1806. Bourayne, was discovered to-leeward steering southApril. South-west. Ordering the Hindostan by signal to Tre- lead the fleet, the Tremendous made sail in chase of men- the frigate; who, having hauled her wind on the chases starboard tack, bore from the former at noon west Canon- by south, and the convoy south-east. Favoured by nière. the lightness of the breeze, the Canonnière outsailed dous the 74, and would have weathered her, had not M. Bourayne, by the appearance of land ahead and towindward, been obliged to bear up. This, with an increase of the breeze at about 2 P. M., enabled the Tremendous to gain so upon the frigate, that at 3 h. 30 m. P. M. the latter, hoisting her colours, opened a fire from her stern-chasers, and received a return fire from the bow-guns of the 74. At 4 P. M., finding herself closely pressed, the Canonnière gradually hauled up on the larboard tack; as did also the Tremendous, keeping upon her opponent's larboard quarter, and firing her guns as they could be brought to bear. By occasionally luffing up, the frigate got her whole broadside to bear, and thereby considerably damaged the rigging and sails of the 74. The latter, notwithstanding, rather foreIs crip- reached upon the Canonnière, and was meditating to pled by cross her bows and end the contest by a raking fire, her. when, at about 4 h. 45 m. P. M., a well-directed broadside from the frigate shot away the jib-stay, and foretopsail ties and slings of the 74, and brought her foretopsail yard down upon the cap. In consequence of this accident the Tremendous dropped astern fast, and, having no immediate alternative, bore up and poured a raking fire into her opponent's stern and quarter, but at too great a Canon- distance to produce any effect. As soon as she had effects repaired her damaged rigging, the 74 again hauled her es- up; but the frigate had now got to-windward, and nière cape. was making so good a use of the advantage, that the few shot afterwards fired by the Tremendous could not reach her. At the time that the latter hauled up, the Charlton indiaman, captain George Wood, being ahead of the fleet, hove to and fired 1806. her broadside, but at so great a distance, that the April. Canonnière did not deign a reply. Captain Osborn continued the pursuit until 7 h. 30 m. P. M.; when, the frigate having disappeared since sunset, the Tremendous hove to, in order to await the coming up of the Hindostan and convoy. loss, Except a few shots in her masts, the damages of Mutual the Tremendous did not exceed those already men- &c.' tioned; and, owing to the high fire of her opponent, she had not a man hurt. The injuries done to the Canonnière were of a more serious description. A shot had penetrated 16 inches into her mainmast, and cut the heart of it; and her fore yard and mizenmast were also badly wounded. .One of her iron 36-pounder carronades (of which the frigate had 14, with six long eights, making her guns the same in number as when recaptured from the British, 48) and two of her anchors were broken by shot; and she received about 21 in the hull. Her loss, out of a crew of 330 men and boys, amounted to seven men killed and 25 wounded, including among the latter two or three officers. It is related of two "enseignes," or midshipmen, named Prenet and Duplantos, that, after being severely wounded, they went below only to get the blood stanched, and then returned to their quarters. con If any thing can add to the credit of M. Bourayne, Good for the able management of his ship, and his perse- duct of vering and successful defence of her against a force so M. superior, it is the modesty of the account which rayne. he transmitted to the minister of marine. No rodomontade; all is plainly, yet minutely told, and, in every material point, agrees with the entry in the british ship's log. Fortunately for the cause of truth and the character of a brave officer, the imperial supervisor of official correspondence either overlooked captain Bourayne's letter, or, having no immediate purpose to answer by altering the statements Bou 1806. it contained, suffered the Moniteur to insert the letter in its original form. April. Captain Bourayne's account, however, was too French insipid to be served up, in its simple state, to the french readers of the "Victoires et Conquêtes." counts. The writer has accordingly seasoned it in a way ac Previ ous cruise which, he knew, would render it palatable. Not only is the Tremendous made to fly from the field of battle, but the crew of the Canonnière are eager to board her. "Il ne s'agissait plus alors, pour ces braves matelots, de soustraire leur frégate au vaisseau ennemi, ni même de la forcer à une retraite honteuse: ils aspiraient à le prendre, et les cris, à l'abordage! à l'abordage! se firent entendre à plusieurs reprises."