Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1877-07-07
THE BATTLE OF THE BARGES.
An Account ot the Last Engagement OF the
Rcv0lution-Ilow the American Coa,'
mandant wns saved.

An Account ot the Last Engagement Of tn
| Rcvolutien-Ilow the American Com
mandant WINS saved.
On November 80, 1882, Commodor
Whaley, the American commander OF TIN
gunboat feet of Maryland, was cruising
in the Chesapeake of Accomac. with 4
single vessel, when he discovered thu
British fleet, under command of an Off
Ger who assumed tho piratical name O.
Commodore Kidd, sailing up the bay
numbering half dozen vessels. Will
such odds against him Whaley ran NJ
Onancock creek to wait for his Other
boats and, being short-handed, to obtain
re-enforcements. The county court hap
pened then to be in session at Drum.
mondtown, and most of the principal
men of Accomac were there. Whaley's
hurried message for assistance reached
Colonel Cropper, who WAS then the CON-
mandant of the county troops, and as
speedy action was needed, he immediate.
ly addressed the crowd around the court
house. calling for volunteers. This was
year after the surrender of CORVALLIS,
and, except force at Charleston, New
York was the only part of the continent
held by the British.
Volunteers rushed forward in such
numbers that Commodore Whaley's ves-
sci was we'll manned, and also an empty
barge lying at the landing. Officers and
soldiers at home, county officers and
citizens, all volunteered, without waiting
to bid their families farewell. With the
hastily-manned barge, Whaley soon
found himself in command OF four ves-
sells. His enemy was in sight, drawn up
in order of battle off Tangier island, op-
posite the mouth of the Potomac river.
Among the Americans no order of battle
had been arranged, there was but little
discipline, most of them were strangers
to warfare OH the waters, and each lead
er's object was to lay his boat alongside
of the enemy as quickly as possible.
Whaley, with his long sweeps, pushed
forward in the advance, and received the
enemy's fire before the rest of his force
were within gunshot. Then reserving
his fire until within pistol distance, and
attacking each one in turn, his guns were
so we'll served that four of the British
vessels, one after another, struck their
flags. Two only were left. At that mo-
ment n seaman on Whaley's flagship car
ried a cartridge uncovered across the
deck. An explosion of his magazine
quickly followed. Most of his officers
and men were killed and wounded, and
his vessel totally disabled. One of the
remaining British barges was also great
ly damaged. Now was the opportunity
for the three other American boats, still
in the rear: They had only one oppo-
nent to overcome but by this time one
of them had got aground on sandbank,
and the raw crews of the others, dazed
by the explosion, tackled ship and in
gloriously fled.
Commodore Whaley and lieutenant
Levin Handy were among the dead
Colonel Chopper and other officers were
badly wounded. Many were dashed into
the sea and were drowned. Those who
sought to escape by clinging to the
British boats had their hands chopped
off by cutlasses. At length, tired with
the enemy rescued few of
the survivors from the waters.
The bruised and shattered remnant of
those who stood on the deck of the
American barge at the moment of the
explosion refused to surrender to the as
sailants who boarded them. Colonel
Cropper, armed with muslzet and bayo-
net, was defending himself with desper-
ate valor against two white men and
negro. At length cutlass blow on the
head stretched him on the deck. The
brawny blacks arm was again raised to
give the final stroke, when he suddenly
threw down his weapon, and, shielding
the fallen man with his own body, he
cried: "Save him! Save him It's
NY young NASSAU The faithfu slave
was one of those carried away from Col.
Choppers home by British invaders
n 1779. He afterward returned to his !
master, was freed and .set up in small
business in Baltimore. Among the SUR
7ivors of the fight were Captain Thomas
Parker, Major Snead and William Gibb,
county clerk of Accomac, all Of whom
we're exchanged. Ehis Battle of the
5arges," scarcely chronicled by history,
vas the last combat of the Revolution,
or it occurred on the very day when tho
treaty of peace was signed
It Paris.