The Sun.
London, England, 1812-07-07 00:00:00

COURT MARTIAL.

[Continued free;

!:::,.• of ystei:,tiay.:l

THI COURT—Capt. .4.ackson, when you first
s'- :v the- ships at the time you have stated, what
were Your ideas respecting theni The
weather being very clear, when we discover.-
•ed their upper sails from the Poictiers, I
formed my idea that they -were an enemy,
from their appwrar,ce, ,and the cut of their
sails. Court-7-flow far did you bring them driwn
A. A little below their topsail yard/Court—Was
it posssittle you to near those two strange
-ships, so as to iorin a :unction, without your so
cons,Uk-rably losing your distance frqm the ene-
,inv; as t,) preclude all chance of coming up with
.thein? A. If the strange vessels - had continued

e; • W;t1;:, or starboard tack, by our bearing up
:ormingthe shortest angle, it was extremely
probable that we should have got clgse enough to
theta be-Ore the elOse of day, to pass the private
• oat.' ,ignal, without increasing our distance from
the,eneihy. Court--Did the strange shipsiwhiCh
you saw in the W.S.W.; keep close to -the wind,
on the starboard tack, till dark ? A. 'The great
distance they were offmade it difficult to ascertain
their manoeuvres, but it was my opinion they
'were on the starboard tack till dark in the eveif-
ing: Court—Had you neared the enemy's ships
frcirn the tithe of your first bearing up in chase
of thein, on the morning of, the 10th, until their
hauling- their wind to offer you battle ? " A.
,We
had, ' considerably, 'Court—Did ybu consider
Tourhaving neared the enemy from your superio-
rity of sailing, or from their ships not having car-
ried as much sail as yod did ; and did they appear
t.) httve used their utmost endeavours to 'avoid
you ? A. I think we had neared them sufficient-
ly in the Chase,' to prove clearly that both ships
had the advantage in point of sailing.; but it
might have proceeded'fi'om both causes, and from
not having their sails so well set. Cotkrt—Hud
yon an opportunity of observing any evident dis-
parity in the sailing of the enemy's ships ? A. it
wis my opinion that two of the line-of-battle ships
sa.lied better than the others, hiit one appeared to be
a very heavy sailing siiip,' and one not so bad.
b. et the faster sailing ships were under much less
sal than the others, in order to keep the squadron
close 'together, which they did ,during the whole
chase. Court—You have stated that you ex-
Changed signals with the strange sail, and that you
were certain they were , friends : what were those
..t
seguals on which' you grounded your opinion?
A. Shortly after the close of day, the established
tight signal No. 25 was Made by the Tremendous,
and continued by her I think every 10 or 15 .mi-
nutes, till.about half past ten o'clock; which were
replied to by the ,ships, anti we continued on the ,
burriing blue lights anti throwing up
toAa.ts. Court—At the tithe when you first saw
de two strange sail, which was nearest to them,
ells Poictiers or the Tremendous? A. The Pole-.
tiers at that time Was about five miles astern of the
'I ?•,ener.doias, and I think the angle has been
tAen, and that the Poictiers was about twoso;-
Cleee tries farther from them than the Tremen-
detts. Court—Did the Tremendous and Poictiers
bear tip, so as to facilitate the junction with the
two st:ange sail? A. The Poictiers did not bear,
up
.for that purpose I think there was some al-
teration in their course at;that time, which can be
ascertained by referring to the ship's log: Court
the Tremendous bear hp ? A. did not
see the Trerafndous bear up. . Court—Did you
comeiunitatee by signal to Capt. Campbell your
oehlion that the ships seen in the S. W.- were
filtnns ? A.• I did not, because! considered that
as the Tremendous was nearer to them than the
roictie.rs, they could See-more elearly.what they
'were e but the signal was made of two strange sail
by the Poictiers, although it was omitted so to be.
stated in the ship's log.
Cross-examined by Sir James 4thol Wood.

