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 i^'ONTENTS. 
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 Gallant Conduct of a French Privateer, . 
 Capture of General Prescott, 
 The Loss of the Royal George, 
 A Glimpse of Detroit, 
 A Skirmish off Bermuda, 
 
 Charles Wager, 
 
 Clearing a Waterfall, , . . . 
 Heroism and Devotedness of a Woman, 
 The Black-IIole of Calcutta, . 
 An Incident of Sailor Life, . . 
 
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 GALLANT CONDUCT OF A FRENCH 
 PRIVATEER. 
 
 HE following animated description 
 of the chase of a French privateer, 
 during the continental war, by His 
 Majesty's ship Endymion, is from 
 the narrative of an officer who was on board 
 the latter vessel : 
 
 " On the 8th of November, i8io, when we 
 were lying in that splendid harbor, the Cove 
 of Cork, and quietly refitting our ship, an 
 order came for us to proceed to sea instantly, 
 on a cruise of a week off Cape Clear, in 
 quest of an enemy's vessel, reported to have 
 been seen from some of the signal-towers 
 on the west coast. We were in such a pre- 
 dicament, that it was impossible to start
 
 6 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 before the next morning, though we work- 
 ed hard all night. Off we went at last ; but 
 it was not till the nth that we were able to 
 reach our appointed station, 
 
 " Toward evening it fell dead calm, at 
 which time there were two strange sails in 
 sight ; one of them a ship, which we ' calcu- 
 lated ' was an American, from the whiteness 
 of her sails ; the other a very suspicious, 
 roguish-looking brig ; but as both of them 
 were hull down, much of this was guess- 
 work. 
 
 " As the night fell, a light breeze sprang 
 up, and we made all sail in the direction of 
 the brig, though she was no longer visible. 
 In the course of the middle watch, we for- 
 tunately got sight of her with our night- 
 glasses, and by two in the morning were 
 near enough to give her a shot. The brig 
 was then standing in the wind, while we were 
 coming down upon her, right before it, or 
 nearly so. The sound of our bow-chaser 
 could hardly have reached the vessel it was 
 fired at, before her helm was up ; and in the 
 next instant her booms were rigged out, and 
 her studding-sails, low and aloft, seen dan-
 
 Tales of Naval and JMilitary L ife. 7 
 
 gling at the yard-arms. The most crack ship 
 in His Majesty's service, with everything 
 prepared, could hardly have made sail more 
 smartly. 
 
 " For our parts, we could set nothing more, 
 having already spread every stitch of canvas; 
 but the yards were trimmed afresh, the tack 
 hauled closer out, and the halyards sweated 
 up till the yards actually pressed against the 
 sheave-holes. The best helmsman on board 
 was placed at the wheel ; and the foot of the 
 foresail being drawn slightly up by the bunt 
 slab-line, he could just see the chase clear of 
 the foremast, and so kept her very nearly 
 right ahead. The two forecastle guns, long 
 9-pounders, were now brought to bear on the 
 brig; but as we made quite sure of catching 
 her, and did not wish needlessly to injure our 
 prize or to hurt her people, orders were 
 given to fire at the sails, which, expanded as 
 they now were before us, like the tail of a 
 peacock in his fullest pride, offered a mark 
 which could not well be missed. Neverthe- 
 less, the little fellow would not heave to, for 
 all we could do with our forecastle guns. 
 At four o'clock, therefore, we managed to get
 
 8 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 one of the long i8-pounders on the main-deck 
 to bear upon him from the bridle-port. Still, 
 we could not stop him, though it was now 
 bright moonlight, and there was no longer 
 any tenderness about hurting his people or 
 injuring his hull. The vessel, however, at 
 which we were now peppering away with 
 round and grape shot, as hard as we could 
 discharge them from three good smart guns, 
 was so low in the water, that she offered, 
 when seen end on, scarcely any mark. How 
 it happened that none of her yards or masts 
 came rattling down, and that none of her 
 sails flew away, under the influence of our 
 fire, was quite inexplicable. 
 
 " The water still continued quite smooth, 
 though the breeze had freshened till we 
 went along at the rate of six or seven knots. 
 When the privateer got the wind, which we 
 had brought up with us, she almost kept her 
 own, and it became evident that she was 
 one of that light and airy description of 
 vessels which have generally an advantage 
 over larger ships when there is but little 
 wind. We therefore observed, with much 
 anxiety, that about half-past four the breeze
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 9 
 
 began gradually to die away, after which the 
 chase rather gained than lost distance. Of 
 course, the guns were now plied with double 
 care, and our best marksmen were straining 
 their eyes, and exerting their utmost skill, 
 confident of hitting her, but all apparently 
 to no purpose. One or two of the officers, 
 in particular, who piqued themselves on 
 knowing how to level a gun on principles 
 quite unerring, in vain tried their infallible 
 rules to bring our persevering enemy to ac- 
 knowledge himself caught. 
 
 "By this time, of course, every man and 
 boy in the ship was on deck, whether it was 
 his watch or not ; even the marine officer, 
 the purser, and the doctor left their beds — 
 a rare phenomenon. Every one was giving 
 his opinion to his neighbor ; some said the 
 shot went over her, some that they fell short ; 
 and the opinion that .she was a witch or the 
 Flying Dutchman, or some other phantom, 
 was current among the sailors, while the 
 marines were clicking their flints, and pre- 
 paring to give our little gentleman a taste 
 of the small-arms when within their reach. 
 
 " While things were in this anxious but
 
 10 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 very pleasurable state, our foresail flapped 
 slowly against the mast — a sure indication 
 that the breeze was lulling. The quadruple 
 rows of reef points were next heard to rattle 
 along the topsails — sounds too well known 
 to every car as symptoms of an approaching 
 calm. The studding-sails were still full, and 
 so were the royals ; but by and by, even 
 their light canvas refused to swell out, so 
 faint was the air which still carried us, but 
 very gently, along the water, on the surface 
 of which not a ripple was now to be seen in 
 any direction. As the ship, however, still 
 answered her helm, we kept the guns to 
 bear on the chase without intermission, and 
 with this degree of effect, that all her sails, 
 both low and aloft, were soon completely 
 riddled, and some of them were seen hang- 
 ing in such absolute rags, that the slightest 
 puff of wind must have blown them away 
 like so many cobwebs. By five o'clock it 
 was almost entirely calm, and we had the 
 mortification to observe that the chase, 
 whose perseverance had kept him thus long 
 out of our clutches, was putting in practice 
 a manoeuvre we could not imitate. He
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 1 1 
 
 thrust out his sweeps, as they are called, 
 huge oars requiring five or six men to each. 
 These, when properly handled by a sufficiently 
 numerous crew, in a small light vessel, give 
 her the heels of a large ship, when so nearly 
 calm as it now was with us. We were not 
 going more than a knot through the water, 
 if so much, which was barely enough to give 
 us steerage-way. 
 
 " The Frenchman got out^^JU'^tlppose, 
 about fifteen or twenty of ifiese sweeps, and 
 so vigorously were they j<niai'tJ3,dil;\A^4 could 
 see by the moonlight, and\sti^ r6<^e distinct- 
 ly when the dawn appealed, that the foam 
 was made to fly in sheets at ettClTstroke of 
 these gigantic oars, which were worked to- 
 gether by their looms being united by a 
 hawser stretching fore and aft. Our chief 
 anxiety now was to pitch a shot amongst his 
 sweeps, as one successful hit there would 
 have sent half his crew spinning about the 
 decks. ViVX we were not so fortunate ; and 
 in less than an hour he was out of shot, 
 walking off from us in a style which it was 
 impossible not to admire, though our disap- 
 pointment and vexation were excessive. By
 
 1 2 Talcs of Naval and Ulilitaiy Life. 
 
 mid-day he was at least ten miles ahead of 
 us ; and at two o'clock we could just see his 
 upper sales above the horizon. We had ob- 
 scrv^cd, during the morning, that our inde- 
 fatigable little chase, as soon as he had row- 
 ed himself from under the relentless fire of 
 our guns, was busily employed in bending a 
 new suit of sails, fishing his splintered yard?, 
 shifting his top-gallant mast, and rigging 
 out fresh studding-sail booms — all wounded, 
 more or less, by our shot. As the severe 
 labor of the sweeps was never intermitted, 
 we knew to a certainty that the chase, 
 though small, must be full of hands, and con- 
 sequently it was an object of great impor- 
 tance for us to catch him. Of this, however, 
 there now seemed but very little chance ; 
 and many were the hearty maledictions he 
 received, though shared, it is true, by our 
 own crack marksmen, now quite crest-fallen, 
 or driven to the poor excuse of declaring 
 that the moonlight on the water had deceiv- 
 ed them as to the distance. 
 
 " It really seemed as if every one on board 
 had been seized with a fever. Nothing else 
 was thought of, or talked of, but the French
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 1 3 
 
 brig ; every glass, great and small, was in 
 requisition, from the pocket spy-glass of the 
 youngest midshipman, to the forty-inch focus 
 of the captain. Each telescope in its turn 
 was hoisted to the cross-trees, and pointed 
 with a sort of sickening eagerness toward 
 the lessening speck on the distant horizon. 
 One might also have thought that the ship 
 was planted in a grove of trees, in the height 
 of spring-time, so numerous were the whis- 
 tlers. This practice of whistling for a wind 
 is one of our nautical superstitions, which, 
 however groundless and absurd, fastens in- 
 sensibly on the strong-minded sailors at such 
 times. Indeed, I have seen many an anxi- 
 ous officer's mouth take the piping form, and 
 have even heard some sounds escape from 
 lips which would have vehemently disclaimed 
 all belief in the efficacy of such incantation. 
 " But it would be about as wise a project 
 to reason with the gales themselves, as to 
 attempt convincing Jack that, as the wind 
 blowcth only when and where it listcth, Iiis 
 invoking it can be of no sort of use one 
 way or the other. He will still whistle on, I 
 have no doubt, in all time to come, when
 
 14 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 he wants a breeze, in spite of the march of 
 intellect ; for, as long as the elements re- 
 main the same, a sailor's life — manage it as 
 we will — cannot be materially altered. It must 
 always be made up of alternate severe labor 
 and complete indolence — of the highest im- 
 aginable excitement, and of the most per- 
 fect lassitude. If I were not anxious at 
 this moment to get back to my chase, I 
 think I could show how these causes, acting 
 upon such strange stuff as sailors are made 
 of, lead to the formation of those supersti- 
 tious habits by which they have always been 
 characterized. 
 
 " In the course of the afternoon, we per- 
 ceived from the mast-head, far astern, a dark 
 line along the horizon, which some of our 
 most experienced hands pronounced the first 
 trace of the breeze coming up. In the course 
 of half an hour, this line had widened so 
 much that it could easily be perceived from 
 the deck. Upon seeing this, the whistlers 
 redoubled their efforts, and whether, as they 
 pretended, it was owing to their interest 
 with the clerk of the weather-office, or whe- 
 ther the wind, if left alone, would have come
 
 Tales of Naval and ]\Iilitary Life. 1 5 
 
 just as soon, I do not venture to pronounce ; 
 but certain it is, that, long before sunset, our 
 hearts were rejoiced by the sight of those 
 numerous flying patches of wind, scattered 
 over the calm surface of the sea, and called 
 by seamen cat's-paws — I presume from the 
 stealthy, timorous manner in which they 
 seem to touch the water and straightway 
 vanish again. By and by, the true wind, the 
 ripple from which had marked the horizon 
 astern of us, and broken the face of the mir- 
 ror shining brightly everywhere else, indi- 
 cated its approach, by fanning out the sky- 
 sails and other flying kites, generally sup- 
 posed to be superfluous, but which, upon 
 such occasions as this, do good service by 
 catching the first breath of air that seems al- 
 ways to float far above the water. One by 
 one the sails were filled ; and as the ship 
 gathered way, every person marked the glis- 
 tening eye of the helmsman, when he felt 
 the spokes of the wheel pressing against his 
 hand by the action of the water on the rud- 
 der. The fire-engine had been carried into 
 the tops, and, where its long spout could not 
 reach, buckets of water were drawn up and
 
 1 6 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 thrown on the sails, so that every pore was 
 filled, and the full effect of the wind was ex- 
 erted on the canvas. 
 
 " The ship now began to speak, as it is 
 termed ; and on looking over the gangway 
 we could see a line of small hissing bubbles, 
 not yet deserving the name of spray, but 
 quite enough to prove to us that the breeze 
 was beginning to tell. It was near the middle 
 of November, but the day was as hot as if it 
 had been summer ; and the wind, now fresh- 
 ening at every second, blew coolly and grate- 
 fully upon us, giving assurance that we 
 should have no more calms to trouble us, 
 whatever might be our other difficulties in 
 catching Monsieur Frenchman. 
 
 " Of these difficulties, the greatest by far 
 was that of keeping sight of the brig after it 
 became dark. We overhauled him, how- 
 ever, so fast, that we had great hopes of get- 
 ting near enough to be able to command him 
 with the night-glasses, in which case we 
 made pretty sure of our prize. The night- 
 glass, it may be right to explain, is a tele- 
 scope of small power, increasing the diame- 
 ter of objects only about eight times. It has
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 1 7 
 
 a large field-glass ; and in order to save the 
 interception of light, has one lens fewer than 
 usual, which omission has the effect of in- 
 verting the object looked at. But this, 
 though inconvenient, is of little consequence 
 in cases where the desideratum is merely to 
 get sight of a vessel, without seeking to 
 make out the details. 
 
 " Meanwhile, as we spanked along, rapidly 
 accelerating our pace, and rejoicing in the 
 cracking of the ropes, and the bending of 
 the lightest and loftiest spars — that butter- 
 fly sort of gear which a very little wind soon 
 brushes away — we had the malicious satis- 
 faction of observing that the poor little priva- 
 teer had not yet got a mouthful of the charm- 
 ing wind which, like the well-known intoxi- 
 cating gas, was by this time setting us all a 
 skipping about the decks. The greater part 
 of the visible ocean was now under the influ- 
 ence of the new-born breeze ; but, in the 
 spot where the brig lay, there occurred a belt 
 or splash of clear white light, within which 
 the calm still lingered, with the privateer 
 sparkling in its centre. Just as the sun went 
 down, however, this spot was likewise melt-
 
 1 8 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 ed into the rest, and the brig, like a poor 
 hare roused from her seat, sprang off again. 
 We were soon near enough to see her 
 sweeps rigged in — to the delight, no doubt, 
 of her weary crew, whose apprehensions of 
 an English prison had probably kept up 
 their strength to a pitch rarely equalled. 
 
 " As the twilight — the brief twilight of win- 
 ter — galloped away, a hundred pairs of eyes 
 were almost jumping out of their sockets in 
 their attempts to pierce the night ; while 
 those who had glasses kept scrubbing them 
 without mercy, as if they imagined more 
 light would be let into the tube the more 
 they injured the lenses. One person, and 
 only one, continued, as he asserted, to see 
 the chase, faintly strung, like a bead, on the 
 horizon. I need not say that this sharp- 
 sighted gentleman was nailed to his post, 
 and ordered on no account to move his 
 head, fatigue or no fatigue. There happen- 
 ed to be a single star, directly over the spot 
 to which this fortunate youth was directing 
 his view, with as much anxiety as ever Gali- 
 leo peered into the heavens in search of a 
 new planet. This fact being announced, a
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 19 
 
 dozen spy-glasses were seen wagging up and 
 down between this directing star and that 
 part of the horizon, now almost invisible,' 
 which lay immediately below it. Many were 
 the doubts expressed of the correctness of 
 the first observation, and many the torment- 
 ing questions put to the observer as to 
 which way the brig was standing, what 
 sail she had set, whether we were drawing 
 up with her or not, as if the poor young- 
 ster had been placed alongside of the vessel. 
 These doubts and fears were put an end to, 
 or nearly so, by bidding the boy keep his 
 eye fixed on what he took to be the chase, 
 and then, without acquainting him with the 
 change, altering the ship's course for half a 
 minute. This experiment had scarcely been 
 commenced before he cried out, ' I have 
 lost sight of her this very moment ! I saw 
 her but an instant ago !' And when the 
 ship's head was brought back to the original 
 course, he exclaimed, 'There she is again, 
 I declare ! just to the right of the star.' 
 
 " This star served another useful purpose 
 at the same time. The man at the wheel 
 could see it shining between the leech of
 
 20 Talcs of Naval aiid Military Life. 
 
 the fore-topsail and that of the topmast 
 studding-sail, and was thus enabled to 
 steer the ship with much greater steadiness 
 than he could possibly have done by the 
 compass alone. Before midnight, as the 
 breeze had freshened greatly, and we were 
 going at the rate of nine knots an hour, we 
 had drawn up so much with the privateer 
 that every one could see her with the naked 
 eye, and the gunner, with his mates, and the 
 marksmen who had lost their credit on the 
 preceding night, were fidgeting and fussing 
 about the guns, eager to be banging away 
 again at the prize, as they now began, rather 
 prematurely, to call her — little knowing what 
 a dexterous, persevering, and gallant little 
 fellow they had to deal with, and how much 
 trouble he was yet to give us. 
 
 " It was not till about two o'clock that we 
 once more came within good shot of him ; 
 and as it had been alleged that the guns 
 were fired too quickly the night before, and 
 without sufficient care in pointing, the ut- 
 most attention was now paid to laying them 
 properly ; and the lanyard of the trigger 
 never pulled, till the person looking along
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 2 r 
 
 the gun felt confident of his aim. The brig, 
 however, appeared to possess the same witch- 
 like, invulnerable quality as ever ; for we 
 could neither strike her hull, so as to force 
 her to cry, * Peccavi,' nor bring down a yard, 
 nor lop off a mast or a boom. It was really 
 a curious spectacle to see a little bit of a 
 thing skimming away before the wind, with 
 such a huge monster as the Endymion tear- 
 ing and plunging after her, like a voracious 
 dolphin leaping from sea to sea in pursuit 
 of a flying-fish. 
 
