the enemy's sloop-of-war Persian, which was wrecked on the Silver Keys, June 29th, while in chase of this famous little privateer. BRAVE DEFENCE OF THE LETTER-OF-MARQUE SCHOONER LOTTERY, IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. The letter-of-marque schooner Lottery, of Baltimore, with 6 guns and 35 men, on the 15th of February, 1813, while at anchor in Chesapeake Bay (being outward bound), was captured by nine British barges, containing 240 men; after fighting them off for an hour and a half, it was supposed that more Englishmen were killed and wounded than the whole crew of the letter-of-marque. Captain Southcomb of the Lottery, being badly wounded, the enemy boarded the schooner, and pulled down the colors themselves. INTERESTING BATTLE BETWEEN THE PRIVATEER DOLPHIN, CAPT. Captain Stafford had been for some days cruising off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and when off Cape St. Vincent, on the 25th of January, 1813, he fell in with a large ship and a brig, and gallantly engaged them both. The combat was sustained with considerable spirit until the captain of the Hebe and eight men being wounded, they both struck their colors, and were manned for the United States. The privateer lost but four men in this gallant affair. The force of the Dolphin was ten guns and sixty men. The Hebe carried 16 guns and forty men, the brig 10 guns and 25 men; making together twenty-six guns BATTLE between the SCHOONER DOLPHIN, the British SHIP HEBE and a BRIG off Cape St Vincent on the 25th of Jan. 1813 and sixty-five men. They were both richly laden, and were very valuable prizes. The Dolphin then procceded homeward. She passed through the British squadron in the Chesapeake Bay, and arrived safe at Baltimore, on the 15th of February, after a very fortunate cruise. The captain of the British ship, smarting from his wounds, said "he did not expect to find a dd Yankee privateer in that part of the world," but was given to understand that, by-and-by, captures might be made in the Thames; at which he wondered greatly! The following is honorable to all parties concerned in it-we should be glad to see such things from the other side of the water. A CARD. "W. A. Brigham, lately captured in the British merchant ship Hebe, late under his command, by the United States privateer Dolphin, Captain W. S. Stafford, after a severe contest, begs to make public, and gratefully acknowledge the sense he has of the very kind and humane treatment he and his crew experienced on board the Dolphin, during a passage of five weeks, from the time of capture till our arrival at this port. All wearing apparel and private property were given up to the prisoners, and the wounded (eight in number), most diligently and tenderly attended. W. A. Brigham being badly wounded by a musket-shot, and much burnt, experienced a very great share of this attention from Dr. Chidester, the surgeon, which, together with the tender sympathy and goodness of Captain Stafford, added much to his recovery and happiness. Should the fortune of war ever throw Captain Stafford, or any of his crew into the hands of the British, it is sincerely hoped he will meet a similar treatment," Baltimore, Feb. 16th, 1813. 9 The writer of these pages was personally acquainted with Captain W. S. Stafford, when at Bordeaux, in the year 1814. And it is with pleasure, he adds, that he always found him a modest, unassuming, gentlemanly man; no one can, for a moment, doubt his unflinching bravery and gallant bearing, when he reflects on the many battles he has gained over the enemies of his country. To be convinced that Captain Stafford was generous, kind, and humane, the reader has only to refer to the fact of Captain W. A. Brigham's voluntary certificate, after his capture, and during the time he was a prisoner on board the Dolphin. When the writer of the following article calls to mind the spirit and acts of the Baltimoreans during our last war with England, he is inspired with a feeling of esteem and veneration for them, as a brave and patriotic people, that will endure with him to the end of his existence. During the whole struggle against an inveterate foe, they did all they could to aid and strengthen the hands of the general government, and generally took the lead in fitting out efficient privateers and letters-of-marque to annoy and distress the enemy, and even to "beard the old lion in his den," for it is well known that their privateers captured many English vessels at the very mouths of their own ports in the British channel. When their own beautiful city was attacked by a powerful fleet and army, how nobly did they defend themselves against the hand of the spoiler! The whole venom of the modern Goths seemed concentrated against the Baltimoreans, for no other reason but that they had too much spirit to submit to insult and tyrannical oppression. Many of the eastern people made a grand mistake in counting on the magnanimity of the British nation to do them justice by mild and persuasive argu |