flotilla except eight schuyts, which continued their 1804. route towards the Inner Wieling. At about 1h. 45 m. May. P. M. the Ville-d'Anvers fired a shot at the Cruiser, which passed over her, and fell close under the bows of the Rattler. Shortly afterwards, the wind shifting six points, both sloops fell off in their course, and found themselves nearly abreast of the leading prame, and upon the lee beam of the flotilla, then crowding sail to get in-shore. At a few minutes before 2 P. M. the Ville-d'Anvers commenced a heavy fire upon the Cruiser, and Rattler, and several of the schooners and schuyts also opened their fire. In a short time the two sloops were in the midst of the flotilla, engaging on both sides, and frequently assailed by shot and shells from the batteries of Blanckenberghe, Notwithstanding all this the Cruiser and Rattler gallantly drove on shore the Ville-d'Anvers prame, and four of the schooners. ble. Pene At lope. At 3h. 45 m. P. M. the Aimable arrived up with, Aimaand opened her fire upon, a portion of the flotilla close under the batteries of Blanckenberghe. about 4 h. 30 m. P. M. the Penelope and Antelope Antealso got into action, and, by their heavy fire, drove lope. several other schooners and schuyts on shore. At 7 P. M. the Aimable found herself near to the grounded prame, and received from her a very destructive fire; several artillerymen from the shore having got on board the Ville-d'Anvers, and replaced her crew, most of whom had fled upon her first grounding: at which time, too, her colours were either hauled down or shot away. At about 7 h. 45 m. P. M., the tide having fallen and left the british ships in little more water than they drew, the Antelope made the signal to discontinue the engagement; and the squadron drew off into deeper. water. The gallo-batavian flotilla, or what remained of it, took this opportunity of getting into the basin of Ostende; whither they were accompanied by the division of french gun-vessels which, by the orders of rear-admiral Charles Magon, the commanding 1804. officer of the Ostende flotilla, had on the preceding May. evening, as already stated, anchored to the westward of the lighthouse, and which had subsequently gone to the assistance of rear-admiral Ver-Huell. The loss on the part of the British, compared with the vigour and duration of the firing, was of no great amount. The Cruiser had one seaman killed, and her captain's clerk (George Ellis) and three seamen wounded; the Rattler, two seamen killed and three wounded; the Aimable, one master's mate, (Mr. Christie,) one midshipman, (Mr. Johnson,) four seamen, and one boy killed, and one lieutenant, (William Mather,) her purser, (William Shadwell,) one midshipman, (Mr. Conner,) and 11 seamen wounded; total, 13 killed and 32 wounded. Besides having her rigging and sails a good deal cut, the Cruiser received two large shot between wind and water. The Rattler suffered also in her rigging and sails; and the Aimable, in addition to her damages aloft, was struck in several parts of her hull. The acknowledged loss, on the part of the gallo-batavian flotilla, amounted to 18 killed and 60 wounded, 29 of the latter and four of the former on board the two prames. From the sketch here given it now appears, that the Cruiser and Rattler, unsupported by any other ships, most gallantly attacked, and after a two hours' action very nearly discomfited, this formidable gallobatavian flotilla. Unfortunately the public letter of commodore sir Sidney Smith, although it admits that "captains Hancock and Mason bore the brunt of the attack, and continued it for six hours against a great superiority of fire," was calculated to convey an impression, the letter in fact expressly states, that the Antelope, Penelope, and Aimable participated in the action from its commencement. Sir Sidney says, "The signal was made to the Cruiser and Rattler for an enemy in the E. S. E. to call their attention from Ostend; the squadron weighed, &c." But, in reality, neither of the sloops was in sight of the Antelope for a full hour after she and her com- 1804. panions had weighed; nor does the log of the Ante- May. lope mention their names until the following entry occurs: "At 2 observed the Rattler and Cruiser commence firing on the enemy's flotilla." The log of the Aimable refers to the first appearance of the two sloops in nearly the same manner: "At 2 Cruiser and Rattler brought the enemy to action, &c." And how could the commodore well have descried the two sloops earlier than the commencement of the afternoon, when the Antelope had been at anchor full six leagues (some accounts say nine) from their anchorage; at such a distance, in fact, that it took the Stag, from 9 P. M. on the 15th to 5 h. 30 m. A. M. on the 16th, before her commander could deliver his despatches to sir Sidney? Moreover the first signal of any kind, noticed in the log of the Antelope, is one made at 4 P. M., "to engage the enemy. Whereas, in proof that much had been effected two hours before he was in a situation to make that