Yale University Library YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FAItEAGUT IN MOBILE BAT. THE STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY fox Sops BENSON J. LOSSING, LL.D. ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Ofiice of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. All righls reserved. Cbl. 73 PEEFACE, This little work was prepared at the suggestion of Captain S. B. Luce, U.S.N., the commander of the train ing-ship Minnesota. Desirous of having it correct in every particular, I submitted the manuscript to the Navy Department. It was returned to me with a letter from Commodore Earl English, U.S.N., chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting, to whom it was referred, in which he wrote : " I am much pleased with your beautiful and instruc tive ' Story of the Navy,' and I congratulate you on hav ing performed a labor which will contribute so much to the pleasure and instruction of the youth of our country. Such a bright - spirited work will refresh the memory of the noble deeds of our departed naval heroes in the minds of the people." Lieutenant-commander B. P. Lamberton, U.S.N"., kind ly consented to read the proof-sheets and correct any errors in the use of nautical terms to which a layman might be liable ; and so has been secured for the book that which is most desirable, truthfulness in narrative and correctness in expression. The same care has been used in the choice of illustra tions. They are correct pictures of men and things. These, with the narrative, form a comprehensive outline vi PREFACE. history of the navy and its work, by which may be es timated the importance of its services in achieving our independence, in establishing the nation, in mamtaining the Union, and in preserving our free institutions. I hope this book may serve to stimulate my young countrymen, who are to be the future guardians of the Republic, to a more extended perusal of our national his tory and the biographies of the principal actors in it ; and by so enlarging their knowledge of men and events con spicuous in that history, have their love for their coun try deepened, their reverence for its institutions strength ened, and be made to feel more and more the value of the precious privileges of an American citizen. Benson J. LossmG. ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Farragut in Mobile Bay Frontispiece George III 3 A Stamp 4 Boston Tea-party 6 David Einnison 7 Jonathan Harrington 8 Floating Battery, 17T5 13 Admiralty Seal 15 Esek Hopkins 16 Hoisting First Naval Flag 17 Dr. Franklin on his way to France.. 21 Benedict Arnold 24 Nicholas Biddle 28 Conut de Vergennes 31 Monument to Hinman 33 Count D'Estaing 35 Captain Silas Talbot 36 Dr. Franklin 39 John Panl Jones 42 Jones's Medal 47 Commodore Whipple 50 Joshua Barney 51 William Barton 59 Eichard Dale 06 Fight between the Constellation aud La Vengeance 71 Tiuxtuu's Medal 73 Naval Pitcher 74 Truxtun's Monument 74 Algiers in 1800 77 Naval Monument 85 Preble's Medul 86 Lynn Haven Bay 92 James Barron 93 Gun-boats 95 Escape of the Constitution 105 FAGS Isaac Hull 109 Hull's Medal 112 Constitution and Guerriere 114 General Brown's Gold Box. 116 James Dacies 117 Hull's Monument 119 Jacob Jones 120 Jones's Medal 122 A Wasp on a Frolic 123 The Biddle Urn 124 Decatur's Medal 129 William Bainbridge 131 Bainbridge's Medal 132 James Lawrence 135 Lawrence's Medal 136 Hornet and Peacock 137 Fac-simile of Lawrence's Letter 139 The Chesapeake and Shannon enter ing the Harbor of Halifax 143 Brake's Silver Plate 146 William Henry Allen 147 Graves of Burrows, Blyth, and Wa ters 150 Burrows's Medal 151 David Porter 153 Porter's Fleet at Nooaheeva 160 The Essex fighting the Phcebe and Cherub 165 Porter's Monument 168 John Rodgere 172 Sackett's Harbor in 1S14 176 Isaac Chauncey 178 Jesse D. Elliott 180 Buffalo Harbor, 1812 1S1 Oliver H. Perry 184 Mouth of Cascade Creek in 1860 185 Vill ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Put-in-bay 187 Perry's Battle-flag 190 Fac-simile of Perry's Despatch 192 John Bull and Queen Charlotte 193 Perry's Statue at Cleveland 195 York in 1813 198 Powder Magazine at the Water's Edge 199 Qneenstown in 1812 201 Destruction at Sodus Bay 202 Light-house on Horse Island 203 Tornado on Lake Ontario 206 Thomas Macdonough 209 Sir James Lucas Yeo 212 Place of Battle at Big Sandy Creek. 214 View from Cumberland Head 218 Macdonough's Medal 220 Fulton the First 222 Section of Floating Battery 223 Chauncey's Monument 224 Chesapeake Bay 227 Remains of Fortifications ou Craney Island 228 Euti-auce to Bouaventnre 229 New London in 1S13 231 Crosby's Wharf 233 Charles Morris 234 Mouth of the Penobscot 235 Morris's Monumeut 236 Johnston Blakeley 237 Blakeley's Medal 23S Lewis Warrington 240 Warrington's Medal 241 Barney's Spring 243 Ruins ofthe Capitol after the Fire. 244 Ruins of the President's House 245 Charles Stewart at the Age of Eighty-six 247 Stewart's Medal 250 The Constitution, I860 251 Stephen Decatur 253 PAGE James Biddle 255 Biddle's Medal 256 Clipper-built Privateer 260 Samuel C. Reid 274 Peace Medal 279 Knlorama 280 Decatur's Monument. 281 Matthew C. Perry 285 Japanese Government Boat 286 Visit of the Japanese Officials to Commodore Perry 287 Star of the West 289 Dix's Famous Order 292 Hiram Paulding 294 A. H. Foote 298 Iron-clad Gun-boat, 1814 299 S. F. Dupont 300 Charles Wilkes 303 Mortar-boats on the Mississippi — 305 D. D. Porter 309 The Hartford 311 D. G. Farragut 314 Theodore R Timbey 316 Fight between the Monitor and Mer- rimae 319 The Sumter 323 The Alabama 324 Sinking of the Alabama 325 Porter's Gun-boat Ram 329 The Indiaiiola 330 Bird's-eye View of Charleston 335 The Xew Ironsides 339 Porter's Gun-boats passing the Rap ids 343 Destruction of the Tecumsch 347 Medal of Honor 351 A Blockade-runner 360 Destruction of the Dorothea 364 Robert Fulton 366 Torpedo Buried in the Saud 369 Naval Apprentices 381 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. CHAPTER I. My Young Countrymen, — I am going to tell you a plain, straightforward story about the career of one of the navies which belong to the people of the United States ; for you must remember that there are two kinds of navies. One is a mercantile navy — a navy of peace — carrying on the trade and commerce of our country at home and abroad ; the other is a protective navy — a navy for war — always ready to protect the mercantile navy in its beneficent labors and pursuits, whether in our own waters or in distant seas. It is ever will ing to sustain the honor of the American flag, to assert the rights of American citizens, and to support the dignity of our Republic. It is the story of the protective navy, or Navy for War, which I am now to relate — not in minute detail. I shall give you only an outline sketch of its more important achievements, which you may fill in by extended reading as you grow to the full stature of American citizens. The story is told, not for your amusement only, but for your instruction and inspiration as well. You may learn from it what a strong right arm of power for good is an efficient protective navy in the hands of a righteous people, preventing war by being prepared for war. You may also learn with 1* 2 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. what bravery, skill, fortitude, and unselfish devotion your coun trymen have given their best energies to the task of achieving our independence, and in establishing, supporting, and preserv ing our free government and its dearest interests, by their valor and wisdom on the sea. I hope this lesson will help to inspire you to emulate their zeal and patriotism in whatever sphere of public life in which you may be called to act, whether on the land or on the sea, that each of you may justly bear the honorable name of a good American Citizen. Before we enter upon the story of the Navy of the United States, let us first observe HOW THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAME INTO EXISTENCE. The young Prince George William Frederick, son of the de ceased Prince of Wales, was riding on horseback near the pal ace of Kew one fine morning in October, 1760, when a messen ger rode up to him in haste and sainted him as monarch of Great Britain. His grandfather, the old king, had just been found dead in a private room in St. James's Palace ; and as " the king never dies," according to the English Constitution, the young prince, heir to the throne, was proclaimed sovereign. George, as usual, was accompanied by his tutor, the Earl of Bute, a gay Scotch courtier, and a favorite of the young king's mother. He had unbounded influence over the prince, and now exercised it when the latter had become king. William Pitt, the great " Commoner of England," was the old king's prime-minister, but George discarded him, and put Bute in his place. At the helm of the Ship of State, the Scotch man started on a perilous voyage of ra^h measures, and was running her blindly among reefs and shoals, when her guid ance was intrusted to more competent hands. But the new pilot was not much wiser, politically, than Bute. The king was a virtuous, easy, good-natured soul, not over- GEORGE THE THIRD. 3 burdened with wit or even with common-sense, and, like a ma jority of such men, he was sometimes very stubborn. But he was honest. His money-chest had been emptied by the ex penses of great wars, and he thought well of the suggestion of his prime -minister, that money might easily be raised from the American subjects of the crown by means of taxation. GEORGE III. Wise men, who kne.w something of the spirit of the Ameri cans, shook their heads. Others told the king plainly that such a measure would be offensive to the Americans, who were dutiful and loyal, and therefore it would be unwise and dan gerous. But the king stubbornly adhered to it. STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. " I have a right to tax my subjects," he said. " Not without their consent," replied the Americans. "No Englishman at home would submit to taxation without he agreed to it by his representatives in Parliament, for the Great Charter of England forbids it." So a great quarrel was begun that continued about ten years before the parties came to blows. The Americans said: "If you tax us you must allow us representatives in Parliament" — or the National Legislature. "No," said the king. "The Parliament has the supreme power and the undoubted right to levy taxes, and it shall be done. Willing or unwilling, you must contribute to the ex penses of the government." Parliament thereupon passed a law to compel the Americans to pay a specified tax upon every piece of paper or parch ment used by them for legal purposes, such as deeds, mortgages, promissory notes, marriage licenses, etc., the amount of such tax being expressed by a stamp secured to or printed on the paper as our postage-stamps are. The Americans resolved not to use A STAMP. these stamps ; and when men brought them over from England to sell them, the holders were abused, and were compelled to give up the business of " Stamp Dis tributers." The Americans did more ; they refused to buy goods in Great Britain so long as the Stamp Act was in force. The British merchants, feeling the loss of trade, clamored loud ly for a repeal of the act, and it was done. Then the Parliament resolved that the Americans should pay an import duty, as it was called (a certain percentage of the value), on many articles which they should receive from Great Britain. This taxation was levied without their consent, as THE BOSTON TEA-PARTY. 5 before, and they refused to pay the duties. Men sent to col lect them by force, if necessary, were roughly handled in Bos ton, and British troops were sent there to enforce the laws. Then there were lively times in the New England capital. These troops were insolent, and greatly irritated the people. Quarrels took place almost every day. On a cold, frosty night in early March, 1 7 70, a mob of citizens assailed the soldiers, who fired upon the crowd, and mortally wounded some of them. The excitement was very great ; and the next morning, as a measure of prudence, the soldiers were removed from the city to a fortress on an island in the harbor. Finally, Parliament ceased to tax anything in which the Americans were concerned, excepting the luxury of tea. The tax was very small ; but the principle involved was the same, whether the burden laid was great or little. "Taxation with out representation," said the Americans, " is tyranny." They resolved not only to abstain from the use of tea, but not to allow a cargo of the plant to be landed on their shores. Two ships came into Boston harbor laden with teas, and pre pared to land their cargoes. A great public meeting was held, and many citizens, disguised as Mohawk Indians, went on board the vessels, broke open sixty chests of tea and poured their contents into Boston harbor. This is known as " The Boston Tea-party." It occurred on a cold night in December, 1773. David Kinnison, one of the young men who cast the tea over board, lived until 1852, and died in Chicago when he was 115 years of age. The king and his ministers were very angry, and called the Bostonians " rebels." Their port was shut up against com merce, and the public offices were removed to Salem. All the other colonies sympathized with Massachusetts, of which Bos ton was the capital. They resolved to stand by each other. A grand committee, composed of men from each colony, met at Philadelphia early in September, 1774, to consider the state tj STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. of public affairs and form plans for the future. This was called a Continental Congress. One of the most important acts of that First Continental Congress was to resolve to stand by Massachusetts in its re sistance to British oppression. They also petitioned the king for justice : set forth in clear and strong language the reasons PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 7 for their opposition to measures of Parliament, and formed an association or compact, by which it was agreed that the people of the colonies should refrain from trading with those of Great Britain, until the government should be just toward the Amer- DAVID KINNISON. British troops were then in Boston to force the people to submit to obnoxious laws. The people everywhere were in dignant. They resolved to maintain their rights at all hazards. Thoughtful men said, " We must fight !" The people prepared for war. In Massachusetts, they collected military stores for the purpose at Concord, a few miles from Boston, and General Gage, the military commander in that city, sent out troops to seize them. S STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. The farmers, young and old, had formed military bands, who were ready to act at a minute's warning. These were called Minute-men. They were always wide awake. At Lex ington a few of them had assembled early in the morning of April 19th, 1775, to meet the British soldiers on their way to Concord. A fight ensued, and some of the Minute-men were killed. The whole country was aroused; and the farmers, seizing such arms as were at hand, flocked toward Concord. They soon drove the British invaders back to Boston pell-mell, slaying many of them in their flight. Jonathan Harrington, JONATHAN HARRINGTON. then a sprightly youth, who played the fife for the Minute-men on Lexington Green, lived until 1854, when he died, at the age of 95 years. AN ARMY AT CAMBRIDGE. » The news of this affair spread over New England, and with in three days a motley, undisciplined army of full twenty thousand men had gathered at Cambridge, before Boston. They had all sorts of arms, were dressed in all sorts of cloth ing, and formed a most grotesque appearance. Almost every body assumed the right to be captain. We may imagine their call to arms and their discipline had been after the following fashion, described by one of their rhymers : " Come out, ye Continentallers ! We're going for to go To fight the red-coat enemy, Who're very cute, you know. " Now, shoulder arms ! Eyes right and dress ! Front ! (Dave, pull up your hose !) Step ! whoop ! That's slick ! now carry arms ! (Mike Jones, turn out your toes !) " Charge bagnet ! that's your sort, my boys ! Now quick-time ! March ! That's right : Just so we'd poke the enemy If they were but in sight. " Bill Sneezer ! keep your canteen down, We're going for to travel." " Capting, I wants to halt a bit, My shoe is full of gravel !" But these men, awkward it may be, and not very learned — earnest toilers — were as earnest patriots, and beneath their linsey-woolsey jackets beat hearts as warm with love of family and country, as any in the land. They knew their rights, and knowing, dared maintain them. They were brave aud zealous, and were the kind of men who, in the field, achieved the in dependence of our beloved country. This rude army became the jailers to the British troops in Boston, who dared not venture out again for some time. Fi nally, when more soldiers came, with distinguished generals to lead them — Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne — and it was per- 10 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. ceived that the Americans were making preparations to drive them into the sea, they sallied out to attack the patriots, and then the severe battle of Bunker's Hill was fought. At the same time, the second Continental Congress, sitting at Phila delphia, adopted the armed multitude at Cambridge as a " Con tinental Army," and appointed George Washington, of Vir ginia, as its commander-in-chief. He took charge of the army early in July, 1775, and began the siege of Boston. In March following he drove the British troops to their ships, and they sailed away eastward to Nova Scotia. The King and Parliament treated the Americans as rebels. They sent fleets and armies to enslave them. Despairing of justice, the Americans longed for independence ; and on the 2d of July, 1776, the Congress resolved that the United Col onies were " free and independent States." Two days after ward (July 4th) they adopted and signed a paper in which were given their reasons for such a resolution. This paper is known as The Declaration of Independence. For nearly seven years the Americans fought to secure their independence, and were successful. By their valor and wisdom they founded a nation al government, under the title of The United States of Amer ica — the Great Republic of the western hemisphere — our country — which has a foremost rank among the greater na tions of the earth. Now, my young countrymen, was not that a noble and right eous struggle of a virtuous people against wrong and oppres sion? They had appealed to God, the wise Disposer of all human events, for the rectitude of their intentions, and, with a firm reliance on his support, they had mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. But they well knew the wisdom of the old heathen saying: "Jupiter [or God] helps those who help themselves," and acted accordingly, as we shall perceive presently. DESTRUCTION OF THE " GASPEE." 11 CHAPTER II. The British government had a large navy : the American colonies had none. In the war then begun (1775) the colo nies would be powerless on the sea. British armed ships might burn and plunder their seaport towns; land British troops, and materials for war, wherever they pleased ; destroy every American merchant -vessel which they might meet, and put an end to American commerce. The Americans had to do something to relieve themselves of their helplessness. There were bold and skilful seamen in Rhode Island, who had already had something to do with the British navy. In 1772, an English armed schooner (the Gaspee) was in Narraganset Bay, to enforce obnoxious British laws. It played the tyrant so offensively, that, on a dark and stormy night in June, Cap tain Abraham Whipple, a veteran seaman, went down the bay from Providence, with some brother sailors, in open whale- boats, and burnt the offending vessel. The British govern ment tried to find out who did it, but so true to each other were the actors that inquiries were in vain. Three years after ward, when the bay was blockaded by an English frigate, and her commander knew that Whipple was the leader of the of fending party, he wrote to the culprit, saying : "You, Abraham Whipple, on the 17th of June, 1772, burnt his Majesty's vessel the Gaspee, and I will hang you to the yard-arm." To this note Whipple replied : 12 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. "To Sir James Wallace. " Sir, — Always catch a man before you hang him. " Abraham Whipple." The British confmander, irritated by this impudent note, tried hard to catch*-the defiant sailor; but he never did, and Whipple was never hanged. The Legislature of Rhode Island fitted up two armed vessels, to drive Sir James and his obnoxious frigate out of Narragan- set Bay. These vessels were placed under the command of Captain Whipple, ami he had the honor of firing the first gun in the naval service of the patriots of the Revolution. So it was that in the surliest colony in America the germ of the United States Navy was first planted. In Washington's army at Cambridge were many soldiers from Marblehead and other New England seaports, whose daily toil had been on the sea. The hint given by the government of Rhode Island caused Washington to authorize the fitting out of several vessels as privateers, and he manned them with these sailor-soldiers. They were very active ; and it was not long before they had captured several transports, filled with military supplies needed by the Americans. Captain Broughton, of Mar blehead, received a naval commission from Washington, dated September 2d, 1775 — the first of the kind issued by the Conti nental Congress through its authorized agents. Washington also caused two floating batteries to be constructed, armed and manned, and they were placed in the Charles River. What are privateers and transports ? Privateers are vessels belonging to one private person or more, sailing with a license from government, in time of war, to seize, plunder, and destroy the ships and other property of the enemy wherever found afloat. Transports are vessels used for carrying troops, stores, and materials for war. Washington established rules for the division of prize- MANLY, THE NAVAL PIONEER. 13 money among the privateers, which the Continental Congress afterward approved and made lawful. Encouragement was given to citizens to go into the business, and many did so, be lieving it to be just because it was lawful. Most of the offi cers of these early sea-rovers were inefficient. Captain John Manly, who had been on the sea nearly thirty years, was a notable exception. He was one of the skilful fishermen of Mar- blehead, and noted for bravery in his avocation. He, almost alone, maintained the character of a bold and expert naval commander. Washington gave him the commission of Cap tain. He selected a choice crew, and soon afterward they capt ured three British ships as they were entering Boston harbor. One of them was laden with heavy guns, mortars, and intrench ing tools: just what the Americans, besieging Boston, were then in need of. FLOATING BATTERY, 1775. Manly and his crew became a terror to the British, and they sent out an armed vessel from Halifax to capture them ; but the commander was too wary and skilful a mariner to be easi ly caught. In his gallant little schooner Lee he roamed along the New England coasts, capturing prize after prize among the British vessels. Congress appointed him captain in the Con tinental Navy which was soon afterward created ; and, until he was made a prisoner himself, he performed gallant deeds for the good cause. With the frigate Hancock, carrying thir ty-two guns, he captured the British man-of-war Fox; but soon afterward his vessel was seized by the English ship Rain- 14 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. bow, of forty guns, and Manly remained a prisoner until near the close of the war. It was perceived at the beginning of the struggle that the colonists must have a naval force to protect their seaport towns and their little commerce; but the Continental Con gress, engaged in affairs of more immediate importance, de ferred action until October, 1775, when they resolved "that a swift-sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage -guns and an appro priate number of swivels," should be fitted out for a cruise of three months for the purpose of intercepting British transports. They soon afterward ordered another vessel to be built ; and they appointed seven members of their body a committee to direct naval affairs. It was styled The Marine Committee. So was first laid the foundation of the naval system of the United States, that committee performing the duties of the Secretary of the Navy in our day. The Marine Committee consisted of Silas Deane, John Lang- don, Christopher Gadsden, Stephen Hopkins, Joseph Hewes, Richard Henry Lee, and John Adams. These seven men, from seven different colonies, afterward became distinguished in American history. Deane was a foreign ambassador; Gads den was a leader of Revolutionary patriots in South Carolina ; Langdon was Governor of New Hampshire ; Hopkins, Hewes, Lee, and Adams were signers of the Declaration of Indepen dence ; and Adams became the second President of the United States. In due time the Marine Committee had an Admiralty Seal for their documents, which Congress had adopted. Later in 1775, Congress, impressed with the absolute necessi ty of a navy, ordered thirteen more vessels to be built. It is well to remember the names of these vessels, as determined by Congress — the first projected American war fleet — for a portion of them assisted in achieving our independence. Here they are : Washington, carrying 32 guns ; Randolph, 32 ; Effingham, FIRST NAVAL COMMANDERS. 15 28 ; Delaware, 24 ; Raleigh, 32 ; Hancock, 32 ; Boston, 24 ; Warren, 32 ; Providence, 28 ; Virginia, 28 ; Trumbull, 28 ; Congress, 28 ; and Montgomery, 28. Other vessels were pur chased and put afloat while these were a-building, some of them quite small. Who shall command these vessels? was a serious question, somewhat difficult to answer. There were no men in the colo nies trained for a war navy. There were enough men of cour age and skilled seamanship ; and of these the Congress pro ceeded to appoint Esek Hopkins, of Rhode Island, then nearl) sixty years of age, " commander-in-chief," with Dudley Sal- tonstall, Abraham Whipple, Nicholas Biddle, and John B. Hop kins, captains. They also appointed a suitable number of first, ADMIRALTY SEAL. second, and third lieutenants. Among the first lieutenants ap pointed was John Paul Jones, a young Scotchman less than thirty years of age, who became a famous naval hero before the war closed. Hopkins was to be regarded as holding the same relative official rank in the navy that Washington did in 16 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. the army. He was sometimes called admiral, but generally commodore. The first regular cruisers sent to sea by the new government i were the sloop Hornet, 10 guns, and schooner Wasp, 8 guns. They were equipped at Baltimore by the Marine Committee. ESICK HOPKINS. These, with the Lexington, commanded by Captain Barry, of Baltimore, joined the squadron under Commodore Hopkins, that left the Delaware in February, 1776, to operate against Governor Dunraore, then making war upon the inhabitants of the Virginia coast region. Hopkins was ambitious, and, without instructions from his superiors, pushed on farther southward, seized a town on New Providence, one of the Bahama Islands, and carried off one hundred cannons and a large quantity of stores. Then he sailed for the New England coast with his spoils. While off the east end of Long Island, he captured two small British vessels, and HOISTING THE FIRST NATIONAL FLAG. 17 with his prizes entered New London harbor, in Connecticut. He had lost twenty-three men during his cruise. Congress, offended because Hopkins had departed from his instructions, and failed to capture a large English vessel which his small ones had encountered, dis missed him from the service the next year. No "commander-in- chief " of the navy was afterward appoint ed. Of course each ves sel of the little Conti nental navy bore a flag — an ensign of au thority. What kind of a flag did Congress prescribe? None what ever. Each commander was allowed to choose his own device. It is said that Lieutenant John Paul Jones raised, with his own hand, the first flag ever displayed at the mast-head of a regu lar American cruiser. That vessel was the Alfred, Hopkins's flag ship, and the banner was raised at Philadel- HOISTLNG FIKBT NAVAJ. FLAG. 18 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. phia early in February, 1776. It was composed of a white field, with the representation of a pine-tree in the centre. Over this were the words "Liberty Tree," and under it, "Appeal to God." Another flag was composed of thirteen stripes, al ternate red and white, indicating the union of the thirteen col onies, with a representation of a rattlesnake across it, and the words, either of petition or of warning, "Don't tread on me !" We have seen that Captain Barry, then thirty years of age, commanded the brig Lexington, 14 guns. He had a sharp fight for an hour, at the middle of April, off the Capes of Vir ginia, with the British armed tender Edward. The Lexington nearly cut her antagonist to pieces, and captured her. This was the first of any vessel of war that was captured by a reg ular American cruiser, and Barry was greeted with unstinted praise. In May, John Paul Jones, having been made captain, was placed in command of the sloop Providence, 12 guns. He cruised between Boston and the Delaware, and sometimes as far south as the Bermudas. He was sometimes chased by larger British vessels, but always escaped. Finally he sailed far to the eastward, and in the waters near Causo he captured twelve fishing-vessels. With fifteen prizes he sailed into New port harbor, and was received with joy. In the mean time Captains Whipple and Biddle, with each a small vessel (Columbus and Andrea Doria), were making successful cruises off the coasts of New England and Nova Scotia. It is said the prizes of the Doria, Biddle's vessel, were so numerous that when he arrived in the Delaware she bore only five of her original crew, the remainder being distributed among the captured vessels to manage them. Biddle, who had been on the sea since he was fourteen years of age (he was then twenty-six), and had served with the afterward great Nelson as a shipmate, was rewarded with the gift of the com mand of the frigate Randolph, of 32 guns. NEW ENGLAND PRIVATEERS. 19 At this time New England privateers were quite as active and successful as were the Continental vessels, for patriotism and self-interest sometimes go honorably hand in hand in achieving good results. The New Englanders were as human as the rest of the colonists, and were not averse, while serving their country, to putting money in their purses. Between the flight of the British from Boston at the middle of March (1776) and the ensuing midsummer they captured no less than thirty English vessels filled with army supplies. Among the privateers a little Connecticut vessel of fourteen guns, named Defence, was the most active. She took prize af ter prize ; and on a starry night in June, she, with an armed schooner and three other privateers, fought and conquered two British transports, near Boston, laden with two hundred sol diers and a large quantity of stores. By midsummer, 1776, American vessels had captured more than five hundred British soldiers. The gallant Jones, after resting on his laurels for awhile, was put in command of the Alfred, of 24 guns. That was in No vember, 1776. She sailed for Nova Scotia, accompanied by the Providence. When a few days out, Jones captured a Brit ish transport heavily laden with supplies for Burgoyne's army in Canada. This valuable prize was taken to Boston, closely pursued by a British armed ship, and was warmly welcomed. At that time only one or two of the thirteen Continental vessels ordered by Congress had been completed, and several of them, as we shall see hereafter, never got to sea. About a dozen merchant -vessels, which Congress had purchased and changed into warriors, were then afloat and active, the largest of which was the Alfred. Among the most successful cruisers in the summer of 1776 was the Reprisal, 16 guns, Captain Wickes. She was sent toward the West Indies. Near the island of Martinique she fought and repulsed a British schooner of equal rank, took 20 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. several prizes, and, returning to the Delaware, soon afterward sailed from Philadelphia to France, to carry thither Dr. Frank lin, who was sent to the French court as a representative of the American Congress and people. After landing Franklin, the Reprisal captured several prizes in the Bay of Biscay. These were sold, and the money was used by the American commissioners in France in purchasing and fitting out other armed vessels in French ports. With his own little craft and two others, Captain Wickes sailed from France and entirely around Ireland, sweeping the Irish Channel its whole length, and destroying a large number of merchant-vessels. Wickes's cruisers having been fitted out in French ports, the French government was compelled to either openly acknowledge or disclaim its friendship for the rebellious colonies. It chose to do the latter, and the cruisers were ordered to leave the French coast. Returning homeward, the Reprisal was wrecked on the coast of Newfoundland, and Captain Wickes and all his crew, excepting the cook, perished. Dr. Franklin carried with him to France a number of blank commissions for army and navy officers, which were signed by John Hancock, President of Congress. These Franklin and the other commissioners filled and signed as occasion required, and commanders of cruisers sailed under their authority from French ports. This embarrassed the French government, for it wished to avoid an open quarrel with Great Britain at that time, and desired, also, to befriend the Americans. Under one of these commissions, Captain Conyngham, a brave seaman, sailed from Dunkirk (in the north of France) in the brig Surprise, at the beginning of^May, 1777. In the course of a few days he captured a British brig and the pack et-ship Prince of Orange, and returned with them to Dunkirk. The English ambassador at Paris strongly remonstrated. To appease him, the French government imprisoned the captain and crew of the Surprise; but soon afterward not only released SUCCESS OF THE "REVENUE." 23 them, but allowed them to fit out another cruiser called the Revenge. In this vessel Conyngham sailed a day or two be fore the arrival of two British vessels that were sent to convey him and his men to England to be tried for piracy. The temper of the British government and people had been made irascible at that time by the alarming blows which American cruisers were inflicting upon their dearest interest, commerce. They regarded the revolted Americans as rebels, without any lawful government that might give commissions to privateers, and consequently these sea-rovers were held to be pirates — sea-robbers. Had Conyngham or any Ameri can privateersman been caught just at that time, he would have been hanged. The Revenge scared the British so by her depredations that for a time they were at their wit's end. She made many prizes of merchantmen, and put large sums of money into the hands of, the American commissioners for public use. Great alarm prevailed in all British seaports. Insurance on cargoes rose to twenty-five per centum ; and so reluctant were British merchants to ship goods in English bottoms, that forty French vessels were at one time together in the Thames taking in cargoes. The Revenge sought in vain for the British transports that were conveying hired German troops across the Atlantic to fight the Americans. It is said that the bold Conyngham, after a storm, disguised his ship, took her into a small Eng lish port, and refitted her without her character being suspect ed. He also obtained supplies in an Irish port. In the fall of 1776, Lake Champlain, in northern New York, became the theatre of stirring naval operations. The British in the spring had prepared to invade the Champlain and Hud son valleys to effect a separation between New England and the rest of the Union, by holding military possession of these valleys. Look on a map and you will see how complete would 24 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. have been the separation by such an occupation. To meet this danger, the Americans, liolding Ticonderoga and Crown Point, on the lake, constructed a small squadron at its upper end. By the middle of August a sloop, three schooners, and five gondolas had gather ed at Crown Point, where they were armed and manned ; and Benedict Arnold, who knew more about naval affairs than any one else there, was placed in command of them. With this little squadron he sailed down the lake to its foot, to make observations. Meanwhile the British, hearing of what was going on above, had hastily built a little navy on the Sorel, the outlet of Lake Champlain, and now had afloat a large flat-bottomed boat carrying heavy guns, called The Thunderer, and twenty-four gun-boats, each bearing a carriage-gun, and all well manned. After much delay, these hostile vessels came to blows to ward the middle of October. The American flotilla was then lying between Valcour's Island and the western shore of the lake. The Congress, galley, was Arnold's flag- ship. There the American flotilla was attacked by the British sqnadron, and a very severe contest ensued, which was ended by the gloom of a very dark night. The American schooner Royal Savage had been lost in the action ; the rest of the flotilla, eluding the British in the "darkness, fled up the lake, chased the next morning by their foes. All that day and the follow- BENROTCT ARNOLD. FIRST COURTESY PAID TO THE AMERICAN FLAG. 25 ing night the exciting race continued. The Americans were overtaken early the next morning (October 13th, 1776). Ar nold was upon the Congress, galley, and fought until she was nearly a wreck, when that vessel and four others were run into a creek and burnt, the remnants of the crews escaping and making their way to Crown Point. Had Benedict Arnold perished at that time, his memory would have been cherished by the Americans as one of the noblest champions of liberty. Alas ! he lived to do many other patriotic deeds, and then, by an act of foul treason that contemplated the ruin of the cause he had espoused, he made his countrymen think of him only with scorn and hot indig nation. The Andrea Doria, which had been so successful on the New England coast, finished her career on the Delaware in 1777, where she was burnt to prevent her falling into the hands of the British. Captain Robinson, in the Sachem, 10 guns, had captured an English privateer in July, 1776, for which act he was placed in command of the Doria, and sailed for St. Eustatia, where her salute was returned by the Dutch governor, the first courtesy of the kind ever paid to an Ameri can flag. For this indiscretion the magistrate was removed from office by his government, to avoid giving offence to the English. On leaving that island, the Doria fell in with and captured the Race-horse, 12 guns, after a sharp fight of two hours. A large portion of the officers and crew of the Race horse were either killed or wounded. The Doria reached Philadelphia with her prize. This was her last cruise before her destruction. In October following, the privateer Ranger, 18 guns, Cap tain Hudson, convoying some American merchant-vessels in the West Indies, had a contest with a British brig which had been fitted out by the authorities of the island of Jamaica, and after a struggle of about two hours the men of the Ranger 26 STORY OF THE UNITED' STATES NAVY. boarded the brig, and conquered her company in a hand-to- hand fight on her deck. When the Ranger returned to the United States after this victory, she was purchased for the Continental navy. With this action in American waters and others in Europe an waters, already mentioned, marine warfare between the hos tile parties closed for the year 1776 with honor to the Ameri cans. During that year three hundred and forty British ves sels had fallen into the hands of the latter, of which number forty-five had been recaptured, eighteen had been released, and four had been burnt. American vessels had not escaped dis aster, by any means. The fast- sailing English frigates had captured many privateersmen ; and from time to time many American merchantmen had become British prizes. The war on the ocean had become destructive to both parties. The struggling Americans, both amazed and delighted by the results of their own valor, were very exultant, and they sometimes chanted their own praises in extravagant lines. One of them, in a song of nine verses, made Old Neptune, the god of the ocean, say : " A Congress ! sure they're brother gods, Who have such heroes at their nods To govern earth and sea : I yield my trident and my crown, A tribute due to such renown ; These gods shall rule for me." CAPTAIN BIDDLE REWARDED. 27 CHAPTER III. At the dawn of 1777 the spirits of the Americans were greatly elevated by their land victories at Trenton and Prince ton. Recruits were rapidly filling up the shattered ranks of the army, and the Congress, which had fled in affright and de spondency to Baltimore, began to be more hopeful. The rec ord of-their sea victories were also inspiriting to the Americans. Of the thirteen vessels ordered by Congress, only two (the Han cock, built in Boston, and the Randolph, constructed in Phil adelphia) had got to sea; but purchased merchantmen, changed into cruisers and privateers, were very active and successful. We have seen that the Congress rewarded Captain Biddle for his deeds by giving him the command of the Randolph, 32 guns. She sailed on her first cruise early in 1777. Going southward from the Delaware, Biddle ran into Charleston har bor, where he remained a few days. Soon after going out he fell in with and captured four " Jamaica men" (as vessels from the English island of Jamaica were called), one of which was armed with twenty cannons. With his prizes he returned to Charleston. There he was blockaded many months by a supe rior British force. The Charleston people finally added four small vessels of their own to Biddle's command, and with this little squadron he sailed out in quest of the British ships which had been cruising off that port. For a long time nothing was heard of the Randolph. Finally tidings came from the British that, while she was cruising to the eastward of Barbadoes, on the 7th of March, 1778, she was attacked late in the evening by the British man-of-war Tar- 28 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. WIOUOLAS MDJJLE. mouth, 64 guns, and after a sharp action for twenty minutes, in which the sails and rigging of the British vessel were very much cut up, Biddle's ship had been blown up. These sad tidings were too true. The Randolph and most of her company were lost. The *! combatants had been so near " fragments of the destroyed vessel, when her magazine exploded, struck the Yar mouth. Among other things an American flag, rolled up and not even singed, was blown in upon the forecastle of the British vessel. Five days afterward the Tar month picked up four men of the Randolph floating on a piece of the wreck. Biddle and all of his men had perished excepting these. Not long after Biddle had sailed from the Delaware, the United States brig Cabot, 16 guns, Captain Olney, was chased ashore on the coast of Nova Scotia and captured. Her crew fled to the woods, and afterward, seizing a British schooner, made their way to Boston. That was in March, 1777. In April the Trumbull, 28 guns, built in Connecticut — Captain Saltonstall — captured two British transports with valuable stores on board. It was soon after this affair that the Hancock was captured by the British cruiser Rainbow. I The occupation of Philadelphia, early in the autumn of 1777, by the British army materially changed the naval arrangements of the country. Until then, the Delaware had been a safe place of retreat for American vessels. On its banks ships had been constructed ; and many public and private armed vessels "THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS." 29 had been fitted out at Philadelphia, then the largest town in the United States. The British fleet, under Lord Howe, now occupied the river, while the army of his brother, Sir William, lay around Philadelphia. It was at this time that an amusing event occurred, which was celebrated in verse by Francis Hopkinson, one of the sign ers of the Declaration of Independence, in an epic of twenty- two stanzas, entitled " The Battle of the Kegs." The Americans at Bordentown, on the Delaware, above Philadelphia, constructed some torpedoes, and sent them down the river in kegs to de stroy the British shipping. They were so arranged that when they should strike against any object with the velocity which the tide would give them, they would explode by percussion. One of these struck some object in the river and exploded. The British, remembering Bushnell's Marine Turtle in New York harbor (see Chapter XXV.), were greatly alarmed, and every keg or other suspicious object seen floating in the Del aware was fired upon. Hopkinson thus ludicrously described the terror of the British : " The soldier flew, the sailor too, And, scared almost to death, sir, Wore out their shoes to spread the news, -And ran till out of breath, sir. " Now up and down, throughout the town, Most frantic scenes were acted ; And some ran here, and otherj there, Like men almost distracted. " Some fire cried, which some denied, But said the earth had quaked, And girls and boys with hideous noise Ran through the streets half-naked. " Such feats did they perform that day Against these wicked kegs, sir, That, years to come, if they get home, They'll make their boasts and brags, sir." 30 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Several American vessels, not in a condition to get to sea when Howe entered the Delaware, sought safety higher up the river. It was then that the Andrea Doria (see page 24) was destroyed, to prevent her falling into the power of the British. The schooners Wasp and Hornet were also burnt for the same purpose. At about this time the frigate Raleigh, 32 guns, which had been built at Portsmouth, N. H., first went to sea under Cap tain Thompson, in the company of the Alfred, Captain Hin man. They were both short of men, and sailed directly for France to get military supplies. At the beginning of September the Raleigh and Alfred capt ured the snow1 Nancy, which had been left by a merchant fleet of sixty sail, convoyed by the Druid, 20 guns, and three other armed vessels. From his prisoners Thompson learned the state of affairs, and immediately sought the convoy. He discovered it the next day at sunset, andj running in his guns and closing the ports, gave the Raleigh the appearance of an English merchant-vessel. Having obtained the British signals from his prize, he used them in calling the Alfred to him, and in giving orders. Then he prepared to run among the mer chantmen and attack the Druid. The Alfred was too weak to carry sufficient sail for the pur pose, and the Raleigh alone pressed into the fleet in the even ing. Speaking first to one and then to another, as if one of their companions, she* luffed up to the Druid, repeating the latter's signals, unsuspected. Obtaining a weatherly position, the Raleigh ran along-side the Druid, and when within pistol- shot distance she hauled up her courses, ran out her guns, set her ensigns, and commanded her antagonist to surrender. The 1 A snow was a merchant- vessel, then much used, equipped with two masts, resembling the main and fore mast of a ship, and a third small mast abaft the main-mast, carrying a tup-sail. EFFORTS OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 31 Druid was confused by this unexpected order, when the Ra leigh, taking advantage of a favorable movement, poured in a broadside. It was feebly returned. In the course of twenty minutes the Raleigh fired twelve broadsides, and received only feeble responses. A squall had now come on, and when it cleared away the merchantmen were seen flying from the neighborhood of the combat in all directions. The other armed vessels approach ing, the Raleigh ran to leeward and joined the Alfred. They kept near the fleet for several days, but finally abandoned it, and the two vessels continued their voyage to France. Several minor enterprises were successfully carried out after this, and the year 1777 closed with a loss to the British of four hun dred and sixty-seven merchantmen, notwithstanding they had seventy sail of war-vessels on the American coast. For some time the American commissioners in France had been trying to negotiate a treaty of alliance with the French government, by which the independence of the United States should be acknowledged, and open aid be given them in their struggle with Great Britain. The capture of Burgoyne's army by the unaided Americans, in the fall of 1777, gave such as surance of success for the patriots, that on the 6th of February, 1778, treaties of alliance, and of amity and commerce, were signed at Paris by the Count de Vergennes and Dr. Franklin, the represent atives of France and the United States. Very speedily material aid was given by the former, when French ships of war appeared in American waters and among the West India Islands. rr.. . ... ., f . COUNT T)E VERGENNES. This alliance gave great relief to the Americans, and infused new life into the Continental ar- 32 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. mies. The Congress fitted out some frigates and smaller vessels. Among the former was the Alliance, 32 guns, built at Salisbury, Massachusetts, which became a favorite with the patriots. The American cruisers were now more active than ever. Before news of the treaty reached the United States, and even before it was signed, the Providence, Captain Rathburne, had sailed (January, 1778) for the Bahama Islands, landed upon New Providence, seized the fort at Nassau, and taken posses sion of the town and six vessels in the harbor. He had landed with only twenty-five men, and had not force enough to hold the fort; so he spiked the cannons, took a large quantity of ammunition and stores to his vessel, burnt two of his prizes, and departed without losing a man. The gallant Barry (see page 16) was in command di the Effingham, 28 guns, which had sought safety above Philadel phia in the fall of 1777. Tired of inactivity, Barry planned an expedition down the stream. Manning four boats with armed men, he went down the river with the tide, dashed past the town, and attacked an armed schooner of ten guns, and four transports below Philadelphia. He boarded and captured the schooner, and the transports fell into his hands. Two British cruisers approaching soon afterward, Barry burnt his prizes and escaped by land, without the loss of a man. Early in 1778 Captain Thompson, with the Raleigh, and Alfred, Captain Hinman,' laden with military stores, sailed from L'Orient, France, taking the southern route for Amer ica. On the 9th of March they were chased by the British ships Ariadne and Ceres, and the Alfred was captured after a sharp conflict. Thompson did not assist Hinman, for which remissness he was dismissed from the .service. 1 Hinman was one of the bravest of the naval heroes of the Revolution. His remains rest under a beautiful monument of marble, nineteen feet in height, at Stonington, Connecticut. EXPLOITS OF PAUL JONES. 33 The Virginia, 28 guns, built at Annapolis, was one of the thirteen frigates ordered by Congress. Various causes prevent ed her getting to sea until the spring of 1778, when she was placed in command of Captain James Nicholson, the senior of the original list of officers of that rank. At the close of March she sailed down Chesa peake Bay. During the first night out her unskilful pilot lay her across a sand-bar, where she fell into the power of two Brit ish armed vessels the next morning. Per ceiving his peril, Nicholson, with his men, had escaped ashore, with his papers, before the captors reached his vessel. Now John Paul Jones first appeared in European waters, but in a vessel too inferior for such an able and zealous commander. It was in April, 1778, and his vessel was the Ranger, 18 guns. But he sailed boldly into the Irish Channel, made several important prizes, and undertook to capture the sloop-of-war Drake, 18 guns, lying in the harbor of Carrickfer- gus, Ireland. Failing in this, Jones sailed to the English coast, entered the port of Whitehaven, seized the fort there, spiked the cannons, and setting fire to a ship in the midst of a hundred other vessels, departed as suddenly as he appeared. The flames were extinguished, and the shipping was saved. This exploit, associated in the minds of the people with piracy and destruc tion, spread terror along the English coast, and produced a pro found sensation throughout the kingdom. Jones, emboldened by this success, proceeded to the coast of Scotland, his native country, to attempt the capture of the Earl of Selkirk, so as to have a notable prisoner to exchange. The earl had a seat on St. Mary's Isle, near the point where the Dee enters the Channel. Jones was familiar with the lo- MONUMENT TO HINMAN. 34 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. cality, having spent a portion of his boyhood there while his father was the earl's gardener. He did not go in person to seize the earl, for the better feelings of his nature restrained him. The earl and his good wife had been kind friends of Jones in his boyhood, and his conscience rebelled against the act as rank ingratitude. The claims of his adopted country pleaded against the suggestions of conscience, and he sent some of his most trusted followers, with instructions to commit no depredations, but only to seize the person of his early friend. The earl was absent, and the men, greedy for plunder, ex ceeded their instructions, and carried off from the mansion sil ver plate of the value of five hundred dollars. Jones was mor tified ; and when the booty was sold at Brest, he purchased the plate and sent it back to Lady Selkirk, with a letter express ing his regret at the circumstance. A little later Jones appeared off Carrickf ergus again, when the Drake went out to attack the Ranger. After fighting a lit tle more than an hour, the Drake, dreadfully shattered, and with forty of her crew killed or wounded, struck her colors and sur rendered. With his prize Jones sailed around Ireland, made several other prizes, and reached the harbor of Brest early in May. A French fleet, commanded by the Count D'Estaing, ap peared off the coast of Virginia in July, 1778. Admiral Howe's British fleet had already left the Delaware, and taken position in Raritan Bay. The British army had left Philadelphia and gone to New York. With D'Estaing came M. Gerard, the first French minister sent to the United States. This fleet of heavy war-ships gave confidence to American cruisers, and under the shadow of its power they became bolder and more active, while the British naval commanders became more cautious and circumspect. The French fleet disappointed the Americans. Their hopes of great aid from its power were never realized. D'Estaing D'ESTAING S CONDUCT. 35 did not disturb Howe's fleet in Raritan Bay. He fought him off Rhode Island in a heavy storm, and then abandoned the land troops there at a moment when help was most needed and expected, causing disaster to the American army. So it was at the siege of Savannah. Just as victory over the British, who were intrenched there, was assured, but not quite achieved, he ordered all his men and cannons on shore engaged in the siege to be immediately trans ferred to his vessels, when he sailed away to the West Indies, leaving Gen eral Lincoln, the American commander, no alternative but to raise the siege and retreat in deep mortifica tion. In both instances the Americans were dis appointed and disgusted ; for the French command er seemed intent upon se curing the safety of his vessels from the least harm, let the con sequence to the American cause be what it might. Indeed, there is reason to suspect that the French government at that time was willing to have the war prolonged. The conduct of De Grasse in 1781 was more commendable. With his power ful French fleet he gave able assistance to the allied French and American armies at the siege of Yorktown, until the victory was made complete. Again Captain Barry appeared conspicuous on the sea. Late in September, 1778, he sailed from Boston in command of the Raleigh, 32 guns, with a brig and sloop under convoy. On the same day two British vessels (Experiment, 50 guns, and OOUNT D ESTAING. 36 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Unicorn, 28 guns) gave chase. It was kept up for almost three days, when, toward the evening of September 27th, the Raleigh and the Unicorn began a battle that lasted seven hours. Finding the larger vessel closing in upon him, and unable to escape by flight, Barry determined to run the Raleigh ashore and burn her. He steered for an island on the-Massachusetts coast, was pursued, and kept up a running fight all the way. He had landed a part of his crew, when a treacherous petty officer surrendered the ship to the pursuer. Barry was highly commended for his gallantry in this affair. We must not forget to mention here a brave exploit of Ma jor Silas Talbot, of Rhode Island, in the fall of 1778. He had greatly assisted Sullivan in the transportation of his troops from CAPTAIN BILAS TALBOT. the main-land to Rhode Island proper. The British still held possession there. In the channel between the eastern side of the island and the main they had anchored a vessel as a float ing battery, bearing twenty-two guns, and called the Pigot. On A REVOLT FRUSTRATED. 37 October 10th Talbot, in a small sloop (the Hawk) armed with three light cannons, and manned by sixty volunteers, proceeded to attack the Pigot. The volunteers boarded and captured her. For this exploit Congress commissioned Talbot a lieutenant- colonel. He seems to have been equally useful on land and water. Already Congress had thanked him for skilful opera tions with a fire-ship against British war-vessels near New York. With this exploit of Talbot, and the operations of the Raleigh, the chief combats of the American war-vessels closed for 1778. An attempt to perpetrate a terrible crime on board an Amer ican ship was made early in 1779. The frigate Alliance had been placed under the command of Captain Landais, a French man, who was so unpopular that it was difficult to get Ameri cans to serve under him. The crew of an English vessel (the Somerset) wrecked on the coast of Massachusetts were im pressed into service under Landais. It was a perilous act ; and while the Alliance was on a voyage to France, with Lafay ette as a passenger, these English seamen, seventy-five in num ber, planned a revolt, the details of which contemplated the destruction of the officers of the vessel, the American sailors, and the passengers. An American seaman, who had lived long in Ireland, and was mistaken by them for an Irishman, pretend ed to favor their plan. He procured all their secrets, and re vealed them to Captain Landais and Lafayette. Preparations were made to meet the emergency. At the moment when the plot was to be put into execution the con spirators found themselves prisoners in the hands of their in tended victims, who were all armed. Thirty or forty of the mutineers were put in irons, taken to Brest, and mercifully ex changed as prisoners of war. The conspirators, who hated Landais, contemplated putting him, heavily ironed, into an open boat, without food, and to set him adrift on the ocean. No other attempt at a general revolt was ever made on board an American ship-of-war. 38 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Sometimes there were sharp and decisive battles in mid- ocean between privateers, of which little or no accounts found their way into the newspapers. Such was the combat between the Massachusetts privateer Hampden, of twenty-two guns, and an English Indiaman. The latter was disguised until within pistol-shot distance from the Hampden, when she suddenly opened fire. She had thirteen guns on each side. A battle lasting three hours resulted in the severely disabling of both vessels, but no capture. The name of the Indiaman is un known. This occurred early in 1779. A little later Captain J. B. Hopkins, in command of a small squadron, consisting of the frigate Warren, 32 guns ; Queen of France, 28; and Ranger, 18, sailed from Boston. He soon af terward captured a privateer, and learned that a number of transports, with supplies for the British army in the South, were on their way to Savannah. Hopkins crowded sail, and overtook the fleet off Cape Henry, on the coast of Virginia. He captured seven of the vessels. A few days later his squad ron captured three brigs laden with stores for the same desti nation. On board of these vessels were twenty-three British officers on their way to Georgia, who were made prisoners. Early in July the Queen of France and the Ranger were under the command of Captain Whipple, whose flag-ship was the Providence, 28 guns. They sailed on a cruise which, in a pecuniary point of view, was the most successful of the war. The Queen of France was commanded by Captain Rathburne. They fell in with a large fleet of merchantmen convoyed by an English ship-of-the-line, and captured many of them. The estimated value of eight of the vessels taken into Boston was over $1,000,000. Early in the autumn of 1779 John Paul Jones became the hero of brilliant exploits in European waters. Dr. Franklin was then the sole American ambassador at the French court, and was a great favorite among the French people. The king FRANKLIN AND " BONHOMME RICHARD." 39 disliked him because he was such a sturdy republican ; but the queen and the court generally, greatly admired him for his wisdom and simple virtues. In his earlier writings, he often uttered original or borrowed wise sayings, in this form : "'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,' as poor Richard says." PR. FRANKLIN. By these sayings in this form he came to be known, at home and abroad, as "Poor Richard;" and when, in the summer of 1779, the French government and the American ambassador jointly fitted out an expedition to be commanded by Jones, the flag-ship was named Bonhomme Richard, or " Good Man Richard." She was the Duras, an old Indiaman which had been purchased. They also bought the Pallas (a merchant man), the Cerf, and the Vengeance. The Cerf was a fine large cutter, and the Vengeance was a small brig. To these Dr. Franklin added the Alliance, the only American-built vessel in the little squadron. The commissions for the officers were all issued by Dr. Franklin, and the ships were to display none but American col ors. Indeed, they were to be considered American ships during 40 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. this particular service. The commissions of all the officers were given for a limited period. The French government and the American minister had a joint and equal right to instruct the commanders of the squadrons. The composition of the crew of the Bonhomme Richard gave forebodings of trouble. They numbered three hundred and seventy-five, and consisted of a medley of representatives of almost every nation in Europe, and even of Malays. A very few Americans were found to fill the stations of sea-offi cers on the quarter-deck and forward. To keep this strange crew in order, one hundred and thirty soldiers were put on board. These, recruited at random, were not much less mixed in nationality than were the crew. M. Le Ray Chaumont, a wealthy banker, had contributed much money toward fitting out the expedition, and it is be lieved that he was to share in any profits that might accrue. Just before the expedition was to sail, he presented an agree ment for the signatures of all the commanders, which made the affair a sort of partnership. To this agreement Jones attributed much of the disobedience among his captains, of which he bii- terly complained afterward. It weakened his authority ; and Captain Landais, in particular, who was jealous of Jones, took advantage of the situation. His appointment to the command of the Alliance was unfortunate, as we shall observe presently. paul jones's expedition. 