into the water to fire at the drowning crews. Including 10 seamen, 62 are reported as missing. Of these, it appears, 40 gained the shore, and "deserted" to the Americans. As more than that number of missing appear to have belonged to the two foreign companies, this creates no surprise; especially as the only alternative left to the men was to become prisoners of war. Admitting the American statement to be correct, 22 must have perished in the water; the majority of whom, owing to the proximity of the sinking boats to the Diadem's launch, and the strenuous exertions of captain Hanchett and his men to save the drowning crews, must have dropped beneath the merciless bullets of the American troops. The whole loss on our side, which, as we have seen, amounted to 81, has been magnified by the American editors, to 200; and they add, with a degree of exultation, rendered ridiculous by the powerless condition to which accident had reduced the invading party, that on the side of the invaded, not a man was either killed or wounded." One American editor makes the British force that arrived in front of the island-battery "about 4000 men," many of whom were French,† and those that landed on the main "upwards of 800 soldiers;" yet, in the very App. No. 13. + Sketches of the War, p. 215. next page, he declares that "3000 British soldiers, sailors, and marines, were opposed to 480 Virginia militia, and 150 sailors and marines."* The batteries were nothing in the account, although Mr. Thomson had just done telling us what destruction they had caused. Another editor, Mr. O'Connor, declares that " 1500 men attempted to land in front of the island;† and that the force that landed on the main was reported, by deserters and others, to exceed 3000 men." The postcript to commodore Cassin's letter states, that "the number of the enemy engaged in the attack was nearly 3000;" implying, of course, that those not engaged were excluded from the estimate. Another writer, whose zeal it would be criminal to question, says: "An attempt was made against Craney Island, by a force exceeding 1200 men; who were repulsed with disgrace by 700 raw troops, sailors and marines, without the loss of a man." We have, in addition to Mr. Thomson's, general Wilkinson's high authority for stating, that a part of the invading force consisted of " a corps designated' chasseurs Britanniques,' composed of foreign renegadoes under British officers." || - It is surprising with what facility the American * Sketches of the War, p. 216. + Hist. of the War, p. 171. App. No. 12. Wilkinson's Mem. Vol. I. p. 733. historian can, by his powers of distortion, convert every event he records to the national advantage. The check which the expedition experienced, when the Diadem's launch and two or three of the foremost boats struck the ground, is represented as "a momentary pause" caused by the "galling fire from the battery;' and to prove, decidedly, the existence of no other obstacle to the landing of the British, than "this gallant resistance by the naval division on the island," Mr. Thomson follows up his "momentary pause" with,—" Every attempt to approach the shore having heretofore failed, the enemy determined on returning to his shipping with as little delay as possible.”* Not one of the other historians mentions a word about the British boats having grounded: all was effected by the invincible American seamen and marines." We have seen already, and shall see again, as we proceed, that the American editors, in their histories, and the American commanders, in their official letters, can, when the occasion serves, magnify a difficulty, be it ever so slight, into one which no bravery can surmount. The policy of attacking Craney Island, as a means of getting at Norfolk, has been much questioned; but there can be only one opinion, surely, about the wisdom of sending boats, in broad day-light, to feel their way to the shore, *Sketches of the War, p. 215. + App. No. 12. over shoals and mud-banks; and that in the very teeth of a formidable battery. Unlike most other nations, the Americans in particular, the British when engaged in expeditions of this nature, always rest their hopes of success upon valor rather than numbers. But still, had the veil of darkness been allowed to screen the boats from view, and an hour of the night chosen, when the tide had covered the shoals with deep water, the same little party might have carried the batteries; and a defeat, as disgraceful to those that caused, as honorable to those that suffered in it, been converted into a victory. As it was, the affair of Craney Island, dressed up to advantage in the American official account, and properly commented upon by the government-editors, was hailed throughout the union as a glorious triumph, fit for Americans to achieve. On the night of the 25th of June, the effective men of the 102d regiment, Canadian chasseurs, and battalion-marines; also, three companies of ship's marines, the whole amounting to about 2000 men, commanded by major-general Beckwith, embarked in a division of boats, placed under the orders of rear-admiral Cockburn, and covered by the Mohawk sloop, and the launches of the squadron. About half an hour before day-light on the 26th, the advance, consisting of about 650 men, along with two 6-pounders, under lieutenant-colonel Napier, landed two miles to the westwardof Hampton, a town about 18 miles from Norfolk, and separated from it by Hamptonroads. Shortly afterwards, the main body, consisting of the royal marine-battalions under lieutenant-colonel Williams, landed; and the whole moved forward. A full detail of the little skirmishes that ensued with, certainly, a very inferior body of militia, will be found in Admiral Warren's and sir Sydney Beckwith's despatches.* As might be expected, the town, and its seven pieces of cannon, fell into our hands, after a trifling loss of five killed, 33 wounded, and 10 missing ;* or, according to Mr. Thomson, of 90 killed and 120 wounded." The Americans admit a loss of seven killed, 12 wounded, 11 missing, and one prisoner; total 31.†. Our force, on this occasion, has been, by the American editors, more fairly stated than usual; but they have contrived to make it up, by proportionably diminishing their own. Mr. Thomson tells us that, early in June, from "the suspicious movements and menacing attitudes" of the British squadron lying in Hampton-roads, "the citizens of all the surrounding towns became apprehensive of an attack;" that App. Nos. 14 and 15. VOL. II. + Sketches of the War, p. 240. F |