hard up, to
run her antagonist on board. The American crew were called to repel
boarders, and so were on hand when the enemy's bowsprit came in
between the main and mizzen rigging; but, while ready to resist an
attempt to board, the course of the action had so satisfied Biddle of
the superiority of his ship's gunnery that he would not throw his men
away in a hand-to-hand contest upon the enemy's decks. The small arms
men and marines, however, distributed along the "Hornet's" side kept
up a lively musketry fire, which the British endured at great
disadvantage, crowded upon the narrow front presented by a ship's
forecastle. The "Penguin" finally wrenched clear with the loss of her
foremast and bowsprit, and in this crippled state surrendered
immediately. From the first gun to hauling down the flag was
twenty-two minutes. The British ship had lost fourteen killed and
twenty-eight wounded, her captain being among the slain. The "Hornet"
had one killed and ten wounded. The comparative efficiency of the two
vessels is best indicated by the fact that the "Hornet" had not a
single cannon-ball in her hull, nor any serious injury even to her
lower masts; yet that her rigging and sails were very much cut proves
that her opponent's guns were active. By the ready skill of the seamen
of that day she was completely ready for any service forty-eight hours
later. The "Penguin" was scuttled.

The action between the "Hornet" and "Penguin" was the last naval
combat of the War of 1812. The day after it, March 24, the "Peacock"
and "Tom Bowline" arrived, in time to see the "Penguin" before her
captor sunk her. The brig "Macedonian," which had sailed in company
with the "President," but escaped her fate, also came to Tristan
d'Acunha, which would seem to have been intended as a fresh starting
point for some enterprise in common.

FOOTNOTES:

[394] Memoirs and Correspondence of Lord Castlereagh. Series iii. vol.
ii. pp. 86-91.

[395] Castlereagh Memoirs, series iii. vol. ii. pp. 86-91.

[396] Castlereagh to Liverpool (Prime Minister), Aug. 28, 1814. Ibid.,
pp. 100-102.

[397] Wellington to Liverpool, Nov. 9, 1814. Castlereagh Memoirs, series
iii. vol. ii. pp. 186-189.

[398] Canadian Archives, C. 680, p. 46. The date is Sept. 10, 1813.

[399] Letter of Captain Evans, commanding N.Y. Navy Yard, Aug. 6, 1813.

[400] Canadian Archives, C. 679, pp. 348, 362.

[401] Izard says two. Official Correspondence of the Department of War
wit