BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE

COM. JESSE D. ELLIOTT;

CONTAINING

A REVIEW

THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN HIM AND THE
LATE COMMODORE PERRY;
AND
A HISTORY
OF THE
FIGURE-HEAD OF THE U. S. FRIGATE CONSTITUTION.

Tis Blander ;
Whose edge is sharper than the sword ; whose tongue
Outvenoma all the worms of Nile : whose breatb.
Rides od the posting windp, and both belie
All corners of the world : kings, queens, and states,
Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave.
This viperous slander enters. Cymbeline.

BY A CITIZEN OF NEW- YORK.
PHILADELPHIA :
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1835.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by Russell
Jarvis, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern
District of New- York.

CONTENTS.

Chapter I. — Preliminary remarks. Birth of Captain
Elliott. His entrance into the Navy. Attack on
the Chesapeake. Trial of Com. Barron. War of
1812. Events on the Northern frontier. Capture
of the Detroit and Caledonia. Events on Lake
Ontario. - - - 10
Chapter II. — Battle of Lake Erie. Court of Inquiry.
Testimony of Messrs. Yarnall and Forrest. ¦ - 27
Chapter III. — Battle of Lake Erie. Testimony of
Messrs. Turner, Parsons, Stevens, Forrest, Champ-
lin, Breese, Brownell and Taylor. - 40
Chapter IV. — Battle of Lake Erie. Commodore Per
ry's official report. - - 72
Chapter V. — Battle of Lake Erie. Commodore Perry's
letter to the Secretary of the Navy, and his charges
against Captain Elliott. - - -87
Chapter VI. — Battle of Lake Erie. Correspondence
between Commodore Perry and Captain Elliott. 107
Chapter VII. — Battle of Lake Erie. Testimony in
favor of Captain Elliott. Letters of officers of the
Niagara. Proceedings in Congress. Medal. Sword.
Proceedings on the Northern Frontier. Letters
from officers of the army and navy. 122
Chapter VIII. — Battle of Lake Erie. Court of Inquiry
at New York in 1815. Testimony of officers of the
Niagara, Messrs.Webster, Montgomery, Cummings,
Adams and Tatem. - - 145
Chapter IX. — Battle of Lake Erie. Testimony of the
British officers. - 163

4 CONTENTS.
Chapter X. — Battle of Lake Erie. Engravings. - 178
Chapter XL— Battle of Lake Erie. Conduct of Cap-
! tain Elliott. Mr. Magrath. Motto flag. 183
Chapter XII.— Causes of the dispute between Commo-
modore Perry and Captain Elliott. - 195
Chapter XIII.— Events on Lake Ontario. Expedition
gainst the Barbary powers. Survey of the coast
of the U. States. - - .- 225
Chapter XIV. — Important cruise on the coast of Brazil
in 1825, 1826 and 1827. - - 232
Chapter XV. — Cruise on the coast of Mexico, and in
the West Indies, from 1829 to 1832. - - - 258
Chapter XVI. — Events in South Carolina in 1832 and
1833. - 293
Chapter XVII.— The Figure Head of the Constitution. 306
Chapter XVIII. — Court Martial at the Navy Yard in
Charlestown, Mass. in the spring of 1835. Treat
ment of Commodore Elliott. Correspondence be
tween him and Charles G. Loring, Esq. - 342
Chapter XIX. — Remarks upon the treatment of Com
modore Elliott by the " Whig" or Federal party of
Boston. - - 371
Chapter XX. — The duties of the Democratic party. 3S6

PREFACE.

TO THE CITIZENS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

A strong incentive to noble deeds is the belief of
the performer, that, they will be recorded in the me
mories of his countrymen. More especially amid the
toils and dangers of a military life, is it consoling to
the hero and the patriot to reflect that his cotempora-
ries will approve his exertions for their welfare, ac
knowledge the purity of his motives, defend him from
undeserved reproach, and bequeath his fame to pos
terity as a valuable legacy. Miserable indeed would
be he whose profession is arms, who hourly puts his
life in peril for his country's defense, if to the dangers
of disease, mutilation or death, which attend him at
every step, should be added the belief that his reputa
tion, the most valuable of his personal rights, and the
only one which he would not sacrifice, might become
an offering to the voracious spirit of calumny.
The soldier, expiring in mortal agony upon the
field which he has conquered or defended, the sailor,
breathing out the current of life upon the deck on
which he has struggled for his country's indepen
dence and honor, deserve, as some requital for being
thus untimely severed from all the enjoyments or
hopes of this world, that their characters should be
justly dealt with. The patriot seeks not merely "the

0 PREFACE.
bubble reputation in the cannon's mouth !" He is
impelled by a holier motive ; he seeks a higher object.
He lifts his arm for his country. He strikes, and he
bares his bosom to the stroke of the foe, that she may
be free, happy and honored. And when his heart
has yielded prematurely to the stroke, or when he has
escaped the battle-death to linger out the years of
hoary age in disease or privation, shall his country
men forget his services and sacrifices, and yield his
fame, his only remaining possession, without resist
ance, to the knife of the assassin ? Base indeed would
be the ingratitude of a people that would permit it,
and cheerless the prospect of him who should devote
himself to fighting their battles.
To you, citizens of Pennsylvania, especially belongs
the fame of Captain Elliott. The blood of his father,
poured out in fighting the battles of the United
States, now adjures you from the ground to guard the
fame of his children, whom, in his dying moments,
he bequeathed as a legacy to his country. Captain
Elliott is a citizen of your state, a participator in your
civil rights, a sharer of your prosperity and adversity.
His home, that spot where every good man's heart is
anchored, is among you, and next after our glorious
Union, his allegiance is due to the land of Penn.
You remember that Justice was the great principle
on which your community was founded ; that Justice
was the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night,
which guided the steps of the immortal philanthropist
who first reared the banner of civilization upon your
territory. You remember that Justice was the ruling

PREFACE. 7
spirit of the compact between this great seeker of
good and the children of the forest ; a compact
which, to quote the words of a celebrated scholar of
Europe, was the only treaty ever concluded without
an oath, and the only treaty never broken.
And has Justice fled from the soil of Pennsylvania 7
Has the spirit of Penn ceased to animate her child
ren 1 No ! the temple which he raised to Justice yet
stands unscathed ; its altar is not yet overthrown or
deserted; his precepts are not yet obliterated from the
hearts of Pennsylvanians.
It can be shown that, without detracting from the
merit of any one of the gallant and accomplished
commanders who have gained imperishable renown
for our navy and our country, Captain Elliott has
been surpassed by none of them in bravery, skill and
valuable public services ; that without detracting
from the courage or patriotism of the gallant and la
mented Perry, our country is principally indebted to
the self-possession and naval skill of Captain Elliott
for the memorable victory of Lake Erie. It can be
shown that in the choice of an ornament for the bow
of the Constitution, Captain Elliott conformed to the
directions of the Navy Department, and was actuated
by a spirit of enlightened" and liberal patriotism, and
an amiable wish to gratify the citizens of Massachu
setts ; and that in thus adorning the Constitution
against the remonstrance of the " Whig" party of that
State, he acted with due regard to the directions of the
Navy Department, to the honor of our country, to the
respect due to the laws and the constituted authorities,

8 PREFACE.
and to the rights and dignity of his official station.
It can be shown that the proceedings of this '' Whig"
party against Captain Elliott originated in political
animosity, and were intended to drive him from the
command of the navy yard at Boston because he
was a Democrat of the old school, and to excite op
position to our venerable and patriotic President, and
to the national administration.
Pennsylvanians ! The character of Captain Elliott
is your birthright ; the lustre of his deeds is shed
upon yourselves. The story of his services, his suf
ferings and his wrongs is now before you ; and in
the belief that it will rouse your righteous indigna
tion against a faction that would have sacrificed his
fame to its unhallowed purposes, and in the hope that it
will incite you to award him Justice, it is respectfully
inscribed to you by
THE AUTHOR.
Philadelphia, 1835.

THE LIFE

COMMODORE ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory remarks. Birth of Captain Elliott. His entrance into the Navy.
Attack on the Chesapeake Frigate. War with Great Britain. Operations
on the Northern Frontier. Capture of the Detroit and Caledonia.
The foes to human liberty, of which, unfortunate
ly, the world contains too many, have often said that
republics were ungrateful. That nations are so,
without regard to their form of government, is indeed
a truth of which history furnishes many melancholy
examples. But that republics are particularly so, is
an assertion more easily made than proved, and
which, it is believed, originates more frequently in
the malevolence of those who wish them ill, than in
the sufferings of those who find them ungrateful.
Error may sometimes lead an enlightened people
astray : and those who have spent long and weary
years in toiling or combatting for " the greatest good
of the greatest number," may be victims of the delu
sion. They may then, for a time, languish in cold
neglect, or writhe under more active demonstrations
of public displeasure. But an enlightened people
will not be always unjust. There is a principle

10 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
of human nature, the principle of benevolence,
which will eventually lead them back from their
errors, and impel them to atonement. This principle
may be, and often is suspended, but is never ex
tinguished, even in the savage. Passion or interest
may pervert or restrain it ; but when these cease to
govern, it flies back, like the bow unbent, to its ori
ginal position. This principle will prevent enlight
ened republics from being long ungrateful, and offers
an assurance to the author of the following pages,
that his humble attempt to defend a meritorious pub
lic servant from calumny, will be patiently, if not
thankfully received.
Perhaps the most fruitful source of that ingratitude
which is often imputed to, and sometimes witnessed
in republics, is the spirit of faction. To this spirit
they are all liable, for it is the necessary evil of con
stitutional governments. It is an evil, even in its
mildest form ; even when most tempered by a sense
of justice ; even when most restrained by the conside
ration that all cannot think alike, and that differences
of opinion result from the wisely organized constitu
tion of human nature. But when permitted to over
power such restraints, it becomes an evil of great mag
nitude, resulting not only in perversion of judgment
and feeling, but in perversion of conduct. It then
leads not only to " envy, hatred and malice, and all
uncharitableness," but to fraud and violence.
The officers of our army and navy, when keeping
within the sphere of their duties, and deporting them
selves with that integrity, modesty, gentleness, kind
ness, and politeness, without which no man is a o-en-
tleman, and which render one a gentleman in any
rank or station, are not proper objects of party spirit,
especially when appearing in the malignant and fero
cious guises in which it now seems to delight in show
ing itself. They belong to the nation ; not to any of

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 11
the fragments or factions or cabals into which the
nation, under any delusion of the moment, may
choose to tear itself. For the nation's defense, they
have chosen a profession, which, more immediately
than any other, exposes them to disease, mutilation
or death. At the nation's call, they must meet
promptly and without delay, the cannon of the foreign
foe, the dagger and the firebrand of the pirate, the
lightning and the tempest, and " the pestilence that
walketh in darkness." They should therefore be re
garded as the children of the nation, in the broadest,
most liberal, most enlightened, most respectful, and
most affectionate sense of the term. But while thus
belonging to the whole nation, they should not be
denied, more than any other citizens, the right of mo
destly and temperately expressing their opinions upon
public men and measures. They certainly have no
small stake in. the honor and prosperity of the coun
try for which they put their lives in peril, and can
serve it more efficiently when understanding its affairs
like enlightened men, than when reduced to mere
machines, with no ideas beyond killing and being
killed. To suppose that in a country like ours, a
naval or military officer can have no political partia
lities, can perceive no difference between one measure
of public policy and another, or between the qualifi
cations of one and another set of men for public trust,
is to suppose him too low in the scale of rationality to
be worthy of the American uniform. May that uni
form never cover ignorance ! May the sword of the
United States never be wielded, unless by a hand
guided by enlightened reason !
But while our naval and military officers should be
regarded as the children of the nation, the nation
itself should not forget the duties of a parent. If they
owe to it allegiance, and the daily and hourly hazard
of their lives, it owes to them protection in all their

12 LIF*E OF COM. ELLIOTT.
rights, personal and official, and above all, in the
right of character. To men belonging to a profession
of which the very soul, the very vital principle is
honor, the right of character is valuable above all
Others. It should never be unjustly assailed with im
punity. Punishment, the punishment of public cen
sure, should always follow the assault.
The history of Commodore Elliott, in defense of
whom the following pages are submitted to an en
lightened, a candid and a generous public, forcibly
illustrates the depraved character of faction ; forcibly
displays the facility with which it can forget the most
valuable public services, break the. most sacred ties,
and trample upon the courtesies and decencies of ci
vilized society. Long since have attempts been made
to impeach his fame ; to tear from his brow the
wreaths earned by arduous and valuable public ser
vices. Oftentimes has his fame been successfully vin
dicated. But the vindication seems to have served
no other purpose hitherto, than to stimulate the spirit
of calumny ; for after every defeat, his assailants,
with punic perseverance, have redoubled their efforts
for a new contest. It is time " to carry the war into
Africa." Or, to change the figure, it is time to ex
plore the fountains whence flows this Nile of slander ;
and if they cannot be stopped, to confine the noisome
stream within its banks, and prevent it from continu
ally overflowing, and poisoning the public mind.
Jesse Duncan Elliott, a citizen of Pennsylvania,
and the son of a Pennsylvanian, was born in Mary
land, in the year 1785. His father, Robert Elliott, of
Franklin county in Pennsylvania, was a commissary
in the service of the United States, and was slain by
the Indians near the Muskingum in 1794, while con
ducting supplies to the army of General Wayne. By
a resolution of Congress, the sum of two thousand
dollars was granted to his widow and children. In

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 13
1804, two of these children, of whom the present
commodore is one, while prosecuting their studies at
Carlisle in Pennsylvania, preparatory to entering the
profession of law, were appointed midshipmen in the
navy ; Mr. Jefferson informing them that the appoint
ment was partly in consideration of the services and
sacrifices of their father, in the employment of the
nation. The United States being then at war with
the Barbary powers, Mr. Elliott sailed for the Medi
terranean as a midshipman in the frigate Essex, com
manded by Captain James Barron.
Returning to the United States in the spring of
1807, he was transferred to the frigate Chesapeake,
also commanded by Captain James Barron, and was
a midshipman on board of that ship when it was at
tacked by the Leopard in June, 1807. In January
1808, he was summoned as a witness before the
Court Martial held at Norfolk, Va., by which Com
modore Barron was tried for surrendering the Chesa
peake, and showed by his testimony, that there was a
total want of preparation on board of that ship, while
the Leopard was pouring in a fire that killed three
men, wounded twenty-two, greatly damaged the rig-
ing, wounded the bowsprit, main and mizen masts,
left twenty-two round shot in the hull, caused the ship
to take in three feet of water in about an hour after
the attack, and compelled it to return to port without
delay. The reader may estimate the want of prepa
ration in the Chesapeake from the fact, that, to this
destructive fire, it was able to return one solitary gun.
In the midst of this fire, Mr. Elliott was perfectly cool
and collected, and exerted himself to the utmost to
prepare for resistance, and to encourage the men in
his division. Let the reader peruse the following ex
tract from his testimony. 2

14 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
FOURTEENTH DAY.
Tuesday, January 19, 1808.
The court met pursuant to adjournment. ,
At the request of the counsel of Captain James Barron,
Jesse D. Elliott, a midshipman onboard the Chesapeake, was
called in and sworn by the Judge Advocate.
Q. Were you on board the Chesapeake on the 22d of June
last? A. I was.
Q. What were your rank and station at that time?
A. I was a midshipman, quartered in the third division on
the gun deck.
Q. Had you any suspicion of a hostile intent in the
Leopard, at anv time before you were ordered to quarters ?
A. No, I had not.
Q. Did you hear any other persons on board express any
suspicions until that time ?
A. No, I did not.
Q. Did you receive any orders to go to quarters ?
A. No,. I did not, from a superior officer. Directly after
the British officer left our ship, Captain Gordon ordered me
to go to the gun deck, to assist in clearing it up. This I
supposed was for the purpose of going to quarters.
Q. What was the state of your division at the time you
heard your colors were struck.
A. It was very much confused. Before I heard the colors
were struck, several of the men had expressed a wish to quit
their quarters ; I had stopped them, and told them we were
as much exposed as they were, and that they must stand to
their quarters as long as we did. Upon this, they said they
would stay and be shot like sheep.
Q. Was any part of your division in such a situation at
any time before the surrender, as to have enabled you to com
mence firing?
A. The two forward guns were in a situation to be fired,
if we had had powder horns and matches or loggerheads.
Immediately after we went to quarters, I had ordered one of
the quarter gunners to go for matches. He went, and was
wounded; he returned however with a loggerhead, which
was too cold. Before he had returned, I had sent the second
captain of the foremost gun in our division, for loggerheads.
He went, and as he returned, I took the loggerhead from him
and was about to fire a gun, when Mr. Creighton stopped
me, and said we had struck. These two guns might have
commenced a fire, but could not have continued it. The

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 15
two after guns were not in a situation to commence a fire
at all.
Q. Had you any powder horns in your division, at any
time before the surrender?
A. We had several empty powder horns, which were sent
up from the magazine, and one was received just before I
heard of the surrender, which had some powder in it, but
was not full.
Q. Had you any matches in your division before the sur
render ?
A. We had not.
Q. Had you any heated loggerheads in your division be
fore the surrender ?
A. We had two, but they were not hot enough to fire with.
The first I know was not hot enough, because I tried it ; and
the last I suspect was not hot enough, although it was never
tried. Q. Were there any cartridges in your division during the
attack? A. No, there were not. I did not see a cartridge that day.
Q. Were there any wads in your division at any time
during the attack ?
A. There were not, nor did I know where they were.
Q. Were there any sponges and rammers in your division
at any time during the attack.
A. I do not recollect to have seen them.
Q. Was Captain Gordon in your division at any time
during the attack?
A. He was not. He passed through our division as he
went to the cabin, just before the attack commenced. The
drummer was then beating to quarters ; Captain Gordon
stopped him, and asked him who ordered him to beat to
quarters. This threw Mr. Creighton and myself, at first, in
to confusion ; but in a short time Mr. Creighton said, " we
will have our division clear at all events," and we then im
mediately went to work.
In 1810, he was appointed bearer of despatches to
our minister at London, on which service he sailed
for England in the frigate John Adams.
In June, 1812, began the war with Great Britain ;
a war into which our country was forced by injuries
and aggressions which had exhausted forbearance ;

16 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
a war in which American skill and valor upon land,
were more than equal to British prowess, and upon
the ocean, broke the charm of British invincibility ; a
war in which the American character attained a proud
eminence, from which, it is hoped and trusted, it may
never descend. In this contest, Lieutenant Elliott
was destined to play an important part, and to earn
those laurels of which, if his countrymen are only
just to themselves, neither envy nor faction can ever
deprive him. Three months after the declaration of
war, he was ordered to Lake Erie upon the highly
responsible and important service of superintending
the naval preparations on that lake. The following
letter from Commodore Chauncey, commander in
chief of all the naval force upon the lakes, will show
what confidence was reposed in him.
"Navy Yard, New-York, 1th Sept. 1812.
Sir, — You will immediately proceed with all possible ex
pedition to the head-quarters of General Van Rensselaer,
which is, I believe, at or near Buffalo, at the bottom of Lake
Erie. You will consult General Van Rensselaer as to the
best position to build, repair, and fit for service, such vessels
or boats as may be required to retain the command of Lake
Erie, bearing in mind to select such a place as can be de
fended from the attacks of the enemy, as well as to keep
them from a knowledge of our operations. After you have
selected a proper place, you will, with the advice of General
Van Rensselaer, purchase any merchant vessels or boats that *
can be converted into vessels of war or gun boats, and com
mence their equipment immediately. You will also cause
to be sawed by the mills in the neighborhood, a sufficient
quantity of plank for the decks and bottoms of two vessels
of three hundred tons each, consulting with the master car
penter as to quantity and thickness. You will also procure
and get ready a sufficient quantity of boards to build six
boats of 40 feet long, and 10 feet wid«. You will have
quarters prepared for three hundred men, and a temporary
magazine built for our powder. Thirty carpenters will leave
here on Thursday next for Buffalo ; you will lose no time
in setting them upon the work of preparation, as every day is

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 17
of importance to us, the season being so far advanced. You
will ascertain as near as practicable, the force of the enemy on
Lake Erie, also their general rendezvous; and also you will
inform yourself upon the following points, to wit; the number
and kind of vessels and boats that can be procured upon
Lake Erie, that will answer our purpose ; what kind of har
bor or shelter there is for them ; whether provisions can be
procured in the neighborhood, and what kinds, and in what
quantities ; the state of the roads in and about Buffalo ; and
the most defensible points ; in fact you will obtain ail the
information that will be of importance to us in our opera
tions, and transmit the same to me by express. I should ad
vise you to travel in plain clothes : and by no means com
municate the object of your visit to any person except Ge
neral Van Rensselaer, to whom I enclose you a letter of in
troduction, which you will deliver immediately. Knowing
your zeal for the service, and your discretion as an officer,
I feel every confidence in your industry and exertions to ac
complish the object of your mission in the shortest time
possible. Notwithstanding, I shall feel extremely anxious
until I hear from you upon the points upon which I have re
quested information. I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
Your most ob't. serv't. ISAAC CHAUNCEY.
Lieut. Jesse D. Elliott, U. S. Navy."
The manner in which this mission was executed,
will appear from the following letter.
" Navy Yard, New- York, 24th Sept. 1812.
Dear Sir, — Your favor of the 18th inst. I received this
day, and approve of what you have done. You will make
all the expedition possible in altering the vessels at Gennes
see River. Eighty men left here on Monday for Buffalo;
one hundred and forty leave here to day for the same place.
I shall send one hundred to Gennessee River, and leave
here on Saturday for Sackett's Harbor, and will join you as
soon as possible. With great respect,
I am your ob't. serv't.
ISAAC CHAUNCEY.
Lieut. Jesse D. Elliott, Gennessee Falls.
While on the lines, he heard that two British ves
sels, the Hunter of 14 guns, and the Detroit of 6 guns,
2*

18 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
had arrived at Fort Erie from Maiden, and anchored
under the guns of the fort. He immediately project
ed the daring enterprize of cutting them out, by
means of two boats and 100 men. To prove this,
the following letters are offered.
"Head-Quarters, Lewiston, 25th Sept. 1812.
Sir, — I have this moment received your letter of yester
day, stating that Lieutenant Elliott proposed to make an
attempt to cut out one of the vessels at Erie, and has re
quested your assistance by men, &c. for the enterprise. You
will please to furnish Lieutenant Elliott immediately, with
men, arms, ammunition, boats and implements of every
kind, to the utmost of his wishes, and the means you can
possibly command, to render the enterprise successful.
I am, &c. J. VAN RENSSELAER.
Maj. Gen. Hall, Com'g. Black Rock."
"Head-Quarters, Lewiston,25th Sept. 1812.
Sir, — I enclose you a copy of a letter I have this day sent
to Major General Hall. With my best wishes that success
may crown your enterprise, I am, Sir, with great respect,
Your most ob't serv't.
J. VAN RENSSELAER, Maj. Gen."
" Sir, — Mr. Pressman* will bring you the aid we can give.
He is a gallant young man, and I request that he may be
allowed to accompany you. The God who protects the
brave, guard you and give you success.
ALEXANDER SMYTH,
Lieut. Elliott. 8th Oct."
How this enterprise was executed, will appear
from his own official report, and from the following
letters. Extract of a letter from Commodore Chauncey to the Se
cretary of the Navy. "Sackett's Harbor, Oct. 16. 1812.
Sir, — I have great pleasure in informing you, that bv a
* This gentleman is now a clergyman settled at New Castle, Del.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 19
gentleman who arrived here yesterday afternoon from Buf
falo, I learn that Lieutenant Elliott, with about sixty sailors,
and a number of volunteers, (militia,) cut out from under
the guns of Port Erie, on the night of the 8th inst. the brig
Adams, lately surrendered at Detroit, and the schooner Ca
ledonia, loaded with peltry, said to be very valuable; but in
running these vessels for Black Rock, they both grounded in
such a situation, that the British fort was firing on them
when my informant left there on Friday morning last. It
was however believed that if they could not be got off, they
would be destroyed. I however hope that Lieutenant Elliott
will be able to save both vessels, for such an addition to our
little force on Lake Erie at this time, would be invaluable.
Lieutenant Elliott deserves much praise for the promptness
with which he executed this service, as the sailors had only
arrived at Black Rock on the 8th, and he had no particular
orders from me, except to have boats built and prepared for
cutting out the British vessels which, I knew, rendevouzed
near Fort Erie. If Lieutenant Elliott succeeds in saving the
Adams and Caledonia, I think we shall obtain the command
of Lake Erie before December.
(Here follow some statements relating to Lake Ontario.)
I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
Your ob't serv't.
ISAAC CHAUNCEY.
Hon. Paul Hamilton."
Letter from Com. Chauncey to the Secretary of the Navy.
"Sackett's Harbor, 27th Oct. 1812.
Sir, — I have the honor of enclosing you copies of two let
ters received from Lieutenant Elliott, giving an account of
his having cut out from under Fort Erie, on Lake Erie, in a
most galjant manner, two British brigs, the Detroit, (late
Adams,) and the Caledonia ; the Detroit was manned and
armed as a man of war; the Caledonia belonged to the
North West Company, and was loaded with peltry. Nothing
that I can say, more than I have already said in a former
communication upon this subject, will add to the credit of
Lieutenant Elliott, and the gallant officers and men who ac
companied him. The thing speaks for itself, and will, I am
sure, be duly appreciated by all who have any idea of the
difficulties that he had to encounter after getting possession
of these vessels. I have the honor to be, &c.
ISAAC CHAUNCEY.
Hon. Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy."

20 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
The following is from Charles W. Goldsborough,
chief clerk of the Navy Department.
" Dear Elliott.— I give you joy ! You have fulfilled our
expectations ! It was well done — done like a naval hero !
Heaven be with you always.
Your friend,
GOLDSBOROUGH.
27th Oct. 1812:"
Though this letter, written in the ardor of private
friendship, such friendship as one elevated and
honorable mind can cherish for another, was never
intended for the public eye, yet the testimony it con
tains concerning the character, the cast of mind of
Captain Elliott, affords a sufficient apology for its
publication. Mr. Goldsborough, being a citizen of
Maryland, Captain Elliott's native state, knew him
well, and therefore entertained high expectations of
his naval career. He knew that Lieutenant Elliott
would not only improve but seek opportunities of
displaying the naval hero, and in the fervor of his
admiration for this gallant exploit, he pronounces it
a fulfilment of his expectations.
The following is Lieutenant Elliott's official report
of this affair to the Secretary of the Navy.
"Black Rock, October 9, 1812.
Sir, — I have the honor to inform you that on the morning
of the 8th instant, two British vessels, which I was in
formed were his Britannic majesty's brig Detroit, late the
United States' brig Adams, and the brig Hunter, mounting
14 guns, but which afterwards proved to be the brig Caledo
nia, both said to be well armed and manned, came down the
lake and anchored under the protection of Fort Erie. Hav
ing been on the lines for some time, and in a measure inac
tively employed, I determined to make an attack, and if pos
sible to get possession of them. A strong inducement to
to this attempt arose from the consideration, that with these
two vessels and those which I have purchased and am fitting

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 21
out, I should be enabled to meet the remainder of the British
force on the upper lakes, and save an incalculable expense
and labor to the government. On the morning of their arri
val, I heard that our seamen were but a short distance from
this place, and immediately despatched an express to the
officers, directing them to use all possible despatch in getting
their men to this place, as I had an important service to
perform. On their arrival, which was about 12 o'clock, I
discovered that they had only 20 pistols, and neither cut
lasses nor battle-axes. But on application to Generals
Smyth and Hall, of the regulars and militia, I was supplied
with a few arms, and General Smyth was so good, on my
request, as immediately to detach 50 men from the regulars,
armed with muskets.
By 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I had my men selected and
stationed in two boats, which I had previously prepared for
the purpose. With these boats, 50 men in each, and under
circumstances very disadvantageous, my men having scarcely
had time to refresh themselves after a fatiguing march of
500 miles, I put off from the mouth of Buffalo creek at 1
o'clock the following morning, and at 3 I was alongside the
vessels. In less thaa 10 minutes I had the prisoners all se
cured, the topsails sheeted home, and the vessels under way.
Unfortunately the wind was not sufficiently strong to get us
up a rapid current into the lake, where I had understood
another armed vessel lay at anchor, and I was obliged to run
down the river, by the forts, under a heavy fire of round,
grape and canister, from a number of pieces of heavy ord
nance, and several pieces of flying artillery, and compelled
to anchor at a distance of about 400 yards from their two
batteries. After the discharge of the first gun from the fly
ing artillery, I hailed the shore, and observed to the officer,
that if another gun was fired, I would bring the prisoners on
deck and expose them to the same fate we would all share ;
but, notwithstanding, they disregarded the caution, and con
tinued a constant and destructive fire. One single moment's
reflection determined me not to commit an act that would
subject me to the imputation of barbarity. The Caledonia
had been beached, in as safe a position as the circumstances
would admit of, under one of our batteries at Black Rock.
I now brought all the guns of the Detroit on one side, next
the enemy, stationed the men at them, and directed a fire
which was continued as long as our ammunition lasted and
circumstances permitted. During the contest, I endeavour
ed to get the Detroit on our side, by sending a line, there

22 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
being no wind, on shore, with all the line I could muster ;
but the current being so strong that the boat could not reach
the shore. I then hailed our shore, and requested that warps
should be made fast on land and sent on board ; the attempt
to all which again proved useless. As the fire was such as
would, in all probability, sink the vessel iD a short time, I
determined to drift down the river, out of the reach of the
batteries, and make a stand against the flying artillery. I
accordingly cut the cable, made sail with very light airs, and
at that instant discovered that the pilot had abandoned me. I
dropped astern for about 10 minutes, when I was brought up
on our shore, upon Squaw Island, got the boarding boat
ready, had the prisoners put in and sent on shore, with di
rections for the officer to return for me and what property we
could get from the brig. He did not return, owing to the
difficulty of the boat's getting on shore. Discovering a skiff
under the counter, I went on shore to bring the boat off. I
asked for protection to the brig, of Lieutenant-Colonel Scott,
who readily gave it. At this moment I discovered a boat
with about 40 soldiers from the British side, making for the
brig. They got on board, but were soon compelled to aban
don her, with the loss of nearly all their crew. During the
whole of this morning, both sides of the river kept up alter
nately a continual fire on the brig, and so much injured her
that it was impossible to have floated her. Before I left her,
she had several shot of large size in her bends, her sails in
ribbons, and rigging all cut to pieces.
To my officers and men I feel under great obligation ; to
Captain Towson, and Lieutenant Roach of the 2d regiment
of artillery, Ensign Pressman of the infantry, Captain Cha
pin, Mr. John M'Comb, Messrs. John Town, Thomas Dain,
Peter Overstock^ and James Sloan, resident gentlemen of
Buffalo, for their soldier and sailor like conduct. In a word,
sir, every man fought as if with their hearts animated only
by the interest and honor of their country.
The prisoners I have turned over to the military. The
Detroit mounted 6 six-pound long guns, had a commanding
lieutenant of marines, a boatswain and gunner, and 56 men,
about 30 American prisoners on board, muskets, pistols, cut
lasses, and battle axes. In boarding her I lost one man,
had one officer wounded, Mr. John C. Cummings, acting
midshipman — a bayonet through the leg; his conduct was
correct, and deserves the notice of the department. The
Caledonia mounted two small guns, blunderbusses, pistols,
muskets, cutlasses, and boarding pikes, 12 men including

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 23
officers, — 10 prisoners on board. The boat boarding her was
commanded by sailing-master George Watts, who perform
ed his duty in a masterly style. But one man killed, and
four wounded badly, I am afraid mortally. I enclose you
a list of the officers and men engaged in the enterprise, and
also a view of the lake and river in the different situations
of the attack. In a day or two I shall forward the names of
the prisoners. The Caledonia belongs to the N. W. Com
pany, loaded with furs, worth, I understand, $200,000.
I have the honor to be yours, &c.
JESSE D. ELLIOTT.
The Hon. Paul Hamilton,
Secretary U. S. Navy."
The following is the reply of the Secretary of the
Navy to this report.
" Sir, — I have received with great pleasure your letter of
the 9th inst. I have been directed by the President of the
United States to return to you, and through you to the offi
cers under your command on the expedition of Fort Erie,
which terminated to the glory of the American arms, his
particular thanks. P. HAMILTON,
Navy Department, 2d Nov. 1812.
Lieut. Jesse D. Elliott, Black Rock, Lake Erie.
P. S. Your having refrained from putting your threat into
execution is highly approved. P. H."
The following from one of the Senators in Con
gress, from Pennsylvania, of which State Commodore
Elliott was then and is now a citizen, shows the
opinion entertained by Congress of this exploit.
" City Washington 26th Jan. 1813.
Dear Sir, — 1 herein enclose a copy of a resolution this
moment passed by the Senate, expressive of the high sense
they entertain of your gallantry and good conduct in the
capture of the Detroit and the Caledonia, and I have the sa
tisfaction to add that it passed unanimously. I beg you to
make my respects to your mother, and to consider me truly
yours, ANDREW GREGG,
Lieut. Elliot.

24 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
As soon as a decision is had in the other house, I shall
communicate the result."
The resolution mentioned in this letter, which was
adopted by both Houses of Congress, was that, " a
sword, with suitable emblems and devices, be pre
sented to Lieutenant Elliott, in testimony of the just
sense entertained by Congress of his gallantry and
good conduct, in boarding and capturing the British
brigs Detroit and Caledonia, while anchored under
the protection of Fort Erie."
Soon after this brilliant exploit, Lieutenant Elliott
repaired to Sackett's Harbor, and joined the squadron
upon Lake Ontario, under the command of Commo
dore Chauncey. In July, 1813, he was promoted
over thirty Lieutenants, to the rank of Master Com
mandant, and appointed to the command of the Mad
ison, the flag ship of Commodore Chauncey's fleet.
His promotion over so many officers is a decisive
proof of the esteem entertained for him by the Presi
dent and Secretary of the Navy, for this and the pro
motion of Commodore Morris from a lieutenancy to
the rank of Master Commandant, are, with two or
three exceptions, the only instances in the naval an
nals of the United States, in which officers have been
superseded. The promotion of Captain Morris out of
the usual course, was a reward of his gallantry and
skill displayed in the action between the Constitution
and Guerriere. In the attack upon York, in Upper
Canada, on the 27th of April, 1813, the shallowness of
the water preventing the Madison from approaching
sufficiently near, he volunteered to take command of
one of seven schooners, and to lead them into action.
Commodore Chauncey, in his official report to the
Secretary of the Navy, dated April 28, 1813, after
mentioning the debarkation of the troops under the
gallant and lamented Pike, thus speaks of these
schooners, led by Captain Elliott.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 25
" As soon as the troops were landed, I directed the
schooners to take a position near the forts, in order that the
attack on them by the army and navy might be simulta
neous. The schooners were obliged to beat up to their posi
tion, which they did in a very handsome order, under a very
heavy fire from the enemy's batteries, and took a position
withm about six hundred yards of their principal fort, and
opened a heavy cannonade upon the enemy, which did great
execution, and very much contributed to their final destruc
tion." Ill 1818, during the controversy between himself
and Commodore Perry, he wrote to Lieutenant
Chauncey for a statement of this affair at York, and
received the following reply. " Washington, Wth Dec. 1818.
Dear Sir, — In reply to your request relative to the attack
and taking of York, (U. Canada,) it gives me pleasure to
state that I consider your conduct on that day very merito
rious. Your volunteering from the ship Madison to the
schooner Conquest, was considered as deserving more no
tice than was taken by the commodore in his official report.
With great lespect,
Your obedient servant,
WOLCOTT CHAUNCEY.
Capt. J. D. Elliott, U. S. Navy.
Immediately after the publication of an attack upon
his fame by Lieutenant Matthew C. Perry, which will
be noticed in the following pages, he wrote to Lieu
tenant M'Pherson, and received in reply the following
letter. <

" Gosport Navy Yard, May 24th, 1821.
Dear Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge your com
munication, and feel pleasure in stating, that you were flag
captain of the commodore's ship, when the attack was made
on York, Upper Canada. Your ship drawing too much
water, could not get into action, and I know you volun
teered to take command of a schooner, which you did, and
3

26 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
to the best of my knowledge, you were one of the first in
action. I am, Sir, respectfully, J. M'PHERSON.
Capt. J. D. Elliott, U. S. Navy.
On the 3d of August, 1813, he received orders
from Commodore Chauncey to take from the General
Pike, the flag ship on Lake Ontario, a draft of 100
officers and men, and proceed to Lake Erie, to take
command of the Niagara, under the orders of Com
modore Perry. Commodore Chauncey's letter con
taining this order, concludes as follows. " T wish
you health, and all the success which your zeal and
ability so eminently entitle you to." On the 10th of
September following, was fought the memorable
battle of Lake Erie, and the part which Captain El
liott bore in this event, will be one of the subjects
investigated in the following pages.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 87

CHAPTER H.

Battle of Lake Erie. Court of Inquiry. Testimony of Messrs. Yarnall and
Forrest.
The first attack upon the fame of Commodore El
liott was soon after the battle of Lake Erie. Whispers
were then circulated, reflecting upon his courage or
fidelity, and imputing the temporary disaster of the
capture of the Lawrence to his cowardice, or to a
treacherous wish to sacrifice Commodore Perry, and
to claim the victory as his own. His friends in the
squadron, particularly the officers of his own ship,
the Niagara, promptly met this calumny by a vindi
cation under their own hands, addressed to the Sec
retary of the Navy. The next attack was by a Bri
tish Court of Inquiry, called to inquire into the
conduct cf Commodore Barclay, in surrendering the
British fleet on Lake Erie ; which court charged tJl°
Niagara with running away from the Queen Char
lotte. A Court of Inquiry being holden at New York
in April, 1815, to inquire into the capture of the Pre
sident, the Frolic, and the Rattlesnake, Captain Elliott
applied to the Secretary of the Navy for an investiga
tion by the same Court, into his conduct in the battle
of Lake Erie. The next was by Commodore Perry,
who, in August, 1818, preferred charges to the Navy
Department against Captain Elliott, of misconduct in
the battle of Lake Erie and subsequently ; of which
charges the Executive would take no cognizance.
The next was in the publication of an anonymous
pamphlet at Washington, in the winter of 1821, con
taining the charges above mentioned, and several

28 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
other documents ; to which Captain Elliott promptly
replied in one of the Washington newspapers. The
next was a republication of the same pamphlet, with
additional documents, in the spring of 1821, by Lieu
tenant M. C. Perry, brother of the late Commodore
Perry ; to which Captain Elliott replied by the publi
cation of a pamphlet at Norfolk, Va. in the spring of
1821, containing numerous documents. The last
was a republication of Lieutenant Perry's pamphlet
at Boston, in June 1834, with the simultaneous publi
cation of scurrilous articles and advertisements in
several of the Boston newspapers, and the placarding
upon the walls of public buildings, in the streets of
Boston, of defamatory and incendiary handbills.
The object of these pages is to vindicate Commo
dore Elliott from these attacks ; to show that they have
no foundation in fact ; that they originated in profes
sional jealousies and misunderstandings : and that
they have lately been revived by a political party in
Massachusetts, holding its head quarters at Boston,
whose malignity respects no ties, whose perseverance
is proof against defeat, and whose rancorous hatred
of the political school in which Commodore Elliott
was bred, could neither be cooled by time, appeased
by submission, nor burnt out by the fires of civil war.
The charges against Commodore Elliott in all these
attacks, are those of cowardice or treachery, or both,
in the battle of Lake Erie. The testimony offered in
support of these charges, is the letter of Commodore
Perry to the Secretary of the Navy, and certain
charges inclosed, dated August 8, 1818 ; the letters
and affidavits of certain officers of the squadron on
Lake Erie, which affidavits were taken by a commit
tee of the Legislature of Rhode Island, in June, 1818;
and extracts from the official account of Commodore
Barclay, commander of the British squadron in the
battle. To these may be added the testimony of

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 29
Lieutenants Yarn all and Forrest, officers on board the
Lawrence in the battle, given before the Court of In
quiry at New York in 1815.
Before any examination of this testimony is offered,
it will be necessary, for the purpose of giving to the
reader a distinct and definite view of the subject, to
lay before him a brief chronological account of the
battle, and of the various events resulting from it
which will be noticed in this defense. The battle of
Lake Erie was fought on the 10th of September,
1813. The American squadron, commanded by
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, consisted of the
brig Lawrence, his flag ship, the brig Niagara, com
manded by Captain Elliott, the brig Caledonia, Lieu
tenant Turner, the schooner Ariel, Lieutenant Packet,
the schooner Scorpion, Sailing Master Champlin, the
schooner Somers, Sailing Master Almey, the schooner
Tigress, Lieutenant Conklin, the schooner Porcu
pine, Lieutenant Senatt, and the sloop Trippe, Lieu
tenant Holdup. The force of this squadron was as
follows : the Lawrence carried 20 guns, being 2 long
I2's and 18 321b. carronades ; the Niagara the same ;
the Caledonia, 3 long 12's or 18's ; the Ariel, 4 guns,
one of which burst early in the action ; the Somers,
2 ; the Scorpion, 2 ; the Tigress, Porcupine and
Trippe, 1 each, long 32's. The British squadron,
commanded by Commodore Barclay, consisted of the
ship Detroit, of 19 long guns, 12's, 18's and 24's ;
the ship Q,ueen Charlotte, 17 short guns ; the schoon
er Lady Prevost, 13 do ; the brig Hunter, 10 do ; the
sloop Little Belt, 3 do ; the schooner Chippewa, 1 do.
and 2 swivels. On the 13th of September, Commo
dore Perry wrote his official account of the battle to
the Secretary of the Navy. On the 19th of the same
month, the officers of the Niagara, being three Lieu
tenants, a surgeon, a purser, and a captain of the 2d
Regiment of U. S. Infantry, acting as Captain of Ma
s'

30 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
rines, addressed a most respectful and affectionate
letter of congratulation to Captain Elliott. On the
13th of October following, the same officers addressed
a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, complaining
that justice had not been done to Captain Elliott in
what they denominate " condensed and partial state
ments of the action." On the 26th of the same month,
Commodore Perry, departing for Washington, left the
command of the fleet to Captain Elliott. On the 27th
of December following, the Secretary of the Navy, in
a report to the Naval Committee of the House of
Representatives, of which committee Mr. Lowndes
was chairman, paid a high compliment to " the second
in command" in the battle of Lake Erie. Immedi
ately afterwards, the House of Representatives res
ponded to this report by resolving that, " the Presi
dent of the United States be requested to cause gold
medals to be struck, emblematical of the action be
tween the two squadrons, and present them to Commo
dore Perry and Captain Jesse D. Elliott," &c. On the
16th of April, 1815, Captain Elliott, informed that in
the opinion or report of the British Court of Inquiry
before mentioned, his conduct in the battle of Lake
Erie had been injuriously reflected upon, addressed a
letter to the Secretary of the Navy, requesting an in
vestigation, as before stated, by a Court of Inquiry
then sitting at New York. This Court, consisting of
Commodore Murray, Captain Evans and Lieutenant
Rogers, immediately entered upon this duty, and after
examining Mr. Webster, Sailing Master, Messrs.
Montgomery, Cummings and Adams, Midshipmen,
Mr. Tatem, Master's Mate, all of the Niagara, and
Lieutenants Yarnall and Forrest, of the Lawrence,
pronounced an opinion highly complimentary to Cap
tain Elliott. In June, 1818, a resolution was adopt
ed by the General Assembly of Rhode Island, to
collect and deposit among the records of the State,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 31
documents and memorials for preserving the memo
ry of the victory of Lake Erie. Messrs. Benjamin
Hazard and William C. Gibbs were appointed a
committee to collect such documents, and took the
affidavits of Dr. Parsons, Surgeon, Mr. Taylor, Sail
ing Master, Mr. Breese, Captain's Clerk, all of the
Lawrence, Lieutenant Turner of the Caledonia, Lieu
tenant Holdup Stevens of the Trippe, then Lieuten
ant Holdup, Sailing Master Champlin of the Scorpion,
and Master's Mate Brownell of the Ariel. On the
10th of August, 1818, Commodore Perry addressed a
letter to the Secretary of the Navy, inclosing sundry
charges against Captain Elliott, among which was
that of keeping his ship aloof from the enemy in the
battle of Lake Erie.
The reader having now before him a chronologi
cal statement of events, from the battle in September,
1813, to the filing of charges against Captain Elliott
in August, 1818, is invited to a particular examination
of all the testimony offered to criminate or exculpate
Captain Elliott.
As was before said, the battle of Lake Erie was
fought on the 10th of September, 1813. The plan
of the attack, as arranged by Com. Perry, was for the
Lawrence to lead the van and engage the enemy's
heaviest ship, the Detroit; for the Caledonia to follow
and attack the Hunter ; for the Niagara to engage the
Q,ueen Charlotte, and for the smaller vessels to en
gage those of the enemy. According to Commodore
Perry's official account, the British began to fire at 15
minutes before 12, and the Americans 10 minutes
afterwards. The distance between the two fleets
when the firing began, was about one mile and a half,
or two miles. Tlie American Squadron had the
weather gage, though the wind was light. The
plan of Commodore Barclay was different, and
evinced his skill. It was to disable our heavy ships

32 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
in detail, and thus to insure the capture of the whole;
a plan which all the circumstances of the case were
well fitted to promote. The Detroit, his heaviest ship,
having an armament of long 12's, 18's, and 24's,
could reach the Lawrence long before the carronades
of the latter could reach in return ; and the lightness
of the wind, by preventing our squadron from ap
proaching rapidly, tended to prolong this unequal
contest. The Lawrence leading the van, Commodore
Barclay's object was to cripple her without delay ; at
the same time to prevent the Niagara from coming
to her assistance ; afterwards to cripple the Niagara,
and then to make an easy prey of the rest. Accord
ingly, he ordered the whole fire of his long guns
upon the hull of the Lawrence, and that of the car
ronades upon the rigging of the Lawrence and Ni
agara ; for the shot from the long guns could pene
trate the hull, while that from the carronades, though
powerless against the hull, unless in close action,
could nevertheless cut the spars and rigging. In pur
suance of this plan, he opened his fire so soon as his
long guns could reach, and 10 minutes before the
American fire began. The wind was South East,
and the two squadron's sailing nearly on a wind,
heading South West by South, in nearly parallel
lines, the American squadron continually getting near
er. Captain Elliott ordered Lieutenant Webster to
commence the fire of the Niagara from his division,
with a long 12, and soon afterwards ordered one or
two broadsides from the carronades ; but perceiving
that the shot from the latter fell short, he directed the
fire from them to cease, and that from the long guns to
be continued. In the mean time, the fire of the enemy's
long guns upon the Lawrence was very destructive,
dismounting her guns, killing and wounding her men,
and very rapidly disabling her. Nor was this the
only fire sustained by the Lawrence ; for so soon as

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 33
the squadrons, continually approaching, were suffi
ciently near for carronades to take effect on the hull,
the Queen Charlotte left the line, bore away from the
fire of the Niagara, and directed her whole battery
of carronades upon the Lawrence. Captain Elliott,
perceiving this movement, ordered the Caledonia,
then directly ahead of the Niagara, out of the line,
to enable the latter to pass onward to the assistance
of the Lawrenee. The bearing away of the Queen
Charlotte from the Niagara, seems to have been a
very skilful manoeuvre. These two ships had,
till then, been firing upon each other, though most of
the fire of the Queen Charlotte was upon the Law
rence ; but our squadron approaching fast, and close
action being soon inevitable, it was necessary for the
success of his plan, for Commodore Barclay to disa
ble the, first ship without farther delay, while his own
ships were comparatively fresh. Accordingly, the
Queen Charlotte ran away from the fire of the Niag
ara, and bore down with the whole of her own upon
the Lawrence. This plan was' partially surressml,
and had nearly been entirely so ; for while the British
ships were little injured by our short guns, the Law
rence was nearly disabled by their long guns at long
shot, and completely so by the carronades of the
Queen Charlotte when sufficiently near.
In this manner, the action continued till about half
past 2 ; the Lawrence, Niagara, Caledonia, Ariel and
Scorpion being actively engaged, and the other ves
sels, being the Somers, Porcupine, Tigress and Trip
pe, being prevented from getting near by the light
ness of the wind. At about half past 2, the Law
rence was disabled and dropped out of the line ; and
shortly before, the Niagara, having already passed
ahead of the Caledonia, passed to windward of the
Lawrence, for the purpose of bearing down in close

34 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
action upon the headmost ships of the enemy. At
this time, Commodore Perry left the Lawrence in
charge of Lieutenant Yarnall, and went on board of
the Niagara ; and soon afterwards, the flag of the
Lawrence was struck. So soon as he boarded the
Niagara, he said to Captain Elliott, " I believe the
damned gun boats have lost me the day ;" to which
the latter replied, "I hope not sir ; my ship is now in
a judicious position ; take charge of my battery, and
I will bring up the small vessels and save the day."
Captain Elliott then went into the boat in which
Commodore Perry had left the Lawrence, passed
along the line of the small vessels, hailed each as he
passed, ordered them to cease firing, to get out all
their sweeps, close with and fire upon the large ships
of the enemy, without noticing the small ones ; for
the former being captured, the latter would fall of
course. He then returned along the line of small
vessels, went on board of the Somers, and bore up
with all possible despatch. Very fortunately, the
wind freshened at this time, which aided the small ves
sels in approaching. The whole force of our squad
ron being now concentrated upon the four large ships
of the enemy, they struck soon after, or about 30
minutes after Captain Elliott left the Niagara. Thus
were the two squadrons engaged for nearly three
hours ; our own beginning to fire when distant about
a mile and a half, continually approaching nearer,
and being in close action about 30 minutes. This is
a true statement of the affair, and is directly or sub
stantially confirmed by every officer whose testimony
has been published.
According to this account, wherein did Captain
Elliott evince any want of courage, skill or fidelity ?
In nothing ! On the contrary, he displayed the ut
most eagerness to close, the most seamanlike skill in

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 35
his arrangements ; and it is not claiming for him too
much to say that, to him is the country principally
indebted for the honor of that memorable victory.
In claiming for him this honor, no wish is felt to de
tract from the merit of the gallant Perry ; for the
latter acknowledged as much when he said to Captain
Elliott, on his return to the Niagara, "I owe this to
you ; " and all the facts in the case, when faithfully
collated and compared, will show that Commodore
Perry did not admit too much.
The accusatory testimony consists of the state
ments of Lieutenants Yarnall and Forrest before the
Court of Inquiry in 1815, the letter of Commodore
Perry to the. Secretary of the Navy in August, 1818,
with the charges inclosed, the affidavits of Messrs.
Turner, Parsons, Holdup Stevens, Champlin, Breese,
Brownell and Taylor, a letter of Lieutenant Forrest to
Lieutenant Perry, written at Washington on the 29th
of January, 1821, and extracts from the official report
of Commodore Barclay. Each of these witnesses,
excepting Commodore Barclay, shall be examined
separately, for the purpose of showing, 1st, how far
he agrees with Commodore Perry ; 2d, how far he
agrees with himself; 3d, how far he agrees with the
other accusing witnesses ; and 4th, how far he agrees
with probabilities.
The first accusatory witness is Lieutenant Yar
nall.* In his official report, t Commodore Perry
says, " At half past 2, the wind springing up, Captain
Elliott was enabled to bring his vessel, the Niagara,
gallantly into close action ; I immediately went on
board of her, when he anticipated my wish by volun
teering to bring the schooners, which had been kept
astern by the lightness of the wind, into close action.
It was with unspeakable pain that I saw, soon after I
?Appendix B. f Appendix A

36 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
got on board the Niagara, the flag of the Lawrence
come down, although I was perfectly sensible that
she had been defended to the last, and that to have
continued to make a show of resistance would have
been a wanton sacrifice of the remains of her brave
crew. But the enemy was not able to take possession
of her, and circumstances soon permitted her flag
again to be hoisted. At 45 minutes past 2, the signal
was made for close action." This language shows
that Captain Elliott was already in close action be
fore Commodore Perry left the Lawrence. Lieuten
ant Yarnall says that when Commodore Perry board
ed the Niagara, she was half of a mile off the weath
er bow of the Lawrence ; that while the latter was in
close action, the former was keeping up a distant fire,
three quarters of a mile off, and was not in close ac
tion till brought into it by Commodore Perry. Here
Commodore Perry and Lieutenant Yarnall disagree
with each other. Commodore Perry says that at half
past 2, Captain Elliott brought his vessel into close
action, that he immediately went on board of her,
and at 45 minutes past 2, gave the signal for close
action. Lieutenant Yarnall says that at 48 minutes
past 2, the Niagara was three quarters of a mile astern
of the Lawrence, and that he then expressed to Commo
dore Perry his surprise at observing her in that situa
tion. Here they disagree with each other again ; for
it is impossible for Commodore Perry to have been
on board of the Niagara, giving signals, at 45 min
utes past 2, and on board of the Lawrence, listenino-
to Lieutenant Yarnall, three minutes afterwards.
According to Commodore Perry, only 15 minutes in
tervened between his deciding to leave the Lawrence,
and his giving the signal for close action on board of
the Niagara ; and according to Lieutenant Yarnall,
the distance of the Niagara from the Lawrence when
Commodore Perry left her, was three quarters of a

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 37
mile; Is it possible for Commodore Perry to have
departed from his own ship, gone in a boat three
quarters of a mile, boarded and taken command of
another ship, and given a signal to the squadron, in
the compass of 15 minutes? It is believed not ; and
if not, Lieutenant Yarnall disagrees with probabilities.
He says that the Niagara passed him one half of a
mile off his weather bow, when Commodore Perry
took possession of her, and that this was about two
hours and 48 minutes after the action commenced ;
and he afterwards says that at two hours and 48 min
utes after the action commenced, Commodore Perry,
then in the Lawrence, said to him, " I leave you to
surrender the vessel to the enemy. " Here Lieuten
ant Yarnall disagrees with himself, and probabilities,
and even possibilities also ; for it is impossible, for Com
modore Perry to have been giving orders in the Law
rence, and boarding the Niagara one half of a mile
off, at the same moment. He says that Commodore
Perry told him, on leaving the Lawrence, " I leave
you to surrender the vessel to the enemy. " Commo
dore Perry says, " Finding she could no longer an
noy the enemy, I left her in charge of Lieutenant
Yarnall, who, I was convinced, from the bravery al
ready displayed by him, would do what would com
port with the honor of the flag. " Here they disa
gree with each other ; for the expression quoted by
Lieutenant Yarnall indicates that Commodore Perry
had already determined to surrender the vessel, while
that of Commodore Perry implies that Lieutenant
Yarnall was not to surrender her without absolute
necessity. Commodore Perry adds, "It was with un
speakable pain that I saw, soon after I got on board
the Niagara, the flag of the Lawrence come down,
although I was perfectly sensible that she had been
defended to the last, and that to have continued to
make a show of .resistance would have been a wan-
4

38i LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
ton sacrifice of the remains of her brave crew."
This language necessarily excludes the belief that he
had determined to surrender the Lawrence when he
left her, for it expresses a painful surprise at an event
for which, indeed, he was prepared, but which he did
not suppose to be so near.
Lieutenant Yarnall admits that the sketch of the
battle, laid before the court by Captain Elliott, was
correct; and according to this sketch, the Hunter was
the fourth ship in the British line. All the witnesses
before the court concur with Mr. Yarnall in the cor
rectness of this sketch. Yet he says that the Queen
Charlotte was astern of the Hunter, and consequently
the fourth in the line. Here he contradicts himself
and all the other witnesses.
The next witness is Lieutenant Forrest. * Before
the court of inquiry in 1815, he agrees with Lieuten
ant Yarnall in saying that the Niagara was one half
of a mile off when Commodore Perry boarded her,
and he thus confirms that part of Lieutenant Yar-
nall's story which renders another part of it improba
ble. But he disagrees with Commodore Perry, who
says that before he boarded her, the Niagara was in
close action. He also says that more sail might have
been set upon the Niagara, and that during the ac
tion, he expressed his surprise that the Niagara did
not close with the enemy. Yet he says that Captain
Elliott did every thing becoming a brave and merito
rious officer. Here he disagrees with himself ; for
his surprise at the distance of the Niagara shows that
he thought she ought to have been in close action ;
and if Captain Elliott refrained from doing what he
ought to have done, he certainly did not do every
thing becoming a brave and meritorious officer. The
same Lieutenant Forrest, in a letter written six years
afterwards, to Lieutenant Matthew C. Perry, t says,
* Appendix B. 10._ f Appendix D.

LLFE OF 'COM. ELLIOTT. 39
that Captain Elliott, instead of merely forbearing to
set more sail, put his helm down and sheered to wind
ward of the Lawrence. By this he implies that she
sheered off ; for as our squadron was moving in fine,
parallel with and to windward of the enemy, and the
Niagara astern of the Lawrence, the sheering of the
former to windward of the latter would be a retro
grade movement. He also says that Captain Elliott
was prevented from closing with the enemy, either by
cowardice, or a treacherous wish to sacrifice the Law
rence and to claim the victory for himself. Here he
contradicts his former statement. He also says that
Commodore Perry, in his official report, was actuated
by a benevolent wish to screen Captain Elliott. Here
he not only disagrees with Commodore Perry about
the facts, but charges him with deliberately rendering
a false account, and consequently with falsehood, and
with treachery to his country, for the purpose of
screening a brother officer from the punishment due
to his misconduct. Lieutenant Forrest says that
" Commodore Perry hailed Captain Elliott, told him
that he himself intended to engage the Detroit, and
wished the Niagara to drop just astern of him, " and
that they went into action in that order. "Just
astern, " in the common acceptation of the terms,
means the next behind ; consequently, according to
Lieutenant Forrest, the Niagara was the very next
ship in the line to the Lawrence. Lieutenant Yar
nall says that Captain Elliott fell into line next to the
Caledonia ; meaning that the Niagara was next
in succession to, or in the rear of that vessel, and
consequently the next but one to the Lawrence. Here
Lieutenant Forrest disagrees with Lieutenant Yar
nall.

40 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER III.

Battle of Lake Erie. Testimony of Messrs. Turner, Parsons, Stevens, For
rest, Champlin, Breese, Brownell and Taylor.
The next witnesses are the officers who furnished
affidavits to the Committee of the Legislature of*
Rhode Island. The first in order of these is the affi
davit of Lieutenant Turner,* who commanded the
Caledonia, a ship, be it always remembered, for which
the American Navy was indebted to Captain Elliott,
who gallantly took it from the British about one year
previously. In this affidavit, he says that the signal
made by Commodore Perry was for every one to en
gage as he '©ame up,%aciragainst the enemy's vessel,
" which made the Niagara the antagonist of the
Queen Charlotte," the third ship in the enemy's line.
Here he disagrees with Lieutenant Forrest, who says
before the Court of Inquiry, that the Niagara was
just astern of the Lawrence. He says it was the
general opinion of the American officers, that Captain
Elliott did not do his duty in the battle as a gallant
and faithful officer. Here he disagrees with Lieu
tenant Forrest, who says, as already cited, that Captain
Elliott did every thing becoming a brave and merito
rious officer in that action. Lieutenant Turner also
says that ," thsiNiagara might have relieved the Law
rence from the Queen Charlotte's fire, if she had made
proper exertions to bring her to close action ; but by
*Appendix E. I.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 41
keeping " her maintopsail aback and her jib brailed
Tip, she kept at too great a distance from the eneniy
to do him any injury, and sustained scarcely any
herself until the Commodore took command of her,
who immediately bore up and passed through the
enemy's line, firing both his broadsides with such
tremendous effect, as caused him instantly to surren
der." By this he means that the maintopsail was
kept aback and the jib brailed up, to prevent the ship
from approaching the enemy's line, or in other words,
to keep out of the action. Here he disagrees with
Lieutenants Yarnall and Forrest, who both say before
the Court of Inquiry, that, at no time during the ac
tion, did the Niagara attempt to make off from the
British fleet. To explain this disagreement, it may
be said that in maritime language, to make off,
means to retreat, and not merely to refrain from ad
vancing. But when the reader considers that the
American squadron had the weather gage, and that
both squadrons were moving onward in nearly pa
rallel lines, a retrograde movement of the Niagara, for
the purpose of keeping out of action, was not only
unnecessary, but next to impossible. To keep out of
reach of the enemy's shot, the only movement neces
sary was so to order the sails of the Niagara as to pre
vent her from advancing. Lieutenant Turner, there
fore, in saying that the maintopsail was aback and
the jib brailed up, for the purpose of keeping at a
distance, conveys the same meaning that would be
expressed by the terms making off. To make off
from a battle where the combatants continue on the
same ground, and to keep off where they are contin
ually advancing in parallel lines, practically amount
to the same thing. He also says that the Niagara
was kept at a great distance, and sustained but little
injury before Commodore Perry boarded her. Here he
disagrees with Commodore Perry, who says that Cap-
4*

42 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
tain Elliott brought his vessel gallantly into close action,
before he, Commodore Perry, went on board of her.
Long before Lieutenant Turner gave this affi
davit, and indeed only 46 days after the battle, he
addressed to Captain Elliott the following letter.
Erie, Oct. 28, 1813.
Sir, — In answer to vour note of yesterday, I have no hesi
tation in saying;, that the Niagara was in the station assign
ed her previous to the engagement of the 10th ; and it is my
opinion that you, sir, and every officer on hoard of the Nia
gara, made use of every exertion, from the different situations
in which your vessel was. Respectfully, sir,
Your oliedient servant,
DANIEL TURNER.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott.
Here he disagrees with himself, for this letter and
this affidavit are utterly inconsistent with each other.
But he says in the affidavit, that, the letter was given
to soothe the feelings of Captain Elliott's wife, who
had heard that his conduct had been questioned. Ad
mitting this statement, what does it prove ? That at
the earnest request of Captain Elliott, he gave a
statement in his favor which was not correct! How
far does this fact corroborate a counter-statement? How
far does this support his testimony when he tells a
different story ? To show that he testifies correctly
now, he confesses that he testified erroneously then !
Is he entitled to more credence when testifying-
against, than when testifying for Captain Elliott?
And should not his acknowledgment of having erro
neously told one story, induce the reader to pause
before he places full reliance upon his accuracy of
recollection in. telling another? Here it is well to
remark that when this letter was written, the wife of
Captain Elliott was at Carlisle, in Pennsylvania, 360
miles from Lake Erie, and then dangerously ill.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 43
Criptain Elliott could have been informed of her ill
ness only by a messenger or letter from Carlisle, tra
velling over these 360 miles; and' as the same
distance must be travelled by a messenger of letter
from 'Lake Erie to Carlisle, Mrs. Elliott could not have
despatched tidings to her husband, and : received any
in reply, in a shorter time than was necessary for
travelling 720 miles, and in that season of the year
When the roads in the middle and western states are
in the worst condition. Could' this certificate have
been instrumental in calming excited feeling, which,
in disease, 'might produce injurious or fatal conse
quences, the distance was somewhat too great to ren
der the remedy of much use ; and no judicious -phy
sician, in a case of severe, but not chronic illness, for
the illness of Mrs. Elliott was hot chronic, w6tfld
prescribe a remedy that must be sought through 720
miles of miry roads. But supposing Mrs.. Elliott -to
be suffering merely under a sense of her husband's
imputed dishonor ; which, to a female of a delicate
mind, would indeed be suffering enough, could Cap
tain Elliott suppose that those sufferings would be
alleviated by the single certificate of Lieutenant Tur
ner ? This witness says that " Captain Elliott's con
duct was spoken of, as well in General Harrison's
army as in the fleet, with great disapprobation and
censure." At this time, when the whole country was
alive to every military movement, when all eyes were
upon those officers of the army or navy who were
leaders or active participators in any warlike enter
prise, Captain Elliott must have received his share of
the public scrutiny. Let it be remembered also, that
he had greatly distinguished himself about twelve
months previously, by capturing two ships from the
enemy, one of which this same Lieutenant Turner
commanded in the battle of Lake Erie. If then, arty
doubts had been cast upon his courage, skill Or 'fide
lity in this battle, he would be the object of more ge-

44 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
neral remark, of closer examination, in consequence
of having previously so distinguished himself. How
then is it possible for rumor, with her thousand
tongues, circulating among the officers of the fleet and
of General Harrison's army, and thence over the
whole land, to avoid the ear of Captain Elliott's lady ?
Had such rumors been rife, they must have reached
her, afed from a thousand sources. In such state of
things, could the single certificate of Lieutenant
Turner be a sufficient " Balm to a wounded spirit?"
The panacea to " minister to a mind diseased ?" to
" rase out the written troubles of the brain," thus nu
merously, thus multitudinously inscribed ? Small in
deed must have been Captain Elliott's opinion of his
lady's intelligence, if he thought that this single little
certificate could outweigh the evidence of the whole
fleet and General Harrison's army ! ! Here then,
Lieutenant Turner disagrees with probabilities. This
certificate or letter could not then have been written
for such purpose, and Mr. Turner's memory must
have egregiously failed him when he so stated in his
affidavit. It was written for the purpose of repelling
the calumny against Captain Elliott, which was put
in circulation immediately after the battle. Mr. Tur
ner commanded one of the vessels ; his station was
immediately astern of the Lawrence,and ahead of the
Niagara. Had the Niagara, therefore, been out of the
station assigned to her, the position of Mr. Turner
gave him the opportunity of knowing it with certain
ty, and he was therefore better qualified than the
commander of any other ship excepting the Lawrence,
to testify upon the subject. Captain Elliott therefore
applied to him, and promptly received a reply, which,
from his means of knowing, is to be deemed correct.
The next witness is Dr. Parsons.* He says, " I
well recollect that the wounded, from the first of their
coming down, complained that the Niagara did not
* Appendix E. 2.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. • 45
come up to her station, and close with the Queen
Charlotte, although he had been ordered by signal."
Commodore Perry says, " at 15 minutes before 12,
the enemy commenced firing ; at 5 minutes before
12, the action commenced on our part. Finding their
fire very destructive, owing to their long guns, and
it being mostly directed to the Lawrence, I made sail,
and directed the other vessels to follow, for the pur
pose of closing with the enemy." Lieutenant Yar
nall, as already stated, says that the distance of the
Niagara from the enemy at the commencement of fir
ing, was one and a half or two miles, and that she was
in line next to the Caledonia ; which would make the
distance of the Lawrence about one eighth of a mile
less. The fire from the enemy's long guns being
very destructive, and mostly upon the Lawrence,
some of her men must have been wounded in the
early part of the action. It is singular that they
should complain at this time that the Niagara did not
come up to her station and close with the Queen
Charlotte, when not' a singie>'ship of the-:squadron
was nearer to the enemy than one mile and a half!
It is also singular that they should make this com
plaint before Commodore Perry attempted to close ;
for it was this destructive fire from the long guns
which caused him to bear down for the purpose of
closing, and to direct the other ships to follow him.
Captain Elliott could not be expected to bear down
without orders ; and therefore, complaints of the
sailors against him for not bearing down at this period
of the action, were somewhat premature. Here Dr.
Parsons disagrees with Commodore Perry, and with
probabilities also. He also says that this complaint
was frequently repeated till the Lawrence struck ;
and further, " It was at the same time observed that
the Caledonia was in close action, while the Niagara,
a faster sailer, was quite out of the reach of the ene
my." What does he mean by the same time 7 When

46 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
the Wounded first went down, which, according to
Commodore Perry, must have been at or near the
commencement of the action ? It could not have
been then, as no ship was then in close action, and
there was no reason why the Niagara should be near
er to the enemy than any other ship of the squadron.
Was it when the Lawrence struck? Let it be re
membered that according to Commodore Perry, Cap
tain Elliott went into close action before he, Commo
dore Perry, went on board of the Niagara, and that the
Lawrence did not strike till after he left her ! Here
then, Dr. Parsons disagrees with Commodore Perry.
Does he refer to the time intervening between the com
mencement of the action, and the striking of the Law
rence ? Here again he disagrees with Commodore
Perry, for he says that such complaints were repeated
till the Lawrence struck, and Commodore Perry says
that Captain Elliott was in close action before she
struck. Dr. Parsons says that of twenty cases of the wound
ed on board of the Niagara, "not more than one or
two said they were wounded while Captain Elliott,
was on board the ship ;" and further, " on board all
the small vessels which Captain Elliott brought up
towards the close of the action, the number of killed
and wounded did not exceed two or three." The ap
parent object of these statements is to prove that Cap
tain Elliott, whether on board of the Niagara or
among the small vessels, kept out of the enemy's fire ;
and thus they rather indicate a prejudice against him,
than a disposition to give a charitable construction to
his conduct. Let it be admitted for a moment, and
for a moment only is it admitted, that not more than
one or two of the Niagara's crew were wounded be
fore Commodore Perry boarded her. Would this
prove that Captain Elliott kept aloof? The Detroit
had an armament of long 12, 18 and 24 pounders ;

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 47
and though the armaments of the Queen Charlotte
and Lady Prevost were carronades, they still had
some long guns, as had most or all of the British ships.
The Detroit was directly opposed to the Lawrence,
and Commodore Perry says that the fire of the enemy
was mostly directed to that ship, and very destructive.
Is it extraordinary then, that before the Niagara was
in close action, or in other words, while beyond the
reach of short guns, and while the long guns were
playing upon the Lawrence, but few men should be
injured in the former, while many in the latter were
killed nr wounded ? The same explanation applies
to the small vessels. Besides being disregarded by
the enemy, who turned all his long guns upon our
large ships, the small vessels, until brought up by
Captain Elliott, were beyond the reach of the carro
nades. When brought into close action by him, they
were still little noticed by the enemy, whose whole
fire was directed against the Niagara and Caledonia.
For these causes they were but little injured, though
pouring upon the enemy a destructive fire, under the
direction of Captain Elliott.
After mentioning the small number of killed and
wounded on board of the small vessels, Dr. Parsons
adds that the number of killed and wounded on board
of the Lawrence, before she struck, was eighty-three.
The order and juxtaposition of these statements are
worthy of notice. The apparent object is to place
Captain Elliott in strong and injurious contrast with
Commodore Perry, by leading the reader to infer that
the Lawrence fought the whole fleet of the enemy
single handed, before Captain Elliott came up, and,
that when he did come up, so little remained to be-
done, that his own share of it was almost bloodless.
He further says, " in conversation with two officers,
of the Queen Charlotte, I asked them why the
Queen Charlotte directed her fire wholly upon the.

4§ LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Lawrence instead of the Niagara ? He replied, be
cause the Niagara was so far off we could not injure
her. " Who these officers were, what was their rank
on board, and consequently, what were their means
of knowing the reasons of the orders given by their
commander, the witness leaves entirely to conjecture ;
and therefore the reader has a right to explain for
himself. Had Dr. Parsons inquired of them when
the Niagara was so far off as to be beyond the reach
of their fire, they would probably have told him, ei
ther that it was at the commencement of the action,
when Captain Elliott found that his own carronades
would not reach the Queen Charlotte, or that it was
after the Queen Gharlotte bore away from the Nia
gara, and turned all her guns upon the Lawrence.
But who were these " officers ?" A boatswain, or a
gunner, or a quarter gunner, is called an "officer."
and for ought appearing to the contrary, Dr. Par
sons might have picked up this statement from some
such source. Nor is the verbal inaccuracy of the
witness unworthy of notice. He says, "in conversa
tion with two officers of the Queen Charlotte, &c.
I asked them why, &c. He replied, &c." i" asked
them, and he replied ! Does he mean both of the
two? And if not, which of the two does it mean?
He says, " the officers of the Lawrence and some of
the other vessels, felt exceedingly disappointed and
displeased with the official report of Commodore Per
ry, on account of the honorable mention there made
of Captain Elliott." This is admitted, and reasons
for it will be shown hereafter. He introduces mid
shipman Lenox as repeatedly telling him that Captain
Elliott had said, in presence of Mr. Lenox, at Buffa
lo, "that he regretted he did not sacrifice the fleet,
when it was in his power, and Captain Perry with it."
Why was not Mr. Lenox introduced to speak for him
self? Why did not the committee of the Legislature

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 49
of Rhode Island, to whom Dr. Parsons furnished his
affidavit, also procure that of Mr. Lenox? Was he
not then living, or not within reach ? If the latter,
the omission could have been supplied by a letter
from him to Commodore Perry, or, as was the case
with Lieutenant Forrest, by a letter to Lieutenant M.
C. Perry. A declaration so remarkable, so replete
with wickedness, with treason, so fully confirmatory
of all the charges preferred by Commodore Perry, so
fitted to stamp forever the reputation of Captain El
liott, so fitted to settle the public mind concerning the
disputes between them, should not have been allowed
to rest upon hearsay. Commodore Perry must have
perceived the importance of this testimony, and would
not, therefore, have overlooked the obvious necessity
of producing Mr. Lenox, or of giving a satisfactory
reason for the omission. But Mr. Lenox has not ap
peared; the testimony is merely hearsay, and is liable
to all the objections that may generally be urged
against this species of testimony ; among which ob
jections may be mentioned an imperfect hearing of
the narrator's statements, and a misunderstanding of
them. Which then is most probable ; that Captain
Elliott should have made such a declaration, or that
Dr. Parsons should have heard indistinctly, under
stood erroneously, and after the lapse of five years,
recollected imperfectly? Against the first branch of
the alternative may be opposed the whole previous
conduct of Captain Elliott, who never before was
known to fail in duty, and once at least before, as
every officer of the fleet could testify whenever he
looked at the Caledonia, had behaved most energeti
cally and most gallantly. To support the second
branch of the alternative, the reader is referred to the
contradictions already mentioned between Dr. Par
sons on the one part, and Commodore Perry and
probabilities on the other.
5

50 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Dr. Parsons says that Mr. Lenox " commanded one
of the small vessels." This is a mistake. The small
vessels were the Ariel, Scorpion, Caledonia, Porcu
pine, Somers, Tigress and Trippe, and their command
ers were Messrs. Packett, Champlin, Turner, Senatt,
Almey, Conklin, and Holdup.
The next witness is Lieutenant Thomas Holdup
Stevens,* who commanded the Trippe, and was then
Lieutenant Thomas Holdup. He says that while the
Lawrence and Caledonia went gallantly into close
action, the Niagara continued to hug the wind, and
remained in the same position which she had taken at
the commencement of the action, till a few moments
before Commodore Perry boarded her. Here he dis
agrees with Commodore Perry, who says that before
he boarded her, the Niagara was carried into close
action by Captain Elliott. Lieutenant Yarnall says
that at the commencement of the action, the distance
of the Niagara from the enemy was one and a half
or two miles ; and Commodore Perry says that he
went on board of her in less than 15 minutes after
Captain Elliott brought her into close action. If then
she was in the same position as at the commencement
of the action, until just before Commodore Perry
went on board of her, either Lieutenant Yarnall is
mistaken about this distance, or Commodore Perry
went from one and a half to two miles in an open
boat, went on board of the Niagara, and brought heT
from that distance into close action, in less than 15
minutes ; or Commodore Perry's account of boarding
¦the Niagara is utterly erroneous. Lieutenant Holdup
Stevens therefore disagrees with either Commodore
Perry, Lieutenant Yarnall, probabilities, or all three.
He further says that "from the number of light sails
the Niagara had, and there being a leading wind, Cap
tain Elliott might at any period of the action have closed
?Appendix, E. 3.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 51
with the enemy, and relieved the Lawrence from the
dreadful and destructive fire kept up upon her from
the united forces of the Detroit and Queen Char
lotte." A leading wind, in nautical language, means
a wind blowing fair, and driving a vessel onward.
Lieutenant Yarnall says that from the beginning to
the end of the action, the wind was sufficient to drive
a vessel about two knots, which means two miles.
The language of Lieutenant Holdup Stevens would
imply that Captain Elliott was at no time impeded by
the want of wind. A leading wind, or a wind from
the direction fitted to propel a ship forward, and at
the rate of only two knots, is certainly a very light
wind. Commodore Perry says, " at half past 2, the
wind springing up, Captain Elliott was enabled to
bring his vessel, the Niagara, gallantly into close ac
tion ;" and Lieutenant Yarnall says that when Com
modore Perry left the Lawrence, the wind freshened
and there was more then than there had been. Here
Commodore Perry and Lieutenant Yarnall support
each other ; the language of Commodore Perry neces
sarily implies that Captain Elliott had been impeded
by the wind, and consequently both disagree with
Lieutenant Holdup Stevens.
Mr. Holdup Stevens says, " it was the general
opinion of the officers and men of the squadron, that
Captain Elliott did not do his duty in the action," &c.
Commodore Perry says, " of Captain Elliott, already
so well known to the Government, it would be almost
superfluous to speak. In this action he evinced his
characteristic bravery and judgment," &c. Here Mr.
Stevens disagrees with Commodore Perry. He says
that while Commodore Perry made every exertion to
screen Captain Elliott, the volunteers paid little regard
to his wishes, butexpressed theiropinionsopenly. Who
were these volunteers? Why did they not appear?
Why were not their affidavits taken? Only one
volunteer, Captain Brevoort, has appeared in the

52 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
case, and his testimony, highly approbatory of Cap
tain Elliott, will be introduced hereafter. He says,
" it was a received opinion in the fleet, that previous
to Commodore Perry's going on board the Niagara,
she had but one man wounded, and that her opponent
the Queen Charlotte, from the account of the British
officers, had suffered but very slightly previous to
being engaged in close action with Commodore Per
ry." Here he disagrees with Dr. Parsons, who re
luctantly admits two. Who were these British offi
cers, and to whom they gave such accounts, is not
stated ; but whoever they were, if they gave such
account, they contradicted the official account of their
commander, as will be shown hereafter. He concludes
with saying it was reported from the Somers, that Cap
tain Elliott behaved with great cowardice on board of
that vessel, and very cruelly beat a gunner with a
speaking trumpet, for having ridiculed his dodging
a shot. The apparent intention of this remark is to
show that Captain Elliott was stultified by fear.
It proves too much, and cannot therefore be true.
If it were true, it would be a conclusive argument
against the intrepidity of Captain Elliott in this ac
tion, and the best witness for proving a fact so remark
able, would be Mr. Nichols, the commander of the
Somers after Captain Elliott boarded her and sent
Mr. Almey below. He would certainly know what
transpired in his own vessel ; and seeing one of his own
men beaten by a superior officer of the fleet, coming
on board from one of the heaviest ships, sending his
own commander below, and giving the charge of the
deck to himself, he would probably know the cause
of the beating. Why was not his affidavit taken ?
His testimony does appear in the case, but unfortu
nately for Commodore Perry, decidedly in favor of Cap
tain Elliott, as will appear hereafter. But this state
ment, for which no authority is given, proves too

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 9&
much ; for it proves that an officer who never before
evinced a want of courage, and who shortly before, ift
the capture of the Detroit and Caledonia, had disi-
tinguished himself for the most daring intrepidity, be
haved like a eoward in an action that had been anti
cipated for weeks, in presence of all the officers, and
even of a whole fleet and a whole army, and with
every motive of honor and interest to behave well.
With mihtary men, the highest point of honor is
courage. Like chastity in a woman, or truth in a
clergyman, military courage is a quality, the posses*
sion of which is not so meritorious as the want of it
is disgraceful. To say that a soldier is brave, is to
say what every soldier is presumed to be, and that
for which no particular praise is due. But to say that
he is a coward, is to impute to him the deepest diss1-
grace ; to say that he is not merely undeserving of
praise, but an object of contempt and scorn. Can if
be supposed then that a captain of the American
navy, already distinguished in the naval history of
his country, the second in command in the first Ame
rican fleet that ever fought a battle with a British
fleet, and with a chance of gaining imperishable re-
nown, of gathering laurels that would never fade,
would ignominiously forfeit a well earned reputation,
throw away a glorious opportunity, and render him
self the scorn of officers and the butt of sailors, by an
exhibition of stupid, senseless cowardice ? Had he
been a raw recruit, the story were hardly credible.
But for a captain of a ship, who had seen service,
who had fought battles, who had before engaged the
enemy, aye ! and beaten, him too, the story can excite
no other emotions than ridiemlie of its absurdity and
contempt of its malignity.. To dodge a shot ! to take
his head out. of the way of one, to put it, perhaps, in
the way of anothes ! It is making Captain Elliott
exceed the imputed folly of the ostrich, that thinks
5*

54 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
its whole body safe when it hides its head in a cor
ner! It is well for the honor of the American navy
that this story is anonymous! That Lieutenant
Thomas Holdup Stevens does not tell it upon his own
authority ! Sorrowful i ndeed would it be for a gentle
man who wears an American epaulette, to own the
paternity of such a tale.
But before Lieutenant Thomas Hpldup Stevens
gave this affidavit, he wrote a letter to Colonel Da
niel Stevens, of Charleston, S. C, dated four days
after the battle, of which the following is an extract.
U. S. Sloop Trippe, Put-in-Bay, on
Lake Erie, Uth Sept. 1813.
At 5 minutes before one, by my watch, the British Com
modore fired the first gun. At 10 minutes after one the
action became warm, the British vessels firing directly on
the Lawrence. The lightness of the wind prevented Capt.
Elliott, in the Niagara, from coming up to her assistance.
The Lawrence stood the unequal contest for two hours and
twenty minutes, when, all her crew being killed or wounded
excepting 18, she hauled off. The gallant, the intrepid
Perry, then left her, and with gallant Lawrence's motto of
"Don't give dp the ship," under his arm, repaired on board
of the Niagara ; he then hove out the signal for close action ;
the smaller vessels got all sweeps, and made sail; fortu
nately a light wind sprung up, and the Caledonia and this
vessel had an opportunity of getting near the enemy. This
action speaks for itself. I shall not attempt to describe the
actions of any officer ; the commodore, no doubt, will give
them all the justice in his power.
The letter and the affidavit are utterly inconsistent,
and upon the very point which the affidavit was
given to support. His object in the affidavit is to
prove that Captain Elliott was not prevented from
closing with the enemy by the lightness of the wind;
for he says that with her number of light sails, and
there being a leading wind, the Niagara might have
closed at any moment. But in this letter he says

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 55
that the lightness of the wind did prevent Captain
Elliott from coming up to the assistance of the Law
rence ! Nor is this the only contradiction. In the
affidavit, he says that the Lawrence and Caledonia
went into close action together. In the letter, he says
that 2 hours and 20 minutes after the commence
ment of the action, during which period the Law
rence had been fighting alone, and had been disabled,
a light wind sprung up, which enabled the Caledonia
and his own vessel, the Trippe, to get near the enemy.
Again, in the affidavit, he says that Captain Elliott
did not do his duty. In the letter he says, " This ac
tion speaks for itself. I shall not attempt to describe
the action of any officer. The commodore, no doubt,
will give them all the justice in his power." By this
language he means that all the officers behaved well ;
so well that he could not adequately describe their
merits, and therefore should not attempt it. Again,
in this letter, he says that Captain Elliott was pre
vented from getting up by the lightness of the wind,
and that after Commodore Perry boarded the Niaga
ra, he gave the signal for close action. By this he
plainly implies that the Niagara was not in close ac
tion till after Commodore Perry boarded her, and here
he contradicts the commodore, who says that the
Niagara was in close action before he boarded her.
Once more. He says that Commodore Perry left the
Lawrence with a certain flag, called the motto flag,
under his arm. Here he disagrees with Commodore
Perry, who says that this flag was still flying on board
of the Lawrence when he left her.
The next witness is sailing Master Champlin,* who
commanded the Scorpion. He, like Lieutenants
Turner and Stevens, and Dr. Parsons, contradicts
Commodore Perry in saying that the Niagara kept
* Appendix E. 4.

56 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
at a long distance, until a short time before Commodore
Perry boarded her. The apparent object of his testi
mony is to show that the Niagara did not go into
close action until boarded by Commodore Perry, and
thus he impliedly contradicts the commodore. He
says the Niagara, a short time before Commodore
Perry boarded her, " ranged ahead of the Lawrence,
and to windward of her, bringing the commodore's
ship between her and the enemy, when he might have
passed to leeward and relieved the Lawrence from
their destructive fire." His apparent object in this
is to show that the Niagara not only endeavored to
avoid the enemy's fire, but to abandon the Lawrenee
to her fate. But how, it may be inquired, got the
Niagara thus ahead of the Lawrence, or in other
words, how came she the headmost ship in the line,
while yet under command of Captain Elliott, if, as
Mr. Champlin has already said, she continued to
keep at long shot till boarded by Commodore Perry %
Here Mr. Champlin disagrees with himself. This
movement of the Niagara will be explained hereafter,
and to every unprejudiced and experienced seaman,
will shew the nautical skill and judgment of Captain
Elliott. It was this movement that retrieved the
fortune of the day ! He says it was the opinion of
the officers and men of the squadron that Captain
Elliott did not do his duty in this action. If it shall
hereafter appear that a large number of the officers
theaght otherwise, the reader will probably regard
this statement of Mr. Champlin as too vague and in
definite to be very conclusive. He repeats the tale
about the chain-shot ; which again induces the ques
tion, how should such affair happen without the
knowledge of the commander of the Somers ? He
then quotesi a conversation between Captain Elliott
and himself about prize money, in which he charges
Captain Elliott with saying, that the officers of the

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 57
Lawrence were not entitled to any, having surren
dered their vessel ; but that those of the other ships
were entitled to it for re-capturing her. It is not im
probable that Captain Elliott said something of the
kind, but by way of quoting the remarks of other of
ficers, and not as his own suggestion. This subject
will be examined hereafter, and satisfactorily explain
ed. He also charges Captain Elliott with saying
that during two hours and a half, he was so far from
the enemy that he only fired his 12 pounders, and
assigned as a reason that he had no signal from
Commodore Perry to change his situation. That
Captain Elliott fired his long guns only, for a time,
and because his carronades would not reach, is true,
and will be proved hereafter. It is also probable that
he had no signal to change his situation ; for accord
ing to Mr. Champlin, he found his way to the head
of the line before Commodore Perry boarded the
Niagara, and Commodore Perry says that the signal
for close action was given afterwards. Then if Com
modore Perry and Mr. Champlin be taken together,
Captain Elliott was justified in keeping at long shot,
because he had no orders to do otherwise, and chang
ed his situation afterwards upon his own responsibili
ty, and upon view of the absolute necessity of the case.
But Mr. Champlin seems to imply that this declara
tion of Captain Elliott was not true, and that he had
orders to change his situation ; and by implying this,
he disagrees with Commodore Perry. He closes his
affidavit by ascribing to Captain Elliott the same
treasonable expression that was imputed to him by
Dr. Parsons, and gives for it the authority of Midship
man Senatt and the citizens of Buffalo. There is
something exceedingly mysterious in this affair. Dr.
Parsons quotes Midshipman Lenox, Mr. Champlin
quotes Midshipman Senatt and the citizens of Buffalo.
Why were neither of these officers nor any of these

58 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
citizens produced ? As was before said, in comment
ing upon the testimony of Dr. Parsons, the necessity
of producing these witnesses to declarations so re
markable, and so fatal to Captain Elliott if proved,
must have been too obvious to Commodore Perry to
be overlooked. Who were these citizens of Buffalo,
and where are their affidavits? Is it possible that
Lieutenant Champlin could hear a captain of the
American Navy charged with treasonable expres
sions, without having either bis curiosity or his indig
nation excited, and without noting and remembering
the accusers ? If he believed the charge, his duty
was to report it to the Secretary of the Navy. If he
believed it not, his duty was to defend a brother of
ficer from a calumny so atrocious. If he wished to
aid Commodore Perry in his dispute with Captain
Elliott, he would not have overlooked an opportunity
of procuring testimony so conclusive. If he believed
Captain Elliott to be falsely accused, he would have
communicated to him the charge and the names of
the accusers, and thus have furnished him with the
means of defense. In whatever light this charge is
viewed, it presents an extraordinary aspect; it is
stamped with the impress of improbability. It shows
that the recollection of Mr. Champlin was very inac
curate, or that his ideas were in a state of utter con
fusion ; and in either case, the value of his testimony
is destroyed. The next witness is Thomas Breeze, Esq.* Cap
tain's clerk, who was on the quarter deck of the
Lawrence during the action. His story is a repetition
of those already told about Captain Elliott's keeping
at long shot, in which he disagrees with Commodore
Perry. He also says that from some mysterious
cause, the Niagara continued to occupy the same
* Appendix E. 5,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 59
station as at the commencement of the action, after
the Lawrence, Caledonia, Scorpion, and Ariel went
into close action. Here he disagrees with probabili
ties, if not possibilities. All the witnesses agree that
the distance between the two squadrons at the com
mencement of the action, was about two miles, and
Mr. Holdup Stevens says there was a leading wind.
If this be true, how could the other vessels sail into
close action, or over nearly the whole of this distance,
while the Niagara remained all the while in the same
position? Had every sail been furled, this leading
wind would have borne her along ; and to have re
mained stationary, she must have cast anchor ! Thus
incautiously, thus extravagantly, thus utterly uncon
scious of the value and signification of terms, do wit
nesses testify, when warped by prejudices and partia
lities, when seeing through the discolored medium of
friendship or enmity. But Mr. Breese says, that the
Ariel and Scorpion went into close action along with
the Lawrence and Caledonia, and is the only witness
to this statement. The manifest object of all the
other witnesses is to place Captain Elliott in unfavor
able contrast with Commodore Perry and Lieutenant
Turner, by showing that while he was at long shot,
they were in close action. Had other vessels of the
squadron also been in close action, the distance of
Captain Elliott would have been still more remarka
ble and difficult of explanation, for he.would not have
had the countenance and example of such other ves
sels. Where all were required to be in close action,
the more there were in it, the less excuse would there
be for those who were out of it. This argument was
too good for Commodore Perry to be overlooked by
the officers who seem so anxious to testify in his favor,
and they had as many opportunities of seeing what
happened, as Mr. Breese. If then the Ariel and
Scorpion had gone into close action, along with the

60 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Lawrence and Caledonia, they could not have failed
to see it, and would not have failed to remember and
report it. Yet are they silent upon the subject, and
therefore impliedly in contradiction with Mr. Breese.
It is true that theirs is mere negative testimony upon
this point, and that the positive assertion of one wit
ness is not always contradicted by the silence of others
upon a point which he may have known, and which
they may not have known. But where one states as
a fact what others had equal opportunities of seeing,
and indeed could not have failed of seeing if it hap
pened, and moreover felt a strong interest for a cause
in support of which this alleged fact would be hjghly
important testimony, and yet are silent about it, the
contradiction is as complete as if they had spoken in
direct opposition to the first witness. Either the other
witnesses forgot a most important fact, and cannot
therefore be relied on for accuracy of recollection, or
the memory of Mr. Breese has become so confused,
that he supposes to be fact what never happened, and
is therefore liable to the same objection. He quotes
some British officers as saying that the Queen Char
lotte changed her position, bore away from the Niag
ara and fired upon the Lawrence, because their guns
would not reach the former vessel. How distorted is
the vision of those who see through their friendships
or enmities ! It may be true, and doubtless was true,
that the short guns of the Queen Charlotte would
not reach the Niagara, and that she left her position,
bore nearer to the head of the line, and fired upon the
headmost and nearest ship. But when this was done
the witness does not state. The facts are as follows!
The commander of the Queen Charlotte, perceiving
that his short carronades, shorter than those of the
Niagara, did not reach her antagonist, while the long
er carronades and two long guns of the Niagara were
very destructive, bore away to the head of the line

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 61
and fired upon the Lawrence, for the double purpose
of avoiding the Niagara's fire, and of aiding the De
troit, Hunter and Lady Prevost to cripple the head
most ship, and then the others successively. Besides,
the British officers, wishing to avoid the imputation
of running away from the Niagara, would naturally
attempt an explanation. Yet does Mr. Breese, in say
ing that the guns of the Queen Charlotte would not
reach the Niagara, leave the reader to infer that the
latter kept aloof from the battle. Mr. Turner, Mr.
Champlin, and Mr. Breese himself, all say that short
ly after the commencement of the action, the Queen
Charlotte closed with the Detroit and fired upon the
Lawrence. Yet the reader might infer from the affi
davit of Mr. Breese, that the Queen Charlotte made this
movement long after the battle began, and that Cap
tain Elliott was still out of reach. If he intends to
imply this, he not only disagrees with Messrs. Turner
and Champlin, but himself also. This indefinite
mode of testifying, by which a party may be run down
by inference and implication, is liable to very serious
objections, and should always be very cautiously re
ceived. In a majority of cases, the inferences that
may be drawn from such indefinite statements, would
be utterly excluded by statements more minute. So
necessary is it, and yet so difficult, in cases involving
character, to obtain all the facts.
He also repeats the dodging story. This story,
like poor Mungo in the Padlock, "Here, dere and eb-
bery where," flits through all these affidavits, and al
ways upon the same anonymous authority. , It is al
ways introduced as "said," as "reported," but nobddy
is ever introduced to say or report it. It never has
any voucher ; it always skulks behind some imper
sonality; it is never chaperoned by any other nomi
native case than that grammatical nobody, it. Dean
Swift very wisely says that using a weak argument
6

62 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
detracts from the force of the strong one. So the
telling of a tale utterly improbable, necessarily throws
a doubt upon statements in connection with it that
are credible in themselves, and which might be
believed if standing alone. The telling of a tale so
ridiculous destroys the testimony of these witnesses ;
not because it convicts them of falsehood, a thing
hardly credible of an American officer, but because
it shows their credulity to be boundless, and their pre
judices overpowering. The friends of Commodore
Perry do not enhance their character for discretion,
by thus indorsing paper that nobody will sign.
The next witness is Mr. Brownell, * sailing master's
mate of the Ariel in the battle. He goes farther than
either of the other witnesses, for he says that while
the Lawrence went into close action, the Niagara
continued to keep at a much greater distance astern
than when the battle began. In this he not only con
tradicts Commodore Perry, but all the other witnesses
against Captain Elliott, all of whom insist that he did
not go into close action, but no one of whom says
that he retrograded, or ran away! He mentions the
Niagara's backing her maintopsail and broiling up
her jib, which prevented her from firing any but
her bow guns. It is admitted that such movements
were made with the sails of the Niagara, and were
seen from the Ariel ; but how any officer in the Ariel
could know either their object or effect, is somewhat
remarkable. This positive statement of what Mr.
Brownell could merely suppose, but could not know,
shows his disposition to construe uncharitably the
conduct of Captain Elliott, and consequently the
strong prejudice under which he testifies; and this
must greatly diminish the value of his testimony.
He admits that the Niagara ranged ahead of the
Lawrence, just before Commodore Perry boarded her.
* Appendix, E. 6.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 63
Captain Elliott must then have subdued his fears or
his treason, to change from a retrograde to a forward
movement ; to pass "from a much greater distance
astern than when the action commenced," to the head
of the line, or the nearest to the enemy ; and that too
while the enemy was pouring his whole fire upon the
headmost ships, had already disabled the Lawrence,
and was ready, with all his guns, for the vessel that
should take her place. If Mr. Brownell does not thus
virtually contradict himself, he represents Captain
Elliott as evincing very inconsistent and contradicto
ry conduct at different periods of the action. The
reader has the alternative of believing Mr. Brownell
to be led by his prejudices into an inconsistent story,
or Captain Elliott to have been a poltroon or a traitor
at one moment, and a hero or a patriot at the next !
Men seldom pass rapidly to such opposite extremes !
He says that the officers of the squadron, and the vo
lunteers, expressed great indignation against Captain
Elliott. Unfortunately for this anonymous charge, offi
cers and volunteers that will appear hereafter in pro
per person, tell a very diiTerent story. The shot is again
dodged! When the ghosts of those whom Richard
had murdered, come to haunt the dreams of the sleep
ing monarch, each begins its tale of horror with saying
" Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow, !"
and "Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!" is re
peated by each inhabitant of the shades as it comes
along in its winding sheet, till the reader or the au
ditor finds all supernatural illusion at an end, and
his own laughter irrepressible. So of these witness
es. Each as he comes along with his accusatory tale,
adorns it with saying that Captain Elliott dodged a
shot ! It is believed that by this time, the reader is
disposed to dodge it also ; glad by any means to get
out of its way.

64 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
The reader will bear in mind that when Captain
Elliott boarded the Somers, he found her commander,
Mr. Almey, in a state of helpless intoxication, sent
him below, and put the deck under command of
Mr. Nichols. Mr. Brownell says that Mr. Almey was
sober. Another officer, to be introduced hereafter,
says he was not. Why was not the affidavit of Mr.
Almey taken? He certainly knew and could tell
whether the charge was true or not. If he were so
ber, he was wrongfully arrested by Captain Elliott,
and could have cleared himself from the charge be
fore a court of inquiry. Why was none held? But
Mr. Brownell says he was ordered to the Somers a
feio hours after the action, and found Mr. Almey per
fectly sober ! Very probable ; for there is nothing ex
traordinary in a man's being drunk at one hour and
sober at another. He says a few hours afterwards;
which is a very indefinite expression, for any number
is a few by comparison, and his few hours might be
two, four, six, eight or ten. The shortest of these
periods is sufficient for some men to pass from help
less intoxication to perfect sobriety ; and for aught
that appears in the testimony, Mr. Almey might be
one of such men, and have been seen by Mr. Brownell
eight or ten hours after his intoxication. Besides,
there is good printed testimony to prove that nothing
is more efficacious in sobering an intoxicated officer,
than an arrest. When Lieutenant Cassio, both stagger
ing and stammering from ebriety, though he thought
that he could "stand well enough and speak well
enough," was arrested by General Othello, he imme
diately became perfectly sober, and lamented very pa
thetically and very rationally to Ensign Iago, over
his fallen condition. So Mr. Almey might have been
Cassio drunk when arrested by Captain Elliott, and
Cassio sober when seen by Mr. Brownell. And yet
by such a statement as this, so vague and indefinite

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 65
as to prove nothing, absolutely nothing, is Captain El
liott to be convicted of gross misbehavior, of oppres
sion towards an officer, and of falsehood and calum
ny in pronouncing a sober man intoxicated !
He repeats the treasonable remark already imputed
to Captain Elliott, and quotes Mr. Champlin as au
thority. If Mr. Champlin had stated the whole con
versation in which Captain Elliott is said to have ut
tered this declaration, its meaning might appear from
the context, and be very different from what Mr.
Champlin seems to suppose. Patriotism may be
changed into treason, honesty into fraud, truth into
falsehood, and any crime may be proved against the
most innocent, by this practice of selecting; and de
taching sentences from their context. " Top knot
come down" is an illustration familiar to most readers.
It is more probable that Mr. Champlin should misun
derstand, or quote erroneously, than that Captain El
liott should utter treason.
Mr. Brownell quotes Mr. Magrath as regretting
that he had signed a letter prejudicial to the charac
ter of Commodore Perry, and saying that he would
sacrifice his right arm to withdraw his name from
such paper. Here Mr. Brownell is under some
strangely erroneous impression, and must have mis
understood Mr. Magrath. That gentleman signed
no letter prejudicial' to Commodore Perry, or any that
implies aught against him. With his brother officers
of the Niagara, he signed a letter of congratulation
to Captain Elliott, of most respectful and affectionate
character. He also signed, in common with the
same officers, a letter to the Secretary of the Navy,
giving an account of the action, and of Captain El
liott's important services in it. But neither of these
letters exhibits any base attempt to exalt one officer
by degrading another. The first is dated nine days,
the second thirty-three days after the battle, and both
6*

66 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
were manifestly caused by discussions previously
held among the officers, concerning the respective me
rits of Captains Perry and Elliott in the action, and by
the belief of those of the Niagara, that full justice
was not awarded to the latter in the official report.
Mr. Magrath, being an officer of the Niagara, had
ample opportunity for witnessing the deportment
of Captain Elliott; and that deportment being the
subject of much conversation, he must have been at
particular pains to record it in bis memory. Besides,
having been particularly complimented by Captain
Elliott, as appears from Commodore Perry's official
report, he could have had no inducement of personal
animosity to construe his commander's conduct un
charitably. These letters, and especially the latter,
must then have been signed after mature deliberation,
after great pains to be accurate in his statements, and
with full knowledge of what he signed. What could
happen afterwards to change these opinions ? He
could not have obtained more light on the subject, for
no officer of the squadron could tell him any thing
about the conduct of Captain Elliott in the battle,
which he did not already know. The statement of
Mr- Brownell proves too much, and cannot therefore
be correct; for it proves not only that Mr. Magrath
falsified his own deliberate declarations, made in se
veral different instances, and without any assignable
motive, but that he expressed regret for doing 
what he never did ! Mr. Brownell must have mis
apprehended him most strangely. He also quotes Cap
tain Bignall, a British officer, as saying that had Cap
tain Elliott belonged to the British Navy, he would
have, been hanged. That Captain Bignall said so is
not improbable, for personal animosity against Captain
Elliott seems to have existed among the British offi
cers This subject will be investigated hereafter, and
fnfiy explained.

