Ledos, that devil of a man

Bulletin of the port of Cherbourg, 1 March 1779

Captain Lesdos, a privateer of this port, and Captain Bart, a privateer from Dunkirk, left port yesterday evening, 28 February, at 4 o’clock, sailing together for the coast of Alderney. Captain Lesdos, much the better sailor, took the lead. He met with and captured firstly a small English privateer of six small cannon and 15 crew. He then waited for the Dunkirk privateer, who had linked up with the ketch La Guêpe [the Wasp] which, on its way to St Malo, had offered to join him in his expedition. They continued their approach to Alderney; but Captain Lesdos, always in front of his two comrades, was the first to be spotted by the island, which, no doubt warned of their plan, was in defensive mode and greeted them with a couple of rounds of cannon-fire. As the Dunkirk privateer had caught up with Lesdos, he wanted to circle round the coast of Alderney to see if he could find somewhere to land, when he noticed a privateer of 18 9-pounders coming out of Alderney harbour. He made straight for it; the Alderney privateer went out into the open sea; they were thus a considerable way away from the Dunkirker, and for two hours fought a furious battle.

From the Marquis d'Hericy to the Duke of Harcourt

I have the honour of sending to you, my dear cousin, a bulletin that I have just received from Cherbourg: it seemed interesting enough for me to share it with you. I cannot speak well enough of Captain Lesdos, of his bravery, his intelligence and his energy. There are at this moment 7 or 8 prizes taken by him in the harbour at Cherbourg. Since midday we have heard much cannon-fire from around La Hougue, and I conclude that it is that devil of a man who, working together with his associate, Captain Bart (great-grandson of the famous Jean Bart) is, potentially, battling it out with the English frigates. His greatest wish is to get hold of a more powerful boat than the one he has now and to win a sword from the King, like several of his privateer colleagues. My particular wish would be for us to give him one of those ketches that they are arming at St Malo, destined for expeditions around our coast. He is embarrassed by his backers, who do not always want to support him in his projects, and if he was his own master, he would certainly do an excellent job or he would soon be killed ...