No. 2. LIST OF GENERAL ACTIONS BETWEEN THE BRITISH AND FRENCH FLEETS, ATTENDED BY ANY CAPTURE OR DESTRUCTION OF LINE-OF-BATTLE SHIPS FROM 1793 TO 1815. (1.) 1794. Lord Howe's action: 26 sail of the line on each side.7 French captured. (2.) 1795. Vice-Admiral Hotham, off Genoa: British, 14 ships; French, 14.-2 French captured. (3.) 1795. Lord Bridport, off Isle Groix: British, 17; French, 12.-3 French captured. (4.) 1795. Vice-Admiral Hotham, off Hyeres : British, 23; French, 17 (a miserable action). — 1 French captured. (5.) 1798. The Nile: 13 British ships; 13 French. 9 French captured, 2 destroyed. (6.) 1801. Sir James Saumarez: 5 British, 9 French and Spanish.-1 French captured, 2 destroyed. (7.) 1805. Sir Robert Calder: British, 15; FrancoSpanish, 20.-2 Franco-Spanish captured. (8.) 1805. Trafalgar: British, 27; Franco-Spanish, 33.-19 Franco-Spanish captured. (9.) 1805. Sir Richard Strachan: British, 5; French, 4.4 French captured. (10.) 1806. Sir John Duckworth, San Domingo: British, 7; French, 5.-3 French captured, 2 destroyed. (11.) 1809. Lord Gambier, in Basque Roads: British, 11; French, 10.-3 French destroyed. This was an attack by fire ships, and hardly to be called an action. (12.) 1809. Admiral Martin, near Cette, south coast of France: British force, 6; French, 3; 2 French destroyed. (13.) The offset to these twelve actions, gained by the British, is the battle of Algeziras, 1801; where the French, being protected by the Spanish forts, and numerous rocks and shoals, captured a British ship, which had grounded under the batteries. The force on this occasion was 6 British to 3 French. The fairest account of the battle is in the "Madrid Gazette;" but of course it leans to the French. It will be seen that the total of the above list does not agree with the number given at page 77., where 80 sail of the line are said to have been captured. This arises from the exclusion of all cases, which could not be termed "general actions," in the account just given. No. 3. LIST OF FRENCH FRIGATES CAPTURED BY BRITISH IN SINGLE FIGHT. It is to be observed, that the ships above named are such as in our navy are called " frigates," though several in France would be styled "corvettes," having less than forty-four guns, as Ambuscade and Baionnaise, LIST OF BRITISH FRIGATES TAKEN BY FRENCH IN SINGLE FIGHT. (Taken from James's "Naval History.") The force of each ship is not here given; but by reference to that work it will be found, that in nearly every case the French crews were more numerous; in the great majority of cases the French ships were the larger, and in point of metal there is upon the whole nearly an equality including carronades. Of course this list excludes all engagements between more than two ships. No. 4. The proposal to render our merchant sailors available against the enemy in any sudden emergency, by some degree of previous training, is certainly neither impracticable nor useless, though accompanied by some difficulty; and what desirable change is not? Admitting that a mere merchant seaman without any previous training would be useless in action, and that under our present system he might find himself engaged with the enemy before receiving any instruction, it is clearly desirable that he should bring with him some slight knowledge of his most indispensable duties. Nor is it in the Royal Navy alone that such knowledge would be useful, for merchantships have before now repelled an enemy's privateer, and thereby saved a valuable cargo. Granting the expediency then of the measure, we come to the question, - How, when, or where, can merchant sailors be so instructed? I apprehend then, in the first place, that in so far as was possible it would be desirable to make such training voluntary, and to confine it to the younger seamen, and even to the apprentices. Also to teach the rudiments only of the gun exercise, sponging, loading, |