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[Letterbook], 1812-1814
Manuscript, in a single hand, of copies of letters Harper sent to his superiors while Captain of the sloop H. M. S. Saracen. The letters primarily concern Harper's role in the Napoleonic Wars, including accounts of his siege of the island of Mezza in 1813 and his naval engagements in Ragusa and Cattaro. In 1812, he reports on his capture of a French privateer; in 1813, he reports on the number of deserters from the French army at Ragusa and Kotor in a letter to Francis I, Emperor of Austria. He also writes numerous letters regarding personnel issues, including a discharge in 1812 for an American man impressed into service but who refused to serve in the British Navy and a request for a court martial in 1814 for a boatmate "having been guilty of a breach of the second article of war in attempting to commit an unnatural crime on a boy." Other letters request ship supplies and provisions such as flour, spirits, and cocoa. Dos-a-dos, the manuscript contains copies of replies to his letters
Archival Material, English, 1812