The New-York gazette, and the weekly Mercury — New-York [N.Y.], 1778-08-24 00:00:00, page 4

L OND ON, July 2.
He following is a Co,, of a letter from Mr, James
Ellis, First Liesten:. fEs MajejifsJbty Arethu
• fa, to Mr. Evans, dn.rney, in ] obn-freet, tn the
Minories, dated P^fmo^b-Harbour, June 27,
*77^.
SI R,
" I embrace, with pleasure, the earliest opportu
nity of making known to you our arrival at this port ;
and^.s you muff have heard, e're this, something of
our breeze with a French ship of war, of superior
force, off the ife of Bass, judge a particular account
of it, from me, will not be unacceptable.
" Since our departure from St. Helen's, we have
been cruizing in different parts of the channel, &c. On
Wednesday the 17th ult. about eleven in the fore
noon, the Admiral made the signal for the fleet to
forma bow and quarter line; being then something
to the southward, and eastward of the lizard Point,
and by the time molt of the ships had got pretty well
in their Nations, the van of the fleet made the ulual
signals for feeing ftrAnge fails a-head, and whefuthe
Admiral threw cut a signal for a.general chace; dis
covered four fail in the S. W. quarter, (landing a
way from us withall the fail they could croud. As
the Arethufa, Milford, and Alert cutter, oulfailed
every thing, we soon difeovered them to be two large
French frigates, a snow of 16 guns, and a schooner
of to guns. Our flip, and the Alert cutter bring
the headmoft and weatheripoft of course, pursued the
headmoft and weathernnft of the French, which hap
pened to be the largest of the frigates, wore a broad
pendant,-and was the Commodore of seven fail, as
we afterwards found, and Mere cruizing in different
parts of the channel, &c. in company with the
schooner. Previous to our puffing the firft French
frigate, and the Millfbrd, the Admiral madethe sig
nal for us both to bring our chace under his ffern,
and as he well knew they wore the appearance of
French men of war, must also have known, that in
case they refufed to comply with his orders, it was
cur duty to endeavour tocompel them, and use force.
In the mean time, the Milford got up with her chafe,
where flu remained in conversation until the He&or
of 74. guns came ups and took the Frenchman into
the fleet ; by which circumft&nce the snow of 16 guns
very wifely made her escape notwithstanding the en
deavours of Capt. Rowley, in the Monarch, who
did his utmost to prevent her going off.
During all these tranfa&ions, we made the best of
cur way, in company with the Alert cutter, after
the before mentioned large frigate and schooner, and
as we were unrivaled in the chace, soon got a v'aft dis
tance from every other drip, and were pretty near in
with the coast of France. About seven in the eve
ning we came close up with our chace, who feeing it
impossible to get clear of us, hauled up his main fail,
and backed his mizen top fail ; upon which we ran
ged up close alongside of him, "with a light breeze of
wind and very smooth water, hailed him in English,
and told him, the British Admiral had ordered us to
bring him under his hern ; upon which he answered,
in his own language, he did not undei ltand English ;
our Captain then desired the second Lieutenant (Lord
Charles Fitzgerald) to make our meaning known to
him in French, wnich he did, and received the an
swer, " that could not be ; he was a French man of
war on a cruize, and would notcomply with our Ad.
mirals orders :" We then desired him to bring to,
which he also refufed. What was then to be done ?
Captain Marfndl, (who, by the bye, behaved on
this occasion molt gloriously!) ordered me immedi
ately to point the bow chace a-head of him, and speak
to him with that, which I did without loss of time,
and Monsieur answering us in the fame language, we
received from him a very severe broadside, which we
returned with all possible speed, and an obstinate bat
tle commenced, which lasted (as near as I can fay)
about three hours and an half, during which time we
were close along-fide each other, and never out of
pifol (hot ; from the middle of the a&ion, and to
wards the latter end, I could fee we increased our fire
upon hira very fall, so much so, that he could never
have escaped, had it no' been for the villainous things
he filed at ns, such as old ragged bolts, long spike
nails, pieces ofiron, copper ore, &c. &c. which cut
our rigging, masts, yards, and fails to pieces : in
short, we had net a tingle thing left whole, from the
gibb boom end to the ensign ftaff. All our boats,
and even the peoples hammocks, which barricaded
the fliip, were, most of them, (hot to pieces. The
main-matt we were obliged to cut away.