LIFE OF COM. EXLIOTT. 67
The last witness is Mr., Taylor,* Sailing Master of
th^ Lawrence. After repeating the account of the
action already given by the other witnesses, he says
that the Lawrence, Ariel and Scorpion continued to
approach the enemy u.n,til within* canister range.
Here he agrees with Commodore Perry about the
Lawrence, but not, about the other vessels, and disa
grees with all the other witnesses ; and here, it may
be well to notice the singular discrepances among
these witnesses about the distance of the J-iawrence
from the enemy. Commodore Perry says she went
within canister shot distance, which, with a carro-
nade, the species of guns composing her armament,
is about three fourths of a mile, or 1320 yards.
Lieutenant Yarnall said before the Court of Inquiry,
" we ran down and came within about half musket
shot," which is about 60 yards. Lieutenant Forrest
said before the same Court, that the Lawrence was
"at point blank shot distance with a carronade,"
which is about 450 yards, and in his letter to Lieu
tenant M. C. Perry, he said she was in close action,
or about 350 yards. Messrs. Turner, Stevens,
Champlin, Breese and Brownell say she was in close
action, or about 350 yards, and Mr. Taylor says she
was " within canister range," or, as before said, 1320
yards. Thus do these statements differ about 1260
yards. To show this discrepance to the reader in
the strongest light, they may be stated in tabular
form, thus :

Com. Perry,

Canister range,

1320 y

¦ards,

Mr. Taylor,

Ditto,

1320

(i

" Forrest,

Point blank, in court,

450

n

a it

Close action, in letter,

350

u

" Stevens,

Close action, .
?Appendix E. 7.

350

(I

68 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

Mr. Turner,

Close action,

350 yards.

" Champlin,

Ditto,

350 "

" "Breese,

Ditto,

. 350 "

" Brownell,

Ditto,

350 "

" Yarnall,

Half musket shot,

60 "

The discrepances in these accounts may be stated
as follows :
Greatest difference, . . . 1260 yards.
Least ditto, .... 100 "
Difference between the two highest, 870 "
Ditto " the two lowest, 290 "
Ditto " the highest and third, 970 "
Ditto " the lowest and second, 390 "
Ditto " the second and third, 100 "
This alone is sufficient to refute these witnesses,
for it shows that their recollection of facts is very
confused and imperfect. It shows that while they
may endeavor to state correctly, they recollect so very
little of what they undertake to state, that little re
liance can be placed upon their testimony.
He says that shortly after the action commenced,
he " observed the Niagara at a considerable distance
astern, with her jib brailed up and her maintopsail to
the mast," and that he is " strongly impressed with
the belief that her topgallantsails were never set till
Commodore Perry went on board of her." There is
a mode of narration by which all the facts which are
stated, are stated correctly, but from which the reader
or hearer may draw very erroneous inferences. Such
is the case here. The Niagara was a considerable
distance astern of the Lawrence ! But what is a
considerable distance ? If the Lawrence, Caledonia
and Niagara were in close order, the Caledonia
being in the middle, the Niagara might still have been

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 69
at a considerable distance astern of the Lawrence,
though actually foul of the Caledonia. So the main
topsail was aback and the jib brailed up ; but it does
not follow that this was done to keep aloof from the
enemy, though such seems to be the intimation of
Mr. Taylor. This subject will be explained in due
time. He gives an animating description of Commo
dore Perry's danger in passing, in an open boat, from
the Lawrence to the Niagara ; and as it is not to be
supposed that Mr. Taylor would commit the folly of
inserting this description without some object, the
reader is to suppose that such object was to contrast
the gallantry of Commodore Perry with the coward
ice of Captain Elliott. But if it shall be shown, as
it will be. that Captain Elliott was equally exposed
in an open boat, the effect of the argument fails,
though its character remains, and Mr. Taylor is en
titled to the credit, not of proving auy thing by it, but
of being willing to use it. He says it was a consider
able time, with all the exertions of the boat's crew,
before they could come up with the Niagara, and by
this he implies that the Niagara was verj- distant.
This is another instance of that insidious mode of
narration pervading all these affidavits, which, with
out directly mistating facts, leaves the reader to draw
yery injurious inferences. Granting that a considera
ble time elapsed before Commodore Perry reached
the Niagara, what does it prove concerning the dis
tance of that vessel ? Nothing ! Absolutely nothing,
till the term considerable be defined. Does it mean
one hour ? The distance of the Niagara might then
be proved by showing how far a boat's crew could
row a boat in that time, the moving capability of the
boat, the number and strength of the crew, the length
of their oars and the state of the water being given !
He then says that when Commodore Perry did get on
board, he immediately brought her into close action.

70 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Here he disagrees with Commodore Perry, who says
she was in close action before he boarded her. He
also impliedly contradicts himself. By saying that
the boat's crew were a considerable time in reaching
the Niagara, he implies that she was at a considerable
distance ; but by adding that when Commodore Perry
got on board, he immediately brought her into ac
tion, he implies that the Commodore brought her up
in very little time. What ! From this considerable
distance, which it required the boat's crew a consi
derable time to reach ? Was the Niagara so far off
before he boarded her, that a considerable time was
required for the boat's crew to reach her, and yet so
near so soon as he boarded her, that it required but
little time to bring her up to the enemy ? As both
the Lawrence and Niagara were to windward of the
enemy, and, according to Mr. Taylor, the former
nearest, the distance from the Lawrence to the Niaga
ra was manifestly less than that from the Niagara to
the enemy. Now, as seamen well know, a boat can
be rowed faster than a vessel can sail, where the wind
is light and the water rather smooth ; consequently,
one would suppose, a boat could reach the Niagara
from the Lawrence sooner than the Niagara could
reach the enemy. Yet, according to Mr. Taylor, a
considerable time was required for a boat to pass the
lesser distance, while little was required for the vessel
to pass the greater ! Into such absurdities are men
unconsciously led, when blinded by prejudice.
He says he complained to Commodore Perry that
most of the effective men of the squadron were en
grossed by Captain Elliott for his own ship, but that
the Commodore did not think proper to make any
alteration. Then was Commodore Perry grossly
unmindful of his duty ! Then did he most unjustifi
ably acquiesce in an arrangement which might have
caused the loss of the fleet ; and for such result, had

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 71
it happened, he would have deserved to be condemn
ed by a Court Martial and shot ! What ! When a
battle was daily expected with a powerful fleet, the
superior of his own in number and length of guns,
which last circumstance was an eminent advantage
in a light wind, or when the enemy had the weather
gage, and when the whole fleet was deficient in ef
fective seamen, to permit one ship of the squadron to
engross the majority of them, and thus to leave all
the other ships crippled for want of hands ? To re
duce eight ships to imbecility, and to crowd the whole
effective force into one ? Was this evincing the skill,
judgment and vigilance of an accomplished seaman,
and the fidelity of a good patriot ? Commodore Per
ry could not have so erred ! Being commander in
chief, and consequently having both the right and the
duty to prescribe all the arrangements, it is not to be
supposed that he would permit one so fraught with
danger to the fleet. The Italian proverb " Save me
from my friends and I will take care of my enemies,"
was never more fully exemplified than by this affi
davit of Mr. Taylor. In an attempt to aid his friend
in a dispute, he incautiously charges him with gross
stupidity or gross infidelity to his country ; with utter
incompetency or thorough unworthiness ! If Com
modore Perry is to be served thus by his friends, his
reputation were safer in the hands of his enemies.
The witnesses who testified against Captain El
liott before the Court of Inquiry in 1815, and those
who gave their affidavits to the Committee of the
Legislature of Rhode Island in 1 818, have now been
reviewed ; and if witnesses who disagree with them
selves, with each other, with the party whom they
are called to support, and with probabilities in some
cases and even possibilities in others, can fix upon
Captain Elliott the charges of cowardice and treason,
then does he stand convicted !

72

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER IV.

Battle of Lake Erie. Commodore Perry's official report.
We will now take the official report and other
documents furnished by Commodore Perry, and see
how far he agrees with himself, and how far he
agrees with probabilities. As he is the principal
witness against Captain Elliott, he will receive a par
ticular examination. The reader will remember that
in noticing the other witnesses, we have attempted to
refute them by showing contradictions between them
and Commodore Perry ; and if we now refute Com
modore Perry, shall we not thereby restore their cre
dibility ? By no means ; for laying the testimony of
Commodore Perry entirely out of the case, their tes
timony is destroyed by their contradictions of them
selves and of each other. Besides ; disagreement be
tween two witnesses, or sets of witnesses, while it
shows that one of them must be wrong, does not show
that the other is right. The other may be wrong
also. Both cannot be right; one must be, and both
may be, wrong. Should they all agree, their testi
mony would not therefore be conclusive, for agree
ment may result from concert. But should they dis
agree upon an essential point, this disagreement de
monstrates that all of them cannot be relied on ; and
if it be impossible to decide which of them is in error,
the whole of them must be rejected for uncertainty.
Commodore Perry disagrees with his own witnesses,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 73
and he or they must therefore be wrong. They dis
agree among themselves ; and it being impossible to
decide which of them is right, they are all to be re
jected as wrong. They being thus disposed of, it
does not follow that Commodore Perry is right, and
if he be confuted also, his confutation cannot restore
them. He may aid in confuting; not because his
own testimony is correct, but because it adds to the
chain of disagreements by which they are confuted.
He then stands upon separate ground, and should re
ceive a careful and candid examination.
The first document famished by him is his official
report,* and the first point that presents itself against
this, is its mysteriousness, its want of clearness and"
distinctness in detail. A careful reader of this report
is almost irresistibly led to the conclusion that the
whole story has not been told ; that some facts have
been forgotten or suppressed. In a battle where the
number of ships is small, the plan of attack simple,
the movements neither numerous nor complicated,
and the whole field cf action within the compass
of vision of a single eye, the commander, if competent
to and mindful of his duties, must witness every im
portant fact that transpires. In the official report of
such a battle, though a reader may not expect a de
scription of all the details, yet he will expect clearness,
precision and accuracy in what are described. He
will expect no confusion about time, place or event.
He will expect that events will be described in the ¦
order of time in which they occurred, and distinctly
referred to their appropriate places. He will expect
every thing to be so described, that he can follow the
narrator, without difficulty, through a regular chain
of events, and perceive how each happened in regular
succession, through the whole time embraced by the
?Appendix, A.

74 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
narrative. Whether this official report be thus pre
cise and accurate, or not, is a question for the reader
to decide.
The inquiry first suggested is, what was Commo
dore Perry's plan of attack? What it ought to have
been is manifest from his own description of the
enemy's force; and that he knew the species and
amount of this force before the battle, is what can
hardly be questioned. He doubtless knew that the
Detroit had an armament of long guns; for to know
this, if practicable, was his duty, and the means of
ascertaining it were too numerous to leave any doubts
of its practicability. Knowing this, he surely was
seaman enough to be sensible of the enemy's superi
ority at long shot, and of the importance of bringing
him to close action as speedily as possible. If, then, his
own account be taken, he has the alternative, either
of not perceiving the importance of this movement,
and therefore of wanting skill, or of purposely disre
garding it, and therefore neglecting his duty. He
says, " Finding their fire very destructive, owing to
their long guns, and it being mostly directed to the
Lawrence, I made sail, and directed the other vessels
to follow, for the purpose of closing with the enemy."
It seems then that his making sail and directing
the other vessels to follow for close action, was in
consequence of discovering the destructive power of
the enemy's long guns; or, in other words, that
closing with the enemy was not his original plan of
attack, but a deviation from that plan, suggested
by something occurring after the battle began.
What then was the original plan? He does not
say. Could it have been any other than the only
plan which offered any prospect of success; the
only plan which could prevent his own ships from
being destroyed in detail by long guns, closing with
all possible speed? To save Commodore Perry from

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 75
the imputation of total incompetency to this com
mand, or gross neglect of duty, imputations to which
he certainly was not liable, it must be admitted that
close action was his original plan of attack. Why,
then, does he mention it as an afterthought, suggested
by events in the course of the engagement? Here is
confusion, obvious confusion of ideas, which is alone
sufficient to throw a doubt upon this official report ;
not a doubt about his veracity, but about his clearness
of views and accuracy of description. A witness
who thus stumbles in the very threshold, whose very
first statement involves an absurdity, may as well
keep out of the case. At least he does not give pro
mise of becoming very formidable, unless to his own
side. Though he states to a minute when each squadron
began to fire, he does not say when he discovered
this destructive power of the enemy's long guns ; but
as their fire was principally upon his own ship, it
may be fairly presumed that he made this discovery
soon after the fire commenced. After mentioning
the order to close with the enemy, he proceeds:
" Every brace and bowline being shot away, she became
unmanageable, notwithstanding the great exertions of the
sailing-master. In this situation she sustained the action
upwards of two hours, within canister-shot distance, until
every gun was rendered useless, and a greater part of the
crew either killed or wounded. Finding she could no
longer annoy the enemy, I left her in charge of Lieut. Yar
nall, who, I was convinced, from the bravery already dis
played by him, would do what would comport with the
honor of the flag. At half past 2, the wind springing up,
Capt. Elliott was enabled to bring his vessel, the Niagara,
gallantly into close action ; I immediately went on board of
her, when he anticipated my wish by volunteering to bring
the schooners, which had been kept astern by the lightness of
the wind, into close action. It was with unspeakable pain that
I saw, soon after I got on board the Niagara, the flag of the
Lawrence come down, although I was perfectly sensible that

76 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
she had been defended to the last, and that to have continued
to make a show of resistance would have been a wanton sa
crifice of the remains of her brave crew.. But the enemy was
not able to take possession of her, and circumstances soon
permitted her flag again to be hoistsd. At 45 minutes past 2,
the signal was made for close action: The Niagara being'
very little injured, I determined to pass through the enemy's
line, bore up and passed ahead of their two ships and a brig,
giving a raking fire to them from the starboard guns, and to
a large schooner and sloop from the larboard side, at half
pistol-shot distance. The smaller vessels at this time hav
ing got within grape and canister shot distance, under the
direction of Capt. Elliott, and keeping up a well directed
fire, the two Ships, a brig and a schooner, surrendered, a
schooner and a sloop making a vain attempt to escape."
What ! Did the Lawrence become unmanageable
immediately after he gave orders for close action, or
in other words, immediately after the battle began ?
According to the account, the duration of the battle
was about three hours ; for at 15 minutes before 12,
the British began to fire; at half past 2, the Niagara
was brought into close action ; Commodore Perry went
on board of her immediately, i. e. at half past 2; at
45 minutes past 2, he gave the signal for close action,
bore up and passed through the British line, and com
pelled the enemy to surrender, "instantly," according
to Lieutenant Turner, "in a short time," according to
Lieutenant Forrest, and " in a few minutes," accord
ing to Lieutenant Taylor. Between 15 minutes be
fore 12, and " instantly," or " a short time," or " a few
minutes," after 45 minutes past 2, the period included
is about three hours. But the Lawrence became un
manageable before this time elapsed; for he says, at
half past' 2, the Lawrence being no longer able to
annoy the enemy, he determined to leave her, imme
diately went onboard of the Niagara, and saw the
flag of the Lawrence come down soon after he got
on board'.' If then the Lawrence ceased to fire at

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 77
half past 2, and struck immediately afterwards, two
hours and 45 minutes elapsed from the commence
ment of firing to her surrender ; and if she sustained
the action " upwards of two hours with every brace
and bowline shot away," all this damage must have
been done in 45 minutes, and as much less as is in
cluded in the term upwards. The reader will recol
lect that the distance between the two fleets at the
commencement of the action, was one and a half or
two miles, and that the Lawrence got only within
canister distance, or about three fourths o/ a mile,
and therefore must have sailed only about three fourths
of a mile before every brace and bowline was shot
away. But as this damage was not done by a single
discharge of the enemy's guns, but by different shots,
from the beginning to the end of this 45 minutes, her
sailing must have been impeded by damage from the
beginning, and continually so, until effectually pre
vented by the destruction of every brace and bowline.
Consequently she must have past over this three
fourths of a mile very slowly, have occupied the
whole of the 45 minutes in doing it, and therefore
must have received most or all of this damage at long
shot. Is it probable that so much damage was done
at so great a distance, in so little time? Had all the
long guns of the enemy been directed to the rigging
of the Lawrence, which was not the fact, could they
have so effectually demolished it in 45 minutes, or
less, at a distance of from three fourths to one and a
half or two miles ? The history of naval warfare
exhibits few such examples.
But admitting this tremendous despatch on the part
of the enemy, what should the reader expect after
wards ? With every brace and bowline shot away,
and completely unmanageable, the Lawrence still
sustains the action upwards of two hours within ca
nister-shot distance ! And as no rigging remained

7_8 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
to fire at, this fire of two hours and upwards must
have been aimed at her hull. If then the enemy
were able to demolish her rigging in 45 minutes or
less, at7 long shot, what must" they have done with
her hull in two hours and upwards, within canister
distance? Either their aim irast have declined in
accuracy, and their shot in force, as their mark ap
proached, or the Lawrence must have been sunk, or
torn into splinters !
Again : He says the Lawrence sustained the ac
tion, within canister distance upwards of two hours.
As canister distance isr three fourths of a mile, and as
the fleets were about one and a half miles from each
other at the commencement of the action, the Law
rence passed only one half of this distance before
every brace and bowline was shot away, and conti
nued precisely at this distance for upwards of two
hours afterwards. She must then have remained
stationary, or have moved onward with the same ve
locity as the enemy's ships, with their sails and rig
ging still in manageable condition. If she moved
onwards, it must have been by drifting, as her sails
were unmanageable. The enemy, though to leeward,
with their sails in manageable condition, which must
be presumed till the contrary be shown, had the
power of keeping up and permitting the Lawrence to
approach, or of moving onward at a distance of their
own Choosing. If they had been disposed to keep
up, the Lawrence could not have continued upwards
of two hours at canister distance ; for as the wind,
according to Lieutenant Yarnall, was sufficient to
propel a vessel two knots, which means two miles* in
an hour, and as, according to Lieutenant Holdup Ste
vens, the wind was a leading wind, its action upon
her hull atone would have driven her forward, and
continually nearer. If they were disposed to keep at
their own distance, they would have chosen a distance

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 79
beyond the reach of her short guns, and near enough
fp reach" her with their long guns ; and for this pur
pose, canister distance was too near. She could not
thenhave continued upwards of two. hours within
canister distance, unless both remained s^ationary^
which was impossible, or unless they, with the power
of choosing their distance, while she was unmanage
able, chose a distance the worst for themselves and
the best for her, which is improbable. But if the
Lawrence and the enemy did remain stationary up
wards of two hours, at canister distance, where were
the other ships of our squadron during this period ?
They could not have passed the Lawrence ; for if
they had, the enemy could not have fired at her up
wards of two hours, unless through their sides, or
over her mast-heads ; and their directing their whole
fire to her and overlooking nearer ships, is too extra
ordinary to be supposed. If then the other ships
remained astern of her during these two hours and
upwards, and their distance from the enemy at the
commencement of the action was one and a half miles,
they must have occupied upwards of two hours in
sailing three fourths of a mile, and remained station
ary afterwards. But this supposition is inadmissible ;
for being little injured in sails and rigging, having a
leading wind of two knots, and all but the Niagara,
according to Commodore Perry's witnesses, making
all possible efforts to advance, they must have sailed,
during these two hours, not less than four miles.
The enemy likewise must have sailed not less than
three miles during the same period, asfhe action began
with a distance of one and a half miles, and ended
with close action, or about 350 yards. The other
ships must then have left the Lawrence astern ; for
they could sail faster wjth their sails in good condi
tion, than she could drift with no sails at all. The
courses of the squadron in relation to each other

80 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
would not have affected this result. Had ours been
bearing doicn before the wind, and the British stand
ing off to prevent a nearer approach, or keeping up
to close, the Lawrence would have been outstripped
by the other ships. But our squadron was not bear
ing down. The two squadrons were advancing in
parallel lines, oblique to the wind, continually chang
ing both their actual and their relative position ; their
actual by continually moving onward from the south
east to the southwest shore of the Lake, and their
relative by continually approaching each other, the
distance between the two parallel lines which they
described, continually diminishing from the American
side. The wind being equal to two knots, the two
fleets must have advanced four miles in a southwest
erly direction in these two hours ; and unless the
Lawrence could drift as fast as they could sail, she
must have been left astern. This part of Commo
dore Perry's report cannot then be correct ; for the
Lawrence, with every brace and bowline shot away,
and rendered completely unmanageable, could not
have sustained the action upwards of two hours,
within canister shot distance.
After mentioning the striking of the Lawrence, he
says that " circumstances soon permitted her flag again
to be hoisted." What were these circumstances? Why
are they not described, or at least alluded to? What!
After his own ship had been disabled, abandoned by
himself, and surrendered by his officers, could the
enemy have been prevented from taking possession
of her, and could her flag have been hoisted again,
without the interposition of something extraordinary?
And was an event so extraordinary, preventing some
thing so important as the capture of the commander's
ship, too insignificant to be noticed in the official re
port? An omission so extraordinary casts a shade
of mystery upon this report, well fitted to impair the

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 81
reader's confidence in its accuracy. These "circum
stances" will be explained in due time, and will
show conclusively to whom the country is mainly in
debted for the honor of that victory.
He says that at 45 minutes past 2, the signal was
given for close action. He had previously said that
at the commencement of the action, he had made sail
and directed the other vessels to follow, for the pur
pose of closing, in consequence of finding the ene
my's long guns very destructive. How could he di
rect the other vessels to follow, excepting by signal?
And what could that signal be, excepting the signal
for close action? Only three modes of communica
tion among ships of war under sail are now, or were
then in use, viz. by signal, by trumpet, and by boat.
Signals, being the most expeditious, are always used
for communicating what may be called general or
ders, the meaning of which does not change, and
which, therefore, can always be expressed by conven
tional signs ; such as orders to sail, to cast anchor, to
follow, to stand off, to fire, to cease firing, to come
to close action. Particular orders, suggested by the
exigency of the. moment, cannot.be communicated by
such conventional signs, because, the exigency not
being foreseen, the signs cannot be agreed upon.
Such must be left to the trumpet when the ships are
sufficiently near, and to a messenger in a boat when
they are not. He says that he directed the other
ships to follow for the purpose of closing. If the
purpose of following be not revealed, he would be
obliged to make two signals, one to follow, the other
for close action. If the purpose were revealed, the
signal would be simply the signal for close action. It
is not to be supposed that Commodore Perry, who
doubtless wished to be sufficiently aided by the other
ships, and who was bound by duty to make the most
efficient arrangements, would give orders and leave the

82 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
persons ordered to guess his object. Neither is it to be
supposed that he would commit the awkward mistake
of making two signals when one would be sufficient.
It is then to be presumed that he gave distinct and in
telligible orders, and therefore that in directing the
other ships to follow, he simply made the signal for ¦
close action. He afterwards says that at half past 2,
Captain Elliott was enabled to bring his vessel into
close action, which confirms the supposition here
made about this signal; for as Captain Elliott was
under the orders of the Commodore, how got he into
close action at half past 2, without some previous or
der to that effect? Yet he says that at 45 minutes
past 2, the signal was made for close action, which
obviously implies that no such signal had been made
before. Here is a downright self contradiction ; and
Commodore Perry must take the alternative, either of
having given no such signal before 45 minutes past
2, and of leaving Captain Elliott to his own discretion,
or of committing the awkward, unmilitary, unsea-
manlike mistake of giving a signal for close action
when his ships were already in close action.
He says that Captain Elliott "anticipated his ivish
by volunteering to bring the schooners, which had
been kept astern by the lightness of the wind, into
close action. " What is the meaning of this expres
sion ? That Captain Elliott first proposed this move
ment? If so, and it were a decisive movement, then
Captain Elliott, and not Commodore Perry, gained
this victory. Such must be his meaning, the expres
sion being susceptible of no other ; for to anticipate
a wish, is to undertake its gratification before the par
ty wishing can communicate it. If Commodore Per
ry wished the gun boats to be brought up, how should
Captain Elliott know such wish without hearing or
seeing it expressed? It is not a wish of which 'one
can have an intuitive knowledge ; and if Captain El-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

83

liott undertook to do this before Commodore Perry
could express his wish for it, though the proposition
might be in the mind of Commodore Perry, it is still
original with Captain Elliott. This is an important
admission ; for it shows that this cowardly Captain
Elliott had still self possession enough to think of a
movement, which, in the existing doubtful state of
affairs, was of the utmost consequence. Why did
not Commodore Perry think of this? The Lawrence
being disabled, and the gun boats too distant to ren
der efficient aid, the necessity of bringing them up was
certainly too obvious to be overlooked by a cool and
clear headed commander, prompt and fertile in expe
dients. Commodore Perry ought to have said to
Captain Elliott on boarding the Niagara, "Sir, my
vessel is disabled, but the victory is not yet hopeless ;
we must now bring all our force to close action ; go
and bring up the small vessels, while I take charge
of your battery." This would have shown the cool
self possession and determination of an accomplished
commander, preserving to the last his confidence
in victory, and doing every thing to sustain the
confidence of those under him. But his being anti
cipated by Captain Elliott shows either that he knew
not what to do, and had come to no determination, or
that he was so slow and hesitating in expressing his
determination, as might lead those present to suspect
his firmness. And is this a guise for a commander to
appear in before his officers and men, in a moment of
difficulty ? Shall the eye to which all present appeal
for confidence when clouds are gathering, feeling
cheered or depressed according to their interpretation
of its glances, quail with doubt or apprehension ? If
Commodore Perry did not indicate an important
movement, and Captain Elliott did, it shows that the
latter was the most efficient of the two in trying cir
cumstances.

84 '-' LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
In complimenting the officers who had distin
guished themselves, he speaks thus of Mr. Magrath:
" Captain Elliott speaks in the highest terms of Mr.
Magrath, purser, who had been dispatched in a boat
on service previous to my getting on board the Ni
agara." As this officer belonged to the Niagara, and
went upon this service before Commodore Perry
boarded her, he must have acted under the orders of
Captain Elliott. Any service which, at such a time,
required an officer to be sent away in an open boat,
must indeed have been extraordinary, and the occa
sion of it very pressing; and if such extraordinary
service were well performed, justice to such officer
would require it to be described, to enable the public
to appreciate his merits. What then was this ser
vice? Why was it not particularly mentioned, in
stead of being glanced at in a manner so careless, or
so mysterious? If the service were needless or frivo
lous, Captain Elliott did wrong in sending him upon
it, and should have been censured. If it were im
portant and well performed, it should have been par
ticularly described, and due credit should have been
given to Mr. Magrath. This matter implies some
thing more than meets the eye. It shall be explained
hereafter; and the public can then judge whether
Captain Elliott, in this battle, evinced any want of
activity. Of Captain Elliott he holds the following language :
" Of Captain Elliott, already so well known to the
government, it would be almost superfluous to speak.
In this action he evinced his characteristic bravery
and judgment; and, since the close of the action, has
given me the most able and essential assistance."
This language is conclusive. It shows, either that
the tale of his1 drawing an official report that would
screen Captain Elliott from censure, is entirely des
titute of foundation, or that, for the purpose of screen-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 85
ing him, he deliberately coined an unnecessary false
hood. Had he believed that Captain Elliott misbe
haved, and still wished to protect him, he might have
mentioned him by some vague generalities that would
not commit himself to a positive and definite misre
presentation. He might have said that Captain Elliott
behaved well; or, what would be better for such
purpose, he might merely have said a part only of what
he did say. He might merely have said, " Of Cap
tain Elliott, already so well known to the government,
it would be almost superfluous to speak." Had he
stopped here, no inference unfavorable to Captain
Elliott could have been drawn from the report; for,
though the remark expressed no direct praise, it was
still open to a complimentary construction, and cer
tainly implied no censure. Of all ways of escaping
from an embarrassing difficulty, it would have been
that which required the least deviation from truth,
the least wear and tear of conscience. But he goes
much further, and bestows direct and definite praise
upon Captain Elliott for a particular species of good
behavior. He commends him for his judgment,
and speaks of this, not as something which Captain
Elliott had evinced for the first time in that battle,
but as something which the commander had heard
of or witnessed before. He calls this judgment cha
racteristic! and, by so doing, necessarily implies that
he had particular reasons for being thankful to Cap
tain Elliott for a particular quality which he had
shown more than once. Now if he did not believe
what he here necessarily implies, he uttered a wilful
and needless misrepresentation. He also mentions
Captain Elliott's bravery; and yet the charge which
most or all of his witnesses are called to prove, is
Captain Elliott's cowardice! Did he believe, when
writing this report, that Captain Elliott was a cow
ard? That all the officers of the fleet were apprised

86 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
of it themselves, and knew that he was apprised of
it? In what light then was he exhibiting himself
to his own officers? In that of wilfully deceiving
the government and the country, and of suborning
his officers to participate in the deceit, for the unlaw
ful purpose of screening a guilty officer from just
punishment! Is it possible that Commodore Perry
would perpetrate such a deed ! That he would dare
to show himself in this light to men under his com
mand! What future authority could he expect to
exert over them, after thus putting himself in their
power? Could he expect from them that respectful
obedience which men of honor in subordinate mili
tary stations are gratified in paying to men of honor
above them, but which they never pay to the un
worthy and dishonorable? If he believed his offi
cers to be honorable men, would he dare to insult
them by such propositions? Though military dis
cipline might restrain the finger of scorn from being
pointed, it could not restrain the contemptuous glances
that would be cast upon him by every officer of the
fleet ! No ! he could not have been so base ! The
supposition is an outrage upon his memory; and
nothing can save the memory of that departed hero
from infamy, but the supposition that, in compliment
ing Captain Elliott, he believed what he wrote.
Such is Commodore Perry's official report. It is
replete with contradictions and absurdities ; and who
ever believes in its accuracy of detail, must believe
what is impossible.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 87

CHAPTER V.

Battle of Lake Erie. Commodore Perry's letter to the Secretary of the Navy
and his charges against Captain Elliott
The next documents furnished by Commodore
Perry> are his letter to the Secretary of the Navy,
and the charges enclosed.* At the close, they are
dated " August. 8, 1818." The first reflection that
must occur to every reader is, why were charges
preferred so long after the imputed offence ? Why
were five years suffered to elapse, before Commodore
Perry thought fit to discharge a very important duty
to his country? The battle of Lake Erie was an
event of signal service to the nation ; for by securing
the command of the Lake, it enabled the army to se
cure the northern and northwestern frontier. Had
this squadron been captured, it is'not extravagant to
suppose that the squadron upon Lake Ontario would
have fallen in turn ; for the British would have been
able to transfer all their seamen and naval officers
and guns, and every captured gun, to Lake Ontario,
to have manned every thing that could float with a
gun on board, and thus to have presented a naval
force before which that of Commodore Chauncey
must inevitably have fallen. Nor is this all. A na
val victory on Lake Ontario would have been fol
lowed by the command of Lake Champlain. Our
land forces would then have been driven back, and
the whole northern frontier would have been defence
less. Then the enemy, with a powerful army at the
* See Appendix G.

88 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
North, a powerful fleet off the Southern coast, and
encouraged by the factious proceedings of the poli
tical party then and now dominant in Massachusetts,
might have been in possession of Albany, and even
New York, on the one side, and Baltimore, and of
course Washington, on the other. All this might
have resulted from the loss of the fleet on Lake Erie ;
and if Commodore Perry and his witnesses are to be
believed, or if reliance is to be placed upon the accu
racy of their statements, that fleet was all but lost
through the misconduct of Captain Elliott. Was
misconduct that might have led to results so disas
trous, results that Commodore Perry could not have
overlooked, to be sheltered fromcondignandexemplary
punishment ? Was an officer whose cowardice or
treason, or both, had nearly ruined his country, a
proper object of praise in an official report ? Was
every officer of the fleet who performed his duty, and
who must have known that instead of victory, he
had almost met defeat, to be insulted by praise thus
undeservedly, thus falsely bestowed upon the guilty ?
Was the country to be deceived into nursing in its
bosom a serpent, at the hazard of losing its fleets and
armies through future cowardice or treachery ? Was
a coward or a traitor to be permitted to retain his
sword, and to keep out better men from a place for
which he had proved himself unworthy ? And yet
if Commodore Perry is to be believed in his charges,
a coward and a traitor was protected, a host of gallant
officers and men were insulted, the constituted authori
ties of the country, and the country itself, were imposed
upon by A FALSE REPORT ! Such must be the
reflections of every considerate reader of these charges.
And such were Commodore Perry's reflections when
indicting them ; for by offering an explanation in his
letter to the Secretary of the Navy, he confesses that
he felt the necessity of accounting for the delay.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 89
Well might he beheve that a substantial reason would
be required for his neglecting, for five long years,
to bring to justice the miscreant who had almost,
and regretted that he had not quite — sacrificed his
country !
In explanation of this delay, Commodore Perry
offers the following reasons ; 1st, He felt no dispo
sition rigidly to examine into the conduct of any of
the officers of the fleet ; 2d, He would not allow him
self to believe that an officer who had conducted well
on a former occasion, could be guilty of cowardice or
treachery ; 3d, Captain Elliott endeavored, after the
battle, to conciliate protection ; 4th, Commodore
Perry desired that harmony might prevail in the
fleet, and that nothing might transpire which might
brings reproach upon any part of it, or convert into
crimination the praises to which they were entitled,
and which he wished them all to share ; 5th, If he
omitted to name Captain Elliott, or named him with
out credit, he might not only ruin that officer, but
give occasion to animadversions which, at that period,
would be little to the honor or advantage of the ser
vice. These reasons shall be separately and carefully
examined. First, He felt no disposition rigidly to
examine the conduct of any of the officers of the
fleet. Of all kinds of government, military disciphne
is necessarily the most severe. In military operations,
there must be a head, a controlling mind; and
prompt, implicit obedience, admitting no delay, no
parley, no question, no expression of doubt or reluc
tance, is therefore indispensable. To insure this obe
dience, every subordinate must be held continually
under the impression that his conduct is narrowly
watched and faithfully recorded, and that for every
movement, and every moment of time, he must ren^
der a full and exact account. The commander is
8*

90 LIFE OF COM. ELLTOTT.
responsible for all under his authority', and to meet
such responsibility, he must be implicitly obeyed.
Hence, whenever any military service is performed,
the commander is required to render a faithful ac
count of it to his own superiors, to applaud those who
behave well, as objects of future consideration and
preferment, and to report those who behave ill, as ob
noxious to censure or punishment. No fleet or army
ever did or ever can long exist under any other organ
ization. On the subject of punishment, military government
is, from necessity, unrelentingly strict. The conse
quences of a slight misdemeanor may be disastrous,
ruinous, not merely to a fleet or an army, but to a
nation ; and to prevent such tremendous occurrences,
the policy of all civilized nations has concurred in
visiting the guilty with prompt and unsparing retri
bution. It is not to be supposed that Commodore
Perry was ignorant of such usages, or expected to
command the fleet on Lake Erie upon any other
principles. It was therefore his duty, as he well
knew, to inquire rigidly into the conduct of every
officer of the fleet, and to report that conduct faith
fully to his superiors. He was invested with this
command, not for his own honor or interest, but for
that of his country ; and li'.List have been sensible that
he could not faithfully execute his high trust, or
render a faithful account of his stewardship, by ne
glecting to investigate the conduct of those for whom
he was responsible, or by rendering false accounts
for the purpose of screening the guilty. To say then
that he " felt no disposition rigidly to examine into the
conduct of any of the officers of the fleet," is to say
that he felt no disposition to perform his duty to his
country. His second reason is that he would not allow him
self to believe that an officer who had conducted well

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 91
on a former occasion, could possibly be guilty of cow
ardice or treachery. Here again his duty was plain.
He was bound to report facts, not opinions ; and if
the facts were clearly ascertained, the previous con
duct of Captain Elliott could not affect them. Com
modore Perry was bound to report to the Navy De
partment what did happen, and not what he sup
posed, upon his own views of Captain Elliott's cha
racter and previous conduct, might have happened.
His own ship was lost, Captain Elliott did or did not
behave improperly, and the loss did or did not oc
cur through such misbehavior. If then he knew
that Captain Elliott misbehaved, he must have known
that any former gallantry could not lessen such mis
behavior. The case of Captain Elliott in the battle
of Lake Erie rested upon its own merits, and had no
concern with the case of Lieutenant Elliott in cap
turing the Detroit and Caledonia twelve months pre
viously. Instead of not permitting himself to believe
that an officer who had conducted well upon a for
mer occasion, could possibly be guilty of cowardice
or treachery upon another occasion, he should not
have permitted his opinions derived from the former
to interfere with a faithful statement of the facts in
the latter. The amount of this reason is that mis
conduct which might have been disastrous to the
country must be concealed, and the country and its
government imposed upon by an erroneous statement,
because the guilty party had, upon a former occa
sion, twelve months before, conducted well. If such
were Commodore Perry's views of public duty, it is
fortunate for the country that they were not preva
lent. The third reason is that after the battle, Captain
Elliott endeavored to conciliate protection. He cer
tainly needed protection, if he conducted in a man
ner that nearly induced the loss of the fleet. But did

92 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
he deserve it ? And was Commodore Perry seduced
by such endeavors, to screen from just punishment
the perpetrator of a crime so heinous ? Admitting
these endeavors to conciliate protection, which would
prove that Captain Elliott thought more of his own
safety than that of his country, does not the ready
yielding to them by Commodore Perry prove that he
was equally deficient in patriotism ? According to
Commodore Perry, these endeavors were lamenta
tions over his unfortunate situation, and readiness to
perform the minutest services ! ! And so because a
captain of the navy who had been guilty of coward
ice or treachery that might have ruined his country,
and was desirous of avoiding a halter, was willing,
in order to escape it, to utter unmanly whinings and
do the duty of a corporal of marines, he was to be
applauded as a brave and faithful officer, and the
country to be imposed upon by an erroneous account
of a battle ! ! Admirable logic !
The fourth reason is, he "desired that harmony
might prevail in the fleet, and that nothing might
transpire which might bring reproach upon any part
of it, or convert into crimination the praises to which
they were entitled, and which he wished them all to
share." The most obvious objection against this rea
son is its inconsistency. Did he suppose that the
most effectual mode of producing harmony in the
fleet was to confound the innocent with the guilty?
the brave with the cowardly ? the hero with the cra
ven? the patriot with the traitor? Did he suppose
that meritorious officers, then writhing under wounds
received in gallant efforts for their country, would be
content to witness a coward or a traitor reported to
their government as deserving particular applause
for his bravery and judgment? Strange indeed must
have been his views of military honor, to suppose
that officers at all sensitive about it, would quietly

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 93
submit to this confounding of all distinctions ! Strange
indeed must have been his views of the human mind,
to suppose that harmony would result from an expe
dient, of all others most fitted to drive men to despe
ration ! He wished that nothing might transpire
which might bring reproach upon any part of the
fleet. And to prevent it, he resorts to the most effec
tual expedient for bringing reproach upon the whole
fleet, and the whole Navy. He could not have sup
posed that the whispers of his own officers, and the
open denunciations of the volunteers and seamen,
aye ! and of General Harrison's army, would be con
fined to the Northern frontier. He must have fore
seen that they would fly from thence round the coun
try, and become a subject of general and serious dis
cussion. Then what could more effectually bring
reproach upon the Navy, than the awarding of equal
honors to the coward and the hero ? the traitor and
the patriot? What could more effectually rouse the
public indignation, than an attempt, which could not
be concealed, to screen the guilty from punishment
by erroneous reports to the constituted authorities?
What man of honor would accept a commission in
the Navy, what man of honor would place a son
or a relative in the Navy, if told that such was the
mode of rewarding merit or punishing demerit ? I!
is impossible to imagine how louder and deeper re
proaches could be brought upon the Navy, than by
reporting cowards and traitors as worthy of public
applause ! He desired that nothing might transpire
which might convert into crimination the praises to
which they were all entitled, and which he wished
them all to share. By the term all, he does or does
not include Captain Elliott. If the former, he be
lieved Captain Elliott entitled to praises, and wished
him to share in them. This is a singular title to be
set up for a coward and a traitor ; and Commodore

94 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Perry must have entertained a singular wish for a
brave and patriotic commander, when he wished that
a coward and a traitor might be praised. Then either
his own views and his own conduct were very singu
lar, or he could not have believed in the guilt of Cap
tain Elliott. If by this all he does not include Captain
Elliott, but only the other officers, how could he sup
pose that bringing the former to justice could convert
into crimination the praises due to the latter ? Had
Captain Elliott been shot for a coward or hanged for
a traitor, his fate could not detract from, or convert
into crimination, the praises due to the other officers.
Expressed in plain terms, and applied directly and
personally to any officer of the fleet, this argument
stands thus ; " You, Lieutenant Turner, behaved well,
and your gallantry and judgment are well known to
all the officers and men of the fleet and of General
Harrison's army. Captain Elliott, as you well know,
behaved like a coward and a traitor, or both ; yet must
his misconduct be concealed, and he must be honor
ably mentioned in the official report ; for if he should
be brought to punishment, his fate would convert into
crimination the praises due to yourself, and you also
would be deemed a coward and a traitor." If Lieu
tenant Turner, or any other officer of the fleet to
whom this argument should be applied, did not deem
it a non sequitur, he must be more astute in logical
deduction than the generality of re asoners. Stated
in the form of a mathematical proposition, it is thus ;
The cowardice of A and the bravery of B being
given, what degree of praise bestowed upon A will
prevent B from being called a coward ?
The fifth reason is, if he omitted to name Captain
Elliott, or named him without credit, he might not
only ruin that officer, but give occasion to animad
versions which, at that period, would be little to the
honor or advantage of the service. In all civilized

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 95
nations, ruin has been viewed as the legitimate con
sequence of detected crime, and the certainty of such
ruin has been deemed the strongest preventive. So
decided is public policy in preventing crime, that all
who attempt to screen the guilty are generally con
sidered as participators in their guilt. Hence the
compassion of Commodore Perry for Captain Elliott,
leading to consequences injurious to the nation, was
of a highly reprehensible character. Could Commo
dore Perry suppose that he was justified in concealing
cowardice and treachery, because the ruin of the cri
minal would be the consequence of exposure? Upon
this principle, the criminal code is a dead letter, and
the whole machinery of tribunals entirely useless.
Did the consequences stop here, there would be little
cause for lamentation ; for every philanthropist would
rejoice in hearing that society had become good
enough to dispense with criminal laws. But impu
nity to the guilty is fraught with destruction to the
innocent. The sparing of the criminal because pun
ishment would involve his ruin, would give a license
to crime that would involve the ruin of society.
This principle is particularly applicable to great mili
tary crimes, such as cowardice or treachery, because
their consequences may be highly important. The
thief or murderer does not, by stealing a single article
of property, or destroying a single life, directly put
the body politic in danger. It is only when such
crimes are common, that the public safety is in jeo
pardy; and the certainty that impunity would render
them common, is the only motive for their punish
ment in every case. But the soldier, by cowardice
or treachery, may cause the loss of a battle, and this
may be followed by the loss of a nation's independ
ence. Hence the imperious, the obvious necessity of
inflicting upon such criminals, punishments that may
operate as the most powerful incentives to deter others

% LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
from following their example. It is impossible to
suppose that Commodore Perry was ignorant of these
principles, or held them in disrepute; and therefore
difficult to believe that he cpuld be seduced by com
passion for a criminal, into a violation of his public
duties. Strange is it then that he should, five years
after an offence of great enormity was committed,
plead as a reason for not having sooner brought the
criminal to justice, the ruin that would follow his
exposure. This reason proves too much for Com
modore Perry; for admitting Captain Elliott to be
guilty, it shows that Commodore Perry was guilty
likewise as an accessary after the fact. But he says
that " omitting to name Captain Elliott, or naming
him without credit, would give occasion to animacU
versions which, at that period, would be little to the
honor or advantage of the service." To have omit
ted his name, or to have named him without credit,
would have led to an inquiry into his conduct, and
to a dealing with him by the government according
to his deserts. If found guilty, he would doubtless
have been punished; and to what animadversions
would this lead, excepting that the government were
particularly scrupulous about the military morals of
the navy, and resolved that no man should bear a
sword in it, if found unworthy? Would the appli
cation of such principles be " little to the honor or
advantage of the service?" Would honorable men
be deterred from entering the navy by the belief that
the government were resolved to close it against
cowards and traitors? Would it suffer in the esti
mation of the nation or the world, or be inefficient as
an arm of the national defence, by being officered by
high and chivalrous spirits, instead of being a com
mon sink of the low and the profligate, where cow
ards might flourish swords and traitors strut in
epaulettes? Degraded indeed must be the state of

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 97
public opinion, where the punishment of a coward
or a traitor could lead to animadversions injurious to
the public service !
Having thus given the reasons which restrained
him from complaining of Captain Elliott, at the time
of the imputed offence, he proceeds to offer that which
induced him to prefer the complaint five years after
wards. He says that Captain E. has given publicity
to misrepresentations against himself, and "he would
willingly, for his own sake as well as Captain Elliott's,
(after the course he had pursued for the purpose of
shielding the latter,) have still remained silent, but this
Captain Elliott would not permit him to do. " These
remarks show that the proceedings complained of in
Captain Elliott were then, that is, at the date of Com
modore Perry's letter to the Secretary of the Navy,
August 18, 1818, of recent origin. He was therefore
induced to prefer this complaint five years after the
battle of Lake Erie, by the behavior of Captain El
liott to himself five years after the same battle. Here
again we find Commodore Perry, according to his
own account, overlooking his public duties, and act
ing exclusively upon private considerations. He first
screens a coward and a traitor from punishment,
through compassion for the culprit ; thus sacrificing
public duty to the interest of an individual. He then
attempts to bring this coward and traitor to justice
for this old offence, because the culprit had just then
assailed himself! How stern, how rigid, how superi
or to private ends, must have been his sense of pub
lic duty!
But having resolved, in 1818, to bring Captain El
liott to justice for a crime committed in 1813, because
Captain Elliott had then, in 1818, assailed himself, he
proceeds to state, as an additional reason for this de^
termination, that soon after Captain Elliott was left
in command of Lake Erie^ which was in October
9

98 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
1813, he, Commodore Perry, was informed of the in
trigues which he was there practising. He adds that
he then determined, if Captain Elliott should give
publicity to his misrepresentations, to demand an in
vestigation of his whole conduct. The reader may
be unable to perceive the consistency of these state
ments. He assigns the proceedings of Captain Elli
ott in 1818, as a reason for proceeding against him
at that late period, and immediately afterwards, says
that he was informed of similar proceedings in 1813.
If the declarations of Captain Elliott against Com
modore Perry in 1818, were a sufficient ground for
complaining of Captain Elliott's conduct in the bat
tle of Lake Erie, the intrigues of Captain Elliott
against him in 1813 were surely a sufficient ground
for a similar complaint at that earlier period. This
inconsistency effectually annuls the five reasons
which he assigns for withholding his complaints till
five years after the battle, and leaves this delay with
out an explanation. But he says that on being in
formed of Captain Elliott's intrigues when in com
mand of the lake, which was soon after Captain El
liott was left in that command, or in October, 1813,
he resolved to complain of him to the government, if
he should give publicity to his misrepresentations. If
it, shall appear from Commodore Perry's own show
ing, that he was informed, in 1813, of Captain Elli
ott's having given publicity to his misrepresentations,
and yet forbore to complain against him, this letter to
the Secretary of the Navy will be still more myste
rious. His first charge is that Captain Elliott, after hav
ing conducted improperly in the battle of Lake Erie,
and after having received from Commodore Perry all
the countenance and protection that could be afforded
"without absolute inconsistency with truth," pursued
a series of intrigues designed to repair his own repu-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 99
tation at the expense and sacrifice of that of his com
mander. This charge embraces eleven specifications.
The first, is that in November, 1813, Captain Elliott
procured a certificate from Lieutenant Smith, which
was intended to misrepresent the conduct of Commo
dore Perry in the battle, and to impeach his official
report. The second is, that in January, 1814, in pre
sence of Lieutenant Concklin, he uttered false impu
tations against his commanding officer. The third
is, that in October and November, 1813, in conversa
tion with Dr. Wallace of Erie, and others, he falsely
charged Commodore Perry with having thrown his
motto flag into the lake. The fourth is, that in Sep
tember, 1813, he caused to be made and exhibited to
some of the officers, a false drawing or sketch of the
battle. The fifth is, that in October, 1813, in presence
of General Harrison, he falsely charged Commodore
Perry with having done him injustice in his official
report, and with having violated a promise to him to
alter such report. The sixth, that Captain Elliott, in
November and December, 1813, and in May, 1814, did
beset the inhabitants of Erie and Buffalo with false
accounts of the battle, intended to reflect injuriously
upon Commodore Perry. The tenth is, that Captain
Elliott, in November, 1813, published in the Erie Ga
zette, a false version of a correspondence between him
self and Commodore Perry. The second charge,
which contains four specifications, is that of conduct
unbecoming an officer, and manifesting disregard of
the honor of the American flag. The first specifica
tion is, that in October, 1813, Captain Elliott intem-
perately abused Commodore Perry in presence of
sailing master Champlin. The second, that in Octo
ber, 1813, at Erie, in presence of Dr. Wallace, Cap
tain Elliott said that it would be a serious question
between the American and British Governments,
whether Captain Perry was or was not to be consi-

100 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
dered a prisoner of war. The third, that in November,
1813, at Erie and at Buffalo, Captain Elliott said that
the American flag had been dis;.{raced on board of the
Lawrence, and for the first time; since the declaration
of war. The fourth, that Capiain Elliott, in October
and November, 1813, at Buffalo, declared in presence
of Dr. Wallace and others, that the American fleet
had gained no honor in the battle of Lake Erie, and
might have captured the British fleet in fifteen min
utes. The four remaining charges, embracing seven
specifications, are repetitions of those already de
scribed. According to these specifications, the reader will
probably say that Captain Elliott had not been very
solicitous about concealing his misrepresentations.
Captain Elliott was left in command of the Lake on
the 26th of October, 1813. Commodore Perry heard
of his misrepresentations soon after, and then de
clared to many of his friends in the Navy, that, al
though he should disregard these misrepresentations
so long as they were private, yet, if Captain Elliott
should ever give publicity to them, he, Commodore
Perry, should demand an investigation of his whole
conduct. It may be difficult to say what Commodore
Perry intended by the term publicity; but if lie in
tended to use it in its common acceptation, he must
have been sensible that Captain Elliott had already
given no small degree of publicity to his misrepre
sentations. Yet he demanded no investigation of
Captain Elliott's wlvole conduct till five years after
wards. To threaten Captain Elliott with an investiga
tion, should he ever do  what he had already done,
and then to postpone the execution of this threat to
five years afterwards, can hardly be considered a re
demption of the pledge.
In the third specification of the first charge, after
accusing Captain Elliott of having stated that he had

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 101
thrown his motto flag overboard, he says that this
flag was still flying on board of the Lawrence when
he left her, and was never lost or thrown overboard
by any one. The history of this flag is as follows.
On the morning of the battle, Commodore Perry
hoisted on board of the Lawrence a flag, bearing the
dying words of Captain Lawrence, " Don't give up
the ship," which flag was shown to the men by the
officers of the several ships, for the purpose of inspir
ing them with courage and patriotic feeling. It was
particularly pointed out by Captain Elliott to his men,
who hailed it with repeated cheers. It may well be
supposed that after this display, Commodore Perry
would be very unwilling to strike this flag, and would
even prefer throwing it overboard. But if it was fly
ing when Commodore Perry left the Lawrence, and
not thrown overboard by any one, it must have been
struck to the enemy, as every body knows that the
Lawrence surrendered. According to Mr. Taylor,
his Sailing Master in the Lawrence, he declared, on
leaving that vessel, that " the American flag should
not be hauled down from over his head on that day ;"
and according to himself, on quitting her, he left Lieu
tenant Yarnall to do " what would comport with the
honor of the flag." An officer may avoid the striking
of his flag in two ways ; by sinking with it flying, or
by abandoning it ; and the latter was adopted by Com
modore Perry, according to his own account. No
one ought to censure him for leaving his disabled ves
sel. It was his duty to do so, to go on board of ano
ther, and to exert himself to retrieve the fortune of
the day. But it seems hardly magnanimous to boast
that his flag should not be struck over his own head,
while in the very act of leaving it to be struck over
the heads of others. If then he left this flag flying
on board of the Lawrence, it was struck ; and if it
was not struck, he could not have left it flying on
9*

102 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
board of the Lawrence. But according to Lieutenant
Thomas Holdup Stevens, Commodore Perry left the
Lawrence to go on board of the Niagara, with this
flag under his arm. Here Commodore Perry and
Lieutenant Holdup Stevens are directly at issue. The
contradiction is direct, and the reader must decide
between them. One thing, however, is certain. Purser
Magrath, in returning from the "boat service" upon
which he had been despatched by Captain Elliott,
picked up this flag floating in the Lake, and carried it
on board of the Niagara, where it was discovered by
Commodore Perry after the battle.
In his letter to the Secretary of the Navy, Commo
dore Perry, in endeavoring to explain away his
official report, says that he would not allow himself
to come to a decided opinion that an officer could be
guilty of cowardice or treachery, who had so hand
somely conducted himself on a former occasion, as
he then, in common with the public, had been led to
suppose Captain Elliott had. This is the most ex
traordinary declaration to be found in any of the do
cuments furnished by Commodore Perry, and by
showing the depth of his prejudices, the intensity of
his animosity against Captain Elliott, it shows how
greatly his judgment was led astray, and is conse
quently a strong argument against the truth of his
charges. The capture of the Detroit and Caledonia
by Lieutenant Elliott in October, 1812, was well
known to the whole nation, and an affair that would
naturally excite much attention among the officers
of the army and navy; for besides evincing great
address, uncommon activity and daring courage, it
occurred at a time when difficulties on our frontier
were numerous and increasing, it being shortly after
General Hull's surrender of Detroit, and when any
success, however small, was a subject of general re
joicing. Besides, the proceedings of Congress upon

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 103
this very affair, show that it was appreciated as a
gallant exploit by the General Government. At tins
time, the Hon. Josiah Quincy, the representative in
Congress from Boston, the same gentleman who after
wards introduced into the Senate of Massachusetts
a resolution, stating that it was unbecoming a moral
and religious people to rejoice in the victories of
this wicked war, for the purpose Of rendering the
war unpopular, and as an argument against the
Army Bill then pending, gave a highly wrought
description of the disasters of the American arms
upon the Northern frontier. The Hon. Henry Clay,
then Speaker of the House, in reply to Mr. Quincy
and others, and in support of the Army Bill,, made
the following remark:
" The capture of the Caledonia, and the destruction of the
Detroit, (whether placed to our maritime or land account,)
for judgment, skill and courage on the part of Lieut. Elliott,
has never been surpassed."
Subsequently, Congress voted him a gold-hilted
sword, twelve thousand dollars, and their thanks;
and the President and Senate promoted him over a
number of lieutenants to the post of master command
ant. It is not to be supposed that the two branches
of the National Legislature would, upon doubtful tes
timony, adopt a measure so decided as a vote of
thanks and the gift of a sword to an officer, or grant
him a large amount of public money. Nor is it to
be supposed that the President and Senate would su
persede meritorious officers by promoting another
officer over them, unless he had done something ex
traordinary, and unless the exploit had been clearly
proved. Besides this evidence, Commodore Perry could not
have cast his eyes upon a single ship of the fleet
which he commanded, without seeing the proofs, the

104 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
solid, substantial proofs, of Captain Elliott's gallantry
and skill in this very affair. The Caledonia, com
manded by Mr. Turner, was one of the captured
ships. The other, the Detroit, which was destroyed
after being stripped, was loaded in part, at the time
of her capture, with the heavy guns which General
Hull had surrendered to the British at Detroit. She
had, besides, many other guns on board; and from
this cargo was the fleet partly supplied, in the battle
of Lake Erie. The Caledonia had no guns on board
when captared, and was furnished from the cargo of
the Detroit, with every gun used by her in the battle.
Thus did Captain Elliott, by his gallantry and skill,
supply Commodore Perry's fleet not only with guns,
but with American guns, recaptured by himself, after
having been surrendered to the enemy by another
commander !
All this evidence, together with Captain Elliott's
official account of this affair, must have stared Com
modore Perry in the face when he insinuated this
doubt of Captain Elliott's behavior in it.
As a matter of interest to the reader, the following
letters, of recent date, are offered. They are valu
able additions to the letters concerning this exploit,
which have been introduced at the beginning of
these pages, and were written in reply to letters ad
dressed to the authors by Captain Elliott, after the
republication of Lieutenant Perry's pamphlet in
Boston. " New Castle, June 27, 1834.
Dear Sir.— I have received your letter under date of the
19th of the present month, and regret to learn that you have
been assailed by the republication of certain offensive
charges. The several high commands, and important duties
repeatedly assigned to you, are full evidence that the go
vernment and country place every confidence in your pa
triotism, talents and valor ; and if I may take the liberty of

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 105
offering a suggestion, it would be that it best comports with
your dignity and self-respect to rest your cause here. Yoa
particularly call my attention to the capture of two English
vessels under the guns of Port Erie in 1812, and say, " as
you were acting under my immediate command at the
time, will you be kind enough to state to me, as soon as
possible, the matters and things relating to that affair ?"
The length of time that has elapsed, and the entire change
which has taken place in my habits and associations, render
such reminiscences difficult. I recollect that the attack was
made at night, by two boats, in one of which I was with you.
The British vessels referred to were taken, one of them
brought over to the American shore, and the other, ground
ing on an island in the river, was destroyed. It appears to
me that the facts belonging to the affair speak for them
selves. The planning and conducting of the enterprise
unquestionably pertained to you, and by every rule of
military service, the credit of it is your due.
Most respectfully, your ob't serv.
S. W. PRESSMAN."
This is the Mr. Pressman mentioned in the letter
of Gen. Smyth to Lieut. Elliott, of Oct. 8, 1812.
" Philadelphia, June 27, 1834.
Capt. J. D. Elliott, U. S. N.
Dear Sir, — I received your letter of the 19th inst. several
days since, but have been too much indisposed to reply to it.
In allusion to " language used by the late Commodore
Perry, in 1818, relative to your conduct in the capture of
the British brigs Detroit and Caledonia, from under the
guns of Fort Erie in 1812," you ask for my impressions
of that affair. I never heard that any one but yourself sug
gested or directed the expedition. It was undoubtedly exe
cuted with skill and bravery, or it could not have succeeded.
As I was acting under your immediate command, and taking
the helm from your cockswain, and laying your boat along
side the Detroit, boarding her side by side with you, ;tnd
during the fight and subsequent cannonade with the British
forts, I was constantly near you, I am authorized to, and
cheerfully testify, sir, to your bravery on the occasion.
If we had been defeated, the odium would have attached
to you alone. We were successful, and you received all the
credit, and I regret that any political occurrence of the pre-

106 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
sent day should tend to disparage your exertions in the late
war. With much respect and esteem,
I remain, sir, your ob't. servant,
T. ROACH,
late Major U. S. Artillery.
No reasonable doubt can therefore exist in the
mind of any person, about the merit of Captain Elliott
in this affair, and it is inconceivable how Commodore
Perry could have doubted it in 1818, unless laboring
under a species of m,onomania, a degree of animosity
against Captain Elliott, which amounted to insanity.
If then he could be so blinded and misled about this
affair as to express such an opinion in 1818, what
reason is there for supposing that he would be more
correct in any other case where Captain Elliott was
concerned, and consequently what reliance can be
placed upon his accusatory documents ?

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 107

CHAPTER VI.

Battle of Lake Erie. Correspondence between Commodore Perry and Captain
Elliott.
The documents next to be noticed are the letter
from Captain Elliott to Commodore Perry, dated May
14, 1818, the " communications" upon which it was
founded, and the reply of Commodore Perry, dated
June 18, 1818. In this letter of May 14, 1818, Cap
tain Elliott refers to a complimentary letter from
Commodore Perry to himself, written eight days after
the battle of Lake Erie. The following documents
are the note on which this complimentary letter was
predicated, the complimentary letter itself, the two
letters of May 14 and June 18, 1818, and the com
munications enclosed in the first of them.
" U. S. Brig Niagara, Put-in-Bay,
September 17, 1813.
Sir, — I am informed a report has been circulated by some
malicious persons, prejudicial to my vessel when engaged
with the enemy's fleet. I will thank you if you will, with
candor, state to me the conduct of myself, officers and crew.
Respectfully your ob't servant,
JESSE D. ELLIOTT.
Capt. Perry."
" U. S, Schooner Ariel, Put-in-Bay,
September 18, 1813.
My dear sir, — I received your note last evening, after I had
turned in, or should have answered it immediately. I am in
dignant that any report should be circulated prejudicial to your
character as respects the action of the 10th inst. It affords me

108 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
just pleasure that I have it in my power to assure you, that the
conduct of yourself, officers and crew, was such as to merit
my warmest approbation ; and I consider the circumstance
of your volunteering to bring the small vessels to close
action, as contributing largely to our victory. I shall ever
believe it a premeditated plan to destroy our commanding
vessel. I have no doubt, had not the Queen Charlotte have
ran away from the Niagara, from the superior order I ob
served her in, you would have taken her in twenty minutes.
With sentiments of esteem, I am, dear sir,
- Your friend and ob't servant,
Capt. Elliott." O. H. PERRY.
CAPTAIN ELLIOTT TO COMMOnORE PERRY.
Norfolk, May 14, 1818.
Sir, — Communications which have recently been made
me, and exact copies of which I herewith enclose, render it
necessary that I should hear from you immediately. As
soon as I heard of your late visit to Washington, I lost not
a moment in hurrying off from this place with a hope that
we should meet and settle those differences which have so
long existed.
Your sudden, and to me unexpected, departure from that
city, prevented the contemplated meeting; and my orders to
sit on a Court Martial in Baltimore, which detained me
from this place longer than I at first expected, has induced
me to return to Virginia, and instead of the personal inter
view which had alone carried me from home, and which I
so anxiously hoped would take place, now compels me to
address you through the medium of a letter. I could most
sincerely wish that my wounded feelings did not compel me
to address you, at a moment when it might seem as if
prompted by the late investigation of your Mediterranean
command. The wrongs which I have suffered are many,
and after taking a retrospect of all the transactions connected
with our affairs which have been made public, I am at a loss
to know how it was possible you could have made such
representations, as contained in the certificate herewith
enclosed. Immediately after the action on Lake Erie, you must re
collect that reports prejudicial to my character were put in
circulation, when I called on you for a written contradiction
of them : " your answer I presume is in your possession."
You say in your letter you have no fault to find of myself,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 109
officers and crew ; compliment me by Saying you are in
debted in a gTeat measure for the victory, to ' my bringing
the small vessels into close action,' and conclude with a po
sitive assurance, that the Niagara would, ' from her superior
order, have taken the Queen Charlotte in twenty minutes,
had she not made sail and engaged the Lawrence.' What,
Sir, has occurred since, to draw from you such base, false,
and, malicious reports, as are container! in the certificate en
closed 1 I will conclude my remarks with one or two ob
servations, and permit you to draw such inferences as your
feelings of honor may dictate, hoping that you will never
again have occasion, either in the society of the Ladies,
or that of young navy officers, to make use of expressions of
a similar nature, and which were intended for my injury. —
Pray, Sir, has your memory been so treacherous, as to fail
recollecting our interview at Erie, and that you then said if
' I would not dwell on the action, that you would write a
private letter to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy, and
express your surprise that the country did not give me half
the honors of the victory.' With proper respect,
(Signed) J. D. ELLIOTT.
O. H. Perry, Esq.,
New-Port, (Rhode Island.)"
COMMOnORE PERRY TO CAPTAIN ELLIOTT.
Newport, June 19th, 1818.
Sir, — The letter which I have lately received from you
has evidently been written for the purpose of being exhibit
ed by you to your friends ; and in the hope that passing
without reply, it might gain credit among those upon whom
you have been so long in the habit of practising similar im
positions. You had much reason, Sir, to indulge in such a
hope. It is hamiliating to be under the necessity of reply
ing to a letter written by a person who so little knows what
becomes a gentleman. I must not, however, permit you to
derive from my silence any countenance to the gross false
hoods contained in your letter ; and which it would be an
affectation of decorum to call by any other name, such par
ticularly as the absurd declaration you impute to me in the
close of it, and the perverted account you gave of the man
ner in which I was once induced to write a letter in your
favor. How imprudent as well as base is it in you, by
such misrepresentations, to reduce me to the necessity of
10

110 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
reminding you of the abject condition in which I had pre
viously found you, and by which I was moved to afford you
all the countenance in my power; sick, or affecting to be
sick in bed in consequence of distress of mind, declaring
that you had missed the fairest opportunity of distinguishing
yourself that ever man had, and lamenting so piteously the
loss of your reputation, that I was prompted to make almost
any effort to relieve you from the shame which seemed to
overwhelm you. This, as far as you were concerned, you
very well know was the origin of the certificate I then grant
ed you ; and that your letter to me, (of which you have
published a false copy, and which you now represent as
making a demand upon me,) was merely an introduction to
it. A stronger motive I had, which you could not appre
ciate, but which I urged with success upon the other officers.
It resulted from a strong, and I then hoped a pardonable,
desire that the public eye might only rest upon the gallant
conduct of the fleet, and should not be attracted to its ble
mishes, as I feared it would be by the irritation excited
by your conduct among the officers and men, most of whom,
I hoped, had acquired sufficient honor to satisfy their ambi
tion — even should that honor be shared by one who might
less deserve it.
The expressions stated in your two certificates to have
been made use of by me, when speaking of your unmanly
conduct, were probably the most lenient I have for a long
time employed when called upon to express my opinion of
you ; and thoroughly known as you must be conscious your
character is to me, it was quite needless for you to procure
certificates of the contempt of which I had spoken of you.
You might readily have furnished much more ample ones,
and of a much earlier date, than those it has suited you to
produce; for you allowed but little time to elapse, after
receiving the benefit of my letter, before, by your falsehood
and intrigues against me, you made me fully sensible of the
error I had committed in endeavoring to prop so unprincipled
a character. If it be really true that you hurried to Washington, for
the purpose of inviting me to a meeting, it is indeed un
fortunate, that intentions you give yourself so great credit
for, have evaporated in a pitiful letter, which none but abase
and vulgar mind could dictate. The reputation you have
lost is not to be recovered by such artifices ; it was tarnish
ed by your own behavior on Lake Erie, and has constantly
been rendered more desperate by your subsequent folly and

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. HI
habitual falsehood. You cannot wonder at the loss. That
reputation which has neither honor, nor truth, nor courage
for its basis, must ever be of short duration. Mean and
despicable as you have proved yourself to be, I shall never
cease to criminate myself for having deviated from the path
of strict propriety, for the sake of screening you from public
contempt and indignation. For this offence to the commu
nity, I will atone in due time, by a full disclosure of your
disgraceful conduct But that you, of all men, should insult
ingly charge me with an error committed in your favor,
and by which you were, (as far as a man in your situation
could be,) saved from disgrace, is a degree of turpitude of
which I had before no conception.
I am, sir, your humble servant,
O. H. PERRY.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
U. S. Navy, Norfolk."
The communications alluded to in Captain Elliott's
letter to Commodore Perry, are the following ;
" Norfolk, Feb. 2, 1818.
Sir, — In conversation with some officers of the U. S. ship
Washington, your name was mentioned, in connexion with
the action on Lake Erie, when Lieutenant W. B. Shubrick
observed that Commodore Perry had publicly said that your
reputation was in his hands, and that the least you and
your friends can say on the subject of that action, the better
for you. I at the same time said I was your friend, and as
soon as an opportunity presented, would make known to you
the assertion which is now communicated.
W. H. BRECKENRIDGE.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliot.
I certify that the above is a true copy of the original,
which I have seen in the possession of Captain Elliott.
GEORGE T. KENNON.
Hospital Surgeon, Gosport.
May 1, 1818." " Washington, Feb. 27, 1818.
Sir, — You having called on me for some assertions made by
Captain Perry, I can only state that sometime in the year

112 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
1813, I saw Commodore Perry in New-York, and mentioned
I had received a letter from Captain Elliott respecting the
engagement on Lake Erie. Commodore Perry replied that
Captain Elliott had better be quiet on that subject; that he
had understood other letters had been written by him to his
friends. The above conversation between Commodore
Perry and myself has never been directly or indirectly men
tioned by me to Captain Elliott, until called upon by him
here.
JOHN HALL.
" I certify that the above is a true copy of the original,
which I have seen in the hands of Captain Elliott.
G. T. KENNON,
Hospital Surgeon, Gosport."
To these documents may be added another, which
had reached Captain Elliott five years before, and
which is the following.
" To the Post Master, Erie Station, Neto- York, for Cap
tain Elliott.
[Captain Elliott's particular station not being known at
this time, you are requested to forward the enclosed to him
in such manner as it will be sure to reach him, and you will
oblige his friend,
M. G. R. RUSSELL.]
It is with the deepest regret that the friends of merit ob
serve how much you have been overlooked in the late en
gagement on Lake Erie. You are bound in justice to your
self, to lay before your country and the world, your own
share of the glory of that day. You may rest assured that
Perry is endeavoring to rob you of all. I have a correspond
ent who resides in Newport, and who heard Perry say, in
a private circle, when he was representing the action, that
when he went on board of the Niagara, he found you pale
and trembling like an aspen leaf, and all your officers, and
that it was with difficulty he could get you to obey his com
mands. Although I have not the honor of your acquaint
ance, I feel bound, by my attachment to worth and gallantry,
to give you information, trusting to your honor as a gentle
man and an officer not to betray me ; for my friends would
highly condemn a step of the kind, and Perry too, knows

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 113
my hand writing. But I feel confident you will confine this
information to your own breast ; it is only for your benefit
that I give it.
It would afford me much pleasure to know that you have
received this in safety. If you wish to acknowledge the re
ceipt, direct to Miss Mary G. R. Russell, Petersburg, Vir
ginia." Here some explanations are necessary. The reader
may possibly ask why Captain Elliott, apprised soon
after the batttle, of Commodore Perry's censures,
should not notice them till 1818. But the commu
nication itself contains a satisfactory reply. It was
written to Captain Elliott anonymously, under an
injunction of secrecy, and with full reliance upon his
honor in keeping the secret The obvious intent of
it was to put Captain Elliott upon his guard against
secret machinations, and to convince him Commo
dore Perry was his enemy. Under these circum
stances, his only course was to arm himself with
evidence of his good behavior in the battle, and to
rely upon that evidence to sustain himself in the good
opinion of his country. He had previously written to
Commodore Perry, in whose friendship he then con
fided, for a refutation of the calumnies which had
been circulated by others, and received in reply the
letter of September 18, 1813, a letter which shows
that Commodore Perry, at that period, entertained no
hostility against him. Being afterwards informed by
this letter from Petersburg, that Commodore Perry
had become hostile, and restrained by the injunctions
of the letter from a direct address to his adversary, he
did what every discreet and honorable man would
do, waited till he could address the Commodore with
some specific and responsible authority. This did
not occur till 1818. The statements of Messrs.
Breckenridge and Hall are manifestly in reply to
communications from Captain Elliott. Though that
10*

114 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
of Mr. Breckenridge does not give the date of his con
versation with the officers of the Washington, it shows
that the report of such conversation did not reach the
ears of Captain Elliott till the winter of 1818. The
statement of Mr. Hall refers to a conversation with
Commodore Perry in 1813: but it shows that he
had never disclosed this conversation to Captain El
liott, till questioned by him concerning it in Februa
ry, 1818. Captain Elliott had been apprised in the
winter of 1818, that such conversations had been
held. He immediately applied to these gentlemen for
the particulars, and obtained the foregoing statements.
He was now armed with evidence of specific charges,
and from responsible witnesses, and with this evi
dence, he lost no time in approaching Commodore
Perry, as appears from the letter of May 14, 1818.
To Commodore Perry's complimentary letter of
September 18, 1813, Captain Elliott, in his letter of
May 14, 1818, refers in the following words :
" You say in your letter, you have no fault to find with
myself, officers and crew ; compliment me by saying you
are indebted in a great measure for the victory, to my bring
ing the small vessels into elose action, and conclude with a
positive assurance that the Niagara would, from her superior
order, have taken the Queen Charlotte in 20 minutes, had
she not made sail and engaged the Lawrence."
To this reference, Commodore Perry, in his letter
of June 18, 1818, replies in the following words ;
" How imprudent as well as base ds it in you, by such mis
representations, to reduce me to the necessity of reminding
you of the abject condition in which I had previously found
you, and by which I was moved to afford you all the counte
nance in my power ; sick (or pretending to be sick) in bed,
in consequence of distress of mind, declaring that you had
missed the fairest opportunity of distinguishing yourself tha
ever man had, and lamenting so piteously the loss of your
reputation, that I was prompted to make almost any effort to

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 115
relieve you from the shame which seemed to overwhelm
you. This, you very well know, was the origin of the cer
tificate I then granted you."
Here Commodore Perry directly contradicts him
self. He could not have written the letter of Septem
ber 18, 1813, from a compassionate desire to soothe
the feelings of an officer whom he knew to have mis
behaved, and whom he was endeavoring to screen.
Such supposition is contradicted and repelled by this
letter at the very commencement. By Commodore
Perry's own showing, Captain Elliott was not " sick
in bed," indulging in pathetic and unmanly lamenta
tions over his misconduct, and did not, with the con
scious abasement of a criminal, implore Commodore
Perry to shield him from merited punishment and
disgrace. Neither, by his own showing, was he
wrought upon by the abject supplications of a repent
ant poltroon, to strain a point in his favor. The let
ter of Captain Elliott to which that of Commodore
Perry was a reply, was the production of an officer
conscious of his integrity, knowing that he had been
impeached, and in manly terms, calling upon his
commander for a written contradiction of the im
peachment ; for a deserved and expected justification.
Commodore Perry's reply to it was an outpouring of
indignation at a proceeding so groundless and base,
as a charge of misconduct against such a man as
Captain Elliott. If Commodore Perry believed him
guilty, and was moved by his abject condition to do
every thing, for the purpose of screening him, " not
absolutely inconsistent with truth," would he have
written in terms so frank, so cordial, so " indignant,"
so completely exculpatory, so thoroughly complimen
tary ? No ! He would have written a cold, formal
certificate, plainly implying that he could not say
more, and was straining a point to say so much. To
suppose otherwise, to suppose that Commodore Perry,

116 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
in writing that letter, was laboring to save from dis
grace an officer whom he believed to deserve it, is to
suppose that compassion triumphed over honesty,
veracity, public duty ; to suppose a libel upon his
memory ! He could not, he did not then beheve
that Captain Elliott was guilty ! And yet Commo
dore Perry, in his letter of June 18, 1818, insinuates
that his certificate or letter of September 18, 1813,
was a hasty production, wrung from him by the sight
of Captain Elliott's abject condition ! But here is
another contradiction ; for this very letter shows that
Commodore Perry wrote it deliberately, took time to
consider, and slept one night upon the letter to which
it is a reply. A man may be very deliberate in his
indignation, when in earnest, but cannot, " without
absolute inconsistency with truth," express indigna
tion which he does not feel ; and the more deliberate
the affectation, the greater, the more inexcusable is
the violation of truth. If Commodore Perry believed
Captain Elliott to be falsely accused, he might be the
more indignant, the longer he pondered upon the
false accusation. But to suppose that he believed
Captain Elliott guilty, wished to plaster his shattered
reputation, and coolly, deliberately, cautiously framed
for the purpose a set, formal expression of indigna
tion, is to suppose that Commodore Perry did what
he is believed to have been incapable of doing.
But admitting that Commodore Perry believed him
guilty of cowardice or treachery, and in order to save
him from the just consequences, affected to be indig
nant at the charge, could he have afterwards intrust
ed him with important commands without violating
his public duty 1 Yet that Commodore Perry did so
intrust him, appears from the following letter.
" U. S. Schooner Ariel, Detroit Harbor,
BOth Sept. 1813.
Sir,— You will proceed with the Niagara, accompanied

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 117
by the Scorpion and Tigress, to Lake St. Clair, and en
deavor to intercept the enemy's vessels that have probably
gone to the River Thames. I shall follow with an addi
tional force. Great caution must be observed when you ar
rive at the mouth of the Thames, as the enemy is well pro
vided with artillery. I rely entirely on your discretion and
judgment. Respectfully, your ob't serv't,
O. H. PERRY.
He relies entirely upon Captain Elliott's discretion
and judgment, at the same time saying that such
qualities would be necessary, as great caution must
be observed ! This is extraordinary language to be
addressed to an officer whom he believed to be guilty
of cowardice or treachery, and whom he was en
deavoring to screen from punishment !
Soon after this service was performed, Commodore
Perry again thought fit to intrust him with an
important command, as appears from the following
letter.

" Put-in-Bay, 19th Oct. 1813.
Sir, — I wish you to take command of the squadron, and
proceed with them off Erie, where you will either see me or
receive my instructions. The Somers must take on board
as many of the Pennsylvania militia and Petersburgh volun
teers as she can possibly carry, and proceed to Cleaveland,
where they are to be landed. She will then take on board a
load of provisions for this place, a part of which will be
lauded here, the remainder at Detroit. She will take on
board General Cass's brigade remaining at this place, and
proceed with them to Detroit ; at the same time you can give
her such further instructions as you think proper. The
Porcupine, on her return from Portage, will go to the Middle
Sister Island and take on board the baggage belonging to
the army, return to this place, and take as many of General
M' Arthur's brigade as she can carry, and repair to Erie with
them for orders. The Tigress, on her return from Portage,
must take the wounded prisoners to Erie. The Scorpion
must land the militia and volunteers at Cleaveland, take on

118 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
board a load of provisions for the army, and follow the
squadron down the lake. I am, Sir, very respectfully,
Your ob't serv't,
O. H. PERRY.
Capt. Elliott,
Commanding U. S. Brig Niagara."
Nor is this all that shows the opinion then enter
tained by Commodore Perry of this coward and
traitor. Soon after the battle, Commodore Perry so
licited and obtained leave to retire from the com
mand of Lake Erie ; and the army being then en
gaged in important operations, and requiring all the
aid of the fleet, he left Captain Elliott in command
of this fleet ! Let the reader peruse the following
letter. " Buffalo, 26th Oct. 1813.
Sir, — The Honorable Secretary of the Navy having grant
ed me permission to leave the lake service, the command of
course devolves on you, which I now resign to you. I en
close you attested copies of Commodore Chauncey's letters
to me, which are so full, and having communicated with you
fully before I left Erie, that it will be unnecessary for me to
say any thing more as to the distribution of the squadron ; I
beg you will comply with Commodore Chauncey's direc
tions respecting the muster rolls. Those of the Lawrence
and Flotilla were signed before I left Erie.
Every assistance in your power must be rendered to the
army. The Ariel is directed .to remain here, and assist the
Chippewa and Little Belt, that have unfortunately grounded.
I enclose you an extract of a letter from the Honorable the
Secretary of the Navy, for your government.
Very respectfully, I am, Sir,
Yours, &c.
O. H. PERRY.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
U. States Navy."
It is needless to say that Captain Elliott being se
cond in command, the command of course devolved

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 119
on Mm, in the absence of the chief. Commodore
Perry was not obliged, of course, to afford him an
opportunity of doing more mischief. To suppose
that he had so much compassion, is to suppose that
he had very little patriotism and still less fidelity.
As Commodore Perry, in leaving the lake, after
visiting Newport, proceeded to Washington, he might
have arranged with the Secretary of the Navy for
saving the fleet and the army from the danger of
having the former in charge of a coward or a traitor,
without subjecting this coward or traitor to public
disgrace. Captain Elliott could have been transfer
red to some other station, to act under the immediate
orders of some officer that could be trusted ; he could
have been sent back to Lake Ontario, under the im
mediate command of Commodore Chauncey ; and in
stead of complaining, would have secretly rejoiced in
any mode of salvation. He could have gone back
to Lake Ontario without exciting any unfavorable
suspicion ; for on being sent for by Commodore
Perry, before the battle, who was very anxious to ob
tain his aid, he consented to go upon condition of re
turning to Lake Ontario immediately after the defeat
of the enemy, should such event occur. After the
battle, he wrote to the Secretary of the Navy for per
mission to rejoin the fleet on Lake Ontario, for there
a great battle was expected, the number of seamen in
the American fleet being nearly five thousand. The
Secretary of the Navy, instead' of eagerly improving
this opportunity to get rid of him upon Lake Erie,
demurs to his request in the following terms.
" Navy Department, Oct, 14, 1813.
Sir, — I have receivedyour letter of the 11th inst; Captain
Perry having asked and obtained leave to retire from the
command on Lake Erie, as soon as the immediate service in
whieh he is engaged will «dmit ; I cannot at this moment
decide upon your request ; but as soon as the service and

120 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
the arrangements of that command shall permit, I am much
disposed to gratify your wish.
I am, lespectfully, Your obedient servant,
W. JONES.
Capt Jesse D. Elliott,
U. S. Ship Niagara, Sandusky."
Had Commodore Perry then made any secret com
plaint to the Secretary of the Navy, and stated Cap
tain Elliott's case as he afterwards stated it in this let
ter of June 18, 1818, he would have been attentively
heard, implicitly believed, and the subject would have
been promptly acted upon ; for he was then in high
favor with the government, had exhibited no preju
dices, no animosities against Captain Elliott, and his
representations would have been ascribed to solicitude
for the public service, and not to personal pique.
Nor would such confidential representation have been
unusual ; for as he, in common with every officer of
the navy, then well knew, a standing rule of the Navy
Department requires all commanding officers to com
municate confidentially to the head of the Depart
ment, any information which they may deem import
ant, concerning all under their respective commands ;
which confidential communications are never di
vulged. The object of this rule is to preserve the
discipline and efficiency of the navy. But Captain
Elliott was not removed from this important com
mand ; which proves, either that Commodore Perry
made no complaint, or that his complaint was not
heeded. If then he made no complaint, and yet be
lieved Captain Elliott guilty, he voluntarily left the
fleet in command of one who could not be trusted.
If he made any complaint, it was disregarded at a
time when he had yet given no reason to doubt his
representations. Here then is a glaring inconsistency
between Commodore Perry's letters of September 18,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 121
1813, and June 18, 1818 ; and the only mode of sav
ing him from the imputation of deliberate mis-repre
sentation in the one or the other, an imputation to
which it seems impossible to believe him liable, is to
consider the first as a frank, sincere, and true state
ment of the case, and the second as the outpouring of
a mind diseased by personal enmity.
11

122 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER VII.

Battle of Lake Erie. Testimony in favor of Captain EUiott. Letters of officers
of the Niagara. Proceedings in Congress. Medal. Sword. Proceedings on
Northern frontier. Letters from officers of army and navy.
All the accusatory testimony against Captain
Elliott is now before the reader. The exculpatory
shall next be introduced, and submitted to an exami
nation equally rigid ; and if the witnesses agree with
themselves, with each other, and with probabilities,
the reader will decide how far an officer is convicted
of cowardice or treachery, who is accused by contra
dictory and defended by consistent testimony.
Of the exculpatory documents now to be introdu
ced, the first in order of time is the following letter
from the officers of the Niagara to Captain Elliott.
" If. S. Brig Niagara, Sept. 19. 1813.
Captain Elliott,
Sir, — We, the officers of the U. S. Brig Niagara, under
your command, with the most profound respect, congratulate
you on our late victory over the British squadron ; well con
vinced that in you we were ably commanded, and that your
valor, intrepidity and skill could not be surpassed. You
have, Sir, our most ardent wish for future prosperity and hap
piness, both in your official and private capacity, and may
your future naval course ever be as brilliant as the present.
Receive, Sir, the assurance of our greatest respect,
J. E. Smith, Lieut.
H. Magrath, Purser.
Nelson Webster, Lieut.
J. J. Edwaros, Lieut.
Robert B. Barton, Surgeon.
H. B. Brevoort, 2d U. S. Infantry.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 123
It must be admitted that the officers of Captain
Elliott's own ship had some opportunities of observ
ing his conduct during the battle. It must also be
admitted that they were equal to the officers of any
other of the ships, in courage, skill, patriotism, mili
tary honor, and a desire to distinguish themselves in
the service of their country, or to participate in the
glory of achieving a victory in the first battle ever
fought by an American fleet. If then Captain Elliott
misbehaved, and by such misbehavior, deprived
them of an opportunity for distinguishing themselves,
they must have known it, and would have felt all the
indignation that such conduct would naturally, ne
cessarily excite, in brave and honorable minds. Under
such circumstances, would they have written such a
letter ? Would they have been desirous of saving
from public disgrace, a poltroon who had defrauded
them of an opportunity for covering themselves with
glory? Regard to their own reputation would have
prompted to a different course ; for if there were any
thing mysterious in the management of the Niagara,
if she were kept at a distance when she ought to have
been in close action, it would be impossible for the
public to decide upon whom the blame should fall,
till the affair were explained. The public might
say that, all the officers of the ship were equally
in fault, all cowardly or treacherous. Self-respect
would therefore have urged them to speak out plainly,
and Captain Elliott would have been convicted by a
Court Martial, upon the testimony of his own officers.
But even admitting that they were willing to sacri
fice themselves for the purpose of saving a coward or
a traitor, the utmost that could have been expected
from them would have been a cold, formal certificate,
" damning with faint praise." Instead of this, they ad
dressed to Captain Elliott a letter which came warm
from the heart; which breathed the highest admiration,

124 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
the most affectionate regard ; which showed that they
both respected and loved their commander, and re
joiced in the opportunity of pouring out their feelings.
If their object were merely to shield a coward or a
traitor, this letter went far, very far, beyond the ne
cessities of the case. Even were it possible for them
to assume the appearance of respect, they could not
that of affection ! That would be to trifle with, to
trample upon the best feelings of our nature ; and
from this, every heart not hardened must revolt !
The next exculpatory document is the following
letter to the Secretary of the Navy, from the same
officers who signed the last, excepting Dr. Barton.
Letter from the Officers on board the Niagara to the Secre
tary of the Navy.
U. S. Sloop Niagara, 13th Oct. at Anchor
off Detroit, U. C.
Respecteo Sir, — We have with regret seen the condensed,
and suffer us to add, the partial statements of the late action
on Lake Erie, and induced by motives of the warmest ad
miration and greatest respect for our commander, Captain
J. D. Elliott, we take the liberty of laying before you Our
combined observations on the above late action, and knowing
as we do your power of discrimination and impartiality of
judgment, we commit it to you with full confidence of its
universal evidence and consideration.
On the 10th September, 1813, while lying in Put-in-Bay,
the enemy's fleet was discovered from the Lawrence's mast
head. At 5 A. M. signal 1205, our squadron weighed and
commenced beating out of the bay, in company the Law
rence, Captain Perry, the Niagara, Captain Elliott, the Cale
donia, Ariel, Scorpion, Somers, Porcupine, Tigress, and
Trippe. At 6 A. M. discovered the sails in the Western
board to be the enemy's squadron, consisting of two ships,
two brigs, one schooner, one sloop of war, with their board
tacks on board, standing to the southward, under easy sail,
our squadron using all possible exertion to join them by
beating out of the bay. Kept our wind on the larboard tack,
in order to preserve gage, which was effected. Observed
the enemies squadron to form in line of battle ahead, in the
following order :— the Detroit leading the van ; brig Hunter,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 125
Queen Charlotte, Lady Prevost, Chippeway and Little Belt.
Our squadron forming in line of battle in the following
order : — Schooner Ariel of four and Scorpion of two guns,
on the Lawrence's weather bow, the Lawrence, Captain
Perry, leading the van; the Caledonia, the Niagara, the
Porcupine, the Somers, Tigress, and the Trippe. At a
quarter before 12, the enemy's ship Detroit commenced fir
ing on our headmost vessels, distance computed at one mile
and a half. At meridian the action became general and
closer, the whole of the enemy's fire being directed at the Law
rence, Caledonia, and Niagara. The Lawrence labored under
a very great disadvantage at this time ; observing her shot
to fall short of the Detroit, who, having long guns, placed
her shot in the Lawrence deliberately, and at discretion.
This, in our opinion, is one reason why the Lawrence be
came so shattered. The Niagara's position was close astern
of the Caledonia, which she maintained, and being a little
abaft the weather beam of the Queen Charlotte, abreast of
the Lady Prevost and rest of the enemy's squadron, the
whole of whose fire she sustained. At this time the Queen
Charlotte was discovered to bear up, and stand away from
the Niagara's fire. Captain Elliott ordered the fore and aft
mainsail to be hauled out and the jib sheet aft, in order to
come up with her, she being the vessel we meant particular
ly to engage. The Queen Charlotte having gained the De
troit's lee, and the Lawrence gaining ahead, Captain Elliott
ordered the Caledonia to bear up and leave us room to close
with the Lawrence, which was done, and the action carried
on with great vigor and spirit on both sides. The most of
our fire was now directed against the Queen Charlotte, (she
having regained the line,) Lady Prevost, and Little Belt.
We now ranged ahead, receiving the combined fires of the
Detroit, Queen Charlotte, and Lady Prevost. The Lawrence,
some time previous to this, had dropped astern much shatter
ed and useless. Captain Perry left her and came on board
the Niagara ; he observed to Captain Elliott that he appre
hended the action was lost, who with the spirit and promp'.i-
tude we have been accustomed to see him exert, replied, No,
Sir, I will yet try and save the day ; he accordingly repaired
on board, and taking the direction of one of the small ves
sels, brought the whole of them into action at close musket
shot ; the consequence was that in ten minutes the Detroit
and Queen Charlotte, with the Lady Prevost, struck to us,
and soon after the whole of the enemy's squadron followed
their example. The Lawrence had some minutes before
11*

126 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
this struck her colors and hauled out of the line. You will
perceive, Sir, by this account, that the Niagara was most use
fully and energetically engaged during the action, and the
gallant manner and the celerity with which the small ves
sels were brought into action, and the instant change effect
ed by it, ranks Captain Elliott in our opinion as sEcoNn to
none in the attainment of the late action.
We are unwilling to quit the subject without expressing
our estimation of our noble commander. We feel it a duty
to him and ourselves to express our opinion of his conduct
during the action, which was manifested by his cool, brave
and judicious deportment, and are firmly of opinion, that his
Valor could not be surpassed by any ; and that in him the
American flag has a most zealous, skilful and heroic defend
er. We have here endeavored, Sir, to give you a succinct
and minute account of the action from the commencement
to the close, in doing this, we have been actuated by unpre
judiced love and respect for Captain Elliott.
We have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servants,
J. E. Smith, Lieut.
H. Magrath, Purser,
J. J. EnwARDS, Lieut.
Nelson Webster, A. M.
A. B. Brevoort, Capt. 2d Reg. U. S. In.
Hon. Wm. Jones,
Secretary of the Navy, Washington."
This is another specimen of that warm ana gene
rous feeling which characterized the last mentioned
letter of these same officers, and like that, could only
have been dictated by sincere respect for a brave,
skilful and injured officer. The first specification of
Commodore Perry's first charge insinuates that this
was procured by the solicitation of Captain Elliott.
But this insinuation is repelled by the very first sen
tence of this letter, which was manifestly dictated by
indignation at the hasty and indefinite manner in
which Captain Elliott's services had been mentioned
in the official report. It gives a description of the
battle which is perfectly consistent, clear and distinct,
and which represents all the events detailed as oc-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 127
curring in regular succession, without any of that
confusion and perplexity which characterises the of
ficial report. The closing paragraph is highly com
plimentary to Captain EiiioU, and could never hnve
proceeded from a desire to save the reputation of a
coward and a traitor.
The next is a letter from Major Brevoort, the same
who signed both of the letters last mentioned, to Ma
jor James S. Swearingen of the United States Army.
This was written only nineteen days after the battle,
when the principal events were yet fresh in the au
thor's memory, and is accordingly important in show
ing the conversation that occurred between Captains
Perry and Elliott, when the former boarded the Nia
gara during the battle, and when the latter returned
to her afterwards. " Erie, Nov. 1, 1813.
Sir.— To my astonishment and surprise, on my arrival at
this place, I discovered some malicious persons had, with
uncommon industry, circulated a report prejudicial to the
character of our mutual friend, Captain Elliott. Now, Sir,
I was on board the Niagara with Captain Elliott, in the
character of a marine officer, and during the action, I do most
solemly declare his conduct to have been such as went to
establish him in my confidence as a brave, correct and hu
mane man ; and it is with no small degree of satisfaction I
do assure you that it was his vessel, his conduct and exer-
tionsj that at this moment crown our country with the vic
tory it has obtained. I am sure you will join in opinion with
me, that the above statement is but a faint sketch, when I
give you the words of Captain Perry when he came on
board. He observed that he believed the day was lost, as
two thirds of his men were either killed or wounded, and his
vessel could give no further assistance. " No !" said Elliott,
"I can yet save it!" "I wish to God you would," said
Perry. " Take charge of my battery while I bring the gun
boats in close action, and the day will yet be ours." After
the action was over and Captain Elliott came on board, Cap
tain Perry ran and caught hold of his hand, saying, " I owe
all this to your exertions ; it has given us the day." I also
enclose you a paper, containing Captain Perry's letter to

12S LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Captain Elliott, in which he gives him much credit for beat
ing off the Royal Charlotte, &c.
Believe me to be, &c.
H. B. BREVOORT,
Capt. 2d Regt. U. S. In.
Maj. James S. Swearingen."
The next is a very important document, for it di
rectly contradicts one of Commodore Perry's charges,
and Mr. Brownell's affidavit. The reader will recol
lect that the tenth specification of Commodore Perry's
first charge is, that Captain Elliott caused to be pub
lished in the Erie Gazette of December 1, 1813, a
false version of the note which he addressed to Com
modore Perry on the night of September 17, 1813,
and caused to be published, at the same time, Com
modore Perry's reply of September 18, 1813. The
reader will also recollect that according to Mr. Brow
nell's affidavit, Mr. Magrath said that he would sa
crifice his right arm, if he could withdraw hrs name
from the letter which he addressed to the Secretary
of the Navy, in company with the officers of the Ni
agara. The document now to be introduced is a let
ter from Mr. Magrath to the editor of the Erie Sen
tinel, inclosing for publication Captain Elliott's note
and Commodore Perry's reply. Commodore Perry,
in his charges, misnames it Erie Gazette.
" To the Editor of the Erie Sentinel.
Some persons, actuated by base and unworthy motives,
have falsely and maliciously caused the public opinion to be
unfavorably impressed with the conduct of Captain Elliott
in the Niagara, on the 10th of September. I believe there
are many who entertain the erroneous opinion that the Nia
gara rendered no assistance to the Lawrence. The subjoin
ed notes of Captains Perry and Elliott, I hope, will remove
these impressions. I can, from my own knowledge, declare
Captain Elliott's conduct to have been such as merits the
applause of his country. His brave and gallant conduct was
signal to all on board the Niagara, and in my opinion, could

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 129
not have been surpassed. He remarked to me repeatedly in
the action, that we were not as close alongside the enemy
as he wished, that we left their long guns too much superio
rity, and that he was certain, if close alongside the Queen
Charlotte, ten minutes would determine the contest in our
favor. From a few minutes after the commencement of the
action, the enemy being formed very close in a line ahead,
their shot came over us in every direction, and repeatedly
hulled us. Our position was preserved as I believe the line
was intended to be formed during the action ; the Caledonia
being so close ahead of us, that we were obliged frequently
to keep the main yard braced sharp aback, to keep from
going foul of her. Finding the Queen Charlotte to make
sail ahead from our fire, as we supposed, Captain Elliott
hailed the Caledonia, and ordered her helm put up, which
was done, and the Niagara passed ahead by filling the main
top-sail and setting the jib and fore and aft mainsails. The
Niagara then closed in the wake of the Lawrence, and con
tinued the action with the usual vigor until the Lawrence
dropped astera, when it is well known that the Niagara al
most instantly became abreast of the Detroit and Queen
Charlotte, which could not have been the case had she been
a long distance astern. I feel it my duty also to observe that
the Lawrence, until near the close of the engagement, bore
a great proportion of the fire of the Detroit and Queen Char
lotte, and from the Detroit's long guns, which pierced
through her, she suffered considerably more in every respect
than the Niagara. Captain Elliott's volunteering to bring
into close action all our small vessels, which was nobly and
heroically executed, aided by the exertions of their com
manders, produced the brilliant victory which warms with
just pride the bosom of every American.
HUMPHREY MAGRATH."

Here follow the letters between Captains Elliott
and Perry, dated September 17 and 18, 1813, pre
cisely as they appear in the Naval Monument, and in
the foregoing pages.
To show that these three letters were published in
the Erie Sentinel precisely as they appear in these
pages, the following certificate is offered.

130 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
" 1 certify the foregoing to be true copies as published in
the Erie Northern Sentinel of November 1, 1813.
R. S. CURTIS,
Editor of the Sentinel.
Erie, August 31, 1818."
The next exculpatory document is the letter of
Captain Elliott to the Secretary of the Navy, dated
New- York, April 16, 1815.* The exculpatory mat
ter in this letter is the statement of the writer, that,
soon after the battle of Lake Erie, he applied to the
Navy Department for an investigation, which was
not granted!! Why was it refused'/ If Captain
Elliott's misbehavior was so notorious to all the
fleet and General Harrison's army, it is extraordinary,
either that the Secretary should not have heard of it,
or, having heard of it, should not deem it worthy of
investigation. The first supposition is totally impro
bable, if not impossible. The rumor of such misbe
havior would have reached him from innumerable
sources; and to suppose otherwise, would be to sup
pose the Secretary less informed about what pecu
liarly concerned his own department, than almost
any other man in the nation. The second supposi
tion represents the Secretary as being informed of
misconduct in a Captain of the Navy, that put three
fleets and an army in imminent danger, and yet as
too regardless of the public interest to order an inves
tigation. This would be a reflection upon the com
petency or fidelity of the Hon. William Jones, to
which no Secretary of the American Navy was ever
liable. His refusal to order an investigation is proof,
clear, convincing proof, that he was distinctly in
formed of all the principal facts of the battle, and con
vinced that Captain Elliott had done his duty. But
it may be said that if Captain Elliott were not guilty,
* Appendix, B. 1.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 131
an investigation was due, for the purpose of defend
ing him against unfounded imputations; and there
fore that an investigation was denied from the appre
hension that, it would terminate unfavorably to his
reputation. This supposition is also injurious to the
Secretary, for it supposes him willing to shield cow
ardice or harbor treason. It moreover supposes the
absurdity of the Secretary's entertaining apprehen
sions about the result of an investigation, upon which
point Captain Elliott, the party immediately con
cerned, was perfectly fearless. The ground taken
by the Secretary was, that the most thorough, the
most dignified refutation of any charges against
Captain Elliott, would be the refusal of the Govern
ment to notice them. This course left to him the
approbation of the Government, necessarily implied
from its silence concerning any imputations, and the
active exertions of his own friends in the fleet, who
were sufficiently numerous, and possessing sufficient
credit with the public, to counteract the machinations
of his enemies, of which he seemed to have a few.
But the Government, while refusing an investiga
tion at Captain Elliott's request, were not disposed to
dismiss the affair silently; for after his application
to the Department, the Secretary made a report to
Congress, doubtless with reference to these imputa
tions, and for the purpose of inducing some legisla
tive action upon the subject, that should for ever set
tle the question about Captain Elliott's behavior in
the battle of Lake Erie. The following is a true
copy of the Record, being an extract of a Report from
the Secretary of the Navy to the Hon. William
Lowndes, Chairman of the Naval Committee of the
House of Representatives. "Navy Department, Dec. 27, 1813.
, While the heroic commander of the American squadron
justly merits the highest honors which the expressions of

132 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
the National Council can bestow, the second in command
on that eventful day, appears to merit particular distinction
for the important and decisive share he had in that glorious
event ; and it is grateful in the highest degree, that every
officer and man on that trying occasion, discharged his duty
to the nation with zeal, fidelity, and honor.
BENJAMIN HOMANS."
Copy of Record.
The response of the House of Representatives to
his report was in the following words.
"Resolved — That the President of the United
States be requested to cause gold medals to be struck,
emblematical of the action between the two squad
rons, and present them to Captain Perry and Captain
Jesse D. Elliott, in such a manner as will be most
honorable to them ; and that the President be further
requested to present a silver medal, with suitable
emblems and devices, to each of the commissioned
officers, either of the Navy or Army, serving on board,
and a sword to each of the Midshipmen and Sailing
Masters, who so nobly distinguished themselves on
that memorable day."
These two documents imply something more than
meets the eye. They contain internal evidence of
being founded upon something which the Secretary
and the Naval Committee had been apprised of, and
were resolved to settle. They indicate that Captain
Elliott had been assailed, and that the Government,
knowing his deserts, were resolved to protect him.
The mode of protection too is much more effectual
for showing their sense of his merits, than a Court of
Inquiry would have been ; for by ordering a court,
they would have implied that the question of his
guilt or innocence was doubtful till investigated; but
by ordering a compliment, they signified that his
conduct did not admit of a question. This proceed
ing is decisive, for it is the highest compliment which

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 133
the House of Representatives could bestow. The
report of the Secretary of the navy, after saying that
Commodore Perry merited the highest honors which
the House could bestow, says that Captain Elliott
merited particular distinction for the DECISIVE
share which he had in the glorious events of the day.
If then the share of Captain Elliott was decisive,
which means that he DECIDED the fortune of the
day, his merit was equal at least to that of Commo
dore Perry; and so say the House of Representatives
in their resolution. Why this particular designation
of " the second in command," in both the report and
the resolution, unless some insidious comparisons
had been made between the second and the first?
Unless some hints had reached Head Quarters of a
mischievous design to build up the first by pulling
down the second? This curious, this unexampled
designation in these conclusive documents, cannot
be easily explained upon any other hypothesis. It
appears then from Captain Elliott's statement in his
request for a Court of Inquiry in 1815, that he had
made a similar request soon after the battle; and it
also appears, from the journal of the House of Repre
sentatives, that the Secretary responded to this request
by a complimentary Report to the House of Represen
tatives, who responded to such report by a compli
mentary resolution ! !
To show that the object of this legislative action
was to defend the fame of Captain Elliott, and was
thought a better expedient for such purpose than a
Court of Inquiry, the following letter is offered to the
reader, being from a member of Congress from Penn
sylvania to one of his constituents. " Washington, Jan. 4, 1814.
Sir,— Since my last to you, the report of the Secretary of
the Navy on the subject of your communications to me, has
12

134 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
been laid upon our table. From it I extract the following
paragraph. (Here follows the report of the Secretary of the Navy
" While the heroic commander," &c.)
The particular attention drawn to the conduct of Lieute
nant Elliott by the Secretary of the Navy, in his report, and
the equality of his claim to public gratitude in the resolution
reported to the House from the Senate, and which, I have
no doubt, will be confirmed by the House, must be; I
think, entirely satisfactory to Lieutenant Elliott and his
friends. I am, Sir, your most ob't serv't.
WM. CRAWFORD.
Samuel Duncan Esq."

