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Naval History of Great Britain - Vol III
1801 Cutting out the Chevrette 151

Burke, the latter mortally), one master's mate (William Phillips), three midshipmen (Edward Crofton, Edward Byrn, and Robert Finnis), 42 seamen, and nine marines wounded, and one marine drowned in the Beaulieu's barge, which was sunk by the enemy's shot; total, 11 killed, 57 wounded, and one drowned or missing. The loss sustained by the Chevrette was far heavier. The corvette had her captain, two lieutenants, three midshipmen, one lieutenant of troops, and 85 seamen and troops killed, one lieutenant, four midshipmen, and 57 seamen and troops wounded; total, 92 killed and 62 wounded.

It is such daring feats as these that ennoble the character of the British navy; and long will be remembered, long held up as an example for imitation, the cutting out of the Chevrette. A few of the many instances which this enterprise afforded, of individual heroism, have already been recorded in the pages of a naval periodical work. We have selected the following

Lieutenant Sinclair, of the marines, was killed in the act of defending Mr. Crofton, midshipman of the Doris, who in his efforts to get on board the corvette was wounded in two places. Mr. John Brown, boatswain of the Beaulieu, after forcing his way into the Chevrette's quarter-gallery, found the door planked up, and so securely barricaded, that all his efforts to force it were ineffectual. Through the crevices in the planks he discovered a number of men sitting on the cabin deck, armed with pikes and pistols ; and with the fire of the latter was frequently annoyed while attempting to burst in. He next tried the quarter, and after an obstinate resistance gained the taffrail. The officer who commanded the party was at this time fighting his way up a little farther forward. For an instant, while looking round to see where he should make his push, Brown stood exposed a mark to the enemy's fire; when, waving his cutlass, he cried, " Make a lane there," he gallantly dashed among them, and fought his way forward till he reached his proper station the forecastle ; which the men, animated by his example, soon cleared of the enemy. Here Mr. Brown remained during the rest of the contest, not only repulsing the French in their frequent attempts to retake his post, but attending to the orders from the quarterdeck, and assisting in casting the ship and making sail, with as much coolness as if he had been on board the Beaulieu.

Henry Wallis, who, as already stated, had been appointed to take charge of the corvette's helm, fought his way to the wheel ; and, although severely wounded in the contest and bleeding, this brave seaman steadily remained at his post, steering the Chevrette until beyond the reach of the batteries. Wallis had been seven years in the Beaulieu, and was ever among the foremost in a service of danger " If a man had fallen overboard he was always fortunately in the way, and either in the boat or the water: during the time he belonged to the ship nearly a dozen men were indebted to him for their lives, which he had saved by

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