162 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



with forty guns of different calibres and manned ])y 430 seamen and 

 marines exclusive of officers, with the intention of awaiting their 

 return off the False Ducks, a small group of islands near the Canadian 

 coast. Although he decidedly overestimated the strength of the 

 force likely to be opposed to him, he entertained little doubt of success 

 in any encounter with it, after which, he contemplated an attack on 

 Kingston.* 



Sailing from Sackett's Harbour on the 8th, the Royal George was 

 seen alone on the following afternoon and chased into the Bay of 

 Quinte. Alternate squalls and calms favoured her escape and she 

 was eventually lost to view when night fell. The Hamilton was de- 

 tached to burn the schooner Two Brothers lying at Fairfield's ship- 

 yard at Ernestown. Next morning the Royal George was again de- 

 scried entering the narrow channel leading to Kingston and the 

 chase was resumed. 



The appearance of a squadron of hostile vessels in the Bay of 

 Quinte had been reported during the night to Colonel John Vincent 

 of the 49th Regiment, w4io had assumed command of the garrison 

 about two months before. Since his arrival se^■eral batteries had 

 been constructed for the protection of the port on which some twenty 

 guns w^ere mounted, the largest l^eing nine pounders. The garrison 

 was composed of sixteq^i men of the Roj^al Artillery with two field 

 guns under command of a lieutenant; two companies of the 49th, 

 numbering about 100 of all ranks; two companies of the 10th 

 Royal Veteran Battalion, 104 of all ranks, and about four hundred 

 militia, including some boys under twelve years of age and seveial 

 old men who had borne arms during the American Revolution. The 

 whole force was placed under arras and the batteries were manned 

 before daybreak as reports of formidable naval preparations at Sac- 

 kett's Harbour had already been received. 



After escorting the Moira and Simcoe some distance up the lake, the 

 Royal George had remained out until she fell in with the American 

 squadron. Her commander, Captain Hugh Earle, was indeed an ex- 

 perienced navigator, having served in the Provincial Marine since 

 1792, but evidently lacked the professional knowledge and skill to handle 

 his ship in action. His crew consisted of less than twenty seamen of 

 all classes and sixty men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, nomin- 

 ally serving as marines but assisting to work the vessel when occasion 

 required. Recognising the impossibility of contending with success 

 against a force manifestly so superior, Earle lost no time in seeking 

 protection in his port. The ship was moored between the two principal 



*Chauncey to the Secretary of the Navy, Nov. 6. 



