Chapter X: Part 10

In this vessel he fell in with his Britannic majesty’s ship Reindeer, mounting sixteen twenty-four pound carronades, two long nine pounders, and a shifting twelve pound carronade; and having a complement of one hundred and eighteen men. An action commenced, and, in nineteen minutes ended in the capture of the Reindeer. The loss of the Americans was twenty-one killed and wounded; that of the enemy sixty-seven. The Reindeer was cut to pieces in such a manner as to render it impossible to save her, and she was accordingly set on fire. After this the Wasp put into L’Orient; from which port she sailed on the 27th of August, and four days afterwards, falling in with ten sail of merchantmen, under a convoy of a ship of the line, she succeeded in cutting off one of the vessels. On the evening of the first of September, 1814, she fell in with four sail, two on each bow, but at considerable distances from each other. The first was the British brig-of-war Avon, which struck after a severe action; but Captain Blakeley could not take possession, as another enemy was fast approaching. This enemy, it seems, however, was called off to the assistance of the Avon, which was now sinking. The enemy reported that they had sunk the Wasp by the first broadside; but she was afterwards spoken by a vessel off the Western Isles. After this we hear of her no more; and though her fate is certain, the circumstances attending it are beyond the reach of discovery. The most general impression is that she was lost by one of those casualties incident to the great deep, which have destroyed so many gallant vessels in a manner no one knows how; for there are so many uncertainties connected with the unfathomable deep, that even imagination is bewildered in tracing the fate of those who are only known to have perished, because they are never more heard of or seen.

Another impression is, that the Wasp, very shortly after being spoken off the Western Isles, had a severe engagement with a British frigate, which put into Lisbon in a shattered condition; and reported having had an action, in the night, with a vessel which they believed to have sunk. But whatever may have been the fate of the generous Blakeley, this much is certain, that he will, to use his own expression, “be classed among those names that stand so high.”

The lustre of his exploits, not less than the interest excited by those who remembered how, in his very boyhood, he was left, as he says, without a single being around him with whom he could claim kindred blood,--how, by his merit, he obtained friends, and conferred honor on that country which was not only his parent, but which has become the parent of his only child; and how, last of all, he perished, is known only to One who rules the sea, and commands the troubled waves to “be still;”--has all given to his character, his history, his achievements and his fate, a romantic interest, marking the name of Blakeley for lasting and affectionate remembrance.

Notwithstanding his professional duties, which were scarcely interrupted from the time of his obtaining a warrant, his literary and scientific acquirements were very respectable; and among his brother officers he was always considered a man of uncommon intellect, as well as great courage and professional skill.

In December, 1813, he married Jane, the daughter of Mr. Hoope, of New York, the old and respected friend of his father; by whom he has left an only daughter, who received one of the most noble and substantial tributes of national gratitude which has occurred in the history of this country.

On the 27th of December, 1816, the legislature of North Carolina, after prescribing the destination of the sword they had voted to Captain Blakeley, “Resolved unanimously, that Captain Blakeley’s child be educated at the expense of this state; and that Mrs. Blakeley be requested to draw on the treasurer of this state, from time to time, for such sums of money as shall be required for the education of the said child.” This, we repeat, is substantial gratitude. It is classical, too, and reminds us of those noble eras in the history of some of the illustrious states of Greece, when the offspring of those who had fallen for their country, became the children of that country whose cause had made them fatherless. It is in this way that our states may acquire a parental character, that will endear them still more to the hearts of the citizens; that will inspire fathers to die in defence of their country, and be held up as an example to the world.

It is in this way, too, that the different members of the Union may nobly indulge their local feelings, and display their honest homebred affections. Let them exemplify their desire to appropriate to themselves the fame of their distinguished citizens, by their peculiar care in honoring their memory and cherishing their helpless orphans. A gold medal (_see_ Plate XIV.) was, by a vote of Congress, presented to Captain Blakeley, for the capture of the British sloop-of-war Reindeer, Captain Manners, June 28th, 1814.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MEDAL.

