“_A brave man runs no more risk than a coward_”
The French fleet at Toulon mustered fifteen ships; Hotham had fourteen at his disposal, including one Neapolitan sail-of-the-line. On the 8th March 1795 it was known that the enemy was at sea with the object of retaking Corsica, but it was not until the morning of the 13th, that the Admiral flew the signal for a general chase. While this was proceeding the _Ça-Ira_ (84) collided with the _Victorie_, which precluded her from keeping up with her consorts. Seizing his opportunity, the captain of the British frigate _Inconstant_ (36) pounced down upon the huge battleship and immediately brought her to action. A French frigate, the _Vestale_, then went to the assistance of the _Ça-Ira_, and took her in tow. Considerable damage had been done on board the _Inconstant_ owing to the double fire to which she was subjected. Nelson, keenly alert to the slightest advantage, got abreast of the two Frenchmen, and continued to wage a gallant fight for nearly two hours until called off by Hotham because of the near approach of several of the enemy’s ships. The action was thereby rendered indecisive. Nelson describes the _Ça-Ira_ as “absolutely large enough to take _Agamemnon_ in her hold. I never saw such a ship before.”
During the night the _Sans Culottes_ (120) separated from her consorts, and the _Censeur_ (74), with the damaged _Ça-Ira_ in tow, was also unable to keep up with the remainder of the French fleet. This enabled the _Bedford_ (74) and the _Captain_ (74) to attempt to capture them on the following morning. The British ships, as they bore down on the enemy, were received by a tremendous fire, which they could not return. For nearly an hour and a half the fight was sustained until the _Captain_ was little more than a floating wreck, and the distressed state of the _Bedford_ made her recall imperative. Eventually the _Ça-Ira_ and the _Censeur_ surrendered to other vessels of the fleet. “On the 14th,” Nelson relates with reference to the _Agamemnon_, “although one of the Van-ships, and in close Action on one side and distant Action on the other for upwards of three hours, yet our neighbours suffered most exceedingly, whilst we comparatively suffered nothing. We had only six men slightly wounded. Our sails were ribbons, and all our ropes were ends. Had our good Admiral have followed the blow, we should probably have done more, but the risk was thought too great.” His ambition is aflame when he considers the possibilities of the day. “In short, I wish to be an Admiral, and in the command of the English Fleet; I should very soon either do much, or be ruined. My disposition cannot bear tame and slow measures.... At one period I am ‘the dear Nelson,’ ‘the amiable Nelson,’ ‘the fiery Nelson’: however nonsensical these expressions are, they are better than censure, and we are all subject and open to flattery.”