4i CHAPTER IV. The destination of Commodore Jones's squadron was the English Channel and the waters of the German Ocean off the coasts of Great Britain. After much delay, and the fortunate accession to the squadron of over one hundred exchanged Amer ican seamen, the expedition left the harbor of L'Orient, France, on the 14th of August, 1779. Already Captain Landais (who had been dismissed from the French navy on account of his bad temper) had shown insubordination, and even a mutinous spirit, which had foreboded mischief. The vessels encountered severe storms, and took prizes here and there. Sailing along the eastern coast of Scotland, the squadron excited great alarm, and the inhabitants along the shores buried their plate, to secure it from seizure by the dreaded sea-rover, whose former visit had inspired them with much fear. He entered the Frith of Forth, when the wildest alarm spread along its shores, for Jones was regarded as a pirate as cruel as any old Scandinavian sea-king. When the Bonhomme Richard was seen bearing directly toward Kirkcaldy, the people be lieved that he was coming to plunder and destroy. At their earnest solicitation, the minister of the town, who was an ec centric and not always a very reverential man, led his flock to the beach, and, kneeling down, thus prayed for deliverance from the approaching cruiser : " Now, dear Lord, don't you think it a shame for you to send the vile pirate to rob our folk of Kirkcaldy, for you know they're poor enough already, and have nothing to spare. The way the wind blows he'll be here in a jiffy, and who knows 3 42 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. what he may do ? He's not too good for any- , thing. Much is the mischief he has done al- ready. He'll burn their houses, take their /"V\'\ very clothes, and strip them to their shirts, and, woe's me ! who knows but the bloody villain may take their lives ! The poor women are most frightened out o' their wits, and the children following after them. I cannot think it ! I cannot think it ! I have been long a faith ful servant to you, Lord; but if you don't turn the wind about and blow the scoundrel out o' our gate, I'll not stir a foot, but will just sit here till the tide JOHN TAVL JONES. THE BALTIC FLEET IN DANGER. 43 comes. So take your will of it." While the minister was praying the white caps began to dot the Frith. A heavy gale swept over the waters, and Jones was compelled to abandon his enterprise and put to sea. The people had faith thereafter that the prayers of their good minister would save them from any calamity. By the middle of September, Jones had captured thirteen vessels — a successful work for one month. On the 23d, the whole squadron, excepting the Cerf and two privateers, were in sight of each other a few leagues north ofthe mouth of the Humber. The day was fine, and a gentle wind was blowing from the south-west. To windward a brig was lying to, and Jones manned a pilot-boat and sent her in chase of the vessel. The boat had just left the Bonhomme Richard when Jones saw a fleet of about forty merchantmen stretching out on a bow line from behind Flamborough Head. It was the Baltic fleet, convoyed by the Serapis, of forty guns, Captain Pearson, and the Countess of Scarborough, of twenty-two guns, Captain Pier- cy. Excitement ran through the little squadron when the pilot-boat was recalled and the commodore signalled for a gen eral chase, and crossed the royal yards on board the Richard. These signs of hostility alarmed the nearest English vessels, which hurriedly tacked together, fired alarm-guns, let fly their top-gallant sheets, and made other signals of danger. At the same time, the English armed vessels manoeuvred with an evi dent determination to defend the merchantmen. Jones's orders were disobeyed by Landais, who played the double part of mutineer and coward. He had told the com mander of the Pallas, on passing her, that, in case the larger British vessel proved to be a fifty-gun ship, the squadron had nothing to do but to fly, and so soon as he discovered the strength of the English ships, he sought safety by ordering the Alliance to a distance. Night closed upon the scene while the Richard and Pallas, 44 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. and the Serapis and Scarborough were manoeuvring for the weather -gage. Jones could discover the movements of ves sels only through his night-glass, but he kept moving steadily on toward the larger of his two antagonists, while the Pallas fell in the rear. At a little past seven o'clock in the even ing, the Richard came within musket-range of the Serapis, and then began one of the most desperate sea-fights recorded on the pages of history. Jones knew the superiority of the Serapis in weight of met al, and tried to lay his vessel athwart her hawse. In making the attempt, the bowsprit of the Serapis ran between the poop and the mizzen-mast of the Richard. Jones instantly lashed the two ships together, and the wind, which was freshening, brought them so close, fore and aft, that the muzzles of their respective cannons touched the sides of each vessel. In this position the action continued for an hour and a half, each party fighting with desperation. Jones had no reason to complain of his motley crew. They all did well ; and the commodore was nobly seconded by his first lieutenant, Richard Dale, then only twenty-two years of age. The battle grew hotter and hotter; men — brave men on both sides — fought like giants, hand-to-hand with pike, pistol, and cutlass. At about the beginning of the action there was a brief lull in the firing of the Richard. "Have you struck your colors?" shouted Captain Pearson. " I have not yet begun to fight !" Jones promptly answered. Events soon confirmed the truth and significance of these words. From the deck of the Richard hand-grenades were showered upon the people of the Serapis, and combustibles were thrown through the upper parts of the English ship by men in the Richard's forecastle. Meanwhile the heavy guns of the combatants were doing awful work below. Those of the Serapis were tearing the Richard to pieces, almost without resistance from her batteries. J J, "BON HOMME RICHARD" AND " SERAPIS." 45 Only three nine -pounders kept up the cannonade from the Richard; but deadly bullets from her round-top, and more destructive grenades from her deck, with fierce combustibles scattered everywhere upon her antagonist, were doing fearful execution. At one time the Serapis was on fire in a dozen places. At half-past nine o'clock, just as the moon arose in a cloudless sky, but thickly obscured by the smoke of battle, some cartridges on the Serapis were set on fire, and all the officers and men abaft the main -mast were destroyed by their explosion. Three times both ships were on fire, and their destruction appeared inevitable. The scene was one of appall ing grandeur. While the conflict was at its height, the Alliance, Captain Landais, approached, and, sailing around the struggling com batants, delivered several broadsides in such a way as to dam age both vessels equally. By one of them the Richard had eleven men killed, and an officer mortally wounded. The opin ion generally prevailed afterward that Landais fired into the Richard for the purpose of killing Jones, and compelling his vessel to surrender, in order that he (Landais) might retake her, together with the Serapis, and get all the honor of the victory. At the beginning of the conflict, Captain Pearson had nailed his flag to the mast of the Serapis. Perceiving that he could no longer prolong the fight, he struck his colors with his own hand, and gave up the vessel to Lieutenant Dale, who was the first to board her. Ten minutes later, the Countess of Scar borough, which had been fighting with the Pallas, Captain Cotineau, also surrendered. The Richard was a complete wreck, and was fast sinking. Her sick and wounded were transferred to the Serapis; and sixteen hours afterward she went down in the deep waters of Bridlington Bay. Jones, with the remainder of his squadron and his prizes, sailed for Holland, and anchored in the Texel on the 3d of October. The loss of life had been very heavy on both sides. 46 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. When Captain Pearson delivered his sword to Commodore Jones, the gallant and haughty Englishman said : "I cannot, sir, but feel much mortification at the idea of surrendering my sword to a man who has fought ine with a rope round his neck." Jones received his sword, and at once returned it, saying, " You have fought gallantly, sir, and I hope your king will give you a better ship." Pearson was afterward knighted by his sovereign. On hear ing of it, Jones said, " He deserves it ; and if I fall in with him again I'll make a lord of him." The British ambassador at the Hague demanded of the government of Holland an order for the Serapis and Scarbor ough to be delivered up ; also Jones and his men to be tried for piracy. Holland was friendly to the American cause (though secretly, for State reasons), and refused compliance; and Jones was soon afterward made commander of the Al liance. The fame of his great victory soon filled America and Europe, and he was laden with honors. The American Congress gave him public thanks and a gold medal. The King of France gave him a gold-mounted sword bearing upon its blade the words : " Louis XVI. rewarder of the valiant as- sertor of the freedom of the sea." He also made him a Knight of the Order of Merit. The Empress of Russia gave him the ribbon of St. Anne, and the King of Denmark awarded him a pension. No subsequent event ever dimmed his fame ; and he is known in history as "The Chevalier John Paul Jones." He sailed for America in December, 1780, and arrived at Phil adelphia in February, 1781, after an absence of more than three years. He was appointed to the command of the Amer ica, 74 guns, a vessel which Congress presented to the French monarch before she was ready for sea. I am sure you would like to know what befell the famous PAUL JONES HONORED. 47 John Paul Jones after the old war for independence. I will tell you. He went from America to Paris, as agent for prize- JONES'S MEDAL. money, where he was made much of by the king, his court, and all the great folk, men and women. He had plenty of 48 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. money for awhile, acd he took real pleasure in the enjoyment of his fame and wealth. While he was in Paris he was invitr ed into the Russian naval service by the Empress Catherine, and was made a rear-admiral. Disappointed in not being put in command of the fleet in the Baltic Sea, he fell out with the admiral (who was a prince), and his enemies telling falsehoods about him, he was permitted by the empress to retire from the service with a pension, which was never paid. He went back to Paris, where he became very poor, was neglected, and died thirteen years after his great victory, when he was only forty- five years old. Nobody knows where his body was buried. Massachusetts, ever foremost in patriotic actions; continued to assist the cause by fitting out active cruisers. One of four teen guns was named the Hazard, Captain Williams. She sailed from Boston late in May, 1779, and soon afterward had a sharp encounter with the Active, 18 guns, a British cruiser supposed to have been the private property of the King of England. The combat lasted an hour and a half, when the Hazard won the victory. The Active lost nearly forty men; the Hazard only eight. Williams was now put in command of the Protector, 20 guns. This was also a Massachusetts cruiser. In June she had a se vere struggle with the Duff of equal force — a heavy English privateer. After they had fought an hour, the Duff was set on fire and blown up. Her antagonist saved about sixty of her men. On his return to Boston, Williams was sent on a disas trous expedition to the Penobscot River. For that expedition, Massachusetts fitted out a land and naval force. The latter was commanded by Commodore Saltonstall, and consisted of several sloops-of-war, mounting from sixteen to twenty-eight guns each, seven armed brigs, and twenty-four transports, carrying about nine hundred land troops. The expedition met with disaster almost immediately after its ar rival in the river, and the disappointed General Assembly of SERVICES OF TALBOT. 49 Massachusetts censured Saltonstall for remissness in duty in not co-operating with the troops. At the same time they commended the military leader. Saltonstall had been com pelled to burn several of his vessels, to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy. Among the vessels destroyed was the Providence, which had gained such fame under Whip ple, her first commander. Lieutenant-colonel Talbot appeared again as a naval hero early in 1779. At Providence, he armed his former prize (the Pigot) and a sloop, the Argo, of ten guns, to cruise off the New Eng land coast. He made several prizes of importance, amono- them the Lively, 12 guns, and two privateers, which he carried into Boston. He captured the King George, a vessel specially detested by the New Englanders. This latter exploit produced great joy. He fought desperately with the Dragon four hours and a half, in August, and conquered her. This act won for him the commission from Congress of a naval captain. Talbot performed many gallant deeds in the autumn, and the fruits of his services during six months were the capture of three hundred prisoners, five valuable merchantmen, and six privateers. The next year, while in command of a privateer, he was captured, confined for months in a British prison-ship and the provost jail at New York, and was finally taken to England, where he was exchanged in December, 1781. We have come to the beginning of the year 1780, the gloomiest period of the old war for independence. The French naval force had disappointed the Americans ; the promised French army had not arrived from France ; and the British government, perceiving with alarm the growing strength of the American regular and irregular (privateers) navy, resolved not to exchange any more prisoners taken from the latter class of ves sels. This had a depressing effect upon the nautical enterprise of the Americans, for very soon a large number of their best seamen were held prisoners of war. In view of this fact, and 3* 50 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. the aid on the ocean provided by the French, Congress paid very little attention to its marine force. At the same time, the British Parliament authorized the ministry to employ 80,000 men in the Royal Navy. When the fleet of Admiral Arbuthnot entered Charleston harbor in the spring of 1780, Commodore Whipple was there with a small flotilla. Perceiving no chance for safety, he land ed his great guns and destroyed his vessels — sinking some of them in the channel, to obstruct the passage of the British fleet. But the neglect of Congress and the overshadowing power of the British marine did not make American vessels inac tive. In June, 1780, the Trumbull, 28 guns, Captain James Nicholson (the "senior officer in the navy), fought the English privateer Watt for two hours and a half. The battle was a desperate one. The vessels were not more than a hundred yards apart, and poured broadsides into each other continually. The Trumbull was completely dis abled, but her antagonist, equally hurt, withdrew, without at tempting to capture her. In October, the United States sloop -of -war Saratoga, 16 guns, Captain Young, captured a British ship and two brigs. The Saratoga ran along-side of one of them (the Charming Molly), when young Lieutenant Joshua Barney, then only twen ty-one years of age, at the head of fifty men, boarded her and made prisoners of her • numerous crew. The Saratoga soon afterward captured a few other vessels, all of which were re taken by the Intrepid, 74 guns, while they were on their way OOMMODORE WHIPPLE. BARNEY IN EUROPEAN WATERS. 51 to the Delaware. It is supposed the Saratoga soon afterward foundered at sea, for she and her crew were never heard of again. Barney was made a prisoner, and so he was saved to do good services for his country in later years. Barney was now made captain, and at the close of 1780 he was appointed to the command of the Alliance. He sailed from Boston in February, 1781, with Colonel John Laurens, who JOSHUA BARNEY. went to France to seek money for the use of the Continental Congress. On his way he captured the British privateer Alert. After landing Laurens at L'Orient, Barney sailed on a cruise, the Alliance accompanied by the Marquis de Lafayette of forty guns, which was bound to America with stores. These vessels parted company after the Alliance had captured a few prizes, and very soon the latter was attacked by two English vessels — -a sloop of sixteen guns, and a brig of fourteen guns. In the severe action which occurred, Barney was wounded and carried below. The Alliance was about to strike her colors, 52 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. when a light breeze filled her sails and gave her an advantage. She immediately poured a broadside into each of her antago nists, and wounded them so severely that they gave up the fight and surrendered. They were the Atlanta and Trepassy, the former manned by one hundred and thirty men and the latter by eighty. Misfortunes overtook some of the American vessels in the early summer of 1781. The Confederacy, Captain Harding, was captured by an English vessel convoying merchantmen to the West Indies; and at about the same time the Trumbull, Captain James Nicholson, with a convoy of twenty-eight sail, was captured soon after leaving the Delaware by two British cruisers— the Iris (formerly the United States frigate Hancock, captured by the Rainbow') and the sloop-of-war General Monk (formerly the American ship George Washington). The whole severe action was carried on by Nicholson with about forty men, for a large part of his crew were insubordinate English prisoners. In September the privateer Congress, 20 guns, captured the British sloop-of-war Savage, 16 guns, after a combat of one hour and a half. The battle occurred eastward of Charleston. The Savage was soon afterward recaptured by an English frigate. The war for independence was now drawing to a close. Cornwallis and his army had been captured by the allied Amer ican and French forces at Yorktown, in Virginia; and early in 1782 the British Parliament and people began to show signs of weariness in the struggle. Yet the American armies, though hopeful of peace speedily, were vigilant, and prepared for a further struggle, if necessary ; and American naval vessels yet roamed the ocean in search of prey. Early in the year 1782 the Deane, 32 guns, Captain Samuel Nicholson, went on a successful cruise, bringing back many 1 See page 28. "hyder ali" and "general monk." 53 prizes. Among them were three sloops-of-war, with an aggre gate of forty-four cannons. Captain Barry was actively em ployed in the Alliance during that year, but does not seem to have had any memorable engagement. There were now only two frigates left in the American navy — the Alliance and the Hague. The command of the latter was given to Captain John Manly, after his release from cap tivity (see page 1 3). This pioneer officer of the United States Navy cruised in the West Indies until after the preliminary treaty of peace was signed, in the autumn of 1782, and there closed the regular maritime operations of the United States at that period (which he had opened) by a successful escape after a long chase by a vastly superior force. The privateers during the old war for independence were very numerous, active, and efficient. An account of these ex ploits would fill a large volume. I have mentioned only a few of them. " One of the most brilliant actions that ever occurred under the American flag," wrote Cooper, fifty years afterward, " was the battle between the Hyder Ally [Ali], a vessel belonging to the State of Pennsylvania, and the General Monk, in Dela ware Bay, in the spring of 1782. The bay and river were much infested by British cruisers and small craft, and the State of Pennsylvania determined to fit out one or two cruisers at its own expense to drive them off. A small ship named the Hyder Ali, which had actually started on an outward- bound voyage, laden with flour, was called back and purchased by the State ; and so rapidly was she fitted up for war pur poses that, before all the forms of law in the purchase had been observed, she had won a splendid victory. The Hyder Ali was commanded by Captain Joshua Barney, then only twenty-three years of age, who was commissioned captain by the authorities of Pennsylvania. She was well armed, and manned with one hundred and ten men. On the 54 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 8th of April she was near the entrance to Delaware Bay with a considerable convoy of outward-bound merchantmen. The whole fleet had anchored in the Roads near Cape May, waiting for a wind to get to sea, when two ships and a brig appeared, one of the former rounding the cape, and evidently intending to make an attack. Barney immediately signalled the convoy! to turn ; and they ran before the wind up the bay, the Hyder Ali covering their flight. One of the ships and a brig stood for Barney's ship. The brig (which was the British privateer Fair American) came up, fired a broadside, but kept aloof. The Hyder Ali did not return the fire, but when the other pursuers came within a proper distance Barney poured in a broadside. Soon afterward, while the combatants were firing great guns with energy, Barney, by an expert movement, got his ship entangled with his antagonist in such a way that the Hyder Ali swept her decks with a destructive, raking fire. " Then, yard-arm and yard-arm meeting, Straight began the dismal fray, Cannon mouths, each other greeting, Belched their smoky flames away. Soon the langrage, grape, and chain-shot, That from Barney's cannons flew, Swept the Monk, and cleared each roundtop, Killed and wounded half her crew." In less than half an hour the British vessel surrendered, for she was badly crippled, and had lost about fifty men. Barney did not know until after he had won his prize that she was the General Monk, of twenty guns, Captain Rodgers, former ly the American ship George Washington, which had been capt ured by British cruisers and placed in the Royal Navy. Her old name was now restored to her, and under the command of Barney she afterward did good service in the West Indies. Here ends the story of the doings of the little navy of the Confederate. 1 States before those States became a real nation. A RIGHTEOUS CAUSE VICTORIOUS. 55 The people of the English-American colonies had rushed to arms, on the land and on the sea, in defence of their rights and liberties, trusting to the help of Divine Providence in resisting the mighty power of Great Britain ; as David did, when, with his sling and pebbles, he went out boldly to fight the Philistine giant. As in the case of David, Divine help gave final victory to the Americans battling for a righteous cause — a struggle for freedom from vassalage, injustice, and oppression. 06 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. CHAPTER V. There was a peculiar kind of operations carried on during the old war for independence called " whale-boat warfare." The vessels employed were generally row-boats, similar to those employed by whale-fishers. These vessels were about thirty feet in length, sharp at both ends, very light, equipped with from four to twenty oars, and well calculated for speed and silence. They were found in private services for traffic in al most every bay and inlet on the coast, from the Thames, in Connecticut, to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. They were employed in carrying the products of the soil to, and bringing British goods from, the English, who occupied New York, Long Island, and Staten Island from 1776 until 1783, or from Brit ish vessels lying in the waters around them. A brisk business was soon established upon this basis of traf fic, known as " London Trading," which became very obnox ious to the patriots, for it gave " aid and comfort to the ene my," and measures were adopted to suppress it. But it was so profitable that many continued to practice it at great risks, and some of the participants, tempted by their cupidity and greed, became vulgar marauders, plundering friend and foe alike. Both the Whigs and Tories had representatives among them, and, like the " Cowboys " and " Skinners " on the Neu tral Ground in Westchester County, New York, during the Revolution, they frequently joined and divided their plunder equally. So expert and successful were these unlawful whale-boat ex peditions, that the same kind of vessels were finally used for SMALL-BOAT ADVENTURES. 57 purely military purposes. Sometimes they were employed in the public service, and sometimes on private account ; and the Bay of New York, and also Long Island Sound, became the theatre of many stirring adventures connected with this species of warfare. The first small-boat expedition of much consequence was undertaken by Elias Dayton and Lord Stirling, of New Jersey, soon after the battle of Bunker's Hill, in the summer of 1775, Informed that a British transport and provision ship was lying at sea some distance off Sandy Hook, the Committee of Safety at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, ordered an attempt to capture it by four armed sail -boats. Dayton and Stirling commanded them. About forty miles from Sandy Hook they came in sight of the British vessel. The men in the boats were all concealed under hatches, excepting two in each, who were unarmed, and who managed the oars. Mistaken for fish ing-vessels, they were allowed to come along-side the transport. At a preconcerted signal, the hatches were raised, the armed Americans poured forth and swarmed on the deck of the Eng lish vessel, and in a few minutes she was their prize, there hav ing been hardly a show of resistance. The captured ship was the Blue Mountain Valley, and her captors received the thanks of Congress. In the summer of 1776 Adam Hyler and William Marriner, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, so much annoyed the British vessels lying in the vicinity of Staten Island, that an armed British force landed and destroyed their boats. Others were immediately built, and these two bold men at once began a system of effective hostility. They cruised between Egg Har bor and Staten Island, and made every Tory fisherman pay them tribute. Hyler and his men captured several small Brit ish vessels ; made unwelcome visits to Tories (men opposed to the American cause) on Long Island ; carried off a Tory and his negroes from Flatlands, on that island, and captured two 58 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. British corvettes in Coney Island Bay. This bold act was done so cautiously that they secured every man on the vessels as prisoners, without firing a shot. They then set fire to the cor vettes, and burnt them to the water's edge. One of them, it was afterward ascertained, contained forty thousand dollars in specie — a treasure unsuspected by Hyler and his men. In the spring of 1782 Captain Lippincott, a Tory refugee living in New York, at the head of sixteen men, seized and hung Captain Huddy, commander of a block-house near Tom's River, New Jersey. The act was simply murder; but no sat isfaction could be obtained from the British commander at New York. Hyler resolved to seize Lippincott. He ascer tained that he lived in a house on Broad Street. With men equipped like a British man-of-war press-gang, he landed at Whitehall at nine o'clock in the evening, and proceeded to the Tory's dwelling; but he was absent, and Hyler's plans mis carried. On leaving Whitehall, disappointed and chagrined, Hyler and his men boarded a British sloop off the battery, laden with forty hogsheads of rum. They secured the crew, landed the cargo at Elizabethtown, and then burnt the vessel. In some of these excursions Hyler was accompanied by Marriner, and their names became a terror to the Tories. The Connecticut whale-boatmen were such bold and expert mariners that no vessel belonging to Tories or the British on Long Island Sound was considered safe if not well armed. They were employed, also, in regular military operations. Late in May, 1777, Colonel R. J. Meigs, with one hundred and sev enty men, crossed Long Island Sound from Guilford, Connecti cut, in whale-boats, accompanied by two armed sloops. They carried their boats across the northern part of the island, re- embarked on Peconick Bay, and when within four miles of Sagg Harbor, their place of destination, they left the little ves sels in the woods, and proceeded to capture or destroy the CAPTURE OF GENERAL BARTON. 59 whole British force stationed at the harbor. They burnt twelve brigs and sloops, one hundred tons of hay, and a large quantity of stores and merchandise, and returned to the Con necticut shore with ninety prisoners, without losing a man. Congress gave Meigs thanks and a sword. Retaliation follow ed, and the people on island and main suffered much. A little further eastward a notable exploit was performed in connection with the whale-boat service, that produced a great sensation, in the summer of 1777. The British troops, com manded by General Prescott, then occupied the island of Rhode Island. The tyranny of the general disgusted and irritated the inhabitants. His head-quarters then was at a farm-house a few miles from Newport, near the shore of Narraganset Bay. WILLIAM BARTON. On a warm night in July, Lieutenant-colonel William Barton, with a few chosen men, embarked at Providence in whale- boats, and with muffled oars went down the bay, with the in- 60 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. tention of seizing Prescott. They passed unobserved through the British fleet at near midnight, landed near Prescott's quar ters, secured the sentinels, and proceeded directly to the gener al's room in a second story. It was locked, but was instantly broken open by a stout negro who was with Barton, and who made a battering-rain of his head. The general was seized, hurried to the boats in undress, and was finally taken to Wash ington's head-quarters in New Jersey. For this exploit Con gress gave Barton an elegant sword. In the years 1780 and 1781 the whale-boat warfare was pur sued by both parties along the shores of Long Island Sound with much violence, until the " Board of Associated Loyalists,'' or Tories — who fostered a sort of guerilla warfare, secret and irregular, that greatly distressed and irritated the patriots — was dissolved. During the old war for independence, or between the years 1775 and 1783, the United States had thirty-six vessels of war afloat, whose names and fate were as follows : Alliance, 32 guns, converted into an Indiaman ; Deane (Hague), 32 ; Virginia, 28, captured before getting to sea, in 1778 ; Confederacy, 32, taken in 1781 ; Hancock, 32, taken by the Rainbow in 1777; Randolph, 32, blown up in 1778; Ra leigh, 32, captured in 1778; Washington, 32, destroyed in the Delaware before getting to sea ; Warren, 32, burnt in the Pe nobscot in 1779; Queen of France, 28, captured at Charleston in 1780; Trumbull, 28, captured in 1781; Effingham, 28, burnt by the British in the Delaware before getting to sea; Congress, 28, burnt in the Hudson by the Americans before getting to sea; Alfred, 24, captured in 1778; Columbus, 20; Delaware, 24, captured in the Delaware in 1777; Boston, 24, captured at Charleston in 1780; Montgomery, 24, destroyedin the Hudson by the Americans, in 1777, before getting to sea; Hampden, 14 ; Reprisal, foundered at sea in 1778 ; Lexington, 14, taken in the English Channel in 1778; Andrea Doria, 14, VESSELS OF THE CONTINENTAL NAVY. 61 burnt in the Delaware by the Americans, in 1777 ; Cabot, 16, driven ashore in 1777 ; Ranger, 18, captured at Charleston in 1780; Saratoga, 16, lost at sea; Diligent, 14, burnt in the Penobscot, 1779 ; Gates, 14, and Hornet, 10 ; Surprise — seized by the French government in 1777 ; Revenge, 10, sold in 1780 ; Providence, 12, taken in the Penobscot in 1779; Sachem, 10; Independence, 10 ; Dolphin, 10 ; and Wasp, 8, destroyed in the Delaware. The following-named ships made one or more cruises un der the American flag commanded by American officers : Bon- homme Richard, 40 guns, sunk off the coast of Scotland in 1779 ; Pallas, 32, Vengeance, 12, and Cerf, 18, left the service after a single cruise; Ariel, 20, borrowed from the King of France, and supposed to have been returned. There were several more small cruisers, mounting from four to ten guns, sent out by the United States during the Revolu tion, most of which probably fell into the hands of the British. The America, 74 guns, to the command of which Commodore Jones was appointed (see page 46), but which was presented to the French Government before she put to sea, was the heav iest ship that had then been laid down in the United States. Jones spoke of her as "the largest of seventy -fours in the world." This vessel was captured from the French by the British. On the conclusion of peace, after a contest of seven years and ten months, orders for the recall of the different cruisers afloat were immediately given, and the commissions of all pri vateers were revoked. The whole number of British vessels captured by the Americans during the war is not known. Six hundred and fifty prizes, it is said, were taken into port. Many of the remainder were ransomed, and some were destroyed at sea. The injury done to the commerce of Great Britain, direct ly and indirectly, was enormous. The commercial and manufacturing classes in Great Britain, 62 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY: then as now, held a controlling influence in public affairs. They had suffered much in many ways from the depredations and dread of American cruisers ; and there can be little doubt that the acknowledgment of the independence of the United States by Great Britain was hastened (as in the case of the repeal of the Stamp Act1) by the importunities and influence of these classes. That acknowledgment was made by King George the Third on the 20th day of January, 1783, who, after a bitter contest for twenty years with his American subjects, saw with deep regret that, by listening to unwise advisers and the dictates of his own stubborn will, he had dismembered the British Empire, and lost the brightest jewel in his crown. 1 See page 4. LEAGUE OF STATES — NOT A NATION. 63 CHAPTER VI. The government and people of the United States, at the close of the war for independence, were impoverished and em barrassed by debt. They felt themselves unable to support a navy. Indeed, there seemed to be little use for one. Like the Army of the Revolution, the navy was disbanded at its close, literally " leaving nothing behind it but the recollection of its services andr'sufferings." The last remnant of it — the Alliance — was reluctantly parted with in June, 1785, to save the ex pense of repairs. Our Republic was then only a League of States, not a Na tion, and without power excepting what was derived from the reluctant consent of the thirteen individual commonwealths that composed the League. Each State had its own custom house, levied its own duties, regulated its own commerce, and some of them maintained small cruisers which performed the service of coast-guards and revenue-cutters. American commerce began to revive after the war, and slow ly expanded. So early as 1784 and 1785, two American ves sels carried the stars &nd stripes — our national flag — into Chi nese ports. But commerce did not venture much abroad, for it had no government competent to protect it. The tottering League of States received very few tokens of respect from European governments. English statesmen regarded the con tinued existence of the League as so doubtful that they re fused to enter into commercial arrangements with the Ameri cans. Among the Americans themselves there was doubt, confusion, and great anxiety. Wise men perceived great perils 64 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. threatening the forming nation, and the aspect of political af fairs around them was dismal indeed. Patriots sought to avert the impending danger by strength ening the central government. They met, by representatives, in convention at Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, and framed a new Constitution, which gave the Republic a true na tional government, with powers to act vigorously. Europeans observed with great interest the significant change from a fee ble League of States to a healthy nation, and hastened to send ambassadors to our seat of government. Then the United States first took a conspicuous place in the family of nations, with George Washington as its President, or chief magistrate. Meanwhile the Dey or ruler of Algiers, on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea (whose people were chiefly Arabs), learning that a new nation had been formed beyond the Atlantic Ocean, but had no cruisers, sent his piratical sea- rovers to seize American ships. In July, 1785, two vessels were captured by the pirates near the Straits of Gibraltar, and their crews were made slaves to North African masters. One of these ships was from Boston, the other from Philadelphia. The United States Government, such as it was then, was pow erless, because it possessed no vessels of war to protect its com merce. Even when it assumed national functions under the new Constitution, this want was felt. President Washington urged the creation of a navy competent for such protection, but Congress hesitated. For awhile war between Portugal and Algiers gave protec tion to American commerce in that region, for Portuguese war ships drove the Algerine pirates to their own ports, and kept them there. But in 1793 this war suddenly ceased; the Al gerine corsairs, as their pirate-ships were called, were let loose ; and in the fall of that year four more American vessels, with their crews, fell into the hands of the North Africans. Con gress at last perceived that American commerce could not be FIRST PREPARATION FOR A NAVY PROPER. 65 carried on in the Mediterranean Sea without a protector ; and in the spring of 1794 they authorized the construction of six frigates, none of them to mount less than thirty -two guns. The President at once ordered these vessels to be built, for he clearly perceived the need of them. Models supplied by Joseph Humphreys, of Philadelphia, were accepted by the government, and the keels of the follow ing-named vessels were speedily laid : The Constitution, 44 guns, at Boston ; the President, 44, at New York ; the United States, 44, at Philadelphia ; the Chesa peake, 38, at Portsmouth, Virginia ; the Constellation, 38, at Baltimore, Maryland ; and the Congress, 38, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This was the first step toward the establishment of the United States Navy proper. In selecting officers to command these vessels, the President naturally turned to the naval he roes of the Revolution ; and the following-named persons were chosen, taking rank as in the order of this record : John Barry, Samuel Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, Richard Dale, and Thomas Truxtun. The latter only had not served in the Continental Navy during the war for indepen dence, but was a good privateersman. Barney declined the ap pointment because he was put junior to Lieutenant-colonel Talbot; and his place was filled by Captain Sever. These preparations for establishing a navy were suddenly, and unwisely, suspended in the autumn of 1795, in consequence of the signing of a treaty with Algiers by which the United States became tributary to that half-barbarous power. This humiliating purchase of peace was at a cost of about a million dollars — a sum which would have built ships sufficient to seal the port of Algiers and make its ruler humbly beg for mercy, as was done twenty years afterward. The President wished to do this, but his efforts in that direction were in vain. France and England were now at war with each other, and ; 4 66 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. neither party respected the rights of the Americans. The French cruisers depredated upon American commerce until the burden became unbearable ; and the English cruisers boarded American vessels and carried away seamen from them under the pretext that they were British subjects. Then began a system of search and impressment that became one of the chief causes of war between the United States and Great Britain afterward. EIOUARW DALE. In the spring of 1798 war was threatened between the United States and France. The control of the defences of the na tion and its interests was intrusted to the War Department alone. Its secretary strongly recommended the creation of a competent navy. Congress, startled by the threatening aspect of public affairs, listened, and soon afterward authorized the President (John Adams) to hire or purchase twelve vessels (none of them to exceed twenty-two guns) in addition to the six frigates then built or a-building. In April (1798) a Navy Department was created, and Benjamin Stodert, of Maryland, POPULARITY OF THE NAVY. 67 was appointed the first Secretary of the Navy. In May a new appropriation was made for the construction of galleys and other small vessels ; and in June the President was author ized to accept twelve more vessels of war should they be offer ed to him by the citizens, for which he was directed to offer public stock in payment. The frigates Constitution, Constella tion, and United States were already afloat. The young navy was very popular. Very soon its vessels were filled with the sons of the best families in the land hold ing the rank of midshipmen. Most of them were tender youths, and many of them grew up with the navy, and became distinguished citizens, honored because they were noble de fenders of their country and champions of the rights of their countrymen. Young and intelligent seamen from the mercan tile marine were attracted to the public vessels, and the little navy of the United States at the close of the last century was, in its moral strength, superior to any in the world. The first United States ship-of-war that went to sea after the organization of the new navy was the Ganges, 24 guns, Captain Richard Dale. She sailed on the 22d of May, 1798, and cruised between Long Island and the capes of Virginia, simply to protect the ports of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Early in June, under authority to seize French cruisers, the Constellation, 38 guns, Captain Truxtun, and the Delaware, 20 guns, Captain Decatur (the elder), went to sea. When a few days out, Decatur captured the French cruiser Le Croyable, 14 guns, that was searching in American waters for prizes. She was sent into the Delaware. She was afterward added to the navy of the United States, with the name of Retaliation, and put under the charge of Lieutenant William Bainbridge. The United States, 44 guns, Captain Barry, went to sea early in July, carrying many young men who were active officers in the war of 1812-15 a few years later, and afterward became distinguished in their country's service. Just after he sailed, his 68 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. government sent him instructions to go to the West Indies with two other vessels under his command. Before the end of the year, nearly the whole American Navy were among those islands, or engaged in convoying American merchantmen be tween there and the United States. So early as August, the Constellation, Captain Truxtun, and Baltimore, Captain Phil lips, safely convoyed sixty merchant -vessels from Havana to the United States, in the face of eager French cruisers who were watching for prey. The sudden appearance of so many American cruisers in the West Indies astonished both the French and English. By the close of 1798 the American Navy consisted of twenty vessels in active service, with the aggregate of four hundred and forty- six guns. It was at this time that the first of a series of flagrant out rages upon the American flag was committed by a British com mander. The Baltimore, Captain Phillips, sailed out of the harbor of Havana in charge of a convoy bound for Charles ton, at the middle of November. A British squadron was met while yet in sight of Havana, when Captain Phillips bore up to the British flag-ship ( Carnatick) to speak to the commodore. To the surprise of Phillips, three of the convoy were captured by the cruisers of Great Britain, notwithstanding the two coun tries were at peace. Still greater was his surprise and indigna tion, when, going on board the Carnatick by invitation, he was told by the commodore that it was his intention to take from the Baltimore every subject of the British monarch who had no American protective papers. Captain Phillips protested, and declared that he would for mally surrender his ship and refer the matter to his govern ment, if such an outrage should be committed, before he would submit to such indignity. On returning to his ship, Phillips found a British lieutenant on board mustering his men. Phil lips indignantly took tho muster-roll from him, ordered hi in to AN OUTRAGE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 69 another part of the ship, and sent his men to their quarters. After consulting a lawyer who was on board, Phillips surren dered his ship, for to fight would be vain. Fifty-five of his men were transferred to the Carnatick, but fifty of them were returned, when the British sailed away with the five seamen claimed as Englishmen, and three merchant-vessels as prizes. Captain Phillips laid the matter before his government. Trade with Great Britain was then very profitable, and the commercial interest, then very powerful in its influence upon the government, did not wish to offend the British. Taking council of this interest, the American Cabinet had actually in structed the commanders of American cruisers on no account — not even to save a vessel of their own nation — to molest those of other nations, the French only excepted. With obse quious deference to the British — with shame I record it — the American Government passed by this outrage of the British commander, and actually committed a greater outrage itself, un der the circumstances, by dismissing Captain Phillips from the navy without a trial. After that the Federal party in power were justly called the " British party." This degradation of the dignity of the nation disgusted honorable men, and had a powerful influence in effecting the overthrow of that party at the Presidential election in the year 1800. At about this time the Retaliation (late Le Croyable), Lieu tenant Bainbridge, cruising off Guadeloupe, mistook some French vessels for English vessels. The Retaliation reconnoi tred them, and discovered the mistake when it was too late. They were two French frigates ( Volontaire and Insurgente), and they made the Retaliation a prisoner. The two other vessels fled, and the Insurgente, one of the fastest sailing vessels in the world, pursued. Bainbridge was a prisoner on the Volontaire, the commander of which was the senior officer of the French squadron. The officers of the Volontaire, with Bainbridge, were watching the chase with eager interest, and the Insur- 70 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. gente was rapidly gaining upon the American vessels, when the French commander asked, " What are their armaments?" "Twenty-eight 12's and twenty 9's," Bainbridge immedi ately replied. This false statement of double their forces startled the French commander, and, deeming the Insurgente to be incurring too great peril in attacking two vessels of such strong arma ment, he immediatety signaled her to give up the chase. At that moment she was near enough to the fugitives to discover their exact force, but she obeyed, and the American vessels escaped. Bainbridge was cursed by the irate Frenchmen for his decep tion — that was all. The Retaliation was the first cruiser capt ured by either party during that little marine war with France. During 1799 the American Navy was considerably increased, and the active force in the West Indies was distributed in four squadrons, ten vessels being under the command of Commodore Barry, the senior officer in the service. Truxtun commanded a squadron of five vessels, with the Constellation as his flag-ship ; Captain Tingey had a smaller number under him, and Captain Decatur, in charge of some revenue-cutters, guarded the inter ests of American commerce off Havana. These squadrons made many prizes of French vessels. Early in 1799 Truxtun was cruising in the Constellation near the island of Nevis, when he saw a large French vessel to the southward, and gave chase. The Constellation overtook her in the afternoon (February 9th), and they immediately be gan a fierce combat which lasted an hour and a quarter, when the commander of the French vessel struck his colors. She proved to be the famous French frigate Insurgente, 40 guns, Captain Barreault, carrying four hundred and nine men. She was dreadfully shattered, and had lost seventy men. The prize was taken into St. Kitt's (St. Christopher's) in charge of Lieutenant (afterward Commodore) Rodgers. COMMODORE TRUXTUN HONORED. 71 This victory caused great exultation in the United States. Truxtun received many tokens of regard. London merchants sent him a service of silver plate worth $3000, on which was engraved a representation of the battle. The newspapers PIOnT BICTWEEN THE "CONSTELLATION" AND "LA VENGEANCE.' teemed with his praises ; and a ballad called " Truxtun's Vic tory " was sung everywhere, in public and private (see Appen dix). It was not poetry, but it touched the popular heart at that time in words like the following stanza : 72 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. " We sailed to the West Indies, in order to annoy The invaders of our commerce, to burn, sink or destroy ; Our Constellation shone so bright, The Frenchmen could not bear the sight, And away they scampered in affright, From the brave Yankee boys !" During the remainder of the year nothing of importance oc curred in connection with the American Navy ; but a year af ter the victory over tho Insurgente, Truxtun gained another with the Constellation. He was seeking the large French frig ate La Vengeance, off Guadeloupe, on the morning of February 1st, 1800, when he discovered a sail to the southward which he took to be an English merchantman. He ran up English colors, but receiving no response, he gave chase, which contin ued fifteen hours, when Truxtun discovered that it was a large French frigate. He boldly prepared to attack her, and at eight o'clock in the evening his antagonist began a battle by shots from her stern and quarter guns. The combatants fought desperately, at pistol-shot distance, until one o'clock in the morning, the vessels running free, side by side, and pouring in broadsides. Suddenly the French frig ate disappeared in the gloom, and Truxtun supposed she had gone to the bottom. The shrouds of the Constellation had been cut away. A squall came on, and her main-mast went by the board, carrying with it a midshipman and several topmen who were aloft. Truxtun, after small repairs, bore away to Jamaica ; and it was some time before he knew that he had fought the vessel he was searching for, La Vengeance, 54 guns, with four hundred men. The frigate, dreadfully crippled, had run away in the darkness, and escaped to Curacoa. Captain Pi- tot, her commander, acknowledged that he twice struck his flag during the engagement, which Truxtun did not observe. This victory over a superior foe added greatly to Truxtnn's fame and the enthusiasm of his countrymen, lt made' the navy im mensely popular. Congress gave him the thanks of the nation, THE NAVY" A FAVORITE TOAST. 73 and voted him a gold medal ' " The Navy " became a favorite toast at public banquets and other social gatherings ; and pict- TRUXTUN'S MEDAL. 1 A plain marble slab marks Truxtun's burial-place in Christ Church burying-ground, Philadelphia. 4* 74 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. tires of naval battles, and also naval songs, were sold in the shops and in the streets. An enterprising crockery merchant caused pitchers of various sizes, commemorative of the navy, to be made for him in Liverpool, on which were pictures of ships un der full sail, and sentiments like " Success to our infant Navy," et cwtera, were inscribed. Other naval victories over the French of less magnitude were achieved by the Americans soon afterward, and their cruisers continued active in the West In dies during the remainder of the year, not so much in warfare, NAVAL PITOUI.R. truxtdn's AIONUMBNT. BONAPARTE AND THE AMERICANS. 75 hut in watching the interests of commerce. In the early autumn friendly negotiations between France and the United States promised a speedy peace ; and the brief war, which had been carried on wholly upon the ocean, soon ceased. Napoleon Bonaparte, who had usurped the government of France, and had been made First Consul, or Chief Ruler, for life, was disposed to be friendly toward the Americans. A perfect reconciliation was effected, and very soon afterward successful negotiations were entered into with him for the purchase, by the United States, of the vast domain of the French on the Mississippi known as Louisiana. STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. CHAPTER VII. When Thomas Jefferson became President of the United States, in March, 1801, he began a system of careful economy in the management of public affairs, and his policy was ap proved by Congre* and the people. He was authorized to put the navy on a rigid peace footing, by retaining only thir teen frigates, of which only six were to be kept in actual ser vice. He caused seven of them to be laid up in ordinary, and all the rest of the public vessels, excepting the dismantled frig ates, to be sold. The vessels sold being inferior, only about one-fifth of the real naval force was disposed of.. Mr. Jefferson discharged all the officers and men not needed for service, and so that strong arm of national power, which, by its protection, had enabled the Americans to sell to foreign countries, during the difficulties with France, their surplus prod ucts to the amount of $200,000,000, and to import sufficient to yield to the government a revenue exceeding $23,000,000, was paralyzed by unwise economy in expenditure. They did not heed the wise saying, " If you would save yourself from insult, be prepared to resent it." The conduct of the Barbary powers — Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis, in Northern Africa — soon made the Americans perceive their own unwisdom. In May, 1800, Captain Bainbridge, in command of the George Washington, 24 guns, sailed for Algiers, with the usual tribute for the Dey (see page 65). When Bainbridge was about to leave, the Dey requested him to carry an Algerian ambassador to the Sultan, his master, at Constantinople. Bainbridge po litely declined, when the haughty ruler said, significantly : BAINBRIDGE AND THE DEY OF ALGIERS. 77 "You pay me tribute, by which you become my slaves, and therefore I have a right to order you as I think proper." The guns of the castle commanded Bainbridge's ship, and without their permission he could not pass out of the harbor. The American consul assured him that they would be used for the destruction of his ship, if he did not cornply ; so he yield ed, and even obeyed the Dey's further requirement that he should carry the Algerian flag at the main, and that of the United States at the fore. I 1 : - ALGIERS IN 1S00. Bainbridge sailed out of the harbor an obedient slave, but once on the broad sea he pulled down the evidence of the in sult to his country, and, as a freeman, put the American flag in its place. On arriving at Constantinople, he wrote to the Secretary of the Navy : " I hope I shall never again be sent to Algiers with tribute, 78 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. unless I am authorized to deliver it from the mouth of our cannon." But his mission to the Sultan was not without good results. That ruler and his great officers of State were astonished by the presence of the American ship and her commander. They had never even heard of the United States. When the Sultan was informed concerning our country, Bainbridge and his officers were treated with marked courtesy by the monarch and his court. The flag of the Ottoman em pire bore a crescent-moon as its device ; the flag of the United States bore a constellation of stars, and the Turks drew a fa vorable omen from this visit of our stars to their moon. The Sultan expressed his belief that the two nations must ever be friends, and so they have been. When Bainbridge was about to return to Algiers, the Turk ish admiral gave him & firman (decree of the royal government), to protect him from further insolence from the Dey. When he reached Algiers, the Dey requested him to return to Constan tinople on another errand. Bainbridge haughtily refused. The astonished Dey flew into a rage, and threatened the cap tain with personal chastisement, and his country with war. Bainbridge quietly produced the firman, when the fierce gov ernor became lamb-like, and obsequiously offered his " slaves '' his friendship and service. Bainbridge assumed the air of a dictator, and demanded the release of the French consul, and fifty or sixty of his countrymen, who had lately been made prisoners. It was immediately done. When he depart ed, he carried away all the French in Algiers without paying any ransom. The United States had purchased not only from the ruler of Algiers, but from those of Tunis and of Tripoli, not their friendship, but their forbearance, with money or a stipulated tribute (see page 65). The insolent treatment of Bainbridge, and a sense of true dignity, made the United Stages Govern- AMERICAN CRUISERS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. 79 ment determine, in the spring of 1801, to humble the pride of these pirates, and release commerce from their thrall. The ruler of Tripoli, not content with what he received, be cause it was less than that of his neighbors, caused the flag staff of the American Consulate to be cut down, and declared war against the United States. That was in May, 1801. Com modore Dale had already been sent to the Mediterranean with a small squadron, composed of the President, 44 guns (the flag ship), Captain James Barron; Philadelphia, 38, Captain Sam uel Barron; Essex, 32, Captain Bainbridge; and Enterprise, 12, Lieutenant-commander Sterrett. This little squadron reached Gibraltar on the first of July. Dale's ship, in company with the little Enterprise, soon appear ed off Tunis and Tripoli, to the great astonishment of their rulers. The Enterprise had captured a Tripolitan corsair on the way, after a battle of three hours. Meanwhile the Phila delphia cruised in the Straits of Gibraltar, to bar the way of Tripolitan vessels seen near to the open Atlantic Ocean, while the Essex cruised along the northern shore of the Mediterra nean, to convoy American merchant-ships. Dale cruised until autumn, and his presence made the Barbary powers very cir cumspect. The following year (1802) a relief squadron was sent to the Mediterranean under Commodore R. V. Morris. The Chesa peake, 38 guns, acting captain Lieutenant Chauncy, was his flag-ship. The other vessels were the Constellation, 38 guns ; New Tork, 36 ; John Adams, 28 ; Adams, 28 ; and Enterprise, 12. These sailed at different times, from February until Sep tember. The Constellation joined the Boston, which had been cruising in an independent way, in blockading the harbor of Tripoli. She was soon abandoned by the Boston, and main tained the blockade alone. Her commander, Captain Murray, was a brave and expert leader. Not long after the Boston left, the Constellation had a severe contest with a flotilla of seven- 80 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. teen Tripolitan gun-boats, which she pounded unmercifully and scattered in confusion, as well as some cavalry on shore. Her great guns were too much for the Tripolitans. The other vessels of the squadron arrived and cruised along the northern shore of the Mediterranean for the protection of American commerce. Finally, the whole squadron collected at Malta in January, 1803, and during the spring appeared off the ports of the Barbary States, effectually imprisoning their cor sairs within their harbors for a time. In May the John Adams had a very severe battle with Tu nisian gun- boats and land - batteries, and suffered much loss. She had been blockading the harbor of Tunis for some time. This battle was followed by movements of the Tunisian and Algerian corsairs that caused the Americans to raise the block ade, and after effecting the destruction of a Tripolitan cruiser in a bay, the squadron all left the African shores. Morris had effected but little in the Mediterranean ; and on his return in November, 1803, the President dismissed him from the service without trial. The United States Government now determined to act with more vigor against the Mediterranean pirates, and in May, 1803, Commodore Edward Preble was appointed to the com mand of a squadron consisting of the Constitution, 44 guns ; Philadelphia, 38; Argus and 'Siren, 16 each; and Nautilus, Vixen, and Enterprise, 12 each. The Constitution was Preble's flag-ship. As before, the squadron did not sail together. The Phila delphia, Captain Bainbridge, was in the Mediterranean in Au gust, and captured a Moorish frigate which he found holding, as a prize, an American merchant vessel. Discovering that the frigate was cruising for American prizes, under orders from the Moorish governor of Tangiers, Bainbridge took her into Gib raltar. On his arrival there, Preble proceeded to Tangiers early in October with the Constitution, New York, John Adams, and DESTRUCTION OF THE "PHILADELPHIA." 