Letter of the Secretary of the Navy in obedience to the foregoing Resolution. Navy Department, March 20, 1800. In obedience to the order of the House of Representatives of the United States of the 18th instant, the Secretary of the Navy has the honour to lay before the House a copy of Captain Truxtun's letter of the 3d of February, together with a copy of the extract from his journal referred to in the said letter, detailing the particulars of the engagement between the frigate Constellation under his command, and a heavy French ship, mounting, as he supposed, 54 guns. The Secretary has received a number of letters, too voluminous to trouble the House with, of dates both prior and subsequent to the action, which leaves no doubt on his mind that the French ship so gallantly defended against the bravery and superior skill of Captain Truxtun, is the same that arrived at Guadaloupe from France in the month of December last, called La Vengeance, mounting 50 guns or upwards. In confirmation of this opinion, the secretary takes the liberty of stating the substance of a letter received from Captain Baker, of the Delaware sloop of war, from B. H. Phillips, Esq. American consul at Curracoa, and from D. M. Clarkson, Esq. navy agent at St. Kitts. Capt. Baker, in a letter dated Curracoa, 8th February, mentions that a French ship called La Vengeance, of 54 guns, had left Guadaloupe on her return to France about the 1st of February, had a very severe action with the Constellation the following night, and arrived at Curracoa on the 6th, in a most shattered condition-that he understood she had lost one hundred and forty men in the action, and when she escaped from the Constellation, had eight feet water in the hold. Mr. Phillips, in a letter dated Curracoa the 9th February, to the Secreta. ry of State, announces the arrival there of the French ship La Vengeance, of 56 guns, bound from Guadaloupe to France, with a valuable cargo and a large sum of specie, in a very distressed situation, having lost 160 men killed and wounded, and her masts and rigging nearly all shot away, in an engagement of five hours within pistol-shot, with the Constellation. Mr. Clarkson states, in a letter dated St. Kitts, 16th February, "we are certain Captain Truxtun's gallant action was fought with La Vengeance, a French man of war of 54 guns and 500 picked men, from Guadaloupe for France." As to the conduct of any particnlar officer or other person on board the Constellation, the Secretary has no information except what is to be found in the communications from Captain Truxtun, by which, but still more by the result of this heroic action it appears, that all the officers and men on board the Constellation, must have nobly performed their duty. The praise of having pursued for many hours a ship known to be of force so greatly superior to his own, to bring her to action, and of conducting that action with so much skill as to compensate for his great inferiority of force, belongs exclusively to the gallant commander. It cannot be necessary for the Secretary to add to the eulogium bestowed by Captain Truxtun on the brave young midshipman James Jarvis, who gloriously preferred certain death to an abandonment of his post. All which is respectfully submitted. B. STODDERT, Sec. of the Navy. No. 6. Honourable Rufus King to Thomas Truxtun, Esq. dated London, 4th of February, 1801. Dear Sir, I HAVE the pleasure of sending you annexed copies of a letter, which I sometime ago received from the Master of Lloyd's, and my anThe piece of plate referred to in this correspondence, will be delivered to the particular care of the master of the ship Two Friends, which will sail in a day or two for New-York. swer. As no one has been more persuaded of the importance of our little navy, nor more gratified by its conduct in every instance, in which its gallantry has had opportunity to show itself, I beg you to be assured, that no person could receive greater satisfaction than I do, in transmitting to you these suffrages in its favour, from a nation, familiar with naval talents, and capable of appreciating the merit it so highly applauds. With great respect and esteem, I have the honour to be, (Signed) RUFUS KING. N. B. The communication from the Merchants and Underwriters of Lloyd's, directed to him, they caused to be inscribed on the urn. No. 7. Honourable John Adams, late President of the United States, "Dear Sir, The copy you have done me the honour to present to me of the Medal voted by Congress, and executed according to my direction to the Secretary of the Navy, I accept with great pleasure, not only from a personal regard to the giver, but I esteem every laurel conferred upon you for the glorious action of the first of February, 1800, as an honour done to our beloved country. From both of those motives, I have been highly gratified with the honour the gentlemen of Lloyd's Coffee House has done themselves in the handsome acknowledgment they have made of their obligation to you. we have nothing to do but get alongside of her. In a moment after we became a wreck, and she took advantage of it, after having yielded to our close and persevered attack of five hours, and after a previous chace of twelve hours. Be good enough, Sir, to present my best acknowledgments to your friend Mr. Lownes, for his obliging communication, which he rightly judged was very acceptable to my feelings. And it is grateful to find a foreigner and an enemy able to appreciate, and candid enough to declare my services." TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS. THE gentleman with the signature of G. W. F. who has favoured us with a very ingenious speculation on the Nature and Use of Wine, is respectfully thanked for his salutary cautions against the abuses of that liquor. He will permit us, however, to remark, that his description of its various adulterations, is calculated for a foreign rather than a domestic meridian. The frauds of London vintners have been amply exhibited in the records of many a Court of Justice, and it is familiar to all that a great proportion of the favourite beverage of Englishmen is manufactured anywhere, rather than at Oporto. Our scientific correspondent, who writes like a man of various reading, will find in one of ADDISON's early papers, a most admirable specimen of wit and humour on this fruitful subject. Abroad, the Judge has punished, the Wit has laughed, and the Moralist has reasoned in vain; but, in justice to our own country, it is firmly believed that when men choose to drink wine, either for their stomach's