The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-15

| contained fifty souls. He was wounded. The Americans fought with great firm ness, but more like bloodthirsty savages | than anything else. They rushed into the boats and put every soul to death as far as came within their power. Some of the boats were left without single man to row them others with three or four. | The most that any one returned w,s about ten. Several foated on shore filled with dead bodies. This bloody and un- | fortunate conflict lasted about forty min- | utes. At daylight the next morning the Ca-nation hauled in alongside and en- gagged her, when the Armstrong con- tinued to make most gallant defense, l causing the Carnatioh to once more haul l If and repair. We may well say God ! feHyer us from our enemies. if this Is l he way the Americans fight. For three days after the battle we were engaged l in burying the dc Id that washed on shore | in the surf"
 | As a matter of fact, when the British .ried to .oard and big guns mad to be dis sarded as useless at such close range, ! small arms were seized and they did most deadly execution. The Englishmen found that boarding was easier talked of than | accomplished Wherever one showed his | head above the bulwarks it instantly be- | came a target And then as the English | men were repulsed the Americans climbed l over their own bulwarks after them, and fired with deadly effect into the crowded | small boats. After abo It fo.ty minutes, repulsed on all sides, the British decided | that they had had eno1gh of that sort | of thing and returned to think 1t over. | Two of the Robas boats literally loaded
 with dead and dying, were taken by the Americans Of the forty or fifty men who A1lxr death and they by swimming ashore. Another boat, commanded by one of the | Plantagenet's lieutenants, lost all but | four men, the lieutenant saving his life | by Jumping overheard.
 Of course the end was a foregone con | cusion, as soon as the British made 1t evident that they were determined to l fight to a finish Of the final fighting, | Captain Reid himself wrote:
 i About a. m. I eceived a message | from the American Consul, reuesting to
 see me on shore, here he informed me | the Governor had sent q note to Captain | Lloyd. begging him to desist from fur | ther hostlities. To whi ch Captain Lloyd | sent reply that he was now determined | to have the privateer at risk of knock | ing down the whole town; and that if | the Governor suffered the Americans to | injure the privateer in any manner he | should consider the place an enemy's | port and treat 1t accordingly. Finding | this to be the case, l abandoned all hope of saving the vessel. l, therefore. went on board and ordered all our wounded and dead to be taken on shore and the crew to save their effects as fast as pos sible. Soon after this 1t became daylight,
 when the enemy's brig stood close in and commenced a heavy fire on us with all her force. After several broadsides. she hauled off, having received a shot in her hull, her rigging much cut and her fore | top mast wounded She soon after came | in again and anchored close to the pri- vateer l then ordered the General Arm
 strong to be scuttled to prevent the en- l emy from getting her. She was soon af- 1 terward boarded by the enemy's boats and set on fire, which completed her de-
 struction. They also destroyed a number of houses in the town and woD-. led some of the inhabitants.
 After the battle Captain Reid withdrew
 into the interior knowing that the Por- tugese authorities were not strong enough to protect him, and took possession of an old Gothic convent and fortified it. de- claring that he would defend himself to
 the death. As there was some doubt
 whose death was referred to, and fl was
 a question vitaly interesting to the Brit
 ish. he was hot disturbed. The British
 were detained about a week in harbor
 burying their dead and attending to their
 wounded.
 All this delay resulted in Captain
 Lloyd's squadron not reaching Jamaica.
 where 1t was to join an expedition against
 Louisiana, until the early part of No
 vember, and as q consequence that fla nous but futile expedition did not reach
 New Orleans until December 14, while
 General Jackson had already reached the
 city on December Z. Had Sir Andrew
 Cochrane's fleet gotten there ahead of
 Jackson. the story of New Orleans might
 have been different.
 Returning to America, Captain Reid
 landed at Savannah, and his entire route
 north was a triumphal progress. Every
 where he was Wined and dined and given
 the freedom of the cities through which
 he passed Early in the following spring
 the Legislature of New York voted him
 a sword of honor He was made sal-
 ing master in the Navy stationed at the
 Brooklyn Navy Yard, and held the posi-
 tion until his death. He also served as
 harbor master and warden of the port of
 New York. In that capacity he invented
 and erected the signal telegraph at the
 Battery and at the Narrows. regulated
 and numbered the pilot boats of New
 York and established the nghtship at Sandy Hook.
 It was. moreover. at Captain Reids suggestion that the present form of the American flag was adopted It had been intended that new stripes as well as new stars should be added new States
 were admitted D the Union. When in accordance with this plan there were sev- enteen or eighteen stripe in the flag. 1t was found that the plan was not prac- ticable, and Captain Reid suggested that
 the stripes be allowed to typify the orig inal States, and that the stars alone typ ify the Union of the futures growth. The first flag of this design was raised over the Hall of Representatives in Washington, April 13. ISIS.
 It is rather q bitter commentary that
 after a lifetime devoted to such brilliant
 and fruitful service of his country, Cap tain Reid should have lain for more than forty years in an unmic cked grave, bare ly five miles from where he set sail in the General Armstrong, and overlooking the bay and harhor to whose improve ment he devoted the best years of his life. Considering all he patriotic societies that
 exist and the new ones that are almost
 daily being formed, 1t does seem as if 1t
 ought to be somebody's business and
 pleasure to repair this neglect at once.
 But pretty thorough canvass of ac-
 credited representatives of such societies
 has disclosed the fact that this particular
 thing does not come within the scope of
 ahy one of them Each and all of them
 seemed inclined to shirk the responsible
 ity. The Sons and Daughters of the Rev
 .lv,