373 
THE SEE'V'XCES 
or 
LIEUT.-COLONEL FEANCIS DOWNMAN, R.A., 
IN 
FRANCE, NORTH AMERICA, AND THE WEST INDIES 
BETWEEN THE YEARS 1758 AND 1784. 
X? ® R ^ 
EDITED BI 
COLONEL P. A. WHINYATES, late rJe-H.*. mUg 
CHAPTER YI. 
NT C 
Actions between French and English ships. The naval and military 
operations in and near Rhode Island. General Grey’s Expedition. 
Operations in the Jerseys. 
August 20th, 1778. —Lord Howe, with the fleet under his command, 
has obliged the Comte d'Estaing, and the rebel myrmidons, the respect¬ 
able allies o£ his magnanimous master, to abandon their design on 
Rhode Island, and drawn the former with the formidable squadron 
under his command out to sea. His Lordship on Tuesday at mid¬ 
night, 12th inst., when about 15 leagues off the east end of Long 
Island gave the signal for action, at which time the most dreadful 
storm ever known on this coast at this season of the year, arose and 
dispersed the two fleets. It continued without intermission until the 
Friday following, notwithstanding which, by his Lordship's magnan¬ 
imity, and the undaunted bravery of the British officers and seamen, 
the following brilliant actions have been performed :— 
On Sunday, 16th inst., the Zele, of 74 guns, a French rear-admiral's 
ship, bore down upon H.M. ship Isis, of 50, shouting and huzzaing as 
if she was already his capture. The French admiral at the same time 
hoisted his flag. Captain Raynes, of the Isis, in the meanwhile 
ordered the strictest silence to be observed, and finding that the 
enemy gained upon him, took every precaution to receive her properly, 
not permitting his men to fire till she was within pistol shot. He 
then gave the French admiral so warm a salute that he was soon con¬ 
vinced of his inability to cope with the superior and well-directed fire 
of the Isis, and there is great reason to imagine he would have struck, 
as he was observed to throw his papers overboard, but finding the 
8. YOL. XXV. 35 
