The Naval War of 1812

On Jan. 8th General Packenham was defeated and killed by General Jackson at New Orleans, the Louisiana and the seamen of the Carolina having their full share in the glory of the day, and Captain Henly being among the very few American wounded. On the same day Sailing-master Johnson, with 28 men in two boats, cut out the British-armed transport brig Cyprus, containing provisions and munitions of war, and manned by ten men. [Footnote: Letter of Sailing-master Johnson, Jan. 9, 1815.] On the 18th the British abandoned the enterprise and retreated to their ships; and Mr. Thomas Shields, a purser, formerly a sea-officer, set off to harass them while embarking. At sunset on the 20th he left with five boats and a gig, manned in all with 53 men, and having under him Sailing-master Daily and Master's Mate Boyd. [Footnote: Letter of Thomas Shields to Com. Patterson, Jan. 25, 1815.] At ten o'clock P.M. a large barge, containing 14 seamen and 40 officers and men of the 14th Light Dragoons, was surprised and carried by boarding after a slight struggle. The prisoners outnumbering their captors, the latter returned to shore, left them in a place of safety, and again started at 2 A.M. on the morning of the 22d. Numerous transports and barges of the enemy could be seen, observing very little order and apparently taking no precautions against attack, which they probably did not apprehend. One of the American boats captured a transport and five men; another, containing Mr. Shields himself and eight men, carried by boarding, after a short resistance, a schooner carrying ten men. The flotilla then re-united and captured in succession, with no resistance, five barges containing 70 men. By this time the alarm had spread and they were attacked by six boats, but these were repelled with some loss. Seven of the prisoners (who were now half as many again as their captors) succeeded in escaping in the smallest prize. Mr. Shields returned with the others, 78 in number. During the entire expedition he had lost but three men, wounded; he had taken 132 prisoners, and destroyed eight craft whose aggregate tonnage about equalled that of the five gun-vessels taken on Lake Borgne.

On Jan. 30, 1815, information was received by Captain Dent, commanding at North Edisto, Ga., that a party of British officers and men, in four boats belonging to H.M.S. Hebrus, Capt. Palmer, were watering at one of the adjacent islands. [Footnote: Letter of Lawrence Kearney of Jan. 30, 1815 (see in the Archives at Washington, "Captains' Letters," vol. 42, No. 100).] Lieut. Lawrence Kearney, with three barges containing about 75 men, at once proceeded outside to cut them off, when the militia drove them away. The frigate was at anchor out of gunshot, but as soon as she perceived the barges began firing guns as signals. The British on shore left in such a hurry that they deserted their launch, which, containing a 12-pound boat carronade and six swivels, was taken by the Americans. The other boats—two cutters, and a large tender mounting one long nine and carrying 30 men—made for the frigate; but Lieut. Kearney laid the tender aboard and captured her after a sharp brush. The cutters were only saved by the fire of the Hebrus, which was very well directed—one of her shot taking off the head of a man close by Lieut. Kearney. The frigate got under way and intercepted Kearney's return, but the Lieutenant then made for South Edisto, whither he carried his prize in triumph. This was one of the most daring exploits of the war, and was achieved at very small cost. On Feb. 14th a similar feat was performed. Lieutenant Kearney had manned the captured launch with 25 men and the 12-pound carronade. News was received of another harrying expedition undertaken by the British, and Captain Dent, with seven boats, put out to attack them, but was unable to cross the reef. Meanwhile Kearney's barge had gotten outside, and attacked the schooner Brant, a tender to H. M. S. Severn, mounting an 18-pounder, and with a crew of two midshipmen, and twenty-one marines and seamen. A running fight began, the Brant evidently fearing that the other boats might get across the reef and join in the attack; suddenly she ran aground on a sand-bank, which accident totally demoralized her crew. Eight of them escaped in her boat, to the frigate; the remaining fifteen, after firing a few shot, surrendered and were taken possession of. [Footnote: Letter of Captain Dent, Feb. 16th (in "Captains' Letters," vol. 42, No. 130). Most American authors, headed by Cooper, give this exploit a more vivid coloring by increasing the crew of the Brant to forty men, omitting to mention that she was hard and fast aground, and making no allusion to the presence of the five other American boats which undoubtedly caused the Brant's flight in the first place.]