The medal voted to Captain Elliott by this resolu
tion, affords no slight evidence of the high estimation
in which he was then held at Head Quarters ; for no
thing can be more complimentary, more indicative of
the energy and resolution which he has always dis
played, than the legend upon the face of it. The
following is a description of the medals granted to
Captains Perry and Elliott.
To Captain Perry.
Face. — A bust of Captain Perry.
Legend. — Oliverus H.Perry, frinceps stagno
Eriensi, classim totam contudit.
Reverse. — A fleet closely engaged.
Legend. — Viam invenit virtus atjt facit.
Exergue. — Inter class. Ameri. et Brit, die
x Sept. mdcccxiii.
To Captain Elliott.
Face. — A bust of Captain Elliott.
Legend. — Jesse D. Elliott. Nil actum repu-
TANS SI GIUID SUPERESSET AGENDUM.
Reverse. — A fleet engaged.
Legend. — Viam invenit virtus aut facit.
Exergue. — Inter class. Ameri. et Brit, die
X Sept. mucccxiii.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 135
The only difference in the inscriptions upon the two
medals is in the legends on the faces ; • that on Cap
tain Perry's being Oliver H. Perry, commander
on Lake Erie, captured a whole fleet; that
on Captain Elliott's being Jesse D. Elliott, who
THINKS NOTHING DONE WHILE ANY THING RE
MAINS TO BE DONE.
The next evidence is a series of letters and ex
tracts of letters, showing the confidence reposed in
Captain Elliott by the "Secretary of the Navy, by
Commodore Chauncey, and by the general officers of
the army, and by Commodore Perry himself; and
showing also that his command upon Lake Erie
after the departuie of Commodore Perry, was a post
of great difficulty, danger and responsibility. After
the battle of Lake Erie, he had more than once soli
cited the permission of the Secretary to join the great
squadron upon Lake Ontario, a battle being expected
there. He had also solicited permission to visit his
family for a short time, then suffering from severe
illness. Neither of these requests was granted^ be
cause — his talents and energy were necessary upon
Lake Erie!

"Navy Department, Nov. 4, 1813.
Sir, — I have received your letier of 22d October. Captain
Perry having solicited and obtained leave of absence, and
the command of the Naval force on Lake Erie having de
volved on you, and instructions having been forwarded to
you by Commodore Chauncey, the commander-in-chief, who
is held responsible for all the arrangements of the service
on the lakes, I necessarily refer your request to the commo
dore, who will doubtless feel disposed, under the pressing
nature of your domestic affairs, to grant your request, if the
service will admit of your absence from the station, which,
though inactive in winter, nevertheless requires the super
intending care of an officer of rank and talents, to protect the
public interest, inspect the accounts of previous expenditure,
which are extensive and unsettled, to check and regulate the

136 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
current expenditure, direct the repairs and outfits prepa
ratory to such measures as the ensuing campaign may de
signate. I am respectfully, Your ob't serv't,
W. JONES.
Jesse D. Elliott, Esq.
Master Commandant U. S. Navy, Erie."

" U. S. Ship General Pike, Sackett's Harbor,
Dec. 1, 1813.
Sir, — (Here follow various directions for repairing and
guarding the fleet, building a block house at Erie for defend
ing it, &c. &c.)
Your request to visit your family, (which at first view
might be considered a reasonable one) I regret that I cannot
grant. To an officer of your merits and experience, a single
glance at the situation of the fleet upon Erie, will con
vince you that the request ought not to have been made;
and I am well persuaded that upon reflection, you will ac
quiesce in my decision with great cheerfulness. Your situ
ation is a responsible one, and you must be aware that it is
all important to the government, that the vessels upon Erie
should not only be preserved, but prepared in every respect
for any service that they may be required for in the spring;
and who is so proper to attend to the various duties apper
taining to the station as yourself? Your presence is abso
lutely necessary to curtail as much as possible the expenses
of the station, to examine and approve all bills, and to regu
late expenditures generally, and also to provide for the wants
of the station, by making timely requisitions for stores, pro
visions, clothing, &c. &c. I do assure you that it would
have afforded me infinite pleasure to have gratified you with
a visit to your friends, if I could have done it without injury
to the public service. As it is, you must submit, as I am
obliged to do. I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully, Sir,
Your most ob't serv't.
ISAAC CHAUNCEY.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
Commanding Naval Officer at Erie, Penn."

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 137
The following is a letter from Major General Mead,
of the Pennsylvania militia. "Meadville, Jan. 3d, 1814.
Sir, — I have ordered out the whole of this brigade, and
one thousand men from the lower brigade, for the defence of
Erie and the fleet. A long and severe indisposition, which
has confined me to my room and bed, renders me unable to
go to Erie at present.
I have no doubt you will give to General Kelso the bene
fit of your experience and skill, in erecting works for the
defence of the town and place. I sent on your despatches
to Pittsburgh. I am, Sir, very respectfully,
Your ob't serv't,
DAVID MEAD.
Com. Jesse D. Elliott,
Commanding at Erie."
The following is from General Kelso, a Brigadier
General in General Mead's division.
"Head Quarters, 10th Jan. 1814.
Sir, — I estimate the aid that you can give me essential to
the service in which we are both engaged. Will you be
good enough to state to me whether in your opinion, a block
ouse, (in octagon form,) erected in the centre of a fort at
the old French garrison, with a battery on the north, — or a
fort with a bastion at the opposite angles, — would be the best
defence against the enemy.
I am, Sir, with the highest esteem and respect,
Your friend, JOHN KELSO, Brig. Gen.
Capt. Elliott,
Com. Erie fleet." FROM GENERAL MEAD.
" Meadville, Jan. 11. 1814.
Sir, — I have received your letter of the 6th inst. and ap
prove fully of your plan of defence, and presume that Ge
neral Kelso has given orders to the men to commence the
works. Not knowing what kind of intercourse is kept up -between
12*

138 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Erie and the lower end of the lake, I have employed an ex
press to carry a letter to the commanding officer there. The
letter is open that you may see it. If you deem it necessary
that he should proceed, seal it. If not, send him back. I
think we ought to use all the means in our power to be in
formed of what is going on below. I will exert myself, as
far as in my power, to put the place in a posture of defence,
and hope I will be able to go to Erie in a few days. We
will then confer fully on the subject.
I am, with considerations of great respect,
Yours,
DAVID MEAD.
Maj. Gen. 16th Div. Pa. Mil.
Com. Jesse D. Elliott."
The following from Commodore Chauncey, written
from Washington, shows the entire confidence which
he placed in Captain Elliott, under any circum
stances, however difficult.

" Washington, 12th Jan. 1814.
Sir, — There is much anxiety created here for the safety of
the fleet at Erie, but knowing your zeal and activity, I have
ventured to assure the President and Secretary that there is
no danger, and that every thing will be done that can be
done. I should advise you, however, to keep the ice clear
around the vessels for at least four feet, and if the block
house is not finished, to use every exertion to complete it
with all possible despatch.
You will give the officer at command in Put-in-Bay, or
ders that in case the enemy should attack him with a force
that would be likely to succeed, he will burn the two prize
ships in his charge, so as to prevent their falling into the
hands of the enemy. Knowing the importance of the pre
servation of the fleet at Erie, I am persuaded that you will
make every sacrifice before it is relinquished. I shall leave
here in a day or two on my return to the harbor, from which
place I will write you fully.
I have the honor to be,
With much respect,
Your ob't serv't,
I. CHAUNCEY.
Capt. Elliott, Erie."

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 139
The following letter from Colonel Burn of the Dra
goons, will show that notwithstanding the capture of
the enemy's fleet, he had not lost all hope of main
taining himself upon Lake Erie.
" Sir, — I have the honor of stating to you, that, infor
mation has this day been received at this post, which can
be depended upon, and which I am instructed by Major
General Brown to communicate to you by express, ' that
fifteen hundred regular troops, and five hundred sailors,
have left Kingston, their destination supposed to be to
endeavor to destroy our fleet on the Upper Lake.' Five
hundred more troops are said to he on the route to Kingston
from below. I have the honor to be,
With great respect, Sir,
Your ob't serv't,
JAMES BURN,
Col. 2d Drag, commanding cantonment.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
Or Officer commanding the Navy, U. S.
at Lake Erie."
The following from Commodore Chauncey con
firms the foregoing.
" U. S. Ship General Pike, Sackett's Harbor,
26th Feb. rB14.
Sir,— From recent information I have reason to believe
that the enemy will make a desperate effort to regain the
possession of the two ships at Put-in-Bay. They have re
cently sent from Kingston to the upper part of the province,
a number of soldiers and sailors. The object in sending the
sailors can be for no other purpose but to man those vessels.
My impression is that they intend to make an attempt in
boats, and if they succeed, take the ships to Maiden or Long
Point, where they will be joined by three brigs, which I have
information they have built or are building on Lake Huron.
With this force, the enemy will be able to contest the com
mand of Lakes Erie and Huron. , To guard against the pos
sibility of the enemy's obtaining the command of the upper
lakes, you will despatch all the force which you can spare
to Put-in-bay, for the protection of the two ships there, with

140 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
orders to the officer that in no event whatever those ships
are to be surrendered to the enemy. If he should be attack
ed with a force which would probably succeed against
him, he must set fire to the ships and retreat to the main.
(Here follow directions for the necessary defensive ar
rangements.) I have the honor to be,
With great respect, Sir,
Your most ob't serv't,
ISAAC CHAUNCEY.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
Com. Naval Officer, Erie, Penn."
The following from Commodore Chauncey is an
order for an attack upon a British post.
" Sackett's Harbor, 30th March, 1814.
Dear Sir, — I have positive information that Michilima-
chinac is much distressed for supplies and very few troops
there. You will therefore be prepared to proceed into Lake
Huron the moment that the ice will allow you. Instructions
shall be forwarded to you in a few days.
I am very respectfully, dear Sir,
Your ob't serv't,
I. CHAUNCEY.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott."
The following is an extract of a reply to a request
from Captain Elliott for permission to return to Lake
Ontario. " Sackett's Harbor, 31st March, 1814.
Dear Elliott, — Your esteemed favor of the 17th inst. I
have received, and I regret to learn that you have been in
disposed. Nothing would afford me more pleasure than to
.lave you with me ; but the importance of the command upon
Lake Erie requires an officer of talents and great zeal, and I
know of no one better fitted for that station than yourself.
In fact the country looks up to you in some degree as the
commander on Lake Erie. It would therefore be impolitic
to remove you, if there were not more weighty reasons. You
must therefore, my dear Sir, consent to stay where you are,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 141
and serve your country, and immortalize yourself, which I
know you will do if opportunities offer.
(Here follow instructions for proceeding to Lake Huron,
and information of the state of affairs on Lake Ontario.)
I am, my dear Sir,
With great sincerity,
Your friend and humble serv't,
I. CHAUNCEY.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott, Erie."
The next from Commodore Chauncey, dated April
1, 1814, contains instructions for the expedition to
Lake Huron, to reduce Micliilimachinac, St. Josephs,
Machedoth, and any other British post on that lake,
and concludes with,
" Having the most perfect reliance upon your zeal, intre
pidity and talents, I calculate much on the honorable and
brilliant issue to your enterprise into Lake Huron.
I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully, Your's, &c.
ISAAC CHAUNCEY.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
Sen. Naval Officer, Erie, Penn."
The following is from General Harrison.
"Head Quarters, Cincinnati, 3d April, 1814.
Dear Sir, — The enemy will no doubt push on re-inforce-
ments and supplies to Machinac, as soon as the lakes are na
vigable. The merchants also will be forwarding their In
dian goods to Lake Superior and Green Bay. Would it not
be well to send some of your vessels up to Detroit, that they
may be ready to commence cruising in Huron and Michigan
as soon as they are open? It will be necessary that I should
remove the greater part of the troops from Put-in-Bay to
Detroit very soon, to supply the place of those whose terms
of service are expiring.
I am, with great respect,
Your humble servant,
WM. HENRY HARRISON.
Com. Jesse D. Elliott,
Commanding U. S. Flotilla on Lake Erie."

142 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Soon after the date of the last, Captain Elliott's
wish to return to Lake Ontario was gratified, because
the great increase of force on that lake rendered the
duties upon it more arduous. Several new and large
ships had been launched at Sackett's Harbor, and the
number of American seamen in the fleet was about
five thousand. The British fleet also had been great
ly augmented, particularly by the addition of a ship
of the line of 64 guns, and a 44 gun frigate. Captain
Elliott was then wanted, for Commodore Chauncey
knew his value. He accordingly received the follow
ing letter from the Secretary of the Navy.
" Navy Department, April 15, 1814.
Sir, — The arduous duties and gieat increase of force on
Lake Ontario, together with the interruption of intercourse
between the commander-in-chief on that lake and the com
mander of the squadron on Lake Erie, has rendered it expe
dient to place the latter under a separate command.
Captain Sinclair is therefore appointed to the command of
the squadron on Lake Erie, to whom you will communicate
all the information you possess, and the arrangements you
have made for the future operations of the squadron. You
will then, Sir, agreeably to the wish expressed in your let
ter to Commodore Chauncey of the 19th December last, pro
ceed to Sackett's Harbor, and report yourself to him.
I am, very respectfully, Your ob't serv't,
WM. JONES.
Jesse D. Elliott, Esq.
Commanding the U. S. Squadron
on Lake Erie."
While Captain Elliott was in command on Lake
Erie, he wrote the following letter to Mr. Brownell.
As this officer thought fit, before the committee of the
House of Representatives of Rhode Island in 1818, to
impeach the courage of Captain Elliott, this letter is
published for the purpose of showing that if he were
timid in action, he was far from being so in counsel.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 143'
"Buffalo, 11th Dec. 1813.
Sir, — You will assume the command of the U. S. Brig
Caledonia, get her ballast on board, and proceed with all
possible despatch to Erie ; if on your arrival at that place,
you should be prevented from getting into the harbor by the
ice, and the wind continuing favorable, you will proceed to
Put-in-Bay, and put your men on board the two ships, and
there co-operate with the army force, in defence of those
vessels. Should you be so unfortunate as not to reach either
of the above mentioned places, you will return to Black Rock,
and beach your vessel just back of General Porter's store
house, to prevent her from being injured by the ice, and
mount ten guns, thct you may be enabled to protect her in
any attempt which may be made by the enemy to destroy
her. I need not mention the line of conduct to be observed
by you on the approach of the enemy. The vessels are not
to be abandoned, but defended as long as a man or officer is
left. Respectfully, J. D. Elliott.
Acting S. M. Thos. Brownell,
U. S. Navy."
The following extract of a letter from Mr. Breese,
another of Commodore Perry's witnesses before the
Rhode Island committee, corroborates the testimony
already cited to show the danger to which our fleet
was exposed, after the battle of Lake Erie.
" Cattaraugus, 3d Jan. 1814.
Sir, — Since I last had the honor of addressing you, I have
seen Colonel M'Mahan; the only information of conse
quence that I could obtain from him was that just before the
action at Black Rock and Buffalo, an American prisoner
deserted from the British, and informed them, (our officers)
of the intended attack upon those places, and at what time
they meant to cross, which information has proved correct
in every instance. He also stated that the enemy had form
ed a plan for destroying our fleet at Erie, which was to be
put in execution as soon as the ice was sufficiently strong
on the lake to bear the weight. Their intention is to send
one hundred sleighs with good horses, each to carry six
men, which will enable them to reach Erie equally as soon

144 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
as any express that may attempt to give you information of
the expedition.
(Here follows some account of the burning of Buffalo.)
Very respectfully,
I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your ob't serv't,
THOS. BREESE.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
Commanding U. S. Naval force
on Lake Erie."
The following from Sailing Master Champlin, an
other of Commodore Perry's witnesses, shows what
preparations were deemed necessary for the protec'
tion of our ships after the battle of Lake Erie.
" Put-in-Bay, Jan. 14, 1814.
Sir, — I have every thing in complete order at this place.
I have the guns mounted in the block house ; I have mount
ed on board of the Detroit 21 guns, and on board of the
Q,ueen Charlotte 19. I have mounted those -32 pounders
and 24 pounders that were left on board of the Detroit. I
can bring 12 guns to bear in every direction. The ice is
constantly kept open. I think if they attack us, they will
meet with a pretty warm reception. The sailors are all
well, the soldiers are very sickly. We have provision
enough to last till the first of April. The beef is very bad.
I have the honor to be
Your ob't humble serv't,
STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
Commanding U. S. Naval force
on Lake Erie."

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 145

CHAPTER VIII.

Battle of Lake Erie- Court of Inquiry at New York in 1R15. Testimony of
Officers of the Niagara, Messrs- Webster, Montgomery, Cummings, Adams,
and Tatem.
It now becomes necessary to advert to the Court of
Inquiry held at New York in 1815,* at the request of
Captain Elliott. This request, the reader will recol
lect, was founded upon a statement in the report of
the British Court of Inquiry upon the loss of their
fleet on Lake Erie, in which report Captain Elliott
was accused of running away from the Queen Char
lotte. The witnesses for Captain Elliott before this
Court were Messrs. Webster, sailing master, Mont
gomery, Cummings, and Adams, midshipmen, and
Tatem, master's mate.t These witnesses are per
fectly consistent with themselves and with each other,
confirm every thing which Commodore Perry admits,
state nothing improbable, and contradict all Commo
dore Perry's witnesses. They all concur in stating,
1st, that Captain Elliott did every thing becomum
a brave and meritorious officer, and exerted himself
to the utmost to close with the enemy ; 2d, that
from the commencement of the action till Commodore
Perry went on board of the Niagara, she was at no
time further from, and part of the time nearer to the
enemy, than the Lawrence; 3d, that when the Nia
gara passed to windward of the Lawrence, the dis
tance between the two was very little ; 4th, that
* Appendix B. f Appendix B, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9.
13

146 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
when Commodore Perry boarded the Niagara, she
was in close action with the enemy ; 5th, that at no
time during the action, did the Lawrence and Cale
donia bear down upon the enemy, and leave the Nia
gara standing on the wind ; 6th, that very soon after
the commencement of the action, Captain Elliott or
dered the Caledonia out of the line, and took a posi
tion directly astern of the Lawrence. Besides
these points, Messrs. Montgomery and Adams state
that the jib boom of the Niagara was once over
the taffrail of the Caledonia, and Mr. Webster says
that he once backed the topsails to avoid running
into the latter. This last fully explains the backing
of the topsails mentioned by Messrs. Turner and
Brownell, and shows that it was not done to keep the
Niagara at a distance from the enemy ; and as Mr.
Webster was sailing master of the Niagara, he would
doubtless know as well as the officers of other ships.
the object of these movements in her sails.
Mr. Webster also refutes the assertion of Mr. Breese,
that the Niagara sustained but little damage ; for he
says what it was his particular province to know,
that the mainstay, fore-topmast backstays, a great
deal of running- rigging, and two shrouds of the fore-
rigging, were shot away, and that some of the spars
were wounded. He says that the fire of the enemy
appeared to be directed to the Niagara's spars and
rigging ; which was in accordance with all the other
movements of the enemy for crippling the Lawrence
by firing at her hull with long guns, and at the same
time, of preventing the Niagara from coming to her
assistance, by destroying her rigging with carronades.
Messrs. Montgomery, Adams and Tatem say that
when Captain Perry boarded the Niagara, her
helm was up, and she was running directly down
upon the enemy, and thus directly contradict the
assertion that she kept aloof. Messrs. Montgo-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 147
mery, Adams, Tatem and Cummings say that at
no time did the Lawrence and Caledonia bear up
and run down upon the enemy, leaving the Niagara
with her main topsails aback, or leave her on a
wind ; and thus contradict all the witnesses who de
posed before the Rhode Island committee, and Lieu
tenant Forrest besides. Mr. Forrest evades this ques
tion before the Court of Inquiry, and in his letter in
1821, directly says that Captain Elliott put his helm
down and steered to windward ; thus not only plac
ing himself in contradiction with Messrs. Montgomery,
Tatem, Adams and Cummings, but with himself
also. Messrs. Webster, Montgomery, Adams, Tatem,
Cummings, Yarnall and Forrest say that at no time
did Captain Elliott attempt to make off from the
enemy. Here again they all contradict the deponents
before the Rhode Island committee, and here again
Lieutenant Forrest disagrees with himself. Mr.
Montgomery says that the Hunter struck before Cap
tain Elliott left the Niagara. This proves that the
Niagara could not have been very distant from the
enemy. All the witnesses before the Court of Inquiry
admit that the plan of the battle laid before it by
Captain Elliott, was correct ; and according to this
plan, the Hunter was the fourth ship in the British
line. Lieutenant Yarnall says that the first division
of the Lawrence was fought against the Detroit, the
second against the Queen Charlotte, and that occa
sionally guns were fired at the Hunter. Unless then
she were fired upon by the Niagara, she was com
pelled to strike by the fire of the Caledonia and these
occasional guns from the Lawrence. It seems hardly
probable that a great brig of 10 guns should strike to
a little schooner of 3 guns, aided by occasional shots
from a brig of 20 carronades, closely engaged with
two great ships, mounting together 36 guns, 19 of
them long 12's, lS's, and 24's. Mr. Montgomery

148 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
further says that the Queen Charlotte ran from the
fire of the Niagara, and fell foul of the Detroit, before
the Lawrence\vas disabled ; which proves that the
Niagara was sufficiently near to do great execution
with her carronades ; for it is not to be supposed that
the Queen Charlotte, of 17 guns, would run away
from the Niagara's two long 12's. As the statements
of these officers are given in the Appendix B, it is need
less to detain the reader with an analysis of each.
The document next in order is the opinion of the
Court. This, like the Report of the Secretary of the
Navy and the Resolution of the House of Representa
tives in 1813, is replete with ulterior meaning. The
reason alleged by Captain Elliott for requesting an
investigation, was an imputation upon himself in the
opinion or report of a British Court of Inquiry, called
to inquire into the capture of the British fleet on Lake
Erie. But the American Court of Inquiry, as appears
from their opinion, (Appendix B) go beyond this
charge. In this opinion, they first imply that at
tempts had been made " to wrest from Captain Elliott
the laurels which he gained in that splendid victory
as second in command ;" and having disposed of these
attempts, they next come to the charge of the British
Court of Inquiry as a separate concern. What at
tempts were these? Not the imputations of the
British Court, for those are separately disposed of as
" malicious and unfounded in fact." They must be
the attempts of Commodore Perry and his friends, for
no others of similar character had then been made.
And how do the Court dispose of these? By saying
that they "ought in no wise to lessen Captain Elliott
in the opinion of his fellow citizens, as a brave and
skilful officer." But the Court go further. They say
that imperious duty compels them to publish testimony
that is contradictory upon material points. In this
testimony, Messrs. Yarnall and Forrest are directly at

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 149
issue with Messrs. Webster, Montgomery, Adams,
Cummings and Tatem, upon the material point whe
ther Captain Elliott bore down upon the enemy or
kept aloof; and as Messrs. Yarnall and Forrest impeach
him, and the other gentlemen exonerate him, and the
Court say that "no attempts to wrest from him the
laurels which he gained in that splendid victory as
second in command, ought to lessen him in the opi
nion of his fellow citizens as a brave and skilful offi
cer," it follows that the Court place Messrs. Yarnall
and Forrest in the wrong, and the other gentlemen in
the right. Any other conclusion is illogical. The
Court manifestly intended to rebuke these insidious
attempts, upon this side of the water, against the
well earned fame of a brave and skilful officer; and
most thoroughly, most severely have they done it.
The next evidence is a letter from Hon. Henry
Wheaton, formerly American Minister to Denmark,
and who acted as Judge Advocate of the Court of
Inquiry. This letter was written immediately after
the adjournment of the Court, and was written for
the purpose of advising Captain Elliott upon the pub
lication of the proceedings of the Court, in order to
lay his triumphant vindication before the world. The
high character of Mr. Wheaton forbids the supposi
tion that he would, without satisfactory reasons, with
out conclusive evidence, take a lively interest in
whatever concerned the reputation of Captain Elliott.
The letter will speak for itself.
" New-York \6th May, 1815.
Dear Sir, — I sent you on Sunday, through the Post
Office, the original proceedings in your case. Further re
flection upon your letter has convinced me that nothing
more is necessary for you to do, than to publish those pro
ceedings as they stand.
If they require any explanation, I have the means of
making it at hand. Mr. Verplanck, who now edits the
13*

150 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Analectic Magazine, has requested me to furnish a review or
analysis of the case, (which he understood was to be pub
lished,) and that will atford me the opportunity of making
such remarks as may be thought expedient,— which will be
as widely diffused in the Analectic, as they could in any pub
lication in the country. I think it better to publish the pro
ceedings without preface or comment. If you should pub
lish, I desire that I may see the proof sheets. Were I not
still indisposed, I would come and see you ; but be assured
of the lively interest I take in whatever concerns your re
putation. I art? with consideration and esteem,
Yours sincerely,
H. WHEATON.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott."
The documents next in order are the letters and
affidavits of Messrs. Brevoort, Nichols, Conklin, Page,
Montgomery, Adams, Cummings, Barton, and Berry,
officers of the Niagara and other vessels of the squad
ron. That of Major Brevoort,* who served as a vo
lunteer and commanded the marines in the Niagara,
is dated Detroit, November 7, 1818, and was written
about three months after the offering of Commodore
Perry's charges at the Navy Department. It shows
that Captain Elliott, instead of keeping aloof, for the
purpose of leaving the Lawrence to be destroyed, as
has been suggested by Messrs. Forrest and Breese, or
dered the Caledonia out of the line, for the purpose
of enabling the Niagara to render more assistance to
the Lawrence ; and that after passing the Caledonia,
lie continued a heavy fire upon the Queen Charlotte.
Here Mr. Brevoort contradicts Mr. Brownell, who
says that the Niagara merely fired her bow guns, two
long 12's, till brought into close action by Commodore
Perry. He testifies distinctly to the conversation be
tween Captains Perry and Elliott, when the former
boarded the Niagara, and confirms the admission in
* Appendix P 1.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 151
the Official Report, that Captain Elliott was the first
to propose the bringing up of the gun boats. This,
as before observed, shows that Commodore Perry was
cither in despair or great apprehension, while Captain
Elliott was collected and full of confidence. He also
contradicts the insinuation of Mr. Taylor, that the
enemy had surrendered before Captain EUiott got up
with the gun boats ; for he positively asserts that the
one commanded bv Captain Elliott, the Somers, raked
the Detroit befoie she struck. As the Somers had
two long guns, one a 32, the other a 24 or IS, and as
Captain Elliott, immediately after boarding her, or
dered the round shot to be drawn from the guns, and
to be replaced by grape and canister, this raking must
have been no trifle upon a 19 gun ship. But above
all, Mr. Brevoort shows the opinion which Commo
dore Perry expressed of Captain Elliott at the time,
though he thought fit to express a different opinion
afterwards ; for he says that when Captain Elliott re
turned to the Niagara, Commodore Perry shook him
by the hand and said, "I OWE THIS TO YOU! ! !"
What did he owe to Captain Elliott ? The rescue of'
his own fleet from destruction and the capture of the
British! In other words. THE VICTORY OF
LAKE ERIE ! !
The next is the statement of Mr. Nichols.* Soon
after the first accusatory pamphlet appeared in
Washington in 1821, Captain Elliott published
an address in the Washington City Gazette, in
which the name of this officer was erroneously
printed W. Nichols. In the second pamphlet,
which appeared soon after, it is roundly and posi
tively asserted that " there was no officer in the Ame
rican fleet by the name of W. Nichols." This little
circumstance fully evinces the spirit which dictated
* Appendix F. 2.

152 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
and presided over this publication ; for while it is
true in terms, it is false in meaning. It is a false
hood in the words of truth. The publisher of the
pamphlet either did or did not know that there was
an officer in the fleet named Nichols. If he did
know it, he must have known that the address of
Captain Elliott contained an error merely in the
Christian name of the officer. If he did not know
it, he would not have hazarded an explicit denial
without consulting the muster roll of the officers of
that fleet, or the register of the navy ; and such con
sultation would have informed the publisher, who
ever he be, that a Mr. Nichols was in the fleet, though
with a different Christian name from that mentioned
by Captain Elliott. In either case then, he must have
perceived that Captain Elliott committed an error
merely in the name, but not in the person ; and to
say then, for the obvious purpose of discrediting his
statement, that there was no such officer in the fleet
as W. Nichols, when there was such an officer as D.
C. Nichols, and this D. C. Nichols was the very per
son alluded to by Captain Elliott, is a very disinge
nuous contrivance. But who was this Mr. Nichols,
and what says he? He was the second officer of the
Somers before Captain Elliott boarded that vessel,
and was put in command of her by Captain Elliott,
Mr. Almey, the commander, having been sent below,
incapable of acting from intoxication. He writes
from Washington to Captain Elliott at Norfolk, on
the very day after reading the second pamphlet, which
is the one lately republished in Boston, and therefore
appears as a volunteer, without the solicitation or
previous application of Captain Elliott. He says the
wind was light, that the Lawrence reached some dis
tance ahead, when it became perfectly calm; that
after the Lawrence appeared to be much shattered,
the wind freshened, and the Niagara pushed ahead

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 153
of the Caledonia ; that immediately after this, the
Commodore boarded the Niagara in a boat, and that
Captain Elliott took Commodore Perry's place in the
boat, boarded and spoke each of the small vessels,
urging them on, and returned and went on board of
the Somers. He explains the ridiculous invention
about " dodging a shot," and shows that the striking
of a gunner with a trumpet was not for laughing at
this dodging, but for disobedience of orders. He
also settles the question about Captain Elliott's coxo-
ardice, by saying that he looked to the Captain's
countenance for encouragement, and received it abun
dantly. He says that he heard of no attempts of Cap
tain Elliott to excite a party against Commodore
Perry, but knew that many of the officers were Cap
tain Elliott's enemies. In short, his statement is a
full and entire refutation of the miserable fabrications
about Captain Elliott's cowardice, and his anxiety to
keep out of the battle.
The next is the statement of Mr. Conklin,* who
commanded the Tigress. It fully supports the sub
stance of Mr. Nichols' statement, and says that Cap
tain Elliott, in bringing up the smaller vessels, evinced
the utmost activity and bravery.
The next is the statement of Mr. Page,t who was
on board of the Tigress under Lieutenant Conklin.
He fully confirms the statements already introduced,
aud furthermore says that the favorable impression
of Captain Elliott's conduct in the battle was uni
versal, till the return of the fleet to Erie in October.
He was then informed by Lieutenant Yarnall, that a
difference had arisen between Commodore Perry and
Captain Elliott ; to which Mr. Yarnall added that he
had always awarded to them an equal share in the
victory. Here he explicitly contradicts Lieutenant
* Appendix F. 3. \ Appendix F. 4,

154 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Yarnall ; but as his statement is positive, while Lieu
tenant Yarnall, before the Court of Inquiry, merely
said that he did not recollect such conversation, the
weight of evidence is on the side of Mr. Page. He
says that he never heard of the story about the chain
shot. Had such story been current, and a general
theme of mirth among the officers, it is difficult to
imagine how it could escape the ears of Mr. Page.
The next is a letter from Lieutenant Montgomery*
at New York, voluntarily and unsolicited, addressed
to Captain Elliott. This letter, being very explicit,
affords very important testimony. He contradicts
all the testimony about the Niagara's being beyond
the reach of shot, by stating as a "convincing proof
to the contrary, that in a few minutes after the first
gun was fired, and before the action became general,
two of her foretopmast backstays were cut away by a
chain shot from the Queen Charlotte, and that several
men were killed and wounded. He makes this state
ment expressly for the purpose of contradicting the
statements of Commodore Perry's witnesses about the
distance of the Niagara from the enemy. He says
the Niagara was close astern of the Caledonia, and
abreast of the Queen Charlotte, till 1 P. M., when the
Queen Charlotte bore away from the fire of the Nia
gara, and began to fire on the Lawrence. He says
tliat Captain Elliott ordered the Caledonia out of the
line, passed her, and took a position not more than
150 yards astern of the Lawrence, which distance
she gradually lessened, firing constantly on the Queen
f Charlotte and Lady Prevost till the Lawrence was
disabled. Immediately after this, Captain Elliott ap
proached within 35 or 40 yards of the enemy, and
fired upon the Queen Charlotte, Lady Prevost and
Hunter. At this time, he Called the boarders to repel
* Appendix F. 5.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 155
an attempt to board by the Lady Prevost, which
proves that the Niagara must have been very near to
the enemy. After this, Commodore Perry boarded
her. He directly contradicts the statement that only
three or four were killed or wounded in the Niagara,
before Commodore Perry boarded her ; for he says
explicitly that the whole number of killed and wound
ed, including slight wounds, was thirty-three or thirty-
four, and that only three or four were killed and
wounded after Commodore Perry took command of
her. He quotes Captain Buchan, the cotnmander of
the Lady Prevost, who spoke in the highest terms of
Captain Elliott, and attributed their sudden and un
expected reverse of fortune to his skilful manceuver-
ing, after the disabling of the Lawrence.
The next is the statement of Mr. S. W. Adams,*
midshipman on board of the Niagara. He confirms
all the statements made in the letter of the officers of
the Niagara to the Secretary of the Navy, and like
wise the statement that Captain Perry said, on board
ing the Niagara, " the day is lost," and that Captain
Elliott replied to it, " No sir ; if you will take charge
of my battery, and permit me to go and bring the
small vessels into closer action, the victory will be
complete." He also quotes the statements of Commo
dore Barclay and Dr. Young of the Detroit, both
made to himself, that only one of her men was killed,
and two Wounded, before the Niagara engaged her.
This statement is conclusive ; for as the Lawrence
fired mostly upon the Detroit, she could not have en
gaged her " upwards of two hours within canister
shot distance" before the Niagara came up, without
killing and wounding more than three men. The
Niagara must then have been near enough to reach
the enemy, and with carronades too, almost as soon
as the Lawrence. * Appendix F. 6.

156 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
The next is the statement of Mr. Cummings,* act
ing midshipman on board of the Niagara, who con
firms his testimony before the Court of Inquiry. He
also says that being stationed in the main top of the Nia
gara, he did not hear the conversation between Com
modore Perry and Captain Elliott when the former
came on board, but was told, both by Lieutenant and
Midshipman Smith, that it was precisely what has
already been stated by Messrs. Brevoort and Adams.
He also says that " some time" before Captain Perry
came on board, Captain Elliott ordered the Caledonia
out of the line, to enable him to shoot ahead. He
also says that before Commodore Perry came on
board, Captain Elliott ordered the boarders to be
called, to repel an attempt to board by the Lady Pre
vost. This single circumstance completely refutes all
that has been said by Commodore Perry's witnesses,
about Captain Elliott's keeping at long shot ; for it
proves that the Niagara must have been very near to
the enemy. It proves, at the same time, the state
ment that Captain Elliott ordered the Caledonia out
of the line, for the purpose of taking a position di
rectly astern of the Lawrence ; for as the Lady Pre
vost was the second ship in the British line, between
the Detroit and Queen Charlotte, and consequently
opposite the Caledonia, the Niagara could not be near
enough to be boarded by her, without taking the Ca
ledonia's place. Thus the Niagara, too far off to fire
any but her long bow guns, too far off to be reached
by the guns of the Queen Charlotte, too far off to
sustain any damage, too far off to have more than one
or two men wounded before Captain Elliott left her,
so far off as to excite the surprise and call forth the
animadversions of Messrs. Forrest and Taylor, so far
off as to be half of a mile off the weather bow of the
* Appendix F 7.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 157
Lawrence, and to call forth expressions of surprise
from Mr. Yarnall to Commodore Perry, was yet near
enough for the commander of the Lady Prevost to
think of boarding her! ! Either the witnesses of
Commodore Perry were sadly mistaken about the
distance, or Captain Buchan thought of boarding at
long shot !
Mr. Cummings concludes his statement with say
ing that Captain Elliott did not evince any want of
conduct or exertion, and never, to his knowledge, at
tempted to prejudice any of the officers against Com
modore Perry.
The next is the statement of Dr. Barton,* surgeon
of the Niagara. He completely refutes the statement
that has been ascribed to the British officers, that the
Niagara was not within reach of their shot, by saying
that a man was mortally wounded on the berth deck
very early in the action, by a shot which passed
through both sides of the vessel ! This single fact
contradicts every one of Commodore Perry's witness
es, and shows how easily the most plausible delusion
may be dispelled, or the most carefully fabricated tale
refuted, if the shot were from a long gun, the Nia
gara must have been within reach of carronades, for
shot from long guns will seldom pass through both
sides of a ship, unless it be near enough for carronade
shot to penetrate one side. He refutes Mr. Taylor's
statement about the Niagara's being full of effective
men, for he says that on the morning of the battle,
twenty-eight men were on the sick list. He says their
diseases were cholera morbus and dysentery; and
every one who is acquainted with fleets or armies,
either practically or historically, know that neither of
these diseases often appears among soldiers or sailors,
without being epidemic. He says that " the number
* Appendix F 8.
14

158 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
of wounded on board of the Niagara has been falsely
estimated at. twenty!" The author of the statement'
which he thus characterises, is Dr. Usher Parsons,
who was not on board of the Niagara during the
battle, but merely attended her wounded the next day,
in consequence of the sickness of Dr. Barton. The
latter says the exact number reported was twenty-
seven, and the cases of slight wounds not reported,
six or eight more. He states as his firm belief, that,
more than half of this number were wounded before
Commodore Perry came on board; and this belief is
corroborated by the fact, that, the ward room and
steerage were crowded with wounded when Mr. Web
ster was carried below, which was before Commodore
Perry got on board. If "one or two," the number
given by Dr. Parsons, could crowd the ward room
and steerage of a twenty gun brig, that gentleman
may be right; if not, the balance of probabilities is in
favor of Dr. Barton. , He confirms the statement of
Mr. Nichols, who said that he' derived much confi
dence from the countenance and behavior of Captain
Elliott on board of the Somers. He quotes Mr. Ni
chols as authority for the intoxication of Mr. Almey :
and this refutes Mr. Brownell, who, in stating that he
was sober " a few hours after the action," would in
sinuate his sobriety during the action. He concludes
by saying that Messrs. Edwards, Webster, Smith and
Magrath ascribed a large share of the victory to the
aid rendered by Captain Elliott.
The last is the statement of Mr. Berry,* boatswain
of the Niagara. He confirms the statement of Mr.
Webster before the Court of Inquiry, that early in the
action, the foretopmast backstays of the Niagara were
carried away by a chain shot from the Detroit ; which
shows that she could not have been much farther
, * Appendix F 9.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 159
from the enemy than the Lawrence. He says that
about thirty minutes after the commencement of the
action, the Queen Charlotte shot ahead and directed
her fire upon the Lawrence, and that in consequence
of this, Captain Elliott hailed Lieutenant Turner, and
ordered him to make room to enable the Niagara to
pass to the assistance of the Lawrence. Thus are the
affidavits of Messrs. Forrest, Champlin, Breese, Brow
nell and Taylor completely answered. They say that
the Niagara sheered to windward, instead of bearing
np to the assistance of the Lawrence ; Mr. Berry says
that Captain Elliott passed the Caledonia for the pur
pose of assisting the Lawrence The witnesses are
directly at issue, and numbers are against Mr. Berry ;
but as he was on the same deck with Captain Elliott,
he had a better opportunity of knowing what his com
mander said in hailing Mr. Turner, than they, who,
being in the Lawrence, Scorpion and Ariel, could not
have heard him at all. Mr. Turner, the officer hailed,
might have thrown a doubt upon the boatswain's
statement, by joining the other witnesses about this
sheering to windward ; and as his ship, the Caledonia,
was immediately ahead of the Niagara, he could not
have avoided seeing this movement. Had it been
made for the purpose of sheering off, he could not
have overlooked a fact so important to the case of
Commodore Perry ; and prejudiced as he seems to
have been against Captain EUiott, he would probably
have been inclined to make the most of it. But he
does not mention this movement at all; and it is not
a little singular that fire officers in distant ships should
see and comprehend an important movement, which
the commander of the ship close by, and equally dis
posed to find fault, should not mention. The infer
ence is fair that Mr. Turner did perceive and under
stand this movement, and knew it was one which he
could not mention to the injury of Captain Elliott.

160 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
He doubtless remembered, when writing his affidavit,
that the Niagara did sheer to windward, and the Ca
ledonia to leeward at the same time ! and that his own
sheering was in obedience to the order through Cap
tain Elliott's trumpet, " to bear up and let the Niagara
pass to the assistance of the Lawrence,"
Mr. Berry then says that after passing the Caledo
nia, the Niagara got within twenty or thirty yards of
the Lawrence, and directly in her wake, and conti
nued her fire upon the Queen Charlotte about two
hours ! or till half past 2 ; at which time they per
ceived that the Lawrence was disabled. Then, says
the witness, Captain Elliott bore up for the enemy,
and when they were near the British line, Commodore
Perry was seen approaching in a boat. Here he is at
issue with Mr. Taylor, who says that when Commo
dore Perry left the Lawrence, the Niagara was pass
ing her larboard beam, near half of a mile distant.
At this time, the Lawrence had dropped astern ; and
as she was disabled, and without sails or rigging, she
could not have dropped astern to windward, but must
have done it to leeward. If then the Niagara were
in her wake, only twenty or thirty yards distant, w here
was the necessity of a circuit of nearly half of a mile
to windward, in order to get ahead 1 The wind was
southeast; and the squadrons sailing upon the wind
with one point free, or heading southwest by south.
Under these circumstances, the Niagara could not
have got a half mile off the larboard beam of the
Lawrence, without making two, if not three tacks;
but she could have got ahead of the Lawrence with
out making any, simply by going one point nearer to
the wind. This would have left her six points, which,
as every seaman knows, are not too few for a brig.
Captain Elliott must have been a raw seaman to think
of the movement imputed to him. Mr. Taylor's state
ment about this distance must be altogether errone-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 161
Ous ; and if so, what becomes of his other statement,
that, " it was a considerable time, with all the exer
tions of the boat's crew, before they could come up
with the Niagara?" They must have been rather
sluggish tars, who, in the midst of a battle, would oc
cupy " a considerable time " in carrying their com
mander in a boat about thirty yards ! Besides, how
should Mr. Taylor know what time was required for
this passage, he being then engaged, according to the
statement of Mr. Yarnall before the Court of Inquiry,
in consulting with Messrs. YarnaU and Forrest upon
surrendering the Lawrence ?
But the witness says that when Commodore Perry
was seen approaching in a boat, he, as boatswain,
was called to attend the side. For what purpose was
he to attend it? Those acquainted with naval eti
quette know that when an officer in a boat approaches
a ship, to come on board, a boatswain is called to pipe
him over, or attend him at the ship's side. This ce
remonial is particularly due to the commander of a
fleet or squadron, from the commander of each ship ;
and as the officer approaching was known to be Com
modore Perry, Captain Elliott was not inclined to omit
this civility to him. It has been suggested that the
cowardly Captain Elliott not only endeavored to keep
as far as possible from the enemy's shot, and even to
dodge them when they came too near, but was ex
cessively agitated, and almost powerless- from fright,
when Commodore Perry met him on his own deck.
It is difficult to imagine how an officer could be
crazed and stupified by fear, and at the same time, at
tentive to the minutest forms of naval etiquette ; and
therefore difficult to imagine how Captain Elliott
could be dodging shot, and utterly unconscious of
what he was doing, and at the same time calling a
boatswain to receive his commander with the cus
tomary compliment. The poet speaks of method in
14*

162 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
madness ; but to Commodore Perry and his witness
es belongs the merit of discovering method in folly.
To those less disposed to find fault than Captain El
liott's enemies, this attention to ceremonial at -such a
moment, attention which interfered with no other du
ties, would indicate thorough coolness and self pos
session. Mr. Berry confirms the statement of Mr. Brevoort
concerning the conversation between Captains Perry
and Elliott, when the former boarded the Niagara ;
a conversation which proves that the former was in
despair, while the latter was full of confidence.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 163

CHAPTER IX.

Battle of Lake Erie. Testimony of the British Officers.
It is now necessary to go back in the order of time,
and introduce the testimony of the officers of the
British Squadron ; for as this testimony is very im
portant, it deserves a separate consideration. It con
sists of extracts of the official report of Commodore
Barclay, an extract of a letter from Lieutenant In-
glis, second officer of the Detroit, to Commodore Bar
clay, and the opinion of the British Court of Inquiry
upon the capture of the British Squadron.* The as
sertions of these witnesses against Captain Elliott are
absolutely unfounded, and their falsity will appear
from contradictions among the witnesses, or rather by
additional statements of the same witnesses, state
ments proved by the witnesses of Captain Elliott,
which render these derogatory assertions absolutely
impossible. According to the assertions ascribed to
these officers by some of Commodore Perry's witness
es, and to the documentary statements of the same
officers, these gentlemen seem to have entertained a
singular partiality for Commodore Perry, and a no
less singular hostility against Captain Elliott. Dr.
Parsons quotes the officers of the Queen Charlotte as
saying that, the Niagara was too far off to be reached
by their guns. Mr. Breese tells the same story. Mr.
Brownell quotes Captain Bignall, Commander of the
Appendix, G. 1. 2. 3.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 164
Hunter, as saying that, " had Captain Elliott belong
ed to the British Navy, he would have been hanged. "
The second pamphlet against Captain Elliott contains
an extract from the official letter of Commodore Bar
clay, in which the Commodore states that, the Niaga
ra kept so far to windward as to render the guns of
the Queen Charlotte useless ; and that when Com
modore Perry boarded her, she was perfectly fresh.
He characterises what he calls the effort of Commo
dore Perry to regain the day, as a noble effort. The
British court of Inquiry say that after the surrender
of the Lawrence, " the American commander hoisted
his flag on board of another of his squadron, which
had not been engaged and was making off. " The
Naval monument, printed at Boston in 1816, records
a toast given by Commodore Barclay, at a public din
ner and ball given to himself at Terrebonne in Cana
da ; " Commodore Perry, the gallant and generous
enemy. " According to all this testimony, Commodore
Perry is "the gallant and generous enemy, recover
ing a lost victory by noble efforts," while Captain
Elliott is a cowardly runaway, who deserves to be
hanged. It might be difficult to conceive any ade
quate motive for these opposite feelings towards two
enemy-officers, equally strangers to them personally,
did not the history of the whole world for the last
century and a half, abundantly furnish explanations.
In this the British officers had two objects; the
first, to indulge feelings for which the British are re
markable above all other nations; good nature to
wards those whom they have vanquished, and ill
nature to those who have vanquished them; the se
cond, to furnish a satisfactory excuse for their own
defeat and capture. The British exceed all civilized
nations for magnifying their own exploits and vir
tues, and for depreciating those of other people.
Most particularly are they accustomed to boast of

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOT. 165
their own magnanimity and generosity, and to disre
gard those virtues in practice towards a victorious,
and often towards a vanquished foe. Twice has the
American nation been engaged with the British as
enemies, and in both instances did it often find them
arrogant and cruel in victory, and uniformly false
and perfidious in defeat. They have been correctly
painted by Mr. Walsh in his masterly " Appeal," for
which his country owes him a large debt of gratitude,
and to which the reader is referred for more particu
lar accounts. To say that the whole British nation
is imbued with a spirit of arrogance and of falsehood,
would be unjust; for the British national character
exhibits many, very many points of great moral
worth. In its political action, in the operations of
its government with other nations, does the British
nation exhibit its vices in boldest relief; and it may
be said with truth, that, to discover the numerous
and noble virtues of Englishmen, they should be
viewed in detail ; to discover their odious vices, their
grasping avarice, their unfeeling arrogance, their
cold, calculating disregard to human happiness and
human life, they must be viewed collectively through
their government. The British nation consists of
two parties, tories and whigs, aristocrats and demo
crats. The first, which has governed the country
ever since Cromwell's republic, if republic it could be
called, was overthrown, almost exactly resemble the
aristocracy of ancient Rome ; arrogant, insolent, ava
ricious and cruel, regarding the rest of mankind as
made for their use, leaving the prints of their fingers
wherever they lay their iron hands, and who, to quote
an eloquent expression, "rather than renounce the
extortions of their birth-right, would sprinkle their
palace floors with the blood of the provinces, and
wash them with the tears of their own poor." The
other party is the portion which furnishes the other

166 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
side of the picture, and exhibits the redeeming fea
tures of the British national character.
The tory party, having long governed the country,
have infused their arrogant and perfidious spirit into
all its acts with foreign nations, and all its records of
the same. The consequences are that the British
government has seldom been generous to enemies or
just to allies, or governed any province or depend
ency without driving it into discontent or rebellion;
and that British histories and official reports have
rarely been correct, and often atrociously false. If
they gain a victory, their own force is depreciated
and that of their enemy magnified. If they suffer a
defeat, the process is the same. If they capture a
ship or a fleet, the commander is a noble fellow, who
made incredible efforts of skill and courage, but
without avail against British prowess. If they lose
a ship or a fleet, the victorious commander owes his
good fortune to some great superiority of force, to
some unfair advantage, and " ought to be hanged."
The British naval annals exhibit numerous victories
of British 74's and 38 gun frigates over French 90
gun ships and 44's. In all these instances, the Bri
tish force was superior, though the reverse is implied
by the deceptive manner of telling the story. The
French rate their ships by the number of guns which
they carry; the English by the number which they
carry on a particular deck. Thus, a French 90 gun
line of battle ship carries 90 guns and no more, and
a 44 gun frigate carries only 44 guns; but a British
74 carries from 90 to 100 guns, and a 38 gun frigate
49 or 51 guns. Besides this, the French shot gene
rally weigh less than they are rated, the British in
variably more. The IS pound shot of the Java,
captured by Commodore Bainbridge in the Constitu
tion, weighed 21 pounds. The Guerriere sailed in
search of the Constitution with a " motto flag " ex-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 167
pressing defiance. Yet did the British official reports
attribute her capture to "defective masts." The
British fleet on Lake Erie was abundantly supplied
with able seamen and every thing else, had 63 guns
opposed to 54, and having a greater number of long
guns than the American squadron, was much supe
rior at long shot, as the capture of the Lawrence
evinced. Yet according to the British Court of Inquiry,
the loss of their fleet was caused by defective equip
ment, the want of able seamen, and the very great
superiority of the American squadron!! !
Considering then the general deportment of the
British Government toward enemies, and the general
character of British accounts, the reader will be able
to explain the imputed feelings of the British officers
on Lake Erie towards Captains Perry and Elliott.
They had beaten the first and captured his ship, and
at the very moment when Captain Elliott was bear
ing down in the Niagara upon the head of the British
line, the crew of the Detroit, after giving three cheers,
were lowering their boats to take possession of her.
Of course the British officers entertained no asperi
ties against Commodore Perry. He had fought them
most "bravely ; but in spite of his efforts, they had
taken from him a fine ship, and felt towards him as
they feel towards all from whom they have taken a
rich booty, — very benevolent. But Captain Elliott
had snatched the victory from their hands when they
were most sure of it. Instead of being victors over
a whole fleet, and rejoicing in the fancied invincibility
of British seamen, they were prisoners of war ! The
Royal Ensign, the Cross of St. George, had been
hauled down from over their heads, and the stain of
defeat was upon it ! The world had now witnessed
the defeat and capture, — not of a British ship, but of
—a — British fleet ! .Yes ! The only instance of the
kind on record, a British fleet, after a desperate battle,

168 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
had been captured in fair fight by a force not su
perior, if equal ! ! And who had brought this re
proach upon the flag of their country ? Who had
cut so deep into the glories of the fast anchored isle?
Captain Elliott ! In the bitterness of their disappoint
ment, they could not refrain from angry feelings or
angry expressions. They hated him for the deed ;
and as men seldom praise those whom they hate, the
British officers could not refrain from venting their
feelings in attempting to depreciate Captain Elliott.
Such then was one object of the British officers in
condemning Captain Elliott, the indulgence of their
usual ill nature towards all who gain advantages
over them.
The second object of the British officers in saying
or implying any thing derogatory to Captain Elliott,
was to furnish an excuse for their own defeat and
capture. They knew that a satisfactory excuse for
striking the cross of St. George would be required,
both by their government and their country ; more
especially as this was done after they had achieved a
victory, and actually captured the ship of the Ameri
can commander. To strike the Royal Ensign was
unfortunate enough ; but to strike it to a flag which
had already struck to themselves in the same battle,
and was hoisted again in victory and glory, was de
plorable ! The affair must be explained ; and if the
fabrications so common in British public documents
will avail, the fabrications must be made ! ! Tho
first point is to devise the hypothesis ; the next, to
invent the statements necessary to support it. The
British Commodore, in pursuance of a judicious plan,
had directed the greater part of his force upon the
Lawrence ; and in the mean time, had been less soli
citous to cripple the hull of the Niagara, than to de
stroy her rigging, for the purpose of preventing her
from coming to the assistance of her consort. This

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 169
leaving the Niagara little injured in her battery, and
with rigging enough left to be perfectly manageable,
she was placed by Captain Elliott, shortly before
Commodore Perry left the Lawrence, in a position
which enabled her to fire with terrible effect upon the
Detroit and Queen Charlotte. Here then was a ray,
a glimmering of pretext for saying that the Niagara
came into the contest perfectly fresh, after the sur
render of the Lawrence. The hypothesis therefore
is plain. The Niagara is to be kept perfectly fresh
and uninjured, till after the British ships have been
much shattered in capturing the Lawrence and keep
ing the rest of the American squadron at bay ; she
is then to come up, select a raking position, which
her perfect freshness enabled her to do, and which
the British ships, in their shattered condition, could
not prevent, fire her heavy broadsides at discretion,
and thus sink them or compel them to surrender.
To keep the Niagara perfectly fresh, she must be
kept out of the battle ; she must be so far off that the
guns of the Queen Charlotte, the ship nearest to her,
could not reach her ! If they could only establish this
hypothesis, their case was plain ; their capture was
accounted for ; and instead of being censured for
striking the flag of Old England, they were sure of
being applauded for saving so many valuable lives !
This hypothesis can be easily proved. Its authors
have only to deal in round assertions, they will not
be opposed, excepting by the enemy, and when the
statements of a British officer conflict with those of
an enemy, the British Government and the British
public always knoio how to decide.
The tale to be told in Commodore Barclay's official
report, was doubtless the result of consultation among
the officers ; for a plausible tale must be offered, and
in arranging it, the co-operation of all was useful, if
not necessary. It is dated on the 12th of September,
15

170 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
two days after the battle. When it was actually
drawn up does not appear ; but it might have been
several days afterwards. But at whatever time it was
actually drawn, sufficient time was taken for devising
and arranging it. As the American and British offi
cers had a free intercourse with each other, and as
disputes arose among the American officers, and sland
ers against Captain Elliott were circulated immedi
ately after the battle, these disputes and slanders must
have reached the ears of the British officers. It is
immaterial whether the device of keeping Captain
MUiott out of the battle, was suggested to the British
officers by what they heard among the American, or
was original with themselves. In either case they
perceived the importance of giving it currency, espe
cially in the American squadron ; and therefore, when
ever and wherever they heard the suggestion, they
were prompt to give to it the weight of their own tes
timony. Hence their declarations to Messrs. Parsons,
Breese, and Brownell, who, as they soon discovered,
were enemies to Captain Elliott. If they could stimu
late this animosity against him, their project would
be aided ; for the more imbittered were the American
officers against Captain Elliott, the more would they
indulge in condemnatory statements, and consequent
ly, the more evidence would the British derive from
American authority, to sustain the fabrications which
they intended to insert in their official report. Ac
cordingly they say to Mr. Brownell, if his recollection
is to be relied on, that Captain Elliott ought to have
been hanged ! The officers of the Queen Charlotte,
in making these statements to Messrs. Parsons and
Breese, had a secondary object, besides accounting
for their defeat. A particular incident of the battle
was to be explained. Their ship had made off from
the fire of the Niagara, and they would offer a better
excuse for this by saying that the Niagara was too

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 171
far off to be reached, than by saying that her fire was
too heavy to be sustained. The tale is then inserted
in Commodore Barclay's official report, that the Nia
gara was not in the battle till towards the close ; this
is afterwards adopted by the Court of Inquiry, with
the addition that she was running away, and this was
deemed amply sufficient to satisfy the British public!
But though these statements are roundly made in
Commodore Barclay's report, they are somewhat in
consistent with other parts of the same document.
He says that soon after the commencement of the ac
tion, Captain Finnis, of the Queen Charlotte, was
killed, and Lieutenant Stokes struck senseless by a
splinter; and that this left the ship in command of
Provincial Lieutenant Irvine, whose experience was
too limited to afford him much aid. The fire upon
the Queen Charlotte must have been somewhat heavy,
whence ever it came, to kill her Captain and first Lieu
tenant at the commencement of the action. Accord
ing to all of Commodore Perry's witnesses, the Ame
rican squadron was to close with the enemy, ship to
ship, the Lawrence against the Detroit, the Caledonia
against the Lady Prevost, the Niagara against the
Queen Charlotte. The same witnesses state that the
two squadrons went into action in this order. It has
also been shown that the Niagara took the place of
the Caledonia, to relieve the Lawrence from the fire
of the Queen Charlotte ; which could not have been
till after the Queen Charlotte left the line and bore
away from the fire of the Niagara. Up to this time,
the Lawrence was firing upon the Detroit, the Cale
donia upon the Lady Prevost, the Ariel and Scorpion,
upon the weather bow of the Lawrence, could only
have fired upon the Chippeway, the Detroit, and per
haps the Lady Prevost ; the Queen Charlotte being
out of their reach. The small vessels were astern,
and if firing at all, upon the Hunter and Little Belt.

172 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
If then Captain Finnis, was killed and Lieutenant
Stokes wounded, in the early part of the action, it
must have been by the fire of the Niagara. This
proves that the Niagara could hardly have been be
yond the reach of the Queen Charlotte, unless the
distance from her to the Niagara were greater than
that from the Niagara to her.
But the letter of Lieutenant Inglis, commander of
the Detroit after First Lieutenant Garland was killed^
and Commodore Barclay wounded, contradicts these
assertions still more strongly, and in the absence of all
other testimony, would be sufficient to prove that the
Niagara could not have been very distant from the
enemy for some time before Commodore Perry boarded
her. Mr. Inglis says that after Commodore Barclay
teas wounded, the Niagara, till then on his weather
beam, took a position on his weather bow, to rake
him ; that to avoid being raked, he attempted to wear,
and fell on board of the Queen Charlotte, and that
the two ships remained together for some time. He
then says that after they got clear of each other, the
enemy's squadron were raking both ships ahead and
astern. The reader will remember that according to
Commodore Perry's witnesses, he bore up immediately
after boarding the Niagara, and firing both broadsides,
compelled the enemy to strike in a few minutes. If
so little time intervened between his boarding the Ni
agara and the surrender of the enemy, he must have
boarded her after the Detroit and Queen Charlotte
got clear of each other, and could not have done it
before they ran foul of each other, for they were to
gether/or some time. If then this, running foul was
to avoid being raked by the Niagara, and Commodore
Perry was not on board of her, this attempt to rake
must have been made by Captain Elliott. He could
not have been very distant, to think of raking with
carronades. But if Captain Elliott were so far off,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 173
only one hypothesis remains. The Lawrence had
work enough in returning the fire of the Detroit and
Lady Prevost. The Ariel and Scorpion were opposed
to these and the Chippeway. The Somers, Tigress,
Porcupine and Trippe were far astern. The Niagara
being out of the battle, nothing remains to have made
all this havoc in the Queen Charlotte, but the little
Caledonia ! She must have been a terrible little spit
fire, with her three long 12's, to drive out of the line
a great ship, mounting seventeen 24 pound carro
nades ! !
One part of Commodore Barclay's report is entire
ly inconsistent with an impression conveyed by the
witnesses of Commodore Perry. They imply, not
only that the Lawrence sustained the whole fire of
the enemy before she struck, but that afterwards, the
battle was gained by the Niagara when under com
mand of Commodore Perry. Dr. Parsons very plain
ly implies that after Captain Elliott brought up the
small vessels, nothing remained for them to do. But
the British commander says that Commodore Perry
did not bear up in the Niagara till after the Detroit
had become "a perfect wreck, principally from the
fire of the gun boats," after the Queen Charlotte was
disabled from assisting the Detroit, and after the La
dy Prevost was disabled by the ioss of her rudder.
The reader will remember that according to Commo
dore Perry's official report, the Lawrence sustained
the action upwards of two hours within canister
distance ; and as her fire was principally against the
Detroit, it could not have been very effectual, if the
damage done to that ship was chiefly the work of the
gun boats. He will also recollect that the gun boats
were brought up by Captain Elliott, ceased their dis
tant and ineffectual fire the moment that he took
command of them, and did not fire again till they
were in close action. This "raking fire" must then
15*

174 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
have been under the direction of Captain Elliott ;
consequently the statement of Commodore Perry's
witnesses about the "tremendous effect" of the Nia
gara's fire as he carried her through the British line,
is not sustained by Commodore Barclay, and would
seem to be exaggerated. Besides, if Commodore Per
ry did not bear up and pass through the British line
till after the Detroit was disabled, "principally by the
raking fire of the gun boats," he could not have been
up immediately after taking command of the Niaga
ra ; for as she was near the enemy when Captain El
liott left her, and according to Commodore Perry
himself, in close action, and as the gun boats, at the
same time, were far astern, the Niagara could have
passed through the British line in less time than was
required for the gun boats to come up. Yet were
they up first.
This statement of Commodore Barclay cannot be
correct ; for the Detroit was disabled, not by the two
hours firing of the Lawrence within canister dis
tance, not " principally by the raking fire of the gun
boats," after they were brought up by Captain Elliott,
though they had a share in the work, but chiefly by
the "tremendous" fire of the Niagara, from her close
and "judicious position" before she was boarded by
Commodore Perry. But Commodore Barclay, in this
statement, is at variance with Commodore Perry's
witnesses ; and as he has been introduced as a credi
ble witness for Commodore Perry, and as his official
account has been quoted as true, it is for those who
cited him to reconcile the discrepancy.
The readers attention is now called to other parts
of Commodore Barclay's account, which, being gross
ly improbable, utterly destroy its credibility. He says
that his squadron contained only fifty British seamen.
This story cannot be true ; for to suppose that the
British government would incur the expense of build-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 175
ing two large ships, of equipping two large brigs, a
large schooner and a sloop, for the purpose of aiding
the operations of its army, and opposing an American
fleet of 54 guns, should arm this fleet with 63 guns,
3 swivels and 2 howitzers, in all 68, and should fur
nish it with only 50 British seamen, is to suppose
what they never did before. No nation is more
thoroughly convinced than the British, of the great
superiority in naval battles, of well trained sailors
over land men, fresh water sailors and other substi
tutes. They had already had some experience of
American prowess on the Lakes, in the capture of the
Detroit and Caledonia ; and upon the ocean, in the
captures of the Guerriere, the Java, the Macedonian,
the Frolic and the Peacock. Knowing then what
species of enemy they were to meet, and having in
curred a great expense in building and equipping a
powerful fleet, manned by not less, probably, than 700
men, it is not to be supposed that they would expose
it to almost certain loss, by furnishing it with only 50
British seamen. Lieutenant Webster swore before
the American Court of Inquiry, that he saw 60
wounded men on board of the Detroit, which he be
lieved to be seamen, and having a seaman's experi
ence, he could not have been easily misled. He says
the weather gage gave the Americans a prodigious
advantage in choosing both their position and dis
tance, whereby their long guns were very destructive,
while the carronades of the Queen Charlotte and La
dy Prevost would not reach. The wind was advanta
geous to the Americans in regard to position, but not
to distance ; for as the wind was South East, and the
two squadrons sailing in parallel lines, South-west by
South, it was as easy for the British to stand off as
for the Americans to stand on. Indeed the British
took advantage of the wind to choose their distance,
and to keep beyond the carronades of the Lawrence,

176 life of com. elliott.
while cutting her up with their long guns. He says
that the Queen Charlotte and Lady Prevost were ex
posed to a heavy fire from " the Caledonia and four
Schooners, armed with heavy and long guns, like
those already described," i. e. long 24's and 32's. These
"four Schooners" were the Somers, Porcupine, Ti
gress and Trippe ; and as they did not direct this
"heavy and destructive fire" upon the Queen Char
lotte and Lady Prevost, until brought up by Captain
Elliott, it is difficult to conceive what Commodore
Barclay could mean by thus placing them to support
the Caledonia. He says the Ariel had four long 12s,
the Scorpion a long 24 and a long 32, and the " four
schooners" a long 24 and 32 each. This is an ar
mament of fourteen long guns, throwing at a single
fire, a weight of metal of 328 pounds of shot. The
actual force of these vessels was as follows : The
Ariel had 4 long 12's, one of which burst early in the
action, the Scorpion a long 12 and a long 18, the So
mers 2 long 12's, the Porcupine, Tigress and Trippe,
each a long 32 ; in all eleven guns, throwing at one
discharge, 19S pounds. He makes an error of 3 guns
and 130 pounds in a discharge. He speaks of the
Hunter as carrying only 2, 4 and 6 pounders. She
carried 10 guns, and as swivels are not usually enu
merated with the guns, the 10 guns returned by Com
modore Perry were doubtless exclusive of swivels.
The British commander would not call any thing less
than a 6 pounder a gun. His 2 and 4 pounders
must therefore have been swivels. Yet he would im
ply that the armament, the battery, the broadside of
a 10 gun brig consisted of 2 and 4 pounders ! !
Such is Commodore Barclay's account. It is liable,
not only to the general imputation of that falsity
which is characteristic of British official reports, but
likewise to the charge of gross improbabilities, of in
consistencies, and of contradictions by the American

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 177
officers. Yet such is the evidence that has been
quoted by the compiler of the pamphlet against Cap
tain Elliott, for the purpose of convicting an Ameri
can officer of cowardice or treachery !

178 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER X.

Battle of Lake Erie. Engravings.

It is now necessary to notice a piece of testimony,
which, though it has not been formally quoted in
either of the pamphlets against Captain Elliott, seems
to have been originaUy devised for the purpose of
affecting the public mind against him. In the Naval
Monument, already mentioned, are two engravings,
entitled " First and Second views of Commodore
Perry's victory," and two diagrams or keys, explana
tory of the same. The first represents the time when
Commodore Perry leaves the Lawrence to board the
Niagara; the second when he hoists the signal for
close action, on board of the Niagara. The lceys or
diagrams, Nos. 1 and 2, are here annexed.*
The first representation is totally inconsistent with
the statements even of Commodore Perry's witnesses,
and with his official report, and much more with those
of the officers of the Niagara, and is fitted to give im
pressions utterly erroneous. A sketch or diagram of
the battle was laid before the Court of Inquiry at New
York, in 1815, and sworn to as correct by Messrs.
Yarnall, Webster and Montgomery, and contradicted
by no one. Its truth is therefore established. It re
presents the wind as South-East, and the two squad
rons as sailing in parallel lines, about six points
from the wind, or South- West by South. The dia
gram in the Monument represents the British squad
ron as sailing in line, and the American as bearing
* Appendix II.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 179
down upon it in an angle of about twenty-five de
grees! All Commodore Perry's witnesses state that
the American squadron went into action in the fol
lowing order; the Scorpion, Ariel, Lawrence, Cale
donia, Niagara, Somers, Porcupine, Tigress and
Trippe. Mr. Breese says that the Ariel and Scorpion
gallantly followed the example of the Lawrence in
going into close action. Mr. Webster says they were
on the weather bow of the Lawrence, which, with
the wind South-East, and the course South- West by
South, would place them at the head of the line, a
little to windward. No one has intimated that they
were not engaged, or guilty of the slightest remissness
at any period of the action ; whence it is to be pre
sumed that they were near the enemy. Besides, be
ing at the head of the line at the commencement of
the action, they had the wind equally with the Law
rence, and if disposed, could have got as near as that
ship to the enemy. Furthermore, Mr. Montgomery
says that the British schooner Chippeway took her
position at the head of the line after the commence
ment of the action, apparently for the purpose of en
gaging the small vessels at the head of our line. In
this diagram they are represented as far, very far to
windward, more distant from the head of the British
line than any ships excepting the Tigress and Trippe,
and more distant from any part of the line than those
two from the stern of it. They are even more dis
tant from the Niagara, Lawrence and Caledonia, than
either of those ships from the enemy. Mr. Mont
gomery says that when Commodore Perry boarded
the Niagara, the Lawrence was nearly astern of her,
on her lee quarter, which would place the Niagara
at the head of the line, somewhat to windward; and
that the Niagara was then with her helm up, bearing
down upon the enemy, firing all her starboard guns,
and mostly upon the Detroit. Mr. Adams says that

180' life of com. elliott.
when Commodore Perry came on board, the helm
was up, and she was bearing down upon the enemy.
Mr. Tatem, says the same, and adds that when the
Niagara passed the Lawrence, she merely took room
enough to pass to windward. According to this, the
Niagara was actually nearer to the enemy than the
Lawrence, when boarded by Commodore Perry. The
diagram represents the Lawrence at the head of the
line, and the Niagara far off, on the weather quarter,
not the weather bow, of the Lawrence. It also re
presents the Niagara as standing on her wind, instead
of bearing down, a position that is directly contra
dicted by every witness before the Court of Inquiry;
they all saying that the Lawrence did not bear down,
leaving the Niagara standing on to windward. This
diagram represents a sailor swimming from the Law
rence to the Niagara. The object of this fabrication
is inconceivable, unless to show that the Lawrence,
fighting the whole British squadron "upwards of
two hours within canister distance," was torn to
pieces, and her crew obliged to swim for safety. No
such incident occurred, and the reader might come
nearer the truth by supposing this figure of a sailor
to be the motto flag, which Commodore Perry took
under his arm on leaving the Lawrence, and which
Mr. Magrath picked up afterwards.
The second engraving, like the first, exhibits a
great departure from the truth. The order of the
British squadron was thus; the Detroit, Lady Pre
vost, Queen Charlotte, Hunter. Afterwards the
Queen Charlotte was ahead, the order being the
Queen Charlotte, Detroit, Lady Prevost and Hunter.
In this diagram the order is the Lady Prevost, De
troit, Queen Charlotte and Hunter. At the com
mencement of the action, the Ariel and the Scorpion
were at the head of the line, a little on the weather
how of the Lawrence, did not deviate much from this

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 181
position during the whole of it, and at no time fell in
the rear. The diagram places them in the rear of
the whole line. The Trippe was in the rear of the
line from the beginning to the end, though in close
action towards the close. In the diagram it is at the
very head, engaging the Lady Prevost. It is difficult
to conceive the object of these alterations, this shift
ing of the Lady Prevost and Trippe from where they
were to where they were not, excepting for the pur
pose of giving the Trippe an opportunity of distin
guishing itself. It is certainly amusing to see the
little sloop Trippe, with her one gun, in close action,
single handed, with the great schooner Lady Prevost,
of 13 guns and a swivel. Commodore Barclay says
that her guns were 12 pound carronades, which,
with the allowance usually to be made for British
accounts, would show them to be long 12's, or per
haps 24 pound carronades; a battery rather formida
ble against a gun boat in close action. The Trippe
must have had a hot time of it !
The three diagrams annexed, Nos. 3, 4, and 5,* re
present the positions of the squadrons at three differ
ent periods of the action. The first represents the
commencement of the action, the wind South-East,
the course of both squadrons about South- West by
South, the Lawrence a half point abaft the beam oi
the Detroit, and the other American ships having the
same relative bearing to the other British ships.
The second represents the Niagara in close action at
the head of the line, where she was carried by Cap
tain Elliott, the Lawrence astern, disabled, and Cap
tain Elliott passing along the line in a boat, to bring
up the gun boats. This view directly contradicts
the statements of Commodore Perry's witnesses, that
the Niagara, when boarded by Commodore Perry,
was far off to windward. The third represents
* Appendix H.
16

182 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Commodore Perry in the Niagara, bearing up ahead
of the Detroit and Queen Charlotte, preparatory to
passing through the line, and Captain Elliott with
the small vessels in close order and close action, firing
upon the heavy British ships. The reader, on com
paring these diagrams with those in the Naval Mo
nument, and with all the testimony introduced, will
perceive that they are totally irreconcileable with
such diagrams, and with the statements of Messrs.
Turner, Parsons, Stevens, Forrest, Champlin, Breese,
Brownell and Taylor; and fully corroborated by
those of Messrs. Webster, Montgomery, Adams, Ta
tem, Smith, Magrath, Edwards, Barton, Brevoort,
Nichols, Conklin, Page and Berry.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 183

CHAPTER XI.

Battle of Lake Erie. Conduct of Captain Elliott. Mr. Magrath. Motto flag
We have now introduced and commented upon
all the testimony on both sides ; and the reader will
naturally ask himself what has been proved ? He
will recollect that, the object of Commodore Perry
was to prove that while he fought the whole British
squadron with the Lawrence alone, " upwards of two
hours within canister shot distance," Captain Elliott;
either from cowardice or treachery, kept the Niagara
beyond the reach of shot, and that she was not en
gaged till he, Commodore Perry, brought her into
close action ! But the reader will perceive, from
carefully comparing the whole testimony, that the
Lawrence never teas in close action, and that the
Niagara got nearer to the enemy before Commodore
Perry boarded her, than the Lawrence had been.
Commodore Perry admits that no signal for close
action was given till after Captain Elliott "was en
abled to bring his vessel, the Niagara, gallantly ir'
close action ;" and as he was commander, prescri1
the order of battle, and was in the headmost i p,
with the weather gage, no ship could have got into
close action sooner than the Lawrence, without alter
ing the arrangement or deviating from the line. It
is not to be supposed that any of the commanders of
the smaller vessels would assume this responsibility.
The Somers, Porcupine, Tigress and Trippe were
too far astern ; and neither Lieutenant Turner of the

184 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Caledonia, Mr. Champlin of the Scorpion, nor Mr.
Packet of the Ariel, would make any such pretensions.
If the order of battle were altered at all by any other
officer than Commodore Perry, it must have been
done by Captain Elliott, as he, being second in com
mand, the only Captain in the squadron excepting
Commodore Perry, and commanding a ship of equal
force with the flag ship, was the only officer that
would venture upon such an expedient. All the
other commanders then, excepting Captain Elliott,
must have obeyed their commander ; and if the sig
nal for close action was given, as Commodore Perry
says, "at 45 minutes past 2," or 15 minutes after
" Captain Elliott was enabled to bring his vessel, the
Niagara, gallantly into close action," it follows that
no vessel, excepting the Niagara, was in close action
before the signal was given, and that Captain EUiott
went into close action without a signal, and upon his
own responsibility. This is confirmed by Lieutenant
Holdup in his letter to Colonel Stevens, for he there
says that the signal for close action was given by
Commodore Perry after boarding the Niagara.
Thus is overthrown the main position of Commo
dore Perry ! Thus is refuted the broad and positive
assertion of his witnesses, that he carried his vessel
into close action, while Captain Elliott " continued to
hug the wind." They have hugged the loind, or
something equally unsubstantial, by continuing to
hug such a groundless delusion !
But if the Lawrence were not in close action, how
came she so shattered, while little damage compara
tively was done to the Niagara ? This resulted from
two causes, the long guns of the Detroit, and the plan
of the British commander. The whole armament of
the Detroit consisted of long guns, which reached the
American ships long before the carronades of the
latter could reach the enemy. The plan of Comrno-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 185
dore Barclay, a plan which evinced his nautical skill,
was to destroy our two brigs successively ; by which
the smaller vessels would have fallen an easy prey.
In pursuance of this, the long guns of his squadron
generally, and the whole armament of the Detroit,
were directed at the Lawrence ; and she was conse
quently disabled and compelled to strike, while the
Niagara and others were comparatively uninjured.
This plan was the best, under the circumstances, that
could be adopted ; for though the British Squadron
contained 63 guns and the American only 54, yet
the former consisted of only six ships, while the latter
consisted of nine. This latter circumstance rendered
the American squadron superior in close action ; and
its carronades, carrying heavier balls than the British
long guns, increased this superiority. To obtain the
weather gage was of the utmost importance to the
Americans, as it enabled them to choose a short dis
tance ; and to keep at long shot was equally impor
tant to the British, as it enabled them to do execution
in comparative safety. Commodore Perry, perceiving
that while his carronades did not reach, the British
were putting their balls into his ship with a sure and
steady aim, saw that his only chance of victory was
to close without delay. Commodore Barclay, doubt
less anticipating his plan, began to fire 10 minutes
sooner than he ; and afterwards perceiving that he
was making every exertion to close, and with the
advantage of the wind would soon close, saw that no
time was to be lost, and therefore directed nearly the
whole fire of the squadron, upon the Lawrence, hop
ing to destroy her before our shot could reach, and
then turn his whole fire upon the Niagara, and thus
capture the whole. Hence the Detroit fired wholly,
and the Lady Prevost and Hunter principally, upon
the Lawrence ; and hence the Queen Charlotte, after
firing a few guns upon the Niagara, pushed ahead
16*

186 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
and fired upon the Lawrence. Hence also the Bri
tish long guns were directed to the hull of the Law
rence, and the carronades of the Queen Charlotte,
insufficient for piercing the hull, were directed to the
rigging of the Niagara. Commodore Perry believed
this ; for in his letter to Captain Elliott of September
IS, 1813, he says, "I shall ever believe it a preme
ditated plan to destroy our commanding vessel."
This plan, so judicious for the British under existing
circumstances, nearly succeeded ; for the flag ship
was captured, and Commodore" Perry went on board
of the Niagara in despair.
What frustrated this plan ? Aye ! What saved
three fleets and "General Harrison's army," compelled
the whole British squadron to surrender, and General
Proctor to retreat from Amherstburgh for want of
supplies ? The skill, the courage, the constancy of
Captain EUiott ! His skill, which told him the ne
cessity of changing Commodore Perry's order of
battle, and ordering the Caledonia out of the line ;
his courage, which led him to assume the respon
sibility of a measure so bold ; and his constancy,
which sustained and nerved him under difficulties
that reduced Commodore Perry to despair. Had he
continued astern of the Caledonia, in the position in
dicated by Commodore Perry, the Lawrence would
have been captured first, as she was ; the Caledonia
next, which would have been a short job ; and the
Niagara in turn would have received the whole fire
of the British, and been captured also. After this,
the fate of the rest was certain. But Captain Elliott,
by ordering the Caledonia astern, advancing and
pouring a heavy fire into the Detroit, Queen Char
lotte and Lady Prevost, while they were firing upon
the Lawrence, greatly injured them while they were
disabling her. Commodore Perry's witnesses com
plain that he passed to windward of the Lawrence,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 187
instead of passing to leeward of her, and thus left her
exposed to the whole fire of the British. If they are
sincere in this complaint, as they doubtless are, they
would have directed the Niagara to leeward in this
case. Their opinion would be like the advice of
Parmenio, who, when Darius proposed terms much
less advantageous than Alexander was sure of ob
taining, said, " If I were Alexander, I would accept
those terms ;" to which the king replied, " so would
I if I were Parmenio." Fortunately for the nation,
Captain Elliott differed in opinion from the witnesses
of Commodore Perry. He once thought of passing
to leeward and breaking the British line ; but on
consulting with Mr. Magrath, an officer of great cool
ness and judgment, he came to the just conclusion
that such a movement would be destructive. Had he
done so, the British would have had the weather gage
of him, would have left the Lawrence, then much crip
pled, and the Caledonia of only 3 guns, poured their
whole fire upon the Niagara, and inevitably destroyed
or captured the whole squadron. But believing the
two headmost ships to be much crippled, he perceived
that the only chance of victory was for him to keep
the weather gage, proceed ahead and aid the Law
rence. When he saw the Lawrence disabled, he
still pursued the same plan, passed still ahead on
the weather gage, and bore down upon the head
most ships of the British line. At this critical pe
riod, Commodore Perry boarded the Niagara in des
pair, exclaiming in the bitterness of feeling so natural
under the belief of defeat, and of such a defeat, " The
damned gun-boats have ruined me, and I fear they
have lost me the day." Poor gun boats ! Is the pre
judice against ye, originating in hostility to Mr. Jef
ferson, never to wear out? Are ye ever to be a by
word and a reproach, and the scape goat for every
nautical sin, because the act of Congress for building

188 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
ye was recommended by one of the great apostles of
republicanism ? Ye were unmercifully ridiculed !
And so were dry docks ! Such dry docks as are to
be found in the Navy Yard at Charlestown. But
what would have been the consequences, had Captain
Elliott participated in the despair of Commodore
Perry, " damned" the gun-boats also, and assented to
the remark that they had lost him the day ? The
commander's despair would have been deeper still ;
a consultation would have followed about stopping
the effusion of blood and saving the lives of so many
brave men from unavailing sacrifice ; the " Star
Spangled Banner" would have been hauled down
from the Niagara, and from every other ship ; and
the country, instead of rejoicing in a glorious victory,
would have mourned over a disastrous defeat. A
Court of Inquiry would have been held, and every
citizen who felt for the honor of the navy, would
have made the most of the sick list, the number of
inefficient seamen on board, the lightness of the wind,
the bursting of the Ariel's gun, the superiority of the
British in number and length of guns, and every
thing else, great and small, that could be tortured
into an excuse : and the public would have dismissed
the affair with the consolotary reflection that every
thing was done which could have been done, to save
the honor of the flag.
But this catastrophe was averted solely, solely by
the constancy and firmness of Captain EUiott. In
stead of quailing under the difficulties of the moment,
and admitting that the day teas lost, he exclaimed
with resolution which " the noblest Roman of them
all" might have envied, and to which Rome, in the
best days of her republic, would have erected statues,
"No, Sir ! it is not lost ! My ship is now in a judi
cious position ! Take charge of my battery, and I will
bring them up and save it !" AND HE DID BRING

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 189
THEM UP AND SAVE IT ! Then he displayed
the resources of a fertile and energetic mind, rising
higher and growing stronger as difficulties multiplied.
Then he evinced that self-possession, that control of
faculties, which enables a commander to avail himself
most of his resources when they are most wanted.
He suggested the expedient, aye ! he did not receive
from Commodore Perry the order, but he suggested
to him the expedient of bringing up the small vessels,
while the fire of the rest was continued ; an expedient
to which Commodore Perry most readily, most joy
fully assented, and which he mentioned in his official
report in the ambiguous, the mysterious phraseology
of an anticipation of his own wishes. He would
have shown as much candor by mentioning himself
as assenting to a project of Captain Elliott, and not
Captain Elliott as anticipating one of his own. He
said to Commodore Perry, " My ship is now in a ju
dicious position; take charge of my battery, I will
bring up the small vessels, and victory will still be
ours." He then got into the very boat in which Com
modore Perry had just come from the Lawrence, pro
ceeded along the line to the Somers, the Porcupine,
the Tigress, the Trippe, hailed each as he passed, or
dering him to cease firing, to get out his sweeps imme
diately, to proceed with all haste to the head of the
line, then leaving the small vessels, to direct all his
fire upon the large ships of the enemy ; for they being
captured, the small ones would fall of course. He
then returned to and boarded the Somers. Here the
first object that he encountered was Sailing Master
Almey, the commander of that vessel, in a state of
helpless intoxication ; and on looking down the hatch
way, he perceived a bottle upon the table. With a
severe reprimand, he instantly ordered Mr. Almey
below, and told Mr. Nichols, the second officer, to take
his place ; and then, as Mr, Nichols says, " ordered

190 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
the round shot to be drawn from the guns, to be re
placed by grape and canister," and for the purpose of
firing at close quarters. Mr. Thomas Holdup Stevens
confirms this, for in his letter to Col. Daniel Stevens,*
he says, " the smaller vessels got out all sweeps and
made sail."
Mr. Taylor dwells emphatically upon the gallantry
of Commodore Perry in going from the Lawrence to
the Niagara in an open boat, exposed to the enemy's
fire. The gallantry of the act is admitted ; but while
Commodore Perry is applauded for his bravery in
going in an open boat about thirty yards, why should
Captain EUiott be accused of cowardice for going in
the same boat more than ten times the distance ? If,
as has been insinuated, his object were to get beyond
the reach of shot, he would have boarded the Trippe,
the most distant of the small vessels. Instead of this,
he proceeds to and gives his orders to the Trippe, re
turns along nearly the whole line of small vessels and
boards the Somers, the nearest but one to the enemy ;
thus not only prolonging his exposure in the open
boat, but finally boarding one of the small vessels most
exposed to danger. Nor is this all. None of the
small vessels were beyond the reach of shot, and in
passing along their line in an open boat, he was more
exposed to danger than when on board of the Niagara.
Mr. Taylor intimates that Commodore Perry, in an
open boat, was a mark for the enemy. This is doubt
less true ; for as every commanding officer carries a
glass, and as Commodore Perry wore his fatigue uni
form, the British officers could not avoid seeing the
boat, and recognizing him for an officer; and taking
for granted that this extraordinary movement had
some important object, they would be particularly
careful to frustrate it by firing upon the boat. But
this is equally applicable to^Oaptain Elliott in the
* Appendix F,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 191
same boat. He too wore his uniform, and the British
officers, seeing with the naked eye a boat passing along
the American line, would instantly consult their glass
es ; and perceiving an officer's uniform, would either
divine the object, or take for granted that some object
was in view which they ought to frustrate, and would
therefore order a fire upon the boat. This was done !
The enemy did fire upon the boat ! Before Captain
Elliott reached the lower extremity of the line, he
was completely drenched with water thrown upon
him by the balls which struck around the boat ; and
though he left the Niagara with six oars, he got back
to the Somers with three, the others having been
knocked out of the hands of the boat's crew by the
enemy's shot. Besides, his breath was frequently ta
ken away by the near passage of balls. This effect
of cannon balls is familiar to military men ; the ball,
in driving the air before it as it passes, producing a
vacuum behind it, into which the surrounding air
rushes, creating a momentary vacuum in the lungs,
and consequently a momentary suspension in the res
piration, of those very near. Thus did Captain El
liott, upon his own responsibility, without waiting for
directions from Commodore Perry, change the order
of battle, and by an entirely new arrangement, GAIN
THE VICTORY OF LAKE ERIE ! Commodore
Perry's arrangement was for each ship to engage a
ship of the enemy, the Lawrence leading the van and
the Caledonia following next. Captain Elliott altered
this plan by first taking the place of the Caledonia,
and then passing to the head of the line. After Com
modore Perry boarded the Niagara, he made the sig
nal for close action, or rather closer action, meaning
that each ship should close with its opponent as al
ready prescribed before the battle. Captain Elliott
altered this arrangement, by ordering the small ves
sels to cease firing upon the small vessels of the ene-

192 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
my, to proceed directly to the head of the line, md
fire exclusively upon the large ships.
It is now proper to mention Mr. Magrath, who, as
Commodore Perry says in his official report, "had
been despatched in a boat on service previous to my
getting on board the Niagara." Captain Elliott, hav
ing fired away a large portion of his shot, sent Mr.
Magrath in a boat to the Lawrence for more ; that
vessel being disabled, and having no use for what
shot remained. Mr. Magrath executed this commis
sion with the utmost despatch, and in returning to
the Niagara with his boat load of shot, picked up
Commodore Perry's motto flag ! It is not to be sup
posed that Captain Elliott went into the battle with
out shot ; and as his carronades were of much larger
calibre than his two long guns, he must have had
sizes proper for each. If then he exhausted his sup
ply of shot before Commodore Perry boarded the Ni
agara, he must have fired something more than his
long guns, unless the shot of a 32 pound carronade
can be fired from a long 12 ; and even admitting this,
he must have fired his two long 12's very rapidly, to
exhaust a provision of shot intended for eighteen 32
pound carronades. This single fact of Captain Elli
ott's having sent Mr. Magrath to the Lawrence for
shot, completely refutes all that is said by Commodore
Perry's witnesses about his keeping at a great dis
tance from the enemy. The Niagara must have had
a supply of shot equal to that of the Lawrence ; for
it is not to be supposed that Commodore Perry would
be so negligent of his duty as commander, as to leave
any one of the ships insufficiently equipped with any
thing that could be obtained ; and it has never been
suggested that the supply of shot was insufficient for
the fleet. Neither could Captain Elliott, nor any of
ficer of the Niagara, have any motive or object in
making to the commander a false return of her pro-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 193
vision of shot. Either then Mr. Magrath was not
sent on any service, or was not sent for shot, or the
supply of the Niagara was not exhausted, or the guns
of that ship were fired more frequently than those of
the Lawrence. That Mr. Magrath was sent in a
boat for something, is admitted by Commodore Perry
in his official report. The object of his mission is
not stated in this report, which, as before said, was
due to Mr. Magrath. The explanation of Captain
EUiott is therefore to be received, in the absence of
any other; which is that Mr. Magrath was sent to the
Lawrence for more shot. Why should this be done,
unless the supply of the Niagara were failing ? It is
not to be supposed that in an engagement where the
services of every officer and man were required, Cap
tain Elliott would despatch a brave and efficient offi
cer and a boat's crew upon a mission entirely useless ;
for this would be a species of trifling with valuable
lives, for which, as he well knew, he would be called
to account before a court martial. The supply of
the Niagara must then have been failing ; which
proves, not only that Captain Elliott did all that could
have been done in firing the guns of the Niagara, but
that he fired more than Commodore Perry did in the
Lawrence. This difference, while it thoroughly vin
dicates Captain Elliott from the charge of inactivity,
can be explained without disparagement to Com
modore Perry. As before said, in pursuance of Com
modore Barclay's plan, the Lawrence was disabled
while the Niagara was comparatively fresh. In the
progress of this fire of nearly the whole British force
upon the Lawrence, gun after gun was dismounted ;
and according to Mr. Taylor, the action was contin
ued by the Lawrence " till only one gun could be fired,
at which Captain Perry assisted himself;" and ac
cording to Commodore Perry's official report, " till
every gun was rendered useless." Thus the guns
17.

194 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
of the Lawrence being successively dismounted, while
those of the Niagara were in active operation, the
former might have discharged but few shot, while the
latter almost exhausted her magazine.
In returning to the Niagara with his boat load of
shot, Mr. Magrath picked up the " motto flag. " He
was despatched to the Lawrence about the time that
she dropped out of the line ; for the fact of her being
disabled from firing suggested to Captain Elliott the
idea of sending to her for the shot which she could
no longer use. At the same time Commodore Perry
left her to board the Niagara ; and the boats of the
two, proceeding to their respective destinations in the
shortest line of direction, probably passed very near
each other. According to Lieutenant Thomas Hold
up, Commodore Perry left the Lawrence " with gal
lant Lawrence's motto of ' Dont give up the ship'
under his arm." If he should throw it overboard on
his way to the Niagara, it would naturally float some
where near the course of Mr. Magrath in his passage
to or return from the Lawrence, and the probabilities
would be in favor of his finding it. He did find it,
and carried it on board the Niagara. Commodore
Perry saw it there after the battle, inquired how it
came there, and was told how by Mr. Magrath. He
then proposed to hoist it upon the Niagara, but aban
doned the project upon Captain Elliott's suggestion
to the contrary. It may well be supposed that Cap
tain Elliott was not very desirous of having a flag
hoisted on his ship, which had been hauled down
from a ship that had been given up.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 195

CHAPTER XH.

