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WKtfTMtirintd f+nm second lag’ )
Tht Pea rock was adeemed i ne of
tVr finest ships of her class ft the
Pv'Hsh navy. In size she wai equal j
to t* e Hornet; but, in gui|s and
rmn, the Hornet was somewhat
though very little, her superior;
and by no means so much so, as
to vrive her awr decided advantage.
Thf luss on board the Peacock conld
not btnprecitfeiy ascertained. Cap
s Peake Was twice wounded, the
md Vime mortally, hour men
e found dead on hoard, 1 he mas
alid thirty-two others were woiin-
three of \whoni afterwards died.
The Hornet hao only one man
killed and two slightly wounded.
I let’ rigging and sails much cut. but.
her hull received very little injury-
Dnring the engagement the vessel
which t e Hornet had been endea
vouring to reach before the Feacock
bore down, lay at anchor within six
miles, and as she was a brig, the
p.spiegle. carrying fifteen thirty-two
pot'indcamumdesand two long nines,
it vas Supposed that she would at
tack the Hornet after the latter had
been disabled bv the }ast combat.
The Hornet was immediately prepa
red to recive her, and by nine o clock
at night her boils were stowed, anew
set of sails bent, and every thing
re idy for action. She. however, de
clined coming out. Next morning
captain Lawrence found that he nad
two hundred and seventy souls on
board the Lqrnel,, anti as his crew
bad for some time been on snoit al
lowance,. resolved to sicer for the
linked SjuLs- Ti e officers of the
Peacock received from those ol the
Hornet the most humane and hon
orable treatment so penetrated with
gratitude were they tortile kindness
-which they had experienced that
they could not restrain the expres
*ion of their feeling-tili-they reach
ed h rigUmU but oil their arrival m
the United States they pubis icd a
letter of thanks to captain Lawrence
and hi* offic e s, in ‘winch they declar
ed t’nat such was the liberality dis
played to them, that, u they ceased
to consider themselves prisoners.
Nor was the rough genetosity of the
Ho, net’s crew less honourable. As
the sailors of the Peacock had lost
every thing except what they had on
their backs, when she went down,
the crew of’tne Hornet united to
relieve them ; and made every
English sailor a present ot two shirts
and a pair of blue jacket and trowsers;
a true hearted liberality, wmch rai
ses them in oitr estimation higher
than even sheir victory.
Captain Lawrence returned ?o
Newyork in safety, and besides the
a p plait e Which his country lavished
upon him for his goou conduct, had
the satisfaction ot learning, as we
have already observed; that ne had
been promoted during his absence,
and his rank settled to his perfect
satisfaction. Soon after his
lie was ordered to the command of
the fi igate Constitution, with the
temporary supetiklen dance pi ,the
navy yard at Newyork.—— Hut the
next day, to his great regret, he re
ceived instructions to repair to Bos
ton and take command of the Ches
apeake frigate, then nearly ready for;
sea. I his appointment was peculi
arly unpleasant, because the Chesa
peake was not only considered as one
of the very worst,ships liuhe navy,
but in consequence ot her disgrace
in ihe rencontre wqii the Leopard,
laboured under that dispiriting stig
ilia among sailors, ot being an un
lucky ship. These’ circumstances,
combined with the state ol ms famiiv,
tm.de captain Lawrence unwilling to
go to sea immediately, and he tnere
fore requested to retain his situation
in the Hornet. Disappointed m tins
wish, he then took com mail u ot me
Chesapeake at boston. waere uc had
been but a short tune, wneii the Bri
tish frigate captain droice,
appeared before the aarbour for tne
avowed purpose of seeking a combat
with tiie Chesapeake, otung witii
the repeated disasters of tne &i itish
frigates, this officer resolved to make
an effort to retrieve them ; and wnen
he ue#med nis slup pe.fectiy prepar
ed for that purpose, sent a iormai
challenge to-captain Lawrence.
*• As the Chesapeake,” his letter
begun, “appears now ready for sea
I request you will do me the favour
to meet the Shannon with her, shiji
to ship, to iry the fortune of our res
pective dags. To an officer of yqur
character, it requi es some apnogy
for proceeding to further particulars.
