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Naval History of Great Britain - Vol II
1798 British and French Fleets 132

opponents in this action was comparatively trifling. The Canada had one seaman mortally wounded, by, we believe, the recoil of a gun when firing at the Hoche and frigates just before the French 74 surrendered. The Foudroyant had nine seamen wounded by the fire of the Bellone and other frigates passing near her. The Robust, in her close conflict with the Hoche and the frigates ahead of her, had ten seamen killed, her first lieutenant (David Colby), one lieutenant of marines (William Cottle) mortally, and 38 seamen and marines wounded ; the Melampus one, and the Magnanime seven seamen wounded : making, with the loss of the Ethalion and Anson already enumerated, a total of 13 killed and 75 wounded. On board the French ships the loss was excessively severe. The Hoche, out of the 1237 men and boys that, according to the depositions of her officers, were on board of her, is represented to have lost, in killed and wounded together, 270. The Embuscade, out of a crew, including soldiers, of 486 men and boys, lost 15 killed and 26 wounded ; and the Coquille, out of her 507 sailors and soldiers, 18 killed and 31 wounded. The loss on board the six remaining French frigates cannot with accuracy be stated. The Résolue appears to have had five, and the Romaine three men wounded ; and the Loire, chiefly by the fire of the Anson, five seamen and soldiers killed, and 10 seamen and 14 soldiers wounded : making, with the loss of the Bellone already stated, the serious total of 462 in killed and wounded.

Having done with the action between the two squadrons, before we attend to the scattered remains of that of M. Bompart, we will briefly advert to the relative force of the parties. On the one side were an 80-gun-ship, two 74-gun ships, five frigates ; two of the latter (one with her mizenmast gone) carrying long 24, and the remainder, long 18 pounders ; and on the other side, one 74-gun ship, without a main topmast, and eight frigates, two of the latter (the Romaine and Immortalité) carrying long 24, one of them (the Loire) long 18, and the remainder long 12 pounders. The brunt of the action, as has already been shown, was borne by the Robust and Magnanime, they having been, at the onset, the nearest ships to the enemy. The rest of the affair was of too detached and skirmishing a character, to be at all illustrated by confronting, in our usual manner, the aggregate force of the rival squadrons. We may here remark, that rather more consequence was attached to this action than it really merited, on account, chiefly, of some slight mistatements in the accounts given of the French squadron. The eight frigates, for instance, were all styled "heavy,"' although five of them mounted 12-pounders, a less caliber than was carried by any of the British frigates ; and the Hoche was designated as an 84-gun ship, which was assigning her eight guns more than she had ports to fit them to.

As every publication, in which an account of this action appears, except one, has relied upon the statement at the foot of

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