174 Naval War of 1812 



The Essex, 32, Captain David Porter, left the 

 Delaware on Oct. 28th, two days after Commodore 

 Bainbridge had left Boston. She expected to make 

 a very long cruise and so carried with her an un 

 usual quantity of stores and sixty more men than or 

 dinarily, so that her muster-roll contained 319 names. 

 Being deep in the water she reached San Jago after 

 Bainbridge had left. Nothing was met with until 

 after the Essex had crossed the equator in long. 

 30 W. on Dec. nth. On the afternoon of the next 

 day a sail was made out to windward, and chased. 

 At nine in the evening it was overtaken, and struck 

 after receiving a volley of musketry which killed one 

 man. The prize proved to be the British packet Noc- 

 ton, of 10 guns and 31 men, with $55,000 in specie 

 aboard. The latter was taken out, and the Nocton 

 sent home with Lieutenant Finch and a prize crew 

 of 17 men, but was recaptured by a British frigate. 



The next appointed rendezvous was the Island 

 of Fernando de Noronha, where Captain Porter 

 found a letter from Commodore Bainbridge, inform 

 ing him that the other vessels were off Cape Frio. 

 Thither cruised Porter, but his compatriots had left. 

 On the 29th he captured an English merchant ves 

 sel ; and he was still cruising when the year closed. 



The year 1812, on the ocean, ended as gloriously 

 as it had begun. In four victorious fights the dis 

 parity in loss had been so great as to sink the dis 

 parity of force into insignificance. Our successes 

 had been unaccompanied by any important reverse. 



