THE CLOSE OF THE WAR AND THE EAST INDIES
AUTHORITIES.—_Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain_, by
Beatson; _Naval Chronology_, by Isaac Schomberg; _Memoirs
and Correspondence of Lord de Saumarez_, by Ross; _Life and
Correspondence of Rodney_, by Mundy; _Life of Viscount Keppel_,
by T. Keppel; _An Essay on Naval Tactics_, by Clerk; _Naval
Battles of Great Britain_, by Ekins; “Letters of Sir Samuel
Hood,” by Hannay, in _Navy Records Society Publications_;
_Naval Researches_, by White; _Plans of Battles of the War_, by
Matthews; _Life of Howe_, by Barrow; _La Marine française_, by
Chevalier; _Batailles navales de la France_, by Troude; _Journal
de Bord du Bailli de Suffren_, by Moris; _Histoire du Bailli de
Suffren_, by Cunat; _Siege of Gibraltar_, by Drinkwater; _Sea
Power in History_, by Mahan; _Het Nederlandsche Zeewezen_, by De
Jonghe; _Marins et Soldats français en Amerique_, by the Vicomte
de Noailles; _La Marine Militaire de la France sous le règne de
Louis XVI._, by Lacour-Gayet.
The independence of the United States had been secured and a great
blow struck at England by the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. The
allies had now to secure prizes for themselves. Gibraltar was to be
taken in Europe and Jamaica conquered in the West Indies. On the 4th
November 1781 Grasse sailed from the Chesapeake for Martinique, where
he anchored on the 25th. On that day his unresting military colleague,
Bouillé, pounced in his characteristically feline style on St.
Eustatius. He landed where no landing was expected. The red coats of
the Irish regiment of Dillon, which formed part of his force, disarmed
suspicion, all the more easily because no watch was kept. The Governor
was splashing in his bath when the French came down upon him, and so
the loss of St. Eustatius was added to the chapter of regrettable
incidents. Grasse and Bouillé were now free to push their enterprises
against the British West Indies, opposed for the time being only by the
inferior fleet under Hood, who had sailed from Sandy Hook on the 11th
November and had reached Barbadoes on the 5th December. The French
officers had been instructed to expect reinforcements to be brought
to them from Europe by Vaudreuil. If strengthened in the way promised
they would have held a commanding position. The French Government took
measures to keep its word, but its plans were shattered by a brilliant
stroke of vigilance and activity delivered by the British Navy.
It was known in London that a great force was in preparation at Brest,
and measures were taken to intercept it at its starting place. On the
2nd December, Kempenfelt, who had succeeded Digby as second in command
in the Channel, left Spithead with twelve sail of the line and one
50-gun ship. The calculation was sound, and Kempenfelt sailed in good
time, but the force given him might well have proved insufficient.
Guichen left Brest on the 10th December with nineteen sail of the line
and a convoy carrying troops. His orders were to detach Vaudreuil to
the West Indies with five sail and the transports, to send two to the
East Indies, to post La Motte Picquet with two others where he would
meet the trade coming home from San Domingo, and to take the others
to Gibraltar. Kempenfelt had been delayed by the weather, but on the
12th December he sighted the French 150 miles to W.S.W. of Ushant.
They were to the southward of him in a south-easterly wind. Guichen
and the warships were ahead on Kempenfelt’s lee or starboard bow as
he came down on the port tack. The transports and merchant ships were
directly behind Guichen and were therefore uncovered. Haze and fog,
with clear intervals, surrounded both fleets and hid the approach of
the English, but the French admiral’s disposition was unpardonable. He
ought to have kept his convoy to leeward of him. If Kempenfelt had been
an unenterprising man he might have hesitated to attack where he was
menaced by a superior force, but he was as bold as he was seamanlike,
and he did not hesitate to punish his opponent for his error. He
dashed straight on in a general chase, each ship going at her best
speed with frigates and two deckers ahead, swept past the stern of the
French warships, and broke into the convoy. Fifteen transports were
captured, with 1062 soldiers on board. The rest scattered in terror.
Guichen, confused by the consequences of his own want of foresight,
and perhaps by the fog, allowed his opponent to collect his warships,
which had been separated by the chase, and to round up his prizes
before night. Kempenfelt detached Captain Caldwell in the =Agamemnon=
with =La Prudente= to pursue the convoy. Five more fell into Captain
Caldwell’s hands. Guichen returned rather piteously to Brest, and the
blow delivered to the W.S.W. of Ushant was felt by Grasse in the West
Indies. Kempenfelt anchored at Spithead on the 20th December.
He was a man to be remembered for this fine feat, for a long career of
good service, and for his efforts to provide the navy with a better
code of signals. He is remembered because he was the admiral whose
flagship, the =Royal George=, went down at Spithead on the 29th August
1782, carrying with her Kempenfelt, most of his officers, hundreds
of seamen, and also very many women with some children, the families
of the men. They were allowed to remain on board while the ship was
fitting for sea. The =Royal George= was receiving a parliamentary heel,
that is to say she was weighed down on her side at the anchorage in
order to clean her partially below the water line. According to the
explanation which satisfied the Admiralty, she sank because the water
ran in at the ports. But the navy, which indeed was rarely charitable
in its judgment of the Admiralty, was of opinion that a piece fell
out of her side under the strain, for she was notoriously rotten. It
was said that the decision not to attempt to raise her was due to the
prudent resolution of My Lords that the truth should not be revealed.
