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John Paul Jones

On commemorating the lives and services of the naval commanders distinguished in the history of our country, it is but just to place Paul Jones among the first.  He was the first to hoist the American flag in a regular American man of war.  He gained the most brilliant victory won upon the ocean during the war of independence; and though out the whole of his splendid career he exhibited a degree of courage and ability, which has been surpassed by none of those who have succeeded him in the brilliant line of our naval heroes.

            John Paul Jones was the son of Mr John Paul, a respectable gardener.  He was born at Arbigland, in the parish of Kirkbean, and Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in the month of July 1747, and received the rudiments of his education at the parochial school.  The contiguity of his residence to the shore of the Solway Firth, inspired him with an early predilection for a sea-faring life; and while yet a mere child, he hoisted his flag onboard his mimic ship, and issued audible mandates to his imaginary officers and crew, with all the consequence of a legitimate commander Nor was he content with this.  As his skills in manoeuvring improved, he ventured to criticise the nautical knowledge of practical sailors; and in the eager and confident tone with which, from the eminence on which he took his station, he thundered forth his orders to the vessels which were entering the port at Carsethorn, might be remarked the ardent and enterprising mind of one who felt that he was born to future command.

            At the time of which we speak, the town of Dumfries carried on a very considerable trade in tobacco with America; and as the Nith was not navigable to foreign vessels, the cargoes were unshipped at Carsethorn, near the mouth of that river.  There, from his earliest years, Paul had opportunities of conversing with mariners from the discontented colonies; and it is probable that he thus first imbibed that enthusiastic attachment to the United States, and those revolutionary principles, which exerted so decided an influence on his conduct when he grew up to maturity, and eventually led him to renounce his allegiance, and raise his hand against the country which gave him birth.

            His partiality for a sailor’s life was so determined, that his friends resolved to indulge it; and accordingly at the age of twelve, he was sent across the Firth to Whitehaven, where he was bound apprentice to Mr younger, a respectable merchant in the American trade.  His first voyage was made onboard the Friendship, Captain Benson.  His course was steered for the Rappahannoc, and before he had completed his thirteenth year, he had landed on the shore of that country which he was destined to adopt as his own.  His home, while the ship was in port, was the house of an elder brother, who, having married a native of Virginia, had previously settled there.  Here his early prepossessions in favour of America were confirmed, and from that period, as he afterwards expressed himself to Baron Van der Capellan, that because “the country of his fond election.”

            In the meantime, his intelligence and good conduct acquired him the esteem and confidence of his employer, who promised to give him a substantial proof of his favour, by promoting him to the command of a vessel; and we would have kept his word, had not the embarrassed state of his affairs deprived him of the power to do it.

            Our adventurer, being at length freed from the trammels of apprenticeship, made several voyages to the coast of Africa; but he soon became disgusted with a traffic which had too long been the disgrace of civilised nations, and confined his services to the command of vessels engaged in a more reputable and legitimate commerce.

            In the year 1773, he went to Virginia to arrange the affairs of his brother, who had died there without leaving any family; and about this time, in addition to his original surname, he assumed the patronymic of Jones, his father’s Christian name having been John.  This custom, which is of classical authority, has long been prevalent in Wales, and in various other countries, although it is not usual in that part of the island in which he was born.

           The visit revived and revetted the attachment which young Paul Jones had conceived for America; and in spite of the native ardour and restless activity of his mind, he resolved to withdraw from the vicissitudes of a sea faring life, to fix his residence in that country, and to devote the remainder of his days to retirement and study.  He was not little aware of the turbulent scenes in which he was destined soon to perform a part, nor of the conspicuous figure he to make in them. 

            The discontents of the colonists had by this time occasioned much commotion, and their murmurs became daily deeper and more frequent, till at last they fairly broke off all connection with the parent country.  Towards the conclusion of the year 1775, it was determined by Congress to fit out a naval force to assist in the defence of American independence, and an anxious search was made for friends to the cause who should be at once able and willing to act as officers onboard their vessels.  It now appeared that Paul Jones had, in his romantic schemes of tranquil enjoyment, falsely estimated the natural bent of his genius.  With deep interest he had watched the progress of those political events, which were to decide the fate of his adopted country; and when an open resistance was made to the dominion of Britain, he could no longer remain an inactive spectator.  Having only just completed his twenty-eight year, he was full of bodily vigour and of mental energy, and he conceived that his natural skill would qualify to be a distinguished asserter of the rights of the colonists.  He was immediately appointed first lieutenant of the Alfred, one of the only two ships belonging to Congress, and onboard that vessel, before Philadelphia, he hoisted the flag of independent America with his own hands, the first time it was displayed in a national ship.  In the course of a very active and successful campaign, having found means to gain the confidence of the Marine Committee by his zeal and intrepidity, he had not served many months before the President sent him a captain’s commission.

                In November 1777, he sailed for France, in the Ranger, a new sloop-of-war of eighteen guns, with despatches of the victory of Saratoga.  It was intended that, “as a reward for the important services” which he had already rendered to America, he should be appointed to the command of the Indian, a fine frigate, just built for Congress at Amsterdam, and that the Ranger should act under his orders; but the American commissioners at Paris found it their best policy to assign this vessel over to the King of France, and Captain Paul Jones continued with the Ranger.  Having convoyed some merchant ships at Quiberon Bay, he there received from the French commander the first salute that was ever given to the flag of Congress.  Eager to retaliate upon British for some predatory exploits of her sailors on the American coast, and exasperated by the resolution which the English government had taken, to treat all the supporters of independence as traitors and rebels, Captain Paul Jones soon after this entered the Irish Channel, and approached his native shores, not as a friend, but as a determined enemy.  On the night of the 22^nd April 1778, he came to anchor in the Solway Firth, almost within sight of the trees, which sheltered the house in which he first drew the breath of life.  Early next morning, he rowed for the English coast, at the head of thirty-one volunteers, in two boats, with the intention of destroying the shipping (about two hundred sail,) which lay in the harbour of Whitehaven.  In this daring attempt he would probably have succeeded without difficulty, had not the strength of the opposing tide retarded his progress so much, that day began to dawn before he could gain the shore.  He despatched the smaller of the two boats to the north of the port to set fire to the vessels, whilst he led the remainder of the party in person to the more hazardous duty of securing the fort, which was situated on a hill to the south.  It was a cold morning; and the sentinels, little aware that an enemy was so near, had retired into the guard room for warmth, affording Jones an opportunity to take them by surprise, of which he did not fail to avail himself.  Climbing over the shoulders of the tallest of his men, he crept silently through one of the embrasures, and was instantly followed by the rest.  Their first care was to make fast the door of the guard room, and their next to spike the cannon, thirty-six in number.  Having effected this without bloodshed, they proceeded to join the detachment which had been sent to the north; and finding that a false alarm had deterred them from executing their orders, Jones instantly proceeded to set fire to the vessels within his reach.  By this time, however, the inhabitants were roused, and the invaders were obliged to retreat, leaving three ships in flames, of which one alone was destroyed.

            On the same day with this adventure, another memorable occurrence took place, which contributed, for a time, to add greatly to the odium which the first had brought on his name in Britain, but which, in the end, enabled him to prove that he was possessed of the most disinterested and heroic qualities.  In cruising off the coast of Galloway, it occurred t him, that, if he could get into his power a man of high rank and influence in the state, he should be able, by retaining him as a hostage, to ensure to the American prisoners of war more lenient treatment than was threatened by the British government.  Knowing that the Earl of Selkirk possessed a seat in St. Mary’s Isle, a beautiful peninsula at the mouth of the Dee, and being ill informed with regard to the political connections of that nobleman, he destined him for the subject of his experiment.  With that view, he landed on the Isle, about noon, with two officers and a few men; but before they had proceeded far, he learnt that his lordship was from home, and that there were none but ladies at the house.  Finding his object frustrated, he now wished to return; but his crew were not so easily satisfied.  Their object was plunder; and as they consisted of men in a very imperfect state of discipline, and with whom it would have been dangerous to contend, he allowed them to proceed.  He exacted from them, however, a promise that they should be guilty of no violence; that the men should not enter the house, and that the officers, after having made their demands, should accept of what might be put into their hands without scrutiny.  These conditions were punctually obeyed.  The greater part of the Selkirk plate was carried off in triumph by the crew, and Paul Jones was, for a time, stigmatised as a freebooter; but he nobly vindicated his character, by taking the earliest opportunity of purchasing the whole of it, out of his own private funds, and remitting it safe to its original owner, without accepting the smallest remuneration.  National prejudice has misrepresented this transaction; and in order to heighten the popular indignation against our hero, it has been common to state, that this attempt on the persons, and as it was supposed the property, of Lord Selkirk, was aggravated by ingratitude, his father having eaten of that nobleman’s bread.  Nothing can be more false.  Neither Mr. Paul, nor any of his kindred, ever was in the Earl’s employ, or had ever the most distant connection with his lordship or his family; and in a correspondence which took place between our hero and Lady Selkirk, relative to the restitution of the plate, a most honourable testimony was gratefully paid by the latter to the Captain’s character.

            The day succeeding the two events just mentioned, Paul Jones encountered the Drake, a King’s ship of twenty guns, in Carrick Fergus bay, and took her after a very brave resistance, in the course of which the English captain and his first lieutenant were mortally wounded.  With this and another large prize, Captain Jones returned to Brest, after an absence of twenty-eight days of very active service, in which, besides taking and destroying many valuable vessels, he had thrown the coasts of Scotland and Ireland into consternation, occasioned the Irish Volunteers to be embodied, and obliged the English government to expand considerable sums in fortifying the harbours.

            A teasing period of hopes and disappointments followed.  The French ministry, to testify their good will to the Unites Sates, had promised to furnish Paul Jones with a ship, in which, however, he was to display the American flag; but, after various written memorials, no progress seemed to have been made towards the fulfilment of this engagement.  At length he determined to apply in person, and having gone to Paris, he soon obtained the command of the Due de Duras of forty guns.  The name, however, he changed to Le Bon-Homme Richard, in compliment to the wise saying of Poor Richard, “If you would have your business done, come yourself; if not, send.”  In this vessel, badly manned, and not much better furnished, Paul Jones sailed as Commodore of a little squadron, consisting, besides his own ship, of the Alliance of thirty six guns, the Pallas of thirty-two, the Serf of eighteen, the Vengeance of twelve, and two privateers, which requested leave to share the Commodore’s fortunes.  After taking several prizes, the Serf, the privateers, and at length the Alliance, deserted the squadron.  The Commodore’s good fortune, however, did not desert him.  On the 15^th September, he was, with his own ship, the Pallas, the Vengeance, and several prizes, at the entrance into the Firth of Forth, where they made every necessary disposition to seize the guard ship, and two cutters, that rode at anchor in the roads, and to lay Leith, and perhaps Edinburgh, under contribution.  The wind, which was fair, in the night, opposed them in the morning.  However, on the 16^th, the little squadron continued all day to work up the Firth.  At this time a member of the British Parliament observing them from the coast of Fife, and mistaking them for the King’s ships, sent off a boat to inform the Commodore that he was greatly afraid of Paul Jones, and to beg some powder and shot.  Our hero, much amused with the message, sent him a barrel of gunpowder, with a civil answer to quiet his fears, and an apology for not including shot in the present.

                Next morning at day break, every thing was in perfect readiness to commence the engagement, and two tacks more would have brought the strangers alongside their enemies, when, at that critical moment, a sudden gale of wind swept down the Firth, raging with such violence, as completely to overpower them, to sink one of the prizes, and drive all the rest of the squadron fairly out to sea.  By this failure, the captains of the Pallas and Vengeance were so much disheartened, that they could not be prevailed on to renew the attempting.

            Continuing their cruise, after various adventures, the squadron suddenly discovered the homeward bound British Baltic fleet, off Scarborough castle, escorted by the frigate Serapis, and the Countess of Scarborough.  After a long engagement, in which Paul Jones displayed the most astonishing skill, intrepidity, and presence of mind, the Countess of Scarborough struck to the Pallas, and the Serapis to the Bon-Homme Richard, which latter ship was reduced to so shattered a state, that next morning, after all hands had left her, she went to the bottom.  The Serapis was not in much better condition, the Commodore having, with his own hands, lashed the two ships together, to prevent the enemy from availing himself of his superiority in weight of metal.  The following is Paul Jones own account of this famous battle: -

            “Soon after this a fleet of forty-one sail appeared off Flamborough Head, bearing N.N.E.  This induced me to abandon the single ship which had then anchored in Burlington Bay; I also called back the pilot boat, and hoisted a signal for a general chase.  When the fleet discovered us bearing down, all the merchant ships crowded sail towards the shore.  The two ships of war that protected the fleet at the same time steered from the land, and made the disposition for battle.  In approaching the enemy, I crowded every possible sail, and made the signal for the line of battle, to which the Alliance showed no attention.  Earnest as I was for the action, I could not reach the Commodore’s ship until seven in the evening, being then within pistol-shot, when he hailed the Bon-Homme Richard.  We answered him by firing a whole broadside.

            “The battle being thus begun was continued with unremitting fury.  Every method was practised on both sides to gain an advantage, and rake each other; and I must confess that the enemy’s ship, being much more manageable than the Bon-Homme Richard, gained thereby several times an advantageous situation, in spite of my best endeavours to prevent it. 

            As I had to deal with an enemy of greatly superior force, I was under the necessity of closing with him, to prevent the advantage, which he had over me in point of manoeuvre.  It was my intention to lay the Bon Homme Richard athwart the enemy’s bow; but as that operation required great dexterity in the management of both side’s sails and helm, and some of our braces being shot away, it did not exactly succeed to my wish.  The enemy’s bowsprit, however, came over the Bon-Homme Richard’s poop by the mizzenmast, and I made both ships fast together in that situation, which, by the action of the wind on the enemy’s sails, forced her stern close to the Bon-Homme Richard’s bow, so that the ships lay square alongside of each other, the yards being all entangled, and the cannon of each ship touching the opponents.

           “When this position took place, it was eight o’clock, previous to which the Bon-Homme Richard had received sundry eighteen-pound shots below the water, and leaked very much.  My battery of twelve- pounders, on which I had placed my chief dependence, being commanded by Lieutenant Dale and Colonel Weibert, and manned principally with American seamen and French volunteers, was entirely silenced and abandoned.  As to the six old eighteen-pounders that formed the battery of the lower gun-deck, they did no service whatever, except firing eight shot in all.  Two out of three of them burst at the first fire, and killed almost all the men who were stationed to manage them.  Before this time, too, Colonial de Chamillard, who commanded a party of twenty soldiers on the poop, had abandoned that station after having lost some of his men.  I had now only two pieces of cannon, (nine-pounders,) on the quarterdeck, that were not silenced, and not one of the heavier cannon was fired during the rest of the action.  The purser, M. Mease, who commanded the guns on the quarterdeck, being dangerously wounded in the head, I was obliged to fill his place, and with great difficulty rallied a few men, and shifted over one of the lee quarterdeck guns, so that we afterwards played three pieces of nine-pounders upon the enemy.  The tops alone seconded the fire of this little battery, and held out bravely during the whole of the action, especially the main top, where Lieutenant Stack commanded.  I directed the fire of one of the three cannon against the main mast, with double headed shot, while the other two were exceedingly well served with grape and canister shot, to silence the enemy’s musketry and clear her decks, which was at last effected.  The enemy were, as I have understood, on the instant of calling for quarters, when the cowardice or treachery of three of my under officers induced them to call to the enemy.  The English Commodore asked me if I demanded quarters, and I having answered him the most determined negative; they renewed the battle with double fury.  They were unable to stand the deck; but the fire of their cannon, especially the lower battery, which was entirely formed of ten-pounders, was incessant; both ships was entirely formed of ten-pounders, was incessant; both ships were set on fire in various places, and the scene was dreadful beyond the reach of language.  To account for the timidity of my three under officers, I mean the gunner, the carpenter, and the master-at-arms, I must observe, that the two first were slightly wounded and, as the ship had received various shot under water, and one of the pumps being shot away, the carpenter expressed his fears that she would sink, and the other two concluded that she was sinking, which occasioned the gunner to run aft on the poop, without my knowledge, to strike the colours.  Fortunately for me, a cannon ball had done that before, by carrying away the ensign-staff; he was therefore reduced to the necessity of sinking, as he supposed, or of calling for quarter, and he preferred the latter.

            “All this time the Bon-Homme Richard had sustained the action alone, and the enemy, though much superior in force, would have been very glad to have got clear, as appears by their own acknowledgments, and by their having let go an anchor the instant that I laid them onboard, by which means they would have escaped, had I not made them well fast to the Bon-Homme Richard.

            “At last, at half past nine, the Alliance appeared, and I now thought the battle at an end; but, to my utter astonishment, he discharged a broadside full into the stern of the Bon-Homme Richard.  We called to him for God’s sake to forbear firing into the Bon-Homme Richard; yet they passed along the offside of the ship, and continued firing.  There was no possibility of this mistaking the enemy’s ships for the Bon-Homme Richard; they’re being the most essential difference in their appearance and construction.  Besides, it was then full moonlight, and the sides of the Bon-Homme Richard were all black, while the sides of the prize were all yellow.  Yet, for the greater security, I showed the signal of our reconnaissance, by patting out three lanterns, one at the head, another at the stern, and the third in the middle, in a horizontal line.  Every tongue cried that he was firing into the wrong ship, but nothing availed; he passed round firing into the Bon-Homme Richard’s head, stern, and broadside, and by one of his volleys killed several of my best men, and mortally wounded a good officer on the forecastle only.  My situation was really deplorable; the Bon-Homme Richard received various shot under water from the Alliance; the leak gained on the pumps, and the fire increased much onboard both ships.  Some officers persuaded me to strike, of whose courage and good sense I entertain a high opinion.  My treacherous master-at-arms let loose all my prisoners without my knowledge, and my prospects became gloomy indeed.  I would not, however, give up the point.  The enemy’s mainmast began to shake, their firing decreased fast, ours rather increased, and the British colours were struck at half an hour past ten. 

            “This prize proved to be the British ship of war the Serapis, a new ship of forty-four guns, built on the most approved construction, with two complete batteries, one of them eighteen-pounders, and commanded by the brave Commodore Richard Pearson.  I had yet two enemies to encounter far more formidable than the British I mean fire and water.  The Serapis was attacked only by the first, but the Bon-Homme Richard was assailed by both; there was five feet water in the hold, and though it was moderate from the explosion of so much gunpowder, yet the three pumps that remained could with difficulty only keep the water from gaining.  The fire broke out in various parts of the ship of all the water that could be thrown into quench it, and at length broke out as low as the powder magazine, and within a few inches of the powder.  In that dilemma I took out the powder upon the deck, ready to be thrown overboard at the last extremity, and it was ten o’clock the next day (the 24^th) before the fire was entirely extinguished.  With respect to the situation of the Bon-Homme Richard, the rudder was cut entirely off, the stern frame and transoms were almost entirely cut away, and the timbers by the lower deck, especially from the mainmast towards the stern, being greatly decayed with age, were mangled beyond my power of description, and a person must have been an eyewitness to form a just idea of the tremendous scene of carnage, wreck, and ruin, which every where appeared.  Humanity cannot but recoil from the prospect of such finished horror, and lament that war should be capable of producing such fatal consequences.

             “After the carpenters, as well as Captain Cottineau and other men of senses, had well examined and surveyed the ship, (which was not finished before five in the evening,) I found every person to be convinced that it was impossible to keep the Bon-Homme Richard afloat, so as to reach a port, if the wind should increase, it being then only a very moderate breeze.  I had but little time to remove my wounded, which now became unavoidable, and which was effected in the course of the night and next morning.  I was determined to keep the Bon-Homme Richard afloat, and, if possible, to bring her into port.  For that purpose, the first lieutenant of the Pallas continued onboard with a party of men, to attend the pumps, with boats in waiting, ready to take them onboard in case the water should gain on them too fast.  The wind augmented in the night, and the next day the 25^th, so that it was impossible to prevent the good old ship from sinking.  They did not abandon her till after nine o’clock; the water was then up to the lower deck, and a little after ten we saw, with inexpressible grief, the last glimpse of the Bon-Homme Richard.  No lives were lost with the ship, but it was impossible to save the stores of any sort whatever.  I lost even the best part of my clothes, books, and papers; and several of my officers lost all their clothes and effects.

            “Having thus endeavoured to give a clear and simple relation of the circumstances and events that have attended the little armament under my command, I shall freely submit my conduct therein to the censure of my superiors and the impartial public.  I beg leave, however, to observe, that the force that was put under my command was far from being well composed, and as the great majority of the actors in it have appeared ben on the pursuit of interest only, I am exceedingly sorry that they and I have been at all concerned.”

            Such is the despatch, which Commodore Jones transmitted from the Texel to Dr. Franklin, and afterwards to congress.

            The Commodore now took the command of the Serapis, erected jury-masts, and with some difficulty conveyed of his prizes to the Texel.  Paul Jones, who never suffered the interests of his fellow citizens to be lost sight of, exerted all his influence with the French court to have it arranged that his prisoners should be exchanged against American prisoners in England, and be completely succeeded.  Dr. Franklin, the minister of the United States at Paris, soon cheered his heart, by writing to him that “he had then completed the glorious work he had so nobly begun, by giving liberty to all the Americans who then languished for it in England.”  On this occasion, too, the King of France directed his ambassador at the Hague to communicate to Commodore Paul Jones the high personal esteem he bore for his character, especially for his disinterestedness and humanity.

            The Captain of the Alliance being ordered to Paris, to answer for his insubordination, Jones took the command of that vessel; but he now found himself environed with dangers.  The Dutch were summoned to deliver him up to the vengeance of the English government, as a pirate and a rebel; and they were most reluctantly constrained to order him out to sea, where an English squadron was watching to pounce upon him as their certain prey.  The acceptance of a commission from the King of France would have saved him from this dilemma, and the ambassador from his Most Christian Majesty repeatedly urged him to adopt that alternative but he thought his honour engaged to decline it.  He would not, at whatever risk, abandon the flag of his beloved America.  He, however, contrived to make his escape, passing the Straits of Dover, and the Isle of Wight, before the very beards of the English fleets.

            Towards the close of 1780, our hero sailed for America in the Ariel with important despatches and having encountered in his passage the Triumph, an English vessel of twenty guns, he forced her to strike. 

            A little before this time, the King of France had testified his approbation of Paul Jone’s services, by presenting him with a superb gold sword; and a letter from M. de Sartaine now reached the President of the United States, requesting liberty “to decorate that brave officer with the cross of the order of military merit.”  The demand was laid before Congress, and a law having been passed on the 27^th February, acceding to it, he was formally invested by the Chevalier de la Luzerne, at a public fete given to the members of that legislative body.  In April following, on the report of a committee, Congress passed a vote of thanks to the Chevalier Paul Jones “for the zeal, prudence, and intrepidity with which he had sustained the honour of the American flag; for his bold and successful enterprises to redeem from captivity those citizens of America who had fallen under the power of the enemy; and in general, for the good conduct and eminent services by which he had added lustre to his character, and to the arms of America.”

            During the remainder of the war with England, he had no opportunity to signalise himself.  After it was over, Congress, as an expression of gratitude, caused a gold medal to be struck, with appropriate legends and devices, to perpetuate the memory of his valour and services.  The annexed engraving, executed in the ruled manner from a duplicate of the medal, by Mr. Asa Spencer, the inventor of the machine for medal ruling, gives an accurate resemblance of it.

            In 1787, the United States having charged the Chevalier with a mission to the court of Denmark, he set sail for that country in the month of November, and passing through Paris in his way was strongly solicited to assume the command of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.  Soon after his arrival at Copenhagen, a courier, sent express by the Empress Catharine, conveyed to him an urgent invitation to St. Petersburgh.  Although he saw many reasons for declining to engage in the service of that potentate, he was flattered by the offer, and felt himself bound at least to thank her Majesty in person.  He, therefore, set out instantly for her Court, by the way of Sweden; but at Greshelham found the passage of the Gulf of Bothnia blocked up by ice.  After several unsuccessful attempts to proceed to Finland by the islands, he conceived that it might be practicable to affect his object by doubling the ice to the southward.  The enterprise was formidable, and altogether new; but our hero was not easily daunted.  Without making known his intentions to his companions, he set sail from Greshelham one morning very early, in an open boat about thirty feet long, followed by a little one to haul over the ice.  Towards evening, having got nearly opposite to Stockholm, our adventurer, producing his pistols, ordered the astonished boatmen to pursue the route, which he had secretly devised.  Resistance was vain, and he was obeyed.  All night the wind was favourable, and they hoped to reach the coast of Finland in the morning; but they found themselves opposed by an impenetrable barrier of ice.  Neither was it possible from the state of the weather to return.  The only resource was to make for the Gulf of Finland.  When night came on, they steered by the aid of a pocket compass, lighted by the lamp of the Chevalier’s carriage; and, at the end of four days, after having lost the smaller of their two boats, they terminated a perilous and fatiguing voyage at Revel, in Livonia. 

            The Chevalier was graciously received at the Court of St. Petersburgh; and longer opposing the wishes of the Empress, attached himself to her service, under this single condition, “That he should never be condemned unheard.”

            He proceeded, without delay, with the rank of Rear Admiral, to take the command of the fleet stationed at the Liman, or mouth of the Dneiper, and oppose the Turkish fleet under the Captain Pacha.  On the 26^th May 1788, he hoisted his flag onboard the Wolodimer.  His squadron was supported by a flotilla under the Prince of Nassau, and land forces under Prince Potemkin.  Our limits forbid us to follow Admiral Jones through this campaign.  It afforded him many opportunities of displaying his characteristic intrepidity and professional skill; but mean jealousy and malignant cabals deprived him of much well trained glory.  He was, however, invested with the order of St. Anne, as an acknowledgement of his fidelity; and, on his arrival at St. Petersburgh, he was told that he was destined for a more important service.  Disgusted, however, by the intrigues of selfish men, he left Russia in August 1789, and never returned.

            The remainder of his days he spent partly in Holland, and partly in France.  He collected a number of important documents relative to the public transactions in which he had actively concerned; and as if he had foreseen that he was not to be long live, he devoted much of his leisure to the arrangement of his affairs, and to the preparations of papers, which should exhibit his character and services in their true light to his friends and to posterity.  

            He died at Paris of dropsy in the chest, in July 1792, having barely completed his forty-fifth year.  His funeral was attended by a deputation o the National Assembly, and M. Marron pronounced an oration over his tomb.

Richard Dale

Ones’ lieutenant in the famous action with the Serapis, is the subject of the present memoir.

            Richard Dale was born on the sixth of November 1756, in Norfolk county Virginia.  He is descended from a family highly respectable, though not wealthy.  His parents were both natives of Virginia.  His father left five children of whom Richard was the eldest.  Having manifested, from an early period of life, a strong predilection for the sea, his friends were induced to comply with his wishes.  Accordingly, when only twelve years of age, he entered onboard a vessel commanded by his uncle, with whom he sailed from Norfolk for Liverpool, in November 1768.  He returned the following summer, and remained at home until the spring of 1770, when he was bound apprentice to colonel Thomas Newton, a respectable merchant of Norfolk.  In the employ of that gentleman he made several voyages to the West Indies, during which nothing of moment occurred, except two accidents, which are worthy of notice only as being the commencement of a series of misfortunes that awaited him.  The first was a fall which is received from the spars, lying across the belfry and the gallows, a distance of eighteen or twenty feet, without however, sustaining any material injury.  The other was of a nature no less formidable.  As the vessel was going rapidly before the wind, he was knocked overboard by the jib-sheet, and was not, without much difficulty, rescued from so perilous a situation, after having been in the water about an hour.

           In 1775, we find him the chief officer of a valuable brig belonging to Colonel Newton, in which, to the entire satisfaction of his employer, he continued to the spring of the following year.  A period had now arrived that opened to his adventurous disposition, prospects much more congenial and tempting than those which arise out of the service of the merchant.  The war of the revolution had commenced; and he had too much of the feelings and temperament of the soldier to remain inactive.  He is accordingly, presented to us in the early part of the year 1776, engaged as lieutenant onboard a vessel of war, belonging to the state of Virginia, which was fitting out not far from City Point, near Norfolk.

            While in the execution of his orders to go to Sandy Point, in James river, in a small river craft, for the purpose of procuring cannon, he was captured by a tender belonging to the Liverpool frigate, carried to Norfolk, and put onboard a prison ship, in which he was confined for several weeks.

            During the time he remained in this situation, he was visited by Bridges Gutterridge, who had been his schoolmate, but who had not yet declared in favour of the popular cause, having then the command of a tender in the service of the enemy.  After much solicitation, and many plausible and seductive arguments, our young adventurer was induced to join the fortunes of his former companion and friend.  In May (1776) they made a cruise together up the river Rappahannock, during which they had an engagement with several pilot boats, and were happy to escape, with the loss of several men killed; young Dale himself being badly wounded, having received a musket ball in his head.  He was carried to Norfolk, where his wound confined him a long time.  This period he improved to the salutary purposes of reflection, and of firmly resolving, to use his own words, “never again to put himself in the way of the balls of his country.”  Soon after his recovery, upon his return from Bermuda-whither he had gone with William Gutteridge-he was captured by Captain John Barry, commander of the United States brig Lexington, and on the same day entered as a midshipman onboard said brig.  This occurred in July 1776.  Not long afterwards the brig, whilst cruising, was struck with lightning; Dale, with many others, was prostrated senseless, upon the deck.  They were all, however, providentially restored in a few minutes.  Soon after this the brig arrived at Philadelphia.  Date still continued in the same vessel the command of which now devolved on Captain Hallock-Captain Barry having been appointed to the command of a frigate.

            The Lexington sailed in the autumn of 1776 for Cape Francois, and a cruise.  On her return to the United States, in December following she was captured by the Liverpool frigate, off the capes of Virginia.  In consequence of a sudden and tremendous gale, the captors could only take out the captain and five of her crew: Dale, who was then master’s mate, being one of the numbers.  The officers and crew, who remained onboard, retook the brig and carried her into Baltimore.  Dale was landed, with some of his fellow prisoners, at Cape Henlopen, in January 1777.  He immediately repaired to Philadelphia, which he had no sooner reached, than he was ordered to join the Lexington again, now commanded by Captain Henry Johnson.  This vessel sailed from Baltimore for Bordeaux, in February or March, with despatches.  Her passage was short and very successful, many valuable prizes being taken by her, without delay she proceeded to Nantz, to join the United States ship Reprisal, of sixteen six-pounders, Captain Wicks, and a cutter, commanded by Samuel Nicholson, carrying ten four-pounders; the three vessels to cruise in company, under the command of Captain Wicks.    

            This little squadron sailing from Nantz on a cruise, in May 1777, took and sunk many prizes, and did great injury to the coasting trade of the British islands.  In the English Channel they fell in with an English seventy-four, which gave them chase.  In consequence if this it became necessary for the vessels of the squadron to separate.  They soon afterwards reached French ports; the Reprisal having had a very narrow escape, which was not effected without the loss of her guns.

