Mackenzie says that when the defeated British commander was brought aboard the "Niagara" and beheld the sickly and parti-colored beings around him, an expression of chagrin escaped him at having been conquered by such men.
The following extract is from a letter written by Commodore Nathaniel Shaler of the armed schooner "Governor Tompkins", dated January 1, 1813.
Speaking of a fight with a British frigate, he said: "The name of one of my poor fellows who was killed ought to be registered in the book of fame and remembered with reverence as long as bravery is considered a virtue.

He was a black man by the name of John Johnson.

A twenty-four-pound shot struck him in the hip and tore away all the lower part of his body.

In this state the poor brave fellow lay on the deck and several times exclaimed to his shipmates: 'Fire away, boys; don't haul the colors down.' Another black man by the name of John Davis was struck in much the same way.

He fell near me and several times requested to be thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of the others.