She had been built in 1756.
Though disappointed of the reinforcement promised him, Grasse was
still much stronger than Hood. He could collect twenty-nine sail,
while the English officer could only hope to muster twenty-two—until
Rodney returned from Europe. On the 5th January 1782 he left Fort
Royal on an expedition against the British islands, St. Christopher
and Nevis. Hood at Barbadoes was informed on the 8th that the French
were at sea. Scouts were despatched to observe their movements, but it
was not till the 14th that a letter from General Shirley, Governor of
St. Christopher, told Hood that they had been seen off Nevis, and that
their destination became clear. Hood sailed at once for Antigua. He
had twenty-one sail of the line with him, but expected to be raised
to twenty-two by the junction of the =President=. With this force,
inferior in number as it was to the French fleet, “I beg you will
assure their Lordships,” so he wrote to Sandwich on the 20th January,
“I will seek and give battle to the Count de Grasse, be his numbers
as they may.” The promise was given on the 20th January. On the 21st,
Hood was at Antigua. On the 22nd, he embarked General Prescott with a
detachment of troops, and sailed in search of the French.
The little island of Nevis lies directly west of Antigua. To the north,
and separated from it by the shallow strait appropriately called the
Narrows, is the larger island of St. Christopher, commonly called St.
Kitts. The capital of St. Kitts, Basseterre, is on the south-western
side of the island. Here Grasse had anchored on the 11th January and
had landed soldiers, who drove Governor Shirley and General Fraser, the
officer in command of the troops and island militia, to take refuge on
Brimston Hill, close to the shore north-west of Basseterre. During the
night of the 23rd Hood rounded the south point of Nevis, running before
the easterly trade. It was his intention to fall on the van of the
French at daybreak on the 24th, and crush it at anchor. But during the
night a careless officer of the watch in the =Alfred= ruined himself
and the admiral’s plan by running into the =Nymphe=. The =Alfred= was
damaged, and delay was caused by the necessity to repair her. Before
Hood could approach the anchorage of Grasse he was seen, and the
Frenchman put to sea with his twenty-nine sail of the line. Hood, whose
first object was to land =Prescott=, anchored his fleet on the tail
of a bank to the south-east of the position just left by Grasse. As
his ships stood in they were attacked by the French in a half-hearted
way. The operation was carried out on the 25th, after a day and night
of weary manœuvring, in which Hood kept the advantage of position, and
Grasse put his fingers to the plough as if he thought it would burn
them. On the 26th he made two feeble attacks on Hood, and then stood
off. Reinforcements came in and raised his force to thirty-six sail of
the line, but he did not come on again. He only remained cruising and
watching till the 14th February.
In the meantime Prescott had landed and had made an effort to relieve
Brimston Hill. He was beaten back by Bouillé with superior numbers. As
it was obvious that they could do nothing, the troops were embarked on
the 29th and sent off to Antigua. Hood maintained his anchorage till
all hope was gone. The planters of St. Kitts had suffered severely by
Rodney’s confiscations at St. Eustatius, and were sulky. They had not
even mounted the twelve 24-pounders and two mortars given them for
their protection. These pieces fell into Bouillé’s hands, and were used
against Brimston Hill. When the Frenchman found the siege of the hill
slow work, he took to his usual course of burning the plantations. The
planters raised a clamour, and under pressure from them Shirley offered
to capitulate on the 13th February. On the 14th, Hood having done all
that in him lay, summoned his captains to the flagship, instructed them
to set their watches by his, and to get under way at ten that night.
The fleet slipped off quietly, and without interruption from Grasse,
round the north end of St. Kitts. There is no finer passage of combined
caution and daring in the war. We had lost the islands, but Grasse had
thrown away the chance to crush the English ships. He no doubt wished
to preserve his own ships for their ulterior purpose, the conquest
of Jamaica. While tendering them he inevitably allowed the escape of
Hood’s ships, which were to have a conspicuous share in ruining that
ulterior purpose in the following April. Between such opponents, only
the fitting occasion was required to show beyond all peradventure where
the superiority lay.
The occasion was at hand. Hood reached Antigua on the 19th February. On
the 22nd he left for Barbadoes, and met at sea Rodney, who had reached
that island on the 19th. Rodney had left Plymouth on the 14th January
with twelve sail of the line. He had beaten out of the Channel in the
teeth of the wind, and had rounded Ushant in a gale which sent the
waves over the deck of his flagship, the =Namur=. He came back to his
command somewhat restored in health by an operation he had undergone at
Bath, but more aged, more secluded, than ever, and he had to bring with
him a private doctor, Gilbert Blane. Blane should be mentioned with
honour in every history of the navy, for he did much excellent work in
introducing into our ships that cleanliness which means health, which
again means efficiency and the power to endure. The improvement in this
respect was already great. Our fleets in the West Indies presented
a spectacle such as would have filled the seamen of Queen Anne with
amazement. They were showing that it was possible to keep the crews
long at sea on that sickly station and yet preserve them more free from
disease than in port and at home.
Rodney took his united command to Gros Islet Bay, in Santa Lucia, and
there settled down to watch Grasse, who had returned to Fort Royal on
the 26th February. The next move of the French was a secret to nobody.
