of his majesty's ships under my command, which precludes the possibility of my making a permanent arrangement for transporting the officers and crew of the late Essex to Europe; and the fast approaching season which renders a passage round Cape Horn in some degree dangerous; I have the honour to propose for your approbation the following articles, which, I hope, the government of the United States as well as that of Great Britain, will deem satisfactory; and request, that should you conceive them so, you will favor me with the necessary bond for their fulfilment. 1st. The Essex Junior to be deprived of all her armament and perfectly neutralized; to be equipped for the voyage solely and wholly at the expense of the American government; and to proceed with a proper American officers and crew (of which I wish to be furnished with a list, for the purpose of giving the necessary passport) to any port in the United States of America, that you may deem most proper. 2d. Yourself, the officers, petty officers, seamen and marines, &c. composing your crew, to be exchanged immediately on their arrival in America, for an equal number of British prisoners of similar rank; yourself and officers to be considered on their parole of honour until your and their exchange shall be effected. In case of the foregoing articles being accepted the Essex Junior will be expected to prepare immediately for her voyage, and to proceed on it before the expiration of the present month. Should any of the wounded, at that period, be found incapable of removal, from not being sufficiently advanced in their recovery, the most humane attention shall be paid to them; and they shall be forwarded home by the first favourable conveyance that may offer. I have the honour to be, &c. Cap. David Porter, late commander SIR, JAMES HILLYAR. VALPARAISO, April 5th, 1814. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your several favours of yesterday's date. The conditions offered by you for our return to the United States are perfectly satisfactory to me; and I entertain no doubts of their being equally so to my country. I, therefore, do not hesitate to pledge my honour (the strongest bond I can give) that every article of the arrangement shall, on our part, be fully complied with. A list of the Essex Junior's crew shall be furnished you as soon as it can be made out, and her disarmament effected with all possible despatch. Com. James Hillyar, commanding I have the honour to be, &c. H. B. M's frigate Phœbe, Valparaiso. Commodore Hillyar sent me a paper certifying that he had exchanged certain individuals, therein named, making part of the crew of the sir Andrew Hammond, for an equal number of the most severely wounded of my crew; this occasioned the following letters: SIR, VALPARAISO, April 4th, 1814 I have received a paper signed by you, dated yesterday, stating, that you had exchanged certain wounded prisoners, making part of my crew, for the captain and crew of the prize ship Sir Andrew Hammond, which paper I have taken the liberty to return to you, and protest in the strongest terms against such arrangement. In the first place, the wounded and helpless individuals therein named, do not wish such exchange; one died last night and several others expect to share his fate. Secondly, should I from my circumstances be separated from them, which would be more likely to be the case than if they remained prisoners, their situation would be more deplorable than it is at present. Thirdly, this arrangement has been made without my consent, and on terms far from offering equal advantages to the United States. Com. James Hillyar, commanding I have the honour to be, &c. D. PORTER. SIR, HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S SHIP PHOEBE, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day's date, protesting against the arrangement I made in the paper you returned, and to express a regret that my wish, which was to alleviate and not to increase the afflictions of your wounded officers and crew, has failed of being gratified. I am sorry you have thought proper to mention the dead and dying, as I so fully explained to you this morning, that in the event of the loss of any, other names should be added to the list. I shall now direct captain David Porter to consider himself still a prisoner of war on his parole; but as I have ordered the people to go on board the Essex to work, under the impression that no difficulty would arise, I will liberate in exchange for them an equal number of prisoners, as their names, being seamen, shall be found to follow each other on your late ship's books, and give up also two mates or midshipmen, for the two mates of the English party. I hope this may prove satisfactory to your government and self. I am yours, &c. Captain D. Porter. JAMES HILLYAR. VALPARAISO, April 5th, 1814. SIR, The arrangement which you have suggested respecting the exchange of the seamen of the Sir Andrew Hammond, for an equal number of the seamen of the late United States' frigate Essex, as they stand on the list furnished you, is perfectly satisfactory. It will be a great satisfaction to the three officers who accompany the Essex, to know, that after your object in taking them with you shall be effected, there will be no difficulty in their proceeding immediately for the United States; I take the liberty therefore to suggest that they might be exchanged here for captain William Porter and his three mates. This will be an accommodation to all parties, and reconcile the officers so exchanged to a separation from their friends. I have the honour to be, &c. Com. James Hillyar, commanding SIR, DAVID PORTER. NEW YORK, July 13th, 1814. There are some facts relating to our enemy, and although not connected with the action tend to show his perfidy, and should be known. On commodore Hillyar's arrival at Valparaiso, he ran the Phoebe close along side the Essex, and enquired politely after my health, observing that his ship was cleared for action, and his men prepared for boarding. I observed, "Sir, if you, by any accident, get on board of me, I assure you that great confusion will take place; I am prepared to receive you, but shall only act on the defensive." He observed coolly and indifferently, "Oh, sir, I have no such intention;" at this instant his ship took aback on my starboard bow, her yards nearly locking with those of the Essex. I called all hands to board the enemy; and in an instant my crew were ready to spring on her decks. Commodore Hillyar exclaimed, with great agitation, "I had no intention of coming so near you. I am sorry I came so near you." His ship fell off with the jib-boom over my decks; her bows exposed to my broadside, her stern to the fire of the Essex Junior, her crew in the greatest confusion; and in fifteen minutes I could have taken or destroyed her. After he had brought his ship to anchor, commodore Hillyar and captain Tucker, of the Cherub, visited me on shore, when I asked him if he intended to respect the neutrality of the port. "Sir," said he, "you have paid such respect to the neutrality of this port that I feel myself bound, in honour, to do the same." I have the honour to be, &c. DAVID PORTER The Secretary of the Navy. [It is deemed proper to introduce the following letters in this place, as they are the sequel of captain Porter s cruize in the Facific.