81 Nautilus, and obtained an interview with the Emperor of Mo rocco, who disavowed the act of the frigate. This difficulty being settled, Preble went to Malta, and there prepared to humble the ruler of Tripoli. Meanwhile the Phil adelphia had chased a Tripolitan ship into the harbor in front of that town, where the American vessel struck upon a rock not then laid down on any of the charts. Fast bound, she was capt ured by the Tripolitans, and Bainbridge and his officers were made prisoners of war, while the crew were made slaves. Bain bridge found means to communicate with Preble at Malta, and advised the adoption of measures to destroy the grounded Phil adelphia, for her captors were fitting her out for sea. Preble had lately appeared off Tripoli in the Constitution for the first time, accompanied by the Enterprise, commanded by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr. Late in December, Deca tur captured a Tripolitan ketch laden with maidens, who were slaves of the ruler of Tripoli, whom he was sending to Constan tinople as a present to the Sultan. With this vessel and her cargo Decatur sailed into Syracuse, accompanied by the flag ship. There he formed a plan for cutting out the Philadelphia, which Preble approved. The captured ketch was taken into the service, and named the Intrepid. In her Decatur and seventy-four brave young men sailed for Tripoli, with orders to recapture or destroy the Philadelphia. She was accompanied by the Siren, Lieutenant (afterward Commodore) Stewart. On a bright moonlit even ing (the 16th of February, 1804) they entered the harbor of Tripoli, the Intrepid assuming the character of a vessel in dis tress, without exciting suspicion. Her officers and crew were mostly concealed. The Intrepid was warped along-side the Philadelphia, when the Tripolitans suspected treachery. Instantly Decatur and the other officers, followed by their men, sprung on board the Philadelphia, and after a fierce struggle with her turbaned de- 82 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. fenders, the Tripolitans were all killed or driven into the sea. The Philadelphia was set on fire, and at near midnight a sub lime spectacle was presented. The frigate was all ablaze, and the cannons of the castle, of batteries on shore, and of corsairs lying near, thundered incessantly, pouring shot and shell into the vicinity of the conflagration, hoping to destroy the incen diaries. At the same time the fitful discharges of the great guns of the Philadelphia, as the flames reached them, added to the roar of the artillery. From this fiery ordeal Decatur and his men escaped with only four wounded, and the boats of the Siren, lying outside, with strong sweeps, towed the Intrepid beyond danger. The heroes were received at Syracuse by the people and the American squadron with demonstrations of great joy. Decatur was promoted to captain, and his officers were advanced in rank. The Bashaw, or Governor of Tunis, was greatly alarmed by this display of American energy and boldness, and when his port was afterward blockaded by Preble, he acted with great caution. His harbor was guarded by batteries, mounting one hundred and fifteen cannons ; by nineteen gun-boats, a brig, two schooners, and seven galleys, twenty -five thousand land soldiers, and a sheltering reef of dangerous rocks and shoals. Undismayed by these formidable obstacles, the gallant Preble entered the harbor on the 3d of August, and in the afternoon he opened a heavy cannonade and bombardment from his gun boats, which he had procured at Naples, and which, alone, could get near enough for effective service. The walled city was two miles distant. Decatur again made a grand display of skill and courage. Commanding one of the gun -boats, he lay his vessel along side one of the largest of the Tripolitan vessels in the harbor, and captured her after a brief struggle. He immediately board ed another, when he had a desperate personal conflict with her powerful commander. The struggle was brief, but deadly. PREBLE'S ATTACK ON TRIPOLI. 83 Decatur slew his antagonist, and the vessel was captured. Af ter a general struggle of two hours the Americans withdrew, but renewed the conflict four days afterward. Three Tripoli tan gun-boats had been sunk in the harbor, and three of them were captured. The second battle at Tripoli began on the afternoon of the 7th of August, and after a severe engagement the Americans again withdrew, but renewed the attack on the 24th of the same month. A sad casualty occurred on the 7th. A hot shot from the town entered the hull of one of the gun-boats, and fired her magazine. Her commander, Lieutenant Caldwell of the Siren, Midshipman Dorsey, and eight of her crew, were killed by the explosion, and six others were wounded. When the smoke of the explosion cleared away, Midshipman Spence and eleven others were seen on the bow of the sinking vessel (which was yet above water), loading the long 24-pounder with which she was armed. They gave three hearty cheers, dis charged the gun at the enemy, and a moment afterward were picked up, for the wreck that was under them had gone to the bottom. The attack on Tripoli on the 24th left no important results, but before daylight on the 28th of August the American gun boats made another sharp assault. At dawn the Constitution ran into the harbor, assailed the town, batteries, and castle, si lenced the latter and two batteries, sunk a Tunisian vessel, damaged a Spanish one, severely handled the Tripolitan gun boats and galleys, and then withdrew without having a man hurt, Preble again attacked Tripoli on the 3d of September. His squadron sailed into the harbor in the afternoon of that day. There was a general engagement for an hour and a quarter, the Constitution firing eleven effective broadsides. The wind ris ing, Preble prudently withdrew. It was now determined to send in an immense torpedo or floating mine to destroy the Tripolitan cruisers in the harbor. 84 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. For this purpose the Intrepid was used. A hundred barrels of gunpowder were placed under her deck, and over these were laid shot and shell, and irregular pieces of iron. Combustibles were placed in other parts of the vessel, to be set on fire at a proper moment. This destructive sea-monster was placed in charge of Captain Somers, who, with Lieutenant Wadsworth of the Constitution, and young Israel, an ardent officer, who got on the Intrepid by stealth, were the only persons engaged in the expedition, ex cepting men to manage two boats to tow the torpedo into the harbor and carry away the officers above named. At nine o'clock, on a very dark night (September 4th), she was towed into the harbor. All eyes were strained to watch the result after the Intrepid and the boats disappeared in the gloom. Suddenly a fierce and lurid light shot up from the dark bosom of the waters like a volcanic fire, that illuminated town, castle, shipping, and shores. This was instantly followed by an ex plosion that made earth and sea and air tremble for miles around. Flaming fragments fell in a fearful shower, when all was again silence and darkness more profound than before. Anxious eyes and ears on the American vessels were bent in the direction of the explosion until the dawn for tidings of the brave men who went on the perilous expedition. They never came out of the harbor, nor have they been heard of since. Nearly fourscore years their fate has been an impene trable secret. At the front of the midshipmen's quarters at An- nnpolis stands a fine monument, erected to their memory, and of those who perished on the 7th of August, by officers of the navy* The stormy season now coming on, Commodore Preble ceased hostile operations, except keeping up the blockade of Tripoli. On the 10th of September (1804) Preble was relieved by the * This monument is of white marble, and with its present pedestal (not seen in the engraving) is about forty feet in height. HONORS TO COMMODORE PREBLE. 85 arrival of Commodore Samuel Barron, and he returned home. He was greeted with affection and honors by a grateful people, NAVAL MONUMENT. and Congress gave him the thanks of the nation and a gold medal. Barron, with his flag-ship the President, found himself in com- 86 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. mand of a much larger force than the Americans had ever put afloat on the bosom of the Mediterranean Sea. It consisted of PEEDI.E'S MEDAl. twelve vessels, several of the commanders of which were after ward distinguished in the war of 1812-15. The war with Trip oli soon afterward was ended by a land expedition and a treaty. TRIPOLI AND TUNIS SUBDUED. 87 Hamet Caramalli was the rightful ruler of Tripoli, but his brother had usurped his place, and Hamet had fled to Egypt and taken refuge with the Mamelukes. Captain William Ea ton was American Consul at Tunis, and he resolved to make common cause with Hamet against the usurper. The latter left the Mamelukes, with forty followers, and joined Eaton west of Alexandria. The consul had gathered a small force composed of men of all nations. Early in March the allies, with transportation consisting of one hundred and ninety camels, started for Tripoli, a journey of a thousand miles through a wild and desert country. At near the close of April they approached Derne, a Tripolitan seaport town, and, with the aid of two vessels of the American squadron, captured it. Their followers had now become nu merous, and they were marching on the capital with a promise of full success, when a courier reached them with the news that Tobias Lear, the American Consul-general on that coast, had made a treaty of peace with the terrified ruler. This blasted the hopes of Caramalli. The Governor of Tunis was yet insolent, and Commodore Rodgers (who had succeeded Barron) anchored thirteen vessels before the capital of this Barbary chief. The terrified Bashaw, perceiving his danger, was humbled, and he sent a letter to the commodore expressing a desire to treat. So the last of the North African robbers was subdued at that time. The power of the American Government had been made manifest through its navy alone. It was now acknowledged and feared by all those States, and American commerce in the Mediterranean was relieved of great peril. An American bard wrote : " When fame shall tell the splendid story Of Columbia's naval glory, Since victorious o'er the deep Our eagle-flag was seen to sweep, 88 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. The glowing tale will form a page To grace the annals of the age, And teach our sons to proudly claim The brightest meed of naval fame. In lofty strains the bard shall tell How Truxtun fought, how Somers fell ! How gallant Preble's daring host Triumphed along the Moorish coast ; Forced the proud infidel to treat, And brought the Crescent to their feet !" The Barbary States at that time stretched along Northern Africa from the western boundary of Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean, and from the Mediterranean to the Desert of Sahara. Their name was derived from the Berbers, the ancient inhabi tants of that region, whose descendants still make a considera ble portion of the population. They have been conquered, in succession, by the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, and Aiabs. Their rulers, when the war with the United States occurred, were the Arabs, who took possession of the country more than a thousand years ago. EFFRONTERY OF BRITISH CRUISERS. 89 CHAPTER VIII. After the war with the Barbary States the American naval force in the Mediterranean was somewhat reduced. Prudence, however, prevailed against the folly of those who blindly pro posed to withdraw the ships-of-war because the African pirates were no longer depredators, and a small squadron was kept in the Mediterranean Sea. The government, taught by experience, knew the value of a navy at home as well as abroad. Two vessels of war, of the most approved models, were now built, and several new ones were put afloat at about the same time. The two vessels (Wasp, 18 guns, and Hornet, 18 guns — the former a ship, and the latter a brig) became active cruisers on the peace establishment. When war between France and England was renewed in 1803, the latter revived its offensive system of searching Amer ican vessels for British seamen, and transferring them to the Royal Navy. Remonstrances were in vain. This business was carried on with a high hand, and many American citizens suffered British tyranny in this way. In June, 1805, an Amer ican gun-boat fell in with the fleet of Admiral Collingwood, off Cadiz. While her commander (Lieutenant Lawrence) was on board one of the British ships, three of his men were taken from his vessel by a boat sent for them, under the pretext that they were Englishmen. This outrage was committed by Lord Collingwood, while he admitted that " England would not sub mit to such an aggression for one hour." This was only one of scores of similar outrages. The English cruisers even had the effrontery to carry on the S 90 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. offensive system at the entrances of American harbors. In the spring of 1806, while a small New York coasting vessel, Cap tain Pearce, was running for Sandy Hook, she was fired into by the British cruiser Leander, Captain Whitby, and the cap tain of the little vessel was killed. This piratical act, this un provoked murder, created the hottest indignation throughout the country. At a public meeting in New York, it was de clared by resolution, presented by a committee of which Rufus King, late minister to England, was chairman, that an admin istration that would suffer foreign armed ships to "impress, wound, and murder citizens," was " not entitled to the confi dence of a brave and free people." Whitby was brought to trial in England for the murder of Pearce, but, notwithstand ing the crime was fully proved by competent witnesses, he was honorably acquitted. The trial was a mockery of justice. The United States took prompt action on the subject, and sought to obtain justice through peaceful negotiations, but failed. The crime remained forever unpunished. Bonaparte had now become Emperor of the French, with the title of Napoleon I., and he and the British Government, through "orders in council" and "decrees," began t,o play a desperate foot-ball game with the commerce of the world. The citizens of the United States suffered great indignities and hard ships from the acts of the gamesters. The British kept naval vessels continually hovering along the American coast. They entered American waters, and by their insolence and actual outrages produced great excitement in the public mind. They were regarded as legalized plunderers, and no American mer chant-vessel leaving port was safe from their depredations. A crisis was reached in the summer of 1807. A squadron of British vessels, watching some French frigates which were blockaded at Annapolis, lay in Lynn Haven Bay, just within the capes of Virginia. Three men of the Melampus deserted and enlisted on board the Chesapeake at Washington, THE "CHESAPEAKE" AND "LEOPARD. 91 which was then preparing to join the Mediterranean squadron. The British minister at Washington made a formal request for their surrender. Inquiries concerning the deserters were made. Two of them were proved to be natives of the United States, and circumstances made it probable that the third also was born in America. The request of the minister was respectfully refused. LYNN HAVEN RAY. No more was done at that time ; but Vice-admiral Berkeley, on the Halifax station, under whose command was the squadron in Lynn Haven Bay, took the matter into his own hands, and instructed his subordinate, the commander in American waters, to assert the right of search and impressment whenever occa sion should offer. Late in June, 1807, the Chesapeake, Captain Gordon, bearing the broad pennant of Commodore James Barrori, put to sea. She had been watched by the squadron in Lynn Haven Bay, 92 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. and the Leopard, 50 guns, had been charged with the duty of intercepting her. The Leopard had preceded the Chesapeake to sea several miles, keeping in sight. Finally she bore down upon the Chesapeake, hailed her, and informed Barron that he had a despatch for him. The Chesapeake lay to, and it was soon discovered that the ports of the Leopard were triced up with an evident belligerent intention. A British lieutenant, who came to the Chesapeake in a boat, was politely invited on board by Barron, when he informed the captain £hat his errand was to search for deserters, and de mand their release. Barron told him there was a standing or der of his government to all commanders of American vessels not to allow their crews to be mustered by any one excepting their own officers, and that he should strictly enforce the or der. The lieutenant then left, and the people of the Chesapeake began to prepare for battle, for Barron suspected the British commander was bent on mischief. As Barron sailed away, he received this trumpet message from the commander of the Leop ard : " Commodore Barron must be aware that the orders of the vice-admiral must be obeyed." This was repeated, but Barron did not heed it. Then a shot was sent from the Leopard athwart the bows of the Chesapeake. Its warning was disregarded. This was speedily followed by another, and then the remainder of the broadside poured shot into the Chesapeake. Unprepared for an engagement, the Chesapeake was helpless ; still the Leopard fired several broad sides, killing three men and wounding eighteen. Barron per ceived that surrender would be necessary, but wished to fire a single gun, if no more, before he should haul down his flag. He was gratified ; Lieutenant Allen ran with a live coal be tween his fingers and touched off one of the guns just as the colors were struck. British officers now boarded the Chesapeake, mustered the crew, and bore away four of them to the Leopard. The Chesa- A WAR SPIRIT AROUSED. 93 peake, which had been hulled by twenty-one round shot, sailed to Norfolk. The deserters, after trial at Halifax, were sentenced to be hanged. The three Americans were reprieved, on condi tion that they should re-enter the British service ; the fourth man, who was an Englishman, was hanged. JAMES BARRON. This outrage stirred the whole people of the Union with in dignation. Party spirit almost disappeared for awhile, and with one voice the nation declared that Great Britain must make reparation for the wrong, or be made to feel the chastis ing power of the lusty young Republic. A war spirit was manifested in all parts of the country ; and the President of the United States, by a proclamation, ordered all British armed vessels to leave the waters of the Republic immediately. Was there power back of that proclamation to enforce it ? 94 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. No. The strong arm which alone could thus assert the digni ty and puissance of the nation — a competent navy — had been paralyzed by the operations of an unwise economy. The folly of hesitation in Congress and among the people in the creation of a strong navy was now conspicuous, and was keenly felt. The action of the British Government relieved that of the United States from its ridiculous position of a mere blusterer. It officially disowned the act of the commander of the Leopard, recalled Berkeley, and censured the offending subaltern, and never sent him to sea again. Barron was tried on a charge of neglect of duty, found guilty, and punished by suspension from the service without pay for five years. So ended the tempest. This affair was an important lesson for the people and gov ernment of the United States ; but the President and Congress, instead of applying it in the only practicable way, that of in creasing the naval strength of the Republic, declared an unlim ited embargo on foreign commerce. This act shut American ports against trade and traffic with other nations — a measure which injured the Americans themselves more than any one else. President Jefferson's policy was to keep the army and navy on as cheap a footing as possible. In the face of all the insults received, Congress had empowered the government to employ no more than 1425 seamen, ordinary seamen, and boys in all the vessels of the navy, in commission and in ordinary. The Sec retary of the Navy now asked for nearly double that number. It was refused. The opposition to a navy in Congress came chiefly from the Southern members. Mr. Williams, of South Carolina, said : " I am at a loss to find terms sufficiently expres sive of my abhorrence of a navy. I would go a great deal far ther to see it burnt than to extinguish the fire. It is a curse to the country, and has never been anything else." In the face of the teachings of all history to the contrary, Mr. Williams declared that " navies have deceived the hopes of every country which has relied upon them." A GUN-BOAT FLEET. 95 But somewhat wiser counsels finally prevailed, and the Presi dent was authorized to procure one hundred and eighty-eight gun-boats in addition to some already built and a-building, making the whole number two hundred and fifty-seven. 96 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. The United States then bad a coast-line of almost two thou sand miles, and this force of small vessels, fitted for harbor pro tection only, had really not the force of three large vessels of war as protectors of commerce or the national honor. Jeffer son's idea seems to have been to have these boats in readiness, properly distributed, but not actually manned and put into commission until necessity should call for them. This pitiful gun-boat system was ridiculed without stint, and denounced as " wasteful imbecility, called by the name of economy." John Trumbull, the artist, gave the following description of its ex pected operations : " Whenever danger shall menace any harbor, or any foreign ship shall insult us, somebody is to inform the governor, and the governor is to desire the marshal to call upon the captains of militia to call upon the drummers to beat to arms and call the militiamen together, from whom are to be drafted (not im pressed) a sufficient number to go on board the gun-boats and drive the hostile stranger away, unless, during this long cere monial, he should have taken himself off." No act was passed for increasing the power of the navy un til the last of January, 1809, when the President, about to re tire from office, was directed to equip the United States, 44 guns ; President, 44 ; Essex, 32 ; and John Adams, 24 — the last- named vessel having been cut down to a sloop-of-war, from a frigate. The President was also authorized to employ a force of over five thousand seamen, ordinary seamen, and boys. These, with officers and the marine corps, raised the effective force of the navy to seven thousand men. The officers deserted the demoralizing service of the gun-boats for employment in better stations, and the high tone and admirable discipline, which had distinguished the United States Navy ten years before, was speedily renewed. The United States Government now turned its attention to the lakes on the northern frontier of the Republic. England THE "PRESIDENT" AND " LITTLE BELT." 97 already possessed ships on Lakes Erie and Ontario ; and in 1808 the President had directed two gun-boats to be built on Lake Champlain, and a regular war-brig on Lake Ontario, the latter of two hundred and forty tons measurement, and pierced for sixteen guns. For two years the policy of the two governments was vacil lating and perplexing ; but that of the United States, under the wiser administration of President Madison, perceived that war with Great Britain might occur at almost any moment, for there was an increasing war spirit among the people. No more armed vessels were sent to the Mediterranean Sea, and the whole maritime force of the national government was kept at home. In 1810 there were in active service twelve war vessels, namely : President, 44 guns ; Constitution, 44 ; United States, 44 ; Essex, 32 ; John Adams, 24 ; Wasp, 18 ; Hornet, 18 ; Ar gus, 16 ; Siren, 16 ; Nautilus, 12 ; Enterprise, 12 ; and Vixen, 12. Besides these, there were a large number of gun-boats, commanded chiefly by sailing masters selected from among officers of merchant-vessels. Meanwhile the British had increased their cruisers on the American coast, and continued their offensive practices. In the spring of 1811 Commodore Rodgers, then at his home at Havre-de-Grace, was informed that a seaman had been taken out of an American brig, not far from Sandy Hook, by an English frigate, supposed to be the Guerriere, Captain Dacres. Rodgers hurried to Annapolis, whence he sailed in the President in search of the offender. On the 14th of May he discovered a sail which he supposed to be the one he was seeking, and gave chase. At eight o'clock in the evening he was near enough to her to ask, "What sail is that?" No answer was returned, but the stranger repeated Rodgers's question word for word. Rodgers repeated it, and was answer- 5* 98 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. ed by a shot that lodged in his main-mast, followed first by three others, and then by the remainder of the broadside. Rodgers now opened a broadside upon his assailant, and in the course of a few minutes silenced her. He discovered his antagonist at dawn several miles distant, and bore down upon her to render assistance if required. She proved to be the British sloop-of-war Little Belt, 18 guns, Captain Bingham. The reports of Rodgers and Bingham were utterly contradic tory, both as to which hailed first, fired first, in the length of the engagement, and the result ; Bingham claiming that he had gained the advantage in the contest. This affair produced almost as much excitement as that of the Chesapeake and Leopard. Disputes which arose concern ing the matter were finally settled satisfactorily to both na tions, and the topic dropped out of diplomatic circles. The affair, however, increased the growing ill feeling between the two nations. From this occurrence until the summer of 1812 the public ships were kept actively cruising along the American coast, or employed in carrying communications between their govern ment and its ministers abroad. Navy-yards had been establish ed at Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Washington, Gosport, and Portsmouth, N. H., and the navy had greatly improved in dis cipline, tone, and efficiency. The continued violations of neu tral rights for twelve years, by British cruisers, had created a chivalrous spirit in the navy that gave it activity and vigor when the two nations came to blows. At the beginning of the year 1812 the war spirit in the United States was at fever heat, and controlled a majority of the mem bers of Congress. This spirit was fostered by continued ag gressions on the part of the British, and by an able report of the Committee on Foreign Relations. But the President loved peace, and timidly hesitated to declare war. He was strongly pressed to do so ; and the more enlightened Langdon Cheves, A PLEA FOR A STRONG NAVY. 99 of South Carolina, reported in favor of an increase of the navy, for he justly said, " Protection to commerce is protection to agriculture." Members from Commercial New England, es pecially from Massachusetts, favored such increase of the na val force. Lloyd, from that State, moved an appropriation for building thirty frigates, and sustained his resolution by an elo quent speech. " Let us have the frigates," he said. " Powerful as Great Britain is, she could not blockade them. Divide them into six squadrons. Place these squadrons in northern ports ready for sea, and at favorable moments we would pounce upon her West India islands, repeating the game of D'Estaing and De Grasse. By the time she was ready to meet us there, we would be around Cape Horn cutting up her whalemen. Pursued thither, we would skim away to the Indian seas, and would give an ac count of her China and India ships very different from that of the French cruisers. Now we would follow her Quebec, now her Jamaica convoys ; sometimes make an appearance in the chops of the Channel, and even sometimes wind north almost to the Baltic. It would require a hundred British frigates to watch the movements of these thirty. Such are the means by which I would bring Great Britain to her senses. By harass ing her commerce with this fleet, we would make the people ask their government why they continued to violate our rights." These patriotic utterances, and the glowing picture of this day-dream, did not convince Congress — made up as it was most ly of members from agricultural States — that a strong navy was necessary. Thafbody, willing to rush into war with a power- erful maritime nation, not only refused to sanction Lloyd's amendment, but actually cut down a petty appropriation for the repairs of vessels then afloat. At the close of March, 1812, Congress authorized the Presi dent to cause three additional frigates to be put in service, and appropriated $200,000 for the purchase of timber to re- IOO1 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. build the three other frigates which had been permitted to fall into decay. At the same time preparations for war on land were authorized and pressed forward; and on the 19th of June, 1812, President Madison declared war against Great Britain by a formal proclamation. At that time the navy of Great Britain consisted of 1060 sail, of which nearly 800 were efficient cruisers — a large por tion of them at liberty to roam the sea wherever required. The United States Navy at that time was composed of 20 ves sels (exclusive of 120 gun-boats), the larger one a frigate of 44 guns, and the smaller- one a schooner of 12 guns. There were three of 44 guns, three of 38, one of 36, one of 32, three of 28, two of 18, three of 16, three of 14, and one of 12. Of these vessels two (of 3.6 and 28 guns) were unseaworthy, and a 16-gun vessel was on -Lake Ontario. With seventeen war-vessels and merchantmen, spread over nearly the whole ocean regions of the earth, the United States then entered upon war with the most powerful maritime na tion the world had ever seen. Besides, Great Britain possess ed large West India islands, the Bermudas, and the port of Halifax as places for refitting and shelters for prizes. The apparent foolhardiness of the United States in enter ing upon a war with so great a stake of shipping, and with a protection so inadequate, can be accounted for only by the fact that the Cabinet at Washington entertained a project of laying up all the vessels in ordinary to prevent their falling into the hands of their foes ! This contemplated death-blow to the navy was averted by the strong remonstrances and cogent ar guments of Captains Bainbridge and Stewart in opposition to this suicidal plan. The President, in calling a meeting of his Cabinet, found that two of them had receded from their foolish recommendation, on the ground that the ships would soon be captured in port by the British, and that the country would thus h® rid of the cost of maintaining them, and more at lib- INDECOROUS LANGUAGE AND VALIANT DEEDS. 101 erty to direct its energies to the army ! Fortunately the Pres ident listened to better counsellors. The British Government and people, and the younger mem bers of the British Navy, had such notions of the overwhelm ing superiority of the British to the Americans in all things, that they laughed in derision at our declaration of war. Their newspapers, in particular, indulged in broadest ridicule and coarsest abuse of the Americans. They had declared that they were " spaniel-like in character : the more they are chastised, the more obsequious they become." They declared that they " could not be kicked into a war ;" and the frigate Constitution, which had performed great achievements already, was spoken of as " a bundle of pine boards sailing under a bit of striped bunting." And it was asserted that " a few broadsides from England's wooden walls would drive the paltry striped bunting from the ocean." This indecorous language was soon answer ed by valiant deeds by the Americans that made the British Government and writers more thoughtful and circumspect. The little American Navy was prompt to act when allowed its freedom. When war was declared, there were collected in the port of New York, under Commodore Rodgers, the Presi dent, 44 guns (flag-ship) ; Essex, 32, Captain Porter ; and Hor net, 18, Captain Lawrence. They were ready to sail at a mo ment's notice. Within one hour after Rodgers received official information of the declaration of war, and his instructions, he was under way with his squadron in search of a large fleet of Jamaica-men, known to be off the American coast, in the Gulf-stream. On June 23d Rodgers saw a British frigate. The President sailed faster than the rest of the squadron, and, giving chase, gained on the stranger. When near enough, Rodgers sent the contents of a chase-gun after her with deadly effect. This was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Rodgers had pointed and fired the gun himself, and this was the first hostile shot fired 102 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. afloat in the war of 1812. After a spirited engagement at long range, the stranger was lightened, outran the President, and escaped. She was the Belvidera, 36 guns, Captain Byron. She carried the news of the declaration of war to Halifax. The President had twenty-two men killed and wounded, sixteen of them by the bursting of a gun. The squadron continued the cruise to the chops of the English Channel, capturing some merchantmen, and returned after an absence of seventy days. As soon as the startling report of the Belvidera reached Halifax, a British squadron was collected there, and placed un der the command of Captain Broke, of the Shannon, 38 guns. It consisted of the flag-ship African, 64 guns ; Guerriere, 38 ; Belvidera, 36; and uEolus, 32. It appeared off New York city in July, and captured several prizes. Just at that time the little brig Nautilus, 14 guns, Lieutenant -commander Crane, sailed out of New York on a cruise, and the next day she was captured by the Shannon. This' was the first vessel taken on either side in the war then just begun. She had done good service in the war with Tripoli (see Chapter VII). Now we enter upon a most important part of our story. It is the time of the beginning of the war of 1812, or second war for independence — a war in which the navy of the United States suddenly and unexpectedly acquired great renown, and the commanders in it, who became conspicuous heroes, won for themselves imperishable fame. A REMARKABLE NAVAL RETREAT. 103 CHAPTER IX. Just at the time when the Nautilus was captured, the Con stitution, 44 guns, Captain Isaac Hull, returned from Europe. He ran into Chesapeake Bay and shipped a fresh crew at An napolis, whence he sailed (July 12th, 1812) on a cruise north ward. When five days out, moving under easy canvas before a gentle breeze, and out of sight of land, Hull discovered several vessels heading westward. They were evidently watching the Constitution. Hull beat to quarters, prepared his ship for ac tion, and bore down toward a frigate to speak to her. They sailed in sight of each other all night. In the gray of early morning Hull discovered that the frigate was the Guerriere, Captain Dacres, accompanied by three other vessels on her starboard quarter, and four astern. Hull had fallen in with Broke's squadron. Perceiving his peril, he sought safety in flight, and now began one of the most re=- markable naval retreats on record. The Constitution was in great peril. There was almost a dead calm, and the staunch ship floated quite independent of the helm on the gently-heav ing bosom of the sea. Down went her boats with long lines attached to them, and strong sweeps were used with desperate energy in towing her. A long 18-pounder was placed on her spar-deck as a stern-chaser, and another was pointed off her forecastle. Her cabin windows were enlarged by saws and axes, and out of these were run two 24 -pounders. A. light breeze was just beginning to swell her sails, when the Shan- non, Broke's flag -ship, opened her ports and cannonaded the 104 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Constitution for ten minutes with her bow guns. They were harmless. Again the breeze died away. Finding the water only twen ty fathoms in depth, Hull ordered a kedge-anchor, attached to ropes spliced together, to be carried half a mile ahead and dropped, when the crew pulled the ship rapidly forward. This movement was repeated several times, and puzzled the pursuers. Broke soon discovered the secret of the progress of the Con stitution, and adopted the same expedient. Toward midnight the Shannon and Guerriere were rapidly gaining on the fugi tive, when a light breeze struck the Constitution and brought her to windward. With consummate skill Hull took advan tage of the breeze and bore way ; but a calm soon succeeded, the Guerriere drew nearer, and finally opened a harmless broad side. So anxious was Broke to get the Shannon within fight ing distance, that nearly all the boats of the squadron were employed in towing her. So the race continued a day and a night, both parties towing and kedging. At dawn, on the second day of the chase, there was a light breeze, and all the ships were on the same tack. The pursu ing vessels were clouded with canvass from truck to deck, and the English frigates got within gun-shot range of the Constitu tion on her lee-quarter. Eleven vessels were now in sight. It was an imposing scene, beautiful and exciting. With that gentle breeze the Constitution gained on her pursuers, and at four o'clock in the afternoon was four miles ahead of the near est. At seven, dark clouds began to brood over the sea, and very soon a tempest of wind, lightning, and rain swept over its bosom. The Constitution was unharmed, for she had been well prepared for a squall. When the gale ceased she was fly ing before a stiff breeze at the rate of eleven knots an hour. At twilight the storm had passed to the eastward, and the pursuing vessels were again in sight. On went the Constitu tion before the wind. All that night the race continued, but ESCAPE OP THE "CONSTITUTION." FIRST CRUISE OF THE "ESSEX." 107 at eight o'clock the next morning the pursuers gave up the chase. So ended a contesting trial of seamanship, after a chase of sixty-four hours, chiefly off the coast of New England. This exploit gave Hull much fame as an expert sailor. When the Constitution had gained other victories, a rhymer, recounting her exploits in many verses, thus sung of this event : " 'Neath Hull's command, with a tough band, And naught beside to back her, Before a day, as log-books say, A fleet bore down to thwack her. A fleet, you know, is odds or so Against a single ship, sirs ; So 'cross the tide her legs she tried, And gave the rogues the slip, sirs." Soon after Rodgers left New York (see page 101) the Essex, 32 guns, Captain Porter, sailed from that harbor with a flag bear ing the significant words, " Free Trade and Sailor's Rights " fluttering at her mast-head. Soon after leaving Sandy Hook, Porter captured and burnt several English merchant- vessels, making prisoners of their crews. For some weeks he cruised southward in disguise, captured a prize occasionally, and, turn ing northward, chased a fleet of British transports convoyed by an armed frigate, and captured one of them, with one hundred and fifty men, without firing a gun. A few days later (August 13th, 1812), while sailing in the disguise of a merchantman, the Essex fell in with a sail which came bearing down upon her. The Essex showed an Ameri can ensign, and kept away, pretending to avoid a contest. The English vessel followed her, ran down on her weather-quarter, set British colors, and, with three cheers from her people, open ed fire. In an instant the ports of the Essex were opened, and a terrible response was made to the stranger's challenge. She was the Alert, 20 guns, Captain Laugharne. She was so surprised that, after receiving one or two discharges, her crew 108 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. deserted their quarters and ran below. In eight minutes after the Essex opened her ports the colors of the Alert were struck. She was the first vessel of war taken from the British in the contest of 1812-15. The Essex was now crowded with prisoners, who conspired to rise and seize the vessel. Porter converted the Alert into a cartel ship (a vessel employed in the exchange of prison ers), and sent her with the captives for exchange to St. John. Several of them were executed there for deserting their posts in the panic on the Alert. The Essex sailed to the Delaware, for Captain Porter believed he was cut off from New York and Boston by British squadrons. The Constitution, soon after her exciting experience with Broke's squadron, sailed from Boston (August 2d), under Cap tain Hull, in quest of the Guerriere, whose commander, Captain Dacres, had boastfully enjoined the Americans to remember that she was not the Little Belt, and this offensive form of menace increased Hull's desire to meet her and measure strength with her. Of her it was written : " Long the tyrant of our coast Reigned the famous Guerriere ; Our little navy she defied, Public ship and privateer ; On her sails, in letters red, To our captains were displayed Words of warning, words of dread — 1 All who meet me have a care ; I am England's Guerriere.'' " The Constitution cruised southward of Cape Sable, and east ward of Halifax, but found no prey. Then Hull sailed around Nova Scotia to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where he captured a few prizes. The harvest promised too little to detain him, and he sailed southward. On the 19th of August he was delighted with the sight of a vessel, which proved to be a British frigate, THE "CONSTITUTION" AND "GUERRIERE.' 109 and when he was within a league of her he prepared for action, and saw that she was willing to fight. Hull bore down upon her, intending to bring on an engagement at close quarters. ISAAC HULL. The stranger ran up three British ensigns, and fired two broadsides in quick succession. The shot fell short. For three-quarters of an hour she manoeuvred to get a position to rake the Constitution; but failing, she bore up and ran under top-sails and jib, the wind on the quarter. It was evident that the stranger was ready to engage in a yard-arm and yard-arm combat, and Hull pressed sail to lay the Constitution along-side of his antagonist, which he now found was the Guerriere, 44 guns, which he had been seeking. As the shot of the latter began to make havoc in the Constitution, Lieutenant Morris, Hull's second in command, asked rjermission to open fire. " Not yet," quietly answered the commander. 110 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Hull was fat, and wore very tight breeches. He had been walking the quarter-deck, keenly watching every movement. The request was repeated. " Not yet !" Hull again answered. A moment afterward, when the bows of the Constitution began to double the quarter of the Guerriere, Hull, filled with sudden and intense excitement, bent himself twice to the deck, and then shouted, " Now, boys, pour it into them !" This command was instantly obeyed. The Constitution opened her forward guns, which were double - shotted with round and grape, with terrible effect. When the smoke cleared away it was discovered that the commander had split his tight breeches from waistband to knee ; but he did not stop to change them during the action. The concussion of Hull's broadside cast the wounded in the cockpit of the Guerriere from one side of the room to the other. At the same time, terrible broadsides were lacerating the Constitution fearfully. The frigates were only half pistol- shot distance from each other. The excitement on board both vessels was intense. " Hull her ! Hull her !" shouted Morris. " Hull her ! Hull her !" shouted the crew in response, for they instantly comprehended the pun. Within fifteen minutes after the action began, the Guerriere1 s mizzen-mast was shot away, her main-yard was gone in the slings, and her hull, spars, sails, and rigging were torn in pieces. As her mizzen-mast gave way the Guerriere brought up in the wind, when the Constitution passed slowly ahead, poured in a tremendous fire as her guns bore, luffed short round the bows of her antagonist to prevent being raked, and, being taken aback, fell foul of her. Both parties now attempted to board. The fierce volleys of musketry and the heavy sea that was rolling made that move- SURRENDER OF THE "GUERRIERE." Ill ment impossible. All hands on the Guerriere had been piped from below, and mustered on the forecastle for the purpose ; and Lieutenant Morris, Alwyn the master, and Lieutenant Bush of the marines, of the Constitution, sprung upon her taffrail to lead their men to the work. The first two were wounded, and the third was killed. Just then the wind filled the sails of the Constitution, and as she shot ahead and clear of her antagonist, the fore-mast of which had been severely wounded, that mast fell, carrying with it the main-mast, and leaving the sorely crippled vessel a shivering, shorn, and helpless wreck, rolling like a log in the trough of the sea. Then the Constitution, which had hauled off to secure her own masts, took a position at about sunset for raking the wreck. A jack had been kept flying on the stump of the Guer- rieris mizzen-mast. It was now pulled down, and third Lieu tenant Read was sent on board the prize. When Dacres, her commander, appeared, Read said : "Commodore Hull's compliments, and wishes to know if you have struck your flag ?" Dacres, looking up and down, coolly and dryly remarked, " Well, I don't know ; our mizzen-mast is gone, our main mast is gone, and, upon the whole, you may say we have struck our flag !" Read then inquired if the vanquished needed the assistance of a surgeon or surgeon's mate ? Dacres replied, " Well, I should suppose you had on board your own ship business enough for all your medical officers." Read replied, " Oh no ; we have only seven wounded, and they were dressed half an hour ago." Professor Symington, in his biographical sketch of Samuel Lover, relates the following anecdote, told to Lover in Amer ica: " Captains Hull and Dacres were personal acquaintances be fore the war — their ships happening to be together in the Del- 112 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. aware. The captains met at a party, and had some conversation in regard to the merits of their respective navies. Hull was UULL'8 MEDAL. lively and good-humored. When they spoke of what would'hap- pen if, in event of war, they should come in collision, Hull said, HULL HONORED. 115 "'Take care of that ship of yours, if ever I catch her in the Constitution /' " Dacres laughed, and offered a handsome bet that, if ever they did meet as antagonists, his friend would find out his mistake. " Hull refused a money wager, but ventured to stake on the issue — a hat. Years after this the conjectured encounter did occur; and when, after a desperate fight in which the English frigate became a wreck upon the water, Captain Dacres came on board the Constitution and offered his sword to Hull, who was waiting to shake hands with him, "'No, no,' said Hull, 'I will not take a sword from one who knows so well how to use it, but I'll trouble you for that hat/' " The prisoners and their effects were removed from the Guer riere. She was too much damaged to be saved, and she was set on fire. Fifteen minutes afterward she blew up. The Con stitution arrived at Boston on the 30th of August : the action had occurred in latitude about 41° North, and longitude 55° West. Hull was the first to announce his victory. The news was received with demonstrations of great joy in every part of the Republic. Men of all ranks hastened to honor the con queror. An immense assemblage of the citizens of Boston es corted him from his landing-place to his lodgings. From al most every window ladies waved their white handkerchiefs, and shout after shout greeted the hero. A splendid entertainment was given him and his officers by the inhabitants of Boston, and almost six hundred citizens sat down to a banquet in his honor. The freedom of the city of New York, in a gold box, was given to Hull by the corporation1 and the citizens presented 1 The "freedom" of a city is an honorary privilege bestowed as a com pliment to a meritorious person. While it does not make a stranger or an alien a citizen, it allows him the political privileges of one by courtesy. Captain Hull was the first American naval commander who received that honor. The freedom of a city is usually given in a certificate signed by the 116 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. swords to him and his officers. Congress thanked him in the name of the nation, and awarded him a gold medal; and $50,000 were distributed by the government among the officers and crew of the Constitution, as prize-money. By request of the Corporation of New York, Hull sat for his portrait, to bo GENERAL HROWN'S GOLD BOS. hung in the City Hall ; and the newspapers teemed with praises of American valor on the sea, in essays, songs, and epigrams. In a very popular old song, sung for many years after the war, occur the following lines : " Quick as lightning, and fatal as its dreaded power, Destruction and death on the Guerriere did shower, While the groans of the dying were heard on the blast, The word was, ' Take aim, boys, away with her mast !' Mayor, and impressed with the corporation seal. It is usually couveyed to the recipient in a gold box. Major-general Jacob Brown received the " freedom of the city '' of New York in a gold box, the first American army officer so honored. It was given to him early in the year 1815. The a;old box in which it was presented is delineated in the engraving. It is of fine gold, elliptical in form, three inches in length, two and a half in width, and three-fourths of an inch in depth, the lid suitably inscribed on the under-side. TONE OF THE BRITISH PRESS. 117 The genius of Britain will long rue the day — The Guerriere's a wreck in the trough of the sea ; Her laurels are withered, her boasting is done ; Submissive, to leeward, she-fires her last gun." Hull's victory was of great importance to the Americans. lt gave them confidence, and dispelled the idea of the absolute omnipotence of the British Navy that prevailed on both sides of the Atlantic. It silenced all opposition to a navy, in Con gress and among the people. The British Government and British writers were astounded. It is amusing to notice the altered tone of the British Press. The very writers who de scribed the Constitution as " a bundle of pine boards " now de clared that she was one of the staunchest vessels afloat. The Guerriere, which was to " drive the insolent striped bunting 118 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. from the seas," was now spoken of as " an old worn-out frigate on ber way to Halifax for repairs." The London Times, then as during our late Civil War a sneering enemy of the United States, was constrained to say : "We have been accused of sentiments unworthy of English men, because we described what we saw and felt on the occa sion of the capture of the Guerriere. We witnessed the gloom which that event cast over high and honorable minds ; we par ticipated in the vexation and regret ; and it is the first time we have ever heard that the striking of the English flag on the high seas to anything like an equal force should be regarded by Englishmen with complacency and satisfaction. * * * It is not merely that an English frigate has been taken, after what, we are free to confess, may be called a brave resistance, but that it has been taken by a new enemy, an enemy unaccustom ed to such triumphs, and likely to be rendered insolent and con fident by them. " He must be a weak politician who does not see how im portant the first triumph is in giving a tone and character to the war. Never before in the history of the world did an Eng lish frigate strike to an American; and though we cannot say that Captain Dacres, under all circumstances, is punishable for this act, yet we do say that there are commanders in the Eng lish Navy who would a thousand times rather have gone down with their colors flying than have set their brother officers so fatal an example." In this action, the Constitution, rated at 38, actually carried 56 guns ; the Guerriere, rated at 44, carried 49 guns. The Constitution was undoubtedly the staunchest vessel of the two. Her loss of men was small compared with that of the Guerriere. Her spars and rigging were severely wounded ; the Guerriere was made a perfect wreck.1 1 Isaac Hull served in the United States Navy, afloat and ashore, thirty- CRUISE OF THE " WASP. 119 - The sloop-of-war Wasp., 18 guns, Captain Jacob Jones, was one of the fastest sailers of her class in the service. She was on her way home from Europe as bearer of despatches from diplomatic representatives of the United States abroad when HULL'S MONUMENT. war was declared. In the veins of her commander ran much indomitable Welsh blood. The Wasp left the Delaware at near the middle of October, 1812, with about 135 men, and sailed for the track of vessels steering north from the West Indies. On the 16th she en countered a heavy gale, and the next day her watch discovered several vessels. All that night Captain Jones sailed parallel with the strangers, and at dawn gave chase. They were a fleet of armed merchant-vessels, under the protection of the British war schooner Frolic, carrying twenty guns, Captain T. Whin- seven years, with the rank of captain, having received that appointment in 1806. He died at the age of sixty-eight years. His remains rest in Lau rel Hill Cemetery, near Philadelphia, and over them is a beautiful white marble altar-tomb. 120 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. yates commander. Four of the six merchantmen convoyed by the Frolic mounted from 16 to 18 guns each. As Jones drew near he perceived that the British schooner was disposed to fight, and was preparing to allow the merchantmen to escape during the engagement. The Wasp was immediately brought under short fighting canvas. The Frolic also carried very little sail, and in this condition they began a severe battle, while the sea was rolling heavily under a stiffening breeze. The JACOB JONE6. Frolic fired rapidly — three guns to the Wasp's two. Within five minutes after the combat began the top-mast of the Wasp was shot away. It fell with the main-topsail yard, and lodged so as to make the head-yards unmanageable during the rest of the action. Three minutes later her gaff and main-topgallant-mast was shot away, and very soon her condition seemed hopeless. Meanwhile the Frolic had been more seriously injured in her FIGHT BETWEEN THE " WASP " AND "FROLIC." 121 hull. She had fired from the crest of the wave ; the Wasp from the trough of the sea, and sent her missiles through the hull of her antagonist with destructive effect. The vessels gradually approached each other, and finally ran foul, the bow sprit of the Frolic passing in over the quarter-deck of the Wasp, and forcing her bows up in the wind. This position enabled the latter to throw in a close raking broadside with most destructive effect. The crew of the Wasp, greatly excited, could no longer be restrained. With wild shouts they leaped into the tangled rigging and made their way to the deck of the Frolic just as Jones poured in another terrible broadside. There was no one to oppose them, for the last broadside had swept nearly every man from the decks of the Frolic, and carried dismay to the hearts of the surviving crew. All who were able had rushed below to escape the raking fire of the Wasp, excepting an old sailor who had kept his place at the wheel during the terrible encounter. A few surviving officers were standing on the quarter-deck of the Frolic, most of them wounded. They threw down their swords in token of submission, when Lieutenant Biddle, who led the boarding party, pulled down the British flag with his own hands. Not twenty persons on board the captive were un harmed; a greater part of her men were killed or wounded. When the two vessels separated, both masts of the Frolic fell, and, with tattered sails and broken rigging, covered the dead with which her decks were strewn. Lieutenant Biddle was placed in charge of the prize, and the vessels were about parting company, when the British ship-of-war Poictiers, 74 guns, Captain Beresford, appeared on the scene. Two hours after Jones had achieved his victory, his crippled vessel, and more crippled prize, were recaptured by the Poictiers. Again there was great exultation in the United States when news of this action was received. This victory was won in a 6* 122 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. fight between equal forces. The Press lauded Jones. Brilliant entertainments were given him. The Legislature of his native JONES'S MEDAL. State (Delaware) voted him thanks, a sword, and a piece of sil ver plate. The Corporation of New York City voted him a WASP" AND "FROLIC" CARICATURED. 123 sword and the freedom of the city. Congress gave him the thanks of the nation and a gold medal, and appropriated $25,000 to Jones and his companions as a compensation for the loss of their prize by recapture. A stirring song, commem orative of the event, was sung everywhere at public gatherings, and by boys in the streets. I here give a single stanza : " The foe bravely fought, but his arms were all broken, And he fled from his death-wound, aghast and affrighted ; But the Wasp darted forward her death-doing sting, And full on his bosom, like lightning, alighted. She pierced through his entrails, she maddened his brain, And he writhed and he groaned as if torn with the colic ; And long shall John Bull rue the terrible day He met the American Wasp on a Frolic." ¦f- A WASP ON A FROLIC. Caricature and satire was pressed into the service of history. A 'caricature entitled "A Wasp on a Frolic; or, a Sting for 124 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. John Bull," was sent forth by Charles, of Philadelphia. It represented John as a rotund Englishman, upon whose person a huge wasp had alighted, and thrust his sting through the ab domen of the sturdy Bull. Beneath the picture were the lines: "A Wasp took a Frolic, and met Johnny Bull, Who always fights best when his belly is full. The Wasp thought him hungry, by his mouth open wide, So, his belly to fill, put a sting through his side." Biddle shared in the honors of the victory. The Legislature of Pennsylvania voted him a sword, and leading citizens of Philadelphia presented him with a silver urn, with appropriate delineations and inscription. THE KIDDLE URN. RODGERS'S SECOND CRUISE. 125 CHAPTER X. Precisely a week after the victory was won by the Wasp, another more important was achieved. At the middle of Oc tober (1812) Commodore Rodgers sailed from Boston on a second cruise. His flag-ship was the President, 44 guns, ac companied by the United States, 44, Captain Stephen Decatur, and Argus, 16, Lieutenant-commanding St. Clair. These ves sels soon parted company, the United States sailing southward and eastward, hoping to intercept British West Indiamen. At dawn on Sunday morning (October 25th), near the Island of Madeira, the watch at the main-top discovered a sail. There was a stiff breeze and heavy sea at the time. The vessel was an English man-of-war under a heavy press of sail, and Decatur resolved to overtake and fight her. The United States was a good sailer, and gained rapidly on the vessel she was pursuing. Her officers and men were full of enthusiasm ; and, as their ship drew nigh the British vessel, shouts went up from their deck that were heard on board the one pursued before the two were near enough to bring guns to bear upon each other. At about nine o'clock in the morning Decatur opened a broadside upon the British ship, but his balls fell short. Press ing sail, he was soon so near that a second broadside from the United States took effect. Both vessels were on the same tack, and now fought desperately with long guns, the distance be ing so great that carronades1 and muskets were of no avail. 1 A carronade is a kind of short gun which is attached to its carriage by a pivot and bolt underneath the piece instead of trunnions. The name is derived from Carron, a village in Stirlingshire, Scotland, where this gun was first made. 126 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. The shot of the United States told fearfully on her antago nist, and the latter soon perceived that her safety from utter destruction could be found only in close quarters. So, when the contest had lasted half an hour, riddled and torn in hull and rigging, she bore up gallantly for close action. Very soon the shot of the United States cut her antagonist's mizzen-mast, and it fell overboard. Presently her main-yard was seen hang ing in two pieces; her main and foretop-masts were gone; her fore-mast was tottering, and no colors were seen flying. Her main-mast and bowsprit were also badly shattered. The United States was yet unhurt ; and Decatur, gather ing fresh way, tacked and came up under the lee of the Eng lish ship, whose commander was astounded by the movement. When the American frigate bore away, he supposed she was seriously injured and was about to fly.. The blaze of her can non had been so incessant that, seen through the smoke, the English commander thought she was on fire. With this im pression her crew gave three cheers; but when the United States tacked and came up in a position to do more serious work, the British commander, perceiving the futility of further resistance, struck his colors and surrendered. As the United States crossed the stern of the vanquished ship, Decatur called through his trumpet, " What is the name of your ship ?" " His Majesty's frigate Macedonian," responded her captain, J. S. Carden. The Macedonian was terribly bruised and cut up. She had nothing standing but her fore and main masts and fore-yard. All her boats but one had been shattered into uselessness. Of her three hundred men, officers and crew, many were killed and wounded. She had received no less than one hundred round shot in her hull, many of thein between wind and water. The Mace donian was a new ship, and a very fine vessel of her class, rated at 36, but carrying 49 guns. A contemporary American poet wrote: DECATUR AND HIS PRIZE. 127 " Bold Garden thought he had us tight, Just so did Dacres too, sirs, But brave Decatur put him right, With Yankee-doodle-doo, sirs. Tliey thought they saw our ship in flame, Which made them all huzza, sirs, But when the second broadside came, It made them hold their jaws, sirs." The United States was heavier in men and metal than the Macedonian. Decatur abandoned his cruise, and took his own vessel and his prize to New England. The United States went into the harbor of New London on the 4th of December, and the Macedonian into Newport harbor at about the same time, in charge of Lieutenant Allen. A newspaper writer, inspired by the event, broke out in a song of many verses similar in spirit to this : " Then quickly met our nation's eyes The noblest sight in Nature — ¦ A first-rate frigate as a prize Brought home by brave Decatur." Both vessels soon afterward sailed for the harbor of New York, where the Macedonian was first anchored on New-year's- day, 1813. " She comes," said one of the city newspapers, " with the compliments of the season from old Neptune." A splendid banquet had just been given in New York to Hull, Jones, and Decatur, and the air of the whole Union was filled with the joint and separate praises of this trio of heroes. J. R. Calvert wrote a banquet song which was sung on that oc casion. It became immensely popular, and closed with the fol lowing stanza: " Now charge all your glasses with pure sparkling wine, And toast our brave tars who so bravely defend us ; While our naval commanders so nobly combine, We defy all the ills haughty foes e'er can send us. 128 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. While our goblets do flow, The praises we owe To valor and skill, we will gladly bestow. And may grateful the sons of Columbia be To Decatur, whom Neptune crowns Lord of the Sea." Decatur's victory produced a profound impression in the United States and England; in the former, of exultation and hope, and in the latter, of disappointment and unpleasant fore bodings. Public bodies and Legislatures in the United States gave Decatur thanks and swords. The Corporation of New York gave him the " freedom of the city," and requested his portrait for the picture-gallery in the City Hall, where it still hangs. Congress thanked him, and gave him a gold medal. Hull had generously retired from the command of the Con stitution, for the purpose of allowing some brother officer an opportunity for gallant achievements in her. Captain Bain bridge was appointed his successor, and placed in charge of her, with the Essex, 32 guns, and Hornet, 18. The Essex, Cap tain Porter, was in the Delaware ; the Constitution and Hornet were at Boston. Bainbridge sent orders to Porter to cruise in the track of the English West Indiamen, and to rendezvous or meet at certain ports, which he named, at a specified time; when, if he did not fall in with the squadron, to use his own discretion as to his course. With this sort of roving commis sion, Porter sailed on the long and wonderful cruise which will be noticed presently. Bainbridge sailed from Boston, with the Constitution and Hornet, late in October (1812), and arrived off Bahia, or San Salvador, Brazil, at about the middle of December. Master- commander Lawrence, who had charge of the Hornet, was sent into the port to communicate with the American consul there, and discovered the English sloop-of-war Bonne Citoyenne, 18 guns, Captain Green, lying in the harbor. Lawrence invited Green to go out on the open sea and fight, promising that the THE "CONSTITUTION" ON THE COAST OF BRAZIL. 