sake, or their often infirmities, or as the balm of hurt minds, or as a solace, amid cares and grief, in no region is it found in greater purity and perfection. Among those, whose peculiar traffic is in this liquor, may be enumerated some of the most respectable citizens of Philadelphia; men, who would shrink from vending poison like Shakspeare's apothecary, or the balderdash brewings of a London vintner. This number of The Port Folio is rich in the articles of Dramatic Criticism. We recommend these essays very strongly to the attention of the public. Our Literary friends at New-York and Boston are very respectfully requested to be liberal in their communications. We shall furnish letter-boxes as soon as possible. Meanwhile Essays may be left with Inskeep & Bradford, at New-York; or with Oliver C. Greenleaf, at Boston; or addressed to the Editor, No. 4, South Third-street. The Price of The Port Folio is Six Dollars per annum. PRINTED FOR BRADFORD AND INSKEEP, NO. 4, SOUTH THIRDSTREET, BY SMITH AND MAXWELL. guished services; and as you are in correspondence with him, I wish you would communicate it to him. (Signed) Yours truly, R. T. LOWNES. Benjamin Stoddert, Esq. Extract from the answer of T. Truxtun to Benjamin Stoddert, Esq. "Nothing was necessary to convince me that the French ship of war La Vengeance had struck to me, and was my prize, when the mainmast of the Constellation went over the side, and that she took advantage of the darkness of the night (the moon having gone down at about 1 A. M.) and made off, knowing I could not pursue her from my disabled situation, and the wreck being along side. In the morning at day-light (having bore up for Jamaica when cleared of the wreck, knowing I could not make, in our dismantled situation, a friendly port to windward) she was not to be seen, the weather being very hazy, I was of opinion that she had gone down; but her getting off under those circumstances was nothing uncommon. It was no more, nor indeed so much, as the escape of the Santa Anna, from Admiral Nelson's fleet off Trafalgar, after she had struck, and arriving safe at Cadiz because Lord Nelson had look-out ships stationed to guard his prizes, whereas I was alone, and in a more than crippled state. Among my official documents on this occasion which I had the honour to address to you as Secretary of the Navy under date third of February, 1800 (which documents I observe are printed in the British Naval Chronicle Vol. IV, pages 119 to 123) you will find in the circumstantial account, that I had no doubt but La Vengeance was my prize (as the captain of the French 74 L'Eole has declared) at the time my mainmast went over the side. The following are my own words officially given: "And thus as close and as sharp an action as ever was fought between two frigates, commenced and continued until within a few minutes of 1 A. M. when the enemy's fire was completely silenced, and he was again sheering off. It was at this moment that I considered him as my prize, and was trimming in the best manner I could my much-shattered sails, when I found the mainmast was totally unsupported by rigging, every shroud being shot away, and some of them in many places, so as to render stoppers useless, which, in fact, could not be applied with effect. I then gave orders for all the men to be sent up from the main gun deck, to endeavour to secure the mast, in order that we might get alongside of the enemy again as soon as possible.-But every effort was in vain, for it went over the side a few minutes after." Lieutenant Robertson, now Captain Robertson, who directed several of the carronades on the quarter deck, and whose station being near my person in this engagement, will remember that at the time the fire of La Vengeance was silenced, we were close on her weather quarter, not half pistolshot off, he observed to me in these words: "I cannot, sir, bring the carronades to bear." I replied to him, Never mind, Robertson, she is all our own, we have nothing to do but get alongside of her. In a moment after we became a wreck, and she took advantage of it, after having yielded to our close and persevered attack of five hours, and after a previous chace of twelve hours. Be good enough, Sir, to present my best acknowledgments to your friend Mr. Lownes, for his obliging communication, which he rightly judged was very acceptable to my feelings. And it is grateful to find a foreigner and an enemy able to appreciate, and candid enough to declare my services." TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS. THE gentleman with the signature of G. W. F. who has favoured us with a very ingenious speculation on the Nature and Use of Wine, is respectfully thanked for his salutary cautions against the abuses of that liquor. He will permit us, however, to remark, that his description of its various adulterations, is calculated for a foreign rather than a domestic meridian. The frauds of London vintners have been amply exhibited in the records of many a Court of Justice, and it is familiar to all that a great proportion of the favourite beverage of Englishmen is manufactured anywhere, rather than at Oporto. Our scientific correspondent, who writes like a man of various reading, will find in one of ADDISON's early papers, a most admirable specimen of wit and humour on this fruitful subject. Abroad, the Judge has punished, the Wit has laughed, and the Moralist has reasoned in vain; but, in justice to our own country, it is firmly believed that when men choose to drink wine, either for their stomach's sake, or their often infirmities, or as the balm of hurt minds, or as a solace, amid cares and grief, in no region is it found in greater purity and perfection. Among those, whose peculiar traffic is in this liquor, may be enumerated some of the most respectable citizens of Philadelphia; men, who would shrink from vending poison like Shakspeare's apothecary, or the balderdash brewings of a London vintner. This number of The Port Folio is rich in the articles of Dramatic Criticism. We recommend these essays very strongly to the attention of the public, Our Literary friends at New-York and Boston are very respectfully requested to be liberal in their communications. We shall furnish letter-boxes as soon as possible. Meanwhile Essays may be left with Inskeep & Bradford, at New-York; or with Oliver C. Greenleaf, at Boston; or addressed to the Editor, No. 4, South Third-street. The Price of The Port Folio is Six Dollars per annum. PRINTED FOR BRADFORD AND INSKEEP, NO. 4, SOUTH THIRDSTREET, BY SMITH AND MAXWELL. |