Causes of the dispute between Commodore Perry and Captain EUiott.
It being proved, and doubtless to the satisfaction
of every candid reader, that Captain Elliott, instead
of misbehaving, was chiefly instrumental in gaining
the victory of Lake Erie, the origin and motives of
this attaek upon him should now be explained. That
Commodore Perry was not always hostile to him, is
proved, not only by the official report, but likewise by
a letter which he wrote to Commodore Chauncey
shortly before the battle. Captain Elliott was then
upon Lake Ontario, second in command to Commo
dore Chauncey, and held a high reputation upon the
Lakes for resolution and energy. His capture of the
Caledonia and destruction of the Detroit about a year
before, was regarded as a signal instance of intrepidi
ty, judgment, perseverance and activity ; and no offi
cer upon the Lake more fully accorded to him these
qualities, than Commodore Perry.
So fully impressed was he with the belief that Cap
tain Elliott was the very man for his purpose, that he
wrote to Commodore Chauncey, " send , me Captain
Elliott and one hundred men, and I will engage to
beat the British." Captain Elliott must then have
earned, in some way, a high reputation for skill and
courage, to inspire such hopes in Commodore Perry ;
for though cowards may pass unsuspected because
they have never been tried, they have never yet been
known to acquire a character for extraordinary gal-

196 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
lantry. This quality must have some other founda
tion than mere supposition. It must be founded up
on fact ; and whoever would gain a reputation for
heroism, must do something to deserve it. He must
do something more than merely abstaining from cow
ardice. What Captain Elliott had done, has already
been mentioned. When this request of Commodore
Perry was communicated to him, he consented to go,
upon condition of returning to Lake Ontario imme
diately after that victory should be achieved, of which
Commodore Perry seemed so confident. Something
extraordinary must have occurred afterwards, to turn
all this milk of good will into gall, to convert respect
and friendship into the most violent and unrelenting
hatred. The cause is not beyond reach, and shows
how small a matter may kindle a great fire. Soon
after the battle, the subject of PRIZE MONEY was
started among the officers ; for these gallant fellows,
in a vocation where cannon balls are more plentiful
than dollars, where death or mayhem is a harvest
more common than wealth, where an annual stipend
of a few hundreds, is not an exorbitant compensation
for long days of hard labor, long nights of weary
watching, for exposure to lightning and tempest and
pestilence and fire and steel, may be allowed to exult
over a windfall as well as those who earn their thou
sands more easily. They doubtless rejoiced in the
thought that besides the rich harvest of fame and
public applause which they had reaped with their
swords, they should infuse a little more vitality into
their not too plethoric purses. In the discussions and
remarks so natural upon this subject, a question was
raised about the claim of the officers of the Lawrence
to participate in the golden harvest. Some one sug
gested that as they had surrendered their ship, they
could not be reckoned among the victors. It was
further suggested that not only was their vessel cap-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 197
tured by the enemy, but recaptured by the rest of the
squadron ; and consequently that not only were they
to be excluded from any share in the prize money due
for capturing the British squadron, but also that the
captors were entitled to. prize money for recapturing
the Lawrence. These discussions excited much irri
tation ; for among men sensitive upon the subject of
military honor, they were well fitted to produce heart
burnings and jealousies. The officers of the Law
rence were smarting under the reflection of having
surrendered their ship to an enemy, who was com
pletely beaten by their brethren of the fleet a few
minutes afterwards. The officers of the Niagara,
contending that after the surrender of the Lawrence,
their ship bore the brunt of the battle, and their com
mander, by new manoeuvres and new arrangements,
turned the fortune of the day, were incensed at the
claim of the officers of the Lawrence to participate
in spoils which they had not won. , An angry contro
versy was the consequence. Captain EUiott then in
terposed, and earnestly enjoined upon his officers to
abandon such claim, saying there was glory and prize
money enough for the whole fleet, and that it would
be discreditable both to the Navy and the country, for
the officers to quarrel about the spoils so soon as they
were won. Commodore Perry likewise exerted him
self to restore harmony ; and by their united efforts,
the dispute about prize money was ended. It was in
the course of his efforts to allay this dispute, that
Captain Elliott made the remarks to Mr. Champlin
which the latter has mentioned in his affidavit, but
the spirit and meaning of which, after a lapse of five
years, he seems to have forgotten. He makes Cap
tain Elliott positively assert that the officers of the
Lawrence were not entitled to prize money, while in
fact, he stated this as a claim made by the officers of
the Niagara, and from which he dissuaded them. An
17*

198 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
explanation of this was promised in the comments
upon Mr. Champlin's testimony.
But though the dispute about prize money was
allayed, the discussions about the various incidents
of the battle, and the respective merits of the officers,
were not so easily prevented. The battle was fought
over again, every circumstance of it was freely can
vassed, and the claims of the two Captains minutely
compared. The alarm of Captain Perry was then
excited; for though in a moment of spontaneous
feeling, he had said to Captain Elliott as he returned
from the Somers, " I owe this to you," yet upon sub
sequent reflection, he became apprehensive that the
public would respond affirmatively to this declaration.
He feared that the country would ascribe the victory
to Captain Elliott, and consequently would censure
himself for having nearly lost it. He was conscious
of having been rescued from embarrassing difficulties
by the skill and energy of the second in command;
and like most men who are very solicitous of ap
plause, and yet feel that they have done less to de
serve it than others, he was extremely jealous of
public opinion. He therefore wrote an official re
port, in which, while he mentioned some of the prin
cipal events, and awarded to Captain Elliott a high
degree of indefinite praise, he seems to have avoided
a clear and distinct description of the battle. The
account is certainly very confused and perplexed,
and no careful reader could derive from it any very
distinct ideas of what actually occurred. He had
then no desire to detract from the merit of Captain
Elliott. On the contrary, he wished for that officer
a full share of honor as second in command, but at
the same time, desired a full share for himself as
first. He of course wished that the public, in recur
ring to the victory of Lake Erie, should recur to him
self as the most conspicuous personage in it. He

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 199
desired for it the cognomen of Perry's victory, and
not that of Elliott's victory.
In the mean time, increasing jealousies among the
officers led to the circulation upon the frontier, of re
ports injurious to the fame of Captain Elliott. These
were doubtless the reports to which Mr. Turner
alludes as current in General Harrison's army, and
which were carried there by the enemies of Captain
Elliott. According to the Naval Monument, page 93,
Boston edition, of 1816, these reports were invented
by " an officer on board the Lawrence, and a volun
teer on board the same vessel." The officers of the
Lawrence who survived the battle, were Messrs.
Yarnall, Forrest, Parsons, Taylor, Hambleton, Breese,
Claxton, and Swartwout. If the statement in the
Naval Monument be correct, the honor of this in
vention would seem to belong to some one of these
officers, and each of the survivors among them can
tell how far he was concerned. If there were any
other officers on board of the Lawrence, their names
are not now recollected. Being informed of these
reports, Captain Elliott promptly and confidently ap
pealed to Commodore Perry for a contradiction of
them, as already mentioned, and received in reply,
the explicit and decisive letter of September 18, 1813;
for Commodore Perry, whose mind had not then
been poisoned by fabrications, who had not then
been seduced into the belief that Captain Elliott could
be guilty of false or perfidious conduct, was indig
nant at any attempt to wrest from him his well-earned
laurels. But the officers of the Niagara, though dissuaded
from their claim about prize-money, were not so
easily disposed to surrender the claims of their com
mander to the largest measure of applause. They
were dissatisfied with the official report, for they
thought that it did not do justice to Captain Elliott;

200 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
and for the purpose of expressing their own feelings
upon the subject, they addressed to him the letter of
September 19, 1813. In the mean time the official
report had been despatched, and letters from the offi
cers of the different ships, containing accounts of the
battle, were sent about the country to their respective
friends. As disputes had already occurred, and pre
judices had already been excited, the accounts in
some of these letters very naturally derived a coloring
from the prejudices and prepossessions of the authors;
and each of the two Captains was represented by his
partisans as the hero of the day. Some of these ac
counts, awarding to Commodore Perry the chief me
rit of gaining the victory, or accounts founded upon
them, were published in some of the newspapers, and
were not a little corroborated by the official report,
published throughout the country about the same
time. These partial statements, travelling back to
Lake Erie, very naturally excited the resentment of
Captain Elliott's officers, who inferred from them that
their commander might have suffered in reputation,
or did not receive due praise at Head Quarters. Un
der these feelings they addressed a special communi
cation to the Secretary of the Navy, their letter of
October 13, 1813.
The officers of the Lawrence being apprised of this
communication, the divisions in the fleet became more
violent than ever. Two distinct parties were now
formed, and upon the comparative services in the
battle, of the officers of the two large ships ; those of
the Lawrence awarding the palm to Commodore
Perry, and those of the Niagara to Captain Elliott.
Each party felt the necessity of giving a reason for
its faith. With the partizans of Captain Elliott, this
was not very difficult, his proceedings having been
manifest to the whole fleet. With the others it was
somewhat more embarrassing, they having "given up

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 201
the ship." The officers of the Lawrence, continually
brooding over the angry feelings already kindled, and
both astonished and mortified by the reflection of ha
ving surrendered their vessel, and of its being after
wards recovered, chiefly by the efforts of the Niagara,
felt that their friends and the public would require an
explanation of this capture and recapture. " Why
did you surrender your ship? Why did you not,
after you were crippled, merely drop astern and keep
your colors flying? The Niagara was then ahead of
you, firing with tremendous effect upon the heavy
ships of the British squadron. At the very moment
when she passed you, the Detroit was lowering her
boats to take possession of you, and the first broadside
from the Niagara after this, put an end to that project.
A few short moments more, and your flag would have
been saved ! Your ship was not sinking, for she did
not get into harbor till next day. If no other consi
deration could induce you to hold out, you should
have thought of the effect which your surrender might
have upon the rest of the fleet. Your ship carried
more than one third of its guns, and constituted nearly
one half of its effective force. The officeis and men
of the four small vessels astern, and of the two ahead,
thus seeing nearly one half of the force surrendered,
might have been disheartened, and hauled down their
flags. Those of the Caledonia and Niagara, thus
finding themselves alone, might have thought the day
was inevitably lost, and that nothing was left to them
but to surrender likewise. Thus your surrender
might have produced a panic that would have caused
the loss of the whole fleet. Duty to your country
therefore required that you should display your flag
to the last moment, and even to sink with it flying,
rather than set an example that might have resulted
so disastrously. Why did you not hold out a few
moments longer?" Language like this began to ad-

202 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
dress itself to their imaginations ; and though con
scious of having fought while a gun was left, they
felt that it would be difficult to satisfy the public
that they were not in fault for surrendering. They
thought that the public would say, "there was fault
somewhere," and that unless they could show it to
be elsewhere, it would be imputed to themselves.
They recollected that for a time, they received most
of the enemy's fire ; and either overlooking or not
comprehending the plan of Commodore Barclay to
destroy or cripple the two heavy ships in succession,
they could not conceive how they should be the only
mark for the enemy, if the other ships were near
enough to be reached. The gun boats, they well
knew, were prevented from getting up ; and if the
Niagara should also be distant, the cause of their sus
taining the whole fire of the British, and of being
obliged to yield to it, was manifest, and a satisfactory
explanation was furnished.
The hypothesis being clear, the next step was to
prove it. Men sometimes readily believe what they
wish, and are too apt to wish ill towards those whom
they dislike. Captain Elliott was no favorite among
the officers of the Lawrence. Mr. Nichols says that
many of the officers on Lake Erie were his enemies,
and from a belief that he was too severe as a disci
plinarian. That he was strict, not only in performing
his own duty, but in requiring others to perform theirs,
is true ; for he has ever been zealous to promote the
welfare of the Navy. That many of the officers were
highly dissatisfied with him on this account, is highly
probable ; for they were mostly young men, and young
military men are generally impatient of restraint, ana
less disposed to admit its utility than those whose
judgment is maturer. This state of feeling was a fit
preparation for the sentiments that were afterwards
excited among the officers of the Lawrence. Believ-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 203
ing that the country would censure somebody for the
capture of their ship, unconscious of any want of
courage or effort in themselves while their ship was
engaged, and disliking Captain EUiott, they came to
the conclusion that on his shoulders would the censure
rightly fall. With prejudices strongly excited against
him, they continued to view his whole character and
conduct through the discolored medium of such pre
judices, until they actually believed that their own
ship was captured because the Niagara rendered them
no assistance, and that until Commodore Perry board
ed her, she was actually kept aloof from the battle.
A reason for this was the next point necessary, and
no other could be imagined that involved any mis
conduct, excepting the cowardice of her commander,
or his treacherous desire to sacrifice the Lawrence,
and then gain the victory with his own ship. Men
oftentimes dwell upon and repeat the creations of their
own fancies, until they come to believe them as mat
ters of fact. They therefore thought that the Niagara
was not in close action, nor engaged at all, excepting
at long shot, until boarded by Commodore Perry ; that
this was owing to the misconduct of Captain Elliott,
and that this misconduct was proved by the fact that
the Niagara was not in close action ; and that thus
was furnished a satisfactory excuse for the capture of
the Lawrence ! Here then was the hypothesis, and
here was the proof.
The mind of Commodore Perry, hitherto free from
suspicion against Commodore Elliott, was now in a
fit state to be perverted. As before said, he was
alarmed for his reputation as the hero of Lake Erie.
These discussions among the officers might spread
through the country, and lead to discussions in the
newspapers. Facts would be stated, arguments would
be urged, and conclusions be drawn ; and a voice
within told him that while full credit would be award-

204 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
ed to him for gallantry and patriotism, yet the palm
for judgment and fertility of resource was due to
Captain Elliott. The consequence would be a divi
sion of the glory between the two Captains, and possi
bly an eclipse of the first by the second. To prevent
this without robbing the second, was of vital import
ance to the first, and any measure of prevention, to
be effectual, must be speedily applied. An artist was
then employed to make and engrave the two draw
ings of the battle which have already been mentioned,
and which were published in the Naval Monument.
These engravings circulated extensively, and were to
be found in almost every tavern and barber's shop
in the Union. About the same time, Lieutenant For
rest went to Washington with despatches for the Se
cretary of the Navy from Commodore Perry, and
carried with him the " Motto Flag," to be deposited
in the Navy Department, and this circumstance was
fitted to aid the belief which the drawings tended to
propagate, that the merit of the victory was chiefly
due to him. About the last of October, 1813, Commo
dore Perry left the Lake for Washington, and passed
through Newport on his way. His suit in this jour
ney, according to the Naval Monument, consisted of
his brother, Lieutenant Perry, and the four sailors
who rowed him from the Lawrence to the Niagara.
This little incident also tended to fix the public gaze
upon him as the hero of Lake Erie. Next appeared his
portrait, enveloped in this " motto flag," which tended
additionally to connect him with the victory, in the
public mind, as the principal actor. While all these
incidents were occurring, perhaps by accident, and
while these little scenes were acting, perhaps with
no design, but certainly with a tendency to entrap
the public applause, and the public acknowledgment
that Commodore Perry was the hero of Lake Erie,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 206
where was Captain Elliott ? He was on the Lake,
doing duty as commander of the fleet.
A few weeks after Commodore Perry's arrival
in Washington, appeared the report of the Secretary
of the Navy to the chairman of the Naval Committee
of the House of Representatives, and the resolution
of the House, requesting the President to cause gold
medals to be struck and presented to Captains Perry
and Elliott. This report and this resolution were
decisive with Commodore Perry ! They are co
eval with a spirit of hostility against Captain Elliott
which pursued him through the remainder of his
life, continually gaining strength as it grew older.
This resolution was the only instance then on re
cord in the annals of naval warfare, in which equal
honors were decreed by a government to the first
and second in command, and
Hinc ill* lachrimse !
" These honors," thought the commander, " cannot
bear division." As was before said, this act of the
Government was intended for the protection of Cap
tain Elliott. They were fully apprised of what had
occurred on the frontier, both during and after the
battle, saw distinctly the object and tendency of Com
modore Perry's movements, had received Captain
Elliott's request for an investigation, and being con
vinced that something was due to him, preferred as
a method of awarding it, a complimentary resolution
to a Court of Inquiry. The jealousy of Commodore
Perry being now roused, efforts were not wanting to
seduce him into a belief of Captain Elliott's alleged
misconduct. The officers of the Lawrence were
mostly from the native State, and even the native
town of Commodore Perry ; and his mind being now
in a condition to imbibe prejudices, it would receive
them more readily from his fellow townsmen than
18

206 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
from any other persons. These officers had long
since got to believe, and to repeat as matters of fact,
the suggestions of their own fancy ; and Commodore
Perry, in his existing state of feeling against Captain
Elliott, needed no very powerful logic to induce a
participation in their belief; and he having now
adopted their hypothesis, he and they continued, by
frequent interchange of opinions and feelings upon
the subject, to confirm the belief of each other. After
this, the friendly intercourse of the two captains
ceased ; Commodore Perry cherishing his animosi
ties against Captain Elliott, and the latter sometimes,
when questioned upon the subject, giving a detail of
the events on Lake Erie according to his own recol
lection of them.
In 1815, the proceedings of the British Court of
Inquiry upon the loss of Commodore Barclay's squad
ron, appeared in the United States, and were imme
diately noticed by Captain Elliott in a request for an
investigation. His leading motive to this request was
doubtless the misrepresentations in circulation1 con
cerning him ; misrepresentations which a Court of
Inquiry would confute, and of which he had long
before sought an investigation. A Court of Inquiry
was then sitting at New York, and this British report
gave him an amply sufficient pretext for bringing his
case before it ; for though the Secretary of the Navy
thought it needless to investigate any charges against
Captain Elliott preferred by an American citizen, and
which concerned his own country alone, yet he deem
ed it a matter of duty to protect him against the as
saults of a foreign government ; that being an affair
which concerned all civilized nations. The triumph
ant vindication of Captain Elliott against the impu
tations of the British Court of Inquiry, imputations,
be it remembered, substantially the same as those cir
culated against him on the frontier soon after the

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 207
battle, added fuel to Commodore Perry's hatred. He
afterwards continued to speak of Captain Elliott with
great severity, until, about the commencement of the
year 1818, he used so little caution in his denuncia
tions, that some of his offensive expressions reached
the ears of their object. Captain Elliott received let
ters from two of his friends, informing him of Com
modore Perry's proceedings. Soon after this, he un
derstood that Mr. Hall, at Washington, had heard
some offensive remarks concerning him from Commo
dore Perry, and called upon him for information ; for
having resolved on calling Commodore Perry to ac
count, he wished first to procure sufficient proof of
the Commodore's hostile proceedings. He then pro
ceeded to Washington, for the purpose of meeting
Commodore Perry, but was disappointed in this by
the Commodore's sudden and unexpected departure.
He then addressed a letter to Commodore Perry, in
closing attested copies of the communications which
he had received, and which have already been given
to the reader. Commodore Perry's reply to this has
already been alluded to. To this Captain Elliott re
plied by a letter containing a challenge, and which is
the following : Norfolk, July 7th, 1818.
Sir, — Your letter of the 19th June is before me, having
been received this moment, on my return after several days
absence from the State on public business. I have read it,
Sir, with attention, and will do you the justice to say that it
is a masterly production of epistolary blackguardism. I had
hoped my last letter would have drawn from you some other
reply more honorable, and I am now induced to give you
that invitation which I supposed my letter would have
drawn from you, in case the certificates were true. I now
invite you to the field. Appoint your time and place, some
where equally distant from us both, giving me only a reason
able time to join you after the receipt of your answer, when
nothing in the power of human control shall detain me. It

208 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
might be expected that I should answer this vocabulary of
false and vulgar assertions of yours in detail. I cannot de
scend to such blackguardism. Declamations, such as con
tained in the letter in question, can be productive of little be
nefit towards a final settlement of this present dispute, and as
I feel no disposition to procrastinate this business by a useless
waste of ink ahd paper, I must resort to some other weapon,
more potent than a pen, one that will at once place me above
your cunning, and teach you that all your former low and
ungentlemanly acts shall not shield you from the chastise
ment you merit. Though your memory appears a most
treacherous one, and though I have the most horrid opinion
of your general character, still I cannot think you so base,
so lost to all sense of justice and feeling, as to have forgot
ten the manner in which you presented yourself to me on
board the Niagara, in the action on Lake Erie, the words
then made use of, as well as the friendly congratulations I
received on my return on board my own vessel after the bat
tle. I do not pretend to select any particular place for our
meeting, though I would recommend a central situation, a
place in which we might be strangers ; by doing so the ob
ject of our meeting would excite no suspicion, and throw no
difficulty in the way. You shall be made acquainted with
the name of my friend as soon as I hear from you ; till then
as little writing as possible.
Public business will call me from this place on the 1st of
next month; I should like to receive your final answer before
that time. A duplicate of this will be forwarded ; a similar
reply, if you please ; and seal with some other seal than the
one on your last letters, bearing the initials of your name.
Yours with respect,
JESSE D. ELLIOTT.
O. H. Perry, Esq.
Newport, (R. Island.)
In the mean time, Commodore Perry stated to Lieu
tenant Thomas Holdup Stevens that Captain Elliott
had induced him to omit any mention of Mr. Stevens,
then Mr. Holdup, in the official report of the battle.
This communication induced the following' corres
pondence between Captain Elliott and Lieutenant
Stevens.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 209
" U. S. Ship Alert, Navy Yard,
Gosport, 10th July, 1818.
Sir, — Having lately understood that you were the only
cause of my not being mentioned in the official despatches
of the battle on Lake Erie, I have to request, if you ever
made assertions in the slightest degree derogatory to my
character as an officer, or injurious to it as a brave man, you
will furnish me with the grounds on which such assertions
were made.
If you never made them, you will do my character the
justice to give me, in writing, an open and positive denial.
I am, sir, respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
THOS. HOLDUP STEVENS.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
U. S. Navy."
Capt. Elliott, suspecting the source of Lieut. Ste
vens' information, and not considering himself obliged
to reply till the name of the informant was disclosed,
returned this letter with the following endorsement :
" No reply until the author of the report is disclosed.
J. D. ELLIOTT."
" U. S. Ship Alert, Navy Yard,
Gosport, Uth July, 1818.
Sir, — Having been informed by Capt. Perry, during my
visit to Newport last month, that you were the only cause
of my not being mentioned in the official despatches of the
battle of Lake Krie, I embrace the earliest opportunity, after
my return to this place, to request that if you ever made
assertions in the slightest degree derogatory to my character
as an officer, or injurious to my reputation as a brave man,
you will furnish me with the grounds upon which such as
sertions were made.
If you never made them, you will do my character the jus
tice to give me, in writing, an open and positive denial.
I am, sir, respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
THOS. HOLDUP STEVENS.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
U. S. Navy." 18*

210 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
" Norfolk, July 12, 1818.
Sir, — Your letter of the 11th inst., covering information
recently communicated to you by Capt. Perry, has been re
ceived. Strange indeed, that after a lapse of nearly five years,
he should for the first time have made you acquainted with
the cause which induced him not to have mentioned you par
ticularly, in reporting on the action of the 10th Sept., 1813 ;
and now, with a particular object in view, endeavors to ac
count, for it on information said to have been received from
hissecond in command, who, from the particular nature of the
official despatch, had not and could not have any agency in
making out the report of that action, or in communicating
any thing that led to it. The language of Capt. Perry, on
coming on board my vessel, satisfied me of his motive in not
mentioning the gun-boats at the stern of our line ; and if
called upon before a proper tribunal, I will have no objection
in stating it. Respectfully your ob't. servant,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Lieut Thos. Holoup Stevens."
This statement must have been made by Commo
dore Perry to Lieutenant Stevens after the former had
received Captain Elliott's letter, written in conse
quence of his disappointment about a meeting at
Washington; for that letter is dated May 14, and was
addressed to Newport, where Commodore Perry then
was, and received in due course of mail ; and Lieute
nant Stevens, in his second letter to Captain Elliott,
dated July 11, says that he received the statements of
Commodore Perry during a visit to Newport in the
preceding month, or June. The conduct of Commo
dore Perry in this affair is certainly worthy of com
ment. Captain Elliott's representation to him about
the behavior of Lieutenant Stevens, then Lieutenant
Holdup, in the battle, was confidential or not. If
confidential, it should never have been disclosed with
out adequate cause; and there being no adequate
cause in June, 1818, the disclosure was a violation of
confidence. If not confidential, it should have been

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 211
disclosed immediately, for the purpose of giving the
party an opportunity of defending himself, if unjustly
censured. But the statement was disclosed, and five
years after it was made. And under what circum
stances was the disclosure made ? After Commodore
Perry had received a letter from Captain Elliott, de
manding explanations of offensive remarks, instead
of promptly meeting this demand, either by an ex
planation or a defiance, he discloses to Lieutenant
Holdup Stevens a representation concerning him made
five years previously, as if for the purpose of adding
one more to the enemies of Captain EUiott.
Commodore Perry replied to the challenge by the
following letter. " Newport, Aug. 3, 1818.
Sir, — Your letter of the 7th ult., was delivered to me on
my return to this place from New -York. It is impossible
that you should not have anticipated the reply, the invita
tion it contained would at this time receive ; having before
you my fetter of the 18th June last, in which I implicitly
gave you to understand what course I should pursue in re
gard to you. Most men, situated as you are, and avowing
their innocence, would have considered their honor best de
fended against the charges contained in that letter, by first
demanding the investigation announced to you, and holding
me accountable on failure to support them.
I have prepared the charges I am about to prefer against
you, and by the mail to-morrow, shall transmit them to the
Secretary of the Navy, with a request that a court-martial
be instituted for your trial upon them.
Should you be able to exculpate yourself from these
charges, you will then have a light to assume the tone of a
gentleman, and (whatever my opinion of you may be) I
shall not have the least disposition to dispute that right, in
respect to any claim you may then think proper to make
upon me. I am, sir, your humble servant,
O. H. PERRY.
Capt. J. D. Elliott,
U. S. Navy, Norfolk."

212 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
In this letter, he declines Captain Elliott's challenge,
because he intends to prefer charges against him to
fhe Secretary of the Navy, and to request a Court
Martial upon them. He also says that Captain Elli
ott must have anticipated this reply to his challenge,
by recurring to the letter of Commodore Perry, dated
Jun 3 18, in which his determination to prefer charges
was clearly indicated. This seems to convey the in
sinuation that Captain Elliott had sent him a chal
lenge, while knowing that it could not be accepted.
But Commodore Perry's letter of June 18 seems
hardly to warrant the construction which he thus puts
upon it. The language in which he implies that he
threatened a Court Martial, is the following : " Mean
and despicable as you have proved yourself to be, I
shall never cease to criminate myself for having de
viated from the path of strict propriety, for the sake
of screening you from public contempt and indigna
tion. For this offence to the community I will atone
in due time, by a full disclosure of your disgraceful
conduct." But this by no means implies a judicial
investigation, to the exclusion of every other mode of
disclosure ; for " a full disclosure " might be made
through an appeal to the public, and an indication of
making such appeal is the most obvious meaning of
these terms. Captain Elliott was certainly justified
in believing that he intended by " a full disclosure," a
statement in a newspaper or pamphlet, and not an ap
plication for a Court Martial. That he did consider
it a promise or threat to appeal to the public, is mani
fest from his letter of July 7th. Commodore Perry,
in this letter of August 3, says that the most proper
course for an officer in the situation of Captain Elli
ott, would be first to demand an investigation of the
charges preferred, and to call the accuser to the field
on his failure to prove them. But besides the fact
that he did not consider Commodore Perry's threat as

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 213
indicating an appeal to a Court Martial, the reader
will recollect that he long before demanded an inves
tigation of the same charges, and got for his pains,
not a Court of Inquiry, much less a Court Martial,
but  a complimentary resolution of the House of
Representatives ; and that he afterwards sought and
obtained an investigation in 1815, and was triumph
antly acquitted by the Court of every thing excepting
the utmost gallantry and skill ! Even had he suppo
sed, therefore, that Commodore Perry intended to ap
ply for a Court Martial, he must have anticipated the
fate of the application. He must have known that
the Secretary of the Navy would not order an in
vestigation of charges which were always known,
at head quarters, to be unfounded, and of which a
Court of Inquiry had already acquitted him. It is
singular that these considerations should not have
occurred to Commodore Perry. It is difficult to ima
gine how he could suppose that his charges would be
listened to for a moment, refuted as the same charges
had been upon a former occasion.
After a lapse of two months from the date of Com
modore Perry's last letter, Captain Elliott, hearing
nothing either from him or the Navy Department
about the threatened charges, addressed to him the
following letter. Boston, 3d October, 1818.
Sir, — Two months having elapsed since the date of your
answer to my invitation to the field, and as I have neither
been furnished with an arrest, or made acquainted with the
charges you state would be forwarded to the honorable Se
cretary of the Navy by the following mail, I have to in
form you that from Palls River, I hastened to the quarters
of the Secretary of the Navy, and by him have been informed,
that he has not heard from you on any subject for the last two
months, and that he does not know of any transaction between
us. I am still under the impression, that you are disponed to
continue your old game of deception. I must therefore

214 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
again call your attention to my former communication,
with a request that you answer me by return of mail, yea
or nay, as I shall leave this for the South in five days.
With proper respect, J. D. ELLIOTT.
O. H. Perry, Esq., Newport."
Commodore Perry replied without delay, in the
following terms. " Newport, October 6th, 1818.
Sir, — In reply to your letter of the 3d inst., I have to in
form you that I forwarded to the Navy Department on the
10th of August last, charges which I then preferred against
you. It is not for me to account for their not having been
submitted to the honorable the Secretary of the Navy.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed) O. H. PERRY.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott,
U. S. Navy."
The charges were duly transmitted, but never
reached the Secretary, who informed Captain Elliott,
by a letter written about the 1st of October, 1818,
that he had not heard from Commodore Perry for
two months previously. Here ended the correspond
ence between them. The meeting which Captain
Elliott invited in three different letters, was never
held, and Commodore Perry sailed shortly after upon
the cruise in which he died.
But while Commodore Perry was in Newport, and
after he had received Capta' i Elliott's letter of May
14, 18 18, demanding an explanation, a resolution was
introduced into the General Assembly of Rhode Is
land, to appoint a Committee to collect and deposit
among the archives of the state, all the documents and
memorials necessary to preserve the memory of the
brilliant achievements of Commodore Perry on Lake
Erie, and to request him to sit for his portrait. There
was nothing extraordinary in this resolution. It was

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 215
a compliment due to a gallant son of Rhode Island,
which ought to have been paid before, and was similar
in character to a resolution of the Legislature of Penn
sylvania, which decreed gold medals to Captains
Perry and Elliott. But the time in which it was in
troduced is worthy of notice, and it certainly led to
extraordinary proceedings. It was introduced after
Commodore Perry had received Captain Elliott's
letter of May 14, by Mr. Benjamin Hazard, a relative
of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, and a member
of the Hartford Convention. It is unfortunate for
Commodore Perry that this resolution, so proper in
itself, should have been introduced by a near relative,
and at this particular time ; for it leads to the suppo
sition that Commodore Perry sought by it to throw
the Legislature of his native state between himself
and Captain Elliott. Still more unfortunate is it that
the proceedings which followed should have been
held under it, as they tend to confirm this supposition.
The committee proceeded to collect documents and
memorials, and collected  what? A number of
affidavits directly criminating Captain Elliott ! ! ! This
again brings the reader to the officers of the Law
rence, who fully participated in Commodore Perry's
hostility. The affidavits taken, and which have al
ready been the subject of comment, are those of
Messrs. Turner, Parsons, Breese and Taylor of the
Lawrence, Champlin of the Scorpion, and Brownell
of the Ariel. All excepting that of Mr. Taylor, bear
internal evidence of having been drawn by the same
individual, who was probably Mr. Hazard. They
were manifestly drawn by a lawyer, and by one
skilled " To make the worse appear the better reason."
They indicate a facility, a practice in explaining
away difficulties and supporting weak points, which
few but lawyers can be expected to possess in an

216 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
eminent degree, because it is a faculty or habit which
no profession, excepting the law, frequently put in
requisition. They are replete with hearsay state
ments and vague generalities, presenting a very im
posing appearance to superficial observers ; and with
distortions, colorings, implications, and suppressions
of facts, which, without amounting to falsehood in
terms, directly mislead the reader to conclusions
totally different from the truth. They are uncandid
and disingenuous productions, and such as would na
turally emanate from a mind habituated to logical
perversion. The officers who signed them could
hardly have been aware of their character. They
were indeed bitterly prejudiced against Captain
Elliott, and saw his conduct in the battle through the
discolored medium of their animosities, and in the
perspective of five long years ; whence little reliance
could be placed upon their accuracy. Yet the spirit
of frankness and plain dealing so much engendered
by a military life, would not be very consistent with
gross perversion of the truth, or with sly, disingenu
ous insinuation of falsehood. But they were in the
hands of a cunning lawyer, intent upon making them
say what suited his purpose, without permitting them
to be precisely sensible of what they did say. These
affidavits are exquisite specimens of what a shrewd
and cunning lawyer may do with a witness, when
having strong prejudices to work upon ; of the faci
lity with which he may, when operating upon such
prejudices, lead a witness into uttering the grossest
improbabilities. But in this case, the tact of the
lawyer seems to have been blunted by his own preju
dices in favor of his relative ; for he has led his wit
nesses into statements too improbable to be believed,
and which are therefore self-refuted. But perhaps
Mr. Hazard was a friend of Captain Elliott in dis
guise, and took this mode of discrediting Commodore

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 217
Perry's witnesses; for it is common with some
lawyers, upon a cross examination, to discredit wit
nesses by leading them, through their prejudices, into
telling very improbable stories ; the witnesses all the
while intending to testify correctly. But whatever
may have been Mr. Hazard's object, any unpreju
diced reader of the whole testimony would say that
these witnesses, judged by these affidavits alone, were
men of very strong prejudices and rather weak
minds. The. affidavit of Mr. Taylor was probably written
by himself, and is in a totally different style from the
rest. It is a prolix narrative of minute and unim
portant circumstances ; such as might be expected
from one who was a warm friend of one party and a
decided enemy of the other, who undertook to state
what he believed to be the facts, but who saw every
thing through his prejudices, whose memory had
been controlled by his feelings, and who was not lo
gician enough to decide whether his statements ope
rated against or in support of the party whom he
wished to sustain.
The committee who took these affidavits never
made any report, and for a very obvious reason.
The other member of the committee, Mr. Gibbs, see
ing that the purpose of his associate was to build up
the character of Commodore Perry by pulling down
that of Captain Elliott, was probably not disposed to
lend it his aid, and well knew that it would not be
tolerated by the Legislature of which he was a mem
ber. He probably knew nothing of the testimony till
after the affidavits were taken ; for Mr. Hazard pro
bably volunteered to procure it, and drew every affi
davit without consulting him. The committee, thus
disagreeing, made no report, wherefore nothing was
presented for the action of the Legislature. But Mr.
Hazard's object was partly attained ; for the testimony

218 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
was procured, reduced to writing, and put on file,
ready to be laid before the public through the press,
if occasion should require it. Though this account
of Mr. Hazard's proceedings be conjectural, it suffi
ciently resembles some of his modes of proceeding to
be highly probable, and it is extremely difficult to ex
plain the whole or any parts of the transaction upon
any other hypothesis. What other documents and
memorials were collected by the committee, has not
yet appeared ; but if Mr. Hazard undertook the task
of collection, it is probable that few, if any others,
were collected, than such as would directly or remote
ly criminate Captain Elliott. Why did not this com
mittee, or rather Mr. Hazard, caU upon the officers of
the Niagara ? Why did they not call upon Captain
Elliott himself? Both he and they must have been
supposed, by this committee, to know something
about the events on Lake Erie, and if the object of the
committee were merely to obtain evidence of those
events for the purpose of preserving a history of them,
he and they were very important witnesses. This
singular omission to da what seems to be very natu
rally suggested by the resolution, is well fitted to ex
cite inquiry into the object of those who procured the
testimony that was filed.
This appeal to the Legislature of Rhode Island, if
such the proceeding may be called, throws some light
upon that part of Commodore Perry's letter to Cap
tain Elliott of June 19, in which he threatens to atone
for his past offence in screening Captain Elliott, by
making, in due time, a full disclosure of his dis
graceful conduct ; and justifies the inference of the
latter that he intended an appeal to the public, and
not to a Court Martial. Captain Elliott's demand of
an explanation is dated May 14, 1818. The Legis
lature of Rhode Island begins its session on the first
Wednesday in May. Commodore Perry's reply con-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 219
taining this threat of a full disclosure, is dated June
19, 1818. The committee, or more probably Mr.
Hazard, must have already made some progress in
collecting documents ; and as Commodore Perry was
upon the spot, and particularly interested in the in
quiry, it is not to be supposed that Mr. Hazard would
proceed without consulting him, or informing him,
from time to time, of the progress made in the inves
tigation. His reply to Captain Elliott of June 19,
must then have been written with full knowledge of
what this committee were doing ; and the time and
place of the proceedings, and the character of the do
cuments collected, plainly indicate to the reader what
species of " full disclosure" was intended.
The Legislature of Rhode Island not interfering,
and having Captain Elliott's challenge before him,
Commodore Perry next endeavored to interpose be
tween them the Government of the United States.
At least such inference is deducible from the facts.
The letter containing this challenge is dated July 7,
1818. In the reply to it, which is dated August 3d,
Commodore Perry states that he did not receive it till
after his return to Newport from New- York ; but as
he does not give the date of his return, it was proba
bly received and considered of some days before the
reply. He says that on the next day, August 4th, he
should transmit charges to the Navy Department, and
demand an investigation of them. The letter to the
Secretary of the Navy which enclosed the charges, is
dated August 8th, but the charges are without date.
Captain Elliott, hearing nothing from the Department
upon the subject, again wrote to Commodore Perry
on the 3d of October, and was answered by a letter
dated October 6, in which Commodore Perry says
that he transmitted the charges to the Department on
the 10th of August. It appears then from his letter
of August 3d, that his charges were not transmitted

220 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
till some days after he says they were prepared ; a
delay somewhat inconsistent with his professed zeal
to atone for the past by bringing Captain Elliott to
justice. But admitting the delay, the reader will still
perceive that every thing favors and nothing contra
dicts the belief, that, the drawing of the charges was
not commenced till after the receipt of Captain
Elliott's challenge. And the delay in transmitting
these charges is another proof that by his threat of
" a full disclosure," in his letter of June 19, he did not
mean an appeal to a Court Martial ; for if he had re
solved, as early as June 19, to apply to a Court Mar
tial, why should he withhold his charges till August
10, or nearly two months ? The inference then is ir
resistible that by this " fuU disclosure" threatened in
his letter of June 19, he intended what he was then
attempting, a disclosure through the Legislature of
Rhode Island ; and that he did not contemplate an
appeal to a Court Martial till after failing in this pro
ject, and after he had received Captain Elliott's letter
of July 7.
What was the fate of this attempt ! The charges,
the two affidavits in support of them, and the letter
of Commodore Perry to the Secretary of the Navy,
were destined to another fate than being the founda
tion of a Court Martial upon Captain Elliott. They
were received at the Navy Department in the absence
of the Secretary, and immediately transmitted to Pre
sident Munroe, in whose hands they were seen by
Commodore Decatur. The Commodore, after depre
cating any resort to a Court Martial against Captain
Elliott, which, as he well knew, would render no ser
vice to Commodore Perry, took the documents into
his own custody, doubtless intending that they should
not again see the light. The preface to the first
pamphlet against Captain Elliott states that " When
Commodore Perry was about to sail on the cruise

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 221
which terminated his valuable life, he requested Com
modore Decatur to take charge of the following do
cuments, to keep Captain Elliott in check during his
absence, &c." This is a fabrication of the publisher
which refutes itself. According to this, Commodore
Perry files charges in the Department against Cap
tain Elliott, and then requests Commodore Decatur to
take them into his custody, for the purpose of keep
ing Captain Elliott in check during his absence.
What safer place of custody could there be for these
documents than the Navy Department? And by
what authority could they be taken from the Depart
ment and consigned to a third person for publication 1
The Department has never yet permitted itself to be
come the mere channel of communication in a con
troversy between two officers. While there, the do
cuments were to be acted upon or not. If acted upon,
through a Court Martial, a Court of Inquiry, or a re
port to Congress ; if not, to be placed on the files of
the Department, beyond the reach of any body but
the President or the Secretary of the Navy. To have
got into the hands of Commodore Perry from the De
partment, they must have been withdrawn with the
Secretary's consent, which consent would not have
been given if he knew that the object of withdrawing
them was their publication ; or they must have been
delivered by the President or Secretary to another
person, for the purpose of being suppressed, or of
being returned to the accuser for the same purpose.
To say then that they were delivered by Commodore
Perry to Commodore Decatur, is an acknowledgment
that they had been withdrawn from the Department,
and so far as an official accusation against Captain
Elliott was concerned, had become a dead letter.
This would be proof positive that the Secretary of the
Navy would not notice Commodore Perry's complaint,
or tolerate the idea of a Court Martial upon Captain
19*

222 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Elliott. But the Secretary would not have delivered
them to Commodore Perry for publication, or without
exacting a promise of their suppression. If then they
had been withdrawn from the Department by Com
modore Perry, and afterwards consigned to Commo
dore Decatur for publication, the former must have
violated such promise. But Commodore Decatur
would not have been the instrument of such proceed
ing. He never would have consented to become the
depository of such documents, withdrawn from the
Department under such circumstances, to be subse
quently used for such purpose. Therefore the decla
ration that they were delivered by Commodore Perry
to Commodore Decatur, for the purpose of keeping
Captain Elliott in check, cannot be correct. They
were never delivered to Commodore Decatur by Com
modore Perry, and they were never on the files of the
Navy Department. As before said, they were re
ceived at the Department in the absence of the Secre
tary, and immediately transmitted to the President, in
whose hands they were accidentally seen by Commo
dore Decatur. The Commodore, much to the satis
faction of the President, took them into his own cus
tody, deposited them in his escruitoire, where they
remained till after his death, and where they would
still be were he living ; for he was very anxious for
their suppression, was not a little grieved on perceiv
ing to what extremities Commodore Perry had pro
ceeded, and said that the affair must end here, or he
would be ruined and the Navy dishonored.
After Commodore Decatur's death, these docu
ments were published without the knowledge of Com
modore Perry's relatives, the object of the publisher
being to destroy the reputation of Captain Elliott, be
cause he acted as second to Commodore Barron in
his unfortunate duel with Commodore Decatur.
The reader will doubtless recollect that lamentable

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

223

transaction, which deprived the country of an officer
who had so largely contributed to its naval renown.
But while regretting the fall of the gallant Decatur,
he should not forget to render justice to the survivor
in that unfortunate encounter. Commodore Barron
had suffered severely for the capture of the Chesa
peake by the Leopard in 1807 ; with what justice, all
can decide who will carefully read the record of his
trial. That record shows that the Chesapeake was
utterly defenseless for want of preparation ; that Com
modore Barron had no agency in fitting her for sea ;
and that during the destructive fire of the Leopard,
in the very commencement of which he was wound
ed, he displayed the utmost coolness and self posses
sion. It also shows that Commodore Elliott, then a
midshipman, not only behaved with the most daunt
less intrepidity during the engagement, if engagement
it could be called, but afterwards repelled, with all the
virtuous indignation of a young and unsophisticated
mind, a base appeal to his personal interest. Mr.
Elliott was a witness on the trial of Commodore Bar
ron, and was called to rebut certain testimony upon
one of the principal charges ; a charge upon which,
if convicted, the Commodore would have been con
demned to be shot ! ! Mr. Elliott did completely
rebut this testimony, and thereby saved the life of an
early and valued friend. The reader is invited to a
careful perusal of Commodore Barron's trial, and par
ticularly of his defense, drawn up by General Taylor
of Norfolk. When Commodore Barron, after the
peace of 1815, applied to the Executive to be
employed in the Navy, he was strenuously opposed
by Commodore Decatur and other officers. In
deed Captaiu Elliott was the only Captain who ap
proved of his being restored to command. Captain
Elliott knew his value to the service, made an ener
getic appeal in his behalf to President Munroe, ar.d

224 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
succeeded. Commodore Barron was restored, has
been a most efficient and valuable officer, and now
commands the Navy Yard at Philadelphia. There
is a singular coincidence in his being commandant
of the Naval station in that great and patriotic state
of which his friend is so distinguished a citizen.
Commodore Elliott, who never fled from an enemy
nor abandoned a friend, was not disposed to shrink
from the responsibility of aiding an old and valued
friend, whom he believed to have been an oppressed
and injured man. In the true spirit of ancient chi
valry, he stood forth in behalf of what he believed to
be the right ; and for this has a blow been aimed at
his character by the anonymous publication of docu
ments, which, had Commodore Decatur lived, would
not have seen the light.
Immediately after their publication in the shape of
the first pamphlet, Captain EUiott published a brief
reply in one of the Washington newspapers, in which
he stated that he had prepared the materials necessa
ry for his defence. This publication drew from
Lieutenant Matthew C. Perry, brother of the Commo
dore, a second pamphlet, containing the first, and
containing also the affidavits and letters of Messrs.
Thomas Holdup Stevens, Forrest, Champlin, Breese,
Brownell and Taylor, and an extract from Commo
dore Barclay's official report. To this Captain
EUiott replied by publishing a pamphlet, containing
the exculpatory documents already noticed.
Captain Elliott's conduct in the battle of Lake
Erie, the subsequent attack upon him, the origin,
progress and termination of that attack, are now be
fore the public, and are cheerfully left by the author
of these pages to the judgment of the candid and in
telligent reader.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

225

CHAPTER XIII.

Events on Lake Ontario. Expedition against the Barbary powers. Survey of
the coast of U. States.
In April, 1814, Captain Elliott returned to Lake
Ontario, agreeably to the permission of the Secretary
of the Navy, mentioned in his letter already quoted in
page 142. During the following summer, he dis
played the same energy, activity and zeal for the
public service which had characterized him during
his whole professional career. On the 31st of July,
while commander of the Brig Sylph, of 20 guns, one
of Commodore Chauncey's squadron, he attacked a
British brig of 14 guns, and compelled the enemy to
blow her up, to prevent her from falling into our
hands. The following extract from Commodore
Chauncey's official report, shows the opinion which
he entertained of this exploit.
" In the afternoon of the 31st of July, I was taken on hoard,
but it was calm, and I did not sail before the next morning.
To satisfy at once whatever expectation the public had been
led to entertain of the sufficiency of this squadron to take
and maintain the ascendency on this lake, and at the same
time, to expose the futility of promises, the fulfilment of
which had been rested on our appearance at the head of the
lake, I got under way at 4 o'clock in the morning of the 1st
instant, and steered for the mouth of the Niagara. Owing to
light winds, I did not arrive off there before the fifth. There
we intercepted one of the enemy's brigs running over from
York to Niagara with troops, and run her on shore about 6
miles to the westward of Fort George. I ordered the Sylph

226 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
in to anchor as near to the enemy as she could with safety,
and to destroy her. Captain Elliott run in in a very gal
lant manner, to within from 300 to 500 yards of her, and
was about anchoring, when the enemy set fire to her and she
soon after hlew up.
This vessel was a schooner the last year, and called the
Beresford. Since they altered her to a brig, they changed
her name, and I have not heen ahle to ascertain it. She
mounted 14 guns, 12-24 pound carronades and 2 long 9
pounders." Sir James Yeo, the commander of the British fleet
on Lake Ontario, having several times studiously
avoided a general action, the impression became ge
neral that his intention was not to encounter our
squadron without a great superiority of force. Under
these circumstances, Captain Elliott, losing all hope
of the contest, to participate in which he had so earn
estly sought permission to return to Lake Ontario,
solicited and obtained the command of the sloop of war
Ontario, then lying at Baltimore. But his hopes of
gathering fresh laurels upon the ocean were defeated
by the peace of 1815.
Soon after this, war was declared against Algiers ;
and the Ontario being selected as one of the Mediter
ranean Squadron, he sailed early in the spring of
1815, under command of Commodore Decatur. Off
Cap de Gatt, the squadron fell in with and captured
an Algerine frigate of 3S guns and 500 men, and
three days afterwards, captured a brig of 24 guns and
300 men, both of which were sent into Carthagena
in Spain. Peace being concluded with Algiers, the
squadron proceeded to Tunis, and compelled the Bey
to surrender a large amount of property belonging to
citizens of the United States, captured from the
British during the war, by American privateers. Here
Captain Elliott performed another public service,
which, for daring and desperate valor, as well as for
cool, inflexible resolution, exceeds any previous act

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

227

of his life, and has rarely been equalled. Bravery in
the heat of a contest which has been expected, or
which has been for some time raging, however laud
able, is not uncommon. Among all civilized nations,
courage is the principal point of honor in the profes
sion of arms, and every combatant therefore goes into
battle with full knowledge of what is expected of him.
On such occasions, the mind has time for delibera
tion ; time to collect and prepare itself. But sudden
and unexpected emergencies furnish indisputable
tests ; and whoever, on such occasions, evinces cool
self-possession, and promptly summons his facul
ties to meet the extremity, whatever it be, can al
ways be relied on. In a negotiation with the Bey of
Tunis, the American consul, M. M. Noah, went to
the palace, accompanied by Captains Gordon and
Elliott. The following is Mr. Noah's account of this
interview. "Captains Gordon and Elliott were instructed by Com
modore Decatur to accompany me to the palace, to learn the
ultimatum of the Bey. We were at Bardo at an early hour ;
anxiety and curiosity had brought a number of persons about
the walls ; the hall of audience was crowded, and Hassan
and Mustapha, the two sons, were present and were extreme
ly active and insolent.
" A commanding appearance has great influence with the
Turks ; accustomed to measure every thing by the eye, they
course over the exterior, and make few allowances for mind
or character. Captain Gordon, who is now dead, had not an
impressive figure, nor did he carry in his face or person any
token of that firmness of character, and generous and just
sentiments for which he was distinguished. The Bey look
ed at him with the utmost indifference. He was a short
man, worn down by illness. ' Who are you V said he. ' I
am second in command of that squadron,' said Captain
Gordon, 'and I am here to know whether you are ready to
do us justice.' ' Why does not your admiral come on shore
then V said the Bey. ' Why am I treated with so much dis
respect by him?' ' He will not land, Sir, until you decide
to pay the value of these vessels which you permitted the

228 LIFE OF COM. ELLTOTT.
British to take from ns.' Mustapha Bey then interfered, and
in a tone of uncommon insolence and violence was about to
contest the matter, when Captain Elliott observed, ' We
did not come here to be insulted. This interview must he
cut short. Will you or will you not pay for these vessels 1
answer nothing but that.' ' Well then,' said Mustapha,
thus pressed, and with a furious took, ' we will pay for them,
but have a care, our turn comes next.' ' Tell your Admiral
to come on shore,' said the Bey, ' I'll send the money to the
Consul, I am a rich Prince, and don't value it — go.'
" Thus ended the interview, and thus were the rights of
the United States, as guaranteed by treaty, faithfully support
ed and rigidly enforced.
" The Bey ordered a letter to be written to Commodore
Decatur, and doubtless felt a respect for that nation which
would not abandon a point of honor.
" The amount paid was 46,000 dollars, and a promise on
the part of the Jew Merchants to pay 44,000 piastres."
One circumstance of this interview has been omit
ted by Mr. Noah. While Mustapha, the son of the
Bey, was addressing the American deputation in a
tone of excessive insolence, about thirty Mamelukes
entered the room with drawn cymetars. Captain
Elliott, at once perceiving that this was either intend
ed to intimidate them, or preparatory to some violent
outrage, placed his back against the wall, drew his
sword, and declared that he would sell his life dearly.
The Bey, finding the Americans were not to be in
timidated, assented to their demands and dismissed
them. This affair needs no comment. It was the
act of a man, who, in a battle, could never have been
a coward. From Tunis the squadron proceeded to Tripoli,
where serious difficulties existed between the Bey and
the American consul, which had compelled the latter
to haul down his flag. The Bey being compelled to
make an honorable atonement, and the" American flag
being again hoisted by the consul, the squadron, after
visiting several ports in the Mediterranean, proceeded

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 229
to Gibraltar. Here the Ontario was designated by
the Secretary of the Navy to remain as one of the Me
diterranean squadron ; but Captain Elliott, having
been absent from his family from the commencement
of the war with Great Britain, relinquished the com
mand of his ship, and returned home as a passenger
in the Macedonian.
He remained with his famfiy till 1817, when he
was appointed a commissioner, to act in conjunction
with General Bernard, General Swift, Captain War
rington, and Colonels Armistead and M'Crea, in ex
amining the entire coast of the LTnited States, for the
purposes of selecting points for permanent dock-yards,
for fortifications to protect the maritime frontier, and
for lighting the coast of North Carolina. All acquaint
ed with military science will perceive the magnitude
and importance of this undertaking ; and the selec
tion of Captain Elliott as one of the commissioners to
perform it, is a convincing proof of the high estima
tion in which he was held by President Munroe, the
Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of War, and the
chief officers of the army and navy. In this highly
responsible station he continued till 1824. In his re
port of surveys of the coast of North Carolina, he re
commended, as a mode of designating shoals, that
light-ships or vessels constructed for the purpose of
resisting gales, and provided with lights, should
be placed upon the extremities of Cape Hatteras, Cape
Look Out, and Cape Fear. In executing this survey,
he signalized himself by an act of intrepidity and
self devotion that would have conferred honor upon
Carlo Borromeo, Pilatre de Rosier, Howard, or any
other philanthropist or philosopher who set his life at
nought in seeking the good of mankind. He was in
formed by Mr. Crawford, then Secretary of the Trea
sury, that, owing to the supposed danger of locating
a light-ship, and occupying it during a gale, no per-
20

230 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
son could be found willing to perform such service.
Captain Elliott volunteered to locate one. He
immediately proceeded to New- York, embarked in the
Revenue Cutter Alert, Captain Cahoone, took the
light-ship in tow to Cape Hatteras shoal, anchored it
in a proper position, sent the cutter into Ocracoke,
and remained on board of the light-ship during three
gales of wind ! ! He thus demonstrated the practica
bility of occupying this and similar positions with
light-ships. The following letter from General Ber
nard, addressed to Captain Elliott on the termination
of the commission for the surveys of the coast, shows
the estimation in which he was held by that skilful
officer and excellent man. Such a testimonial from
General Bernard will be deemed valuable by all who
knew him. He stood high in the estimation of Na
poleon, to whom he was an aid de camp ; he stood
high in the estimation of our own government during;
the administrations of Presidents Munroe and
Adams, and, while he remained here, of President
Jackson ; and he is now high in the estimation of the
French government, of which he is minister of war :
and he will be affectionately and respectfully remem
bered by every American citizen who enjoyed his
friendship or acquaintance during his residence in our
country. Philadelphia, December 3, 1823.
Dear Captain, — The pledge of national gratitude for your
great naval achievements, has become, in my hands, a
pledge of our mutual friendship. If your glorious deeds
assign you an elevated rank among the American heroes
whose courage and genius will be handed down to future
generations, your generosity of soul assures you a distin
guished place in the heart of those who are honored with
your friendship.
The fae simile you presented me with shall perpetuate in
my family your heroism, and also my feelings of gratitude
towards one who, with such noble generosity, welcomed me

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 231
when I landed on the hospitable shores of the country of
freemen. Continue to me, dear captain, all your friendship, and ac
cept of all the expiessions of the high esteem of your most
thankful friend, BERNARD, Brig. Gen.
Capt. J. D. Elliott, U. S. Navy."
While employed in surveying the coast, Captain
Elliott was promoted from the rank of Master Com
mandant to that of Captain in the Navy, which post
he now holds ; his commission bearing the date of
March 27, 1818.

232 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER XIV.

Important cruise on the coast of Brazil in 1825, 1826 anil 1827.
In 1825, Captain Elliott was appointed to the com
mand of the U. S. Ship Cyane, to cruise upon the
coasts of Brazil and Buenos Ayres. About to leave
his residence at Carlisle in Pennsylvania, to take com
mand of the Cyane at New- York, he wrote to the Se
cretary of the Navy, under date of November 6, 1825,
saying, " I would be glad to have a regularly ordain
ed clergyman on board, which will enable the statutes
of the Navy to be enforced." This request is one
proof among many others that might be cited, of the
attention uniformly paid by Captain Elliott to the
morals and deportment of those under his command.
He has always been deeply impressed with the belief
that the best citizens make the best officers and sea
men ; that those most faithful to any one of the social
relations, offer the best guarantees of fidelity to the
rest ; that those who entertain the highest views of
private character, are the most worthy of being trust
ed with the honor or interest of a nation.
By order of the Secretary of the Navy, about twen
ty young midshipmen were placed on board of the
Cyane, for the purpose of being instructed in their
profession under the superintendence and guardian
ship of Captain EUiott during the cruise. The con
fiding to him of a trust so extremely delicate and re
sponsible as this, shows the high estimation in which

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 233
he was held by the President and the Secretary of the
Navy, not only as an energetic and skilful com
mander, but as a discreet and worthy man. He im
mediately requested Major Thayer, the commandant
at West Point, to send him some gentleman from that
establishment, competent to teach these young offi
cers ; in compliance with which request, Major
Thayer recommended Lieutenant Smith of the U. S.
Army. The following extracts of two letters show
the paternal and judicious manner in which this trust
was executed by Captain Elliott.
" U. S. Corvette, Cyane,
Dec. 26, 1825, off Sandy-Hook.
Sir, — It is proper I should here remark, for the informa
tion of the parents of each young gentleman committed to
my care and attention, that I shall place two thirds of them
off the active duty of the ship, in order that their minds may
not be abstracted from study ; that alternately they shall be
relieved every two weeks at the commencement, and that
after they have made some little progress, the time will be
extended to a longer period ; and that the school shall be
conducted in my cabin, under my own eye and care.
With great respect, I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Hon. Sam'l L. Southaro,
See'ry Navy, Washington."
" U. S. Ship Cyane, at Sea, Jan. 19, 1826.
Lat. 25° 45' N.— Long. 26° 30' W.
Sir, — My school progresses in a manner which meets my
entire approbation, and reflects great credit on Lieut. Smith
of the army, who has volunteered his services for the occa
sion. The young gentlemen are obedient and have applica
tion, and I am well assured that by the end of the present
cruise, each one will be enabled to appreciate fully your mo
tive in assigning to me the task of their instruction.
With great respect, I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Hon. Sam'l L. Southard,
See'ry Navy, Washington." 20*

234 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
He reached Pernambuco on the 12th of February,
1826, and immediately signified his arrival to the
American Consul, John T. Mansfield, Esq. and to the
Brazilian authorities ; communicating to the latter the
friendly sentiments entertained by the United States
for the empire and government of Brazil. He was
very politely received by the Governor and other
authorities of Pernambuco ; and as is usual on such
occasions, salutes were exchanged between the ship
and the batteries on shore.
On the 24th of February, he arrived off St. Salva
dor, and immediately addressed a letter to the milita
ry commandant at that city, offering a salute upon
condition that an equal number of guns should be
returned ; which being readily assented to by the
military commandant, salutes were exchanged. Two
days after, the Emperor of Brazil entered the harbor
of St. Salvador in a ship of the line, accompanied by
three frigates. At the. moment of the Emperor's an
choring, Captain Elliott displayed the Brazilian flag
at the fore of the Cyane, and fired a salute, which the
Emperor returned with an equal number of guns,
displaying at the same time, the American flag at the
fore of his ship.
While he was at St. Salvador, or as it is now com
monly called, Bahia, an incident occurred of very un
pleasant character, and which required and drew
from him a prompt and energetic representation to
the Brazilian government. While the Cyane was at
anchor, a slave trader, the Schooner Tentadora, luff
ed athwart her bows, caught her forward booms, car
ried away most of them, fell on board and hooked
her main yard. While the Cyane was extricating
herself, one of her seamen fell from the main yard upon
the deck of the Tentadora, and immediately expired.
Captain Elliott immediately represented the facts to
the Viconde de Quelus, Governor of St. Sal dor, who

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

235

caused the schooner to be detained and her captain
to be arrested. Captain Elliott, with five of his officers
and a seaman, then appeared before the judicial au
thorities of the place, and deposed to the facts. The
Captain of the schooner was convicted of a premedi
tated outrage upon the Cyane, and imprisoned, and
the owners of the Tentadora were sentenced to make
indemnity for the injury. Captain Elliott, not dis
posed to hold the owners responsible for this outrage
of their captain, remitted the claim to damages. It is
but justice to admit that the promptitude with which
the Brazihan authorities proceeded in this case,
evinced their great desire to promote amicable re
lations with the United States. Some of the owners
of the Tentadora had the assurance to offer to Cap
tain Elliott a bribe of $5000, to suspend all proceed
ings against them, which, as may be readily sup
posed, was indignantly rejected. The energy and
decision of Captain Elliott in this case had an ulte
rior object. By an old Portuguese law, the American
merchants were obliged to employ brokers at a com
mission of two and a half per cent, to pass their mer
chandize through the Custom House, while the
British merchants had the right, secured by treaty, to
be sureties for each other. The American merchants
had presented a petition to the emperor upon the sub
ject, and Captain Elliott was desirous, by an exhibi
tion of energy in this case, to show that the Govern
ment of the United States were not disposed to leave
its citizens to be harassed by needless or unreasonable
vexations. The emperor replied that he saw no
reason why the merchants of the United States and
Great Britain should be admitted to the ports of Bra
zil upon unequal terms.
On the 5th of March, he sailed from St. Salvador
for Rio de Janeiro, being entrusted by the Emperor
of Brazil, as a particular mark of his respect and con-

236 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
fidence, with his despatches for the principal officers
of government at the Brazilian capital. On the 13th
of March, he arrived at Rio de Janeiro, and imme
diately wrote to Mr. Raguet, Charge des Affaires of
the United States at the Court of Brazil, saying that
he had been sent to cruise upon that coast for the
purpose of protecting the American commerce, and
communicating with the American public agents on
shore ; that being destined further south, he should
stop at Rio de Janeiro merely long enough to take in
provisions ; that when he left the United States, our
government were not informed of the blockade of the
river La Plata, and that it might be important for him
to hear from Mr. Raguet upon the following points,
1st, the legality of this blockade ; 2d, the naval and
military force employed in it ; 3d, whether it was in
tended to exclude from the river the civil and military
marine of other nations ; and 4th, whether the force,
both by sea and land, was sufficient to render it
effectual 1
From the reply of Mr. Raguet, Captain Elliott found
a state of things which had not been anticipated by
our government when he left the United States.
Without instructions from the Navy Department, he
found himself, in a little ship of 34 guns, involved in
the question of paper blockades with the Brazilian
government, armed with a naval force of about 300
pieces of cannon. The reader will recollect that op
position to this piratical principle of declaring a coast
in a state of blockade, without a force adequate to
maintaining it, was a prominent point in our disputes
with the French government under Napoleon, and in
our late war with Great Britain.
It appears from the correspondence of Mr. Raguet
with the government of Brazil, and of Mr. Forbes,
then Charge des Affaires of the United States at the go
vernment of Buenos Ayres, with Admiral Lobo, com-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 237
mander of the Brazilian blockading squadron, copies
of which were respectively communicated by Messrs.
Raguet and Forbes to Captain Elliott, that on the
21st of December, 1825, Admiral Lobo issued a mani
festo, declaring " all the ports and coasts of the Re
public of Buenos Ayres, and all those on the oriental
side of La Plata which might be occupied by the
troops of Buenos Ayres, subject, from that date, to the
most rigorous blockade. This blockade comprehend
ed a coast extending over more than twenty degrees
of latitude, and was supported by no marine force ex
cepting a single corvette.
Thus apprised of the position assumed by the
Brazilian government, Captain Elliott sailed from
Rio de Janeiro on the 18th of March, and on the 1st
of April, arrived near Montevideo. A correspondence
immediately ensued between him and the Brazilian
Admiral, which is here subjoined, together with his
letter to the Secretary of the Navy, and an extract
from his logbook. To these documents, which ex
hibit the character of Captain Elliott in bold relief,
the reader is invited to give a careful perusal.
" U. S. Ship Cyane, off Monte Video,
May 5, 1826.
Sir, — On the 18th March I had the honor to apprise you
of my departure from Rio de Janeiro, and I have now to
say that on the 1st April I arrived near Monte Video, after
a detention there of two days by head winds ; on the evening
of the second, I got under way for Buenos Ayres, and on
the following morning I discovered a squadron of nearly
thirty vessels at anchor off Cape Antonio, part of which
soon got under way and stood for the Cyane. I immediately
altered my course for the purpose of nearing them, when at
the moment stated in the log-book, (an extract of which is
herewith enclosed, marked A,) I was spoken by a frigate,
having a corvette and three brigs in company, was ordered
to send my boat on board, which demand was peremptorily
refused ; but at the same time I remarked that a boat would
be received, and which was soon after sent alongside. On

238 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
ascertaining the name of the ship, I was informed that the port
of Buenos Ayres was in blockade, and that I could not be per
mitted to proceed ; to which I replied, that even if I were to
admit their light to proclaim a blockade of an extent of coast
against a civil marine, both English and French vessels
of war were in the habit of proceeding, since the proclama
tion of it, almost daily to and from Monte Video and Buenos
Ayres, as instanced both in the British and French corvettes
Chasseur and Fawn ; that I would allow him thirty minutes
to deliberate on his future conduct, and at the expiration of
that time, I should proceed, prepared to resist all conse
quences ; that the flag I wore carried under it the sove
reignty of the soil it represented ; that violated, the soil be
came invaded, and I should defend the ship to the last mo
ment ; that I had a communication for Admiral Lobo, which
he asked for, and which I declined presenting until he
should have returned from the frigate and discovered to me
his true character. At the expiration of the time named, I
hailed and asked if he desired any further intercourse, to
which he replied that he would be glad to receive the letter
for Admiral Lobo, when I remarked that it would be
received by sending his boat alongside, which he soon did,
and with a polite message in the offer of any thing he had
on board for myself or the ship, and wished me a pleasant
passage. On presenting the enclosed, marked B, I replied,
that I should return in a few days, and desired him to say so
to the admiral; that individually, as well as the ship, we
were abundantly supplied, and wished nothing hereafter but
a free, a liberal and polite intercourse. I immediately made
sail, passed round his bow and down the line, under all the
canvass of the ship. On the 5th April, I reached the outer
roads of Buenos Ayres, despatched an officer on shore with
the accompanying communication, marked C, together with
a message to Admiral Brown of their navy ; exchanged sa
lutes with the military authority, as also with the admiral ;
and on the morning following paid my respects to the pre
sident of Buenos Ayres, and to the other governmental
authorities, which were kindly received and returned.
Here I discovered many Americans in distress, received
such of them on board as wished to come guests to myself
and officers, and on the 18th, I got under way and proceeded
for the squadron of Admiral Lobo, whom I met on the 20th ;
exchanged honors with him, and received the accompanying
communication, marked D. On the following evening I
arrived at Monle Video, and exchanged salutes with the

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 239
authorities on shore. After obtaining a true translation of Ad
miral Lobo's letter of the 6th, (a copy of which is enclosed,
marked E,) I replied to it by communication marked F.
Observing, previous to my depaiture from Buenos Ayres,
in a New- York paper brought by a brig which had eluded
the blockading force, that Lieut. Cooper, in the Porpoise,
had departed that port for the coast of Brazil, and presuming
he had instructions for me definitely on the subject of the
blockade, I deferred acting as previously intended, until I
could receive them. I therefore left the subject open, taking
with me to Rio de Janeiro in the absence of force, the best
conditions and terms I could obtain, produced by a friendly
call I made Admiral Lobo, (who had just arrived from his
anchorage with his squadron, several of them dismasted in
a gale, which was severe and lasted 48 hours ;) stating to
him that the object of my visit was entirely intended to ex
change our ideas on the subject of the blockade, and the
effect to be produced on our commerce. He remarked it was
not a measure of his, but of his imperial majesty the Em
peror of Brazil ; that he agreed with me as to the illegality
of the measure, and, at my suggestion, would so far alter
his previous proclamation, as to confine it to the Rio de la
Plata, leaving open all outside ; and that no vessel should be
captured on first presenting herself in the river ; when warned
off, she had the right to enter any port outside. Thi^ con
dition was preceded by a remark from me, that I should take
all the American vessels at Monte Video in convoy, and
protect them to any port where the conditions we required
(to constitute a regular blockade) were not complied with.
On the 25th and 27th April, I addressed him two notes, en
closed and marked G and H. On the night of the 27th,
Admiral Brown appeared with his squadron, attacked that of
Admiral Lobo, leaving me as you may readily suppose, a little
inconvenienced. I appeared one of them, and when his shot
began to affect us, I got under way and separated about two
miles from the combatants ; after a most severe and despe
rate attack on the weathermost ship, a frigate of 60 guns,
called the Emperatrice, the remainder of the squadron got
under way, and stood off, leaving the squadron of Brown in
close combat, who soon after withdrew, steering after the fleet
of Admiral Lobo. We therefore have no information of him.
The odds, as to ships and guns, are several hundred per cent.
in favor of the Brazilians, yet the undaunted spirit of Brown
and his followers seems to make up the deficit. Under the
impression that Admiral Lobo would be absent some time,

240 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
I concluded to await a few days his return, in order to re
ceive his written note. On the morning of the 4th inst. he
arrived, and I was presented with the enclosed, marked I ; I
replied by the enclosed, marked K; and received for answer
the enclosed, marked L ; this opens to us an extent of coast
900 miles, which has been heretofore considered in rigorous
blockade. The accompanying communication marked M, is a copy
of my note to the United States Consul at Monte Video
and his reply.
The English and French naval forces restlessly acquiesce
in the blockade with evidently disturbed feelings ; they have
millions at stake where we have only pounds. The Brazil
ians have a force of 250 pieces of cannon, which is quite
enough to carry into complete effect the blockade ; but its
energies are so badly directed, that it is evaded almost daily
by merchant vessels of almost all the various nations ; and
in order to extend the same terms, that were in the first in
stance offered to vessels found at Buenos Ayres on the pro
clamation of the blockade, by Captain Christivalier of the
French national brig Alacrite, who arrived at Buenos Ayres
on the 9th April, in a passage of two days from Monte
Video, we are informed that Admiral Lobo would permit
the French ship Olinde, which had passed unseen by his
squadron, to take in a cargo with free permission to depart
the port. I presume he will extend the same to all nations,
thereby directly encouraging a violation of his own blockade.
Whilst Admiral Lobo remains in our position, off the
Ortiz, Admiral Brown, with a temporarily fitted force, occu
pies the whole river La Plata, and, under the guns of Monte
Video and Colonia, captures and runs on shore, burns and
drives out and into port, both the naval and merchant vessels
of his enemy. Whilst he is moving with great energy, his
government seem to remain most completely inactive, wait
ing, as I am informed, the mediation of England, to close
the difference with the Emperor of Brazil.
There are many diplomatic points in connexion with both
nations on which I could enlarge, but I refrain, as I presume
our accredited agents keep the government constantly ad
vised of them. It may perhaps be proper to explain to you
my motive in attempting the passage of the Rio de la Plata.
I will briefly remark, that as I had visited the capital of his
imperial majesty the Emperor of Brazil, in justice to his
enemy I felt myself most imperiously called upon, under
our strigt neutral character, to show the Cyane before

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 241
Buenos Ayres, which, with some risk to her, I was enabled
to do.
This evening I shall depart hence for Rio de Janeiro.
With great respect, &c.
J. D. ELLIOTT.
P. S. N. and O. are communications to Joshua Bowen
and John M. Forbes, Esq.
The Hon. Sam'l L. SouTHARn.
See'ry of the Navy, Washington City."
" U. S. Ship Cyane, off Ortiz Bank,
April 3d, ]826.
Sir, — The undersigned, commanding the U. S. naval
force on the coast of Brazil, begs leave to submit for the
consideration of Admiral Lobo, commanding his imperial
majesty's forces at the Rio de la Plata, a few remarks on the
subject of the blockade, recently proclaimed by him, of the
whole extent of coast of the republic of Buenos Ayres, and
all those on the oriental side of the La Plata ; an extent of
nearly thirty degrees of latitude.
The United States, just in her intercourse with the na
tions on both sides of the hemisphere, will expect a corres
pondent return. She has steadfastly contended for, and uni
formly sustained the point, that she will not submit to the
terms of a blockade of a whole coast of nearly thirty degrees
of latitude, such as you have been pleased to set forth in
your manifesto of the 21st December last; and the under
signed begs leave to remark to Admiral Lobo, that whilst
the United States will observe a strict neutrality between
the parties in the present contest, she will most steadfastly
and scrupulously defend a point which she has already
waded through a bloody but a successful war in the mainte
nance of.
The intelligence of an officer vested with 'the command
of a force of the magnitude of the present, it is presumed,
will induce him to look into and search for information of
those authorities which treat on international law, and can
enlighten and illume the mind. He will there have brought
to his view the terms of the armed neutrality of 1780, which
settled all those points amongst the different European na
tions. Great Britain, then the most powerful of the mari
time nations in the world, in a convention with the empire
of Russia, entered into in 1801, stipulated "that in order to
determine what characterizes a blockaded port, that denomi
nation is only given to a port where there is, by the dispo-
21

242 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
sitions of the power that attacks it, with ships stationary or
sufficiently near, an evident danger in entering." It is need
less to say that the other powers of Europe, as well as
the United States, then the only independent one ot tne
great western world, never having disputed the P"ncl"
pies, could not otherwise regard it than as the establish
ed line drawn between all. It commenced with the pre
sent century, and it is equally clear that it must be so con
sidered at this time ; notwithstanding the violations prac
tised in recent days. So satisfied with the correctness of this
principle was the government of Great Britain, that, in the
year 1804, in consequence of a remonstrance made by the
American government against a declaration of a general
blockade 'of the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe,'
proclaimed by the British naval commander, orders were
issued to him ' not to consider any blockade of these islands
as existing, unless in respect to particular ports which may
be actually invested, and then, not to capture vessels bound
to such ports, unless they have been previously warned not
to enter them.' The United States will not acknowledge a
blockade as valid against its civil marine, unless confined to
particular ports, each one having stationed before it a force
sufficiently great to prevent the entry of all vessels carrying
materials to succor the besieged; and no vessel shall be
seized, even in attempting to enter the port so blockaded,
till she has been previously warned off, and the fact endors
ed on her register. The undersigned will also avail himself
of this occasion to express his regret that the representative
of his imperial majesty should have found it necessary to
adopt a course, in relation to the United States, so well cal
culated to disturb the harmony and g;ood feelings which
exist between the two governments ; that whilst he has the
disposition to present to Admiral Lobo an earnest of those
feelings of his government, when she stepped forth first
from among the nations of the earth, in the recognition of
the empire of Brazil as amongst them, free, sovereign and
independent, he will also insure him that indemnity will be
claimed for, and, if necessary, the undersigned will feel him
self called upon to hring into operation that arm of the na
tion's naval force placed subject to his control, in repelling,
all improper encroachments on American vessels, and on
her maritime and neutral rights. With great respect, &c.
J. D. ELLIOTT.
To his Excellency Don Jose Roubigo Ferreira
Lobo, Vice Admiral of the forces of his Im
perial Majesty, the Emperor of Brazil."

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOT. 243
" On board the Brazilian Corvette Liberal, at anchor
in the river La Plata, April 6, 1826.
The undersigned, vice admiral and commandant of the
naval forces stationed in the river La Plata, informs the
illmo- sen1- J. D. Elliott, commandant of the naval forces of
the United States upon the coast of Brazil, that he has re
ceived his letter of the 3d of the present month, respecting
the blockade which His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil has
established befoie all the ports of the western bank of the
river La Plata, as well of the eastern bank which are occu
pied by the enemy : these the undersigned intends to block
ade, and those of the coast of Patagonia, to the bay of
Branca ; and all those which are in Parava and Veraguay
are to be considered blockaded by the ships which cruise in
the river La Plata, because it is the entrance to them ; and
in order to blockade a port, it is not necessary that one
should always be in sight of it ; it is sufficient to cruise in
that place which forms the entrance to it. — For example,
the undersigned can blockade Buenos Ayres, being east of
the Ortez and Chico Bank ; and if he should wish to pro
ceed from that place against Buenos Ayres.
The undersigned is impressed with the friendship which
the cabinet of the United States bears towards the empire
of Brazil, and hopes not to give here the least motive for
dissention or misunderstanding between the two cabinets ;
and he trusts no cause can offer why the two cabinets should
have any disagreeable discussion, because nothing is more
easy where there is a good understanding, than to conform
to the established laws of blockade. The following has
been the mode of proceeding with those ships of foreign na
tions, which the undersigned has sent away. Every time that
I have met ships of foreign nations, I have communicated
to them that the ports of the republic of Buenos Ayres were
blockaded, and in their passports I have made a remark to
the same effect. Until the present time all have submitted
to the blockade, some voluntarily, and others with a little
difficulty, except one American schooner, which, after being
registered, entered the port of Monte Video when she
cleared to double Cape Horn ; and after going out of the
harbor, she entered the north channel and arrived in Buenos
Ayres, and is now a schooner of war belonging to the repub
lic of Buenos Ayres, and is called the Sarandi.
The undersigned judges that he has more than sufficient
force to blockade all the ports of the river La Plata ; yet,
until the present moment, he has not met any foreign vessels'

244 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
but those bound to Buenos Ayres. And thus far I think I
have fulfilled my duty on all occasions, whether in sight of
Buenos Ayres or at anchor at the east end of the banks. By
principles above established upon the mode of blockading
ports, every vessel which shall violate the blockade after be
ing duly warned of its existence, is liable to be condemned
by established laws.
The undersigned judges that he has satisfactorily answer
ed your letter of the 3d of April; if not, you will have to
address the imperial cabinet at Rio de Janeiro.
The undersigned improves this opportunity to testify to
his Honor, the commandant of the naval forces of the United
States on the coast of Brazil, his highest respect and esteem.
RODRIGO JOSE FERRA LOBO,
Vice Admiral Brazilian Navy."
United States Ship Cyane, Monte Video,
April 25th, 1826.
Sir, — The very frank and free conversation I had with
your excellency this morning, has greatly relieved my mind
on the subject of the further leading you intend your block
ade to have on the commerce of the United States ; and I
will be frank to say that my government cannot nor will
not object to the proclamation of Buenos Ayres and Ensen-
dabeing in close blockade, and made so by the force you at pre
sent have in the La Plata, leaving the outer coast, and that of
Patagonia and the northern coast of the Banda Oriental, not
designated. With high considerations, &c. &c.
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Don Roorigo Jose Ferreira Lobo,
Vice Admiral, Brazilian Navy,
Commander in Chief of the na
val forces in the Rio de la Plata."
" United States Ship Cyane, Monte Video,
April 27th, 1826.
Sir,— The undersigned would suggest to his Excellency,
Vice Admiral Lobo, the propriety of our settling, previous to
separating at this time, the grounds on which Ithe blockade
in the river La Plata should be conducted in relation to the
commerce of the United States ; this the undersigned feels
well assured, will be productive of a continuance of those

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 245
harmonious feelings which at present exist in our respective
governments. With high consideration, &c. &c.
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Don Rodrigo Jose Ferreira Lobo,
Vice Admiral, Brazilian Navy,
commanding the naval forces in
the Rio de la Plata."

On

board the Corvette Liberal, at anchor, in sight
of Monte Video, 27th April, 1826.
Sir, — The undersigned, Vice Admiral, Commandant of the
naval forces of the Empire of Brazil stationed in the river
La Plata, acknowledges the receipt of two letters from Com.
Elliott of the United States frigate Cyane, upon the blockade
of the ports of the Republic of Buenos Ayres, as the mani
festo of the undersigned declares, and which is approved by
his government :
To which Com. Elliott does not accede in all its extent,
and only admits the blockade to extend to Buenos Ayres
and to Ensenada; and that all the rest of the ports ought not
to be considered in a state of blockade; and upon this con
sideration the undersigned cannot agree with Com. Elliott,
who claims that all the other ports within, and those out of
the Rio de la Plata, should be excluded. The undersigned
reminds Com. Elliott, that he (Admiral Lobo) maintained,
in the conference which they had, that all the ports compre
hended within the Rio de la Plata, that is, from the Capes
of Santa Maria and Santa Antonio, were all rigorously
blockaded. The undersigned hopes he has satisfied Com. Elliott on
this question ; if not, he has only to direct him to the court
at Rio de Janeiro, where he will be completely satisfied.
The undersigned would not grant that which would not
be approved by his government. This is all which, on
this occasion, remains for him to offer upon the subject in
question. The undersigned retains for Com. Elliott sentiments, of
the highest esteem and consideration.
RODRIGO JOSE FERREIRA LOBO,
Vice Admiral, Brazilian Navy."
21*

246 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
" U. S. Ship Cyane, Monte Video,
May 4th, 1826.
Sir, — The undersigned has the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of the communication of his Excellency Vice Admi
ral Lobo, of the present date, and in answer he has to remark,
that he understood distinctly from your Exceflency a decla
ration, at the conference to which you allude, that the
blockade you intended hereafter to enforce was confined to
the ports within the Rio de la Plata, and that the coast out
side was no longer to be considered as in blockade. This was
also the understanding of his officer, who had conference
with your Excellency the succeeding day.
The undersigned has the honor, &c. &c.
(Signed) J. D. ELLIOTT.
Don Roorigo Jose Ferreira Lobo,
Vice Admiral, commanding the
Brazilian forces at the Rio de
la Plata."
" On board the Corvette Liberal, at anchor, in front of
Monte Video, 4th May, 1826.
I have received your note of this day concerning the ports
which are considered as rigorously blockaded ; they are
those which are within the River La Plata, from Cape San
ta Maria and St. Antonio, as well as the western and eastern
banks of the river, except Monte Video ; and this was always
the understanding which I had in the conference with your
self, and no other form ; and if you have understood it in
any other manner, I am not culpable for it, because I have
the misfortune of not understanding your language. I can
not be responsible for the mistakes which the interpreters
sometimes may make.
You are aware that His Imperial Majesty having approved
my manifesto ; it is not in my power to destroy what has
been published, and I have endeavored not a little to con
sider only in rigorous blockade the ports which I have men
tioned above.
I have imparted to you all which offers itself on this
subject. I remain yours,
With much consideration and esteem,
RODRIGO JOSE FERRA- LOBO.
Vice Admiral, Brazilian Navy."

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 247
" U. S. Ship Cyane, off Monte Video,
May 4th 1826.
Sir, — There is still one letter of your Excellency to
which I feel catled upon to reply, in taking leave of the sub
ject we have had under discussion. I will briefly remark,
that I have not yet seen the grounds on which His Imperial
Majesty presents the justice of his blockades of the extent
you set forth in answer to my note of the 3d ult. ; second,
that because some of the European powers have attempted
to introduce a system most pernicious to the comrherce of
non-belligerents, the justice of similar actions on the part of
one of the youngest governments on this side of the hemi
sphere can by no means be made apparent. If there is au
thority, I should be glad to see it, and will submit for your
further consideration some other on the subject of blockade,
which is new to us on this side of the water, and requires
great circumspection in the introduction of a system, which,
in the end, may be quoted and used successfully against us.
The following is of British origin, strengthened by refer
ence to those able writers on international iaw, Grotius and
Vattel. ' It is under this impression that tribunals of the law of
nations, before they have enforced the provisions of a block
ade, have uniformly required it to be established by clear
and unequivocal evidence ; first, that the party proceeded
against has had due notice of the existence of the blockade,
and secondly, that the squadron allotted for the purposes of
its execution, was fully competent to cut off all communica
tion with the interdicted port. These points have been
deemed so indispensably requisite to the existence of a legal
blockade, that the failure of either of them has been held to
amount to an entire deference of the measure ; and this
even in cases where the notification of it has issued imme
diately from the fountain of supreme authoritv.' — Chitty
on Belligerent Powers and Neutral Rights. Boston edi
tion, pages 129, 131-2.
The blockade must not only have Tseen declared by com
petent authority, but must be also an actually existing block
ade. A blockade is. there only to be considered as actually
existing, when their is a power to enforce it. (i/) ' The
very notion of a complete blockade,' said Sir William Scott in
the case of the Sterl,* 'includes that the besieging force
can apply its power to every point of the blockaded state.
* Mercurius, 1 Rob. Rep. 80.

248 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
If it cannot, there is no blockade of that port where its power
cannot be brought to bear.' We find, however, from the
case of the Frederick Molke,* that 'it is not an accidental
absence of the blockading force, nor the circumstance of be
ing blown off by wind, {if the suspension and the reason of
the suspension are known,) that will be sufficient in law to
remove a blockade.' But if the relaxation happen not by
Such accidents as these, but by mere remissness of the
cruisers stationed to maintain the blockade, (who are too apt,
by permitting the passage of some vessels, to give fair grounds
to others for supposing the blockade concluded,) then it is
impossible for a court of justice to say that the blockade is
actually existing. ' It is in vain,' said Sir William Scott
in the case of the Juffron Marid Schroeder,f ' for govern
ments to impose blockades, if those employed on that ser
vice will not enforce them; the inconvenience is very great, and
spreads far beyond the individual case ; reports are eagerly
circulated that the blockade is raised ; foreigners take advan
tage of the information, the property of innocent persons is
ensnared, and the honor of our own country is involved in
the mistake.'! This was decided in the Court of Appeal
in February, 1792.
Perhaps I may be considered as travelling a little out of the
strict path of my duty as a naval commander, when I pre
sent for your information these authorities on international
law ; but when one feels disposed not to cail forth unplea
sant discussion with our respective governments, there is
always a hope when light can be shed, and this reference
seems to meet the present case at issue.
I did not expect you would have introduced the case
of the Grace Anne ; it is one to which you may have sup
posed I had an allusion in the closing paragraph of my
communication. She was a trading vessel belonging to citi
zens of the United States, from one of its ports destined for
Buenos Ayres. Since the receipt of your note, the particulars
of her case, as well as those of the brigs Henry of Portland,
and the Joseph of Boston, have been presented to me through
an official source. The former, it appears, was taken forcible
* 1 Rob. Rep. 86; 1 Rep. 93, 94, 147, 156; 1 Acton's Rep. 59.
t 4 Rob. Rep. 66 ; 1 Aeton, 64-65 ; Ld. Erskine's Speech, 8th March,
1808, on the orders in council, 10 Cobbett'sParl. Deb. 949. 50.
t Rob. Rep. 156; ibid. 158, 159; l Acton's Rep. 59. See also Dr.
Phillimore on License Trade, 62, in notes.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 249
possession of, off the Ortiz, by your squadron, brought back to
Monte Video, and there detained three days as a prize, and at
the same time the master was denied all opportunity of hav
ing intercourse with the shore, or of communicating with the
U. S. Consul ; and she was farther detained full three weeks
in your possession, on the pretext that she had more goods
on board than was stated in the manifest of her cargo. The
Henry was also boarded off Buenos Ayres, the vessel over
hauled, the mate and one of the seamen most cruelly beat
en ; and the Joseph was also taken possession of off Monte
video, there held, the vessel drifted about by the current,
and returned to the master, her geographical position not
then known, and was- eventually lost on the English Bank.
These points are presented for your explanation. I will fur
ther beg leave to remark to your Excellency, it has always
been admitted that when a blockade is established first on
lawful principles, a trading vessel has a right to present
herself before any force there, to be warned not to enter the
port ; should a further attempt be made, she may be taken
possession of, and under the forms of a trial be condemned.
It becomes a matter on which the vessel and cargo is forfeit
ed. I am somewhat at a loss to perceive how your Excel
lency can believe your force stationed in the blockade of all
the ports of the Rio de Plata according to maritime prin
ciples, being in a line parallel to a shore distant on one
side thirty miles and on the other seventeen, and from the
three most important ports more than one hundred miles —
commanding the space between your buoys, where vessels
may pass and repass unseen at their pleasure ; instanced in
the arrival at Buenos Ayres whilst my ship lay there, of an
American, of a French, and of two English brigs, all richly
laden. Possessed of a fleet of nearly fifty sail wearing the flag
of his Imperial Majesty, and now in the La Plata, Admiral
Brown, from a declared blockaded port, with a temporarily
fitted force of only six vessels, passes and repasses at
pleasure in your presence, and within twenty miles of you,
attacks and captures at Colinia and Monte Video, both his
Imperial Majesty's vessels of war and also those of his sub
jects ;. this fact is instanced in the arrival, within the*sprfce
of six days, of six prizes at Buenos Ayres.
On closing this, the undersigned begs leave to call your
Excellency's attention to his former communication, setting
forth the views of his government on the subject of block-

250 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
ade, and trusts they will meet with the entire approbation of
his Imperial Majesty. With high considerations, &c.
J. D. ELLIOT.
Don Rodrigo Jose Farro Lobo,
Vice Adml. Comdg. the Brazi
lian forces at the Rio de la
Plata." " At 8 A. M. moderate pleasant weather ; at 9, discover
ed the vessels at anchor ahead to be the Brazilian blockad
ing squadron, about 10 miles E S E of the S E end of the
Ortiz bank; at 9 30, observed five vessels of war under
weigh, standing towards us; at 10, made them to be one fri
gate, one corvette and three brigs ; prepared for battle and
showed our colors ; at 11 shortened sail to the topsails, and
hauled up for the Brazilian squadron under weigh ; at 11 30,
the frigate was on the lee beam at about 150 yards distance,
two brigs on the lee bow, the other a little on the weather
quarter, and the corvette astern and to leeward ; at 11 40,
hailed the frigate and asked her name ; answered, ' His Im
perial Majesty's frigate Maria da Gloria.' The name of our
ship was then asked and given, succeeded by a demand
that a boat should be sent. This demand was peremptorily
refused by Captain Elliott, adding that a boat should never
be sent from his ship, although one would be received ; ob
served the guns of the frigate trained and tompions out ;
kept the larboard guns on the main-deck manned for the fri
gate, and her consorts on the fee bow, and manned the star
board quarter-deck guns for the brig on the weather quarter ;
observed the brig on the weather shortiy after drop astern ;
at 11 45, received a boat from the frigate and brig with two
officers, who were introduced to Captain Elliott in his cabin,
by whom he was informed that the port of Buenos Ayres
was blockaded, and he could not be permitted to proceed.
To which he replied that, if even he were to admit their
right to proclaim the blockade of an extent of coast against
a civil marine, he could not against neutral vessels of war ;
that both English and French vessels of war were in the
habit of proceeding, almost daily, to and from Monte Video
and Buenos Ayres, as instanced both in the British and
French corvettes Fawn and Chasseur ; that he would allow
him thirty minutes to deliberate on his future actions, and at
the expiration of that time he would proceed, prepared to

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 251
resist all consequences ; that the flag he wore carried under
it the sovereignty of the soil it represented ; that violated,
the soil became invaded ; and that he should defend his ship
to the last moment. Captain Elliott further observed to the
officer, that he had a communication for Admiral Lobo,
which was requested. Captain Elliott declined giving it to
the officer until he returned from his frigate and discovered
her true character. At 12, the Brazilian boats left the ship;
during all this time the weatherly position of the ship was
maintained, and every other precaution taken to resist, with
effect, an attack from the squadron, which appeared to be
meditated ; at 12 20, hailed the frigate to know if they had
any further ¦communication to make ; they answered by ask
ing if Captain Elliott would send the Admiral's letters and
papers : yes, was the reply, if you will send a boat ; at
12 45, a boat came alongside for letters and papers for the
Admiral, with the compliments of the commanding officer to
Captain Elliott, tendering every civility, and offering any
supplies he might be in want of, with his best wishes for a
speedy and pleasant passage to Buenos Ayres : Captain
Elliott returned his compliments and thanks, adding that
his ship was abundantly supplied with every necessary, and
that all he wanted was a free and generous intercourse with
all nations, concluding with an offer to be the bearer of any
communication the commanding officer, or any other in the
squadron, might have to make with Buenos Ayres ; at 1, the
Brazilian boat departed ; bore up, passed within hail of the
Brazilian squadron along their line ; made all sail for
Buenos Ayres."
The Cyane mounted 34 guns, and was surrounded
by a Frigate, a Corvette and three Brigs, and yet pre
pared for battle ! ! Had he any reason to expect an
attack ? He was already informed of the paper block
ade of two thousand miles of coast, of the Brazilian
force off Monte Video, and of the pretensions advan
ced by the Brazilian government. Being then in
the midst of a Brazilian force much greater than his
own, he certainly had reason to expect an attack, if
he showed any intention of disregarding the blockade ;
and he certainly showed a disposition to resist, by refus
ing to send his boat to the Brazilian Admiral's ship.

252 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
On being informed that he could not be permitted to
proceed, he replied to the commander of five ships,
one of them being a heavy Frigate, that he would
fight his way! This was bold language to be cast
in defiance from a little Corvette of 34 guns, against
a Frigate, a Corvette and three Brigs ! A coward, or
even a commander who would fight well upon equal
terms, or with odds somewhat against him, would
have complied with the demand to send his boat to
the blockading squadron, would have turned away
from the blockaded coast, and represented the affair
to his government. But Captain Elliott is "made of
sterner stuff" than to. yield a point of national right
or honor to what he deems unjust pretensions, by
whatever foree such pretensions may be assorted. He
remembered the case of Commodore Biddle at Cadiz.
Commodore Biddle had been sent to the Mediterra
nean in the Macedonian Frig-ate, in the summer of
1823, having on board Mr. Nelson, our minister to
Spain, and Mr. Rodney, our minister to Buenos Ayres.
His instructions from Mr. Adams, then Secretary of
State, were, that he should proceed to Cadiz and iand
Mr. Nelson there, if that port should be open, or if
the French squadron then understood to be blockad
ing it should permit him to pass ; but that if the
French commander should refuse a passage, he should
proceed to Gibraltar, land Mr. Nelson there, to find
his way to the Spanish Court by land, and then sail
with Mr. Rodney to Buenos Ayres. Commodore Bid
dle, thus bound by his instructions, claimed the right
to enter, but being refused permission by the French
commander, very reluctantly went to Gibraltar. Had
not this gallant officer been bound by positive instruc
tions, he would doubtless have insisted on fighting
his way. That he could fight, and gallantly too, is
proved by his capture of the British sloop of war
Penguin, while commanding the Hornet, in March

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 253
1815. Thus was surrendered a great principle of the
laws of nations, which declares that the port of a bel
ligerent cannot be blockaded against the national
ships of a neutral power. Very fortunately for the
honor and interest of the nation, the hands of Cap
tain Elliott were not tied by his instructions. The
only instructions which he received were — to do no
thing that would in the slightest degree compromit
the honor or interest of the nation. He remembered
this case of Commodore Biddle, and was resolved that
so far as he could prevent it, a similar precedent
should not be established on this side of the Atlantic.
He was resolved to maintain the honor of our flag,
or — perish ! Had he left the coast, six months at
least would have elapsed before he could have re
turned to the United States, and a force sufficient to
resist this illegal blockade could have been sent to
Buenos Ayres ; and in the mean time, our commerce
in the river La Plata would have been totally sus
pended. But by his energy and resolution, he not
only saved the property of his fellow citizens, but
successfully resisted a pretension completely at vari
ance with the laws of nations, and which in part pro
duced the war with Great Britain.
It is here proper to state what the reader may con
sider very remarkable. The Cyane was fitted out for
one year's service, and on the expiration of the year,
Captain Elliott was relieved by Captain Biddle in the
Frigate Macedonian. He was furnished with a new
set of instructions, which, had they been known by
the Brazilian government, would have undone all
that had been accomplished by Captain Elliott.
Having thus asserted the right of a neutral power
to enter a blockaded port with a national ship, he sail
ed directly for Buenos Ayres, and arrived there on the
5th of April, 1826. He immediately signified his ar
rival to Mr. Forbes, the American Charge d'affaires at
22

254 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Buenos Ayres, to Admiral Brown, commander of fAe
Buenos Ayrean naval forces, and to the military com
mandant of Buenos Ayres, and exchanged salutes
with the two last on equal ternis. While at Euenos
Ayres, he was enabled to perform a signal service to
Captain PuUen of the Brig Mohawk, from Baltimore.
This gentleman, having very ingeniously eluded Ad
miral Lobo's blockading squadron, reached Buenos
Ayres with a valuable ship and cargo, which he sold
to the Buenos Ayrean government for $70,000. Ad
miral Lbbo declared that on Captain Pullen's return,
he should receive a flogging at the gang way of the
Brazilian flag ship. He "applied for protection to
Captain Elliott, who received him and his property
on board of the Cyane, under an agreement to receive
two and a half per cent, for the transportation of his
specie, attended him on shore at Monte Video, saw
all his business transacted, and when off Rio de Ja
neiro in May following, placed him on board of an
American ship. On leaving the Cyane, Captain
PuUen tendered to Captain Elliott the commission of
two and a half per cent, allowed by law to the com
manders of our national ships for the transportation
of specie. Captain Elliott replied that he found a
countryman in distress, and had a sufficient reward
in the pleasure of relieving him ; and tore up the bill
of lading of the specie and threw it overboard.
In the latter part of June, he sailed from Rio de
Janiero, in company with the corvette Boston, under
command of Captain Hoffman, on a second expedi
tion to the La Plata. While leaving the port, he was
visited by an officer of the Imperial Army, saying
that a deserter, an Austrian soldier in the Brazilian
service, was on board. Believing that the man was
not on board, he replied that he could not be detain
ed, but that if the man should be found, he should be
sent on shore upon the return of the ship to Rio de

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 255
Janiero. He was then informed that the ship must
be detained within the batteries until the man was,
delivered up. He replied that no detention whatever,
would be submitted to. When two days out, he dis
covered a defect in his mainmast, which compelled
him to return. Soon after sailing, he had discovered
this Austrian soldier on board, and resolved to, de
liver him up on the ship's arrival ; but knowing that
the punishment of death would be inflicted on the
man, if delivered unconditionally, he stipulated for
his pardon and personal safety. This led to the fol
lowing correspondence between Captain Elliott and the
commander of the corps to which the soldier belonged.
"Monsieur le Commandant : — Still more convinced ofthe
nobleness of your sentiments, from the honorable manner
in which you have just acted, it is with the greatest satisfac
tion I give you the assurance that from personat respect to
you, the soldier Schernir, of the 3d regiment of battalion,
which I have the honor to command, shall not be punished.
No person can be more certain than myself, that neither
by your command, nor the design of any "other of the very
much esteemed American officers, will any Brazilian soldier
be induced to desert ; on the contrary, you have given me a
sufficient example of your disapprobation of such conduct
in the circumstances which have just occurred, and which
would not have taken place but for the acts of a bad subject,
of whom the person to whom they principally relate was
formerly the domestic.
Receive, Sir, the assurance of the highest consideration
with which I have the honor to be
Your most humble and ob't ser'vt,
Le CHEVALIER EDW'D d'EWALD,
Major Commanding the 3d Regiment
of the Grenadiers and 1st of the Line.
10th July, 1826." " U. S. Ship Cyane, Rio de Janeiro,
July V2th, 1826.
My Dear Sir: — Your highly gratifying favor of the 10th
ins,t. I have had the satisfaction to receive and now have the
honor to acknowledge.

256 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
The generous manner with which you met my interces
sion in behalf of the man who had, unknown to me, secreted
himself in my ship, tends greatly to enhance the already
justly high opinion I had entertained of the German cha
racter. The high military reputation with which you have so no
bly existed in honorable combat, and the promptness with
which your heart has been opened in extending the hand both
of charity and forgiveness to a poor soldier, must leave
you in possession of a feeling more easily imagined than
described. Receive therefore my best wishes,
And permit me to subscribe,
Truly your friend,
(Signed) J. D. ELLIOTT.
Chevalier Edwarb d' Ewald,
Major Commanding the 3d
Regiment of Grenadiers and
1st of the Line."
On his arrival at Monte Video in the latter part of
December, 1826, he learned that the Armstrong, the
Pactolus and Homer, three American vessels, the
two former belonging to Boston, the other to Balti
more, and bound for Buenos Ayres, were detained by
Admiral Pinto Guedes, commander of the Brazilian
Blockading Squadron. He immediately addressed a
note to the Admiral, inquiring upon what pretext
these vessels were detained. The Admiral replied
that he considered them lawful prizes, they having
cleared from Santos in Brazil, for Valparaiso, and
yet attempting, with Brazilian produce on board, to
enter Buenos Ayres, an enemy's port, and blockaded;
but that he had given orders for their release before
the reception of Commodore Elliott's note; he being
willing to suppose that they might have received
some erroneous information about the raising of the
blockade, and therefore sailed for Buenos Ayres under
incorrect impressions of the existing state of things.
He then set forth some views upon the subject of

LIFE OF COM- ELLIOTT. 25.7
blockade, and the right of ships of war to search
the merchant vessels of neutral nations, for contra-
hand articles. Captain Elliott replied by poiitely
acknowledging the promptitude with, which hie had
spontaneously released these vessels, and by waiving
any discussion upon the subject of neutral rights, he
being only an Executive officer of the United States,
and having already settled such points with Admiral
Lobo, the predecessor of Admiral Pinto Guedes.
Thus, by his firmness and energy, did he a second
time proteGt the commerce of the United States
against unfounded pretensions.
In this negotiation, Captain Elliott displayed no
little address. The Brazilian Government might
have insisted upon retaining these vessels as Jawful
prizes; for as Buenos Ayres was then a blockaded
port, their attempt to enter it was a violation of belli
gerent right. Their having sailed from a Brazilian
port without knowledge of the blockade, was no ex
cuse; and their having cleared for a neutral port, and
then carrying their cargoes to the port of a belligerent
at war with Brazil, was an aggravation of their case.
But Captain Elliott wished to concede no point that
could afterwards be used as a precedent against
American vessels; his object being to protect our
commerce. He therefore very adroitly waived ajl
discussion upon neutral and belligerent rights, ani|
applied for the release of these vessels as an ex
ecutive officer. Admiral Pinto Guedes doubtless in
ferred that the very points upon which he would have
insisted in discussion upon national rights, had been
conceded to Captain Elliott by his predecessor, Ad
miral Lobo.
The mainmast, to repair which he had returned,
after being two days put from Rio de Janeiro, was
taken to the Emperor's dock yard. The Emperor,
who was remarkable for the cl(?se personal attention
"22*

258 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
which he gave to aU departments of his government,
and all works of a public character, saw this mast,
and discovered that it had been shortened 11 feet
from the top. Ascertaining that it had belonged to
the Cyane, he immediately ordered a mast to be taken
out of a Brazilian ship of the same size as the Cyane,
and with his compliments, tendered to Captain Elliott.
This offer was politely refused by Captain Elliott,
who, apprehending some difficulty with the block
ading squadron at Monte Video, did not wish to re
ceive an obligation from the Emperor which might
excite embarrassing feelings.
Immediately before his departure from Rio de Ja
neiro on his return to the United States, the Emperor
offered him an Admiral's commission, with the highest
salary which any officer could receive in the naval
service of the Empire. To this he replied that his
father was a soldier who had given his own life to
his country, and bequeathed two of his sons to it as
a legacy; that he was one of those sons; that he had
attained the highest rank and honors that could be
given in the American navy, and that he would not
give one timber head of that navy for all other navies
in the world.
On the first of June, 1826, while the Cyane was at
Rio de Janeiro, some sailors deserted from the French
Frigate La Seine, commanded by Commodore Du
Plantys. The French commander sent one of his
Lieutenants on board of the Cyane, to obtain permis
sion of Captain Elliott to search some American
merchant vessels, then ready to sail from Rio de Ja
neiro. Captain Elliott replied that under no circum
stances whatever would such permission be given;
that he trusted the French cortimander had too great
a sense, of propriety to urge the measure ; and that
should he do so, the attempt would be forcibly resisted.
He immediately made every preparation for resist-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 259
ance, and the French commander, seeing his deter
mination, abandoned the point.
In June, 1827, Captain Elliott arrived at Philadel
phia, delivered his ship to the naval establishment
there, and joined his family at Carlisle. Here he re
mained till 1829, engaged in agricultural pursuits ;
for at home, Captain Elliott is a Pennsylvania farmer.
Well may this great and patriotic State be proud of
her distinguished citizen, who, like another Cincin-
natus, can seek repose from righting the battles of
freedom, by cultivating the soil with her enlightened
and high-spirited yeomanry.

260 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER XV.