I have had occasion from time to time to speak of cutting-out expeditions, successful and otherwise, undertaken by British boats against American privateers; and twice a small British national cutter was captured by an overwhelmingly superior American opponent of this class. We now, for the only time, come across an engagement between a privateer and a regular cruiser of approximately equal force. These privateers came from many different ports and varied greatly in size. Baltimore produced the largest number; but New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Salem, were not far behind; and Charleston, Bristol, and Plymouth, supplied some that were very famous. Many were merely small pilot-boats with a crew of 20 to 40 men, intended only to harry the West Indian trade. Others were large, powerful craft, unequalled for speed by any vessels of their size, which penetrated to the remotest corners of the ocean, from Man to the Spice Islands. When a privateer started she was overloaded with men, to enable her to man her prizes; a successful cruise would reduce her crew to a fifth of its original size. The favorite rig was that of a schooner, but there were many brigs and brigantines. Each was generally armed with a long 24 or 32 on a pivot, and a number of light guns in broadside, either long 9's or short 18's or 12's. Some had no pivot gun, others had nothing else. The largest of them carried 17 guns (a pivotal 32 and 16 long 12's in broadside) with a crew of 150. Such a vessel ought to have been a match, at her own distance, for a British brig-sloop, but we never hear of any such engagements, and there were several instances where privateers gave up, without firing a shot, to a force superior, it is true, but not enough so to justify the absolute tameness of the surrender. [Footnote: As when the Epervter, some little time before her own capture, took without resistance the Alfred, of Salem, mounting 16 long nines and having 108 men aboard.] One explanation of this was that they were cruising as private ventures, and their object was purely to capture merchant-men with as little risk as possible to themselves. Another reason was that they formed a kind of sea-militia, and, like their compeers on land, some could fight as well as any regulars, while most would not fight at all, especially if there was need of concerted action between two or three. The American papers of the day are full of "glorious victories" gained by privateers over packets and Indiamen; the British papers are almost as full of instances where the packets and Indiamen "heroically repulsed" the privateers. As neither side ever chronicles a defeat, and as the narration is apt to be decidedly figurative in character, there is very little hope of getting at the truth of such meetings; so I have confined myself to the mention of those cases where privateers, of either side, came into armed collision with regular cruisers. We are then sure to find some authentic account.

The privateer brig Chasseur, of Baltimore, Captain Thomas Boyle, carried 16 long 12's, and had, when she left port, 115 men aboard. She made 18 prizes on her last voyage, and her crew was thus reduced to less than 80 men; she was then chased by the Barossa frigate, and threw overboard 10 of her long 12's. Afterward eight 9-pound carronades were taken from a prize, to partially supply the places of the lost guns; but as she had no shot of the calibre of these carronades each of the latter was loaded with one 4-pound and one 6-pound ball, giving her a broadside of 76 lbs. On the 26th of February, two leagues from Havana, the Chasseur fell in with the British schooner St. Lawrence, Lieut. H. C. Gordon, mounting twelve 12-pound carronades, and one long 9; her broadside was thus 81 lbs., and she had between 60 and 80 men aboard. [Footnote: Letter of Captain Thomas Boyle, of March 2, 1815 (see Niles and Coggeshall); he says the schooner had two more carronades; I have taken the number given by James (p. 539). Captain Boyle says the St. Lawrence had onboard 89 men and several more, including a number of soldiers and marines and gentlemen of the navy, as passengers; James says her crew amounted to 51 "exclusive of some passengers," which I suppose must mean at least nine men. So the forces were pretty equal; the Chasseur may have had 20 men more or 10 men less than her antagonist, and she threw from 5 to 21 lbs. less weight of shot.] The Chasseur mistook the St. Lawrence for a merchant-man and closed with her. The mistake was discovered too late to escape, even had such been Captain Boyle's intention, and a brief but bloody action ensued. At 1.26 P.M., the St. Lawrence fired the first broadside, within pistol shot, to which the Chasseur replied with her great guns and musketry. The brig then tried to close, so as to board; but having too much way on, shot ahead under the lee of the schooner, which put her helm up to wear under the Chasseur's stern. Boyle, however, followed his antagonist's manoeuvre, and the two vessels ran along side by side, the St. Lawrence drawing ahead, while the firing was very heavy. Then Captain Boyle put his helm a starboard and ran his foe aboard, when in the act of boarding, her colors were struck at 1.41 P.M., 15 minutes after the first shot. Of the Chasseur's crew 5 were killed and 8 wounded, including Captain Boyle slightly. Of the St. Lawrence's crew 6 were killed and 17 (according to James 18) wounded. This was a very creditable action. The St. Lawrence had herself been an American privateer, called the Atlas, and was of 241 tons, or just 36 less than the Chasseur. The latter could thus fairly claim that her victory was gained over a regular cruiser of about her own force. Captain Southcombe of the Lottery, Captain Reid of the General Armstrong, Captain Ordronaux of the Neufchatel, and Captain Boyle of the Chasseur, deserve as much credit as any regularly commissioned sea-officers. But it is a mistake to consider these cases as representing the average; an ordinary privateer was, naturally enough, no match for a British regular cruiser of equal force. The privateers were of incalculable benefit to us, and inflicted enormous damage on the foe; but in fighting they suffered under the same disadvantages as other irregular forces; they were utterly unreliable. A really brilliant victory would be followed by a most extraordinary defeat.

