Spithead ?nd of June, 1794

Honourable Sir

I make bold to write thieas few lins to you hopeing thay will fiend you and your farther Brothers and Sister all well as thay leave me rather better thnnks be to god for it - now Sir to feet you know that I belong to H M Ship the Queen 2 of 98 guns as Steward to the Whard Roome and to feet you know Sir that I Have bene to the Westindies in this shiy and to feet you know that i was in the action of the 29 and thefirst of June 3 against the French fleet consisting of 29 sail of the line and we ad but 26 sail of the line and on the 29 in the morning a bought eight oclock we came to action and we ingagedfor Five howers succesfull as hard as we cold fire till at last the french run from us then we turned two and prapaired hower riging and masts then on the First of June we came to action againe a bought eight oclock in the morning and it lasted till two the sameday and to feet you know that hower ship ad to run the gantlet twice throw the french fins and we ad no less then three ships uppon us at one time but by the help of god we made thiem strike to us and in the time of action we sunk two of the french ships one of 80 guns one of 74 guns 4 and a bought one thousend men sunk with the ships and in one ship that we tooke we cild right houtefive hundred men deaf and in hower ship we ad one hundred and thirtey eight cild and wounded 5 and to feet you know that at the gun that i was quarted at we ad 4 shot Come in and cild two men and wounded five do witch I was - wounded in my left harm and in my brest - but thanks be to god im a grate deal better and to feet you know that hower Captn. lost is leg and since dead and the Marster of the ship e was cild right trout in the time of action ... and to let you know that on the 28 of June 6 sume of hower ships ingaged a bought eight oclock at night but the best of hower fleet cud not come to action as the french fleet was to windward of us but we lay uppon the decks at hower guns all night for two nights and three days as the french fleet still ceept in sight and to let you know that before the action we tooke 10 ships 7 that the french ad taken from us and we sunk theuam all and one french brig of 14 guns we captured and a ship of 22 guns and a cutter of 14 guns and we took all the french prisoeners house and then sunk theain all 8 but to feet you know that we have brought 6 sail of the french line of Battleships into portsmouth harbour whear the King and Queen as bene to see theiam and Iykewise to see hower shatterd ships - Sir in the time of action you would of short the ellement ad been all on fire and the shot flying a bought hower eds 42pr and case shot and dubbeleded shot it was all the same as a hale storme a bought the ship but to let you know that we are all ready for sea againe and I believe that we shall go in 6 or eight days time from heare and to feet you know that admiral gardner is hower Commander and i have bene this three years at sea and as but ad my foot on shore 5 times please to be so good as to give my best respects to Salley Borroues and to Cobbert Parsons familey and all that I know of you please at Kirby woodhous 9 and to Mr.Mills if a live as e is some relation of mine I ad liked to of forgot im but i hope you will not forget to spake of me and to feet theiam know whear I am but I hope this whar will not belong and then I meane to cum down to see you plas god to setter at home witch I make no doupt but what you wood be glad to see your old servant once more all tho it is so long since that i live with you as a boy you may of forgot me but I lived with you when Mearcy seaman was your housceeper

Jno. Wilkinson
I am your mast
on board H.M. ship
obt and Homble sert the Queen of 98 guns
Jno. Wilkinson Spithead portsmouth

Mr. Jno. Clark, Farmer in Cirkby woodhouse, Near Cirkby, Nottinghamshire.

NOTES

[1] Britain had been at war with Revolutionary France for 14 months by the time of the events culminating in the naval battle of the 1st June 1794.

By 1794, France was on the threshold of starvation due to a bad harvest and political disturbance. Because of this, the French authorities had assembled a convoy of some 117 Merchant ships in Chesapeake Bay, USA. The holds of these ships were filled with grain and stores for the relief of France. The French had to run this convoy of ships back to their home ports to help avert the approaching crisis.

To accomplish this the French formed a plan. An immediate escort of 4 ships of the line commanded by Admiral Vanstabel would accompany the convoy. A second squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Neilly would sail to meet the convoy and help escort it back to France. Meanwhile the main French fleet commanded by Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse would sail from the port of Brest to provide any necessary cover should the convoy be threatened by Britain's Royal Navy.

Policy

The policy of Admiral Howe the C-in-C of the Royal Navy in the opening months of the war was to protect British trade whilst disrupting that of the French. This was to be accomplished by the use of frigates and sloops. An encounter with the main French fleet was only likely when it was at sea to protect a large convoy or to cover troopships belonging to any attempted invasion. Neither of these events had yet happened. By April 1794 Howe had assembled his fleet off St. Helens, on the Isle of Wight. He had 32 ships of the line with attendant frigates. The scene was now set for the events leading to the battle on the 1 of June and they can be briefly summarised as follows:

(i.) The French convoy sails from the USA on 11 April escorted by Vanstabel's squadron.

(ii.) On 2May, Howe sails from Spithead with 26 ships of the line aher detaching Rear Admiral George Montagu with 6 ships. Montagu was to provide close escort to outward bound convoys, particularly one bound for the East Indies. He was to rejoin Howe with speed once the merchantmen were safely beyond French reach. Two more ships not under Montagu's command would escort the merchantmen further south. Howe would act as general cover for the convoys.

(iii.) Ships of the Royal Navy make a reconnaissance of the French naval port of Brest. The main French fleet had not sailed. Howe therefore moves south-west, putting himself between the French Convoy and their covering force, and in position to deal with the con- voy first and fight Villaret-Joyeuse.

(iv.) On 6 May, Rear Admiral Neilly sails from Rochefort with 5 ships of the line and a number of frigates and corvettes. Neilly's orders are to meet Vanstabel and see the convoy safely back to France.

