line from shore
+to shore. Scouts had kept him informed of the progress of the British
+naval preparations, so that he knew that there was no immediate
+danger; while an advanced position, maintained with a bold front,
+would certainly prevent reconnoissances by water, and possibly might
+impose somewhat upon the enemy. The latter, however, erected batteries
+on each side of the anchorage, compelling Arnold to fall back to the
+broader lake. He then had soundings taken about Valcour Island, and
+between it and the western shore; that being the position in which he
+intended to make a stand. He retired thither on the 23rd of September.
+
+The British on their side had contended with no less obstacles than
+their adversaries, though of a somewhat different character. To get
+carpenters and materials to build, and seamen to man, were the
+chief difficulties of the Americans, the necessities of the seaboard
+conceding but partially the demands made upon it; but their vessels
+were built upon the shores of the Lake, and launched into navigable
+waters. A large fleet of transports and ships of war in the St.
+Lawrence supplied the British with adequate resources, which were
+utilized judiciously and energetically by Captain Douglas; but to get
+these to the Lake was a long and arduous task. A great part of the
+Richelieu River was shoal, and obstructed by rapids. The point
+where lake navigation began was at St. John's, to which the nearest
+approach, by a hundred-ton schooner, from the St. Lawrence, was
+Chambly, ten miles below. Flat-boats and long-boats could be dragged
+up stream, but vessels of any size had to be transported by land; and
+the engineers found the roadbed too soft in places to bear the weight
+of a hundred tons. Under Douglas's directions, the planking and frames
+of two schooners were taken down at Chambly, and carried round by road
+to St. John's, where they were again put together. At Quebec he found
+building a new hull, of one hundred and eighty tons. This he took
+apart nearly to the keel, shipping the frames in thirty long-boats,
+which the transport captains consented to surrender, together with
+their carpenters, for service on the Lake. Drafts from the ships of
+war, and volunteers from the transports, furnished a body of seven
+hundred seamen for the same employment,--a force to which the
+Americans could oppose nothing equal, commanded as it was by regular
+naval officers. The largest vessel was ship-rigged, and had a battery
+of eighteen 12-pounders; she was called the _Inflexible_, and was
+commanded by Lieutenant John Schanck. The two schooners, _Maria_,
+Lieutenant Starke, and _Carleton_, Lieutenant James Richard Dacres,
+carried respectively fourteen and twelve 6-pounders. These were
+the backbone of the British flotilla. There were also a radeau, the
+_Thunderer_, and a large gondola, the _Loyal Convert_, both heavily
+armed; but, being equally heavy of movement, they do not appear to
+have played any important part. Besides these, when the expedition
+started, there were twenty gunboats, each carrying one fieldpiece,
+from 24's to 9-pounders; or, in some cases, howitzers.[5]
+
+"By all these means," wrote Douglas on July 21st, "our acquiring
+an absolute dominion over Lake Champlain is not doubted of."
+The expectation was perfectly sound. With a working breeze, the
+_Inflexible_ alone could sweep the Lake clear of all that floated on
+it. But the element of time remained. From the day of this writing
+till that on which he saw the _Inflexible_ leave St. John's, October
+4th, was over ten weeks; and it was not until the 9th that Carleton
+was ready to advance with the squadron. By that time the American
+troops at the head of the Lake had increased to eight or ten thousand.
+The British land force is reported[6] as thirteen thousand, of which
+six thousand were in garrison at St. John's and elsewhere.
+
+Arnold's last reinforcements reached him at Valcour on the 6th of
+October. On that day, and in the action of the 11th, he had with him
+all the American vessels on the Lake, except one schooner and one
+galley. His force, thus, was two schooners and a sloop, broadside
+vessels, besides four galleys and eight gondolas, which may be assumed
+reasonably to have depended on their bow guns; there, at least, was
+their heaviest fire. Thus reckoned, his flotilla, disposed to the best
+advantage, could bring into action at one time, two 18's, thirteen
+12's, one 9, two 6's, twelve 4's, and two 2-pounders, independent of
+swivels; total thirty-two guns, out of eighty-four that were mounted
+in fifteen vessels. To this the British had to oppose, in three
+broadside vessels, nine 12's and thirteen 6's, and in twenty gunboats,
+twenty other brass guns, "from twenty-four to nines, some with
+howitzers;"[7] total forty-two guns. In this statement the radeau and
+gondola have not been included, because of their unmanageableness.
+Included as broadside vessels, they would raise the British
+armament--by three 24's, three 12's, four 9's, and a howitzer--to a
+total of fifty-three guns. Actually, they could be brought into action
+only under exceptional circumstances, and are more properly omitted.
+
+These minutiae are necessary for the proper appreciation of what
+Captain Douglas justly called "a momentous event." It was a strife of
+pigmies for the prize of a continent, and the leaders are entitled
+to full credit both for their antecedent energy and for their
+dispositions in the contest; not least the unhappy man who, having
+done so much to save his country, afterwards blasted his name by a
+treason unsurpassed in modern war. Energy and audacity had so far
+preserved the Lake to the Americans; Arnold determined to have one
+more try of the chances. He did not know the full force of the enemy,
+but he expected that "it would be very formidable, if not equal to
+ours."[8] The season, however, was so near its end that a severe check
+would equal a defeat, and would postpone Carleton's further advance
+to the next spring. Besides, what was the worth of such a force as
+the American, such a flotilla, under the guns of Ticonderoga, the Lake
+being lost? It was eminently a case for taking chances, even if the
+detachment should be sacrificed, as it was.
+
+Arnold's original purpose had been to fight under way; and it was
+from this point of view that he valued the galleys, because of their
+mobility. It is uncertain when he first learned of the rig and battery
+of the _Inflexible_; but a good look-out was kept, and the British
+squadron was sighted from Valcour when it quitted the narrows. It
+may have been seen even earlier; for Carleton had been informed,
+erroneously, that the Americans were near Grand Island, which led him
+to incline to that side, and so open out Valcour sooner. The British
+anchored for the night of October 10th, between Grand and Long[9]
+Islands. Getting under way next morning, they stood up the Lake with
+a strong north-east wind, keeping along Grand Island, upon which their
+attention doubtless was fastened by the intelligence which they had
+received; but it was a singular negligence thus to run to leeward with
+a fair wind, without thorough scouting on both hands. The consequence
+was that the American flotilla was not discovered until Valcour
+Island, which is from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and eighty
+feet high throughout its two miles of length, was so far passed that
+the attack had to be made from the south,--from leeward.
+
+When the British were first made out, Arnold's second in command,
+Waterbury, urged that in view of the enemy's superiority the flotilla
+should get under way at once, and fight them "on a retreat in the main
+lake;" the harbour being disadvantageous "to fight a number so much
+superior, and the enemy being able to surround us on every side, we
+lying between an island and the main." Waterbury's advice evidently
+found its origin in that fruitful source of military errors of design,
+which reckons the preservation of a force first of objects, making the
+results of its action secondary. With sounder judgment, Arnold decided
+to hold on. A retreat before square-rigged sailing vessels having a
+fair wind, by a heterogeneous force like his own, of unequal speeds
+and batteries, could result only in disaster. Concerted fire and
+successful escape were alike improbable; and besides, escape, if
+feasible, was but throwing up the game. Better trust to a steady,
+well-ordered position, developing the utmost fire. If the enemy
+discovered him, and came in by the northern entrance, there was a
+five-foot knoll in mid-channel which might fetch the biggest of them
+up; if, as proved to be the case, the island should be passed, and the
+attack should be made from leeward, it probably would be partial and
+in disorder, as also happened. The correctness of Arnold's decision
+not to chance a retreat was shown in the retreat of two days later.
+
+Valcour is on the west side of the Lake, about three quarters of a
+mile from the main; but a peninsula projecting from the island at
+mid-length narrows this interval to a half-mile. From the accounts,
+it is clear that the American flotilla lay south of this peninsula.
+Arnold therefore had a reasonable hope that it might be passed
+undetected. Writing to Gates, the Commander-in-Chief at Ticonderoga,
+he said: "There is a good harbour, and if the enemy venture up
+the Lake it will be impossible for them to take advantage of
+our situation. If we succeed in our attack upon them, it will be
+impossible for any to escape. If we are worsted, our retreat is open
+and free. In case of wind, which generally blows fresh at this season,
+our craft will make good weather, while theirs cannot keep the Lake."
+It is apparent from this, written three weeks before the battle, that
+he then was not expecting a force materially different from his own.
+Later, he describes his position as being "in a small bay on the west
+side of the island, as near together as possible, and in such a form
+that few vessels can attack us at the same time, and those will be
+exposed to the fire of the whole fleet." Though he unfortunately gives
+no details, he evidently had sound tactical ideas. The formation
+of the anchored vessels is described by the British officers as a
+half-moon.
+
+When the British discovered the enemy, they hauled up for them.
+Arnold ordered one of his schooners, the _Royal Savage_, and the
+four galleys, to get under way; the two other schooners and the eight
+gondolas remaining at their anchors. The _Royal Savage_, dropping
+to leeward,--by bad management, Arnold says,--came, apparently
+unsupported, under the distant fire of the _Inflexible_, as she drew
+under the lee of Valcour at 11 A.M., followed by the _Carleton_, and
+at greater distance by the _Maria_ and the gunboats. Three shots
+from the ship's 12-pounders struck the _Royal Savage_, which then ran
+ashore on the southern point of the island. The _Inflexible_, followed
+closely by the _Carleton_, continued on, but fired only occasionally;
+showing that Arnold was keeping his galleys in hand, at long
+bowls,--as small vessels with one eighteen should be kept, when
+confronted with a broadside of nine guns. Between the island and the
+main the north-east wind doubtless drew more northerly, adverse to the
+ship's approach; but, a flaw off the cliffs taking the fore and aft
+sails of the _Carleton_, she fetched "nearly into the middle of the
+rebel half-moon, where Lieutenant J.R. Dacres intrepidly anchored
+with a spring on her cable." The _Maria_, on board which was Carleton,
+together with Commander Thomas Pringle, commanding the flotilla, was
+to leeward when the chase began, and could not get into close action
+that day. By this time, seventeen of the twenty gunboats had come
+up, and, after silencing the _Royal Savage_, pulled up to within
+point-blank range of the American flotilla. "The cannonade was
+tremendous," wrote Baron Riedesel. Lieutenant Edward Longcroft, of the
+radeau _Thunderer_, not being able to get his raft into action, went
+with a boat's crew on board the _Royal Savage_, and for a time turned
+her guns upon her former friends; but the fire of the latter forced
+him again to abandon her, and it seemed so likely that she might be
+re-taken that she was set on fire by Lieutenant Starke of the _Maria_,
+when already "two rebel boats were very near her. She soon after blew
+up." The American guns converging on the _Carleton_ in her central
+position, she suffered severely. Her commander, Lieutenant Dacres,
+was knocked senseless; another officer lost an arm; only Mr. Edward
+Pellew, afterwards Lord Exmouth, remained fit for duty. The spring
+being shot away, she swung bows on to the enemy, and her fire was thus
+silenced. Captain Pringle signalled to her to withdraw; but she was
+unable to obey. To pay her head off the right way, Pellew himself had
+to get out on the bowsprit under a heavy fire of musketry, to bear the
+jib over to windward; but to make sail seems to have been impossible.
+Two artillery boats were sent to her assistance, "which towed her off
+through a very thick fire, until out of farther reach, much to the
+honour of Mr. John Curling and Mr. Patrick Carnegy, master's mate
+and midshipman of the _Isis_, who conducted them; and of Mr. Edward
+Pellew, mate of the _Blonde_, who threw the tow-rope from the
+_Carleton's_ bowsprit."[10] This service on board the _Carleton_
+started Pellew on his road to fortune; but, singularly enough, the
+lieutenancy promised him in consequence, by both the First Lord
+and Lord Howe, was delayed by the fact that he stayed at the front,
+instead of going to the rear, where he would have been "within their
+jurisdiction."[11] The _Carleton_ had two feet of water in the hold,
+and had lost eight killed and six wounded,--about half her crew,--when
+she anchored out of fire. In this small but stirring business, the
+Americans, in addition to the _Royal Savage_, had lost one gondola.
+Besides the injuries to the _Carleton_, a British artillery boat,
+commanded by a German lieutenant, was sunk. Towards evening the
+_Inflexible_ got within point-blank shot of the Americans, "when five
+broadsides," wrote Douglas, "silenced their whole line." One fresh
+ship, with scantling for sea-going, and a concentrated battery, has an
+unquestioned advantage over a dozen light-built craft, carrying one or
+two guns each, and already several hours engaged.
+
+At nightfall the _Inflexible_ dropped out of range, and the British
+squadron anchored in line of battle across the southern end of the
+passage between the island and the main; some vessels were extended
+also to the eastward, into the open Lake. "The best part of my
+intelligence," wrote Burgoyne next day from St. John's, to Douglas at
+Quebec, "is that our whole fleet was formed in line above the enemy,
+and consequently they must have surrendered this morning, or given us
+battle on our own terms. The Indians and light troops are abreast
+with the fleet; they cannot, therefore, escape by land." The British
+squadron sharing this confidence, a proper look-out was not kept. The
+American leader immediately held a conference with his officers, and
+decided to attempt a retreat, "which was done with such secrecy,"
+writes Waterbury, "that we went through them entirely undiscovered."
+The movement began at 7 P.M., a galley leading, the gondolas and
+schooners following, and Arnold and his second bringing up the rear
+in the two heaviest galleys. This delicate operation was favoured by
+a heavy fog, which did not clear till next morning at eight. As the
+Americans stole by, they could not see any of the hostile ships. By
+daylight they were out of sight of the British. Riedesel, speaking of
+this event, says, "The ships anchored, secure of the enemy, who stole
+off during the night, and sailing round the left wing, aided by
+a favourable wind, escaped under darkness." The astonishment next
+morning, he continues, was great, as was Carleton's rage. The latter
+started to pursue in such a hurry that he forgot to leave orders
+for the troops which had been landed; but, failing to discover the
+fugitives, he returned and remained at Valcour till nightfall, when
+scouts brought word that the enemy were at Schuyler's Island, eight
+miles above.
+
+The retreat of the Americans had been embarrassed by their injuries,
+and by the wind coming out ahead. They were obliged to anchor on the
+12th to repair damages, both hulls and sails having suffered severely.
+Arnold took the precaution to write to Crown Point for bateaux, to tow
+in case of a southerly wind; but time did not allow these to arrive.
+Two gondolas had to be sunk on account of their injuries, making three
+of that class so far lost. The retreat was resumed at 2 P.M., but the
+breeze was fresh from the southward, and the gondolas made very
+little way. At evening the British chased again. That night the wind
+moderated, and at daybreak the American flotilla was twenty-eight
+miles from Crown Point,--fourteen from Valcour,--having still five
+miles' start. Later, however, by Arnold's report, "the wind again
+breezed up to the southward, so that we gained very little either by
+beating or rowing. At the same time the enemy took a fresh breeze from
+northeast, and, by the time we had reached Split Rock, were alongside
+of us." The galleys of Arnold and Waterbury, the _Congress_ and the
+_Washington_, had throughout kept in the rear, and now received the
+brunt of the attack, made by the _Inflexible_ and the two schooners,
+which had entirely distanced their sluggish consorts. This fight was
+in the upper narrows, where the Lake is from one to three miles wide;
+and it lasted, by Arnold's report, for five glasses (two hours and a
+half),[12] the Americans continually retreating, until about ten miles
+from Crown Point. There, the _Washington_ having struck some time
+before, and final escape being impossible, Arnold ran the _Congress_
+and four gondolas ashore in a small creek on the east side; pulling to
+windward, with the cool judgment that had marked all his conduct, so
+that the enemy could not follow him--except in small boats with which
+he could deal. There he set his vessels on fire, and stood by them
+until assured that they would blow up with their flags flying. He then
+retreated to Crown Point through the woods, "despite the savages;"
+a phrase which concludes this singular aquatic contest with a quaint
+touch of local colour.
+
+In three days of fighting and retreating the Americans had lost one
+schooner, two galleys, and seven gondolas,--in all, ten vessels out of
+fifteen. The killed and wounded amounted to over eighty, twenty odd
+of whom were in Arnold's galley. The original force, numbering seven
+hundred, had been decimated. Considering its raw material and the
+recency of its organisation, words can scarcely exaggerate the
+heroism of the resistance, which undoubtedly depended chiefly upon the
+personal military qualities of the leader. The British loss in killed
+and wounded did not exceed forty.
+
+The little American navy on Champlain was wiped out; but never had any
+force, big or small, lived to better purpose or died more gloriously,
+for it had saved the Lake for that year. Whatever deductions may be
+made for blunders, and for circumstances of every character which made
+the British campaign of 1777 abortive and disastrous, thus leading
+directly to the American alliance with France in 1778, the delay, with
+all that it involved, was obtained by the Lake campaign of 1776. On
+October 15th, two days after Arnold's final defeat, Carleton dated
+a letter to Douglas from before Crown Point, whence the American
+garrison was withdrawn. A week later Riedesel arrived, and wrote that,
+"were our whole army here it would be an easy matter to drive the
+enemy from their entrenchments," at Ticonderoga, and--as has been
+quoted already--four weeks sooner would have insured its fall. It is
+but a coincidence that just four weeks had been required to set up the
+_Inflexible_ at St. John's; but it typifies the whole story. Save for
+Arnold's flotilla, the two British schooners would have settled the
+business. "Upon the whole, Sir," wrote Douglas in his final letter
+from Quebec before sailing for England, "I scruple not to say, that
+had not General Carleton authorized me to take the extraordinary
+measure of sending up the _Inflexible_ from Quebec, things could
+not this year have been brought to so glorious a conclusion on Lake
+Champlain." Douglas further showed the importance attached to this
+success by men of that day, by sending a special message to the
+British ambassador at Madrid, "presuming that the early knowledge of
+this great event in the southern parts of Europe may be of advantage
+to His Majesty's service." That the opinion of the government was
+similar may be inferred from the numerous rewards bestowed. Carleton
+was made a Knight of the Bath, and Douglas a baronet.
+
+The gallantry shown by both sides upon Lake Champlain in 1776 is
+evident from the foregoing narrative. With regard to the direction
+of movements,--the skill of the two leaders,--the same equal credit
+cannot be assigned. It was a very serious blunder, on October 11th, to
+run to leeward, passing a concealed enemy, undetected, upon waters so
+perfectly well known as those of Champlain were; it having been the
+scene of frequent British operations in previous wars. Owing to
+this, "the _Maria_, because of her distant situation (from which the
+_Inflexible_ and _Carleton_ had chased by signal) when the rebels
+were first discovered, and baffling winds, could not get into close
+action."[13] For the same reason the _Inflexible_ could not support
+the _Carleton_. The Americans, in the aggregate distinctly inferior,
+were thus permitted a concentration of superior force upon part of
+their enemies. It is needless to enlarge upon the mortifying
+incident of Arnold's escape that evening. To liken small things to
+great,--always profitable in military analysis,--it resembled Hood's
+slipping away from de Grasse at St. Kitts.[14]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+In conduct and courage, Arnold's behavior was excellent throughout.
+Without enlarging upon the energy which created the flotilla, and
+the breadth of view which suggested preparations that he could not
+enforce, admiration is due to his recognition of the fact--implicit
+in deed, if unexpressed in word--that the one use of the Navy was to
+contest the control of the water; to impose delay, even if it could
+not secure ultimate victory. No words could say more clearly than do
+his actions that, under the existing conditions, the navy was useless,
+except as it contributed to that end; valueless, if buried in port.
+Upon this rests the merit of his bold advance into the lower narrows;
+upon this his choice of the strong defensive position of Valcour;
+upon this his refusal to retreat, as urged by Waterbury, when the full
+force of the enemy was disclosed,--a decision justified, or rather,
+illustrated, by the advantages which the accidents of the day threw
+into his hands. His personal gallantry was conspicuous there as at
+all times of his life. "His countrymen," said a generous enemy of that
+day, "chiefly gloried in the dangerous attention which he paid to a
+nice point of honour, in keeping his flag flying, and not quitting his
+galley till she was in flames, lest the enemy should have boarded, and
+struck it." It is not the least of the injuries done to his nation in
+after years, that he should have silenced this boast and effaced this
+glorious record by so black an infamy.
+
+With the destruction of the flotilla ends the naval story of the Lakes
+during the War of the American Revolution. Satisfied that it was too
+late to proceed against Ticonderoga that year, Carleton withdrew
+to St. John's and went into winter-quarters. The following year the
+enterprise was resumed under General Burgoyne; but Sir William Howe,
+instead of cooeperating by an advance up the Hudson, which was the plan
+of 1776, carried his army to Chesapeake Bay, to act thence against
+Philadelphia. Burgoyne took Ticonderoga and forced his way as far as
+Saratoga, sixty miles from Ticonderoga and thirty from Albany, where
+Howe should have met him. There he was brought to a stand by the army
+which the Americans had collected, found himself unable to advance or
+to retreat, and was forced to lay down his arms on October 17th, 1777.
+The garrison left by him at Ticonderoga and Crown Point retired to
+Canada, and the posts were re-occupied by the Americans. No further
+contest took place on the Lake, though the British vessels remained
+in control of it, and showed themselves from time to time up to 1781.
+With the outbreak of war between Great Britain and France, in 1778,
+the scene of maritime interest shifted to salt water, and there
+remained till the end.
+
+[Footnote 1: In customary representation of maps, North is upper,
+and movement northward is commonly spoken of as up. It is necessary
+therefore to bear in mind that the flow of water from Lake George to
+the St. Lawrence, though northward, is _down_.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Afterwards Captain of the Fleet (Chief of Staff) to
+Rodney in his great campaign of 1782. _Post_, p. 222. He died a
+Rear-Admiral and Baronet in 1789.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Author's italics.]
+
+[Footnote 4: _Remembrancer_, iv. 291.]
+
+[Footnote 5: The radeau had six 24-pounders, six 12's, and two
+howitzers; the gondola, seven 9-pounders. The particulars of armament
+are from Douglas's letters.]
+
+[Footnote 6: By American reports. Beatson gives the force sent out, in
+the spring of 1776, as 13,357. ("Mil. and Nav. Memoirs," vi. 44.)]
+
+[Footnote 7: Douglas's letters.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Douglas thought that the appearance of the _Inflexible_
+was a complete surprise; but Arnold had been informed that a third
+vessel, larger than the schooners, was being set up. With a man of
+his character, it is impossible to be sure, from his letters to his
+superior, how much he knew, or what he withheld.]
+
+[Footnote 9: called North Hero.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Douglas's letter. The _Isis_ and the _Blonde_ were
+vessels of the British squadron under Douglas, then lying in the St.
+Lawrence. The officers named were temporarily on the lake service.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, to Pellew.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Beatson, "Nav. and Mil. Memoirs," says two hours.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Douglas's letters. The sentence is awkward, but
+carefully compared with the copy in the author's hands. Douglas says,
+of the details he gives, that "they have been collected with the most
+scrupulous circumspection."]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Post_, p. 205.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+NAVAL ACTION AT BOSTON, CHARLESTON, NEW YORK, AND NARRAGANSETT
+BAY--ASSOCIATED LAND OPERATIONS UP TO THE BATTLE OF TRENTON
+
+1776
+
+
+The opening conflict between Great Britain and her North American
+Colonies teaches clearly the necessity, too rarely recognised in
+practice, that when a State has decided to use force, the force
+provided should be adequate from the first. This applies with equal
+weight to national policies when it is the intention of the nation to
+maintain them at all costs. The Monroe Doctrine for instance is such
+a policy; but unless constant adequate preparation is maintained also,
+the policy itself is but a vain form of words. It is in preparation
+beforehand, chiefly if not uniformly, that the United States has
+failed. It is better to be much too strong than a little too weak.
+Seeing the evident temper of the Massachusetts Colonists, force would
+be needed to execute the Boston Port Bill and its companion measures
+of 1774; for the Port Bill especially, naval force. The supplies for
+1775 granted only 18,000 seamen,--2000 less than for the previous
+year. For 1776, 28,000 seamen were voted, and the total appropriations
+rose from L5,556,000 to L10,154,000; but it was then too late. Boston
+was evacuated by the British army, 8000 strong on the 17th of March,
+1776; but already, for more than half a year, the spreading spirit of
+revolt in the thirteen Colonies had been encouraged by the sight
+of the British army cooped up in the town, suffering from want
+of necessaries, while the colonial army blockading it was able to
+maintain its position, because ships laden with stores for the one
+were captured, and the cargoes diverted to the use of the other. To
+secure free and ample communications for one's self, and to interrupt
+those of the opponent, are among the first requirements of war. To
+carry out the measures of the British government a naval force
+was needed, which not only should protect the approach of its own
+transports to Boston Bay, but should prevent access to all coast ports
+whence supplies could be carried to the blockading army. So far from
+this, the squadron was not equal, in either number or quality, to the
+work to be done about Boston; and it was not until October, 1775, that
+the Admiral was authorized to capture colonial merchant vessels, which
+therefore went and came unmolested, outside of Boston, carrying often
+provisions which found their way to Washington's army.
+
+After evacuating Boston, General Howe retired to Halifax, there to
+await the coming of reinforcements, both military and naval, and of
+his brother, Vice-Admiral Lord Howe, appointed to command the North
+American Station. General Howe was commander-in-chief of the forces
+throughout the territory extending from Nova Scotia to West Florida;
+from Halifax to Pensacola. The first operation of the campaign was to
+be the reduction of New York.
+
+The British government, however, had several objects in view, and
+permitted itself to be distracted from the single-minded prosecution
+of one great undertaking to other subsidiary operations, not always
+concentric. Whether the control of the line of the Hudson and Lake
+Champlain ought to have been sought through operations beginning at
+both ends, is open to argument; the facts that the Americans were back
+in Crown Point in the beginning of July, 1776, and that Carleton's
+13,000 men got no farther than St. John's that year, suggest that the
+greater part of the latter force would have been better employed in
+New York and New Jersey than about Champlain. However that may be, the
+diversion to the Carolinas of a third body, respectable in point
+of numbers, is scarcely to be defended on military grounds. The
+government was induced to it by the expectation of local support from
+royalists. That there were many of these in both Carolinas is
+certain; but while military operations must take account of political
+conditions, the latter should not be allowed to overbalance elementary
+principles of the military art. It is said that General Howe
+disapproved of this ex-centric movement.
+
+The force destined for the Southern coasts assembled at Cork towards
+the end of 1775, and sailed thence in January, 1776. The troops were
+commanded by Lord Cornwallis, the squadron by Nelson's early patron,
+Commodore Sir Peter Parker, whose broad pennant was hoisted on board
+the _Bristol_, 50. After a boisterous passage, the expedition arrived
+in May off Cape Fear in North Carolina, where it was joined by two
+thousand men under Sir Henry Clinton, Cornwallis's senior, whom Howe
+by the government's orders had detached to the southward in January.
+Upon Clinton's appearance, the royalists in North Carolina had risen,
+headed by the husband of Flora Macdonald, whose name thirty years
+before had been associated romantically with the escape of the young
+Pretender from Scotland. She had afterwards emigrated to America. The
+rising, however, had been put down, and Clinton had not thought
+it expedient to try a serious invasion, in face of the large force
+assembled to resist him. Upon Parker's coming, it was decided to make
+an attempt upon Charleston, South Carolina. The fleet therefore
+sailed from Cape Fear on the 1st of June, and on the 4th anchored off
+Charleston Bar.
+
+Charleston Harbour opens between two of the sea-islands which fringe
+the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. On the north is Sullivan's
+Island, on the south James Island. The bar of the main entrance was
+not abreast the mouth of the port, but some distance south of it.
+Inside the bar, the channel turned to the northward, and thence led
+near Sullivan's Island, the southern end of which was therefore chosen
+as the site of the rude fort hastily thrown up to meet this attack,
+and afterwards called Fort Moultrie, from the name of the commander.
+From these conditions, a southerly wind was needed to bring ships
+into action. After sounding and buoying the bar, the transports
+and frigates crossed on the 7th and anchored inside; but as it was
+necessary to remove some of the _Bristol's_ guns, she could not follow
+until the 10th. On the 9th Clinton had landed in person with five
+hundred men, and by the 15th all the troops had disembarked upon Long
+Island, next north of Sullivan's. It was understood that the inlet
+between the two was fordable, allowing the troops to cooeperate with
+the naval attack, by diversion or otherwise; but this proved to be a
+mistake. The passage was seven feet deep at low water, and there were
+no means for crossing; consequently a small American detachment in
+the scrub wood of the island sufficed to check any movement in that
+quarter. The fighting therefore was confined to the cannonading of the
+fort by the ships.
+
+Circumstances not fully explained caused the attack to be fixed
+for the 23d; an inopportune delay, during which Americans were
+strengthening their still very imperfect defences. On the 23d the wind
+was unfavourable. On the 25th the _Experiment_, 50, arrived, crossed
+the bar, and, after taking in her guns again, was ready to join in
+the assault. On the 27th, at 10 A.M., the ships got under way with a
+south-east breeze, but this shifted soon afterwards to north-west, and
+they had to anchor again, about a mile nearer to Sullivan's Island. On
+the following day the wind served, and the attack was made.
+
+In plan, Fort Moultrie was square, with a bastion at each angle. In
+construction, the sides were palmetto logs, dovetailed and bolted
+together, laid in parallel rows, sixteen feet apart; the interspace
+being filled with sand. At the time of the engagement, the south and
+west fronts were finished; the other fronts were only seven feet
+high, but surmounted by thick planks, to be tenable against escalade.
+Thirty-one guns were in place, 18 and 9-pounders, of which twenty-one
+were on the south face, commanding the channel. Within was a traverse
+running east and west, protecting the gunners from shots from the
+rear; but there was no such cover against enfilading fire, in case
+an enemy's ship passed the fort and anchored above it. "The general
+opinion before the action," Moultrie says, "and especially among
+sailors, was that two frigates would be sufficient to knock the town
+about our ears, notwithstanding our batteries." Parker may have shared
+this impression, and it may account for his leisureliness. When the
+action began, the garrison had but twenty-eight rounds for each of
+twenty-six cannon, but this deficiency was unknown to the British.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Parker's plan was that the two 50's, _Bristol_ and _Experiment_, and
+two 28-gun frigates, the _Active_ and the _Solebay_, should engage the
+main front; while two frigates of the same class, the _Actaeon_ and the
+_Syren_, with a 20-gun corvette, the _Sphinx_, should pass the fort,
+anchoring to the westward, up-channel, to protect the heavy vessels
+against fire-ships, as well as to enfilade the principal American
+battery. The main attack was to be further supported by a bomb-vessel,
+the _Thunder_, accompanied by the armed transport _Friendship_, which
+were to take station to the southeast of the east bastion of the
+engaged front of the fort. The order to weigh was given at 10.30
+A.M., when the flood-tide had fairly made; and at 11.15 the _Active_,
+_Bristol_, _Experiment_, and _Solebay_, anchored in line ahead, in the
+order named, the _Active_ to the eastward. These ships seem to have
+taken their places skilfully without confusion, and their fire, which
+opened at once, was rapid, well-sustained, and well-directed; but
+their position suffered under the radical defect that, whether from
+actual lack of water, or only from fear of grounding, they were too
+far from the works to use grape effectively. The sides of ships being
+much weaker than those of shore works, while their guns were much more
+numerous, the secret of success was to get near enough to beat down
+the hostile fire by a multitude of projectiles. The bomb-vessel
+_Thunder_ anchored in the situation assigned her; but her shells,
+though well aimed, were ineffective. "Most of them fell within the
+fort," Moultrie reported, "but we had a morass in the middle, which
+swallowed them instantly, and those that fell in the sand were
+immediately buried." During the action the mortar bed broke, disabling
+the piece.
+
+Owing to the scarcity of ammunition in the fort, the garrison had
+positive orders not to engage at ranges exceeding four hundred yards.
+Four or five shots were thrown at the _Active_, while still under
+sail, but with this exception the fort kept silence until the ships
+anchored, at a distance estimated by the Americans to be three hundred
+and fifty yards. The word was then passed along the platform, "Mind
+the Commodore; mind the two 50-gun ships,"--an order which was
+strictly obeyed, as the losses show. The protection of the work proved
+to be almost perfect,--a fact which doubtless contributed to the
+coolness and precision of fire vitally essential with such deficient
+resources. The texture of the palmetto wood suffered the balls to sink
+smoothly into it without splintering, so that the facing of the work
+held well. At times, when three or four broadsides struck together,
+the merlons shook so that Moultrie feared they would come bodily in;
+but they withstood, and the small loss inflicted was chiefly through
+the embrasures. The flagstaff being shot away, falling outside into
+the ditch, a young sergeant, named Jasper, distinguished himself by
+jumping after it, fetching back and rehoisting the colours under a
+heavy fire.
+
+In the squadron an equal gallantry was shown under circumstances which
+made severe demands upon endurance. Whatever Parker's estimate of
+the worth of the defences, no trace of vain-confidence appears in his
+dispositions, which were thorough and careful, as the execution of
+the main attack was skilful and vigorous; but the ships' companies,
+expecting an easy victory, had found themselves confronted with a
+resistance and a punishment as severe as were endured by the leading
+ships at Trafalgar, and far more prolonged. Such conditions impose
+upon men's tenacity the additional test of surprise and discomfiture.
+The _Experiment_, though very small for a ship of the line, lost 23
+killed and 56 wounded, out of a total probably not much exceeding 300;
+while the _Bristol_, having the spring shot away, swung with her head
+to the southward and her stern to the fort, undergoing for a long
+time a raking fire to which she could make little reply. Three
+several attempts to replace the spring were made by Mr. James
+Saumarez,--afterwards the distinguished admiral, Lord de Saumarez,
+then a midshipman,--before the ship was relieved from this grave
+disadvantage. Her loss was 40 killed and 71 wounded; not a man
+escaping of those stationed on the quarter-deck at the beginning of
+the action. Among the injured was the Commodore himself, whose cool
+heroism must have been singularly conspicuous, from the notice it
+attracted in a service where such bearing was not rare. At one
+time when the quarter-deck was cleared and he stood alone upon the
+poop-ladder, Saumarez suggested to him to come down; but he replied,
+smiling, "You want to get rid of me, do you?" and refused to move.
+The captain of the ship, John Morris, was mortally wounded. With
+commendable modesty Parker only reported himself as slightly bruised;
+but deserters stated that for some days he needed the assistance of
+two men to walk, and that his trousers had been torn off him by shot
+or splinters. The loss in the other ships was only one killed, 14
+wounded. The Americans had 37 killed and wounded.
+
+The three vessels assigned to enfilade the main front of the fort did
+not get into position. They ran on the middle ground, owing, Parker
+reported, to the ignorance of the pilots. Two had fouled each other
+before striking. Having taken the bottom on a rising tide, two floated
+in a few hours, and retreated; but the third, the _Actaeon_, 28,
+sticking fast, was set on fire and abandoned by her officers. Before
+she blew up, the Americans boarded her, securing her colours, bell,
+and some other trophies. "Had these ships effected their purpose,"
+Moultrie reported, "they would have driven us from our guns."
+
+The main division held its ground until long after nightfall, firing
+much of the time, but stopping at intervals. After two hours it had
+been noted that the fort replied very slowly, which was attributed to
+its being overborne, instead of to the real cause, the necessity for
+sparing ammunition. For the same reason it was entirely silent from
+3.30 P.M. to 6, when fire was resumed from only two or three guns,
+whence Parker surmised that the rest had been dismounted. The
+Americans were restrained throughout the engagement by the fear of
+exhausting entirely their scanty store.
+
+"About 9 P.M.," Parker reported, "being very dark, great part of our
+ammunition expended, the people fatigued, the tide of ebb almost
+done, no prospect from the eastward (that is, from the army), and no
+possibility of our being of any further service, I ordered the ships
+to withdraw to their former moorings." Besides the casualties among
+the crew, and severe damage to the hull, the _Bristol's_ mainmast,
+with nine cannon-balls in it, had to be shortened, while the
+mizzen-mast was condemned. The injury to the frigates was immaterial,
+owing to the garrison's neglecting them.
+
+The fight in Charleston Harbour, the first serious contest in which
+ships took part in this war, resembles generically the battle of
+Bunker's Hill, with which the regular land warfare had opened a year
+before. Both illustrate the difficulty and danger of a front attack,
+without cover, upon a fortified position, and the advantage conferred
+even upon untrained men, if naturally cool, resolute, and intelligent,
+not only by the protection of a work, but also, it may be urged, by
+the recognition of a tangible line up to which to hold, and to abandon
+which means defeat, dishonour, and disaster. It is much for untried
+men to recognise in their surroundings something which gives the unity
+of a common purpose, and thus the coherence which discipline imparts.
+Although there was in Parker's dispositions nothing open to serious
+criticism,--nothing that can be ascribed to undervaluing his
+opponent,--and although, also, he had good reason to expect from the
+army active cooeperation which he did not get, it is probable that he
+was very much surprised, not only at the tenacity of the Americans'
+resistance, but at the efficacy of their fire. He felt, doubtless,
+the traditional and natural distrust--and, for the most part,
+the justified distrust--with which experience and practice regard
+inexperience. Some seamen of American birth, who had been serving in
+the _Bristol_, deserted after the fight. They reported that her crew
+said, "We were told the Yankees would not stand two fires, but we
+never saw better fellows;" and when the fire of the fort slackened and
+some cried, "They have done fighting," others replied, "By God, we are
+glad of it, for we never had such a drubbing in our lives." "All the
+common men of the fleet spoke loudly in praise of the garrison,"--a
+note of admiration so frequent in generous enemies that we may be
+assured that it was echoed on the quarter-deck also. They could afford
+it well, for there was no stain upon their own record beyond the
+natural mortification of defeat; no flinching under the severity of
+their losses, although a number of their men were comparatively raw,
+volunteers from the transports, whose crews had come forward almost
+as one man when they knew that the complements of the ships were short
+through sickness. Edmund Burke, a friend to both sides, was justified
+in saying that "never did British valour shine more conspicuously,
+nor did our ships in an engagement of the same nature experience
+so serious an encounter." There were several death-vacancies for
+lieutenants; and, as the battle of Lake Champlain gave Pellew his
+first commission, so did that of Charleston Harbour give his to
+Saumarez, who was made lieutenant of the _Bristol_ by Parker. Two
+years later, when the ship had gone to Jamaica, he was followed on her
+quarter-deck by Nelson and Collingwood, who also received promotion in
+her from the same hand.
+
+The attack on Fort Moultrie was not resumed. After necessary repairs,
+the ships of war with the troops went to New York, where they
+arrived on the 4th of August, and took part in the operations for the
+reduction of that place under the direction of the two Howes.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The occupation of New York Harbour, and the capture of the city were
+the most conspicuous British successes of the summer and fall of 1776.
+While Parker and Clinton were meeting with defeat at Charleston, and
+Arnold was hurrying the preparation of his flotilla on Champlain, the
+two brothers, General Sir William Howe and the Admiral, Lord Howe,
+were arriving in New York Bay, invested not only with the powers
+proper to the commanders of great fleets and armies, but also with
+authority as peace commissioners, to negotiate an amicable arrangement
+with the revolted Colonies.
+
+Sir William Howe had awaited for some time at Halifax the arrival of
+the expected reinforcements, but wearying at last he sailed thence
+on the 10th of June, 1776, with the army then in hand. On the 25th
+he himself reached Sandy Hook, the entrance to New York Bay, having
+preceded the transports in a frigate. On the 29th, the day after
+Parker's repulse at Fort Moultrie, the troops arrived; and on July 3d,
+the date on which Arnold, retreating from Canada, reached Crown Point,
+the British landed on Staten Island, which is on the west side of the
+lower Bay. On the 12th came in the _Eagle_, 64, carrying the flag of
+Lord Howe. This officer was much esteemed by the Americans for his own
+personal qualities, and for his attitude towards them in the present
+dispute, as well as for the memory of his brother, who had endeared
+himself greatly to them in the campaign of 1758, when he had fallen
+near Lake Champlain; but the decisive step of declaring their
+independence had been taken already, on July 4th, eight days before
+the Admiral's arrival. A month was spent in fruitless attempts to
+negotiate with the new government, without recognising any official
+character in its representatives. During that time, however, while
+abstaining from decisive operations, cruisers were kept at sea
+to intercept American traders, and the Admiral, immediately upon
+arriving, sent four vessels of war twenty-five miles up the Hudson
+River, as far as Tarrytown. This squadron was commanded by Hyde
+Parker, afterwards, in 1801, Nelson's commander-in-chief at
+Copenhagen. The service was performed under a tremendous cannonade
+from all the batteries on both shores, but the ships could not
+be stopped. Towards the middle of August it was evident that the
+Americans would not accept any terms in the power of the Howes to
+offer, and it became necessary to attempt coercion by arms.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+In the reduction of New York in 1776, the part played by the British
+Navy, owing to the nature of the campaign in general and of the
+enemy's force in particular, was of that inconspicuous character which
+obscures the fact that without the Navy the operations could not have
+been undertaken at all, and that the Navy played to them the part
+of the base of operations and line of communications. Like the
+foundations of a building, these lie outside the range of superficial
+attention, and therefore are less generally appreciated than the
+brilliant fighting going on at the front, to the maintenance of
+which they are all the time indispensable. Consequently, whatever of
+interest may attach to any, or to all, of the minor affairs, which
+in the aggregate constitute the action of the naval force in such
+circumstances, the historian of the major operations is confined
+perforce to indicating the broad general effect of naval power upon
+the issue. This will be best done by tracing in outline the scene of
+action, the combined movements, and the Navy's influence in both.
+
+The harbour of New York divides into two parts--the upper and lower
+Bays--connected by a passage called the Narrows, between Long and
+Staten Islands, upon the latter of which the British troops were
+encamped. Long Island, which forms the eastern shore of the Narrows,
+extends to the east-north-east a hundred and ten miles, enclosing
+between itself and the continent a broad sheet of water called Long
+Island Sound, that reaches nearly to Narragansett Bay. The latter,
+being a fine anchorage, entered also into the British scheme of
+operations, as an essential feature in a coastwise maritime campaign.
+Long Island Sound and the upper Bay of New York are connected by a
+crooked and difficult passage, known as the East River, eight or ten
+miles in length, and at that time nearly a mile wide[15] abreast the
+city of New York. At the point where the East River joins New York
+Bay, the Hudson River, an estuary there nearly two miles wide, also
+enters from the north,--a circumstance which has procured for it
+the alternative name of the North River. Near their confluence is
+Governor's Island, half a mile below the town, centrally situated to
+command the entrances to both. Between the East and North rivers, with
+their general directions from north and east-north-east, is embraced
+a long strip of land gradually narrowing to the southward. The end of
+this peninsula, as it would otherwise be, is converted into an island,
+of a mean length of about eight miles, by the Harlem River,--a narrow
+and partially navigable stream connecting the East and North rivers.
+To the southern extreme of this island, called Manhattan, the city of
+New York was then confined.
+
+As both the East and North rivers were navigable for large ships,
+the former throughout, the latter for over a hundred miles above its
+mouth, it was evident that control of the water must play a large
+part in warlike operations throughout the district described. With the
+limited force at Washington's disposal, he had been unable to push the
+defences of the city as far to the front as was desirable. The
+lower Bay was held by the British Navy, and Staten Island had been
+abandoned, necessarily, without resistance, thereby giving up the
+strong defensive position of the Narrows. The lines were contracted
+thus to the immediate neighbourhood of New York itself. Small detached
+works skirted the shores of Manhattan Island, and a line of redoubts
+extended across it, following the course of a small stream which then
+partly divided it, a mile from the southern end. Governor's Island was
+also occupied as an outpost. Of more intrinsic strength, but not at
+first concerned, strong works had been thrown up on either side of the
+North River, upon commanding heights eight miles above New York, to
+dispute the passage of ships.
+
+The crucial weakness in this scheme of defence was that the shore of
+Long Island opposite the city was much higher than that of Manhattan.
+If this height were seized, the city, and all below it, became
+untenable. Here, therefore, was the key of the position and the chief
+station for the American troops. For its protection a line of works
+was thrown up, the flanks of which rested upon Wallabout Bay and
+Gowanus Cove, two indentations in the shores of Long Island. These
+Washington manned with nine thousand of the eighteen thousand men
+under his command. By the arrival of three divisions of Hessian
+troops, Howe's army now numbered over thirty-four thousand men, to
+which Clinton brought three thousand more from before Charleston.[16]
+
+On the 22d of August the British crossed from Staten Island to
+Gravesend Bay, on the Long Island shore of the Narrows. The Navy
+covered the landing, and the transportation of the troops was under
+the charge of Commodore William Hotham, who, nineteen years later,
+was Nelson's commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. By noon fifteen
+thousand men and forty field-guns had been carried over and placed on
+shore. The force of the Americans permitted little opposition to the
+British advance; but General Howe was cautious and easy-going, and
+it was not till the 27th that the army, now increased to twenty-five
+thousand, was fairly in front of the American lines, having killed,
+wounded, and taken about 1,500 men. Hoping that Howe would be tempted
+to storm the position, Washington replaced these with two thousand
+drawn from his meagre numbers; but his opponent, who had borne a
+distinguished part at Bunker's Hill, held back his troops, who were
+eager for the assault. The Americans now stood with their backs to
+a swift tidal stream, nearly a mile wide, with only a feeble line of
+works between them and an enemy more than double their number.
+
+On the morning of the 27th, Sir Peter Parker, with a 64-gun ship, two
+50's, and two frigates, attempted to work up to New York, with a view
+of supporting the left flank of the army; but the wind came out from
+the north, and, the ebb-tide making, the ships got no nearer than
+three miles from the city. Fortunately for the Americans, they either
+could not or would not go farther on the following two days.
+After dark of the 28th, Howe broke ground for regular approaches.
+Washington, seeing this, and knowing that there could be but one
+result to a siege under his condition of inferiority, resolved to
+withdraw. During the night of the 29th ten thousand men silently
+quitted their positions, embarked, and crossed to Manhattan Island,
+carrying with them all their belongings, arms, and ammunition. The
+enemy's trenches were but six hundred yards distant, yet no suspicion
+was aroused, nor did a single deserter give treacherous warning. The
+night was clear and moonlit, although a heavy fog towards daybreak
+prolonged the period of secrecy which shrouded the retreat. When
+the fog rose, the last detachment was discovered crossing, but a few
+ineffectual cannon-shot were the only harassment experienced by the
+Americans in the course of this rapid and dexterous retirement. The
+garrison of Governor's Island was withdrawn at the same time.
+
+The unmolested use of the water, and the nautical skill of the
+fishermen who composed one of the American regiments, were essential
+to this escape; for admirable as the movement was in arrangement
+and execution, no word less strong than escape applies to it. By it
+Washington rescued over half his army from sure destruction, and,
+not improbably, the cause of his people from immediate collapse. An
+opportunity thus seized implies necessarily an opportunity lost on the
+other side. For that failure both army and navy must bear their share
+of the blame. It is obvious that when an enemy is greatly outnumbered
+his line of retreat should be watched. This was the business of both
+commanders-in-chief, the execution of it being primarily the duty of
+the navy, as withdrawal from the American position could be only
+by water. It was a simple question of look-out, of detection, of
+prevention by that means. To arrest the retreat sailing ships were
+inadequate, for they could not have remained at anchor under the guns
+of Manhattan Island, either by day or night; but a few boats
+with muffled oars could have watched, could have given the alarm,
+precipitating an attack by the army, and such a movement interrupted
+in mid-course brings irretrievable disaster.
+
+Washington now withdrew the bulk of his force to the line of the
+Harlem. On his right, south of that river and commanding the Hudson,
+was a fort called by his name; opposite to it on the Jersey shore was
+Fort Lee. A garrison of four thousand men occupied New York. After
+amusing himself with some further peace negotiations, Howe determined
+to possess the city. As a diversion from the main effort, and to cover
+the crossing of the troops, two detachments of ships were ordered to
+pass the batteries on the Hudson and East rivers. This was done on
+the 13th and the 15th of September. The East River division suffered
+severely, especially in spars and rigging;[17] but the success of
+both, following upon that of Hyde Parker a few weeks earlier, in his
+expedition to Tarrytown, confirmed Washington in the opinion which he
+expressed five years later to de Grasse, that batteries alone could
+not stop ships having a fair wind. This is now a commonplace of naval
+warfare; steam giving always a fair wind. On the 15th Howe's army
+crossed under cover of Parker's ships, Hotham again superintending the
+boat work. The garrison of New York slipped along the west shore of
+the island and joined the main body on the Harlem; favored again,
+apparently, in this flank movement a mile from the enemy's front,
+by Howe's inertness, and fondness for a good meal, to which a shrewd
+American woman invited him at the critical moment.
+
+Despite these various losses of position, important as they were, the
+American army continued to elude the British general, who apparently
+did not hold very strongly the opinion that the most decisive factor
+in war is the enemy's organised force. As control of the valley of
+the Hudson, in connection with Lake Champlain, was, very properly, the
+chief object of the British government, Howe's next aim was to loosen
+Washington's grip on the peninsula north of the Harlem. The position
+seeming to him too strong for a front attack, he decided to strike for
+its left flank and rear by way of Long Island Sound. In this, which
+involved the passage of the tortuous and dangerous channel called
+Hell Gate, with its swift conflicting currents, the Navy again bore
+an essential part. The movement began on October 12th, the day after
+Arnold was defeated at Valcour. So far as its leading object went it
+was successful, Washington feeling obliged to let go the line of the
+Harlem, and change front to the left. As the result of the various
+movements and encounters of the two armies, he fell back across the
+Hudson into New Jersey, ordering the evacuation of Fort Washington,
+and deciding to rest his control of the Hudson Valley upon West Point,
+fifty miles above New York, a position of peculiar natural strength,
+on the west bank of the river. To these decisions he was compelled
+by his inferiority in numbers, and also by the very isolated and
+hazardous situation in which he was operating, between two navigable
+waters, absolutely controlled by the enemy's shipping. This conclusion
+was further forced upon him by another successful passage before the
+guns of Forts Washington and Lee by Hyde Parker, with three ships, on
+the 9th of October. On this occasion the vessels, two of which were
+frigates of the heaviest class, suffered very severely, losing nine
+killed and eighteen wounded; but the menace to the communications of
+the Americans could not be disregarded, for their supplies came mostly
+from the west of the Hudson.
+
+It was early in November that Washington crossed into New Jersey with
+five thousand men; and soon afterwards he directed the remainder of
+his force to follow. At that moment the blunder of one subordinate,
+and the disobedience of another, brought upon him two serious blows.
+Fort Washington not being evacuated when ordered, Howe carried it by
+storm, capturing not only it but its garrison of twenty-seven hundred
+men; a very heavy loss to the Americans. On the other hand, the most
+explicit orders failed to bring the officer left in command on
+the east of the Hudson, General Charles Lee, to rejoin the
+commander-in-chief. This criminal perverseness left Washington with
+only six thousand men in New Jersey, seven thousand being in New York.
+Under these conditions nothing remained but to put the Delaware also
+between himself and the enemy. He therefore retreated rapidly through
+New Jersey, and on the 8th of December crossed into Pennsylvania
+with an army reduced to three thousand by expiry of enlistments. The
+detachment beyond the Hudson, diminishing daily by the same cause,
+gradually worked its way to him; its commander luckily being captured
+on the road. At the time it joined, a few battalions also arrived
+from Ticonderoga, released by Carleton's retirement to the foot of
+Champlain. Washington's force on the west bank of the Delaware was
+thus increased to six thousand men.
+
+In this series of operations, extending from August 22d to December
+14th, when Howe went into winter-quarters in New Jersey, the British
+had met with no serious mishaps, beyond the inevitable losses
+undergone by the assailants of well-chosen positions. Nevertheless,
+having in view the superiority of numbers, of equipment, and of
+discipline, and the command of the water, the mere existence of the
+enemy's army as an organised body, its mere escape, deprives the
+campaign of the claim to be considered successful. The red ribbon of
+the Bath probably never was earned more cheaply than by Sir William
+Howe that year. Had he displayed anything like the energy of his two
+elder brothers, Washington, with all his vigilance, firmness,
+and enterprise, could scarcely have brought off the force, vastly
+diminished but still a living organism, around which American
+resistance again crystallised and hardened. As it was, within a month
+he took the offensive, and recovered a great part of New Jersey.
+
+Whatever verdict may be passed upon the merit of the military conduct
+of affairs, there is no doubt of the value, or of the unflagging
+energy, of the naval support given. Sir William Howe alludes to it
+frequently, both in general and specifically; while the Admiral sums
+up his always guarded and often cumbrous expressions of opinion in
+these words: "It is incumbent upon me to represent to your Lordships,
+and I cannot too pointedly express, the unabating perseverance and
+alacrity with which the several classes of officers and seamen have
+supported a long attendance and unusual degree of fatigue, consequent
+of these different movements of the army."
+
+The final achievement of the campaign, and a very important one, was
+the occupation of Rhode Island and Narragansett Bay by a combined
+expedition, which left New York on the 1st of December, and on the 8th
+landed at Newport without opposition. The naval force, consisting
+of five 50-gun ships and eight smaller vessels, was commanded by
+Sir Peter Parker; the troops, seven thousand in number, by
+Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton. The immediate effect was to
+close a haven of privateers, who centred in great numbers around an
+anchorage which flanked the route of all vessels bound from Europe
+to New York. The possession of the bay facilitated the control of the
+neighbouring waters by British ships of war, besides giving them
+a base central for coastwise operations and independent of tidal
+considerations for entrance or exit. The position was abandoned
+somewhat precipitately three years later. Rodney then deplored its
+loss in the following terms: "The evacuating Rhode Island was the most
+fatal measure that could possibly have been adopted. It gave up the
+best and noblest harbor in America, capable of containing the whole
+Navy of Britain, and where they could in all seasons lie in perfect
+security; and from whence squadrons, in forty-eight hours, could
+blockade the three capital cities of America; namely, Boston, New
+York, and Philadelphia."
+
+At the end of 1776 began the series of British reverses which
+characterised the year 1777, making this the decisive period of the
+war, because of the effect thus produced upon general public opinion
+abroad; especially upon the governments of France and Spain. On the
+20th of December, Howe, announcing to the Ministry that he had
+gone into winter-quarters, wrote: "The chain, I own, is rather too
+extensive, but I was induced to occupy Burlington to cover the county
+of Monmouth; and trusting to the loyalty of the inhabitants, and the
+strength of the corps placed in the advanced posts, I conclude the
+troops will be in perfect security." Of this unwarranted security
+Washington took prompt advantage. On Christmas night a sudden descent,
+in a blinding snow-storm, upon a British outpost at Trenton, swept off
+a thousand prisoners; and although for the moment the American leader
+again retired behind the Delaware, it was but to resume the offensive
+four days later. Cornwallis, who was in New York on the point of
+sailing for England, hurried back to the front, but in vain. A series
+of quick and well-directed movements recovered the State of New
+Jersey; and by the 5th of January the American headquarters, and main
+body of the army, were established at Morristown in the Jersey hills,
+the left resting upon the Hudson, thus recovering touch with the
+strategic centre of interest. This menacing position of the Americans,
+upon the flank of the line of communications from New York to the
+Delaware, compelled Howe to contract abruptly the lines he had
+extended so lightly; and the campaign he was forced thus reluctantly
+to reopen closed under a gloom of retreat and disaster, which
+profoundly and justly impressed not only the generality of men but
+military critics as well. "Of all the great conquests which his
+Majesty's troops had made in the Jersies," writes Beatson, "Brunswick
+and Amboy were the only two places of any note which they retained;
+and however brilliant their successes had been in the beginning of
+the campaign, they reaped little advantage from them when the winter
+advanced, and the contiguity of so vigilant an enemy forced them to
+perform the severest duty." With deliberate or unconscious humour
+he then immediately concludes the chronicle of the year with this
+announcement: "His Majesty was so well pleased with the abilities and
+activity which General Howe had displayed this campaign, that on the
+25th of October he conferred upon him the Most Honourable Order of the
+Bath."
+
+[Footnote 15: At the present day reduced by reclaimed land.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Beatson's "Military and Naval Memoirs," vi. 44, give
+34,614 as the strength of Howe's army. Clinton's division is not
+included in this. vi. 45.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Admiral James's Journal, p. 30. (Navy Records Society.)]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE DECISIVE PERIOD OF THE WAR. SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE AND CAPTURE OF
+PHILADELPHIA BY HOWE. THE NAVAL PART IN EACH OPERATION
+
+1777
+
+
+The leading purpose of the British government in the campaign of 1777
+was the same as that with which it had begun in 1776,--the control
+of the line of the Hudson and Lake Champlain, to be mastered by two
+expeditions, one starting from each end, and both working towards a
+common centre at Albany, near the head of navigation of the River.
+Preliminary difficulties had been cleared away in the previous year,
+by the destruction of the American flotilla on the Lake, and by the
+reduction of New York. To both these objects the Navy had contributed
+conspicuously. It remained to complete the work by resuming the
+advance from the two bases of operations secured. In 1777 the
+fortifications on the Hudson were inadequate to stop the progress of a
+combined naval and military expedition, as was shown in the course of
+the campaign.
