REID
in:iD
boats, which he drove back. At midiiiglit a
second attack was made, and after a hand to
hand figlit, the British were repulsed with great
slaughter, and retreated in their boats. In fort}'
minutes, the British loss amounted to over 120
killedand 130 wounded. On Sept. 27, the Carna-
tion weighed anchor and stood close in for the
General Armstrnnrj, opening a heavy fire. Tiiis
fire was returned with wonderful effect, the
maintopmast of the Carnation going by the
board, the hull and rigging being much cut up,
and the vessel forced to retire. The British fieet
then determined to use its entire force against
the Armstrong, and finding further resistance
futile, Captain Reid set a fuse to his magazine
and with his. crew went ashore. Captain Lloyd
perceiving the desertion of the Armstrong sent
two armed boats to seize lier just as slie blew up.
In the three engagements, the British loss was
210 killed and 140 wounded, while the American
loss was but two killed and seven wounded.
When Captain Lloyd demanded the American
crow from the governor of Fayal as prisoners of
war, Reid took refuge in a deserted convent,
about half a mile in the interior, fortified it, ran
up tiie American flag and the British fleet soon
left for New Orleans. The news of the battle
reached the United States in November, 1814,
and was received with great demonstrations.
Tlie battle undoubtedly saved the newly acquired
territory of Louisiana from falling into the hands
of the British, for at this time the balance of the
British naval force was waiting at Jamaica for
the arrival of Lloyd's squadron to attack New
Orleans, but the delay caused b}- the encounter
with Captain Reid enabled General Jackson to
prepare the city for defence, and resulted in the
victory of Jan. 8, 1815. The battle of Faj'al was
the last naval engagement of the war of 1812,
and on Nov. 15, 1814, Captain Reid with his
officers and crew were landed at St. Mary, Fla.
He received ovations at every city through which
he passed from Savannah to New York, state
legislatures passing resolutions of thanks for
gloriously maintaining the honor of the Ameri-
can flag. New York state voted him a gold
sword, which was presented, Nov. 25, 1816, by
Governor Tompkins, and the citizens of New
York city presented him with a silver service.
He declined promotion to past captain in the
navy, but accepted tiie position of harl)or master
of New York. He invented and erected the first
marine telegraph between the highlands of the
Navesink, N.J., and the Battery, New York
city; re-organized and perfected regulations for
governing the pilots of New York, designating
the pilot boats by numerals; published a national
code of signals for all vessels belonging to the
United States, and established the lightship oflf
Sandy Hook. In 1826 he invented a new system
of land telegraphs by means of which he satis-
factorily demonstrated that a message could be
sent from Washington to New Orleans in two
hours. A bill was before congress for its adop-
tion, wiien it was superseded by Morse's inven-
tion. Captain Reid also designed the United
Stales Hag with thirteen stripes to represent the
thirteen original states, providing that the re-
spective states be represented by a star in the
union of blue, and suggested that the stars be
formetl' into one grand star symbolizing the
national motto " E Pluribus Unum." The design
was accepted in a bill which became a law by
the signature of President Monroe, April 4, 1818.
The fir.st flag, as designed by Captain Reid, was
made in silk by Mrs. Reid and her young friends,
each of whom embroidered her name in the
centre of a star, and on April 13, 1818, it was
hoisted on the flag-staff of the National House
of Representatives. Captain Reid re-entered the
U.S. navy in 1842, and was retired in 1856. His
son was Sam Chester Reid (q.v.). One daughter,
IMary Isabel, married Count Luigi Palma di Ces-
nola (q.v.), and another, Louise Gouverneur,
married John Savage, the journalist (q.v.). He
died in New York city. Jan. 28, 1801, his last
words being " Soon I shall solve the great mystery
of life."
REID, Whitelaw, editor, was born near Xenia, Oliio, Oct. 27, 1837; son of Robert Charl- ton and Marian (Ronalds) Reid, and a grandson of James Reid, a Scotch covenanter, who emi- grated to America in 1783, and after residence till 1800 in Western Pennsylvania and Fayette county, Ken- tucky, became a foun- der of the town of Xenia, Ohio. White- law Reid was gradu- ated at Miami uni- versity, A.B., 1856, A.M., 1859; taught school, 185&-58; ed- ited the Xenia News, 1858-59; was cor- respondent for the Cinciimati Gazette and Cleveland Herald in Columbus, Ohio;
city editor of the Cincinnati Gazette in 1861; war correspondent, 1801-62; served as aide- de-camp on the staffs of Thomas A. Morris and W. S. Rosecrans in the two Western Vir- ginia campaigns, and was with Grant at the battle of Shiloh. He was Washington and war correspondent of the Gazette, 1862-68. and finally one of its proprietors and editors; served as
