It is interesting to find that on this occasion Jean Audubon was fighting not only for his life, but for his property. His vessel, _Le Comte d'Artois_, was very heavily armed. Though of only 250 tons, she carried no less than ten cannon, four of which were mounted on gun carriages, and ten bronze pivot guns, which might imply that she was originally designed as a privateer. The ship was not destroyed when her captain was made prisoner, but was taken by the English to Portsmouth, New Hampshire (?), and burned there before December 15 of the following year.[22] Before starting on this disastrous voyage Captain Audubon had sold the vessel and his interest in her cargo to the Messrs. Lacroix, Formon de Boisclair and Jacques, with whom later he had extensive dealings in slaves; but he was not paid, and though an indemnity seems to have come from the British Government, he was never able to obtain a satisfactory settlement of the Formon claim.[23] Jean Audubon's release from captivity in New York, in June, 1780, probably marks the period of his first intimate acquaintance with the United States. We know only that he did not return immediately to either Santo Domingo or France, but became an enthusiast for the American cause, and sought the earliest opportunity to avenge his wrongs at the hands of the British. He did not have long to wait, for through the exertions of the Ambassador de la Luzerne, he was placed in command of the corvette _Queen Charlotte_. With her, in October, 1781, he joined the fleet of the Count de Grasse before Yorktown,[24] where he soon witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis and the humiliation of his enemies. After this turning point of the war Captain Audubon remained in the United States, and in April, 1782, commanded a merchantman called _L'Annette_,[25] in which he was also personally interested, and delivered a cargo of Virginia tobacco at the port of Nantes. Shortly after his return to America in the same year he was placed in command of an American armed vessel _The Queen_ and sent on another mission to France. Near the Chaussée des Saints he was attacked by a British privateer, but after a stubborn fight at close quarters he sank his enemy and entered the port of Brest. Nothing is said of the taking of prisoners on such occasions, and there were doubtless few survivors among the defeated crew. This command Jean Audubon held until peace was concluded between Great Britain and her former colonies in America, probably until the close of 1783. The hostile army was disbanded in the spring of that year, the treaty of peace was made definitive in September, and on November 25, 1783, the last British troopers left the city of New York. CHAPTER III JEAN AUDUBON AS SANTO DOMINGO PLANTER AND MERCHANT