            After a detention of the vessels, by the French government, for more than two months for some cause, which was never explained-young Dale, sailed in the Lexington from Morlaix for the United States, on the 18^th September 1777.  On the following morning, discovering a cutter ahead, lying by, they made all sail and stood directly for her.  They soon discovered her to be an English cutter, mounting ten six-pounders.  The cutter, between seven, commenced an action and eight o’clock a.m.; at which time, such had been the extreme negligence of the commanders of the Lexington, in not making the necessary preparations for action, that there was not even a match ready.  They were, therefore, obliged to fire their guns by means of their muskets, until matters were in a state of better preparation.  The action became very warm.  A calm succeeding, the Lexington could not get as near the enemy as was wished.  The action was sustained for nearly two hours with the most determined resolution.  This, considering the manifold and heavy disadvantages under which the American vessel laboured, was not a little astonishing, and must be regarded as evincive of that heroic, unconquerable gallantry, which is now an acknowledged characteristic of American seaman.  Being, however, much cut to pieces, with the loss of several brave officers and men, and having expended almost their last shot, the American commander deemed it prudent to avail himself of a breeze, which just then sprang up, to crowd sail and get off.  In this he succeeded for a short time; but between one and two o’clock p.m., the cutter overtook him.  The action was renewed with increased obstinacy on both sides.  Having maintained the unequal conflict for one hour-not only the shot of every description, but all the iron, and other articles, which could be used as a substitute for shot. Being expended-the brig reduced literally to a wreck-the first lieutenant, sailing-master, captain of marines, and a number of men being killed, and many more officers and men severely wounded, -no alternative was left but to strike their flag to the cutter.

            Notwithstanding its unsuccessful issue, we cannot but consider this action as reflecting lustre upon the American name; particularly when we take into view, the great superiority in the crew of the cutter, which exceeded that of the Lexington in numbers, but also consisted entirely of, picked men.  Of the Lexington, on the other hand, both the officers and crew were without experience, but few of them having ever been in an engagement before.

            About three or four days after this action, the surviving officers and crew of the Lexington arrived in Plymouth.  The former underwent a rigorous examination before twelve judges, the object of which was to ascertain to what country they belonged.

            Both officers and men were committed to Mill prison, upon a charge of high treason.  In this loathsome abode, they were subjected to a most cruel and severe confinement.  They were exposed, moreover, to every indignity which was thought due to men considered as rebels, and suffered every privation that could embitter the loss of liberty, or add to the pain and mortification so intolerable to their high and patriotic spirits, of being rendered useless to their country, at this most interesting and momentous crisis.  In this situation they remained four to five months, when, in consequence of a general complaint respecting the treatment of American prisoners, and of the sympathy which their sufferings had excited even in the hearts of their enemies, the sum of sixteen or seventeen thousand pounds sterling, was subscribed for the benefit of these unfortunate men.  The subscribers appointed a committee to inquire into the matter, who, with the sanction of the government, visited the prison, supplied the Americans with money, provisions, and clothing; in short, with every thing that could alleviate their sufferings, and render their condition supportable.  It is gratifying to record such acts of disinterested philanthropy; they dignify and ennoble our nature, and are worthy of universal imitation.  Notwithstanding their situations was thus rendered as comfortable as a state of confinement could be, they were determined upon attempting an escape.  Captain Johnson having communicated his plan to young dale, and every arrangement having been made, they affected their purpose at night, in the month of February 1778.  After wandering about for more than a week, encountering every difficulty, and suffering still more severe privitations, they determined, as the best means of avoiding detections, to divide their company and pursue different courses.  After a variety of adventures, Dale and his companions reached London, and immediately embarked onboard a trading vessel bound to Dunkirk.  The tide being ahead they could not proceed far.  On the same day, while at anchor, an officer, with a press gang came onboard, and arrested them on suspicion of being prisoners from Mill prison.  The following day they underwent an examination, after which they were re-committed to the same prison from which they had escaped.  Here for forty days, they were confined in a dungeon, appropriately denominated the “black hole.”  After the expiration of this term, they were restored to the more enlarged liberty of the prison, but not to all those privileges and indulgences, which had formerly rendered their situation comparatively comfortable. 

            About three months afterwards, Dale was again committed to the “black hole,” for singing what were termed rebellious songs.  In February 1779, he again escaped from prison, repaired without delay to London, where by fortunate management and address, he procured a passport from the proper authority to go to France.  In a very short time he arrived at L’ Orient, where he joined, in the character of masters mate, the renowned Paul Jones, then commanding the American ship “Bon-Homme Richard.”  We have now reached a most interesting epoch in the life of our adventurer.  He had hitherto acted in a very subordinate capacity, contending with difficulties the most discouraging, and adversities that would have subdued to despondency, a spirit less resolute and inflexible than his.  His bosom now beat high with exultation at the opening of brighter prospects.  He beheld in the character of his commander, a pledge of happier fortunes, and enjoyed, in anticipation, a brilliant career of glory.  After three months of unremitting employment, in manning the Bon-Homme Richard, in which great difficulty was experienced, the discriminating eye of Captain Jones selected Dale, to be his first lieutenant.  This mark of approbation, from one who was so good a judge of merit, and knew so well how to appreciate it, gratified his ambition, and encouraged and animated his hopes of fame.

            The Bon-Homme Richard sailed on a cruise about the latter end of July 1779, in company with the Alliance of thirty-six guns, the Pallas of thirty-two guns, the brig Revenge of sixteen guns, and a cutter of ten guns all under the command of Paul Jones.  They cruised very successfully for some time off the coast of Ireland, when upon consultation with the different commanders, except Captain Landais, of the Alliance, who, on account of some misunderstanding, declined any communication with Captain Jones; it was determined to proceed to the North sea with the Bon-Homme Richard, the Pallas, and the Revenge.  The town of Leith being marked out as the first object to attack, every preparation was made to set fire to it, unless the extremity should be prevented by a compliance with their terms-to wit, a ransom of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.  Fortunately for the town, when they were within a short distance of it, a violent gale sprung up from W.S.W., which obliged them to run down the firth, and go to sea.  Two or three days afterwards, when off North shields, everything was prepared to burn the shipping, and the harbour, but the captains of the Pallas and Revenge, thinking the adventure too hazardous it was abandoned.

             Since the commencement of their cruise, they had taken and destroyed many valuable vessels, and proved a most serious annoyance to the enemy’s trade.

            We come now to the most prominent circumstance in life of our subject.  We allude to the engagement between the Bon-Homme Richard and the Serapis, an English forty-four-an engagement which was certainly one of the most interesting ever fought; and for deeds of gallant intrepidity, and noble daring, is not surpassed, if equalled, by any in the annals of naval history.  Having given Jone’s own account of this battle in the previous article, we shall here notice it more briefly.

            On the nineteenth of September 1779, the Bon-Homme Richard, the Alliance, the Pallas, and the Revenge, being off Flamborough head; on the north east coast of England, a fleet of several hundred vessels was described.  The Alliance joined the squadron that afternoon, having been seen before since she parted company off Ireland.  Her captain refused obedience to the signals from the Bon-Homme Richard, during the chase, and repeatedly fired into the Bon-Homme Richard during the action.  The Revenge took no part in the action.  The chase was discovered to be the Baltic fleet, homeward bound, under convoy of the Serapis, of forty-four, and the Countless of Scarborough of twenty guns.  The commander of the Serapis made a signal for the merchant ships to stand in for the shore.  After some manoeuvring on the part of the enemy, which did not evince a disposition to court an engagement, the Bon-Homme Richard brought the Serapis to close action: about the same time Captain Cottineau, of the Pallas, engaged the Countless of Scarborough.  About ten p.m., the bowsprit of the Serapis got foul of the mizzen rigging of the Bon-Homme Richard.  While in this situation, the two ships were lashed together, the starboard bow of the former to the starboard quarter of the latter.  A boarding party from the Scrapis attempted to board.  The officer who headed the boarders, and many men, having been killed, the rest fell back. The action now became very warm.  The Scrapis let go her anchor, expecting that the two ships would clear each other.  She then bought up with her head to the wind-the Bon-Homme Richard with her stern to the wind alongside of each other.  They remained in that situation till the Serapis struck her colours, which was done about twelve o’clock at night.

            Properly to appreciate this splendid victory, we must take into view the great superiority of the enemy in the strength of his vessel, the number of his guns, the weight of the metal, and the amount of his crew; add to this the disadvantages under which the action was sustained for a very considerable time on the part of the Bon-Homme Richard. 

            The Serapis was what is denominated a double-decked forty-four gun ship-she showed two rows of ports.  She was almost a new vessel, and, in every respect, one of the finest, or, to speak more technically, one of the warmest frigates of her class.  The Bon-Homme Richard was an old ship, having made many voyages to the East Indies, for which trade she was originally designed.  On the score of tonnage both vessels were about equal.

            The Serapis, though rated a forty-four, mounted a greater number of guns; she carried twenty eighteen pounders on her upper deck, and sixes on her quarterdeck and forecastle-the precise number we are unable to state.  The Bon-Homme Richard carried forty-two guns-six eighteen-pounders on her lower deck, twenty-eight twelve’s on her upper deck, and eight nines on her quarterdeck and forecastle.  With respect to the crews of the ships, they nominally, were equal; but from that of the Bon-Homme Richard there had been sent previously to the action, several detachments to man prizes.  Besides this, just before discovering the Baltic fleet, a second lieutenant, a midshipman, and six men, were despatched in a pilot boat to take some small vessels that were in sight; these did not return till after the action; so that the crew was considerably reduced; and there was left onboard but one lieutenant, and a very inadequate number of subordinate officers.  The crew of this ship, moreover, was a heterogeneous compound of Americans, and natives, and subjects of almost all the European nations-so that in conversation many of them could not understand each other. 

            Besides these original disadvantages, there were others of a more alarming nature, which were the consequence of accident during the battle, or of damage received from the enemy, under which, however, the bloody conflict was maintained for one hour.  Two of the eighteen pounders on the lower deck burst the first fire, and did considerable damage; they blew up part of the upper gun deck.  The guns in that direction were no longer serviceable.  Many men were killed and wounded by the accident.  About an hour before the enemy struck their colours, it was reported and believed onboard the Bon-Homme Richard that she was sinking.  So great was the consequent alarm that the master at arms let loose all the prisoners, who had been confined in the after hold, that they might, in the general effort to preserve life take care of themselves.  They became exceedingly terrified, and occasioned much confusion onboard.  The pumps were constantly at work.  The carpenter was ordered into the pump well to ascertain the depth of water in the ship.  His report was, that it was up to his chin.  Lieutenant Dale was then ordered down to the lower deck, to see how near the water was to the lower ports.  To allay the excessive alarm, he reported that he did not perceive that she had settled much in the water.  At this critical juncture, one of the captains, who had been left out of confinement jumped onboard the Serapis, and informed her captain, that if he would hold out a little longer the American ship must strike or sink; adding, that in order to give them a chance for their lives, all the prisoners had been released.  At this dreadful and critical moment, moreover, the action on the part of the American ship was completely at a stand, in consequence of the communication with the magazine being stopped.  The sentinels, who were placed in the passage leading to the magazine, seeing many strange faces, deemed it prudent to bar all access to it.  Lieutenant Dale went below to ascertain the cause of withholding the powder.  He now, for the first time, knew that the prisoners had been let out.  Having explained the matter to the sentinels, and taken the proper precautions against a recurrence of the difficulty he returned to the deck.  By this time the contest was reduced to three guns on the enemy’s lower deck, and three on the quarter deck of the Bon-Homme Richard. 

            About this period a circumstance occurred, which as it is characteristic of Captain Jones, may be worthy of notice.  The surgeon of the ship came up from the cockpit in great apprehension, and asked the Captain if he would not strike, as the vessel was sinking?  “What!  Doctor,” said Jones, “Would you have me strike to a drop of water?  Here, help me get this gun over.”  The doctor, however, not caring to step beyond the sphere of his immediate duty, soon found his way back to the cockpit.

            Our readers will, no doubt, inquire after the fate of the other vessels originally in company with the Bon-Homme Richard.  It will be recollected that the Pallas engaged the Contess of Scarborough.  The action was maintained for some time with Great Spirit.  Victory, at length, declared in favour of the Pallas, the American ship.  It is with pain that we take any notice of Captain Landais, of the Alliance; but his conduct it is a necessary link in the chain of our narrative.  Besides, a statement of it is necessary to account for the comparatively unfavourable result of the engagement-unfavourable so far as regards the appointment of the hopes of the American officers, of taking or destroying the whole of the convoy. 

            Landais paid no regard to the signals from the Bon-Homme Richard during the chase and action; but at the commencement of the action the Alliance took her station between the Serapis and Bon-Homme Richard, and the Countess of Scarborough and Pallas.  In this situation she remained perfectly inactive and aloof from danger, until the Countess of Scarborough struck to the Pallas; whereupon, Landais made sail for the Pallas, to know what ship she had taken, and also to ascertain what ship was engaged with the Bon-Homme Richard.  Upon receiving the information sought for, he made sail towards the latter ship, with the intention, as he afterwards said, of assisting her.  It was not long, however, before he reached her; and when he did, he was hailed and ordered to lay the Serapis aboard on the larboard side-but notwithstanding the night signals were made, and the night was sufficiently light to discover the relative situation of the two ships-disregarding his orders, he fired a broadside into the Bon-Homme Richard, which killed her master’s mate, boatswain’s mate, and wounded many of her men, without doing an injury to the enemy.  After this Landais stood some distance on his course, and then tacking, ran down athwart the stern of the Serapis, and the Bon-Homme Richard’s bows, and fired another broadside, which raked both ships.

            Shortly after this, the Serapis struck her colours.  Lieutenant Dale swung, by means of a rope, from the deck of the Bon-Homme Richard to that of the Serapis.  He was the first onboard, and was followed by a midshipman and several men.  There was but one man on the deck of the Serapis at this time; the rest were below.  Those on the upper deck, not knowing that their flag was struck made a feeble resistance, which was soon overcome, and quiet possession taken of the ship.

             The condition of the ships was such as might be expected from the length and sanguinary obstinacy of the engagement.  They had been lying nearly two hours alongside of each other, at such close quarters, that in loading the guns, the rammers touched the side, or were protruded into the portholes of the other ship.  The wadding lodged in the rigging and hulls; and, at times, both vessels were literally enveloped in flames.

            During the action one of the men in the maintop of the Bon-Homme Richard, ventured out on the main yard, which passed directly over the main hatchway of the Serapis, and dropped some hand grenades into her.  These coming into contact with some cartridges which had been left on the decks, the whole exploded, and the consequences were most destructive, very few of those who were near escaping unhurt.

            Lieutenant Dale, after taking possession of the ship, found himself deprived of the use of one of his legs, in consequence of a severe wound which he had received in the ankle, but which he had scarcely felt during the bustle of the engagement.  On board the Bon-Homme Richard there were forty-nine killed, and sixty-seven wounded; many of the latter having lost there arms and legs.  According to the accounts of the officers of the Serapis, at the time, her amount of killed and wounded were precisely the same.

           The Bon-Homme Richard being in a very shattered condition, and it being impossible to free her of water, it was thought that to abandon her.  Her crew was accordingly removed to the Serapis.  She sunk the next day. The rest of the squadron sailed for the Texel, where they arrived in eight or ten days.  Here Captain Jones took the command of the Alliance, Landais having been ordered to proceed to Paris, and thence to America to stand a trial for his extraordinary conduct during the cruise and action.  The captain of the Pallas took command of the Serapis.  This Alliance sailed from the Texel, in January 1780, on a cruise, and arrived at L’Orient in the following March.  Jones went to Paris; - Landais, who arrived at L’Orient in his absence, availed himself of this opportunity to attempt a recovery of the command of the Alliance.  By tampering with many of the officers who had served with him and aided by the influence of Artur Less, one of our public functionaries at the French Court, who was not well disposed towards Jones, he succeeded in attaining his object.  Landais endeavoured to prevail upon Lieutenant Dale to join him.  But he remained faithful to his commander, refusing to acknowledge the authority of Landais, and avowed him willing and anxious to attempt the recovery of the ship, even at the hazard of his life.  The King of France authorised Jones to use the guns of the fort to stop the Alliance.  He did not, however, avail himself of this authority, as he was unwilling to hazard the serious consequences that would have ensued to the ship and her crew.  The Alliance sailed for America in July.

             The King accommodated Jones with the Ariel, a British twenty-gun ship that had been captured by a French frigate.  After some time spent in manning her, and preparing her for sea, they sailed for America in October.  They had not proceeded far, when they were reproduced to the greatest extremity of distress, in consequence of a tremendous gale.  They were obliged to return to port, where the refitted and sailing again for America about the 1^st of January 1781, arrived at Philadelphia on the eighteenth of February following.  In May 1781, the bay of Delawaren was such infested by the refugees, who intercepted suppliers going to Philadelphia.  The schooners belonging to the state ere armed and mannded from the Ariel, Lieutenant Dale was ordered by Jones to proceed with them down the bay, to disperse thee marauders, and convoy the full public stores to the city.  This service was successfully executed.   

            About this time Jones was appointed to the command of a seventy for, then building to the northward.  He solicited lieutenant Dale to go with him; a proposal which he declined thinking it would be a long time before she would be ready for sea.

            In June Lieutenant Dale as appointed to the Trumball frigate, of thirty-two guns, commanded by captain James Nicholson, that vessel Saild from the Capes of Delaware, some time in July 1781.  She had been out but a few hours, when she fell in with a British frigate and sloop of war.  They gave chase to the Trumbull.  The latter had her foretopmast and fore topgallant mast carried away in the chase, and was otherwise much crippled in her sails and rigging.  The night being exceedingly dark and stormy Captain Nicholson supposed he might elude the enemy by putting his ship about ahead before the wind; this was found his ship immediately alongside of the enemy, who seemed to have anticipated its manoeuvres.  So great was the surprise, that the Trumbull was entirely unprepared-the men not at their quarters, and it was with great difficulty that they could man even a few of their guns.  Under these circumstances, having been so much crippled by the gale, and the enemy’s force being so vastly superior, the Trumbull struck her colours, after a spirited but short resistance.  Lieutenant Dale was wounded in this recontre.

            The second day after this he arrived ay New York, a prisoner, and was put on parole at Long Island; he was soon afterwards exchanged, and returned to Philadelphia, in November 1781.

            The government having an immediate occasion for his services, he engaged in the merchant service; having no relish for an inactive life.  He entered on board the Queen of France a large ship mounting twelve sixes first as chief officer afterwards as captain.  In the latter capacity he sailed in the spring of 1782, for L’Orient capacity he sailed in the spring of 1782, for L’Orient, in company with a formidable squadron of letters of marquee.  During the voyage they made many valuable prizes.  The Queen of France having separated from the rest of the squadron fell in with a British privateer brig, mounting fourteen sixes.  A severe conflict ensued in which both vessels sustained very serious damage.  They parted by mutual consent.  Captain Dale returned to Philadelphia in February 1783.

           Upon the conclusion of peace, there was no provision made for neither the navy nor its officers.  Captain Dale became interested in a large ship in the London trade in the command of which he sailed for London, in December 1783.  From this period to May 1790 we find him, unremittingly and lucratively employed in the East India trade in which he commanded several of the finest ships engaged in the employ.  In September 1791, he married, and until June 1794, continued engaged in the merchant service.

               About the latter period; the government appointed six captains for the naval establishment, for which provision had just been made.  Captain Dale was one of them, and the fourth in rank.  He was appointed to superintend the building of a frigate of the first class, at Norfolk.  The Government, however, afterwards deferred building her.  He immediately obtained a furlough, and sailed in the command of a valuable ship for Canton.  He continued industriously engaged in this trade till May 1798, when he commanded the ship Ganges.  About this period our disputes with France seemed to be approaching to a crisis.  War was generally expected.  Under this apprehension the government purchased several large ships, for the purpose of converting them into men of war.  Captain Dale was appointed to the command of the Ganges, one of the purchased ships.  She was equipped for service; mounted twenty-nine pounders and had a crew of one hundred and fifty men.  Soon after this, some misunderstanding arose with respect to rank; Captain Dale obtained a furlough until the matter could be adjusted.  In May 1799, he sailed for Canton, in the command of the ship Canton, mounting twenty guns, with a crew of seventy men.  He returned to Philadelphia, in April 1800, and was happy to find that the point of rank had been settled to his entire satisfaction.  He received orders from the navy department to hold himself n readiness, as employment would soon offer.  Accordingly in May 1801, he was appointed to the command of the squadron of observation, about to sail from Hampton Roads to the Mediterranean.  On the twenty-first of May he hoisted his broad pennant onboard the frigate President.  On the first of June he sailed with the squadron, consisting of the following vessels:  the President, Captain James Barron; the Philadelphia, Captain Samuel Barros; the Essex, Captain William Bainbridge; and the schooner enterprise, Lieutenant Andrew Stewart.  The squadron arrived at Gibraltar on the first of July.  They found lying there, the high-admiral of Tripoli, in a ship mounting twenty-six nines and sixes, and two hundred and sixty men; and a brig of sixteen gun, and one hundred and sixty men.  He had arrived only the day before the squadron.  It was very evident that the Bay of Tripoli had declared, or was about to declare war against the United State; and that it was the intention of the Admiral to cruise against the American vessels in the Western Ocean although he disavowed any knowledge of hostile intentions on the part of the Bay his master.  Had the Admiral got out, he would have swept the ocean of the American trade, which at that time was very active in those seas.  It became an object of primary importance to prevent his escape; and for this purpose Captain Samuel Barron, of the Philadelphia frigate, was ordered by the Commodore to lie off Gibraltar, in order to watch the movements of the Admiral, and if he ventured out, to capture him despairing or eluding the vigilance of the blockading squadron, the Admiral very soon dismantled his vessels and discharged his crews; and thus one considerable means of annoyance was, to all useful purposes, destroyed.

            The hostile intentions of the Bay were placed yond a doubt, by authentic information obtained in the Mediterranean.

            After distributing the other vessels of the squadron, in different directions, wherever their protection was most needed by the American trade, the Commodore repaired to Tripoli-arriving off that place in July.  He opened a correspondence with the Bay, without producing any satisfactory results.  A strict blockade of the Port was kept up for some time.

            Nothing could have been more opportune than the arrival of the squadron in the Mediterranean at that time, as the Tripolitan corsairs had been ordered to capture all American vessels they should fall in with.  So efficient was the protection given to the American trade, by the vigilance and exertions of every officer of the squadron, that not a single capture was made.          

            In March 1802, the Commodore sailed for the United States, and arrived in Hampton roads in April following.  In the fall of 1802, he received an order from the Navy Department to hold himself in readiness to take command of the squadron, which was to sail in the following spring for the Mediterranean.  In the order, he was informed that he could not have a captain under him, as he had before.  However sensible of the honour conferred upon him, in thus selecting him the second time for so important a command, he did not hesitate to decline the appointment.  A proper regard for the honour of his country, and for his own character, would not permit him to return to the command in a less dignified station than he had enjoyed before.  The alternative was presented, of accepting, under such humiliating terms, or resignation.  The Commodore did not hesitate to choose the latter, particularly as there were captains out of employ who were anxious for the appointment.  

            Commodore Dale now relinquished his profession: but at a proper period he devoted his two sons to the naval service of his country, for which he still retained the liveliest interest.  He entered into full communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church many years previous to his death, and in this relation sustained the character of a consistent Christian.  He originated a Mariners Church in Philadelphia, and for a number of years attended it in person every Sunday afternoon.  His purse was ever open to aid the needy; and much of his time was devoted to the bestowment of charity; and he extended, particularly, a generous care over mariners, which was not confined to the interests of this life. 

            The close of Dale’s life was calm and happy; and although he was called to weep the loss of his eldest son, who received his death wounds on the President, in an action with the British squadron, -yet with the fortitude of a Christian and a patriot he could bear the afflictions, for he had devoted the youth to his country’s service.  Dale expired at Philadelphia, on the 26^th of February 1826, in peace with God and man.

            Commodore Dale had several children, of whom three sons lived to the age of manhood.  The eldest fell a midshipman, onboard the President; the second is now a commander in the navy; the youngest is a merchant of Philadelphia.  Of his two daughters, the elder was married to Judge Pettit and is since deceased; and the younger is the wife of Commodore Read. 

            Mr. Cooper thus describes the character of Commodore Dale: - 

           “In considering the character of Dale, we are struck with its simple modesty and frank sincerity, quite as much as with its more brilliant qualities.  His courage and constancy were of the highest order, rendering him always equal to the most critical duties, and never wearying in their performance.  Such a man is perfectly free from all exaggeration.  As he was not afraid to act when his cooler judgement approved, he had no distrusts to overcome ere he could forbear, as prudence dictated.  Jones found him a man ready and willing to second all his boldest and most hazardous attempts, so long as reasons showed the probabilities of success; but the deed done, none more thoroughly stripped it of all false colouring, or viewed it in a truer light than he who had risked his life in aiding to achieve it.

Alexander Murray

Commodore Alexander Murray was born in Chestertown, Maryland on the 12^th day of July 1755 of honest and respectable parents.  From early life he was devoted to the watery element; and, at the age of eighteen, commanded a vessel in the European trade.  The revolution shortly after breaking out zealously attached to the cause of his country, he forsook the merchant service, and was appointed a lieutenant in the First Maryland regiment, commanded by Colonel smallwood.  He had previously received an appointment to the same station in the navy, but as we had no frigate then in service, he entered the army.  He took an early and conspicuous part in the hard-fought battles than ensued at Whiteplains, Flatbush, York, & c.

            His sense of hearing was much impaired by the explosion of sundry pieces of cannon, on the New York battery, while firing at the enemy’s fleet, on their passage up the North river.  At the close of this campaign he was severely afflicted by chronic complaints, and was compelled to retire, soon after having been appointed to the rank of captain in the second regiment.  At this time two hundred effective men only returned, out of nine hundred that marched from Annapolis; the rest having been either killed, or taken, or having fallen victims to the maladies of the camp.  On the re-establishment of his health, Captain Murray resumed his rank in the navy.  As there were no public ships ready for service, he was appointed, at various times, to command sundry letters of marque, repeatedly passing and repassing the enemy’s fleet, and seldom escaping without a battle.  One of these engagements is worthy of record: - Having been appointed to the command of the Revenge, a letter of marque, carrying eighteen six-pounders, with a complement of fifty men only, he sailed from Baltimore for Holland.  He had the chief command of all the vessels then lying at that port, bound on foreign voyages, some of which were well armed.  Meeting with the enemy’s force much superior, he was compelled to return with his fleet, consisting of forty vessels, and to seek refuge in the river Patuxent.  The number afterwards increased to about fifty sail; the commanders of which all agreed to fight their way through the opposing squadron.  With this determination they put to sea, when a fleet of privateers hove in sight.  A signal was made for all the unarmed vessels to return, and for the remainder to rally round their commander.  The enemy’s fleet consisting of one ship of eighteen guns, one brig of sixteen, and three privateer schooners stood for the body of the fleet.  One brig and one schooner only obeyed Captain Murray’s signal to rally.  He soon discovered himself lying between the ship and the brig, when a severe engagement ensued; Captain Murray kept up an incessant fire from both broadsides, and in an hour’s time had the satisfaction to see his enemies haul off, after having sustained much damage.  The brig and the schooner likewise behaved extremely well, and repelled the assaults of their adversaries.  Captain Murray, after this action, returned to Hampton roads to refit; hiss ails and rigging were much injured, but fortunately no lives were lost; few only were wounded, himself amongst the number.

            After Captain Murray had repaired his vessel, he sailed for the banks of Newfoundland, and was unfortunately overtaken and surrounded by an English fleet, of one hundred and fifty men of war and transports, bound to New York.  He was pursued and captured by a frigate.  The captain and lieutenant were his intimate friends, from whom he received every kindness and attention.  He at last arrived in Philadelphia, where he was regularly exchanged.

           The United States frigate Trumbull, of thirty-two guns, commanded by his gallant friend and relation, the late Captain Nicholson, was then ready for service.  This officer had before distinguished himself, in a very severe engagement off New York, with a British ship of war called the Wyatt.  She was manned with a picked crew, and sent expressly to take the Trumbull.  The action continued for two hours; both ships received much injury, and a dreadful carnage ensued.  The British ship hauled off, and was towed into New York.  The Captain being asked the name of the Trumbull’s commander, replied that he must be either Paul Jones or the Devil-for never was a ship fought before with such frantic desperation.  Captain Nicholson likewise to put into port to repair; and when he sailed on his second cruise, Captain Murray volunteered his services as a lieutenant; and he had the pleasure of finding his gallant friend, the late Commodore Dale, one of the lieutenants onboard likewise.  In the midst of a violent gale, accompanied by thunder and lightening, the Trumbull; lost her foretopmast.  When the storm abated, the crew discovered them to be close onboard an English frigate.  All hands were nevertheless; called to there quarters, and a dreadful action ensued.  At the time when the enemy’s fire began to slacken, it was discovered that most of the battle lanterns were extinguished, and that the crew had fled from their stations.  A second English ship was laid along the stern of the Trumbull, which poured in her raking broadsides, and put an end to the action.  Two of the lieutenants, with Lieutenant Murray, were severely wounded; and one third of the crew were either killed or disabled.  The Trumbull was the next day towed into New York, without a mast standing, and several other gun ports beat into one.

            After Captain Murray had recovered from his wounds, he repaired to Baltimore, where he was furnished with another fine brig, a letter of marque.  As he was unable to procure a complement of men and guns, he took a cargo of tobacco, and went on an intended voyage to St. Croix.  When he sailed from Hampton roads he had only five six-pounders onboard, and the crew amounted to no more than twenty-five men.  A privateer of fourteen guns, and one hundred men, came alongside, by superior sailing, and lay fast on his quarter.  The five guns were brought to bear, and the privateer was repelled.  Perceiving Captain Murray’s weakness, the attack was renewed with redoubled fury, while his own guns were perpetually shifted side to side, as occasion demanded.  In attempting to board, the privateer was again driven back, but succeeded in carrying away the masts, leaving not a stick of timber standing but the mainmast and the stump of the bowsprit.  A final and desperate attempt was at length made to board, but the crew of the privateer, with the loss of half their number, were again repulsed.  This action continued for two hours.  Captain Murray, after much hazard, arrived in safety at St. Thomas, where he made sale of his cargo.

               Having refitted at this place, he captured a British packet by stratagem, in the Gulf of Florida, without firing a gun, and brought his prize into the Havanna.  An embargo was laid at this port in consequence of an expedition then fitting out against the Bahama Islands, in which he obtained a command.  Several other American vessels, lying in port, were armed and attached to this expedition, which set sail with a large fleet of Spanish transports, carrying five thousand men, under the American flag.  Captain Murray arrived off New Providence, and the wind blowing hard, no alternative was left but either to attack a fort well mounted with heavy ordnance, or to be driven on shore by the violence of the gale.  The former of these alternatives he adopted, and entering the port, summoned the fort to surrender.  This was immediately done, and the Spanish flag waved triumphantly on the ramparts.

            The Governor and his aid, (since the noted General Mniranda,) which both sailed onboard Captain Murray’s ship, were engaged in forming the terms of capitulation.  The subject of the present memoir that an unconditional surrender might be obtained as the principal forts were then in their possession in vain suggested it to Miranda.  Miranda, then a captain of Spanish grenadiers, mortified at the thought that the Americans should have so large a share in the glory of the enterprise, made shameful and disgraceful terms of capitulation.

            A controversy with Miranda ensued, which ended in a formal challenge on the part of Captain Murray.  That officer, believing, with Falstaff, that “the better part of valour was discretion,” refused to answer the call.

