Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall sp4.djvu/111

 operation; at 33 minutes after 10, I was much distressed to observe the Confiance had struck her colours. The whole attention of the enemy’s force then became directed towards the Linnet; the shattered and disabled state of the masts, sails, rigging, and yards, precluded the most distant hope of being able to effect an escape by cutting the cable; the result of doing so must, in a few minutes, have been her drifting alongside the enemy’s vessels, close under our lee; but in the hope that the flotilla of gun-boats, who had abandoned the object assigned them, would perceive our wants, and come to our assistance, which would afford a reasonable prospect of being towed clear, I determined to resist the then destructive cannonading of the whole of the enemy’s fleet, and at the same time despatched Lieutenant William Drew to ascertain the state of the Confiance. At 45 minutes after 10, I was apprised of the irreparable loss she had sustained by the death of her brave commander (whose merits it would be presumption in me to extol), as well as the great slaughter which had taken place on board, and observing, from the manoeuvres of the flotilla, that I could enjoy no further expectation of relief, the situation of my gallant comrades who had so nobly fought, and even now were fast falling by my side, demanded the surrender of his Majesty’s brig entrusted to my command, to prevent a useless waste of valuable lives; and, at the request of the surviving officers and men, I gave the painful orders for the colours to be struck.

“Lieutenant Hicks, of the Finch, had the mortification to strike on a reef of rocks, to the eastward of Crabb Island, about the middle of the engagement, which prevented his rendering that assistance to the squadron, that might, from an officer of such ability, have been expected.

“The misfortune which this day befel us by capture, will. Sir, I trust, apologize for the lengthy detail, which, in justice to the sufferers, I have deemed necessary to give of the particulars which led to it; and when it is taken into consideration that the Confiance was sixteen days before on the stocks, with an unorganized crew, composed of several drafts of men who had recently arrived from different ships at Quebec, many of whom only joined the day before, and were totally unknown either to the officers or to each other, with the want of gun-locks, as well as other necessary appointments not to be procured in this country, I trust you will feel satisfied of the decided advantage the enemy possessed, exclusive of their great superiority in point of force. It now becomes the most pleasing part of my