Star.
London, England, 1814-08-31 00:00:00

Osamu sr it •1

' " " WASHINGTON CITY, JULY Is.
tppy OP A LPTTI*FRON CAPTAIN POLITER, TO THE
• .848111!AliT OP THE NAVY.
.•
• Fucx Junlcir,Juty 9, 1814, at Sca.
have done myself the honour to address
yoti, repeatedly, Atte I left the Delaware ; but have
scarcely a rope that One of my- letters have reached
you ; therefore, clatsider it necessary to give .you
brief history of my proceedings since that period.
44 I sailed fromthe Delaware.on the 27th of Octo.
her, 1812, and repaired, with all dilige ttc%
ably to instructions from Commodore Bainbridge) agree
Port Praya, Firnando de Noronho,.and Cape Frfo;
and arrived at each place on the day appointed to
Meet tim. On my passage from Port Praya to Ter-
*midis :de FOronhti, I captured his Britannic Ma-
' 'vet picket Nocton, and after taking out about
Pll,ooosterling in specie, sent her, under command
of Lieutenant Finch, for America. &nine& o•
'de J tseirn, and abbut Cape-Yriclo until 64
of January, 1813, hen-tin!? frequ -Catty csktipseeni
dare. by vessels from Bahia. There captUred but
one schooner, with- hides'itit tallow; I sent her into
.Rio. The Montague, the Admiral's ship, being its
,pursuit of me, my provisions n6w getting short, and
:finding it necessary to look out for a supply, to enable
Inv to meet the Crintitiodeire by the Ist of April, off
'Bt. Helena, I proceeded lathe* island oB St: Catha-
"ines, Lehilast place olvtendezirous on the coast of
'Branityais the most likely to lupply My wants, and,
at the ante time, afford me that secrecy necessary to
able me to chide the British ships of war on the
coast; and expected there. there could'procure only •
wood, ivater, and rum, and a few bast of flour • ' and
hearing 'of -the CommOdore's tuition with the Java,
the capture of the Hornet by the Montagne, and of a
considerable augmentation of the British force on the !I
rt.ist; and of several being in pursuit of me, I found it
iteeeiriafy to get to sea as soon as possible. I now,
agreeably-to the Commodore's. plan. stretched to the
touthviard, scouring the coast as 'far as Rio de la
Bata:. I beard that Buenns Ayiet was in it 'itite of
starvation, and could not supply our wants ; and that
the Government of Monteviedo was very inimical to
us. The ttiinmodore'i Instrudions now left it com-
•pletely diecretionary With me what course to pursne,
and I defeemined on following that which had not
only tun his approbation, but the approbation ,f the
thew &mull of the Navy. I accordingly shaped
my ceurse for the l'aci6C ; and after suffering greatly
from short allowance of provisions, and heavy gales
off Cape Horn, (far which my ship and men were ill
provided) I arrived at Valparaiso on the 14th of
March; 1813. I here took In as mpch jerked beef,
andother. provisions, as thy ship would conveniemly
strew, and ran down the coast of Chili and'llern
Fin this track Ufa! is with a Peruvian corsair, which
0,4 ou,.board 24;Itat, skikaniiiisriaaners,thaerews