129 Constitution should not interfere between them. Green wise ly declined the invitation, and his vessel was blockaded by the Hornet. DE0AT0R8 MEDAL. The Constitution now sailed (December 26th) on a cruise down the coast of Brazil, keeping the land aboard. Three 130 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. days afterward, when about thirty miles from shore, south-east erly from Bahia, Bainbridge discovered two vessels to wind ward. The larger one showed a desire to meet the Constitu tion, and was gratified. At noon both showed their colors and displayed signals, but the latter was mutually unintelligible. The stranger was an English frigate. Bainbridge prepared for action, when the English colors were hauled down, leaving only a jack flying. Both vessels ran upon the same tack, about a mile apart. At near two o'clock in the afternoon, the British frigate bore down upon the Constitution, with the intention of raking her, but failed in the attempt. At two o'clock, both ships on the same tack, the Constitu tion fired a single gun across the stranger's bow, to draw out her ensign again. Then began a furious combat. When it had raged for half an hour, the wheel of the Constitution was shot away, and her antagonist, being a better sailer, had the advantage for a time. Bainbridge managed his crippled ship with so much skill, that he obtained a position where he gave his antagonist a terrible raking fire. The two vessels now ran free with the wind on their quarter, and at about three o'clock the Englishman attempted to close by running down on the Constitution's quarter. Her jib-boom penetrated the latter's mizzen rigging, and the spar was lost, together with the head of her bowsprit, by shots from the Con stitution. Very soon afterward the latter poured a heavy raking broadside into the stern of her antagonist. This was followed by another, when the fore-mast of the English frigate went by the board, crashing through the forecastle and main deck in its Now the Constitution shot ahead, and, after manoeuvring for about an hour, the two vessels lay broadside to broadside, en gaged in deadly conflict, yard-arm to yard-arm. Very soon the mizzen-mast of the English vessel was shot away, and only her main-mast (whose yard had been carried away near the slings) THE CONSTITUTION AND "JAVA. 131 was left standing. The stranger's fire ceased, and, after a bat tle of almost two hours, Bainbridge withdrew, under an impres sion that his antagonist bad struck her colors. Seeing an en sign still fluttering on board the English frigate, he prepared to renew the combat, when the British colors were lowered in submission. The vessel proved to be the frigate Java, 38 guns, Captain H. Lambert. She was one of the finest frigates in the Royal Navy, and was bearing to India Lieutenant-general Hys- lop (Governor-general of Bombay) and his staff; a captain and lieutenant of the Royal Navy ; and more than one hundred officers and men destined for service in the East Indies. WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE. The hulk of the Java was hardly worth saving under the cir cumstances. Her three masts had gone overboard ; her bowsprit was cut off near the cap, and through wounds made by round shot she was leaking badly. She had lost sixty-five men killed 132 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. and one hundred and twenty wounded. The wounded prison ers and the passengers were transferred to the Constitution, and BAINBRmGR'B MEDAL. the Java, set on fire, was blown up. Bainbridge lost nine men killed in the action, and twenty-five wounded ; among the lat- THE FOURTH NAVAL VICTORY APPLAUDED. 133 ter was himself slightly. The prisoners were paroled, and the passengers were landed at Bahia, when Bainbridge returned home, arriving at Boston on the 15th of February, 1813. Honors similar to those bestowed upon Hull, Jones, and Decatur were now awarded to Bainbridge. On the night of his arrival in Boston the victory was announced at the thea tre, and the wildest enthusiasm was manifested. The citizens of Boston gave Bainbridge and officers a grand banquet ; the Legislature of Massachusetts gave him thanks ; the Corporation of New York conferred upon him the freedom of their city in a gold box, similar in form to the one given to General Brown (see page* 11 4) ; so, also, did the Corporation of Albany. The citizens of Philadelphia gave him an elegant service of silver plate, and Congress voted him the thanks of the nation and a gold medal. They also voted $50,000 for himself and the ship's company as prize-money. This fourth brilliant naval victory in a brief space of time caused great exultation throughout the land. The Constitu tion from that time was called " Old Ironsides." Orators and rhymers, the Pulpit and the Press, made the gallant exploits of Bainbridge the theme of many compositions in verse and prose. One of the most popular songs of the day was com posed in honor of the captor of the Java, and was called " Bainbridge' s Tid re I," in which, after every verse, the singer gives a sentence in prose, winding up with the chorus, " Tid re I, Tid re I, Tid re id re I do." The following is a specimen of that kind of song once so popular, and which was sung at public gatherings more than ten years after the war : " Come, lads, draw near, and you shall hear, In truth as chaste as Dian, 0 ! How Bainbridge true, and his bold crew, Again have tamed the lion, 0 ! 'Twas off Brazil he got the pill Which made him cry peccavi, 0 ! 134 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. But hours two the Java, new, Maintained the battle bravely, 0 ! " But our gallant tars, as soon as they were piped to quarters, gave three cheers, and boldly swore, by the blood of the heroes of Tripoli, that soon er than strike they'd go to the bottom, singing, " Tid re I, Tid re I, Tid re id re 1 do." The conflict between the Constitution and Java was the closing naval engagement of the year 1812. During six months the American cruisers, public and private, had captured about three hundred prizes from the British. These successes dispelled much of the gloom caused by the misfortunes of the land-forces. The American war-party was strengthened, and the friends of the navy were justified in their efforts in its behalf. The British public were astounded, and some of the newspapers exhibited strange petulance, by indulging in vul gar abuse of the Americans. Even some of a better class of writers tried to deceive themselves and their readers by assert ing that the victorious American cruisers were all 74's in dis guise. Congress, now perceiving the necessity of an increase in the force of the navy, authorized the President to cause the con struction of four 74-gnn ships, six frigates, and six sloops-of- war. The cost of a frigate of 44 guns at that time was about $121,000, and of a 74-gun ship about $333,000. It was esti mated that the expenses of one 74 in the service was a little less than that of two frigates of 44 guns each, and that her value in the service was equal to that of three frigates. It was this estimate that determined Congress to build the 74's. After the destruction of the Java, Bainbridge, as we have observed, sailed for the United States, leaving the Hornet, Cap tain James Lawrence, to blockade the Bonne Citoyenne in the harbor of San Salvador or Bahia. She was a treasure -ship. Late in January, 1813, the British ship Montagu, 74 guns, came up from the Brazilian capital to raise this blockade. She THE "HORNET" AND "PEACOCK." 135 drove the Hornet into the harbor. The latter escaped on a dark night, sailed up the coast, and a month later (February 24th) fell in with two armed British vessels — a man-of-war and a brig. The Hornet was cleared for action. The brig bore down upon her. Both vessels contended for the weather- gage, and at sunset, as they passed each other, within half- pistol shot, running different ways, they each delivered a broad side. The stranger attempted to wear short around to get a JAMES LAWRENCE. raking fire at the Hornet. Lawrence was too quick for him, and, firing the starboard guns of the Hornet, compelled the English vessel to right her helm. Now the Hornet fell upon her with a perfect blaze of fire from her great guns, closed upon her, and, in this advantageous position, poured in round shot with such vigor for fifteen minutes that her antagonist not only struck her colors, but raised a signal of distress. Her main-mast fell soon afterward, and went over her side. 136 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. The vanquished vessel was the British man-of-war brig Pea cock, Captain W. Peake. Her commander was killed ; a greater LAWRENCE'S MEDAL. part of her crew had fallen, and she was in a sinking condition, having already six feet of water in her hold. The removal of LAWRENCE HONORED. 137 the wounded to the Hornet was at once begun, and efforts were made to keep the sinking ship afloat ; but, before the work of mercy could be accomplished, she went down, at twi light, with thirteen of her own crew and several men of the Hornet. Nine of the former and three of the latter were drown ed. The Hornet had only one man killed in the engagement. She lost more in trying to save her enemies than in conquering them. Like the other naval victories already recorded, this pro duced the greatest exultation in the United States. Lawrence was feasted and toasted. The Common Council of New York gave him the " freedom of the city," and a piece of silver plate. A public dinner was also given to him and his officers and crew. In January, 1814, after Lawrence was slain, Congress author ized the President to give to his nearest masculine relative a gold medal ; also a silver medal to each of the commissioned officers who served with him on the Hornet. HORNET AND PEAOOOK. As usual after a victory, Art and Song gave Lawrence praise. A caricature was published, in which was a representation of an enormous hornet, crying out " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights, you Old Rascal 1" and lighting on an animal with the 7 138 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. head and fore body of a bull, and wings, tail, and hind legs of a peacock. Piercing the neck of the bull with his sting, the hornet caused the mongrel animal to roar, " Boo-o-o-o-hoo ! ! !" The Chesapeake, 38 guns, Captain Evans, was out on a cruise, while the Hornet was on her way home, having left Boston late in February, 1813. She passed the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, crossed the equator, cruised in the middle wa ters of the Atlantic several weeks, and then went to the coast of South America. She afterward sailed through the West In dies, and up the coast of the United States to Boston. During the whole of her long cruise the Chesapeake accomplished noth ing but the capture of four merchant-vessels. She entered Bos ton harbor in a gale which carried away a top-mast. With it several men, who were aloft, went overboard and were drowned. The Chesapeake had the reputation of being an " unlucky " ves sel before the war, and this cruise, and its unfortunate ending, confirmed that impression. The commander of the Chesapeake was compelled to leave her on account of the loss of the sight of one of his eyes, and Lawrence, who had been promoted to captain, was offered the command of her. He accepted it with reluctance, for good sailors avoided her as an " unlucky " ship. At this time (May) British blockading ships were hovering like hawks along the New England coast. The Shannon, 38 guns, and Tenedos, 38, were closely watching Boston harbor. The Hornet had been placed under the immediate command of Captain Biddle, and subject to the orders of Captain Lawrence. At the close of May these two vessels were about to sail on a cruise to the north-eastward to intercept British vessels bound for the St. Lawrence, and to seek the Greenland whale-fishers. At that juncture the Shannon, Captain Broke, appeared alone, off Bos ton, in the character of a challenger to combat. On the 1st of June Captain Broke wrote to Lawrence, saying : " As the Chesapeake now appears ready for sea, I request LAWRENCE CHALLENGED. 139 you will do me the favor to meet the Shannon with her, ship to ship, to try the fortunes of our respective flags. To an of ficer of your character it requires some apology for proceed ing to further particulars. Be assured, sir, it is not from any doubt I entertain of your wishing to close with my proposal, but merely to provide an answer to any objection which might be made, and very reasonably, upon the chance of our receiv ing any unfair support." Broke then proceeded to explain his object, mentioned his own strength, the disposition of other British vessels in the neighborhood, the designated place of combat, asked for mutual signals, and assured him that the Chesapeake could not get to sea without " the risk of being crushed by a British squadron " then abroad. • / ct^-i-eJ -*<^c,— t_-t-*^/ w^j £t^- FA0-8IMILE OF LAWRENCE'S LETTER. Lawrence had written to the Secretary of the Navy that morning : " An English frigate is now in sight from my deck. I have sent a pilot out to reconnoitre, and, should she be alone, I am in hopes to give a good account of her before night." The Shannon mounted fifty-two guns, and was manned with 140 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. three hundred men and boys, besides thirty seamen, all of them thoroughly disciplined, and all had confidence in each other. The Chesapeake, on the contrary, had an almost mutinous crew, on account of disputes concerning prize-money won during the last cruise. Several of Lawrence's officers were absent on ac count of sickness, and he had commanded the vessel only ten days. There were a large number of mercenaries on board the Chesapeake, among them a vicious Portuguese who was boatswain's mate. Many of the crew had also lately enlisted, and in every way, though almost equal to the Shannon in weight of metal, the Chesapeake was unprepared to meet her foe on an equal footing. Yet Lawrence accepted the challenge. THE "CHESAPEAKE" AND "SHANNON." 141 CHAPTER XL The Chesapeake went out to meet the Shannon at noon on a beautiful day, the 1st of June, 1813. Lawrence had tried to conciliate the unruly men, giving them checks for their prize-money; and to stimulate their patriotism, he unfurled from the fore a flag bearing the words — first used by Porter on the Essex — " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." The Shannon being in sight, the decks of the Chesapeake were immediately cleared for action, and both vessels, under easy sail, bore away to a position about thirty miles from Bos ton Light, between Cape Cod and Cape Ann. At four o'clock the Chesapeake fired a gun, made the Shannon heave to, and bore down upon her with much speed, for the breeze was fresh ening. Very soon she lay along-side her antagonist, yard-arm to yard-arm, within pistol-shot distance of each other. A se vere combat ensued. For several minutes the cannonade on both sides was incessant, and the Chesapeake had suffered dread fully in the loss of officers and men. Compared to that of her foe, it was as ten to one. After a contest of twelve minutes, the Chesapeake was se verely crippled in her sails and rigging, and she refused to obey her helm at a moment when she intended to take the wind out of the sails of the Shannon, shoot ahead, lay across her bow, and possibly gain a victory. Finally she got her miz- zen-rigging foul of the Shannon's fore-chains, and, so entan gled, lay exposed to the raking fire of her foe's carronades, which almost swept clean her upper decks. Perceiving this entanglement, Captain Lawrence gave orders 142 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. to call up the boarders. The bugler employed for the purpose was so terrified that he could not give a blast of his instru ment, and oral orders were issued amid the din of battle. At that moment, while Lawrence was giving some directions, a musket-ball wounded him fatally. He was immediately car ried below, and his last words were, " Tell the men to fire faster, and not to give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks !" These words of the dying officer were remembered, and "Don't give up the ship !" was the stirring battle-cry of the American Navy during the remainder of the war. No officer above the rank of midshipman was now on the quarter-deck of the Chesapeake. The sailing-master was killed; Ludlow, the first lieutenant, was badly wounded, and other offi cers, including the boatswain, were mortally hurt. Captain Broke's experienced eye quickly perceived the weakness of his antagonist at that moment, and ordered his boarders for ward, himself leading twenty men, who reached the quarter deck of the Chesapeake without opposition. Only a few men of the latter, led by Lieutenant Budd, were able to confront the boarders. Budd was soon badly wounded, and his men were driven to the forecastle. At that moment Lieutenant Ludlow, though severely wounded, hurried to the deck, where he received a fatal sabre -blow almost immediately, and was carried below. Broke now ordered sixty of his marines to join him. While keeping down the men who were attempting to ascend the main hatchway of the Chesapeake, a shot from a boy among them caused a murderous volley to be fired among the crowd below, which killed many men. The complete control of the Chesapeake was now given to the British by the treachery of the mutinous Portuguese (see page 140), who removed the gratings of the berth-deck and ran below, with many of his discontented followers, shouting maliciously, " So much for not paying men prize-money !" LOSS OF THE "CHESAPEAKE." 145 Lieutenant Watts, of the Shannon, hauled down the colors of the Chesapeake while a gallant few were defending them, and was instantly slain by a grape-shot from his own ship. Both frigates presented a most dismal spectacle. Their decks were strewn with the killed and wounded. Captain Broke, who had been prostrated by a sabre, was delirious. Lawrence was dying. His lamp of life went out on the voyage to Hali fax, whither the Shannon conducted the Chesapeake as a prize, on the 6th of June. The victor entered the harbor amid wild shouts of joy, while the body of Lawrence, shrouded in the flag of the Chesapeake, lay on her quarter-deck. The wounded Ludlow was also dead. The bodies of the two young heroes were carried to the city of New York, and laid in Trinity chnrch-yard, near the south-east corner of the front of the church, in full view from Broadway. A fine sar cophagus of brown freestone has been erected to the memory of Lawrence and Ludlow. Broke recovered, and received special favors from his king and his countrymen. He was knighted, and was made the recipient of a magnificent service of plate. This victory of the Shannon produced a profound impres sion in England, and the most extravagant demonstrations of joy. The almost uninterrupted success of the American cruis ers had filled the minds of the British people with despond ency. They began to believe the American Navy was invinci ble, and that the sceptre was about to depart from Britannia as the boasted " Mistress of the Seas." Now the spell seemed broken. The tables were turned. The Americans were de spondent — the English were jubilant. The loss of the Chesapeake was followed in the same month (June, 1813) by the desolation of the Asp and the capture of the Argus, 16 guns. The Asp was a small vessel carrying- three guns, and employed in the protection of the harbors of Chesapeake Bay against British marauders. She was chased by a flotilla of small British vessels; boarded by an over- 7* 146 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. whelming number of men; her commander (Midshipman Se- gauny) was killed ; a large portion of his people were denied quarter after they had surrendered, and perished ; and the ves sel was set on fire. The flames were afterward extinguished. BROKE'S SILVER PLATE. The Argus sailed from New York on June 18th, bearing W. H. Crawford as American minister to France. She was in charge of Lieutenant -com mander William Henry Allen, of Rhode Island, and carried twenty 32 - pound carronades, and two bow guns. The merchant marine in British waters then felt under no apprehension of danger from American cruisers, and the English and Irish Channels were unprotected by a naval force. EXPLOITS OF THE ARGUS. 147 Informed of this state of things, Allen, after tarrying three days in the French port where he had landed Mr. Crawford, sailed on a cruise, with a determination to repeat the exploits of John Paul Jones (see pages 41, 42) in British waters. By audacity, celerity of movement, and destructive energy, he spread consternation throughout commercial England. In less than thirty days he captured and destroyed twenty British merchantmen, valued, with their cargoes, at $2,000,000. Too far away from American ports to use them, Allen burnt all his prizes, allowing all non-combatant captives to remove their private property before applying the torch. All prisoners were paroled, and sent on shore as quickly as possible. WILLIAM UENRV ALLEN. The British authorities, aroused to vigorous action by the depredations of the Argus, sent out several cruisers to attempt her capture. On the 13th of August (1813) the Argus cap- 148 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. tured a ship laden with wine. The liquor was stealthily used by the crew, and when a British brig was seen bearing down upon her under a cloud of canvas, they were completely de moralized by intoxication. The vessel was the Pelican, 18 guns, Captain J. F. Maples. They met at grape-shot distance, and began firing broadsides. The first shot from the Pelican carried away Commander Allen's left leg. He would not leave the deck ; but in a few minutes, becoming unconscious from loss of blood, he was carried to the cockpit. Other officers were badly injured ; and only one lieutenant (W. Howard Al len) remained unhurt. He fought the brig valiantly so long as the Argus remained manageable. Finally, when all the braces of the Argus were shot away, her wheel-ropes and running rigging were gone, and she could not be kept in position, hope for her safety almost disappear ed. At length, when the Pelican, lying under the stern of the Argus, poured in a terrific fire, further contest seemed useless. Yet an effort was made to lay the crippled vessel along-side her vigorous foe for the purpose of boarding her. It failed, and, after a determined combat of forty-five minutes, the colors of the Argus were lowered. The consort of the Pelican had just hove in sight when the Argus surrendered, and at that moment boarders entered the vanquished vessel at her bow and took possession. Her wound ed commander and others who were injured were taken into Plymouth, and kindly treated in the Mill Prison Hospital. There Commander Allen died the next day. On the 21st (Au gust, 1813) his remains were buried in Plymouth church-yard with military honors. The Argus had lost six men killed, and seventeen wounded. There was partial compensation for the loss of the Argus, in a naval victory for the Americans, off the coast of New Eng land, the next month. The brig Enterprise, 14 guns, Lieuten ant W. Burrows, commander, had cruised off that coast for a THE "ENTERPRISE" AND " BOXER." 149 long time, under Lieutenant Johnston Blakeley, and was the terror of British privateers. Blakeley was promoted, and Bur rows took his place. The Enterprise continued to watch for an enemy along the coast from Cape Ann to the Bay of Fundy. On the morning of the 1st of September (1813), the Enter prise sailed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and chased a British privateer into Portland harbor on the morning of the 3d. The next day she put to sea, steering eastward, and dis covered a British brig-of-war in Pemmaquid Bay getting un der way. She was the Boxer, 14 guns, Captain S. Blyth. She displayed four British ensigns, and, crowding canvas, bore down gallantly on the Enterprise. Burrows cleared his ship for ac tion, and, at a proper distance from land, to secure ample sea- room for battle, approached the Boxer. Between three and four o'clock in the afternoon the brigs closed within half-pistol shot, and opened fire simultaneously. A light wind scarcely ruffled the sea, and the cannonading was very destructive. In the course of ten minutes the Enterprise steered ahead of the Boxer, and across her bows, and then de livered her fire with such precision and destructive energy, that a shout came through a trumpet from the English brig that she had surrendered. Her colors could not be struck, for they had been nailed to the mast. Her commander had been near ly cut in two by an 18-pound ball. Almost at the same time Burrows was mortally wounded, but he lived eight hours. He refused to be carried below until he received the sword of Blyth. They were both young men of great promise, less than thirty years of age. Burrows was wounded at the beginning of the battle, and the Enterprise was managed in the combat by Lieut. E. R. McCall, who took both vessels into Portland harbor on the morning of the 7th. On the following day the remains of both com manders, with those of Midshipman Waters, who was killed, were conveyed to the same cemetery, and laid side by side. Over 150 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. their respective graves are commemorative monuments. The one to the memory of Burrows was erected by Silas M. Bur rows, of New York city ; and the one over the grave of Blyth was reared by the surviving officers under his command. Con gress presented to the nearest masculine relative of Burrows a gold medal with suitable emblems and inscriptions. A gold medal was also presented to McCall, the second in command of the Enterprise. >/Kf , 1/ '.* •/, ¦?-\s>h - GRAVES OF BURROWS, BLYTII, AND WATERS. Superior excellence in gunnery was accorded to the Ameri cans in the conflict between the Enterprise and the Boxer. A London newspaper, commenting upon the battle, said : " The fact seems to be but too clearly established, that the Americans have some superior mode of firing, and we cannot be too anxiously employed in discovering to what circumstance that superiority is owing." PREMATURE BOASTING. 151 The loss of the Boxer produced much mortification in Brit ish minds. No doubt Captain Blyth felt sure of victory, evinced BUISROWS'S MEDAL. by the perilous and foolish, though silent, boast in advance, in dicated in the fact of the nailing of his colors to the mast. 152 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. The Enterprise made only one more cruise during the war. Under the command of Lieutenant-commander Renshaw, she sailed southward as far as the West Indies in company with the fast-sailing brig Rattlesnake. Off the coast of Florida she captured a British privateer, and both vessels were chased by an English 74-gun ship. The Rattlesnake was soon out of sight ; but the Enterprise, a slower sailer, casting her guns over board to increase her speed, was closely pressed in a chase for seventy hours, when the " lucky " little brig, struck by a favor able, shifting wind, escaped into Charleston harbor, where she was employed until the end of the war as a guard-ship. I have told you the story, in rapid succession, of the exploits of several American cruisers during the earlier portion of the war with Great Britain in 1812-'15. I will now relate the chief incidents of one of the most remarkable cruises recorded in naval history. The hero of the story was Captain David Porter, then only thirty-three years of age. We have observed on page 126 that when Commodore Bain bridge sailed from Boston, the Essex was lying in the Delaware River. She left that stream on the 28th of October, 1812, with a crew of three hundred and eighteen men, including all the officers. There were three commissioned and two acting lieutenants and twelve midshipmen on board. Among the lat ter was the late Admiral Farragut, then between eleven and twelve years of age. The Essex was thus strongly officered and manned in anticipation of a long cruise. At her mast head floated a flag bearing the inscription, in large letters, " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." The Essex had been ordered to seek the Constitution and Hornet, under Bainbridge, at specified ports ; but failing to do so, Porter was allowed to act in accordance with his own judg ment. He did not find them. On his way southward, just after he had crossed the equator, he fell in with and captured (December 11th, 1812) the British brig Nocton, 10 guns — a FAMOUS CRUISE OF THE "ESSEX." 153 government packet — with passengers and $55,000 in specie. The human freight and specie were transferred to the Essex, and the prize was despatched to the United States in charge of Lieutenant Finch. She was recaptured by an English frig ate between the Bermudas and the capes of Virginia. DAVID PORTER. Two days after the capture of the Nocton, the Essex came in sight of Fernando de Noronha, a penal island whereon no woman was allowed to dwell. Disguising his ship as a mer chantman, and hoisting English colors, he entered the harbor of that island, procured water and refreshments, and received from the governor a communication from Bainbridge, the most secret portion of it written in invisible "sympathetic ink," which was made plain by heat. By it he was directed by the 154 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. commodore (then off San Salvador or Bahia) to cruise off Cape Frio, above Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Porter obeyed, and for some time he cruised up and down the Brazilian coast between Cape Frio and St. Catherine. Porter missed Bainbridge. The South American govern ments were then under English influence, while his own was very little known or respected there. He had no friendly ports for shelter, or into which to send prizes if he should catch them. He was compelled, as he said, to choose between capture, blockade, and starvation, if he remained in those waters. As he could not find the commodore, he resolved, with the discretion given him, to sail into the Pacific Ocean. He left St. Catherine on the 26th of January, 1813, swept through the perilous seas around Cape Horn, and on the 5th of March the anchor of the Essex was first cast, after leaving the Brazilian coast, at the island of Mocha, off the shores of Araucania. Before the adventurous navigators arose,. in sol emn grandeur, in the clear, blue firmament, the solitary mount ain peak of Mocha, a thousand feet above the sea, while far in the north-east were seen the glittering summits of the snow- clad Andes, hundreds of miles distant. Porter was now in the calmer waters of the Pacific Ocean. An exciting hunt on the island, by his crew, furnished an am ple supply of food to the people of the Essex, for it was once inhabited by Spaniards, and now abounded with fat wild swine. Along its shores were large numbers of seals, and immense flocks of birds were everywhere seen. But his naval stores were much exhausted, and he cruised northward in search of a prize that might replenish them. Enveloped for several days in thick fog, on the 14th of March the Essex, sweeping around a point, came suddenly in view of Valparaiso, the chief seaport town of Chili. Several Spanish vessels were just departing, and Porter, not wishing to have them carry the news to Europe that an American frigate THE " ESSEX" IN. THE PACIFIC 155 was in the Pacific, bore off to the northward. Returning the next day, he learned the two important facts that Chili, which had just become independent of Spain, was friendly to the United States, and that the Viceroy of Peru had sent out cruis ers against American shipping in that region. Porter's appearance with a strong frigate was very oppor tune, for American commerce there was at the mercy of Eng lish privateers among whalers and the Peruvian corsairs. Por ter was cordially received by the Chilian authorities. Mr. Poin sett, the American consul-general, hastened from Santiago to Valparaiso to join in the festivities arranged for giving Porter a formal reception. Dinners, balls, and excursions on land and water succeeded ; and the officers never forgot those hours of enjoyment among the Chilian beauties, by whom they were much petted. The Essex, after being well victualled, put to sea, and, sailing up the coast, captured the Peruvian corsair Nereyda, with a number of American captives on board, taken from whaling- ships. Porter took her prisoners from her, and, after casting her cannons, ammunition, and small arms into the sea, sent her to Callao, the chief seaport of Peru, with a letter to the viceroy, demanding the punishment of her commander for her piratical practices. Near the harbor of Coquimbo he recaptured the American whaler Barclay, and making her the consort of the Essex, sailed for the Galapagos Islands, which was the resort of English whaling-vessels. He ascertained that about twenty of them were there — fine ships — mostly armed, and their com manders bearing the commissions of privateers. Porter prepared for a fierce struggle with these armed Eng lish whalers. His two ships were put in perfect order, and seven boats were arranged as a flotilla, and placed in charge of Lieutenant Downes. At one of the islands Downes found a box nailed to a post, and marked " Hathaway 's Post-Office." Its contents were taken to the Essex, and lists of English whal- 156 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. ers which had touched there within a few months, found among them, gave' positive evidence that it was the resort of such ves sels. Then Porter cruised eagerly among the islands, but for almost a fortnight not a vessel was seen. On the morning of April 29th (1813), the welcome cry of " Sail ho !" came down from the lookout of the Essex. She immediately gave chase to the vessel seen, and the stranger soon became a prize to the frigate. She was the English whale- ship Montezuma, with fourteen hundred barrels of oil on board. Placing a prize-crew in her, Porter pursued two other vessels which hove in sight. Then a dead calm came on, and Downes and his flotilla pursued the larger vessel. She continually train ed her guns upon the flotilla, but in the afternoon surrendered without firing a shot. She was the English whale-ship Geor- giana. Her companion (the whale-ship Policy) was captured in the same manner. These prizes furnished Porter with many needed supplies — among other things three huge Galapagos turtles — a very welcome and healthful luxury. The Georgiana, which had been built for the service of the East India Company, was pierced for eighteen guns, and had six mounted. The Policy was pierced for the same number, and had ten mounted. The Georgiana was made a consort for the Essex, with sixteen light guns, and placed under the com mand of Lieutenant Downes. She sailed away on an inde pendent cruise, while the Essex and her other prizes kept to gether. After many days they chased and captured (May 28th) the English whale-ship Atlantic, carrying eight 18-pound- er carronades, and twenty-three men. During this chase an other vessel — the Greenwich — was captured. Both- she and the Atlantic carried letters of marque, or privateers' commissions. With his five prizes, Porter entered the bay of Guayaquil, and anchored off Tumbez on June 19th. There he was joined by the Georgiana, which brought two prizes. Downes had capt ured a third, which he had filled with his superabundant pris- PORTER'S SQUADRON IN THE PACIFIC. 157 oners, and sent to the island of St. Helena, a dreary island in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to Great Britain, where she im prisoned the fallen Emperor Napoleon I., and where he died. Porter now found himself, at the end of eight months, after leaving the Delaware, in command of a squadron of nine armed vessels. The Atlantic being superior to the Georgiana, Downes was transferred to her with his crew. She was named Essex, Jr., and was manned by sixty picked men. The Georgiana was armed with twenty guns, and converted into a store-ship under the command of " Parson " Adams, chaplain of the Essex. 158 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. CHAPTER XII. Porter sailed with his squadron from Tumbez on the 30th of June; and early in July he sent the Essex, Jr., to Valparaiso, with five of the captured vessels in. convoy, while the Essex, accompanied by the Georgiana and Greenwich, steered toward the Galapagos. The late Admiral Farragut, as we have ob served, was with Porter — a child-midshipman — and was charged with a great trust at this time for one of his age. He says in his journal : " I was sent as prize-master to the Barclay. This was an important event in my life, and when it was decided that I was to take the ship to Valparaiso, I felt no little pride at finding myself in command at twelve years of age." Very soon after the Essex and her two companions sailed from Tumbez, they captured three English vessels, one of them (the Seringapatam) a staunch English cruiser, which had been built for the India Sultan, Tippoo Saib. She mounted 14 guns, and was a formidable foe of American commerce in the Pa cific. She was captured by the Greenwich, after an exchange of a few broadsides. The guns were taken out of another of the captives and placed in the Seringapatam, giving her an armament of 22 heavy cannons, and making her a formidable cruiser. Porter now found himself burdened with prisoners. He ad mitted many to parole, placed them on one of the smaller capt ured vessels, and sent them to Rio de Janeiro, on a pledge of honor. The Georgiana, with one hundred thousand dollars' worth of spermaceti oil, was sent to the United States, with PORTER IN THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS. 159 the captain of the Seringapatam in irons, who was subjected to the penalty for piracy, being without a privateer's commis sion. The Essex, with three other vessels, now sailed for Albe marle Island, the largest of the Galapagos group, and remain ed in that neighborhood several weeks. Searching for a foe, Porter fell in with and captured (September 15th) an English whaler with 12 guns, having an ample supply of provisions and water, which the Essex needed. Porter was soon afterward joined by Downes, who had learned at Valparaiso two impor tant facts — namely, that the British frigate Phwbe, with one or two consorts, had been ordered to the Pacific to attempt the capture of the Essex, and that the Chilian authorities were be coming more friendly to the English than to the Americans. This information determined Porter to go to the Marquesas Islands, refit his vessels, and return to the United States. He had captured nearly every English whale-ship known to be off the coasts of Peru and Chili, and had taken from the enemy property valued at $2,500,000, and 360 seamen. He had re lieved American whalers from danger, and inspired the authori ties of Peru and Chili with respect for the power of the United States. Captain Porter, with the Essex and five other armed vessels, left the Galapagos on the 2d of October, and on the 23d the group of the Marquesas appeared on the western horizon. Sail ing among the islands a few days, and exciting the curiosity of the natives, who thronged the shores, the squadron anchored in a fine bay of Nooaheeva Island. The Essex was the first ves sel that carried the pennant of an American man-of-war around Cape Horn, and the first to bear it into these far-off seas. She was now ten thousand miles from home, without a consort, with out a friendly port to repair to, and short of stores. When the Essex had cast anchor, a canoe shot out from the shore and came alongside the frigate. It bore three white men, 160 STORY OF THE UNIT-ED STATES NAVY. one of whom was naked, and tattooed like the natives. He was an Englishman, who had been on the island twenty years. With him was Midshipman John Maury, U. S. N, who, with a seaman, had been left there to gather sandal-wood, while his PORTER CONQUERS HOSTILE NOOAHEEVANS. 161 vessel should go to China and return. They informed Porter that there was war between tribes in different valleys on the island, and that if he wished to get supplies he must help the tribe nearest his anchorage against their enemies. The tattooed Englishman became Porter's interpreter. The captain was welcomed on the beach by a throng of men, women, and children. He was followed by his marines, with beating drums and the crack of musketry. These noises brought the enemies of the people he was among to the crest of a moun tain near by, where they brandished their clubs and spears in a threatening manner. Porter sent the hostiles word that he had power to take possession of the whole island ; that they must not again enter the valley of his friends as their enemies, and that they might bring him supplies, with an assurance of pro tection while they were trafficking. The hostile tribe defied him. Porter landed a 6-pounder cannon, which the natives dragged to the summit of a moun tain. At the same time, Lieutenant Downes, with forty men and muskets, pressed forward, and drove four thousand of the barbarians from their stronghold. They were completely sub dued, and within a week ample supplies came from them and almost every tribe on the island, with tokens of friendship. One tribe alone — the Typees — remained hostile. These Porter effectually subdued after another sharp and short campaign. There was no further trouble while he remained. While Porter was at Nooaheeva his men were allowed to go freely on shore. They formed tender attachments there. The young women were really beautiful. When, on the eve of departure, Porter forbade his men leaving the ships, they were greatly discontented ; and the girls lined the shore from morn ing until night, importuning the captain to take the taboo off the men. They gayly exhibited their grief by dipping their fingers in the sea and letting the water trickle from their eyes like tears. Some threatened to beat their brains put with a 8 162 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. spear of grass; and they declared they would punish them selves dreadfully if the captain did not let their sweethearts come to them. One of Porter's crew (an Englishman) became so mutinous that the commander sent the man ashore and left him behind. Porter was now thoroughly prepared for a long voyage and for defence. Having driven the mutineer ashore, the captain addressed his crew, praising them generally for their faithful ness, but gave the discontented ones to understand that while he commanded the ship no conspiracy could succeed, for he would blow up the magazine before the vessel should be seized. He then ordered the music to play " The Girl I left behind Me," had the anchor of the Essex hauled up to her bows in a trice, and sailed away, with the Essex, Jr. He took with him Mr. Maury and his companion, and on the third of February, 1814, he entered the harbor of Valparaiso, accompanied by the Essex, Jr. The latter cruised off the port as a scout to give warning of any approaching foe. Very soon two English men-of-war were reported in the off ing. They were the frigate Phoebe, 36 guns, Captain Hillyar, with 320 men and boys; and the Cherub, 20 guns, Captain Tucker, with a crew of 180. She really mounted 32 guns. The Essex could muster only 225 souls, and the Essex, Jr., only 60. The weight of men and metal was heavily in favor of the British vessels. The latter sailed into the harbor prepared for action, and seeming ready to violate the hospitalities of a neu tral port. The Phcebe, with her men at quarters, ran along-side the Es sex in a threatening manner. " I hope you'll not come too near," said Porter, " for fear some accident might take place which would be disagreeable to you." Porter's men were all at quarters, and ready to board the Phcebe at tho moment of command. Captain Hillyar declared THE that if he should fall aboard the Essex, it would be entirely accidental. " Well," said Porter, " you have no business where you are. If you touch a rope-yarn of this ship, I shall board instantly." He then hailed the Essex, Jr., and told Lieutenant Downes to be prepared to repel the enemy. With the help of that ves sel he could have sunk the Phcebe in fifteen minutes. The lat ter continued in her hostile attitude, and the men of the Essex were ordered to spring upon the enemy's ship, with cutlasses in hand, should she touch the Essex. Perceiving his danger, Cap tain Hillyar threw up his arms in consternation, and shouted that the hostile position of his vessel had really been effected by accident. Porter generously accepted the poor and evi dently insincere apology, and the frightened Englishman was allowed to pass on unhurt. We shall observe presently how this courtesy was requited. The English vessels put to sea and cruised off the harbor of Valparaiso, waiting for the arrival of other British cruisers. Porter, after trying in vain for several weeks to induce Hillyar to fight, attempted to run the blockade. The Essex was in jured in a squall, and ran to the shelter of a bay outside the harbor. Unmindful of the courtesy shown him by Porter when he was helpless, Hillyar now proceeded with both his ves sels to attack the Essex (March 28th, 1814), while the Essex, Jr., was unable to help her consort ; yet so effective was the re sponse of the crippled frigate, that, after a furious conflict for half an hour, both of the English vessels were compelled to withdraw to make repairs. The Phcebe and Cherub soon renewed the combat in a posi tion to be unharmed by Porter's carronades. The latter saw that his only safety was in fighting at close quarters, and he moved slowly toward his antagonist. The Essex was now so crippled that the only available piece of canvas was her flying- jib. This had been hoisted and her cable cut, and when she 164 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. was within carronade range of her foe she opened a terrific fire. The Phoebe changed her position to long range, and swept the Essex with a raking fire that strewed her decks with the dead and dying. Her cockpit and wardroom were filled with the wounded; a portion of her hull was in flames; and many of her guns were disabled, and the gunners slain. Yet she drove off the Cherub again, and for two hours kept up a tremendous conflict with her principal antagonist. Perceiving no chance to board the Phoebe, and the carnage on his vessel being most dreadful, Porter determined to run her ashore, land his people, and burn her. At that moment the wind changed, and he could not carry out his design. Lieu tenant Downes,. of the Essex, Jr., came to him in an open boat for orders. " Defend your vessel or burn her," was the only order given. Meanwhile the Phoebe's shot hulled the Essex at almost every discharge. Porter let go an anchor, which brought the head of the frigate around, when he gave the Phcebe a full and ef fective broadside, which so crippled her that she became un manageable, and floated away with the tide. Porter still had hopes of final victory, when the hawser of the Essex parted. She was on fire, and was almost a total wreck. He called for his officers for a consultation. Only one man came ! All the others were slain or wounded. He told his men that they must either take the risk of drowning by jumping overboard, or of surely being blown up when the flames should reach the magazine. They chose the former al ternative as the only chance to save their lives. Many of them got ashore in safety, but many others were drowned. Porter now hauled down his flag and surrendered. The flames were soon afterward subdued, and the hull of the Essex was saved. Of her two hundred and twenty -five men who went into the contest only seventy-five effective ones remained, and were made prisoners. A COURAGEOUS YOUNG SAILOR. 167 You have observed that the late Admiral Fan-agut was with Porter on this cruise in the Pacific Ocean. He was active in the battle at Valparaiso, although he was then less than thir teen years of age. After the surrender he had a fist contest with one of the sailors of the Phoebe, in which he was victori ous. It was in this wise : On the Essex was a favorite pig which they had named "Murphy." A sailor of the Phcebe brought this porker from the Essex, and, as he came aboard, he shouted, "A prize ! a prize ! Ho, boys, a fine grunter, by Jove !" Farragut claimed the animal as his own. " No !" said the English sailor, " you are a prisoner, and so is your pig." " We always respect private property," said the boy, and seized the pig with a determination not to let go unless com pelled by superior force. "This," says Farragut (who tells the story in his journal), "was fun for the oldsters," who immediately cried out, " Go it, my little Yankee ; if you can thrash ' Shorty,' you shall have the pig." " Agreed !" said the brave boy. A ring was formed, and at it they went. "I soon found," says Farragut, "that my antagonist's pu gilistic education did not equal mine. In fact, he was no match for me, and was compelled to give up the pig. So I took Master Murphy under my arm, feeling that I had in some degree wiped out the disgrace of our defeat." The wonderful cruise of the Essex was now ended. Her consort, the Essex, Jr., was made a cartel-ship, and in her Por ter and his surviving companions sailed for the United States. They were detained off the coast of Long Island by a British man-of-war. Porter, regarding this as a violation of the agree ment with Hillyar, escaped in a whale-boat, and made his way to New York, where he gave the first intelligence of the result 168 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. of his long and eventful cruise. The halls of Congress and of State Legislatures rang with his praises ; and the people and the newspapers hailed him as the "Hero of the Pacific." Philip Frenau, called "The Bard of the Revolution," wrote a dull ode on " The Capture of the Essex." PORTER S MONUMENT. Captain Porter wrote to the Secretary of the Navy: "We have been unfortunate, but not disgraced. The defence of the Essex has not been less honorable to her officers and crew than the capture of an equal force ; and I now consider my situa tion less unpleasant than that of Commodore Hillyar, who, in violation of every principle of honor and generosity, and re gardless of the rights of nations, attacked the Essex in her a. CRUISE IN NORTHERN SEAS. 169 crippled state within pistol-shot of a neutral shore, when for six weeks I had daily offered him fair and honorable combat."1 While Commodore Porter was performing bold exploits on the calm Pacific seas in the summer of 1813, Commodore Rod gers was out on a long cruise on the stormy Atlantic, on his favorite frigate, the President, 44 guns. He went to sea from Boston on the 30th of April, 1813, in company with the Con gress, 38 guns, and returned to Newport, Rhode Island, after a cruise of one hundred and forty-eight days. He had capt ured eleven English merchant-vessels ; also, the British armed schooner Highflyer, under peculiar circumstances. Sailing north - easterly until the 8th of May, the President and Congress parted company, the former cruising more south erly in quest of British ships engaged in trade with the West Indies. Finding none, Rodgers again turned the prow of his vessel northward, hoping to intercept vgssels trading betweeJ the West Indies and Halifax, St. John and Quebec. He was equally unsuccessful in that region. After beating about in almost perpetual fogs, the President was off the Azores on the 1st of June. Rodgers now determined to try his fortune in the North Sea ; but he did not meet with a single vessel until he reached the Shetland Islands, where he found only Danish ships trading to England under British licenses. His supplies now began to fail, and he put into North Bergen, in Norway, for replen ishment; but a scarcity of food prevailed there, and he was able to obtain only water. Then he sought, in the high lati tudes, English merchant-vessels that were to sail from Arch angel at the middle of July. Instead of these, the President 1 Commodore Porter died at Constantinople (where he was the United States resident Minister), on March 3d, 1843. His remains were brought to America, and they rest under a neat marble monument in Woodlawn Cemeterv, near Philadelphia. 8* 170 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. fell in with two British ships-of-war. Being unable to contend with them, she fled, closely pursued by her foes for more than eighty hours, and finally escaped. Just before he met these vessels Rodgers had captured two merchant-ships, and from them had replenished his stores. He now turned westward to intercept merchantmen going out of and into the Irish Channel. Before the 1st of August he capt ured three vessels, when, informed that the British had a strong force in that vicinity, he made a complete circuit of Ireland and steered for the Banks of Newfoundland, near which he made two more captures. Rodgers finally sailed for the coast of the United States, and toward evening, September 23d, he fell in with the British sloop-of-war Highflyer, a tender to Admiral Warren's flag-ship St. Domingo. She was a fast sailer, commanded by Lieuten ant Hutchinson. Before his departure on his cruise, Rodgers had been put in possession of some of the British signals. He now caused them to be made on his own ship, and when he saw the Highflyer he hoisted an English ensign. She ran up the same, and displayed a signal from her mast-head. Rodgers was delighted to find that he possessed its complement, and the key to the Englishman's secrets. By stratagem Rodgers now decoyed the Highflyer along-side the President, and captured her without firing a gun. Rodgers had signalled that his vessel was the Sea Horse, the largest of its class known to be then on the American coast. The Highflyer bore down and hove to under the stern of the President. One of Rodgers's lieutenants, dressed in British uniform, went on board the Highflyer, bearing an order for Hutchinson to send him his signal-books to be altered, as " some of the Yankees," he said, " had obtained possession of them." The unsuspicious lieutenant obeyed, and so Rodgers was put in possession of the key to the whole correspondence of the Brit ish Navy. AN ASTONISHED PRISONER. 171 Hutchinson soon followed his signal-books. Everything on the pretended Sea Horse — its appointments and the scarlet-clad marines whom he mistook for British soldiers — pleased him. He placed in Rodgers's hands a bundle of despatches for Ad miral Warren, and he informed his supposed friend of the Sea Horse that the main object of the admiral was the capture and destruction of the President, which had spread great alarm over British waters. " What kind of a man is Rodgers ?" the commodore in quired. "I have never seen him," replied Hutchinson ; " but I have been told that he is an odd fish, and hard to catch." " Would you like to meet him ?" inquired the commodore. " Indeed I would, with a vessel of equal size," answered the lieutenant, assuming a posture that denoted great self-esteem. "Sir!" said the commodore, in a tone that startled the young officer, " do you know what vessel you are on board of?" " Why, yes, sir, on board his Majesty's ship Sea Horse." "Then, sir," said the commodore, "you labor under a mis take. You are on board the United States frigate President, and I am Commodore Rodgers, at your service." At that moment the band struck up "Yankee Doodle" on the President's quarter-deck, the American ensign was displayed over it, and the uniforms of the marines were suddenly changed from scarlet to blue. Lieutenant Hutchinson was astounded. He expected harsh treatment, for he was one of Cockburn's subalterns who, a few months before, had plundered Havre - de - Grace, the home of Rodgers (see page 97), and he wore at his side a sword which he had stolen from the commodore's house on that occasion ! He had been warned, when receiving his instructions as the commander of the Highflyer, to take care and not be outwitted by the Yankees, and especially careful not to fall into the hands 172 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. of Commodore Rodgers ; " for if he comes across you," said his superior officer, " he will hoist you upon his jib-boom and carry you into Boston." Rodgers treated the sinner with all the courtesy due to his rank and a prisoner of war, and he was soon paroled. Rodgers sailed into Newport harbor three days after the capture of the Highflyer, accompanied by his prize, her commander, and fifty- five other prisoners. He had kept eleven vessels searching for him, captured eleven merchant-vessels, and two hundred and seventy-one prisoners, during his cruise. JOUN RODGERS. Commodore Rodgers sailed on another cruise early in De cember. When fairly out on the ocean, the President captured the Cornet, a small British cruiser, and, sailing southward, made a prize of a British merchantman near Barbadoes, January 5th, RODGERS HONORED — HIS TOAST. 173 1814. On the 7th Rodgers captured a second vessel, and on the 9th a third. Then he ran down and cruised, unsuccessfully, in the Caribbean Sea. After sinking a British merchantman, he sailed for the coast of Florida, and then northward, chasing and being chased, and finally dashed through a vigilant British blockading squadron off Sandy Hook, and entered the harbor of New York on the evening of the 18th. Rodgers was greeted with applause and honors. A banquet was given in compliment to him at Tammany Hall, on the 7th of March, at which he gave the notable toast, which was re peated everywhere : "Peace — if it can be obtained without the sacrifice of national honor or the abandonment of maritime rights; otherwise, war until peace shall be secured without the sacrifice of either." The name of Rodgers became associated with the other na val heroes of the war in songs and toasts. In one of the former occur the words : " Our Rodgers, on the President, Will burn, sink, and destroy ; The Congress, on the Brazil coast, Your commerce will annoy; The Essex, on the South Sea, Will put out all your lights ; The flag she wears at mast-head Is "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." Here we will close the story of the exploits of the little American Navy on the ocean in the year 1813. During the summer of that year the Americans had only three frigates afloat on the sea — the President, 44 guns ; the Congress, 38 ; and the Essex, 32. The Constitution, 44, was undergoing repairs ; the Constellation, 38, was blockaded at Norfolk; while the Mac edonian, 38, and United States, 44, were blockaded in the har bor of New London ; the Adams, 28 guns, was undergoing repairs ; the John Adams, 28, was laid up as unfit for the ser- 174 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. vice, and the New York, 36, and Boston. 28, were virtually con demned. All the brigs had been captured excepting the En terprise, and yet the Americans, with indomitable courage, de termined to continue the war on the water with vigor. Encouragement came from the Great Lakes. Let us now turn to them and see what had been going on there during 1812 and 1813. NAVAL VESSELS ON LAKE ONTARIO. 175 CHAPTER Xin. At the beginning of the war of 1812-15, or the Second War fw Independence? the United States had made very little prep aration for it on the extensive northern frontier of the Repub lic. Only a single war-brig — the Oneida, Lieutenant Melanc- thon Woolsey — constituted the naval force on Lakes Ontario and Erie, the great inland seas, stretching along that frontier more than five hundred miles. She was built at Oswego, on Lake Ontario, and launched in 1809, for the purpose of sup pressing illicit trade between the United States and Canada. She was the sole American war-vessel on the lakes when hos tilities began in the summer of 1812. A month before the declaration of war, the Oneida had capt ured a Canadian schooner, charged with violating the neutrali ty laws. When the news of that declaration reached Ogdens- burg, on the St. Lawrence, several American schooners lying there endeavored to escape up the river, but were intercepted at the foot of the Thousand Islands by a zealous Canadian partisan, in boats with armed volunteers, and two of them were captured. This was the first act of hostility on the lakes in the Second War for Independence. A squadron of British vessels had been quickly prepared at Kingston, at the foot of Lake Ontario, and, late in July, Wool- 1 When a compatriot remarked to Dr. Franklin that " the War of Inde pendence" was successfully closed, "Say, rather," replied the sage, "the War of the Revolution; the War for Independence is yet to be fought." It was fought, and the viotory was won by the Americans, in the war of 1812-'15. 176 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. sey saw, from the mast-head of the Oneida, five armed vessels approaching Sackett's Harbor. These were the Royal George, 24 guns, whose keel was laid when the Oneida was a-building; Prince Regent, 22 ; Earl of Moira, 20 ; Simcoe, 12 ; and Seneca, 12, under Commodore Earle, a Canadian. They captured a boat returning from St. Vincent, and, by its released crew, sent THE BRITISH ATTACK SACKETT'S HARBOR. 177 word to the military commander at the harbor that all they wanted was the Oneida, 16 guns, and the schooner she had captured. At the same time they warned the inhabitants that, if the squadron should be fired upon, the town would be burnt. Woolsey tried to escape, with the Oneida, to the broad wa ters of the lake, but failed. Returning, he moored his vessel so as to bring her broadside of nine guns to bear upon any ship entering the harbor. The remainder of her guns were taken out to be used on the shore, if needed. Already heavy guns had been placed in battery, and Woolsey took the general com mand on land. His troops consisted of his own men, an artil lery company, and militia. An old iron 32-pounder was put in charge of Sailing-master William Vaughan. As the Royal George, followed by the Prince Regent, came within cannon-shot of the battery (July 30th, 1812), Vaughan opened upon them without effect. Derisive laughter could be plainly heard on shore that came from the people on the Royal George. It was followed by some shots from the two vessels, which stood off and on, during a harmless combat for two hours. At length a 32-pound ball came over the bluff, and ploughed a deep furrow in the ground. It was caught up by a sergeant, who gave it to Vaughan, saying, " I've been playing ball with the red-coats, and have caught 'em out. See if the British can catch back again." The ball fitted Vaughan's gun better than did his own, and it was hurled back with such precision that it struck the stern of the Royal George (then wearing to give a broadside), raked her completely, sent splinters as high as her mizzen-topsail yard, killed fourteen men, and wounded eighteen. Two of the other larger vessels had been injured. The laughter was changed to wailing. The squadron hastily put about and sailed from the harbor, while the band on shore played " Yankee Doodle." Nothing on the land had been injured by the cannonading on that serene Sabbath morning. 