Be ashUied, sir, that it is not irom
any douot i entertain of your w.»a
i«g to c ose with my p.op>sal, iia. ,
merely to provide an answer to.any’
objection that might, be made and
very reasonably, upon the Chance of
our receiving unfair support » Al
ter obser vaug that commodore Rod
gers nad not accepted sever*! vernal
challenges which herhad given, q,»p
ta..i drok\? then proceed® to sum
very mmuety the force oftne on.ui
iL, oilers to send all British
KLVbtU ol reach om Inal they might
coal, Witte-
I
New-TLng’aw! which he specified; if
more agree r Lie, he offers to sail to
gether, to warn the Chesapeake,
by means of private signali the
approach of British ships of war, till
they reach some solitary *pot—or to
sail with a flag of truce to any place
out of teach of British aid, so that
the flag should be hauled down when
it was deemed fuir to begin hostili
ties. u I entreat you sit,*’ he con
cludes, w not to imagine that I am ur
ged by mere vanity to the wish of
meeting the Chesapeake, or that I
depend only upoo your personal am
bition for jfour acceding to this invi
tation. You will feci it as a compli
ment, if 1 say that the result of our
meeting may be the'most grateful
service 1 can render to my country ;
and I doubt not that you, equally
confident of success, will feel con
vinced that it is only by repeated tri
umphs in even combats, that your
little navy can now hope to console
your country for the loss of that
trade it can no longer protect.’*
The style of this letter, with the
exception of the puerile bravado a
bout commodore Rogers is frank and
manly; and if the force of the Shan
non were correctly stated, would be
such a challenge as might well be
sent froma btave seaman to a gal
lant adversary. We, however, are
but 100 well satisfied, that captain
Broke studiously underrated the
number of his guns and crew,or that,
iter nis challenge,; he must have
received additions to both. That the
Shannon had more guns than the
number stated by her commander,
we learn from the testimony of the
surviving officers oft Chesapeake ;
wbo also assert, that She had three
Hundred and seventy-six men ; that
she had an officer and sixteen men
from the Belie Poule; and that the i
nau of some of her seamen -were
marked * I enedos. ** Such as it was, j
however, this lettei most unfotun
ateiy, never reached captuin r Law
rence. If he had received it if he
had been thus warned to prepare
ms ship ; if he had had an opportuni
ty of selecting his officers, and dis
ciplining his crew ; if, in short, he,
had been able to * place the Chesa
peake on any thing like equal terms
with the Shannon, the combat might
have been more bloody—there might
h ive been such an engagement as has
not yutbfienseen between singlesnips
on tne ocean ; though we cannot
suffer ourselves tb dbubt the result”
of it. But he knew nothing of this
challenge— »e saw only the Shan
non riding before him in defiance ;
he remembered the’ spirit with which
he in .nself hafl overawed a superior ;
and he could not brook for a mo
ment, that an eiwnny, which seemed
to be his equal, should insult his flag-
Although, therefore, the Chesapeake
was comparatively an inferior ship—
although his first lieutenant was sic*
on shore—although three ofhis lieu
tenants had recently left her ; and, of
the foqiv who remained, two were on-.
lyVinidship acting as lieutenants
although part of his crew were new
hands, and all of them had lost some
of their discipline by staying in pore
—yet, as he would have gone to sea
in that situation had no enemy ap
peared, he felt him self bound not to
delay sailing oft that account, and
throwing himself, therefore, on his
courage and his fortune, he deter
mined at once to attack the enemy.
It was on the the last oi
June, la 13, that the Chesapeake sail
ed Out of the harbour of Boston, to
meet the Shannon. tAs soon as she
got under weigh, captuiiv Lawrence
called the crew together, and having
hoisted the white dag, with the mot
to of * free trade and sailors* rights,*’
made & short address. His speech*
howevejf, was received with no en
tnusiasm—on the contrary, signs of
dissatisfaction were evident; particu
larly from a boatswain’s mate, a Por
tuguese who seemed to be at the
head of the m ilconteiu9 ; and com
plaints were muttered, that tney had
not yet received their prize-money.
Such expressions, at the eve of an
action* were but ill bodings of the
result of it ; but captain Lawrence,
ignorant as he was of the characters
of his sailors* and unwilling at such
a moment to damp their spirits by
harshness, preserved his accustomed
calmness, and had prize-checks, at
once, given by the purser to those
who had not received them. Whilst
this scene Was passing, the Shannon
the Chesapeake coming
out, bore away. The Chesapeake
followed her till four o’clock, in the
afternoon, when she halted up and
fired a gun, on the Shannon
hove to. They manoeuvred for some
time, till at about a quarter before
six, they approached within pistol
Whot ami exchanged broadsides.
