nearly ahead, steering about south-west. At 7 h. 1814. 34 m. P. M. the Avon made night-signals to the Wasp; Aug. which the latter, at 8 P. M., answered with a bluelight on the forecastle. At 8 h. 38 m. the Avon fired a shot from her stern-chase gun; and, still running on to the south-west, fired a second shot from her starboard and lee side. At 9h. 20 m., being then on the weather quarter of the Avon, the Wasp was hailed by the latter," What ship is that?" and answered by the question, "What brig is that?" The Avon replied with her name, but it was not heard on board the Wasp. The former again asked, 66 What ship is that?" and was told to heave to and she would be informed. The question was repeated, and answered to the same effect. An american officer then went forward on the Wasp's forecastle, and ordered the Avon to heave to; but the latter declined doing so, and at 9 h. 25 m. P. M. set her larboard foretopmast studding-sail. action com At 9 h. 26 m. P. M. the Wasp fired her 12-pounder Close carronade: whereupon the Avon commenced the action by a discharge from her larboard guns. The mences Wasp then kept away, and, running under the brig's lee, at 9h. 29 m., opened her broadside. Almost the first fire from the american ship, consisting of star and bar shot, cut away, along with other parts of her rigging, the slings of the brig's gaff; and, on the immediate fall of the latter, the boom-mainsail covered the quarterdeck guns on the side engaged, the only ones that would at this time bear. Shortly afterwards the brig's mainmast fell by the board. Thus rendered completely unmanageable, the Avon Avon's lost all advantage to be derived from manoeuvring; ades and, what with the wreck lying upon some of her upset. guns, and the upsetting of others from the usual defects in their fastenings, the brig could make little or no return to the animated fire maintained by the Wasp; who, on this occasion, (recollecting what she had lately suffered by allowing the British carron 1814. an opportunity to board,) fought much more warily than in her action with the Reindeer. Aug. At 10h. 12m. P. M, according to captain Blakeley's surren sinking Avon minutes, but at a time much nearer 11 P. M., as will ders presently be proved, the Wasp hailed the Avon, when to know if she had surrendered, and received an but answer in the affirmative. When, says captain Castili- Blakeley," on the eve of taking possession," the vents Wasp Wasp discovered "a sail close on board of her." Wasp This sail was the british 18-gun brig sloop Castilian, taking (same force as Avon,) captain David Braimer. It posses was exactly at 11 P. M. that the Castilian came near an pre from sion. Avon signals distress enough to ascertain that one vessel was a dismasted Repeated signals of distress having by this time hoists been made by the Avon, the Castilian tacked and of stood towards her; and on closing, at 11 h. 55 m., and captain Braimer was informed by captain Arbuthnot, Casti- that the Avon was sinking fast. The Castilian imsaves mediately hoisted out her boats to save the people; her and at 1 A. M. on the 2d, just as the last boat had ing pushed off from the Avon, the british brig went crew. down: an irrefragable proof, that she had not lian drown surrendered until every hope of success or escape had vanished. Hoisting in her boats, the Castilian filled and made sail to the north-east, in search of Wasp the Wasp; but the latter had already run out of escapes sight. As a reason for this, captain Blakeley has alleged, that he discovered two other vessels, besides the Castilian, in chase of him. Avon Out of her 104 men and 13 boys, the Avon lost 1814. her first lieutenant (John Prendergrast) and nine July. seamen and marines killed and mortally wounded, Loss on her commander, second lieutenant, (John Harvey,) board one midshipman, (John Travers,) and 29 seamen and and marines wounded severely and slightly. According Wasp. to captain Blakeley, the Wasp received only four round shot in her hull, and, out of her acknowledged complement of 173 men, had but two killed and one wounded. The gallantry of the Avon's officers and crew cannot, for a moment, be questioned; but the gunnery of the latter appears to have been not a whit better than, to the discredit of the british navy, had frequently before been displayed in combats of this kind. Nor, from the specimen given by the Castilian, is it likely that she would have performed any better. foun sea. The Wasp, unfortunately for her brave officers Wasp and crew, never reached a port of the United States: ders