soners could be removed; and even in effecting that, one boat was lost, and 2 Frenchmen were drowned: this, I hope, Sir, will plead my apology for not bringing you the whole of them The captured ship is the Terpsichore, of 44 guns, 18 and 24-pounders, and 320 men, commanded by François Désiré Breton, capitaine de fregate; the other was the Atalante, exactly of the same force: they sailed from the Scheldt on the 20th Oct. and went to l’Orient, from whence they sailed again on the 8th ultimo, in company with la Yade, a similar ship, which parted from them in lat. 45 and long. 16 40’. The enemy had 3 men killed, 6 wounded, and 2 drowned; the Majestic none[1].”
On the 22d May following., Captain Hayes captured the American letter of marque Dominica, (formerly H.M. schooner of that name,) mounting 4 long six-pounders, with a complement of 36 men.
The chief command on the coast of America had by this time been transferred to Sir Alexander Cochrane; and Captain Hayes was subsequently sent with a small squadron to cruise off Sandy Hook, for the purpose of intercepting Commodore Decatur, who was about to sail from New York with an armament intended to annoy our commerce in the East Indies and China seas, and for which purpose he had hoisted his pendant on board the President, a ship mounting thirtytwo long 24-pounders, twenty carronades of the same calibre as the Majestic’s, one 8-inch brass howitzer, and six smaller pieces of ordnance in her tops.
Notwithstanding the utmost endeavours of Captain Hayes to keep his squadron close in with Sandy Hook, he had the mortification to be repeatedly blown off by frequent gales; but the very great attention paid to his instructions by his associates, Captains Hope and Lumley, of the Endymion and Pomone frigates, prevented separation; and whenever the
- ↑ The vessel that Captain Hayes was in pursuit of, when he discovered the French frigates and their companions, was the Wasp, an American privateer of 20 guns; and the other ship alluded to in the above letter, a Spaniard, with a valuable cargo from Lima, captured by the enemy only a few hours previous. The Atalante’s commander has been justly censured for not supporting his friend by closing with the Majestic; but the behaviour of that officer does not lessen the credit due to Captain Hayes for his gallantry in bearing down to attack the frigates, under circumstances which rendered it doubtful whether he had not fallen in with an American squadron.