Grasse was to ship Bouillé with his soldiers, to go to San Domingo and
there pick up more French ships and soldiers. Then he was to be joined
by the Spaniards from Cuba, and the whole force was to fall on Jamaica.
The success of this large scheme depended wholly on the ability of
Grasse to get away with his ships and men from Martinique. It was
Rodney’s duty to see that he did not, and under the veil of disease
and premature age weighing on him, he was resolute to do that duty. He
did not forget the exhortation of Sandwich, that he carried the fate
of the empire in his hands, and he meant to bear his charge worthily.
Therefore he kept strict watch. Neither man nor officer landed except
on duty, and a line of frigates kept the French under observation. The
watch lasted till the 8th April, when Captain Byron of the =Andromache=
frigate came into Gros Islet Bay with the news that the French were
getting to sea. Before noon the fleet was at sea, and standing to the
north in pursuit of the enemy.
Of the two fleets about to engage in the greatest and the most decisive
encounter of the war, the English was the stronger. Sir Charles
Douglas, Rodney’s captain of the fleet, did indeed endeavour to show
by comparisons of tonnage and guns that the French though outnumbered
were materially stronger than ourselves. But our guns were heavy enough
to shatter our enemy, and there were more of them. Moreover, the great
improvements in gunnery introduced by Douglas himself, and other
captains, constituted an element of superiority far more valuable than
any mere weight of the pieces. The average skill of our officers and
men was higher than the French. Finally, and this was a very important
consideration indeed, the French admiral was hampered by a great
convoy. He was compelled to detach the two 50-gun ships out of his
total force of thirty-three ships of the line, to guard his transports.
Two of his liners were disabled by accident on the evening of the 11th
April. Rodney’s thirty-six ships of the line were all free for fighting
alone, and he lost none by mismanagement.
During the night of the 8th April the two fleets stood to the north,
past the island of Martinique, and along the west side of Dominica. On
the morning of the 9th, fifteen of the French ships of the line had
worked clear of the land, and were in the “true breeze” blowing through
the Saints Channel—the straits between Dominica and Guadaloupe. The
others and the transports were in the belt of calms under the west side
of the island. Sir Samuel Hood with nine ships of the English van had
worked up as far as the leading French. The others were becalmed under
the land. The Comte de Grasse had now a magnificent opportunity to
crush a part of his opponent’s fleet when it could not be supported. He
made, however, only a very half-hearted attack on Hood, cannonading his
ships at a respectful distance from windward, and doing little damage
except to the spars. As the other British ships worked up he grew still
more timid, and the evening came before any decided result had been
obtained. From the evening of the 9th to the evening of the 11th the
two fleets continued to struggle with the wind or want of it, rather
than with one another. Grasse succeeded in working his convoy out from
under the shadow of Dominica, and sending it to Guadaloupe protected
by the two 50-gun ships. Two of his liners were disabled by bad
seamanship. Yet on the evening of the 11th he had so far succeeded in
his manœuvres to avoid battle that the bulk of his ships were through
the passage. Rodney prevented his attempt to get away by ordering “a
general chase.” His quickest vessels were allowed to sail at their best
speed, and soon overtook the laggards among the French. Grasse was
compelled to call his whole fleet back to cover the menaced vessels,
and at nightfall both fleets were to westward of the passage again.
During the night the _Zélé_, 74, ran into the French flagship, and was
severely damaged. It was necessary to send her in tow of a frigate to
Guadaloupe. When day broke on the 12th, the fleets were so placed that
Grasse could no longer avoid a battle. The French were to the north of
Rodney, and both fleets were in the easterly trade wind. Ships were
sent from the British van to pursue the crippled _Zélé_ on her way to
Guadaloupe. Grasse, to cover her, called down the ships to windward of
his flag, and began to form his line. Sir George, who had been roused
in the morning by the flag-captain with the welcome news that “God
had given him his enemy on the lee bow,” made prompt answer to the
preparations of the Frenchman. Time would have been lost by waiting
for the return of the ships pursuing the _Zélé_. The rear, therefore,
was ordered to lead into action. The last ship in the line stretched
up towards the French, the next fell in behind her, and so on till the
order of the fleet was reversed; the rear became the van and the van
the rear, the pursuing ships taking their places as they returned. The
fleets approached one another on a converging line forming an obtuse
angle, the French having the wind on the port, and the British on the
starboard side. Rodney’s order to engage the enemy close to leeward was
hoisted at about 8 a.m. The leading ship of his line reached the third
in the French at 7.45 a.m., and then bearing up, began to pass along
the French line on the lee side. Others followed in their order, and
the two went past one another slowly, the English in excellent order,
firing rapidly and steadily, the French in ragged disorder, fighting
gallantly but at a growing disadvantage. When the leading English ship
had just passed the last French, and the two lines were side by side
from end to end, there occurred the movement which gives this battle
its peculiar importance in naval history.