+
+The northern enterprise was intrusted to General Burgoyne. The
+impossibility of creating a new naval force, able to contend with
+that put afloat by Carleton, had prevented the Americans from further
+building. Burgoyne therefore moved by the Lake without opposition to
+Ticonderoga, before which he appeared on the 2d of July. A position
+commanding the works was discovered, which the Americans had neglected
+to occupy. It being seized, and a battery established, the fort had to
+be evacuated. The retreat being made by water, the British Lake Navy,
+under Captain Skeffington Lutwidge, with whom Nelson had served a
+few years before in the Arctic seas, had a conspicuous part in the
+pursuit; severing the boom blockading the narrow upper lake and
+joining impetuously in an attack upon the floating material, the
+flat-boat transports, and the few relics of Arnold's flotilla which
+had escaped the destruction of the previous year. This affair took
+place on the 6th of July. From that time forward the progress of the
+army was mainly by land. The Navy, however, found occupation upon Lake
+George, where Burgoyne established a depot of supplies, although he
+did not utilise its waterway for the march of the army. A party
+of seamen under Edward Pellew, still a midshipman, accompanied the
+advance, and shared the misfortunes of the expedition. It is told that
+Burgoyne used afterwards to chaff the young naval officer with being
+the cause of their disaster, because he and his men, by rebuilding a
+bridge at a critical moment, had made it possible to cross the upper
+Hudson. Impeded in its progress by immense difficulties, both natural
+and imposed by the enemy, the army took twenty days to make twenty
+miles. On the 30th of July it reached Fort Edward, forty miles from
+Albany, and there was compelled to stay till the middle of September.
+Owing to neglect at the War Office, the peremptory orders to Sir
+William Howe, to move up the Hudson and make a junction with
+Burgoyne, were not sent forward. Consequently, Howe, acting upon
+the discretionary powers which he possessed already, and swayed by
+political reasons into which it is not necessary to enter, determined
+to renew his attempt upon Philadelphia. A tentative advance into New
+Jersey, and the consequent manoeuvres of Washington, satisfied him
+that the enterprise by this route was too hazardous. He therefore
+embarked fourteen thousand men, leaving eight thousand with Sir Henry
+Clinton to hold New York and make diversions in favor of Burgoyne;
+and on the 23d of July sailed from Sandy Hook, escorted by five 64-gun
+ships, a 50, and ten smaller vessels, under Lord Howe's immediate
+command. The entire expedition numbered about 280 sail. Elaborate
+pains were taken to deceive Washington as to the destination of the
+armament; but little craft was needed to prevent a competent opponent
+from imagining a design so contrary to sound military principle,
+having regard to Burgoyne's movements and to the well-understood
+general purpose of the British ministry. Accordingly Washington wrote,
+"Howe's in a manner abandoning Burgoyne is so unaccountable a matter,
+that till I am fully assured of it, I cannot help casting my eyes
+continually behind me." He suspected an intention to return upon New
+York.
+
+On the 31st of July, just as Burgoyne reached Fort Edward, where he
+stuck fast for six weeks, Howe's armament was off the Capes of
+the Delaware. The prevailing summer wind on the American coast is
+south-south-west, fair for ascending the river; but information was
+received that the enemy had obstructed the channel, which lends itself
+to such defences for some distance below Philadelphia. Therefore,
+although after occupying the city the free navigation of the river to
+the sea would be essential to maintaining the position,--for trial had
+shown that the whole army could not assure communications by land
+with New York, the other sea base,--Howe decided to prosecute his
+enterprise by way of the Chesapeake, the ascent of which, under all
+the conditions, could not be seriously impeded. A fortnight more was
+consumed in contending against the south-west winds and calms, before
+the fleet anchored on the 15th of August within the Capes of the
+Chesapeake; and yet another week passed before the head of the Bay was
+reached. On the 25th the troops landed. Washington, though so long
+in doubt, was on hand to dispute the road, but in inferior force;
+and Howe had no great difficulty in fighting his way to Philadelphia,
+which was occupied on the 26th of September. A week earlier Burgoyne
+had reached Stillwater, on the west bank of the Hudson, the utmost
+point of his progress, where he was still twenty miles from Albany.
+Three weeks later, confronted by overwhelming numbers, he was forced
+to capitulate at Saratoga, whither he had retreated.
+
+Lord Howe held on at the head of the Chesapeake until satisfied that
+his brother no longer needed him. On the 14th of September he started
+down the Bay with the squadron and convoy, sending ahead to the
+Delaware a small division, to aid the army, if necessary. The winds
+holding southerly, ten days were required to get to sea; and outside
+further delay was caused by very heavy weather. The Admiral there
+quitted the convoy and hastened up river. On the 6th of October he was
+off Chester, ten miles below Philadelphia. The navy had already been
+at work for a week, clearing away obstructions, of which there were
+two lines; both commanded by batteries on the farther, or Jersey,
+shore of the Delaware. The lower battery had been carried by troops;
+and when Howe arrived, the ships, though meeting lively opposition
+from the American galleys and fire-rafts, had freed the channel for
+large vessels to approach the upper obstructions. These were defended
+not only by a work at Red Bank on the Jersey shore, but also, on
+the other side of the stream, by a fort called Fort Mifflin, on Mud
+Island.[18] As the channel at this point, for a distance of half a
+mile, was only two hundred yards wide, and troops could not reach the
+island, the position was very strong, and it detained the British for
+six weeks. Fort Mifflin was supported by two floating batteries and
+a number of galleys. The latter not only fought, offensively and
+defensively, but maintained the supplies and ammunition of the
+garrison.
+
+On the 22d of October, a concerted attack, by the army on the works at
+Red Bank, and by the Navy on Fort Mifflin, resulted disastrously. The
+former was repulsed with considerable loss, the officer commanding
+being killed. The squadron, consisting of a 64, three frigates, and
+a sloop, went into action with Mud Island at the same time; but,
+the channel having shifted, owing possibly to the obstructions, the
+sixty-four and the sloop grounded, and could not be floated that day.
+On the 23d the Americans concentrated their batteries, galleys, and
+fire-rafts upon the two; and the larger ship took fire and blew up in
+the midst of the preparations for lightening her. The sloop was then
+set on fire and abandoned.
+
+So long as this obstacle remained, all supplies for the British
+army in Philadelphia had to be carried by boats to the shore, and
+transported considerable distances by land. As direct attacks had
+proved unavailing, more deliberate measures were adopted. The army
+built batteries, and the navy sent ashore guns to mount in them; but
+the decisive blow to Mud Island was given by a small armed ship, the
+_Vigilant_, 20, which was successfully piloted through a channel on
+the west side of the river, and reached the rear of the work, towing
+with her a floating battery with three 24-pounders. This was on the
+15th of November. That night the Americans abandoned Fort Mifflin.
+Their loss, Beatson says, amounted to near 400 killed and wounded;
+that of the British to 43. If this be correct, it should have
+established the invincibility of men who under such prodigious
+disparity of suffering could maintain their position so tenaciously.
+After the loss of Mud Island, Red Bank could not be held to advantage,
+and it was evacuated on the 21st, when an attack was imminent. The
+American vessels retreated up the river; but they were cornered,
+and of course ultimately were destroyed. The obstructions being now
+removed, the British water communications by the line of the Delaware
+were established,--eight weeks after the occupation of the city, which
+was to be evacuated necessarily six months later.
+
+While these things were passing, Howe's triumph was marred by the news
+of Burgoyne's surrender on the 17th of October. For this he could
+not but feel that the home government must consider him largely
+responsible; for in the Chesapeake, too late to retrieve his false
+step, he had received a letter from the minister of war saying that,
+whatever else he undertook, support to Burgoyne was the great object
+to be kept in view.
+
+During the operations round Philadelphia, Sir Henry Clinton in New
+York had done enough to show what strong probabilities of success
+would have attended an advance up the Hudson, by the twenty thousand
+men whom Howe could have taken with him. Starting on the 3d of October
+with three thousand troops, accompanied by a small naval division of
+frigates, Clinton in a week had reached West Point, fifty miles up
+the river. The American fortifications along the way were captured,
+defences levelled, stores and shipping burned; while an insignificant
+detachment, with the light vessels, went fifty miles further up,
+and there destroyed more military stores without encountering any
+resistance worth mentioning. Certainly, had Howe taken the same line
+of operations, he would have had to reckon with Washington's ten
+thousand men which confronted him on the march from the Chesapeake to
+Philadelphia; but his flank would have been covered, up to Albany, by
+a navigable stream on either side of which he could operate by that
+flying bridge which the presence and control of the navy continually
+constituted. Save the fortifications, which Clinton easily carried,
+there was no threat to his communications or to his flank, such as the
+hill country of New Jersey had offered and Washington had skilfully
+utilised.
+
+The campaign of 1777 thus ended for the British with a conspicuous
+disaster, and with an apparent success which was as disastrous as a
+failure. At its close they held Narragansett Bay, the city and harbour
+of New York, and the city of Philadelphia. The first was an admirable
+naval base, especially for sailing ships, for the reasons given by
+Rodney. The second was then, as it is now, the greatest military
+position on the Atlantic coast of the United States; and although
+the two could not communicate by land, they did support each other
+as naval stations in a war essentially dependent upon maritime power.
+Philadelphia served no purpose but to divide and distract British
+enterprise. Absolutely dependent for maintenance upon the sea, the
+forces in it and in New York could not cooeperate; they could not even
+unite except by sea. When Clinton relieved Howe as commander-in-chief,
+though less than a hundred miles away by land, he had to take a voyage
+of over two hundred miles, from New York to Philadelphia, half of
+it up a difficult river, to reach his station; and troops were
+transferred by the same tedious process. In consequence of these
+conditions, the place had to be abandoned the instant that war with
+France made control of the sea even doubtful. The British held it for
+less than nine months in all.
+
+During 1777 a number of raids were made by British combined land and
+sea forces, for the purpose of destroying American depots and other
+resources. Taken together, such operations are subsidiary to, and aid,
+the great object of interrupting or harassing the communications of
+an enemy. In so far, they have a standing place among the major
+operations of war; but taken singly they cannot be so reckoned, and
+the fact, therefore, is simply noted, without going into details.
+It may be remarked, however, that in them, although the scale was
+smaller, the Navy played the same part that it now does in the many
+expeditions and small wars undertaken by Great Britain in various
+parts of the world; the same that it did in Wellington's campaigns
+in the Spanish peninsula, 1808-1812. The land force depended upon the
+water, and the water was controlled by the Navy.
+
+[Footnote 18: This was just below the mouth of the Schuylkill, a short
+distance below the present League Island navy yard.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+WAR BEGINS BETWEEN FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN. BRITISH EVACUATE
+PHILADELPHIA. NAVAL OPERATIONS OF D'ESTAING AND HOWE ABOUT NEW YORK,
+NARRAGANSETT BAY, AND BOSTON. COMPLETE SUCCESS OF LORD HOWE. AMERICAN
+DISAPPOINTMENT IN D'ESTAING. LORD HOWE RETURNS TO ENGLAND.
+
+1778
+
+
+The events of 1777 satisfied the French government that the Americans
+had strength and skill sufficient to embarrass Great Britain
+seriously, and that the moment, therefore, was opportune for taking
+steps which scarcely could fail to cause war. On the 6th of February,
+1778, France concluded with the United States an open treaty of
+amity and commerce; and at the same time a second secret treaty,
+acknowledging the independence of the late Colonies, and contracting
+with them a defensive alliance. On the 13th of March, the French
+Ambassador in London communicated the open treaty to the British
+government, with the remark that "the United States were in full
+possession of the independence proclaimed by their declaration of July
+4th, 1776." Great Britain at once recalled her Ambassador, and both
+countries prepared for war, although no declaration was issued. On
+the 13th of April, a French fleet of twelve ships of the line and five
+frigates, under the command of the Count d'Estaing,[19] sailed from
+Toulon for the American coast. It was destined to Delaware Bay,
+hoping to intercept Howe's squadron. D'Estaing was directed to begin
+hostilities when forty leagues west of Gibraltar.
+
+The British ministry was not insensible of the danger, the imminence
+of which had been felt during the previous year; but it had not got
+ready betimes, owing possibly to confident expectations of success
+from the campaign of 1777. The ships, in point of numbers and
+equipment, were not as far forward as the Admiralty had represented;
+and difficulty, amounting for the moment to impossibility, was
+experienced in manning them. The vessels of the Channel fleet had to
+be robbed of both crews and stores to compose a proper reinforcement
+for America. Moreover, the destination of the Toulon squadron was
+unknown, the French government having given out that it was bound to
+Brest, where over twenty other ships of the line were in an advanced
+state of preparation. Not until the 5th of June, when d'Estaing was
+already eight weeks out, was certain news brought by a frigate, which
+had watched his fleet after it had passed Gibraltar, and which had
+accompanied it into the Atlantic ninety leagues west of the Straits.
+The reinforcement for America was then permitted to depart. On the
+9th of June, thirteen ships of the line sailed for New York under the
+command of Vice-Admiral John Byron.[20]
+
+These delays occasioned a singular and striking illustration of the
+ill effects upon commerce of inadequate preparation for manning
+the fleet. A considerable number of West India ships, with stores
+absolutely necessary for the preservation of the islands, waited at
+Portsmouth for convoy for upwards of three months, while the whole
+fleet, of eighty sail, was detained for five weeks after it had
+assembled; "and, although the wind came fair on the 19th of May, it
+did not sail till the 26th, owing to the convoying ships, the _Boyne_
+and the _Ruby_, not being ready." Forty-five owners and masters signed
+a letter to the Admiralty, stating these facts. "The convoy," they
+said, "was appointed to sail April 10th." Many ships had been ready
+as early as February. "Is not this shameful usage, my Lords, thus to
+deceive the public in general? There are two hundred ships loaded with
+provisions, etc., waiting at Spithead these three months. The average
+expense of each ship amounts to L150 monthly, so that the expense of
+the whole West India fleet since February amounts to L90,000."
+
+The West Indies before the war had depended chiefly upon their fellow
+colonies on the American continent for provisions, as well as for
+other prime necessaries. Not only were these cut off as an incident of
+the war, entailing great embarrassment and suffering, which elicited
+vehement appeals from the planter community to the home government,
+but the American privateers preyed heavily upon the commerce of the
+islands, whose industries were thus smitten root and branch, import
+and export. In 1776, salt food for whites and negroes had risen from
+50 to 100 per cent, and corn, the chief support of the slaves,--the
+laboring class,--by 400 per cent. At the same time sugar had fallen
+from 25 to 40 per cent in price, rum over 37 per cent. The words
+"starvation" and "famine" were freely used in these representations,
+which were repeated in 1778. Insurance rose to 23 per cent; and this,
+with actual losses by capture,[21] and by cessation of American trade,
+with consequent fall of prices, was estimated to give a total loss
+of L66 upon every L100 earned before the war. Yet, with all this,
+the outward West India fleet in 1778 waited six weeks, April 10th-May
+26th, for convoy. Immediately after it got away, a rigorous embargo
+was laid upon all shipping in British ports, that their crews might
+be impressed to man the Channel fleet. Market-boats, even, were not
+allowed to pass between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
+
+Three days after Byron had sailed, Admiral Augustus Keppel also put
+to sea with twenty-one ships of the line, to cruise off Brest. His
+instructions were to prevent the junction of the Toulon and Brest
+divisions, attacking either that he might meet. On the 17th of June,
+two French frigates were sighted. In order that they might not report
+his force or his movements, the British Admiral sent two of his own
+frigates, with the request that they would speak him. One, the _Belle
+Poule_, 36, refused; and an engagement followed between her and the
+British ship, the _Arethusa_, 32. The King of France subsequently
+declared that this occurrence fixed the date of the war's beginning.
+Although both Keppel's and d'Estaing's orders prescribed acts of
+hostility, no formal war yet existed.
+
+Byron had a very tempestuous passage, with adverse winds, by which his
+vessels were scattered and damaged. On the 18th of August, sixty-seven
+days from Plymouth, the flagship arrived off the south coast of Long
+Island, ninety miles east of New York, without one of the fleet in
+company. There twelve ships were seen at anchor to leeward (north),
+nine or ten miles distant, having jury masts, and showing other signs
+of disability. The British vessel approached near enough to recognise
+them as French. They were d'Estaing's squadron, crippled by a very
+heavy gale, in which Howe's force had also suffered, though to a
+less extent. Being alone, and ignorant of existing conditions,
+Byron thought it inexpedient to continue on for either New York or
+Narragansett Bay. The wind being southerly, he steered for Halifax,
+which he reached August 26th. Some of his ships also entered there.
+A very few had already succeeded in joining Howe in New York, being
+fortunate enough to escape the enemy.
+
+So far as help from England went, Lord Howe would have been crushed
+long before this. He owed his safety partly to his own celerity,
+partly to the delays of his opponent. Early in May he received advices
+from home, which convinced him that a sudden and rapid abandonment of
+Philadelphia and of Delaware Bay might become necessary. He therefore
+withdrew his ships of the line from New York and Narragansett,
+concentrating them at the mouth of Delaware Bay, while the transports
+embarked all stores, except those needed for a fortnight's supply
+of the army in a hostile country. The threatening contingency of
+a superior enemy's appearing off the coast might, and did, make it
+imperative not to risk the troops at sea, but to choose instead the
+alternative of a ninety-mile march through New Jersey, which a year
+before had been rejected as too hazardous for an even larger force.
+Thus prepared, no time was lost when the evacuation became necessary.
+Sir William Howe, who had been relieved on the 24th of May by Sir
+Henry Clinton, and had returned to England, escaped the humiliation of
+giving up his dearly bought conquest. On the 18th of June the British
+troops, twelve thousand in number, were ferried across the Delaware,
+under the supervision of the Navy, and began their hazardous march to
+New York. The next day the transports began to move down the river;
+but, owing to the intricate navigation, head winds, and calms, they
+did not get to sea until the 28th of June. On the 8th of July, ten
+days too late, d'Estaing anchored in the mouth of the Delaware. "Had a
+passage of even ordinary length taken place," wrote Washington, "Lord
+Howe with the British ships of war and all the transports in the river
+Delaware must inevitably have fallen; and Sir Henry Clinton must have
+had better luck than is commonly dispensed to men of his profession
+under such circumstances, if he and his troops had not shared at least
+the fate of Burgoyne."
+
+Had Howe's fleet been intercepted, there would have been no naval
+defence for New York; the French fleet would have surmounted the
+difficulties of the harbour bar at its ease; and Clinton, caught
+between it and the American army, must have surrendered. Howe's
+arrival obviated this immediate danger; but much still needed to be
+done, or the end would be postponed only, not averted. A fair wind
+carried the fleet and the whole convoy from the Delaware to Sandy
+Hook in forty-eight hours. On the morning of the 29th, as Howe was
+approaching his port, he spoke a packet from England, which not only
+brought definite news of d'Estaing's sailing, but also reported that
+she herself had fallen in with him to the southward, not very far from
+the American coast, and had been chased by his ships. His appearance
+off New York, therefore, was imminent.
+
+Howe's measures were prompt and thorough, as became his great
+reputation. To watch for d'Estaing's approach, a body of cruisers was
+despatched, numerous enough for some to bring frequent word of his
+movements, while others kept touch with him. The ships at New York
+were ordered down to Sandy Hook, where the defence of the entrance
+was to be made. Clinton, who had been hard pressed by Washington
+throughout his march, arrived on the 30th of June--the day after Howe
+himself--on the heights of Navesink, on the seacoast, just south
+of Sandy Hook. During the previous winter the sea had made a breach
+between the heights and the Hook, converting the latter into an
+island. Across this inlet the Navy threw a bridge of boats, by
+which the army on the 5th of July passed to the Hook, and thence was
+conveyed to the city.
+
+On the same day the French fleet was sighted off the coast of Virginia
+by a cruiser, which reached Howe on the 7th; and two days later
+another brought word that the enemy had anchored on the 8th off the
+Delaware. There d'Estaing again tarried for two days, which were
+diligently improved by the British Admiral, who at the same time
+sent off despatches to warn Byron, of whose coming he now had heard.
+Despite all his energy, his preparations still were far from complete,
+when on the morning of the 11th a third vessel arrived, announcing
+that the French were approaching. That evening they anchored outside,
+four miles south of Sandy Hook. Howe, who during all these days was
+indefatigable, not only in planning but also in personal supervision
+of details, hastened at once to place his vessels according to the
+disposition which he had determined, and which he had carefully
+explained to his captains, thus insuring an intelligent cooeperation on
+their part.
+
+The narrow arm of land called Sandy Hook projects in a northerly
+direction from the New Jersey coast, and covers the lower bay of New
+York on the south side. The main ship-channel, then as now, ran nearly
+east and west, at right angles to the Hook and close to its northern
+end. Beyond the channel, to the north, there was no solid ground for
+fortification within the cannon range of that day. Therefore such guns
+as could be mounted on shore, five in number, were placed in battery
+at the end of the Hook. These formed the right flank of the defence,
+which was continued thence to the westward by a line of seven ships,
+skirting the southern edge of the channel. As the approach of the
+French, if they attacked, must be with an easterly wind and a rising
+tide, the ships were placed with that expectation; and in such wise
+that, riding with their heads to the eastward, each successive one,
+from van to rear, lay a little outside--north--of her next ahead. The
+object of this indented formation was that each ship might bring her
+broadside to bear east, and yet fire clear of those to the east of
+her. In order to effect this concentration of all the batteries in
+an easterly direction, which would rake the approach of the enemy,
+a spring[23] was run from the outer, or port quarter of every ship,
+except the leader.[24] These springs were not taken to the bow cable
+or anchor, as was often done, but to anchors of their own, placed
+broad off the port bows. If, then, the enemy attacked, the ships, by
+simply keeping fast the springs and veering the cables, would swing
+with their broadsides facing east. If the enemy, which had no bow
+fire, survived his punishment, and succeeded in advancing till abreast
+the British line, it was necessary only to keep fast the cables and
+let go the springs; the ships would swing head to the east wind, and
+the broadsides would once more bear north, across the channel instead
+of along it. These careful arrangements were subject, of course, to
+the mischance of shot cutting away cables or springs; but this was
+more than offset by the probable injury to the enemy's spars and
+rigging, as well as hulls, before he could use his batteries at all.
+
+Such was the main defence arranged by Howe; with which New York stood
+or fell. In the line were five 64's, one 50, and an armed storeship.
+An advanced line, of one fifty with two smaller vessels, was placed
+just inside the bar--two or three miles outside the Hook--to rake
+the enemy as he crossed, retiring as he approached; and four galleys,
+forming a second line, were also stationed for the same purpose,
+across the channel, abreast of the Hook.[25] The retreat of these was
+secure into the shoal water, where they could not be followed. One 64
+and some frigates were held as a reserve, inside the main line, to act
+as occasion might require. The total available force was, six 64's,
+three 50's, and six frigates. D'Estaing's fleet, in detail, consisted
+of one 90-gun ship, one 80, six 74's and one 50. Great as was this
+discrepancy between the opponents, it was counterbalanced largely by
+Howe's skilful dispositions, which his enemy could not circumvent. If
+the latter once got alongside, there was little hope for the British;
+but it was impossible for the French to evade the primary necessity
+of undergoing a raking fire, without reply, from the extreme range of
+their enemies' cannon up to the moment of closing. The stake, however,
+was great, and the apparent odds stirred to the bottom the fighting
+blood of the British seamen. The ships of war being short-handed, Howe
+called for volunteers from the transports. Such numbers came forward
+that the agents of the vessels scarcely could keep a watch on board;
+and many whose names were not on the lists concealed themselves in
+the boats which carried their companions to the fighting ships. The
+masters and mates of merchantmen in the harbour in like manner offered
+their services, taking their stations at the guns. Others cruised off
+the coast in small boats, to warn off approaching vessels; many of
+which nevertheless fell into the enemy's hands.
+
+Meanwhile d'Estaing was in communication with Washington, one of whose
+aides-de-camp visited his flagship. A number of New York pilots also
+were sent. When these learned the draught of the heavier French ships,
+they declared that it was impossible to take them in; that there was
+on the bar only twenty-three feet at high water. Had that been really
+the case, Howe would not have needed to make the preparations for
+defence that were visible to thousands of eyes on sea and on shore;
+but d'Estaing, though personally brave as a lion, was timid in his
+profession, which he had entered at the age of thirty, without serving
+in the lower grades. The assurances of the pilots were accepted after
+an examination by a lieutenant of the flagship, who could find nothing
+deeper than twenty-two feet. Fortune's favors are thrown away, as
+though in mockery, on the incompetent or the irresolute. On the 22d of
+July a fresh north-east wind concurred with a spring tide to give the
+highest possible water on the bar.[26]
+
+ "At eight o'clock," wrote an eye-witness in the British fleet,
+ "d'Estaing with all his squadron appeared under way. He kept
+ working to windward, as if to gain a proper position for
+ crossing the bar by the time the tide should serve. The wind
+ could not be more favourable for such a design; it blew from
+ the exact point from which he could attack us to the greatest
+ advantage. The spring tides were at the highest, and that
+ afternoon thirty feet on the bar. We consequently expected
+ the hottest day that had ever been fought between the two
+ nations. On our side all was at stake. Had the men-of-war been
+ defeated, the fleet of transports and victuallers must have
+ been destroyed, and the army, of course, have fallen with us.
+ D'Estaing, however, had not spirit equal to the risk; at three
+ o'clock we saw him bear off to the southward, and in a few
+ hours he was out of sight."
+
+Four days later, Howe, reporting these occurrences, wrote: "The
+weather having been favourable the last three days for forcing
+entrance to this port, I conclude the French commander has desisted."
+It is clear that the experienced British admiral did not recognise the
+impossibility of success for the enemy.
+
+After the demonstration of the 22d, d'Estaing stood to the southward,
+with the wind at east. The British advice-boats brought back word
+that they had kept company with him as far south as the Capes of
+the Delaware, and there had left him ninety miles from land. When
+their leaving freed him from observation, he turned, and made for
+Narragansett Bay, an attack on which, in support of an American land
+force, had been concerted between him and Washington. On the 29th
+he anchored three miles south of Rhode Island, and there awaited a
+suitable moment for forcing the entrance.
+
+Narragansett Bay contains several islands. The two largest, near
+the sea, are Rhode Island and Conanicut, the latter being the more
+westerly. Their general direction, as that of the Bay itself, is north
+and south; and by them the entrance is divided into three passages.
+Of these, the eastern, called Seakonnet, is not navigable above Rhode
+Island. The central, which is the main channel, is joined by the
+western above Conanicut, and thus the two lead to the upper Bay. The
+town of Newport is on the west side of Rhode Island, four miles from
+the main entrance.
+
+On the 30th of July, the day after the French fleet had arrived, two
+of its ships of the line, under command of the afterwards celebrated
+Suffren, went up the western channel, anchoring within it near the
+south end of Conanicut. One of them, as she passed, was hulled
+twice by the British batteries. At the same time, two frigates and
+a corvette entered Seakonnet; whereupon the British abandoned and
+burned a sloop of war, the _Kingfisher_, 16, and some galleys there
+stationed. The British general, Sir Robert Pigot, now withdrew his
+detachments from Conanicut, after disabling the guns, and concentrated
+the bulk of his force in the southern part of Rhode Island and about
+Newport. Goat Island, which covers the inner harbour of the town, was
+still occupied, the main channel being commanded by its batteries, as
+well as by those to the north and south of it upon Rhode Island. On
+the 5th of August, Suffren's two ships again got under way, sailed
+through the western passage, and anchored in the main channel, north
+of Conanicut; their former positions being taken by two other ships
+of the line.[27] The senior British naval officer, seeing retreat cut
+off both north and south, now destroyed those ships of war[28] which
+could not enter the inner harbour, sinking two between Goat and Rhode
+Islands, to prevent any enemy passing there. Five transports also
+were sunk north of Goat Island, between it and Coaster's Harbour,
+to protect the inside anchorage in that direction. These preliminary
+operations cost the British five frigates and two sloops, besides
+some galleys. Guns and ammunition taken from them went to increase
+the defences; and their officers and crews, over a thousand in number,
+served in the fortifications.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+On the 8th of August the eight remaining French ships of the line ran
+the batteries on Rhode and Goat Islands, anchoring above the latter,
+between it and Conanicut, and were rejoined there by the four
+previously detached to the western passage. Ten thousand American
+troops having by this time crossed from the mainland to the northern
+part of Rhode Island, d'Estaing immediately landed four thousand
+soldiers and seamen from the fleet upon Conanicut, for a preliminary
+organisation; after which they also were to pass to Rhode Island
+and join in the operations. For the moment, therefore, the British
+garrison, numbering probably six thousand men,[29] was hemmed in
+by vastly superior forces, by land and by water. Its embarrassment,
+however, did not last long. On the following morning Lord Howe
+appeared and anchored off Point Judith, seven miles from the entrance
+to the Bay, and twelve from the position then occupied by the French
+fleet. He brought a stronger force than he had been able to gather for
+the defence of New York, having now one 74, seven 64's, and five 50's,
+in all thirteen of the line, besides several smaller vessels; but he
+still was greatly inferior to opponent, by any rational mode of naval
+reckoning.
+
+Howe's energies in New York had not been confined to preparations
+for resisting the entrance of the enemy, nor did they cease with the
+latter's departure. When he first arrived there from Philadelphia, he
+had hastened to get his ships ready for sea, a pre-occupation which
+somewhat, but not unduly, delayed their taking their positions at
+Sandy Hook. Two, for instance, had been at the watering-place when the
+approach of the French was signalled. Owing to this diligence, no time
+was lost by his fault when the new destination of the enemy was made
+known to him, on the 28th or 29th of July, by the arrival of the
+_Raisonnable_, 64,[30] from Halifax. This ship narrowly escaped the
+French fleet, having passed it on the evening of the 27th, steering
+for Rhode Island. The _Renown_, 50, which on the 26th had reached New
+York from the West Indies, had a similar close shave, having sailed
+unnoticed through the rear of the enemy the night before. Besides
+these two, Howe was joined also by the _Centurion_, 50, from Halifax,
+and by the _Cornwall_, 74; the latter, which crossed the bar on the
+30th, being the first of Byron's fleet to reach New York. The three
+others belonged to Howe's own squadron. For the two Halifax ships
+which helped to make this most welcome reinforcement, the Admiral was
+indebted to the diligence of the officer there commanding, who hurried
+them away as soon as he learned of d'Estaing's appearance on the
+coast. The opportuneness of their arrival attracted notice. "Had
+they appeared a few days sooner," says a contemporary narrative,
+"either they must have been prevented from forming a junction with
+our squadron, and forced again to sea, or we should have had the
+mortification to see them increase the triumph of our enemy."
+
+On the 1st of August, forty-eight hours after the _Cornwall_ had come
+in from a stormy passage of fifty-two days, the squadron was ready for
+sea, and Howe attempted to sail; but the wind hauled foul immediately
+after the signal to weigh had been made. It did not become fair at the
+hour of high water, when alone heavy ships could cross the bar, until
+the morning of the 6th. "Rhode Island was of such importance," says
+the narrator already quoted, "_and the fate of so large a portion
+of the British army as formed the garrison was of such infinite
+consequence to the general cause_, that it was imagined the Admiral
+would not lose a moment in making some attempt for their relief."
+He had learned of the detachments made from the French fleet, and
+hoped that some advantage might be taken of this division. In
+short, he went, as was proper and incumbent on him in such critical
+circumstances, to take a great risk, in hope of a favourable chance
+offering. On the 9th, as before stated, he anchored off Point Judith,
+and opened communications with the garrison, from which he learned
+the events that had so far occurred, and also that the enemy was well
+provided with craft of all kinds to make a descent upon any part of
+the Island.
+
+As deGrasse at Yorktown, when rumour announced the approach of
+a British fleet, was deterred only by the most urgent appeals of
+Washington from abandoning his control of the Chesapeake, essential
+to the capture of Cornwallis, so now d'Estaing, in Narragansett Bay,
+was unwilling to keep his place, in face of Howe's greatly inferior
+squadron.[31] The influence exerted upon these two admirals by the
+mere approach of a hostile fleet, when decisive advantages depended
+upon their holding their ground, may be cited plausibly in support
+of the most extreme view of the effect of a "fleet in being;" but
+the instances also, when the conditions are analysed, will suggest
+the question: Is such effect always legitimate, inherent in the
+existence of the fleet itself, or does it not depend often upon
+the characteristics of the man affected? The contemporary British
+narrative of these events in Narragansett Bay, after reciting the
+various obstacles and the inferiority of the British squadron,
+says: "The most skilful officers were therefore of opinion that
+the Vice-Admiral could not risk an attack; and it appears by his
+Lordship's public letter that this was also his own opinion: under
+such circumstances, he judged it was impracticable to afford the
+General any essential relief." In both these instances, the admirals
+concerned were impelled to sacrifice the almost certain capture, not
+of a mere position, but of a decisive part of the enemy's organised
+forces, by the mere possibility of action; by the moral effect
+produced by a fleet greatly inferior to their own, which in neither
+case would have attacked, as things stood. What does this prove?
+
+Immediately upon Howe's appearance, the French seamen who had landed
+the day before on Conanicut were recalled to their ships. The next
+morning, August 10, at 7 A.M., the wind came out strong at north-east,
+which is exceptional at that season. D'Estaing at once put to sea,
+cutting the cables in his haste. In two hours he was outside, steering
+for the enemy. Howe, of course, retired at once; his inferiority[32]
+did not permit an engagement except on his own terms. To insure these,
+he needed the weather-gage, the offensive position of that day, which
+by keeping south he expected to gain, when the usual wind from that
+quarter should set in. The French Admiral had the same object, hoping
+to crush his agile opponent; and, as the sea breeze from south-west
+did not make that day, he succeeded in keeping the advantage with
+which he had started, despite Howe's skill. At nightfall both fleets
+were still steering to the southward, on the port tack, the French
+five or six miles in the rear of the British, with the wind variable
+at east. The same course was maintained throughout the night, the
+French gradually overhauling the British, and becoming visible at 3
+A.M. of the 11th. By Howe's dispatch, they bore in the morning, at an
+hour not specified, east-north-east, which would be nearly abeam, but
+somewhat more distant than the night before, having apparently kept
+closer to the wind, which by this had steadied at east-north-east.
+
+In the course of the day Howe shifted his flag from the _Eagle_, 64,
+to the _Apollo_, 32, and placed himself between the two fleets, the
+better to decide the movements of his own. Finding it impossible
+to gain the weather-gage, and unwilling, probably, to be drawn too
+far from Rhode Island, he now made a wide circle with the fleet
+by a succession of changes of course: at 8 A.M. to south, then to
+south-west and west, until finally, at 1.30 P.M., the ships were
+steering north-west; always in line of battle. The French Admiral
+seems to have followed this movement cautiously, on an outer circle
+but with a higher speed, so that from east-north-east in the morning,
+which, as the fleets were then heading, would be on the starboard side
+of the British, abreast and to windward, at 4 P.M. the French bore
+south-south-east, which would be somewhat on the port quarter, or
+nearly astern but to leeward. At this time their van was estimated by
+Howe to be two or three miles from the British rear, and, according
+to his reading of their manoeuvres, d'Estaing was forming his line
+for the same tack as the British, with a view of "engaging the British
+squadron to leeward," whereby he would obtain over it the advantage
+of using the lower-deck guns, the wind and sea having become much
+heavier. As the French Admiral, in this new disposition, had put his
+heaviest ships in the van, and his line was nearly in the wake of the
+British, Howe inferred an attack upon his rear. He therefore ordered
+his heaviest ship, the _Cornwall_, 74, to go there from the centre,
+exchanging places with the _Centurion_, 50, and at the same time
+signalled the fleet to close _to the centre_,--a detail worth
+remembering in view of Rodney's frustrated manoeuvre of April 17th,
+1780. It now remained simply to await firmly the moment when the
+French should have covered the intervening ground, and brought
+to action so much of his rear as d'Estaing saw fit to engage; the
+conditions of the sea favoring the speed of the bulkier ships that
+composed the hostile fleet. The latter, however, soon abandoned the
+attempt, and "bore away to the southward, apparently from the state of
+the weather, which, by the wind freshening much, with frequent rain,
+was now rendered very unfavorable for engaging." It may be added that
+the hour was very late for beginning an action. At sundown the British
+were under close-reefed topsails, and the sea such that Howe was
+unable to return to the _Eagle_.[33]
+
+The wind now increased to great violence, and a severe storm raged on
+the coast until the evening of the 13th, throwing the two fleets into
+confusion, scattering the ships, and causing numerous disasters. The
+_Apollo_ lost her foremast, and sprung the mainmast, on the night of
+the 12th. The next day only two British ships of the line and three
+smaller vessels were in sight of their Admiral. When the weather
+moderated, Howe went on board the _Phoenix_, 44, and thence to the
+_Centurion_, 50, with which he "proceeded to the southward, and on the
+15th discovered ten sail of the French squadron, some at anchor in the
+sea, about twenty-five leagues east from Cape May."[34] Leaving there
+the _Centurion_, to direct to New York any of Byron's ships that
+might come on the coast, he departed thither himself also, and on
+the evening of the 17th rejoined the squadron off Sandy Hook, the
+appointed rendezvous. Many injuries had been received by the various
+ships, but they were mostly of a minor character; and on the 22d the
+fleet again put to sea in search of the enemy.
+
+The French had suffered much more severely. The flagship _Languedoc_,
+90, had carried away her bowsprit, all her lower masts followed
+it overboard, and her tiller also was broken, rendering the rudder
+unserviceable. The _Marseillais_, 74, lost her foremast and bowsprit.
+In the dispersal of the two fleets that followed the gale, each of
+these crippled vessels, on the evening of the 13th, encountered singly
+a British 50-gun ship; the _Languedoc_ being attacked by the _Renown_,
+and the _Marseillais_ by the _Preston_. The conditions in each
+instance were distinctly favourable to the smaller combatant; but both
+unfortunately withdrew at nightfall, making the mistake of postponing
+to to-morrow a chance which they had no certainty would exist after
+to-day. When morning dawned, other French ships appeared, and the
+opportunity passed away. The British _Isis_, 50, also was chased and
+overtaken by the _Cesar_, 74. In the action which ensued, the French
+ship's wheel was shot away, and she retired;--two other British
+vessels, one of the line, being in sight. The latter are not mentioned
+in the British accounts, and both sides claimed the advantage in this
+drawn action. The French captain lost an arm.
+
+After making temporary repairs, at the anchorage where Howe saw them
+on the 15th of August, the French fleet had proceeded again towards
+Newport. It was in the course of this passage that they were seen by
+Byron's flagship[35] on the 18th, to the southward of Long Island. The
+_Experiment_, 50, which Howe had sent to reconnoitre Narragansett Bay,
+was chased by them into Long Island Sound, and only reached New York
+by the East River; being the first ship of the line or 50-gun ship
+that ever passed through Hell Gate. On the 20th d'Estaing communicated
+with General Sullivan, the commander of the American land forces on
+Rhode Island; but it was only to tell him that in his own opinion,
+and in that of a council of war, the condition of the squadron
+necessitated going to Boston to refit. Whatever may be thought of the
+propriety of this decision, its seriousness can be best understood
+from the report sent by Pigot to Howe. "The rebels had advanced their
+batteries within fifteen hundred yards of the British works. He was
+under no apprehensions from any of their attempts in front; but,
+should the French fleet come in, it would make an alarming change.
+Troops might be landed and advanced in his rear; and in that case
+he could not answer for the consequences." Disregarding Sullivan's
+entreaties that he would remain, d'Estaing sailed next day for Boston,
+which he reached on August 28th. On the 31st the indefatigable Howe
+came in sight; but the French had worked actively in the three days.
+Forty-nine guns, 18 and 24-pounders, with six mortars, were already
+in position covering the anchorage; and "the French squadron, far
+from fearing an attack, desired it eagerly."[36] The withdrawal of the
+French fleet from Rhode Island was followed by that of the American
+troops from before Newport.
+
+Howe had quitted New York the instant he heard of d'Estaing's
+reappearance off Rhode Island. He took with him the same number of
+vessels as before,--thirteen of the line,--the _Monmouth_, 64, of
+Byron's squadron, having arrived and taken the place of the _Isis_,
+crippled in her late action. Before reaching Newport, he learned
+that the French had started for Boston. He hoped that they would
+find it necessary to go outside George's Bank, and that he might
+intercept them by following the shorter road inside. In this he was
+disappointed, as has been seen, and the enemy's position was now
+too strong for attack. The French retreat to Boston closed the naval
+campaign of 1778 in North American waters.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The inability or unwillingness of d'Estaing to renew the enterprise
+against Rhode Island accords the indisputable triumph in this campaign
+to Howe,--an honour he must share, and doubtless would have shared
+gladly, with his supporters in general. That his fleet, for the most
+part two years from home, in a country without dockyards, should have
+been able to take the sea within ten days after the gale, while their
+opponents, just from France, yet with three months' sea practice, were
+so damaged that they had to abandon the field and all the splendid
+prospects of Rhode Island,--as they already had allowed to slip the
+chance at New York,--shows a decisive superiority in the British
+officers and crews. The incontestable merits of the rank and file,
+however, must not be permitted to divert attention from the great
+qualities of the leader, but for which the best material would have
+been unavailing. The conditions were such as to elicit to the utmost
+Howe's strongest qualities,--firmness, endurance, uninterrupted
+persistence rather than celerity, great professional skill, ripened by
+constant reflection and ready at an instant's call. Not brilliant in
+intellect, perhaps, but absolutely clear, and replete with expedients
+to meet every probable contingency, Howe exhibited an equable,
+unflagging energy, which was his greatest characteristic, and which
+eminently fitted him for the task of checkmating an enemy's every
+move--for a purely defensive campaign. He was always on hand and
+always ready; for he never wearied, and he knew his business. To
+great combinations he was perhaps unequal. At all events, such are not
+associated with his name. The distant scene he did not see; but step
+by step he saw his way with absolute precision, and followed it with
+unhesitating resolution. With a force inferior throughout, to have
+saved, in one campaign, the British fleet, New York, and Rhode Island,
+with the entire British army, which was divided between those two
+stations and dependent upon the sea, is an achievement unsurpassed
+in the annals of naval defensive warfare. It may be added that his
+accomplishment is the measure of his adversary's deficiencies.
+
+Howe's squadron had been constituted in 1776 with reference to the
+colonial struggle only, and to shallow water, and therefore was
+composed, very properly, of cruisers, and of ships of the line of the
+smaller classes; there being several fifties, and nothing larger than
+a sixty-four. When war with France threatened, the Ministry, having
+long warning, committed an unpardonable fault in allowing such a force
+to be confronted by one so superior as that which sailed from Toulon,
+in April, 1778. This should have been stopped on its way, or, failing
+that, its arrival in America should have been preceded by a British
+reinforcement. As it was, the government was saved from a tremendous
+disaster only by the efficiency of its Admiral and the inefficiency of
+his antagonist. As is not too uncommon, gratitude was swamped by the
+instinct of self-preservation from the national wrath, excited by
+this, and by other simultaneous evidences of neglect. An attempt was
+made to disparage Howe's conduct, and to prove that his force was even
+superior to that of the French, by adding together the guns in all his
+ships, disregarding their classes, or by combining groups of his small
+vessels against d'Estaing's larger units. The instrument of the attack
+was a naval officer, of some rank but slender professional credit, who
+at this most opportune moment underwent a political conversion, which
+earned him employment on the one hand, and the charge of apostasy on
+the other. For this kind of professional arithmetic, Howe felt and
+expressed just and utter contempt. Two and two make four in a primer,
+but in the field they may make three, or they may make five. Not
+to speak of the greater defensive power of heavy ships, nor of the
+concentration of their fire, the unity of direction under one captain
+possesses here also that importance which has caused unity of command
+and of effort to be recognised as the prime element in military
+efficiency, from the greatest things to the smallest. Taken together,
+the three elements--greater defensive power, concentration of fire,
+and unity of direction--constitute a decisive and permanent argument
+in favor of big ships, in Howe's days as in our own. Doubtless,
+now, as then, there is a limit; most arguments can be pushed to an
+_absurdum_, intellectual or practical. To draw a line is always hard;
+but, if we cannot tell just where the line has been passed we can
+recognise that one ship is much too big, while another certainly is
+not. Between the two an approximation to an exact result can be made.
+
+On his return to New York on September 11th, Howe found there
+Rear-Admiral Hyde Parker[37] with six ships of the line of Byron's
+squadron. Considering his task now accomplished, Howe decided to
+return to England, in virtue of a permission granted some time
+before at his own request. The duty against the Americans, lately his
+fellow-countrymen, had been always distasteful to him, although he
+did not absolutely refuse to undertake it, as did Admiral Keppel.
+The entrance of France into the quarrel, and the coming of d'Estaing,
+refreshed the spirits of the veteran, who moreover scorned to abandon
+his command in the face of such odds. Now, with the British positions
+secure, and superiority of force insured for the time being, he
+gladly turned over his charge and sailed for home; burning against the
+Admiralty with a wrath common to most of the distinguished seamen of
+that war. He was not employed afloat again until a change of Ministry
+took place, in 1782.
+
+[Footnote 19: Charles H., Comte d'Estaing. Born, 1729. Served in
+India under Lally Tollendal, 1758. After having been taken prisoner at
+Madras in 1759, exchanged into the navy. Commanded in North America,
+1778-80. Guillotined, 1794. W.L.C.]
+
+[Footnote 20: Grandfather of the poet.]
+
+[Footnote 21: The Secretary of Lloyd's, for the purposes of this work,
+has been so good as to cause to be specially compiled a summary of the
+losses and captures during the period 1775-1783. This, so far as it
+deals with merchantmen and privateers, gives the following results.
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ | BRITISH VESSELS | ENEMY'S VESSELS
+ |---------------------------------+----------------------------------
+ | Merchantmen | Privateers | Merchantmen | Privateers
+ |----------------+----------------+----------------+-----------------
+ | |Re-taken| |Re-taken| |Re-taken| |Re-taken
+ | Taken |or Ran- | Taken |or Ran- | Taken |or Ran- | Taken |or Ran-
+ | [22] | somed | [22] | somed | [22] | somed | [22] | somed
+-----+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+---------
+1775 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
+1776 | 229 | 51 | --- | --- | 19 | --- | 6 | ---
+1777 | 331 | 52 | --- | --- | 51 | 1 | 18 | ---
+1778 | 359 | 87 | 5 | --- | 232 | 5 | 16 | ---
+1779 | 487 | 106 | 29 | 5 | 238 | 5 | 31 | ---
+1780 | 581 | 260 | 15 | 2 | 203 | 3 | 34 | 1
+1781 | 587 | 211 | 38 | 6 | 277 | 10 | 40 | ---
+1782 | 415 | 99 | 1 | --- | 104 | 1 | 68 | ---
+1783 | 98 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 3 | ---
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+[Footnote 22: Including those re-taken or ransomed. W.L.C.]
+
+[Footnote 23: A spring is a rope taken usually from the quarter (one
+side of the stern) of a ship, to the anchor. By hauling upon it the
+battery is turned in the direction desired.]
+
+[Footnote 24: The leader, the _Leviathan_, was excepted, evidently
+because she lay under the Hook, and her guns could not bear down
+channel. She was not a fighting ship of the squadron, but an armed
+storeship, although originally a ship of war, and therefore by her
+thickness of side better fitted for defence than an ordinary merchant
+vessel. Placing her seems to have been an afterthought, to close the
+gap in the line, and prevent even the possibility of the enemy's ships
+turning in there and doubling on the van. Thus Howe avoided the fatal
+oversight made by Brueys twenty years later, in Aboukir Bay.]
+
+[Footnote 25: It may be recalled that a similar disposition was made
+by the Confederates at Mobile against Farragut's attack in 1864, and
+that it was from these small vessels that his flagship _Hartford_
+underwent her severest loss. To sailing ships the odds were
+greater, as injury to spars might involve stoppage. Moreover, Howe's
+arrangements brought into such fire all his heavier ships.]
+
+[Footnote 26: A letter to the Admiralty, dated October 8th, 1779, from
+Vice-Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot, then commander-in-chief at New York,
+states that "at spring tides there is generally thirty feet of water
+on the bar at high water."]
+
+[Footnote 27: These four ships were among the smallest of the fleet,
+being one 74, two 64's, and a 50. D'Estaing very properly reserved his
+heaviest ships to force the main channel.]
+
+[Footnote 28: _Flora_, 32; _Juno_, 32; Lark, 32; _Orpheus_, 32;
+_Falcon_, 16.]
+
+[Footnote 29: I have not been able to find an exact statement of the
+number; Beatson gives eight regiments, with a reinforcement of five
+battalions.]
+
+[Footnote 30: It may be interesting to recall that this was the ship
+on the books of which Nelson's name was first borne in the navy, in
+1771.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Troude attributes d'Estaing's sortie to a sense of
+the insecurity of his position; Lapeyrouse Bonfils, to a desire for
+contest. Chevalier dwells upon the exposure of the situation.]
+
+[Footnote 32: For the respective force of the two fleets see pp. 66,
+67, 71.]
+
+[Footnote 33: This account of the manoeuvres of the two fleets is
+based upon Lord Howe's dispatch, and amplified from the journal of
+Captain Henry Duncan of the flagship _Eagle_ which has been published
+(1902) since the first publication of this work. See "Navy Records
+Society, Naval Miscellany." Vol. i, p. 161.]
+
+[Footnote 34: At the mouth of Delaware Bay.]
+
+[Footnote 35: _Ante_, p. 62.]
+
+[Footnote 36: Chevalier: "Marine Francaise," 1778.]
+
+[Footnote 37: Later Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, Bart., who perished
+in the _Cato_ in 1783. He was father of that Admiral Sir Hyde Parker,
+who in 1801 was Nelson's commander-in-chief at Copenhagen, and who in
+1778 commanded the _Phoenix_, 44, in Howe's fleet. (_Ante_, pp. 39,
+46.)]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE NAVAL WAR IN EUROPE. THE BATTLE OF USHANT
+
+1778
+
+
+During the same two months that saw the contest between d'Estaing and
+Howe in America the only encounter between nearly equal fleets in
+1778 took place in European waters. Admiral Keppel, having returned
+to Spithead after the affair between the _Belle Poule_ and the
+_Arethusa_,[38] again put to sea on the 9th of July, with a force
+increased to thirty ships of the line. He had been mortified by the
+necessity of avoiding action, and of even retiring into port, with the
+inadequate numbers before under his command, and his mind was fixed
+now to compel an engagement, if he met the French.
+
+The Brest fleet also put to sea, the day before Keppel, under the
+command of Admiral the Comte d'Orvilliers. It contained thirty-two
+ships of the line. Of these, three--64, a 60, and a 50--were not
+considered fit for the line of battle, which was thus reduced to
+twenty-nine sail, carrying 2098 guns. To these the British opposed an
+aggregate of 2278; but comparison by this means only is very rough.
+Not only the sizes of the guns, but the classes and weight of the
+vessels need to be considered. In the particular instance the matter
+is of little importance; the action being indecisive, and credit
+depending upon manoeuvres rather than upon fighting.
+
+The French admiral was hampered by vacillating instructions,
+reflections of the unstable impulses which swayed the Ministry.
+Whatever his personal wishes, he felt that he was expected to avoid
+action, unless under very favourable circumstances. At the moment of
+sailing he wrote: "Since you leave me free to continue my cruise, I
+will not bring the fleet back to Brest, unless by positive orders,
+until I have fulfilled the month at sea mentioned in my instructions,
+and known to all the captains. Till then I will not fly before Admiral
+Keppel, whatever his strength; only, if I know him to be too superior,
+I will avoid a disproportionate action as well as I can; but if the
+enemy really seeks to force it, it will be very hard to shun." These
+words explain his conduct through the next few days.
+
+On the afternoon of July 23d the two fleets sighted each other, about
+a hundred miles west of Ushant, the French being then to leeward.
+Towards sunset, they were standing south-west, with the wind at
+west-north-west, and bore north-east from the enemy, who were
+lying-to, heads to the northward. The British remaining nearly
+motionless throughout the night, and the wind shifting, d'Orvilliers
+availed himself of the conditions to press to windward, and in the
+morning was found to bear north-west from his opponent.[39] Their
+relative positions satisfied both admirals for the moment; for
+Keppel found himself interposed between Brest and the French, while
+d'Orvilliers, though surrendering the advantage of open retreat to his
+port, had made it possible, by getting the weather-gage, to fulfil
+his promise to keep the sea and yet to avoid action. Two of his ships,
+however, the _Duc de Bourgogne_, 80, and a 74, were still to leeward,
+not only of their own main body, but also of the British. Keppel
+sent chasers after them, for the expressed purpose of compelling
+d'Orvilliers to action in their support,[40] and it was believed by
+the British that they were forced to return to Brest, to avoid being
+cut off. They certainly quitted their fleet, which was thus reduced to
+twenty-seven effective sail. From this time until July 27th the wind
+continued to the westward, and the wariness of the French admiral
+baffled all his antagonist's efforts to get within range. Keppel,
+having no doubts as to what was expected of him, pursued vigorously,
+watching his chance. On the morning of July 27th the two fleets [Fig
+1, AA, AA], were from six to ten miles apart, wind south-west, both on
+the port tack,[41] steering north-west; the French dead to windward,
+in line ahead. The British were in bow-and-quarter line. In this
+formation, when exact, the ships of a fleet were nearly abreast each
+other; so ranged, however, that if they tacked all at the same time
+they would be at once in line of battle ahead close to the wind,--the
+fighting order.[42] Both fleets were irregularly formed, the British
+especially so; for Keppel rightly considered that he would not
+accomplish his purpose, if he were pedantic concerning the order of
+his going. He had therefore signalled a "General Chase," which,
+by permitting much individual freedom of movement, facilitated the
+progress of the whole body. At daylight, the division commanded by
+Sir Hugh Palliser--the right wing, as then heading--had dropped astern
+[R]; and at 5.30 A.M. the signal was made to seven of its fastest
+sailers to chase to windward, to get farther to windward by pressing
+sail, the object being so to place them relatively to the main body,
+as to support the latter, if an opportunity for action should offer.
+
+At 9 A.M. the French admiral, wishing to approach the enemy and to
+see more clearly, ordered his fleet to wear in succession,--to
+countermarch. As the van ships went round (b) under this signal, they
+had to steer off the wind (be), parallel to their former line, on
+which those following them still were, until they reached the point to
+which the rear ship meantime had advanced (c), when they could again
+haul to the wind. This caused a loss of ground to leeward, but not
+more than d'Orvilliers could afford, as things stood. Just after he
+had fairly committed himself to the manoeuvre, the wind hauled to the
+southward two points,[43] from south-west to south-south-west, which
+favoured the British, allowing them to head more nearly towards the
+enemy (BB). The shift also threw the bows of the French off the line
+they were following, deranging their order. Keppel therefore continued
+on the port tack, until all the French (BB), were on the starboard,
+and at 10.15, being nearly in their wake, he ordered his own ships to
+tack together (dd), which would bring them into line ahead on the same
+tack as the French; that is, having the wind on the same side. This
+put the British in column,[44] still to leeward, but nearly astern of
+the enemy and following (CC). At this moment a thick rain-squall came
+up, concealing the fleets one from another for three quarters of an
+hour. With the squall the wind shifted back to southwest, favouring
+the British on this tack, as it had on the other, and enabling them to
+lay up for the enemy's rear after which (French BB) they were standing
+and could now bring to action. When the weather cleared, at 11, the
+French were seen to have gone about again, all the ships together,
+and were still in the confusion of a partly executed manoeuvre (CC).
+Their admiral had doubtless recognised, from the change of wind, and
+from the direction of the enemy when last visible, that an encounter
+could not be avoided. If he continued on the starboard tack, the van
+of the pursuing enemy, whose resolve to force battle could not be
+misunderstood, would overtake his rear ships, engaging as many of
+them as he might choose. By resuming the port tack, the heads of the
+columns would meet, and the fleets pass in opposite directions, on
+equal terms as regarded position; because all the French would engage,
+and not only a part of their rear. Therefore he had ordered his ships
+to go about, all at the same time; thus forming column again rapidly,
+but reversing the order so that the rear became the van.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Keppel so far had made no signal for the line of battle, nor did he
+now. Recognising from the four days' chase that his enemy was avoiding
+action, he judged correctly that he should force it, even at some
+risk. It was not the time for a drill-master, nor a parade. Besides,
+thanks to the morning signal for the leewardly ships to chase, these,
+forming the rear of the disorderly column in which he was advancing,
+were now well to windward, able therefore to support their comrades,
+if needful, as well as to attack the enemy. In short, practically the
+whole force was coming into action, although much less regularly than
+might have been desired. What was to follow was a rough-and-ready
+fight, but it was all that could be had, and better than nothing.
+Keppel therefore simply made the signal for battle, and that just as
+the firing began. The collision was so sudden that the ships at first
+had not their colours flying.
