coming mafters of the whole, when D'Eftaing appeared with fifteen ships to its relief. The danger of the British fleet and army became extreme, but the event of the conteft difplayed, in the moft illuftrious manner, the fuperiority of their valour and fkill. The French commander, unable to make any impreffion upon the troops, who received him with a cool firmnefs, and fwept away his men by their well directed fire, was equally incapable of bringing his fuperior naval ftrength to bear upon the British ships. After having suffered a lofs in killed and wounded of 1600 men, foiled and difgraced in all his attempts, he abandoned the island, which immediately furrendered; fo that he had the additional mortification of seeing the British flag flying from all quarters. The bravery of our troops, though it could chafe away a foreign enemy, could not withstand the noxious qualities of the climate; both foldiers and failors fell a prey to that destroyer. The labour which was requifite to put the place in a refpectable ftate of defence, increased the mortality, and caused the poffeffion of St. Lucia to be obtained at too dear a rate.

Admiral Byron arrived foon after, when Barrington, whose name ought ever to be revered for the effential fervices which he rendered his country, in repelling this formidable attack of the French, became fecond in command. Soon after, the British fleet was reinforced by a fquadron under Admiral Rowley, and the French by one under M. de Graffe. The attention which was neceffary to be paid to a valuable fleet of merchant fhips which were collected at St. Chriftopher's, to proceed to England, obliged Admiral Byron to quit his ftation off Martinique. This furnished an opportunity for a small body of troops, not more than four hundred and fifty men, to be conveyed to the ifland of St. Vincent, where the difpofition of the French inhabitants,

inhabitants, and of the native caribbs, were well known. This fmall force, under the command of an officer of inferior rank, found means to reduce the ifland", although defended by upwards of four hundred regular troops. The bad policy of that severity which had been exercised towards the native Indians upon that ifland, then became apparent, and a valuable poffeffion was loft, by government having yielded a few years before to the folicitations of injustice and rapacity t. The good fortune of France now prevailed, La Motte Piquet arrived about the fame time with a reinforcement, having on board troops and naval ftores, whereupon D'Estaing immediately put to fea, and proceeded to the island of Grenada, having then twenty-fix fhips of the line under his command, and near ten thousand landforces. The fate of the island was inevitable; but the re folute defence made by Lord Macartney, the Governor, protracted it for fome time, until a hill which commanded the fort, being forced, after a gallant defence, in which the French loft three hundred men, the Governor proposed to capitulate; but the terms offered by the French Generals with the haughty port of a conqueror, being unufually hard, the fort and ifland was furrendered at difcretion. The behaviour of D'Eftaing, in this his first successful enterprize, degraded his character bythe severity and oppreffion with which his conduct was marked. That feries of adverse fortune which had hitherto attended him, could not fail of making a deep impreffion on a man fo exceedingly irritable, and impatient to acquire glory; befides which, he harboured a perfonal refentment against the English nation; as he las boured under a charge of having broken his parole when a prifoner in the last war, on which account many expreffions

June 16, 1779.

+ See page 95.

July 3, 1779.

of

of ftrong contempt had been thrown out by the British naval commanders, against him, of which he was well apprised, and a mind confcious of a dishonourable action is prepared to. admit the most implacable refentments *.

The appearance of the British fleet, confifting of twenty. one fhips of the line, was now too late to fave the valuable poffeffion which it became a witnefs to the lofs of; but it interposed seasonably for the prefervation of Tobago, the only poffeffion which remained to England of the islands which were ceded to her at the peace of Paris. A partial engagement followed, in which Admiral Barrington, in the Prince of Wales, with the Captains Sawyer and Gardner, in the Boyne and Sultan, fuftained the whole weight of the French van for a confiderable time; the action was inde cifive; many of our fhips fuffered confiderable damage, and Admiral Barrington received a flight wound: the French are faid to have had twelve hundred men killed and two thousand wounded; a Captain and five Lieutenants were flain on board one fhip. Their conduct throughout the action, fhewed great inattention to feize the advantages which presented, in confequence of their decided fuperiority in point of force.

