ENGLAND. - 1W 
ney in the Formidable, followed by his feconds, the 
Namur and the Duke, perceiving an accidental interval 
-which invited the attempt, bore directly with fiuMfejl 
athwart the enemy’s line, and fuccefsfnlly broke through, 
about three fhips fhort of the centre, where the count de 
Grade commanded in the Ville de Paris. Being quickly 
fupported by the remainder of his divifion, the Englifh 
commander wore round clofe upon the enemy, and actu¬ 
ally feparated their line, placing the central fhips of the 
French between two fires. This bold and mafterly man¬ 
oeuvre proved decifive. The French, however, conti¬ 
nued to fight with the utmoft bravery, and the battle 
laded till fun-fct. The Csefar was the fird fhip which 
(truck her colours, having lod her captain, and being al- 
mod torn to pieces by the Britidi fire. Soon afterwards, 
by fome unfortunate accident die blew up, and every 
foul on board peridied. The Glorieux, the HeCtor, the 
Ardent, now followed the example of the Csefar, and 
the Diadem went down by a fingle broadlide. The count 
< 3 e Grade in the Ville de Paris, belet on all Tides, dill 
held out with heroic bravery, and, though reduced to a 
wreck, feemed to prefer finking rather than (trike to any 
■thing under a flag. At length admiral Hood, in the 
Barfieur, approached him juft at funfet, and poured in 
a mod deftruCtive fire, which the count yet fuftained for 
fome time, till, having three men only left alive and un¬ 
hurt on the upper deck, he druck to his gallant antago- 
nid. Night only clofed the action: the (hattered re¬ 
mains of the French fleet crowded all the fail they could 
make for Cape Francis, and in the morning they were 
-out of fight. Sir Samuel Hood being detached to purfue 
the flying enemy, came up with five fail off Porto Rico, 
■ and captured the Jafon and Gaton fliips of the line, and 
two frigates, the third with difficulty clearing the Mona 
paffage. Unfortunately the fleet was becalmed for three 
days after the aCtion; and fir George Rodney did not 
efcape cenfure for the previous dilatorinefs of his purfuit. 
Whether more might have been done, if more had been 
attempted, it is difficult, perhaps impoffible, to deter¬ 
mine. “What had been is unknown, what is appears;” 
and certain it is, that this was one of the mod glorious 
and decifive naval victories ever obtained by the arms of 
Britain in any age of the world. 
For this great victory, fir George Bridges Rodney was 
created a peer of Great Britain, by the title of baron 
Rodney, of Rodney-Stoke, in the county of Somerfet, 
and a perpetual annuity of two thoufand pounds annexed 
to the title. And the admiral received, as he well de- 
ferved, the unanimous thanks of both houfes for his 
eminent fervices. 
jThe campaign of 1782 was deftined to be for ever fig- 
nalized in the annals of hiftory, by another event not 
lefs glorious to the arms of Britain than the victory, of 
fir George Rodney. The favourite object of Spain, du-« 
ring the whole of this war, was the recovery of the im¬ 
portant fortrefs of Gibraltar; and, after the reduction 
of Minorca, the whole ftrength of the Spanifh monarchy 
feemed to be directed to this purpofe. The due de 
Crillon, conqueror of Minorca, was appointed to conduct 
the fiege, and, from the failure of former plans, it was 
refolved to adopt an entire new mode of operation. A 
project was formed by the chevalier d’Arcon, and ap¬ 
proved by the Spanifh court, to conftruCt a number of 
floating batteries, on a model which it was. imagined 
would fecure them from being either funk or fired. 
With this view their keels and bottoms were made of an 
extraordinary thicknefs, and their fides defended by a kind 
of rampart, compofed of wood and cork long foaked in 
water, and including between them a large layer of wet 
fand. The roof was made of a ftrong rope-work netting, 
covered with wet hides, and calculated, by its (loping po- 
fition, to prevent the (hells and bombs from lodging, but 
to glide their, off into the fea before they could produce 
any effeCt. The batteries, ten in number, were made of 
the hulls of large veffels cut down for the purpofe, and 
Vol. VI. No. 390. 
mounted with heavy brafs cannon ; and, by a mod inge¬ 
nious mechanifm, a great variety of pipes and canals 
perforated all the folid workmanfhip, in fuch a manner, 
as to convey a continued fucceflion of water to every part 
of the veffels. 
