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centre; his own ship, the Sandwich, of ninety guns, was encountered by M. de Guichen, in the Couronne, of eighty, and by his two seconds, the Fendant and Triumphant. But in crowding sail before the action, the French fleet had not been able to keep its distances perfectly. Its rear, moreover, which had become head of the line, being composed of more heavy sailing ships than those of the two other divisions, there had resulted thence a considerable chasm between that squadron and the centre. This separation was still increased by the drift of the Actionnaire, which, instead of standing, as the last vessel of the centre, the first of the rear, had suffered. herself to fall to leeward of the line. Rodney resolved to seize the opportunity, and moved in order to cut off this rear guard from the rest of the fleet. But the Destin, commanded by M. Dumaitz de Goimpy, being at the head of that division, threw herself across his way, and engaged the Sandwich with so much vigor as to arrest his passage. The French ship would have been crushed, however, by a force so greatly superior, if the count de Guichen, perceiving the design of his adversary, had not made a signal to the ships of his centre to put about, and push, wind aft, all together, in order to rejoin and extricate the rear. This movement, executed with extreme celerity, completely baffled the plan of the British admiral, and, consequently, saved the French fleet from a total defeat. Rodney now finding himself exposed to have the blow, he had meditated against his adversary retorted upon himself, recoiled instantly, and pressed to regain his place in the line with his other ships. Soon after he made his dispositions for renewing the action; but seeing the crippled condition of several of his ships, and the particularly dangerous state of the Sandwich, which was with difficulty kept above water, he thought it more prudent to desist. The count de Guichen drew off to refit; he afterwards touched at Guadaloupe in order to put ashore his sick and wounded. Rodney continued to manœuvre in the open sea for some days, and then returned to cruise off Fort Royal bay, hoping to intercept the French fleet, which he believed was on its way for that anchorage. But at length, the enemy not appearing, and finding it necessary to disembark the sick and wounded, and to refit and water his fleet, he put into Choc Bay, in St. Lucia. The loss of the British in this action, amounted to one hundred and twenty killed, and to three hundred and fiftythree wounded. Of the French, two hundred and twenty-one died, and five hundred and forty were wounded. Rodney in the report of the battle which he sent to England, passed high encomiums on the talents and gallantry of the French admiral; and added, that he had been admirably seconded by his officers. This was an indirect reproach to his own; of whom, generally, he felt that he had much reason to complain. The two parties alike claimed the honor of victory, as it is usual in every combat, the issue of which is not deci

sive. After having repaired his ships, and taken aboard the troops under the command of the marquis de Bouille, M. de Guichen again put to sea. His design was to ascend to windward of the islands by the north of Guadaloupe, and then to disembark his land forces at Gros Islet, in St. Lucia. Apprised of this movement, Rodney immediately set sail in search of the French fleet. He issued from the channel of St. Lucia, as it was standing off the extremity of Martinico, towards Point de Salines. At sight of the British armament, the French admiral became sensible that he must abandon the attack of St. Lucia. His prudence is to be applauded in abstaining from coming to battle, although his position to windward of the enemy had placed it in his power; but he inclined first to secure the advantages which were offered him by the nature of those seas, and the direction of the wind. He manoeuvred to retain the weathergage, and, at the same time, to draw the English to windward of Martinico. In case of a check, he had in that island a certain refuge, and if victor, he left none for his enemy. The British admiral labored on his part to gain the wind, and continued to approach more and more. The hostile fleet had received each a reenforcement of one ship of the line; the French, the Dauphin Royal; the English, the Triumph. These evolutions, in which the two admirals displayed no ordinary degree of skill and judgment in seamanship, were prolonged for several days, and still Rodney had not been able to attain the object of his efforts. The French, whose ships were superior in point of sailing, to entice the English, as has been said, more to windward of Martinico, suffered themselves to be approached from time to time, and then suddenly spreading all sail, departed out of reach. This sport succeeded with them at first perfectly; but at length the French were nearly entangled into a general engagement, in a situation which presented more than one sort of peril; for their intention being to avoid it, they found themselves in no suitable order for battle. The wind had gradually veered to the south. Vigilant to profit of this change, Rodney put his ships about, and pushed on the other tack to gain the wind upon the French. He would have effected his purpose, if the wind had not, in this critical moment, suddenly shifted to the southeast. The count de Guichen could then also put himself on the other tack, which movement presented such a front to the English as no longer permitted them to gain the wind of him. He afterwards continued to retire in order to avoid an action. But in consequence of the last manœuvres, the two fleets being brought within cannon-shot of each other, the English pressed forward their van upon the French rear. It was already towards night fall, on the fifteenth of May. The headmost of the British ships, and particularly the Albion, found themselves exposed unsupported to the fire of the whole French division, and were excessively damaged. The others rejoined them; but the French

