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mi vi.
feanen 45a$ette
‘■mMITED AND PUBLISHED
BY
d®S. F. GRYNDISON.
[ON THE BAY)
gHftirr annum , payable in advance.
j ‘ . a
NAVAL.
• Phillips’ Case.
(concluded)
Wmsh short detention, commodore Lor-
of a special note written
SHKn Phillips to him, and apprehensive,
L is presumed, of his conduct not being ap-
by his government, to whom he
jEHBuKim captain Phillips'communication,
Mmr i — ri I;- be made known, sent
of the men he had taken from the
HBpoNt, retaining five: and he then made
pjfafcositions stated by Messrs, frezevant
nd Twntnons, and after receiving captain
•hillipa* reply, he set sail with his squadron,
nd left the Baltimore.
Captanf Phillips, finding that the British
declined taking possession of his
had beefi surrendered, re-hoisl-
went into Havana, where he ob
ained necessary supplies, and taking under
■■■Bption a number of homeward bound
||HM§eturned to the Chesapeake, and im-
HHi proceeded to Philadelphia, and
to the Secretary of the Navy a
HH of this outrage; stating minutely
and that of commodore Lor-
expressed to the Secretary of the
wish to have a personal interview
ritn the President of the United States, that
answer any questions which the
might propound to him. The re
wßifttlim to believe that his conduct would
SHlPsapproved, and that an interview
President would be altogether un
■HHryi that he might return to Baltimore
UHKe would receive further orders re-
SEBBEfr the destination of his ship. He, ac
||Hßpy returned to Baltimore; but two
■wpme” his arrival there, instead of receiv
w.Ofders for service, as he had been led to
Xpect, and for which he was preparing him
to his utter astonishment a
liter (10th January, 1799) from the Secreta
f, dismissing him from the Naval service of
■HHrcd States.
BKiig
WmKUoioing letter from the Secretary of the
to captain Phillip?, will shc-.oi the
on which he was dismissed; 1 Olh Ja
-1899.
narrative of the transaction
Hlhc British captain, near the Havana,
aflbden attentively considered, and with
to make allowance for the
situation to which you were
it is impossible to find an excuse
parts of your conduct, among these
v. Bbe sufficient to mention your tame sub
to the orders oj the British lieutenant,
your own ship.
H|u could not have resisted theassump-
Hftlie command of your own ship by
HHncer, a point not to be admitted, sure
might have contented yourself with
submission; but you descended fur-
SCTMUKi actually obeyed It is orders, to have
called, and to give him a list of their
{■§. Under circumstances so degrading,
’ ißfrproper that you should hold a com
in the Naval service of the United
l;K and I am commanded by the Presi
eißu inform you that your services are no
required.
H 1 am, respectfully,
■ Your most obedient servant,
BENJAMIN STODDERT.”
it if greatly to be regretted, that captain
WHm’ original narrative hasshared the fate
fpjllby other official documents; it being
Bncaptain Phillips himself; nor any re
■Hjjby the Navy Department, where it
to have been recorded, with the letter
DtHed upon it. This is a defect, which
aiSe but partially supplied, by the memo
y ■those who read the narrative soon after
ts-Mb received. We distinctly remember
dß have read it with great attention and
hßhere were passages in it, justifying the
drawn by Mr. Secretary Stod
hK such passages, for instance, as the fol
aBlg: “When the British lieutenant arriv-
B board, lie required the muster roll of
liHliip, wliich was delivered to him, and the
■were mustered.'’ But captain Phillips
lißiot say by whom the muster roll was de-
nor by whom the men were muster-
His own subsequent statement shows,
■he was not on board the Baltimore at the
H these transactions took place—that
he got on board, he found the muster
cßin the hands of the British lieutenant,
him, desired him to walk the
(Bard side of the quarter deck, until he
make up his mind as to the course of
‘Bluet it became him to pursue, and retir-
Bnto his cabin, consulted Mr. Trezevant,
■ finally, agreeably to his advice, returned
Bn upon deck, and informed the British
■tenant, that he should not resist the exe-
Bon of commodore Loring’s order—but
■test against it—and submit a full state
■>< of the occurrence to his government,
■then struck his flag, and fifty-five of his
■w were taken away.