OCCASION.--Capture of the Reindeer.

DEVICE.--Bust of Captain Blakeley.

LEGEND.--Johnston Blakeley reip. fed. Amer. nav. Wasp, dux.

REVERSE.--Two ships engaged.

LEGEND.--Eheu! Bis victor. Patria tua te luget plauditq.

EXERGUE.--Inter Wasp nav. Ameri. et Reindeer nav. Ang. 28th June, 1814.

CAPT. CHARLES STEWART.

Charles Stewart was born in Philadelphia, on the 22d of July, 1776. Both his parents were natives of Ireland. His father came to America at an early age, and followed the business of a mariner in the merchants’ service. Charles was the youngest of eight children, and before he was quite two years of age had the misfortune to lose his father; his mother was now left in the midst of the Revolution with four children to provide for, and with but limited means, but being a woman of great energy and perseverance, she performed the arduous task with the care and affection of a devoted parent. At the age of thirteen, Charles, having a strong propensity for a seafaring life, commenced that profession in the merchant service, in which he gradually rose, through the several grades, from a cabin boy to the commander of a merchant vessel, and was often entrusted with the sale and purchase of whole cargoes. In the early part of the year 1798, when there was a strong probability of a war with France, he was induced to offer his services to his country. They were accepted; and on the 13th of March, 1798, he was appointed a lieutenant in the navy of the United States, under the command of Commodore Barry. In this ship he remained until 1800, when he was promoted to the command of the United States schooner Experiment, of twelve guns, to cruise on the West India station. On the 1st of September, in the same year, he fell in with the French schooner _Deux Amis_, (Two Friends,) of eight guns, which the Experiment engaged and captured without any loss, after an action of ten minutes. The following patriotic act will ever be remembered by his country. “Being short of water, he proceeded to Prince Rupert’s Bay, in St. Domingo, and while there, his Britannic majesty’s ship Alert, Captain Nash, accompanied by his majesty’s ship Siam, Captain Matson, arrived and anchored; soon after Lieutenant Stewart received a letter from a citizen of the United States, named Amos Seeley, stating that he had been impressed on board the British ship Siam, and claiming an interference for his release. Although Lieutenant Stewart’s power was inadequate to enforce his demand for the surrender of Seeley, the two ships mounting twenty guns each, his patriotic heart could not withstand the appeal of his countryman, and, prompted by that chivalry and patriotism which were destined to blaze out in after life so gloriously, he resolved on opening a correspondence with the British captain for the release of Seeley. A polite note was addressed by Lieutenant Stewart to the senior officer, conveying the request that Amos Seeley might be transferred from his majesty’s ship Siam to the schooner under his command, that he might be restored to his family and his home. The British captain demurred, but in answer requested a personal interview, wherein he remarked to Lieutenant Stewart, that the war in which his majesty was engaged was arduous; that the difficulty of obtaining men for his numerous fleets and ships of war was great, and that he should encounter great hazard of being censured by his government should he lessen his force by yielding up his men; urging, moreover, that the example would be injurious to the service. Lieutenant Stewart replied, in substance, that the British officers had too long trampled on the rights and liberties of his countrymen, and it was high time they had learned to respect the rights and persons of an independent nation; that whatever power his majesty claimed over his own subjects, he had no right to exercise it over a people who had forced him to acknowledge their independence; that to resume this power was to belie his own solemn act, and practise a deception on the world. It was stated in answer, that Seeley was impressed in England as an Englishman; to which Lieutenant Stewart replied:--“Then prove him so and I have done; but if you cannot, I am prepared to prove him a citizen of the United States.” Seeley was at once transferred to the schooner. Shortly after, while cruising under the lee of the Island of Bermuda, the Experiment discovered two vessels, one a brig of war, the other a three-masted schooner, both standing for her under a press of sail, and displaying English colors. The Experiment hove to, and the British signal of the day was made, which not being answered by the strange vessels by the time they were within gun-shot, that signal was hauled down, and the Experiment stood away with all sail set. A chase was now commenced which lasted two hours, when, finding they were outsailed by the Experiment, they relinquished the pursuit, and bore away under easy sail, firing a gun to windward and hoisting French colors. Lieutenant Stewart now manœuvred his schooner so as to bring her in the enemy’s wake, to windward, when a chase was made on his part. At eight o’clock at night the Experiment closed with the three-masted schooner, which was the sternmost of the hostile vessels; and having taken a position on her larboard quarter, opened a fire upon her from the great guns and small arms, which in about five minutes compelled her to strike. She was immediately taken possession of, and proved to be the French schooner-of-war Diana, of fourteen guns and sixty-five men, commanded by M. Perandeau, Lieutenant de Vaisseau. The detention occasioned by removing the prisoners, enabled the brig-of-war to escape. She mounted, as was afterwards learned, eighteen guns, and had a crew of one hundred and twenty men. The Experiment proceeded to St. Christopher’s with her prize. During this important cruise, the Experiment recaptured several American vessels, sometimes as many as two or three in a day, and thus rescued American property to an immense amount.