The preparations were enormoufly expenfive in other 
refpeCts: about twelve hundred pieces ol heavy ord¬ 
nance had been brought to the fpet, to be employed in 
the different modes of attack; above eighty gun-boats 
and bomb-ketches were to fecond the operations of the 
floating batteries, with a multitude of frigates, (loops, 
and fchooners; and the combined fleets of France and 
Spain, amounting to fifty fail of the line, were to cover 
and flip port tire attack, while they heightened the awful 
grandeur of the feene. The Spaniards employed by land 
and fea againft the fortrefs, were eftimated at more than 
one hundred thoufand men. 
With this force, and by the fire of three hundred can¬ 
non, mortars, and howitzers, from the adjacent ifthmus, 
it was intended to attack every part of the Britifh works 
at one and the fame moment. The count d’Artois and 
the due de Bourbon, the brother and coufui of the late 
unfortunate Louis XVI. had repaired to the Spanifh camp, 
in order to witnefs the inevitable fall of Gibraltar, which 
had fo long bid haughty defiance to the united powers of 
France and Spain. 
Early on the morning of the 13th of December, the 
ten battering fhips, commanded by admiral don Moreno, 
came to an anchor in a line parallel to the rock, at the 
diflance of about 1200 yards. The furroupding emi¬ 
nences were covered with people, as though all Spain 
were affembled to behold the fpeCtacle. The cannonade 
and bombardment on all fides, from the ifthmus to the 
fea, and the various works of the fortrefs, were tremen- 
doufly magnificent. The prodigious and unintermitted 
fhowers of red-hot balls, of bombs and carcaffes which 
filled the air, exhibited a feene perhaps unparalleled in 
military hiftory. The whole peninftila, like fome vaft 
volcano difeharging on all fides its burning lava, feemed 
enveloped in a fheet of liquid fire. The battering fqua- 
dron for many hours remained to all appearance unaf¬ 
fected, but about two in the afternoon the admiral’s thip 
was obferved to fmoke, and foon after, that of the prince 
of Nuffau was obferved to be in the fame condition. 
The whole line of attack was now vifibly difordered. 
At length, the day having clofed, the two firft (hips ap¬ 
peared to be in flames, and others were beginning to kin¬ 
dle ; and fignals of diftrefs were univerfally made. Cap¬ 
tain Curtis, who commanded the Englifh marine force ira 
the bay, to complete the confufion, having advanced to 
the attack with his gun-boats, and raked the whole line 
of batteries with his fire, the Spanifh launches, which 
had been employed in bringing off the men, no longer 
dared to appear; but were compelled, after feveral had 
been funk in the attempt, to abandon their fliips to the 
flames, and their men to the mercy of the Englifh. The 
diftrefs of the enemy was now wrought up to the higheft 
pitch of calamity ; and the Britifh officers and feamen, 
feeing all rcfiftance at an end, nobly exerted themfelves 
to fave the vanquifhed foe ; - ’and their humanity was, at 
the clofe of this memorable conflict, no lefs confpicuous 
than their valour. Captain Curtis, in particular, ex- 
pofed himfelf to the mod imminent perfonal danger; 
and his pinnace was almoft in contaCt with one of the 
larged batteries at the moment of her explolion, while 
occupied in the philanthropic work of having the enemy 
from drowning. 
In the mean time, lord Howe, who commanded the 
grand fleet confiding of thirty-four fail of the line, was 
on his paffage from Portfmouth, in order to throw fuc- 
cours into the fortrefs. He arrived at Cape St. Vincent 
the 9th of O.Ctober, and on the nth he palled the Straits, 
where the combined fleets had for fome time been fta- 
tioned in order to intercept him; but a violent tempeft 
drove them upon the Barbary coaft, and prevented all 
9 K , poftibiiity 