            Captain Murray, after a successful voyage, arrived at Baltimore, and was ordered onboard the Alliance frigate, as first lieutenant, under the command of his old friend, the gallant Commodore Barry.  Peace, in a short time, ensued between the United States and England; and after the ratification was signed, Captain Murray was the last officer who held a commission in the Naval service.  He had been in thirteen battles in the army and navy, was frequently wounded, and often taken prisoner; which was the only thing that ever withdrew him, for a moment, from active and honourable engagement in the service.  During the administration of President Adams, at the commencement of our hostilities with France, the name of Captain Murray was found amongst the first officers appointed in the navy.  He repaired to Baltimore, and took the command of the United States ship Montezuma, of twenty-four guns; cruised for eight months along the whole range of the West India islands, and conveyed nearly one hundred sail to the different ports of the United States, without the loss of a single vessel.  Returning, he arrived at the Delaware, received the public thanks of the President, and was ordered to the command of the Insurgent.  With a crew of three hundred and twenty men he repaired onboard of this ship, and sailed under a roving commission.  Understanding that the French frigate Ambuscade was in the neighbourhood of the West India islands, he cruised therefore several weeks, and put into the port of Lisbon to recruit his provisions.

            He next proceeded, in company with the British frigate Phaeton, onboard of which was Lord Elgin and suite, in quest of two French frigates, reported to be cruising off Cape St. Vincent, with whom he sailed until her arrival at the Straits of Gibraltar.  He then blockaded two large French corvettes in the bay of Cadiz; but hearing that French privateers at algeziras watched a number of American vessels, he repaired to Gibraltar for information.  Here Admiral Duckworth was anchored with a fleet of several ships of the line, from which he received every testimonial of civility and kindness.  He next cruised off Madeira and the Canary isles; but never obtained a sight of the enemy, the two corvettes accepted.   

            Receiving information that the French frigate Volunteer, of forty-four guns, was cruising off Cayenne, he arrived at that port, where he under stood she had sailed for Guadaloupe.  At length he discovered this frigate, of which he had been so long in chase, at Point Petre, where he blockaded her until all his provisions were consumed, and repaired to St. Christopher’s to recruit.  On returning to renew the blockade, he fell in company with the Constellation, and learnt from the gallant Truxton that the frigate was the Vengeance.  The particulars of that memorable battle are too well known to require a specific detail.  The Constellation, then in a crippled state, and the Insurgent, sailed in company to Jamaica, for the purpose of refitting; where the two American officers experienced every kindness and courtesy from Sir Hyde Parker, who commanded on that station.

            Captain Murray received orders from Havana to return to America.  Meeting with strong and heavy gales, and a lee current, the ship sustained much injury, and it was with the greatest difficulty that she was brought into Baltimore; thus terminating a cruise of nine months, never longer than a week in one port, and his ship almost reduced to a wreck-the bolts and nails starting from her decks and sides in every gale. 

            Scarcely had he time to visit his family’s at Norfolk before he received orders to take the command of the Constellation, Commodore Truxton having been transferred to the President.  His first cruise was for the Leeward Islands, where he relieved Captain Talbot, of the Constitution, off Cape Francais.  He had several sloops of war, brigs, & c., under his command; and such were his arrangements, that our trade in that quarter was effectually protected-not a single capture having been made by the French cruisers.

             While sailing in quest of the French frigate Vengeance, after the action with Commodore Truxton, he received information of her capture by the English.  He was afterwards relieved by Captain Sevier, in the frigate Congress, and set out on his return to the Delaware.  Passing through the Bahama Straits, he stopped at the Havana, to convoy some American vessels, and was introduced to the Viceroy of Mexico and his lady, on their route to Spain, by whom he was noticed with every mark of cordial respect, participating in all the splendid entertainments given by them to the principal inhabitants of that place.  His stores being replenished, he sailed for the Windward isles, and on his passage encountered a dreadful gale, where he had nearly foundered, and was on the eve of cutting away his masts, when the storm abated.  He proceeded onward towards Guadaloupe, and fell in with the British frigate Magnanimie, of forty-four guns, in a dark night, from which a gun was fired without the preliminary ceremony of showing a signal.  At this moment, Captain Murray’s wardroom officers crowded around him, indignant at the insult offered to the American flag, and anxiously inquired if he did not intend to return the fire.  He sternly ordered them instantly to their quarters, without deigning to give any other reply to their urgent interrogations.  Disgusted, they obeyed the command, suspecting no very honourable motives for such haughtiness, coldness, and reserve.  It requires but very little aid from fancy to observe by the light of the battle lanterns, this little group of officers at their guns, bending their full, expressive, and indignant looks on their commander; their eyes gleaming with reproaches which their tongues dare not utter.  From him they cast their eyes upon each other, and their silent glances, accompanied by shrugs and indignant smiles, emphatically expressed what opinion was prevalent.  The captain, meanwhile maintaining a cold tranquillity of deportment, saw and enjoyed the scene, appearing perfectly unconscious of the impression, which his orders had made.  The silent interchange of thoughts and sensations-more eloquent, however, than all the powers of language-lasted for some time.  Not a word was spoken-all was attention and dumb resentment.  These officers, at length, to their astonishment and delight, received orders from their commander to return the salute with a full broadside.  Another train of sensations occurred, and the frowns of anger were exchanged for gleams of the fondest admiration.  The orders were promptly executed, when an explanation ensued, and precluded further hostility. 

            The next day he captured a French lugger, of eighteen guns, from which he received the first intelligence that preliminaries of peace had been signed between the two belligerents; and falling in with Admiral Ducksworth, these tidings were confirmed.  Arriving off Point Petre, he sent a flag of truce to the French commissioner, by whom he was invited on shore, and was carried, received with every testimonial of respect.  Feux de joie were fired from the forts as he passed, and during the two days of his residence at that place, all was hilarity and mirth.  He communicated the pacific intelligence to the other American commanders with whom he fell in, and sailed with a convoy for Philadelphia.

            The act of Congress reducing the navy was now passed, and the Commodore was one of the thirteen still retained in the service.  He received orders to repair to the Mediterranean, to protect the American commerce in that quarter from the ravages of the Tripolitan cruisers.  Commodore Truxton was originally destined to take the command in the Mediterranean; his controversy with government and his resignation are well known.  Captain Murray, in the Constellation, sailed in pursuance of his orders, and when he arrived in the Straits, was informed by the British Admiral, Sir James Saumarez, that the Philadelphia and Essex frigates lay at Malaga, where the two commanders, Bainbridge and Barron, were anxiously waiting to be relieved.  As senior officer, he permitted their return to the United States.  While lying in that part, awaiting instructions from his government, he was informed by Lord Keith, the British admiral on that station, of the daily expectation of the arrival of his Royal Highness, the Duke of Kent.  Desiring to pay the Royal Duke every mark of respect, the Admiral invited Commodore Murray to join, if it was not inconsistent with his arrangements.  The Commodore, with his usual courtesy agreed, and the first rank was assigned to him after the Admiral’s own flag.  As soon as the royal standard was discovered in the bay, the British fleet, consisting of twelve sail, fired a salute, followed by the American frigates, and then the Portuguese and Danish men of war.  The yards were all manned, and in this manner they escorted his Royal Highness on shore, Lord Keith leading the van in company with the Royal Duke.  They then repaired to the parade ground, where they were all presented to his Royal Highness in form, in the centre of a hollow square formed by a garrison of five thousand men.  When this ceremony was ended, they marched round, and at the head of each regiment were received with military music, and a feu de joie was fired in rotation from all the cannon in the batteries.

             Commodore Murray had a long and familiar conversation with his Royal Highness, which was several times repeated, and always with the warmest declarations of his respect and regard for the Americans.  The next day he received a polite note from Lord Keith, in which the Admiral says, “I am commanded by his Royal Highness, the Duke of Kent, to make his public thanks to you, and to the officers commanding the American frigates, for their courtesy and attention to him yesterday, in his own person, and that of the British nation.”

            On the day following, the Philadelphia and Essex having departed from the United States, Commodore Murray proceeded up the Mediterranean with valuable presents from his government to the Bay of Tunis, sent from England by our Minister, Mr King, which he delivered.  From this port he sailed for Tripoli, and fell in with the Boston and two Swedish frigates, with which he concerted a plan for a vigorous blockade.  As the Boston was compelled to put into Malta to repair, and the Swedish ships of war into Malta to repair, and the Swedish ships of war to go away in quest of provision, Commodore Murray was left alone in sight of the town for several weeks.  He repaired to Syracuse for provisions, and in the mean time very advantageous terms of peace were offered to him by the Bashaw; to which, as he had no powers from his own government, he was unable to accede.

            He was once becalmed, when all the Tripolitan gunboats attacked him, and the contest was maintained for an hour.  A light breeze springing up, he brought his guns to bear, and distributed amongst them such showers of grape, that they never annoyed him afterwards.   

           Commodore Murray visited the ex-bashaw at Malta, where he went in quest of provisions.  He was an interesting and well-disposed Turk, of free and easy manners.  He detailed in the Commodore, at great length, the sufferings and oppressions imposed on him by his brother, and solicited has assistance; but the Commodore was unable to serve him, and could only breathe a fervent prayer for his success.  His brother, the Bashaw, was a tyrant, whose heart was impenetrable to the touches of mercy and compassion. 

            He remained four months before Tripoli, awaiting the orders of his government.  At length he went to Palermo, to inquire if any American Vessels required convoy, when he heard that Captain Morris, in the Chesapeake, had arrived in the Mediterranean.  He touched at Naples, and remained there until his rudder was repaired, during which time he was introduced to the diplomatic corps, and to the principal nobility of the place, participating in all the courtesy and hospitality of their tables.  These compliments he requited by invitations onboard his frigate.

            At Leghorn he met with Captain Morris, with whom he arranged all matters respecting his future course, and sailed down the Straits with a convoy.  He proceeded as far as the Gulf of Lyons, encountering many severe gales, and was compelled to put into Malaga, for the purpose of fishing his mast, which had sprung by the violence of the gale.  Here he met with Captain Rodgers, in the frigate John Adams, who put into his hands an open letter from the Secretary of the Navy, directed to Captain Morris, enjoining him to despatch the Constellation and some other vessels of war home.  As Captain Morris was then thirteen hundred miles distant, he returned to America, after having informed that officer by letter of his motives for so doing.  He sailed with a fleet of upwards of one hundred vessels, under his convoy, and arrived at Washington, where his ship was dismantled.

            He remained for a period in the bosom of domestic retirement, from whence he was summoned to take command of the Adams, and cruise off the American coast, which was then infested with French privateers.  He cruised for some time along the coasts of Carolina and Georgia, in a tempestuous season of the year, until the ship was almost a wreck, when he returned to Washington, where she was laid up.

John Barry

The Career of this distinguished officer commences with the infancy of our navy, and is marked by many brilliant services.  His name occurs in connection with not a few of the more remarkable events in the history of the revolutionary war, and always with credit to himself, and honour to the flag under which he sailed.

            Few commanders in the navy were employed in a greater variety of service, or met the enemy under greater disadvantages.  Yet, in no one of the numerous actions in which he was engaged, did Commodore Barry ever fail to acquit himself of his duty in a manner becoming a skilful seaman and an able warrior.

            Commodore Barry was born in the county of Wexford, in the Kingdom of Ireland, in the year 1745.  His father was a highly respectable farmer, under whose roof he received the first impressions of that ingenuousness, and that high-toned magnanimity which were conspicuous attributes of his character.  At a very early age he manifested a strong inclination to follow the sea. His father was induced to gratify his desires, and he was put onboard a merchantman, in which service he continued several years.  The opportunities afforded by the intermissions of his opportunities afforded by the intermissions of his voyages, were improved to his advantage, by applying himself to the acquisition of knowledge.  Possessed of a strong and active mind, he was enabled, with indefatigable industry, to acquire a good parochial education.

            In the fourteenth or fifteenth year of his age he arrived in America, which he immediately determined to make the country of his adoption.  In his new situation he was not long without employment, but applied himself diligently to his new profession, and, in a very short time, his nautical skill, the steadiness of his habits, and the integrity of his character, recommended him, successively, to some of the most respectable merchants of that day.  He was long in the service of Mr. Reese Meredith, Messrs Willing and Norris, and Mr Nixon.  While in the employ of the latter gentleman, he commanded a very valuable ship, in the London trade, called the Black Prince, which was afterwards our chased by the Congress for a vessel of war.  During his continuance with those gentlemen he possessed their unreserved confidence; they always spoke of him in terms of the highest approbation; his connection with them was the ground of a friendship, reciprocal, sincere, and lasting.  He thus continued, growing in reputation, and acquiring by industry and perseverance, a decent competency, until the controversy between the mother country and her then colonies gave a new direction to thought, and opened new prospects to ambition.  He could not but feel a deep interest in passing events; he did not hesitate as to the part he should act, as the bias of his youth was in favour of liberty.  At that interesting crisis, when Great Britain sent her veteran armies and powerful navies, to coerce a compliance with her unjust demands; and when all but men struggling for their liberty would have deemed resistance folly, it became important to select officers whose valour and discretion, whose experience and skill would give the utmost efficiency to our insignificant means of defence and annoyance.  The rare union in Commodore Barry of all these qualities, recommended him to the notice of Congress, and that body with one of the first naval commissions honoured him.

            In February 1776 he was appointed to the command of the brig Lexington, of sixteen guns.  She was the first continental vessel of war that sailed from the port of Philadelphia.  Having cruised successfully in her, he was in the latter part of the same year, transferred to the Effingham, one of three large frigates built in Philadelphia.  In the eventful winter of that year, the navigation of the Dealware being impeded by ice, and all naval employment suspended, his bold and restless spirit could not be inactive.  So zealous was be in his country’s cause, that he volunteered his services in the army, and served with distinguished reputation as aid-de-camp to General Cadwallader, in the important operations, which took place in the vicinity of Trenton.

               When the British obtained command of the city, and forts on the river, in 1777, it was deemed prudent to send the vessels of war up the river to Whitehill, where they might possibly escape destruction, Commodore Barry, with several others, affected their escape with great dexterity.  The enemy, however, soon after destroyed the vessels.  While the frigates were lying near Whitehall, Commodore Barry formed a project, which for boldness of design, and dexterity of execution was not surpassed, if equalled, during the war.  It struck him that the enemy might be severely annoyed by means of small boats, properly armed, which being stationed down the river and bay, might intercept supplies going to the enemy, and in case of danger take refuge in the creeks.  He accordingly manned the boats of the frigates, and under cover of night, with muffled oars, descended the river.  He arrived opposite the city before the enemy or citizens had any information of their movement.  In a moment all was consternation and alarm; the enemy apprehending some impending disaster, while the citizens, supposing the project impracticable, despaired of the safety of his friends.  The object was affected; and the success, which crowned the adventure, was worthy of the enterprising spirit, which conceived it.  They not only succeeded in intercepting supplies of provisions from the surrounding country, but captured several vessels loaded with military munitions and valuable stores for the British officers.  General Washington always spoke with great satisfaction of this enterprise, a concerned in it; indeed, he gave a public expression of thanks, to the Commodore and his officers.

            After the destruction of his frigate, he was appointed to the command of the Raleigh, of thirty-two guns; which ship he was obliged, by a large squadron of British vessels of war, to run on shore, on Fon’s island, in Penobscot bay.  Having made several voyages to the West Indies, in letter of marque vessels, during one of which he was commodore of a large squadron of them, he was afterwards ordered to take command of a seventy-four-gun ship, building in New Hampshire.  Congress having, however, concluded to present her to the King of France, the Commodore was appointed to the command of the frigate Alliance, of thirty-six guns, then at Boston.  In February 1781 she sailed from Boston for L’Orient, having on board colonel Laurens and suite, on an important embassy to the French court.  He sailed from L’Orient early in 1781 on a cruise; and having taken many valuable prizes, on the 29^th of May an event occurred that deserves notice.  On the preceding day two sail were discovered on the weather bow, standing for the Alliance; after approaching near enough to be in sight, during the night, they hauled to the wind, and stood on the same course with the frigate.

            At daylight, on the 29^th it became quite calm; at sunrise the American colours were displayed onboard the Alliance; the drum beat to quarters.  The strange sails were discovered to be a ship and a brig; the British flag was displayed, and having by means of their sweeps, got within hailing distance, they respectively hailed, when it appeared that the ship was His Brittanic Majesty’s ship of war Atalanta, Captain Edwards, carrying between twenty and thirty guns; and her consort, the brig Trepasa, Captain Smith.  The Commodore ordered them to haul down their colours, which being refused, the cannonading immediately began; the Alliance, from want of wind, was like a log upon the water; while the enemy by means of their sweeps, could select their position; they accordingly kept on the quarters, and athwart the stern of the Alliance, so that but few guns could be brought to bear upon them.  About two o’clock, the Commodore was wounded in the left shoulder by a grape shot.  Though the wound was dangerous and excessively painful, he remained on the quarterdeck some time when the loss of blood obliged him to be carried to the cockpit.  Shortly after, the colours of the Alliance were shot away, and, this happening in the interval of loading her guns, the enemy concluded they had been struck; they manned the shrouds and huzzaed.  The American flag was soon hoisted again, and the renewal of the fire from the Alliance sent the enemy to their quarters.  A little wind fortunately springing up, the broadside of the frigate was brought to bear upon the enemy; it did great execution, and at three p.m., they both struck their colours.  When captain Edwards was conducted to the Commodore, who was then confined in the cabin, he presented his sword, which was immediately returned to him, as a testimonial of the high opinion entertained of his bravery; the Commodore observing, at the same time, “that he richly merited it, and that his King ought to give him a better ship.”             

            Soon after the commodore was wounded and left the deck, one of his lieutenants went to him while in the cockpit, and representing the shattered state of the sails and rigging, the number of killed and wounded, and the disadvantages under which they laboured, from the want of wind, desired to know if the colours should be struck.  “No,” said he; “and if the ship can’t be fought without, I will be carried on deck.”  When the lieutenant made known to the crew the determination of their brave commander, fresh spirit was infused into them, and they one and all resolved to “stick by him.”  As soon as his wound was dressed, he insisted on being carried on deck, but before he reached it the enemy had struck. The Alliance had eleven killed, and twenty-one wounded; among the latter several of her officer’s; her rigging and spars much shattered, and she was severely damaged in her hull; the enemy had the same number killed, and thirty wounded.  We have been led into the detail of this victory, as it was considered, at the time of its achievement, a most brilliant exploit; and an unequivocal evidence of the unconquerable firmness and intrepidity of the victor.

           In the fall of 1781, orders were received to fit the Alliance for taking the Marquis de Lafayette and Count de Noailles to France, on public business.  On the 25^th of December, she sailed from Boston, with them onboard.

            The Alliance left L’Orient in February 1782 from which time she continued cruising, with great success, till March of the following year; when shortly after leaving Havana, whither she had been ordered, to bring the United States a large quantity of specific, having in company the continental ship Luzerne, of twenty guns, Captain Green, three frigates were discovered right ahead, two leagues distant; the American vessels were hove above; the enemy gave chase.  The Luzerne not sailing as fast as the Alliance, the Commodore ordered her captain to throw her guns overboard.  A sail was then discovered on her weather bow bearing down upon them; the Alliance hove out a signal, which was answered; she proved to be a French ship, of fifty guns.  Relying upon her assistance, the Commodore concluded to bring the headmost of the enemy’s ship to action; after inspiring his crew by an address, and going from gun to gun, and cautioning his men against too much haste, and not to fire until ordered, he prepared for action.  The enemy’s ship was of equal size with the Alliance; a severe engagement followed; it was very soon perceptible that the Alliance was gaining the advantage; most of the enemy’s guns were silenced; and, after an action of fifty minutes, the ship was so severely damaged, that she hoisted a signal of distress, when her consorts joined her.  The loss onboard the Alliance was very trifling-three killed, and eleven wounded.  The enemy’s loss was severe; thirty-seven killed, and fifty wounded.  The other English frigates were watching the movements of the French ships; the captain of which, upon coming up with the Alliance, assigned as a reason for keeping aloof from the action, that he was apprehensive the Alliance had been taken, and that the engagement was only a decoy.  Chase was made, but the French ship being unable to keep up with the American, it was given over. 

            A gentleman of distinguished naval reputation, when in the Mediterranean with the American squadron, was introduced to Captain James Vaughan, now Vice-Admiral of the Red, the commander of the British frigate engaged with the Alliance.  In the course of conversation, be made particular inquiry after Captain Barry; related the circumstances of the action; and with the frankness of a generous enemy, confessed that he had never seen a ship so ably fought as the Alliance; that he had never before, to use his own words,-“received such a drubbing, and that he was indebted to the assistance of his consorts.”  We are sensible we have indulged in greater particularity in the relation of these engagements than most readers would think necessary.  Our reason must apologise for us; we wish it to be known that the gallantry of our seamen s not of recent date but is coeval with our national existence.

            There are the most interesting incidents that our imperfect materials furnish.  Suffice it to say, that Commodore Barry served throughout the Revolution with distinguished honour to himself, and signal benefit to his country.  Even during the intervals of suspension from public employment, occasioned by the chances of war, he was actively and efficiently employed in annoying the commerce of the enemy in letter of marque vessels.  Having espoused the cause of liberty from principle, he was attached to it with all the glow of patriotic enthusiasm; nothing could divert him from it, nor cool his ardour.  The following anecdote may be relied upon as authentic; it evinces at once the high estimation in which his services were held by the enemy, and the constancy of his resolution: - 

            General Howe, appreciating the Commodore’s character, and thinking him important to the successful progress and issue of the contest, made an attempt to detach him from his country’s service; for this purpose, he authorised an offer to the Commodore of fifteen or twenty thousand guineas, and the command of the best frigate in the English navy.  The General availed himself of a period that seemed to him the most auspicious for the accomplishment of his object; it was when the metropolis was in possession of the British-when the enemy triumphed, and even when the best friends of America began to despair.  The offer was rejected with the indignation of insulted patriotism.  The answer he returned to the General was, that “he had devoted himself to the cause of his country, and not the value and command of the whole British fleet could seduce him from it.”

            After the termination of hostilities, the Commodore was retained in the public service; and when, under Mr Adam’s administration, it was deemed expedient to increase the naval establishment, he was appointed the superintend the building of the frigate United States, in Philadelphia, which was designed for his command. His opinion was very influential in the adoption by the government of that excellent model for ships of war, the superiority of which, over every other, has been so strikingly proved, as to have extorted the acknowledgements even of our enemies During the partial maritime war into which we were drawn by the aggressions of the cruisers of the French republic, commodore Barry was constantly and actively employed; and though fortune did not afford him an opportunity of signalising himself by any splendid victory, yet he rendered essential service to the commercial interests of the country, by protecting its flag from the depredations of the French privateers, which infested the ocean.  After our differences with France were accommodated, he retained the command of the united States until she was laid up in ordinary, soon after the introduction of Mr Jefferson to the Executive chair.

            Commodore Barry did not long survive the termination of his public services; though naturally of a strong and robust constitution, he had been for many years subject to an asthmatic affection, to which he fell a victim, at Philadelphia, on the thirteenth day of September 1803.

            Thus closed the life of one of the first of patriots and best of men.  He was eminently qualified for the important stations, which he filled.  He possessed courage without rashness-a constancy of spirit which could not be subdued-a sound and intuitive judgment-a promptitude of decision equal to the most trying emergencies-a consummate skill-a generosity of soul which tempered the sterner qualities of the head, and recommended him to the esteem of all-a humanity of feeling which made him no less attentive to the comforts and happiness of those whom the fortune of war threw into his power than he had been ambitious to conquer them.  He spent a long life upon the ocean, and was engaged in every variety of service.  He knew how to conciliate those who were subjected to his command, and although a rigid disciplinarian, he never failed to secure the attachment of his sailors.  It is worthy of especial remark, that no one who has sailed with him as a seaman has ever been heard to speak of him but with affection and gratitude.  He never found any difficulty in making up a crew, and desertion from the ship was unknown.

            In the various relations of private life he was no less unexceptionable.  As a citizen he was exemplary-as a friend sincere-as a husband tender and affectionate.  The affability and frankness of his deportment, ingratiated him with all who enjoyed the pleasure of his acquaintance; there was a native humour in his character, which gave it peculiar interest.  His mansion was ever the residence of hospitality.  Jealous of his own honour he was never known to injure, designedly, the feelings of any one; and, though possessed of a quickness of sensibility to the appearance of offence or impropriety, he never failed to express his regret, and to make atonement for injuries prompted by an excess of feeling.  He was just, charitable, and without disguise.  As he was educated in the habits of religion, so he cultivated them through life; he enforced a strict observance of divine worship onboard his ship, and scrupulously attended to the moral deportment of his crew; he had himself experienced the comforts of religion, and he died in its faith.

Nicholas Biddle

Liberty never had a more intrepid defender than the subject of this memoir.  Among the brave men who perished in the glorious struggle for the independence of America, Captain Nicholas Biddle holds a distinguished rank.  His services, and the high expectations raised by his military genius and gallantry, have left strong impressions of his merit, and a profound regret that his early fate should have disappointed so soon the hopes of his country.

            Nicholas Biddle was born in the city of Philadelphia, on the tenth day of September 1750.  His father, Mr William Biddle, was a native of New Jersey, son of William Biddle, one of the first settlers and proprietors of that State, from whom he inherited a very large fortune, which his losses in trade, and the engagements of surety ship for a friend had greatly reduced.  His mother was the daughter of Nicholas Scull, Esq, who was, for many years, Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania; and of these worthy and respectable parents he was the sixth son.

              Mr Biddle, very early in life, manifested his partiality for the sea, and before the age of fourteen he had made a voyage to Quebec.  In the following year 1765, he saied from Philadelphia to Jamaica, and the bay of Honduras.  The vessel left the bay in the latter end of December 1765, bound to Antigua, and the second day of January, in a heavy gale of wind, she was cast away on a shoal, called the Northern Triangles.  After remaining two nights and a day upon the wreck, the crew took to their yawl, the long boat having lost, and with great difficulty and hazard landed on one of the small-uninhabited islands, about three leagues distant from the reef upon which they struck.  Here they staid a few days.  Some provisions were produced from the wreck, and their boat was refitted.  As it was too small to carry them all off, they drew lots to determine who should remain, and young Biddle was among the number.  He, and his three companions, suffered extreme hardships, for want to provisions and good water, and although various efforts were made for their relief, it was nearly two months before they succeeded.

            Such a scene of dangers and sufferings, in the commencement of his career, would have discouraged a youth of ordinary enterprise and perseverance.  On him it produced no such effect.  The coolness and promptitude with which he acted, in the midst of perils that alarmed the oldest seamen, gave a sure presage of the force of his character, and after he had returned home, he made several European voyages, in which he acquired a thorough knowledge of seamanship.

             In the year 1770, when a war between Great Britain and Spain was expected, in consequence of the dispute relative to Falkland’s Island, he went to London, in order to enter into the British navy.  He took with him letters of recommendation from Thomas Willing, Esq, to his brother-in-law, Captain Sterling, onboard of whose ship he served for some time as a midshipman.  The dispute with Spain being accommodated, he intended to leave the navy, but was persuaded by Captain Sterling to remain in the service, promising that he would use all his interest to get him promoted.  His ardent mind, however, could not rest satisfied with the inactivity of his situation, which he was impatient to change for one more suited to his disposition.

            In the year 1773, a voyage of discovery was undertaken, at the request of the royal Society, in order to ascertain how far navigation was practicable towards the North Pole, to advance the discovery of a northwest passage into the South seas, and to make such astronomical observations as might prove serviceable to navigation.

           Two vessels, the Race Horse and Carcase, were fitted out for the expedition, the command of which was given to the Hon.  Captain Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave.  The Peculiar dangers to which such an undertaking was exposed, induced the government to take extraordinary precautions in fitting out, and preparing the vessels, and selecting the crews; and a positive order was issued that no boys should be received onboard.

            To the bold and enterprising spirit of young Biddle such an expedition had great attractions.  Extremely anxious to join it, he endeavoured to procure Captain Sterling’s permission for that purpose, but he was unwilling to part with him, and would not consent to let him go.  The temptation was, however, irresistible.  He resolved to go, and laying aside his uniform he entered onboard the Carcase before the mast.  When he first went onboard, a seaman who had known him before and was very much attached to him observed him.  The honest fellow thinking that he must have degraded and turned before the mast in disgrace was greatly affected at seeing him; but he was equally surprised and pleased when he learned the true cause of the young officer’s disguise, and he kept his secret as he was requested to do.  Impelled by the same spirit, young Horatio, afterwards Lord Nelson had solicited and obtained permission to enter onboard the same vessel.  These youthful adventurers are both said to have been appointed coxswains, a station always assigned to the most active and trusty seamen.  The particulars of this expedition are well known to the public.  These intrepid navigators penetrated as far as the latitude of eighty—one degrees and thirty-nine minutes, and they were at one time enclosed with mountains of ice, and their vessels rendered almost immovable for five days, at the hazard of instant destruction.  Captain Biddle kept a journal of his voyage, which was afterwards lost with him.   

            The commencement of the revolution gave a new turn to his pursuits, and he repaired, without delay, to the standard of his country.  When a rupture between England and America appeared inevitable, he returned to Philadelphia, and soon after his arrival, he was appointed to the command of the Camden galley, fitted for the defence of the Delaware.  He found this too inactive a service, and when the fleet was preparing, under Commodore Hopkins, for an expedition against New Providence, he applied for a command in the fleet, and was immediately appointed commander of the Andrew Doria, a brig of fourteen guns and a hundred and thirty men.  Paul Jones, who was then a lieutenant, and was going on the expedition was distinguished by Captain Biddle, and introduced to his friends as an officer of merit.

            Writing from the Capes to his brother, the late Judge Biddle, he says, “I know not what may be our fate; be it, however, what it may, you may rest assured I will never cause a blush in the cheeks of my friends or countrymen.”  Soon after they sailed, the small pox broke out and raged with great violence in the fleet, which was manned chiefly by New England seamen.  The humanity of Captain Biddle, always prompt and active, was employed on this occasion, to alleviate the general distress, by all the means in his power.  His own crew, which was from Philadelphia, being secure against the distemper, he took onboard great numbers of the sick from the other vessels.  Every part of his vessel was crowded, long boat was fitted for their accommodation, and he gave up his own cot to a young midshipman on whom he bestowed the greatest attention till his death.  In the meanwhile he slept himself upon the lockers, refusing the repeated solicitations of his officers to accept their births.  On their arrival at New Providence, it surrendered without opposition.  The crew of the Andrew Doria, from their crowded situation became sick, and before she left Providence, there were not men enough capable of doing duty to man the boats; Captain Biddle visited them every day, and ordered every necessary refreshment, but they continued sickly until they arrived at New London.

            After refitting at New London, Captain Biddle received orders to proceed off the Banks of New Foundland, in order to intercept the transports and store ships bound to Boston.  Before he reached the Banks, he captured two ships from Scotland, with four hundred Highland troops onboard, destined for Boston.  At this time the Andrew Doria had not one hundred men.  Lieutenant Josiah, a brave and excellent officer, was put onboard one of the prizes, with all the highland officers, and ordered to make the first port.  Unfortunately, about ten days afterwards, he was taken by Cerberus frigate, and on pretence of his being an Englishman, he was ordered to do duty, and extremely ill used.  Captain Biddle hearing of the ill-treatment of Lieutenant Josiah, wrote to the Admiral at New York, that however disagreeable it was to him, he would treat a young man of family, believed to be a son of Lord Cranston, who was then his prisoner, in the same manner they treated Lieutenant Josiah.

