CHAPTER already recorded in a previous chapter, had occasioned XIX. the issue of a standing order to all commanders of Ameri1807. can ships of war never to allow their crews to be mustered except by their own officers. For that affair an apology had been made-more than seems to have happened in a more recent instance, in which one of the American gun-boats sent to the Mediterranean had been overhauled by one of the ships of Lord Collingwood's fleet off Cadiz, and robbed of three of her crew, under pretense that they were British subjects; an outrage which does not appear to have been made even a subject of remon strance. Having at last completed her armament and crew, the Chesapeake got under way from Hampton Roads, and, wholly unconscious of danger, set sail on her intended voyage. For executing Berkeley's orders, as well as for the purposes of general surveillance, there lay in Lynnhaven Bay three British vessels, the Melampus of thirtyeight guns, one of those from which the desertions had taken place, the Leopard of fifty guns, and the Bellona seventy-four. The Leopard got under way at the same time with the Chesapeake, and stood out to sea a few miles ahead of her, a proceeding in which there was nothing to alarm, as the British ships were constantly changing their stations. When both vessels were some seven or eight miles outside the Capes of the Chesapeake, having, as they proceeded to sea, approached each other, the captain of the Leopard hailed, and desired to send some dispatches on board. Nor was there in this any thing suspicious, as it was customary with the British ships of war to avail themselves of such opportunities for the safe transfer of letters to England. Barron accordingly brought the Chesapeake to; the Leopard also came to; and presently a boat was dispatched to the Chesapeake, XIX. with a lieutenant and a note from Humphries, captain CHAPTER of the Leopard, inclosing the above-quoted circular order of Admiral Berkeley's. This note took Barron entirely 1807. by surprise. After half an hour's detention, the lieutenant was sent back with a reply, denying any knowledge that any British deserters were on board the Chesapeake, and stating that the recruiting officer had been specially instructed to enlist none such. The note added that his orders did not permit him to allow his men to be mustered by any body except their own officers. Engrossed as his attention had been by the preparation of his answer to so extraordinary a demand, it does not seem yet to have occurred to Barron that there could be any intention to use force. But the officers of the ship, suspecting something wrong, had been busy in attempting to clear the decks. Several hours, however, would have been needed to prepare the ship for action. Without the least thought of encountering an enemy, she had gone to sea in a very encumbered condition. Her men had never been exercised at the guns, and though she had been more than six months in fitting out, her equipments were found to be exceedingly imperfect. The Leopard lay in a very favorable position for her purpose, within pistol-shot of the Chesapeake's weatherquarter, with guns pointed and matches lighted. ing dispatched his note, the idea that force might be used seems first to have struck Barron, and he ordered the men to be silently called to quarters, and preparations for resistance to be hastened. As soon as Barron's note was received, the British captain hailed as follows: "Commodore Barron must be aware that the orders of the vice-admiral must be obeyed." Barron replying that he did not understand, this was repeated several times. A shot then came from the Leopard's gun-deck Hav. CHAPTER across the Chesapeake's bows; after a minute, another; XIX. and shortly after, a whole broadside, by which, besides 1807. other injuries, Barron, who was standing in the gang way, was slightly wounded. Barron then hailed the Leopard, proposing to send a boat on board; but this was regarded by Humphries as a mere feint to gain time, and was therefore disregarded. Several more broadsides were poured in, by which three of the Chesapeake's crew were killed, and eight severely and ten badly wounded, besides considerable injuries to her masts and rigging, and twenty round shot in her hull. The officers had succeeded in getting the guns loaded and shotted, but there was a great deficiency of powder-horns for priming, no gunlocks, loggerheads, nor match could be found, and all this time, for want of proper fireworks, not a shot could be returned. Had the guns been once discharged, for want of cartridges, wads, and rammers, they could not have been reloaded. Just as the flag was lowered by Barron's order, a single gun was fired by means of a coal brought from the galley. Two British lieutenants and several midshipmen soon came on board the Chesapeake, mustered her crew, and, after a three hours' examination, carried off the three deserters from the Melampus, and also Wilson or Ratford, the deserter from the Halifax, who was found concealed in the coal-hole. Pending these proceedings, Barron sent a note on board the Leopard, stating that he regarded the Chesapeake as her prize, and offering to deliver her up to any officer authorized to receive her; to which Humphries replied, that, having fulfilled his instructions, he desired nothing more; offering, at the same time, every assistance, and expressing his regret that any lives should have been lost in the execution of a service which might have been adjusted more amica : XIX. bly, not only as regarded themselves, but as between the CHAPTER nations to which they respectively belonged. Indignantly rejecting this offer of assistance, her offi- 1807. cers and crew in a state of great bitterness, gloom, and mortification, the Chesapeake made the best of her way back to Norfolk. The four men taken from her were carried to Halifax, and were there tried by court-martial, and sentenced to death as deserters. Ratford or Wilson, who was proved or confessed himself to be a British subject, was hanged. The others, whose claim. to be Americans could not be disproved, were reprieved on condition of re-entering the British service; not, however, without a grave lecture from Berkeley on the enor mity of their offense, and its tendency to provoke a war -one of those cases, surely, in which the judge and the culprits might well have changed places! No sooner was the return of the Chesapeake known at Norfolk, and the occasion of it, than a public meeting was held, at which resolutions were adopted to allow no further intercourse with British ships of war till the president's pleasure should be known. To these resolutions, Captain Douglas, commanding the British squadron in the Chesapeake, made at first a very insolent and threatening response. Apprehensions were entertained, from the tenor of his letter, that the British ships might attempt to make their way up to Norfolk, or might land at other points, and supply themselves by force. So great was the alarm, that Cabell, governor of Virginia, ordered detachments of militia to Norfolk and Hampton. Douglas, in a second letter, soon lowered his tone. The news, as it spread, produced every where the greatest excitement, the mortification of the insult being aggravated by the Chesapeake's helpless non-resistance to it. A high degree of anger against Great Britain was kindled. But CHAPTER in the popular mind, mingled, among the more reflectXIX. ing, especially those directly interested in commerce and 1807. navigation, with alarming anticipations of a war fraught with mischief, destructive to commerce, and from which could be expected no possible good. July 2 The president issued a proclamation complaining of the habitual insolence of the British cruisers; expressing, however, the belief that the present outrage was unauthorized; but in the mean time ordering all British ish ships of war to quit the waters of the United States; and in case they refused-for to compel them the gov ernment, unfortunately, had no power-forbidding any intercourse with them. The money voted at the last session of Congress for fortifications was expended at New York, Charleston, and New Orleans, as being the points most exposed. Most of the gun-boats in commission were ordered to the same points, and the president assumed the responsibility of directing purchases of military stores, of which the magazines had been suffered to become almost entirely empty, and of timber for additional gun-boats. A hundred thousand militia were ordered to be detached by the different states, ready for service, but without pay; and volunteers were invited to enroll themselves. Congress was called together by proc. lamation some weeks in anticipation of its usual time of meeting. A court of inquiry was ordered into the conduct of Barron and his officers; and finally a vessel was dispatched for England, with instructions to the American ministers to demand reparation, and to suspend all other negotiation until it was granted. Berkeley had sent from Halifax a dispatch-boat, which carried to England the first news of this affair; upon receipt of which, Canning, on behalf of the British minJuly 25. istry, expressly disavowed the act, and tendered repara |