and mizen masts by the board, and also her fore yard; 1798. whereupon the privateer's men called for quarter. Feb. No sooner was the Revanche taken possession of, than she was found to be sinking, the effects of more than 40 shots which the lugger had received between wind and water. The utmost promptitude was used in shifting the prisoners, and getting back the Cobourg's people, who had been placed in possession ; nor was it without the utmost difficulty that the whole were saved from going to the bottom in the prize. The Cobourg had sustained considerable damage in her spars, sails, and rigging; but was fortunate enough to escape with only two men wounded. Her fire, on the other hand, had killed seven, and wounded eight men belonging to the lugger, described as the largest that sailed out of Calais. On the 22d of March, at 7 A. M., as the british 74- March. gun ship Canada, captain sir John Borlase Warren, 44-gun frigate Anson, captain Philip Charles Durham, and 38-gun frigate Phaeton, captain the honourable Robert Stopford, were cruising about eight leagues to the westward of Pointe-Rousonirez, coast of France, with a moderate breeze at northnorth-east, the Anson discovered a strange ship in the east quarter, standing to the southward. This was the french 36-gun frigate Charente, captain Alain-Adélaïde-Marie Bruilhac, a few days from Rochefort, bound to Cayenne, with 193 unfortunates, banished for their political sins to that unhealthy climate. The chase continued throughout the day, with light and variable breezes; and at 1 h. 30 m. a. M. on the 23d, the Phaeton got near enough to open a fire upon the Charente; who, after returning the fire with her stern-chasers, hauled up for the channel des Graves, or southern passage into the river Gironde. This change of course brought the Charente within the range of the Canada's guns; and several broadsides were interchanged until about 1798. 4 A. M., when the Canada struck on a sand-bank, and March, remained fast. April. The 74's signal for assistance occasioned a discontinuance of the chase by the Phaeton and Anson; and the Charente, after grounding on the Olives, and being obliged, in consequence, to throw the greater part if not the whole of her guns overboard, reached the river of Bordeaux. What loss, if any, the Charente sustained by the fire of the Phaeton and Canada, we are unable to state; but we believe the ship was greatly damaged by getting on shore: not, however, to the extent, as sir John Warren in his public letter states, of "being bilged," or the french frigate would have remained where she had struck, instead of sailing again on a cruise as the Charente subsequently did. The Canada remained on the sand-bank about two hours and a half; when, having started 20 tons of water and being favoured by the rise of the tide, the ship floated off, making 14 inches of water per hour. Great credit was undoubtedly due to captain Bruilhac, for his persevering and, as we have seen, successful efforts to save his ship from capture by a force so superior; and we are a little surprised that no account of the escape of the Charente should have found its way into any french naval work, especially as the french minister of marine made a public boast of the Charente's performance. On the 17th of April the british king's schooner Recovery, of ten 3-pounders, and from 40 to 50 men and boys, commanded by lieutenant William Ross, being on a cruise in the West Indies, fell in with the french privateer-schooner Revanche, of 10, believed to have been, 4 pounders, and 54 men, commanded by citizen Antoine Martin. The latter hove to for the Recovery, who was to-windward, and reserved her fire until she got within pistol-shot. At the end of a 45 minutes' mutual cannonade, the Revanche, having had all her sails but the stand RECOVERY & REVANCHE.-VICTORIEUSE & FR. PRIVAT. 297 April. ing-jib cut to pieces, attempted to escape by the 1798. aid of her sweeps; but the Recovery, having her sails perfect, easily kept way with her antagonist, and at length compelled the Revanche to surrender. The french privateer had three men killed and nine wounded, four of them dangerously. The Recovery did not have a man hurt, and suffered no greater damage than one gun dismounted and a few small shot in her masts. Lieutenant Ross describes his crew as consisting chiefly of young and inexperienced boys and lads, and yet declares that their conduct would have done honour to the most experienced seamen. On the 7th of May, as the british 14-gun brig- May. sloop Victorieuse, captain Edward Stirling Dickson, was passing to-leeward of Guadeloupe, having in charge the trade from Trinidad to St.