The Rights of Man, a 74-gun ship of the Téméraire class built and launched at Lorient on May 29, 1794, commanded by Captain Raymond de Lacrosse, was assigned to the expedition which was to land a French army on the coasts of Ireland. It carried 549 soldiers of the Frankish legion, commanded by General Humbert.
The Rights of Man was caught in the storm which had partially destroyed the French fleet, but managed to reach Ireland.
He patrolled for 8 days, capturing the British brigs Cumberland and Calypso, and did not want to leave without making sure that none of the French vessels had been thrown ashore. Lacrosse then decided to join the squadron heading for the coasts of France.
On 22 Nivôse, Year V (January 13, 1797), the commandant of the Human Rights Department estimated that he was one degree (25 leagues) from Penmarch, when he saw the 44-gun British frigate Indefatigable in the wind, accompanied by the Amazon, 36 guns, Royal Navy. Lacrosse chased ahead of the British to prepare for battle. Around three o'clock, the Rights of Man was cut off by two new sails, and decided to engage in combat with the frigates.
When the fight begins, the heavy weather prevents the ships from using their artillery located on the lower deck. One of the arms of the main topsail of the Rights of Man broke, depriving it of its two topmasts, but the British neglected to take advantage of it. The Indefatigable and the Droits de l'Homme exchanged broadsides of artillery and musketry, and the frigate attempted to take the ship in a row. Lacrosse reacts and tries to board the Indefatigable, without success.
At a quarter past six, after an hour and a half of fighting, Amazon came within range and fired a broadside in the hip of the Droits de l'Homme, before moving away with the Indefatigable to repair.
At half past eight in the evening, the British reopened fire. Taking advantage of the superiority of their sails, they circled around the Rights of Man by taking it in a row. Relying on his infantry, Lacrosse was trying to hook one of his two opponents, hoping to board him and force the other to come to his aid and expose himself to boarding as well.
The Rights of Man lost her mizzenmast and the British frigates attempted to approach, but were driven back by the vessel's fire. Around one o'clock in the morning, Lieutenant Châtelain had his arm shattered by a biscayan bullet, and a few moments later, Commander Lacrosse was hit in the left knee by the ricochet of a dead cannonball. He made his crew swear not to bring the French flag down, before entrusting the command to his second in command.
The fight lasted another four hours; about six o'clock in the morning, the lookout of the Rights of Man signaled the coast, and the vessel attempted to reach the land, breaking her foremasts and bowsprit damaged in the fight. Dismasted, her anchors damaged and her rudder destroyed, the Droit de l'Homme ran ashore.
The Amazon broke on the shore and her crew were taken prisoner. The Indefatigable, as a pontoon, managed to circumvent the reefs of Penmarch and escape.
The Rights of Man ran aground in Audierne Bay on 25 Nivôse at seven o'clock in the morning. In the storm, the light canoes were swept away by the waves before being launched. Several of his sailors perished while trying to establish a back-and-forth or seek help. During the night of the 25th to the 26th, five boats from Audierne were able to take away the wounded and about 400 sailors or soldiers; the storm interrupted rescue operations for 5 days. On the 30th, Lacrosse embarked on a corvette that had been sent to him from Brest after ensuring that there was not a single man left on board.
Lacrosse was elevated to the rank of general officer.