About noon
-- The Guadaloupe and Express despatched to Charleston , and the Loyalist sent to the Shoe to relieve the Bonetta . 30th . -- A day of much excitement and no little anxiety . About noon the Guadaloupe and Bonetta were seen standing up the harbour under all sail , and soon it became known that they had been chased by a fleet of French ships , consisting of twenty-six sail of the line , besides frigates , fire-ships , bombs , and transports , who followed them to the mouth of the harbour and captured the Loyalist within three miles of the town after a most gallant resistance , her masts having gone by the board before she struck her colours to the enemy . This fleet is commanded by the Count de Grasse , and has come direct from the West Indies . Three of their ships brought up at the mouth of the harbour , but the main body anchored at Lynhaven Bay . 31st .