land her fire these hauled so very close round the point, following 1812. the direction of the coast to the eastward of it, that May. captain Hotham, being ignorant of the depth of water Northso near the shore, did not think it practicable, con- umbersistent with the safety of the Northumberland, whose opens draught of water was nearly 25 feet, to lay the leading frigate aboard, as had been his intention. The french Northumberland therefore bore up, and, steering squa parallel to the french squadron, at the distance of about 400 yards, opened her broadside; receiving in return, as well from the two frigates, as from three batteries on the coast, a very animated and well-directed fire. upon drop. umber land french brig on Captain Hotham's object now being to prevent the Northfrench frigates from hauling outside the dry rock m Graul, the Northumberland had not only to steer drives sufficiently near to that rock, to leave her opponents frigates no room to pass between it and her, but to avoid and running on it herself: a most difficult and anxious shore. duty, the clouds of smoke, as they drifted ahead of the ship, totally obscuring the rock from view. However, by the care and attention of Mr. Hugh Stewart, the master, the Northumberland passed the rock, within the distance of her own length, on the south-west side, in a quarter less than seven fathoms' water; and the two french frigates and brig, as their only alternative, were obliged to steer inside of it. Here there was not water enough to float them; and at 3 h. 45 m. P. M. the two frigates, and in five minutes afterwards the brig, grounded, under every sail, upon the ridge of rocks extending from the Graul to the shore. off to The Arienne lay nearest to the main land; the Hauls Mamelouck in a tranverse direction upon that fri- repair gate's starboard bow, and the Andromaque ahead of, sail and considerably without, both her consorts. Having, in the course of a 21 minutes' cannonade, had her sails and rigging considerably damaged, the Northumberland now left the two frigates and brig to the effects of the falling tide, it being then one quarter ebb, and 1812. hauled off to repair her rigging and shift her fore May. topsail, which had been rendered entirely useless. ler brig At 4 h. 22 m. P. M., having repaired her principal damages, the Northumberland tacked, and began working up, against a fresh west-north-west wind, to engage the enemy again, and avoid falling toleeward of the Graul. At 4 h. 48 m. the Mamelouck cut away her mainmast by the board; and just then Grow- the Growler was seen rounding the south-east end of Groix under a press of sail. At 5 P. M. the Growler opens joined, and opened an occasional fire upon the her fire. grounded vessels, all of which had by this time fallen over upon the larboard side, or that nearest the shore. At 5 h. 23 m. P. M. the mainmast of the North- Arienne went by the board. At 5 h. 28 m. P. M. the Northumberland anchored in six and a half fathoms' water, Pointe de Pierre-Laye bearing north-west half-north, the citadel of Port-Louis north-west threequarters north, and the Graul rock north half-east 400 yards distant; having, by means of a spring, brought her broadside to bear, at point-blank range, upon the two french frigates and brig, lying in the position already described, with their copper exposed to view. umber land an chors. Re com At 5 h. 34 m. P. M. the Northumberland opened her mences starboard broadside, receiving in return a fire from firing. three or four guns of the Andromaque, and a heavy fire from three batteries on the main; but of which batteries one only, in the judicious station captain Hotham had chosen, was able to reach the ship. At 5 h. 55 m. the Andromaque caught fire in the fore top. At 6 P. M. the flames were spreading fast: her fore topmast then fell, and several boats began pulling from the ship to the shore. At 6 h, 45 m. the main and mizen masts of the Andromaque went by the board. Having kept up a deliberate and careful fire until 6 h. 49 m. P. M., which was near the time of low water, and observing the visible effects of it to be, that the crews had quitted their vessels, that stands the bottoms of the latter were pierced through with Weighs and out. shot so low down as to ensure their filling on the 1812. rising tide, and that the hull of the Andromaque was Jan. already in flames, the Northumberland got under way, and stood out of gun-shot of the nearest battery. &c. to umber The fire from this single battery had done the DaNorthumberland as much injury in the hull, as all mage, the fire to which, in running along the coast engaging Norththe ships and batteries, she had previously been land. exposed. Her loss, in consequence, amounted to four seamen and one marine killed, one lieutenant, (William Fletcher,) three petty officers, 19 seamen, and five marines wounded; of whom four were wounded dangerously and 10 severely. The Growler, who, when the Northumberland ceased firing, had stood in and opened her fire upon the Arienne and Mamelouck, to prevent their crews from returning on board, suffered neither damage nor loss. two and up. At about 8 P. M. the Andromaque blew up, with an The awful explosion, leaving no