Portland gazette and Maine advertiser., 1807-08-03
Ertyact 81 q lgrter from gentleman on board
his NaJest's ship Leopard, dated
cHEsAPEAKE BAY, IUNE ., lBO7.

h5s Majest's ship Leopard, dated
CHESAPEAKE BAY, JUNE Is, 1907.
! GIVE arrived here on the 2lst inst and
| agreeably to the orders Of the Hon. Vice
! Admiral Berkeley, lin the event of meet
ing the United States Frigate Chesapeake,
( to search her for deserterS, of whom we
| had IN ormation,) the next morning, the
signal was made from The Bellona to pro.
| coed to sea, which w did at O'Clock this
morning the Chesapeake was then passing
the Beilona, about three miles within us
We stood TO the s. 4. with the wind at
s. W. until eleven, when 1t shifted to the L.
which reta dcd the progress OF the Frgate,
being obliged to beat--we kept On a wind,
under easy sail, until she got within two
miles Of us, when she shortened sail, and
we bore down TO her, we were about - or
IL miles from the land when sufficiently
close, The captain hailed, and SAID he had
dispatches from the British Commander in
Chlet-the answer was, 3" send them on
board, shall Leave too" which be did -.
cOrdlngly-I was sent on board with the
Admlra.'s order, and letter from captain
Humphreys, saying, lie hoped to be able TO
executesthe AdmIral's order in the most am.
lcable manner and, after the Commodore
read the order and letter, he told me, his
| orders from his Cos ernMent were most pc
remptory IN nol suffering any foreigner to
muster his ships pany, but that he
would write an anSwo, to captain Hum :
Phrey'S letter, II ] would be the bearer Of it
70 hlm-aiter having answered III the athr-
mSuVe ne wrote, saying, that he had no de.
SerterS, and that his instructions prevented
ms allowing the Chesapeake to be searched.
1 X turned with tins answer, after being on
board ~ minutes. AS the Admirais order
was positive, there was no alternative but
torce-So We edged down to her, and cap.
tan Humphre S hailed, and SAID, that Com
MOORE Barron must be aware that the or
der OF the British Commander in Chief
must be obeyed, the only reply, (Which was
tllce TePeated) was that " do not uRdeE-
) and what you say"-now as we were to
the wlndward, and heard distinctly lis III.
swers, was evident he also must have
heard what captain Humphreys sald-or-
ders were then given to fire shot across
her bows from the lower deck after mi
mute another and, in two more, no satisfac-
tory answer being given, capt. Humphreys
| ordered the fire TO be opened on her, begin
ming with the forcmast gun, and in success
sion after but as tie order was not perfect
ly understood, brOadside was poured into
her Commodore Barron then hailed, when
orders were then given In cease firing, but
! as he only SAID he was going to send boat
on board, and as they were preparing 20 re-
I turn the fire, it was supposed an arti6ce 10
gam time, and orders were again given to
tre-twO broadsides more were the result,
when she struck. Two Lieutenants, WITH
several midshipmen, went then on board the
Chesapeake to search Tor deserters, and af-
ter being there three hours, returned with
tour-3 belonging to the Melampus, and one
TO the HALIFAX the latter is the fellow who
abused Lord James Townsend at MOI folk
commodore Barron wroie 70 captain Hum.
phreyS sayings hat he considered the Ches-
apeake as ms prize, and that he was ready
70 denver her up TO any person authorized
TO receive her; capt. Humphreys replied,
that a he had executed the orders Of the
Commander IN Chief, he had nothing more
to do with her ) that he must forthwith Join
the rest OF the squadron, and that he not
only lamented, most sincerely, the necessity
that compelled him to violent measures, but
that if be could render the Chesape axe any
service, he would cheerfully doit. In short,
iaS ICllAAIAE0
throughout the whole Of this unpleasant
, transaction, IN the most praise worthy man.
ner, as an officer and gentleman-he has
more humanity IN his composition than most
mankind you may then suppose his feel
lngS were none OF the most comfortable on
| this occasion. The Chesapeake returned
but few shots-they were scarcely pre-.
pared when we began, and were thrown i'll
such confusion, that the greatest part Of the
people deserted their quarters.
The number killed on board the Chcs-
apeaKe, according to their own statement
was 6--and % were wounded.
Iwenty-slx shot went through the hull.
! seven between wind and water; the sails
! were completely riddled, and I have not 4
( doubt but that In 10 minutes more she
would have gone down, the %. being %
smooth every shot told after the first broad
SIDE, which was chiefly at the rigging.
commodore Barron was slightly woun.
ded IN the leg by a splinter-he behaved in
! the coolest.way imaginable, and stood at the
/ open gang way the greater part ofthe time. .
/ II any thing can place this matter in q
stronger hight, We need only compare the
\ assurances OF Commodore Barron, with the
result " the deSerters claimed, six were
taken out ofthc figate, upon the searching
her two were killed, and one umpe over
board The gunner of his Malesty's ship
Chichester, who basely deserted his Coun.
tryS Flag, was found dead, acting in that
station, on board the American frigate, and
many others were left by Captain Hum
pnreys' because they could not be identified