As the French Admiral, in this new disposition, had put his heaviest ships in the van, and his line was nearly in the wake of the British, Howe inferred an attack upon his rear.

He therefore ordered his heaviest ship, the _Cornwall_, 74, to go there from the centre, exchanging places with the _Centurion_, 50, and at the same time signalled the fleet to close _to the centre_,--a detail worth remembering in view of Rodney's frustrated manoeuvre of April 17th, 1780.

It now remained simply to await firmly the moment when the French should have covered the intervening ground, and brought to action so much of his rear as d'Estaing saw fit to engage; the conditions of the sea favoring the speed of the bulkier ships that composed the hostile fleet.

The latter, however, soon abandoned the attempt, and "bore away to the southward, apparently from the state of the weather, which, by the wind freshening much, with frequent rain, was now rendered very unfavorable for engaging." It may be added that the hour was very late for beginning an action.

At sundown the British were under close-reefed topsails, and the sea such that Howe was unable to return to the _Eagle_.[33] The wind now increased to great violence, and a severe storm raged on the coast until the evening of the 13th, throwing the two fleets into confusion, scattering the ships, and causing numerous disasters.