being better sailers, then retired. Such was the second rencounter between admiral Rodney and the count de Guichen. The French preserved the advantage of the wind. The two armaments continued in sight of each other during the three ensuing days, both manœuvring according to the plan of operations adopted by their respective admirals. Finally, in the morning of the nineteenth of May, the English being advanced to the windward of Martinico about forty leagues, and distant between four and five, to the southeast, from the French, the count de Guichen determined to accept battle, and accordingly took in sail. But as soon as the British van was within reach, he made a signal for his own to bear down upon it, and the action was engaged with great spirit on both sides. The other divisions formed successively in order of battle, the French retaining the weathergage. The conflict became general, the two fleets combating, the one with its starboard, the other with its larboard guns. But the ships of the French van and centre, having shortened sail in order to come to closer action with the enemy, it was to be feared lest the English should tack all at once in order to charge the rear, which was then at a considerable distance astern. To prevent the fatal consequences that might have ensued from such a movement on the part of the enemy, M. de Guichen put about himself, and proceeded to form again in a line with his rear. No manœuvre could have been more suitable to the conjuncture; if it had not been executed in season, the French admiral would have found himself in the most perilous predicament. A few moments after, nine British ships having tacked, advanced with a press of sail upon the French rear; but when they saw that the main body and van had rejoined it, and that the three divisions presented themselves in the best order, they resumed their station in their own line. Rodney rallied such ships as were dispersed, and again drew up his fleet in order of battle. The two armaments thus remained in presence until night, and even till the succeeding morning, but without renewing the engagement; they probably found that they had suffered too much in this and in the preceding action. Rodney sent the Conqueror, the Cornwall, and the Boyne, which were the most damaged, to be repaired at St. Lucia, and set sail with the rest of his fleet for Carlisle Bay in the island of Barbadoes. The Cornwall went to the bottom near the entrance of Careenage harbor. The count de Guichen returned with his fleet to Fort Royal bay, in Martinico. The loss of the English in these two last actions was sixty-eight killed and three hundred wounded. The French lost one hundred and fifty-eight killed, and upwards of eight hundred wounded. Among the former were numbered many officers of distinction, and even the son of the count de Guichen. The English also had to regret several officers of much reputation. Such was the result of the three battles fought between the French and Eng

lish in the West Indies; their forces were nearly equal; their valor and skill were entirely so.

Here it may be observed, of what importance are the talents and experience of commanders to the event of combats, and to preserve nations from the most terrible reverses. For, it is evident, that if either of the two hostile admirals, in the course of the three days we have been describing, or during all those which they passed in observing each other, had committed a single fault, the defeat and ruin of his fleet must have been its inevitable consequence.