• - two whale.ships, which ea an on the coast of
Chili. The Captain informe.t me that, as the allies
of Great Britain, they would capture all they could
' meet with, in expectation of a war between Spain and
the United States. I consequently threw all his guns
and ammeaition into the sea, liberated the Ameri.
cans, wroie respectful letter to the Viceroy, explain-
ing the cause' of 'my proceedings, which I delivered
,teler Captain. I then pteceeded for Lima, and re.
eapturtcl one of the vessels as she was entering the
anFrom.thtaCe I prticeeded for the Gallapagos
ds,Aire lernized from the 17th of April, until
able 3d of October, 1813. ; during which time I
touched' only once on the coast of AmeriCa, which
was for the purpose of procuring a supply of fresh
water, as none is to be found among those islands,
which are, perhaps, the most barren and desolate of
any known.
4f While among this group, I captured the following
British ships, employed chiefly in the sperraacettJ
whale-fishery, viz. .
-
mantas OF 11A SQL'S :
'• " Toile. Men. Guns. Pierced for
Montezuma - 279 21 2 •• •
Policy ' - 175 06 !O I 8
Glyn:lan . 250 s 5 . I s •
Greenwkk - 336 25 IS to
Attend:. 25Z 24 • $ S 0 '
Pose • ttO St" to
Hector - 270 20_ slo
Cathoide - 270 204 15
Seringapotaia - 357 14 so 11
Charlton • - 274 21 • • 50 i 8
New Zestander • 459 23 6 is
Sir A.Hanamend 301 31 12 1* ')
•••11.1=0 •••••••••• Mim••••• •
3443 362 117 ^
“ As some of those ships were captured by boats,.
, and others, brprizes, my of and Men had seee.
ral opportunities of stewing their galliatry.
" The Rose and Charlton were given up Ilia
prisoners ; the Hector, Catharine, andltnuesurna, I
sent to Valparaiso, where they were laid I'p ; the Po,
hey, Georgiana, and New Zealand, I sent for Ame-
rica ; the Greenwich I kept as a store-ship, to contaig.i
the stores of my other prizes, neeessary for us ;.and
the Atlantic, now called the Essex jUnior, I equipped•
with twenty guns, and gave command of her to Lieu-
tenant Downes. 4
" Lieutenant Downes had convoyed the prizes to
Valparaiso, and, on his return, brought me 'letters,:
informing Me, that a squadron under the Command.
of Cosucpoare James Hillyar, consisting of the fa.
gate Pi*" of 36 guns, the Racoon and Cheri*
sloops °f law, and a store ship of 00 guns, had sail
on a*heti July, for this sea. The Racoon it
Cherub bad' been seeking for me some time on the
coast of.lirapil.; and, on their retdrn from their crtii,
joined chit • '
AC. My

