d a brilliant into a crushing
victory. Howe himself went to seek the French, instead of taking a
position where they must pass; and after some running to and fro, in
which the British actually got to the westward of their foes, and might
well have missed them altogether, he was lucky enough, on the 28th of
May, some four hundred miles west of the island of Ushant, to find the
larger of their two detachments. This having been meanwhile joined by
one ship from the smaller, both opponents now numbered twenty-six heavy
vessels.

The French were to windward, a position which gives the power of
refusing or delaying decisive action. The average speed of any fleet,
however, must fall below the best of some of the force opposed to it;
and Howe, wishing to compel battle, sent out six of his fastest and
handiest ships. These were directed to concentrate their fire upon the
enemy's rear, which, from the point of view of naval tactics, was the
weakest part of a line-of-battle of sailing ships; because, to aid it,
vessels ahead must turn round and change their formation, performing a
regular evolution, whereas, if the van be assailed, the rear naturally
advances to its help. If this partial attack crippled one or more of the
French, the disabled ships would drift towards the British, where either
they would be captured, or their comrades would be obliged to come to
their rescue, hazarding the general engagement that Howe wanted. As it
happened, the French had in the rear an immense ship of one hundred and
ten guns, which beat off in detail the successive attacks of her smaller
antagonists; but in so doing she received so much injury that she left
the fleet after nightfall, passing the British unmolested, and went back
to Brest. One of her assailants, also, had to return to England; but, as
the relative force of the units thus clipped from the respective
opponents was as three to two, the general result was a distinct
material gain for Howe. It is to be scored to his credit as a tactician
that he let this single enemy go, rather than scatter his fleet and lose
ground in trying to take her. He had a more important object.

The next morning, May 29th, the French by poor seamanship had lost to
leeward, and were consequently somewhat nearer. Both fleets were heading
southeasterly, with the wind at south-southwest; both, consequently, on
the starboard tack. Howe saw that, by tacking in succession, his column
would so head that several of