230 
mez conducted to Martinique con- 
sisted of six ships of the line and 
one frigate, to oppose. which sir 
Alexander Cochrane, the English 
admiral upon the station, had at 
. that moment only four ships of the 
line and three frigates; but with 
this inferior force he gallantly pur- 
sued the enemy, in order to watch 
his motions and eheck any enter- 
prizes he might meditate. No sooner 
had the French admiral collected 
the whole of his squadron at Marti- 
nique, than he put again to sea, and 
steered to the north, followed at a 
distance by Cochrane, who, though 
he avoided an engagement, hovered 
in sight of the enemy’s squadron, to 
prevent him making any attempt on 
the ports or shipping of the English 
islands. In passing St. Thomas’s* 
the French slackened sail for the En- 
glish, as if desirous of coming to 
action, but Cochrane, considering 
the inferiority of his force, the 
French having been joined by ano- 
ther ship of the line and three fri- 
gates after they left Martinique, de- 
clined fighting, and satisiicd with 
having traced the course of the €ne- 
my to Porto Rico, returned to Tor- 
tola, leaving two frigates to watch 
their motions.+ It was fortunate 
for the French admiral that he lost 
so little time at Martinique : for on 
the 12th of July sir John Borlase 
Warren arrived at Barbadoes with 
six sail of the line, which had been 
dispatched from England with un- 
exampled promptitude,t on the first 
surmise of the French having re- 
passed the line and directed their 
course to the West indies. Ano- 
* July 6th. 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806. 
ther squadron under sir Richard Stra- 
chan ‘had been previously sent 
out to cruise for them; and when 
news arrived of their escape from 
the West Indies, a third squadron 
under sir Thomas Louis put to sea 
to intercept their return ;§ besides 
which, blockading squadrons watch- 
ed all the principal ports of the 
continent, into which they could at- 
tempt to enter. i 
So many provident and well com- 
bined precautions must have been 
followed by the capture of the 
French squadron, if it had ventured 
on returning to Europe, or had thé 
ships of which it was composed, 
continued cruizing together at sea. 
But the French admira! seeing all 
his plans frustrated by the vigilance 
and activity of his enemies, deter- 
mined on consulting the individual 
safety of his ships by dispersing 
them in’ different directions. The 
Veteran of 74. guns, commanded by 
Jerome Bonaparte, seems to have 
been the first that separated from 
the rest of the squadron, and td 
have been .the most fortunate in 
its voyagehome. On the 16th of 
Augustas this vessel was about three 
hundred leagues west of Brest, to 
the northward of the Azores, it fell 
in with the homeward bound Que- 
bec fleet, under the convoy of the 
Champion frigate, and took and de- 
stroyed six vessels Jaden with timber 
and other valuable articles ; and on 
the 26th of the same month after 
having been chaced by an English 
man of'war, it reached in safety 
the coast of Brittany, and got into 
the small harbour of Concarneau, 
+ July 8th. 
} Sir J. B. Warren sailed from Spithead on the 4th of June, where he bad lost 
several days from contrary winds, after he had got orders to sail. 
Villaumez owed the escape of his squadron. 
To this delay 
§ August 28th, 
‘ under 
