560 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1S04. 



I was not aware, to the full extent, 

 of this accident and manoeuTre, I 

 never lost sight of him ; and at the 

 time it happened I observed we were 

 Bearing him so very fast, that I had 

 begun to reduce the sail ; hut, as we 

 were going then at more than eiev en 

 knots, I had but a few minutes 

 time before I was up with him, and 

 ihe wind blowing so fresh as to risk 

 the loss of all our masts, if I at- 

 tempted to haul to wind with the 

 sail I had then set, I was under the 

 necessity of passing him, which I 

 did, however, within hail, and to 

 windward, and not receiving any 

 answer, except that he was from 

 Philadelphia, in bad English, I or- 

 dered three guns to be fired into 

 him. I then plainly discovered him 

 to be a large armed brig, w ith nine 

 ports on a side. Having in a few 

 minutes taken two reefs in the top- 

 sails, and elf ared the decks of 

 wrecked spars and split sails, we at- 

 tacked, and ranged up within tew 

 yards of his lee-quarter, he having 

 cat his cable, and again attempted 

 to make sail, when, just as 1 was 

 on the point of hailing him, prepa- 

 ratory to giving him our broadside, 

 he called out, and begged us not to 

 fire, as he had struck. On board- 

 ing him, 1 was pleased to find my 

 opinion confirmed, that 1 had cap- 

 tured captain Blackman, so well 

 known during the late and present 

 wars in these seas, having received 

 information he was at sea in a brig. 

 Theship he commanded proved to be 

 Le-Contre-Admiral JMagoii P^rench 

 privateer brig, quite new, this be- 

 ing her first cruize, pierced for IS, 

 and mounting 17 guns of diii'erent 

 calibres: viz. 14 long six-pounders, 

 two 18-pound carronadcs, and one 

 Jong niue-po under, and manned 



with 84 men, French, Daneir, 

 Swedes, and Americans; had been 

 oat from Dunkirk eighteen days, 

 and had captured during his cruize 

 the ship Belisarius, of Newcastle, 

 Matthew Hunter, master, on the 

 3d instant, off Tynemouth ; the 

 brig Scipio, Richard Robertson, 

 master ; and the Content's Increase, 

 George Bell, master, both ladeu 

 with coals, olT Foley Bridge, on the 

 10th instant ; the two former were 

 immediately dispatclicd for Dun- 

 kirk but tiie latter was re-captured 

 about two hours after by an English 

 man of war brig : she Mas proceed- 

 ing for Dunkirk or Ostend, and 

 had been layii»g to for some hours 

 in the eveninu, waiting for water to 

 cross tiie bank, and, I apprehend, 

 little expected to find English cruiz- 

 ers within the Stroom Sand. The 

 brigs and cutters in company, who 

 bore up with the cruizer in chace, 

 were run out of sight by 12 A. M. 

 I beg to recommend to your lord- 

 ship's notice lieut. J. Pcarce, senior 

 lieutenant; lieutenant Lusk, se- 

 cond ; and Mr. Lash^ master, with 

 the whole of the warrant and petty 

 oflicers, seamen, and marines, through 

 whose united exertions* this active 

 and enterprising enemy has been 

 prevented making farther depreda- 

 tions, which, from his local know- 

 ledge of our coasts, added to the 

 ample means he possessed in this 

 brig, from her superior sailing and 

 force, must have been highly detri- 

 mental to the trade of this country ; 

 nor can I, in justice, omit availing 

 myself of this ojiportunif)' to ex- 

 press to your Lordship my thanks to. 

 Johannes Whyminer, pilot of the 

 Cruizer, who, on this and all for- 

 mer occasions, by his correct know- 

 ledge of the coast and slioals, and 



acal 



