Sir,
The hope of falling in with the Spanish fleet, expressed in my letter to you of the 13th instant, was confirmed last night by distinctly hearing the report of their signal-guns, and by intelligence received from Captain Foote, of his Majesty's ship Niger, who had, with equal judgment and perseverance, kept company with them for several days, on my prescribed rendezvous, (which, from the strong S.E. wind, I had never been able to reach,) and that they were not more than the distance of three or four leagues from us.
I anxiously waited the dawn of day; when, being on the starboard tack, Cape St. Vincent bearing E.N.E. eight leagues, I had the satisfaction of seeing a number of ships extended from S.W. to S., the wind then W. by S. At forty-nine minutes past ten, the weather being extremely hazy, La Bonne Citoyenne made the signal that the ships seen were of the line, twenty-five in number.
His Majesty's squadron under my command, consisting of fifteen ships of the line, happily formed in the most compact order of sailing in two lines. By carrying a press of sail, I was fortunate in getting in with the enemy's fleet at half-past eleven, before it had time to collect and form a regular order of battle. Such a moment was not to be lost; and, confident in the skill, valour, and discipline of the officers and men I had the happiness to command, and judging that the honour of his Majesty's arms, and the circumstances of the war in these seas, required a considerable degree of enterprise, I felt myself justified in departing from the regular system; and, passing through their fleet in a line formed with the utmost celerity, tacked, and thereby separated one-third from the main body. After a partial cannonade, which prevented their rejunction till the evening, and by the very great exertions of the ships which had the good fortune to arrive up with the enemy on the larboard tack, the ships named in the margin[11] were captured, and the action ceased about five o'clock.
That the Orion was one of those ships which distinguished themselves will best appear from the private letter of her brave commander to his brother, written only the day after the action; a circumstance which cannot but give such a communication a value far superior to a more elaborate composition. The log also of his ship, written at the time by the master, to which we have had access, completely accords with the facts so clearly stated in the letter.
Orion, Lagos Bay, 15th February 1797.
My dear Richard,
You will be happy to receive an account from me of the important victory obtained by our squadron over the Spanish fleet, consisting of nearly double our force. The Admiral having received previous information of their sailing from Carthagena, and of their cruising off the entrance of the Straits, gave us timely notice of the intelligence by the signal to prepare for battle.
Early on Tuesday morning, the weather being hazy, with light winds, the frigates on the look-out made the signal for discovering the enemy, and soon after we discerned several ships to leeward, and the body of the fleet to windward. We were then on the starboard tack, standing to the southward. The signal was made to different ships to chase; and, shortly after, for the fleet to form in line of battle as most convenient. The enemy at this time were bearing down to join their ships to leeward; but we came upon them so fast, that, before they could effect the junction, the headmost ships, which were the Culloden, Prince George, Orion, Blenheim, and Colossus, with the Victory and the rest coming up, it was effectually prevented. They then hauled their wind on the larboard tack, and our Admiral made the signal for the fleet to tack. Our sternmost ships then became the headmost.
Commodore Nelson, who had joined from Elba the day before, shifted his pendant to the Captain, the leading ship, and distinguished himself most eminently. The Culloden, Blenheim, Prince George, and Orion, were the next that came up, and were warmly engaged for nearly three hours with the body of the enemy's fleet, who had not had the time, or address, to form into any order. But it is only doing them justice to say, they defended themselves very bravely.