Q. If the Pomve had tacked (heir.; on the
starboard - tack) befoie inn-set, could 'she have •
neared the Poictiers, in the way she was then
standing ? A. I think she would, until she got
abaft thebeam.—Q. Would the Pompec have- in.
crensed her distance from the enemy,- had she
tacked at that time? A. Yes, she must, as she
was on the contrary tack, and the enemy steering
W. and she What time did. you lose
sight of the enemy ? A-. I think we kept sight of -
them until -about -half an hour after the close of
day ; our distance from them' prevented, our see,,,
ing them so long as the -Tremendous.—Q. Was
the night so dark as to make it impossible to keep-
sight of the enemy, unless you were within gun
shot, if they shewed no lights ? A. I think -the
night was so dark as to-prevent-our -seeing ships
without lights at mo,re than three, or four miles
•
distance.
•
Cress-examined by Capt:-Cempbell.
Q. Yon have said that -on the morning of the •
10th we bore up and made-all sail, in chase of the
enemy : was the 'course •steeeK by:the Tremen-
dous best Calculated foi closing'? -A. Yes,
think it was, beeausewe stood direct after them
Q. When I inacle your signal-to 'come within hail,
bad the beadmost ofthe enemy-shortened sail'?
A.- Yes, she had, and hauled dead ‘upon,the wind.
—Q. After communicating with the -brig in' the
south-east, do- you recolleCt making a signal to
me, -expressing your fear that she-might not meet
with Sir Richard King ? . a-telegraph
sh4ndl that I fhouglit dispatches going by gainer=
chant vessel - doubtful.-.---;Q. At that time was the
Nlyrtie hearing 'down ? -A.' 'Yes, `.lie
Q. Did I order you to send- the dispatches by- the
Myrtle. ?. Yes, you did.---:.COurt---What was the
course and. object of the Tremendous -and POictiers
at ;lye .o'clock when :the. ships to leeward-were
seen ? A. We were in pursuit of the enemy, -card
,steering for them,—Q. Did you conAhler the
ships in the south-west had the same object -il
view A. 1 supposed so a a matter of: court;e, after
we had neared them. sufficiently to know "them to
be friends, Which was at abont a onarter past five
o'ciock lithestrange ships hadstooduponthe
starboard tack, th e wind, a north-east ~zrid,by east,
which is north and by'west, and the Tremendous
and. Poictier*, west-mirth-west,- under all 'sail,
'would they not have joined in the pursuit of the

LONDON Printed ify 'Ti
At the •Sux WIT

enemy ?A. Yes, they would have joined.. Q. e -
fore sun-set on the evening of the 10th, did the
Tremendous fire several guns (nine or .ten) at
once, to give the alarm to the ships in the south•-'
-west ? A. I believe many guns were fire.l froin
the Tremendous for that purpose, an i repeated
by the Poictiers, but I cannot say as tl the num-
ber at one time.-.-Q. Did the Tremendous carry a
light, and did the light shrew her position ? A.
Thd first part of th,e night I did see a light, but I
lost fight of it, for some dine before she Wore, on
considering herself near the enemy.—Capt. Camp-
bell—When you .passed within hail of the Tre-
•mendoas, between nine and ten o'clock, did I in-
form you that the reason I wore to 'close with
you- was that I had seen a light close to our star-
board bow, whi'th I. supposed was the 'enemy ?
A. Yes, you informed me that you had worn in
consequence of finding yourself close to the ene-
my's ships : I believe there was something, said
about a light, but:l cannot speak positively.—
Q. Do you-recollect the course. we steered after
we • wore round ? A. Yes, N. W. by N-. and the
Poictiers N: W. half N.—COurt---did you carry
all sail during the night ? A. Yes, as much as the
mast would-bear...--Q. What distance wa the ene-
my from the Poictiers at -six o'Clock in the morn- •
ing ? A. 'Judge about 23 or 24 Miles.--Captain
I called you on boaitl the Tre,
mendous, did I hold out to ypu; in conversa-
tion in my cabin-, that it 'was my Opinion the igna-.
(Iron were certainly bound for. Brest `A.-Yes,
yen • did..--Q. • In our way to Brest, did the Tre-
mendous and Poictiers 'spread at a great-distance
from each other, for the purpose of ineethipoine
reinforcements ?—A.- • Yes, we did 'spread at as
great'a distance as the state of the weather would
atimit, without the risk of parting company. '. •
Cross-exaininedby Sir James Athol Wood,.

• Q. Did you see any 'ship or number: of ships,
during the night of the 10th, to induce you to siip,7
pose you were near the enemy ? A, No, Idid not:
Court You having.stated that the .enexiy. %were
steering to the W. by N.-did any conversation ptss
between yciu and Capt.Campbell,concerning what
induced him. o alter - bis. course, and to, steer
N. W. by N. ?. A. hie said it was in :consei'mence
f
o the light he had seen, which he :supposed was
one of the enemy steering, in thAt-direetion.--
Q.- You have stated that the enemy were steering
W. and by N.: what course did. the Trernendoas
and Poictiers subsequently steer, previous, to Cap,
tain Campbell falling in with the light supposed
to be the enemy-? A. 1 believe the course of the
Poictiers at that time was N. %V„; it might vary
a little.—Q. 'What course did the enemy steer at
that time ?—A. I believe about W. and by N. or
W. N. W.
Mr. Gilbert Burn, Master of the Poictiers, was
the next witness called in and sworn, and pro-
duced toe ship's log.
The log-books of, the Diana, Pompee, and Tre-
inendous were brought in, and •attested by the
Masters of the different ships.
Capt. W. Ferris, of the Diana, sworn.

