Comparatively few instances of piracy are reported in the newspaper of 1818. In May, the schooner Catharine and Jane, of Philadelphia, was boarded off St. Jago de Cuba, and robbed of six or seven thousand dollars in money. The crew was barbarously treated. Also, the schooner George Armistead, Gatechair, of Baltimore, was boarded and robbed by a piratical schooner and suffered to proceed.
On a date not known, the schooner Commerce was plundered, near the "Berry Islands." Captain Patterson, U.S.N., speaks of these, quite correctly, as the "Bahamas," of which they are a part.
On July 7, the schooner Eliza, Brown, was taken by the pirates off the harbor of La Vache. One man was killed and the remainder of the crew threatened. The vessel was robbed and carried into La Vache.
To these must be added the ship Emma Sophia, from Hamburg to Havana, which was boarded on December 19, by a piratical schooner of 30 tons, 1 gun, 30 men, between Bahama Bank and Salt Key Bank. The ship was sent to a small port "formed by the Florida Isles and the Martyr’s Reef," and was plundered to the tune of $5000. The captain of the pirate vessel was a Spaniard and "the worst man on board an American ship." The crew of the Emma Sophia were brutally treated and most seriously injured.
It was Mexican privateers that furnished our navy with its chief opportunities for good work, as shown by the following letters:
New Orleans, August 10th, 1818.
Sir: I have the honor to report to you that Lieut. Comt. Cunningham, Comg. U.S. schooner Fire Brand detained and has sent in for adjudication the armed Schooner La Maison sailing under the Mexican flag mounting five carriage Guns, a complete equipment of small arms & Forty men, commanded by a man named La Maison, belonging to this city, who has been for some years depredating upon the Commerce in the Gulf of Mexico, & several times indicted by the Grand Jury in this City. This Vessel was Captured the latter part of last year from the Spaniards by the Schooner Eugene under Mexican Colours commanded and owned by this La Maison, sent to Galveston where she remained ‘til a few months ago, when La Maison left this place, proceeded to Galveston and fitted her out as a Cruiser under the Mexican flag with a Commission bearing date July 16th, 1815, purporting to have been granted by the Supreme Mexican Congress. The small arms, provisions, Stores & munitions of War were taken from this place.
On the 28th Ultimo the U.S. Ketch Surprise Lieut. Comt. McKeever Captured close in with the land of chem. ore (sic) Caminada, a small Schooner of about 10 Tons under the Mexican Flag from Galveston, armed with one 3 pdr pivot mounted, having on Board when captured 8 men—one of the Lafittes (to whom she belongs) with Six men and some merchandise had been landed from her at Caminada the preceding Evening. The Fire Brand & Surprise will proceed again to sea immediately, the Enterprise is not out.
I have the honor to be
With great respect
Your Obt. Sevt.
Danl. T. Patterson
The Hon.
Benjamin W. Crowninshield
Secretary of the Navy
Washington
Patterson’s force made us in activity for its lack of magnitude:
New Orleans, November 18th, 1818.
Sir: I have the honor to report to you the capture by the U.S. Ketch Surprise Lt. Comt. McKeever of a Small Schooner in Ballast under Mexican Colours coming from Galveston & Bound to this place, having on board the ex French General Humbert, who had for many months been exercising the Office of Governor of that place & its dependencies, and as such issuing commissions to Eleven Privateers, a list of which I herein enclose—the above mentioned Vessel was also Sailing under his Commission. On Board of her were a number of French emigrants from the French settlement of Camp D’Asile, which has been abandoned & the inhabitants dispersed in consequence of the orders of our Government as Communicated to them by Mr. Graham. From everything I can learn, a total abandonment of Galveston by the Piratical Association will immediately take place if it has not already, in consequence of the frequent capture of their cruisers by U.S. Vessels, the great difficulty & loss they experience in introducing their Captured goods into the United States & the seductive invitation of Aury at old Providence, whither they will repair & under his Commissions infest the West Indies. The Fire Brand is on our Western Coast & will I hope bring in for trial some of the vessels stated in the within list. The Schooner Captured by her & reported by my letter of 10th Augt. Ultimo is the last mentioned one on that list.
