Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-01-18


To which Captain Jones answered. "I Iksus
not get begun 10 fight" As we were unable
to bring gun to bear, upon the serapis,
our topsails were backed, while those of the
Scraps being filled, the ships separated
The Scraps wore short round on her heel.
and her jill boom ran into the mizzen rig
ging of the Bon Homme Richard. In this
situation the ships were made fast together
with hawser, the bowsprit cf the sersp.s
to the mizzen-mast of the Bon Homme
Richard, and the action recommended froN
the starboard side OF the two ships With
view of separating the ships, the Scraps
let 60 her anchor, which man9uvre broght
her and the stern of the Bon Homme Rich
ard to the wind, while the ships lay closely
pressed against each other. A novelty in
naval combats was now presented to many
| witnesses, but to few admirers
The hammers were run into the respec-
tive ships to enable the men TO load after
the lower ports Of the Scraps had been
blown away, to make room for running out
| their guns, and in this situation the ships
remained until between 10 and ii O'Clock,
P. NJ, when the engagement terminated by
the surrender of the Scraps.
From the commencement to the termina
ton Of the action there was not a man on
the Bon Homme Richard iguorant of the su
perierity of the Scraps, both in weight of
metal and the qualities of the crews. The
crew of that ship was picked seamen, and
the ship itself had been only few months
off the stocks; whereas, the crew Of the Bon
Homme Richard consisted of part American,
English, and Frencal, and part of Maltese,
Portuguese and Malays. These latter con-
tributed, by their want of naval skill and
knowledge of the English language, to d.
press rather than elevate a just hope of sue
cess in combat under such circumstances.
| Neither the consideration of the relative
force of the ships, the fact of the blowing
up of the gun deck above them by the burst
ing Of two of the eighteen-pounders, nor
the alarm that the ship was sinking, could
depress the ardor or change the determina-
tion Of the brave Captain JONES' his officers
and men. Neither the repeated broadsde.
of the Alliance, given with the view of sink
ing or disabling the Bon Homme Richard.
the frequent necessity of suspending the
combat to extinguish the flames, which seve-
raj times were within a few inches of the
magazine, nor the liberation by the master
alarms of nearly five hundred prisoners,
could weaken or change the purpose of the
American commander.
At the moment Of the liberation of the
prisoners, one of them, a commander of 4
twenty-gun ship taken a few days before,
passed through the ports on board the Sera-
pis, and informed Captain Pearson that if
he would hold out little while longer, the
ship alongside would either strike or sink,
and that all the prisoners had been released
to save their lives. The combat was ac-
cordingly continued with renewed arler by
the Serapis.
The fire from the tops of the Bonn Hommc
Richard was conducted with SO much skill
and effect as to destroy ultimately every
man who appeared upon the quarter deck
of the Scraps, and induced her commander
to order the survivors to 60 below. Nor
even under the shelter of the decks were
they more secure.
The powder-monkeys of the Scraps, fnl
ing no officer to receive the eighteen pound