 " In time this must have ended in the de- 
 struction of the brig ; for as we gained upon 
 her rapidly, some of our shot must by and 
 by have taken effect, and sent her to the 
 bottom. She was destined, however, to en- 
 joy a little longer existence. The proper 
 plan, perhaps, would have been to stand on, 
 firing at her sails, till we had reached with- 
 in musket-shot, and then to have knocked 
 down the helmsman, and every one else on 
 her deck. This, however, was not our cap- 
 tain's plan — or perhaps he became impa- 
 tient — at all events, he gave orders for the 
 whole starboard broadside to be got ready ;
 
 22 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 and then giving the ship a yaw, poured the 
 whole discharge, as he thought, right into 
 his unfortunate victim. 
 
 " Not a mortal on board the frigate ex- 
 pected ever to see the poor brig again. 
 What, then, was our surprise, when the 
 smoke blew swiftly past, to see the intrepid 
 little brig gliding away more merrily than 
 before ! As far as good discipline would 
 allow, there was a general murmur of ap- 
 plause at the Frenchman's gallantry. In 
 the next instant, however, this sound was 
 converted into hearty laughter over the fri- 
 gate's decks, when, in answer to our thun- 
 dering broadside, a single small gun, a 6- 
 pounder, was fired from the brig's stern, as 
 if in contempt of his formidable antagonist's 
 prowess, 
 
 " Instead of gaining by our manoeuvre, we 
 had lost a good deal ; and in two ways. In 
 the first place, by yawing out of our course, 
 we enabled the privateer to gain several 
 hundred yards upon ^us ; and, secondly, his 
 funny little shot, which had excited so much 
 mirth, passed through the lee fore-topsail 
 yard-arm, about six feet inside the boom iron.
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ifc. 2 3 
 
 Had it struck on the windward side, where 
 the yard was cracking and straining at a 
 most furious rate, the greater part of the 
 sails on the foremast might have been taken 
 in quicker than we could have wished — for 
 wc were now going at the rate of eleven and 
 a half, with the wind, on the quarter. 
 
 •' Just as we made out where his first shot 
 had struck us, another cut through the wea- 
 ther main-top-gallant sheet ; and so he went 
 on firing away briskly, till most of our lofty 
 sails were fluttering with the holes made in 
 them. His own sails, I need scarcely add, 
 were by this time so completely torn up by 
 our shot, that we could see the sky through 
 them all ; but still he refused to heave to — 
 and by constantly firing his single stern- 
 chaser, was evidently resolved to lose no 
 possible chance of escape. Had one or two 
 of his shot struck either of o^ir topmasts, I 
 really believe he might have got off It 
 therefore became ab.solutcly necessary that 
 we should either demoli.sh or capture him 
 without further loss of time. The choice 
 wc left to himself, as will be seen. But such 
 a spirited cruiser as this was an enemy
 
 24 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 worth subduing at any cost ; for there was 
 no calculating the mischief a privateer so 
 admirably commanded might have wrought 
 in a convoy. There was a degree of discre- 
 tion, also, about this expert privateer's-man 
 which was very remarkable, and deserving 
 of such favor at our hands as we had to 
 spare. He took care to direct his stern-chaser 
 so high that there was little chance of his 
 shot striking any of our people. Indeed, 
 he evidently aimed solely at crippling the 
 masts— knowing right well that it would 
 answer none of his ends to kill or wound 
 any number of his enemy's crew, while it 
 might irritate their captain to show him less 
 mercy at the last moment, which, as will be 
 seen, was fast approaching. 
 
 " The breeze had now freshened nearly to 
 a gale of wind, and when the log was hove, 
 out of curiosity, just after the broadside I 
 have described, we were going nearly twelve 
 knots, (or between thirteen and fourteen 
 miles an hour,) foaming and splashing along. 
 The distance between us and the brig was 
 now rapidly decreasing, for most of his sails 
 were in shreds, and we determined to bring
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 25; 
 
 him, as we said, to his senses at last. The 
 guns were reloaded, and orders given to de- 
 press them as much as possible — that is, tO' 
 point their muzzles downward — but not a shot 
 was to be fired till the frigate came actually 
 alongside of the chase. Such was the poor 
 privateer's sentence of death — severe indeed, 
 but, as we deemed, necessary ; for he ap- 
 peared resolved never to yield. 
 
 " On we flew, right down upon our prey,, 
 like the enormous roc-bird of the Arabian 
 Nights. We had ceased firing our bow- 
 chasers, that the smoke might not stand be- 
 tween us and the lesson we meant to read 
 to our resolute pupil, so that there was. 
 'silence deep as death' along our decks — 
 and doubtless on his ; for he likewise had 
 intermitted his firing, and seemed prepared 
 to meet his fate, and go to the bottom like a, 
 man. It was possible, also, we thought,, 
 that he might only be watching, even in his- 
 last extremity, to take advantage of any 
 negligence on our part, which should allow 
 him to haul suddenly across our bow.s, and,, 
 by getting on a wind, have a chance of es- 
 caping. This chance, it is true, was very
 
 26 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 •small ; for not one of his sails was in a con- 
 dition to stand such a breeze as was now 
 blowing, unless when running nearly before 
 it. But we had seen enough, during the 
 two days we had been together, to apprehend 
 that his activity was at least a match for 
 ours ; and as he had already shown that he 
 did not care a fig for shot, he might bend 
 new sails as fast as we could. 
 
 " At all events we were resolved to make 
 'him surrender or run him down: such was 
 our duty, and that the Frenchman knew 
 right well. He waited, however, until our 
 flying jib-boom end was almost over his tafF- 
 rail ; and that the narrow space between us 
 was filled with a confused, boiling heap' of 
 foam, partly caused by his bows, and partly 
 by ours. Then, and not till then, when he 
 must have seen into our ports, and along 
 the decks, which were lighted up fore and 
 aft, he first gave the signal of surrender. 
 
 "The manner in which this was done by 
 the captain of the privateer was as spirited 
 and characteristic as any part of his previous 
 conduct. The night was very dark ; but the 
 ships were so near to each other that we
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 2 7 
 
 could distinguish the tall figure of a man 
 mount the weather main rigging of the brig, 
 where he stood erect, with a lantern in his 
 hand, held out at right angles from his body. 
 Had this light not been seen or its purpose 
 not understood, or had it been delayed for 
 twenty seconds longer, the frigate must, al- 
 most in spite of herself, have gone right 
 over him, and the salvo of a double-shotted 
 broadside would have done the last and fit- 
 ting honors over the Frenchman's grave. 
 
 " Even as it was, it cost some trouble to 
 avoid running him down ; for, although the 
 helm was put over immediately, our lee 
 quarter, as the ship flew up in the wind, al- 
 most grazed his weather gangway. In pass- 
 ing, we ordered him to bring to likewise. 
 This he did as soon as we gave him room, 
 though we were still close enough to see the 
 effect of such a manoeuvre at such a moment. 
 Every stitch of sail he had set was blown, in 
 one moment, clean out of the bolt-ropes. 
 His halyards, tacks, and sheets had been all 
 racked aloft, so that everything not made of 
 canvas remained in its place ; the yards at 
 the mast-heads, and the booms rigged out —
 
 28 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 while the empty leech and foot ropes hung 
 down in festoons, where, but a minute before, 
 the tattered sails had been spread. 
 
 "We fared, comparatively speaking, not 
 much better ; for although, the instant the 
 course was altered, the order was given to 
 let fly the topsail-halyards and every other 
 necessary rope, and although the down-haul- 
 tackles, clewlines, and buntlines were already 
 manned, in expectation of this evolution, we 
 succeeded with great difficulty in saving the 
 fore and main topsails ; but the top-gallant- 
 sails were blown to pieces. All the flying- 
 kites went off in a crack, whisking far away 
 to leeward, like dried forest-leaves in autumn. 
 
 " It may be supposed that the chase was 
 now completely over, and that we had nothing 
 further to do than take possession of our 
 prize. Not at all ! It was found next to 
 impossible to board the brig, or at least, it 
 seemed so dangerous that our captain was 
 unwilling to hazard a boat and crew till day- 
 light came. The privateer, having no sail 
 set to keep her steady, became so unmanage- 
 able that the sea made a clean breach over 
 all, rendering it out of the question to board
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 29 
 
 heron the weather side. Nor was she more 
 easily approachable to leeward, where a 
 tangled network of broken spars, half-torn 
 sails, shattered booms, and smacking ropes'- 
 ends formed such a line of chevaux-de-frise 
 from the cathead to the counter, that all at- 
 tempts to get near her on that side were 
 useless. 
 
 "The gale increased before morning to 
 such a pitch that, as there was still a doubt 
 if any boat could live, the intention of board- 
 ing our prize was, of course, further delayed. 
 But wc took care to keep close to her, a lit- 
 tle to windward, in order to watch her pro- 
 ceedings as narrowly as possible. It did not 
 escape our notice, in the meantime, that our 
 friend (he was no longer our foe, though not 
 yet our prisoner) went on quietly, even in 
 the height of the gale, shifting his wound- 
 ed yards, reefing new ropes, and bending 
 fresh sails. This caused us to redouble our 
 vigilance during the morning, and the event 
 showed that we had good need for such 
 watchfulness. About three o'clock in the 
 afternoon, the brig having fallen a little to 
 leeward, and a furious squall of wind and
 
 30 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 rain coming on at the same moment, she 
 suddenly bore up, and set off once more, 
 right before the wind. At the height of the 
 squall we totally lost sight of our prize ; and 
 such a hubbub I hardly recollect to have 
 heard in my life before. 
 
 " ' Where is she ?' ' Who was looking 
 out ?' ' Where did you see her last .'' and 
 a hundred similar questions, reproaches, 
 scolds, and the whole of the ugly family of 
 oaths, were poured out in abundance — some 
 on the privateer whose adroitness had thus 
 overreached our vigilance, others upon those 
 who by their neglect had given him the op- 
 portunity, and many imprecations were utter- 
 ed merely to express the depth of anger and 
 disappointment at this stupid loss of a good 
 thing which had cost so much trouble to 
 catch. All this passed over in the first 
 burst. Sail was made at once, the topsails, 
 close reefed, were sheeted home like light- 
 ning, and off we dashed into the thick of the 
 squall, in search of our lost treasure. At 
 each mast-head and at every yard-arm there 
 was planted a lookout man, while the forecas- 
 tle hammock-netting was filled with volun-
 
 Talcs of Naval and Militaiy Life. 3 1 
 
 teer spy-glasses. For about a quarter of an 
 hour a dead silence reigned over the whole 
 ship, during which anxious interval every 
 eye was strained to the utmost, for no one 
 knew exactly where to look. There was, in- 
 deed, no certainty of our not actually run- 
 ning past the privateer, and it would not 
 have surprised us much, when the squall 
 cleared up, had we seen him a mile or two 
 to windward, far beyond our reach. These 
 fears were put an end to by the sharp-eyed 
 captain of the fore-top, who had perched 
 himself on the jib-boom end, caUing out with 
 a voice of the greatest glee : 
 
 " ' There he goes ! there he goes ! right 
 ahead, under his topsails and foresail.' 
 
 "And, sure enough, there we saw him, 
 springing along from wave to wave, with his 
 masts bending forward like reeds, under the 
 pressure of sail enough to have laid him on 
 his beam-ends had he broached to. In such 
 tempestuous weather a small vessel has no 
 chance whatever with a frigate ; indeed, we 
 could observe that, when the little brig fell 
 between two high seas, her foresail flapped to
 
 32 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 the mast, fairly becalmed by the wave be- 
 hind her. 
 
 " In a very few minutes we were again 
 alongside. Doubtless the Frenchman thought 
 we were at last going to execute summary 
 vengeance upon him for his treachery, as we 
 called it. Nothing daunted, however, by the 
 style in which we bore down upon him, the 
 gallant commander of this pretty little egg- 
 shell of a vessel placed himself on the weath- 
 er-quarter, and with a speaking-trumpet in 
 his hand indicated by gesticulations a wish 
 to be heard This could not well be refused ; 
 and we steered as close as possible, without 
 bringing the two vessels in contact or risk- 
 ing the entanglement of the yards. 
 
 " ' I have been compelled to bear up,' he 
 called out in French, 'otherwise the brig 
 must have gone to the bottom. The sea 
 broke over us in such a way that I have been 
 obliged, as you may perceive, to throw all 
 my guns, boats, and spars overboard. We 
 have now several feet of water in the hold, 
 in consequence of your shot, which you may 
 likewise observe has nearly destroyed our 
 upper works. If, therefore, you oblige me
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ifc. 3 3 
 
 to heave to, I cannot keep the vessel afloat 
 one hour in such weather.' 
 
 "'Will you make no further attempt to 
 escape ?' asked the captain of the Endymion, 
 
 " ' As yet I have made none,' he replied 
 firmly. ' I struck to you already — I am your 
 prize, and, feeling as a man of honor, I do 
 not consider myself at liberty to escape, 
 even if I had the power. I bore up when 
 the squall came on as a matter of necessity. 
 If you will allow me to run before the wind 
 along with you, till the weather moderates, 
 you may take possession of the brig when 
 you please ; if not, I must go to the bottom.' 
 
 " Such is the substance of the conver- 
 sation, very difficult to keep up across the 
 tempest, which was now whistling at a great 
 rate. To have brought the ships again to 
 the wind, after what had been said, would 
 have been to imitate the celebrated ' Noya- 
 des' of Nantes, for the privateer must have 
 been swamped instantly. Although we 
 distrusted our companion, therefore, most 
 grievously, we sailed along most lovingly to- 
 gether, as if we had been the best possible 
 friends, for about sixty or seventy miles.
 
 3 4 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 " At eight o'clock in the evening it began 
 to moderate, and by midnight we succeeded 
 in getting a boat on board of the prize, af- 
 ter a run of between three and four hundred 
 miles. Such is the scale of nautical sport ! 
 And where, I now beg to ask, is the fox-hunt- 
 ing, or the piracy, or anything else, more 
 exciting than this noble game ? 
 
 " The brig proved to be the Milan priva- 
 teer, from St. Malo, of fourteen guns and 
 eighty men, many of whom were unfortu- 
 nately wounded by our shot, and several 
 were killed. 
 
 " The captain's name was Lepelletier — I 
 have pleasure in recording it — M. Pierre 
 Lepelletier, of St. Malo ; and wherever he 
 goes I will venture to say he can meet no 
 braver or more resolute man than himself. 
 
 " Long before he came on board he had 
 well earned the respect of his captors, high 
 and low ; and his manners and information, 
 after we became personally acquainted with 
 him, raised him still more in general estima- 
 tion. 
 
 " One day, when I was walking with him 
 lender the half-deck, I overheard two of the
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 3 5 
 
 sailmakers conversing about the chase, the 
 prize, and the prisoners — the only topics 
 which occupied our thoughts for a week af- 
 terward. These men were repairing one of 
 the sails which had been shot through and 
 split during the chase. One of them laid 
 down his palm and needle, and, looking 
 very significantly to our side of the deck, 
 exclaimed : 
 
 " ' I say. Bill, is it not a pity that the 
 French captain walking there is not an 
 Englishman V 
 
 " I lost no time in translating this obser- 
 vation to the person whom it most concerned, 
 who declared it was by far the highest com- 
 pliment he had been honored with since he 
 came on board the Endymion,"
 
 ^'1^^_ 
 
 CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT. 
 
 N the month of November, 1776, 
 Major-General Lee was surprised 
 and taken prisoner by a detach- 
 ment of British troops. With a 
 view to procure the exchange of that valua- 
 ble officer, William Barton, then a major in 
 the Rhode Island line, in the service of the 
 Continental Congress, and one of the most 
 daring and patriotic soldiers of the Revolu- 
 tion, projected the bold and adventurous ex- 
 pedition which is the subject of the following 
 narrative. 
 
 Some months elapsed, after the capture of 
 General Lee, before an opportunity offered 
 of effecting the object which Major Barton
 
 Talcs of Naval and military Life, ij 
 
 had in view. In the month following that of 
 the capture of General Lee, the British took 
 possession of the islands of Canonicut and 
 Prudence, in Narraganset Bay, Major Bar- 
 ton was then stationed at Tiverton, and for 
 some months anxiously watched the motions 
 of the enemy, with but feeble prospect of 
 obtaining the opportunity he desired. At 
 length, on the 20th June, 1777, a man of the 
 name of Coffin, who made his escape from 
 the British, was seized by some of the Ame- 
 rican troops and carried to Major Barton's 
 quarters. Major Barton availed himself of 
 the opportunity to inquire respecting the 
 disposition of the British forces. Coffin, on 
 examination, stated that General Prescott 
 had established his head-quarters on the west 
 side of Rhode Island, and described minutely 
 the situation of the house in which he resid- 
 ed, which he said was owned by Mr. Bering. 
 His account was a few days afterward cor- 
 roborated by a deserter from the ranks of 
 the enemy. Major Barton was now confirm- 
 ed in his belief of the practicability of cffi-^ct- 
 ing his favorite object, but serious obstacles 
 were first to be encountered and removed
 
 3 8 Talcs of Naval and Military L ifc. 
 
 Neither his troops nor their commander had 
 been long inured to service, and the intend- 
 ed enterprise was of a nature as novel as it 
 was hazardous. Besides, Major Barton was 
 aware that the undertaking, should it prove 
 unsuccessful, would be pronounced rash and 
 unadvised, and that non-success, though his 
 life should be preserved, would be followed by 
 degradation and disgrace. Moreover, to in- 
 volve, in the consequences of an enterprise 
 devised and undertaken without previous 
 consultation with his superiors in rank, the 
 interest and perhaps the lives of a portion of 
 his brave countrymen, was a subject that ex- 
 cited reflections calculated to damp the ardor 
 and appall the courage of the bravest mind. 
 Still, however, upon mature reflection, aided 
 by a consciousness that his only motive was 
 the interest of his country, he resolved to ha- 
 zard his reputation and life in the attempt. 
 
