Star.
London, England, 1813-08-03 00:00:00

NORFOLK, MAY ie.

On Saturday last, four British sailors were taken
up by the patrole guard at the bay-side, and brought
to town. They give the following account of them-
selves: that they belonged to the Marlborough, 74,
(Cockburn's ship) ; that they had been put on board
the late American letter of marque schooner Lynx,
captured in the Rappahannock ; that the Lieutenant
who commanded the Lynx ordered them, the even-
ing before, to man the boat, and put him on board
the Arab, another of the vessels captured in the Rap-
pahannock, which lay about half a mile higher up ;
after which, he ordered them to return to the Lynx.
In rowing back, the wind setting in shore, and a
heavy swell running, they drifted, in spite, of every.
exertion, towards the shore ; and finally, after ex.
hausting themselves, without being able to bring op
even their lee-way, they all 'resolved, without a mo-
ment's previous consideration, that they would de-
sert, and accordingly they put about and rowed for
the shore. They left the • boat. on the beach, aad
straggled up. the country a little way, when they
were takeu by the guards. What is uncommon. in
the desertion of these men, three of them are Scotch-
men, and the fourth an Englishman—not a solitary
son of St. Patrick !—The,/ also state, that the vessels.
have come down the bay, except the Statira frigate
and the Dolphin privateer ; that they heard their of-
ficers say, that it was Admiral Warren's intentiln to
sail for Bermuda with the first fair wind, and that
all the shipping in the lower bay would shortly go to
sea, except the Marlborough, the Junon frigate, and
the Racer, (captured schooner,) which would remain
under the command of Cockburn. One of the Scotch-
men says, he was in the expedition against Havre de
Grace, and that Cockburn led on the forces in per-
son. The fortress of Mobile surrendered on the 15th
of April to a detachment of the United States army,
under the immediate command of Major-General
Harrison. The fortress is within the limits of the
purchase of Louisiana, made by the United States,
And has been rttained, under various pretences, from
that period to the present time. This Expedition,
which has been conducted with the skill of a soldier,
and with the success which always follows enter-
prizcs governed by genius and experience, has been
completed by able dispositions, without the loss of a
single life. We have been promised by a subaltern
officer in the expedition a statement of the particu-
lars, which we expect by the next mail from Mob:le.
Our troops made their landing on the 1 clah April,
and the'first intimation which the Spanish garrison
had of their approach was'the music of 44 Hail, Co-
lumbia !" by a full hand, and followed by a summons
to the Commandant to evacuate 0:2 place, as a p.m
of the United States territory. The scaling ladders
were prepared ready for an assault, by escalade, and
the armed flotilla presented itself at the. same mo-
ment in front of the fortress. The effect of the sur-
prize carried itself into the negociation, and the Spa-
nish garrison was embarked for Pensacola. The ar-
tillery in the garrison amounted to fifty-seven pieets,
of various calibre, and five brass mortars and howit-
zers for battery and field, and a considerable stock
of ammunition..