In

but was overpowered by superior numbers, and cut down immediately. Great embarrassment took place in consequence of the officers being unacquainted with the crew. one instance, in particular, Lieutenant Cox, on mounting the deck, joined a party of the enemy, through mistake, and was made sensible of his error by their cutting at him with their sabres.

While this scene of havoc and confusion was going on above, Captain Lawrence, who was lying in the ward-room in excruciating pain, hearing the firing cease, forgot the anguish of his wounds; having no officer near him, he ordered the surgeon to hasten on deck, and tell the officers to fight on to the last, and never to strike the colours; adding, "they shall wave while I live." The fate of the battle, however, was decided. Finding all farther resistance vain, and a mere waste of life, Lieutenant Ludlow gave up the ship; after which, he received a sabre wound in the head, from one of the Shannon's crew, which fractured his skull, and ultimately proved mortal. He was one of the most promising officers of his age in the service, highly esteemed for his professional talents, and beloved for the generous qualities that adorned his private character.

Thus terminated one of the most remarkable combats on naval record. From the peculiar accidents that attended it, the battle was short, desperate, and bloody. So long as the cannonading continued, the Chesapeake is said to have clearly had the advantage; and had the ships not run foul, it is probable she would have captured the Shannon. Though considerably damaged in her upper works, and pierced with some shot-holes in her hull, yet she had sustained no injury to affect her safety; whereas the Shannon had received several shots between wind and water, and, consequently, could not have sustained the action long. The havoc on both sides was dreadful; but to the singular circumstance of having every officer on the upper deck either killed or wounded, early in the action, may chiefly be attributed the loss of the Chesapeake.

The two ships presented dismal spectacles after the battle.

Crowded with the wounded and the dying, they resembled floating hospitals, sending forth groans at every roll. The brave Broke lay delirious from a wound in the head, which he is said to have received while endeavouring to prevent the slaughter of some of our men who had surrendered. In his rational intervals, he always spoke in the highest terms of the courage and skill of Lawrence, and the "gallant and masterly style" in which he brought the Chesapeake into action.

The wounds of Captain Lawrence rendered it impossible to remove him after the battle, and his cabin being very much shattered, he remained in the ward-room. Here he lay, attended by his own surgeon, and surrounded by his brave and suffering officers. He made no comment, nor indeed was he heard to utter a word, except to make such simple requests as his necessities required. In this way he lingered through four days, in extreme bodily pain, and then expired.

His body was wrapped in the colours of his ship, and buried by the British at Halifax, with the honours of war. Thence it was removed by his friends to Salem, in Massachusetts, where it received the most particular respect, and was again removed to the city of New York, where it was buried with the honours of war.

At the time of his death, he was but thirty-two years old, nearly sixteen of which had been honourably expended in the service of his country. He was a disciplinarian of the highest order, producing perfect obedience and subordination without severity. His men became zealously devoted to him, and ready to do through affection what severity would have never compelled. He was scrupulously correct in his principles, delicate in his sense of honour; and to his extreme jealousy of reputation he fell a victim, in daring an ill-matched encounter, which prudence would have justified him in declining. In battle, where his lofty and commanding person made him conspicuous, the calm, collected courage, and elevated tranquillity which he maintained in the midst of peril, imparted a confidence to every bosom. In the hour of victory he was moderate and unassuming; towards the vanquished he was gentle, generous, and humane.

CHAPTER XII.

Capture of the United States Sloop Argus-Carried to England, where her Commander died.

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies,

But in battalions!"-Hamlet.