Accounts now arrived of peace having been made with the French republic; the Experiment was thereupon sent from Martinique to the Island of St. Thomas, and from thence to Curacoa, to look for the United States brig Pickering and frigate Insurgent, but nothing could be heard of those vessels at that place; they had both foundered in the equinoxial gale, with a store-ship under their care, and all hands perished. On leaving Curacoa, the Experiment proceeded to Norfolk, Virginia, to be put out of commission.

On her passage thither, she discovered a vessel in distress, near the Island of Saona, at the east end of Hispaniola; and had the good fortune to rescue from the jaws of death, about sixty persons who were on board of her. They consisted chiefly of families of the most respectable inhabitants of St. Domingo, flying from the siege of that city by the blacks. The persons thus saved from destruction had remained two days without any nourishment, on a small part of the quarter-deck of their vessel, which had struck upon a rock that went through her bottom and fixed her to the reef; the greatest part of her being under water. They were placed in safety on board of the Experiment, with their plate and other valuables, which the sailors had recovered by diving into the hold of the wreck, notwithstanding the roughness of the sea. They were soon restored in safety to their friends in St. Domingo.

They, and the inhabitants of that city in general, expressed to the officers and crew of the Experiment their most grateful thanks, showed them every possible civility and attention, and furnished them with fruits and all kinds of stock which the island afforded in such profusion, that much of the supply was obliged to be returned. Soon after Lieutenant Stewart’s return to the United States, he was appointed to the command of, and to superintend the equipment of the brig Siren for the Mediterranean service; so much activity was employed in fitting her out that she was completely coppered in ten hours. After convoying some merchant-vessels, and conveying the naval consular presents to Algiers, she proceeded to Syracuse, in Sicily, the port appointed for the general rendezvous of the squadron. Here they heard of the capture of the frigate Philadelphia by the Tripolitans; and Lieutenant Stewart hastened with the brig Siren to aid the gallant Decatur in his victorious efforts against these savages; the particulars of which are given in the memoirs of those to which they belong; a victory which caused the pope to exclaim, “the Americans have done more for Christendom in one battle, than all Europe in a century.” On the 17th of May, 1804, Lieutenant Stewart was promoted to the rank of master and commander; and on the 22d of April, 1806, he was promoted to the rank of captain in the navy. The years of 1806 and 1807 he was employed in superintending the construction of gun-boats at New York, and was afterwards engaged in prosecuting mercantile enterprises to the East Indies, the Mediterranean and Adriatic. In 1812, on the prospect of a war with Great Britain, he was appointed to the command of the frigate Constellation; but as that ship required so much repairs, there was little hope of getting her to sea before the beginning of 1813. Captain Stewart, on the declaration of war, proceeded to Washington, and projected an expedition for the Argus and Hornet. The President and Secretary of the Navy approved of it and appointed Captain Stewart to undertake its direction. On his return to New York, he found that those vessels had sailed with the squadron under the command of Commodore Rodgers; the project of course was abandoned. He, therefore resumed the command of the Constellation, and on the 4th of February, 1813, was anchored in Hampton Roads. Having learned that the enemy were off the Chesapeake in great force, and presuming that they would soon be informed of her situation, Captain Stewart sent to Hampton, at midnight, for a Norfolk pilot, in order to be prepared for a retreat if it should become necessary. At seven o’clock the next morning, the enemy appeared with two ships of the line, three frigates, a brig and a schooner. No time was now to be lost. Captain Stewart got up his anchor, and there being no wind, and the ebb tide making, commenced kedging his ship towards Norfolk. He succeeded in getting her partly over the flats at Sewell’s Point, when the tide had fallen so much that she took the ground. By this time the enemy were within three miles, when they were obliged to anchor. Captain Stewart, apprehensive that they would kedge up one of their line-of-battle ships, pressed all the craft he could lay hold of, unloaded his frigate of every thing that could be removed, and made preparations for burning her, in the last extremity. He sent to Norfolk for the gun-boats to assist him, but such was their condition that none of them could be sent to him.

