1814. preceding day, the rocket-ship and bomb-vessels had Sept. been called off from the american batteries; which, notwithstanding the long continued bombardment, lost only four men killed and 24 wounded. The ships afterwards stood down the river, and joined the remainder of the squadron at anchor off North point.

Re

on the

No Briton but must regret, that any plan of marks ulterior operations" should have obtruded itself, subject. to check the progress of the attack. With respect to naval cooperation, it is well known, that the gallant commanders of the Severn, Euryalus, Havannah, and Hebrus frigates, volunteered to lighten their ships, and lay them close alongside Fort M'Henry. The possession of this fort would have enabled the British to silence the batteries on the opposite side of the bay, and, indeed, have placed the city completely at their mercy. The very advance of the frigates to their stations would probably have led to the destruction of the Java, Erie and Ontario; and then the British might have retired, "holding in view the ulterior operations of the troops," with something more to boast of than, not merely an empty, but, considering what had been lost by it, a highly disastrous, "demonstration."

Boat

attack

On the 19th of September sir Alexander Cochrane, up the with the Tonnant and Surprise frigate, sailed for Coan Halifax, to hasten the construction of the flat-botdeath tomed boats, intended to be employed in the great of capt. expedition on foot; and on the same day, the Albion,

and

rear-admiral Cockburn, sailed for Bermuda, leaving the Royal-Oak 74, rear-admiral Pulteney Malcolm, with some frigates and smaller vessels, and the ships containing the troops, at anchor in the river Patuxent. On the 27th the rear-admiral removed to the Potomac ; where, on the 3d of October, the troops were placed into boats, and sent up Coan river. In their way up, two soldiers were wounded, and captain Kenah of the Etna, a gallant young officer, killed, by musketry from the shore. Against so powerful a force, when once landed, the few militia could not be

expected to stand: they fired a volley and fled, and 1814. the troops advanced past Northumberland courthouse, five miles into the interior. After taking and scuttling two or three worthless schooners, and, according to the american editors, plundering the inhabitants, the troops reembarked, and stood down the river to their ships. The latter soon afterwards descended the Potomac; and on the 14th, taking with him the Royal-Oak, Asia, and Ramillies 74s, one or two frigates, and all the troop-ships and bombs, rear-admiral Malcolm quitted the Chesapeake for the grand rendezvous at Negril bay, Jamaica.

mo

tur

pedo to

the Ra

fails in

In our account of the last year's proceedings Combefore the blockaded port of New-London, we dore related the disgraceful attempt made to destroy the Decabritish 74-gun ship Ramillies, and her crew of 590 fits out or 600 men, by an explosion-vessel fitted out at a torNew-York. We remember frequently hearing it destroy said, that the plan originated with "mercenary mer- millies, chants ;" and it was even hinted, that the projectors but were adopted, not native, Americans, the latter his being, too" high-minded" to countenance such a object. proceeding. Above all things, no one, who wished to escape a tar-and-feathering, dare have whispered a supposition, that an american naval officer would lend his ear to so dishonourable a mode of freeing himself from the presence of his enemy. Those, the most ready to fly out on these occasions, did not of course recollect the attempt made in the bay of Chesapeake, with the sanction, if not under the direction, of captain Charles Stewart of the american navy, to blow up the Plantagenet 74, by a torpedo conducted by Mr. Mervine P. Mix, one of the Constellation's midshipmen; nor of a second plan to blow up the Ramillies, projected by that "excellent man," that "ornament to his country,"† commodore Stephen Decatur, but of which, very fortunately, sir Thomas Hardy received intelligence in time to place him on his guard. Nay, an officer and boat's * See p. 349.

† Brenton, vol. v. pp. 61, 202.

1814. crew from the Ramillies actually succeeded in capturing one of the crew of the frigate United-States, who was to conduct the whale-boat containing the torpedo, and which whale-boat lay for several weeks, waiting a fit opportunity to push off, at Southold on Long island.

The british force at anchor off New-London in January, 1814, consisted, besides the Ramillies, of the 24-pounder 40-gun frigate Endymion, captain Henry Hope, and the 38-gun frigate Statira, captain Hassard Stackpoole. In the hearing of an american privateer-captain, named Moran, about to quit the Ramillies for the shore, captains Hope and Stackpoole happened to express a desire to meet the UnitedStates and Macedonian. This soon became known all over New-London. Feeling his consequence likely to be lowered in the opinion of the citizens, commodore Decatur resolved to put in immediate practice an epistolary stratagem; which, managed as he intended it should be, could not fail to Sends redound to his advantage. On the 14th of January, lenge making the subject of the above reported converto sir sation the ground of the application, the american Hardy. Commodore sent to captain Hardy a written pro

a chal

Thos.

