The New-Jersey gazette — Burlington [N.J.], 1782-05-29 00:00:00, page 2

BOSTO N, May 13.
Extract of a letter from Martinique, April 17.
" We have various reports of an engagement be
tween the fleets of de Graffe and Rodney, which is
avowed to be the mod: bloody adion that has hap
pened this war; but as there are no accounts fuffi
ciently particular at this time, shall colled:what is
most to be depended on, and pen it on a separate
piece of paper to inclofe in this.
P. S. the eighteenth of April. Having procur
ed a news-paper of this date, I inclofe it herein,
and refer you to it for the best account of the acti
on between the French and English fleets, that can
be at present obtained. Would only observe that
Count de Grafie fared an immensely rich fleet which
he had under his protection, and then pursued his
originally intended courle, to join the Spanish iket
chant ^ them time enough to make their escape. CT, 1 7 2.
means ^ t the tw()van g uards were “ I fup| >ofe you will be anxious for the news, as
The 9th 'in the mot nw P 8 fr n nlrdh ships, the every one here trembles for the event, but there is
engaged, 15 French again! ^ near enou g h n o parties lars come to hand; it is supposed to be
main body of the two fleet jfy b M „ Fram- .the molt f evere action ever fought, as they have
to engage. 7he Cato, c ° fi rm nefs, the fire been at h c for three days; the french with 33 fad
mond, f u fta^ ^ men were killed of the line :, and the English with 39. The french
from three English ships ; f > disengaged by the would no t have engaged had not one of their ships
and wounded; and the was English left us the loft her bowfpyit, and could not keep the line to
Triumphant and Pluto. e ,^Q more damag- windward, and therefore the Count de Graffe or
field of battle, and ?ff e " e , ' ^ded to Guada- dered al Ito engage, and it has been almost a calm
e d than we were. lhe ^a p s followed by for t ht sweek, so that they could net separate:
loupe to repair, and the ne y e ^^ iunnin g The ft ench Admiral had three English ships on
the Jason, who ha „, e ". [ , fn board him fro m 6 o'clock in the morning until 7 at night,
on board her; this last ship havi o tween the tith yard-ar m and yardarm; he had difmafted two of
the Ville de Paris, in ni ^" fit were car ri- them t /hen the frigate came away; but the ac
and 12th, her mizen maR manoeuvre would counts are so various that we can depend on no
ed away, and not being abe <^ ^^ th i n g : . — The French had one ship burnt by them
have fallen into the hands 0 ,%felves, and I believe one or two funk, and several
de Graffe had not ordered the d fy^
take her in tow. ^ dammed ships- " Rodney's ship it is said is funk by the French
cro \vded all their fails ff d " S °~ f ™l for the Admiral, and two or three more blown up and
our General to save them ma v an d to burnt, and almost all the rest difmafted ; but at any
whole fleet to bear^ upon th ^ Q u „ e me , th has been seen from the shore several
attack them at p^l f ni so „, ships to burn, several to fink and two to blow up
at the time when w ' h 3 the meatett intrepi- of one fide or the other :—The bench had the
was immediately tea w , | h e cut advantage in having 7or 8000 men on board, and
dity; the Course before a very ^ a^ ^ fm,h water, and could
° fft th^^^ The ^ b - outm ^ rai ^^
and returning from thence, spent the evening at his
house with the utmost feftivity.
We are informed, that letters are sent to the com
mander in chief, and to the commander in the Sou
thern department, informing them of the publick
annunciation of the birth of the Dauphin, that the
fame may be published in both armies with such de
mon ftrations of joy as their commanders shall re
fpedively direff ; and that letters are also sent to the
Governors and Presidents of the refpe&ive Rates,
to inform them of the birth of an heir to the crown
of France, that the people of each Rate may partake
of the joy, which an event that so nearly affeds the
happiness of their great and good ally cannot fail to
excite.
to leeward."
The following account of a sea engagement between
the Frencli fleet, under the command of his Ex
cellency the Count de Gralle, and the Britilh
fleet under the orders of Sir George B. i\odney,
is tranllated from the Martinico Gazette of April
18, brought by the brig Swan, Capt. Goodhue,
who arrived at Newbury last Ihurfday, in twen
ty days from Martinico.