+
+The French also, although their manoeuvres had been more methodical,
+were in some confusion. It is not given to a body of thirty ships, of
+varying qualities, to attain perfection of movement in a fortnight of
+sea practice. The change of wind had precipitated an action, which one
+admiral had been seeking, and the other shunning; but each had to meet
+it with such shift as he could. The British (CC) being close-hauled,
+the French (CC), advancing on a parallel line, were four points[45]
+off the wind. Most of their ships, therefore, could have gone clear
+to windward of their opponents, but the fact that the latter could
+reach some of the leaders compelled the others to support them. As
+d'Orvilliers had said, it was hard to avoid an enemy resolute to
+fight. The leading three French vessels[46] (e) hauled their wind, in
+obedience to the admiral's signal to form the line of battle, which
+means a close-hauled line. The effect of this was to draw them
+gradually away from the hostile line, taking them out of range of the
+British centre and rear. This, if imitated by their followers, would
+render the affair even more partial and indecisive than such passing
+by usually was. The fourth French ship began the action, opening fire
+soon after eleven. The vessels of the opposing fleets surged by under
+short canvas, (D), firing as opportunity offered, but necessarily much
+handicapped by smoke, which prevented the clear sight of an enemy, and
+caused anxiety lest an unseen friend might receive a broadside. "The
+distance between the _Formidable_, 90, (Palliser's flagship) and the
+_Egmont_, 74, was so short," testified Captain John Laforey, whose
+three-decker, the _Ocean_, 90, was abreast and outside this interval,
+"that it was with difficulty I could keep betwixt them to engage,
+without firing upon them, and I was once very near on board the
+_Egmont_,"--next ahead of the _Ocean_. The _Formidable_ kept her
+mizzen topsail aback much of the time, to deaden her way, to make the
+needed room ahead for the _Ocean_, and also to allow the rear ships
+to close. "At a quarter past one," testified Captain Maitland of the
+_Elizabeth_, 74, "we were very close behind the _Formidable_, and a
+midshipman upon the poop called out that there was a ship coming on
+board on the weatherbow. I put the helm up,... and found, when the
+smoke cleared away, I was shot up under the _Formidable's_ lee. She
+was then engaged with the two last ships in the French fleet, and, as
+I could not fire at them without firing through the _Formidable_, I
+was obliged to shoot on."[47] Captain Bazely, of the _Formidable_,
+says of the same incident, "The _Formidable_ did at the time of action
+bear up to one of the enemy's ships, to avoid being aboard of her,
+whose jib boom nearly touched the main topsail weather leech of the
+_Formidable_. I thought we could not avoid being on board."
+
+Contrary to the usual result, the loss of the rear division, in killed
+and wounded, was heaviest, nearly equalling the aggregate of the two
+others.[48] This was due to the morning signal to chase to windward,
+which brought these ships closer than their leaders. As soon as the
+British van, ten ships, had passed the French rear, its commander,
+Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Harland, anticipating Keppel's wishes,
+signalled it to go about and follow the enemy (Fig. 2, V). As the
+French column was running free, these ships, when about, fetched to
+windward of its wake. When the _Victory_ drew out of the fire, at 1
+P.M., Keppel also made a similar signal, and attempted to wear (c),
+the injuries to his rigging not permitting tacking; but caution was
+needed in manoeuvring across the bows of the following ships, and it
+was not till 2 P.M., that the _Victory_ was about on the other tack
+(Fig. 2, C), heading after the French. At this time, 2 P.M., just
+before or just after wearing, the signal for battle was hauled down,
+and that for the line of battle was hoisted. The object of the latter
+was to re-form the order, and the first was discontinued, partly
+because no longer needed, chiefly that it might not seem to contradict
+the urgent call for a re-formation.
+
+At this time six or seven of Harland's division were on the weather
+bow of the _Victory_, to windward (westward), but a little ahead, and
+standing like her after the French; all on the port tack (Fig. 2).
+None of the centre division succeeded in joining the flagship at once.
+At 2.30 Palliser's ship, the _Formidable_ (R), on the starboard tack,
+passed the _Victory_ to leeward, apparently the last of the fleet out
+of action. A half-hour after this the _Victory_ had been joined by
+three of the centre, which were following her in close order, the van
+remaining in the same relative position. Astern of these two groups
+from van and centre were a number of other ships in various degrees
+of confusion,--some going about, some trying to come up, others
+completely disabled. Especially, there was in the south-south-east,
+therefore well to leeward, a cluster of four or five British vessels,
+evidently temporarily incapable of manoeuvring.
+
+This was the situation which met the eye of the French admiral,
+scanning the field as the smoke drove away. The disorder of the
+British, which originated in the general chase, had increased through
+the hurry of the manoeuvres succeeding the squall, and culminated
+in the conditions just described. It was an inevitable result of a
+military exigency confronted by a fleet only recently equipped. The
+French, starting from a better formation, had come out in better
+shape. But, after all, it seems difficult wholly to remedy the
+disadvantage of a policy essentially defensive; and d'Orvilliers'
+next order, though well conceived, was resultless. At 1 P.M.[49] he
+signalled his fleet to wear in succession, and form the line of battle
+on the starboard tack (Fig. 2, F). This signal was not seen by the
+leading ship, which should have begun the movement. The junior French
+admiral, in the fourth ship from the van, at length went about, and
+spoke the flagship, to know what was the Commander-in-Chief's desire.
+D'Orvilliers explained that he wished to pass along the enemy's fleet
+from end to end, to _leeward_, because in its disordered state there
+was a fair promise of advantage, and by going to leeward--presenting
+his weather side to the enemy--he could use the weather lower-deck
+guns, whereas, in the then state of the sea, the lee lower ports could
+not be opened. Thus explained, the movement was executed, but the
+favourable moment had passed. It was not till 2.30 that the manoeuvre
+was evident to the British.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+As soon as Keppel recognised his opponent's intention, he wore the
+_Victory_ again, (d), a few minutes after 3 P.M., and stood slowly
+down, on the starboard tack _off the wind_, towards his crippled ships
+in the south-south-east, keeping aloft the signal for the line of
+battle, which commanded every manageable ship to get to her station
+(Fig. 3, C). As this deliberate movement was away from the enemy,
+(F), Palliser tried afterwards to fix upon it the stigma of flight,--a
+preposterous extravagancy. Harland put his division about at once
+and joined the Admiral. On this tack his station was ahead of the
+_Victory_, but in consequence of a message from Keppel he fell in
+behind her, to cover the rear until Palliser's division could repair
+damage and take their places. At 4 P.M. Harland's division was in the
+line. Palliser's ships, as they completed refitting, ranged themselves
+before or behind his flagship; their captains considering, as they
+testified, that they took station from their divisional commander, and
+not from the ship of the Commander-in-Chief. There was formed thus,
+on the weather quarter of the _Victory_, and a mile or two distant, a
+separate line of ships, constituting on this tack the proper rear of
+the fleet, and dependent for initiative on Palliser's flagship (Fig.
+3, R). At 5 P.M. Keppel sent word by a frigate to Palliser to hasten
+into the line, as he was only waiting for him to renew the action, the
+French now having completed their manoeuvre. They had not attacked, as
+they might have done, but had drawn up under the lee of the British,
+their van abreast the latter's centre. At the same time Harland was
+directed to move to his proper position in the van, which he at
+once did (Fig. 3, V). Palliser made no movement, and Keppel with
+extraordinary--if not culpable--forbearance refrained from summoning
+the rear ships into line by their individual pennants. This he at last
+did about 7 P.M., signalling specifically to each of the vessels then
+grouped with Palliser, (except his own flagship), to leave the latter
+and take their posts in the line. This was accordingly done, but it
+was thought then to be too late to renew the action. At daylight the
+next morning, only three French ships were in sight from the decks;
+but the main body could be seen in the south-east from some of the
+mastheads, and was thought to be from fifteen to twenty miles distant.
+
+Though absolutely indecisive, this was a pretty smart skirmish; the
+British loss being 133 killed and 373 wounded, that of the French 161
+killed and 513 wounded. The general result would appear to indicate
+that the French, in accordance with their usual policy, had fired to
+cripple their enemy's spars and rigging, the motive-power. This would
+be consistent with d'Orvilliers' avowed purpose of avoiding action
+except under favourable circumstances. As the smoke thickened and
+confusion increased, the fleets had got closer together, and, whatever
+the intention, many shot found their way to the British hulls.
+Nevertheless, as the returns show, the number of men hit among the
+French was to the British nearly as 7 to 5. On the other hand, it is
+certain that the manoeuvring power of the French after the action was
+greater than that of the British.
+
+Both sides claimed the advantage. This was simply a point of honour,
+or of credit, for material advantage accrued to neither. Keppel
+had succeeded in forcing d'Orvilliers to action against his will;
+d'Orvilliers, by a well-judged evolution, had retained a superiority
+of manoeuvring power after the engagement. Had his next signal been
+promptly obeyed, he might have passed again by the British fleet, in
+fairly good order, before it re-formed, and concentrated his fire
+on the more leewardly of its vessels. Even under the delay, it was
+distinctly in his power to renew the fight; and that he did not do so
+forfeits all claim to victory. Not to speak of the better condition
+of the French ships, Keppel, by running off the wind, had given his
+opponent full opportunity to reach his fleet and to attack. Instead
+of so doing, d'Orvilliers drew up under the British lee, out of range,
+and offered battle; a gallant defiance, but to a crippled foe.
+
+Time was thus given to the British to refit their ships sufficiently
+to bear down again. This the French admiral should not have permitted.
+He should have attacked promptly, or else have retreated; to windward,
+or to leeward, as seemed most expedient. Under the conditions, it
+was not good generalship to give the enemy time, and to await his
+pleasure. Keppel, on the other hand, being granted this chance, should
+have renewed the fight; and here arose the controversy which set
+all England by the ears, and may be said to have immortalised this
+otherwise trivial incident. Palliser's division was to windward from
+4 to 7 P.M., while the signals were flying to form line of battle, and
+to bear down in the Admiral's wake; and Keppel alleged that, had these
+been obeyed by 6 P.M., he would have renewed the battle, having still
+over two hours of daylight. It has been stated already that, besides
+the signals, a frigate brought Palliser word that the Admiral was
+waiting only for him.
+
+The immediate dispute is of slight present interest, except as an
+historical link in the fighting development of the British Navy;
+and only this historical significance justifies more than a passing
+mention. In 1778 men's minds were still full of Byng's execution
+in 1757, and of the Mathews and Lestock affair in 1744, which
+had materially influenced Byng in his action off Minorca. Keppel
+repeatedly spoke of himself as on trial for his life; and he had been
+a member of Byng's court-martial. The gist of the charges against
+him, preferred by Palliser, was that he attacked in the first
+instance without properly forming his line, for which Mathews had been
+censured; and, secondly, that by not renewing the action after the
+first pass-by, and by wearing away from the French fleet, he had not
+done his utmost to "take, sink, burn, and destroy." This had been the
+charge on which Byng was shot. Keppel, besides his justifying reasons
+for his course in general, alleged and proved his full intention to
+attack again, had not Palliser failed to come into line, a delinquency
+the same as that of Lestock, which contributed to Mathew's ruin.
+
+In other words, men's minds were breaking away from, but had not
+thrown off completely, the tyranny of the Order of Battle,--one of the
+worst of tyrannies, because founded on truth. Absolute error, like a
+whole lie, is open to speedy detection; half-truths are troublesome.
+The Order of Battle[50] was an admirable servant and a most
+objectionable despot. Mathews, in despair over a recalcitrant second,
+cast off the yoke, engaged with part of his force, was ill supported
+and censured; Lestock escaping. Byng, considering this, and being a
+pedant by nature, would not break his line; the enemy slipped away,
+Minorca surrendered, and he was shot. In Keppel's court-martial,
+twenty-eight out of the thirty captains who had been in the line were
+summoned as witnesses. Most of them swore that if Keppel had chased
+in line of battle that day, there could have been no action, and
+the majority of them cordially approved his course; but there was
+evidently an undercurrent still of dissent, and especially in the rear
+ships, where there had been some of the straggling inevitable in such
+movements. Their commanders therefore had uncomfortable experience
+of the lack of mutual support, which the line of battle was meant to
+insure.
+
+Another indication of still surviving pedantry was the obligation felt
+in the rear ships to take post about their own admiral, and to remain
+there when the signals for the line of battle, and to bear down in the
+admiral's wake, were flying. Thus Palliser's own inaction, to whatever
+cause due, paralysed the six or eight sail with him; but it appears
+to the writer that Keppel was seriously remiss in not summoning those
+ships by their own pennants, as soon as he began to distrust the
+purposes of the Vice-Admiral, instead of delaying doing so till
+7 P.M., as he did. It is a curious picture presented to us by the
+evidence. The Commander-in-Chief, with his staff and the captain of
+the ship, fretting and fuming on the _Victory's_ quarter-deck; the
+signals flying which have been mentioned; Harland's division getting
+into line ahead; and four points on the weather quarter, only two
+miles distant, so that "every gun and port could be counted," a group
+of seven or eight sail, among them the flag of the third in command,
+apparently indifferent spectators. The _Formidable's_ only sign of
+disability was the foretopsail unbent for four hours,--a delay which,
+being unexplained, rather increased than relieved suspicion, rife then
+throughout the Navy. Palliser was a Tory, and had left the Board of
+Admiralty to take his command. Keppel was so strong a Whig that he
+would not serve against the Americans; and he evidently feared that he
+was to be betrayed to his ruin.
+
+Palliser's defence rested upon three principal points: (1), that the
+signal for the line of battle was not seen on board the _Formidable_;
+(2), that the signal to get into the Admiral's wake was repeated by
+himself; (3), that his foremast was wounded, and, moreover, found
+to be in such bad condition that he feared to carry sail on it. As
+regards the first, the signal was seen on board the _Ocean_, next
+astern of and "not far from"[51] the _Formidable_; for the second, the
+Admiral should have been informed of a disability by which a single
+ship was neutralizing a division. The frigate that brought Keppel's
+message could have carried back this. Thirdly, the most damaging
+feature to Palliser's case was that he asserted that, after coming out
+from under fire, he wore at once towards the enemy; afterwards he wore
+back again. A ship that thus wore twice before three o'clock, might
+have displayed zeal and efficiency enough to run two miles, off
+the wind,[52] at five, to support a fight. Deliberate treachery is
+impossible. To this writer the Vice-Admiral's behaviour seems that of
+a man in a sulk, who will do only that which he can find no excuses
+for neglecting. In such cases of sailing close, men generally slip
+over the line into grievous wrong.
+
+Keppel was cleared of all the charges preferred against him; the
+accuser had not thought best to embody among them the delay to recall
+the ships which his own example was detaining. Against Palliser no
+specific charge was preferred, but the Admiralty directed a general
+inquiry into his course on the 27th of July. The court found his
+conduct "in many instances highly exemplary and meritorious,"--he
+had fought well,--"but reprehensible in not having acquainted the
+Commander-in-Chief of his distress, which he might have done either by
+the _Fox_, or other means which he had in his power." Public opinion
+running strongly for Keppel, his acquittal was celebrated with
+bonfires and illuminations in London; the mob got drunk, smashed the
+windows of Palliser's friends, wrecked Palliser's own house, and came
+near to killing Palliser himself. The Admiralty, in 1780, made him
+Governor of Greenwich Hospital.
+
+On the 28th of July, the British and French being no longer in sight
+of each other, Keppel, considering his fleet too injured aloft to
+cruise near the French coast, kept away for Plymouth, where he arrived
+on the 31st. Before putting to sea again, he provided against a
+recurrence of the misdemeanor of the 27th by a general order, that
+"in future the Line is always to be taken from the Centre." Had this
+been in force before, Palliser's captains would have taken station by
+the Commander-in-Chief, and the _Formidable_ would have been left to
+windward by herself. At the same time Howe was closing his squadron
+upon the centre in America; and Rodney, two years later, experienced
+the ill-effects of distance taken from the next ahead, when the
+leading ship of a fleet disregarded an order.
+
+Although privately censuring Palliser's conduct, the
+Commander-in-Chief made no official complaint, and it was not until
+the matter got into the papers, through the talk of the fleet, that
+the difficulty began which resulted in the trial of both officers,
+early in the following year. After this, Keppel, being dissatisfied
+with the Admiralty's treatment, intimated his wish to give up the
+command. The order to strike his flag was dated March 18th, 1779. He
+was not employed afloat again, but upon the change of administration
+in 1782 he became First Lord of the Admiralty, and so remained, with a
+brief intermission, until December, 1783.
+
+It is perhaps necessary to mention that both British and French
+asserted, and assert to this day, that the other party abandoned
+the field.[53] The point is too trivial, in the author's opinion, to
+warrant further discussion of an episode the historical interest of
+which is very slight, though its professional lessons are valuable.
+The British case had the advantage--through the courts-martial--of
+the sworn testimony of twenty to thirty captains, who agreed that the
+British kept on the same tack under short sail throughout the night,
+and that in the morning only three French ships were visible. As far
+as known to the author, the French contention rests only on the usual
+reports.
+
+[Footnote 38: _Ante_, pp. 61, 62.]
+
+[Footnote 39: Testimony of Captains Hood, Robinson, and Macbride, and
+of Rear-Admiral Campbell, captain of the fleet to Keppel.]
+
+[Footnote 40: See note on preceding page.]
+
+[Footnote 41: A vessel is said to be on the port tack when she has the
+wind blowing on her port, or left side; on the starboard tack, when
+the wind is on the right side. Thus with an east wind, if she head
+north, she is on the starboard tack; if south, on the port.]
+
+[Footnote 42: See also note; _post_, p. 200.]
+
+[Footnote 43: Twenty-two degrees.]
+
+[Footnote 44: Column and line ahead are equivalent terms, each ship
+steering in the wake of its next ahead.]
+
+[Footnote 45: Forty-five degrees.]
+
+[Footnote 46: Chevalier says, p. 89, "The English passed out of range"
+of these ships. As these ships had the wind, they had the choice of
+range, barring signals from their own admiral. In truth, they were
+obeying his order.]
+
+[Footnote 47: This evidence of the captains of the _Ocean_ and the
+_Elizabeth_ contradicts Palliser's charge that his ship was not
+adequately supported.]
+
+[Footnote 48: It was actually quite equal, but this was due to an
+accidental explosion on board the _Formidable_.]
+
+[Footnote 49: Chevalier. Probably later by the other times used in
+this account.]
+
+[Footnote 50: The Order of Battle was constituted by the ships "of
+the line" ranging themselves one behind the other in a prescribed
+succession; the position of each and the intervals between being taken
+from the ship next ahead. This made the leading vessel the pivot of
+the order and of manoeuvring, unless specially otherwise directed;
+which in an emergency could not always be easily done. Strictly, if
+circumstances favoured, the line on which the ships thus formed was
+one of the two close-hauled lines; "close-hauled" meaning to bring the
+vessel's head as "near" the direction of the wind as possible, usually
+to about 70 degrees. The advantage of the close-hauled line was that
+the vessels were more manageable than when "off" the wind.]
+
+[Footnote 51: Evidence of Captain John Laforey, of the _Ocean_.]
+
+[Footnote 52: "I do not recollect how many points I went from the
+wind; I must have bore down a pretty large course." Testimony of
+Captain J. Laforey, of the _Ocean_, on this point.]
+
+[Footnote 53: "During the night (of the 27th) Admiral Keppel kept away
+(_fit route_) for Portsmouth." Chevalier, "Marine Francaise," p. 90.
+Paris, 1877. Oddly enough, he adds that "on the evening of the 28th
+the French squadron, _carried eastward by the currents_, sighted
+Ushant."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OPERATIONS IN THE WEST INDIES, 1778-1779. THE BRITISH INVASION OF
+GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA
+
+
+Conditions of season exerted great influence upon the time and place
+of hostilities during the maritime war of 1778; the opening scenes
+of which, in Europe and in North America, have just been narrated.
+In European seas it was realised that naval enterprises by fleets,
+requiring evolutions by masses of large vessels, were possible only
+in summer. Winter gales scattered ships, impeded manoeuvres, and
+made gun-fire ineffective. The same consideration prevailed to limit
+activity in North American waters to the summer; and complementary
+to this was the fact that in the West Indies hurricanes of excessive
+violence occurred from July to October. The practice therefore was
+to transfer effort from one quarter to the other in the Western
+Hemisphere, according to the season.
+
+In the recent treaty with the United States, the King of France had
+formally renounced all claim to acquire for himself any part of the
+American continent then in possession of Great Britain. On the other
+hand, he had reserved the express right to conquer any of her islands
+south of Bermuda. The West Indies were then the richest commercial
+region on the globe in the value of their products; and France wished
+not only to increase her already large possessions there, but also to
+establish more solidly her political and military tenure.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+In September, 1778, the British Island of Dominica was seized by an
+expedition from the adjacent French colony of Martinique. The affair
+was a surprise, and possesses no special military interest; but it
+is instructive to observe that Great Britain was unprepared, in the
+West Indies as elsewhere, when the war began. A change had been made
+shortly before in the command of the Leeward Islands Station, as it
+was called, which extended from Antigua southward over the Lesser
+Antilles with headquarters at Barbados. Rear-Admiral the Hon. Samuel
+Barrington, the new-comer, leaving home before war had been declared,
+had orders not to quit Barbados till further instructions should
+arrive. These had not reached him when he learned of the loss of
+Dominica. The French had received their orders on the 17th of August.
+The blow was intrinsically somewhat serious, so far as the mere
+capture of a position can be, because the fortifications were strong,
+though they had been inadequately garrisoned. It is a mistake to build
+works and not man them, for their fall transfers to the enemy strength
+which he otherwise would need time to create. To the French the
+conquest was useful beyond its commercial value, because it closed a
+gap in their possessions. They now held four consecutive islands, from
+north to south, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, and Santa Lucia.
+
+Barrington had two ships of the line: his flagship, the _Prince of
+Wales_, 74, and the _Boyne_, 70. If he had been cruising, these would
+probably have deterred the French. Upon receiving the news he put
+to sea, going as far as Antigua; but he did not venture to stay away
+because his expected instructions had not come yet, and, like Keppel,
+he feared an ungenerous construction of his actions. He therefore
+remained in Barbados, patiently watching for an opportunity to act.
+
+The departure of Howe and the approach of winter determined the
+transference of British troops and ships from the continent to the
+Leeward Islands. Reinforcements had given the British fleet in America
+a numerical superiority, which for the time imposed a check upon
+d'Estaing; but Byron, proverbially unlucky in weather, was driven
+crippled to Newport, leaving the French free to quit Boston. The
+difficulty of provisioning so large a force as twelve ships of the
+line at first threatened to prevent the withdrawal, supplies being
+then extremely scarce in the port; but at the critical moment American
+privateers brought in large numbers of prizes, laden with provisions
+from Europe for the British army. Thus d'Estaing was enabled to sail
+for Martinique on the 4th of November. On the same day there left New
+York for Barbados a British squadron,--two 64's, three 50's, and
+three smaller craft,--under the command of Commodore William Hotham,
+convoying five thousand troops for service in the West Indies.
+
+Being bound for nearly the same point, the two hostile bodies steered
+parallel courses, each ignorant of the other's nearness. In the
+latitude of Bermuda both suffered from a violent gale, but the French
+most; the flagship _Languedoc_ losing her main and mizzen topmasts. On
+the 25th of November one[54] of Hotham's convoy fell into the hands
+of d'Estaing, who then first learned of the British sailing. Doubtful
+whether their destination was Barbados or Antigua,--their two chief
+stations,--he decided for the latter. Arriving off it on the 6th of
+December, he cruised for forty-eight hours, and then bore away for
+Fort Royal, Martinique, the principal French depot in the West Indies,
+where he anchored on the 9th. On the 10th Hotham joined Barrington at
+Barbados.
+
+Barrington knew already what he wanted to do, and therefore lost not a
+moment in deliberation. The troops were kept on board, Hotham's convoy
+arrangements being left as they were. On the morning of December 12th
+the entire force sailed again, the main changes in it being in the
+chief command, and in the addition of Barrington's two ships of the
+line. On the afternoon of the 13th the shipping anchored in the Grand
+Cul de Sac, an inlet on the west side of Santa Lucia, which is seventy
+miles east-north-east from Barbados. Part of the troops landed at
+once, and seized the batteries and heights on the north side of the
+bay. The remainder were put on shore the next morning. The French
+forces were inadequate to defend their works; but it is to be observed
+that they were driven with unremitting energy, and that to this
+promptness the British owed their ability to hold the position.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Three miles north of the Cul de Sac is a bay then called the Carenage;
+now Port Castries. At its northern extremity is a precipitous
+promontory, La Vigie, then fortified, upon the tenure of which
+depended not only control of that anchorage, but also access to the
+rear of the works which commanded the Cul de Sac. If those works fell,
+the British squadron must abandon its position and put to sea, where
+d'Estaing's much superior fleet would be in waiting. On the other
+hand, if the squadron were crushed at its anchors, the troops were
+isolated and must ultimately capitulate. Therefore La Vigie and the
+squadron were the two keys to the situation, and the loss of either
+would be decisive.
+
+By the evening of the 14th the British held the shore line from
+La Vigie to the southern point of the Cul de Sac, as well as Morne
+Fortune (Fort Charlotte), the capital of the island. The feeble French
+garrison retired to the interior, leaving its guns unspiked, and its
+ammunition and stores untouched,--another instance of the danger of
+works turning to one's own disadvantage. It was Barrington's purpose
+now to remove the transports to the Carenage, as a more commodious
+harbour, probably also better defended; but he was prevented by
+the arrival of d'Estaing that afternoon. "Just as all the important
+stations were secured, the French colours struck, and General Grant's
+headquarters established at the Governor's house, the _Ariadne_
+frigate came in sight with the signal abroad for the approach of an
+enemy."[55] The French fleet was seen soon afterwards from the heights
+above the squadron.
+
+The British had gained much so far by celerity, but they still spared
+no time to take breath. The night was passed by the soldiers in
+strengthening their positions, and by the Rear-Admiral in rectifying
+his order to meet the expected attack. The transports, between fifty
+and sixty in number, were moved inside the ships of war, and the
+latter were most carefully disposed across the mouth of the Cul de
+Sac bay. At the northern (windward)[56] end was placed the _Isis_, 50,
+well under the point to prevent anything from passing round her; but
+for further security she was supported by three frigates, anchored
+abreast of the interval between her and the shore. From the _Isis_
+the line extended to the southward, inclining slightly outward; the
+_Prince of Wales_, 74, Barrington's flagship, taking the southern
+flank, as the most exposed position. Between her and the _Isis_ were
+five other ships,--the _Boyne_, 70, _Nonsuch_, 64, _St. Albans_, 64,
+_Preston_, 50, and _Centurion_, 50. The works left by the French at
+the north and south points of the bay may have been used to support
+the flanks, but Barrington does not say so in his report.
+
+D'Estaing had twelve ships of the line, and two days after this was
+able to land seven thousand troops. With such a superiority it is
+evident that the British would have been stopped in the midst of their
+operations, if he had arrived twenty-four hours sooner. To gain time,
+Barrington had sought to prevent intelligence reaching Fort Royal,
+less than fifty miles distant, by sending cruisers in advance of his
+squadron, to cover the approaches to Santa Lucia; but, despite his
+care, d'Estaing had the news on the 14th. He sailed at once, and, as
+has been said, was off Santa Lucia that evening. At daybreak of the
+15th he stood in for the Carenage; but when he came within range, a
+lively cannonade told him that the enemy was already in possession.
+He decided therefore to attack the squadron in the Cul de Sac, and
+at 11.30 the French passed along it from north to south, firing, but
+without effect. A second attempt was made in the afternoon, directed
+upon the lee flank, but it was equally unavailing. The British had
+three men killed; the French loss is not given, but is said to
+have been slight. It is stated that that day the sea breeze did not
+penetrate far enough into the bay to admit closing. This frequently
+happens, but it does not alter the fact that the squadron was the
+proper point of attack, and that, especially in the winter season, an
+opportunity to close must offer soon. D'Estaing, governed probably by
+the soldierly bias he more than once betrayed, decided now to assault
+the works on shore. Anchoring in a small bay north of the Carenage,
+he landed seven thousand men, and on the 18th attempted to storm the
+British lines at La Vigie. The neck of land connecting the promontory
+with the island is very flat, and the French therefore labored under
+great disadvantage through the commanding position of their enemy.
+It was a repetition of Bunker Hill, and of many other ill-judged
+and precipitate frontal attacks. After three gallant but ineffectual
+charges, led by d'Estaing in person, the assailants retired, with the
+loss of forty-one officers and eight hundred rank and file, killed and
+wounded.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+D'Estaing reembarked his men, and stood ready again to attack
+Barrington; a frigate being stationed off the Cul de Sac, to give
+notice when the wind should serve. On the 24th she signalled, and the
+fleet weighed; but Barrington, who had taken a very great risk for an
+adequate object, took no unnecessary chances through presumption. He
+had employed his respite to warp the ships of war farther in, where
+the breeze reached less certainly, and where narrower waters gave
+better support to the flanks. He had strengthened the latter also by
+new works, in which he had placed heavy guns from the ships, manned
+by seamen. For these or other reasons d'Estaing did not attack. On the
+29th he quitted the island, and on the 30th the French governor, the
+Chevalier de Micoud, formally capitulated.
+
+This achievement of Barrington and of Major-General James Grant, who
+was associated with him, was greeted at the time with an applause
+which will be echoed by the military judgment of a later age. There
+is a particular pleasure in finding the willingness to incur a great
+risk, conjoined with a care that chances nothing against which the
+utmost diligence and skill can provide. The celerity, forethought,
+wariness, and daring of Admiral Barrington have inscribed upon the
+records of the British Navy a success the distinction of which should
+be measured, not by the largeness of the scale, but by the perfection
+of the workmanship, and by the energy of the execution in face of
+great odds.
+
+Santa Lucia remained in the hands of the British throughout the war.
+It was an important acquisition, because at its north-west extremity
+was a good and defensible anchorage, Gros Ilet Bay, only thirty miles
+from Fort Royal in Martinique. In it the British fleet could lie, when
+desirable to close-watch the enemy, yet not be worried for the safety
+of the port when away; for it was but an outpost, not a base of
+operations, as Fort Royal was. It was thus used continually, and from
+it Rodney issued for his great victory in April, 1782.
+
+During the first six months of 1779 no important incident occurred in
+the West Indies. On the 6th of January, Vice-Admiral Byron, with ten
+ships of the line from Narragansett Bay, reached Santa Lucia, and
+relieved Barrington of the chief command. Both the British and the
+French fleets were reinforced in the course of the spring, but the
+relative strength remained nearly as before, until the 27th of June,
+when the arrival of a division from Brest made the French numbers
+somewhat superior.
+
+Shortly before this, Byron had been constrained by one of the
+commercial exigencies which constantly embarrassed the military
+action of British admirals. A large convoy of trading ships, bound
+to England, was collecting at St. Kitts, and he thought necessary to
+accompany it part of the homeward way, until well clear of the French
+West India cruisers. For this purpose he left Santa Lucia early in
+June. As soon as the coast was clear, d'Estaing, informed of Byron's
+object, sent a small combined expedition against St. Vincent, which
+was surrendered on the 18th of the month. On the 30th the French
+admiral himself quitted Fort Royal with his whole fleet,--twenty-five
+ships of the line and several frigates,--directing his course for the
+British Island of Grenada, before which he anchored on the 2d of July.
+With commendable promptitude, he landed his troops that evening, and
+on the 4th the island capitulated. Except as represented by one small
+armed sloop, which was taken, the British Navy had no part in this
+transaction. Thirty richly laden merchant ships were captured in the
+port.
+
+At daybreak of July 6th, Byron appeared with twenty-one sail of the
+line, one frigate, and a convoy of twenty-eight vessels, carrying
+troops and equipments. He had returned to Santa Lucia on the 1st,
+and there had heard of the loss of St. Vincent, with a rumor that the
+French had gone against Grenada. He consequently had put to sea on the
+3d, with the force mentioned.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The British approach was reported to d'Estaing during the night of
+July 5th. Most of his fleet was then lying at anchor off Georgetown,
+at the south-west of the island; some vessels, which had been under
+way on look-out duty, had fallen to leeward.[57] At 4 A.M. the French
+began to lift their anchors, with orders to form line of battle on
+the starboard tack, in order of speed; that is, as rapidly as possible
+without regard to usual stations. When daylight had fully made, the
+British fleet (A) was seen standing down from the northward, close
+inshore, on the port tack, with the wind free at north-east by east.
+It was not in order, as is evident from the fact that the ships
+nearest the enemy, and therefore first to close, ought to have been
+in the rear on the then tack. For this condition there is no evident
+excuse; for a fleet having a convoy necessarily proceeds so slowly
+that the war-ships can keep reasonable order for mutual support.
+Moreover, irregularities that are permissible in case of emergency,
+or when no enemy can be encountered suddenly, cease to be so when the
+imminent probability of a meeting exists. The worst results of the day
+are to be attributed to this fault. Being short of frigates, Byron had
+assigned three ships of the line (a), under Rear-Admiral Rowley, to
+the convoy, which of course was on the off hand from the enemy, and
+somewhat in the rear. It was understood, however, that these would be
+called into the line, if needed.
+
+When the French (AA) were first perceived by Byron, their line
+was forming; the long thin column lengthening out gradually to the
+north-north-west, from the confused cluster[58] still to be seen at
+the anchorage. Hoping to profit by their disorder, he signalled "a
+general chase in that quarter,[59] as well as for Rear-Admiral Rowley
+to leave the convoy; and as not more than fourteen or fifteen of the
+enemy's ships appeared to be in line, the signal was made for the
+ships to engage, _and form as they could get up_."[60] It is clear
+from this not only that the ships were not in order, but also that
+they were to form under fire. Three ships, the _Sultan_, 74, the
+_Prince of Wales_, 74, and the _Boyne_, 70, in the order named,--the
+second carrying Barrington's flag,--were well ahead of the fleet (b).
+The direction prescribed for the attack, that of the clustered ships
+in the French rear, carried the British down on a south-south-west, or
+south by west, course; and as the enemy's van and centre were drawing
+out to the north-north-west, the two lines at that time resembled the
+legs of a "V," the point of which was the anchorage off Georgetown.
+Barrington's three ships therefore neared the French order gradually,
+and had to receive its fire for some time before they could reply,
+unless, by hauling to the wind, they diverged from the set course.
+This, and their isolation, made their loss very heavy. When they
+reached the rear of the French, the latter's column was tolerably
+formed, and Barrington's ships wore (w) in succession,--just as
+Harland's had done in Keppel's action,--to follow on the other tack.
+In doing this, the _Sultan_ kept away under the stern of the enemy's
+rearmost ship, to rake her; to avoid which the latter bore up. The
+_Sultan_ thus lost time and ground, and Barrington took the lead,
+standing along the French line, from rear to van, and to windward.
+
+Meanwhile, the forming of the enemy had revealed to Byron for the
+first time, and to his dismay, that he had been deceived in thinking
+the French force inferior to his own. "However, the general chase
+was continued, and the signal made for close engagement."[61] The
+remainder of the ships stood down on the port tack, as the first three
+had done, and wore in the wake of the latter, whom they followed; but
+before reaching the point of wearing, three ships, "the _Grafton_,
+74, the _Cornwall_, 74, and the _Lion_, 64 (c), _happening to be to
+leeward_,[62] sustained the fire of the enemy's whole line, as it
+passed on the starboard tack." It seems clear that, having had the
+wind, during the night and now, and being in search of an enemy, it
+should not have "happened" that any ships should have been so far to
+leeward as to be unsupported. Captain Thomas White, R.N., writing as
+an advocate of Byron, says,[63] "while the van was wearing ... the
+sternmost ships were coming up under Rear-Admiral Hyde Parker....
+Among these ships, the _Cornwall_ and _Lion_, from being nearer
+the enemy than those about them (for the rear division had not
+then _formed into line_), drew upon themselves almost the whole of
+the enemy's fire." No words can show more clearly the disastrous,
+precipitate disorder in which this attack was conducted. The
+_Grafton_, White says, was similarly situated. In consequence, these
+three were so crippled, besides a heavy loss in men, that they dropped
+far to leeward and astern (c', c"), when on the other tack.
+
+When the British ships in general had got round, and were in line
+ahead on the starboard tack,--the same as the French,--ranging from
+rear to van of the enemy (Positions B, B, B), Byron signalled for
+the eight leading ships to close together, for mutual support, and
+to engage close. This, which should have been done--not with finikin
+precision, but with military adequacy--before engaging, was less
+easy now, in the din of battle and with crippled ships. A quick-eyed
+subordinate, however, did something to remedy the error of his chief.
+Rear-Admiral Rowley was still considerably astern, having to make
+up the distance between the convoy and the fleet. As he followed the
+latter, he saw Barrington's three ships unduly separated and doubtless
+visibly much mauled. Instead, therefore, of blindly following his
+leader, he cut straight across (aa) to the head of the column to
+support the van,--an act almost absolutely identical with that which
+won Nelson renown at Cape St. Vincent. In this he was followed by the
+_Monmouth_, 64, the brilliancy of whose bearing was so conspicuous to
+the two fleets that it is said the French officers after the battle
+toasted "the little black ship." She and the _Suffolk_, 74, Rowley's
+flagship, also suffered severely in this gallant feat.
+
+It was imperative with Byron now to keep his van well up with the
+enemy, lest he should uncover the convoy, broad on the weather bow
+of the two fleets. "They seemed much inclined to cut off the convoy,
+and had it much in their power by means of their large frigates,
+independent of ships of the line."[64] On the other hand, the
+_Cornwall, Grafton_, and _Lion_, though they got their heads round,
+could not keep up with the fleet (c', c"), and were dropping also to
+leeward--towards the enemy. At noon, or soon after, d'Estaing bore
+up with the body of his force to join some of his vessels that had
+fallen to leeward. Byron very properly--under his conditions of
+inferiority--kept his wind; and the separation of the two fleets, thus
+produced, caused firing to cease at 1 P.M.
+
+The enemies were now ranged on parallel lines, some distance apart;
+still on the starboard tack, heading north-north west. Between the
+two, but far astern, the _Cornwall, Grafton, Lion_, and a fourth
+British ship, the _Fame_, were toiling along, greatly crippled. At 3
+P.M., the French, now in good order, tacked together (t, t, t), which
+caused them to head towards these disabled vessels. Byron at once
+imitated the movement, and the eyes of all in the two fleets anxiously
+watched the result. Captain Cornwallis of the _Lion_, measuring the
+situation accurately, saw that, if he continued ahead, he would be
+in the midst of the French by the time he got abreast of them. Having
+only his foremast standing, he put his helm up, and stood broad off
+before the wind (c"), across the enemy's bows, for Jamaica. He was
+not pursued. The other three, unable to tack and afraid to wear, which
+would put them also in the enemy's power, stood on, passed to windward
+of the latter, receiving several broadsides, and so escaped to the
+northward. The _Monmouth_ was equally maltreated; in fact, she had
+not been able to tack to the southward with the fleet. Continuing
+north (a'), she became now much separated. D'Estaing afterwards
+reestablished his order of battle on the port tack, forming upon the
+then leewardmost ship, on the line BC.
+
+Byron's action off Grenada, viewed as an isolated event, was the most
+disastrous in results that the British Navy had fought since Beachy
+Head, in 1690. That the _Cornwall, Grafton_, and _Lion_ were not
+captured was due simply to the strained and inept caution of the
+French admiral. This Byron virtually admitted. "To my great surprise
+no ship of the enemy was detached after the _Lion_. The _Grafton_ and
+_Cornwall_ might have been weathered by the French, if they had kept
+their wind,... but they persevered so strictly in declining every
+chance of close action that they contented themselves with firing upon
+these ships when passing barely within gunshot, and suffered them to
+rejoin the squadron, without one effort to cut them off." Suffren,[65]
+who led the French on the starboard tack, and whose ship, the
+_Fantasque_, 64, lost 22 killed and 43 wounded, wrote: "Had our
+admiral's seamanship equalled his courage, we would not have allowed
+four dismasted ships to escape." That the _Monmouth_ and _Fame_ could
+also have been secured is extremely probable; and if Byron, in order
+to save them, had borne down to renew the action, the disaster might
+have become a catastrophe.
+
+That nothing resulted to the French from their great advantage
+is therefore to be ascribed to the incapacity of their
+Commander-in-Chief. It is instructive to note also the causes of the
+grave calamity which befell the British, when twenty-one ships met
+twenty-four,[66]--a sensible but not overwhelming superiority. These
+facts have been shown sufficiently. Byron's disaster was due to
+attacking with needless precipitation, and in needless disorder.
+He had the weather-gage, it was early morning, and the northeast
+trade-wind, already a working breeze, must freshen as the day
+advanced. The French were tied to their new conquest, which they could
+not abandon without humiliation; not to speak of their troops ashore.
+Even had they wished to retreat, they could not have done so before
+a general chase, unless prepared to sacrifice their slower ships.
+If twenty-four ships could reconcile themselves to running from
+twenty-one, it was scarcely possible but that the fastest of these
+would overtake the slowest of those. There was time for fighting, an
+opportunity for forcing action which could not be evaded, and time
+also for the British to form in reasonably good order.
+
+It is important to consider this, because, while Keppel must be
+approved for attacking in partial disorder, Byron must be blamed for
+attacking in utter disorder. Keppel had to snatch opportunity from
+an unwilling foe. Having himself the lee-gage, he could not pick
+and choose, nor yet manoeuvre; yet he brought his fleet into action,
+giving mutual support throughout nearly, if not quite, the whole line.
+What Byron did has been set forth; the sting is that his bungling
+tactics can find no extenuation in any urgency of the case.
+
+The loss of the two fleets, as given by the authorities of either
+nation, were: British, 183 killed, 346 wounded; French, 190 killed,
+759 wounded. Of the British total, 126 killed and 235 wounded, or two
+thirds, fell to the two groups of three ships each, which by Byron's
+mismanagement were successively exposed to be cut up in detail by
+the concentrated fire of the enemy. The British loss in spars and
+sails--in motive-power--also exceeded greatly that of the French.
+
+After the action d'Estaing returned quietly to Grenada. Byron went
+to St. Kitts to refit; but repairs were most difficult, owing to the
+dearth of stores in which the Admiralty had left the West Indies. With
+all the skill of the seamen of that day in making good damages, the
+ships remained long unserviceable, causing great apprehension for the
+other islands. This state of things d'Estaing left unimproved, as he
+had his advantage in the battle. He did, indeed, parade his superior
+force before Byron's fleet as it lay at anchor; but, beyond the
+humiliation naturally felt by a Navy which prided itself on ruling the
+sea, no further injury was done.
+
+In August Byron sailed for England. Barrington had already gone home,
+wounded. The station therefore was left in command of Rear-Admiral
+Hyde Parker,[67] and so remained until March, 1780, when the
+celebrated Rodney arrived as Commander-in-Chief on the Leeward Islands
+Station. The North American Station was given to Vice-Admiral Marriot
+Arbuthnot, who had under him a half-dozen ships of the line, with
+headquarters at New York. His command was ordinarily independent of
+Rodney's, but the latter had no hesitation in going to New York on
+emergency and taking charge there; in doing which he had the approval
+of the Admiralty.
+
+The approach of winter in 1778 had determined the cessation of
+operations, both naval and military, in the northern part of the
+American continent, and had led to the transfer of five thousand
+troops to the West Indies, already noted. At the same time, an
+unjustifiable extension of British effort, having regard to the
+disposable means, was undertaken in the southern States of Georgia and
+South Carolina. On the 27th of November a small detachment of troops
+under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell, sailed from Sandy
+Hook, convoyed by a division of frigates commanded by Captain Hyde
+Parker.[68] The expedition entered the Savannah River four weeks
+later, and soon afterwards occupied the city of the same name.
+Simultaneously with this, by Clinton's orders, General Prevost moved
+from Florida, then a British colony, with all the men he could spare
+from the defence of St. Augustine. Upon his arrival in Savannah he
+took command of the whole force thus assembled.
+
+These operations, which during 1779 extended as far as the
+neighbourhood of Charleston, depended upon the control of the water,
+and are a conspicuous example of misapplication of power to the point
+of ultimate self-destruction. They were in 1778-79 essentially of a
+minor character, especially the maritime part, and will therefore be
+dismissed with the remark that the Navy, by small vessels, accompanied
+every movement in a country cut up in all directions by watercourses,
+big and little. "The defence of this province," wrote Parker, "must
+greatly depend on the naval force upon the different inland creeks.
+I am therefore forming some galleys covered from musketry, which
+I believe will have a good effect." These were precursors of the
+"tin-clads" of the American War of Secession, a century later. Not
+even an armored ship is a new thing under the sun.
+
+In the southern States, from Georgia to Virginia, the part of the Navy
+from first to last was subsidiary, though important. It is therefore
+unnecessary to go into details, but most necessary to note that here,
+by misdirection of effort and abuse of means, was initiated the fatal
+movement which henceforth divided the small British army in North
+America into two sections, wholly out of mutual support. Here Sir
+William Howe's error of 1777 was reproduced on a larger scale and
+was therefore more fatal. This led directly, by the inevitable logic
+of a false position, to Cornwallis's march through North Carolina
+into Virginia, to Yorktown in 1781, and to the signal demonstration
+of sea power off Chesapeake Bay, which at a blow accomplished the
+independence of the United States. No hostile strategist could
+have severed the British army more hopelessly than did the British
+government; no fate could have been more inexorable than was its own
+perverse will. The personal alienation and official quarrel between
+Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis, their divided counsels and
+divergent action, were but the natural result, and the reflection, of
+a situation essentially self-contradictory and exasperating.
+
+As the hurricane season of 1779 advanced, d'Estaing, who had orders
+to bring back to France the ships of the line with which he had sailed
+from Toulon in 1778, resolved to go first upon the American coast, off
+South Carolina or Georgia. Arriving with his whole fleet at the mouth
+of the Savannah, August 31st, he decided to attempt to wrest the city
+of Savannah from the British. This would have been of real service
+to the latter, had it nipped in the bud their ex-centric undertaking;
+but, after three weeks of opening trenches, an assault upon the place
+failed. D'Estaing then sailed for Europe with the ships designated
+to accompany him, the others returning to the West Indies in two
+squadrons, under de Grasse and La Motte-Picquet. Though fruitless
+in its main object, this enterprise of d'Estaing had the important
+indirect effect of causing the British to abandon Narragansett Bay.
+Upon the news of his appearance, Sir Henry Clinton had felt that, with
+his greatly diminished army, he could not hold both Rhode Island and
+New York. He therefore ordered the evacuation of the former, thus
+surrendering, to use again Rodney's words, "the best and noblest
+harbour in America." The following summer it was occupied in force by
+the French.
+
+D'Estaing was succeeded in the chief command, in the West Indies and
+North America, by Rear-Admiral de Guichen,[69] who arrived on the
+station in March, 1780, almost at the same moment as Rodney.
+
+[Footnote 54: The French accounts say three.]
+
+[Footnote 55: Beatson, "Military and Naval Memoirs," iv. 390.]
+
+[Footnote 56: Santa Lucia being in the region of the north-east trade
+winds, north and east are always windwardly relatively to south and
+west.]
+
+[Footnote 57: To the westward. These islands lie in the trade-winds,
+which are constant in _general_ direction from north-east.]
+
+[Footnote 58: Admiral Keppel, in his evidence before the Palliser
+Court, gave an interesting description of a similar scene, although
+the present writer is persuaded that he was narrating things as they
+seemed, rather than as they were--as at Grenada. "The French were
+forming their line exactly in the manner M. Conflans did when attacked
+by Admiral Hawke." (Keppel had been in that action.) "It is a manner
+peculiar to themselves; and to those who do not understand it, it
+appears like confusion. They draw out ship by ship from a cluster."]
+
+[Footnote 59: That is, towards the ships at anchor,--the enemy's rear
+as matters then were.]
+
+[Footnote 60: Byron's Report. The italics are the author's.]
+
+[Footnote 61: Byron's Report.]
+
+[Footnote 62: Ibid. Author's italics.]
+
+[Footnote 63: "Naval Researches." London, 1830, p. 22.]
+
+[Footnote 64: Byron's Report.]
+
+[Footnote 65: Pierre A. de Suffren de Saint Tropez, a Bailli of the
+Order of Knights of Malta. Born, 1726. Present at two naval actions
+before he was twenty. Participated in 1756 in the attack on Port
+Mahon, and in 1759 in the action off Lagos. Chef d'escadre in 1779.
+Dispatched to the East Indies in 1781. Fought a British squadron
+in the Bay of Praya, and a succession of brilliant actions with Sir
+Edward Hughes, 1782-83. Vice-Admiral, 1783. Killed in a duel, 1788.
+One of the greatest of French naval officers.--W.L.C.]
+
+[Footnote 66: Troude says that one French seventy-four, having touched
+in leaving port, was not in the engagement.]
+
+[Footnote 67: First of the name. Born 1714. In 1780, he fell under
+Rodney's censure, and went home. In 1781, he commanded in the general
+action with the Dutch, known as the Dogger Bank. In 1782, he sailed
+for the East Indies in the _Cato_, 64; which ship was never again
+heard from.]
+
+[Footnote 68: Sir Hyde Parker, Kt. Second of the name, son of the
+first. Born, 1739. Captain, 1763. Rear-Admiral, 1793. Vice-Admiral,
+1794. Admiral, 1799. Died, 1807. Nelson's chief at Copenhagen, in
+1801.]
+
+[Footnote 69: Louis Urbain de Bouenic, Comte de Guichen. Born, 1712.
+Entered the navy, 1730. Commanded the _Illustre_ with success in North
+America in 1756. Second in command in the action off Ushant in 1778.
+Thrice fought Rodney in the West Indies in 1780. Fought Kempenfelt off
+the Azores in 1781. Died, 1790.--W.L.C.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE NAVAL WAR IN EUROPEAN WATERS, 1779. ALLIED FLEETS INVADE THE
+ENGLISH CHANNEL. RODNEY DESTROYS TWO SPANISH SQUADRONS AND RELIEVES
+GIBRALTAR
+
+
+In June, 1779, the maritime situation of Great Britain had become
+much more serious by Spain's declaring war. At the same moment that
+d'Estaing with twenty-five ships of the line had confronted Byron's
+twenty-one, the Channel fleet of forty sail had seen gathering against
+it a host of sixty-six. Of this great number thirty-six were Spanish.
+
+The open declaration of Spain had been preceded by a secret alliance
+with France, signed on the 12th of April. Fearing that the British
+government would take betimes the reasonable and proper step of
+blockading the Brest fleet of thirty with the Channel forty, thus
+assuming a central position with reference to its enemies and
+anticipating the policy of Lord St. Vincent, the French Ministry
+hurried its ships to sea on the 4th of June; Admiral d'Orvilliers,
+Keppel's opponent, still in command. His orders were to cruise near
+the island of Cizarga, off the north-west coast of Spain, where
+the Spaniards were to join him. On the 11th of June he was at the
+rendezvous, but not till the 23d of July did the bulk of the Spanish
+force appear. During this time, the French, insufficiently equipped
+from the first, owing to the haste of their departure, were consuming
+provisions and water, not to speak of wasting pleasant summer weather.
+Their ships also were ravaged by an epidemic fever. Upon the junction,
+d'Orvilliers found that the Spaniards had not been furnished with the
+French system of signals, although by the treaty the French admiral
+was to be in chief command. The rectification of this oversight caused
+further delay, but on the 11th of August the combined fleet sighted
+Ushant, and on the 14th was off the Lizard. On the 16th it appeared
+before Plymouth, and there on the 17th captured the British 64-gun
+ship _Ardent_.
+
+Thirty-five ships of the Channel fleet had gone to sea on the 16th of
+June, and now were cruising outside, under the command of Admiral Sir
+Charles Hardy. His station was from ten to twenty leagues south-west
+of Scilly; consequently he had not been seen by the enemy, who from
+Ushant had stood up the Channel. The allies, now nearly double the
+numbers of the British, were between them and their ports,--a serious
+situation doubtless, but by no means desperate; not so dangerous for
+sailing ships as it probably will be for steamers to have an enemy
+between them and their coal.
+
+The alarm in England was very great, especially in the south. On the
+9th of July a royal proclamation had commanded all horses and cattle
+to be driven from the coasts, in case of invasion. Booms had been
+placed across the entrance to Plymouth Harbor, and orders were sent
+from the Admiralty to sink vessels across the harbour's mouth. Many
+who had the means withdrew into the interior, which increased the
+panic. Great merchant fleets were then on the sea, homeward bound.
+If d'Orvilliers were gone to cruise in the approaches to the Channel,
+instead of to the Spanish coast, these might be taken; and for some
+time his whereabouts were unknown. As it was, the Jamaica convoy, over
+two hundred sail, got in a few days before the allies appeared, and
+the Leeward Islands fleet had similar good fortune. Eight homeward
+bound East Indiamen were less lucky, but, being warned of their
+danger, took refuge in the Shannon, and there remained till the
+trouble blew over. On the other hand, the stock market stood firm.
+Nevertheless, it was justly felt that such a state of things as a
+vastly superior hostile fleet in the Channel should not have been. Sir
+John Jervis, afterward Earl St. Vincent, who commanded a ship in the
+fleet, wrote to his sister: "What a humiliating state is our country
+reduced to!" but he added that he laughed at the idea of invasion.
+
+The French had placed a force of fifty thousand men at Le Havre and
+St. Malo, and collected four hundred vessels for their transport.
+Their plans were not certainly known, but enough had transpired
+to cause reasonable anxiety; and the crisis, on its face, was very
+serious. Not their own preparations, but the inefficiency of their
+enemies, in counsel and in preparation, saved the British Islands
+from invasion. What the results of this would have been is another
+question,--a question of land warfare. The original scheme of the
+French Ministry was to seize the Isle of Wight, securing Spithead as
+an anchorage for the fleet, and to prosecute their enterprise from
+this near and reasonably secure base. Referring to this first project,
+d'Orvilliers wrote: "We will seek the enemy at St. Helen's,[70] and
+then, if I find that roadstead unoccupied, or make myself master of
+it, I will send word to Marshal De Vaux, at Le Havre, and inform him
+of the measures I will take to insure his passage, which [measures]
+will depend upon the position of the English main fleet [dependront
+des forces superieures des Anglais]. That is to say, I myself will
+lead the combined fleet on that side [against their main body], to
+contain the enemy, and I will send, on the other side [to convoy],
+a light squadron, with a sufficient number of ships of the line and
+frigates; or I will propose to M. de Cordova to take this latter
+station, in order that the passage of the army may be free and sure.
+I assume that then, either by the engagement I shall have fought with
+the enemy, _or by their retreat into their ports_, I shall be certain
+of their situation and of the success of the operation."[71] It will
+be observed that d'Orvilliers, accounted then and now one of the best
+officers of his day in the French navy, takes here into full account
+the British "fleet in being." The main body of the allies, fifty
+ships, was to hold this in check, while a smaller force--Cordova had
+command of a special "squadron of observation," of sixteen ships of
+the line--was to convoy the crossing.
+
+These projects all fell to pieces before a strong east wind, and a
+change of mind in the French government. On the 16th of August, before
+Plymouth, d'Orvilliers was notified that not the Isle of Wight, but
+the coast of Cornwall, near Falmouth, was to be the scene of landing.
+The effect of this was to deprive the huge fleet of any anchorage,--a
+resource necessary even to steamers, and far more to sailing vessels
+aiming to remain in a position. As a point to begin shore operations,
+too, as well as to sustain them, such a remote corner of the country
+to be invaded was absurd. D'Orvilliers duly represented all this, but
+could not stay where he was long enough to get a reply. An easterly
+gale came on, which blew hard for several days and drove the allies
+out of the Channel. On the 25th of August word was received that the
+British fleet was near Scilly. A council of war was then held, which
+decided that, in view of the terrible increase of disease in the
+shipping, and of the shortness of provisions, it was expedient not to
+reenter the Channel, but to seek the enemy, and bring him to battle.
+This was done. On the 29th Hardy was sighted, being then on his return
+up Channel. With the disparity of force he could not but decline
+action, and the allies were unable to compel it. On the 3d of
+September he reached Spithead. D'Orvilliers soon afterwards received
+orders to return to Brest, and on the 14th the combined fleet anchored
+there.
+
+The criticism to be passed on the conduct of this summer campaign by
+the British Ministry is twofold. In the first place, it was not ready
+according to the reasonable standard of the day, which recognised
+in the probable cooperation of the two Bourbon kingdoms, France and
+Spain, the measure of the minimum naval force permissible to Great
+Britain. Secondly, the entrance of Spain into the war had been
+foreseen months before. For the inferior force, therefore, it was
+essential to prevent a junction,--to take an interior position. The
+Channel fleet ought to have been off Brest before the French sailed.
+After they were gone, there was still fair ground for the contention
+of the Opposition, that they should have been followed, and attacked,
+off the coast of Spain. During the six weeks they waited there, they
+were inferior to Hardy's force. Allowance here must be made, however,
+for the inability of a representative government to disregard popular
+outcry, and to uncover the main approach to its own ports. This,
+indeed, does but magnify the error made in not watching Brest betimes;
+for in such case a fleet before Brest covered also the Channel.
+
+With regard to the objects of the war in which they had become
+partners, the views of France and Spain accorded in but one
+point,--the desirability of injuring Great Britain. Each had its
+own special aim for its own advantage. This necessarily introduced
+divergence of effort; but, France having first embarked alone in the
+contest and then sought the aid of Spain, the particular objects of
+her ally naturally obtained from the beginning a certain precedence.
+Until near the close of the war, it may be said that the chief
+ambitions of France were in the West Indies; those of Spain, in
+Europe,--to regain Minorca and Gibraltar.
+
+In this way Gibraltar became a leading factor in the contest, and
+affected, directly or indirectly, the major operations throughout the
+world, by the amount of force absorbed in attacking and preserving
+it. After the futile effort in the Channel, in 1779, Spain recalled
+her vessels from Brest. "The project of a descent upon England was
+abandoned provisionally. To blockade Gibraltar, to have in America and
+Asia force sufficient to hold the British in check, and to take the
+offensive in the West Indies,--such," wrote the French government to
+its ambassador in Madrid, "was the plan of campaign adopted for 1780."