 The regiment to which Major Barton was 
 attached was commanded by Colonel Stan- 
 ton, a respectable and wealthy farmer in 
 Rhode Island, who, in the spirit of the times, 
 had abandoned the culture of his farm and 
 the care of his family, and put at hazard his
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 39 
 
 property and his life, in defence of his coun- 
 try. To this gentleman Major Barton com- 
 municated his plan, and solicited permission 
 to carry it into execution. Colonel Stanton 
 readily authorized him " to attack the enemy 
 when and where he pleased." Several officers 
 in the confidence of ]\Iajor Barton were then 
 selected from the regiment for the intended 
 expedition, on whose abilities and bravery 
 he could rely ; these were Captain Samuel 
 Philips, Lieutenant James Porter, Lieuten- 
 ant Joshua Babcock, Ensign Andrew Stan- 
 ton, and John Wilcox. (Captain Adams sub- 
 sequently volunteered his services, and took 
 an active part in the enterprise.) These gen- 
 tlemen were informed by Major Barton that 
 he had in contemplation an enterprise which 
 would be attended with great personal ha- 
 zard to him.sclf and his associates, but which, 
 if success attended it, would be productive 
 of much advantage to the country. Its par- 
 ticular object, he stated, would be disclosed 
 to them in due time. It was at their option 
 to accept or decline his invitation to share 
 with him in the dangers and, as he trusted, 
 in the glory that would attend the underlak-
 
 40 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 ing. The personal bravery of Major Barton 
 had been previously tested ; and such were 
 the esteem and confidence which he had ac- 
 quired among the officers under his com- 
 mand, that without insisting upon a previous 
 explanation of his plans, his proposal was 
 immediately accepted. Major Barton expe- 
 rienced more difficulty in obtaining the ne- 
 cessary number of boats, as there were but 
 two in the vicinity. But this difficulty, 
 though it caused a few days' delay, was at 
 length obviated, and five whale-boats were 
 procured and equipped for service. Major 
 Barton had purposely postponed procuring 
 the necessary number of men until the last 
 moment, from an apprehension that an ear- 
 lier selection might excite suspicion and de- 
 feat the object of their enterprise. Desir- 
 ous that his little band might be composed 
 entirely of volunteers, the whole regiment 
 was now ordered upon parade. In a short 
 but animated address. Major Barton inform- 
 ed the soldiers " that he projected an expe- 
 dition against the enemy, which could be ef- 
 fected only by the heroism and bravery of 
 those who should attend him ; that he de-
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 4 1 
 
 sired the voluntary assistance of about forty 
 of their number, and requested those who 
 would hazard their lives in the enterprise to 
 advance two paces in front." Without one 
 exception or a moment's hesitation the whole 
 regiment advanced. Major Barton, after be- 
 stowing upon the troops the applause they 
 merited, and stating that he required the aid 
 of but a small portion of their number, com- 
 menced on the right, and, passing along the 
 lines, selected from the regiment, to the 
 number of thirty-six, those who united to 
 bravery and discipline a competent know- 
 ledge of seamanship for the management of 
 the boats. Having thus obtained an ade- 
 quate number of officers and men, and every- 
 thing being ready, the party, on the 4th of 
 July, 1777, embarked from Tiverton for Bris- 
 tol. While crossing Mount Hope Bay, there 
 arose a severe storm of thunder and rain, 
 which separated three boats from that of 
 their commander. The boat containing Ma- 
 jor Barton and one other arrived at Bristol 
 soon after midnight. Major Barton proceed- 
 ed to the quarters of the commanding offi- 
 cer, where he found a deserter who had just
 
 42 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 made his escape from the enemy at Rhode 
 Island. From this man he learned that there 
 had been no alteration for the last few days 
 in the position of the British. On the morn- 
 ing of the 5th, the remaining boats having 
 arrived, Major Barton with his officers went 
 to Hog Island, not far distant from Bristol, 
 and within view of the British encampment 
 and shipping. It was at this place that he 
 disclosed to his officers the particular object 
 of the enterprise, his reasons for attempting 
 it, and the part each was to perform. Upon 
 reconnoitring the position of the enemy, 
 it was thought impracticable, without great 
 hazard of capture, to proceed directly from 
 Bristol to the head-quarters of the British 
 general. It was determined, therefore, to 
 make Warwick Neck, a place opposite to 
 the British encampment, but at a greater 
 distance than Bristol, the point from which 
 they should depart immediately for Rhode 
 Island. The most inviolable secrecy was 
 enjoined upon his officers by Major Barton, 
 and the party returned to Bristol. 
 
 On the evening of the 6th, about nine 
 o'clock, the little squadron again sailed, and
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 43 
 
 crossing Narraganset Bay, landed on War- 
 wick Neck. On the 7th, the wind, changing 
 to E.N.E., brought on a storm, and retarded 
 their plan. On the 9th, the weather being 
 pleasant, it was determined to embark for the 
 island. The boats were now numberned, and 
 the place of every officer and soldier assign- 
 ed. At 9 o'clock in the evening Major Bar- 
 ton assembled his party around him, and in 
 an address, in which were mingled the feel- 
 ings of the soldier and the man, he disclosed 
 to them the object of the enterprise. He 
 did not attempt to conceal the danger and 
 difficulties that would inevitably attend the 
 undertaking ; nor did he forget to remind 
 them that, should their efforts be followed 
 by success, they would be entitled to, and 
 would receive, the grateful acknowledgments 
 of their country. " It is probable," said he, 
 " that some of us may not survive the dar- 
 ing attempt ; but I ask you to hazard no 
 dangers which will not be shared with you 
 by your commander ; and I pledge you my 
 honor, that in every difficulty and danger I 
 v/ill take the lead." He received the im- 
 mediate and unanimous assurance of the
 
 44 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 whole party, that they would follow wher- 
 ever their beloved commander should lead 
 them. Major Barton then, reminding them 
 how much the success of the enterprise 
 depended upon their strict attention to or- 
 ders, directed that each individual should 
 confine himself to his particular seat in the 
 boat assigned him, and that not a syllable 
 should be uttered by any one. He instruct- 
 ed them, as they regarded their character 
 as patriots and soldiers, that in the hour of 
 danger they should be firm, collected, and 
 resolved fearlessly to encounter the dangers 
 and difficulties that might assail them. He 
 concluded by offering his fervent petition 
 to the great King of armies, that he would 
 * smile upon their intended enterprise and 
 crown it with success. The whole party 
 now proceeded to the shore. Major Barton 
 had reason to apprehend that he might be 
 discovered in his passage from the main to 
 Rhode Island, by some of the ships of war 
 that lay at a small distance from the shore. 
 He therefore directed the commanding offi- 
 cer of the port at Warwick Neck, if he heard 
 the report of three distinct muskets, to send
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 45 
 
 the boats to the north end of Prudence Is- 
 land to his aid. The whole party now took 
 possession of the boats in the manner direct- 
 ed. That which contained Major Barton 
 was posted in front, with a pole of about 
 ten feet long in her stern, to the end of 
 which was attached a handkerchief, in order 
 that his boat might be distinguished from 
 the others, that none might go before it. 
 In this manner they proceeded between 
 the islands of Prudence and Patience, in 
 order that they might not be seen by the 
 shipping of the enemy which lay off against 
 Hope Island. While passing the north end 
 of Prudence Island, they heard from the 
 sentinels on board the shipping of the enemy 
 the cry of " All's well." As they approached 
 the shore of Rhode Island, a noise like the 
 running of horses was heard, which threw a 
 momentary consternation over the minds 
 of the whole party, but in strict conformity 
 to the orders issued not a word was spoken 
 by any one. A moment's reflection satisfied 
 Major Barton of the utter impossibility that 
 his designs could be known by the enemy, 
 and he pushed boldly for the shore. Ajv
 
 46 Tales of Naval ajid Military Life. 
 
 prchensive that if discovered the enemy 
 might attempt to cut off his retreat, Major 
 Barton ordered one man to remain in each 
 boat and be prepared for departure at a 
 moment's warning. The remainder of the 
 party landed without delay. The reflections 
 of Major Barton at this interesting moment 
 were of a nature the most anxious. The 
 lapse of a few hours would place him in a 
 situation in the highest degree gratifying 
 to his ambition, or overwhelm him in the 
 ruin in which his rashness would involve 
 him. In the solemn silence of the night, 
 and on the shores of the enemy, he paused 
 a moment to consider a plan which had 
 been projected and matured amidst the 
 bustle of a camp, and in a place of safety. 
 The night was excessively dark, and, a 
 stranger to the country, his sole reliance 
 upon a direct and expeditious movement 
 to the head-quarters of the British general, 
 so essential to success, rested upon the im- 
 perfect information he had acquired from 
 deserters from the enemy ! Should he sur- 
 prise and secure General Prescott, he was 
 aware of the difficulties that would attend 
 
 \
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 47 
 
 his conveyance to the boat, as well as the 
 probability of an earlydiscovery of his design 
 by the troops on the island ; and even should 
 he succeed in reaching the boats, it was by 
 no means improbable that the alarm might 
 be given to the shipping in time to prevent 
 his retreat. But, regardless of circumstances, 
 which even then would have afforded an apo- 
 logy for a hasty retreat, he resolved at all 
 hazards to attempt the accomphshment of 
 his gallant enterprise. 
 
 To the head-quarters of General Prescott, 
 about a mile from the shore, the party, in 
 five divisions, now proceeded in silence. 
 There was a door on the south, east, and 
 west sides of the house in which he resided. 
 The first division was ordered to advance 
 upon the south door, the second on the 
 west, and the third on the east, the fourth 
 to guard the road, and the fifth to act on 
 emergencies. In their march they passed 
 the guard-house of the enemy on their left, 
 and on their right a house occupied by a 
 company of cavalry, for the purpose of carry- 
 ing with expedition the orders of the gen- 
 eral to remote parts of the island. On ar-
 
 48 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 riving at the head-quarters of the enemy, 
 as the gate of the front yard was opened, 
 they were challenged by the sentinel on 
 guard. The party was at the distance of 
 about twenty-five yards from the sentinel, 
 but a row of trees partially concealed them 
 from his view, and prevented him from 
 determining their number. No reply was 
 made to the challenge of the sentinel, 
 and the party proceeded on in silence. 
 The sentinel again demanded, "Who 
 comes there .>" "Friends," replied Barton. 
 "Friends," said the sentinel, "advance and 
 give the countersign." 
 
 Major Barton, affecting to be angry, said 
 to the sentinel, who was now near him, 
 " Confound you, we have no countersign — 
 have you seen any rascals to-night T And 
 before the sentinej could determine the char- 
 acter of those who approached him. Major 
 Barton seized his musket, told him he was 
 a prisoner, and threatened in case of noise 
 or resistance to put him to instant death. 
 The poor fellow was so terrified, that upon 
 being demanded if his general was in the 
 house, he was for some time unable to give
 
 Tales of Naval ajid 3Tilitaiy Life. 49 
 
 any answer. At length, in a faltering voice, 
 he replied that he was. By this time each 
 division having taken its station, the south 
 door was burst open by the direction of 
 Major Barton, and the division there station- 
 ed, with their commander at their head, 
 rushed into the head-quarters of the general. 
 At this critical moment one of the British 
 soldiers effected his escape, and fled to the 
 quarters of the main guard. This man had 
 no article of clothing upon him but a shirt, 
 and having given the alarm to the sentinel 
 on duty, passed on to the quarters of the 
 cavalry, which was more remote from the 
 head-quarters of the general. The sentinel 
 roused the main guard, who were instantly 
 in arms, and demanded the cause of the 
 alarm. He stated the information which 
 had been given him by the soldier, which 
 appeared so incredible to the sergeant of 
 the guard, that he insisted he had seen a 
 ghost. The sentinel, to whom the account 
 of his general's capture appeared quite as 
 incredible as to his commanding officer, 
 admitted that the messenger was clothed in 
 white ; and after submitting to the jokes of
 
 50 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 his companions as a punishment for his 
 creduhty, was ordered to resume his station, 
 while the remainder of the guard retired to 
 their quarters. It was fortunate for Major 
 Barton and his brave followers that the 
 alarm given by the soldier was considered 
 groundless. Had the main guard proceeded 
 without delay to the relief of their command- 
 ing general, his rescue certainly, and pro- 
 bably the destruction of the party, would 
 have been the consequence. 
 
 The first room Major Barton entered was 
 occupied by Mr. Bering, who positively de- 
 nied that General Brescott was in his house. 
 He next entered the room of his son, who 
 was equally obstinate with his father in de- 
 nying that the general was there. Major 
 Barton then proceeded to other apartments, 
 but was still disappointed in the object of 
 his search. Aware that longer delay might 
 defeat the object of his enterprise, Major 
 Barton resorted to stratagem to facilitate his 
 search. Blacing himself on the landing of 
 the stairs, and declaring his resolution to 
 secure the general dead or alive, he ordered 
 his soldiers to set fire to the house. The
 
 Talcs of Naval aiid Military L ife. 5 1 
 
 soldiers were preparing to execute his orders, 
 when a voice, which Major Barton at once 
 suspected to be the general's, demanded 
 what was the matter. Major Barton rushed 
 to the apartment whence the voice pro- 
 ceeded, and discovered an elderly man just 
 rising from his bed, and, clapping his hands 
 upon his shoulder, demanded of him if he 
 was General Prescott. He answered, " Yes, 
 sir." " You are my prisoner, then," said Ma- 
 jor Barton. " I acknowledge that I am," 
 said the general. In a moment General 
 Prescott found himself, half-dressed, in the 
 arms of the soldiers, who hurried him from 
 the house. In the meantime Major Barring- 
 to'n, the aide-de-camp to General Prescott, 
 discovering that the house was attacked by 
 the rebels, as they were termed, leaped out 
 of the window of his bed-chamber, and was 
 immediately made prisoner. General Pres- 
 cott, supported by Major Barton and one of 
 his officers, and attended by Major Barring- 
 ton and the sentinel, proceeded, surrounded 
 by soldiery, to the shore. Upon seeing the 
 five little boats, General Prescott, who knew 
 the position of the British shipping, appear-
 
 52 Talcs of Naval and Militaiy Life. 
 
 ed much confused, and, turning to Major 
 Barton, inquired if he commanded the party. 
 On being informed that he did, he expressed 
 a hope that no personal injury was intended 
 him, and Major Barton assured the general 
 of his protection while he remained under 
 his control. 
 
 The general had travelled from head-quar- 
 ters to the shore in his waistcoat, small 
 clothes, and slippers. A moment was now 
 allowed him to complete his dress, while the 
 party were taking possession of the boats. 
 The general was placed in the boat with 
 Major Barton, and they proceeded toward 
 the sea. 
 
 They had not got far from the island, 
 when the discharge of cannon and three sky- 
 rockets gave the signal of alarm. It was for- 
 tunate for the party that the enemy on 
 board the shipping were ignorant of the 
 cause of it, as they might easily have cut off 
 their retreat. The signal of alarm e.xcited 
 the apprehensions of Major Barton and his 
 brave associates, and redoubled their exer- 
 tions to reach the place of their destination 
 before they could be discovered. They sue-
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 5 3 
 
 cecded, and soon after daybreak landed at 
 Warwick Neck, near the point of their de- 
 parture, after an absence of six hours and a 
 half 
 
 General Prescott turned toward the 
 island, and observing the ships of war, re- 
 marked to Major Barton, " Sir, you have 
 made a bold push to-night." " We have been 
 fortunate," replied the hero. An express 
 was immediately sent forward to Major- 
 General Spencer, at Providence, communi- 
 cating the success which had attended the 
 enterprise. Not long afterward a coach ar- 
 rived, which had been despatched by Gene- 
 ral Spencer to convey General Prescott and 
 his aide-de-camp prisoners to Providence. 
 They were accompanied by Major Barton, 
 who related to General Spencer, on their ar- 
 rival, the particulars of the enterprise, and 
 received from that officer the most grateful 
 acknowledgments for the signal services he 
 had rendered his country.
 
 THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE, 
 
 SUNK AT SPITHEAD, AUGUST 29, 1782. 
 
