2-637-154 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'The President and the Little Belt', c1812. An engagement between the British post ship HMS 'Little Belt' and American heavy frigate USS 'President' on 16 May 1811. The captains of both ships insisted the other vessel had fired on them first. The captain of the 'President' had mistaken the 'Little Belt' for another British warship, HMS 'Guerriere', which had abducted an American crewman from the USS 'Spitfire'. Both From Old Naval Prints, by Charles N. Robinson & Geoffrey Holme. [The Studio Limited, London, 1924]