The action had lasted for about two hours, and the confusion in the
French fleet had been increased by the shift of the wind to the
southward, which forced the head of the line towards the English. A
great gap was formed in the formation of the French astern of the
seventeenth ship. Sir Charles Douglas, who saw the opening, urged
Rodney to pass through it and cut the French line. The movement was
easy, for the English ships were not close-hauled, and by putting the
helm down could pass to windward through the opening. Sir George
hesitated before assuming the responsibility of departing from the
rule that an admiral should not alter the formation in which he began
an action. On the second and urgent appeal of his captain of the
fleet, he consented to make the movement. The helm of his flagship,
the =Formidable=, 100, was put down, and she passed through the enemy,
followed by the vessels immediately astern of her. One of the vessels
ahead, the =Namur=, 90, followed the admiral’s example. All the ships
of the English line, counting from the last of the centre to the rear,
passed through another gap in the French, in the smoke, without knowing
what they had done till they found themselves to windward of the enemy.
Thus the fleet of the Comte de Grasse was broken into three fragments.
The van bore on to the south. Six ships cut off in the centre turned
westward. The rear ships were headed off from the isolated fragment of
the centre.
The wind now fell, and the two fleets remained for a space motionless.
When it rose again, the English streamed down on the isolated Frenchmen
in the centre. They were surrounded, overpowered, and compelled to
surrender. The flagship, the _Ville de Paris_, 100, was surrendered by
Grasse after a long and gallant fight. It was the general opinion in
the fleet that an insufficient use was made of the victory, and that
twenty prizes might have been taken if Rodney had been more energetic.
Sir Samuel Hood, a bitter judge of his superior, had some difficulty in
obtaining leave to follow the enemy on the 18th April. He took three
other prizes in the Mona Channel on the following day.
The battle of the 12th April, or of the Saints, or of Dominica, for
it is known by all names, may be said to have been the end of the
naval war in America; for no operations of any consequence took place
there till the peace of the following year. The discontent of Rodney’s
captains was not made public. To the nation which had seen no such
success in the war hitherto, the victory appeared wholly glorious,
and was a very natural subject of triumphant satisfaction. Rodney was
made a peer of Great Britain, and Sir Samuel Hood received an Irish
peerage. In naval history the battle is chiefly remarkable because it
marked the end of the old formal, or rather pedantic, style of fighting
established in the seventeenth century. It showed naval officers by
practical example that the way to win decisive victories was to break
into the formation of the enemy, even if they did thereby sacrifice
their own, and so bring about a mêlée in which individual superiority
would have full play.
The war can now be wound up by a brief account of the final relief of
Gibraltar and of the contemporary naval campaigns in the East Indies.
During September of 1782 Gibraltar received, and had repelled with
ease, the last attack of the Spaniards and their French allies.
Floating batteries, from which much had been expected, were brought
against the fortress in vain. But as the allies were masters of the
Straits, the garrison was in danger of being reduced by starvation.
Reliefs of stores and men were urgently needed. The British Government
was hard pressed to find ships for the service. A Dutch squadron was
known to be ready for service in the Texel, and as the concentration of
French and Spanish warships in front of Gibraltar made the employment
of a large force necessary, the Ministry was in no small perplexity
lest, while Gibraltar was being relieved, the coast of England
should be attacked. But the Dutch were timid. The naval advisers of
the Government, of whom Keppel, then at the head of the Admiralty,
was one, convinced it that the risk was not great. Public opinion,
too, would not have tolerated further delay. On the 11th September,
two days before the final attack of the allies, Howe left Spithead
with thirty-four sail of the line, eight frigates, and a number of
fireships. He had under his protection a convoy of transports carrying
provisions, military stores, and two regiments of infantry, the 25th
and the 59th. Every effort had been made to provide the admiral with
the best force the country could collect. But the navy was severely
taxed to meet the calls made upon it. Many of the ships had been fitted
out with difficulty, and though the best officers and men available
were sent on the service, complaints were heard that the crews were
made up by the inclusion of inferior elements. At a later period the
condition of Howe’s fleet was the subject of an undignified squabble
between him and Keppel.
Bad weather delayed the progress of the relieving fleet. Howe was off
Faro on the 9th of October. Here he heard of the failure of the attack
on Gibraltar, and that the fortress was safe so far. Skilful management
was still required to carry the transports into the harbour in face of
the superior numbers of the enemy, and the obstacles caused by currents
and winds. His iron nerve, his seamanship, and his mastery of the
details of a great fleet qualified Howe for the work admirably. Yet
even he could not have succeeded at all against efficient opponents,
nor against such enemies as he had, if he had not been to some extent
beholden to fortune. The help fortune gave him came in a shape which
in no way diminished the honour due to his fleet. On the night of the
10th October it blew a heavy gale from the west. The awkward French
and the more than awkward Spaniards suffered severely at their station
in Algeciras Bay. One Spaniard was driven ashore, and lost, under the
guns of Gibraltar. Some were dismasted, others were swept into the
Mediterranean. The good seamanship of Howe’s officers and men showed
once more that the winds and waves are in favour of the more skilful
navigator. They contended successfully with the gale. By the evening
of the 11th October the transports had been brought to the entrance
of Gibraltar Bay, and the warships were to windward of them for their
protection. A few only entered. The great bulk of the transports,
unable to bear up against the westerly wind and the current which sets
into the Mediterranean, were “back-strapped”—that is to say, they were
carried past Gibraltar into the inland sea. Howe had to follow his
charge as far as Fuengirola on the 12th. He collected the transports at
the Zaforina Islands, and placed his warships to protect them. Don Luis
de Córdoba, the Spanish admiral who commanded the allies, followed the
English into the Mediterranean, not to seek battle, but only to cover
those of his ships which had been driven to the eastward. Fog, rain,
and the heavy groundswell following on the storm put the seamanship of
naval officers and skippers of the transports to a severe test, but
they were equal to their task. The wind had shifted to the N.E. during
the night of the 15th. By the 18th victuallers and transports were
safe in Gibraltar. On the 19th the enemy were seen to windward. Having
relieved the fortress, Howe did not think proper to accept battle in
the narrow space between Ceuta and Europa Points. He stood into the
Atlantic. Next day the allies, who were still to windward of him, made
a feeble attack on the van and rear of his line. They then drew off.
