Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v2p1.djvu/260

 Lieutenant of the Lowestoffe frigate, at the capture of la Minerve, June 24, 1795 ; and subsequently commanded the Fairy of 18 guns, in which vessel he sunk a French lugger off Boulogne, Oct. 5, 1797; and captured a Spanish privateer of 8 guns and 55 men, in the Channel, Jan. 11, 1799.

On the 4th February 1800, the Seaflower, a small brig of war, commanded by a Lieutenant, was chased into St. Aubyn’s bay, Jersey, by la Pallas, a French frigate of 46 guns and 380 men. Captain Horton was then dining with Captain d’Auvergne, Prince of Bouillon, the senior officer on that station; and, with Captain Henry Bazely, of the Harpy, a brig mounting sixteen 32-pr. carronades and two long sixes, immediately volunteered to go out and fight the enemy. Their handsome offer being accepted by the Prince, those officers weighed at 6 A.M. on the following day, and before noon discovered the object of their pursuit near St. Maloes, but so close in shore as to preclude the possibility of bringing her to action without having recourse to stratagem. They therefore tacked for the purpose of decoying her out from under the land; a manoeuvre which had the desired effect, as the enemy soon after made sail in chase of them. At one P.M., la Pallas having arrived within pistol-shot of the British sloops, a warm action commenced, and continued till a quarter before three, when she hauled off and made all sail from them. The Fairy and Harpy were by this time much cut up in their rigging, which was no sooner repaired than they crowded sail after her. At four o’clock, a British squadron, consisting of the Loire frigate, Danae, a 20-gun ship, and Railleur sloop of war, hove in sight from the Fairy’s mast head; about 11$h$ 30', Captain Newman of the Loire, succeeded in bringing the enemy to action, in which he was afterwards joined by the Railleur, Harpy, and Fairy; and la Pallas being thus surrounded, was at length compelled to surrender, after a gallant defence of three hours. The loss sustained by the Fairy in those actions, amounted to 4 men killed and 9, including her commander, wounded. The total loss on the part of the British, who were for some time 