Hubert Le Loup de Beaulieu

[9] Sercey was furious, and wrote to the Ministry of the Navy: General Malartic knew that I intended not to leave such an important command as that of Forte in the hands of Captain Beaulieu, whose age and weariness have weakened the faculties.

[11] In the evening of 27 February 1799, she captured the East Indiamen Endeavour and Lord Mornington;[12] unbeknownst to Beaulieu-Leloup, the flashes of the battle were spotted by the 38-gun HMS Sybille, under Captain Edward Cooke, which closed in to investigate.

[4] It was only when Sybille's intent to intercept became evident that Beaulieu-Leloup called to battle stations;[4] even then, he closed in and ordered a restrained attack, firing his guns one by one to test his opponent.

[12] The two frigates then began trading broadsides at close range, mortally wounding Cooke at 1:30;[12] ten minutes later, Beaulieu-Leloup was killed by a cannonball.

[11] The next morning, Sybille hoisted a French flag to deceive the prize crew on Endeavour and Lord Mornington and recapture the ships, but the ruse was foiled and the two East Indiamen escaped.