72 Naval War of 1812 



ried by a British tender and nine boats. 62 The gun- 

 vessel was lying at anchor about eight leagues from 

 St. Mary's, and the boats approached with muffled 

 oars early in the morning. They were not discov 

 ered till nearly aboard, but the defence though short 

 was spirited, the British losing about 20 men. Of 

 the gunboat's 30 men but 16 were fit for action; 

 those under Sailing-master Thomas Paine behaved 

 well. Mr. Paine, especially, fought with the great 

 est gallantry ; his thigh was broken by a grape-shot 

 at the very beginning, but he hobbled up on his 

 other 1'eg to resist the boarders, fighting till he was 

 thrust through by a pike and had received two sabre 

 cuts. Any one of his wounds would have been 

 enough to put an ordinary man hors de combat. 



On October nth, another desperate privateer bat 

 tle took place. The brigantine Prince-de-Neufchatel, 

 Captain Ordronaux, of New York, was a superbly 

 built vessel of 310 tons, mounting 17 guns, and 

 originally possessing a crew of 150 men. 63 She 

 had made a very successful cruise, having on board 

 goods to the amount of $300,000, but had manned 

 and sent in so many prizes that only 40 of her 

 crew were left on board, while 37 prisoners were 

 confined in the hold. One of her prizes was in 

 company, but had drifted off to such a distance that 



w Letter from Commander H. C. Campbell, Oct. 12, 1814. 

 ""History of American Privateers," by Geo. Coggeshall, 

 p. 241. New York, 1876. 