THE intelligence of the capture of the Chesapeake was received in England with great rejoicing. The victory of Captain Broke was considered as establishing the maritime superiority of that nation, which preceding events had somewhat shaken, and the honours showered upon that officer evinced the light in which it was viewed. The result of another engagement, which took place not long afterwards, tended to confirm this impression. The United States sloop of war Argus, of twenty guns, commanded by Captain William Henry Allen, being on a cruise in the British channel, fell in with the British sloop of war Pelican, of somewhat superior force, which had been fitted out expressly for the purpose of engaging her. The action, which took place on the 14th of August, was maintained for an hour and a half with great ardour on both sides, when the captain and firstlieutenant of the Argus being severely wounded, and many of her seamen disabled, her rigging shot away, and the enemy about to board, her flag was struck by the remaining officers. She was carried into England, where her commander shortly afterwards died. He had been first-lieutenant of the United States at the capture of the Macedonian, and bore a high character in the naval service.

CHAPTER XIII.

Capture of the Boxer by the Enterprise-Death of their respective Commanders -Capture of the Dominica by the Privateer Decatur-Cruise of the President. "The wounds he received, for his country contending,

The hardships endured-shall they e'er be forgot?"

THE tide of success appeared now to set in favour of the British; but shortly after the capture of the Argus, an en

gagement took place which added fresh honour to the American flag. The United States brig Enterprise, of sixteen guns, commanded by Lieutenant Burrows, sailed from Portsmouth on the 1st of September. On the 4th, a vessel of war was discovered, which stood for her, having four ensigns hoisted. After a warm action of forty minutes, the enemy ceased firing, and surrendered. She proved to be the British armed brig Boxer, of sixteen guns, commanded by Captain Blythe, who was killed early in the action. She was admirably prepared for the contest, and her colours were nailed to the mast previous to the engagement. The gallant commander of the Enterprise received a mortal wound about the same time that his antagonist fell, but refused to quit the deck until the sword of the British commander was brought to him, when, clasping it in his hands, he exclaimed, "I die contented," and soon afterwards expired. The bodies of the two commanders were interred at Portland at the same time, with every mark of respect that can be shown to the remains of brave and honourable men.

The private armed vessels of the United States continued, during this year, to harass the commerce of the enemy, and carried into every quarter of the globe proofs of American skill and enterprise. Perhaps no instance in the annals of national warfare can be pointed out of a more desperate action than that fought by the privateer Decatur, of seven guns and one hundred and three men, with the British government schooner Dominica, of fifteen guns and eighty-eight men. After a well-sustained action of two hours, the latter was carried by boarding. The combat was maintained on her deck for a considerable time, when her captain and most of her officers and crew being disabled, her colours were struck by the crew of the Decatur. It is proper to add, that the crew of the Dominica fought with uncommon bravery and firmness. Sixty men, and every officer, with the exception of the surgeon and one midshipman, were killed or wounded.

The enterprise of Commodore Rodgers was displayed in a cruise of five months, in the frigate President, which terminated on the 26th of September, without any material suc

cess. The United States and Macedonian had lain in the harbour of New York until the beginning of May, without being able to get to sea. About that period they made an ineffectual attempt to pass the blockading squadron, in company with the sloop of war Hornet. The vigilance of the enemy (whose superior force rendered any contest hopeless) obliged them to put into the port of New London, where they were compelled to continue during the remainder of the

war.

CHAPTER XIV.

Preparations on Lake Erie-Perry's gallant Conduct-His brilliant VictoryImportance of this Victory to America-Official Account of the Battle-Cooper's Account of it.

"When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war.”

"We have met the enemy, and they are ours."

"Fill high the cup;

And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,

The trumpet to the cannoneer without,

The cannon to the heavens-the heaven to earth."

DURING these occurrences on the sea-board, important preparations had been made for decisive measures to the westward, and the general attention was now turned, with great anxiety, towards the movements of the North-western army, and the fleet under command of Commodore Perry, on lake Erie.

This anxiety, not long after, was, in a measure, dispelled by a decisive victory of the American fleet over that of the British, on lake Erie, achieved, after a long and desperate conflict, on the 10th of September.

The necessity of possessing a strong force on lake Erie, had been strenuously urged to the government by General Hull, even before the declaration of war; and it was evident to the meanest apprehensions, that it would be difficult to retain the position at Detroit, and much more to attempt the