These broadsides vvert bothblooay,
but uie fire of £he Shannon Wus most
fortunate in the destruction of officers
1 he fourth lieutenant, Mr. Ballard,
wa* mortally wodtided—the sailing
master was killed, apd captain Law
rence received a musket bidMn ra
leg* which caused great and
prcluse bleedings but he leaned on
the/companion way, rand comitiued
to order and to am.r.ate his crew A »
second, and a third broadside was ex- j
changed, with evident advantage on
the pan of the Chesapeake ; but, un
fortunately, among those now woun
ded on boat'd of tier was the first
lieutenant, Mr. Ludlow, who was
carried below—three men were suc
cessively slfot from the helm, in a
bout twelve minutes from the com
mencement of the action ; and, as
the hands were shifting, a shot dis
abled her fo’ esail, so that she would
no longer answer her helm, and her
anchor caught in one of the after
ports of the Shannon, which enabled
the latter to rake her upper deck—
As soon as Lawrence perceived that
she was falling to leeward, and that
by the Shannon’s filling she would
fail on board,-he called his boarders,
and was giving orders about the
foresail, when he received a musket
ball in his body. The bugle,man,
who should have called the boarders
did not do his duty ; and, at this
moment, commodore Broke, whose
ship had f>suffered so much that he
was preparing to repel boardlpg:
perceiving, from this accident, now
the deck of the Chesapeake 1 was
swept, jumped on board with about
tweaty men. They would have
been instantly repelled; butthe cap-
the first lieutenant, the sailing
master, the. boatswain, : the lieute
nant of marines. ,the only acting
lieutenant on the sphr deck, were
all killed or disabled. At the call of
the boarders, lieutenant Cok ran on
deck, bat just in time to receive his
falling commander, and bear him
Li-Ut. Budd, the second
# lieutenant, led tip the boarders, but
only fifteen or twenty would follow
him, and with these he defended the
ship till he was wounded and disab
led. Lieutenant Ludlow, wounded
as he was, hurried upon deck, where
/he soon received a mortal cut from
a sabre. The marines who were
engaged .fought with desperate cou
rage ; but they were*few in numbers*
—too many of them having followed
the Portuguese boatswain’s mate,
who exclaimed, it is said, as he
skulked below, ‘so much for not
paying men their prize money/
Meanwhile the Shannon threw on
board sixty additional men, Who soon
succeeded in overpowering the sea
men of the Chesapeake, who had
npw no officers to lead or rally them,
and took possession of the ship ;
which was not however surrendered
oy any signal of subm ssion ; but
became the enemy’s only because,
they were able to overwhelm ail who
were in a condition to resist.
As captain Lawrence was carried
below, be perceived the melancholy
condition of the Chesapeake, but
cried out, ‘ Don’t surrender the ship.’
He was taken down in the Ward room
aiid, as he lay in excruciating pain
perceiving that the noise above had
ceased, he ordered the surgeon to
go on deck, and tell the officers to
fight on to the last, and never strike
the colours. u They shall wave,”
said he, ** while* i live.? But it was
too late to resist or to struggle longer,
the enemy had already possession of
the ship. As captain Lawrence’s
wounds would not allow of his remo
val, he continued in the ward-ropm.
surrounded by his wounded officers
and after lingering in great pain for
four days during which his sufferings
were too acute to permit him to
speak, or, perhaps, to think of the
events he had just witnessed, or
do more than ask for what his
tion required, he died on the sth of
June. His body was wrapped in the
colours of the Chesapeake, and laid
on the quarter deck, until they ar
rived at Halifax, whe r e he was buried
W*th the highest military and rtavai
honours; the British officers forget
ing for a moment, in their adrtj§ra
tion of his character, that he had
j been but lately their enemy* .His
J pall was supported by the oldest cap
tains in tae navy, then at Halifax,
and no demonstration of respectful
attention was omitted to honour the
remains of a brave, but, unfortunate
stranger.
Thus prematurely perished, at
the age of thirty -two, this gallant and
generous seamen. Lost as he was
in the full vigor of his powers, and
with the imperfect measure of his
| fame, our hones are- forbidden to
j dwell on the fond anticipation of
| what he might have been, and we
are left to rest with|s melancholy.
I pleasure on the qualities which his
short life had already developed.
Lawrence seems to have combined
all the distinguished and endearing
qualities; the openness of heart, the
inaiihness of pride, the benevolence
of feeling, the chivalrous courage,
which our imagination ascites to
the perfection of the naval character.