As the enemy lay quiet for the want of wind, until the flood-tide made, Captain Stewart continued lightening the ship. At the first quarter she floated. He then sent off the boats with a pilot to station them on the different shoals with lights; and with these precautions he was enabled to get the ship up to Norfolk in the night, through a difficult channel. Her safe retreat diffused universal joy among the inhabitants of that city, to whose protection she afterwards greatly contributed. A division of gun-boats was put in condition for service, and manned from her crew. By this means the communication with James’ river and Hampton was kept open, and every facility afforded to the transportation of the troops to their different stations. Captain Stewart seeing that there was hardly a possibility of getting the Constellation to sea, applied for and obtained in June, 1813, the command of the frigate Constitution, then vacant by the appointment of Commodore Bainbridge to the superintendence of the navy yard at Boston. On the 30th of December, in the same year, the Constitution proceeded to sea from Boston harbor, although it was then blockaded by seven ships-of-war. During this cruise she captured the British schooner-of-war Picton, of sixteen guns, together with a letter-of-marque ship under her convoy; the brig Catharine and schooner Phœnix, and chased a British frigate, supposed to be the La Pique, in the Mona passage. On the 4th of April, 1814, she returned to Boston Bay, and was chased into Marblehead by two of the enemy’s heavy frigates, La Nymphe and Junon. In December, 1814, she proceeded on her second cruise under the command of Captain Stewart; and on the 24th of the same month, she captured and destroyed the brig Lord Nelson. She cruised off Cape Finisterre, the rock of Lisbon, and the Madeiras, without meeting with anything except a merchant ship from the river Platte; but on the 20th of February, 1815, at two o’clock in the afternoon, two ships were discovered to leeward. Chase was given immediately to one of those vessels, which was several miles to windward of the other, for the purpose of cutting her off from her consort, but without effect; for at sunset they formed a junction and prepared to receive the Constitution.

She soon got alongside of them, and commenced the action, which was kept up with considerable vivacity on the part of the enemy, for about forty minutes, when the headmost ship bore away, and the sternmost struck her flag. The latter, which proved to be his Britannic Majesty’s ship Cyane, rated at twenty and mounting thirty-four guns, was taken possession of, and her consort was pursued without delay. She too, the Levant of twenty-one guns, was compelled to surrender, after exchanging broadsides. In these actions, the Constitution had three men killed and thirteen wounded. The British ships having in all thirty-five killed and forty-two wounded. Captain Stewart proceeded with these prizes to the Island of St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verd islands, with a view to divest his ship of the numerous prisoners, consisting of officers, seamen, and marines of both ships of the enemy, amounting to nearly four hundred. While making arrangements for dispatching them at Port Praya, for Barbadoes, the British squadron, consisting of the ships-of-war the Acasta, of fifty guns, the Newcastle of sixty-four guns, and the Leander of sixty-four guns, under the command of Sir George Collier, reached his position under the cover of a thick fog. Notwithstanding their near approach, Captain Stewart determined to retreat, and immediately the Constitution and her prizes cut their cables and crowded sail to escape. He was fortunate in being able, by his skillful management and manœuvres, to save from their grasp his favorite frigate Constitution, and the Cyane. The Levant was captured by the squadron and sent to Barbadoes.