+Immediately upon the declaration of war, intercourse between Gibraltar
+and the Spanish mainland was stopped. Soon afterwards a blockade by
+sea was instituted; fifteen cruisers being stationed at the entrance
+of the Bay, where they seized and sent into Spanish ports all vessels,
+neutral or British, bound to the Rock. This blockade was effectively
+supported from Cadiz, but a Spanish force of some ships of the
+line and many small vessels also maintained it more directly from
+Algeciras, on the Spanish side of the Bay of Gibraltar. The British
+Mediterranean squadron, then consisting only of one 60-gun ship,
+three frigates, and a sloop, was wholly unable to afford relief. At
+the close of the year 1779, flour in Gibraltar was fourteen guineas
+the barrel, and other provisions in proportion. It became therefore
+imminently necessary to throw in supplies of all kinds, as well as to
+reinforce the garrison. To this service Rodney was assigned; and with
+it he began the brilliant career, the chief scene of which was to be
+in the West Indies.
+
+Rodney was appointed to command the Leeward Islands Station on the
+1st of October, 1779. He was to be accompanied there immediately by
+only four or five ships of the line; but advantage was taken of his
+sailing, to place under the charge of an officer of his approved
+reputation a great force, composed of his small division and a large
+fraction of the Channel fleet, to convey supplies and reinforcements
+to Gibraltar and Minorca. On the 29th of December the whole body,
+after many delays in getting down Channel, put to sea from Plymouth:
+twenty-two ships of the line, fourteen frigates and smaller vessels,
+besides a huge collection of storeships, victuallers, ordnance
+vessels, troop-ships, and merchantmen,--the last named being the
+"trade" for the West Indies and Portugal.
+
+On the 7th of January, 1780, a hundred leagues west of Cape
+Finisterre, the West India ships parted for their destination, under
+convoy of a ship of the line and three frigates. At daylight on
+the 8th, twenty-two sail were seen to the north-east, the squadron
+apparently having passed them in the night. Chase was at once given,
+and the whole were taken in a few hours. Seven were ships of war, one
+64 and six frigates; the remainder merchant vessels, laden with naval
+stores and provisions for the Spanish fleet at Cadiz. The provision
+ships, twelve in number, were diverted at once to the relief of
+Gibraltar, under charge of the Spanish sixty-four, which had been one
+of their convoy before capture, and was now manned by a British crew.
+Continuing on, intelligence was received from time to time by passing
+vessels that a Spanish squadron was cruising off Cape St. Vincent.
+Thus forewarned, orders were given to all captains to be prepared
+for battle as the Cape was neared. On the 16th it was passed, and at
+1 P.M. sails in the south-east were signalled. These were a Spanish
+squadron of eleven ships of the line, and two 26-gun frigates. Rodney
+at once bore down for them under a press of canvas, making signal for
+the line abreast.[72] Seeing, however, that the enemy was trying to
+form line of battle ahead on the starboard tack, which with a westerly
+wind was with heads to the southward, towards Cadiz, a hundred miles
+to the south-east, he changed the orders to a "General Chase," the
+ships to engage as they came up; "to leeward," so as to get between
+the enemy and his port, and "in rotation," by which probably was
+meant that the leading British vessel should attack the sternmost of
+the Spaniards, and that her followers should pass her to leeward,
+successively engaging from the enemy's rear towards the van.
+
+At 4 P.M. the signal for battle was made, and a few minutes later
+the four headmost of the pursuers got into action. At 4.40 one of the
+Spanish ships, the _Santo Domingo_, 80, blew up with all on board, and
+at 6 another struck. By this hour, it being January, darkness had set
+in. A night action therefore followed, which lasted until 2 A.M., when
+the headmost of the enemy surrendered, and all firing ceased. Of the
+eleven hostile ships of the line, only four escaped. Besides the
+one blown up, six were taken. These were the _Fenix_, 80, flag of
+the Spanish Admiral, Don Juan de Langara, the _Monarca_, 70, the
+_Princesa_, 70, the _Diligente_, 70, the _San Julian_, 70, and the
+_San Eugenio_, 70. The two latter drove ashore and were lost.[73] The
+remaining four were brought into Gibraltar, and were ultimately added
+to the Navy. All retained their old names, save the _Fenix_, which
+was renamed _Gibraltar_. "The weather during the night," by Rodney's
+report, "was at times very tempestuous, with a great sea. It continued
+very bad weather the next day, when the _Royal George_, 100, _Prince
+George_, 90, _Sandwich_, 90 (Rodney's flagship), and several other
+ships were in great danger, and under the necessity of making sail to
+avoid the shoals of San Lucar, nor did they get into deep water till
+the next morning."
+
+It was in this danger from a lee shore, which was deliberately though
+promptly incurred, that the distinction of this action of Rodney's
+consists. The enemy's squadron, being only eleven ships of the line,
+was but half the force of the British, and it was taken by surprise;
+which, to be sure, is no excuse for a body of war-ships in war-time.
+Caught unawares, the Spaniards took to flight too late. It was
+Rodney's merit, and no slight one under the conditions of weather and
+navigation, that they were not permitted to retrieve their mistake.
+His action left nothing to be desired in resolution or readiness. It
+is true that Rodney discussed the matter with his flag-captain, Walter
+Young, and that rumor attributed the merit of the decision to the
+latter; but this sort of detraction is of too common occurrence to
+affect opinion. Sir Gilbert Blane, Physician to the Fleet, gives
+the following account: "When it was close upon sunset, it became a
+question whether the chase should be continued. After some discussion
+between the Admiral and Captain, at which I was present, the Admiral
+being confined with the gout, it was decided to persist in the same
+course, with the signal to engage to leeward." Rodney at that time
+was nearly sixty-two, and a constant martyr to gout in both feet and
+hands.
+
+The two successes by the way imparted a slightly triumphal character
+to the welcome of the Admiral by the garrison, then sorely in need
+of some good news. The arrival of much-needed supplies from home was
+itself a matter of rejoicing; but it was more inspiriting still to see
+following in the train of the friendly fleet five hostile ships of
+the line, one of them bearing the flag of a Commander-in-Chief, and
+to hear that, besides these, three more had been sunk or destroyed.
+The exultation in England was even greater, and especially at the
+Admiralty, which was labouring under the just indignation of the
+people for the unpreparedness of the Navy. "You have taken more
+line-of-battle ships," wrote the First Lord to Rodney, "than had been
+captured in any one action in either of the two last preceding wars."
+
+It should be remembered, too, as an element in the triumph, that this
+advantage over an exposed detachment had been snatched, as it were, in
+the teeth of a main fleet superior to Rodney's own; for twenty Spanish
+and four French ships of the line, under Admiral de Cordova, were
+lying then in Cadiz Bay. During the eighteen days when the British
+remained in and near the Straits, no attempt was made by Cordova to
+take revenge for the disaster, or to reap the benefit of superior
+force. The inaction was due, probably, to the poor condition of the
+Spanish ships in point of efficiency and equipment, and largely to
+their having uncoppered bottoms. This element of inferiority in the
+Spanish navy should be kept in mind as a factor in the general war,
+although Spanish fleets did not come much into battle. A French
+Commodore, then with the Spanish fleet in Ferrol, wrote as follows:
+"Their ships all sail so badly that they can neither overtake an enemy
+nor escape from one. The _Glorieux_ is a bad sailer in the French
+navy, but better than the best among the Spaniards." He adds: "The
+vessels of Langara's squadron were surprised at immense distances
+one from the other. Thus they always sail, and their negligence and
+security on this point are incredible."
+
+On approaching Gibraltar, the continuance of bad weather, and the
+strong easterly current of the Straits, set many of Rodney's ships and
+convoy to leeward, to the back of the Rock, and it was not till the
+26th that the flagship herself anchored. The storeships for Minorca
+were sent on at once, under charge of three coppered ships of the
+line. The practice of coppering, though then fully adopted, had not
+yet been extended to all vessels. As an element of speed, it was an
+important factor on an occasion like this, when time pressed to get
+to the West Indies; as it also was in an engagement. The action on the
+16th had been opened by the coppered ships of the line, which first
+overtook the retreating enemy and brought his rear to battle. In
+the French navy at the time, Suffren was urging the adoption upon an
+apparently reluctant Minister. It would seem to have been more general
+among the British, going far to compensate for the otherwise inferior
+qualities of their ships. "The Spanish men-of-war we have taken,"
+wrote Rodney to his wife concerning these prizes, "are much superior
+to ours." It may be remembered that Nelson, thirteen years later, said
+the same of the Spanish vessels which came under his observation. "I
+never saw finer ships." "I perceive you cry out loudly for coppered
+ships," wrote the First Lord to Rodney after this action; "and I
+am therefore determined to stop your mouth. You shall have copper
+enough."
+
+Upon the return of the Minorca ships, Rodney put to sea again on the
+13th of February, for the West Indies. The detachment from the Channel
+fleet accompanied him three days' sail on his way, and then parted
+for England with the prizes. On this return voyage it fell in with
+fifteen French supply vessels, convoyed by two 64's, bound for the
+Ile de France,[74] in the Indian Ocean. One of the ships of war, the
+_Protee_, and three of the storeships were taken. Though trivial, the
+incident illustrates the effect of operations in Europe upon war in
+India. It may be mentioned here as indicative of the government's
+dilemmas, that Rodney was censured for having left one ship of the
+line at the Rock. "It has given us the trouble _and risk_ of sending
+a frigate on purpose to order her home immediately; and if you will
+look into your original instructions, you will find that there was
+no point more strongly guarded against than that of your leaving
+any line-of-battle ship behind you." These words clearly show the
+exigency and peril of the general situation, owing to the inadequate
+development of the naval force as compared with its foes. Such
+isolated ships ran the gantlet of the fleets in Cadiz, Ferrol, and
+Brest flanking the routes.
+
+[Footnote 70: An anchorage three miles to seaward of Spithead.]
+
+[Footnote 71: Chevalier, "Marine Francaise," 1778, p. 165. Author's
+italics.]
+
+[Footnote 72: In line "abreast," as the word indicates, the ships are
+not in each other's wake, as in line "ahead," but abreast; that is,
+ranged on a line perpendicular to the course steered.]
+
+[Footnote 73: Rodney's Report. Chevalier says that one of them was
+retaken by her crew and carried into Cadiz.]
+
+[Footnote 74: Now the British Mauritius.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+RODNEY AND DE GUICHEN'S NAVAL CAMPAIGN IN WEST INDIES. DE GUICHEN
+RETURNS TO EUROPE, AND RODNEY GOES TO NEW YORK. LORD CORNWALLIS IN THE
+CAROLINAS. TWO NAVAL ACTIONS OF COMMODORE CORNWALLIS. RODNEY RETURNS
+TO WEST INDIES
+
+
+When Rodney arrived at Santa Lucia with his four ships of the line, on
+March 27, 1780, he found there a force of sixteen others, composed in
+about equal proportions of ships that had left England with Byron in
+the summer of 1778, and of a reinforcement brought by Rear-Admiral
+Rowley in the spring of 1779.
+
+During the temporary command of Rear-Admiral Hyde Parker, between
+the departure of Byron and the arrival of Rodney, a smart affair had
+taken place between a detachment of the squadron and one from the
+French division, under La Motte-Picquet, then lying in Fort Royal,
+Martinique.
+
+On the 18th of December, 1779, between 8 and 9 A.M., the British
+look-out ship, the _Preston_, 50, between Martinique and Santa Lucia
+made signal for a fleet to windward, which proved to be a body of
+French supply ships, twenty-six in number, under convoy of a frigate.
+Both the British and the French squadrons were in disarray, sails
+unbent, ships on the heel or partially disarmed, crews ashore for
+wood and water. In both, signals flew at once for certain ships to
+get under way, and in both the orders were executed with a rapidity
+gratifying to the two commanders, who also went out in person. The
+British, however, were outside first, with five sail of the line and
+a 50-gun ship. Nine of the supply vessels were captured by them, and
+four forced ashore. The French Rear-Admiral had by this time got
+out of Fort Royal with three ships of the line,--the _Annibal_, 74,
+_Vengeur_, 64, and _Reflechi_, 64,--and, being to windward, covered
+the entrance of the remainder of the convoy. As the two hostile
+divisions were now near each other, with a fine working breeze, the
+British tried to beat up to the enemy; the _Conqueror_, 74, Captain
+Walter Griffith, being ahead and to windward of her consorts. Coming
+within range at 5, firing began between her and the French flagship,
+_Annibal_, 74, and subsequently between her and all the three vessels
+of the enemy. Towards sunset, the _Albion_, 74, had got close up with
+the _Conqueror_, and the other ships were within distant range; "but
+as they had worked not only well within the dangers of the shoals of
+the bay (Fort Royal), but within reach of the batteries, I called them
+off by night signal at a quarter before seven."[75] In this chivalrous
+skirmish,--for it was little more, although the injury to the French
+in the loss of the convoy was notable,--Parker was equally delighted
+with his own squadron and with his enemy. "The steadiness and coolness
+with which on every tack the _Conqueror_ received the fire of these
+three ships, and returned her own, working his ship with as much
+exactness as if he had been turning into Spithead, and on every
+board gaining on the enemy, gave me infinite pleasure. It was with
+inexpressible concern," he added, "that I heard that Captain Walter
+Griffith, of the _Conqueror_, was killed by the last broadside."[76]
+Having occasion, a few days later, to exchange a flag of truce
+with the French Rear-Admiral, he wrote to him; "The conduct of your
+Excellency in the affair of the 18th of this month fully justifies the
+reputation which you enjoy among us, and I assure you that I could not
+witness without envy the skill you showed on that occasion. Our enmity
+is transient, depending upon our masters; but your merit has stamped
+upon my heart the greatest admiration for yourself." This was the
+officer who was commonly known in his time as "Vinegar" Parker; but
+these letters show that the epithet fitted the rind rather than the
+kernel.
+
+Shortly after de Guichen[77] took command, in March, 1780, he arranged
+with the Marquis de Bouille, Governor of Martinique, to make a
+combined attack upon some one of the British West India Islands. For
+this purpose three thousand troops were embarked in the fleet, which
+sailed on the night of the 13th of April, 1780, intending first to
+accompany a convoy for Santo Domingo, until it was safely out of
+reach of the British. Rodney, who was informed at once of the French
+departure, put to sea in chase with all his ships, twenty of the line,
+two of which were of 90 guns, and on the 16th came in sight of the
+enemy to leeward (westward) of Martinique, beating up against the
+north-east trade-winds, and intending to pass through the channel
+between that island and Dominica. "A general chase to the north-west
+followed, and at five in the evening we plainly discovered that they
+consisted of twenty-three sail of the line, and one 50 gun ship."[78]
+
+As it fell dark Rodney formed his line of battle, standing still to
+the north-west, therefore on the starboard tack; and he was attentive
+to keep to windward of the enemy, whom his frigates watched diligently
+during the night. "Their manoeuvres," he wrote, "indicated a wish to
+avoid battle," and he therefore was careful to counteract them. At
+daylight of April 17th, they were seen forming line of battle, on the
+port tack, four or five leagues to leeward,--that is, to the westward.
+The wind being east, or east by north, the French would be heading
+south-south-east (Fig. 1, aa). The British order now was rectified by
+signal from the irregularities of darkness, the ships being directed
+to keep two cables'[79] lengths apart, and steering as before to
+the northward and westward. At 7 A.M., considering this line too
+extended, the Admiral closed the intervals to one cable (aa). The two
+fleets thus were passing on nearly parallel lines, but in opposite
+directions, which tended to bring the whole force of Rodney, whose
+line was better and more compact than the enemy's, abreast the
+latter's rear, upon which he intended to concentrate. At 8 A.M. he
+made general signal that this was his purpose; and at 8.30, to execute
+it, he signalled for the ships to form line abreast, bearing from each
+other south by east and north by west, and stood down at once upon
+the enemy (Fig. 1, bb). The object of the British being evident, de
+Guichen made his fleet wear together to the starboard tack (bb).
+The French rear thus became the van, and their former van, which was
+stretched too far for prompt assistance to the threatened rear, now
+headed to support it.
+
+Rodney, baulked in his first spring, hauled at once to the wind on the
+port tack (Fig. 1, _cc_), again contrary to the French, standing thus
+once more along their line, for their new rear. The intervals were
+opened out again to two cables. The fleets thus were passing once more
+on parallel lines, each having reversed its order; but the British
+still retained the advantage, on whatever course and interval, that
+they were much more compact than the French, whose line, by Rodney's
+estimate, extended four leagues in length.[80] The wariness of the
+two combatants, both trained in the school of the eighteenth century
+with its reverence for the line of battle, will appear to the careful
+reader. Rodney, although struggling through this chrysalis stage
+to the later vigor, and seriously bent on a deadly blow, still was
+constrained by the traditions of watchful fencing. Nor was his caution
+extravagant; conditions did not justify yet the apparent recklessness
+of Nelson's tactics. "The different movements of the enemy," he wrote,
+"obliged me to be very attentive, and watch every opportunity that
+offered of attacking them to advantage."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The two fleets continued to stand on opposite parallel courses--the
+French north by west, the British south by east--until the flagship
+_Sandwich_, 90, (Fig. 2, S^1) was abreast the _Couronne_, 80, (C), the
+flagship of de Guichen. Then, at 10.10 A.M., the signal was made to
+wear together, forming on the same tack as the enemy. There being some
+delay in execution, this had to be repeated, and further enforced by
+the pennant of the _Stirling Castle_, which, as the rear ship, should
+begin the evolution. At half-past ten, apparently, the fleet was about
+(Fig. 2, aa), for an order was then given for rectifying the line,
+still at two cables. At 11 A.M. the Admiral made the signal to prepare
+for battle, "to convince the whole fleet I was determined to bring the
+enemy to an engagement,"[81] and to this succeeded shortly the order
+to alter the course to port (bb), towards the enemy.[82] Why he
+thought that any of the fleet should have required such assurance
+cannot certainly be said. Possibly, although he had so recently
+joined, he had already detected the ill-will, or the slackness, of
+which he afterwards complained; possibly he feared that the wariness
+of his tactics might lead men to believe that he did not mean to
+exceed the lukewarm and indecisive action of days scarce yet passed
+away, which had led Suffren to stigmatize tactics as a mere veil,
+behind which timidity thinks to hide its nakedness.
+
+At 11.50 A.M. the decisive signal was made "for every ship to bear
+down, and steer for _her opposite in the enemy's line_, agreeable
+to the 21st article of the Additional Fighting Instructions." Five
+minutes later, when the ships, presumably, had altered their course
+for the enemy, the signal for battle was made, followed by the message
+that the Admiral's intention was to engage closely; he expecting,
+naturally, that every ship would follow the example he purposed to
+set. The captain of the ship which in the formation (aa) had been
+the leader, upon whose action depended that of those near her,
+unfortunately understood Rodney's signal to mean that he was to
+attack the enemy's leader, not the ship opposite to him at the moment
+of bearing away. This ship, therefore, diverged markedly from the
+Admiral's course, drawing after her many of the van. A few minutes
+before 1 P.M., one of the headmost ships began to engage at long
+range; but it was not till some time after 1 P.M. that the _Sandwich_,
+having received several broadsides, came into close action (S^2) with
+the second vessel astern from the French Admiral, the _Actionnaire_,
+64. The latter was soon beat out of the line by the superiority of
+the _Sandwich's_ battery, and the same lot befell the ship astern of
+her,--probably the _Intrepide_, 74,--which came up to close the gap.
+Towards 2.30 P.M., the _Sandwich_, either by her own efforts to
+close, or by her immediate opponents' keeping away, was found to be
+to leeward (S^3) of the enemy's line; the _Couronne_ (C) being on her
+weather bow. The fact was pointed out by Rodney to the captain of the
+ship, Walter Young, who was then in the lee gangway. Young, going over
+to look for himself, saw that it was so, and that the _Yarmouth_, 64,
+had hauled off to windward, where she lay with her main and mizzen
+topsails aback. Signals were then made to her, and to the _Cornwall_,
+74, to come to closer engagement, they both being on the weather bow
+of the flagship.
+
+De Guichen, recognising this state of affairs, then or a little
+later, attributed it to the deliberate purpose of the British Admiral
+to break his line. It does not appear that Rodney so intended. His
+tactical idea was to concentrate his whole fleet on the French rear
+and centre, but there is no indication that he now aimed at breaking
+the line. De Guichen so construing it, however, gave the signal to
+wear together, away from the British line. The effect of this, in any
+event, would have been to carry his fleet somewhat to leeward; but
+with ships more or less crippled, taking therefore greater room to
+manoeuvre, and with the exigency of re-forming the line upon them, the
+tendency was exaggerated. The movement which the French called wearing
+together was therefore differently interpreted by Rodney. "The action
+in the centre continued till 4.15 P.M., when M. de Guichen, in the
+_Couronne_, the _Triomphant_, and the _Fendant_, after engaging the
+_Sandwich_ for an hour and a half, bore away. The superiority of fire
+from the _Sandwich_, and the gallant behavior of the officers and men,
+enabled her to sustain so unequal a combat; though before attacked
+by them, she had beat three ships out of their line of battle, had
+entirely broke it, and was to leeward of the French Admiral." Possibly
+the French accounts, if they were not so very meagre, might dispute
+this prowess of the flagship; but there can be no doubt that Rodney
+had set an example, which, had it been followed by all, would have
+made this engagement memorable, if not decisive. He reported that the
+captains, with very few exceptions, had placed their ships improperly
+(cc). The _Sandwich_ had eighty shot in her hull, had lost her
+foremast and mainyard, and had fired 3288 rounds, an average of 73
+to each gun of the broadside engaged. Three of her hits being below
+the water line, she was kept afloat with difficulty during the next
+twenty-four hours. With the wearing of the French the battle ceased.
+
+In the advantage offered by the enemy, whose order was too greatly
+extended, and in his own plan of attack, Rodney always considered this
+action of April 17th, 1780, to have been the great opportunity of his
+life; and his wrath was bitter against those by whose misconduct he
+conceived it had been frustrated. "The French admiral, who appeared
+to me to be a brave and gallant officer, had the honour to be nobly
+supported during the whole action. It is with concern inexpressible,
+mixed with indignation, that the duty I owe my sovereign and my
+country obliges me to acquaint your Lordships that during the action
+between the French fleet, on the 17th inst, and his Majesty's, the
+British flag was not properly supported." Divided as the Navy was
+then into factions, with their hands at each other's throats or at
+the throat of the Admiralty, the latter thought it more discreet to
+suppress this paragraph, allowing to appear only the negative stigma
+of the encomium upon the French officers, unaccompanied by any upon
+his own. Rodney, however, in public and private letters did not
+conceal his feelings; and the censure found its way to the ears of
+those concerned. Subsequently, three months after the action, in a
+public letter, he bore testimony to the excellent conduct of five
+of the captains, Walter Young, of the flagship, George Bowyer of
+the _Albion_, John Douglas of the _Terrible_, John Houlton of the
+_Montagu_, and A.J.P. Molloy[83] of the _Trident_. "To them I have
+given certificates, under my hand," "free and unsolicited." Beyond
+these, "no consideration in life would induce" him to go; and the
+two junior flag-officers were implicitly condemned in the words, "to
+inattention to signals, both in the van and rear divisions, is to be
+attributed the loss of that glorious opportunity (perhaps never to
+be recovered) of terminating the naval contest in these seas." These
+junior admirals were Hyde Parker and Rowley; the latter the same who
+had behaved, not only so gallantly, but with such unusual initiative,
+in Byron's engagement. A singular incident in this case led him to a
+like independence of action, which displeased Rodney. The _Montagu_,
+of his division, when closing the French line, wore against the
+helm, and could only be brought into action on the wrong (port) tack.
+Immediately upon this, part of the French rear also wore, and Rowley
+followed them of his own motion. Being called to account by Rodney, he
+stated the facts, justifying the act by the order that "the greatest
+impression was to be made on the enemy's rear." Both parties soon wore
+back.
+
+Hyde Parker went home in a rage a few weeks later. The certificates to
+Bowyer and Douglas, certainly, and probably to Molloy, all of Parker's
+division, bore the stinging words that these officers "meant well, and
+would have done their duty had they been permitted." It is stated that
+their ships, which were the rear of the van division, were going down
+to engage close, following Rodney's example, when Parker made them a
+signal to keep the line. If this be so, as Parker's courage was beyond
+all doubt, it was simply a recurrence of the old superstition of the
+line, aggravated by a misunderstanding of Rodney's later signals.
+These must be discussed, for the whole incident is part of the history
+of the British Navy, far more important than many an indecisive though
+bloody encounter.
+
+One of the captains more expressly blamed, Carkett of the _Stirling
+Castle_, which had been the leading ship at the time the signal to
+alter the course toward the enemy was made, wrote to Rodney that he
+understood that his name had been mentioned, unfavourably of course,
+in the public letter. Rodney's reply makes perfectly apparent the
+point at issue, his own plan, the ideas running in his head as he made
+his successive signals, the misconceptions of the juniors, and the
+consequent fiasco. It must be said, however, that, granting the facts
+as they seem certainly to have occurred, no misunderstanding, no
+technical verbal allegation, can justify a military stupidity so great
+as that of which he complained. There are occasions in which not only
+is literal disobedience permissible, but literal obedience, flying in
+the face of the evident conditions, becomes a crime.
+
+At 8 in the morning, Rodney had made a general signal of his purpose
+to attack the enemy's rear. This, having been understood and answered,
+was hauled down; all juniors had been acquainted with a general
+purpose, to which the subsequent manoeuvres were to lead. How he meant
+to carry out his intention was evidenced by the consecutive course
+of action while on that tack,--the starboard; when the time came, the
+fleet bore up together, in line abreast, standing for the French rear.
+This attempt, being balked then by de Guichen's wearing, was renewed
+two hours later; only in place of the signal to form line abreast,
+was made one to alter the course to port,--towards the enemy. As this
+followed immediately upon that to prepare for battle, it indicated
+almost beyond question, that Rodney wished, for reasons of the moment,
+to run down at first in a slanting direction,--not in line abreast,
+as before,--ships taking course and interval from the flagship. Later
+again, at 11.50, the signal was made, "agreeable to the 21st Article
+of the Additional Fighting Instructions, for every ship to steer
+for her opposite in the enemy's line;" and here the trouble began.
+Rodney meant the ship opposite when the signal was hauled down. He
+had steered slanting, till he had gained as nearly as possible the
+position he wanted, probably till within long range; then it was
+desirable to cover the remaining ground as rapidly and orderly as
+possible, for which purpose the enemy's ship then abreast gave each
+of his fleet its convenient point of direction. He conceived that
+his signalled purpose to attack the enemy's rear, never having been
+altered, remained imperative; and further, that the signal for two
+cables' length interval should govern all ships, and would tie them to
+him, and to his movements, in the centre. Carkett construed "opposite"
+to mean opposite in numerical order, British van ship against French
+van ship, wherever the latter was. Rodney states--in his letter to
+Carkett--that the French van was then two leagues away. "You led to
+the van ship, notwithstanding you had answered my signals signifying
+that it was my intention to attack the enemy's rear; which signal
+I had never altered.... Your leading in the manner you did, induced
+others to follow so bad an example; and thereby, forgetting that the
+signal for the line was only at two cables' length distance from
+each other, the van division was led by you to more than two leagues'
+distance from the centre division, which was thereby not properly
+supported."[84]
+
+Carkett was the oldest captain in the fleet, his post commission
+being dated March 12th, 1758. How far he may have been excusable in
+construing as he did Fighting Instructions, which originated in the
+inane conception that the supreme duty of a Commander-in-Chief was to
+oppose ship to ship, and that a fleet action was only an agglomeration
+of naval duels, is not very material, though historically interesting.
+There certainly was that in the past history of the British Navy which
+extenuated the offence of a man who must have been well on in middle
+life. But since the Fighting Instructions had been first issued there
+had been the courts-martial, also instructive, on Mathews, Lestock,
+Byng, Keppel, and Palliser, all of which turned more or less on the
+constraint of the line of battle, and the duty of supporting ships
+engaged,--above all, an engaged Commander-in-Chief. Rodney perhaps
+underestimated the weight of the Fighting Instructions upon a dull
+man; but he was justified in claiming that his previous signals,
+and the prescription of distance, created at the least a conflict of
+orders, a doubt, to which there should have been but one solution,
+namely: to support the ships engaged, and to close down upon the
+enemy, as near as possible to the Commander-in-Chief. And in moments
+of actual perplexity such will always be the truth. It is like
+marching towards the sound of guns, or, to use Nelson's words, "_In
+case_ signals cannot be understood, no captain can do very wrong if he
+places his ship alongside that of an enemy." The "In Case," however,
+needs also to be kept in mind; and that it was Nelson who said it.
+Utterances of to-day, like utterances of all time, show how few
+are the men who can hold both sides of a truth firmly, without
+exaggeration or defect. Judicial impartiality can be had, and positive
+convictions too; but their combination is rare. A two-sided man is apt
+also to be double-minded.
+
+The loss of men in this sharp encounter was: British, killed, 120,
+wounded, 354; French, killed, 222, wounded, 537.[85] This gives
+three French hit for every two British, from which, and from the much
+greater damage received aloft by the latter, it may be inferred that
+both followed their usual custom of aiming, the British at the hull,
+the French at the spars. To the latter conduced also the lee-gage,
+which the French had. The British, as the attacking party, suffered
+likewise a raking fire as they bore down.
+
+Rodney repaired damages at sea, and pursued, taking care to keep
+between Martinique and the French. The latter going into Guadeloupe,
+he reconnoitred them there under the batteries, and then took his
+station off Fort Royal. "The only chance of bringing them to action,"
+he wrote to the Admiralty on the 26th of April, "was to be off that
+port before them, where the fleet now is, in daily expectation of
+their arrival." The French represent that he avoided them, but as
+they assert that they came out best on the 17th, and yet admit that he
+appeared off Guadeloupe, the claim is not tenable. Rodney here showed
+thorough tenacity of purpose. De Guichen's orders were "to keep the
+sea, so far as the force maintained by England in the Windward Islands
+would permit, without too far compromising the fleet intrusted to
+him."[86] With such instructions, he naturally and consistently shrunk
+from decisive engagement. After landing his wounded and refitting in
+Guadeloupe, he again put to sea, with the intention of proceeding to
+Santa Lucia, resuming against that island the project which both he
+and De Bouille continuously entertained. The latter and his troops
+remained with the fleet.
+
+Rodney meantime had felt compelled to return momentarily to Santa
+Lucia. "The fleet continued before Fort Royal till the condition of
+many of the ships under my command, and the lee currents,[87] rendered
+it necessary to anchor in Choque Bay (Anse du Choc), St. Lucie, in
+order to put the wounded and sick men on shore, and to water and
+refit the fleet, frigates having been detached both to leeward and to
+windward of every island, in order to gain intelligence of the motions
+of the enemy, and timely notice of their approach towards Martinique,
+the only place they could refit at in these seas." In this last clause
+is seen the strategic idea of the British Admiral: the French must
+come back to Martinique.
+
+From the vigilance of his frigates it resulted that when the look-outs
+of de Guichen, who passed to windward of Martinique on the 7th of
+May, came in sight of Gros Ilet on the 9th, it was simply to find
+the British getting under way to meet the enemy. During the five
+following days both fleets were engaged in constant movements, upon
+the character of which the writers of each nation put different
+constructions. Both are agreed, however, that the French were to
+windward throughout, except for a brief hour on the 15th, when a
+fleeting change of wind gave the British that advantage, only to lose
+it soon again. They at once used it to force action. As the windward
+position carries the power to attack, and as the French were
+twenty-three to the British twenty, it is probably not a strained
+inference to say that the latter were chasing to windward, and the
+former avoiding action, in favour, perhaps, of that ulterior motive,
+the conquest of Santa Lucia, for which they had sailed. Rodney states
+in his letter that, when the two fleets parted on the 20th of May,
+they were forty leagues to windward (eastward) of Martinique, in sight
+of which they had been on the 10th.
+
+During these days de Guichen, whose fleet, according to Rodney, sailed
+the better, and certainly sufficiently well to preserve the advantage
+of the wind, bore down more than once, generally in the afternoon,
+when the breeze is steadiest, to within distant range of the British.
+Upon this movement, the French base the statement that the British
+Admiral was avoiding an encounter; it is equally open to the
+interpretation that he would not throw away ammunition until sure of
+effective distance. Both admirals showed much skill and mastery of
+their profession, great wariness also, and quickness of eye; but it
+is wholly untenable to claim that a fleet having the weather-gage
+for five days, in the trade-winds, was unable to bring its enemy to
+action, especially when it is admitted that the latter closed the
+instant the wind permitted him to do so.
+
+On the afternoon of May 15th, about the usual hour, Rodney "made a
+great deal of sail upon the wind." The French, inferring that he was
+trying to get off, which he meant them to do, approached somewhat
+closer than on the previous days. Their van ship had come within long
+range, abreast the centre of the British, who were on the port tack
+standing to the south-south-east, with the wind at east (aa, aa). Here
+the breeze suddenly hauled to south-southeast (wind b). The heads
+of all the ships in both fleets were thus knocked off to south-west
+(s, s), on the port tack, but the shift left the British rear, which
+on that tack led the fleet, to windward of the French van. Rodney's
+signal flew at once, to tack in succession and keep the wind of the
+enemy; the latter, unwilling to yield the advantage, wore all together
+(w), hauling to the wind on the starboard tack, and to use Rodney's
+words, "fled with a crowd of sail" (a', a').
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The British fleet tacking in succession after their leaders, (t, t),
+the immediate result was that both were now standing on the starboard
+tack,--to the eastward,--the British having a slight advantage of the
+wind, but well abaft the beam of the French (bb, bb). The result, had
+the wind held, would have been a trial of speed and weatherliness.
+"His Majesty's fleet," wrote Rodney, "by this manoeuvre had gained the
+wind, and would have forced the enemy to battle, had it not at once
+changed six points (back to east, its former direction,) when near the
+enemy, and enabled them to recover that advantage." When the wind thus
+shifted again, de Guichen tacked his ships together and stood across
+the bows of the advancing enemy (cc, cc). The British leader struck
+the French line behind the centre, and ran along to leeward, the
+British van exchanging a close cannonade with the enemy's rear.
+Such an engagement, two lines passing on opposite tacks, is usually
+indecisive, even when the entire fleets are engaged, as at Ushant; but
+where, as in this case, the engagement is but partial, the result is
+naturally less. The French van and centre, having passed the head of
+the enemy, diverged at that point farther and farther from the track
+of the on-coming British ships, which from the centre rearwards did
+not fire. "As the enemy were under a press of sail, none but the van
+of our fleet could come in for any part of the action without wasting
+his Majesty's powder and shot, the enemy wantonly expending theirs
+at such a distance as to have no effect." Here again the French were
+evidently taking the chance of disabling the distant enemy in his
+spars. The British loss in the action of May 15th was 21 killed and
+100 wounded.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The fleets continued their respective movements, each acting as
+before, until the 19th, when another encounter took place, of exactly
+the same character as the last, although without the same preliminary
+manoeuvring. On that occasion the British, who in the interim had
+been reinforced by one 74 and one 50-gun ship, lost 47 killed and 113
+wounded. The result was equally indecisive, tactically considered;
+but both by this time had exhausted their staying powers. The French,
+having been absent from Martinique since the 13th of April, had now
+but six days' provisions.[88] Rodney found the _Conqueror, Cornwall_,
+and _Boyne_ so shattered that he sent them before the wind to Santa
+Lucia, while he himself with the rest of the fleet stood for Barbados,
+where he arrived on the 22d. The French anchored on the same day
+at Fort Royal. "The English," says Chevalier, "stood on upon the
+starboard tack, to the southward, after the action of the 19th, and
+the next day were not to be seen." "The enemy," reported Rodney,
+"stood to the northward with all the sail they could possibly press,
+and were out of sight the 21st inst. The condition of his Majesty's
+ships was such as not to allow a longer pursuit."
+
+By their dexterity and vigilance each admiral had thwarted the other's
+aims. Rodney, by a pronounced, if cautious, offensive effort, had
+absolutely prevented the "ulterior object" of the French, which he
+clearly understood to be Santa Lucia. De Guichen had been successful
+in avoiding decisive action, and he had momentarily so crippled a few
+of the British ships that the fleet must await their repairs before
+again taking the sea. The tactical gain was his, the strategic victory
+rested with his opponent; but that his ships also had been much
+maltreated is shown by the fact that half a dozen could not put to sea
+three weeks later. The French admiral broke down under the strain,
+to which was added the grief of losing a son, killed in the recent
+engagements. He asked for his recall. "The command of so large a
+fleet," he wrote, "is infinitely beyond my capacity in all respects.
+My health cannot endure such continual fatigue and anxiety." Certainly
+this seems a tacit testimony to Rodney's skill, persistence, and
+offensive purpose. The latter wrote to his wife: "For fourteen days
+and nights the fleets were so near each other that neither officers
+nor men could be said to sleep. Nothing but the goodness of the
+weather and climate would have enabled us to endure so continual a
+fatigue. Had it been in Europe, half the people must have sunk under
+it. For my part, it did me good."
+
+Rodney stated also in his home letters that the action of his
+subordinates in the last affairs had been efficient; but he gave
+them little credit for it. "As I had given public notice to all my
+captains, etc., that I expected implicit obedience to every signal
+made, under the certain penalty of being instantly superseded, it
+had an admirable effect; as they were all convinced, after their
+late gross behaviour, that they had nothing to expect at my hands but
+instant punishment to those who neglected their duty. My eye on them
+had more dread than the enemy's fire, and they knew it would be fatal.
+No regard was paid to rank: admirals as well as captains, if out of
+their station, were instantly reprimanded by signals, or messages sent
+by frigates; and, in spite of themselves, I taught them to be, what
+they had never been before,--_officers_." Rodney told his officers
+also that he would shift his flag into a frigate, if necessary, to
+watch them better. It is by no means obligatory to accept these gross
+aspersions as significant of anything worse than the suspiciousness
+prevalent throughout the Navy, traceable ultimately to a corrupt
+administration of the Admiralty. The latter, like the government of
+1756, was open to censure through political maladministration; every
+one feared that blame would be shifted on to him, as it had been on
+to Byng,--who deserved it; and not only so, but that blame would
+be pushed on to ruin, as in his case. The Navy was honeycombed with
+distrust, falling little short of panic. In this state of apprehension
+and doubt, the tradition of the line of battle, resting upon men who
+did not stop to study facts or analyse impressions, and who had seen
+officers censured, cashiered, and shot, for errors of judgment or of
+action, naturally produced hesitations and misunderstandings. An order
+of battle is a good thing, necessary to insure mutual support and to
+develop a plan. The error of the century, not then exploded, was to
+observe it in the letter rather than in the spirit; to regard the
+order as an end rather than a means; and to seek in it not merely
+efficiency, which admits broad construction in positions, but
+preciseness, which is as narrowing as a brace of handcuffs. Rodney
+himself, Tory though he was, found fault with the administration. With
+all his severity and hauteur, he did not lose sight of justice, as is
+shown by a sentence in his letter to Carkett. "Could I have imagined
+your conduct and inattention to signals had proceeded from anything
+but error in judgment, I had certainly superseded you, but God forbid
+I should do so for error in judgment only,"--again an illusion, not
+obscure, to Byng's fate.
+
+In Barbados, Rodney received certain information that a Spanish
+squadron of twelve ships of the line, with a large convoy of ten
+thousand troops, had sailed from Cadiz on April 28th for the West
+Indies. The vessel bringing the news had fallen in with them on the
+way. Rodney spread a line of frigates "to windward, from Barbados to
+Barbuda," to obtain timely warning, and with the fleet put to sea on
+the 7th of June, to cruise to the eastward of Martinique to intercept
+the enemy. The latter had been discovered on the 5th by a frigate,
+fifty leagues east of the island, steering for it; but the Spanish
+admiral, seeing that he would be reported, changed his course,
+and passed north of Guadeloupe. On the 9th he was joined in that
+neighbourhood by de Guichen, who was able to bring with him only
+fifteen sail,--a fact which shows that he had suffered in the late
+brushes quite as severely as Rodney, who had with him seventeen of his
+twenty.
+
+Having evaded the British, the allies anchored at Fort Royal; but the
+Spanish admiral absolutely refused to join in any undertaking against
+the enemy's fleet or possessions. Not only so, but he insisted on
+being accompanied to leeward. The Spanish squadron was ravaged by
+an epidemic, due to unsanitary conditions of the ships and the
+uncleanliness of the crews, and the disease was communicated to their
+allies. De Guichen had already orders to leave the Windward Islands
+when winter approached. He decided now to anticipate that time, and
+on the 5th of July sailed from Fort Royal with the Spaniards. Having
+accompanied the latter to the east end of Cuba, he went to Cap
+Francois, in Haiti, then a principal French station. The Spaniards
+continued on to Havana.
+
+At Cap Francois, de Guichen found urgent entreaties from the French
+Minister to the United States, and from Lafayette, to carry his fleet
+to the continent, where the clear-sighted genius of Washington had
+recognised already that the issue of the contest depended upon the
+navies. The French admiral declined to comply, as contrary to his
+instructions, and on the 16th of August sailed for Europe, with
+nineteen sail of the line, leaving ten at Cap Francois. Sealed orders,
+opened at sea, directed him to proceed to Cadiz, where he anchored
+on the 24th of October. His arrival raised the allied force there
+assembled to fifty-one sail of the line, besides the ninety-five sugar
+and coffee ships which he had convoyed from Haiti. It is significant
+of the weakness of Great Britain in the Mediterranean at that time,
+that these extremely valuable merchant ships were sent on to Toulon,
+instead of to the more convenient Atlantic ports, only five ships of
+the line accompanying them past Gibraltar. The French government had
+feared to trust them to Brest, even with de Guichen's nineteen sail.
+
+The allied operations in the Windward Islands for the season of
+1780 had thus ended in nothing, notwithstanding an incontestable
+inferiority of the British to the French alone, of which Rodney
+strongly complained. It was, however, contrary to the intentions
+of the Admiralty that things so happened. Orders had been sent to
+Vice-Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot, at New York, to detach ships to
+Rodney; but the vessel carrying them was driven by weather to
+the Bahamas, and her captain neglected to notify Arbuthnot of his
+whereabouts, or of his dispatches. A detachment of five ships of the
+line under Commodore the Hon. Robert Boyle Walsingham was detained
+three months in England, wind-bound. They consequently did not join
+till July 12th. The dispositions at once made by Rodney afford a very
+good illustration of the kind of duties that a British Admiral had
+then to discharge. He detailed five ships of the line to remain with
+Hotham at Santa Lucia, for the protection of the Windward Islands.
+On the 17th, taking with him a large merchant convoy, he put to sea
+with the fleet for St. Kitts, where the Leeward Islands "trade" was
+collecting for England. On the way he received precise information as
+to the route and force of the Franco-Spanish fleet under de Guichen,
+of the sickness on board it, and of the dissension between the allies.
+From St. Kitts the July "trade" was sent home with two ships of the
+line. Three others, he wrote to the Admiralty, would accompany the
+September fleet, "and the remainder of the ships on this station,
+which are in want of great repair and are not copper-bottomed, shall
+proceed with them or with the convoy which their Lordships have been
+pleased to order shall sail from hence in October next." If these
+arrived before winter, he argued, they would be available by spring as
+a reinforcement for the Channel fleet, and would enable the Admiralty
+to send him an equivalent number for the winter work on his station.
+
+As de Guichen had taken the whole French homeward merchant fleet from
+Martinique to Cap Francois and as the height of the hurricane season
+was near, Rodney reasoned that but a small French force would remain
+in Haiti, and consequently that Jamaica would not require all the
+British fleet to save it from any possible attack. He therefore sent
+thither ten sail of the line, notifying Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker
+that they were not merely to defend the island, but to enable him to
+send home its great trade in reasonable security.
+
+These things being done by July 31st, Rodney, reasoning that the
+allies had practically abandoned all enterprises in the West Indies
+for that year, and that a hurricane might at any moment overtake the
+fleet at its anchors, possibly making for it a lee shore, went to sea,
+to cruise with the fleet off Barbuda. His mind, however, was inclined
+already to go to the continent, whither he inferred, correctly but
+mistakenly, that the greater part of de Guichen's fleet would go,
+because it should. His purpose was confirmed by information from an
+American vessel that a French squadron of seven ships of the line,
+convoying six thousand troops, had anchored in Narragansett Bay on
+the 12th of July. He started at once for the coast of South Carolina,
+where he communicated with the army in Charleston, and thence,
+"sweeping the southern coast of America," anchored with fourteen ships
+of the line at Sandy Hook, on the 14th of September, unexpected and
+unwelcome to friends and foes alike.
+
+Vice-Admiral Arbuthnot, being junior to Rodney, showed plainly and
+with insubordination his wrath at this intrusion into his command,
+which superseded his authority and divided the prize-money of a
+lucrative station. This, however, was a detail. To Washington,
+Rodney's coming was a deathblow to the hopes raised by the arrival
+of the French division at Newport, which he had expected to see
+reinforced by de Guichen. Actually, the departure of the latter made
+immaterial Rodney's appearance on the scene; but this Washington
+did not know then. As it was, Rodney's force joined to Arbuthnot's
+constituted a fleet of over twenty sail of the line, before which,
+vigorously used, there can be little doubt that the French squadron in
+Newport must have fallen. But Rodney, though he had shown great energy
+in the West Indies, and unusual resolution in quitting his own station
+for a more remote service, was sixty-two, and suffered from gout. "The
+sudden change of climate makes it necessary for me to go on shore for
+some short time," he wrote; and although he added that his illness
+was "not of such a nature as shall cause one moment's delay in his
+Majesty's service," he probably lost a chance at Rhode Island. He
+did not overlook the matter, it is true; but he decided upon the
+information of Arbuthnot and Sir Henry Clinton, and did not inspect
+the ground himself. Nothing of consequence came of his visit; and on
+the 16th of November he sailed again for the West Indies, taking with
+him only nine sail of the line.
+
+The arrival of de Ternay's seven ships at Newport was more than offset
+by a British reinforcement of six ships of the line under Rear-Admiral
+Thomas Graves which entered New York on July 13th,--only one day
+later. Arbuthnot's force was thus raised to ten of the line, one
+of which was of 98 guns. After Rodney had come and gone, the French
+division was watched by cruisers, resting upon Gardiner's Bay,--a
+commodious anchorage at the east end of Long Island, between thirty
+and forty miles from Rhode Island. When a movement of the enemy was
+apprehended, the squadron assembled there, but nothing of consequence
+occurred during the remainder of the year.
+
+The year 1780 had been one of great discouragement to the Americans,
+but the injury, except as the lapse of time taxed their staying power,
+was more superficial than real. The successes of the British in the
+southern States, though undeniable, and seemingly substantial, were
+involving them ever more deeply in a ruinously ex-centric movement.
+They need here only to be summarised, as steps in the process leading
+to the catastrophe of Yorktown,--a disaster which, as Washington said,
+exemplified naval rather than military power.
+
+The failure of d'Estaing's attack upon Savannah in the autumn of
+1779[89] had left that place in the possession of the British as
+a base for further advances in South Carolina and Georgia; lasting
+success in which was expected from the numbers of royalists in those
+States. When the departure of the French fleet was ascertained, Sir
+Henry Clinton put to sea from New York in December, 1779, for the
+Savannah River, escorted by Vice-Admiral Arbuthnot. The details of
+the operations, which were leisurely and methodical, will not be
+given here; for, although the Navy took an active part in them, they
+scarcely can be considered of major importance. On the 12th of May,
+1780, the city of Charleston capitulated, between six and seven
+thousand prisoners being taken. Clinton then returned to New York,
+leaving Lord Cornwallis in command in the south. The latter proposed
+to remain quiet during the hot months; but the activity of the
+American partisan troops prevented this, and in July the approach of a
+small, but relatively formidable force, under General Gates, compelled
+him to take the field. On the 16th of August the two little armies
+met at Camden, and the Americans, who were much the more numerous, but
+largely irregulars, were routed decisively. This news reached General
+Washington in the north nearly at the same moment that the treason of
+Benedict Arnold became known. Although the objects of his treachery
+were frustrated, the sorrowful words, "Whom now can we trust?" show
+the deep gloom which for the moment shadowed the constant mind of the
+American Commander-in-Chief. It was just at this period, too, that
+Rodney arrived at New York.
+
+Cornwallis, not content with his late success, decided to push on into
+North Carolina. Thus doing, he separated himself from his naval base
+in Charleston, communication with which by land he had not force
+to maintain, and could recover effective touch with the sea only in
+Chesapeake Bay. This conclusion was not apparent from the first.
+In North Carolina, the British general did not receive from the
+inhabitants the substantial support which he had expected, and found
+himself instead in a very difficult and wild country, confronted by
+General Greene, the second in ability of all the American leaders.
+Harassed and baffled, he was compelled to order supplies to be sent
+by sea to Wilmington, North Carolina, an out-of-the-way and inferior
+port, to which he turned aside, arriving exhausted on the 7th of
+April, 1781. The question as to his future course remained to be
+settled. To return to Charleston by sea was in his power, but to do so
+would be an open confession of failure,--that he could not return by
+land, through the country by which he had come--much the same dilemma
+as that of Howe and Clinton in Philadelphia. To support him in his
+distress by a diversion, Sir Henry Clinton had sent two successive
+detachments to ravage the valley of the James River in Virginia.
+These were still there, under the command of General Phillips; and
+Cornwallis, in the circumstances, could see many reasons that thither
+was the very scene to carry the British operations. On the 25th of
+April, 1781, he left Wilmington, and a month later joined the division
+at Petersburg, Virginia, then commanded by Benedict Arnold; Phillips
+having died. There, in touch now with his fate, we must leave him for
+the moment.
+
+To complete the naval transactions of 1780, it is necessary to mention
+briefly two incidents, trivial in themselves, but significant, not
+only as associated with the greater movements of the campaign, but as
+indicative of the naval policy of the States which were at war. The
+two, though not otherwise connected, have a certain unity of interest,
+in that the same British officer commanded on both occasions.
+
+It will be remembered that in Byron's action off Grenada, in
+July, 1779, the 64-gun ship _Lion_ received such injuries that her
+commander, Captain Cornwallis, had been compelled to run down before
+the trade-winds to Jamaica, in order to save her from capture.
+Since that time she had remained there, as one of the squadron of
+Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker. In March, 1780, still commanded by
+Cornwallis, she was making an ordinary service cruise off the north
+side of Haiti, having in company the _Bristol_, 50, and the _Janus_,
+44. On the 20th of March, off Monte Christi, a number of sail were
+sighted to the eastward, which proved to be a French convoy, on its
+way from Martinique to Cap Francois, protected by La Motte-Picquet's
+squadron of two 74's, one 64, one 50, and a frigate. The French
+merchant ships were ordered to crowd sail for their port, while the
+men-of-war chased to the north-west. La Motte-Picquet's flagship, the
+_Annibal_, 74, got within range at 5 P.M., when a distant cannonade
+began, which lasted till past midnight, and was resumed on the
+following morning. From it the _Janus_ was the chief sufferer, losing
+her mizzen topmast and foretopgallant mast. It falling nearly calm,
+the _Bristol_ and _Lion_ got out their boats and were towed by them to
+her support. The two other French ships of the line got up during
+the forenoon of the 21st, so that the action that afternoon, though
+desultory, might be called general.
+
+The two opposing commodores differ in their expressed opinions as to
+the power of the French to make the affair more decisive. Some of La
+Motte-Picquet's language seems to show that he felt the responsibility
+of his position. "The _Janus_, being smaller and more easily worked,
+lay upon our quarter and under our stern, where she did considerable
+damage. A little breeze springing up enabled us (the _Annibal_) to
+stand towards our own ships, which did everything possible to come
+up and cover us, without which we should have been _surrounded_." It
+is easy to see in such an expression the reflection of the commands
+of the French Cabinet, to economise the ships. This was still more
+evident in La Motte-Picquet's conduct next day. On the morning of the
+22d, "at daylight we were within one and a half cannon-shot, breeze
+fresh at the east-north-east, and I expected to overtake the British
+squadron in an hour, when we perceived four ships in chase of us.
+At 6.30 A.M. three were seen to be men-of-war. This superiority of
+force compelled me to desist, and to make signal to haul our wind
+for Cap Francois." These three new-comers were the _Ruby_, 64, and
+two frigates, the _Pomona_, 28, and _Niger_, 32. The comparison of
+forces, therefore, would be: French, two 74's, one 64, one 50, and one
+frigate, opposed to, British, two 64's, one 50, and three frigates.
+La Motte-Picquet evidently did not wait to ascertain the size of
+the approaching ships. His courage was beyond all dispute, and, as
+Hyde Parker had said, he was among the most distinguished of French
+officers; but, like his comrades, he was dominated by the faulty
+theory of his government.
+
+The captain of the _Janus_ died a natural death during the encounter.
+It may be interesting to note that the ship was given to Nelson,
+who was recalled for that purpose from the expedition to San Juan,
+Nicaragua, one of the minor operations of the war. His health,
+however, prevented this command from being more than nominal, and not
+long afterward he returned to England with Cornwallis, in the _Lion_.
+
+Three months later, Cornwallis was sent by Parker to accompany a body
+of merchant ships for England as far as the neighborhood of Bermuda.
+This duty being fulfilled, he was returning toward his station, having
+with him two 74's, two 64's, and one 50, when, on the morning of
+June 20, a number of sail were seen from north-east to east (a);
+the British squadron (aa) then steering east, with the wind at
+south-south-east. The strangers were a body of French transports,
+carrying the six thousand troops destined for Rhode Island, and
+convoyed by a division of seven ships of the line--one 80, two 74's,
+and four 64's--under the command of Commodore de Ternay. Two of the
+ships of war were with the convoy, the other five very properly to
+windward of it. The latter therefore stood on, across the bows of the
+British, to rejoin their consorts, and then all hauled their wind to
+the south-west, standing in column (bb) towards the enemy. Cornwallis
+on his part had kept on (b) to reconnoitre the force opposed to him;
+but one of his ships, the _Ruby_, 64, was so far to leeward (b') that
+the French, by keeping near the wind, could pass between her and
+her squadron (b, b, b'). She therefore went about (t) and steered
+southwest, on the port tack (c'), close to the wind. The French, who
+were already heading the same way, were thus brought on her weather
+quarter in chase. Cornwallis then wore his division (w), formed line
+of battle on the same tack as the others (c), and edged down towards
+the _Ruby_. If the French now kept their wind, either the _Ruby_ (c')
+must be cut off, or Cornwallis, to save her, must fight the large
+odds against him. De Ternay, however, did not keep his wind but bore
+up,--yielded ground (cc). "The enemy," wrote Cornwallis, "kept edging
+off and forming line, though within gunshot. At 5.30 P.M., seeing
+we had pushed the French ships to leeward sufficiently to enable the
+_Ruby_, on our lee bow, to join us, I made the signal to tack." As
+the British squadron went about to stand east again (d), the French,
+heading now west-south-west (cc), hoisted their colours and opened
+fire in passing. The _Ruby_ kept on till she fetched the wake of the
+British column (d'), when she too tacked. The French then tacked also,
+in succession (d), and the two columns stood on for awhile in parallel
+lines, exchanging shots at long range, the British to windward.
+Cornwallis very properly declined further engagement with so superior
+a force. He had already done much in saving a ship so greatly exposed.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The account above followed is that of the British commander, but it
+does not differ in essentials from the French, whose captains were
+greatly incensed at the cautious action of their chief. A French
+_commissaire_ in the squadron, who afterwards published his journal,
+tells that de Ternay a few days later asked the captain of one of the
+ships what English admiral he thought they had engaged, and received
+the reply, "We have lost our opportunity of finding out." He gives
+also many details of the talk that went on in the ships, which need
+not be repeated. Chevalier points out correctly, however, that de
+Ternay had to consider that an equal or even a superior force might be
+encountered as Narragansett Bay was approached, and that he should
+not risk crippling his squadron for such a contingency. The charge
+of six thousand troops, under the then conditions, was no light
+responsibility, and at the least must silence off-hand criticism now.
+Comment upon his action does not belong to British naval history,
+to which the firmness and seamanship of Captain Cornwallis added a
+lasting glory. It may be noted that fifteen years later, in the French
+Revolution, the same officer, then a Vice-Admiral, again distinguished
+himself by his bearing in face of great odds, bringing five ships safe
+off, out of the jaws of a dozen. It illustrates how luck seems in many
+cases to characterise a man's personality, much as temperament does.
+Cornwallis, familiarly known as "Billy Blue" to the seamen of his day,
+never won a victory, nor had a chance of winning one; but in command
+both of ships and of divisions, he repeatedly distinguished himself by
+successfully facing odds which he could not overcome.
+
+The year 1780 was uneventful also in European waters, after Rodney's
+relief of Gibraltar in January. The detachment of the Channel Fleet
+which accompanied him on that mission returned safely to England. The
+"Grand Fleet," as it still was styled occasionally, cruised at sea
+from June 8th to August 18th, an imposing force of thirty-one ships of
+the line, eleven of them three-deckers of 90 guns and upwards. Admiral
+Francis Geary was then Commander-in-Chief, but, his health failing,
+and Barrington refusing to take the position, through professed
+distrust of himself and actual distrust of the Admiralty, Vice-Admiral
+George Darby succeeded to it, and held it during the year 1781.
