weather, in the centre of the French fleet, before she could be in any degree aware of her fituation, and was, after a gallant, but evidently fruitless defence, of neceffity taken. The other fhips of war, and the convoy, arrived, difperfed and late, at the places of their deftination.

Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, after the taking of Trincomale, was obliged, on the laft day of January 1782, to fet fail for Madras, in order to procure a large fupply of ftores and provifions; articles which his fhips, after the long and hard fervice they had undergone, could not but now ftand in great need of. His fquadron confifted only of fix fhips of the line; and thefe had been fo long at fea, as to be neceffarily much out of condition, and their crews much weakened by lofs and fickness. Upon his arFeb. 8th. rival in Madras Road, 1782. he received intelligence from Lord Macartney, the governor, that a French fleet, amounting to 30 fail of all forts, had arrived upon the coaft, taken feveral veffels, and were then fuppofed not to be above 20 leagues to the northward. In this alarming and critical fituation, expofed in an open road to the attack of fo fuperior an enemy, and that even before he could get the neceffary fupplies on board, the admiral was moft fortunately reinforced on the following day, by the arrival of Capt. Alms, in the Monmouth, of 64 guns, accompanied by the Hero, of 74, and the Ifis, of 50 guns.

The admiral ufed the utmoft dispatch in getting the neceffary ftores and provifions on board,

while Sir Eyre Coote, with his usual zeal and attention to all parts of the fervice, ftrengthened the fquadron by the much wanted fupply, of a detachment of 300 officers and men of the newly arrived 98th regiment; who were accordingly diftributed by the admiral in thofe fhips which were the weakeft in point of men. This difpatch was fully necessary; for on the 15th of February, and before the fhips had yet completed their equipment, the French fleet appeared fuddenly in the Offing, confifting of twelve fail of line of battle fhips, (including the English Hannibal, and another fifty) fix frigates, eight large tranfports, and fix captured veffels. The enemy, after standing in directly for Madras, feemed at once to receive fome unexpected check in their defign, and fuddenly caft anchor, at noon, about four miles without the road; while the English admiral was bufily employed in placing his ships in the most advantageous pofitions for covering and protecting the numerous veffels which lay within fide of them, and in clapping fprings upon their cables, in order that they might bring their broad fides to bear full upon the enemy in his approach.

The fudden change of motion and design which appeared on the fide of the French commander, proceeded from the unexpected difcovery, and confequent difappointment, which his near approach had produced. He had no previous knowledge, or even idea, of the arrival of the three ships of war from England. He had proceeded to Madras under the moft flattering illufion; that of

the other frigates, with the tranfports, were ftanding to the fouthweft, at about three leagues diftance, and making directly for Pondicherry.

fignalizing his entrance into action by the glory of determining a war of fuch importance and magnitude by a fingle blow. He had made fure of finding the British admiral with only five, or at the most fix ships of the line, and thefe entirely out of condition, and unprepared, lying without fhelter in the open road of Madras; and he confidered them as a cheap and eafy prey already in his hands. The lofs of the numerous trading and provifion fhips in the road, would complete the distraction and calamity of the town; while the French forces, being joined with Hyder Ally's numerous army, carried on their joint attacks against it by land, and the fquadron befieged it by fea. Any refiftance it could make in fuch circumftances, was not deemed an object worthy of confideration,

Thefe fplendid hopes being overthrown, by the immediate discovery of nine English fhips of war (inftead of five) drawn up to receive him in the road, all views of attack were abandoned, and, at four o'clock in the afternoon, M. de Suffrein fuddenly weighed anchor, and ftood off to the fouthward. This example was immediately followed by the English admiral, who as fuddenly weighed anchor, and standing out of the road in their fight, purfued the enemy through the courfe of the night. At day break he perceived that their feet had feparated in the night, and were then in different directions; their twelve line of battle fhips and a frigate were in a body, bearing eaft of the British fleet, and at about four leagues diftance, while

Upon this discovery of their fituation, Sir Edward Hughes inftantly threw out the fignal for a general chace to the fouth-west; for befides the temptation held out by the convoy, he knew, that as Suffrein, with the line of battle fhips, muft unavoidably return to their refcue, it afforded the only certain means of bringing him to action; and his fuperiority in number and force, were not fufficient to deter the British admiral from appealing to this iffue. In the courfe of the chace, the copper-bottomed fhips came up with and took fix veffels of the convoy, of which five were English prizes, newly taken, with their crews on board; but the fixth, taken by Capt. Lumley, in the Ifis, proved to be the Laurifton, a huge French tranfport of 1300 tons burthen; and deeply laden with a cargo of the utmost poffible value and confequence to both parties; it confifting of a confiderable train of artillery, (intended for a prefent to Hyder) of a large quantity of gunpowder, and of a complete affortment of other military ftores. This va- · luable prize had likewife on board a number of land officers, together with 300 foldiers of the regiment of Lausanne.

