ltwilliammowett:The action of 9 February 1799, when the USS Constellation , commanded by Captain Tho
ltwilliammowett:The action of 9 February 1799, when the USS Constellation , commanded by Captain Thomas Truxtun, captured the French frigate L'Insurgente.by Rear Admiral John William Schmidt During the Quasi War 1798-1800 between the United States and France, the USS Constellation’s captured L'Insurgente, after an intense firefight in which both sides exchanged heavy broadsides and musket fire. An American squadron under Commodore Thomas Truxtun had been sent to patrol the Caribbean waters between Puerto Rico and Saint Kitts with orders to engage any French forces they found in the area. While Truxtun was sailing independently of his squadron in Constellation, his flagship, he met and engaged L'Insurgente. After chasing the French ship through a storm, Constellation forced L'Insurgente into an engagement that lasted an hour and fourteen minutes before the French frigate surrendered. The French sustained heavy casualties in the action, while the numbers of American dead and wounded were low.After the action, L'Insurgente was taken to Saint Kitts and commissioned into the United States Navy as USS Insurgent. -- source link