Howe, who had not absolute confidence in all his captains, and who
was by nature rather resolute and exact than adventurous, played his
game with caution. On the 21st the allies went off, and gave him no
opportunity to strike with advantage. He remained cruising till the
28th October, when he detached Sir Richard Hughes with eight sail to
the West Indies, and then steered home. He anchored at Spithead on the
14th November. He had done an admirable piece of service. If it was
rather a triumph in the handling of a fleet and in seamanship than such
a triumph in fighting as Nelson would have won twenty years later, we
must remember that much had happened in the interval to give British
officers a well justified confidence.
When the war died down on the Atlantic and in the West Indies, it was
still being fiercely waged in the Bay of Bengal. In those waters it
had flamed into energy only as it drew towards its final crisis and
end elsewhere. Until 1782 the Eastern seas presented a languid scene.
In 1778 England and France were alike feebly represented at sea to
the east of the Cape. When the Company, hearing that war had begun
in Europe, resolved to seize the French settlement of Pondicherry,
it had a squadron at hand. One line-of-battle ship, the =Ripon=, 60,
three small men-of-war of the Royal Navy, and one armed ship of the
Company’s, constituted the whole force commanded by Sir Edward Vernon.
The still weaker French squadron was at the Île de France. Vernon
blockaded Pondicherry on the 8th August, in order to support Sir Hector
Munro’s besieging army. On the 10th the French squadron appeared. It
consisted of the _Brillante_, 64, two small ships of the king’s, and
two armed merchant-vessels. A feebly conducted action ended by the
separation of the combatants. The French commander, M. de Tronjolly,
anchored at Pondicherry, and remained there till the 21st August. He
brought no effective help, and when Vernon began to threaten him again,
he slipped away, leaving Pondicherry to resist as it best could, till
it was forced to surrender on honourable terms on the 16th October.
The French had ceased to be rivals of England in the East Indies, and
would in all probability never have reappeared there, if the Company
had not found a new and a most formidable enemy in Hyder Ali, the great
Sultan of Mysore. Their few ships remained, partly by necessity, but
not a little by the free choice of their officers, at and about the
Cythera of the French Navy, the Île de France. Tronjolly was replaced
in 1779 by M. D’Orves, who brought a 74-gun ship with him, _L’Océan_.
In January 1781, D’Orves made a transient appearance on the coast of
Coromandel. His tardy arrival and prompt departure served only to
disappoint and anger Hyder Ali.
Vernon’s successor, Sir Edward Hughes, who came out in 1779 in the
=Superb=, 74, had no French enemy to consider; but when the Dutch
joined the enemies of England he co-operated with the Company’s forces
in capturing all their posts on the Coromandel coast. On the 11th
January 1782 he aided in the taking of Trincomalee, in Ceylon, where a
capture of Dutch trading-ships laid the foundation of the great fortune
he won during his command. On the 8th February he was back at Madras,
and on the following day he was joined by Captain Alms, who brought
with him the =Monmouth=, 64, =Hero=, 74, and =Isis=, 50, and also the
news that a new and unwonted opponent was about to intrude on the
solitary reign of the British forces in the Bay of Bengal.
It has been noted above that when Admiral Darby sailed from Spithead
on the 13th March 1781 to relieve Gibraltar he had with him a squadron
and a convoy carrying troops which were to be sent on for more distant
service. These were the eight men-of-war commanded by “Governor”
Johnstone, and the transports carrying troops under General Meadows.
Their immediate object was to conquer the Dutch settlement at the Cape.
The Dutch, aware of their own weakness, had appealed to the French
Government for support. The French, willing to support their allies,
and also hoping to inflict a severe blow on England by co-operating
with Hyder Ali, gave their aid. When the Comte de Grasse sailed for
the West Indies from Brest on the 22nd March 1781 he had with him five
ships of the line and transports carrying troops which were to be
detached—in the first place to rescue the Cape, and then to aid Hyder
Ali. The French squadron was commanded by the only officer of whom
it can be said that he was the only “great captain” our navy had been
called upon to meet since it had fought the Dutchman De Ruyter one
hundred and ten years before.
Pierre André de Suffren de Saint-Tropez, born in 1729 at St. Cannat in
Provence—in the modern department of the Bouches du Rhone—was the third
son of the Marquis de Saint-Tropez. Like many other younger sons of
Provençal families, he was provided for by being placed in the Order of
Malta (_i.e._ St. John of Jerusalem), and also in the French Navy. He
became a Garde de la marine in 1743, and from that day till 1781 had
been in almost constant service either in the French Navy or in “the
caravans of the Religion,” as the cruises of the galleys of Malta in
the Levant and on the coast of Africa were officially called. He had
taken part in nearly all the few successes and the most conspicuous
disasters of the French Navy for some forty years. His reputation
as a good practical seaman and vigorous officer was undisputed. His
experience had given him a fiery scorn for the pedantic tactics of his
generation. They were in his opinion merely decent cloaks for timidity.