Bfhen captain Phillips received the Sec-
Bry’s letter, dismissing him, lie requested,
Berms, not over courteous, an opportunity
■ustifying his conduct before a court mar-
B; and stated that his narrative had been
■sented, not for the purpose of defending
■ proceedings, but rather to enable the go
■•nment to communicate with, and obtain
Bi'ess from the British government, for the
■tvage committed on our national flag, that
DARIEN ■■ GAZETTE.
there were many circumstances essential to
his defence, not mentioned in the narrative.
A court was, however, refused him; and he
has ever since felt himself to have been un
justly, i not cruelly treated on this occasion.
One of his friends, in the year 1820, un
dertook to communicate with the late Presi
dent, Mr. Adams, with a view to ascertain
his sentiment upon the subject, the dismis
sal having occurred during his Presidential
term; and the following will show the result.
Extract of a letter from Dr. Benjamin Water
house, to Captain Isaac Phillips, dated Cam
bridge, August sth 1820.
“Having heard from you, and oftenerfrom
others, an account of your sudden dismissal
from the service of the United States, in the
administration of President Adams, and hav
ing always heard it spoken of as a hard case,
I was determined the first goocfopportunity,
to speak to Mr. Adams on the subject. Such
an one occurred, and 1 improved it.
“His narrative of the affair corresponded
with your own. He said that Commodore
Loring fell in with the United States’ sloop
of war which you commanded, and being in
a ship of the line, accompanied with several
frigates, he caused you to be boarded, and
by force took from you fifty-five men, which
it was not in >your power to prevent, unless
you blew your ship up; that you directly
thereupon struck your colours, and judicious
ly surrendered yourself to such an irresisti
ble force; but that the British commodore re
fused to take your ship, or to consider her
as captured, and insisted that you should re
hoist your colors, and go from him, which
you very’ properly refused todo, but demand
ed of him the men he had impressed; and
that you then wrote to the commodore, reite
rating your demand, and givingyour reasons
for persisting in considering yourself captur
ed by a greatly superior force; all of which,
Mr. Adams said, was very proper, and just
as it should be. That, when commodore
Loring found, by your letter, that it was not
a contest between an American captain of a
sloop of war, anil the commander of an Eng
lish squadron, but was like to be a national
question, he sent fifty of the impressed men
back to your ship and retained five. Upon
this, it seems, you unluckily rehoisted your
colors, and proceeded on your way. You did
not sufficiently consider, that by the forcible
detention of those five men, the sovereignty
of the nation, of which yonr colors were the
emblem, was forcibly prostrated and disgrac
ed, and that it was left to the nation to vindi
cate and revenge the insult. It was this er
ror of judgment that cost you your commis
sion.
“There are cases, and your’s was one of
them, where Kings and Republics find itex
pedient to sacrifice an individual to estab
lish an important principle. The British
have done it often. But then the King, who
is a permanent chief magistrate, takes care
to apply a healing plaster totlie wounded
officer, and after an year or two’s suspension,
gives him a larger ship or a more profitable
employ. But this cannot always be done
in such a government as ours. When a pre
sident retires to private life, his successor
may possibly; not feel'himself disposed to
soothe all the painful feelings excited by a
predecessor.”
From the same to the same. 12 th Sept. 1820.
“1 write this, merely to say, that directly
on receiving your letter of the 19th August,
I wrote such a letter to my venerable friend,
Mr. Adams, as I thought proper, but had
no answer before to-day. 1 was a little
fearful, least I had offended him in my free
dom; but 1 find that the contents of your
letter had made a deep and rather sorrow
ful impression on his mind, for he says “cap
tain Phillips’ letter is a volume of news to
me. That lie sailed without a commission
was never known, heard or suspected by
me, and not one word of his conversation
with Mr. Stoddert, was ever communicated
to me.—l will return you his letter, when I
have read it more deliberately and reflected
upon it more maturely.”
“1 clearly perceived, that he is filled with
regret at what has happened, that I believe,
from my knowedge of his love of truth and
jnstice, will try to soothe your feelings; but
the mode requires deliberate thought, for the
Secretary of the Navy is dead, and your let
ter has called up a volume of ideas to his
mind that we perhaps know nothing of.”