Sir

con

position for a contest between the United-States, of "48 guns and a boat-gun," and the Endymion, of "50 guns," and between the Macedonian, of "47," and the Statira, of "50 guns." Captain Hardy Thos. readily consented that the Statira should meet the sents Macedonian, as they were sister-ships; but, quite Statira contrary, as may be supposed, to the wishes of capmay tain Hope, he refused to permit the Endymion to meet meet the United-States, because the latter was much donian. the superior in force.

that

Mace

Through the medium of captain Biddle, the bearer of his proposition, commodore Decatur had agreed, that the crews of the Endymion and Statira, both of which were short of complement, should be made up from the Ramillies and Borer; and, had it been finally settled that the meeting should take

place between the Macedonian and Statira, sir 1814. Thomas Hardy meant, as we have understood, to in- Meant clude himself among the volunteers from the Ramillies to com to serve on board the latter. This would, undoubt- mand edly, have been a very hard measure upon captain latter Stackpoole; but we do not see how sir Thomas self. Hardy, having consented that a ship, other than the one he commanded, should meet in single combat the ship of an enemy, could well have acted otherwise.

the

him

of

donian

When commodore Decatur wrote his letter about Guns capturing the Macedonian, he did not mention, al- Unitedthough he took care to reckon, that ship's boat-gun; States but now he tells us, that the 49th gun of the United- MaceStates is a "12-pound carronade, a boat-gun." We have already shown, that the reduction of that ship's force did not go quite the length it purported to go, and that the Macedonian, although she may have mounted but 47 guns, was more effectively armed than when she mounted 49.* The armament of each of the two british ships is easily stated. Until the latter end of the year 1812, Also when she went into dock at Plymouth, the Endymion of Enmounted, along with her 26 long 24-pounders on the dymion main deck, 14 carronades, 32-pounders, on the quarterdeck, and four of the same caliber and two long nines on the forecastle; total, 46 guns. May, 1813, the Endymion had her quarterdeck barricade continued a few feet farther forward, to admit an additional carronade of a side; which, with two additional additional carronades on the forecastle, and, in lieu of her two 9-pounders, a brass long french 18-pounder as a bow chase-gun and for which there was no broadside-port, gave the Endymion 49 guns. Her net complement consisted of 347 men and boys. The Statira mounted the 46 guns And of her class, and two light boat-guns, with a net Statira. complement (when filled) of 317 men and boys. The crew of the United-States was about 480, and the crew of the Macedonian from 430 to 440 men.

* See p. 346.

In

4

1814.

Com

mo

Deca

Commodore Decatur, however, declined a meeting between the Macedonian and Statira, from the alleged apprehension, that the latter might be overdore manned; thereby tacitly admitting, what went rather against the previous claims of himself and his brother fuse the conquerors, that three men were better than two. match Thus ended this vapouring affair. Commodore is brok-Decatur then sent the correspondence to a news

tur re

and

en off.

be

and

Cervier

paper-editor; and he and captain Jacob Jones were bepraised on all sides for the valour they had displayed. According to one of the swaggering statements made on the occasion, captain Jones harangued his men, and pretended to lament the loss of so fine a ship as the Statira; which, he assured them, would have been their prize in a very short time. He had also the hardihood to tell them, that it was all owing to the refusal of the British, who were "afraid to contend with Americans upon equal terms." Chal- Shortly after this business was broken off, a verlenge bal challenge passed between the commanders of tween the Hornet and Loup-Cervier, the late american Hornet Wasp. The latter vessel soon afterwards foundered Loup- at sea, and every soul on board perished: nothing respecting this challenge has therefore been made public on the british side. The american "Port-folio," for November, 1815, in which the "Life of captain James Biddle" is given, contains some account of it. It is there stated, that "captain (William Bowen) Mends, of the Loup-Cervier, said that, if captain Biddle would inform him of the number of souls he commanded, he, captain Mends, pledged his honour to limit his number to the same; but that commodore Decatur would not permit captain Biddle to acquaint captain Mends with the number of his crew, and meet him on the terms stated; because it was understood that, in that case, the Loup-Cervier would have a picked crew from the british squadron." What do we gather from this? Why, that the Americans, with all picked men on their side, were afraid to meet an equal number of British, because