I have the honor to be
With great respect
Your Obt. Sevt.
Danl. T. Patterson
The Honble the Secretary of the Navy
Washington
(Enclosure to Captain Patterson’s letter of November 18.)
Notes des Commissions Mexicaines en Course conceder par le General Amble Humbert aux Capitaines des Corsairs ci dessus…
Capitaine W.W. Mitchel, 1 gun
Ditto Ene Moutteon, 1 gun
Ditto Tn Michel, 1 gun
Ditto (Thoms Williams), Ketch Surprise, 1 gun
Ditto D. Andres, 2 guns
Ditto Franco Thomasy, 2 guns
Ditto Frank, 2 guns
Ditto Andre (Italien), 2 guns
Ditto Ajustin (Plusieurs), 3 guns
Ditto Gambi, 2 guns
Ditto Maison, 2 guns (Captured by the Fire Brand)
Toutes les Commissions donnees aux dites Capitaines, en arrivant dans ce port de Galveston donnerons un quincieme de la valeur de leur prizes qui feront au Genl. Amable Humbert, pour les avoir conceder les Commissions Mexicaines.
New Orleans, December 2d, 1818
Sir: Enclosed I do myself the honor to lay before you Lt. Comdt. Cunningham’s report of his last cruise which will inform you of the state of things at Galveston, and the continued course of Piracy & Smuggling which is pursued by the Lafittes; the Fire Brand will again proceed to the West so soon as she has received a supply of provision.
The necessity of an additional force of two small vessels is evident from this report—had I the Lynx & the prize Schooner La Maison, which is admirably adapted for this Station & will be sold very shortly, I could very soon break up the Galveston association, suppress smuggling & protect the Revenue. The Brigs draw too much water for the western coast in consequence of the numerous shoals, and they cannot make a harbor west of the Balize should their safety render it necessary.
The goods captured in the Boats as reported by Lt. Comdt. Cunningham are deposited in the Custom House & libeled under the Revenue laws.
I have the honor to be
With great respect
Your Obt. Sevt.
Danl. T. Patterson
The Honble
The Secretary of the Navy
Washington
The following is Lieutenant Cunningham’s report, mentioned in Patterson’s letter:
U.S. Schooner "Fire Brand"
S. West Pass 22d Nov. 1818
Sir: I have the honor to inform you of this vessel’s arrival at this place from the westward; agreeable to your instructions of the 25th Sept. I proceeded off Galveston, examining all the Bays & Bayous on my way down, but from the almost constant blows, I was not able to lay off that place a sufficient length of time to ascertain minutely the vessels that were in Galveston, but from certain information and that too which may be relied on, the Hector (or any other vessel answering to her description) has never been there. The Felucca which you mentioned in your order of the 5th Oct. had not left Galveston on the 10th inst. but was reported to sail in company with a large prize Schooner, both full of select dry goods and said to be very valuable; all the property of Lafitte who premeditates sailing in them with the intention of smuggling them in. Their lading consists in part of the Cargoes of three different prizes carried in by the Privateer Black Snake or Colibra owned by Lafitte about the middle of last month. This vessel has again sailed on another Cruise, but there are several prize vessels still remaining and Lafitte is the sole person in power; he is civil and Military Governor and Chief Judge, and in fact makes laws, and governs at his own discretion, without any person to oppose his power. He resides on board an old prize brig.
On the 3d Inst. I fell in with, off the River Sabine, two boats with a small quantity of dry goods and Spanish wine in demijohns, these Boats being destitute of papers and the whole intended for an illicit trade I detained them; and on the 10th and 15th Inst. Captured two other boats under similar circumstances, but in consequence of their having several sick on board, and some females, and the Fire Brand having but a small quantity of water on board, finding it impossible to procure any on the Coast, wishing to extend the cruise of the vessel as long as possible; and having no place to accommodate females I thought it most prudent, and advisable to suffer two of the boats to proceed with the prisoners to the Calcasieu settlements; those boats had been kept in a regular and illicit trade between Galveston and Calcasieu, and there is an immense traffic and smuggling carried on between the two places, tending to defraud the U. states of its just revenues, and by persons concerned in a more or less degree with Lafitte…
Sir,
I have the Honor to be respectfully
Your Obt. Servt.
