circumstances which have already been adverted to in our memoir of H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence[1].
In the ensuing summer we find the Bienfaisant cruizing after a large private ship of war, which was known to have sailed from Brest and proceeded to St. George’s Channel. Captain M‘Bride’s look out was ineffectual, until Aug. 13th,
- ↑ Towards the close of the year 1779, Captain M‘Bride was ordered to Gibraltar with Admiral Rodney, for the purpose of relieving that fortress. On the 8th Jan. 1780, the British fleet had the good fortune to capture the whole of a Spanish convoy, laden with naval stores, &c, the commander of which, in the Guipuscoana, of 64 guns, surrendered to the Bienfaisant. On the 16th of the same month, Sir George Rodney fell in with a squadron under Don Juan de Langara; and in the engagement which ensued, it was the lot of Captain M‘Bride to be very particularly concerned. An outline of that affair will be found in a note at p. 3, et seq. In addition to which we must here observe, that the St. Domingo, at the moment of her destruction, was in action with the Bienfaisant; and that, had the awful explosion of the former, by which every soul on board perished, been retarded only a few moments, the latter must inevitably have shared her fate. After this event, which occurred in the midst of a tremendous storm, the Bienfaisant compelled the Phoenix, of 80 guns, Langara’s flag ship, which had already received a severe drubbing from the Defence, to surrender. Captain M‘Bride immediately took possession of his prize; but, as the smallpox was on board the Bienfaisant, he felt anxious to prevent the infection from being spread amongst the prisoners, and therefore sent a proposal to the Spanish Admiral, stipulating, that neither officers nor men should be removed from the Phoenix, provided Don Juan would be responsible for their conduct; that incase they should fall in with any Spanish or French ships of war, he would not suffer the officer put in charge of the prize, to be interrupted in conducting and defending her to the last extremity, agreeably to his orders; that if, meeting with superior force, the Phoenix should be retaken, and the Bienfaisant fight her way clear, Langara, his officers and men, should hold themselves prisoners of war to Captain Macbride, on their parole of honor; and that, should the Bienfaisant be captured, and the Phoenix escape, the Spanish Admiral, &c. &c. should be freed immediately. – Don Juan readily assented to these conditions; and, from the subsequent conduct of himself and his officers, no doubt can he entertained of his intending most strictly to adhere to them.
Excepting those who were wounded by the wreck of the ill-fated St. Domingo, it is remarkable, that the Bienfaisant escaped, in the above conflict, without a single man being hurt. The Phoenix was carried safely into Gibraltar, from whence Admiral Langara, who had been wounded, was allowed to depart upon his parole. The liberal and polite behaviour of the British to him and his countrymen, made a sensible impression on their minds, and was confessedly of great advantage to the English prisoners in Spain.