+
+The most notable maritime event in 1780 in Europe was the capture on
+August 9th of a large British convoy, two or three hundred miles
+west of Cape St. Vincent, by the allied fleets from Cadiz. As out of
+sixty-three sail only eight escaped, and as of those taken sixteen
+were carrying troops and supplies necessary for the West India
+garrisons, such a disaster claims mention among the greater operations
+of war, the success of which it could not fail to influence. Captain
+John Moutray, the officer commanding the convoy, was brought to trial
+and dismissed his ship; but there were not wanting those who charged
+the misadventure to the Admiralty, and saw in the captain a victim. It
+was the greatest single blow that British commerce had received in
+war during the memory of men then living, and "a general inclination
+prevailed to lay the blame upon some individual, who might be punished
+according to the magnitude of the object, rather than in proportion to
+his demerit."[90]
+
+During the year 1780 was formed the League of the Baltic Powers, known
+historically as the Armed Neutrality, to exact from Great Britain the
+concession of certain points thought essential to neutral interests.
+The accession of Holland to this combination, together with other
+motives of dissatisfaction, caused Great Britain to declare war
+against the United Provinces on the 20th of December. Orders were at
+once sent to the East and West Indies to seize Dutch possessions and
+ships, but these did not issue in action until the following year.
+
+Towards the end of 1780 the French Government, dissatisfied with the
+lack of results from the immense combined force assembled in Cadiz
+during the summer months, decided to recall its ships, and to refit
+them during the winter for the more extensive and aggressive movements
+planned for the campaign of 1781. D'Estaing was sent from France for
+the purpose; and under his command thirty-eight ships of the line, in
+which were included those brought by de Guichen from the West Indies,
+sailed on the 7th of November for Brest. Extraordinary as it may seem,
+this fleet did not reach its port until the 3d of January, 1781.
+
+[Footnote 75: Parker's Report.]
+
+[Footnote 76: Ibid.]
+
+[Footnote 77: _Ante_, p. 115.]
+
+[Footnote 78: Rodney's Report. The French authorities give their line
+of battle as twenty-two ships of the line. There was no 90-gun ship
+among them--no three-decker; but there were two of 80 guns, of which
+also the British had none.]
+
+[Footnote 79: A cable was then assumed to have a length of 120
+fathoms,--720 feet.]
+
+[Footnote 80: A properly formed line of twenty ships, at two cables'
+interval, would be about five miles long. Rodney seems to have been
+satisfied that this was about the condition of his fleet at this
+moment.]
+
+[Footnote 81: Rodney's Report.]
+
+[Footnote 82: Testimony of the signal officer at the court-martial on
+Captain Bateman.]
+
+[Footnote 83: Singularly enough, this officer was afterwards
+court-martialled for misbehaviour, on the 1st of June, 1794, of
+precisely the same character as that from all share in which Rodney
+now cleared him.]
+
+[Footnote 84: The words in Rodney's public letter, suppressed at the
+time by the Admiralty, agree with these, but are even more explicit.
+"I cannot conclude this letter without acquainting their Lordships
+that had Captain Carkett, who led the van, properly obeyed my signal
+for attacking the enemy, and agreeable to the 21st Article of the
+Additional Fighting Instructions, bore down instantly to the ship
+at that time abreast of him, instead of leading as he did to the van
+ship, the action had commenced much sooner, and the fleet engaged in
+a more compact manner...." This clearly implies that the _Additional_
+Fighting Instructions prescribed the direction which Rodney expected
+Carkett to take. If these Additional Instructions are to be found,
+their testimony would be interesting.
+
+Since this account was written, the Navy Records Society has published
+(1905) a volume, "Fighting Instructions, 1530-1816," by Mr. Julian
+Corbett, whose diligent researches in matters of naval history and
+warfare are appreciated by those interested in such subjects. The
+specific "Additional Instructions" quoted by Rodney appear not to have
+been found. Among those given prior to 1780 there is none that extends
+to twenty-one articles. In a set issued by Rodney in 1782 an article
+(No. 17, p. 227) is apparently designed to prevent the recurrence
+of Carkett's mistake. This, like one by Hawke, in 1756 (p. 217),
+prescribes the intended action rather by directing that the line of
+battle shall not prevent each ship engaging its opponent, irrespective
+of the conduct of other ships, than by making clear which that
+opponent was. Lucidity on this point cannot be claimed for either.]
+
+[Footnote 85: Lapeyrouse Bonfils, "Histoire de la Marine Francaise,"
+iii, 132. Chevalier gives much smaller numbers, but the former has
+particularised the ships.]
+
+[Footnote 86: Chevalier, "Marine Francaise," 1778, p. 185.]
+
+[Footnote 87: A lee current is one that sets to leeward, with the
+wind, in this case the trade-wind.]
+
+[Footnote 88: Chevalier, p. 91.]
+
+[Footnote 89: _Ante_, p. 115.]
+
+[Footnote 90: Beatson, "Military and Naval Memoirs."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+NAVAL CAMPAIGN IN WEST INDIES IN 1781. CAPTURE OF ST. EUSTATIUS BY
+RODNEY. DE GRASSE ARRIVES IN PLACE OF DE GUICHEN. TOBAGO SURRENDERS TO
+DE GRASSE
+
+
+Rodney, returning to the West Indies from New York, reached Barbados
+on December 6th, 1780. There he seems first to have learned of the
+disastrous effects of the great October hurricanes of that year. Not
+only had several ships--among them two of the line--been wrecked, with
+the loss of almost all on board, but the greater part of those which
+survived had been dismasted, wholly or in part, as well as injured
+in the hull. There were in the West Indies no docking facilities;
+under-water damage could be repaired only by careening or
+heaving-down. Furthermore, as Barbados, Santa Lucia, and Jamaica,
+all had been swept, their supplies were mainly destroyed. Antigua,
+it is true, had escaped, the hurricane passing south of St. Kitts;
+but Rodney wrote home that no stores for refitting were obtainable
+in the Caribbee Islands. He was hoping then that Sir Peter Parker
+might supply his needs in part; for when writing from Santa Lucia on
+December 10th, two months after the storm, he was still ignorant
+that the Jamaica Station had suffered to the full as severely as the
+eastern islands. The fact shows not merely the ordinary slowness of
+communications in those days, but also the paralysis that fell
+upon all movements in consequence of that great disaster. "The
+most beautiful island in the world," he said of Barbados, "has the
+appearance of a country laid waste by fire and sword."
+
+Hearing that the fortifications at St. Vincent had been almost
+destroyed by the hurricane, Rodney, in combination with General
+Vaughan, commanding the troops on the station, made an attempt
+to reconquer the island, landing there on December 15th; but the
+intelligence proved erroneous, and the fleet returned to Santa Lucia.
+"I have only nine sail of the line now with me capable of going to
+sea," wrote the Admiral on the 22d, "and not one of them has spare
+rigging or sails." In the course of January, 1781, he was joined by a
+division of eight ships of the line from England, under the command
+of Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood,--Nelson's Lord Hood. These, with four
+others refitted during that month, not improbably from stores brought
+in Hood's convoy of over a hundred sail, raised the disposable force
+to twenty-one ships of the line: two 90's, one 80, fifteen 74's, and
+three 64's.
+
+On the 27th of January, an express arrived from England, directing the
+seizure of the Dutch possessions in the Caribbean, and specifying,
+as first to be attacked, St. Eustatius and St. Martin, two small
+islands lying within fifty miles north of the British St. Kitts. St.
+Eustatius, a rocky patch six miles in length by three in breadth,
+had been conspicuous, since the war began, as a great trade centre,
+where supplies of all kinds were gathered under the protection of
+its neutral flag, to be distributed afterwards in the belligerent
+islands and the North American continent. The British, owing to
+their extensive commerce and maritime aptitudes, derived from such an
+intermediary much less benefit than their enemies; and the island had
+been jealously regarded by Rodney for some time. He asserted that
+when de Guichen's fleet could not regain Fort Royal, because of its
+injuries received in the action of April 17th, it was refitted to meet
+him by mechanics and materials sent from St. Eustatius. On the other
+hand, when cordage was to be bought for the British vessels after the
+hurricanes of 1780, the merchants of the island, he said, alleged
+that there was none there; although, when he took the island soon
+afterwards, many hundred tons were found that had been long in stock.
+
+Rodney and Vaughan moved promptly. Three days after their orders
+arrived, they sailed for St. Eustatius. There being in Fort Royal four
+French ships of the line, six British were left to check them, and
+on the 3d of February the fleet reached its destination. A peremptory
+summons from the commander of a dozen ships of the line secured
+immediate submission. Over a hundred and fifty merchant ships were
+taken; and a convoy of thirty sail, which had left the island two days
+before, was pursued and brought back. The merchandise found was valued
+at over L3,000,000. The neighbouring islands of St. Martin and Saba
+were seized also at this time.
+
+Rodney's imagination, as is shown in his letters, was greatly
+impressed by the magnitude of the prize and by the defenceless
+condition of his capture. He alleged these as the motives for staying
+in person at St. Eustatius, to settle the complicated tangle of
+neutral and belligerent rights in the property involved, and to
+provide against the enemy's again possessing himself of a place now
+so equipped for transactions harmful to Great Britain. The storehouses
+and conveniences provided for the particular traffic, if not properly
+guarded, were like fortifications insufficiently garrisoned. If they
+passed into the hands of the enemy, they became sources of injury.
+The illicit trade could start again at once in full force, with means
+which elsewhere would have first to be created. There were a mile and
+a half of storehouses in the lower town, he said, and these he must
+leave at the least roofless, if not wholly demolished.
+
+For such reasons he remained at St. Eustatius throughout February,
+March, and April. The amount of money involved, and the arbitrary
+methods pursued by him and by Vaughan, gave rise to much scandal,
+which was not diminished by the King's relinquishing all the booty
+to the captors, nor by the latters' professed disinterestedness. Men
+thought they did protest too much. Meanwhile, other matters arose to
+claim attention. A week after the capture, a vessel arrived from the
+Bay of Biscay announcing that eight or ten French sail of the line,
+with a large convoy, had been seen on the 31st of December steering
+for the West Indies. Rodney at once detached Sir Samuel Hood with
+eleven ships of the line, directing him to take also under his command
+the six left before Fort Royal, and to cruise with them to windward
+of Martinique, to intercept the force reported. Hood sailed February
+12th. The particular intelligence proved afterwards to be false, but
+Hood was continued on his duty. A month later he was ordered to move
+from the windward to the leeward side of the island, and to blockade
+Fort Royal closely. Against this change he remonstrated, and the event
+showed him to be right; but Rodney insisted, saying that from his
+experience he knew that a fleet could remain off Fort Royal for months
+without dropping to leeward, and that there ships detached to Santa
+Lucia, for water and refreshments, could rejoin before an enemy's
+fleet, discovered to windward, could come up. Hood thought the
+Admiral's object was merely to shelter his own doings at St.
+Eustatius; and he considered the blockade of Fort Royal to be futile,
+if no descent upon the island were intended. "It would doubtless
+have been fortunate for the public," he remarked afterwards, "had Sir
+George been with his fleet, as I am confident he would have been to
+windward instead of to leeward, when de Grasse made his approach."
+
+The preparations of the French in Brest were completed towards the end
+of March, and on the 22d of that month Rear-Admiral de Grasse sailed,
+having a large convoy under the protection of twenty-six ships of
+the line. A week later six of the latter parted company, five under
+Suffren for the East Indies and one for North America. The remaining
+twenty continued their course for Martinique, which was sighted on the
+28th of April. Before sunset, Hood's squadron also was discovered to
+leeward of the island, as ordered by Rodney to cruise, and off the
+southern point,--Pointe des Salines. De Grasse then hove-to for
+the night, but sent an officer ashore both to give and to obtain
+intelligence, and to reach an understanding for concerted action next
+day.
+
+The French fleet consisted of one ship of 110 guns, three 80's,
+fifteen 74's, and one 64, in all 20 of the line, besides three armed
+_en flute_,[91] which need not be taken into account, although they
+served to cover the convoy. Besides these there were the four in Fort
+Royal, one 74 and three 64's, a junction of which with the approaching
+enemy it was one of Hood's objects to prevent. The force of the
+British was one 90, one 80, twelve 74's, one 70, and two 64's: total,
+17. Thus both in numbers and in rates of ships Hood was inferior to
+the main body alone of the French; but he had the advantage of ships
+all coppered, owing to Rodney's insistence with the Admiralty. He also
+had no convoy to worry him; but he was to leeward.
+
+Early in the morning of the 29th, de Grasse advanced to round the
+southern point of the island, which was the usual course for sailing
+ships. Hood was too far to leeward to intercept this movement, for
+which he was blamed by Rodney, who claimed that the night had not been
+properly utilised by beating to windward of Pointe des Salines.[92]
+Hood, on the other hand, said in a private letter: "I never once lost
+sight of getting to windward, but it was totally impossible.... Had I
+fortunately been there, I must have brought the enemy to close action
+upon more equal terms, or they must have given up their transports,
+trade, etc." Hood's subsequent career places it beyond doubt that had
+he been to windward there would have been a severe action, whatever
+the result; but it is not possible to decide positively between his
+statement and Rodney's, as to where the fault of being to leeward lay.
+The writer believes that Hood would have been to windward, if in any
+way possible. It must be added that the British had no word that so
+great a force was coming. On this point Hood and Rodney are agreed.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Under the conditions, the French passed without difficulty round
+Pointe des Salines, the transports hugging the coast, the ships of
+war being outside and to leeward of them. Thus they headed up to the
+northward for Fort Royal Bay (Cul de Sac Royal), Hood standing to the
+southward until after 10, and being joined at 9.20 by a sixty-four
+(not reckoned in the list above) from Santa Lucia, making his force
+eighteen. At 10.35 the British tacked together to the northward. The
+two fleets were now steering the same way, the French van abreast of
+the British centre. At 11 the French opened their fire, to which no
+reply was made then. At 11.20, the British van being close in with the
+shore to the northward of the Bay, Hood tacked again together, and the
+enemy, seeing his convoy secure, wore, also together, which brought
+the two lines nearer, heading south. At this time the four French
+ships in the Bay got under way and easily joined the rear of their
+fleet, it having the weather-gage. The French were thus 24 to 18.
+As their shot were passing over the British, the latter now began
+to reply. At noon Hood, finding that he could not close the enemy,
+shortened sail to topsails and hove-to, hoping by this defiance to
+bring them down to him. At 12.30 the French admiral was abreast of
+the British flagship, and the action became general, but at too long
+range. "Never, I believe," wrote Hood, "was more powder and shot
+thrown away in one day before." The French continuing to stand on,
+Hood filled his sails again at 1 P.M., as their van had stretched
+beyond his.
+
+As the leading ships, heading south, opened the channel between Santa
+Lucia and Martinique, they got the breeze fresher, which caused them
+to draw away from the centre. Hood, therefore, at 1.34 made the signal
+for a close order, and immediately afterwards ceased firing, finding
+not one in ten of the enemy's shot to reach. The engagement, however,
+continued somewhat longer between the southern--van--ships, where, by
+the account of Captain Sutherland, who was in that part of the line,
+four of the British were attacked very smartly by eight of the French.
+The _Centaur_, _Russell_, _Intrepid_, and _Shrewsbury_ appear to have
+been the ships that suffered most heavily, either in hull, spars, or
+crews. They were all in the van on the southern tack. The _Russell_,
+having several shot between wind and water, was with difficulty kept
+afloat, the water rising over the platform of the magazine. Hood sent
+her off at nightfall to St. Eustatius, where she arrived on the 4th of
+May, bringing Rodney the first news of the action, and of the numbers
+of the French reinforcement. During the 30th Hood held his ground,
+still endeavouring to get to windward of the enemy; but failing
+in that attempt, and finding two of his squadron much disabled,
+he decided at sunset to bear away to the northward, because to the
+southward the westerly currents set so strong that the crippled ships
+could not regain Santa Lucia. On the 11th of May, between St. Kitts
+and Antigua, he joined Rodney, who, after hurried repairs to the
+_Russell_, had left St. Eustatius on the 5th, with that ship, the
+_Sandwich_, and the _Triumph_.
+
+It is somewhat difficult to criticise positively the conduct of Hood
+and of de Grasse in this affair. It is clear that Hood on the first
+day seriously sought action, though his force was but three-fourths
+that of his foe. He tried first to take the offensive, and, failing
+that, to induce his enemy to attack frankly and decisively. Troude
+is doubtless correct in saying that it was optional with de Grasse
+to bring on a general engagement; and the writer finds himself in
+agreement also with another French authority, Captain Chevalier,
+that "Count de Grasse seems to have been too much preoccupied with
+the safety of his convoy on the 29th, Admiral Hood having shown
+himself much less circumspect on that day than he was on the next.
+Notwithstanding our numerical superiority, Count de Grasse kept
+near the land until all the convoy were safe." He represents Hood as
+fencing cautiously on the following day, keeping on the field, but
+avoiding a decisive encounter. This differs somewhat from the version
+of Hood himself, who mentions signalling a general chase to windward
+at 12.30 P.M. of the 30th. The two statements are not irreconcilable.
+Hood having coppered ships, had the speed of the French, whose
+vessels, being partly coppered and partly not, sailed unevenly. The
+British commander consequently could afford to take risks, and he
+therefore played with the enemy, watching for a chance. Hood was
+an officer of exceptional capacity, much in advance of his time. He
+thoroughly understood a watching game, and that an opportunity might
+offer to seize an advantage over part of the enemy, if the eagerness
+of pursuit, or any mishap, caused the French to separate. From
+any dilemma that ensued, the reserve of speed gave him a power of
+withdrawal, in relying upon which he was right. The present writer
+adopts here also Chevalier's conclusion: "Admiral Hood evidently had
+the very great advantage over his enemy of commanding a squadron of
+coppered ships. Nevertheless, homage is due to his skill and to the
+confidence shown by him in his captains. If some of his ships had
+dropped behind through injuries received, he would have had to
+sacrifice them, or to fight a superior force." This means that Hood
+for an adequate gain ran a great risk; that he thoroughly understood
+both the advantages and the disadvantages of his situation; and that
+he acted not only with great skill, but warily and boldly,--a rare
+combination. The British loss in this affair was 39 killed, including
+Captain Nott, of the _Centaur_, and 162 wounded. The French loss is
+given by Chevalier as 18 killed and 56 wounded; by Beatson, as 119
+killed and 150 wounded.
+
+Rodney, having collected his fleet, proceeded south, and on the 18th
+of May put into Barbados for water. Much anxiety had been felt at
+first for Santa Lucia, which Hood's retreat had uncovered. As was
+feared, the French had attacked it at once, their fleet, with the
+exception of one or two ships, going there, and twelve hundred troops
+landing at Gros Ilet Bay; but the batteries on Pigeon Island, which
+Rodney had erected and manned, kept them at arms' length. The works
+elsewhere being found too strong, the attempt was abandoned.
+
+At the same time, two French ships of the line and thirteen hundred
+troops had sailed from Martinique against Tobago. When de Grasse
+returned from the failure at Santa Lucia, he learned that the British
+were at sea, apparently bound for Barbados. Alarmed for his detachment
+before Tobago, he again sailed with the fleet for that island on the
+25th of May, accompanied by three thousand more troops. Rodney learned
+at Barbados of the attempt on Tobago, and on the 29th dispatched a
+squadron of six sail of the line, under Rear-Admiral Francis Samuel
+Drake, to support the defence. On the 30th he heard that the French
+main fleet had been seen to windward of Santa Lucia, steering south,
+evidently for Tobago. On the same day Drake and de Grasse encountered
+one another off the latter island, the French being to leeward,
+nearest the land. Drake necessarily retired, and on the morning of
+June 3d was again off Barbados, whereupon Rodney at once sailed for
+Tobago with the whole fleet. On the 4th the island was sighted, and
+next morning information was received that it had capitulated on the
+2d.
+
+The two fleets returning north were in presence of one another on the
+9th; but no engagement took place. Rodney, who was to windward, having
+twenty sail to twenty-three,[93] was unwilling to attack unless he
+could get a clear sea. The strength of the currents, he said, would
+throw his fleet too far to leeward, in case of reverse, into the foul
+ground between St. Vincent and Grenada, thus exposing Barbados, which
+had not recovered sufficiently from the hurricane to stand alone. He
+therefore put into Barbados. De Grasse went to Martinique to prepare
+the expedition to the American continent, which resulted in the
+surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. On the 5th of July he sailed from
+Fort Royal taking with him the "trade" for France, and on the 26th
+anchored with it at Cap Francois in Haiti, where he found a division
+of four ships of the line which had been left the year before by de
+Guichen. There also was a frigate, which had left Boston on the 20th
+of June, and by which De Grasse received dispatches from Washington,
+and from Rochambeau, the general commanding the French troops in
+America. These acquainted him with the state of affairs on the
+continent, and requested that the fleet should come to either the
+Chesapeake or New York, to strike a decisive blow at the British power
+in one quarter or the other.
+
+[Footnote 91: This latter is applied to vessels, usually ships of war,
+which are used as transports or supply ships, and therefore carry only
+a part of their normal battery.]
+
+[Footnote 92: Rodney said that Hood "lay-to" for the night. This is
+antecedently incredible of an officer of Hood's character, and is
+expressly contradicted by Captain Sutherland of the _Russell_. "At 6
+P.M. (of the 28th) our fleet tacked to the north, and _kept moving_
+across the bay (Fort Royal) for the right (_sic_), in line of battle."
+Ekins, "Naval Battles," p. 136. The word "right" is evidently a
+misprint for "night." Rodney's criticisms seem to the author captious
+throughout.]
+
+[Footnote 93: One French ship had left the fleet, disabled.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+NAVAL OPERATIONS PRECEDING AND DETERMINING THE FALL OF YORKTOWN.
+CORNWALLIS SURRENDERS
+
+1781
+
+
+Having now brought the major naval transactions in the West Indies
+to the eve of the great events which determined the independence of
+the American States, it is expedient here to resume the thread of
+operations, both sea and land, on the American continent, so as to
+bring these also up to the same decisive moment, when the military
+and naval blended and in mutual support forced the surrender of the
+British army at Yorktown under Lord Cornwallis.
+
+It has been said that, to support the operations of Cornwallis in the
+Carolinas, Clinton had begun a series of diversions in the valley
+of the James River.[94] The first detachment so sent, under General
+Leslie, had been transferred speedily to South Carolina, to meet the
+exigencies of Cornwallis's campaign. The second, of sixteen hundred
+troops under Benedict Arnold, left New York at the end of December,
+and began its work on the banks of the James at the end of January,
+1781. It advanced to Richmond, nearly a hundred miles from the sea,
+wasting the country round about, and finding no opposition adequate to
+check its freedom of movement. Returning down stream, on the 20th
+it occupied Portsmouth, south of the James River; near the sea, and
+valuable as a naval station.
+
+Washington urged Commodore des Touches, who by de Ternay's death had
+been left in command of the French squadron at Newport, to interrupt
+these proceedings, by dispatching a strong detachment to Chesapeake
+Bay; and he asked Rochambeau also to let some troops accompany the
+naval division, to support the scanty force which he himself could
+spare to Virginia. It happened, however, that a gale of wind just then
+had inflicted severe injury upon Arbuthnot's squadron, three of which
+had gone to sea from Gardiner's Bay upon a report that three French
+ships of the line had left Newport to meet an expected convoy. One
+seventy-four, the _Bedford_, was wholly dismasted; another, the
+_Culloden_, drove ashore on Long Island and was wrecked. The French
+ships had returned to port the day before the gale, but the incident
+indisposed des Touches to risk his vessels at sea at that time. He
+sent only a sixty-four, with two frigates. These left Newport on
+February 9th, and entered the Chesapeake, but were unable to reach
+the British vessels, which, being smaller, withdrew up the Elizabeth
+River. Arbuthnot, hearing of this expedition, sent orders to some
+frigates off Charleston to go to the scene. The French division, when
+leaving the Bay, met one of these, the _Romulus_, 44, off the Capes,
+captured her, and returned to Newport on February 25th. On the 8th
+of March, Arnold reported to Clinton that the Chesapeake was clear of
+French vessels.
+
+On the same day Arbuthnot also was writing to Clinton, from Gardiner's
+Bay, that the French were evidently preparing to quit Newport. His
+utmost diligence had failed as yet to repair entirely the damage done
+his squadron by the storm, but on the 9th it was ready for sea. On the
+evening of the 8th the French had sailed. On the 10th Arbuthnot knew
+it, and, having taken the precaution to move down to the entrance of
+the bay, he was able to follow at once. On the 13th he spoke a vessel
+which had seen the enemy and gave him their course. Favoured by a
+strong north-west wind, and his ships being coppered, he outstripped
+the French, only three of which had coppered bottoms. At 6 A.M. of
+March 16th a British frigate reported that the enemy were astern--to
+the north-east--about a league distant, a thick haze preventing the
+squadron from seeing them even at that distance (A, A). Cape Henry,
+the southern point of the entrance to the Chesapeake, then bore
+southwest by west, distant forty miles. The wind as stated by
+Arbuthnot was west; by the French, south-west.
+
+The British admiral at once went about, steering in the direction
+reported, and the opposing squadrons soon sighted one another. The
+French finding the British between them and their port, hauled to the
+wind, which between 8 and 9 shifted to north by west, putting them
+to windward. Some preliminary manoeuvres then followed, both parties
+seeking the weather-gage. The weather remained thick and squally,
+often intercepting the view; and the wind continued to shift until
+towards noon, when it settled at north-east. The better sailing, or
+the better seamanship, of the British had enabled them to gain so
+far upon their opponents that at 1 P.M. they were lying nearly up in
+their wake, on the port tack, overhauling them; both squadrons in line
+of battle, heading east-south-east, the French bearing from their
+pursuers east by south,--one point on the weather bow (B, B). The
+wind was rising with squalls, so that the ships lay over well to their
+canvas, and the sea was getting big.
+
+As the enemy now was threatening his rear, and had the speed to
+overtake, des Touches felt it necessary to resort to the usual parry
+to such a thrust, by wearing his squadron and passing on the other
+tack. This could be done either together, reversing the order of the
+ships, or in succession, preserving the natural order; depending much
+upon the distance of the enemy. Having room enough, des Touches
+chose the latter, but, as fighting was inevitable, he decided also to
+utilise the manoeuvre by surrendering the weather-gage, and passing to
+leeward. The advantage of this course was that, with the existing sea
+and wind, and the inclination of the ships, the party that had the
+opponent on his weather side could open the lower-deck ports and use
+those guns. There was thus a great increase of battery power, for the
+lower guns were the heaviest. Des Touches accordingly put his helm up,
+his line passing in succession to the southward (c) across the head
+of the advancing British column, and then hauling up so as to run
+parallel to the latter, to leeward, with the wind four points free.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Arbuthnot accepted the position offered, stood on as he was until
+nearly abreast of the French, and at 2 P.M. made the signal to wear.
+It does not appear certainly how this was executed; but from the
+expression in the official report, "the van of the squadron wore in
+the line," and from the fact that the ships which led in the attack
+were those which were leading on the port tack,--the tack before
+the signal was made,--it seems likely that the movement was made in
+succession (a). The whole squadron then stood down into action, but
+with the customary result. The ships in the van and centre were all
+engaged by 2.30, so Arbuthnot states; but the brunt of the engagement
+had already fallen upon the three leading vessels, which got the first
+raking fire, and, as is also usual, came to closer action than those
+which followed them (C). They therefore not only lost most heavily
+in men, but also were so damaged aloft as to be crippled. The British
+Vice-Admiral, keeping the signal for the line flying, and not hoisting
+that for close action, appears to have caused a movement of indecision
+in the squadron,--an evidence again of the hold which the line then
+still had upon men's minds. Of this des Touches cleverly availed
+himself, by ordering his van ships, which so far had borne the brunt,
+to keep away together and haul up on the other tack (e), while the
+ships behind them were to wear in succession; that is, in column,
+one following the other. The French column then filed by the three
+disabled British vessels (d), gave them their broadsides one by one,
+and then hauled off to the eastward, quitting the field (D). Arbuthnot
+made signal to wear in pursuit, but the _Robust_ and _Prudent_, two
+of the van ships, were now wholly unmanageable from the concentration
+of fire upon them caused by des Touches's last movement; and the
+maintopsail yard of the _London_, the only British three-decker, had
+been shot away. The chase therefore was abandoned, and the squadron
+put into Chesapeake Bay, for which the wind was fair (D). The French
+returned to Newport. The respective losses in men were: British, 30
+killed, 73 wounded; French, 72 killed, 112 wounded.
+
+In this encounter, both sides had eight ships in line, besides smaller
+craft. The advantage in force was distinctly with the British, who
+had one three-decked ship, three 74's, three 64's, and a 50; while
+the French had one 84, two 74's, four 64's, and the late British
+_Romulus_, 44. Because of this superiority, probably, the action was
+considered particularly discreditable by contemporaries; the more
+so because several vessels did not engage closely,--a fault laid to
+the British admiral's failure to make the signal for close action,
+hauling down that for the line. This criticism is interesting, for
+it indicates how men's minds were changing; and it shows also that
+Arbuthnot had not changed, but still lived in the middle of the
+century. The French commodore displayed very considerable tactical
+skill; his squadron was handled neatly, quickly, and with precision.
+With inferior force he carried off a decided advantage by sheer
+intelligence and good management. Unluckily, he failed in resolution
+to pursue his advantage. He probably could have controlled the
+Chesapeake had he persisted.
+
+His neglect to do so was justified by Commodore de Barras, who on the
+10th of May arrived in Newport from France to command the squadron.
+This officer, after pointing out the indisputable tactical success,
+continued thus:--
+
+ "As to the advantage which the English obtained, in fulfilling
+ their object, that is a necessary consequence of their
+ superiority, and, _still more_, of their purely defensive
+ attitude. _It is a principle in war that one should risk much
+ to defend one's own positions, and very little to attack
+ those of the enemy._ M. des Touches, whose object was purely
+ offensive, could and should, when the enemy opposed to him
+ superior forces, renounce a project which could no longer
+ succeed, unless, _contrary to all probability_, it ended
+ not only in beating but also in _destroying entirely_, that
+ superior squadron."
+
+This exaltation of the defensive above the offensive, this despairing
+view of probabilities, this aversion from risks, go far to explain the
+French want of success in this war. No matter how badly the enemy was
+thrashed, unless he were entirely destroyed, he was still a fleet "in
+being," a paralysing factor.
+
+The retreat of des Touches and the coming of Arbuthnot restored to
+the British the command of Chesapeake Bay. Clinton, as soon as he
+knew that the British and French squadrons had sailed, had sent off
+a reinforcement of two thousand troops for Arnold, under General
+Phillips. These arrived in Lynnhaven Bay on March 26th, ten days after
+the naval battle, and proceeded at once to Portsmouth, Virginia. It is
+unnecessary to speak of the various operations of this land force. On
+the 9th of May, in consequence of letters received from Cornwallis,
+it moved to Petersburg. There on the 13th Phillips died, the command
+reverting momentarily to Arnold. On the 20th Cornwallis joined from
+Wilmington, North Carolina,[95] and Arnold soon after returned to New
+York.
+
+Cornwallis now had with him about seven thousand troops, including the
+garrison at Portsmouth; but a serious difference of opinion existed
+between him and Clinton, the Commander-in-Chief. The latter had begun
+the conquest of South Carolina, and did not welcome the conclusion of
+his lieutenant that the conquest could not be maintained away from the
+seaboard, unless Virginia also were subdued; for from there, a rich
+and populous region, men and supplies supported the American cause
+in the south. Cornwallis had tested the asserted strength of the
+Royalists in the Carolinas, and had found it wanting. Offensive
+operations in Virginia were what he wished; but Clinton did not
+approve this project, nor feel that he could spare troops enough for
+the purpose. Between October, 1780, and June, 1781, he said, seven
+thousand seven hundred and twenty-four effectives had been sent from
+New York to the Chesapeake; and he could not understand the failure
+to cut off the greatly inferior force of the enemy in Virginia. This
+at least did not indicate probable success for a renewed offensive.
+The garrison of New York was now short of eleven thousand and could
+not be diminished further, as he was threatened with a siege. In
+short, the British situation in America had become essentially
+false, by the concurring effect of insufficient force and
+ex-centric--double--operations. Sent to conquer, their numbers
+now were so divided that they could barely maintain the defensive.
+Cornwallis therefore was ordered to occupy a defensive position which
+should control an anchorage for ships of the line, and to strengthen
+himself in it. After some discussion, which revealed further
+disagreement, he placed himself at Yorktown, on the peninsula formed
+by the James and York rivers. Portsmouth was evacuated, the garrison
+reaching Yorktown on the 22d of August. Cornwallis's force was
+then seven thousand troops; and there were with him besides about a
+thousand seamen, belonging to some half-dozen small vessels, which
+were shut up in the York by the arrival from Haiti of the French fleet
+under de Grasse, which on August 30th, 1781, had anchored in Lynnhaven
+Bay, inside of Cape Henry.
+
+On July 2d Arbuthnot had sailed for England, leaving the command at
+New York to Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves. Graves on the same day wrote
+to Rodney by the brig _Active_, that intercepted dispatches of the
+enemy had revealed that a large division from the West Indies was to
+arrive on the American coast during the summer, to cooeperate with the
+force already in Newport. Rodney, on the other hand, dispatched to New
+York on July 7th the _Swallow_ sloop, 16, with word that, if he sent
+reinforcements from the West Indies, they would be ordered to make the
+Capes of the Chesapeake, and to coast thence to New York. He asked,
+therefore, that cruisers with information might be stationed along
+that route. Two days later, having then certain news that de Grasse
+had sailed for Cap Francois, he sent this intelligence to Sir Peter
+Parker at Jamaica, and gave Sir Samuel Hood preparatory orders to
+command a reinforcement of ships destined for the continent. This,
+however, was limited in numbers to fifteen sail of the line, Rodney
+being misled by his intelligence, which gave fourteen ships as the
+size of the French division having the same destination, and reported
+that de Grasse himself would convoy the trade from Cap Francois to
+France. On the 24th instructions were issued for Hood to proceed on
+this duty. He was first to convoy the trade from Jamaica as far as the
+passage between Cuba and Haiti, and thence to make the utmost speed
+to the Chesapeake. A false rumour, of French ships reaching Martinique
+from Europe, slightly delayed this movement. The convoy was dispatched
+to Jamaica with two ships of the line, which Sir Peter Parker was
+directed to send at once to America, and requested to reinforce with
+others from his own squadron. Hood was detained until the rumour could
+be verified. On the 1st of August Rodney sailed for England on leave
+of absence. On the 10th Hood left Antigua with fourteen ships of the
+line, direct for the Capes. He had already received, on August 3d,
+Graves's letter by the _Active_, which he sent back on the 8th with
+his answers and with a notification of his speedy departure.
+
+The _Swallow_ and the _Active_ should have reached Graves before Hood;
+but neither got to him at all. The _Swallow_ arrived safely in New
+York on the 27th of July; but Graves had sailed with all his squadron
+on the 21st, for Boston Bay, hoping there to intercept an expected
+convoy from France, concerning which a special caution had been sent
+him by the Admiralty. The _Swallow_ was at once sent on by the senior
+naval officer at New York, but was attacked by hostile vessels, forced
+ashore on Long Island, and lost. The _Active_ was captured before she
+reached New York. Graves, thus uninformed of the momentous crisis at
+hand, continued cruising until the 16th of August, when he returned to
+Sandy Hook. There he found the duplicates of the _Swallow's_ letters,
+but they only notified him of the course a reinforcement would take,
+not that Hood had started. On August 25th the latter, being then off
+the Chesapeake, sent duplicates of the _Active's_ dispatches, but
+these preceded by little his own arrival on the 28th. That evening
+news was received in New York that de Barras had sailed from Newport
+on the 25th, with his whole division. Hood anchored outside the Hook,
+where Graves, who was senior to him, undertook to join at once. On
+the 31st five sail of the line and a 50-gun ship, all that could be
+got ready in time, crossed the bar, and the entire body of nineteen
+ships of the line started at once for the Chesapeake, whither it was
+understood now that both the French fleet and the united armies of
+Washington and Rochambeau were hurrying.
+
+Count de Grasse upon his arrival at Cap Francois had found that many
+things must be done before he could sail for the continent. Measures
+needed to be taken for the security of Haiti; and a large sum of
+money, with a considerable reinforcement of troops, was required to
+insure the success of the projected operation, for which but a short
+time was allowed, as it was now August and he must be again in the
+West Indies in October. It was not the least among the fortunate
+concurrences for the American cause at that moment, that de Grasse,
+whose military capacity was not conspicuous, showed then a remarkable
+energy, politic tact, and breadth of view. He decided to take with him
+every ship he could command, postponing the sailing of the convoys;
+and by dexterous arrangement with the Spaniards he contrived to secure
+both the funds required and an efficient corps of thirty-three hundred
+French troops, without stripping Haiti too closely. On the 5th of
+August he left Cap Francois, with twenty-eight ships of the line,
+taking the route through the Old Bahama Channel,[96] and anchored
+in Lynnhaven Bay, just within the entrance of the Chesapeake, on the
+30th, the day before Graves sailed from New York for the same place.
+The troops were landed instantly on the south side of the James River,
+and soon reached La Fayette, who commanded the forces so far opposed
+to Cornwallis, which were thus raised to eight thousand men. At
+the same time Washington, having thrown Clinton off his guard, was
+crossing the Delaware on his way south, with six thousand regular
+troops, two thousand American and four thousand French, to join La
+Fayette. French cruisers took position in the James River, to prevent
+Cornwallis from crossing, and escaping to the southward into Carolina.
+Others were sent to close the mouth of the York. By these detachments
+the main fleet was reduced to twenty-four sail of the line.
+
+On the 5th of September, at 8 A.M., the French look-out frigate,
+cruising outside Cape Henry, made the signal for a fleet steering for
+the Bay. It was hoped at first that this was de Barras's squadron
+from Newport, known to be on its way, but it was soon evident from
+the numbers that it must be an enemy. The forces now about to be
+opposed, nineteen. British sail of the line to twenty-four French,
+were constituted as follows: British, two 98's (three-deckers);
+twelve 74's, one 70, four 64's, besides frigates; French, one 104
+(three-decker),[97] three 80's, seventeen 74's, three 64's.
+
+The mouth of the Chesapeake is about ten miles wide, from Cape Charles
+on the north to Cape Henry on the south. The main channel is between
+the latter and a shoal, three miles to the northward, called the
+Middle Ground. The British fleet, when the French were first seen
+from it, was steering south-west for the entrance, under foresails and
+topgallant sails, and it so continued, forming line as it approached.
+The wind was north-north-east. At noon the ebb-tide made, and the
+French began to get under way, but many of their ships had to make
+several tacks to clear Cape Henry. Their line was consequently late in
+forming, and was by no means regular or closed as they got outside.
+
+At 1 P.M. Graves made the signal to form column on an east and west
+line, which with the wind as it was would be the close-hauled line
+heading out to sea, on the other tack from that on which his fleet
+still was. In this order he continued to head in for the entrance. At
+2 P.M. the French van, standing out, three miles distant by estimate,
+bore south from the _London_, Graves's flagship, and was therefore
+abreast of the centre of the British line. As the British van came
+near the Middle Ground, at 2.13 P.M., the ships wore together. This
+put them on the same tack as the French, Hood's division, which had
+been leading, being now the rear in the reversed order. The fleet then
+brought-to,--stopped,--in order to allow the centre of the enemy to
+come abreast of the centre of the British (aa, aa.) The two lines
+now were nearly parallel, but the British, being five ships fewer,
+naturally did not extend so far as the rear of the French, which in
+fact was not yet clear of the Cape. At 2.30 Graves made the signal
+for the van ship (the _Shrewsbury_), to lead more to starboard
+(l)--towards the enemy. As each ship in succession would take her
+course to follow the leader, the effect of this was to put the British
+on a line inclined to that of the enemy, the van nearest, and as the
+signal was renewed three quarters of an hour later,--at 3.17,--this
+angle became still more marked (bb).[98] This was the original and
+enduring cause of a lamentable failure by which seven of the rear
+ships, in an inferior force undertaking to attack, never came into
+battle at all. At 3.34 the van was ordered again to keep still more
+toward the enemy.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+At 3.46 the signal was made for ships to close to one cable, followed
+almost immediately by that to bear down and engage the enemy,--the
+signal for the line still flying. Graves's flagship, the _London_, 98
+(f), which was hove-to, filled and bore down. Under the conditions,
+the van ships of course got first under fire, and the action gradually
+extended from them to the twelfth in the order, two ships astern of
+the _London_. According to the log of the latter, at 4.11 the signal
+for the line ahead was hauled down, that it might not interfere with
+that for close action, but at 4.22 it was rehoisted, "the ships not
+being sufficiently extended." The meaning of this expression may be
+inferred from Beatson's account:--
+
+ "The _London_, by taking the lead, had advanced farther
+ towards the enemy than some of the ships stationed immediately
+ ahead of her in the line of battle; and upon luffing up (f')
+ to bring her broadside to bear, they having done the same
+ thing, her second ahead (m) was brought nearly upon her
+ weather beam. The other ships ahead of her were likewise too
+ much crowded together."
+
+As the ship on the _London's_ weather beam could not fire upon the
+enemy unless she drew ahead, this condition probably accounts for the
+flagship being again hove-to, while firing, as Hood says that she
+was. The signal for the line was hauled down again at 4.27, by the
+_London's_ log, that for close action being up, and repeated at 5.20,
+when Hood (h) at last bore down with his division (h'), but the French
+ships bearing up also, he did not near them. Firing ceased shortly
+after sunset. The loss of the British was 90 killed, 246 wounded; that
+of the French is given only in round numbers, as about 200 killed and
+wounded.
+
+Hood's statement introduces certain important qualifications into the
+above account:--
+
+ "Our centre began to engage at the same time as the van, at
+ four, but at a most _improper_ distance, and our rear, being
+ barely within random shot, did not fire while the signal for
+ the line was flying. The _London_ had the signal for close
+ action flying, as well as the signal for the line ahead at
+ _half a cable_ was under her topsails, with the main topsail
+ to the mast,[99] though the enemy's ships were pushing on."
+
+As showing the improper distance at which the _London_ brought-to to
+fire, he says:--
+
+ "The second ship astern of her (of the _London_) received
+ but trifling damage, and the third astern of her received no
+ damage at all, which most clearly proves [at] how much too
+ great a distance was the centre division engaged."
+
+The day after the action Hood made a memorandum of his criticisms upon
+it, which has been published. The gist of this is as follows. As the
+French stood out, their line was not regular or connected. The van was
+much separated from the centre and rear, and it appears also, from the
+French narratives, that it was to windward of the rest of the fleet.
+From these causes it was much exposed to be attacked unsupported.
+There was, by Hood's estimate, "a full hour and a half to have engaged
+it before any of the rear could have come up." The line of battle
+on the port tack, with the then wind, was east and west, and Graves
+had first ranged his fleet on it, as the French were doing; but
+afterwards, owing to his method of approach, by the van bearing down
+and the other ships following in its wake, the two lines, instead of
+being parallel, formed an angle, the British centre and rear being
+much more distant from the enemy than the van was. This alone would
+cause the ships to come into battle successively instead of together,
+a fault of itself; but the Commander-in-Chief, according to Hood,
+committed the further mistake that he kept the signal for the
+line of battle flying until 5.30 P.M., near to sunset. In Hood's
+understanding, while that signal flew the position of each ship was
+determined by that of Graves's flagship. None could go closer than the
+line through her parallel to the enemy. Hence Hood's criticism, which
+is marked by much acerbity towards his superior, but does not betray
+any consciousness that he himself needed any justification for his
+division not having taken part.
+
+"Had the centre gone to the support of the van, _and the signal for
+the line been hauled down_, or the Commander-in-Chief had set the
+example of close action, _even with the signal for the line flying_,
+the van of the enemy must have been cut to pieces, and the rear
+division of the British fleet would have been opposed to those ships
+the centre division fired at, and at the proper distance for engaging,
+or the Rear-Admiral who commanded it[100] would have a great deal to
+answer for."[101]
+
+So much for the tactical failure of that day. The question remained
+what next was to be done. Graves contemplated renewing the action, but
+early in the night was informed that several of the van ships were too
+crippled to permit this. He held his ground, however, in sight of the
+French, until dark on the 9th, when they were seen for the last time.
+They were then under a cloud of sail, and on the morning of the 10th
+had disappeared. From their actions during this interval, Hood had
+inferred that de Grasse meant to get back into the Chesapeake without
+further fighting; and he implies that he advised Graves to anticipate
+the enemy in so doing. Though some ships were crippled aloft, the
+British batteries were practically intact, nor had men enough been
+disabled to prevent any gun in the fleet from being fought. Could but
+a single working day be gained in taking up an anchorage, a defensive
+order could be assumed, practically impregnable to the enemy, covering
+Cornwallis, and not impossibly intercepting the French ships left in
+the Bay. In the case of many men such comment might be dismissed as
+the idle talk of the captious fault-finder, always to the fore in
+life; but in the case of Hood it must be received with deference, for,
+but a few months later, when confronted with greater odds, he himself
+did the very thing he here recommended, for an object less vital than
+the relief of Cornwallis. Having regard to the character of de Grasse,
+it is reasonable to believe that, if he had found the British fleet
+thus drawn up at anchor in Chesapeake Bay, as he found Hood at St.
+Kitts in the following January, he would have waited off the entrance
+for de Barras, and then have gone to sea, leaving Washington and
+Rochambeau to look at Cornwallis slipping out of their grasp.
+
+On the 10th of September Graves decided to burn the _Terrible_, 74,
+which had been, kept afloat with difficulty since the action. This
+done, the fleet stood towards the Chesapeake, a frigate going ahead
+to reconnoitre. On the 13th, at 6 A.M., Graves wrote to Hood that the
+look-outs reported the French at anchor above the Horse Shoe (shoal)
+in the Chesapeake, and desired his opinion what to do with the fleet.
+To this Hood sent the comforting reply that it was no more than what
+he had expected, as the press of sail the (French) fleet carried
+on the 9th, and on the night of the 8th, made it very clear to him
+what de Grasse's intentions were. He "would be very glad to send an
+opinion, but he really knows not what to say in the truly lamentable
+state [to which] we have brought ourselves."[102] On the 10th de
+Barras had reached the Bay, where he was joined by de Grasse on the
+11th, so that there were then present thirty-six French ships of the
+line. Graves, therefore, returned to New York, reaching Sandy Hook
+September 19th. On the 14th Washington had arrived before Yorktown,
+where he took the chief command; and the armies closed in upon
+Cornwallis by land as the French fleets had done already by water.
+On the 19th of October the British force was compelled to surrender,
+seven thousand two hundred and forty-seven troops and eight hundred
+and forty seamen laying down their arms. During the siege the latter
+had served in the works, the batteries of which were largely composed
+of ships' guns.
+
+After Graves's return to New York, Rear-Admiral the Hon. Robert Digby
+arrived from England on the 24th of September, to take command of the
+station in Arbuthnot's place. He brought with him three ships of the
+line; and the two which Sir Peter Parker had been ordered by Rodney to
+send on at once had also reached the port. It was decided by the land
+and sea officers concerned to attempt the relief of Cornwallis, and
+that it was expedient for Graves to remain in command until after this
+expedition. He could not start, however, until the 18th of October,
+by which time Cornwallis's fate was decided. Graves then departed for
+Jamaica to supersede Sir Peter Parker. On the 11th of November Hood
+sailed from Sandy Hook with eighteen ships of the line, and on the
+5th of December anchored at Barbados. On the 5th of November de Grasse
+also quitted the continent with his whole fleet, and returned to the
+West Indies.
+
+[Footnote 94: _Ante_, p. 153.]
+
+[Footnote 95: See _ante_, p. 153.]
+
+[Footnote 96: Along the north coast of Cuba, between it and the Bahama
+Banks.]
+
+[Footnote 97: The _Ville de Paris_, to which Troude attributes 104
+guns. She was considered the biggest and finest ship of her day.]
+
+[Footnote 98: This reproduced the blunder of Byng, between
+whose action and the one now under discussion there is a marked
+resemblance.]
+
+[Footnote 99: _I.e._ she had stopped.]
+
+[Footnote 100: Hood himself.]
+
+[Footnote 101: Letters of Lord Hood, p. 32. Navy Records Society. My
+italics. Concerning the crucial fact of the signal for the line of
+battle being kept flying continuously until 5.30 P.M., upon which
+there is a direct contradiction between Hood and the log of the
+_London_, it is necessary to give the statement of Captain Thomas
+White, who was present in the action in one of the rear ships. "If the
+_London's_ log, or the log of any other individual ship in the fleet,
+confirm this statement," (that Hood was dilatory in obeying the order
+for close action), "I shall be induced to fancy that what I that
+day saw and heard was a mere chimera of the brain, and that what I
+believed to be the signal for the line was not a union jack, but an
+_ignis fatuus_ conjured up to mock me." White and Hood also agree
+that the signal for the line was rehoisted at 6.30. (White: "Naval
+Researches," London, 1830, p. 45.)]
+
+[Footnote 102: "Letters of Lord Hood." Navy Records Society, p. 35.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+NAVAL EVENTS OF 1781 IN EUROPE. DARBY'S RELIEF OF GIBRALTAR, AND THE
+BATTLE OF THE DOGGER BANK
+
+
+In Europe, during the year 1781, the two leading questions which
+dominated the action of the belligerents were the protection, or
+destruction, of commerce, and the attack and defence of Gibraltar. The
+British Channel Fleet was much inferior to the aggregate sea forces of
+France and Spain in the waters of Europe; and the Dutch navy also was
+now hostile. The French government represented to its allies that by
+concentrating their squadrons near the entrance of the Channel they
+would control the situation in every point of view; but the Spaniards,
+intent upon Gibraltar, declined to withdraw their fleet from Cadiz
+until late in the summer, while the French persisted in keeping their
+own at Brest. The Channel Fleet was decisively superior to the latter,
+and inferior to the Spaniards in numbers only.
+
+No relief having been given Gibraltar since Rodney had left it
+in February, 1780, the question of supplying the fortress became
+pressing. For this purpose, twenty-eight ships of the line, under
+Vice-Admiral George Darby, sailed from St. Helen's on the 13th of
+March, 1781, with a large convoy. Off Cork a number of victuallers
+joined, and the whole body then proceeded for Gibraltar, accompanied
+by five ships of the line which were destined for the East Indies,
+as well as by the West India and American "trade." These several
+attachments parted from time to time on the way, and on the 11th of
+April the main expedition sighted Cape Spartel, on the African coast.
+No attempt to intercept it was made by the great Spanish fleet in
+Cadiz; and on the 12th of April, at noon, the convoy anchored in the
+Bay of Gibraltar. That night thirteen sail of the transports, under
+charge of two frigates, slipped out and made their way to Minorca,
+then a British possession. The British ships of war continued under
+way, cruising in the Bay and Gut of Gibraltar.
+
+As the convoy entered, the besiegers opened a tremendous cannonade,
+which was ineffectual, however, to stop the landing of the stores.
+More annoyance was caused by a flotilla of gunboats, specially built
+for this siege, the peculiar fighting power of which lay in one
+26-pounder, whose great length gave a range superior to the batteries
+of ships of the line. Being moved by oars as well as by sails, these
+little vessels could choose their distance in light airs and calms,
+and were used so actively to harass the transports at anchor that
+Darby was obliged to cover them with three ships of the line. These
+proved powerless effectually to injure the gunboats; but, while the
+latter caused great annoyance and petty injury, they did not hinder
+the unlading nor even greatly delay it. The experience illustrates
+again the unlikelihood that great results can be obtained by petty
+means, or that massed force, force concentrated, can be effectually
+counteracted either by cheap and ingenious expedients, or by the
+cooeperative exertions of many small independent units. "They were
+only capable of producing trouble and vexation. So far were they from
+preventing the succours from being thrown into the garrison, or from
+burning the convoy, that the only damage of any consequence that
+they did to the shipping was the wounding of the mizzen-mast of the
+_Nonsuch_ so much that it required to be shifted."[103] On the 19th
+of April--in one week--the revictualling was completed, and the
+expedition started back for England. The fleet anchored again at
+Spithead on the 22d of May.
+
+While Darby was returning, La Motte Picquet had gone to sea from
+Brest with six ships of the line and some frigates to cruise in the
+approaches to the Channel. There, on the 2d of May, he fell in with
+the convoy returning from the West Indies with the spoils of St.
+Eustatius. The ships of war for the most part escaped, but La Motte
+Picquet carried twenty-two out of thirty merchant ships into Brest
+before he could be intercepted, although a detachment of eight sail
+sent by Darby got close upon his heels.
+
+After a long refit, Darby put to sea again, about the 1st of August,
+to cover the approach of the large convoys then expected to arrive.
+Being greatly delayed by head winds, he had got no further than the
+Lizard, when news was brought him that the Franco-Spanish grand fleet,
+of forty-nine ships of the line, was cruising near the Scilly Isles.
+Having himself but thirty of the line, he put into Tor Bay on the 24th
+of August, and moored his squadron across the entrance to the Bay.
+
+This appearance of the allies was a surprise to the British
+authorities, who saw thus unexpectedly renewed the invasion of the
+Channel made in 1779. Spain, mortified justly by her failure even
+to molest the intrusion of succours into Gibraltar, had thought to
+retrieve her honour by an attack upon Minorca, for which she asked the
+cooeperation of France. De Guichen was sent in July with nineteen ships
+of the line; and the combined fleets, under the chief command of the
+Spanish admiral, Don Luis de Cordova, convoyed the troops into the
+Mediterranean beyond the reach of Gibraltar cruisers. Returning thence
+into the Atlantic, de Cordova directed his course for the Channel,
+keeping far out to sea to conceal his movements. But though thus
+successful in reaching his ground unheralded, he made no attempt to
+profit by the advantage gained. The question of attacking Darby at
+his anchors was discussed in a council of war, at which de Guichen
+strongly advocated the measure; but a majority of votes decided
+that Great Britain would be less hurt by ruining her fleet than
+by intercepting the expected convoys. Even for the latter purpose,
+however, de Cordova could not wait. On the 5th of September he
+informed de Guichen that he was at liberty to return to Brest; and
+he himself went back to Cadiz with thirty-nine ships, nine of which
+were French. "This cruise of the combined fleet," says Chevalier,
+"diminished the consideration of France and Spain. These two powers
+had made a great display of force, without producing the slightest
+result." It may be mentioned here that Minorca, after a six months'
+siege, capitulated in February, 1782.
+
+While Darby was beating down Channel in the early days of August,
+1781, Vice-Admiral Hyde Parker, lately Rodney's second in command in
+the West Indies, was returning to England convoying a large merchant
+fleet from the Baltic. On the 5th of August, at daylight, a Dutch
+squadron, also with a convoy, but outward bound, from the Texel to
+the Baltic, was discovered in the south-west, near the Doggersbank.
+Heading as the two enemies then were, their courses must shortly
+intersect. Parker, therefore, ordered his convoy to steer to the
+westward for England, while he himself bore down for the enemy. The
+Dutch Rear-Admiral, Johan Arnold Zoutman, on the contrary, kept the
+merchant vessels with him, under his lee, but drew out the ships of
+war from among them, to form his order on the side towards the enemy.
+Each opponent put seven sail into the line. The British vessels,
+besides being of different rates, were chiefly very old ships, dragged
+out from Rotten Row to meet the pressing emergency caused by the
+greatly superior forces which were in coalition against Great Britain.
+Owing to the decayed condition of some of them, their batteries had
+been lightened, to the detriment of their fighting power. Two of them,
+however, were good and new seventy-fours. It is probable that the
+Dutch vessels, after a long peace, were not much better than their
+antagonists. In fact, each squadron was a scratch lot, in the worst
+sense of the phrase. The conduct of the affair by the two admirals,
+even to the very intensity of their pugnaciousness, contributes a
+tinge of the comic to the history of a desperately fought action. The
+breeze was fresh at north-east, and the sea smooth. The Dutch, being
+to leeward, awaited attack, forming line on the port tack, heading
+south-east by east, a point off the wind, under topsails and
+foresails, a cable's length apart. There is little room to doubt that
+an adversary who thus holds his ground means to make a stand-up fight,
+but Parker, although the sun of a midsummer day had scarcely risen,
+thought advisable to order a general chase. Of course, no ship
+spared her canvas to this, while the worse sailers had to set their
+studdingsails to keep up; and the handling of the sails took the men
+off from the preparations for battle. Parker, who doubtless was still
+sore over Rodney's censure of the year before, and who moreover had
+incurred the Admiralty's rebuke, for apparent hesitation to attack the
+enemy's islands while temporarily in command in the West Indies, was
+determined now to show the fight that was in him. "It is related that,
+upon being informed of the force of the Dutch squadron in the morning,
+he replied (pulling up his breeches), 'It matters little what their
+force is; we must fight them if they are double the number.'" At 6.10
+A.M. the signal was made for line abreast, the ships running down
+nearly before the wind. This of course introduced more regularity, the
+leading ships taking in their lighter sails to permit the others to
+reach their places; but the pace still was rapid. At 6.45 the order
+was closed to one cable, and at 7.56 the signal for battle was
+hoisted. It is said that at that moment the 80-gun ship was still
+securing a studding-sail-boom, which indicates how closely action trod
+on the heels of preparation.
+
+The Dutch admiral was as deliberate as Parker was headlong. An English
+witness writes:--
+
+ "They appeared to be in great order; and their hammocks,
+ quarter-cloths, etc., were spread in as nice order as if for
+ show in harbour. Their marines also were well drawn up, and
+ stood with their muskets shouldered, with all the regularity
+ and exactness of a review. Their politeness ought to be
+ remembered by every man in our line; for, as if certain
+ of what happened, we came down almost end-on upon their
+ broadsides; yet did not the Dutch admiral fire a gun, or
+ make the signal to engage, till the red flag was at the
+ _Fortitude's_ masthead, and her shot finding their way into
+ his ship. This was a manoeuvre which Admiral Zutman should not
+ be warmly thanked for by their High Mightinesses; as he had
+ it in his power to have done infinite mischief to our fleet,
+ coming down in that unofficer-like manner. Having suffered
+ Admiral Parker to place himself as he pleased, he calmly
+ waited till the signal was hoisted on board the _Fortitude_,
+ and at the same time we saw the signal going up on board
+ Admiral Zutman's ship."