[Illustration: Captain Charles Stewart: a study painted by Thomas Sully in 1817 for use as the model for the bust of Stewart on the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to him for the capture of the Cyane and Levant. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum)]

[Illustration: Constitution vs. Cyane and Levant: an engraving published in the U.S. Military Magazine for December 1840 of a painting by Thomas Birch. From left to right: Levant, Constitution, Cyane. (Courtesy Beverley R. Robinson Collection, U.S. Naval Academy Museum)]

After the Constitution had escaped from Boston, as I have described, she ran to the Bermudas, cruised in their vicinity a short while, thence to Madeira, to the Bay of Biscay, and finally off Portugal, cruising for some time in sight of the Rock of Lisbon. Captain Stewart then ran off southwest, and on Feb. 20th, Madeira bearing W. S. W. 60 leagues, [Footnote: Letter of Captain Stewart to the Secretary of the Navy, May 20, 1815.] the day being cloudy, with a light easterly breeze, [Footnote: Log of Constitution, Feb. 20, 1815.] at 1 P.M. a sail was made two points on the port bow; and at 2 P.M., Captain Stewart, hauling up in chase, discovered another sail. The first of these was the frigate-built ship corvette Cyane, Captain Gordon Thomas Falcon, and the second was the ship sloop Levant, Captain the Honorable George Douglass. [Footnote: "Naval Chronicle," xxxiii, 466.] Both were standing close hauled on the starboard tack, the sloop about 10 miles to leeward of the corvette. At 4 P.M. the latter began making signals to her consort that the strange sail was an enemy, and then made all sail before the wind to join the sloop. The Constitution bore up in chase, setting her top-mast, top-gallant, and royal studding-sails. In half an hour she carried away her main royal mast, but immediately got another prepared, and at 5 o'clock began firing at the corvette with the two port-bow guns; as the shot fell short the firing soon ceased. At 5.30 the Cyane got within hail of the Levant, and the latter's gallant commander expressed to Captain Gordon his intention of engaging the American frigate. The two ships accordingly hauled up their courses and stood on the starboard tack; but immediately afterward their respective captains concluded to try to delay the action till dark, so as to get the advantage of manoeuvring. [Footnote: "Naval Chronicle," xxxiii, 466.] Accordingly they again set all sail and hauled close to the wind to endeavor to weather their opponent; but finding the latter coming down too fast for them to succeed they again stripped to fighting canvas and formed on the starboard tack in head and stern line, the Levant about a cable's length in front of her consort. The American now had them completely under her guns and showed her ensign, to which challenge the British ships replied by setting their colors. At 6.10 the Constitution ranged up to windward of the Cyane and Levant, the former on her port quarter, the latter on her port bow, both being distant about 250 yards from her [Footnote: Testimony sworn to by Lieutenant W. B. Shubrick and Lieutenant of Marines Archibald Henderson before Thomas Welsh. Jr., Justice of the Peace, Suffolk St., Boston, July 20, 1815. The depositions were taken in consequence of a report started by some of the British journals that the action began at a distance of 1/4 of a mile. All the American depositions were that all three ships began firing at once, when equidistant from each other about 250 yards, the marines being engaged almost the whole time.]—so close that the American marines were constantly engaged almost from the beginning of the action. The fight began at once, and continued with great spirit for a quarter of an hour, the vessels all firing broadsides. It was now moonlight, and an immense column of smoke formed under the lee of the Constitution, shrouding from sight her foes; and, as the fire of the latter had almost ceased, Captain Stewart also ordered his men to stop, so as to find out the positions of the ships. In about three minutes the smoke cleared, disclosing to the Americans the Levant dead to leeward on the port beam, and the Cyane luffing up for their port quarter. Giving a broadside to the sloop, Stewart braced aback his main and mizzen top-sails, with top-gallant sails set, shook all forward, and backed rapidly astern, under cover of the smoke, abreast the corvette, forcing the latter to fill again to avoid being raked. The firing was spirited for a few minutes, when the Cyane's almost died away. The Levant bore up to wear round and assist her consort, but the Constitution filled her top-sails, and, shooting ahead, gave her two stern rakes, when she at once made all sail to get out of the combat. The Cyane was now discovered wearing, when the Constitution herself at once wore and gave her in turn a stern rake, the former luffing to and firing her port broadside into the starboard bow of the frigate. Then, as the latter ranged up on her port quarter, she struck, at 6.50, just forty minutes after the beginning of the action. She was at once taken possession of, and Lieut. Hoffman, second of the Constitution, was put in command. Having manned the prize, Captain Stewart, at 8 o'clock, filled away after her consort. The latter, however, had only gone out of the combat to refit. Captain Douglass had no idea of retreat, and no sooner had he rove new braces than he hauled up to the wind, and came very gallantly back to find out his friend's condition. At 8.50 he met the Constitution, and, failing to weather her, the frigate and sloop passed each other on opposite tacks, exchanging broadsides. Finding her antagonist too heavy, the Levant then crowded all sail to escape, but was soon overtaken by the Constitution, and at about 9.30 the latter opened with her starboard bow-chasers, and soon afterward the British captain hauled down his colors. Mr. Ballard, first of the Constitution, was afterward put in command of the prize. By one o'clock the ships were all in order again.