178 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. The command of the waters of Lake Ontario was an object of great importance to both parties. The Americans proceeded to convert merchant-vessels into war-crafts, and their first care was to secure six schooners yet lying at Ogdensburg. The IBAAO OHAUNOEV. British sent two armed vessels down to seize them ; the Amer icans sent the schooner Julia, bearing three guns and sixty men, accompanied by a Durham boat with riflemen, to protect them and bring them away. They encountered the British vessels eleven miles above Ogdensburg, and, after a severe fight for three hours, so injured them that they withdrew to the Canada shore. The Julia was only slightly injured, and not one of the American vessels was hurt. They reached Ogdens burg before morning. The armistice, effected soon afterward, enabled the Julia to return to the lake, with the six schooners, without molestation. CAPTAIN CHAUNCEY ON LAKE ONTARIO. 179 Captain Isaac Chauncey, then at the head of the navy-yard at Brooklyn, New York, was appointed naval commander-in-chief on Lake Ontario at the close of August, 1812. He entered upon his duties with great energy. Woolsey purchased mer chant-vessels, and six of them were soon made ready, bearing the respective names of Conquest, Growler, Pert, Scourge, Gov ernor Tompkins, and Hamilton. Their armament consisted chiefly of long guns, mounted on circles, with a few lighter ones. These vessels, with the Oneida and Julia, constituted Chauncey's fleet, mounting only forty guns, and manned by an aggregate of four hundred and thirty men, the marines included. The British vessels on the lake had double their weight of metal. Chauncey first appeared on Lake Ontario, as commander of a squadron, on the 8th of November, 1812. The Oneida was his flag-ship, and was accompanied by six smaller vessels. He sought to intercept the British squadron on its return from Fort George, at the mouth of the Niagara River, whither they had convoyed troops and provisions. On the 9th he fell in with the Royal George, and chased her into the Bay of Quinte. The dark night that followed hid her. The next morning, just as Chauncey had captured and burnt a small schooner, he saw the fugitive headed for Kingston. With most of his squadron he gave chase, followed her into Kingston harbor, and fought her and shore batteries for an hour. Night coming on, Chaun cey withdrew with a brisk wind, which increased to a gale the next morning. His smaller vessels captured a schooner, and sunk the British cruiser Seneca. The gale continued forty-eight hours, and ended in a furious snow-storm. But Chauncey bravely continued his cruise, de termined to hold the supremacy of the lake. Leaving four vessels to blockade the harbor of Kingston until the ice should do so effectually, he sailed toward the head of the lake, hoping to fall in with the Prince Regent, then cruising off York, now 180 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Toronto. He failed to do so, and the season becoming tem pestuous, he returned to Sackett's Harbor. Early in December navigation on the lake was closed by frost. On the surrender of Detroit by General Hull, in August, 1812, a brig (Adams) lying at that place fell into the hands of the British. This, with some other vessels hastily prepared, gave them the complete control of Lake Erie. To deprive them of this ascendency, Lieutenant Jesse D. Elliott was sent to Buffalo to purchase and fit out vessels for war purposes. While he was engaged in that task, the Adams (now named Detroit) came down the lake with the brig Caledonia to pre vent the preparation of war-craft at Buffalo. JESSE D. ELLIOTT. The two vessels anchored under the guns of Fort Erie, oppo site Buffalo. Under the command of Elliott, an armed party of sailors and soldiers crossed the river at one o'clock in the morning of October 9th, 1812, boarded the two vessels with PERRY ORDERED TO LAKE ERIE. 183 little resistance, arid captured them. The Caledonia was taken into Buffalo Creek, but the Detroit, exposed to the guns of the fort, was abandoned at an island below, and afterward burnt. The Caledonia was a rich prize — her cargo being valued at $200,000. Congress gave Elliott their thanks and a sword. Thus closed naval warfare on the lakes in 1812. Both parties employed the winter in preparation for a spring campaign on the lakes. In November (1812) the Madison, 24 guns, was launched at Sackett's Harbor, to carry 32-pound car ronades. So rapid was her construction under the direction of the eminent ship-builder, Henry Eckford, that nine weeks from the time when the timber was felled in the forest she was afloat. At the close of 1812, the Americans bad eleven armed ves sels on Lake Ontario, ten of them merchant-vessels altered into war-ships. They were fitted up as gun-boats, without quarters. The British now laid the keel of a ship larger than the Madi son; and in February, 1813, the Americans began the con struction of another large war-vessel at Sackett's Harbor. General Hull's advice to create a fleet on Lake Erie, before attempting to invade Canada, was unheeded. The wisdom of it was perceived before the close of 1812. Early in the next year measures were adopted to that end. On the 17th of Feb ruary orders were given to Captain O. H. Perry, then in com mand of a flotilla in Narraganset Bay, to report to Chauncey with all his best men. Twenty hours after receiving the order, Perry left Newport in a sleigh for Lake Ontario, accompanied by his brother, then thirteen years of age, and arrived at Sack ett's Harbor on the 3d of March. Perry was then twenty-sev en years of age — brave, persevering, and ambitious. Chauncey sent Perry to Presque Isle (now Erie), on Lake Erie, to hasten and complete the construction and equipment of a little squadron then a-building there, under the direction of Sailing-master Daniel Dobbins, and Noah Brown a ship wright of New York city. He found five vessels well ad- 184 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. vanced and a sixth just begun. Two 20-gun brigs were launch ed on the 24th of March, the day before Perry departed for the Niagara frontier to assist Chauncey in an attack upon Fort George, at the mouth of that river. Perry's fleet was built at the mouth of Cascade Creek. OLIVER H. TERRY. Fort George fell. Fort Erie was evacuated and burnt, and Perry was enabled to take from Buffalo, without molestation, five vessels which Eckford had fitted for the naval service, in the river below. Laden with stores, these sailed from Buffalo on the 13th of June — Perry, in the Caledonia, sick with symp toms of a bilious fever. Just as the last vessel crossed the bar at Presque Isle, the British squadron, which had been look ing out for them, appeared. Perry's fleet was finished on the 10th of July, but there were only men enough to officer and man one brig, and he was com- PERRY AMBITIOUS AND IMPATIENT. 185 pelled to wait there several weeks before he could go out and meet the menacing British fleet. His impatience was continu ally manifested by his urgent calls upon his superiors for men. To Chauncey he wrote on the 19th of July : "The enemy's fleet of six sail are now off the bar of this harbor. What a golden opportunity, if we had men ! * * * Give me men, sir, and I will acquire, both for you and myself, honor and glory, or perish in the attempt. Conceive my feel ings : an enemy within striking distance, my vessels ready, and not men enough to man them !" A little later he wrote : " For God's sake, and yours and mine, send me men and officers, and I will have them all [the British squadron] in a day or two. MOUTH OF CASCADE CREEK LN 1SG0. * * * Commodore Barclay — the British commander — keeps just out of reach of our gun-boats. He has been bearding me sev eral days; I long to be at him." 9 186 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Few and mostly inferior men — "a motley set, blacks, sol diers, and boys," Perry said — were sent to him from Lake On tario. He complained, but in vain. On the last day of July he had about three hundred officers and men at Presque Isle, and he resolved to man the two 20-gun brigs and eight smaller vessels with them, and seek the foe. The British squadron had gone to Maiden, on the Detroit River, to increase its force. The lake was calm ; and on the morning of August 5th, Perry's lit tle squadron was out on its bosom. That night it started to ward the Canada shore, on its first cruise. Captain Elliott brought a hundred men from Buffalo — on the 9th — with which he manned the Niagara, and assumed com mand of her. Then Perry resolved to sail up the lake, and co-operate with the land troops of General Harrison. He ap prised that officer of his readiness, but Harrison was not then prepared to act, and Perry cruised on the lake, hoping to en gage Barclay in combat, but failed to do so. Perry's fleet had Put-in-Bay for its rendezvous or gathering-place. The Lake Erie fleet now consisted of the brig Lawrence, 20 guns; brig Niagara, 20 ; brig Caledonia, 3 ; schooner Ariel, 4; schooner Scorpion, 2, and two swivels ; sloop Trippe, 1 ; schooner Tigress, 1 ; and schooner Porcupine, 1. The British squadron consisted of the ship Detroit, 19 guns, one on pivot, and two howitzers; ship Queen Charlotte, 17 guns, and one howitzer; schooner Lady Provost, 13 guns, and one howitzer; hug Hunt er, 1Q guns; sloop Little Belt, 3 guns; and schooner Chip pewa, 1 gun, and two swivels. August wore away, and more than a week of September had passed before Perry's ardent wishes were gratified by an encounter with his enemy. " September the tenth, full well I ween, In eighteen hundred and thirteen, The weather mild, the sky serene, Commanded by bold Perry, PERRY'S BATTLE-FLAG. 189 Our saucy fleet at anchor lay In safety, moor'd at Put-in-Bay ; 'Twixt sunrise and the break of day The British fleet We chanced to meet ; Our admiral thought he would them greet, With a welcome on Lake Erie." Old Song. On that beautiful September morning the welcome cry of "Sail ho !" rung out loud from the mast-head of the Lawrence. Perry's orders for an expected engagement had been given to his officers the night before. At the cry of " Sail ho !" the fleet was signalled — "Enemy in sight!" "Get under way!" and the voices of the boatswains sounded the stirring orders — " All hands up anchor, ahoy !" At sunrise the British vessels were seen on the north-western horizon. At a little past ten o'clock the Lawrence was cleared for ac tion, and Perry brought out a blue battle-flag, upon which were inscribed, in large white letters, the reputed dying words of Lawrence (see page 142), "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP!" Perry concluded a brief harangue to his men by saying, " My brave lads ! this flag contains the last words of Captain Lawrence. Shall I hoist it ?" " Ay, ay, sir," they all shouted ; and aloft went the flag to the main-royal mast-head, greeted with cheer after cheer, not only from the officers and crew of the Lawrence, but of the whole squadron. It was the signal for battle. The Niagara, Captain Elliott, led the fleet. Barclay's ves sels were near together, the Detroit (his flag-ship) in the van. At noon a bugle sounded on board the Detroit as a signal for action ; the British bands struck up " Rule, Britannia," and a 24-pound shot was sent over the water from the Detroit to ward the Lawrence. It fell short ; but a few minutes afterward 190 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. another shot from Barclay's long guns went crashing through the bulwarks of the Lawrence. The latter kept silent. " Steady, boys ! steady," said Perry, while his dark eyes flashed with ex citement half smothered by his judgment. TERRY B RATTLE-FLAG. Perry knew the advantage possessed by Barclay with his long guns, and he determined to fight at close quarters. Slowly his squadron approached the foe, and at the proper moment sig nals were given for each vessel to engage her prescribed antag onist. The gallant young Champlin, of the Scorpion, then less than twenty-four years of age, fired the first (as he did the last) gun in that famous battle. His vessel, with the Ariel, both without bulwarks, kept their places with the Lawrence. The contest that followed was exceedingly severe. The Law rence was the target for the heavier guns of the English, no less than thirty-four of them being brought to bear upon her ; and PERRY'S FEARFUL PASSAGE FROM SHIP TO SHIP. 191 for two hours Perry and his devoted ship bore the brunt of battle. During that tempest of war his vessel was terribly shattered. Her rigging was nearly all shot away ; her sails were torn into shreds ; her spars were battered into splinters ; her guns were dismounted ; and she lay upon the waters an almost helpless wreck. Out of one hundred and three men, twenty-two were slain and sixty-one wounded. Balls had gone crashing through the cockpit, killing the wounded there. The Niagara had lagged behind — the swift, staunch, well- manned Niagara. She did not come to the relief of the help less and severely wounded Lawrence, but Perry went to her — an exploit at that hour of peril, one of the most gallant on record. He determined to fly to her, and, bearing down with her upon his foe, secure a victory. So certain did he feel of ultimate triumph, and having occasion to receive guests, that he ex changed his sailor's suit for the uniform of his rank. Leaving the gallant and thrice-wounded Yarnell in charge of the Law rence, the colors of which were yet flying, he entered a boat with his little brother and four stout seamen, and standing erect, with the pennant and battle-flag half folded around him, he pushed off for the Niagara, half a mile distant. The hero, now so conspicuous, was made a special mark for the missiles of his antagonists. Barclay knew that if the man who had fought the Lawrence so bravely reached the Niagara, the British squadron would be in great danger of defeat. For fifteen minutes, during Perry's fearful voyage in the open boat, the great and little guns of the British, by Barclay's order, were brought to bear upon him, but he received no bodily harm from cannon-balls, grape-shot, canister, and musket bullets showered upon him. Oars were splintered, bullets traversed the boat, and his oarsmen were covered with spray caused by the fall of round shot near the boat, but not a person was hurt. Perry sprung on board of the Niagara, took the command, bore down upon the British, and broke their line. 192 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. For awhile the whole American squadron was engaged in the combat. Eight minutes after Perry dashed through the British line the colors of the Detroit were lowered, and her example was followed at once by all the other British vessels. The battle had lasted three hours. When the smoke cleared away, it was discovered that the vessels of the two squadrons were inter mingled. The victory was complete. As soon as it was as sured, Perry wrote in pencil on the back of an old letter, resting the paper on his navy cap, that remarkable despatch to General Harrison, the first sentence of which has been so often repeated: FAC-SIMILE OF PERRY'S DESPATCH. " We have met the enemy, and they are ours ! Two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop. " Yours, with great respect and esteem, " O. H. Perry." The next movement in the solemn drama was the reception of the British officers — the expected guests of Perry — who delivered to him their swords. Barclay had been severely THE BRITISH CARICATURED. 193 wounded. All of the captives were treated with great courte sy and kindness. The bodies of the slain were buried in the deep waters of the lake, at the twilight hour of that beautiful September day, after the impressive burial-service of the An glican Church had been read. This victory proved to be one of the most important events of the war. It saved the Western States from invasion "by 194 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. British and Indians, and it opened the way for Harrison to recover what Hull had lost, and more. It lifted the pall of despondency -which reverses to the land troops had spread over the land, and there was great jubilation everywhere. The ef fect upon the country was electric, and amazingly inspiring. It dissipated forebodings of evil. The popular joy was de monstrated in oratory and song; and caricature took a hu morous part in the general rejoicings. (See page 192.) Illuminations of cities followed the great victory. The newspapers teemed with eulogies of Perry and his companions. The Legislature of Pennsylvania voted him thanks and a gold medal ; also a silver medal to every man engaged in the battle. The National Congress voted thanks and a gold medal to both Perry and Elliott, and silver medals to the nearest relatives of young officers who were slain. Three months' extra pay was allowed to each of the commissioned officers of the navy and army who served in the battle ; and a sword to each of the mid shipmen and sailing-masters. In 1860, a fine statue of Perry, by Walcutt, was erected. One of the most popular songs of the day, called American Perry, was inspired by this victory. It began as follows: " Bold Barclay one day to Proctor1 did say, ' I'm tired of Jamaica and cherry ; So let us go down to that new floating town, And get some American Perry.'a Oh, cheap American Perry ! Most pleasant American Perry ! We need only bear down, knock and call, And we'll have the American Perry !" 1 General Proctor was then at Maiden with a force of British and In dians, waiting for the capture of Perry's fleet, to press forward into Ohio and attack Harrison's army. Barclay sailed from Maiden to attack Perry with full assurance of victory. 2 Perry is a beverage made of the juice of the pear. PEBBY'S BTATDE AT CLEVELAND. WAR- VESSELS BUILT ON LAKE ONTARIO. 19"; CHAPTER XIV. The campaign o.n the northern frontier opened early in the spring of 1813. General Dearborn, the commander-in-chief of the land-forces, had about three thousand men at Sackett's Harbor, in March, when he contemplated an attack upon Kingston. He wisely concluded to defer that expedition until Kingston harbor, where the British squadron lay, should be clear of ice, and then he could have the co-operation of Chaun cey's vessels. Eckford, the naval constructor, had been directed to build six sloops-of-war on Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the President was authorized to purchase as many more vessels, to be convert ed into warriors, as the exigencies of the service on the lakes might require. Early in April the brig Jefferson was launched at the harbor, and the keel of the General Pike was laid. A few days later the British launched two large vessels at King ston, and at the same time there arrived there a large number of seamen from the Royal Navy. On the 15th of April the ice in the lake disappeared, and Chauncey sent out the Growler to reconnoitre. At this time the effective land and naval force at the harbor consisted of about five thousand regulars and twelve-months volunteers, two thousand militia, and thirteen hundred sailors. General Dearborn and Commodore Chauncey now matured a plan for first capturing York (now Toronto), and then re ducing Fort George at the mouth of the Niagara River. At the same time, troops were to cross the Niagara River near 198 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Buffalo, capture Forts Erie and Chippewa, join the fleet and army at Fort George, and all proceed to attack Kingston. The expedition sailed from the harbor on the 25th of April in Chauncey's vessels, which were crowded with soldiers, about seventeen hundred in number, and appeared before York on the 27th. Dearborn was ill, and the command of the land troops was intrusted to General Zebulon M. Pike. YORK IN 1813. The troops landed under cover of the guns of the squadron, in the face of a sharp fire of musketry. The British were steadily pushed back along the lake shore to York. At the same time Chauncey's guns were pouring storms of grape-shot upon the foe, which so frightened the Indian allies of the Brit ish that they took to their heels. The tempest also quickened the retreat of the white troops. At length the British reached their stronghold nearest the town, and the firing ceased. The Americans expected to see a white flag displayed, in token of surrender, when suddenly the earth trembled and a terrible explosion occurred. The British, despairing of holding the fort, had blown up their magazine on the water's edge. Fragments of timber and huge stones were scattered in every direction over a space of several hundred EXPLOSION OF THE MAGAZINE AT YORK. 199 yards, killing fifty-two Americans and wounding one hundred. At the same time forty of the British lost their lives, so badly was the affair managed. Among the mortally wounded Americans, struck by the fly ing missiles, was General Pike. He was taken in a boat to the commodore's flag-ship Madison in a dying condition. On his passage shouts fell upon his benumbed ears. " What does it mean ?" he feebly asked. "Victory!" answered a sergeant. "The British union-jack is coming down from the block-house, and the stars aud stripes are going up." A smile of joy lighted the hero's face. He lived only a few hours. While he was yet conscious, the captured British flag was brought to him. He made a sign to his attendants to place it under his head, and soon afterward he expired. His body was taken to Sackett's Harbor, and buried within Fort Tompkins there with military honors. POWDER MAGAZINE AT THE WATERS EDGE. Soon after the surrender of York the expedition sailed for the Niagara River. When the troops were debarked, four miles east of Fort Niagara, Chauncey sailed for Sackett's Harbor to obtain supplies and re-enforcements for the army, while his 200 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. smaller vessels were continually engaged in conveying stores and troops to Dearborn's camp. At that point the Madison ar rived, on the 25th of May, with three hundred and fifty troops. That evening Chauncey was delighted by the arrival of Com modore Perry, who had come from Lake Erie to join him in the immediate work before him. Arrangements were made for the attack on Fort George and its supporting batteries on the 27th. During the previous night all the heavy artillery, and as many troops as possible, were placed on board the Madison, Oneida, and Lady of the Lake, with orders for the remainder to follow in the other ves sels. Generals Dearborn and Lewis were on the Madison, and between three and four o'clock in the morning the squadron weighed anchor. A flotilla of launches had been prepared for landing the troops, and these were placed under the manage ment of the skilful Perry. A heavy sea was rolling when the expedition reached the designated place for debarkation, making the landing difficult. The guns of the Tompkins soon silenced a British battery on the shore, when Perry dashed through the surf with his flotilla of launches, and safely landed the men. So eager were Colonel Winfield Scott and Commodore Perry to reach the shore, that they leaped into the shallow water and waded to the beach, followed by the soldiers. A sharp struggle ensued, but lasted only about twenty minutes, when a severe cannonade from the Hamilton, and the well directed fire of the American troops, caused the British to break, and flee in confusion. The whole body fled toward Queenstown, closely pursued by Scott. Gen eral Vincent ordered the guns of Fort George to be spiked, and the post abandoned. Victory for the Americans was com plete. Chauncey sailed for Sackett's Harbor on the 31st of May. Early in June (1813) a British squadron, under Sir James Lucas Yeo, hovered along the southern coast of Lake Ontario, THE BRITISH AT SODUS BAY. 201 and captured two or three American vessels laden with hospital stores for the army. They captured stores at Charlotte, at the mouth of the Genesee River. Landing at Sodus Bay for the same purpose, they were foiled by the vigilance of the inhab- 202 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. itants, who hid the stores ; and when they departed they burnt the emptied public store-houses and some private buildings. When the British at Kingston were informed that Dearborn and Chauncey had gone to attack Fort George, they determined to attempt the capture of Sackett's Harbor, and the seizure or destruction of the military and naval munitions of war gathered there. If they could do this, the sover eignty of Lake Ontario would be secured to the British. This enterprise was soon attempted. On the evening of the very day when the victory at Fort George was accom plished (May 27th, 1813), the Lady of the Lake, which had been cruising off Kingston, brought to Sackett's Harbor the startling news that a strong British squadron under Sir James L. Yeo had just put to sea, and its probable destination was Sackett's Harbor. This news caused great commotion. General Jacob Brown, then at his home a few miles distant from the lake, immedi ately summoned the militia of the district to rally at the har bor, whither he proceeded and took the chief command. The people of the surrounding country flocked thither in large num bers, and were armed and mustered into the service. Quite a body of defenders were gathered there when, at noon on the 28th, the British squadron appeared. It consisted of the Roy al George, 24 guns (the flag-ship) ; Earl of Moira, 18 guns; schooners Prince Regent, Simcoe, and Seneca, 10 to 12 guns each, and about forty bateaux, bearing about twelve hundred land troops. The whole expedition was under the direction DESTRUCTION AT SODUS BAY. A BRITISH FORCE BEFORE SACKETT'S HARBOR. 203 of Sir George Prevost, the Governor-general of Canada, who led the land forces. The British troops were embarked in boats to go ashore, when suddenly they were recalled, and the squadron sailed away, to the astonishment of everybody. The commander had seen an American flotilla of nineteen armed boats approaching from the west, conveying re-enforcements to the harbor. This flotilla was chased and run ashore. Twelve of the boats and seventy of the men were captured. At dawn the next morning (May 29th), thirty-three British boats, filled with armed men, LIGUT-UOUSE ON HORSE ISLAND. landed, under cover of two gun-boats, near the light-house on Horse Island, close by Sackett's Harbor. The British formed on the little island, pressed across the fordable strait to the' main-land, and opened fire upon the mili tia. These at once broke and fled, excepting one company. 204 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. General Brown was astonished at the cowardice of the troops. By very great exertions, a sufficient number were rallied tq join with other troops in carrying on a sharp conflict for some time. Finally, Prevost, perceiving his communication with his boats seemingly menaced, became alarmed, and sounded a retreat. The invaders fled precipitately to their boats, embarked, and reached the squadron in safety. Then the whole expedition sailed away to Kingston, fruitless of any gain. In the panic that prevailed when the militia fled, Wolcott Chauncey, of the navy, who had the naval stores at the har bor in charge, informed that all was lost, fired a train that was prepared for the purpose, and in a few minutes the store house, containing the vast spoils from York, and the new ship General Pike, were in flames. When the British fled these flames were extinguished, and the Pike was saved. Three oth er vessels there were also saved. No other attempt was after ward made by the British to capture Sackett's Harbor. Intelligence of the fact that the British squadron was out on the lake reached Chauncey while lying at the mouth of the Niagara River. He weighed anchor, crossed the lake, looked into York, and then ran for 'Kingston ; but finding no foe, he proceeded to Sackett's Harbor, where he used every exertion to put the new ship General Pike (not much injured by the fire) afloat. She was launched on the 12th of June, and placed under the command of Captain Arthur St. Clair. But it was late in the summer before she was fully equipped and manned. She was pierced for twenty-six long 24-pounders. The Americans had not force sufficient to hold York after it was surrendered in April, and being of little value to them, it was abandoned. The British repossessed themselves of it, built another block-house, and constructed a regular fortifica tion. After the capture of Fort George, at the close of May, Chaun cey made cruises about the lake. He had twelve vessels, and EFFECT OF A HURRICANE ON LAKE ONTARIO. 205 made the British very circumspect. He felt strong enough to cope with any force that might appear under Sir James Yeo. In July, an expedition against the British post at Burling ton Heights, at the head of Lake Ontario, was undertaken. Colonel Scott commanded the land troops, but the chief com mand of the expedition was given to Chauncey. He appeared at the mouth of the Niagara River with his fleet, and on the 27th of July sailed westward with three hundred land troops. The British sent re-enforcements from York and other points, and the Americans found their own forces too feeble to un dertake an attack with a prospect of success. Informed of the defenceless state of York, the expedition turned eastward and entered the harbor at that village on the 31st of July, when Scott landed without opposition, took possession, burnt the barracks, public store-houses and stores, and eleven transports, destroyed five cannons, and carried away one great gun and a considerable quantity of provisions. The expedition returned to the Niagara on the 3d of August, and four days afterward a British squadron under Yeo appear ed near there. Chauncey immediately went out to meet his foe. He had thirteen vessels, but only three of them had been origi nally built for war purposes. Sir James Yeo's squadron consist ed of two ships, two brigs, and two large schooners, all con structed for war. All day the squadrons manoeuvred for the weather-gage with a good breeze, but did not come in contact. At sunset there was a dead calm, and at midnight a fitful gale. Suddenly a rushing sound was heard astern nearly all of the fleet, and it was soon ascertained that a little tornado had swept over the lake and capsized the Hamilton, Lieutenant Winter, and the Scourge, Mr. Osgood, which were lagging be hind. They went to the bottom of the lake, and all the of ficers and men, excepting sixteen, were drowned. The two vessels carried an aggregate of 19 guns, and were staunch. The next day Chauncey endeavored to bring Yeo into action, 206 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. but in vain ; and the American fleet anchored at the mouth of the Niagara River. The lake was swept by fitful squalls all that night, accompanied by lightning and rain. TORNADO ON LAKE ONTARIO. Another day and night were spent by Chauncey in trying to engage Yeo; and finally, on the morning of the 10th, hav ing the weather-gage, the American commodore prepared for battle. All day was again spent in manoeuvring ; but at ten o'clock at night the British gave chase, and two of Chaun cey's vessels (Growler and Julia), in the excess of the zeal of their commanders, ran out of the prescribed line, and were capt ured. Very little fighting occurred ; and a gale increasing, Chauncey ran into Sackett's Harbor on the 13th. A new vessel, the Sylph, was now launched at the harbor; and, sick- NAVAL BATTLE ON LAKE ONTARIO. 207 ness prevailing in the fleet, Chauncey lay inactive there for some time. Again, early in September, Chauncey attempted to bring Yeo to an engagement, but failed. It being important to protect the harbors of Canada, the baronet had been instructed by his superiors to risk nothing, but to keep Chauncey employed. But Sir James came near being compelled to fight on' the day after the battle on Lake Erie, when his squadron lay becalmed off the mouth of the Genesee River. Catching a light breeze, Chauncey bore down upon him, but the British squadron, also catching the wind, escaped, not, however, without many wounds inflicted by the American guns. A fortnight later Chauncey, informed that the British squad ron was in York harbor, sailed across the lake with the Pike, Madison, and Sylph, each with a schooner in tow, when Sir James fled, followed by the commodore, whose vessels were in battle order, and having the advantage of the weather- gage. The baronet was now compelled to fight, or cease his foolish boasting of a desire to measure strength with the Americans. At about noon (September 28th) a battle began, the Pike gallantly sustaining the assaults of the heaviest of her antag onists, assisted part of the time by the Tompkins and Madison. The Wolfe, Sir James's flag-ship, was soon so seriously injured that she could no longer sustain a conflict. As the smoke cleared away, she was seen fleeing before the wind, crowded with canvas, and protected by the Royal George. A general chase and a running fight for some time ensued. It was con tinued toward Burlington Bay for two hours, when, for want of proper support, and the wind increasing, Chauncey prudently called off his vessels and ran into the Niagara River, where they lay during a gale that lasted forty-eight hours. Alluding to this battle and chase, Henry C. Lewis wrote, in a ballad of many stanzas — 208 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. " Prepare, again prepare your joyful songs, The hero of Ontario to greet ; A grateful nation's praise again belongs To Chauncey, whom all foemen dread to meet ! Through boasting Yeo's fleet he sail'd victorious, And now his honor'd name through all the world is glorious The vaunting Briton flies, Brave Chauncey ' Victory !' cries, And in the flying full many a foeman dies." All the American transports, with troops, having departed for Sackett's Harbor, on the 2d of October Chauncey went out again in search of Sir James Yeo and his vessels. The weather was thick, and the Lady of the Lake, sent to reconnoitre Bur lington Bay, brought information that the British fleet was not there. Then Chauncey sailed toward Kingston in his search, and on the evening of the 5th the Pike captured three British transports ; also the Sylph, a cutter and an armed transport. The whole number of prisoners then taken was two hundred and sixty-four. Among these were officers of the Royal Navy, the provincial marines, and the army. During the remainder of the season tho British vessels re mained inactive in Kingston harbor, and Commodore Chaun cey was employed in watching its movements and in aiding land troops under Wilkinson in their preparations for de scending the St. Lawrence to attack Montreal. Chauncey had undisputed control of Lake Ontario at the close of 1813. While the waters of Lakes Ontario and Erie were vexed by the contests of hostile fleets on their bosom during the year 1813, the usual quiet of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, was slightly disturbed by like movements. In the fall of 1812 Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough was placed in com mand of the naval force on that lake, consisting of only two gun-boats, lying in Basin Harbor, on the Vermont shore. Two small sloops and four bateaux were fitted up and armed, each carrying a long 18-pounder. The Bntish had two or three AN ENGAGEMENT ON THE SOREL. 209 gun-boats and armed galleys in the Sorel River, the outlet of the lake. During the winter of 1812-13 two sloops (Growler and Eagle) were built on Lake Champlain, and put afloat in the spring. Early in June news came to Macdonough that Ameri can lake craft had been captured by two British gun-boats at the foot of the lake, and he sent the two sloops, with over one hundred armed men, under Lieutenant Joseph Smith, to look into the matter. Going down the Sorel, they gave chase to three gun-boats, until they came within range of the guns on TIIO.MA8 MACDONOUGH. Isle au Noix, when they retreated up the river. They were followed by the row-galleys, which soon opened long 24-pound- evs upon the sloops. At the same time a British land-force went up each side of the narrow river, and poured volleys of musketry upon the Americans on the vessels. These were answered by grape-shot. 10 210 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. For four hours a running fight was kept up. Finally, a heavy cannon-shot tore off a plank of the Eagle below water, and she sunk. At about the same time the Growler, disabled, was run ashore, when the people of both vessels were made prisoners. The British refitted the sloops, and took them into their ser vice with the names, respectively, of Finch and Chubb. Mac donough recaptured them the next year. This loss stimulated Macdonough to greater exertions, and at the beginning of August he had fitted up and armed three sloops and six gun-boats. No other events of great importance occurred that year on the bosom of Lake Champlain, excepting the passage of three British gun-boats, two sloops-of-war, aiid forty-seven long-boats, that conveyed land troops to Plattsburg. These plundered the inhabitants of that village of property valued at $25,000. BRITISH EXPEDITION TO OSWEGO. 211 CHAPTER XV. The Americans and British both used great exertions during the winter of 1813-14 to increase their naval strength on Lake Ontario, in order that they might contend for sovereignty over its waters in the ensuing campaign. In February Eckford laid the keels of three vessels at Sackett's Harbor. One was a frig ate named Superior, to be armed with 66 guns, and two brigs, named, respectively, Jefferson and Jones, to carry 22 guns each. The two brigs were ready for service, excepting their full arma ment, at the close of April ; and the frigate was launched on the 2d of May, just eighty days after her keel was laid. At the same time, heavy vessels were a-building at Kingston. The naval stores and heavy guns designed for the frigate were at Oswego Falls, several miles above Oswego. To seize or destroy these stores was a prime object of the British ; and early in May the squadron of Sir James Yeo sailed from Kings ton for the former place. It was so much more powerful than Chauncey's at that time, that the latter remained in Sack ett's Harbor for awhile. Sir James had eight vessels, carrying an aggregate of 222 guns, besides those on gun -boats and smaller craft. The British squadron appeared off Oswego on the 5th of May. A fort there, mounting only six old guns, and a garri son of less than three hundred men, under Colonel Mitchell, with the schooner Growler, Captain Woolsey, lying in the river, constituted the defences of the place. To prevent the Growler falling into the hands of the British, she was sunk, and, pitch- ing'tents near the town so as to deceive his antagonist as to 212 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. his force, Mitchell gathered all his troops into the fort on the east side of the river, and sent out messengers to arouse the militia. A slight attack was made upon the fort that after noon, when the fleet withdrew, Sir James believing there was a formidable force near the town. SIR JAMKS LUOAS YEO. Next morning the fleet again appeared, and the larger vessels opened on the fort. About twelve hundred men were landed in the afternoon. A sharp fire was opened upon them from the garrison and on their flanks, and for awhile there was des perate fighting. Mitchell could not contend long with such numbers, and he retired up the river to a position where he might defend the naval stores at the Falls if necessary. The British took possession of and dismantled the fort, burnt the barracks, raised the Growler, and with this vessel and consider able plunder sailed away. The British troops were landed at woolsey's FLOTILLA LEAVES OSWEGO. 213 Kingston, where the vessels were repaired. In the battle at Oswego they had been considerably injured ; and of their people, nineteen had been killed and seventy-five wounded. Within a fortnight after this attack the British squadron blockaded Sackett's Harbor, where Chauncey was bending ev ery energy to get the Superior ready for sea. Heavy guns and cables destined for her use were yet at Oswego Falls. The roads were too heavy to transport them to the harbor by land. Something must be done, or Sir James would roam the lake as a conqueror. The gallant Woolsey declared that he would take them safely to Stony Creek, three miles from the harbor, whence they might be carried across a narrow portage. " Try it," said Chauncey ; and before the close of May (1814) Woolsey had a large number of the guns and naval stores in scows ready to proceed whenever the blockading squadron might become less vigilant. On the evening of the 28th of May Woolsey left Oswego, with a flotilla of nineteen boats laden with cannons and naval stores. Among the latter was an immense cable for the Su perior. On the flotilla was Major Appling, with one hundred riflemen ; and about the same number of Oneida Indians were to meet them at the shore several miles eastward, and keep abreast of them on the land, to assist in case of an attack. The night was very dark ; but the flotilla and Indians were at the mouth of Big Sandy Creek at noon the next day. They went up that stream some distance, and the boats were moored just above a bend in the creek which there ran about two miles through an oozy plain before entering the lake. Daring the night one of the boats had fallen out of the line and been captured. By its crew Sir James was informed of the flotilla, and he sent two gun-boats to capture, it. They entered the Big Sandy Creek, then fringed with trees and shrubbery. Some rods below the bend in the creek, Appling ha<} placed his riflemen and Indians in ambush ; and near the 214 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. flotilla there had gathered about three hundred horse, foot, and artillery from Sackett's Harbor, with two small field-pieces. Ignorant of any land-forces with the flotilla, the British, in jolly mood, pushed up the creek with their gun-boats, feeling sure of their prey. When they came in sight of the flotilla TRANSPORTING A CABLE ON LAND. 215 they began to hurl solid shot upon it, but with little effect. They sent out flanking parties on shore, and showered grape- shot into the bushes to clear them of enemies if they were there. Before this storm the cowardly Indians ran, but young Appling's riflemen stood firm. At a proper moment rifle bul lets and cannon-balls assailed the invaders so furiously that, as tounded and confused, they surrendered in ten minutes, with the loss of the gun-boats, and over one hundred officers and men made prisoners. The cannons and stores were landed and transported overland, sixteen miles, to the harbor. The great cable for the Superior was too heavy to be conveyed on any wheeled vehicle, for it weighed nine thousand six hundred pounds, and had formed the entire burden of one of the boats of the flotilla. Two hundred men volunteered to carry it on their shoulders, and they did so, a mile at a time without resting. The great rope and other materials reached the Superior in safety ; but Chaun cey's fleet did not get ready to leave the harbor until August. Meanwhile a land and naval expedition had attempted to capture Mackinaw. A squadron under St. Clair, composed of the Niagara, Caledonia, St. Lawrence, Scorpion, and Tigress, bearing nearly a thousand land troops under Colonel Croghan, went from the Detroit River early in July, destroyed the es tablishment of the British North-west Fur Company at the Falls of St. Mary, and then attacked the British post at Mack inaw. The expedition was repulsed. Cruising in that vicini ty, the Tigress and Scorpion were captured in September, and their people were sent prisoners to Mackinaw. On the retirement of Napoleon to Elba, and the dawn of peace upon Europe, the British Government sent many unem ployed troops to Canada, a large portion of them Wellington's veterans. They arrived at Quebec in July, 1814, and were pressed forward to Montreal, where Sir George Prevost was making preparations to invade northern New York. 216 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Meanwhile the British naval force in the Sorel had been strengthened, and in May Captain Pring of the Royal Navy, in the brig Linnet, accompanied by five gun-boats, entered Lake Champlain for the purpose of destroying or capturing Macdonough's little flotilla, which lay in a Vermont harbor. After some conflicts, and losing several men, the British re turned to the Sorel wiser than when they left it. A few days afterward, Captain Macdonough sailed out upon the lake with his flotilla, and anchored his vessels in Cumberland Bay, off Plattsburg. Both parties now prepared to contend for supremacy on Lake Champlain. At the beginning of September, General Macomb had gathered a considerable land-force at Plattsburg, and worked vigorously in casting up fortifications there. The militia were gathering at the call of General Mooers, and Mac donough was prepared to dispute the passage of British ves sels into the bay at Cumberland Head with carronades and heavier guns. Sir James Yeo sent Captain Downie to command the Brit ish squadron on Lake Champlain ; and on the morning of the 11th of September, 1814, the land and naval forces of the en emy moved to make a combined attack upon Plattsburg. The army under Sir George Prevost was thirteen or fourteen thou sand strong. The British squadron consisted of one frigate, one brig, two sloops, and ten gun-boats. These vessels car ried an aggregate of ninety-five guns, and were manned by a little more than one thousand men. The American squad ron consisted of one ship, one brig, one schooner, one sloop, and ten gun-boats, carrying an aggregate of eighty-six guns, and eight hundred and eighty-two men. Macdonough's flag ship was the Saratoga, 26 guns ; Downie's, the Confiance, 38 guns. Downie's squadron rounded Cumberland Head at eight o'clock in the morning. Macdonough's lay about two miles NAVAL BATTLE AT PLATTSBURG. 217 off, skilfully arrayed in battle order.1 When the Saratoga was cleared for action, Macdonough knelt upon her deck near one of her heaviest guns, and, with his officers around him, im plored the Almighty for aid, and committed the issue to His care. He arose with assured courage, and as the enemy bore down upon him, he coolly sighted one of his guns — a 24- pounder — and discharged it. The ball entered the hawse- hole of the Confiance, and crashed through every obstacle the whole length of her deck, killing several men in its passage, and demolishing the wheel. The Eagle (American) had fired the first shot ; and as the Linnet (British) passed the Saratoga to attack the Eagle, she gave Macdonough's flag-ship a broadside, but without serious effect. One of her balls demolished a hen-coop on the Sara toga, in which was a young game-cock which the sailors had brought on board. The released fowl, startled by the noise of cannons, flew upon a gun-slide, and, clapping his wings, crow ed lustily and defiantly. The sailors cheered. It was a good omen that strengthened the courage of all. In an "Epistle of Brother Jonathan to Johnny Bull," written soon afterward, this event was alluded to as fellows : " Oh, Johnny Bull, my jo, John, Behold, on Lake Champlain, With more than equal force, John, You tried your fist again ; But the cock saw how 'twas going, And cried ' cock-a-doodle-doo,' And Macdonough was victorious, Oh, Johnny Bull, my jo !" 1 The view on page 218 is from the light-house on Cumberland Head, and includes the whole of the waters wherein the naval battle of Platts burg was fought. The island seen nearer the left of the picture is Valcour Island, near which Benedict Arnold's naval battle was fought in 1776 (see page 24). The hills in the distance are the lofty Adirondack Mountains. 10* 218 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. The Confiance did not reply to the savage shot of the Sara toga until she obtained a desired position, when she opened her entire larboard broadside— sixteen 24-pounders, double-shotted — at one time. The Saratoga shivered as if with an ague, and MACDONOUGH'S VICTORY. 219 forty of her people were disabled. A moment after this stun ning blow the Saratoga opened a steady and destructive fire upon her antagonist. One of her balls struck the muzzle of a 24-pounder of the Confiance, dismounted it, and sent it bodily inboard against Commodore Downie, killing him instantly with out breaking his skin. The battle had now become general and terrible, and the British gun-boats entered vigorously into the action. For a time the fortunes of the day were like a pendulum, vibrating first to one side and then to the other. Very soon both flag ships became disabled. The Saratoga was silent, having not a single starboard gun left. The Confiance was not much better off. Now Macdonough displayed his consummate seamanship. By means of a stream-anchor and hawsers he moved his ship so that he brought the guns of his port broadside to bear upon his antagonist with such destructive energy that the Con fiance soon surrendered. The Saratoga then directed her fire to the next most formidable ship, the Linnet, and compelled her to strike her colors. The smaller vessels followed the ex ample. The American vessels were too much crippled to pur sue the flying smaller ones of the British, and they escaped capture. For two hours and twenty minutes this severe battle had raged, while the thunder of cannons, the scream of bomb-shells, and the rattle of musketry were heard on the shore, where an equally fierce battle had been going on at the same time. It was a sublime sight, and was seen by hundreds of spectators on the Vermont headlands, who greeted the victory with loud shouts. A swift courier carried the news to the struggling army, when a shout rung along their lines that so alarmed the British that they fell back hastily. In the evening Prevost began such a precipitate flight for Canada, that he left his sick and wounded and a vast amount of munitions of war behind. Macdonough wrote to the Secretary of the Navy : "Sir, — The 220 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Almighty has been pleased to grant ns a signal victory on Lake Champlain, in the capture of one frigate, one brig, and two macdonough's medal. sloops-of-war of the enemy." He stated that the Saratoga received fifty round shots in her hull, and the Confiance one HONORS TO MACDONOUGH AND MACOMB. 221 hundred and five. Twice the Saratoga was set on fire by hot shots. Few officers or men on either vessel were left uninjured ; and the same might be said of those on the other larger vessels. It was a battle not surpassed in vigor and destructiveness by any in the war. The events on land and water at Plattsburg produced a thrill of intense joy throughout the country. Spontaneous honors and praises were given to Macdonough and Macomb. Bonfires and illuminations were seen in almost every city and large village in the land. For a moment the recent burning of Washington City by the British was almost forgotten. The freedom of the city of New York was given to Macomb. The State of New York gave Macdonough two thousand acres of wild land, and Vermont gave him two hundred acres on Cum berland Head, in sight of his field of victory. The cities of New York and Albany gave him valuable lots of land. Con gress gave both heroes the thanks of the nation, and a gold medal to each. " Thus," said Macdonough to a friend, his eyes suffused with tears, "in one month from a poor lieuten ant I became a rich man." In the mean time, Commodore Chauncey, while waiting for the fitting out of the Superior, had been carrying on some minor operations. He sent Lieutenant (late Rear-admiral) Gregory, with two sailing-masters in three gigs, and a few men, to attempt the capture of British boats that were taking sup plies up the St. Lawrence to Kingston. Gregory and his men lay in ambush among the Thousand Islands below Alexandria Bay at the middle of June, and on the 19th they captured a British gun-boat, armed with an 18-pound carronade. For this exploit, Congress, thirty years afterward, gave Gregory and his two fellow-officers three thousand dollars. Ten days after this capture, Gregory and his companions burnt a schooner on the stocks in a Canada port. She was pierced for 14 guns, and was nearly ready to be launched; also a building filled with stores. 222 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. On the last day of July, 1814, Chauncey's squadron sailed out of Sackett's Harbor. He was just recovering from severe illness. His vessels were the flag-ship Superior, 62 guns ; Pike, 28, Captain Crane (the second in command); Mohawk, 42; Madison, 24; Jefferson, 22 ; Jones, 22 ; Sylph, 14; Oneida, 16; and the lookout boat Lady of the Lake. They appeared off FULTON TILE FIRST.' the Niagara River (then again in possession of the British) on the 5th of August. Leaving three vessels there to blockade some British craft on the river, Chauncey crossed the lake with the remainder of his squadron, and proceeded to Kingston, blockaded the squadron of Sir James Yeo there for six weeks, and tried, in vain, to induce him to come out and fight. FLOATING BATTERY " FULTON THE FIRST." 223 In the early part of 1814 the construction of a steamship, under the direction of Robert Fnlton, and intended for harbor defence, was begnn. It was built at Noah Brown's ship-yard, New York, and was launched on the morning of October 29th, 1814, in the presence of a vast multitude of people. The hull consisted of two boats separated by a channel fifty feet wide, one boat containing the copper boiler for gener ating steam ; the other was occupied by the machinery. The propelling wheel revolved in the space between them, and they were connected by a deck extending over the whole. The vessel was 145 feet long and section of floating 55 wide. She had two masts rigged with sails, and she mounted thirty 32-pound carronades, and two columbiads of 100 pounds each. She made a trial trip a short distance to sea, on the 4th of July, 1815, and was propelled by her engines alone at the rate of six miles an hour. She was a floating battery, and was named Fulton the First.1 At the close of September (1814) Chauncey was informed that the St. Lawrence, a frigate pierced for 112 guns, which had been constructed at Kingston, was ready for sea. The commodore prudently withdrew to Sackett's Harbor to await an attack. The St. Lawrence, bearing Sir James Yeo, and more than a thousand men, sailed at the middle of October, 1 The most extravagant stories were told about this floating battery. In a treatise on steam-vessels, published in Scotland not long after she waa built, the author said : " Her length is 300 feet ; breadth 200 feet ; thickness of her sides 13 feet, of alternate oak plank and corkwood ; car ries 44 guns, four of which are 100-pounders ; can discharge 100 gallons of boiling water in a few minutes, and, by mechanics, brandishes 300 cut lasses with the utmost regularity over her gunwales ; works, also, an equal number of pikes of great length, darting them from her sides with prodig ious force, and withdrawing them every quarter of a minute." 224 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. accompanied by four ships, two brigs, and a schooner; and from that hour the baronet roamed Lake Ontario as sov ereign. Determined to match the St. Lawrence before the opening of another spring, the Americans laid the keels of two first-class frigates. The New Orleans was begun at Sackett's Harbor, and the Chippewa a few miles farther up the bay. The New Orleans, when news of peace came, in Feb ruary following, was all plank ed, and nearly ready to be launched. So vigorously had Eckford pushed the construc tion of the vessel that, within twenty -seven days from the time when the timber was felled in the forest, she had reached the point mentioned. She is now (1880) well pre served, under good shelter, af ter a lapse of sixty-five years. Yeo did not attack Chauncey at Sackett's Harbor. The military force there was increased to about six thousand men, and when the lake was closed by ice the war on that frontier ceased, for peace was proclaimed soon afterward.1 1 Isaac Chauncey was a native of Fairfield County, Connecticut, and died in Washington, in 1840, at the age of sixty-seven years. He was interred in the Congressional burying-ground with appropriate honors, and over his remains stands a clouded white marble monument about eighteen feet in height. OUAUNCEY S MONUMENT. CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE BAYS BLOCKADED. 225 CHAPTER XVI. Vexed, alarmed, and perplexed, the British Government, at the close of the year 1812, resolved, most unwisely, to try the effects of harsh measures toward the Americans. They had tried that policy for ten years before the old war for indepen dence, and failed to accomplish their purposes. They had tried it time after time during that war with the same result. The Americans were made more united, stronger, and more deter mined than before. Yet the British had not learned wisdom from experience; and at the close of 1812 the British Cabinet issued orders for a stringent blockade of portions of the American coast, and directed their naval commanders to " chastise the Americans into submission " by ravaging their sea-port towns, and deso lating their possessions everywhere with fire and sword. The coasts of Chesapeake and Delaware bays were first declared to be blockaded, and a sufficient land and naval force, it was sup posed, was sent to enforce every order of the instructions given to the respective commanders. The fleet of Admiral Warren in American waters was re -enforced, and Rear-admiral Sir George Cockburn was appointed his second in command. Blockading vessels first appeared in February, 1813, when four 74-gun ships and several smaller armed vessels entered be tween the capes of Virginia, and bore up toward Hampton Roads. They carried land troops, and were well supplied with surf-boats for landing. Instead of being a true blockading squadron, it was a marauding expedition to ravage the countries along the sea-board, and pursue indiscriminate plunder. Their appear- 226 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. ance alarmed all lower Virginia, and the militia in that re gion was soon in motion. By order of the Secretary of the Treasury the beacon-lights on the Chesapeake coasts were ex tinguished. Intimidated by these movements, and the fact that the frigate Constellation, 38 guns, was lying at Norfolk, the British thought it more prudent to operate on Chesapeake and Delaware bays than to enter Hampton Roads at that time. Cockburn sent Captain Beresford with the Belvidera, Poic tiers, and some smaller vessels, to teach the inhabitants on the shores of Delaware Bay the duty of submission. The vil lages were threatened with destruction if they did not furnish the vessels with supplies. " Do your worst ; we will give you none !" was the substance of replies from Philadelphia to the sea. The people turned out everywhere to repel the invaders, and Beresford, finding he could not obtain supplies on the Del aware, sailed away. Meanwhile Admiral Cockburn, taking position in Lynn Ha ven Bay, sent out armed marauding parties to plunder the in habitants on the coasts of Chesapeake Bay. He undertook a more honorable exploit early in April. The Baltimore priva teer Dolphin, 10 guns, Captain Spafford, and three armed schooners lying in the bay, were about to sail for France. Cock burn sent a flotilla of a dozen armed boats, under a lieutenant of the St. Domingo, to capture them, and who, after a fierce struggle, succeeded. The Dolphin was boarded by overwhelm ing numbers, and, after a furious combat for fifteen minutes on her deck, Captain Spafford surrendered. This success excited Cockburn's ambition, and he dreamed of attacking Annapolis and Baltimore, and even of penetrating the country to the national capital and destroying it. But he prudently confined his operations to the plunder of smaller places. He ravaged Frenchtown and Havre-de-Grace, making the latter place full $60,000 poorer than when he arrived. After plundering and destroying other quiet and defenceless BRITISH VESSELS IK HAMPTON ROADS. 227 villages, Cockburn and his marauders returned to their ships. The Americans had no vessels in the Chesapeake to oppose these invaders. The blockade having, by proclamation, been extended from New York to St. Augustine, Admiral Warren entered the Ches apeake with re-enforcements on the 1st of June, 1813. In the Elizabeth River were the Constellation, 38 guns, Captain Tarbell, and a flotilla of twenty gun-boats for the protection of Nor folk. The British vessels menaced Norfolk, Hampton, Annap- OIIEBAPEAKE BAY. ohs, and Baltimore. Finally, at the middle of June, three British frigates entered Hampton Roads, and smaller vessels were sent up the James River to ravage its shores. The Americans had cast up fortifications on Craney Island, on the Elizabeth River, which commanded the channel of that stream ; »nd these, well armed with land troops and artillery, made that post very strong. 228 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Captain Tarbell, of the Constellation, organized an expedi tion against the British vessels. Toward midnight of the 19th of June, the captain, with fifteen gun - boats, descended the Elizabeth, and surprised the Juno, 38 guns, lying the nearest. She was about three miles from the other frigates. The wind was too light to fill her sails, and the Americans felt assured of victory, when a land-breeze suddenly sprung up from the north-east, which enabled the other two frigates to come to the REMAINS OF FORTIFICATIONS ON CRANEY ISLAND. rescue of the Juno. Their heavy guns compelled the Ameri can gun-boats, managed by sweeps, to haul off. This attack brought matters to a crisis. The British laud- forces were debarked on the main, or were sent in bafges to capture Craney Island, destroy the American flotilla, seize the Constellation, and take the city of Norfolk. They were re pulsed at Craney Island, when they attacked and captured Hampton, a flourishing village near Old Point Comfort. They remained there until the close of June, when the blockading fleet went up the Potomac River some distance. It consisted of seven ships of the line, seven frigates, and eleven smaller vessels. A portion of the fleet under Cockburn soon afterward sailed down the coasts of the Carolinas, capturing private armed ves- RAVAGES ON THE SOUTHERN COASTS. 