+
+The British, thus unmolested, rounded-to just to windward of the
+enemy. A pilot who was on board their leading ship was for some reason
+told to assist in laying her close to her opponent. "By close," he
+asked, "do you mean about a ship's breadth?" "Not a gun was fired
+on either side," says the official British report, "until within the
+distance of half musket-shot." Parker, whom an on-looker describes as
+full of life and spirits, here made a mistake, of a routine character,
+which somewhat dislocated his order. It was a matter of tradition for
+flagship to seek flagship, just as it was to signal a general chase,
+and to bear down together, each ship for its opposite, well extended
+with the enemy. Now Parker, as was usual, was in the centre of
+his line, the fourth ship; but Zoutman was for some reason in the
+fifth. Parker therefore placed his fourth by the enemy's fifth. In
+consequence, the rear British ship overlapped the enemy, and for a
+time had no opponent; while the second and third found themselves
+engaged with three of the Dutch. At 8 A.M. the signal for the line
+was hauled down, and that for close action hoisted,--thus avoiding a
+mistake often made.
+
+All the vessels were soon satisfactorily and hotly at work, and the
+action continued with varying phases till 11.35 A.M. The leading two
+ships in both orders got well to leeward of the lines, the British two
+having to tack to regain their places to windward. Towards the middle
+of the engagement the Dutch convoy bore away, back to the Texel, as
+the British had steered for England before it began; the difference
+being that the voyage was abandoned by the Dutch and completed by
+the British. At eleven o'clock Parker made sail, and passed with the
+flagship between the enemy and the _Buffalo_, his next ahead and third
+in the British order; the three rear ships following close in his
+wake, in obedience to the signal for line ahead, which had been
+rehoisted at 10.43.[104] A heavy cannonade attended this evolution,
+the Dutch fighting gloriously to the last. When it was completed, the
+British fleet wore and the action ceased. "I made an effort to form
+the line, in order to renew the action," wrote Parker in his report,
+"but found it impracticable. The enemy appeared to be in as bad a
+condition. Both squadrons lay-to a considerable time near each other,
+when the Dutch, with their convoy, bore away for the Texel. We were
+not in a condition to follow them."
+
+This was a most satisfactory exhibition of valour, and a most
+unsatisfactory battle; magnificent, but not war. The completion of
+their voyage by the British merchant ships, while the Dutch were
+obliged to return to the port which they had just left, may be
+considered to award success, and therefore the essentials of victory,
+to Parker's fleet. With this exception the _status quo_ remained much
+as before, although one of the Dutch ships sank next day; yet the
+British loss, 104 killed and 339 wounded, was nearly as great as
+in Keppel's action, where thirty ships fought on each side, or in
+Rodney's of April 17th, 1780, where the British had twenty sail;
+greater than with Graves off the Chesapeake, and, in proportion, fully
+equal to the sanguinary conflicts between Suffren and Hughes in the
+East Indies. The Dutch loss is reported as 142 killed, 403 wounded.
+Both sides aimed at the hull, as is shown by the injuries; for
+though much harm was done aloft, few spars were wholly shot away. The
+_Buffalo_, a small ship, had 39 shot through and through her, and a
+very great number pierced between wind and water; in the British van
+ship as many as 14, another proof that the Dutch fired low.
+
+With the rudimentary notions of manoeuvring evinced, it is not
+surprising that Parker was found an unsatisfactory second by an
+enlightened tactician like Rodney. The Vice-Admiral, however, laid his
+unsuccess to the indifferent quality of his ships. George III visited
+the squadron after the action, but Parker was not open to compliments.
+"I wish your Majesty better ships and younger officers," he said. "For
+myself, I am now too old for service." No rewards were given, and it
+is asserted that Parker made no secret that none would be accepted,
+if offered, at the hands of the then Admiralty. He voiced the protest
+of the Navy and of the nation against the mal-administration of the
+peace days, which had left the country unprepared for war. The gallant
+veteran was ordered soon afterwards to command in the East Indies. He
+sailed for his station in the _Cato_, which was never heard of again.
+
+Though unfruitful in substantial results, Parker's action merits
+commemoration; for, after all, even where skill does its utmost,
+staunchness such as his shows the sound constitution of a military
+body.
+
+[Footnote 103: Beatson, "Military and Naval Memoirs," v. 347.]
+
+[Footnote 104: Sir John Ross, in his "Life of Saumarez," who was
+lieutenant in the flagship, says that the flagship only passed ahead
+of the _Buffalo_, and that the rear ships closed upon the latter.
+The version in the text rests upon the detailed and circumstantial
+statements of another lieutenant of the squadron, in Ekins's "Naval
+Battles." As Ekins also was present as a midshipman, this gives, as it
+were, the confirmation of two witnesses.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE FINAL NAVAL CAMPAIGN IN THE WEST INDIES. HOOD AND DE GRASSE.
+RODNEY AND DE GRASSE. THE GREAT BATTLE OF APRIL 12, 1782
+
+
+The year 1781 closed with an incident more decisive in character than
+most of the events that occurred in European waters during its course;
+one also which transfers the interest, by natural transition, again to
+the West Indies. The French government had felt throughout the summer
+the necessity of sending de Grasse reinforcements both of ships and of
+supplies, but the transports and material of war needed could not be
+collected before December. As the British probably would attempt to
+intercept a convoy upon which the next campaign so much depended,
+Rear-Admiral de Guichen was ordered to accompany it clear of the Bay
+of Biscay, with twelve ships of the line, and then to go to Cadiz.
+Five ships of the line destined to de Grasse, and two going to the
+East Indies, raised to nineteen the total force with which de Guichen
+left Brest on the 10th of December. On the afternoon of the 12th, the
+French being then one hundred and fifty miles to the southward and
+westward of Ushant, with a south-east wind, the weather, which had
+been thick and squally, suddenly cleared and showed sails to windward.
+These were twelve ships of the line, one 50, and some frigates, under
+Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt, who had left England on the 2d of the
+month, to cruise in wait for this expedition. The French numbers were
+amply sufficient to frustrate any attack, but de Guichen, ordinarily
+a careful officer, had allowed his ships of war to be to leeward and
+ahead of the convoy. The latter scattered in every direction, as the
+British swooped down upon them, but all could not escape; and the
+French ships of war remained helpless spectators, while the victims
+were hauling down their flags right and left. Night coming on, some
+prizes could not be secured, but Kempenfelt carried off fifteen,
+laden with military and naval stores of great money value and greater
+military importance. A few days later a violent storm dispersed and
+shattered the remainder of the French body. Two ships of the line
+only, the _Triomphant_, 84, and _Brave_, 74, and five transports,
+could pursue their way to the West Indies. The rest went back to
+Brest. This event may be considered as opening the naval campaign of
+1782 in the West Indies.
+
+Kempenfelt, before returning to England, sent off express to Hood
+in the West Indies the fireship _Tisiphone_, 8, Commander James
+Saumarez,[105]--afterwards the distinguished admiral,--with news of
+the French approach. Saumarez, having been first to Barbados, joined
+Hood on the 31st of January, 1782, in Basse Terre Roads, on the lee
+side of St. Kitts; a position from which Hood had dislodged de Grasse
+six days before by a brilliant manoeuvre, resembling that which he
+had contemplated[106] as open to Graves the previous September at
+Chesapeake Bay for the relief of Cornwallis. The campaign for the year
+1782 had opened already with an attack upon St. Kitts by the French
+army and navy; and the French fleet was even then cruising close at
+hand to leeward, between St. Kitts and Nevis.
+
+The original intention of de Grasse and de Bouille had been to capture
+Barbados, the most important of the Eastern Antilles still remaining
+to the British; but the heavy trade-winds, which in those days made
+a winter passage to windward so long and dreary a beat, twice drove
+them back to port. "The whole French fleet," wrote Hood, "appeared
+off Santa Lucia on the 17th of last month, endeavouring to get
+to windward, and having carried away many topmasts and yards in
+struggling against very squally weather, returned to Fort Royal Bay
+on the 23d, and on the 28th came out again with forty transports,
+manoeuvring as before." On the 2d of January it disappeared from Santa
+Lucia, and, after a short stay again at Martinique, proceeded on the
+5th to St. Kitts, anchoring in Basse Terre Roads on the 11th. The
+British garrison retired to Brimstone Hill, a fortified position at
+the north-west of the island, while the inhabitants surrendered the
+government to the French, pledging themselves to neutrality. The
+adjacent island of Nevis capitulated on the same terms on the 20th.
+
+On the 14th of January, an express sent by General Shirley, governor
+of St. Kitts, had informed Hood at Barbados that a great fleet
+approaching had been seen from the heights of Nevis on the 10th. Hood
+at once put to sea, though short of bread and flour, which could not
+be had, and with the material of his ships in wretched condition.
+"When the _President_[107] joins," he wrote the Admiralty, "I shall be
+twenty-two strong, with which I beg you will assure their Lordships
+I will seek and give battle to the Count de Grasse, be his numbers
+as they may." On the way a ship reached him with word that the French
+fleet had invested St. Kitts. On the 21st he anchored at Antigua
+for repairs and supplies, indispensable for keeping the sea in the
+operations which he contemplated, the duration of which could not be
+foreseen. About a thousand troops also were embarked, which, with the
+marines that could be spared from the squadron, would give a landing
+force of twenty-four hundred men.
+
+St. Kitts being less than fifty miles from Antigua, Hood doubtless now
+got accurate information of the enemy's dispositions, and could form
+a definite, well-matured plan. This seems to have been carefully
+imparted to all his captains, as was the practice of Nelson, who was
+the pupil of Hood, if of any one. "At 9.15 A.M. the Admiral made the
+signal for all flag-officers," says the log of the _Canada_; "and at
+4 P.M. the Admirals and Commodore made the signals for all captains
+of their divisions." At 5 P.M. of the same day, January 23d, the fleet
+weighed and stood over for Nevis, round the southern point of which
+Basse Terre must be approached; for, the channel between Nevis and St.
+Kitts being impracticable for ships of the line, the two islands were
+virtually one, and, their common axis lying north-west and south-east,
+the trade-wind is fair only when coming from the south.
+
+Basse Terre, where de Grasse then was, is about fifteen miles from the
+south point of Nevis. The roadstead lies east and west, and the French
+fleet, then twenty-four of the line and two fifties, were anchored
+without attention to order, three or four deep; the eastern ships so
+placed that an enemy coming from the southward could reach them with
+the prevailing trade-wind, against which the western ships could not
+beat up quickly to their support. This being so, we are told that
+Hood, starting shortly before sunset with a fair, and probably fresh
+wind, from a point only sixty miles distant, hoped to come upon the
+French by surprise at early daybreak, to attack the weather ships,
+and from them to sail along the hostile order so far as might seem
+expedient. His column, thus passing in its entirety close to a certain
+exposed fraction of the enemy, the latter would be cut up in detail by
+the concentration upon it. The British then, wearing to the southward,
+would haul their wind, tack, and again stand up to the assault, if the
+enemy continued to await it.
+
+This reasonable expectation, and skilful conception, was thwarted by
+a collision, during the night, between a frigate, the _Nymphe_, 36,
+and the leading ship of the line, the _Alfred_, 74. The repairs to
+the latter delayed the fleet, the approach of which was discovered
+by daylight. De Grasse therefore put to sea. He imagined Hood's
+purpose was to throw succours into Brimstone Hill; and moreover the
+position of the enemy now was between him and four ships of the line
+momentarily expected from Martinique, one of which joined him on the
+same day. The French were all under way by sunset, standing to the
+southward under easy sail, towards the British, who had rounded the
+south point of Nevis at 1 P.M. Towards dark, Hood went about and stood
+also to the southward, seemingly in retreat.
+
+During the following night the British tacked several times, to keep
+their position to windward. At daylight of January 25th, the two
+fleets were to the westward of Nevis; the British near the island,
+the French abreast, but several miles to leeward. Foiled in his
+first spring by an unexpected accident, Hood had not relinquished his
+enterprise, and now proposed to seize the anchorage quitted by the
+French, so establishing himself there,--as he had proposed to Graves
+to do in the Chesapeake,--that he could not be dislodged. For such a
+defensive position St. Kitts offered special advantages. The anchorage
+was a narrow ledge, dropping precipitately to very deep water; and
+it was possible so to place the ships that the enemy could not easily
+anchor near them.
+
+At 5.30 A.M. of the 25th Hood made the signal to form line of battle
+on the starboard tack, at one cable interval.[108] It is mentioned
+in the log of the _Canada_, 74, Captain Cornwallis, that that ship
+brought-to in her station, fourth from the rear, at 7 o'clock. By 10
+o'clock the line was formed, and the ships hove-to in it. At 10.45 the
+signal was made to fill [to go ahead], the van ships to carry the same
+sail as the Admiral,--topsails and foresails,--followed, just before
+noon, by the order to prepare to anchor, with springs on the cables.
+The French, who were steering south, on the port tack, while the
+British were hove-to, went about as soon as the latter filled, and
+stood towards them in bow and quarter line.[109]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+At noon the British fleet was running along close under the high land
+of Nevis; so close that the _Solebay_, 28, one of the frigates inshore
+of the line, grounded and was wrecked. No signals were needed, except
+to correct irregularities in the order, for the captains knew what
+they were to do. The French were approaching steadily, but inevitably
+dropping astern with reference to the point of the enemy's line for
+which they were heading. At 2 P.M. de Grasse's flagship, the _Ville
+de Paris_, fired several shot at the British rear, which alone she
+could reach, while his left wing was nearing the _Barfleur_, Hood's
+flagship, and the vessels astern of her, the centre of the column,
+which opened their fire at 2.30. Hood, trusting to his captains,
+disregarded this threat to the rear half of his force. Signals flew
+for the van to crowd sail and take its anchorage, and at 3.30 P.M. the
+leading ships began to anchor in line ahead, (Fig. 1, a), covered as
+they did so by the broadsides of the rear and the rear centre (b).
+Upon the latter the French were now keeping up a smart fire. Between
+the _Canada_ and her next astern, the _Prudent_, 64,--which was a
+dull sailer,--there was a considerable interval. Towards it the
+French admiral pressed, aiming to cut off the three rear vessels; but
+Cornwallis threw everything aback and closed down upon his consort,--a
+stirring deed in which he was imitated by the _Resolution_ and
+_Bedford_, 74's, immediately ahead of him. De Grasse was thus foiled,
+but so narrowly, that an officer, looking from one of the ships which
+had anchored, asserted that for a moment he could perceive the _Ville
+de Paris's_ jib inside the British line. As the rear of the latter
+pushed on to its place, it cleared the broadsides of the now anchored
+van and centre, (Fig. 2, a), and these opened upon the enemy, a
+great part of whom were strung out behind the British column, without
+opponents as yet, but hastening up to get their share of the action.
+Hood's flagship, (f), which anchored at 4.03, opened fire again at
+4.40 P.M. Thus, as the _Canada_ and her few companions, who bore the
+brunt of the day, were shortening sail and rounding-to, (b), still
+under a hot cannonade, the batteries of their predecessors were
+ringing out their welcome, and at the same time covering their
+movements by giving the enemy much else to think about. The _Canada_,
+fetching up near the tail of the column and letting go in a hurry, ran
+out two cables on end, and found upon sounding that she had dropped
+her anchor in a hundred and fifty fathoms of water. The French column
+stood on, off soundings, though close to, firing as it passed, and
+then, wearing to the southward in succession, stood out of action on
+the port tack, (c), its ineffectual broadsides adding to the grandeur
+and excitement of the scene, and swelling the glory of Hood's
+successful daring, of which it is difficult to speak too highly. Lord
+Robert Manners, the captain of the _Resolution_, which was fifth
+ship from the British rear, writing a week later, passed upon this
+achievement a verdict, which posterity will confirm. "The taking
+possession of this road was well judged, well conducted, and well
+executed, though indeed the French had an opportunity--which they
+missed--of bringing our rear to a very severe account. The van and
+centre divisions brought to an anchor under the fire of the rear,
+which was engaged with the enemy's centre (Fig. 1); and then the
+centre, being at an anchor and properly placed, covered us while we
+anchored (Fig. 2), making, I think, the most masterly manoeuvre I ever
+saw." Whether regard be had to the thoughtful preparation, the crafty
+management of the fleet antecedent to the final push, the calculated
+audacity of the latter, or the firm and sagacious tactical handling
+from the first moment to the last, Nelson himself never did a more
+brilliant deed than this of Hood's.[110] All firing ceased at 5.30.
+
+Naturally, an order taken up under such conditions needed some
+rectifying before further battle. As the proper stationing of the
+fleet depended in great measure upon the position of the van ship,
+Hood had put a local pilot on board her; but when the action ceased,
+he found that she was not as close to the shore as he had intended.
+The rear, on the other hand, was naturally in the most disorder, owing
+to the circumstances attending its anchorage. Three ships from the
+rear were consequently directed to place themselves ahead of the van,
+closing the interval, while others shifted their berths, according
+to specific directions. The order as finally assumed (Fig. 3) was as
+follows. The van ship was anchored so close to the shore that it was
+impossible to pass within her, or, with the prevailing wind, even to
+reach her, because of a point and shoal just outside, covering her
+position. From her the line extended in a west-north-west direction
+to the fifteenth ship,--the _Barfleur_, 98, Hood's flagship,--when it
+turned to north, the last six ships being on a north and south line.
+These six, with their broadsides turned to the westward, prevented a
+column passing from south to north, the only way one could pass, from
+enfilading the main line with impunity. The latter covered with its
+guns the approach from the south. All the ships had springs on their
+cables, enabling them to turn their sides so as to cover a large arc
+of a circle with their batteries.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+At daylight on the following morning, January 26th, the ships began
+changing their places, the French being then seven or eight miles
+distant in the south-south-east. At 7 A.M. they were seen to be
+approaching in line of battle, under a press of sail, heading for the
+British van. The _Canada_, which had begun at 5 A.M. to tackle her
+200-odd fathoms of cable, was obliged to cut, whereby "we lost the
+small bower anchor and two cables with one 8-inch and one 9-inch
+hawsers, which were bent for springs." The ship had to work to
+windward to close with the fleet, and was therefore ordered by the
+Rear-Admiral to keep engaging under way, until 10.50, when a message
+was sent her to anchor in support of the rear. The action began
+between 8.30 and 9 A.M., the leading French ship heading for the
+British van, seemingly with the view of passing round and inside it.
+Against this attempt Hood's precautions probably were sufficient; but
+as the enemy's vessel approached, the wind headed her, so that she
+could only fetch the third ship. The latter, with the vessels ahead
+and astern, sprung their batteries upon her. "The crash occasioned by
+their destructive broadsides was so tremendous on board her that whole
+pieces of plank were seen flying from her off side, ere she could
+escape the cool concentrated fire of her determined adversaries."[111]
+She put her helm up, and ran along outside the British line, receiving
+the first fire of each successive ship. Her movement was imitated by
+her followers, some keeping off sooner, some later; but de Grasse in
+his flagship not only came close, but pointed his after yards to the
+wind,[112] to move the slower. As he ported his helm when leaving the
+_Barfleur_, this brought these sails aback, keeping him a still longer
+time before the British ships thrown to the rear. "In this he was
+supported by those ships which were astern, or immediately ahead of
+him. During this short but tremendous conflict in that part of the
+field of battle, nothing whatever could be seen of them for upwards
+of twenty minutes, save de Grasse's white flag at the main-topgallant
+masthead of the _Ville de Paris_, gracefully floating above the
+immense volumes of smoke that enveloped them, or the pennants of those
+ships which were occasionally perceptible, when an increase of breeze
+would waft away the smoke."[113]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Though most gallantly done, no such routine manoeuvre as this could
+shake Hood's solidly assumed position. The attempt was repeated in the
+afternoon, but more feebly, and upon the centre and rear only. This
+also was ineffectual; and Hood was left in triumphant possession of
+the field. The losses in the several affairs of the two days had been:
+British, 72 killed, 244 wounded; French, 107 killed, 207 wounded.
+Thenceforth the French fleet continued cruising to leeward of the
+island, approaching almost daily, frequently threatening attack, and
+occasionally exchanging distant shots; but no serious encounter took
+place. Interest was centred on Brimstone Hill, where alone on the
+island the British flag still flew. De Grasse awaited its surrender,
+flattering himself that the British would be forced then to put
+to sea, and that his fleet, increased by successive arrivals to
+thirty-two of the line, would then find an opportunity to crush the
+man who had outwitted and out-manoeuvred him on January 25th and 26th.
+In this hope he was deceived by his own inaptness and his adversary's
+readiness. Hood was unable to succour Brimstone Hill, for want of
+troops; the French having landed six thousand men, against which the
+British twenty-four hundred could effect nothing, either alone or in
+cooeperation with the garrison, which was but twelve hundred strong.
+The work capitulated on the 13th of February. De Grasse, who had
+neglected to keep his ships provisioned, went next day to Nevis and
+anchored there to empty the storeships. That evening Hood called
+his captains on board, explained his intentions, had them set their
+watches by his, and at 11 P.M. the cables were cut one by one, lights
+being left on the buoys, and the fleet silently decamped, passing
+round the north end of St. Kitts, and so towards Antigua. When de
+Grasse opened his eyes next morning, the British were no longer to be
+seen. "Nothing could have been more fortunately executed," wrote Lord
+Robert Manners, "as not one accident happened from it. Taking the
+whole in one light, though not successful in the point we aimed at,
+nevertheless it was well conducted, and has given the enemy a pretty
+severe check; and if you give him half the credit the enemy does, Sir
+Samuel Hood will stand very high in the public estimation."
+
+Hood's intention had been to return to Barbados; but on the 25th of
+February he was joined, to windward of Antigua, by Rodney, who had
+arrived from England a week earlier, bringing with him twelve ships of
+the line. The new Commander-in-Chief endeavoured to cut off de Grasse
+from Martinique, but the French fleet got in there on the 26th.
+Rodney consequently went to Santa Lucia, to refit Hood's ships, and
+to prepare for the coming campaign, in which it was understood that
+the conquest of Jamaica was to be the first object of the allies.
+An important condition to their success was the arrival of a great
+convoy, known to be on its way from Brest to repair the losses
+which Kempenfelt's raid and subsequent bad weather had inflicted in
+December. Hood suggested to Rodney to halve the fleet, which then
+numbered thirty-six of the line, letting one part cruise north of
+Dominica, between that island and Deseada, while the other guarded
+the southern approach, between Martinique and Santa Lucia. Rodney,
+however, was unwilling to do this, and adopted a half-measure,--Hood's
+division being stationed to windward of the north end of Martinique,
+reaching only as far north as the latitude of Dominica, while the
+center and rear were abreast of the centre and south of Martinique;
+all in mutual touch by intermediate vessels. It would seem--reading
+between the lines--that Hood tried to stretch his cruising ground
+northwards, in pursuance of his own ideas, but Rodney recalled him.
+The French convoy consequently passed north of Deseada, convoyed by
+two ships of the line, and on the 20th of March reached Martinique
+safely. De Grasse's force was thus raised to thirty-five of the line,
+including two 50-gun ships, as against the British thirty-six. At the
+end of the month Rodney returned to Santa Lucia, and there remained at
+anchor, vigilantly watching the French fleet in Fort Royal by means of
+a chain of frigates.
+
+The problem now immediately confronting de Grasse--the first step
+towards the conquest of Jamaica--was extremely difficult. It was to
+convoy to Cap Francois the supply vessels essential to his enterprise,
+besides the merchant fleet bound for France; making in all one hundred
+and fifty unarmed ships to be protected by his thirty-five sail of the
+line, in face of the British thirty-six. The trade-wind being fair,
+he purposed to skirt the inner northern edge of the Caribbean Sea;
+by which means he would keep close to a succession of friendly ports,
+wherein the convoy might find refuge in case of need.
+
+With this plan the French armament put to sea on the 8th of April,
+1782. The fact being reported promptly to Rodney, by noon his whole
+fleet was clear of its anchorage and in pursuit. Then was evident the
+vital importance of Barrington's conquest of Santa Lucia; for, had the
+British been at Barbados, the most probable alternative, the French
+movement not only would have been longer unknown, but pursuit would
+have started from a hundred miles distant, instead of thirty. If the
+British had met this disadvantage by cruising before Martinique, they
+would have encountered the difficulty of keeping their ships supplied
+with water and other necessaries, which Santa Lucia afforded. In
+truth, without in any degree minimizing the faults of the loser, or
+the merits of the winner, in the exciting week that followed, the
+opening situation may be said to have represented on either side an
+accumulation of neglects or of successes, which at the moment of their
+occurrence may have seemed individually trivial; a conspicuous warning
+against the risk incurred by losing single points in the game of war.
+De Grasse was tremendously handicapped from the outset by the errors
+of his predecessors and of himself. That the British had Santa Lucia
+as their outpost was due not only to Barrington's diligence, but also
+to d'Estaing's slackness and professional timidity; and it may be
+questioned whether de Grasse himself had shown a proper understanding
+of strategic conditions, when he neglected that island in favour of
+Tobago and St. Kitts. Certainly, Hood had feared for it greatly the
+year before. That the convoy was there to embarrass his movements,
+may not have been the fault of the French admiral; but it was greatly
+and entirely his fault that, of the thirty-six ships pursuing him,
+twenty-one represented a force that he might have crushed in detail
+a few weeks before,--not to mention the similar failure of April,
+1781.[114]
+
+Large bodies of ships commonly will move less rapidly than small. By
+2.30 P.M. of the day of starting, Rodney's look-outs had sighted the
+French fleet; and before sundown it could be seen from the mastheads
+of the main body. At 6 next morning, April 9th, the enemy, both
+fleet and convoy, was visible from the deck of the _Barfleur_, the
+flagship of Hood's division, then in the British van. The French bore
+north-east, distant four to twelve miles, extending from abreast of
+the centre of Dominica northwards towards Guadeloupe. The British had
+gained much during the night, and their centre was now off Dominica to
+leeward of the enemy's rear, which was becalmed under the island. Some
+fourteen or fifteen of the French van, having opened out the channel
+between Dominica and Guadeloupe, felt a fresh trade-wind, from east by
+north, with which they steered north; and their number was gradually
+increased as individual ships, utilising the catspaws, stole clear of
+the high land of Dominica. Hood's division in like manner, first among
+the British, got the breeze, and, with eight ships, the commander of
+the van stood north in order of battle. To the north-west of him were
+two French vessels, separated from their consorts and threatened to
+be cut off (i). These stood boldly down and crossed the head of Hood's
+column; one passing so close to the leading ship, the _Alfred_, that
+the latter had to bear up to let her pass. Rodney had hoisted a signal
+to engage at 6.38 A.M., but had hauled it down almost immediately,
+and Hood would not fire without orders. These ships therefore rejoined
+their main body unharmed. At 8.30 the French hoisted their colours,
+and shortly afterwards the vessels which had cleared Dominica tacked
+and stood south, opposite to Hood.
+
+De Grasse now had recognised that he could not escape action, if
+the convoy kept company. He therefore directed the two 50-gun ships,
+_Experiment_ and _Sagittaire_, to accompany it into Guadeloupe, where
+it arrived safely that day (Position 1, dd); and he decided that the
+fleet should ply to windward through the channel between Dominica
+and Guadeloupe, nearly midway in which lies a group of small islands
+called Les Saintes,--a name at times given to the battle of April
+12th. By this course he hoped not only to lead the enemy away from
+the convoy, but also to throw off pursuit through his superior speed,
+and so to accomplish his mission unharmed. The French ships, larger,
+deeper, and with better lines than their opponents, were naturally
+better sailers, and it may be inferred that even coppering had not
+entirely overcome this original disadvantage of the British.
+
+At the very moment of beginning his new policy, however, a subtle
+temptation assailed de Grasse irresistibly, in the exposed position of
+Hood's column (h); and he met it, not by a frank and hearty acceptance
+of a great opportunity, but by a half-measure. Hood thoroughly
+crushed, the British fleet became hopelessly inferior to the French;
+Hood damaged, and it became somewhat inferior: possibly it would
+be deterred from further pursuit. De Grasse decided for this second
+course, and ordered part of his fleet to attack. This operation was
+carried out under the orders of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, the second
+in command. The ships engaged in it bore down from the windward,
+attacked Hood's rear ships, stood along northward (f) on the weather
+side of his column at long range, and, having passed ahead, tacked (t)
+in succession and formed again in the rear, (f^2) whence they repeated
+the same manoeuvre (Positions 1 and 2). Thus a procession of fifteen
+ships kept passing by eight, describing a continuous curve of
+elliptical form. They were able to do this because Hood was condemned
+to a low speed, lest he should draw too far away from the British
+centre (a) and rear (c), still becalmed under Dominica (Position 2).
+The French, having choice of distance, kept at long gunshot, because
+they were deficient in carronades, of which the British had many.
+These guns, of short range but large calibre, were thus rendered
+useless. Could they have come into play, the French rigging and sails
+would have suffered severely. This first engagement (Position 1)
+lasted, by Hood's log, from 9.48 to 10.25 A.M. It was resumed in
+stronger force (Position 2) at 14 minutes past noon, and continued
+till 1.45 P.M., when firing ceased for that day; Rodney hauling
+down the signal for battle at 2. Between the two affairs, which were
+identical in general character, Hood's column was reinforced, and
+great part of the British centre also got into action with some of
+the French main body, though at long range only. "Except the two rear
+ships," wrote Rodney to Hood that night, "the others fired at such a
+distance that I returned none."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The injuries to the British ships engaged were not such as to compel
+them to leave the fleet. The _Royal Oak_ lost her main topmast, and
+that of the _Warrior_ fell two days later, not improbably from wounds;
+but in these was nothing that the ready hands of seamen could not
+repair so as to continue the chase. Rodney, therefore, contented
+himself with reversing the order of sailing, putting Hood in the rear,
+whereby he was able to refit, and yet follow fast enough not to be out
+of supporting distance. This circumstance caused Hood's division to
+be in the rear in the battle of the 12th. One of the French ships,
+the _Caton_, 64, had been so injured that de Grasse detached her into
+Guadeloupe. It must be remembered that a crippled ship in a chased
+fleet not only embarrasses movement, but may compromise the whole
+body, if the latter delay to protect it; whereas the chaser keeps
+between his lame birds and the enemy.
+
+During the night of the 9th the British lay-to for repairs. The next
+morning they resumed the pursuit, turning to windward after the
+enemy, but upon the whole losing throughout the 10th and the 11th. At
+daylight of the 10th the French, by the logs of Hood and Cornwallis,
+were "from four to five leagues distant," "just in sight from the
+deck." During that night, however, the _Zele_, 74, had collided with
+the _Jason_, 64; and the latter was injured so far as to be compelled
+to follow the _Caton_ into Guadeloupe. At sunset of that day Rodney
+signalled a general chase to windward, the effect of which was to
+enable each ship to do her best according to her captain's judgment
+during the dark hours. Nevertheless, on the morning of the 11th
+the French seem again to have gained, for Hood, who, it will be
+remembered, was now in the rear, notes that at 10 A.M. twenty-two
+French sail (not all the fleet) could be counted _from the masthead_;
+Cornwallis, further to windward, could count thirty-three. Troude,
+a French authority, says that at that time nearly all the French had
+doubled The Saintes, that is, had got to windward of them, and it
+looked as though de Grasse might succeed in throwing off his pursuer.
+Unluckily, two ships, the _Magnanime_, 74, and the _Zele_, 74, the
+latter of which had lost her main topmast, were several miles to
+leeward of the French main body. It was necessary to delay, or to drop
+those vessels. Again, trivial circumstances conspired to further a
+great disaster, and de Grasse bore down to cover the crippled ships;
+so losing much of his hard-won ground, and entailing a further
+misfortune that night. Rodney hung doggedly on, relying on the
+chapter of accidents, as one who knows that all things come to him
+who endures. To be sure, there was not much else he could do; yet
+he deserves credit for unremitting industry and pluck. During the
+afternoon, the signals noted in the British logs--to call in all
+cruisers and for the fleet to close--attest mutely the movement of de
+Grasse in bearing down,--coming nearer.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+During the night, at 2 A.M. of April 12th, the _Zele_ and de Grasse's
+flagship, the _Ville de Paris_, 110, crossing on opposite tacks, came
+into collision. The former lost both foremast and bowsprit. It has
+been stated by John Paul Jones, who by permission of Congress embarked
+a few months later on board the French fleet as a volunteer, and
+doubtless thus heard many personal narratives, that this accident
+was due to the deficiency of watch-officers in the French navy; the
+deck of the _Zele_ being in charge of a young ensign, instead of
+an experienced lieutenant. It was necessary to rid the fleet of the
+_Zele_ at once, or an action could not be avoided; so a frigate
+was summoned to tow her, and the two were left to make their way to
+Guadeloupe, while the others resumed the beat to windward. At 5 A.M.
+she and the frigate were again under way, steering for Guadeloupe, to
+the north-west, making from five to six miles (Position 3, a); but in
+the interval they had been nearly motionless, and consequently when
+day broke at 5.30 they were only two leagues from the _Barfleur_,
+Hood's flagship, which, still in the British rear, was then standing
+south on the port tack. The body of the French, (Position 3), was at
+about the same distance as on the previous evening,--ten to fifteen
+miles,--but the _Ville de Paris_ (c) not more than eight. Just before
+6 A.M. Rodney signalled Hood, who was nearest, to chase the _Zele_;
+and four of the rearmost ships of the line were detached for that
+purpose (b). De Grasse, seeing this, signalled his vessels at 6 A.M.
+to close the flagship, making all sail; and he himself bore down to
+the westward (cc'), on the port tack, but running free, to frighten
+away Rodney's chasers. The British Admiral kept them out until 7
+o'clock, by which time de Grasse was fairly committed to his false
+step. All cruisers were then called in, and the line was closed to one
+cable.[115] Within an hour were heard the opening guns of the great
+battle, since known by the names of the 12th of April, or of The
+Saintes, and, in the French navy, of Dominica. The successive losses
+of the _Caton_, _Jason_, and _Zele_, with the previous detachment of
+the two 50-gun ships with the convoy, had reduced the French numbers
+from thirty-five to thirty effective vessels. The thirty-six British
+remained undiminished.
+
+The British appear to have been standing to the south on the port
+tack at daylight; but, soon after sending out the chasers, Rodney had
+ordered the line of bearing (from ship to ship) to be north-north-east
+to south-south-west, evidently in preparation for a close-hauled line
+of battle on the starboard tack, heading northerly to an east wind.
+Somewhat unusually, the wind that morning held at south-east for some
+time, enabling the British to lie up as high as east-north-east on
+the starboard tack (Position 3, d), on which they were when the battle
+joined; and this circumstance, being very favourable for gaining to
+windward,--to the eastward,--doubtless led to the annulling of the
+signal for the line of bearing, half an hour after it was made, and
+the substitution for it of the line of battle ahead at one cable. It
+is to be inferred that Rodney's first purpose was to tack together,
+thus restoring Hood to the van, his natural station; but the accident
+of the wind holding to the southward placed the actual van--regularly
+the rear--most to windward, and rendered it expedient to tack in
+succession, instead of all together, preserving to the full the
+opportunity which chance had extended for reaching the enemy. In the
+engagement, therefore, Hood commanded in the rear, and Rear-Admiral
+Drake in the van. The wind with the French seems to have been more to
+the eastward than with the British,--not an unusual circumstance in
+the neighbourhood of land.
+
+As Rodney, notwithstanding his haste, had formed line from time to
+time during the past three days, his fleet was now in good order, and
+his signals were chiefly confined to keeping it closed. The French, on
+the other hand, were greatly scattered when their Commander-in-Chief,
+in an impulse of hasty, unbalanced judgment, abandoned his previous
+cautious policy and hurried them into action. Some of them were over
+ten miles to windward of the flagship. Though they crowded sail to
+rejoin her, there was not time enough for all to take their stations
+properly, between daylight and 8 A.M., when the firing began. "Our
+line of battle was formed under the fire of musketry,"[116] wrote the
+Marquis de Vaudreuil, the second in command, who, being in the rear
+of the fleet on this occasion, and consequently among the last to be
+engaged, had excellent opportunity for observation. At the beginning
+it was in de Grasse's power to postpone action, until the order should
+be formed, by holding his wind under short canvas; while the mere
+sight of his vessels hurrying down for action would have compelled
+Rodney to call in the ships chasing the _Zele_, the rescue of which
+was the sole motive of the French manoeuvre. Instead of this, the
+French flagship kept off the wind; which precipitated the collision,
+while at the same time delaying the preparations needed to sustain it.
+To this de Grasse added another fault by forming on the port tack,
+the contrary to that on which the British were, and standing southerly
+towards Dominica. The effect of this was to bring his ships into the
+calms and baffling winds which cling to the shore-line, thus depriving
+them of their power of manoeuvre. His object probably was to confine
+the engagement to a mere pass-by on opposite tacks, by which in all
+previous instances the French had thwarted the decisive action that
+Rodney sought. Nevertheless, the blunder was evident at once to
+French eyes. "What evil genius has inspired the admiral?" exclaimed du
+Pavillon, Vaudreuil's flag-captain, who was esteemed one of the best
+tacticians in France, and who fell in the battle.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+As the two lines drew near to one another, standing, the French south,
+the British east-north-east, the wind shifted back to the eastward,
+allowing the French to head higher, to south-south-east, and knocking
+the British off to north-north-east (Position 4). The head of the
+French column thus passed out of gunshot, across the bows of Rodney's
+leading vessel, the _Marlborough_, (m), which came within range when
+abreast the eighth ship. The first shots were fired by the _Brave_,
+74, ninth in the French line, at 8 A.M. The British captain then put
+his helm up and ran slowly along, north-north-west, under the lee of
+the French, towards their rear. The rest of the British fleet followed
+in his wake. The battle thus assumed the form of passing in opposite
+directions on parallel lines; except that the French ships, as they
+successively cleared the point where the British column struck their
+line, would draw out of fire, their course diverging thenceforth from
+that of the British approach. The effect of this would be that the
+British rear, when it reached that point, would be fresh, having
+undergone no fire, and with that advantage would encounter the French
+rear, which had received already the fire of the British van and
+centre. To obviate this, by bringing his own van into action, de
+Grasse signalled the van ships to lead south-south-west, parallel
+with the British north-north-east (4, a). The engagement thus became
+general all along the lines; but it is probable that the French van
+was never well formed. Its commander, at all events, reached his post
+later than the commander of the rear did his.[117]
+
+At five minutes past eight, Rodney made a general signal for close
+action, followed immediately by another for the leading ships to head
+one point to starboard--towards the enemy--which indicates that he
+was not satisfied with the distance first taken by the _Marlborough_.
+The _Formidable_, his flagship, eighteenth in the column, began
+to fire at 8.23;[118] but the _Barfleur_, Hood's flagship, which
+was thirty-first, not till 9.25. This difference in time is to be
+accounted for chiefly by the light airs near Dominica, contrasted
+with the fresh trades in the open channel to the northward, which the
+leading British vessels felt before their rear. De Grasse now, too
+late, had realised the disastrous effect which this would have upon
+his fleet. If he escaped all else, his ships, baffled by calms and
+catspaws while the British had a breeze, must lose the weather-gage,
+and with it the hope of evading pursuit, hitherto his chief
+preoccupation. Twice he signalled to wear,--first, all together, then
+in succession,--but, although the signals were seen, they could not
+be obeyed with the enemy close under the lee. "The French fleet,"
+comments Chevalier justly, "had freedom of movement no longer. A fleet
+cannot wear with an enemy's fleet within musket-range to leeward."
+
+The movement therefore continued as described, the opposing ships
+slowly "sliding by" each other until about 9.15, when the wind
+suddenly shifted back to south-east again. The necessity of keeping
+the sails full forced the bows of each French vessel towards the enemy
+(Position 5), destroying the order in column, and throwing the fleet
+into _echelon_, or, as the phrase then was, into bow and quarter
+line.[119] The British, on the contrary, were free either to hold
+their course or to head towards the enemy. Rodney's flagship (5, a)
+luffed, and led through the French line just astern of the _Glorieux_,
+74, (g), which was the nineteenth in their order. She was followed
+by five ships; and her next ahead also, the _Duke_ (d), seeing her
+chief's movement, imitated it, breaking through the line astern of the
+twenty-third French. The _Glorieux_, on the starboard hand of Rodney's
+little column, received its successive broadsides. Her main and mizzen
+masts went overboard at 9.28, when the _Canada_, third astern of
+the _Formidable_, had just passed her; and a few moments later her
+foremast and bowsprit fell. At 9.33 the _Canada_ was to windward of
+the French line. The flagship _Formidable_ was using both broadsides
+as she broke through the enemy's order. On her port hand, between her
+and the _Duke_, were four French ships huddled together (c), one of
+which had paid off the wrong way; that is, after the shift of wind
+took her aback, her sails had filled on the opposite tack from that
+of the rest of her fleet.[120] These four, receiving the repeated
+broadsides, at close quarters, of the _Formidable_, _Duke_, and
+_Namur_, and having undergone besides the fire of the British van,
+were very severely mauled. While these things were happening, the
+_Bedford_, the sixth astern of the _Formidable_, perhaps unable to
+see her next ahead in the smoke, had luffed independently (b), and was
+followed by the twelve rearmost British ships, whom she led through
+the French order astern of the _Cesar_, 74, (k), twelfth from the van.
+This ship and her next ahead, the _Hector_, 74, (h), suffered as did
+the _Glorieux_. The _Barfleur_, which was in the centre of this column
+of thirteen, opened fire at 9.25. At 10.45 she "ceased firing, having
+passed the enemy's van ships;" that is, she was well on the weather
+side of the French fleet. Some of the rearmost of Hood's division,
+however, were still engaged at noon; but probably all were then to
+windward of the enemy.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The British ships ahead of the _Duke_, the van and part of the centre,
+in all sixteen sail, had continued to stand to the northward. At the
+time Rodney broke the line, several of them must have passed beyond
+the French rear, and out of action. One, the _America_, the twelfth
+from the van, wore without signals, to pursue the enemy, and her
+example was followed at once by the ship next ahead, the _Russell_,
+Captain Saumarez. No signal following, the _America_ again wore and
+followed her leaders, but the _Russell_ continued as she was, now
+to windward of the French; by which course she was able to take a
+conspicuous share in the closing scenes. At 11.33 Rodney signalled the
+van to tack, but the delay of an hour or more had given the _Russell_
+a start over the other ships of her division "towards the enemy" which
+could not be overcome.
+
+The effect of these several occurrences had been to transfer the
+weather-gage, the position for attack, to the British from the French,
+and to divide the latter also into three groups, widely separated
+and disordered (Position 6). In the centre was the flagship _Ville de
+Paris_ with five ships (c). To windward of her, and two miles distant,
+was the van, of some dozen vessels (v). The rear was four miles away
+to leeward (r). To restore the order, and to connect the fleet again,
+it was decided to re-form on the leewardmost ships; and several
+signals to this effect were made by de Grasse. They received but
+imperfect execution. The manageable vessels succeeded easily enough
+in running before the wind to leeward, but, when there, exactitude of
+position and of movement was unattainable to ships in various degrees
+of disability, with light and baffling side airs. The French were
+never again in order after the wind shifted and the line was broken;
+but the movement to leeward left the dismasted _Glorieux_, (g),
+_Hector_, (h), and _Cesar_, (k), motionless between the hostile lines.
+
+It has been remarked, disparagingly, that the British fleet also
+was divided into three by the manoeuvre of breaking the line. This
+is true; but the advantage remained with it incontestably, in two
+respects. By favor of the wind, each of the three groups had been able
+to maintain its general formation in line or column, instead of being
+thrown entirely out, as the French were; and passing thus in column
+along the _Glorieux_, _Hector_, and _Cesar_, they wrought upon these
+three ships a concentration of injury which had no parallel among the
+British vessels. The French in fact had lost three ships, as well as
+the wind. To these certain disadvantages is probably to be added a
+demoralisation among the French crews, from the much heavier losses
+resultant upon the British practice of firing at the hull. An officer
+present in the action told Sir John Ross[121] afterwards that the
+French fired very high throughout; and he cited in illustration that
+the three trucks[122] of the British _Princesa_ were shot away. Sir
+Gilbert Blane, who, though Physician to the Fleet, obtained permission
+to be on deck throughout the action, wrote ten days after it, "I
+can aver from my own observation that the French fire slackens as we
+approach, and is totally silent when we are close alongside." It is
+needless to say that a marked superiority of fire will silence that of
+the bravest enemy; and the practice of aiming at the spars and sails,
+however suited for frustrating an approach, substantially conceded
+that superiority upon which the issue of decisive battle depends. As
+illustrative of this result, the British loss will be stated here. It
+was but 243 killed and 816 wounded in a fleet of thirty-six sail. The
+highest in any one ship was that of the _Duke_, 73 killed and wounded.
+No certain account, or even very probable estimate, of the French loss
+has ever been given. None is cited by French authorities. Sir Gilbert
+Blane, who was favourably placed for information, reckoned that of
+the _Ville de Paris_ alone to be 300. There being fifty-four hundred
+troops distributed among the vessels of the fleet, the casualties
+would be proportionately more numerous; but, even allowing for this,
+there can be no doubt that the loss of the French, to use Chevalier's
+words, "was certainly much more considerable" than that reported by
+the British. Six post-captains out of thirty were killed, against two
+British out of thirty-six.
+
+Rodney did not make adequate use of the great opportunity, which
+accident rather than design had given him at noon of April 12th. He
+did allow a certain liberty of manoeuvre, by discontinuing the order
+for the line of battle; but the signal for close action, hoisted at
+1 P.M., was hauled down a half-hour later. Hood, who realised the
+conditions plainly visible, as well as the reasonable inferences
+therefrom, wished the order given for a general chase, which would
+have applied the spur of emulation to every captain present, without
+surrendering the hold that particular signals afford upon indiscreet
+movements. He bitterly censured the Admiral's failure to issue this
+command. Had it been done, he said:--
+
+ "I am very confident we should have had twenty sail of the
+ enemy's ships before dark. Instead of that, he pursued only
+ under his topsails (sometimes his foresail was set and at
+ others his mizzen topsail aback) the greatest part of the
+ afternoon, though the _flying_ enemy had all the sail set
+ their very shattered state would allow."[123]
+
+To make signal for a general chase was beyond the competence of a
+junior admiral; but Hood did what he could, by repeated signals to
+individual ships of his own division to make more sail, by setting all
+he could on the _Barfleur_, and by getting out his boats to tow
+her head round. Sir Gilbert Blane unintentionally gives a similar
+impression of laxity.
+
+ "After cutting the French line, the action during the rest of
+ the day was partial and desultory, the enemy never being able
+ to form, and several of the [our] ships being obliged to lie
+ by and repair their damages. As the signal for the line
+ was now hauled down, every ship annoyed the enemy as their
+ respective commanders judged best."[124]
+
+For this indolent abandonment of the captains to their own devices,
+the correctest remedy was, as Hood indicated, the order for a general
+chase, supplemented by a watchful supervision, which should check the
+over-rash and stimulate the over-cautious. If Hood's account of the
+sail carried by Rodney be correct, the Commander-in-Chief did not
+even set the best example. In this languid pursuit, the three crippled
+French ships were overhauled, and of course had to strike; and a
+fourth, the _Ardent_, 64, was taken, owing to her indifferent sailing.
+Towards sunset the flagship _Ville de Paris_, 110,[125] the finest
+ship of war afloat, having been valiantly defended against a host of
+enemies throughout great part of the afternoon, and having expended
+all her ammunition, hauled down her colours. The two British
+vessels then immediately engaged with her were the _Russell_ and
+the _Barfleur_, Hood's flagship, to the latter of which she formally
+surrendered; the exact moment, noted in Hood's journal, being 6.29
+P.M.
+
+At 6.45 Rodney made the signal for the fleet to bring-to (form line
+and stop) on the port tack, and he remained lying-to during the night,
+while the French continued to retreat under the orders of the
+Marquis de Vaudreuil, who by de Grasse's capture had become
+commander-in-chief. For this easy-going deliberation also Hood had
+strong words of condemnation.
+
+ "Why he should bring the fleet to because the _Ville de Paris_
+ was taken, I cannot reconcile. He did not pursue under easy
+ sail, so as never to have lost sight of the enemy in the
+ night, which would clearly and most undoubtedly have enabled
+ him to have taken almost every ship the next day.... Had I
+ had the honour of commanding his Majesty's noble fleet on the
+ 12th, I may, without much imputation of vanity, say the flag
+ of England should now have graced the sterns of _upwards_ of
+ twenty sail of the enemy's ships of the line."[126]
+
+Such criticisms by those not responsible are to be received generally
+with caution; but Hood was, in thought and in deed, a man so much
+above the common that these cannot be dismissed lightly. His opinion
+is known to have been shared by Sir Charles Douglas, Rodney's Captain
+of the Fleet;[127] and their conclusion is supported by the inferences
+to be drawn from Rodney's own assumptions as to the condition of
+the French, contrasted with the known facts. The enemy, he wrote,
+in assigning his reasons for not pursuing, "went off in a _close
+connected body_,[128] and might have defeated, by rotation, the ships
+that had come up with them." "The enemy _who went off in a body of
+twenty-six ships of the line_,[128] might, by ordering two or three
+of their best sailing ships or frigates to have shown lights at times,
+and by changing their course, have induced the British fleet to have
+followed them, while the main of their fleet, by hiding their lights,
+might have hauled their wind, and have been far to windward by
+daylight, and intercepted the captured ships, and the most crippled
+ships of the English;" and he adds that the Windward Islands even
+might have been endangered. That such action was in a remote degree
+possible to a well-conditioned fleet may be guardedly conceded; but it
+was wildly improbable to a fleet staggering under such a blow as the
+day had seen, which had changed its commander just as dark came on,
+and was widely scattered and disordered up to the moment when signals
+by flags became invisible.
+
+The facts, however, were utterly at variance with these ingenious
+suppositions. Instead of being connected, as Rodney represents, de
+Vaudreuil had with him next morning but ten ships; and no others
+during the whole of the 13th. He made sail for Cap Francois, and was
+joined on the way by five more, so that at no time were there upwards
+of fifteen[129] French ships of the line together, prior to his
+arrival at that port on April 25th. He there found four others of the
+fleet. The tale of twenty-five survivors, from the thirty engaged on
+April 12th, was completed by six which had gone to Curacao, and which
+did not rejoin until May. So much for the close connected body of the
+French. It is clear, therefore, that Rodney's reasons illustrate the
+frame of mind against which Napoleon used to caution his generals
+as "making to themselves a picture" of possibilities; and that his
+conclusion at best was based upon the ruinous idea, which a vivid
+imagination or slothful temper is prone to present to itself, that
+war may be made decisive without running risks. That Jamaica even
+was saved was not due to this fine, but indecisive battle, but to the
+hesitation of the allies. When de Vaudreuil reached Cap Francois, he
+found there the French convoy safely arrived from Guadeloupe, and also
+a body of fifteen Spanish ships of the line. The troops available for
+the descent upon Jamaica were from fifteen to twenty thousand. Well
+might Hood write: "Had Sir George Rodney's judgment, after the enemy
+had been so totally put to flight, borne any proportion to the high
+courage, zeal and exertion, so very manifestly shown by every captain,
+_all_ difficulty would now have been at an end. We might have
+done just as we pleased, instead of being at this hour upon the
+defensive."[130]
+
+The allies, however, though superior in numbers, did not venture
+to assume the offensive. After the battle, Rodney remained near
+Guadeloupe until the 17th of April, refitting, and searching the
+neighbouring islands, in case the French fleet might have entered some
+one of them. For most of this time the British were becalmed, but Hood
+remarks that there had been wind enough to get twenty leagues to the
+westward; and there more wind probably would have been found. On the
+17th Hood was detached in pursuit with ten sail of the line; and a
+day or two later Rodney himself started for Jamaica. Left to his own
+discretion, Hood pushed for the Mona Passage, between Puerto Rico and
+Santo Domingo, carrying studding-sails below and aloft in his haste.
+At daybreak of the 19th he sighted the west end of Puerto Rico; and
+soon afterwards a small French squadron was seen. A general chase
+resulted in the capture of the _Jason_ and _Caton_, sixty-fours, which
+had parted from their fleet before the battle and were on their way to
+Cap Francois. A frigate, the _Aimable_, 32, and a sloop, the _Ceres_,
+18, also were taken. In reporting this affair to Rodney, Hood got a
+thrust into his superior. "It is a very mortifying circumstance to
+relate to you, Sir, that the French fleet which you put to flight
+on the 12th went through the Mona Channel on the 18th, only the day
+before I was in it."[131] A further proof of the utility of pursuit,
+here hinted at, is to be found in the fact that Rodney, starting six
+days later than de Vaudreuil, reached Jamaica, April 28th, only three
+days after the French got into Cap Francois. He had therefore gained
+three days in a fortnight's run. What might not have been done by an
+untiring chase! But a remark recorded by Hood summed up the frame of
+mind which dominated Rodney: "I lamented to Sir George on the 13th
+that the signal for a general chase was not made when that for the
+line was hauled down and that he did not continue to pursue so as to
+keep sight of the enemy all night, to which he only answered, 'Come,
+we have done very handsomely as it is.'"[132]
+
+Rodney stayed at Jamaica until the 10th of July, when Admiral
+Hugh Pigot arrived from England to supersede him. This change was
+consequent upon the fall of Lord North's ministry, in March, 1782, and
+had been decided before the news of the victory could reach England.
+Admiral Keppel now became the head of the Admiralty. Rodney sailed for
+home from Port Royal on the 22d of July; and with his departure the
+war in the West Indies and North America may be said to have ended.
+Pigot started almost immediately for New York, and remained in
+North American waters until the end of October, when he returned to
+Barbados, first having detached Hood with thirteen ships of the line
+from the main fleet, to cruise off Cap Francois. It is of interest to
+note that at this time Hood took with him from New York the frigate
+_Albemarle_, 28, then commanded by Nelson, who had been serving on the
+North American station. These various movements were dictated by those
+of the enemy, either actually made or supposed to be in contemplation;
+for it was an inevitable part of the ill-effects of Rodney's most
+imperfect success, that the British fleet was thenceforth on the
+defensive purely, with all the perplexities of him who waits upon the
+initiative of an opponent. Nothing came of them all, however, for
+the war now was but lingering in its death stupor. The defeat of de
+Grasse, partial though it was; the abandonment of the enterprise upon
+Jamaica; the failure of the attack upon Gibraltar; and the success of
+Howe in re-victualling that fortress,--these had taken all heart out
+of the French and Spaniards; while the numerical superiority of the
+allies, inefficiently though it had been used heretofore, weighed
+heavily upon the imagination of the British Government, which now
+had abandoned all hope of subduing its American Colonies. Upon the
+conclusion of peace, in 1783, Pigot and Hood returned to England,
+leaving the Leeward Islands' Station under the command of Rear-Admiral
+Sir Richard Hughes, an officer remembered by history only through
+Nelson's refusing to obey his orders not to enforce the Navigation
+Acts, in 1785.
+
+[Footnote 105: James Saumarez, Lord de Saumarez, G.C.B. Born, 1757.
+Commander, 1781. Captain, 1782. Captain of _Russell_ in Rodney's
+action, 1782. Knighted for capture of frigate _Reunion_, 1793. Captain
+of _Orion_ in Bridport's action, at St. Vincent, and at the Nile (when
+he was second in command). Rear-Admiral and Baronet, 1801. Defeated
+French and Spaniards off Cadiz, July 12th, 1801. Vice-Admiral, 1805.
+Vice-Admiral of England and a peer, 1831. Died, 1836.]
+
+[Footnote 106: _Ante_, p. 183.]
+
+[Footnote 107: Probably _Prudent_, 64. There was no _President_ in the
+fleet.]
+
+[Footnote 108: The times and general movements are put together from
+Hood's Journal and the Log of the _Canada_, published by the Navy
+Records Society. "Letters of Lord Hood," pp. 64, 86.]
+
+[Footnote 109: When ships were in order of battle, or column, close
+to the wind, if they all tacked at the same time they would still
+be ranged on the same line but steering at an angle to it, on the
+opposite tack. This formation was called bow and quarter line, because
+each vessel had a comrade off its bow--to one side and ahead--and one
+off its quarter--to one side but astern. The advantage of this, if
+heading towards the enemy, was that by tacking again together they
+would be at once again in column, or line ahead, the customary order
+of battle.]
+
+[Footnote 110: Illustrations of other phases of this battle can be
+found in Mahan's "Influence of Sea Power upon History," pp. 470, 472.]
+
+[Footnote 111: White, "Naval Researches."]
+
+[Footnote 112: Sharp up by the starboard braces, the wind being on the
+starboard quarter. This emptied the aftersails of wind, neutralizing
+their effect, and, by causing the ship to move more slowly, kept her
+longer abreast an anchored opponent.]
+
+[Footnote 113: White, "Naval Researches."]
+
+[Footnote 114: _Ante_, p. 164.]
+
+[Footnote 115: Seven hundred and twenty feet. For ships of the line
+of that day this would make the interval between each two about four
+ships' length. At five knots speed this distance would be covered in
+something over a minute.]
