Captain John Crane, 1800-1815

by Thomas Wallace Knox

"One of the men was said to be a native of the eastern shore of Maryland, a part of the country that Captain Gordon came from. He made a careful investigation, the captain did, and was satisfied with the truth of the man's story. Another of the alleged deserters was a colored man, and there was hardly any chance to doubt the truth of his assertion, that he was a native born American, and a victim of the British system of impressment.

"The story of the third sailor was not entirely clear, but it was pretty well established, and Captain Gordon made his report accordingly. It went through the customary channels, and was afterwards sent to the British minister, who appears to have been satisfied, as nothing more was said on the subject. The story had circulated around on the ship, but had been pretty well forgotten when we sailed for the Mediterranean.

"When we went out to sea we encountered a British fleet of four ships that had been lying around there for several months, watching some French frigates which had taken shelter near Annapolis. One of them was the Melampus, from which the three seamen already mentioned had deserted; another was the Bellona, seventy-four guns; and another was the Leopard, fifty guns. The Leopard really carried fifty-six guns, which made her a much more powerful craft than the Chesapeake.

"When we hove anchor and put to sea, the Leopard did the same thing; and as she was several miles farther down the bay, she was a good distance ahead of us when we got into open water.

"We got off Cape Henry a little after noon, and as we passed the cape we saw the Leopard a few miles to windward, heading off to sea with a very light wind. A good breeze came up in a little while, and both the Leopard and the Chesapeake got it and held directly off the land. When the Chesapeake tacked, the Leopard did likewise, but nobody thought there was anything unusual or suspicious in the movements of the British beggar. Sailors who had been around Hampton Roads a good deal said that the British cruisers were in the habit of standing out that way, just to keep themselves in practice.

"I think it was about three o'clock, when both ships were about eight miles from land. The Chesapeake tacked to windward again, and the Leopard wore around and came down upon our weather quarter; when she was within a hundred yards of us she hailed and told Commodore Barron that she had dispatches for him. There was nothing suspicious in this, as it was a common thing for the British officers to put dispatches on board any of the American war-ships bound for Europe. Both vessels hove to, and a boat from the Leopard came alongside the Chesapeake.

"When the officer from the Leopard reached the Chesapeake's deck," Haines continued, "he was shown into the cabin, where Commodore Barron received him. Then the English lieutenant produced an order, signed by Vice-Admiral Berkley, and addressed to all the captains on ships under his command, directing them, if they fell in with the Chesapeake at sea and out of the waters of the United States, to show her commander this order to search for deserters, and proceed to search for them. At the same time he presented a note from the commander of the Leopard addressed to the commander of the Chesapeake, referring to the order of the vice-admiral, and hoping that every question about the deserters might be adjusted in a manner that the harmony between the two countries should remain undisturbed."

"That was an impertinent piece of business," I remarked; "What did Commodore Barron say in answer to the demand?"

"He said he knew of no such deserters as described, and that the recruiting officers had been particularly instructed by the government not to accept any deserters from the English ships."