             He also applied to his own government in behalf of his injured officer, and by the proceedings of Congress, on the 7^th of august 1776, it appears, “That a letter from Captain Nicholas Biddle to the Marine Committee, was laid before Congress and read; whereupon, Resolved, That General Washington be directed to propose an exchange of Lieutenant Josiah for a lieutenant of the navy of Great Britain:  That the General remonstrate to Lord Howe on the cruel treatment Lieutenant Josiah has met with, of which the Congress have received undoubled information.”  Lieutenant Josiah was exchanged after an imprisonment of ten months.  After the capture of the ships with the Highlanders, such was Captain Biddle’s activity and success in taking prizes, that when he arrived in the Delaware he had but five of the crew with which he sailed from New London, the rest having been distributed among the captured vessels, and their places supplied by men who had entered from the prizes.  He had a great number of prisoners, so that for some days before he got in he never left the deck.

            While he was thus indefatigably engaged in weakening the enemy’s power, and advancing his country’s interest, he was disinterested and generous in all that related to his private advantage.  The brave and worthy opponent, whom the chance of war had thrown in his power, found him a patron and friend, who on more, than one occasion were known to restore to the vanquished the fruits of victory.

             In the latter end of the year 1776, Captain Biddle was appointed to the command of the Randolph, a frigate of thirty-two guns.  With his usual activity he employed every exertion to get her ready for sea.  The difficulty of procuring American seamen at that time obliged him, in order to man his ship, to take a number of British seaman, who were prisoners of war, and who had requested leave to enter.

              The Randolph sailed from Philadelphia in February 1777.  Soon after she got to sea her lower masts were discovered to be unsound, and in a heavy gale of wind, all her masts went by the board.  While they were bearing away for Charleston, the English sailors with some others of the crew formed the design to take the ship.  When all was ready they gave three cheers on the gun deck.  By the decided and resolute conduct of Captain Biddle and his officer, the ringleaders were seized and punished, and the rest submitted without further resistance.  After refitting at Charleston, as speedily as possible, he sailed on a cruise, and three days after he left the Bar, he fell in with four sails of vessels, bound from Jamaica to London.  One of them-called the True Briton-mounted twenty guns.  The commander of her, who had frequently expressed to his passengers his hopes of falling in with the Randolph, as soon as he perceived her, made all the sail he could from her, but finding he could not escape, he hove to, and kept up a constant fire, until the Randolph had borne down upon him, and was preparing for a broadside, when he hauled down his colours.  By her superior sailing, the Randolph was enabled to capture the rest of the vessels, and in one week from the time he sailed from Charleston, Captain Biddle returned there with his prizes, which proved to be very valuable.

            Encouraged by his spirit and success, the State of South California made exertions for fitting out an expedition under his command.  His name and the personal attachment to him urged forward a crowd of volunteers to serve with him, and in a short time, the ship General Moultrie, the brigs Fair American, and Polly, and the Notre Dame were prepared for sea.  A detachment of fifty men from the first regiment of South Carolina Continental infantry was ordered to act as marines onboard the Randolph.  Colonel, afterwards General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who, with his ofiicers and soldiers, would have done honour to any service, then commanded the regiment.  Such says our informant-himself a gallant officer of that regiment-was the attachment which the honourable and amiable deportment of Captain Biddle had impressed during his stay at Charleston, and such the confidence inspired by his professional conduct and valour, that a general emulation pervaded the corps to have the honour of serving under his command.  The tour of duty, after a generous competition among the officers, was decided to Captain Joor, and lieutenant Grey and Simmons, whose gallant conduct, and that of their brave detachment, did justice to the high character of the regiment.  As soon as the Randolph was refitted and a new mainmast obtained in place of one which had been struck with lightning, she dropped down to Rebellion Roads with her little squadron.  Their intention was to attack the Carysfort frigate, the Perseus, twenty-four gun ship, the Hinchinbrook, of sixteen guns, and a privateer which had been cruising off the Bar, and had much annoyed the trade.  They were detained a considerable time in Rebellion roads, after they were ready to sail, by contrary winds and want of water on the Bar for the Randolph.  As soon as they got over the Bar, they stood to the eastward, in expectation of falling in with the British cruisers.  The next day they retook a dismasted ship from New England; as she had no cargo onboard they took out her crew, six light guns and some stores, and set her on fire.  Finding that the British ships had left the coast, they proceeded to the West Indies, and cruised to the eastward, and nearly in the latitude of Barbados for some days, during which time they boarded a number of French and Dutch ships, and took and English schooner from New York bound to Grenada, which had mistaken the Randolph for a British frigate, and was taken possession of before the mistake was discovered.

            On the night of the 7^th of March 1778, the fatal accident occurred, which terminated the life of this excellent officer.  For some days previously, he had expected an attack.  Captain Blake, a brave officer, who commanded a detachment of the second South Carolina regiment, serving as marines onboard the General Moultrie, and to whom we are indebted for several of the ensuing particulars, dined onboard the Randolph two days before the engagement.  At dinner, Captain Biddle said, “We have been cruising here for some time, and have spoken a number of vessels, who will, no doubt give information of us, and I should not be surprised if my old ship should be out after us.  As to anything that carries her guns upon one deck, I think myself a match for her.”  About three p.m. of the 7^th of March, a signal was made from the Randolph for a sail to windward, in consequence of which the squadron hauled upon a wind, in order to speak her.  It was four o’clock, before she could be distinctly seen, when she was discovered to be a ship, though as she neared and came before the wind, she had the appearance of a large sloop with only a square sail set.  About seven o’clock, the Randolph being to windward hove to, the Moultrie being about one hundred and fifty yards astern, and rather to leeward, also hove to.  About eight o’clock, the British ship fired a shot just ahead of the Moultrie, and hailed her, the answer was the Polly of New York, upon which she immediately hauled her wind, and hailed the Randolph.  She was then for the first time discovered to be a two-decker.  After several questions asked and answered, as she was ranging up alongside the Randolph, and had got on her weather quarter, Lieutenant Barnes, of that ship, called out, “This is the Randolph,” and she immediately hoisted her colours and gave the enemy a broadside.  Shortly after the action commenced, Captain Biddle received a wound in the thigh and fell.  This occasioned some confusion, as it at first thought that he was killed.  He soon, however, ordered a chair to be brought, said that he was only slightly wounded, and being carried forward encouraged the crew.  The stern of the enemy’s ship being clear of the Randolph, the captain of the Moultrie gave orders to fire, but the enemy having shot ahead, so as to bring the Randolph between them, the last broadside of the Moultrie went into the Randolph, and it was thought by one of the men saved who was stationed on the quarterdeck near Captain Biddle, that he was wounded by shot from the Moultrie.  The fire from the Randolph was constant and well directed.  She fired nearly three broadsides to the enemy’s one, and she appeared, while the battle lasted, to be in a continual blaze.  In about twenty minutes after the action began, and while the surgeon was examining Captain Biddle’s wound on the quarterdeck, the Randolph blew up.

            The enemy’s vessel was the British ship Yarmouth, of sixty-four guns, commanded by Captain Vincent.  So closely were they engaged, that Captain Morgan, of the Fair American, and all his crew, thought that it was the enemy’s ship that had blown up.  He stood for the Yarmouth, and had a trumpet in his hands to hail and inquire how Captain Biddle was, when he discovered his mistake.  Owing to the disabled condition of the Yarmouth the other vessels escaped.

           The cause of the explosion was never ascertained; but it is remarkable that just before he sailed, after the clerk had copied the signals and orders for the armed vessels that accompanied him, he wrote at the foot of them, “in case of coming to action in the night, be very careful of your magazines.”  The number of persons onboard the Randolph was three hundred and fifteen, who all perished, except four men, who were tossed about for four days on a piece of the wreck before they were discovered and taken up. From the information of two of these men, who were afterwards in Philadelphia, and of some individuals in the other vessels of the squadron, we have been enabled to state some particulars of this unfortunate event in addition to the accounts given of it by Dr. Ramsay in his History of the American Revolution, and in his history of the revolutions of South Carolina.  In the former work, the historian thus concludes his account of the action: “Captain Biddle, who perished onboard the Randolph, was universally laminated.  He was in the prime of life, and had excited high expectations of future usefulness to his country, as a bold and skilful naval officer.”           

            Thus prematurely fell at the age of twenty-seven, as gallant an officer as any country ever boasted of.  In the short career, which Providence allowed to him, he displayed all those qualities, which constitute a great soldier.  Neither brave to excess, and consummately skilled in his profession, no danger nor expected event could shake his firmness, or disturb his presence of mind.  An exact and rigid disciplinarian, he tempered his authority with so much humanity and affability, that his orders were always executed with cheerfulness and alacrity.  Perhaps no officer ever understood better the art of commanding the affections as well as the respect of those who served under him; if that can be called an art, which was rather the natural effect of the benevolence and magnanimity of his character.

            The virtues of his private life endeared him to a numerous circle of friends.  With the frankness and manliness of character, which eminently belong to the officers of his profession, Captain Biddle united other qualities of much more rare occurrence.  The most amiable mildness and modesty of manners, a strict and rigid temperance and a strong habitudinal sense of his religious and moral duties.  A sincere Christian, his religious impressions had a decided and powerful influence upon his conduct.  Even his native courage was heightened by the reflection, that in the discharge of his duty all personal consequences were to be disregarded.  His temper was uniformly cheerful, and his conversation sprightly and entertaining.  In his person he was about five feet nine inches high, remarkably handsome, strong and active before he left Charleston, he was engaged to be married, on his return, to a young lady of that place.

Joshua Barney

None among the naval heroes of our country, have gone through more varieties of active service, or experienced greater vicissitudes of fortune than the subject of this memoir.  His life has been written in a most entertaining style, by his relative, Mrs Marry Barney; and it is from this source that we have drawn the principal facts contained in the following sketch.

            Commodore Joshua Barney was born at Baltimore, on the sixth of July 1759.  His ancestors had emigrated form England, where they maintained a middling rank, and were of reputable character.  Education, in those days, was only to be obtained at considerable expense, and that but rarely in a new country, which had, but few inhabitants; and some of these without fortune or learning.  He went to school very young, and having attained the principles of arithmetic, reading and writing, he left, at ten years of age.  Even at this early period he had acquired a decided liking for the sea, which the parents endeavoured to divert to some other object, by putting him to various employments, without success.  Finding that these trials tended but to increase his ardent desire for the sea, they resolved-however, unwillingly-to let him try his fortune in the profession of his choice.  When they placed him with a pilot, they still entertained hopes that a few months service would make him lose his predilection for this toilsome pursuit, and return to the domestic circle.  But the waste of waters was to him a home, however dreary; and the result of every subsequent excursion pronounced more clearly that he was destined to lead the life of a sailor.  The fond parents, seeing this, thought fit to provide permanently for his advancement, until he should be able to control his own movements: an opportunity soon offered.  Captain Thomas Drysdale, (his brother-in-law) was then in port, with a small brig, and offered to receive him onboard-a favour, which the family accepted, and young Barney forthwith entered upon his new engagement.  The first voyage was to Liverpool, when after the delivery of the cargo, the brig was unexpectedly sold, and the master secured a passage for himself and Barney, for Baltimore.  Although our hero had loved the sea so well, yet he longed for a sight of home and his relations.  When he arrived, he received the unwelcome intelligence that his father had been called to his last home, and found the family plunged in the deepest affliction.

               After visiting the scenes of his boyhood, he again resumed his former vocation, and made several voyages to Europe, in company with his brother-in-law.  On the 22^nd of December 1774, he entered upon a voyage, which, thought it terminated the life of Captain Drysdale, shows most conclusively, the energy and resource of Barney’s mind.  The Captain died in a week after they had set sail, and the first mate having left the ship in consequence of a quarrel, it became necessary for young Barney to command and conduct the ship to her destination, Nice; an undertaking of no small difficulty, considering the leaky state of the vessel, the inexperience of her commander, and the distance of the port; yet he cheerfully undertook it.  As they proceeded on their voyage the leak gained upon them, notwithstanding they kept the pumps going day and night, and on entering the Mediterranean, they were overtaken by a storm which threatened to complete their ruin; they were able, however, to put into Gibraltar, and Barney, taking all responsibility upon himself, had the ship, repaired; an operation which occupied three months, and they ten set sail for their destination, where they arrived in safety.  Here again, his mental energies were taxed to the utmost, for the Nicene merchants determined not to pay the expenses of repairs at Gibraltar, and the Governor seconding them, young Barney was thrown into prison; but he was soon afterwards released.  As all American vessels then sailed under English colours, he hoisted the union jack, considering, that if they attempted to take the vessel, it would be considered a national insult, and as such would be resented.  In this he was right. 

            The cost of repairs being paid, he set sail for America; but on the way, he touched at Alicant, in Spain, and as his Catholic Majesty was then fitting out his memorable expedition against Algiers, he was detained, and employed in the service of the expedition.  It would not be in place, here to give a description of that unfortunate and disgraceful expedition; which resulted in the utter discomfiture of the Spaniards.  After this he returned to America, where he was first informed of the rebellion of the colonies, and that the battles of Lexington and Bunker’s Hill had been already fought.  He was but sixteen years old when he returned from this eventful voyage, and considering the struggle of the colonies a just one, he determined to enter into their service.  The country was in a state of great excitement, and young Barney allowed himself little or no relaxation; but learning that there were two vessels equipping at Baltimore, he immediately offered his services, and was received as master’s mate, onboard of the sloop of war Hornet, often guns, which was destined to join the squadron of Commodore Hopkins.

            Towards the latter end of November 1775, the Hornet, in company with another Baltimore vessel-the Wasp-set sail, and cleared the capes, without being seen by the British cruisers, and found the squadron of Commodore Hopkins, consisting of five ships, mounting one hundred and two guns, and the Fly tender, anchored at the mouth of the Delaware.  The fleet immediately set sail, and without any adventure arrived at the place of rendezvous, where their destination was made known.  New Providence, one of the Bahamas, was the object of attack, and thither they steered; but, on the passage, during a stormy night, the Hornet lost her masthead and boom, inconsequence of the Fly tender running foul of her, and she became separated from the rest of the fleet.  This untoward accident compelled the captain to steer for the nearest port and repair.  They arrived off the mouth of the Delaware about the first of April, where they were informed that the British ship Roebuck, of forty-four guns, lay at anchor in the roads, and that her tender was cruising in quest of prizes.  The captain, affecting to be under the influence of religious scruples, determined to avoid her, but in so doing, fell upon her track and soon encountered her, and the captain was about to surrender, but the tender, seeing as she neared, the force of the sloop, sheered off.  The sloop in going up the channel ran ashore, but was got off with the loss of he rudder, and after a cold, tempestuous run, arrived at Philadelphia.    

           Barney now left the hornet, and volunteered his services to Captain Charles Alexander’s, a Scotchman, who had entered the American service, and held the command of the Wasp.  The Wasp having convoyed a vessel richly laden, clear of the coast, returned to the Delaware, where her commander discovered, lying in the roads, the Roebuck, forty-four, and the Liverpool twenty-eight-two British frigates which had entered the river in her absence.  The Wasp was pursued by the latter; but the British ship, having no pilot, ran ashore, and the little schooner escaped to the Cape May channel, where she found two other American vessels-the Lexington, and the Surprise lying securely at anchor, their commanders, Captain Barry and Weeks, being ignorant of the near vicinity f the enemy.  In the meantime the Liverpool got off, and commenced the chase of a vessel laden with ammunition.  The three American commanders observing this, made preparations to give the enemy a warm reception.  But the Roebuck appearing in sight disconcerted their plans, and made them seek safety in flight.  The captain of the chased vessel, seeing no hope of escape, ran her ashore, and commenced taking out her cargo, in which they were assisted by boats crews from the Lexington and Surprise, until the frigates lowered their boats, when Captain Barry ordered a quantity of loose powder and a slow match to be placed in the hold, and as the enemy entered, it went off with a tremendous explosion, killing every soul onboard.  The Wasp now pursued her course up the bay, which was perceived by the frigates, which gave chase.  Captain Alexander, finding that they gained upon him, hauled his course to the wind, and ran into Wilmington creek, when night coming on, the frigates dropped anchor at the mouth of the creek, and thus kept him in a state of blockade.  A number of row gallies from Philadelphia, under the command of Commodore Hazlewood, having been sent after the frigates, made their appearance the next morning, and instantly commenced an attack.  Captain Alexander, embracing this opportunity, attacked the tender of one of the British frigates, carried her by boarding, and made his escape, pursued by the roebuck, which grounded on the Jersey shore.  Captain Alexander, sent his prize to port, and re-entered the creek before night.  The next morning being thick and hazy, he got out; but, when the weather cleared, he found himself almost in the enemy’s power, but by exertion he escaped, and again meeting the galleys, they maintained the attack all day, and finally through the exertions of Barney forced the frigates to retire, while the Wasp returned safe to Philadelphia.

           Barney was not yet seventeen, and through the kindness of Captain Alexander, he was appointed to take charge of the sloop Sachem, of ten guns, and superintend her equipment.  While on this service, he received an appointment as lieutenant on the 20^th of June 1776.  Soon after this, Captain Isaiah Robinson arrived, and took the command of the Sachem, and, with our young hero, set sail on the 6^th of july.  Before they had been at sea many days they fell in with a letter of marque brig, under English colours, and an attack was determined upon, which lasted about two hours, when the brig surrendered, and was taken to Philadelphia.   

            In consequence of the ability the bravery displayed by Captain Robinson and Lieutenant Barney, they were removed to the Andrew Doria, of fourteen guns, which was waiting for orders to put to sea.  Captain Robinson was ordered to St. Eustatia, for the purpose of bringing home some ammunition, deposited there, at the disposal of Congress-and to return home immediately, in order not to subject himself to being taken by a superior force.  On their return home they fell in with the Race Horse, of twelve guns, under Lieutenant Jones, and after a hard fought battle of two hours, forced her to surrender.  The vessel suffered much in the hull, spars and rigging, and Lieutenant Jones and most of his men were more or less dangerously wounded before we surrendered.  The Andrew Doria had four killed, and eight or nine wounded. 

            Soon after this, having captured an English scow, Lieutenant Barney was sent in her as prize master; but on the voyage home, he encountered a severe gale, and was compelled to put into Chincoteague for pairs.  After remaining there till January 2^nd 1777 he proceeded to sea with the prize; but ion his passage he was captured by the Perseus, of twenty guns, and taken to Charleston.  Being allowed to retire upon parole, Barney soon found his way to Philadelphia.  Here he remained many months, until an exchange offered, when he again returned to the Andrew Doria.  He was heartily welcomed by Captain Robinson, and his brother officers and men.

            The Andrew Doria now formed a part of the force that had been prepared for the water defence of Philadelphia, which force consisted of a flotilla of about forty ships, and boats, commanded by Commodore Hazlewood.  They were stationed off the mouth of the Schuylkill, partly defended by a small fort, erected on Mud Island.  A portion of the American forces was also stationed at Red Bank, on the Jersey shore, and at Province Island, farther down the river.  These preparations were made not without some great design, for the enemy being now in possession of Philadelphia, a determined effort was to be made before they could of the Delaware. 

            The attack, which was made on the flotilla and forts by the British fleet, and ably sustained by the Americans, afforded many opportunities for the display of that heroism which marked every action of the revolutionary war, in which the naval force was concerned.  By employing an overwhelming force, both by sea and land, the enemy were at length enabled to batter down the American forts and disperse the flotilla, and thus effect an open communication between the ocean and Philadelphia, now in their possession.  This, however, was not effected without a heavy loss officers and men.  Among the former was the gallant Doniop.  The English also lost two ships, and the Americans one.  The final attack terminated on the night of the 16^th of November, by the Americans running their ships up the river to Bordentown, rather than let them fall into the hands of the enemy, who had thus learned that their victories were to be bought only by a force greatly superior to that of their opponents in numbers and discipline.  

            Lieutenant Barney, throughout the whole affair, displayed his usual bravery and perseverance.  He was always in the thickest of the fray, and despised the old rues of warfare-that it is the mark of courage and insight, to bring your forces whole from battle, and be sure and return yourself with your ships.

            Early in the following December, he was ordered to enter as lieutenant of the frigate Virginia, which was then lying at Baltimore, whither he was ordered with a detachment of seamen and officers destined for the frigate.  He was nearly a month in performing the march, in consequence f the almost impassable state of the roads, which were covered with snow and sleet.  A great many of the men were frostbitten, in consequence of the cold; but all arrived safe.

            In 1778, he was placed in the command of a pilot boat tender.  His duty in this capacity was to cruise about the bay, and watch the movements of the enemy, and observe when an opportunity offered for the frigate to put to sea.  In this capacity he recaptured a large sloop belonging to Baltimore, and one of the enemy’s barges, which had seized her.

            On the last of March, an opportunity offered for the frigate to put to sea; but she ran on the middle ground, and in this situation was attacked by three of the enemy’s fleet, when the captain hoisted out the barge, and put to shore, leaving the vessel under the command of Lieutenant Barney, who was overruled in his determination to resist the enemy by the other officers, who were willing to follow the course of their captain.  Lieutenant Barney thus again fell into the hands of the enemy; but in consequence of his former humane conduct towards the British prisoners who had fallen into his hands, he was treated with kindness and civility, and such was the confidence in him, that he was frequently allowed to go on shore and remain for whole days.  Captain Caldwell, who commanded the Emerald-in which ship Lieutenant Barney was prisoner-had, by his uniform kindness and urbanity, won the esteem of all Americans who fell into his hands.

            During the year 1778, it has been deemed necessary to send the prisoners t New York, Lieutenant Barney was removed to this place in the ship St. Albans, sixty-four, Captain Onslow.  On the passage, Lieutenant Barneym who was the only officer of any distinction onboard, formed the bold plan of seizing the ship, and the whole fleet, but the project was disconcerted by the treachery of a Frenchman, to whom the secret had been confided.  When Captain Onslow became aware of it, he placed the means, which Lieutenant Barney was to employ, out of his reach, and passed the affair over in silence, until he arrived at New York, when it was only referred to as a matter of pleasantry.  When they arrived at New York, the Americans were transferred to the prison ships.  Here, Barney for the first time, realised that he was a prisoner.  He now beheld disease, in her varied forms, revelling, as it were in the mass of beings, which seemed scarcely “human.”

             Even here, his usual kindness predominated, and he tended for hours the sick and dying of his countrymen.  He was not, however, without the hope of being relieved, and was allowed to obtain, at least the freedom of the deck.  In this he was not disappointed; for in a few weeks after his incarceration, he was happy to learn that Admiral Byron had arrived, to supersede Lord Howe in command of the English fleet.  This officer, in a week after his arrival, paid a visit to the prison ships, and seeing the prisoners in such miserable condition he ordered, with his accustomed humanity, better accommodations to be prepared, and learning the peculiar position of Lieutenant Barney, he ordered him to be removed to his ship, where he was treated with great kindness.  He was allowed to go on shore whenever he wished, and never showed himself so unworthy of confidence as not to return.

            For nearly five months he remained in this situation, when an opportunity offering, he was exchanged, and again offered his services to the American authorities; but, they’re being no vacancy at the time, he determined to visit the relatives and friends.  Still his mind was bent upon the sea, and disdaining a life of idleness, he took command of “a fine little schooner, armed with two guns, and eight me,” bound for St. Eustatia.

             In going down the bay, he was attacked by an English privateer and taken; but fortunately, he was put on shore, with his men, and thus he was saved from a second experience of the horrors of a prison ship.  He immediately set out for Baltimore, where he met his old friend, Captain Robinson, who was in search of him to offer him the situation of first officer in a private ship of which he then had command.

            In February 1779 they set sail with a cargo of tobacco, and an armament of twelve guns, and thirty-five men bound for Bordeaux.  After they had been out a few days, the Rosebud, of sixteen guns, Captain Duncan, chased them.  An action followed; and Captain Robinson, on observing indications of the enemy’s intention to board, left Barney to command the stern-chaser, while he went on the gun deck, ready to give the enemy a broadside should he make the attempt.  Barney, believing that she was at one time running up for this purpose, loaded the gun with grapeshot and a “crowbar,” which, by cutting up the enemy’s rigging, and nearly severing his foremast, had the desired effect, and the British commander thought proper to sheer off, and leave Captain Robinson to repair his damages at leisure.  The enemy lost forty-seven men, in killed and wounded.  The voyage was continued without farther interruption; and the vessel having discharged her cargo, returned home.  On her homeward passage, she came up with an English letter of marque ship of equal force and weight of metal, which after a long contest, was forced to surrender, and Lieutenant Barney was placed in command of her, on her passage to Philadelphia.  When he arrived there, not finding any vacancy in the naval service, he determined not to enter the merchant service to spend his leisure time among his relatives in Philadelphia and Baltimore. 

            While residing at the former place, he became acquainted with Miss Bedford, daughter of Gunning Bedford, Esq., to whom he was married, on the 10^th of March 1780.

            He remained a month at Philadelphia, when he was advised to undertake some commercial enterprise, which he determined to do, and accordingly, set out with that purpose; but his whole fortune, which he carried with him, was secretly stolen from him; and he returned to his wife, but never spoke about the missing money.  As if by way of consolation, in a few days he was ordered to the Saratoga, of sixteen guns, under Captain John Tams.  He immediately went to sea.

             They had not been out many days, before they fell in with a British ship, of twelve guns, and soon captured her.  It seemed as if fortune had now determined to smile upon our hero, for the next day they encountered a British ship and two brigs, and after a hard-fought battle, they succeeded in taking all three.  During the action, Lieutenant Barney, with fifty men, boarded the largest ship, mounting thirty-two guns, with ninety men, and after a terrible conflict obtained possession of the deck, and soon the American colours were at the masthead.

            Barney, in the largest ship, was ordered to steer for the Delaware; but he soon discovered that she leaked fearfully, and the next day observed a small squadron in chase, and resistance being out of the question, he surrendered to Captain Anthony J. P. Malloy, of the Intrepid, seventy-four.  This commander treated him in the most brutal manner.  Yet, when he afterwards came to reflect upon his lot, he found that the Saratoga and crew perished at sea, and were never heard of, and that his being appointed to the command of the prize, and his capture by the inhuman Malloy, were the means of preserving him for future service.  The Intrepid sailed soon after for New York, when Barney was removed to the Yarmouth, seventy-four, (December 1780,) to be sent to England, where they were to receive the punishment of their “rebellion.”  On the passage, the prisoners amounting to about sixty were confined in the most loathsome of dungeons, without light or pure air, and with a scanty supply of provisions.

            They brought, when they arrived at Plymouth, that their privations were at an end; but they were only removed to another prison ship, which although dirty and crowded, was, in some measure, better than the one they had left.  From this, contrary to expectation, as soon as they were so much recovered as to be able to walk, they were brought on shore and confined in Mill prison, where they met the anxious faces of several hundred American prisoners, who had undergone the same privations as themselves.

             This prison was surrounded by two strong walls, twenty feet apart, and was guarded by numerous sentries.  There were small gates in the walls, and these were placed opposite each other, the inner one generally remaining open.  The prisoners were allowed the privilege of the yard nearly all day, and this set the inventive mind of Barney upon the scheme which, in the end, terminated in his liberty; not, however, without infinite danger and trouble.  He set about finding out some small chance which might afford the least hope of release; and having discovered one of the sentries that had served in the United States, and remembered the kindness with which he had been there treated, Barney and he formed the means of escape.  It was arranged that Barney should affect to have hurt his foot and obtain a pair of crutches, and thus lull suspicion.

             On the 18^th of May 1781, he habited himself in the undress uniform of a British officer-the whole covered with an old greatcoat, and by the aid of the sentinel, cleared the prison; when he threw off the coat, and soon arrived at the house of a well known friend to the American cause, in Plymouth.  That he might not be soon missed, he got a lad, who after answering to his own name, was to get out, and answer to Barney’s, in the yard, which little stratagem succeeded admirably.  When Barney arrived at the friend’s house, he made preparations to leave as soon as possible, well knowing that if any of the British were detected harbouring him, they would be convicted of high treason.  In the evening, therefore, he departed to the house of his friend’s father, at a considerable distance, where he would be safer.  On arriving there, he was surprised to find two of his old friends-Americans-who had been, for some time, anxiously waiting for an opportunity of returning home, and now thought that the time had arrived.

            Lieutenant Barney determined to sail for the French coast, and, for this purpose, he and the two gentlemen purchased a small fishing vessel, and habiting themselves in some fishermen’s old apparel, they set sail on their intended voyage.  Admiral Digby’s fleet lay at the mouth of the river, and our adventurers had to pass through the midst of them, and then run the chance of capture by the numerous British cruisers, which continually ply about the channel.  This was a daring undertaking as the fleet, he thought, had doubtless received notice of his escape, and the enemy would be rigid in their search.  He, therefore, determined to act with coolness, and, if intercepted, to give such answers to the questions put to him, as might best lull suspicion.  If he were detected, he would pay for the attempt with his life.

            He knew that if his escape was detected, that it would be immediately communicated to the fleet, and thus lessen his chances; especially as the least unusual appearance in his assumed character, would excite immediate suspicion.  Even should he be able to pass through the fleet, the British channel abandoned with the English cruisers, which were quite adept in the art of picking up stragglers.  With these dangers painted in living colours before his eyes, he preserved his usual self-possession, and inspired with confidence his companions, who had never handled a rope, and relied exclusively upon his daring.

           By sunrise, the next morning, they were “under way,” the two gentlemen remaining below, and Lieutenant Barney and the servant being the only ones on deck, to avoid suspicion.  With a good breeze and a favourable tide, it was not long before they were in the midst of the hostile fleet, which seemed to take no notice of them.  Their hearts beat quickly when they were thus hanging between life and death; but as soon as the last of the enemy was passed, they declared themselves safe through that portion of the ordeal.

            But what attempt ever ended to the satisfaction of the undertaker?  Before the enemy were more than clear out of sight, the practised eye of Barney caught a sail, which he knew to be bearing down upon him.  He saw that resistance was out of the question; but that if he managed the affair adroitly, he might escape.  It was now that he was called to exercise that firmness of mind, coolness and contempt of danger, and quickness of resource in time of need that ever distinguished his character, and showed him to be a man of no ordinary natural talents.  

            The enemy then turned their operations into a blockade, and kept the Commodore inactive, while they went into the country, and carried off many of the people prisoners onboard their fleet.  Barney having received a small reinforcement from the Secretary of the Navy, determined on an attack upon the blockading squadron, which was to be seconded by a battery of two guns onshore.  The attack was made with great bravery by the flotilla, but being unsupported by the battery, Barney was forced to retire.  The fruits of victory, however, he obtained; for the enemy soon steered down the river, perfectly satisfied with one attack of the Commodore.

            The next action, in which we find him engaged, was at the advance of the British on the city of Washington.

            The history of this affair is one, which is impossible to dwell upon with satisfaction.  Almost the only redeeming feature about it, from the first landing of General’s Ross’s troops, to their final departure from the desecrated capitol, is the gallant resistance of Barney and his brave marines, when deserted by those very men whose incapacity had placed them in a false position, and whose duty it was to have supported them in the defence.

