Browsing: Papers of John Adams, Volume 9

2. The report on the actions of Rear Adm. Robert Digby appeared in the London Gazette Extraordinary of 6 March. The French 64-gun ship of the line Protée was taken by the Resolution, of 74 guns.

This letter is largely a digest of accounts appearing in the London papers with some comments added by Digges. For example, Digges refers to the departure of Adm. Marriot Arbuthnot from New York and the prospects for the continuation of the war. In the London Chronicle of 4–7 March the following passage appears: “Admiral Arbuthnot is sailed from New York, with all his heavy ships, for the West Indies. This pretty clearly shews that the war in North America is only meant to linger on; that nothing vigorous is intended.”