 HIS memorable calamity occurred 
 during the last year of the Ameri- 
 can war. Great Britain having at 
 that time to contend not only with 
 her revolted colonies, but also with the united 
 forces of France, Spain, and Holland, it was 
 found necessary to put as many ships as pos- 
 sible to sea. The practice of coppering having 
 at that time come only partially into use, it 
 was often needful to examine and repair such 
 parts of vessels as are usually under water ; 
 and in order to do this, the Royal George 
 had to be laid to a certain degree on her side. 
 On the morning of the 29th of August, the 
 water being very smooth and the weather 
 calm, some carpenters from the dockyard at
 
 Tales of Naval and j\Iilitayy Life. 5 5 
 
 Portsmouth attended to assist those belong- 
 ing to the ship. Admiral Kempenfelt was 
 on board ; and the order for the fleet, for the 
 relief of Gibraltar, was expected in a day or 
 two. On examination, repairs were required 
 lower down than was at first expected ; and 
 it was necessary to take out and replace the 
 water-cock by which the sea-water is ad- 
 mitted into the hold of the ship, whence it 
 is pumped up to wash the decks. To get 
 at this water-cock, the ship had to be heeled 
 on her side, so as to raise it above the water. 
 This was done by driving all the guns and 
 ballast as much as possible to one side of 
 the ship, by which the water came to be ^ 
 nearly on a level with the port-holes on tlie 
 left side of the lower gun-deck. But there 
 would have been no danger, had it not been 
 for some accidental circumstances. The 
 ship, as is usually the case in coming into 
 port, was crowded with people from the 
 shore, particularly with women, of whom 
 there were nearly 300 on board. Many of 
 the wives and children of the seamen and 
 petty officers, knowing that it was soon to 
 sail, had taken this opportunity of coming to
 
 5 6 Talcs of Naval and Militaiy L ife. 
 
 see their husbands and fathers. Between 
 800 and 900 of the crew, inckiding marines, 
 were also on board ; hence the tendency to 
 overset was much increased by the weight 
 of such a number of people. About ten 
 o'clock in the morning, while the admiral 
 was engaged in writing in his cabin, and the 
 greater part of the people were between the 
 decks, the ship was thrown so much upon 
 her side, that the water rushed into her gun- 
 ports with such an overpowering force *that 
 she almost instantly filled and sank. The 
 shipping at Spithead— about forty sail of the 
 line, many frigates, etc., and two or three 
 hundred merchant-vessels— were riding to 
 the flood-tide ; so there was no want of as- 
 sistance. Boats innumerable, with wind and 
 tide in their favor, were soon on the spot ; 
 but, alas ! too late ; those who could swim' 
 were drowned by those who could not ; and 
 a few days after, numbers were seen floating 
 about Spithead, five or six together, clasped 
 in each other's arms. It is calculated that 
 nearly a thousand men, women, and children 
 lost their lives, and only 300 were saved. 
 A few years since, a short narrative was
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 5 7 
 
 written by a worthy old man, Mr. James In- 
 gram, who was on board the ship at the 
 time of this fearful calamity, and then about 
 twenty-four years of age. The following is 
 an extract : 
 
 He says: "At about nine o'clock, or 
 rather before — we had just finished our 
 breakfast — a sloop, with rum on board, had 
 come alongside. This vessel belonged to 
 three brothers, who used her to carry things 
 on board the men-of-war. She was lashed 
 to the side of the Royal George. I was in 
 the waist of our ship, bearing the rum-casks 
 over, as some men of the Royal George 
 were aboard the sloop to sling them. At 
 first, no danger was apprehended, though 
 the water kept dashing in at the port-holes 
 at every wave ; and there being mice in the 
 lower part of the ship, which were disturbed 
 by the water which dashed in, they were 
 hunted in the water by the men, and there 
 had been a rare game going on. However, 
 by a little after nine o'clock, the additional 
 quantity of rum on board the ship, and also 
 the quantity of sca-watcr which had dashed 
 in, brought the port-holes of the lower gun-
 
 58 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 deck nearly level with the sea. As soon as 
 that was the case, the carpenter went on the 
 quarter-deck to the lieutenant of the watch, 
 to ask him to give orders to right ship. 
 However, the lieutenant made him a very 
 short answer, and the carpenter then went 
 below. The captain's name was Waghorn : 
 he was on board, but where he was I do not 
 know ; however, captains, if anything is to 
 be done when the ship is in harbor, seldom 
 interfere, but leave it all to the officers of the 
 watch. The lieutenant was, if I remember 
 right, the third lieutenant ; he had not joined 
 us long ; his name I do not recollect ; he 
 was a good-sized man, between thirty and 
 forty years of age ; the men called him ' Jib- 
 and-foresail-Jack ;' for, if he had the watch in 
 the night, he would always be bothering the 
 men to alter the sails ; and it was ' up jib* 
 and 'down jib,' and 'up foresail' and 'down 
 foresail,' every minute. Altogether the men 
 considered him more of a troublesome officer 
 than a good one ; and, from a habit he had 
 of moving his fingers about when walking 
 the quarter-deck, they used to say he was 
 an organ-player from London. The admiral
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 59 
 
 was either in his cabin or in his steerage ; 
 and the barber, who had been to shave him, 
 had just left him. Kempenfelt was a man 
 of upward of seventy years of age, a tall, 
 thin man, who stooped a good deal. 
 
 "As I have already said, the carpenter left 
 the deck and went below. In a very short 
 time he came up, and again asked the lieu- 
 tenant of the watch to right ship, saying the 
 ship could not bear it ; but the lieutenant 
 replied, ' If you can manage the ship better 
 than I can, you had better take the com- 
 mand.' Myself and a good many more 
 heard what passed, and knew the danger. 
 Wc began to feel ourselves aggrieved, for 
 there were some capital seamen on board. 
 In a very short time — in a minute or two, I 
 should think — the lieutenant ordered the 
 drummer to be called to right ship. The 
 drummer was called in a moment ; but the 
 ship was then just beginning to sink. There 
 was no time for him to beat his drum, and 
 I do not know that he had even time to get 
 it. I ran down to my station ; and by the 
 time I got there, the men were tumbling 
 down the hatchways, one over another, to get
 
 6o Talcs of Naval and Militaiy L ifc. 
 
 to their stations as quick as possible to right 
 the ship. I said to the Heutenant of our 
 gun, whose name was Corvell, (for every 
 gun has a captain and a lieutenant, though 
 they are only sailors,) ' Let us try to boule 
 our gun out, without waiting for the drum, 
 as it will help to right ship.' We pushed 
 the gun, but it ran back upon us. The wa- 
 ter then rushed in at nearly all the port- 
 holes on the larboard side ; and I said direct- 
 ly to Corvell, ' Ned, lay hold of the ring-bolt, 
 and jump out of the port-hole : the ship is 
 sinking, and we shall all be drowned.' He 
 did so ; and I believe he was drowned, for I 
 never saw him afterward. I immediately 
 jumped out of the same port-hole ; and when 
 I had done so, I saw it as full of heads as it 
 could cram, all trying to get out. I caught 
 hold of the best bower anchor, which was 
 just above me, and seized hold of a woman 
 who was trying to get out of that same port- 
 hole. I dragged her out, and just after that 
 the air between decks drafted out of the 
 port-holes very swiftly, and it blew my hat 
 off. The ship than sank in a moment. I 
 tried to swim, but the sinking of the ship
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 6 1 
 
 drew me down so that I could not : indeed, 
 I think I must have gone down within a 
 yard as low as the ship did. When the ship 
 touched the bottom, the water boiled up a 
 great deal ; and then I felt that I could 
 swim, and began to rise. At the time the 
 ship was sinking, there was a barrel of tar 
 on the deck that had rolled and staved as 
 the ship went down ; and when I rose to 
 the top of the water the tar was floating like 
 fat on the top of a boiler, and got about my 
 hair and face. I heard the cannon on shore 
 firing for distress; I looked about me, and 
 at the distance of eight or ten yards I saw 
 the main-topsail-halyard block above water: 
 the water was about thirteen fathoms deep' 
 then, the tide coming in. I swam and got 
 upon the sail-block, and there I rode. The 
 fore, main, and mizzcn tops were all above 
 water. I saw the admiral's baker in the 
 shrouds of the mizzen topmast ; and directly 
 after that, the woman whom I had pulled 
 out of the port-hole came rolling by. I 
 called to the baker, ' Bob, stretch out your 
 hand, and catch hold of that woman.' He 
 caught hold of her, and put her head over
 
 '62 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 one of the shrouds, and there she hung by 
 her chin. A captain of a frigate which was 
 lying at Spithcad came up as fast as he 
 could. I dashed out my left hand in a direc- 
 tion toward the woman, as a sign to him : he 
 saw it, and saw the woman : his men left off 
 rowing, and they pulled the woman aboard 
 the boat. The captain of the frigate called 
 out to me, ' My man, I must take care of 
 those who are in more danger than you are.' 
 I said, ' I am safely moored now, sir.' There 
 was a seaman named Hibbs hanging by his 
 two hands from the mainstay; and as he 
 hung, the sea washed over him every now 
 and then as much as a yard deep, and when 
 he saw it coming he roared out ; however, 
 he was but a fool for that ; for, if he had 
 kept himself quiet, he would not have wast- 
 ed his strength, and would have been able 
 to take the chance of holding on so much 
 the longer. The captain of the frigate had 
 the boat rowed to the mainstay ; but they 
 got the stay over part of the head of the 
 boat, and were in great danger before they 
 got Hibbs on board. They then got all the 
 men that were in different parts of the rig-
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 63 
 
 ging, including the baker and myself, and 
 took us on board the Victory, where the 
 doctors recovered the woman ; but she was 
 very ill for three or four days. On board 
 the Victory I saw the body of the carpen- 
 ter ; he was then quite dead. The captain 
 of the Royal George, who could not swim, 
 was picked up and saved by one of our sea- 
 men. The lieutenant of the watch, I be- 
 lieve, 'was drowned. I believe that, if the 
 lieutenant of the watch had given the order 
 to right ship only two minutes earlier, no- 
 thing amiss would have happened." 
 
 Among many remarkable escapes, two 
 may be mentioned of children. Captain 
 Crisps was a midshipman of the quarter- 
 deck watch at the moment of the accident, 
 and escaped by swimming. He was but 
 nine years old at that time, and so small in 
 stature that, when about being examined 
 before the court-martial which sat to inquire 
 into the circumstances of this lamentable 
 event, one of the members of the court lifted 
 him with one hand on the table, and said, 
 " Now, my lad, you can be seen ; speak up, 
 and boldly ; for from this moment you arc
 
 64 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 an adopted son of the British navy." At the 
 end of twenty-eight years from that day. 
 John Crisps was promoted to the rank of 
 post-captain., and is still on the half-pay list. 
 Lately, speaking of the exertions of Captain 
 Pasley to raise the Royal George, Captain 
 Crisps said, with some earnestness, " I wish 
 he may fish up my chest, for there are twen- 
 ty-two guineas and two half-guineas in it." 
 A poor little child was almost miraculously 
 preserved by a sheep, which swam with him 
 for some time, the little fellow holding by its 
 fleece ; he was taken up by a gentleman in 
 a wherry. His father and mother were 
 drowned, and the boy did not know their 
 names ; all that he knew was that his own 
 name was Jack; so they christened him 
 John Lamb, and the gentleman took care of 
 him. The masts of the Royal George re- 
 mained standing out of water for several 
 years afterward; and some parts of her 
 deck, before being covered with sand, could 
 sometimes be indistinctly seen at low water. 
 Several unsuccessful attempts were made, 
 at different times, to raise the vessel, and 
 persons would go down in diving-bells to
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 65 
 
 find all they could. At length, in the months 
 of May and June, 1840, Captain Pasley suc- 
 ceeded, by means of gunpowder, in tearing 
 the wreck asunder, and so bringing up to 
 the surface of the water the long-buried re- 
 mains of the Royal George.
 
 r^M 
 
 1 
 
 j3| 
 
 ?9R^ff^^^[ 
 
 ^ 
 
 1^ 
 
 ^E'-^ ■ 
 
 
 ^.{^2 
 
 W fil^M v^^^^^^SS^ 
 
 m 
 
 1^ 
 
 A GLIMPSE OF DETROIT. 
 
 HE position of Detroit is one of 
 the finest imaginable. It is on 
 a strait between Lake Erie and 
 Lake St. Clair, commanding the 
 Avhole internal commerce of these great 
 " successive seas." 
 
 The origin of the city was a little pali- 
 saded fort, erected here, in 1702, by the 
 French under La Mote Cadillac, to defend 
 their fur trade. It was then called Fort 
 Pontchartrain. From this time till 1760 it 
 remained in possession of the French, and 
 continued to increase slowly. So late as 
 1721, Charlevoix speaks of the vast herds of 
 buffaloes ranging the plains west of the city. 
 INIeantime, under the protection of the fort.
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 6/ 
 
 the settlement and cultivation of the neigh- 
 boring districts went on, in spite of the at- 
 tacks of some of the neighboring tribes of 
 Indians, particularly the Outagamies, who, 
 with the Iroquois, seem to have been the 
 only decided and irreconcilable enemies 
 whom the French found in this province. 
 The capture of Quebec and the death of 
 Wolfe being followed by the cession of the 
 whole of the French territory in North Ame- 
 rica to the power of Great Britain, Detroit, 
 with all the other trading-posts in the West, 
 was given up to the English. It is curious 
 that the French submitted to this change 
 of masters more easily than the Indians, who 
 were by no means inclined to exchange the 
 French for the English alliance. " What- 
 ever may have been the cause," says Gover- 
 nor Cass, " the fact is certain, that there is 
 in the French character a peculiar adapta- 
 tion to the habits and feelings of the Indians ; 
 and to this day the period of French domi- 
 nation is the era of all that is happy in Indian 
 reminiscences." 
 
 The conciliating manners of the French 
 toward the Indians, and the judgment with
 
 6S Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 which they managed all their intercourse 
 with them, have had a permanent effect on 
 the minds of those tribes who were in friend- 
 ship with them. At this day, if the British 
 are generally preferred to the Americans, the 
 French are always preferred to cither. A 
 Chippewa chief, addressing the American 
 agent at the Sault Ste. Marie, so late as 1826, 
 thus fondly referred to the period of the 
 French dominion : " When the Frenchmen 
 arrived at these falls, they came and kissed 
 us. They called us children, and we found 
 them fathers. We lived like brethren in the 
 same lodge, and we had always wherewithal 
 to clothe us. They never mocked at our 
 ceremonies, and they never molested the 
 places of our dead. Seven generations of 
 men have passed away, but we have not for- 
 gotten it. Just, very just, were they toward 
 us ! 
 
 The discontent of the Indian tribes upon 
 the transfer of the forts and trading-posts 
 into the possession of the British, showed 
 itself early, and at length gave rise to one of 
 the most prolonged and savage of all the In- 
 dian wars, that of Pontiac, in 1763.
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life, 69 
 
 Of this Pontiac you have read, no doubt, 
 in various books of travels and anecdotes 
 of Indian chiefs. But it is one thing to 
 read of these events by your fireside, where 
 the features of the scene — the forest wilds 
 echoing to the war-whoop, the painted war- 
 riors, the very words scalping, tomahawk- 
 ing — bring no definite meaning to the mind, 
 only a vague horror ; and quite another 
 thing to recall them here on the spot, ar- 
 rayed in all their dread yet picturesque 
 reality. Pontiac is the hero par excellence oi 
 all these regions ; and in all the histories of 
 Detroit, when Detroit becomes a great capi- 
 tal of the West, he will figure like Caractacus 
 or Arminius in the Roman history. The 
 English contemporaries call him king and 
 emperor of the Indians ; but there is abso- 
 lutely no sovereignty among these people. 
 Pontiac was merely a war-chief, chosen in 
 the usual way, but exercising a more than 
 usual influence, not by mere bravery — the 
 universal savage virtue — but by talents of a 
 rarer kind ; a power of reflection and com- 
 bination rarely met with in the character of 
 the red warrior. Pontiac was a man of gcni-
 
 70 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 us, and would have ruled his fellow-men un- 
 der any circumstances and in any country. 
 He formed a project similar to that which 
 Tecumsch entertained fifty years later. He 
 united all the North-Western tribes of Otta- 
 was, Chippewas, and Pottawattomies, in one 
 great confederacy against the British, " the 
 dogs in red coats ;" and had very nearly 
 caused the overthrow, at least the temporary 
 overthrow, of their power. He had planned a 
 simultaneous attack on all the trading-posts 
 in the possession of the English, and so far 
 succeeded that ten of these forts were sur- 
 prised about the same time, and all the En- 
 glish soldiers and traders massacred, while 
 the French were spared. Before any tidings 
 of these horrors and outrages could reach 
 Detroit, Pontiac was there in friendly guise, 
 and all his measures admirably arranged for 
 taking this fort also by stratagem and mur- 
 dering every Englishman within it. All had 
 been lost, if a poor Indian woman, who had 
 received much kindness from the family of 
 the commandant (Major Gladwyn) had not 
 revealed the danger. I do not yet quite un- 
 derstand why Major Gladwyn, on the discov-
 
 Tales of Naval and ]\Iilitajy Life, y i 
 
 ery of Pontiac's treachery, and having him in 
 his power, did not make him and his whole 
 band prisoners. Such a stroke would have 
 ended, or rather it would have prevented, the 
 war. But it must be remembered that Ma- 
 jor Gladwyn was ignorant of the systematic 
 plan of extermination adopted by Pontiac ; 
 the news of the massacres at the upper forts 
 had not reached him ; he knew of nothing 
 but the attempt on himself, and ft-om motives 
 of humanity or magnanimity he suffered 
 them to leave the fort and go free. No soon- 
 er were they on the outside of the palisades, 
 than they set up the war-yell " like so many 
 devils," as a bystander expressed it, and turn- 
 ed and discharged their rifles on the garrison. 
 The war, thus savagely declared, was accom- 
 panied by all those atrocious barbarities, and 
 turns of fate, and traits of heroism, and 
 hair-breadth escapes, which render these 
 Indian conflicts so exciting, so terrific, so 
 picturesque. 
 
 Detroit was in a state of siege by the In- 
 dians for twelve months, and gallantly and 
 successfully defended by Major Gladwyn, till 
 relieved by General Bradstrcct,
 
 72 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 The first time I was able to go out, my 
 good-natured landlord drove me himself in 
 his buggy wagon, with as much atten- 
 tion and care for my comfort as if I had 
 been his near relation. ■ The evening was 
 glorious ; the sky perfectly Italian — a genu- 
 ine Claude Lorraine sky ; that beautiful, in- 
 tense amber light reaching to the very ze- 
 nith, while the purity and transparent love- 
 liness of the atmospheric effects carried me 
 back to Italy and times long past. I felt it 
 all, as people feel things after a sharp fit of 
 indisposition, when the nervous system, lan- 
 guid at once and sensitive, thrills and trem- 
 bles to every breath of air. As we drove 
 slowly and silently along, we came to a slug- 
 gish, melancholy-looking rivulet, to which the 
 man pointed with his whip. " I expect," 
 said he, " you know all about the battle of 
 the Bloody Run i"' 
 
 I was obliged to confess my ignorance, 
 not without a slight shudder at the hateful, 
 ominous name, which sounded in my ear like 
 an epitome of all imaginable horrors. 
 