* The action of the Tremendous and Canonnière affords a lesson to officers, who find themselves suddenly assailed by a decidedly superior force. It teaches them that, by a judicious and protracted defence, their ship may escape, even when, in a manner, close under the guns of an opponent, whose single broadside, well directed, (the chief point wherein the Tremendous appears to have failed,) must either sink or disable her. The Canonnière had sailed from Cherbourg on the 14th of November, 1805, as a reinforcement to of Ca- rear-admiral Linois, whom captain Bourayne, agreenière. ably to his orders, proceeded to join at the Isle of non France. Not finding the admiral there, the frigate was seeking him off the Cape of Good Hope, when fallen in with by the Tremendous and her convoy. After repairing, as well as could be done at sea, the damage she had sustained in this rencontre, the Canonnière steered for Simon's bay, and on the 30th anchored near Penguin island. Deceived by the second dutch colours at all the forts, and on board the merchant ships at anchor within him, M. Bourayne Her narrow escape. * Victoires et Conquêtes, tome xvii. p. 289. sent on shore a boat under the command of a lieu- 1806. w tenant. No sooner had the party disembarked, than April. the forts, changing their colours, opened a heavy fire of shot and shells upon the frigate. The Canonnière immediately cut her cable and stood out. Several shells broke over, but none did any important injury to her; and not a single shot struck her hull. The french lieutenant and his men were of course made prisoners. squa York. On the 25th of April a british squadron, composed British of the 50-gun ship Leander, captain Henry Whitby, dronoff 18-pounder 40-gun frigate Cambrian, captain John NewNairne, and 18-gun ship-sloop Driver, captain Slingsby Simpson, cruised off the port of New-York, to search american vessels coming from foreign ports for enemy's property and for goods contraband of war, also to gain information respecting the routes of two or three french squadrons then known to be at sea. At about 2 P. M. on that day captain Whitby went on board the Cambrian, to dine with captain Nairne, leaving the Leander in charge of her first lieutenant Mr. John Smith Cowan. At 3 P. M., when standing in upon the larboard tack, Sandy-Hook lighthouse bearing west-north-west distant about five leagues, the squadron discovered several sail in the south-west by south, apparently about four leagues from the Jersey shore, steering towards the Hook. at and ameri Soon after 4 P. M. the Cambrian, at that time the Fires leading ship of the three, and distant about three boards miles and a half from the land, fired at some of the some nearest vessels, and, heaving to, sent her boats on can board three or four of them. The Leander then vessels. passed astern of the former, and stood on, to endeavour to bring down several brigs, one or two schooners, and a ship that had brought to at the distance of two or three miles from the squadron, with their heads in shore and their foresails set. After firing two guns at two brigs, that lay close together, and were more advanced than their com fires at 1806. panions, the Leander, being within about three miles April. of the shore, tacked, and continued occasionally firing Lean- single guns ahead and astern of the brigs, until the der latter wore and stood towards her. The brigs were others. then boarded by her boats, and suffered to proceed; as were all the other vessels boarded by the squadron on that afternoon, except the ship, which, being detected in an illicit trade from Havana, was detained and sent to Halifax, where the greater portion of her cargo was legally condemned. Among the brigs not boarded was one from the West Indies, laden with a full cargo of contraband, and commanded by the nephew of the celebrated Paul Jones. Is ac cused No sooner had the two first-mentioned american brigs altered their course to approach the Leander, than a small sloop discovered herself at a short distance in shore of them. Little did the Leander's captain imagine what a powerful instrument of perof kill-secution against him this apparently insignificant ing a object was to be made: insignificant, indeed, for board who, beyond some half a dozen citizens of Newan ame-York, had ever heard of the "american coastingsloop. sloop Richard, Jesse Pierce, master." It appears man on rican Com (for there is no positive evidence of the fact) that a shot from the Leander killed John Pierce, the brother of Jesse, as the former was standing at the helm. A splinter was said to have struck him under the jaw, and to have caused instant death. The man never moved after he fell, but his brother acknowledges that he neither saw John Pierce fall, nor the motion splinter strike him. The sloop was presently in in New- New-York, and alongside of one of the wharfs. An Yorkin election was at this time going on in the city. The quence. body of the man was carried on shore, and the scenes that followed were a disgrace to the citizens. dent In mockery of all justice, a grand jury collected pro- among the citizens found a bill for wilful murder captain against captain Whitby. The impulse, once given, Whitby extended all over the United States. Even the derer. president was induced to issue a proclamation, de conse Presi claims a mur |