Signed Thos. S. Cunningham
Commodore Danl. T. Patterson
Comg. U.S. Naval Forces
New Orleans
Affairs at this time in the Gulf of Mexico were in a decidedly chaotic condition, due to the revolt of the Spanish colonies and to Spain’s efforts to maintain her supremacy. Especially was Florida or, as then spoken of, the Floridas, east and west, thorn in our side concerning which President Monroe spoke in measured but forcible terms, as follows:
A state of things has existed in the Floridas, the tendency of which has been obvious to all who have paid the slightest attention to the progress of affairs in that quarter. Throughout the whole of those provinces to which the Spanish title extends, the government of Spain has scarcely been felt. Its authority has been confined almost exclusively to the walls of Pensacola and St. Augustine, within which only small garrisons have been maintained. Adventurers from every country, fugitives from justice, and absconding slaves have found an asylum there. Several tribes of Indians, strong in the number of their warriors, remarkable for their ferocity, and whose settlements extend to our limits, inhabit those provinces. These different hordes of people, connected together, disregarding, on the one side, the authority of Spain, and protected on the other, by an imaginary line which separates Florida from the United States, have violated our laws prohibiting the introduction of slaves, have practiced various frauds on our revenue, and committed every kind of outrage on our peaceable citizens, which their proximity to us enabled them to perpetrate. The invasion of Amelia Island last year by a small band of adventurers, not exceeding one hundred and fifty in number, who wrested it from the inconsiderable Spanish force stationed there, and held it several months, during which, a single feeble effort only was made to recover it, which failed, clearly proves how completely extinct the Spanish authority had become, as the conduct of those adventurers, while in possession of the island, as distinctly shows the pernicious purposes for which their combination had been formed.
This country had, in fact, become the treatre of every species of lawless adventure. With little population of its own, the Spanish authority almost extinct, and the colonial governments in a state of revolution, having no pretentions to it, and sufficiently employed in their own concerns, it was, in a great measure, derelict, and the object of cupidity to every adventurer. A system of buccaneering was rapidly organizing over it, which menaced, in its consequences, the lawful commerce of every nation, and particularly of the United States: while it presented a temptation to every people, on whose seduction its success principally depended.
The purchase of Florida in the succeeding year gave our government a control over this section which enabled it to put an end to an intolerable nuisance.
1819-1820
The depredations on our commerce in West Indian waters, under the flimsy pretext of the exercise of belligerent rights by Spain’s possessions on this continent, now in general revolt, had become so extensive in number and frequently so barbarous in their execution, that Congress was compelled, not only to take cognizance of them, but also to provide for putting a stop to them by force. This it did in an act approved March 3, 1819.
One might suppose that so threatening a declaration would have caused at least a notable diminution of these nefarious practices, but if it had any effect at all the records about to be quoted bear no such evidence. Rather do they show redoubled efforts on the part of the offenders and a corresponding increase in our naval activity. Were piracy to be graphically represented as a curve, we should find ourselves approaching the sharp upward trend leading to a maximum. The events of the year 1819 speak for themselves.
The alarming extent to which depredations on the commerce of the world were at that time carried by adventurers of all nations, using the flags of the new states of South America, in vessels fitted out ostensibly to cruise against the ships of Spain, but extending their predatory visitations to the ships of other countries, and passing, with great facility and in very many cases, from the character of privateers to that of pirates, must still be well remembered by many. The Republics of Buenos Ayres and Venezuela had given most encouragement to these predatory enterprises; they had issued commissions for privateers, without limit or qualification, to adventurers who thronged from all parts of the world to their ports, which they enriched by an influx of spoil. The question, too, of blockade, which has been an instrument of plunder in these hands of the most powerful nations, was turned by these rising nations to the same unprincipled uses. Our commerce extended over the world, and, especially in the South American seas, had suffered most severely. The government had determined to put an end to a system which could no longer be endured. But, in effecting this desirable object, it was desirous of not wounding or giving offence to nations whose outset in their career the United States had been the first to hail and recognize, and whose friendship they were desirous of cultivating. To put down a practice which, in interest and honor, we could no longer tolerate, without creating enemies, was a task of no trifling delicacy, requiring in the agent judgment, energy, and discretion. It was this duty that Mr. Thompson was now desirous of entrusting to Captain (O.H.) Perry. Such force as he might deem necessary was to be placed at his disposal, and he was to go out in a diplomatic as well as in a military character, receiving extra compensation for his diplomatic services from the department of state, under whose orders he was to be placed for that portion of his duties.
