squadron under the command of Stephen Decatur.

This was on the last day of February, and Captain Biddle was about to
drop anchor when a sail appeared, and the _Hornet_ went out to
reconnoitre. The stranger approached as if anxious to fight him, and,
when within musket range, ran up the English flag and fired a shot, to
which the _Hornet_ replied with a broadside. The vessels continued
firing as they drew near each other. The superior aim of the American
speedily crippled the rigging of the other, and, coming together, the
_Penguin_, as the British vessel proved to be, in preparing to board,
succeeded in passing her bowsprit between the main and mizzen rigging of
the _Hornet_ on the starboard quarter. This gave the enemy the
opportunity he seemed to be seeking, but his boarders did not appear.

The American sailors begged permission of Captain Biddle to board, but
he would not consent, since he wished to hold the advantage already
gained. Just then the heaving sea broke the vessels apart, the _Penguin_
receiving considerable damage from the forcible rupture. The _Hornet_
wore round to bring her broadside to bear, and was on the point of
opening fire, when the surviving officer of the _Penguin_ called out
that they surrendered. His condition was so hopeless that no choice was
left to him.

Captain Biddle ordered his men to stop firing, and, stepping to the
taffrail, asked his enemy if they had struck. The answer was two musket
shots, one aimed at the man at the wheel and the other at Biddle. The
latter was hit on the chin and badly, though not dangerously, wounded,
while the man at the wheel was not struck. The men who fired the
treacherous shots were seen by two American marines, who shot them dead.