the "Linnet."
In this combat the "Eagle" could take no part, and the thunder of her
guns died away. Farther down the bay, the "Ticonderoga" had just
driven away the last of the British galleys; so that the "Linnet" now
alone upheld the cause of the enemy. She was terribly outmatched by
her heavier foe, but her gallant captain Pring kept up a desperate
defence. Her masts and rigging were hopelessly shattered; and no
course was open to her, save to surrender, or fight a hopeless fight.
Capt. Pring sent off a lieutenant, in an open boat, to ascertain the
condition of the "Confiance." The officer returned with the report
that Capt. Downie was killed, and the frigate terribly cut up; and as
by this time the water, pouring in the shot-holes in the "Linnet's"
hull, had risen a foot above the lower deck, her flag was hauled
down, and the battle ended in a decisive triumph for the Americans.

Terrible was the carnage, and many and strange the incidents, of this
most stubbornly contested naval battle. All of the prizes were in a
sinking condition. In the hull of the "Confiance" were a hundred and
five shot-holes, while the "Saratoga" was pierced by fifty-five. Not a
mast that would bear canvas was left standing in the British fleet;
those of the flagship were splintered like bundles of matches, and the
sails torn to rags. On most of the enemy's vessels, more than half of
the crews were killed or wounded. The loss on the British side
probably aggregated three hundred. Midshipman William Lee of the
"Confiance" wrote home after the battle, "The havoc on both sides was
dreadful. I don't think there are more than five of our men, out of
three hundred, but what are killed or wounded. Never was a shower of
hail so thick as the shot whistling about our ears. Were you to see my
jacket, waistcoat, and trousers, you would be astonished to know how I
escaped as I did; for they are literally torn all to rags with shot
and splinters. The upper part of my hat was also shot away. There is
one of the marines who was in the Trafalgar action with Lord Nelson,
who says it was a mere flea-bite in comparison with this."

The Americans, though victorious, had suffered greatly. Their loss
amounted to about two hundred men. The "Saratoga" had been cut up
beyond the possibility of repair. Her decks were covered with dead and
dying. The shot of the enemy wrought terrible havoc in the ranks of
the American officers. Lieut. Stansbury of the "Ticonderoga" su