[Illustration:  THE OFFICERS OF THE “CHESAPEAKE” OFFERING THEIR SWORDS.]

In the wild, savage fighting, where everything was so mixed that an American lieutenant joined the British boarders under the impression that they were his own men, Captain Broke was fearfully wounded, though he afterward recovered.  The Chesapeake, with a loss of 47 killed and 99 wounded to 24 killed and 59 wounded of the enemy, became the prize of the Shannon.

CHAPTER XV.

David Porter—­A Clever Feat—­Numerous Captures by the Essex—­Her Remarkable Cruise in the Pacific—­Her Final Capture.

David Porter was born in 1780 and died in 1842.  He came from a seafaring family, and, entering the navy at an early age, did gallant service in the war with France and Tripoli.  He was the father of David Dixon Porter, who, on account of his brilliant record in the war for the Union, was made vice-admiral in 1866 and admiral in 1870.

The elder Porter was appointed captain of the Essex at the beginning of the War of 1812, and, leaving New York, started on a cruise after the British 36-gun Thetis, which was on her way to South America with a large amount of specie aboard.  She took several unimportant prizes, and, failing to meet the Thetis, turned northward and on the night of July 10, 1812, sighted a fleet of merchantmen.

The night was cloudy and dark and Porter with a great deal of cleverness pushed his way among the vessels without his identity being suspected.  He had drawn in his guns, hidden most of his men and done all he could to give the Essex the appearance of being an inoffensive merchantman.  His object was to learn whether the escort was too powerful to be attacked.  He opened conversation with the captain of one of the vessels, who, unsuspicious of his identity, informed him that the fleet was carrying a thousand soldiers from Barbados to Quebec, and that the convoying vessel was the Minerva, a 32-gun frigate.  In addition, several of the merchantmen were heavily armed.

Captain Porter’s next act was still more audacious.  He glided forward among the fleet and hailed the captain of a second vessel, but the latter became suspicious, and was on the point of signalling to the escort the appearance of a stranger among them, when Porter thrust out the muzzles of twenty cannon and warned him that if he failed to keep perfect silence and follow in his wake he would blow him out of the water.  The English captain obeyed, and Porter extricated his prize with such astonishing skill that not a vessel took the alarm.  When a safe point was reached, Porter found that his prize was a brig with about two hundred British soldiers on board.

Having succeeded so well, Porter again returned to the fleet for another capture.  But by this time day was breaking and the character of his vessel was discovered.  It being useless to attempt further disguise, he cleared for action and offered the Minerva battle.  The captain, however, deemed it his duty to remain with his convoy, and continued his course to Quebec, while Porter headed southward, afterward restoring his prize to its owners for a liberal ransom.