+
+[Footnote 116: Probably not over one or two hundred yards from the
+enemy.]
+
+[Footnote 117: The position, in the French order, of the ships taken
+in the battle, is shown by the crosses in Positions 4, 5, 6.]
+
+[Footnote 118: _Canada's_ log, 8.15; reduced to Hood's times, which
+are generally followed.]
+
+[Footnote 119: _Ante_, p. 200 (note).]
+
+[Footnote 120: This mishap occurred to three French vessels.]
+
+[Footnote 121: Ross, "Life of Saumarez," i. 71.]
+
+[Footnote 122: Circular pieces of wood which cap the top of the
+masts.]
+
+[Footnote 123: Letters of Lord Hood, p. 103. Navy Records Society.]
+
+[Footnote 124: Mundy, "Life of Rodney," ii. 234.]
+
+[Footnote 125: She is thus rated in the British Navy Lists published
+between the time of her capture and the receipt of news of her loss;
+but she seems to have carried 120 guns.]
+
+[Footnote 126: Letters of Lord Hood, pp. 103, 104.]
+
+[Footnote 127: See letter of Sir Howard Douglas, son to Sir Charles;
+"United Service Journal," 1834, Part II, p. 97.]
+
+[Footnote 128: Author's italics; Mundy, "Life of Rodney," ii. 248.]
+
+[Footnote 129: Troude. Chevalier says sixteen, differing with. Troude
+as to the whereabouts of the _Brave_.]
+
+[Footnote 130: Letters of Lord Hood, p. 136.]
+
+[Footnote 131: Letters of Lord Hood, p. 134.]
+
+[Footnote 132: Ibid., p. 104.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOWE AGAIN GOES AFLOAT. THE FINAL RELIEF OF GIBRALTAR
+
+1782
+
+
+The fall of Lord North's Ministry, besides occasioning the recall
+of Rodney, drew Lord Howe out of his long retirement, to command the
+Channel Fleet. He hoisted his flag on the 20th of April, 1782, on
+board the _Victory_, 100. Owing to the various directions in which
+the efforts of Great Britain had to be made, either to defend her own
+interests or to crush the movements of the many enemies now combined
+against her, the operations of the Channel fleet were for some months
+carried on by detached squadrons,--in the North Sea, in the Bay
+of Biscay, and at the entrance of the Channel; Howe having under
+him several distinguished subordinates, at the head of whom, in
+professional reputation, were Vice-Admiral Barrington, the captor of
+Santa Lucia, and Rear-Admiral Kempenfelt. In the North Sea, the Dutch
+were kept in their ports; and a convoy of near 400 merchant ships
+from the Baltic reached England unmolested. In the Bay of Biscay,
+Barrington, having with him twelve of the line, discovered and chased
+a convoy laden with stores for the fleet in the East Indies. One of
+the ships of the line accompanying it, the _Pegase_, 74, surrendered,
+after a night action of three hours with the _Foudroyant_, 80, Captain
+John Jervis, afterwards Earl St. Vincent. Of nineteen transports,
+thirteen, one of which, the _Actionnaire_, was a 64-gun ship armed
+_en flute_,[133] were taken; a weighty blow to the great Suffren,
+whose chief difficulty in India was inadequate material of war, and
+especially of spars, of which the _Actionnaire_ carried an outfit for
+four ships of the line. After Barrington's return, Kempenfelt made a
+similar but uneventful cruise of a month in the Bay.
+
+Howe himself went first to the North Sea in the month of May. Having
+there held the Dutch in check during a critical moment, he was
+directed next to go to the entrance of the Channel, leaving only a
+division in the Downs. Information had been received that an allied
+fleet of thirty-two ships of the line, five only of which were
+French, had sailed from Cadiz early in June, to cruise between Ushant
+and Scilly. It was expected that they would be joined there by a
+reinforcement from Brest, and by the Dutch squadron in the Texel,
+making a total of about fifty of the line, under the command of the
+Spanish Admiral, Don Luis de Cordova. The Dutch did not appear, owing
+probably to Howe's demonstration before their ports; but eight ships
+from Brest raised the allied fleet to forty. To oppose these Howe
+sailed on the 2d of July with twenty-two sail, of which eight were
+three-deckers. Before his return, in the 7th of August, he was joined
+by eight others; mostly, however, sixty-fours. With this inferiority
+of numbers the British Admiral could expect only to act on the
+defensive, unless some specially favourable opportunity should offer.
+The matter of most immediate concern was the arrival of the Jamaica
+convoy, then daily expected; with which, it may be mentioned, de
+Grasse also was returning to England, a prisoner of war on board the
+_Sandwich_.
+
+On its voyage north, the allied fleet captured on June 25th eighteen
+ships of a British convoy bound for Canada. A few days later it was
+fixed in the chops of the Channel, covering the ground from Ushant
+to Scilly. On the evening of July 7th it was sighted off Scilly by
+Howe, who then had with him twenty-five sail. The allies prepared for
+action; but the British Admiral, possessing a thorough knowledge of
+the neighbouring coasts, either in his own person or in some of his
+officers, led the fleet by night to the westward through the passage
+between Scilly and Land's End. On the following morning he was no more
+to be seen, and the enemy, ignorant of the manner of his evasion, was
+thrown wholly off his track.[134] Howe met the convoy; and a strong
+gale of wind afterwards forcing the allies to the southward, both it
+and the fleet slipped by successfully, and reached England.
+
+Howe was ordered now to prepare to throw reinforcements and supplies
+into Gibraltar, which had not received relief since Darby's visit, in
+April, 1781. For this urgent and critical service it was determined
+to concentrate the whole Channel Fleet at Spithead, where also the
+transports and supply-ships were directed to rendezvous. It was while
+thus assembling for the relief of Gibraltar that there occurred the
+celebrated incident of the _Royal George_, a 100-gun ship, while
+being heeled for under-water repairs, oversetting and sinking at her
+anchors, carrying down with her Rear-Admiral Kempenfelt and about nine
+hundred souls, including many women and children. This was on the 29th
+of August, 1782. On the 11th of September the expedition started, one
+hundred and eighty-three sail in all; thirty-four being ships of the
+line, with a dozen smaller cruisers, the rest unarmed vessels. Of the
+latter, thirty-one were destined for Gibraltar, the remainder being
+trading ships for different parts of the world. With so extensive a
+charge, the danger to which had been emphasised by numerous captures
+from convoys during the war, Howe's progress was slow. It is told that
+shortly before reaching Cape Finisterre, but after a violent gale of
+wind, the full tally of one hundred eighty-three sail was counted.
+After passing Finisterre, the several "trades" probably parted from
+the grand fleet.
+
+On the 8th of October, off Cape St. Vincent, a frigate was sent ahead
+for information. It was known that a great combined force of ships
+of war lay in Algeciras Bay,--opposite Gibraltar,--and that an attack
+upon the works was in contemplation; but much might have happened
+meantime. Much, in fact, had happened. A violent gale of wind on
+the 10th of September had driven some of the allied fleet from their
+moorings, one vessel, the _San Miguel_, 72, being forced under the
+batteries of Gibraltar, where she had to surrender; but there still
+remained the formidable number of forty-eight ships of the line,
+anchored only four miles from the point which the relief ships must
+reach. This was the problem which Howe had to solve. More important
+still, though of less bearing upon his mission, was the cheering news
+brought by the frigate, when she rejoined on October 10th, that the
+long-intended attack had been made on the 13th of September, and had
+been repelled gloriously and decisively. The heavily protected Spanish
+floating batteries, from which success had been expected confidently,
+one and all had been set on fire and destroyed. If Howe could
+introduce his succours, the fortress was saved.
+
+The admiral at once summoned his subordinate officers, gave them
+full and particular instructions for the momentous undertaking, and
+issued at the same time, to the masters of the supply-ships, precise
+information as to local conditions of wind and currents at Gibraltar,
+to enable them more surely to reach their anchorage. On the 11th of
+October, being now close to its destination, the fleet bore up for
+the Straits, which it entered at noon with a fair westerly wind. The
+convoy went first,--sailing before the wind it was thus to leeward
+of the fleet, in a position to be defended,--and the ships of war
+followed at some distance in three divisions, one of which was led
+by Howe himself. At 6 P.M. the supply-ships were off the mouth of
+the Bay, with a wind fair for the mole; but, through neglect of the
+instructions given, all but four missed the entrance, and were swept
+to the eastward of the Rock, whither the fleet of course had to follow
+them.
+
+On the 13th the allied fleets came out, being induced to quit their
+commanding position at Algeciras by fears for two of their number,
+which shortly before had been driven to the eastward. During the
+forenoon of the same day the British were off the Spanish coast, fifty
+miles east of Gibraltar. At sunset the allies were seen approaching,
+and Howe formed his fleet, but sent the supply-ships to anchor at
+the Zaffarine Islands, on the coast of Barbary, to await events. Next
+morning the enemy was close to land northward, but visible only from
+the mastheads; the British apparently having headed south during the
+night. On the 15th the wind came east, fair for Gibraltar, towards
+which all the British began cautiously to move. By the evening of the
+16th, eighteen of the convoy were safe at the mole; and on the 18th
+all had arrived, besides a fireship with 1,500 barrels of powder, sent
+in by the Admiral upon the governor's requisition. Throughout these
+critical hours, the combined fleets seem to have been out of sight.
+Either intentionally or carelessly, they had got to the eastward and
+there remained; having rallied their separated ships, but allowed
+Gibraltar to be replenished for a year. On the morning of the 19th
+they appeared in the north-east, but the relief was then accomplished
+and Howe put out to sea. He was not willing to fight in mid-Straits,
+embarrassed by currents and the land; but when outside he
+brought-to,--stopped, by backing some of the sails,--to allow the
+enemy to attack if they would, they having the weather-gage. On the
+following day, the 20th, towards sunset they bore down, and a partial
+engagement ensued; but it was wholly indecisive, and next day was not
+renewed. The British loss was 68 killed and 208 wounded; that of the
+allies 60 killed and 320 wounded. On the 14th of November the fleet
+regained Spithead.
+
+The services rendered to his country by Howe on this occasion were
+eminently characteristic of the special qualities of that great
+officer, in whom was illustrated to the highest degree the solid
+strength attainable by a man not brilliant, but most able, who gives
+himself heart and soul to professional acquirement. In him, profound
+and extensive professional knowledge, which is not inborn but gained,
+was joined to great natural staying powers; and the combination
+eminently fitted him for the part we have seen him play in Delaware
+Bay, at New York, before Rhode Island, in the Channel, and now at
+Gibraltar. The utmost of skill, the utmost of patience, the utmost of
+persistence, such had Howe; and having these, he was particularly apt
+for the defensive operations, upon the conduct of which chiefly must
+rest his well-deserved renown.
+
+A true and noble tribute has been paid by a French officer to this
+relief of Gibraltar:[135]--
+
+ "The qualities displayed by Lord Howe during this short
+ campaign rose to the full height of the mission which he
+ had to fulfil. This operation, one of the finest in the
+ War of American Independence, merits a praise equal to
+ that of a victory. If the English fleet was favoured by
+ circumstances,--and it is rare that in such enterprises one
+ can succeed without the aid of fortune--it was above all the
+ Commander-in-Chief's quickness of perception, the accuracy of
+ his judgment, and the rapidity of his decisions, that assured
+ success."
+
+To this well-weighed, yet lofty praise of the Admiral, the same writer
+has added words that the British Navy may remember long with pride,
+as sealing the record of this war, of which the relief of Gibraltar
+marked the close in European and American waters. After according
+credit to the Admiralty for the uniform high speed of the British
+vessels, and to Howe for his comprehension and use of this advantage,
+Captain Chevalier goes on:--
+
+ "Finally, if we may judge by the results, the
+ Commander-in-Chief of the English fleet could not but think
+ himself most happy in his captains. There were neither
+ separations, nor collisions, nor casualties; and there
+ occurred none of those events, so frequent in the experiences
+ of a squadron, which often oblige admirals to take a course
+ wholly contrary to the end they have in view. In contemplation
+ of this unvexed navigation of Admiral Howe, it is impossible
+ not to recall the unhappy incidents which from the 9th to the
+ 12th of April befell the squadron of the Count de Grasse....
+ If it is just to admit that Lord Howe displayed the highest
+ talent, it should be added that he had in his hands excellent
+ instruments."
+
+To quote another French writer: "Quantity disappeared before quality."
+
+[Footnote 133: That is, with a great part of her guns dismounted, and
+below as cargo.]
+
+[Footnote 134: Chevalier, following La Motte-Picquet's report,
+ascribes Howe's escape to greater speed. ("Mar. Fran. en 1778," p.
+335.) It must be noted that Howe's object was not merely to escape
+eastward, up Channel, by better sailing, but to get to the westward,
+_past_ the allies, a feat impracticable save by a stratagem such as is
+mentioned.]
+
+[Footnote 135: Chevalier, "Mar. Fran, dans la Guerre de 1778," p.
+358.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE NAVAL OPERATIONS IN THE EAST INDIES, 1778-1783. THE CAREER OF THE
+BAILLI DE SUFFREN
+
+
+The operations in India, both naval and military, stand by themselves,
+without direct influence upon transactions elsewhere, and unaffected
+also by these, except in so far as necessary succours were intercepted
+sometimes in European waters. The cause of this isolation was the
+distance of India from Europe; from four to six months being required
+by a fleet for the voyage.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Certain intelligence of the war between Great Britain and France
+reached Calcutta July 7th, 1778. On the same day the Governor-General
+ordered immediate preparations to attack Pondicherry, the principal
+seaport of the French. The army arrived before the place on the 8th
+of August, and on the same day Commodore Sir Edward Vernon anchored
+in the roads to blockade by sea. A French squadron, under Captain
+Tronjoly, soon after appearing in the offing, Vernon gave chase, and
+on the 10th an action ensued. The forces engaged were about equal, the
+French, if anything, slightly superior; a 60-gun ship and four smaller
+vessels being on each side. As the French then went into Pondicherry,
+the immediate advantage may be conceded to them; but, Vernon returning
+on the 20th, Tronjoly soon after quitted the roads, and returned to
+the Ile de France.[136] From that day the British squadron blockaded
+closely, and on the 17th of October Pondicherry capitulated.
+
+On the 7th of March, 1779, Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes sailed
+for the East Indies with a small squadron. The French also sent out
+occasional ships; but in 1779 and 1780 these went no further than the
+Ile de France, their naval station in the Indian Ocean. Hughes's force
+remained unopposed during those years. The period was critical, for
+the British were at war with Hyder Ali, Sultan of Mysore, and with the
+Mahrattas; and all depended upon command of the sea. In January, 1781,
+when Hughes was wintering at Bombay, the French squadron under Comte
+d'Orves appeared off the Coromandel coast, but, despite Hyder Ali's
+entreaties, it refused to cooeperate with him. The different spirit of
+the two commanders may be illustrated from contemporary documents.
+
+ "We have advices from Fort St. George of a French squadron
+ which appeared off that place on January 25, 26, and 27,
+ consisting of 1 seventy-four, 4 sixty-fours, and 2 fifties.
+ They proceeded south without making any attempt on five
+ Indiamen then in the roads, with a number of vessels laden
+ with grain and provisions; the destroying of which might have
+ been easily accomplished, and would have been severely felt."
+
+ "On December 8th, off Mangalore,"[137] writes Hughes, "I
+ saw two ships, a large snow, three ketches, and many smaller
+ vessels at anchor in the road with Hyder's flag flying; and,
+ standing close, found them vessels of force and all armed for
+ war. I anchored as close as possible, sent in all armed boats,
+ under cover of three smaller ships of war, which anchored in
+ four fathoms water, close to the enemy's ships. In two hours
+ took and burned the two ships, one of 28 and one of 26 guns,
+ and took or destroyed all the others, save one which, by
+ throwing everything overboard, escaped over the bar into the
+ port. Lost 1 lieutenant and 10 men killed, 2 lieutenants and
+ 51 wounded."
+
+It is interesting to note these evidences of Hughes's conceptions of
+naval warfare and enterprise, common though they were to the British
+service; for their positive character brings into strong relief the
+qualities of his next antagonist, Suffren, and his great superiority
+in these respects over the average run of French officers of that day.
+
+D'Orves returned to the Ile de France.
+
+When war with Holland began, the British government decided to attempt
+the capture of the Cape of Good Hope. For that object a squadron of
+one 74, one 64, and three 50's, with numerous smaller vessels, under
+Commodore George Johnstone, convoying a considerable body of troops,
+sailed from England on the 13th of March, 1781, in company with the
+Channel fleet under Vice-Admiral George Darby, then on its way to
+relieve Gibraltar. The French government, having timely notice of the
+expedition, undertook to frustrate it; detailing for that purpose
+a division of two 74's, and three 64's, under the since celebrated
+Suffren.[139] These ships left Brest on the 22d of March, with the
+fleet of de Grasse. They also carried some battalions of troops.
+
+On April 11th the British squadron reached Porto Praya, Cape de Verde
+Islands. This bay is open to the southward, extending from east
+to west about a mile and a half, and is within the limits of the
+north-east trade-winds. Although aware that a French division was
+on his track, and conscious, by the admissions of his report, that
+protection could not be expected from the neutrality of the place,
+Johnstone permitted his vessels to anchor without reference to attack.
+His own flagship, the _Romney_, 50, was so surrounded by others that
+she could fire only with great caution through intervals. On the
+16th of April, at 9.30 A.M., the _Isis_, 50, which was the outermost
+of the British squadron, signalled eleven sail in the north-east.
+Fifteen hundred persons were then ashore engaged in watering, fishing,
+embarking cattle, and amusing themselves. The strangers were Suffren's
+division. The meeting was not expected by the French commander, whose
+object in entering was simply to complete the water of the ships; but
+he determined at once to attack, and hauled round the east point of
+the bay in column, the two seventy-fours at the head, his own ship,
+the _Heros_, leading with the signal for battle (line ab). Passing
+through, or along, the disordered enemy until he reached the only
+seventy-four among them, he there luffed to the wind, anchoring five
+hundred feet from the starboard beam of this vessel (f) which by an
+odd coincidence bore the same name--_Hero_. From this position he at
+once opened fire from both broadsides. His next astern, the _Annibal_
+(b), brought up immediately ahead of him, but so close that the
+_Heros_ had to veer cable and drop astern (a), which brought her on
+the beam of the _Monmouth_, 64[140] (m). The captain of the _Annibal_
+had thought the order for battle merely precautionary, and had not
+cleared for action. He was therefore taken unawares, and his ship did
+no service proportionate to her force. The third French vessel (c)
+reached her station, but her captain was struck dead just when about
+to anchor, and in the confusion the anchor was not let go. The ship
+drifted foul of a British East Indiaman, which she carried out to sea
+(c' c"). The two remaining French (d, e) simply cannonaded as they
+passed across the bay's mouth, failing through mishap or awkwardness
+to reach an effective position.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The attack thus became a mere rough and tumble, in which the two
+seventy-fours alone sustained the French side. After three quarters
+of an hour, Suffren, seeing that the attempt had failed, slipped his
+cable and put to sea. The _Annibal_ followed, but she had been so
+damaged that all her masts went overboard; fortunately, not until her
+head was pointed out of the harbour. Johnstone, thus luckily escaping
+the consequences of his neglect, now called his captains together to
+learn the condition of their ships, and then ordered them to cut their
+cables and pursue. All obeyed except Captain Sutton of the _Isis_, who
+represented that the spars and rigging of his ship could not bear sail
+at once. Johnstone then ordered him to come out anyhow, which he did,
+and his fore topmast shortly went overboard. The disability of this
+ship so weighed upon the Commodore that his pursuit was exceedingly
+sluggish; and the French kept drawing him away to leeward, the
+_Annibal_ having got a bit of canvas on a jury foremast. Night,
+therefore, was falling as Johnstone came near them; the _Isis_ and
+_Monmouth_ were two or three miles astern; the sea was increasing;
+if he got much further to leeward, he could not get back; he had
+forgotten to appoint a rendezvous where the convoy might rejoin; a
+night action, he considered, was not to be thought of. Yet, if he
+let the enemy go, they might anticipate him at the Cape. In short,
+Johnstone underwent the "anguish" of an undecided man in a "cruel
+situation,"[141] and of course decided to run no risks. He returned
+therefore to Porto Praya, put the captain of the _Isis_ under arrest,
+and remained in port for a fortnight. Suffren hurried on to the Cape,
+got there first, landed his troops, and secured the colony against
+attack. Johnstone arrived in the neighbourhood some time later, and,
+finding himself anticipated, turned aside to Saldanha Bay, where
+he captured five Dutch East Indiamen. He then sent the _Hero_,
+_Monmouth_, and _Isis_ on to India, to reinforce Hughes, and himself
+went back to England.
+
+No accusation of misbehavior lies against any of the British
+subordinates in this affair of Porto Praya. The captain of the _Isis_
+was brought to a court-martial, and honourably acquitted of all
+the charges. The discredit of the surprise was not redeemed by any
+exhibition of intelligence, energy, or professional capacity, on the
+part of the officer in charge. It has been said that he never had
+commanded a post-ship[142] before he was intrusted with this very
+important mission, and it is reasonably sure that his selection for
+it was due to attacks made by him upon the professional conduct
+of Keppel and Howe, when those admirals were at variance with the
+administration.[143] His preposterous mismanagement, therefore, was
+probably not wholly bitter to the Navy at large. In the British ships
+of war, the entire loss in men, as reported, was only 9 killed, 47
+wounded. Several casualties from chance shots occurred on board the
+convoy, bringing up the total to 36 killed and 130 wounded. The French
+admit 105 killed and 204 wounded, all but 19 being in the _Heros_ and
+_Annibal_. Although precipitated by Suffren, the affair clearly was
+as great a surprise to his squadron as to the British. Therefore, the
+latter, being already at anchor and more numerous as engaged, had a
+distinct advantage; to which also contributed musketry fire from the
+transports. Nevertheless, the result cannot be deemed creditable to
+the French captains or gunnery.
+
+Suffren remained in the neighbourhood of the Cape for two months.
+Then, having seen the colony secure, independent of his squadron, he
+departed for the Ile de France, arriving there October 25th. On the
+17th of December the whole French force, under the command of d'Orves,
+sailed for the Coromandel coast. On the way the British 50-gun ship
+_Hannibal_, Captain Alexander Christie, was taken. On the 9th of
+February, 1782, Comte d'Orves died, and Suffren found himself at
+the head of twelve ships of the line: three 74's, seven 64's and two
+50's.[144] On the 15th Hughes's fleet was sighted, under the guns of
+Madras. It numbered nine of the line: two 74's, one 68, five 64's, and
+one 50. Suffren stood south towards Pondicherry, which had passed into
+the power of Hyder Ali. After nightfall Hughes got under way, and also
+steered south. He feared for Trincomalee, in Ceylon, recently a Dutch
+port, which the British had captured on the 5th of January. It was a
+valuable naval position, as yet most imperfectly defended.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+At daylight the British saw the French squadron twelve miles east (A,
+A) and its transports nine miles south-west (c). Hughes chased the
+latter and took six. Suffren pursued, but could not overtake before
+sunset, and both fleets steered south-east during the night. Next
+morning there were light north-north-east airs, and the French were
+six miles north-east of the British (B, B). The latter formed line
+on the port tack (a), heading to seaward; Hughes hoping that thus the
+usual sea-breeze would find him to windward. The breeze, however, did
+not make as expected; and, as the north-east puffs were bringing the
+enemy down, he kept off before the wind (b) to gain time for his ships
+to close their intervals, which were too great. At 4 P.M. the near
+approach of the French compelled him to form line again, (C), on the
+port tack, heading easterly. The rear ship, _Exeter_, 64 (e), was left
+separated, out of due support from those ahead. Suffren, leading one
+section of his fleet in person, passed to windward of the British
+line, from the rear, as far as Hughes's flagship, which was fifth from
+the van. There he stopped, and kept at half cannon-shot, to prevent
+the four ships in the British van from tacking to relieve their
+consorts. It was his intention that the second half of his fleet
+should attack the other side of the English rear. This plan of
+intended battle is shown by the figure D in the diagram. Actually,
+only two of the French rear did what Suffren expected, engaging to
+leeward of the extreme British rear; the others of the French rear
+remaining long out of action (C). The figure C shows the imperfect
+achievement of the design D. However, as the position of Suffren's
+flagship prevented the British van from tacking into action, the net
+result was, to use Hughes's own words, that "the enemy brought eight
+of their best ships to the attack of five of ours." It will be noted
+with interest that these were exactly the numbers engaged in the first
+act of the battle of the Nile. The _Exeter_ (like the _Guerrier_
+at the Nile) received the fresh broadsides of the first five of the
+enemy, and then remained in close action on both sides, assailed by
+two, and at last by three, opponents,--two 50's, and one 64. When the
+third approached, the master of the ship asked Commodore Richard King,
+whose broad pennant flew at her masthead, "What is to be done?" "There
+is nothing to be done," replied King, "but to fight her till she
+sinks." Her loss, 10 killed and 45 wounded, was not creditable under
+the circumstances to the French gunnery, which had been poor also at
+Porto Praya. At 6 P.M. the wind shifted to south-east, throwing all
+on the other tack, and enabling the British van at last to come into
+action. Darkness now approaching, Suffren hauled off and anchored at
+Pondicherry. Hughes went on to Trincomalee to refit. The British loss
+had been 32 killed, among whom were Captain William Stevens of the
+flagship, and Captain Henry Reynolds, of the _Exeter_, and 83 wounded.
+The French had 30 killed; the number of their wounded is put by
+Professor Laughton at 100.
+
+On the 12th of March Hughes returned to Madras, and towards the end
+of the month sailed again for Trincomalee carrying reinforcements and
+supplies. On the 30th he was joined at sea by the _Sultan_, 74, and
+the _Magnanime_, 64, just from England. Suffren had remained on the
+coast from reasons of policy, to encourage Hyder Ali in his leaning
+to the French; but, after landing a contingent of troops on the 22d of
+March, to assist at the siege of the British port of Cuddalore, he put
+to sea on the 23d, and went south, hoping to intercept the _Sultan_
+and _Magnanime_ off the south end of Ceylon. On the 9th of April
+he sighted the British fleet to the south and west of him. Hughes,
+attaching the first importance to the strengthening of Trincomalee,
+had resolved neither to seek nor to shun action. He therefore
+continued his course, light northerly airs prevailing, until the 11th,
+when, being about fifty miles to the north-east of his port, he bore
+away for it. Next morning, April 12th, finding that the enemy could
+overtake his rear ships, he formed line on the starboard tack, at
+two cables' intervals, heading to the westward, towards the coast
+of Ceylon, wind north by east, and the French dead to windward (A,
+A). Suffren drew up his line (a) on the same tack, parallel to the
+British, and at 11 A.M. gave the signal to steer west-south-west all
+together; his vessels going down in a slanting direction (bb'), each
+to steer for one of the enemy. Having twelve ships to eleven, the
+twelfth was ordered to place herself on the off side of the rear
+British, which would thus have two antagonists.
+
+In such simultaneous approach it commonly occurred that the attacking
+line ceased to be parallel with the foe's, its van becoming nearer and
+rear more distant. So it was here. Further, the British opening fire
+as soon as the leading French were within range, the latter at once
+hauled up to reply. Suffren, in the centre, wishing closest action,
+signalled them to keep away again, and himself bore down wrathfully
+upon Hughes to within pistol-shot; in which he was supported closely
+by his next ahead and the two next astern. The rear of the French,
+though engaged, remained too far distant. Their line, therefore,
+resembled a curve, the middle of which--four or five ships--was
+tangent to the British centre (B). At this point the heat of the
+attack fell upon Hughes's flagship, the _Superb_, 74 (C, d), and her
+next ahead, the _Monmouth_, 64. Suffren's ship, the _Heros_, having
+much of her rigging cut, could not shorten sail, shot by the _Superb_,
+and brought up abreast the _Monmouth_. The latter, already hotly
+engaged by one of her own class, and losing her main and mizzen masts
+in this unequal new contest, was forced at 3 P.M. to bear up out of
+the line (m). The place of the _Heros_ alongside the _Superb_ was
+taken by the _Orient_, 74, supported by the _Brillant_, 64; and when
+the _Monmouth_ kept off, the attack of these two ships was reinforced
+by the half-dozen stern chasers of the _Heros_, which had drifted into
+the British line, and now fired into the _Superb's_ bows. The conflict
+between these five ships, two British and three French, was one of the
+bloodiest in naval annals; the loss of the _Superb_, 59 killed and 96
+wounded, and of the _Monmouth_, 45 killed and 102 wounded, equalling
+that of the much larger vessels which bore the flags of Nelson and
+Collingwood at Trafalgar. The loss of the three French was 52 killed
+and 142 wounded; but to this should be added properly that of the
+_Sphinx_, 64, the _Monmouth's_ first adversary: 22 killed and 74
+wounded. At 3.40 P.M., fearing that if he continued steering west he
+would get entangled with the shore, Hughes wore his ships, forming
+line on the port tack, heading off shore. The French also wore, and
+Suffren hoped to secure the _Monmouth_, which was left between the two
+lines; but the quickness of a British captain, Hawker, of the _Hero_,
+ran a tow-rope to her in time, and she was thus dragged out of danger.
+At 5.40 Hughes anchored, and Suffren did the same at 8 P.M. The total
+British loss in men on this occasion was 137 killed and 430 wounded;
+that of the French 137 killed, and 357 wounded.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The exhausted enemies remained at anchor in the open sea, two miles
+apart, for a week, repairing. On the 19th of April the French got
+under way and made a demonstration before the British, inviting
+battle, yet not attacking; but the condition of the _Monmouth_ forbade
+Hughes from moving. Suffren therefore departed to Batacalo, in Ceylon,
+south of Trincomalee, where he covered his own convoys from Europe,
+and flanked the approach of his adversary's. Hughes, on the 22d of
+April, got into Trincomalee, where he remained till June 23d. He then
+went to Negapatam, formerly a Dutch possession, but then held by the
+British. There he learned that Suffren, who meanwhile had captured
+several British transports, was a few miles north of him, at
+Cuddalore, which had surrendered to Hyder Ali on April 4th. On the 5th
+of July, at 1 P.M., the French squadron appeared. At 3 P.M. Hughes
+put to sea, and stood south during the night to gain the wind,--the
+south-west monsoon now blowing.
+
+Next morning, at daylight, the French were seen at anchor, seven or
+eight miles to leeward. At 6 A.M. they began to get under way. One of
+their sixty-fours, the _Ajax_, had lost her main and mizzen topmasts
+in a violent squall on the previous afternoon, and was not in the
+line. There were therefore eleven ships on each side. The action,
+known as that of Negapatam, began shortly before 11, when both fleets
+were on the starboard tack, heading south-south-east, wind south-west.
+The British being to windward, Hughes ordered his fleet to bear up
+together to the attack, exactly as Suffren had done on the 12th of
+April. As commonly happened, the rear got less close than the van
+(Position I). The fourth ship in the French order, the _Brillant_, 64
+(a), losing her mainmast early, dropped to leeward of the line, (a'),
+and astern of her place (a"). At half-past noon the wind flew suddenly
+to south-south-east,--the sea-breeze,--taking the ships a little on
+the port bow. Most of them, on both sides, paid off from the enemy,
+the British to starboard, the French to port; but between the main
+lines, which were in the momentary confusion consequent upon such
+an incident, were left six ships--four British and two French--that
+had turned the other way (Positions II and III).[145] These were the
+_Burford_, _Sultan_ (s), _Worcester_, and _Eagle_, fourth, fifth,
+eighth and tenth, in the British order; and the _Severe_ (b), third
+in the French, with the dismasted _Brillant_, which was now towards
+the rear of the fight (a). Under these conditions, the _Severe_, 64,
+underwent a short but close action with the _Sultan_, 74; and with
+two other British ships, according to the report of the _Severe's_
+captain. The remainder of the incident shall be given in the latter's
+own words.
+
+ "Seeing the French squadron drawing off,--for all the
+ ships except the _Brillant_ had fallen off on the other
+ tack,--Captain de Cillart thought it useless to prolong his
+ defence, and had the flag hauled down. The ships engaged
+ with him immediately ceased their fire, and the one on the
+ starboard side moved away. At this moment the _Severe_ fell
+ off to starboard, and her sails filled. Captain de Cillart
+ then ordered the fire to be resumed by his lower-deck guns,
+ the only ones which remained manned, and he rejoined his
+ squadron."
+
+When the _Severe's_ flag came down, Suffren was approaching with his
+flagship. The _Sultan_ wore to rejoin her fleet, and was raked by the
+_Severe_ in so doing. The _Brillant_, whose mainmast had been shot
+away in conflict with either the _Sultan_ or the _Burford_, both much
+heavier ships, had at this later phase of the fight fallen under the
+guns of the _Worcester_ and the _Eagle_. Her captain, de Saint-Felix,
+was one of the most resolute of Suffren's officers. She was rescued by
+the flagship, but she had lost 47 killed and 136 wounded,--an almost
+incredible slaughter, being over a third of the usual complement of a
+sixty-four; and Suffren's ships were undermanned.
+
+These spirited episodes, and the fact that his four separated ships
+were approaching the enemy, and being approached by them, caused
+Hughes to give the orders to wear, and for a general chase; the flag
+for the line being hauled down. These signals would bring all the main
+body to the support of the separated ships, without regard to their
+order in battle, and therefore with the utmost expedition that their
+remaining sail power would admit. Two of the fleet, however, made
+signals of disability; so Hughes annulled the orders, and at 1.30
+formed on the port tack, recalling the engaged vessels. Both squadrons
+now stood in shore, and anchored at about 6 P.M.; the British near
+Negapatam, the French some ten miles north. The loss in the action
+had been: British, 77 killed, 233 wounded; French, 178 killed, 601
+wounded.
+
+On the following day Suffren sailed for Cuddalore. There he received
+word that two ships of the line--the _Illustre_, 74, and _St. Michel_,
+60, with a convoy of supplies and 600 troops--were to be expected
+shortly at Pointe de Galle, then a Dutch port, on the south-west side
+of Ceylon. It was essential to cover these, and on the 18th he was
+ready for sea; but the necessity of an interview with Hyder Ali
+delayed him until the 1st of August, when he started for Batacalo.
+On the 9th he arrived there, and on the 21st the reinforcement joined
+him. Within forty-eight hours the supply-ships were cleared, and
+the squadron sailed again with the object of taking Trincomalee.
+On the 25th he was off the port, and, the operation being pushed
+energetically, the place capitulated on the 31st of August.
+
+It is difficult to resist the impression that greater energy on
+Hughes's part might have brought him up in time to prevent this
+mishap. He reached Madras only on July 20th, a fortnight after the
+late action; and he did not sail thence until the 20th of August,
+notwithstanding that he apprehended an attempt upon Trincomalee.
+Hence, when he arrived there on the 2d of September, not only had
+it passed into the hands of the enemy, but Suffren had reembarked
+already the men and the guns that had been landed from his fleet.
+When Hughes's approach was signalled, all preparations for sea were
+hastened, and the following morning, at daybreak, the French came out.
+Hughes had been joined since the last action by the _Sceptre_, 64,
+so that the respective forces in the action fought off Trincomalee on
+September 3d were twelve of the line to fourteen, viz.: British, three
+74's, one 70, one 68, six 64's, one 50; French, four 74's, seven 64's,
+one 60, two 50's. Suffren had also put into the line a 36-gun ship,
+the _Consolante_.[146]
+
+While the French were getting underway from Trincomalee, the British
+fleet was standing south-south-east towards the entrance, close-hauled
+on the starboard tack, a fresh south-west monsoon blowing. When
+Hughes made out the hostile flags on the works, he kept away four
+points,[147] and steered east-south-east, still in column, under short
+canvas (A). Suffren pursued, being to windward yet astern, with his
+fleet on a line of bearing; that is, the line on which the ships were
+ranged was not the same as the course which they were steering. This
+formation, (A), wherein the advance is oblique to the front, is
+very difficult to maintain. Wishing to make the action, whatever the
+immediate event, decisive in results, by drawing the French well to
+leeward of the port, Hughes, who was a thorough seaman and had good
+captains, played with his eager enemy. "He kept avoiding me without
+taking flight," wrote Suffren; "or rather, he fled in good order,
+regulating his canvas by his worst sailers; and, keeping off by
+degrees, he steered from first to last ten or twelve different
+courses." Hughes, on his part, while perfectly clear as to his
+own object, was somewhat perplexed by the seeming indecision of an
+adversary whose fighting purpose he knew by experience. "Sometimes
+they edged down," he wrote; "sometimes they brought-to; in no regular
+order, as if undetermined what to do." These apparent vacillations
+were due to the difficulty of maintaining the line of bearing, which
+was to be the line of battle; and this difficulty was the greater,
+because Hughes was continually altering his course and Suffren's ships
+were of unequal speed.
+
+At length, at 2 P.M., being then twenty-five miles south-east of the
+port, the French drew near enough to bear down. That this movement
+might be carried out with precision, and all the vessels come into
+action together, Suffren caused his fleet to haul to the wind, on the
+starboard tack, to rectify the order. This also being done poorly and
+slowly, he lost patience,--as Nelson afterwards said, "A day is soon
+lost in manoeuvring,"--and at 2.30, to spur on the laggard ships,
+the French admiral gave the signal to attack, (a), specifying
+pistol-range. Even this not sufficing to fetch the delinquents
+promptly into line with the flagship, the latter fired a gun to
+enforce obedience. Her own side being still turned towards the
+British, as she waited, the report was taken by the flagship's men
+below decks to be the signal for opening fire, and her whole broadside
+was discharged. This example was followed by the other ships, so that
+the engagement, instead of being close, was begun at half cannon-shot.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Owing to his measured and deliberate retreat, Hughes had his fleet
+now in thoroughly good shape, well aligned and closed-up. The French,
+starting from a poor formation to perform a difficult evolution,
+under fire, engaged in utter disorder (B). Seven ships, prematurely
+rounding-to to bring their broadsides to the enemy, and fore-reaching,
+formed a confused group (v), much to windward and somewhat ahead
+of the British van. Imperfectly deployed, they interfered with one
+another and their fire consequently could not be adequately developed.
+In the rear a somewhat similar condition existed. Suffren, expecting
+the bulk of his line to fight the British to windward, had directed
+the _Vengeur_, 64, and the _Consolante_, 36, to double to leeward
+on the extreme rear; but they, finding that the weather sides of the
+enemy were not occupied, feared to go to leeward, lest they should be
+cut off. They attacked the rear British ship, the _Worcester_, 64 (w),
+to windward; but the _Monmouth_, 64 (m), dropping down to her support,
+and the _Vengeur_ catching fire in the mizzen top, they were compelled
+to haul off. Only Suffren's own ship, the _Heros_, 74 (a), and her
+next astern, the _Illustre_, 74, (i), came at once to close action
+with the British centre; but subsequently the _Ajax_, 64, succeeding
+in clearing herself from the snarl in the rear, took station ahead (j)
+of the _Heros_. Upon these three fell the brunt of the fight. They not
+only received the broadsides of the ships immediately opposed to them,
+but, the wind having now become light yet free, the British vessels
+ahead and astern, (h, s,) by luffing or keeping off, played also upon
+them. "The enemy formed a semicircle around us," wrote Suffren's chief
+of staff, "and raked us ahead and astern, as the ship came up and
+fell off with the helm to leeward." The two seventy-fours were crushed
+under this fire. Both lost their main and mizzen masts in the course
+of the day, and the foretopmast of the flagship also fell. The _Ajax_,
+arriving later, and probably drawing less attention, had only a
+topmast shot away.
+
+The British total of killed and wounded was very evenly distributed
+throughout the fleet. Only the rear ship lost an important spar,--the
+main topmast. It was upon her, as already mentioned, and upon the two
+leading ships, the _Exeter_ and _Isis_, that fell the heaviest fire,
+proportionately, of the French. From the position of the seven van
+ships of the latter, such fire as they could make must needs be upon
+the extreme British van, and the _Exeter_ was forced to leave the
+line. The loss of the French that day was 82 killed and 255
+wounded; of which 64 killed and 178 wounded belonged to the _Heros_,
+_Illustre_, and _Ajax_. The British had 51 killed and 283 wounded; the
+greatest number of casualties in one ship being 56. Singularly enough,
+in such a small list of deaths, three were commanding officers:
+Captains Watt of the _Sultan_, Wood of the _Worcester_, and Lumley of
+the _Isis_.
+
+At 5.30 P.M. the wind shifted suddenly from south-west to
+east-south-east (C). The British wore together, formed on the other
+tack, and continued the fight. It was during this final act, and at
+6 P.M., that the mainmast of the French flagship came down. The van
+ships of the French had towed their heads round with boats before
+4, in order to come to the support of the centre, in obedience to a
+signal from Suffren; but the light airs and calms had retarded them.
+With the shift they approached, and passed in column (c) between their
+crippled vessels and the enemy. This manoeuvre, and the failure of
+daylight, brought the battle to an end. According to Hughes's report,
+several of his fleet "were making much water from shot-holes so very
+low down in the bottom as not to be come at to be effectually stopped;
+and the whole had suffered severely in their masts and rigging."
+Trincomalee being in the enemy's possession, and the east coast of
+Ceylon an unsafe anchorage now, at the change of the monsoon, he
+felt compelled to return to Madras, where he anchored on the 9th of
+September. Suffren regained Trincomalee on the 7th of the month, but
+the _Orient_, 74, running ashore at the entrance and being lost, he
+remained outside until the 17th, saving material from the wreck.
+
+The break-up of the south-west monsoon, then at hand, is apt to be
+accompanied by violent hurricanes, and is succeeded by the north-east
+monsoon, during which the east coasts of the peninsula and of Ceylon
+give a lee shore, with heavy surf. Naval operations, therefore, were
+suspended for the winter. During that season Trincomalee is the only
+secure port. Deprived of it, Hughes determined to go to Bombay, and
+for that purpose left Madras on the 17th of October. Four days later
+a reinforcement of five ships of the line arrived from England,
+under Commodore Sir Richard Bickerton, who at once followed the
+Commander-in-Chief to the west coast. In the course of December the
+entire British force was united at Bombay.
+
+In Trincomalee Suffren had a good anchorage; but the insufficiency
+of its resources, with other military considerations, decided him to
+winter at Acheen, at the west end of Sumatra. He arrived there on
+the 2d of November, having first paid a visit to Cuddalore, where the
+_Bizarre_, 64, was wrecked by carelessness. On the 20th of December he
+left Acheen for the Coromandel coast, having shortened his stay to the
+eastward for reasons of policy. On the 8th of January, 1783, he was
+off Ganjam, on the Orissa coast, and thence reached Trincomalee again
+on the 23d of February. There he was joined on the 10th of March by
+three ships of the line from Europe: two 74's and one 64. Under their
+convoy came General de Bussy, with twenty-five hundred troops, which
+were at once despatched to Cuddalore.
+
+On the 10th of April Vice-Admiral Hughes, returning from Bombay,
+passed Trincomalee on the way to Madras, The various maritime
+occurrences, wrecks and reinforcements, since the battle of September
+3d had reversed the naval odds, and Hughes now had eighteen ships
+of the line, one of which was an eighty, opposed to fifteen under
+Suffren. Another important event in the affairs of India was the death
+of Hyder Ali, on the 7th of December, 1782. Although his policy was
+continued by his son, Tippoo Saib, the blow to the French was serious.
+Under all the conditions, the British authorities were emboldened
+to attempt the reduction of Cuddalore. The army destined to this
+enterprise marched from Madras, passed round Cuddalore, and encamped
+south of it by the shore. The supply-ships and lighter cruisers
+anchored near, while the fleet cruised to the southward. Being there
+to windward, for the south-west monsoon had then set in, it covered
+the operations against disturbance from the sea.
+
+Towards the beginning of June the investment of the place was complete
+by land and by water. Intelligence of this state of things was brought
+on the 10th of June to Suffren, who by Bussey's direction was keeping
+his inferior fleet in Trincomalee until its services should be
+absolutely indispensable. Immediately upon receiving the news he left
+port, and on the 13th sighted the British fleet, then at anchor off
+Porto Novo, a little south of Cuddalore. Upon his approach Hughes
+moved off, and anchored again five miles from the besieged place. For
+the next two days the French were baffled by the winds; but on the
+17th the south-west monsoon resumed, and Suffren again drew near.
+The British Vice-Admiral, not caring to accept action at anchor,
+got under way, and from that time till the 20th remained outside,
+trying to obtain the weather-gage, in which he was frustrated by the
+variableness of the winds. Meanwhile Suffren had anchored near the
+town, communicated with the general, and, being very short of men at
+the guns, had embarked twelve hundred troops for his expected battle;
+for it was evident that the issue of the siege would turn upon the
+control of the sea. On the 18th he weighed again, and the two fleets
+manoeuvred for the advantage, with light baffling airs, the British
+furthest from shore.
+
+On the 20th of June, the wind holding at west with unexpected
+constancy, Hughes decided to accept the attack which Suffren evidently
+intended. The latter, being distinctly inferior in force,--fifteen
+to eighteen,--probably contemplated an action that should be decisive
+only as regarded the fate of Cuddalore; that is, one which, while not
+resulting in the capture or destruction of ships, should compel his
+opponent to leave the neighbourhood to repair damages. The British
+formed line on the port tack, heading to the northward. Suffren ranged
+his fleet in the same manner, parallel to the enemy, and was careful
+to see the order exact before bearing down. When the signal to attack
+was given, the French kept away together, and brought-to again on
+the weather beam of the British, just within point-blank range. The
+action lasted from shortly after 4 P.M. to nearly 7, and was general
+throughout both lines; but, as always experienced, the rears were
+less engaged than the centres and vans. No ship was taken; no very
+important spars seem to have been shot away. The loss of the British
+was 99 killed, 434 wounded; of the French, 102 killed, 386 wounded.
+
+As the ships' heads were north, the course of the action carried them
+in that direction. Suffren anchored next morning twenty-five miles
+north of Cuddalore. There he was sighted on the 22d by Hughes, who had
+remained lying-to the day after the fight. The British Vice-Admiral
+reported several ships much disabled, a great number of his
+men--1,121--down with scurvy, and the water of the fleet very short.
+He therefore thought it necessary to go to Madras, where he anchored
+on the 25th. Suffren regained Cuddalore on the afternoon of the 23d.
+His return and Hughes's departure completely changed the military
+situation. The supply-ships, upon which the British scheme of
+operations depended, had been forced to take flight when Suffren first
+approached, and of course could not come back now. "My mind is on the
+rack without a moment's rest since the departure of the fleet," wrote
+the commanding general on the 25th, "considering the character of M.
+de Suffren, and the infinite superiority on the part of the French now
+that we are left to ourselves."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The battle of June 20th, 1783, off Cuddalore, was the last of the
+maritime war of 1778. It was fought, actually, exactly five months
+after the preliminaries of peace had been signed on January 20th,
+1783. Although the relative force of the two fleets remained
+unchanged, it was a French victory, both tactically and strategically:
+tactically, because the inferior fleet held its ground, and remained
+in possession of the field; strategically, because it decided the
+object immediately at stake, the fate of Cuddalore, and with it,
+momentarily at least, the issue of the campaign. It was, however, the
+triumph of one commander-in-chief over another; of the greater man
+over the lesser. Hughes's reasons for quitting the field involve the
+admission of his opponent's greater skill. "Short of water,"--with
+eighteen ships to fifteen, able therefore to spare ships by
+detachments for watering, that should not have happened; "injury to
+spars,"--that resulted from the action; "1,121 men short,"--Suffren
+had embarked just that number--1,200--because Hughes let him
+communicate with the port without fighting. Notwithstanding the
+much better seamanship of the British subordinates, and their dogged
+tenacity, Suffren here, as throughout the campaign, demonstrated again
+the old experience that generalship is the supreme factor in war. With
+inferior resources, though not at first with inferior numbers, by
+a steady offensive, and by the attendant anxiety about Trincomalee
+impressed upon the British admiral, he reduced him to a fruitless
+defensive. By the seizure of that place as a base he planted himself
+firmly upon the scene of action. Able thus to remain, while the
+British had to retire to Bombay, he sustained the Sultan of Mysore
+in his embarrassing hostility to the British; and in the end he saved
+Cuddalore by readiness and dexterity despite the now superior numbers
+of the British fleet. He was a great sea-captain, Hughes was not; and
+with poorer instruments, both in men and ships, the former overcame
+the latter.
+
+On the 29th of June a British frigate, the _Medea_, bearing a flag of
+truce, reached Cuddalore. She brought well-authenticated intelligence
+of the conclusion of peace; and hostilities ceased by common consent.
+
+[Footnote 136: Now Mauritius.]
+
+[Footnote 137: On the Malabar--western--coast.]
+
+[Footnote 139: See _ante_, p. 163.]
+
+[Footnote 140: I infer, from the accounts, that the _Monmouth_ was
+well east of the _Hero_, that the French had passed her first, and
+that the _Heros_ was now on her port beam; but this point is not
+certain.]
+
+[Footnote 141: Expressions in Johnstone's Report.]
+
+[Footnote 142: Charnock, however, says that in 1762, immediately after
+receiving his post-commission, he commanded in succession the _Hind_,
+20, and the _Wager_, 20. Moreover, before his appointment to the
+expedition of 1781, he had been Commodore on the Lisbon Station. But
+he had spent comparatively little time at sea as a captain.--W.L.C.]
+
+[Footnote 143: See _ante_, pp. 79, 80.]
+
+[Footnote 144: One being the captured British _Hannibal_, 50, which
+was commissioned by Captain Morard de Galles, retaining the English
+form of the name, Hannibal, to distinguish her from the _Annibal_, 74,
+already in the squadron.]
+
+[Footnote 145: In the plan, Positions II and III, the second position
+is indicated by ships with broken outlines. These show the two
+lines of battle in the engagement until the wind shifted to
+south-south-east. The results of the shift constituted a third
+position, consecutive with the second, and is indicated by ships in
+full outline.]
+
+[Footnote 146: Previously the British East Indiaman, _Elizabeth_.]
+
+[Footnote 147: Forty-five degrees.]
+
+
+
+
+GLOSSARY
+
+OF NAUTICAL AND NAVAL TERMS USED IN THE TEXT
+
+
+(_This glossary is intended to cover only the technical expressions
+actually used in the book itself._)
+
+
+ABACK. A sail is aback when the wind blows on the forward part tending
+to move the vessel astern.
+
+ABAFT. Behind, towards the stern.
+
+ABEAM. }
+ABREAST. } See "Bearing."
+
+AFT. See "Bearing."
+
+AHEAD. See "Bearing."
+
+ASTERN. See "Bearing."
+
+
+BEAM. The width of a vessel, so used because of the cross timbers,
+called beams.
+
+BEAR, to. To be in a specified direction from a vessel.
+
+BEAR, to. To change the direction of a vessel's movement.
+
+ To bear _down_, to move towards; to bear _up_, or _away_, to move
+ away, from the wind or from an enemy.
+
+BEARING. The direction of an object from a vessel; either by compass,
+or with reference to the vessel itself. Thus, the lighthouse bears
+north; the enemy bears abeam, or two points off the port bow.
+
+BEARING, Line of. The compass bearing on which the vessels of a fleet
+are ranged, whatever their bearings from one another.
+
+BEARINGS, with reference to the vessel.
+
+ Abeam. }
+ Abreast. } Perpendicular to the vessel's length.
+
+ Aft. } Directly behind.
+ Astern. }
+
+ Ahead. Directly before; forward.
+
+ Abaft the beam, starboard or port, weather or lee. To the rear of
+ abeam, to the right or left, to windward or to leeward.
+
+ Before (or forward of) the beam (as above). Ahead of abeam, etc.
+
+ Broad. A large angle of bearing, used ordinarily of the bow. "Broad
+ off the bow" approaches "before the beam."
+
+ On the bow, starboard or port, weather or lee. To one side of
+ ahead, to right or left, to windward or to leeward.
+
+ On the quarter, starboard or port, weather or lee. To one side of
+ astern; to right or left, to windward or to leeward.
+
+BEARINGS, by compass. The full circle of the compass, 360 degrees,
+is divided into thirty-two _points_, each point being subdivided into
+fourths. From north to east, eight points, are thus named: North;
+north by east; north-northeast; northeast by north; northeast;
+northeast by east; east-northeast; east by north; East.
+
+ From East to South, from South to West, and from West to North, a
+ like naming is used.
+
+BEAT, to. To gain ground to windward, by successive changes of
+direction, called tacks.
+
+BOOM. See "Spars."
+
+BOW, or head. The forward part of a vessel, which is foremost when in
+motion ahead.
+
+ On the Bow. See "Bearing." To head "bows-on": to move directly
+ towards.
+
+BOW AND QUARTER LINE. See pp. 84, 200.
+
+BOWSPRIT. See "Spars."
+
+BRACES. Ropes by which the yards are turned, so that the wind may
+strike the sails in the manner desired.
+
+BRING-TO. To bring a vessel's head as near as possible to the
+direction from which the wind blows; usually with a view to
+heaving-to, that is, stopping. See heave-to and luff.
+
+BROADSIDE. The whole number of guns carried on one side of a vessel;
+starboard or port broadside, weather or lee broadside.
+
+
+CABLE. The heavy rope which was attached to the anchor, and held the
+ship to it. Cables are now chains, but in the period of this book
+were always hemp. To veer cable, to let more out, to let the ship
+go farther from the anchor. To slip the cable, to let it all go
+overboard, releasing the vessel. Cable's length: 120 fathoms.
+
+CHASE, General. A chase by a fleet, in which, in order to more rapid
+advance, the places of the vessels in their usual order are not to be
+observed.
+
+CLOSE-HAULED. See "Course."
+
+COLUMN. See "Line Ahead."
+
+COME UP. A ship comes up, when her bow comes more nearly to the
+direction of the wind. Used generally when the movement proceeds from
+some other cause than the movement of the helm. See "Luff."
+
+CONVOY. A body of unarmed or weakly armed vessels, in company with
+ships of war.
+
+CONVOY, to. To accompany a number of unarmed vessels, for their
+protection.
+
+COURSE. The direction of a vessel's movement, with regard to the
+compass or to the wind.
+
+ Compass course. The point of the compass towards which the vessel heads.
+
+ Wind courses:
+
+ Close-hauled. As nearly in the direction from which the wind blows as
+ is compatible with keeping the sails full; for square-rigged vessels
+ six points. (See "Bearings by Compass.") For a north wind, the
+ close-hauled courses are east-northeast and west-northwest.
+
+ Free. Not close-hauled.
+
+ Large. Very free.
+
+ Off the wind. Free.
+
+ On (or by) the wind. Close-hauled.
+
+COURSES. The lowest sails on the fore and main masts.
+
+CRUISE, to. To cover a certain, portion of sea by movement back and
+forth over it.
+
+CRUISER. A general term for armed ships, but applied more specifically
+to those not "of the line," which therefore are more free and wider in
+their movements.
+
+CURRENT.
+
+ Lee Current. One the movement of which is away from the wind.
+
+ Weather Current. One which sets towards the wind.
+
+
+EBB, ebb-tide. See "Tide."
+
+
+FAIR, wind. A wind which allows a vessel to head her desired compass
+course.
+
+FALL OFF. A vessel falls off, when, without the action of the helm,
+her head moves away from the wind. See "Come up."
+
+FILL. } Sails are said to fill, or to be full, when the wind
+FULL. } strikes the rear side, tending to move the vessel ahead.
+
+FLOOD, flood tide. See "Tide."
+
+FORE AND AFT. In classification of vessels, indicates those whose
+sails, when set, stretch from forward aft; more nearly lengthwise than
+across. Opposite to square-rigged.
+
+FOREMAST, fore-topmast, etc. See "Spars."
+
+FORESAIL, fore-topsail, etc. See "Sails."
+
+FOUL, to. To entangle, to collide. A foul anchor, when the cable gets
+round the anchor.
+
+FOUL, wind. A wind which prevents the vessel heading the desired
+compass course, compelling her to beat.
+
+FREE, wind. A wind which allows the vessel to head the course
+desired. The amount to spare from the close-hauled course is sometimes
+designated. E.g., the wind four points free; the wind would allow the
+vessel to come four points nearer the wind than her course requires.
+
+FRIGATE. See "Vessel."
+
+
+GAGE, weather and lee. A vessel, or fleet, is said to have the weather
+gage, when it is to windward of its opponent. Lee is opposite to
+weather.
+
+
+HAUL, to. To haul (to) the wind is to change the course to that
+nearest the direction whence the wind comes.
+
+ To haul down the colors: to strike, to surrender.
+
+HEAVE DOWN. To incline a vessel on one side, by purchases at the lower
+mastheads.
+
+HEAVE-TO. (HOVE-TO.) To bring-to, (which see), and then to lay some
+sails aback, in order to keep the ship without movement ahead or
+astern.
+
+HEEL, to. To incline a vessel on one side by shifting the weights on
+board, such as guns. "On the heel": to be thus inclined.
+
+HELM. The tiller, or bar, which like a handle turns the rudder, and
+thus changes the course of the vessel.
+
+ Port the helm. To put the tiller to port, which turns the vessel's
+ head to the right; to starboard the helm is the reverse.
+
+ Helm down. Tiller to leeward, vessel's head to windward; helm up,
+ the reverse. See "Rudder."
+
+HULL. The body of a vessel, as distinguished from the spars, or
+engines.
+
+HULL, to. (HULLED.) A cannon ball striking the hull of a vessel is
+said to hull her.
