board in the action was only 189; and a few of these were necessarily stationed as sentries over the 49 French prisoners. L’Ambuscade, notwithstanding tho absence of two officers and a boat’s crew, had many men above her established complement; indeed it was afterwards strongly reported that the numerical strength of her crew, including American volunteers, exceeded 400; but this is a point that I will not pretend to determine. That she had an unusually large proportion of small-arm-men cannot be disputed[1].
“After losing sight of l’Ambuscade, we steered for the Delaware, in order to repair our damages; but when about to enter that river the next morning, a pilot-boat informed us that two French frigates had gone in at day-light; it was therefore thought prudent to haul off and steer for Newfoundland, where we arrived in safety on the 19th of the same month. I should here mention, that a letter, written purposely to deceive the enemy, was addressed to the British Consul at Philadelphia, stating that we were going to refit at Jamaica, which letter was carried to the French frigates according to our expectation.”
The official letter respecting this hard-fought action, written by Lieutenant Edwards, was never published, probably because he mentioned in it, that a number of men, on seeing Captain Courtenay fall, had run from the Boston’s quarterdeck guns, and seated themselves round the fore-brace-bitts, from whence he could not immediately get them back to their quarters. We know that such were the reasons assigned by Lieutenant Edwards for his own precipitate conduct in ordering the body of his gallant Captain to be thrown overboard without surgical examination; and although it might have been impolitic to publish such facts at the commencement of the French revolutionary war, we see no reason why they should be concealed at this distant period.
The Boston returned to England in 1795, under the command of Captain (now Sir James N.) Morris; and we subsequently find Mr. Kerr serving on board the Repulse of 64
- ↑ Mr. Hayes returned to the schooner at day-light on the 1st Aug. and soon afterwards obtained permission from the American governor to depart in her at his own pleasure: he ultimately effected his escape from the enemy by passing through Hell-Gate into Long Island Sound about the same hour that the French squadron anchored before New York. His conduct throughout the whole affair entitles him to the highest praise.
