No doubt the action of the Englishmen was unauthorized, and probably was
due to a misunderstanding; but the Americans were so incensed that it
was difficult to restrain them from continuing the firing. The enemy
hailed a second time and called out they had surrendered.

The strength of the _Hornet_ was 20 guns and 132 men; of the _Penguin_,
19 guns and 128 men. The _Hornet_ had 1 man killed and 11 wounded; the
_Penguin_, 10 killed and 28 wounded. She was so badly shattered that,
after taking out her stores, her captors scuttled her.

In order to complete our history of the gallant Captain James Biddle it
is necessary to carry the record in advance of some of the incidents
that follow.

As has been stated, the _Peacock_ and the _Hornet_ had gone to Tristan
d'Acunha in obedience to the orders of Commodore Decatur, to wait for
him and the _President_, but the latter never arrived, for the good
reason that she had been captured by the enemy. Growing tired of
waiting, Biddle and Captain Warrington, of the _Peacock_, started on an
extended cruise, April 13, for the East Indies.

Doubling the Cape of Good Hope, they met with no incident of note until
the latter part of April, when they sighted a large sail, which they
believed to be a heavily laden East India merchantman. A chase
immediately began. It continued a long time, and the _Peacock_ was
within a few miles, when she made the discovery that the stranger,
instead of being a merchantman, was a ship of the line. Captain
Warrington signalled the startling fact to Biddle, and the two turned to
escape. Since the formidable vessel could not pursue both when they
took different directions, she selected the _Hornet_ for her prize.