MIDDLESEX GAZETTE, Middletown, Connecticut, March 9, 1815

• USS President (1800) captured
• HMS Endymion (1797) frigate

Page 2 has a nice report headed: "OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTURE OF THE PRESIDENT" being a letter from Commodore Decatur to the Secretary of Navy, dated on board the ship Endymion. This is a fine account taking over a full column nd signed in type: Stephen Decatur.
In this battle, the frigate USS President tried to break out of New York Harbor but was intercepted by a British squadron of four frigates and forced to surrender.
Four pages, very nice condition.

Background: The March 9, 1815 issue of the Middlesex Gazette is an exceptionally scarce and historically rich War of 1812 artifact, featuring Commodore Stephen Decatur’s full, firsthand dispatch detailing the harrowing loss of the 44-gun frigate USS President—one of the original six legendary frigates of the United States Navy. Written while Decatur was held aboard HMS Endymion following the January 15, 1815 action off Long Island, the letter occupies over a full column and provides a vivid, tactical report of running aground on the Sandy Hook bar, disabling the Endymion in a fierce single-ship duel, and his eventual surrender when encircled by the remainder of the British blockading squadron to prevent unnecessary loss of life. Because newspapers of this era were printed on small regional presses with very limited runs and low survival rates over two centuries, original 1815 issues carrying complete, official naval reports of iconic War of 1812 battles—signed in type by legendary commanders like Decatur—are exceedingly rare and highly sought after by early American military and maritime historians.