The Sun.
London, England, 1812-07-16 00:00:00

co rsit r IAL .
CAPTAIN' SIR JAMES ATII9I, WOOD AND CAPTAIN

ROBERI\ CAIIPJ3LL.

[Confirmed from tmr Papet of Friday.]

At-the time the Pompee tacked, weiay
by E. as appears iu evidence t efore the Court,
being within four points of • the direct course to.
the two strange shipa, and had this course been t
ascertained by the strange,shipg, they could have
easily formed a junction with me - before ten
,o'cloale at night, • whereas I had it not in my
posyer to approach them neas-er than I did, more
especially as -I have already stated the enemy were
bearing down in a line to cut us off on the star-
board tack. On the one-hand bad I made the •
night Signal, on a supposition that the strange
ships were friends-, While, the enemy were broad
on my weather" quarter, it would inevitably have:
exposed the Pompee''s position to the. enemy in
chace of us'; but, on the other hand, had the
strange ships to windward supposed the Pompee
to be a friends and bore down. with the private
night signal, being two,lights horizontal (which
might with safety have been shewn at their top-
sail or top-gallant yards), then a jthiction could
have been formed a ithout much tisk. I shall not
trespass on the tithe of the COurt by making any
observations on the CliffiCultits Lord Keith pro-
fesses to have experienced in the course of his
investigation,' from the inaccurate manner in
which, the logs of the different ships have been
kept, and that it was impoSsible,to place the ene- -
mysand. the several ships' ofahis Majesty in any
reconcilable relatiVe position, nor is it necessary
for me to Make any comments on the two equally
inaccurate sketches A antf 11 prepared' from the
logs. But so far as relates- to the Pompee'S po-
sition, I shall make.it appear correct, from the
testimony of my officers, who, froM actual ob-
servations, were' best. qualified to judge,' and the
sketches taken by them, shall, in the course of
their examination, he laid befere the Court.
Lord Keith has,- howeyer; iu his repOrt, inad-
vertently observed, that as the two sketches A
and B, already alluded -to, do not'materially dif-
fer, the ships seen by the Pompee, at midnight,
when she 'started her water, could, not, possibly
.have been those of the enemy, which she observed
at sun-set, and that in •all. probability they Were
an outward-bound convoy, which his Lordship
states, appears to be admitted by me, in 'a
letter which I had sent him, transmitting my,
log. 1 beg deave to observe in answer to
thdse remarks ssf his Lordship, that' it'was possi-
ble, nay probable, and, independent of atsy other
proof,is susceptible of mathematical demonstration,
that 'the ships Which got within gun-shot of the
Tom*, at midnight, were unquestionably those
of the enemy seen at sun-set, because from their
position to windward, at the distance of 6 or 9
miles, when We stcod close-hauled, on the lar-
board. tack, havinz little-wind, arid the .enemy's
ships bearing up alter us with a press-ssf`sail, and
bringing down With them any occasional. flaws or
_breezes, could under such circumstances undoubt-
edly run, in about sixshours tune, 24' miles for the
Pompee's 18, which is in the average proportion
of 4 miles by the enemy to 3 by the Pompee, in
an hour ; and it is more than probable that they
brought .with them 'a similar breeze to that men-
•tioned in the evidence of Captain Jackson, where-
in he says, that he carried as much-sail during the
night as' his masts would bear. That 'these ships
were no other than the enemy's. will be proved
froM the bearings of their lights at different • inter-
vals, during the first Watch, and. ails-fact is even-
corroborated by the evidence of Captain Ferris,
who' states, that when he saw. the- enemy crossing
hts bow he stood from three-quarters of an hour
to an hour to the S. and E. he then tacked and
stood until half-past nine, to the northward; and
then tacked again to the S. E. and and in a short
interval he saw a light on the lee bow which he
supposed to be the Poinpee's. The Court will
observe, that in laying down these three different
courses of the Diana, till half-past niee, that
from thedistance, it was impossible for her to
have seen a light from the Pompee, bad she ever
shewn one .; but the fact is, that the light then
seen on their lee how, could be.no other than that
of the enemy's hearing down after the Pompee,
steering about S. S. E. with the wind at N. E. by
E. As to the opinion given by'his Lordship of
all his Majesty's: ships outsailing those of the
enemy, it has already appeared they did-collec-
tively, but there was a ship or two of the enemy's
squadron, which sailed better than some of his
Majesty's ships. —ln addition to what I have
just stated, it has occurred to me that, notwith-
standing the opinions-given by Capt.-Jackson irid
others, of his- Majesty's ships sailing better thin
the enemy collectively yet it must appear to thiS
Court that such opinions' are vague, and nuga-
tory, as 'it- does not appear by their evidence'
that they were nearer the enemy in the evening
than they were in the morning •of the 10th, and
whilothey were laying to mad running after other
shipS on various courses, how was- it possible for
them, at such a distance to see what sail the ene-
my set' or shortened, or if his 'head-sails might
not have been aback or shiveringato deceive them,
as they .appeared to me to be. at' half 'past
six on the evening of the 10th, .with a view to
deceive us-Were it even to bte admitted or establish-
ed by proof that the Poinpee, after sun-set, and
before starting her water, sailed in every respect
equally if not better than the enerny'seships, yet,
-with all deference to Loid Keith's opinion, it. is
possible they might have approached us within
gun-shot by midnight. This is the more obvious,
in considering the relative bearings and 'distance
of one from the other, and that the Pompee was
close hauled on the larboard tack, and'in the trough
of a N. E. swell, while the enemy's ships were
sailing large, under a press of sail, and had also
the advantage of the first breeze which sprung up
from windward, with every favoura.ble shift of
wind 'to the -,a-orthward, and this fact is confirmed
by the Pempee's getting the breeze immediately
after the enemy's ships were discovered at mid-
night.
With respect to my having admitted, as Lord
Keith has been pleased to say I did, in the letter.
I sent with my log, that in all probability the ships