What happened next, and in the three days which followed, was recorded in the log-books of every ship present and these provide a glimpse of the action from a variety of angles. Most of the log-book accounts are restricted to brief notes of the weather, sail changes, signals, damage sustained by the ships and a note of the numbers of dead and injured. However the events were also recorded in journals and notebooks by a number of people who were present on board the warships and these provide a more personal view of the proceedings. Among the most interesting are the notebooks of Edward Codrington, who was a midshipman in Howe's flagship and later became an admiral; the observations of two thirteen-year-old midshipmen - William Dillon of the Defence and William Parker of the Orion; and a letter from an ordinary seaman serving in the Queen.
There is an additional, and unusual, perspective on the events leading up to and culminating in the Battle of the Glorious First of June and this is an illustrated journal by the marine artist Nicholas Pocock. He was present on the frigate Pegasus, and not only kept a journal but illustrated the unfolding events with aerial views and dozens of sketches. The son of a seaman, Pocock had risen to become a captain of merchant ships sailing out of Bristol. For ten years he recorded his voyages to South Carolina and the West Indies with delicate pen-and-wash drawings in his log-books. While still in his thirties he retired from the sea and set himself up as a painter of Bristol views and shipping on the Avon. His local success prompted him to move to London with his family in 1789 and he soon had a thriving practice as a painter of naval actions. His knowledge of ships and seamanship and his meticulous attention to detail much impressed his naval patrons who included senior captains and several admirals such as Lord Hood and Lord Bridport.
It is not known how Pocock came to be on board the Pegasus - we can only assume that he was invited along as a guest by her captain, Robert Barlow. But what is certain is that Pocock was in a good position to see the unfolding action. In fleet actions the battle was fought out between the ships of the line. The role of the frigates was to stand by and be ready to assist ships in trouble. They also had the vital task of repeating the signals made by the commander- in-chief whose flagship would usually be in the thick of the action, only her topmasts visible above the dense clouds of gunsmoke. On 1 June the frigate Niger was the repeating frigate for the van, the Aquilon for the rear squadron, and the Pegasus for the centre. Nicholas Pocock was fifty-two in 1794 but as a former seaman he would have had no qualms about going aloft and, from a position high up in the tops of the Pegasus, he would have had an aerial view of the whole scene.
Pocock's notes and sketches place considerable emphasis on the signals hoisted at various times by Lord Howe, and with some justification because these played a key part in the proceedings. The British Navy had used various forms of flag signals since the time of the Anglo-Dutch wars in the previous century, but these tended to be inflexible and became unwieldy as more and more flags were introduced to cope with the various orders and instructions issued by commanders. It was Lord Howe who first introduced a new system during the American War of Independence of 1776. While in command on the North American station he issued a book entitled Signal Book for Ships of War which was accompanied by explanatory instructions. During the next few years he and a number of other officers refined and experimented with different arrangements of flags. In 1790 Howe issued a revised Signal Book for Ships of War which was based on a numerical system. The numbers one to ten were each represented by a flag, and by using combinations of these, together with the explanations in the signal book, it was possible to issue a great variety of instructions with a limited number of flags. The flags were designed to be easily distinguished at a distance so there was only one with a diagonal cross, one with two vertical bands of colour and so on. They came into their own in the events which began on 28 May when Howe was in command of a large and extended fleet and needed to send signals to ships which were sometimes 2 or 3 miles distant from his flagship.
By mid-afternoon the weather had turned nasty. The wind had risen to gale force and squally showers of rain were sweeping across the heaving surface of the sea. With the leading British ships now closing on the rear of the long column of French ships, Lord Howe hoisted signal 29 at the mizen masthead of the Queen Charlotte. In the first of his aerial views of the action Pocock shows the signal flags in the top right-hand corner of his picture - a flag with a blue cross on a white ground for the figure 2 and a flag with red, white and blue horizontal stripes for the figure 9. Captain Hope simply recorded this as 'the general signal for chase and battle' but it had a more particular meaning which was 'to attack or harass the rear of the enemy ... to bring on a general action' which was exactly what the flying squadron proceeded to do. The Russell and the Thunderer were in the lead and, as they cut across the enemies' wake, they fired ranging shots at a distance of about a mile. These were the first shots in the first sea battle of the prolonged war against France: a war which would reach its climax at sea with the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 but which was not finally concluded until Napoleon was defeated on the field of Waterloo in 1815. Thanks to a bold and well-timed manoeuvre by Admiral Pasley, the Bellerophon became the first ship in Howe's fleet to go into action in this opening battle. Midshipman Parker observed that 'At 8 o'clock Adml Paisley [Pasley] got within gun shot of the enemy's rear and gave them a very warm and fierce reception which the enemy returned with great vivacity.' The Bellerophon's adversary was a huge French three- decker, just as it would be in a more famous battle in four years' time.
Captain Vandongen, in command of the Révolutionnaire of 110 guns, believing that he had the firepower to overwhelm the 74-gun ships on his tail, dropped back into the path of the Bellerophon. Pasley judged his moment, tacked his ship and was soon exchanging fire with the Frenchman. He later wrote, 'On that day, and for some days before, the Bellerophon was the worst-sailing ship of the flying squadron. Yet by embracing the moment for tacking after the enemy, she was enabled to bring them to action, with which she was engaged alone more than an hour and a half.'
Lord Howe saw what was happening and, as the rest of his fleet was still some distance away, he made a signal to the other ships in the flying squadron to come to the Bellerophon's assistance. The Russell, the Thunderer and the Marlborough headed towards the scene of the action which was conspicuous in the gathering gloom by the brilliant flashes of gunfire and the thunderous boom of the broadsides. By the time they reached the embattled ships and swept past, firing their guns, the Bellerophon was in difficulties. The broadsides of the three-decker had caused a considerable amount of damage and her main topmast was about to go by the board. She was forced to signal her inability to continue in action and drifted clear of the French ship. As she did so, the leading ships from the main body of Howe's fleet at last arrived on the scene. The Audacious and the Leviathan engaged in a running battle with the French ship which had lost her mizenmast but continued to direct such devastating fire at her attackers that the Audacious was reduced to a crippled wreck.