Hide Article Text (OCR)
pOMT PORTER'S, squadron. •Tbela st . accolitils from.-\Capt.' Porter: furnish the melancholy intelligence of the death’ bf'0eut. Gem mo ndatj t )Vm. :. 11. Cocke, commaoding.the U.y S; schooner Eo'x,;: The circurnEtauces ■ which;produ-it:od so:lamentable a- .result, appear, by the correspondence between Capt. Por. ter and the .Captnir General of . Porto Rico occasioned by the event, to be 'as • follovvB.—On tho 4tb March Capt. Porter; lhen lying to, off . Porto . Rico, d is. patched a letter to the Captain General : of that; islairid j acquainting him w ith the object of the 0i: S in occupying those seas wfth a scjuadrco of artfied yesselsj and request! fig such inform at i o n as w ou I d enable Capt; P., to fulfil the intentions Of the UI S..without infringing upon the rights . of Spain is a belIigerant»: Capt. Joiio Porter-the bearer of this communi. cation,;was. directed to remain two days for an ans wer;. On thesecond day Com. Porter directed Cocke to pro*,ceed.inib: port, with bis vessel with other instructions to ascertain whot time iho answer would probably bp received. As soon as the Fox arrived within gun /shot' of the castle a fire was opened upon: her which killed her commander and considerably injuicdthe Vessel.'; The cause bf this outrage jras, that the Captain General being absent'from: the ^ place at. the ti me,; tli e.0 e ut. / Cio m ma o$an t: t hough t proper to give ordersto the garrison not toadmjt any of thesquadfon until lhe Governor’s relurn. - The garrison thferei ford, says the'Governor in his correspond denco / with Capt. Porter, first fired a cannonwit h a blank car fridge,, as’ asig. nal'for the Fox to'veer; about } tiiep a can non' w ilK: a bal 1 at aft :el e vatioh •• - as the Fox disregarded .t hese signals a shot was thep fired into the yesselj which put a period to. the:existence of the’ gallan t commander. ;The Go*ernbr, attributes this nnfbrtjjhate calamity to The improper,co iidufct of the deceased^ in con tin a. iog his: course after the first.Tliotsy and to ao unj ustifiable deigy of a commander of an American schr. then lying in port, and .belonging to the squadronj tp‘ whom at an early hoor on the day cf the ncci. debt, an- adjutant was sent by the:• Liput. requesting a p interflew to consult oii the best-means by which the lieutenant's of* ‘def td the garrison-to prohibit' the eu* trance of yny bf the.Bquadron Into the portduriogthp absence of tha ^Captain Generalmightbe communicated to Com, Porter, 'The final answer of'Com; Porter to the Governor if written ina dignki fiedaud Tpirited styfe, in hich he iu^ siatafand it seems with good reason, that there existed nottbe shado wofanex. cuseforj'nterdicficgtheentranco'ofhia 8qatfdfba::intb/.;the harbof and that the firing into the EchoDfter was an act of the mpsf uqpafdbrtable barbafity and crbelf ty. • This outrage, by which/the/life- of an excellent,bfiiber anaTvaluable.citizen^ of the *U. S. hasibeen sacrificed, wilf un. doubtcdly arrest j be- at ten lion o f the Executive 5 and iwe hope such measures will be adoptedyelative to the aggressorb as the offended TNgnlty of tho U, States ■ inti perlousiy demands,: '( The:: retnttlns of peat,. Cocxe were. intered yv*ith;.'m uch;pqmp;;,'ln the procasslonan/Ameri con and. British officer walked abreast.
Newspaper Details
Concord Middlesex Observer
Concord, Massachusetts, US
Sat, Apr 26, 1823
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Aurore E.
NH, USA 08 Nov 2023
Other Publications Near Concord, Massachusetts
Concord Freeman
Concord Middlesex Gazette
Concord Middlesex Observer
Concord Maynard Enterprise
Concord Enterprise