 This was the scene of a night attack made 
 by three hundred British upon the camp of
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 73 
 
 the Indians, who were then besieging De- 
 troit. The Indians had notice of their in- 
 tention, and prepared an ambush to receive 
 them. They had just reached the bank of 
 this rivulet, when the Indian foe fell upon 
 them suddenly. They fought hand to hand, 
 bayonet and tomahawk, in the darkness of 
 the night. Before the English could extri- 
 cate themselves, seventy men and most of 
 the officers fell and were scalped on the spot. 
 " ThCYn Indians," said my informant, " fought 
 like brutes and devils," {as most men do, I 
 thought, who fight for revenge and existence,) 
 " and they say the creek here, when morning 
 came, ran red with blood ; and so they call 
 it the Bloody Run." 
 
 As they have called Tecumseh the Indian 
 Napoleon, they might style Pontiac the In- 
 dian Alexander. Here, for instance, is a 
 touch of magnanimity quite in the Alexan- 
 der the Great style. Pontiac, before the com- 
 mencement of the war, had provided for the 
 safety of a liritish officer. Major Rogers by 
 name, who was afterward employed to re- 
 lieve Detroit when besieged by the Indians. 
 On this occasion he sent Pontiac a bottle
 
 74 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 of brandy, to show he had not forgotten his 
 former obligations to him. Those who were 
 around the Indian warrior when the present 
 arrived, particularly some Frenchmen, warn- 
 ed him not to taste it, as it might be poison- 
 ed. Pontiac instantly took a draught from it, 
 saying, as he put the bottle to his lips, that 
 •" it was not in the power of Major Rogers to 
 hurt him who had so lately saved his life." I 
 think this story is no unworthy pendant to 
 that of Alexander and his physician. . 

 
 
 M 
 & 
 
 A SKIRMISH OFF BERMUDA. 
 
 HE evening was closing in dark 
 and rainy, with every appearance of 
 a gale from the westward, and the 
 weather had become so thick and 
 boisterous that the lieutenant of the watch 
 had ordered the lookout at the mast-head 
 down on the deck. The man on his way 
 down had gone into the main-top to bring 
 away some things he had left in going aloft, 
 and was in the act of leaving it, when he 
 sang out, " A sail on the weather-bow !" 
 " What does she look like ?" " Can't rightly 
 say, sir ; she is in the middle of the thick 
 weather to windward." " Stay where you 
 arc a little. Jenkins, jump forward, and see 
 what you can make of her from the fore-
 
 ^6 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 yard." Whilst the topman was obeying his 
 instructions, the lookout again hailed : " She 
 is a ship, sir, close-hauled on the same tack ; 
 the weather clears, and I can see her now." 
 The wind ever since noon had been blow- 
 ing in heavy squalls, with appalling lulls be- 
 tween them. One of these gusts had beer 
 so violent as to bury in the sea the lee-gun? 
 in the waist, although the brig had nothing 
 set but her close-reefed main-topsail and 
 reefed foresail. It was now spending its 
 fury, and she was beginning to roll heavily, 
 when, with a suddenness almost incredible 
 to one unacquainted with these latitudes, 
 the veil of mist that had hung to the wind- 
 ward the whole day was rent and drawn 
 aside, and the red and level rays of the set- 
 ting sun flashed at once, through a long arch 
 of glowing clouds, on the black hull and tall 
 spars of His Britannic Majesty's sloop Torch. 
 And, sure enough, we were not the only 
 spectators of this gloomy splendor ; for, 
 right in the wake of the moon-like sun, now 
 half-sunk in the sea, at the distance of a mile 
 or more, lay a long, warlike-looking craft, 
 apparently a frigate or heavy corvette, rolling
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life, yj 
 
 heavily and silently in the trough of the sea, 
 with her masts, yards, and the scanty sail 
 she had set, in strong relief against the glo- 
 rious horizon. 
 
 Jenkins now hailed from the fore-yard, 
 "The strange sail is bearing up, sir." As 
 he spoke a flash was seen, followed, after 
 what seemed a long interval, by the deadened 
 report of the gun, as if it had been an echo, 
 and the sharp, half-ringing, half-hissing sound 
 of the shot. It fell short, but close to us, 
 and from the length of the range was evi- 
 dently thrown from a heavy cannon. Mr. 
 Splinter, the first lieutenant, jumping from 
 the gun he stood on, called out, " Quarter- 
 master, keep her away a bit," and dived into 
 the cabin to make his report. 
 
 The captain was a staid, stiff, old first-lieu- 
 tcnantish-looking veteran, with his coat of a 
 regular Rodney cut, broad skirts, long waist, 
 and standing-up collar, over which dangled 
 either the cue, or a marlinspikc with a tuft 
 of oakum at the end of it. His lower spars 
 were cased in tight unmentionables, of what 
 had once been white kerseymere, and long 
 boots, the coal-scuttle tops of which served
 
 78 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 as scuppers to carry off the drainings from 
 his coat flaps in bad weather ; he was, in 
 fact, the " last of the sea monsters," but, Hke 
 all his tribe, as brave as steel, and, when put 
 to it, as alert as a cat. He had no sooner 
 heard Splinter's report than he sprang up 
 the ladder. " My glass, Wilson," said he to 
 the steward. 
 
 " She is close to us, sir; you can see her 
 plainly without it," said Mr. Tree, the second 
 lieutenant, from the weather nettings, where 
 he was reconnoitring. After a long look 
 through his left eye, (the other had been 
 shut up ever since Aboukir,) he gave orders 
 to " clear away the weather-bow gun ;" and 
 as it was now getting too dark for flags to 
 be seen distinctly, he desired that three lan- 
 terns might be got ready for hoisting verti- 
 cally in the main rigging. 
 
 " All ready forward there T " All ready, 
 sir." " Then hoist away the lights, and throw 
 a shot across her forefoot — fire !" Bang went 
 our carronade, but our friend to windward 
 paid no regard to the private signal. He had 
 shaken a reef out of his topsails and was 
 coming down fast upon us.
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 79 
 
 The enemy, for such he evidently was, 
 now all at once yawed, and indulged us with 
 a sight of his teeth ; and there he was, fif- 
 teen ports of a side on his main-deck, with 
 his due quantum of carronades on his quar- 
 ter-deck and forecastle ; while his short 
 lower masts, white canv^as, and the tremen- 
 dous hoist in his topsail showed him to be 
 a heavy American frigate ; and it was equal- 
 ly certain that he had cleverly hooked us 
 under his lee, within comfortable range of 
 his long twenty-fours. To convince the 
 most unbelieving, three jets of flame, amidst 
 wreaths of white smoke, glanced from his 
 main-deck ; but in this instance, the sound 
 of the cannon was followed by a sharp 
 crackle and a shower of splinters from the 
 forcyard. 
 
 It was clear that we had got an ugly cus- 
 tomer ; poor Jenkins now called to Tree, 
 who was standing forward near the gun 
 which had been fired, " O sir ! and it's 
 badly wounded we are here." The officer 
 was an Irishman as well as the seaman. 
 " Which of you, my boy ; you or the yard ?" 
 " Both of us, your honor ; but the yard the
 
 So Talcs of A^aval and Military Life. 
 
 most." " Come down, then ; or get into the 
 top, and I will have you looked after present- 
 ly." The poor fellow crawled off the yard 
 into the foretop, as he was ordered, where 
 he was found after the brush, badly wounded 
 by a splinter in the arm. 
 
 Jonathan, no doubt, "calculated," as well 
 he might, that this taste of his quality would 
 be quite sufficient for a little eighteen-gun 
 ship close under his lee ; but the fight w^as 
 not so easily taken out of our captain, al- 
 though even to his eye it was now high time 
 to be off. 
 
 "All hands make sail, Mr. Splinter; that 
 chap is too heavy for us. Mr. Kelson," to 
 the carpenter, "jump up and see what the 
 foreyawl will carry. Keep her away, my 
 man," to the seaman at the helm. " Crack 
 on, Mr. Splinter ; shake all the reefs out ; 
 set the fore-topsail and loose top-gallant 
 sails ; and see all clear to rig the booms out 
 if the breeze lulls." 
 
 In less than a minute we were bowlinjr 
 along before it ; but the wind was breezing 
 up again, and no one could say how long the 
 wounded foreyard would carry the weight
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 8 1 
 
 and drag the sails. To mend the matter, 
 Jonathan was coming up, with the freshen- 
 ing breeze, under a press of canvas. It was 
 clear that escape was next to impossible. 
 
 " Clear away the larboard guns !" I ab- 
 solutely jumped off the deck with astonish- 
 ment. Who could have spoken it .' It ap- 
 peared such downright madness to show 
 fight under the very muzzles of the guns of 
 an enemy, half of whose broadside was suffi- 
 cient to sink us. It was the captain, how- 
 ever, and there was nothing for it. 
 
 In an instant were heard, through the 
 whistling of the breeze, the creaking and 
 screaming of the carronade slides, the rat- 
 tling of the carriage of the long twelve- 
 pounder amidships, the thumping and punch- 
 ing of handspikes, and the dancing and 
 jumping of Jack himself, as the guns were 
 being shot and run out. In a few seconds 
 all was still again, but the rushing sound of 
 the vessel going through the water and of 
 the rising gale among the rigging. The 
 men stood clustered at their quarters ; their 
 cutlasses buckled round their waists, all
 
 82 Tali's of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 without jackets and waistcoats, and many 
 with nothing on but their trousers. 
 
 " Now, men, mind your aim ; our only 
 chance is to wing him. I will yaw the ship, 
 and, as your guns come to bear, slap it right 
 into his bows. Starboard your helm, my. 
 man, and bring her to the wind." As she 
 came round, blaze went our carronades and 
 long guns in succession, with good-will and 
 good aim, and down came his fore-topsail on 
 the cap, with all the superincumbent spars 
 and gear ; the head of the topmast had been 
 shot away. The men instinctively cheered. 
 " That will do ; now knock off, my boys, and 
 let us run for it. Keep her away again ; 
 make all sail." 
 
 Jonathan was for an instant paralyzed 
 by our impudence ; but just as we were get- 
 ting before the wind, he yawed, and let drive 
 his whole broadside ; and fearfully did it 
 disfigure us. Half an hour before we were 
 as gay a little sloop as ever floated, with 
 a crew of one hundred and twenty as 
 fine fellows as ever manned a British man- 
 of-war. The iron shower sped: ten of the 
 hundred and twenty never saw the sun rise
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. Sj; 
 
 again ; seventeen more were wounded, three- 
 mortally ; we had eight shot between wind- 
 and water, our main-topmast shot away as 
 clean as a carrot, and our hull and rifrfrins: 
 otherwise regularly cut to pieces. Another 
 broadside succeeded ; but, by this time, we 
 had bore up, thanks to the loss of our after 
 sail, we could do nothing else ; and, what 
 was better luck still, whilst the loss of our 
 main-topmast paid off the brig, on the 
 one hand, the loss of the head sail in the- 
 frigate brought her as quickly to the wind,, 
 on the other ; thus most of her shot fell astern 
 of us ; and before she could bear up again in 
 chase, the squall struck her and carried her 
 main-topmast overboard. 
 
 This gave us a start, crippled though we 
 were ; and, as the night fell, we contrived to. 
 lose sight of our large friend. With breath- 
 less anxiety did we carry on through that 
 night, expecting every lurch to send our re- 
 maining topmast by the board ; but tlic 
 weather moderated, and next morning the 
 sun shone on our blood-stained decks, at 
 anchor off the entrance to St. George's 
 Harbor.
 
 CHARLES WAGER 
 
 'URING one of the old wars be- 
 tween France and England, in 
 which the then American colonies' 
 bore an active part, a large ship sall- 
 ied from one of the American ports for Eng- 
 land, with a strong and effective crew, but 
 totally unarmed. When near her destina- 
 tion, she was chased, and ultimately over- 
 'hauled, by a French vessel of war. Her 
 'Commander used every endeavor to escape, 
 but seeing, from the superior sailing of the 
 Frenchman, that his capture was inevitable, 
 he quietly retired below. He was followed in- 
 to the cabin by his cabin-boy, a youth of ac- 
 tivity and enterprise, named Charles Wager. 
 He asked him if nothing more could be done to
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 85 
 
 save the ship ; and, on the commander reply- 
 ing that it was impossible, that everything 
 had been done that was practicable, and that 
 they must submit to be captured, he request- 
 ed permission to make one last attempt. 
 The captain agreed ; and Charles then re- 
 turned upon deck and summoned the crew 
 around him. "If you will place yourselves 
 under my command, and stand by me," said 
 he, " I have conceived a plan by which the 
 ship may be rescued, and we in turn become 
 the conquerors." The sailors, no doubt 
 feeling the ardor and inspired by the cour- 
 age of their youthful leader, agreed to place 
 themselves under his command. His plan 
 was communicated to them, and they awaited 
 with firmness the moment to carry their en- 
 terprise into effect. The suspense was of short 
 duration, for the Frenchman was quickly 
 alongside, and, as the weather was fine, im- 
 mediately grappled fast to the unoffending 
 merchant ship. As Charles had anticipated, 
 the c-xhilaratcd conquerors, elated beyond 
 measure with the acquisition of so fine a 
 prize, poured into the vessel in crowds, 
 cheering and huzzaing ; and not foreseeing
 
 86 Talcs of Naval and military Life. 
 
 any danger, they left but few men on board 
 their own ship. Now was the moment for 
 Charles, who, giving his men the signal, 
 sprang at their head on board the opposing 
 vessel. Some seized the arms which had been 
 left in profusion on her deck, with which 
 they soon overpowered the few men left on 
 board ; the others, by a simultaneous move- 
 ment, undid the grapplings which united the 
 two vessels. Our hero now, having the com- 
 mand of the French vessel, seized the helm, 
 and, placing her out of boarding distance, 
 hailed, with the voice of a conqueror, the 
 discomfited crowd of Frenchmen who were 
 left on board the vessel he had just quitted, 
 and summoned them to follow close in his 
 wake, or he would blow them out of water, (a 
 threat they well knew he was capable of ex- 
 ecuting, as their guns were loaded during 
 the chase.) They sorrowfully acquiesced 
 in his commands, while the gallant Charles 
 steered into port, followed by his \)\\iq. 
 The exploit excited universal applause. The 
 former master of the merchant vessel was 
 examined by the admiralty, when he stated 
 the whole of the enterprise as it occurred, and
 
 Tales of Naval and Milita?y Life. 8 J 
 
 declared that Charles Wager had planned and 
 effected the gallant exploit, and that to him 
 alone belonged the honor and credit of 
 the achievement. Charles was immediately 
 transferred to the British navy, appointed a 
 midshipman, and his education carefully 
 superintended. He soon after distinguished 
 himself in action, and underwent a rapid 
 promotion, until at length he was created 
 an admiral, and known to the world as Sir 
 Charles Wager.
 
 CLEARING A WATERFALL. 
 
 EW men have been more remark- 
 able than General Putnam for acts 
 of a bold and intrepid kind. 
 
 When he was pursued by Gene- 
 ral Tryon at the head of fifteen hundred 
 men, his only method of escape was by pre- 
 cipitating his horse down the steep decli- 
 vity of the rock called Horseneck ; and as 
 none of his pursuers dared to imitate his 
 example, he escaped. 
 
 But an act of still more daring intrepidity 
 was his venturing to clear, in a boat, the dan- 
 gerous waterfalls of Hudson River. This 
 was in the year 1756, when Putnam fought 
 against the French and their allies, the In- 
 dians. He was accidentally with a boat and
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 89 
 
 five men on the eastern side of the river, 
 contiguous to these falls. His men, who 
 were on the opposite side, informed him by 
 signal that a considerable body of savages 
 were advancing to surround him, and there 
 was not a moment to lose. Three modes of 
 conduct were at his option : to remain, fight, 
 and be sacrificed ; to attempt to pass to the 
 other side, exposed to the full shot of the 
 enemy ; or to sail down the waterfalls, with 
 almost a certainty of being overwhelmed. 
 These were the only alternatives. Putnam 
 did not hesitate, and jumped into his boat at 
 the fortunate instant, for one of his compa- 
 nions, who was at a little distance, was a 
 victim to the Indians. His enemies soon ar- 
 rived, and discharged their muskets at the 
 boat before he could get out of their reach. 
 No sooner had he escaped this danger 
 through the rapidity of the current, than 
 death presented itself under a more terrific 
 form. Rocks, whose points projected above 
 the surface of the water, large masses of 
 timber that nearly closed the passage, ab- 
 sorbing gulfs, and rapid descents, for the 
 distance of a quarter of a mile, left him no
 
 90 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 hope of escape but by a miracle. Putnam, 
 however, placed himself at the helm, and 
 directed it with the utmost tranquillity. His 
 companions saw him, with admiration, terror, 
 and astonishment, avoid with the greatest 
 ease the rocks and threatening gulfs 
 which they every instant expected to devour 
 him. He disappeared, rose again, and di- 
 recting his course across the only passage 
 which he could possibly make, he at length 
 gained the even surface of the river that 
 flowed at the bottom of this dreadful cascade. 
 The Indians were no less surprised. This 
 miracle astonished them almost as much as 
 the sight of the first Europeans that ap- 
 proached the banks of this river. They con- 
 sidered Putnam as invulnerable ; and they 
 thought that they should offend the great 
 Spirit, if they attempted the life of a man 
 that was so visibly under his immediate pro- 
 tection.
 
