The only known copy. An account, privately printed by the defendant for the 'information & satisfaction of his friends', of the court-martial of William Beauchamp Proctor, captain of HMS Dédaigneuse (b.1781).

The incident in question took place on 19th-20th November 1806 off the Isle de France, when the 40-gun Dédaigneuse encountered a comparatively lighter French frigate, La Sémillante. Dédaigneuse gave chase and by midnight the two ships were no more than half a mile apart, permitting the former to fire several shorts from her bow chases and a full broadside. The Sémillante tacked and the Dédaigneuse followed suit, but owing to light winds and a dirty bottom (the build-up of weed on the vessel's hull from months spent at sea) she could not come fully about. A boat was lowered to tow the frigate around but by then Sémillante was some distance away and Dédaigneuse could not make-up the distance lost, allowing the enemy to escape to Port-Louis with its train of English prizes.

Proctor himself requested the court-martial after Sir Edward Pellew (1757-1833), the bilious commander-in-chief of naval forces in the East Indies, publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the Captain's conduct. The court of five fellow post captains met in March 1807 aboard Pellew's flagship Culloden to investigate the matter and were unanimous in their decision, finding all charges unproved and declaring Proctor's conduct 'to have been marked by the greatest activity, zeal and anxiety for His Majesty's Service'.

An association copy, with the ownership inscription and manuscript annotations of Captain John Wood of HMS Phaeton, a sitting judge on the court-martial which absolved Proctor of wrongdoing. His notes record the name of the ships of three of other serving judges: Joseph Bingham 'H.M. Ship Sceptre', G.N. Hardinge 'St. Fiorenzo', and Ant. Maitland 'Bellerephon'. The affair was recorded in Marshall's Royal Navy Biography, which incorrectly postdates the incident to 1808-1809; Marshall tells us that Proctor 'returned to England for the recovery of his health, in the autumn of 1809; since which period he has not been afloat'.

First edition; 4to (23 x 19 cm); ownership inscription in pen to head of title-page: 'Captn. Jo. Hood H.M. Ship. Phaeton', pen annotations p.10 in same hand naming the ships of the captains sitting on the court-martial; sewn as issued with contemporary folded folio leaf as wrapper, this with MS title in the same hand as the ownership inscription and notes; [2], 10 pp.

cf.Marshall (1827).