Same to the same, V2th November, 1820.
“It is but two days since President Ad
ams returned to me your letter, of August
19th, lam convinced that it has occasioned
him a great deal of thought, in which,
regret has predominated; and this, we need
not wonder at, when we consider, that he is
that rare character, a conscientious statesman.
He repeats in strong terms, that he never
knew, heard, or suspected, that you sailed
without a commission. He says he has no
recollection that he ever gave orders, or
consented to your dismission—His words
are, “ Indeed I suspected he never was dismis
sed, and that he is now a captain in the Na
vy, as much as ever he was. I greatly regret
that Phillips did not come to me in person, and
explain the whole affair Idmself. If he had, 1
am confident he would have hadno reason to,
complain
Same to the same, Bth JUarch 1821.
“In conversation, he (Mr. Adams) repea
ted what he had written to me, and 1 to him.
He said, in his opinion, you were still a
captain in the navjt of the United States;
that he never knew you went to sea without
a commission, and never knew the circum
stances of the case, and has not the least re
collection of ordering your dismissal; he
should not where he now President of the
United States, consider you otherwise than
a captain in the service, but as so long a
time has elapsed, and Mr. Stoddert no lon
ger here to atiswer.for himselfl he did not
see what could now be done.”
The preceding letters and statements, af
ford all the information it is possible to ob
tain, in any degree essential to an under
DAttIEN, (Georgia,) <£rjual anti €jract Satire. TUESDAY, JULY 20, 1824.
standing of the subjects to which they re
late.
The apparent discrepency between the
statement of Messrs. Trezevant and Tim
mons, and captain Phillips; the two first ob
serving that they “were not on board the
Baltimore, when she was visited by captain
Loring’s officers,” and the latter stating that
he had “consulted Mr. Trezevant before he
had permitted any of the crew to be taken
from the ship,” appears to be reconciled, by
the explanatiruMrfcaptain Phillips, who says,
that although gentlemen were not on
board the Baltimore at the time commodore
Loring’s officers visited her, yet that Mr. Tre
zevant arrived on board while they were there,
and before any of her crew had been taken
from her, .
The reader will not fail to observe that
every information with regard to the occur
rences between the Baltimore and the Brit
ish squadron, is derived from captain Phillips
himself. It was from the information given
to them by him, that Messrs. Trezevant and
Timmons, wrote their letter to Mr. Morton,
of the 18th November, and it was upon his
narrative of the occurrences that the Secre
tary of the Navy dismissed him, and his
more recent statement, as to what that nar
rative was, appears to be confirmed by the
recollection of Mr, Adams, as may be seen
by referring to Dr. Waterhouse’s letter of
sth August, 1820, where he says, “Ins nar
rative of the affair corresponded with your
own.”
If captain Phillips, conduct on this occa
sion had been such as Mr. Stoddert, no
doubt, believed it to be, he thought to have
been brought to a court martial, and his dis
missal from the service would unquestiona
bly, have been recommended. It would not
have been in his power to have averted such
a sentence. If he really.had not only “tame
ly” submitted to the orders of the* British
lieutenant, but “obeyed” them, he would,
indeed have merited the summary punish
ment lie experienced. But in the fact stated,
we cannot discover in any part of the con
duct of captain Phillips, either obedience or
tame submission to the British officer.—
There was surely no tame submission in cap
tain Phillips’ taking the muster roll from the
hsrtVd of the British officer, directing him to
walk to the leeward side of the quarter-deck.
& ordering his crew to quarters; neither can
we trace his subsequent reluctant yielding
without resistence. to the execution of
captain Loring’s order, any base feeling’ of
this sore—Commanding only a small sloop of
war, while commodore Loring had three
ships of the line and two frigates, to enforce
the execution of his purposes; without a
commission or any paper from Ins govern
ment, indicating tile national character of
his s: ip; fettered by instructions winch en
joined him, on no account to molest the ves
sel of any natiop, except those of France;
his situation was higjily embarrassing.
