late XII., A, A). They at once went about to meet their
enemy, who, on his part, formed a line-of-battle. The wind at this
time was west, so that neither could head directly into the bay.

The two fleets were nearly equal in strength, there being eight ships
on each side; but the English had one ninety-gun ship, while of the
French one was only a heavy frigate, which was put into the line.
Nevertheless, the case was eminently one for the general French policy
to have determined the action of a vigorous chief, and the failure to
see the matter through must fall upon the good-will of Commodore
Destouches, or upon some other cause than that preference for the
ulterior objects of the operations, of which the reader of French
naval history hears so much. The weather was boisterous and
threatening, and the wind, after hauling once or twice, settled down
to northeast, with a big sea, but was then fair for entering the bay.
The two fleets were by this time both on the port tack standing out to
sea, the French leading, and about a point on the weather bow of the
English (B, B). From this position they wore in succession (c) ahead
of the latter, taking the lee-gage, and thus gaining the use of their
lower batteries, which the heavy sea forbade to the weather-gage. The
English stood on till abreast the enemy's line (a, b), when they wore
together, and soon after attacked in the usual manner, and with the
usual results (C). The three van ships were very badly injured aloft,
but in their turn, throwing their force mainly on the two leaders of
the enemy, crippled them seriously in hulls and rigging. The French
van then kept away, and Arbuthnot, in perplexity, ordered his van to
haul the wind again. M. Destouches now executed a very neat movement
by defiling. Signalling his van to haul up on the other tack (e), he
led the rest of his squadron by the disabled English ships, and after
giving them the successive broadsides of his comparatively fresh
ships, wore (d), and out to sea (D). This was the end of the battle,
in which the English certainly got the worst; but with their usual
tenacity of purpose, being unable to pursue their enemy afloat, they
steered for the bay (D), made the junction with Arnold, and thus broke
up the plans of the French and Americans, from which so much had been
hoped by Washington. There can be no doubt, after careful reading of
the accounts, that after the fighting the French were in better force
than the Eng