his reputation"? Did he not immediately make sail 1805. in search of the Rochefort squadron? On the con- Aug. trary sir Robert Calder bent his course towards the Channel; detaching the Dragon to ascertain, we rather think, the probable route of that squadron, and allowing the Eolus also to part company, for the purpose, not improbably, of affording to lord William a chance, unshackled by any orders or despatches, of again meeting the Didon.

tack on

defend

As a further means of showing the unfounded His atnature of the charge, that "lord William Fitz-Roy captain had run away," captain Brenton sneeringly says of Milius, captain Milius, of the Didon, "The very reverse is ed. the fact. The french captain thought proper to run, and on the 10th fell in with the Phoenix." Fortunately for his reputation, captain Milius, on that very 10th of August, gave a decided proof that, if he had "run away" on the 7th, it was not from any lack of bravery. Enough has already appeared in these pages, to show the immense importance which Napoléon attached, and not without reason, to the concentration of his fleets; and the Didon was expressly detached from Corunna, to seek the Rochefort squadron, and conduct it to the franco-spanish fleet under M. Villeneuve. We have, also, on more than one occasion shown, and shall again and again have to show, that french admirals and captains are frequently restricted by their orders from fighting, unless in the way of defence, or that the odds are so great in their favour as almost to ensure success.

attend

case.

Before we dismiss the case of the Eolus and DiffiDidon, we feel bound to mention, as some excuse culties for any deficiency which may be complained of in ing this the account, that we have been debarred from our usual sources of information by a knowledge of the peculiar situation in which lord William FitzRoy has generally stood with respect to the officers under his command. To these, lord William's behaviour has been of so tyrannical and oppressive a

1805. character, that we could scarcely hope to get an Aug. unbiassed opinion of his lordship's conduct in reference to any affair in which he might have been engaged. It is on this account that we have refrained from applying to the officers belonging to the Æolus in August, 1805, could we, indeed, from the rapid manner in which, about the same period, the lieutenants of that frigate succeeded each other, have ascertained which of them was on board when the Eolus fell in with the Didon.

Author dis

Although some years intervened between this claims occurrence and the dismissal of lord William Fitzany Roy from the navy, for having ill-treated one of his volence officers, and although his lordship, for some rea

male

son with which we are unacquainted, was restored to his rank in five months after he had been thus solemnly degraded, and at present actually stands in the list among the officers rewarded for meritorious services,† we shall not, we find, have occasion again to introduce his lordship's name. For that reason we take this opportunity of disclaiming all "malevolence of intention" towards lord William FitzRoy. On the other hand, we should indeed be unfit for the office we have undertaken, did we allow the adventitious circumstances of high birth and extensive patronage to sway us in our remarks upon the conduct of individuals. Had the Æolus engaged the Didon, and, after a well-fought action, been compelled to yield to superior force, we do not believe that lord William Fitz-Roy would have been tried for disobedience of orders. But, had he been so, and a condemnation been the result, we

* Court-martial held April 6 and 7, 1811. See the Naval Chronicle, vol. xxv. p. 349, and vol. xxvi. p. 397.

The participation of lord William Fitz-Roy in the victory obtained by sir Richard Strachan, (see p. 164,) and, above all, the baronet's rather extraordinary selection of the Eolus to carry home his despatches, appear to have been the grounds upon which lord William obtained his companionship of the Bath. A Brief Statement, &c.

would have strained every nerve to show the in- 1805. justice of the sentence, and doubt not that we should Aug. have succeeded in satisfying every unprejudiced mind, that the captain of the Eolus had acted in the noblest manner.

re

As to the supposed evil consequence, which would Conensue to the public from the protracted, or even the cluding non, delivery of despatches,* we think, with submis marks. sion, that it has been much overrated. At all events, let the order to the commanding officer of the despatch vessel signify, in the plainest terms, that he is not to deviate from his course to chase any suspicious vessel. And, should he then discover an enemy's ship of his own class in a situation to be pursued or attacked, let the captain muster his officers and men, and read to them the peremptory clause in his orders. But, where an officer, from the obscure wording of his orders, is in doubt on the subject; or where, like lord William Fitz-Roy, he is directed to do that which is incompatible with a continuance in the course he is directed to steer, he will find that, on the score of character, to which, notwithstanding the light manner in which a contemporary treats "the sacrifice of reputation," some attention is due, the safer alternative is always to fight.