In 1781 he was still only Knight of the Order, and had not as yet
received the dignified office of Bailli of Provence, from which came
his popular name of “the Bailli.”
On the 29th March, Suffren parted from the main fleet of the Comte
de Grasse when in the latitude of the Azores. He was soon aware that
Commodore Johnstone was ahead of him. A Portuguese fishing-boat spoken
by one of his squadron informed him that the English squadron had
passed. It must have appeared very doubtful to Suffren whether he
could hope to overtake and pass it. Several of his transports were
heavy sailers, and some of his ships were in want of water. In order
to procure more, it was necessary to make for the Portuguese island
St. Iago, in the Cape de Verd Islands, and to anchor at Porto Praya,
on the south side. On the 16th April the French squadron came round
the south-east point of the island in straggling order. One of their
ships was towing a transport. As the harbour came in sight the leading
French vessel saw that it was full of ships and that several of them
were men-of-war. Johnstone had, in fact, anchored at Porto Praya on
the 11th of the month, in a slovenly and unofficerlike way, with his
transports and warships confusedly mingled. If Suffren had been an
orthodox French officer of the stamp of Guichen, he would have seen an
excellent opportunity to “fulfil his mission,” and would have hurried
on, prepared to risk suffering from want of water, in hope to reach
the Cape first. Suffren reasoned as Hawke would have done. What he saw
was an admirable opportunity to cripple Johnstone, and he attacked.
That his own squadron was not in hand was to him a small matter. It
was ten in the morning, and he calculated that many of the English
sailors would be ashore in search of water and stores. The confusion of
Johnstone’s squadron was obvious. Suffren saw that the rain was falling
on the just and the unjust, and he struck his blow. For the neutrality
of Portugal he showed no more respect than had been shown by Boscawen
when he pursued La Clue into the waters of Lagos, where Suffren, then a
lieutenant in _L’Océan_, had been taken prisoner.
The action of Porto Praya is one which is at once difficult to tell
in detail but easily summed up. Five vessels composed his command—_Le
Héros_, 74 (flagship), _L’Annibal_, 74, _Le Vengeur_, 64, _L’Artésien_,
64, and _Le Sphinx_, 64. When he stood in at the head of his squadron,
_L’Annibal_ and _L’Artésien_ were close to _Le Héros_. Suffren could
not lie to for the _Vengeur_ and _Sphinx_, lest he should be carried
to the leeward by wind and current. He struck in at once among the
huddle of Johnstone’s squadron, composed of the =Hero=, 74, =Monmouth=,
64, =Romney=, 50 (flagship), =Jupiter=, 50, and =Isis=, 50, and three
frigates, which were mixed with East Indiamen and transports. There
was a wild scene of cannonading, collisions, boardings and attempts
to board, in which the three ships which were closely engaged did,
and suffered, much damage. They were not in force to overpower
Johnstone, and the _Sphinx_ and _Vengeur_ not only came up late, but
did not press their attack close. After a couple of hours’ hot work,
Suffren cut his cables and left the anchor he had dropped to hold him
in position during his attack. He was followed out by the _Annibal_
and _Artésien_ and the East Indiaman =Hinchinbroke=, which had been
captured. Johnstone followed his opponent at leisure and timidly. The
=Hinchinbroke= was retaken, but no zeal was shown to renew the action.
Johnstone, a blustering, pamphleteering man of no reputation as an
officer, made an attempt to conceal his own want of conduct and spirit
by bringing Captain Sutton of the =Isis= to a court martial, by which
he was honourably acquitted, and the two fought a series of lawsuits.
Though his attack failed to achieve victory, it showed the English
naval officers that in Suffren they had an opponent of an enterprising
spirit rare in the accomplished service to which he belonged. He had so
far gained his object that Johnstone remained at Porto Praya repairing
damages till the 1st May. In the meantime the French officer pushed
on, and reached the Cape on the 21st June. The troops he landed under
the command of Count Conway were sufficient to garrison the Dutch
settlement against the English expedition. While Suffren was refitting
at False Bay, the English squadron appeared on the coast. It made no
attempt to assail the French squadron or the colony, but several Dutch
East Indiamen which had anchored in Saldanha Bay were captured on the
22nd of July. After cruising for a time off the Cape, Johnstone sent
Captain Alms to India, and went first to Saint-Helena, and then home.
On the 26th August Suffren left the Cape for Port Louis, which he
reached on the 25th October.
The French squadron, composed of the ships already in the islands
and those brought out by Suffren, sailed from Port Louis on the
7th December 1781. It consisted of _L’Orient_, 74, _Le Héros_, 74,
_L’Annibal_, 74, _Le Sévère_, 64, _Le Bizarre_, 64, _Le Vengeur_, 64,
_Le Sphinx_, 64, _L’Artésien_, 64, _L’Ajax_, 64, _Le Brillant_, 64, _Le
Flamand_, 64, together with seven frigates, sloops, and gunboats. The
command was held by M. D’Orves; but Suffren, who though only _capitaine
de vaisseau_, had local rank in the Indies as _Chef d’escadre_, was
appointed to succeed on the death or resignation of his superior.
