It was in January, 1815, that Captain Decatur finally sailed out of New York harbor in the hope of taking the _President_ past the blockading division which had been driven offshore by a heavy northeast gale.

The British ships were struggling back to their stations when they spied the Yankee frigate off the southern coast of Long Island.

It was a stern chase, Decatur with a hostile squadron at his heels and unable to turn and fight because the odds were hopeless.

The frigate _Endymion_ was faster than her consorts and, as she came up alone, the _President_ delayed to exchange broadsides before fleeing again with every sail set.
Her speed had been impaired by stranding as she came out past Sandy Hook, else she might have out-footed the enemy.

But soon the _Pomone_ and the _Tenedos_, frigates of the class of the _Shannon_ and the _Guerriere_, were in the hunt.