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Midshipman William Lee of the "Confiance" wrote home after the battle, "The havoc on both sides was dreadful. I don't think there are more than five of our men, out of three hundred, but what are killed or wounded. Never was a shower of hail so thick as the shot whistling about our ears.
His terms were gladly accepted, and the bishop and one of the principal inhabitants of Muros came off to express their gratitude for the kind way in which their victors had treated them, and offering such refreshment as the place could afford to the British captain and his officers. The corvette was named the Confiance, and on his return home Lieutenant Yeo was appointed to her.
Commodore Downie was killed by a ball from the American gun-boats very early in the contest, and the Confiance is said to have struck her colours without coming fairly into action; the result was, the British fleet was lost, and the officers were tried by a Court Martial. All the others were promoted, and the gallant Lieutenant M'Ghee was reprimanded for taking his ship prematurely into action.
He lay an instant, covered with the blood of the slain man; but, hearing his men cry that he was killed, he rushed among them, to cheer them on with his presence. And, indeed, at this moment the crew of the "Saratoga" needed the presence of their captain to cheer them on to further exertion. The red-hot shot of the "Confiance" had twice set fire to the American ship.
In fact, the Chub was made into a cullender, and completely disabled, before he struck her colours. The same fate attended the Confiance, the Linnet, and the Finch, the latter of which grounded on a reef of rocks about the middle of the engagement. The gun-boats appear absolutely to have run away. Thus was the British fleet captured by an inferior fleet of the Americans.
The heavy ball crashed into the bow of the "Confiance," and cut its way aft, killing and wounding several men, and demolishing the wheel. Nothing daunted, the British flagship came on grandly, making no reply, and seeking only to cast anchor alongside the "Saratoga," and fight it out yard-arm to yard-arm.
Terrible was the carnage, and many and strange the incidents, of this most stubbornly contested naval battle. All of the prizes were in a sinking condition. In the hull of the "Confiance" were a hundred and five shot-holes, while the "Saratoga" was pierced by fifty-five.
J'ai bien besoin maintenant d'un peu de bruit pour augmenter ma reputation, car ces articles anonymes ne l'aident point. "Dans ta tristesse, ma cherie, il faut toujours avoir la plus grande confiance en la duree de mon amour pour toi. Je crois que mon amour et ma loyaute sont au moins aussi forts que le sentiment de l'heroisme militaire.
She drifted within the enemy's lines and was compelled to surrender. The whole fire of the enemy was now concentrated upon the Confiance, and still the latter fired broadside after broadside with much precision and so rapidly that every gun on board of the Saratoga on one side was disabled and silenced, although she lay at such a distance that she could not be taken possession of.
Nay, he seemed to have forgotten that he had a fleet of brigs and boats to manage, so terribly was he excited by Sir George's unfortunate expression in connection with the wind. The Confiance announced her approach on rounding Cumberland Head, by discharging all her guns one after the other.