The Constitution had been hulled eleven times, more often than in either of her previous actions, but her loss was mainly due to the grape and musketry of the foe in the beginning of the fight. [Footnote: Deposition of her officers as before cited.] The British certainly fired better than usual, especially considering the fact that there was much manoeuvering, and that it was a night action. The Americans lost 3 men killed, 3 mortally, and 9 severely and slightly, wounded. The corvette, out of her crew of 180, had 12 men killed and 26 wounded, several mortally; the sloop, out of 140, had 7 killed and 16 wounded. The Constitution had started on her cruise very full-handed, with over 470 men, but several being absent on a prize, she went into battle with about 450. [Footnote: 410 officers and seamen, and 41 marines, by her muster-roll of Feb. 19th. (The muster-rolls are preserved in the Treasury Department at Washington.)] The prizes had suffered a good deal in their hulls and rigging, and had received some severe wounds in their masts and principal spars. The Cyane carried on her main-deck twenty-two 32-pound carronades, and on her spar-deck two long 12's, and ten 18-pounder carronades. The Levant carried, all on one deck, eighteen 32-pound carronades and two long 9's, together with a shifting 12-pounder. Thus, their broadside weight of metal was 763 pounds, with a total of 320 men, of whom 61 fell, against the Constitution's 704 pounds and 450 men, of whom 15 were lost; or, nominally, the relative force was 100 to 91, and the relative loss 100 to 24. But the British guns were almost exclusively carronades which, as already pointed out in the case of the Essex and in the battle off Plattsburg, are no match for long guns. Moreover, the scantling of the smaller ships was, of course, by no means as stout as that of the frigate, so that the disparity of force was much greater than the figures would indicate, although not enough to account for the difference in loss. Both the British ships were ably handled, their fire was well directed, and the Levant in especial was very gallantly fought.

[Illustration of the action between the Constitution and the Cyane and the Levant from 6.05 to 6.40.]

As regards the Constitution, "her manoeuvring was as brilliant as any recorded in naval annals," and it would have been simply impossible to surpass the consummate skill with which she was handled in the smoke, always keeping her antagonists to leeward, and, while raking both of them, not being once raked herself. The firing was excellent, considering the short time the ships were actually engaged, and the fact that it was at night. Altogether the fight reflected the greatest credit on her, and also on her adversaries. [Footnote: There is no British official account of the action. James states that the entire British force was only 302 men of whom 12 were killed and 29 wounded. This is probably not based on any authority. Captain Stewart received on board 301 prisoners, of whom 42 were wounded, several mortally. Curiously enough James also underestimates the American loss, making it only 12. He also says that many attempts were made by the Americans to induce the captured British to desert, while the Constitution's officers deny this under oath, before Justice Welsh, as already quoted, and state that, on the contrary, many of the prisoners offered to enlist on the frigate, but were all refused permission—as "the loss of the Chesapeake had taught us the danger of having renegades aboard." This denial, by the way, holds good for all the similar statements made by James as regards the Guerrièrre, Macedonian, etc. He also states that a British court-martial found various counts against the Americans for harsh treatment, but all of these were specifically denied by the American officers, under oath, as already quoted.

