6 Naval War of 1812 



prizes of not much value. She then turned toward 

 the American coast, striking soundings near St. Au 

 gustine, and thence proceeding north along the 

 coast to Sandy Hook, which was reached on Feb. 

 1 8th. The light was passed in the night, and shortly 

 afterward several sail were made out, when the 

 President was at once cleared for action. 4 One of 

 these strange sail was the Loire, 38 (British), Capt. 

 Thomas Brown, which ran down to close the Presi 

 dent, unaware of her force; but on discovering her 

 to be a 44 hauled to the wind and made off. 5 The 

 President did not pursue, another frigate and a gun- 

 brig being in sight. 6 This rencounter gave rise to 

 nonsensical boastings on both sides; one American 

 writer calls the Loire the Plantagenet, 74; James, 

 on the other hand, states that the President was 

 afraid to engage the 38-gun frigate, and that the 

 only reason the latter declined the combat was be 

 cause she was short of men. The best answer to 

 this is a quotation from his own work (Vol. VI, p. 

 402), that "the admiralty had issued an order that 

 no i8-pounder frigate was voluntarily to engage one 

 of the 24-pounder frigates of America." Coupling 

 this order with the results of the combats that had 

 already taken place between frigates of these 



* Letter of Commodore Rodgers, Feb. 20, 181 

 6 James, vi, 412. 



* "Naval Monument," p. 235. 