…He learned that it would be necessary to visit Angostura, more than three hundred miles up the Orinoco; and as the John Adams would be unable to pass the bar at the mouth of the river, over which there is only sixteen feet water, he wrote to the secretary, then at New York, to suggest the expediency of accompanying the John Adams by a vessel of lighter draught. By return of mail, the schooner Nonsuch was placed at his disposal for this service…
Proceeding on their course, the two vessels arrived, on the fifteenth of July, at the entrance of the Orinoco, when the commodore shifted his flag to the Nonsuch, and ordered the John Adams to Port Spain, distant about a hundred and fifty miles, to await his return. Having received a pilot outside the bar, the Nonsuch crossed and commenced the tedious ascent of the river, having more than three hundred miles to run against the current…
In Perry’s diary are recorded the events of this expedition up to the time he fell ill. Of his interview, on July 28, with the Vice President of Venezuela, he says:
I then furnished Mr. Zea with the two acts of our Congress with regard to neutrality and piracy, and demanded indemnity for various spoliations, particularly the unjust seizure of American property by the schooner Brutus, commanded by Nicholas Joly, under the Amelia Island flag, which property had been condemned illegally, and sold within the territory of Venezuela. I also explained the view of the government with regard to privateers, and that commissions issued to them in blank were considered illegal. I asked also for an official list of those commissioned by Venezuela, that I might forward it to our government.
After what seemed an interminable delay,
On Wednesday, the eleventh of August, Perry at length received from the Venezuelan secretary of state a reply to a note addressed by him to the Vice-president, claiming indemnity for the vessels and property belonging to the citizens of the United States, illegally captured by the privateers and cruisers of the republic, and condemned within its territory. In this reply the principle of restitution was admitted, and promise was made of an early fulfillment of its obligation by the republic. The vice-president had previously pledged himself, on the behalf of the republic, that its cruisers and privateers would henceforth be restricted within narrower limits, and, by holding itself responsible for illegal captures, had contracted a motive of interest as well as duty to restrict them closely to the admitted rights of belligerents.
Detained by certain unavoidable formalities, it was not until the 15th of August that he weighed anchor and dropped down the river. He had succeeded in his mission, but at the cost of his life. He died of yellow fever at sea on August 23, on board of the Nonsuch.
On July 9, the brig Pedler, of New York, was taken in lat. 34° 20’, lon. 54°, and robbed of many articles, after which the vessel was suffered to proceed. Another prize of the pirates was the schooner Blazing Star, Captain Snow, of Baltimore, which was taken near the Moro and plundered. We hear of still another—the schooner Adeline, Captain Ellis, which was boarded off the Florida Keys by a piratical boat, which robbed her of all she had on board and then left her.
Captain Patterson writes from New Orleans on July 17, 1819, as follows:
Sir: It is with feelings of mortification I do myself the honor to report to you that by the mail of yesterday morning from the Balize information was received here of most daring acts of Piracy having been committed on the 10th inst. in this River and only a few miles above the Block House, on several merchant Vessels by a party of armed men, nine in number, and in an open Boat. What renders this Robbery most extraordinary is that it was committed in open day and on several different Vessels, all in sight of and not far distant from each other, and that no opposition was attempted, though the Crews and Passengers of those Vessels must very greatly have exceeded the Pirates in number and force.
