“In consequence of the helm being left the ship took a sheer, by which the sides of the two vessels came into contact, and the enemy, exasperated at finding himself so long disappointed of his prize by such a handful of men, and with a hope of ending the contest, took this opportunity of heaving his boarders into us. I ran to the wheel, and put the helm apart, which caused us to separate, and his people, many of whom had established themselves in the main rigging, with some on the poop, now thought of nothing but securing a retreat, which we endeavoured to cut off. We pressed them warmly—some gained their vessel, others jumped overboard to escape our pikes; and one man, who had reached the top of our boarding netting, with whom I had been personally engaged, now begged for quarter, which of course I granted. In this conflict I received a severe cutlass wound on the head from the man alluded to above, who in a state of desperation from his pistol aim having missed, hove his cutlass at me with an extraordinary violence which levelled me with the deck, from which position I prepared to fire at him when he sued for mercy and obtained it.
“Our firing again commenced, but finding the strength of the enemy much too powerful for us, and with some apprehension of defeat should he still attempt to carry us by boarding, I took the first opportunity of tearing up my private signal sheet, and hove it overboard together with my instructions, and gave the master fresh injunctions respecting the destruction of the mail in case of necessity.
“Our sails and rigging being now rendered nearly useless, and the ship unmanageable, the enemy was enabled to pursue his resolve to carry us by heaving the bulk of his crew on board, and accordingly closed with us on the larboard bow, which I found it impossible to prevent. With an anxious desire to make every practicable resistance, I was in the act of running forward to the threatened part of the ship when I was struck by a musket ball in the upper part of the right thigh, by which the bone was shattered, and which brought me once more to the deck. In this state, with a third part of my crew either killed or wounded, and those my best men, I consequently gave up all hope of further success in a contest so very unequally maintained; and waving to the master to sink the mail, felt a secret relief when I saw that object accomplished. At the same time one of the people asked me if he should haul down the ensign, to which I reluctantly assented. The crew of the Privateer had gained complete possession of the forecastle and fore-rigging, and the remainder of the ‘Morgiana’s’ men fled for shelter. Further resistance was now out of the question, for more than seventy men had gained a footing in the Packet, the two vessels lying yard-locked with each other. I was much weakened with the loss of blood, which was flowing fast from four wounds, but had strength to intimate to the first that approached me that ‘we had struck,’ but this did not appear to satisfy the fury of a few, who rushed at me with uplifted cutlasses, evidently to despatch me altogether, had it not been for the man to whom I had given quarter. He advanced to check their rage, begging them to spare my life for having given him his when I could easily have taken it, and to his timely interference I am certainly indebted for my existence.... I was now carried below to have my wounds staunched and examined, when I felt extreme grief to see so many in the same state. I requested the surgeon to give me his candid opinion of my thigh, when I was informed that he feared the wound would be of mortal consequence. I then asked to be put into my cot, and carried to the upper cabin, which was done, and from thence I exultingly surveyed the shattered state of both vessels. Scarce a sail was left to the yards, every standing or running rope either wounded or carried away, the sides and spars studded with shot, and everything a wreck; and I learned from the prize master that His Majesty’s Packet, armed with eight 9–lb. carronades, and manned with only thirty-nine persons altogether, which had only been one month in commission, had been thus contending for two hours with an enemy carrying sixteen long carriage guns (chiefly 12–pounders), a powerful train of small arms, and a crew of one hundred and thirty-six picked seamen....
“The captain of the Privateer confessed that we had fought him bravely, nay, desperately, and added (though with no idea of complimenting me) that I had fought him too long with so weak a crew.”
The Privateer was the “Saratoga” of New York, Captain Thomas Adderton. That gentleman, in his letter to the owners (published in a New York paper of October 23rd, 1813), assigned to the “Morgiana” eighteen guns, presuming perhaps on the fact that, as was probably the case, she was pierced for that number of cannon. He did not, however, attempt to conceal the desperate character of the resistance which he encountered. “The ‘Saratoga,’” says the letter, “as well as her prize were made almost wrecks—stays, shrouds, etc., almost all cut away, and more than a hundred shot-holes in our mainsail, many in our masts, spars, hull, etc.... They fought desperately, and even beyond what prudence would dictate.” From other sources it appears that eighteen were killed or wounded on the Privateer.
The “Morgiana” was conveyed to Newport, Rhode Island, where Captain Cunninghame was landed on October 19th. From a letter written by him in the following March it appears that his wounds still confined him to bed, and that his recovery was even then uncertain. He did, however, eventually recover; and was not without friends who could alleviate his sufferings; for he states that he received much kindness from a Mr. Baring, nephew of Sir Francis Baring, as well as from other persons in Newport.
In August, 1814, he was able to appear before a Court of Inquiry held at Falmouth to investigate the circumstances connected with the loss of the “Morgiana.” The court found, “That the conduct of Captain Cunninghame on this occasion was that of a most brave and experienced officer, ... and do therefore most strongly recommend him to their Lordships as highly deserving of their attention.” This recommendation was not neglected; though indeed Captain Cunninghame would have obtained a permanent appointment in the Falmouth Service even if the approval of the Court of Inquiry had been less strongly expressed. Mr. Freeling needed no prompting when it was a question of rewarding bravery, or of securing gallant officers for the service of the Department.
The “Morgiana” had three men killed and nine wounded; a heavy loss out of a crew of thirty-nine men. That loss was, however, exceeded in the next action, which indeed presents a heavier list of casualties than any other recounted in these pages. The fighting was not perhaps more desperate; but it would be an ungracious task to measure against each other the conduct of the crews of the “Townshend,” the “Morgiana,” and the “Montagu.”
This action, fought by the “Montagu” in company with the “Lady Mary Pelham,” was one attended with circumstances which roused an extraordinary degree of heated feeling not only in Falmouth, but far beyond; and which involved the Post-Office in a controversy more troublesome and difficult than any other arising out of the Packet Service within the period dealt with in this work.
The “Lady Mary Pelham” Packet was under orders to sail for Brazil, when her commander, Captain Stevens, received the news of his promotion to the Holyhead station. He was naturally anxious to take up his new appointment as soon as possible; and as the voyage on which his ship was ordered would occupy five months, he cast about for some person who would be willing to act as his substitute. The proper person to select would have been the master, Mr. Carter, an excellent officer, who served as acting first lieutenant of the “Thunderer” at Trafalgar, and had been present in nearly every important engagement of the war. A better choice could not have been made; but Mr. Carter had only recently entered the Packet Service, and Captain Stevens, seized with an unaccountable scruple, declined to entrust his property to an officer of whom he knew so little, save by repute.