On the Ocean 49 



The third of the new sloops to get to sea was the 

 Wasp, 22, Captain Johnston Blakely, which left 

 Portsmouth on May first, with a very fine crew of 

 173 men, almost exclusively New Englanders; there 

 was said not to have been a single foreign seaman on 

 board. It is, at all events, certain that during the 

 whole war no vessel was ever better manned and 

 commanded than this daring and resolute cruiser. 

 The Wasp slipped unperceived through the blockad 

 ing frigates, and ran into the mouth of the English 

 Channel, right in the thick of the English cruisers ; 

 here she remained several weeks, burning and scut 

 tling many ships. Finally, on June 28th, at 4 A.M., 

 in lat. 48 36' N., long. 11 15' W., 37 while in chase 

 of two merchantmen, a sail was made on the weath 

 er-beam. This was the British brig-sloop Reindeer, 

 18, Captain William Manners, 88 with a crew of 118, 

 as brave men as ever sailed or fought on the narrow 

 seas. Like the Peacock (British) the Reindeer was 

 only armed with 24-pounders, and Captain Manners 

 must have known well that he was to do battle with 

 a foe heavier than himself; but there was no more 

 gallant seaman in the whole British navy, fertile as 

 it was in men who cared but little for odds of size or 

 strength. As the day broke, the Reindeer made sail 

 for the Wasp, then lying in the west-southwest. 



31 Letter of Captain Blakely, July 8, 1814. 

 38 James, vi, 429. 

 VOL. X. C 