After this escape, he proceeded with the Constitution to Maranam, in the Brazils, and landed the prisoners, refreshed his crews, refitted his vessel, and returned to Boston, where he and his officers were received with the usual courtesies by their fellow citizens. On his way through New York, the common council honored Captain Stewart with the _freedom of the city_ in a gold box, and extended towards him and his officers the courteous hospitalities of that great city, by a public dinner. The legislature of Pennsylvania voted him their thanks, and directed a gold-hilted sword to be presented to him.

On the meeting of Congress, the assembled representatives of the nation passed a vote of thanks to Captain Stewart, his officers, and crew; and resolved that a suitable gold medal (_See_ Plate XIV.) commemorative of that brilliant event, the capture of the two British ships-of-war, the Cyane and Levant, by the Constitution, should be presented to Captain Stewart, in testimony of the sense they entertained of his gallantry and that of his officers, seamen, and marines, under his command on that occasion. The war with Great Britain having terminated, the Constitution was put out of commission, and laid up in ordinary.

In 1816, Captain Stewart took command of the Franklin ship of the line, of seventy-four guns, and in 1817, she was fitted out at Philadelphia as a flag ship and directed to sail for England, to convey the Hon. Richard Rush as minister to the court of Great Britain, after which the Franklin proceeded to the Mediterranean, and Captain Stewart took command of the forces of the United States in that sea. Since our country has been at peace, he has been alternately employed either in command of squadrons abroad, or in superintending the navy at home. Such is the brief outline of the life of this gallant officer, one of Pennsylvania’s cherished sons, who has contributed his services and his counsels for half a century, for the protection of our commerce and for the glory of the navy.

Long may he live to serve his country and wear the laurels which victory and fame have enwreathed for his brow.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MEDAL.

OCCASION.--Capture of the Cyane and Levant.

DEVICE.--A bust of Captain Stewart.

LEGEND.--Carolus Stewart navis Ameri. Constitution dux.

REVERSE.--Two ships closely engaged; a third at a little distance.

LEGEND.--Una victoriam eripiut ratibus binis.

EXERGUE.--Inter Constitu. nav. Ameri. et Levant et Cyane nav. Ang. die 20th Feb. 1815.

CAPTAIN JAMES BIDDLE.

James Biddle, the subject of this memoir, is the son of the late Charles Biddle, Esquire, of Philadelphia, and was born in that city on the 18th of February, 1783. He was educated in the University of Pennsylvania, where he acquired a taste for literature, which, in the intervals of professional duty, has been most assiduously cultivated.

In the year 1800, the American navy offered the most flattering prospects to the aspiring youth of our country. Its fame acquired by the war with France was rapidly increasing. The brilliant success of Captain Truxtun, in his victory with the French frigates Insurgente and Vengeance, gave additional eclat to the navy.

To this distinguished commander, Mr. Biddle entrusted the care of his two sons, James and Edward, who, on obtaining midshipmen’s warrants, were attached to the frigate President, fitting for the West Indies. The cessation of hostilities with France brought the frigate again to the United States after a much shorter cruise than was intended, but which was rendered memorable by the melancholy death of Mr. Edward Biddle, who died at sea of a fever after an illness of a few days. Early in 1802, James Biddle sailed to the Mediterranean, in the frigate Constellation, Captain Murray, to protect American commerce against Tripolitan cruisers. This gave our young officer valuable opportunities of renewing his acquaintance with classic writers, and remains of antiquity, obtained by him during his studies at the University, and which were to him an additional fund of instruction and gratification. The Constellation returned home in 1803, and Mr. Biddle was transferred to the frigate Philadelphia, Captain Bainbridge, and returned again to the Mediterranean, where this unfortunate ship struck upon a rock, and was lost.

