when the firing began. "Our
line of battle was formed under the fire of musketry,"[116] wrote the
Marquis de Vaudreuil, the second in command, who, being in the rear
of the fleet on this occasion, and consequently among the last to be
engaged, had excellent opportunity for observation. At the beginning
it was in de Grasse's power to postpone action, until the order should
be formed, by holding his wind under short canvas; while the mere
sight of his vessels hurrying down for action would have compelled
Rodney to call in the ships chasing the _Zele_, the rescue of which
was the sole motive of the French manoeuvre. Instead of this, the
French flagship kept off the wind; which precipitated the collision,
while at the same time delaying the preparations needed to sustain it.
To this de Grasse added another fault by forming on the port tack,
the contrary to that on which the British were, and standing southerly
towards Dominica. The effect of this was to bring his ships into the
calms and baffling winds which cling to the shore-line, thus depriving
them of their power of manoeuvre. His object probably was to confine
the engagement to a mere pass-by on opposite tacks, by which in all
previous instances the French had thwarted the decisive action that
Rodney sought. Nevertheless, the blunder was evident at once to
French eyes. "What evil genius has inspired the admiral?" exclaimed du
Pavillon, Vaudreuil's flag-captain, who was esteemed one of the best
tacticians in France, and who fell in the battle.

[Illustration]

As the two lines drew near to one another, standing, the French south,
the British east-north-east, the wind shifted back to the eastward,
allowing the French to head higher, to south-south-east, and knocking
the British off to north-north-east (Position 4). The head of the
French column thus passed out of gunshot, across the bows of Rodney's
leading vessel, the _Marlborough_, (m), which came within range when
abreast the eighth ship. The first shots were fired by the _Brave_,
74, ninth in the French line, at 8 A.M. The British captain then put
his helm up and ran slowly along, north-north-west, under the lee of
the French, towards their rear. The rest of the British fleet followed
in his wake. The battle thus assumed the form of passing in opposite
directions on parallel lines; except that the French ships, as they
successively cleared the point where the British column struck their
line, would draw out of fir