D’Orves, whose health was ruined, broke down in the Bay of Bengal,
resigned his command on the 3rd February 1782, and died on the 9th. On
the 3rd, therefore, Suffren was again in command. His struggle with the
naval power of England lasted till the news of the peace reached him on
the 29th June 1783. During those seventeen months he fought the five
actions on which the French dwell with pride, for they constitute the
most glorious passage in the history of their navy. It is true that
he took no English ship in any of them and that he failed to achieve
the object he fought for. Yet we cannot but see the greatness of the
man. “Brave Suffren must return from Hyder Ally and the Indian Waters;
with small results; yet with great glory for six _non defeats_; which
indeed, with such seconding as he had, one may reckon heroic.” Carlyle
includes Porto Praya to make the tale of six, and he says the final
word of any just judgment on “the Bailli.” If ever a man lived who
justified Napoleon’s maxim that war is an affair not of men but of a
man, it was he. It was by his personal merit that his squadron came to
the very verge of winning a triumphant success. That he failed was due
to the fact that the French Navy, in spite of the tardy efforts of the
ministers of Louis XVI., was honeycombed by the intellectual and moral
vices which were bringing France to the great Revolution—corruption,
self-seeking, acrid class insolence, and skinless, morbid vanity. On
its way from the islands the squadron fell in with and captured the
English =Hannibal=, 50. One of her officers was placed as a prisoner on
parole in the mess of the French _Bizarre_. An officer of the regiment
of Austrasie, which was being carried by the squadron to aid Hyder Ali,
the Chevalier de Mautort, says in his Memoirs that this officer was a
cheerful young gentleman who did not speak four words of French, but
made himself very pleasant. Withal he showed his professional zeal by
keeping an alert watch on all that went on about him, and, adds the
Frenchman, he cannot have been greatly impressed by the way our work
was done. A man can gain no higher praise than this, that he raised
the institution he belonged to above itself—and so much Suffren did.
The English force opposed to him was to show how the virtues of an
institution can atone for the deficiencies of a commonplace chief and
baffle the genius of an enemy. When the great captain is found in
command of the superior force, then we have the victories of Nelson.
The object of the French officer was to obtain such a position on the
coast of Coromandel as would strengthen the hands of his Government
when the time came to make peace. In order to do this, he aimed first
at destroying the squadron of Hughes, then at obtaining possession of
a port or ports where he could land men, both those he had with him
and those whom he knew to be coming from Europe to aid Hyder Ali, and
also to refit his own ships. On the 13th February 1782 he appeared off
Madras with twelve sail of the line—the eleven which had come from
the Île de France, and the =Hannibal= taken from the English, and now
turned into a French warship. Hughes was at anchor there with nine sail
of the line. To have attacked him at anchor would have been dangerous
and unnecessary, since the departure of the French to the south, as if
to attack Trincomalee, would be sure to draw the English admiral out.
Suffren acted on that calculation with success. He stood to the south,
and was followed by Hughes. One of the subordinate French captains
in charge of the convoy of transports and prizes accompanying the
French fleet was so careless as to allow them to fall to leeward of
the battleships, where they were between Suffren and Hughes. Six of
them, including one which carried 300 soldiers, were captured. On the
17th February Suffren, who was to windward of the English squadron,
which was heading to the south, bore down on it from N.E. He led his
squadron and ranged along the weather-side of the English till he
reached the fifth ship. It was his wish and his order that those of his
vessels which could not find room on the windward side of their enemy
should pass to leeward, and so put him between two fires. He was ill
obeyed. Only two of his rear ships did as they ought, and several never
came into action. Yet he did carry out a concentration of superior
on inferior numbers. The fifth English vessel which he engaged was
the =Superb=, 74, Hughes’ flagship. She and the ships astern of her
suffered severely. The last ship in the English line, the =Exeter=, 64,
carrying the broad pennant of Commodore King, was cut to pieces. The
conduct of the commodore partly explains why the good management of
Suffren was balked of its reward. He had been covered by the blood of
his flag-captain, Reynolds, who was cut in two by a cannon-shot at his
side. His ship was battered by two enemies, and a third appeared to be
about to join them. One of his officers asked him what was to be done.
“There is nothing to be done,” said King, “but to fight till she sink.”
The rest of the explanation must be sought in the fact that, as Suffren
told the Minister of Marine in a moment of bitterness, the French
officers who had spent years in the Cythera of the Île de France,
leading idle, self-indulgent lives ashore, and intent on trading
ventures called “la pacotille” (peddling), were neither officers nor
seamen. Finding that he was not backed up as he should have been,
Suffren drew off at dark. He had to some extent attained his object.
The =Superb= and the =Exeter= were so badly mauled that Hughes went off
before the northerly wind then blowing to refit at Trincomalee. While
he was absent, Suffren went to Porto Novo to establish relations with
Hyder Ali on the 21st February, and on the 4th April the troops he had
landed took Cuddalore. This is a passage in naval history which should
be remembered when we hear of the necessity for naval bases. It shows
that a victorious fleet will soon supply itself with a base.
