216 Naval War of 1812 



The Arab and Lynx surrendered at once ; the Racer 

 was carried after a sharp struggle in which Lieuten 

 ant Polkinghorne was wounded, and her guns turned 

 on the Dolphin. Most of the latter 's crew jumped 

 overboard; a few rallied round their captain, but 

 they were at once scattered as the British seamen 

 came aboard. The assailants had 13, and the pri- 

 vateersmen 16 men killed and wounded in the fight 

 It was certainly one of the most brilliant and daring 

 cutting-out expeditions that took place during the 

 war, and the victors well deserved their success. 

 The privateersmen (according to the statement of 

 the Dolphin's master, in "Niles' Register,") were 

 panic-struck, and acted in anything but a brave 

 manner. All irregular fighting-men do their work 

 by fits and starts. No regular cruisers could be 

 have better than did the privateers Lottery, Chas 

 seur, and General Armstrong; none would behave 

 as badly as the Dolphin, Lynx, and Arab. The 

 same thing appears on shore. Jackson's irregulars 

 at New Orleans did as well, or almost as well, as 

 Scott's troops at Lundy's Lane; but Scott's troops 

 would never have suffered from such a panic as 

 overcame the militia at Bladensburg. 



On April Qth the schooner Norwich, of 14 guns 

 and 6 1 men, Sailing-master James Monk, captured 

 the British privateer Caledonia, of 10 guns and 41 

 men, after a short action in which the privateer lost 

 7 men. 



On April 3Oth Commodore Rodgers, in the 

 President, 44, . accompanied by Captain Smith in 



