by John Marshall

“ From half past five to nine o’clock, we were employed in making rafts to save the men; and it gives me unspeakable comfort, that not a man was lost after the ship struck the shore, except six that stole away the cutter from the stern, and were drowned. Myself and officers quitted not the ship till with great care and pains we got the wounded and every man out of her. We ware received on shore by a party of soldiers, who conducted us to the little town of Hodierne, about a league from the ship. ”

“ During the remainder of the war, we find him cruising off Brest and Rochefort.
In the night of April 10, 1801, the Centaur was run foul of by the Mars 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Thornbrough, commander of the in-shore squadron off Brest. Two men were killed and 4 wounded by the falling of the mainmast. Captain Littlehales having rigged a jury-mast, bore up for Plymouth, where he arrived on the 14th. After repairing her damages, the Centaur rejoined the Channel Fleet ”

“ Littlehales was appointed first Lieutenant of the Rose frigate, at the particular request of her gallant commander, the late Captain Edward Riou [5] , with whom he proceeded to the West Indies, in company with the expedition under Sir John Jervis and Sir Charles Grey. On that station he saw and assisted at much service both on shore and afloat, particularly at the siege of Martinique ”

“ Littlehales, then belonging to the Salisbury of 50 guns, stationed at Newfoundland, was placed under a Lieutenant in the Laurens, a brig of between 70 and 80 tons, with a crew of only 12 men, employed, we believe, as a tender to the flag-ship. ”

“ I rest firmly assured that Sir E. Pellew has done ample justice to my conduct in his representation of the engagement to their Lordships; and I humbly hope no blemish will attach to my character, for a misfortune occasioned by an impatient ardour to signalise British valour opposed to superior force. I have the honor, to be, &c. ”

“ II. Part I. pp. 283–289, that he bore a part in two general actions during the American revolutionary war; that he personally assisted at the assault and capture of Fort Louis, during the siege of Martinique, in 1794; that he subsequently boarded and destroyed a French ordnance storeship, mounting eighteen guns, under a battery at St. François, in the island of Guadaloupe; that he highly distinguished himself as first lieutenant of the Amazon frigate, and received some severe contusions in action with the French 80-gun ship les Droits de l’Homme, on the night of Jan. ”