the British, at all the deserted batteries, which were to be taken immediate possession of by a small military detachment brought from Heligoland; and that all military and other stores belonging to the enemy should be delivered up to the Blazer and her consort. On the 21st of the same month. Lieutenant Devon made the following official report to Lieutenant Banks:
“Agreeably with your arrangement, I proceeded with the galley of the Brevdrageren and cutter of the Blazer, in search of the Danish privateer, said to infest the upper part of the river. At day-light this morning, we discovered two galliots, which were at first supposed to be merchant vessels; but on approaching them they hailed and instantly opened a fire. In this critical situation, there was no safety but in resolutely boarding, and I took advantage of the cheerful readiness of our people. We carried them under the smoke of their second discharge, without the loss of a man, and only two wounded on the part of the enemy; the galley boarding the first, and the Blazer’s cutter, in the most gallant manner, the second. They proved to be the Danish gun-boats Jonge Troutman, commanded by Lieutenant Lutkin; and Liebe, Lieutenant Writt, each mounting two long 18-pounders and three 12-pounder carronades, with a complement of 25 men.
“When you consider that each of these formidable vessels was carried by a single boat, one by a cutter with twelve men, and the other by a galley with nine, the conduct of the brave fellows under my orders needs no comment: and I beg to return my sincere thanks to them, and to Mr. Dunbar, the master of the Blazer.
“These vessels were sent, three days ago, from Gluckstadt, for the express purpose of intercepting the trade from Heligoland.”
The Jonge Troutman and Liebe were captured near Brunsbuttel, on the Hanoverian side of the Elbe, about six leagues distant from the anchorage of the British brigs. The success of this daring attack must be partly attributed to the explosion of some cartridges on the deck of the former galliot, which threw her crew into confusion, just as Lieutenant Devon was in the act of boarding. The Liebe surrendered, without opposition, on seeing the fate of the Jonge Troutman, and that her captors were hastening to the support of the Blazer’s cutter. One of the nine persons in the Brevdrageren’s galley was Mr. Frederick Devon, midshipman, brother to her commander, and then only 13 years of age.