            As it was, Barney and his party kept the enemy in check, until nearly every officer was killed or wounded, the Commodore himself so severely, as to render it impossible for him to accompany the retreat, which he was finally compelled to order.  He consequently fell into the hands of the British, who with that characteristic respect for heroism, which they often display, instantly offered him a parole.  Having accepted it, he was conveyed by British sailors to Bladensburg, the gallant tars refusing to accept the fifty-dollar bill, which he tendered as a compensation for their trouble.

                After remaining at Bladenburg a single day, Commodore Barney was conveyed to his farm, at Elkridge.  The ball, which he had received in his thigh, could not be extracted without considerable risk; and the surgeons suffered it to remain till the wound was healed.  It subsequently gave the Commodore much inconvenience, and was thought to have been ultimately the cause of his death.

            As an acknowledgement of his gallantry and good conduct at the battle of Bladensburg, the corporation of Washington presented an elegant sword to the Commodore.  On the 8^th of October he was exchanged, and two days afterwards he resumed his command of the flotilla.  Before he could have any new opportunity for distinction, the Treaty of Ghent terminated hostilities.

            The flotilla was disbanded, and his gallant crews discharged; when having settled his accounts with the government, Commodore Barney was sent to Europe, as the bearer of despatches to the American Plenipotentiaries, which he faithfully delivered, and returned to Baltimore, October 13^th 1815.  He now retired to his farm, where he suffered much from his wounded limb.  After this he continued to be occupied with endeavouring to remedy the effect of a want of economy in his domestic business arrangements, until the death of Colonel Nathaniel Ramsay, when he was appointed Naval Officer, in the customhouse, at Baltimore.  Being in ill health, he appointed his son William his deputy.

            Commodore Barney’s death, which took place at Pittsburg while he was a journey to the west, happened on the first of December 1818, in the sixtieth year of his age.

Edwards Preble

In the brilliant roll of our naval heroes the name of Preble will always stand among the most conspicuous.  He was one of the most active and efficient officers of his time; and it was by his gallantry and consummate ability that the war with Tripoli was conducted in a style, which reflects the highest honour on the American flag.

            Commodore Edward Preble was born August 15^th 1761, in that part of Falmouth in Casso bay which is now Portland, in the State of Maine.  His father was the Hon. Jedidiah Preble, who was a brigadier-general under the Government of the Massachusetts Bay; and after the revolutionary war begun, a member of the council and senate.  He died in the year 1783, aged 77.

            Edward Preble, from nearly childhood, discovered a strong disposition for hazards and adventures, and a firm, resolute, and preserving temper.  Possessing an athletic and active frame, he delighted in exertion, and particularly in sporting with a gun, in which he displayed superior skill.  His constitution, naturally robust, was corroborated by this athletic exercise.

            His father, with a view to a college education and liberal profession for his son Edward, placed him at a suitable age, at Dummer academy, Newbury, then under the care of the late Mr. Samuel Moody’s, a celebrated teacher.  Here he was employed in Latin and other studies, and though the bias of his nature to action and enterprise proved an overmatch for the attractions of literature and sedentary occupation, his time at school yielded valuable fruit.  The correctness and propriety of expression in his letters and orders, the quality and cast of his conversation, and the general resources of his mind showed him indebted to early culture as well as to the opportunities he enjoyed from much intercourse with the world and his standing in society.  He doubtless, with others, experienced the benefit of having a preceptor who made it his care and gratification to discover and fan the spark of honourable ambition in the minds of his pupils.  He was particularly attentive to their characteristic individual traits; and fond of viewing them on the most favourable and indulgent side.  He was struck with the marks of a fearless invincible spirit in Preble; and though aware of its disadvantages and hazards to its possessor, was disposed, in this instance, accompanied as it was ingenuous feelings and a disdain of all baseness, to regard it as a prognostic of good.  A single anecdote in illustration we venture to record, trusting that none of our readers, young or old, will receive it in ill part, or think it capable of any evil use.  The good preceptor, with a dear love for his pupils, was liable sometimes to gusts of passion, portentous in appearance, though commonly harmless in effect.  On one occasion, our hero in an encounter with a schoolfellow, had given a blow, which covered his face with blood.  On the boy presenti9ng himself in this plight in school, and announcing Preble as the author of his misfortune, the master’s ire was raised to a tempest-seizing the fire shovel, he sprung towards the offender, and aimed a blow at his head; which, however, he took care should just escape on one side of his mark, and fall on the deck.  He repeated the motion, bringing down his deadly weapon on the other side with the utmost violence.  The boy never changed his attitude of countenance, sitting perfectly erect, and looking calmly at the assailant.  The latter, from being pale and quivering with rage became instantly composed, and turning away exclaimed, “That fellow will make a general.”  Against the wishes and hopes of his father, Edward persisted in that predilection for the sea, which he had always shown; and leaving school after two or three years, he entered on board a ship.  His first voyage was to Europe in a letter of marque, Captain Frend.  On their return, they had a severe time on the coast through head winds and extreme cold.  The young sailor was conscious for his activity and usefulness in this trying exigency.   

            About the year 1779 he became midshipman in the state ship officer, John Foster Williams, who has always spoken with emphasis of the courage and good conduct of Mr. Peble, while in his ship.

            On the first cruise of the Protector, she engaged off Newfoundland, the letter of marque Admiral Duff, of thirty-six guns.  It was a short but hard fought action.  The vessels were constantly very near, and much of the time alongside, so that balls were thrown from one to the other by hand.  The Duff struck, but taking fire about the same time, she in a few minutes blew up.  Between thirty and forty of her people were saved and taken onboard the Protector, where a malignant fever soon spread and carried off two thirds of Captain William’s crew.  He returned to an eastern port, and landing his prisoners and recruiting his men sailed on a second cruise.  Falling in with a British sloop of war and frigate, the Protector was captured.  The principal officers were taken to England, but Preble, by the interest of a friend of his father, Colonel William Tyng, obtained his release at New York, and returned to his friends. 

            He then entered as first lieutenant onboard the sloop of war Winthrop, Captain George Little, who had been Captain William’s second in command in the Protector, had scaled the walls of his prison at Plymouth, and with one person escaping in a wherry to France, took passage thence to Boston.

             One of Mr. Preble’s exploits, while in this station, has been often mentioned as an instance of daring courage, and cool intrepidity not less than of good fortune.  He boarded and cut out an English armed brig of superior force to the Winthrop lying in Penobscot harbour, under circumstances that justly gave the action great éclat.  Little had taken the brig’s tender, from whom he gained such information of the situation of the brig, as made him resolve to attempt seizing ion her by surprise.  He ran her alongside in the night, having prepared forty men to jump into her dressed in white frocks, to enable them to distinguish friend from foe.  Coming close upon her he was hailed by the enemy, who as was said, supposed the Winthrop must be her tender, and who cried out, “you will run aboard!”  He answered, “I am coming aboard,” and immediately Preble, with fourteen men, sprung into the brig.  The motion of the vessel was so rapid that the rest of the forty destined for boarding missed their opportunity.  Little called to his lieutenant, “will you not have more men?”  “No,” he answered with great presence of mind and a loud voice, “we have more than we want; we stand in each other’s way.”  Those of the enemy’s crew who were on deck chiefly leaped over the side, and others below from the cabin window, and swam to the shore, which was within pistol shot.  Preble instantly entering the cabin found the officers in bed or just rising; he assured them they were his prisoners, and that resistance was vain, and, of attempted, would be fatal to them.  Believing they were surprised and mastered by superior numbers they forbore any attempt to rescue the vessel and submitted.  The troops of the enemy marched down to the shore, and commenced a brisk firing with muskets, and the battery opened a cannonade, which, however, was too high to take effect.  In the meantime the captor’s beat their prize out of the harbour, exposed for a considerable space to volleys of musketry, and took her in triumph to Boston.

            Lieutenant Preble continued in Winthrop till the peace of 1783.  This vessel is acknowledged to have rendered eminent service by protecting our trade near our shores, and picking up a great number of the small privateers with issued from the British ports to the eastward.

            From this period the flag of our nation began to be displayed in every sea, and her ships to visit every mart in both hemispheres.  Mr Preble was a shipmaster in successive voyages, to various places, near and distant.

            In the year 1798, the accumulated injuries and insults of the rulers of France awakened a spirit of resistance in the people and government of this country.  The President uttered a cloud call for a navy, and obtained a hearing.  That class of our statesmen and citizens, who had always thought a maritime force an indispensable instrument both of defence and negotiation, and who had often before pleaded for it in vain, embraced the occasion to begin the good work.  In this and the following year, fifteen frigates, and about twelve other vessels of war were built and commissioned.  It was fortunate for the prosperity and usefulness of this infant establishment that many of the naval heroes of the revolution, who had been accustomed to maritime warfare, were of an age to be employed in the service, and acknowledged the claim of their country to the benefit of their experience.

            Of the five first lieutenants, first appointed, Mr Preble was one.  In the fall and winter of 1798-9 he made two cruisers as commandant of the brig Pickering.  The next year 1799, he received a captain’s commission, and the command of the frigate Essex, of thirty-six guns.  January 1800, he made a voyage in her to Batavia; whither he was sent with Captain James Sever in the Congress to convoy our homeward bound trade from India and the East.

            The day after leaving port, a storm came on and they parked from the three vessels under convoy out.  On the 12^th in a heavy gale, he lost sight of the Congress.  She unfortunately was dismasted and obliged to put back.  The Essex pursued the voyage alone; after waiting a suitable time at the Cape of Good Hope to see if the Congress would come up, she sailed for Batavia.  Before and after arriving at that port, Captain Preble made two cruisers of a fortnight each in the straits of Sunda.  In June he took under convoy home, fourteen sails of American merchantmen, valued at several millions of dollars.  He was separated from them in a tremendous gale off the bank of Lagullos-but of them rejoined him afterwards at St. Helena, and were protected till they were considered out of danger.  He met few cruisers of the enemy.  He gave keen chase to a French corvette, from the Isle of France, which he would have overtaken, but the wind dying away, she escaped by means of her sweeps.  He arrived at New York near the end of the year.  He had been sick on the voyage, and failed in health exceedingly afterwards.  Being appointed to the Adams for the Mediterranean, he was too feeble to take command, and was obliged to resign her to Captain Campbell.

            In the year 1803 he was sufficiently recovered to enter again upon duty.  At this time he commenced a career in which he acquired great honour; and exalted the character and evinced the importance of our infant navy.

            In May of that year he was appointed to the command of the frigate Constitution, then lying in Boston, which he was instructed to get ready for sea.  In June he received orders to take charge of the squadron destined to act in the Mediterranean, as soon as it should be prepared; consisting of seven sail, viz: -the Constitution, forty-four guns; Philadelphia, forty-four-already on the station; Argus, eighteen; siren, sixteen, Nautilus, sixteen; Vixen, sixteen; Enterprise, fourteen.  This force was committed to his direction, for the purpose of protecting effectually the commerce and seamen of the United States against the Tripolitan cruisers on the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, and adjoining seas.

            The squadron sailed on the 13^th of August, and reached Gibraltar on the 13^th of September. Here Commodore Preble learned from Captains Bainbridge and Rogers that they had seized and detained in the Mediterranean, several vessels belonging to the Emperor of Morocco, and evidently sailing with orders to cruise for Americans.  In consequence of this information, Preble wrote to Mr. Simpson, the American Consul at Tangier, desiring him to assure the court of Morocco, that the United States desired to maintain peace with his Majesty’s on proper terms; but that should punish as a pirate every Moorish cruiser who should be found to have taken an American.  Rogers was to remain a few days on the station and then join Commodore Preble in Tangier bay, to assist adjusting affairs with the Emperor.

            On the 17^th, Preble hoisted a white flag in Tangier bay, where he appeared with the Constitution and John Adams, having onboard the principal Moorish officers of the prizes taken by Bainbridge and Rogers.  The American consul was not allowed to come onboard, but remained confined in his house guarded by sentinels, and having no communication with the ship, but by writing on an open slip of paper.  The Emperor was at Fez, at this time, and the governor at Tetuan.

            Preble believed that the Moorish court had long meditated war, and waited only a favourable opportunity for declaring it.  He determined, therefore, to take a decided course, and convince the Emperor that the system of concession was abandoned.  Rogers would co-operate with him; and Preble gave orders to his squadron to bring in for examination all vessels belonging to the Emperor and his subjects.  He also despatched several vessels to cruise off the coat of Morocco, and the Philadelphia and Vixen to lie before Tripoli.

           The American consul explained these hostile movements to the Emperor, who replied that if the governor’s orders to capture and detain American vessels had been given under a general discretion, he would refuse his sanction to them.

           On the 5^th of October, the Commodore anchored in Tangier bay, about a mile and a half from the circular battery, having the Nautilus in company.  The frigates New York and John Adams joined him on the 6^th; and on the same day, his Moorish Majesty arrived, and encamped on the beach, opposite the squadron, with a force of about five thousand foot and horse.  Preble ordered the ship to be dressed, and a salute of twenty-one guns to be fired, to which the battery returned an equal number.  The same was done to the other frigates the following morning.  The Emperor ordered a present of bullocks, sheep and fowls for the squadron, as a token of good will; and the consul gave information that the negotiation would be opened on the arrival of the Emperor’s minister.

            On the 8^th the Emperor visited the beach in order to view the squadron.  The Constitution fired the usual salute of twenty-one guns, which greatly gratified his Majesty.  Several respectable Moors-among them the captain of the port came off to see their friends, who were prisoners onboard.  The consul gave notice next day that the Emperor had ordered the release of the American brig at Mogadore, and that the 11^th was appointed for an audience with the Commodore.  On the day assigned, Preble landed and repaired to the court, accompanied by Col. Lear, Mr. Morris, and two midshipmen.  He desired, in case of any forcible detention, that the commanding officer onboard would enter into no treaty for his release; but open an immediate fire upon the town.  They were ushered into the presence of the court with the usual formalities, and conversed for some time with the Emperor through an interpreter.  His Majesty expressed much sorrow that any difference had occurred, disavowed having given any hostile orders, declared he would restore all American vessels, detained in consequence of any of his governor’s acts, and offered to renew the treaty of 1786.

            The Commodore and consul, on the part of the United States, promised that the Emperor’s property should be restored, and the orders of capture revoked.  An interview was then held with the minister, the details settled, and the mutual stipulations were forth with executed.  The Emperor furnished a formal ratification of the treaty of 1786, and a letter of peace and amity to the President.  Thus, by the happy union of prudence and energy, seconded by a competent force, we escaped war with a power, from his formidable situation, and placed our affairs with him in a better condition than before the variance.

            The Commodore having nothing at present to fear from Morocco was at liberty to direct his principal attention to Tripoli.  The season however was too far advanced for active and permanent operations against the enemy.  Yet this officer did not indulge himself in repose, or suffer his forces to be idle.  In cruising, where they necessarily at this time of year encountered a rough sea and tempestuous weather, in supplying convoy, and in maintaining the blockade of Tripoli, when practicable, the squadron was fully and arduously employed.  It was apparent that the Commodore aimed to do all that was possible, and not merely what was convenient.  The Philadelphia and Vixen has been ordered to the coast of Tripoli.  The Commodore now formally declared the blockade of that place, and sent notice of the fact to the ministers and consuls of the United States, to be communicated to the respective neutral powers.  He found it expedient to go to Cadiz, in order to make up his complement of men, and procure a few supplies not to be obtained at that time at Gibraltar.  An unpleasant circumstance, not expected, seldom before experienced by our public vessels, and afterwards remedied by orders of Lord Nelson, made him willing to shorten his stay at the last mentioned port.  Several commanders of British ships of war lying there insisted on retaining those deserters from the Commodore’s squadron, who were believed to be British subjects.  It was indispensable to the exercise of discipline, to be protected in his right to his own seamen. The refusal of this essential courtesy, in the present instance, was one reason of his fixing on Syracuse, instead of Malta, for his rendezvous.

            Our officer returned from Cadiz on the sixth of November; and having allotted the Argus, Captain Hall, to the Gibraltar station, and disposed of his other force, he proceeded to Algiers, where he was to leave Colonel Lear, the consul general.  On the 22^nd he sailed from Algiers for Syracuse; and on his voyage was informed of the disastrous loss of the Philadelphia, Captain William Bainbridge.  On the 31^st of October, after pursuing a Tripolitan corsair till she came to seven fathoms water, in beating off, she ran on a rock, not laid in any chart, about four and a half miles from the town.  Every exertion to get off proved ineffectual.  Meanwhile she was attacked by numerous gunboats, which she withstood for four hours, whilst the careening of the ship made the guns totally useless.  A reinforcement coming off, and no possible means of resisting them appearing, the captain submitted to the horrid necessity of striking to his barbarous enemy.  They took possession of the ship, and made prisoners of the officers and men-in number three hundred-with robbery violence, and insult.  In forty-eight hours, the wind blowing inshore, the Tripoitans were able to get off the frigate, and having raised her guns, towed her into the harbour of Tripoli.  The Commodore apprehended the worst from this diminution of his force a war with Tunis and perhaps, with Algiers, at least a protection of the present war.  He could not but hope the government would repair this loss by another frigate in the spring, and also would furnish him with more small vessels or gunboats.  His idea of the amount and distribution of force to be desired, he mentions in a subsequent letter, observing, “we ought to have a brig and schooner to cruise between Cape Bon and Sicily; a brig or schooner off Cape Margaret, to the south of Tripoli; a brig on the coast of Calabria; two frigates, with one schooner and some gun and mortar boats, before Tripoli, and a brig and schooner to cruise from Derne to Bengaza.  With such a force, so disposed, Tripoli might soon be brought to any terms we might please to dictate.”

           He proceeded to Syracuse, where he was received with much hospitality, and aided by the governor with the accommodations he needed for his squadron.  He also found Sir Alexander Ball, at Malta, (which he soon visited,) disposed to show him every good office.  December 14^th he sailed with the Enterprise, on a winter cruise, admist boisterous weather; for many days it blew a gale.  On the morning of the 23^rd, the Enterprise captured a ketch in sight of Triploi, which left that port in the night, bound to Bengaza.  She was under Turkish colours, and navigated by Turks and Greeks; but had onboard two Tripolitan officers of distinction, a son of one of the officers, a number of Tripoline soldiers, and forty or more blacks-men and women-slaves belonging to the Bashaw and his subjects.  He at first determined to release the vessel and men claimed by the Turkish captain, and retain the Tripolines, about sixty in number, as prisoners, hoping they would afford an advantage in negotiation, and perhaps, be exchanged for some of our countrymen.  Before this determination was executed, he ascertained that the captain had been active in taking the Philadelphia.  Having received onboard this very vessel one hundred Tripolitans, armed with swords and muskets, and substituted the colours of the enemy for his own, he assaulted the frigate, and when she was boarded, plundered the officers.  He had no hesitation in retaining the vessel; because she was either a Tripoline, and then a prize, or a Turk, and then a pirate.  She was not in a condition to be sent to the United States.  He transmitted her papers to government, and some time after, had her appraised, and took her into the service as the ketch Intrepid.

            February 3^rd 1804 Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, with seventy volunteers, in the Intrepid, and accompanied by the Syren, sailed for Tripoli, with a view to destroy, as they could not in any event expect to bring out the frigate Philadelphia.  On the 16^th, the service was accomplished in the most gallant manner.  Lieutenant Decatur entered the harbour of Tripoli in the night; and laying his vessel alongside the frigate, boarded and carried her against all opposition.  A large number of men were onboard, of whom twenty or thirty were slain, and the remainder driven over the side, accepting one boat’s crew, which escaped to the shore, and one person made prisoner.  The assailants then set fire to her and left her.  She was soon in a complete blaze, and was totally consumed.  The frigate lay within half gunshot of the castle and the principal battery, with her guns mounted and loaded, and two corsairs, full of men, were riding very near.  We had none killed, and only one wounded.

            From this time till the bombardment of Tripoli, the Commodore was occupied in cruising, in keeping up the blockade of the Tripoline harbour, and in making preparations for an attack.  He took the utmost pains to convey supplies and information to Captain Bainbridge, and his officers and men; and, after a time, by means of the good offices of Sir Alexander Ball, succeeded.  He tried several times to negotiate for a ransom and treaty; but the demands of the regency were sometimes ridiculously extravagant, and when lowest, beyond what he thought himself permitted to accord.  The design of warfare he had entertained were checked by a solicitude for the release of his countrymen; though he may, by some persons, perhaps, be thought to have indulged too far his aversion to the payment of a considerable ransom.  He found himself able to make their situation as comfortable as the nature of it would admit; and he believed that the infliction of suffering and terror, when the time should come, upon the enemy, would not produce, as it did not, any long continued aggravation of the evils of their condition, while it would essentially serve his country.  Indeed, after the destruction of the Philadelphia, the Bashaw at first affected to avenge himself by a severer treatment of the captives; but this was not long persisted in.  It was supposed that in case of a formidable attack on the town, the worst that would happen to them would be to be taken into the country for safekeeping.  It must however, be confessed impossible for any one to have said to what lengths the fury and fanaticism of that people might go, if no concession was made to their pride or avarice, or the pressure of the war should drive then to desperation; our unfortunate countrymen must often have shuddered at the thought of their possible destiny.  When the First Consul of France, in March at the instance of Mr Livingston, directed his commissary at this regency to meditate for their release, Mr Beaussier undertook the office; and announced to the Commodore, that one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with some usual gratuities, would probably effect the object, and that perhaps, a cartel for the exchange of prisoners might be negotiated, which would reduce the sum.  The Commodore did not think himself authorised to agree to these terms, and never would go beyond eighty thousand; not that the amount was important, except on principle, and as it might affect our relations to the other Barbary powers.  In June the Russian court, through their minister at the Porte, interposed; but did not bring the regency to our conditions.  From first to last, it was a point of honour with his excellency, the Bashaw, not to give up the American captives for a less sum than had been usually received from most of the powers of Europe, in turn for the ransom of captives of like number and quality.  Even after the bombardment in the ensuing summer, he was not ready to yield, though he was really sick of the war.  In his view, he was conquered when he ceased to be amply paid for his prisoners.  He finally accepted sixty thousand dollar, satisfied, no doubt, that our naval armament would be coeval at least with his hostility, if not at all times equally active and formidable; but especially at that moment apprehensive that his brother’s general, Eaton, if not disarmed by negotiation, would reinstate Hamet in the sovereignty of Tripoli.

            On the 1^st of April, the Commodore went to display force at Tunis; where he found a Tripoline polacre dismantled, having been blockaded for sixteen days by Captain Decatur.  The Bey of Tunis had, for some time, been uneasy at his treaty with the United States.  Why should he not, like Algeirs, have an annual stipend?  He insisted that the Commodore should land and satisfy him for some property alleged to be unlawfully seized by the former squadron.  The Commodore made a short answer, that it was not his business, and that he must put to sea.  He found it necessary to watch Tunisduring the whole of his command.  In the spring he took another prize, a Tripoline; and, upon the presumption of her being condemned, she was estimated, equipped, and put in commission, called the Scourge.

            Finding that force did not arrive from the United States, our officer resolved to endeavour to make some use of the friendship of Naples.  Although he was without diplomatic authority, the minister, General Acton, from persona respect and good will to the service, favoured his application to the King, and the Commodore obtained, as a friendly loan from the king to the United States, six gunboats and two bomb vessels, completely fitted for service; also liberty to ship twelve or fifteen Neapolitans to serve under our flag in each boat.

            With this addition to his armament, on the 21stJuly he joined the detachment off Tripoli.  His force consisted of the frigate Constitution, forty-four guns, twenty-four lb; brig Argus, eighteen guns, twenty-four lb; brig Syren, eighteen guns, eighteen lb; Scourge; schooner Vixen, sixteen guns, six lb; schooner Nautilus, sixteen guns, six lb; enterprise, fourteen guns, six lb; six gunboats of one brass twenty-six pounder each; and two bombard ketches, each carrying a thirteen inch mortar; the whole number of men one thousand and sixty.

            The enemy had on his castle and several batteries, one hundred and fifteen guns; fifty-five of which were heavy battering brass cannon-the others long eighteen and twelve pounders; nineteen gunboats, with each a long brass eighteen or twenty-four pounder in the bow and two howitzers abaft.  He had two schooners of eight guns each, a brig of ten, and two gallies, having each four guns.  In addition to the ordinary Turkish garrison, stationed upon the fortifications, and the crews of the boats and armed vessels, computed at about three thousand, the Bashaw had called into the defence of his city more than twenty thousand Arabs.  These forces were arranged in the positions best adapted for repelling an attack, and also seizing the occasion of falling upon any detachment of the invading force, which could be drawn from the main body.

            The weather prevented the squadron from approaching the enemy till the 28^th, when after anchoring within two and a half miles of his line of defence, the wind suddenly shifted and increased to a gale.  They were compelled to weigh and gain an offing.  On the 1^st of August, the gale subsided, and the squadron on the 3^rd, (the weather being pleasant and the wind at east,) at non were within two or three miles of the batteries, which were all closely manned.

            The Commodore, observing that several of the enemy’s boats had taken a station without the reef of rocks, which covers the entrance of the harbour, about two miles from its bottom, resolved to take advantage of this circumstance, and made signal for the squadron to come within speaking distance, when he communicated to the several commanders his intention of attacking the shipping and batteries.  The gun and mortar boats were immediately manned, and prepared to cast off.  The gunboats in two divisions of three each-the first division under Captain Somers onboard No. 1, with Lieutenant James Decatur in No. 2, and Lieutenant Blake in No. 3.  The second division under Captain Decatur in No. 4, with Lieutenant Bainbridge in No. 5, and Lieutenant Trippe in No. 6.  Mr. Robisnon, first lieutenant of the Commodore’s ship, commanded by Lieutenant commandant Dent, and the two bombards.  At half past one, the squadron stood for the batteries-at two, cast off the gunboats; at half past two, signal for the bombs and boats to advance and attack, and in fifteen minutes after, signal was given for general action. The bombs throwing shells into the town commenced it.  In an instant the enemy’s lines opened a tremendous fire from not less than two hundred guns, which was promptly returned by the whole squadron, now within musket-shot of the principal batteries.             

             At this moment Captain Decatur, with his three gunboats, attacked the enemy’s eastern division, consisting of nine.  He was soon in the centre of them, and the fire of grape, langrage and musketry was changed to a deadly personnel combat with the bayonet, spear, sabre and tomahawk.  Captain Decatur grappled one of the enemy’s boats, and boarded with but fifteen men.  He parried the blows of five Turks, who fell upon him with scimitars, so as to receive no injury, till a blow from the boats captain, a powerful Turk, cleft his blade in two.  He instantly closed with the Turk, but overpowered by muscular strength, he fell under him across the gunnels of the boat.  In this position he drew a side pistol, and killed his antagonist.  Meantime, his sergeant and a marine soldier, seeing his danger, flew to his relief, and engaged and slew the other four assailants.  By this time the other thirteen men had vanquished the residue of the crew, thirty-one in numbers, and the boats colours were hauled down.  Captain Decatur left this boat in charge of an officer, and immediately with Lieutenant M’ Donough, and eight men beside himself, laid another boat onboard, which he carried, after a desperate and bloody encounter of a few minutes.  The fierce desperation of the Arnaout Turks, who value themselves on never yielding, made the slaughter of the enemy in these conflicts immense.  The two prizes of Captain Decatur had thirty-three officers and men killed, and twenty-seven made prisoners, nineteen of whom were severely wounded.

             Lieutenant Trippe boarded one of the enemy’s large boats with only a midshipman, Mr. Jonathon Henley, and nine men.  His boat falling off before any more could join him, he was left to conquer or perish with the fearful odds of eleven to thirty-six.  In a few minutes, however, though for a moment the victory seemed dubious, the enemy was subdued; fourteen of them lost their lives, and twenty-two submitted to be prisoners; seven of whom were badly wounded.  Lieutenant Trippe received eleven sabre wounds, some of which were deep and dangerous.  The blade of his sword also yielded.  He closed with the enemy; both fell, but in the struggle, Trippe wrested the Turk’s sword from him, and with it pierced his body.  Mr Henley, in this encounter, displayed a valour joined to a coolness that would have honoured a veteran.  Lieutenant Bainbridge had his lateen yard shot away, which baffled his utmost exertions to get alongside the enemy’s boats; but his active and well-directed fire within musket shot was very effective.  At one time he had in his ardour pushed forward so that his boat grounded within pistol shot of one of the enemy’s formidable batteries, and where he was exposed to volleys of musketry.  But, by address and courage, he extricated himself from this situation, and so ill directed was the enemy’s fire, without receiving any injury. 

            Captain Domers was not able to fetch far enough to windward, to co-operate with Decatur.  But he bore down upon the leeward division of the enemy, and, with his single boat, within pistol shot attacked five full manned boats, defeated and drove them in a shattered condition, and with the loss of many lives, under shelter of the rocks.

            Lieutenant Decatur, in No. 2, engaged with one of the enemy’s largest boats, which struck after the loss of the greatest part of her men.  At the moment this brave young officer was stepping onboard his prize, he was shot through the head by the Turkish captain, who, by this means, escaped, while the Americans were recovering the body of their unfortunate commander.

            The two bomb vessels kept their station, although often covered with the spray of the sea, occasioned by the enemy’s shot.  They kept up a constant fire and threw a great number of shells into the town.  Five of the enemy’s gunboats and two gallies, composing their centre division, stationed within the rocks, joined by the boats which had been driven in, and reinforced, twice attempted to row out and surround our gunboats and prizes.  They were as often foiled by the vigilance of the Commodore, who gave signal to the brigs and schooners to cover them, which was properly attended to by these vessels, all of which were gallantly conducted, and annoyed the enemy exceedingly.  The fire of the Constitution had its ample share in this bombardment.  It kept the enemy’s flotilla in constant disorder, and produced no inconsiderable effect on shore.  The frigate was constantly in easy motion; and always found where danger threatened to defeat the arrangements of the day.  Several times she was within two cables length of the rocks, and three of the batteries, every one of which were successively silenced as often as her broadside could be brought to bear on them; but having no large vessels to secure these advantages, when circumstances compelled her to change her position, the silenced batteries were reanimated.  “We suffered most,” says the Commodore, “when wearing or tacking.  It was then in most sensibly felt the want of another frigate.” 

            At half past four, the wind inclining to the northward, and at the same time the enemy’s flotilla having retreated behind coverts which shielded them from our shot, while out people were necessarily much exhausted by two hours and a half severe exertion, signal was given for the gunboats and bombs to retire from action; and, immediately after, to the brigs and schooners to take the gunboats and their prizes in tow, which was handsomely executed, the whole covered by a heavy fire from the Constitution.  In fifteen minutes the squadron was out of reach of the enemy’s shot, and the Commodore hauled off to give tow to the bomb ketches.