About half palt eleven our ship fell off, l?y like a
l)g in the water, and we could not bring another gun
to bear upon the enemy, notwithstanding we did all
iiour power to get the ship round with sweeps, &c.
bit in vain, which situation he took the advantage
o', pushed in for Iris own coast, being within two
miles and an half ts it, where we saw him next
morning fill aground, and on a careen, about eight
miles westward of the isle of Bass. Early in the morn
ing after the engagement, the Monarch's boat came
on board of us, with affifapcep &c. and soon after
the Valiant found usour, and towed us into the fleet,
where we refitted fufficient to proceed to port. On
our return to the fleet again, we found they had
picked up two French frigates, in consequence of our
having a brush, who said, the ship we engaged was
their Commodore, mounted 40 guns, and had 350
men on board, which force was vastly superior to
ous, having only 200 men ; officers and boys in
cluded. The killed and wounded of the enemy, itis
impossible for me to give any account of, nor do I
suppose we (hall ever hear the truth of that matter ;
but if we may judge from circumstances, such as his
mufquelry being effectually silenced, &c. &c. very
early, he mud have had a number of men (lain ; our
joss amounts to 9 killed, 35 wounded; among the
latter is Loid Charles Fitzgerald, who received a
flight hurt in his foot, from a splinter of a man's
bone, killed close to him ! and your humble servant
who got a flight wound in his left hand from a fplin
tc, which tore the flefh offhis fingers a little, (thank
God) no bone is broke, and it is more troublesome
than of any fort of consequence. I must now make
particular mention of Capt. Marshall, whose behavior
in the course of the engagement, does him infinite
honour. He was remarkably cool, collected, and
clever, the whole time, as was Mr.Picard, (the matter)
and Mr. Driffield, the marine officer, and under
some very disagreeable circumstances too, such as the
m?zcn yard coming down about their ears, which
rendered useless the quarter deck guns and wheels,
ma Ie it difficult to keep the ship under command for
fomitime, being obliged to fleer by hand, &c. with
tiller, es well as we could. Lord Charles Fitzgerald
was with me on the main deck, and though a young
officer, was extremely ufeful, behaved with great
gallantry, and did honour to his rank, &c. I shall
now conclude this letter with giving you fume ac
count ofrhe fleet I had the honour to fervein; whizh
is, beyond conception, the best appointed I ever saw,
and the finett ships, all far, and not one. bay-flack
among them, except the Stirling-castle. The Vic
tory fails about as faft as our frigates used to do last
war, and the three deck (hips, in general, exceed
what any person can possibly suppose. Among the
seventy fours, the Valiant (Capt. Levefon Gower)
takes the lead, fails wonderfully, and is, in every
refpe& the molt compleat man of war I ever saw.
Excuse the incorre&nefs of this account, as I writein
great haste. Let me hear from yowby return ofpblh
Your's, &c. JAMES ELLIS.
P. S. I forgot to mention, that as soon as the Are
thufa began to engage the French Commodore, the
Alert cutter, Capt. Fairfax, attacked the armed
schooner, and took her in about an hour. I have all
the re&fon in the world to suppose the French ship
must have funk, had (he been a greater distance from
the shore, as our (hot in general halted her, and Are
was quite silenced before (he left us.
Extras of a letter from Portsmouth, Jane 29.
« The Valiantand Courageux, of 74guns, which
were left in chace when Admiral Keppel Quirted his
station, are returned hither, the French frigate ha
ving escaped in a calm."
Extrafl of a letter from Paris, June 19.