 1 — r— : 
 
 
 BSB!HaRB9 
 
 t^H 
 
 
 mm- 
 
 ■m^^i, 
 
 
 HEROISM AND DEVOTEDNESS OF A 
 WOMAN. 
 
 URING the latter part of the Revo- 
 lution, Thomas McCalla lived in 
 Chester district, South Carolina. 
 He removed thither from Pennsyl- 
 vania, with his young wife, in 1778. He had 
 served in the American army before moving 
 to the South, and again enlisted soon after 
 reaching his new home. He was in all the 
 engagements attending Sumter's operations 
 against the enemy, till the 17th of August, 
 1780, when, by permission, he went to visit 
 his family. A short time afterward he 
 again joined the army, but was almost im- 
 mediately taken prisoner, sent to Camden, 
 and thrown into prison. The persevering
 
 92 Tales of Naval and Military Life, 
 
 and heroic endeavors of his affectionate and 
 patriotic wife to obtain his release are de- 
 tailed in the following interesting manner 
 by the author of the Women of the American 
 Revohition. 
 
 While McCalla was languishing in prison, 
 expecting death from day to day, his wife 
 remained in the most unhappy state of sus- 
 pense. For about a month she had been 
 unable to obtain any tidings of him. The 
 rumor of defeats of the Americans came to 
 her ears ; she visited the places where the 
 disasters had occurred, and sought for some 
 trace of him, but without success. She in- 
 quired of the women who had been to Char- 
 lotte for the purpose of carrying clothes or 
 provisions to their husbands, brothers, or 
 fathers, not knowing but that he had gone 
 thither with the soldiers ; but none could 
 give her the least information. Imagination 
 may depict the harrowing scenes that must 
 have occurred when females, returning to 
 their homes and children after carrying aid 
 to the soldiers, were met by such inquiries 
 from those who were uncertain as to the fate 
 of their kindred.
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 93 
 
 In the midst of Mrs. McCalla's distress, 
 and before she had gained any information, 
 she had another claim on her anxiety ; her 
 children took the small-pox. Her httle boy 
 was very ill for nine days with the disease, 
 and his mother thought every day would be 
 his last. During this terrible season of alarm, 
 while her mind was distracted by cares, she 
 had to depend altogether upon herself, for she 
 saw but one among her neighbors. All the 
 families in the vicinity were visited with the 
 disease, and to many it proved fatal. As 
 soon as her child was so far recovered as to 
 be considered out of danger, Mrs. McCalla 
 made preparations to go to Camden, for she 
 clung to the hope that she might there learn 
 something of her husband, or even find him 
 among the prisoners. . 
 
 With her to resolve was to act, and hav- 
 ing settled matters at home, she was in the 
 saddle long before day, taking the old 
 Charleston road leading along the west side 
 of the Catawba River, and by two o'clock 
 snc had crossed the river, passing the guard 
 stationed there, and had entered Camden. 
 Pressing on with fearless determination, she
 
 94 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 passed the guard, and desiring to be con- 
 ducted to the presence of Lord Rawdon, the 
 Enghsh general, she was escorted by Major 
 Doyle to the head-quarters of his lordship. 
 
 On being ushered into the presence of this 
 august personage, Mrs. McCalla at first con- 
 ceived a favorable impression of him. He 
 was a fine-looking young man, with a coun- 
 tenance not unprepossessing, which we may 
 suppose was eagerly scanned by one who felt 
 that all her hopes depended on him. His 
 aspect gave her some encouragement, and 
 being desired to explain the object of her 
 visit, she pleaded her cause with all the elo- 
 quence of nature and feeling ; making known 
 the distressed situation of her family at 
 home, the fearful anxiety of mind she had 
 suffered on account of the prolonged absence 
 of her husband and her ignorance of his fate, 
 and her children's urgent need of his care 
 and protection. She had come, therefore, to 
 entreat mercy for him ; to pray that he 
 might be released and permitted to go home 
 with her. 
 
 Lord Rawdon heard her to the end. His 
 reply was characteristic. " I would rather
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 95 
 
 hang such rebels than eat my break- 
 fast." This insulting speech was addressed 
 to his suppliant while her eyes were fixed on 
 him in the agony of her entreaty, and the 
 tears were streaming down her cheeks. His 
 words dried up the fountain at once, and the 
 spirit of the American matron was roused. 
 "Would you .'" was her answer, while she 
 turned on him a look which spoke volumes. 
 A moment after, with a struggle to control 
 her feelings, for she well knew how much 
 depended on that, she said, " At least, may I 
 crave of your lordshij^ permission to see my 
 husband .-'" 
 
 Lord Rawdon felt the look of scorn which 
 his language had called up in her face, but 
 pride forbade his yielding to the dictates of 
 better feeling. " You should consider, ma- 
 dam," he answered, " in whose presence you 
 now stand. Your husband is a rebel — " 
 
 Mrs. McCalla was about to reply, but her 
 companion, the major, gave her a look warn- 
 ing her to be silent, and in truth the words 
 that sprang to her lips would have ill pleased 
 the Briton. Doyle now interposed, and re- 
 quested his lordship to step aside with him
 
 96 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 for a moment. They left the apartment, and 
 shortly afterward returned. Rawdon then 
 said to his visitor, with a stately coldness 
 that precluded all hope of softening his de- 
 termination, " Major Doyle, madam, has my 
 permission to let you go into the prison. 
 You will remain ten minutes only. Major, 
 you have my orders." So saying, he bowed 
 politely both to her and the officer, intima- 
 ting that the business was ended, and they 
 were dismissed. They accordingly quitted 
 the room. 
 
 The sight of the prison-cell, or rather pen, 
 almost overcame the fortitude of the resolute 
 wife. An enclosure like that constructed for 
 animals, guarded by soldiers, was the habita- 
 tion of the unfortunate prisoners, who sat 
 within on the bare earth, many of them suf- 
 fering with illness and stretched helpless on 
 the ground, with no shelter from the burn- 
 ing sun. " Is it possible," cried the matron, 
 turning to Doyle, " that you shut up men in 
 this manner, as you would a parcel of hogs !" 
 She was then admitted into the jail, and wel- 
 come indeed was the sight of her familiar 
 face to poor McCalla. The time allotted for
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 97 
 
 the interview was too short to be wasted in 
 condolement or complaint ; she told him she 
 must depart in a few minutes ; informed him 
 of the state of his family; inquired carefully 
 what were his wants, and promised speedy 
 relief When the ten minutes had expired, 
 she again shook hands with him, assuring 
 him that she would shortly return with 
 clothes for his use, and what provisions she 
 could bring ; then turning, she walked away 
 with a firm step, stopping to shake hands 
 with some other captives with whom she 
 was acquainted. The word of encourage- 
 ment was not wanting, and as she bade the 
 prisoners adieu, she said, " Have no fear ; 
 the women are doing their part of the ser- 
 vice." " I admire your spirit, madam," Doyle 
 observed to her, " but would advise you to be 
 a little more cautious in what you say." 
 
 Mrs. McCalla was furnished by the major 
 with a pass, which she showed to the officer: 
 on duty as she passed the guard on her re- 
 turn, and to the officer at the ferry. She 
 rode with all speed, and was at home before 
 midnight ; having had less than twenty-four 
 hours for the accomplishment of her whole
 
 98 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 enterprise ; in that time riding one hundred 
 miles, crossing the river twice, and passing 
 the guard four times. 
 
 It is proper to say that Mrs. McCalla met 
 with kinder treatment from the other British 
 officers to whom she had occasion to apply 
 at this time, all seeming to be favorably im- 
 pressed by the courage and strength of af- 
 fection evinced by her. Even the soldiers, 
 as she passed them, paid her marks of re- 
 spect. 
 
 Mrs. McCalla set about her work immedi- 
 ately after her arrival at home ; she began 
 making new clothes, altering and mending 
 others, and preparing provisions. All being 
 ready, she again set out for Camden. This 
 time she had the company of one of her 
 neighbors, Mrs. Mary Nixon. Each of the 
 women drove before her a pack-horse, laden 
 with the articles provided for the use of their 
 suffering friends. They were again admitted 
 to the presence of Lord Rawdon to petition 
 for leave to visit the prisoners, but nothing 
 particular occurred at the interview. From 
 this time she made her journeys about once 
 a month to Camden, being often accompa-
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 99 
 
 nied by other women bound on similar er- 
 rands, and conveying articles of food and 
 clothing to their captive fathers, husbands, 
 or brothers. They rode without escort, 
 fearless of peril by the way, and regardless 
 of fatigue, though the journey was usually 
 performed in haste, and under the pressure 
 of anxiety for those at home, as well as 
 those to whose relief they were going. On 
 one occasion, when Mrs. McCalla was just 
 about setting off alone upon her journey, 
 news of a glorious event was brought to her ; 
 the news of the battle of King's Mountain, 
 which took place on the 7th of October, 
 She did not stop to rejoice in the victory of 
 her countrymen, but went on with a light- 
 ened heart, longing, no doubt, to share the 
 joy with him who might hope, from the 
 changed aspect of affairs, some mitigation of 
 his imprisonment. 
 
 About the ist of December, Mrs. McCal- 
 la went on one of her journeys to Camden, 
 On the preceding trip she had met with 
 Lord Cornwallis, by whom she was treated 
 with kindness. Whatever hopes she had 
 grounded on this, however, were doomed to
 
 100 Talcs of Naval and Jllilitary Life. 
 
 disappointment ; he was this time reserved 
 and silent. She was afterward informed by 
 the major that a considerable reverse had 
 befallen the king's troops at Clermont, and 
 the annoyance felt on this account, Doyle 
 said, was the cause of his not showing as 
 much courtesy as he usually did to ladies. 
 " You must excuse him," observed the good- 
 natured officer, who seems to have always 
 acted the part of a peace-maker on these oc- 
 casions ; and he added that Cornwallis had 
 never approved of the cruelties heretofore 
 practised. 
 
 Toward the end of December the indefati- 
 gable wife again performed the weary jour- 
 ney to Camden. McCalla's health had been 
 impaired for some months, and was now de- 
 clining ; it was therefore necessary to make 
 a strenuous effort to move the compassion 
 of his enemies, and procure his release. 
 Rawdon was in command, and she once 
 more applied to him to obtain permission 
 for her husband to go home with her. As 
 might have been anticipated, her petition 
 was refused ; his lordship informed her that 
 he could do nothing in the matter ; but that
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. loi 
 
 if she would go to Winnsboro and present 
 her request to Lord Cornwallis, he might 
 possibly be induced to give her an order for 
 the liberation of the prisoner. 
 
 To Winnsboro, accordingly, she made her 
 way, determined to lose no time in present- 
 ing her application. It was on New Year's 
 morning that she entered the village. The 
 troops were under parade, and his lordship 
 was engaged in reviewing them ; there could 
 be no admission, therefore, to his presence 
 for some time, and she had nothing to do 
 but remain a silent spectator of the imposing 
 scene. A woman less energetic, and less . 
 desirous of improving every opportunity for 
 the good of others, might have sought rest 
 after the fatigues of her journey, during the 
 hours her business had to wait ; but Sarah 
 McCalla was one of a heroic stamp, whose 
 private troubles never caused her to forget 
 what she might do for her country. She 
 passed the time in noticing particularly 
 everything she saw, not knowing but that 
 her report might be of service. After the 
 lapse of several hours, the interview she 
 craved with Cornwallis was granted. lie
 
 I02 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 received her with courtesy and kindness, 
 listened attentively to all she had to say, 
 and appeared to feel pity for her distresses. 
 But his polished expression of sympathy, to 
 which her hopes clung with desperation, was 
 accompanied with regret that he could not, 
 consistently with the duties of His Majesty's 
 service, comply unconditionally with her re- 
 quest. He expressed, nevertheless, entire 
 willingness to enter into an arrangement 
 with General Sumter to release McCalla 
 for any prisoner he had in his possession. 
 Or he would accept the pledge of General 
 Sumter that McCalla should not again serve 
 until exchanged, and would liberate him on 
 that security. " But, madam," he added, 
 " Sumter must pledge himself personally for 
 the keeping of the parole. We have been 
 too lenient heretofore, and have let men go 
 who immediately made use of their liberty 
 to take up arms against us." 
 
 With this the long-tried wife was forced 
 
 to be content, and she now saw the way 
 
 more clearly to the accomplishment of her 
 
 yenterprise. She lost no time in returning 
 
 home, and immediately set out for Char-
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military L ifc. 1 03 
 
 lotte to seek aid from the American general. 
 She found Sumter at this place, nearly re- 
 covered of the wounds he had received in 
 the action at Blackstock's, in November, 
 Her appeal to him was at once favorably re- 
 ceived. He gave her a few lines, stating 
 that he would stand pledged for McCalla's 
 continuing peaceably at home until he 
 should be regularly exchanged. This paper 
 was more precious than gold to the matron 
 whose perseverance had obtained it ; but it 
 was destined to do her little good. 
 
 A few days after her return, the British 
 army, being on its march from Winnsboro, 
 encamped on the plantation of John Ser- 
 vice, in Chester district, and afterward at 
 Turkey Creek. Mrs. McCalla went to one 
 of those camps in the hope of seeing Lord 
 Cornwallis. She succeeded in obtaining 
 this privilege ; his lordship recognized her 
 as soon as she entered the camp, and greet- 
 ed her courteously. After some conversa- 
 tion she presented to the noble lord the pa- 
 per which she imagined was to secure her 
 husband's freedom. What was her disap- 
 pointment when he referred her to Lord
 
 104 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 Rawdon as the proper person to take cog- 
 nizance of the affair ! The very name was 
 a death-blow to her hopes, for she well 
 knew she could expect nothing from his 
 clemency. Remonstrance and entreaty 
 were alike in vain ; Cornwallis was a cour- 
 teous man, but he knew how, with a bland 
 smile and well-turned phrase of compliment, 
 to refuse compliance even with a request 
 that appealed so strongly to every feeling 
 of humanity as that of an anxious wife 
 pleading for the suffering and imprisoned 
 father of her children. She must submit, 
 however, to the will of those in power ; 
 there was no resource but another journey 
 to Camden, in worse than doubt of the suc- 
 cess she had fancied just within her reach. 
 It was a day or two after the battle of the 
 Cowpens that she crossed the ferry on her 
 way to Camden. She had not yet heard of 
 that bloody action, but, observing that the 
 guard was doubled at the ferry, concluded 
 that something unusual had occurred. As 
 she entered the village, she met her old 
 friend Major Doyle, who stopped to speak to 
 her. His first inquiry was if she had heard
 
 Tales of Naval and Militaiy L ife. 1 05 
 
 the news ; and when she answered in the 
 negative, he told her of the " melancholy af- 
 fair" that had occurred at the Cowpens. 
 The time, he observed, was most inaus- 
 picious for the business on which he knew 
 she had come. " I fear, madam," he said, 
 " that his lordship will not receive you well." 
 
 " I have no hope," was her answer, " that 
 he will let Thomas go home ; tut, sir, it is 
 my duty to make every effort to save my 
 husband. I will thank you to go with me 
 to Lord Rawdon's quarters." 
 
 Her reception was such as she had ex- 
 pected. As soon as Rawdon saw her, he 
 cried angrily, " You here again, madam ! 
 Well — you want your husband — I dare say ! 
 Do you not know what these cursed rebels 
 have been doing ?" 
 
 " I do not, sir," replied the dejected ma- 
 tron ; for she saw that his mood was one of 
 anger. 
 
 " If we had hung them," he continued, 
 " we should have been saved this. Madam, 
 I order you most positively never to come 
 into my presence again !" 
 
 It^as useless, Mns. McCalla knew, to at-
 
 io6 Tales of Naval and Uliliiary Life. 
 
 tempt to stem the tide of fury ; she did not 
 therefore produce, nor even mention, the 
 paper given her by Sumter, nor apologize 
 for the intrusion by saying that Lord Corn- 
 walHs had directed her to apply to him ; but 
 merely answered in a subdued and respect- 
 ful tone by asking what she had done to 
 displease him. 
 
 " Enough !" exclaimed the irritable noble. 
 " You go from one army to another, and 
 heaven only knows what mischief you do. 
 Begone !" 
 
 She waited for no second dismissal, but 
 could not refrain from saying, as she went 
 out, in an audible voice, " My countrymen 
 must right me." Lord Rawdon called her 
 back and demanded what she was saying. 
 She had learned by this time some lessons 
 in policy, and answered, with a smile, " My 
 lord, we are but simple country folk." His 
 lordship probably saw through the pretence, 
 for, turning to his officer, he said, " Upon my 
 life, Doyle, she is a wretch of a woman !" 
 And thus she left him. 
 
 That great event — the battle of the Cow- 
 pens — revived the spirits of the patriots
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ifc. 1 07 
 
 throughout the country. Everywhere, as 
 the news spread, men who had before been 
 discouraged flew to arms. The action took 
 place on the 17th of January, 1781 ; on the 
 22d of the same month, six wagons were 
 loaded with corn at Wade's Island, sixty 
 miles down the Catawba, for the use of 
 General Davison's division. The whole 
 country of Chester, York, and Lancaster 
 may be said to have risen together, and was 
 rallying to arms. On the 24th of January, 
 General Sumter crossed the Catawba at 
 Landsford, and received a supply of corn 
 from Wade's Island. His object was to 
 cross the districts to the west, in the rear 
 of the advancing British army, to arouse the 
 country and gather forces as he went, threat- 
 en the English posts at Ninety-Six and 
 Granby, and go on to recover the State of 
 North Carolina. While Cornwallis marched 
 from his encampment on Service's planta- 
 tion, the men of Chester, under the gallant 
 Captains John Mills and James Johnston, 
 were hovering near, watching the movements 
 of the hostile army as keenly as the eagle 
 watches his intended prey. Choosing a fit
 
 1 08 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 opportunity as they followed in the rear, 
 they pounced upon a couple of British of- 
 ficers, one of whom was Major McCarter, at 
 a moment when they had not the least suspi- 
 cion of danger, took them prisoners in sight 
 of the enemy, and made good their retreat. 
 By means of this bold exploit the liberation 
 of McCalla was brought about, at a time 
 when his wife was wholly disheartened by 
 her repeated and grievous disappointments. 
 When General Sumter passed through the 
 country, a cartel of exchange was effected, 
 giving the two British officers in exchange 
 for the prisoners of Chester district in Cam- 
 den and Charleston. 
 
