er it the advantage
of using the lower-deck guns, the wind and sea having become much
heavier. As the French Admiral, in this new disposition, had put his
heaviest ships in the van, and his line was nearly in the wake of the
British, Howe inferred an attack upon his rear. He therefore ordered
his heaviest ship, the _Cornwall_, 74, to go there from the centre,
exchanging places with the _Centurion_, 50, and at the same time
signalled the fleet to close _to the centre_,--a detail worth
remembering in view of Rodney's frustrated manoeuvre of April 17th,
1780. It now remained simply to await firmly the moment when the
French should have covered the intervening ground, and brought
to action so much of his rear as d'Estaing saw fit to engage; the
conditions of the sea favoring the speed of the bulkier ships that
composed the hostile fleet. The latter, however, soon abandoned the
attempt, and "bore away to the southward, apparently from the state of
the weather, which, by the wind freshening much, with frequent rain,
was now rendered very unfavorable for engaging." It may be added that
the hour was very late for beginning an action. At sundown the British
were under close-reefed topsails, and the sea such that Howe was
unable to return to the _Eagle_.[33]

The wind now increased to great violence, and a severe storm raged on
the coast until the evening of the 13th, throwing the two fleets into
confusion, scattering the ships, and causing numerous disasters. The
_Apollo_ lost her foremast, and sprung the mainmast, on the night of
the 12th. The next day only two British ships of the line and three
smaller vessels were in sight of their Admiral. When the weather
moderated, Howe went on board the _Phoenix_, 44, and thence to the
_Centurion_, 50, with which he "proceeded to the southward, and on the
15th discovered ten sail of the French squadron, some at anchor in the
sea, about twenty-five leagues east from Cape May."[34] Leaving there
the _Centurion_, to direct to New York any of Byron's ships that
might come on the coast, he departed thither himself also, and on
the evening of the 17th rejoined the squadron off Sandy Hook, the
appointed rendezvous. Many injuries had been received by the various
ships, but they were mostly of a minor character; and on the 22d the
fleet again put to sea in search of the enemy.

The French had suffered much more severely. The flagship _Languedoc_,
90, had carried away her bowsprit, all her lower