1814	Captain Gordon at Alexandria	315

field-pieces ; which, before they were beaten off, did the ship considerable injury. A second attempt was now made to destroy the Devastation by fire-vessels ; but, owing to the alacrity with which Captain Baker with the boats of the squadron went to her assistance, the American boats and fire-vessels retreated, and the ship was saved. In consequence of the Americans having sought refuge under some guns in a narrow creek, thickly wooded, and from which it was impossible to dislodge them, Captain Baker sustained a serious loss, including among the killed his second lieutenant, Charles Dickinson.

On the 5th, at noon, the wind coming fair and every suitable arrangement having been made, the Seahorse and Euryalus anchored within musket-shot of the batteries, while the whole of the prizes passed between the frigates and the shoal. The three bomb-ships, the Fairy and the Erebus, firing ; as they passed, anchored in a favourable position for facilitating, by means of their force, the further removal of the frigates. At 3 p.m., having completely silenced the fire of the American batteries, the Seahorse and Erebus cut their cables, and the whole squadron proceeded to the next position taken up by the American troops ; who had here two batteries mounting from 14 to 18 guns, on a range of cliffs about a mile in extent, and close under which the ships were obliged to pass. It was not intended to make the attack that evening ; but, the Erebus grounding within range of the batteries, the frigates and other vessels were necessarily called into action. On this occasion the fire of the Fairy produced the most decisive effect, as well as that of the Erebus, while the Devastation, Ætna, and Meteor threw their shells with admirable precision. In consequence of these vigorous measures, the American batteries, by 8 p.m., were completely silenced. On the 6th, at daylight, the British squadron again got under way ; and, so satisfied were the whole of the parties on shore that their opposition was ineffectual, that they allowed the British to pass without further molestation. On the 9th the Seahorse and her companion sailed out of the Potomac, and came to an anchor in safety at the spot whence they had weighed 23 days before.

The toil and fatigue undergone by the officers and men, and the deprivations they so cheerfully submitted to, were equalled only by their gallantry in defeating the batteries on shore, and their skill and perseverance in surmounting the difficulties of a most intricate and dangerous navigation. Happily, the loss in this daring enterprise did not exceed, on board all the vessels, seven killed, including the Fairy's lieutenant already named, and 35 wounded, including Captains Napier and Bartholomew, Lieutenant Reuben Paine, and master's mate Andrew Reid, all slightly. Of the captains and other officers associated with them, and of Lieutenants Henry King, first of the Seahorse, and Thomas Herbert, first of the Euryalus, Captain Gordon, in his

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