ap upon the
Jeanette and those of the regiment Prince Karl tried to save their lives
on the Happy, and only with difficulty were they prevented from doing an
act of foolhardiness which would have cost the lives of many. After
repeated knocks the two ships were finally parted; in the Henrietta a
great hole had been made--only one foot lower down and in a few minutes
nothing more would have been seen of the ship. There were on this ship
Captain von Malsburg, the Lieutenants von Ditfurth, von Malsburg, von
Bardeleben, and Ensign von Schachten.

A new drama took place soon after the 10th of June. A frigate brought
the orders to set all ships and cannon in defensive condition; an East
Indian ship had reported the proximity of many American privateers. One
of these had even been captured. The Hessian officers thereupon set all
cannon in order and arranged for the distribution of the men in the case
of an attack. The commodore remained now in the middle of the fleet, a
frigate had to stay at the head in his place, and the others had to be
all the more active, everywhere in the fleet, as commodore's messengers,
to keep up the order and to search every strange vessel. Even the
transport vessels received orders in case they should discover a strange
vessel to display a red flag at the stern of the ship until the
commodore by means of a similar signal has indicated that he has taken
cognizance of the information. Almost to the very tops of the masts the
guards on watch could be seen. More frequently than ever the stragglers
now received the usual warning (always with a fine of money imposed),
namely, several sharp cannon shots which struck close to them. The same
was the case with those ships which sailed too fast in advance of the
others. As soon as the commodore had given the signal by means of the
flag-language, one could see the marines and the sailors on the
men-of-war practice fully armed and equipped and with such great zeal
carry on a naval battle exercise as certainly cannot be shown any better
in a real battle. By means of bags of sand the decks were protected
against cannon shot from the side; back of these, men with muskets; at
different places the auxiliary troops; at the middle mast the chief
sentry; between the masts a sort of pile structure for defense was built
up to accommodate smaller cannon and soldiers; with uncommon dexterity
the artillery was managed; and at last the sailors with lances and other
like weapon