When all efforts to get the Philadelphia afloat were found to be unavailing, Lieutenant Porter and Midshipman Biddle were dispatched to the commander to inform him of the accident. As they approached the Tripolitan gun-boats, they were fired upon and ordered to surrender. Porter and Biddle were prepared to deliver up their swords, but this ceremony was dispensed with by the savage Tripolitans; twenty of whom, of the most ferocious appearance, armed with sabres, pistols, and muskets, jumped into the boat, and at once commenced their work of insult and plunder. Two of them snatched Biddle’s sword, pulled off his coat, and began to fight for it, when, to decide their dispute, they returned it to him.

His cravat was violently torn from his neck, his waistcoat and shirt torn open, in search for valuables that might be concealed about his person. They searched all his pockets, and took all his papers and money, except twenty dollars in gold, which he had slipped into his boot and thereby secured. The officers and crew were then carried on shore, conducted amidst the shouts and acclamations of a barbarous rabble to the palace gates, and ushered into the presence of the bashaw, who, seated in state, received them in the audience chamber; and after asking a variety of questions about the American squadron, they were conducted to the place assigned for safe keeping.

There is no subject which the imagination can present to us more full of horror than that of slavery among the barbarians of Africa. In this situation, ignorant of the fate of their companions, and doubtful of their own, they continued nineteen months in close and rigorous confinement, in want of pure air, exercise, and employment, with occasional threats by the bashaw of his vengeance; circumstances calculated to impair the health and break the spirits of the strongest and most resolute. Yet happily they preserved their health and their spirits unbroken.

They considered it a point of honor to be firm and cheerful, to disregard the threats of the barbarians, and to sustain by an unconquerable fortitude the character of their country. In consequence of the peace with Tripoli, in the month of September, 1805, they were liberated, and Captain Bainbridge and Midshipman Biddle, who had not separated since the loss of the frigate, returned together to Philadelphia. Upon the release of Mr. Biddle, he was promoted to a lieutenancy, and after remaining at home but a few weeks, he was ordered to the command of one of the gun-boats, then lying at Charleston, South Carolina, but finding this service both inactive and irksome, he obtained an appointment as second lieutenant in the frigate President, under the command of his friend Captain Bainbridge. In this, and other similar situations, he had opportunities to display a character of firmness and decision, jealous of personal honor, and aspiring to deeds of enterprise and of fame. In 1811 he sailed as bearer of dispatches from our government to the American minister in France, and remained in Paris nearly four months, during which he was presented to the Emperor Napoleon, and attended all the parties given at the Tuileries.

Lieutenant Biddle had but recently returned from France, when the war was declared between the United States and Great Britain. He at once availed himself of the first chance of service, and accordingly volunteered his services to Commodore Rodgers, who had command of the frigate President, but unfortunately the number of officers was complete before he made application. But his disappointment was soon relieved by the arrival of the sloop-of-war Wasp, Captain Jones, with dispatches from France; this vessel had not her full complement of officers, and Lieutenant Biddle immediately procured an order to join her as first lieutenant.

