248 Naval War of 1812 



On July 14, 1813, the two small vessels Scorpion 

 and Asp, the latter commanded by Mr. Sigourney, 

 got under way from out of the Yeocomico Creek, 43 

 and at 10 A.M., discovered in chase the British brig- 

 sloops Contest, Captain James Rattray, and Mo- 

 hawk, Captain Henry D. Byng. 44 The Scorpion 

 beat up the Chesapeake, but the dull-sailing Asp 

 had to re-enter the creek; the two brigs anchored 

 off the bar and hoisted out their boats, under the 

 command of Lieutenant Rodger C. Curry; where- 

 upon the Asp cut her cable and ran up the creek 

 some distance. Here she was attacked by three 

 boats, which Mr. Sigourney and his crew of twenty 

 men, with two light guns, beat off; but they were 

 joined by two others, and the five carried the Asp, 

 giving no quarter. Mr. Sigourney and 10 of his 

 men were killed or wounded, while the British also 

 suffered heavily, having 4 killed and 7 (including 



fered in it." "Unlike most other nations, the Americans in 

 particular, the British, when engaged in expeditions of this 

 nature, always rest their hopes of success upon valor rather 

 than on numbers." These comments read particularly well 

 when it is remembered that the assailants outnumbered the 

 assailed in the proportion of 5 to i. It is monotonous work 

 to have to supplement a history by a running commentary 

 on James' mistakes and inventions; but it is worth while to 

 prove once for all the utter unreliability of the author who 

 is accepted in Great Britain as the great authority about the 

 war. Still, James is no worse than his compeers. In the 

 American CoggeshalPs "History of Privateers," the mis- 

 statements are as gross and the sneers in as poor taste the 

 British, instead of the Americans, being the objects. 



43 Letter of Midshipman McClintock, July 15, 1813. 



44 James, vi, 343. 



