Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall sp3.djvu/427

  of the occurrence to which we alluded.

“In the month of July, 1813, Captain (James) Sanders, with his frigate the Junon, and the ship-sloop Martin, Captain Humphrey Fleming Senhouse, of 16 carronades, 24-pounders, and 2 long nines, was stationed in Delaware bay. On the 29th, about 8, the Martin grounded on the outer ridge of Crow’s Shoal, within 2½ miles from the beach; and, it being a falling tide, could not be floated again before the return of flood. The water ran so shallow, that it became necessary to shore the ship up; and the same cause prevented the Junon from afterwards anchoring nearer to the Martin, than a mile and three quarters. This afforded to the flotilla of American gun-boats and block-vessels then in the Delaware, a fine opportunity to destroy the British sloop. They accordingly, ten in number, advanced, and deliberately took up an anchorage about a mile and three quarters distant, directly on the Martin’s beam, on the opposite side to the Junon, and so as to bring the latter in a line with the sloop. Thus, by anchoring at the distance of three miles from the frigate, which, it was well known, could not approach nearer on account of the shoals, the American gun-boats had no force but the Martin’s to contend with.

“All this while, crowds of citizens, on foot, on horseback, and in carriages, were hastening to the beach, in the hope to see verified in the speedy destruction of the Martin, the wonderful accounts they had heard of American prowess on the ocean. The Martin got her top-gallant-masts struck, and her sails furled; and, although he despaired of saving his ship from so formidable a force. Captain Senhouse resolved to defend her to the last extremity. The gun-boats commenced the fire, and the Martin returned it, at first with her carronades; but finding they could not reach. Captain Senhouse had the two 9-pounders transported from their ports, one to the top-gallant forecastle, the other to the poop. Between these two guns, and all the guns of the American flotilla, was the fire maintained for nearly two hours, without the slightest injury to the Martin. At about 2 the sternmost gun-boat in the line having separated a little from the