Are you John Crane, captain of the late privateer, Marguerite?" Page 294.
"We didn't go back to Baltimore," said Johnson, "but put into Newport when the forty-five days were up. We stayed there about ten days, refitting and recruiting our crew, and then started out again. Two days out from Newport we were chased by three British men-of-war all at once; but our sailing qualities came into play and we got away from all of them. A day or two later we were chased by an English frigate for six hours, but left her behind us at last. We captured a British armed packet, the Princess Amelia, and had a very savage fight with her for almost an hour at pistol-shot distance all the time. Mr. Long, our first lieutenant, was severely wounded, and six of the crew were injured, but not very badly. The Princess Amelia lost her captain, sailing-master, and one sailor, killed, and the master's mate and six seamen were wounded.
"Commodore Barney had just secured this prize and started her for port, when we fell in, on the same day, with three ships and an armed brig. The brig was convoying the ships; and we had a little brush with her, in which she gave us an eighteen-pound shot through our quarter. We stuck to those vessels for four days, in hopes of their separating so that we could jump on one of them and capture it; but they hung together, and we gave up the game. The next day we fell in with the privateer Globe, and the two of us started off together to hunt for the three ships, but couldn't find them. Then we separated, and within a week after we did so the Rossie captured two fine prizes, sent them into port, and followed them. Altogether, on those two cruises, we captured thirty-seven hundred tons of shipping, valued at a million and a half of dollars, and two hundred and seventeen prisoners.
"Another very successful privateer that went from Baltimore," continued Johnson, "was the Highflyer, commanded by Captain Gavit. She was armed with eight guns and carried about one hundred men. Her first prize was a British schooner in ballast, but with eight thousand dollars in specie.
"The Highflyer's next encounter was with a fleet of Jamaica merchantmen convoyed by a British frigate. The frigate chased the Highflyer, but was outsailed. The chase caused the convoy to be somewhat scattered. Captain Gavit watched his chance, and cut out the Diana, one of the fleet, which had a valuable cargo of rum, sugar, and coffee. Gavit took out her crew and sent her as a prize to the United States.
"The next day the Highflyer fell in with and engaged two British vessels at half gun-shot distance, one of them the Jamaica, seven guns and twenty-one men, and the other the Mary Ann, twelve guns and eighteen men. There was too much wind blowing to make it safe to attempt boarding, and so the Highflyer hauled off and waited till the wind moderated. The next day she jumped at them again, and, after a sharp fight with cannon and musket, boarded the Jamaica and captured her, and then went for the Mary Ann, which lowered her flag without any further fighting. Both of them had rich cargoes, and were first-class prizes. They were sent into port, where they arrived safely."
When Johnson paused in his story of the performance of the Highflyer, Captain Percival said that one of the most successful privateers in the early part of the war was the John, of Salem, which captured eleven vessels in a cruise of three weeks; and another was the Paul Jones, which captured in a month's time near the island of Porto Rico fourteen vessels, some of them of considerable value. The best of all of them was the British ship Hassan, fourteen guns and twenty men, sailing from Gibraltar to Havana, with wines and dry goods, valued at two hundred thousand pounds.
Mr. Johnson asked if any of us had ever known Captain Shaler, of the schooner Governor Tompkins, of New York.
Two or three of us had met him, but none could claim acquaintance. I remembered having been introduced to him one day, and he impressed me as one of the most dashing, brave fellows that ever trod a ship's deck.
"The Tompkins was built especially for the business," said Johnson; "she had fourteen carronades and one Long Tom, and carried a crew of about one hundred and fifty men. One of Captain Shaler's first experiences in the Tompkins was to find three British vessels together, all looking like merchantmen. One was larger than the rest, and Shaler supposed she was a transport until he got within a quarter of a mile of her; then he found that she was a frigate that had been got up so as to deceive the closest observer. He opened fire on her, and then her ports flew open, and he received a response that nearly took his breath away. His only hope was to get away, and he left the spot as rapidly as he could. His schooner was a splendid sailer, and so he managed to get out of his trouble. He got out all his sweeps, threw overboard all the lumber on his decks and about two thousand pounds of shot, and in this way managed to escape.