Thus, in 1813, the French Navy lacked the advance bases it needed to support the commerce raiding frigate squadron that it had operated in the previous decade.

[5] On 25 November 1812,[3] Bouvet's division departed from Nantes, slipped through the British blockade, and established a station to the north-east of the Azores, near the group of five rocks called "Vigie des Cinq Grosses-Têtes"[6] (44°17'N, 21°45'W[7]).

[3][6] During January, due to continual gales[8] and preliminary symptoms of a fever epidemic,[6] Bouvet decided to sail south with two prizes, the British cutter[8] Hawk,[9] and the Portuguese slave ship Serra,[8] to anchor at the Îles de Los, off Sierra Leone.

Hopelessly outmanned and outgunned, Pascoe threw his brig on the coast, on the north-western point of Tamara,[6] and scuttled her by fire.

[10] Ashore, the French collected fruit, resupplied their fresh water, and gathered intelligence on the British deployment: the station of Sierra Leone comprised two frigates and several corvettes, but only HMS Amelia was anchored in the bay at the time.

[10] After six days of repairs and resupply, Aréthuse and Rubis were ready for a six-month cruise; to unburden himself of his prisoners and prizes, Bouvet returned Serra to the Portuguese, and on 29 January,[11] the British were released on parole and sent to Sierra Leone on Hawk.

[12][note 2] Meanwhile, on 29 January, Lieutenant Pascoe had arrived at Freetown, with some of his men, and informed Amelia of the presence of what he believed to be three French frigates at Tamara.

[11] Hawk arrived the same evening with the prisoners on parole, confirming Pascoe's account;[9] she was then equipped with a boat from Amelia and sent for a reconnaissance of the French squadron.

[9] At the Îles de Los, Aréthuse had, upon departure, maneuvered to catch the wind and struck the bottom, breaking her rudder and forcing the squadron to drop anchor on the spot.

[13][16] On 5 January, around 20:00, Amelia sighted a strange sail making night signals which, the next morning, turned out to be Princess-Charlotte, a government schooner from Sierra Leone.

[9] Amelia got sight of the French squadron half an hour later, and dispatched Princess-Charlotte to Sierra Leone to instruct any incoming British warship to come to her aid at once.

The third lieutenant, George Wells,[21] was killed soon after taking command, and the master of Amelia, Anthony De Mayne,[21] replaced him.

On one hand, he praised Bouvet's bravery and conduct during the battle itself; in his report of the events, on 26 April 1813, he wrote: This fight leaves well behind that of Belle Poule in 1778, that of Nymphe in 1780 and all the others, that have had more or less fame.

[citation needed] On the other hand, Decrès sharply criticised Bouvet for the wreck of Rubis and near-loss of Aréthuse in the storm of 5 February: While giving him his due for his brilliant valour and his good results, I am not allowed to hide from Your Majesty that a sailor of long experience would not have, as he did, put the two frigates in distress at the îles de Los.

[3][note 7] Probably because of these mixed reviews, Bouvet was awarded the rank of officer in the Legion of Honour, on 2 July, but was neither promoted to rear-admiral, nor made a Baron of the Empire, as had been requested in his favour.