VICTORY OF RODNEY.
All our leeward islands, except Barbadoes and Antigua, had been conquered by the enemy, after which the fleets of France and Spain projected an expedition against Jamaica, A reinforcement was despatched under de Guichen, and Admiral Kempenfelt was too weak to intercept his progress. In the meantime Rodney arrived at Barbadoes, and soon after put to sea with the intention of joining Sir Samuel Hood, who had been vainly endeavouring to relieve the island of St. Christopher, which was assailed by the Count de Grasse, and a land force under the Marquis de Bouille. Rodney met Hood returning from St. Christopher’s, which had been captured in spite of his exertions to save it; and upon his information that de Grasse had proceeded to Martinique in order to prepare for a grand attack on Jamaica, Rodney sailed with the whole British fleet to St. Lucie, in order to watch his movements. On the 8th of April a signal announced that de Grasse was coming out from Fort Royal Hay, upon which Rodney weighed anchor, and set sail in pursuit of him. At day-break on the following morning the enemy was discovered at Dominique, but continued calms prevented a close action. The van of the English, indeed, engaged the rear of the French; but a breeze springing up, de Grasse took advantage of it, and sailed away. Rodney, however, still pursued, and towards the evening of the 11th the headmost ships of the van gained so much on one or two of the enemy’s ships, which had been damaged in the recent engagement, that de Grasse thought it necessary to bear down for the purpose of protecting them. Rodney now hoped to force him to battle; but as it was evening, he called in the foremost ships, and forming a close line of battle, he plied to windward all night. By this movement, however, he prevented the retreat of the enemy, and on the morning of the 12th the two fleets, ranged in opposite lines, engaged with the greatest fury. The fleets were about of an equal number, but the ships of de Grasse were of higher rates than the British, and had superior weight of metal. Victory was long held in suspense, but about noon Rodney executed a manouvre, which had never before been practised in naval tactics, and which was attended with complete success. Taking advantage of a freshening breeze which sprung up, his own ship, the Formidable, supported by the Namur, the Duke, and the Canada, bore down with all sail set on the enemy’s line, within three ships of the centre, and succeeded in breaking it. By this manouvre the French line was broken and thrown into confusion, and the rest of the division following, Rodney wore round and doubled on the enemy, by which those ships which had been separated from the others were placed between two fires, without hope of assistance. The battle, notwithstanding, lasted till sunset, at which time Rodney’s exertions were crowned with complete success. Six of the enemy’s ships, among which was the Ville de Paris, de Grasse’s own ship, were captured; one was sunk, and another blew up; and the shattered remains crowded all the sail they could make for Cape François, and in the morning were out of sight. Sir Samuel Hood was despatched in pursuit of the fugitive ships, and coming up with five sail off Porto Rico, he captured two ships of the line and two frigates. Thus, in the whole, the French lost ten ships of the line and two frigates, and the victory was considered as one of the most decisive ever obtained by the naval prowess of Britain. The loss of the French, in killed and wounded, was terrible. Their ships were crowded with land-troops, who only served to swell the carnage: their killed alone is estimated at 3000 men, and their wounded at double that number; so that, taking the prisoners on board the captured ships into computation, they must have sustained a loss of nearly 12,000 men. On the side of the British the loss, in killed, was less, than two hundred and fifty, and in wounded about 700. By the victory Jamaica was saved, and the dominion of the ocean recovered, and the intelligence of it excited great exultation among all ranks of people. Sir George Rodney received the unanimous thanks of parliament, with a peerage, and a perpetual annuity of £2000 was annexed to his title. Sir Samuel Hood was also made a baron in the peerage of Ireland, and Admiral Drake and Commodore Affleck, who had distinguished themselves in the engagement, were made baronets. The news of Rodney’s victory reached London about the middle of May, and it is probable that if it had happened two months earlier, Lord North’s administration would still have been in existence. So great was the impression which the success made on the people, that Rodney’s praise resounded from one end of the kingdom to the other; and many a “Rodney’s head” met the gaze of travellers both in the towns and villages of all England. But although ministers were compelled to give their meed of praise to North’s favourite admiral, yet it was evident that they did not look upon his newly-gained honours with an unjaundiced eye. The Rockingham administration had previously superseded him by naming the Whig Admiral Pigott to the command in the West Indies, and the order for recalling him was never cancelled. This conduct, which was as unwise as it was unjust, produced the deep indignation of the people, and created a bad impression of his ministers’ integrity on the mind of the monarch. It was probably from this cause that the king is said to have received the resignation of Fox with marked satisfaction. True patriotism knows nothing of party, but rejoices in the welfare of the country, be it promoted by either Whig or Tory.