Captain Cottineau was a brave man, who subsequently did his duty in the action, and he had only thought that, because the Richard had suddenly hauled up from the land, her crew had mutinied, and that she was being run away with. Such was the want of confidence in the force so singularly composed, and such were the disadvantages under which this celebrated combat was fought.
So far, however, from meditating retreat or mutiny, the crew of the Richard had gone cheerfully to their quarters, although every man on board was conscious of the force of the enemy with whom they were about to contend; and the spirit of the commanding officer appears to have communicated itself to his men.
It was now quite dark, and Jones was compelled to use a night-glass, to follow the movements of the enemy. It is probable that the darkness added to the indecision of the captain of the Pallas, for even after the moon rose it was thick, and objects at a distance were seen with difficulty. The Richard continued to stand steadily on; and at about half-past seven she came up with the Serapis; the Scarborough being a short distance to leeward. The American ship was to windward, and, as she slowly approached, Captain Pearson hailed. The answer returned was purposely equivocal, and both ships delivered their broadsides at almost the same moment.
As the water was quite smooth, Jones had relied very much upon the eighteen-pounders which were in the Richard’s gun-room; but at this first discharge, two of the six that were fired bursted, blowing up the deck above, and killing or wounding many of the people stationed below. This disaster rendered it impossible to make the men stand at the other heavy guns, as they could have no confidence in them. It at once reduced the broadside of the Richard to about one-third less than that of her opponent; and the force which remained was distributed among the light guns, in a disadvantageous manner. In short, the battle was now between a twelve-pounder and an eighteen-pounder frigate; with the chances almost preponderatingly in favor of the latter.
Jones himself said that after this accident his hopes rested solely upon the twelve-pounders that were immediately under the command of his First Lieutenant, Dale.
The Richard, having backed her top-sails, exchanged several broadsides, when she filled again and shot ahead of the Serapis; which ship luffed across her stern, and came up on the weather quarter of her antagonist, taking the wind out of her sails, and, in her turn, passing ahead.
All this time, which was about half an hour, the fire was close and furious. The Scarborough now drew near; but it is uncertain whether she fired or not. The officers of the Richard state that she raked them at least once; but her commander reported that, owing to the smoke and darkness, he was afraid to discharge his guns, not being able to make out which ship was friend and which foe.
Unwilling to lie by and be uselessly exposed to shot, Captain Piercy edged away from the combatants, exchanging one or two broadsides, at a great distance, with the Alliance, and shortly afterward was engaged at close quarters by the Pallas, which ship compelled him to strike to her, after a creditable resistance of about an hour.
Let us now return to the principal combatants:—
As the Serapis kept her luff, sailing and working better than the Richard, it was the intention of Captain Pearson to pay broad off, across the Richard’s fore-foot, as soon as he had got far enough ahead. But making the attempt and finding he had not room, he put his helm down, to keep clear of his adversary, and this double movement brought the two ships nearly in a line, the Serapis leading.