l the sail they
could carry, in order to reach the west end of Tortuga, and shelter
themselves in Port-au-Prince. On the eighteenth, the Lively, by the help
of her oars, came up with the Valeur, at half an hour past seven in the
morning; and after a hot action, which continued an hour and a half,
compelled the enemy to submit. The Hampshire stood after the three
others, and about four in the afternoon ran up between the duke de
Choiseul and the prince Edward. These she engaged at the same time;
but the first, having the advantage of the wind, made her retreat into
Port-au-Paix, the other ran ashore about two leagues to leeward, and
struck her colours; but at the approach of the Hampshire the enemy set
her on fire, and she blew up. This was also the fate of the Fleur de
Lys, which had run into Freshwater Bay, a little farther to leeward of
Port-au-Prince. Thus, by the prudent disposition of admiral Holmes, and
the gallantry of his three captains Norbury, Uvedale, and Maitland, two
large frigates of the enemy were taken, and three destroyed. The spirit
of the officers was happily supported by an uncommon exertion of courage
in the men, who cheerfully engaged in the most dangerous enterprises.
Immediately after the capture of the French frigates, eight of the
enemy's privateers were destroyed or brought into Jamaica. Two of these,
namely, the Vainqueur of ten guns, sixteen swivels, and ninety men, and
the Mackau of six swivels, and fifteen men, had run into shoal water
in Cumberland harbour on the island of Cuba. The boats of the Trent and
Boreas, manned under the direction of the lieutenants Miller and Stuart,
being rowed up to the Vainqueur, boarded and took possession under a
close fire, after having surmounted many other difficulties. The Mackau
was taken without any resistance; then the boats proceeded against the
Guespe, of eight guns, and eighty-five men, which laid at anchor farther
up in the Lagoon, but before they came up the enemy had set her on fire,
and she was destroyed.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

GALLANT BEHAVIOUR OF CAPTAINS O'BRIEN AND TAYLOR.

The same activity and resolution distinguished the captains and officers
belonging to the squadron commanded by sir James Douglas off the Leeward
islands. In the month of September, the captains O'Brien and Taylor, of
the ships Temple and Griffin, being on a joint cruise off the islands
Granadas, received intelligence that the Virgin, formerly a British
sloop