. He was sent as a prisoner
aboard the _Jersey_--the "Hell," as she was called. The conditions on
board were terrific, and many of the prisoners died. When the coffin was
brought for the body of one of his friends, it was found to be too
short--the guards started to decapitate the body to make it fit. Young
Lingan stood over the body and said he would kill them with his bare
hands. So they brought a larger coffin.

While he was still a prisoner there, his cousin, Admiral Sir Samuel
Hood, of His "Satanic" Majesty's Navy, as Lingan called it, visited him
and offered him L2,000 (pounds) and high rank in the British Army if he
would return to his former allegiance. Lingan's answer was, "I'll rot
here first!" And he almost did! He was cooped up in a space so short
that he could not lie full length, so low that he could not stand erect.
It was many months after his release before his cramped and agonized
muscles allowed him to sleep except in an armchair.

The reasons for wishing to obtain his defection were, first, the pride,
and perhaps, affection of his connections in England. Lord North,
himself, was one of these, and his cousin, Zachariah Hood was _persona
gratia_ at the Court of St. James. Also, the affiliations and
connections of his family in Maryland made his defection greatly to be
desired. One of his sisters had married Thomas Plater, the son of
Governor George Plater of Sotterley, and he was also related to the
prominent Carroll family.

At the conclusion of the war, General Lingan returned to George Town and
farmed two estates he owned, both named after battles in which he had
participated--Harlem and Middlebrook. He also was appointed collector
of the port by General Washington himself. He was one of the original
members of the Order of the Cincinnati.

In later years he moved over to the city, his house then being in the
neighborhood of Nineteenth, M and N Streets. He had a wife and children,
many friends, and all was going well with him until the election year of
1812. General Lingan was a Federalist in politics. The party organ was
_The Federal Republican_, published in Baltimore and edited by Alexander
Contee Hanson, whose wife was a near relative of Nicholas Lingan, the
brother of James.

War with England was declared on Friday, the 19th of June, 1812, and
next day an editorial appeared in _The Federal Republican_, which was
like a match set to a powder train. On Sunday, public meetings were held
advo