the Havannah, (each carrying a 24-pounder and 100 men,) and anchoring within pistol-shot of a castle mounting sixteen 36-pounders, in three fathoms and a half water, the gunboats advanced from her in a line a-breast.
Not deterred by the formidable line of defence which was thus presented, added to a lee-shore, Captain Brisbane, supported by the Anson on his larboard bow, anchored the Arethusa close alongside the Pomona, in only one foot more water than she drew. The action immediately became general, and in 35 minutes the Pomona struck her colours; three gnn-boats blew up, six were sunk, and three driven among the breakers. The castle, by firing red-hot shot, set fire to the Arethusa; but the flames were speedily extinguished, and the Pomona instantly taken possession of. Shortly after, a melancholy and dreadful explosion took place in the castle, and the contest ceased.
In the course of the action, Captain Brisbane was wounded in the knee; but, though he suffered excruciating pain, he refused to quit the deck till victory had decisively proclaimed herself in favor of the British flag. The loss sustained by the Arethusa upon this occasion, amounted to 2 killed, and 32 wounded. Vice-Admiral Dacres, the Commander-in-Chief at Jamaica, in his official letter to the Admiralty, announcing the capture of the Pomona, justly observed, that “the success attending this bold enterprise Captain Brisbane was well entitled to, for the promptness and decision with which he anchored in such shoal water, to attack a force of such magnitude.”
The Pomona was laden with specie and merchandize. The money belonging to the King had been landed at the castle only ten minutes before the action commenced; but the freight belonging to the merchants fell into the hands of her captors. The Captain of the Pomona and 20 men were killed, and 32 officers and men wounded. The loss of men in the gun-boats must have been considerable, as very few reached the shore from those that were blown up and sunk. The Anson had not a man hurt.
Towards the latter end of the same year, 1806, Captain Brisbane was despatched from Jamaica, with a squadron of frigates, consisting of the Arethusa. Latona, and Anson,