            The squadron were more than two hours within grapeshot distance of the enemy’s batteries, and under a constant fire.  But the damage received was in no proportion to the apparent danger, or to the effect produced by the assailants.  The frigate took a thirty-two pound shot in her mainmast, about thirty feet from the deck, her sails and rigging were considerable cut; one of her quarterdeck guns was injured by a round shot, which burst in pieces and shattered a mariner’s arm, but not a man was killed on board of her.  The other vessels and boats suffered in their rigging, and had sundry men wounded, but lost none except Lieutenant Decatur, the brother of the Captain Decatur, so conspicuous in this war.  Several circumstances explain this impunity of our squadron.  Where the engagement was close as with the boats the impetuosity of the attack as well as our more dexterous use of the weapons of destruction overpowered and appalled the enemy.  The barbarians are unskilful gunners.  The shower of grapeshot annoyed and discomposed them in the application of what little skill they possessed.  The assailing party were so near as to be overshot by the batteries; especially as the managers of the guns were so fearful of exposing their heads above the parapets, as easily to oversight their object.         

             Very different was the result of this conflict to the enemy.  The American fire was not an empty peal, but a messenger of death in every direction.  The three captured boats had one hundred and three men onboard, forty-seven of whom were killed, twenty-six wounded, and thirty only fit for duty.  Three other boats were sunk with their entire crews, and the decks of their vessels in the harbour were swept of numbers.  The effect on shore was not so great as in the shipping, but still such as to spread consternation.  Several Turks were killed and wounded, and many guns of the fort dismounted, and the town was considerably damaged.

            As might be expected, the bombardment made a powerful impression on the mind of the enemy.  The burning of the Philadelphia could not fail to make the Bashaw and his people apprehend something serious from the present commander.  When the squadron was seen standing in, however, he affected contempt, and surveying them from his palace, observed, “they will mark their distance for tacking; they are a sort of Jews who have no notion of fighting.”  The palace and terraces of the houses were crowded with spectators to see the chastisement the Bashaw’s boats would give the squadron, if they approached too near.  This exultation was very transient.  The battle was scarcely joined, when no one was seen on shore, except on the batteries.  Many of the inhabitants fled into the country; and the Bashaw, it is said, retreated, with his priest, to his bombproof room.  An intelligent officer of the Philadelphia, then in captivity, observes, that the Turks asked if those men that fought so were Americans, or infernal in Christian shape, sent to destroy the sons of the prophet.  “The English, French and Spanish consuls,” say they, “have told us that they are a young nation, and got their independence by means of France; that they had a small navy and their officers were inexperienced, and that they were merely a nation of merchants, and that by taking their ships and men, we should get great ransoms.  Instead of this, their Preble pays us a coin of shot, shells, and hard blows; and sent a Decatur, in a dark night, with a band of Christian dogs fierce and cruel as the tiger, who killed our brothers and burnt our ships before our eyes.”

            On the 5^th August, the Commodore prevailed on a French privateer which had left Tripoli that morning, to return with fourteen wounded Tripolines, whose wounds had been carefully dressed, and whom the Commodore sent with a letter to the Bashaw’s minister.  These prisoners, it is said, informed the prince that the Americans in battle were fiercer than lions, but, in the treatment of their captives, were even kinder than the Musselman.  The barbarians at first misunderstood the motive of sending these men, but afterwards professed to be pleased with the act, and said if he took any wounded Americans they should be likewise returned; but he would not restore any of the Philadelphia’s crew.  On the 7^th, the privateer returned with a letter from the French consul signifying that the Bashaw had very much lowered his tone; and would probably treat on reasonable terms.  But nothing definite or satisfactory being proposed by the enemy, and the terms intimated being higher than the commander was willing he felt authorised to make, he prepared for a second attack.  The bomb vessels, under lieutenants Crane and Thorne, were to take a station in a small bay west of the town, whence they could distress the town without being much exposed themselves; the gunboats were to be opposed to a seven gun battery, and the brigs and schooners to support them in case the enemy’s flotilla should venture out.  At half past two, the assault was made.  Within two hours six of the seven guns were silenced.  Forty-eight shells and about five hundred round shot, twenty-four pounders, were thrown into the town and batteries, when, between five and six, the squadron retired from action.  During the engagement, the enemy’s gunboats and gallies manoeuvred to gain a position to cut off the retreat of ours; but the larger vessels were so arranged as to defeat their design.    

            In this recounter, at about half past three, one of the prize boats was blown up by a hot shot from the enemy’s battery, which passed through her magazine.  She had onboard twenty-eight officers, seamen and marines, ten of whom were killed, and six wounded, among the former were Mr James Caldwell, first lieutenant of the Siren, and Mr J. Dorsey, midshipman.  Mr Spence, midshipman, and eleven men were taken up unhurt,.  This young officer was super tending the loading of a gun when the explosion took place.  He with the survivors, finished the loading, and having discharged her, whilst the boat was sinking, jumped into the sea and was taken up by another boat.  The loss this day was twenty-two killed, and six wounded, two of them mortally.

            It was afterwards ascertained that the enemy suffered less at this time than on the third.  At eight, in the evening, the John Adams, Captain Chaunvey, joined the squadron.  By him the Commodore had the first official notice that four frigates were on their passage to reinforce his detachment?  At the same time also he learned, that by the appointment of a senior officer to one of the frigates, he would be superseded in the command.  The government were highly satisfied with the Commodore, but they had not a sufficient number of captains, juniors to Preble, to supply all the frigates sent out; and they did not think the saving of his feelings would justify the certain of any others.  Had they, however, known or anticipated his brilliant success at this time, they would probably, have ventured upon promoting one or two of the gallant lieutenants in the Mediterranean, in order to keep the Commodore in chief command.

            As the frigates were to sail four days after the John Adams, further operations were suspended in expectation of their arrival.  No assistance could be received from this frigate, as her guns had been stowed by the keelson, and their carriages put away in the other frigates, to make room for her cargo, she being sent out as a transport.

            Captain Chauncey received orders to remain on the station, that Commodore Preble might make use of his boats and men, should the delay of the expected reinforcement determined him to renew the attack.  The squadron kept their station before the town, prepared to strike a decisive blow on the arrival of Commodore Barron.

            On the 9^th Commodore Preble, in the rig Argus, reconnoitred the harbour.  The next day, a flag of truce was seen flying on the shore.  The Commodore sent a boat on shore, which was permitted to land, but returned with a letter from the French consul, advising the Commodore that the Bashaw would accept five hundred dollars each for the ransom of the prisoners, and terminate the war without any consideration of annuity for peace.

            The amount of the demand was about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which the commodore rejected, but, for the sake of the captives, and to save the further effusion of blood, offered eighty thousand, and ten thousand for presents.  After beginning to treat with the French commissary general, the Bashaw suspended the negotiation, saying he would wait the result of another attack.  On the night of the 23^rd the bomb vessels, under protection of the gunboats, were sent in to bombard the town.  The bombardment commenced at two, A. M. and continued till daylight; but, as it was subsequently ascertained, without much effect.

            On the 27^th, the weather proving favourable, the Commodore stood in for Tripoli, and anchored his ship two miles N by E from fort English; the light vessels keeping under way.  A number of his officers and many of the seamen being employed in the boats, Captain Chauncey and several of his officers, with about seventy seamen, volunteered their services on board the Constitution.

            The gunboats accompanied by the Syren, Argus, Vixen, Nautilus, enterprise and boats of the squadron anchored, at three in the morning, within pistol shot of the enemy’s lines, with springs on their cables, and commenced a brisk fire on their shipping, town, batteries, and castle, which was warmly returned.  The ship’s boats remained with the gunboats to assist in boarding the flotilla, in case it should come out, and the brigs and schooners were kept under way, either to harass te enemy or to assist the gunboats.  At daylight, apprehensive that the ammunition in the gunboats must be nearly exhausted, the Commodore weighed anchor, and standing in, under the direct fire of fort English, the castle, crown and mole batteries, made signal for the gunboats to retire from action.  When arrived within a sure distance, he opened his battery with round and grapeshot, upon thirteen gunboats and gallies, which were closely engaged with ours; sunk one of them, disabled two, and put the rest to flight.  He continued running in until within musket shot of the batteries; when he hove to, fired three hundred round shot, besides grape and canister, into the Bashaw’s castle, town and batteries.  He silenced the castle, and two of the batteries, and a little after six hauled off. 

           The gunboats fire four hundred round shot, besides grape and canister, with evident effect.

            A boat from the John Adams, with a master’s mate and eight men onboard, was sunk by a double-headed shot, which killed three seamen and badly wounded another.  The effect of this attack was serious on shore.  A thirty-six pound shot penetrated the castle and entered the apartment of the prisoners, and damage was done to houses, and some lives destroyed.

            The French commissary now renewed the negotiation for peace, but it was broken off in consequence, as he thought, one of the squadron approaching the harbour, as a cartel, which he said was interpreted by the ignorant and mistrustful Bashaw as a proof of discouragement on the part of the invader.

            On the 3^rd September, the bomb ketches being repaired, as well as the damages sustained by the other vessels in the action of the 27^th, the squadron was again ready and disposed for another attack on the town and batteries.  Between three and four o’clock, the action commenced and soon became general.  As our gunboats bore down on the boats and gallies of the enemy, they gave ground, and retreated under cover of the musketry on shore.  The brigs and schooners pursued with the gunboats as far as the depth of the water would permit, and within musket shot of fort English.  The action in this quarter now became divided.  The brigs and schooners with one division of the gunboats engaged fort English; the other division continued engaged with the boats and gallies. 

            The two bomb ketches, while directing their shells into the town, were exposed to the direct fire from the Bashaw’s castles, the crown, mole and several other batteries.  The Commodore, perceiving their danger, ran his ship between them and the batteries, within musket shot, where not less than seventy guns were brought to bear on him, and there discharged eleven broadsides with so good effect as to silence one of the principal batteries, and to injure the others and town materially.  The wind veering to the northward and beginning to blow fresh, ay half past four, he gave signal to retire from action under cover of the Constitution.  In this engagement, although the frigate and vessels were much damaged, not a man was lost.  The bomb vessel commanded by Lieutenant Robinson had all her shrouds shot away, and was so shattered in the hull as to be kept above water with difficulty.  The Argus received a thirty-two pound shot in her hull, which cut away a bower cable as it entered, and which so checked its velocity, that it fell upon deck without doing injury.

            The Commodore had for some time contemplated sending a fire ship into the harbour to destroy the flotilla, and at the same time, to throw a quantity of shells into the town.  Captain Somers volunteered in this service, and with the assistance of Lieutenants Wadsworth and Israel, fitted out the ketch Intrepid for this expedition.  An hundred barrels of gunpowder, and one hundred and fifty fixed shells were placed in the hold, with fuses and combustibles so applied, as to fire them without endangering the retreat of the adventurers.  On the evening of the 4^th September, Captain Somers chose two fast rowing boats from the squadron, to bring off the people, having fired the vessel.  Four seamen from the Nautilus manned his own boat, with Lieutenant Wadsworth and six men from the Constitution.  At eight, they parted from the squadron and stood into the harbour, convoyed by the Argus, Vixen, and Nautilus, to within a short distance of the batteries.  Having gained the inner harbour, and near at the point of destination, she was boarded and carried by two gallies of one hundred men each.  At this moment, she exploded.  The effect was awful.  Every battery was silenced and not a gun was fired afterwards during the night.  Captain Somers is said to have declared to a friend, that in case the Intrepid should be boarded, as he was apprehensive, he would not be captured.  There is every reason to believe that on the enemy proving successful, the captain seized a quick match and touched a train, which communicated instant fire to the mine-by, which he and his brave companions found, with the enemy, a common death.

            Nothing occurred after this till the two squadrons joined on the 9^th of September.  Though Commodore Barron too departure from the capes of Virginia on the 5^th July, and crossed the Atlantic to the Western Islands in sixteen days, they were fifty days on their passage thence to the coast of Tripoli, having experienced forty-one days head winds, and calms in the meantime.   

            Here ended Mr Peble’s command so honourable to himself, and in both its immediate and distant consequences important to his country.  In naval tactics his active and discerning mind anticipated the effect of long and familiar experience.  In this enterprise he displayed the rapidity of conception, and promptitude to act so requisite in critical circumstances, along with the foresight, circumspection, and steady perseverance always necessary to success in difficult undertakings.  The energy and intrepidity which marked his character the passion for achieving deeds of honour that glowed in his breast, were emulated and shared by his officers, and fully seconded by his men, who thought mighty things easy under such a commander.  His conduct of this war made an impression on the African governments, that will not soon be effaced and cannot fail, for a long period of time, to check their disposition to interrupt the peace that has been settled.

            All joined in the suffrage to the distinguished merits of the Commodore.  His holiness, the Pope, is said to have remarked, that he had done more towards humbling the antichristian barbarians on that coast, than all the Christian States had ever done.  Sir Alexander Ball, in a letter dated September 20^th said, “I beg to repeat my congratulations on the services you have rendered your country, and the hair-breadth escapes you have had in setting a distinguished example.  Their bravery and enterprise are worthy a great and rising nation.  If I were to offer my opinion, it would be that you have done well not to purchase a peace with the enemy.  A few brave men have, indeed, been sacrificed, but they could not have fallen in a better cause, and I even conceive it advisable to risk more lives rather than submit to terms which might encourage the Barbary States to add fresh demands and insults.”

            After the squadron joined, the Commodore obtained leave to return home, which he was the more willing to do as it would give the command of a frigate to Captain Decatur.  The officers joined in an address to their late commander, containing the strongest expressions of attachment and respect.  The congress of the United States voted the thanks of the nation and an emblematical medal, which were presented by the President with emphatic declarations of esteem and admiration.

            When the commodore returned, he was received and treated everywhere with distinguished attention.  His countrymen showed that they were proud of his fame, and grateful for his services.  From this time he was much consulted and employed by the government in the management of their naval concerns peace was the next year made with Tripoli, and the prisoners ransomed-and our navy was not again ordered abroad.

            In the latter part of the year 1806, the health of Mr Peble began to decline.  It was the same complaint-a debility of the digestive organs-under, which he was near sinking a few years before.  For many months he struggled with his disorder, indulging a hope of recovering till within ten days of his death.  Finding that the inveteracy of his malady bid defiance to medical skill, he resolved on a water excursion as a last experiment.  On Sunday, the9th of August 1807, he went onboard a packet and stood out to sea, but finding no relief he returned on the Thursday following sensible that the hour of his dissolution was approaching.  In the view of this event he displayed the fortitude, which became his character, and his exit was in full correspondence with his life.  He breathed his last on Tuesday the 25^th of August 1807, in the forty-sixth year of his age.  The inhabitants of Portland united in every mark of respect to his remains.  On the day of his funeral, business was suspended, the colours were displayed at half-mast from the shipping in the harbour, and he was interred with military honours and the ceremonies of religions and masonry. 

            On the intelligence of his death reaching Washington, the firing of minute guns and other marks of naval mourning were ordered in testimony of the honour due to the memory of a patriot and hero; and of the unfeigned sorrow produced by his death.

Thomas Truxtun

The subject of the present memoir, whose deeds shed lustre on the infant navy of his country, was the son of an eminent English barrister of the State (then Colony) of New York, and was born at Long Island on the 17^th of February 1755.

            Our hero in consequence of the death of his father, was placed under the guardianship of his intimate friend, John Troup of Jamaica, on Long Island; from whose affectionate care however, in a short time, the kindling spark of that spirit, which has since shone so conspicuously in his character, led him to the sea; and at the early age of twelve years, he embarked on his trial voyage, onboard the ship Pitt, Captain Joseph Holmes, bound to Bristol.  In the following year he placed, at his own request, under the direction of Captain James Chambers-a celebrated commander in the London trade.  During his apprenticeship, when the armament-in consequence of the dispute respecting the Falkland Islands; took place, he was impressed onboard the Prudent, an English man of war of sixty-four guns; but was afterwards released, in consequence of the application of a person in authority.  While on board the Prudent, the captain pleased with his intelligence and activity, endeavoured to prevail on him to remain in the service, and assured him that all his interest should be used for his promotion; but, notwithstanding the prospects thus opened to his youthful and aspiring mind, as he conceived that his engagements with his former commander would not permit him with honour to indulge his wishes, he left the Prudent, and returned to his old ship. 

            In the early part of 1775 he commanded a vessel, and was very successful in bringing considerable quantities of powder into the United Colonies; but, about the close of the same year, when bound to St. Eustatius, he was seized off the Island of St. Christopher, by the British frigate Argo, and detained until the general restraining bill came out, when his vessel and cargo, of which he owned the half, were condemned.  But what “ill wind” can wreck the buoyant mind of the sailor?  He made his way from St. Christopher’s to St. Eustatius, and thence embarking in a small vessel, after a short passage, he arrived in Philadelphia.  At this period, the two first private ships of war fitted out in the colonies, called the Congress onboard the former as lieutenant.  They sailed in company, early in the winter of 1776, and proceeded off the Havana, where they captured several valuable Jamaica ships, bound home through the Gulf of Florida; of one of which he took the command, and brought her safe into Bedford, Massachusetts.

            In June 1777, in company with Isaac Sears he fitted out, at New York, a vessel called the Independence of which he took the command, and passing through the Sound, (Lord Howe having arrived with the British fleet at Sandy Hook, and blocked up that outlet,) he proceeded off the Azores where besides making several other prizes, he fell in with a part of the Windward Island convoy, of which he captured three large and valuable ships; one of which was much superior to the Independence in both guns and men.  On his return, he fitted out the ship Mars, mounting upwards of twenty guns, in which he sailed on a cruise in the English Channel.  Some of his prizes, which were numerous, he sent into Quiberon bay, which in a great measure laid the foundation of Lord Stormont’s remonstrance to the French court, against the admission into her ports of our armed vessels and their prizes.  On his return from this cruise, he settled in Philadelphia, commanded and in part owned during the rest of the war, several of the most important armed vessels built in this place; and brought in from France and the West India Islands large cargoes of the articles, which in those eventful times, were of the first necessity for the army.  While carrying out to France, Thomas Barclay our consul general to that country, he had a very close and severe engagement with a British privateer ship of war, of thirty-two guns (double his own force), which he obliged to sheer off; and she was afterwards towed into New York, by one of the king’s ships, in a very dismantled condition.  The ship then under his command, was called the St. James and mounted twenty guns, with a crew of about one hundred men-not half the number on board his enemy.

             Here let us pay a tribute of justice upon unquestionable authority.  Captain William Jones, of Philadelphia, and lately a member of Congress being at this period a very young man, was patronised by Truxtun, and placed onboard the St. James, in capacity of third lieutenant; in this station he conducted himself so bravely and handsomely and with such activity in this engagement, as well as on all other occasions, that he not only received the applause of his commander, but was by him soon after promoted to the first lieutenancy of that ship; and, at subsequent periods, Truxtun took pleasure, wherever opportunities presented, in doing justice to his merit, but rendering him that applause to which he was entitled as an officer and a man.  This he uniformly practices to all whom, from, their deportment and vigilance in their profession, merited his notice, while under his command.  From this voyage he returned with the most valuable cargo brought into the United States during the war.  It would be impossible for us, within the limits of this sketch, to recount the various instances of activity and zeal displayed by this gallant officer, during our struggle for independence, not only at sea but also on two remarkable occasions on the land.  We content ourselves with observing, that in all his actions with British vessels of war many of which were of force greatly superior to his own-he was invariably victorious.

            After the peace of 1783, he turned attention to commerce; and was concerned in an extensive trade to Europe, China and the East Indies, until the commencement of our naval establishment in 179; when, unable calmly to behold the rights of his country invaded, he stepped forward at her call, and was one of the first six captains selected by President Washington.  The frigate Constellation, of thirty-six guns, which he was destined to command, he was directed to superintend the building of, at Baltimore; and she was the first one of that armament at sea.

            The quasi war, as it is called between this country and France, under the Directory, having commenced, Commodore Truxtun, with a squadron under his command, was ordered to protect the commerce of the United States in the West Indies.  It was while on this service that his brightest laurels were won, by the capture of two French frigates, each of superior force to his own ship.

            On the 9^th of February the Constellation being alone cruising on her prescribed ground, the Island of Nevis bearing W.S.W. and distant five leagues, made a large ship on the southern board.  The stranger being approached by the Constellation, showed the American colours, when the private signals were shown.  The chase being unable to answer, further disguise was abandoned, and hoisting the French ensign, he fired a gun to windward, by way of challenge, and gallantly awaited the contest.  This being the first time since the revolutionary war that an American ship had encountered an enemy in any manner which promised a contest, the officers and men were eager for the engagement; and the enemy were not inclined to avoid it.  The ships neared, until the constellation, after having been thrice hailed, opened a fire upon her antagonist.  A fierce cannonade ensued, while the American was drawing ahead.  She suffered much in her sails and rigging, and the foretopmast was nearly cut off by a shot.  This was in some degree remedied by Mr David Porter, a midshipman who being unable to communicate the circumstance to others, himself cut the stoppers and lowered the yard, and thus prevented the fall of the mast with its rigging.  In the meantime, their superior gunnery gave the action a turn in favour of the Americans, who were at last enabled to decide the contest by two or three broadsides, after a combat of an hour, when the American wore round, and would again have raked her, with all their guns, had she not prudently struck.

            The prize was the French frigate L’Insurgente one of the fastest vessels in the world.  She was greatly damaged, and had lost in all seventy men.  The Constellation also was much damaged in her rigging, but lost only three men-wounded-one of whom-Mr James M’Donough-had his foot shot off. 

            The Insurgente carried forty guns, and four numbered and nine men.  The American vessel carried thirty-eight guns, and three hundred and nine men.

            It was half past three in the afternoon, when the Insurgente struck, and Mr Rodgers, the first lieutenant of the Constellation was sent, together with Mr Porter and eleven men, to take possession and have the prisoners removed; but, ere this could be effected, the darkness and a rise of wind separated the ships.

            The situation of Rodgers, at this period, was unpleasant in the extreme.  No handcuffs were to be found, and the prisoners seemed disposed to rebel.  Fortunately, Rodgers was well calculated to act with decision in such circumstances, and Porter and the men equally prompt in executing his orders.  The prisoners were sent into the lower hold, and a sentimental stationed at each hatchway, with orders to shoot any one who should attempt to come upon deck without orders.  Thus he was obliged to spend three days, at the end of which time he arrived at St. Kitts, where the Constellation had already arrived.

            On the 1^st of February 1800, the Constellation came in sight of a strange sail, off the coast of Gaudaloupe.  Thinking her to be an English merchantman, Truxtun hoisted the English flag, inn order to be hailed by her.  This was disregarded, and sail made in pursuit, when the stranger was discovered to be a French man of war.  The English flag was lowered, and all made ready for a desperate struggle.  The enemy’s ship was ascertained to carry fifty-two guns; but the vessel being very deep, Truxtun was not discouraged by her superior force, but still gave chase.  The wind being light during the afternoon, it was not until evening, at eight o’clock, that they came within speaking distance.  The ship then opened a fire upon them; which was returned, and kept up till near one in the morning, when the French ship made all sail to escape.  Truxtun ordered to give chase; but was informed that the mainmast had been nearly shot away, and as it was found impossible to remedy it, the chase was given up.

             Soon after the ships separated, the mast fell, and several men were lost by the accident; among them Mr Jarvis, a midshipman.

             Mt Truxtun, as no port to windward could be reached, bore up for Jamaica, where he arrived in safety.  His antagonist, it was ascertained afterwards, arrived at Curacoa, in a very disabled condition, and reported a loss of fifty killed, and one hundred and ten wounded.  The loss of the constellation was fourteen killed, and twenty-three wounded, of who eleven died.

              The Cosntellation, at this time carried twenty-eighteens on her main deck, and the quarterdeck was supplied with ten twenty-four pound carronades.  She numbered three hundred and ten men.  The Vengeance, the French vessel, carried twenty-eight eighteens, sixteen twelve’s, and eight forty-two pound carronades.  There are various statements of her crew-all between four hundred and five hundred men.

            It is certain that, but for the loss of her mast, the Constellation would have the prize into port; indeed, it is reported, that the Vengeance struck three times, but the Americans continuing their fire, the colours were hoisted again.

            Commodore Truxtun was rewarded for this explore by a promotion to the command of the President-forty-four guns; and was also presented by congress with the gold medal.

            The Constellation was now given to Captain Murray; and Commodore Truxtun, hoisting his broad pennant in the President, made another cruises on the Guadaloupe station, where he rendered eminent service in the protection of the American commerce against French cruisers, until the close of the war.

            When the Tripolitan war commenced, in 1802, Commodore Truxtun was ordered to take command of the Mediterranean squadron; and he proceeded to Norfolk for that purpose, when finding that he was not to be allowed a captain in the flagship, he tendered his resignation of the command.  As the Navy Department chose to consider the step a resignation of his commission, the circumstance, unfortunately for his country, led to his retirement from public life.

            After his retirement from the navy, Commodore Truxtun continued to reside in Philadelphia to the close of his life.  He filled several important civil offices, and won from all classes of his fellow citizens not less respect for his private character, than he had previously enjoyed for his brilliant public services.  He died in 1822, at the age of sixty-seven.

Jacob Jones

On preparing the present notice of Commodore Jone’s life, we have been chiefly indebted to the assistance of an eminent naval biographer, who had the advantage of serving as an officer under his command, during the whole of the late war with Great Britain-a war in which the subject of this memoir was one of the most distinguished of our commanders.

            Jacob Jones of the United States navy, was born about the year 1770, near the village of Smyrna, in the country of Kent, State of Delaware.  His father was an Independent and respectable farmer, of excellent moral and religious character.  His mother was of a good family of the name of Jones; an amiable and interesting woman; she died when the subject of this memoir was yet an infant.  Between two and three years afterwards, his father married again, with a Miss Holt, granddaughter of the Hon.  Ryves Holt, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme court of Delaware’ or as it was then denominated, “The lower counties on Delaware.”  Shortly after this second marriage his father died, when this his only child was scarcely four years of age.  It was the good fortune of our hero to be left under the care of a stepmother, who had all the kind feelings of a natural parent.  The affection, which this excellent woman had borne towards the father, was, on his death, transferred to the child.  She nurtured him from infancy to manhood, with a truly maternal care and tenderness.  At an early age he was placed at school, and his proficiency in learning was equal to her most anxious wishes.  After becoming well acquainted with the general branches of an English education, he was transferred to a grammar school, at Lewis, in Sussex country, conducted by the learned and pious Dr Matthew Wilson.  Under his direction he read the classics with much assiduity, and became well acquainted with the Latin and Greek languages.  The writer of this memoir distinctly remembers also, that in the geographical lessons he continually bore off the palm, and received, beyond all others, repeated proofs of approbation from his preceptor.  At the age of eighteen, he left Lewes Academy, and entered on the study of physic and surgery, under Dr Sykes, an eminent physician and surgeon of Dover, in the county of Kent.  With him he diligently prosecuted his studies for four years, after which he attended the usual course of medical lectures of the University of Pennsylvania, and then returned to Dover to commence the exercise of his profession.

            He did not, however, continue long in the practice.  He found the field already engrossed by a number of able and experienced gentlemen of the faculty, among whom was the late lamented Dr Miller, of New York.  Discouraged by the scanty employment that is commonly the lot of the young physician, and impatient of an inactive life, he determined to abandon the profession for the present, and seek some more productive occupation.  This resolution was a matter of much regret among the elder physicians.  They entertained a high opinion of his medical acquirements, and considered him as promising to become a distinguished and skilful member of their body.  Governor Clayton, (who was himself an eminent physician,) seeing that he was fixed in his determination, conferred upon him the clerkship of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware, for the county of Kent.

             In this office he continued for some time, but the sedentary nature of its duties was uncongenial with his health and habits; he longed to mingle in more active scenes, and possessed that ardent spirit of enterprise that can never rest contented with the tranquil case of common life.  With a certain bravery of resolution, therefore, or rather a noble unconcern, he turned his back upon the comforts and emoluments of office; and resolved upon a measure, as indicative of the force of his character, as it was decisive of his future fortunes.  This was to enter as midshipman into the service of his country, in the year 1779, when menaced with a French war.

            He was at this time almost twenty-nine years of age, highly respected for the solidity of his understanding and his varied acquirements; it may readily be imagined, therefore, how greatly his friends were dissatisfied at seeing him in a manner taking a retrograde step in life, entering upon that tedious probation which the naval service peculiarly requires, and accepting a grade which is generally allotted to boys and striplings.  It was in vain, however, to remonstrate against a resolution, which once formed, never vibrated.  Jones had determined on embracing the profession; he had weighed the entire peculiar inconveniences and sacrifices incident to his determination, and had made up his mind to encounter and surmount them all.  His friends could only console themselves with the reflection, that if courage, activity and hardihood could ensure naval success, Jones was peculiarly fitted for the life he had adopted; and it is probable they felt some degree of admiration for that decision of character, which in the pursuit of what he conceived a laudable object, could enable him to make such large sacrifices of personal pride and convenience.

            The first cruises, which he made in his new capacity, were under the father of our infant navy, the late Commodore Barry, from whom he derived great instruction in the theory and practice of his profession, and experienced the utmost kindness and civility.  He was a midshipman onboard the frigate United States, when she bore to France chief Justice Ellsworth and General Davie, as envoys extraordinary to the French Republic.  He was next on board of the Ganges as midshipman, and during the whole intervening period between his appointment and the war with Tripoli; he was sedulously employed in obtaining that natural skill for which he at present is celebrated.

            On the breaking out of the war with Tripoli, he was stationed onboard of the frigate Philadelphia, under the command of the gallant Bainbridge.  The disaster which befell that ship and her crew before Tripoli, forms a solemn page in our naval history; atoned for however by the brilliant achievements to which it gave rise.  Twenty months of severe captivity among a barbarous people, and in a noxious climate, neither broke the spirit nor impaired the constitution of our hero.  Blest by nature with vigorous health and an invincible resolution, when relieved from bondage by the bravery of his countrymen, he returned home full of life and ardour.  He was soon after promoted to a lieutenancy.  This grade he had merited before his confinement in Tripoli, but older warrant officers had stood in the way of his preferment.

            He was now for some time employed on the Orleans station, where he conducted himself with his usual judgement and propriety, and was a favourite in the polite circles of the Orleans and Mississippi territories.  He was shortly after appointed to the command of the brig Argus, stationed for the protection of our commerce on the southern maritime frontier.  In this situation he acted with vigilance and fidelity, and though there were at one time insidious suggestions to the contrary, it has appeared that he conformed to his instructions, promoted the public interest, and gave entire satisfaction to the government. 

            In 1811 Captain Jones was transferred by the Secretary of the Navy to the command of the sloop of war the Wasp, mounting eighteen twenty-four pound carronades, and was despatched, in the spring of 1812, with communications from our government to its functionaries at the courts of St. Cloud and St. James.  Before he returned from this voyage, war had been declared by the United States against Great Britain.  Captain Jones refitted his ship with all possible despatch, and repaired to sea on a cruise, in which he met with no other luck than the capture of an inconsiderable prize.

