by John Marshall

“ At about three-quarters past midnight, after a hard pull of twenty miles, and just as the moon was peeping from behind a cloud, the Centaur’s boats were hailed by the Curieux, and then fired into by the sentries, by two of the starboard guns, a swivel, and a wall-piece. The marines returned the fire with their muskets, and the boats pulled rapidly on. In the midst of a scuffle alongside, the barge pushed for the brig’s stern. ”

“ Handspikes, and the butt-ends of muskets, became formidable weapons in the hands of the latter, and soon laid prostrate on the deck the captain and most of the officers near him. The majority of the surviving crew having by this time fled below, all further resistance presently ceased. The British were not long in cutting the cable of their prize, nor in unfurling her sails; and in a very few minutes, the Curieux, in the hands of her new masters, stood out of Fort Royal harbour. A smart fire was successively opened from Fort Edward, a battery on Point Negro, and another at Point Soloman ”

“ Lieutenant Reynolds, with admirable coolness, cut away one of the tracing-lines with his sword, whereby the corner of the netting fell, and thus enabled the other boats to board on the brig’s quarter.
“Since the first alarm had been given, all the Curieux’s crew, headed by their brave commander (Mons. Cordier) , had been at their quarters; and a sanguinary combat now ensued, in which the French officers took a much more active part than a portion of their men. the enemy, however, were soon overpowered: some were killed or badly wounded; others thrown down the hatchway ”