About half-past 9 o'clock I got sight of the
enemy's squadron, the wind then blowing E. by
S. ;. by keeping close upon the wind, i ranged
under their lee-quarter sufficiently to discover,
from the main top, their manoeuvres ;
wnile-
standing to the N. .and 'observing them steering
N. N.W. I concluded their intentions were to cut
us off; I then tacked to the S. and was obliged td+
go such a distance as to observe them only from
the mast head ; after which I tacked again to the
N. the wind back upon us B. N. E. the enemy
then being; to the best of my recollection, about
N.B. and by Ng, and I think the time was half-
past eleven ; they kept in that direction, or nearly
so, the Diana nearing thena much, until,l saw
sail, which proved to be the Pompee, about a
quarter past two o'clock P. M. ; after having
ex-
changed the private signal,: and the ship's nurn-;
ber, I signified to the Pompee by signal that the
enemy were bearing. N. B. and •by,N. four line of
battle ships and two frigates,frointhtkrendezvons
at Groa ; .on passing 'within hail of the.Poinpee,
I asked Sir James Wood if he shad understood my
signals, to which he replied in the affirmative,
and desired me to come on,board ; on my arrival
on board the Pompee, I stated to Sir James Wood,
that'l conceived I: bad the :superiority of sailing,
with the exception of one ship, which I thought
it doubtful, and that I did not conceive, if we re-
mained.together; that she would venture to sepa-
rate fromithe-rest:' and risk an action ; Sir James
seemed anxious that I should proceed without de-
lay to the Eastward, to apprise some convoys
about to sail from Spithead of the situation of the
enemy. and:gave me an order, of which the Court
are i► 3sses3ion of a copy ; in compliance with
that urder, I returned on board, and found, on
my arrival,, that two sail were seen B. N. E. des-
cried from the. Pompee's mast head • .on my set-
ting off, which I think was about half-past four,
it was reported to me that they were steering
N.W. with - their starboard studding sails set ; I
tacked to the Northward, thinking they might be
English ships, and the weather being moderate, I
continued standing that way until after 6 o'clock,
when I observed the .Pompee tacking to the S.E.•
the enemy then bore.N. half E. or N. and by E.
distance I suppose about 8 or 9 miles, the Pompee
S. E. about 2 mileS, and the headmost of the ships
to _windward B. N. E. about 14 and 15 miles. As
the ships to wind Ward were coming down, and
.the enerny'steer'.44 across our bow about W. and
the Pompee still standing • to the S. B. at dark I
deemed it advisable to tack again to the S. to
prevent our failing between...the ships which 3 knew
to be the enemy, and the ships to windward,
thereby precluding the possibility to escape ; I
'continued standing to the S; full three-quarters
of aii.haur, and during which period the ships to
Windward fired several guns,' five or six, Which I
answered by firing rOCkets, supposing that the
only means of pointing out to'them that we' were
English; as the French had not been accustomed
to the firing of rockets ;• as some time had elapsed
since the firing' of the last rocket, at eight o'clock
I tacked to, the N. concluding Ishould. fetch hear
to the two ships, and sufficiently to windward;
I continued standing on that %ray, till9h. 20m. riot
. then pereeiving-auy lightS or signals, harked agaiiii
to the S: E: a•short time a light was reported

to. inc on the lee bow; tuppiksed tis be the Pora -
pee, when I fired tv o more tocketS; but having
received no answer froth them in any way, I con-
jectured that the ships seen. to 'windward Might he
those which had been lying near Cherbourg ; I
continued my course to the S. E. during the
in eXecution of the order 4 had before received,
the ship in every point teady for battle ; at one
o'clock, Of a little lifter, the flath of a gun was
reported to me to have been seen in the N. but as
there wg.no repetition of it; I wnit led to sup,
pose 'it.waS Only in agination; 'and consequently
did not bear up. I saw nothing niOre of the
enemy, or of the two 'snips 3 at 8, A; M. I diS•=.
patched' the Nimrod.

(To be coalrothlt)

OLD BAILBY, JULY '6,

Edwarenkforris was indicted for utter*, bIIOW*
ing to be forged, a certain check for the payment
of 25/. on 'the 26th of June, 1809, in the purchase
of a horse, to a man named Kcw, a horse-tkaler,
ia Castle-Str&t,,Whitpcha.pel,
The prisoner was acqiiitted in consequence of
the prosectitor's szn-vant, to whoa i the elle& was
actually paid, having died since the transaction
took place. '
Samuel Shermon, alias Browne, was crinvicted
on charge of 'bigamy; in marrying. EiiLabeth
Gurney,. his first' wife, Mary Palmer, being still
living. - •

Ann Rogers and Jane Jones, ttro young
*ere convicted of burglariousil entering the dwa.-
ing-house of James Caperton, iu'the night time,
and stealing therein halfpence, and other property,
to the v:due- Of 51. andnpivarth, in Charles-street.,
Manch,ter-cquai:e. The Jury however recom-
mended them to mercy, 'on account of their youth.