signal, sir Sidney in his letter says: "Since two o'clock (a little earlier than was the case) the sternmost prame struck her colours and ran on shore." But there is a more disinterested testimony, in favour of the claims of the Cruiser and Rattler, than is to be found in the logs of any of the british ships. The french minister of marine, vice-admiral Decrès, under date of May 20, 1804, gives as the substance of the report of rear-admiral Ver-Huell, that an english frigate and corvette, or, in other words, that an english frigate-built and brig-rigged corvette, who were very near, manoeuvred to cut off two of the gun-boats and a transport, &c. "The action during two hours," proceeds the account, "was extremely warm: the two enemy's vessels were disabled and retreated." The rear-admiral goes on to state that, the port of Ostende being left open, he steered towards it; but that commodore sir Sidney Smith, "having assembled his squadron, attacked the flotilla within three leagues * 1804. of Ostende, &c." As this translation is at complete May. Variance, in some material points, with that which appears in the work of a contemporary, we will here add the original passages, or so much of them as is necessary: "Une frégate et une corvette anglaise, qui étaient fort près, manoeuvrèrent &c." "Le combat, pendant deux heures, fut extrêmement chaud, les deux bâtimens ennemis furent désemparés et firent chasses."+ "Le commodore Sidney Smith, ayant pu réunir sa croisière, joignit la flotille gallobatave à trois lieues d'Ostende." From the above extracts it is evident, that rearadmiral Ver-Huell considered that he was attacked, and engaged for two hours, by the Cruiser and Rattler, before the Antelope, or any other ship of sir Sidney's squadron, fired a shot at him; and thus, like an honest man, did he report the fact to the official organ of his government. But the appearance of sir Sidney Smith's official letter, in the columns of the Moniteur, made M. Decrès condemn the haste he had used in publishing the report of the dutch admiral. Instead of the attack having been made by two sloops, or, taking the literal translation, by one frigate and one sloop, it was here confessedly made by one 50-gun ship, three frigates, two sloops, and two cutters. Accordingly M. Dumas, and all the other french historians, reject their own official account as too tame and inglorious, and prefer incorporating in their pages the official account of their enemy. This is particularly the case in one work, which, on most other occasions, would scorn to glean its materials from any source that was not decidedly french. We regret that we were so far misled by sir Sidney's letter, as, in the former edition of this work, to have contributed to mislead the public respecting the real merits of the engagement off Boulogne in May, 1804. * An english frigate and a cutter. Brenton, vol. iii. p. 244. + The two vessels of the enemy were dismasted and sheered off. Ibid. p. 245. + Précis des Evénemens, tome xi. p. 19. May. brigs On the 17th, at daybreak, the four gun-brigs, 1804. commanded by lieutenant Manderston, having joined, were sent in, under the direction of captain Hancock, to see what could be done with the french prame GunVille-d'Anvers, aground to the eastward of Ostende. ng The gun-brigs opened their fire, but received from the french numerous train of horse and other artillery assem- prame. bled along the beach, as well as from the heavy mortars and pieces of cannon mounted upon the heights, so heavy a fire in return, that they were obliged to desist and haul off. No loss appears to have been sustained by the gun-brigs; but the Minx was struck by a large shot in the hounds of her mainmast. On the morning of the 19th the 16-gun ship-sloops Galgo, captain Michael Dodd, and Inspector, captain Edward James Mitchell, cooperated with the gun-brigs in a second attack upon the grounded prame; but, protected by the powerful batteries on shore, the Ville-d'Anvers floated with the rising tide and got safe into Ostende. Five of the eight grounded schooners and schuyts were also floated into the basin. bard Hâvre, owing to its central position on the french BomChannel-coast, was made a temporary dépôt for the ment of vessels of the flotilla constructed to the westward, Havre. or in the Seine and the rivers flowing into it. As soon as a sufficient number was assembled, they were to be convoyed, by prames and gun-brigs, to the grand entrepot at Boulogne. In the month of July a british squadron, composed chiefly of sloops, July. bombs, and small craft, under the orders of captain Robert Dudley Oliver, in the 38-gun frigate Melpomène, was stationed off Hâvre, to reconnoitre and harass the port, and prevent, as well the vessels of the flotilla inside from escaping, as those on the outside from joining. On the 23d the bomb-vessels bombarded the town, set it on fire, and compelled several of the vessels to retire behind the pier and up the river. The mortar-batteries on shore opened a fire in return, which, although continued for some |