I have relied chiefly on Captain Stewart's narratives; but partly (as to time, etc.) on the British account in the "Naval Chronicle."]

The merits of this action can perhaps be better appreciated by comparing it with a similar one that took place a few years before between a British sloop and corvette on the one side, and a French frigate on the other, and which is given in full by both James and Troude. Although these authors differ somewhat in the account of it, both agree that the Frenchman, the Nereide, of 44 guns, on Feb. 14, 1810, fought a long and indecisive battle with the Rainbow of 26 and Avon of 18 guns, the British sloops being fought separately, in succession. The relative force was almost exactly as in the Constitution's fight. Each side claimed that the other fled. But this much is sure: the Constitution engaging the Cyane and Levant together, captured both; while the Nereide, engaging the Rainbow and Avon separately, captured neither.

The three ships now proceeded to the Cape de Verds, and on March 10th anchored in the harbor of Porto Praya, Island of San Jago. Here a merchant-brig was taken as a cartel, and a hundred of the prisoners were landed to help fit her for sea. The next day the weather was thick and foggy, with fresh breezes. [Footnote: Log of Constitution, March 11, 1815.] The first and second lieutenants, with a good part of the people, were aboard the two prizes. At five minutes past twelve, while Mr. Shubrick, the senior remaining lieutenant, was on the quarter-deck, the canvas of a large vessel suddenly loomed up through the haze, her hull being completely hidden by the fog-bank. Her character could not be made out; but she was sailing close-hauled, and evidently making for the roads. Mr. Shubrick at once went down and reported the stranger to Captain Stewart, when that officer coolly remarked that it was probably a British frigate or an Indiaman, and directed the lieutenant to return on deck, call all hands, and get ready to go out and attack her. [Footnote: Cooper, ii, 459.] At that moment the canvas of two other ships was discovered rising out of the fog astern of the vessel first seen. It was now evident that all three were heavy frigates. [Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant Hoffman, April 10, 1815.] In fact, they were the Newcastle, 50, Captain Lord George Stewart; Leander, 50, Captain Sir Ralph Collier, K.C.B., and _Acasta, 40, Captain Robert Kerr, standing into Porto Praya, close-hauled on the starboard tack, the wind being light northeast by north. [Footnote: Marshall's "Naval Biography," ii, 535.] Captain Stewart at once saw that his opponents were far too heavy for a fair fight, and, knowing that the neutrality of the port would not be the slightest protection to him, he at once signalled to the prizes to follow, cut his cable, and, in less than ten minutes from the time the first frigate was seen, was standing out of the roads, followed by Hoffmann and Ballard. Certainly a more satisfactory proof of the excellent training of both officers and men could hardly be given than the rapidity, skill, and perfect order with which every thing was done. Any indecision on the part of the officers or bungling on the part of the men would have lost every thing. The prisoners on shore had manned a battery and delivered a furious but ill-directed fire at their retreating conquerors. The frigate, sloop, and corvette, stood out of the harbor in the order indicated, on the port tack, passing close under the east point, and a gunshot to windward of the British squadron, according to the American, or about a league, according to the British, accounts. The Americans made out the force of the strangers correctly, and their own force was equally clearly discerned by the Acasta; but both the Newcastle and Leander mistook the Cyane and Levant for frigates, a mistake similar to that once made by Commodore Rodgers. The Constitution now crossed her top-gallant yards and set the foresail, main-sail, spanker, flying jib, and top-gallant sails; and the British ships, tacking, made all sail in pursuit. The Newcastle was on the Constitution's lee quarter and directly ahead of the Leander, while the Acasta was on the weather-quarter of the Newcastle. All six ships were on the port tack. The Constitution cut adrift the boats towing astern, and her log notes that at 12.50 she found she was sailing about as fast as the ships on her lee quarter, but that the Acasta was luffing into her wake and dropping astern. The log of the Acasta says, "We had gained on the sloops, but the frigate had gained on us." At 1.10 the Cyane had fallen so far astern and to leeward that Captain Stewart signalled to Lieutenant Hoffman to tack, lest he should be cut off if he did not. Accordingly the lieutenant put about and ran off toward the northwest, no notice being taken of him by the enemy beyond an ineffectual broadside from the sternmost frigate. At 2.35 he was out of sight of all the ships and shaped his course for America, which he reached on April 10th. [Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant Hoffman, April 10, 1815.] At 1.45 the Newcastle opened on the Constitution firing by divisions, but the shot all fell short, according to the American statements, about 200 yards, while the British accounts (as given in Marshall's "Naval Biography") make the distance much greater; at any rate the vessels were so near that from the Constitution the officers of the Newcastle could be seen standing on the hammock nettings. But, very strangely, both the 50-gun ships apparently still mistook the Levant, though a low, flush-decked sloop like the Hornet, for the "President, Congress, or Macedonian," Captain Collier believing that the Constitution had sailed with two other frigates in company. [Footnote: Marshal, ii, 533. ] By three o'clock the Levant had lagged so as to be in the same position from which the Cyane had just been rescued; accordingly Captain Stewart signalled to her to tack, which she did, and immediately afterward all three British ships tacked in pursuit. Before they did so, it must be remembered the Acasta had weathered on the Constitution, though left considerably astern, while the Newcastle and Leander had about kept their positions on her lee or starboard quarter; so that if any ship had been detached after the Levant it should have been the Leander, which had least chance of overtaking the American frigate. The latter was by no means as heavily armed as either of the two 50's, and but little heavier than the Acasta; moreover, she was shorthanded, having manned her two prizes. The Acasta, at any rate, had made out the force of the Levant, and, even had she been a frigate, it was certainly carrying prudence to an extreme to make more than one ship tack after her. Had the Newcastle and Acasta kept on after the Constitution there was a fair chance of overtaking her, for the Acasta had weathered on her, and the chase could not bear up for fear of being cut off by the Newcastle. At any rate the pursuit should not have been given up so early. Marshall says there was a mistake in the signalling. The British captains certainly bungled the affair; even James says (p. 558): "It is the most blundering piece of business recorded in these six volumes." As for Stewart and his men, they deserve the highest credit for the cool judgment and prompt, skilful seamanship they had displayed. The Constitution, having shaken off her pursuers, sailed to Maranham, where she landed her prisoners. At Porto Rico she learned of the peace, and forthwith made sail for New York, reaching it about the middle of May.

