The _Leo_, of Baltimore, captured an East India-man worth two and a half million dollars, which was recaptured by an English sloop-of-war, though not till the Leo had taken off $60,000 in bullion. The _Governor Tompkins_, of New York, near the Madeira Islands captured the _Nereid_, with an assorted cargo valued at $375,000. The _St. Lawrence_, with a cargo valued at over $300,000, was captured and sent into Portsmouth, {214}N. H., where she was proved to be an English vessel, and condemned, though she had professed to be American. Perhaps the most valuable single prize taken in the war was the _Queen_, captured by the _General Armstrong_, of New York. She carried sixteen guns, and was not taken without a stubborn fight, in which her captain, first lieutenant, and nine men were killed. She was valued at nearly $500,000, but on her way into port was wrecked off Nantucket. One prize contained wine and raisins valued at $75,000; another, $70,000 worth of cotton; another, $20,000 worth of indigo; another, seven hundred tons of mahogany; another $70,000 worth of rum and sugar; another, $150,000 worth of gums, almonds, and beeswax; another, $23,000 in specie, and still another, $80,000 in specie. All this looks very much like robbery, and in truth it was robbery, unless the war, on the part of the Americans, was justifiable. But it is certainly more humane to conquer the enemy by robbing his merchants than by killing his men; and there can be no question that the exploits of these privateers did more to bring the war between England and the United States to an end, and prevent another one, than drawn battles, however gallantly fought, and futile expeditions against Canada. {215}But the exploits of the privateers did not consist solely in plundering unarmed merchantmen. They were often pursued and attacked by British men-of-war, and some of the English packet-ships carried heavy guns, and would not surrender without a desperate fight.