1809	Intrepid with Furieuse and Félicité	165

powerful an antagonist ; but what shall we say of the Recruit ? Her behaviour was gallant in the extreme, and was well calculated to efface the stain which, not many weeks before, nor many degrees from the same spot, the Driver's conduct had, seemingly, put upon the sloop-class. * Next to the pleasure of recording acts of intrepidity like that performed by the Recruit, is the pleasure of being able to announce that they were appreciated in the quarter possessing the power to reward them. Sir Alexander Cochrane, with feelings highly honourable to him, appointed Captain Napier to the command of the d'Haupoult. The admiral did this on the spot, and then detached the York and Captain, with two frigates and a sloop of war, in quest of M. Troude ; but who evaded all his pursuers and reached Europe in safety, anchoring, about the middle of May, in the road of Cherbourg. The d'Haupoult was a tolerably fine ship of 1871 tons, and, under the name of Abercromby, cruised for three or four years in the British service.

The two armées en flute, Furieuse and Félicité, which we left at anchor in the road of the Saintes, did not get under way until 9 a.m. on the 15th : they then, accompanied by a brig-corvette, stood over for Guadaloupe, chased by the 64-gun ship Intrepid, Captain the Honourable Warwick Lake, one of the Acasta's squadron. At 10 a.m. the Intrepid commenced action with the two French ships, and also with the batteries on shore ; under the protection of which both her opponents soon obtained shelter, leaving the British ship with her masts, yards, rigging, and sails much wounded, and one boat cut from her quarter, chiefly by the heavy shot from Fort-Matilda, but, as far as we can gather, with no loss of men.

On the night of the 14th of June these two French frigates, the Furieuse, armed with two long 18, and six long 8-pounders, and 12 carronades, 36-pounders, with a crew, including some military passengers, of about 200 men and boys, commanded by Lieutenant Gabriel-Etienne-Louis Le Marant-Kerdaniel, and the Félicité, armed with 14 long 12-pounders and a crew of 174 men and boys, and both frigates laden with a cargo of colonial produce, escaped from the road of Basse-terre, Guadaloupe, bound to France ; but not unseen by some of the in-shore sloops and brigs of the blockading squadron, one of which, the gun-brig Haughty, Lieutenant John Mitchell, fired several shot at the two frigates. At daylight the whole British squadron went in chase ; but, towards the afternoon, the only ships in sight of the enemy were the 38-gun frigate Latona, Captain Hugh Pigot, and 18-gun ship-sloop Cherub, Captain Thomas Tudor Tucker.

The chase of the two French frigates continued all the 15th and 16th and during a part of the 17th ; when they separated.

* See p. 151.

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