On the 22d of June, the Chesapeake weighed anchor, and proceeded to sea. She passed the British ships Bellona and Melampus, lying in Lynnhaven bay. There were two ships lying off Cape Henry, one of which, the Leopard, Captain Humphreys, weighed anchor, and, in a few hours, came alongside the Chesapeake.
A British officer immediately came on board, and demanded the deserters. To this, Captain Barron replied, that he did not know of any being there, and that his duty forbade him to allow of any muster of his crew, except by their own officers.
During this interview, Barron, noticing some proceedings of a hostile nature on board the adverse ship, gave orders, on the departure of the officer, to clear his gun-deck, and, after some time, directed his men to their quarters secretly, and without beat of drum; still, however, without any serious apprehensions of an attack.
Before these orders could be executed, the Leopard commenced a heavy fire, which proved very destructive. In thirty minutes, the hull, rigging, and spars of the Chesapeake were greatly damaged; three men were killed and sixteen wounded; among the latter, was the captain himself. Such was the previous disorder, that, during this time, the utmost exertions were insufficient to prepare the ship for action, and the captain thought proper to strike his colors.
The British captain refused to accept the surrender of the Chesapeake, but took from her crew Ware, Martin, and Strachan, the three men formerly demanded as deserters, and a fourth, John Wilson, claimed as a runaway from a merchant ship.
"On receiving information of this outrage, the president, by proclamation, interdicted the harbors and waters of the United States to all armed British vessels, forbade intercourse with them, and ordered a sufficient force for the protection of Norfolk, and such other preparations as the occasion appeared to require. An armed vessel of the United States was dispatched, with instructions to the American minister at London, to call on the British government for the satisfaction and security which the outrage required."
Pursuant to these instructions, Mr. Monroe, then minister resident at the court of St. James, demanded reparation; and, as an essential part of that reparation, security against future impressments from American ships. But Mr. Canning, the British minister, objected to uniting these subjects, and Mr. Monroe not being authorized to treat them separately, Mr. Rose was dispatched, by the English government, as envoy extraordinary to the United States, to adjust the difficulty which had arisen on account of the Chesapeake.[70]
Orders in Council.—In November, Great Britain issued her orders in council, which measure she declared to be in retaliation of the French decree of November, 1806. By these orders, all neutral nations were prohibited from trading with France or her allies, excepting upon the payment of a tribute to England.
Milan Decree.—Scarcely had the news of the adoption of the above orders reached Milan, where Buonaparte then was, than he issued, December 17th, a retaliatory decree, called the "Milan Decree," which confiscated any and every vessel found in any of his ports, which had allowed herself to be searched by an English ship, or had paid the tribute demanded.