-Kitt's, two french privateers, a schooner of 12 guns and 80 men, and a sloop of six guns and 50 men, bore down for the purpose of carrying the brig by boarding. The Victorieuse soon compelled the sloop, which was the Brutus, captain Rousel, to strike her colours with a loss of four killed, and four wounded. Owing to Captain Dickson's not being able to chase far from his convoy, the schooner effected her escape; but evidently with considerable damage, and no doubt a proportionate loss. The Victorieuse sustained no loss whatever. We do not know the calibers of the guns of these privateers, but, taking the number of men on board each as a guide, we should consider that the guns were 4, or, at most, 6 pounders. With respect to the Victorieuse, she was an anomaly as a 14-gun brig. Her establishment of guns and men, as ordered for her on the 6th of October, 1795, soon after her capture from the French, were 12 long 12-pounders and two 36-pounder carronades, with a crew of 130 men and boys; and the size of the Victorieuse perhaps justified the armament, as she measured 349 tons. A contemporary describes the Victorieuse as mounting 1798. in this action " fourteen 6-pounders :" * against this statement we have nothing to offer, but the admiralty-order fixing the brig's establishment. Dec. Although somewhat out of chronological order, we will here narrate another creditable performance by Captain Dixon, and those under his command. On the 3d of December, at 2 A. M., the Victorieuse and 14-gun brig-sloop Zephyr, captain William Champain, having received on board, by order of colonel Picton, commanding at Trinidad, a major and 40 men of the York Rangers, landed the troops, along with a party of seamen, near the river Caribe, in the island of Margarita, in order to attack the forts (how many, or of what force, does not appear in the official letter) in the rear, while the two brigs cannonaded them in front; but, at daylight, the spanish commandant sent to beg the British not to fire, as he would give them immediate possession. This he did; and the guns were brought off, and the troops reembarked. The two brigs then made sail for the port of Gurupano, on the same island, and at 4 P. M. arrived there. Observing a french privateer in the harbour, captain Dickson sent in a flag of truce, to say to the commandant of the fort, that the British were determined to take out the privateer, and warning him not to fire at them. The commandant replied, that he would protect the vessel, which was the Couleuvre, of six guns and 80 men, and that the British should give him up the guns they had taken at Rio-Caribe. No time was now to be lost; and, having landed major Laureil with the troops, also 30 seamen detached from the two brigs, and commanded by lieutenants William Case and M'Rensey, captain Dickson anchored with the Victorieuse and Zephyr, and opened a smart fire on both forts, one of which mounted four, the other, two guns. In 10 minutes the troops and seamen, amounting together to no * Brenton, vol. ii. p. 441. ESCAPE OF SIR SIDNEY SMITH. AURORA & FR. PRIVAT. 299 more than 70 men, carried the lower fort; and im- 1798. mediately the spanish flag at the upper fort was Dec. hauled down and replaced by a french one. At the end of five minutes more, this fort also surrendered. The number of men, that garrisoned the two forts, was estimated at 300; and who, as well as the crew of the privateer, effected their escape. The Couleuvre and the guns on shore were carried off, and the forts destroyed. The casualties to the British were two men killed and two wounded, and some slight damage to the masts and rigging of the Vic torieuse. On the 4th of May, at 4 A. M., as a small british May. squadron, composed of the 38-gun frigate Arethusa, captain Thomas Wolley, 12-pounder 32-gun frigate Niger, captain Edward Griffith, and 44-gun ship Argo, captain James Bowen, was cruising off the mouth of the river Seine, a fishing-boat pulled alongside the Argo, and was found to have on board captain sir Sidney Smith, lieutenant John Westley Wright, and two french gentlemen, one of whom was sir Sidney's particular friend, Mr. Phelipeaux. This party had effected their escape from the temple at Paris, by means, as it would appear, of a forged order of removal to another prison, planned and executed by Mr. Phelipeaux. Sir Sidney and his companions proceeded straight to Rouen; and, embarking there in a boat, reached the british squadron as already related. The moment he learnt who were the persons received out of the french fishingboat, captain Wolley directed captain Bowen to part company for England; and on the 6th, in the evening, the Argo came to at Spithead. On the 16th of June the british 12-pounder 32-gun June. frigate Aurora, captain Henry Digby, cruising off the bay of Curmes on the north-west coast of Spain, sent two of her boats, under the orders of lieutenant Henry Lloyd, to destroy some vessels which had just run in there for shelter. The boats, covered in their approach by the frigate, succeeded |