" The last letters from Brest advise, that under
the cannon of the road, a Guernsey privateer took one
of our merchantmen richly laden ; our officers were
so provoked at it, that they proposed to the Duke de
Chartres to make a defeent in these little illands,
swarming with pirates and finugglers, but the prince
answered, that without orders he could not commit
any a&sofhoftility, This may perhaps be tire mo
tive that hinders our royal navy on a cruize from
finking these corsairs, when they make prizes under
our nose. We hope they will be compelled to restore
them whether they will or no. As England, who
dreads a defeent from our troops, h^s marked out
the place where her 36,000 national militia are to en
camp, Marshal Broglio regulates his measures in
consequence ; a,d the general officers, under him
have orders to repair next month to the coal's of Nor
mandy and Britany : M. de Lalez de la Taherie;
intendant of his army, is to be at Bayeux, the ill of
July, where the Head-Quarters are to be fixed."
From the LONDONGAZETTE-
Admiralty-Office, 'June 24, 17)8.
The three letters from the Hon. Admiral Keppel
to Mr. Stephens, of which the following are copies
and extracts, we received this afternoon at this
Office.
(C O P Y.)
Viaory, at Sea, June 18, 1778.
SIR,
A little before twelve o'clock yesterday morning,
the fleet being in a line of battle, steering S. S. W.
and the wind at weft, and the Lizard bearing N. 44.
00 W. distant 25 miles, we observed two ships
feelingly reconnoitring the fleet, with two tenders
accompanying them ; I immediately direeled the
whole fleet to chace, and between five and fix in the
evening, the Milford had got close along-fide the
kewardmoft ship, a large French frigate, I made the
signal for the ships chacing to bring down their chace
to me, which Sir William Barnaby could not, by
civil words, get the French officer to allow him to
do; but upon the He&or's drawing near upon her,
and firing a gun (hotted, die stood to her, and the
He&or then made fail with her towards the fleet.
The other French drip was closely pursued by the
Arethufa and Alert cutter, and, at some distance a
stern of them, the Valiant and Monarch.
I am not able to inform their Lordfhips'in this
letter relative to that chace, more than that an officer
got to me this morning from the Valiant, who had
been in the boat the whole night ; his Captain directed
him to inform me, that he should have returned agree
able to the signal to leave off chace, but that he ob
served the French frigate had given battle to the
Arethufa.
At nine o'clock last night I sent Sir Charles Doug
las to leeward to the Heftor and America, to let their
Captains know, that it was my orders they brought
the French Frigate under the Victory's stern ; and Sir
Charles Douglas was charged from me, to express
every civility to the French Captain, and to inform
him that I should fee him when the ships and frigate
got up to the fleet in the morning ; in the mean time
he was to attend the frigate unmolested up to me ;
but, to my astonishment, this morning about nine
o'clock, I observed the French fltip seemingly going
upon the other tack ; one of the ships that was at
tending her fired a (hot across her, which was imme
diately followed by the French frigate's difeharging
her whole broadside and mufquetry into the America,
at the very moment Lord Longford was upon the
gunwale talking to the French Captain in the most
civil strain ; federal of the shot struck the America,
and wounded four of her people ; the French Captain
then struck his colours; his behaviour merited the
fire of the America, but Lord Longford's humanity
and prudence prevailed, much to his credit, over his
resentment.
I hope I have not done improperly in fending the
frigate into Plymouth; the circumstance of behavi
our, and the other French frigate giving battle to the
Arethufa, has been a juftification to myfelf for seizing
her and fending her into Port. I am, Sir, your most
obedient and very humble servant,
A. KEPPEL.
P. S. The French frigate is called the Licorne,
of 32 guns, and 230 men.
Philip Stephens, Esq; Secretary to the Admiralty.
(E X TRA C T.)
Victory, at Sea, June 20, 1778, at noon, the
Lizard, N. 47 : 00. E. 19 Leagues.
