The loss of the American frigate _Hancock_ of thirty-two guns followed the capture of the two valuable transports off New York. It was in May that the _Hancock_, under Capt. John Manly (he who in the Massachusetts schooner _Lee_ worked such havoc on the British store-ships off Boston in 1775), sailed from Boston on a cruise, having in company the _Boston_ of twenty-four guns under Capt. Hector McNeil. When four days out they overhauled a strange sail, and Captain Manly, after a bit of veering to and fro to determine the enemy’s speed and power, gave him a broadside. At this the stranger tried to run for it, and with stern chasers strove to disable the _Hancock’s_ rigging. But the _Hancock_ was then one of the swiftest American ships, and Captain Manly held his fire until alongside, when he gave him a broadside. Although manifestly of inferior strength, the enemy fought back bravely for an hour, and then, the _Boston_ having arrived within range, he struck his colors. It proved to be the frigate _Fox_ of twenty-eight guns, Captain Fotheringham. The _Hancock_ lost eight in killed and wounded, and the _Fox_ thirty-two. Having placed a prize crew on the _Fox_, Captain Manly made the mistake of sailing too close to Halifax, the principal British naval station in America. Here, on June 1st, he fell in with three British ships, the _Rainbow_ of forty-four guns, commanded by Sir George Collier; the frigate _Flora_ of thirty-two guns, and the sloop-of-war _Victor_ of eighteen guns. [Illustration] [Illustration] [_Over_] Facsimile of a Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Captain McNeil.] When the enemy was discovered the _Boston_ was well out to sea, and having the weather gauge, she down with her helm and sailed away. The _Hancock_ and the _Fox_ were close in shore, and they were soon hard pressed. Manly, seeing himself deserted, at once began throwing overboard all unnecessary weights, and so lightened his ship that he was in a fair way to escape, when the wind failed him, although the enemy still held enough to draw within easy range and in a position to rake. He was thus under the guns of the _Rainbow_ of forty-four guns and the _Victor_ of twenty, and could not turn his ship in any direction. Of course he surrendered. Meantime the _Flora_ had recaptured the _Fox_, although the prize crew, few as they were in number, made a good fight. It was the belief of Captain Manly that had the _Boston_ come down to engage the _Flora_ and so pitched the _Victor_ against the _Fox_, he would have been able to account for the _Rainbow_, and when the affair came before Congress Captain Manly’s view prevailed, and Captain McNeil was dismissed from the service for running away.