Chapter XII: Byng and La Galissonière. A. D. 1756

Sketch of Admiral Byng; War between England and France; Capture
of Minorca by the Latter; Byng sent to the Relief of the Island;
La Galissonière in Command of the French; Failure to Engage the
Latter’s Fleet, as Directed, by Byng; The English Driven Back to
Gibraltar; Byng Superseded Without a Hearing; Tried by
Court-martial and Sentenced to Death; The Sentence Considered
Unjustly Severe by Pitt; Wrangling among the Officers of the
Admiralty; Final Execution of the Sentence; Voltaire’s Sarcasm. I-174