s from the town. Baffling winds prevailed for three days; but the
monsoon resuming on the 16th, Suffren approached. The English admiral
not liking to accept action at anchor, and to leeward, in which he was
right, got under way; but attaching more importance to the
weather-gage than to preventing a junction between the enemy's land
and sea forces, he stood out into the offing with a southerly, or
south-southeast wind, notwithstanding his superior numbers. Suffren
formed on the same tack, and some manoeuvring ensued during that
night and the next day. At eight P.M. of the 17th the French squadron,
which had refused to be drawn to sea, anchored off Cuddalore and
communicated with the commander-in-chief. Twelve hundred of the
garrison were hastily embarked to fill the numerous vacancies at the
guns of the fleet.

Until the 20th the wind, holding unexpectedly at west, denied Hughes
the advantage which he sought; and finally on that day he decided to
accept action and await the attack. It was made by Suffren with
fifteen ships to eighteen, the fire opening at quarter-past four P.M.
and lasting until half-past six. The loss on both sides was nearly
equal; but the English ships, abandoning both the field of battle and
their army, returned to Madras. Suffren anchored before Cuddalore.

The embarrassment of the British army was now very great. The
supply-ships on which it had depended fled before the action of the
20th, and the result of course made it impossible for them to return.
The sultan's light cavalry harassed their communications by land. On
the 25th, the general commanding wrote that his "mind was on the rack
without a moment's rest since the departure of the fleet, considering
the character of M. de Suffren, and the infinite superiority on the
part of the French now that we are left to ourselves." From this
anxiety he was relieved by the news of the conclusion of peace, which
reached Cuddalore on the 29th by flag-of-truce from Madras.

If any doubt had remained as to the relative merits of the two
sea-commanders, the last few days of their campaign would have removed
them. Hughes alleges the number of his sick and shortness of water as
his reasons for abandoning the contest. Suffren's difficulties,
however, were as great as his own;[192] and if he had an advantage at
Trincomalee, that only shifts the dispute a step back, for he owed its
possession to superior generalship and activity. The simple facts that
with fif