296 Naval War of 1812 



modore Yeo's report on the action was not made 

 public. Brenton merely alludes to it as follows (Vol. 

 II, p. 503) : "The action of the 28th of September, 

 1813, in which Sir James Yeo in the Wolfe had his 

 main and mizzentopmasts shot away, and was 

 obliged to put before the wind, gave Mulcaster an 

 opportunity of displaying a trait of valor and sea- 

 manship which elicited the admiration of friends 

 and foes, when he gallantly placed himself between 

 his disabled commodore and a superior enemy." 

 James speaks in the vaguest terms. He first says, 

 "Commodore Chauncy, having the weather-gage, 

 kept his favorite distance," which he did because 

 Commodore Yeo fled so fast that he could not be 

 overtaken; then James mentions the injuries the 

 Wolfe received, and says that "it was these and not, 

 as Mr. Clark says, 'a manoeuvre of the commodore's' 

 that threw the British in confusion." In other 

 words, it was the commodore's shot and not his ma- 

 noeuvring that threw the British into confusion 

 a very futile distinction. Next he says that "Com- 

 modore Chauncy would not venture within car- 

 ronade range," whereas he was within carronade 

 range of the Wolfe and Royal George, but the lat- 

 ter did not wait .for the Madison and Oneida to get 

 within range with their carronades. The rest of his 

 article is taken up with exposing the absurdities of 

 some of the American writings, miscalled histories, 

 which appeared at the close of the war. His criti- 

 cisms on these are very just, but afford a funny in- 

 stance of the pot calling the kettle back. This much 



