much more active part than a portion of their men. the enemy, however, were soon overpowered: some were killed or badly wounded; others thrown down the hatchway; and the remainder retreated to the forecastle. Here a line of pikes stood opposed to the British; but all was unavailable. Handspikes, and the butt-ends of muskets, became formidable weapons in the hands of the latter, and soon laid prostrate on the deck the captain and most of the officers near him. The majority of the surviving crew having by this time fled below, all further resistance presently ceased. The British were not long in cutting the cable of their prize, nor in unfurling her sails; and in a very few minutes, the Curieux, in the hands of her new masters, stood out of Fort Royal harbour. A smart fire was successively opened from Fort Edward, a battery on Point Negro, and another at Point Soloman; but the brig passed clear, and long before break of day, was at anchor near the Centaur.
“It was an additional cause of congratulation to the British, that their loss of men, considering the magnitude of the enterprise, was small, consisting of only nine wounded. Three of the number, it is true, were officers; – viz. Lieutenant Reynolds, the gallant leader of the party; his able second. Lieutenant Bettesworth; and Mr.Tracey. The first-named officer received no fewer than five severe, and, as they eventually proved, mortal wounds: one of the seamen, also, died of his wounds. The loss on the part of the French was very serious; – one midshipman and nine other persons killed, and thirty, including every commissioned officer, wounded, many of them severely, and some mortally. Monsieur Cordier had a singular escape: after having been knocked down and stunned, he was thrown overboard, but fell on the fluke of the anchor, whence he dropped into a boat which was alongside, full of water-casks. The only man in the boat immediately cut her adrift, and pulled for the shore; and Captain Cordier, on recovering his senses, was as much chagrined as surprised at the novelty of his situation.
“The Curieux had long been at sea, and was considered to be one of the best-manned, and best-disciplined brigs in the French navy. Some of her crew were undoubtedly panic-struck; but the time, and the suddenness of the attack, coupled with its resistless impetuosity, may serve in part for their excuse. The conduct of the British upon the occasion speaks for itself.”
The Curieux was immediately commissioned as a British sloop of war, and Mr. Boss, by whom she had been brought out of Fort Royal harbour, appointed her first lieutenant; his commission, however, was not confirmed by the Admiralty until Sept. 14th, 1805. Shortly after this promotion, he assisted at the capture of l’Elizabeth French schooner privateer; and in the course of the same year we find him