MDe Grade having held the English fleet at
e bay during the night between the Bth and
nth, in the channel of Dominique, covered the mer
>'hips by his grand manoeuvres, and by that
& Nav. Rex. defens. Libertatis, Lewis XVI. King
of France and Navarre, defender of liberty. The
whole was irradiated, and the motto was, " Sole
novo terra; irradiate' A new fun beams on the
earth.
• On the left was a wreath of flowers, in the cen
tre of which were these words, "MARIA
AN rONIET TA, Queen of France." Un
derneath were the following verses:
" No emblems here the tablet grace,
What pencil can her emblem trace,
Let beauty, w;t and worth advance,
And joining form the Qiieen of France."
When the company arose from table, the Presi
dent of Congress, the Minister Plenipotentiary of
France, with his suit, the Superintendent of finance,
the Secretary at war, Count Bieniewiki, Mr. de
Marbois, with a number of foreigners and other
gentlemen of diftindion in the civil and military
line, assembled at the house of the Secretary for
foreign affairs, where a brilliant company of ladies,
was assembled. From thence they all went to the
fireworks, where places were provided for them.
ships of the line, was to cruize off Madeira, to wait
for anoci ~r fleet.
The A ,merican ships the Cyrus, from Newbury
with aca rgo of fifh and lumber, and the Adven
ture, fi)i 1 Virginia, with 100 barrels ot flour, a
few dais past entered our road.
Extract of a letter from Martinique, April 16.
" Now for news —The Englifli fleet seen lincethe
action tty ing to beat up to Antigua; 7 ships were
wholly tli fmafted, with their shears up railing jury
mafts, ab( >ut fifteen more with part of their mails
gore, and about 14 or 15 more only able to form
a line.
"The 1 Tench were seen to pass St. Kitts not
half so mu< :h damaged as the enemy, and bound to
join Don C Cordova the Spanish Admiral, with 17
ships, now lying off Cape Tiberoon, on an expe-
dition, fupj jofed oy many to be to America, but by
some to Ja i naica; they fay the a&ion has been the
most barbai ous and fierce ever fought. Rodney de
clared best ire he failed, he would lose his whole
fleet or def troy the French before they joined the
Spanish; tl re calm took them, and they did pot get
separate foi - three days, they layyard-arm and yaid
arm from ( >in the forenoon to 7 in the afternoon,
officers firii ng at each other with their pistols. The
French hae 16,00 troops divided in their ships. Ihe
English coi ild get no advantage by there being no
wind, and the daughter great on both sides."
Extras of another letter from Martinique, April
damage than ours.
P. S. It appears by the last letters from Gauda
a'oupe, that our fleet flood for St. Domingo; and
11 ^t the English were endeavouring, on Monday lalt,
to gain Antigua: They add that the frigate Rich
nc >nd, after having towed the Glorieux for fume
tin )e, saved her crew, and then set her on lire.
£ 1 celebrated French engineer hath presented new
plan, s for the f.ge of Gibraltar, and they begin to
flaue r themselves with a happy success. Ihe Spa
nish £ ; eet of 40 fail of the line, hath been joined by
three 3 -deckers, and two of 64. M. de la Motte
Picque t was separated from the French squadron off
Cape l imifterre, with a division of four veflels, with
design 1 0 intercept the convoy bound to Jamaica;
M. de C ruichen, with a reinforcement of io Spanish
two fleets being becalmed, were mixed together,
and fought with unexampled bravery, from 7 o'clock
in the morning till 7 in the evening; the ships were
engaged the greatest part of the time yard-arm and
yard-arm. The ship of war le Glorieux engaged
by three of the enemy, two of which were 3-deck
ers, was taken, being entirely difmafted, and just
ready to fink; the English after having taken her
out of the line, set fire to her and foe blew up. We
shall go no further in lamenting the lad effects of
war, but wait for the well authenticated account of
this memorable and bloody day. We have but this
moment the certainty of the deplorable filiation in
which the two fleets were left at the end of the acti
on, and know only that during this bloody engage
ment, a number of English ships were seen in a bad.
condition going before the wind; that on the 13th,
the two fleets were seen off Gaudaloupe, 13 leagues
distant from each other; that the convoy palled by
Bafleterre for St. Domingo, in the night between
the 9th and 10th, under the escort of the Sagit
taire and Experiment, and except the loss of the
Glorieux, the English ships have fuffered much more
The fleet under the convoy of Cot.it c'e Graffe,
bound from Martinico to the Leeward islands,
when he fell in with admiral Rodney, confided of
270 fail, ard was laid to be the richest fleet that ,
ever failed from that island; and by the good con
dud of the Count every one of them escaped from
falling into the hands of the enemy.
