The British senior officer of the squadron to whom Decatur offered his sword showed his appreciation of the American’s gallantry and of his chivalrous treatment of Captain Carden, when the situations were reversed, by handing the weapon back to Decatur with the remark that he was proud to return the sword of an officer who had defended his ship so nobly.

Shortly after this misfortune news reached this country of the signing of a treaty of peace, though several encounters took place on the ocean before the tidings could reach the various ships.

Turning back to the earlier part of the war, mention must be made of another American hero, James Lawrence, who was born in Burlington, N.J., in 1781 and was active in the war with Tripoli.  He was commander of the Hornet when she captured the Peacock in an engagement which lasted only fifteen minutes, with the loss of one American killed and two wounded.  He was given the command of the frigate Chesapeake, which was repairing in Boston harbor.  The ship had gained the reputation of being unlucky, and, having already passed through several accidents, Lawrence assumed command with extreme reluctance.

Among the blockading vessels of the enemy outside of Boston was the Shannon, commanded by Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke.  She was one of the most efficient ships in the British navy, carried 38 guns and had a crew of 330 men, all well disciplined and skilled in firing guns and in fighting, while Broke himself probably had no superior as an officer.  That he was brave was proven not only by his sending a challenge to Lawrence, inviting him to come out and fight him, but by his conduct during the battle.

Captain Lawrence sailed out of Boston harbor before Broke’s challenge reached him.  He had learned that a single frigate had presumed to blockade the port, and, having been ordered to sail as soon as possible, he made unwise haste in venturing to give the Shannon battle, even though one cause was the wish to leave the port before other blockaders appeared.

[Illustration:  CAPTAIN JAMES LAWRENCE.]

The crew of the Chesapeake was inferior in every respect to that of the enemy, except that it contained ten more men.  The majority had been newly enlisted and contained many foreigners, landsmen, and objectionable sailors.  They were not only unaccustomed to the ship—­though they knew of its reputation as an unlucky one—­but were unacquainted with one another and nearly all were strangers to the officers.  The best of these were absent from illness and other causes.  Worse than all, many were in a maudlin state of drunkenness when the Chesapeake started out with flags flying to engage the well-manned Shannon.

On the way down the bay some of the Chesapeake’s crew impudently notified Lawrence that they would not fight unless they received the prize money earned a short time before.  It was a humiliating situation for the young commander, but he was virtually in the face of the enemy and he issued prize checks to the malcontents.  Well aware of the character of the foe he was about to encounter, he must have looked upon the meeting with foreboding.  Maclay uses these impressive words: