Both the commandeering of the boat, as well as the ensuing trial, are the subject of the book Dark Places of the Earth, by Jonathan M. Bryant.
In December 1819 the ship, now named Columbia, sailed from Baltimore under a letter of marque issued by the Uruguayan revolutionary José Gervasio Artigas.
In early 1820 Arraganta encountered the American registered brig Exchange, out of Bristol, Rhode Island, and seized at least 25 Africans that it was carrying.
On March 23, 1820, Arraganta arrived at Cabinda, where it found Antelope and three ships flying the Portuguese flag, all loading African slaves.
Word of a suspicious ship reached St. Marys, Georgia, and the revenue cutter Dallas sailed in search of it.
Claims for ownership of the Africans were filed on behalf of the Kings of Portugal and Spain, while Richard Habersham filed a claim to place the Africans, as free persons under the provisions of the 1819 Act in Addition to the acts prohibiting the slave trade, into the custody of the United States.
Francis Scott Key had urged it to take the case and argued on behalf of the United States government that all the captives should be freed and returned to Africa.
The justices partly agreed with Key and Attorney General William Wirt and rejected the claims of John Smith and the King of Portugal.
The highest American court ultimately found ownership had only been established for 93 captives, and so directed that 120 be returned to Africa.