On Feb. 24, 1813, off the coast of South America, 31-year-old James Lawrence of Burlington, N.J., in command of the sloop of war Hornet, had destroyed the HMS Peacock in a violent, 14-minute engagement. As Lawrence and his crew attempted to rescue survivors of the Peacock, they kept a wary eye on another British warship, the HMS Espiegle, commanded by John Taylor, in the distance. Lawrence reported she “lay about six miles in shore of me, and could plainly see the whole of the action.