The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-09-28

Not only were we quite satisfied that
Jack, however awkward he might be
upon parade, would prove, in the hour
of a trial, most efficient ally; but we
concluded, from the anxiety displayed
to increase the land force to the ut
most, that some momentous scheme
was in agitation. The rest Of the day
was accordingly spent in far better
humor than had marked the passage
OF some days preceding, and we retired
to rest in the full expectation that to-
morrow or, at farthcst, the next day
would see us once more employed in
the field
Our hopes IN this respect suffered no
diminution, when, on ascending the
deck on the following morning, we
found that the fleet was again under
way, and moving towards the Potomac.
The last circumstance, indeed, did puz-
zle us a little. What could be done
there? Alexandria had been already
visited hv Captain Gordon: nor was
there any utbrr pace ot II 'tr along its
course. nevertheless, we took it for
granted that there must he some OBJ
jcct in view, and, provided only they
saw fit to bring us into play, We cared
but little whittier the heads of the ex-
petition should lead us. In all this,
however, we were doomed to endure
the misery Of hope deferred. Having
stemmed the current during the whole
of that day, and till dusk on the day
following, the fleet once more cast an
chor; and we, as a matter of course,
felt ourselves once more unable to guess
for what purpose these repeated delays
were permitted.
[ we'll recoiicct, that on the night of
the Sth of September the Potomac
was visited 10y one Of those sublime
thunder storms, of which | have al
ready spoken as occurring SO frequent
ly in this hemisphere. During the
whole Of the day, there had been an
oppressive closencss in the atmosphere;
and, as the sun drew towards his set
ting, many masses of clouds began to
rise at different points i'll the horizon.
Those gradually increased in quantity
and blackness, till at last the whole
face the sky became spread with
them. The thunder and lightning fol-
lowed; thunder, which in the stiffness
| of the night made the far-off forests re-
echo and lightning, which at every
flash rendered the minutest object dis.
tinctly visible, both throughout the
fleet and on the shore. Nor was rain
long wanting; it came down, as it gen
orally does under such circumstances
in torrents, and as there was no find
ing shelter against it anywhere, except
in the cabin, | was reluctantly com
PEELED to abandon the seat which | had
taken on one Of the guns for the pur
pose of watching the storm, and retire
below.
An early hour on the morning of the
9th saw us again under way, and stem
ming the current at slow and nia >
tic rate; but our progress was very
| limited. The "Tonnant," shooting
ahead, pushed on by herself whilst the
remainder of the ships, in defiance Of
as fair wind as ever blew, beat back.
wards and forwards, from one side oi
| the river to the other What was to
| be done we could not surmse. That
4 landing would take place before long
everything about us testified, but
whether the port of debarkation had
as yet been determined upon, seemed
extremely prcblema.ical. Thus was
it with us during the whole Of the
morning; hour after hour passed away
in anxious suspense; till at last, when
the sun was again approaching the
west, our doubts and anxiety were put
an end to. The "Tonnant," of which
we had long lost sight, once more made
her appearance: all her canvass was
set, and she was followed by numer
Gus fleet of small craft, each of which
bore an English ensign at is masthead
with an American flag under. The
vessels thus distinguished were prizes
they soon joined us and the whole
squadron putting about, bore down in
a body towards the bay. Finally, 6
signal was thrown out from the Ad
mirals ship, which directed us to steer
towards the Patapsco; and it became
Immediately known, among all ranks
that the capture of Baltimore would be
attempted.
Now mems minds became to Ger
tain degree tranquil, curiosity was SCI
at rest; and it remained for us only tt
make such preparations as each might
think necessary for taking the field
Nor were we tardy in anything about
that matter inasmuch as but little time
seemed likely to be granted for the
purpose; for. as if Heaven had favored
our designs, the fleet scarcely reached
the bay, when the wind, shifting few
points, blew directly towards the place
of landing; and we stood on our cours,
with a rapidty which promised to
bring us, within few hours, to the enc
of our voyage. This was, in itself, suf
! ticiently agrccablc; but there were 9th