174] ANNUAL REGISTER, ISli. 



lyar, although it does justice to 



his humane aud generous conduct 



after-the victory. The Anoerican 



complains of the attack as a viola- 

 tion of neutral territory, and inti- 

 mates an understanding between 



the governor of Val paraiso and the 



British commander. 



An account was communicated 



by Captain Pigot, of the Orpheus, 



dated New Providence, April 



25th, of his having, after a chase 



of 60 miles, taken off Cuba the 



United States ship Frolic, carrying 



20 32-pound carronades, and 2 



long 18-pounders, with a crew of 



171 men, out two months from 

 Boston. 



A very sevev»; action, ending 



unfortunately to the British flag, 

 took place on June 28th, lat. 48 N. 

 long. 11 W. between the English 

 brig of war Reindeer, Captain Man- 

 ners, and the American sloop of 

 war Wasp, Capt. Blakeley. Capt. 

 Manners perceiving an enemy to 

 the leeward on the morning of 

 that day, gave chaae, and about 3 

 p. m. the two vessels were yard- 

 arm and yard-arm. The engage- 

 ment was maintained with the 

 most determined spirit for 25 mi- 

 nutes, when the Reindeer, having 

 lost her brave captain, her purser, 

 and 27 men killed and 40 wound- 

 ed, among whom were almost all 

 her officers, and having been re- 

 pulsed in two attempts to board, 

 was under the necessity of striking 

 her colours. Such was the injury 

 she received, that it was found 

 necessary on the following day to 

 destroy her. The superiority of 

 men, and weight of metal, on the 

 American side, is stated as very 

 considerable. It was thought that 

 the Wasp had suffered much, but 

 later accounts from her represent 



her loss and damage as trifling. It 

 is apparent that the American fire 

 must have been much more for- 

 midable than the British. 



The daring enterprize of British 

 seamen, restricted for want of oc- 

 casions for exertion, has in this, 

 as in former years, broke oftt in 

 some of those desperate attempts 

 for carrying ships at anchor by 

 means of armed boats, which 

 might perhaps be censured for 

 rashness, were not the preserva- 

 tion of the spirit of the navy a 

 matter of the first importance. 

 One of these, in which final suc- 

 cess was obtained, though with a 

 formidable loss, appears worthy of 

 record. An English squadron, 

 consisting of the Plantagenet, Ro- 

 ta, and Carnation, arriving near 

 the close of September in the road 

 of Fayal, a Portuguese harbour in 

 the Azores, descried the General 

 Armstrong, a large American 

 schooner privateer, at anchor in 

 the roads. A boat was dispatched 

 to reconnoitre her force as she was 

 getting under weigh, which being 

 driven by the tide near the schoo- 

 ner, was hailed, and desired to 

 keep ofl^. This being impractica- 

 ble, the boat was fired into, and 

 seven men were killed. The Eng- 

 lish commodore considering this 

 act as an infraction of the neutral- 

 ity of the port, ordered the Car- 

 nation in to destroy the privateer ; 

 and as the rocky ground prevented 

 the ship from getting near enough, 

 nine boats, with three lieutenants, 

 and about two hundred men, were 

 dispatched for the purpose. On 

 approaching the schooner, they 

 were received with a most de- 

 structive fire from a 32-pounder ; 

 and, in the end, the the privateer's 

 men escaped on shore, whence they 



