Come and ask, answer or inform.
Posted by Barry J. Fox on Monday 21st of May 2018 20:06
The French letter of marque Flambeau was NOT a ship. Most popular histories call her a brig, but LT Shaw, the captain of USS Enterprise, who captured her on July 23, 1800 called her a schooner in his letter after the fight. Naval Operations: June 1800-November 1800 Quasi-War- United States and France. Letter excerpt from 7/31/1800 on board USS Baltimore. He also makes the casualties on Flambeau as 37 killed and wounded, with just one American officer slightly wounded. This contradicts his earlier letter where he gives 4 killed and 29 wounded for the French, with two wounded for the U.S. He also states Enterprise had 70 men. Most histories give 83. If she was a schooner, it raises the possibility of being armed with 12-8# carronades, instead of the long guns usually mentioned. This would account for the poor shooting of the French. Also, in his first letter, he states the battle lasted almost two glasses, but in the later letter he states that it lasted three hours. Soon after, LT John Shaw was allowed to relinquish command and go back to the U.S. for health reasons.