He was devjj&d* to his profession,
and to the Service. During nearly
sixteen years which he spei\t in the
navy, he never had a furlough,
except one for about six weeks. The
perfect order of his ship bore tdßp
iuoiiy of his merits as a disciplinari
an, the zealous attachment ox his
crew, proved thatJ|k disci; line had
iPflbt been cmne£ or- sc
verity. II*? ccuKp: ‘ •f T dark:; j
and desneraie fast* but i- \v:v\?Jili j
regffalid ‘by acalm Sobriety i
nKitf* Indeed* the churactetifcjlidl
squality-of Lawrence, that which iripst
distinguished him as an officer, v/as
coolness and perfect self
ih the midst of danger. Os his Vmd
nese. of the warmtn and generosity
of his heart, which rendered him n
emphatically, a favorite of the naVy,
his brother officers were all willing
witnesses. These remembrances
are, however, n\ost cherished, where
they are now most consolatory
in the bosom of his family ; of the
widowed sisters, whose cares, during
his infancy, he repaid with the kind
est protection ; of his afflicted \vi fe,
who, with three children, the young
est born since the death of hts fa
ther, is left to lament a loss, which
the sympathy of her country may,
in some degree, wp trust, alleviate.
In fhissanguinary.engagement the
destruction ’nearly equal on both
sides. The Chesapeake lost her
coinmander and forty -seVpn men
killed, and ninety-seven wounded, of
whom fourteen after wards died. A
mong these were lieutenant Ludlow?
first lieutenant of the ship, and lieu
tenant Ballard, the fourth lieutenant
both excellent officers.
_ On the part of the Shannon captain
Broke was dangerously wounded,
Jthftugh he has since recovered; tlic
first lieutenant, the purser, captains
clerk, and twenty-three seamen kil
led, and fifty-seven persons wounded
besides captain Broke. -» jig
The capture of the Chesapeake is
to be ascribed wholly to the extraor
dinary loss of officers, with
out any precedent, as fat* as we can .
recollect in naval history;) and to her
falling accidentally on board the
Shannon. : During the three broad
sides, while the officers of the Ches
apeake were living and she was kept
clear of the enemy, the superiority
was manifestly with the Americans. *
The Chesapeake had received scarce
ly stay damage, while the Shannon
had several shot between wind and
water, and could with difficulty he -
kept afloat during the succeeding
night. /It was Only when accident
threw the Chesapeake on board the
Shannon, when hfcr officers were un
able to lead on the boarders that cap
tain Broke himself, contrary we be
lieve to the regulations of the British
naVy, left his o#n ship, and was able
by superior numbers to overpower
the distracted crew6f theGbesapeake.
We .rave heard many accounts
which we are very reluctantly coin
pelledtu believe, of improper con- j
duct by the British after the capture
and of brutal violence offered to the
crew of the Chesapeake. A,s how
ever, some allowances are due to the
exasperated passions of the moment;
something too to the confusion of a
bloody and doubtful struggle ; and as
these accounts will shortly assume
an official form ; we are unwilling
to prolong the remembrance of im
putations which may be disproved
and perhaps have been exaggerated.
But we should wrong the memory
of captain Lawrence, we should be
unjust to the officers of*the American
navy, with whose glory all the aspir
ipg ambition of the country is so
closely blended, if we omitted any
Opportunitytof giving the last and
fairest lustre to their fame, by con
trasting their conduct with that of
the enemy, or if we forbore, from
any misplaced delicacy towards our
adversaries, to report circumstances
. connected with the fate of the Ches
j apeake, which threw a broad and
j dazzlim&light on generous magaa-
I nimitym our countrymen,
p-w .! When captain Hull took the Guer
riere, every chest; trunk and box ber
; longing to the officers, containing
| it was knowrt, the fruits of a long
| cruise, much of it against our own
’ country, was delivered to them with
| out examination. The very trifles
which the crew of the Constitution
saved from the Guerrit re, before she
’ was blown up were scrupulously res-
Itored to the English sailors; no ar
ticles of private property was
touched.. . V
When pommodOro Decatur took,
the Macedonian, he purchased from
> captain Carden upwards of a thou
sand dollars worth/of things in the
£hip, and captain Carden was permit
ted to take the rest on shore. To
such an extent was this kindness
abused knife and fork,
every cup and saucer, every plate
and dish, chair and table, in
short every thing which captain Car~
den tad used w£s taken on shore,
and before the* Macedlmian reached
New York, the pr|ze-master was ob-
to send on board the United
States, for Ahe*ino§t common articles
of daily use,- as the prisoners had
taken, them all away. At the same
Up the waicl-rcom officers of the
. L njted States purchased their
I and other articles from the ward
rootp officers of the Macedonian.
hen Laiubndge
Lock the Java, ail theproperly pi all
the officers and all the passengers,
the plat%bel jiignigJ.oa itfrli military
ccmraaSSer, were restvi-ea
T’ *. Aiverlcm officers womd hnvr
clctm to ret-tin site
, pHvr.ti: property OTf u. birot her officer
evtft though htr were ah enemy and
a prisoner.
