126 FRAGMENT OF AN INTENDED ACCOUNT 



tern ; for the next signal which he threw out, was for every 

 ship to bear down on her opposite, according to the 21st ar- 

 ticle of the additional fighting instructions. It appears, as we 

 shall afterwards see, that the cause of this change was the mis- 

 take of the signals, the captains of the fleet not being suffi- 

 ciently prepared for the new method of attack. In the two 

 actions which immediately followed this, on the 15th and 18th 

 of the next month, the French succeeded in the defensive sys- 

 tem; and it was not till two years afterwards, in April 1782, 

 that Lord Rodney gave the first example of completely break- 

 ing through the line of the enemy, and of the signal success 

 which must ever accompany that manoeuvre, when skilfully 

 conducted. The circumstances were very remarkable, and 

 highly to the credit of the gallantry as well as conduct of the 

 Admiral. The British fleet was to leeward, and its van, on 

 reaching the centre of the enemy, bore away as usual along 

 his line; and had the same been done by all the ships that fol- 

 lowed, the ordinary indecisive result would infallibly have en- 

 sued. But the Formidable, Lord Rodney's own ship, kept 

 close to the wind, and on perceiving an opening near the 

 centre of the enemy, broke through at the head of the rear di- 

 vision, so that for the first time the enemy's line was cut in 

 two, and all the consequences produced which Mr Clerk had 

 predicted. 



This action, which introduced a new system, gave a turn to 

 our affairs at sea, and delivered the country from that state of 

 depression into which it had been thrown, not by the defeat 

 of its fleets, but by their entire want of success. 



It was in the beginning of this year that the Naval Tactics 

 appeared in print, though for more than a year before copies 

 of the book had been in circulation among Mr Clerk's friends. 

 Immediately on the publication, copies were presented to the 



Minister 



