On October 8, 1812, Commander Rodgers sailed from Boston with the _President_, the _United States_, the _Congress_, and the _Argus_, but the squadron separated four days later, the _President_ and the _Congress_ taking one course, and the _United States_ and the _Argus_ another. A little later still the _Argus_ held to an easterly course, while the _United States_ headed away for a cruise between the Azores and the Canary Islands. Meantime the British frigate _Macedonian_, a ship that was built of oak, and had been afloat less than two years, had sailed from England, bound south, and in the course of her voyage put in at Madeira for a supply of the wine that in those days was as popular among drinking people as the sparkling French wine is in this. While there Captain Carden heard that the American frigate _Essex_ was expected to cruise between the Madeiras and the Canaries, to intercept British commerce, and at this the _Macedonian_ was headed for that ground to capture the audacious Yankee. On Sunday morning, October 25, 1812, the _United States_ was cruising along under easy sail about half-way between the Azores and the Canary Islands. It was a beautiful day. A stiff southeasterly breeze swept through the rigging. The sunlit sea was flecked over with racing white-caps and purpled in broad fields wherever the shadows of the fluffy clouds fell upon it. It was just the kind of a day when a good seaman could handle a frigate as a yachtsman might handle a catboat. Very early in the day a sail was seen broad off on the weather beam, and it was not very long after this that the lookout observed that she was making sail in chase of the _United States_. This stranger was the _Macedonian_, and her master was coming down the wind with the hope that he was to encounter the _Essex_ of which he had heard. As the _Macedonian_ made sail in chase, the _United States_ made sail to meet her. Private signals were made on the _Macedonian_, to see whether it really was an enemy and as these were not answered, the crew were called to quarters and the ship cleared for action. [Illustration: Capture of the _Macedonian_. _Victory obtained by the U. S. ship United States of 44 guns over his Britannic Majesty’s ship Macedonian of 38 guns. The action continued 90 minutes, in which the United States had 6 men killed, 7 wounded--the Macedonian had 36 killed, 68 wounded._ ]