The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware advertiser., 1825-12-15
From the New York Commercial Advertiser.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH or
CoWEf I'd og3gi ;;'fr'To', ~ TT Z


CowETcsD Da,3yt ;r'snr'T3:S 7gnsEs'Fg
Captain Thomas McDonough was the SON Of
an eminent physician Of the same na,ne who re-
sided in the county Of " w,s,.u,tlc, IN the State
of Delaware. He was appointed Major in the
Revolutionary war, in 1775: but retired early
from the service. After the peace he held seve
raj responsible Offices, and died i'll 1895. lie
had several children, among whoa were three
sons The eldest, James, WAS mdshipman un-
der Commodore TruXton, when he took the In
surgent; in which action he was severely
wounded Us to be obliged to have Il leg amputat-
ed, and leave the service, After the death of
his father, thc lamcnle,l subject Of this article,
obtained midshpman's warrant, and comnensv
ed his career with many other gallant Young
men, all allcntlv desiring an opp rttnity to dis
tinguish themselves. ". accompanied oar lit
tic feet to the Mediterranean, and was frequent
" engaged IN the conflicts which tested the rel
atiyc pTowess OF Christians and Mahomct.ns, in
the 'fripoiitan war. Though at this time grave,
reserved, and c!rcuinspect in remarkable de-
gree, we arc told (by thn An:Ietic u gazine) he
was then remarkable for q daring impetuosi,y,
an invincble chvalrous sort of perseverance in
every sort of adventure
4 In 1896 hc was first Lieutenant of the Siren,
then lying in the harbor Of Gibraltar, under the
late Capt. John Smith. While here, Young NJ
Donough signa'ized hinsclfin tho absence Of The
Captain, who was on shore, bv rescrling an Amer
| ican seaman who was impressed from ono of
/ our merchantmen, living near the Siren. M'Don-
ough bearing the fact, ordered his gig TO be
manned and armed, pursued the boat of the
press gang, and rescued the seaman when a.
long side the British Frigate. the Captain
of the frigate went on board the Siren, in a
great rage. 10 demand how he dared TO take a
| man from one of his maestv's boats And he
even threatened TO haul the frgatc along side of
the Siren, and retakc the man by force.-To this
M'Donough replied, " hc supposed his ship could
sink the Siren, but as long as she could swim,
he would keen the man. The Briton was in a
great passion. and after leaving the Siren made
demonstration as though he would board the A.
| merican merchantmen, and seize the seaman; but
the prompt preparations of III Donough induced
him to reliuquish the object.
/ In the interval between the T'ripolitan war and
the late war with Great Britain, which commenc-
ed in 1912, there were no opportunities for our
4 naval commanders to signalize themselves; and
the life of M'Donoagh, like those Of his compan-
| ions in arms furnished no instance OF sufficient
public importance 10 be interesting to the read
er II was lurnm these years ofrepose, that he
settled in Mddletown, Conn, formed an acquan-
tance with Miss .haler and married her Soon
after the declaration of The of 1912, however,
a small naval force was created on Lake Cha n
plain, for the purpose Of aiorling protection to
our frontier, and facilitating our military opera
tions in that quarter The British also placed q
naval force upon the Lake, and both nations con-
tinued to augment. their forces from year to
year, until 1914, when each had four vessels of
war; the Americans had 10 ga'lies, mounting l6
; guns in all. and the British Il galles, mounting
is. The largest American ship, the Saratoga
mounted 26 guns. The Confiance, the largest
English ship, mounted Sc guns. The total mum
Der of American guns, was Sc, the total number
of English, 96. The American squadron carried
two thousand and twentv-three weight of metal,
and eight hundred and twenty men; that OF the
British, nineteen hundred anil fifty weight of
metal, and one thousand and fifty men. Lieut.
M'Donough commanded the Americans, and
Cant Downie the British.
This was the darkest period of that memora-
BILE contest. Perry, 1t IS rue, had been glorious
" victorious upon Lake Erie, and Chauncey kept