If D'Eftaing, immediately after this conflict, had bent his whole force against Jamaica, it can fcarcely be doubted

* The Count D'Estaing resembles Marshal Tallard in his defects; he is extremely short-fighted, and impétuous, even to rafhness; which caufed him to be made prifoner before Madrass in 1758, as Tallard was at the battle of Blenheim. He was permitted to return to Europe on his parole, but during the voyage he caused himself to be collufively exchanged, and immediately proceeded against the English Eat-India Company's fettlement of Bencoolen, which he could not fail of reducing. This conduct led the late Admiral Bofcawen to declare, that if it was his fortune to make D'Estaing his prifoner, he would chain him to the deck like a monkey.

that he would have annexed that valuable ifland to the crown of France. The reprefentations which were made to government of its weak ftate of defence, had been urgent and repeated, but without effect; indeed fome time after troops did arrive, but the moment of extreme danger was then elapsed. As the progrefs of the British arms in the fouthern Provinces was a new and unexpected event, the French commander may be supposed to have received no pofitive orders from Europe, for attempting the recovery of Georgia and protection of Carolina; the inftructions under which he acted might perhaps leave him at liberty to choose his own plan of conduct, and that he proceeded to the continent ought not to be attributed to warmth of zeal in the cause of his master's ally, because it was greatly for the intereft of France to prevent, if poffible, her rival becoming poffeffed of the valuable Province of South Carolina, fróm whence the drew thofe articles of commerce which were her only compensation for this moft expenfive alliance, and the forces of the country were utterly unequal to the task of protecting that Colony, fo remote from the centre of operations. D'Eftaing therefore was no fooner difengaged from Byron than he proceeded to Georgia, and on his paffage thither, happened to capture Sir James Wallace in the Experiment, a fifty-gun ship, with a large fum of money on board, to pay the troops at Savannah; three frigates likewife fell into his hands.

The French troops were landed on the 9th of September, and on the 16th their General fummoned the Commander at Savannah to furrender the town to the French King. Prevoft, on the firft alarm of danger, had called in Colonel Maitland and his force, which then was at Port Royal island, and that able officer effected his retreat, and arrived at the most critical point of time; for after various letters had

had been interchanged between the two Generals, Prevoft was allowed only twenty-four hours for returning a decifive answer. Had D'Eftaing formed the attack immediately upon his landing, he muft inevitably have carried the town; but his confidence in the force which he commanded, led him fo much to defpife his enemy, that he was rendered incautious, and weakly neglected to penetrate into their defigns. Lincoln, with the American force, arrived the day after the invitation to capitulate had been rejected. The French army is fuppofed to have confifted of nearly five thousand men, the American of about three thousand: the whole force under Prevoft, comprehending regulars, provincials, and failors, might amount to three thoufand, but ardent were the exertions used to ftrengthen the works, and fupply the want of artillery with the guns from the ships. The judicious difpofition of this force is to be attributed to Capt. Moncrieffe, who was principal Engineer.

An heavy bombardment began on the night of the 3d of October, which proving ineffectual, on the 9th a general affault was made upon the British lines by the French and Americans, on which occasion D'Estaing led his choiceft troops in perfon. Capt. Taws, who commanded a res doubt, made a moft heroic defence, but he was at length flain, whilft his fword was plunged into the body of the third enemy whom he had killed with his own hand. The bravery of this officer had been displayed in many actions, but his fervices had failed of procuring him any advancement in rank. When the foremost of the French troops had mounted the works, and were in the near prospect of becoming mafters of the place, fome batteries, which were difcharged by feamen, dealt fuch deftruction in every di rection, as greatly impeded the advancement of the main body; at the same time a party of grenadiers and marines, bravely

B b 2