Cruise on the Coast of Mexico, and in the West Indies, from 1829 to 1833.
In 1829, President Jackson being informed that
the Spanish government intended to blockade the
coasts of Mexico and Campea.chy, appointed Captain
Elliott, of whom he had long been a friend, and upon
whom he knew that reliance could be placed in diffi
cult emergencies, to command the squadron destined
for the West India station. On the 25th of Septem
ber, 1829, he sailed from New- York in the Peacock,
the flag ship of the squadron, which consisted of five
sloops of war and two schooners. After getting under
weigh, he drew up a set of instructions for the
officers of the squadron, which were transmitted to
the Navy Department from Pensacola, about the last
of October. As these instructions exhibit Captain
Elliott, not only as an accomplished seaman, but a
skilful diplomatist, extracts from them are here offer
ed to the reader.
General Instructions and Confidential.
Sir : — The ship you command being placed by the Hon.
the Secretary of the Navy under my orders, your official
communications will in future be addressed to me. Should
you, however, at any time when cruising separately, have
important communications to make to me, you will forward
copies thereof to the Secretary of the Navy ; it being desi
rable that the earliest information be communicated to him.
In consequence of the many and frequent unlawful depre
dations committed by unlicensed cruisers, as also by those
persons denominated pirates and enemies to the human
race, the Government of the United States have deemed it

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 261
necessary to employ an adequate naval force in the West
Indies and the Gulf of Mexico, and have confided it to me.
Our efforts to afford a proper protection must be zealous and
unceasing. A principal and vexatious source of annoyance to our
commerce will probably grow out of proclamations of block
ade. Proclamation of itself does not constitute a lawful
blockade. It is an established principle of International
Law, that such a force must be employed in supporting it as
will render an attempt to violate it extremely hazardous, and
deny to the port so blockaded all ingress and egress ; and
our Government will expect that our unsuspecting country
men, not charged with articles contraband of war, will have
a timely warning. The legality of blockade will therefore de
pend upon circumstances,which sometimes vary, and respect
ing which beforehand we cannot have accurate information.
We are bound moreover to presume, where the capture is
legally made, until the contrary is made to appear, that eve
ry neutral, seized for an alleged breach of blockade, will
have a fair and just trial, and be adjudged by the belligerent
according to the recognized principles of the Laws of Na
tions. In case, therefore, of meeting at sea an American
vessel under a lawful seizure for an alleged breach of block
ade, you will not molest her, but suffer her to be carried in
for trial. Should any illegal condemnation take place, I will
then decide on the propriety of directing you to release all
similarly situated and thus detained by a belligerent. That
you may be enabled fully to understand the nature of
our relations with Spain on this particular subject, 1 here
take occasion to enumerate two articles, the 15th and 16th
of a treaty between the United States and the King of Spain,
concluded October 27th, 1785, and ratified March 3d, 1796,
which have an immediate reference to this subject, and are
as follows :
"Art. 15th. It shall be lawfut for all and singular the
subjects of his Catholic Majesty, and the citizens, people
and inhabitants of the said United States, to sail within
their ships with all manner of liberty and security, no dis
tinction being made, as to who are the proprietors of the mer
chandizes laden therein, from any port to the places of those
who now are, or hereafter shall be, at amity with his Catho
lic Majesty or the United States. It shall be likewise law
ful for the subjects and inhabitants aforesaid to sail with the
ships and merchandizes aforementioned, and to trade with
the same liberty and security from the places, ports and ha-

262 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
vens of tftose who are enemies of both or either party, with
out any opposition or disturbance whatsoever, not only
directly from the places of the enemy aforementioned, to
neutral places, but also from one place belonging to an
enemy to another place belonging to an enemy, whether
they be under the jurisdiction of the same prince, or
under several ; and it is hereby stipulated that free ships
shall also give freedom to goods, and that every thing
shall be deemed free and exempt which shall be found on
board the ships belonging to the subjects of either of the con
tracting parties, although the whole lading or any part thereof
should appertain to the enemies of either ; contraband goods
being always excepted. It is also agreed that the same
liberty be extended to persons who are on board a free ship,
so that although they be enemies to either party, they shah
not be made prisoners or taken out of that free ship, unless
they are soldiers, and in actual service of the enemies.
"Art. \6th. This liberty of navigation and commerce shall
extend to all kinds of merchandizes, excepting those only
which are distinguished by the name of contraband ; and
under this name of contraband or prohibited goods, shall he
comprehended arms, great guns, bombs, with the fuses and
the other things belonging to them, cannon-balls, gunpow
der, matches, pikes, swords, lances, spears, halberds, mortars,
petards, grenades, salt petre, muskets, musket balls, buck
lers, helmets, breast-plates, coals of mail, and the like kind
of arms proper for arming soldiers, musket rests, belts,
horses with their furniture, and all other warlike instruments
whatever. These merchandizes which follow shall not be
reckoned among contraband or prohibited goods, that is to
say : all sorts of cloths and all other manufactures woven of
any wool, flax, silk, cotton, or any other materials what
ever; all kinds of wearing apparel, together with all species
whereof they are used to be made ; gold and silver as well
coined as uncoined ; tin, iron, copper, brass, coals ; as also
wheat, barley and oats, and other kind of corn and pulse ;
tobacco, and likewise all manner of spices, salted and
smoked flesh, salted fish, cheese and butter, beer, oils, wines,
sugars, and all sorts of salts ; and in general, all provisions
which serve for the sustenance of life ; furthermore all kinds
of cotton, hemp, flax, tar, pitch, ropes, cables, sails, sail
cloths, anchors, and any parts of anchors ; also ships
masts, planks, and wood of all kinds, and all other things
proper either for butL ng or repairing ships, and all other
goods whatever, which have not been worked into the form of

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 263
any instrument prepared for war by land or by sea, shall not
be reputed contraband ; much less such as have been already
wrought and made up for any other use ; all which shall be
"wholly reckoned among free goods ; as likewise all other
merchandizes and things which are not comprehended and
particularly mentioned in the foregoing enumeration of con
traband goods ; so that they may be transported and carried
in the freest manner by the subjects of both parties, even to
places belonging to an enemy, such towns or places being
only excepted as are at that time besieged, blocked up or in
vested. And, except the cases in which any ship of war or
squadron shall, in consequence of storms, or other accidents
at sea, be under the necessity of taking the cargo of any
trading vessel or vessels, in which case they may stop the
said vessel or vessels, and furnish themselves with neces
saries, giving a receipt, in order that the power to whom
the said ship of war belongs may pay for the articles so
taken, according to the price thereof, at the port to which
they may appear to have been destined by the ship's papers ;
and the two contracting parties engage that the vessels shall
not be detained longer than may be absolutely necessary for
these said ships to supply themselves with necessaries ;
that they will immediately pay the value of the receipts,
and indemnify the proprietor for all losses which he may
have sustained in consequence of such transaction."
To the foregoing articles of the treaty of 1795, may be
added article 12th of a subsequent treaty, concluded on the
22d Feb. 1819, and ratified on the 22d Feb. 1822, which will
be found to confirm conditionally the preceding ; and is as
follows : The Treaty of Limits and Navigation of 1795
remains confirmed in all and each of its articles, except
ing the 2, 3, 4, 21, and the second clause of the 22d ar
ticle, which, having been altered by this treaty, or having
received their entire execution, are no longer valid. With
respect to the 15th article of the same Treaty of Friendship,
Limits and Navigation of 1795, in which it is stipulated
that the flag shall cover the property, the two high contract
ing parties agree that this shall be so understood with re
spect to those powers who recognise this principle ; but if
Either of the two contracting parties shall be at war with" a
third party, and the other neutral, the flag of the neutral shall
cover the property of enemies whose government acknow
ledge this principle and not of others.
Thus you will perceive that the concession is not fully
complied with in the absence of a treaty with Mexico. Yet

264 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
when the fact is taken into consideration that the officer com
manding the Mexican navai forces, whilst operating on tbe
coast of Cuba, has invariably recognized this article when
the American flag waved over the property of the subjects
of His Most Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain, room
will be left for the exercise of a little diplomatic skill, which
I trust you will not fail to employ.
Our relations with both the governments of Spain and of
Mexico and the other South American States being friendly,
we must, so far as may be consistent with the maintenance
of our just rights and the national honor, endeavor to avoid
compromitting those relations. The belligerent parties are
entitled to equal rights from us. We must observe strictly
our neutral character. Acts of kindness to either, though
extended equally to the other, may be misconstrued or mis
represented to the prejudice of the United States. Should
favors therefore be asked, you will decline, and assign as
your reason for so declining, that your orders are perempto
ry, not to compromit the neutrality of your government.
It will readily occur to you that considering the situa
tion in which we stand in relation to Spain and the South
American States, the authority given under the Act passed
by Congress, and having for its object the suppression of
piracy, must be exercised with the utmost caution and pru
dence by our public armed vessels. The Jaw being under
the execution of the President of the United States, your
conduct will be regulated by your instructions, although they
may not go to the full length the law might possibly warrant.
Under the second section of the Act, authority is given to
subdue, seize, take and send into any port of the United
States, any armed vessel or boat, the crew whereof shall be
armed and shall have attempted or committed any piratical
aggression, search, restraint, depredation or seizure, upon
any vessel of the United States, or of the citizens thereof;
or upon any other vessel. From the generality of this lat
ter description of vessels, it would seem to embrace those of
every nation or country upon which any piratical aggressions
may have been committed. Admitting the Act might be
extended thus far, it does not appear to have been the gene
ral object of the law; and it is thought by the President
most advisable at present, not to give it a like indiscriminate
piratical construction as to all vessels. The great object, as
pointed out in the first section of the act, was to protect the
merchant vessels of the United States and their crews from
piratical aggressions. This will therefore be consideied
your particular and special duty. If, however, you shall

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 265
discover depredations upon other vessels, committed under
such -gross and aggravated circumstances as to leave little
doubt of their piratical character, it will be your duty to
capture and bring in the aggressors. It is thought most ad
visable thus to distinguish in your instructions, because,
among other considerations, it will be seen that under the
second section of the Act, you are only authorized to retake
vessels of the United States or its citizens which may
have been unlawfully captured upon the high seas. No au
thority is given to retake the vessels of any foreign nation
or country. You will also perceive, under this second sec
tion of the Act, authority is only given to subdue, seize and
take, such vessels or boats, &c, as shall have attempted or
committed some piratical aggression. Whatever well
grounded suspicions you may entertain that a vessel may
have been fitted out, for, and is intended to be employed in
such depredations, you will not molest her, unless you have
satisfactory evidence that she has either attempted or actu
ally committed some piratical aggression on some merchant
vessel of the United States, or her crew, or upon some other
vessel under the special circumstances abovementioned.
This is to be considered an important and a leading regu
lation in your conduct ; as it will be a strong and almost
controlling circumstance, (considering we are at peace with
all the world,) in making up your judgment whether you are
safe and justified in treating them as pirates. Whenever,
therefore, you shall find any boats or vessels, the crew
whereof have committed any actual violence, outrage or de
predation upon any vessels of the United States, or the citi
zens thereof, or any other vessel as abovementioned, you
will consider yourself authorized to subdue, seize, and take
them ; and unless on such capture you shall be satisfied that
they have been acting under some lawful authority, and not
piratically, to send them in for adjudication, accompanied by
the proof of their guilt. All captures made by you will be
sent into one of the following ports ; Boston, New York,
Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, or New Orleans.
You have also enclosed such parts of the several Acts of
Congress prohibiting the importation of slaves into any
ports or places within the jurisdiction of the United States,
as are necessary to point out to you your duty and authority
under these laws ; and it is expected and required of you
that a strict and vigilant attention be paid by you to the di
rections therein contained, that if possible, this inhuman
and disgraceful traffic may be suppressed.
23

266 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
By the Act of the 20th April, 1818, you will perceive thai
it is unlawful to import or bring in any manner whatsoever,
into the United States, or Territories thereof, from any fo
reign kingdom, place or country, any negro, mulatto, or per
son of color, with intent to hold, use, or dispose of such per
son as a slave, or to be held to service. By this Act, it is
also made unlawful for any citizen of the United States, or
other person, to build, equip, load, or otherwise prepare any
ship or vessel to sail from any port or place whatever within
the jurisdiction of the United States, for the purpose of pro
curing and transporting any such slave to any port or place
whatever. And any ship or vessel employed in such impor
tation of slaves, or so built, fitted out or prepared, is liable to
be seized and forfeited.
And by the Act of the 3d of March, 1819, the President
is authorized to employ any of the armed vessels of the
United States to cruise in such places as he may think pro
per, where he may judge attempts may be made to carry on
the slave trade, by citizens of the United States or residents
thereof, in contravention of the Acts of Congress prohibit
ing the same ; and to instruct such armed vessels to seize,
take, and bring into any port of the United States to be
proceeded against according to law, all such ships or vessels
of the United States, wheresoever found, which may have
taken on board, or which may be intended for the purpose
of taking on board, or of transporting, or may have trans
ported, any negro, mulatto, or person of color, in violation of
any of the provisions of the Act of the 20th April, 1818,
above referred to, or in violation of any other Act or Acts
prohibiting the traffic in slaves.
You will perceive from the generality of the provisions
in these laws, that you are authorized to take and bring in
all ships or vessels of the United States which may have
been in any manner employed, or intended to be employed,
in the slave trade, or any other vessel offending against the
provisions of any of the laws you have enclosed.
You will particularly notice the two provisions of the
first section of the Act of 1819, the former of which directs
in what manner you are to keep and dispose of the slaves
which may be found on board of any ship or vessel seized
by you. If brought within the United States, they are to be
delivered to the marshal of the district where brought in ;
and the evidence of such delivery transmitted to the Navy De
partment. It is the wish of the President, however, that
none should be brought into the United States. Upon the

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 267
capture, therefore, of any vessel having slaves on board,
you will immediately place on board competent officers and
men, with provisions, medical aid and medicines, and with
her proceed to the Island of Sherbro, on the coast of Africa,
and deliver such slaves to the agent appointed by the Presi
dent to receive them, or to any other agent so appointed at
any other place on the coast of Africa, pursuant to the pro
visions of the Act. Secure the officers and men so cap
tured, on board your ship, and after the delivery of the slaves,
repair to one of the enumerated ports of the United States.
Having landed your prisoners with the necessary proof of
their condemnation, resume your previous position, or report
to me at Pensacola or off the Havana.
The second provision relates to the disposition of the offi
cers and crews of such vessels so captured by you. Great
vigilance will be expected from you in the safe-keeping of
all such officers, until they are handed over to the civil au
thority, to be proceeded against according to law.
You will also observe that by the 5th section of this Act, it
is made your duty to bring any vessel and her cargo, which you
may capture, into some of the ports of the state or territory
to which the captured vessel may belong, if you can ascer
tain the same. If not, then into any convenient port of the
United States.
Upon entering any port, be prepared to observe the usual
courtesies. In the interchange of salutes, receive gun for
gun ; and in all your intercourse with the public functionaries,
I recommend conciliatory and respectful deportment. In
case of meeting at sea any man of war, show the accustom
ed civilities ; and should a belligerent commander ask to
see your commission on board your own ship, for the pur
pose of satisfying himself of your national character, you
will show it, demanding at the same time a sight of his
commission. In like manner, when you require to see the
commission of any armed vessel you may board at sea, first
show your own. But as we cruise only against pirates, I
would require to see the commissions of such vessels as
there may be reason to suspect of being piratical. It might
be expected from the vigilance of our cruisers in the West
Indies, that piracy would have been expelled therefrom.
But men accustomed to this atrocious line of life become
incapable of honest industry, and can live only by plunder ;
and it is probable that as they are driven from one point,
they seek another, and thus change the scene of their atroci
ties.

268 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
You may receive on board specie and the other articles
enumerated in the Acts of Congress for the better govern
ment of the navy, on the usual terms and conditions, and
convey them from one port to another, provided it does not
in any manner interfere with your other duties, ot violate
the laws of the country from which they are exported. To
enable me to inform the government how far our citizens
are benefitted by the transportation of their specie in the
public vessels, you will report to me from time to time, all
specie and other articles you may receive on board," the
places to and from which they are carried, together with the
terms and conditions under which you carry them.
Too much publicity is often given to the destination and
the object of our public vessels. To the agents of our go
vernment at different ports, and to our citizens who may in
quire with a view to their commercial operations, I would
communicate my destination ; but I would, in general, not
communicate to others. A man of war is always bound
upon a cruise ; and such an answer may prevent from fo
reigners an application which it might be improper to grant
and embarrassing to refuse. I must also require that you
will forbid communications to be made by your officers re
lative to the movements of your ship, and designed for the
public prints. The frequent misrepresentations in these
journals, arising, no doubt, from a want of knowledge of the
whole facts on the .part of those who write, have caused
misconceptions. The government will always have full
and accurate information, and will doubtless communicate to
the public, whatever it may concern the public to know.
As you have more than your complement of officers, I do
not anticipate the necessity of your appointing any to act.
They are therefore not to be made without absolute neces
sity, and then only with the express condition that such
appointments cease with the necessity which caused them.
While in company, I must be the judge of that necessity ;
and if on your return to the United States, any officer under
your command holds an acting appointment, you will with
out delay acquaint the Secretary of the Navy therewith for
his decision as to confirming or revoking it. It has sometimes
occurred that officers have received acting appointments
when abroad, which, without the knowledge of the Navy
Department, they continue to hold many months after their
return to the United States. None other than those regu
larly appointed, and under an article to be obedient to the

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 269
laws of the navy, will be permitted to be on board your
ship. Officers have sometimes been arrested and sent home from
foreign stations, under the necessity of waiting the return
of the ship to which they have belonged, before an investi
gation could take place ; which has caused much inconve
nience to the service as well as expense to the nation.
Officers should not be arrested except upon serious charges,
and the clearest evidence to substantiate them. Should you
be under the necessity of suspending any officer under your
command, make it known to me immediately ; or in case of
our being separated, as soon as we join. But in no event
send an arrested officer to the United States without my
previous sanction.
Here I cannot omit to mention that any disposition you
may observe for personal rencontres will be discountenanced;
the occurrence of which will bring on those engaged not
only the strong animadversion of their commander in chief,
but also the marked disapprobation of the distinguished in
dividual presiding over the affairs of our nation.
I have to suggest that every facility for acquiring a com
petent knowledge of their duties be presented and pointed
out to the young gentlemen placed under your care. They
are merely in possession of that passport which will recom
mend them to the permanent rank of the navy, and in de
porting towards them, it should be recollected that they are
destined at some future day to fill the higher grades of the
navy. Having on board your ship a number of small boys, I will
suggest the propriety of selecting a portion of them who
shall perform the office of messengers, thus substituting
them for many of the present offices performed by midship
men. The former being in a manner destitute, many of
them probably orphans, and not having had the advan
tage of established preceptors to direct their minds to the
attainment of a knowledge of our own language, doubtless
you will find amongst the crew of your ship a person com
petent to give them this instruction ; and I would here ear
nestly hope that countenance should be given on your part
towards the organization of a school, having for its object
the desired end. It is important that the officers be made
thoroughly acquainted with the character, disposition, tem
per and habits of every petty officer, seaman and marine.
This can only be obtained by unremitting attention to every
detail of duty and by close observation.
23*

270 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Thus the service at large will derive from the adoption of
these measures towards the seamen, a system of command
and treatment which will be free from coarse and offensive
ianguage, too often used in reproving the men for trifling
irregularities or for accidental omissions. They should be
made to know that the use of gross language and offensive
terms, upon any occasion, is not only unbecoming their own
character and station as officers and gentlemen, but equally
degrading to the seamen. Whereas it is necessary to keep
up in all ranks of the navy a proper feeling and a high sense
of honor, by which the correct discharge of duty will be
best secured. The gross abuse which is often lavished on
a seaman for a minor fault, an accidental mistake, or an un
intentional omission, produces irritation ; and to this cause
more than any other, may be traced acts of insubordination
which entail the necessity of severe punishment. If reproof
be necessary, it should be conveyed in such terms, and in
such manner, as will make a lasting impression, without
wounding the feelings of the individual and lowering him
in his own estimation. The officers should not only them
selves observe this injunction, but they should require it to
be observed by all others. Their example will very soon
have the effect of checking the use of improper and offen
sive terms on the part of their subordinates, and equally so,
of those, their subordinates. If acts of intentional neglect
and insubordination should take place, although wholly un
provoked by any treatment received, the means of correc
tion and punishment, which are authorized by the regula
tions of the service, must be resorted to ; and they will have
double effect, if not preceded by coarse and abusive lan
guage. Indeed it will probably be found they will become
comparatively rare, as the duty will be done more cheerfully
and zealously. The popularity of a ship with the crew de
pends materially upon the care with which they will per
ceive the officers disposed to guard their interests and look
into their wants. I will therefore have to require that you
will ascertain the smallest quantity of the article of slops
and of small stores to which their necessary wants may
incline ; but on no account suffer more to be served them by
the purser than will suffice. All articles designed to sub
stitute slops will be charged at their advance.
At the expiration of each three months, you will be pleased
to cause your purser to make to me, through you, a return of
all the articles on board, including provisions, slop clothing
&c. ; the quantity furnished, the amount charged, and the

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 271
cost ; the sums due ; the quantity of parts of rations un
drawn by both officers and men, together with the amount he
may have charged in money, and the excess or deficiency
then on board, with an assignment of the cause producing
the same.
A similar return of the quantity of articles appertaining
to the several departments of the various officers belonging
to your ship, together with their disposition and actual con
dition, will be also expected at the expiration of each three
months. The efficiency of a ship of war for service depends essen
tially on the health of the crew ; and I cannot too strongly
enjoin attention to this point, while on this station ; recom
mending in each port you may enter, a stay only sufficiently
long to obtain the necessary supplies for your ship.
A general order of the Hon. the Secretary of the Navy
calls for an experiment on board each ship in the fleet, of an
application of the chloride of lime. This you will be pleas
ed to place in the hands of your surgeon, who will make a
proper disposition of it, and whom you will instruct to make
a quarterly report of the same to me, as well as of all per
sons sick, including both officers and men.
The government have also deemed it necessary to test
the quality of cotton canvass, and will place on board the
ship you command, a proportion of the sails manufactured
from it. You will make a fair experiment, and from time
to time report to me their state and condition comparatively
with the hempen canvass.
The extent to which our navy has grown, necessarily in
volves the nation in a very considerable expenditure of funds
for its support. I have therefore to request that articles for
the use of the ship you command be required with economy,
and expended with a proper accountability. Adequate funds
being placed at Pensacola, you will be supplied with them,
and are therefore not at liberty to draw on the government
elsewhere. The growing importance of Key West as a place where
a considerable amount of the public revenue accrues, ren
ders it necessary that you should have an eye there. While
cruising therefore in the vicinity, you will touch occasion
ally, with a view to the enforcement of the revenue laws ;
all of which, together with the disposition to be made of
prizes, you will find enumerated in the various Acts of Con
gress applicable to the subject.
Our seamen are a valuable class of our citizens, and whom

272 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
the laws wisely and humanely consider entitled to the spe
cial care of our Government. I must therefore call your at
tention to their protection, where you find them in want of
it. When in port or at sea, you shall find them in a diseased
state, you will cause the medical officer of your ship to
minister to each of their wants commensurate with his
means. Piety being the strongest characteristic which marks all
those who are found most correct in the discharge of duty
towards their fellow-men, it is expected you will adopt such
means as are within your reach to instil this principle into
the minds of your ship's company.
It being important that the Hon. Secretary of the Navy
should be made acquainted with the character, professional
qualifications, temper, habits, deportment, acquirements and
abilities of each of the officers belonging to the squadron,
you will communicate to me semi-annually, your estimate
of those under your command. At the same time you will
report to me the state and condition of your ship.
All correspondence with the Department you will be
pleased to have passed through me. Within the range of
your cruise, should it be in your power to add to the agricul
tural, mineralogical or botanical information of your country,
you will be subserving its best interests in doing so.
Reposing a generous confidence in your judgment, discre
tion and prudence on points not enumerated in these instruc
tions, having for their object the national welfare,
I am very respectfully,
Sir, your ohedient servant,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
To the different Officers in Com
mand of vessels composing the
West India Squadron.
October 28, 1829.
While before Vera Cruz in November, 1829, he
learned that an outrage had been committed by two
Mexican gun-boats upon the brig Ajax, an American
vessel, while lying in the harbor of Sisal on the coast
of Campeachy. He immediately despatched the sloop
of war Erie, under command of Captain Cowper, to
Sisal, to inquire into the case, and to demand not only
redress, but security for the future ; with instructions

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 273
to inform him immediately, should any other force
than the Erie be required.
Shortly after this, he learned that an American
seaman had been impressed from the ship Virginia,
of New- York, while the same was lying in the harbor
of Vera Cruz, by order of Admiral Lopez, commander
of the Mexican naval forces in that port. He imme
diately addressed a letter upon the subject to Admiral
Lopez, which, together with the subsequent corres
pondence between them, is here offered. From this
correspondence the reader will learn all the import
ant facts in the case, and the result of the prompt and
energetic behavior of Captain Elliott.
" U. S. Ship Falmouth, off the Island of Sacrificios,
December 26th, 1820.
Sir, — The undersigned, commanding the United States
naval forces in the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico, takes
this occasion to address to Captain Francis Paula Lopez,
commanding the Mexican naval forces at Vera Cruz, a few
remarks on the subject of the seaman Lewis, a citizen of
the United States, who had some time since been impressed
into the naval service of Mexico, and more recently from on
board the merchant ship Virginia, of New York, while in
this port, conducting a lawful trade, and conforming to all
the laws adopted for the regulation of commercial inter
course. Whilst the undersigned expresses his regret that the inter
position of his military authority should have been necessary,
from the failure of the application of the accredited agent
of the United States at Vera Cruz, in obtaining the re
lease of the seaman in question, he would remark that the
seamen of the United States are a class of her citizens on
whom the Government, the Nation, and more particularly
the Navy, look as highly valuable, and entitled in an emi
nent degree to their protection and consideration ; whose in
dustry in times of peace supplies the Government with pe
cuniary means, and whose blood flows copiously in conduct
ing its defence.
The undersigned regrets that he had not been apprised at
an earlier moment of all the circumstances attending this
case, which would have imperiously required him to have

274 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
seen the wrong pioperly redressed by the same hand which
had inflicted the injury, previously to the departure of the
Virginia from Vera Cruz, for the port of New York.
Possibly all the facts connected with the impressment of
the person whose liberty has been demanded and obtained
from you, may not have been fully presented to your view.
Under this supposition, the undersigned takes occasion to
state that sometime since, Lewis became impressed into the
naval service of Mexico, whilst invaded by a foreign ene
my. During the time he was impressed, he sought an
opportunity of returning to his native country, and embark
ed in the ship Virginia, of New York, for the United States.
On board of this ship he was arrested, and taken by vio
lence to the Congress ship of the line, by an officer acting
under presumed authority. Since then he has been fettered
in chains, and the more publicly to expose his arbitrarily
assumed guilt, has been employed in the execution of a de
grading duty on shore. In this situation he throws himself
personally on the protection of the United States' Consul,
who demands his release, but whose demand is rejected.
The recital of these circumstances has excited feelings
which the undersigned forbears to express. Those senti
ments, in the production of which the subject is so fruitful,
which would be unpleasant to him to communicate, and to
yourself to hear, he will suppress while conferring with the
representative of a sister republic, which, in its infancy, his
government has cherishedj and in its maturer age has patro
nized and encouraged, which at this moment is disturbed
with internal commotion, and threatened by an enemy from
abroad. Bearing in mind the friendly disposition of his
country towards the Republic of Mexico, the undersigned
has been prompted to extend every courtesy, which you will
do him the justice to say you have received at his hand, as
well as from those acting under his authority, since his arri
val on your coast.
The undersigned hopes that the officer in command of the
naval forces of Mexico at Vera Cruz, will be enabled to
lender such an explanation on this subject as will amount
to a redress of the wrong complained of, and convey an as
surance that there will not be a recurrence of the same.
With all due consideration,
the undersigned has the honor
to subscribe your obedient,
J. D. ELLIOTT.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 275
" Department of Marine of Vera Cruz.
The Consul of the United States of the North verbally
claimed from me the seaman John Lewis, who was confined
for a proven theft, and of which he was informed by the
party aggrieved ; but having offered to deliver the seaman
up to him, notwithstanding this fact, I complied with my
word, as we have always acted in perfect harmony in all
matters which have occurred between us. Therefore, al
though I had received a verbal communication from you
through one of your officers, I replied that I would send the
order to the Consul as soon as it should be received at my
office, believing that to pursue a different course would be to
offer an insult to him, contrary to the Laws of Nations, and
very foreign to my character. Two hours after enclosing
to him the said order, placing the seaman John Lewis, at
his disposal, I received your note, which indeed somewhat
surprised me, as much for the reasons already given, as be
cause you are pleased to say, that ' the interposition of your
military authority was necessary,' which I can conjecture to
be founded on a mistaken idea of what has passed, as in no
case whatever, having a Consul at this place legally recog
nised by your Government, and in the Capital a Minister
placed at the head of affairs, can you make a demand of me
by virtue of your military authority without a powerful
motive. I should be false to my principles were I not to declare
frankly and sincerely, the urbanity and consideration which
yourself and the other gentlemen under your command have
been pleased to dispense to me in particular, as well as in
general to the corps which I command ; and were I not to
acknowledge with which I was treated at Pensacola by the
officers of the Navy of the United States of the North, when
I commanded the brig Guerrier, for which attention I shall
never find language to express my gratitude.
As well for the causes above exposed, as for various other
manifestations of brotherly feeling, I and every other true
Mexican will be grateful, as also for the protection which
our independence received in its cradle from the United
States of the North, being, as they were, the first republic to
declare their acknowledgment of it. I should be false to my
principles and honor, if concealing this truth, I were not to
contribute to preserve intact the neutrality of two republics
who ought to maintain intimate relations of friendship with
each other, as you and I fully understand.

276 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
In this despatch I believe I have answered your note of
the 26th inst., and which a want of health and my little ap
titude at translation have caused me to delay until now,
when I have the satisfaction to do so, hoping you wiil be
pleased to excuse the delay, and certain that at all times I
have endeavored to avoid causes of unpleasant altercation.
I offer to you the distinguished
consideration and respect of your
most attentive and ob't servt'.
FRANCISCO DE P. LOPEZ.
Vera Cruz, 31st December, 1829.

" U. S. Ship Falmouth, before Vera Cruz,
January 2d, 1830.
Sir, — Your letter of the 31st ult., has been received. In
my communication of the 26th of the same, to which yours
is an answer, I endeavored to impress you with a sense of
the unjust and cruet treatment extended to the seaman
Lewis, by detailing the circumstances of his case. Of the
truth of these, relying on the veracity of the Consul of the
United States at Vera Cruz, I have not entertained the
slightest doubt. If they had been misstated, it was rea
sonable to expect from you a confutation. Until you shall
have made it appear that there has been misrepresentation,
I shall remain firm in the sentiments which I have already
expressed. I am aware of the fact contained in your note of 'there
being a Consul in this place, legally recognised by my Go
vernment, and a Minister located in the Capital at the head
of affairs.' I am also aware that the exertions of the former
had proved unavailing ; and that not until my interposition
was the release of the seaman granted. It is equally true I
have not presented myself before you in the capacity of a
diplomatic agent. Within the range of my command is in
cluded the coast of Mexico, where my object is the protec
tion of our commerce ; and in order to the complete attain
ment of this, it is my duty and determination to afford relief
and protection to all who are lawfully engaged in it. In
doing so, I will ask for nothing that is not clearly right, and
submit to nothing that is wrong. This may serve to relieve
you in some measure from the surprise occasioned by, and
to explain to you the motive which, called for ' the interpo
sition of my military authority,' which only became neces-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 277
sary upon your refusal to comply with the request of the
Consul of the United States, for the release of the person
whom you persisted in detaining in your service.
On what grounds you continued his impressment, not
withstanding repeated demands from that officer for his re
lease, I am at a loss to discover. You speak of his ' being
a prisoner, in consequence of a proven theft.' And you con
sider the information of the party aggrieved as sufficient
evidence, and upon that aione you pronounce his guilt. But
suppose his guilt established. Surely you do not mean to
plead it in defence of the treatment you have visited upon
him since his original impressment; to raise up an apology
for your own injustice out of his crimes. For these he has
suffered ample punishment in the infliction of thirty-six
lashes on his naked body, ordered and inspected by yourself,
immediately subsequent to his second impressment from on
board the Virginia. And are you not willing to confess this
an ungrateful return for the services he has rendered 1
Might you not have pailiated his offence, (which is by no
means established,) by reflection on the state of utter desti
tution, of penury, and of bodily disease, in which you re
tained him ? Might not the recollection of the hospitable
treatment you received at the hands of his countrymen have
inclined you to a different course 1 I feel more than usual
ardor while dwelling on a subject of so much interest to my
self, in common with all my countrymen. We have long
since demonstrated our aversion from the practice of im
pressment. We have already shown a determination not to
submit to the views of those who have construed it into a
right. Our Government, in waging with England both the
war which eventuated in our independence, and that whose
object was its maintenance, was strongly influenced by a
desire to destroy this obnoxious principle.
ft would be satisfactory to understand from you the rea
sons which have influenced you in your treatment of the in
dividual in question, as well as the course you design pur
suing in relation to our seamen generally, who may chance
to be on your coast. It is to be hoped you will concede a
point which even your ancient and present enemy secured
to us by treaty, previously to the commencement of your
struggles for independence.
A nation contending for liberty in her own case, should
be the last to violate it in the case of another. It would be
an utter inconsistency in any people to adopt in a particular
24

278 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
instance, the very principle which they are struggling to de
stroy. I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully, Sir,
Your ob't and humble serv't,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Capt. Francis Paula Lopez,
Commanding the Mexican
Naval Forces at Vera Cruz.
Department of Marine, of Vera Cruz.
I have received your attentive note of the 2d instant, in
which you reply to mine of the 31st of the last month, when
I requested you to have the goodness to excuse my delay in
answering yours of the 26th, on account of the difficulty I
find in translating, and of some suffering in my health ; and
although in my above mentioned note, I stated that yours had
surprised me, it was because I had already complied with the
request of the Consul, to whom I appeal, in order that you
may, if you think proper, inform yourself what conduct I
have observed towards that gentleman on all occasions since
we have been acquainted.
I am frank and ingenuous ; I will not deny that the order
was not sent with the despatch which ought to have been
used, because the chief clerk whom I directed to enter it,
had forgotten to do so, and also because of the bad weather
experienced at the time.
As to the individual in question, I have made known to
you the motives for taking him on board. As to the course
of conduct which you exact from me, and the manner in
which American seamen who may be upon our coast ought
to be treated, you may be well satisfied that for myself, as
far as I may be concerned toward them, there will be no
ground of complaint which can give offence, either at this
time or in future; wherefore if my former declaration was
not sufficient to convince you that it is not and never has
been my intention to be wanting in respect either to yourself
or to Mr. Taylor, I believe that the present will be so, and I
repeat that my sentiments have never been different from
those I have expressed.
I have the honor to offer my most
distinguished consideration and respect,
FRANCISCO DE P. LOPEZ.
Vera Cruz, July 3d, 1830.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 279
" U. S. ship Falmouth, before Vera Cruz,
January 4th, 1830.
Sir, — I acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yester
day. From the conception which, considering the difficulty
encountered in translating it, I have formed of its contents,
it bespeaks a determination on your part to pursue a differ
ent course hereafter. On the subject of our short corres
pondence, I have felt deeply. Had the wrong complained of
proceeded from the functionaries of a monarchy, a form of
government to which republics bear but little affinity, I
should not have felt the same surprise. But my feelings
amounted to regret when I reflected upon the injustice
which the representative of a free people had sanctioned.
I am happy to understand from you your intention of
adopting towards American seamen, a mode of treatment
which is calculated to reflect glory on your country, and to
promote the harmony of the two republics. Here I cannot
omit presenting to your consideration the following em
phatic remarks of the present Chief Magistrate, while on
the subject of our sister republics at the South, contained in
his last message to the Congress of the United States.
While I do so, I cannot but expect it will meet with the ad
miration of every friend of liberty. ' We trust, however,
that the day is not distant when the restoration of peace
and internal quiet under permanent systems of government,
securing the liberty and promoting the happiness of the citi
zens, will crown with complete success their long and ardu
ous efforts in the cause of self government and enable us to
salute them as friendly rivals in all that is truly ^reat and
glorious.' This sentiment I hope will be reciprocated by
all true Mexicans.
As I am about to take my departure for other ports of
my command, I cannot but express my hopes for the pros
perity of the Republic of Mexico. I shall be happy on my
return to find her present difficulties removed, and herself in
the possesssion of internal peace, and in the enjoyment of
all the benefits which must flow from a permanent and set
tled form of government. I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully, Sir,
Your ob't serv't,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Captain F. P. Lopez, Comd'g
the Mexican Naval Forces at
Vera Cruz."

280 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Not long after this, Captain Elliott returned to Pen
sacola Bay, the head quarters of the West India
squadron, where he remained till the 18th of February,
1830. On this day he sailed for Havana, on board of
the United States ship Falmouth, accompanied by the
Schooner Grampus and several smaller vessels. He
had already been instructed by the Secretary of the
Navy that the ship Candace, which sailed from Bos
ton for India in October, 1829, with a cargo of specie
and merchandize, had been robbed by a Spanish brig,
understood to have been the Manzanares, fitted out
from Havana for the African slave trade. On his
arrival at Havana, he lost no time, in pursuance of
his instructions, in communicating to Mr. Shaler, the
United States' Consul at Havana, the information
which he had received of this robbery. Being informed
that Mr. Shaler had not then been recognised as Con
sul by the Spanish government, and until such re
cognition, was exercising his functions of commercial
agent merely by the courtesy of the Captain General
Vives, Captain Elliott immediately addressed that func
tionary, and requested a description of the Manzana
res, of her crew, of the time of her departure from
Havana, and the probable time of her return. He
was referred by General Vives to Admiral Laborde,
commander of the Spanish naval forces at the Island
of Cuba, to whom he made a similar application. The
Admiral immediately complied with this request, and
promptly furnished every facility in his power for
detecting the pirates. After ordering the Shark, under
Lieutenant Commandant Webb, to cruise along the
coast on the lookout for the Manzanares, Captain
Elliott sailed for Matanzas, and began to search very
closely, every Spanish ship that entered the port.
The slave merchants, apprehending that he intended
to arrest their vessels and send them to Havana for
examination, in which case they would be captured

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 281
by the British cruisers, held a meeting and requested
Mr. Shaler to interpose, in order to dissuade Captain
Elliott from searching. He replied to Mr. Shaler
that if the slave merchants would indemnify the
owners of the Candace, and deliver up the pirates to
the Spanish authorities, he would desist from search
ing their vessels ; otherwise, every vessel at all an
swering to the description of the Manzanares should
be searched most rigorously. Shortly after this, he
learned that the Manzanares had been destroyed by a
British cruiser upon the coast of Africa ; upon which
he abstained from farther search.
In November, 1830, an outrage was committed up
on an American vessel in the harbor of Matanzas, by
the Spanish authorities of that port. The vessel, tak
ing advantage of the land breeze, which, in that har
bor, blows early in the morning, was under sail to de
part, when she was fired upon by the Fort. She re
ceived one shot, which, besides doing considerable
damage, wounded three of her crew. The command
er of the sloop of war Natches, one of Commodore
Elliott's squadron, applying to the Governor of Ma
tanzas for an explanation, was referred to the Captain
General of the Island. Captain Elliott, being inform
ed of the affair, immediately proceeded to Matanzas,
and addressed the Captain General. A correspon
dence ensued between them, of which the two follow
ing letters from Captain Elliott are offered to the rea
der. They are offered as another instance of that
energy and decision which characterize all his move
ments when engaged in the service of the public, and
which have often been successfully exerted for the
protection of his fellow citizens.
" United States' Ship Erie, Harbor of Matanzas,
m. December 3d, 1830.
Sir: — The undersigned, commanding the United States
naval forces in the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico, takes
24*

282 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
occasion to bring to the notice of your Excellency, an occur
rence which took place in the harbor of Matanzas on the
morning of the 1 1th ult. the character of which is developed
in the protest of the master and crew of the brig Elizabeth,
of Bath, and the certificate of the masters of American ves
sels in the port at that time, copies of which accompany this
communication, marked A and B.
The undersigned is informed that the commander of the
United States' sloop of warNatches, (who left here previous
to his arrival) made a call upon the Governor of Matanzas
for an explanation of the causes which led to this event,
which was answered by the officer in charge of the govern
ment, by a reference to your excellency.
The undersigned does not believe that your excellency is
disposed to sanction such an arbitrary exercise of military
authority on the part of the officer by whose orders the ag
gression was committed on the brig Elizabeth. She was
engaged in lawful trade, and having conformed to all the
commercial regulations recognized in the port, was about to
leave it at the usual hour in the morning, when she received
a shot from the Fort, which not only injured her considera
bly, but wounded three of her crew, one of them severely,
although the hail from the Fort had been repeatedly answer
ed, and the vessel brought to an anchor.
It is doubtless known to your, excellency that such is the
character of the harbor of Matanzas, that unless advan
tage be taken of the land breeze which is felt at the earliest
period of the morning, it not unfrequently happens the ves
sel desiring to depart is detained during the remainder of
the day. Under these circumstances, and the brig Elizabeth
being provided with all the requisite passports from the pro
per authorities, here the undersigned cannot perceive the ne
cessity of the extreme rigor which has been exercised to
wards her. In the present instance, it appears to the under
signed that the blood of his countrymen has been wantonly
shed and their property injured, without adequate cause, and
that this act, emanating from an officer of the government,
is inconsistent with the spirit and tenor of the treaties exist
ing between our respective governments, for the guidance of
the subjects of His Catholic Majesty and the citizens of the
United States, and having for their object the general ad
vantage and reciprocal utility of both nations. Your excel
lency being so well acquainted with all the articles of the
treaties alluded to, I deem it unnecessary to call your atten
tion to more than the 7th and 8th articles of the treaty of

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 283
October, 1795. Whilst the undersigned has never counte
nanced any improper acts of his countrymen, they ex
pect protection when engaged in lawful commerce, and his
government will require of him the exercise of his power in
effecting it.
Aware of the excitement which this occurrence may pro
duce in the United States, and that which has already mani
fested itself among her citizens residing at Matanzas and
in its vicinity, as well as among those of the fleet under his
command, the undersigned, whilst he is still animated by the
feelings which he had the honor to express in his communi
cation to your Excellency of 4th March last, trusts that such
measures will be taken promptly by your excellency, as
may redress as far as possible the wrong already done, and
prevent a recurrence of a similar outrage.
Relying confidently on the justice of your Excellency, the
United States' schooner Shark, Lieutenant Commandant
Boerum, is despatched with this communication, and will
await your reply.
The undersigned renews to your Excellency assurances of
the high consideration and respect with which he has the
honor to subscribe himself
Your Excellency's most Obedient Servant,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
To His Excellency,
Don Francisco Dionisio Vives,
Captain General of the Island of
Cuba, &c. &c. &c. at Havana."
" United States' Ship Erie, Harbor of Matanzas,
December 12th, 1830.
Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of
your Excellency's communication of the 6th inst. and re
gret to find that the report made to your Excellency rela
tive to the conduct of the brig Elizabeth, varies so mate
rially from the detailed statement of the case made by the
master and crew of said brig on oath, and the certificates of
the masters of American vessels in this port at the time,
who, from their situation, could not easily have been mistaken.
The usual pass had been deposited in the Fort; if this be
the ' special permission from the local authority,' to which
your Excellency alludes, the Elizabeth appears to have at
tained it, and therefore infringed no orders in attempting to
leave the port.
It is matter of general notoriety that for some years past,

284 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
and until the affair of this brig, vessels had been allowed to
depart from the port of Matanzas during the interval be
tween the retreat and morning gun, without molestation ; and
doubtless the relaxation of the general regulation, was a
measure of necessity arising from the peculiarities of the
port, and it must be well known to your Excellency that an
early departure from the Northern ports of this Island, ena
bling vessels to get clear of the land before night, rendered
them less exposed to depredations. Previously to the receipt
of your Excellency's communication, I was not aware that
a cautionary message had been sent by the commandant of
the castle. Upon inquiring, I have since been informed that a
verbal message to that effect was sent by a negrO, who failed
to deliver it. After reviewing all the circumstances, I still
retain my past impression that the brig Elizabeth has been
rigorously dealt with. In reference to the letter, a copy of
which accompanies your Excellency's communication, I
have to reply that although officers under my command,
when commanding vessels separated from me, are expected
to call on public authorities, for explanations of any
wrong committed on the persons or property of our citizens
engaged in the pursuit of lawful commerce, nevertheless, I
am not disposed to countenance any departure from the cour
tesy and civility due to such authorities.
In the present instance, I had expressed my disapproba
tion of the style of the letter complained of, previously to
the receipt of your Excellency's communication. If your
Excellency will advert to the first letter from the comman
der of the Natchez, in which he calls the attention of Colo
nel Don Francisco de Paula Albuquerque, Governor ad inte
rim of Matanzas, to the affair of the brig Elizabeth, your
Excellency will perceive it breathes every feeling of civility
and respect which even the most fastidious could have de
sired ; and a word of timely explanation would have served
to correct unfavorable impressions, and probably have saved
me from the necessity of addressing your Excellency on a
subject so disagreeable. By referring to the last letter of
said Colonel and Governor ad interim, it will appear that
he supposed a fault had been committed, and that your
Excellency would not leave unpunished him who deserved
correction. The consular agents appointed by our government for the
Island of Cuba not having been accredited by that of his
Catholic Majesty, it devolves upon us to take cognizance of
matters more properly appertaining to such agents. I hope

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 285
therefore your Excellency will be disposed to excuse an oc
casional deviation from diplomatic forms; and let me trust
that such a remedy may ere long be applied, as will super
cede the necessity of the officers of this squadron having to
contend otherwise than on their peculiar element.
I have the honor to be,
With great consideration and respect,
Your Excellency's most Ob't. Servant,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
To His Excellency,
Don Francisco Dionisio Vives,
Captain General of the Island of
Cuba, &c. &c. &c. at Havana."
In the summer of 1831, Captain Elliott arrived at
Norfolk, to pass the hurricane season on shore with
his family. On the night of his arrival in Hamp
ton Roads, he was informed by the Mayor of Norfolk
of the insurrection of the blacks in Southampton
county, on James River in Virginia. The public will
recollect this horrible tragedy, in which the women
and children of many families were exterminated,
and the whole comity clad in mourning. He was re
quested by the Mayor to proceed up the river to
Southampton county, with whatever force he could
detach from the squadron at Norfolk. With his usu
al promptitude, he detained the sloop of war Warren,
then ready to sail for the coast of Brazil, ordered all
her marines, and all the seamen and marines of his
own ship, to proceed immediately to Southampton,
under command of Captain Newton, and headed by
himself. They repaired to Jerusalem, near the cen
tre of the county, where they found most of the wo
men and children assembled for safety, and in the
greatest possible alarm. But the insurrection was
soon quelled, and he returned with the seamen and
marines to Norfolk. The following letter from Gen
eral Eppes, commander of the detachment of Virginia
militia which had been called out, shows the feelings

286 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
entertained for him and the officers and men whom
he led to this scene of butchery, by the Virginia mi
litia and the people of Southampton.
" Head Quarters, Aug. 26. 1831.
Gentlemen, — Accident has brought us together in ser
vice of disagreeable character, but which, I flatter myself,
will be terminated speedily, and to the public benefit. An
acquaintance of very few days has produced in every part,
the highest respect for you as officers, and the proper consi
deration as courteous gentlemen. The annunciation of your
readiness to return to your station, if the public service
would permit, has devolved upon me the duty of acquies
cing in that determination, and of availing myself of the oc
casion to tender to you on my own part, and in behalf of my
officers, for the interest you have taken in behalf of our
wives and children, and the readiness with which you have
co-operated in every practicable mode to advance our com
mon purpose, an assurance of our obligation, and an affec
tionate farewell. RICHARD EPPES, Brig. Gen.
Com. Elliott, Col. Worth,
Capt. Newton, and othor officers."
The following is Captain Elliott's account of this
tragical affair to the Secretary of the Navy.
" U. S. Ship Natchez, port of Norfolk,
28th Aug. 1831.
Sir, — At 3 o'clock in the morning of the 24th inst. while
on board this ship^ then lying in Hampton Roads, a note was
presented to me from the Mayor of the Borough of Norfolk,
requesting aid from the Natches, Warren, and Fortress
Monroe, to quell an insurrection of slaves in the County of
Southampton, Virginia. Mr. Gray, a highly respectable
gentleman, the bearer of the note, and who came direct from
the scene of the disturbance, represented that fifty or sixty
persons had been slaughtered, and that the local militia,
being in want of arms and ammunition, were unable of
themselves to put down the insurgents. Under such cir
cumstances, conceiving that humanity required a prompt

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 287
exhibition of force to prevent the commission of further atro
cities, I pushed off in my boat with the fleet Surgeon, leav
ing directions with Master Commandant Newton to follow
with the marine guard of his ship, that of the Warren, and
a detachment of seamen, so soon as the steam boat which
brought the note -should return. I arrived at Suffolk about
9 o'clock, A. M. where, being joined at 11 A. M. by the
force under Master Commandant Newton, and a detach
ment of U. S. troops from Fortress Munroe, under Colonel
Worth, we proceeded on to Jerusalem, a small village of
Southampton, where we arrived early next day. Here we
met with General Richard Eppes of the State militia, from
whom we ascertained that seventy-three persons, principal
ly women and children, had fallen victims to the fury of the
blacks. I immediately offered to co-operate with the force
under my command, in any movement which the General
might deem most expedient for putting down the insurrec
tion. The prompt and judicious measures of that officer,
which were greatly facilitated by the arrival from the neigh
boring counties of a number of mounted men, resulted in the
restoration of quiet. Most of the insurgents were killed or
taken prisoners. In the mean time, the detachment from
the ships and the fortress were encamped at Jerusalem,
where a number of the women and children had assembled,
to whom our presence imparted confidence and an assurance
of protection. The insurrection being effectually suppressed,
the services of our men no longer necessary, and as the
Warren was under sailing orders, I despatched the marines
of that ship on the 26th inst. under the command of Lieutenant
Green of the Navy, (whom I found on the spot and whose
services I required) on their return. They will be able to
rejoin her to-morrow. I left the remainder of the seamen
and marines under the command of Captain Newton, yes
terday, at Jerusalem. They will arrive on board by Thurs
day next. The celerity with which the detachment from
the Natches and Warren, and that of U. S. troops from For
tress Monroe, were brought from such a distance to the
scene of operation, and the demonstrations made by them
during the march across the country, will doubtless have a
lasting and salutary effect on the future conduct of that de
luded race against whom they were intended to act. Al
though no opportunity was afforded of actual conflict with
the insurgents, the promptitude with which Master Com
mandant Newton, and the officers who accompanied him,
undertook the performance of duty to which they were un-

288 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
accustomed, and the cheerfulness and alacrity of the men
during a fatiguing march and other privations, entitle them
to approbation. Having been impelled by considerations of
humanity to engage with a portion of the force under my com
mand, in a service not strictly within the line of my official
duty, I have necessarily entered further into details than
the importance of the subject would seem to demand, in
order that the Department might be in full possession of the
facts. I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully,
Your ob't serv't, J. D. ELLIOTT.
Hon. Levi Woodbury,
Sec'y Navy, Washington."

For the valuable services thus promptly rendered
to the sufferers, Captain Elliott received, for himself
and those under his command, the especial thanks
of the President, as will appear from the following
letter.

" Navy Department, Sept. 1, 1831.
Sir, — I have received your letter of the 28th ultimo, ex
planatory of the aid afforded by the Naval force under your
command, on the call of the civil authorities, in consequence of
the recent insurrection in Southampton county, Virginia. I
have submitted your letter to the President of the United
States, who has desired me to state to you that the prompti
tude with which the aid was rendered, and the cheerful and
humane feelings exhibited in the execution of the duty, are
highly creditable to yourself and to the officers and men un
der your command ; and he requests that you will be pleas
ed to receive for yourself, and present to the officers and
men, an assurance of his cordial and entire approbation.
I am, very respectfully, &c. &c.
JOHN BOYLE,
Acting Secretary of the Navy.
Com. J. D. Elliott,
Comdg. West India Squadron,
Norfolk, Va."

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 289
The Governor of Virginia, General Floyd, in ad
verting to this melancholy affair in his message to
the Legislature, pays a high and deserved compliment
to Commodore Elliott and those under his command,
for the zeal and activity which they displayed in this
hour of calamity ; and the feelings thus expressed
were doubtless entertained by the people of the whole
State, for valuable public services are not soon forgot
ten by the warm hearted and generous people of Vir
ginia. The following is an extract from Governor Floyd's
message to the Legislature of Virginia, assembled in
December following.
" I feel the highest gratification in adding that the readiest
aid was afforded by Commodore Elliott of the U. S. Navy,
and a detachment of sailors from the Ship Natches under
his command, who, notwithstanding they had just returned
from a long and distant cruise, repaired to the scene of ac
tion with a highly creditable alacrity. Much is also due to
Colonel House, the commanding officer at Fortress Monroe,
for the promptitude with which he detatched a part of his
force to our aid, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Worth, to whom similar praise is due ; as likewise to the
officers and soldiers under his command, for the promptitude
with which they also repaired to our assistance so soon as it
came to their knowledge. All necessity for their co-opera
tion had ceased before they reached their point of destina
tion; but they are not the less entitled to commendationon
that account."
In November, 1831, Commodore Elliott again hoist
ed his flag on board of the Fairfield, and sailed for
the West Indies. After touching at the Islands be
longing to the several European powers, he proceed
ed to Vera Cruz. In May, 1832, he proceeded to
Tampico, where he was applied to by three persons,
Spaniards by birth, but citizens of the United States,
for protection against a proclamation issued by Brig
adier General Moctezuma, the military commandant
25

290 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
of the Mexican government at Tampico. The Mex
ican government had ordered all native Spaniards to
quit the Mexican territory within a certain number of
days ; and in pursuance of this decree, General Moc-
tezuma issued his proclamation, commanding all such
persons to quit that place in fifteen days from the
publication of the same. The individuals in question
were inhabitants of Florida and subjects of Spain,
when that territory was ceded to the United States,
and by the act of cession, became citizens of the
United States, and afterwards took out formal certifi
cates of naturalization. By the treaty concluded on
the 5th of April, 1831, between the United States of
America and the United Mexican States, the citizens
of each were secured from molestation by the other,
while pursuing their lawful business. Upon the ap
plication of these persons to Commodore Elliott, he
immediately addressed a letter to General Moctezuma,
setting forth the reasons which exempted them from
his proclamation, and claiming for them the immuni
ties secured to them as citizens of the United States,
by the treaty of 1831. General Moctezuma replied
that the treaty, not having been officially communi
cated to him, could not be recognized by him as a
law of Mexico. Commodore Elliott again addressed
him, repeating his claim in behalf of these persons,
and sending to General Moctezuma a copy of the
treaty. At the same time, he addressed a letter to
George R. Robertson Esq. U. S. Consul at Tampico,
informing him of these facts, and requesting him to
communicate to the persons aggrieved, that, Lieuten
ant Boerum, commanding the U. S. Schooner Shark,
was instructed to wait off Tampico during twenty-
four hours, to receive them on board and transport
them to Pensacola, or to the mouth of the Mississippi,
at their option^ if General Moctezuma should insist
on their expulsion. He also wrote to Anthony But-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 291
ler, Esq. Charge des affairs of the United States at Mex
ico, requesting him to cause the treaty to be officially
communicated to General Moctezuma. The procla
mation of the General being insisted upon, and Com
modore Elliott not being able to use force, his ship
being prevented by a dangerous bar from approach
ing Tampico nearer than within twelve miles, these
citizens were received on board of the Shark, and
transported to the United States.
In his cruise in the West Indies in the beginning
of 1832, Captain Elliott was attacked by a bilious or
endemic fever, which had nearly terminated fatally,
and which compelled him to return to the Head
Quarters of the Squadron at Pensacola, for the resto
ration of his health. While there, about the first of
May, he received letters from the American Consuls
at Vera Cruz and Tampico, stating that the American
commerce was in great danger from the distracted
state of Mexico, and that the presence of some one
of the squadron was necessary. He immediately des
patched the Shark to Tampico, and sailed in the
Fairfield for Vera Cruz. Being overtaken by a vio
lent gale from the North, his ship drifted among the
shoals off Vera Cruz, and was in imminent danger of
being lost. The navigation among these shoals is ex
tremely dangerous. The U. S. Schooner Porpoise
has since been lost upon them, and the Fairfield would
then have been lost without the greatest exertions of
the officers and men. In the midst of this storm,
Commodore Elliott gave another signal proof of that
intrepidity and self devotion for which his whole life
has been distinguished. The crew of the Fairfield
consisted of about 200 men ; and to save their lives,
he was obliged to jeopard his own. He went aloft,
and amid showers of rain and tremendous gales, di
rected the course of the ship for three hours, and
steered her clear of the shoals. He was then ill of en-

292 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
demic fever, and undergoing a mercurial course. The
consequence of this exposure was a violent mercurial
rheumatism, which compelled him to resign the com
mand of the West India Squadron, and to seek the
salubrious air of the Pennsylvania mountains. He
accordingly retired to his estate in Carlisle, where he
remained till the Autumn of 1832.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 2^/3

CHAPTER XVI.

Events in South Carolina in 1832 and 1833.
In the autumn of 1832, the difficulties in South
Carolina began to present a formidable appearance.
The threatening attitude assumed by the authorities
of that State became a subject of grave and anxious
consideration at Washington. The President, true
to his determination to preserve, if possible, the Fed
eral Union, saw the necessity of meeting the storm
with prompt and vigorous measures. It became ne
cessary to send a body of troops to Charleston, un
der command of General Scott, to garrison the na
tional forts there, and to aid the civil authorities, if
necessary, in maintaining the laws of the Union. A
naval force before that port was also necessary, and
a commander whose resolution, discretion and address
could be relied on. Captain Elliott was selected by
the President for this difficult and responsible com
mand, and very reluctantly left his peaceful retreat
among the mountains of Pennsylvania, to engage in
the civil broils of his own countrymen. It is not the
intention or wish of the author of these pages, to give
a particular history of this unfortunate collision be
tween the Governments of the Nation and one of the
States. The chief promoters of the misunderstand
ing are doubtless convinced that any forcible attempts
against the laws of the Union would be utterly una
vailing ; and while the political friends of the Execu
tive find, in the promptitude and energy with which
25*

294 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
he met this crisis, additional reasons for their good
opinion, his candid opponents will acknowledge that
by this promptitude and energy, the Federal Union
has been preserved from being stained with fraternal
blood. But while a minute detail of whatever oc
curred in this dispute will not be given, justice to
Captain Elliott requires that one incident should be
particularly noticed. A French Brig, L'Aigle, with
a valuable cargo on board, was lying at Charleston,
ready for sea. The French Consul at that port, the
Count de Choiseul, addressed to Captain Elliott the
following letter.
" Consulate of France at Charleston.
Charleston, 28th Jan. 1833.
Sir, — The undersigned, Consul of France for the Port of
Charleston, has the honor of informing you that the Cap
tain of the French Brig L'Aigle, bound to Bourdeaux, and
now lying in this port, states that he has on board a valua
ble cargo, for the safety of which serious apprehensions are
entertained, in consequence of circumstances which have
come to his knowledge. The undersigned would be happy
if you would cause convoy to be given to the said brig, for a
distance of 30 or 40 leagues from the coast. That distance
is deemed sufficient, as she is a fast sailer. The undersign
ed believes that in making the above request, he confoims
himself to the custom adopted between friendly nations.
Should any expense attend the grant of convoy, the under
signed will thank you to inform him of the probable amount.
The undersigned lakes this opportunity of offering to you,
Sir, the assurance of his high and distinguished conside
ration. I have the honor, &c. J. DE CHOISEUL."
On receiving this letter, Commodore Elliott, una
ble to imagine what dangers could beset the French
brig, and at the same time disposed to grant the
French Consul's request, provided the state of affairs
in Charleston would permit either of the ships under
his command to be sent away as convoy, addressed a

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 295
letter of inquiry to Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, then at
Charleston. Mr. Poinsett replied in the following
terms. " Charleston, 30th Jan. 1833.
My Dear Sir,*— I am at a loss to imagine what dangers
the French brig can be exposed to on our coast. There is
no nullification afloat. However' I am clearly of opinion
that be the danger real or imaginary, it would be better to
grant the Consul's request. I do not believe these men
will commit any act of hostility until their forces arrive from
the country, and they are not yet in march.
I am, Dear Sir,
Ever yours truly, J. R. POINSETT."
Captain Elliott then learned that a vessel was fit
ting out at Charleston with the armament and other
preparations of a privateer, and supposed that this
might be the source of the French Consul's appre
hensions. It also occurred to him that the object of
the nullifiers might be to induce an attack upon this
vessel by the Natches or Experiment, or some other
forcible act which might cast upon the Federal Gov
ernment the odium of striking the first blow in a civil
war, and thus afford the State authorities of South
Carolina a pretext for overt acts of hostility. Too
sagacious to be the dupe of any contrivance for com-
promitting the Federal Government, Commodore Elli
ott immediately informed the French Consul that af
ter the French Brig should have left the port, convoy
would be furnished according to his request. The
following is his answer.
" U. S. Ship Natches, Charleston, S. C.
Jan. 29, 1833.
Sir, — I have had the honor to receive your communica
tion of the 28th inst.- setting forth that (reciting the letter.)
I cannot perceive any just cause of apprehension or alarm
for the safety of said vessel, when in this port, or whilst

296 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
lawfully departing from, or on the coast of the United States.
There is not, however, an immediate necessity for detain
ing the vessels of the United States here in port ; and
should you be possessed of information which may in the
slightest degree expose commerce to a hazard whilst on the
coast, I will most cheerfully employ a portion in its protec
tion. You will please make an early reply to this commu
nication. With the highest consideration,
I have the honor to be
Your ob't serv't,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Count Choiseul,
Consul of France at Charleston."
Three days after sending this letter, Commodore
Elliott received the following, which explained the
cause of the French Consul's apprehensions, and
showed that the information concerning the fitting
out of an armed vessel at Charleston was correct.
" Consulate of France at Charleston.
Charleston, 1st Feb. 1833.
Sir, — The communication which you did me the honor
of addressing me on the 29th ult. reached me yesterday
at a late hour; the circumstance will serve as my apology
for not answering it sooner. The apprehensions of the
captain of the brig l'Aigle were awakened by the fact of a
small schooner having sailed on the very day on which the
brig was to have put to sea, with a crew of twenty men,
after having got on board a number of small arms. This
led the captain of the Aigle to fear that a piratical at
tack might be made on his vessel. The commander of the
U. S. Schooner Experiment has informed me that in conse
quence of orders received from you, he is ready to convoy the
Aigle. I request you will be pleased, Sir, to receive my
thanks for your friendly assistance, and I have the honor of
informing you that the Aigle will be ready to sail on Sun
day, 3d inst. should that day be convenient to you.
I have the honor of offering you
the assurance of the high consideration
with which I am, Sir, your ob't serv't,
J. De CHOISEUL.
Com. J. D. Elliott,
&c. &c. &c."

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 297
To this Captain Elliott made the following reply.

"U. S. Ship Natches, Charleston, S. C.
Feb. 6th, 1833.
Sir, — I have but this moment received your communica
tion of the 1st instant, and of course have remained unap
prised until now at what precise time the French Brig
Eagle would depart from the port of Charleston. On Sun
day morning, however, a brig bearing the flag of France pass
ed within hail of the Natchez, and asked for convoy ; the
officer, presuming her to be the Eagle, despatched the U. S.
Schooner Experiment with her, and I have much pleasure
in saying that Lieutenant Commandant Mervine left the
Eagle in the Gulf Stream, with a strong S. W. wind and a
favorable current of at least two and a half miles per hour.
It affords me a very great gratification, when I assure you of
the pleasure I feel at having it in my power to render as
sistance to the agent of a nation whom the Executive of the
Government of the United States recognizes as an early
friend and ally, and whose citizens, whilst residing amongst
us, show no disposition to identify themselves in the po
litical concerns of the country. I beg you, my dear Sir,
to feel assured that while in command of the naval force
at Charleston, of my readiness to be at all times at your
service. I embrace the opportunity of again renewing the consider
ation, with which I have the honor to be
Your ob't serv't, J. D. ELLIOTT.
Count Choiseul,
Consul of France at Charleston."

This correspondence having been transmitted to
the Navy Department, Commodore Elliott received
from the Secretary of the Navy the following testi
monial of approbation.

" Navy Department, Feb. Ulh, 1833.
I have received your letter of the 7th, enclosing the corres
pondence with the French Consul at Charleston, relative to

298 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
convoy for the Brig Aigle, and am much gratified with the
character of the correspondence.
I am respectfully, Sir,
Your ob't serv't,
LEVI WOODBURY.
Com. J. D. Elliott,
Commanding Naval Station,
Charleston, S. C.
Of all the public services in which Captain Elliott
has been engaged, this was the most delicate, the
most embarrassing, which most required prudence,
sagacity and resolution. The excitement among
the nullifiers of South Carolina was extreme, and the
slightest manifestation of rashness or irresolution on
the part of either Commodore Elliott or General
Scott, might have led to events of which the bare con
templation is horrible. Fortunate indeed was it for
the Nation that the present executive was then in
office ; for without the inflexible resolution of Gene
ral Jackson, this attempt upon the integrity of the
Union might have succeeded, at least for a season.
That it would have been finally frustrated, no one
can reasonably doubt ; but that with a more timid
policy at Washington, some desperate steps would
have been taken, is equally certain. The people of
this great Republic may differ in opinion about the
propriety or expediency of some measures adopted by
the present Executive. May they never cease to
differ about public measures generally, for such dif
ference, if temperately manifested, if restrained by re
spect fox law, indicates that wholesome vigilance,
that salutary watching of public servants, which is
the best preservative of liberty. General Jackson has
his partizans and opponents, his friends and his foes.
This only proves that he has sufficient force of cha
racter to create both. The greatest men have been
depreciated, and the best reviled, by the envious or
the malignant ; aim detraction is always industrious

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 299
or loud, in proportion to the magnitude of its object.
Indeed it may be truly said that no man ever deserved
to have friends without creating enemies. But while
the patriotic and the wise may entertain different
opinions about many measures of the present execu
tive, while they may differ about the doctrines set
forth in his celebrated proclamation, they must nev
ertheless admit that his promptitude and firmness
arrested the rapid march of this dispute to a forcible
issue, and saved the Nation from the horrors of a
civil war.
It is also fortunate for the nation that General Scott
and Commodore Elliott were in command of the land
and naval forces of the Union at Charleston, during
this portentous crisis. Firmness and address were
necessary. In selecting these officers, the President
knew his men. Their valor, constancy and sagacity
had been thoroughly tried on former occasions.
Every friend of the Union may gratefully affirm that
these qualities did not fail them on this.
It now becomes necessary to state a fact which not
only shows the professional sagacity of Commodore
Elliott, but may serve to convince the disaffected peo
ple of Charleston, that, while sent there to maintain
the laws of the Union against their threatened vio
lence, he was not unmindful Of their interests as a
part of that Union. From its Southern position, he
saw that Charleston was exceedingly eligible as a
naval station for the rendezvous, fitting out and re
pairing of sloops of war and other small vessels for
the West India station, and that the bar at its mouth
was no obstacle to the passage of such vessels. He
also adverted to the frequent, yet groundless com
plaints of Southern politicians about the neglect of
the South and the expenditure of public money at
the North. Being an ardent friend, not only to the
navy, but to the Union, he thought that a dock yard

300 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
at Charleston would not only be very useful to the
former, but would tend, in some degree, to allay the
spirit of discontent in South Carolina, by creating a
new tie between it and the latter. He suggested this
project to the Secretary of the Navy, who, at once
perceiving its importance, requested his views at large
upon the subject. Captain Elliott immediately ap
plied to several citizens of Charleston, soliciting par
ticular information from each upon various specified
subjects. To Messrs. Thomas Bennett and Edward
Carew he wrote thus:

" Charleston, April 11, 183a.
U. S. Naval Station.
Gentlemen, — At my suggestion, the Hon. the Secretary
of the Navy has taken into consideration the subject of the
location of a naval establishment at the port of Charleston,
S. C. and has called on me for such remarks as may throw
light on the subject. The residence I have had among you
does not sufficiently enable me to judge correctly on all the
points which would seem to be embraced in the instructions
of the Government, and I would ask leave to throw myself
on your kindness in obtaining information on the following
points, viz.
Does the country contiguous to Charleston, and within
striking distance, afford a supply of live oak, white oak, yel
low pine, and masting timber, in sufficient quality and quan
tity to meet the probable wants of a Naval Establishment,
for the constructing, masting and repairs of Sloops of War
and smaller vessels ? The prices at which the same could
be delivered ; the knees and beams sided and cut to mould,
the planks sawed, and mastings in the rough ?"

To Messrs. James Marsh and James Poyas.
(Beginning as in the last.) — " The probable number of me
chanics which could be obtained at and in the vicinity of
Charleston, to work in a dock yard when established ; such
as ship-carpenters, ship-joiners, ship-smiths, boat-builders,
block-makers, and common laborers for daily work ; and
amount of wages for each 1"

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 301
To Messrs. Elias Horry and Mitchell King.
The possibility of finding a quarry

of stone in this vicinity, suited to the facing of wharves,
the foundation of buildings ? And the quantity and price of
brick?" " To Dr. Johnston and Dr. Dickson.
The mortality of Charleston during

the years from 1S17 to 1833 ; its comparison with other cities
on the sea coast ; with the means by which a population
may be rendered healthy, operating on the margin of one of
the rivers passing the city of Charleston, and contiguous
to it?"
" To Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, Gen. Daniel E. Huger, Hon.
Henry Middleton.
 . What are your views on the pro
priety of locating a Navy Yard at Charleston ?"
As this project has not yet been abandoned by Cap
tain EUiott, the two following letters of recent date,
to Mr. Pinckney, Representative in Congress from
South Carolina, may be interesting to the reader.
"Commandant's Office, Navy Yard,
Boston, Jan. 17th, 1835.
Sir, — I duly received yours of the 12th instant. As one
of the Board of Commissioners for selecting suitable sites
for naval depots and military works for maritime defence,
prior to 1826, 1 examined particularly, with the other members
of the board, the harbor of Charleston, as well as that of
Pensacola, for the purpose of locating a dock yard on our
southern coast. The board, however, at that time gave the
preference to Pensacola, for various reasons.
Subsequent events, sparseness of the population in the vi
cinity of that city, the probability of an union between
Charleston and the western waters by means of railroads,
the abundance of excellent timber material, and the cheap
ness and ease with which it can he obtained, the little pro
gress made in the mechanic arts, and the small amount of
public money expended in South Carolina, united with the
known security and convenient location of the harbor both
for offensive and defensive operations, and for keeping the
26

302 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
black "population of the West Indies arid Southern States
separate," strongly impressed my mind with" the importance
- of ' having a naval depot established at Charleston, during
my late command' khete.
I therefore collected such facts as seemed most worthy '6f
attention in relation to the climate, depth of water on the
bar, favorable position for defence, &c. &c. and communi
cated the same, with my own opinions, to the Hon. Levi
Woodbury, the then Secretary of the Navy, who seemed
favorably impressed toward a speedy establishment.
Since my sojourn here, I find that head mechanics of
science and skill can be procured in this vicinity to take the
directions of the different departments, and that in compar
ing materials and labor, the economy is decidedly in favor
Of the South." " Navy Yard, Boston,
January 20, 1835.
Sir,— Since my letter to you of the 17th instant, I have
called to recollection some few points more in relation to
the proposed establishment of a Dock Yard at Charleston,
South Carolina.
In addition to the increase of trade which Charleston
must derive from the western part of our country, and the
advantages she derives from her central position in the shoal
waters of the South between the Chesapeake and the Tor-
tugas Shoals, she could have an inland water communica
tion nearly with Norfolk, one of the grand positions for the
collection of materials for our Navy. By this means stores
and materials could be sent inland to Charleston, via Wil
mington, within a few miles of which navigation terminates;
secure from a superior force which might harbor outside
upon the coast.
If you look along the coast, you will perceive from the
geographical situation, and the course of the Gulf Stream, in
which all vessels move returning from the Caribbean Sea,
the Gulf of Mexico and the Leeward West India Islands,
that Charleston has a more immediate connection with and
control over that coast, than even the Rock of Gibraltar has
with the Mediterranean Sea.
Whilst in command of the West India Squadron and at
Pensacola, I had occasion to despatch from thence to the
Windward fslands, a portion -of the vessels -under my
charge, with two and a half months' provisions ; and such
was the time occupied in rounding Tortugas Shoals, and

LIFE OF COM, ELLIOTT. 303
getting sufficiently far to the northward and eastward to
make these Islands, that they were forced, from the short
ness of provisions, to return to Pensacola without reaching;
the destined point. I instance particularly the United States
Sloop of War Vincennes, Master Commandant E. R.
Shubrick, Objections may be made to the bar which I have demon
strated myself to be unfounded, as I passed it with the
Natchez Sloop of War when the tide was not up, and con
sider it to be a bar passable by sloops of war of the first
class, and all smaller vessels; and if the same means were
had recourse to that are made use of in our own country,
and in the nor th of Europe, viz. by placing under the bot
toms of larger vessels lighters and camels to buoy them up,
the bar might even be passable by frigates- by the aid of
steamboats to reguiate their movements.
Objection has also been made to the climate, and sup
posed want of health in the vicinity ; but this is unfound
ed, as the result of a close comparison of the bills of mortal
ity of the cities on our coast, where naval operations are
carried on, places it as the third in point of healti ; Boston,
Massachusetts, and Portsmouth, N. Hampshire, being only
before it.
Some attention has been paid to the position of Key^
West and Dry Tortugas ; but I consider that any operations
which the government might carry on there would require
as large a force to defend it as any maritime enemy could'
send against it. The reverse, however, is the case with
Charleston. Should you not succeed in getting a bill for its location
passed at this session of Congress,. and any movement is-.
directed to be made, preparatory to the full explanation of.
the subject at the next, I shall furnish you with a great deal
of pleasure, with all the nautical information in my power)
which you might require."
It is here proper to notice the attention paid by
Captain Elliott to another subject, which, like that last
mentioned, shows his zeal for the interest of the Navy,
for the prosperity of the South, and for the country-
generally. While in command of the West India
squadron in 1830, his attention was devoted to the
subject of cotton canvass as a substitute for hemp, in

304 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
the rigging and fitting of ships. He thought that
wherever the interests of any two sections of the
Union could be rendered mutually dependent, the
bonds of that Union would be multiplied and strength
ened. With these views, he thought that the intro
duction of cotton canvass into the navy would be fol
lowed by very beneficial results. The mercantile
marine of the Union being immense, and its military
marine rapidly increasing, should the whole be fur
nished with cotton instead of hempen canvass, a do
mestic demand would be created for the principal
production of the South, greater than any three
Southern States could supply. One objection of
Southern politicians against a protecting tariff, is the
alleged diminution of a foreign demand for cotton.
Commodore Elliott saw that by this substitution of
cotton forjiempen canvass, this objection would be
obviated, and much progress made in allaying the
spirit of discontent. For the purpose of calling the
attention of the government to this subject, he ad
dressed a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, of
which the following is an extract.
" An experiment was made on board the Natchez, at sea,
with the view of testing the strength of cotton and hempen
canvass, in the following manner. The pieces of each kind
were placed on a horizontal stretch, and thus subjected to a
lateral pressure of iron. A piece of wood, plane on one side
and convex on the other, was interposed between the can
vass and iron, so as to procure a uniform pressure on every
part of the canvass. The results were decidedly in favor of
the cotton canvass, viz.
"No. 2, hemp canvass, new, 2 feet 10 inches square, bore
3790 lbs.
" No. 2, cotton canvass, new, 2 feet 10 inches square, bore
3790 lbs.
"No. 1, hemp canvass, piece of main-top-sail, 2 feet 10
inches square, which had been in use one year and two
months, split, after having had 1616 lbs. placed upon it.
'' No. 1, cotton canvass, piece of jib, same dimensions,

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 30&
which had been in use one year and two months, bore
2768 lbs."
The following extract of a letter of recent date,
upon the same subject, from Commodore Elliott to
Mr. Pinckney, is likewise offered to the reader.
" I am now using the cotton manufacture freely at this
establishment, (the Boston Navy Yard,) both for ships and
crews, and hope soon to see all our ships and seamen cloth
ed with it, which I have no doubt will ultimately contribute
largely to supplant the Russian duck from use."

306 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER. XVII.

The Figure Head of the Constitution.

In the Spring of 1833, after the excitement at Char
leston had subsided, and coercive measures for main
taining the laws of the Union were no longer contem
plated, Commodore Elliott was appointed commandant
of the Navy Yard at Charlestown in Massachusetts.
He arrived there in the Summer, a short time before
the visit of the President to Boston. Here it becomes
a painful duty to contrast the different modes in
which he has been treated upon his Southern and
Northern Stations. As has already been said, he left
South Carolina with the respect and good wishes of the
very persons whom he had been sent there to oppose ;
and during the whole period of his command there,
he was treated by the same persons with the most
punctilious courtesy. While he was in daily, hourly
expectation of being obliged to turn the cannon of
the United States upon the capital of South Carolina,
he was treated by the very chiefs of the insurrection
ary movements which he was sent there to suppress,
with all the politeness which well-bred men always
accord to each other ; with all the respect due to a
public officer, who, though required to perform a
harsh dtsty, still knows how to act an honorable part.
And why was this? Because the foremost spirits of
nullification, however intoxicated with political ani
mosities, could distinguish between the man and the
officer, the individual and the service; because in

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 307
their most violent excitements upon public measures,
they could still be mindful of the courtesies and cha
rities of private life; because they could respect the
principle which, in these days of trafficking and mob
bing, seems fast fading from the American mind,
and will soon become known only in the history of
exploded usages, that public enemies can be private
friends. But how was Commodore Elliott treated upon his
Northern Station 1 The Boston press can tell ! Ay !
The Boston press, that faithful index of public feeling
in that city, discloses a system of falsehood and vitu
peration, which may well claim foT Boston the right
to be called — not " the head quarters of good princi
ples," but " the head quarters of base practices." It is
an unpleasant task to record the faults, vices or crimes
of a sect or community; but if a community, claim
ing pre-eminence in morals and manners, in virtue,
knowledge and refinement, are addicted to censurable
practices, it becomes a public duty to strip off their
mask and expose them as a warning to the rest of the
world. The dominant political party of Boston has
long governed Massachusetts, and exercised a prepon
derating influence over the rest of New England. If
this party fights with poisoned weapons, or otherwise
disregards the rules of honorable warfare, the rest of
the Union should know it; for by such knowledge
will it be able to weigh the merits, scan the preten
sions and estimate the designs of this party or its
champions, and to decide upon the qualifications of
those whom it puts forward as candidates for public
confidence. Practices and proceedings will be disclosed in the
course of these pages, which, if the sense of shame
be not extinguished in the perpetrators, will cause
them to blush whenever they hear the name of Cap
tain Elliott. Before he went to Charlestown, or rather

308 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Boston, he had heard of the reception given by a ma
jority of its citizens to the President's proclamation.
He had heard how they had assembled in Faneueil
Hall, received that document with a spontaneous
and universal burst of applause, and had put forth
their ablest leaders, their champions, to commend it
as the watchword of the constitution and the laws.
A personal friend of the Federal Executive, an ap
prover of this act of its administration, and by the
orders in his pocket, holding his sword ready drawn
to enforce its positions against the mihtary array of
South Carolina, Captain Elliott was gratified by these
manifestations of public feeling, and went upon his
Northern station with very favorable impressions of
Bostonian character. Not long after, the President
went among them. Where was his reception appa
rently more cordial? Who were more ready to salute
him with warm greetings, to strew roses in his path,
and to rend the air with approving shouts as he passed
along? "Let us go and see the President! let us
shake hands with the President! let us pay our re
spects to the President!" were the eager declarations
of every " Whig," then " National Republican," once
"Adam's man," once "Federalist," as he met his
neighbor. The party designations so often changed
to suit their ever changing policy, were all swept
from their memories. They were all administration
men ! They were all Jackson men ! State Execu
tives and City Municipalities were ready with their
technical congratulations; Universities with their
honorary degrees; and crowds with their hands to
be shaken, jostling each other for an opportunity to
be civil. Old wool-dyed politicians forgot the anti
pathies of half a century; "the Monster," ready to
sell opposition at a discount and buy adhesion at a
premium, sent forth its "Presidents, directors and
stockholders" to negotiate its civilities without shav-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 309
ing; and the poor democrats, eager to get a peep at
the man who gained the battle of New Orleans, com
plained that " the Dons of Federalism and monied
aristocracy " blocked up all avenues to his presence.
In short, so pressing, so importunate were his new
friends, that he was obliged to retrace his steps with
out having seen more than a glimpse of New Eng
land, for fear of being killed with kindness.
Was Captain Elliott to suppose all this a spontane
ous burst of genuine feeling, or a mere political farce,
prepared by stock jobbers and vote jobbers to affect
thecourse of the Executive upon some question of pub
lic policy ? He might indeed have supposed that it
was a mere device, invented for the purpose of divert
ing the Executive from its opposition to the Bank of
the United States. But like a sincere and warm
hearted man, he held the former opinion, and imme
diately and cordially joined in all the preparations for
meeting the President. The Constitution frigate
was to be docked for repairs. Captain Elliott, seeing
every man striving to be foremost in respectful con
gratulations, seeing Andrew Jackson received with all
the enthusiasm which the greatest favorite can ever
hope, with all which they had ever shown to the great
and good Lafayette, with all which they had shown,
years before, to the revolutionary Monroe, seeing
that they would not let him rest from their civilities
by day or by night, and even shod with silver the
horse on which he rode, justly conceived that he could
not perform an act more gratifying to the people of
Boston, than by placing upon the bows of what they
called their favorite ship, the image of the very man
before whose living image they were then almost bow
ing down to worship. He communicated his views
to the commissioners of the Navy, who gave to the
act their official sanction. Was there no precedent
for this? Has the image of no public man, of no

310-! LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
President of the United States, ever before appear
ed upon any of our national ships ? During the ad
ministration of John Adams, his own image was
placed upon the corvette John Adams. The same
ship has been rebuilt upon an enlarged scale, and the
same image has been placed upon it — by the present
administration. Under the administration of James
Monroe, the image of Washington was placed upon
the Washington, that of Franklin upon the Franklin,
that of Columbus upon the Columbus, that of Sir
Walter Raleigh upon the North Carolina, and that of
Commodore Stewart upon the Cyane. Under the ad
ministration of John Quincy Adams, the head of De
Witt Clinton, then Governor of New York, was exe
cuted for the New York, now building at Norfolk.
Under the same administration, the head of Captain
John Smith was placed upon the bow of the Potomac,
and his coat of arms upon her stern. For this act
then there were precedents in abundance. A question
may indeed be raised about the propriety of adorning
public ships with the images of public men, especial
ly if living. The practice may be, and probably is
fraught with evil tendencies, for it probably leads di
rectly to that undue respect for individuals, that man-
worship, which is inconsistent with the spirit of re
publicanism. It would doubtless be better if no sta
tues or images were tolerated upon our public ships
or public buildings, excepting those which are strictly
emblematical, or which represent mere abstractions.
The sentiment that should be most carefully nur
tured in a republic, is respect for the laws, without
regard to the persons who administer them ; and one
of the most effectual modes of inculcating this senti
ment is, to diseourage extreme respect for individuals.
If the magistrate be worshipped, the laws will be for
gotten and he will be set above them. But while the
practice of erecting statues and images is tolerated,

BIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 311
while precedents are furnished in abundance, there is
as much propriety in putting the image 6f one Presi
dent upon a national ship, as another ; and if the im
age and the arms of a British knight are put upon a
ship, as were those of John Smith upon the Potomac,
and of Walter Raleigh upon the North Carolina, there
can be no substantial reason for refusing the honor,
if such it may be caUed, to an American President.
Captain Elliott therefore, in doing what had been of
ten done before, should not be particularly obnoxious
to censure, should not be particularly singled out for
denunciation ; more especially as he was impelled,
not only by proper respect for the Chief Magistrate of
the nation, but by an amiable wish to gratify a com
munity which had been so lavish, and apparently so
cordial and sincere, in its congratulations and mani
festations of good will.

' But soon there came a frost !

The deposits were removed! Then came curses
loud and deep from the very mouths which, a few
short weeks before, had rent the air with hozannas
and shouts of welcome. If they deemed this measure
an act of executive usurpation, a perversion of law,
they were justified in denouncing it in strong, yet
temperate phrase ; for all perversions of law, by what
ever branch or officer of the government they may be
made, should be met in the very threshold by firm,
yet temperate resistance. It is the duty of each artd
all to resist executive encroachment as well as corpo
rate corruption; to guard the public liberties from
being hewn down by the public sword, as well as
from being bought up by the public money. But if
this change from oriental prostration to incendiary
-reviling were wrought by The designing few upon the
deluded many, because a few stock jobbing calcula
tions were defeated, it can elicit no other sentiment

312 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
from enlightened and independent minds, than exe
cration of the leaders and contempt of the followers ;
execration and contempt for that rabble-like, mob-like
spirit which can fawn and crouch to-day and revile
to-morrow, accordingly as its interests of the moment
are subserved or disregarded.
The deposits being removed, the President of the
United States, " that venerable old gentleman, so
frank, so cordial in his demeanor, so winning, so
affable, so polite, who said so many civil things of
New England, who paid so many fine compliments
to our city, who expressed such admiration of our
militia, who bowed so gracefully and rode a horse
so well," is transformed back again into " a roaring
lion, an Arab chief, a tyrant, a bully, an ignoramus."
The directors of Universities begin to quarrel about
recalling their honorary degrees ; and Captain Elliott,
whose arm had been almost shaken from its socket
in the days of greeting, is denounced as the humble,
subservient tool of a tyrant, defiling a national ship
with a tyrant's image, and loading the nation's guns
to awe the sovereign people into bowing down to
adore it. Then it is discovered that the Consti
tution Frigate belongs, not to the United States,
but to Boston! Ay! to the North End! Then
it is discovered that to put the image of the Presi
dent of the United States of America upon a na
tional ship, by order of the commissioners and direct
ors of the national marine, is a flagrant and pre
meditated insult to the " Boston Boys," because this
ship happened to be built at Boston some thirty-
seven years ago, and because the majority of sailors
recruited for it were New Englanders, whenever
it happened to be recruited or repaired on a New
England station ! Then are hoisted the flood gates
of editorial vituperation, and down pours the foul
torrent upon the devoted head of a brave and ho-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 313
norable officer, whose crime was an attempt to please
his defamers.
But a wish to please the people of Boston, then ap
parently so delighted with the President, was not the
only object of Captain Elliott in ordering this image.
He had higher views ! nobler aims ! A chief induce- '
ment was to promote the popularity of the navy in
that section of the country where it had never been
a favorite, the West. He thought that as the Presi
dent was very popular in the West, and withal highly
partial to the navy, he might mitigate the hostility
with which this arm of the national defence had al
ways been viewed in the great Western- States, by
exhibiting him in immediate and friendly connection
with it. It is needless to descant upon the influence
of associations. Captain Elliott believed in such in
fluence, and was disposed to direct it to a purpose of
public utility. The Constitution was the favorite
ship on the sea-board. She was the first to break the
charm of England's naval invincibility; the first to
carry " the star spangled banner " upon the mountain
wave, in victory over the cross of St. George. She
had therefore become hallowed in the associations of
every citizen of the sea-board, as an emblem, an ab
straction of his country's maritime glory. Nor was
the name of Andrew Jackson less interwoven in all
associations of victory upon land, in the mind of
every son of the West. To place the image of the
most popular man of the West upon the favorite ship
of the East, would present the navy to the Western
people with associations of a new and friendly cha
racter. Nor was the partiality of the President for
the navy the only light in which Captain Elliott
sought, by this act, to present him to the Western
people. The reader will recollect the decided stand
taken by the President, on all occasions, in support
of the Federal Union. He will recollect the sentiment
27

314 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
offered by him at a public dinner at Washington,
upon the birth day of Mr. Jefferson, where it is more
than supposed that zeal for the Union was not the
ruling passion of the ruling spirits of the occasion :
" The Federal Union ; it must be preserved !" Par
ticularly will he recollect the proclamation, and the
military preparations to maintain the laws of the
Union in South Carolina; measures which, however
politicians may differ about their political character
or tendencies, certainly proved the sincerity of the
President's professions of attachment " to the Federal
Union." Captain Elliott thought that by placing the
image of Andrew Jackson upon the frigate Constitu
tion, he should not only imply to the whole nation
that the President was friendly to the Union and the
Constitution, but also excite in the mind of every
eitizen the thought, that, with the Union were inse
parably connected the naval and military glories of
the country. He had yet another object. He wished
to present the President to the citizens of the East as
the preserver of their favorite ship, the Constitution.
While Mr. Branch was at the head of the Navy De
partment, the commissioners of the navy, or a major
ity of them, thought of breaking up the Constitution.
Mr. Branch consulted the President upon the subject,
who promptly replied, " The Constitution must be
preserved." All these considerations united induced Captain
Elliott to propose the head or image of the President
as a suitable ornament for the bow of the Constitu
tion. At the same time, he proposed as ornaments
for her stern, the heads of Hull, Bainbridge, and
Stewart, the commanders of " Old Ironsides " in her
three several victories over the Guerriere, the Java,
and the Cyane and Levant. As before said, the
Commissioners approved of the whole proceeding,
and an artist was employed to execute the work.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 315
For proof that this effort of Commodore Elliott to
render the navy popular in the west was not entirely
unavailing, the reader is referred to a sentiment offered
at the celebration of the national anniversary at Har-
risburgh, on the 4th of July, 1834, at which the go
vernor of the state was present. The objects of the
toasts were " Old Ironsides " and " Commodore Elliott,
a son of Pennsylvania," and the subject was his firm
ness in resisting the efforts of the Boston aristocracy
in the affair of the figure head. If this be not the
first instance in which a direct compliment has been
paid to the navy, or to any particular ship, in the in
terior of the Middle or Western States, such instances
have been rare. However inconsiderable they may
seem, they serve to indicate and to affect public senti
ment. The more frequently the navy can be pre
sented to the public mind by complimentary notices,
the greater is the probability of its becoming a popular
favorite. It is natural for the citizens of Pennsylva
nia to feel an interest in the fame of Commodore Elli
ott, because he is a Pennsylvaniati ; and if his cha
racter reflects honor upon that State, if he be a per
sonage of whom that great andenlightened State may
justly be proud, it is more than probable, for it is na
tural, that Pennsylvania should be well disposed to
wards the navy upon his aceount.
But the removal of the deposits having raised the
Bostonians from their genuflections into an attitude
of " resistance to a tyrant," it became a part of their
new policy to abandon shaking hands with Captain
Elliott as the President's particular friend, and to
denounce him as the tyrant's subservient tool. Mur
murs of dissatisfaction began to circulate, and occa
sionally to appear in newspapers. The ground of
complaint seemed to be the placing of a Western man's
image upon a ship which was claimed as the exclu
sive property of Massachusetts, or rather of Boston.

316 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Even the artist who carved the image was beset with
remonstrances. Captain Elliott, informed of these
proceedings, of this growing complaint, applied to the
Commissioners of the navy for directions ; for as he
had undertaken the affair in part to gratify the peo
ple of Boston and its vicinity, he did not wish unne
cessarily and wantonly to irritate a local prejudice,
which claimed, however absurdly, one of the national
ships as the exclusive property of Boston. He sup
posed that the objectors, entertaining no hostility
against the image of General Jackson, and merely
wishing to have what they were pleased to call their
own ship adorned with no other images than those of
Bostonians, or at least of New-England men, would
be perfectly satisfied and would cease from complain
ing, if any other destination were given to the image
in question. But being a Pennsylvanian, and imper
fectly acquainted with the state of society in Boston,
he knew not the spirit of its politics. He did not then
know that its ruling party, claiming all its "respecta
bility," considered all expedients lawful to gain a po
litical end, and felt no compunctions in shooting with
poisoned arrows or stabbing with poisoned knives.
He did not then know that to a political adversary,
no quarter was to be given ; that he was to be hunted
both abroad and at home, at his business or his fire
side ; that in the veritable spirit of the bull of excom
munication recorded in Tristram Shandy, they cursed
him in all parts and interdicted him from every
thing ; that they cursed him as Uncle Toby would
not curse a dog! That there are honorable exceptions
from this description, "Like angel visits, few and far between,"
is true ; but that the description is strictly applicable
to a majority of its Whiggism, its Federalism, its Na-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOT. 317
tional Republicanism, its high tariffism, its anti-
tariffism, its nullificationism, or whatever ism may be
assumed to favor the policy of the day, can never be
doubted by those who, like Captain Elliott, have been
subjected to the domiciliary visits of its political al-
guazils. He did not then know the character of the
people with whom he had to deal, and consequently
knew not the difficulties of his position. To be ap
peased was no part of their policy. All the energies
of the National Bank were now summoned against
the Executive, and recruits were to be called from all
quarters. The President, and all who supported his
views of this institution, whether active or passive as
politicians, were to be assailed; and every individual
and every subject connected with him or his admin
istration, directly or remotely, were devoted to the
sacrifice. Captain Elliott was a " Jackson man," and
the " Figure Head" was a good subject for the decla
mation, the detraction or the falsehood of the press.
Nor was this the only object. Captain Elliott was
a Democrat of the Old School. The dominant party
of Boston could not forgive him for this, and were re
solved to drive him from their vicinity. Boston Fede
ralists of influence were heard to say, " Captain El
liott is too republican for this quarter ; we must get
rid of him, and have his place filled by some one of
more congenial politics."
The Secretary and Commissioners of the Navy, in
reply to his application for directions under the cir
cumstances then existing, left to his option the plac
ing of the image upon the Constitution, or upon any
ship of the line then building or repairing at Charles
town. Here, had Captain Elliott been treated with
the courtesy due to the occasion, to his station and to
himself, the affair would have terminated peaceably,
the image would have been placed upon some other
27*

318 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
ship, and the disgraceful scenes which have since fol
lowed, would have been prevented.
But before Captain Elliott received his directions
from the Navy Department, the press had opened its
batteries of vituperation ; for a peaceful termination
of the controversy was never intended by those who
began it. An incendiary handbill was stuck about
the streets of Boston, fraught with the ferocious spirit
of mischief which characterises these mob-ruling
days. It called upon " the Boston Boys," the " North
Enders," to assemble a body, and with force, lawless,
mob-like force, to invade the premises of the nation,
and to tear down from a national ship the image of
the national Executive, lawfully placed there by the
nation's constituted authorities ! To give the reader
a specimen of the respectable missives which some
times issue from Boston printing offices, which are
stuck at the corners of Boston streets, upon Boston
Banks, Boston Insurance Offices, Boston Court Houses
and Boston municipal Halls, and which are read by
Boston politicians with approving smiles, and men
tioned with approving comments, the handbill is here
offered, verbatim, et liter atum et punctuatim.
"FREEMEN AWAKE!
OH THE CONSTITUTION WILL SINK.
It is a fact that the old ' Glory President,' has issued his
special orders for a Colossean Figure of his Royal Self in
Roman Costume, to be placed as a figure head on OLD
IRONSIDES!! ! Where is the spirit of '76?— where the
brave Tars who fought and conquered in the glorious ship,
where the Mechanics, and where the Bostonians who have
rejoiced in her achievements? Will they see the Figure of
a Land Lubber at her bows ? No, let the cry be ' all hands
on deck' and save the ship by a timely remonstrance express
ing our indignation in a voice of thunder !
"Let us assemble in the ' Cradle of Liberty,' all hands up
for the Constitution— let the figure head (if mortal man be
wortky) be that of the brave HULL, the immortal DECA
TUR, or the valiant PORTER, and not that of a Tyrant.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 319
Let us not give up the ship, but nail the flag of the Union to
the mast head, and let her ride the mountain wave trium
phant, with none aboard but the Sons of Liberty, all flesh
and blood, having the hearts and souls of Freemen.
" North-enders ! shall this Boston built ship be thus dis
graced without remonstrance. Let this Wooden God, this
Old Roman, building at the expense of 300 dollars of the
People's money, be presented to the Office Holders who
glory in such worship, but for God's sake SAVE THE
SHIP from this foul disgrace. A NORTH-ENDER."
Did that portion of the Boston press which is op
posed to the Federal administration, contain no re
buke of this threatened violence? no caution against
this meditated infringement of the laws? None!
None!! NONE!!! On the contrary, publications ap
peared in it tending directly to excite the very spirit
which produced this threat, and to encourage its
execution ; and citizens of acknowledged influence,
who claim their share in giving a tone to public sen
timent, were heard openly to express their hopes that
the Constitution might never be permitted to leave
the harbor with the President's image upon its bows.
The press, and those who control and support it,
called loudly upon Commodore Elliott to take the
image off, and charged him with deliberate, studied
and flagrant insult to the Boston community for re
fusing. The image was ordered by Captain Elliott in June,
1833, while the President was at Boston. About the
last of February, 1834, several months after the in
tention of thus adorning the ship was publicly known,
the artist informed Captain Elliott of the complaints
preferred at that late hour, who immediately addressed
the Navy Department upon the subject. On or about
the 2lst of March, the artist informed Captain Elliott
that three highly respectable citizens had offered him
fifteen hundred dollars for permission to carry the

320 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
image away in the night ; in other words, to steal it!!
He added that he might, if disposed, realise twenty
thousand dollars for it; so great was the excitement
then prevailing in Boston. His object being to point
out the necessity of removing it immediately, since
those willing to pay so much for permission to pur
loin it, might pay as much in hiring others to destroy
it, Captain Elliott ordered it to the Navy Yard with
out delay. At the same time, he adopted every mea
sure to insure its safe arrival, which all these incen
diary publications and proceedings proved to be ne
cessary. Immediately after the image was deposited in the
Navy Yard, the agitators of Boston, finding they
could not prevent it from being put upon the ship,
were resolved upon an attempt to have it taken off.
The editor of a leading whig paper, now perhaps the
leading whig paper of Boston, was importuned to ply
his editorial guns with more vigor than ever. He
was told that the image must come off ; that Captain
EUiott having thus far sustained himself in this as
sault, a reaction would ensue in his favor, unless he
were vanquished. The war then must be continued,
and the Figure Head must come off! Then appeared
another handbill ; and to give the sober citizens of
other States a specimen of what can be done and ap
proved by the dominant party of Massachusetts, a
party claiming " all the talents, all the learning, all
the respectability" of the State, it is here inserted.
"A PETTY TYRANT!
Bostonians ! See you this ? ! ! !
" Captain Percival, a brave and distinguished officer of the
American Navy is under arrest by order of Commodore
Elliott, for refusing to arm the men with cutiasses, who were
sent under his charge to remove the Commodore's Toy to
the Navy Yard. Captain Percival knew, that an American
officer in the discharge of his duty, however disagreeable it

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 321
might be to himself, or offensive to the feelings of our citi
zens, needed no such hostile display to ensure the respect
and protection of the intelligent citizens of Boston, and he
therefore dared to do what it appears the Commodore him
self would not have dared. It was the Commodore who
feared that the exasperated feelings of the community might
induce them to attempt the destruction of his wooden idol !
and was determined it should be protected at the sacrifice of
the lives of our citizens, when blood was to have been the
atonement for a profanation of the sacred image ! !
" Who is this brave, this magnanimous and blood thirsty
Commodore? Is he the same Captain Elliott who com
manded the Ship Niagara at the battle of Lake Erie, and
who, when the brave and lamented Perry was dealing death
and desolation to the enemies of his country, and winning
for her naval reputation imperishable renown, and for himself
the greenest laurels ; is he the hero who then stood off like
a poor man at a frolic, and barely kept his ship within reach
of the enemy's longest guns, and would have disgraced his
ship, had not Perry himself promptly boarded her, and
brought her into action, in time to participate in the glorious
result. " Is this the same man who declared to Commodore Perry
that he had lost the finest opportunity an officer ever had for
distinguishing himself, — and afterwards when chagrined
and mortified at reflection upon his own cowardly conduct,
expressed his regret that he did not ' sacrifice the American
fleet, — and blast the reputation of its gallant commander?'
Was it he of whom the British officers who commanded on
that occasion declared — ' that if he had belonged to the
British Navy he would have been hanged?' If this is the
man, fellow citizens, has he not already done enough to tar
nish the high reputation of the navy, which is the pride and
boast of every American ? And ought he not to be held up
to the scorn and contempt of an indignant community, for
this further attempt to degrade the service, by placing this
device of his weak imagination, this wooden representation
of the Old Soldier King, as a suitable emblem for the head of
our Constitution, the battle-scarred and storm-beaten Old
Ironsides, who, without any such 'ornament,' and with
nothing but the stars and stripes of her country's banner
floating above her, will ever be the pride of her friends, and
the terror of her enemies, without any 'improvement' or
'glory' which Commodore Elliott can add to the republican
simplicitv of her own matchless Hull ! ! !