remains of her visible. trench At 8 h. 10 m. P. M. the Northumberland anchored out frigates of reach of the batteries on both sides, although a brig battery on the isle of Groix continued throwing blow shells. At about 9 P. M. a seaman belonging to a portuguese vessel, which had been taken by the french squadron, having jumped overboard from the Andromaque just before she blew up, swam on board the Northumberland. At 10 P. M. the Arienne was seen to be on fire; and at 11 h. 30 m. P. M. the flames burst forth from the ports and other parts of the hull, with unextinguishable fury. The Mamelouck was at this time on her beam ends, with her bottom completely riddled. Nothing further remaining to be done, the Northumberland, at about 30 minutes past midnight, got under way, with a light air from the northward, and, accompanied by the Growler, stood out to sea. Being retarded in her progress by the calm state of the weather, the Northumberland, at 2h. 30 m. A.M. on the 23d, witnessed the explosion of the Arienne; and, before the day was over, a third 1812. fire and explosion announced, that the Mamelouck had ended her career in a similar manner. Jan. Their de struc tion A mortified spectator of this gallant achievement, by which two french 40-gun frigates and a 16-gun brig were driven on shore and destroyed, under the wit- fire of at least one heavy french battery, by a british from 74 and gun-brig, lay a fine french two-decker, with Lorient sails bent and topgallant yards across, in the har nessed Some ac bour of Lorient. Mortified, indeed; for, in the state of the wind, the commanding officer of the port could do no more than send boats to assist in removing the crews of the wrecks. With upwards of 900 men including soldiers on board, what was to hinder these two frigates and brig, when all hopes of escape by running had vanished, from boarding a ship having a crew of about 600 men? Even had the attempt failed, it is not probable that more than one frigate would have been captured: the other, in the confusion, along with the brig, might have reached Lorient; and certainly the loss of men would not have been by any means so great as, although we cannot enumerate it, was sustained by the grounded vessels, both from the fire of the Northumberland and Growler, and from the hurried endeavours of the panic-struck to reach the shore. The two french frigates and brig, thus effectually count destroyed, had themselves destroyed 36 vessels of of their different nations, and had taken the most valuable part vious of their cargoes on board. The frigates, in conseeeed- quence, were very deep; but, had they drawn no ings. more than their usual water, they still could not have pre pro passed clear, as is evident from the brig grounding so close to them. We are happy to be able to state, that lieutenant Weeks of the Growler, and lieutenant John Banks, first of the Northumberland, were each promoted to the rank of commander, for the part he had performed in captain Hotham's exploit. On the 3d of July, in the afternoon, the british 16-gun brig-sloop Raven, captain George Gustavus Lennock, while hauling over the Droograan, observed attacks 14 drives shore. 14 brigs, of the french flotilla out of the Scheldt, 1812. exercising to-leeward of the Weiling. Thinking it July, practicable to cut off some of them, captain Lennock Raven stood into the Weiling, and at 6 h. 15 m. P. M. began att firing occasionally at the flotilla in passing. The french wind blowing strong on the shore, the superior rig sailing and working of the Raven enabled her to and overtake seven of the brigs; four of which she three compelled to anchor close to the surf under the on batteries. The remaining three the Raven drove on shore; and at daylight the next morning they were still lying on the beach, apparently bilged, with the sea beating over them. Only one shot struck the Raven, and that did not hurt any one. This dashing little service was performed in sight of the french fleet lying at Flushing; and it must have greatly mortified the french admiral and his captains to see 14 of his brigs, armed each with three or four long 24-pounders, unable, or rather unwilling, to prevent three of their number from being driven on shore by a single british brig, mounting fourteen 24-pounder carronades. lark a On the 21st of July, as the british schooner SeaSealark, of ten 12-pounder carronades and 60 men chases and boys, lieutenant Thomas Warrand, was cruising lugger off the Start, a signal was made from the shore of an privaenemy in the south-east quarter. The Sealark im- teer. mediately made all sail in the direction pointed out, and after a three hours' run discovered a large lugger, under english colours, chasing and firing at two ships, apparently west-indiamen, standing up Channel. As soon as the lugger, which was the Ville-de-Caen, of St.-Maloes, mounting 16 long 4 or 6 pounders, with a crew of 75 men, commanded by M. Cochet, discovered that the schooner approaching her was a cruiser, she quitted the merchantmen and altered her course to starboard, under all possible sail. Finding the Sealark gaining on her, the lugger shortened sail, and wore repeatedly to get to-windward of the schooner. |