r being so far to leeward that the ships of the British rear could
not, even whilst the wind was favorable, close with them without
considerably breaking the order of their own line" (Memoir of Captain
Alms, Naval Chronicle, vol. ii). Such contradictions are common, and,
except for a particular purpose, need not to be reconciled. Alms seems
to have been not only a first-rate seaman, but an officer capable of
resolute and independent action; his account is probably correct.

[186] Troude: Batailles Navales. It was seen from Suffren's ship that
the "Severe's" flag was down; but it was supposed that the ensign
halliards had been shot away. The next day Hughes sent the captain of
the "Sultan" to demand the delivery to him of the ship which had
struck. The demand, of course, could not be complied with. "The
'Sultan,'" Troude says, "which had hove-to to take possession of the
'Severe,' was the victim of this action; she received during some
time, without replying, the whole fire of the French ship."

[187] Annual Register, 1782.

[188] Cunat: Vie de Suffren.

[189] The curves in (B) represent the movements of the ships _after_
the shift of wind, which practically ended the battle. The ships
themselves show the order in fighting.

[190] The enemy formed a semicircle around us and raked us ahead and
astern, as the ship came up and fell off, with the helm to
leeward.--_Journal de Bord du Bailli de Suffren._

[191] See page 435. He added: "It is frightful to have had four times
in our power to destroy the English squadron, and that it still
exists."

[192] There was not a single ship of Suffren's which had more than
three-fourths of her regular complement of men. It must be added that
soldiers and sepoys made up half of these reduced crews.--_Chevalier_,
p. 463.

[193] You will have learned my promotion to commodore and
rear-admiral. Now, I tell you in the sincerity of my heart and for
your own ear alone, that what I have done since then is worth
infinitely more than what I had done before. You know the capture and
battle of Trincomalee; but the end of the campaign, and that which
took place between the month of March and the end of June, is far
above anything that has been done in the navy since I entered it. The
result has been very advantageous to the State, for the squadron was
endangered and the army lost.--_Private Letter of Suffren, Sept. 13,
1783; quoted in the "Journal de Bord du Bailli de Suffren."_

C