229 sels and smaller craft, plundering plantations, and carrying away many slaves to whom they promised freedom. But the poor creatures, it is said, were sent to the West Indies by Cockburn, and sold. Among the estates desolated was Bona- venture, a few miles from Savannah, the property of the Tatt nall family. The admiral made his head-quarters for awhile at a fine country-seat on Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia, whence he sent out marauders in every direction. ENTRANCE TO BONAVENTURE. While these events were occurring on the Southern coasts, the blockade was extended from the Delaware eastward to Nantucket ; and Sir Thomas M. Hardy was sent to enforce it, with a small squadron. We have seen (page 125) that the United States and her prize, the Macedonian, entered New York harbor at the begin- 230 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. ning of 1813. Soon afterward the Poictiers, with a number of small vessels, was carefully guarding the entrance to New York Bay through the Narrows. Decatur, anxious to get to sea, found it unsafe to attempt it in the face of this blockading squadron ; so, with his two frigates and the sloop Hornet, Cap tain Biddle, he passed up Long Island Sound for the purpose of escaping to. the ocean in that direction. Meanwhile a small blockading squadron had been vigilantly watching that region. This squadron Decatur met near the mouth of the Thames (June 1st, 1813), and ran into New Lon don harbor for safety, where his vessels were blockaded about twenty months. At the latter part of June Sir Thomas Hardy assumed the command of the squadron off New London, which consisted of two 74's and a number of smaller vessels ; and at about that time an attempt was made to blow up the flag-ship with a float ing mine (see Chapter XXV), but failed. This attempt, which produced a real disaster, so alarmed the British naval com manders, that they did not venture into American harbors there after. In the spring of 1813, a flotilla of American gun-boats, under Commodore Lewis, appeared in Long Island Sound for the pro tection of the coast-trade against a British privateer that was cruising there under the shadow of the blockading squadron. The privateer fled eastward on Lewis's approach, and when he arrived at the mouth of the Connecticut River he found more than fifty American vessels there, afraid to go out on the sound. He bade them follow him, and they did so. During the afternoon (June 25th) Lewis had a sharp en gagement with a British frigate, a sloop and tender, but con voyed his trusting followers safely into the Thames. Then he determined to attack the blockading squadron. He hurled hot shot which set one of the vessels on fire, and so crippled a frig ate that she was about to surrender, when night — dark night — IP1" MH't-'" 'fl mmam "Mm mm w ,. ^^^Bi *-3?C5SJi?,. MARCH XXHI .,;«> j ! bar. On the morning of the 7th the Wabash and thirteen other vessels began an attack on the Confederate forts, and drove the "mosquito fleet" into shallow water. The combat was very severe, and lasted about four hours, when the Confed erates fled in a panic, leaving their forts in possession of the 300 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. National Navy. Toward the end of the contest some other ves sels joined in the fray. The fleet moved in circles, and deliv ered their fire when nearest the forts. Dupont lost in all thirty-one killed and wounded. The chief spoils of victory S. F. DTJPO-NT. were forty-eight fine cannons, and a large quantity of ammuni tion and stores. By the evening of the 9th the fleet was in possession of other islands, also of Tybee Island, that guarded the entrance to the Savannah River. THE BLOCKADING SQUADRONS. 301 CHAPTER XXI. In 1862 the American Navy comprised seven distinct squad rons, namely: (1) North Atlantic, guarding the Virginia and North Carolina coasts; (2) South Atlantic, blockading the. coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and the north-east coast of Florida; (3) The Eastern Gulf Squadron, its range extending from Cape Canaveral, on the Florida coast, to Pensacola ; (4) The Western Gulf Squadron, its patrol extending from Pensa cola to the Rio Grande ; (5) The Western Flotilla, on the Mis sissippi River; (6) The Potomac Flotilla, on the Potomac; and (7) The James River Flotilla, on the James. Early in January, 1862, a joint naval and military expedition, under Flag-officer L. M. Goldsborough and General A. E. Burn side, sailed from Hampton Roads for Roanoke Island, and to operate on the neighboring coasts of North Carolina. Golds- borough had seventeen light-draught vessels, with an aggregate armament of forty-eight heavy guns. On the 8th of February the fleet led in an attack upon the Confederate batteries on the island., and covered the landing of the troops the next day, which speedily effected its conquest. Leaving Roanoke, a portion of Goldsborough's flotilla, com manded by Commodore C. S. Rowan, drove the Confederate vessels up the Pasquotank River to Elizabeth City, where they took shelter under the four guns of a land battery. The Con federate flotilla was commanded by Commodore Ingraham, late of the United States Navy. In the face of a sharp fire from the battery, Rowan pressed forward, demolished this land de- 302 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. fence, and captured or destroyed the whole of the little Confed erate fleet. At the beginning of February, 1862, the Western Flotilla, under Commodore Foote, bore an army commanded by Gen eral U. S. Grant up the Tennessee River, to attack Fort Henry. Foote was compelled to perform that task (February 6th) with out the help of the troops, who had been delayed in their marches after debarking by the wretchedness of the land travel. The fort was captured, the troops took possession, and the flo tilla returned to Cairo to procure mortar-boats to assist in an attack upon Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River. Foote was not allowed time to procure the mortar-boats, but went up the Cumberland with his flotilla of gun -boats. He began the attack on the 14th with four iron-clad boats and two wooden ones. The Confederates were driven from their water batteries, after a very sharp conflict, when the gun-boats, seriously injured, and deprived of fifty-four men by death or wounds, retired, leaving the work of completing the capture of the fort to the army. The garrison, composed of thirteen thousand five hundred men, was surrendered on Sunday, Feb ruary 16th, with three thousand horses, forty-eight field-pieces, seventeen heavy guns, twenty thousand muskets, and a large quantity of military stores. This victory elated the friends of the government, and com pensated in a measure for the disappointment felt at the result of a recent transaction which produced much commotion on both sides of the Atlantic, involving the great question of the rights of neutral vessels on the sea. It was about this which the Americans and British fought in the Second War for Inde pendence. The Confederates had appointed James M. Mason and John Slidell commissioners to foreign governments, the former to the English and the latter to the French court. They sailed from Charleston on the 12th of October, 1861, their vessel elud- • CAPTURE OF MASON AND SLIDELL. 303 ing the blockading squadron on a dark night. They went to Cuba, where they took passage in the English mail -steamer Trent for St. Thomas, to go from there to England. Captain Charles Wilkes (see page 283), returning from the coast of Af rica in the sloop-of-war San Jacinto, touched at Havana, and hearing of the commissioners, started in pursuit of the Trent. She was overtaken, and when within hailing distance Wilkes requested her to heave to. She kept on her course. CHARLES WILKES. Wilkes, who had called his men to quarters, fired a shell across the bow of the Trent, when she hove to. He sent a young officer on board the Trent to summon the commission ers to go to the San Jacinto. The summons was treated with scorn. A proper force was sent for them, and they were com pelled to yield. The prisoners were taken to Boston and con fined in Fort Warren. Of this- violation of a neutral flag the British Government loudly complained, and threatened war, si multaneously with a demand for the return of the prisoners. The United States Government had already determined to re- 304 STORY OF THE. UNITED STATES NAVY. lease them when the demand came, because the act of Captain Wilkes was contrary to the long-avowed principles of that gov ernment. All loyal people approved the act of Wilkes, irre spective of State policy, but the government wisely adhered to its principles, and set the prisoners at liberty. After the success at Fort Donelson, Foote's flotilla was very active on the Mississippi River. The Confederates had a very strong post on the eastern bank of that stream, at Columbus, Kentucky. Foote proceeded with six gun-boats, early in March, to capture it, but when he approached, the Confederates had fled in great haste and retired to New Madrid at a great bend in the river, and to Island No. 10. These points, although a thousand miles from New Orleans, were considered as forming the key to the lower Mississippi and to that city. The Con federates confidently expected that at this great bend in the river, its shores dotted with strong batteries, they might be able to say effectually to each National vessel on that stream, " Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." New Madrid was captured by troops under General John Pope at near the middle of March. At the same time, Com modore Foote left Cairo with seven armored gun-boats, one not armored, and ten mortar-boats for the purpose of co-operating with Pope. His powerful fleet arrived in sight of Island No. 10 on Saturday, the 15th, where General Beauregard was in command, and who had so strongly fortified it that it seemed impregnable. That night Foote prepared for an immediate attack upon it, unmindful of its apparent strength. The Con federates called it their Gibraltar. On Sunday morning, March 16th, Commodore Foote began the siege of Island No. 10 with his gun and mortar boats. His flag-ship Benton opened the combat with rifled cannon, and was followed by the mortar-boats. Land troops co-operated with him. The siege went on with varying fortunes until the first week in April, when Foote and his flotilla were yet above the ATTACK ON ISLAND NUMBER TEN. 305 island. Beauregard telegraphed to Richmond on the 5th, say ing: "The Northerners have thrown three thousand shells and burnt fifty tons of gunpowder without damaging my batteries or killing one of my men." While Foote was pounding at Island No. 10 and its support ing batteries on the main, Pope was chafing at New Madrid MORTAR-BOATS ON THE MISSISSIPPI. with impatience to gain a footing where he might attack the island in its rear. A peninsula strongly guarded was the place he wished to secure. He tried to induce Foote to allow some of his vessels to run past the batteries on the island, and trans port his troops to the peninsula, but the commodore hesitated. At length the gallant Captain Walke, commanding the gun boat Carondelet, volunteered to undertake the perilous venture. Foote reluctantly consented. On the night of the 30th of April, during a violent thunder-storm, the Carondelet ran the fearful gauntlet in safety. The frequent flashes of lightning revealed the position of the vessel, when a dozen batteries 14 306 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. would open upon her at once. Bravely she passed on, and was received at New Madrid with demonstrations of great joy- Meanwhile Pope had gained an important advantage by a canal which had been cut across the neck of a swampy penin sula. It was wrought through a tangled forest of trees and vines, and was large enough to allow war-vessels and transports to pass through. Already a hundred volunteers from the fleet had captured a 6-gun battery by assault, and one by one the strong defences of the island were giving way. Perceiving this, Beauregard left the command with a subordinate officer and departed for Mississippi; and on the 10th of April (1862) his successor offered to surrender the now famous island to Foote, and it was done on that day. The number of prisoners surrendered to Foote and Pope at Island No. 10 was seven thousand two hundred and seventy- three. The spoils of victory were nearly twenty batteries, with one hundred and twenty-three cannons, varying from 32-pound- ers to 100-pounders; seven thousand small arms; an immense amount of ammunition and stores; many horses; and four steamboats afloat. This victory, with another won by the Na tional troops at Shiloh, on the Tennessee River, the previous day, produced a most profound sensation in all parts of the republic. The Confederates were astounded and disheartened; the loyal people were exultant. Commodore Foote now went down the Mississippi with his gun-boats to attempt the capture of Memphis. There were fortifications above that city to be reduced, and a powerful flotilla of gun-boats under Commodore Hollins (see page 298) to be met and overcome, before reaching Memphis. Foote be gan the siege of Fort Pillow on the 14th of April, and soon drove Hollins to the shelter of its guns. Pope could not co operate, and Foote was left to carry on the siege alone. A wound in his ankle became so painful that he was compelled OPPOSING FLEETS ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 307 to leave the expedition in charge of Flag-officer C. H. Davis, his second in command. Hollins refitted his wounded vessels, and early in May ap peared with several " rams." His flag-ship was the McRea, which was furnished with a sharp iron prow. On the morning of the 10th he made a furious attack upon the National gun and mortar boats. A fierce battle ensued, in which the heavy guns of Fort Pillow participated. Finally the Benton, of Smith's fleet, sent a shell that penetrated the boiler of the McRea. She was soon enveloped in hot steam, which killed and scalded many of her people. Her colors were struck, and the conflict, which had raged for an hour, ceased, the Confed erate flotilla withdrawing to a place cf safety. For more than three weeks the two fleets lay off Fort Pillow watching each other. Meanwhile the National flotilla had been re-enforced by a " ram " squadron, under Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr., the builder of the Niagara Suspension Bridge ; but when, early in June, Commodore Davis was ready to renew the at tack on the fort with vigor, there was no enemy there to fight. A panic had seized the garrison, and they had fled. Davis now moved down the river, and in front of Memphis fought the Confederate fleet. The battle was watched with intense anxiety by the citizens. Sad havoc was made among the Confederate vessels. Finally, when only four of them were left afloat, and these were badly injured, their crews ran them ashore, abandoned them, and fled for life and liberty. The Confederate troops that occupied Memphis, perceiving that all was lost on the water, fled, and the city, without defend ers, was surrendered by the civil authorities. Soon afterward General Lew Wallace, of Grant's victorious army, occupied it with National troops. Not a life had been lost on the National vessels in the battle before the town. Looking back to the Atlantic coast, we see Commodore Du pont leaving Port Royal Sound late in February, with the Wa- 308 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. bash and fifty war vessels (twenty of them armored), for service on the coast of Georgia and Florida. The Confederates in Fort Clinch, on Amelia Island, at Fernandina, and at other places, fled at his approach, and Dupont wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, saying, " We captured Port Royal, but Fort Clinch and Fernandina have been given to us." The whole coast was soon in possession of the Nationals. St. Augustine was surrendered, and a small naval force went up the St. John's River and took possession of Jacksonville. Du pont returned to Port Royal at near the close of March, leav ing a small force at different points to hold what had been recovered. In the autumn of 1861 the government turned its attention to efforts to repossess Mobile, New Orleans, and Texas. The Department of the Gulf was created, and General B. F. Butler was placed in command of it. On receiving his instructions at Washington, he said to Mr. Lincoln, " Good-bye, Mr. President ; we shall take New Orleans, or you will never see me again." Secretary of War Stanton said to him, "The man who takes New Orleans is made a lieutenant-general." Butler left Hampton Roads on the 25th of February, with his wife, his staff, and fourteen hundred soldiers, in the fine steamship Mississippi, and debarked, after a passage through fearful storms, on Ship Island, off the coast of Mississippi, ex actly a month afterward. There was an unfinished fort there. Ship Island was the place of rendezvous for the naval as well as the land-forces destined for New Orleans. The former were under the command of Commodore D. G. Farragut, who, in February, was placed in charge of the Western Gulf Squadron. He was joined by Commodore D. D. Porter, with a powerful mortar fleet of twenty-one schooners, each armed with a mor tar weighing eight and a half tons, that would throw a 15-inch EXPEDITION AGAINST NEW ORLEANS. 309 shell, weighing, when filled, two hundred and twelve pounds. Each vessel was also armed with two 32-pounder rifled cannons. The combined forces were ready for action at the middle of April. The Confederates had strongly armed two forts (Jackson and St. Philip), one on each side of the Mississippi, seventy-five miles from its five passes or mouths, and under their guns had moored a fleet of thirteen armored gun-boats, an iron-clad float ing-battery, and the formidable ram Manassas (see page 298). They had other defences on the shores of the river between the forts, and between them and New Orleans. The fleets of Farragut and Porter were in the river on the 17th of April, and on the 18th fourteen of Porter's mortar-ves sels, disguised — their hulls bedaubed with the Mississippi mud, and their spars and rigging covered by the boughs of trees — anchored under cover of a wood just below the forts. The river was full to the brim. On that morning a shot from Fort Jackson opened the conflict, and Porter began the bombard ment, which continued several days, Farragut' s vessels lying be- 310 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. low in reserve. Perceiving no prospect of reducing the forts, Farragut resolved to run by them with his fleet. There was a boom of logs and chains across the river below the forts. On a dark and tempestuous night it was destroyed by gun-boats. The Confederates sent down fire-rafts to burn the fleet, but failed in the attempt. On the evening of the 23d Farragut was ready for his peril ous forward movement. It began at two o'clock in the morn ing of the 24th. The flag -ship Hartford, with the equally large ships Richmond and Brooklyn — all wooden vessels — formed the first division ; and the Pensacola, Mississippi, Onei da, Varuna, Katahdin, Kineo, Wissahickon, and Portsmouth, under Captain Theodoras Bailey, formed the second division. His flag-ship was the Cayuga. The first division kept near the right bank of the river to fight Fort Jackson, while the second division hugged the left bank to fight Fort St. Philip. To Captain Bell was assigned the duty of attacking the Confederate fleet above the forts. He was directed to keep in the channel with the Scioto, Wi nona, Iroquois, Pensacola, Itaska, and Kennebec. The mortar-vessels covered the advance by a terrible storm of shells hurled upon Fort Jackson. The whole of Bailey's division passed the fort almost unharmed, but only three of Bell's passed by. Farragut, in the fore-chains of the Hartford, had watched the movements of Bailey and Bell with intense interest through his night-glass, and just as the waning moon went down, and he was a mile from Fort Jackson, that fortress opened a heavy fire upon the Hartford with great precision. Very soon she returned such a tremendous broadside of grape and canister that the garrison were driven from their barbette guns. Meanwhile the Manassas had attacked the Brooklyn with only slight effect, but she was exposed to a raking fire from Fort St. Philip, and was also assailed by a large Confederate FARRAGUT'S FLAG-SHIP IN PERIL. 311 steamer. She gave the latter a broadside that set it on fire and destroyed it. Soon afterward she opened all her guns upon Fort St. Philip and silenced it. At the same time Far ragut was having a " rough time," as he said. While battling with the forts, a huge fire-raft came suddenly upon him all ablaze, and in trying to avoid it, the Hartford ran aground, and she was on fire in a moment on her port side half-way up to the main-top. The flames were soon extinguished, and she was set afloat. All this time she was pouring shells into the forts, and occasionally gave a Confederate steamer a broadside. Before the fleet had fairly passed the forts, the Confederate gun-boats and rams took part in the conflict. The scene was THE " liARTFORI awful and grand. The noise of twenty mortars and two hun dred and sixty great guns afloat and ashore was terrific. The explosion of shells, sunk deep in the oozy earth around the forts, shook land and water like an earthquake. " Combine," wrote one of General Butler's staff, "all that you have ever heard of thunder, and all that you have ever seen of lightning, and yon have, perhaps, a conception of the scene." And all 312 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. this noise and destructive energy — blazing fire-rafts; floating volcanoes, belching out fire and smoke, with bolts of death ; the fierce rams pushing here and there with deadly force, and the thundering forts — were all crowded in the darkness within the space of a narrow river. As soon as the Cayuga passed Fort St. Philip, the Manassas, the huge floating-battery, and sixteen other vessels combined to destroy her. Captain Bailey could not withstand them all, and he steered his vessel so as to avoid the butting rams and to foil attempts to board the Cayuga. Meanwhile he was of fensive as well as defensive, and he so skilfully managed his vessel and his guns, that he compelled three of the Confeder ate gun-boats to surrender before any of bis other vessels came to his assistance. The Cayuga, which had been struck forty- two times, escaped up the river. The Varuna, Captain Boggs, that came to the rescue of the Cayuga, now became the chief object of the wrath of the foe. Boggs had run into a " nest of rebel steamers," he said. He delivered broadsides right and left. The first one that received the Varuna's fire was one filled with troops. Her boiler was exploded by a shot, and she drifted ashore. Soon afterward the Varuna drove three other vessels ashore in flames, and all of them blew up. A powerful ram attacked her, and crushed in her side. Her broadside, delivered at the same time, drove the monster ashore in flames. Finding the Varuna sinking, Boggs ran her ashore, tied her fast, and poured heavy shot into another vessel that had attacked him. That vessel soon sur rendered to the Oneida, which had come to the rescue of the Varuna. So ended one of the fiercest naval fights on record. Within the space of an hour and a half after the' National vessels had left their anchorage, the forts were passed, the struggle had oc curred, and nearly the whole of the Confederate fleet was de stroyed. The Manassas, dreadfully wounded and on fire, floated THE NATIONAL FLEET AT NEW ORLEANS. 313 down among Porter's mortar-boats, which were still below the forts. Her only gun soon went off, and she plunged, hissing, like a huge monster, to the bottom of the river. This whole tragedy was performed while the theatre was shrouded in the darkness of night. In the mean time Butler had landed some troops below the forts, and through shallow bayous, piloted by Lieutenant Weit- zel, they gained the rear of Fort St. Philip. Some took a po sition above Fort Jackson. Porter kept pounding the latter work terribly with his mortars, and finally the forts and the remainder of the Confederate fleet afloat surrendered. Porter turned over the forts to the army. Nearly one thousand per sons were taken prisoners. Farragut pushed on toward New Orleans. The news of his approach created an intense panic. The Confederate military stationed there fled ; citizens abandoned their homes and busi ness, and hurried out of the town ; specie to the amount of $4,000,000 was sent away by the bankers ; and frantic women were seen in the streets bareheaded, brandishing pistols and shouting, " Burn the city ! Never mind us ! Burn the city !" Cotton of the value of $15,000,000 piled upon the levees, and a dozen large ships, with as many magnificent steamboats, were all set on fire and consumed in one huge conflagration. In the presence of this appalling scene, and while a fierce thunder storm was raging, Farragut's squadron anchored in front of the city on the afternoon of April 25th, 1862. New Orleans was now utterly defenceless. Farragut sent Captain Bailey with a flag to demand the instant surrender of the city. The mayor, to whom the military commander had left the question of surrender or resistance, refused. Mean while a force of marines had landed and hoisted the National flag over the government mint. Farragut intimated, in reply to the mayor, that he might be compelled to shell the city, and' notified him to remove the women and children within fort.y- 14* 314 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. eight hours. The mayor returned a most foolish and insulting reply ; and while the commodore was considering the opposing claims of humanity aud duty, he received intelligence of the D. G. FARRAGUT. surrender of the forts below. He then concluded that he could afford to wait for the arrival of General Butler and his troops. They soon came, and New Orleans passed into the quiet and permanent possession of the National forces. THE "MERRIMAC" IN HAMPTON ROADS. 315 CHAPTER XXII. A stirring and novel event occurred in Hampton Roads early in March, 1862. The Confederates had raised the scut tled Merrimac (see page 293) and converted her into a formi dable iron-clad " ram," which they named Virginia. She was placed in command of Franklin Buchanan, late of the United States Navy, and was completely equipped at the Norfolk Navy- yard. At that time the sailing-frigate Congress and sloop-of- war Cumberland were lyino- near Newport-Newce, at the mouth of the James River, while the flag-ship of the squadron (Roa noke) in the Roads and the steam-frigate Minnesota were lying at Fortress Monroe, several miles distant. On Saturday, the 8th, the Merrimac steamed down the Eliz abeth River and headed for the Cumberland, Captain Morris, who opened a brisk but harmless fire upon the monster. The Merrimac ran her iron beak into the starboard bow of the Cumberland. It was a death-blow ; but the guns of the Cum berland were fought until the water covered her decks, and she went down heroically, with her colors flying at the peak. The sick and wounded, who could not be removed, to the number of one hundred, went down with the sinking vessel in fifty-four feet of water. The Congress was next assailed by the Merrimac and gun boats that accompanied her, and, after stout resistance, was surrendered to the Confederates. The Merrimac afterward set her on fire with hot shot. At midnight her magazine, contain ing five tons of gunpowder, exploded, tearing her into pieces. Only one- half of her crew of four hundred and thirty-four 316 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. men answered to their names at roll-call at Newport-Newce the next morning. The Minnesota had hastened to the assistance of the vessels at Newport-Newce, but ran aground before she arrived at the scene of conflict. There she was attacked by the Merrimac and two gun-boats, but fought them so gallantly that at dusk her assailants, much crippled, withdrew. This destructive raid caused great consternation among the loyal people. It was expected the Merrimac would destroy the grounded Minnesota and other vessels in the Roads, escape to sea, and spread havoc in Northern harbors. All eyes on the northern shores of Hampton Roads were sleepless that night. There seemed no available human help. At a little past midnight a mysterious thing came in from the sea, lighted on its way by the burning Congress. It seemed like a supernatural apparition. The won dering sentinels saw nothing but an apparent float moved by steam, with a huge cylinder upon it. The Con federates called it a "cheese-box afloat." It was the famous Moni tor, constructed under the direction of Captain John Ericsson, with its turret invented by Theodore Tim- bey, and commanded by Lieutenant (afterward Rear-admiral) John L. Worden. She had made a perilous voyage in tow of the Seth Low from the harbor of New York, and had arrived just in time to perform the needed work of a wonderful savior. The Monitor was built almost wholly of three-inch iron, point ed at both ends like a whale-boat, her deck only a few inches above the water. It was one hundred and twenty-four feet in length, thirty-four in width, and six in depth, with a flat bot- TUEODOKB R. TIMIiKY. THE "MONITOR" IN HAMPTON ROADS. 317 torn. Over this hull was another that extended over the lower one three feet all around, excepting at the ends, where the pro jection was twenty-five feet, for the protection of the anchor, propeller, and rudder. On her deck was a revolving turret, made of eight thicknesses of one -inch wrought - iron plates, round, twenty feet in diameter, and ten feet high. The smoke stack was telescopic in construction, so as to be lowered in bat tle. Within this revolving turret or citadel (which was easily turned by a contrivance) were two heavy Dahlgren cannons. By turning the turret these " bull-dogs " might look straight into the face of an attacking enemy, wherever he might be, without changing the position of the vessel. The Monitor was propelled by a powerful steam-engine. On his arrival at two o'clock in the morning of March 9th, 1862, Lieutenant Worden reported to Flag-officer Van Brunt, and the strange vessel was moored along-side the Minnesota. The Monitor seemed like a pygmy by a giant in the shadow of the huge frigate ; but she was an engine charged with most destructive energy. •That Sabbath morning dawned brightly. Before sunrise the dreaded Merrimac was seen coming down from Norfolk, with attendants, to renew her savage work on the Minnesota. As she approached, the latter opened her stern guns on the as sailant, when the Monitor, to the astonishment of friend and foe, ran out and placed herself along- side the giant warrior —a little David defying a lofty Goliath. The faith of her commander in her strength and invulnerability was amply justified. The turret of the Monitor began to move, and from her guns were hurled ponderous shots in quick succession. The Merri mac responded with two-hundred-pound shots moving at the rate of two thousand feet in a second. These, with solid round shots and conical bolts, glanced from the deck and cita del of the Monitor like pebbles, scarcely leaving a mark be- 318 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. hind. Neither of these mailed gladiators was much bruised in this terrible encounter. The Merrimac now left her invulnerable and more agile an tagonist, and fell upon the Minnesota. The latter was severely wounded. One of her assailant's terrible shells went crashing through the Minnesota to amidships, setting her on fire. Full fifty round shot struck her, while her own broadsides had little effect upon her armored antagonist. Very soon the little Mon itor bore down to her assistance, ran in between the comba tants, and compelled the Merrimac to change her position. In doing so she ran aground, when the Minnesota brought her guns to bear upon her. She soon floated, and took to her heels toward Norfolk, chased by the fiery Monitor. The fugitive suddenly turned upon her pursuer, and sought to sink her by running into her with the huge iron beak, but the Merrimac was now more injured than her antagonist, and after a short and sharp combat they both withdrew. The Monitor now went toward Fortress Monroe, the Merri mac to Norfolk. The rescued Minnesota was lightened and put afloat, and the country rung with the praises of Ericsson, the inventor, and Worden, the warrior, whose united energies had achieved this momentous victory. The Merrimac was so much injured, and her commander was so impressed with pro found respect for the Monitor, that he did not again invite his little antagonist to combat. The gallant Worden, who had boldly ventured upon the stormy Atlantic in an untried vessel of strange fashion, and fought with success the most powerful ship then in the Con federate service, was stunned and injured by a heavy shot striking the " peep-hole " out of which he was looking. The concussion sent some shivered cement violently into his face, and the hurt put his life in danger for awhile. Lieutenant S. D. Greene, who had taken great interest in the fitting out of the Monitor, and had worked her guns during the action, now took command. NATIONAL VESSELS AT VICKSBURG. 321 When, in May following, troops under General Wool were marching on Norfolk, the Confederate soldiers there fled, set ting the Merrimac and other vessels, as well as the navy-yard, on fire. The iron-clad monster was destroyed by the explosion of her magazine, and so ended her career. The James River was now opened to the National gun-boats as far as City Point. The Monitor was afterward lost in a storm off Cape Hatteras. When New Orleans was in the power of the Nationals, Far ragut sent a portion of his fleet to "reduce Confederate ports on the Mississippi. Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, was captured on the 7th of May, when Farragut united his forces, and a larger portion of them under the command of S. P. Lee, moved on until they reached Vicksburg, without opposition. There were formidable batteries there, manned by the Confed erate troops that fled from New Orleans. Farragut, with the remainder of his vessels, a portion of Por ter's mortar fleet, and some transports with troops, arrived be fore Vicksburg on the 26th of June, and that night opened a heavy fire on the batteries there. They were too high to be much injured by the guns of the squadron ; and before daylight on the morning of the 28th Farragut, with the Hartford and six other vessels, ran by these batteries, leaving Porter, with his mortar-boats and the transports, below. He met the gun and mortar flotilla under Davis (see page 307) that had come down the river from Memphis. An attempt by the troops and twelve hundred negroes to cut a canal across the peninsula op posite Vicksburg, through which the transports might pass, was a failure, and in the course of a few days the siege of that city was abandoned. A powerful "' ram " was then lying in the Yazoo River, above Vicksburg, named Arkansas. Farragut sent three gun boats to capture her. They went cautiously up the Yazoo six miles, and found her. A desperate combat ensued, chiefly be tween the armored Carondelet, Captain Walke, and the Arkan- 322 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. sas. The former was badly injured. Her antagonist made her way into the Mississippi, and sought shelter under the guns of the batteries at Vicksburg. Farragut now ran past the Vicksburg fortifications, and returned to New Orleans with his fleet on the 28th of July. The monster " ram " Arkansas had a mission. It was to sweep every National vessel from the Mississippi, and " drive the Yankees from New Orleans." For that purpose she went down the river. The gun-boats Essex, Captain W. D. Porter, Cayuga, and Sumter went up the stream to meet her. They found her five miles above Baton Rouge, and an engagement was immediately begun. Owing to defects in her engines, the Arkansas became unmanageable, when she was run ashore and set on fire by her commander. The explosion of her maga zine blew her into fragments. Some attempts had been made to " repossess " important places in Texas, especially the city of Galveston. At the mid dle of May (1862), Henry Eagle, commander of a small block ading squadron in front of Galveston, summoned the town to surrender, but the demand was refused ; and so matters re mained until October, when the city was formally given up to Commander Renshaw by the civil authorities. We have noticed the commissioning of privateers by Jeffer son Davis in the spring of 1861, and the fate of two of them (see page 294). Before the close of July more than twenty of these depredators were afloat, the most active and formida ble of which were the Nashville and Sumter. The former was finally destroyed by the Montauk, commanded by Captain Worden, in the Ogeechee River. The career of the Sumter was brief, but more destructive. In June, 1861, she ran the blockade at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and was chased some distance by the Brooklyn. She ran among the West In dia Islands, captured many merchant-vessels, and became the terror of the American mercantile marine. ENGLISH-CONFEDERATE CRUISERS. 323 The British Government favored the confederated insurgents from the beginning, and the Sumter was everywhere welcomed in British ports, and allowed every facility for carrying on her destructive business. National vessels were sent out in pursuit of her, and at the close of 1861 she was compelled to seek shelter in the British port of Gibraltar, where, early in 1862, she was sold. The Confederates, encouraged by British favors, employed a British ship-builder (Mr. Laird, a member of Parliament) to THE tLSUMTER. construct vessels for them for privateering purposes. The Oreto was sent to sea in disguise, sailed for the British port of Nassau, and early in September appeared off the harbor of Mobile flying British colors. She ran into Mobile harbor, eluding the blockade fleet, and escaped late in December, when she bore the name of Florida. She hovered most of the time on the American coast, but was closely watched by National vessels. She managed to elude them. Finally she ran into the Brazilian port of Bahia, or San Salvador, after capturing a barque, and there she was captured by the Wachusetts, Cap tain Collins. This capture was a violation of neutrality, and produced considerable excitement. The captain and prize soon 324 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. afterward appeared in Hampton Roads, and not long after her arrival the Florida was sunk near Newport-Newce. Her ca reer had been very destructive to property of the loyal Amer icans. THE ALABAMA. The most famous of the English-American cruisers during the Civil War was the Alabama, Captain Raphael Semmes. She was built by Laird near Liverpool, was armed, provisioned, and chiefly manned in a British port, and sailed under British col ors. She was watched, while in port, by the National ship Tuscarora ; but, favored by the British Government in keeping the latter vessel back until the Alabama had got well to sea, she was allowed to go on her destructive errand without mol estation. For a year and a half afterward, while carefully avoiding contact with armed vessels of the United States, the Alabama illuminated the sea with blazing American merchant men which she had captured and set on fire. During the last ninety days of 1862 she captured and destroyed twenty-eight helpless vessels. After a prosperous voyage in the South Atlantic and Indian oceans, during which she captured sixty-seven vessels and de stroyed a greater portion of them, the Alabama took shelter in the French harbor of Cherbourg, in early summer, 1864. There fills i DESTRUCTION OF THE "ALABAMA." 327 the United States steamship Kearsarge, Captain J. A. Winslow, found her at near the middle of June. On Sunday, the 19th, the Alabama, fully prepared, went out to fight the Kearsarge. She was followed by a yacht belonging to one of the English gentry, to give aid to Semmes if he should be worsted in the fight, by snatching him and his officers from the grasp of the victor, and conveying them in safety to England. Passing beyond the neutral waters of the port, the two ves sels had a combat at long range for an hour, both moving in a circle. The Alabama was badly crippled, and her flag went down, whether shot away or pulled down in token of surrender, Winslow could not tell. Then a white flag was displayed over her stern, which was respected, and the Kearsarge ceased firing. Two minutes later the Alabama opened two guns upon her adversary, and attempted to run into neutral waters not more than three miles distant. This treachery was punished by a heavy fire from the Kearsarge, which put the Alabama in a siuking condition, and made her a pleader for mercy. When the Alabama went down Winslow humanely made ef forts to save her ingulfed crew, and rescued sixty-five of them. The English yacht picked up Semmes and his officers and a few men, and bore them to England, out of harm's way, where they were feasted and otherwise honored by the ruling class. For the complicity of the British Government in the ravages of this English-Confederate pirate-ship, a tribnnal of arbitration, chosen by the United States and Great Britain jointly, adjudged that the latter should pay to the former, for damages, the sum of fifteen million five hundred thousand dollars in gold, and it was done. The Shenandoah was another active English -Confederate sea-rover that sailed from England. She went around Cape Horn, crossed the Pacific Ocean, and sailed np the eastern coast of Asia to Behring Strait, to spread havoc among the New England whaling -ships engaged in fishing in those waters. 328 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. These vessels held a sort of convention in that high- latitude (June 28th, 1865), when the Shenandoah, disguised as a mer chantman and flying the American flag, ran in among the ships unsuspected. Then she revealed her true character, captured ten of them, placed eight of them in a group before midnight, and set them on fire, lighting up the ice-floes of the Polar Sea by the incendiary flames. This was the last act of hostility in the American Civil War in 1861-65. Late in 1862, Admiral D. D. Porter was with a gun-boat and mortar fleet above Vicksburg, and co-operated with General W. T. Sherman and a large body of land troops in attempts to capture Vicksburg by attacking it in the rear. They passed up the Yazoo River for the purpose, but failed. When General McClernand, Sherman's superior in rank, arrived at the begin ning of January, 1863, a land and naval expedition went up the Arkansas River to Arkansas Post, and captured Fort Hind- man. Soon afterward General Grant arrived, and he and Por ter arranged a plan for reducing Vicksburg, and speedily at tempted to put it into operation, For many weeks in the winter and spring of 1863, a most wonderful amphibious warfare was carried on among the net work of bayous in the rear of Vicksburg. Gun-boats and mor tar-boats, and land troops in strong force, were engaged in it; and the story, in detail, of the naval operations there appears like a tale of wildest romance. Nothing like it ever before appeared in the history of naval warfare. The Confederates everywhere met the Nationals, force with force, and contend ed bravely for the mastery. Grant, perceiving these efforts to be futile, finally withdrew the army and navy from the bayous. It was known that the Confederate troops at Vicksburg and Port Hudson below were supplied with necessaries by trans ports on the lower Mississippi. To destroy these, the " ram " Queen of the West was sent down the river. As she passed PORTER ALARMS THE CONFEDERATES AT VICKSBURG. 329 the batteries at Vicksburg she destroyed a steamer lying under protection of their guns, and, pushing on, destroyed three other vessels at Natchez. After running up the Red River a few miles, she returned and repassed the batteries at Vicksburg. She made another raid a few days later, but through the treach ery of a pilot she was lost on the Red River. On the night of February 13th (1863), the powerful iron clad steamer Indianola floated unobserved past the batteries at Vicksburg until she reached the lower ones, which opened upon her. Very little hurt, she passed on • with the expectation of sweeping Confederate craft from the river. Before the close of the month she was attacked by a Confederate " ram," and captured. While the Confederates were fitting her for service, PORTER 8 GUN-BOAT RAM. Porter one night sent down an old hulk fashioned like an im mense " ram," with a smoke-stack made of pork barrels. On her side were painted, in large letters, "Deluded people, cave in." There was not a man on board of her. As she passed 15 330 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Vicksburg the batteries opened a furious fire upon her, but she went sullenly on. The Confederates below, alarmed, blew the Indianola into fragments with gunpowder, and her cannons went to the bottom of the river THE " ISDIANOLA-'; A more important measure was now undertaken. Grant sent his troops down the western side of the Mississippi to cross below Vicksburg, and operate against the town from the line of the Big Black River. To assist in the transportation of troops across the river below, Porter prepared to run by Vicksburg with gun-boats, transports, and barges. The enter prise was undertaken on the night of April 1 6th. The vessels were laden with supplies, and shielded from the missiles from the batteries by bales of hay and cotton, heavy timbers, and iron chains. The gun-boats went down in the dark, in single file, to engage the batteries. The latter were silent until the fleet was abreast the city and the works, when the heights sud denly seemed all ablaze with lightning, and the air resonant with thunder. The fire of the batteries was returned with spirit. Under cover of the smoke, the transports followed. One of them was set on fire and burnt to the water's edge. The undertaking was successful, and the passage of the re mainder of the fleet was almost equally so. Late in 1862 General Banks was in command of the Depart ment of the Gulf. At the request of Renshaw (see page 322), then liolding Galveston, he sent a land-force to make its pos- THE "ALABAMA" AND " HATTERAS." 331 session more secure. General Magruder, the Confederate com mander in that region, armed some steamboats in neighboring rivers, gathered a considerable land-force, and on New-year's night, 1863, by a combined attack, took possession of the town and dispersed Renshaw's squadron after a desperate combat. The victory was almost a barren one, for Farragut soon after ward sent a competent squadron to seal up the port of Gal veston. Just as the blockade was re-established, a strange sail, under British colors, was seen in the distance, and the gun-boat Hat teras, Lieutenant Blake, was sent to make her acquaintance. The stranger seemed coy, and, on being hailed, her commander said she was the British ship Vixen. Very soon she revealed her true character. She was the English-Confederate cruiser Alabama. A very sharp combat ensued, in which the Alabama was much injured ; but it ended in the destruction of the Hat teras. She was sunk. There was great difference in the pow er of the two vessels. The heaviest guns carried by the Hat teras were 32-pounders; the Alabama carried one 150-ponnder and one 68-pounder. With the crew of the Hatteras, the Ala bama went into the friendly English port of Kingston, Jamaica, for repairs. Ten days after this engagement, two National gun - boats, blockading Sabine Pass, were driven out to sea by two armed Confederate steamers that came down the Sabine River. They were captured, with prisoners and a large amount of stores on board. Admiral Farragut, who had gone out to sea after returning to New Orleans, hearing of the destruction of National vessels on the Mississippi, determined to run by the Confederate bat teries on the high bluff at Port Hudson, and recover the control of the river from that point to Vicksburg. He gathered his fleet a little below Port Hudson in March, and General Banks sent from New Orleans about twelve thousand men to divert 332 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. the attention of the Confederate garrison from the naval op erations, if necessary. On a dark night (March 13th, 1863) Farragut, in the Hart ford, with a gun-boat lashed to her side, proceeded on the per ilous voyage. The other larger vessels followed, with gun-boats attached. These movements were watched by the vigilant Con federates, and when the fleet came within range of the batteries on the bluff, they opened upon the Nationals -a tremendous fire, with grape, canister, and shrapnel shot, and the bullets of sharp-shooters. The mortar-boats responded, but the guns of the fleet were less effective against the high batteries. After a fierce contest for an hour and a half the firing ceased, but only the Hartford and her attached gun-boat had passed. The Mis sissippi, Captain Melancthon Smith, had run aground and been set on fire by her commander. As she lightened she floated down the river with her twenty-one heavy guns. When the fire reached her magazine, she was blown into fragments by its ex plosion. The other vessels retired, while Farragut, with his two war-vessels, remained above Port Hudson. Late in April (1863) General Grant, ready to move forward to the Big Black River, directed Porter to attack the batteries at Grand Gulf. This was done on the morning of the 29th. The lower batteries were silenced, but the upper ones could not be reached. The combat soon ceased, but was renewed at a little before sunset, when, under cover of a heavy fire, the trans ports and the war-fleet ran by the batteries, as they had done at Vicksburg. Not long afterward the Confederates abandoned Grand Gulf, and Porter went up to Vicksburg to assist Grant in the siege of that post, where the army, after a series of vic tories, had gained the rear of the city. In that siege Porter's mortar-boats were at work forty days without intermission, and during the time fired seven thousand mortar-shells, while his gun-boats fired four thousand five hun dred shells. His gun - boats had patrolled the river to keep SIEGE OF PORT HUDSON. 333 its banks clear of guerillas, and to prevent supplies reaching Vicksburg, in which they were successful. During the whole siege he lost only one vessel, and only six or seven men in the engagement. A daily journal of events of the siege was printed on the ad miral's flag-ship, on one side of dull yellow paper, in two col umns, "terms $2000 per annum in Confederate notes, or equal weight in cord-wood." It informed the public that " no spe cial reporter belonged to the establishment," and that therefore '' nothing but the truth might be expected." Late in May Farragut assisted Banks in an attack on Port Hudson. With the Hartford, Albatross, and one or two other gun-boats above Port Hudson, and the Monongahela, Richmond, Essex, and Genesee, with mortar-boats below, he poured a con tinuous stream of shells upon the garrison at the close of May. After a severe battle on land and water,the Nationals rested. From that time Banks's cannons and Farragut's great guns pounded the Confederate works, and on the 9th of July (1863) they were surrendered, with more than six thousand troops. This conquest gave the final blow to Confederate control on the Mississippi River. It was now open to the passage of ves sels on its bosom, unmolested, from St. Louis to New Orleans, for Vicksburg had been surrendered to Grant a few days before. 334 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. CHAPTER XXIII. While these events were occurring on the Western rivers, the blockading squadrons were busy on the sea-coasts, co-oper ating with the armies. there, and watching and capturing Brit ish blockade-runners. Late in February, 1863, the Confederate steamer Nashville, driven into port, was lying under the protection of the guns of Fort M'Allister, a little way up the Ogeechee River. She had been keenly watched for some time by Captain Worden, with the monitor Montauk and other vessels. The Montauk could not ascend the Ogeechee, and Worden, with his long-range guns, sent shells (February 27th) that set her on fire, ancLshe was blown into fragments by the explosion of her magazine. An effort to capture the fort with mortar-boats at that time failed. About a month earlier a furious battle occurred just outside of Charleston harbor. The Confederates were informed that the heavier vessels of the blockading squadron were absent. The insurgents had two vessels — the Palmetto State and Chico- ra — fitted up as " rams," and these were sent out to attack the weaker forces of the squadron. They stole softly over the bar in a shrouding fog before dawn, at near the close of January (1863). The Mercedita lay just outside, and was struck with full force amidships by the beak of the Palmetto State, her an tagonist at the same time firing a shell that went crashing through her machinery. She was so disabled that she could neither fight nor fly. The victor next attacked the Keystone State, sending a shell ATTACK ON THE BLOCKADING FLEET.' 335 into her forehold and setting it on fire. As soon as the flames were extinguished, her commander (Captain Le Roy) attempted to run down his antagonist, when a huge shot from her went through both steam-chests of the Keystone State and utterly 336 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. disabled her. Day now dawned, and the rest of the block ading squadron, wide awake, dashed into the fight, when the assailants retreated toward Charleston, where Beauregard was then in command. He and Ingraham, the commander of the Confederate naval forces, issued a joint proclamation decep tively declaring that the blockade of Charleston was raised, when not a single vessel had really been removed — only tem porarily disabled — and the port was as effectually closed as ever. It was now determined to attempt the capture of Charleston. Admiral Dupont, with a naval force of fourteen vessels, anchor ed off Charleston harbor on the 5th of April. The " monitor squadron " moved over the bar the next morning, leaving the gun-boats outside. The flag-ship was the New Ironsides. The works around Charleston harbor to be reduced were numerous and formidable. The approach to them was peril ous. In one channel heavy piles were driven, with an opening to invite a vessel in, when she would be blown out of the water by a submerged mine of three thousand pounds of gunpowder. The main ship channel was obstructed by chains and a tangled net-work of cables held by a huge hawser, and buoyed up by empty barrels. Among this net-work were suspended torpe does, and the channels were strewn with them. Up this channel Dupont's fleet moved to attack Fort Sumter. The Confederate batteries were ominously silent. The Wee- hawken, Captain Rodgers, led, followed by a train of the strange monsters of the deep — the monitors. The Weehawken soon became entangled in the horrid net-work, when the barbette gnns of Fort Sumter sent down plunging shots and shells upon her. The Weehawken withdrew, followed by the other vessels, and in another channel they were confronted by the piles just mentioned. Fortunately Rodgers, the commander of the Wee hawken', was not lured into the opening, or his vessel would have been shattered into atoms by the monster torpedo. DESPERATE BATTLE NEAR FORT SUMTER. 337 Meanwhile, Dupont had brought up the other monitors into position for a combined attack upon Sumter. The Keokuk, Lieutenant-commander Rhind, ran up to within five hundred yards of the fort and hurled immense projectiles upon it. The Keokuk was soon so riddled by shots and shells from Sumter that she was compelled to withdraw, in a sinking condition. On the monitors was poured a tremendous storm of like pro jectiles, to which they made quick responses. At the same time Forts Moultrie, Wagner (on Morris Island), and others within range, having an aggregate of three hundred cannons, hurled heavy shot and shell upon the squadron, then within the focus of their concentrated fire, at a distance of only from five to eight hundred yards. These missiles were thrown at the rate of one hundred and sixty a minute. Some of them made severe wounds, but a greater portion of them glanced from the monitors like pistol-shot. The weaker Keokuk suffered most, having been hit ninety times. Nineteen holes were made in her hull, and her two turrets were riddled. She sunk at eight o'clock in the evening. The combat was terrific, and all in the fleet agreed that it ought not to be renewed ; and yet it was fully expected that another attack would be made in the morning. " Such a fire," wrote a participant, " or anything like it, was never seen be fore. * * * There was something almost pathetic in the specta cle of those little floating circular towers, exposed to the crush ing weight of these tons of metal, hurled against them with the terrific force of modern projectiles, and with such charges of powder as were never before dreamed of in artillery firing." The fight did not last more than forty minutes, during which time it was estimated the Confederates fired three thousand five hundred shots. Dupont, seeing the Keokuk destroyed, his flag-ship in peril, and his other vessels much injured, while Sumter appeared very little harmed, perceived the folly of renewing the attack. He 15* 338 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. dared to act wisely, and retired. The attack on Sumter was a failure, but it did not involve much disaster. For some time after this attack there was comparative quiet along the coasts of Carolina and Georgia. At length a rumor reached Dupont that the Confederates had a powerful ram named Atlanta in the waters connected with the Savannah River. She was under the command of Captain Webb, late of the United States Navy. Dupont sent the Weehawken and Nahant to look after her. The Confederates believed she was a match for any two monitors afloat, and acted accordingly. The Atlanta was in the Wilmington River. It was the pleas ant month of June. She went down to meet the two monitors, accompanied by gun-boats crowded with citizens of Savannah, many of them women, who went to see the fight and enjoy the victory. When her intended victims appeared in sight, Webb assured his " audience " that the monitors would be " in tow of the Atlanta before breakfast." As she pushed swiftly toward the Weehawken Captain Rodgers sent a solid shot that carried away the top of the Atlanta's pilot-house and sent-her aground. Fifteen minutes afterward she was a prisoner to the Weehawken. " Providence, for some good reason," said the astonished Webb pathetically to his crew, " has interfered with our plans." These were to sweep the blockading squadrons from the ocean, open the ports of Charleston and Wilmington, and ravage Northern harbors and sea-port towns. The Atlanta was taken to Phila delphia, where she was exhibited as a "show,'' the proceeds of which were given to the " Volunteer Refreshment Saloon " for soldiers in that city. General Q. A. Gillmore took command of the Department of the South on the 1st of June, 1863. Early in July he took a strong position on Morris Island, on which was the Confeder ate Fort Wagner. His object was to capture that fort, reduce Sumter, and closely besiege Charleston. To do this he would have the powerful assistance of a fleet commanded by Admiral FORT SUMTER IN RUINS. 339 Dahlgrcn. In the first attack on Wagner (July 11th) Gillmore was repulsed. Better prepared on the 17th of August, on that morning the guns of his twelve batteries on Morris Island and all of the heavy cannons of Dablgren's fleet were opened upon Wagner, Sumter, and Battery Gregg. The chief object of attack was Fort Sumter, two miles from Gillinore's batteries, aud upon it he brought bis breaching-guns to bear. At the same time the monitors Passaic and Patapsco assailed it with their heavy guns; and on the 24th Gilmore wrote to General Halleck : " Fort Sumter is to-day a shapeless mass of ruins." The guns of the army and navy were now ¦%BtKgfcfea ^^idLt mM. xi THE "NEW IRONSIDES.' turned upon Fort Wagner, the New Ironsides beginning the attack by a broadside of eight guns on its sea face. For forty- eight hours a cannonade and bombardment was kept up, when the Confederates were driven out of Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg. Believing the channels were strewn with torpedoes, Dahlgren would not risk his vessels by running by Sumter and up to 340 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Charleston, as Gillmore expected him to do ; but on the night of the 8th thirty row-boats filled with armed men went from the fleet to attempt to take possession of the smitten fort. Some of the men scaled the ruined fortress with the belief that the garrison was asleep. They were wide awake, and suddenly the invaders were assailed by musket -balls, hand-grenades, the fire of neighboring batteries, and a gun-boat lying near. Two hundred of the assailants were killed, wounded, or captured, with five boats and three colors. After that there was no more meddling with the ruined but yet powerful fort that guarded the approach to Charleston. Let us now return to the great valley of the Mississippi, and take note of operations there. Early in the spring of 1864, General Banks, commanding the Department of the Gulf, attempted to throw an army into Tex as by way of the Red River and Shreveport. He moved troops to Alexandria, on the Red River, in March, where he was joined, at about the middle of that month, by Admiral Porter, with fifteen powerful gun-boats and three other light steamboats, ac companied by transports bearing troops from Sherman's army. There were rapids in the Red River at Alexandria, up which only the lighter vessels of the fleet could pass. The heavier iron-clads were left below them. Of the gun-boats that passed the rapids, only the lighter ones could go higher than Grand Ecore. These, with smaller transports and a land-force under General T. Kilby Smith, went as far as Springfield, when the expedition was abandoned, and all the troops and vessels began a retreat to Alexandria. To the river portion of the expedi tion it was a perilous movement. The water on the river was falling, and the vessels were frequently aground. Confederate sharp-shooters, and dismounted cavalry with cannons, made many sharp attacks upon the worried flotilla. On the evening of April 12th a heavy transport, lying aground at Pleasant Hill Landing, was assailed by about two thousand OPERATIONS ON THE RED RIVER. 