Sentence:  Then another series of hollered orders, a heave on the wheel, and the brig did a circuit of the flagship's bow, perilously close to the long bowsprit. A <WSD>haul</WSD> at the braces and back along the larboard side of the "Vincennes" the "Swallow" ran, losing speed but still sending foam seething along the hull of the sloop of war. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An act of hauling or pulling, particularly with force; a (violent) pull or tug.