This intelligence was received by me at 10 o’clock in this morning, and at 3 p.m. a Force in fleet rowing Boats of 28 officers and men were dispatched in pursuit of the Pirates by way of the River, and thro’ the Lakes and Bayous towards Barataria, & orders sent off for the Bull Dog to proceed via the Chandeleur & Britton Isles to the Balize. One of these routes they must take. Presuming it will meet your approval, I have ventured to authorize the officers sent in pursuit to offer a reward if found necessary for a discovery of their retreat; that may lead to their apprehension, not exceeding three Hundred dollars.
This piratical boat was unquestionably manned and armed from this place, nor is it practicable effectually to prevent such acts except a Vessel of War is stationed constantly in the River at the Point where the River branches off into its several openings to the sea; and so to station a Vessel during the Summer and Fall months of the year would be to condemn officers and men to almost certain Death. This is asserted from actual experience and not from mere supposition, viz., the Ship Louisiana in 1813 and Brig Aetna 1814…
I have the honor to be,
With Great Respect,
Your Obt. Servt.,
Danl. T. Patterson
Honbl. Smith Thompson
Secretary of the Navy,
Washington.
It would seem as if Patterson’s boat expedition was very sluggish in getting started. Naturally, the bird had flown before the hunters arrived.
What is surprising in the foregoing episode is the same supineness of officers and men on board merchant ships in the face of piratical attacks, which we have had occasion to notice before. A bold front and a few volleys of musketry would frequently have driven off the ruffians, especially in this case where naval assistance was neither remote nor reluctant.
The Revenue Service worked conjointly with the navy in suppressing piracy, or independently, as circumstances dictated. Thus, on August 31, 1819, the revenue cutter Alabama captured a piratical schooner below New Orleans.
Again, later in the year, she distinguishes herself:
The United States Revenue Cutter Alabama, Captain Loomis, on her way to her station off the Mississippi, captured a piratical schooner of 2 guns and 25 men fitted out at New Orleans and commanded by a fellow named Le Fage…He had commission in blank signed by Humbert, Governor of Texas.
A week later, the same paper prints the statement that this vessel belonged to Jean Lafitte and was commissioned at Galveston.
General Long, Commander of the adventurers in Texas, is said to have approved of her equipment.
Also, during August of this year, the revenue cutter Louisiana captured the privateer Le Brave, but at just what point is not stated.
Barataria was much on the minds of the New Orleans community, and very naturally, since they saw the work of its gang at close hand. They were outraged in spirit and harmed in pocket through the illicit trade which affected seriously all forms of legitimate business. The impatience of the citizens of that city with the slackness of the federal government can well be understood. It is thus expressed in an extract of a letter dated New Orleans, August 4, 1819:
We have received a report in this city from Baratarians that the renegade Mitchell has collected together upwards of 150 desperadoes and that he has declared they will all perish within their entrenchments before they will surrender to my force…I hope they will wake from their slumbers in Washington and try to put a stop to such plunders at our very doors, etc.
It will be observed in reading of piratical activities that a number of privateers were operating at this time under what would now be called Argentine colors. It is mentioned here merely to draw attention to the fact that the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea were favorite waters for such operations, even by vessels purporting to hail from very remote parts.
The disposition of his forces is reported by Commodore Patterson, under date of September 29, 1819 as follows:
Hornet cruising between the Balize and the coast of Florida; Lynx between Balize and Sabine Pass, and as far as Galveston; Ketch Surprise in the Mississippi River; Bull Dog and four gunboats at Barataria (42 officers and men); one launch with 12-pounder carronade and 13 men to be stationed in Lake Borgne.
The expedition, under Master Commandant Louis Alexis, returned after exploring the numerous bayous between the Mississippi and Barataria, and "destroying the piratical establishments." Three prisoners were taken, one of whom was the man who steered the boat that plundered vessels in the river. There was also captured, "concealed in an unfrequent bayou," a small cutter sloop mounting one long 6-pounder.
Lafitte comes to the front again about this time and in a position which bears the marks of official sanction. On October 7, 1819, Governor James Long, of the Republic of Texas, appointed him Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Island of St. Louis and Port of Galveston, with "power to grant letters of marque and reprisal against the King and subjects of Spain, to all vessels within his government."