Ilis instructions were not, it appears, con-
as they were intended. Correctly
interpreted, they meant that he should not
act offensively agains the vessel of any na
tion, excepting France. They did not for
bid his acting defensively. Under the cir
cumstances of the case, it would probably
have been, better for captain Phillips first to
have discharged his broadside at the British
squadron, and then struck his colors. It
should be a point of honor with a national
vessel of war, not to strike her colors with
guns loaded, if she has an opportunity of dis
charging them. The circumstances wliich
justify her striking herjgplors, will general
ly admit the previous discharge of her guns.
But, although this course would probably
have been more approved than any other
on the part of captain phillips, situated as lie
was, it does not appear to us that his con
duct deserved severe censure, still less, we
conceived, did he merit the summary punish
ment inflicted upon him.
I'he power of dismissing a navy officer,
without trial, is undoubtedly possessed by
the executive; the necessity of such a pow
er being lodged in someone of the depart
ments of government is at once conceded;
but is contended, and we think very justly,
that this power should never be exercised
without great caution, and positive Informa
tion that the offence requiring its exercise
has actually been committed. If a court
martial had have been allowed to captain
Phillips, there is every reason to believe
that he would have been acquitted, and that
another officer would have been convicted
ol the offence charged upon him, and for
which he was punished.
As soon as Mr. President Adams received
Mr. Morton’s despatch of 18tb Nov. 1798, he
directed the following instructions, (No. 3.)
to be transmitted to the commanders of our
armed vessels.
No. 3.
CIRCULAR.
To the commanders of armed vessels in the ser
vice of the United States, Dec, 29th, 1798.
Siu—lt is the positive command of the
President, that on no pretence whatever,
you permit the public vessels of war under
your command, to be detained, or searched,
nor any of the officers or men belonging to
her, te be taken from her, by the ships or
vessels of any foreign nation, so long as you
are in a capacity to reply such outrage” on
the honor of the American flag. If force be
exerted to compel your submission, you are
to rfesist that force to the utmost of your
power, and when overpowered by superior
force, you are to strike your flag, and thus
yield your vessel as well as your men,
but never your men without your vessel.
You will remember, however, that your
demeanor be respectfql and friendly to the
vessels and people of all nations in amity
with the United States, and that your avoid
as carefully the commission of, as the sub
mission to, insult or injoiy. I have the
honor, &c,
BENJ. STODDERT.
These instretions were universally approv
ed by the citizens of the United States, and
they were particularly acceptable to those to
whom they were addressed.
The additional instructions, No. 4 and No !
5, which explain themselves, were subse
quently issued.
No. 4.
CIRCULAR.
Additional Instructions, January 1 6th, 1799.
“It being not less the inclination and the
interest of our country to avoid disputes with
all nations, than the fixed determination of
the President never to provoke disputes, by
taking or maintaining improper grounds, it
is right that you should understand, that as
our laws do not prevent our armed ships
from protecting from French cruizers, the j
vessels of our merchants, with contraband i
goods, so it will not be lawful for you to pre-;
vent merchant vessles, although under your
convoy, from being searched or detained, by
the vessls of any of the powers at war, except
the French.
No, 5.
CIRCULAR.
Instructions, 12 th JMnrch, 1799.
“Herewith you will receive an act of Con
gress, “further to suspend the commercial
intercourse between the United States and
France and the dependencies thereof,” the
whole of which requires your attention.—
But it is the command of the President, that
yon consider particularly, the sth section as
part ofyour instructions,and govern yourself
accordingly. A proper discharge of the im
portant duties enjoined on you,- arising out
of this act, will require the exercise of a
sound and impartial judgement. You are
not only to do all that in you lies, to prevent
all intercourse, whether direct or circuitous
between the ports of the United States and
those of France, or her dependencies, in ca
ses where tile vessels are apparently, as well
as really American, and protected by Ameri
can papers only; but you are to be vigilant,
that vessels or cargoes, really American, bio
covered by Danish or other foreign papers,
and bound to or from French ports, do not
escape you. Whenever, on just suspicion,
you send a vessel into port, to be dealt with
according to the aforementioned law. besides
sending all her papers, you should send all
the evidence you can obtain, to support your
suspicions and effect condemnation. At the
same time that you are thus attentive to ful
fil the object of the law,” you are to be ex
tremely careful, not to harass, or injure, the
trade of foreign nations with whom we are at
peace. ,
A misconstruction of his authority by capt.
