Athens gazette. (Athens, Ga.) 1814-18??, March 10, 1814, Image 4

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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 ■ : ::"s:*; ’ Can lie iuC ai iiia t T;ce.