ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE QUEBEC FARMER AND THE SURVEILLANTE COUEDIC
George Carter
Artist's BiographyEngagement between the Quebec Farmer and the Surveillante Couedic
Engraving, 1780.
Image size 16 7/8 x 23 3/16" (42.7 x 48.9 cm).
Good condition, foxing in the margins. LOCATION: New York City
Inventory Number: 97397
Price: $450.00 Publisher : Published as the act directs Oct. 1st 1780 by Geo. Carter Margaret Street Cavendish Square London. Painted by Geo. Carter. Engraved by J. Caldwall.
The depicted naval engagement occurred on October 6, 1779 near Brest, France. It pitted the 32-gun, British Frigate HMS Quebec, commanded by Captain George Farmer, against the 32-gun French Frigate Surveillante, commanded by Captain Couedic de Kergoaler. The engagement lasted three and a half hours, with both vessels crippled by the end. Neither party wished to yield to the other, however, and they continued their battle in what ways they could. Being so close to one another for most of the engagements, sometimes so close that their yards became entangled, the French threw grenades onto the Quebec, setting the ship ablaze. The British worked furiously to put out the flames, but eventually they reached the magazine, destroying the vessel.
Despite the bitter feud between the French and British, Captain Couedic de Kergoaler commanded his men to save as many of the British sailors as possible. Of the three-hundred men who had been stationed on the Quebec, only forty-three could be saved from the sea. They were subsequently released by the French government when they made landfall, allowed to return home instead of being rendered prisoner. 18th-19th Century Subjects , Marine , Naval