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It was now about half past two o’clock in the morning. The moon had gone down, and in the darkness the Glasgow evidently was ignorant of the character of the five vessels strung out together. The Cabot had now got very close on the lee bow of the Glasgow, and suddenly poured a broadside into her. Instantly the British ship seemed to wake up to her danger. She bore up and ran off to clear for action, but within a quarter of an hour she came up gallantly to engage the whole American squadron.

Paul Jones was in command of the gun deck. The Alfred was so heavily laden that she was down in the water almost to her portsills; the sea, however, being smooth, he was enabled to work his batteries whenever the manœuvres of the ship made it possible. The two ships finally got into such a position that they kept up a furious cannonade until daybreak. The Glasgow was hulled a number of times, her mainmast was crippled, and her sails and rigging almost destroyed; she had fifty-two shot through her mizzen staysail, one hundred and ten through her mainsail, and eighty-eight through her foresail, besides having her royal yards carried away. But she had disabled the Cabot at the second broadside, and then, concentrating her fire on the Alfred, the wheel block and ropes of the American ship were carried away, and she came up into the wind, giving the Glasgow a chance to pour in several raking broadsides before the ship could be brought on the wind again. Daylight coming, the Glasgow made signals to the rest of the British fleet, then plainly in sight, and the American drew off.