322 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
" Boston Boys — In the days of '74-'75, when the minions
of despotic power dared to insult and outrage the feelings of
the people, by wanton acts and threats of petty tyranny, they
received at the hands of your fathers such brief and summa
ry punishment as their conduct merited — a coat of tar and
feathers, was then considered a suitable emblem and orna
ment for such contemptible fools.
"TEA PARTY.
" Cradle of Liberty, March 27, 1834."
As Captain Percival has been brought before the
public by this handbill, in an attitude in which few
American officers would wish to stand, justice to him,
as well as to Commodore Elliott, requires that the facts
should be correctly reported. The handbill charges
the Commodore with ordering the men to be armed,
who were sent to transport the figure head from
Boston to the Navy Yard. If he had any ground for
apprehending an attempt to steal or carry it away,
he would have been very negligent of his duty in
omitting such precaution. But the handbill also
says that Captain Percival refused to obey this order,
and thus accuses him of an act of insubordination,
of contemptuous disobedience of a lawful order, which
could never be tolerated in any military service, and
which would have cost him his commission. Cap
tain Percival was too well informed upon his official
rights and duties, to commit a folly so flagrant. He
was indeed guilty of disobedience of orders ; but the
disobedience was of a much more venial character
than that imputed to him in the handbill, and had a
shadow of pretext; a color of right. He received a
verbal and confidential order from Commodore Elliott,
to receive certain arms from the gunner; which
would be sent to him by Captain Smith, the Execu
tive Officer of the Yard, who was verbally and confi
dentially ordered to deliver the arms to the gunner,
to be delivered to Captain Percival. When the arms
were carried to him by the gunner, he refused to re-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 323
ceiye them without a written order from Captain
Smith. Here he was in the wrong. A verbal order
delivered in person from a commanding to a subordi
nate officer, is equally obligatory with a written order,
and disobedience of it is often deemed a greater mili
tary offence, than disobedience of the latter. A writ
ten order may be forged; but in a verbal order,
personally delivered, there is no room for doubt or
misunderstanding. So sensible was Captain Percival
of having committed an error, that he made a satis
factory explanation the very next morning after the
occurrence, and was immediately liberated from his
arrest and restored to his command. The following
letter from Commodore Elliott to the Secretary of the
Navy, places the affair in its true light.
"Navy Yard, Boston, March 31st, 1834.
Sir, — As the operations of this yard have of late been
subjected to the criticism and unnecessary attention of a
few of the citizens of Boston and its environs, and as seve
ral of my official acts have been misrepresented through the
public prints, f have deemed it my duty to give the depart
ment a statement of facts relating to the subject, that should
any call be made upon it for documents, it may be enabled
to comply with it by answering the whole subject at once.
Having understood from the artist who was to carve the
figure head for the Constitution, and from handbills exten
sively distributed outside, that threats had been made against
its completion or removal, and wishing to prevent the people
of Boston from being eternally disgraced by a few heated
political partizans through a midnight removal. I determined
to remove the head to the yard in the usual manner, that is
by boxing it up and bringing it from Boston in the launch.
I accordingly on the 21st inst. directed Sailing Master
Hixpn, upon whose discretion I could rely, with a boat's
crew composed of the seamen and ordinary seamen of the
yard to proceed to Boston and receive the head. I also or
dered him not to take any arms with him, nor to let any of
his party.
The officer executed his duty at 9 o'clock in the morning,
and the whole affair was concluded to my entire satisfac ¦
tion.

324 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
In the evening of the same day, having been informed by
anonymous hand bills and report of conversations outside,
that an attempt would be made to take the head from the
yard, I sent for Master Commandant Percival, and directed
bim confidentially to receive on board the Columbus, certain
cutlasses and boarding pikes that would be sent down to him
by Captain Smith, so that in case of any necessity, they
could be used by the seamen and ordinary seamen belonging
to the yard ; but of this necessity, I stated to both him and
Captain Smith confidentially I had no expectation; but
still I deemed it my duty to take this precautionary mea
sure. Captain Percival received this order without raising a
question against complying with it, and went on board, as I
concluded, to make the necessary preparations for having it
executed. Captain Smith, the executive officer of the yard, was then
ordered to send the arms on board ; this he did by giving in
structions to the gunner to go with them.
Upon the gunner's going on board the ship, Captain
Percival sent for him and refused to receive them without a
written order from Captain Smith. The gunner then went
for Captain Smith, but not finding him, returned and took
the arms away.
The gunner then reported the same to me, when I sent
for Captain Percival and demanded an explanation ; this he
refused to give in any other manner than by saying he would
receive no orders from a gunner. I told him that it was my
order, and he knew it previously ; he again replied he would
receive no order from a gunner or any officer of a navy yard.
I then suspended him from duty, and placed the direction of
the ship in the hands of Lieutenant Varnum, who received
the arms and executed the order with promptness.
The next day Captain Smith came to me, and said that
Captain Percival was wrong, and would probably make an
explanation that would be satisfactory.
Captain Percival did so, as per copy marked A, and was re
stored to duty as per copy marked B. This, sir, is the true
statement of the case, and I should not have deemed it ne
cessary to bring it to the notice of the Department, were it
not for the attempt that has been made to produce a wrong
impression upon the public mind, without a proper disposi
tion to correct it. Respectfully, J. D. ELLIOTT.
Hon. Levi Woodbury, Sec'y of the Navy."

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 325
Nor were these handbills the only missives that
appeared in this controversy. Anonymous letters,
aye! anonymous letters! that detestable expedient
which, it may be boldly affirmed, is carried to a far
greater extent in Boston than in any other city in the
Union, were poured upon Captain Elliott in showers.
Perhaps nothing can so thoroughly indicate a want
of virtuous principle and honorable feeling, as the
writing of anonymous letters. The late Mr. Ran
dolph once said in the Federal Senate, that he who
would write an anonymous letter, would put poison
in his neighbor's drink. The declaration is true;
for to be capable of writing an anonymous letter to
another for the purpose of threatening or insulting, or
of another for the purpose of defaming, one must
unite all the qualities that may define an assassin,
and be restrained from any crime, however atrocious
or base, by fear of punishment, and not by horror of
guilt. He is a combination of the villain and the
coward ; he is restrained, if at all, by the lash and
the halter, and not by honor or conscience. The
following inclosed the handbill last mentioned.
"Boston, April 30, 1834.
Mr. Elliott,
Sir, — I have visited the Navy Yard this afternooD, and
was favored with a view of that detestable TYRANT whom
you worship. I consider the public ships as my property —
as every other friend of his country — I must say, Sir, that I
look upon you as an enemy to your country, as you appear
in all respects to worship the man who has dared to set at
defiance the will of the sovereign people. You will see in
the enclosed handbill what seven eighths of the citizens feel
towards those who are ready, as you have been in this, to
follow the track of the old scoundrel whom you take as a
pattern. AN ENEMY TO TYRANTS."
The same handbill was published in a very scur
rilous newspaper called "The Experiment," a paper
28

326 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
which was extensively patronized by the " Whig"
party of Boston, and which at length became so ex
cessively libellous, that, upon complaint of some mem
bers of the Democratic party, it was indicted as a
nuisance. This handbill, cut from "The Experi
ment." was sent to Captain Elliott, inclosed in the
following anonymous letter.
"Dear Sir, — I would advise you to wear a tar and feather
proof coat the next time you walk in Boston streets, also to
read the within twice a day.
NO FRIEND TO COWARDS."
The following is an extract from a " Whig" news
paper published in Charlestown, called the "Bunker
Hill Aurora," and from thence republished in the
leading "Whig" paper of Boston, and emphatically
the organ of the "Whig" party of Massachusetts.
This extract was transmitted to Commodore Elliott
in an anonymous letter.
"THE WOODEN fMAGE.
" The ' wooden Andrew Jackson' has been placed on the
bows of the noble and venerated ship, the Constitution.
We have since visited the Navy Yard, and witnessed the
desecration of this national ship to the very worst impulses
of party sycophancy — man worship ! We can regard the
completion of this act of Commodore Elliott's in no other
light than that of a mean and contemptible outrage upon the
public feeling, merely to gratify his own partizan partiality. It
is a partizan act of one in the pay of the government, who
is paid for his services, for attending to the proper discharge
of his official duty, and not for the adoption of measures of
a. party character, not for making ' graven images' for
Individual or public worship. It is an improper and obnoxi
ous expenditure of the public money, for which he should
be held accountable. We are not disposed nor authorized to
dictate to Commodore Elliott the line of his duty. If we
vyere, we should tell him he had overstepped his bounds,
and suffered his private feelings, to the detriment of the pub
lic mind, to guide and govern, where a better discretion and

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 327
judgment ought to have directed. °The act is one of marked
self-sufficiency ; of a warm partizan discharging the official
duties of his station under the impulses of personal adula
tion and sycophancy. It is an act which is now, and will
prove hereafter, if it get on the page of history at all, dis
creditable to his judgment, his liberality, his patriotism and
public virtue. A man who could be guilty of such an act,
in defiance of that portion of the public most interested in
it ; in outrage of their unmingled feelings of patriotism and
veneration for their favorite ship ; and all this from no im
pulse of duty, from no bounden obligation to his country
or its welfare, but from the weakest and most contemptible
servility, from an idle gratification of a partizan feeling,
must be looked upon by all sensible men with pity and com
miseration, rather than respect. We have no patience to
exercise towards such a public agent."
Whence came these respectable, these chivalrous
communications to Captain Elliott? They bear not
the stamp of vulgar villany. They are not scrawl
ed in the constrained and awkward characters of one
to whose " huge paws" the pen was a stranger ; nor
on paper grimed and smooched and smutted by the
unclean hands of some humble rioter ! Oh no !
True, the characters are disguised ; but from beneath
the assumed constraint, the counterfeit sharp turns,
peeps out the facility of some practised penman !
They are written in good book keeping ink ; on pa
per that becomes the desk and the counting house !
Fashion has been familiar with them ! They are the
work of "rogues in ruffles !"* rascalsof "the better sort."
What, under these circumstances, should Captain
Elliott do ? What would any candid and honorable
mind wish him to do ? When the presses of the do
minant party in Boston, presses representing the ma
jority of its numbers, its character, its influence and
its wealth, demanded of him, in a volley of scurril
* Baron St. Lpger, an English judge in the reign of Henry IV, said
that he rendered more service to the public by hanging one rogue in
ruffles, than twenty common malefactors.

328 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
taunts, to tear down from a national ship the lawful
work of the nation's constituted authority ; when
anonymous ruffians threatened to storm the navy
yard, and anonymous miscreants to assassinate him,
was he to cower before the abuse 1 To quail before
the threats ? A brave officer, an honorable, high-
souled man could not be expected thus indelibly to
stain his country's uniform ! The sword of honor*
presented to him by the Federal Legislature as a tes
timonial of his courage and patriotism, was not to be
defiled by a blot so foul ! Had he allowed a single
hand to assail the frigate openly with hostile intent,
without turning its guns upon the assailant, he ought
to have been convicted by a Court Martial and shot !
He did what duty to his country required ; what
every mind that feels generously and thinks justly will
applaud him for doing. He treated the abusive de
mand, the threat of assassination, like the idle wind,
and prepared to repel by force, any forcible assault
upon the premises confided to his charge.
What followed ? A pamphlet appeared ! A hire
ling from the darkling brood of party ruffians stirs
with a dagger the ashes of a hero's grave, to rekindle
the brands of a forgotten controversy. For what ?
To scorch the well earned laurels of a man too dig
nified to heed the hissing of political serpents, too
brave to be intimidated by the threats of a mob ! Yes !
A pamphlet, an iteration through the press, of charges
which the Executive of the Union did not consider
worthy of investigation, after slumbering in deserved
obscurity for thirteen years, is again revived in the
moral, the magnanimous city of Boston, at the
very period when Captain Elliott is threatened with
mobs and assassination ! This pamphlet, published
at Washington in 1821, by a relative of Commodore
Perry, as appears from its 24th page, and which is
* Appendix J.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 329
the very publication that has been reviewed in the
foregoing pages, was reprinted at Boston in the
spring of 1834, and distributed in large numbers
throughout the country. It was advertised in the
Boston Daily Advertiser of June 6, 1834, a
Federal paper of long standing, of great influence in
the Federal party, and beyond all question the most
candid, the most decorous paper of which that party
in Boston could ever boast. Yet even in that paper
was this publication ushered in the following terms,
before a community pretending to regard the cour
tesies and decencies of life.
" Rare Work. — The official documents containing
the opinion, charges and specifications of the late
gallant Perry, with numerous affidavits of men, brave
and distinguished in the service, relative to the con
duct of Captain Elliott on Lake Erie — a few copies
for sale at the bar of Mr. Rogers, City Hall, State
Street." To those not acquainted with Boston, a short ac
count of the persons and localities mentioned at the
close of this advertisement may be interesting ; for
it may serve to show what sort of persons were di
rectly or indirectly concerned in, or gave their coun
tenance and approbation to this " Rare Work." State
Street contains the exchange, and nearly all the
banks, insurance offices, offices of stock and exchange
brokers and notaries public, and other places where
" merchants most do congregate." The City Hall is
an edifice at the head of this street, containing upon
the ground floor, the Post-office, and the reading room
of the merchants ; on the second floor, the halls of
the two branches of the government of the city, being
the Mayor and Aldermen and the Common Council ;
and on the third floor, the offices of the municipality,
being those of the Auditor, Treasurer, City Clerk,
Board of Health and others. " The bar of Mr. Ro-
28*

330 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
gers" is what its name imports, a place for the sale of
refreshments, being a room in a corner of the large
hall or vestibule upon the ground floor of the edifice,
which serves as an entrance to the Post Office on one
side, and the merchants reading room on the other.
" Mr. Rogers" is a very civil and attentive gentleman
who keeps said bar, is intrusted with most of the fo
reign letters that pass through the Boston Post Office
for the New York packets, and other ships for foreign
ports, and is frequently employed to sell or distribute
books and pamphlets from the Boston press, piles of
which are generally seen upon his shelves. His cus
tomers are among the frequenters of the reading room,
who are nearly all the merchants and manufacttirers
and traders, officers of banks and other monied insti
tutions, principal mechanics, many of the lawyers,
editors of newspapers, and some of the most respect
able and some of the least disrespectable brokers.
The reader will perceive that no place could be better
fitted for the distribution of a pamphlet than "the bar
of Mr. Rogers, City Hall, State Street," and will justly
infer that this publication was countenanced by the
influence, the character, the " respectability," the elite
of the city ; and the mode in which this countenance
was shown was the distribution of this pamphlet over
the country.
Copies of this " Rare Work" were sent to Commo
dore Elliott. One was inclosed in a letter couched
in the following terms.
" A sycophant cannot be a brave man, tne pamphlet there
fore is needless to prove it.
HOMO."
Another was inclosed in the following letter.
" If Commodore Elliott is very much at a loss to divine
the cause of the republication of a " Rare Work" as recent
ly advertised, let him take a stand for a short time in front

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 331
of the ' Figure head' of Old Ironsides and imagine to him
self the universal feeling of indignation and contempt with
which his man worship is viewed by nearly all the citizens
of this vicinity.
I do not know that the figure head is the cause of the
publication at this time, but being a Yankee / guess it
was.
HULL.
June 10, ]834."
This pamphlet was also distributed in the Navy
Yard, as appears from the following letter, sent to
Captain Elliott. " Saturday evening.
Sir, — In the Mercantile Journal of last evening there is a
notice of your arrest of Lieutenant Babbitt which I recom
mend to your notice. Your conduct towards this merito
rious and brave officer is the universai topic of conversation
in State-street. It is pronounced by one and all as a tyran
nical cowaroly procedure, and adds, if possible, to the con
tempt in which you are held by BOSTONIANS.
N. B. Sixty copies of the pamphlet of Perry are this day
distributed gratis in the Navy Yard."
But as if the cup of outrage were not yet full, the
following epistle was sent to Commodore Elliott
through the Post Office. " North End 24th.
We have made you abandon the Constitution ; take
Jackson's name off of the dock, or in 48 hours you breathe
no more.
MANY NORTH ENDERS.
Com. Elliott,
Navy Yard."
The dock here mentioned is the dry dock recently
built at the Navy Yard of Charlestown, for the repair
of ships. Upon the western waU of it are engraved

332 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
in the stone, the names of the President of the United
States and the Secretary of the Navy under whose
administration it was constructed, and of the engineer
who built it; Andrew Jackson, Levi Woodbury and
Loammi Baldwin; and likewise the names of the
President and Secretary of the Navy under whose
administration the appropriation for building it was
made by Congress, viz. John Quincy Adams and
Samuel L. Southard ; all which was done by orders
from the Navy Department, at the suggestion of
Commodore Elliott.
But the public works are to be defaced and muti
lated by the commandant of the yard, whose duty is
to guard and preserve them, because the inscriptions
upon them are not agreeable to the "Eorth Enders ! ! !"
There seems to be no end, North or South, to outrage
in the moral city of Boston !
But unawed by threats, undisturbed by slanders,
Commodore Elliott pursued the even tenor of his
way. The image was placed upon the ship; and
fully confiding in the integrity of all within the Navy
Yard, and contemning all anonymous threats of vio
lence from without, he took no particular pains to
guard it. The frigate being moored between two
ships of the line, both guarded by sentinels, he sup-
i posed that no one could approach it by water without
i detection, and knew that by land, it was inaccessible
| excepting to treachery. But soon an event occurred,
| which will forever impress a deep stain upon the do
minant party of Boston ! Like the spot of blood upon
the hand of Lady Macbeth, it never can be washed
away ! It will forever remain, a seal of reprobation,
an evidence of the contempt of law, honor and de
cency which her dominant party, the majority of her
citizens, headed by the principal, the most influential,
can instigate and approve. On a very dark and
stormy night, during a heavy shower of rain, the

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 333
head of the image was sawed off!! Yes! The
premises of the Nation were clandestinely invaded, a
national ship was mutilated and defaced, and the
constituted authorities of the nation insulted ! lt
might have been supposed that in a community pro
fessing respect for the laws, this illegal, this criminal
proceeding would have been publicly disavowed and
censured. It might have been supposed that the
Boston press, while condemning the policy and mea
sures of the administration, or the choice of an orna
ment for the frigate Constitution, would condemn
this mode of expressing disapprobation. To oppose
the President's election, to oppose the election of all
public officers favorably disposed to his views and
policy, wa? lawful, for it was one of the very privi
leges obtained by the blood of the revolution, and
guaranteed by the existing institutions. But to ex
press disapprobation by insult, indignity, violation of
law, was declaring war, not so much against the
chief magistrate of the nation and other public ser
vants, as against the institutions which created them.
The indignity was less to Andrew Jackson, than
to the constitution and laws ! But no ! The press
was replete with approving, with exulting paragraphs,
and the exchange, the reading rooms, the insurance
offices, and other places of resort to those who give
or claim to give the tone to public sentiment, were
filled with smiling countenances and resounded with
exulting congratulations ! Yes ! The citizens of
Boston were exulting over a crime ! a violation of
the laws ! a lawless, moblike act ! an indignity to the
constituted authorities of the nation ! Had the image
been that of a member of Congress, of the Judiciary,
of a naval or military officer in commission, of a head
or member of a Department, of any public officer, the
proceeding would have been the same. It would
have been an indignity, through the officer, to the

334 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
constitution and laws! The following is Commodore
Elliott's account of this affair to the Navy Depart
ment. " Navy Yard, Boston,
July 3d, 1834.
Sir. — I herewith enclose a communication from Lieute
nant James Armstrong, of the receiving ship Columbus, re
lating to an outrage committed upon the frigate Contsitution,
a vessel of war of the United States, while moored between
the seventy-four's Columbus and Independence at this yard,
by some person or persons unknown.
This insult to the Government appears to have been long
premeditated, and while the head was in possession of the
carver in Boston, a bribe was offered to him by three persons
of high standing in the city, provided he would let them
carry off and insult it unmolested; this bribe was rejected
by the carver, who gave me information, which induced
me to have it removed to and finished at this yard, as I in
formed the Department on the 31st of March last.
Some one, however, last night, in spite of the sentinel and
the watch on board of the Columbus, found means to carry the
project into execution during a severe storm of wind aud rain.
Suspicion rested at first upon the marine on post, and the
ship keeper; but it seems tome at present more than probable
that some person from outside the yard concealed himself on
board ship during the day, and at night, when the storm raged
at its highest, accomplished his work and made his escape.
I come to this conclusion, as the lower gate of the yard,
which is for the use of the officers, was found open in the
morning, although fastened at 10 o'clock at night.
A few days, doubtless, will enable me to obtain further in
formation as to the planner and executor of this midnight
outrage Immediately upon learning the fact this morning, I sent
for the carver of the head and demanded the names of the
individuals who offered him the bribe previous to its removal
from his charge. These he declined giving me until com
pelled to do so in due course of law, as he said he was un
der a charge of secrecy.
From this and other circumstances, I am satisfied that the
head was removed by some person who was acting under
the influence of a bribe ; but a small part of the head, how
ever, was mutilated and that part will be replaced immedi
ately. Understanding from the public prints that there has

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 335
been a change in the Head of the Department, I respectfully
call your attention to my letters of February 22d and March
31st, now on file in your office, for a correct statement of my
transactions in regard to this ornament, from its commence
ment to its removal to this yard.
I make this communication, that the Department may give
me such instructions with regard to taking legal steps on the
subject as it may deem proper. I am sorry to say that I per
ceive a hostile feeling existing against the continuance of this
ornament in the highest circles of those opposed to the ad
ministration. Respectfully,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Hon. Secretary of the Nary, Washington.
P. S. Reference can also be made to my letters to the
Navy Board upon the same subject."
But the worst is yet to be told. It was stated in,
the newspapers that when the image was mutilated,
the part removed fell into the water and was lost.
Subsequently they stated that a young man appeared
in New York, boasting that he had perpetrated this
outrage. These paragraphs were probably intended
to mislead the civil authority of the United States for
the District of Massachusetts, if they should contem
plate any measures for detecting and prosecuting the
offenders. Another object probably was to conceal
all knowledge of the transaction until after the per
petration of another outrage, then doubtless in con
templation. A few weeks after the figure was muti
lated, the President of the national bank visited
Boston. While he was there, some of the leading,
the most active " Whig " politicians, particularly those
connected with the monied institutions, to the num
ber of forty-four, invited him to an evening entertain
ment at one of the Boston coffee houses. After the
cloth was removed, the servants were sent from the
room, the doors locked, and, — Bostonians ! blush while
the revolting story is told! THE HEAD OF THE
IMAGE WAS BROUGHT IN, LAID UPON

336 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
THE TABLE, AND BACCHANALIAN ORGIES
WERE HELD OYER IT ! ! ! Yes! The head of
the mutilated statue of the President of the United
States, of the chief magistrate of the nation, feloniously
taken from a national ship, was laid upon a supper
table, around which were assembled forty-four of
those who call themselves the most respectable citi
zens of Boston, exulting, triumphing over the crimi
nal, the outrageous removal of it from the Navy
Yard ! And is this the chivalry of Boston ? Can
those who claim to constitute its character, its influ
ence, its public sentiment ; great capitalists, rich mer
chants, opulent manufacturers, presidents and directors
of chartered companies, municipal officers, members
of State Legislatures, candidates for Congress! can
they assemble at a Pandemonian banquet, and cele
brate with licentious orgies a violation of the laws,
an indignity to the chief magistrate of their coun
try ! the representative of its executive sovereignty?
Shame ! shame ! ! To oppose the public servants for
the time being by constitutional and legal modes, is
to exercise the right of opinion, the glorious privilege
of the American citizen; but to exult over a cow
ardly, clandestine violation of law, by clandestine
insults and indignities to the constituted authorities,
indicates a deplorable deficiency of that political mo
ral sense which is a vital principle of our institutions,
upon which they must rely for support.
Nor was this Pandemonian banquet the only pre
meditated insult that was attempted, if not achieved.
On the night of the last Congressional election in
Boston, about five hundred citizens assembled beneath
the windows of one of the printing offices, to hear the
returns of votes announced from the several wards of
the city, and rent the air with shouts as each " Whig"
majority was proclaimed. Having heard all the re
turns, they moved in a body to the house of their

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 337
representative elect, to congratulate him upon his
success. They then marched to Charlestown, to offer
their congratulations to Mr. Everett, the member for
Middlesex. While there, some of them proposed that
after taking leave of Mr. Everett, they should " go to
the Navy Yard and give the old Commodore a devil
of a rattling!" An officer of the Navy, drawn to the
crowd by curiosity, hearing this, immediately per
formed his duty by notifying the Commodore of the
intended compliment, who was not remiss in prepar
ing to acknowledge it. As they started upon this
laudable errand, a gentleman of Charlestown warned
them to desist, saying he knew the Commodore well,
and that they would have abundant occasion to la
ment their rashness. They proceeded, but on the
way, wisely concluded that discretion was the better
part of valor. The Commodore was ready to return
their salute ; all the marines in the yard being under
arms, and about 150 sailors, well armed, ready to
join them. It is needless to say that the example set
by the civil authorities of Charlestown at the burn
ing of the convent, would not have been followed by
Commodore Elliott.
It has been truly said that from the sublime to the
ridiculous there is but one step. It may be said with
equal truth that with a portion of the Boston " Whig,"
or National Republican, or Federal politicians, the
distance from the wicked to the contemptible is equally
short. The Secretary of the Navy, a Democratic re
publican of the Old School, and of that inflexible cast
which can be neither seduced nor intimidated, while
visiting the Navy Yard in company with the Com
missioners of the Navy, ordered the covering of can
vass then placed upon the mutilated figure head of the
Constitution, to be continued upon it, saying that no
repairs or alterations of it should be made while the
ship remained in Boston. Every American citizen
29

338 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
in whose bosOm burns one spark of national pride,
must honor Mr. Dickerson for this decision; and the
objects of the rebuke, while smarting under its severi
ty, cannot deny its justice. It was equivalent to tell
ing them that they were unworthy of the trust of
having the national ships among them ; that the Con'
stitution, hallowed by so many associations of na
tional glory, should go out from among them as they
had left it, defaced and mutilated; and that the
citizens of other parts of our country should see the
evidence of their dastardly spirit ! So soon as this
intention became generally known, the greatest
anxiety was manifested among those who instigated,
or openly applauded, or exulted in the outrage. They
were ashamed of having this proof of their contempt
of law and decency exhibited elsewhere. In this state
of perturbation, several of those denominated " the
most respectable merchants," contrived to inform
Commodore Elliott that if he would remove the figure
of the President from the ship, any substitute which
the Commodore might order should be executed at
their expense!!! And so a lawless outrage upon tne
premises of the nation, the mutilation of a national
ship, and a wanton insult to the national Chief Magis
trate, are to be expiated and atoned for by  the
offer of the perpetrators, instigators or approvers to
pay for repairs!!! National honor, professional cha
racter, official fidelity, — all — all are nothing to Com
modore EUiott, — mere dust in the balance compared
with a sum of money from these " most respectable
merchants!!" And are these the Medici of Boston?
How elevated must be their sentiments ! They doubt
less kept an account current with the nation, placing
their lawless outrage upon its dignity on one side of
the leger, and the estimated cost of repairs on the
other. Tristram Shandy's account current with his
conscience is thrown quite in the shade, by this ba-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 339
lance sheet of Bostonian political morals. The Grays
and Crowningshields of the last war were a different
sort of merchants from these modern Medici.
Disappointed in this characteristic project, some
one of those concerned sent to Commodore Elliott an
anonymous and abusive letter, inclosing what the
writer avowed to be a piece of the figure head. This
is a singular confession, and one which refutes certain
statements Of the Boston " Whig" newspapers, pub
lished immediately after the perpetration of the out
rage. The reader will recollect the statement in these
papers, that the portion of the figure sawed off fell
into the stream and was carried away. How then
did the writer of this anonymous letter obtain a frag
ment of it ? This would indicate either that it was
not carried away by the tide, or was recovered after
wards. Had it been so recovered, the fact would
have been very exultingly announced in the Boston
newspapers and Boston circles ; for as the accidental
finding involved no legal or moral offence, no motive
could exist for concealing it. No such fact having
been announced, the supposition remains that it was
not lost, but very carefully delivered to the instigators
of the outrage. This is confirmed by a few singular
facts. A " Whig" merchant, while conversing with a
group in State street, pulled from his pocket a piece
of wood, and exultingly showed it as a piece of the
figure head, saying that the head was then in State
street, and that he had recently seen it. Another
"Whig" merchant, a president of an insurance office,
exhibited a list of names, saying they were the names
oi forty-four who had seen the figure head, and that
others might see it under an injunction of secrecy.
These facts show that the part severed was delivered
in B°s,;on! an(i corroborate the account of the revel
held over it; this list containing the names of the sub
scribers to this memorable feast. Another fact is con-

340 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
firmatory. Several "respectable merchants" having
expressed some anxiety to have the figure repaired,
Commodore Elliott directed them to be informed that
it could be easily done upon their sending back to
the Navy Yard the part removed. If sincere in their
wish to have it repaired, they would have improved
this hint, arid had it secretly conveyed to the Navy
Yard. But the Commodore was told that this was
impossible, for the head was cut up !! Each of the
forty-four has doubtless preserved a trophy of this
chivalrous enterprise!!
Still disappointed, the " Whigs'7 of Boston concert
ed another characteristic project. Unwilling to have
the ship leave the harbor as a monument of their
disgrace, and unable to prevent it by either persua
sion or bribery, they thought of resorting to force ;
and accordingly caused Commodore Elliott to be in
formed that if he persisted in carrying away the Con
stitution in that condition, guns would be carried to
the lower part of the harbor, stationed opposite the
channel, and fired upon the ship if he attempted to
pass. He replied that when the ship passed, he should
be on deck, and prepared for every thing. Though
it is impossible to believe that they were serious in
threatening this insane step, yet their readiness to of
fer the threat is a stroke of character. It shows by
what expedients they are willing to accomplish their
designs. Another instance of characteristic behavior is now
to be recorded. While these attacks upon the fame
of Captain Elliott were so rigorously prosecuted in
Boston, a paragraph appeared in a newspaper in Phil
adelphia, purporting to be founded upon a letter from
Boston, stating that on appearing at the Tremont
Theatre, he was saluted with hisses. This tale was
without foundation, for no such incident occurred.
It was fabricated and sent abroad for political effect.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 34i
Falsehoods and forgeries upon the eve of elections,
or for attaining any political object, have long been
common with the dominant party in Boston ; and
with anonymous letter writing, secret slander, das
tardly sneering, and other disingenuous practices
which can never prevail among a high minded peo
ple, have brought deep reproach upon New England
from other sections of the Union. If these practices
are confined to Boston politicians, it is time for the
rest of New England to disavow them, to exonerate
themselves from the reproach, and to cast it where it
belongs. If they are common in the Eastern States,
it is time for those who practice them to begin the
work of reformation. They are truly detestable
practices, and originate in that cunning which is not
an infirmity common to great minds.

342 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Court Martial at the Navy Yard in Charlestown in the, spring of 1835. Treatment
of Commodore Elliott.
It now becomes necessary to relate another attempt
upon the fame of Commodore Elliott. On the 25th
of September, 1834, a Court Martial was ordered at
the navy yard at Charlestown, for the trial of Lieuten
ant Babbit, upon charges preferred by Commodore
Elliott. Mr. Babbit appeared in court by his coun
sel, a lawyer in very respectable practice in Boston, a
protege of the Boston monied aristocracy, having,
from the very commencement of his professional ca
reer, been one of the especial objects of their patron
age and protection. Though he has shunned politi
cal life, and devoted himself exclusively to the law,
yet, the son of "an old Federalist of the Boston
stamp," himself of the same persuasion, he has usu
ally been put forward in legal cases that partook at
all of a political character. Indeed he may be
considered as one of the favorites of the exclusive
Boston junta, and therefore one whom Mr. Babbit
would be advised to consult, in a trial in which this
junta expected to overwhelm Commodore Elliott with
mortification. On the day when the defense was to be read, a
large concourse assembled at the court room to hear
it, and to witness the signal victory to be obtained

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 343
over Commodore Elliott. Among others, the widow
and two little children of the late Dr. Babbit were
present, and without her agency, placed in a very
conspicuous station. The defense, which was read
by the counsel in a very emphatic tone, contained the
following paragraph.
" I might appeal to the facts, that I alone of the three sons of a wi
dowed mother, who entered the Naval service of the United States,
survive to maintain her. That one of them, holding the rank in
which I now stand, fell honorably at his post in battle, during the last
war, and I might point to the grave of the other, in a foreign land,
who received his death blow while executing an order given by the
prosecutor, under circumstances which it is believed he will never for
get ; leaving a widow and children, who look to me as their protector
and guide."
The counsel read this paragraph with what was
intended for a thrilling emphasis, and with a glance
directed to Commodore Elliott, the object of which
seemed to be little less than his annihilation. As was
to have been expected, the eyes of the whole audience
were immediately turned upon the Commodore ; and
as most of them appeared for the especial purpose of
witnessing his humiliation, they responded to the em
phatic tones and significant gestures of the counsel,
with the exulting looks of those who thought a sig
nal triumph already achieved. Commodore Elliott
heard this with astonishment and scorn ; astonish
ment that he should be the object of an imputation so
heinous as the murder of the late Dr. Babbit, for such
was the obvious meaning of the counsel's words ; and
scorn of the baseness, whose ever it was, that could
invent such a slander. Turning from the counsel
with a look which plainly said " we shall meet again,"
he cast a glance of compassion upon the afflicted
widow and her orphan children, thus dragged into
court for the purpose of hearing a foul libel upon their
benefactor; thus ostentatiously paraded by the mana-

344 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
gers of the scene, for the purpose of imparting to this
libel a dramatic effect. Well may it be supposed that
he rejoiced more than ever in having been to that
widow and those orphans an efficient friend in the
hour of need! He then turned to the counsel, and
with an aspect of calm dignity, denoting a settled
purpose, heard him through the remainder of the de
fense. The counsel, having concluded, bowed very
respectfully to the court, and. somewhat triumphantly
to the audience ; and "last, not least," saluted Com
modore Elliott with a very low bow and a smile of
most withering politeness. Commodore Elliott re
turned these civilities with a bow still lower, and a
look denoting a determination to pay due attention to
both friends and foes.
The settled purpose which he conceived so soon as
this slander was uttered, was immediately carried into
execution. The reader will remember that the late
Dr. Babbit, to whom he was thus accused of having
given a death blow, was surgeon of the Cyane in
1826, while that ship was on the Brazilian station,
under the Commodore's command. Having obtained
permission to go on shore for several days, he was re
quested by his friend, Dr. Bond, U. S. Consul at Monte
Video, to visit one of Dr. Bond's patients, an English
gentleman, at the hospital, ill of small pox. Dr. Bab
bit suggested that he might be liable to infection ; for
though he had been vaccinated, yet, having undergone
several salivations for hepatic complaints, he was ap
prehensive that the preventive had been eradicated
from his system. He was nevertheless persuaded to
accompany Dr. Bond to the hospital. On returning
to the ship, he expressed to Commodore Elliott his
apprehension of having taken the small pox, saying
he should never forgive himself, should that disease
be introduced on board through his agency. The

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 345
Commodore replied that he had indeed done wrong
in visiting a patient ill of small pox under such cir
cumstances, but that what was past could not be re
medied, and that if, unfortunately, he should have
contracted the disease, no exertions would be spared
for his relief. The surgeon's mate soon afterwards re
ported him sick, andinduetime, the indicationsof small
pox were decisive. Commodore Elliott immediately
advised his removal from the cockpit, saying he
would be more comfortable above, and that half of the
cabin was at his service, and should be prepared im
mediately for his reception. Dr. Babbit declined,
saying he was as comfortable in the cockpit as
he should be elsewhere, and the crew less exposed to
infection than if he was above. Dr. Moore, the sur
geon's mate, also advised his remaining in the cock
pit. Commodore Elliott, discovering symptoms of
timidity among some of the officers and crew, and
knowing that, having all been vaccinated, they were
perfectly safe, still urged Dr. Babbit to cousent to a
removal, for the double purpose of affording him
more comfortable accommodations, and of dispelling
the fears of the crew about infection. Finding the
patient inexorable, he ordered the midshipmen to be
removed from the steerage to the gun deck, for the
purpose of rendering the patient's quarters more quiet,
and while he lived, continued to bestow upon him ali
the care and attention of a parent. His remains were
transported to Rio de Janeiro, and buried on shore
with military honors, Commodore Elliott, with his
own hands, placing the last shovel of earth upon the
grave. The decease of Dr. Babbit was communicated to
the Secretary of the Navy by Commodore Elliott, in
a letter dated May 29, 1826.
Upon Commodore Elliott's arrival at Charlestown,

346 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
to assume the command of the Navy Yard, he found
the widow and children of Dr. Babbit with no -other
means of support than her exertions, aided by Lieu
tenant Babbit, who, having himself and his mother to
support from his pay, had but little to spare. Com
modore EUiott immediately took the measures neces
sary for procuring a pension for her, as will appear
from the following correspondence. " Navy Yard, Boston,
Dec. 16, 1833.
Sib,— I herewith enclose a memorial from widow Maria Babbit.
This lady is now in this Yard, with two young children, wholly de
pendent upon others for support.
I am induced to enclose this memorial to you, as Surgeon Babbit
died on board of the U. S. Ship Cyane, under my command on the
coast of Brazil, in the year 1827, oi small pox, contracted in the dis
charge of his professional duties ; and as i know that your generous
feelings will prompt you to do every thing in your power, to render a
service to the affl.cted widow, and her fatherless children.
1 enclose you a copy of my letter to the Navy Department of the
12th of Sept. and of the Secretary of the Navy's answer of the 16th,
by which it will appear that the Department can do nothing for her
relief, without the action of Congress. Should you think that any
other members of Congress should be written to on the subject, if you
will inform me by return of mail, I will communicate with them ac
cordingly. Respectfully, &c.
J. D. ELLLIOTT.
The Hon. Edward Everett,
Member of Congress, Washington."

" Washington, Dec. 27, 1833.
Com. Elliott,— Dear Sir, I have your favor of the 16th, which ap
pears to have been delayed by the irregularities of the mail.
I will this day present the memorial of Mrs. Babbit to the House of
Representatives. I should think, if you wrote to Mr. C. P. White, of the H. R.,
Chairman of the Committee of Naval Affairs, that it would be ser
viceable. I shall take great pleasure in exerting myself to obtain that measure
of relief for Mrs. Babbit, to which the nature of her claim so justly
entitles her. Respectfully, &c.
EDWARD EVERETT."
Commodore Elliott also addressed Mr. White, pur
suant to the suggestion of Mr. Everett.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 347
As was before said, Commodore Elliott lost no
time in taking the steps upon which he had decided
on hearing this defense of Lieutenant Babbit. He
immediately wrote to the gentlemen who were officers
of the Cyane in 1826, for the history of Dr. Babbit's
sickness and death. Having received replies from
two of them nearest to Boston, Lieutenants Spencer
and Ellery, he endeavored to discover the author of
this heinous charge. The following are the letters
from Lieutenants Spencer and Ellery.
" New York, Nov. 28, 1834.
Dear Sir, — I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 24th
inst., with the accompanying papers, wherein you call my attention to
a part of Lieut. Babbit's defence, before a late Court Martial, in refer
ence to the death of his late brother, on board of the C. S. Ship C/-
ane( while under your command.
Lieut. B. says that he received his death blow, while executing *"\
order given by you : of this I know nothing. If you did give him .ii
order to visit a person at Monte Video, who had the smaii pox, it ne
ver was communicated to me. Respectfully, &c.
W. A. SPENCER.
Com. J. D. Elliott, U. S. Navy, Boston."

" Newport, R. I. Nov. 24, 1834.
Dear Sir,— I have now the honor of acknowledging the receipt of
your letter of the 21st inst., with its accompanying extracts, and regret
to say that it will not be in my power to give the desired information on
the points mentioned, — no conversation having passed between Dr.
Babbit and myself, respecting his removal from the gun-deck to the
cockpit, neither being within my recollection, that remarks were made
by other officers, relative to the removal. Certain, however, am I,
that the Doctor never suggested to me, or to any other officer, to my
knowledge, that he would be more comfortable out of the cockpit ; for
I believe, firmly, that any suggestion of the kind would have been
readily and willingly acceded to by yourself, as it would also have
been approved by every officer of the ship — the Doctor being much
esteemed and beloved by all on board. I remember, perfectly well,
that the Midshipmen were ordered from the steerage, to sleep on the
gun-deck, to prevent noise, and promote a free circulation of air.
By a conversation between Dr. Babbit and myself, during his con
finement in the cockpit, the impression was made upon my mind, as
recalled by memory at this distant period, that the Doctor had been
solicited by the American Consul, who I understood to be a physician,
to visit a friend from, Philadelphia, sick with the small pox ; which,
at first he declined, — stating as his reasons fir so doing, that he had
been frequently salivated for fevers, and was apprehensive that the
preventive from, vaccination had been eradicated from his consti
tution ; but, by repeated entreaty, was induced to go, although per-

348 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
suaded in his own mind, that the event would be such as in the end it
proved to be.
Dr. Babbit, at that time, showed me his mark of vaccination, which
was very slight, — asked to see mine, — and observed there was no dan
ger of me. I do not think your name, dear sir, was mentioned at all.
Respectfully, &c.
FRANK ELLERY.
Com. J. D. Elliott, D. S. Navy, Boston."
Having ascertained by a correspondence with sev
eral officers of the Navy Yard, that Mr. Loring, not
withstanding the remonstrances of Lieutenant Babbit,
insisted upon retaining this obnoxious passage in the
defense, he addressed to him the following letter, in
closing in it the correspondence abovementioned be
tween himself and Messrs. Everett and White, and
the letters from Lieutenants Spencer and Ellery.
"Commandants Office, Navy Yard, Boston,
December Uh, 1834.
Sir, — Herewith I forward you copies of communications which
have passed between Capt. Jos. Smith and myself.
From the statement of Capt. Smith, it appears that you insisted
upon Lieut. Babbit's retaining in his defence, against his wishes, cer
tain exceptionable matter; a portion of which charged me with
having had an agency m the death of Surgeon W. D. Babbit.
It is true 1 was not openly charged with murder, or manslaughter;
but it is equally true, that, from the particular wording of the sen
tence, the widow and children of the deceased, together wiih a nume
rous audience, were left to infer either one or the other ; and I could not
but turn my eyes in pity to those destitute children, when I found that
poison of so base a kind was diffused among them.
With what propriety, or justification, so foul a charge was made
against me, the accompanying documents will determine. The en
closed copy of a correspondence wiih the Hon. Edward Everett, and
the Hon. Campbell P. White, will also show the instrumentality I
had in procuring the pension which his widow now enjoys from the
government. The matter, as it now stands, originated with you ; and, of course,
I have a right to know from whom you derived your information. Re
spect for the memory of the deceased, whom I highly esteemed, — the
feelings of the widow and the fatherless children, who were present,
and justice to myself, require that you should apply a proper and an
immediate antidote to the poison.
As a portion of the great concourse of people assembled to hear it,
are now dispersed over the country, and one of them, a brother officer,
Lieut. Fowler, has departed for the State of Mississippi, I must require
that the antidote be made as public as possible.
That you may be enabled to have a just knowledge of the matter,
I am necessarily obliged to address you at length. Should I be con
sidered tedious, an apology must be found in a desire to have the whole

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 349
truth laid open to you. If I appear more sensitive than usual, it
must be ascribed to sympathy, which had its origin when you uttered
the poison, and I cast my eyes towards the children of the deceased.
[Here follows a description of Dr. Babbit's sickness, death antf
burial.j As you are the only person I can call upon, under the circumstances
of the case, I have therefore to require, as an act of justice both to
you and myself, that you should furnish the Appellant Power, and the
officers who composed the Court, with an acknowledgment and cor
rection of your error. I have no disposition to infringe upon the rights
of those whose talents and education particularly fit them to coun
sel and defend those of my profession, when arraigned at the bar of
honor. Far be it from me. I wish justice to have Tier ends fully an
swered, and no more.
This will be handed to you, as you will perceive, unsealed, by Lieut.
Commandant Armstrong, of the Columbus, who is vested with full
powers to receive that from you which may prove satisfactory, and to
close this whole matter. I am, very respectfully,
your most ob't servant
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Charles G. Loring, Esq. Boston, Mass."
To this letter Mr. Loring made the following reply.
"Boston, Dec. 8, 1834.
Com. J. D Elliott,
United States Navy Yard, Charlestown.
Sir, — Your communication of the 4th inst. and the accompanying
documents, were handed to me by Lieut. Armsirong on that evening.
I have placed your letter in Lieut. Babbit's hands; and he has fur
nished me with a copy of his note to you of the 6th instant, correcting
the error under which you addressed me.
Having since received no other communication from you, the tone
of your letter does not permit me to make any further reply, than that
I do not acknowledge any accountability to you upon the subject.
Very respectfully, CHARLES G. LORING."
Commodore Elliott rejoined in the following terms :
"Commandants Office, Navy Yard, Boston,
Dec. 1ft, 1834..
Sir, — I have received your communication of the 8th instant, and in
answer remark that I cannot admit a right in you to interpose an irre
sponsible person between us.
I have a right, based upon the veracity of Masters Commandants
Budd and Smith, to require explanation and correction, on a point
where an attempt has been made by you, to inflict as deep an injury
upon me as could well be done. This right you cannot consistently
deny, as you will perceive upon referring to those communications,
more especially to the latter, wherein it is stated that you admit the
fact that Lieutenant Babbit wished to erase the exceptionable matter,
and that you caused it to be reiained in the defence.
You might have expected that I should have brought this subject to
30

350 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
your notice, at an earlier moment ; but I determined to bear the
odium until I could procure the means of enabling you, without em
barrassment, to do me full justice ; and if the respectable testimony of
Captain Spencer and Lieutenant Ellery, 1st and 3d Lieutenants of the
Cyane, at the decease of Dr. Babbit, is not sufficient, you have here
with that of Lieutenant Levy, 2d Lieutenant, and Mr. James Fergu
son, Sailing Master, whose particular duty it was to watch over and
record all occurrences that took place on board the ship.
You state that you have put in Lieutenant Babbit's hands, my letter
of the 4th ; that he has furnished you with a copy of his note to me,
dated the 6th, and that you have receievd no other communication from
me. You had no right to expect a note from me, until a reply could
be had to my first note, which you had promised Lieutenant Arm
strong. .
I must here take occasion to remark, that Lieutenant Babbit, in
answer to Lieutenant Armstrong, when he handed him back his -note,
gave him to understand that he was without the means by which to
make the necessary correction and explanation which you had been
furnished with, to enable you to meet the call.
I must and still do insist, in my right to hold an individual responsi
ble, for his errors, until a correction is properly made.
It therefore rests with yourself to decide, whether you will now close
this whole matter, or compel me to let it remain for subsequent ac
tion. I am, Sir, respectfully, your most ob't serv't,
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Charles G. Loring, Esq. Boston, Mass."
The letters of Messrs. Levy and Ferguson, men
tioned in this letter, were the following :
" Monticello, Dec. 5, 1834.
Dear Sib,— Indisposition prevented me from an early reply to your
favor. I now avail myself of the pleasure ; and, in answer to your
inquiry, can only state what was the general understanding among the
officers of the ward-room, relative to the death of Dr. Babbit, — that
he fell in consequence of visiting, through the warm solicitation, and
in company with Dr. Bond, a person who was down with the small
Eox. Dr. Babbit removed from the ward-room, some time before he or
is mate knew that he had the disease; for both he and Mr. Moore
thought it was an attack of his old complaint, the liver. Every at
tention that a ship at sea could afford, I am tully persuaded he had.
The extract from Lieutenant Babbit's defence is the first intimation
I ever had, that you gave his brother an order to visit the person in
question : had such an order been given, I think I should have heard
of it. Respectfully, &c.
U. P. LEVY, U. a N. of Monticello.
Comdt. J. D. Elliott, Boston." "Philadelphia, Dec. 6, 1834.
Dear Sir,— I received your letter of the 2d, yesterday, and readily
comply with the request therein made, ' to examine the accompanying
extract from the defence of Lt. E. B. Babbit, before the Naval Court

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 351
Martial, which recently sat here (Boston) and let me (you) know if tho
decease of his brother on board the Cyane by smallpox justified these
remarks.' With Dr. Babbit (the brother alluded to) whom I much esteemed,
as well for his professional skill as amiable disposition, I was quite in
timate, and frequently saw and conversed with him during the course
of his illness, and up to within a short period of the 'delirium' which
immediately preceded, and I believe continued, until his death. On one
of these occasions, in the early part of his sickness, he informed me
that while on shore at Monte Video, he had visited, in company with
Dr. Bond, the American Consul, one of the most aggravated cases of
small pox he had ever seen, and described in terms that made a great
impression on me, the loathsome appearance of the subject, but with
out expressing, even in the most distant manner, as far as my memo
ry serves me, any apprehension that he might have imbibed infection.
I never learned from him or others, that this visit was not in every
respect a voluntary act. And I am persuaded from what I knew of Dr.
Babbit, thatno consideration of personal danger would ever haveinflu-
enced him, where an opportunity offered, either of bestowing on others
the benefit of his own skill, or reaping for himself, any useful addition
to his professional experience. The disease which terminated his va
luable life, was very insidious in its first attack, and lingered a long
time in his system before he ever suspected its true character. When
I saw him for the first time after he complained of being ill, he told me,
prefacing it with some remarks on his constitution, that he believed it
proceeded from an obstruction in the ' bile duct:' this was the precise
expression, for it became forever fixed in my memory by certain at
tendant circumstances which it is not necessary to mention here ; and
I do not think he was fully aware of the real nature of the disease
under which he labored, until a short period before the 'variolous
eruption' made it painfully evident to every body else. I mention these
particulars, because I think it was owing to this misconception of the
nature of the disease in its earlier stages, that such fatal consequences
ensued. I never understood otherwise, than that the change from his
own room to the cockpit was his own choice : he certainly never com
plained to me that it was not so, or that he was laboring under any
restriction from you. of a nature to obstruct his recovery; if he had,
from the deep interest I felt in him, I should have immediately inform
ed you. After the true nature of his disease was ascertained, great
alarm prevailed in the ship, and the most judicious and effective
measures were adopted by you to prevent the propagation of infection
as was proved by the event — but a solemn regard for truth obliges me
to declare, that in no way that I ever understood did these measures
affect the comfort or influence the fate of poor Dr. Babbit.
If, therefore, by the remarks in the extract from Lt. Babbit's Defence,
commencing at I might point tothe grave of the other in a foreign
land, who received his death blow, while executing an order given by
the prosecutor under circumstances which it is believed he will never
forget,' it is meant to charge you with any agency, either in exposing
him to take the disease of which he died, or in bringing about, or
hastening that event — such charge is not justified by the facts within
my recollection. Respectfully, etc.
JAMES FERGUSON.
Comdt. Eixiott.''

352 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Mr. Loring, in reply to the last letter of Commo
dore Elliott, addressed the following to Lieutenant
Armstrong. " Thursday Evening^ Dec. 11, 1834.
Lt. Comdt. J. Armstrong,
U. S. Ship Columbus.
Sir,— Comdt. Elliott's communication of the 10th instant was
handed to me by you. while I was, as you perceived, so engaged with
other persons, that I had no opportunity to read it : since then, I have
been constantly occupied. If I had been able to read that communi
cation while you were present, I should have stated verbally, what I
have now the honor to state to you, that I decline making any reply,
for the reason already given in my note to Comdt. Elliott.
Respectfully, &c.
CHARLES G. LORING."
Received Dec. 12, 1834. J. A.
The letter from Lieut. Babbit to Com. Elliott, re
ferred to in Mr. Loring's letter of Dec. 8th, 1835, was
the following : "Navy Yard, Boston, Dec. 6, 1834.
Sir, — Mr. Loring, my Counsel in the trial before the late Court Mar
tial, has exhibited to me a letter, addressed by you to him, under date
of 4th inst., in which it is stated that he insisted upon my retaining,
against my wishes, the passage in my defence, which you complain of
as erroneous and objectionable, and for which you require of him cor
rection and acknowledgment. Had you applied to me upon the sub
ject, you would have avoided the mistake into which you have fallenv
and received that explanation which would have prevented your look
ing elsewhere for the responsibility of that paragraph.
Injustice, therefore, to Mr. Loring, I wish to make known the cir
cumstances relating to it, which are as follows : — In his conversations
with me upon the preparation for my trial, be inquired into the history
and connexions of myself and family with the Navy; and I related to
him the particulars set forth in that paragraph, which he inserted, with
out any further conference with me than our general conversations up
on the subject of the defence. Upon its being read in the presence of
Capt. Smith and other friends, I objected to this and the preceding par
agraph, relating to myself and family, alleging that I felt a delicacy in
alluding to my personal services, and obtruding my domestic concerns
upon the public. But it was the opinion of those present, that I was
entitled to the benefit of these facts, as entitling me to the considera
tion of the Court and the' revising officer, should any of the charges be
sustained ; and, being satisfied with the propriety of their introduction,
for these reasons, I assented to their retention.
I, therefore, am alone responsible for any statement or remark made
in my defence, and am the only person to whom you can with propriety
look ; Mr. Loring having no other agency in any thing relating to it,
than the discharge of his professional duty, in advising as to the use to
be made of the facts furnished by me, or proved in the defence.
In my conversation with Capt. Budd, I did not mean to be understood
as implying that Capt. Smith or my friends insisted upon my retaining
the passage against my wishes; my remark simply was, that I was dis
posed to strike out or erase all portions of the defence relating to my-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 353
self or family ; but that my friends thought it advisable to retain them j
and no particular reference was had to the passage relative to the death
of Surgeon W. D. Babbit. I did not intend, or suppose, that I could be
understood to say, that I finally objected, or retained any passage
against my will, and upon their responsibility.
In the preparation of my defence, I was under the entire and honest
conviction of the truth of the statement made ; and should not have in
serted it, had I entertained a doubt upon the subject ; and I have no
wish now to shrink from the responsibility of it. At the same time, I
am as solicitous to do justice to you, as I was to obtain it for myself;
and if I have made an erroneous statement, it will give me the greatest
satisfaction to correct it as publicly as it was made; and to express my
deep regret, that I should have unintentionally done you this injustice;
and if you will furnish me with the documents relative to this matter,
they snail be made as public as is, or may be, the defence.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant
Edward B. Babbit.
Com. Jesse D. Elliott.
Com'd't of the Navy Yard.
This letter was immediately returned by Commo
dore Elliott to Lieutenant Babbit, without being
copied, with the remark that it could not be received;
the reason of which refusal is given in the first para
graph of Commodore Elliott's letter to Mr. Loring,
dated December 10, 1834.
After this correspondence had ensued, Commodore
Elliott received letters from other officers of the
Cyane concerning Dr. Babbit's sickness and death,
and which are the following.

"Belvidere, Dec. 11, 1834.
Sir,— Your letters, with the accompanying extracts, did not reach
me until this morning. As it is now upwards of eight years since the
death of Dr. Babbit, and I have no notes of the cruise, I can merely
say, that the following is a correct statement of the case to the best
of my recollection, viz. : that in the latter part of the month of ApriL
or early part of the month of May, 1826, Dr. Babbit and myself passed
a few days in Monte Video ; that he did during that time visit as a
consulting physician, a patient of Dr. Bond's, the then U. S. Consul
of Monte Video, whom he, Dr. Babbit, supposed to have the premoni
tory symptoms of small pox ; that the day after this visit, Dr. Babbit
returned on board the Cyane, and a few days after his return on board,
complained of being unwell ; that he received every possible atten
tion, and left his state-room to go into the cockpit at his own sugges
tion, thinking it preferable, owing to there being a freer circulation of
air there, than in the ward room. Respectfully,
EDWARD C. RUTLEDGE."
30*

354 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

"Philadelphia. Dec. 31, 1834.
Sir, — Yours of the 1st inst was received about two weeks since,
and should have been answered before if circumstances would have
permitted. In reply to yours, I shall briefly state what the late Dr. Babbit told
me when he came off from Monte Video, where, as I understood from
him, he had been on liberty. He stated that he had. at the very ear
nest solicitation of Dr. Bond, visited a gentleman who was laboring
under small pox, and expressed great apprehension that he had
brought the disease on board with him, in his clothes; and said if it
was the case, he never would forgive himself for it, and that he was
very sorry that he had allowed himself to be persuaded to visit the pa
tient ; and that Dr. Bond was so very solicitous that he should see the
gentleman, that he could not refuse him without giving offence,
which he did not wish to do.
You ask me if the late Dr. Babbit had not every assistance extended
to him while he, was sick. In answer to this question I answer yes,
he had every assistance, care and attention which his case required,
that a ship could afford— and sir, if my memory serves, (and I think
it does,) you offered a part of your cabin, which was rejected by me,
for good and sufficient reasons, which I stated at the time.
The midshipmen were removed from the steerage to the gun-deck ;
and if I recollect aright, I think it was in consequence of a represen
tation made by me to you, that it would probably prevent the spread
ing of the disease, ana promote their comfort, as well as to make it
more pleasant for Dr. Babbit.
These, so far as my memory serves me, are the facts, and you can
make what use of them you please. Respectfully, C. MOORE,
Late Assistant Surgeon, U. S. N.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott, U. S. Navy, Boston."
The letter, of which the above is an extract, was
not received until after the correspondence with Capt.
Joseph Smith. " Navy Yard, Charlestown. Jan. 27, 1835.
Sir,' — In reply to your note of last evening, I have to state that I was
at Monte Video in the month of Dec. 1826, and made particular inquiry
of Doctor Bond, late Consul at that place, respecting the case of Doctor
Babbit, and was informed by him, that at his request, Doctor Babbit
accompanied him to visit a patient at the hospital ; and that on finding
several persons laboring under small pox in the hospital, Doctor Babbit
expressed much apprehension with regard to his own safety, not
being satisfied that he was effectually protected against the small pox
by the vaccination which he had undergone many years before. His
fears proved to be well founded, for he there took the small pox, which
in a few days terminated fatally.
I am, very respectfully,
Sir, your ob't servant,
BENAJAH TICKNOR,
„ . „ „ ,. ,. Surgeon V- S. Navy.
Com. J. D. Elliott, Commanding Boston Station.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 355
Pending this correspondence between Commodore
Elliott and Mr. Loring, Lieutenant Babbit had gone
to Washington, he being in order for promotion to
the post of Master Commandant. The Secretary of
the Navy, Hon. Mahlon Dickerson, a gentleman not
less distinguished for his efficiency and correctness
in transacting public business, than for the purity of
his principles and his nice sense of honor, thought
that the passage in Lieut. Babbit's defence which
had reflected so unjustly upon Commodore Elliott,
could not be overlooked by the Department. He re
quired of Mr. Babbit an explanation, as a step ne
cessary to his promotion, and called for by every
consideration of interest for the Navy. Mr. Babbit
accordingly addressed the following letter to the Se
cretary of the Navy, and transmitted a copy of it to
Commodore Elliott. " Washington, Dec. 10, 1835.
Sir, — Agreeably to your request, I beg leave to make the following
explanation to the Department of a passage in my defence, before the
late Court-Martial in my case, which Com d. Elliott has taken excep
tions to.
I was desirous that this, and the preceding paragraphs relative to my
family, should be rejected upon the ground that I felt a delicacy in
bringing my domestic concerns before the public.
The passage in question was inserted, not to impute any improper
motives to Com. Elliott in the transaction ; but, from the circumstances
of Surgeon Babbit's death, while under his command, and the situation
in which his family were left, — I considered as a reason, not only en
titling me in some degree to the considerations of the Court, but that
it should also have had great weight with the prosecutor, before bring
ing charges of so heinous a nature against me, upon slight grounds.
The paragraph alluded to, was inserted under an impression of my
own, that such was the fact, and I now cheerfully state that my pre
sent conviction is, that there was nothing improper in the conduct of
Com'd. Elliott, in the unfortunate circumstances that led to my late
brother's death.
I have the honor to be, with great respect, your Obedient Servant,
Edward B. Babbit.
Hon. Mahlon Dickerson, Present.
Secretary of the Navy.''
To this, Commodore Elliott made the following reply.
" Commandant's Office, Navy Yard, Boston,
Jan. 21, 1835.
Sir,— Your communication dated Washington, Dec. 10, 1835, mean
ing no doubt January 10, 1835, enclosing a copy of a communication

356 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
made by you to the Navy Department, bearing the same date, and
containing no doubt the same error ; has been duly received and con
sidered. In your letter to the Department, I perceive several paragraphs which
I cannot admit as based upon correct principles, or the wholesome dis
cipline of the service about which we seem to entertain opinions of an
entire different nature.
You say ' the passage' (of your defence) ' in question was inserted
not to impute any improper motives to Commodore Elliott in the trans
action: but from the circumstance of Surgeon Babbit's death, whue
under his command, and the situation in which his family were left, I
considered as a reason not only entitling me in some degree to the con
siderations of the Court, but that it should also have had great weight
with the prosecutor, before bringing charges of so heinous a nature
against me upon slight grounds.'
' The paragraph alluded to, was inserted under an impression of my
own, that such was the fact,' &c.
If the paragraph— 'I might appeal to the facts, that I alone of the three
sons of a widowed mother, who entered theNaval service of theUnited
States, survive to maintain her. That one of them holding the rank in
which I now stand, fell honorably at hiB post inbattle, during the last
war, and I might point to the grave of the other in a foreign land, who re
ceived his death blow, while executing an order given by the Prosecutor
under circumstances, which it is believed he will never forget ; leaving
a widow and children, who look to me as their protector and guide,
— was inserted not to impute improper motives to me, why was it in
serted at all, and why did the learned counsel emphasize its latter part
in so particular a manner, thereby drawing every eye of the numerous
invited and exulting audience, in so pointed a manner towards me, with
the family of the deceased in the weeds of mourning before my eyes 1
It would have had nothing to do with the matter in question had it
been true ; but as it was the reverse, it was doubly out of place in your
defence. Had you meant to have had it operate with me in your favor, why did
you not bring it to mynotice at the time, when the charges were made
and preferrfecf 7 Then, if the matter had been true, it might nave had such
weight as it deserved ; but to urge that matter (through your Counsel,
when my hands were tied, and all means of explanation and redress
withheld) in your defence after trial, when it was not true, was alto
gether unnecessary and improper.
You say also that the charges were made against you upon slight
grounds. This position I deny positively ; they were made upon strong
grounds, and when you advert to the circumstances of the case, you
must be fully aware of the truth of what I now state.
You say that you was under the impression, at the time of insertion,
that the paragraph in your defence, charging me with almost wilful
murder, was true.
When you recollect, Sir, that you was the first officer who came on
board of my ship, the Cyane, at Rio, in 1826, from the Sloop of War
Boston, bearing despatches to me from the Government, which your
Commander had brought out, that mine was the unpleasant duty of
communicating to you the melancholy intelligence of the decease of
your brother, and of detading all the circumstances which related to it ;
when you recollect also, that for 5 months, you daily sat at the same
table with your deceased brother's mess-mates, that any charge of so
foul a nature would have been a subject of general conversation, had
it had a shadow of a foundation ; I must take leave entirely to dissent
from you in the belief, and cannot but think that the whole paragraph

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 357
was manufactured for the occasion, either by yourself, or your consult
ing friends.
But as the Hon. Secretary of the Navy, unauthorized by me, has, ac
tuated by the kindest and noblest feelings, drawn the communication
from you, in which you declare that you disbelieve the exceptionable
paragraph, and that you did not mean to impute to me any improper
motives, and as 'To err is Human, to forgive Divine '
I do, notwithstanding your previous uncalled for imputation, remove so
far as I am concerned, any barrier that does, or may exist hetween you
and your promotion ; that you may still continue to be a protector and
guide to the widow and children of your late brother ; and I will further
state, that had your deportment in this yard before your trial been such
as it was after it, I should have been spared the necessity of preferring
charges against you, and you the trouble of answering them.
You are at liberty to file a copy of this communication in the Navy
Department, and reap any advantage that may arise from its candid
tenor. I am Sir, respectfully,
Your ob't servant, J. D. ELLIOTT.
Lt. E. B. Babbit,
U. S. Navy, Washington D. C."
Upon the trial of Lieutenant Babbit, Commodore
Elliott was notified to produce copies of several let
ters which he had addressed to the Navy Department.
Among them was the following, which, together with
a General Order, will serve to show how uniformly
attentive is Captain Elliott to the morals and deport
ment of the men under his command. N. Y. Boston,
"November 18th, 1833.
Sir — Upon my arrival at this Yard, I found that the ordinary of the
Yard were divided into two classes, the first to have liberty every other
Sabbath after muster, and the second to have liberty on the interme
diate Sabbaths.
From this arrangement, drunkenness and desertions frequently arose,
the Sabbath was spent in a manner that was illy calculated to make
the men better seamen, better citizens, or better husbands, and the
whole arrangement called loudly for a revision and correction. To
remedy this evil, which was very great, I applied to the Department
the Rev. James Everett to fill the vacancy then existing in the Chap-
lainship of the Yard ; my request was granted, and he commenced his
labors. There still existed another inconvenience, and that was the want of
a suitable place for public worship, that would not interfere with any
of the public duty of the Yard. My predecessors had been in the habit
of having muster and prayers attended in the sail-loft, which occa
sioned a Toss to the public of the time that was taken to prepare the

35S LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
loft on Saturday afternoon for a chapel for the next day, and also of
preparing the chapel on Monday morning for a sail-loft during the re
mainder of the week. This, in ordinary cases, occasioned a loss of time
and a loss of labor, and when a vessel was fitting for sea, the evil
would have been still greater. As the half made sails were to have
been rolled up and put away, the loft swept and benches brought in
and arranged every Saturday afternoon, and afterwards on Monday
morning the sails were to be brought back again and opened, the loft
freed from benches and all other necessary arrangements made for
recommencing work; and the loft itself when fitted in the best possi
ble manner, was unfit to receive the female part of the congregation ; I
therefore took the upper story of the cordage store which was not want
ed particularly for any other purpose, and had it fitted up with a pulpit
and slips ; and on the front slips, had the names ol the Officers of the
Yard and Receiving Ship, according to th. ir rank, painted.
I then issued an order for the ordinary of the Yard, the crew of the
Receiving Ship, and requested the marines in garrison not on special
duty, to attend church, each Sabbath, at the ringing of the Yard bell.
This had the desired effect for the time ; the chaplain did his duty faith
fully, and I began to see the beneficial effects of his labor in the actions
and manners of the seamen generally.
Soon, however, the novelty wore away, theofficersbecame lukewarm,
and the higher Officers of the Yard especially neglected to attend ser
vice ; until at length the worthy chaplain found himself preaching to
bare walls as it regards officers.
I then inserted in my general regulations for the government of the
Yard, the following clause: officers presumed to lie at church, will
not be permitted to leave the Yard until services are over.
This I believed to be necessary, because frst the government had al
lowed a chaplain to this station, whose duty it was made by me to per
form services in theYard. Secondly, because I had required the sea
men to attend, and it was no more than fair to conclude that the offi
cers should be the first to set the inferiors an example, fraught with so
much benefit to them here and hereafter.
Thirdly, because I considered the officers of this Yard in the same
light as officers at sea, and were therefore bound to attend divine ser
vice when performed by the person appointed by the government for
that special purpose; and fourthly, because I had previously instructed
the chaplain not to touch upon doctrinal points at all, but to preach up
good morals, &c. &c.
This suggestion of mine has, however, produced no fruit; last Sab
bath the two officers next to me in command, and some others, were ab
sent, and when the two first, being highest in authority, were called upon
for their reasons for non-attendance, they returned the letters marked
A&B.
I therefore deem it my duty to issue a general order requesting their
attendance, which I submit to you for your approbation, beiore issuing
it to the officers.
I think their absence was occasioned by a combination, and a wish
to bring the matter to the Department for a decision : thereby setting
an example to their subordinates to nullify my reguldtions. As I am
opposed to nullification in every shape, manner and character, I trust
that this case may be disposed of at once; for although the younger
officers on this station have conducted themselves well, still I do not
know how soon they may follow the example of the older ones in this
respect ; at any rate, if you decide in favor of it, it shall be carried into
effect. Without any previous consultation between the chaplain and myself

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 359
on the subject, the sermon which he preached last Sabbath was so ap
propriate, that I could not forbear asking him for it, and I herewith en
close it to you for your perusal, which I wish you afterwards to return
to me again.
I do not waive or shrink from any responsibility ; I do not wish the
attendance of tne officers for the purpose of changing their religious
tenets, but to set good examples to the men ; and unless they do give
their attendance, the chapel must be disused, and the seamen lett to
kill time in a manner most agreeable to themselves.
Believing, as I do, without harmony among the higher officers of the
Yard, public duty cannot be carried on with spirit and satisfaction, and
if my two highest officers are dissatisfied with the correction of certain
abuses which have been so long allowed as to be thought matters of
right and equity, I would suggest that they be replaced by others.
If there should be any changes, Lt. James Armstrong, Lt. J. Mont
gomery, or Lt. W. Boerum, officers who have lately returned from sea,
and who have served with me in the West Indies, would be entirely ac
ceptable. I must be supplied with prompt and willing officers, and
above all, I must be supported by the Navy Department, as I have
been heretofore, or my efforts to reform this Naval establishment will
be unavailing. I have the honor to be, &c J. D. ELLIOTT.
Hon. Levi Woodbury,
Sec'y of Navy.
Carefully collated with the original on file in the Navy Department,
and found to be correctly copied. J. BOYLE, Chief Clerk.
18th October, 1834.
GENERAL ORDER.
Having seen with regret that the suggestion contained in my gene
ral regulations for the government of this Navy Yard, respecting
divine service, has not been met with promptness and spirit,
I hereby order all persons borne on the books of this station for
duty at this place, with the exception of the officers on the watch duty
and the sick, to give their attention at the Chapel each Sabbath,
while the Chaplain is performing divine service.
It is to be understood that this order is not issued to produce a
change in the religious tenets of any one, but for the purpose of caus
ing the officers to present a proper example to the men in this respect.
Given at the Navy Yard, Boston, November 18th, 1833.
J. D. ELLIOTT, Commandant.
Correctly copied. John Boyle, Chief Clerk
October 18, 1834.
Soon after the termination of this correspondence,
Commodore Elliott was appointed to the command of
the Constitution Frigate, with orders to proceed to
France, and return to the United States with Mr.
Livingston, the American minister to the French
Government, should the relations between the two
countries require it; and if they should not, to pro-

360 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
ceed to the Mediterranean, upon a cruise of three
years. He sailed from Boston on the 2d day of
March, 1835, and arrived at New- York a few days
afterwards. Here the injury to the bow of the Con
stitution which has already been noticed, was re
paired, the Secretary of the Navy having made ar
rangements for that purpose, in pursuance of his
determination to send the Frigate away from Boston
precisely in the condition in which the Vandalism of
the Boston " Whigs " had left her. When the Frigate
left Boston, the Figure Head was covered with can
vas, on which was painted a five striped flag ! !
This was by no means inappropriate, when it is con
sidered that the very political party which perpetrated
this outrage upon a national ship, was the same that
raised a five striped flag in Massachusetts, just before
the last war, as an emblem of the separation of New
England from the Union. Scarcely had Commodore
Elliott left the harbor of Boston, when, as if the spirit
of unmanly outrage were never to be satisfied, a new
attack was made upon his fame, and if possible cha
racterized by deeper baseness than any of the preced
ing. As has already been shown, Commodore Elliott
communicated to the Navy Department an exact ac
count of all that transpired in the Navy Yard, relating
to the Figure Head, it being the duty of all com
mandants to apprise the Department of whatever
important occurrences transpire within their respect
ive commands. As the time of the commandant of
such a dock yard as that of Charlestown is necessa
rily much occupied, most of his correspondence must
be written by a clerk, and one or more clerks are
employed at all the naval stations. Commodore
Elliott writes with great rapidity, in a hand very dif
ficult to be read by those unaccustomed to it, and in
writing his letters to public officers, uses many abbre
viations, leaving the clerk to copy the letter in a fair

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 361
hand, and to write out every word fully and dis
tinctly. His style, as will appear from the preceding
correspondence, is plain, direct and manly, and
highly indicative of his character. He belongs to
the same class of writers with Washington, making
no pretensions to literary graces, but aiming merely
to be understood, and to express his ideas with brevity
and precision. Some months previous to his sailing
in the Constitution, an individual of Charlestown,
who had been employed in the Commandant's office,
had been convicted of fraudulent practices, and was
dismissed from the public service. Immediately after
the Commodore had sailed for Europe, this indivi
dual entered the Commandant's office, and by the
aid of a relative employed there, and who seems to
have been without suspicion of his object, got posses
sion of the file of original letters, and made from it
an exact and literal copy of the sketch or original
minutes of the letter which the Commodore had
written to the Navy Department, containing an ac
count of the outrage upon the Constitution. This
sketch, containing many abbreviations, and written
in a very indistinct hand, was immediately published
in the principal "Whig" paper in Boston, and the
acknowledged organ of the "Whig" party. The
publication was manifestly with a design to misre
present and defame, and to hold up Commodore
Elliott to public contempt and ridicule ; for the letter
was published in the same abbreviated manner in
which it was written, and in all cases where the pub
lisher was doubtful about the words or letters used,
he substituted, as if in very wantonness of malice,
those which most directly tended to render the com
position absurd. The publication was accompanied
with editorial remarks, holding up Commodore Elliott
to public contempt and ridicule, denouncing him as
ignorant of the most common literary acquirements,
31

362 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
and invoking shame upon the country for having in
the important station of a Captain of the Navy, an in
dividual so shamefully illiterate.
It is difficult for an honorable mind to restrain its
indignation upon hearing of this transaction, so fraught
with disingemrousness, with cool, deliberate, studied
malice. It might have been supposed that every re
spectable "Whig" in Boston would pronounce it
shameful, and that every other "Whig" editor in
Boston would have reproved the organ of their party
for this unmanly assault, and have cleared itself from
the imputation of tacitly approving a resort to such
poisoned weapons. But no such rebuke was given !
On the following day, Captain Budd, the temporary
commandant of the INavy Yard, caused to be pub
lished in one of the Democratic papers of Boston, a
statement of the clandestine and furtive manner in
which this rough draft or abbreviated sketch of a
letter had been copied from the files of the office, sup
ported by certificates from officers of the yard.
On the 23d of March, 1835, the Constitution sailed
from New York for France, and arrived at Havre on
the 16th .of April ; thus proving, by a passage of
24 days, that in the thorough repairing which she
had undergone, her capacity for sailing had not been
diminished. Commodore Elliott immediately pro
ceeded to Paris with his despatches ; but what tran
spired there, belonging to the diplomatic, and not the
naval history of the country, and having already
been laid before the public, will not be mentioned in
these pages. The public are already apprized that
the Chamber of Deputies, the popular branch of the
French Legislature, in passing the American Indem
nification Bill, inserted a clause which required from
the American Government, before the sum stipulated
in the bill could be paid, an explanation of the lan
guage used by the President upon the subject, of our

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 363
relations with France, in his Message to Congress on
the 1st of December, 1834. Upon this point, Mr.
Livingston addressed a note to the French Minister
of Foreign Affairs, which, as an assertion of the rights
of nations, has been rarely equalled, and probably
never exceeded, in the history of diplomacy. As an
exposition of the principles upon which the American
nation claims to be independent of foreign interfe
rence in the internal operations of its government,
this document is remarkably luminous, forcible and
dignified ; and justice to the distinguished statesman
and no less distinguished jurist who wrote it, requires
that it should be offered to the reader.*
The state of our relations with France requiring
the return of Mr. Livingston, Commodore Elliott left
France early in May, and sailed for Plymouth, Eng
land, preparatory to sailing for the United States.
On arriving off Plymouth, he dispatched a messen
ger to Admiral Hargood, in command of a British
ship of the line, proposing a salute, on condition of
its being returned with an equal number of guns.
This was promptly acceeded to by the British Admi
ral, and salutes were exchanged. Upon entering
the harbor, he proposed a salute upon the same terms
to Admiral Sir Willoughby Cotton, commandant of
the Dock Yards at Plymouth. This was likewise
acceded to, and a salute of 21 guns was fired by the
Constitution, and returned by an equal number.
This incident, though trifling in itself, has probably
terminated forever, an embarrassing difficulty to our
naval officers. This subject of salutes has often
caused unpleasant feelings, the British officers refus
ing to return an equal number of guns, excepting to
officers of their own rank. This could rarely be
done upon the meeting of large ships, our navy hav
ing no higher rank than that of Captain. It is need-
* Appendix I.

364 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
less to say that no salute would have been fired by
Captain Elliott, excepting on equal terms. Though
this subject, at first view, may seem of little national
importance, yet, being a custom among civilized na
tions, it ought, perhaps, to be followed by the United
States, wherever it can be done upon terms perfectly
consistent with their dignity. All courtesies and
civilities among military men are useful in softening
the asperities of their profession. They diminish that
personal rancor, that individual ferocity, which cha
racterized ancient warfare, and which is still a revolt
ing feature in the wars of uncivilized nations. They
lead to acquaintances and friendships in time of peace,
which do not interfere with national fidelity in time
of war. In the institution of chivalry is to be found
the origin of that sentiment which has mitigated, in
some degree, the scourge of nations, that private
friendship is perfectly consistent with, public enmity ;
and though this institution no longer exists, yet it is
to be hoped that its humane and generous spirit, the
true spirit of Christianity, yet finds favor among civi
lized nations. As salutes and other exchanges of cour
tesy among military men lead to friendly intercourse,
it is the policy, and even the duty of civilized na
tions, to encourage them.
Commodore Elliott sailed from Plymouth on the
16th of May, 1835, and arrived at New York on the
22d of June following. Soon after his arrival, Mr.
Livingston, as a delicate token of gratitude for the
kind attentions which he and his family had received
from Commodore Elliott on their voyage home, pre
sented him with a beautiful gold \yzz, within which
was engraved the following letter. New York, June 22, 1836.
Dear Sir, — Men whose minds are properly disposed, seldom remem
ber the good offices which they take so much pleasure in performing.
To counteract, as far as possible, this propensity, in which you might
be apt to indulge, I pray you to accept a trifling memento, which may

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 365
recall to your recollection the kind attentions which I and my family
received from you on board of the Constitution, under your command.
With it, Sir, I pray you to receive the assurance of my highest esteem,
and of the sense I shall always entertain of your unceasing endeavors
to render our passage agreeable. Your friend, and obedient servant,
. EDWARD LIVINGSTON.
Com. Jesse D. Elliott, U. S. Frigate Constitution.
To this letter, Commodore Elliott replied in the
following terms. XI. S. Frigate Constitution, June 27, 1835.
Dear Sir, — Permit me to acknowledge your very flattering note,
accompanying the beautiful gold box, my acceptance of which you
have done me the honor to request, Unmerited and unexpected as it
is, it will be cherished in my family as an heir loom, to be preserved to
the latest posterity ; and as happily connecting a memorable event in
our national history, with the recollection of a statesman, whose
fame rests not on opinion, but in the records of the jurisprudence,
the legislation and the diplomacy of our country; and above all,
in his demonstration of attachment to the Constitution. Deeply
sensible of the responsible and peculiar service to which I had
been called by the venerated Chief Magistrate of the nation, and
having been a witness to the delicacy of your situation at the_ Court
of France, in the present crisis, my feelings were keenly sensitive to
the execution of the trust. I shall esteem myself more than fortu
nate, if, in the discharge of my duty, I have rendered myself worthy
of the compliment which you have thus bestowed upon me. Be
pleased to present my affectionate regard to your amiable lady and
daughter, whose fortitude looked above the privations incident to a pro
tracted and boisterous passage across the Atlantic, and whose pre
sence did not interfere with the personal convenience of the com
mander, nor with the exact discipline of a ship of war.
J. D. ELLIOTT.
Hon. Edward Livingston.
Soon after his arrival at New York, Commodore
Elliott was informed of the unmanly proceeding of
the leading " Whig" paper in Boston, in publishing a
caricature of his letter to the Secretary of the Navy.
He immediately wrote to Mr. Dow, schoolmaster of
the Constitution, and Mr. Charles H. Locke, an edi
tor of a newspaper in Lowell, Mass., and of highly
respectable literary attainments, requesting to state
their recollections about the affair of the Figure Head.
The answer of Mr. Locke is highly important, as it
proves what has already been mentioned, a project to
31*

366 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
prevent by force, the departure of the Constitution
from Boston with the Figure Head upon her bows.
It shows that this project was not confined to the
worthless, the idle and disorderly materials which,
in great cities, are always ready for mischief; but
was conceived and arranged among men who had
character to lose, heads of families, public officers,
the elite oi Boston. The letter of Mr. Dow proves
what has already been said of the attempts, by some
highly respectable merchants, to purchase of the ar
tist who carved the figure head, permission to steal
it. Here is a subject that is earnestly commended to
the sober reflection of the Democratic party through
out the Union. Boston Federalism, instigated by po
litical animosity against the President of the United
States, offers large bribes for subornation of theft;
and when disappointed in this, conceives the mad,
the riotous, if not the treasonable project oi firing
upon a national ship ! ! Well may every Democrat
exclaim that this is an ebullition of the same spirit
which raised the five striped flag, which gave intel
ligence and supplies to hostile British cruisers, which
burnt blue lights at New London, which strove to
prevent soldiers from enlisting, which openly wished
that they might perish in battle, which proposed a
seizure of the public revenue, which conspired to in
volve the nation in bankruptcy, which declared that
it was immoral and irreligious to rejoice in our vic
tories, and which, when the nation was invaded, de
vised the Hartford Convention.

U. S. Frigate Constitution, off New- York.
June 22, 1835.
Sir,— I duly received your communication of yesterday's date, re
questing me to make you a written statement of such facts as may be
within my recollection, relating to a visit made you in January last, by
Laban S. Beecher, of Boston, the Artist who carved the ornaments for
the head and stern of the U. S. Frigate Constitution :
Also to state what facts I may be possessed of, relating to the truth

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOT. 367
of a communication made in the Boston Atlas of the 14th March last,
in which a letter, said to have been written by yourself t j the Hon.
Secretary of the Navy, under date of January 22d, 1835, is published ;
and which is certified as a true copy from the records of the Navy Yard,
Boston, by Samuel Etheridge, late clerk of that establishment ; and
further to state such other facts as cann within my knowledge as your
confidential clerk, touching the whole matter.
You will readily perceive, Sir, that to answer your letter fully, I am
forced to take a wide range, and shall therefore commence as far back
as February, 1834. Having seen, by the Journals of the City and the
feelings of a few, that the ornament selected for the bow of the Con
stitution was not so acceptable as you expected it would have been, from
the distinguished honors paid to the President, during his eastern tour
in 1833, by the people of Boston opposed to him in politics, you requested
me, on the 22d of February, 1834, to call upon Mr. Beecher, and direct
him to suspend all further work upon the head, until you had heard
from the Department, saying at the same time, that there had been
quite too much excitement and noise about it.
I called upon Mr. Beecher, and delivered your message. A short
time afterwards, while I was with you, the porter of the Yard brought
a note bearing the Boston Post Mark, which he had found in the Navy
Yard box at the Post Office ; it stated that the writer had made you
abandon the head of Gen. Jackson for a bow ornament for the Con
stitution, and threatened that if you did not take the name of Jackson
from the Drv Dock, you should not live 48 hours, signed " Many North
Enders,"and dated "North End, 24th." Upon the receipt of this note,
you directed me to go to Mr. Beecher, and direct him to proceed upon
the head. I did so, and the work was re-commenced accordingly. On
the 24th of that month, while I was opening the morning letters in
your office, and receiving the necessary information preparatory to an
swering them, Mr. Laban S. Beecher, of Boston, was announced ; you di
rected the messenger to admit him, and he immediately entered, holding
in his hand what I afterwards perceived to be an inflammatory hancP
bill, headed " Bostonians Awake !" which he handed to you. He then
stated that the people of Boston were very much excited at the idea of
the Head of the President's being placed at the bows of the Constitu
tion, and asked you if you would attach any blame to him, or take any
legal steps, if the head should be stolen from his shop during the night.
He said The was satisfied that an attempt would be made to steal it, if it
was not removed; as two State street merchants and one East India
merchant, of the highest respectability, had offered him from 3 to 500
dollars each for it; (he also stated to me afterwards that he had seen a
list of 18 or 20 names of merchants, who would contribute the sum of
20,000 dollars, before the Constitution should be disgraced with the figure
of the President of the United States.) You replied that the head was
under his charge, that you should hold him responsible for its safety,
and that if threats had been made against it, he was in duty bound to
complain to the Mayor of Boston, and ask his protection ; thatif he did
not do it, you should feel bound to do it yourself. Mr. Beecher then
took his departure, promising, as I understood, that he would complain
to the Mayor.
Upon receiving a communication from the commissioners, granting
you permission to place the head of General Jackson upon the Consti.T
tution or a 74, as you deemed best, but to leave off the heads of the
three navai commanders from the stern, provided the work had not
been commenced, you directed me to call upon Mr. Beecher, and ask
him how far the stern ornaments were advanced, and also what he had

368 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
done in relation to the threats and bribes alluded to in the morning. I
did so, and found Mr. Beecher in his garret, which could only be ap
proached by a private signal. He was at work upon the head and stem
ornaments. He had roughed out the former as far as the shoulders,
and stated that he had not been to see the Mayor, that he did not con
sider the head safe in his shop, &C. &c. I then returned and made my
report to you, when you directed me to go immediately to him, and di
rect him to box up the head, ready to be removed next morning, at high
water, which would be at 9 o'clock. I did so ; the head was boxed up,
and next morning, Sailing Master Hixon, with a boat's crew composed
of seamen and ordinary seamen of the Yard, proceeded in the launch
to the foot of Market street, received the head, and carried it to the
Yard in safety. It was then placed in the Engine house, and finished
by Mr. Beecher at his leisure.
On the 3d of July, 1834, the head was discovered to have been mutila
ted by some person or persons unknown. After the fact had been re
ported to you, you directed me to call upon Mr. Beecher, and request him
to come to your office immediately ; he did so, and you demanded the
names of those persons who had offered him bribes ; he hesitated a
moment, and then replied, that he could not give them up without be
traying confidence. He then asked you how he ought to act ; you re
plied that he must act for himself; he then said he would give them up
when legally called upon, and took his leave. I saw nothing further of
Mr Beecher, if I recollect aright, until the afternoon of the 22d of Janu
ary, 1835, when, upon returningfrom Boston, I met him at the end of the
Warren Bridge, on his return from Charlestown ; he stopped and im
mediately commenced a conversation about the head. He said that he
had been to see you about it, that he was sorry that it could not be
changed. I replied that it would not be changed, that the Ship would
leave Boston with it mutilated, and proceed to New- York, where it
would be repaired. He said he was sorry, for he was satisfied that the
Ship would be stopped at the Narrows, if she attempted to pass with
one vestige of the head upon her bows.
I then left him, and upon reaching the Yard, was directed by you,
(before I had mentioned the fact that I had seen Mr. Beecher,) to write
an "official and confidential" letter to the Honorable Secretary of the
Navy, stating certain facts, such as the visit of Mr. Beecher, the gra
tuitous offer of Captain Benjamin Rich and others, to repair the head by
substituting that of any other individual excepting the President's, your
refusal of the same, their threats, your contempt of the same, the state of
the Ship, the time when she would be probably ready for sea, and your
determination to see her outside of the Narrows, should you deem it
necessary. This letter was written, and written also in business style,
but was never intended to be published in a newspaper.
Shortly afterwards I met Mr. Charles _H. Locke, who informed me
that he visited Mr. Beecher in company with Capt. Benjamin Rich, and
I am pretty positive that he mentioned the fact of Capt. Rich's offering
to replace the head by that of any other individual at his own expense.
Mr. Locke is now in Lowell or Boston, and will undoubtedly furnish
you with such facts as he may be possessed of, should you see fit to
call upon him.
Who Laban G. Beecher is, I know not ; but if Laban S. Beecher, of
Boston, Carver, authorized the insertion of the following paragraph in
the Boston Atlas of the 18th of March last, he authorized the insertion
of what I believe to be untrue.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 369
" Laban G. Beecher, the artist who executed the figure head for the
Constitution, has requested us to state that he never had any conversa
tion with Commodore Elliott in regard to Captain Benjamin Rich, or
of the nature of that attributed to him in the letter published in the At
las of Saturday." I am, Sir, very resp'y,
Your mo. ob't Servant.
Com. Jesse D. Elliott Com'g U. S. Frigate Constitution,
Present. " Lowell, Mass. July 14, 1835.
Com. J. D. Elliott,
Sir, — In consequence of temporary absence, yours of the 23d ult.
did not come to hand till this morning, and I hasten to answer it with
out delay.
The conversation alluded to in your letter to the Secretary of the
Navy, and reported by me to you, was between Captain John Rich,
a nephew of Captain Benjamin Rich, and myself and Mr. Laban S.
Beechei. Having nothing to refresh my memory in relation to any
point in dispute, I can only answer by stating generally the tenor of
the conversation, as nearly as I can recall it.
Capt. John Rich said many things in relation to the figure head and
yourself, and his observations were marked with much severity. Mr.
Beecher and myself (it was the sole object of my visit) labored to con
vince him that your action, throughout the whole matter, should meet
the approbation of every honest, intelligent man. In the course of the
dispute, Capt. Rich said that he would guarantee that some merchants
of Boston would pay the expense of any other figure head than a like
ness of General Jackson, if Commodore Elliott would have it placed
upon the Constitution. I said that the matter was beyond the control
of Commodore Elliott, and that he had only to obey the orders of the
Navy Department. Mr. Beecher then said, and authorized me to say
the same to ycu, that he would make any other figure head without
charge to the Government, if you would consent to receive it. I re
plied again that I was confident it was not at your option, but I would
report his offer at the first opportunity. No opportunity occurred un
til after he. had seen you himself.
Capt. Rich further remarked, that he was well assured that the
Constitution would not be allowed to go to sea with the figure of
General Jackson at her bows, either repaired or in the then mutilated
state. This also I reported to you. I do not at this moment recol
lect anything else pertaining to the subject. If any thing has escaped
my memory, the article in the Atlas would call it to mind.
About the same time, I had a conversation with Col. Thomas C.
Amory, the Chief Engineer of the Boston Fire Department, which I
also repeated to you at the same time with the foregoing, as I felt in
duty bound. The substance of it was this : Col. Amory said that he
knew that a combination was formed, for the purpose of preventing
the Constitution from going to sea as she then was, with the mutilated
figure, and that a party of men would take possession of the battery at
the Narrows, for the purpose of blowing it off. This remark was
openly made in the bar room of the Exchange Coffee House : and as
a citizen of the country, and a friend to yourself, I could not do other
wise than make you acquainted with the fact that such things were
said. Whethei this will be a sufficient reply to your inquiry, I cannot
tell, without papers to which I have no access at present. So far as

370 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
the Captain Rich conversation is concerned, the mistake probably
arose from my speaking of ' Captain Rich,' without the designation
of the christian name, you thinking only of ' Captain Rich,' the well
known merchant. The conversation between Captain John Rich
and myself was long arid earnest. Captain John Rich, as I knew
his uncle Ben to be, was very inveterate against you and the Govern
ment, and I must do Mr. Beecher the justice to say that he fully ap
proved of your doings and feelings, so far a3 he knew them, in rela
tion to the subject.
You well know, Sir, that I have been and am politically opposed to
the present Administration, and I was opposed to placing the figure of
General Jackson upon a ship whose very name I love. But I cannot be
induced to do wrong or think wrong wilfully ; and I am happy to de
clare that whatever I might have felt and written in the early part of
the affair, I was entirely satisfied by your explanations and those of
officers under your command, that your motives were pure, and your
actions reasonable, under the circumstances of the case. I further be
lieve, because I respect this community, that in a short time, the ex
citement having passed, they will be convinced by a candid statement
of facts, and that your reputation will be as popular and as highly en
viable in this part of the country, as it certainly was before the occur
rences alluded to, which I think you will allow me to call at least un
fortunate. I shall be ready to answer any further inquiries which you may see
fit to make, And am, most respectfully,
your obedient servant,
CHS. H. LOCKE.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 371

CHAPTER XIX.
Remarks upon the treatment of Captain Elliott.
Such is the treatment which Captain Elliott re
ceived from the " Whig" party of Boston, while he
was commandant of the Navy Yard. Had his own
conduct furnished the slightest apology for these
manifold outrages? Had he, in any instance, done
aught inconsistent with the duties and proprieties of
his station ? Had he ever interfered in the politics of
the day in a manner unbecoming his office, or evinced
towards any citizen any deficiency of courtesy or
kindness? No ! Why then were these vials of
wrath discharged upon his head ? The reasons have
already been assigned.
First : He is a republican of the Jeffersonian school,
and to " Federalists of the Boston stamp," a Jefferso
nian republican is always an object of special, of ran
corous hatred.
Second : Without being a partizan, he is friendly
to the present national administration; and this, to
the old Federal, now " Whig" party of Boston, is suf
ficient cause for unrelenting hatred and untiring per
secution. Third : The National Republican or " Whig" party
of Boston, ever watching for subjects of complaint,
deemed the figure head of the Constitution frigate a
fertile subject, and used it accordingly; and as they
consider poisoned weapons lawful in politics, the
character of Commodore Elliott was to be slandered
without stint, if the slander could avail them in cast-

372 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
ing odium upon the National Administration. But
in what light do these proceedings exhibit the domi
nant party of Boston ? The press filled with abusive
and slanderous paragraphs ! The walls of public
buildings pasted with anonymous calls to violence !
Anonymous letters filled with scurrilous libels and
threats of assassination! Respectable and wealthy
merchants offering bribes to commit a felony! Citi
zens of acknowledged influence and respectability
publicly expressing their wishes that a national ship
might not be permitted to put to sea, without lawless
mutilation ! A felony actually perpetrated under cir
cumstances particularly outrageous ! The press ex
ulting over the felony, and the most respectable citi
zens exchanging congratulations upon it ! A large
number of the elite of Boston holding a convivial
meeting over the fragment of a statue, feloniously
taken from a national ship, for the purpose of offering
indignities to the chief magistrate of the nation !
Hundreds of the personal friends and daily associates
of the member of Congress from Boston, after ex
changing congratulations with him upon his election,
marching in mob-like array to a depot of the national
marine, for the purpose of publicly insulting its com
mandant !
It is no longer wonderful that in the State of Mas
sachusetts, a convent is burned by the sovereign peo
ple assembled in a mob, and defenseless women and
children driven at midnight from their beds, and left
to seek shelter and protection, God knows where ! by
the light of their flaming dwelling! It is no longer
wonderful that when a verdict of acquittal of one in
dicted for the abomination is brought into Court, the
Temple of Justice is profaned and desecrated by the
approving shouts, the exulting yells, of the assembled
bone and muscle and character of the land ! It is
admitted that those who assembled in Bacchanalian

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 373
orgies over the mutilated image of the National Exe
cutive, were the first to denounce and the most active
to prosecute the destroyers of the convent. But if
those who condemn one outrage, instigate and ap
prove another, their praise or censure must be go
verned by the object and not the principle. The ag
ricultural population of Middlesex county perpetrate
and approve one outrage, the commercial population
of Suffolk county another ; both outrages marked by
the same ruffian and cowardly features. Each con
demns in his neighbor what he approves in him-
self! It shows that one spirit, one mind pervades
them! The great, the good, the philosophic, the phi-
lanthrophic Spurzheim, during his visit to Boston, de
clared that a prominent phrenological indication
among the Americans, so far as he had seen them,
was a want of veneration, a want of habitual respect
for whatever is useful, and a disposition to put it at
hazard to gain any temporary end. He cautioned
them against this reckless spirit of which he saw nu
merous manifestations ; saying that unless carefully
restrained, it would one day show itself in terrible
convulsions. Little did the amiable sage dream that
his prophecy was so near fulfilment, and by such re
volting, such degrading deeds ! Europe contains many
such enlightened philanthropists, who are looking to
our country as the pioneer of self-government, whose
hearts are bound up in the success of our experiment,
conscious that if it fail, the lamp of liberty must go
out, the hope of the world must expire, and all that
will remain will be to make despotism tolerable.
Sorrowfully must they behold, deeply must they la
ment these dark and gloomy indications. God grant
they may not see the lamp which we have lighted,
and which yet burns brightly, replaced by the deso
lating torches of anarchy, to be quenched in their
turn by the dark, still waters of despotism !
32

374 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
The public are often cautioned, and by none more
than the dominant party of Boston, against military
despotism; against modern Caesars and Crom wells
in the person of Andrew Jackson. That we may
not be very remote from a military despotism, is pos
sible ; and that a government strongly armed with
mihtary power may be a choice of evils, is no absurd
supposition. But if ever such deplorable change is
wrought in our institutions, it will be by the sober,
peaceful portion of the community, seeking security
from the desolating rule of mobs ! If ever a military
despotism should come, you, gentlemen of Boston,
Federalists, National Republicans. "Whigs," or by
whatever name you call yourselves, will incur no
small share of the guilt of bringing it along ; for if it
come, it will originate in the mob-like, ruffian, incen
diary contempt of law and decency of which you
have set more than one flagrant example.
In reviewing the facts detailed in the foregoing pa
ges,, the reader will ask himself how is it possible that
a coward should have risen from the lowest to the
highest official rank in the navy, from the station of
Midshipman to that of Commodore, should have been
frequently selected for services requiring more than
common resolution, and should often have been the
object of complimentary notice from the government
of the nation and that of his own state? Were these
frequent promotions and repeated honors the work of
one administration, to which he had rendered him
self acceptable by continually paying court, or had
he been aided in each ascent by powerful friends, the
secret might be explained. He has been more than
once charged with sycophancy to President Jackson.
But the reader will remember that he was appointed
a Midshipman under Mr. Jefferson, a Lieutenant be
fore the war and a Master Commandant during the
war, by Mr. Madison, and a Captain after the war by

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 375
Mr. Monroe. Under General Jackson, he has receiv
ed and can receive no promotion; for his rank and
emoluments are already as high as the laws admit,
and publie sentiment is probably still opposed to crea
ting higher ranks, and an increase of emolument
must depend upon Congress and not the President.
Of his present rank and emoluments he cannot be de
prived without the sentence of a court martial, and of
this the probabilities are not very great. He has
therefore nothing to gain by sycophancy. He has
indeed received from President Jackson a mark of
confidence in " his characteristic bravery and judg
ment," the command of the naval force sent to
Charleston in the winter of 1833, to maintain the
laws of the Union, then threatened with forcible re
sistance. But this was a thankless service, which he
would have gladly declined. How well he performed
it will appear from a complimentary letter which he
received from the President. During this long peri
od of his services and promotion, the country has
passed through a war which roused it to a high sense
of military honor ; a war in which its gallant little
navy covered it with never fading glory, a war in
which heroes started up in every armed vessel, a war
which called forth its Hulls and Bainbridges and
Decaturs and Lawrences and Joneses and Perrys and
Blakeleys and Burrowses and Stewarts and Porters
and Morrises and Waringtons and MacDonoughs and
Biddies and Chauncey s and Rodger ses and a host of
others ; a war which convinced the world that Ameri
can valor and skill were more than a match for the
reputed mistress of the ocean. In such a state of
public opinion, amid such a succession of spirit-stir
ring triumphs, could the coward have risen in equal
steps with the hero? Could he who ran away from
the enemy have been allowed to take his place of
honor beside those who had met and beaten him?

