Welsh Journals

112 NOTABLE MEN OF WALES. Thorpe, with a pension of two thousand pounds for his own life and those of his two immediate successors. Two of the French line of battle ships, the Franklin and the Spartiate, were taken into the British Navy. The Franklin was renamed the Canopus, and the curious may still see her, a hulk, in the Hamoaze at Devonport. Captain Foley's sudden manoeuvre is not difficult even for landsmen to understand. The French fleet was moored in a line with their heads bearing north-west. The English fleet advancing from Alexandria had a north-west wind with themr and had it been Nelson's intention to engage on the inner side of the enemy's line he would apparently and naturally have done so at once. But instead of doing so he ran in a south-easterly direction, then bore up, so as to engage on the outer side of the French, but not desiring to commence his- fire until he had run past six of them, so that attacking the seventh, the Orient, he could bring two of his own ships to- bear on the starboard side of each of the seven French ships,, leaving the remaining six untouched until he had destroyed their consorts, well knowing that none of the six could come to the assistance of the seven attacked. Captain Foley led the line, and would naturally, according to this plan, have anchored on the starboard bow of the furthest French vessel, but at this moment he conceived the daring idea of bearing up and doubling on the leading French line of battle ship, the Guerrier, so as to engage her on the larboard or unprepared side. I have heard it said that he had discovered at the last- moment an old chart in his possession showing a sufficient depth of water to carry his ship successfully through the ordeal; or it may have been that he knew " where one could swing another could anchor;" be it how it may, the manoeuvre was entirely successful: the ships following his lead ran past him when he anchored, took up their stations on the inner instead of the outer side of their opponents, and the victory was gained, as has been previously described. In Marshall's Naval Biograpjliy, a work of great authority,, this famous manoeuvre is thus noticed :— " It had long been a favourite idea with Captain Foley, which he had mentioned the preceding evening to Captains Trowbridge and Hood, that a considerable advantage would arise if the enemy's fleet were found moored in line of battle with the land to lead between them and the shore, as the French guns on that side were not likely to be manned, or to- be ready for action. The original plan of attack which Sir Horatio Nelson had intended to have adopted, if Captain Foley had not judged it expedient to lead within the French line,. was to have kept entirely on its outer side; and to have