Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1819-11-12

II
] IN the dark. and finding her 10 be gun
boat, passed under her lee. and she
struck without firing gun. The Ensign
who commanded her, ANA tweoty prison
ers, soldiers and mariners, were scut on
board ihe Oliigglns, and the gun boat
| carrying one Sl FOUNDER and = swivcls,
Was manned with an officer and twelve
of our men. Being informed by the
| report of The prisoners that the cannonade
during the morning was no other than
salute 10 the vice King, who had been al
| Callao 10 review the naval forces and
inspect The forllCalions, and even that
he was returning on board the Maipu
| (sEe had been actually observed by the
San Martin, which could not let her of,
IA she Was too far TO the leeward,)
thought II convenient 10 proceed for
ward, expecting in the fog, 10 fall in
| with some other vessel or gun beat
| The Laularo followed me at a little dis.
tance, and the horizon being cleared up
we found ourselves i'm sight of the ships
| aud batteries of Callao.
| III" enemy had bad information since
The Goth ut some vessels Raging appeared
| oil the coast the san Martin and the
| Chacabuca had been observed in the
! morning. The Beacon of the Island had
also Just fired Two alarm guns, and ulli-
ma'ely the OHiggins aud the Lauisro
we're heayiUg Ia sight. Ii was now nsces
| Sary To make my appearance with The
| dignity due 10 the honor Of INV flag, and
! Ia teach The enemy that how ever great
were their Preparations, the Patriotic
| army well knew how TO maintain the
| contest.
| On the other hand, was Of opinion,
| that although my FIRST plan could moi be
executed, on account of the unforeseen
| acciien's had Eet with, yet this was
| propiiious moment TO reconnoitre the
| strength of the enemy and 10 ascertain
the capacity of the Patriots whom
commanded, as they never had been in
any naval engagement. Untyr his i'm
preston, aud fully persuaded that there
was 40 linmInent danger, | tackled ship
| 10 reach above The line occupied By the
enemy. This was in the form OF ores
cent, and composed of slips of war as
per the annexed list, and upwards of 20
! gun boats and barges. Behind these,
| was second line covering The spaces OF
! The first, and composed of other armed
vessels, and in the rear great number o f
| Spanish merchantmen staining III a
group. The foreign vessels were Il aachsr
ON the right OF the enemy's line.
As got close to The Cape Of tie ISL
! and, made signal to the San Martin tn
stand Tor the land, presuning that nv
direction and the opening Of the fire
would point ont the way and teach them
their duty. The Lautaro being nearer,
followed Immediately the OHiggins close
10 the enemy when ordered her TO go
about and fall upon the EsmeraIda, which
seemed 10 support The right of the line
In The mean time | contrived to embar-
rass the enemy by avaIling myself of the
cloak OF neutrality, with which few
wee KS past, the Sloop of War Ontario
anchored III Valparaiso, had covered The
N'phew aud the Vice King of Peru, but
from The warm reception given by The
forts and the ships of war of the state of
Chi! 10 neutral vessel, Notwithstanding
she was NOT employed TO that effect,
observed that the conduct Of the Vice
King OF reru was not TO be ruled by poll
cy. The O'Eiggins and Lantaro were
but badly fired at till 4 o'clock in the
afternoon, when the Esmetalda opened
her fire, which was followed in confusion
by ali The enemy's line, and continued
by the batteries. II is with sorrow that
have 10 inform you that Capt Guise of
the LauIaro was severely wounded by
ranhom shot, which has deprived me of
lie services of that valuable officer, aud
besides lie cooperation | expected from
The LaA'aro. Having then taken my
station hoisied the cOiors Of Chill, anu
came 10 an anchor. The O'tliggins o.
penrd her batteries, and as the other ships
could noi come nearer The division, this
irigaie sustained, alone, all the cneaya
fire. Undoubtedly it would have been
The height of rasbness lo maintain this
contest even for quarter of an hour, if
thedexlerity Of the enemy had correspond
ed TO his preparation and TO the number
OF upwards of 800 pieces of cannon play
ing al the same time; but fortunately,
could al every minute, persuade myself
that there was no serious risk so that in
this engagement, which lasted two hours,
tie irigaie received but one shot, which
went through her hull and did not injure
her, and among our men, We had mid
slipmam lightly wounded in ilIe head and
clerk OF The ship bruised.
Al six III the evening, having accom-
pIshed my object, and thick fog coming
on, quietly stood out to join the other
ships, which | met abreast of the cape of
The Island, with the exception of the
Chacsbuca, and ordered 10 come To an
anchor inside, well satisfied that neither
the whole OF the enemy's line nor any of
Their Ships, would presume 10 attack us.
The loss OF The enemy must have been
considerable. By The reports received this
morning. great number ofwounded have
been landed from the ships, and il lis with
regret add that some persons have been
killed on shore; this really was against
my Intentions, and is 10 be attributed TO
the unavoidable excess in firing too high.
had fiatiered myself that tie Ships
company OF ihd O'Higgins would homo.
rabIy stand at headquarters as the sons
Of free country but il is now IN my
power 10 state, with a heartfelt sai,Gac
Ila.lN