Nicholson, in relation to a vessel of a friend
ly nation, captured by the French, renders it
necessary that I should make some explana
tory observations on the subject. Our laws
direct the capture of all armed vessels, sail
ing nnder authority; or pretence of authori
ty, from the French republic. A vessel cap
tured by the cruizers of France, must be
considered as sailing under the authority of
France, and it is scarcely to be supposed,
that in times like the present, when few ves
sels sail without arms, a captured vessel in
possession of the captors, will be so circum
stanced as not to come under the descrip
tion of an arned vessel, within the meaning
of our laws.
To justify a re-capture, nothing is necessa
ry, but that the vessel be provided with such
means of annoyance’ as will render her dan
gerous to an unarmed American vessel, in
pursuit of lawful commerce-
If, however, the vessel cannot be consid
ered an armed vessel, within the the mean
ing of our laws, you are not to re-capture
her, unless you should have probable cause
to suspect, that the citizens of the United,
States, or persons resident therein, have
some interest in the vessel or cargo.
It is always your duty to re-capture Ame
rican property, or proper*y of pe. son resid
ent within the United States, whenever
found in possession of the French on the
high seas.”
[The following v-c.r despondence has grown
out of the publication of the proceeding, in
the Naval Chronicle:]
Baltimore, February 13, 1824.
Dear Sir:—l was yesterday handed your
Naval Chronicle, and find in it an account of
the transaction which occured while l was in
commandofthe United States’ ship Baltimore
between her and a British squadron under
the command of Com. Loring, off the port of
Havana, in November, 1798. This article, in
your very valuable work, I have perused
with much satisfaction, which was greatly in
creased on finding you in possession of many
particulars, which l was apprehensive had
been lost at the time of the conflagration of
the records at Washington. In every partic
ular you have stated, you are perfectly cor
rect; but I must express my regret that the
narrative I gave into (he hands of Mr. Stod
dert, in Philadelphia, to be handed to Presi
dent Adams, was, as appears by his letter, ne
ver shown to him! and that it has shared the
fate of other records burnt at the capture of
our capital. As this event involves so many
circumstances important to my character as
a naval officer, 1 feel assured that you will
readily aid in any attempt on my part to
place the circumstaces fully before the pub
lic.
„ lam aware that it may be said by naval of
ficers and others, that 1 ought not to have
left my ship;but peculiarly situated as I was,
without a commission, and impressed as I
was, and still am, with the belief, that in time
of war every government ship of war has a
right to ascertain, (particularly where
doubts exist) by the commission of the com
mander of every neutral or other ship of war
she may fall in with, if they are cruising un
der legalized flags; and recollecting, with ex
treme mortification, the circumstances of my
peculiar embarassing situation, having been
ordered to sea without my commission, or
any other documents to prove the national
charater of my ship; 1 ask, under this r.ombA
nation of circumstances, if 1 could refuse
j the invitation of Corn. Loring to visit his
! ship? But there were other and important
j motives that induced me to adopt this mode
of conduct. If, (it occurred to me) Commo
dore Loring should ask, in case 1 sent an offi
cer on board his ship, for a sight of riiy com
mission, having none to show, how was I to
answer his request? But going in person, I
could say candidly I had none, explain by
what authority I was cruizing, and therefore
avoid the degrading and unplesant commu
nication between my officer and Com. Lor
ing When the Baltimore got within hail of
the Carnatic, Commodore Loring himself
hailed her; being answered that the ship was
i the United States’ sloop of war the Baltimore
i he politely invited me to come on board the
! Carnatic. I went on was received
with the respect due to my rank by the Com
modere himself’ at the gangway, who invited
me into His cabin.
