Having No Wind, We Got
Out Eight Sweeps, With Which We Rowed For Near An Hour, When There
Sprung Up A Small Breeze.
I ordered a large kettle of chocolate to be
prepared for the ship's company, having no spirituous liquor to give
them, and then went to prayers; but were disturbed before these were
finished, by the enemy firing at us.
To deter as from attempting to
board, they had barrels hung at their yard arms, which resembled barrels
of powder. About eight a.m. we began to engage by ourselves, for the
Duchess being still at leeward, had not been able to get up, as there
was very little wind. At first the enemy fired at us with their
stern-chase guns, which we returned with those on our bows, till at
length we got close on board each other, when we gave her several
broadsides, plying our small arms very briskly; which last the enemy
returned as thick for a time, but did not fire their great guns half so
fast as we. After some time, we shot a little a-head, laying the enemy
athwart hawse close aboard, and plied her so warmly that she soon
lowered her colours two-thirds down. By this time the Duchess had got
up, and fired about five guns with a volley of small arms; but as the
enemy had submitted she made no return.
We now sent our pinnace on board the prize, and brought away the captain
and other officers; from whom we learnt that a larger ship had come from
Manilla along with them, having forty-six brass guns and as many
swivels, but they had parted company with her about three months before,
and supposed she had got to Acapulco by this time, as she sailed better
than this ship. Our prize had the following high-sounding name Nostra
Senoria de la Incarnacion Disenganio, commanded by the Chevalier Jean
Pichberty, a Frenchman. She had twenty guns and twenty pattereroes, with
193 men, of whom nine were killed, ten wounded, and several sore
scorched with gun-powder. We engaged her three glasses, in which time
only I and another were wounded. I was shot through the left cheek, the
bullet carrying away great part of my upper jaw and several of my teeth,
part of which dropt on the deck, where I fell. The other was William
Powell, an Irish landman, who was slightly wounded in the buttock. After
my wound, I was forced to write my orders, both to prevent the loss of
blood, and because speaking gave me great pain. We received little
damage in our rigging during the engagement, except that a shot disabled
our mizen-mast. On the 23d, after we had put our ship to rights, we
stood in for the harbour where the Marquis was, distant about four
leagues to the N.E. sending our surgeons on board the prize to dress her
wounded men. We same to anchor in the harbour about four p.m. where we
received the compliments of all on board the Marquis on our sudden and
almost unlooked-for success, which gave us all much satisfaction.
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