341 Confederates, under General Thomas Green, who demanded the surrender of all the vessels and troops. The monitor Osage, armed with two Rodman guns, returned the attack, and blew off the head of the Confederate commander. The vessels and troops sustained the assault most gallantly. The Lexington gave the Confederates a raking fire of canister-shot that strew ed the banks with their slain and wounded for a mile. So ter rible was the lesson given by the Nationals in this engagement that a force of five thousand Confederates, which were hasten ing to intercept the flotilla at a point below, turned back. Most of Porter's larger vessels were aground on the bar at Grand Ecore, and the water was still falling. Some of them drew a foot more water than was in the river there. The mo mentous question now arose : " If the retreat must be continued to the Mississippi River, how are the vessels to be taken over the bar at Alexandria ?" Lieutenant - colonel Joseph Bailey, acting chief -engineer of the Ninth Army Corps, proposed a practical solution of the difficulty by a method which he had learned in the business of lumbering on the wild streams of Wisconsin. He proposed to dam the river at the rapids, gather the vessels in the deepened waters above, then open a prepared sluice-way, and allow them to go down the swift-running stream like logs in -smaller wa ter-courses, upon the temporary deep current so formed. The army officers approved it, but Porter had no faith in the proposed measure. He rejected Bailey's offer to assist in passing the Eastport, a large vessel, over the shoals on her way down, by means of wing dams, for " no counsel of army officers," said Banks in his report, " was regarded in nautical affairs." The Eastport grounded several times, and finally, becoming fast in a bed of logs, Porter ordered her to be blown up. Bailey could have saved her. When the flotilla reached Alexandria, the water in the river was so low that not a vessel could pass down the rapids. The 342 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. peril was great, for an attack by the Confederates might result in the capture of the vessels. Porter declared that, "if natnre does not change her laws, there will, no doubt, be a rise of wa ter." But nature refused to accommodate him. He did not believe in damming the river except by words. Banks did, and he ordered Lieutenant-colonel Bailey to proceed in the work, and gave him the use of nearly the whole army in the task. In the space of five days a dam, eight hundred feet in length, constructed of stone and timber, and sunken coal -boats, was completed. The water was raised seven feet in the rapids, and by the method alluded to the whole fleet passed down the falls in safety on the 12th. Porter was astonished by the re sult, and wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, saying, " There seems to have been an especial Providence looking out for ns, in providing a man [Lieutenant -colonel Bailey] equal to the emergency." Late in the summer of 1864 it was resolved to seal up the port of Mobile against British blockade -runners. For that purpose Admiral Farragut appeared (August 5th) off the en trance to Mobile Bay, full thirty miles below the city, with a fleet of eighteen vessels, four of them iron-clad. At the same time a land-force of five thousand men, sent from New Orleans by General Canby, was placed on Dauphin Island which di vides the entrance to Mobile Bay into two channels. Farragut's vessels were the Hartford (flag -ship), Captain Drayton ; Brooklyn, Captain Alden ; Metacomet, Lieutenant- commander Jouett; Octorara, Lieutenant- commander Green; Richmond, Captain Jenkins ; Lackawanna, Captain Marchand ; Monongahela, Commander Strong ; Ossipee, Commander Le Roy ; Oneida, Commander Mullaney ; Port Royal, Lieutenant- commander Gherardi ; Seminole, Commander Donaldson ; Ken nebec, Lieutenant-commander McCann ; Itaska, Lieutenant-com mander Brown; and Galena, Lieutenant -commander Wells. These were all wooden vessels. The iron-clad vessels were the BATTLE IN MOBILE BAY. 345 Tecumseh, Commander Craven ; Manhattan, Commander Nich olson ; Winnebago, Commander Stevens; and Chickasaw, Lieu tenant-commander Perkins. The entrance to Mobile Bay was guarded by Fort Gaines, on the eastern point of Dauphin Island, overlooking the eastern or main passage, four miles in width ; and on Mobile Point stood stronger Fort Morgan. These forts were well armed and man ned, and within the bay, and not far distaDt, lay a small Con federate squadron, commanded by Commodore Buchanan (see page 315.) His flag-ship was the Tennessee, a huge ram, and one of the most powerful of the war-vessels of that class. She was accompanied by three ordinary gun-boats — Selma, Morgan, and Gaines. Early in the moming of the 5th, Farragut proceeded to en ter Mobile Bay. His wooden ships were arranged in couples, and lashed together for the purpose of passing between the two forts. The Hartford was tethered to the Metacomet, and the Brooklyn to the Octorara. Success largely depended upon the judicious movements of the fleet. That he might have a clear oversight of the whole, so as to give general directions to every vessel, he took a position near the round-top of the Hart ford. There he was lashed to the shrouds, that he might not be dislodged by the shock of battle. From that lofty observatory a speaking-tube extended to the deck, through which he might give orders clearly, in defiance of the uproar of battle. In that perilous position the admiral remained duringthe terrible storm of shot and shell encountered in the passage of the forts and the fierce encounter with the " ram " and gun-boats. The four iron-clad vessels led the fleet in the attack, followed immediately by the Hartford and Brooklyn, with their tethered companions. At a little before seven o'clock the Tecumseh opened fire on the fort while she was yet a mile distant from it, and very soon a general engagement began. The Brooklyn, being peculiarly fitted for the work in hand, led the Hartford. 346 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. When abreast Fort Morgan, she opened a heavy fire upon it with grape-shot, which soon drove the Confederate gunners from their more exposed batteries. At that moment a most appalling event occurred. The Tecumseh was about three hundred yards ahead of the Brooklyn, when she was suddenly uplifted, and almost as sud denly disappeared beneath the waters, carrying down with her Captain Craven and nearly all his officers and crew. Only seventeen of one hundred and thirty were saved. The Tecum seh had struck a percussion torpedo, which exploded directly under her turret, making a fearful chasm, into which the water rushed in such volume that she sunk in a few seconds. At this awful event just before her the Brooklyn recoiled. " What's the matter with the Brooklyn ?" Farragut asked his pilot above him. " She must have plenty of water there." " Plenty, and to spare, Admiral," the pilot replied. " What's the trouble ?" was shouted through a trumpet from the flag-ship to the Brooklyn. " Torpedoes !" was shouted back in reply. " Damn the torpedoes !" cried Farragut from his lofty perch. " Four bells ! Captain Drayton, go ahead ! Jouett, full speed !" The Hartford then passed the Brooklyn, assumed the head of the line, and led the fleet to victory. Farragut afterward said that,* in the confusion which ensued on the sinking of the Tecumseh and the stopping of the Brooklyn, he felt that all his plans had been thwarted, and he was at a loss whether to advance or retreat. In this extremity his natural impulse was to appeal to Heaven for guidance, and he prayed : " 0 God, who created man and gave him reason, direct me what to do. Shall I go on ?" And it seemed as if, in answer, a voice com manded him to " Go on !" and he did so. No more torpedoes were encountered. Farragut's ships poured such an incessant tempest of grape-shot upon the forts, that their guns were about silenced ; but, as the National fleet A POWERFUL "RAM" CONQUERED. 349 passed into the bay, the Confederate vessels made a furious at tack upon them. The " ram " Tennessee rushed at the Hartford, but missed her. She returned the fire, and passed on. The three Confederate gun-boats concentrated their fire upon the flag-ship. In the course of an hour the Selma was a prize to the Metacomet, which had cast off from the Hartford and as sailed her; and the other two Confederate gun-boats sought safety under the guns of the fort. Admiral Farragut now believed the fierce combat was ended, for, as darkness closed in, the forts were silent. He was mis taken. Just before nine o'clock the Tennessee came down the bay under a full head of steam, and made directly for the Hart ford. All the National vessels were immediately signaled to close in upon and destroy the monster. It was not an easy task, for it appeared absolutely invulnerable for several hours. The Monongahela first struck it a blow square in the side, and fired an 11-inch shot upon it, with very little effect, but lost her own beak in the encounter. The Lancaster, running at full speed, struck the " ram " and crushed in her own stem. Now the Hartford tried her powers upon the sea-giant. She gave the Tennessee a glancing blow, and a broadside of 10-inch shells at ten feet distance. Then the armored Chickasaw ran under her stern ; and at about the same time, the Manhattan approached, and sent a solid 15-inch bolt that demolished its steering gear, and broke square through the iron plating of its hull, and the thick wood-work behind it. The Hartford was about to strike another blow, when the Lackawanna, aiming to do the same, came in collision with the flag-ship and serious ly damaged her. Both vessels then drew off, and started at full speed to give the Tennessee a deadly blow by each ; and the Ossipee was also running at full speed for the same purpose, while the Chickasaw was pounding away at its stern. Thus beset and badly crippled, the Tennessee struck her colors, and became Farragnt's prisoner, after fighting all night and until 350 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. ten o'clock in the morning. Her commander was badly wound ed, and six of her crew were killed. The Confederate naval force in Mobile Bay was destroyed; but Farragut's work was not all done. He had subdued per haps the most powerful vessel ever put afloat ; but there stood the two forts still guarding the entrance to Mobile Bay. They must be captured before his task would be completed. The land troops under General Granger, on Dauphin Island, had begun the siege of Fort Gaines. Farragut sent the Chicka saw to help them. She shelled the fort so effectually that on the following morning (August 7th, 1864) it was surrendered, with its garrison of six hundred men. Stronger Fort Morgan still held out. Granger transferred his troops to the rear of that fort, and Farragut landed four 9-inch guns and placed them in battery under the command of Lieutenant Tyson, of the Hartford. When all was in readiness, the fleet and army open ed fire on the fort at dawn on August 22d, and, after a heavy bombardment for about twenty-four hours, it was surrendered to the admiral by its commander, General Page. By the capture of these forts, and a smaller fort near Mobile, the government came into possession of one hundred and four great guns, and fourteen hundred and sixty - four men made prisoners; and the port of Mobile was effectually and perma nently closed against blockade-runners. The victories of Farragut at Mobile and of Sherman at At lanta, following close upon each other, with other cheering events, gave assurance that the end of the Civil War could not be far in the future ; and President Lincoln, in view of bright promises of peace, issued a proclamation for a general thanks giving, and also an order for salutes of artillery at the princi pal arsenals, " for the signal success of General Sherman in Georgia, and of Admiral Farragut at Mobile." MEDALS OF HONOR. 351 CHAPTER XXIV. Examples of individual bravery in the naval service, on both sides, during the late Civil War, abounded ; and the Secretary of the Navy took care that persons in the National naval ser vice who performed any deeds specially deserving of commen dation should be recognized and rewarded. By act of Congress, approved December 21st, 1861, the Secre tary was authorized to cause two hundred bronze medals to be struck and bestowed upon those who "should most distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other commendable qualities dur ing the present war." These Medals of Honor were in the form of a five-pointed star, with a device emblematic of Union crushing Rebellion. In a circle around the emblem were thirty- three stars, the number of States then comprising the Republic. The medal was suspended from the flukes of an anchor, which in turn was attached to a buckle, and ribbon striped alternate white and red. The first recipient of this American Order of the Legion of Honor was John Davis, gunner's mate of the Valley City, one MEDAL OF HONOR. 352 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. of Commodore Rowan's flotilla that defeated the Confederate forces at Elizabeth City, in February, 1862 (see page 301). Davis was in the magazine of that vessel, serving the guns out of an open barrel of gunpowder, when a shell entered and ex ploded in the room, setting fire to the wood-work. Perceiving the imminent peril to the vessel and all on board, Davis imme diately seated himself upon the barrel, and remained there until the< fire was extinguished. The Secretary appointed him act ing gunner in the navy, and gave him the Medal of Honor, and admiring citizens of New York raised and presented to Davis $1100. One of the most notable acts of a subordinate naval officer serving in the Civil War was performed by Lieutenant W. B. dishing, in the harbor of Plymouth, North Carolina, on the night of October 7th, 1864. The powerful Confederate " ram " Albemarle, a great bugbear of the blockading squadron, was then lying at the wharf at Plymouth, behind a barricade of logs thirty feet in width. Her destruction was very desirable, and Cushing uudertook the perilous task. A small steam- launch, fitted up as a torpedo-boat, was placed under his com mand, and, covered by the intense darkness of the night, he ran in near the barricade, with a cutter in tow, before the men on the Albemarle discovered their peril. Then the sentinels sprung their rattles, the bells were rung, the commanding officer hail ed, and firing from the " ram " began, all at the same time. Cushing ran the launch far into the log obstructions, in the face of a severe tempest of musket balls, low-ered his torpedo- boom, and ran it directly under the overhang of the Albemarle. The mine exploded at the moment when the monster hurled from her gun a heavy bolt that crashed through and destroyed the launch. The Confederates kept up a fire at fifteen feet range, and called upon Cushing to surrender. He refused, and ordered his men to save themselves as they might. The brave young hero, with others, leaped into the water in the gloom, EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT FISHER. 353 and he swum to the middle of the stream without being hit by the Confederate shots, but most of the party were captured or drowned. Only one besides Cushing escaped. That officer reached the shore, and was kindly cared for by negroes. From them he learned, with great satisfaction, that his torpedo had made the Albemarle a hopeless wreck, and she had settled. down in the mud near the wharf. On the following night (October 8th) Cushing captured a skiff belonging to a Confed erate picket, and before midnight he was on board the Valley City lying in the offing. When Admiral Farragut had effectually sealed the port of Mobile, the attention of the Navy Department was turned to ward the port of Wilmington, on the Cape Fear River, North Carolina, into which British blockade-runners, eluding the Na tional vessels, were continually entering with supplies for the Confederates. At the mouth of the Cape Fear forts and bat teries had been erected for the protection of these violators of law, and of the harbor of Wilmington. One of the most formidable of these protectors was Fort Fisher, a strong earth work on the point of a narrow tongue of land on the right side of the entrance to the Cape Fear. It was about thirty miles below Wilmington. The land face of the fort occupied the whole width of the narrow cape known as Federal Point, and it was armed with twenty heavy cannons. The sea face exposed to a naval attack was about two hundred and fifty yards in extent. In the summer of 1864 preparations were made for a united service expedition against Fort Fisher. So early as August, armored and unarmored vessels began to gather for the purpose in Hampton Roa4s, and in October full fifty vessels were there, including the New Ironsides and several monitors, under the command of Admiral Porter. By means of the blockading squadron Generals Weitzel and Graham had already (Septem ber) reconnoitred Fort Fisher, and ascertained its position ana strength. 16 354 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. In November General Grant placed six thousand troops from General Butler's Army of the James under General Weitzel, to assist Admiral Porter in the reduction of Fort Fisher. The war-fleet and the troops in transports departed from the Roads on the 14th of December, and rendezvoused at sea twenty-five miles east of the fort. It was the most formidable naval arma ment ever put afloat. The Malvern (a wooden river or bay steamer) was the admiral's flag-ship. There were fifty-eight war-vessels in all, four of them monitors — the Saugus, Monad- nock, Canonicus, and Mahopac. A capital feature in the plan of the expedition was the ex plosion of an enormous floating-mine as near the fort as possi ble, with the intention of demolishing the work, or so paralyz ing the garrison that the seizure of the fort might be an easy task for the troops that were to debark immediately after the explosion. A captured blockade-runner was converted into a monster torpedo, charged with 430,000 pounds of gunpowder, and placed under the command of Captain Rhind (see page 337). The powder was in barrels and bags, and penetrated by Gomez fuses for ignition. It was intended to have her towed near the fort by a tug, in which the crew, after firing combus tibles which were placed on board the torpedo-vessel, might es- The transports, with troops, waited three days at the ren dezvous for the arrival of the war-fleet, and when they came a heavy storm was just rising. The transports were coaled and watered for only ten days, and were compelled to go in the gale up the coast to Beaufort, North Carolina, seventy miles, for these necessary supplies. Before their return with the troops that were to play an important part with the torpedo- vessel, Porter had exploded that mine, without any visible effect on the fort or garrison, and had bombarded the works several hours without doing them much harm. The troops arrived just at sunset, after the bombardment had ceased. FAILURE TO CAPTURE FORT FISHER. 355 The next morning (Christmas, 1864) the whole expedition moved to the attack. The fleet opened the bombardment at ten o'clock, and kept it up without cessation until twilight, re ceiving only feeble responses from the fort. Porter threw eighteen thousand shots and shells ; the fort sent back less than seven hundred. This feebleness of response deceived the ad miral ; and at three o'clock in the afternoon he passed Butler's head-quarters ship (Ben Deford) in the Malvern, and called out through his trumpet, " General, there is not a rebel within five miles of the fort. You have nothing to do but to march in and take it." It was a mistake. The fort had been re-enforced, and a gar rison of full nine hundred men were within it. Only one of the twenty guns on the land face had been disabled by the too much enfilading fire of the fleet. Only about one-third of the troops had been landed, when the wind arose, and no more could disembark in the surf with safety. These were led toward the fort. Satisfied that a suc cessful assault on the works could not be made in the face of the nineteen uninjured guns that might sweep the narrow cape when the enfilading bombardment should cease, Weitzel so re ported to Butler, and the troops were recalled. The enterprise was abandoned for the time, but the fleet remained in the vi cinity. The loss of the Nationals in this attack was about fifty men killed and wounded, nearly all by the bursting of six Par- rott guns of the fleet. The loss of the Confederates was three killed, fifty-five wounded, and three hundred made prisoners at supporting batteries that were captured. A new expedition against Fort Fisher left Hampton Roads on the 6th of January, 1865. There were about eight thousand troops, under the command of General A. H. Terry. They were borne in transports which gathered off Beaufort, North Caro lina, where Admiral Porter was supplying his fleet with coal and ammunition. On the 12th they all sailed down the coast, 356 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. and appeared off Fort Fisher the same evening. The troops were landed the next day above the fort, under cover of the fire of the fleet, and Terry cast up lines of intrenchments in his rear. These were armed with the lighter guns of the navy. On the morning of the 13th the fleet, in three lines, opened fire on the fort, the New Ironsides and the monitors taking the lead in the engagement. A continuous but not rapid bombard ment was kept up until dusk, and was renewed the next morn ing with greater vigor, while Terry was carrying forward his defences. Both arms of the service being fully prepared for a combined attack on the morning of the 15th, the entire fleet, excepting a division left to defend Terry's lines stretched across the penin sula, moved up toward the fort, taking a better position than on Christmas for damaging the land front. All night long the monitors had been pounding the fort, allowing the garrison no rest; now the fleet concentrated its fire on the land side of the fort. Very soon nearly every one of its twenty guns was dis abled, the palisades in front were strewn in splinters over the sand, and the way was prepared for the impatient soldiers to assail the fort successfully. Meanwhile fourteen hundred ma rines and six hundred sailors had been sent ashore, armed with revolvers, cutlasses, and carbines, and gave assistance to the army. As soon as the land troops were in a position for assault, the fleet changed its fire to the sea front of the fort. Between three and four o'clock in the afternoon the soldiers sprung for ward, and very soon made a lodgment on the parapet near the Cape Fear River, while the marines and sailors made a desper ate assault on the north-east bastion. They could not scale it, and were exposed to a murderous fire. Now the struggle was fierce ana persistent all along the line of the fort on the land side. The personal encounters were desperate. The combatants fired in each other's faces at a SERVICES OF THE NAVY IN THE CIVIL WAR. 357 few feet distant from each other. The Confederates were gradually pushed back, and at nine o'clock in the evening. the contest ended. The portion of the garrison not already in the hands of Terry fled toward Battery Buchanan, hotly pursued, and were made captives. The fort was now surrendered by Colonel Lamb, who was then in command. His superior, Gen eral Whiting, had received a severe wound, of which he died soon afterward in prison at Governor's Island, in New York harbor. The other fortifications at the mouth of the Cape Fear River soon shared the fate of Fort Fisher, and the port of Wilming ton, the last one opened to British blockade-runners, was effect ually and permanently closed. After the fall of Fort Fisher the navy had very little to do, excepting in the easy blockade service. Rear-admiral Thacher, with the Western Gulf Squadron, assisted in the final capture. of the city of Mobile early in April, 1865. The fighting. men. there fled from the city, after abandoning their fortifications and sinking two powerful "rams" in the harbor. On the 11th of April nine hundred of them hastened up the Alabama River, in gun-boats and transports, in search of personal safety, and on the same day the civil authorities of Mobile surrendered that city to General Granger and Admiral Thacher. This was one of the closing scenes of the Civil War. The services of the navy of the United States during the Civil War, on account of their peculiarity, attracted less atten tion than those of the army, and were not properly appreciated by the people. Viewed in the light of real usefulness in the holy work of saving the Union, that branch of the United Ser vice has an equal claim with the army to the gratitude of the nation. There were few occasions for a display of skill and prowess in purely naval battles, for the Confederates had no ships at sea excepting a few unlawful cruisers that were built, armed, manned, and provisioned in British ports. 358 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. The National Navy proper was employed in the blockade service ; in assisting the attacks of the armies upon fortifica tions along the rivers, and in the harbors, bays, bayous, and sounds on the borders of the ocean and the gulf, and in chas ing the English-Confederate sea-rovers. Never in the history of the world were there occasions for such exhausting labors, and the display of highest courage in service afloat, as the American Navy was subjected to in its operations among the rivers and bayous of the south-western regions of the Republic. In this little volume only a mere shadowy picture has been given of a few of the most wonder ful exploits of brain and muscle in that region. Many a vic tory, over which the people shouted themselves hoarse in giving praise to the gallant army, might never have been achieved but for the co-operation of the navy. To the common observer it, in many instances, seemed to be only an auxiliary, or wholly a secondary force, when in truth it was an equal, if not the chief, power in gaining a victory. The energy displayed by the Navy Department, under the chief management of the Assistant - secretary (Gustavus Vasa Fox), was most remarkable. The weakness of the navy in the spring of 1861 has been already noticed (see page 290). It had been reduced to smallest proportions during fifty years of peace. It numbered only seven thousand six hundred men ; and three hundred and twenty-two of its officers, born in slave- labor States, abandoned the service and joined the enemies of the Republic. With abounding faith in the strength and patriotism of the loyal people, President Lincoln sent forth a decree that all the ports of States wherein insurrection existed must be closed to commerce by a strict blockade. The vessels for the purpose were soon prepared, and the work was done. Foreign nations protested and menaced, but a most stringent blockade was maintained by a competent force, from the capes of Virginia ENERGY OF THE GOVERNMENT AND NAVY. 359 to the Rio Grande. At the same time flotillas of gun-boats and mortar -boats, protecting and aiding the armies in their movements, penetrated and patrolled the rivers through an in ternal navigation from the Potomac to the Mississippi. " Necessity " was found to be truly the " mother of inven tion." The world was soon enriched by new discoveries in naval science. The Monitor (see page 316) was created, and began a new era in naval warfare. Schools for nautical in struction were established ; dock-yards were enlarged, or new ones were built. The places of the deserters were speedily filled by better men from the merchant marine, who promptly volun teered their services to fight for the Union. At the end of the fierce struggle, the 7600 men of the navy when the war broke out had increased to 51,000. During the four years of strife, the government had caused 408 war-vessels to be built, and 418 to be purchased and con verted into war -ships, at a cost of about $19,000,000. Of these vessels, 318 were steamers. The threefold stimulants of patriotism, duty, and hope of personal emolument made the blockade service most efficient. It required the greatest vigilance. The blockade-runners were swift-sailing steamers, with raking smoke-stacks, and were painted a fog-color in every part, so that they could not be distinguished at a little distance even in a slight mist. Al though the British Government professed to be neutral, its sympathies were practically with the insurgents, and it per mitted the merchants and adventurers of Great Britain to send vessels laden with every necessary material for carrying on the war against the Union, to violate the blockade. The profits of this business, if successful, were enormous. The blockade-runners exchanged munitions of war for cotton, tobacco, and other products of the Southern States. It is be lieved, however, that a true balance-sheet would show that the losses fully equalled the gains. During the war the Nation- 360 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. al Navy captured or destroyed 1504 blockade -runners; and the gross proceeds of property captured in them was about $23,000,000. The value of the vessels was about $7,000,000, making a grand total of losses of $30,000,000. To this add $15,500,000 paid by the British Government for property destroyed by the English-Confederate cruiser Alabama, and it will be perceived that sympathy of the ruling class in England for the confederated insurgents was rather expensive and whol ly unsatisfactory. A BLOOKADE-RUNNER. There was a notable event in the naval history of the Civil War, which illustrated the Christian philanthropy of the Amer ican people who were true to their government, in a remarkable degree. The blockade of the Southern ports created a scarcity of cotton in England, and the mills in the manufacturing dis tricts were closed for the want of raw material. Very soon there was wide-spread distress among the poorly paid working- people of these mills. It was estimated that in Lancashire alone a million stomachs, dependent upon mill-labor for suste nance, were deprived of proper nourishment, and large num bers of families were on the verge of starvation. A pitiful cry of distress came over the sea and touched the A SHIP ON AN ERRAND OF MERCY. 361 American heart. The merchants and other citizens of New York heard it, and listened. Unmindful of the cruel injuries inflicted upon them by the sea-rovers, favored by the British Government, they fitted out the merchant-ship George Gris- wold,and sent it across the ocean laden with $100,000 worth of food for their suffering brethren in England. The Ala bama, the English-Confederate cruiser, was then abroad illumi nating the Atlantic Ocean with blazing American merchant-ves sels which she had plundered ; and the United States Govern ment sent an armed vessel from the National Navy to protect this messenger and almoner of mercy against the torch of the pirate. There is a great deal more pleasure in telling the story of the peaceful and beneficent labors of our navy than in relating its dealings with the enemies of our country by the use of the savage energies of gunpowder and brute force. But so long as the baser passions of human nature often direct the actions of nations as well as of individuals, the instincts of self-preser vation demand that these savage forces shall be used in defence. May we not hope that there is a " good time coming," when "nations shall not make war any more?" That time will be when mankind shall be governed by the Golden Rule — "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 16* 362 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. CHAPTER XXV. Torpedoes have played an important part in naval opera tions in America, especially during the late Civil War, when they were used chiefly as defenders of harbors, or posts on riv ers, against the approach of hostile vessels. Their value as such defenders can scarcely be estimated. An example of their effi cacy is found in the case of the swift destruction of the Te cumseh, of Farragut's fleet, at the entrance to Mobile Bay (see page 346). One of these " infernal machines " made a lively time for a little while in the harbor of New York, in September, 1776. The British admiral's flag-ship Eagle was lying near Govern or's Island, in that harbor. A Connecticut mechanic, named Bushnell, offered a torpedo of his invention to blow up the Eagle. It was composed of a small magazine of gunpowder in a sealed tin box, with clock-work attached, so constructed as to operate upon a spring at a fixed time that would communi cate a blow to detonating powder, and ignite the contents of the box. A nautical machine called a marine turtle, constructed so as to contain a living man, was furnished to convey the magazine under water below a ship, when the operator might fasten the torpedo to the bottom, start the clock-work, and escape in his submarine vessel to a safe distance from the explosion. Wash ington approved the measure, and a daring young man, named Ezra Lee, undertook the hazardous task. Young Lee entered the " turtle " in the evening, and with the magazine made a submarine voyage toward the Eagle. It DEEAM OF THE LIBERTY OF THE SEAS. 363 was a pleasant September night, and Washington and some of his officers watched until the dawn for the result. Just at daybreak they were about to retire with the sad impression that the daring youth had perished, when they saw some barges dart out from Governor's Island toward an object near the Eagle, and then suddenly pull for the shore. A moment after ward a column of water rose high in air near the flag-ship, pro ducing great consternation. That vessel and others near hastily cut their cables, and drifted away toward Staten Island with the ebbing tide. Young Lee had been under the Eagle full two hours, vainly trying to penetrate the thick copper sheathing of her bottom. He had tried other vessels, but without success. At dawn he came to the surface ; but seeing the barges, he descended, set the clock-work agoing, and then made for the shore at the city, where he was received with cheers. In due time the magazine was exploded under the water. From that time until the city was captured by the British their vessels moved with caution in the waters around New York. We hear nothing more of these floating-mines until the be ginning of the present century, when Robert Fulton, an Ameri can portrait-painter, who had lived long in France, appeared at the British Court in 1804, and offered to that government an "infernal machine" which he called torpedo. He represented that with such a contrivance ships might be secretly destroyed. He was filled with the benevolent idea that the introduction of such secret and destructive agencies into naval warfare would have a tendency to do away with it, and so would be estab lished what he called the liberty of the seas. The British Government gave Fulton an opportunity to make a public experiment with his invention in Walmer Road, not far from Deal, and furnished him for the purpose with an old Da nish brig named Dorothea, and two boats manned with eight men each. The Dorothea was anchored in sight of Walmer 564 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Castle, the residence of William Pitt the younger, then Prime- minister of England. Fulton's torpedo, like Bushnell's, was made to explode by means ot clock-work. It was cylindrical in form. He drilled the boatmen in their duties with empty cases. He placed one in each boat, which were seventy-five feet apart ; the torpedoes were connected by a line eighty feet in length ; when cast off at the same moment, they floated toward the vessel (which drew twelve feet of water) at an average depth of fifteen feet. When the connecting-line struck the hawser of the anchored brig, the torpedoes were swung round and brought directly under the ves sel's bottom. DESTRUCTION OE THE "DOROTHEA." When everything was in readiness (October 15th, 1805) Ful ton performed the experiment successful! v, in the presence of the Premier and a large number of naval officers. The brig was raised bodily about six feet and separated in the middle, and in twenty minutes nothing was seen of her but some float ing fragments. The experiment was highly satisfactory ; but the British THE STEAMBOAT AND TORPEDO. 365 Government refused to purchase the invention, because it was thought inexpedient for the " Mistress of the Seas " to intro duce into naval warfare a system that would give great advan tages to weaker maritime nations. This was an acknowledg ment of the great value of Fulton's invention in naval warfare. Fulton came home, and at the beginning of 1807 he was at Washington with his drawings and his plans for a " torpedo war." The affair of the Chesapeake and Leopard (see page 92) that year made the people look favorably upon any proj ect that might serve to drive the British vessels out of Ameri can waters. The government listened to him favorably, and by a small appropriation enabled him to repeat the experiment in Walmer Road. He utterly destroyed a vessel of two hun dred tons with a torpedo. This event created a great sensa tion in England, and the government was reproached for allow ing the invention to go to America. Nothing further was done at that time, for Fulton was per fecting his scheme for steam navigation. In September he won the greatest triumph of his life, when his steamboat Cler mont went from New York to Albany in thirty -six hours, against wind and tide, and back; and so was begun the grand system of steam navigation which now prevails on the waters in every part of the world. But Fulton regarded his torpedo as of far greater value to mankind than the steamboat. In a letter to Joel Barlow, writ ten immediately after the first passage of the Clermont on the Hudson River, he wrote, after describing that great achieve ment : " However, I will not admit that it is half so important as the torpedo system of defence and attack, for out of it will grow the liberty of the seas, an object of infinite importance to the welfare of America and every civilized country. But thousands of witnesses have now seen the steamboat in rapid movement ; they have not seen a ship-of-war destroyed by a torpedo, and they do not believe." 366 STORY OF THE UNITED STAT15S NAVY, When war was declared by the United States against Great Britain in 1812, Fulton revived his torpedo scheme, but did not win the countenance of our government. But private en terprise engaged in the business in unskilful ways. For ex ample : A citizen of New York placed ten kegs of gunpowder mixed with sulphur in the hold of a schooner, and surrounded ROREET FULTON. it with heavy missiles of stone and iron. Over these were placed barrels of flour, to which cords were attached and con nected with gun-locks in such a way that, when the barrels should be removed, the gunpowder would be exploded. The schooner sailed for New London harbor in June, 1813, off which a British blockading squadron was stationed. The flag ship was the Ramillies, 74 guns, and lay not far from the mouth of the Thames. As was intended by the projector, the EFFECTS OF A TORPEDO EXPLOSION. 367 schooner was captured by armed men in boats sent out from the Ramillies, while her own crew escaped to the shore. The wind fell before the prize could be brought to the side of the flag-ship. Lighters were sent out to unload her. The hatches were opened, and when the first barrel of flour was removed, a terrific explosion took place. A column of fire shot up full nine hundred feet in the air, and the schooner, with the first lieutenant and ten men of the Ramillies on board of her, was blown into fragments. Some of these fragments were thrown upon the deck of the flag-ship. A citizen of Norwich made a submarine boat similar to Bushnell's " turtle," with which he went under the Ramillies three times, to fix a torpedo to her bottom, but failed. - Other similar attempts kept the squadron on the alert, and Captain Hardy, the commander, caused the bottom of his flag-ship to be swept every two hours day and night by a cable. An immense torpedo was taken out in an open boat, under cover of darkness, on a July night, 1813, and sent afloat toward the Plantagenet, 74 guns, lying off Cape Henry, Virginia. It exploded a few moments too soon, just in front of her bow. The scene was awful. A column of water twenty-five feet in diameter, and half luminous with lurid light, was thrown up at least forty feet, with an explosion as terrific as thunder, pro ducing a shock like an earthquake. It burst at the crown, and flooded the deck of the vessel, and at the same time she rolled into the chasm produced by the expulsion of the water, and was nearly upset. Torpedoes were also placed across the Nar rows at the entrance of New York Bay, and also at the en trance of the harbor of Portland. The British commanders were made exceedingly cautious about entering anv harbors, and the wholesome fear of torpedoes saved the American sea ports from destruction. Torpedoes were lavishly used during the Civil War, particu larly by the Confederates. They strewed the entrances to South- 368 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. ern harbors and the channels of Southern rivers, in many places, with them. After the capture of Fort Fisher (see page 354), the lower portion of the Cape Fear River was found filled with bhem, making the navigation exceedingly hazardous. So also was the James River for many miles below Richmond. These torpedoes were of various forms and construction — cylindrical, elliptical, double cones, and cones — made to be ex ploded by percussion and by electricity. The Confederates also sometimes strewed the ground in front of their earth-works with terra-torpedoes, slightly covered with earth, to be exploded by the pressure of men's feet. As soon as Richmond was evacuated by the Confederates, a notable fishing excursion was undertaken by about three hun dred men in several tugs and thirty small boats, all under the charge of Captain Ralph Chandler of the navy. These went a-fishing for torpedoes in the James River, between Dutch Gap and Richmond, in which portion of that stream they were abundant. Like electric eels, this game had to be very care fully handled to avoid unpleasant shocks. The fishermen were expert, and had excellent luck. The sport began between nine and ten o'clock on the morning of April 3d, 1865, and it was over at five o'clock the same afternoon. It was carried on in this wise : The steam-vessels were protected by torpedo-nets, formed of ropes weighted with pieces of iron or lead, and fur nished with hooks to catch the little submarine mines. These nets were hung from spars placed athwart the bowsprit in front of the vessel, and sometimes in like manner along its sides. The torpedoes to be caught were made buoyant, placed at a depth under water so that a passing vessel might touch them and explode them by percussion. They were anchored by means of a chain attached to a segment of an iron sphere called a "mushroom." Many of them were made to be ex ploded by galvanism or electricity, communicated by an attach ed wire connected with a galvanic battery on shore. One of FISHING FOR TORPEDOES. 369 the latter was found in the deep channel at Drewry's Bluff, a short distance below Richmond, which contained nearly a ton of gunpowder, and was yet buoyed at the proper depth mm i ; II ;§§ 1111 1 •v I < v v ''¦4,|lll!^-;4w - wffif ill ifitf In fishing for torpedoes, a net, like that protecting the bow, was placed off the stern and was dragged after the vessel as a fisherman drags his net. There were also common grapnels 370 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. used on single lines, as fishermen troll for fishes. When a torpedo was caught, it was carefully hauled up to the surface and towed ashore by the men in small boats. When a nest of them was found that might not be removed readily, a little float was anchored above them with a small National flag upon it, by which pilots of vessels might be warned of the presence of danger. When news that General Weitzel had entered Richmond reached the Nationals at Dutch Gap, on the morning of the 3d of April, Captain Chandler immediately started with his flotilla of torpedo-hunters in his flag-ship Sangamon, and be fore sunset had so cleared the river of them that the passage to Richmond was made comparatively safe, if conducted with pru dence. The next morning President Lincoln went up to Rich mond from City Point on the Malvern, Admiral Porter's flag ship. The little warning flags were seen thickly planted in some places, but the vessel, by a tortnous course among them, avoided all danger. In a letter to the author, Captain Chandler, after describing these " infernal machines," wrote as follows concerning the relative position of the torpedo as an engine of war : " The torpedo is destined to be the least expensive but most terrible engine of defence yet invented. No vessel can be so constructed as to resist its power ; and the uncertainty of its locality would prevent the hostile fleet from approaching the supposed positions. In all collisions between hostile powers, whether army against army, ship against ship, or ship against fort, more or less bravery has been and is destined to be dis played; but the uncertainty of the locality of the foe — the knowledge that a simple touch will lay your ship a helpless, sinking wreck upon the water, without even the satisfaction of firing one shot in return — calls for more courage than can be expressed, and a short cruise among torpedoes will sober the most intrepid disposition." NAVAL EDUCATION. 37! CHAPTER XXVI. Nautical education has received special attentior in our country. In 1845 a Naval Academy was established at An napolis, Maryland, by the Hon. George Bancroft, then Secretary of the Navy, for the education of officers for the American naval service. It is to the navy what the Military Academy at West Point is to the army. Boys are admitted to the Naval Academy when over fifteen and under eighteen years of age, where they remain four years, and then enter the navy as midshipmen. There they are in structed in seamanship, naval tactics, and practical gunnery; in steam engineering, mathematics, astronomy, navigation, and surveying ; in natural and experimental philosophy, field artil lery, infantry tactics, ethics, English studies, international law, the French and Spanish languages, and drawing. There are two sloops-of-war attached to the institution, which are used at suitable seasons as practice-ships and for sailing upon ocean voyages. During the Civil War the academy was transferred to Newport, Rhode Island, for safety, but was returned to An napolis soon after the close of hostilities. By act of Congress, in 1837, a naval apprentice system was undertaken, but was abandoned in 1843, and was not revived until 1 864. The following succinct history of the English and United States training systems has been kindly furnished t« the writer by Captain S. B. Luce, U. S. N., who has made the subject of the improvement of the navy in its efficiency and morale his special study and object of earnest effort for many years : 372 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. " Naval education in some form or another had its origin in very early times, but the training of seamen especially for the national or military marine is of comparatively recent date. " The French have the credit of first establishing schools for marine artillerists. With an increase in the knowledge of the art of gunnery came an increase in the demand for skilled gun ners. It was in no small measure due to the improvement in guns, and the superiority of the gunnery practice of the Ameri can seamen as exhibited in the naval engagements during the war of 1 812-15 with Great Britain, that the attention of Brit ish officers was called to this subject. Prominent among these was Sir Howard Douglass, who, though educated for the mili tary service, had given much attention to naval affairs. Short ly after the close of our last war with Great Britain, he urged upon his government the necessity of providing a systematic course of gunnery instruction for officers and seamen. "In 1817 Sir Howard submitted a plan for the organization of such a course, but it failed at the time to receive the atten tion it merited. It was in consequence of his unremitting ef forts, however, that an admiralty order, under date of June 19th, 1830, directed that a gunnery school should be formed on board the Excellent, an old line-of-battle ship. The school thus open ed has gone on steadily improving, until now it is considered one of the most important departments of English naval edu cation. Its great object is to train seamen to become expert gunners, and to fill the position known as ' seamen-gunners.' The course requires that the seaman should not only himself become expert in handling guns, but that he should render himself capable of instructing others. It also includes small- arm practice, company movements, broad-sword exercise, and the use of the most modern arms of naval warfare. In each of these branches they are so thoroughly drilled as to become good instructors. "A committee of naval officers appointed in 1852 to inquire ENGLISH NAVAL TRAINING SYSTEM. 373 into the various subjects relating to the manning of the Royal Navy said in their report, referring to the Excellent, that they 'could not overrate the advantages which the naval service had derived from the systematic instruction and training, both of officers and men, in gunnery and the use of arms as established on board that ship.' "Prior to 1853 the practice in the English Navy was to en ter volunteers for particular ships, nominally for five years, but practically for the period during which the ship remained in commission; averaging from three to four years. Under this system, seamen who had been trained at great trouble and ex pense, and had been brought to a state of the highest efficiency, were suddenly disbanded, and allowed to drift off, some to a foreign flag and some to the merchant - service. This led to the recommendation by the committee of 1852, before alluded to, of the adoption of what is known as the ' Continuous Ser vice Certificate,' the object of which was to induce the seamen to remain in the service by continuous re-enlistments. 'But,' they observed, in their report, ' it was chiefly to the boys that they must look for the gradual organization of a permanent. navy.' "The recommendations of the board were carried into ef fect as far as it was then (1853) deemed necessary. In 1855 another royal commission, of which Vice-admiral the Earl of Hardwicke was chairman, was directed 'to inquire into the best means of manning the navy.' At that time there were only about 500 boys entered annually for the training-vessels. The commission not only approved the recommendation of the board of 1852 in regard to the training of boys, but urged its extension. ' So sensible are we,' the report says, ' of the ad vantages of early training, that we recommend that a large ship, capable of affording accommodation to 500 boys, should be placed at Portsmouth, and that four additional training-vessels sliouFd be provided, which would enable fhe whole of the boys 374 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. required for the navy (2000 annually) to receive the same in struction.' This recommendation was complied with." Lieutenant-commander F. E. Chadwick, U.S.N., while in Eu rope in 1879, made a careful study of the training systems of England, France, Italy, and Germany, and made an elaborate re port to the Secretary of the Navy. He says there are kept in the English training-ships about three thousand boys, who un dergo a course of training extending fourteen or sixteen months. They had employed in that service in 1879 five ships of the line, as follows : Ship. Station. No. of Boys. 906 " Impregnable " .... « 714 "St. Vincent" Portsmouth .... 622 518 534 The entries in 1878 were about 2400, or equal to the num- . ber of the annual waste in the Royal Navy. Each of the ships has attached to it a brig of about four hundred tons, and a hulk used for store-rooms and as a receptacle for newly-recruit ed boys, where they remain about a week, to be fitted for the training-ships. There are studies in the common English branches, as well as in gunnery and seamanship. There are eighteen mercantile training-ships in England, two of which are for officers, the others for seamen. Many of them are reform atories ; some do not receive a boy who has ever been before a magistrate. In a letter to the writer, Lieutenant-commander Chadwick says : " The Greenwich Hospital School is a very remarkable institution, founded under William and Mary, primarily as an orphanage for the children, of both sexes, of men disabled in the service. It is now a training-school, in which are one thou- AMERICAN NAVAL TRAINING SYSTEM. 375 sand sons of seamen and marines, received between ten and a half and thirteen years, and kept until they are fifteen and a half, when they are transferred to the training-ships. The school is on the half-time system, no boy studying for more than half the day, unless he belongs to one of the selected di visions in which are the boys intended to be future school-mas ters in the navy, for ship's writers, and paymaster's stewards. They make all their own clothing, shoes, etc. ; are carpenters, washermen (all the washing of the establishment is done hv them), are bandsmen, etc. It is a great pity an application of such a system could not be made here, either in connection witn the service or in civil life, as it turns out a most valuable bov." The French and German training system is different from the English. Of the two the German is the most thorough, ex tending over three years, and alternating in service afloat and in barracks. The scholastic training includes arithmetic, geog raphy, history, and music, and, in the case of a limited number who show themselves especially capable, English. The warrant- officers of the service are selected from these boys. "The principal instructors on board the English school- ships," says Captain Luce, "are the 'seamen-gunners' (many of them advanced to higher ratings), who had been carefully train ed. The concurrent testimony of all familiar with the subject goes to show that, as instructors of enlisted boys, these 'seamen- gunners' could hardly find their superiors." Concerning the American training system Captain Luce writes : " The experience in the United States Navy was simi lar in many respects to that of England prior to 1853 ; that is to say, ships' companies would be under careful training during a three-years' cruise, only to be disbanded at the end of that time, and scattered to the four winds. Moreover, many of the seamen who found their way into the United States Navy were of foreign birth, owing allegiance to no flag in particular--- -aa- rine mercenaries, as it were. 376 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. "In 1835 Mr. John Goin, of New York, notary and ship- broker, started a project for the establishment of a naval school. The proposition was regarded generally throughout the Atlan tic States with much favor. To give emphasis to the need of educating American seamen, it was stated in Congress by Mr. Reade, of Massachusetts, at the time Chairman of the Naval Committee of the House, that out of one hundred thousand seamen sailing out of the United States only about nine thou sand were Americans. The only remedy, it was declared, was the establishment of a naval school in which boys could be trained for seamen. " While it seems to have been agreed on all sides that a school of the kind proposed was greatly to be desired, it was not determined whether it should be for the navy, for the mer chant-service, or for both. It seems to have been pretty well understood, however, that the school was intended for the edu cating of boys for seamen, and not for officers. "As one of the first results of the movement, a petition was sent to Congress from the city of New York, in 1837, asking for the establishment of a school-ship in that port. The effort does not appear to have met with success. Whether as an other result of Mr. Goin's project or not does not appear, but certain it is that at Charleston, South Carolina, and Baltimore, Maryland, floating schools were opened without the aid of Con gress, and for a time were in successful operation. " It was clearly one, of the effects of the agitation of the question that Congress, in 1837, enacted that it should be 'law ful to enlist boys for the navy, not being under thirteen nor over eighteen years of age, to serve until twenty-one.' With this authority a plan was speedily put in operation, and shortly afterward the frigate Hudson had three hundred apprentices on board. "A newspaper of the day says: 'The North Carolina, 74- gun ship, just arrived at New York, has been ordered by the AMERICAN TRAINING SYSTEM TRIED. 377 Secretary of the Navy to be anchored in Buttermilk Channel as a permanent school-ship for boys. The Columbus, 74, has been ordered to Boston for the same purpose.' Another paper at about the same time said : ' Captain Gedney has twenty-four boys on board the United States brig Washington, all smart, clever lads, whom he is bringing up as active seamen.' Again : 'The sloop-of-war St. Louis, Captain French Forrest, has been rigged entirely by apprentice boys, under the direction of Cap tain H. W. Ogden, of the Hudson frigate, and Lieutenant J. Har ding Marshall.' Again we read of a visit to the Java, where 'the apprentices, neatly attired in sailors' garb, good-looking, and ranging from thirteen to eighteen years of age,' were observed. The entire Press of that day seemed to regard the experiment as one full of hope and promise for the navy of the future But in five years our apprentice system had passed into the limbus fatuorum of history. "The confusion of ideas which marked its inception insured its failure. The instructions issued by the Secretary of the Navy (James K. Paulding) to commanders of vessels having apprentices on board, directed that they (the boys) ' were to be thoroughly instructed so as to best qualify them to perform the duties of seamen and petty officers.' Many of the appren tices, belonging to the best families in the land, seemed to think that they were to be promoted, immediately upon be coming familiar with certain duties on board ship, to midship men at least, with the prospect of rapid advancement to higher grades. When these expectations were not realized, the boys became dissatisfied, and clamored for discharge. From one of the ships two apprentices did receive midshipmen's appoint ments, which only intensified the dissatisfaction of those who did not. As a consequence, the Secretary of the Navy was besieged with applications, backed up by political friends, for discharge. The pressure was too great to be resisted. Large numbers were discharged, and others deserted. This, with 17 378 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. the utter want of coherence in the system itself, insured its dissolution. "In 1863 the United States Naval Academy Practice-ship, making the annual summer cruise, visited the ports of Plym outh and Portsmouth, England. While there the officers vis ited the St. Vincent, the Excellent, and other ships already men tioned as belonging to the training system of the English Navy. Our officers were so much struck with the merits of the Eng lish system that, on the return of the ship to Newport, where the Naval Academy was then located, a report was made to the department calling attention to the subject, and recommending the adoption of a similar system for our own navy.1 The rec ommendation was at once adopted, and, by a circular order of the Secretary of the Navy, the law of 1837 was revived, and the United States frigate Sabine selected for the school-ship, under the charge of Lieutenant-commanding R. B. Lowry. In due time the sloops -of- war Saratoga and Portsmouth were added as practice-vessels. " The apprentice system, thus started for the second time, prospered for awhile ; but it was again destined to fail from pretty much the same causes as had operated to insure the early dissolution of tho first. A certain number of boys were each year admitted to the Naval Academy as midshipmen. Of course, those who failed to pass the required examinations be came dissatisfied, and applied for discharge. Failing in this, many of tho boys deserted the service. After lingering on a few years, the Sabine was put out of commission, and the ex periment declared for the second time to be a failure. "In 1870 the subject was, for the third time, brought to the attention of the Navy Department. The law was again re- 1 The Practice-ship alluded to was the old sailing-frigate Macedonian, commanded by Captain S. B. Luce, who, on his return, made the report to the Department spoken of in the text. DESIGN OF THE TRAINING SYSTEM. 379 vived in a circular issued by Secretary Robeson, under date of April 8th, 1875. In pursuance of instructions contained in that circular, the United States steam - frigate Minnesota was commissioned as a school-ship,1 and is now (1880) engaged in that service. Subsequently the old frigate Constitution and the sloops - of - war Portsmouth and Saratoga were added as practice-ships. The circular says : ' The education of the boys will comprise only the elements of an English education, alter nating with practical seamanship and other professional occu pations designed to prepare them for sailors in the navy' " From this clear exposition, it does not seem possible that any one could mistake the object of the naval training-school. It is not intended that the enlisted boy should ever become an officer in the line of promotion. To become a commissioned officer it is necessary to graduate from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. This should be clearly understood by those who look to the navy as their vocation for life. But if the enlisted boy is not to become a commissioned officer, he is not, on the other hand, to be a 'common sailor,' as many sup pose, unless, indeed, he insists upon becoming one in spite of every effort to raise him to a higher level. "The 'common sailor' generally owes his position to mis fortune and neglect. His only home is on board ship — gener ally in the merchant-service — his element the sea. With small claim to scholarship, he is yet skilful in the duties of his call ing. He can 'hand, reef, and steer,' not only in the pleasant breezes of a summer sea, but in the fierce wintry gales of the north Atlantic. Rough and unkempt as he may appear on shore, there is much about him, when the elements threaten with destruction his frail abode, that cannot fail to command our admiration and respect. "In the hour of danger the worth of the ' common sailor' Under the command of Captain S. B. Luee. 380 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. is inestimable ; the danger once passed, he is apt to be forgotten, and in an idle hour on shore he, unhappily, too often forgets himself. But, invaluable as he is in his own peculiar sphere, he is, removed from that sphere, of little account in the general estimation. He never gets beyond the forecastle, and there are few good uses to which he can be put on shore. Contin ued exposure and enforced neglect induce premature decay, and he ' shuffles off this mortal coil' often without a friendly hand to close his eyes. " The modern man-of-war's man is of a very different type. He is by no means a 'common sailor.' To an intimate knowl edge of his craft as a seaman, he adds the military training which forms the essential feature of a military man. He must not only be a good marine artillerist, but he should be familiar with the use of the modern arms of precision. He must un derstand the company movements as laid down for military organizations, and be so practised in the use of the sword that he can use effectively the cutlass with which he is provided on board ship. Often called upon to operate on shore with field artillery, he must be expert in the use of that arm as well as with the rifle, and also have that adaptability to circumstances, that readiness of resource, which will enable him to maintain himself while absent from his ship. "Withal, there must be in his composition a certain eleva tion of moral tone to sustain him under the most adverse cir cumstances ; a high motive power prompting him to obey the call of duty for duty's sake. Such a seaman is certainly no 'common sailor.' He is not 'common' in any sense of the word. Such a man has a great moral value wherever he may be placed. His training certainly makes him a better citizen, and fits him in an eminent degree for many positions on shore, so that he should never become a burden to society. " The highest positions in the navy to which the enlisted boy may aspire are those of boatswain and gunner, who, with the NAVAL APPRENTICES. TRAINING-SHIPS IN COMMISSION. 