+
+
+JIB. See "Sails."
+
+JIB-BOOM. See "Spars."
+
+
+KEEP, to. To keep off, or away, is to change course away from the wind
+or from an enemy. See "To bear up."
+
+
+LARGE. See "Course."
+
+LEE. The direction toward which the wind blows. "Under the lee of,"
+protected from wind and sea by land, or by a vessel, interposed.
+
+ Lee Tide. See "Tide."
+
+LEECH. The vertical side of a square sail. The upper and lower sides,
+horizontal, are called head and foot.
+
+LEEWARD (pronounced looard). Direction of movement, or of bearing,
+opposite to the wind.
+
+LIE-TO, to. To bring the vessels head on, or near, the wind, and
+remain nearly stopped. Usually in heavy weather, but not always.
+
+LINE ABREAST. See p. 122.
+
+LINE AHEAD. See p. 85.
+
+LINE OF BATTLE. In the line of battle the vessels are ranged on the
+same straight line, steering the same course, one behind the others,
+so that all the broadsides are clear to bear upon an enemy. The
+line preferred is one of the close-hauled lines, because on them the
+movement of a vessel in the line is more easily regulated by backing,
+or shaking, some of the sails.
+
+LINE OF BEARING. See "Bearing, line of."
+
+LINE, Ship of the. A vessel fitted by its force for the line of
+battle. Opposite generically to "cruiser." The modern term is
+"battleship."
+
+LUFF, to. The movement of changing the course to nearer the direction
+whence the wind comes, by using the helm.
+
+
+MAIN. }
+MIZZEN.} See "Spars" and "Sails."
+
+MAST. See "Spars." "To the mast." A sail is said to be so when aback.
+
+MONSOON. A trade wind, in the China and Indian seas, which blows
+uniformly from the northeast in winter, and from southwest in summer.
+
+
+NEAP. See "Tide."
+
+
+OFF--the wind. See "Course."
+
+ON--the wind. See "Course."
+
+
+PENNANT. A flag, indicating either the rank of the senior officer on
+board, or a signal applicable to a particular vessel.
+
+POINT. See "Bearings, by Compass."
+
+PORT. To the left hand, or on the left side, of a vessel, looking from
+aft forward. Opposite to Starboard.
+
+PORT, to. Applied to steering. To move the tiller, or helm, to the
+left, which moves the rudder to the right and causes the vessel to
+change course towards the right hand.
+
+
+QUARTER. Either side of the after part of a vessel;--as starboard
+quarter, port quarter; weather quarter, lee quarter. Quarter deck:
+one side of the after upper deck, reserved for the officer exercising
+command, and for ceremonial purposes.
+
+QUARTERS. A crew is at quarters when at the stations for battle.
+
+
+RAKE, to. To fire the broadside from ahead or astern of an antagonist,
+so that the shot may sweep the length of the vessel, which at the
+period of this book was about four times the width.
+
+RANDOM SHOT. The extreme range to which a gun could send its shot,
+giving very uncertain results.
+
+REEF, to. To reduce the surface of a sail.
+
+RUDDER. A solid framework, pivoted at the stern of a vessel, which
+being turned to one side deflects her course. See "Helm" and "Wheel."
+
+
+SAILS. Sails are of two kinds: square, and fore and aft. Square sails
+spread more across the vessel, in the direction of her width. Fore and
+aft sails more in the direction of the length. Square sails are better
+for a free wind; and also for large vessels, because they can be more
+readily subdivided. Fore and aft sails trim nearer to the wind, and so
+are convenient for coasters, which generally are smaller.
+
+ Vessels carrying square sails are called square-rigged. They have
+ always two masts, usually three; each carrying three or four sails,
+ one above the other. These are named from the mast on which they are
+ carried (see "Spars"); e.g., _main_ sail, _fore_ topsail, _mizzen_
+ topgallant-sail; and also from their positions on the same mast.
+ Thus, from lowest up, main sail, main topsail, main topgallantsail;
+ and main royal, if there be a fourth. The fore and main sails are
+ called also courses.
+
+ The topsails were the chief battle sails, because the largest, except
+ the courses, and more manageable than the courses.
+
+ All square-rigged vessels carry fore and aft sails, three cornered,
+ stretched between the bowsprit and jib-booms, and the fore topmast.
+ These sails are called jibs.
+
+ Fore and aft vessels also carry jibs; but on each upright mast they
+ have one great sail, the size of which makes it less easily handled
+ in an emergency, therefore less fit for fighting. Above the big sail
+ they have a small, light, three-cornered topsail, but this is merely
+ a fair weather sail, useless in battle.
+
+ Vessels of war were almost all square-rigged, with three masts.
+
+SAILS, STUDDING. Light square sails, for moderate weather, extended
+beyond the other square sails, to increase the normal spread of
+canvas. Set only with a free wind, and never in battle.
+
+SCANTLING. The size, and consequent weight and strength, of the
+timbers of a vessel's hull.
+
+SCHOONER. See "Vessel."
+
+SHAKE, to. So to place a sail that the wind blows along it, neither
+filling nor backing. The sail is thus neutralized without taking in.
+
+SHARP-UP. A yard is sharp-up, when turned by the braces as far as the
+rigging of the mast will allow. A close-hauled course requires the
+yards to be sharp-up, in order that the sails may be full.
+
+SHIP. See "Vessel."
+
+SLIP. See "Cable."
+
+SLOOP. See "Vessel."
+
+SPARS. A spar is a long piece of timber, cylindrical, tapering, in
+masts, towards one end, and in yards towards both. Spars serve for
+spreading the several sails of a vessel.
+
+ The names of spars vary with their use and position. Chiefly, for
+ ships of war, they divide into masts, yards, and booms.
+
+ A mast is an upright, and is in three connected pieces: the lower
+ mast, the topmast, and the top-gallant-mast. Most ships of war had
+ three such masts: fore, near the bow; main, near the centre; mizzen,
+ near the stern.
+
+ The bowsprit is also a mast; not upright, but projecting straight
+ ahead from the bow, approaching horizontal, but inclining upwards.
+ Like the masts, it has three divisions: the lower, or bowsprit
+ proper, the jib-boom, and the flying-jib-boom.
+
+ Across the masts, horizontal, are the yards, four in number, lower,
+ topsail, topgallant, and royal. Yards are further designated by the
+ name of the mast to which each belongs; e.g., foreyard, main topsail
+ yard, mizzen topgallant yard, main royal yard.
+
+ The bowsprit formerly had one yard, called the spritsail yard. This
+ has disappeared. Otherwise it serves to spread the three-cornered
+ sails called jibs. These sails were useful for turning a vessel,
+ because their projection before the centre gave them great leverage.
+
+ Fore and aft vessels had no yards. See "Sails."
+
+SPRING. See p. 65, note.
+
+SQUARE-RIGGED. See "Sails" and "Spars."
+
+STAND, to. Used, nautically, to express movement and direction, e.g.,
+"to stand toward the enemy," "to stand out of harbor," "to stand
+down," "to stand south." The underlying idea seems to be that of
+sustained, decided movement.
+
+STARBOARD. TO the right hand, or on the right side, of a vessel,
+looking from aft forward. Opposite to Port.
+
+STEER, to. To control the course by the use of the helm and rudder.
+
+STERN. The extreme rear, or after, part of a vessel.
+
+STRATEGY. That department of the Art of War which decides the
+distribution and movements of armies, or of fleets, with reference to
+the objects of a campaign as a whole.
+
+STRIKE, to. Applied to the flag. To haul down the flag in token of
+surrender.
+
+
+TACK. A vessel is on the starboard tack, or port tack, according as
+the wind comes from the starboard or port hand. See p. 84, note.
+
+TACK, to. When a vessel is close-hauled, with the wind on one side,
+to tack is to turn round towards the wind, in order to be again
+close-hauled, with the wind on the other side.
+
+ To wear is to attain the same object by turning away from the wind.
+ Wearing is surer than tacking, but loses ground to leeward.
+
+ To tack, or wear, _in succession_, the leading vessel tacks, and
+ those which follow tack, each, as it arrives at the same point; the
+ order thus remaining the same. To tack, or wear _together_, all
+ tack at the same moment, which reverses the order.
+
+TACTICS. That department of the Art of War which decides the
+disposition and movements of an army, or of a fleet, on a particular
+field of battle, in presence of an enemy.
+
+TIDAL CURRENTS.
+
+ Ebb tide, the outflow of the water due to the tides.
+
+ Flood tide, the inflow of the water due to the tides.
+
+ Lee tide, the set of the current to leeward.
+
+ Weather tide, the set of the current to windward.
+
+TIDE. The rise and fall of the water of the oceans under the influence
+of the moon. Used customarily, but inaccurately, to express the
+currents produced by the changes of level.
+
+ High tide, or high water, the two highest levels of the day.
+
+ Low tide, or low water, the two lowest.
+
+ Neap tide: the least rise and fall during the lunar month.
+
+ Spring tide: the greatest rise and fall during the same, being soon
+ after full and change of moon.
+
+TRADE, the. A term applied to a body of merchant vessels, to or from a
+particular destination.
+
+TRADE WIND. A wind which blows uniformly from the same general
+direction throughout a fixed period. In the West Indies, from the
+northeast the year round. See also "Monsoon."
+
+
+VEER. See "Cable."
+
+VESSEL. A general term for all constructions intended to float upon
+and move through the water. Specific definitions applicable to this
+book:
+
+ Ship, a square-rigged vessel with three masts.
+
+ Brig, a square-rigged vessel with two masts.
+
+ Schooner, a fore and aft rigged vessel with two or more masts.
+
+ Sloop, a fore and aft rigged vessel with one mast. See pp. 9, 15, 17.
+
+VESSELS OF WAR. Ship of the Line. A ship with three or more tiers of
+guns, of which two are on covered decks; that is, have a deck above
+them. See "Line of Battle Ship."
+
+ Frigate. A ship with one tier of guns on a covered deck.
+
+ Sloop of War. A ship, the guns of which are not covered, being on
+ the upper (spar) deck.
+
+ Sloops of war were sometimes brigs, but then were usually so styled.
+
+
+WAKE. The track left by a vessel's passage through the water. "In the
+wake of": directly astern of.
+
+WAY. Movement through the water. "To get underway": to pass from
+stand-still to movement.
+
+WEAR, to. See under "Tack."
+
+WEATHER. Relative position to windward of another object. Opposite to
+Lee. Weather side, lee side, of a vessel; weather fleet, lee fleet;
+weather gage, lee gage (see "Gage"); weather shore, lee shore.
+
+WEATHER, to. To pass to windward of a vessel, or of any other object.
+
+WEATHERLY. The quality of a vessel which favors her getting, or
+keeping, to windward.
+
+WEIGH, to. To raise the anchor from the bottom. Used alone; e.g., "the
+fleet weighed."
+
+WHEEL. So called from its form. The mechanical appliance, a wheel,
+with several handles for turning it, by which power is increased, and
+also transmitted from the steersman on deck to the tiller below, in
+order to steer the vessel.
+
+WIND AND WATER, between. That part of a vessel's side which comes out
+of water when she inclines to a strong side wind, but otherwise is
+under water.
+
+WINDWARD. Direction from which the wind blows.
+
+
+YARD. See "Spars."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+ Algeciras, in Gibraltar Bay, station of Franco-Spanish Fleet
+ supporting the Siege of Gibraltar, 121, 230, 231.
+
+ Arbuthnot, Marriott, British Admiral, commands North American
+ Station, 1779, 113, 148;
+ anger at Rodney's intrusion on his command, 150;
+ supports the attack on Charleston, 1780, 151;
+ station in Gardiner's Bay, 151, 170;
+ action with French squadron under des Touches, 1781, 171;
+ regains command of Chesapeake Bay, 174;
+ superseded, 1781, 176.
+
+ _Arethusa_, British frigate. Encounter with French frigate _Belle
+ Poule_ marks beginning of War of 1778 with France, 62, 82.
+
+ Armed Neutrality, The, of 1780, 3, 158.
+
+ Arnold, Benedict, American General. Effects following his action
+ on Lake Champlain in 1776, 3, 4, 7, 25;
+ with, Ethan Allen, seizes Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 1775, 8;
+ captures or destroys all hostile shipping on Lake Champlain, 9;
+ traverses Maine forests, and joins Montgomery before Quebec, 10;
+ maintains blockade of Quebec till arrival of a British squadron,
+ 10;
+ retreats to Crown Point, and destitution of his troops, 11;
+ schemes for maintaining command of Lake Champlain, 12;
+ his force, and its character, 14, 15, 17;
+ compelled by shore batteries to abandon lower Narrows of the
+ Lake, 15;
+ selects Valcour Island as position for defence, 15;
+ decision to risk destruction of force rather than retire, 18, 19;
+ sound strategic and tactical ideas, 20;
+ Battle of Valcour Island, 21;
+ successful withdrawal after defeat, 23;
+ overtaken and flotilla destroyed, 25;
+ effect of his resistance in delaying British advance, 25;
+ conduct, courage, and heroism throughout, 27;
+ his subsequent treason, 18, 27, 152;
+ commands British detachment in Virginia, 153, 169, 170, 174.
+
+ Asiatic Immigration, Danger involved in, 4.
+
+ Barbados, West India Island, headquarters of British Leeward
+ Islands Station, 99;
+ advantage of Santa Lucia over, 104, 144, 207;
+ notably for crippled ships, 144;
+ devastated by hurricane, 1780, 159.
+
+ Bartington, Samuel, British Admiral, commands Leeward Islands
+ Station, 99;
+ capture of Santa Lucia by, 100-102;
+ successfully resists d'Estaing's effort to recapture, 103, 104;
+ superseded in chief command by Byron, 105;
+ share in Byron's action with d'Estaing, 107, 109;
+ goes home wounded, 112;
+ refuses command-in-chief of the Channel Fleet, 1780, 157;
+ serves in it under Howe, 227;
+ captures a French convoy for East Indies, 227.
+
+ Basse Terre, St. Kitts, Operations around, 1782, 196-205;
+ character of anchorage at, 199.
+
+ Battle, Order of, defined, 93 (note), 200 (note).
+
+ Battles, Naval, Valcour Island, October 11, 1776, 19-23.
+ Charleston Harbor, June 28, 1776, 33.
+ D'Estaing and Howe, August 10 and 11, 1778, 73-75.
+ Ushant, July 27, 1778, 84-91.
+ Barrington and d'Estaing, Santa Lucia, December 15, 1778, 102-104.
+ Byron and d'Estaing, Grenada, July 6, 1779, 105-112.
+ De Langara and Rodney, Cape St. Vincent, January 16, 1780, 123.
+ De Guichen and Rodney, off Martinique, April 17, 1780, 131-135.
+ De Guichen and Rodney, May 15, 1780, 143, 144.
+ De Guichen and Rodney, May 19, 1780, 144.
+ Cornwallis and La Motte-Picquet, off Haiti, March 20, 1780, 153.
+ Cornwallis and de Ternay, June 20, 1780, 155-157.
+ De Grasse and Hood, off Martinique, April 29, 1781, 163-167.
+ Arbuthnot and des Touches, off Cape Henry, March 16, 1781,
+ 171-173.
+ De Grasse and Graves, off Cape Henry, September 5, 1781, 179-183.
+ The Doggers Bank, August 5, 1781, 189-193.
+ De Grasse and Hood, St. Kitts, January 25 and 26, 1782, 199-204.
+ De Grasse and Rodney, near Dominica, April 9 and 12, 1782,
+ 207-221.
+ Howe with Franco-Spanish Fleet near Gibraltar, October 20, 1782,
+ 231, 232.
+ Johnstone and Suffren, Porto Praya, Cape Verde Islands, April
+ 16, 1781, 236-238.
+ Hughes and Suffren, Coromandel Coast, February 17, 1781, 240-242.
+ Hughes and Suffren, off Ceylon, April 12, 1782, 242-244.
+ Hughes and Suffren, off Nega-patam, July 6, 1782, 244-246.
+ Hughes and Suffren, off Trincomalee, September 3, 1782, 247-251.
+ Hughes and Suffren, off Cuddalore, June 20, 1783, 253.
+ N.B. Naval Battles end here.
+
+ _Belle Poule_, French Frigate. Encounter with British _Arethusa_
+ marks beginning of War of 1778 with Great Britain, 61, 82.
+
+ Blane, Sir Gilbert, Physician to British Fleet under Rodney,
+ quoted, 124, 219, 220, 221.
+
+ Burgoyne, Sir John, British General, 3, 6, 14, 23, 27, 28, 50-53,
+ 55;
+ decisive effect of American control of Lake Champlain, in 1776,
+ upon his expedition, in 1777, 3, 9, 13, 14, 25;
+ his surrender at Saratoga, 53;
+ it determines France to intervene, 6, 58.
+
+ Byng, John, British Admiral, influence of his execution, in 1756,
+ upon the minds of naval officers, 93, 139, 146.
+
+ Byron, John, British Admiral, ordered to North American Station,
+ 1778, 59;
+ delayed by heavy weather, and puts into Halifax, 62;
+ Howe superseded by, 80;
+ goes to West Indies, 105;
+ action with D'Estaing off Grenada, 105-111;
+ comments upon course of, 110-112;
+ returns to England, 112.
+
+ Canada, Strength of, against attack from southward, 7;
+ its advantage in this respect over New York, 8;
+ comprehension of these facts by Americans of 1775, from the old
+ French Wars, 8;
+ attempt to utilize, by British, frustrated by Arnold's
+ promptitude, 9;
+ invasion of, under Montgomery, ordered by American Congress,
+ 1775, 9;
+ failure of the attempt, decided by British Navy, 10-12;
+ British advance from, under Carleton, 1776, 15-26;
+ Burgoyne's advance from, 1777, 51-53.
+
+ Cap Francois (now Cap Haitien), French naval station on north side
+ of Haiti, 147-149, 153, 154, 168, 176, 178, 206, 223, 225.
+
+ Carkett, Robert, British Naval Captain, misunderstanding of
+ Rodney's orders by, causes failure of British attack of
+ April 17, 1780, 133;
+ Rodney's censure of, 137-139.
+
+ Carleton, Sir Guy, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, in Canada,
+ 1775-6, 9;
+ besieged and blockaded in Quebec by Americans, 10-12;
+ relieved by British Navy, 11;
+ takes the offensive, 17;
+ delayed decisively by Arnold's preparations on Lake Champlain,
+ 13, 18;
+ battle of Valcour Island, 20-23;
+ successfully eluded by Arnold, 23;
+ honored by Government for the campaign, 26.
+
+ Carolinas, North and South, supposed British sympathies in, 31,
+ exaggerated, 175;
+ expedition against Charleston, and battle of Charleston Harbor,
+ 1776, 31-38;
+ operations against, and against Georgia, renewed, 1779, 113-115,
+ and 1780, 151-153;
+ disastrous consequences to British operations, 114, 152, 174-176.
+
+ Champlain, Lake, Decisive effect of naval operations upon, 3, 4,
+ 7, 13, 14, 25, 26;
+ strategic importance of, 7;
+ naval campaign upon, 1775-1776, chapter i;
+ remains in naval control of British throughout the war, 28.
+
+ Charleston, South Carolina, attack upon by British squadron, 1776,
+ 32-37;
+ siege and capture of, by the British, 1780, 114, 151.
+
+ Chesapeake Bay, naval command of, by French, 1781, accomplishes
+ independence of United States, 4, 114, 184;
+ Sir William Howe moves by way of, against Philadelphia, 1777, 52;
+ operations in and near, 1781, 169-174, 177-185;
+ British control of, in 1781, prior to arrival of de Grasse, 174;
+ de Grasse reaches, 1781, 178.
+
+ Clinton, Sir Henry, British General, commands land force employed
+ in Carolinas, 1776, 31, 32;
+ in seizure of Narragansett Bay, 48;
+ left in command at New York by Howe, 1777, 52;
+ advance up the Hudson River, 1777, 55;
+ relieves Howe as Commander-in-Chief in North America, 56, 63;
+ evacuates Philadelphia, and retreats upon New York, 1778, 63;
+ narrowness of his escape, 63, 64;
+ evacuates Narragansett Bay, 1779, 115;
+ operations of, in South Carolina, and capture of Charleston, 151;
+ leaves Cornwallis in command in Carolina, and returns to New
+ York, 152;
+ sends detachments to Virginia, for diversion in favor of
+ Cornwallis, 1781, 153, 169;
+ serious difference of opinion between, and Cornwallis, 115, 175;
+ orders of, to Cornwallis, which result in position at Yorktown,
+ 1781, 175.
+
+ Commerce, effects upon, through inadequate naval preparation,
+ 59-61, 117, 126, 158;
+ table of losses of British, 61 (note).
+
+ Convoys, effect of, upon naval action, strategic or tactical, 105,
+ 106, 109, 122, 126, 130, 148, 155-157, 158, 166, 176, 188,
+ 189, 193, 199, 206-209, 227-229, 229-231, 235, 236-238,
+ 240, 246.
+
+ Cornwallis, Charles, Earl, British General, accompanies expedition
+ against Charleston, 1776, 31;
+ hurried to Trenton, after Washington's victory there, 49;
+ professional quarrel with Sir H. Clinton, 115, 175;
+ at siege and capture of Charleston, 152;
+ left in command of southern department, 1780, 152;
+ defeats Gates at Camden, 1780, 152;
+ pushes on to North Carolina, 152;
+ embarrassments there, 152;
+ enters Virginia, and joins Arnold at Petersburg, 1781, 153, 174;
+ ordered by Clinton to occupy a defensive position which should
+ cover anchorage for a fleet, 175;
+ evacuates Portsmouth, and takes position at Yorktown, 175;
+ French cruisers bar his retreat towards the Carolinas, and
+ occupy York River, 179;
+ enclosed by French fleet and French and American armies, 184;
+ compelled to surrender, 185.
+
+ Cornwallis, Sir William (brother of Lord), British naval captain,
+ share in action between Byron and d'Estaing, 1779,
+ 108-110, 153;
+ in command of a squadron, action with La Motte-Picquet, 1780, 153;
+ action with de Ternay's squadron, 155-157;
+ characteristics, and nickname of, 157;
+ distinguished part in Hood's action with de Grasse, 1782, 201;
+ share in Rodney's victory, 217;
+ quoted, 156, 198, 200, 203, 211.
+
+ Crown Point, military post on Lake Champlain, 8;
+ seized by Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen, 1775, 8;
+ General Montgomery embarks at, to invade Canada, 1775, 9;
+ Arnold retreats to, in 1776, after reverses in Canada, 12;
+ part in campaign of 1776, 24;
+ recovered by British, 25;
+ reoccupied by Americans after Burgoyne's surrender, 28.
+
+ Cuddalore, British post in India, on Coromandel Coast, besieged by
+ Hyder Ali and Suffren, 242;
+ taken by Hyder Ali, 244;
+ British attempt to retake, 252;
+ relieved by Suffren, 252-254.
+
+ Darby, George, British Admiral, commands Channel Fleet, 1780, 157;
+ relief of Gibraltar by, 1781, 186-188;
+ blocked in Torbay by Franco-Spanish fleet, 1781, 188-189.
+
+ Delaware, Naval Operations in the, 1777, 52-55;
+ in 1778, 59, 62-64.
+
+ De Barras, French Commodore, commands squadron in Newport, 1781,
+ 174;
+ opinion concerning des Touches' conduct, 174;
+ junction with de Grasse in Chesapeake Bay, 1781, 184.
+
+ De Bouille, French General, governor of Martinique, 1780, concerts
+ with de Guichen an attack on British West Indies, 130;
+ project against Barbados, 1782, 197;
+ capture of St. Kitts, 197-205.
+
+ De Cordova, Spanish Admiral, commands in allied fleet under
+ d'Orvilliers, 1779, 118, 119;
+ in chief command, at Cadiz, 125;
+ in Channel, 1781, 188;
+ in 1782, 228;
+ at Algeciras, during Howe's relief of Gibraltar, 230-232.
+
+ D'Estaing, Comte, French Admiral, in chief command, in 1778, of
+ first French fleet sent to America, 59;
+ biographical summary of, 59 (note);
+ Government instructions to, 59;
+ slowness of movements of, 62-64;
+ failure to attack Howe at Sandy Hook, 66-68;
+ professional inefficiency of, 67, 79, 111, 112;
+ proceeds to Newport, R.I., 69, and enters the harbor, 70;
+ joins Americans in siege of the town, 70;
+ abandons it on Howe's appearance and puts to sea, 73;
+ manoeuvres against Howe, 73-75;
+ fleet scattered by gale, 75;
+ refuses to renew siege of Newport, and goes to Boston, 77, 78;
+ outgeneralled throughout by Howe, 78;
+ goes to West Indies, 1779, 100;
+ fails to recover Santa Lucia, 102-104;
+ captures Grenada, 105;
+ action with Byron, 106-112;
+ fails in attempt to retake Savannah, 115;
+ returns to Europe with ships of his original command, 115;
+ sent to Cadiz, in 1780, to bring back to Brest French contingent
+ of Allied Fleet, 158.
+
+ De Grasse, Comte, French Admiral, exercises the decisive effect in
+ obtaining American Independence, 4;
+ sails to take chief command in America, 1781, 162;
+ action with Hood off Martinique, 163-165;
+ Chevalier's comment on conduct of, 166;
+ abortive attempt against Santa Lucia, 167;
+ capture of Tobago by, 168;
+ goes to Cap Francois, 168, 176, and there prepares for
+ expedition against Cornwallis, 178;
+ on this occasion shows energy and foresight unusual to him, 178;
+ anchors in Chesapeake Bay, 178;
+ action with Graves, 179-184;
+ regains Chesapeake, 184;
+ returns to West Indies after Cornwallis's surrender, 185;
+ expedition against St. Kitts, 1782, 197-205;
+ outgeneralled by Hood, 201, 204, 205;
+ St. Kitts surrenders to, 205;
+ Hood escapes from, 205;
+ returns to Martinique, 206;
+ expedition against Jamaica, plan of, 206;
+ puts to sea, 207;
+ transactions from April 8 to April 12, 207-212;
+ defeated in great battle of April 12, 213-221, and captured with
+ flagship, 221;
+ professional character of, illustrated, 166, 178, 184, 198, 205,
+ 207, 209, 214, 215, 216.
+
+ De Guichen, Comte de, succeeds d'Estaing in North American
+ command, 1780, 115, 130;
+ biographical summary of, 115 (note);
+ project of against Barbados, 130;
+ frustrated by Rodney, 130;
+ action of April 17, with Rodney, 130-135;
+ orders of French Government to, 141;
+ consequent conduct of, 141-145;
+ actions with Rodney, May 15, 142, and May 19, 144;
+ broken down by responsibility, 145;
+ under orders, accompanies Spanish squadron to Cap Francois, 147;
+ there refuses to cooeperate with Americans, 147;
+ returns to Europe, 148;
+ commands French contingent to Allied Fleet under de Cordova,
+ 1781, 188;
+ advises attack upon British Fleet in Tor Bay, 189;
+ loses great part of West India military convoy entrusted to his
+ charge, 196.
+
+ De Langara, Spanish Admiral, squadron under command of, defeated,
+ and himself captured by Rodney, 122, 123;
+ inefficiency of, 125.
+
+ D'Orves, Comte, French Admiral, commands in East Indies, 1781,
+ 235, 236;
+ joined by Suffren, 239;
+ sails for Coromandel Coast, 240;
+ dies, and succeeded by Suffren, 240.
+
+ D'Orvilliers, Comte, French Admiral, commander-in-chief of Brest
+ Fleet, 1778, 82;
+ puts to sea, 82;
+ Government instructions to, 83;
+ encounter with British Fleet under Keppel, 83;
+ manoeuvres of, and action of July 27, 83-91;
+ comment upon, 92, 97;
+ summer cruise of, 1779, 116-120;
+ hampered by instructions, 119;
+ returns to Brest unsuccessful, 120.
+
+ De Suffren, Bailli, French Captain and Admiral, with d'Estaing in
+ Narragansett Bay, 1778, 69;
+ in the action with Byron off Grenada, 111;
+ his comment upon d'Estaing's conduct, 111;
+ biographical summary of, 111 (note);
+ sails for East Indies, 1781, 163, 236;
+ effect upon operations of, in India, by capture of a French
+ convoy in Bay of Biscay, 228;
+ attacks British squadron in Porto Praya, 236-238;
+ saves Cape of Good Hope, 238;
+ arrives Ile de France, 239;
+ succeeds to chief command in East Indies, 240;
+ five battles with British squadron, 240, 242, 244, 247, 253;
+ captures Trincomalee, 1782, 247;
+ relieves Cuddalore, 252-254;
+ estimate of, 254, 255.
+
+ De Ternay, French Commodore, commands squadron with convoy, from
+ Brest for Newport, R.I., 155;
+ action with British squadron under Cornwallis, 1780, 155-157;
+ comment, favorable and unfavorable, 156;
+ death of, 1781, and succeeded by des Touches, 170.
+
+ Des Touches, French Commodore, succeeds de Ternay in command at
+ Newport, 1781, 170;
+ sails to enter Chesapeake Bay, to check British operations in
+ Virginia, 170;
+ pursued by Arbuthnot, 171;
+ action between the two squadrons, 171-173;
+ gains tactical advantage, but leaves the field to the British,
+ 174;
+ justified by de Barras, who arrives and supersedes him, 174.
+
+ De Vaudreuil, Marquis, French Admiral, second to de Grasse in
+ 1782, 209;
+ commands-in-chief partial attack on Hood's division, 209;
+ quoted, 214;
+ succeeds to chief command upon de Grasse's surrender, 222;
+ condition of his command after the battle, 223;
+ pursued by Rodney, but reaches Cap Francois, 225.
+
+ Doggers Bank, Battle of the, 1781, 189-194.
+
+ Dominica, British West India Island, captured by French, 1778, 99;
+ battle of, 208, 209, 210, 213, 215.
+
+ Douglas, Sir Charles, British naval captain, commands squadron
+ which relieves Quebec, 1776, 10;
+ quoted, 11, 14, 17, 18, 22, 25, 26;
+ energetic preparations by, to regain control of Lake Champlain,
+ 15-17;
+ force created by, 17;
+ made a baronet for his services at this time, 26;
+ captain of the fleet to Rodney, 1782, 222;
+ opinion as to Rodney's conduct cited, 222.
+
+ Farragut, at Mobile, cited in illustration, 66 (note).
+
+ Fighting Instructions, Additional, point in, bearing upon the
+ failure of Rodney's plan of attack, April 17, 1780, 133,
+ 138, 139 (and note).
+
+ "Fleet in Being," 73, 174;
+ how regarded, apparently, by D'Orvilliers in 1779, 119.
+
+ France, intervention of France in the American quarrel determined
+ by Burgoyne's defeat, and leads to Spanish intervention,
+ 3, 58, 116;
+ vacillating naval instructions of Government of, 83, 118, 119,
+ 141, 154;
+ divergence of views between Spain and, 120, 121, 147, 158, 186,
+ 188, 189.
+
+ France, Ile de (now Mauritius), French naval station in Indian
+ Ocean, 126, 234, 236, 239.
+
+ Gardiner's Bay, east end of Long Island, station of British fleet
+ under Arbuthnot, watching French at Newport, 151, 170.
+
+ Gates, Horatio, American General, defeated by Cornwallis at
+ Camden, 152.
+
+ George, Lake, a link in consecutive water communications from New
+ York to Canada, 7, 51.
+
+ Gibraltar, d'Estaing ordered to commence hostilities when forty
+ leagues west of, 59;
+ capture of, a leading object with Spanish Government, 120;
+ this desire affects the major operations of Allies throughout
+ the war, 121, 186;
+ blockade of, by land and sea, 121;
+ Rodney's relief of, 1780, 121-126, 157;
+ Darby's relief of, 1781, 186, 188;
+ Howe's relief of, 1782, 229-233.
+
+ Glossary, of technical terms used in this book, 257.
+
+ Grant, James, British General, share of in capture of Santa Lucia,
+ 102-104.
+
+ Graves, Sir Thomas, British Admiral, brings reinforcement of
+ vessels to New York, 151;
+ relieves Arbuthnot in command of North American Station, 1781,
+ 176;
+ difficulties of, owing to interception of communications, 177;
+ joined by Hood off New York, 177;
+ sails for the relief of Cornwallis, 178;
+ action of, with French fleet under de Grasse, 179-184;
+ conduct of, criticized by Hood, 181, 182, 184;
+ returns to New York, 184;
+ relieves Sir Peter Parker in Jamaica command, 185.
+
+ Great Britain, feeble hold of, upon Canada, 1775, 10;
+ shown by rewards for saving the colony, 26;
+ inadequate provision of force by, 1774-1776, 29, 30, 59, 62, 79,
+ 82, 99, 112, 116, 117, 120, 127, 148, 189, 193, 226;
+ improper dispersion of effort by, 30, 31, 48, 52, 56, 62, 63,
+ 72, 113-115, 151-153, 175;
+ distrust of Government of, among naval officers, 79, 81, 93, 95,
+ 97, 99, 135, 146, 157, 158, 193;
+ alarm in, produced by Allied fleets in Channel, 1779, 117;
+ declares war against Holland, 1780, 158.
+
+ Grenada, British West India Island, captured by French, 105;
+ naval battle off, 105-112.
+
+ Haiti, French West India Island, 147, 148, 168 (see "Cap Francois");
+ squadron action off north coast of, 153-155.
+
+ Hardy, Sir Charles, British Admiral, commands Channel Fleet, 117,
+ 119.
+
+ Holland, brought into War of American Independence by concurring
+ in Armed Neutrality of Baltic Powers, 1780, 3, 158, 236;
+ colonial possessions of, 3, 158, 160-162, 236, 240, 246;
+ St. Eustatius, St. Martin, and Saba, West India Islands of,
+ taken by Rodney, 160-162;
+ battle of Doggers Bank, 189-193;
+ fleet of, held in check by Howe, 1782, 228;
+ Cape of Good Hope menaced by British, saved by Suffren, 236-238;
+ Trincomalee, in Ceylon, taken by British, 240, recaptured by
+ Suffren, 247.
+
+ Hood, Sir Samuel (afterwards Lord), British Admiral, arrives in
+ West Indies, 1781, with reinforcements for Rodney, 160;
+ sent to cruise off Martinique, to intercept de Grasse, 162;
+ action between, and de Grasse, 163-167;
+ exceptional ability of, 166, 184;
+ French tribute to, 167;
+ sent by Rodney with fourteen ships-of-the-line to reinforce
+ North American station, 176;
+ under command of Admiral Graves, sails for Chesapeake, 177;
+ part of, in action between Graves and de Grasse, 180-183;
+ criticisms of, upon Graves's conduct, 181, 182, 184;
+ returns to West Indies, 185;
+ in chief command there for two months, 196-205;
+ brilliant operations of, at St. Kitts, 197-205;
+ superseded by Rodney's return, 205;
+ part of, in action of April 9, 1782, 208-210;
+ in battle of April 12, 212-221;
+ de Grasse's flagship strikes to, 221;
+ censures passed by, upon Rodney's course after the battle, 220,
+ 222, 224, 225;
+ detached in pursuit, captures a small French squadron, 224;
+ returns to England after the peace, 226.
+
+ Hotham, William, British naval Captain, in operations against New
+ York, 1776, 42;
+ convoys reinforcement of troops to West Indies, 100;
+ left in West Indies in temporary command, by Rodney, 148.
+
+ Howe, Richard, Earl, British Admiral, appointed to command North
+ American Station, 1776, 30;
+ invested also with powers as peace commissioner, 39;
+ arrives at New York, 39;
+ failure of peace negotiations, 39;
+ operations at and about New York, 39, 42-47;
+ tribute of, to force under his command, 47;
+ accompanies army expedition to Chesapeake Bay, 52;
+ operations in the Delaware, 53-55, and coastwise, 56;
+ purpose of d'Estaing to intercept, in Delaware, 59;
+ serious exposure of, through inadequate force, 62, 66;
+ "extricates himself by rapid movements, 62-64;
+ preparations to defend entrance to New York, 65-68;
+ inferiority of force to d'Estaing, 66;
+ follows French Fleet to Narragansett Bay, 70, and by his
+ presence there induces d'Estaing to abandon siege of
+ Newport, and put to sea, 73;
+ manoeuvres of, with inferior force, 73-75;
+ fleet of, scattered by gale, 75;
+ returns to New York, 76, and again follows French Fleet to
+ Boston, 77;
+ admirable qualities of, as illustrated in this campaign, 78;
+ futile contemporary criticism of, 79;
+ relinquishes command, and returns to England, 1778, 81;
+ not employed again, until change of Ministry, 1782, 81, 227;
+ appointed to command Channel Fleet, 1782, and primary operations
+ there, 227-229;
+ successful evasion of very superior Franco-Spanish Fleet, 229;
+ skilful conduct of relief of Gibraltar by, 1782, 229-231;
+ engagement with Allied Fleet, 232;
+ special qualities of, again illustrated, 232;
+ French eulogy of, 232, and of force under his command, 233.
+
+ Howe, Sir William (brother of Earl), British General, failure of
+ to support Burgoyne, 1777, 28, 51, 52;
+ evacuates Boston, 1776, and retires to Halifax, 29, 30;
+ extent of regions under his command-in-chief, 30;
+ appointed peace commissioner, jointly with Lord Howe, 39;
+ goes from Halifax to New York, 39;
+ fruitless peace negotiations, 39;
+ reduction of New York by, 42-45;
+ subsequent operations of, to Battle of Trenton, 45-49;
+ constitutional sluggishness of, 45, 47;
+ occupies Narragansett Bay, 48;
+ injudicious extension of front of operations, 48;
+ small results after New York, 49;
+ rewarded with the Order of the Bath, 49;
+ takes the greater part of his force to Chesapeake Bay, 52;
+ effect of this upon Burgoyne's operations, 52, 53, 55;
+ occupies Philadelphia, 53;
+ this success worse than fruitless, 56;
+ relieved in command by Clinton, and returns to England, 56, 63.
+
+ Hudson River, a link in the chain of water communications from
+ Canada to New York, 7, 30, 45;
+ mentioned, 28, 41, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50, 51, 53;
+ alternative name, North River, 41;
+ Washington retreats across, into New Jersey, 45;
+ British advance up valley of, 1777, 55.
+
+ Hughes, Sir Edward, British Admiral, commander-in-chief in East
+ Indies, 1779, 235;
+ enterprise of, 235;
+ engagements with French Fleet under Suffren, 240, 242, 244, 247,
+ 253;
+ loses Trincomalee, 247, and compelled thereby to leave
+ Coromandel coast for Bombay, 251;
+ reinforced by Bickerton, 251;
+ contrasted with Suffren, as a general officer, 254.
+
+ Hughes, Sir Richard, succeeds to West India command at peace of
+ 1783, 226;
+ subsequent controversy with Nelson, 226.
+
+ Hyder, Ali, Sultan of Mysore, at war with British, 1779, 235;
+ French Admiral d'Orves refuses cooeperation with, 235;
+ Suffren acts with, 240, 242;
+ captures Cuddalore, 1782, 244;
+ death of, 1782, 252;
+ succeeded by Tippoo Saib, 252.
+
+ _Inflexible_, British cruiser built by Sir Charles Douglas on Lake
+ Champlain, 1776, 16;
+ in herself sufficient to control the lake, 17.
+
+ Jamaica, British West India Island, 38, 110, 149, 153, 159, 176,
+ 177, 185, 224, 226;
+ conquest of, intended by France and Spain, 1782, 206;
+ attempt leads to defeat of de Grasse by Rodney, 208, 209;
+ Rodney repairs to, after his victory, 225.
+
+ Japan, significance of contrast of population of, to square mile,
+ with that of the United States, 5.
+
+ Johnstone, George, British Commodore, commands squadron despatched
+ to take Cape of Good Hope from Dutch, 236;
+ attacked by Suffren in Porto Praya Bay, 237;
+ arrives at Cape too late, Suffren having strengthened it, 238;
+ returns to England, 238;
+ professional capacity of, 239;
+ attacks made by, upon professional conduct of Howe and Keppel,
+ 239. (See also p. 80.)
+
+ Jones, John Paul, American naval captain, serves as a volunteer in
+ French Fleet, 1782, 212.
+
+ Kempenfelt, Richard, British Admiral, captures in Bay of Biscay
+ great part of French convoy going to West Indies, 1781,
+ 195, 196;
+ commands a division in Channel Fleet under Howe, 1782, 227, 228;
+ lost in sinking of the _Royal George_, 229.
+
+ Keppel, Augustus, British Admiral, refuses to serve against
+ Americans, 81;
+ commander-in-chief of Channel Fleet, 1778, 61, 82;
+ encounter with French Brest Fleet, 83-91;
+ comments on the conduct of, 92, 97;
+ controversy with Palliser, third in command under, 95;
+ returns to port with fleet, 96;
+ court martial upon, 93;
+ and cited from, 87, 88, 95;
+ resigns command, 97;
+ becomes first Lord of the Admiralty, 97, 225;
+ quoted, 107 (note).
+
+ La Motte Picquet, French Commodore, 115;
+ action with a British division off Martinique, 1779, 128;
+ encounter with squadron under Cornwallis, 1780, 153-155;
+ captures great part of a British convoy returning from West
+ Indies, 1781, 188;
+ quoted, 229 (note).
+
+ Leeward Islands Station, extent of, 99;
+ under command of Barrington when war begins, 1778, 99;
+ Byron succeeds to command, 1779, 105;
+ held temporarily by Hyde Parker, 1779, 113;
+ Rodney takes command, 1780, 121, 128;
+ Hood in temporary charge of, 1782, 177, 185, 196-205;
+ Rodney relieved by Pigot, 225.
+
+ Les Saintes, small West India Islands, between Dominica and
+ Guadeloupe, scene of Rodney's battle with de Grasse, 209,
+ 211, 213.
+
+ Manners, Lord Robert, British naval captain (killed in the battle
+ of April 12, 1782), encomiums of, upon Hood, quoted, 202,
+ 205.
+
+ Martinique, French West India Island, 99, 104, 128, 130, 140, 141,
+ 142, 144, 147, 149, 153, 167, 206, 207;
+ principal French depot in West Indies, 100;
+ action off, between de Grasse and Hood, 162-167.
+
+ Mathews, Thomas, British Admiral, Influence in British Navy of
+ court martial upon, in 1744, 93, 139.
+
+ Minorca, Mediterranean Island in British possession, Byng's action
+ off, 1756, 93, 94;
+ recovery of, a primary object with Spain, 120;
+ supplied by Rodney, 1780, 125, 126;
+ by Darby, 1781, 187;
+ attack upon by France and Spain, 1781, 188;
+ capitulates, 1782, 189.
+
+ Mobile, Farragut's attack in entering, cited in illustration, 66
+ (note).
+
+ Monroe Doctrine, in last analysis is the formulation, in terms, of
+ a purpose to prevent the propagation to the American
+ continents of wars arising elsewhere, 4;
+ recognition of same danger in unchecked Asiatic immigration, 4;
+ necessity of adequate force in order to maintain, 29.
+
+ Montgomery, Richard, American General, sent by the Congress to
+ conduct invasion of Canada, 9; killed in assault on
+ Quebec, 10.
+
+ Moultrie, Fort, Description of, 33.
+
+ Moultrie, William, American officer, commands Fort Moultrie when
+ attacked by British squadron, 32-36.
+
+ Narragansett Bay, occupation of by British, 1777, 47;
+ value of, 47, 56;
+ Rodney's opinion of, 48, 115;
+ description of, 69;
+ military and naval situation in, 1778, 72, 73;
+ abandonment of, by British, 1779, because of improper dispersion
+ of their army, 113, 114, 115;
+ occupied by French squadron and troops, 1780, 149, 150, 155-157;
+ Rodney neglects to attack, 150;
+ French division in, watched by British from Gardiner's Bay, 151,
+ 170;
+ but starts, 1781, for Chesapeake Bay, 170;
+ returns to, unsuccessful, 173;
+ sails again from, 177, and joins main fleet in the Chesapeake,
+ 184.
+
+ Navy, and Navies, Washington's remark that to them belonged "the
+ casting vote" in the War of American Independence, 4, 147;
+ exercised on two decisive occasions, by Arnold on Lake
+ Champlain, 1776, and by de Grasse at Yorktown, 1781, 4, 7,
+ 9, 168, 176, 178, 179, 184;
+ decisive influence also in American War of Secession, 4;
+ present and future dependence upon, of Monroe Doctrine and of
+ question of Asiatic Immigration, 4, 5;
+ military explanation for this "casting vote," 5;
+ Pacific question essentially one of, 5;
+ military reasons for general dominant effect of, in War of
+ Independence, 6, 114;
+ British, saves Canada for Great Britain, 12;
+ specific effect, on ultimate result of the general war, exerted
+ by American, on Lake Champlain, 1776, 12, 13, 14, 25;
+ inadequacy of British, to demands upon it, 29, 30, 59, 62, 79,
+ 82, 99, 116, 117, 120, 127, 148, 189, 193, 226;
+ British, in operations at New York, 1776, 40, 44, 47;
+ in Burgoyne's advance, 1777, 51;
+ misuse of British, to divide the land forces, 51, 52, 114, 115,
+ 152;
+ subsidiary operations of British, 56, in the Carolinas, 151, in
+ Virginia, 170;
+ under Howe, though inadequate, saves Army under Clinton, 63, 64,
+ and also New York, 64-68, and subsequently Narragansett
+ Bay with army division at Newport, 72, 77;
+ tone of French, as indicated by Government instructions, and
+ action of officers, 83, 89, 91, 92, 166, 235;
+ effect of seasonal conditions upon operations of, in Europe and
+ in America, 98, 100, 113, 115, 147, 149, 159;
+ in East Indies, 251;
+ inefficiency of Spanish, 116, 125, 147, 189, 231, 232.
+
+ Nelson, mentioned or quoted, 38, 39, 109, 126, 132, 140, 155, 160,
+ 202, 225, 226, 243.
+
+ New Jersey, Washington crosses from New York into, 45;
+ operations in, 1776, 46-49;
+ impracticable to British, in 1777, and consequent effect upon
+ Howe's course, 51, 52, 56;
+ retreat of British from Philadelphia through, 1778, 63, 64.
+
+ Newport, Rhode Island, taken possession of by British, 47;
+ importance of, 48;
+ siege of, by Americans and French, 70, 73, 77;
+ abandoned by British, 115;
+ occupied by French, 150, 155, 170, 173, 174, 179. See
+ Narragansett Bay.
+
+ New York, water communications between St. Lawrence and, 7, 8;
+ British occupy harbor of, 1776, 38;
+ operations around, 1776, 39-46;
+ harbor, approaches, and fortifications about, 40-42;
+ Washington abandons, 45, 46;
+ British occupy, 45;
+ British forces in, unable to cooeperate with those in
+ Philadelphia, 56, 63;
+ Lord Howe's preparations to defend, 64-67;
+ d'Estaing's failure to attack, 67, 68;
+ Rodney goes from West Indies to, 150, 152, 159.
+
+ Order, of Battle, 93 (and note), 137-140, 191;
+ comparison between Keppel's, off Ushant, and Byron's, off
+ Grenada, 112;
+ Graves', off Cape Henry, 179-183, criticized by Hood, 181, 182;
+ Hood's at anchor off St. Kitts, 202, 203.
+
+ Palliser, Sir Hugh, British Admiral, third in command at Battle of
+ Ushant, 84, 87, 90, 91, 93-96;
+ court of inquiry upon, 95-97.
+
+ Parker, Sir Hyde, (1) British Admiral, left in temporary command
+ at New York by Howe, 1778, 80 (and note);
+ in like position in Leeward Islands by Byron, 1779-1780, 113, 128;
+ biographical summary of, 113;
+ quoted, 129, 130;
+ nickname of, 130;
+ implied censure of, by Rodney, in battle of April 17, 1780, 136;
+ returns to England, 136;
+ commands at Battle of the Dogger Bank, 189-193;
+ his reply to George III, 193;
+ ordered to East Indian command, and lost at sea, 194.
+
+ Parker, Hyde, (2) British Naval captain (afterwards Admiral Sir
+ Hyde), in operations about New York, 1776, 39, 44, 46;
+ in expedition against Savannah, 1778, 113, 114;
+ biographical summary of, 113 (note). (In 1801,
+ commander-in-chief over Nelson, at Copenhagen, 39, 80,
+ note).
+
+ Parker, Sir Peter, British Admiral, commands naval force in
+ expedition against Charleston, 1776, 31;
+ attack of, upon Fort Moultrie, 33-38;
+ gives promotion to Nelson, Collingwood, and Saumarez, 38;
+ at operations around New York, 38, 43, 45, and at Narragansett
+ Bay, 48;
+ commands Jamaica Station, 149, 153, 155, 159, 176, 177, 185;
+ superseded at Jamaica by Graves, 1781, 185.
+
+ Pellew, Edward, (afterwards Admiral Lord Exmouth), British
+ midshipman, at Lake Champlain, 1776, 22;
+ in Burgoyne's advance to Saratoga, 1777, 51.
+
+ Philadelphia, occupation of, by British, 52-55;
+ brief tenure of, 55;
+ inutility of, to British, 56;
+ evacuation of, by British, and hazardous retreat from, to New
+ York, 63, 64.
+
+ Quebec, attack upon by Americans, under Montgomery, 1775, 9, 10;
+ blockade of, by Arnold, 1776, 10, 11;
+ relieved by British navy, 10-12;
+ utility of, to British preparations to control Lake Champlain,
+ 15-17, 26.
+
+ Raids, by British navy, 56, 114.
+
+ Rhode Island, 47, 48, 69, 70, 72, 77, 78, 79, 115, 150, 155. See
+ Narragansett Bay.
+
+ Riedesel, Baron, commander of German troops in Canada, 1776;
+ testimony of, to effects of delay by Arnold's flotilla on
+ Lake Champlain, 13, 25;
+ quoted, 21, 23.
+
+ Rochambeau, French general, commanding forces in America, requests
+ cooeperation of de Grasse against Cornwallis, 168.
+
+ Rodney, Sir George (afterwards Lord), British Admiral, appointed
+ to command Leeward Islands Station, 1779, 115, 121;
+ sails to relieve Gibraltar, 122;
+ on the way, destroys two Spanish squadrons, 122-125;
+ relieves the place, and sails for West Indies, 125, 126;
+ actions with de Guichen, April and May, 1780, 130-135, 142-144;
+ censures officers of the fleet, 135-139, 145; further
+ proceedings in West Indies, 1780, 146-150;
+ takes fleet to New York, 150, and turns to West Indies, 159;
+ capture of Dutch islands, 1781, 160;
+ proceedings of, at St. Eustatius, 161, 162;
+ sends Hood off Martinique to intercept de Grasse, 162;
+ successes of de Grasse against, 167, 168;
+ sends Hood to New York with fleet, 176, 177, and returns to
+ England on leave, 177;
+ returns to West Indies, 1782, and rejoins Hood, 205;
+ pursuit of French armament against Jamaica, 207-212;
+ victory of, in battle of April 12, 213-220;
+ failure of, to improve his success, 220-225;
+ superseded by Pigot, and returns finally to England, 225.
+
+ Rowley, Joshua, British Admiral, brilliant conduct of, in Byron's
+ action, 106, 107, 109;
+ implicitly censured by Rodney, 136.
+
+ Sandy Hook, at entrance to New York Harbor, 52, 63, 64, 65, 66,
+ 76, 113, 150, 177, 184, 185;
+ Lord Howe's preparations at, for defence of New York, 1778, 65,
+ 66.
+
+ Santa Lucia, French West India Island, capture of, by British,
+ 1778, 100-102;
+ d'Estaing's ineffectual attempt to retake, 103, 104;
+ military value of, 104, 207;
+ de Guichen seeks to retake, 142;
+ mentioned, 105, 106, 128, 141, 144, 148, 165, 167, 168, 206.
+
+ Saratoga, surrender of Burgoyne at, why decisive, 3, 6;
+ capitulation there, determined by Arnold's defence of Lake
+ Champlain, 3, 7, 13, 14, 25;
+ Burgoyne's surrender at, 28, 50-53.
+
+ Saumarez, James (afterwards Lord de), British naval officer,
+ midshipman at attack upon Fort Moultrie, 1776, 35, 38;
+ lieutenant at the battle of the Dogger Bank, 1781, 192 (note);
+ captain in West Indies, 1782, 196;
+ biographical summary of, 196 (note);
+ in Rodney's victory, 1782, 218, 221.
+
+ Savannah, capture of, by British, 1778, 113;
+ disastrous effect of operations thus initiated upon the British
+ position in America, 114, 115, 151-153, 175-178, 184;
+ failure of d'Estaing's attempt to retake, 115, 151.
+
+ Schuyler, Philip, American General, commanding Northern
+ Department, 1776; quoted, 12.
+
+ Seasons, effect of, upon naval operations, 98, 113, 115, 145, 149,
+ 159, 251.
+
+ Spain, induced to enter the war, 1779, 3, 116;
+ cruise of fleet of, in conjunction with French, 1779, 116-121;
+ divergence of views between France and, 120, 121, 147, 158, 186;
+ two squadrons of, dispersed or destroyed by Rodney, 122-126;
+ inefficiency of navy of, 125, 126, 147, 158, 187-189;
+ fruitless cruise of fleet of, in conjunction with French, 1781,
+ 188, 189;
+ projected conquest of Jamaica, 206.
+
+ St. Eustatius, Dutch West India Island, capture of, by British,
+ 1781, 160-162;
+ a great trade centre in the war, prior to capture, 160.
+
+ St. Kitts, British West India Island, attacked by French, 1782, 196;
+ naval operations of Hood and de Grasse about, 196-205;
+ capitulates to French, owing to lack of British land force, 205.
+
+ St. Lawrence, River, the centre of French power in Canada, 7;
+ strength of, as a military line, 7, 8; as a naval line of
+ communications, closed by ice, 10, 11, but at other
+ seasons controlling, 11, 12;
+ relations, to the decisive naval campaign on Lake Champlain,
+ 1776, 15-17, 25-26.
+
+ Ticonderoga, strong post at head of Lake Champlain, 8, 9, 13, 18,
+ 20, 27, 28, 46, 50;
+ saved from capture in 1775, and 1776, by Arnold's naval action
+ on Lake Champlain, 9, 13, 25;
+ taken by British, 1777, but reoccupied by Americans after
+ Burgoyne's surrender, 28.
+
+ Tiller. See "Helm."
+
+ Tippoo Saib, Sultan of Mysore, in India, succeeds his father,
+ Hyder Ali, 1782, and continues his policy, 252.
+
+ Tobago, British West India Island, taken by French, 167, 168.
+
+ Trenton, battle of, 48.
+
+ Trincomalee, harbor in Ceylon, a Dutch possession in 1780,
+ captured by British, 1782, 240;
+ importance, and imperfect defences, of, 240, 242, 244, 251, 252,
+ 255;
+ taken by French, 1782, 247;
+ naval battle off, between Hughes and Suffren, 247-251.
+
+ Ushant, battle of, 83-93.
+
+ Valcour, Island in Lake Champlain, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24;
+ selected by Arnold as the position in which to await British
+ advance, 1776, 15;
+ description of, 19, 20;
+ battle of, 20-23;
+ American retreat from, 23-25.
+
+ Washington, George, commander-in-chief of the American armies,
+ expression of, that the navies had "the casting vote" in
+ the War of Independence, 4, 151;
+ arrangements of, for defence of New York City, 1776, 41-43;
+ withdraws the exposed division on Brooklyn Heights, 43, 44;
+ successive retirements of, to Harlem River, to New Jersey, and
+ across Delaware River, 44-46;
+ wins battle of Trenton, 1776, and recovers great part of New
+ Jersey, 48, 49;
+ comment of, on Howe's sailing from New York, 1777, 52;
+ disputes, unsuccessfully, Howe's advance on Philadelphia, 53, 55;
+ skilful strategic position of, in New Jersey hills, 56;
+ comment of, upon effects of d'Estaing's long passage out, 1778,
+ 63;
+ hot pursuit by, of Clinton in retreat from Philadelphia to New
+ York, 64;
+ disappointment of, at failure of French naval assistance, 1780,
+ 150, 152;
+ comment of, on Arnold's treason, 152;
+ with Rochambeau, asks cooeperation of de Grasse, 1781, 168;
+ movement of, against Cornwallis at Yorktown, 178, 184;
+ surrender of Cornwallis to, 185;
+ mentioned incidentally, 67, 72.
+
+ Washington, Fort, commanding Hudson River, 1776, 44, 46;
+ Washington orders evacuation of, 45;
+ stormed by British, and garrison taken, 46.
+
+ West Indies, dependence of, upon American continent, 60;
+ seasonal conditions in, affecting naval operations, 98, 115,
+ 149, 159;
+ commercial importance of, 98;
+ naval battles in, 103, 106-112, 129, 130-135, 142-144, 153,
+ 163-167, 198-205, 207-220.
+
+ White, Thomas, British naval author serving during War of American
+ Independence, quoted, 108, 183 (note), 204.
+
+ Yorktown, series of events which brought Cornwallis to, 152, 153,
+ 169, 170, 174, 175;
+ naval actions affecting control of waters around, 170-173,
+ 179-184;
+ Cornwallis shut up in, 176;
+ French navy in force before, 184;
+ French and American armies arrive before, 184;
+ surrender of Cornwallis at, 185.
+
+ Zoutman, Johan A., Dutch Admiral, commands the squadron at the
+ battle of the Dogger Bank, 189-193.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Major Operations of the Navies in
+the War of American Independence, by A. T. Mahan
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