While Suffren was making himself master of Cuddalore, Hughes was
endeavouring to secure the safety of Trincomalee. He left it on the 4th
March, came to Madras, when he was reinforced by two of the line, and
went back with soldiers and stores. Suffren having put matters on as
good a footing as he could at Cuddalore, followed Hughes to Ceylon. On
the 12th April, the date on which Rodney defeated Grasse in the West
Indies, another battle was fought in the east. Again Suffren attacked,
and this time, more as it seems by accident than from good management,
he concentrated a superior force on an inferior, falling with three
vessels on the =Superb=, and the ship ahead of her, the =Monmouth=, 64.
Both were severely cut up, but as on the former occasion several of the
French captains were shy or awkward. The fleets separated without loss
of a ship on either side, and anchored near one another on the coast
of Ceylon. Suffren was first at sea on the 17th, and offered battle on
the 19th; but Hughes declined. Then the Frenchman went to Batticaloa to
refit, and thence back to the Coromandel coast. Hughes, after stopping
at Trincomalee, followed him. The two continued watching and waiting
an opportunity till the 6th July, when Hughes, for the first and
last time, attacked his opponent. The battle, which was fought near
Negapatam, was notable for the fact that it may be said to have been
blown out by a sudden shift of the wind, which headed both fleets,
and threw them into complete confusion. In the disorder of the close
the French _Sévère_ was surrounded by English ships, and her captain,
M. de Cillart, ordered his flag to be struck. It was hoisted again by
his subordinates, and the _Sévère_ renewed her fire. The incident was
an ugly one, and led to an angry correspondence between the admirals.
Cillart was suspended by Suffren, and was afterwards dismissed the
service.
After the action in July, Hughes went to Madras. He was expecting
reinforcements, and so was Suffren. But the Frenchman showed greater
alertness. On the 21st August he was off Batticaloa, where he met
his reinforcements, and on the 25th he attacked Trincomalee, which
surrendered on the 31st. Hughes, who had not left Madras till the
20th, did not appear off Trincomalee till the 3rd September. Another
engagement followed, Suffren attacking from windward and Hughes edging
away. Again he was ill supported, and his irritation provoked him into
an explosion of hot Southern rage. Impatience with the pottering of his
captains led him to plunge into action in a disorderly way, which gave
Hughes an advantage. In spite of that, and though a shift of the wind
transferred the weather-gage from the French to the English officer,
and though our naval historians speak currently of the defeat of
Suffren, it is certain that Hughes did not feel sufficiently victorious
to pursue when his opponent drew off.
The two fleets withdrew to their respective bases—Hughes to Madras,
and Suffren to Trincomalee. He lost one of his 74’s when entering the
harbour—the _Orient_—by the bad seamanship of her captain, and another
when he returned to Cuddalore. The change of the monsoon suspended
operations for a time. Hughes having lost the excellent harbour of
Trincomalee, could not remain on the east coast, and therefore had to
go round to Bombay through storms which damaged his ships severely. He
missed Sir Richard Bickerton, who was coming out with stores, and who
had a stormy passage in and out of the Bay of Bengal, as he sought,
and followed, his superior to Bombay. If Suffren’s captains had had
their wish, and if the Minister in Paris had been obeyed, the French
squadron would have returned to its Cythera. But “the Bailli” knew that
if he returned to the islands, Hughes would be able to forestall him in
the Bay, when the monsoon changed again. He took the responsibility of
remaining where he was, and wintered at Achin, in Sumatra, which was
under the supremacy, if not actually in the possession, of the Dutch
his allies. Therefore he was on the scene of operations two months
before Hughes could come round from Bombay.
On the coast of Ceylon he met Bussy, a once famous fighter in India,
who had been sent from Europe to take the general command in the East,
with troops. The reinforcements provided for Suffren were generally
sent in small bodies, and were frequently intercepted. But his fleet
had now been raised to fifteen sail, and was the mainstay of the
enemies of the Company. Hyder Ali was dead, but his son Tippoo Sultan
continued the war, though it was going against him. The struggle
concentrated around Cuddalore, where Bussy was assailed by a superior
army. Hughes, whose fleet had now been brought up to eighteen sail,
co-operated with the besieging army. His superiority in number of ships
was discounted by the ill-health of his crews, which were very sickly.
The last encounter between the old opponents took place on the 20th
June, and was of the commonplace eighteenth-century order—save for two
details. The French fleet of fifteen sail attacked the British fleet
of eighteen from windward—and it was the British fleet which retired.
Then Suffren had received an order from home—an order inspired by the
capture of the Comte de Grasse in the battle of Dominica—to hoist his
flag in a frigate and direct his line from outside. He obeyed, and it
perhaps throws some light on the question whether the proper place for
an admiral is in his line, where he can set an example, or outside of
it, where he can see and direct the whole, that on this occasion the
French fleet came into action in far better order than in previous
engagements.
The retreat of Hughes left the army besieging Cuddalore in a dangerous
position. It depended on transport by sea for most of its provisions,
and might have been driven to a disastrous retreat. But at this moment
the news that the preliminaries of peace had been signed in Europe on
the 20th January reached India, and was communicated to Suffren on
the 29th June. He returned to Europe to die of apoplexy in 1788, and
when next the French and English fleets met, the outbreak of the great
Revolution had made another world.