fallen

Pho

On the 10th of August, at 5 A. M., latitude 43° 16′ north, longitude 12° 14' west, the british 18-pounder 36-gun frigate Phoenix, captain Thomas Baker, Didon standing on the starboard tack with the wind at in with north-east by east, discovered a sail in the south- by west, and immediately bore up in chase. The wea- nix. ther being hazy and the wind light, it was not until 7 A. M. that the stranger, then on the larboard tack with foresail and royals set, but with her mizen topsail aback and main topsail shivering, was made out to be an enemy's frigate, "with yellow sides, and royal yards rigged aloft." The ship was, in fact, the french frigate Didon; who, since the evening of the 7th, had stood leisurely to the west-south-west,

* Brenton, vol. iii. p. 388.

1805. and was now only 32 leagues, or thereabouts, from the Aug. spot at which the Eolus had fallen in with her.

Why the french captain, having so important a service intrusted to him, should wait to engage an enemy's frigate of the apparent force of the one bearing down, may require to be explained. The fact is, that on the day previous the Phoenix had fallen in with an american vessel from Bordeaux ceived bound to the United States. The master came on by an board with his papers, and was evidently not so rican as sober as he might have been. After selling some of Pho- cases of claret at his own price, (for an American nix. must indeed be drunk when his bargaining faculties

De

Ame

to force

fail him,) and emptying a few tumblers of grog mixed to his own liking, he requested to be allowed to view the quarters of the Phoenix. No objection was made; and he staggered round the ship, saw as much as in his purblind state he could see, and departed on board his vessel. On the next morning early he fell in with the Didon; and, in return for the hospitable treatment he had received on board the Phoenix, told captain Milius, that the ship whose topgallantsails were then just rising out of the water best to-windward was an english 20-gun ship, and that gage her captain and his officers thought so much of their vessel, that, in all probability, they would venture to engage the Didon. The french frigate then lay to in the manner related, and the american merchant ship pursued her way.

Lies to

to en

her.

It so happened that the Phoenix, a very small frigate at best, had been disguised to resemble, at a distance, a large sloop of war, and the position in which, for a long time, she was viewed by the Didon, coupled with the assertions (roundly sworn to, no doubt) of the American, prevented captain Milius and his officers from discovering the mistake until the action, which we shall proceed to relate, had actually commenced.

At 8A. M., being still on the larboard tack waiting for the Phoenix to close, the Didon hoisted her colours

manœu

vres.

and fired a gun to-windward, and at 8 h.45 m. opened 1805. a smart fire upon the former;, who, to frustrate any Aug. attempt of the Didon to escape, resolved to engage Didon's to-leeward. To attain this object, and to avoid as much as possible her opponent's line of fire, already doing damage to her rigging and sails, the Phoenix steered a bow and quarter course, and reserved her fire until she could bestow it with effect. On the other hand, having in view to cripple the Phoenix that she might not escape, and to maintain a position so destructive to the latter and safe to herself, the Didon filled, wore, and came to again on the opposite tack, bringing a fresh broadside to bear upon the bows of the Phoenix. The manoeuvre was repeated three times, to the increased annoyance of the latter; who, impatient at being so foiled, eager to take an active part in the combat, and hopeless, from her inferior sailing, of being able to pass ahead or astern of the Didon, ran right at her to-windward.

.

com

This bold measure succeeded, and at 9 h. 15 m. P. M. Action the two frigates, both standing on the larboard tack, mences brought their broadsides mutually to bear at a pistolshot distance, each pouring into the other an animated fire of round, grape, and musketry. See the diagram at p. 241. Owing to the press of sail under which the Phoenix had approached, and the nearly motionless state in which the Didon lay, the former ranged considerably ahead: whereupon the Didon, having, as well as her opponent, fallen off from the wind while the broadsides were exchanging, filled, hauled up, and stood on, discharging into the Phoenix, as she diagonally crossed the latter's stern, (diagram, No. 1,*) a few distant and ineffectual shot. Profiting by her new position and the damaged state of her opponent's rigging, the Didon bore up, and, passing athwart the stern of the Phoenix, raked her, (No. 2,) but, owing to the precaution taken by the british crew in lying down, without any serious effect. The

* Having no dates to guide us in the details, we are obliged to adopt this mode of referring to the different positions.