The Wasp went to sea on the 13th of October, 1812, and on the 18th fell in with six sail of the line of British merchant vessels under convoy of the Frolic sloop-of-war. An attack was made, and a heavy fire of cannon and musketry opened upon them, which was quickly returned by the Wasp without interruption. Amidst this severe contest the two vessels struck each other with a tremendous crash, the jib-boom of the Frolic coming between the main and mizzen rigging of the Wasp, directly over the heads of Captain Jones and Lieutenant Biddle; this position gave the Wasp an opportunity of sweeping the deck of the Frolic, which was done by two guns of the Wasp. Lieutenant Biddle jumped on the bowsprit and boarded her, and to his surprise found that the only persons on deck were the commander and two other officers, and a seaman at the wheel. Upon seeing Lieutenant Biddle, these officers threw down their swords and surrendered, and, as their colors were still flying, he hauled them down himself, and took possession of the Frolic in forty-three minutes after the first fire. Soon after the action Biddle was ordered by Captain Jones to make his way with the prize to a southern port of the United States, but he had not proceeded far when a large ship hove in sight, to windward, which proved to be the Poictiers, a British seventy-four, and as the Frolic was totally dismasted, and the Wasp so disabled in her rigging and sails as to be incapable of escaping immediately, both vessels were taken by the Poictiers. Captain Jones and his officers were carried to Bermuda, and after a short detention there, were released upon their parole, and returned to the United States. The very efficient part borne by Lieutenant Biddle in this memorable action, is related in the following extract from the official letter of Captain Jones. “Lieutenant Biddle’s active conduct contributed much to our success, by the exact attention paid to every department during the engagement, and the animating example he afforded the crew by his intrepidity.”

The legislature of Pennsylvania voted Lieutenant Biddle a sword, and a testimonial still more grateful to his feelings was offered to him by a number of highly respectable gentlemen of Philadelphia, in a letter addressed to him, of which the following is an extract:--“Whilst your country confers upon you those distinguished marks of approbation which are ever due to merit and valor, a number of the personal friends and companions of your youth are desirous of attesting to you their esteem, and of perpetuating the remembrance of your private worth. With this view they have directed us, as their committee, to present to you in their name, a silver urn, bearing upon it an appropriate inscription, and a representation of the action between the Wasp and the Frolic, in which you so conspicuously assisted to exalt the naval character of our country.”

Shortly after, Lieutenant Biddle was promoted to the rank of master-commandant, and received command of the Hornet sloop-of-war. This ship, after cruising for some time in the vicinity of New York and New London, was attached to the command of Commodore Decatur, destined for a cruise to the East Indies.

On the third day after the sailing of this squadron, the Hornet separated in chase of a vessel which proved to be a Portuguese brig, and then proceeded singly towards the Island of Tristan d’Acunha, which was the first place of rendezvous for the squadron. On the passage she chased and boarded every vessel that came in sight. On the morning of the 23d of March, 1815, when about to anchor off the north end of that island, a sail was descried to the southward and eastward. The Hornet made sail immediately, and hove to for her to come down. When she had come down and shortened sail, she took in her steering sails in a very clumsy manner, purposely to deceive the Hornet, and came down stem on as near as possible, lest the Hornet should perceive her broadside and run. “At forty minutes past one, P. M.,” says Captain Biddle’s official letter, “being nearly within musket-shot distance, she hauled her wind on the starboard tack, hoisted English colors and fired a gun. We immediately luffed to, hoisted our ensign, and gave the enemy a broadside. The action being thus commenced, a quick and well-directed fire was kept up from this ship, the enemy gradually drifting nearer to us, when at fifty-five minutes past one he bore up apparently to run us on board. Expecting he would certainly board us, I ordered every officer and man to the quarter-deck, to be ready to repel the boarders if an attempt was made. The enemy’s bowsprit came between our main and mizzen rigging on our starboard side, affording him an opportunity to board us, if such was his design; but no attempt was made. There was a considerable swell, and as the sea lifted us ahead, the enemy’s bowsprit carried away our mizzen shrouds, stern-davits and spanker-boom, and he hung upon our larboard quarter. At this moment an officer, who was afterwards recognized to be Mr. McDonald, the first lieutenant and the then commanding officer, called out that they had surrendered. I directed the marines and musketry men to cease firing, and while on the tafferel, asking if they had surrendered, I received a wound in the neck. The enemy again called out that he had surrendered. It was with difficulty I could restrain my crew from firing into him again, as they persisted he had fired into us after having surrendered. From the firing of the first gun to the last time the enemy cried out he had surrendered, was exactly twenty-two minutes by the watch. She proved to be his Britannic majesty’s brig Penguin, mounting sixteen thirty-two pound carronades, two long twelves, a twelve pound carronade on the top-gallant forecastle, with swivels on the capstan and in the tops. She had a spare port forward so as to fight both her long guns of a side. The enemy acknowledge a complement of one hundred and thirty-two men, twelve of them supernumerary marines, from the Medway seventy-four. They acknowledge also a loss of fourteen killed and twenty-eight wounded; but Mr. Mayo, who was in charge of the prize, assures me that the number of killed was certainly greater.” Among the killed of the Penguin, was Captain Dickinson, her commander, who is represented to have been a deserving and favorite officer. The Hornet had but one man killed and eleven wounded. Among the wounded were Captain Biddle severely, and McConner, the first lieutenant, dangerously. It is always gratifying to notice the attachment of our brave tars to their commanders. Captain Biddle had his face much disfigured by being struck twice with splinters, and, when he received the wound in the neck, from which the blood flowed profusely, some of the crew insisted upon his retiring below for the purpose of having it dressed, two of whom seized him in their arms for that purpose, so that he could scarcely extricate himself from them; but finding he was determined to remain on the deck, one of them stript off his shirt, tore it into strips, and almost by force tied it tightly about Captain Biddle’s neck to prevent his bleeding. Captain Biddle would not have his own wound dressed until after all his men had theirs dressed.

