August. 78 Fridy 14
Block Island N32°..44’Et Dis. 50 Lgs at 3 am Fil’d ye main top sail at 4 do saw ye. french ships1 bearing ESE 4 or 5 miles at 6 Do saw a sail in ye. NE qr. she made ye. Private sigl., which we answer’d out Reefs and made sail up top Gt. yd. The French ship at anchor 9 sail in sight 7 of which were bearing down to ye. French ship Punishd. Jno. Tuffing and Thomas White seamen the former wth 12 Lashes the Later with 24 do. for drunkenness and neglect of Duty at 9 Do. 7 sail of ye. French fleet about 3 Leagues from us. 3 of which give Chace to us set steerg sails at Noon 3. sail standing after us.
Ditto. [Block Island] N43°..54’ E Dist. 39 Lg’s Light Breezes and cloudy 3 sail in Sight sounded from 21 fm. to 13 fms. at 4 made ye. Private sigl. to a ship to ye. Eastd. which she answerd spoke his Ms. ship Venus2 7 sail in sight made sail ye. Venus Chacing to ye. SW after a schooner3 Lost sight of ye. ship, heard a gun in the SW saw 7 sail in ye. SE. and one in NE. made ye. Private sigl. which she answer’d Do. saw ye. Land in the NW Qr. at 4 Lg’s Diste. at 9 join’d Compy with his Ms. Ship Eagle4 Commr. Elliott Somerset,5 Trident,6 Cornwall,7 Nonsuch,8 and 2 fire ships,9 The Commr. made our sigl. to speak us
D, UkLPR, Adm. 52/1953, fol. 274.
1. The Languedoc, Vice-amiral comte d’Estaing’s flagship, and others which had come to her aid. See the Log and Journal of H.M.S. Renown, 13 Aug., above.
2. H.M. frigate Venus, Capt. William P. Williams.
3. Most likely the sloop Retaliation, a Massachusetts privateer commanded by John Cary; see journal of H.M.S. Experiment, 15 Aug., below, for a discussion of its capture.
4. H.M.S. Eagle, Capt. Sir Roger Curtis.
5. H.M.S. Somerset, Capt. George Ourry.
6. H.M.S Trident Capt. Anthony James Pye Molloy.
7. H.M.S. Cornwall, Capt. Timothy Edwards.
8. H.M.S. Nonsuch, Capt. Walter Griffith.
9. H.M. fire ship Strombolo, Comdr. Peter Aplin, and H.M. fire ship Sulphur, Lt. James Watt.