."

The firing then ceased; but, when the lieutenant of the "Congress"
ordered a boat lowered in which to board the prize, the old boatswain
came back with the report,--

"Boats all knocked to pieces, sir. Couldn't find one that would
float."

Accordingly the two vessels had to be slowly drawn together, and the
boarding party reached the deck of the prize by clambering over a spar
which served as a bridge. When they reached the prize, they found her
decks covered with dead and wounded men. The slaughter had been
terrible. Twenty-three men were killed, and thirty-one wounded. On the
"Congress" were thirty, killed and wounded together. One of the
wounded Americans was found lying with his back braced against the
foot of the bowsprit, cheering for the victory, and crying,--

"If they have broken my legs, my hands and heart are still whole."

Throughout this sanguinary action both parties showed the greatest
courage and determination. Two vessels of the two most perfectly
organized regular navies in the world could not have been better
handled, nor could they have more stubbornly contested for the
victory.

A class of armed vessels outside the limits of the regular navy, but
very active and efficient in the service of the country, was the
maritime forces of the individual states. Before Congress had seen
the necessity for a naval force, several of the colonies had been
alive to the situation, and fitted out cruisers of their own. Even
after the Revolution had developed into a war of the first magnitude,
and after the colonies had assumed the title of states, and delegated
to Congress the duty of providing for the common defence, they still
continued to fit out their own men-of-war to protect their ports and
act as convoys for their merchant fleets. Though vessels in this
service seldom cruised far from the coast of their home colony, yet
occasionally they met the vessels of the enemy, and many sharp actions
were fought by them.

Of all the actions fought by the State cruisers, the most hotly
contested was that between the Pennsylvania cruiser "Hyder Ali," and
the British sloop-of-war "Gen. Monk." The "Hyder Ali" was a
merchantman, bought by the state just as she was about departing on a
voyage to the West Indies. She was in no way calculated for a
man-of-war; but the need was pressing, and she was pierced for eight
ports on a side, and provided with a battery of six-pounders. The
command of this vessel was given t