d his
first lieutenant, and said, "I am a dead man. Do not give up the
vessel; you will be able to beat them off." Nearly forty years after,
the heroic Lawrence, dying on the deck of the "Chesapeake," repeated
Mugford's words, "Don't give up the ship."

For about half an hour the battle raged fiercely. The British, beaten
back with great loss, returned again and again to the attack. The
boats would come under the lee of the "Franklin;" but, not being
provided with grappling-irons, the British were forced to lay hold of
the gunwales of the enemy with their hands, which the Americans
promptly lopped off with their cutlasses. Shots from the swivel guns
of the Yankee soon stove in two of the boats of the enemy, which sunk,
carrying down many of their crew. After nearly an hour of this
desperate fighting, the British withdrew, having lost about seventy
men. The only loss sustained by the Americans was that of their brave
commander Mugford.

About a month after this battle, there occurred off the coast of
Massachusetts a battle in which the Americans, though they fought with
the most undaunted bravery, were forced to strike their colors to
their adversary. The American was the privateer "Yankee Hero" of
Newburyport. She sailed from that place for Boston on the 7th of June
with only forty men aboard, intending to ship her full complement of
one hundred and twenty at Boston. As the "Hero" rounded Cape Ann, she
sighted a sail on the horizon, but in her short-handed condition did
not think it worth while to give chase. The stranger, however, had
caught sight of the "Hero;" and, a fresh southerly breeze springing
up, she began to close with the American. As she came closer, Capt.
Tracy of the "Yankee Hero" saw that she was a ship-of-war. Despite the
desperate efforts of the Americans to escape, their pursuer rapidly
overhauled them, and soon coming up within half a mile, opened fire
with her bow chasers. The brig returned the fire with a swivel gun,
which had little effect. Seeing this, Capt. Tracy ordered the firing
to cease until the ships should came to close quarters. The stranger
rapidly overhauled the privateer, keeping up all the time a vigorous
fire. Tracy with difficulty restrained the ardor of his men, who were
anxious to try to cripple their pursuer. When the enemy came within
pistol-shot, Tracy saw that the time for action on his part had come,
and immediately opened fire with all the guns and small-arms that
could