One Martin Koszta, an Austrian by birth, after having, in legal form, taken out his first papers as a citizen of the United States, was found in Smyrna by the Austrian authorities, and carried on board the Austrian war-ship _Hussar_, because he had, in some way, offended the Austrian Government. The American sloop-of-war _St. Louis_ was at that time at anchor in Smyrna harbor, and an appeal was made through the American consul to Captain Duncan Nathaniel Ingraham, commanding her, in behalf of Koszta. Captain Ingraham applied to the captain of the _Hussar_ for the man, but the Austrian, having a heavier ship, declined to deliver him up. As Ingraham understood his duty he was compelled by it to get the man first and attend to the necessary diplomatic correspondence and consideration of the facts of the matter afterward. Clearing his ship for action he laid her alongside the _Hussar_, and setting a time-limit, said he would have the man or a fight. He got the man. It is admitted that ill-disposed people have become citizens of the United States in order to use the American flag as a cover for nefarious deeds. So the American Government has a delicate and difficult task to perform whenever its power is invoked for the protection of an American citizen who is in trouble with the authorities of another nation. But because naturalized Americans have not infrequently received harsh treatment when in their native countries, and especially because American law presumes that every accused person is innocent of wrong-doing until proven guilty to the satisfaction of a jury of his peers, it is absolutely essential to the preservation of American rights that every American naval officer hold to Captain Ingraham’s understanding of duty. First get the man and then let the State Department settle the diplomatic matters. The Congress, by a joint resolution on August 4, 1854, requested the President to give Captain Ingraham a medal in token of the nation’s appreciation of this defence of American rights. CHAPTER XVIII IN THE WAR WITH MEXICO THOMAS AP CATESBY JONES, THE HERO OF LAKE BORGNE, STRUCK THE FIRST BLOW OF THE WAR--OPERATIONS ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST THAT INSURED THE ACQUISITION OF CALIFORNIA--STOCKTON AND “PATHFINDER” FRÉMONT OPERATE TOGETHER--WILD HORSES AS WEAPONS OF OFFENCE--THE _SOMERS_ OVERTURNED WHILE CHASING A BLOCKADE RUNNER--JOSIAH TATTNALL BEFORE VERA CRUZ--WHEN SANTA ANNA LANDED--THE YANKEE SAILORS IN A SHORE BATTERY--THE HARD FATE OF ONE OF THE BRAVEST AMERICAN OFFICERS.