Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v1p1.djvu/62

38 which the troops that were intended for the invasion were to have been paid; and the whole train of artillery, with the battering cannon that were to have been employed on the same enterprise, were captured in the prizes.

It was esteemed remarkably fortunate and glorious for the conquerors, that the Ville de Paris was the only first rate man of war that ever was taken and carried into port by any commander of any nation. This ship had been a present to the French monarch from the city of Paris; and was said to have cost 176,000l. sterling in her building and equipment.

The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded, was very great; the amount of the former is supposed to have been three thousand; and of the latter, at least double that number. The Ville de Paris was fought so long and so gallantly, that on board of her alone four hundred perished.

On board of the British fleet, the loss was also great, but not nearly in the same proportion, nor so great as might have been anticipated, when the length and the obstinacy of the contest are taken into consideration. Including the loss of both actions, on the 9th and 12th, the number of the killed amounted to two hundred and thirty-seven, and of wounded to seven hundred and sixty-six. Several officers of great repute for skill and bravery were among both. Captain Blair, of the Anson, who had distinguished himself the preceding year, in the action off the Dogger Bank with the Dutch, was slain; and Lord Robert Manners, son of the great Marquis of Granby, was so dangerously wounded, that he died on his passage to England.

The British nation were so sensible of the bravery displayed both by the officers and men in this action, and of the importance of it as the only means of preserving the remainder of our West India Islands, that their joy, when the intelligence arrived, was excessive; it came also very seasonably in other points of view. On land, and even at sea, except where Admiral Rodney was engaged, we had not been able to meet the enemy, on any occasion, with great and decisive advantage; and in too many instances we had retired from the contest, not in the most honourable manner. As the means also of procuring more favourable terms of peace, this victory was hailed with joy and exultation; and as Admiral Rodney was looked up to as the great cause of it, the gratitude of the nation towards him was deeply felt, and expressed in warm and glowing language. It was recollected that the fortune of Sir George Rodney had been peculiarly singular, as well as highly glorious in the war. Within a little more than two years, he had given a severe blow to each of our three powerful and dangerous enemies, the French, Spaniards, and Dutch. He had taken an Admiral of each nation; a circumstance perhaps unequalled. He had in that time, added twelve line-of-battle ships, all taken from the enemy, to the British navy; and destroyed five more!

Nor were his Sovereign and the Houses of Parliament less sensible of the year; and Admiral, January 1st, 1801. His lady died in Sept. 1819, aged 73 years.

