He told me the lump he removed weighed a
pound and three quarters, and of course I was so much the lighter. I was
about a month, after this, under his care, when he pronounced me to be
sea-worthy again.
I now got things straight as regards my pension, for the hurt received on
board the Constellation. It was no great matter, only three dollars a
month, being one of the small pensions; and the clerks, when they came to
hear about the hurt, for which Dr. Foltz had operated, advised me to get
evidence and procure a pension for _that_. I saw the Secretary, Mr.
Paulding, on this subject, and the gentlemen were so kind as to overhaul
their papers, in order to ascertain who could be found as a witness. They
wrote to Captain Deacon, the officer who commanded the Growler; but he
knew nothing of me, as I never was on board his schooner. This gentleman,
however, wrote me a letter, himself, inviting me to come and see him,
which I had it not in my power to do. I understand he is now dead. Mr.
Trant had been dead many years, and, as for Mr. Bogardus, I never knew
what became of him. He was not in the line of promotion, and probably left
the navy at the peace. In overhauling the books, however, the
pension-clerk came across the name of Lemuel Bryant. This man received a
pension for the wound he got at Little York, and was one of those I had
hauled into the boat when the Scourge went down.
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