at so
.. .oks, her.
oldones being en tirel r drc • yed, and oink on board from
my f44/Vll pecvisinris art.i stores for upwards afoot
tutintht, and sailed 'fur the coast of Chili on 'the hall
of DectOrsher. 1313. Previotis to sailing, I secured
the fietioga pat,. ni, Greenoich, and Sir Andrew Ham-
mond, under the guns of a battery, which I erected
for their protection; (after faking pos-soation of this
fine island for the Uatied.Stater, and establishing the
most friendly intercourse with the natives), 1 left
them under the charge of Lieutenant Gamhte of The
matinesOwith 21 me:), w'th orders to repair to Val.'.
peralsoi after a Certain pcliod.
actitttived on the coast of ChM on the 12th of •
January, 1814; looted into Conception and. Valpa.
mina, fottnd at both places only three English yes.
eels, andlearned that a squadron which n sailed from
Rio de Janeiro for tbat sea, had not been heard of
Alum their departum, and were supposed to be lost
sn endeavouring to double eve Horn.
'.." I had completely broken up the British oacigation
•ftseacific I. the vessels which IsAd notlpeets-cartsce3
Ile, were laid up, and dare not'istentitre tint:- L. kid .
afforded the most aropientotestis•n•touue owroie 1 ael iik.
which were, on my arrival, very nutrition: and un:
protected. The valuable whale fishety there is ena• .
tirely destroyed; and the actual injury'we have doui -
them may be estimated at two and a half millions of
dollars, independent of the expenses of the vessels in
search of me. They have furnished me am ,ly with
sails, cordage, cables, anchors, provisions, medicines;
and stores of every description ; and the slops our •
board them have hirnished clothing for the seamen.
'We had, in fact, lived on the enemy since I Lie
been in that sea, every prize having proved a Wet,
found store ship for me. I had not yet been 'under
the necessity of drawing bills on the department for'
4117 object, and had been enabled to make consider.' .- .
able advances to my officers and crew on account of
'Pay.
, .
••• For the unexampled time we had kept the sea.'
my crew had *continued remarkably healthy; 1 had'
bat one case•of the scurvy, and had lost only the fol.' •
lowing min by:death, viz o—John S. Cowan, Lietne.
nant ; -Robert Miller, Surgeon ; Levi Holmes ant
Edward Sweeny, ordinary seamen ; Samuel Grose,t
seaman; James Spofford, gunner's-mate; Benjamin
Leers and Jan Rodgers, quarter-gunners; Andrew
Mahan, corporal of marines; and Lewis Price, pr's '
vate marine.
64 I had done all the iujnry that could be done 61
British commerce in the' Pacific, and still hoped to
signalize my cruise by something snore splendid be.
fore leaving that sea. 1 thought it not improbable,
that Commodore Hitlyar might have kept his arrival
secret, and believing he- would seek me at Valpa-
raiso, as the most likely place to find me, I therefore
determined' to cruise about that place, and should I
fail 'of rneetint him;*hoped to be compensated by the'
''.. n' of some: iner.ebaut ships. said to Issampoeted•
from England. -
a The PhceSe. agreeably to my expectations, came
to seek me at Valparaiso, where I was anchored with
the Essex, my armed prize, the Essex Junior, under
the command of Lieutanant Downes, on the look out
off the harbour; but, contrary to the course I thought
be would pursue, Commodore Hillyar brought with
him the Cherub sloop of war, mounting 28 guns,
eighteen S 2 pound carronades, el4ht. 245, and two
long 9s on' the ctarter-deck and 'forecastle, and a
complement of 180 men. The force of die Yhtehe
is as follows:—thirty long IS pounders, sixteen 32
pound eityronadea, one howitzer, and sot 3 pounders.
in then tops, in all .53 guns, and a complement of 320
men; making a force of till guns and &X) men; in'
addition to which, they took on board the crew of as
,English letter of mark lying in port. Both ship had
picked crews, tend were sent into the Pacific, in com-
pany with. the Racoon of 22 guns, and a store ship
of S 3 guns, for the express purpose ot seeking the
Essex, and were prepared widi .11 cgs bearing the
motto, 4 Goo and my Country; British Sailors' best
Rights; Traitors offend both.' 'this was intended
us a reply to my motto, ' Free Trade and Sailors'
Rights;" under • the erroneous impression that my
crew were chiefly Englishmen, or to counteract its
el ct on their own crews. The force of the E•sex
was 46-guns, forty 32 plum] c.rronades, and six long
12s; and her crew, which had been much seduced by
prigs, amounted only to '255 men. The Essex ju.
nine, which was intended chit fly •as a store ship.
mounted 20 guns, ton 18 pound carrenades, and tett
short 6s, with only 61 men on board. In reply to
their ntqttd, I wrote at my mizen, n, G.,n, our Ceuta-
ny and Liberty; 'Tyrants offend them.'
. " On getting their provisions on board, they went
off the port for the purpose ot blockading-me, where
they cruized for near six weeks ; during which time
1 endeavoured to provoke a clrallenge; and frequently,
but ineffectually,•to bring the Phcebe alone to action,
first with both my ships, and afterwards with my
single sh;ii with both crews on bosard. I was several
times under way,' and ascertaißed that I lied greatly
the advantage in point of sailing, end once succeeded
in closing within gut-shot of the *Pbtebe, and cum.
intaced a fire on her, when, she ran • down for the
Cherub, which was two miles and a half to leeward I
this excited some surprise afid expressions of indigne.
don, as previous to my gating tinder way she hove
to off the port, hoisted ber motto A ig, and tired a
gen to windward. Commodore Hillyar wooled de-
izronined to avoid a contest with me on nearly equal
Mows, and from his extreme prudence in keeping both
-hie ships ever 'after constantly within h ail ot each
other, there were no hopes of any adv.int.tge*to my
lry from a longer stay in port. I therefore Je.
termined to put to sea the first °pro:In:11 %filch
should offer; and I was the more stroni,iy induced
des*, as I had gained certain intelligence that the
!ago!, fite3 38, and two other tii7ates, had sailed
of me; and 1 li ed reason to
thiore Nth.elipTorpu. eel .
establishment on the Culemalin,
rendezvous was appointed fur the Emu logo
cirstiesit;thseyieciaanga,rri nwiovhupaerlut
feorafs sruthihtee Ili
ta
t la e°°
beennir from
sent n i
• • .. 0..

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