‘iliortlv after being there, he requested
that I would permit him to see my corqrrussion,
I then stateiHo him, though reluctantly, the
fact that I had no commission. He express
ed his astonishment, and then asked me what
document I had to prove the character of my
ship. I was compelled to reply, that Iliad
the private signals existing af the time be
tween Admiral Vanderport’s squadron and
the s!iips of the United States. Lonng ex
pressed surprise that I was in possession of
these signals, and finding ii expedient to
comply w ith his wish of examining them, he
found correct, and was ’hereby satisfi
ed of the character of my ship. At the same
time, he observed, that it was fortunate, as
we were peculiarly situated, that we both
were in possession of these signals, and that
it was peculiarly so, as he ha I only received
his the day before he left Jamaica. And he
further observed, that, had either of us been
without those signals, lie should certainly
have captured my ship, and sent her to Ja
maica. And this is another proof of the pro
priety of my visit on board Loring’s ship;
since it lias always been the practice in our
Navy, I believe, that the private signals are
made known only to the commanders, conse
quently, there would liav.e been a gross im
propriety in suffering any of my officers to
iiave had possession of them, for the purpose
of comparing them, as requested, with those
in possession of Loring; he .being placed,
with regard to the signals, exactly in the
same situation as my self. If it be asked why
I jeopardized the safety of my ship a second
time, by leaving the United States with ano
ther convoy, without my commission, I an
swer, that, when my ship was completely
equipped, manned, and ready for sea, 1 Yel
lot, Esq. Navy Agent at Raltimore, after say
ing my ship was ready for sea, expressed ex
treme anxiety for the arrival of mv commis
sion, (for lie knew I had not received it) as
I was detaining the ship, which he consider
ed unfortunate. 1 remarked that I could not
sail wi'lioutit, as I should expose myself to,
and anticipated, some unpleasant occurrence
of the nature of that which actually took
place, and my ship to danger, by sailing with
out that document, which, in the sequel,
proved of so much importance. Another
day elapsed, and my commission not having
come to hand, the committee authorized by
the Navy Department to fit the Baltimore
for sea, insisted upon mv h- xiedmg’Vifti
my ship to Hamptom’, iout)Si and tllat * com .
mission, so soon - , received, should be for
warded to me v- it h all possible despatch; there
were then “ >out 100 sad of American ves
jels aw ait g the conY-oy, consisting of the
ConsU ion, Com. Truxton, and the sloop
°> w .laltimore. r
7 mis urged, 1 proceeded immediately to
Hampton Roads, where I found the Constel
lation, and communicated to Com. Truxton
that my ship was ready for sea, but stated,
at the same time, that I had not received my
commission, and was unwilling to sail with
out it; he expressed great surprise, but ob.
served that, as I was sailing under his com,
mand, the character of my ship would not
be disputed, and that we must both be care
ful not to separate. Wp then sailed with
the convoy for Havana, (where they all ar
rived safe; and after cruising a short time off
that port, a large fleet of vessels, with valua
i ble cargoes, came out to sea, placing them
selves under our convoy, all of which arriv
ed safe in their several ports of destination
in the United States. I now proceed to an
swer the question why I sailed a second time
without my commission. Being on the coast,
and standing near the port of Charleston,
Yvith such of the convoy as belonged there,
I was instructed, by Commodore Truxton,
after seeing those vessels safe in port, to con
tinue cruising on that coast for six or eight
days, (in order to satisfy the people of
Charleston that they were not neglected,)
and then rejoin him in Hampton Roads.—
I reminded him of my want of proper docu
ments, but expressed my willingness to obey
. his orders.
The Constellation left me, taking in charge
| the, remainder of the convoy. I cruised on
j the Charleston station agreeably to the or
-1 ders given me, and made sail the next morn
: ing on my return to Hampton Roads. ad
; early hour of the same day, discovered a
! strange sail to the eastward, bearing down
I on me; she proved on silgnaizing, to be the
j frigate Constitution, Com. Nicholson. I'he
usual c’.y ilities being exchanged, Cam. Ni
cholson urged me to defer my return to
Hampton Roads, and cruize in company a
! few days, off Charleston.
I objected that I had only water for 15 or
,20 days, and that I considered myself at*
! tached to Com. Tmxton’s squadron, whose
■ orders I was bound to respect. He repea
j ted his request, adding, that, aa I was bet
! ter acquainted with the coast than himself,
I and on account of the safety of his ship, as
J much as from any other cause, he wished
| my company, and would consider it a favor,
j Thus urged, and thinking it might contri
j bute in seine small measure to the interest
Ao. 27.