ration by the French fleet. This arrived on the
29th of July, and six days later Seakonnet Channel was entered by a
detachment superior in force to the British there. The latter burned
their ships and retreated to Rhode Island, where the officers and
seamen, Saumarez among them, continued actively engaged in the defence
of the works. On August 8th, the main French fleet, under the Count
d'Estaing, ran the batteries of the principal channel, and anchored off
the north end of the island, seriously increasing the perils of the
defenders; but next day the appearance of Lord Howe with an inferior
squadron lured the French admiral out of the bay, his vessels were
crippled by a storm, and he abandoned the coast. Sullivan, deprived of
an essential factor in his scheme, had then to fall back; and the
British captains, with their crews, being no longer needed, returned to
England to seek other ships.

Both by fortune and by choice, Saumarez's lot throughout life was thrown
with the line-of-battle force of the navy, that body of heavy fighting
ships which constitute the true backbone of a sea service, because their
essential function is to fight, not singly, but in masses, co-operating
with others like themselves. In that respect they correspond to the
solid masses of infantry, which, however disposed tactically, form the
strength of armies. The aptitudes of brilliant officers differ. Some are
born frigate-captains, partisan warriors, ever actively on the wing, and
rejoicing in the comparative freedom and independence of their
movements, like the cavalry raider and outpost officer. Of this type was
Pellew, Lord Exmouth, a seaman inbred, if ever there was one, who in
this sphere won the renown most distinctively associated with his name,
while giving proof throughout a long career of high professional
capacity in many directions. But while Saumarez, in his turn, was
occasionally employed in frigate and light cruiser service, and always
with great credit, his heart was with the ship-of-the-line, whose high
organization, steady discipline, and decisive influence upon the issues
of war appealed to a temperament naturally calm, methodical, and
enduring. "He always preferred the command of a ship-of-the-line to a
frigate," says his biographer, who knew him well,--"notwithstanding the
chances of prize-money are in favor of the latter;" and he himself
confirmed the statement, not only by casual utterance,--"My station as
repeating frigate