" said that one of the tenders was deserted by her " crew, for a time ;" that the tender which was grappled by Captain Thomas was burned to the water's edge and was towed to the shore, by the Americans, 7 by whom one iron six-pound gun, two three-pounders, one two-pounder, ten swivels, a caboose and apron, some gun-barrels, cutlasses, grapplings, chains, etc., were taken from the wreck ; and that the gallant crews of the fireships sustained neither loss nor injury, except in the instance of one man, who, in setting fire to his vessel, was considerably burned in his face, hands, etc., and in that of Captain Thomas, who, it was feared, perished in the attempt to fasten his vessel to the tender which it destroyed or in making his escape, by swimming, as he was not subsequently heard of. As General Washington stated in the letter from which we derive the information, when writing of him, " his bravery entitled him to a " better fate." 8

Notwithstanding the bravery and skill of those who conducted the firevessels and the considerable success which attended their efforts, it is said that the advantages gained would have been largely increased had

THE AMERICAN FIRESHIPS.

1 Memoirs of General Heath, 51.

2 Ibid.

3 [Hall's] History of the Citiil War in America, i., 186.

4 We have taken this minute description of the assault on the enemy's ships from Captain Hall's History of the Civil War in America, i., 180, 187 because it is so clearly stated, and because it is the work of an officer of the Royal Army, and, therefore, is not likely to have been overstated.