and defences, from where they repulsed every British attempt to storm their fortifications. Yeo had gone ashore to accompany the troops, and none of the larger British vessels was brought into a range at which to support the attack. The small British gunboats, which could approach very close to the shore, were armed only with small, short-range carronades, which were ineffective against the American defences. Eventually one British ship, Beresford, mounting 16 guns, worked close in using sweeps (long oars). When its crew opened fire, they quickly drove the American artillerymen from Fort Tompkins. Some of Beresfords shot went over the fort and landed in and around the dockyard. Under the mistaken impression that the fort had surrendered, a young American naval officer, Acting Lieutenant John Drury, ordered the sloop-of-war General Pike, which was under construction, and large quantities of stores to be set on fire. Lieutenant Woolcott Chauncey had orders to defend the yard rather than the schooners, but had instead gone aboard one of the schooners, which were engaging the British vessels at long and ineffective range. By this time, Prevost was convinced that success was impossible to attain. His own field guns did not come into action and without them he was unable to batter breaches in the American defences, while the militia which Brown had rallied were attacking his own right flank and rear. He gave the order to retreat. Prevost later wrote that the enemy had been beaten and that the retreat was carried out in perfect order, but other accounts by British soldiers stated that the re-embarkation took place in disorder, and each unit acrimoniously blamed the others for the repulse. The Americans for their part claimed that had Prevost not retreated hastily when he did, he would never have returned to Kingston. The U.S. 9th Infantry had been force-marching to the sounds of battle, but the British had departed before they could intervene. Casualties The British Army casualty return for the engagement detailed 1 officer and 47 men killed, 12 officers and 183 men wounded, and 3 officers and 13 men "wounded and missing" (i.e. left behind). The separate Royal Navy casualty list gave 1 killed and 5 wounded. This added up to a total British loss of 49 killed and 216 wounded, of whom 16 were left behind on the field. However, Patrick Wilder says "three captured British officers and 32 British