APPENDIX to the CHRONICLE. 



567 



In the month of February I was 

 dispatched by admiral Coinwallis 

 from the fleet off Ushant, to block- 

 ade the harbours of Ferrol and Co- 

 ruuna. — Although at that time there 

 were five French ships of the line 

 and three frigates, and five Spanish 

 ships of the line and four frigates, 

 nearly ready for sea, besides three 

 Spanish line of battle ships, which 

 were just come out of the arsenal, 

 and were getting ready, seven sail 

 of tlie line were all that could be 

 «pared me, Avhich were afterwards 

 increased to nine ; and though I re- 

 peatedly made application for two 

 frigates and two small vessels, to 

 place at the entrance of these har- 

 bours, I only obtained one of each. 

 I do not mention this, by any 

 means, as complaining of the con- 

 duct of the admiralty, or imputing 

 to them any inattention to my situ- 

 ation, or to the public service. I 

 well know that at that criti(ial pe- 

 riod they had abundant means of 

 employing all the force they could 

 collect; and I have no doubt but 

 that they supplied me with as many 

 as they could, consistently with 

 their attention to the other parts of 

 the service. I am defending myself 

 — notimpiiliiig blame to others; and 

 my solo object in making this state- 

 ment is, that the court may be aware 

 of the very critical situation in 

 Mhich I was placed. 



With my small force, however, I 

 kept my station, and, from time to 

 time, reported to the commander of 

 the licet off Ushant, and to the ad- 

 miralty, the information I received 

 respecting the state of the enemy's 

 fleet. 



About the month of April, the 

 Toulon and Cadiz fleets joined ; 

 and it being then uncertain what 

 woflld be their dcstittatiou, and the 



Brest fleet being also on the move, 

 my situation became so dangerous, 

 that lord Gardner gave me direc- 

 tions, upon perceiving the enemy*S 

 ships to direct their course to the 

 northAvard, or on receiving intelli- 

 gence that could be depended upon 

 of their taking that route, to pro- 

 ceed t<> join his lordship either at 

 the rendezvous off Brest, or where- 

 ver else I might learn with certainty 

 that he might be with the squadron. 



The combined squadrons, howe- 

 ver, went to the West Indies ; and 

 it being expected that they would 

 return, and attempt to form a junc* 

 tion with the fleet at Ferrol, I was 

 directed both by lord Gardner, and 

 the admiralty, to be on my guard, 

 in case of that event. 



In the mean time, the prcpara- 

 tions at Ferrol continued. — On th« 

 5th July, I received information 

 that there wa.s a French admiral ex- 

 pected daily from Paris or Brest, to 

 supersede the admiral then at Fer- 

 rol ; that the combined squadrons, 

 consisting of 13 sail of the line, be- 

 sides frigates and corvettes, had or- 

 ders to leave Ferrol, and to be at 

 Corunna by the middle of the 

 month. 



A report was made to me by 

 captain Prowse, a few days before, 

 tha^ agreed with so much of this in- 

 telligence as respected the number 

 of ships ready for sea, and added 

 that three other line of battle ships 

 were getting ready. On the 10th 

 of July I received a farther report 

 from him, that the ships had actually 

 begun to move. From subsequent 

 events, it appears that these reports 

 were accurate. 



In addition to this, I had learned 

 that the enemy had erected signal- 

 j)0sts from Cape Finisterre and 

 C'ai)e Ortegal, to Ferrol, so that th« 



O 4 combined 