376 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Promotion and public honors have not been granted
to cowards ! Has Captain Elliott's elevation been the
work of powerful friends? Who are they? None
can be found whose influence was strong enough to
have procured for a coward, or for one of indifferent
qualifications, a sword and a gold medal from Con
gress, and the highest commission in the navy. How
ever he may stand in relation to friends, it is certain
that he has enemies who have more than once at
tempted to impede his progress and destroy his cha
racter; and instead of ascribing his elevation to the
former, the public could say with more propriety, that
it has been obtained in spite of the latter. The fact
that he is the only Captain in the navy who has re
ceived from Congress both a gold medal and a sword,
renders the case still more remarkable.
In considering the different modes in which Cap
tain Elliott has been treated in South Carolina and
Massachusetts, the reader cannot have failed to no
tice the contrast between Northern and Southern cus
toms. This leads to the general remark, that a spirit
of honor in political warfare is less prevalent in
Massachusetts, than in any State of the Union. Bos
ton is Massachusetts ; for the state is prostrate, bound
hand and foot, by a system of corporations, consisting
of Boston capital and wielded by Boston mind. Bos
ton has long been governed by a narrow-minded and
tyrannical aristocracy, the old Federal party; that
party so persecuting in spirit, so rancorous in its ha
treds in the days of the elder Adams and the black
cockade; so libellous, so slanderous in the days of
Mr. Jefferson; so factious if not treasonable in the
days of Mr. Madison ; so adulatory in the days of Mr.
Monroe, and so changeling in its names and policy
at the present day. Amassing great wealth in the
wars of the French Revolution, it used that wealth
for the acquisition and retention of power, and as

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 377
means to this end, it established a system of corrup
tion and terror, of bribery and menace, of flattery and
detraction, which has enabled it to ingulf and turn
to its purposes nearly all the talent ~of the State.
The same party is still alive; for whatever Protean
shape it may assume, by whatever name it may
call itself, whether Federal, National Republican or
"Whig," whatever may be its changeling policy,
whether it may pronounce a protecting tariff uncon
stitutional, or the only means of saving the country,
whether it may devise the Hartford Convention or
approve the President's proclamation, whether it may
denounce nullification as a "damnable heresy," or
commend it as the only true constitutional doctrine,
it is the Old Federal party still, united and organized
as in the days of Mr. Jefferson, and in Massachusetts
at least, more powerful than ever. To this party all
means are alike, for its political ethics, like those im
puted to the Jesuits, contain but two principles, fide
lity to the party, and the promotion of its interests.
Hence their propensity to defame those whom they
cannot purchase or intimidate, to poison secretly
those whom they cannot conquer in open, honorable
combat. Hence their foul libels upon Mr. Jefferson,
now repeated in new shapes; hence their atrocious
slanders of Governor Eustis; hence the vile false
hoods that issue by thousands from the Boston Fede
ral mint, whenever an election is pending; hence
their dastardly attack upon Commodore Elliott. Hence
in no part of the Union so much as in Boston, is mis
chief encouraged to work her fell purposes by sly
hint, by dark innuendo, by lurking sneer, by cautious,
thieving detraction, and especially by that miscreant
weapon, anonymous letters! The author of these
pages respects as much as any one can, and more
than many do, who, for purposes of their own, are
continually parading their professions of respect, the

378 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
many laudable points of character in the sons of New
England. He acknowledges and respects their un
shrinking courage on the battle field or the mountain
wave, their daring enterprise, their untiring perseve
rance, their insatiable thirst for knowledge. But in
no spirit of taunt, with no other wish than to rouse
that attention to faults that may lead to their refor
mation, he feels compelled to say that these high qua
lities are tarnished by envy, disingenuousness and
cunning; are not heightened and polished by an open,
generous frankness, an elevated magnanimity. " The
chivalry of the South," oftentimes unreasonably, nay,
ridiculously vaunted, is still no delusion. However
little disposed the sons of New England may be to
yield to the groundless pretensions to superior genius,
superior talent, superior courage, often arrogantly set
up on the other side of the Potomac, they must ad
mit that a lofty sense of honor, a contempt of low ex
pedients, a proud scorning of advantages unworthily
gained, are bright spots in the. Southern character,
as exhibited in its political action. How much
brighter would that of New England be, if the same
gems adorned it ! It is to be hoped that these gems
may be worn more frequently for nothing would
more become a brave, an enterprising, a persevering ;
an enlightened people ! It is to be hoped that with
the aspiration after improvement so characteristic of
the Eastern States, riches like these may no longer
be under-valued !
It will probably be said by the political hirelings
who have sought to defame Captain Elliott, and by
the anonymous promoters of evil designs who have
instigated and paid them, that in repelling their as
saults, the grave of Perry has been violated and war
has been waged with the dead. This is no new de
vice of the slanderer. To cite the dead as witnesses
against the living, and then to protest against viola-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 379
ting of the grave if the testimony of the witnesses be
impeached, has been often done before, and would
accord with all the other proceedings of the Federal
or " Whig" politicians of Massachusetts against Cap
tain Elliott. But this expedient needs only to be ex
posed in its true character, to insure for it the con
demnation of all honorable minds. The dead should
never be disturbed without necessity. The memory
of their virtues should be preserved and cherished ;
but the evil which they have done should be con
signed to oblivion, unless the recollection of it can
serve the purpose of example. For honest purposes
only should the threshold of the tomb be passed. Of
what crime then is he guilty, who disturbs the repose
of the dead for the purpose of defaming the living ?
Who violates the sanctity of the. tomb in pursuit of
mischief, and brings its secrets to light to be scattered
as firebrands among the habitations of his neighbors?
If the dead be thus sacrilegiously dragged again to
earth, the mouth of the accused is not to be stopped
because they are dead. If introduced as witnesses,
they are to be treated as witnesses according to the
established rules of evidence. Justice would cease
to be even handed, if one party were allowed to se
lect his witnesses, and to forbid their cross-examina
tion by the other. To protest, therefore, against ri
gidly scrutinizing a witness because he is dead, comes
with an ill grace from the very party who has inva
ded his tomb to procure his testimony, and for the
unhallowed purpose of defaming the living. When
thus introduced, the witness can claim no protection
against any examination that may elicit truth, and if
his memory suffer in the process, be the guilt on the
heads of those who produced him ! Commodore
Elliott did not attempt to tear up the laurels that
shade the tomb of the gallant Perry. He assailed
nobody, living or dead. Defamatory accusations

380 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
were preferred against him, to promote the designs
of a malignant and unrelenting political party, and
the grave of a departed hero was ransacked for evi
dence. What did the accusers produce? Docu
ments under the hand of the departed thus sacrile
giously made a witness, charging the accused with
high crimes and misdemeanors. How did he meet
the testimony ? By documents of an earlier date,
under the hand of the same witness, telling a diffe
rent tale, and corroborated by the concurrent testi
mony of the constituted authorities of the nation.
What must be the result in the minds of impartial
triors? They will say that the witness contradict
ed himself; that he suffered evil passions to blind
his judgment, confound his recollections, and smother
his better feelings ; and that his accusing testimony
is valueless. If his memory suffer, be the sin upon
the heads of those who, to promote the purposes of
faction, called him from his repose to blast the well
earned laurels of the illustrious living.
The reader has now had a faithful history of the
brilliant exploits performed, of the public services
rendered, and of the extraordinary trials endured by
Captain Elliott. That such a man should have been
forgotten by any portion of his fellow-citizens ; that
he who, in the cause of his country, had so often
braved death amid storms and tempests and disease,
and the thunders of hostile navies, who, in carrying
" the star spangled banner" in triumph round the
world, had waged war with the elements as well as
the foreign foe, should have been permitted to drop
from their memories as a being of no value, affords
painful evidence of the facility with which nations
may become ungrateful. But that such a man should
be defamed, that his merits should be denied, that the
slanderer should assail his reputation, that the cow
ard's brand should be set upon him, that the traitor's

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 381
ignominy should be his reward, afford melancholy
proofs that no extremities of wickedness are too great
for the spirit of faction. As exhibited in these assaults
upon Captain Elliott, the wickedness of party spirit
in Boston is astounding. It is high time for the
honest portion of the community to open their eyes
to this mischief, and to measure and contemplate its
consequences. " Where is this to end ?" should be
the anxious inquiry of every one who thinks that the
honor of our country is worth preserving, and the
characters of its servants worth defending. It is im
possible for any one of our institutions, civil or mili
tary, to be faithfully and efficiently administered, un
less by talent, probity and honor. And will those
possessing these qualities consent to serve their coun
try, if their reward is to be the oblation of their cha
racter to the wood demon, the saugerjda* faction ?
No ! They will retire from a field which promises
nought but a harvest of thorns. Amid such flights
of poisoned arrows, each coming from some new di
rection, and aimed at some new object, no one can
promise himself impunity. Let no one then deceive
himself with the delusive hope that the demon of
faction will be satisfied with the blood of others, and
leave his own untasted. The shaft is aimed at El
liott to-day ! What guarantee is there that it will
not reach the throat of Hull, or Stewart, or Chauncey,
or Morris, to-morrow? A fiend that thirsts continu
ally for blood, will not stop to inquire from what
hearts it flows ! To our navy particularly, an insti
tution of which the vital principle is honor, this sys
tem, this business oi slander is fraught with destruc
tion. Let this system be pursued, let it be applied
wherever it may suit the everchanging policy of Bos
ton Federalism, and what will become of that institu
tion which is both a rampart of national defense and a
* Appendix K.

382 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
monument of national honor ? Knaves and cowards
can tell, for they only will consent to wear its ensigns 1
That disputes should occur among the officers of
our navy, is not extraordinary. Men rendered jea*
lous of honor by their profession, and contending for
preferment in a field too limited to meet the deserts
of all, will sometimes be engaged in angry contro
versies. But there is a tribunal, the public whose
servants they are, to which they can appeal with
some hope of a deliberate and righteous decision ;
and after they have stated their several cases, it is
the duty of that public to decide impartially, and then
to consign the controversy to oblivion. But that
such controversies should be revived long afterwards,
by those who had no personal interest at stake, whose
only object w;>, ; to promote the designs of faction, and
who sought to promote such designs by immolating
one of the parties upon the altar of calumny, must
excite in well regulated minds a feeling approaching
astonishment. Low indeed must be the moral stan
dard, vague and indefinite all ideas of honor, where
such deeds are encouraged and applauded. A con
troversy had arisen between Perry and Elliott, mark
ed by a spirit of peculiar bitterness on one side, and
of deep resentment on the other. They had told
their stories, their fellow citizens had decided
between them, the grass of the tomb had waved
over the one, and the other was usefully and honor
ably employed in the service of his country. The
one was remembered and lamented as a departed,
the other honored as a living hero and patriot ; and
if the story of their differences was remembered at all,
it was as a summer cloud which may obscure for a
moment, but cannot extinguish the glories of the
noonday sun. Suddenly the controversy is revived !
The dominant political party of Massachusetts, ever
vigilant, ever active either in open assault or secret

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 383
mining; ever regardless of means and wreekless of
consequences, seeks some new expedient to paralize
the arm of the National Government, and to drive
the National Executive from the confidence of his
fellow citizens. The sacrifice of a gallant officer
upon the altar of calumny is an expedient at hand,
and the knife is sharpened with alacrity. If such is
to be a naval hero's recompense for years of toil, and
for the daily and hourly venture of his life, and such
it may be whenever necessary to the views of the
dominant politicians of Massachusetts, who with a
soul at all imbued with honorable sentiments, wiU
submit to wear the ensigns of the American navy ?
There is a feature in this transaction too promi
nent to be overlooked. It starts out in bold relief, a
hideous deformity. There are relations which re-
nned and elevated minds deem too sacred to be sport
ed with, too delicate to be trampled upon. With such
minds, public servants may, for righteous purposes
and by honorable means, be subjected to the most
rigid scrutiny, and tried by the severest moral stan
dard. But never, by them, is the sanctuary of the
dwelling invaded, and the dishonor of its head pro
claimed to its inmates in tones of unmanly insult
Commodore Elliott is a husband, and the father of a
numerous and interesting family of females. His
house was deluged with ANONYMOUS LETTERS
of defamatory import, with scurrilous handbills, with
the ebullitions of a cowardly and profligate press !
Yes ! The fireside of a brave and honorable public
servant was invaded by the foul panders to faction,
screaming in the ears of the matron and her daugh
ters, that her husband was a coward, that their fa
ther was a traitor ! Let any one fitted to appreciate
the sanctities which invest the head of a family, ima
gine the husband and father assailed in the very pre
sence of those to whom his fair fame is as his life,

384 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
and then ask himself if any degree of moral indigna
tion exceeds the deserts of the perpetrators ?
The characters of public servants are public pro
perty. The correctness of this principle in free and
responsible governments, admits of no question. But
what is the correct interpretation of this principle ?
Properly understood, the principle authorizes the se
verest, the most rigid scrutiny, for the purpose of se
curing a just responsibility over pubhc servants. It
authorizes no calumny, no detraction, no needless re
proach. The characters of public servants are pub
lic property, not for the lawless and the base to de
face and destroy, but for the wise and the good to
preserve for lawful uses. The Constitution frigate
is public property, not as an offering to the torch of
the incendiary, but as an instrument of national de
fence. Such being the proceedings of the dominant poli
tical party of Massachusetts towards Captain Elliott,
and such being the motives which induced them, a
solemn duty devolves upon the citizens of the United
States. It is for them to say whether such a man,
who has devoted more than thirty years of toil and
danger to the service of his country, shall be cast
down and dishonored by calumniators, to promote
the ends of faction. It is for them to say whether a
political party which numbers moral treason among
its sins, shall be permitted to tear in pieces the cha
racter of a gallant officer, who was shedding his
blood in combatting the enemies of his country, at
the very time when this same party were adhering
to these enemies, "giving them aid and comfort."
It is believed that the patriotic citizens of this
Union are not yet prepared for such a sacrifice ; not
yet prepared to yield the reputation of a brave and
patriotic commander to the Moloch of Massachusetts'
Federalism. It is believed that they will rise up in

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 385
the might of indignant and insulted virtue, and not
only vindicate themselves from the imputation of
national ingratitude, but rescue the fame of Elliott,
and visit the faction who have assailed it, with their
deep and lasting indignation.
33

386 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

CHAPTER XX.

Conclusion. The duties of the Democratic party.
The reader has now been informed of the treat
ment which a meritorious public servant has received
from an old, active, persevering and powerful politi
cal party; the same party which poured such torrents
of slander upon Mr. Jefferson, which devised such
various contrivances for embarrassing his adminis
tration, and which so openly and effectually aided the
enemies of the countiy in the late war with Great
Britain. Upon a careful view of these facts, a solemn
duty devolves upon the Democratic citizens of the
United States. Since the first election of Mr. Jeffer
son, the destinies of this great country have been con
fided to the Democratic party. With what success
the principles of this party have been carried into
operation, to what grand, what magnificent results it
has conducted a great experiment of popular gov
ernment, are now matters of history. That the ex
periment has succeeded, that the result has become as
polar star to all seekers after liberty in other climes,
is what all have ceased to doubt, and many have
learned to fear. Kings " believe and tremble," vas
sals perceive and hope. Crowns totter upon the
heads of the one, shackles grow weaker upon the
limbs of the other. But let no friend of these great
principles lay to his soul the flattering unction that
all is accomplished, that nought remains to be done.
Let him recollect the years of toil and strugo-le that

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 387
have been spent in accomplishing so much, and then
reflect that years of toil and struggle are yet to be
spent in preserving what has been achieved. Eter
nal vigilance is the vital principle of liberty. It is
like the weight rolled slowly and painfully up the
steep, and which must there be held with unrelaxed
sinews, or down it rolls again, leaving desolation to
mark its rapid flight. During the period of thirty-five
years in which the Democratic party have guided
the destinies of our country, they have had an ene
my in the field, intelligent, numerous and disciplined,
ever watchful of events, ever ready to profit by cir
cumstances, sometimes sounding the trumpet of open
combat, at others singing siren notes of peace, ever
ready to draw the sword when flushed with hope of
victory, ever ready to let fly the shaft when their de
lusive tones of amity had lulled their opponents into
false security. Richmond is yet in the field! This
party, whose secret organization has never been re
linquished, who were always ready at roll-call, prompt
in obedience to orders, are now marshalled for battle,
under the very flag that waved at Hartford in 1814,
and conducted by a leader of consummate skill and
unquestioned fidelity to his cause.
Of this party, Massachusetts is the strong hold, the
very fastness, and Boston the head quarters. Its
present organization, its existing arrangements, the
very name now inscribed upon its ensigns, and which
it stole from a party whose principles were the anti
podes of its own, are all the work of the choice spirits
of Boston. With the principles of Tories, it has as
sumed the name of Whigs; and the very object of its
present array against the existing National Adminis
tration, is, like that of the Conservative Tories of En
gland, to hold fast upon monopolies and exclusive
privileges, and to impart new force to the engines by
which the few may direct the many. This party has

388 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
its ramifications in other states, and even includes in
its ranks some of those who, in former times, deemed
opposition to it a political duty, and even now imagine
that its success will be the triumph of Democratic
principles. But let all such seriously ask themselves
when did Democratic principles flourish under the
guidance and tutelage of Massachusetts Federalism?
As well might toleration have flourished under the
protection of the Spanish Inquisition. The success
of the present " Whig" party will be the triumph of
"Federalism of the Boston stamp," and how far
Democratic principles may be promoted by this, the
history of the past will show. Whether this party
will succeed in the contest now pending, is a question
yet doubtful. The party is powerful in numbers, re
sources and discipline ; its officers are skilful, its
troops obedient and faithful. Its expedients will be
"any that give promise or hope of success ; and the
foregoing history of Captain Elliott will prove that if
the expedient of calumny will accomplish any thing,
it will be used without stint.
This party has entered the field with a Presidential
nomination of very imposing character. Its candi
date is one who, for the last twenty years, has played
a prominent part in the political history of his coun
try, and whose giant abilities have been to all politi
cal sects a theme of just admiration. There are those
who believe that should he be elected, the nation
would be blessed with a wise and efficient adminis
tration, distinguished io: liberality and expansion of
views. Delusive hope! Should the character of such
administration depend upon its ostensible head, these
speculations would doubtless be realized. He is in
deed a being whom nature intended for greatness ;
who, if left to follow the promptings of his own pow
erful and expansive mind, if left to work out, un
checked, the conceptions of an intellect formed for

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 389
elevated thoughts, for lofty aspirations, would have
swayed the hearts and convinced the judgments of
his countrymen ; would have found the warmest place
in their affections, the highest in their admiration.
But alas! this intellectual Colossus, intended by na
ture to march with giant strides to the loftiest place
in the confidence of his countrymen, has been cramp
ed and checked in all his movements by the toils of
humbler spirits; has attained no loftier height than
that of a leader of a faction,
" And to party gave up what was meant for mankind."
He is spell-bound by the habits, feelings and interests
of a local party. Boston Federalism, like a boa con
strictor, has long held him in its awful gripe, and will
not relax its folds while he has power to struggle. He
is a moral Laocoon, held fast beyond the power of ex
trication ; and when he finds that in striving to be free,
he but exhausts his powers in unavailing efforts, he
will yield to the dire necessity. He would be merely
the nominal head of his own administration. Boston
Federalism would be its vital principle, its animating
spirit, and " Federalists of the Boston stamp" would
be its guides and directors. With talents of the high
est order, he is deficient in that important, that essen
tial requisite of a statesman, moral courage. His
timidity is not of that species which restrains him
from expressing decided opinions upon important po
litical questions. He is not a disciple of what is
called the "non committal" school. Politicians of
this sect, if not bold enough to lead, are generally too
firm to be led ; and when induced to express decided
opinions, they are generally the last to abandon them,
and the most active and persevering in carrying them
into operation. The Federal candidate's timidity is
of a more dangerous description, and that which in
dicates much more facility of character. He expresses
33*

390 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
decided opinions upon all subjects; he is " every thing
by turns and nothing long." He is continually taking
decided ground, and continually changing it, because
he is not bold enough to act upon the suggestions of
his own powerful intellect, but submits to the dicta
tion of others. No breezes are more fitful than the
political breezes of Boston, for they change with the
pecuniary investments and speculations of its trading
politicians. As they change, so must the distin
guished individual who is now their candidate for the
Presidency. Should he disobey them, they would cast
him off; and if repudiated by them, with what party
now existing or that has existed since he came upon
the political stage, could he intrench himself? When
ever then he takes a decided course, instead of its
being a proof of his political boldness and independ
ence, it merely shows that he is an organ to proclaim
the opinions of others.
For proofs of this, let him be traced through all his
devious course. He entered upon the political stage
in New Hampshire, an active, steady, uncompromis
ing opponent of Democratic principles and measures.
Called by the Federal party of that State, to whom
his early efforts gave promise of becoming a cham
pion in their cause, to a seat in the national House
of Representatives, he tasked to the utmost his gigan
tic powers in opposing the war, and all measures for
prosecuting it to a successful termination ; and par
ticularly did he oppose the creation of the present
National Bank. Removing to Massachusetts at the
close of the war, he entered with the zeal and activity
of a thorough partizan, into all the views and projects
of its Federal aristocracy. Elected to the Conven
tion for revising the constitution of that State, which
assembled in 1822, he stood forth the champion of
chartered privileges and legislative monopolies, and
did what exceeded the powers of any other member
of that assembly, persuaded it to base the senatorial

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 391
representation of Massachusetts upon the aristocratic
principle of property, and not upon the democratic
principle of population. In 1824, the great capital
ists of Boston were strenuous advocates oi free trade,
denouncing all protecting duties as unconstitutional
projects to favor monopolies, and their partizans as a
selfish and money seeking faction. This distin
guished individual, then their representative in Con
gress, concentrated his mighty powers against the
tariff of 1824, in an effort which drew from all par
ties the highest admiration, and which caused the
great champion of the protecting system to tremble
for the fate of his favorite measure. In 1828, the
same capitalists of Boston who found such insupera
ble constitutional objections against the tariff of 1824,
having transferred their funds from commerce to
manufactures, perceived in commercial restrictions
the only true construction of the constitution, and
the only means of saving the country from speedy
impoverishment and ruin. Their representative in
the Senate, this intellectual giant again brandished his
massive war club in support of local interests, and
answered all the arguments which he so forcibly ar
rayed against protection in 1824. In 1830, he was
the champion of the constitution against the heresies
of South Carolina, heresies which that State had as
sumed in opposition to the manufacturing interests of
his constituents. In 1832, at a Convention at Wor
cester in Massachusetts, while portraying the political
sins imputed to the present administration, he boldly
entered the very field of nullification. Again, in
1833, in a great meeting in Faneuil Hall, in which
the principal Federalists of Boston were most active,
and which may be justly denominated a Federal
meeting, he supported the President's proclamation as
the only correct exposition of the constitution, and
denounced nullification as fraught with destruction

392 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
to the Union. As was before said, he opposed the
creation of the National Bank in 1814, and in 1833
and 1834, was the file leader of the party winch
sought to renew the charter of that institution. In
1834, he opposed that clause of the gold bill which
provided for a coinage of one dollar pieces, which
were intended for a substitute, not only for small bills,
but for heavy and cumbrous silver dollars; and a few
weeks after, in a speech at a " Whig" festival in New
Hampshire, denounced this gold bill as tending, by
expelling silver dollars from the country, to deluge it
with an issue of one dollar bills.
In all these changes, he has uttered the sentiments,
supported the interests and conformed to the direc
tions of the old Federal party of Massachusetts.
With the principles of this school he was imbued
in early life ; all his feelings and habits of thinking
are derived from it, and by whatever party he might
be elevated to the Presidency, the principles of this
school would inevitably direct his administration.
Is the proud and high souled Democracy of the
Union prepared for this? Is it prepared to surrender
to its persevering and implacable foe, all the fruits of
a struggle of thirty-five years? No ! must be the re
sponse of every Democratic heart. No citizen friend
ly to the existing administration could acquiesce in
such a result, and no Southern or Western opponent
of it who stood firm in the ranks of Democracy dur
ing its arduous struggles under Jefferson and Madi
son, could be so recreant to his principles and his re
collections as to bow the knee to those who raised
the five striped flag when the enemy was at the gates.
Yet is a large portion of this proud Democracy called
upon thus to proclaim its own dishonor, and by the
very projectors and master spirits of the Hartford Con
vention. Among those who were most active in elect
ing the present Executive, the people of the South-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 393
ern and South Western States, a portion disapprove
some of its most important measures. This was to
have been expected ; for in a federative republic of
twenty-four States, independent of each other in all
municipal regulations, and from physical causes hav
ing a variety of local interests, perfect unanimity of
opinion could not be expected upon all measures of
general policy. The same diversity of opinion, with
the same independence in expressing and acting upon
it, led to the election of this administration, and to the
defeat and removal of its immediate predecessors.
This opposition in the South to the present adminis
tration, has led to a temporary co-operation between
this antagonist party and the " Whigs" or Federalists
of New England. The first oppose the administra
tion, because they regard some of its measures as in
consistent with those great Democratic principles, to
support which they aided in electing it. The second
oppose it as they have opposed every Democratic ad
ministration, because it is Democratic, and as they
will oppose all succeeding administrations, until the
government again passes into their own hands. But
can this union last? Can a coalition of materials
thus discordant, continue till the decision of the im
pending Presidential contest ?
The Southern portion of the "Whig" party belong to
the school of strict, the Northern to that of latitudinari-
an construction of the constitution. The first contend
that all powers not expressly ceded belong to the States
as sovereign communities; the second, that all powers
belong to the general government, which, for the time
being, are necessary to, or may aid in promoting the
prosperity of the country. The Southern party are op
posed to banks, internal improvements by the Federal
government, high taxation, high tariffs to protect in
terests merely local, to extravagant expenditures of
the public treasure, to a splendid and expensive

394 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Federal government, to a national debt, and to the
whole machinery of legislation by which the expen
ditures of the government may be augmented, its
patronage extended, and the public money be made
the price of chartered monopolies. The Northern
or New England party are in favor of this system,
and their candidate is one of its champions. Espe
cially do the Northern and Southern parties differ
about a national debt and a splendid Federal govern
ment. The former believe that a national debt is
useful, if not necessary, in cementing the Union.
They have little confidence in the power of popular
intelligence to sustain free institutions. They con
sider the virtue and intelligence of the people as a
broken reed, and therefore consider that some direct
appeal to individual interest, separate from the inter
est of the whole, is necessary to bind them to any
government worth preserving. They treat as chi
merical the consideration that, every American citizen
who at all understands the nature and operation of
our representative democracy, is convinced that it is
adequate to protect the equal rights of all, and that
by any change he can gain nothing, and may lose
much. They believe that property must be the
great object of concern to all free governments, that
it is the most important of all rights, that in compari
son with it, the right to life, liberty and character are
secondary, and that it should therefore be the princi
pal object of legislation. They believe much in the
influence of great capitalists or money holders over
society, and therefore believe that if such, who must
necessarily be few in number, aTe enlisted in favor of
any measure or system of policy, all the rest of the
community must follow them. They therefore be
lieve that a national debt, by creating a direct pecu
niary interest in the preservation of a government, is
its strongest bulwark.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 395
This opinion, of English growth, prevails more in
Boston than in any other of our cities ; and it must
be recollected that the politics of Boston govern the
state of Massachusetts, and exercise great influence
over the rest of New England, with the single excep
tion, perhaps, of Vermont. The opinion is of English
growth. The government of England, however sim
ple in theory, is extremely complicated in practice.
It is not like that of the United States, the offspring
of express compact among the States, nor like that of
each State, the offspring of express compact among
the people. It consists of innumerable usages, origi
nating at different times through a period of many
centuries, and extorted by oppressed subjects from ra-
luctant masters. It has undergone numerous and
bloody revolutions, and exhibited all phases, from
despotism to anarchy. The result has been a settled
government, exhibiting more practical freedom than
was ever yet known in a monarchy, but so compli
cated as to be daily liable to derangement, and with
its inconsistent and heterogeneous parts so mutually
dependent, that many of the purest patriots and most
ardent lovers of liberty in the British Empire have
been afraid to reform the most glaring abuses, for fear
of destroying the whole machine. The most en
lightened portion of the English people, and these, it
is fair to admit, are a majority, are attached to their
government, not because they consider it the best ex
isting, or which they are capable of maintaining, but
because they see no ready and peaceful mode of
change; and it is not, probably, assuming too much
to say that the majority would adopt a simple, homo
geneous, written constitution at once, could they do it
without totally deranging the whole social system.
The Government of England has exhibited, from
the Norman Conquest to the reign of James I. a per
petual struggle between royalty and aristocracy ; and

396 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
from the latter period to the present day, a perpetual
struggle between aristocracy and democracy. In the
latter conflict, success has been alternate, and the
aristocracy, in continual apprehension of defeat, have
resorted to stratagem to preserve what they could
not defend by force. This stratagem has been to en
list in favor of their own privileges a large portion of
the democracy, by means of a direct pecuniary in
terest. Hence a standing army, an immense navy,
an established religion, and above all, a public debt.
Hence also a most complicated, expensive, tedious and
onerous system of jurisprudence. It is remarkable
that all these establishments are either the remains
of barbarous and despotic ages, or have been founded
and nurtured in modern times by the aristocracy.
They all offer to the democracy direct pecuniary
interests. The law, the church, the army and the
navy are sources of employment, wealth and distinc
tion to thousands, and almost millions, and hence are
objects of special favor with a portion of the enter
prising English democracy. That country contains
thousands of enlightened and patriotic men, who
clearly see the mischiefs of her political system, but
who are able to discover no remedy that would not
involve a great personal sacrifice. Holders of the
public stocks, they have believed that a political
change, once begun, would proceed to the destruc
tion of the national debt, and thus destroy their own
property. Having sons or relatives in the army, the
navy, the church or the law, they have perceived in
the reduction or modification of either, the removal
of such relatives from employment, and their conse
quent loss of distinction, wealth, and even bread.
The Tory party of England, generally led or com
manded by men of great sagacity and foresight, and
perfectly understanding the influence of this debt and
these establishments over the democracy, have al-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 397
ways been solicitous to augment the one and preserve
the other, and have therefore studiously inculcated
the doctrine that the army, the navy, the church, and
the law were bulwarks of the national liberties, and
that a public debt was a public blessing.
To inculcate this doctrine about a public debt
among the merchants of England, was an object of
peculiar solicitude to the Tories. Merchants are na
turally republicans, yet naturally inclined to found
aristocracies. Commercial pursuits lead to impa
tience of restraint, and a sturdy spirit of opposition
to arbitrary power. Hence all commercial monar
chies have been free, and have advanced or declined
in freedom as they did in commerce. But as in com
mercial communities, wealth is the chief object of
pursuit, the possession of it becomes the chief source
of distinction, and a natural desire of the possessors
to perpetuate such distinction leads to the foundation
of aristocracies. Hence all commercial republics
have proceeded from equal rights to monopolies and
oligarchies. The Tories of England, speculating upon
these national propensities, have therefore been care
ful to create a species of property, which, being par
ticularly convenient in commercial pursuits, tends
directly to inlist the mercantile democracy in its fa
vor, and consequently in favor of the government
which creates it. The English merchants, retiring
from active business, and seeking a safe and perma
nent investment of their wealth, have very naturally
resorted to the public stocks, as a species of property
with which their profession has made them most
conversant, and which requires the least care in su
perintending, and have therefore very naturally adopt
ed and fostered the opinions which the Tory party
wished to propagate about a public debt.
The transportation of these opinions to the com
mercial cities of the United States, was in the natural
34

398 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
course of events. The English origin of the Ameri-
cans, the identity of their language and jurisprudence
with those of England, and the intimate commercial
intercourse that has existed between the two countries
since the treaty of 1783, has produced a similarity of
commercial character. In Boston, this similarity is
exact ; for this city, containing few foreigners, has
preserved its original and purely English character ;
and having always been governed by a monied aris
tocracy, has always been the soil where English opi
nions would naturally take root and flourish. Hence
one of the fundamental principles of the Boston Fe
deral party always has been, and still is, that, a pub
lic DEBT IS A PUBLIC BLESSING.
Another opinion of the Federal party of Boston is,
that a splendid national government, supported by an
extravagant expenditure, is necessary to command
the respect of the people for the laws and constituted
authorities. Here agam they evince their want of
confidence in popular intelligence. They are un
willing to believe that the people need no other mo
tive to respect the laws, than a sober and enlightened
conviction of their utility. They believe in the effi
cacy, the necessity of appeals to the senses, and
through them to the imagination. They believe that
the people must be inspired with awe, with wonder,
with some vague and undefinable sentiment concern
ing the power and majesty of rulers. A commercial
city is the most natural depository of this doctrine ;
for there the power of wealth is greater than among
an agricultural population, there social inequality is
greatest, and jealousies between the two extremes are
most easily, and, therefore most frequently excited.
Of all the commercial cities of the Union, Boston is
the soil where respect for wealth, submission to the
opinion of popular leaders, and surrender of indivi
dual judgment, have taken deepest root and flourish-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 399
ed in the rankest luxuriance. Its population is deci
dedly English in character, for it is exclusively of
Bostonian or New England origin. There never
was any immigration to New England, excepting
from the British Empire. The whole of this was
from England, excepting a small colony of Scots to
Vermont, and one or two of Protestant Irish to New
Hampshire ; and none of it has been made since the
revolution. The few thousands of Irish now to be
found in Boston and its vicinity are not here consi
dered, as they are too insignificant in number or in
fluence to produce any effect upon the character of
the city. Therefore New England, receiving no ac
cessions from immigration, and continually sending
out its swarms to other sections of the Union, has in
a great measure preserved its original character.
Before the revolution, Boston was the largest city in
New England, next to Philadelphia the largest in the
colonies, and the great depot of the commerce between
the North American colonies and the mother country.
It was consequently the head quarters of the British
colonial government, and more importance was at
tached by the British ministry to the appointment of
a governor of Massachusetts, than to that of any
other officer of these colonies. Those acquainted
with the operations of the British government in its
colonies, well know the imposing appearance which
it usually wears, and the pomp, the magnificence, the
array of power and splendor with which it endeavors
to inspire fear and conciliate favor. Hence its ma
chinery of kings' birthdays, queens', princes', and
princesses' birthdays, coronation days, and other fes
tivals, all affording opportunities for exhibitions of offi
cial splendor and military power. This was parti
cularly the case in the colonial administration of Mas
sachusetts ; for that colony, having been settled by
the Puritans, who were hostile to both the civil and

400 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
ecclesiastical government of the mother country, was
characterized by a spirit of sturdy independence, and
was therefore considered a proper subject for such
exhibitions of regal pomp and power as were fitted
to inspire dread of the mother country. Besides this,
the overthrow of Cromwell's republic and the resto
ration of the Stuarts was characterized by extreme
gayety and licentiousness of manners, one object of
which was to ridicule, and thereby eradicate, the
austere morals and republican simplicity of the Pu
ritans. In this change it was natural for the town
of Boston to participate in some degree ; it being the
residence of the colonial officers, and the depot of the
commerce between the two countries. But still,
during the reigns of Charles II. and James II., the re
publican spirit of Massachusetts, and indeed of all
New England, maintained itself. Though restrained
by the power of the mother country from any deci
ded manifestations, it was still kept alive and fostered,
especially in the interior. The colonists considered
themselves in a sort of Babylonish captivity. They
had their Daniels and Ezekiels in their pulpits, pro
testing in allegories, parables, and other figurative
and enigmatical language, against the divine right of
kings and ecclesiastical dignitaries, and in favor of
the great principles of civil and religious liberty for
which they had come out of Egypt, and left the do
minion of those Pharaohs, the Stuarts. They longed
for another Cyrus to issue the decree of their libera
tion, and for another Ezra to lead them out of bond
age and rebuild their temple. This new Cyrus came
in the person of William of Orange, and this new de
cree in the revolution of 1688.
The people of Massachusetts hailed this event with
delight, and offered to the new government the warm
est professions of loyalty and attachment. William
III. responded to these professions with great cordia-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 401
lity, and always expressed a lively interest in the
prosperity of the New England colonies. He was
attached to them by a community of religious, and
a similarity of political principles; for the same impa
tience of civil and ecclesiastical despotism which
drove them away from England, had placed him on
its throne. But though educated in the puritan and
republican schools of Holland, William was not a re
publican. He was a prince by birth, a monarchist
in principle, and a king by circumstances. And
though the royal dynasty of England had been
changed, and her free constitution restored, her go
vernment was still a monarchy. Splendor is the
foundation upon which all monarchies must be laid;
and as William was too sagacious a monarch to un
dermine his own authority by encouraging a return
to the republican manners and usages of Cromwell's
days, splendor was one of the means which the new
English government used to operate upon the fears
or affections of its colonial subjects, and to wean them
from their republican predilections to a preference
for a constitutional monarchy. In the joy inspired
by their liberation from the tyrant Stuarts, the peo
ple of Massachusetts responded zealously to all the
professions of good will offered by their successors,
and became, under the dominion of William, Anne,
and the first and second George, the most loyal and
devoted subjects of the British empire, lavishing their
treasure like dust, and pouring out their blood like
water. Amid these indications of good will from a
government, freer in practice than ever monarchy
was before, or has been since, and of loyalty and af
fectionate devotion from the colonists, the republican
simplicity of the Puritans declined, and their love of
liberty, still ardent as ever, became associated with
the glories of a constitutional monarchy, and affec
tion for the person of a constitutional king. Boston
34*

402 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
continued to be the head quarters of the government ;
and having grown rapidly in population and wealth,
and being the depot for the commerce of the whole
colony, exhibited a fondness for splendor, for shows
and spectacles, for civil and military parade, that was
not exceeded by any town in the British Empire.
The American revolution produced no change in
these sentiments, but merely changed their objects.
Though the part which Boston bore in this revolu
tion is matter of history, and constitutes her proudest
and most enduring monument, the effect of this great
political change was not to restore the republican
simplicity of the Puritans ; not to eradicate the fond
ness for splendid government which had been engen
dered by the mother country, after the overthrow of
the Stuarts. The Bostonians still continued a splen
dor loving people, and their commercial position still
enabled them to exercise a controlling influence over
the rest of the State. Old usages were continued,
old festivals were retained and adapted to the new
political order of things, birth days of kings gave
place to birth days of presidents, coronation days to
election, days, and veneration for the persons of prin
ces to that for the persons of governors.
Nor were auxiliary causes wanting to keep alive
these English tastes and habits of thinking. At the
commencement of the revolution, many of the
wealthiest and most influential families of Boston
were royalists and went away. Returning after the
peace of 1783, they continued to exercise great in
fluence in the social relations of Boston, and after
wards acquired no little in the politics of the State.
It is. a, singular fact that several individuals who have
heen conspicuous in the political history of Massa
chusetts since the adoption of the Federal constitu
tion, were members of eminent Tory families. An
other singular fact is that in the convention which as-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 403
sembled in Boston in 1822, to revise the constitution
of Massachusetts, was an individual who was then a
pensioner of the British government, and had either
been a revolutionary Tory, or belonged to a Tory
family. One of the Democratic newspapers of Bos
ton contained, at the time, an explicit declaration of
these facts, accompanied with a question if such
member were eligible to, or could with propriety hold
a seat in, that convention. A " Whig" newspaper of
Boston was established and is now edited by the son
of a Tory, the editor himself having been born in the
British dominions, and therefore being, according to
the laws of England, a British subject. The same
individual was recently a member of a very impor
tant and responsible judicial tribunal, the administra
tion of which, by himself and his associates, was sig
nalized by indictments against Democratic citizens for
alleged illegalities in voting, which were thought, by
the objects of them, to savor of political persecution.
The reader will perceive in most of these facts, the
origin of that English tone of thinking, that respect
for English usages and opinions, which has always
characterized a majority of the people of Boston.
The formation of the Federal constitution having
divided the country into two parties, which subse
quent events separated still more, the Tories of Massa
chusetts very naturally allied themselves to the Fede
ral, or strong government party. The French revo
lution fended still more to widen the breach between
these two parties, and here again, the Tories very na
turally joined the Federalists in opposition to the
French republicans. The treaty with Great Britain,
commonly called Jay's treaty, was an event that tend
ed, perhaps more than any thing, to embitter the
Federalists and Republicans or Democrats against
each other. The commerce between England and
Boston was then great ; most of the Bostonians di-

404 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
rectly concerned in it were Federalists, and having a
direct pecuniary interest in preserving amicable re
lations with Great Britain they encouraged and ex
pressed a strong predilection for English opinions and
usages, and indeed for every thing of English origin.
From this time until the close of the last war, the
feelings and opinions of the Federal party of Boston
became completely Anglified. To be a Federalist,
with strong partialities for every thing English, was
the only road to success, to wealth, to distinction, to
public employment or private patronage ; while to be
a Democrat was to be derided, despised and persecu
ted. The Federal party, as a necessary consequence,
absorbed nearly all the talent and wealth of the town
and the State ; for the moral courage that can with
stand the systematic persecution that was visited upon
Democrats, is not always to be found in commercial
cities. The banks were Federal, and would grant no
accommodations to Democratic merchants ; Democra
tic lawyers could get no clients, Democratic physi
cians no patients, and Democratic mechanics no em
ployment. The Federal newspapers were open and
strenuous partisans of Great Britain against their own
country, and at last, magazines and other periodical
works appeared, which denounced republican and sup
ported monarchial government. In short, the necessity
of a monarchy in the United States, as the only form
by which liberty could be maintained, was a doctrine
that circulated extensively among the Federalists of
Boston. The reader will here perceive what a concatena
tion of causes, from the overthrow of Cromwell's
government to the close of the late war, has tended
to impress an English character upon the people of
Boston, and to imbue its dominant or Federal party
with strong English partialities ; and will therefore
see how very naturally they are what innumerable

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 405
facts have proved them to be, the advocates of a
Splendid Federal Government, the converts to
the doctrine that a simple and economical system is
inadequate to keeping the people in order.
But while such are the prevailing doctrines of the
Federal party of Boston, the reader may still doubt
whether they have taken root among the agricultural
population of Massachusetts. To remove his doubts,
let him examine the political machinery of that State!
He will find enough to excite alarm for the safety of
her republican institutions, and to rouse the citizens
of other States to strenuous exertions against the in
troduction of the same mischiefs among themselves.
Boston governs Massachusetts by a system of
chartered monopolies. That State contains more
corporations, in proportion to its population, than any
other in the Union ; and since the adoption of its con
stitution in 1781, as much time has been expended
by its Legislature in chartering these institutions, as
in enacting general laws. It is a remarkable fact
that the special laws of Massachusetts, or laws creat
ing these monopolies, fill a greater number of volumes
than the general laws, or the laws for the whole peo
ple ; the former filling five large volumes, while the
latter are contained in about three volumes of the
same size. Here is a subject for the reflection of the
legislator and political economist. A people boasting
of their constitution and laws, and claiming to be
eminently republican in origin, government, social
condition, feeling and habits of thinking, have ex
pended more time and money in a period of fifty
years, in legislating for the few than the many ! In
erecting a monied aristocracy that is proof against
all changes of public opinion, and replete with some
of the great mischiefs which characterize the per
petuities of the old world, than in guarding the equal

406 life of com. elliott.
rights of the whole, and fortifying the great principles
of republican liberty!!
An aristocracy of corporations is much more con
trolling in its influences, and consequently much
more, dangerous to liberty, than a landed aristocracy
supported by entailments. Of the latter description
is the British nobility. In such an aristocracy, though
its members are generally united by a sense of com
mon interest, yet each of them is an isolated and in
dependent individual, a single soul, a distinct mind,
exercising a distinct and independent moral influ
ence, and free to support any opinions or any cause
that he may deem just or expedient. In such aris
tocracies, the quality of individual, personal distinct
ness and responsibility is as perfect as in democracies,
and compensates, in some degree, for the evils in
separable from all privileged orders. As a proof of
this, the British nobility have generally been divided
on all great political questions, and their force and
influence have been consequently diminished. They
have never yet presented a solid array of votes upon
any question . They have always been divided among
the two great parties of Whigs and Tories, reformists
and confederatives, which have existed since the
days of James I. Many of them embraced the popu
lar cause against Charles I.; most of them the same
cause against James II.; they were divided upon the
question of our revolutionary war, upon the high
handed measures of the ministry against, liberal opi
nions during the French revolution, and are now di
vided upon the great question of reform. It can
hardly be said that they have always been united
upon questions directly involving the existence of
their order. Many of the sagacious noblemen that
opposed Charles I., must have foreseen the republican
tendency of that opposition ; and it would be doing
great injustice to liie powerful and comprehensive

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 407
minds which now, in both branches of the British leg
islature, support the cause of reform, to suppose them
blind to the inevitable results of this great movement.
The march of political . reform in Europe is onward
and rapid; the moral influence of the United States
of America is mighty and increasing; nobility has
been abolished in France, and that great and enlight
ened country will finish with republicanism ; the free
dom of Portugal is achieved, and her regeneration
begun ; Spain has burst her chains, is now struggling
with those who would renew them, and will finally
conquer. Italy yet sleeps, but is gathering strength
in her slumber for the inevitable conflict ; poor Po
land lies crushed and bleeding, but is not annihilated;
despotism is quietly laying down its arms in sober
and philosophic Germany, and will finally yield to
persuasion from dread of force. Amid the rolling of
these mighty waters, can Britain remain stationary ?
She cannot ! She is destined to republicanism ! Wil
liam IV, who, in the ordinary course of nature, can
not live long, is the last King that the present genera
tion will see upon the British throne ; and all the ef
forts of the conservative party can merely postpone
for a short season, but cannot avert this destiny. The
reforming nobility see it all, see the rapidly approach
ing destruction of their order, and  lend their
hands to the work.
Here are signal proofs of that individual indepen
dence, that consciousness of individual responsibility,
which governs a body of hereditary nobility in con
stitutional governments.
Family pride, looking retrospectively in old houses
and prospectively in new, is another source of indi
vidual independence among hereditary nobles, which,
like that last mentioned, tends to alleviate the mis
chiefs inseparable from privileged orders. In such a
monarchy as that of Great Britian, it is no subject of

408 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
boast to be merely the representative of a house that
has been distinguished for eminent talents or eminent
public services, unless the representative can show
his own capacity for sustaining its reputation. The
imbecile descendant of distinguished ancestors exhi
bits his own weakness in bolder relief, by the contrast
between them and himself. Public opinion requires
that he should stand upon his own merits, and that,
in proportion to those of his ancestors, should he ex
ert himself to sustain the reputation of his race. So
the first of a new house must not be content with
transmitting to his posterity the negative merit of a
title. This, in England, would be considered no great
legacy. He must transmit a distinguished name.
Here then are incentives to exertion that tends to pro
duce great men among a body of nobility, and miti
gate, in some degree, the evils to the body politic with
which nobility is always allied. It is not here im
plied that all the British nobility are governed by these
motives. The exceptions are and always have been
numerous. Nevertheless the sentiment is common
among them, and has contributed greatly to that in
dividual independence by which they have long been
characterized. Besides the moral individuality, the distinct and in
dependent influence of each member of the British
nobility, which prevents the order from always mov-
ng in unbroken phalanx upon every great political
auestion, its wealth consists principally in land. In-
eed it must have a landed foundation, for no other
species of property is sufficiently permanent in its na
ture, to support a privileged order of which each
member is a distinct and independent individual, and
holds his possessions' independently of his associates.
The influence of this property in commercial states
is known to be far less than that of what is called
money. Though the source and foundation, it is not

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 409
the representative of property. A million of acres of
cultivated land, whether in the hands of few or ma
ny, and producing annually the value of a hundred
millions of dollars, has not, in a commercial State,
the moral power of a fourth part of the sum in mo
ney, wielded by a fourth part of the number of pos
sessors or directors. Bribery, direct or indirect, can
seldom be made in land or its produce : for conceal
ment, so necessary in such transactions in countries
where public opinion governs, is always difficult and
generally impracticable. A land holder may dismiss
a tenant for a refractory vote ; but the measure is too
odious, savoring too much of oppression, to become
common under elective institutions.
An aristocracy of corporations has none of the re
deeming features which belong to a body of nobility.
To use a phrase of English and American jurispru
dence, a corporation has no soul. In this very attri
bute consists the difference between a corporation and
a landed aristocracy. It has no soul, because it has no
personal existence. It is indeed an association of na
tural persons, but in which the individuality, the sepa
rate, independentexistenceof each,in whatever regards
the association, is i completely annihilated. The associa
tion acts only by the united will of a majority, and con
sequently the individual mind of each member is ex
tinct, and individual responsibility is unknown. This
majorityisnot generally a majority of theassociates,b.ut
merely of its governors or directors, who are a small
minority of the former. Thus may the minds of thou
sands, and their wealth, amounting to millions, be
wielded by some half dozen individuals, to purposes of
which these thousands do notperceive the character or
consequences, and which, as independent individuals^
they would not support. For the proceedings of a
corporation, none of its members are responsible. Be
the proceedings never so odious, the answer is that the
35

410 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
corporation has no soul, and cannot be called to ac
count unless its chartered powers be exceeded. The
members cannot be called to account separately ; for
they, acting by their directors, had no concern in the
proceeding. Neither can the directors suffer ; for they
act solely for the interest of the corporation whose
servants they are, without regard to individual inter
est, and if guilty at all, no one of them is more so
than another. Under pretences like these, individual
responsibility is totally extinguished in the action of
corporations. A monied corporation is created for
one purpose only, the acquisition and retention of
property. This being its only object of pursuit, it is
exempt from all those incentives to patriotic exertion
which may prevail among a body of nobility. A
corporation can acquire no reputation for great ac
tions. It is limited by its charter to a certain routine.
It cannot, without the consent of a majority of the
associates, disburse a dollar of its wealth in works of
charity or patriotism ; and as in such cases, the praise
of such deeds would belong to nobody they will not
be of frequent occurrence. In short, in all the legal
actions of a corporation, its members can neither gain
nor lose reputation, and are therefore exempt from
fear of doing wrong or incentives to do right.
The acquisition of wealth being the only object of
a monied corporation, every member of the associa
tion has a direct pecuniary interest in all political
measures that may promote this object, or prolong the
chartered right to pursue it. Whoever asks of a le
gislature a charter, will naturally ask for as much
capital, and for as long a term, a she has any hope of
obtaining; and when the end of the term approaches,
every member of the association is directly interested
in seeking a renewal. Nor is this all. Should a
charter, or the renewal of a charter be sought, every
member of the corporation, whatever be his opinions

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 411
on all other questions, is directly interested in the elec
tion of a legislature that will grant or renew such.
charter ; and all the members of all other corpora
tions, having an interest in the same question, more
or less remote according to the dates of their several
charters, will make a common cause with the first.
In all these movements, individual opinion is extin
guished, and individual independence annihilated.
Direct pecuniary interest overpowers other considera
tions, the majority of voters move in one direction in
corporate masses, states may be bought and sold like
merchandize, and no body being responsible, nobody
can be censured.
Such being the points of difference between a land
ed aristocracy and an aristocracy of corporations, it
must be obvious that the former, however replete with
evils, is less to be dreaded in a constitutional govern
ment than the latter. An enlightened citizen of Mas
sachusetts, late a member of Congress, has beautifully
and philosophically said that "associated wealth is the
dynasty of modern states." It behoves modern
states, especially the republics of the United States,
to take care lest this dynasty become more tyrannical
than the Stuarts or Bourbons, and more difficult to
overthrow. The aristocracies of Massachusetts are corpora
tions, and the votes which they directly or indirectly
control, are very numerous. Every stockholder has
a direct pecuniary interest at stake, and will vote for
those who will support it. Besides these, every cor
poration has its officers and servants, dependent up
on their salaries for bread; and the amount paid in
salaries to officers of corporations in the city of Bos
ton alone, is near one million of dollars, and through
out the interior, near as much more. Besides, the
corporations distributed throughout the State are
either owned by Bostonians, or directly or indirectly

412 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
influenced by the capitalists of that city. What an
army of disciplined troops is thus arrayed in support
of monopolies ! One class of these monopolies, the great
manufacturing corporations, is of particular mischie
vous tendency. During the late war, the manufactu
ring interest, protected by a system of legislation of
which the immediate object was the prosecution of the
contest, became very flourishing. Large sums of mo
ney were invested in various branches, and the North
ern and Middle States were filled with small establish
ments, owned by single individuals or small private
companies. This was the system adapted to the wants,
the condition and the institutions of the country ; and
had it been duly protected, the mischiefs which begin
to threaten it in the shape of monopolies would have
been averted. But all these were swept away by the
unfortunate tariff of 1816, and have since been sub
stituted in Massachusetts by great corporations, fos
tered by the tariffs of 1824 and 1828. In these esta
blishments a few opulent individuals control the
minds and votes of thousands.
But besides these, Massachusetts contains a corpo
ration, which, for the power of doing harm in politi
cal action, is exceeded, or even equalled by none in
the United States. The National Bank, with its
great resources, is a pigmy in political strength with
in the commercial state of Massachusetts, compared
with this giant corporation. It is called the "Life
Insurance Company," is owned principally or exclu
sively in Boston, is endowed with a perpetual char
ter, and with the power of holding real estate without
limit. Its funds are mostly invested in mortgages,
and increase rapidly in amount. From its great ca
pital, and the peculiar manner in which it is invested,
this corporation must have great credit, and can
therefore borrow money in Europe at a low rate of
interest, to be invested in mortgage at a higher rate

Life of com. elliott. 413
in the United States. In England, Holland, and
some of the commercial districts of Germany, capital
is abundant, and the rate of interest as low as three,
and even two per centum. Besides this, the political
state of Europe is unsettled, and property becoming
less secure. This condition of things offers to Euro
pean capitalists peculiar inducements to invest funds
in the United States, where, from the rapid progress
of improvement, the rate of interest is higher, and
whose institutions give promise of stability. The
legal rate of interest in Massachusetts being six per
centum, this giant corporation, besides employing its
own funds, can borrow largely in Europe at two and
three per centum, and loan to the yeomanry of that
state at six ; and the more it borrows and securely
invests in this manner, the greater will be its credit,
and consequently the greater its means of borrowing
and investing. If then this corporation have the
power of wielding sums without limit, what political
economist can be blind to the result ? Who does not
foresee that it will eventually swallow up the estates of
the landholders of Massachusetts, and thus control
the politics of that state ? Nor will the mischief be
confined to Massachusetts ; for if able thus to multi
ply its funds indefinitely, what shall prevent this co
lossus from putting its foot upon the necks of other
States ? A capital of $2,000,000 invested at six per
centum, affords an annual increase of $120,000,
which, after deducting all expenses and losses, which
will not ordinarily exceed $10,000, will leave an an
nual sum of $110,000 to be invested in new loans.
The average value of estates among the yeomanry of
New England, does not exceed $5000, and whoever
knows much of their general condition and character,
will admit that a mortgage of $2000 upon each of
their estates would be a heavy burden upon the pro
fits of their agriculture, and an awkward stumbling
35*

414 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
block to their moral independence. In this ratio of
increase to its funds, without additional borrowing,
supposing the present amount now invested to be
$2,000,000, this corporation has the power of an
nually drawing within its grasp 55 estates, and 55
legal voters. How long will the political indepen
dence of Massachusetts be proof against this mighty
and growing destroyer ? Other States may exclude
it from their territory by legislative enactments, but
no legal or constitutional power can liberate Massa
chusetts from its grasp.
This corporation is sufficient to subject the poli
tics of Massachusetts to the city of Boston ; and
when the reader contemplates this, as well as the host
of auxiliary corporations before mentioned or alluded
to, he will no longer wonder at the declaration that
Boston governs Massachusetts, and will perceive that
if a national debt and a splendid and expensive Fe
deral Government find favor with the leading politi
cians of the city, they will be acceptable to the domi
nant party throughout the State.
About internal improvements, a diversity of opinion
exists among professed Democrats in all the Middle
and Western States ; but about the expediency or
even constitutionality of a national bank, the case is
believed to be different. But few Democrats, it is be
lieved, can now be found in any of the States, who
are not converts to the Southern doctrine upon this
subject ; who do not believe that the necessity of such
institution to the treasury can alone bring it within
the spirit of the constitution, and that such necessity
has not yet been proved. But the New England
party is in the field for the very purpose of perpetua
ting this institution, and their candidate, being ex
pressly committed upon this question, would be com
pelled to tend all his strength to promote the views of
has party.

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 415
With these wide, these essential differences about
principles and measures, can the Northern and
Southern portions of the " Whig" party harmonize in
electing a president? The Southern portion will
not, cannot support the Northern candidate. Already
is a distinguished citizen of Tennessee publicly al
luded to, as capable of uniting all the elements of op
position to the present administration which exist in
the Southern states. The Southern " Whig" party
has the alternative of joining with the Northern in
supporting the Federal candidate of Massachusetts, or
of supporting its Southern candidate in the hope of
succeeding in the House of Representatives. This
gives tothe Northern portion of the "Whig" party a
similar alternative, that of supporting the " Whig"
candidate of Tennessee, or of adhering to its Northern
candidate, in the hope of succeeding in the House.
Each portion will hope to coerce its allies into aban
doning their candidate and uniting with it to support
its own. In this contest, which must yield? The
Northern Federal portion will not, cannot yield, for
such yielding would be a virtual cession of all for
which they have contended, from the very commence
ment of the struggle that terminated in the election of
the elder Adams. They contend for a local interest ;
they struggle for monopolies and chartered privi
leges, for systems of partial legislation in both State
and Federal Governments, which shall directly tend
to accumulate social and political power in their own
hands. They struggle to create an aristocracy of
chartered rights, as the most potent engine for build
ing up an aristocracy of political power. They strive
so far to warp the State and Federal legislation, as to
pour into their hands, in perennial streams, the means
of buying the liberties of our country. These pur
poses the Northern Federal party will not relinquish,
and their candidate will continue to support tham

416 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
with the same zeal and ability which he has always
evinced for them, though in different modes and
through different measures. The Northern Federal
ists, unable to abandon these views, will therefore
strive to coerce their Southern allies into supporting
the Northern candidate ; and if they cannot effect
this coercion, will support him alone. They will en
deavor to effect this coercion by speculating upon the
opposition of the Southern " Whigs" to the present
administration, believing that whatever objections the
South may entertain against the candidate of Massa
chusetts, it will yield them to objections yet stronger
against the candidate of the Democratic party. If
this hope should not be fulfilled, they still expect, in
a contest among three candidates, to carry the elec
tion into the House of Representatives ; and there
they are not without hope of" succeeding by the con
trivances and expedients by which they partially suc
ceeded in 1825. For such contrivances their means
are ample, and against the use of them they would
find in moral considerations but a feeble restraint.
The question is then fairly presented to the South
by the Federal party of Massachusetts, or at least to
such portion of the South as are opposed to the De
mocratic candidate, whether they will or will not be
coerced into supporting the Federal candidate. Upon
what ground does he challenge their approbation ?
They all admit his talents to be of the highest order ;
but who of them admits the soundness of his princi
ples ? Do the Tazewells and Tylers and Leighs and
Floyds of Virginia subscribe to his construction of the
constitution, in his great speech in the Senate in 1830?
To say nothing of the Calhouns, Haynes, M'Duffies
and Prestons, do the Union party of South Carolina
admit the high tariff policy of Massachusetts, a poli
cy intended exclusively for the Boston manufactures,
to be the most judicious policy for the Southern

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 417
States ? Are any of them willing to renew the chart
er of the national bank, or to create a similar institu
tion? The Northern politicians may suppose that
the South would prefer the Federal to the Democratic
candidate as the least of evils. But admitting the
election of the latter to be an evil to the South, would
not the election of the former be a greater ? Sup
posing that Mr. Van Buren's policy would not be of
a Southern character, that of Mr. Webster would ne
cessarily be less so. Between the Northern and
Southern extremes upon the subject of protective du
ties, the Middle States, and particularly New York,
occupy a middle ground. On the subjects of the
bank and internal improvements, New York harmo
nizes and Massachusetts conflicts with the South.
On the broad ground of Democratic principles, Mr.
Van Buren has been uniformly firm and consistent ;
Mr. Webster has never been upon this ground, and in
opposing it, has been " to one thing constant never."
But above all things, let every Southern opponent of
Mr. Van Buren who acknowledges himself to have
been a Democrat during the war, ask himself where
was Mr. Webster in that stormy and gloomy period 1
Let him remember the financial embarrassments of
the government, and the numerous disasters and de
feats resulting from them ; the millions that were ex
pended and the blood that flowed, to retrieve misfor
tunes which, but for these embarrassments, would
have never happened. Then let him remember the
fountains whence these waters of bitterness flowed.
The genius of Mr. Webster was mighty in these af
fairs, and to the powerful workings of that genius
were the merchants and capitalists of Boston indebted
for a system of financial operations, which had al
most accomplished the ruin of the country. And
after every Southern Democrat has refreshed his me
mory with these reminiscences, let him carry it to

418 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
New York at the same period, and behold Mr. Van
Buren. Where and what was he then 7 In the Le
gislature of that State, himself a host in defending the
cause of his suffering country ! His genius was also
active ! His boundless fertility of invention, his un
tiring perseverance, were taxed to the utmost in
averting the mischief threatened by the factious pro
ceedings of Massachusetts. Can the Democrats of
the South forget these things ? They may find or
think to find good reasons for opposing Mr. Van
Buren as a candidate for the Presidency ; but can
they aid in the elevation of Mr. Webster ?
Another portion of the " Whig " party is to be found
in the West, and particularly in Kentucky and Ohio.
Between this portion and the Federal party of Massa
chusetts, the gulf is almost as wide as that which
separates the latter from the South. They agree
about internal improvements and a national bank ;
but from no portion of the Union have the views of
these States regarding protective duties met with more
pertinacious opposition, than from the Federal party
of Massachusetts. Kentucky is a mining, and both
are agricultural States. The manufacture of iron is
extensive in the first, and hemp is or will become one
of its gi eatest agricultural staples. Wool and whis
key, both agricultural productions, are staples of the
second. The manufacturing interest of Massachu-
-setts consists of Boston merchants, of those very
merchants who considered protecting duties uncon
stitutional while their funds were invested in com
merce, and not only constitutional, but essential to the
salvation of the country, after they had changed their
investments from commerce to manufactures. And
why this change of investment ? -Because protecting
duties, the imposition of which they could not pre
vent, offered to them greater profits. It is their right
and duty to enlarge their resources by all fair mea-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 419
sures ; but it can hardly be deemed a fair measure
thus to quote the constitution according to the vary
ing complexion of their legers ; thus to make it, like
a ship that carries any cargo, or is chartered to any
body that will pay, the mere instrument of a mercan
tile speculation. The species of protection for which
this mercantile manufacturing party have uniformly
and strenuously contended, is a system of prohibitory
duties upon the woollen and cotton fabrics of foreign
countries, and a free importation of the raw materials
for their own fabrics ; the exclusion of foreign ships
from our ports, and the privilege of furnishing their
own with foreign hemp, canvass and iron, imported by
themselves. They would compel the landholders of
Ohio to wear their cloths, but would not permit them
to raise a pound of wool. They would require the
exports of Kentucky to be sent abroad in American
ships, but would not permit a Kentucky farmer to
raise a ton of hemp, nor a Kentucky manufacturer to
make a pound of iron. They clamor for protection
— to their own interests, and seek those interests
through the ruin of their neighbours. Have the sons
of the West forgotten the opposition of New England
to every protecting tariff ever discussed in Congress
since 1815 ? Have they forgotten the opposition to
Western interests made by New England in 1824,
with Mr. Webster for its file leader ? Have they for
gotten the Boston Federal project of the Harrisburgh
convention ? Have they forgotten the contest in
Congress about the tariff of 1828, when the Northern
Federalists opposed protecting duties upon wool,
hemp, iron, indigo and molasses? Have they forgot
ten the stand made by Mr. Webster in the Senate,
during this contest, against the proposed duty on
hemp ? Have they forgotten a numerous and solemn
meeting of the manufacturers of Boston in January,
1833, in which a proposition to aid the Middle and

420 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
Western States in procuring duties upon iron, salt,
grain, wool, hemp and sugar, was unanimously and
clamorously rejected? As this transaction plainly
discloses the exclusive spirit which animates the ma
nufacturing party of Boston, a history of it may be
somewhat interesting to the people of the Middle and
Western States. During the troubles in South Ca
rolina, and a few weeks after the meeting in Boston
at which Mr. Webster made a great effort in sup
port of the President's proclamation, all friendly to
American manufactures were invited to assemble at
Faneuil Hall, for the purpose of expressing some de
cided opinion in favor of sustaining them. The in
vitation, which was published in nearly all the news
papers in Boston, was addressed to all political sects,
whether Federal or Democratic, who were at all in
favor of protecting duties. The meeting assembled
on the 28th of January, 1833, and was sufficiently
numerous to fill a hall capable of containing about
five thousand persons ; and of those assembled, not
less than four thousand were decidedly in favor of the
avowed oojects of the meeting. The Federalists ge
nerally were there, the officers of the meeting were
selected from that party, and its whole character and
complexion were strongly Federal. The Chairman
of the meeting was the present Lieutenant Governor
of the State, and a Federalist of the straitest sect.
After the meeting had been opened, several resolu
tions were offered, the substance of which was that
no change in the tariff laws ought to be made, that
would endanger the principle of protection, or com-
promit the interests of New England. After a mem
ber of the meeting had made a few remarks in sup
port of these resolution, another member, a Democrat,
arose and offered several resolutions, stating that they
were in aid of the general objects of the meeting, ana
immediately sat down. The substance of these reso-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 421
lutions, excepting the first, was that Congress and
the Executive ought to be sustained, and would be
sustained by the citizens composing that meeting, in
all constitutional measures for suppressing insurrec
tions and rebellions, and maintaining the laws of the
Union, in the several states and territories. The first
resolution was in the following words.
Resolved, That, while we deprecate any changes in the
national legislation which may affect injuriously the manu
facturing industry of New England, we offer our hearty con
currence in any modification of the existing laws that may
promote the agricultural and manufacturing industry of the
Middle and Western States, particularly in the making of
iron and salt, and in the raising of grain, wool, hemp and
sugar. These resolutions were laid on the table, a step in
the usual course, as a discussion was pending upon
the resolutions first offered. After one or two mem
bers of the meeting had delivered their views upon
the resolutions first offered, the person who offered
the second rose to speak, not particularly upon the
resolutions offered by himself, but upon the whole
subject before the meeting. He was heard, not only
with patience, but apparent approbation, till he ut
tered the following remarks.
" In a country like this, almost boundless in extent, and
embracing almost every variety of soil, climate and produc
tion, and consequently presenting a great diversity of inte
rests, all legislation must be the effect of compromise. No
one section can obtain all that it wants ; nor anything that
it wants, without conceding something to the others. We
must then say to our brethren of the Middle and Western
States, that we are ready to give them all the protection
which they ask for their interests, provided they wiil aid us
in sustaining ours."
These remarks were received with a general shout
of disapprobation, which was persisted in, notwith-
36

422 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
standing repeated calls to order by the chairman,, fall
the speaker sat down. After two or three others of
the meeting had addressed it, the resolution above
recited was called up separately, and a member of
the meeting who attempted to oppose it, was not per
mitted to proceed ; so decided were those present
against the propositions which it contained, that they
would not permit them to be discussed. A motion to
postpone it indefinitely was then carried by acclama
tion. The following facts prove that this opposition
to the resolution proceeded from hostility to the in
terests of the Middle and Western States, and that
cause only. 1st, When the person who offered this
resolution first rose, and before he had time to read
it or utter a word, he was received with loud and ge
neral tokens of approbation ; 2d, This resolution was
received in silence, those which accompanied it with
shouts of approbation ; 3d, The chairman of the
meeting requested the mover to withdraw this
particular resolution ; 4th, The meeting heard the
mover of it with apparent approbation, when speak
ing upon the whole subject before the meeting, untT.
he uttered the foregoing remarks in favor of the Mid
dle and Western States, and then he was not per
mitted to proceed ; 5th, This resolution was indefi
nitely postponed by acclamation.
Here then was an opinion upon the interests of the
Middle and Western States, distinctly expressed by
the manufacturing interest of Boston ; and this opi
nion was that — they would hear nothing about
them ! !* Such then is the sympathy for Western
* This mode of preventing discussion, . so utterly inconsistent with
a fundamental principle of republicanism, freedom of speech and of de
bate, is very common with the Federal party of Boston, extraordinary
as the fact may seem in other parts of our country. It is extraordi
nary that such a practice should prevail among a people who boast
of their republican spirit, of the republican character of their institu
tions, and of their steady habits and love of order; and particularly ex-
traordmary that it should prevail among a party who have always claim-

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 423
interests which has been evinced by the "Whig"
party of Massachusetts ! Such is the co-operation
which the Middle and Western States are to expect
from this party, should it again acquire any control
over the Federal government. During the whole
period of these contests for protection to manufactures,
who stood by the sons of the West ? More especially
during the long and angry debate upon the tariff of
1828, which was eminently the hour of need to the
West, who stood by them, too sagacious to be duped,
too firm to be intimidated, too persevering to be
wearied? New York! Yes! The great State of
New York, with the exception of the city, firmly sus
tained the West in seeking protection to its great
agricultural and manufacturing interests. But an-
ed superiority over its opponents, in talents, knowledge and " respect
ability." To this party it is confined; for while numerous instances
maybe cited of violent interruptions of Democratic meetings by Fe
deralists, not one can be cited of similar proceedings among Demo
crats towards Federal meetings. An instance of such disorder oc
curred in the winter of 1834, which produced occurrences of a very
ludicrous character. A Democratic meeting of those friendly to the
national administration was held at Faneuil Hall, for the purpose
of expressing their opinions upon the measures of the Executive to
wards the bank of the United States. As, from their frequent occur
rence on former occasions, disorderly interruptions from the Fede
ralists were anticipated on this, a numerous committee were appointed
before the meeting assembled, to distribute themselves through the
hall, and to mark with chalk, the backs of those detected in hissing,
shouting, and other acts of disorderly interruption. The disorder
being so great as to prevent the business of the meeting from proceed
ing, a motion was carried, that all rioters be requested to depart, and
on their refusal, be forcibly ejected. They not complying: with this
request, the committee were ordered to eject them ; which was im
mediately done, to the great wonder of the guilty by what means they
had been detected. It was not till they had been collected in consi
derable numbers outside of the hall, that they discovered the secret
in beholding the marks upon the backs of each other. Some who
forcibly resisted were marked, not only with chalked backs, but with
black eyes and bloody noses. The ejected were nearly all persons of
respectability, in the Federal sense of the term ; some being Federal
lawyers, and many were Federal merchants; and it was certainly a
singular spectacle to behold persons whose whole appearance indi
cated a knowledge of better things than disorderly interruptions of
Eublic meetings, marched through the crowd like convicts in the
ands of police officers, literally turned out of doorst and as they pur
sued their way through the streets, exhibiting their backs marked
like a flock of sheep.

424

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

other consideration applies with peculiar force to the
West, especially to the States of Kentucky and Ohio.
A large portion of the citizens of both remember the
events of the late war. No States sent greater num
bers to the field, and none suffered more severely.
In Kentucky especially, almost every family was
clad in mourning for a slaughtered relative. And
while her best blood flowed in torrents beneath the
tomahawk of the savage and the bayonet of his equally
savage employer, how were those engaged who now
offer Mr. Webster as the great champion of their
principles ? In devising and executing measures to
paralyze the arm of the national government ! In
proclaiming that the enemies of the country, whose
outrages drove it into the contest, had done it no es
sential injury ! In proclaiming by official, legisla
tive resolutions, that the war was wicked, and that
it was unbecoming a moral and religious people to
rejoice in its successes ! In proclaiming through the
press that all who furnished means for prosecuting
it should be accounted infamous ! In publicly ex
pressing hopes that all engaged in it as soldiers might
perish ! And what was Mr. Webster's part in these
proceedings ? Most gladly would his partizans draw
the veil of oblivion over it ! But it is written in the
records of the times, and cannot be forgotten ! The
shades of the slaughtered sons of Kentucky and Ohio
yetrise up before their children and surviving relatives,
and like the ghost of Hamlet, exclaim — Remember.
But it may be urged that, if the election of Mr.
Webster would restore the influence of the Federal
party of Massachusetts to the administration of the
executive department of the government, this party
cannot affect the policy of the country. That, they
will say, must depend upon legislative, and not exe
cutive action, and no President can exercise a gene
ral influence over the former. But the history of our

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 42S
government does not support this conclusion. On
the contrary, it shows that the influence of the Exe
cutive upon public policy is controlling. Every Presi
dent, excepting General Washington, has been the
ostensible head of a party, and owed his election to
some great party principles. This, in a representa
tive government, is not only necessary, but useful;
necessary, because all men cannot think alike, and
useful, because it tends to keep first principles con
tinually in sight. Ambition being a natural and com
mon sentiment, the few are always endeavoring to
encroach upon the many ; and the history of man
shows, and will continue to show, a perpetual strug^
gle between governors and governed, the one to ac
quire, the other to retain. Parties, therefore, must
and ought to exist, and it is only when they degene
rate into factions, and trample upon first principles,
that they become dangerous.
A President of the United States must then be the
chief of a party, and this without being less the chief
executive of the nation, or less disposed to promote
the welfare of the whole. Upon their own views of
public welfare have his party elected him, and have
selected him from among all others, because they con
fided in his ability and zeal in carrying their great
party principles into operation. In such contests, the
object of the great body of a party must necessarily
be public welfare. They have no private ends, they
do not seek office, and cannot expect that the govern
ment will be administered to promote their interests
as individuals, distinct from the interest of all. They
always mean right, and whenever they do wrong,
the error is in judgment and not intention. They
merely seek protection of their right to mind their
own business. With these views, and with that con
fidence in their chief which led them to select him,
they will generally afford him zealous support in all
36*

426

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.

measures of public policy recommended or adopted
by him. Nor is this support afforded by the people
only. As are the politics of the President, so will be
those of every Senator or Representative in Congress
elected by the same party. They are all representa
tives of one cause, servants of one people ; and what
ever course shall be pursued by the President con
formable to the great principles upon which he was
elected, will generally be sustained by the great ma
jority of his party, both in and out of office. The in
fluence of John Adams, not a personal but a political
influence, carried his party to the support of the Alien
and Sedition laws, and the war with France; that of
Jefferson to the Judiciary bill, the purchase of Loui-
siana7 and the Embargo ; that of Madison to the war
with Great Britain ; that of Jackson has overthrown
the Bank. In short, the political influence of the
President, if faithful to the principles upon which he
was elected, is controlling, and will carry along with
him the great majority of his party.
In the United States, two parties have always ex
isted and always will; democrats and aristocrats^
those who believe that society requires few restraints,
and those who believe that it requires many. Of the
latter are the old Federal party of Massachusetts, and
their candidate for the Presidency is Mr. Webster.
As already shown, he is fast bound by the manacles
of the aristocratic spirits who lead this party, and
should he be elected, will restore their power and in
fluence. He would indeed be the nominal chief of
the party, and as such, carry along with him all its
troops and regimental officers. But he would be un
der the command of the aristocratic and aspiring few
who have always directed the politics of Massa
chusetts, and they, in his name, would prescribe the
general course of his administration.
If then the Democracy of the Union is unwilling to

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 427
aid in the restoration of Massachusetts Federalism,
how will it avert such catastrophe ? It cannot by
blind confidence in its own strength, or by lightly es
timating that of its foe. The strength of the " Whig"
party is too formidable to be justly contemned. It is
doubtless inferior to the Democratic party in numeri
cal force, but superior in zeal, discipline and other re
sources. One point of its superiority is cunning.
The Democratic party, with a generous confidence in
the justice of its cause, and in the appearances and
indications of despondency which have lately been
manifested among the " Whigs," rely upon victory as
already achieved. A consequence of this will be, not
the defection, but the neglect of large bodies at the
polls, erroneously conceiving that in the plenitude of
its strength, the party will not require their votes.
No delusion could be more fraught with danger, and
no delusion could the " Whig" party be more solici
tous to encourage. In this delusion is their main
hope of victory. Should the Democratic party rise
in its might, and discharge its duty as one man, its
numerical superiority, of which no reasonable doubt
can be, or is entertained, even by its opponents,
would secure a triumph. But should it, indulging in
false security, omit any exertions, the "Whigs,"
thoroughly disciplined and guided by skilful com
manders, would steal by stratagem what they could
not win in fair battle, and the Democratic party
would wake from its delusion with the mortifying
reflection, that, with superior force, it had been beaten
by superior skill.
The "Whigs" perfectly understood the advantages
to be gained by this delusion, and will therefore pro
pagate it industriously. Their journals do not openly
declare a surrender, for this would be an experiment
upon the credulity of the Democratic party that would
inevitably fail. It would at once excite a general

428 LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT.
suspicion of stratagem, and rouse that very vigilance
¦which they are endeavoring to allay. But in oral
communications, in the casual intercourse of society,
the opinion will be industriously circulated that the
" Whigs," despairing of success, will probably make
no very strenuous efforts ; that they will indeed make
a demonstration of supporting their candidates, for
the purpose of preserving the organization of then-
party for a more auspicious period ; but that their
troops will not be generally brought into the field,
and that they regard the contest as already decided
against them. In the mean time, their arrangements
are perfect, their discipline complete, and every man
of their troops will have his orders, and will promptly
obey them.
The " Whigs" have been defeated in some States
where they were almost sure of victory ; particularly
in Connecticut and Virginia. In the latter, a victory
was deemed highly important, because it would serve
as a decisive indication, a test of political sentiment
among the Southern States, and thus by showing that
the Democratic party was defeated in its hitherto
strong hold, the South, would carry dismay among
its ranks in the North and West. Great exertions
were therefore made. The Democrats met them with
corresponding zeal, and barely achieved a victory.
The result proves that the Democratic party is in
deed the strongest in Virginia, but not strong enough
to dispense with the aid of any portion of its adhe
rents. It can conquer only by faithfully performing
its duty. Warned by these and other recent indica
tions, the " Whigs" will resort to stratagem. They
will make a point of surrendering, but will be
thoroughly prepared for a combined and vigorous
effort. The Democratic party should not then derive too
much confidence from recent successes ; should not

LIFE OF COM. ELLIOTT. 429
indulge in any careless belief of its invincibility.
Those who, flushed with repeated victories, imbibe
the belief that they cannot be beaten, and therefore
relax in the very discipline, the very efforts by which
those victories were obtained, are not far from defeat;
and of all defeats, the most mortifying are those
which are induced by neglect of the exertions that
would have insured a triumph.
The great battle is yet to be fought. The enemy
of Democracy, alike formidable in numbers, skill,
pertinacity and " the sinews of war," is in the field ;
and with that ready versatility, that ingenious adap
tation of means to circumstances which characterize
all its movements, will fight openly or in ambuscade,
as either mode affords the best assurance of success.
The Democratic party is the strongest and can pre
vail, but only BY THE DETERMINATION OF
EVERY DEMOCRAT TO DO HIS DUTY.

APPENDIX.

A.
V. S. Schooner Ariel, Put-in-Bay, 13th September, 1813.
Sir, — In my last I informed you, that we had captured the enemy's
fleet on this lake. I have now the honor to give you the most impor
tant particulars of the action. On the morning of the 10th inst. at
sun-rise, they were discovered from Put-in-Bay, where I lay at anchor
with the squadron under my command. We got under weigh, the wind
light at S. W. and stood for them. At 10 A. M. the wind hauled to S.
E. and brought us to windward ; formed the line and brought up. At
15 minutes before 12, the enemy commenced firing ; at 5 minutes be
fore 12, the action commenced on our part. Finding their fire very
destructive, owing to their long guns, and its being mostly directed to
the Lawrence, I made sail, anrldirected the other vessels to follow,
for the purpose of closing with the enemy. Every brace and bowline
being snot away, she became unmanageable, notwithstanding the
great exertions of the Sailing Master. In this situation she sustained
the action upwards of two hours, within cannister shot distance, until
every gun was rendered useless, and a greater part of the crew either
killed or wounded. Finding she could no longer annoy the enemy, I
left her in charge of Lt. Yarnall, who, I was convinced, from.the bra
very already displayed by him, would do what would comport with the
honor of the flag. At half past 2, the wind springing up, Captain El
liott was enabled to bring his vessel, the Niagara, gallantly into close
action ; I immediately went on board of her, when he anticipated my
wish by volunteering to bring the schooners, which' had been kept
astern by the lightness of the wind, into close action. It was with
unspeakable pain that I saw, soon after I got on board the Niagara,
the flag of the Lawrence come down, although I was perfectly sensi
ble that she had been defended to the last, and that to have continued
to make a show of resistance would have been a wanton sacrifice of
the remains of her brave crew. But the enemy was not able to take
possession of her, and circumstance* soon permitted her flag again to
be hoisted. At 45 minutes past two, the signal was made for close
action." The Niagara being very little injured, I determined to pass
through the enemas line, bore up and pass ahead of their two ships
and a brig, giving a raking fire to them from the starboard guns and
to a large schooner and sloop, from the larboard side, at half pistol shot
distance. The smaller vessels at this time having got within grape
and cannister distance, under the direction of Capt. Elliott, and keep
ing up a well directed fire, the two ships, a brig, and a schooner sur
rendered, a schooner and sloop making a vain attempt to escape.

432 APPENDIX.
Those officers and men who were immediately under my observa
tion evinced the greatest gallantry, and I have no doubt that all others
conducted themselves as became American officers and seamen.
Lieut. Yarnall, first of the Lawrence, although several times wounded,
refused to quit the deck. Midshipman Forrest, (doing duty as lieuten
ant) and Sailing Master Taylor were of great assistance to me. I
have great pain in stating to you the death of Lieut. Brooke of the ma
rines, and Midshipman Laub, both of the Lawrence, and Midshipman
John Clark, of the Scorpion ; they were valuable officers. Mr. Ham-
bleton. Purser, who volunteered his services on deck, was severely
wounded late in the action. Midshipman Claxton and Swartwout, of
the Lawrence, were severely wounded. On board the Niagara, Lieuts.
Smith and Edwards, and Midshipman Webster, (doing duty as Sail
ing Master,) behaved in a very handsome manner. Capt. Brevoort,
of the army, who acted as a volunteer in the capacity of a marine offi
cer on board that vessel, is an excellent and brave officer, and with his
musketry, did great execution. Lieut. Turner, commanding the Cale
donia, brought that vessel into action in the most able manner, and is
an officer that iti all situations may be relied upon. The Ariel, Lieut.
Packet, and Scorpion, Sailing Master Champlin, were enabled to get
early into the action, and were of great service. Capt. Elliott speaks in
the highest terms of Mr. Magrath, Purser, who had been despatched in
a boat on service, previous to ray getting on board the Niagara j and,
being a seaman, since the action has rendered essential service in ta
king charge of one of the prizes. Of Capt. Elliott, already so well
known to the government, it would be almost superfluous to speak.
In this action he evinced his characteristic bravery and judgment, and
since the close of the action, has given me the most able and essential
assistance. I have the honour to enclose you a return of the killed and wounded,
together with a statement of the relative force of the squadrons. The
Capt. and First Lieut, of the Queen Charlotte, and First Lieut, of the
Detroit, were killed. Capt. Barclay, senior officer, and- the comman
der of the Lady Prevost, severely wounded. Their loss in killed and
wounded, I have not yet been able to ascertain ; it must, however,
have been very great.
Very respectfully, I have the honor to be,
Sir, your obedient servant
The Hon. Wm. Jones, O. H. PERRY.
Secretary of the Navy.

B — 1.
United States' Sloop Ontabio, New York, 16th April. 1815.
Sir, — In a conversation with some of the officers of the service, I am
informed that in consequence of an opinion formed by a Court of In
quiry on the loss of the British fleet on Lake Erie, on the 10th Sept.
1834, my vessel, the Niagara, is reflected on by some who are inimical
to our service, I wish it understood that early after the action, I ap
plied to the Navy Department for an investigation into the facts of the
action. It was not granted. Justice to myself, friends, and the service
I have the honor to belong to, compels me to ask that the Court at pre
sent inquiring into the losses of the President, Frolic, and Rattlesnake,
may be instructed to inform the country of the part I bore in the action
of the 10th Sept. 1813, and whether or not, did the Niagara attempt to
make her escape from the enemy (as stated by the British court.) A

appendix. 433
large number of the officers who were on board the fleet, are at present
in this squadron ; the investigation will require but a day or two, and I
presume will not delay the sailing of the squadron.
I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, your obedient servant,
J. D. Elliott.
B.-2. Navy Department, April, 1815.
Sir, — The Court of Inquiry, now sitting at New- York, is ordered to
proceed immediately, to the investigation requested by your letter of the
16th inst. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
B. W. Crowninshield.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott, Sloop Ontario, New- York.
B.-3.
Navy Department, April 20th, 1815.
Sir, — It has been stated to this Departmen t, that by the proceedings of
a Court of Inquiry in Great Britain, ordered to investigate the causes of
the loss of the British fleet on Lake Erie, on the loth of September, 1813,
the conduct of Capt. Jesse D. Elliott, of the United States' Navy, who
commanded the brig Niagara on that day, is viisrepresenied. — Justice
to theTeputation of Capt Elliott, and to the Navy of the United States,
requires that a true statement of the facts in relation to his conduct on
that occasion be exhibited to the world. The Court, therefore, of which
you are president, will immediately proceed to inquire into the same,
to ascertain thepart he sustained in the action of that day, and report its
opinion thereon to this Department.
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, B. W. Crowninshield.
Com. Alexander Murray, New- York.
B.-4.
April 24th, 1815. The Court met in pursuance of the foregoing
Orders. PRESENT.
Com. Murray, President. Capt. Evans, t Ttir-mi,„.
Henry Wheaton, Judge Advocate. Lt. Com't. Rogers. $ ivlemDers-
The Court being duly sworn, (together with the Judge Advocate) pro
ceeded to inquire into the facts relative to the conduct ofCapt. Elliott
in the action of the 10th Sept. 1813, on Lake Erie.
Lieut. Nelson Webster, late Sailing Master of the Niagara, was
sworn. Question by the Court. — Having seen and read, Capt. Perry's official
account of the action of the 10th Sept. 1813, on Lake Erie, please to
state whether it contains a correct statement of facts'!
Answer. I believe it does.
Question. By the Judge Advocate — What further do you know re
specting the subject matter of this inquiry 1
Answer. Just at daylight, on the 10th Sept. 1813, we were in Put
in-Bay, and discovered^ the enemy's fleet. A signal was made by Capt.
Perry, and we immediately got under weigh, and beat out of the bay—
37

434 APPENDIX.
the wind a-head. After we got out, the wind being light; it shifted,
which gave us the weather-gage. We made sail in pursuit, and a
signal was made for each vessel to take its station. The Lawrence
led the van, the Caledonia next* and then the Niagara, in close order.
The small vessels were a-stern. The enemy commenced the fire upon
the headmost vessel at 15 m. before noon, which the Lawrence re
turned at about noon, at the distance of one mile and a half from the
enemy. Capt. Elliott directed me to commence from my division with
a long 12. Soon after, we fired one or two broadsides from the car
ronades. Capt. Elliott directed us to cease firing the carronades, as
the shot fell short, and to continue firing the long gun. The enemy
were principally directing their fire, at this moment, against the Law
rence. We were using every exertion to get down. The wind was
light. Itwasat half past 12, that we commenced firing our carronades,
at long gun-shot distance, and we being to windward, were continually
nearing the enemy. We continued the action with light winds, con
tinually bearing down in our station, until about 2 o'clock : when the
Lawrence was disabled. Previous to that, Capt. Elliott directed the
Caledonia to bear up and give him room to close with the Lawrence.
The Caledonia dropped to the leeward of us, and the Lawrence
dropped out of the line, nearly at one and the same time. The wind
sprang up, and Capt. Elliott made sail to close with the headmost
ship. After we got into close action, I was knocked down, and car
ried below. When I came on deck again, I found Capt. Perry on
board. Captain Elliott was in the gun boats, and the action still con
tinuing. In about 25 minutes afterwards the enemy struck,
Question by the Court. What was the force of our squadron, as to
size of vessels, description, number of guns, and men ?
A. It consisted of the brig Lawrence of 20 guns, eighteen 32 pound
carronades, and two Jong 12's; the brig Niagara of 20 guns of the
same description and about 150 men, of which not more than 120
were fit for duty — she was not well manned, as she had 25 militia
men and about 30 soldiers, and a great number of blacks, only one of
whom was a seaman ; the brig Caledonia of 3 guns, long 12's or 18's;
the schooner Somers of two guns ; schooner Ariel of three guns, one
of which burst in the action— I do not remember the Scorpion's force ;
the schooner Tigress of one gun, a long 32 pounder : the Porcupine
and Trippe, same. I did not consider the vessels so well manned as
our vessels generally are on the ocean.
Q. What was the enemy's force?
A. In close action they were not superior to us, in my opinion ; but
from the lightness of the wind, the situation of the fleets, and the
enemy's having long guns, I considered them superior.
Q. Did the enemy s vessels appear to be as badly manned as re
presented to the Bntish Court Martial before whom Capt. Barclay
was tried'!
A. The statement given before that court, I consider to be false. I
infer it from the appearance of the Detroit after the action. I saw
60 wounded men on board her which I believe to have been seamen.
I believe the enemy had more than the number of British seamen
stated. Q. What command had Capt. Elliott in the action 1
A. He had- command of the Niagara.
Q. Did he do allin his power to gain a nearer position 7 and when
Capt. Perry went on board of the Niagara, did you see any thing in
Capt. Elliott's conduct that indicated an intention on his part to make
sail from the enemy.
A. He did all in his power to gain a nearer position. I never ob-

APPENDIX. 435
served any intention on his part to make sail from the enemy; on the
contrary, I noted in him a disposition to get in as close action as pos
sible. Q. Do you believe that Capt. Elliott did every thing that a brave
and meritorious officer should have done, in the action 7
A. Yes.
Q. Have you heard any officer make any remarks derogatory to
his character or conduct on the 10th of Sept. 7
A. No.
, Q. by Captain Elliott— Did the Niagara at any time, during the ac
tion, attempt to make off from the British fleet 7
A. No.
Q. What was the distance from the Lawrence to the Niagara, when
the firing commenced from the enemy 7
A. There was the intervening space of the Caledonia, the three ves
sels being in close order.
Q. What was the situation of both fleets when the action com
menced on our part 7 and what time did I order the Caledonia out of
the line 7 and how soon afterwards did I place my vessel a-head of the
Lawrence 7 and what appeared to be the situation of the British
fleet 7
A. We were in a line a-head, endeavoring to get down upon the
enemy as fast as possible, abaft the enemvs beam, with the wind
nearly arbeam. It was a little after the middle of the action that the
Caledonia was ordered out of the line. The Lawrence was dropping
astern, and we shooting a- head. We had got into pretty close action
before I went below. The British fleet was in close order, and I think
had no spars shot away.
Q. Was not my helm up, and the Niagara standing directly for the
enemy's fleet, when Capt Perry came on board. 7
A. I was below and cannot say.
Q. What was the situation of the gun boats when I left the Nia
gara, and how were they disposed of when I reached the head of the
enemy's line with them 7
A. Just before I went below, they were a long way a-stern. When
I came on deck, I observed the gun boat Capt. Elliott was in had got
nearly to the head of the enemy s line ; and he was in very close ac
tion, directing the fire of the boats at the enemy's ships.
Q. How did the Lawrence bear of the Niagara when Capt. Perry
came on board, and what distance was she from the Niagara 7
A. I was not on deck, and before I went below, the Lawrence was
rather on our leeward quarter. B.-5.
Lieut. Yarnall, late first Lieutenant of the Lawrence, was sworn.
Q. Does Captain Perry's official account of the action of the 10th
September contain a correct statement of the facts 7
A. I think generally as to what I could see it is correct, except as
to the statement in page 2d, line 12th, of the Niagara being brought
into close action. I believe the Niagara was three quarters of a mile
astern of the Lawrence ; and when she passed us to the windward
at the time Com. Perry took possession of her, she was half a mile
off our weather bow. This was about 2 hours and 48 minutes after
the action commenced; I expressed my surprise to Capt. Perry on
observing the Niagara in that situation, and after the Lawrence was
disabled, he left her in my possession and went on board the Niagara.

436 APPENDIX.
Q. What further do you know relative to the subject of this in
quiry 7
A. In the morning of the 10th Sept. we discovered the enemy's
squadron and got under weigh ; stood out past the Islands. The wind
veered, and became favorable soon after we passed one of the Islands.
Within about three miles of the enemy, Capt. Elliott, in the Niagara,
bore down and spoke Capt. Perry. Capt. Elliott fell into line next to
the Caledonia. The Detroit commenced the action by firing a long
24 pounder. Capt. Perry directed me to hail the Scorpion, for the
purpose of engaging the enemy, and at the same time to commence
our fire with a 12 pounder on the forecastle. A few minutes after
wards, we commenced a fire with the carronades. It having been
inquired of me whether they told or not, and I answering in the ne
gative, Capt. Perry ordered the helm to be put up and bore down up
on the enemy. The Caledonia and Scorpion engaged. We ran down
and came within about half musket shot, exposed to the whole of the
enemy's fire at first, and afterwards to four of his vessels, the Chippe
way, Detroit, Hunter, and Queen Charlotte. We lay opposite the
Hunter, and the Queen Charlotte was a-stern of the Hunter. Our
first division was fought against the Detroit, the second against the
Queen Charlotte, and occasionally guns at the Hunter. At several
periods during the contest, I expressed my surprise that the Niagara
was not brought into close action. The crew also expressed their
surprise, but were encouraged by the officers to fight on till she should
come down and take a part with us. I observed the Niagara firing
a distant fire, (I suppose three quarters of a mile off) at the enemy's
small vessels, the Lady Prevost and others. It was two. hours and
48 minutes after the action commenced, that Com. Perry said to me,
" I leave you to surrender the vessel to the enemy." At this time we
could not fight a single gun. He left us. After he got into the boat,
he observed that he would leave it discretionary with me, either to
surrender or receive the enemy's fire. I called on Mr. Taylor, and Mr.
Forrest, who were on deck, to know their opinion — they told me it was
useless to sacrifice any more men, as we were unable to sustain the
action any longer. The colors were consequently struck. Immedi
ately on Com. Perry's arrival on board the Niagara, he made sail and
bore down — broke the enemy's line, and the action was decided in
about 15 or 20 minutes, except as to two of the enemy, which at
tempted to escape but were pursued,
Q. What was the force of our squadron 7
A. The Lawrence and the Niagara of 20 guns each, eighteen 32
pound carronades, and two long 12's. The Caledonia had two or
three guns on circles. The Ariel had 3, the Scorpion had 2 guns — one
a 12, the other an 18 or 24 pounder. The rest one gun each. The
Lawrence had 131 men and boys' of every description, of which 103
were fit for duty. The squadron had but few seamen— we had about
30 marines and some militia men.
Q. What command had Captain Elliott in the action 7
A. He commanded the Niagara.
Q. How near was he to the enemy when the action commenced 7
A. About a mile and a half, or two miles.
Q. Do you believe Captain Elliott did every thing a brave and me
ritorious officer should have done in the action 7
A. I am under the belief that the Niagara could have been brought
into closer action. The same wind which would bring the Lawrence
into action would likewise bring the Niagara into action. The main
topsail of the Lawrence was laying to the mast, foresail hauled up,

APPENDIX. 437
and the top-gallant sail furled. I think the Niagara had her main-top
sail also to the mast, that is. while she was a-stern.
Q. by Capt. Elliott— Did the Niagara, at any time during the action,
attempt to make off from the British fleet 7
A. No.
Q. What was the distance from the Lawrence to the Niagara, when
the firing commenced from the enemy 7
A. A quarter of a mile.
Q. What was the situation of the gun boats when I left the Nia
gara, and how were they disposed of when I reached the head of the
enemy's line with them 7
A. The gun boats generally were a-stern and to windward. I saw
Capt. Elliott on board one of them, and they were coming into action.
They were very much scattered, but all bearing down into action.
Q. What was the established order of the battle, and is the sketch
now shewn you a correct one 7 — (See page 446)
A. The sketch is correct.
Q. What were the observations of Lieuts. Turner and Holdup,
when speaking to you of the action?
A. They expressed their disapprobation and surprise that the Nia
gara was not Drought into action.
Q. When I was passing the Lawrence in the boat, did you not
come to the gang-way, and ask me to bring the boat along side, as
you were sinking 7
A. No.
Q. Did you not on the return of the fleet to Erie, discovering that
there was an altercation between Captains Perry and Elliott, meet
Midshipman Page on the beach, and say to him that there was the
deuce to pay about the action, but that as for your part you had al
ways given each of those officers an equal share of credit 7
A. No. I do not recollect having any conversation with the young
gentleman alluded to.
Q. How was the wind from the beginning to the end of the
action 7
A. I do not precisely recollect. I suppose a vessel might go two
knots. Q. by the Court— In the general surprise which you state was ex
pressed, that the Niagara did not close faster into action, did you
make any allowance for the lightness of the wind 7
A. In my former answers I have made allowances for the wind and
the existing state of things.
Q. Was there any difference in the force of the wind, from the com
mencement of the action until the time when Capt. Perry came on
board the Niagara 7
A. The wind freshened. About the time he left the Lawrence, there
was more wind than there had been.
The Court adjourned to to-morrow morning at half past nine
o'clock. B.-4. April 2UK, 1815.
Lieut. Webster was re-examined.
Question by the Judge Advocate — When was it that Capt. Elliott
bore down to speak to Capt. Perry 7 and what passed 7
A. At about 10 o'clock in the morning, Capt. Elliott called all hands
aft, and requested Com. Perry to show his boys his flag, when Com.
Perry hoisted a flag with the motto on it of Don't give up the ship.
37*

438 APPENDIX.
Capt. Elliott told his crew to read it, and explained to them what was
on the flag, and told them to swear within themselves tiiat this flag
should never come down, observing that these were the dying words
of Lawrence.
Q. What was the established order of battle?
A. The original order of sailing was for the Niagara to lead the van.
I afterwards learned that, in consequence of the enemy's forming dif
ferently from what was expected, we changed our order of battle,
which brought us into the situation I stated yesterday.
Q. When was this change made, and how 7
A. The signal which I saw was made after the Commodore's flag
(above mentioned) was hoisted, I think. This was the first forming
of the line.
Q. Is the sketch now shown you a correct view of the manner in
which the line was formed 7
A. It is.
Q. By Capt. Elliott— How far was the Caledonia from the Niagara,
from the commencement of the enemy's fire until I ordered her out of
the line ?
A. She was as close as she could be with safety, and I recollect once
backing the topsail to prevent running into her.
Q. By the Court — How long time elapsed between the Lawrence
commencing the action, and the Niagara's engaging?
A. I should say 10 minutes.
Q. By Capt. Elliott— What was the distance from the Lawrence to
the Niagara, from the commencement of the action until I ordered
the Caledonia out of the line? and did not the enemy's shot take ef
fect in a few minutes after the action began, upon the Niagara's spars
and rigging?
A. At no time during that period were they more than 200 yards
apart— The enemy's shot took effect very soon, and shot away one of
the fore-top-mast back-stays.
Q. Did not the enemy's fire appear to be directed at the Niagara's
spars and rigging ?
A. I think it was.
Q. What distance was I from the Lawrence when I passed her, gain
ing the head of the line ?
A. It did not, in my opinion, exceed thirty yards.
Q. Just before you were wounded, what was the relative position of
the Lawrence and Niagara ?
A. The Lawrence was a little on our larboard or weather quarter.
This placed us nearer the enemy than the Lawrence.
Q. What damage did the Niagara sustain in the action 7
A. Our main-stay, fore-top-mast back-stays, a great deal of running
rigging, and two shrouds of our fore- rigging, were shot away. Some
of our spars were wounded. There were two men killed from my di
vision, before I went below, and a number of men wounded on board.
Q. Was the Niagara, at any time during the action, from half to
three quarters of a mile on the weather bow of the Lawrence after I
ordered the Caledonia out of the line ?
A. She was not. I wish also to correct my evidence of yesterday,
by adding that the Ariel and the Scorpion were on the weather bow
of the Lawrence.
Q. Did you observe the enemy's ship Queen Charlotte bear up and
run away from the Niagara 7 and if so, when 7
A. She did bear up from the Niagara's fire, in about half an hour
after the Niagara commenced firing.