383 carpenters and sail-makers, are known as the 'warrant-officers' of the navy. Their pay ranges from seven hundred to eighteen hundred dollars a year (and a ration equal $109 50 a year), according to the length and nature of their service. Hereafter all vacancies in the two former grades will be filled from the seamen-apprentices. Hence to the patient and deserving there is a prospect of good pay and a very respectable position in life. It is reasonable to suppose that, in the course of no very long time, the entire corps of petty officers in the navy will be filled by the seamen who have passed through the training-ships. "The petty officers of the navy may be compared to the non-commissioned officers of the army, and represent the most respectable and trustworthy class of seamen. There are boat swains' mates, $28 50 a month; gunners' mates, $28 50 a month ; quarter-gunners, quartermasters, cockswains, captains of tops, etc., $26 50 a month, and a ration equal to 30 cents a day. "The only necessary expense the seaman-apprentice is liable to is for his clothing, everything else being furnished him by the government; and, as he is expected to make his own clothes and keep them in repair, that item is not very great." The training-ships now (1880) in the service are the cruis ers Minnesota, Constitution, Saratoga, and Portsmouth ; and the St. Louis, a stationary ship for the enlistment of boys at Philadelphia. The most active naval officers in promoting the efficiency of the training system are Commodores Shufeldt, English, and Whiting ; Captains Lowry, Upshur, Luce, A. W. Johnson, Chandler, and Skerrett ; Commanders Evans and Crowninshield, and Lieutenant -commander Chadwick. Com modore English is Chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Re cruits, and, with warm sympathy for this peculiar service and well-directed energy, is doing much to insure the success of the training system, and to make it a permanent and most useful feature of the American Navy. 384 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. In May, 1880, there were 1152 boys under instruction in the training-ships, 724 of whom were enlisted in 1879. The cos tume of the boys (represented in the engraving on page 381) is composed of navy-blue cloth for cold weather, and white duck for warm weather. Such is now the American training system in its experimen tal phases. It is full of promise of future good, and is gaining in popularity every day. It promises to make the navy of the United States in the near future a model of excellence and ef ficiency. Our mercantile marine will follow its example, for in the ele vation of the character of seamen safety and profit are involved. There is no reason why the "common sailor" — the "man be fore the mast" — may not stand on the same plane with any other toiler with brain or muscle. May we not hope that the time is not far distant when the seamen of the United States, whether in the navy of peace or the navy of war, will be enti tled, by the claims of personal excellence, to as high a rank in the social scale as the members of any other industrial pursuit; that the low moral and intellectual tone of life on the sea, which has been proverbial, will gradually give place to the in fluence of mental cultivation, refinement in manners, and the practice of the higher virtues among American seamen ; that the epithet "Jack Tar" will not much longer be a synonyme of a class hitherto utterly excluded from the circles of "good society," with a vocabulary of their own that refined lips re fuse to express, and doomed to an ostracism as rigid as that among Oriental castes? Here, my young countrymen, ends the Story of the Navy. If you have listened with attention to the narrative, I trust you have profited in heart and mind by the lessons it teaches, and been inspired with a warmer love for our Republic and its free institutions. You have perceived how our brave countrymen WORDS FOR THE YOUNG. 3S5 on the ocean have vindicated the national honor, protected American commerce on every sea, increased the national strength, and carried the seeds of Christian civilization to far- distant shores. Our beloved country has a coast-line of several thousand miles upon the two great oceans, extending across the temper ate zone. Between those oceans are fertile fields, rich mines, and an intelligent and industrious population of fifty million souls, all of which compose the elements of a vast commercial system, touching with its fingers every inhabitable part of the globe. That commerce requires ships for transportation and armed ships for protection, guided and guarded by intelligent and virtuous men. In this noble occupation you may find an ever-widening field of usefulness. Through the salutary min istrations of training-ships, in which the morals and physical health of the young are cared for with sleepless vigilance, you may enter upon this great theatre of activity, where in the ex ercise of a proper spirit you may certainly win for yourselves a full share of the health, profit, and honor which await the pa tient and faithful toiler in the world of industry. 17* APPENDIX. The exploits of our Navy have ever been prolific themes for American rhymers and poets. Philip Frenau, sometimes called " the poet of the Revolution," wrote many dull rhymes on the subject of the American Navy and its conspicuous acts, from the time of the old War for Independence (l775-'83), until the close of the second War for Independence in 1815. Oth ers wrote many songs and ballads on the same subjects, which were more remarkable for their patriotism than for their artis tic excellence. These songs and ballads — some of them mere doggerels — were very popular, for they touched the hearts of the people, excited by stirring events in which they felt a deep interest. The songs lingered in their memories, and were sung at public gatherings long after the occasions which inspired them had passed into history. To give you an idea, my young countrymen, of the songs and ballads which entertained your grandfathers and great grandfathers, I here present yon with less than a dozen of the many scores of them which were written and sung by patriotic men. During our late Civil War very few songs or ballads were written on the topic of the naval events of that - conflict. The most notable was a poetic account of the fierce combat in Mobile Bay (see page 345), in August, 1864, written by Henry Howard Brownell, acting ensign of the Hartford, Admiral Far- ragut's flag-ship. It contains seventy irregular stanzas, and is published in the " Life and Letters " of the admiral. 388 APPENDIX. THE SAILOR'S ADDRESS. From the London Evening Post, March 14th, 17TB. Come listen, my lads, to a brother and friend ; One and all, to my song, gallant sailors, attend. Sons of freedom ourselves, let's be just as we're brave, Nor America's freedom attempt to enslave. Firm as oak are our hearts where true glory depends : Steady, boys, steady, We'll ajways be ready To fight all our foes, not to murder our friends. True glory can ne'er in this quarrel be won ; If New England we conquer, Old England's undone ; On our brethren we then will refuse to fix chains, For the blood of true Britons flows warm in the veins. Firm as oak, etc. Shall courtiers' fine speeches prevail to divide Our affection from those who have fought by our side ? And who often have joined us to sink in the main The proud, boasting navies ol France and of Spain ? Firm as oak, etc. Near relations of some who at court now do thrive, The Pretender did join in the year forty-five ; And many in favor, disguised with foul arts, While they roar out for George are for James in their hearts. Firm as oak, etc. Of such men as these let us scorn to be tools Dirty work to perform — Do they take us for fools ? Brave sailors are ready to strike for the right ; Let them turn out themselves and engage in the fight. Firm as oak, etc. To the ground may disputes with our colonies fall, And George long, in splendor, reign king of us all ; And may those who would set the two lands by the ears Be put in the bilboes, and brought to the jeers. Firm as oak are our hearts where true glory depends : Steady, boys, steady, We'll always be ready To fight all our foes, not to murder our friends. APPENDIX. 389 SONG ON CAPTAIN BARNEY'S VICTORY OVER THE SHIP "GENERAL MONK." See page 53. O'er the waste of waters cruising, Long the General Monk had reign'd ; All subduing, all reducing, None her lawless rage restrain'd. Many a brave and hearty fellow, Yielding to this warlike foe, When her guns began to bellow, Struck his humbled colors low. But, grown bold with long successes, Leaving the wide watery way, She, a stranger to distresses, Came to cruise within Cape May. " Now, we soon," said Captain Rodgers, " Shall these men of commerce meet ; In our hold we'll have them lodgers — We shall capture half their fleet. " Lo ! I see their van appearing — Back our top-sails to the mast ; They toward us full are steering, With a gentle western blast. I've a list of all their cargoes, All their guns, and all their men ; I am sure these modern Argos Can't escape us, one in ten. " Yonder comes the Clmrming Sally, Sailing with the General Greene ; First we'll fight the Hyder Ali— Taking her is taking them. She intends to give us battle, Bearing down with all her sail : Now, boys, let our cannon rattle, To take the ship we cannot fail. " Our eighteen guns, each a nine-pounder, Soon shall terrify this foe ; We shall maul her, we shall wound her, Bringing rebel colors low." 390 APPENDIX. While he thus anticipated Conquests that he could not gain, He in Cape May channel waited, For the ship that caused his pain. Captain Barney there preparing, Thus addressed his gallant crew : " Now, brave lads, be bold and daring. Let your hearts be firm and true ; This is a proud English cruiser, Roving up and down the main ; We must fight her — must reduce her, Though our deck be strew'd with slaia " Let who will be the survivor, We must conquer or must die ; We must take her up the river, Whate'er comes of you and I. Though she shows most formidable, With her eighteen pointed nines, And her quarter clad in sable, Let us balk her proud designs. " With four nine-pounders and twelve sixes, We will face that daring band ; Let no dangers damp your courage, Nothing can the brave withstand. Fighting for your country's honor, Now to gallant deeds aspire ; Helmsman, bear us down upon her ! Gunner, give the word to fire !" Then, yard-arm and yard-arm meeting, Straight began the dismal fray ; Cannon mouths, each other greeting, Belch'd their smoky flames away. Soon the langrage, grape, and chain-shot, That from Barney's cannon flew, Swept the Monk, and cleared each round-top, Killed and wounded half her crew. Captain Rodgers strove to rally — But they from their quarters fled, While the roaring Hyder Ali Covered o'er his decks with dead. APPENDIX. 391 When from tops their dead men tumbled, And the streams of blood did flow, Then their proudest hopes were humhled By their brave inferior foe. All aghast and all confounded, They beheld their champions fall ; And their captain, sorely wounded, Bade them quick for quarters call. Then the Monk's proud flag descended, And her cannon ceased to roar ; By her crew no more defended, She confess'd the contest o'er. "CONSTELLATION" AND "INSURGENTE." See page TO. Come, all ye Yankee sailors, with swords and pikes advance, 'Tis time to try your courage, boys, and humble haughty France. The sons of France our seas invade, Destroy our commerce and our trade ; 'Tis time the reck'ning should be paid To brave Yankee boys. On board the Constellation from Baltimore we came, We had a bold commander, and Truxtun was his name : Our ship she mounted forty guns, And on the main so swiftly runs, To prove to France Columbia's sons Are brave Yankee boys. We sail'd to the West Indies in order to annoy The invaders of our commerce, to burn, sink, and destroy. Our Constellation shone so bright, The Frenchmen could not bear the sight, And away they scampered in a fright, From brave Yankee boys. 'Twas on the 9th of February, at Montserrat we lay, And there we spied the Insurgente, just at the break of day We raised the orange and the blue, To see if they the signals knew, The Constellation and her crew Of brave Yankee boys. 392 APPENDIX. All hands were call'd to quarters, and we pursued in chase, With well-prim'd guns, our tompions out, and well splic'd the main-brace. Soon to the French we did draw nigh, Compell'd to fight, they were, or fly, The word was passed, " Conquer or Die," My brave Yankee boys. Loud our cannons thunder'd, with peals tremendous roar, And death upon our bullets' wings that drenched their decks with gore; The blood did from their scuppers run ; Their chief exclaimed, " We are undone !" Their flag they struck, the battle won By brave Yankee boys. THE DEY OF ALGIERS. See page 2T9. The Dey of Algiers, not being afraid of his ears, Sent to Jonathan once for a tribute ; " Ho, ho !" says the Dey, " if the rascal don't pay, A caper or two I'll exhibit. " I'm the Dey of Algiers, with a beard a yard long, I'm a Mussulman too, and of course very strong : For this is my maxim, dispute it who can, That a man of stout muscle's a stout Mussulman." " They say," to himself one day says the Dey, " I may bully him now without reckoning to pay ; There's a kick-up just coming with him and John Bull, And John will give Jonathan both his hands full." So he bullied our consul, and captured our men, Went out through the Straits and came back safe again, And thought that his cruisers in triumph might ply Wherever they pleased — but he thought a big lie. For when Jonathan fairly drove John Bull away, He prepared him to settle accounts with the Dey ; Says he, " I will send him an able debater:" So he sent him a message by Stephen Decatur. APPENDIX. 393 Away weot Decatur to treat with the Dey, But he met the Dey's admiral just on the way ; And by way of a tribute just captured his ship ; But the soul of the admiral gave him the slip. From thence he proceeded to Algesair's Bay, To pay his respects to his highness the Dey, And sent him a message, decided, yet civil ; But the Dey wish'd both him and his note to the devil. And when he found out that the admiral's ship And the admiral, too, had given him the slip, The news gave his highness a good deal of pain, And the Dey- thought he'd never see daylight again. " Ho, ho !" says the Dey, " if this is the way This Jonathan reckons his tribute to pay, Who takes it will tickle his fingers with thorns ;" So the Dey and the Crescent both hauled in their horns. He call'd for a peace, and gave up our men, And promised he'd never ask tribute again ; Says his highness the Dey, " Here's the devil to pay, Instead of a tribute, heigh-ho ! well-a-day !" And never again will our Jonathan pay A tribute to potentate, pirate, or Dey ; Nor any but that to which power is given — The tribute to Valor, to Virtue, and Heaven. RODGERS AND VICTORY. See page 9T. John Bull, who has for ten years past Been daily growing prouder, Has got another taste, at last, Of Yankee ball and powder. Yankee-doodle, join the tune To every freeman handy, Let's shake the foot, and rigadoon To Yankee-doodle-dandy. 394 APPENDIX. His wrongs and insults have increased, Till Yankees cannot bear 'em, And as they wish'd to live in peace, He thought that he could scare 'em. But Yankees know their good old tune, For fun or fighting handy, For battle or for rigadoon 'Tis Yankee-doodle-dandy. 1 ou all remember well, I guess, The Chesapeake disaster, When Britons dared to kill and press To please their royal master. That day did murder'd freemen fall ; Their graves are cold and sandy ; Their funeral dirge was sung by all, Not Yankee-doodle-dandy. But, still, for this we mann'd no ship, But used expostulation ; They murder'd Pierce — they fired on Tripp ; We bore the degradation. For though we can like tigers fight, Yet peaceful joys are handy ; Like brothers still we would unite With Yankee-doodle-dandy. The tools of British power, who steal And murder on the ocean, For every wrong they make us feel Meet honor and promotion. I guess if father was not dead He'd think us very bandy, And ask where all the fire had fled Of Yankee-doodle-dandy. But, finding injuries prolong'd Become a growing evil, Our commodore got leave, if wrong'd, To blow 'em to the devil. And Rodgers is a spunky lad, In naval battles handy ; 'Twas he who whipt the Turks so well With Yankee-doodle-dandy. APPENDIX. 395 So off he goes and tells his crew ; The sails were quickly bent, sir ; A better ship you never knew, She's called the Presi-dent, sir. They hoisted up the top-sails soon, The sailors are so handy ; While drums and fifes struck up the tune Of Yankee-doodle-dandy. On Thursday morn we saw a sail, Well arm'd with gun and swivel ; Says Rodgers, " We will chase and hail, And see if she'll be civil." So after her they hastened soon, The sailors are so handy ; While drums and fifes still played the tune Of Yankee-doodle-dandy. " What sail is that ?" bold Rodgers cried, Which made the British wonder; Then with a gun they quick replied, Which made a noise like thunder. Like lightning we returned the joke, Our matches were so handy ; The Yankee bull-dogs nobly spoke The tune of doodle-dandy. A brilliant action then began, Our fire so briskly burn'd, sir, While blood from British scuppers ran, Like Seventy-six returned, sir. Our cannons roar'd, our men huzza'd, And fired away so handy, Till Bingham struck, he was so scared, At hearing doodle-dandy. "CONSTITUTION" AND "GUERRIERE." See page 109. " By the trident of Neptune," brave Hull cried, " let's steer ; It points out the track of the bullying Guerriere ; Should we meet her, brave boys, ' Seamen's rights ' be the cry : We fight to defend them, to live free or die." 39'j APPENDIX. The famed Constitution through the billows now flew, While the spray to the tars was refreshing as dew, To quicken the sense of the insult they felt In the boast of the Guerriere's not being the Belt. Each patriot bosom now throbbed with delight, When, joyful, the cry was, "A sail is in sight!" "Three cheers !" cried the captain : " my lads, 'tis the foe ; British pride shall this day be by Yankees laid low." Behold now the Guerriere, of Britain the boast, Her top-sails aback, and each tar to his post ; While Dacres a flag did display from each mast, To show that, as Britons, they'd fight to the last. The American stars now aloft were unfurl'd, With her stripes to the mizzen-peak : a proof to the world That, howe'er British pride might bluster or fret, The sun of her glory should not that day be set. Now, prim'd with ambition, her guns loaded full, The Guerriere's broadsides roar'd tremendous at Hull ; Not only the hero, ship, and crew to annoy, But the Hull of our freedom, our rights to destroy. As the brave Constitution her seamen drew nigh, Each heart beat with valor, joy glisten'd each eye ; While Hull, whose brave bosom with glory did swell, Cried, " Free trade — seamen's rights ! now let every shot tell.' Quick as lightning, and fatal as its dreaded power, Destruction and death on the Guerriere did shower ; While the groans of the dying were heard in the blast, The word was, " Take aim, boys, away with the mast !" The genius of Britain will long rue the day; The Guerriere's a wreck in the trough of the sea ; Her laurels are withered, her boasting is done : Submissive — to leeward she fires her last gun. Now brilliant the stars of America shine, Fame, honor, and glory, brave Hull, they are thine ; You have Neptune amazed, caused Britain to weep, While Yankees triumphantly sail o'er the deep. APPENDIX. 397 The sea, like the air, by great Nature's decree, Was given in common, and shall ever be free ; But if Ocean's a turnpike where Britain keeps toll, Hull, Jones, and Decatur will pay for the whole. JONES'S VICTORY. See page 118. Ye brave sons of freedom, whose bosoms beat high For your country, with patriot pride and emotion, Attend while I sing of a wonderful Wasp, And the Frolic she gallantly took on the ocean. This tight little Wasp, of true Yankee stuff, From the shores of Columbia indignant paraded ; Her eye flashed with fire, her spirit flam'd high, For her rights they were basely by Britons invaded. Swift over the wave for the combat she flew, By a sting, keen and terrible, arm'd and defended ; Her broad wings were white as the rough ocean spray, And sixteen long arms from her sides she extended. The winds waft her gayly — but soon on the way The foe of her fathers for battle array'd him ; From his forehead were waving the standards of Spain, But the proud step and stare of his nation betray'd him. Like the fierce bird of Jove, the Wasp darted forth, And he the tale told with amazement and wonder ; She hurl'd on the foe, from her flame-spreading arms, The firebrands of death, and the red bolts of thunder ! And, oh, it was glorious and strange to behold, What torrents of fire from her red mouth she threw, And how from her broad wings and sulphurous sides Hot showers of grape-shot and rifle-balls flew ! The foe bravely fought, but his arms were all broken, And he fled from his death-wound, aghast and affrighted ; But the Wasp darted her death-doing sting, And full on his bosom like lightning alighted. 398 APPENDIX. She pierced through his entrails, she maddened his brain, And he writhed and be groaned as if torn with the colic ; And long shall John Bull rue the terrible day He met the American Wasp on a Frolic. The tremors of death now invaded his limbs, And the streams of his life-blood his closing eyes drown ; When lo ! on the wave this Colossus of pride, The glory and pomp of John Bull tumbled down. AMERICAN PERRY. See page 194. Bold Barclay one day to Proctor did say, " I'm tired of Jamaica and cherry; So let us go down to that new floating town, And get some American Perry. Oh, cheap American Perry ! Most pleasant American Perry ! We need only bear down, knock, and call, And we'll have the American Perry. " The landlady's kind, weak, simple, and blind ; We'll soon be triumphantly merry ! We've cash in the locker, and custom shall shock her, And we'll soon get a taste of her Perry. Oh, the American Perry ! The sparkling American Perry ! No trouble we'll find your orders to mind, So away for American Perry." All ready for play, they got under way, With heart and hand right voluntary ; But when they came there, they quickly did stare - At "the taste of American Perry. Oh, the American Perry ! The sparkling American Perry ! How great the deception, when such a reception They met from American Perry. They thought such a change was undoubtedly strange, And rued their unlucky vagary ; " Your liquor's too hot — keep it still in the pot ; Oh, cork your American Perry. APPENDIX. 399 Oh, this American Perry ! Fiery American Perry ! In my noddle 'twill work ; it's a dose for a Turk — Oh, oh, this American Perry." Full surely they knew the scrape would not do : 'Twould ruin his Majesty's Ferry ; So they tried to turn tail, with a rag of a sail, And quit this American Perry. Oh, the American Perry ! Flushing American Perry ! But the crossing the lake was all a mistake — They had swallowed too much of the Perry. Then Barclay exclaimed, " I cannot be blamed, For well I defended each wherry ; My men are so drunk, and some so defunct — If I strike to American Perry. Oh, this American Perry ! Thund'ring American Perry ! Such hot distillation would fuddle our nation, Should it taste the American Perry." The stuff did so bruise his staggering crews, That some with their feet were unwary, While some had their brains knocked out for their pains By this shocking American Perry. Oh, American Perry ! Outrageous American Perry ! Old tough British tars, all covered with soars, Capsized by American Perry. The Indians on shore made a horrible roar, And left every ground-nut and berry ; Then scamper'd away, for no relish had they For a dose of American Perry. Oh, American Perry ! Confounding American Perry ! While General Proctor looked on like a doctor At the deadly American Perry. The Briton was sick, being pear'd to the quick, And his vessels were quite fragmentary; So, scolding his luck, he prudently struck To a stream of American Perry. 400 APPENDIX. Oh, American Perry ! Persevering American Perry ! A whole British fleet, ship to ship, has been beat By an American Commodore — "Perry." On American ground, where such spirit is found, Let us toast the brave " Heroes of Erie ;" And never forget those whose life-sun did set By the side of their Commodore Perry — Oh, brave American Perry ! Triumphant American Perry ! Let us remember the " Tenth of September," When a fleet struck to Commodore Perry. SIEGE OF PLATTSBURG. See page 216. The following song, written in imitation o£ negro dialect, was written by Mica- jah Hawkins for the proprietor of ;i theatre in Albauy, and was sung by him in the character of a negro sailor. Governor Tompkins and his staff, and other emi nent men, were present when it was first sung. Hawkins gained great applause by this performance immediately after the victory at Plattsburg, in 1S14, for it touched a chord of sympathy in the popular heart. Tune : Boyne Water. Backside Albany stan' Lake Champlain, Leetle pond half full o' water ; Plat-te-burg dar too, clus 'pon de main ; Town small — he grow bigger, do, herearter. On Lake Champlain Uncle Sam set he boat, An' Massa Macdonough he sail 'em ; While Gineral Macomb make Plat-te-burg he home Wid de army, whose courage neber fail 'em. On lebenth day Sep-tem-ber, In eighteen hun'red and fourteen, Gubbernor Probose an' he British soj-er Come to Plat-te-burg a tea-party courtin', An' he boat come too, arter Uncle Sam's boat; Massa Donough he look sharp out de winder; Den Gineral Macomb (ah ! he always a-home) Catch fire too, jiss like a tinder. "Bang! bang! bang!" den de cannons 'gin to roar, In Plat-te-burg and all 'bout dat quarter ; Gubbernor Probose try he han' 'pon de shore, While he boat take a luck 'pon de water; APPENDIX. 401 But Massa Macdonough knock he boat in he head, Breake he heart, breake he shin, 'tove he caff in ; An' Gineral Macomb start ole Probose hum — To't my soul den I mus' die a-laffin'. Probose scare so he lef all behine, — Powder, ball, cannon, teapot, and kittle ; Some say he cotch a cole — trouble in he mine, 'Cause he each so much raw an' cole vittle. Uncle Sam bery sorry, to be sure, for he pain, Wish he riuss heself up well an' hearty, For Gineral Macomb an' Massa Donough home, When he notion for anudder tea-party ! BROTHER JONATHAN'S EPISTLE TO JOHN BULL, 1814. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, I wonder what you mean ? Are you on foreign conquests bent, or what ambitious scheme ? Ah, but to Brother Jonathan your fruitless plans forego ; Remain in your fast-anchored isle, oh, Johtiny Bull my jo. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, don't come across the main ; Our fathers bled and suffered, John, our freedom to maintain ; And him who in the cradle, John, repell'd the ruthless foe, Provoke not, when to manhood grown, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, you've proud and haughty grown ; The ocean is a highway, which you falsely call your own ; And Columbia's sons are valiant, John, nor fear to face the foe, 4nd never yield to equal force, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, your Peacocks keep at home, And ne'er let British seamen in a Frolic hither come ; For we've Hornets and we've Wasps, John, who, as you doubtless know, Carry stingers in their tails, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. When I name our naval heroes, John, oh, hear Old England's groans -. There's Bainbridge, Porter, Blakeley, Decatur, Hull, and Jones ; And while for gallant Lawrence our grateful tears shall flow, We never will give up the ship, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Oh, Johnny Bull ray jo, John, on Erie's distant shore See how the battle rages, and loud the cannons roar ; But Perry taught our seamen to crush the assailing foe ; He met and made them ours, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. 18 402 APPENDIX. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, behold on Lake Champlain, With more than equal force, John, you tried your fist again ; But the cock saw how 'twas going, and cried " cock-a-doodle-doo,'' And Macdonough was victorious, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Your soldiers on the land, John, on that eventful day, Mark'd the issue of the conflict, and then they ran away ; And Macomb would have Burgoyn'd, John, your Governor Prevost, But, ah ! he was too nimble, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, in night attacks and day, We drove you from Fort Erie, flogged you at Chippewa ; There's Porter, Brown, and Ripley, Scott, and Gaines to face the foe, And they use the bayonet freely, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. What though at Washington, a base, marauding band Our monuments of art, John, destroyed with ruthless hand ; Oh, it was a savage warfare, John, beneath a generous foe ; It brings the most disgrace on you, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, don't send your Cochrane o'er, Few places are assailable on this our native shore ; And we'll leave our homes and friends, John, and crush the reptile foe That dares pollute our native soil, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, when all your schemes had failed, To wipe away the stigma, John, for New Orleans you sailed ; But heavier woes await you, John, for Jackson meets the foe, Whose name and fame's immortal, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, your Pakenham's no more ; The blood of your invincibles crimsons our native shore ; No Hampton scenes are here, John, to greet a savage foe, Nor " booty " — no, nor " beauty," oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Oh, Johnny Bull my jo, John, your heroes by the score, Are sleeping their last sleep, John, by Mississippi's shore, You say your sons are valiant, John ; I grant they may be so, But more valiant are our Yankee boys, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. Your schemes to gather laurels here, I guess, were badly planned; We have whipp'd you on the ocean, John, we've thrashed you on the land ; Then hie thee to Old England, John, your fruitless plans forego, And stick to your fast-anchored isle, oh, Johnny Bull my jo. APPENDIX. 403 VOYAGE OF THE GOOD SHIP UNION. BT OLIVEK WENDELL HOLMES. The following poem, replete with patriotic sentiment, was inspired by the events of the Civil War, in which onr navy was grandly conspicuous. 'Tis midnight : through my troubled dream Loud wails the tempest's cry ; Before the gale, with tattered sail, A ship goes plunging by. What name ? where bound ? — the rocks around Repeat the loud^halloo — — The good ship Union, southward bound : God help her and her crew ! And is the old flag flying still, That o'er your fathers flew, With bands of white and rosy light, And field of starry blue ? —Ay ! look aloft ! its folds full oft, Have braved the roaring blast, And still shall fly when from the sky The black typhoon has past ! Speak, pilot of the storm-tossed bark ! May I thy perils share ? ¦*— Oh, landsman, these are fearful seas, The brave alone may dare ! — Nay, ruler of the rebel deep, What matters wind or wave ? The rocks that wreck your reeling deck Will leave me naught to save ! Oh, landsman, art thou false or true ? What sign hast thou to show ? — The crimson stains from loyal veins, That hold my heart-blood's flow ! — Enough ! what more shall honor claim ? I know the sacred sign ; Above thy head our flag shall spread, Our ocean path be thine. The bark sails on : the Pilgrim's Cape Lies low along her lee, Whose headland crooks its anchor flukes, To lock the shore and sea. 404 APPENDIX. No treason here ! it cost too dear To win this barren realm ! And true and free the hands must be That hold the whaler's helm. Still on ! Manhattan's narrowing bay No rebel cruiser scars ; Her waters feel no pirate's keel, That flaunts the fallen stars ! — But watch the light on yonder height — Ay, pilot, have a care ! Some ling'ring cloud in mist may shroud The Capes of Delaware ! Say, pilot, what this fort may be, Whose sentinels look down From moated walls that show the sea Their deep embrasure's frown. The Rebel host claim all the coast, But these are fiends, we know, Whose footprints spoil the " sacred soil," And this is ? — Fort Monroe ! The breakers roar — how bears the shore ? — The traitorous wrecker's hands Have quenched the blaze that poured its rays, Along the Hatteras sands. — Ha ! say not so ! I see its glow ! Again the shoals display The beacon-light that shines by night, The Union Stars by day ! The good ship flies to milder skies, The wave more gently flows ; The softening breeze wafts o'er the seas The breath of Beaufort's rose. What fold is this the sweet winds kiss, Fair-striped and many-starred, Whose shadow palls the orphaned walls, The towns of Beauregard ? What ! heard you not Port Royal's doom ? How the black war-ships came And turned the Beaufort roses' bloom To redder wreaths of flame ? APPENDIX. 405 How from Rebellion's broken reed We saw his emblem fall, As soon his cursed poison-weed Shall drop from Sumter's wall ? On, on ! Pulaski's iron hail Falls harmless on Tybee ! Her top-sails feel the fresh'ning gale — She strikes the open sea ; She rounds the point, she threads the Ke7S That guard the Land of Flowers, And rides at last where firm and fast Her own Gibraltar towers ! The good ship Union's voyage is o'er, At anchor safe she swings, And loud and clear, with cheer on cheer, Her joyous welcome rings : Hurrah ! hurrah ! it shakes the wave, It thunders on the shore — One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One Nation evermore ! BATTLE -HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC. BY JULIA WABD HOWE, Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord ; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored , He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of his terrible swift sword : His truth is marching on. I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps ; I have read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps : His day is marching on. I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel ; "As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;'' Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel : Since God is marching on. 406 APPENDIX. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat ; He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat ; Oh ! be swift, my soul, to answer Him ! be jubilant, my feet ! Our God is marching "on. In the beauties of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me ; As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free : While God is marching on. INDEX. A. Alabama, career and fate ofthe, 324- 327; damage done by the, paid for by Great Britain, 328; destroys the Hatteras, 331. Albemarle, the ram, destroyed, 352. Alfred, first naval flag raised over the, 17 ; cruise of the, with the Raleigh, 30; sails for France, and captured, 32. Algerine pirates aud American commerce, 64. Allen, William Henry, commands the Argus, 146 ; death of, 148. Alliance, attempted mutiny on the, 37; cruise of the, under Barney, 51 ; sold, 63. America, 74 guns, presented to the French, 61. American Commeece, expansion of, 63. American Frigates launched in 1814, 233. American Navy, the, British con tempt for; prompt action of, 101. American naval victories, effects of, on the British people, 257. American Navy in the West In dies, 68. American Perry, 398. American Privateers, destructive career of the, 277 ; ocean swarm ing with, in 1813, 265 ; effect of ex ploits of, 277 ; history of, 260-277 ; harvest of, 261. American Squadron on Lake Champlain, 24. American Squadrons in the West Indies, 70. American War-vessels afloat on the ocean (1813), 173. Americans declare their indepen dence, 10. Andrea Doria, successful cruise of the, 18 ; career of the — burnt in the Delaware, 25. Appendix, naval songs, 387 — 406. Argus, cruise ofthe, 146 ; lands Min ister Crawford in France ; exploits of, in British waters, 147; captured by the Pelican, 148. Arkansas Post, expedition against, 328. Arkansas, the ram, destroyed, 322. Arnold, Benedict, naval command er on Lake Champlain, 24. Asp, fate of the, 145. Atlanta, the ram, captured, 339. B. Bailey, Joseph, dams the Red Riv er, 342. Bailey, Theodoras, in battle on the Mississippi, 310. Bainbridge and the Retaliation, captured by a French cruiser, 69 ; deceives the French commander, 70 ; carries tribute to Algiers, 76 ; treatment of, by the Dey, 77 ; the Sultan's firman to — humbles the Dey, 78 ; in command of the Con stitution; sails on a cruise, 128; fights, and conquers the Java, 130; receives honors, 133. Baltic Fleet, the, convoyed by British ships, 43. Baltimore Clippers, 260. Baltimore, British seafch of the, 68. 408 INDEX. Banks, N. P., commands the Red River Expedition, 340. Barbary Powers, the, humbled, 79. Barbary States, the, 88 ; rulers of the, humbled, 279-282. Barclay, Commodore, British com mander on Lake Erie, 185, 189, 190 ; mentioned in a song, 194. Barney, Joshua, exploit of, 50; made captain — cruise of, 51; ex ploits of, on the Hyder Ali, 53 ; commands the Raleigh, 36; com mands a flotilla of gun-boats on Chesapeake Bay, 241 ; operations of, in the Patuxent, 242; in battle ofBladensburg,244. Barron, James, commands a squad ron in the Mediterranean, 85 ; commands the Chesapeake, 92; sus pended from the service, 94. Barry, John, 16, 18 ; commands the JSfflngham,Z2; commands the Ra leigh, 35. Barton, William, captures General Prescott, 59. Baton Rouge, capture of, 34. Battle Hymn op the Republic, 406. Battle of the Kegs, 29. Bayous near Vicksburg, naval oper ations on, 328. Beauregard's despatch to Rich mond from Island No. 10, 305; leaves Island No. 10, 306. Bell, Henry H., in battle below New Orleans, 310. Biddle, Nicholas, 15, 18; perishes with the Randolph, 28. Biddle, James, commands the Hor net; captures the Penguin-^-honors bestowed upon, 254. Big Sandy Creek, battle in, 215. Blakeley, Johnston, commands the Wasp, 236 ; fate of, and the Wasp, 239. Blockade op American Coasts ordered, 225 ; extends from the Delaware to Nantucket, 229; of Southern ports, 358. Blockade Runners, business and fate of the, 359; losses of the, 360. Blockaders repelled in Delaware Bay, 226. Blockading Squadron in 1861, 295; in 1862,301; at Charleston, attacked, 334-336. Blockading Vessels, first appear ance of, 225 ; in Delaware and Chesapeake bays, 226. Blue MountainValley, capture ofthe, 57. Blyth, S., commands the Boxer— death of, 149. Board of Associated Loyalists, 60. Boggs, C. S., in battle below New Orleans, 312. Bonaparte, Louisiana purchased from, 75. Bonhomme Richard, crew of the, 40 ; battle of, with the Serapis, 44. Boston, port of, closed, 5. Boyle, Thomas, the bold privateers- man; exploits of, in the Comet, 265, 266; career of, in the Chas seur — proclamation of, 267. British Commerce, suffering of, during the Revolution, 62. British Cruisers in American wa ters, 90-93, 97. British Fleet on Lake Erie, 186. British Navy and the American compared, 11. British Outrage at Gibraltar, 89 ; at New York, 90 ; in the West In dies, 68, 69; condoned, 69. British Plan for dividing the American colonists, 23. British Squadron on Lake Onta rio, 175 ; at Oswego, 211. British Troops leave Boston, 10; retreat from Plattsburg, 219. British Vessels captured by the Americans in 1776, 26. Broke, P. V. B., challenge of, 188; wounded — honors bestowed upon, 145. Brooklyn, the, 290. INDEX. 409 Brother Jonathan's Epistle to John Bull, 401. Budd, Lieutenant, bravery of, 142. Bunker's Hill, battle of, 10. Burlington Heights, expedition against, 205. Burnside, E. A., commands expe dition against Roanoke Island, 301. Burrows, W., commands the JSnler- prise— death of, 148; memory of, honored, 150. Bushnell's torpedo, 362; opera tions of, 363. Butler, Benjamin F.,in command of the Department of the Gulf, 308 ; below New Orleans, 313 ; at Fort Fisher, 355. C Cabinet Ministers, folly of, re specting a navy, 100. Canal, a, constructed by troops, 306. Cabot, capture ofthe, 28. Caramalli, Hamet, rightful ruler of Tunis, 87. Carondelet, the, 306. Chadwick, Lieutenant-commander, on European training-ships and Greenwich Hospital School, 374; and training-ships, 383. Champlin, Sailing-master, fires the first and last gun in the battle of Lake Erie, 190. Chandler, Ralph, cruise of, among torpedoes, 369 ; on the torpedo as a weapon of defence, 370 ; and training-ships, 383. Charleston, attempt to capture, 336, 340. Charleston Harbor, Civil War be gun in, 289 ; condition of, for de fence, 336. Chasseur (privateer), exploits ofthe, 267. Chaumont, Le Ray, and Jones's fleet, 40. Chauncey, Isaac, commands navy on Lake Champlain ; first opera tions of, 179 ; winters at Sackett's Harbor, 180; draws Yeo from York and compels him to fight, 207; captures British vessels and aids Wilkinson, 208; squadron of, on Lake Ontario; blockades the British squadron at Kingston, 222 ; biography of, 224. Chesapeake, arrival of the, in Boston harbor — Lawrence in command of the — " unlucky" character ofthe, 138; crew of the, 140; fights the /Shannon, and is captured, 141. Chesapeake and Leopard, affair ofthe, 92-94. Chesapeake and Shannon, fight be tween the, 141-145. Civil War, the, 289-360. Cockburn, Sir George, commands blockading forces, 225-227 ; con ducts a marauding expedition to Havre -de -Grace, 226; plunders the Southern coasts, 229; urges the British general to burn Wash ington, 244. Comet, cruise of the, under Boyle, 265. Common Sailors and man-of-war's men compared, 379. Concord, military stores at, 7. Confederate Privateers, 323- 328 ; built in Great Britain, 323. Confederate Vessels, destruction or capture of, at Elizabeth City, 301. Confederates, the, form a civil government, 294. Confiance, Downie's flag-ship, 216. Congress authorizes the Crea tion of a Navy— names of ves sels, 14. Connor, Commodore, assists in the capture of Vera Cruz, 284. Constellation, under Truxtun, in the West Indies, 68; captures the In surgente, 70 ; vanquishes La Ven geance, 72; the Tripolitans and the, 79; at Norfolk, 227. Constellation and Insurgente, a song, 391. 18* 410 INDEX. Constitution and Guerriere, 393. Constitution, the, at Tripoli, 81 ; first cruise of, under Hull— chased by a British squadron, 103-107 ; sec ond cruise of, under Hull, 108- 111 ; vanquishes the Guerriere, 109-111 ; cruise of, under Stewart —chased into Marblehead, 246; in European waters, 247; captures the Cyane and Levant, 248; fate of the prizes of, 249; a plea for the, 251. Constitution and Java, battle between the, 131 ; eflect of the battle be tween the, and the Java, 134. Continental Navy, names of ves sels of the, 60. Conyngham, Captain, cruises of, 20, 23; imprisoned and released, 20. Cornwallis, surrender of, 52. Countess of Scarborough, the, convoy ing- the Baltic fleet, 43 ; surrender of the, 45. Craney Island fortified, 227; bat tle at, 228. Crowninshield, Lieutenant - com mander, and training-ships, 383. CRUiSERS,American, first, that went to sea, 16. Cushing, Lieutenant, destroys the ram Albemarle, 352. D. Dale and the Barbary Powers, 79. Davis, C. H. , commands at the capt ure of Memphis, 307. Davis, Jefferson, commissions pri vateers, 294. Davis, John, exploits of, 341 ; re ceives rewards for bravery, 352. Dayton, Elias, and the Blue Moun tain Valley, 57. Decatur, Stephen, Sen., captures Le Croyable, 67. Decatur, Stephen, Jr., in the har bor of Tripoli, 81 ; promotion of, 82 ; captures the Macedonian, 126 ; honors awarded to, 127; effect of the capture of the Macedonian, 128 ; in command of a squadron, 252; cruise of, soon ended, 254; hum bles the rulers of the Barbary States, 279; sketch of, 281. Decatur, cruise ofthe, 271. Decatur's Vessels blockaded at New London, 230. De Grasse assists the Americans, 35. Delaware, ship -building on the, 28; British fleet in the, 29; Amer ican vessels take refuge in the, 30. D'Estaing commands a French fleet and disappoints the Ameri cans, 34, 35. Detroit, surrender of, 130. Detroit, the, Barclay's flag -ship in the battle of Lake Erie, 189, 192. Dey of Algiers, the, 390. Dix!s Famous Order, 293. Dolphin, capture of the, 226; cruise of the, 262, 267 ; captures the Hebe, 267. Downes, Lieutenant, with Porter in the Pacific — finds a post-office among the Galapagos, 155 ; Por ter's chief lieutenant, 156 ; com mands the Essex, Jr., in the battle at Valparaiso, 163. Downie, sent to command the Brit ish vessels on Lake Champlain, 216 ; death of, 219. Druid, the, a convoy, 30. Dupont, S. F., commands expedi tion to Port Royal Sound, 229; on the coast of Florida, 308; com mands a fleet in an attack on Fort Sumter, 336. E. Eagle, capture of the, 271. Eastport captured, 233. Eaton, William, expedition of, against Tripoli, 87. Eckford, Henry, builds vessels at Sackett's Harbor, 133, 197. Effingham, the, in the Delaware, 32. Ellet's Ram Squadron, 307. Elliott, Jesse D., exploits of. near Buffalo, 180-183; joins Perry's 411 fleet— in the battle of Lake Erie, 189 ; honors awarded to, 194. England's Starving People help ed, 360. English, Commodore, and train ing-ships, 383. Enterprise, cruise of the— battle of the, with the Boxer, 149 ; cruise of the, with the Rattlesnake, 152. Ericsson, John, constructs the Monitor, 316. Essex, Porter's first cruise in the, 107; captures the Alert, 108 ; long cruise of the, 152-168 ; in the Pa cific Ocean, 154-167; at Marque sas Islands, 159-162; combats Hie Phcebe and Cherub at Valparaiso, 163. Evans, Captain, leaves the Chesa peake, 138. Evans, Commander, and training- ships, 383. Expedition to close the port of Mobile, 342. F. Farragut, D. G., child-midshipman under Porter — in command in the Pacific Ocean, 158 ; has a fist-light for his property, 167; in the expe dition against New Orleans, 309- 314; attempts to cut a canal at Vicksburg, 321 ; runs by batteries, 321 ; at siege of Port Hudson, 331, 333 ; in Mtfbile Bay, 342. Fishing for Torpedoes, 368. Fleet on Lake Erie built, 183. Floating Mine, explosion of, near a British man of- war, 366. Florida, the, captured, 323; sunk, 334. Foote, A. H., in command of a gun boat flotilla, 298; at Forts Henry and Donelson, 302; at Columbus and Island No. 10, 304. Fort Donelson, attack of gun boats upon — capture of, 302. Fort Fisher, expeditions against, 354-357; composition of the ar mament against, 353; first attack on, 354; second attack on, 356; capture of, 357. Fort George, expedition against, 200. Fort Henry, attack of gun - boats on, 302. Fort Pillow, siege of, 307. Fort Sumter, attempt to re-enforce and supply, 293. Forts Gaines and Morgan capt ured, 350. Fox, Gustavus Vasa, tries to re-en force Fort Sumter, 293. Franklin, Dr., and blank naval commissions, 20. Freedom of a City (note), 115. French Fleet in the Delaware, 34. French and English Cruisers, conduct of, 66. Frigates, construction of six, or dered — officers chosen to com mand the, 65. Frolic, battle of the, with the Wasp, 120. Fulton the First, description of the, 223. G. Galveston, surrender of, to Com mander Renshaw, 322; taken by the Confederates— port of, sealed up, 331. Ganges, first cruise ofthe, 67. General Armstrong, cruise of the, 269 ; brave defence of the, at Fay al, 273; beneficial detention of British squadron by the, 274. George Griswold, merciful errand of the, 361. George III., accession of — prime- minister of, 2. Gillmore, Q. A., commands the Department of the South, 339. Globe, cruise of the, 262, 272. Goin, John, projects a floating na val school, 376. Goldsborough, L. M., commands naval expedition against Roanoke Island, 301. Governor Tompkins, cruise of the, 265. 412 INDEX. Grand Gulp, batteries at, attacked, 332. Great Bkitain revises its system of search, 89. Great Cable transported by land, 215. Gregory, Lieutenant, exploits of, among the Thousand Islands, 221. Guerriere and Constitution, battle of the, 109-111. Gun-boats, construction of, author ized — ridiculed, 96; proposed in 1814 — flotilla of, on Western riv ers, 297. H. Halifax, British squadron at, 102. Hampden, the, a Massachusetts pri vateer, 37. Hampton, captured by the British, 228. Hampton Roads, British frigates enter, 227. Hancock, capture ofthe, by the Rain bow, 28. Harpy, the, captures the Princess Elizabeth, 272. Harrington, Jonathan, fifer at Lex ington, 8. Hatteras, expedition against forts at, 296 ; capture of forts at, 297. Highflyer (privateer), cruise of the, 263. Highflyer, the, and Commodore Rodgers, 170. Hillyar, Captain, treatment of Por ter by, 163. Hinman, Elisha, 30, 32. Hopkins, Esek, chief naval com mander, 15; first cruise of— capt ures munitions of war and vessels, 16; dismissed from the service, 17. Hopkins, John B., 15 ; commands a squadron — cruise of, 38. Hopkinson, Francis, author of the " Battle of the Kegs," 29. Hornet, the, blockades the Bonne Ci- toyenne, 134; fights and conquers the Peacock, 135; chased by a heavy English ship, 255. Hornet and Peacock, battle between the, 135; caricatured, 137. Hornet and Penguin, battle between the, 254. Horse Island, British troops land on, 203. Hudson, Captain, commands the Ranger, 25. Hudson, the, a school-ship, 376. Hull, Isaac, commands the Consti- tution, 111-115 ; anecdote of Dacres and, 115 ; honors awarded to, 115 ; importance of victory of— effect of victory of, in England, 117; comments of the English Press on victory of, 118. Hurricane on Lake Ontario, 205. Hyder Ali, victory achieved by the, 53. Hyler, Adam, and whale-boat war fare, 57. Independence of the United States acknowledged, 62. Indianola, the, passes Vicksburg bat teries, 329; destruction of the, 330. Intrepid, history of the, 81, 84; vic tims of the, at Tripoli, 84. Iron-clad Boats, construction of, 297. Island No. 10 attacked, 304; capt ured, 306; prisoners and spoils taken at, 306. J. Japan, peaceful expedition to, 285; result ofthe expedition to, 286. Java, the, captured by the Constitu tion, 131; effect of the capture of the, 134. Jefferson, Thomas, defends priva teering, 259. Jefferson, President, reduces the force of the navy, 76; policy of, , toward the army and navy, 94. John Adams, cruise of the, 234 ; burnt in the Penobscot, 235. Jones, Jacob, commands the Wasp, INDEX. 413 119 ; fights and conquers the Frol ic—loses his vessel and prize, 121 ; honors awarded to, 122. Jones, John Paul, 15; raises the first American naval flag, 17; suc cessful cruise of, 18 ; commands the Alfred, 19 ; first appearance of, in European waters — exploits of, in British waters — Earl of Selkirk plundered by crew of, 33 ; capt ures the Drake, 34; in command of a squadron, 39 ; on the coast of Scotland, 41-43 ; fights aud con quers the Serapis, 44 ; remarks of, concerning Captain Pearson — honors bestowed upon, 46; sub sequent career of, 48. Jones, Thomas Ap Catesby, com mands flotilla on Lake Borgne, 278. Jones and Victory, 397. K. Kearsarge, the, destroys the Alaba ma, 327. Kemp, cruise of the, 276. Kilty, Chancellor, parodies a Brit ish Bong, 258. Kinnison, David, one of the Bos ton Tea-party, 5.L. Lafayette in the Alliance, 37. Lake Borgne, flotilla - battle on, 278. Lake Champlain, naval battle on, 24; naval operations on, 209 ; loss of American vessels on, 210 ; bat tle on, 216-220. Lake Erie, battle of, 190-192. Laird, a Confederate ship-builder, 323. Landais, Captain, in command of the Alliance — narrow escape of, 37; conduct of, 40, 43, 45. Lawrence, James, in command of the Hornet, 134; fights and conquers the Peacock, 135; hon ors awarded to, 137 ; in command of the Chesapeake, 138; accepts Broke's challenge, 139 ; mortally wounded — last words of, 142; death of, 145. Lawrence, the, Perry's flag-ship on Lake Erie, 191. Lawrence (privateer), cruise of the, 276. League of States, 63. Leander (a British ship), outrage by the, 90. Lee, S. P., at Vicksburg, 321. Lewis, Commodore, operations of flotilla of, in Long Island Sound, 230 ; captures the Eagle, 271. Lexington and Concord, skir mishes at, 8. Lexington and Edward, nattle be tween the,. 18. Lincoln's Administration begun, 287. Lippincott, Captain, attempted capture of, by Hyler, 58. Little Belt and President, affair of the, 97. London Trading, 56. Lottery (privateer), desperate battle of the, 268. Lowry, Captain, and training-ships, 383. Luce, S. B., account of English and American training systems, by, 371-383; active in promoting the training system, 383. Ludlow, Lieutenant, 142; death of, 145. Lynn Haven Bay, British squad ron in, 90. M. Macdonough, Thomas, commands on Lake Champlain, 208 ; fits out armed vessels, 210; commands a squadron on Lake Champlain, 216; prayer of, 217 ; victory of, 219 ; honors awarded to, 221. Macedonian, the, captuied by the United States, 126; reception of, at New York, 127. Mackinaw, naval expedition against, 215. 414 INDEX. Macomb, Alexander, commands troops in battle of Plattsburg, 216; honors awarded to, 221. Madison, the, launched at Sackett's Harbor, 183 ; in battle on Lake Ontario, 207. Manly, John, commissioned cap tain — cruises in the Lee and Han cock, 13; in command o( the Hague — cruise of, in the West Indies, 53. Marine Committee, members of the, 14. Marriner, William, and whale-boat warfare — exploits of, 57. Mason and Slidell, capture of, 303. McCall, commands the Enterprise in action, 149 ; medal awarded to, 150. Medals of Honor, first bestow- ment of, 351. Meigs, R. J., expedition of, to Sag Harbor, 58. Memphis, capture of, 307. Merrimac, raid of the, in Hampton Roads, 315 ; destruction of the, 321. Minnesota, the, attacked by the Mer rimac, 316; saved by the Monitor, 318; a training-ship, 383. Minor Operations on Lake Onta rio and the St. Lawrence, 221. Mississippi, the, burnt, 332. Mobile Bay, severe battle in, 345- 349; Confederate naval force in, destroyed, 350. Mobile captured, 357. Monitor, the, cruises at Hampton Roads, 316; fights and conquers the Merrimac, 319; lost, 321. Morocco, Emperor of, and Com modore Preble, 81. Morris, Charles, commands the John Adams, 234; biography of, 235. Morris, R. V., commands a squad ron in the Mediterranean, 79 ; dis missed from the service by the President without trial, 80. N. Nashville, destruction of the, 334. National Constitution formed, 64. Nautical Education, 371. Nautilus, the, the first and last ves sel captured during the war (1812- '15), 102, 257. Naval Academy at Annapolis, 371. Naval Actions, brief time employ ed in, 257. Naval Apprentice System, 371 ; plan of, proposed and tried in England, 372. Naval Battle on Lake Ontario, 207. Naval Battle on the Mississippi, 310-312. Naval Commanders alarmed by torpedoes, 230. Naval Commissions first issued, 12. Naval Flags, the first displayed, 17 ;' character of, 18. Naval Monument to the slain at Tripoli, 84. Naval Officers, resignations and dismissals of, 296. Naval Operations on Lake Cham plain (1814), 216, 219. Naval Power on the northern lakes, 97. Naval Stores, attempt to capture, at Oswego Falls, 211. Navies of Great Britain and the United States compared, 100. Navy, two kinds, 1 ; the young, popularity of, 67, 74; increase of, authorized, 96, 99, 134; the, in 1810, 97 ; a plea for a strong, 99 ; assists in the war with Mexico and the conquest cf California, 284; always the friend of com merce, 286; strength and location of, at the beginning of the Civil War, 290, 295; extraordinary ser vices of, 358. Navy- yard at Gosport, destruction of property at, 293. INDEX. 415 Navy- yards established, 98. New England aroused, 9. New England Privateers, suc cess of, 19. New Madrid, capture of, 304. New Orleans, expedition against, 308 ; panic at, 313 ; capture of, 314. New Orleans, the, constructed at Sackett's Harbor, 224. New York Privateers, 269. Niagara, the, in battle of Lake Erie, 191. Nicholson, James, commands the Trumbull in a desperate battle, 50 ; fights the Iris and General Monk with the Trumbull, and is capt ured, 52. Nicholson, Lieutenant, in charge of the Epervier, 239. Nicholson, Samuel, cruise of, in the Deane, 52. Non-importation Agreement, 7. Nonsuch, daring act of the, 264. O. Officers active in promoting the training system, 383. Old Ironsides, name given to the Con stitution, 133. Oneida, the, on Lake Ontario, 175 ; at Sackett's Harbor, 177. Osage and Lexington in the Red Riv er, 341. •Oswego, attack upon, 212, Paulding, Hiram, and the Gosport Navy-yard, 293. Paul Jones, cruise of the, 264. Peacock, the, captures the Epervier, 239; in European waters, 240 ; in the Eastern Ocean, 255; captures the Nautilus, 256. Peacock and Mpervier, battle between the, 239. Pearson, Captain, commands the Serapis, 45. Penobscot, expedition to the, 48 ; British fleet at mouth of the— the John Adams burnt in the, 233. Perry, O. H., goes to Sackett's Har bor and Presque Isle — fleet built for, 183 ; goes to assist Chauncey in the attack on Fort George, 184 ; impatience of, 185; Harrison and, 186 ; commands in the battle of ¦ Lake Erie, 189-193 ; despatch of, to Harrison, 19a ; importance of victory of, 193; honors awarded to, 194 ; at the capture of Fort George, 200. Petrel (Confederate privateer), the, destroyed, 294. Pliiladelphia, the, captured at Trip oli, 81 ; destruction of the, 82. Phcebe and Essex, combat between the, 163. Pigot, the, captured by Talbot, 37. Pike, Z. M., death of, at York, 199. Pirates in the West Indies, 283. Plattsburg, land-forces at (1814), 216; naval battle at, 217; battle at, seen from the Vermont shore, 219. Po'ictiers, the, captures the Wasp and Frolic, 121 ; guarding the entrance to New York Bay, 230. Pope, John, captures New Madrid, 304. Porter, David, commands the Es sex, 128, 152-167 ; honors awarded to, 168; death of, 169. Porter, D. D., in battle below New Orleans, 308-313; at Vicksburg, 321 ; in rear of Vicksburg, 328 ; sham gun -boat of, 329; fleet of, runs past Vicksburg, 330 ; at Grand Gulf, 332 ; assists in the siege of Vicksburg-— commands gun-boats on the Red River, 340 ; on dam ming the Red River, 341; com mands naval expedition against Fort Fisher, 353, 357. Port Royal Sound, expedition to, 299; battle at entrance to, 300. Portugal and Algiers, 64. Potomac, naval operations on the, 296. Powder-ship at Fort Fisher, 354. 416 INDEX. Prayer of a Scotch pastor against Paul Jones, 41. Pkeble, Edward, commands a squadron in the Mediterranean, 80; exploits of, there, 80-84; re lieved, and honors awarded to, 84, 85. Prescott, General, captured by Barton, 59. President, the, and the Belvidera, 101 ; cruise of the, in command of De catur — chased by a British squad ron, 252; running fight with the Endymion, 253 ; surrender of the, 254. President and Endymion, battle be tween the, 253. President and Little Belt, affair of the, 97. Prevost, Sir George, commands ex pedition against Sackett's Har bor, 203. Prince of Neufchdtel fights armed boats, 275. Privateers, early American, 12; squadron of, from Baltimore, 261. Privateers and privateering, Jef ferson's defence of— Congress au thorizes, 259. Privateers and transports, 12. Providence, cruise of the, 32. Queen of the West, the ram, 328. R. Raleigh, cruise of the, 31 ; sails from France with the Alfred, and chased, 32. Randolph, cruise of the, 27; fate of the, 28. Ranger, cruise of the, 25; in British waters, under Paul Jones, 33. Rathburne, Captain, commands the Providence, 32. Red River, expedition up the, 340- 342 ; battle on the, 341 ; passage of the rapids ofthe, by gun-boats, 342. Reid, Samuel C, commands the General Armstrong — brave de fence of his vessel by, 273; hon ors bestowed upon, 274. Reprisal, cruise of the, 19. Revenge, successful cruise of the, 23.' Revenue Collectors roughly han dled in Boston, 5. Revenue-cutters in danger, 290. Rhode Island fits out armed ves sels, 12. Roanoke Island, an expedition against, 301. Rodgers, Captain John, captures the Atlanta, 338. Rodgers, Commodore John, before Tunis, 87; with a squadron at New York, 101 ; long cruise of, in the President, 169-172 ; uses Brit ish signals with effect, 170 ; capt ures the Highflyer, 170-172; sec ond cruise in the President, 172 ; honors bestowed upon, 173. Rodgers and Victory, 393. Rossie (privateer), exploits of the, 261. S. Sabine Pass, operations at, 331. Sackett's Harbor, defence of, 177 ; land and naval force at (1813)— vessels bui!tat,194; British squad ron before, 202; destruction of property at — British flee from, 204 ; blockaded, 213 : military force at, 224. Sailor's Address, the, 388. St. Lawrence (British), the, on Lake Ontario, 223. St. Lawrence (National), the, destroys the Petrel (privateer), 295. Salem, chief home of privateers, 260. Saltonstall, Captain, commands the Trumbull, 28. Saratoga (sloop-of-war), cruise of the, 50. Saratoga, Macdonough's flag -ship, 216. Saratoga (privateer), the, 265, 268. INDEX. 41? Saucy Jack (privateer), cruise ofthe, ; 275. Savannah (Confederate privateer), capture ofthe, 294. School-ships, 377. Scourge (privateer), cruise of the, 270. Search and Impressment, 66. Selkirk, Earl of, house of, plunder ed, 34. Serapis, the, convoys the Baltic fleet, 43 ; surrenders to the Bonhomme Richard, 45. Shadow (privateer), crnise of the, 263. Shenandoah (Confederate privateer), career of the, 327, 328. Shiloh, National victory at, 306. Shufeldt, Commodore, and train ing system, 383. Siege of Plattsburg, 400. Skerrett, Captain, and training system, 383. Sloat, Commodore, captures Mon terey, 284. Smith, Melancthon, commands the Mississippi, 322. Somers, Captain, perishes at Trip oli, 84. Song, 389. South Sea Exploring Expedi tion, 283. South-west Pass, blockading ves sels at, attacked, 298. Stamp Act and Stamps, 4. Star of the West, the, fired upon, 289. Stevens's Floating-battery, 296. Stewart, Charles, commands the Constitution — sketch of, 246 ; capt ure* the Pkton, 246 ; captures the Cyane aDd Levant, 248; public honors awarded to, 249. Stirling, Lord, and the Blue Moun tain Valley, 57. Stockton, Commodore, assists in the capture of Los Angeles, 284. Sumter, Fort, fierce engagement near,337; "amass of ruins," 339; defenders of, 340. Superior, the, waiting for guns and cable, 213. Surprise (brig), cruise of the, 20. T. Talbot, Silas, exploits of, in Rhode Island, 36, 37. Tarbell, Captain, commands ves sels in Elizabeth River, 228. Tea, destruction of, in Boston har bor, 5. Tecumseh, the, destroyed by a torpe do, 346. Tennessee, the ram, 345 ; terrible bat tle with, and capture of, 349. Terry, Alfred H., commands an expedition against Fort Fisher, 355. Thatcher, Admiral, assists in the capture of Mobile, 357. Thompson, Captain, first command er of the Raleigh, 30 ; dismissed from the service, 32. Timbey, Theodore R., invents the Monitor turret, 316. Torpedoes in Naval Warfare, 362; Fulton's, 363 ; operations of Fulton's, in England and Ameri ca, 364; the, and the steamboat, 365 ; effect of the explosion of a, 367. Torpedoes in the Civil War, 367. Training - ships in commission (1880), 383. Treaty of Alliance with France, 31. Treaty of Peace (1814), 278. Tribute paid to the Dey of Algiers, 65. Tripoli, Preble's attack upon, 83; ruler of, humbled by Decatur, 281. Troops, British, in Boston, 5. Truxtun, Thomas, ordered to seize French cruisers, 67; captures the Insurgente and vanquishes the La Vengeance — honors awarded to, 72. Tunis, Preble's attack npon, 82; Bashaw of, humbled, 87. 418 INDEX. U. United States— how they came to exist, 2-6. United States, the, commanded by Barry in the West Indies, 67 ; con quers the Macedonian, 125. Upshur, Captain, and training sys tem, 383. Vergennes, Count de, 31. Vessels added to the navy, 295. Vessels-op-war built at Sackett's Harbor (1813, 14), 211. Virginia, capture ofthe, 33. Voyage of the Good Ship "Un ion," 403. W. Wadsworth, Lieutenant, perished at Tripoli, 84. Wagner, Fort, captured, 339. Walke, Captain, commands the Ca rondelet, 306. War for Independence, 175. Warren, Admiral, in Chesapeake Bay, 227. Warrington, Lewis, commands the Peacock, 239. War, declaration of, against Eng land, preparations for, 100. War Spirit aroused, 93, 98. War with France ended, 75. War with Mexico, 284. Washington, public buildings at, destroyed, 244. Washington takes command ofthe Continental army, 10. Wasp and Hornet, built on the Dela ware, 30. Wasp, cruise of the, under Jones, 119-121; vanquishes the Frolic, 120. Wasp on a Frolic (caricature), 123. Waters, Midshipman, death of, 149. Weitzel, Gen., at Fort Fisher, 354. Wellington's Veterans, 215. Welles, Gideon, Secretary of the Navy, 290. Whale-boat warfare, 56-60. Whipple, Abraham, and British of ficer, 11 ; commands Rhode Isl and vessels, 12; appointed cap tain, 15; commands the Columbus, 18; commands the Ranger and Queen of France, 38 ; flotilla of, at Charleston, destroyed, 50. White Haven visited by Paul Jones, 33. Whiting, Commodore, and training system, 383. Wickes, Captaiu, cruise and ship wreck of, 20. Wilkes, Charles, captures Mason and Slidell, 302. Williams, Captain, in expedition to the Penobscot, 48. Williams, of South Carolina, op poses a navy, 94. Wilmington, port of, closed to blockade-runners, 357. Winslow, John A., commands the Kearsarge — destroys the Alabama, 327. Woolsey, Melancthon, commands the Oneida, 175; flotilla of, on Lake Ontario, 23; attacked in Big Sandy Creek, 214. Worden, John L., commands the Monitor in Hampton Roads, 316, 318; destroys the Nashville, 334. Y. Yankee (privateer), cruise of the, 263, 268. Yeo, Sir James, captures stores at Sodus Bay, 201 ; avoids a .battle with Chauncey, 206. 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