 The person sent with the flag to accom- 
 plish this exchange in Camden was Sam- 
 uel Neely, of Fishing Creek. As he pass- 
 ed through the town to the quarters of Lord 
 Rawdon, he was seen and recognized by the 
 prisoners, and it may be supposed their 
 hearts beat with joy at the prospect of 
 speedy release. But in consequence of some 
 mismanagement, the unfortunate men were 
 detained in jail several weeks longer. Neely 
 was in haste to proceed to Charleston, being
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 1 09^ 
 
 anxious, in the accomplishment of his mis* 
 sion in that city, to get his son Thomas out 
 of the prison-ship, and in his hurry probably 
 neglected some necessary formalities. His. 
 countrymen in Camden were kept in con- 
 finement after his return from Charleston 
 with his son. Captain Mills was informed 
 of this, and, indignant at the supposed dis* 
 respect shown by Lord Rawdon to the cartel 
 of General Sumter, wrote a letter of remon- 
 strance to Rawdon, which he entrusted to- 
 Mrs. McCalla to be conveyed to him. 
 
 Our heroine was accompanied on this, 
 journey by Mrs. Mary Nixon, for she judged 
 it impolitic that the letter should be deliver- 
 ed by one so obnoxious to his lordship as. 
 herself. Still she deemed it her duty to be 
 on the spot to welcome her liberated hus- 
 band, supply all his wants, and conduct him 
 home. The distance was traversed this 
 time with a lighter heart than before, for now 
 she had no reason to fear disappointment. 
 When they arrived at Camden, they went 
 to the jail, John Adair was standing at a 
 window ; they saw and greeted each other, 
 the women standing in the yard below.
 
 1 1 o Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 Perhaps in consequence of his advice, or 
 prudential considerations on their part, they 
 determined not to avail themselves of the 
 good offices of Major Doyle on this occasion. 
 Adair directed them to send the jailer up to 
 him, and wrote a note introducing his sister 
 to the acquaintance of Lord Rawdon. The 
 two women then proceeded to the quarters 
 of that nobleman. When they arrived at 
 the gate, Mrs. McCalla stopped, saying she 
 would wait there, and her companion pro- 
 ceeded by herself She was admitted into 
 the presence of Lord Rawdon, who read the 
 note of introduction she handed to him, and 
 observed, referring to the writer, that the 
 small-pox had almost finished him ; still, 
 he had come very near escaping from the 
 jail ; that he was " a grand 'scape-gallows." 
 On reading the letter of Captain Mills his 
 color changed, and when he had finished 
 it, turning to Mrs. Nixon, he said in an al- 
 tered tone : " I am sorry these men have 
 not been dismissed, as of right they ought." 
 He immediately wrote a discharge for eleven 
 of the prisoners, and put it into her hands, 
 saying : " You can get them out, madam. I
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 1 1 1 
 
 am very sorry they have been confined so 
 many weeks longer than they should have 
 been." At the same time he gave Mrs. 
 Nixon a guinea. " This," he said, " will bear 
 your expenses." 
 
 His lordship accompanied her on her way 
 out, and as she passed through the gate his 
 eye fell on Mrs. McCalla, whom he instantly 
 recognized. Walking to the spot where she 
 stood near the gate, he said fiercely : " Did 
 I not order you, madam, to keep out of my 
 presence .''" The matron's independent spirit 
 flashed from her eyes, as she answered : " I 
 had no wish, sir, to intrude myself on your 
 presence ; I stopped at the gate on purpose 
 to avoid you." Unable to resist the tempta- 
 tion of speaking her mind for once, now that 
 she had a last opportunity, she added : " I 
 might turn the tables on you, sir, and ask, 
 why did you come out to the gate to insult a 
 woman } I have received from you nothing 
 but abuse. My distresses you have made 
 sport of, and I ceased long since to expect 
 anything from you but ill-treatment. I am 
 not now your suppliant ; I came to demand, 
 as a right, the release of my husband !" So
 
 1 1 2 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 saying, she turned away and left the room, 
 without stopping to see how her bold lan- 
 euase was received. Mrs. Nixon hastened 
 after her, pale as death, and at first too much 
 frightened to speak. As soon as she found 
 voice, she exclaimed : " O Sally ! you have 
 ruined us, I am afraid. Why, he may put 
 us both in jail !" 
 
 Mrs. McCalla smiled. " Never fear ; it is 
 not the first time, Mary," she replied, " that 
 I have given him to understand what I 
 thought of him !" The two made their way 
 back to the prison, but even after they got 
 there Mrs. Nixon had not recovered from 
 her terror. She was informed that it would 
 be some time before the prisoners could be 
 released. The blacksmith was then sent 
 for, and came with his tools. The sound of 
 the hammering in the apartments of the jail 
 gave the first intimation to the women, who 
 waited to greet their friends, that the help- 
 less captives were chained to the floor. 
 This precaution had been adopted not long 
 before, in consequence of some of the prison- 
 ers having attempted an escape. These 
 men left the place of their long imprisonment
 
 Talcs of Naval a7id Military Life. 113 
 
 and suffering in company with the two women, 
 and as they marched through the streets of 
 Camden, passing the British guard, they 
 sang at the top of their voices the well-known 
 and stirring songs of the " liberty-men."
 
 ■K 
 
 8 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■^^p 
 
 i^^H^HvS^^^^H 
 
 Hi 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 HS 
 
 IhFIm^I 
 
 THE BLACK-HOLE AT CALCUTTA. 
 
 HE old Suba or Viceroy of Bengal, 
 dying in the month of April, in the 
 year 1756, was succeeded by his 
 adopted son, Sur Raja al Dowlat, 
 a young man of violent passions, without prin- 
 ciple or good faith, and who began his admi- 
 nistration with acts of perfidy and violence. 
 In all probability, his design against the 
 English settlements was suggested by his 
 rapacious disposition, in the belief that they 
 abounded with treasure ; as the pretences 
 which he used for commencing hostilities 
 were altogether inconsistent, false, and fri- 
 volous. In the month of May, he caused 
 the English factory at Cassimbuzzar to be 
 invested, and inviting Mr. Watts, the chief
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 1 1 5 
 
 of the factory, to a conference, under the 
 sanction of a safe conduct, detained him 
 as prisoner ; then, by means of fraud and 
 force intermingled, made himself master of 
 the factory. This exploit being achieved, he 
 made no secret of his design to deprive the 
 English of all their settlements. With 
 this view, he marched to Calcutta at the 
 head of a numerous army, and invested the 
 place, which was then in no posture of de- 
 fence. The governor, intimidated by the 
 number and power of the enemy, abandoned 
 the fort, and, with some principal persons re- 
 siding in the settlement, took refuge on board 
 a ship in the river, carrying along with them 
 their most valuable effects and the books of 
 the company. Thus the defence of the place 
 devolved on Mr. Holwell, the second in com- 
 mand, who, with the assistance of a few 
 gallant officers, and a very feeble garrison, 
 maintained it with great courage and reso- 
 lution against several attacks, until he was 
 overpowered by numbers and the enemy 
 had forced their way into the castle. He 
 was then obliged to submit ; and the suba 
 promised, on the word of a soldier, that no
 
 1 1 6 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 injury should be done to him or his garrison. 
 Nevertheless, they were all driven, to the 
 number of 146 persons, into a place called the 
 Black-Hole Prison, a cube of about eighteen 
 feet, walled up to the eastward and south- 
 ward — the only quarters from which they 
 could expect any refreshing air — and open- 
 ing to the westward by two windows, strong- 
 ly barred with iron, through which there was 
 no perceptible circulation. 
 
 Mr. Holwell, one of the few survivors, 
 published an affecting account of all the cir- 
 cumstances attending this fearful imprison- 
 ment, and the following is in substance his 
 narrative. 
 
 " Figure to yourself," says he, " if possible, 
 the situation of a hundred and forty-six 
 wretches, previously exhausted by continual 
 fatigue, thus crammed together in a room 
 eighteen feet square. What the conse- 
 quences would be were only but too evident 
 to mc the instant I cast my eyes round and 
 saw the size and situation of the room. 
 
 " Among the guards posted at the win- 
 dows, I observed an old jemmautdaar (or 
 sergeant of the Indian guards) near me, who
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. WJ 
 
 seemed to have some compassion in his 
 countenance ; and indeed he was the only 
 one among them all who discovered the least 
 trace of humanity. I called him to me, and, 
 in the most persuasive terms I could com- 
 mand, urged him to commiserate our suffer- 
 ings, and endeavor to get us separated, 
 half in one place, and half in another, for 
 which act of kindness he should, in the morn- 
 ing, receive a thousand rupees. He pro- 
 mised he would endeavor to do so, and with- 
 drew ; but in a few minutes he returned, and 
 told me it was impossible. I then thought 
 I had not offered enough, and promised him 
 two thousand ; he withdrew a second time, 
 but returned soon, and (with I believe much 
 real pity and concern) told mc it was not prac- 
 ticable ; that it could not be done but by the 
 suba's order, and that no one dared to wake 
 him. Wc had been but a few minutes in the 
 room when every one fell into a profuse per- 
 spiration. This brought on a raging thirst, 
 which increased in proportion as the body was 
 drained of its moisture. Various expedients 
 were thought of; every hat was put in mo- 
 tion to produce a circulation of air, and Mr.
 
 1 1 8 Tales of Naval and 'Military L ife. 
 
 Baillie proposed that every man should sit 
 down from time to time on the floor: we 
 were truly in the situation of drowning 
 wretches, and no wonder we caught at 
 everything that bore a flattering appearance 
 of saving ourselves. This latter expedient 
 was several times resorted to ; and each 
 time many of the poor creatures, whose 
 natural strength was less than others, or 
 who had been more exhausted and could not 
 immediately recover their legs, as others did 
 when the word was given to rise, fell to rise 
 no more ; they were instantly trod to death 
 or suffocated. When the whole body sat 
 down, they were so closely wedged together, 
 that they were obliged to use many efforts 
 before they could put themselves in motion 
 to get up again. Before nine o'clock every 
 man's thirst grew intolerable, and respiration 
 difficult. Efforts were again made to force 
 the door, but in vain. Insults even were 
 used to the guard to provoke them to fire 
 in upon us, (which, as I learned afterward, 
 were carried to much greater lengths when 
 I was no more sensible of what was going 
 on.) By keeping my face between two of
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 119 
 
 the bars I obtained air enough to give my 
 lungs play, though the perspiration was ex- 
 cessive, and thirst beginning to be felt. 
 Everybody, excepting those situated in and 
 near the windows, now began to grow out- 
 rageous, and many became quite delirious : 
 ' Water, water !' became the general cry ; 
 and the old sergeant before mentioned, at 
 last taking pity on us, ordered the people to 
 bring some skins of water, little dreaming, I 
 believe, of its fatal effects. This was what I 
 dreaded. I foresaw it would destroy the 
 small chance left us, and tried many times 
 to speak to him privately to forbid its being 
 brought ; but the clamor was so loud, I found 
 it impossible. The water appeared. Words 
 cannot paint to you the universal agitation 
 and raving the sight of it threw us into. 
 Until the water came, I had not myself suf- 
 fered much from thirst, but now it became 
 excessive. We had no means of conveying 
 it into the prison, but by hats forced through 
 the bars ; and thus myself, and Messrs. Coles 
 and Scot (notwithstanding the pain they suf- 
 fered from their wounds) sup])licd them as 
 fast as possible. But those who have expc-
 
 1 20 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 rienced intense thirst, or are acquainted with 
 the cause and nature of this appetite, will be 
 sufficiently sensible it could receive no more 
 than a momentary alleviation ; the cause still 
 subsisted. Though we brought full hats 
 through the bars, there ensued such violent 
 struggles and frequent contests to get at it, 
 that, before it reached the lips of any one,"^ 
 there was scarcely a teacupful left in them. 
 These supplies, like water sprinkled on fire, 
 only served to feed and raise the flame. Seve- 
 ral quitted the other window (the only chance 
 they had for life) to force their way to the 
 water, which made the throng and press 
 upon the window beyond bearing ; forcing 
 their passage from the further part of the 
 room, they pressed down those in their way 
 who had less strength, and trampled them to 
 death. Can it be believed that this scene of 
 misery proved an entertainment to the 
 wretches without } But so it was ; and they 
 took care to keep us supplied with water, 
 that they might have the satisfaction of see- 
 ing us fight for it, and held up lights to the 
 bars, that they might lose no part of the in- 
 human diversion. From about nine till near
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 121 
 
 eleven, I occupied this painful situation, still 
 supplying them with water, though my legs 
 were almost broken with the weight against 
 them. By this time my two companions, 
 with Mr. William Parker, (who had forced 
 himself into the window,) were pressed to 
 death, and I was nearly so. For some time 
 my companions preserved a respect toward 
 me, more than, indeed, I could well expect, 
 our circumstances considered ; but now all 
 distinction was lost. My friend Baillie, 
 Messrs. Jenks, Law, and several others, for 
 whom I had a great esteem and affection, 
 had for some time been dead at my feet, and 
 were now trampled upon by corporals and 
 common soldiers, who, by the help of more 
 robust constitutions, had forced their way to 
 the window, and held fast by the bars over 
 me, till at last I became so pressed and 
 wedged up, that I was deprived of all motion. 
 Determined now to give everything up, I 
 called to them, and begged, as the last in- 
 stance of their regard, that they would re- 
 move the pressure upon me, and permit me 
 to retire out of the window to die in quiet. 
 They gave way, and with much difficulty I
 
 1 2 2 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 forced a passage into the centre of the prison, 
 where the throng was less, owing to the num- 
 bers dead, (then, I beheve, amounting to a 
 third,) and those who flocked to the win- 
 dows ; for by this time they had water also 
 at the other window, 
 
 " In the Black-Hole there was a platform, 
 raised between three and four feet from the 
 floor, open underneath, extending the whole 
 length of the east side of the prison, and 
 above six feet wide. I made my way over 
 the dead, and repaired to the further end of 
 it, just opposite the other window, and seated 
 myself on the platform between Mr. Dumble- 
 ton and Captain Stevenson, the former just 
 then expiring. The moment I quitted the 
 window my breathing grew short and pain- 
 ful. At this time my poor friend, Mr. Eyre, 
 came staggering over the dead to me, and 
 with his usual coolness and good-nature 
 asked me how I did ; but he fell and expired 
 before I had time to reply. I now laid my- 
 self down on some of the dead behind me on 
 the platform ; and, recommending myself to 
 Heaven, had the comfort of thinking my suf- 
 ferings could have no long duration. My
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 1 2 3 
 
 thirst now grew insupportable, and the diffi- 
 culty of breathing much increased. I had 
 not remained in this situation, I believe, ten 
 minutes, when I was seized with a pain in 
 the breast, and palpitation of the heart, both 
 in the most exquisite degree. This roused 
 and obliged me to get up again ; but still the 
 pain, palpitation, thirst, and difficulty of 
 breathing increased. I retained my senses 
 notwithstanding, and had the grief to see 
 death not so near me as I hoped ; but I 
 could no longer bear the pains I suffered 
 without seeking a relief, which I knew fresh 
 air only could give me. I instantly deter- 
 mined to push for the window opposite me ; 
 and by an effort of double the strength I 
 ever before possessed, gained the third rank 
 at it, with one hand seized a bar, and by that 
 means gained the second, though I think 
 there were at least six or seven ranks be- 
 tween me and the window. In a few mo- 
 ments my pain, palpitation, and difficulty of 
 breathing ceased ; but my thirst continued 
 intolerable. I called aloud, ' Water, for God's 
 sake !' I had been concluded dead ; but as 
 soon as they heard me among them, they had
 
 1 24 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 
 
 still the respect and tenderness for me to cry 
 out, ' Give him water ! give him water !' 
 Nor would one of them at the window at- 
 tempt to touch it until I had drunk. But 
 from the water I found no relief; my thirst 
 was rather increased by it ; so I determined 
 to drink no more, but patiently wait the 
 event ; and kept my mouth moist, from time 
 to time, by sucking the perspiration out of 
 my shirt sleeves, and catching the drops as 
 they fell, like heavy rain, from my head and 
 face. You can hardly imagine how unhappy 
 I was if any of them escaped my mouth. I 
 came into prison without coat or waistcoat ; 
 the season was too hot to bear the former, 
 and the latter tempted the avarice of one of 
 the guards, who robbed me of it when we 
 were under the veranda. While I was at this 
 second window, I was observed, by one of my 
 miserable companions to the right of me, in 
 the expedient of allaying my thirst by suck- 
 ing my shirt sleeves. He took the hint, and 
 robbed me, from time to time, of a consider- 
 able part of my store ; though, after I de- 
 tected him, I had the address to begin on 
 that sleeve first, when I thought my reser-
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 125 
 
 voirs were sufficiently replenished ; and our 
 mouths and noses often met in the contest. 
 This plunderer, I found afterward, was a 
 worthy young gentleman in the service, IMr. 
 Lushington, one of the few who escaped 
 from death ; he has since paid me the com- 
 pliment of assuring me he believed he owed 
 his life to the draughts he had from my 
 sleeves. I mention this incident, as I think 
 nothing can give you ar-rrroreTrvely idea of 
 the melancholy stata^we wcrp reduced to. 
 By half an hour pLst eleven', ^fife^ -greater 
 number of those livi|^g were in an outrage- 
 ous delirium, and the others .quite ungovern- 
 able ; few retaining any degree of calmness, 
 except the ranks next the windows. V>y 
 what I had felt myself, I was fully sensible 
 what those within suffered ; but had only 
 pity to bestow upon them, not then thinking 
 how soon I should myself become a greater 
 object of it. They all now found that water, 
 instead of relieving, rather heightened their 
 uneasiness ; and ' Air, air !' was the general 
 cry. Every insult that could be devised 
 against the guard, all the opprobrious names 
 and abuse that they could be loaded with,
 
 126 Tales of Naval and ]\Iilitaiy Life. 
 
 were repeated to provoke the guard to fire 
 upon us, every man that could rushing tu- 
 rn ultuously toward the windows, with eager 
 hopes of meeting the first shot. Then a 
 general prayer to Heaven to hasten the ap- 
 proach of the flames to the right and the left 
 of us, and put a period to our misery. But 
 these failing, they whose strength and spirits 
 were quite exhausted laid themselves down 
 and expired quietly upon their fellows : 
 others who had yet some strength and 
 vigor left made a last effort at the windows, 
 and several succeeded by leaping and scram- 
 bling over the backs and heads of those in the 
 first ranks, and got hold of the bars, from 
 which there was no removing them. I need 
 not, my dear friend, ask your commiseration, 
 when I tell you that in this plight, from half 
 an hour past eleven till near two in the morn- 
 ing, I sustained the weight of a heavy man, 
 with his knees on my back and the pressure 
 of his whole body on my head, a Dutch ser- 
 geant, who had taken his seat upon my left 
 shoulder, and a Topaz (a black Christian sol- 
 dier) bearing on my right ; all which no- 
 thing could have enabled me to support but
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ifc. 127 
 
 the props and pressure equally sustaining 
 me all around. The two latter I frequently- 
 dislodged, by shifting my hold on the bars, 
 and driving my knuckles into their ribs ; but 
 my friend above stuck fast, and as he held 
 by two bars, was immovable. 
 
