As the _Chesapeake_ approached, the English vessel hauled off shore. It was a beautiful summer day. The water was rippled, and there was little or no swell. It was a day for target practice. The small craft either held back or had been left behind as the two combatants, sailing in silence, drew away from shore. At 4 P.M. the _Chesapeake_ fired a gun. The _Shannon_ braced back her main-topsail and hove to. The smoke from the first shot had cleared away, and the vessels manoeuvred for some minutes to gain the advantage. Lawrence must have seen that it would have been better had he listened to the counsels of Bainbridge and others, who had advised him not to seek a meeting just at that time. It was evident that the _Shannon_ was the better sailer. Several times the newly rove running-gear of the _Chesapeake_ jammed in the blocks. Her crew were confused, and the men did not know their numbers at the guns. All exertions were made, however; but, after having been for some time within pistol-shot, broadsides were fired with tremendous execution. The first broadside that the _Chesapeake_ received was a catastrophe in itself; the double-shotted guns of the enemy tore great breaks in her bulwarks, and officers who had occupied positions of great danger fell in every part of the ship. The first shot killed Mr. White, the sailing-master. The fourth lieutenant, Mr. Ballard, received a mortal wound; and at this same moment Captain Lawrence was shot through the leg by a musket-ball from the _Shannon’s_ tops. He made no outcry, but, leaning against the companion-way for support, continued to give his orders in a cool, firm voice. The ships were now so close that the powder smoke blackened their white streaks, and three broadsides were exchanged in quick succession that were frightful in their results. The English had placed expert riflemen in their tops, and three men were shot successively from the _Chesapeake’s_ wheel. The American ship fell off from her proper course, and the _Shannon_ veering close, her after-port was caught by the _Chesapeake’s_ anchor. The ill-luck of the latter vessel had followed her. For some time she could not bring a gun to bear, while the Englishman from his foremost guns raked her upper decks, killing and wounding the greater portion of the men there. It had been for a long time a superstition with our cousins across the water that naught could resist the onslaught of an English boarding party. An exception, however, has been made in favor of the “damned Yankees” by a well-known English writer.