But if Warrington, the Yankee, showed “savage barbarity,” what shall be said of the act of Captain Bartholomew, of the British ship _Erebus_, in firing a broadside at the Yankee gun-boat Number 168, commanded by Sailing-master Hurlburt, after learning _officially_ that peace had been declared? “Peace having been declared and having been known to exist for over three weeks,” the gun-boat, en route to deliver despatches to the British admiral off Tybee Bar, Georgia, did not heave to when ordered to do so as he was passing the _Erebus_. Instead, he told the British his errand. Captain Bartholomew, cursing like a pirate, said he would sink the gun-boat if a boat from her were not sent on board the _Erebus_ instantly, and when Mr. Hurlburt began to reply the British marines opened fire with muskets, and he was ordered to haul down his flag. He refused and the big ship fired a broadside. Hurlburt returned the fire as best he could and then surrendered. He was soon allowed to proceed. Perhaps it is worth noting that although the gun-boat was within easy musket range, the gunners of the _Erebus_ did not hit her with even one shot save in the rigging. CHAPTER XIII IN BRITISH PRISONS A TYPICAL STORY OF THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN SEAMAN WHO WAS IMPRESSED IN 1810 AND ALLOWED TO BECOME A PRISONER WHEN WAR WAS DECLARED--LUCK IN ESCAPING A FLOGGING--LETTERS TO HIS FATHER DESTROYED--BRITISH REGARD FOR THE MAN’S RIGHTS WHEN THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT TOOK UP THE CASE--A NARRAGANSETT INDIAN IMPRESSED--TO DARTMOOR PRISON--MUSTERED NAKED MEN IN THE SNOWS OF WINTER AND KEPT THEM IN ROOMS WHERE BUCKETS OF WATER FROZE SOLID--MURDER OF PRISONERS SIX WEEKS AFTER IT WAS OFFICIALLY KNOWN THAT THE TREATY OF PEACE HAD BEEN RATIFIED--NOTABLE SELF-RESTRAINT OF THE AMERICANS--SMOOTHED OVER WITH A DISAVOWAL. Shall the men who suffered in prison because of their love of the flag be forgotten in a story of the deeds of the American naval heroes? The reader will remember that the British authorities acknowledged that more than 2,000 Americans were serving in British ships through impressment when the war broke out. In some cases when these Americans asked to be treated as prisoners of war their request was granted; not all British commanders were as brutal as those of the _Macedonian_ and the _Peacock_. For a manifestly truthful account of the treatment these men received from the British there is nothing surpassing the autobiography of the Rev. Joseph Bates, printed by the press association of the Seventh Day Adventists. Because his experience was rather easier than the common one; because it included the crowning outrage at the Dartmoor prison when the war was over, and because his story is amply authenticated by other printed accounts, a brief _résumé_ of it will be given here to illustrate the life which the unfortunates like him endured.