After Trafalgar shattered Napoleon's battle fleet in 1805, France could no longer contest Britain's control of European waters. But frigates -- fast, nimble, lightly armed -- could still slip through the blockade and prey on merchant shipping. In late 1808, the French navy dispatched Commodore Jacques Hamelin with four frigates to the Indian Ocean, tasked with raiding the rich trade routes of the East India Company. Operating from the distant colonies of Isle de France and Isle Bonaparte -- modern Mauritius and Reunion -- Hamelin's squadron had to sail thousands of miles to reach its hunting grounds. By mid-1809, French raiders had already captured one convoy of East Indiamen, and Britain's response was still gathering momentum. Hamelin sailed from Isle de France in July aboard his flagship Venus, accompanied by the frigate Manche and the brig Creole. Along the way he captured a company ship, seized several merchantmen off the Nicobar Islands, and burned a British trading post at Tappanooly in Sumatra. The Bay of Bengal was, for the moment, a French ocean.

Stewart's convoy of three East Indiamen -- Windham, Charlton, and United Kingdom -- had been warned. HMS Rattlesnake intercepted them on 11 November and reported French warships in the area. Stewart drilled his gunners aboard Windham, though he knew the odds. East Indiamen were large and carried cannons, but they were trading ships with merchant crews, not warships. When Hamelin's squadron appeared at dawn on 18 November, the French formation was scattered, with Manche separated to leeward. Stewart saw an opportunity: concentrate all three ships against the isolated frigate before the French could regroup. He signaled the plan to the captains of Charlton and United Kingdom, then bore down on Manche. They did not follow. Captains Mortlock and D'Esterre deliberately held back, leaving Windham to fight alone. Stewart was too close to turn away. When his first broadside fell short of the nimble Manche, and the frigate's guns began raking Windham at close range, the miscalculation became clear. They dueled for over an hour while the other two East Indiamen fired occasional shots from extreme range -- gestures that changed nothing.

Hamelin recalled Manche at noon and sent her with Creole after the slower Charlton and United Kingdom, which surrendered after token resistance. Venus closed on the battered Windham. Stewart, with the agreement of his officers, decided the battle was lost and attempted to flee alone. What followed was a five-day chase across the open ocean. Stewart's crew threw cargo, stores, and everything non-essential overboard to lighten the ship and gain speed. Venus, a purpose-built frigate, should have overhauled the fleeing merchantman in hours -- but Windham's desperate measures kept her just ahead. For five days the two ships raced southeast. At 10:30 on 22 November, Hamelin finally closed the gap. Windham surrendered. Casualties from the entire action were remarkably light: four British killed and two wounded, no French losses at all. The disparity speaks to the nature of the fight -- not a pitched battle between equals, but a predator running down its prey.

Hamelin reunited with his prizes in early December and set course for Isle de France. Cyclone season in the Indian Ocean was approaching, and every captain knew what that meant. On 19 December, the first storm struck and scattered the squadron. Venus and Windham were separated from the rest. Then, on 27 December, a far more violent cyclone bore down on Venus. All three topmasts were ripped away. The French crew panicked, refusing to attend the sails or even close the hatches. Seawater poured into the ship. Venus was sinking. In his cabin, Hamelin made a remarkable request of his prisoner. He asked Stewart to save the ship -- but demanded Stewart's word that his men would not attempt escape or mutiny. Stewart refused the condition. He would help, he said, but he would make no promises about escape. Hamelin, facing the loss of his flagship, had no choice but to accept. Stewart and his British sailors went to work, cutting away the wrecked masts and pumping water from the hold. They saved the ship. Venus limped into Riviere Noire on 31 December, and Stewart's men were marched to Port Louis as prisoners. In recognition of their service during the storm, Stewart and his crew were later released.

The story had one more twist. Windham, sailing separately under a French prize crew, was spotted within sight of Isle de France on 29 December by the newly arrived British frigate HMS Magicienne. The ship that had evaded Hamelin for five days, only to be captured and then saved from a cyclone by her own former crew, was recaptured almost in port. The other prizes -- Charlton and United Kingdom -- made it safely to Isle de France, but the broader pattern was clear. The action of 18 November was the second loss of a British East India Company convoy in 1809; a third would follow in 1810. Combined with twelve East Indiamen wrecked that year, the toll was staggering. Britain responded with a massive naval buildup in the Indian Ocean, and by late 1810 had invaded and captured both Isle de France and Isle Bonaparte. Hamelin himself was taken prisoner in September 1810, ending the French raiding campaign. The waters of the Bay of Bengal returned to British control -- not through a single decisive engagement, but through the accumulated weight of losses that made the status quo intolerable.