_Leopard_ that the bearer be allowed to muster the
crew of the _Chesapeake_, that he might select and carry away the
deserters. The demand was authorized by instructions received from
Vice-Admiral Berkeley, at Halifax. Barron told the lieutenant that his
crew should not be mustered, excepting by his own officers, when the
lieutenant withdrew and the _Chesapeake_ moved on.

Having some fear of mischief, Barron made some preparation to resist;
but it was too late to prepare to cope with the _Leopard_, which
followed close in her wake, and the commander called out through
his trumpet:

"Commodore Barron must be aware that the vice-admiral's commands must be
obeyed." The _Chesapeake_ held on her course although this was repeated.
The _Leopard_ sent two shots athwart her bows. These were followed by a
broadside poured into the hull of the _Chesapeake_. The American vessel,
having no priming in her guns, was unable to return the fire, and after
being severely bruised by repeated broadsides she surrendered to her
assailants. Her crew was mustered by the British officers and the
deserters carried away. One of them, a British subject, was hanged at
Halifax and the others, being Americans, were spared on their consenting
to enlist in the English Navy. Commodore Barron was tried on charge of
neglect of duty in not being prepared for action, found guilty, and
suspended from the service for five years without pay or emolument.

On March 4, 1809, Mr. James Madison of Virginia succeeded Mr. Thomas
Jefferson as president of the United States. His cabinet were Robert
Smith, secretary of state; Albert Gallatin, secretary of the treasury;
William Eustis, secretary of war; Paul Hamilton, secretary of the navy,
and Caesar Rodney, attorney-general. There was a powerful party in the
nation hostile to his political creed, and consequently opposed to his
administration and the war with England which seemed inevitable.

French and English nations became more embroiled in trouble, which
increased the trouble between the United States and Great Britain.

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 Ludl