As soon as he saw Captain Stewart's signal, Lieutenant Ballard had tacked, and at once made for the anchorage at Porto Prayo, which he reached, though pursued by all his foes, and anchored within 150 yards of a heavy battery. [Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant Ballard. May 2, 1815.] The wisdom of Captain Stewart's course in not trusting to the neutrality of the port, now became evident. The Acasta opened upon the sloop as soon as the latter had anchored, at 4.30. [Footnote: Newcastle's log, as given by Marshall and James.] The Newcastle, as soon as she arrived, also opened, and so did the Leander, while the British prisoners on shore fired the guns of the battery. Having borne this combined cannonade for 15 minutes, [Footnote: Ballard's letter.] the colors of the Levant were hauled down. The unskilful firing of the British ships certainly did not redeem the blunders previously made by Sir George Collier, for the three heavy frigates during 15 minutes' broadside practice in smooth water against a stationary and unresisting foe, did her but little damage, and did not kill a man. The chief effect of the fire was to damage the houses of the Portuguese town. [Footnote: James, vi, 551. ]

After the capture of the President, the Peacock, Captain Warrington, the Hornet, Captain Biddle, and Tom Bowline, brig, still remained in New York harbor. On the 22d of January a strong northwesterly gale began to blow, and the American vessels, according to their custom, at once prepared to take advantage of the heavy weather and run by the blockaders. They passed the bar by daylight, under storm canvas, the British frigates lying to in the southeast being plainly visible. They were ignorant of the fate of the President, and proceeded toward Tristan d'Acunha, which was the appointed rendezvous. A few days out the Hornet parted company from the two others; these last reached Tristan d'Acunha about March 18th, but were driven off again by a gale. The Hornet reached the island on the 23d, and at half-past ten in the morning, the wind being fresh S.S.W., when about to anchor off the north point, a sail was made in the southeast, steering west. [Footnote: Letter from Captain Biddle to Commodore Decatur, Mar. 25, 1815.] This was the British brig-sloop Penguin, Captain James Dickenson. She was a new vessel, having left port for the first time in September, 1814. While at the Cape of Good Hope she had received from Vice-Admiral Tyler 12 marines from the Medway, 74, increasing her complement to 132; and was then despatched on special service against a heavy American privateer, the Young Wasp, which had been causing great havoc among the homeward-bound Indiamen.