SIR,
Before noon of yesterday we saw the Valiant and
Monarch, who had chafed from the fleet on the 17th,
coming down; the Valiant with a crippled ship in
tow, which we soon perceived was the Arethufa with
her mainmast gone, and much shattered in other
refpecls.
Tne Arethufa had come up with her chafe on the
evening of the 17th ; (he proved a large French frigate
with heavy metal (the Belle Poule ;) Capt. Marshal
requeued the French Captain to bring to, and in
formed him he had orders to conduct him to his
Admiral who wished to speak to him; both which
requests the French officer peremptorily refufed to
comply with; Captain Marshal then fired a shot
across the frigate, upon which the French Captain
instantaneously fired his whole broadside into the Are
thufa, who was at this time close along-fide, which
brought on an a&ion on both sides, which continued
for upwards of two hours ; the Arethufa being much
fluttered in her masts, fails and rigging, and there
being very little wind to govern her, (he was thrown
in such a situation, as not to be able to get her head
towards the French ship, notwithstanding Captain
Marshal's utmost endeavours so to do: the French
fhip's head being in with the land, and getting her
forefail set, she stood into a final! bay, where boats
at daylight came out, and tawed her into fafety.
Captain Marshal appears to have conducted himfelf
in the whole of this matter with the greatest spirit
and gallantry, and speaks with great iatisfaflion of
the behr aur of his officers and flop's company.l
The A fa had eight men killed,.and 36 wound- |
ed; the sols of the Leach mint be considerable.
1 mull not omit in this relation to acquaint tneir;
Lordships, that Captain Fairfax, in theAlert cutter,
has had his (hare in the buhnels ; he got along-fide
of a schooner of ten carriage guns and ten swivels, ,
that attended tie frigate that engagedthe Arethufa ;
upon his requeuing the Commander of her to (land
to the fleet, he made him answer, That lie should do
as the frigate dii; and upon the frigate's firing upon
the Arethufa, fi^d his guns into the Alert; Capt.
Fairfax imrgedi^iely run on board of him, and they
continued?!: that (relation in close fight upwards of
an huur, '.when the Ftench vessel surrendered. Capt.
Failfax killed him fivermen, and mortally wounded
f-vtm; the Alert had four men wounded, two of
them it is apprehended mortally.
Several Freren merchant-lhips puffed through the
fleet yehe^diy, unniolefleti : 1 did not think proper
An any wife to interrupt them in their commerce.
Ufhant was then in fight from the mill-head.
(C OP Y.)
Fiaory, at Sea, June 20, 1/7&
SI R,
Early iiu the morning of the isth, a ship in the
N. VV. quarter was seen landing into the fleet, but
soon hauled away. The Foudroyant, Courageux,
and Robert, wer^ lent in pursuit of her: and having
repaired, as well as time would perhur the Millford's
damages, which (lie received by the French frigate's
hiving, while in conyeffarion, sh ered on botod her,'
(he was likewise fentin chace. In the morning of .
the 19th, the Proserpine had joined, whom I also
direct, d tochace ; very light wildland ealterly : Be
fore twelve the frigates and 0 her ships wete drawn
close up to the chace, a French frigate, andthe signal
being made to the flrps to bring the chace into the
fleet, die was brought in accordingly, the French
officer having no means whatever to avoid what has
happened to him. From the behaviour of the French
frigate, the Licorne, on the 18th inuhe morning, I
judged it my duty to detain this fhp likewise. I di
rt&ed Captain Hood, of the Robult, to take theoffi
cers out of the (hip, and distribute the crew among
the ships with him ; in(tru&ing him to lignify to the
French Captain, that I was under the necessity of
taking this step from the extraordinary condu& of the
Captain of the Licorne ; at the fame tiihe recommend
ed t^Captaio Hood to take care that nothing but the
civileft treatment should pals towards the French offi
cers and their people, and every thirg taken care of
on board the frigate : She is called the Pallas, 0(32
guns and 220 men; and as well as could be learnt,
had been eight days from Brest on a cruize. lam,
Sir, your molt obedient and very humble servant,
A. KEPPE L.
Philip Stephens, Esq; Secretary to the Admiralty.