            He sailed from the port of Philadelphia on the 13^th of October 1812, with a gallant set of officers, and a high spirited and confident crew.  On the 18^th of the same month the Wasp encountered a heavy gale, during which she lost her jibbons and two valuable seamen.  On the following night, being a bright moonlight, a seaman on the look out discovered five strange sail, steering eastward.  The Wasp hauled to the windward and closely watched the movements of these vessels until daylight next morning, being the 18^th, when it was found that they were six large merchant vessels under convoy of a sloop of war.  The former were well-manned two of them mounting sixteen guns each.  Notwithstanding the apparent disparity of force, Captain Jones determined to hazard an attack; and as the weather was boisterous, and the swell of the sea unusually high, he ordered down topgallant yards, closely reefed the topsails, and prepared for action.  The convoy sailed ahead and lay to five or six miles distant, while the sloop of war with Spanish colours flying, remained under easy sail the Wasp coming down to windward on her larboard side, within pistol shot displaying the American ensign and pendant.  Upon the enemy’s is hailed; he hauled down the Spanish flag, hoisted the British ensign, and opened a broadside of cannon and musketry.  The fire was promptly returned by the Wasp, the vessels gradually neared each other and each maintained the combat with great animation the English vessel firing with most rapidity, but as the result proved, with no great precision.  In a few minutes after the commencement of the action, the maintop mast of the Wasp was shot away, and falling on the topsail, across the larboard fore the foretop-sail braces, caused the head yards to be unmanageable during the continuance of the action.  In two or three minutes more the gaft and mizzen topgallant sail were shot away.  Each vessel continued in the position in which the action commenced, and maintained a close and spirited fire.  Captain Jones directed his officers not to fire except when the vessel rolled downwards, so that the shot was either poured on the enemy’s deck, or below it, while the English fired as soon as they had loaded, without regard to the position of their vessel, and thus their balls were either thrown away or passed through the rigging.  The Wasp now passed ahead of the enemy, raked her, and resumed her original position.  It was now obvious that the Wasp had greatly the advantage in the combat, and Captain Jones thought the contest might be specially directed by boarding, but hesitated because the roughness of the sea might endanger the safety of both vessels if brought in contact.  As, however, the braces and rigging of the Wasp was so injured by the shot of the enemy that he was fearful his masts being unsupported, would go by the board, and that the enemy might escape.  He therefore, determined at all hazards to board and thus decides the contest.  With this determination he wore ship, run athwart the enemy’s bow, so that the jib came in-between the main and mizzen rigging of the Wasp.  The enemy being in a position so invite for a raking broadside that one was promptly ordered.  So closely in contact were the contending vessels that while loading, the rammers of the Wasp struck against the sides of the opposing vessel, so that two of the guns of the former entered through the bow of ports of the latter and swept the whole length of the deck.  At this juncture a sprightly and gallant seamen, named Jack Lang, who had once been impressed on board a British man of war, jumped on a gun with his cutlass, and was about to leap onboard the enemy, when captain Jones ordered him back, wishing to give a closing broadside before boarding.  His impetuosity, however, could not be restrained, and observing the ardour of the crew generally, Lieutenant Biddle and Booth gallantly led them on, but to their great surprise when they reached the enemy’s deck not a single uninjured individual was found on deck except the seaman at the wheel, and three officers.  The deck was covered with the dying and dead, and was slippery with blood.  When Lieutenant Biddle reached the quarterdeck, the commander and two other officers, threw down their swords, and made an inclination of their bodies, thus affording evidence that they had surrendered.

            During the early part of the action the ensign of the enemy had been shot down, upon which a British seamen carried it aloft again and nailed it to the mast.  In this state it continued floating, they not being able to lower it until one of the United States officers ascended the rigging and tore it from its attachments.  In forty-three minutes from the commencement of the action, full possession was taken of the enemy, which proved to be his Brittanic Majesty’s sloop of war Frolic, commanded by Captain Whynyates.

            On examining the birth deck, it was found crowded with the dead and wounded, there being but an inconsiderable proportion of the crew of the Frolic, which had escaped, unhurt.  Soon after Lieutenant Biddle took possession of the enemy, her masts fell by the board, so that she lay a complete wreck.  The contest being now terminated, Captain Jones ordered Dr New, the assistant surgeon of the Wasp, to visit the wounded enemy, and to carry with him every thing onboard, which could in any manner contribute to their comfort.

            The force of the Frolic consisted of sixteen thirty-two pound carronades, four twelve pounders on the main deck, and two twelve pound carronades.  She was, therefore superior to the Wasp, by four twelve pounders.  The officers of the Frolic stated that the number of men on the ship’s books was one hundred and ten; but, as boats were seen plying between the Frolic and some of the convoy, in the morning, before the action, it was believed that she received many volunteers in addition to her regular crew.  This belief was strengthened by the circumstance, that one of the vessels in the convoy, came alongside the Wasp next morning after her capture, and asked assistance to reef his sails, as he had but two men and a boy onboard.  It was intimated that he had thus diminished his crew by allowing volunteers to go onboard the Frolic.

            The officers, seamen, marines, and boys on board the Wasp, from the best information one hundred and thirty-five; which, from the best information which could be obtained, was less in number than that of the enemy.  Both vessels, however, had more men than was essential to their efficiency; and the officers of the Frolic candidly acknowledged, that they had more men than they knew what to do with.  It appeared, therefore, that while there was an equality of strength in the crews, there was an inequality in the number of guns and weight of metal-the Frolic having four twelve pounders more than the Wasp. 

            The exact number of killed and wounded onboard the Frolic could not be ascertained with any degree of precision; but from the admissions of the British officers, it was supposed that the number killed was about thirty, including two officers; and of those wounded, between forty and fifty.  The Captain and every other officer onboard were more or less severely wounded.  The Wasp sustained a loss of only five men killed, and five wounded.

            A busy scene now ensued, in disposing of the dead, taking care of the wounded, and repairing the damages, which the Wasp sustained during the conflict.  Lieutenant Biddle, with a portion of the officers and crew of the Wasp were similarly engaged onboard the Frolic.  While engaged in erecting jury masts on board the letter vessel, a suspicious sail was seen to windward, upon which Captain Jones directed Lieutenant Biddle to shape her course for Charleston, or any other southern port of the united, while the Wasp would continue her cruise.

             The strange sail coming down rapidly, both vessels prepared for action, but soon discovered, to the mortification of the victors of this well fought action, that the new enemy was a seventy-four, which proved to be the Poictiers, commanded by Commodore Beresford.  Firing a shot over the Frolic, passed her, and soon overhauled the Wasp, which on her crippled state, was unable to escape.  Both vessels were thus captured, and carried into Bermuda.  Captain Jones and his officers were placed on parole of honour at St. George’s Bermuda, and were treated there with great courtesy, particularly by the officers of the ninety-eighth and one hundred and second regiments of British infantry.  Dinners, balls and other acts of civility were tendered with a cordiality of manner, which made our officers almost forget their misfortunes.

            After remaining in St. George’s a few weeks a cartel was prepared which conveyed the officers and crew of the Wasp to New York.  On the return of Captain Jones to the United States, he was everywhere received with demonstrations of the highest respect and admiration for the skill and gallantry, which he displayed in his combat with the enemy.  In his journey to Washington, whither the President of the Unites States ordered him, he received brilliant entertainments in the cities through which he passed.

            The legislature of Delaware-his native state-gave to him a vote of thanks, and an elegant piece of plate, with appropriate engravings.  On motion of James A. Bayard, of Delaware, the Congress of the United States appropriated twenty-five thousand dollars, as compensation to Captain Jones, his officers and crew, for the loss they sustained by the recapture of the frolic.  They also voted a gold medal to Captain Jones, and a silver medal to each of his commissioned officers.  The plate accompanying this memoir is a fac simile, ruled from the medal.

             As a farther evidence of the confidence of government, Captain Jones was ordered to take command of the frigate Macedonian, a vessel recently captured from the British by the gallant Decatur.  She was rapidly fitted out under his direction in the harbour of New York, and was destined to be one of Decatur’s squadron, and which was about to sail on another cruise.

            In May 1811, the squadron attempted to put to see, but in sailing up Long Island Sound, encountered a large British squadron, which obliged the united States vessels to retreat into the harbour of New London.  In this situation the enemy continued an uninterrupted blockade during the war.  Finding it impossible to avoid the vigilance of Sir Thomas Hardy, who commanded the blockading squadron, the government ordered Captain Jones to proceed with his officers and crew to Sackett’s harbour, and report to Commodore Chauncey, as commander of the frigate Mohawk, destined to cruise as one of the squadron on lake Ontario.  The United States squadron maintained an ascendancy, and continued to cruise until October, when the British squadron under the command of sir James Yeo, left Kingston harbour with a greatly superior force, which obliged the united States squadron to return to Sackett’s harbour.  It seemed, indeed that the contest now depended on the exertions of the ship carpenters.  Two line of battle ships were placed on the stocks, and were advancing rapidly to completion, when in February 1815, the news of peace arrived, with orders to suspend further operations on these vessels.

            A few weeks after peace was announced, Captain Jones with his officers and crew was ordered to repair forthwith to the seaboard, and again to take command of the frigate Macedonian, which was directed to form part of the squadron destined to cruise against the Algerian men of war, then depredating on our commerce in the Mediterranean.  So soon as the Algerian Regency was informed that war existed between the United States, and Great Britain, the Dey sent out his cruisers to capture all American merchant vessels.  To punish these faithless freebooters, and to redress the wrongs of our merchants, a squadron consisting of nine or ten vessels was fitted out and placed under the command of Commodore Decatur.

            This armament sailed from New York in May 1815, and when off Cadiz, was informed that the Algerian force was cruising along the southern coast of Spain.

            Two days after reaching the Mediterranean the United States squadron fell in with and captured the Algerian frigate Messuado mounting forty-six guns, and the next day captured a large brig of war both of which were carried into the port of Carthagena, in Spain.

            The Aemrican squadron then proceeded to the bay of Algiers, the sudden and unexpected appearance of which excited no slight degree of surprise and alarm in the Regency.  When the Dey learned that his admiral had been killed, and his two principal vessels of war had captured, his alarm became greatly augmented.  With mingled feelings of trepidation and rage, he sent for the British consul, and reproached him with practising a deception on him.  “You told me,” he remarked, “that in a few months after the declaration of war, the British fleets would sweep from the ocean, every vessel belonging to the United States.  Now, peace is restored and so far from your declaration proving true, here is a large squadron, augmented in size by three vessels captured from your own boasting nation.”

            The captured vessels to which the Dey alluded, consisted of the frigates Guerriere, Macedonian, and brig of war Epervier, which then actually formed a part of Decatur’s squadron.  Under these feelings the Dey reluctantly yielded to every demand which was made n him; which was to restore the value of the property belonging to American merchants which he had seized, to release all prisoners which he had captured, to relinquish forever all claims on the annual tribute which he had hitherto received.

            After having thus successfully determined the war with Algiers, and formed an advantageous treaty, the squadron proceeded to the other Barbarry capitals, and there adjusted some minor difficulties, which, however, were of some importance to American merchants.  After touching at several of the islands in the Mediterranean, at Naples and at Malaga, in Spain, the squadron reached Gibraltar towards the last of October.  After remaining at this port a few days, and exchanging civilities with the military authorities of the station, the squadron returned to the United States, early in December.

            From this period to the present, no event of stirring importance has distinguished the career of Commodore Jones.  He has been, however almost constantly employed in various responsible positions, thus evincing the perfect confidence which is government placed in his talents and discretion.

            In 1821 he took command of a squadron, in which he continued for three years, for the protection of our commerce in the Mediterranean.  On his return he was offered a seat in the Board of Navy Commissioners, but finding his bureau duties rather irksome to him, he accepted, in the year 1826, the command of a squadron destined for the protection of the American commerce in the Pacific ocean, which also continued for as period of three years.  On his return from the Pacific Ocean, he was ordered to the command of the Baltimore station, where he continued with the exception of a short interval, until transferred to his present position as port captain of the harbour of New York.

            Either on shore or afloat, his commands were distinguished as well for efficiency, as for the harmony, which always prevailed among his officer.  His calm dignity, high sense of justice and gentlemanlike bearing, inspired universal respect.

James Lawrence

Death, which is so often removed from the scenes of their glory the young and heroic, has never triumphed over a victim more beloved and lamented by the nation he served than the subject of this memoir.  His career was marked by a series of brilliant actions which had attracted the highest confidence and hope in his compatriots, and his untimely loss was mourned as a national calamity.

            Captain James Lawrence was born on the 1^st of October 1781, at Burlington, in New Jersey, and was the youngest son of john Lawrence, counsellor at law of that place.  Soon after his birth he had the misfortune to lose his mother, and the care of his early years devolved on his two sisters, who seem to have cultivated the moral qualities of his heart with singular success.

            At the age of twelve, he evinced a strong partiality for the sea; but his father disapproving of that plan of life, and wishing him to pursue the profession of law, young Lawrence acquiesced, and passed with reputation through the grammer school at Burlington, when finding that the pecuniary situation of his father would not furnish him with means of completing his education at any college or university, he commenced the study of law with his brother, the late john Lawrence at Woodbury.  He was now only thirteen years of age, a period of life when the grave pursuits of jurisprudence can scarcely be presumed to have many attractions for a young and ardent fancy, already inflamed with the love of wandering.  He continued, however, a reluctant student for about two years, when the death of his father leaving him more at liberty to pursue his favourite inclination, he prevailed on his brother to place him under the care of Mr Griscomb, at Burlington, for the purpose of studying navigation.  He here remained for three months, at the expiration of which time, on application to the Navy Department, he received a warrant as midshipman, on the 4^th of September 1798.

            His first voyage was in the ship Ganges, Captain Tingey, ona cruise to the West Indies.  He afterwards sailed in different vessels for upwards of two years, and was then made an acting lieutenant on board the frigate Adams, captain Robinson, where he continued till the reduction of the navy; in consequence of which his appointment was not confirmed, and he remained in the rank of midshipman.

            On the commencement of the war with Tripoli, in 1801, he was promoted to a lieutenancy, and sailed to the Mediterranean as first lieutenant of the schooner enterprise in 1803.

            While in this situation, he bore a conspicuous part in an adventure of singular boldness, the destruction of the frigate Philadelphia.  As we have referred to this affair (in which he was Decatur’s second in command,) in the Life of Commodore Preble, and shall give a particular account of it, with an engraving, in the Life of Commodore Decatur, we pass it over here, remarking only that when Decatur was promoted for his conduct on this occasion, Lawrence and the officers and crew were voted two months extra pay, which he declined receiving.

           During the same year, when Commodore Preble bombarded the town of Tripoli, the Enterprise, with the other ships of the squadron, were employed to cover the boats during the attack.  On this occasion, Lieutenant Lawrence had the temporary command of the Enterprise, and performed his service in so gallant and seaman like a manner, as to receive the thanks of Commodore Preble.  

            From the enterprise, he was transferred to the frigate John Adams, as first Lieutenant; and after remaining in the Mediterranean about three years, he returned with Commodore Preble to the United States.

             Soon after, he was again sent to the Mediterranean as commander of gunboat No. 6.  These vessels were originally destined to serve merely along the American coast, and however qualified for harbour or river defence, were deemed exceedingly insecure in crossing the Atlantic.  Being very small, with a disproportionably large gun, and necessarily laden very deeply, they laboured under every disadvantage in encountering heavy gales.  So decided were the opinions of the naval officers against them, that no one would, perhaps have been willing to risk his life in them on such a voyage, for any motive of private advantage, or from any consideration, except the performance of his duty.  “Lawrence has told me,” writes one of his brother officers, “that when he went on board the gunboat, he had not the faintest idea that he would ever arrive out to the Mediterranean in her, or indeed arrive any where else.  He has also told me, that on the coast of Europe he met an English frigate, the captain of which would not at first believe that he had crossed the Atlantic in such a vessel.”  He did not, however, go with less alacrity, and he unexpectedly arrived safely in the Mediterranean, where he remained about sixteen months.

            On his return from the Mediterranean, after the peace with Tripoli, he was appointed first lieutenant of the frigate Constitution, and afterwards commanded the schooner Vixen, the sloop of war Wasp, the brig Argus, and the ship Hornet, with the rank of master and commander, and was twice sent to Europe with despatches to our ministers.  In the year 1808, he married a daughter of Mr Montaudevert, a respectable merchant of New York.

            The declaration of war against Great Britain, in June 1812, gave a new impulse, or rather a new existence to the navy.  Lawrence was at that time in New york, in command of the Hornet, and in a few days, sailed with a squadron, consisting of the united States, Congress and Argus, under the command of Commodore Rogers, in the President.  Their object was to intercept the Jamaica fleet.  After being detained for a day by the pursuit of the British frigate Belvidere, which ended in the escape of the latter, owing to her having the advantage of the wind, the squadron followed the fleet with the utmost alacrity, as well as the imperfect information of the vessels they met would permit, till the 13^th of July when they reached within eighteen or twenty hours sail of the English channel.  Disappointed in this chase, they ran now down near the Azores, thence back by the banks of Newfoundland to Boston, where they arrived on the 31^st of August.  Although this cruise was marked by no bold or prominent success, and although the squadron made only seven captures and a single recapture, yet the failure is attributable to fortune only.  At a moment when the British navy, with its boasted ubiquity covered the ocean, this little band of adventurers sought their enemies in every quarter, dared them on their own coast, and after carrying alarm through the mercantile classes of England, returned unmolested and not victorious, only because the single enemy they encountered sought safety in flight.

            The day before the squadron entered Boston, Captain Hull arrived after the capture of the Guerriere, and soon afterwards, the Government, yielding too far to the universal and natural enthusiasm excited by this gallant action, promoted Lieutenant Morris, the first officer of the Constitution, to the rank of captain.  As this appointment, however, advanced him two grades at once, contrary to the ordinary rules of promotion, and thus placed him above all the masters and commanders in the navy, it occasioned much dissatisfaction among them.  Captain Lawrence felt himself peculiarly injured by it; inasmuch as he found himself thus suddenly outranked by one so much his junior.  He therefore addressed a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, in which, after rendering the most ample justice to the merits of Lieutenant Morris, he remonstrated in mild and firm, but respectful language, against so unprecedented a promotion, by which he would be forced to leave the navy.  In reply to this fair manly letter, he received from the Secretary of the Navy, a short and contemptuous answer, merely acknowledging the receipt of his letter, with intimation that if he chose to leave the service without a cause, there would still remain heroes and patriots to support the honour of the flag.  This sarcastic note Lawrence received as he was on the point of sailing from Boston.  To have left the service instantly would have been the natural impulse of his wounded feelings, but at such a moment, with a fine ship and a gallant crew, with sails unbent to meet the enemy, he could not part with the high hopes of acquiring reputation.  He therefore, repressed his indignation, and in reply to the Secretary after stating his surprise and regret, that anything which he had written should have been deemed indecorous, he apprised him that he had prepared a memorial on the subject to the Senate of the United States, and should be governed by their decision.  This example may be serviceable to many officers, who in a moment of disappointment, at improper or unkind treatment, are tempted to resign.  It is better like Lawrence to stifle, for a time, the natural but hastily resentment of wounded pride, till an opportunity offers of proving-not by our complaints, but our actions-that we have been unjustly neglected.  Lawrence sailed under the galling impression of having been keenly wounded by the Secretary of the Navy, and seeing a junior placed over him.  On his return, he found that secretary no longer in office, and himself promoted, in consequence of his application to the Senate, to the rank of captain, so as to outrank the officer whose well deserved, though irregular appointment had given him so much uneasiness.  

            He now sailed from Boston in the Hornet, in company with Commodore Bainbridge, of the frigate Constitution, on a cruise to the East Indies; but in running down the coast of the Brazils, in the month of December, they found the Bonne Citoyenne, a British ship of war, loaded with specie, lying in the port of St. Salvador.  The Bonne Citoyenne, was a larger vessel, and had a greater force both in guns and men than the Hornet; but so eager was Lawrence to engage her, that he sent through the American consul at St. Salvador, a challenge to her commander, Captain Greene.  “I request you to state to him,” said he, “that I will meet him whenever he may be pleased to come out, and pledge my honour, that neither the Constitution, nor any other American vessel shall interfere.”  Commodore Bainbridge, at the same time, declared, “if Captain Greene wished to try equal force, I pledge my honour to give him an opportunity by being out of the way or not interfering.”  Whatever might have been the motive of Captain Greene, he adroitly evaded this offer by answering, that “although nothing would give him more satisfaction than to meet Captain Lawrence under different circumstances, and although he was convinced that the result of such an encounter could not remain long undecided in his own favour, yet he was equally convinced that Commodore Bainbridge knew too well the paramount duty he owed to his country, to remain an inactive spectator, while a ship of his own squadron fell into the hands of the enemy, and that he could not expose the Bonne Citoyenne to a risk of manifestly disadvantageous.”  To give Captain Greene perfect security against his interference, Commodore Bainbridge left St. Salvador for four days, during which Captain Greene might perceive that the Constitution was not within forty miles distance, and Captain Lawrence lay before the port in defiance.  Still the Bonne Citoyenne did not move from her anchorage.  Commodore Bainbridge then went into St. Salvador, and remained three days, supposing that the English officer would apply to the governor, as he might have done, and detain the Constitution for twenty-four hours, and thus ensure a fair engagement with Captain Lawrence; but he continued inflexible.  Despairing at last of tempting him out, Commodore Bainbridge sailed from St. Salvador, and Captain Lawrence remained blockading the Bonne Citoyenne, and an armed schooner of twelve guns, till the 24^th of January 1813, when the arrival of the Montague, a seventy-four gun ship, which had sailed from Rio Janeiro for the express purpose of relieving the blockaded ships, compelled him to retreat.

            The whole conduct of Captain Lawrence on this occasion reflects as much honour on the American arms as the most brilliant victory could have done.  The propriety of private challenges, during war, may, generally speaking be questionable.  They may convert national into personal quarrels, and blood may be sometimes uselessly sacrificed to fastidious or frivolous points of honour.  But in no case could they have ever been more completely justified than in the present.

            At the commencement of the war, so totally unequal was the contest-so overwhelming the force of the enemy that our navy could hope to gain nothing but glory in the struggle.  It became, therefore a point of honour among our officers-the point on which the whole controversy rested, to prove that although they might be crushed, they would at least fall with honour; that to build a numerous fleet was the work of government; but to make a gallant and disciplined ship, depended on the officers; and that although the American ships should be overpowered by numbers, they were superior to any single adversary of equal strength.  And what could more decisively and gloriously establish this superior you than the conduct of Captain Lawrence?  In a single American sloop of war he blockades for nearly a month, with every token of defiance, two British ships, one of them his superior in force, till a seventy-four is sent for to raise the blockade, and what rendered it peculiarly mortifying to the English, all this was done before the eyes of the astonished Portuguese, who had till now been taught by their haughty friends, that no equal vessel had ever pursued an English flag.

            From St. Salvador Captain Lawrence now shaped his course towards Pernambuco.  On the 10^th of February, he captured the English brig resolution, of ten guns, laden with provisions and about twenty-five thousand dollars in sopecie, but as she was a dull sailor, and he could not spare hands to man her, he took out the money and the crew, and burnt her.  He then ran down the coast for Maranham, and after cruising near that place and Surinam, till the 23^rd of February, he stood doe Demarara.  On the next morning, he discovered a brig to leeward, and chased her so near the shore that he was obliged to haul off for want of a pilot.  During the chase, however, he had discovered a vessel at anchor outside of the bar of Demarara river, with English colours flying, and now began beating round the Corobano bank to get at her; when between three and four o’clock in the afternoon, another sail was seen on his weather quarter, edging down for him.  As she approached, she hoisted English colours, and proved to be the British brig Peacock, Captain Peake.  The Hornet was immediately cleared for action, and kept close to the wind, in order to get the weather gauge of the approaching vessel.  At ten minutes past five, finding that he could weather the enemy, Captain Lawrence hoisted American colours, tacked and in about a quarter of an hour, passed the British ship within half pistol shot, and exchanged broadsides.  The enemy was now in the act of wearing, when Captain Lawrence bore up, received his starboard broadside, and ran him close onboard on the starboard quarter; from which position he kept up so close and bloody a fire, that in less than fifteen minutes from the commencement of the action, the British struck their colours, and hoisted a signal of distress.  Lieutenant Shubrick instantly went onboard, and found that she was cut to pieces, her captain killed, many of the crew killed and wounded, her mainmast gone by the board, six feet water in the hold and sinking very fast.  The two ships were immediately brought to anchor, and the Hornet’s boats despatched to bring off the wounded; but, although her guns were thrown overboard, the shot holes which could be got at plugged, and every exertion made by pumping and bailing to keep her afloat, so completely had she been shattered that she sunk before the prisoners could be removed, carrying down thirteen of her crew, as well as three men belonging to the Hornet.  Lieutenant Connor and the other offices and men employed in removing the prisoners, narrowly escaped by jumping into a boat, as the Peacock went down; and four seamen of the hornet ran up into the foretop at the same time, and were taken off by the boats.  

            The Peacock was deemed one of the finest ships of her class in the British navy.  In size she was about equal to the Hornet; but, in guns and men, the hornet was somewhat, though very little, her superior; and by no means so much so, as to give her any decided advantage.  The loss onboard the Peacock could not be precisely ascertained.  Captain Peake was twice wounded, the second time mortally.  Four men were found dead onboard.  The master and thirty-two others were wounded, three of whom afterwards died.  The Hornet had only one man killed, and two slightly wounded.  Her rigging and sails were much cut, but her hull received very little injury.  During the engagement, the vessel which the hornet had been endeavouring to reach before the Peacock bore down, lay at anchor within sixth miles, and as she was a brig-the Espiegle-carrying fifteen thirty-two pound carronades and two long nines, it was supposed that she would attack the Hornet, after the latter had been disabled by the combat.  The Hornet was immediately prepared to receive her, and by nine o’clock at night, her boats were stowed, a new set of sails bent, and every thing ready for action.  She, however, declined coming out.  The next morning, Captain Lawrence found that he had two hundred and seventy souls on board the Hornet, and as, his crew had for some time been on short allowance, resolved to steer for the United States.  The officers of the Peacock received from those of the Hornet the most humane and honourable treatment; so penetrated with gratitude were they for the kindness which they had experienced, that they could not restrain the expression of their feelings till they reached England, but, on their arrival in the United States published a letter of thanks to Captain Lawrence and his officers, in which they declared that such was the liberality displayed to them, that “they ceased to consider themselves prisoners.”  Nor was the rough generosity of the Hornet’s crew less honourable.  As the sailors of the Peacock had lost everything except what they had on their backs, when she went down, the crew of the Hornet united to relieve them; and made every English sailor a present of two shirts and a blue jacket and pair of trousers; a true hearted liberality, which raises them in our estimation higher than even their victory.

            Captain Lawrence returned to New York in safety, and besides the applause, which his country lavished upon him for his good conduct, had the satisfaction of learning, as we have already observed, that he had been promoted during his absence, and his rank settled to his perfect satisfaction.  Soon after his return he was ordered to the command of the frigate Constitution, with the temporary superintendence of the navy yard at New York.  But the next day, to his great regret, he received instructions to repair to Boston, and taken command of the Chesapeake frigate, then nearly ready for sea.  This appointment was peculiarly unpleasant, because the Chesapeake was not only considered as one of the very worst ships in the navy, but also in consequence of her disgrace in the rencontre with the Leopard, laboured under that dispiriting stigma among sailors, of being an “unlucky ship.”  These circumstances, combined with the state of his family, made Captain Lawrence unwilling to go to sea immediately, and he, therefore, requested to retain situation in the hornet.  Disappointed in this wish, hr then took command of the Chesapeake at Boston, where he had been but a short time, when the British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke appeared before the harbour, for the avowed purpose of seeking a combat with the Chesapeake.  Stung with the repeated disasters of the British frigates, this officer resolved to make an effort to retrieve them; and, when he deemed his ship perfectly prepared for that purpose, sent a formal challenge to Captain Lawrence. 

            “As the Chesapeake”-his letter began-“appears now ready for sea, I request you will do me the favour to meet the Shannon with her ship to ship, to try the fortune of our respective flags.  To an officer on your character, it requires some apology for proceeding to further particulars.  Be assured, sir, that it is not from any doubt I entertain of your wishing to close with my proposal, but merely to provide an answer to any objection that might be made-and very reasonably-upon the chance of our receiving unfair support.”  After observing that Commodore Rodgers had not accepted several verbal challenges which he had given Broke then proceeds to state very minutely the force of the Shannon, and offers to send all British ships out of reach, so that they might have a fair combat, at any place within a certain range along the coast of New England, which he specified; if more agreeable, he offers to sail together, and to warn the Chesapeake, by means of private signals of the approach of British ships of war, till they reach solitary spot-or to sail with a flag of truce to any place out of the reach of British aid, so that the flag should be hauled down when it was deemed fair to begin hostilities.  “I entreat you sir,” he concludes, “not to imagine that I am urged by mere personal vanity to the wish of meeting the Chesapeake, or that I depend only upon your personal ambition for your acceding to this invitation.  We have both nobler motives.  You will feel it as a compliment, if I say that the results of our meeting may be the most grateful service I can render to my country; and I doubt not that you, equally confident of success, will feel convinced that it is only by repeated triumphs in even combats, that your little navy can now hope to console your country for the loss of that trade it can no longer protect.”

            The style of this letter, with the exception of the puerile bravado about commodore Rodgers, is frank and manly; and if the force of the Shannon were correctly stated, would be such a challenge as might well be sent from a brave seaman to a gallant adversary.  We, however are but two well satisfied that Captain Broke studiously underrated the number of his guns and crew; or that after his challenge, he must have received additions to both.  That the Shannon had more guns than the number stated by her commander, we learn from the testimony of the surviving officers off the Chesapeake; who also assert, that she had three hundred and seventy-six men; that she had an officer and sixteen men from the Belle Poule; and that the hats of some of her seamen were marked “Tenedos.”  Such as it was, however, this letter most unfortunately, never reached Captain Lawrence.  If he had received it-if he had been thus warned to prepare his ship-if he had had an opportunity of selecting his officers, and disciplining his crew-if, in short, he had been able to place the Chesapeake on anything like equal terms with the Shannon, the combat might have been more bloody there might have been such an engagement as has not yet been seen between single ships on the ocean; though we cannot suffer ourselves to doubt the result of it.  But he knew nothing of this challenge-he saw only Shannon riding before him in defiance; he remembered the spirit with which he himself had overawed a superior, and he could not brook for a moment, that an enemy, which seemed to be his equal, should insult his flag.  Although, therefore the Chesapeake was comparatively an inferior ship-although his first lieutenant was sick on shore-although three of his lieutenants had recently left her; and, of the four who remained, two were only midshipmen, acting as lieutenants-although part of his crew were new ands, and all of them had lost some of their discipline by staying in port-yet, as he would have gone to sea in that situation had no enemy appeared, he felt himself bound not to delay sailing on that account, and throwing himself, therefore on his courage and his fortune, he determined at once to attack the enemy.  It was on the morning of the 1^st of June 1813, that the Chesapeake sailed out of the harbour of Boston, to meet the Shannon.  As soon as she got under weigh, Captain Lawrence called the crew together, and, having hoisted the white flag, with the motto of “free trade and sailors rights,” made a short address.  His speech, however, was received with no enthusiasm-on the contrary, signs of dissatisfaction were evident; particularly from a boatswain’s mate, a Portuguese, who seemed to be at the head of the malcontents; and complaints were muttered, that they had not yet received their prize money.  Such expressions, at the eve of an action, were but ill bodings of the result of it; but Captain Lawrence, ignorant as he was of the character of his sailors, and unwilling at such a moment to damp their spirits by harshness, preserved his accustomed calmness, and half prize checks, at once given by the purser to those who had not received them.  While this scene was passing, the Shannon observing the Chesapeake coming out, bore away.  The Chesapeake followed her till four o’clock, in the afternoon, when she hauled up and fired a gun, on which the Shannon hove to.  They manoeuvred for some time, till at about a quarter before six, they appreciated within pistol shot, and exchanged broadsides.