If hitherto the forces of France and of England had been pretty equally balanced in the West Indies, it was not long before the first acquired a decided superiority, by the junction of a Spanish squadron which arrived in those seas. Spain had conceived an ardent desire to acquire Jamaica; and the French as eagerly coveted the possession of the other islands which were still in the power of the enemy. If these objects had been attained, the English would have witnessed the total extinction of their domination in the West Indies. With such views don Joseph Solano had departed from Cadiz, about the middle of April, with twelve sail of the line and some frigates. This squadron escorted upwards of eighty transports, containing eleven thousand Spanish infantry, with a prodigious quantity of artillery and munitions of war; an armament as formidable as flourishing, and suited without question, to justify the hopes with which the allied courts had flattered themselves, particularly that of Madrid. Already don Solano was well on his way across the Atlantic, shaping his course for Fort Royal, in Martinico. It was there he purposed to make his junction with all the French forces. Rodney continued at anchor in Carlisle Bay, attending to the health of his crews, recruiting his provisions and water, and refitting his ships. He had no mistrust of the storm that was about to burst upon him. But captain Mann, who was cruising at large with the frigate Cerberus, fell in with the Spanish convoy; aware of all the importance of the discovery, and feeling assured that his admiral would receive it well, he took upon himself to quit his cruise and return to the West Indies, in order to give the alarm. Upon this intelligence Rodney put to sea with the least possible delay, for the purpose of meeting the Spanish squadron; confident of victory, if he could fall upon it before its union with the French fleet. Conjecturing with reason, that it was bound to Martinico, he awaited it upon the route usually taken by vessels destined for that island. His dispositions were very judicious; but the prudence and precautions of the Spanish admiral rendered them fruitless. Without any intimation of the design of the English, and of the danger that menaced him, don Solano, as if directed by a secret presentiment, instead of steering directly towards Fort Royal, of Martinico, shaped his course more to the north on his right, and stood for the islands of Dominica and Guadaloupe.

As soon as he was arrived in their vicinity, he detached a very swift sailing frigate to the count de Guichen, to request him to come out and join him. The French admiral issued with eighteen ships; and being informed that the English were cruising to windward of the Antilles, in order to avoid encountering them, he sailed under the lee of those islands. This voyage was so well conducted, that the two armaments came together between Dominica and Guadaloupe. Assuredly if all these forces, which greatly surpassed those of Rodney, could have been preserved entire, or if the allies had acted more in concert, they must have attained their object, namely, the absolute annihilation of the British power in the West Indies. But these forces, in appearance so formidable, bore within themselves the elements of their own destruction. The length of the passage, the want of fresh provision, the change of climate and the defect of cleanliness, had generated among the Spanish soldiers a contagious fever, which had spread with incredible rapidity, and made horrible ravages. Besides the deaths in the passage, the squadron had put ashore twelve hundred sick at Dominica, and at least an equal number at Guadaloupe and Martinico. The salubrity of the air, and that of the new diet on which they were put in those islands, did not, however, abate the fury of the pestilence; it swept off every day the most valiant soldiers; it soon attacked also the French, though with less violence than the Spaniards. This unexpected scourge not only diminished the ardor of the allies, but also deprived them of great part of the means essential to the success of their enterprises; they were, moreover, thwarted by the clash of opinions. The Spaniards wanted to undertake in the first place the expedition of Jamaica, the French that of St. Lucia and the neighboring islands. It followed, that all these projects miscarried alike. Compelled to relinquish the brilliant hopes with which they had flattered themselves, the allies reembarked their troops, scarcely yet well recovered, and made sail in company towards the leeward islands. The count de Guichen escorted the Spaniards into the waters of St. Domingo, and then leaving them to pursue their voyage, came to anchor at Cape Francois. Here he made his junction with the squadron of M. de la Motte Piquet, who had been stationed in that part for the protection of commerce. The Spaniards proceeded to the Havannah. At the news of the juncture of the allied fleets, Rodney repaired to Gros Islet bay, in St. Lucia. But as soon as he was advised that they had sailed from Martinico, he profited of a reenforcement of ships and troops that was arrived to him from England, under the conduct of commodore Walsingham, to put Jamaica in a respectable state of defence against the attacks of the allies. He kept the rest of his force at St. Lucia, to watch the motions of the enemy and cover the neighboring islands. Thus vanished the high hopes which had been conceived in France as well as in Spain, from the formidable war

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