Extraß of a letter from Gofport, July 1.
" Yesterday came into the harbour two French
frigates, one of 32 guns, the other of 36, taken by
Admiral Keppel's fleet; and in the evening part of
the prisoners, to the number of 26, were guarded
by the militia to Potton prison; and this morning
more were brought on shore: they are all to come,
to the number of 500, as soon as proper places can
be made ready for than in the prison; whicli will be
in a few days.
« Admiral Keppel's fleet will soon be reinforced
with seven fail of ships, five from this port, one
from Plymouth, and the Thunderer, now in the
Downs, daily expe&ed; and on Tuesday next is the
day said to be fixed for their failing with 27 fail of
the line, besides frigates, &c.
Extras of a letter from Calais, June 25.
“ An order is this day to be put in force here,
which may be compared with the practice of pressing
seamen on your fide the water. I underhand, that
all those who have lived in the capacity of seamen
are registered, and liable to be called upon on any
future occasion, even though they may have acqui
red 2 competence in another way of life. Many ref
peftable characters of this town, who have followed
different profeffions for many late years, are this day
ordered to march for Brest; among the number is
Mons. Toulier, who has kept the Table Royal, with
much credit and success, many years. He has ac
quired a great deal of money by his business, but
cannot evade the neceflity of obeying this summons.
" We think more feroufty of a war now than we
have hitherto done. The French p'qt on long faces,
and relate an affair that happened at Brest five er fix
days ago. I suppose ,ou may have heard it from a
different channel ; it i?, that Admifal Keppel lying
before Br^ft, sent an English eight-and-twenty gun
frigate to peep in'o the harbour, and fee what they
were about; a French frigate of forty guns came
out, and demanded Ker business, when the English
frigate answered with a broadfile. This naturally
brought on an engagement ; it lasted some hours, and
at last the French frigate returned into the harbour,
with the less of eighty men killed, and the Captain.
What the English loft we have not yet learned.
'Tis reasonable to think that this account is true ;
because, as it refle&s difhonour upon the arms of
their country, the French would not otherwise be
forward to report it. The fame express which
brought the news, brought an order for a camp to be
prepared in the Baffe Ville here, for the reception of
15,0^0 men."
The Duke of 90 guns, with the Kent, Dublin,
Intrepide, Cambridge and Defence, of 74 guns, are
ordered immediately to join Admiral Keppel's fleet,
who will then be a match for the Brest fleet, and in
all probability will give a good account of them.
Admiral Keppel takes several fire drips with him, and
also the 50th regiment to a& as marines.
Extract of a letter from Portsmouth, dated June 29.
" This morning was sent in here, and went into
harbour, the two undermentioned French brigs,
taken by his Majesty's frigate Fox, Capt. Windsor,
about 15 leagues from Plymouth, viz. L'Amiable,
Vi6loire, Vincent, from Martinico, for Havre-de
grace, with rum, sugar, cotton, and coffee; and
the St. Martha, Guillieume de Feaille, with flour
for the French fleet at Brett.
“ The Fox was left by the above brigs in chace of
a French brig of 16 guns."
We are informed that the true reason for Admiral
Keppel's returning to Portsmouth was, that he had
difeovered by letters and papers taken on board the
Licorne, that the French fleet at Brest confided of
twenty-seven drips of the line ready for sea ; and as
his fleet consisted of no more than twenty ships, he
thought it advifeable to return, in order to be joined
by some additional drips, in order to put Itim on an
equality with the enemy. In this Admiral Keppel
has (hewn as much conduct as he has of spirit on
every occasion.
