as under the command of
the admiral of the little fleet. This expedition consisted of one sail
of the line and eight frigates, with 3000 French soldiers. It sailed
on September 30, 1798; but the destinies were against it, as they had
been against its predecessors, and contrary winds compelled the admiral
to make a wide sweep out of what would otherwise have been its natural
course. It was not until October 10 that the little fleet, then
reduced to four vessels--the others had been scattered--reached the
shore of Lough Swilly, on the northwest coast of Ireland, and was there
encountered by a fleet of six English sail of the line and two
frigates. The admiral of the French fleet saw that there was no chance
whatever of his fighting his way through such an opposition, and he
made up his mind to offer the best resistance he could for the honor of
the French flag. He promptly gave signals for the lighter vessels,
which would have been of little practical service in such a struggle,
to make the safest retreat they could, and with his own vessel resolved
rather perhaps to do and die than to do or die. A boat came from one
of the frigates to take his final instructions, and he and all the
French officers, naval and military, who were on board the "Hoche"
strongly urged Wolfe Tone to go to the frigate in the boat and thus
save his life. They pointed out to him that if they were captured they
must be treated as prisoners of war, but that no mercy would be shown
to him, a subject of King George, taken in French uniform. Wolfe Tone
peremptorily declined to accept the General's advice. It should never
be said of him, he declared, that he saved his life and left Frenchmen
to fight and die in the cause of his country. A fierce naval battle
took place, and the French admiral fought until he was overpowered, and
had no course left to him but to surrender. The French officers who
had survived the fight were all taken to Letterkenny, Tone among the
number. Tone was in French uniform, and might have passed unrecognized
as a French officer but that {326} an Ulster magnate, Sir George Hill,
who had known him in earlier days, became at once aware of his
identity, and addressed him by name. Tone calmly and civilly replied
to the greeting, and courteously asked after the health of the wife of
his discoverer. Then all was over so far as Tone was concerned. He
was conveyed to Dublin and tried by court-martial as a rebel and a
traito