282 Naval War of 1812 



particularly says, at once "kept away to avoid being 

 raked," while the loss of the headsails aboard the 

 Java would cause the latter to come up in the wind, 

 and the two ships would again be running parallel, 

 with the American to leeward. I have already dis- 

 cussed fully the reasons for rejecting in this instance 

 the British report of their own force and loss. This 

 was the last defeat that the British officially re- 

 ported ; the admiralty were smarting with the sting 

 of successive disasters and anxious at all costs to 

 put the best possible face on affairs (as witness Mr. 

 Croker's response to Lord Dundonald's speech in the 

 House). There is every reason for believing that in 

 this case the reports were garbled; exactly as at a 

 later date the official correspondence preceding the 

 terrible disasters at Cabul was tampered with before 

 being put before the public (see McCarthy's "His- 

 tory of Our Own Times"). 



It is difficult to draw a diagram of the action be- 

 tween the Hornet and Peacock, although it was so 

 short, the accounts contradicting one another as to 

 which ship was to windward and which on the "lar- 

 board tack" ; and I do not know if I have correctly 

 represented the position of the combatants at the 

 close of the engagement. Lieutenant Conner re- 

 ported the number of men aboard the Hornet fit for 

 duty as 135; Lawrence says she had 8 absent in a 

 prize and 7 too sick to be at quarters. This would 



