have made use of round shot only. Even supposing that the guns of our ships were loaded with round shot, together with grape and canister, and that the Americans used round shot only, the Americans even then might have reloaded their guns much oftener than we could, and their fire, at the same time, would have been more efficacious. As a proof of this, the Brunswick, in Lord Howe’s engagement, used, I believe, nothing but round shot, and sunk her opponent, the Vengeur; and, after the action, a great many of the Vengeur’s grape and double-headed shot were found sticking in the Brunswick’s sides. Be this, however, as it may, it would be worth while to ascertain how our guns (and, if possible, how the American guns) have been loaded in the late actions; and we might then determine, to an absolute certainty, which method should be adopted for the future.
“Again, my Lord, the American ships, from being much better manned than ours; have usually a greater number of small-arm men; and on this account, the commanders of our ships may, perhaps, be disposed to avoids coming in close contact with them; and, if so, they give the Americans the principal, if not the only advantage which they can derive from their superior numbers. The Americans, from being better manned, can manoeuvre their ships and fight their guns well at the same time, while we have not a sufficient number of men to do both together; and accordingly we find that, in every one of the recent engagements, in which our ships have been unsuccessful, the Americans have reaped great advantage from this very circumstance; for they have invariably crippled our ships, without being materially injured themselves. In short, my Lord, when a ship is constrained to engage another of superior force, her best chance of succeeding is to reduce the two forces as nearly as possible to the same level, and her only way to do this is to lay her adversary close on board; because, in that case, if her adversary should be ever so much longer, she can only bring the same number of guns to bear upon her; if she has more men to fire musketry, she has more men exposed to be shot and if the smaller ship should take the lee-side instead of the weather-side, the men stationed in the tops on board her opponent, will be precluded by the sails from taking aim. The little loss which was sustained by the Shannon in her close engagement with the Chesapeake, and the very severe losses which our other frigates sustained in their unsuccessful engagements with the enemy, afford pretty strong grounds to warrant such an assumption.
“Having now, my Lord, laid before your lordship my opinion respecting the principal causes of some of our recent defeats, I beg leave to renew my offers of service; and to request, that if you should approve of what I have written, you will afford me the opportunity of putting my schemes in practice, by appointing me to the command of one of His Majesty’s sloops. I am, &c.
(Signed)“Walter Forman.”
Some considerable time since, the author received a letter
