Democratic standard. [volume] (Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio) 1837-1850, 1843-01-10
THE STRANGE COMBAT.

l. HE STR A N u T. 9 o M B A T
ltwas during the last war Of this coun.
try with Great Britain, that circumstan
ces led me to be passenger on boa,d Of
one Of our large merchantmen, in which
l had embarkedl what little property
possessed; our seas at that time were
covered with small privateers belonging
to both belligerents, who did more mis-
chief to the commerce of both nations,
than the several public armed vessels OF
either, They almost invariably eluded
the pursuit Of the large frigates and ships
Of the line, ly hauling sharp on the wind
when they discovered an enemy; and
their peculiar schooner rig, and being
expressly for sailing. would give them a
distinct advantage over their square sail .
ed enemies, in beating TO winward -
Again their lighter draft Of water, when
near the shore, would frequently enable
them to run so close in that they could
not be attacked unless in boats; and every
one who has ever read the account Of
that attack upon the privateer NeUfchat,
ell, by the boats of the Eedymion Il be-
lieve), which engagement happened near
Nantucket, will easily see how little force
it requires 10 beat off boats, or sink them
previous to boarding. Be these things as
they may, return TO my story. We had
been sailing for two days, with good
breeze, though now aud then it would
lull, and then we sagged heavily along
through fog, almost as dense as the wa~
ter that bore us.
We were not far from our port, and
our captain was willing TO croud sail night
and day, as the risk of capture was supe-
Eior TO that of shipWreck, or disaster from
u crippling Of our spars. Our ship was
Of about 400 tons, heavily laden, and not
a swift sailor. Her captain was a man of
shrewd Judgment, Of infexibIity Of pur.
pose, and rather given TO tacitUrnity.--t
He was OF slight figure, gentlemanly to
his equals, decided and prompt TO those
under him in his orders, and in exactiOn
of their ful6llment. HIS keen, dark eyes
and naval officer gait, showed kind Of
courage which one would call daring, If
they had watched his cOun,enance on
particular occasions. Yet, at other times
he seemed tObe the careful mariner,
who would reef for safety, when safety
apparently did not require it. He was
one Of those kind Of men who seemed TO
be inclined 10 bend the purposes of 9th.
eTs to his own, while they were kept in
ignora nee Of his views. | have seen
him fix his eagle eye upon a sailor, and
require Of him to look him steadily in
the face for FIVE minutes, and then dis.
miss him without comment or a reason
for so doing: bnt ! would bet my life al.
most that he had one.
After skimming through the mist for
two days, (Of which have spOken) hap.
pended to be on deck with Capt---..
/ was in conversation with him, as to the
probability OfreachiDg our port; free from
the enemy's. cruisers. He replied with
his usual brevity, ''the fog and carrying
sail alone will save us; ! am made
man If we escape; If not, am ruined"
He said this in the same tone Of voice
that he would give common orders he
looked up aud said, sternly, ssthere is a |
fog eater"-at this time the sun seemed
to nash upon our deck, and the fog rose
from the sea like the hosting of curtain
at the Theatre, e,-asmall breeze took us
aback, and before an order was given,
We saw directly under our lee, little
black looking, sharp built, tall rgged,
port bearing schooner; whose decks were
crowded with men, II know her," eiac-
ulatod our captain: the next thing, there
came ball, dancing across our bows in
imitation Of distracted porpoise. Our
captain took the helm from a sailor, and
gave orders TO lay another shot |
came within few feet Of our captains
head, and passed through the main sail,
which he seemed tOTegard as little as he |
would the tapping Of the wing Of sea
gull. But his countenance grew dark
and terFiffic--he had not gun on board.
The privateer braced sharp on the wind,
and at the second tack came within mus
ket shot: boat came on board and we |
we're ordered under the pigmy's lee, in
the style ofan admiral in the British Ma.
Wy. In the meantime the wind had fresh.