The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-05-15
DAILY PRESS.
PORTLAND
MONDAY, MAY Is, 1871.
THE HYDRR ALI,

| HioNDA1, MAI 10, 1911.
he Frivnieers OF the War of 1872
THE HYDRR ALI.
ine warlike names of the Maharaiahs of
!''ie' VINO gave the English so much troub.
III 'i,elr wars of conquest in India toy,rds
'.I Gnu o' tue last century, seem to have f,r-
hisheu 'aVorlte names for Yankee p,i,.,a..
MY last was description of the .rinnoa
Sab" named for that noted chief ,,Ln r.
slain in the battle of Serringapatam in Zoo
where the English were victorious under tho
Marquis of Wellesley, afterward Duke of Wei.
linetoL. now give you sketch of the shin.
"Hyder Ali, named for the father of Tippoo
who with his son bravely defended the Nv
sore country for several years against Eng.
lish invasion.
This ship was built in Portland bv Samuel
Fickett at his yard near the foot of Park
street. She was sharp forward and modelled
ior speed, an indispensable quality at that
Time. Her tonnage was about 42O. She was
not intended especially for a priyateer. but
was oullt for sale. Sturgis OF the firm of Brv-
an' oturgis, merchants of Boston, being in
L
rortiand on other business. was inv;tod -
look at her on the stocks and to buv bor h,,u
at $40 per ton. After examination s,rro;a
told Fickett that if he would rig her into a
ship they would take her at $40 per ton. and
as flckett could get no other offer he closed
the bargain, which was a ruinous sale as the
| rigging cost about as much as the hull. am
thus particular to show the state of the trade
In ships at that time. She was immediately
launched and rigged, Her purchasers then
bought the battery of the English brig "Box-
er, captured and brought into Portland bv
the American brig Enterprise" in September
1913, alter hard fought battle in which both
| commanders were killed.
I'VE had Enterprisnp brio
| Ihat beat their Boxer out
| Inc Boxer had been bought at auction nv
| william and Thomas Merrill of Portland for
a merchantmen, and was EMPLOYED as sncb
Tor several years by them. With her ouns
the Hyder Ali was armed, carrying twelve
eiShteen-pound carronades, two long ejgh-
teens ana two long mines. Her captain was
Israel Thorndike of Beverly; first lieutenant
Henry Oxnard of Portland; second Iieuten-
ant, - Perry of Salem; third lieutenant.
ant, Noah Edgecomb, rigger of Portland
mere were several other Portland men on
Doafd, among them Alexander Paine. son of
Jonathan Paine, an old Portland shpmaster:
aaron Jordan and John Reynar. also of
iortiand, your venerable fellow citizen. Isaac
| Fickett, then twenty-one years old, who had
learned The trade of caulker and shipped on
board OF her in that capacity with other dutv
ohe sailed from Portland in January, 1914,
ior tne Indian ocean. When near the Cane
oil Good Hope she was chased all day by a
sloop OF war belonging to the East India
Company, but got clear OF her in the night.
Soon alter getting round the Cape she took
an East lndiaman in the latitude of the Isle of
France, put prize crew on board and sent
her home, but she was taken by the English
| prlvateer "Tom" off Cape Elizabeth. The
Hyder Ali then ran for coast of Sumatro.
iell IN with and captured two English ships
loaded with pepper in bnlk, put prize crews
on board, First Lieut.. Oxnard taking charge
OF one and Second Lieut.. Perry the other.
| Oxnard made the coast off Castine and ran
in. After he had sailed from Portland Cas-
tine had been taken by the enemy which he
knew nothing of. As soon as he had anchor
ed several armed boats came off to take pos-
session OF his ship, when he perceived by
their flags the trap he had got into and Or
dered the boats lowered and hurried all his
valuables into mattress, including rich
camePs hair shawl for his sister, threw the
| mattress n nd
it and all hands pulled for the shore, aban-
doning the ship and valuable cargo of pepper
to the enemy who fired on his boats, wousd-
ing his leg but not disabling him. He, with
his crew, escaped 10 the woods and GOT TO
Portland by land.
After the 1st and End Leutenants left the
"iiyder Air the captain seems to have fallen
into the practice which has given priyateers
a bad name,-that is, using flag TO suit all
occasions. He was hard master and ruled
the ships company with a rod of iron. In
the Indian Ocean he overhauled two Chinese
junks loaded with betel nuts, silks, table
ware and other China goods bound TO Penang
which he called British property and took it
on board, giving the junks his ballast.
He next fell in with an English sixty-four
gun ship. Both lay nearly becalmed twe.ye
hours, the English ship firing her bow guns
and the Ali firing her stern guns, holding the
recoil with the breechnes to give the ship
head way, A squall coming on the privateer
escaped. Soon after, lie discovered one morn
ing an English frigate, both ships lay becalm-
ed several hours looking at each other, but
the frigate caught breeze first and came
down within gunshot and captured the "Hy-
der ALL" The frigate provedi to be the
t "Owen Glendower" land no doubt Capt.
Thorndike wished her where "Prince John
OF Lancaster" wished her Shakesperian name
sake. On making sail in company, Capt
Pickett found that the privaleer could sal.
round the frigate with the same breeze
which was not pleasing discovery after
being captured by her.
: Both ships sailed for Penang, where the
Privateers crew were imprisoned four months
. when the East India fleet came in, having
lost several men, and offered to give the pri-
vateersmen' wages if they would ship fol
. Whampoa and London, which they accepted
On arrival at Whampoa, Mr.. Pickett helped
IT discharge the ship to which he belonged wheI
IS he found that three men were to be exchan
e ged for three English prisoners of war. They
e drew lots for exchange. He drew prize and
e was discharged. The ship "America" of New
e York was in port dismantled and housed over
y with her crew on board. Mr. Fckett wen
on board of her and stayed a month, then go
passage to Canton where the American
Consul supplied his wants. There were thre,
letters of marque ships belonging to Boston
at Canton bound home. He shipped on boart
> the ship "Bramble" and arrived safe home
and now lives in Portland in his 18th year,
g worthy and respected gentleman, with larg,
share of this worlds goods.
Henry Oxnard, the 1st Lieutenant sailed
aflerward in Bryant .S Sturglss employ max
ing one voyage to Batavia. He aftcrward
went into mercantile business in Boston,
His first venture was the importation of 8
cargo OF tea in company with VIM. Appl eton
! which paid large profit He next built two
| g., o,,I oil al