Too much praise cannot be beftowed on the fpirit which dictated this bold and mafterly manœuvre. The purfuit of fo fuperior an enemy, and the chace and attack of the convoy under its eye, are ftrokes of such a na

ture,

ture, as to be, perhaps, almoft without example. It was indeed a pity, that the effect could not be equal to the judgment and merit of the defign, through the want of frigates, a few of which would have fecured the whole of the enemy's convoy and troops; and thereby have overthrown at once, all the fchemes formed for fupporting and affifting Hyder Ally by land. The Sea Horfe, of 20 guns, was the only frigate in company with the fquadron ; and fhe was fo totally infufficient in point of strength, that, inftead of taking others, fhe was with no fmall difficulty faved from being taken herself, when fhe got entangled with the heavy, powerful, and well armed French tranfports, filled, as they were, befides with troops. The line of battle fhips were too few, and the enemy too near, to admit of their being much feparated; and there were no others for chacing.

As foon as the French fquadron perceived the danger of their convoy, they put before the wind with all the fail they could carry, in the hope of bearing down in time to their relief. The various courfe in almoft every direction which the flying veffels of the convoy had taken, each hoping that purfued by himself might be the molt fortunate in evading the danger, neceffarily led the English chacing fhips to be confiderably fcattered, and drew them likewife by degrees, to a great diftance from the body of the fquadron. In thefe circumftances, Sir Edward Hughes perceiving, about three o'clock, that M. de Suf. frein was bearing down fail upon him, and that his bett failors were

already within two or three miles of the fternmoft of the English, he found himself under a neceffity of recalling the chafers, who were just then getting into the moft effential part of their fervice; the Ifis, in particular, having come up with two more of the tranfports, which he was obliged to abandon. In order to fecure the prizes, he at the fame time ordered that they fhould be fent off directly to Negapatam.

The chacing fhips having rejoined the admiral, the hostile fquadrons continued within fight of each other during the night; and at day light, the enemy were perceived to the north-eaft, at about three leagues diftance. The weather was very unfavourable to all naval operation; or at least afforded no room for reliance on the effect of any evolution, however judicious; for befides its being dark and hazy, fudden and frequent fqualls of wind, were as fuddenly fucceeded by dead calms; fo that though Sir Edward Hughes threw out the fignal for the line of battle a head at fix in the morning, it was with the greateft difficulty, though with fo fmall a number of fhips, that it could be formed by half past eight o'clock. His object was to weather the enemy, in order to bring on fo close an engagement, and to lead up his thips to compactly into action, that their mutual and collected efforts might make fo powerful an impreffion, as fhould prevent the effect of that fuperiority in number and force which he had to encounter. But all his diligence and ability were unequal to the accomplishment of this purpofe; the per

verfenels

verfeness of the weather was not to be fubdued; and the fqually wind, irregular and uncertain as it feemed, was conftantly in favour of the enemy when it blew at all.

Having perceived about noon, that they were bearing down in an irregular double line a-breaft, towards the rear of the fquadron, which, thro' the want of wind was fomewhat feparated, he threw out the fignal for the line of battle a-breaft, in order to draw it clofer to the centre, and thereby fruftrate their defign of breaking in upon his line. After various other movements, all tending to clofe his line, and to render the engagement general inftead of partial, while the enemy directed all their efforts to fall upon his rear, the English admiral finding at length, that fituated as he was to leeward, and without wind fufficient to work his hips, no management could prevent his being forced into action upon difadvantageous terms, he fubmitted at once to the neceflity, and threw out the fignal to form the line of battle a-head.

