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"A scene now ensued equally serious and ludicrous. Commodore Perry seized his Majesty by the gown, which his highness slipped.. but Perry...took hold on to his arse cloth (if that had come off, I wonder what he would have held on to next)..."

U.S. Ship Saratoga at Sea, January 7, 1844. Two bifolium sheets, each 10 x 8 in. (254 x 203 mm.) Lengthy autograph letter by Captain Josiah Tattnall to Capt. Hiram Paulding, a lengthy and detailed account of the Battle of Little Bereby, a conflict between an African tribe in Liberia, and Commodore Matthew Perry's squadron, during the Ivory Coast Expedition. Hand-addressed on verso of second sheet, remnants of wax seal. Creasing from old folds, a few small closed tears along same, scattered. In part:

"...About 6 weeks since the Macedonia, Decatur, and Saratoga sailed for the Coast to leeward of Cape Palmas, called the Bereby Coast, to investigate the robberies and murders committed by the tribe occupying it, on the property and persons of American Citizens...Here a horrid and unprovoked murder had been committed, three years since, on the Captain and crew of an American vessel. They tortured the Captain in the most shocking manner...We touched first at a town 25 miles from the scene of the murder...having invited ourselves to a "palaver" on shore with their chiefs, we landed for that purpose with 250 marines...the natives refused to suffer their king to enter the town unless his guard was allowed to accompany him...in the Palaver house were assembled Commodore Perry, and his suit, the Captains of the ships, the Governor of Monrovia...the Negro king and his interpreter...after a free discussion...it was concluded that this tribe should not be molested...Two morning after...we landed with the same force...The king met us in the Palance house...the whole conduct of this tribe differed from the last...Distrust and guilt marked it...Commodore Perry rose and advancing to the King, told him through the interpreter...that he must confess the truth, tell no more lies, and deliver up all who were concerned in the murder. On this, one of the tribe stepped out, and made a signal, when a musket was fired...the king, his interpreter, and chief men, making at the same time a dash for the woods. A scene now ensued equally serious and ludicrous. Commodore Perry seized his Majesty by the gown, which his highness slipped, and thought to make sail, but Perry finding it hard to hold on to the greasy skin of a Negro, took hold on to his arse cloth (if that had come off, I wonder what he would have held on to next). They both rolled over and over in the sand...the Commodore clinging to the arse cloth all the while...In a minute the hubbub was over, four of the negroes (the king and interpreter being among them) were killed...We had no casualties... "

Commodore Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858) had been put in command of the Africa Squadron of the United States Navy in 1843, with the objective of suppressing the Atlantic slave trade, per a provision of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty with Great Britain. Perry himself, a staunch abolitionist, had been instrumental in assisting the American Colonization Society's establishment of the Colony of Liberia.

The battle described in this letter resulted in the death of King Ben Crack-O, of the Crack-O tribe, and Perry's Africa Squadron burning multiple native villages in the surrounding area before disembarking.

Josiah Tattnall III (1795-1871) was a career U.S. Naval Office who served through the War of 1812, Barbary Wars, and Mexican American War. In 1861 he resigned his commission to join the Confederate Navy in his home state of Georgia.

Hiram Paulding (1797-1878) was a career U.S. Naval Officer who served with distinction from the War of 1812 through the American Civil War, eventually attaining the rank of Rear Admiral.

A remarkable first-person account.