At last the English government sent men-of-war to cruise off the
principal ports of the United States to intercept American
merchant-vessels and send them to England as lawful prizes. In this
business, the _Little Belt_, a British sloop-of-war, was engaged off the
coast of Virginia in the spring of 1811, where, on the 16th of April,
she met the American frigate _President_, under Captain Ludlow, bearing
the broad pennant of Commodore Rodgers. Commodore Rodgers, being aboard
the _President_, hailed the sloop and asked:
"What sloop is that?"
A cannon-shot was his reply.
"Captain Ludlow," said the commodore, "we will teach that fellow good
manners. Are your guns in order?"
"They are."
"We have been taught a lesson by Barron's mishap. Train the guns and be
ready to fire."
With a speaking trumpet, the commodore once more hailed the sloop with:
"What sloop is that?"
This time he was greeted with a broadside.
"Fire!" cried the commodore, and the cannon of the _President_ sent a
broadside of heavy shot against the impudent stranger.
The conflict lasted only about ten minutes, when Captain Bingham, after
losing eleven killed and twenty-one wounded, gave a satisfactory answer.
The vessels parted company, the _Little Belt_ sailing for Halifax
for repairs.
It was in the year 1809 that the American brig _Dover_, one of the few
of American merchant vessels which had managed to escape the ruin of
Jefferson's embargo act, was sailing among the lesser Antilles.
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