and join Sir Alexander Cochrane; but having made little progress. In consequence of experiencing hard gales of wind, in which I split two maintop-sails (one not repairable); and on the morning of the 28th the wind coming to S.S.W. and increasing to a perfect storm; having only a fore-topsail bent for a main one; the other sails much worn; no spare topmast on board in case of accident; an old fore-top-mast, sprung in two places, for a main one; no rope to reeve for lifts, braces, &c. and those now in use several times spliced and unfit to be trusted, from the almost constant gales the ship had been in ever since she left England; and the carpenter reporting that the ship was very weak and complained much forward, making at the rate of from 8 to 12 feet water in the 24 hours; I called the officers together to consult on the propriety of contending longer against contrary gales of wind in the state the ship was in, and their unanimous opinion was, that it would be unsafe to contend farther, and that it would be most proper to bear up for a port in England, while there was yet a prospect of doing it with any probability of success: I accordingly bore up under a reefed fore-sail in a heavy gale of wind, with a high sea, which continued, with more or less violence, ever since; and having brought the ship nearly 800 leagues in a constant gale, I have the honor of acquainting you, for their lordships’ information, with her arrival in this port almost a complete wreck.
“To J. W. Croker, Esq.”
In Jan. 1815, Captain Anderson was tried by a court.martial, for neglect of duty, in not communicating with Sir James L. Yeo; for disobedience of orders, in not wintering at Quebec; and for not remaining at the Brandy Potts till the arrival of the transports from Montreal. The following is a copy of the sentence:
“That it was not practicable for the said Captain Anderson to have proceeded at that advanced season of the year from the Brandy Potts, in the river St. Lawrence, to Quebec, in H.M. said ship Zealous, without an unjustifiable risk of the safety of the ship; that he communicated with Commodore Sir James L. Yeo, both by telegraph and letter, as soon as he had an opportunity of so doing; and that, from the information he obtained from the most competent sources, and the repeated urgent representations of the pilot, he was fully justified in returning down the St. Lawrence at the time he did so, without longer waiting for the transports with the first battalion of the 27th regiment; and the court doth therefore adjudge the said Captain Anderson to be acquitted, and he is hereby acquitted accordingly.”
On returning Captain Anderson his sword, the president complimented him in very flattering terms, as did all the
