The sails of the _Chesapeake_ swept betwixt the slanting rays of the evening sun and the _Shannon_, the drifting shadow darkened the English main-deck ports, the rush of the enemy's cut-water could be heard through the grim silence of the _Shannon's_ decks. Suddenly there broke out the first gun from the _Shannon_; then her whole side leaped into flame. Never was a more fatal broadside discharged. A tempest of shot, splinters, torn hammocks, cut rigging, and wreck of every kind was hurled like a cloud across the deck of the _Chesapeake_, and of one hundred and fifty men at stations there, more than a hundred were killed or wounded. A more fatal loss to the Americans instantly followed, as Captain Laurence, the fiery soul of his ship, was shot through the abdomen by an English marine, and fell mortally wounded. The answering thunder of the _Chesapeake's_ guns, of course, rolled out, and then, following quick, the overwhelming blast of the _Shannon's_ broadside once more. Each ship, indeed, fired two full broadsides, and, as the guns fell quickly out of range, part of another broadside. The firing of the _Chesapeake_ was furious and deadly enough to have disabled an ordinary ship. It is computed that forty effective shots would be enough to disable a frigate; the _Shannon_ during the six minutes of the firing was struck by no less than 158 shot, a fact which proves the steadiness and power of the American fire. But the fire of the _Shannon_ was overwhelming. In those same six fatal minutes she smote the _Chesapeake_ with no less than 362 shots, an average of 60 shots of all sizes every minute, as against the _Chesapeake's_ 28 shots. The _Chesapeake_ was fir-built, and the British shot riddled her. One _Shannon_ broadside partly raked the _Chesapeake_ and literally smashed the stern cabins and battery to mere splinters, as completely as though a procession of aerolites had torn through it. The swift, deadly, concentrated fire of the British in two quick-following broadsides practically decided the combat. The partially disabled vessels drifted together, and the _Chesapeake_ fell on board the _Shannon_, her quarter striking the starboard main-chains. Broke, as the ships ground together, looked over the blood-splashed decks of the American and saw the men deserting the quarter-deck guns, under the terror of another broadside at so short a distance. "Follow me who can," he shouted, and with characteristic coolness "stepped"--in his own phrase--across the _Chesapeake's_ bulwark. He was followed by some 32 seamen and 18 marines--50 British boarders leaping upon a ship with a crew of 400 men, a force which, even after the dreadful broadsides of the _Shannon_, still numbered 270 unwounded men in its ranks.