The Hornet's victory cannot be regarded in any other light than as due, not to the heavier metal, but to the far more accurate firing of the Americans; "had the guns of the Peacock been of the largest size they could not have changed the result, as the weight of shot that do not hit is of no great moment." Any merchant-ship might have been as well handled and bravely defended as she was; and an ordinary letter-of-marque would have made as creditable a defence.
During the entire combat the Espiégle was not more than 4 miles distant and was plainly visible from the Hornet; but for some reason she did not come out, and her commander reported that he knew nothing of the action till the next day. Captain Lawrence of course was not aware of this, and made such exertions to bend on new sails, stow his boats, and clear his decks that by nine o'clock he was again prepared for action, [Footnote: Letter of Captain Lawrence.] and at 2 P.M. got underway for the N.W. Being now overcrowded with people and short of water he stood for home, anchoring at Holmes' Hole in Martha's Vineyard on the 19th of March.
On their arrival at New York the officers of the Peacock published a card expressing in the warmest terms their appreciation of the way they and their men had been treated. Say they: "We ceased to consider ourselves prisoners; and every thing that friendship could dictate was adopted by you and the officers of the Hornet to remedy the inconvenience we would otherwise have experienced from the unavoidable loss of the whole of our property and clothes owing to the sudden sinking of the Peacock." [Footnote: Quoted in full in "Niles' Register" and Lossing's "Field Book.">[ This was signed by the first and second lieutenants, the master, surgeon and purser.
[Illustration of Peacock and Hornet action from 5.10 to 5.35.]
Weight
Tonnage. Guns. Metal. Men. Loss.
Hornet 480 10 279 135 3
Peacock 477 10 210 122 38
Relative Relative Loss
Force. Inflicted.
Hornet 1.00 1.00
Peacock .83 .08
That is, the forces standing nearly as 13 is to 11, the relative execution was about as 13 is to 1.
The day after the capture Captain Lawrence reported 277 souls aboard, including the crew of the English brig Resolution which he had taken, and of the American brig Hunter, prize to the Peacock. As James, very ingeniously, tortures these figures into meaning what they did not, it may be well to show exactly what the 277 included. Of the Hornet's original crew of 150, 8 were absent in a prize, 1 killed, and 3 drowned, leaving (including 7 sick) 138; of the Peacock's original 134, 4 were absent in a prize, 5 killed, 9 drowned, and 4 escaped, leaving (including 8 sick and 3 mortally wounded) 112; there were also aboard 16 other British prisoners, and the Hunter's crew of 11 men—making just 277. [Footnote: The 277 men were thus divided into: Hornet's crew, 138; Peacock's crew, 112; Resolution's crew, 16; Hunter's crew, 11. James quotes "270" men, which he divides as follows: Hornet 160, Peacock 101, Hunter 9,—leaving out the Resolution's crew, 11 of the Peacock's, and 2 of the Hunter's.] According to Lieutenant Connor's letter, written in response to one from Lieutenant Wright, there were in reality 139 in the Peacock's crew when she began action; but it is, of course, best to take each commander's account of the number of men on board his ship that were fit for duty.
On Jan. 17th the Viper, 12, Lieutenant J. D. Henly was captured by the British frigate Narcissus, 32, Captain Lumly.
On Feb. 8th, while a British squadron, consisting of the four frigates Belvidera (Captain Richard Byron), Maidstone, Junon, and Statira, were at anchor in Lynhaven Bay, a schooner was observed in the northeast standing down Chesapeake Bay. [Footnote: James, vi, 325.] This was the Lottery, letter-of-marque, of six 12-pounder carronades and 25 men, Captain John Southcomb, bound from Baltimore to Bombay. Nine boats, with 200 men, under the command of Lieutenant Kelly Nazer were sent against her, and, a calm coming on, overtook her. The schooner opened a well-directed fire of round and grape, but the boats rushed forward and boarded her, not carrying her till after a most obstinate struggle, in which Captain Southcomb and 19 of his men, together with 13 of the assailants, were killed or wounded. The best war ship of a regular navy might be proud of the discipline and courage displayed by the captain and crew of the little Lottery. Captain Byron on this, as well as on many another occasion, showed himself to be as humane as he was brave and skilful. Captain Southcomb, mortally wounded, was taken on board Byron's frigate, where he was treated with the greatest attention and most delicate courtesy, and when he died his body was sent ashore with every mark of the respect due to so brave an officer. Captain Stewart (of the Constellation) wrote Captain Byron a letter of acknowledgment for his great courtesy and kindness. [Footnote: The correspondence between the two captains is given in full in "Niles' Register," which also contains fragmentary notes on the action, principally as to the loss incurred.]