The United States schooner Lynx kept up the good work by taking, in the Gulf of Mexico, two schooners and two boats, on October 24, and a boat in Galveston Bay on November 5. The prizes belonged to Lafitte’s squadron.
Such small successes were without material influence on the situation wherein piracy was indistinguishable from privateering. The feeble efforts of our government were wholly inadequate to cope with this vexatious and humiliating state of affairs. No wonder that public sentiment began to be aroused and to find expression in print, of which the following is an example:
The West India seas are still infested by pirates of the most abandoned character. They are of all nations, and respect no flag. Their chief cruising ground appears to be off the southern coast of Hayti, and generally in open boats, which shows that their rendezvous must be on some unfrequented parts of that Island. But there is no reason to believe that they are in any manner sanctioned by the local authorities.
We are disgusted too with the frequent account of villainous acts committed under the independent flags. It is time that some understanding existed with the patriot governments in this respect. We are sure that they do not sanction such abuses. Some means should be adopted to ascertain what vessels are really authorized by them, which presumes that there is some security for their good behavior. At present, any set of depredators seem to use what flag they please, making commissions for themselves or accepting them from any one. If some remedy is not fallen upon to repress this growing evil, the United States and Great Britain and other maritime and commercial powers, will be compelled to defend themselves, by cruising for and several handling these violators of the law.
It would seem from the following note that Lafitte did not enjoy a monopoly of seizures:
December 9—The brig Planter, Hart, was taken off Cape St. Antonio, and plundered by a pirate. Vessel given up.
Nevertheless, it was the work of the Galveston band which excited the most ire, as can be seen from this extract:
The most rascally piracies are still committed off the mouths of the Mississippi, always accompanied with savage abuse and often with murder. We trust that no longer delay will be made to put an end to these things. There should be a floating force on the station sufficient to ferret out the villains and bring them to punishment with a strong arm.
On December 18, the ship Corsair, Captain Robinson, was reported captured at 11 o’clock by an insurgent vessel, the name and class of which is not known. And so the year 1819 closes with piracy rampant and the American people just awakening to the necessity of prompt and efficient action on a scale commensurate with the demands of the hour.
During the years 1819 and 1820, piracy took on larger proportions. Tardily aroused, public sentiment in the United States now began to find definite expression in appeals to the government for vigorous action. It was high time to prod the authorities in Washington for, without suitable vessels in adequate numbers, our poor little navy was quite powerless to stem the rising tide of disorder and rapine. That it did its best with the slender resources at its command may be confidently asserted, but the depredations on our commerce had grown to such portentous dimensions that nothing less than a national campaign—of education at home and widespread activity abroad—could possibly suffice. The views of the business world are thus modestly presented to the administration in Washington:
Boston, December 1, 1819
To James Monroe, President of the United States of America, etc.
The undersigned ask leave to lay before you the annexed statement of facts, relating to piracies and unlawful acts of armed vessels, committed, in many instances near our coast, or in the W. Indies seas, and some of them, they regret to add, by vessels out of our own ports.
Your memorialists are aware that this subject has already engaged the attention of government, and it is with this view of cooperating with them in checking the progress of this alarming evil, that they have collected this list of piracies, supposing that, from their connection with commerce, more facts of this nature came to their knowledge than to that of the members of government.
Whether the late unparalleled increase of piracies is to be ascribed to defects in the laws of civilized nations, or the laws not being enforced, or to other causes, it is alike certain that it is an alarming and growing evil, which a just regard to the interest of commerce, no less than to the moral state of society, requires to be forthwith repressed.
Reposing, as they do, with full confidence in the wisdom of the administration, they abstain from offering any comments or opinions, not doubting that, after having their attention called to the facts, the government will pursue such measures as the nature of the case requires.
Arnold Welles,
President of the Mass. Fire and Marine Ins. Com.
Thomas Perkins,
President of the Union Insurance Company.
Jno. T. Apthorp,
President of the Suffolk Insurance Company.
James Hall,
President of the N.E.M. Ins. Company.
Nath. Goddard,
President of the Merchants’ Ins. Company.
Francis J. Oliver,
President of the American Ins. Company.
