Daily National Intelligencer

NORFOLK, VA. MARCH 13.

The following petition, addressed to the President of the United States, by Fourteen Americans, now confined in the Spanish prisons at St. Jago de Cuba, was handed to us by a gentleman who arrived here from that island about ten days since, with a request that we would publish and then transmit it to the President. Not knowing the gentleman who was the bearer of the letter, and having no evidence of the authenticity of the document, induced us to delay its publication until we could satisfy ourselves on these points. Having received such assurances touching its genuine character as we required, and having the statement which it contains verified, by a subsequent arrival from the same quarter, we give it insertion with pleasure, forwarding the original as directed to the Department of State, where we doubt not it will receive that attention to which it is entitled.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Petition of Fourteen Americans, now confined in the Prison of St. Jago de Cuba.

Honored Sir

We take the liberty to inform you of our sad misfortunes, confined in Cuba Prison, at the inhuman mercy of the cruel Spaniards. Our first misfortunes are as follow: Our vessels being sold for the purposes of privateering, we were obliged to take passage in the schooner Margaretta, Peter Anchor, commander, bound to Jamaica. To our sorrow, after being on our passage two days, the captain brought up his Carthegena commission, and said he was bound on a cruise. Finding ourselves taken in this shameful manner, we concerted with each other to leave her the first opportunity. On the 2d September we captured the sch. Sophia, under Spanish colors, bound to Jamaica, with cattle on board; on the 3d of the same month, captured a Spanish brig from the coast, with 180 negroes on board—the captain and owner ransomed the brig, &c. for 1600 dollars; we allowed the boat to take the captain on shore at Cuba, under a promise that he would return with the money; the unjust agreement of the Spaniards, in place of the money, sent out a king's schooner of superior force, and captured us; at the time of the capture four of the men got clear in the boat. Honored sir, now began the inhuman usage of the cruel Spaniards—cut and mangled to pieces with cutlasses, bound back to back till the blood run from under our finger nails, we are at present in Cuba gaol, on the allowance of this savage nation, on half a pint of rice and beans, half cooked, for to content the sons of Columbia for 24 hours, without clothing, or any shelter to hide our nakedness, in irons strong, &c.—no friends allowed to see us.

Honored sir—we the unhappy petitioners do humbly beg for the mercies of a free country, for which we fought and valiantly conquered our enemies.

John H. Buckley, Nantucket.
Denard Townsand, Norfolk.
Thomas Reed, New-York.
Benjamin Brown, do.
Jolin Daviss, Newport.
William Iandey, North Carolina.
George Wilson, New-York
James Morress, Boston
John Bennett, Philadelphia.
John Jackson, do.
John Anderson, New-Orleans.
John Dunkin, New-York.
John Charles, New-Orleans.
Francis Barber, do.