at she foundered, as is supposed, between the 15th, when she was off Madeira, and the end, of September. To the merit justly due to the captain of the Wasp, for his conduct in his two ssuccesful actions, America must be contented to divide her claim; as captain Blakeley was a native of Dublin, and, along with some English and Scotch, did not, it may be certain, neglect to have in his crew a great many Irish. The construction of so fine a ship as the Wasp, and the equipment of her as an effective man of war, is that part of the merit, and no small part either, which belongs exclusively to the United States. rail en and is Syren On the 12th of July the british cutter Landrail, of Landfour 12-pounder carronades and 19 men and boys, gages commanded by lieutenant Robert Daniel Lancaster, capturin her way across the British Channel with despatches, ed by was chased by the american privateer schooner privaSyren; and maintained with her a running fight of teer. one hour and 10 minutes, and a close action, within pistol-shot, of 40 minutes, in all two hours. The Landrail then surrendered, with the loss of seven 1814. men wounded. Her sails were riddled with shotJuly. holes, and her hull much struck. The Syren, whose force was one long 18-pounder on a travelling carriage, four long 6-pounders and two 18-pounder carronades, with a crew of 75 men, had three men killed, and 15 wounded, including some of her principal officers; a tolerable proof of the execution that may be done by two 12-pounder carronades, if well pointed. The action certainly reflects great credit on lieutenant Lancaster and his ship's company, or rather, his boat's crew. can ex aggera on the Ameri- Although the Landrail had not even room for another gun beyond the four she mounted, the tion american historians, in the first instance, gave her subject 10 guns, and afterwards, by way of amending their statement, 8 guns; at which the Landrail Land- now stands in their prize-lists. The Landrail was captur- recaptured on her way to the United States, and carried into Halifax, Nova-Scotia: consequently her valuable services as a cruiser were not lost to the british navy. rail re ed. gages Balla- Much about the time that the Landrail encounhou entered the Syren, the Ballahou of the same class as and is the former, but rigged as a schooner, and commanded ed by by lieutenant Norfolk King, fell in with the american Perry. privateer schooner Perry, and, after a chase of 60 captur minutes, 10 of which they closely engaged, was under 76 tons; the Syren and Perry of at least 1814. 180 tons each. June. Coch rane sir in the Ameri can mand. After 15 or 16 precious months had been wasted Sir in the experiment, the british government discovered Alex. that admiral sir John Warren was too old and infirm to carry on the war, as it ought to be carried relieves on, against the Americans. Sir John was therefore John recalled, and in the summer of 1814 vice-admiral Warren sir Alexander Cochrane arrived at Bermuda to take Norththe command on the coast of North-America. During the preceding winter the command of the british comforces in the Chesapeake had been intrusted to captain Robert Barrie, of the 74-gun ship Dragon. In the latter end of May rear-admiral Cockburn in the 74-gun ship Albion, (into which he had shifted his flag from the Sceptre,) captain Charles Bayne Hodgson Ross, arrived in the bay and relieved captain Barrie. The first operation of any importance Comin the bay of Chesapeake, after rear-admiral Cock-mo burn's arrival, was an attack upon a strong american Barflotilla fitted out at Baltimore, and intrusted to the flotilla. command of a brave officer of the revolutionary war, commodore Joshua Barney, a native of Ireland. This flotilla consisted of the commodore's vessel, the Scorpion sloop, mounting eight carronades and a heavy long gun upon a traversing carriage, and 16 gun-boats, with one long gun in the bow and another in the stern, the largest of the vessels carrying 32-pounders and 60 men, and the smallest, 18-pounders and 40 men. dore ney's Barrie into tuxent. The first sight gained of this flotilla, by the Capt. British, was on the 1st of June, when it was drives proceeding from Baltimore, past the mouth of the flotilla river Patuxent, to "scour the bay." The british the Pavessels consisted of the St.-Lawrence schooner, of 13 guns, and 55 men, and the boats, in number seven, of the Albion and Dragon, under the command of captain Barrie. The Americans had the honour of seeing this trifling force retreat before them to the Dragon, then at anchor off |