Captain Elwell, who arrived ar Cape Ann, last
Friday, in 19 days from Martinico, confirms the
above, and turther adds, that the whole of the
fleets were engaged the second day after meeting;
that the Count de Grafl'e and Admiral Rodney
were so near each other that the cannon of the
Count's flu, set Admiral Rodney's op tire, which
was confirmed; and that Admiral Rodney took
himfelf on board one of the frigates during the re
mainder of the engagement.
'Tis reported he also brings an account that only
two hands were saved out of the Glorieux.
Yesterday arrived a schooner bound from Ja
maica to Batbadoes with defpatches, prize to the
Deane.
The Deane has also taken another prize and sent
her into the Capes. Her cargo, 10,000 fieri, in dry
goods.
The Honourable the Minister Plenipotentiary
of His Mod Christian Majesty having, by or
der of the King his matter, announced to the Unit
ed States in Congress assembled, on the 13th inst.
thp birth o' a Dauphin and Heir to the Crown of
France; and the fame hiring been communicated
to His Excellency the Governor, and to the Legis
lature of this date, by order of Congress, the hap
py event was celebrated here on the 24th inst with
every mark of refped, joy and congratulation. At
noon the American flag u as displayed, and the town
artillery paraded at the market-place. At three
the company assembled to an' elegant entertainment
at the French Arms, where were present His Ex
cellency the Governor, asd the Hon. the Council,
the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the
General Assembly, fevera&entfemen of the army
and others mccafionaHy prefect and the gentlemen of
the town and vicinity. After dinner the following
toasts were drank, and federally accompanied with
a discharge of artillery:
1. Congress. '
2. 1 he King of France.'
3. The Dauphin.
4. The Queen of France.
14. 1 he State of New-Jersey.
At 5 the company retired, ft could nqt but af
ford the highest plea sure to every friend of the li
berties of his country and the rights of mankind, to
observe the joy and fatisfa&on manifested on this
occasion. Ihe liberal principles of the alliance, the
generous aids afforded to these dates in consequence
of it, and the great end it has been inftrumenta! in
securing, must ever interest us in the happiness <f a
nation whose chara^er and conduct is the laudable
reverse of that of our enemies.
STATE of NEW-JERSEY.
House of Assembly, May 2g, 1782.
THEREkS the British court and ministry,
vV after having in vain attempted to reduce the
United States of America by force of arms to ab
solute and unconditional fubmdhon, have at last
been obliged to acknowledge the utter impracticabi
lity of the enterprise; but not being willing to re
linquish their purpose of fubjug ting these free and
independent Rates to their dominion and tyranny,
are now endeavouring to tfeQ by craft ard .Tice
what dear bought experience has convinced them
they cannot atchieve by military prowe's.
And whereas in profecutior of their said system
of art and fubtilty, they arc endeavouring to per
suade the different courts in Europe, th^, the 1,
tizens of these states are neither urited nor c
termined in the support of their national anriepemi
ence, to represent them as a divided people th.
greatest part of whom wifa to return to their antic'
5. The King of Spain, and all Towers friendlyta
A merica,
6. General Wafhington'and the Army.
7. Count Rochambeau arM the French Army.
8. General Greene and the Southern Army.
9. Count de Graffe and the combined fleet.
10. May the * hiance- berceen France and .Ame
rica fubfilt as long as the Delaware shall
continue to flow.;
11. Unanimity in Council and Vigour in the Field,
12. Peace on the Terms rof the alliance, or war
forever.
13. May the honour and faith of America ever
TRE N T O N, May 29.
be held as inviolate as her Freedom.