he
outworn "van to van," ship to ship, dogma; but Rodney is said to have
expressed himself in more emphatic terms subsequently, as follows:
"During all the commands Lord Rodney has been entrusted with, he made it
a rule to bring his whole force against a part of the enemy's, and never
was so absurd as to bring ship against ship, when the enemy gave him an
opportunity of acting otherwise." Though not distinctly so stated, it
would seem that his first movement on the present occasion had failed
because of the long distance between the fleets permitting the enemy to
succor the part threatened, before he could close. He was now nearer,
for at this second attempt only an hour proved to be needed for the
first British ship to open fire at long range. It may be for this
reason, also, that he at this stage threw himself upon his captains, no
longer prescribing the successive movements, but issuing the general
signal to bear down, each vessel to "steer," according to the 21st
Article of the _Additional_ Fighting Instructions, "for the ship of the
enemy which from the disposition of the two squadrons it must be her lot
to engage, notwithstanding the signal for the line ahead will be kept
flying: making or shortening sail in such proportion as _to preserve the
distance assigned by the signal for the line_, in order that the whole
squadron may, as near as possible, come into action at the same time."

Unfortunately for his manoeuvre, the Admiral here ran up against the
stolid idea of the old--and still existing--Fighting Instructions
concerning the line-of-battle in action, embodied in a typical
representative in the senior captain of his fleet. This gentleman,
Robert Carkett, had risen from before the mast, and after a lieutenancy
of thirteen years had become post in 1758, by succeeding to the command
when his captain was killed, in one of the most heroic single-ship
fights of the British navy. Unluckily, his seniority gave him the lead
of the fleet as it was now formed on the starboard tack, and he
considered that the signal for attacking the enemy's rear was annulled
by the present situation. "Both fleets," he stated in a letter to the
Admiralty, "were at 11.15 parallel to and abreast of each other. As I
was then the leading ship, it became my duty to engage the leading ship
of the French fleet, as this signal disannulled all former ones
relative to the mode of attack." The word "abreast," critically used,
would imply that the f