At six o'clock the ships were so near, that the captains mutually hailed. Not a shot had yet been fired. The crew of the Nymphe now shouted "Long live King George!" and gave three hearty cheers. Captain Mullon was then seen to address his crew briefly, holding a cap of liberty, which he waved before them. They answered with acclamations, shouting, "Vive la Republique!" as if in reply to the loyal watchword of the British crew, and to mark the opposite principles for which the battle was to be fought. The cap of liberty was then given to a sailor, who ran up the main rigging, and screwed it on the mast-head.
At a quarter past six, the Nymphe reached the starboard quarter of the Cleopatra, when Captain Pellew, whose hat was still in his hand, raised it to his head, the preconcerted signal for the Nymphe to open her fire. Both frigates immediately commenced a furious cannonade, which they maintained without intermission for three quarters of an hour, running before the wind under top-gallant-sails, and very near each other. At a little before seven, the mizen-mast of the Cleopatra fell, and presently after her wheel was shot away. Thus rendered unmanageable, she came round with her bow to the Nymphe's broadside, her jib-boom pressing hard against the mainmast. Captain Pellew, supposing that the enemy were going to board, ordered the boarders to be called, to repel them; but the disabled state of the Cleopatra was soon evident, and he at once gave orders to board her. Immediately the boarders rushed on the forecastle, a division of them, headed by Mr., afterwards Capt. George Bell, boarding through the main-deck ports, and fought their way along the gangways to the quarter-deck. The republicans, though much superior in numbers, could not resist the impetuosity of the attack. At ten minutes past seven they had all fled below, or submitted, and the pennant of the Cleopatra was hauled down.
While the boarders were pouring in upon the enemy's forecastle, the mainmast of the Nymphe, having been much wounded, and with the main and spring-stays shot away, was most seriously endangered by the pressure of the Cleopatra's jib-boom. Fortunately, the jib-boom broke, and the Cleopatra fell alongside the Nymphe, head and stern. The mainmast was again in danger, from the Cleopatra's larboard maintopmast-studding-sail boom-iron hooking in the larboard leech-rope of the main-topsail, and dragging the sail. Captain Pellew ordered some active seaman to go out upon the yard, and free the sail, promising ten guineas, if he succeeded; and a main-top-man, named Burgess, immediately sprang out, and cut the leech-rope. Lieutenant Pellowe had been already directed to drop the best bower-anchor, as a means of getting the ships apart; and by the time half the prisoners had been removed, the prize separated, and fell astern.
The crew fought with a steadiness and gallantry above all praise. A lad, who had served in the Winchelsea as barber's boy, was made second captain of one of the main-deck guns. The captain being killed, he succeeded to command the gun; and through the rest of the action, Captain Pellew heard him from the gangway give the word for all the successive steps of loading and pointing, as if they had been only in exercise. In the heat of action, one of the men came from the main deck to ask the captain what he must do, for that all the men at his gun were killed or wounded but himself, and he had been trying to fight it alone, but could not. Another, who had joined but the day before, was found seated on a gun-carriage, complaining that he had been very well as long as he was fighting, but that his sea sickness returned as soon as the battle was over, and that he did not know what was the matter with his leg, it smarted so much. It was found that the poor fellow had received a musket ball in it.
The loss was severe on both sides, and, in proportion to the respective crews, nearly equal. The Nymphe, out of a crew of 240, had 23 killed, including her boatswain, a master's mate (Pearse), and three midshipmen; and 27 wounded, among whom were her second lieutenant, the lieutenant of marines, and two midshipmen. The Cleopatra lost 63 killed and wounded, out of a crew of 320. She came out of action, therefore, with 67 effective men more than her conqueror. It is highly creditable to the Nymphe's crew, that they beat a ship like the Cleopatra by gunnery, notwithstanding their inexperience; and carried her by a hand-to-hand conflict, notwithstanding their inferior numbers.
Captain Mullon was killed. A cannon-shot struck him on the back, and carried away great part of his left hip. Even at that dreadful moment he felt the importance of destroying the signals which he carried in his pocket; but in his dying agony, he took out his commission in mistake, and expired in the act of devouring it;—a trait of devoted heroism never surpassed by any officer of any nation. These signals, so valuable as long as the enemy did not know them to be in possession of the British, thus fell into the hands of Captain Pellew, who delivered them to the Admiralty.
Captain Pellew arrived at Portsmouth with his prize on the following day. He sent the flag under which she fought, and the cap of liberty, to his brother. This, the first trophy of the kind taken in the revolutionary war, is about seven inches long, made of wood, and painted red; with a round, tapering spear of brass, about three feet and a half long, the lower half being blackened, with a screw at the end to fix it on the mast. The following letter accompanied these trophies:—
"Dear Sam,—Here we are—thank God! safe—after a glorious action with La Cleopâtre, the crack ship of France; 40 guns, 28 on her main-deck, and 12 on her quarter-deck, some of 36 pounds, and 320 men. We dished her up in fifty minutes, boarded, and struck her colours. We have suffered much, but I was long determined to make a short affair of it. We conversed before we fired a shot, and then, God knows, hot enough it was, as you will see by the enclosed.[3] I might have wrote for a month, had I entered on the description of every gallant action, but we were all in it, heart and soul. I owe much to Israel, who undertook with the after-gun to cut off her rudder and wheel. The tiller was shot away, and four men were killed at her wheel, which I verily believe was owing to him. I will write again in a day or two, and do all I can for everybody. We must go into harbour. Cleopatra is fifteen feet longer, and three feet wider than Nymphe—much larger, Poor dear Pearse is numbered with the slain[4]—Plane and Norway slightly wounded—old Nicholls safe. God be praised for his mercy to myself, and Israel, and all of us!
"Yours, ever, E.P."
"Be kind to Susan—go over, and comfort her; I cannot write to poor Pearse's mother for my life—do send her a note; I really cannot. I loved him, poor fellow, and he deserved it.
"June 20, 1793."
FOOTNOTES:
[3] A list of the killed and wounded.