(v.) On 16 May, Villaret-Joyeuse sails from Brest with the main French fleet.

(vi.) Howe's frigates discover Brest to be empty of the French fleet on May 19. Howe moves towards Montagu and the convoys he is escorting thinking him to be in danger. Also on May 19, Villaret-

Joyeuse is joined by one of Neilly's squadron with the news that a British convoy, escorted by H.M.S. Castor, has been captured. Soon Villaret-Joyeuse himself captures a large part of a Dutch convoy bound for Lisbon.

Howe's fleet, meanwhile, was also joined on May 19 by the frigate H.M.S. Venus. It brings news that Montagu had captured a small French warship, Marie-Guiton, belonging to Neilly's fleet and recaptured part of H.M.S. Castor's convoy. The French prisoners state that Neilly and Vanstabel intend to join forces, though Montagu hoped to intercept Neilly before he does so. Howe surmises that Montagu is in no danger and that Villaret-Joyeuse was likely to act independently.

(vii.) 21st May. Howe's fleet recaptures more of H.M.S. Castor's convoy including the brig Argo. From the liberated crew Howe learns the course of the main French fleet.

(viii.) 25th May. Two French corvettes from Brest sighted. They are steering after the British fleet thinking it to be their own. Both are captured and burnt. Howe cannot afford to lose men as prize crews with a battle imminent.

(ix.) 28th May. Howe's frigates report the French fleet in sight, so he fomms his fastest ships into a flying squadron. By about 2.00 p.m. five ships manage to get into action with the French. H.M.S. Audacious and the French Revolutionaire are both badly damaged and both are detached to their own home ports. Revolutionaire is escorted to Rochefort by L'Audacieux a ship of the line, which had joined Villaret-Joyeuse from Neilly's squadron earlier on the 28th.

(x.) There is renewed fighting on the 29 May. Howe wins the weather gauge and more French ships are damaged. Villaret-Joyeuse is joined by Le Trente-et-un Mai, a ship of the line, from St. Malo.

(xi.) May 30 is foggy. Howe stays in contact with the French fleet who are now reinforced by the rest of Neilly's squadron, including 4 ships of the line. This makes up for the French ships damaged in the previous day's encounter.

(xii.) At Mid-day on May 31, the fog lifts, but Howe decides to postpone any attack until the next day in order to make certain of the result.

(xiii.) On the 1 June, the contending fleets number 25 sail of the line for the Royal Navy and 26 for the French fleet. Howe dressed his line with care, then signalled to his fleet, "having the wind of the enemy, the Admiral means to pass between the ships in the line for engaging them to Leeward." Howe's intention is to bring on a melee by breaking through the enemy line at all points, confident that superior British seamanship would tell. An hour later he signalled again, "Each ship independently to steer for and engage her opponent in the enemy line."

At 0930 hours Howe signals, "To engage if closer, a red pennant over the flag." The battle now commences; by 1225 hours, the main action is finished. Six French ships of the line are captured and a seventh, Vengeur-du-Peuple, has been sunk by gunfire. No British ships are lost. Howe does not pursue the French flee as the British fleet is far from land with many of its ships damaged, some seriously.

As Howe in his Official dispatch recorded, "The greater number of theships of the British fleet were at this time so much disabled or widely separatedthat two or three, even of their dismasted ships (i.e. the French) attempting to get away under a spritsail singly, or "smaller sail raised on the stump of the foremast, could not be detained."

(xiv.) The final moves of the campaign were played out in the two weeks following the battle. Montagu had been ordered to cruise until the 20 May. However he extended his search and did not return to Plymouth until the end of May. On the 3 June he received news of Howe and the French fleet from the damaged H.M.S. Audacious, which had returned to England. Montagu immediately made his ships ready for sea again and by June 8 was off Ushant. His squadron consisted of eight 74's, one 64 and three frigates. Villaret-Joyeuse who was making for Brest saw Montagu's ships on the morning of June 9. He remembered, "My ships were in a shocking state, the lower decks crowded with invalids and wounded. A fight was the very last thing we would have chosen."

Montagu had just chased a small French squadron into Brest when he saw Villaret-Joyeuse. The French Admiral put on a brave face and wrth his least damaged ships made for, and pursued, Montagu for a short distance before breaking off contact. By June 11 the French fleet was anchored outside Brest, and Montagu made his way back to England having achieved nothing.

On June 12 the French convoy was sighted by the French fleet and two days later they entered Brest together.

(xv.) The two big "ifs" of the campaign were that if Howe had pursued Villaret-Joyeuse with Montagu lying in wait outside Brest, then the French could hardly have escaped disaster. Secondly, if Montagu, having outdistanced Villaret-Joyeuse on the 9 June, had then gone after Vanstabel and the French convoy, he could have destroyed or captured a great part of it. However it was not to be.

(xvi.) For the French the battle was a tactical defeat, but a strategic success. Their aim was to run a large much needed convoy through the Royal Navy's blockade and in this they had succeeded. As the French Admiral, Villaret-Joyeuse was to relate to a Royal Navy Officer in later years, he was,"...at his peril not to allow the great convoy to fall into the hands of Lord Howe. If he did so, his head should answer for it under the guillotine...he only gave battle when he knew that the convoy was near at hand, and that it would fall a prey to the British fleet unless that fleet was disabled by action, or busied in securing prizes, for he had made up his mind to the loss of a few ships."

Villaret-Joyeuse also recollected, "What did I care for half a dozen rotten old hulks which you took?" He had, "...saved his convoy and his head." The French might have saved their convoy but from the British point of view Howe's victory was a great morale boost to the nation. Also the sight of six French prizes anchored at Portsmouth only served to confirm the Royal Navy's ascendancy over their opponents.

2.