Captain John Crane, 1800-1815

by Thomas Wallace Knox

Then we had a general conversation on various topics, the steward serving us with refreshments while our talk was going on. Altogether, I was made to forget, in some degree, the misfortune that had overtaken me; and I certainly congratulated myself that, if fate had decreed that I was to be captured, she had allowed me to fall into the hands where I found myself.

I gave my parole that I would make no attempt to escape, or countenance any insurrection on the part of the prisoners; and after remaining below for half an hour or so, went on deck with Captain Woods.

We were lying not more than a hundred yards from the Marguerite, and tears came into my eyes as I saw what a hopeless wreck had been made of her, and how the water had risen so far up her sides that her sinking would not be long delayed. Haines was still on board with ten or twelve men of our crew, and they were helping the British sailors to remove barrels and boxes of provisions, and casks of water, from the schooner to the barque. I should have stated that our captor was a barque, mounting fourteen guns, and having a crew proportionately large. She was disguised as a merchantman, and no one looking at her would suspect that she was as dangerous as she proved to be on close acquaintance.

"All's fair in love and war," says the old adage; and I have no reason to complain of the deception that was practised upon me. Tricks of this sort are heard of in all wars; and I bear in mind that I had not been averse to deceptions in several instances, and successful ones too.

Two hours from the time we struck our flag, the decks of the Marguerite were almost awash, and the danger was imminent that the schooner would go down and carry with her some of the men who were still on board. So the order was given to abandon the vessel, and very quickly it was obeyed. Five minutes after the last of the boats left her side, she disappeared below the waves, and went to rest in the bosom of the Atlantic.

It was a sad sight for me and my men to gaze upon; but, after all, I had much rather have it so than see the Marguerite brought as a prize into a British port. I know that the same feelings animated my men; and so the cloud that settled upon us was not altogether without its silver lining.

When the privateer was gone from view, the Reindeer filled away in the direction of England. At a suggestion from Captain Woods, I called my men together and told them that by giving their honorable promise not to enter into any conspiracy against their captors, they could have certain privileges not usually accorded to prisoners on shipboard. They would be divided into watches, and each watch would have the privilege of the deck alternately for four hours every day, under the supervision of their first and second mates. The sailors readily entered into the agreement, and promised to keep to it faithfully. Most of them got on good terms with the British sailors, while some remained sullen, and refused to be friendly with those who had captured them. Some of the victors were inclined to bully the captives; but the bullying was stopped by the orders of Captain Woods, though not until one of the offenders had been triced up and flogged, by way of a hint to the rest as well as to himself.

Eleven days after our capture we passed Land's End, the most southerly point of England, and on the next day we reached Plymouth Sound, where we cast anchor.

Plymouth is an important port and naval station of England; it has been fortified since the fourteenth century, and has an interesting connection with many events of the world's history. It was from Plymouth that Hawkins, Cook, Drake, and other famous navigators sailed on many of their expeditions; it was from here that the fleet of Lord Howard of Effingham went out to meet the Spanish Armada, in 1588, and it was from the same port that the Pilgrim Fathers of New England sailed in the Mayflower, in 1620, to establish on the other side of the Atlantic a town of the same name.

Captain Woods called my attention to the Hoe, which is a high promenade overlooking the town and the Sound, and is said to be the spot where Sir Francis Drake was interrupted at a game of bowls by the news that the Spanish Armada was near the coast. The others wanted to hurry on board ship at once; but Drake said, "We've time to play the game out and beat the Spaniards too." They finished the game, and the Spanish Armada was destroyed in due time.