-EDITOR.] SIR, NEW YORK, August 28th, 1815. I have the honour to inform you that on the 12th of December, 1813, (the day on which the Essex frigate and Essex Junior took their departure from Nooaheevah,) I was left in Port Anna Maria Bay, with eighteen men under my command, and six prisoners of war in charge of the establishment on shore, together with the prize ships Greenwich, Seringapatam, Sir Andrew Hammond, and New Zealander, with orders from captain Porter to remain five and a half calendar months at that place; at the expiration of which time, should he not return or send me further instructions how to act, I was, if possible, to man two of the ships, and after taking every article of value out of the other and burning her, repair to the port of Valparaiso, where, in the event of not finding the frigate, or additional orders, I was authorized to dispose of one of the ships to the best advantage, and take all the men under my charge, as well as the prize crews of the different ships then in that port, on board of the other, and proceed to the United States. After receiving these instructions my first object was, agreeably to captain Porter's wish, to fill the New Zealander with oil from the other ships, and on the 28th day of December, she took her departure for the United States, with a cargo of 1950 barrels, and well found in every respect for so long a voyage. It is with regret I inform you, that the frigate had scarcely got clear of the Marquesas, before we discovered a hostile disposition in the natives, and in a few days they became so insolent, that I found it absolutely necessary, not only for the security of the ships and property on shore, but for our personal safety, to land my men and regain by force of arms the numerous articles they had in the most daring manner stolen from the encampment; and what was of still greater importance, to prevent, if possible, the execution of threats, which might have been attended with very serious consequences to us, as duty required my men to be much separated. I, however, had the satisfaction to accomplish my wish without firing a musket, and from that time lived in perfect amity with them, until the 7th day of May following, when my distressed situation had nearly placed me in their power. Before, however, mentioning the lamentable events of that and the two following days, I will give you a brief account of a few preceding occurrences, which were sources of great uneasiness: The first was the death of John Witter, (a faithful old marine who was unfortunately drowned in the surf on the 28th of February,) and the desertion of four of my men; one of them, a black named Isaac Coffin, had deserted from the Essex the day before she left the bay, and was then a prisoner for making the second attempt. They took advantage of a dark night, and left the bay in a whale boat, unobserved, (all, except the prisoner, having the watch on deck), and carried off several muskets, a supply of ammunition, and many things of but little value. I was prevented from pursuing them, as they had in a measure destroyed the only remaining boat at that time seaworthy. On the 12th of April we commenced rigging the Seringapatam, and Sir Andrew Hammond, which, as I had calculated, kept the men employed until the 1st of May. All hands were then engaged in removing the remainder of the property from the Greenwich to the Seringapatam, as I began to despair of being rejoined by the frigate at that place. The work went on well, and the men were obedient to my orders, though I discovered an evident change in their countenances which led me to suppose that there was something wrong in agitation. Under that impression I caused all the muskets, ammunition, and small arms of every description, to be removed from the other ships to the Greenwich, (the one on board of which I lived,) as a necessary precaution against a surprise from my own men. On the 7th of May, while on board the Seringapatam, on duty which required my presence, I was suddenly and violently attacked by the men employed in that ship. After struggling a short time and receiving many bruizes, I was prostrated on the deck and my hands and legs tied. They then threw me on the second deck, thence dragged me into the cabin and confined me in the run. Midshipinan Feltus, and acting midshipman Clapp, were in a few minutes after thrown in, tied in the same manner as myself; the scuttle was then nailed down and a sentinel placed over it. After spiking all the guns of the Greenwich and of the Fort, and those of the Sir Andrew Hammond that were loaded; plundering the ships of every thing valuable; committing many wanton depredations on shore; taking all the arms and ammunition from the Greenwich; sending for Robert White, who was turned ashore from the Essex for mutinous conduct; and bending all the necessary sails; they stood out of the bay with a light wind off the land. My fellow prisoners and myself were shortly after taken out of the run and placed in the cabin, under the immediate charge of several men. I then learned the names of the mutineers, and assure you, sir, even in my truly painful situation, it afforded me no small degree of consolation, that there were no Americans among them. The following are the names of the mutineers and prisoners of war:-Thomas Belcher, boatswain's mate, Englishman; James Bantum, negro; Martin Stanley, foreigner; Robert George, Joseph Curtis, Richard Power, and Jeremiah Workman, Englishmen, (who entered on board the Essex from the whaling ships captured in the Pacific Ocean,) and Robert White, mutineer.— Prisoners, William Clarke, Lewis Ransford, James Morrison, William Stiles, James Duncan, and Robert Lambries. |