The National Register.
London, England, 1809-08-06 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER,.

to the Court, put as lamon my defence. I will venture tiere to
express my firm t‘onvict ion. lout during the whole period which.
is the subject of inquiry, and inure particularly on the very day
on which I am char..y.d wit►• -1 der:•liction of duty, it will he
found by this Honourable Court, that io the previous a. range-
ment t exerted the titai,l-t facultie- of my mind to prevent any
ircumstance escaping me which f►►rethought cou'd dir•tate; and
that at the time of attack, r acted with ail the zeal for the sue-
t oss of the service an Of could e, ince, whose duty it was to
( I:Fider the proper a ppl tea tiou ;Ind p 1 eservation of Ilk own fleets
as well as the destruction of that of it, en. my.

--.--
The squadron under my command, including the advenced frl-
;Ant's, havicg. been driven From their station off Brest, by the
continued yer.afence of teitipe.toons westerly wend,. it was on
my return off that port, on rat v.ld of Feb. that I ascertained the
escape of the Freer!' fleet; I had no information of the time
when tile enemy escaped from their port, or of the course they
had taken; consequently had no erouncis upeu which I could ex-
ercise any discretion. This reduced me to the unavoidable neces-
sity of follow in; my orders, w hich such an event distinctly
directed me to detach•the senior Flag Officer with such force as I
might conclude mas equal to the enemy, and to return myself to
Cawsand Bay for further orders. I accordingly detached Sir J.
Duck woet!i. with eight sail of the line and u frigate, in pursuit
of the Fr-cell fleet, on the course pointed out in their Lordships'
ordess bet-re referred to, which left me, with the Caledonia
alone, in the mortifying situation of being obliged to retura
to port. I refer back to this event, in order to shew why the
Caledonia, bearing my flag, became detached from the fleet. In
proceeding to Cawsand Bay, the Nasade joined me off Fal mouth,
when Captain Dmidas informed me, that the enemy's fleet from
Brest, consisting of eight sail of the line, and two frigates, had
entered Basque Roads on the 24th of February, where they
had been reinforced by the four sail of the line and two frigates
previously lying in the Aix Roads. This communication being
made to the Admiralty, 1 received orders from their Lrdships',
the 3d Afarch, to put to sea with the Caledonia, Tennant, Illus-
trious, Resolution, and_ Bellona, together with any frigates and
smaller vessels under toy command that might be ready for sea at
Plymouth, to form a junction with Rear-Adiniral Stopford,
commanding his Majesty's squadron off Rochfort. On my
arrival off Rochfort, on the 7th of March, I found that Rear-
Admiral !itopford with the Csesar, Defiance, Donegal, and four
Frigates had, in the course of the 24th of February, been joined
by Captain Beresford, with the Theseus, Triumph, Valiant,
Revenge, and one frigate, and shortly after by the Hero; and
that the French fleet had moved from✓ Basque into Aix Roads,
and taken anchorage there with 11 sail of the line and four
frigates. In consequence of the intricacy of the- navigation,
one of their ships was totally wrecked. Judging-that the occu-
pation of Basque Roads by the fleet under my command would
be most effectual, either tOr blockading the enemy, or for car,y-
ing on offensive operations, should they proVe practicable, I im-
mediately ordered some of the Masters of the fleet to prifceed in,
rind to take e ery advantage ef weather, in sOundin,:• and survey-
the anchorage, in order to st-certain the pdrt most advise-
i,ble to be ocettpifil by a fleet of the magnitude of thit under
my orders.
On the i'lth of March I went myself in the Unico'en, with Sir
!Larry Neale, the Captain of the fleet, and Captain Bedford, of
the Caledonia, to reconnoitrea he enemy's fleet, and the firltifien.
lions of the. late it Air, which appeared, notwithstandlng Lord
Cochrane seeks by •ce to make a contrary impression,
to be of considerable fori.:?. Observing t :at the enemy were re-
settling their works oe the litiovart shoal. • with the view of
affording to their fl get in Ai% •ttoads au attlititnial protection,
I sent in the-Neaelia and tos.fl'A, ne the Ist 'of April, to dtoperse
the people employedoll these w ort s, which service they effected.
• That the service Might proceed with the utmost celerity, I
ordered eight of the largeir transports 'then -with the' fleet, to be
selected and prepared as- tire--hips, in licitt of the si expected
from Plymouth, that they inight he rezittlyib act withilie 12
from Woolwich, immediately we theit,rieril4i:: v
the-Mediator, were accordingly titled bk means Oc rosin and t
fortunately found on board some chaise Otprees“ecentt% c.,p..'
hired, and other emnbustible materials iliriiished by,the
This service was performed under (he 'it-node-dime superihtend-
ance (tithe captains of the line of
_bat ps.-„ivlio evinced the
most unremitting activity. upon Ihe..bi•rasiop. Itte..l.osh of
April, at •half past four, (plO.l the: 13raglc"arrivrd, with the
12 fire-ships, from Fatglanth Wheii I. is.seest:ordersto the-com-
iit 'fl• 1 ti
manders of sloops and ships
witicu I had prepared, it was foistid iee,....eticaisle to
' 11 oceed. to the'attsck. 444y;t1 he-:"..;'.r. 4.: It ir I. 1!
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prestled b Lord Cochrane,

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