Through thefe untoward circumftances, M. de Suffrein was enabled to bring eight of his beft fhips, to direct their whole attack upon five of the English, of which the Ifis, of 50 guns, was one; while the Eagle, Monmouth, Worcester, and Burford, four of their best ships, under the most approved commanders, were idle fpectators in the van, without a poffibility of coming to the affiftance of their fellows. Sir E. Hughes was in the Superbe, of 74 guns, which formed the central hip; the four below the

admiral were, the Hero, Capt. Wood, of the fame force; the Ifis, Lumley; the Monarca, Gell, of 68 guns; and the Exeter of 64; the latter commanded by Commodore King and Captain Reynolds. Upon thefe the attack fell.

The fquadron being then on the larboard tack, the Exeter was the fternmoft fhip, and being, through the failure of wind, as well as from her being a bad failor, confiderably feparated from her fecond a-head, three of the French fhips bore down directly upon her, and commenced a furious attack; while M. de Suf frein, in the Heros, with feveral other fhips, bore down in the fame manner upon the Superbe, and fell with no lefs fury upon the admiral.

It was evidently their defign, at all events, to difable thofe two fhips; while they feemed to intend little more than to keep the intermediate ones in play, while this bufinefs was doing, and never once extended their attack beyond the centre. Thefe two fhips were of courfe exceedingly hard preffed, and could not avoid fuffering extremely under fuch a weight of fire, as was poured on all fides upon them.

Yet after enduring all thefe dif. advantages for about two hours, and forely wounded as they had been in that time, a fquall of wind coming fuddenly in their favour at fix o'clock, the five Englifh fhips became in turn the aggreffors, and renewed the action with fuch vigour and effect, that in 25 minutes time, it being then near dark, thofe of the enemy within their reach, after

having visibly sustained confiderable lofs, fuddenly hauled their wind, and the whole French fquadron ftood off to the north-eaft.

The Superbe, befides having her main yard fhot to pieces in the flings, and neither a brace nor a bow line left entire, was fo feverely wounded in her hull, that at the time the enemy bore away, he had no less than five feet water in her hold; and it was not until a number of the largeft fhot-holes under water were plugged up, that it could be prevented from gaining on the pumps. The fate of the Exeter had been the moft calamitous through the action, that could almoft be poffibly imagined. She had undergone the fire in all directions of almoft the whole French fquadron, and had from three to five fhips at times laid upon her, until she was at length reduced nearly to a wreck, and if it had not been for the prompt and gallant affiftance of Captain Wood, of the Hero, he could fcarcely have escaped going to the bottom.

Capt. Stephens, of the admiral's fhip, and Capt. Reynolds, of the commodore's, two brave and diftinguished officers, loft their lives in this unequal and imperfect action. The whole lofs of men amounted to 32 flain, and 95 wounded; of which 30 of the former, and 87 of the latter, were in the Superbe, Exeter, and Hero. The unfhaken fortitude difplayed by Commodore King under the long preffure of fo vaft a fuperiority of force, and the fierce attack of fo many fresh hips coming up in fucceffion to ake a clofe and steady aim as at

a dead mark, while they ftill expected that every broadfide muft have decided the fate of the Exe-ter, could not have been fufficiently praised or admired. In the most defperate ftate of the action, the blood and mangled brains of Capt. Reynolds were dafhed over him by a cannon ball in fuch a manner, that he was for fome little time abfolutely blinded; yet he still preserved a most admirable equality and compofure of temper; and when at the heel of the action, and the Exeter already in the ftate of a wreck, the mafter came to ask him what he fhould do with the fhip, as two of the enemy were again bearing down upon her, he laconically anfwered, there is nothing to be done but to fight her till fhe finks."

The enemy being out of fight in the morning, and the mafts of the Superbe and Exeter having received fo much damage as rendered it unfafe to carry fail on them, while many of the shot holes were fo far under water that they could not be stopped at fea, the admiral found it neceffary to proceed to Trincomale, where only their damages could be repaired.

This bufinefs being hastily performed, the admiral returned be fore the middle of March, with the fquadron to Madras, having neither feen nor heard of the enemy. He was on his way back to Trincomale, with a reinforcement of troops and a fupply of military ftores for that garrifon, when, on the 30th of March, he was joined by the Sultan and Magnanime fhips of war, of 74 guns each, from England. Thefe

ships,