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 Arbuthnot was sighted to the north-east. It was now to leeward; but as Arbuthnot steered towards it the wind gradually drew round from west to north-east. Throughout the forenoon he endeavoured to get to windward of the enemy, and about 1.30 p.m. Destouches, finding that he was losing ground and apprehensive of having his rear doubled on, gave up the weather-gauge, and running down to leeward formed his line on the starboard tack. As the English squadron, on the opposite tack, was now nearly abreast and to windward of the enemy, Arbuthnot began to wear in succession; and the three leading ships, opposed to the enemy's van, found themselves engaged by the whole enemy's line before the rest of their squadron could support them. In this way these three ships were dismantled; whilst the enemy, passing by them and wearing in succession, reformed their line on the larboard tack and waited for a renewal of the action. But this was out of the power of the English to attempt; for of their eight ships three were disabled, and all that could be done was to make for the Chesapeake and, anchoring in Lynnhaven Bay, prevent any operations the French might have in view. But these, on their part, had also suffered severely, and were unable to attempt anything further. Their expedition had miscarried, and they returned to Rhode Island, where they anchored on the 30th. A fortnight later the English took up their old position in Gardiner's Bay, and Arbuthnot, having received permission to return home, surrendered the command to Rear- Admiral Graves, and sailed for England on 4 July. He had no further employment at sea, but, advancing in rank by seniority, was, on 1 Feb. 1793, promoted to be admiral of the blue. He died in London on 31 Jan. 1794 at the age of 83.

Admiral Arbuthnot may be considered as, in some respects, a late survival of the class of officer described under the name of Flip or Trunnion. That he was ignorant of the discipline of his profession was proved by his altercation with Sir George Rodney; that he was destitute of even a rudimentary knowledge of naval tactics was shown by his absurd conduct of the action off Cape Henry; and for the rest he appears in contemporary stories (cf. Morning Chronicle, 18 May 1781) as a coarse, blustering, foul-mouthed bully, and in history as a sample of the extremity to which the maladministration of Lord Sandwich had reduced the navy.

[Charnock's Biographia Navalis, vi. 1; Ralfe's Naval Biography, i. 129; Beatson's Naval and Military Memoirs; Mundy's Life of Lord Rodney; Official Letters and Documents in the Record Office.]  ARBUTHNOT, ROBERT, K.C.B., K.T.S. (1773–1853), lieutenant-general, was the fourth son of John Arbuthnot, of Rockfleet, county Mayo, and brother of the Right Honourable Charles Arbuthnot and of Lieutenant-general Sir Thomas Arbuthnot [see ]. He entered the army as a cornet in the 23rd light dragoons on 1 Jan. 1797, and was present at the battle of Ballynamuck in the Irish rebellion on 8 Sept. of the following year. He subsequently served with his regiment at the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806, and in South America as aide-de-camp to General (afterwards Lord) Beresford, with whom and the rest of the troops under General Beresford's command he was made a prisoner of war, and remained a prisoner for eighteen months, until released under the convention made by General Whitelock. On his return from America, Arbuthnot, then a captain in the 20th light dragoons, resumed his position on General Beresford's staff at Madeira, and served with him as aide-de-camp, and afterwards as military secretary, throughout the greater part of the Peninsular war.

Few officers have taken part in so many general actions. Besides the battle of Ballynamuck, two at the Cape, and three in South America, Sir Robert was present at the battle of Corunna, the passage of the Douro, the battle of Busaco, the lines of Torres Vedras, the siege and reduction of Olivenza, the first siege of Badajoz, the battle of Albuera, the siege and storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, the third siege and storming of Badajoz, the battles of the Nivelle, Nive, passage of the Adour, and the battles of Orthes and Toulouse. He received the gold cross and three clasps for Busaco, Albuera, Badajoz, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse, and the war medal and two clasps for Corunna and Ciudad Rodrigo. He also received Portuguese and Spanish orders, including the special star given by the Portuguese government to all English officers of superior rank engaged at Albuera. He brought home the despatches regarding Albuera, and on that occasion was appointed a brevet lieutenant-colonel. He was created a knight of the Tower and Sword by the government of Portugal, and in 1815 was appointed a K.C.B. In 1830 he attained the rank of major-general, and in 1838 was appointed to the command of the troops in Ceylon, after which he commanded a division in Bengal until his promotion as lieutenant-general in 1841. In 1843 he was appointed colonel of the 76th foot. He died on 6 May 1853.

Sir Robert Arbuthnot was an officer of