Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez, Vol. I

by Sir John Ross

As soon as the commander-in-chief saw that the enemy's fleet was sufficiently to leeward, he recalled the chasing ships, formed a close line of battle, and carried sail to windward all night; during which the French line-of-battle ship Le Zélé, whether from injuries received in action, or in running foul of another ship, lost her bowsprit and fore-mast, and at daylight on the morning of the 12th was seen in tow of a frigate, both carrying all the sail they could, and steering for Basseterre. Sir Samuel Hood being in the rear, and consequently nearest these ships, was directed to detach some of his division in chase of them; and the Comte de Grasse, seeing that they must be inevitably taken, bore up with his whole fleet for their protection. It was now impossible to avoid an action.

The ships which had been recalled from chase resumed their stations, and a close line ahead was formed on the starboard tack, the enemy being on the larboard. Having hauled their wind after they had perceived the chasing ships recalled, they thus endeavoured to avoid an action; but the English fleet could now fetch near the body of the French. At half-past seven, therefore, the engagement began by Admiral Drake's division, led by the Marlborough and Arrogant, fetching the fifth ship from the van, and bearing up in succession. The Honourable Hugh Lindsay, who was a midshipman in the Arrogant, informed us that in that part, and in the whole of the action, the enemy fired so high, that the three trucks of the Princessa's mast-heads were shot away, and the consequence was that very few men were killed or wounded. The Duke lost her main-top-mast, as she approached the centre of the enemy's fleet.

At half-past nine the action became general: Admiral Drake's division, in which was the Russell, had now passed the rear of the enemy on the opposite tack; and Captain Thompson, of the America, seeing that he could fetch to windward of the enemy's line, wore without waiting for the anxiously-expected signal, as did also the Russell; and we have reason to know that Captain Saumarez rejoiced at this circumstance. Captain Thompson, being an experienced officer and second in command, gave a sufficient authority to any other officer to follow his motions, and they now stood to the southward. The America, however, did not continue long on that tack, and the Russell was consequently separated from her and the whole division; as the signals to tack, and soon after to wear, were not made and put in execution for an hour afterwards by Sir Francis Drake, who was then considerably to the northward.

In the mean time the Russell continued, and got up with the rear ship of the enemy's centre division about eleven o'clock, with which she exchanged broadsides. At noon, the wind, which was very light, changed to the south, throwing both fleets into confusion; but this gave Sir George Rodney, and three of the centre division, an opportunity of passing through an opening it occasioned in the enemy's line, and doubling on its rear division: all their attempts to form again were in vain; the enemy's van could never come into action. After this, the remainder of the day was spent in desultory actions of single ships, without regard to the motions of each other; the signals to chase and for close action being visible only at intervals.

It is here unnecessary to give a particular account of the events which took place on this memorable day, or to allude to those circumstances which have been so fruitful in controversy; more especially as Rodney's public letter, and other official records, will be found in the Appendix to this volume. We shall, therefore, confine our observations to the positions and conduct of the Russell, commanded by Captain Saumarez.

The Russell was the only ship belonging to the van (Admiral Drake's) division, which had wore and continued her course soon after she had passed the rear of the enemy. By standing to the southward again, Captain Saumarez brought his ship into action, but to windward of the enemy; and, at the time the wind shifted to the southward, Sir George Rodney, in passing through the enemy's fleet, was surprised to find an English ship to windward of the French. Having ascertained it was the Russell, he declared emphatically that the captain had distinguished himself more than any officer in the fleet.[4] By this favourable position, which he had thus gallantly obtained, after receiving the more distant fire of several of the enemy's ships, about three o'clock he was able to come up with and closely engage a French seventy-four, and after exchanging broadsides with three others, pushed up to the Ville de Paris, and after raking her, having maintained a position on the lee quarter, poured in a most destructive fire, until the Barfleur, Sir Samuel Hood's flag-ship, came up.

Sir Gilbert Blane, in his account of this period of the battle, says: "It was late in the day when the Ville de Paris struck her colours: the ships immediately engaged with her at that moment were the Barfleur, the flag-ship of Sir Samuel Hood, and the Russell, commanded by Captain Saumarez. The Formidable (in which was Sir Gilbert) was right astern, and, having come within shot, was yawing in order to give the enemy a raking broadside, when Sir Charles Douglas and I standing together on the quarter-deck, the position of our ship opened a view of the enemy's stern between the foresail and the jib-boom, through which we saw the French flag hauled down." This fact has not been generally stated.

But the anecdote which we are now about to relate, must remove every doubt on the subject. In the autumn of 1808, when the Baltic fleet, under command of Vice-admiral Sir James Saumarez, returned from the Gulf of Finland, in company with the Swedish fleet, to the harbour of Carlscrona, the Swedish commander-in-chief, Admiral Palmquist, Rear-admiral Nauckhoff, Commodore Blessing, Captain Tornquist, and others, came on board the flag-ship, Victory, to pay their respects to the admiral: they were of course asked to take some refreshment in the cabin: on which, as on all other occasions where an interpreter was wanted, we were of the party. The conversation naturally turned to the actions wherein they each had served in early life, when it appeared that the whole of the four officers mentioned had been brought up in the French service, and had actually been in the battle of the 12th of April 1782. When we acquainted them that Sir James Saumarez commanded a ship in that action, they eagerly inquired the name; and being informed it was the Russell, Captain Tornquist, who was in the Northumberland, rising from his chair and seizing Sir James's hand, exclaimed, "Mon Dieu! Monsieur l'Amiral, nous avons brulé le poudre ensemble; allons boire un coup."

It is impossible to do justice to the scene which followed. The old Swedish officer's joy at this discovery knew no bounds; they completely "fought the battle o'er again;" and we found it distinctly proved that it was the Russell, commanded by Captain Saumarez, which gallantly engaged several of the enemy's ships for two hours, and at six, P.M. pushed on to the Ville de Paris. Baron Rosenstien, who was on board that ship, and Baron Palmquist, who was on board La Couronne stationed next to her, declared that the Compte de Grasse, who was then attempting to escape to leeward, would have succeeded had it not been for the Russell. During our sojourn among the Swedes in that and another winter, we often heard the history of that memorable battle repeated; and they never ceased to maintain the circumstance we have stated, of which we made a memorandum at the time.[5]

We took leave on that occasion to say to Sir James, that we believed the credit had been given to another ship; to which he replied, "Yes, it was; but what Admiral Palmquist and Captain Tornquist has told you, is true: it was the Russell that engaged the Ville de Paris until the Barfleur came up." But such was the extreme sensibility of Saumarez, that he could not persuade himself to correct the error, from an idea that such an interference might argue a desire to sound his own praise; and, but for the circumstance we have now related, the truth might never have come to light.