Capt. Hugan, of the Belfofen, is arrived at Fal
mouth ; the Captain fays that he was boarded by the
French fleet off Malaga, confiding of twelve flops
of the line and eight frigates; after examining his
papers they fuffered him to proceed ; soon after which
ne fell in with Admiral Byron's fleet, they brought
him to, and he informed them where he met with
the French fleet, upon which he was told that the
Admiral had jolt delivered put his orders ' to all hit;
Captains to take, fink, burn and destroy all the French
vertels they met with.
They Arethufa, which engaged the French frigate,
had only 32 guns, 26 twelve pounders, and 6 fix,
ditto, with 130 men. The Frenchman 44 guns, ri
and nine pounders, and 3^o men.
The Fortune, Wertcoat, from Nantz to ,South-
Carolina, with ' woollen cloth, loco mufquets, and
28 barrels of combuftbles, is taken near Nantz, and
sent for England.
Last vitek the keels of two 74 gun drips begad t®
be laid in Deptford Dock-yard.
ss-,sssfy^!{pgs,^^§^^^
fl bis Day are published.
By H. G A I N E,
And to be fold at his Book-Store in Hanover-Square,
THE INCAS:
Or,
THE DESTRUCTION
OF THE
.EMPIRE of PERU.
“ Tolerate all Sefls, not as regarding them all
“ with an Eye of equal Indifference, but as fuffer^
“ ing that which it has pleased God to fuffer, until
“ they can be brought into the Path of Truth by
“ the Powerj)f Persuasion."
Fenelon')Di regions for the Conscience of a King,
^—m&rtre^^
REFLECTIONS
On the present Combination of the
AMERICAN COLONIES,
AGAINST THE
SUPREME AUTHORITY
OF THE
BRITISH LEGISLATURE,
And their Claim to Independency.
With an Appendix, containing Remarks on the
Trial of John the Painter, and the Advice he gave
to Connmiffloner Gambier, as he was carrying to
the Place of Execution.
L E~T T E R S
WRITTEN RY
THE LATE RIGHT HONORABLE
PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE,
Earl of Chefterfield,
TO
HIS son,
PHILIP STANHOPE, Esq;
Late Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Diefdefi,
TOGETHER WITH
SEVERAL OTHER PIECES
ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
Rules and Articles
For the better Government of his Majesty's
Horse and Foot Guards,
And all other his
FORCES
In Great-Britain and Ireland,
Dominions beyond the Seas and Foreign Parts,
From the 24th of March, 1777.
Published by his MAJESTY's Command,
THE
MANUAL EXERCISE,
As ordered by his Majesty, in 1764,
Together with
PLANS aid EXPLANATIONS
Ot the Method generally pra&:s'd at
Reviews and Field Days.
09?^8009999®9998@ee®®9€9®
^Richard Deane, f
I DISTILLER,+
T AKES this method to return bis fincerej
" I thanks to his friends and cuftorners for their +
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T A quantity of neat Weft-India Rum,+
^ Brandy, Aqnifted Water, 4
Cherry Brandy, Clove ditto,+
A Shrub of the best qua- Orange ditto, 4
lhy, All Fours,+
„ Geneva, Dr. Stevens, and 4
„ Spirits of Wine, New-York Rum,+
+ The good quality of said Deane's liquors, ±
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t But ftili he is determined, if possible, to makel
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study of the public's much obliged, and very ±
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+ N. Br Whoever is pleased to favour him with T
1' their custom, will find by experience, the pleasing T
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*4
<^J^>®^^^^^ ^
1 For G LASGO W,
(With the Jirft Convoy)
The BRIGANTINE
^William,
HUGH WALKER, Master,
(Nov; lying at Cruger's Wharff)
FOR freight or passage, apply to the Mafler on
board, or to Proudfoot and Bryden, at
their store opposite Mr. Hugh Gaine's ; where they
have for sale, an assortment of DRY GOODS,
suitable for the season : Also, a few puncheons of
SHRUB, and a small quantity of best hard SOAP,
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Miffed several weeks ago,
A Remarkable small sized gold REPEATING
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If the above watch has been fold, the price given by thf
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