When cpptejn Laurence took tb;>
Perceck, &nd the officers and crew*
of that vessel were left destitute Uu>
officers and crew of ‘he Hornet Ifed
and clothed them froflfe their own
*
AYhdhthe Chesapeake wns taken
by the Shannon, the key of capt tin,
Law rence’s store-room wa^ demand
ed of the parser. It was given v luit ,
purser obscured at 5 the same time
that in thei captures of the Guerricif*
Macedonian, <od Java the most scru
pulous regard was paid to the pri
vate property of the British officers;
that captain Lawrence had laid in
stores for a long cruize; and that the
value of them would be a great ob
ject to his widow* and family, For
w hose use he was *de irous, if possi
ble. of preserving them. This re
quest was not merely declined, it was
haughtily and superciliously refused.
. Well Then—the enemy hive cap
tured the Chesapeake—they enjoy
the little private property of capt.
Lawrence : but they have not taken
from him any of hnSfindividual fame, ,
npr of his cou'ntry*s glory 1 Howe
ver we may mourn the su tie rings.
of that day, the loss'of the Chesa
peake* has not, in our estimation,
varied the standing of the marine of ,
two countries; nor does it abate,, in j
the slightest degree, any of the loiti
ness of our naval pi etentions. Iho
contest was wholly unequal in ships,
in guns, in crews, in officers, in ev*.
ery thing., 4 }/«„
The Shannon was a better ship,
she had not upon her the curse of
that ill-omened name, the Chesa
peake. The Shannon was a stron
ger ship, she mounted twentyheight;
eighteen pounders on the main deckj,
twenty-two thirty-two pound* cur-
and two long brass nines
or twelves,, on the spar-deck, and a
large cai’ronade amidships, in
all fifty-two guns, besides this last
heavy carronode, while the Chesa* ‘
peake mounted twenty-eight eighr;
teen pounders on, the main deck, and
twenty thirty-two pound cartqnades,
and one eighteen pqunder, chase gatv
on the spar-deck, in all forty-nine
guns, : * iV
‘J&he Shannon had a better crew.
Besides complement she had sea
men from two other ships. That
crew, too, had been long at sea,.Jong
in the ship ; were known ; were
tried ; §nd as commodore Brokp
sent a challenge, were, of course,
men oh whom, if they we re hot pick
ed for the occasion, he knew he
Could confide. Ihe Chesapeake had,
on the contrary, in part, anew crew,
unknown to their officers,, hot yet
knowing their places or the ship.
The ship had not been more than a
few hours at sea, and the landsmeft
and the landswoincn had been dis
missed from her 6n the very day of
theeen&agemcnt. The, officers, too,
although we shoulct be the, last to
detract from .their merits, and al
though the rhanner. in which/they
fought their ship does them the
highest honor, the officers were:
young and few in number, and had
as yet scarcely any opportunity of
disciplining or knowing their sea-,
men ; yet, under all these disad
vantages, the great damage sustain
ed by tlie Shannon, and the great loss
of Her which took place be
fore the boarding, warrant complete- 1
ly the opinion, that but For the ac
cidental loss of officers., the victory
would have been with the Chesa
peake. . f ’
GLOKGIA, Jackson county, 1
At an Inferior ? Court held for or
dinary purposes , in for the county of
foresaid , on Tuesday the Bth dayhf
February , 1814.
Present David Witty Charles Vcnabla ,
and Joseph Davis, Esqrs, ‘ ,
UPON the petition of Samuel
Henderson assignee of Holman. Free
man stating that Thomas M’Cain
in fits life time executed his bonds,
to make titles to a certaip Bounty of
of land containing two hundred and
eighty seven and bids acres, and the
said Thomas departed this . in
testate and without iitfe*.
to the said bounty of land and pray ing
the Court to, direct the administra
tor of the estate of the said Thomas.
M’Catn to execute titles ia tejjps
of the law. It is therefore ordered
that the adjpyqnistrator of the said
deceased the Court of Ordi
nary to be held in and for this coun
ty on the first Monday in July, be
directed to execute titles to the
tract of land in’ terms ,of the
law c urflgss cause be shewn to the
contrary/ and that this rule be pub
lished in one of the pflbljc gaze ties
of this state at least three months
bt fore the sitting of said court and
advertised in two or more public,
places in this county.
t rue cofify frw the m incites, \ *
mwmlß' a# \y-- c» jp. o\
— —"i- ■ju ‘Yfipi.ii —r ■
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Can lie iuC ai iiia t T;ce.