THE CHESAPEAKE CAPTURED BY THE SHANNON No event in the Chesapeake's career contradicts the verdict of the seamen that she was hoodooed. After lying blockaded in Boston long enough to take on an entirely new crew, she sallied out to give battle to her enemy, the Shannon. On June 1, 1813, at 5:50 p.m. the fight began. The ships were evenly matched in size and armament, but there was no comparison between the disciplined, efficient gallantry of the British and the unskilful but courageous tactics of the Americans. After seven minutes of broadside firing, the Chesapeake's sails were crippled. She drifted with her bows to the Shannon and her decks were raked from end to end. As soon as the vessels were grappled together the British captain boarded, at the head of his men. Almost simultaneously, Lawrence fell and was borne below, crying: "Don't give up the ship! Fight her till she sinks!" But the fight was already lost. The British buried Lawrence with all the honors due to a brave but unfortunate commander and gentleman. The previous ill-fortune of the Chesapeake is told in the Encyclopedic Index, in the article entitled " Chesapeake, The." of the works. At Old Point Comfort, at the mouth of James River, and at the Rip-Rap, on the opposite shore in the Chesapeake Bay, materials to a vast amount have been collected; and at the Old Point some progress has been made in the construction of the fortification, which is on a very extensive scale. The work at Fort Washington, on this river, will be completed early in the next spring, and that on the Pea Patch, in the Delaware, in the course of the next season. Fort Diamond, at the Narrows, in the harbor of New York, will be finished this year. The works at Boston, New York, Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, and Niagara have been in part repaired, and the coast of North Carolina, extending south to Cape Fear, has been examined, as have likewise other parts of the coast eastward of Boston. Great exertions have been made to push forward these works with the utmost dispatch possible; but when their extent is considered, with the important purposes for which they are intended-the defense of the whole coast, and, in consequence, of the whole interior-and that they are to last for ages, it will be manifest that a well-digested plan, founded on military principles, connecting the whole together, combining security with economy, could not be prepared without repeated examinations of the most exposed and difficult parts, and that it would also take considerable time to collect the materials at the several points where they would be required. From all the light that has been shed on this subject I am satisfied that every favorable anticipation which has been formed of this great undertaking will be verified, and that when completed it will afford very great if not complete protection to our Atlantic frontier in the event of another war-a protection sufficient to counterbalance in a single campaign with an enemy powerful at sea the expense of all these works, without taking into the estimate the saving of the lives of so many of our citizens, the protection of our towns and other property, or the tendency of such works to prevent war. Our military positions have been maintained at Belle Point, on the Arkansas, at Council Bluffs, on the Missouri, at St. Peters, on the Mississippi, and at Green Bay, on the upper Lakes. Commodious barracks have already been erected at most of these posts, with such works as were necessary for their defense. Progress has also been made in opening communications between them and in raising supplies at each for the support of the troops by their own labor, particularly those most remote. With the Indians peace has been preserved and a progress made in carrying into effect the act of Congress making an appropriation for their civilization, with the prospect of favorable results. As connected equally with both these objects, our trade with those tribes is thought to merit the attention of Congress. In their original state game is their sustenance and war their occupation, and if they find no employment from civilized powers they destroy each other. Left to themselves their extirpation is inevitable. By a judicious regulation of our trade with them we supply their wants, administer to their comforts, and gradually, as the game retires, draw them to us. By maintaining posts far in the interior we acquire a more thorough and direct control over them, without which it is confidently believed that a complete change in their manners can never be accomplished. By such posts, aided by a proper regulation of our trade with them and a judicious civil administration over them, to be provided for by law, we shall, it is presumed, be enabled not only to protect our own settlements from their savage incursions and preserve peace among the several tribes, but accomplish also the great purpose of their civilization. Considerable progress has also been made in the construction of ships of war, some of which have been launched in the course of the present year. Our peace with the powers on the coast of Barbary has been preserved, but we owe it altogether to the presence of our squadron in the Mediterranean. It has been found equally necessary to employ some of our vessels for the protection of our commerce in the Indian Sea, the Pacific, and along the Atlantic coast. The interests which we have depending in those quarters, which have been much improved of late, are of great extent and of high importance to the nation as well as to the parties concerned, and would undoubtedly suffer if such protection was not extended to them. In execution of the law of the last session for the suppression of the slave trade some of our public ships have also been employed on the coast of Africa, where several captures have already been made of vessels engaged in that disgraceful traffic. JAMES MONROE. SPECIAL MESSAGES. To the Senate of the United States: DECEMBER 12, 1820. In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 6th of December, requesting that the agent employed under the act entitled "An act authorizing the purchase of fire engines and building houses for the safekeeping of the same" should report in the manner stated in the said resolution his conduct in execution of the said act, I now transmit to the Senate a report from the agent, which communicates all the information which has been desired. To the Senate of the United States: JAMES MONROE. DECEMBER 14, 1820. I submit to the consideration of the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the ratification, the following treaties, concluded with the several Indian tribes therein mentioned since the last session of Congress, with their documents, viz: With the Weas, Kickapoos, Chippeways, Ottawas, Choctaws, and Mahas; and also a treaty with the Kickapoos amended as proposed by a resolution of the Senate at their last session. To the House of Representatives: JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, December 14, 1820. In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st November last, requesting the President to lay before the House information relating to the progress and expenditures of the commissioners under the fifth, sixth, and seventh articles of the treaty of Ghent, I now transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with documents containing all the information in the possession of that Department requested by the resolution. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, January 1, 1821. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 22d of November last, requesting the President to inform that House what naval force has been stationed for the protection of the commerce of our citizens in the West India Islands and parts adjacent during the present year, and whether any depredations by pirates or others upon the property of citizens of the United States engaged in such commerce have been reported to our Government, I now submit for the information of the House a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with accompanying documents, which contains all the information in the possession of the Government required by that resolution. To the House of Representatives: JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, January 4, 1821. I communicate to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, which, with the papers accompanying it, contains all the information in the possession of the Executive requested by a resolution of the House of the 4th December last, on the subject of the African slave trade. To the House of Representatives: JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, January 4, 1821. In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th of December last, requesting the President of the United States to |