Letter from Rear-Adm. Sir Samuel Hood to General Jacob de Budé, partly duplicate of 0680, but forcibly expressing his disappointment at not pursuing and capturing the fleeing French fleet, criticising the abilities and actions of Sir Charles Douglas and Adm. Sir George Rodney, and remarking that his (Hood's) health has suffered as a result of 'seeing things go as they do'.
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Sir Charles, asked why he had not mentioned the circumstances he had just heard from me, which made the orders he had given highly improper, & they have been put a stop to. now what I did was most certainly the bounden duty of the [[underline]] first [[/underline]] Captain. But all is confusion in the Formidable and not the least attention paid to method & order. Things that require to be immediately done are neglected, and others, that are of no consequence whether they are done today or tomorrow, there is often the greatest hurry about, though of a very [[addition]] ^trifling [[/addition]] nature. In short I not only see them, but am constantly teired about them, as often as a captain comes near me, which I cannot remedy, to any real advantage, for whenever I attempt it, & bring things a little to rights, it is but for the moment as it were, for they soon return into their former irregularity & confusion. Sir George requires a constant monitor at his Elbow, as much as a [[catchword]] froward [[/catchword]]
