Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1852-02-18
aor,noramcnt of. n F5rt by the U. $,
sloop OF Wur Dale.

The following leJter from INC Vapraln
of the barque Dolphin, Of Warren, r. IL
narrates the particulars of this affair,
:. JoHANNA, Aug 9th, 1881,
Mr.. Randall Sir 81 take the
liberty to write you the particulars Of the +
bombardment Of the Fort at johanna
On the 9Th of August the U, S. sloop of
war Dale, Commander Pearson, arrived
here, and Immediately demanded redress
of the King for the unjust imprisonment
of Captain Moores, of the barque Maria.
of New Bedford, who was imprisoned
here in August, 1880, Captain. Pearson,
after making all inquiries, of both the
English squadron on this station and the
masters OF American ships in the harbor,
and also of the English residents here, be-
ing convinced Of the fragrant iniustice
done to- Captain Moores and othe.s at this
Island, Immediately demanded of the king
$4,000, and demanded an immediate
answer. After waiting all night and re-
ceiving no answer, he dispatched anoth-
er letter, informing the king, that if he
did not give him an answer at or before
10 o'clock, he should commence hostili-
ties, The king replied to the last note,
bullocks and trinkets Captain p. refu-
sed this, and got his ship under weigh,
and moored her off the town, one hun
dred yards from the beach, with his
broadside to the town, The king then
sent off and offered to pay $4,000, if he
could get it in any way-would give trim
kets, cattle and cotton cloth to make up
the amount Captain Pearson then gave
the king twenty-four hours more to con-
slider it, at the same time telling him not
to make any warlike demonstration in the
mean time, if he did he should consider
it as q breach Of faith, and should COM
mence hostilities. He also notified the
king that if he did not come to some de-
finite terms to send the women and chill
dren out Of the place by noon, the next
day, as he should then commence firing
upon them.
At daylight, the 9th, there were a
large number of troops paraded on the
shore, and they sent word to Captain
Pearson that he might do what he could
they would not pay anything. At 8
A.. NJ, the Dale commenced firing at the
fort. After five shots they set white
flag. Capt. p. Immediately ceased firing,
and sent Lieut.: Fairfax with flag of
truce, to inquire what the white flag was
set for, and if they were ready to treat
with him, They answered that they
wished the firing TO cease, and said they
could not meet tho demand, They were
told to haul down the flag of truce, but
they refused to do so. Captain p. on
learning their answer, sent another mes
sage to them informing them that if they
did not haul down the flag he should
commence firing again with it up, After
waiting proper length of time, Captain
p again commenced firing at the fort,
and block house at the corner of the town,
but strictly avoiding to fire into the town,
After nineteen shots and shells, they set
signal on the beach, and Lieut., Parker
was sent with a flag of truce
At this time the King offered to pay
$1,000 down, give bond for $4,000, and
surrender the town; said he was very
sorry that he had done wrong, and faith
fully promised not to do so in future
He would give up his houses, his slaves,
his cattle, but that he could not give but
81 900 in money and 80 head of cattle
shed. accepted this offer on condition that
tHe Mug SHOulu Ildhe q treaty WIFI INC
American government, placing Ameri-
cans on equal footing with the most ia
vored nations.
Ats A, NJ, on the 7th, Captain Pear
son hauled his ship from the town, and
everything has gone on quiet since, so
far. This chastisement l beg leave to
say was required, in order that Amcri-
cans might be treated with common
honesty 1t would be great benefit to
the interests Of the whaling fleet in the
Indian ocean to have ship of war to
protect us. The king makes nothing of
imprisoning us, when he thinks proper,
without law or gospel; and we can on
ly appeal to our Government, which has,
am proud to say, promptly and etfectu
ally rodressed the outrage upon Captain
Moores.
You can make such use Of this commu-
nication as you think proper. The state
monts are true, was an eye witness to
the whole proceedings,
Yours, &C., CHARLES r, CUTLER,
Master bark Dolphin.