While pirates were chiefly active in the Gulf of Mexico, they did not hesitate to ply their trade farther afield, as they are reported to have been off the coast of Florida.
As in the previous years, more vessels seem to have been lost during the warm months than during the winter, probably again because a number of our ships came north to escape yellow fever. The list of captures during this year is shockingly long.
Aug. 19—The brig Clarissa, Coffin, of Providence, was boarded off Point Yankos, and plundered.
Aug. 19—The ship Orleans, Snell, was boarded by a pirate off Abaco, and robbed of goods to the amount of sixty thousand dollars.
Aug. 22—The brig Mary Joan, Purrington, was taken and plundered, the crew shockingly beaten, and lives threatened. Vessel given up.
Aug. 25—The brig Zealous, Saunders, of Boston, was boarded by a pirate near Havana, and robbed.
Aug. 28—The brig Clarissa Ann, Green, of New Orleans, was robbed off Cape St. Antonio, of goods to a large amount.
Aug. 30—The schooner Milo, Hatch, was taken and robbed.
The schooner Experiment, Paine, was boarded and robbed off Cape St. Antonio.
The brig Caledonia, Warner, of Philadelphia, was plundered in the harbor of Havana of a number of articles.
The Ajax, of Philadelphia, was robbed in the same place of one thousand dollars.
Sept. 20—The brig Mechanic, Purrington, was boarded near Matanzas, and robbed. The captain was hung up three times, the mate twice, and the cook once, besides being bruised and stabbed in a shocking manner. The rest of the crew were more or less abused.
The schooner Milo, of Bath, was taken at the same time and plundered.
The brig George, of Boston, was taken and robbed; the crew abused.
The brig Collector, of Rhode Island, was taken—the crew beaten and put on shore seven leagues from Havana.
The schooner Louisa, Sherman, of Newport, was boarded off Matanzas, and robbed.
Oct. 2—The schooner Rebecca Ann, Southcomb, of Baltimore, was boarded near Porto Rico, and robbed of cabin-stores, &c.
Oct. 8—The brig Cobbosseecontee, Jackson, was boarded near the Moro, and plundered; the mate beaten and hung until nearly dead, and the captain beaten and stabbed. Suffered to proceed.
Oct. 16—The brig Harriet, Dimond, was robbed off Cape St. Antonio, of four thousand dollars in specie, and some of her cargo. The captain was hung till almost dead. Vessel given up.
The schooner Frances, Foster, was boarded and robbed by a pirate. The captain and crew were used in a savage manner. Vessel given up.
The brig Frances, Drummond, was boarded by a pirate and robbed.
Nov. 7—The schooner Hiram, Lambert, was plundered off Cape St. Antonio. Vessel given up.
Nov. 7—The schooner Mary, Sutton, was robbed of her whole cargo, off Cape St. Antonio. Vessel given up.
In comparison with such an array, the official report of naval operations in southern waters for this year is sorry enough reading. It is taken from a letter of Secretary Smith Thompson to the President of the United States, dated "Navy Department, December 27, 1820."
I have the honor to state, that, for the protection of our commerce in the West India islands, and parts adjacent, the brig Enterprize, of 14 guns, schooner Nonsuch, of 8 guns, schooner Lynx, of 6 guns, and Gun Vessels Nos. 158 and 168, have been, during the present year, constantly cruising in the Gulf of Mexico, among the West India Islands, and along the southern coast of Florida and the United States; and in addition to this permanent force, all the ships and vessels of war proceeding from the United States or returning to the same from the Mediterranean, coast of Africa, or elsewhere, have instructions to take their route through the West India Islands, to afford protection to our commerce in that quarter, and to give efficacy to the several acts of Congress for the suppression of the slave trade and capture of piratical vessels.
A realization of the magnitude and steady growth of the depredations on our shipping is complacently lacking from this official statement. Piracy was indeed on the upward curve. A brig here, a schooner there, a few gunboats now and then and a perfunctory stop in the West Indies by our men-of-war returning from abroad, were about as effective as a teacup full of water thrown upon a burning dwelling. The American people had to be thoroughly irritated before demanding of the government that piracy be crushed. We hear the same story at practically every crisis in our national life.