            These broadsides were both bloody; but the fire of the Shannon was most fortunate in the destruction of officers.  The fourth lieutenant, Mr Ballard, was mortally wounded-the sailing master was killed, and Captain Lawrence received a musket ball in his leg, which caused great pain, and profuse bleeding, but he leaned on the companions way, and continued to order and to animate his crew.  A second and a third broadside was exchanged, with evident advantage on the part of the Chesapeake; but, unfortunately, among those now wounded onboard of her, was the first lieutenant, Mr Ludlow, who was carried below-three men were successively shot from the helm, in about twelve minutes from the commencement of the action; and, as the hands were shifting, a shot disabled her foresail, so that she would no longer answer her helm, and her anchor caught in one of the after ports of the Shannon, which enabled the latter to rake her upper deck.  As soon as Lawrence perceived that she was falling to leeward, and that by the Shannon’s filling she would fall onboard, he called gis boarders, and was giving orders about the foresail, when he received a musket ball in his body.  The bugle man who should have called the boarders, did not do his duty; and, at this moment, Commodore Broke, whose ship had suffered so much that he was preparing to repel boarding; perceiving, from this accident, how the deck of the Chesapeake was swept, jumped onboard with about twenty men.  They would have been instantly repelled; but the captain, the first lieutenant, the sailing master, the boatswain, lieutenant of marines, the only acting lieutenant on the spar deck, were killed or disabled.  At the call of the boarders, Lieutenant Cox ran on deck, but just in time to receive his falling commander, and bear him below.  Lieutenant Budd-the second lieutenant-led up the boarders, but only fifteen or twenty would follow him, and with these defended the ship till he was wounded and disabled.  Lieutenant Ludlow, wounded as he was, hurried upon deck, where he soon received a mortal cut from a sabre.  The marines who were engaged fought with desperate courage; but they were few in numbers; too many of them having followed the Portuguese boatswain’s mate, who exclaimed, it is said as he skulked below, “so much for not paying men their prize money.”  Meanwhile the Shannon threw onboard sixty additional men, who soon succeeded in overpowering the seamen of the Chesapeake, who had now no officers to lead or rally them, and took possession of the ship; which was not, however, surrendered by any signal of submission; but, became the enemy’s, only because they were able to overwhelm all who were in a condition to resist.

            As Captain Lawrence was carried below, he perceived the melancholy condition of the Chesapeake, but cried out, “Don’t surrender the ship.”  He was taken down in the wardroom, and as he lay in excruciating pain, perceiving that the noise above had ceased, he ordered the surgeon to go on deck and tell the officers to fight on to the last, and never strike the colours.  “They shall wave,” said he, “while I live.”  But it was too late to resist or to struggle longer; the enemy had already possession of the ship.  As captain Lawrence’s wounds would not allow of his removal, he continued in the wardroom, surrounded by his wounded officers, and after lingering in great pain for four days, during which his sufferings were too acute to permit him to speak, or perhaps to think of the sad events he had just witnessed, or do more than sak for what his situation required, he died on the 5^th of June.  His body was wrapped in the colours of the Chesapeake, and laid on the quarterdeck, until they arrived at Halifax, where he was buried with the highest military and naval honours; the British officers forgetting, for a moment, in their admiration of his character, that he had been but lately their enemy.  The oldest captains in the navy then at Halifax supported his pall, and no demonstration of respectful attention was omitted to honour the remains of a brave, but unfortunate stranger.

            Thus prematurely perished, at the age of thirty-two, this gallant and generous seamen.  Lost as he was, in the full vigour of his powers, and with the imperfect measure of his fame, our hopes are forbidden to dwell on the fond anticipation of what he might have been, and we are left to rest with a melancholy pleasure on the qualities, which his short life had already developed.  Lawrence seems to have combined all the distinguished and endearing qualities; the openness of heart, the manliness of pride, the benevolence of feeling, the chivalrous courage, which our imagination ascribes to the perfection of the naval character.  He was devoted to his profession, and to the service.  During nearly sixteen years, which he spent in the navy, he never had a furlough, except one for about six weeks.  The perfect order of his ship bore testimony to his merits as a disciplinarian, while the zealous attachment of his crew, proved that his discipline had not been earned by harshness or severity.  His courage was of a daring and desperate cast, but it was still regulated by a calm sobriety of judgement.  Indeed, the characteristic quality of Lawrence-that which most distinguished him as an officer, was coolness and perfect self-possession in the midst of danger.  Of his kindness, of the warmth and generosity of his heart, which rendered him, emphatically, a favourite of the navy, his brother officers are all willing witnesses.  These remembrances are, however, more cherished, where they are now most consolatory-in the bosom of his family; of the two widowed sisters, whose cares, during his infancy, he repaid with the kindest protection; of his afflicted wife, who with three children-the youngest born since his father’s death-is left to lament a loss, which the sympathy of her country may, in some degree, we trust alleviate.

            In this sanguinary engagement the destruction was nearly equal on both sides.  The Chesapeake lost her commander and forty-seven men killed, and ninety-seven wounded, of whom fourteen afterwards died.  Among these were Lieutenant Ludlow, first lieutenant of this hip, and Lieutenant Ballard, the forth lieutenant, both excellent officers.

            On the part of the Shannon, Captain Broke was dangerously wounded though he has since recovered; the first lieutenant, the purser, captain’s clerk, and twenty-three seamen killed, and fifty-seven persons wounded, besides Captain Broke.

            The capture of the Chesapeake is to be ascribed wholly to the extraordinary loss of officers, (a loss without any precedent, as far as we can recollect, in naval history;) and to her falling accidentally on board the Shannon.  During the three broadsides, while the officers of the Chesapeake were living, and she was kept clear of the enemy, the superiority was manifestly with the Americans.  The Chesapeake had received scarcely any damage, while the Channon had several shot between wind and water, and could with difficulty be kept afloat during the succeeding night.  It was only when accident threw the Chesapeake onboard the Shannon, when her officers were unable to lead on the borders, that Captain Broke himself-contrary, we believe to the regulations of the British navy-left his own ship, and was able by superior numbers, to overpower the distracted crew of the Chesapeake. 

            We have heard many accounts, which we are very reluctantly compelled to believe, of improper conduct by the British after the capture, and of brutal violence offered to the crew of the Chesapeake.  As, however some allowances are due to the exasperated passions of the moment; something, too, to the confusion of a bloody and doubtful struggle, we are unwilling to prolong the remembrance of imputations which may be disproved, and perhaps have been exaggerated.

               But we should wrong the memory of Captain Lawrence-we should be unjust to the officers of the American navy, with whose glory all the aspiring ambition of the country is so closely blended-if we omitted any opportunity of giving the last and fairest lustre to their fame, by contrasting their conduct with that of the enemy; or if we forbore, from any misplaced delicacy towards our adversaries, to report circumstances connected with the fate of the Chesapeake, which throw a broad and dazzling light on the generous magnanimity of our countrymen.

            When Captain Hull took the Guerriere, every chest, trunk, and box belonging to the officers, containing it was known, the fruits of a long cruise, much of it against our own country, was delivered to them without examination.  The very trifles, which the crew of the Constitution saved from the Guerriere, before she was blown up, were scrupulously restored to the English sailors; no article of private property was touched.

            When Commodore Decatur took the Macedonian, he purchased from Captain Carden upwards of a thousand dollars worth of things in the ship, and Captain Carden was permitted to take the rest on shore.  To such an extent was this kindness abused, that every knife and fork-every cup and saucer-every plate and dish-every chair and table-in short, every thing which Captain Carden had used, was taken on shore; and before the Macedonian reached New York, the prize master was obliged to send on board the United States for the most common articles of daily use, as the prisoners had taken them all away.  At the same time, the wardroom officers of the United States purchased their wine and other articles from the wardroom officers of the Macedonian.

            When Commodore Bainbridge took the Java, all the property of all the officers and all the passengers, and the plate belonging to a high military commander, were restored instantly.  The American officers would have deemed it disgraceful to retain the private property of a brother officer, even though he were an enemy and a prisoner.

            When Captain Lawrence took the Peacock, and the officers and crew of that vessel were left destitute, the officers and crew of the Hornet fed and clothed them from their own stored.

             When the Channon took the Chesapeake, the key of Captain Lawrence’s storeroom was demanded of the purser.  It was given; but the pursuer observed, at the same time, that in the captures of the Guerriere, Macedonian, and Java, the most scrupulous regard was paid to the private property of the British officers; that Captain Lawrence had laid in stores for a long cruise; and that the value of them would be a great object to his widow and family, for whose use he was desirous, if possible, of preserving them.  This request was not merely declined-it was haughtily and superciliously refused.

            Well, then-the enemy captured the Chesapeake-they enjoyed the little private property of Captain Lawrence; but they have not taken from him any of his individual fame, nor of his country’s glory.  However we may mourn the sufferings of that day, the loss of the Chesapeake has not, in our estimation, varied the relative standing of the marine of the two countries; nor does it abate, in the slightest degree, any of the loftiness of our naval pretensions.  The contest was wholly unequal in ships, in guns, in crews, in officers, in everything.

            The Shannon was a better ship; she had not upon her the curse of that ill-omened name, the Chesapeake.  The Shannon was a stronger ship; she mounted twenty-eight eighteen pounders on the main deck, twenty-two thirty-two pound carronades, and two long brass nines or twelve’s, on the spar deck, and a large carronade amidships, in all fifty-two guns, besides this last heavy carronade; while the Chesapeake mounted twenty-eight eighteen pounders on the main deck, and twenty thirty-two pound carronades, and one eighteen pounder-chase gun-on the spar deck, in all forty-nine guns.

            The Shannon had a better crew.  Besides her complement she had seamen from two other ships.  That crew too had been long at sea; long in the ship; were known; were tried; and as Commodore Broke sent a challenge, were of course men in whom-if they were not picked for the occasion-he knew he could confide.  The Chesapeake had, on the contrary, in part a new crew, unknown to their officers, not yet knowing their places, or the ship.  The ship had not been more than a few hours at sea, and the landsmen and the lands women had been dismissed from her on the very day of the engagement.  The officers, too although we should be the last to detract from their merits, and although the manner in which they fought their ship does them the highest honour, the officers were young and few in number, and had as yet scarcely any opportunity of disciplining or knowing their seamen; yet, under all these disadvantages, the great damage sustained by the Shannon, and the great loss of her crew, all of which took place before the boarding, warrant completely the opinion, that but for the accidental loss of officers, the victory would have been with the Chesapeake.

              So far, indeed from humbling our national pride, the stubbornness with which, in spite of its inequality, this combat was sustained, only confirms us in a belief, not created by the events of that war, though not likely to be much shaken by them-a belief formed on circumstances which even a series of naval losses cannot now control-a belief, too in avowing which we are quite content to incur the charge of overweening national prejudice-that in all the qualities essential to success on the ocean, the American seamen are not equal, but superior to the British seamen.  It is no merit of theirs.  Nature and circumstances have made them so.  But so it is-they are physically superior; they are morally superior.  The warm and variable climate of the United States, has to a certain degree, melted the original English constitution of our ancestors, till instead of the broad shouldered and ruddy form of the people of Great Britain, the Americans are a thinner race of men, with less personal strength and stamina, but with more activity, more quickness, more alertness.  The lower classes of people in this country, too, derive from their popular institutions more intelligence and education, they learn more easier while the wider field for exertion, and the perfect freedom of employing themselves in their own way, gives to the American character a certain play, and vigour and animation not found in any other nation.  The Americans moreover are generally younger men, more in the vigour of life.  The state of our trade also renders our seamen more adventurous.  They make longer voyages, in smaller ships, and brave more dangers than can be experienced in the regular and monopolised, and convoyed commerce of Great Britain.  They besides, enter into the service voluntarily, and for short periods, and their minds have more of the elastically of freedom than the seamen onboard a British man of war.  The effect, which these circumstances might naturally be supposed to produce, we have often seen.  The Americans vanquished the English at sea again and again during the Revolution.  In the war with France, the American squadrons were at least as active, as brave and as vigilant against the enemy, as those of England.  While the two navies were together in the Mediterranean, the superiority in ships, crews, and officers was, in the opinion of every stranger, decidedly with the Americans.  How that pre-eminence was sustained in the recent war, need not be told.  In short, the American seamen have always held that high rank on the ocean from which the casual loss of the Chesapeake, in an ill matched combat, cannot degrade them, and which we are sure, with the blessing of God, and a liberal policy from their country, they will always maintain.

Isaac Hull

Isaac Hull was born in Derby, near New Haven, Connecticut, in the year 1775.  His career on the ocean commenced when he was a mere boy.  At the age of twelve years he went on board a prize taken by his father from the British, during the Revolution.  His early adventures in the merchant service were of a very romantic character.  Before he entered the navy, he had made eighteen voyages to different parts of Europe and the West Indies.  He entered the navy, as lieutenant on the 9^th of March 1798.

            His first active service was in the war with the French Republic, during the administration of John Adams.  It will be recollected that the operations of this war were confined chiefly to the extirpation of a species of vermin called French privateers from the West India Sea, an exceedingly toilsome, but inglorious service.  The most celebrated actions of the war are the two battles of Commodore Truxtun, in each of which he compelled a French frigate of superior force to strike.  Hull however, then first lieutenant of the frigate constitution, under commodore Talbot, was fortunate enough, in May 1790, to obtain a separate command for a certain piece of service, which he achieved in a very brilliant style.

            It having been ascertained that a French letter of Marque the Sandwich was lying in Port Platte, St Domingo, Commodore Talbot detached Mr Hull, lieutenant of the constitution, to reconnoitre in one of the frigate’s cutters, and soon after finding the American sloop Sally, employed ion the coast of the island, he threw a party of seamen and marines into her, under the command of Mr Hull, who arrived off the port, with most of his men below, and so arranged matters, that no suspicion of his intention was excited.  The Sally ran the Sandwich aboard, the party of Mr Hull went into her, and carried her without the loss of a man.  At the same moment, Captain Carmick landed with the marines, entered the Spanish battery, under whose protection the Sandwich was lying, and spiked the guns.  The Sandwich was stripped to her girt line, and every thing was below.  She was captured at midday, and before sunset, she had her royal yards across, her guns sealed, her American crew quartered, and soon after she weighed, beat out of the harbour, and joined the frigate.  Hull always considered this one of the most creditable of his achievements, and it is so regarded by the best judges of nautical exploits.  It turned out, however, unfortunately for the Constitution’s people; for the legality of the capture in a neutral port being questioned, not only was the Sandwich restored to her owners, but all the prize money f the cruise went to pay damages.

            In the Tripolitan war of 1804, Hull’s services were more important.  It is well known that General Eaton, by taking up the cause of the deposed Bashaw of Tripoli, Hamet Caramalli, and assisting him to capture Derne, came so near overturning the government, and humbling the barbarians to our own terms, that he was only prevented from doing this by the precipitate treaty of Mr Lear.  It is not so well known that it was Hull who aided General Eaton in the most essential manner by furnishing funds, conveying him to Egypt, and finally, by battering the town and fortifications, while Easton and his allies were attacking it on the land side.  The singularity of this affair-a body of Americans allied with Turks, attacking an African town by sea and land and capturing it-renders it one of the most romantic achievements in which Mr. Hull was ever engaged.

            At the commencement of the war of 1812, Hull having been advanced in the meantime to the rank of captain was placed in command of the frigate Constitution, in which he was destined to perform those brilliant actions, which have rendered home one of the most celebrated heroes of our navy.  His first exploit was the escape of the Constitution from a British squadron, which is justly regarded as one of the most remarkable recorded in naval history. The account of it continued in the official letter of Captain Hull has all the interest of a romance.  It is as follows: -   

             “United States frigate Constitution, at sea, July 21^st 1812. 

               Sir :- In pursuance of your orders of the 3d instant, I left Annapolis on the 5^th instant, and the capes on the 12^th, of which I advised you by the pilot who brought the ship to sea.

               For several days after we got out, the wind was light and ahead, which, with a strong southerly current, prevented our making much way to the northward.  On the 17^th, at two p.m. being in twenty-two fathoms water off Egg Harbour, four sail of ships were discovered from the masthead, to the northward and in shore of us apparently ships of war.  The wind being very light all sail was made in chase of them, to ascertain whether they were the enemy’s ships, or our squadron having got out of New York, waiting the arrival of the Constitution, the latter of which I had reason to believe was the case.

               At four in the afternoon a ship was seen from the masthead, bearing about N.E. standing for us under all sail, which she continued to do until sundown, at which time she was too far off to distinguish signals, and the ships in shore only to be seen from the tops; they were standing off to the southward and eastward.  As we could not ascertain before dark what the ship in offing was, I determined to stand for her, and get near enough to make the night signal.

                At ten, in the evening, being within six or eight miles of the strange sail the private signal was made, and kept up nearly one hour, but finding she could not answer it, I concluded she and the ships in shore were enemy.

                I immediately hauled off to the southward and eastward, and made all sail, having determined to lie off till daylight to see what they were.  The ship that we had been chasing hauled off after us, showing a light, and occasionally making signals, supposed to be for the ships in shore.

               On the 18^th, at daylight or a little before it was quite light, saw two sail under our lee, which proved to be frigates of the enemy’s.  One frigate astern within five or six miles, and a line of battle ship, a frigate, and schooner about ten or twelve miles directly astern, all I chase of us, with a fine breeze, and coming up fast, it being nearly calm where we were.  Soon after sunrise, the wind entirely left us and the ship would not steer, but fell round off with her head towards the two ships under our lee.  The boats were instantly hoisted out, and sent ahead to tow the ship’s head round, and to endeavour to get her father from the enemy, being then within five miles of three heavy frigates.  The boats of the enemy were got out and sent ahead to tow, by which with the light air that remained with them, they came up very fast.  Fining the enemy gaining on us, and but little chance of escaping from them, I ordered two of the guns on the gun deck to be ran out a the cabin windows for stern guns on the gun deck, and hoisted one of the twenty-four pounders off the gun deck, and run that, with the forecastle gun, an eighteen pounder, out at the ports on the quarterdeck, and cleared the ship for action, being determined they should not get her without resistance on our part, notwithstanding their force and the situation we were placed in.

                At about seven, in the morning, the ship nearest us approaching within gunshot, and directly astern, I ordered one of the stern guns fired, to see if we could reach her, to endeavour to disable her masts, found the shot fell a little short, would not fire anymore.

                At eight, four of the enemy’s ships nearly within gunshot, some of them having six or eight boats ahead towing, with all their oars and sweeps out, to row them up with us, which they were fast doing.  It now appeared that we must be taken, and that our escape was impossible-four heavy ships nearly within gunshot, and coming up fast, and not the least hope of a breeze to give us a chance of getting off by out sailing them.

                In this situation, finding ourselves in only twenty-four fathoms of water, by the suggestion of that valuable officer, Lieutenant Morris, I determined to try and warp the ship ahead, by carrying out anchors and warping her up to them; three or four hundred fathoms of rope was instantly got up, and two anchors got ready and sent ahead, by which means we began to gain ahead of the enemy; they, however soon saw our boats carrying out the anchors, and adopted the same plan, under very advantageous circumstances, as all the boats from the ships furthermost off were sent to tow and warp up those nearest to us, by which means they again came up, so that at nine, the ship nearest us began to fire her bow guns, which we instantly returned by our stern in the cabin and on the quarterdeck.  All the shot from the enemy fell short; but we have reason to believe that some of ours went onboard her, as we could not see them strike the water. Soon after nine, a second frigate passed under our lee, and opened her broadside, but finding her shot fall short, discontinued her fire; but continued, as did all the rest of them, to make every possible exertion to get up with us.  From nine to twelve, all hands were employed in warping the ship ahead, and in starting some of the water in the main hold to lighten her, which, with the help of a light air, we rather gained of the enemy, or at least, held our own.  About two, in the afternoon, all the boats from the line of battle ship and some of the frigates were sent to the frigate nearest to us, to endeavour to tow her up, but a light breeze sprung up, which enabled us to hold way with her, notwithstanding they had eight of ten boats ahead, and all her sails furled to tow her to windward.  The wind continued light until eleven at night, and the boats were kept ahead towing and warping to keep out of the reach of the enemy, three of the frigates being very near us; at eleven, we got a light breeze from the southward, the boats came alongside and were hoisted up, the ship having too much way to keep them ahead, the enemy still in chase and very near.   

                On the 19^th at daylight passed within gunshot of one of the frigates, but she did not fire on us, perhaps for fear of becalming her, as the wind was light; soon after passing us she tacked, and stood after us-at this time six sail were in sight, under all sail after us.  At nine, in the morning, saw a strange sail on our weather beam, supposed to be an American merchant ship; the instant the frigate nearest us saw her, she hoisted American colours, as did all the squadron, in hopes to decoy her down; I immediately hoisted the English colours, that she might not be deceived; she soon hauled her wind, and it is to be hoped, made her escape.  All this day the wind increased gradually, and we gained on the enemy, in the course of the day, six or eight miles; they however continued chasing us all night under a press of sail.

            On the 20^th at daylight in the morning, only three of them could be seen from the masthead, the nearest of which was about twelve miles off, directly astern.  All hands were set at work wetting the sails, from the royals down, with the engine and fire buckets, and we soon found that we left the enemy very fast.  As a quarter past eight, the enemy finding that they were fast dropping astern, gave over chase, and hauled their wind to the northward, probably for the station off New York.  At half past eight, saw a sail ahead gave chase after her under all sail.  At nine saw another strange sail under our lee how, we soon spoke the first sail discovered, and found her to be an American brig from St. Domingo, bound to Portland; I directed the captain how to steer to avoid the enemy, and made sail for the vessel to leeward; on coming up with her, she proved to be an American brig from St. Bartholomew’s, bound to Philadelphia; but on being informed of war, he bore up for Charleston, S.C.  Finding the ship so far to the southward and eastward, and the enemy’s squadron stationed off New York, which would make it impossible for the ship to get there, I determined to make for Boston, to receive your father orders, and I hope my having done so will meet your approbation.  My wish to explain to you as clearly as possible why your orders have not been executed, and the length of time the enemy were in chase of us, with various circumstances, have caused me to make this communication much longer than I could have wished, yet I cannot in justice to the brave officers and crew under my command, close it without expressing to you the confidence I have in them, and assuring you that their conduct while under the guns of the enemy was such as might have been expected from American officers and seamen.  I have the honour to be, with very great respect, sir your obedient humble servant. 

            Such is Captain Hull’s modest account of this truly brilliant exploit.  Sailing on a cruise immediately after this, with the same frigate, officers and crew on the 19^th of August he fell in with His Britannic Majesty’s ship Guerriere, rated at thirty-eight guns, and carrying fifty, commanded by Captain Dacres, who some time before, had politely endorsed on the register of an American ship an invitation to Captain Hull to give him a meeting of this kind.

            At half past three in the afternoon, Captain Hull made out his antagonist to be a frigate, and continued the chase till he was within about three miles, when he cleared for action; the chase backed her main topsail and waited for him to come down.  As soon as the Constitution was ready, Hull bore down to bring the enemy to close action immediately; but, on his coming within gunshot, the Guerriere gave a broadside and filled away and wore, giving a broadside on the other tack; but without effect, her shot falling short.  She then continued wearing and manoeuvring for about three quarters of an hour to get a raking position, but finding she could not, she bore up and ran under her topsails and jib, with the wind on the quarter.  During this time, the Constitution, not having fired a single broadside, the impatience of the officers and men to engage was excessive.  Nothing but the most rigid discipline could have restrained them.  Hull, however, was preparing to decide the contest in a summary method of his own.  He now made sail to bring the Constitution up with her antagonist, and at five minutes before six, being alongside within half pistol shot he commenced a heavy fire from all his guns, double shotted with round and grape; and so well directed, and so well kept up was the fire, that in sixteen minutes the mizenmast of the Guerriere went by the board, and her main yard in the slings, and the hull, rigging and sails were completely torn to pieces.  The fire was kept up for fifteen minutes longer, when the main and foremast went, taking with them every spar except the bowsprit, and leaving the Guerriere a complete wreck.  On seeing this, Hull ordered the firing to cease, having brought his enemy in thirty minutes after he was fairly alongside to such a condition, that a few more broadsides must have carried her down.

            The prize being so shattered that she was not worth bringing into port, after removing the prisoners to the Constitution, she was set on fire and blown up.  In the action, the Constitution lost seven killed, and seven wounded; the Guerriere, fifteen killed, sixty-two wounded-including the captain and several officers and twenty-four missing.

            The news of this victory was received in the Unites States with the greatest joy and exultation.  All parties united in celebrating it, and the citizens and public authorities vied with each other in bestowing marks of approbation upon Captain Hull and his gallant officers and crew.

            Since the war of 1812 Commodore Hull has commanded in the Pacific and Mediterranean, and on the shore stations in the United States.  He came to Philadelphia in the autumn of 1842.  In the winter he was seized with the sickness, which terminated his honourable and useful life.  He retained the full exercise of his mental faculties to the last, and died with the composure becoming his character as a man, and his hopes as a Christian.  He departed this life on Monday, the 13^th of February 1843.  He had made his will, and purchased the lot at Laurel Hill cemetery, where his remains are now deposited.  Commodore Hull’s attachment to his profession always led him to honour it, and to preserve its dignity in his own character and deportment.  He always wore his uniform, and probably by his own direction, his corpse was laid out in the full dress of a commander, and thus-

“He lay like a warrior taking his rest,”

William Henry Allen

Few among our naval heroes have had a more brilliant career than the subject of this memoir.  He entered the service at an early age, was actively engaged during the Tripolitan war, was present and bore a conspicuous part in the action between the United States and Macedonian, and finally fell desperately fighting against a superior force, giving in his last hour, proofs of gallantry which elicited the warmest admiration and the most marked tokens of respect from the enemy on whose soil his remains were buried.

            William Herny Allen was born at Providence Rhode Island, on the twenty-first day of October 1784.  His father, William Allen, on the breaking out of our revolutionary troubles, was appointed a first lieutenant in the army.  He continued in the army until the restoration of peace, and commanded the Rhode Island line of troops at the battle of Saratoga, when he was advanced to the rank of major.  He was present and actively engaged in most of the battles which were fought during our revolutionary war; and in 1786, was appointed by Congress, senior officer of the legionary corps raised in Rhode Island.  In the year 1799, he was appointed by the legislature of that state, brigadier general of militia.  The mother of William Henry Allen was the sister of the present Governor of Rhode Island.  It was the intention of his parent that Henry should have received a liberal education; and he went through the preparatory studies.  He panted, however for more active life; and, notwithstanding the pressing remonstrances of his parents, he entered the navy, as a midshipman in May 1800.

            In three months after his appointment, he was ordered onboard the frigate George Washington, commanded by Commodore Bainbridge, to carry presents to the Day of Algiers.  On his departure, he writes to his father, “I now bid you a short adieu; but, should it be the last, you shall have the satisfaction to hear of my good conduct in my station, as an officer and as a gentleman.”

            This cruise was attended with peculiarity of incident.  The demand of the Dey of Algiers, that the frigate should be employed in carrying his presents to the Grand Seignior at Constantinople, and the unavailing reluctance and remonstrance of Captain Bainbridge, are circumstances generally known?

            It was the first time that the flag of an American frigate had waved in the harbour of Constantinople.  The fine order of the ship, and the excellent discipline observed among the officers and men, tended to impress very high ideas of the Americans character in a quarter of the world where before it was unknown.

            Commodore Bainbridge returned to America, on the 19^th of April 1801, when a reduction of the navy ensued.  In eight days the return of the subject of the present memoir and while he was solacing himself in the hope of one more visiting his family and friends, he was ordered onboard the Philadelphia, under the command of Captain Barron, to scour the Mediterranean sea again.

            He bade his friends a cordial adieu, and entered on the service with that promptitude that ever distinguished him.  Nothing material transpired during the cruise.  The ship returned to the United States, on the 27^th of June 1802.  For the first time, after his entrance into the service of his country, was he now enabled to enjoy the society of his friends, and to visit his parental abode.  This however was but a short repose allowed him from fatigues of naval service, for in October 1802, he sailed in the frigate John Adams, commanded by Captain Rodgers, to visit for the third time, the shore of the Mediterranean. 

             During the voyage, his correspondent of a report, which afterwards proved to be unfounded, that a younger officer was advanced over his head, informed him.  This is the manly reply of a boy of seventeen: “I am too well grounded in old principles to mind such assaults now.  If the government decide thus, I can say-amen, with all my heart.”

            Commodore Rodgers returned from the cruise, in December 1803.  Early in the year 1804, he was ordered onboard the frigate Congress, lying at Washington, of which he was appointed sailing master.  The frigate sailed on the 1^st of Jul, under the command of Captain Rodgers, for the Mediterranean.  On the outward bound passage, while the ship was lying to, in a violent gale, Allen was on the foreyard, assisting the sailors in taking a reef.  Letting fall that part of the sail on which he had hold, he was precipitated headlong into the sea, to the depth of twenty feet, passing in his fall, very near the anchor on the bows.  Fortunately, he arose near the mizzen chains, and by taking hold of them, narrowly escaped inevitable death, as the ship was then drifting very fast.  While cruising off the coast of Tripoli, Captain Rodgers intended, if the command should have developed upon him, in consequence of the illness of Commodore Barron, an attack on that place.  He took Allen with him in the schooner to take the soundings, preparatory to the anticipated assault.  They entered the harbour with muffled oars; and, after taking a sounding, and complete survey; they passed so near the Tripoline gunboats, that they distinctly heard the men conversing below.  They also heard the sentinels on the walls of the battery conversing together.  As they were turning from the harbour, a heavy gale sprung up, and they had a narrow escape to the Nautilus, which vessel was then in the very act of leaving her position.

            In the month of October 1805, Captain Rodgers removed to the frigate Constitution, and assumed the command of the squadron, in consequence of the return of Captain Barron to the United States.  Mr Allen was also removed to the Constitution, and promoted to a lieutenancy.  He served as third lieutenant onboard the Constitution, and returned in that frigate to the United States, in the year 1806.

            During these several cruises to the Mediterranean, although nothing transpired onboard of the frigates where Lieutenant Allen was stationed, that might fairly be denominated naval glory, still a peculiarity of circumstances gave a lofty and elevated tone to the feelings of all the officers.  An American squadron in the waters of the Mediterranean was itself a novelty.  That squadron was small, and it was destined to pass under the review and strict scrutiny of English ships of war occasionally stationed in these seas, and passing the straits of Gibraltar.  Personal courage, skill and correctness of discipline, could alone insure them respect in a company so illustrious; and to these points all their efforts were directed.  They felt the high responsibility attached to their station, and knowing how important the first impression of a national character was, they acted up to that dignity which the occasion demanded.

            After this long and fatiguing cruise, he was permitted, for a short time to visit his friends and relations in Providence.  In February 1807, he received orders from Government to join the frigate Chesapeake, commanded by Captain Barron, then fitting out at Washington, for the straits.  He remained at Philadelphia while the ship was preparing for sea, during which time he was busily employed in recruiting men for the service, and then entered as third lieutenant.  The attack on the Chesapeake, by the Leopard, succeeded shortly after the former sailing.  The unfortunate result of this affair was peculiarly trying to Lieutenant Allen,