 " I exerted anew my strength and forti- 
 tude ; but the repeated trials and efforts I 
 made to dislodge the encumbrances above 
 me at last quite exhausted me ; and, toward 
 two o'clock, finding I must quit the window 
 or sink where I was, I resolved on the for- 
 mer. In the rank close behind me was an 
 officer of one of the ships, whose name was 
 Cary, and who had behaved with much brave- 
 ry during the siege, (his wife would not quit 
 him, but accompanied him into the prison, and 
 was one who survived.) This poor wretch 
 had been long raving for water and air ; I 
 told him I was determined to give up life, 
 and recommended his gaining my station. 
 On my quitting, he made a fruitless attempt 
 to get my place ; but the Dutch sergeant, 
 who sat on my shoulder, supplanted him. 
 Poor Cary expressed his thankfulness, and 
 said he would give up life too ; but it was
 
 1 2 8 Talcs of Naval and Military L ifc. 
 
 with the utmost labor we forced our way 
 from the window, several in the inner ranks 
 appearing to be dead, standing, unable to 
 fall by the throng and equal pressure around. 
 He laid himself down to die ; and his death, 
 I believe, was very sudden ; for he was a 
 short, full, sanguine man. His strength was 
 great ; and, I imagine, had he not retired 
 with me, I should never have been able to 
 have forced my way backward. I was at 
 this time sensible of no pain, and little un- 
 easiness ; but I found a stupor coming on, 
 and laid myself down by that gallant old 
 man, the Rev. Mr. Bellamy, who lay dead 
 with his son, the lieutenant, hand in hand, 
 near the southernmost wall of the prison. 
 When I had lain there some little time, I 
 still had reflection enough to suffer some 
 uneasiness in the thought that I should be 
 trampled upon when dead, as I myself had 
 done to others. With some difficulty I rais- 
 ed myself, and gained the platform a second 
 time, where I presently lost all sensation ; 
 .the last trace of sensation that I have been 
 able to recollect after my lying down, was 
 my sash being uneasy about my waist, which
 
 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 1 29 
 
 I untied and threw from me. Of what pass- 
 ed in this interval, to the time of my resur- 
 rection from this hole of horrors, I can give 
 you no account ; and, indeed, the particulars 
 mentioned by some of the gentlemen who 
 survived were so absurd and contradictory, 
 as to convince me that very few of them had 
 retained their senses ; or, at least, that they 
 had lost them soon after they came into the 
 open air, by the fever they carried out with 
 them. 
 
 " When the day broke, and the gentlemen 
 found that no entreaties could prevail to get 
 the door open, it occurred to one of them 
 (I think to Mr. Secretary Cook) to make a 
 search for me, in hopes that I might have 
 influence enough to gain a release from this 
 scene of misery. Accordingly, Messrs. Lush- 
 ington and Walcot undertook the search, 
 and by my shirt discovered mc under the 
 dead upon the platform. They took me 
 thence, and, imagining I had some signs of 
 life, brought me toward the window I had 
 first possession of. But as life was equally 
 dear to every man, (and the stench arising
 
 130 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 from the dead bodies grown intolerable,) no 
 one would give up the station in or near the 
 window ; so they were obliged to carry me 
 back again. But soon after Captain Mills, 
 who was in possession of a seat at the win- 
 dow, had the humanity to offer to resign it. 
 I was again brought by the same gentlemen 
 and placed in the window. At this juncture 
 the suba, who had received an account of 
 the havoc death had made among us, sent 
 one of the jemmautdaars to inquire if the 
 chief survived. They showed me to him ; 
 told him I had some appearance of life re- 
 maining, and believed I might recover if 
 the door was opened very soon. This an- 
 swer being returned to the suba, an order 
 came immediately for our release, it being 
 then near six in the morning. The fresh 
 air at the window soon brought me to life ; 
 and a few minutes after the departure of the 
 jemmautdaar, I was restored to my sight and 
 senses. The little strength that remained 
 among the most robust who survived made 
 it a difficult task to remove the dead piled 
 up against the door ; so that I believe it was
 
 Tales of Naval and ]\Iilitary L ifc. 131 
 
 more than twenty minutes before we obtain- 
 ed a passage out for one at a time." 
 
 Of the whole hundred and forty-six per- 
 sons confined in this dreadful place, only 
 twenty-three survived ! 
 
 'W^:s^
 
 AN INCIDENT OF SAILOR LIFE. 
 
 FORMIDABLE French fleet left 
 Toulon on the i6th of June, 1609, 
 commanded by a prince of the 
 blood, the Duke de Beaufort, to 
 deliver Candia, which was besieged by the 
 Turks. He had with him a capuchin, P^re 
 Zephyrin. The fleet, favored by beautiful 
 weather, for some time slowly advanced. 
 The admiral-shij), Le Monarque, preceded 
 by a small brigantine which served as a 
 guide, was at the head, bearing with pride 
 the banner of the Sovereign Pontiff". With 
 the exception of a north-west squall, which 
 snapped the topmasts of the Syrian when 
 they were off the islands of Hy^res, the 
 passage bid fair to be most favorable.
 
 Tales of Naval and Military Life. 133 
 
 The fleet had just left Cerigo, anciently 
 called Cythera, to its left, and had dou- 
 bled Cape Carobuca, which is the most 
 easterly point of the island of Candia, when 
 one morning the watch said that a signal 
 from the Thercse had been given announc- 
 ing that a priest was wanted for a sailor 
 who was seriously ill. Pere Zephyrin, know- 
 ing this, went immediately to the captain of 
 the admiral's vessel, and asked him to give 
 orders so as to enable him to fulfil the du- 
 ties of his ministry. 
 
 " What you ask, father," said the captain, 
 " is quite impossible !" 
 
 " As things are, those words are neither 
 French nor Christian. Over there is one of 
 our comrades dying ; it is my duty to go to 
 him." 
 
 " The man can die very well without 
 you." 
 
 "That is exactly what he ought not to 
 do." 
 
 "But I cannot take upon myself the re- 
 sponsibility of doing as you wish." 
 
 " Very well ; I will go and ask the admi- 
 ral."
 
 1 3 4 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 " You must wait till he is up." 
 " Death docs not wait, captain." So say- 
 ino-, P^re Zephyrin went down into the 
 Duke de Beaufort's room. The prince 
 was shaving. 
 
 " Excuse me, my lord, if I come at so 
 early an hour," said the chaplain. 
 
 "At whatever hour he may come, P^re 
 Zephyrin is always welcome," said the duke. 
 " Thanks, my lord." 
 
 "What do you wish, reverend father? 
 Something very important, since you come 
 so early about it." 
 
 " It is something very important, indeed, 
 my lord ; a favor I wish to ask you." 
 
 " Which I am ready to grant. Speak, I 
 am listening." 
 
 " One of our sailors on board the Ther^se 
 is very ill, and desires the succors of reli- 
 gion, and I am come to ask leave of you to 
 go to him." 
 
 " But to be able to do that, I must stop 
 the whole fleet, which would keep us back 
 two hours !" 
 
 " Two hours are less in eternity than two 
 drops of water in the ocean, my lord. The
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military L ifc. 135 
 
 salvation of a soul created in the image of 
 God depends, perhaps, upon your decision." 
 The prince had just finished dressing. 
 " What time is it, father ?" 
 
 " Five o'clock." 
 
 " How long would it take you to go in a 
 good boat to the Therese ?" 
 
 "About three quarters of an hour." 
 
 " What kind of weather is it, this morn- 
 ing } 
 
 " Beautiful weather, although the sea is 
 rather rough." 
 
 " We shall see," replied the duke. And, 
 throwing a cloak over his shoulders, he 
 went on deck. 
 
 "The sea is terribly rough, father, said 
 the duke. I would not allow you to expose 
 your life thus in a mere boat." 
 
 " There is no fear, my lord ; the sea knows 
 me well, and the guardian angel of the sick 
 man will protect me." 
 
 " You persist, then .''" 
 
 " I beseech you, my lord, allow me."' 
 
 "Very well. Go, and may God protect 
 you ! 
 
 At the same moment the fleet was stop-
 
 136 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 ped, and Pere Zcphyrin jumped into a boat, 
 in which twelve volunteers were already 
 seated, who began to row vigorously to- 
 ward the Ther^se. 
 
 The boat scarcely swerved ; it seemed to 
 glide over the waves, leaving behind a white 
 foam. The Duke de Beaufort followed 
 with a glass the progress of these brave 
 men, who, to save a soul, did not mind risk- 
 ing their lives. Courage and self-devotion ! 
 The whole of a sailor is comprised in these 
 two words. 
 
 At last P^re Zephyrin got alongside of 
 the Ther^se. As he went on board all the 
 sailors took off their caps — the sentinels 
 presented arms — the captain came himself 
 to conduct him to the sick man, who was 
 in the infirmary." 
 
 " God be praised !" cried he, as he saw 
 the captain enter, bringing with him the 
 priest, " God be praised ! And may God 
 bless you, father !" 
 
 He was a brave sailor, who had often 
 met P6re Zephyrin ; the father recognized 
 him, and expressed to him those hopes of 
 recovery which our lips often pronounce in
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military L ifc. I2,y 
 
 presence of the dying, even when our heart 
 does not respond to them. 
 
 " You come just at the right time, father ; 
 I feel I am going to die," said the sick 
 sailor. 
 
 " I have seen people worse than you re- 
 cover, after all. One must never despair." 
 
 " I don't despair ; but I feci that I must 
 get ready to go to a country where every- 
 body goes, but from which nobody comes 
 back. That is to say, I don't think they — " 
 
 " Well, my friend, since you asked for me, 
 I am ready to hear you." Then the sick 
 man began his confession, which did not last 
 five minutes. He seemed so piously re- 
 signed, and so generously sacrificed his life 
 to God, that his confessor said, while admin- 
 istering to him : " Now, my friend, you can 
 go whenever God calls you ; you arc quite 
 prepared." 
 
 Upon a bed near to that of the dying man 
 who had called for the assistance of God's 
 minister, was another sailor, who, not being 
 so ill, and having less faith, had laughed at 
 his comrade for being so impatient to see a 
 priest.
 
 1 3 8 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 "Absolution won't prevent you dying," 
 
 said he. 
 
 " Perhaps not," replied the other ; " at all 
 events, it will prevent me from dying badly ; 
 and, if I had any advice to give you, it would 
 be to do as I am going to do." 
 
 " To confess ! — I, Pecard — surely you are 
 
 jokmg ! 
 
 " There have been cleverer fellows than you 
 who have confessed themselves before now, 
 and have not been any the worse for it." 
 
 At that moment Pere Zephyrin entered ; 
 he had now been three quarters of an hour 
 on board the Thera;se. " I am going back 
 again to the admiral's vessel," said he to the 
 impenitent sailor ; " won't you, too, take ad- 
 vantage of the opportunity ?" 
 
 " I am not ill enough for that." 
 
 " All the better ; you are in a more fit 
 state to make a confession." 
 
 " I shall see later." 
 
 " Later ! perhaps then it may be too late ; 
 better now than never." 
 
 "What should I have to say? I have 
 neither killed nor stolen. I have always be- 
 haved like a brave and an honest sailor."
 
 Tales of Naval and JMilitary Life. 139 
 
 " So much the better, your confession will 
 be the sooner over." 
 
 " If it would not inconvenience you too 
 much, father, to come to-morrow at the same 
 time." 
 
 " Supposing there were no to-morrow for 
 you r 
 
 " Well, in that case, I should not want a 
 confessor ; all would be over." 
 
 " In this world, but not in the next ; be- 
 lieve me, my friend, to-day is yours — take 
 advantage of it." 
 
 "And, besides," said the other sailor, join- 
 ing his exhortations to those of the priest, 
 " if you knew how much good a worthy con- 
 fession and absolution does one, you would 
 not hesitate a moment. Besides, the father 
 is right ; one ought never to put off till to- 
 morrow what can be easily done to-day, for 
 our hours are numbered. Now then, Pccard, 
 you have lived like a good sailor, you ought 
 not to die like a miscreant. That is all I 
 can say." 
 
 " Very well, as both of you wish it, I must 
 wish it too," said Pccard, who, after some 
 preparation, commenced his confession. Af-
 
 1 40 Talcs of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 ter it was over, " Indeed our comrade was 
 right," said he to the capuchin when he pre- 
 pared to go. " Confession is a pill which, 
 once swallowed, does one uncommon good." 
 
 The sea was still rough ; but, instead of 
 having one angel guardian, he had two on 
 his way back. The boat reached safely the 
 admiral's vessel. 
 
 That evening the Duke de Beaufort re- 
 ceived to dinner all the officers of his vessel. 
 Pere Zephyrin, with a joyful heart at having 
 done his duty, was at his right hand ; the 
 captain was on his left. The meal was, as 
 usual, seasoned by wit and champagne ; for 
 the Duke de Beaufort, the brother and 
 friend of his officers, preferred joyous friend- 
 ly meetings to the stiffness of cold etiquette ; 
 he possessed the rare faculty of making 
 everybody around him at home. 
 
 " By the way, father," said he to the ca- 
 puchin while dessert was coming in, "you 
 have told us nothing of your morning's ex- 
 pedition. I am sure the account of it would 
 interest these gentlemen." At the prince's 
 invitation, the capuchin briefly recounted, 
 but much better than we have done, dear
 
 Talcs of Naz 'a I mid Military Life. 141 
 
 reader, his arrival on board the Theresa, the 
 scene with the two sailors, and his return to 
 the admiral's vessel. 
 
 " Full success !" said the duke. " I am 
 not surprised at this ; you are accustomed to 
 overcome hearts, and to sway the conscien 
 ces of men." 
 
 The capuchin bowed an acknowledgment 
 of these praises, justified by the affection of 
 all ranks of sailors which he had won, and 
 said : " I forgot, my lord, to give you the 
 messages these poor sailors entrusted mc 
 with." 
 
 " I am ready to receive them, reverend 
 father." 
 
 " The two sailors to whom I administered 
 the last sacraments told me to express, in 
 the most lively terms, their gratitude to }'our 
 royal highness." 
 
 " I only did my duty." 
 
 " They owe you, my lord, a sacred debt. 
 They will pray God to pay it for them." 
 
 " Brave men ! Do you hear that .-'" cried 
 the duke, glancing at the captain on his 
 left. " You would have deprived mc of a
 
 1 43 Tales of Naval and Military L ife. 
 
 great satisfaction, if I had not been there^to 
 give the order which you refused to give." ^ 
 ^ " Faith, my lord," said the captain, " I will 
 frankly tell you, that I did not dare to take 
 upon myself the responsibility of stopping a 
 fleet in full sail for one sailor !" 
 
 " If the signal had denoted that the spirit- 
 ual assistance of our reverend father was re- 
 quired for an offtcer, what would you have 
 
 done ?" 
 
 " I should have considered the matter 
 
 more attentively." 
 
 " Very well, if the same signal had said 
 it was for an admiral, for a duke, for the 
 Duke de Beaufort, for instance ?" 
 
 " Ah ! then, my lord," said the captain, " I 
 should not have hesitated a quarter of a 
 
 second !" 
 
 " You would immediately have given the 
 order which the father desired ?" 
 
 " No doubt, my lord." 
 
 " And you would have done right, just the 
 same as you have done wrong in refusing to 
 a simple sailor what you would have granted 
 to me ; for remember, sir, before God, who is 
 master of us all, the soul of a poor sailor is
 
 Talcs of Naval and Military Life. 143 
 
 as precious as that of an admiral, were he a 
 prince of the blood." After saying these 
 words with a firm voice, the duke rose, took 
 his neighbor's arm, and, followed by his offi- 
 cers, went on deck. 
 
 Shortly after this incident the duke per- 
 ished bravely under the walls of Candia.
 
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