Captain Biddle received his wound in the neck after the enemy had surrendered. He was standing upon the tafferel, and had ordered the musketry not to fire, when one of his officers called out to him that there was a man taking aim at him. Captain Biddle’s back being towards the officer, he did not hear this, but two of the marines perceiving the fellow taking aim at their commander, fired at him, and he fell dead the instant after he had discharged his piece. He was not more than ten or twelve yards from Captain Biddle when he shot him; the ball struck the chin directly in front with much force, and passing along the neck, tearing the flesh, went off behind through his cravat, waistcoat and coat collar. The Penguin being so completely riddled, her fore-mast and bowsprit gone, and her main-mast so crippled as to be incapable of being secured, she was accordingly scuttled and destroyed. Shortly after, peace with Great Britain was restored, and Captain Biddle returned to New York, much indisposed and debilitated by his wound. During his absence he had been promoted to the rank of post-captain. On his return, a public dinner was given to him by the citizens of New York, and a service of plate presented to him by the citizens of Philadelphia. It has been the distinguishing character of this gentleman, to exert in the public service an unwearied activity and an ardent enterprise, which surmounted every obstacle and commanded the events of his life. He was a party to two of the most decisive actions of the war, in which his persevering spirit led him forward in spite of every untoward event in the path of glory, and crowned his exertions with success. The capture of the Frolic by the Wasp, not only broke the charm of British naval superiority, but showed a decided superiority in favor of America. The capture of the Penguin was not less decisive; and if, at the commencement of the war, the British navy was surprised, from habits of security and contempt for their enemies, they had, before the victory of the Hornet, learned their error and corrected their conduct. In this instance, even the enemy was utterly unable to frame an apology for his defeat, since he had come out prepared, and with unusual means to pursue and capture an American ship-of-war. Congress voted a gold medal (_see_ Plate XIV.) and the thanks of that body to Captain James Biddle, commander of the sloop-of-war Hornet, for the capture of the brig Penguin, Captain Dickinson, in twenty-two minutes, March 23, 1815.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MEDAL.

OCCASION.--Capture of the brig Penguin.

DEVICE.--Bust of Captain Biddle.

LEGEND.--The Congress of the U. S. to Capt. James Biddle for his gallantry, good conduct and services.

REVERSE.--Two vessels engaged: the Peak of Tristan d’Acunha in sight.

LEGEND.--Capture of the British brig Penguin by the U. S. ship Hornet.

EXERGUE.--Off Tristan d’Acunha, March 23d, 1815.

THE END.