APPENDIX. 439
B.-6.
Mr. Montgomery, Midshipman, late of the Niagara, was sworn.
Q. Where was your station on board 7
A. In the first division, commanded by Lieut. Edwards.
Q. Does Capt. Perry's official letter contain a correct statement of
facts, as you know or believe ?
A. Yes.
Q. State what you know relative to the matter of this inquiry?
A. In the commencement of the action, the Niagara took a position
astern of the Caledonia, in close line, agreeable to a signal made by
Corn. Perry. — Capt Elliott, observing that the enemy fired principally
at the Lawrence, ordered Mr. Turner to keep away, so as to enable us
to support the Commodore, by taking a position astern of the Law
rence. The Caledonia took her station astern of the Niagara, and
continued there during the action. The lightness of the wind pre
vented our getting as close to the Lawrence as it was supposed we
intended. Capt. Elliott, observing that the carronade shot fell short,
ordered them to fire from the long guns only. When the Lawrence
was disabled, a breeze sprung up ; we passed her in company with the
Caledonia, to windward, at about 25 yards distance. The Caledonia
was then astern of us. We took a position which brought the Law
rence nearly astern of us on the lee-quarter. Capt. Elliott ordered us
to make sail, and we had boarded the fore- tack and were in the act of
setting top-gallant sails, before Capt. Perry came on board. I ob
served him come over the weather gangway of the Lawrence, get into
a boat and pass under the Niagara's stern. I went aft and reported
it to Capt. Elliott, who was then standing on the taffrel. Capt. El
liott met Com. Perry at the weather gang- way, and shook hands with
him. Some conversation passed which I did not hear. Capt. Elliott
soon disappeared, and I did not see him afterwards till the end of the
action. When Com. Perry came on board, we were firing all our star
board guns ; we bore down in company with the Caledonia, and di
rected our fire principally at the Detroit, The enemy's line was com
pact after the Lawrence struck. In about 15 minutes after Com. Per
ry come on board, the Detroit struck, and the Queen Charlotte a few
minutes after. The Lady Prevost was then about 40 or 50 yards from
the Niagara's lee-bow. The marines were ordered to discharge their
muskets from our fore-castle, at the Lady Prevost. After the second
discharge of musketry, she struck. I think the Hunter struck before
Capt. Elliott left the brig.
Q. By the Court — Did Capt. Elliott do all in his power to gain a
near position ?
A. Yes. We were bearing down upon the enemy before Capt. Per
ry came on board ; we had kept up an incessant fire from our carron
ades some time before Com. Perry came on board.
Q. Do you believe Capt. Elliott did every thing he ought in duty to
do in the action, as a brave and meritorious officer?
A. Yes ; and heard him express to the crew his intention of bring
ing us into as close action as possible.
Q. By Capt. Elliott — Did the Niagara, at any time during the action,
attempt to make her escape from the British fleet ?
A. No.
Q. What was the distance from the Lawrence to the Niagara, when
the enemy's fire commenced ? and what distance was the Lawrence,
Caledonia, and Niagara, from the enemy's fleet?
A. We were as close to the Caledonia as we could form the line.
The distance between the Caledonia and the Lawrence I cannot state ;

440 APPENDIX.
the three vessels were not within carronade distance of the enemy, but
at long gun-shot when the enemy's fire commenced.
Q. What was the distance from the Lawrence to the Niagara when
we commenced our fire 7 and what distance was each of those vessels
from the enemy's fleet?
A. The distance was at that time from 150 to 200 yards; the two
vessels were at long gun-shot. The second or third shot fired from
the enemy cut away two starboard fore-top-mast back-stays, and fell
about thirty yards to windward of us.
Q. What was the distance from the Lawrence to the Caledonia, and
from the Caledonia to the Niagara 7 and what distance was each of
those vessels from the enemy's fleet, when I ordered the Caledonia to
bear up and let me pass her ?
A. The Lawrence was at that time 80 or 90 yards from the Caledo
nia, and the flying-gib-boom of the Niagara was nearly over the taffrel
of the Caledonia. The three brigs were still at long gun-shot from the
enemy. Q. When I ordered the Caledonia to bear up, where did I place the
Niagara? and where was she when Capt. Perry came on board?
A. Capt. Elliott placed his vessel astern of the Lawrence, and when
Capt. Perry came on board, the Niagara was ahead of the Lawrence,
standing down on the enemy. The Caledonia was ordered out of the
line about 10 minutes after the commencement of the action, and we
passed the Lawrence at half past 2 o'clock.
Q. When Capt. Perry came on board the Niagara, did he not find
her helm up, and that vessel standing direct for the enemy's ship De
troit? A. We were standing for the enemy, whose line was in compact or
der. Q What was the situation of the gun boats when I left the Niaga
ra? and how were they disposed of when brought to the head of the
enemy's line 7
A. When Capt. Elliott left the Niagara, they were all astern of us.
We had passed the Scorpion and Ariel. When Capt. Perry came on
board, they were all astern, except that I do not recollect whether the
Scorpion and Ariel were to windward or astern.
Q. When I hailed the gun boats, did I not order them to make sail
and keep close under my stern ?
A. I heard Capt. Elliott hail the Porcupine, and order her to take a
position close under our stern, at the commencement of the action.
The Scorpion was a-head, and the Ariel on the weather bow of the
Lawrence. Q. What was the established order of battle, and is the sketch now
shown you a correct view of the situation of both fleets at the times
stated ?
A. In the commencement of the action, the Scorpion was the head
most vessel, the Lawrence next, and the Ariel on the weather bow of
the Lawrence; the Niagara a-stern of the Caledonia. The two lines
are correctly stated in the sketch, excepting that the enemy's schoon
er Chippewa took her position a-head of the Detroit after the com
mencement of the action, I presume in order to support the British
Commodore, and to engage the 6mall vessels at the head of our line.
Q. When Capt. Perry came on board the Niagara, was she half a
mile on the weather bow of the Lawrence 7
A. No. She was nearly a-head of the Lawrence, a little on the
weather bow, perhaps 150 yards.
Q. Did the Lawrence and Caledonia, at any time in the action, bear

APPENDIX. 441,
up, and leave the Niagara with her main-topsail a-back, or leave her
on a wind?
A. Until the Caledonia changed her position, the Niagara was in
close order with her. The Lawrence and Caledonia did not bear up,
and leave the Niagara, as interrogated.
Q. By the Court— At what stage of the action did the Niagara get
within musket shot of the enemy ?
A. After the Lawrence was disabled.
Q- By Capt. Elliott— Did Capt. Elliott or Capt. Perry bring the Ni
agara into close action?
A. The Niagara had closed with the enemy some time before Capt.
Perry came on board.
Q. Did not the wind die away almost to a calm when the action
was pretty well on ?
A. In a very short time after the commencement of the action, it
died away, and it continued nearly calm until about the time the Law
rence was disabled.
Q. Did the enemy's ship Queen Charlotte bear up to avoid the Nia
gara's fire? and if so, at what time?
A. Yes ; before the Lawrence was disabled, she bore up and ran
foul of the Detroit, on that ship's lee quarter.
Q. By the Court — Did the Niagara bear down and speak Com. Per
ry before the action ? and if so, what passed 7
A. Capt. Elliott spoke Capt. Perry while we were passing to lee
ward. — Capt. Elliott mentioned to his crew that it was the Commo
dore's intention to bring the enemy to close action immediately. He
told them it was probable we should receive one or two raking fires
from the enemy, and advised them to receive it with coolness and not
be alarmed. He observed that we should not commence firing until
within musket shot distance, and then, if every man did his duty, we
Bhould flog them in ten minutes. He then ordered them to their quar
ters. B.-7.
Mr. Adams, late Midshipman of the Niagara, was sworn.
Q. Do you believe Capt. Perry's official account to be correct?
A. I think it is.
Q. Did the Niagara at any time attempt, during the action, to make
off from the British fleet?
A. No.
Q. What was the distance from the Lawrence to the Niagara, when
the enemy's fire commenced? and what distance were the Lawrence,
Caledonia, and Niagara from the enemy ?
A. I should say the distance was 30 or 40 yards between the Law
rence and Niagara. The three vessels were about half or three quar
ters of a mile from the enemy.
Q. What was the distance from the Lawrence to the Caledonia, and
from the Caledonia to the Niagara 7 and what distance were those
vessels from the enemy, when 1 ordered the Caledonia to bear up and
let me pass her?
A. The distance was not more than 20 yards from the Lawrence to
the Caledonia, and our jib-boom was over the Caledonia's taffrel. All
were nearing the enemy, and something less than half a mile off.
Q. When Capt. Perry came on board the Niagara, did he not find
the helm up, and that vessel standing direct for the enemy's ship De
troit?

A. The helm was up, and we were bearing down upon the enemy.
The fore-sail was set for that purpose.
Q. By the Court— Did Capt. Elliott do all in his power to close in
with the Lawrence, when she was overpowered by the enemy's vessels
firing into her 7
A. I believe he did.
Q. Did he get up in time to afford her relief?
A. She was nearly disabled, but still firing when he got up.
Q. Was Capt. Elliott's conduct during the action, that of a good
officer, in your judgment?
A. It was.
Q. Did you observe any indication of an intention on his part to
withdraw from the enemy, at the time the Lawrence was disabled ?
A. No ; he appeared to be anxious to close in.
Q. By Capt. Elliott — Did the Lawrence and Caledonia, at any time
during the action, run down within musket shot of the enemy, and
leave the Niagara firing at the enemy's smaller vessels at a distance?
A. No. We were close to the Caledonia during the whole action, till
she was ordered out of the way in order to let us pass to the assistance
of the Commodore. B.— 8.
Mr. Tatem, Master's Mate on board the Niagara, was sworn.
Q. By the Judge Advocate— Did Capt. Elliott do all in his power to
close in with the Lawrence when she was overpowered by the enemy's
vessels firing into her?
A. He didT
Q. Did he get up in time to afford her relief?
A. We were never much out of the way. We were immediately un
der the Caledonia's stern, and the Lawrence about the length of the
Caledonia a-head of the latter. The three brigs were in compact line.
Q. Was Capt. Elliott's conduct during the action, such as merited
approbation ?
A. I thought at the time no man could display more zeal, gallantry
and good conduct than he did.
Q. Did you ohserve any appearance of an intention on his part to
withdraw from the enemy, when the Lawrence was disabled?
A. No ; far from it.
Q. Did the Niagara, at any time during the action, make off from the
British fleet?
A. No.
Q. Did the Lawrence and Caledonia, at any time, bear up, and place
themselves within musket shot distance from the enemy, leaving the
Niagara three quarters of a mile off firing at the enemy's smaller ves
sels ^
A. No ; until we passed the Caledonia, we were immediately under
her stern. . , ,
Q. by Capt. Elliott— What conversation passed between me and
Capt. Perry, when I returned on board the Niagara ?
A. I saw Capt. Perry shake hands with Capt. Elliott, and heard him
express his high satisfaction at Capt. Elliott's conduct, and attribute
to him a large share of the glory of the day.
Q. How near was Capt. Elliott to the Lawrence when passing her?
A. He took very little more than room enough to pass to the wind
ward. Q. Was the Niagara three quarters of a mile on the bow of the Law
rence, when Capt. Perry came on board?

APPENDIX. 443
A. No ; I should suppose not more than 60 or 70 yards, if that.
Q. Was not the helm up, and the Niagara bearing down on the ene
my when Capt. Perry came on board ?
A. Yes.
Q. Had you been an officer on board the Lawrence, would you have
supposed there was any deficiency in the conduct of Capt. Elliott in
coming to the relief of the Lawrence?
A. No one seeing what was going on could suppose so — for my own
part, I should not.
The Court adjourned until to-morrow morning at half past 9 o'clock.
B— 9. April 26th, 1815.
Mr Cummings, acting Midshipman on board the Niagara, was
sworn. Q. by the Court — Did Capt. Elliott do all in his power to gain a near
position to theeneiny?
A. Yes; in my opinion, every thing that he could do.
Q. Do you believe Capt. Elliott did every thing he ought to have done
in the action 7
A. Yes.
Q. Did the Niagara attempt to make off from the enemy's fleet dur
ing the action 7
A. No.
Q. Did the enemy's ship Queen Charlotte a'tempt to make off from
the Niagara 7
A. Yes; the Queen Charlotte attempted to get away from us, and in
so doing run foul of the Detroit. This was before Capt. Elliott left the
Niagara to go on board the gun boats.
Q. Where was the Niagara when Capt. Perry came on board of her?
and was the Lawrence at that time three quarters of a mile nearer the
enemy than the Niagara.
A. The Niagara was lying along side the enemy's ships Queen
Charlotte and Detroit. I think she was not more than two cables
length from them. I think we were nearer the enemy than the Law
rence. Q. When we passed the Lawrence, how near were we to her?'
A. I was not looking at her, but the first time I saw her, after we
passed her, she was not more than a quarter of a mile off.
Q. Did the Lawrence and Caledonia, at any time during the action,
bear up for the enemy, leaving the Niagara standing on to windward.
A. No ; not that I saw.
Q. Did Capt. Elliott order the Caledonia out of the line at any pe
riod of the action 7
A. Yes ; an hour before Capt. Perry came on board.
B.— 10.
Lieut. Forrest, acting Lieutenant on board the Lawrence, was
sworn. Q. Where were you stationed?
A. In the second division.
Q. Have you read Capt. Perry's official letter, and does it contain a
correct statement of facts?
A. I have just read it, and it is correct.
Q. By the Judge Advocate— What else do you know of this inquiry?
A. When we got within three miles of the enemy on the 10th Septem
ber, Capt. Elliott hailed us concerning the flag that was to be hoisted

444 APPENDIX.
on board the Commodore. A flag with the motto, " Don't give up the
ship," was hoisted. Com. Perry hailed Capt. Elliott, and told him that
he (Com. P.) intended to engage the Detroit, and wished the Niagara
to drop juBt a-stern of him. We went into action in that order. Sig
nals were made from the Lawrence for each vessel to engage its op
ponent. . Q. Did the Niagara attempt to make off from the British fleet at any
time during the action 7
A. No.
Q. Do you know whether Capt. Elliott did all in his power to gain
a position nearer to the enemy ?
A. It is my opinion there might have been more sail set on the
Niagara. Q. Did he do every thing becoming a brave and meritorious officer
in that action ?
A. So far asl saw I believe he did.
Q. Where was the Niagara when Com. Perry went on board 7
A. She was to windward of us. I suppose she was about half a
mile off, but I cannot be positive.
Q. Did you, during the action, express your surprise that the Nia
gara did not close with the enemy?
A. Yes.
Q. How far was the Niagara from the enemy at the time 7
A. I do not know. I suppose from three quarters to half a mile.
Q. Was the Niagara then engaged?
A. She was firing.
Q. How near was the Lawrence to the enemy at the same time 7
A. At point blank shot distance with a carronade.
Q. Did the Caledonia and Lawrence, at any time during the action,
bear up and run down on the enemy, leaving the Niagara standing on?
A. After the action commenced, the Niagara was standing directly
after us.
Q. Are Lieuts. Edwards and Smith, and Mr. Magrath, late of the
Niagara, dead ?
A. Yes.
Q. Is there any thing further relating to this inquiry, that you wish
to state to the Court.
A. No.
The Court being cleared, and the whole of the proceedings read
over to the Court by the Judge Advocate, the following opinion was
pronounced. B— 11.
OPINION.
The Court of Inquiry, convened at the request of Capt Jesse D.
Elliott, having deliberately examined all the evidence produced before
them, for the purpose of investigating his conduct in the glorious bat
tle of Lake Erie, on the 10th September, 1813, in which he bore so
conspicuous a part, sincerely regret that there should have been any
diversity of opinion respecting the events of that day, and imperious
duty compels the Court to promulgate testimony that appears mate
rially to vary in some of its important points. The Court, however,
feel convinced that the attempts to wrest from Capt. Elliott the lau
rels he gained in that splendid victory, as second in command under
that gallant and highly meritorious officer Capt. Perry, ought in no
wise to lessen him in the opinion of his fellow citizens, as a brave and
skilful officer, and that the charge made in the proceedings of the

APPENDIX. 445
Bristish Court Martial by which Capt Barclay was tried, of his at
tempting to withdraw from the battle, is malicious and unfounded in
fact. On the contrary it has been proved to the satisfaction of this
Court, that the enemy s ship Queen Charlotte bore off from the fire
of the Niagara, commanded by Capt. Elliott. A. MURRAY, President.
Henry Wheaton, Judge Advocate.
(ApprovedL) B. W. CROWNINSHIELD.
38

446

APPENDIX.

The sketch referred to in the testimony on page 437 of this work

A Lawrence.
B Caledonia.
C Niagara.

W
fao

o o
A (
B (
C (

(
D ( (
E (

Second position.

Supposed
distance 1 E mile.

First Position.

) l
)19 D
)10 F
)17 E
)14) 3

g CO
as
rwM?6

) I
)19 D
)10 F
)17 E
)H
) 3

D Detroit.
E Q Charlotte.
F Lady Prevost. o

pf0TB — The Detroit had an Armament of 12, 18, and 24lb. long gun8»
The Queen Charlotte had an Armament of 241b, short guns.

447

The Hon. Benjamin W. Crowninshield, Secretary of the Navy Department.
Sir, — I have the honor to lay before you copies of a letter lately re
ceived by me from Captain Jesse D. Elliott of the Navy, and of certain
certificates enclosed therein, with copies also of my letter in reply, and
of the affidavits of Lieutenants Turner, Stevens and Champlin, and
Dr. Parsons.
The conduct of Captain Elliott, partially presented to view in these
papers, and' still more clearly marked by other acts of that officer with
in my knowledge, and fully susceptible of proof, imposes on me the duty
of preferring against him the charges which accompany this letter;
and I now accordingly do prefer said charges against Captain Elliott,
and request that a Court-Martial may be ordered for his trial thereupon.
The facts upon which some of these charges are founded, (particu
larly those relating to the behaviour of that officer during the engage
ment on Lake Erie,) having been long in my possession, you will ex
pect me to account for my not having sooner made them known to the
government, and for having mentioned favorably, in my official report
of that action, an officer whose conduct had been so reprehensible.
At the moment of writing that report, I did in my own mind avoid
coming to any conclusion to what cause the conduct of Captain Elliott
was to be imputed ; nor was I then fully acquainted with all the cir
cumstances relating to it. Having previously to the engagement given
all the orders which I thought necessary to enable every officer to do
his duty, and feeling confidence in them all. I was, after it commenced,
necessarily too much engaged in the actual scene before me, to reflect
deliberately upon the cause which could induce Captain Elliott to keep
his vessel so distant both from me and the enemy. And after the bat
tle waa won, I felt no disposition rigidly to examine into the conduct
of any of the officers of the fleet; and, strange as the behaviour of
Captain EUiott had been, yet I would not allow myself to come to a
decided opinion, that an officer who had so handsomely conducted
himself on a former occasion, (as I then in common with the public
had been led to suppose that Captain Elliott had) could possibly lie
guilty of cowardice or treachery. The subsequent conduct also of Cap
tain Elliott; the readiness with which he undertook the most minute
services ; the unfortunate situation in which he now stood, which he
lamented to me, and his marked endeavors to conciliate protection —
were all well calculated to have their effect. But still more than all, I
was actuated by a strong desire that in the fleet I then had the honor
to command, there should be nothing but harmony after the victory
they had gained, and that nothing should transpire which would bring
reproach upon any part of it, or convert into crimination the praises to
which they were entitled, and which I wished them all to share and
enjoy. The difficulties produced in my mind by these considerations,
were, at the time, fully expressed to an officer of the fleet in whom I
had great confidence. If I omitted to name Captain Elliott, or named
him without credit, I might not only ruin that officer, but, at the same
time, give occasion to animadversions which, at that period, I thought
would be little to the honor or advantage of the service. If my official
report of that transaction is reverted to, these embarrassments with
respect to Captain Elliott, under which I labored in drawing it, will, I
believe, be apparent. That report was very different from what had
been expected by the officers of the fleet ; but, having adopted the
course which I thought most prudent to pursue with regard to Captain
Elliott, I entreated them to acquiesce in it, and made every exertion in
42*

448 APPENDIX.
my power to prevent any further remarks on his conduct— and even
furnished him with a favorable letter or certificate for the same purpose,
of which he has made a very unjustifiable use.
These, sir, are the reasons which induced me, at the time, not to bring
on an inquiry into his conduct. The cause and propriety of my now
doing so will, I trust, require but a few explanations. I would willing
ly, for my own sake as well as his, (after the course I had pursued for
the purposeof shielding him,) have still remained silent ; but this Cap
tain Elliott will not allow me to do. He has acted upon the idea that
by assailing my character, he shall repair his own.
After he was left in the command on Lake Erie, I was soon informed
of the intrigues he was there practising, some of which are detailed in
these charges. These I should not have regarded as long as they were
private ; but I then determined, and declared to many of my friends in
the navy, that should Captain Elliott ever givenublieity to his misrep
resentations. I would then demand an investigation of the whole of his
conduct. This necessity is now forced upon me.
Believing my hands to be bound, and even braving me with the very
certificate afforded to him in charity, this officer at last addresses di
rectly to myself, and claims my acquiescence in the grossest misrepre
sentations — not only of his own conduct on Lake Erie, but of conduct
and declarations which he imputes to me.
Thus has Captain Elliott himself brought his own conduct on Lake
Erie again into view, and, by involving with it imputations upon mine,
has compelled me to call for this inquiry. He can make no complaint,
therefore, of delay in bringing forward any of these charges. Those
which regard his conduct on Lake Erie, and his justification, (if he has
any,) are hesides as perfectly susceptible of proof now as at any earlier pe
riod- Whatever the character of that behaviour was, it was witnessed
by such numbers as to leave nothing in it equivocal or unexplained.
Some of the officers who were with him may still be called upon, and
although two or three others are deceasod, yot bo wore they when
Captain Elliott himself called for a Court of Inquiry. Certificates also
were obtained from those officers by Captain Elliott while living, the
originals of which are in the Department, and it may be seen by them
that those officers, if present, would have no testimony to give which
could at all militate with these charges. There are as many officers
deceased from whose testimony Captain Elliott would have much
more to fear, than he would have to hope from that of the officers
above alluded to. A Court of Inquiry consisting of three officers was
once called at the request of Captain Elliott, in consequence (if I recol
lect rightly) of some allusions to the conduct of the Niagara, supposed
to be contained in the British Commodore Barclay's report ; and
though that inquiry (of which no notice to attend as witnesses was
fiven to any of the commanders of vessels on Lake Erie) could only
e a very limited one, and could involve no actual trial upon Captain
Elliott's conduct, yet he undoubtedly had before that Court all such
witnesses as could testify in his favor, and the record of that testimo
ny (if any of those witnesses are deceased) will avail him. Captain
Elliott, therefore, can suffer nothing from the lapse of time, and it
would indeed be a strong pretension in hirn to claim protection from
inquiry into his conduct, at the same time that he is giving notoriety
to his own representations of it, and that too to the prejudice of others.
I am, Sir, fully sensible how troublesome the frequent examinations
into the conduct of the officers has been to the government, and how
disagreeable they must have become. I am aware, also, that thepub-
lic are justly dissatisfied wlththem, and that reproach has been brought
upon the service by means of them. 1 have, therefore, avoided asking.

APPENDIX. 449
for this investigation as long as I possibly could do so with any justice
to the service, or to my own character.
I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant.
O. H. PERRY.

Washington, Jan. 29th, 1821.
Sir, — To bear testimony against the character of a brother officer,
is no pleasing task; but there is a paramount obligation that we all
owe to our country, which cannot be overlooked butwith the implica
tion of personal honour, and to the supremacy of which ail private
friendship and personal respect must be compelled to bow.
Uninfluenced by other motives, I do now most willingly, (but with
regret for the occasion,) offer my testimony with regard to the conduct
of Captain Jesse D. Elliott, on the 10th day of September, 1813, during
the action with the enemy's squadron on Lake Eri3. I was the second
Lieutenant of the brig Lawrence, Com. Perry's flag vessel, at the
time and on the occasion alluded to. — I was the officer of the watch at
the moment the enemy was first seen on that day, and reported them
to Com. Perry, when our squadron immediately got under weigh and
worked out of the bay. After we got out, the wind changed in our fa
vor, and we run down to meet the enemy. After the commencement
of the action, Captain Elliott, in the Niagara, instead of keeping on
with us, and engaging his opponent as directed, put his helm down
and sheered to windward of the Lawrence, leaving the Lawrence ex
posed to the fire of the enemy's two largest vessels. Some time after
the Lawrence had been in close action, and much cut up, I said to
Com. Perry, " that brig, (meaning the Niagara,) will not help us ; see
how hekeeps off; he will not come to close action."— "I'll fetch him
up," said Com. Perry ; and immediately ordered his boat. As he left
the Lawrence, he said, " If a victory is to be gained, I'll gain it." As
soon as he got on board the Niagara, she bore up and run down, and
in a short time was in close action between two of the enemy's largest
vessels. I was on deck from day-light till after the battle was over;
and I believed at the time, and do still most solemnly believe, that
Captain Jesse D. Elliott was influenced either by cowardice, and fear
prevented him from closing with the enemy, or that he wished to sa
crifice the Lawrence, and then claim the victory for himself.
It was my firm belief, at the time Com. Perry was making out
his report of the action, and I believe other officers were of the same
opinion, that Com. Perry endeavoured so to word it, as to screen Capt
Elliott as much as he could, and that this was done solely from feel
ings of benevolence. Respectfully, <fcc.
DULANY FORREST, U. S. N.

E.— 1.

In the battle of the 10th September, 1813, on Lake Erie, between
the American squadron commanded by Commodore Perry, and the
British squadrpn under Commodore Barclay, the action began when
the two squadrons were about a mile apart, by a firing commenced by
the enemy ; the signal having been made by Commodore Perry, for
our vessels to engage as they came np, each against the enemy's ves-
38*

450 APPENDIX.
set, as designated in previous orders, which made the Queen Char
lotte the antagonist of the Niagara, commanded by Captain Elliott.
It was understood by the American officers .before the fight, that it
was Captain Perry's intention to bring the enemy to close action as
soon as possible. The Lawrence accordingly closed wiih the Detroit
very soon. The Queen Charlotte made sail for the purpose of assist
ing the Detroit. The Niagara might have relieved the Lawrence from
the Queen Charlotte's fire, if she had made proper exertions to bring
her to close action ; but by keeping her main-top sail aback and her jib
brailed up, she kept at too great a distance from the enemy to do him
any material injury, and sustained scarcely any herself until the Com
modore took command of her, who immediately bore up and passed
through the enemy's line, firing both his broadsides with such tremen
dous effect, as compeUed him instantly to surrender.
It was the general opinion of the American officers, and expressed
with much indignation, that Captain Elliott did not do his duty in the
battle, as a gallant and faithful officer; inasmuch as he did not bring
his vessel, as soon as he might have done, into close action, which
circumstance only, made the result of the battle for a short time doubt
ful. Soon after the victory. Captain Elliott's conduct was spoken of
as well in General Harrison s army, as in the fleet, with great disap
probation and censure. Captain Perry heard of it and spoke to me of
it one evening; said that he was sorry reports were in circulation so
ruinous to Captain Elliott's reputation — wished they might be silenced,
and desired me to go on shore to the camp, and do all that I could,
with proprietv, to counteract them— I did so accordingly the next
morning. He said the American flag had gained much honor that
day, and he wished all his companions in battle to share it with him.
Several weeks after this, Captain Perry told me (hat Captain Elliott
wished him to alter that part of his official report which stated that
the Niagara did not, until a late period of the engagement, get into
close action — and asked me whether I thought that part of his report,
incorrect, as it had been agreed to leave the question to be decided by
two commissioned officers of the fleet, (Lieutenant Edwards, who was
present, and myself, being the officers selected,) I answered, I thought
that part of his official report was entirely correct, to which Lieuten
ant Edwards assented.
Some time after, Captain Perry left the lake, and when the squad
ron was under Captain Elliott's command, he applied to me and re
peatedly urged me to give him a certificate respecting his conduct in
the battle- lie said that his only reason for wishing one, was to have
it in his power to calm his wife's uneasiness, who had heard that his
conduct had been questioned; and declared to me, upon his honor,
that he would make no oiher use of it than as a means of relieving her
unhappiness. Thus delicately and unpleasantly situated, I wrote such
a certificate as I thought Tmight, for such an occasion,, venture to give
Capt. Elliott. DAN. TURNER.
Sworn to before Holmes Weaver, Jhis. Peace.
E.— 2.
In the action of the 10th September, 1813, on Lake Erie, I was sta
tioned in the wardroom of the Lawrence, to act as surgeon. I well re
collect that the wpundfed, from the first of their comma down, com
plained that the Niagara, (commanded by Captain Elliott,) did not
come up to her station and close with the Queen- Charlotte, although
lie had been ordered by signal ;. and this complaint was frequently re
peated by them, till the Lawrence struck, and repeatedly by Lieuten-

APPENDIX. 451
ants Brooks. Yarnall, and Claxton. It was at the same time observed
that the Caledonia was in close action, while the Niagara, a faster
sailer, was quite out of the reach of the enemy. After the action closed,
the censures upon Captain Elliott's conduct were so general and se
vere, not only among the Lawrence's officers, but those of the small
vessels, that in writing to my friends, the day following, I did not he
sitate to say, that Captain Elliott had disgraced himself in the action;
and the same sentiment was expressed in the letters of every officer
on board who was able to write. These letters were on the point of
being sent, when Mr. Hambleton, who had just had a private inter
view with Commodore Perry, told us the Commodore wished us to be
silent on Captain Elliott's conduct ; that whatever might have been
the appearances during the action, he was then unwilling, after its
happy result, to destroy an officer of his rank ; and that honor enough
had been gained by the action, to permit of its being shared by every
one engaged in it.
This request of Commodore Perry was complied with, as far as was
practicable; one of Mr. Yarnall's letters, however, had slipt from his
hands before this message was received — and was published.
The second day after the action, I attended the wounded of the Ni
agara, (the surgeon of that vessel having been sick,) and out of twenty
cases, not more than one or two, said they were wounded while Cap
tain Elliott was on board the ship. On board all the small vessels
which Captain Elliott brought up towards the close of the action, the
number of killed and wounded did not exceed two or three. The num
ber of killed and wounded on board the Lawrence, before she struck,
was eighty-three.
In conversation with two officers of the Queen Charlotte, a short
time after the action, I asked them why the Queen directed her fire
wholly upon the Lawrence instead of the Niagara? He replied, "be
cause the Niagara was so far off we could not injure her."
From all these facts, and others, the officers of the Lawrence and
some of the other vessels, felt exceedingly disappointed and displeased
with the official report of Commodore Perry, on account of the hono
rable mention there made of Captain Elliott. We have, nevertheless,
been willing to believe that the error proceeded from the best motives.
Midshipman Lenox, who commanded one of the small vessels, has
repeatedly told me that Captain Elliott had said, in his presence in
Buffalo, that he regretted he did not sacrifice the fleet, when it was in
his power, and Captain Perry with it.
Sworn to before me, USHER PARSONS.
Holmes Weaver, Just. Peace. E.— 3.
When the American squadron had approached the enemy within
about a mile, and the enemy had commenced firing, the signal was
made by Com. Perry, to " engage as you come up, every one against
his opponent, in the line as before designated ;" agreeable to this sig
nal, the situation of the Niagara should have been abreast of the
Queen Charlotte, and within half a cable's length. The Lawrence
went gallantly into close action, and her example was followed by the
Caledonia, Lieut. Turner; but the Niagara continued to hug the wind,
and remained in the position she had taken at the commencement of
the action, till a few moments previous to Com. Perry's boarding her.
There could not be any rational object in the Niagara's keeping at long
shot with the Queen Charlotte, as the amount and description of then
force was equal, and being principally carronades, no effect could be

45S2 APPENDIX.
made by them at the distance Capt. Elliott kept his ship. From the
number of light sails the Niagara had, and there being a leading wind,
Capt. Elliott might at any period of the action have closed with the
enemy, and relieved the Lawrence from the dreadful and destructive
fire kept up upon her from the united forces of the Detroit and Queen
Charlotte. It was the general opinion of the officers and men of the squadron,
that Captain Elliott did not do his duty in the action of the 10th of
September ; and that had he been impelled by a becoming bravery, lie
would have made greater exertions to have taken an active part in the
fight. Great irritation was produced in the fleet in consequence of it,
and this opinion continued to be freely expressed till it was made
known that Com. Perry was desirous of protecting Capt. Elliott from
the effects of such reports. Every exertion was made by Com. Perry
to screen Capt. Elliott from the injurious impressions made by his con
duct : but the volunteers in the fleet did not pay the same regard to
Com. Perry's wishes as was done by the officers ; and many of them
having witnessed the conduct of Captain Elliott, gave full expression
to their feelings and opinions respecting him.
It was a received opinion in the fleet, that previous to Commodore
Perry's going on board the Niagara, she had but one man wounded,
and tiiafher opponent, the Queen Charlotte, from the account of the
British officers, had suffered but very slightly previous to being en
gaged in close action with Commodore Perry.
When the action closed, Captain Elliott was on board the Somers,
and the accounts from that vessel were very unfavorable to Captain
Elliott's bravery, as it was reported he beat the Captain of the gun
very severely with a speaking trumpet, for having laughed at his
dodging a shot which passed over him from the enemy.
THOS. HOLDUP STEVENS.
E.-4.
In the action of 10th of Sept. 1813, between the American squadron,
commanded by Com. Perry, and the British, under Com; Barclay, on
Lake Erie, when we were within the distance of a mile from the ene
my, who had commenced firing, the signal was made by Commodore
Perry, " engage as you come up, every one against his opponent,in the
line before designated." The situation of the Niagara should have
been abreast of the Queen Charlotte, and of course as near as she
could get, as previous to the action t had always understood from
Com. Perry that it was his intention to bring the enemy's fleet to
close action in case of a conflict. The Lawrence went into close ac
tion in the most gallant style, followed by the Caledonia under the
command of Lieutenant D. Turner, who kept her in her station,
agreeably to signals. The Queen Charlotte made sail and closed up
with the Detroit shortly after the action commenced, and directed her
fire at the Lawrence. The Niagara still continued to remain a long
way astern, and firing at long shot ; a short time before Commodore
Perry's going on board of her, she ranged ahead cf the Lawrence and
to windward of her, bringing the Commodore's ship between her and
the enemy, when she might nave passed to leeward and relieved the
Lawrence from their destructive fire. The wind being at that time
S. E. and the American squadron steering large, (with the exception
of the Lawrence, she being at that time disabled and lying like a log
upon the water,) the Caledonia took and maintained her station in
the line, which was just astern of the Commodore during the whole
of the action. It was the opinion of the officers and men of the

APPENDIX. 453
squadron that Captain Elliott did not do his duty in the action on that
day, and that had his conduct been that of a brave man, there is no pos
sible reason that can be given why his vessel should not have been
brought into close action with the British squadron, before Commo
dore Perry went on board of her.
Great indignation was expressed by the officers in general, at the
base conduct of Capt. Elliott in neglecting to support the Lawrence as
he ought to have done. But understanding that the Commodore de
sired to screen him, they forebore to make any remarks publicly upon
his conduct. The volunteers in the fleet, however, not being ac
tuated by the same motives which induced those under Com. Per
ry's command to remain silent, expressed there feelings without any
reserve whatever. At the close of the action, Capt. Elliott was on
board of the Somers, and behaved (as was reported by the officers and
crew of that vessel) in a manner totally unbecoming an officer, by
beating the Captain of the gun severely with a speaking trumpet, for
his laughing while he, Capt. Elliott, dodged a shot.
On or about the 1st of October, 1813, while commanding the U. S.
Schooner Scorpion, on Lake St. Clair, Capt. Elliott came on board;
in the course of the conversation, the battle of Lake Erie being intro
duced, he observed, " that the officers and men of the Lawrence, in
cluding Commodore Perry, were by no means entitled to prize money ;
and still further, that the other officers and men of the squadron were
even entitled to prize money for her, she being a recaptured vessel."
He also observed, that in the action he was so far from the enemy that
he only fired his 12 pounders during two hours and a half; the reason
he assigned was, that he had no signal from the Commodore to
change his situation ; complained much of Commodore Perry's injus
tice towards him, and said, "He only regretted that he had not sacri
ficed the fleet when it was in his power -to have done so, on that ac
count. He also expressed sentiments to that effect freaueritly.aftfir-
wards at Ruffalo. as T was iuturmed Dy the citizens, and Midshipman
Senatt, who was present when the observations were made.
STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
E.-3.
On the 10th of Sept. 1813, the action on Lake Erie commenced by a
firing from the enemy's flag-ship, on the Lawrence, about the distance
of a mile. The signal was previously made by Commodore Perry,
for our vessels to engage as they cameup, each against his opponent in
the British line, designated by the order of the battle, which made the
ship Queen Charlotte the antagonist of the Niagara, commanded by
Capt. Elliott; it being understood by the commanders of the Ameri
can vessels, that it was the intention of Commodore Perry to bring
the enemy to close action as soon as possible. The Lawrence imme
diately closed with the Detroit, and her example was gallantly follow
ed by the Caledonia, Lieutenant Turner, the Scorpion and Ariel.
Shortly after the commencement of the battle, the enemy's ship,
Queen Charlotte, made sail, and passed ahead of the opponent of the
Caledonia, and opened a destructive fire on the Lawrence, in conjunc
tion with the Detroit ; but the Niagara, from some mysterious cause,
remained in the position she held at the commencement of the action.
The conduct of Capt. Elliott, in thus keeping his vessel out of close
action, was evidently the cause of the great length of time the action
lasted, and made the result, for a time, doubtful. When the Niagara
passed to windward of the Lawrence, she appeared to have sustained
little or no injury. After the action closed, the censure on the beha-

454 APPENDIX.
vior of Capt. Elliott was general and severe, not only by the officers
of the Lawrence, but those of the small vessels ; so much so, that
the officers did not hesitate to say, that Capt. Elhott must have been
actuated by cowardly or ambitious motives, until it was made known,
through Lieut. Turner, that it was the wish of Commodore Perry to
suppress any reports prejudicial to Capt. Elliott. In conversation
with some of the British officers, some time after the action, I heard
them give, as a reason for the Queen Charlotte's changing her posi
tion and firing upon the Lawrence, that in consequence of the Nia
gara, Capt. Elliott, being at so great a distance, the guns of their
vessels could not be used with effect. It was reported that Capt.
Elliott, at the close of the action, behaved in an unofficer-like man
ner on board the Schooner Somers, by beating a Captain of a gun
with a trumpet, for laughing as he dodged a shot which passed over
him from the enemy. It was the received opinion in the fleet, that
the Niagara had but one or two men wounded on board of her, when
Commodore Perry took the command, and that she had sustained
but slight injury previous to that time. I frequently heard, after Com
modore Perry left the station, that Capt. Elliott, then in command,
had circulated reports among the citizens as well as officers, respect
ing the conduct of Commodore Perry immediately after he got on
board the Niagara, which were calculated to injure Commodore
Perry, and were honorable to himself. THOS. BREESE.
E.— 6.
In the action of the 10th of September, 1813, between the American
squadron, commanded by Commodore Perry, and the British, under
Commodore Barclay, on Lake Erie, when we were about a mile dis
tant rrom the enemy lie ^^mmonooj. firing The signal was made by
Commodore Perry, " Engage as you come up, each vessel against her
opponent, as previously designated." The situation of the Niagara
should have been abreast of the Queen Charlotte, and as near as she
could get ; as, previous to the action, I had always understood that it
was Commodore Perry's intention to bring the enemy to close quar
ters as soon as possible in case of an action.
The Lawrence went gallantly into close action, but the Niagara
continued to keep at a much greater distance astern than when the
action commenced. .
The Queen Charlotte made sail soon after the action began, and
closed with the Detroit, for the purpose of directing her fire at the
Lawrence in conjunction with the Detroit. The Niagara, by backing
her maintopsail and brailing up her jib, was not enabled to fire but
at long shots, with her bow guns, for a long time during the action.
A few minutes before Commodore Perry went on board the Niagara,
she ranged ahead of the Lawrence and to windward of her, bring
ing the Commodore's ship between her and the enemy, when it was
in Capt. Elliott's power to have passed to leeward and relieved the
Lawrence from the destructive fire of the Detroit and Queen Char
lotte, the wind being at that time S. E. and the American squadron
steering large, with the exception of the Lawrence, she being at that
time entirely disabled and unmanageable. It was the opinion of the
officers and men of the squadron, that Capt. El.iott did not do his
duty on the 10th of September, and that, had his conduct been thai of
a brave man, there is no possible reason that can be given why his
vessel was not brought into close action wih the British squadron
long before Commodore Perry went on board of her, she being equal

APPENDIX. 455
in point of sailing with the Lawrence. Great indignation was ex
pressed by the officers in general, at the base conduct of Captain
Elliott in neglecting to support the Lawrence ; but understanding
from Lieutenant Turner that Commodore Perry wished to screen
Capt. Elliott, we forebore to make any remaks publicly on his con
duct. The volunteers, however, not being actuated by the same mo
tives that induced those under the command of Commodore Perry to
remain silent, expressed their feelings without any reserve whatever.
At the close of the action, Captain Elliott was on board of the
Schooner Somers, and behaved, as I am told by the officers of that
vessel, in a manner altogether unbecoming an officer, by beating a
Captain of a gun severely with a speaking trumpet for laughing when
he (Captain Elliott) dodged a shot
He also arrested the commanding officer of that vessel (Sailing Mas
ter Almey) for intoxication, and I have frequently been informed, by the
officers and men of that vessel, that he was in a perfect state of so
briety, and did every thing that a brave man could do to destroy the
enemy. I was ordered to that vessel a few hours after the action and
found him perfectly sober, but his feelings much wounded by Capt.
Elliott's false report. I was told by Lieutenant Champlin and others,
that Captain Elliott said he resretted he did not sacrifice the American
fleet, and* that it was decidedly in his power io have done so. Capt.
Elliott applied to me for a certificate of his conduct in that action ; I
told him that I could not say any thing in his favor, and that I stood
ready at any time to give my sentiments before a Court of investiga
tion. After the action I was on board the Caledonia, when Captain
Bignall of the British Navy, remarked, that had Captain Elliott be
longed to the British Navy, he would have been hanged.
Mr. Magrath, who signed a letter prejudicial to the character of
Captain Perry, told me ne would sacrifice his right arm if he could
withdraw his name from that paper.
THOMAS BROWNELL.
E.— 7.
I am requested to state such facts as came within my knowledge re
lating to the battle of Lake Erie, on the 10th of September, 1813, at
which time I was Sailing Master on board the Lawrence. Our squad
ron was then laying in Put-in-Bay, with some small islands, of which
Snake Island was the chief, to the leeward. At day light, the enemy's
squadron was discovered in the N. W. from the mast head of the
Lawrence; when Commodore Perry immediately ordered the signal
made to get under weigh. After we had got under weigh, he asked
me, if I thought we should be able to work out to windward of the
slands. in time to gain the weather gage of the enemy. I replied,
that I did not think we could, the wind then being at S. W. and light.
The Commodore then said he would wear ship, and go to leeward of
the islands, as he was determined to hring the enemy to battle that day,
even if he gave them the weather gage. The wind, however, at this
time hauled to the southward and eastward, and enabled us to clear
the islands, and keep the weather gage. At 10 A. M. the enemy, de
spairing of gaining the wind, hove to in line, with their heads to the
westward, at about three leagues distance ; the wind then about S. E.
and a light breeze. The signal to prepare for action was made from
the Lawrence, at a quarter before meridian. The enemy's flag ship
fired a single shot at the Lawrence. Signal was made for each vessel
to engage her opponent, as designated in previous orders ; which made
the Lawrence opposed to the enemy's new ship Detroit, and the Niag-

456 APPENDIX.
ara to the Queen Charlotte. Commodore Perry then ordered the
word passed by trumpet, through Captain Elliott, for the American
squadron to close up, as before prescribed, which was at half cable's
length distance. At meridian, finding the enemy within reach of our
carronades, opened our fire, and continued neanng them until within
cannister range, and were gallantly supported by the Caledonia, Lieu
tenant Turner, and by the Ariel and Scorpion, both on our weather
bow. Shortly after the action commenced, I observed the Niagara to
be a considerable distance astern, with her maintopsail to the mast,
and her jib brailed up : and I am strongly impressed with the belief,
that her top gallant sails were never set until Commodore Perry went.
on board of her, after the Lawrence had been disabled. Once or twice
during the engagement, I asked Captain Perry if he observed the con
duct of that ship, and the different conduct of the Caledonia. The
enemy's ship, Queen Charlotte, taking advantage of the great distance
at which the Niagara kept herself, closed with the Detroit, and opened
her fire in concert with that ship upon the Lawrence, which proved so
destructive, that, by half past one o'clock. P. M. we were completely
disabled, and our decks covered with killed and wounded ; but the an
imating exertions of Captain Perry kept alive the spirits of the small
remnant of our crew, and the action was continued until only one gun
could be fired, at which Captain Perry assisted himself. He then de
termined to quit the Lawrence, and take command of the Niagara,
which ship he observed did not appear to be much injured. The Ame
rican flag, he said, should not be hauled down from over his head on
that dhy. At the time of Captain's Perry's leaving the Lawrence, the
Niagara was passing our larboard beam, at from a quarter to half a
mile's distance ; leaving the Lawrence between that snip and the ene
my. The Caledonia at the same time passing our starboard beam,
and between us and the enemy. I anxiously watched the course of
our noble commander, after he left the Lawrence for the Niagara.
The enemy had discovered his design, and directed their fire at the
boat he was in. He however remained standing up in her stern, until
the entreaties of the men prevailed upon him to sit down. I learnt
afterwards, that they had implored him with tears not to expose him
self as a mark for the enemy's fire ; and finally declared that they
would lay on their oars, unless he sat down. It was a considerable
time, with all the exertions of the boat's crew, before Captain Perry
could come up with the Niagara. When he did get on board that ship,
he immediately brought her into action ; and passing through the ene
my's squadron, poured into them a tremendous fire from both sides.
In a few minutes, the enemy's vessels surrendered to him, and struck
their colors, except two small vessels, which attempted to escape, but
were pursued and captured.
I had assisted in the equipment of the Niagara, as well as the Law
rence. The former ship was in all respects fully equal to the latter, in
size., in number, weight, and description of guns, in rigging and
equipment, and in point of sailing. Before Captain Elliott arrived on
Lake Erie, the Niagara was commanded by Lieutenant Turner, and
the squadron had already been out one cruise, manned chiefly with
volunteer militia. Captain Elliott brought up with him from Ontario
from 90 to 100 prime men; the chief part of which he took on board
the Niagara, which ship was much better manned than the Lawrence ;
a great proportion of whose crew was on the sick list, and most of the
remainder not effective men ; consisting chiefly of volunteer militia of
all descriptions, and exhausted by previous exertions. I was on board
the Niagara when Captain Elliott took command of her, and when
that part of her crew which came from the Ontario first came on board,

APPENDIX. 457
and I observed that as they came alongside in their boats, he called
out from among them the men previously designated for the different
posts and stations about the ship and tops ; so that it appeared that his
men were already selected. This occasioned my observing to Com
modore Perry, that the different vessels of the squadron were very un
equally manned, in consequence of so great a proportion of the ef
fective men being engrossed by the Niagara alone. He did not think
proper, however, to make any alteration. All necessary orders previ
ous to the engagement were distinctly given in writing, and put into
the hands of each commander; and the last words of Commodore
Perry to all the officers assembled on the eve of the battle, (as was
related to me at the time,) were that he could not advise them better
than in the words of Lord Nelson — " If you lay your enemy alongside,
you cannot be out of your place." After the firing had commenced
on the part of the enemy, at about a mile's distance, Commodore Per
ry gave an order by trumpet for the vessels astern to close up in the
line. The Niagara was then near enough to the Lawrence to receive
and pass this order. I do not think she was, during the engagement,
much nearer to the enemy than she then was, until brought into ac
tion by Commodore Perry. It was generally understood, that one or
two only of her men had then been wounded. If it had been the de
sire of the commander of the Niagara to have joined in the action,
and engaged the Queen Charlotte, as ordered, I know of no cause
which could have prevented his so doing. The wind, though light,
was favorable, andthere was as much of it for the Niagara as for the
Lawrence. It was the general opinion of the officers after the battle,
that had the Niagara followed the example of the Lawrence, the ene
my would have been compelled to surrender in a much shorter time,
and with much less loss on our side. So much indignation was excited
by the conduct of the Niagara, that even the seamen broke out in open
murmurs : but Commodore Perry requested the officers to silence eve
ry complaint against Captain Elliolt, saying that sufficient honor had
been gained for all ; and he was desirous that the public attention
might not be attracted to any differences in the fleet. His official ac
count, when read at Erie, gave much dissatisfaction to most of the
officers. They thought Captain Elliott too honorably mentioned in it.
W. V. Taylob, Lieut. U. S. N.

F.-l.

On the evening of the 9th Sept. 1813, Capt. Oliver H. Perry called
on board the Niagara to see Capt. Elliott and myself; we not being
on board, word was left to call on board the Lawrence on our return ;
whether we went immediately or not 1 cannot say, as it was known
he was on shore ; it is my impression we waited and all three went on
board the Lawrence together, where we spent the evening. It was
then determined to attack the enemy next day at their anchorage,
Capt. Elliott to lead the van.
Early on the morning of the 10th, the vessels were short apeak by
signal, and were preparing to get under weigh, when a signal from thp
Lawrence informed us the enemy were in sight to windward. The
wind being very light, boats were got ahead, and every exertion made
to get ihe fleet out, which we succeeded in, when the wind changed in
our favor, though very light. We were close together, when by Capt.
Perry's request I pointed out the different ships ; he determined fo at
tack the heavy ship himself, by which the arrangements of the previ-
39

458 APPENDIX.
ous evening were done away. The Lawrence to lead and attack the
Detroit; the Caledonia, the Hunter; the Niagara, the Charlotte, and
so on. The eneniy opened the fire from the Detroit at a very great
distance, and very little damage was doneon either side for some time;
at length the battle became pretty general with the three leading ves
sels. Seeing the Lawrence bearing the heaviest part of the battle,
(though the Ariel and Porcupine were a little to windward and ahead,
to draw part of the enemy's fire off,) Capt. Elliott determined to break
the line and make more sail, and ran close to the Caledonia, and re
quested Mr. Turner to bear up and let him pass to the assistance of
the Lawrence, which he did. We had now a better opportunity with
the Charlotte, and continued a heavy fire on her. Coming near the
Lawrence, a boat was discovered coming off from her, which soon
passed under our stern, and came to our larboard gang-way, when
Capt. Perry came on board, and observed, " the damned gun boats
have ruined me, and I am afraid they have lost me the day." Captain
Elliott observed, " take charge of my battery, and I'll bring them up
and save it," or words to that effect Something was then asked
about the crew being much injured, &c. when Captain Elliott imme
diately departed.
Capt. Perry then directed the vessel laid close to the large ship, and
observed to me, that she was much injured, and would not give her
up. The engagement now became very warm, the gun boats getting
up very fast : the smoke clearing a little away, the Lady Prevost was
seen dead ahead of us ; Captain Perry directed her decks cleared by
the marines, which was soon done and her colors struck, or shot away.
By this time some of the gun boats were up, particularly the one Capt.
Elliott was on board of. raking the large ship, which soon struck her
colors, as well as the Charlotte and others.
When Captain Elliott came on board, Captain Perry shook him by
the hand, and observed, "I owe this to you." Indeed, I thought he
paid him a very high compliment. Lieut. Smith, nor no other person,
ever mentioned to me that they heard what was passing at the time
between them, when Capt. Perry came on board, as he was on the op
posite side at his quarters. H. B. Bbevooht.
Detroit, Nov. 7, 1818.
Sworn to before Geo. M'Dougall, Notary Public, Michigan Territo
ry, Nov. 7, 1818. F — 2.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott, United States' Navy.
Washington-City, Jan. 22d, 1821.
Sir, — It was with pain for your feelings, disgust at the motives and
contempt for its author, that I yesterday perused an anonymous pam
phlet, purporting to be copies of certain documents left by the late Com.
O. H. Perry, relative to a difference which existed between you con
cerning your conduct on the memorable 10th Sept. 1813. And as I had
the honor of being in the fleet, and during part of the engagement under
your command, I deem it a duty, and I feel a great pleasure in stating
all that I know on the subject, for your satisfaction, as well as for the in
formation of those who may feel interested. As well as I remember,
we began the action, the Commodore in front, the Caledonia next, the
Niagara and gun boats in succession — my vessel (the Somers) being
next to the Niagara. I believe the two larger vessels of the enemy had
the van of their line — the wind was light and the Lawrence reached
some distance a head, and in action, when it became perfectly calm ;
and in this situation we continued the engagement some time, (the

APPENDIX. 459
Niagara and some of the gun boats keeping up a fire,) when the
Commodore was seen to be much shattered ; the wind sprung up
— the Caledonia bore up, and the Niagara pushed a-head of her, as
also did the Somers, we leaving her (the Caledonia) on the star
board quarter; and just after I saw the Commodore board the Niagara,
and you, Sir, taking his place in the boat, proceeded to the small vessels,
boarded each as you passed and urged us on. You soon returned,
came on board the Somers, and ordered us to cease firing, and draw the
round shot out of the guns and replace them with grape and cannister
— the quarter gunner at the 32 being about to fire, did not appear to pay
attention to the order, and persisted in firing, whereupon you struck him
with a trumpet which you held in your hand ; and this is the laughing
scene, when you are made to dodge a chain shot ! ! — Of your general de
portment during the engagement, as far as I saw, there was no want
of ardor patriotism, or valor; for when you came on board my vessel,
I naturally took your countenance for encouragement, which I fully re
ceived ; I however did not approve of the punishment of the man at
the gun at that moment, though he deserved it for his inattention to or
ders, and I believe I afterwards stated this to you at Erie. As regards
the charge of partiality, I saw of none, I knew of none, and I do not
believe that any existed. In relation to the charge of exciting a party
against Com. Perry, I heard nothing of it during my stay on the Lake,
which was to February, 1814; I knew, however, that many of the offi
cers were your enemies — but I understood.it to have proceeded from a
supposition that you were too severe a disciplinarian, and not from any
other cause ; — and at one time I myself entertained a similar opinion;
only my more mature reasoning has convinced me that it proceeded
from a zeal on your part for the welfare of the Navy, and to the dis
charge of your duty; these are my sentiments on this disagreeable sub
ject, candidly expressed ; and I do hope that they will have the effect
on the mind of every honorable man, to prevent any wrong impressions
which the author of the insiduous pamphlet which drew them forth, in
tended to make.
You will do me the favor to use this paper as you deem most expe
dient. With considerations of respect and esteem, I have the honor to be,
Your veryobed't servant.
D. C. NICHOLS.
F— 3.
Statement of Lieut. Conklin, who commanded the Tigress, the ves
sel a-stern of the Niagara.
At the commencement of the action, between the American and
British fleets on Lake Erie, the Brig Niagara was in the station which
had been assigned her, and appeared to behave well ; when the signal was
made for closer action, that vessel was near the enemy's ships Detroit
and Queen Charlotte, keeping up a well directed fire ; and the conduct
of Capt. Elliott in bringing the smaller vessels into close action, evinced
the utmost activity and bravery. A. H. M. CONKLIN.
F.-4. Norfolk, May, 20, 1821.
Sir, — By a pamphlet recently published, charges are made against
you, derogatory to the honors awarded by your country, for the skill
and valor you exerted in the memorable action of the 10th of Sept. 1813.

460 ¦ APPENDIX.
I was on bpard the Schooner Tigress, commanded by Lieut. Conklin,
and from my observation, am fully persuaded that your vessel was ably
and judiciously fought.

Your activity in bringing up the gun-boats and placing them in the
situation where you so largely" contributed to the success of the day,
has been so well attested by the report of the commander-in-chief on
that day, and so generally acknowledged by the public, that my testi
mony cannot be necessary to establish it.
I regret that the long period which has elapsed, and mypartial ex
perience in my profession at the time, put it out of my power to detail
other circumstances of the action ; but I with great pleasure state that
the most favorable impressions remained on my mind in regard to your
conduct on the occasion. Sentiments coinciding with these impres
sions, I had believed universal, till the return of the fleet to Erie, some
time in October; when meeting with Lieut. Yarnall on the beach, he
informed me some difference had arisen between you and the Commo
dore, respecting the action ; Lieut. Yarnall added, that for his part he
had always given you an equal share in the victory, or words to that
effect. I observe it stated, that there was no such officer in the fleet as
Mr. Nichols ; he was on board the Somers during the action, as a re
ference to the muster roll of officers and men serving on that day will
show. No such story as that of your dodging from a chain shot was
ever heard by me in the squadron.
When all on that occasion equally exerted themselves to contribute
to success, it is much to be deplored that at this distant day, a spirit
should have arisen, intended to detract from the reputation of any.
HUGH N. PAGE, Lieut. U. S. Navy.
Capt. J. D. Elliott. F.-5. New-York, Feb. Uth, 1821.
Sir, — It is with extreme regret that I have observed in the public
prints, the subject of your former controversy with Com. Perry, revived
by some person or persons unknown : and I am induced from motives
of justice, and an imperious sense of duty to the servioe, voluntarily to
tender you my sentiments with regard to your conduct and occurrences
during the, action of the 10th Sept. 1813, on Lake Erie.
I recollect perfectly, having the morning watch on board the Niagara,
on that day, and at day light or a little after, while at anchor in Put-in-
Bay, the enemy's squadron, consisting of six sail, were descried, and
reported by the man at mast-head. The signal for weighing was soon
made by the Commodore, and immediately complied with by our
squadron, after which the necessary preparation for action was made.
Several hours were employed in beating out of the Bay, and obtain
ing an offing. At 10 A. M. the wind became very light, and suddenly
hauled in our favor, when we formed the line in the following order
and bore up for the enemy. The Lawrence in the van with the Scor
pion and Ariel, (two schooners) close on her weather bow. The
Caledonia second and Niagara third in the line, in close order with the
Caledonia. The schooners a-stern in irregular order, and making
every exertion to gain their proper stations in the line.
At IB minutes before 12, the first guns were fired from the enemy's
flag ship Detroit at the distance, I judge, of 1 mile and a half; at 10
minutes before 12 the firing commenced on our part, and at meridian
became general. And a convincing proof that the Niagara participa
ted in the action from the commencement, is, that a very few minutes
after the first gun was fired, and before the action became general, I re-

APPENDIX. 461
Collect that two of the Niagara's foretop-mast back-stays were cut in
two by a chain shot, which I believe to have been fired from the Queen
Charlotte, she being directly on our lee-beam, and directing her fire
principally at the Niagara; and also near the same period several men
were killed and wounded in the first and second division. I am thus
particular, Sir; in consequence of the erroneous impression which I am
induced to beheve many people labor under, that the Niagara was not
in reach of the enemy s shot, and consequently took no share in the
engagement until after the arrival of Commodore Perry on board of
her. The Niagara maintained her position in the action close a-stern of
the Caledonia, and a-breast of her adversary, the Queen Charlotte ;
keeping up an incessant firing and receiving hers until 1 P. M. when
the Queen Charlotte evidently, with the view of avoiding the fire of the
Niagara, bore up and run on the lee-quarter of the Detroit and com
menced firing on the Lawrence. — At this period, Sir, I heard you hail
Lieut. Turner, commanding the Caledonia, and order her to bear up and
make room for the Niagara to pass a-head to the assistance of the
Lawrence, which was immediately done, and the Niagara, as soon as
the lightness of the wind would permit, assumed the situation left by
the Caledonia in the rear of the Lawrence, and not more I presume,
than one hundred and fifty or sixty yards distance from that vessel,
which space we gradually lessened, keeping up a constant fire on the
Queen Charlotte and Lady Prevost, until the Lawrence was disabled
and rendered no longer capable of maintaining her station in the line.
You then gave orders to make sail, the top-gallant sails and foresail
were accordingly set, and the helm put up, and in a short time you suc
ceeded in obtaining a position within thirty-five or forty yards of the
enemy's line, when the Niagara recommenced her fire on the Queen
Charlotte, Lady Prevost and Brig Hunter. The Lady Prevost show
ing a disposition to board us by luffing close under our lee-bow, the
first division of boarders and marines were ordered to the forecastle by
you; at this period Commodore Perry was seento approach the Ni
agara in a boat, and I recollect perfectly your receiving him at the gang
way, but did not hear the conversation between you and Capt. Perry,
being stationed in the first division, some distance from where you were
standing at the time.
I was much surprised, Sir, to observe in an anonymous pamphlet re
cently published, a statement that not more than three or four were
killed or wounded at the time of Com. Perry's coming on board the
Niagara, as I am most firmly impressed with the belief that there could
not have been more than that number injured subsequent to your leav
ing the Niagara for the purpose of bringing the smaller vessels into
close action, and the whole number of killed and wounded on board the
Niagara consisted of thirty three or four, including the slight wounds
not noticed on the general report of the Surgeon.
A sbort time after the action, while I was in charge of the Queen
Charlotte, having frequent opportunities of conversing with the British
officers on the subject of the action — I on many occasions have heard
Capt. Buchan, of the Lady Prevost, express himself in terms of the high
est commendation of your conduct during the engagement, and he
said also, that he with others, had considered the victory nearly won
at the time the Lawrence surrendered, and attributed their sudden and
unexpected reverse of fortune in a great measure to the prompt and
expeditious manoeuvring of the Niagara, at that period of the action.
Although, Sir, I am convinced that Com. Perry made every exertion
in his power, and did every thing which could be done in the peculiar
situation of his ship, exposed as she was to a severe and destructive
36*

462

APPENDIX.

fire, it is my firm and unalterable impression, that had it not been for
your prompt and expeditious manner of closing with the enemy at the
time of the Lawrence's surrender, that the victory could not have been
acquired. With sentiments of respect, I am, Sir, your ob't servant.
JNO. B. MONTGOMERY, Lieut U. S. N.
Capt. J. D. Elliott, U. S. N. F— 6.
Sir, — I regret extremely to learn that there have been attempts made
to injure your reputation, and having had the honor to serve under your
immediate command on Lakes Erie and Ontario, I feel it my duty to
make known to you my sentiments on the subject. As to the circum
stances relative to the action upon Lake Erie, on the loth Sept. 1813, 1
have no hesitation in expressing my opinion in positive terms, that
your conduct on that day, (as well as on all other occasions,) was
that of a gallant and skilful commander. I know you maintained the
Sosition given you by Capt. Perry, until you ordered the Caledonia to
ear up and let you pass, to take a more advantageous position. I do
not recollect exactly as to the time of changing your position, &c. but
I saw a letter shortly after it was written, addressed to the Navy De
partment, by the commissioned officers of the Niagara, stating parti
cularly the circumstances relative to the action, which I know to be
correct. I saw Capt. Perry when he came on board the Niagara, and
I also saw you leave her and pull down the line to alter the positions
of the smaller vessels. Being stationed in the fore-top, I could not
hear what conversation passed between Captain Perry and yourself,
neither previous to leaving your ship, or on your return on board after
taking the prizes ; but I understood from Lieut. Smith, and also from
Midshipman Smith, " who both heard what passed," "that Captain
Perry observed, that the day was lost, when you immediately replied,
" No, sir, if you will take charge of my battery and permit me to go and
bring the small vessels into closer action, the victory will be com
plete — or tantamount to them. While on board of the Niagara, your
officers and men were animated by your noble example, and in going
down the line, and in altering the position of the schooners, which
were considerably a-stern of the Niagara, I conceive that you have
rendered your country a signal service. It has been said that you en
deavoured to excite a party spirit against Capt Perry, which assertion
I believe to be unfounded and malicious ; while in company with the
commissioned officers, I never heard one of them express an opinion
that you had, on any occasion, behaved cowardly ; on the contrary, I
have heard many of them assert that your conduct had been brave and
skilful. Although it maybe considered unimportant, I cannot forbear
mentioning to you that Captain Barclay and Dr. Young both told me,
that there was but one man killed and two wounded on board the De
troit previous to the Niagara's engaging her.
Accept, sir, my best wishes for your future prosperity, and believe
me, with the highest sentiments of respect and esteem, your most obe
dient servant, S. WARDWELL ADAMS,
Capt. Elliott. Lieutenant U. S. Navy.
Sworn to, Nov. 25, 1818, before
Thomas Coecoban, Just. Peace, Washington Co., D. C.

APPFNDIX. 463
P.— 7.
Affidavit of Lieut. Cummings, U. S. Navy.
Came before me, a Justice of the Peace, in and for the City of Wash
ington, County and District of Columbia, John L. Cummings, a Lieu
tenant in the Navy of the United States, who being duly sworn on the
Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, deposeth and saith— That in the
action between the British and American squadrons on Lake Erie, that
took place on the 10th of September, 1813, be was stationed in the
main-top of the Brig Niagara, that he could not see the rest of the
squadron a-head, but distinctly heard Capt. Elliott, his commander,
(some time before Captain Perry came on board oi that vessel,) order
the Caledonia out of the way, that he might shoot a-head. That the
Niagara was then engaged with the Queen Charlotte and Lady Pre
vost, the latter vessel intending to cross our bow, Capt. Elliott called
boarders away and prevented her ; that on Capt. Perry's coming on
board the Niagara, he had some conversation with Capt. Elliott, which
he, the deponent could not hear, but Lieutenant and Midshipman
Smith have both stated to him, that at the time alluded to they heard
Capt. Perry say to Capt. Elliott, that " the day was lost," that Capt.
Elliott replied, " he thought not, and that he, Capt. Elliott, would
bring the small vessels into action," to which proposition Capt. Perry
assented. The deponent further says that a short time after Captain
Perry came on board the Niagara, he saw Capt. Elliott leave that ship,
that he, the said deponent, was about that time wounded, and saw no
more of the action. That all the officers of both squadrons with whom
this deponent soon afterwards conversed, spoke in the highest terms
of the manner in which Capt. Elliott conducted his ship. That this
deponent is well convinced that Capt. Elliott never lacked either con
duct or exertion, where he could render any service to his country, and
that as to his endeavouring to prejudice the officers against Capt. Perry,
this deponent never heard any thing of it while on the station ; and
further deponent saith not.
Sworn to before me, this 25th Nov. 1818. Thomas Corcoran.
F.— 8. Winchester, April 22d, 1821.
Dear Sir, — It appearing evident to me from some late publications I
have observed, that there is a disposition to villify and misrepresent
your conduct in the memorable action of the 10th September, on Lake
Erie, I am induced to come forward and attest to such facts as could
come within my knowledge as Surgeon of the Niagara.
Having been very ill for sometime previous to the engagement, I
know nothing of the arrangements prior to it, but on the morning of
the 10th, I received a message from you requiring my immediate atten
tion, (if my strength would permit,) to the preparations of all things
necessary in my department, preparatory to the approaching contest.
Our sick list had been crowded for some days, and twenty-eight or
nine were reported on the morning of the engagement ; some labor
ing under violent cholera morbus or dysentery. The number of wound
ed on board of the Niagara has been falsely estimated at twenty, and
it has been stated, that only one or two were wounded previous to
Com. Perry's coming on board. The exact number, including those
dangerously or severely wounded, was twenty-seven, and the slight
cases not reported, must have amounted to six or eight more. Five
were killed during the action, and a few died soon after ; one man was

464 appendix.
mortally wounded on the berth deck very early in the contest, by a
shot which passed through both sides of the vessel ; and it would seem
from this that she was not entirely out of the reach of the enemy.
The precise period of Com. Perry's coming on board I do not know,
but 1 firmly believe more than half the above number were wounded
before he boarded us. This I well recollect, that when Lieut Web
ster was brought below, the ward-room and steerage were crowded
with wounded, and I have heard him say that at tbe time be was
knocked down, the Commodore had not come on board. The day
following, my strength being entirely exhausted, I was again unable
to attend duty, and it was not in my power at the time to make a re
gular return of the killed and wounded. The Surgeon's male of the
Lawrence, Dr. Parsons, was ordered on board a few hours, the Sur
geon of that shi i being also sick. Midshipman Nichols was the only
officer on board the Somers, with Mr. Almey, and I have repeatedly
heard him say how much confidence he derived on that occasion, from
your countenance and behavior when you came on board ; 1 presume
indeed, he must have been in charge of the deck, as I have been told
by him. Mr. Almey was too much intoxicated during the action to at
tend duty.
For a few hours after this, I had but little intercourse with any other
than the officers of the Niagara, but I have heard Lieuts. Edwards
and Webster, Purser Magrath, and also Lieut. Smith, who had super
ceded Lieut. Holdup, as 1st of the Niagara, speak in the warmest
terms of approbation of your coolness and bravery in the action — and
they seemed much disposed to ascribe a large share of the victory to
the essential aid you rendered the Commodore during this trying con
flict. This was the general sentiment I heard expressed.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obed't servant,
ROBERT R. BARTON.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott, U. S. Navy, Norfolk.
Sworn to, April 24th, 1821, before
Edw. M'Guibe, Just. Peace, Frederick Co., Va.
F— 9.
Affidavit of Peter Berry, Boatswain of the Niagara,
On the 10th of Sept. 1813, I was Boatswain on board of the U. S.
Brig Niagara, on Lake Erie, commanded by Capt. J. D. Elliott. At
day-light I was called and ordered to call all hands to scrub ham
mocks and bags ; at the same time men were ordered to the mast
head to look out At clear day-light a sail was reported, and or
ders given by the officer of the deck to look out for others ; and in a
short time the look out reported five others in the offing. Orders were
immediately given to clear the deck, and prepare to get under weigh.
In 10 or 15 minutes the squadron were under weigh, and beating out of
Put-in-Bay, wind from the southward and westward; continued to
beat to windward, until we cleared the Island— when the wind hauled
in our favor.— Formed the line in the following order : the Lawrence
leading the van, with the Scorpion a-head, and Ariel a little on the wea
ther bow, the Caledonia in succession, and Niagara next the Caledo
nia, and Schooners a-stern. At half-past 11 A. M. or thereabouts, the
enemy's fleet about two and a half miles distant, commenced firing,
their shot falling short, but the fleets continued to approach each
other; the Niagara's fore-top mast back-stays were in a short time
carried away by a chain-shot, I think from the Detroit, she then bear-

appendix. 465
ing a little a-head of us, and directly abreast of the Lawrence; the
Queen Charlotte directly abreast of the Niagara, our fire was kept up
constantly on her. At 15 or 20 minutes past 12, the Queen Charlotte
shot a-head and directed her fire at the Lawrence, on which Capt. El
liott came to the forecastle and hailed Lieut. Turner, commanding the
Caledonia to back his main top-sail, or bear up and make room for the
Niagara to pass a-head to the assistance of the Lawrence. He ac
cordingly bore up, leaving the Niagara next in line to the Lawrence.
Sail was then made in order to close with the Lawrence, and in a
short time, although the wind was light, we succeeeed in getting with
in 20 or30 yards of the Lawrence, and directly in her wake: we con
tinued our fire on the Queen Charlotte, until at half past 2 P. M. it
was discovered that the Lawrence was crippled, when Capt. Elliott
gave orders to board fore tack and set top-gallant sails, which was im
mediately done, when we bore up for the enemy. When very near the
British line, it was discovered that Captain Perry had left his vessel
and was coming in a small boat along side the Niagara, I was called

to attend the side — when Capt. Perry came over the side he was met
by Capt. Elliott, and Capt Perry said to him, "I am afraid the day is
lost, Sir," "No, Sir," said Capt. Elliott, "I hope it is not:" when

Capt. Perry told Capt. Elliott to proceed on board the small vessels,
and bring them close into action, which he accordingly did. It was
about this period that boarders were called away, in consequence of
the enemy's showing a disposition to board the Niagara. We conti
nued io keep up a well directed fire until the enemy surrendered.
I am firmly oi the belief ihat not more than four or five men were
injured by the enemy's shot on board of the Niagara, after Commo
dore Perry came on board.
Sworn to, the 14th day of May, 1821, before me,
A. MILFORD BLATCHFORD, Public Notary.

G.-l.

Extracts from Com. Barclay's letter to Sir George Prevost.
Too soon, alas ! was I deprived of the services of the noble
and intrepid Captain Finnis, Who, soon after the commencement of
the action, fell ; and with him fell my best hopes. Lieut. Stokes, of
the Queen Charlotte, was struck senseless by a splinter, which de
prived the country of his services at this very critical period, as I per
ceived the Detroit had enough to contend with, without the prospect
of a fresh brig. Provincial Lieutentant Irvine, who then had charge
of the Queen Charlotte, behaved with great courage, but his experience
was much too limited to supply the place of such an officer as Captain
Finnis. Hence she proved of far less assistance thaji I expected.
At a quarter before 12, I commenced the action by a
fewlongguns; at a quarter past, the American Commodore, also sup
ported by two schooners, one carrying four long 12 pounders, the other
a long 32 and 24 pounder, came close to action with the Detroit. The
other brigof the enemy, apparently destinedto engage the Queen Char
lotte, supported in like manner by two schooners, kept so far to wind
ward as to render the Queen Charlotte' s 20 pounder carronades useless.
The action continued with great fury until half past two, when I
perceived my opponent drop astern, and a boat passing from him to
the Niagara, (which vessel was at this time perfectly fresh.) The Ame
rican Commodore, seeing that, as yet, the day was against him, (his
vessel having struck soon after he left her,) and also ihe very defence-

466 APPENDIX.
less state of the Detroit, which ship was now a perfect wreck, princi
pally from the raking fire of the gun boats; and also, that the Queen
Charlotte was in such a situation, that I-could receive very little as
sistance from her, and the Lady Prevost being, at this time, too far to
leeward, from her rudder being injured, made a noble, and, alas ! too
successful an effort to regain it, for he bore up, and, supported by his
small vessels, passed within pistol shot, and took a raking position on
our bow. G.— 2.
Extract of a letter from Lieut. Inglis, of the Detroit, which accompa
nied Com.. Barclay's letter to Sir Geo. Prevost.
H. M. Late Ship Detroit, Sept. 10, 1813.
 On coming on the quarter deck after your being wounded, the
enemy's second brig, at that time on our weather beam, shortly after
took a position on our weather bow, to rake us ; to prevent which, in
attempting to wear to get our starboard broadside to bear upon her, a
number of guns on the larboard broadside being at this time disabled,
we fell on board the Queen Charlotte, at this time running up to
leeward of us. In this situation the two ships remained for some lime.
As soon as we got clear of her, I ordered the Queen Charlotte to shoot
ahead of us, if possible, and then attempted to back our fore-top-sad,
to get astern ; but the ship lying completely unmanageable, every brace
cut away, the mizen-top-mast and gaff down, all the masts badly
wounded, not a otay left furwardr-hull shattered vary much, a number
of the guns disabled, and the enemy's squadron raking both ships
ahead and astern, none of our own in a situation to support us, I was
under the painful necessity of answering the enemy, to say we had
struck j the Queen Charlotte having previously done so.
I have the honor, &c.
George Inglis.
G.— 3.
From a London paper.
Naval Court Martial.
A Court Marital was held at Portsmouth, on Friday, on board his
Majesty's ship Gladiator, for the trial of Captain R. H. Barclay, and
his remaining officers and men, for the loss of the squadron of British'
gun boats on Lake Erie, on the 10th Sept. 1813, in an aciion with the'
American flotilla of vastly superior force. It appeared from the public
letters read to the Court, that Captain Barclay's situation was as sin
gular, as his gallantry and good conduct were conspicuous. He was
appointed to command the squadron on Lake Erie, immediately on the
arrival of Commodore Sir James Yeo on Lake Ontario. It had been
offered to and refused by Capt. Mulcaster, on account of the exceeding
bad equipment of the vessels. Captain Barclay joined his command
with a lieutenant, a surgeon, and nineteen rejected seamen of the Lake
Ontario squadron, in June, 1813, and immediately dispatched to Sir
James Yeo an account of the deplorable state of the vessels and that
they were then all blockaded in Amhertsburg, by the American flotilla,
where General Proctor's army was stationed. Subsequently about
fifty seamen of the Dover troop ship joined him, but he had not more
than one hundred and fifty British seamen distributed in his quadron ;
the remainder being Canadians and soldiers. The American force was
double the amount of his in the number of ships and guns, and there
was no comparison in respect to the quality of the seamen. However,

APPENDIX. 467
on the 9th of September, he was compelled to sail from Amhertsburg,
to endeavor to open a communication with Long Point, for the pur.
pose of obtaining a supply of provisions and necessaries, both for his
squadron and General Proctor's army. The winter was rapidly ap
proaching ; the navy had been for some time on short allowance, and
the supplies by land were by no means equal to the consumption, par
ticularly as there were fourteen thousand Indians with the army, who
could not brook any abridgment of their rations or indulgencies ; in
deed, the very inhabitants of the neighboring settlement were feeding
from the government stores. Under these pressing exigencies, with
the advice of General Proctor, Captain Barclay sailed ; he hoped either
to pass the American squadron, or so disable them as to effect his
passage to Long Point. On the following morning he fell in with the
enemy, and having the weather gage, bore down to commence the
action ; but unfortunately, the wind veered directly round, and brought
our squadron to leeward. The commencement however was propi
tious ; the American Commodore was obliged to leave his ship, which
soon after surrendered, and hoist his flag on board another of his
squadron, which had not been engaged, and was making way, when
unfortunately, the Queen Charlotte and Detioit, our two best ships,
having had all their officers killed and wounded, fell on board of each
other, and were unable to clear ; at the sams time the greater num
ber of their guns were dismounted, and the Lady Prevost had fallen
to leeward, having lost her rudder. The Americans seeing this situaJ
tion of our ships, renewed the action with the assistance of their gun
boats, by which the whole of our squadron was obliged to surrender.
General Proctor not being able to obtain the supplies, was under the
necessity of making a retrograde movement, a circumstance which
strongly evidenced the necessity there was for the attempt that was
made. Commodore Sir James Yeo, in his letter to Admiral J. B. War
ren, relating the event, states that, in his opinion, Capt. Barclay was
wrong to sail from Amherstburg, and it was in consequence thereof
the Court Martial took place. The court pronounced the following
sentence :
That the capture of his Majesty's late squadron was caused by the
very defective means Captain Barclay possessed to equip them on Lake
Erie ; the want of a sufficient number of able seamen, whom he had
repeatedly and earnestly requested of Sir James Yeo to be sent to him ;
the very great superiority of the enemy to the British squadron, and
unfortunate early fall of the superior officers in the action ; that it ap
peared the greatest exertions had been made by Captain Barclay, in
equipping and getting into order the vessels under his command ; that
he was fully justified, under the existing circumstanoes, in bringing
the enemv to action ; that the judgment and gallantry of Captain Bar
clay in taking the squadron into action, and during the contest, were
highly conspicuous, and entitle him to our highest praise, and that the
whole of the officers and men of his Majesty s late squadron, conduct
ed themselves in the most gallant manner, and did adjudge the same
Captain Robert Heriot Barclay, his surviving officers and men, to be
most fully and honorably acquitted. Rear Admiral Foot, President

"Legation of the United States, Paris, April 25, 1835.
His Excellency, The Due de Broglie, &c.
Sib, — About to return to my own country, I am unwilling to leave

468 APPENDIX,
this, without adding one more effort to the many I have heretofore
made to restore to both that mutual good understanding which their
best interests require, and which probable events may interrupt, and
perhaps permanently destroy.
From the correspondence, and acts of His Majesty's Government,
since the message of the President of the United States was known
at Paris, it is evident that an idea is entertained of making the fulfill
ment of the treaty of 1831 dependent on explanations to be given of
terms used in the message, and of withholding payment of an ac
knowledged debt until satisfaction be given for a supposed indecorum
for demanding it. The bear possibility that this opinion might be en
tertained and acted upon by his Majesty's Government, renders it
incumbent on me to state explicitly what I understand to be the senti
ments of mine on this subject.
Erroneous impressions arising from the want of a proper attention
to the structure of our Government to the duties of its Chief Magis
trate, to the principles it has adopted, and its strict adherence to them
in similar cases, might raise expectations which could never be rea
lized, and lead to measures destructive to all harmony between the
parties. This communication is made in full confidence that it is the
wish of his Majesty's Government, as it most sincerely is that of the
President, to avoid all measures of that description, and it is hoped,
therefore, that it will be received in the spirit by which it is dictated —
that of conciliation and peace.
The form of our Government, and the functions of the President as
a component part of it, have, in their relation to this subject, been suf
ficiently explained in my previous correspondence, especially in my
letters to the Comte de Rigny on the 29th of January last. I have,
therefore, little to add to that part of my representation which is
drawn from the form of our Government, and the duties of the Presi
dent in administering it If these are fully understood, the principles
of action derived from them cannot be mistaken.
The President, as the chief executive power, must have a free and
entirely unfettered communication with the co-ordinate powers of
Government. As the organ of intercourse with other nations, he is
the only source from which a knowledge of our relations with them
can be conveyed to the legislative branches. It results from this, that
the utmost freedom from all restraint in the details into which he is
obliged to enter, of international concerns, and of the measures in re
lation to them, is essential to the proper performance of this impor
tant part of his functions. He must exercise them without having
continually before him the fear of offending the susceptibility of the
powers whose conduct he is obliged to notice. In the performance
of this duty he is subject to public opinion, and his own sense of
Eropriety for an indiscreet, to his constituents for dangerous, and to
is constitutional judges for an illegal exercise of the power ; but to
no other censure, foreign or domestic. Were any foreign powers per
mitted to scan the communications of the Executive, their complaints,
whether real or affected, would involve the country in continual con
troversies; for, the right being acknowledged, it would be a duty to
exercise it by demanding a disavowal of every phrase they might
deem offensive, and an explanation of every word to which an im
proper interpretation could be given. The principle, therefore, has
been adopted, that no foreign power has a right to ask for explana
tions of any thing that the President, in the exercise of his functions,
thinks proper to communicate to Congress, or of any course he may
advise them to pursue. This rule is not applicable to the United
States alone, but, in common with it to all those in which the consti-

APPENDIX. 469
rational powers are distributed into differentbranch.es. No such na
tion, desirous of avoiding foreign influence or foreign interference in
its councils j no such nation possessing a due sense of its dignity and
independence, can long submit to the consequences of other interfer
ence. When these are felt, as they soon will he, all must unite in re
pelling it, and acknowledge that the United States are contending in
a cause common to them all, and more important to the liberal Go
vernments of Europe than even to themselves ; for it is too obvious to
escape the slightest attention that the monarchies of Europe, by
which they are surrounded, will have all the advantage of this super
vision of the domestic counsels of their neighbors without being sub
ject to it themselves. It is true thatin the representative government
of Europe, executive communications to legislative bodies, have not
the extension that is given to them in the United States, and that
they are, therefore less liable to attack on that quarter, but they must
not imagine themselves safe. In the opening address, guarded as it
commonly is, every proposition made by the Ministry, every resolu
tion of either Chamber, will offer occasions for the jealous interfer
ence of national punctilio, for all occupy the same grounds.
No intercommunication of the different branches of Government
will' be safe, and even the courts of justice will afford no sanctuary
for freedom of decision and of debate ; and the susceptibility of fo
reign powers must be consulted in all the departments of Govern
ment. Occasions for intervention in.the affairs of other countries are
but too numerous at present without opening another door to en
croachments,; and it is no answer to the argument to say that no
complaints will be made but for reasonable cause, and that of this,
the nation complained of being the judge, no evil can ensue. But this
argument concedes the right of examining the communications in
question, which is denied ; allow it, and you will have frivolous as
well as grave complaints to answer, and must not only heal the
wounds of a just national pride, but apply a remedy for those of a
morbid susceptibility. To show that my fear of the progressive na
ture of the encroachments is not imaginary, I pray leave to call your
Excellency's attention to the enclosed report from the Secretary of
State to the President. It is offered for illustration not for complaint.
I am instructed to make none. Because the Government of France
has taken exception to the President's opening message, the Charge
d' Affairs of France thinks it his duty to protest against a special com
munication, and to point put the particular passages in a correspond
ence of an American Minister with his own Government to publica
tion which of he objects. If the principle I contest is just, the Charge
¦d' Affaires is right; he has done his duty as a vigilant supervisor of
the President's correspondence. If the principle is admitted, every
diplomatic agent at Washington will do the same, and we shall have
twenty censors of the correspondence of the Government and of the
public press. If the principle is correct, every communication which
the President makes, in relation to our foreign affairs, either to the
Congress or the public, ought in jprudence to be previously submitted
to these Ministers in order to avoid disputes, and troublesome and hu-
iniliating explanations. If the principle be submitted to, neither dig
nity nor independence is left to the nation. To submit even to a dis-
oreet exercise of such a privilege, would be troublesome and degrading,
and the inevitable abuse of it could not he borne. It must, therefore,
be resisted at the threshold, and its entrance forbidden into the sanc
tuary of domestic consultations. But, whatever may be the principles
of other Governments, those of the United States are fixed— the right
40

470

APPENDIX.

will never be acknowledged, and any attempt to enforce it, will be re
pelled by the undivided energy of the nation. I pray your Excellency
to observe, that my arguments does not deny a right to all foreign
powers of taking proper exceptions to the governmental acts and Ian
guage of another. It is to their interference in its consultations, in
!tif P™ce.e,dmss, while yet in an inchoate state, that we object. Should
the President do an official executive act r affecting a foreign power, or
use exceptionable language in addressing it through his Minister or
through theirs, should a law be passed injurious to the dignity of
another nation, in all these, and other similar cases, a demand of ex
planation would be respectfully received and answered in the manner
that justice and a regard to the dignity of the complaining nation
would require.
After stating these principles, let me add that they have not only
been theoretically adopted, but that they have been practically assert
ed. On two former occasions, exceptions of the same nature were
taken to the President's Message by the Government of France, and
iri neither did they produce any other explanations than that derived
from the nature of our Government, and this seems on those occasions
to have been deemed sufficient, for in both cases the objections were
virtually abandoned. One, when Messrs. Marshall, Gerry and Pink-
ney were refused to be received ; and again, in the negotiation between
Prince Polignac and Mr. Rives, in the former case, although the Mes
sage of the President was alleged as the cause of the refusal to receive
the Ministers, yet, without any such explanation, their successors
were honorably accredited. In the latter case, the allusion in the
message to an apprehended collision, was excepted to ; hut the refer
ence made by Mr. Rives to the constitutional duties of the President
seems to have removed the objection.
Having demonstrated that the United States cannot, in any case,
permit their Chief Magistrate to be questioned by any Foreign Go
vernment, in relation to his communications with the co-ordinate
branches of his own, it is scarcely necessary to consider the case of
such an explanation being required as the condition on which the fulfil
ment of a treaty or any pecuniary advantage was to depend. The
terms of such a proposition need only be stated to show that it would
be not only inadmissible, but rejected as offensive to the nation to
which it might be addressed. In this case it would be unnecessary,
as well as inadmissible. France has already received, by the volun
tary act of the Pesident, every explanation which the nicest sense of
national honor could desire. That which could riot have been given
to a demand, that which can never be given on the condition now un
der discussion, a fortunate succession of circumstances, as I shall pro
ceed to show, has brought about..
Earnestly desirous of restoring good understanding between the two
nations, as soon as a dissatisfaction with the President's Message was
shown, I suppressed every feeling which the mode of expressing that
dissatisfaction was calculated to produce, and without waiting for in
structions, I hastened, on my own responsibility, to make a communi
cation to your predecessor in office on the subject. In this, under the
reserve that the President could not be called on for an explanation, I
did in fact give one, that I thought would have removed all injurious
apprehensions. This is the first of the fortunate circumstances to
which I have alluded'— fortunate in beingmade before any demand im
plying a right to require it ; fortunate in its containing, without any
knowledge of the precise part of the Message which gave offence, an
swers to all that have since come to my knowledge. I can easily con-

APPENDIX. 471
ceive that the communication of which I speak, made as I expressly
stated without previous authority from my Government, might not
have had the effect which its matter was intended to produce, but it
has since (as I have now the honor to inform your excellency) received
from the President his full and unqualified approbation ; but it is ne
cessary to add that this was given before be had any intimation of an
intention to attach it as a condition to the payment of the indemnity
due by the treaty: given not only when he was ignorant of any such
intent but when he was informed by France that she intended to exe
cute the treaty, and saw by the law which was introduced, that it was
not to be fettered by any such condition. Thus, that is already done,
by a voluntary act, which could not have been done when required as
a right, still less when made, what will unquestionably in the United
States be considered degrading asacondition. At this time, sir, I would
for no consideration enter into the detaUs I then did. If I could now
so far forget what, under present circumstances, would be due to the
dignity of my country, I should be disavowed, and deservedly disavow
ed, by the President It is happy, therefore, I repeat, that the good
feeling of mv country was evinced in the manner I have stated, at the
only time when it could be done with honor ; and though present cir
cumstances would forbid my making the communication I then did,
they do not prevent my referring to it for the purpose of showing that
contains, as I have stated it does, every thing that ought to have been
satisfactory. Actual circumstances enable me to do this now. Future
events, which I need not explain, may hereafter render it improper1;
and it may be nugatory, unless accepted as satisfactory before the oc
currence of those events. Let it be examined with the care which the
importance of giving it a true construction requires.
The objections to the Message, as far as I can understand, for they
never have been specified, are,
First, that it impeaches the good faith of his Majesty's Government.
Secondlv. that it contains a menace of enforcing the performance of
the treaty by reprisals.
On the first head, were I now discussing the terms of the Message
itself, it would be easy to show that it contains no such charge. The
allegation that the stipulations of a treaty have not been complied with,
that engagements made by the Ministers have not been fulfilled, couch
ed in respectful terms, can never be deemed offensive, even when ex
pressly directed to the party whose infractions are complained of, and
consequently can never give cause for ademand of explanation;' other
wise, it is evident that no consideration of national injuries could ever
take place. — The Message, critically examined on this point, contains
nothing more than such an enumeration of the causes of complaint.
As to its terms, the most fastidious disposition cannot fasten on pne
that could be excepted to. The first refusal and subsequent delay are
eomplained of, but no unworthy motives for either are charged. On
the whole, if I were commissioned to explain and defend this part of
the Message, I should say, with the conviction of truth, that is impos
sible to urge a complaint in milder or more temperate terms ; but I am
not so commissioned. I am endeavoring to show not only that every
proper explanation is given in my letter to Mr. De Rigny, of the 29th
of January last, but that, in express terms, it declares that the sinceri
ty of his Majesty's Government, in their desire to execute the treaty,
was not doubted. Suffer me to draw your Excellency's attention to
the passages alluded to. In discussing the nature of Mr. Surrurier's
engagement, I sav"it is clear, therefore, that more was required than
the expression of a desire on the part of his Majesty's Ministers, to
execute the treaty ; a desire, the sincerity of which was never doubted,

472 APPENDIX.
but which might be unavailing, as its accomplishment depended on the
vote of the Chambers." Again, in speaking of the delay which occurred
in the month of December, I say, It is referred to, I presume in order
to show that it was produced by a desire, on the part of his Majesty's
Ministers, the better to assure the passage of the law ; of this sir, I
never had a doubt, and immediately so advised my government, and
informed it, as was the fact, that I perfectly acquiesced in the delay."
Thus it must be evident, not only that no offensive charge of ill faith
is made in the Message, but that, as is expressly stated in the first ex
tract, full justice was done at Washington, to the intentions of the
French Government. While thedelay is complained of as wrong, no
improper motives are attributed to the Government in causing it. Again,
sir, the whole tenor of that part of my letter which relates to the exe
cution of the promise made by M. Summer, while it asserts the con
struction put upon it by the President to be a true one, and appeals to
facts and circumstances to support that construction }. yet it avoids
charging the French Government with any intentional violation, attri
buting their delay to an erroneous construction only ; for in the letter
(I again quote literally) I say "I have entered into this detail with the
object of showing that although the Ministers of the King under the in
terpretations which they seem to have given to Mr. Summer's promise,
may have considered themselves at liberty to defer the presentation of
the law until the period which they thought would best secure its suc
cess, yet the President interpreting that promise differently, feeling that
in consequence of it he had forborne to do what might be strictly called
a duty, and seeing that its performance had not taken place, could not
avoid stating the whole case clearly and distinctly to Congress."
Thus, sir, the President, in stating the acts of which he thought his
country had a right to complain, does not make a single imputation of
improper motive, and to avoid all misconstruction, he offers a volun
tary declaration that none such were intended.
The part of the Message which seems to have caused the greatest
sensation in France, is that in which, after a statement of the causes
of complaint, it enters into a consideration of the measures to obtain
redress, which, in similar cases, are sanctioned by the laws of nations.
The complaint seems to be, that in a discussion of the efficacy and
convenience of each, a preference was given to reprisals, considered as
a remedial, not as a hostile measure ; and this has been constructed
into a menace. If any explanations were necessary on this head, they
are given in the Message itself. It is there expressly disavowed, and
the power and character of France are appealed to, to show that it
never could be induced by threats to do what its sense of justice de
nied. If the measure to which I have more than once alluded, should
be resorted to, and the humiliation attending a compliance with it
could beendured, and if it were possible, under such circumstances, to
give an explanation, what more could be required than is contained in
the Message itself, that it was not intended as a menace 1 If the mea
sure to which I allude should be adopted, and submitted to, what
would His Majesty's government require 1 The disavowal of any in
tent to influence the Councils of France by threats') They have it al
ready. It forms a part of the very instrument which caused the of
fence, and I wilt not do them the injustice to think that they could form
the offensive idea of requiring more. The necessity of discussing the
nature of the remedies for the non-execution of the treaty, the charac
ter and spirit in which it was done, are explained in my letter so often
referred to, and I pray your Excellency to consider the concludingpart
of it, beginning with the quotation I have last made. But if I wanted
any argument to show that no explanation of this part of the Message

APPENDIX 473
Was necessary, or could be required, I should find it in the opinion,
Certainly a just one, expressed by his Majesty's Ministers, that the re
commendation of the President, not having been adopted by the other
branches of the government, it was not a national act, and could not
be complained of as such. Nay, in the note presented by Mr. Serru-
rier to the government at Washington, and the measures which it
announces, (his recall, und the offer of my passports,) the government
of His Majesty seems to have done all that they thought its dignity
required; for they, at the same time, declared that the law providing
for the payment will be presented, but give no intimation of any pre
vious condition, and annex none to the bill which they present. The
account of dignity being thus declared, by this demonstration, to be
settled, it cannot be supposed that it will again be introduced as a set
off against an acknowledged pecuniary balance.
Before I conclude my observations on this part of the subject, it will
be well to inquire in what light exceptions are taken to this part of the
Message — whether as a menace generally, or to the particular measure
proposed. In the first view, every measure that a government having
claims on another, declares it must pursue, if those claims are not al
lowed, (whatever may be the terms employed,) is a menace. It is ne
cessary, and not objectionable, unless couched in offensive language.
It is a fair declaration of what course the party making it intends to
pursue, and except in cases where pretexts are wanted for a rupture,
have rarely been objected to, even when avowedly the act of the na
tion ; not, as in this case, a proposal made by one branch of its go
vernment to another. Instances of this are not wanting, but need not
be here enumerated. One, however, ought to be mentioned, because it
is intimately connected with the subject now under discussion. While
the commerce of the United States was suffering under the aggres
sions of the two most powerful nations of the world, the American
government, in this sense of the word, menaced them both. It passed
a law, in express terms, declaring to them, that unless they ceased
their aggressions, America would hold no intercourse with them ; that
their snips should be seized if they ventured into American ports ; that
the productions of their soil or industry should be forfeited. Here was
an undisguised measure, in clear, unequivocal terms, and of course,
according to the argument against which I contend, neither France
nor England could deliberate, under its pressure, without dishonor.
Yet the Emperor of France, certainly an unexceptionable judge of
what the dignity of his country required, did accept the condition, did
repeal the Berlin and Milan decrees, did not make any complaints of
the act as a threat, though it called it an injury.
Great Britain, too, although at that time on no friendly terms with
the United States, made no complaint that her pride was offended —
her Minister on the spot even made a declaration that the obnoxious
orders were repealed. It is true it was a disavowal, but the disavowal
was accompanied by no objections to the law as a threat. Should
the objection be to the nature of the remedy proposed, and that the
recommendation of reprisals is the offensive part, it would be easy to
show that it stands on the same ground with any other remedy; that
it is not hostile in its nature, that it has been resorted to by France to
procure redress from other powers, and by them against her, without
producing war, but such an argument is not necessary. This is not
the case of a national measure, either of menace or action — it is a
recommendation only of one branch of Government to another; and
France has itself shown that a proposal of this nature could not be
noticed as an offence. In the year 1808 the Senate of the United
States annexed to the hill of non-intercourse a section which not only
40*

474 APPENDIX.
advised but actually authorized the President to issue letters of marque;
and reprisals against both France and England, if the one did not
lepeal the Berlin and Milan Decrees, and the other did not revoke the
Orders ki Council. This clause was not acceded to by the Represen
tatives, but was complete as the act of the Senate ; yet neither France
nor England complained of it as an indignity — both powers had Mi
nisters on the spot, and the dignity of neither seems to have been
offended. If the view I have now taken of the subject be correct, I have suc
ceeded in conveying to His Majesty's Ministers the conviction I my
self feel, that no right exists in any foreign nation to ask explanations
of, or even to notice, any communications between the different
branches of our Government; that to admit it even in a single in
stance would be a dangerous precedent, and a derogation from na
tional dignity ; and that in the present instance an explanation that
ought to be satisfactory has been voluntarily given ; I have then de
monstrated that any measure founded on sucb supposed right is not
only inadmissible, but is totally unnecessary, and consequently, that
bis Majesty's Ministers- may at once declare that previous explana
tions given by the Minister of the United States, and subsequently
approved by the President, had satisfied them on the subject of the
Message. The motives of my Government during the whole controversy, have
been misunderstood or not properly appreciated, and the question is
daily changing its character. A negotiation, entered into for pecu
niary compensation to individuals, involved no positive obligation on-
their Government to prosecute it to extremities. A solemn treaty,
ratified by the constitutional organs of the two powers, changed the
private into a public right. All- doubts as to their justice seem how
to have been removed : and every objection to the payment of a debt
acknowledged to be just, will be severely scrutinized by the impartial
world. What character will be given to a refusal to pay such a debt
on the allegation, whether well or ill founded, of an offence to na
tional honor, it does not become me to say.- The French nation is the
last that would ever appreciate national honor by any number of mil
lions it could withhold, as a compensation for an injury offered to it.
The United States, commercial as they are, are the last that would
settle such an account. The proposition I allude to would be unwor
thy of both,- and it is sincerely to he hoped that it will never be made.
To avoid the possibility of misapprehension, I repeat, that this com
munication is made with the single view of apprising His Majesty's
Government of the consequences attending a measure, which, with
out such notice, they might be inclined to pursue : that, although I
am not authorized to state what measures will be taken by the United
States, yet I speak confidently of the principles they have adopted,
and have no doubt they will never be abandoned.
This is the last communication I shall have the honor to make. It
is dictated by a sincere desire to restore a good intelligence, which
seems to be endangered by the very means intended to consolidate it
Whatever be the result, the United States may appeal to the world
to bear witness, that in the assertion of the rights of their citizens
Snd the dignity of their Government, they have never swerved from
le respect due to themselves, and from that which they owe to the
Government of France.
I pray your exoellency to receive the assurances of high considera
tion with which I have the honor to be,
Your most obedient servant;
EDWARD LIVINGSTON,

appendix. 475
J.
Capt. Jesse D. Elliott, U. S. Nav^ Department' A"ril 7- 1818-
^QSr£"JnfC?mplylns 5"th a resolution of Congress, passed on the
tedstref I Wa^' 'I13' and,°un behalf of the President of theUni?
wShS,l»™M honor of handmg to you "an elegant sword,
totaiSd hv rZ^S^ deV1<ifS' ln ^timo™ of *be just sense en
tertained by Congress of your gallantry and good conduct, in boarding
¦W^f lh?- v,arlous °.fficial duties devolving upon me, I have a high
S T Lflu{aCtl0n m th? Derfo™ance of this; and at the same
W?„ii,i • a3surance °f my personal esteem and respect for your
Whh thl ?ZVZ- if af °fficer' and your character as a gentleman!
honor to be^&c0ry0Ur prosperity and happiness,! have the
B. W. CROWNINSHIELD.
q „ tr 1 .1 , , Norfolk, April 13, 1813.
*J!, i- 0Ur-ietter' aIid -the sword which you presented to me, in
compliance with a resolution of Congress, have both been received
1 want terms to express the mingled sentiments of gratitude and
pride inspired by this token of pubhc confidence. Next to the con
sciousness of having endeavored to do his duty, every officer must
value the approbation of his country. I know, indeed, that the suc
cess which has procured me this honor should be ascribed to the gal
lantry and good conduct of those whom it was my good fortune? to
command, rather than to my personal skill, and that I owe this dis
tinction more to the generosity of Congress than to my own merit ;
but this very consideration will animate my future efforts to justify
the distinction which my country has deigned to confer on me.
* or the kind and flattering manner in which you have been pleased
to make the communication, I beg you to accept my acknowledg-
I have the honor to be, respectfully your obedient servant,
tt„ „ w r. „ , J- D. ELLIOTT.
tion. H. W. Chowninshield, See'ry of the Navy.
The inscription upon this sword is Hostidm sob manibcs naves
INVASIT ET FATHI.S DEDIT.

Saugerida, or the wood demon, a melo-drama, founded upon a
German legend. The substance of the fable is that a demon, inha
biting a forest, and called Saugerida, promised to a German robber
the gratification of all his wishes, upon his annually sacrificing a child
upon the altar of the demon. Many children were murdered; but at
length the robber, who had become a powerful noble, having failed
to furnish a victim within the time stipulated, was destroyed by the
demon. Saugerida is no bad emblem of Boston Federalism, continu
ally seeking the destruction of Democrats; and the German count
may well represent the instruments whom it uses, and throws away
waen no longer useful.

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YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 03759 2541

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE

COM. JESSE D. ELLIOTT:

CONTAINING

A REVIEW

THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN HIM AND THE
LATE COMMODORE PERRY;
AND
A HISTORY op tub
FIGURE-HEAD OF THE U. S. FRIGATE CONSTITUTION.

>Tts slander ;
Whose edge in sharper than (he sword; whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile ; whose breath
Rides on the posting winds, and both belie
All corners ot the workl : kings, oueens, and states,
Maids, mu'.rons, uaj.. the secrets of Hie grare,
Tim Yipprftts slander enters. tymbahnc.

BY A CITIZEN OF NEW- YORK.

PHILADELPHIA :
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.

1835.